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 57

Author: National Historical Company
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: St. Louis : National Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1198

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 57
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 57

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JAMES SMITH,

farmer, section 5. Mr. Smith is now closely approaching his eigthieth year, and for over twenty-five years he has been a citizen of Howard county. He has been a member of the Christian church for over forty- five years, and in early life often heard discourses by Alexander Camp- bell and other great ministers and founders of that denomination. He was born in Madison county, Kentucky, February 15, 1804, and was a son of James and Margery Smith, of that state. His father, how- ever, was originally from Ireland, and his mother was a native of Pennsylvania. When twenty-one years of age, in 1825, James Smith came to this state, making the trip from New Madrid across the coun- try, finding Columbia, to which point he came, a small village with its streets still uncleared of stumps. From Columbia he went to New Orleans by flat-boat, but after a short stay in the south returned to

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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES,

Kentucky where, in 1827, he was married to Miss Nancy Howard. He remained in his native state until 1857, and then came with his family to Cooper county, this state, and the following year settled in Howard county. His first wife died in 1862, having borne him ten children, seven of whom are still living, Presling, Kate D., Ben. H., in Bates county : Jason, William, James T., and Solon, present judge of the probate conrt. In 1863 he was again married, Mrs. Sallie Bondurant, widow of Captain John Bondurant, formerly a Miss Crews, becoming his second wife. He and his present wife were old schoolmates in Kentucky, and after over forty years of separation, during which each had married and reared families, their companions dying, they met and were married in this state, Mr. Smith has an excellent farin and a good, comfortable home, where he and his wife are spending the evening of their lives in the renewal of a friendship that began in youth, which age has ripened to affection.

WILLIAM SMITH,

farmer, section 16, the seventh son of James Smith, whose sketch precedes this, was born in Madison county, Kentucky, February 11, 1833. In 1854 he came to Boone county, this state, on horseback, in company with Frank Fowler, now a well-to-do farmer of Cass county. Mr. Smith has been not less successful than his companion. Coming on to Howard county, after several years spent in Boone and Cooper counties, he made his permanent home in the neighborhood where he still lives, and since 1869 he has resided on his present farm. It num- bers 250 acres of excellent land. Besides this, he has 100 acres of fine bottom land. He is a thorough-going, enterprising farmer, and as a citizen is public-spirited and well-respected. He has been a school director for sixteen years, and is a member of the A. O. U. W. May 24, 1866, he was married to Miss Mariah L., danghter of Rich- ard Robinson, now of Colorado, but then of this county, She was born in the neighborhood where they now live, January 25, 1844. They have seven children - Sallie, Bettie and Pensa ( twins ), Nannie M., Katie, Emma and Howard. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are both mem- bers of the Christian church.

FEDERAL WALKER, DECEASED.

There are few old citizens of Howard county to whom the name that heads this sketch is not as familiar almost as a household word. And such was the character of the man, such the prominence and nse- fulness of his life in the great work that has been performed in the county, - the transformation of its trackless wilds into smiling fields and happy homes, the abode of a prosperous and progressive people - that his name should be transmitted to succeeding generations and held in grateful remembrance as one of the foremost and worthiest of the brave-hearted pioneer settlers, who laid broad and deep the founda- tions of civilization in this then Indian-sentineled and panther-haunted

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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.

