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 55
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 55
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" Death never takes one alone, but two! Whenever he enters in at a door, Under roof of gold or roof of thatch, He always leaves it upon the latch; Aud comes again ere the year is o'er, Never one of a household only."
Joseph Drake, his father, and his mother, whose maiden name was Martha A. Chambers, were both originally of Jessamine county, Ken- tucky, but died in Lewis county, this state, to which they had removed. They had a family of thirteen children, five of whom are still living - Joseph C., and Kate (now Mrs. James Collison ), both of Glasgow ; James M., of Louisiana, Missouri ; Mary S. (widow of Columbus Merritt, of St. Louis), and George W., the subject of this sketch. George W. Drake, Jr., was married January 15, 1857, to Miss Julia A., daughter of Judge David Pipes, of Boone county. She was born August 3, 1838. Eleven children have been born to them, five of whom are deceased - Mary Maud, David Piper, Joseph, Sallie, and Stella. The family now consists of Mattie, a highly cultivated lady of charming manners, Lou, Ernest, Charles D., Georgia, and Wade Hampton.
JOHN G. EATON,
farmer, section 6. John G. Eaton, one of the successful and well respected farmers of Howard county, was born in this county, one and a half miles south of Fayette, April 7, 1823, and was the second
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
of a family of four children of George and Jane (George) Eaton, originally of Clark county, Kentucky, but who settled in this county, near Fayette, in 1818, where the father died in 1835. The children are George C., John G., Anna C. (widow of George Eaton ), and Lydia ( wife of Benj. Patrick, of Fayette). Geo. Eaton, the father, was a well-to-do farmer, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him for his many excellent qualities as a citizen and neighbor. His widow was married some years after his death to Thomas Campbell. She is also now deceased. John G. Eaton learned the carpenter's trade in early life, which he followed until 1852. January 15, 1852, he was married to Miss Anna, daughter of Joseph D. Hardin, an early settler of the county. After his marriage, Mr. Eaton began the im- provement of his present farm, which now contains 320 acres, 200 acres of which are in cultivation, and in which he grows wheat, corn, grass, etc. He also raises considerable numbers of live stock for the markets -cattle, horses, mules, hogs, sheep, etc. In 1864, Mr. E. enlisted in the Confederate army, and served in Perkin's brigade, under General Price, until the close of the war. His married life has proved a long and happy one, and has been blessed with twelve child- ren, ten of whom are living - Claiborne died, aged seventeen years, in 1872 ; Jennie, wife of Ben. Gilvan, of Chariton county ; Joseph E., married Bettie Gilvan ; Sarah B., wife of Miller George; George, Jefferson, Johnnie, Effie, died aged five years, in 1871; Annie, James, Mary E., and Charles. Mrs. Eaton is a member of the Christian church.
CHARLES B. FISHER,
farmer, a son of Rev. David Fisher, now deceased, and wife, Eliza, daughter of Daniel Brown, of Essex county, Virginia, was born in Howard county, Missouri, January 17, 1838, and was the second of a family of seven children, now living - Mary E., widow of George W. Walker ; Charles B., Susan M., wife of Rev. R. W. Blakey ; Sallie C., James O., married to Miss Kate Patterson ; Laura O., and Lou P. [A sketch of the parents is given elsewhere in this volume ]. Rev. David Fisher being a man of ample means, and of superior cul- ture himself, he was careful to give his children good educational ad- vantages, and, accordingly, all' had the benefit of a college course, either at Fayette or Columbia, and one of his daughters, Miss Laura, attended the widely known Loquet institute, of New Orleans, Louisi- ana. Charles B., the subject of this sketch, was reared on his father's farm, and in youth was given an excellent education. He also was in Louisiana some time - about five years -but when the war broke out, in 1861, was in Texas, and in July of that year, at Sher- man, enlisted in the Confederate service, under General Ross, and served in Generals Van Dorn's and Joe Johnson's commands succes- sively, until the close of the war, surrendering at Canton, Mississippi, in 1865. He was in numerons hard-fought battles in both depart- ments of the southeastern, or south Atlantic, and the trans-Missis- sippi departments, including the battle of Pea Ridge, in Arkansas.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
Returning home after the war, he engaged in farming and stock rais- ing, etc., which he has since followed. Some years after his return, he was married to Miss Lizzie A. Harvey, an accomplished young lady of this county, daughter of John and Eliza ( Markland ) Harvey, old and highly respected residents of the county. Mr. F. is an enterprising and successful farmer, and enjoys the esteem of all who know hin. His farm contains nearly 500 acres, most of which is improved.
