USA > Missouri > Cooper County > History of Howard and Cooper counties, Missouri : written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, towns, and villages : together with a condensed history of Missouri, a reliable and detailed history of Howard and Cooper counties-- its pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens, general and local statistics of great value, incidents and reminiscences > Part 34
USA > Missouri > Howard County > History of Howard and Cooper counties, Missouri : written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, towns, and villages : together with a condensed history of Missouri, a reliable and detailed history of Howard and Cooper counties-- its pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens, general and local statistics of great value, incidents and reminiscences > Part 34
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JAMES B. BROOKS,
of Brooks & Morrison, livery business. Mr. Brook's life divides itself into three periods-his youth, his experience in the war and his career since as a citizen and business man. But a sketch of no man's life is justly considered complete without a reference to his ancestry. His father, Ira S. Brooks, was born in Madison county, Kentucky, May 1, 1808. He was married three times ; first to Sarah Brooking, September 2, 1830, also a native of Kentucky ; after her death to Louisa Owens, in this state, October 20, 1840, and again, she also having died, to Elizabeth Bosy, who still survives him. He died June 20, 1871. He came to Missouri about 1834, and came to this county in 1844. James B. Brooks, the subject of this sketch, and son by his father's first marriage, was born in Boone county, Mis- souri, October 21, 1839, but was brought with his father's family five years afterwards to this county, where he was reared and educated. In 1861, at the age of twenty-four years, he enlisted in the " Rich- mond Grays," the company of which General John B. Clark, Jr., was the captain, at the commencement of the war. After the expiration of this term of service he joined the celebrated "Bledsoe Battery," with which he served until the surrender, in 1865. Returning home after the surrender, in 1866 he engaged in the livery business, which he has since followed. As a business man he has been successful, and as a citizen he is well respected. He is a Knight Templar in the Masonic order.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
GEORGE C. AND BENNETT W. BROWN.
Bennett C. Brown, the father of George C. and Bennett W., was a son of James Brown, who, with his family, settled in Howard county from Kentucky in 1818. Bennett C. was then but three years old, hav- ing been born in Madison county, Kentucky, January 7, 1815. His father, James Brown, was one of the early settlers of Kentucky, and coming here as early as 1818, he, of course, also became one of the pioneers of Howard county. He died in this county in 1842. One year after his father's death, Bennett C., then in his twenty-ninth year, was married, November 28, 1843, to Miss Mary Cason, a native of Virginia, and by this union two children were reared - George C. and Bennett W. Both were born in this county - George C. on January 5, 1845. Bennett C., the father, was a farmer by occupation, as his father before him had been, and in 1847 he opened the farm where his sons now reside. There he lived until his death, which occurred October 2, 1882. Prior to this, however, on the 29th of March, 1873, a heavy shadow fell across his declining years. His wife, the object of his early and life-long love -she who had shared all his hopes and disappointments and had borne a brave and noble part by his side in the struggle of life - passed away forever. Bennett W., the younger brother, was reared to habits of industry, and in a family where everything but honor and purity of thought was a stranger ; and, favored with a substantial education, he may confident- ly hope to make his way in the world as successfully and honorably as his father lived, and with infinitely less difficulty and hardship. George C. has always followed the occupation in which his father brought him up - farming. Nevertheless, he was given a good oppor- tunity to acquire an education, which he did not fail to improve. He had the advantage of the common schools and also a course in Central college. In 1870 he went to Louisiana to engage in cotton-growing. He remained away one year, and while his success was not discourag- ing, he saw that a man who owns a farm of Howard county land and is willing to work it, has but little reason to wish for a change. Since then he has lived in this county, and since his father's death he and his brother have had charge of the home farm, which contains nine hundred acres. Besides this, he has a two-hundred acre farm of his own, which he also superintends. He was married March 7, 1865, to Miss Mary E., a daughter of James Richardson, of this county. They have one daughter - Mabel.
