History of Johnson County, Missouri, Part 89

Author: Cockrell, Ewing
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Topeka, Kan. : Historical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1234

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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY

From the Miller farm, they moved to the Eberts place in Warrensburg township. At one time, William H. Burford was owner of more than two thousand acres of land, practically all of which he lost in the panic of 1873. Just prior to the panic of 1873, W. H. Burford had bought thou- sands of western cattle, the depreciation in the value of which was partly the cause of his failure. In 1874, he purchased a tract of land in Post Oak township on credit. He was an indomitable character, who knew no failure, and he spent the remainder of his life buying and selling cattle, speculating in hundreds at a time, accumulating a com- petence, and at the time of his death he was the owner of four hundred ninety acres of valuable farm land in Johnson county and was considered a well-to-do man in this section of the state. In the election of 1896, he was elected to the office of judge of the county court, which position he filled satisfactorily two terms. He was then elected county surveyor of Johnson county and it was during his incumbency that the tragic accident occurred at the railroad crossing on Holden street in War- rensburg, which resulted in the death of William H. Burford and in the loss to the citizenship of Missouri of one of the noblest men of Johnson county.

Humphrey M. Burford was a student at the Warrensburg State Normal School in 1881 and 1882. He then attended Spaulding's Busi- ness College in 1882 and 1883. March 3, 1887, Mr. Burford was united in marriage with Henrietta A. Rathfon, who was born in Indiana, Octo- ber 24, 1860. To Humphrey M. and Mrs. Burford has been born one child, a daughter, Beulah L., who is now the wife of J. H. Swearingen and they have two daughters: Alice Nadine and Myrtle D.

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Burford moved to a farm in Vernon county, where he engaged in general farming and stock rais- ing. About 1896, they moved to Warrensburg and two years later to Colorado. In the fall of the year of 1899, they returned from Colorado, where they had resided one year, and settled on the farm, which is now widely known as the Rathfon place. One hundred twenty acres comprise this farm and on it Mr. Burford is raising good cattle and hogs, of best grade, and many chickens. Mr. Burford is a firm advo- cated of the poultry and dairy business as money-making propositions.

For many years, Humphrey M. Burford has been one of the lead- ing citizens of Leeton. He is one of the directors of the company con- trolling the lumber yard, one of the stockholders in the Farmers Bank

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of Leeton, and one of the stockholders in the elevator in Leeton. He is a valued member of the Modern Woodmen of America of Leeton. Mrs. Burford is a worthy and consistent member of the Christian church and in their community is an esteemed neighbor and friend.

J. Harvey Swearingen, an enterprising and successful, young farmer and stockman of Post Oak township, was born August 22, 1883 in Highland county. Ohio, son of W. O. Swearingen. The father was born in Ohio. Twenty years ago, he came to Johnson county, Mis- souri after living in Washington county, Kansas for five years, during a period of successive crop failures. W. O. Swearingen sold his place in Kansas and moved to Missouri, and he has since resided in Johnson county, first on a farm east of Leeton for one year, then on the Wyatt farm one year, and is now residing on the Greer farm.

For eleven years, J. Harvey Swearingen and his brother, J. L., were in partnership, but in 1914, the partnership was dissolved and J. L. Swearingen is now residing on the Don Carlos farm, a place com- prising three hundred acres of land, and J. Harvey lives on a farm in Post Oak township which comprises one hundred eighty-five acres. With the exception of fifteen acres of timber land, J. Harvey Swear- ingen's farm is all under cultivation. His place is well adapted to all crops, one hundred acres of the place being as fine bottom land as can be found anywhere. Mr. Swearingen is engaged in general farming and stock raising. A part of the farm is in grass land and he has a nice herd of good grade cattle, a few of which are dairy cows, as he is in the dairy business to a small extent. Mr. Swearingen owns two splendid bulls, one Jersey and the other Shorthorn. Neither is regis- tered, but one is eligible. At the present time, he has ten acres of his farm in alfalfa and twelve acres in alsike and red clover combined. These patches of crops which are new in this part of the country are on the bottom land and they averaged close to two tons an acre of the former and this season there were one and a half tons of clover har- vested to the acre, the best clover crop that Mr. Swearingen has ever had. Alfalfa, as a forage crop, has increased in popularity very rapidly during the past ten years and all up-to-date agriculturists are at least giving it fair trial. It is a deep-feeding plant, makes a good hay crop, and may be used for pasture. From three to six cuttings of alfalfa can be made in one season after the plants have become firmly established, which usually takes three years. The Swearingens are interested in