B. E. GIVENS,
farmer, section 16. B. E. Givens was the fifth of a family of seven children of Samuel and Sarah Givens, of St. Charles county, Missouri, and was born in that county February 29, 1844. One brother and two sisters are still living, Robert A., of Linn county, and Fannie S., wife of C. T. Richards, and Martha J., on the old homestead in their native county. The father, Samuel Givens, came to Howard county from Kentucky in 1820, and remained here about four years, working for his uncle, Benjamin Givens, at the blacksmith trade, but at the expiration of that time returned to Kentucky. Subsequently he went to Indiana, and in 1835 was married to Miss Sarah Angern, im- mediately after which he immigrated to this state and settled in St. Charles county, near Flint Hill, where he reared his family. He died September 8, 1878. B. E. Givens, the subject of this sketch, entered the Confederate service at the age of nineteen, enlisting at Dan- ville, Mo., in January, 1863, in Dorsey's command, but was captured a short time afterwards and confined, first at St. Charles, and then at St. Louis seven months. He escaped from the prison of St. Louis by running from the guard, and joined General Price at Fayetteville, Arkansas. He served in Colonel Slayback's regiment, under Gen- eral Joe Shelby, until the close of the war. After the restoration of peace he went to Indianapolis and then to Litchfield, Illinois, and in September, 1865, came to Howard county and worked with C. E. Givens until 1870, when he settled on his present farm, where he has since lived, except during 1881-82 he was in Fremont county, Iowa. His farm contains about 200 acres of good land. February 24, 1870, he was married to Miss Charity R., daughter of Thomas W. and Sarah S. ( Riggs ) Patton. They have three children, Samuel S., aged eleven years ; Benjamin P., aged nine years, and Moses P., aged seven years. Mr. Givens is a member of the M. E. church south and of the Masonic fraternity.
BENJAMIN F. GIVENS,
farmer. One of the youngest but, at the same time, most prominent and progressive farmers of Howard county is the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. His farm contains 1, 100 acres, and is devoted to both grain growing and stock raising. He has 200 acres of wheat, 140 of meadow, and other products in proportion ; and his stock of cattle numbers about 200 head, his sheep flock 150, besides large
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
numbers of horses, mules, hogs, etc. He was born near where he now lives January 30th, 1859, and was educated at Central college. He was the second of a family of seven children of E. C. Givens and Mary A. (Kring) Givens. October 4, 1882, he was married to Miss India K. Swinney, daughter of Mrs. Salvia Swinney, of Fayette, and came to his farm the same month, where he has since lived. He and his wife are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church in Fay- ette.
L. E. HALL,
farmer, section 3. Among the old and eminently respected citizens of Howard county, none are more highly esteemed for their excellence of character and superior intelligence than the subject of this sketch. From one of the best families of the Old Dominion, and thoroughly educated in youth preparatory to entering the legal profession, after having studied for the bar and been admitted to the practice in which he spent a year of unusually successful and promising labor, he was compelled by ill-health to retire from the profession and to devote himself to the pursuits of country life, where
"Not rural sights alone, but rural sounds, Exhilarate the spirit, and restore The tone of languid nature."
He was born in Lewis county, Virginia, October 8, 1819, and was a son of William and Mary A. Hall, both natives of that state. His mother, whose maiden name was Lowther, was a grand-daughter of Colonel Lowther, of revolutionary fame. After retiring from the practice of law in Virginia, Mr. Hall engaged in farming in that state, and, having married in 1850, five years afterwards brought his family to this state and settled in Jackson county. There he became a prom- inent farmer, but in 1863 was compelled to leave the county under General Ewing's military order depopulating parts of that and other counties. He then came to Howard county and bought his present farm of over 200 acres, where he has since lived. He was married in Virginia February 6, 1850, to Miss Mary E. Thompson. Their union has been blessed with eleven children, eight of whom are living ; Charles B., Benjamin F., May E., Richard B. (in Texas), Lemuel E., Robert L., William D. and Thomas J. Ella J., wife of James Ennis, died in 1882, William G. died in boyhood, and Ida died in iu- fancy. Mr. and Mrs. Hall are both members of the Methodist Epis- copal church south. Although disappointed in his early professional ambition, he has so lived that, now his race of life being nearly run, he can look back over the past and forward into the future, seeing in the one nothing to regret, in the other nothing to fear. Even old age is brighter with hope to him than was youth itself,
"For, as the evening twilight fades away The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day."