L. P. BURRUS,
dentist, is now engaged in the practice of his profession with Dr. Fen- ton in Fayette. He was a son of Thomas P. Burrus, an old and life- long citizen of Howard county, now deceased. L. P. Burrus' father was a native of this county and was born December 24, 1811. Hav- ing been reared on the farm he adopted farming as his occupation, which he followed through life. On the 18th of April, 1839, he was (25)
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
married to Miss Susan E. Blythe, daughter of an okl resident family of this county. She was born March 28, 1820. Eight children were reared of the union, of whom L. P. was the youngest, as follows : Thomas B., Montgomery S., Davenport, Mary J., Aphollonia, Or- leans, Corrella and Lavosker P. The father died August 3, 1870, and Mrs. Burrns, eight years afterwards, July 8, 1878. Thomas P. Bur- rus was an upright and honorable man, an excellent farmer, and was highly respected as a citizen and neighbor. L. P. was educated in the common schools and in Central college. He was born July 14, 1861. He studied dentistry under C. K. Fenton, of Fayette, with whom he is now practising.
C. R. CASHELL,
farmer, section 22, the owner of a well improved farm of 111 acres, came originally from Jefferson county, Ohio, where he was born, April 16, 1838. His father was born in Maryland, and his mother was a native of New Jersey. C. R. learned the trade of blacksmithing in Ohio, following it as his ocenpation for thirty years. May 30, 1850, Miss Electra A. Chapman, of Erie county, Pennsyl- vania, became his wife. To them were born five children, three of whom survive : William S., George W. and Henry S. Mrs. C. died November 25, 1865, and on November 25, 1870, he married Miss Nancy Boyd, of Jefferson county, Ohio. March 14, 1874, Mr. Cashell came to Howard county, Missouri, and has since resided here. He belongs to the Masonic lodge, at Fayette. His wife is a mem- ber of the M. E. church. He served for three and one-half years during the late war.
JAMES D. CHORN.
James M. Chorn, the father of James D., one of the most highly respected citizens and farmers of Howard county, was killed during the late war, leaving his wife a widow and his children orphans. James D. was then ( 1865) but eleven years of age, so that with the love and encouragement of a tender and devoted mother as his only help, he has had to make his own way in the world from early youth. And how he has succeeded, is strikingly shown by the high esteem in which he is held, and the fact that now, at the age of twenty- nine, he owns a handsome farm containing three hundred and thirty acres. His father was an early settler in this county, from Clark county, Kentucky, and his mother, who before her marriage, was a Miss Nancy J. Rollins, was a native of this county. They reared five chil- dren besides James D., four of whom, including Jas. D., are still living. Mrs. Chorn died in 1873. James D. has combined stock dealing with farming and has been successful in both occupations. He remained on the homestead farm until 1869, and then for two years afterwards he farmed and traded in connection with Robert Estill. March, 1881, he settled on his present farm. He was mar-
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
ried October 3, 1878, to Miss Mattie Maupin, of Kentucky. They have one child, Lewis M. Mr. Chorn is a member of the A. O. U. W.
ROBERT C. CLARK
was born in Howard county, Missouri, January 1, 1846. His father, General John B. Clark, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere, was a native of Madison county, Kentucky, but came to Missouri when quite young, and afterwards became one of the most prominent men in the history of the state. His mother, whose maiden name was Eleanor Turner, was also born in Kentucky. Mrs. Clark died in 1873, General Clark still surviving her. Reared by such parents, young Robert C., as would be expected, enjoyed exceptional advantages for the improvement of the many strong and excellent traits of his charac- ter. After a thorough preparatory course in the primary and inter- mediate schools, he attended the graded school of Glasgow, Missouri, under Professor W. S. Davis, an educator of great zeal and ability. In 1865 he attended Stewart's commercial college, in St. Louis, and there familiarized himself with the principles and details of commer- cial business. After his conrse at commercial college he accepted a position as clerk of a steamboat, which he held for two years. He was now twenty years of age, and the realization forced itself upon him that he was not intended for a commercial life. Accordingly, in the fall of 1866, he returned to Fayette and at once entered vigorously upon the study of law. For two years he applied himself with great energy and resolution, and, enjoying the advantage of the constant instruction of his father, at the expiration of that time was admitted to the bar. Commencing at once the active practice of his profession, his success soon qualified his own hopes and fulfilled the expectation of his friends. He was twice chosen municipal attorney of the city of Fayette, and in 1880 was elected prosecuting attorney of the county, being re-elected to that office in 1882, his present term to expire in 1884. In 1879 he was married to Miss Bettie Howard, a daughter of Benjamin Howard, one of the pioneer settlers and substantial citizens of Howard county. Two children, Robert C. and Benjamin H., have been born of this marriage, Mr. Clark is a Knight Templar in the Masonic order and a leading member of the A. O. U. W.
JAMES CONDRON.
