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 92
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 92
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In 1876, when the Missouri Pacific affairs became complicated, Colonel Stephens was appointed receiver of that road, and he dis- charged the duties of his position with so much ability as to attract the attention of leading railroad men all over the country. After- wards he continued to be largely interested in the road, and at the time of his death was intimately connected with its management. Prior to this, however, he had constructed and then owned the Osage Valley and Southern Kansas railroad, from Boonville to Versailles, which afterwards passed into the hands of the Missouri Pacific. In 1866, for the first time in his life, he was induced to become a can- didate for an elective office. A stern opponent of the Drake consti- tution, he consented to enter the canvass more to aid in striking the ban of disfranchisement from the majority of his fellow-citizens, which that instrument had fastened upon them, than for his own pro- motion in public life. He made the canvass of Cooper, Morgan, and Moniteau counties for the state senate and at the election ran ahead of his ticket. Owing, however, to the disfranchisement law of the time, he was defeated by George W. Boardman, then register of the United States land office. In 1872 he was one of the most prominent candidates for governor of the state before the democratic conven- tion which finally nominated Silas Woodson. His real strength was
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conceded to be unequalled by that of any other candidate, but to break a dead-lock in the convention a new man was sought and the choice fell upon Judge Woodson, which resulted in his election. After that Colonel Stephens gradually disappeared from politics, though rising higher and higher in public estimation by his honorable connection with public enterprises. In 1877 he was appointed by Governor Phelps a lieutenant colonel and chief of his Excellency's military staff, practically an honorary position. In 1878 he was ap- pointed commissioner at large for the state of Missouri to the Paris exposition, and he faithfully and ably represented his state in that distinguished position.
In 1853 Colonel Stephens was married to Miss Martha Gibson, of Boonville, a lady of superior education and refinement. Of this union six children were reared : William Speed, Gibson, Lon V., Alexander, Mittie and Rhoda. In 1875 Mrs. Stephens died, lamented by the people of Cooper county, and mourned by a large circle of relatives. Colonel Stephens was again marrried, Miss Jones, an ac- complished and worthy lady, becoming his wife, in 1877. She is a daughter of the well known author of New York, Richard Jones, . more generally known by his book, " Wild Western Scenes." The present Mrs. Stephens has two children by her late husband. Colo- nel Stephens was taken off suddenly by death at his home in Boon- ville in the month of August, 1881. He had been suffering consid- erably from asthma previously, but was able to attend to business the day before. His serious illness was of only about two hours' duration. The news of his death cast a gloom over the entire com- munity and the whole state. Among the innumerable tributes paid to his memory by friends all over the country, none are nearer just or truer than that of Senator Vest who had known him so long and so well : " I who know this man better than all others know him, except a very few, will bear witness in the dread presence of death that his impulses were good, his life useful and his loss to the world very great."
LON V. STEPHENS,
assistant cashier Central National bank. Sufficient means to enter di- rectly into the business affairs of life for himself and influential family connections are undoubtedly great advantages to a young man in beginning his career, but unless he has the qualities himself that would bring success sooner or later, even without these advantages he can- not long hold the position, much less steadily advance above it, that they enable him to take. Lon V. Stephens, one of the leading 60
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young business men of Boonville and of central Missouri, as a son of the late Colonel Joseph L. Stephens, was not without means and in- fluential friends to aid him so far as such advantages go in starting out in life, but better and far more important than these he inherited to a striking degree the qualities that made his father's name synonomous with success, and with all that is honorable and useful as a citizen and as a man. Industrious, almost to a fault, possessed of superior ability and as upright in purposes and practices as his father was, Lon V. Stephens continues in his character to an exceeding measure the ele- ments that would make his career a successful and useful one whatever his early circumstances might be. . Without means or influential friends in early life, these