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
OVERTON C. HERN,
farmer and school teacher, residence, section 11. The parents of Mr. Hern, Overton and Roxana B. (Crews) Hern, were both natives of Madison county, Kentucky, where they were reared, and were there married July 6, 1825. In 1830 they removed to this state, and, after stopping three years in Pike county, came on to Howard and settled on the place where he lived until his death, September 4, 1839, and where his widow still lives at the advanced age of seventy-seven, hav- ing been born October 31, 1806. Overton Hern, the father, was a carpenter by trade, and worked in that occupation when a young man, but a short time after his marriage turned his attention exclusively to farming. His place in this county contains 780 acres, and on this he opened his farm, improving it himself. He is buried on his home- stead. Five children were made fatherless by his death : (1) Mary, married John Patton and died April 20, 1854, leaving three children, Overton, Annie and Oscar, the two first of whom are now deceased ; (2) Sally A., wife of James Harvey ; (3) Patsey, married T. H. Starns, and died November 21, 1853, at Parkville, Missouri ; (4) Isa E., widow of Dr. Henry De Messing, a noted dentist, and (5) Over- ton C., the subject of this sketch. Overton C. Hern was born Octo- her 4, 1835, and was educated in the Howard high school of Fayette. He then clerked in a drug store about eighteen months, and after that began teaching school in the county, which he continued until 1855, when he went to Texas. He taught school in Hays and Travis coun- ties of that state about two years, after which he returned to Howard county, and has since followed school teaching and farming - teach- ing in the different districts in the vicinity of his farm. October 2, 1862, he was married to Miss Bettie R., daughter of Colonel Tom Patton, of this county. She was born May 14, 1841. A short time after this he settled on his present farm, which contains 240 acres of good land. Mr. and Mrs. Hern have eight children ; Thomas O., Paul C., Sallie M., Frank C., Ernest E., Roxana E., Mary D. and Harry. Both are members of the Christian church, and Mr. H. has been a fellow Mason for nearly twenty-five years.
JOHN INNES
was born in the Highlands of Scotland in 1843. His father, also John Innes, was born in 1807, and was married in 1840, in Elginshire, to Miss Jane Taylor, of Bauffshire, Scotland, who was born in 1819. They had fourteen children. The subject of this sketch, the second in number, lived with his father until 1867, when he emigrated to the United States, landing at New York and coming direct to Howard county, Missouri. In 1866 he was married to Miss Grace Grant, in Scotland. She was the daughter of John Grant, of Nairnshire. They have six children living : John, James McDonald, Margaret J., Alex- ander T., Charles P. and William W. Two are deceased.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
GENERAL BENJAMIN F. JACKSON,
farmer, section 25. General B. F. Jackson, comes of one of the best families of this section of the state, a family that has won honorable distinction in peace and war, and is descended from a gallant soldier of the revolution. It is no disparagement to others to say that his father, Judge Wade M. Jackson, was one of the purest and best men, and withal one of the most useful citizens that ever honored Howard county by their citizenship. As a farmer he was more than ordina- rily industrious and successful, having improved several farms amounting in the aggregate to over 1,200. As a citizen he was ac- tively and liberally public-spirited, and took a deep interest in public affairs, having held many offices of trust and honor, among which were magistrate, county judge, and representative in the state legislature, each a number of terms. In church affairs he was one of the most zealous and exemplary laymen in his denomination - the Baptist. To his exertions and liberality, as much as to almost any others, Wil- liam Jewel college, at Liberty, owes its existence. For years he served as a trustee for Mount Pleasant Baptist college, another insti- tution he was largely instrumental in building np. A man of supe- rior intelligence and education, he wrote the " History of the General Baptist Association of Missouri " at the request of his denomination. He was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, December 3, 1797, and came to Boone county this state prior to 1823. The following year, 1824, he came to Howard county, and for six years superintended the salt works of Bass & Shackelford. After this, in 1831, he settled on the place where he died, March 22, 1879. He was twice married : first to Miss Sarah M., daughter of Judge Lawrence Bass, of Boone county, in 1823 ; eleven children resulted from this union, ten of whom are still living, and all have worthy families. His first wife died in 1854, and in 1856 he was married to Miss Green Connor, a widow lady of Cooper county, daughter of John Spillman. One son, Wade M., now twenty-one years old, was reared of his second marriage. Judge Jackson's brother, Governor Claiborne F. Jackson, is so well known as to require only mention here. His grandfather, Joseph Jackson, was a native of Ireland, and his father, Dempsey, was a soldier in the revolutionary war. Four of the Judge's sons were gallant soldiers in the Confederate army, including Benjamin F., the subject of this sketch. Benjamin F. Jackson was born at the family homestead in this county, September 4, 1836, and was the fifth of six brothers by his father's first marriage. He was educated at Cen- tral college, and at fifteen years of age took charge of the local school of the neighborhood where he was reared. After teaching eight months he returned to college there taking a more advanced course of studies. In 1856 he engaged as book-keeper in a mercantile house in Centralia, Illinois, were he continued about three years, and in 1860 went to Texas. He was in that state when the war broke out in 1861, and enlisted in the Confederate service in Carter's cavalry regiment at Galveston, in answer to the first call for volunteers. He
