History of Henry County, Missouri, Part 72

Author: Lamkin, Uel W
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [s. l.] : Historical Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1018

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A. L. Depew attended the subscription schools of the home neighbor- hood during his boyhood days and when times were hard during the Civil War he worked at any honest labor in order to assist the family. The nearest trading point was Sedalia. The Depew home was built of lumber hauled from Lexington. He lived at home with his mother until he was thirty years old and then began for himself, although he became a land owner when twenty-two years of age. Mr. Depew now owns four hun- dred twenty-three acres of excellent farm land in Bogard township. His home is located four and a half miles northeast of Urich and the improve- ments on the land consist of two sets of farm buildings. Mr. Depew is engaged in general farming and stock raising.

February 14, 1882, A. L. Depew and Nancy Ely were united in mar- riage. Nancy (Ely) Depew is the daughter of William and Bettie (Mor- gan) Ely, both natives of Kentucky who came to Henry County and set- tled on Honey Creek in the fifties. Mr. Ely owned about eight hundred acres of land in this county. William and Bettie Ely were parents of the following children: Mrs. Addie M. Young, Honey Creek township; Aaron B., address unknown; Mrs. Nancy Depew; Mrs. Mary L., Shideler, Cali- fornia; Mrs. Sarah C. Trent, Moberly, Missouri; William E., living in California; Reuben, Dalton, Missouri.

To Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Depew have been born children as follow: Lil- lian Viola, deceased; Mary Belle, wife of Henry Woirhaye, Urich, Mis- souri; Jennie M., wife of Roy Kaiser, Grand Junction, Colorado; George Allen, on the home place; John Henry, Havre, Montana, now a private in the National Army; Emma Maud, deceased; Zonie Elizabeth, wife of Clarence Lear; Annie Louisa, wife of R. A. Hull, Grand Junction, Colo- rado; Aline Gustava, at home.

Mr. Depew is an excellent citizen who is highly respected in his lo- cality and he and the members of his family are considered to be among the best citizens of Henry County.

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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

C. N. Bleil, a prominent citizen of Shawnee township and one of the progressive farmers and stockmen of this county, is a native of Henry County and a descendant of one of the honored pioneer families of this section. Mr. Bleil was born February 1, 1872, a son of Frederick W. and Charity A. (Drake) Bleil, natives of Ohio, who settled in Henry County in 1866. When Frederick Bleil settled in Shawnee township, he bought two hundred sixty acres of land and C. N., the subject of this sketch, still owns a part of the old place. Frederick Bleil was a successful farmer and stockman and a good citizen. He died March 19, 1896, and his wife departed this life May 1 ,1910, and their remains rest side by side in the Shawnee Mound Cemetery. To Frederick W. and Charity A. (Drake) Bleil were born the following children: Edgar, resides in Kansas City, Missouri; Dr. A. W., Kansas City, Missouri; Nettie C., Clinton, Missouri ; John L., died at the age of one year; C. N., the subject of this sketch, and G. D., who lives on the old home place in Shawnee township.

C. N. Bleil was reared in Shawnee township and educated in the district schools. He engaged in farming in early life and has successfully devoted himself to agricultural pursuits to the present time. He owns one of the valuable farms of Shawnee township, which consists of two hundred forty acres, eighty acres of which is a part of the old Bleil homestead. Mr. Bleil raises Duroc Jersey hogs and keeps quite a herd of Jersey cows. He is also interested in raising sheep and has a. valuable flock of pure bred Shropshires. Mr. Bleil's place is well equipped for the stock business with large silo and other conveniences.

December 9, 1894, C. N. Bleil was united in marriage with Miss Lillie Tillman, a daughter of A. M. Tillman of Clinton, Missouri. Mrs. Bleil's mother died a number of years ago and her father now resides in Clin- ton. Mrs. Bleil was one of a family of four children born to her parents as follow: James L., who resides in Colorado; Mrs. Bleil; Lloyd, Clinton, Missouri, and Mrs. Bessie Wade, who resides at Leeton, Missouri. To Mr. and Mrs. Bleil have been born the following children: Mrs. Edith Bozarth, now deceased; Howard, George, Louis, Arthur, Clarence, Paul, Mabel and Mildred, all of whom reside at home with their parents, except Edith and Arthur, who are deceased.

Mr. Bleil is one of the directors of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Company of Henry County, which is one of the prosperous and well con- ducted insurance companies of the State. Mr. Bleil is a member of the time honored Masonic Lodge and is one of Henry County's most highly

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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

valued citizens. He is active in all patriotic work and has given his best endeavor to the furtherance of Red Cross and Liberty Loan work.