wilderness. He came of a family whose character bespoke the promi- nence and usefulness of his own career. His ancestors were among the adventurous band of pioneers that, like the sea-tossed heroes of Homer, threaded their way across the Atlantic and planted civilization on the shores of Maryland. True to the well-known law of geneal- ogy, that, in a family which does not degenerate, the strong qualities of the aneestor reappear in the descendant, John Walker, away back in the latter part of the seventeenth century, became a sturdy pioneer settler in Kentucky, crossing the blue heights of the Alleghanies from his native Maryland to make his home in the green wilderness of the west. He prospered abundantly in his adopted state and reared a worthy family, Federal Walker being one of his sons. The father died in 1815. Federal was born on the 14th of August, 1796, and was, therefore, nineteen years of age at the time of his father's death. If, in the new country in which he was brought up, he did not enjoy the educational advantages to be had in older communities, the natu- ral vigor of his mind and constitution at least escaped the effemi- nating influences of the schools, and acquiring, mainly by private study, a sufficient knowledge of books for all practical purposes, he was better qualified for the life he was destined to lead than it, in starting out in the world for himself, he had received a gilt-letter di- ploma between kid-gloved fingers. Before his father's death he had seen more of the west and far southwest than most old men around him. He had travelled through Texas and all the intermediate coun- try, and had " prospected " considerably over Missouri ; was in New Madrid, this state, at the time of the great earthquake of 1812. After extensive travel, and weighing the advantages offered by different lo- calities, he concluded to settle in Howard county, and, returning to. Kentucky, he wooed and won the heart and hand of Miss Sarah Dunn, of his native state. They were married May 4, 1823. She was born June 26, 1800. This proved a long and happy union, continuing un- broken by the hand of death until far into the twilight of their lives. With hearts buoyant with a prophetic realization of their future pros- perity, they started on their westward journey to Howard county the following fall. Arrived here, they went to work with a cheerfulness, energy and intelligence that could not but result in making their dreams of the future a tangible reality. Mr. Walker entered 275 acres of wild land from the government, and by tireless toil soon had a comfortable home. As years rolled on he continued to prosper, until, when but little beyond the mid-noon of life, he found himself the possessor of over 3,000 acres of fertile land and the owner of sixty likely slaves. Heaven prospered his married life no less than the sea- sons, and soil prospered his industry. Eight worthy children were sent to brighten his home - the pledges of heaven that his name should not perish from the earth. All grew to maturity, and seven became the parents of families themselves. Following are the names of his children : John, Robert D., married Elizabeth, daughter of Judge Jackson, now in Texas, and died January 15, 1879 ; Thomas H., married Anna Burnette, of Chariton county, and now resides in

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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.

Saline county ; Lewis E., married Nancy, daughter of Porter Jack- son, and now lives in Texas ; George W., married Mary E., daughter of Rev. David Fisher, and died February 28, 1874 ; Christopher C., referred to below ; Mary R., and Nancy J. The mother of these, worthy both in mind and heart to have been, as she was, the wife of one of nature's noblemen, died at the age of sixty-eight, on the 1st of September, 1868. The father died ten years afterwards, aged eighty- two, August 5, 1868. Both were for many years members of the Christian church. Christopher C., the youngest of the sons, now re- sides on a part of the old family homestead, which was partitioned as a legal result of his father's death. The son's place contains about 400 acres of excellent land, and is one of the most valuable farms of the county. Christopher C. was born April 8, 1834, and as he grew up, received his education in the common schools. On the 23d of June, 1858, he was married, in Hinds county, Mississippi, to Miss Elizabeth Mount, who was born at Alexandria, October 1, 1837. They have had a family of five children - Arthur William, who died in infancy ; Sallie Clara, Linnie D., Bettie F., and Charles C. Mrs. Walker is a member of the M. E. church. Mr. Christopher Walker's whole life, thus far, has been spent on the farm. During the late war he remained at home and attended to his father's farming and business interests, taking no part in the struggle. He is an energetic farmer and highly esteemed citizen and neighbor.

HUMPHREY ROBINSON WALKER,

farmer, section 10. Mr. Walker, son of Hon. John Walker, now state auditor of Missouri, and grandson of Federal Walker, deceased, for over half a century one of the first farmers and most prominent citizens of Howard county, is a young man whose career, thus far, and whose character give every promise that his future, both as a farmer and citizen, will fulfil the expectations his antecedents and opportunities in life justly inspire. He was born on the 19th of September, 1853, on a part of the old Robinson homestead, upon which he now lives. His mother, previous to her marriage a Miss Eliza Robinson, was a daughter of Jared Robinson, now deceased, for many years a leading farmer and an influential citizen of the county. Of this family there are two besides Mrs. Walker; a sister, Nannie May, and a brother Jared, Jr. The sister is now the wife of Wm. Payne ; the brother, a graduate from the Agricultural college of Columbia, Missouri., is now a successful farmer of the county. Humphrey R. Walker was reared on the farm, and in early youth attended the or- dinary schools of the neighborhood. Subsequently, after a thorough preparatory course, he entered the State University of Columbia, in which he continued as a student for two years, but was called away before gradnating, to enter upon the duties of the farm. Since then he has been interested in the management of the place, which contains nearly 400 acres of land, and in the discharge of these duties he has shown, by the success he has had, that he possesses

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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.

all the qualities, to a marked degree, necessary to a progressive, en- terprising and thrifty farmer. Since 1874 he and his brother have been farming together. Mr. Walker is destined to become a useful and prominent citizen.