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the poultry business to a great extent. There are three hundred sixty- five hens on the farm and the past season they made an excellent record for themselves. From January 1, 1917 until June 20, 1917 they pro- duced four hundred forty-two dollars and six hundred little chicks. Mr. Swearingen keeps pure-bred cockerels and all his chickens are thus of good strain. The Swearingen farm is well located and nicely improved, all the buildings and fences having been placed on it by Mr. Swearingen himself, since he came to this place. The barn, which was erected in 1911, is an exceptionally fine one. It is 40 x 60 feet in dimensions and constructed of oak, boxed with pine. The timber grew on this farm and the lumber from it was cut and sawed right on the farm.

In 1912, J. Harvey Swearingen was united in marriage with Beulah L. Burford, daughter of H. M. Burford, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. To J. Harvey and Beulah L. (Bur- ford) Swearingen have been born two children, both daughters: Nadine, who was born November 22, 1914; and Myrtle D., who was born Sep- tember 16, 1916. Mr. Swearingen is a member of the Modern Wood- men of America, being affiliated with the Leeton lodge. Mr. and Mrs. Swearingen are excellent and estimable, young people, worthy of the greatest success in life.

Charles A. Baker, a prominent and highly respected stockman and one of the leading citizens of Post Oak township, is of German descent. He was born March 20, 1864 in Jersey county, Illinois, son of Joseph and Johannah Baker, both of whom were born in Germany. Joseph Baker emigrated from the fatherland nearly sixty-seven years ago and came to America, where he located in Illinois and was united in mar- riage with Johannah Algos, who came to the United States with her parents, when she was about sixteen years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Baker were born six children, four sons and two daughters. Botlı the father and mother are now deceased.

When a young man, Charles A. Baker came with his parents to Missouri forty-five years ago and they settled on a farm in Johnson county. In 1894 Mr. Baker and Ida May Helphrey were united in marriage and to them were born the following children: Irene, Augusta, Porter W., Harry A., and Ida Charlene. At the time of their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Baker came to the farm, where they now reside and with the exception of nine years, when they lived in the city of Leeton, this place has been their home ever since. In the spring of 1916, the

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Bakers moved back to the farm. During his residence in Leeton, Mr. Baker was engaged in buying and selling stock in which work he was very successful. He has handled hundreds of heads of cattle and hogs.

The Baker farm comprises three hundred eleven acres of land, well located and all in one tract. Mr. Baker is at the present time rebuilding the different farm buildings and he has in the last year remodeled the residence, making it an attractive, comfortable home. When his work is completed, he will have one of the beautiful country places in this section of the state. Formerly, Mr. Baker raised pure-bred stock exclu- sively, but at the present time he has not so limited his herds of cattle and hogs. He has, at the time of this writing, seven or eight hundred head of hogs. He devotes most of his attention to stock raising, in which vocation he has been remarkably successful.

Besides his country home, Charles A. Baker is owner of stock in both banks in Leeton. He is a member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Baker has always taken a keen and active interest in all movements, which have for their object the betterment of the community and he and Mrs. Baker are numbered among the county's best and most valued citizens.

Elbert S. James, a progressive and successful farmer and stockman of Post Oak township, was born March 8, 1873 in Webster county, Mis- souri. He is a son of Calvin L. and Sarah M. (Stone) James, who were united in marriage in 1870 and to whom were born four children, three now living: Elbert S., of this review; Nellie; and Bertie, who is now the wife of Silas Shannon. Calvin L. James was born July 6. 1833 on the James farm in Post Oak township, where he was reared to manhood. He then went to Webster county, which was his home for twenty years and there his death occurred in 1887. Sarah M. (Stone) James was born and reared in Post Oak township. She is a sister of the well-known Stone brothers. She is now living, her home being two and a half miles east of Chilhowee, Missouri.