Joseph R. Hampton, M. D .- The little village of Shawnee Mound have in their midst a physician and surgeon who is a native of Henry County and a descendant of the earliest settlers of Shawnee township. Dr. Joseph R. Hampton was born in Shawnee township in 1867, the son of David T. and Sophia (Beatty) Hampton. David T. Hampton was born September 9, 1835, in Clark County, Kentucky, and came with his parents George W. and Nancy Hampton in 1839 to a homestead in Shawnee town- ship. As a little lad David T. Hampton roamed the natural forest and often went with his father to hunt the wild deer, turkey and various other wild game for the table. They lived in the log cabin with its dirt floor and its chinkings in the wall. They drew their water from a nat- ural spring near by and the big logs were brought home by the slow, cumbersome ox to be placed on the big fireplace in the winter.

David Hampton, who was southern born and educated, felt that the cause of the Confederate States was right and when his comrades were bearing arms in defense of their rights he too shouldered the musket and joined in the war. He was wounded in the battle of Lone Jack and taken prisoner by the Union forces, remaining in the St. Louis Federal prison until the cessation of hostilities. After the war he returned and was married to Sophia Beatty, a daughter of Joseph and Polly Beatty, early settlers in Henry County. Mr. and Mrs. Hampton settled on a farm three miles north of Huntingdale and here they labored together to make a home for the sons and daughters. The following children were born to them: Dr. Joseph R., of this sketch; Lucy Paul, deceased; George W., resides in Kansas City, Missouri; Mrs. Olga Ross, deceased, and James Harvey, a farmer of Shawnee township. Mrs. Hampton, the mother of this family, was laid to rest in 1881 and David Hampton remained on the farm until his death in 1913. He had a brother, L. H. Hampton, of Bogard township and a sister, Mrs. Mary Dunham, of Benton County, Missouri, who are still living, at an advanced age.

Joseph R. Hampton, the eldest of the children born to this venerable couple, received his education in the public schools of Henry County and attended the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, Missouri, where he completed his course with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1893. He came fresh from college to his present location and has since seen suc- cessfully engaged in the practice of his profession.

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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

September 6, 1899, Doctor Hampton was married to Rosa Lampkin, a daughter of Ethelbert and Emma Lampkin, the former now deceased and the latter resides near Montrose, Missouri. Two children, Mary Ruth and Louise M., have come to the home of Doctor and Mrs. Hampton. They are attending the schools of Shawnee Mound, fitting themselves for their future life work.

Doctor Hampton lives on a small farm near Shawnee Mound, which contains four acres, and has one hundred sixty acres one and one-half miles north of the city limits. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons No. 343, Agricola, Missouri, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Huntingdale, Missouri.

Doctor Hampton is well known in Henry County and is not only a leading physician but is a prominent and substantial citizen.

J. S. Kinyon, a well known and successful farmer and stockman of Shawnee township, is a native of Illinois. He was born in Washington County September 26, 1863, a son of Daniel C. and Anna (Strawback) Kinyon. The Kinyon family came to Henry County and settled in Shaw- nee township in 1881, when J. S. was about eighteen years of age. The father died in 1901 and the mother departed this life in 1883. They were the parents of the following children: Henry, resides in Clinton, Missouri ; J. S., the subject of this sketch; Lafayette, Clinton, Missouri; Lee, Clin- ton, Missouri; Joann, married Charles How and resides at Clinton, Mis- souri, and Pluma, deceased.

J. S. Kinyon attended school in Illinois and came to Henry County with his parents when he was about eighteen years of age. He soon afterwards bought a farm, which was known as the Bence place. In 1905 he pur- chased his present place from James Longford. This is one of the valu- able farms of Shawnee township and consists of two hundred forty acres. Mr. Kinyon carries on general farming and stock raising and is one of the progressive farmers of the community.

Mr. Kinyon was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Bence in 1889. She is a daughter of Adam Bence, an early settler of Shawnee township, who is now deceased. Mrs. Kenyon's mother is also dead. Mrs. Kenyon has one brother, David, now living in Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Kinyon have one adopted son, H. H., who is a graduate of the University of Missouri at Columbia. The Kinyon family are members of the Baptist Church and rank among the leading people of Henry County.

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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

Judge Mark Fisher Finks .- For the past eighty years Judge Mark F. Finks has lived in Henry County and has contributed his share to the advancement of the county. He is now retired, after many years of active farming in Tebo township. Mr. Finks was born September 10, 1834, in Madison County, Virginia, the son of Mark and Eliza (Eddings) Finks. Mr. Mark Finks, Sr,, was born in 1803, in Virginia and with his family came to Henry County in 1838, locating in Tebo township. He died in Henry County. His wife also died here.