qualities raised his father to eminence and great wealth before he had reached the meridian of manhood, and the same qualities in the son could not fail to produce the same re- sults. Though now only in his twenty-seventh year, as the assistant cashier of the Central National bank, one of the principal banking insti- tutions of central Missouri, as well as in other important business stations, he has already given the most convincing proofs of his ability and qualifications as a rising young business man and financier. And the confidence and esteem with which he is regarded in financial cir- cles and among all classes, show that his merits are not unobserved, nor unappreciated. His future is certainly one of great promise. Lon V. Stephens was born in Boonville, December 21, 1856, and was reared in this city. After the usual course in the primary schools, at the age of fourteen he entered Kemper's well known family school, in which he remained as a student two years, or four terms, applying himself to his studies during that time with untiring diligence. At the expiration of his fourth term in the Kemper insti- tution, he was found to be more than ordinarily well qualified to enter upon his college or university course, and accordingly he then went to Virginia and became a matriculate in Washington and Lee univer- sity of that state. During the years 1877 and 1878, he pursued the more advanced studies required in that great institution of learning, after which he returned to Boonville. In 1879 he became editor and proprietor of the Advertiser, of this city, which he conducted with singular ability and success until 1880, when he accepted the position of book-keeper of the Central National bank, retaining, however, to the present time, his interest in the Advertiser. From book-keeper he subsequently became assistant cashier of the bank, the position he now holds, and he is also a prominent stockholder in and a director of this institution. On the 5th of October, 1880, Mr. Stephens was
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married to Miss Maggie, daughter of James M. Nelson, the president of the Central National bank. Mr. and Mrs. Stephens are both mem- bers of the southern M. E. church.
WILLIAM SPEED STEPHENS,
cashier of the Central National bank. Among the young men of cen- tral Missouri, whose future seems bright with promise, none are more conspicuous than William Speed Stephens of Boonville. A son of the late Colonel Joseph L. Stephens, and just now entering his thirtieth year, he has already given proof conclusive that he is worthy to an eminent degree of the name he has and of the advantages and oppor- tunities resulting from his descent. He was born in this city June 26, 1854, and received his early education in Kemper's family school. After five years of careful preparatory study he entered Washington and Lee university in Lexington, Virginia, continuing there during the years 1874, 1875 and 1876. Shortly before the time he was to have graduated from the law department of that institution, his father was appointed receiver of the Missouri Pacific railroad, and he was called home to take charge of his father's interests in the Central National bank, of which he became cashier. Here he commeneed a business career that has rarely been equalled for the rapidity with which he has risen to prominence in banking and business circles. So widely known had he become throughout the state, prior to the last election, and so popular as a capable and thoroughly responsible finan- cier, that he was strongly urged for the democratic nomination for state treasurer, and in all probability would have been nominated had he not declined to be a candidate on account of being under the age required by law, and from business and personal considerations quite as decisive. Contemporaneous with his connection with the Central National bank, he has also been interested in steamboating on the Mis- souri river and has acted as secretary and treasurer of the Central Missouri Mining Company. He has likewise held the post of secre- tary and treasurer of the St. Louis and Southern Railway Company, and has borne his share with his brother, Lawrence V. Stephens, in administering on the extensive estate of their father. He has shown himself the able and discriminating friend of worthy, private and public enterprises, and has developed a genius for organization and care in the administration of extended undertakings, that stamps him as a growing and rising man of superior abilities. On the death of his father, in August, 1880, he and his brother qualified as administrators and gave the required bond of $1,000,000. As curators they gave an additional
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
bond of $350,000, and such was their standing in the community and the confidence and kindly friendship their conduct had inspired, that these enormous bonds were readily given. William Speed Stephens was married June 23, 1880, to Miss Jennie C. Thompson, an accomplished young lady.