Mr. Condron is of Pennsylvania parentage, his father and mother having both been natives of that state. His father, Peter Condron, was a man of great energy and of an enterprising spirit. At an early day in the history of Missouri, he emigrated to this state and here opened a farm which became his permanent home. His wife was a Miss Elizabeth Bryant before their marriage, and they had ten child- ren, of whom James was the second. Mrs. Condron died in 1859. Her husband survived her nearly twenty years, following her in death in 1878. James, the subject of this sketch, was born in Carroll
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
county, Missouri, September 14, 1841. He had the advantages, of good schools in his youth and received a substantial, practical educa- tion. He followed farming where he was brought up until 1865, when he removed to Howard county, settling on the place where he now lives. He has a farm of 280 acres of excellent land, and it is one of the best improved and best kept farms in the county. As a farmer, Mr. Condron is a representative of the best class, and most progressive and enterprising agriculturalists we have. He was married November 10, 1864, to Miss Lizzie Todd, daughter of P. Todd, an old pioneer of Howard county. They have five children, Mary F., William J., Florence J., Alice B., and Olivia.
SAMUEL TRIBBLE CREWS, M. D.
Among the few old landmarks of the early settlement of Howard county that remain among us to remind us, by their white hairs and bent forms of the debt of gratitude we owe to that noble race of brave- hearted pioneers who found this county a wilderness, and gave it to us one of the fairest and most prosperous parts of a great commonwealth, is the venerable old patriarch whose name heads this sketch. Dr. Crews is now far advanced into his eighty-fourth year, and for nearly sixty years from early manhood, his life has been prominently and usefully identified with the history of Howard county. Himself a man whose citizenship has been an honor and a blessing to the county, he comes of an ancestry in every way worthy to have had such a descendant. His grandfather on his father's side, David Crews, was a sturdy, strong-minded Englishman, well-educated, and courageous in thought and deed, who immigrated to Virginia with his family some time prior to the revolution. When the war for independence broke out, he was one of the first to rally to the defence of the colonies. He followed the flag of the young republic through all the hardship and suffering of that memorable struggle, and until it floated in final triumph over Yorktown. The country he had shown the valor to defend, he had the courage, fortitude and industry to open up to civilization. He became a pioneer settler in Kentucky shortly after the close of the war. Leaving his family in Virginia, he first came out to what is now known as the Blue Grass regions, where he built a fort and raised a crop. Returning then to Virginia he brought out his family to his new home in the fall of 1780, and lived there until his death. He be- came a highly successful farmer and owned large bodies of land in what are now Bourbon, Clark and Madison counties. His wife, to ' whom he was married before leaving England, was formerly a Miss Annie Magee. They reared nine children, four daughters and five sons. David, the doctor's father, was the youngest of the sons. David Crews inherited all the strong and better qualities of his father's character, and became one of the most substantial and highly esteemed citizens of Madison county. He was a farmer by occupation and was abundantly successful in his chosen calling. In abont 1799 he was married to Miss Sallie Tribble, daughter of Andrew and Sallie Trib-
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
ble, who were also early settlers in Kentucky, from Virginia. Mrs. Crews' father was a pioneer Baptist minister in Kentucky, and became widely known in those early days as one of the ablest preachers of his time. Her brother, Peter Tribble and brother-in-law David Chinault, also became distinguished Baptist clergymen. Of the family of chil- dren of David, fils, and Sallie Crews, the doctor was the eldest and was born in Madison county, Kentucky, May 1, 1800. His father being a man in easy circumstances and of liberal ideas with regard to education, young Samuel T. was given good school advantages, and acquired an excellent English education. After completing his gen- eral course, he entered upon the study of medicine and in due time became a matriculate in the medical department of the Transylvania university, of Kentucky, from which he was graduated with high honor in 1824. Naturally of a self-reliant, independent disposition, and spurred on by the laudable ambition to rise in the world by his own merits and exertions, the year after his graduation he resolved to quit the home of his birth where he was favored by family influence and friends, and to cast his fortunes with the new Boone's Lick country in Missouri, then the centre of attraction to westward emi- gration. Accordingly he came to Howard county. Here, as the sequel shows, he realized all the hopes with which he started out in the world. As years passed by, he steadily rose in his profession, and the accumulation of property resulting from an extensive and suc- cessful practice kept pace with the progress of his reputation as a physician. Before the meridian of life was reached he had become one of the well-to-do citizens and most prominent practitioners in the county. In 1828 he was married to Miss Elizabeth, a daughter of William Ward, Esq., now deceased, for many years one of the most respectable citizens of the county. After practising a number of years in Fayette he removed to a handsome farm in the country, where he lived and pursued the practice of his profession uutil the close of the civil war. Returning then to Fayette, he has continued here since. While Dr. Crews has been thoroughly devoted to his profession, which he has ornamented with his learning, will and ability, his usefulness has not been wholly confined to his chosen calling in life, for as a citizen he has always taken an active and important part in all movements designed for the advancement of the material and social interests of the community. He has long been an earnest and exemplary member of the Christian church, and one of the most active and generous of that denomination in promoting the cause of religion in this portion of the county. As a physician, citizen and neighbor, and in every relation of life, he has ever borne a name without reproach, and now, in the twilight of old age, he enjoys the highest reward this world can offer for a worthy and successful life-the respect and con- fidence of his neighbors and acquaintances, and the affection and ven- eration of family and friends. Dr. and Mrs. Crews have reared a family of worthy and accomplished children, and several of them are now themselves heads of families.
