USA > Missouri > Lafayette County > History of Lafayette county, Mo. , carefully written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, cities, towns, and villages > Part 67
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HISTORY OF LAFAYETTE COUNTY.
PASCHAL H. CHAMBERS, M. D.
The subject of this brief sketch was born in Louisville, Ky., February 6, 1824. Was educated at Hanover college, Indiana, and also at Miami University, of Oxford, Ohio, from which latter place he graduated in 1845. In same year he came to Lafayette county, Mo., and taught school near Higginsville, to obtain money to enable him to complete his studies, devot- ing his spare time to reading medicine. He afterwards attended a course of lectures at Louisville Medical College, and then practiced at Waverly and Lexington for a time, finally completing his medical education at Louisville Medical College, from which he graduated in the spring of 1850. He then located at Dover, this county, where he practiced for 17 years, meeting with unusual success. During the war he steadily pur- sued the even tenor of his way, treating friend and foe alike. Was rob- bed by the bushwhackers, and arrested by the federals taken to Gratiot prison, St. Louis, confined for seven weeks, and then released. In 1867, he located in Lexington, where he has since resided, engaged in the prac- tice of his profession, receiving his full share of the public patronage. The Dr. has been a member of the Presbyterian church since 1845, of which he has been an Elder since 1857. Is a member of the Masonic order and has been W. M. of Lexington lodge for two years. October 24, 1848, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret E. Wallace, a daughter of Henry C. Wallace, deceased; and sister of Hon. H. C. Wal- lace, of Lexington. Seven children were born, three of whom are now living, viz: Paschal H. Jr., Cabel W. and Kent Kane. Mrs. Chambers died, Sept. 17, 1859. June 27, 1861, he again married Miss E. Antoinette Shewalter, daughter of Joseph Shewalter. She died Jan. 24 of the follow- ing year. The Dr. married, for his third wife, Miss Augusta Stokes, daughter of John H. Stokes of Dunklin county, Mo. By this union they have had four children, three now living, viz: Sallie H., Lucretia C. and James Quarles.
THOMAS B. CLAGETT.
Mr. Clagett is a lineal descendant of one of the prominent families of Maryland-that of Bishop Clagett, who was the first bishop of that state. He was born in Montgomery county, Md., April 22, 1809. His early life was passed upon a farm-meanwhile acquiring a liberal education in a private school. At the age of 15 years, he went to Harper's Ferry, and engaged as clerk in a store for three years, upon the following very remu- nerative (?) terms :- For the first year he was to receive his board; for the second year, his board and clothes, and the third year one hundred dollars and his board. He served in this capacity for ten years, and then went into business for himself, merchandising, for one year. In 1836, he started
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west, going to Highland county Ohio, by stage, where he remained one month. He then purchased a horse and saddle and started on horseback for a tour through the boundless west. He passed through Georgetown and Shelbyville Ky., stopping at each place a month or so, then crossed the Ohio river, at Louisville, which was but a small town then, and trav- eling through Indiana and Illinois, arrived at St. Louis in June 1836. Remaining there a month, he again mounted his Pegassus and rode to Fulton, Mo., where he remained but a short time, however, and then returned to St. Louis, where he sold his horse and equipments. He then went to Baltimore Md., via. Wheeling Va., and there purchased a stock of goods, with which he returned to St. Louis and opened out a general merchandising store, in which he was engaged until 1841. He then went to Lexington and entered into partnership with H. C. Boteller, with whom he continued business until 1871, the firm doing a large and exten- sive business in the mercantile line. They lost about $40,000 during the war, but paid up their entire indebtedness in full-they being the only firm in Lexington that did not have to compromise with their creditors From 1871 to 1880, Mr. C. carried on the business alone, retiring from it in the latter year. He has been a merchant of Lexington for about 40 years, during which time many important changes have passed within the scope of his observation. When he first came here there was an exten- sive cornfield where the court house now stands. Was closely identified with the interests of the city in its palmiest days, being a member of its second city council. At the present time he is holding the office of city register and treasurer. October 5, 1850, he was united in marriage to Miss Ann Neilson, of Howard county, Mo., formerly of Va., and a rela- tive of the Randolphs. She died Oct. 11, 1853, leaving one child, viz: William S., now leading merchant of Lexington. Mr. Clagett was again married, Dec. 4, 1858, to Miss Ann H. Boteller, of Washington county, Maryland. By this marriage they have had four children, two now liv- ing, viz: Annie W. and Ella B.
WILLIAM A. GORDON, M. D.