DR. FRANKLIN SWAP,
dentist. Besides being a thorough and successful dentist, Dr. Swap has long been a leading citizen of Boonville, having been prominent as a Union officer during the war, and having held the office of city register some thirteen years since. He was born in Albany, N. Y., August 19th, 1830. His father, William Swap, and mother, Belinda, whose family name before her marriage was Carl, were both natives of the Empire State, and there they married and reared their family. However, Mrs. Swap died in about 1837, and in 1848 Mr. Swap removed to Crawford county, Pennsylvania, where he lived until his death in 1881. When the family left New York, Franklin, now the doctor, was about eighteen years of age, and in the meantime had learned the cabinet maker's trade, which he followed in all about eight years. In 1854, having married three years before, he removed with his family to Taylor county, Iowa, where he studied dentistry, and after acquir- ing that profession practised it until April, 1862. It then having become apparent that the war was going to be a long and desperate struggle for the preservation of the Union, demanding the patriotic services of every man who could shoulder a musket, he enlisted in the army, entering the ranks as a private soldier. By regular promo- tions, however, he was raised to the rank of captain, which position he held when Lee delivered his sword to the " First Captain of the Age " at Appomattox. He then resumed the practice of his pro- fession in Taylor county, Iowa, but having been stationed in central Missouri during the war, in fact, having been provost marshal of eight counties in central and southeru Missouri - Cooper, Morgan, Hamil- ton, Cole, Miller, Maries, Hickory and Camden - he had had an excel- lent opportunity to acquaint himself with the advantages this section offers for men of energy and enterprise in almost every calling of life, and accordingly he determined to cast his fortunes in central Mis- souri. In December, 1865 he came to Boonville and opened an office and here he has since lived and practised his profession with marked success. As a citizen he has proved of great value to the community. In public enterprises and in all movements looking to the general good, he has always taken an active interest, and as an evidence of his
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
public spirit as a citizen and his recognized business ability, it may be mentioned that he was elected to and filled the responsible office of secretary of the Osage Valley and Southern Kansas railway com- pany during the time its road was being constructed. For thirteen years he was secretary of the school board of Boonville - from 1867 to 1880, being one of the members of the first board after the reor- ganization and vitalization of the free school system in this State. That Dr. Swap is a man of more than ordinary natural ability, is evideneed by his success in whatever he has enlisted himself - in his profession, as a soldier, and in civil affairs. He is respected wher- ever known as an upright man and useful citizen. On the 2d of August, 1851, he was married to Miss Mary E. Mitchell, of New York. They have had six children, of whom four are living : Frank W., Charles, Ida A. and Emma B. Dr. Swap is a member of the I. O. O. F.
JAMES E. TALIAFERRO,
clerk of the circuit court for Cooper county. Although Mr. Taliaferro is only thirty-four years of age, when he completes his present term of office he will have served in the position he now holds thirteen years, having been appointed deputy in 1870, and having continued in that capacity until his election to the principal clerkship in 1882. This record speaks a volume for him both as an officer and a man. He was born in Cooper county, Mo., August 19th, 1849, and is a son of James G. Taliaferro, for many years one of the substantial and highly respected citizens of this county, but now a resident of Moniteau county, and originally from Madison county, Va. Mrs. Taliaferro, whose maiden name was Lucy A. Woodward, was a native of Madi- son county, Ky., and of the well-known Woodward family of that State. James T., the son, was reared in this county, and at a com- paratively early age acquired a good practical education in the com mon schools of this county. On the 1st of October, 1877, he was married to Miss Anna R., daughter of Dr. Quarles, a prominent citizen and physician, who was killed in the first battle of Boonville. She died November 2, 1879, leaving one child, Eddie Q. Mr. Taliaferro was married again April 28th, 1881, Miss Fannie, daughter of Jackson Monroe, formerly clerk of the county court of Cooper county, then becoming his wife. They have one child, Monroe, Mr. Taliaferro is a member of the I. O.O. F., and of the Encampment of that order, and also of the A. F. and A. M., and of the Royal Arch Chapter.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
RICHARD R. THOMPSON,