Mark F. Finks was four years of age when his parents located in Henry County, and he has spent all of his life in the environs of the county, taking an active interest in her affairs.

October 20, 1864, Mr. Mark Finks and Nancy Elizabeth Avery were united in marriage. Mrs. Nancy (Avery) Finks was born May 10, 1845, in Henry County, the daughter of Judge William L. and Sophronia C. (Will- iams) Avery. William Avery was born November 14, 1822 in White County, Tennessee and came to Henry County in 1830 with his parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Greene) Avery, who were amongst the earliest set- tlers of the county. William L. Avery was elected county judge of the court in 1852 and held this position until 1867. In 1870, he was elected judge of common pleas court and in 1874 judge of probate court. He died March 2, 1875. His wife Sophronia Williams Avery was born De- cember 8, 1826, in Simpson County, Kentucky and came to Henry County with her parents in 1835 or 1836. She was one of the daughters of the Revolution, inasmuch as her grandfather, John Williams, had participated in the Revolutionary War.

Mr. and Mrs. Finks are the parents of the following children: Arthur W., born August 14, 1865, and died February 17, 1890. He was a Baptist minister educated in the William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri. Walter Lee was born January 2, 1868, married Zella L. Taylor, and is a banker at Calhoun. William Avery was born September 28, 1870, is a banker at Mena, Arkansas. Howard Preston was born June 4, 1873, died July 5, 1911. He was a teacher at Fort Smith, Arkansas, also a chemist and metallurgist of ability. Edna Emma was born October 4, 1875, and is the wife of James E. Slack, living in Springfield township. Norman Mark was born December 3, 1877, and died August 14, 1909. Harry Freeling was born November 3, 1882, and is cashier of Faris-Brinkerhoff Trust and Savings Bank, Clinton, Missouri.

Judge Fink owns 280 acres of land in Tebo and Deer Creek townships

PAC

JUDGE MARK F. FINKS

MRS. MARK F. FINKS

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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

and in the days when he was farming he exhibited many of his products at the county fairs. At one time he exhibited a pumpkin as large as a wash tub. His stock exhibits have taken many prizes. Judge Finks re- tired from active farming six years ago and he, with his good wife, are now enjoying the fruits of their many years of labor. They are members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Finks is a Democrat and he has served as county judge two terms. He is a stockholder of the Farmers Elevator at Calhoun and the two banks of Calhoun. Judge and Mrs. Finks have four- teen grandchildren. They have one grandson in the National Army, Ray- mond Taylor Fink.

Elmer O. McCann .- A man's life work is the measure of his success, and he is truly successful who has made the most of his opportunities and accomplishes the object of his endeavor. E. O. McCann is among the leaders of agricultural success in Henry County. He lives on the Clinton-Warrensburg road eleven miles north of Clinton, which is one of the finest highways in the county, made so because of the individual efforts of the men in Shawnee township. Mr. McCann's home is one to be noted in the neighborhood for its beauty. Its owner is one of the lead- ing cattle feeders of Henry County. He owns three hundred twenty acres of land in Shawnee township, one hundred forty acres northwest of his home place, and five hundred sixty acres in Prairie township, Bates County.

Elmer O. McCann was born January 28, 1864, near Decatur, Illinois, the son of John Harvey and Eliza (McKee) McCann. John H. McCann is living on his farm in Shawnee township which he purchased in 1867. He was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, November 4, 1835, the son of Samuel and Caroline (Irvin) McCann, the former a native of Ireland and his father, John McCann, was a native of Scotland and settled in North Ireland. The latter, Caroline McCann, was born in New Jersey of Scotch ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel McCann established their home in Ohio when it was still overrun with the Indians. They had thirteen children. John Harvey was the second born to them. They died in Ohio.

John Harvey McCann received his education and early training in the rude log cabin school house, where the rod was more in evidence than the books. He received an education beyond the ordinary opportunities of his day and went to Illinois in 1857, where he taught school until 1867, when he came with his family to Henry County and purchased his land from Mr. Kimsey, who had entered the land in 1844. Mr. McCann paid $9.66 an acre for his land and is still making his home upon the soil which sheltered him upon his arrival in Henry County, so many years

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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

ago. He was married on September 27, 1857, to Eliza McKee, of Cadiz, Ohio. She died December 2, 1879, leaving four children, as follow: W. Edgar Allen, born in Macon County, Illinois, now lives in Routt County, Colorado; Elmer O., of this sketch; C. R., born in Pettis County, Mis- souri, a druggist at Eldorado Springs, and Mrs. A. C. Bradford, Mountain View, Missouri.