William Abraham Gordon was born May 10, 1821, in Canton, Trigg county, Kentucky. His father, George Haynes Gordon was born in Hawkins county, East Tennessee, May 27. 1796. His mother, Martha Boyd, only daughter of Abraham Boyd and sister of John, Linn, Alferd and Rufus Boyd, was born Feb. 25, 1799. The father and mother of our subject were married in November, 1816, in Canton, Trigg county, Ken- tucky, in which town and its vicinity, they lived until the fall of 1832. The farther was engaged in the mercantile business and in farming while he lived in Kentucky. On the 1st of October, 1832, he started for Missouri, and arrived in Lafayette county, Oct. 28, 1832. William A. Gordon was
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HISTORY OF LAFAYETTE COUNTY.
educated at the common schools in the country in Lafayette county. The branches taught were spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, geography and English grammar. He attended two winter sessions of about three months each, at Dover, in the same county, assisted in teaching, and stud- ied geometry and trigonometry. At the age of twenty-two he attended a high school about two months, in Cadiz, Trigg county, Kentucky, at which he studied latin and algebra. His first step after leaving school was to teach, that he might thereby be enabled to educate himself. He taught his first school, six months, in the spring and summer of 1839, before entering upon his nineteenth year. The following winter he boarded and went to school in Dover to John A. Tutt. The next spring and summer he taught again at the same place where he had been teach- ing the year before, and the winter following again went to school in Dover to the same teacher. He was employed the next two years in teaching surveying, being deputy under his father, and in farming. In the spring of 1844 he commenced the study of medicine, having for his preceptor Wm. P. Boulware, M. D., of Lexington, and attended his first course of lectures in the city of Louisville, Kentucky. at the Louisville Medical Institute at the session of 1845-6. Upon returning home he com- menced the practice of his profession in connection with his cousin, Wil- liam L. Gordon, near Oak Grove, in Jackson county, Missouri. They practiced together till the following fall, when he again went to Louisville to attend a second course of lectures at the University of Kentucky, and graduated March 1, 1847. He returned home and resumed the practice of medicine, locating at James Walton's, in the southwest part of Lafay- ette county, better known as Texas Prairie. The doctor continued to practice there till the fall of 1849, when he removed to Dover, in the same county, where he remained until the following spring, when he deter- mined to go to the gold mines of California, where he remained about a year and a half. He left San Francisco for home November 1, 1851, on the steamship Tennessee, and arrived on the 26th day of the following December. In March, 1852, Dr. Gordon located in Wellington, Lafay- ette county, where he practiced his profession until April 1, 1858, when he moved to a farm about three and a half miles from Mayview, in Wash- ington township, of the same county, and resided there until February, 1873. He then moved to Lexington, having been elected to the office of county collector, and is now (1881), living in the suburbs of that city. The doctor's first military record was made when he was only seventeen years of age, in the fall of 1838, in a campaign against the Mormons, then living in Caldwell county, Missouri. The brigade commander was Gen. James H. Graham, of Lexington. He went as a substitute for his brother, John B. In July, 1861, he enlisted as private in the Missouri State Guards, under Gen. Sterling Price, at Cowskin Prairie, Missouri; and January 1,
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1862, entered company A, Rives' regiment, confederate states army, at Springfield, Missouri, and was appointed regimental surgeon at Corinth, Mississippi, in May or June, 1862, serving in that capacity till the close of the war-most of the time with the 1st Missouri cavalry, Col. E. Gates. He was captured at the fall of Mobile, April 9, 1865, the same day that Gen. R. E. Lee, surrendered the confederate forces to Gen. Grant, and got back to his home June 19, 1865. In August, 1860, Dr. Gordon ,was elected as one of the representatives to the legislature from Lafayette county, for the term of two years. He served one regular session in that body, and also at the called session in May, and in the extraordinary ses- sion held at Neosho, in Newton county, and in Cassville, in Barry county. At the November election in'1872, he was elected collector of Lafayette county for the term of two years. At the November election in 1874, he was re-elected to the same office, and in 1876, declined to be a candidate for a third term. He connected himself with the Christian church in Lexington in the summer of 1841, and has continued in that faith. His mother joined the church in about a year after he did, and continued in the faith until her death. Dr. Gordon has been acting with the democrats since the close of the civil war in 1865. His first vote for president was cast for the illustrious Henry Clay, in 1844, and he acted with the old whig party as long as it had an existence. Dr. William A. Gordon was mar- ried to Margaret V. Green May 10, 1849, that being his 29th birthday, His wife was the seventh child of the late Col. Lewis Green, an old set- tler and a very highly respected citizen of Lafayette county. She was born. Oct. 27, 1826, in Sumner county, Tennessee. They have had born to them ten children-all girls; Martha Elizabeth, Sophia Mildred, Emma Franklin, Mary Walker, Lucy Ewing, Catherine Green, Florence Edwards, Jane Lee, Nancy Shelby, and Minnie Carson. Sophia and Emma died in infancy, the former when about ten months and the latter about sixteen months old. Lucy died in her twenty-first year.