undertaker. Mr. Thompson has been engaged in his present business nearly twenty years, and besides being one of the leading under- takers of Cooper and the surrounding counties, he is a successful, upright business man. His long experience as an undertaker, and his naturally humane disposition fit him to more than an ordinary degree for the appropriate discharge of the delicate duties relating to the last sad rites of the dead. He keeps constantly on hand a variety of caskets, etc., to suit all tastes, and has every convenience for taking charge of and bearing to their last resting place the loved and lost one at a moment's notice. Mr. Thompson came to Cooper county with his parents in 1836, he then being a young man twenty years of age. His father, whose name was also Richard, and his mother, whose maiden name was Sallie Yeatman, were both natives of Vir- ginia, where they were reared and married ; and there Richard R. was born, in Warrenton, March 13, 1817. Eight years after com- ing to this county his father died, but his mother survived her husband twenty-four years. When fifteen years of age, Richard R., having by that time acquired the rudiments of a good ordinary edu- cation, commenced to learn the carpenter's trade, which afterwards he had become master of when he came to Cooper county with his parents, in 1836. Here he worked at his trade, soon becoming a lead- ing contractor and builder, until 1864, when he engaged in his present business. He was married, January 11, 1848, to Miss Mary E., daughter of John and Bitha Kelly, who settled in this county in an early day. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have two children - Cornelia and Fannie. Mr. T. has been a member of the M. E. church for the last fifty years, and has been steward and trustee for forty years. Mrs. Thompson, his mother, lived to the advanced age of nearly eighty-nine years, having been born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, October 7, 1779, and having died in this county June 28, 1868. But his father died at the age of sixty-eight, having been born in West- moreland county, Virginia, July 17, 1776, and having died in this connty January 27, 1844. They were married June 27, 1798.
DR. WILLIAM H. TRIGG,
retired physician, and now of W. H. Trigg & Co. The life of Dr. Trigg has been an unusually active one, and, at the same time, more than an ordinarily successful one. In youth he commenced in the world on his own account by working at such employment as he could
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
get ; by hard study he was soon qualified to engage in school teach- ing ; then he studied medicine and became a practising physician ; after a while he was able to engage largely in merchandising ; bank- ing then was shortly added to his other interests ; and now he is one of the leading business men and wealthy, prominent citizens of the county, and has been for years. Such a life-record is well worthy a place in the " History of Cooper County." William H. Trigg was born in Wilson county, Tennessee, January 24, 1808. His father, Daniel Trigg, was a native of Virginia, born in Bedford county, in March, 1776. When a young man, Daniel Trigg went to Tennessee with his father's family, and there subsequently married Miss Nancy, daughter of Rev. William Hodge, of North Carolina. Of this union seven children were reared, of whom William H., the doctor, was the second. Daniel Trigg, the father, died April 28, 1830, and Mrs. Trigg, September 22, 1823. In youth William H. worked in various occupations and attended such schools as were convenient. He also attended school under William McKnight, of Rutherford county, Ten- nessee, with whom he boarded, and subsequently taught school him- self. About this time he commenced the study of medicine under Dr. Hodge, of Sumner county, and afterwards continued it under Drs. Hodge & Blackmore, of Gallatin, Tennessee. After several years' study, in 1830 he commenced the practice of his profession in Wilson county, where he was reared, and remained there one year. Thence he went to Kainesville, Tennessee, and the following year lo- cated in Gallatin, of that state, where he practised until 1834. In February of that year he came to Boonville, where he at once entered upon the practice of medicine again, and followed it until his business became so important as to require his whole attention. Here, during the first year of his residence, he began merchandising, and was a member of the firm of Boyers, Blythe & Trigg. This continued two years. He then became a partner in the firm of Wyan & Trigg, which lasted until the death of Mr. Wyan, in 1842. In 1846 Dr. Trigg en- gaged in the banking business, which he followed without a partner until 1858, when Messrs. Nelson, Stephens and others became his associates, and the house was then known as W. H. Trigg & Co. This firm was dissolved eight years afterwards, in 1866. In the meantime, however, in 1861, he, in association with others, organized a mercantile company under the name of W. H. Trigg & Co., which did business in Boonville until 1864, when they went to Courtland, New York, where they carried on business until the fall of 1865. Re- turning then to Boonville, they resumed business here, and also added
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
banking as a branch of their business. Two years afterwards, how- ever, the banking department was dispensed with, and since then they have confined themselves to their mercantile interests exclu- sively. This house is one of the largest retail establishments in central Missouri, and has an extensive and profitable trade through- out the surrounding country for many miles. On the 14th of April, 1835, Dr. Trigg was married to Miss Sarah G., daughter of Jacob Wyan, an old settler of Cooper county. She was born December 25, 1818. They have four children : Josephine H., Julia A., Anna M. and William W. As a business man, Dr. Trigg has achieved a degree of success that stamps him as a man of superior ability and enter- prise. And as a citizen, he has always been public-spirited and among the foremost to offer help, both material and otherwise, in all movements calculated to promote the general interests of the city and surrounding country. His prosperity has been well earned, and none envy him the enjoyment of it, because all know that it has been honestly and honorably obtained.