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
commeuced as a private, and by successive promotions rose to the rank of inspector general, which office he filled in General Steele's command. A short time after the general surrender in 1865, he surrendered at Columbus, Texas, and for two years following taught school in Grayson and Denton counties of that state. September 15th, 1867, he was married to Miss Mary E. Jennings, of Grayson county, Texas, and then engaged as book-keeper for the government at Fort Richardson. This position he held about twelve months, and in 1869 returned to his old home in Howard county, and settled on a part of the homestead farm. He now has a farm of 360 ucres and has it well improved and well stocked. During the last three years of his father's life he had full charge of the former's business. and on Judge Jackson's death became executor of the estate, making final settlement in 1882. General and Mrs. Jackson have an inter- esting family of four children : Kate A., Stella M., Franklin D. and Eugene. During the years 1877 and 1878, General Jackson had charge of the Howard county co-operative store and conducted it with superior business ability and success. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for twenty years.
MARK JACKMAN,
farmer, miller and distiller, Price Arnold, the father of Mr. Jack- man's mother, was one of the first settlers of Howard county. As far as known he brought the first wagon into the county that ever entered it. He also took a leading part in building Fort Head, in which he and his family, in common with the other pioneer settlers of the vicinity, lived for some time as a refuge from Indian out- breaks. In 1810 he built the first mill, according to the best informa- tion obtainable, ever constructed in the county - a horse-mill, built near the present residence of George W. Drake, in Monitean town- ship. He died in this county in about 1832, his wife having preceded him to the grave, leaving two children, John and Polly. John married Miss Kate Head in Fort Hempstead, and this was one of the first marriages solemnized in this county. Polly married Porter Jackman in 1817, and of this union eight children, including Mark, the subject of this sketch, were born : Mark, the eldest ; Elizabeth, widow of John C. McKinney, of Boone county ; Nancy, wife of Lewis C. Walker, of Texas ; Hannah, wife of Newman T. Mitchell, of Boone county ; Miss Mary ; Susan, wife of Flavius MeClure, of Pettis county ; William, of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and John L. died in California. Porter Jackman, the father of these, became one of the most success- ful farmers of the county and was largely interested in the tanning business. He established one of the first tanneries built in the county. He was from Mercer county, Kentucky, whence he came to this county in 1816. He and his wife both died at the old homestead in Moniteau township in 1865 - he August 10, and she, October 9th. Both had been members of the Christian church for many years and were among the first of that denomination in the county. Mark Jackman was born
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
in Moniteau township, February 22, 1820. On growing up he adopted farming as his occupation, to which he had been reared, and which, in connection with milling and, in later years, distilling, he has since mainly followed. In 1849 he located on his present farm, but in 1850, during the gold excitement, he went to California. Re- turning in 1852 he resumed farming, and also engaged in milling and dealing in mules. He was very successful and took rauk among the worthy citizens of the county. By the war he lost some twenty slaves. The mill that he has been running so many years was built originally by D. C. Champin, in about 1836, and was a water mill (on the Monitean ) but Mr. Jackman has long run it by steam power as well as water. In fact, it has been burnt and built anew, and is now one of the best flouring, grist and saw mills in the county. In 1877 he started a distillery in connection with it, and in this also he has been remarkably successful. He pays the government annually on the spirits he manufactures from $7,000 to $8,000. His distillery has a capacity for the manufacture of about 300 barrels of spirits a year. His farm contains 500 acres and on this he raises large quantities of grain and stock. Mr. Jackman is one of the most enterprising citi- zens of the county, and has the qualities in a marked degree that go to win success in life. He has been a member of the Masonic or- der at Rocheport for the last forty years.
