USA > Missouri > Cedar County > History of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade, and Barton counties, Missouri > Part 67
USA > Missouri > Dade County > History of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade, and Barton counties, Missouri > Part 67
USA > Missouri > Barton County > History of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade, and Barton counties, Missouri > Part 67
USA > Missouri > Hickory County > History of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade, and Barton counties, Missouri > Part 67
USA > Missouri > Polk County > History of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade, and Barton counties, Missouri > Part 67
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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ber 6, 1869, he was married to Elizabeth Long, a daughter of Noah Long. She was born in Davis County, W. Va., in 1852, and her union with Mr. Zumwalt has been blessed with the birth of eight children: Charles E., attending college at Bolivar; Louisa A., at home; Edward W., Lillie, James L., Pearl, May, and an infant son. Mrs. Zumwalt is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church.
CEDAR COUNTY.
Rev. William R. Allen, a minister of the Christian Church, and also a tiller of the soil, resides about one mile from Cane Hill, and was born in Jackson County, Tenn., in 1827, his parents, Josiah and Sarah (Dale) Allen, being also natives of Tennessee, the former's birth occurring in 1800. He was of Irish-German descent, a farmer by occupation, and died in Ten- nessee in 1846, being a devout member of the Christian Church. His father, William Allen, also died in Tennessee. Sarah (Dale) Allen died about 1872. William R. Allen attended the common schools, and remained with his parents until twenty-one years of age, then began fighting his own way in the world. In 1851 he married Miss Martha Roberts, who was born in Jackson County, Tenn., in 1829, and died in Cedar County, Mo., in 1885, leav- ing, besides her husband, the following children to mourn her loss: John, Lusetta, wife of I. J. Martin ; Delia, and William. James, Tennessee, Sarah and Loretta are deceased. While still single, Mr. Allen went to Illinois, and worked by the month on a farm for two years, then returned to his native State, married, and in 1851 came to Cedar County, Mo. During the war he made his home in the South, and at the cessation of hostilities he returned to Tennessee, and was there ordained a minister of the Christian Church by Rev. Sewell, returning soon after to Cedar County, Mo. He has been engaged in expounding the gospel ever since, and has done much to further the cause of Christianity, as he endeavors to practice what he preaches, and to follow the teachings of the Golden Rule. He is a Democrat, and voted first for Buchanan for the presidency. He owns a good farm of 315 acres, about 160 being under cultivation.
Robert N. Banister, attorney-at-law at El Dorado Springs since 1882, is the oldest practicing attorney in town. He was born in Ray County, Mo., in 1856, and is the son of Judge Nathaniel and Louvice (Craig) Banister, the grandson of Thomas Banister, and a great-grandson of Thomas Banister, who was a native of South Carolina, but who died in Kentucky. Thomas Banister was born in Kentucky, and died in Ray County, Mo.
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He was a farmer by occupation, and was a major in the Mex- ican War. Judge Nathaniel Banister and wife were natives of Nicholas County, Ky., and both born in the year 1830, he in January, and she in June. They came with their parents to Missouri in 1841, and were married in Ray County of that State in 1850. Judge Banister died in 1877, but the mother is still living. The Judge was a successful farmer for many years, and after that was a legal practitioner for seventeen years. He was judge of the court of common pleas of Ray County, from about 1864 to 1867, and was one of the prominent men of the county. He was of English descent. Robert N. Banister, the second of nine children, received his education in Richmond Col- lege, from which institution he graduated in 1875. He then taught a number of years, after which, for a year, he was in the law department of the University of Columbia, and was admitted to the bar of Ray County in 1878. In 1882 he came to El Dorado, and was there married in January, 1883, to Miss Mollie, daughter of Wesley and Nancy Gentry, and a native of Carrollton. Mr. and Mrs. Gentry are now living in Cedar County, Mo. Mr. Ban- ister is a Democrat in politics, is an active politician, and his first presidential vote was cast for Gen. Hancock, in 1880. He is an able and fluent speaker, a deep reasoner, and bids fair to become one of the best lawyers in Cedar County. He practices in Vernon, St. Clair and Cedar counties. Mr. Banister, has a good house in town, and is the father of two bright children.