GEORGE H. WHITE,

general merchant and stock buyer and shipper. In the mercantile line Mr. White carries a large and well selected stock of general mer- chandise, and commands an extensive and Incrative trade. He also does an important business in buying and shipping live stock of all kinds, his transactions as a stock dealer amounting to heavy aggre- gates in the course of the year. He was born in Rocheport, Boone county, Missouri, May 17th, 1854, and was the seventh of a family of eleven children, six of whom are now living : Laura, widow of Thomas Cook ; Sarah, wife of John Street, of Fayette ; Thomas J., of Randolph county ; Edwin, sheep raiser in Texas ; George H., our subject, and Benton, farmer on the old homestead. December 24th, 1874, George H. White, the subject of this sketch, was married to Miss Lucy Rneker, daughter of William H. Rucker, of Howard county. They have three children, Benton, Mattie and Mary E. Mr. White is a member of the A. O. U. W. As a business man he is energetic and enterprising, and has the confidence of the community with which he deals. Well qualified for business, both by education and experience, his career has been marked by excellent success.

EZEKIEL H. WOOD,

farmer, sections 35 and 36. Ezekiel H. Wood was born in Brown county, Ohio, December 12, 1818, but was reared in Mason county, Kentucky, where his parents removed when he was quite young. His grandfather on his father's side was a soldier in the Continental army during the revolution, and was afterwards for many years a zealous and able minister of the gospel. It is a tradition handed down in the family that he baptized the first convert ever baptized in the Ohio river. Jesse Wood, Ezekiel's father, was a farmer by occupation, and reared his family in Mason county, Kentucky, having married Miss Kiturah, daughter of Andrew Thorp, who also removed to Kentucky in an early day. Ezekiel remained in the county where he was brought up until 1864, when he migrated to Missouri and settled in Boone county. Before coming to this state he had been married, but lost his wife May 2, 1857. Her maiden name was Mary E. Power. They were married in Mason county, Kentucky, September 20, 1834. At her death she left two children-Joseph P., who died when but a year old, and Kiturah Ellen, who died in this county, aged seventeen. In 1868 Mr. Wood came to Howard county, from Boone, and settled on the farm where he has ever since lived - the well-known "Alvin Miller farm." It contains nearly 300 acres and is all improved. Mr. W. is an industrious, successful farmer, and is well-to-do in Ilfe. Farming, however, is not the only industry he has followed. He was engaged in " flat-boating " to and from New Orleans for some time

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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.

in an early day, and later he was a manufacturer of stoneware for about six years. June 4, 1870, he was married to Miss Margaret A., daughter of Samuel Pearson, an old citizen of Howard county. They have one child, Mary E., aged eleven years. Mr. Wood has been a member of the Christian church for over forty-one years, and in early life often heard Jacob Creath, "Raccoon" J. Smith, and other emi- uent divines preach. His uncle, Christopher Wood, was the cele- brated spy in the service of General Harrison during the war of 1812.

TOWNSEND WRIGHT,

farmer, section 26. Mr. Wright's father, Townsend, Sr., was one of the early settlers of this county. He was a native of Virginia, but removed to Madison county, Kentucky, whence, in 1817, he came to Howard county. Here he lived until his death, in 1862, and became a very successful farmer, and was a highly esteemed citizen of the county. He was twice married : first in this county to Miss America, daughter of John and Nancy ( Roberts ) Sanford, who came here from Kentucky in 1812. His first wife died in 1834. Eight children were born of this union, three sons and five daughters, all of whom lived to reach their majority, and most of them married and reared fami- lies. The year following their father was again married, Miss Lucy, daughter of Reuben Barnes, of Boone county, becoming his second wife. She died November 17, 1881. Of this marriage Townsend, Jr., the subject of this sketch, and five others, were born, two of whom are dead. Townsend, Jr., was the second of this family, and was born December 15, 1836, on his father's old homestead, about three and one-half miles south of where he now lives. He was mar- ried March 19, 1868, to Miss Octavia, daughter of Judge Wade M. Jackson. She was born in 1844. They have five children : Craven J., Claiborne F., James T., Townsend, Jr., and Robert L. Two daugh- ters, Carrie P., the eldest child, and Sallie N., the fourth, died in infancy. At the age of twenty-one, Mr. Wright began to work for himself, and two years afterwards, in 1859, went to California, but returned in 1860. In 1862 he joined General Poindexter's command while the latter was in this state, but was captured soon after the La- clede affair and confined in Gratiot street prison, St. Louis, and the military prison at Alton, together about four months. Released then, he returned home and remained until 1864, when he enlisted in Cap- tain Martin's command as first lieutenant, and served under General Price until the close of the war. He was in the battles of Big Blue, Ball's Prairie, and others, during the latter part of the war. Return- ing home after the restoration of peace he resumed farming, and in 1867 was engaged in buying tobacco. Soon after his marriage he settled on his present farm, where he has 320 acres of good land, and besides this he has about 100 acres of the old family homestead. He grows grain and raises stock and has some high-grade cattle, about eighty head, and also about 100 head of good sheep, besides other live stock. He has been a member of the Baptist church since 1866, and a member of the Masonic order about eighteen years.

