History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records, Part 100

Author: Goodspeed, firm, publishers, Chicago (1886-1891, Goodspeed Publishing Co.)
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: St. Louis, Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1308

USA > Missouri > Scotland County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 100
USA > Missouri > Lewis County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 100
USA > Missouri > Clark County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 100
USA > Missouri > Knox County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 100

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

John H. Briscoe .- Among the worthy and deserving agricult- urists of Northeast Missouri, is the subject of this sketch, a na- tive of Highland Township, Mo., born in 1833. He is a descendant of two highly respected families of Kentucky, where his parents were raised, educated and married, and in 1833 immigrated to Northeast Missouri. Our subject's father, Walter Briscoe, was of German descent, and his life occupation was that of farming; he served for a time in the Black Hawk or Iowa war. He died in Missouri, aged forty-four years, in 1853. In politics he was a Democrat, and in religion was a member of the Baptist Church; his widow survived him until 1865, at the close of the war. Our subject was reared in his native county and State, and re- ceived his education during the winter terms of the district and public schools. At the age of twenty he immigrated to California, and worked in the mines one year, and it was in that year he lost his father. In 1854 he returned to Lewis County, and soon after entered land in Knox County, where he moved in the spring of 1854, and built a log house. Before going west he was married to Miss Sarah H. Lewis, a native of Kentucky, daughter of Benjamin C. and Harriet (Jackson) Lewis. Beginning with but a rude home, the young couple began to improve their land, al- though at that time wild game and animals abounded, and the

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country was very thinly settled. To them nine children have been born (eight of whom are living) : Laura (Briscoe) Gosney; Harriet E., Hester F. (Briscoe ) Bostwick, Emma D., Walter H., Benjamin C., Sarah (Briscoe) Roberts, Lydia M. and John H. During the late war Mr. Briscoe, although not classed among the regular army, was what 'was known as a bushwhacker, and did a good deal of dodging, but never bushwhacked any one. In politics he is a Democrat. With the exception of the year spent in California, he has been within this judicial district all his life, and is a man well liked and well spoken of, being of high prin- ciples and character. He now owns 290 acres of good land, and is one of Knox County's enterprising and public-spirited citizens.

Thomas M. Bronson, who has been a resident of Knox County for sixteen years, and is a partner of the firm Bronson & Bro., grist and saw mills, was born in Brown County, Ohio, in 1835. His father was a native of New York State, and a man of more than ordinary skill and ability, serving as auditor of Brown County, Ohio, for several years. He was a highly educated and intelligent gentleman, and taught school in Ohio for many years. He was united in marriage to Miss Rachel Norris, and by her had thir- teen children, nine of whom are now living. Our subject, Thomas M., is the fifth son, and spent his youth in Brown County, Ohio, where he received a common-school education at the neighbor- hood and district schools. At the age of twenty, in 1854, he started west with his eldest brother, and located in Shelby County, Mo., where he remained farming until 1871. While there he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Matkin, and to them five children were born, three of whom are living with their parents: James, Annie and Manford. He next operated a grist and saw mill in Newark, until 1879, and then came to Knox City, where he has since resided. He now owns eighty acres of land in Myrtle Township, besides being a partner with H. Bronson in some mill property worth about $3,000. In politics he is a Republican.

H. Bronson, the present mayor of Knox City, is by nativity and rearing an eastern man, and was born in New York State September 2, 1836. The family originally came from Connecticut, of which State his mother was a native. Her maiden name was Mahitable Morris, and she wedded Merritt Bronson, a farmer by occupation, and in politics a Whig. Mr. Bronson and wife had four children-three boys and one girl. Our subject received a liberal education in his native county, Onondaga, and at the age of twenty-three started for the West. He went to Shelby County, Mo., where he taught school for two years, and spent his vacations farming. In 1868 he moved to

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Newark, Knox County, and engaged in the grist and saw milling business for eleven years, at which he was quite successful. In 1879 he moved to Knox City, where he has been actively em- ployed in the same business ever since. He is now serving his second term of mayorship, in which office he gives great satisfac- tion. While a resident of . Shelby County he was united in mar- riage to his cousin, Miss Mary E. Bronson, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Stephen T. Bronson, of Shelby County (now de- ceased). To this marriage six children have been born, all of whom are living with their parents. They are Lamont, Lillian, George, Henry, Nellie and Orville. During the war Mr. Bron- son enlisted under Capt. James Collier in Company G, Eleventh Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, and served two years and a half as commissary sergeant in that company, although he participated in no important battles. During his nineteen years' residence in Knox County, Mr. Bronson has established a reputation of being a good, punctual and active business man, and enjoy's the respect of the entire community. He does a good business in the grist and saw milling trades, and in politics he is a Greenbacker.