Since 1890, Elbert S. James has been residing on the farm which is his present home. This place embraces two hundred twenty acres of land and on it Mr. James is raising large herds of high grade sheep, hogs, and cattle. At the present time, he has one hundred twenty head of Shropshire sheep, seventy-three lambs, and one hundred fifty head of Poland China hogs. Mr. James has been engaged in the sheep indus-

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try for ten years and besides has annually put on the market from one hundred forty to one hundred fifty head of hogs and many cattle. He raises white face cattle almost exclusively. The James farm is one of the best improved places in Post Oak township. The residence is an imposing structure of two stories and the farm buildings, of which there are many, are all in splendid repair. Mr. James takes much pride in keeping his place in first-class condition and he should be highly com- mended upon the taste, care and attention which his beautiful country home bespeaks.

September 29, 1915, Elbert S. James and Maudie E. Fultz were united in marriage. Mrs. James is a daughter of W. H. Fultz, of John- son county. Both Mr. and Mrs. James are widely known and esteemed in Johnson county, where they are enrolled among the county's most valued and substantial citizens.

James M. Mohler, a well-read, successful farmer of Post Oak town- ship, was born in Covington, Ohio, March 19, 1870, but has been a resi- dent of Johnson county, Missouri for the past thirty-six years, during which time he has been closely identified with the social and religious life of the community in which he resides. He is a son, one of seven children born to Martin S. and Elizabeth (Mikesell) Mohler, both of whom were natives of the old "Buckeye State." Martin Mohler was born in Covington, Ohio in 1845 and migrated to Johnson county, Missouri in 1881, where he purchased the farm known as the Jones Brothers' place and there reared to maturity a family of three children, four died before grown. Mrs. Elizabeth Mohler was also born in Ohio and she and Martin S. Mohler were united in marriage at Covington, Ohio.

James M. Mohler, subject of this review, was educated in McPher- son College, a Dunkard or Brethren institution of learning which he attended for a period of three years. This school is widely attended by young men and women of Dunkard persuasion and draws students from more than eleven states of the Union. For the past three years, Mr. Mohler has filled the important post of trustee of the college.

Mr. Mohler was united in marriage with Ida May Wampler in 1895. Ida May (Wampler) Mohler was born and reared in Johnson county, Missouri on a farm near the town of Knob Noster. The fol- lowing children have been born of this marriage, namely: Ruth, Eliza- beth, and Salome. Mr. Mohler has always been a farmer and, immedi- ately after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Mohler settled on the farm

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of eighty acres which they own and cultivate successfully in Post Oak township.

Mr. Mohler is one of the leaders in the religious life of Johnson county and has taken a very active and important part in the work of the church in the belief of which he was reared. At the present time he is serving as elder of the Brethren or Dunkard church at Leeton, Missouri, and has been a member of the General Sunday School Board of this denomination for the past five years. This board is the govern- ing body which has charge of all the Sunday Schools of the Dunkard faith in the United States and elsewhere. Before taking this position, Mr. Mohler was a member of the Advisory Board of the Brethren Sun- day Schools for a period of six years.

Walter S. Harwood, widely-known horseman of Post Oak town- ship and Confederate veteran, is a son of an old Missouri pioneer who settled in St. Louis when this now great city was a French hamlet of but a few hundred souls. Mr. Harwood was born in St. Louis, June 14, 1837, son of Walter B. and Martha (Kahelan) Harwood, both of whom were born in Virginia, the latter in the city of Richmond. Both parents came to Missouri before their marriage. Mrs. Harwood, the subject's mother, made her home with a family named Linden. She also became well acquainted with a family named McKnight and later one of her daughters married a son of this family. The McKnights were prominently identified with the early history of St. Louis, mem- bers of the family having been engaged in business there for many years, and were the founders of the famous old Planters' Hotel which for many years was the most noted hostelry of the entire Southwest. Walter B. Harwood located in St. Louis as early as 1818 at a time when the future great city was a little hamlet strung out along the banks of the mighty Mississippi. His son, Walter S. Harwood, subject of this review, can recall that the site of the Union Station was all meadow and during his boyhood days he cut hay on the spot and hauled many loads of hay from the very site of the depot. Walter B. Harwood died in the year 1862. Mr. and Mrs. Walter Harwood were parents of the fol- lowing children: Robert B., who served as county clerk of Johnson county and is now deceased; Samuel S., who died when a young man; Walter S., subject of this review; Dr. N. S., who died at Monroe City, Missouri in 1917; O. B., former resident of Johnson county, now deceased; Elizabeth Page, who died at the age of nineteen years; Mrs.