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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.

LEE WRIGHT,

farmer, section 15. Lee is a brother of Townsend Wright, whose sketch precedes this, and was the youngest of the five children by his father's second marriage. He was born April 10, 1845, and, having been reared on a farm, he has followed farming as his occupation ever since he started ont in life for himself. During General Price's last campaign in this state, however, he joined the latter's command, and adhered to the southern standard until the general surrender in 1865, participating in all the leading battles in which the command was en- gaged from the time he entered it until the close of the war. After the return of peace he resumed farming, and

" Venus, thy eternal sway All the race of men obey ;"

On the 16th of January, 1868, he was married to Miss Eupha Hardin, daughter of Joseph Hardin, of this county. Three children have been vouchsafed to them as the favors of Heaven : Mattie Lee, Morti- mer Boyd and Joseph Hardin. Mr. and Mrs. Wright are both mem- bers of the Baptist church of Mt. Gilead. His homestead is a neat farm of about 160 acres, and is comfortably and substantially im- proved.

PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP.

CAPT. JOHN W. BAGBY,

attorney at law and notary public. John Bagby, the father of John W., was a native of Virginia, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. After the close of that struggle he settled in Scott county, Kentucky, where he married and lived until he came to this county with his fam- ily, in 1827. His wife was formerly a Miss Mildred Ward, and of this union John W. was born in the county where they resided in Ken- tncky, September 13, 1827. In early youth the son received such an education as could be had in the log school houses of those days, and when fifteen years of age went to work with his uncle, William Bagby, in the carpentering and wagon and carriage making business, which he has followed, with considerable intervals of time devoted to other pursuits, from then until within the last few years. However, in 1846 he enlisted in Captain John R. Smith's company, designed for the Mexican war, and followed the stars and stripes into the land of the cactus and pine to the city of Mexico. He was honorably discharged at Louisville, Kentucky, in August, 1848. From that time until 1853 he worked at his trade in Roanoke. That year he began merchandis-

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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.

ing in Trenton, Missouri, and continued in business there with excel- lent success until the outbreak of the war. The same spirit that ani- mated his father in 1812, and himself in 1846, prompted him again to become a soldier of the line. He enlisted in the Confederate service, among the first that answered the bugle-call, and was of the last that left the tented field. He began as a private, and for meritorions conduct became a captain. Higher commissions were offered him, but he declined them. On two different occasions his body received the bullets that were kindly sent to restore a union of hearts as well as of sisterly, affectionate states. With the return of peace, having been broken up by the war, he returned to his trade in Roanoke. He con- tinned to work at this until 1875, when, his health failing him, he began the practice of law, giving his attention also to conveyancing as a notary public, and to the insurance business. As a man of superior intelligence, and of an aspiring mind, he had been giving his attention to the law some years before he began to practice, and was not with- out substantial qualifications when he entered the profession. Cap- tain Bagby also conducts an undertaking business in Roanoke, in which he has been interested for some years. July 11, 1849, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Terrell, formerly of Kentucky. They have five children : Lewis, James H., David, Robert and Bettie. The captain is a member of the Christian church, and is a Royal Arch Mason.