S. K. Brosius, one of the enterprising merchants of Knox County, is a native of Pennsylvania, and was born in 1833, and is a son of Benjamin Brosius, a native of Pennsylvania, and born in 1791. He was of German descent, and came to the State of Ohio in 1837, where he engaged in farming until his death, which occurred in 1866. Phoebe (Boothe) Brosius, the mother of our subject, was also a native of Pennsylvania, and was born in 1794, and died in 1869. Our subject accompanied his par- ents to Ohio, and lived with them until he was twenty-four years old, when he went to Illinois, and farmed there until 1865. He then came to Clark County, Mo., where he remained until 1881, or until he came to Greensburg Township, Knox County, and engaged in the mercantile business, which he has success- fully followed ever since. In 1858 our subject was united in marriage to Mary Starr, daughter of James and Phoebe (Hillis) Starr. This union of our subject and wife was blessed with three daughters, viz .: Emma P., Lula B. and Anna M. Our subject has nine living brothers, three of whom are younger than him- self. He is a stanch Republican, but has never sought or held political office, preferring the quiet of his home life to that of political worry and trouble. He commands a good trade, and is one of the enterprising and substantial citizens of Greensburg Township.

Capt. Joel Brown, postmaster of Edina, was born in York County, Penn., March 8, 1832, and is a son of Thomas and Susannah (Griest) Brown, natives, respectively, of Baltimore,

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Md., and York County, Penn. The father with his family immigrated to Iowa in 1855, and resided in Van Buren County, until the death of the parents. Our subject was reared on the farm, and at the age of seventeen learned the blacksmith's trade which he regularly followed in Pennsylvania, until 1855, when he moved with the family to Iowa, where he worked at the same trade in Van Buren County until the breaking out of the civil war, when he enlisted in the spring of 1861, and helped to organize Company H, Fifth Regiment Iowa Vol- unteer Infantry, of which he was made first lieutenant, and the following September was promoted to the captaincy of the company, serving in this office until the spring of 1863, when he resigned on account of trouble caused by a wound in his lungs, which was received the year previous at Iuka, Miss, Returning home he engaged in the manufacture of wagons, buggies and plows until the spring of 1877, when he removed to Edina, and engaged in the drug business for four years with a brother, in which business he is now engaged, hav- ing as a partner Charles E. Lionberger. Capt. Brown comes of an old Whig stock, and since the organization of the Re- publican party has been a stanch member of its ranks, and has served three terms in the (lower) Iowa Legislature, represent- ing Van Buren County in the Eleventh, Twelfth and Thir- teenth General Assemblies. In April, 1883, he was appointed by President Arthur postmaster of Edina, and has filled the office in a faithful and efficient manner up to the present time. His first wife, who was Angelina Griest, died in Van Buren County, Iowa, leaving no issue, and in 1862 he married Sarah Ann McDonald, his present wife, a native of Muskingum County, Ohio, by whom he has one son, Charles M., deputy postmaster. Capt. Brown has long been a Mason, and is a mem- ber of the G. A. R. and K. of H. Himself and wife are mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church.

Edwin J. Brown was born in York County, Penn., November 17, 1834, and is a son of Thomas and Susannah (Griest) Brown. The father was a native of Baltimore, Md., a farmer by occupa- tion, and immigrated to Iowa with his family in 1855, locating in Van Buren County, where he died. The mother was a descendant of an old Quaker family, of her name, that came to Pennsylvania with the William Penn colony. This lady also died in Van Buren County. Of the five sons and two daughters born to them four sons and one daughter were raised to maturity, and now Capt. Joel and our subject are the only surviving children. Edwin J. was reared to manhood on the farm, but early evinced a desire to study medicine, and gained quite a knowledge of drugs