Dr. Alfred Barter, a practicing physician and surgeon, also a successful fruit-grower of Virgil City, was born in London, Onta- rio, Canada, in 1845, and is the son of J. E. and Sarah (Jones) Barter, natives of England and Canada, born in 1818 and 1825, respectively. When eleven years of age J. E. Barter emigrated with his parents to Canada, lived for some in Montreal, and then came to London, where he married and resided until 1870. He them moved to Virgil City, Mo., and here Mrs. Barter died in 1872. A few years since Mr. Barter went to Los Angeles, Cal., where he is living at the present time. He is a man of no little intelligence and ability, and has been traveling salesman for dif- ferent wholesale establishments of various kinds nearly all his life. He did military service during the trouble in Canada in 1837. He has one son and two daughters now living, the Doctor being the eldest. One daughter, Clara, is the wife of Hon. W. B. Lewis, who represents Cedar County in the Legislature, and the other daughter, Annie, now in Los Angeles, Cal., is a celebrated portrait artist; one of her most elaborate works adorns Bucking- ham Palace, in England. The Doctor received a good practical education in the common schools of Canada, and in 1867 came to North Missouri, where he was engaged in the nursery business one year. He then came to Virgil City, was occupied in the drug
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business for several years, and in 1877 graduated from the St. Louis Eclectic Medical College. Since then he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession. For the last ten or twelve years he has been successfully and extensively interested in fruit growing, and has one of the finest fruit farms in Cedar County. He has 200 acres in all, fifty acres in orchard, peach and apples. In 1870 he married Miss Anna Swartz, a native of Illinois, and the daughter of Owen and Rebecca Swartz. Her father died in Illinois, but her mother is living, and is a resident of Vernon County. To the Doctor and wife were born six chil- dren, three sons and two daughters living. In politics he has been a Democrat until recently, since which time he has allied himself earnestly with the Prohibitionists, and is an active worker in the cause. He is a prominent member of the Masonic frater- nity, and is secretary of Hesperian Lodge No. 286. He and Mrs. Barter are faithful members of the Church of Christ.
W. W. Redford and S. W. Billingsley, owners and proprietors of Park livery, and Schell City and El Dorado stage lines, have one of the most complete and best equipped livery barns in Southwest Missouri, and are one of the oldest firms in El Dorado Springs. This business was established in 1884; fine rigs are found throughout, as well as everything essential for a first-class barn. Mr. Billingsley was born in Marion County, Va., in 1845, and is the son of Sias and Anna (Morgan) Billingsley, natives of Mary- land, but early settlers of Virginia, where Mr. Billingsley died in April, 1887. Mrs. Billingsley died in May, 1889. Mr. Billings- ley was of Welsh descent, and was a farmer and stock-raiser by occupation. S. W. Billingsley was the fourth of six sons and three daughters. He received an ordinary education in the common schools, and graduated from Fairmont, Va., Normal, in 1862, and also graduated from Iron City Commercial College, Pittsburg, Penn. In 1863 he taught school in Virginia, and in 1870 came to Henry County, Mo., where he taught school for several years. He then engaged in the grain business at Clinton for several years, after which he followed farming until his removal to El Dorado in 1884, and then embarked in the livery business. In March, 1875, he married Miss Celest Fields, daugh- ter of Nathan A. and Mary E. Fields, both natives of Virginia, but early settlers of Missouri. They were married in Henry County of that State, April 25, 1839, and have lived on their present farm ever since. This is one of the wealthy and respected families. Mr. Fields was sheriff a number of years, and was also assessor of Henry County for a number of years. To Mr. Billingsley and wife were born three children, two sons and a daughter. In his political views, Mr. Billingsley is a Democrat, casting his first vote for Seymour; he is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Royal Arch Chapter at El Dorado Springs, having joined in
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BIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX.