JOHN L. JONES,
farmer, section 26. The subject of this sketch was in his eleventh year when his parents, Aquila and Letta (Hooper) Jones, started from middle Tennessee in the fall of 1818, for this state. Driving stock and coming across the country, they were on the way all winter, not arriving here until in the following spring. They settled on Sulphur creek near Glasgow, where their children grew up, and where the parents lived until their death. Their mother, who was originally from South Carolina, and had been twice married, her first husband having been a Mr. Cooper, died in about 1834. Their father, a native of North Carolina, survived his wife some twenty-odd years, dying about 1847. Of their family of eight children, four sons and four daughters, but three are now living - Wilkerson, now a resident of Arkansas ; Malina, widow of James Wallace, of Macon City, Missouri ; and John L. John L. Jones was born in Davidson county, Tennessee, May 30, 1808, but was principally reared in this county. July 13, 1828, he was married, just across the line in Chari- ton county, to Mrs. Mary H. White, a young widow lady, whose maiden name was Troly. This union lasted fifty years, and was blessed with a family of nine children, but was at last broken by the death of Mrs. Jones, which occurred June 13, 1878. Of their chil- dren, however, but four are now living - Aquila, in Boone county ; Patrick Henry, in Eureka Springs ; Mary E., wife of John Murray ; and Louisa, wife of Franklin Carson. Those deceased are - Eleanor M., wife of John C. Thompson, Saline county ; Jerusha A., wife of
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
Samuel Haus ; John C., Marion A. and Charles W. Mr. Jones was a second time married, his present wife having been a Mrs. Per- necia Stickell, widow of - Stickell. Her maiden name was Collet. Mrs. Jones also has a family of six children by her first husband, but one of whom is still with her. Since 1851, Mr. Jones has lived on his present farm, which, when he bought it, contained 425 acres. He now has 274 acres. It is the same tract of land on which Fort Head was built, in the pioneer days of the county. Both Mr. and Mrs. Jones are church members. He has been a member of the M. E. church for forty-two years.
HUDSON .Q. MARTIN,
justice of the peace and farmer, section 13. Mr. Martin's life, since he started out in the world on his own responsibility, nearly forty years ago, may be divided into two distinct, and, in duration of time, nearly equal epocbs, one of unnsual activity and varied adventures, and the other of quiet, successful farm life, content with the comforts of home and the esteem and friendship of all who know him. He was born in Madison county, Kentucky, December 3, 1828, and was the eighth of a family of nine children born to Hudson and Lucy ( Hill) Martin, both originally from Virginia. However, the parents had come to Madison county, Kentucky, in an early day, and in 1839, when Hudson Q. was but a year old, they came to this state. On their way to Howard county, while coming through Warren county, the mother died ; but the father with the children came on, and settled in this county. Here the children grew up, and here, in 1868, the father died. At the age of eighteen Hudson Q., being of an enterprising dispostion and full of the spirit of adventure, went to Leavenworth, Kansas, and there, in August, 1846, enlisted in McMillan's company ( Missouri cavalry ), under General Sterling Price, and crossed the plains with his command, stopping finally at Santa Fe, New Mexico. They remained there until September, 1847. Returning then to his old home in Howard county, he continued here until 1850, when he again crossed the plains, this time bound for the gold diggings of California. He remained on the golden coast for ten years, engaged principally in mining, and then returned just in time for the stirring events of the war. He was one of the first to answer Governor Jackson's call for volunteers, and in May, 1861, be- came second lieutenant of a company of southern recruits. From this time, in rapid succession, he participated in the battles of Boon- ville, Springfield and Dry Wood. At camp Cow Skin, in Southwest Missouri, prior to the Springfield battle, he was made captain of the company, and, after the Dry Wood fight, he returned to Howard county to obtain more recruits for his company. He secured sixty men, but was captured by the Federal soldiers, having had some trying experiences while here, and was confined in the military prisons of St. Louis and Alton, until 1862, when he was released on parole. He then came back to this county, resolved to remain true to his word
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