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and medicines by being in an apothecary's shop a good deal dur- ing his youth. In 1859 he embarked in the drug business in Birmingham, Iowa. He then moved to Memphis during the last year of the war, and engaged in business there for two years. He next went to La Grange, Mo., and his next occupation was that of a traveling man for a cigar and a tobacco house. In 1867 he came to Edina, and purchased Jesse Sherwood's drug store, where his present store now stands. He was very successful here, and built the store he now occupies in 1879, in which he carries a large and well selected line of drugs, paints, oils, books, stationery and fancy toilet articles. His stock of this line of goods is not surpassed in Northeast Missouri. He is a member of the State Pharmaceutical Association, and has been a director . of the Knox County Savings Bank since its organization, having been its vice-president for some years; and he is also one of the incorporators, a stockholder and vice-president of the Roller Mill Company of Edina. In April, 1861, he was married to Mary A. S. Cock, a native of Pennsylvania, but of English parentage. This lady died June 30, 1870. To this marriage five children were born, viz .: Joel Carlton, M. D., of Hurdland, Mo .; B. Bert, druggist in Omaha, Neb .; Charles A., William Eli and Mary (deceased). August 8, 1873, he married Amelia X. Sever, his present wife, a native of Ohio, born near Cincinnati. This union has been blessed with four children, viz .: Edwin S., John Griest, Thomas Claude and Mary Edna. The eldest is dead. Mr. Brown has been a Republican since the organization of that party, and at the commencement of the war enlisted in the Union Army, be- ing elected lieutenant of his brother's company, H, Fifth Iowa Infantry, but resigned before entering active service, having been in poor health from his youth. He has been active in municipal affairs in Edina, having been a member of the city council sev- eral times. He is a Knight Templar, a Knight of Honor and a member of the A. O. U. W.

Dr. Joel Carlton Brown, the junior partner of the firm of Drs. Crawford & Brown, was born in Van Buren County, Iowa, Feb. 12, 1862, and is a son of Ed. J. Brown, of Edina. [ See above sketch. ] Our subject removed to Edina with his parents when a small lad, and was there raised to manhood. He finished the sophomore course in the Missouri State University, at Columbia, Mo., and studied medicine under Dr. L. S. Brown, at Edina. He then en- tered Rush Medical College, Chicago, in the fall of 1884, and took three courses of lectures, graduating from there in 1886. He practiced first in Shelby County, Mo., but shortly after went to Edina, and from there came to Hurdland in March, 1887, where he became the partner of Dr. Crawford. June 15, 1887, he was

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married to Annie C. Brown, daughter of Dr. L. S. Brown. In politics Dr. Brown is a Republican.

Dr. Lewis S. Brown, a resident of Edina, was born in Fau- quier County, Va., March 3, 1836, and is a son of Lewis S. and Ann M. (Tolle) Brown, both natives of the Old Dominion State. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and afterward a captain in the State militia of Virginia. He was thrice married, the mother of our subject being his third wife. He immigrated to Missouri with his family when our subject was an infant of six months, and at first settled at Palmyra, but a few years later removed to Lewis County, and located near La Grange, where he died in 1856. The mother still resides in Lewis County, and the following children survive, who were born to this union: Lewis S., Eliza (wife of Michael Shea), James M., Lucy M., Smith E. and Walter Toole. Our subject is the eldest of the children, and spent his early youth on the farm. He attended school at Philadelphia, in Marion County, and finished his education at Miami, Saline Co., Mo. Before he reached his majority he began the study of medicine, reading under Dr. Ellery, of La Grange, and later with Dr. VanNess, south of La Grange. He attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of Keokuk, Iowa, first in 1858-59, and again during 1862-63, graduating in the latter year. After his graduation he commenced to practice in Macon County, and at the close of the war located on a farm in the north- western part of Marion County, where he practiced his profession until 1876, when he came to Edina, where he has ever since en- joyed an extensive and lucrative practice. On January 16, 1858, the Doctor was united in marriage to Martha A. Nickell, a native of Macon County, Mo., by whom he has had six children: Will- iam M. (a physician, of Lewiston, Mo.), Annie C. (wife of Dr. J. C. Brown, of Hurdland), John S., George S., Thaddeus J. and Nickell F. The Doctor is a Royal Arch Mason, and a member of the A. O. U. W. In politics he is a Democrat. He is justly re- garded as one of the prominent and successful citizens of Knox County, and as a physician of rare ability, and remarkable suc- cess in his profession.