Virginia, in 1873, and is a prominent citizen. Mrs. Billingsley is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Thomas J. Blake, M. D., of Stockton, Mo., was born in Roane County, Tenn., in 1828, and is a son of Dr. William G. and Elizabeth (McKinney) Blake, who were born in Virginia and Roane County, Tenn., respectively, the former's birth occurring in 1800. At the age of five years he was taken to Tennessee by his father, Thomas Blake, who was a farmer and millwright by occupation, and there remained untill 1837, when he came to Missouri, and located in Dade County, at the town of Cora, com- ing in 1844 to Stockton. He entered forty acres of land where the town now is, which he afterward deeded to the county for the county seat, on which he erected the first house. He practiced his profession here for many years, and became well known throughout the county, not only professionally, but socially. He died in 1884, and his first wife in 1831, after which he married Sarah Pennington, who yet survives him, and is 72 years of age. Thomas Blake, the grandfather, was a farmer and millwright by occupation, and died in 1860, at the age of eighty-three years. His father, William Blake, was killed in the Revolutionary War. Dr. Thomas J. Blake is the second of three children, and when nine years old came to Missouri with his father. The schools at that day were few and far between, consequently his early edu- cational advantages were quite meager. In 1850 he took the overland trip to California, and at the end of four months and ten days was in the " Eureka State," where he remained for six years, working in the gold mines. He then returned to Cedar County, Mo., and commenced the study of medicine, his preceptor being Dr. William G. Blake, his father. He entered the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis in the spring of 1858, from which he was graduated as an M. D. in 1860. He went first to Stockton, but a short time after removed to Benton County, Ark., and in the spring of 1861, returned to Cedar County, Mo., enlisting in May of that year in the Missouri State Guard, and afterward in Shelby's Brigade, C. S. A., serving until the spring of 1865, when he surrendered in Texas. He participated in the fights at Oak Hill, Newtonia, Prairie Grove, Pea Ridge, Wilson's Creek, West Port, Iron Mountain, Mark's Mill, and many skirmishes. After the war he resided in Benton County, Ark., until 1874, since which time he has lived in Stockton. In 1866 he married Miss Mary V. Barnes, of Fayetteville, Ark. She was born in Manchester, Mo., and is the mother of five children : William C., Clint H., Thomas J., Elizabeth, and a son not named. The Doctor is a Mason, a member of the I. O. O. F., a Democrat, and for four years served as coroner of Cedar County. His wife is a member of the Catholic Church.
James McBride Blake, a farmer and school-teacher, two and
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CEDAR COUNTY.
a half miles north of Stockton, Mo. is a native of Dade County, Mo., where he was born in March, 1841, a sketch of his father, Dr. William G. Blake, being given in the biography of Dr. Thomas J. Blake. James M. was reared and educated in Stock- ton and Kentuckytown, Texas, and about the time he attained his majority the late war broke out, and he immediately espoused the Southern cause, and in June, 1861, enlisted in Company A, under Col. Walker, and was in the battles of Wilson's Creek, Prairie Grove, and in numerous skirmishes. During his four years' service he was neither wounded nor captured. When peace was declared, he found himself with a limited education, and, knowing that a good education was essential if he wished to suc- ceed in any calling, he resumed his studies, and in 1867 entered the teacher's profession, and taught nine consecutive years in Vernon County, five years being spent in the public schools of Nevada. He then taught in the public schools of Stockton for four terms, and won the reputation of being an able instructor and skillful disciplinarian, and commanded the respect of both pupils and patrons. For two years he held the position of Super- intendent of Public Instruction of Vernon County, and proved an able and faithful officer. January 27, 1879, he married Miss Fannie C. Hacker, who was born in Tennessee, in 1853, and by her has two children: Thomas Lee and Fanny Susie. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Blake located on his present farm, of 170 acres. He is a Democrat, a member of the Masonic Order, and he and wife are members of the Christian Church.
J. P. Brasher, M. D., who is one of the successful practicing physicians of Jerico Springs, Mo., is a native of Christian County, Ky., born May 6, 1850. He has been identified with the interests of Cedar County since 1856, at which time he came with his parents, I. S. and R. E. (Petty) Brasher to Missouri. The father is of Irish ancestry, a prosperous farmer, and was born on Kentucky soil in 1810. His wife was born in Tennessee in 1814, and died in Cedar County, Mo., on the 20th of June, 1887. Five of their nine children grew to maturity, and are yet living, of whom J. P. Brasher is the third. He resided with his parents until he reached his majority, and received his education in the public schools of Kentucky and Missouri. In 1871 he took a course of lectures in the Missouri Medical College of St. Louis, and afterward entered the medical department of the University of Nashville, Tenn., from which he was graduated as an M. D. in 1874, and in 1881 received a diploma from the Missouri Medi- cal College at St. Louis. He resided on a farm and practiced his profession near where Jerico now is, till the village was estab- lished, when he moved to his present residence. He is one of the successful physicians of the county, and keeps thoroughly posted in his profession, and in social as well as his professional capacity
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is a genial and accommodating gentleman. He is a Democrat in his political views, and is a member of the I. O. O. F. and the Masonic fraternity. In 1876 he was married to Miss Laura L. Mitchell, who was born in Missouri in 1856 and is a daughter of M. W. and Mary Mitchell. Mrs. Brasher is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
John F. Brown, one of the substantial tillers of the soil and a successful stockman of Cedar County, Mo:, was born in Dade County, Mo., on the 7th of February, 1842, being the eighth of ten sons. He lived with his parents until nineteen years of age, and in September, 1862, enlisted in Company A, Sixth Missouri Cavalry, U. S. A., and served until August, 1865, being a par- ticipant in several important battles. He received a gunshot in the left side, and, after the close of the war, returned to Cedar County, where he has since made his home, having been a resident of his present farm of 200 acres since 1879; he is the owner of 160 acres in Barton County. He is a member of the G. A. R., and in 1872 was elected assessor of Cedar County, by the Repub- lican party, being re-elected to the same two years later, and proved an efficient officer. In 1865 he was married to Miss L. F. Firestone, who was born in 1845, her father and mother being Virginians, born in 1812 and 1819, and died in Cedar County, Mo., in July, 1884, and May, 1884, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and are the parents of seven children: Alfred M., Alice V., Mary R., (deceased), John A. and Charles (living), and Roscoe (deceased), and Nora V. Mr. Brown is a son of Alfred and grandson of Andrew Brown. The latter was among the earliest settlers of Lincoln County, Mo., from North Carolina, and died there at the age of ninety years. Alfred Brown was born in North Carolina in 1810, and died in Platte County, Mo., in 1852, having been engaged in farming and tanning. When a young man he left Lincoln County and went to Polk County, where he married Miss Lucy Thompson, who was born in Kentucky in 1812. She died in Cedar County, Mo., on the 10th of February, 1887.