HON. JOHN R. WALKER,
attorney. The Walker family, of this state, of whom Hon. John R. is a representative, came originally from Virginia, and all trace their lineage back to Samuel Walker, a native and resident of that state during the latter half of the last century, but who emigrated to North Carolina, and afterwards to Overton county, Tennessee, where he died at an advanced age in 1834. He reared a family of five sons and one daughter : Samuel, Winston, Armstead, John, Harrison and Ellen. These afterwards settled in Kentucky, where Samuel died, but his son, Charles, now lives in Pettis county, Missouri. Harrison moved from Kentucky to Indiana, where he died, leaving two sons and a daughter. John and Armstead settled in southwest Missouri, where they raised large families, and Winston, the grandfather of Hon. John R., came to Cooper county, Missouri, where he died, August 30, 1855, aged seventy-five years. He left three sons, Samuel, Henry R., and Anthony S. Anthony, after he grew up, married Miss Mary E., daughter of Judge Anthony F. Read, of this county, but originally of Kentucky. Judge Read's wife, formerly Miss Nelly C. Ewing, was a daughter of Urban Ewing, and niece of Rev. Finis Ewing. Anthony S. Walker and wife reared five children, viz. : James H., of Bunceton, this county ; Hon. John R., of Boonville ; Addison A., of Pleasant Green, this county ; Mrs. Mary E. Hick- man, of Columbia, Missouri; and Mrs. Florence Conkwright, of
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
Sedalia. Anthony S. Walker, the father of these, was for many years a leading citizen and large property holder of Cooper county, and was widely known and highly esteemed as a man of the most unques- tioned purity of character and of superior intelligence. He was, in every better sense, an upright citizen and a kind, hospitable neighbor. He died in this county, September 26th, 1863. Mrs. Walker, his wife, came of a family several of whose representatives have occupied distinguished positions in the business and public affairs of their respective states, and of the country. Judge John Read was an able jurist of Tennessee. Hon. James G. was a leading member of congress from Indiana, and others have attained to distinction in other parts of the union. Mrs. Walker herself was a lady of marked intel- ligence, and of more than ordinary culture. She died in June, 1872. John R., the son, was born in Cooper county, Missouri, March 18th, 1846, and, after taking the usual course in the neighborhood schools in early youth, in 1861 entered Kemper's well known school in Boon- ville, where he continued two years. After this he was admitted to Yale college, and spent three years of bard study in that great insti- tution of learning. Returning home in 1866, the following year he went to Bates county, and was occupied there several years with business connected with the landed interests of his father's estate. While there, in 1870, he was elected to the legislature, and proved one of the ablest and most popular members of the house. In 1873 he came back to his old home in Cooper county, and began the study of law under Hon. John Cosgrove, being afterwards admitted to the bar in 1874, whereupon he entered vigorously upon the practice of his profession. In 1880 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the county, and filled that position for two years with more than ordinary ability. He is now one of the prominent attorneys of Boonville, and in the coming years will doubtless be called upon to serve the people in various positions of distinction and public trust. He was married October 13th, 1880, to Miss Alice Ewing, a refined and accomplished daughter of Judge E. P. Ewing, the eminent jurist, who for many years ornamented the supreme bench of Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Walker have two children, Alice E. and John R. Mr. Walker is a member of the Masonic order.
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