Isaac Brown, a prominent citizen of Knox County, was born in Perry County, Ohio, January 8, 1841. His father, John Brown, was a native of Virginia, and born in 1792, dying in Knox County, Mo., in Greensburg Township, in 1869. The mother, Mary (Middleton) Brown, was born in Pennsylvania in the year 1810, and is now living with her youngest son (Stephen Brown) in Nebraska. Our subject lived with his father until twenty-seven years of age, and then moved upon his present farm, which contains 210 acres of land, all being finely cultivated except

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fifty acres of timber land. Mr. Brown also engages extensively in stock raising. Kizzie E. (Smith) Brown, the wife of our sub- ject, was born in Indiana in 1850, and came to Knox County when quite small, where she was married to our subject January 5, 1868. She is the daughter of Samuel M. Smith, who was born in Ohio in 1806, and died in Knox County, Mo., in 1880. Her mother, Hannah (Marsh) Smith, was born in Ohio in 1818, and is now living in Nebraska with her youngest son. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown seven children have been born, of whom only four are living, viz .: Jeanettie B., Lillie L., William I. and Verna I. Our subject served in the Fifty-seventh Missouri State Militia during the late war, and is now a stanch Democrat, but has never sought political honors. Mrs. Brown and daughter, Jean- ettie B., are worthy members of the Christian Church, and the family is highly honored and respected by the community. Their daughter, Jeanettie B., is also a member of the Christian Church, and is now teaching school. Lillie B. is a student of music.

Stephen A. Bryant, a leading citizen and resident of Salt River Township, was born in Lewis County, Mo., November 27, 1837, and is a son of Edwin A. and Sophia (Baker) Bryant. The father was born in Virginia, and came to Lewis County, Mo., in 1834, where he engaged in farming until he embarked in the mercantile business at Canton, Mo., which he followed very suc- cessfully until his death in 1858. The mother, a native of Ken- tucky, died in 1870. Stephen A. remained at home until twenty-six years of age, although his father died when he was but nineteen. March 12, 1863, he was married to Mary A. Shannon, daughter of James M. and Nancy M. (Sadler) Shannon, natives of Kentucky. Mrs. Bryant was born January 11, 1846, and to her union with our subject ten children have been born, of whom eight are living: Nancy L. (wife of H. S. McClintick), Sophia J., Maudie, Anna, Shannon E., Julia, Stephen A. and John B. After his marriage our subject moved on a farm in Knox County, where he remained two years, and then lived with his mother two years, afterward moving upon the farm where he now re- sides, which consists of 320 acres in the home place, and 180 acres elsewhere. The home place is well improved, and under a fine state of cultivation, and farming and stock raising are the pur- suits to which Mr. Bryant gives most of his time and attention. In politics he is a Democrat, but has never held office. He is a worthy member of the Masonic order, and is greatly interested in all educational projects. Himself and wife are honored and respected citizens of Knox County, and enjoy the esteem of a large circle of friends.

D. Thomas Burk, of Edina, Mo., was born in Franklin County,

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Ind., February 10, 1840, and is a son of John and Harriet ( Tucker) Burk, natives of Kentucky and New Jersey, respectively. The father brought his family to Missouri in 1854, having been pre- viously to the State, and entered land in Knox County. He was one of the most enterprising and successful farmers and stock raisers of the county, and died at his home, five miles east of Edina, in 1878. The mother died in 1871. Of the two sons and ten daughters born to them, there still live Elizabeth; Sa- rah, widow of James H. Crim; Thomas; Emeline, wife of Will- iam Jarvis; Lucinda, wife of William H. Vandever; Ellen, wife of James McQuoid; and Martha A., widow of Peter Schwind. Our subject spent his youth upon the farm, and has followed farming and stock raising very successfully the greater part of his life. He now owns 800 acres of some of the best land in the county, 710 acres being prairie land, five miles east of the town, in one tract, and all improved. In the fall of 1881 he removed to Edi- na, and built his large, two-story brick block on South Side Square, which he occupies. One room is devoted to a large stock of drugs and groceries, and the other to hardware, John A. Kelso and John Grainger being partners in the business, which is one of the largest of its kind in Northeast Missouri. Septem- ber 21, 1875, Mr. Burk was married to Sarah V. Jarvis, a native of Knox County, Mo., and to them five children have been born, all of whom are living: Eva Lee, Ida May, Charles G., Eleanor Della and Jesse Earl. In politics Mr. Burk has always been a stanch Democrat. He is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the I. O. O. F., and is recognized as one of the successful and relia- ble business men of this county.