Thomas M. Brown, attorney-at-law, Buffalo, Mo., is prominent among the many wide-awake and enterprising citizens of Dallas County, and is well known also in Cedar County. Schooled and reared in the cradle of necessity, Mr. Brown has shown by his very successful life there during the past eight or nine years, the sterling worth of his manhood, and has drawn around him many friends, the result of his close application to public and private matters, and a masterful completion of his work. He is a native of Illinois, was born in La Salle, Ill., February 4, 1854, and is the son of John M. and Mary (Mulholland) Brown, natives of the Emerald Isle, who sought for themselves in their early life a home on the American Continent. John M. Brown was a
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CEDAR COUNTY.
merchant by occupation, and followed this occupation in Illinois for some time. He then removed from there to Missouri, and subsequently (projecting a journey to Pike's Peak) he located in Johnson County, Kan., where he passed the remainder of his life. Mrs. Brown afterward returned to the Missouri home, where she subsequently became the wife of John M. Guthridge, and bore him six children. Our subject grew to manhood on the farm of his foster-father, and obtained a fair common-school education. Upon attaining his majority, he sought the " Lone Star State," where he spent nearly a year. He had been reared to hard manual labor, and used it as his stock in trade, but the State of Texas did not furnish him, as he thought, remuneration sufficient for his labors, and he returned to old Missouri. He here com- pleted a good schooling, and afterward taught school. His early inclinations were for the study of law, and to this end the young man bent his energies. As soon as he could afford it, he entered a law office, his preceptor being the Hon. Daniel P. Stratton, of Stockton, Mo., from whose office he was admitted to the bar in 1880. Mr. Brown immediately cast about for a location, and for a while he was at Hartville, in Wright County, Mo., where he made many strong and true friends, but did not stay there long, and located at Buffalo. He went there in the spring of 1880, and in the fall of that year he was nominated and elected to the office of prosecuting attorney of Dallas County, a position he filled most acceptably during his term. To his credit it may be said that, upon his retirement, the citizens of Dallas County testified to their appreciation of his services by re-electing him to that office, and continuing him as their prosecuting attorney for an- other term. Upon his retirement from public life, Mr. Brown gave close attention to his practice, and has placed himself in the front rank of his profession. He is a versatile speaker, a deep reasoner, a logician of the old school on financial matters, and in this respect, which is certainly a cardinal principle in his character, we question very much whether he has any superiors, and few equals, in this judicial district. He has " hewed to the
line," and made a success of his efforts. He owns over 1,000 acres of farm land, a very considerable city property there, a half- interest in the Dallas County Bank and perquisites. He has a lucrative practice, and is to-day blessed with a realization of his early hopes when coming here, nominally a penniless attorney. Mr. Brown was happily married in Cedar County, Mo., January 20, 1881, to Miss Josie M. Beck, daughter of Isaac F. and Martha (Fielder) Beck, worthy citizens of Cedar County, Mo. Mrs. Brown is a lady of estimable attainments, and has, with her hus- band, the universal respect of all acquaintances. They are mem- bers of the Christian Church, and Mrs. Brown is a worthy and active member of the Ladies' Aid Society. Mr. Brown is a
BIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 725
Master Mason, and a member of Riddick Lodge No. 361. He is a genial gentleman, affable and courteous to every one he meets; has a sound head, well set on a strong and healthy body. He enjoys his successful life at Buffalo, however, very unosten- tatiously.