WILLIAM G. McCAUSLAND.
The subject of the following brief sketch is a native of Harrisonburg, Rockingham county, Va., born December 18, 1829. In 1830 his parents went to St. Louis county, Mo., and in 1832 came to Lafayette county, and settled near where Higginsville now is. They were the pioneers of that neighborhood. Wm. McCausland, Sr., filled the office of Justice of the Peace for twenty years, and also represented the county in the state legis- lature. Wm. G., Jr., obtained quite a liberal education in the common schools, and remained upon his father's farm until reaching his majority, when he came to Lexington and engaged as clerk in one of the stores, where he remained until 1858, at which time he embarked in the dry goods trade, in which he was engaged when the war broke out. He was
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HISTORY OF LAFAYETTE COUNTY.
the first man arrested by the federals for having a secession flag flying over his house. In 1861 he enlisted in the State Guards, Capt. John P. · Bowman's company, Gen. Raines' division, in which he served six months, participating in the battle of Pea Ridge and several other skirmishes. He then returned home and resumed the dry goods business, which has since occupied his attention. By his uniform courtesy and attention to his cus- tomers he has succeeded in establishing a lucrative trade. Has been a member of the City Council three terms, and two years since he joined the Masons. Is an elder of the Presbyterian church, and also one of the trustees of the Wentworth Male Academy. August 23, 1860, he was united in marriage to Miss Susan A. Arnold, of Lexington, Mo., and daughter of Dr. G. G. Arnold. She is a member of the Episcopal church.
WILLIAM MORRISON,
was born in Pittsburg, Pa., August 7, 1817, being the elder of two chil- dren. His parents' names were John Morrison and Nancy Barnes, and they both died while he was yet young; his mother when he was only two years old. His father was a tinner and copper-smith by trade, and he and his brother served in the war of 1812 under Gen. Harrison. His father moved, when William was quite young, to New Lisbon, Ohio, and there he received a common school education. At twelve years of age he left school, so that his education has been mainly a practical one, and what he has been able to pick up during a very practical life. The only legacy he received from his father was the request that he would learn the trade of a tin and copper- smith; and on leaving school he went to Steubenville Ohio, and apprenticed himself for five years to that business. In 1836, at the end of his apprenticeship, he went south and worked at his trade in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana, until 1840, when he moved to St. Louis. Previous to this he had started for the same point, but the steamer on which he embarked was sunk; he lost everything he had and returned to New Orleans, where he worked until he had again acquired the neces- sary funds. After a short stay in St. Louis he went to Lexington, and, in connection with another gentleman, commenced business on his own account, the means he had saved furnishing him a start. He continued the copartnership four years, when he concluded to transact business alone which he did for two years. He then associated himself with a partner, and continued in business for seven years, when the partnership dissolved, and he conducted the business alone up to the breaking out of the war. Meantime the demand for his goods became so large that he had to erect a foundry in 1858, which he operated until 1861 with very great success. In 1852 he established a branch store in Kansas City for the sale of his goods, and for ten years largely supplied the Mexican traders with stoves and camp equipage, etc. During the war his foundry was destroyed by
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the United States government to prevent it from falling into the hands of the rebel forces. In 1862 he rebuilt it, and it is still in operation. In 1865 he sold out and turned his attention exclusively to banking, in which he has ever since been engaged. In 1844 he was appointed by Gov. Austin A. King director on the part of the state in a branch of the bank of the State of Missouri, located at Lexington, and continued so during its exist- ence. Immediately succeeding it was the Farmers' Bank of Missouri with branches at Liberty and Paris, and during his attendance in the leg- islature he rendered valuable service in obtaining its charter. During the twelve years it existed he was a director in it and one of its stockholders Owing to the heavy tax imposed upon banking (ten per cent.) it was finally wound up without any loss to any one. He then associated with himself Mr. Wentworth, and in 1864 opened a private bank under the style of William Morrison & Co., of which he became cashier. In February, 1875, the firm organized under the state law, with the style of the Morrison- Wentworth bank. He was elected mayor of the city soon after it obtained its charter. In 1857-58 he represented his county in the legislature. He has been president of the board of curators of Central Female College since its organization in 1868. He also helped organize the coal company which furnishes coal for the Pacific Railroad, and is president of the board. He is also cashier in the Morrison-Wentworth bank, as well as one of its principal stockholders. His travels have extended over most of the United States and Canada. He has been a Methodist for thirty years, and has always been a strong Democrat. He was married in Lexington in 1844, to Miss Elizabeth Funk, daughter of Henry Funk, a farmer in Illinois, and has four children, all living, one daughter and three sons. His daugh- ter is married to Mr. Henry C. English, a teacher in the deaf and dumb asylum, Fulton, Mo. His eldest son operates the foundry, his second son is in the bank, while the third is still at school. To no one, perhaps, does Lexington owe more for its growth and prosperity than to Mr. Morrison. Since he settled there he has always done a large business, and for nearly twenty years kept his foundry running, employing continually from forty to sixty men. To his efforts is mainly due the building of the St. Louis and Lexington railroad, and in every public enterprise he has shown himself to be a public spirited and liberal man.