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IHISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
HAMILTON CREWS.
In sketching the lives of the men who have made Howard county what it is -one of the foremost counties in the state -the name of Hamilton Crews could not be passed without injustice both to him and to the county itself. He has lived in this county fifty years, and every year of this half century has been a year of honest industry, contribut- ing to the development and prosperity of the county. He was born in Madison county, Ky., April 8, 1818 ; sixteen years afterwards he came to Howard county, and the balance of his life, the best energies of a strong and vigorous manhood, have been spent in this county. He was married, August 15, 1842, to Miss Elizabeth Withers, daugh- ter of James Withers, an old settler of the county, and of this union, six children have been reared - Nannie J., John F., Paul T. S., Mol- lie E., James E. and Lou. Mr. Withers is a farmer and is classed among the best citizens of the county.
Paul S. Crews, son of Hamilton Crews, was born in this county, April 4, 1852, and was reared on the farm. Having been brought up on a farm, he adopted that as his regular calling in life, and he has since followed it. In 1876. he located on the farm which, in connec- tion with his brother, he now cultivates. He is a member of the Christ- ian church.
James E. Crews, a younger son of Hamilton Crews, is also a native of Howard county, and was born August 8, 1857. He took the usual course in the common schools, and after qualifying himself for a higher course of study, entered the commercial college at Boonville, Mo., where he acquired an excellent education. After his college course, in 1879, he went to Texas, where he was engaged with Capt. Hayes, of Ft. Smith, in surveying land in that state. In 1881, he re- turned to Missouri, and, in 1883, settled on the place where he now lives. He has one hundred and fifteen acres of improved land, belong- ing to a tract of two hundred and thirty acres.
WINCHESTER DAVIS.
Mr. Davis is one of a class of which there are now a great mauy in Howard county -thoroughly educated farmers. Besides a com- plete course in the common schools, he also attended Central college in Fayette, and Mt. Pleasant college in Huntsville, and so far from harboring the thought that the more advanced education he thus ac- quired raised him above the occupation of a farmer, he recognizes the fact in allits force that he was thereby only that much better qualified for his chosen pursuit. His father, Joseph Davis, a well-known law- yer of Fayette, Mo., was of Christian county, Ky., and came to How- ard county in or about 1818. Mrs. Davis, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was a Miss Sarah E. Green before her marriage, and was a native of Tennessee. They had four children, of whom Win- chester was the second. Winchester was born in Fayette, Mo., June 21, 1844, but was principally reared on his father's farm, where he formed
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
that predilection for agricultural pursuits that afterwards determined his calling in life. In the heated and excited state of the war feeling in this county it was practically impossible for young men to remain at home in safety, and whatever their inclinations might be, they were compelled to take the side of one party or the other. Young Davis' connections and sense of duty inclined him to the cause of the Union, hence, in 1863, when nineteen years of age, he joined the Union army, entering the pay department with the rank of lieutenant, where he remained nine months and then resigned. In the fall of 1864, he went to Minnesota and was engaged in the fur trade, buying all over the far northwest, including the western Canadian provinces. In 1865, he returned to Howard county, and, in the spring of 1866, began farming on the home place, where he continued until 1878. He then settled on his present place, where he owns two hundred and fifty acres of land. He was married November 29, 1865, to Miss Estelle Prewitt, of Fayette, Mo., an accomplished lady, daughter of R. F. Prewitt, a present member of the Fayette bar. They have four children living - Prewitt, Martha, Wendell and an infant. Mr. Davis is a member of A. O. U. W., and of the M. E. church.