Mr. McCann's second marriage was with Sarah Galloway, who is now deceased, and also an infant daughter born to them. John McCann was judge of the County Court for two terms in Henry County.

Elmer O. McCann, since his infancy, has lived on Henry County soil and has made a life business of raising and feeding cattle and hogs. De- cember 30, 1897, E. O. McCann and Mattie Culley were united in mar- riage, and they have two sons: Stanford C., born May 30, 1899, a grad- uate of Clinton High School and the Warrensburg Normal School, and is at home with his parents, and Elmer O., Jr., born October 8, 1903.

Mrs. Mattie (Culley) McCann was born in Johnson County, the daugh- ter of W. R. and Louisa Caroline (Perry) Culley. Mrs. Culley is a cousin of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, of the battle of Lake Erie fame. W. R. Culley was born in Howard County, Missouri, in 1824 and died in 1899. His wife was born in Tennessee and died in 1891. They had five children, as follow: Mrs. Lizzie Hinston, born 1858, living in Shawnee township, Henry County ; Silas Perry, deceased; Mrs. Jennie C. Ridley, whose hus- band is a rural mail carrier at Chilhowee, Missouri; Mattie McCann, and Oliver, in the service of the United States at Chicago.

Mr. McCann is a Democrat. He is a member of the Modern Wood- men of America of Shawnee Mound, Missouri. He is indeed one of the men who have made the name of Henry County, Missouri, stand for agri- cultural prosperity because of his individual, painstaking efforts in his line of work.

L. D. Powers .- Among the rich agricultural districts of Missouri, Henry County must ever take a prominent place with regard to the im- portance and values of its farm products. This is due not only to its natural resources, but to the painstaking efforts of its citizens. Among those who have helped in developing this great agricultural county L. D. Powers holds a prominent place. He was born May 8, 1869, on the farm where he now resides, the son of John R. and Clarissa I. (Benson) Powers. John R. Powers was born in Troy, New York, in 1827 and his wife was born in the same State in 1837. They met and were married in 1867 in

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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

Minnesota. In 1868 they settled in Shawnee township, on the farm where they reared their family and spent the greater part of their own life. Mr. Powers was a large land owner, owning over six hundred acres at the time of his death, in 1895. His wife passed away in 1898. They had two children: Linden D., of this sketch, and Mrs. Etta Wolf, of Waukomis, Oklahoma. By a former marriage to a Miss Williams, Mr. Powers had four children, as follow : Charles E., of Lawrence, Kansas ; Mrs. Carrie L. Barker, deceased; Erectus, deceased, and Dr. John, of Kansas City, Missouri.

Mr. Powers was reared and educated in the schools of Shawnee town- ship, also attending the University at Columbia, Missouri. After leaving school he came to his father's farm and has confined his efforts to a suc- cessful farming business. Mr. Powers is farming two hundred forty acres of land, which is well improved with new buildings which he built.

In 1895 L. D. Powers and Mary Alice Eagleson were united in mar- riage and they have three children: Ralph, Mary Alice and Minnie May, at home with their parents. Mrs. Powers was born in Henry County, the . daughter of James and Adaline (Eager) Eagleson. James Eagleson was born in Sherman, Ohio, and settled in Henry County in 1866. He farmed for many years but is now laid to rest. He passed away in 1916. The mother of Mrs. Powers makes her home with her daughter. She had three children, as follow: Mrs. C. H. Kensinger, Rockville, Missouri; Luther, of Shawnee township, Henry County, and Mary Alice, now Mrs. L. D. Powers.

Mr. Powers is township trustee and has served his friends and neigh- bors for the past three years in that capacity. He belongs to the Masonic Lodge and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks No. 1043, Clinton, Missouri.

David Williamson is a successful breeder of Duroc Jersey hogs and Shorthorn cattle, living in Shawnee township. Mr. Williamson, who for the past twenty years has weeded out the unproductive and worthless · cattle in his herd, has by so doing evolved a strain of cattle eligible for registration and made for the advancement of profit and pleasure in their care. Mr. Williamson, who is a native of Washington County, Ohio, was born near Marietta in 1850. His parents were Robert and Catherine (Mosteller) Williamson. They had a family of five children as follow: David, of this sketch ; Sarah, living in Oklahoma ; Clara, of Morgan County, Missouri; Alice, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Ida, of Kansas City, Kan- sas.