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Martha Lakelan, of St. Louis, Missouri; C. J., who lives on the old home place at Kirkwood, Missouri; and Eleanor A., who lives in St. Louis. The mother of these children died at St. Louis in 1896.

Walter S. Harwood enlisted in the Confederate service when twenty-three years of age, and served throughout the Civil War. Two other brothers, Robert and O. B., also served in the Confederate army. Mr. Harwood was a member of the famous Fourth Missouri Cavalry and was captured at one time and interned in the military prison at St. Louis and was held there until his exchange. His imprisonment was shortened to two weeks because of the ruse which he performed in trading names with a fellew prisoner who did not wish to be exchanged. During his term of service in the Confederate army, Mr. Harwood was elected an officer of his company but resigned the position, preferring to serve in the ranks. He took part in the battle of Knoxville, Ten- nessee, and fought with the armies of Generals Marmaduke and Price throughout Missouri and Arkansas. His command were continually making raids into the enemy's land and were constantly on the move. He was finally mustered out at Shreveport, Louisiana, after a strenu- ous period of active service in Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas, during which he endured many hardships and many times was on the verge of starvation, it being necessary for the soldiers of his command to subsist by securing provisions in the country they raided. Prior to his enlistment in the service, Mr. Harwood spent a year in Texas when twenty years old.

After the close of the Civil War, he and his two brothers farmed on the old home place for two years and then divided the property and came to Johnson county. His two brothers came to Johnson county and located here. Mr. Harwood lived in the neighborhood of St. Louis until 1884 and he then came to Johnson county and bought the place where he now resides in Post Oak township. This is a well-improved farm of four hundred acres, all the improvements on the place having been placed there by Mr. Harwood since he became the owner of the land. During the many years in which he has been a resident of this county, Mr. Harwood has achieved a considerable reputation as a breeder of thoroughbred draft and trotting horses. He has always been a lover of good horseflesh.

Mr. Harwood was united in marriage with Josephine Michels of i St. Louis county, Missouri, in 1870. To this union have been born

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the following children: Mrs. Nettie Foster, Greeley, Colorado; Jose- phine; Mrs. Lillian Caldwell, of Johnson county; Ida, who died Janu- ary 12, 1907; Walter, deceased; Robert, at home with his parents; Mrs. Anna M. Smith, of Oklahoma.

During the four score years which have passed since he first saw the light of day, this octogenarian has seen many great changes for the better in his native state. He has witnessed the growth of great cities; has seen the coming of the railroads; the transformation of an unpeopled wilderness to a land of beautiful towns, cities, and fertile farms. He has taken part in the creating of a great commonwealth. He has witnessed the building of highways where there were nothing but trails across the country. Once, he took up arms in defense of the land which gave him birth and fought for what he rightly deemed to be just. He has seen a great nation arise, has seen states welded together, and again plunged into war, a World War fought in behalf of the principles of liberty and justice for which this nation stands. Should his country again need him, Walter S. Harwood stands ready once more to shoulder a gun and to assist the Union in preserving the liberties of mankind.

August Wolf, capable and enterprising farmer of Madison town -. ship, was born on the farm where he is now residing, August 28, 1879, a son of Ernest and Anna (Lang) Wolf both of whom were born in Germany. Ernest Wolf was born in 1830, was reared to young man- hood in Germany and served in the Prussian army as required by the exacting military laws of his native country. He learned the trade of millwright. Shortly after he had served his term in the army he left Germany and came to America to find the freedom which had been denied him in his native land. The enforced years of military training, the submission to the Prussian yoke of militarism, which even then was beginning to dominate Germany and render her people mere auto- matons, so ground into his soul that Ernest Wolf was imbued with a hatred of Prussianism and longed, while undergoing military service, to get away from it all to a land which was not infested with arbitrary, arrogantly brutal officers. This hatred of all things Prussian never left this independent, sturdy German-born American and he never ceased to avow his hatred of the system which had taken toll of his young life. He first settled in St. Louis, Missouri and was employed as a car repairer at a wage of ninety dollars per month. During the