R. J. BAGBY, M. D.,

physician and druggist. Doctor Bagby, brother to Captain Bagby, whose sketch precedes this, was born after his parents came to this county, September 11, 1832. His father was a substantial and highly respected farmer, and the early youth of the doctor was spent on the farm in the usual farm duties, a part of each year, however, being occupied with attending the neighborhood schools. When eighteen years of age, being then prepared to enter upon a higher course of studies, he became a student in the Fayette high school, where he con- tinned until 1852. He then taught school one year, and immediately thereafter commenced the study of medicine under Dr. P. B. Chides, re- maining with him one year. The following year he studied under Doctor Thomas J. Blake, and in 1854-55 attended the St. Louis Medi- cal college. After the conclusion of the college term of '55, he re- turned to Roanoke and engaged in the practice of his profession, since which he has followed it with only two interruptions, one of a year, during which he practised in Chariton county, and the other in the winter of 1862-63, when he attended the St. Louis Medical college, graduating in March of the succeeding spring. As a physician the doctor enjoys an excellent reputation as a skilful and successful prac- titioner, That his professional career has been successful in a substan- tial way as well as in reputation, is evidenced by his present comfort- able situation in life. His drug store is a good one and commands a wide and lucrative trade, May 12, 1856, he was married to Miss

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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.

Permelia Twyman, formerly of Virginia, but she died January 2, 1872, leaving three children : Hugh B., Walter and William H. His second wife was also a Miss Twyman,- Alice H. They have three children : Noble C., John W. and Robert J. W.

R. P. BRIGGS.

one of the leading and most influential citizens of this township, was born in Pike county, Missouri, February 25, 1827. In 1841, he took up his permanent location in Howard county, where he has since been recognized as a representative man of the community in which he lives. He now resides on section 25, where he owns a farm of 250 acres of well improved land. Upon this is a substantial barn, house and other buildings. Mr. Briggs married Miss Mary A. Thorp, of this county, September 15, 1853. They have nine children ; David J., Fanny B., Lulu E., Hattie B., Thomas H., William J., Robert P., Katie M. and Wade H. They are members of the Baptist church. Mr. Briggs belongs to the Masonie order.

CAPTAIN ALEXANDER DENNY,

farmer and stock raiser and dealer. Captain Denny's life has been more than an ordinarily active one, as well as more than ordinarily successful. Soldiering, school teaching, mining, teaming, merehan- dising, farming and the stock business are the occupations that have successfully employed his time from early manhood to the middle of the afternoon of life, and in all of them he has shown that he possesses the qualities that win success in whatever situation one may be placed. Some will fail anywhere, others nowhere, and Captain Denny is one of the latter class. He was born in this county, June 17th, 1826, and was a son of James Denny and wife, formerly Miss Elizabeth Best, both natives of Kentucky. They were married here, however, in 1818, the same year that his father cast his fortunes with the "Boone's Liek country." Alexander grew up on his father's farm in this county, and in youth secured a good ordinary English educa- tion in the common schools and by diligent study at home. When twenty years of age, being naturally of a spirited and enterprising disposition, he became a soldier in the Mexican war, enlisting nnder the old Missouri hero, General Doniphan, in 1846, and serving until the general discharge at New Orleans, in 1847. He then came home and engaged in school teaching, which he followed until 1849. That year the California gold excitement broke out, and young Denny was one of the first to brave the hardships and dangers of a trip across the plains and over the cloud-capped heights of the Cordilleras, to the Hesperian gardens of the Pacific coast. Nor was he one of the faint- hearted many that lost their courage amid the trials of pioneer ex- perience and returned to the feather-bed ease of home life. He re- mained until 1856, digging deep into the bowels of the earth for gold, and teaming through the Indian hemmed mountain canons. His Cal-

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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.

ifornia life was not withont substantial results. Returning home in 1856, he engaged in merchandising and farming. In 1871 he con- ducted a successful store in Roanoke, but that year sold out and turned his whole attention to farming and the stock business. He has a magnificent farm of a thousand acres finely improved, on which he grows grain and other products and raises stock on an extensive scale. He is also one of the leading stock dealers in the county. During the late war, Captain Denny commanded a company of enrolled militia, and acquitted himself of the service with marked honor. January 22d, 1856, he was married to Miss Mary A. Snoddy, and eight children bless their conjugal life : Lizzie B., Joe S., Fossie, Kate M., Zannie M., Ula B., James M. and David B. The " black camel, Death," as Abd-el-Kadir has appropriately named it, has knelt. at their door, and a loved one, a son, George C., has been borne away.

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Author: National Historical Company Publication date: 1883 Publisher: St. Louis : National Historical Co. Number of Pages: 1198

Author: National Historical Company
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: St. Louis : National Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1198