JAMES B. DAVIS.
James Davis, the great grandfather of James B., was born in Wales and emigrated to the United State in 1727, and settled in Penn- sylvania. He had a family of ten sons and one daughter. Jonathan Davis, his grandfather, was born in Pennsylvania and removed to Virginia. John Davis, the father of James B. and son of Jonathan Davis, was born in Pennsylvania, April 4, 1781. In 1804 he came to St. Charles county, Missouri, and lived there until his death which occurred in 1846. His mother's maiden name was Susan Bryan ; she was a native of North Carolina, and her family came to Kentucky with Daniel Boone. She lived in Kentucky until 1807 and then came to St. Charles county, Missouri, where she was married. She died October 18th, 1854. James B. was born in what is now Warren county, Angust 31, 1811. He was reared on a farm in his native county and remained there until 1866, and then removed to Franklin county and was engaged in farming and milling until 1881, when he came to Howard county and purchased 310 acres in section 2, known as the Governor Reynolds farm. He was married March 1st, 1840, to Miss Lydia A. Wheeler, a native of Missouri. To them were born three children, of whom only one, John C., is now living. Mrs. Davis died August 5th, 1845. His second marriage occurred June 30th, 1850, to Miss Permelia Bryan, a native of this state. There are by this marriage six children living, H. Bascom, Joshua C., Charles E., William A., Mary G. now Mrs. David- son, Martha E. now Mrs. Goode. Their eldest son, Henry C., was a phy- sician and had charge of the quarantine in St. Louis in 1878 during the yellow fever scourge, and died October 15th, of that year. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are members of the M. E. church. Mr. Davis while living in Warren county held the office of assessor twelve years.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
JAMES DEATHERAGE.
The farmers of Howard county, and particularly the young farmers, are justly classed among the most intelligent, progressive and successful in the state. This is undoubtedly due namely to two things - a good land and liberal education, and the last is by no means the least. Mr. Deatherage was educated at Central college and he is one of the educated, progressive young farmers of the coun- ty. He was born in this county October 24th, 1856, and is a son of Bird Deatherage, whose sketch will be found on these pages, He farmed at home with his father until the spring of 1882, when he came to the place where he now lives. He has three hundred and thirty- nine acres of land and his improvements are of a good quality. He was married December 20th, 1882, to Miss Octavia Rooker, a daugh- ter of John A. J. Rooker, an old resident of the county.
COL. BIRD DEATHERAGE,
twice a member of the legislature from Howard county, and former sheriff of the county for four years, was the second of a family of eight, the children of Amos Deatherage and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin Howard, both parents having been natives of Kentucky, and afterwards among the first settlers of Howard county, this State. Amos Deatherage, the father, was born in March, 1782, and his wife, Elizabeth, in March, 1790. In 1817, they immigrated to Howard county, Colonel Bird Deatherage, the subject of this sketch, then being but six years old. In 1820 the family settled in section 5, of this township, where they lived until 1824, when they settled in section 7, on the farm now known as " Elkin place." Subse- quently, in 1836, they settled permanently on the farm where the parents continued to live until their deaths, which occurred, the father's September 24, 1840, and the mother's November 24, 1858. Amos Deatherage, the father, was prominently identified with the early im- provement of the county, and was looked upon as among the first of the brave-hearted, enterprising pioneers who cleared away the wilder- ness and made the country a fitting home for an intelligent and pros- perous people. Mrs. Deatherage was a Howard - need more he said ? In her were the gentleness and nobility of nature that have distin- guished that family from the time of Thomas the hero of Flodden to the present day. As a wife and mother, she was tender and devoted ; and as a lady she was the soul of gentleness and refinement. Colonel Bird Deatherage was born in Madison county, Kentucky, December 26, 1811, but was reared and educated in Howard county, Missouri. The first official position he ever held was in 1846, when he was elected to and afterwards filled the office of constable, serving until the summer of 1852. He was then elected sheriff of Howard county, and served in that office until 1856. In the fall of 1856 he was chosen representative from this county to the legislature, and in 1858 re- chosen for the same position, his two terms of service filling a period
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