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Civil War, he entered the Union service as a member of the Home Guards and thus showed his loyalty and love for his adopted country. Ernest Wolf was thrifty and was ever looking forward to the time when he could own a piece of land which would be all his own. He saved his earnings as he was able and after the war was ended he came to Johnson county. After a residence in Holden of but a few years, he purchased a farm near the city and during the remaining years of his life developed his fine farm to the utmost. Mr. Wolf was very successful as a farmer and stockman and became fairly well-to-do. He was a man of good habits, very industrious, and was blessed with excel- lent health up to the time of his illness which culminated in his death April 12, 1915 at the age of eighty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Wolf were parents of these children besides the subject of this review: Mrs. Johanna Zinn, Topeka, Kansas; Mrs. Fredericka Sheer, deceased; Fred, died in infancy; Ernest, Jr., Holden, Missouri; Louis, in the employ of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company; Mrs. Bertha Coy, Madison township: Henry, Kansas City; Edward, Gary, Nebraska; Mrs. Lizzie Donelson; Annie, at home; Laura; and Charley, who was killed in a wreck on the Missouri Pacific railroad.

Ernest Wolf was born in Hanover, Germany, February 11, 1830. He died at his home April 12, 1915, at 2 P. M. He came to St. Louis in 1855, went to work for the Missouri Pacific Railway Company and continued in its service until 1855. He moved to Holden in 1871 and bought the farm on which he lived since, one mile west of Holden. He is mourned by his wife, five sons, and five daughters. The remains were temporarily deposited in the Steele vault. Owing to the danger- ous illness of his wife and daughter, it was thought best to defer any funeral services at this time. Mr. Wolf was in his eighty-sixth year and up to the last few weeks was able to be up and about the house. He bought a very impoverished piece of land in 1871 and developed it into one of the best dairy farms in the county. He stocked his farm with Holstein cattle and made a success. He was an ener- getic, good man, a good friend and neighbor. Like a shock of grain, fully ripe, he is garnered into the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

August Wolf was reared to maturity on the home place near Holden and is farming one hundred eighty-one acres of fine land and operating a dairy in connection. In addition to general farming and

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dairying, he raises a considerable number of hogs each year. Mr. Wolf is following in his father's footsteps as a tiller of the soil and is making a decided success of his life work. He is a member and a deacon of the Baptist church and is fraternally affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Daughters of Rebekah.

Dr. John T. Anderson, a leading medical practitioner of Johnson county, who has practiced continuously in Post Oak township for the past twenty-seven years, is a native son of Missouri and is descended from one of the oldest pioneer families of Johnson county. He was born in Henry county, Missouri. November 21, 1869, son of Andrew J. and Mary A. (Swift) Anderson, who were well-known and highly respected residents of Henry county for many years. Andrew J. Ander- son, the father, was born in Johnson county on a farm north of War- rensburg in 1844 and was a son of John Anderson who was born in Virginia in 1795, son of John Anderson, "My Jo John," of whom the poet, Burns, sang. The grandfather of Dr. Anderson migrated to Johnson county, Missouri in the early twenties, about 1825, and entered government land, developing a farm which is now owned by Judge Wood. In the year 1850, he left his first homestead and moved to a farm south of Cornelia. He reared a family of eleven children, of whom Andrew J. Anderson was the youngest. During the Civil War, the elder Anderson was a captain in the Home Guards and commanded the company of which Andrew J. was a member. Andrew J. Anderson attended the early "subscription schools" in Johnson county and was taught by the noted "Bill" Stewart who was afterward killed by Judge Burford. He accompanied his parents to Henry county and in 1882 was united in marriage with Mary A. Swift, who was born and reared in Henry county, whither her parents had removed from Lonejack. Her father, Shelby Swift, was a miller and operated a mill, known as the Swift Mill, in Henry county. Mr. and Mrs. Swift died of typhoid fever when the mother of Dr. Anderson was quite young. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were married in 1868. Mrs. Sharp is Dr. Anderson's only living sister and their mother, Mrs. Anderson, resides with her. Andrew J. Anderson died in 1898, after an active and indus- trions life as a farmer and stockman.

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History of Johnson County, Missouri, Part 89

Author: Cockrell, Ewing Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Topeka, Kan. : Historical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1234

Author: Cockrell, Ewing
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Topeka, Kan. : Historical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1234