COL. GEORGE SOLON RATHBUN.
The subject of this sketch was born at Newbugh, Ohio, on the 27th day of February, 1829. His parents' names were George Steward Rath- bun and Harriet (Warren) Rathbun. His mother died when he was thir- teen years of age. His father, a farmer, still lives near East Cleveland. After having received a fair academical education and graduating at Bacon's commercial college, at Cincinnati, he entered upon the study of
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law in the office of Bishop & Baccus, attorneys at Cleveland, Ohio. Pre- vious to completing his studies at the age of nineteen, he removed to the state of Missouri residing for several years in St Louis county, when he removed to the county of Lafayette, and for a time engaged in teach- ing, having charge of the Wellington academy. On the 25th of May, 1857 was duly licensed by Judge Russell Hicks, of the sixth judicial cir- cuit, as a practicing attorney and enrolled as a member of the Lexington bar. At the November election, 1860, as a candidate of the Whig party upon the Bell and Everett ticket, he was elected to represent his county in the state legislature. Col. Rathbun received his commission from Gov. Jackson as lieutenant colonel and judge advocate of the eighth military district, including the border counties south of the Missouri river, and immediately repaired to Lexington to organize forces for the coming struggle. He actively participated in the siege and battle of Lexington, and rendered efficient service in the reorganization of the army at Boston Mountains, and in the advance to Pea Ridge and at Elkhorn Tavern was present upon the field and participated with the Missouri troops in all the vicissitudes of that memorable engagement. He commanded the advance at the battle of Prairie Grove: was present at Lone Jack. He participated in the fight at Granby and Newtonia, and also upon the expe- dition to Cape Girardeau, commanding the rear from Bloomfield to the crossing of the St Francis river, repulsing repeated attacks made upon it; participated in the unfortunate and ill-timed expedition to Helena. In August, 1864, it having been determined to invade Missouri, a company of officers and men, numbering about one hundred, wer esent into the state in advance of Price's command to penetrate to the western border and concentrate all the irregular troops and volunteers to join the regular forces upon their arrival. Of this company, Col. Rathbun was chosen commander, and starting out upon the march from Batesville, Arkansas, entered the state near West Plains, and passing through Texas county entered Laclede. Passing on, without interruption, through Henry and Johnson counties, Lafayette county was reached, Lexington menaced, the Federal forces there stationed crossed the river, and the city formally sur- rendered and was occupied by the confederates some three weeks before Price's arrival. Then followed the battle of Westport and the retreat southward which, after leaving Missouri, became the march of a disorgan- ized rabble, without order, without commissary stores and without any. fixed purpose, except to get through the wild Indian country, if possible, into southern Arkansas and Texas. He remained at Arkadelphia until the year following the close of the war, when he returned with his family (bringing with him a young Arkansian) to Lexingtan and, as soon as per- mitted by the iron-clad oath, resumed his profession of the law. As
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HISTORY OF LAFAYETTE COUNTY.
attorney and director of the Lexington & St. Louis railroad company he aided materially in the successful completion of that road, and secured its first lease in the Missouri Pacific. He is an Odd Fellow in good stand- ing and a member of the Christian church. He was married July 4, 1858, to Miss Dicie Jennie Dean, daughter of Jesse Dean, of Lafayette county, formerly of Carrollton, Ky., by whom he has had six children, all living; the four oldest being sons and the two others little girls, six and nine, respectively, all born in Lafayette, except one son, Willie, in Arkansas.
WILLIAM WALKER.