Benjamin Carter, farmer and stock-raiser. Notwithstanding the rapid stride made in the last ten or twelve years by the intro- duction of blooded stock in the county, Mr. Carter has kept thoroughly apace with the times, and is now classed among the prominent farmers and stock-raisers of the community. He was born in Spencer County, Ky., in 1827, and is the son of John and Millie (Mason) Carter, natives of Loudoun County, Va. When quite young Mr. and Mrs. Carter went with their parents to Kentucky, and settled in Carter and Mason Counties, respect- ively named in their honor. Here they were married, but afterward settled in Spencer County, where Mr. Carter died of cholera in 1832. Mrs. Carter died in Louisville during the war. Grandfather John Carter was a native of Virginia, was of English descent, and was a soldier in the War of 1812, with Harrison. He died in Spencer County. Gen. Carter, a Revolutionary soldier, was his brother. Benjamin Carter, the elder of two brothers, was reared to farm life, received a limited education in the subscription schools, attending about three months in all, and was married in 1852 to Miss Martha Chamberlain, a native of Jefferson County, Ky., born in 1834, and the daugh- ter of Jacob and Sarah Chamberlain, natives of Marion County, Ky. Mr. Chamberlain died in Jefferson County, Ky., but Mrs. Chamberlain is still living there. Twelve children were the fruits of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Carter, five sons and four daughters now living. In 1852 Mr. Carter and family removed to Orange County, Ind., and in 1869 came to Cedar County, where he has two good farms on Sac River, 185 acres in two tracts, with 125 under cultivation. Mr. Carter started life with limited means, and has made all his property by his own exertions. He was formerly a Whig in politics, voting for Taylor in 1848, but he is now a Republican. Mrs. Carter is and has been a member of the Christian Church for many years. Their children are named as follows: Thomas, of Texas; Jacob, Harvey; Martha, wife of John Ellison; Sallie, wife of Washington Sexton; Mary, wife of James Hackleman; James, Ruth and Franklin. Mr. Carter has spared no pains to educate his children. During the late war he was one of the company that followed Gen. John Morgan to the Ohio line, while he was making his famous raid through that State. He has always been very indus- trious, has been a hard-worker all his life, and has reared a large family. Mrs. Carter's parents were cousins, and their parents were natives of Virginia, but early settlers of Kentucky, where
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CEDAR COUNTY.
Thomas Chamberlain, Mrs. Carter's paternal grandfather, died. Her maternal grandfather, Fielding Chamberlain, removed to Missouri in the latter part of his life, and died in Andrew County. One of her grandfathers was a soldier in the Revolu- tionary War.
William Carroll Church, who is well known throughout Cedar County, Mo., as "Uncle Billy " Church, was born in Maury County, Tenn., in 1816, and is a son of Robert and grandson of Thomas Church, both of whom were born in North Carolina, the former in 1795. When a young man he moved with his father to Maury County, Tenn., and there Thomas died in 1847, at the age of seventy-seven years. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza- beth Culbertson, died in Cedar County, Mo., in 1856, aged about seventy-five years. Robert Church was engaged in farming in Tennessee, and was there married to Miss Frankie Fitzgerald, in 1815. She was born in the " Old North State," in 1799, and died in 1845, her husband dying in 1876. Robert Church was twice married, his second wife being Lucy Fitzgerald, a sister of his first wife, and a daughter of Edmund Fitzgerald, who was born in North Carolina, and died in Maury County, Tenn. William Car- roll Church was the eldest of thirteen children born to his father's first marriage, and was reared to manhood on a farm. In 1835 he married Miss Mazey Petty, a daughter of Abram Petty. She was born in North Carolina, in 1815, and her union with Mr. Church resulted in the birth of seven children: Hardy J. (de- ceased) was deputy sheriff four years and sheriff of Cedar County four years; Frances, wife of George R. Corbin; Naomi; Sarah, wife of Nelson Fritts; Robert; Cynthia, wife of E. W. Montgomery; and George W. When Mr. Church was a young man he learned the blacksmith's trade, and in 1854 removed to Stockton, Mo., and erected a blacksmith's shop, in which he and G. R. Corbin were partners for nine years. About this time the war broke out, and Mr. Church went to Cooper County, where he remained until 1865, then returning to Stockton, and he and H. J. purchased a carding machine and also ran a nurs-
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