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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

Robert Williamson was born in Scotland and came to the United States in early manhood and settled in Ohio, where he met and married Catherine Mosteller, a native of that State. With their young family in 1859 they left their home and friends in Ohio and started out to build for themselves a home in the West. Morgan County, Missouri was their objective, and they came as far as Jefferson City, Missouri, by steamboat. From there they were drawn across country in a rude ox wagon and located near Versailles, Missouri. They reared their family on the farm. Mr. Williamson, when the call came from Lincoln, answered and for two years fought the battles of freedom for a great principle. Mr. and Mrs. Williamson have answered the call of the great reaper and are laid to rest in Mount Carmel Church Cemetery, Morgan County.

David Williamson, a lad of nine upon his arrival in Morgan County, Missouri, remembers the days of struggle necessary to win a livelihood from the soil. After receiving his education and starting in life for him- self and chose farming as his vocation. In 1888 he purchased his present farm in Shawnee township, after spending six years as a farm laborer in this locality. He built a house of ten rooms and the necessary farm buildings.

Mr. Williamson was married in 1888 to Miss Elizabeth Sharp, who was born in 1854. Her parents, Joseph and Helen Sharp, who were na- tives of Scotland, settled in Illinois in 1850. Nine years later, in 1865, the wife and mother died and Mr. Sharp with his family came to Henry County, settling on the farm which his daughter, Mrs. Williamson, now owns. He remained on this farm for a number of years until he went to California and died there. There were three children of the Sharp family: Mrs. Elizabeth Williamson; Frank, of Howell County, Missouri, and Jennie, died in California.

Mr. Williamson, for the past twenty years, has been a breeder of the Shorthorn cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs, which are registered and of the highest class stock.

A granary, built of stone over fifty years ago, is still on the William- son farm. It was originally built by Mr. Sharp, the father of Mrs. Will- iamson. Mr. and Mrs. Williamson have made their homes in Shawnee township so many years that they have been instrumental in much of the progress of their immediate surroundings, being influential citizens of the community.

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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

S. R. Benson .- The family tree of the Benson family has its roots in the earliest history of our Nation, members of which have given their lives to evolve this great democratic Government. S. R. Benson was born in 1844 in Jackson County, Iowa, the son of John and Almeda (Green) Benson. John Benson and his wife were among the pioneers of Iowa, settling upon her broad prairies when men laughed at the mere possi- bility of it ever being an agricultural country. John Benson was born in 1796 in Cattaraugus County, New York, and his wife was born in Green County, New York, in 1810. Mrs. Almeda Green was the daughter of a Revolutionary soldier who was captured by the British and taken into Canada, a prisoner of war. He effected his escape and crossed the Niagara River back into his own country. For many days he was dependent upon nature for food, eaitng the berries and bark of the trees. Such privations were endured by the men who fought for liberty.

John and Almeda (Green) Benson are both deceased and are buried in Grundy County, Iowa. They were the parents of twelve children: Ursula, married Edwin Parker in Hardin County, Iowa; Sylvia, wife of J. Linley, Bloomington, Illinois; Matilda, Bloomington, Illinois; Effie Swayne of Harding County, Iowa; Solon F., a banker of Pierson, Iowa; Horace J., lives in Kentucky, and S. R., the subject of this sketch.

S. R. Benson was reared and educated in Delaware County, Iowa, where his parents lived for some time. In 1864, when only a lad of twenty and the fire of adventure burning high within his breast, he left the par- ental roof to explore the western lands. He crossed the Missouri at Omaha, Nebraska, and followed the Platte river until he reached his desti- nation in Montana. The slow and steady ox team was his conveyance and the stars by night his shelter. S. R. Benson and his brother, Edwin, started on this trip across the plains together. The brother died on the plains and S. R. was left alone. He continued on alone, taking his brother's body with him until he came upon a party of campers who helped him make a rough coffin out of a wagon box and assisted in the burial. Leav- ing the lone grave of his brother by the side of the trail on the desert, Mr. Benson continued his journey westward until he reached Virginia City, Montana. Four years and eight months later he returned to Hardin County, Iowa, where he was married to Lucinda Griffith and again they left their home to visit the state of Colorado. His wife died in Colorado, leaving two sons: Lester S. and Charles W., who reside at Stewart, Wyo- ming. Mr. Benson remained in Colorado until 1884, when he went to

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History of Henry County, Missouri, Part 72

Author: Lamkin, Uel W Publication date: 1919 Publisher: [s. l.] : Historical Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1018

Author: Lamkin, Uel W
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [s. l.] : Historical Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1018