Mr. Walker is a native of Dearborn county, Indiana; born September 1, 1822. In 1836 his parents moved with him to Mason county, Illinois, and located on a farm, where William grew to manhood-meanwhile, receiv- ing a fair education in the historical "log school house" of the day. In 1842 he began the study of the law at Springfield, Illinois, with Col. Ed. Baker, who was afterwards U. S. senator from California, and who event- ually received his death wound at the battle of Ball's Bluff, during the late war. Their office was next door to that of Abraham Lincoln, of whom he became an intimate personal friend. He was admitted to the bar in 1844, and began the practice of the law at Havana, Illinois, where he remained until 1865, ultimately acquiring a large and lucrative practice, extending over several counties. He then removed to Lexington, Missouri, where he has since resided engaged in the practice of his profession. He has the reputation of being at the head of it in criminal practice. In 1867 he was appointed judge of the court of common pleas, by Gov. Fletcher, and in 1868 was elected to the same for a period of four years. This office being abolished in 1872, he returned to the practice of thelaw. Is attorney for the Chicago & Alton railroad. The judge has always been a staunch republican in politics, and was a delegate to the first republican state con- vention held in Illinois, in 1854. He has been married three times; first to Miss Kate Wheeler, of Logan county, Illinois, in 1844, who died in 1863. Seven children were born to them, three of whom are now living: John W., Elizabeth, and William F., all living in Illinois. In 1865 he was again united in marriage to Miss Rachel Wilson, of Mason county, Illinois, who died in 1871, at Lexington, leaving three children: Alice, Arthur, and Robert. He married his third wife in 1872, leading to the altar Mrs. Maggie L. Downing, daughter of Gen. Combs of Lexington, Kentucky. An excellent lawyer and an upright judge, his standing among the mem- bers of his profession is an enviable one.
HON. HENRY C. WALLACE.
Henry C. Wallace was born August 18, 1823, in Woodford county, Ken- tucky. He is the son of Henry and Elizabeth Wallace, the latter a
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daughter of George Carlyle, a soldier of the revolution, of Woodford county, Kentucky. He is a descendant of the oldest and most honored families of the "dark and bloody ground." His ancestors are traced back to Scotland, but in this country they settled first in Virginia. The father of Henry C. Wallace, Capt. Henry Wallace, was born in Kentucky, in March, 1792, soon after the admission of the state, and is supposed to have been the first male child born in the state after its admission into the union. He was a soldier of the war with England in 1812, under Gen. William H. Harrison, and served with that officer in the north, then known as the Northwestern Territory, against the hostile Indians. He removed to Mis- souri and settled in Lexington in the spring of 1844, where, in the vicinity, he resided until his death in 1875. He was a man of high moral char- acter and unspotted integrity, a useful member of society and of the Bap- tist church. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-three years, honored and respected by his fellow-citizens and revered by his numerous children and grand-children. Hon. Caleb B. Wallace, eldest brother of the subject of this sketch, was a member of the senate of Kentucky, in 1850-51, from Boyle county. Henry C. Wallace enjoyed the advantages of Sinking Spring academy in his native county, and was attending Center college, at Danville, Kentucky, when his father emgirated to Missouri; but was forced by impaired health, resulting from a long and severe attack of typhoid fever, to leave college in 1844. Though his health gradually improved after removing to Missouri, it did not permit of his resuming his collegiate course, and he continued to prosecute his studies during several years with such assistance as he could then secure at Lexington. He then taught school in that town for a year and a half, when he commenced the study of law with F. C. Sharp, Esq., his brother-in-law, afterward a prom- inent lawyer of the St. Louis bar. He was admitted to practice in 1849, and after practicing for eighteen months with good success, he attended the law school at Louisville, Kentucky, and graduated in 1851. He then returned to Lexington, and has ever since been assiduously engaged in the study and practice of the law. Besides holding the office of justice of the peace and that of city attorney, each from 1849 to 1853, he has never until his election to the constitutional convention, which met in 1875, held or desired to hold official position. He was elected to the constitutional con- vention from the three counties composing the 17th senatorial district- Lafayette, Pettis and Saline, by a large and flattering majority. In religion he is a Baptist, and member of the first Baptist church of Lexington. He is also a Mason and a Knight Templar. Politically, he was an old line whig, but since the dissolution of that party he has affiliated with, and is a warm supporter of the democratic party. He was married June 4, 1863, to Miss Lizzie Sharp, sister of F. C. Sharp, above mentioned and daughter of Absalom Sharp, of Christian county, Kentucky. By her he has five
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