John Callaway .- Among those who have been prominent in the history of Knox County is the subject of the present sketch, ex-Judge Callaway, who was born in Harrison County, Ky., in 1828, and who is a descendant of two well respected and highly esteemed families of the Blue-grass State. His father, Henry H., was of English descent, and a native of Harrison County, Ky .; his mother, Annie Sherman, a native of Bourbon County, Ky., and of German descent. Henry H. and wife were married in Bourbon County, Ky., where they engaged in farming for sev- eral years, and in 1832 immigrated to Northeast Missouri, where they located in Marion County, thus becoming one of the pioneer families of that section of the country. In 1839, between Christ- mas and New Year, they moved to Knox County, and settled near Edina, on Troublesome Creek, where Henry H. died in Novem- ber, 1856, at the age of fifty-four. His wife departed this life the 11th day of March, 1883, at the age of seventy-four. They were both active and consistent members of the Methodist Epis-

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copal Church. Mr. Callaway was a man of more than ordinary ability, and was elected county judge by the Democrats of Knox County, for several terms. Ten children were born to this union, nine of whom grew to maturity, and eight of whom are still living, all residing in Knox County, with the exception of Theodore, who resides in Davis County, Ind. Those married are Theodore, Mary Ann (formerly Mrs. Allen, now Mrs. Hard- man), Satira Petree, Samuel (who married Miss Finch), and John. Our subject lived with his parents until he became twenty years old, when he went west in search of gold. Here he mined successfully for some time, but in 1866 met with reverses and returned home. While in California he was united in mar- riage to Miss Catherine Dodd, a native of Kentucky, but then residing in Placer County, Cal., with her mother, who was left a a widow when her daughter was but a child. To this union one child, Henry A., was born, but who is now dead. In November, two or three years after his marriage, the Judge lost his wife. After returning to Missouri, in 1866, our subject engaged in farming in Liberty Township, which farm of 100 acres he still

owns. He inherited his father's ability, and has also served as county judge. He was first appointed by Gov. Crittenden to fill out an unexpired term of Judge Hoagling who had resigned, and was elected to the same office the following term, but never aspired to the office again. For about four years previous to March, 1887, Judge Callaway was engaged in the family grocery trade, but has now retired from business life, and is living in his cottage at Knox City, where two unmarried sisters, Alice and Belle Callaway, remain with him.

Hon. Colin M. Campbell, ex-representative of Knox County, and a leading and prominent farmer, was born February 7, 1820, in Harrison County, Ky., and is the second child of Matthew and Dorothy (Martin ) Campbell. [See succeeding sketch. ] Our sub- ject was educated at the common schools in Decatur County, Ind., and, when twenty-one years of age, began to teach, and continued teaching in the winter, and farming in the summer, for five years. In the spring of 1843 he was united in marriage to Margaret L., daughter of Stephen and Rebecca (Buddle) Sharp, natives of Kentucky. This lady was born February 18, 1824, in Rush County, Ind., and to this union five children were born. The two now living are Martha Ann, wife of Samuel K. Fowler, Jr., a farmer of Bee Ridge Township, and John W., a wholesale and retail hardware merchant of Grainfield, Kas. After his marriage, in the fall of 1843, our subject moved to Missouri, set- tling in Knox County, where he located upon a tract of land he had partially entered, and where he has since resided with the

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exception of three years when he served as sheriff, and lived in town. To his original small tract of land he added more, until he owned 1,500 acres, which he has divided with his children, until he now possesses but 900 acres, all but 120 of which are highly cultivated and improved. What he has and has had is all the result of his and his wife's efforts and good management. Mr. Campbell is highly respected and honored by the commu- nity, and in 1858 was elected sheriff of Knox County, which position he filled so well and efficiently that he was re-elected. After serving in this capacity for two terms he was more highly honored by being chosen to represent his fellow citizens in the State Legislature, which office he filled satisfactorily for a term of two years, refusing a renomination on account of ill health. He is a stanch Democrat and has also filled minor official positions, being justice of the peace a number of years. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and himself and family are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church South.

J. H. Campbell, M. D., a prominent physician, surgeon and farmer, of Knox County, was born May 30, 1824, in Harrison County, Ky., and is the fourth of six children born to Matthew and Dorothy (Martin) Campbell, natives of Pennsylvania and Maryland, respectively. They were married in Harrison County, Ky., where they lived with their parents in childhood. The territory in which they settled was named Campbell in honor of our subject's ancestors, but is now divided into three counties. Matthew Campbell, the grandfather of our subject, built the first tavern between Cincinnati and Lexington. Our subject's parents remained in Kentucky until 1826, when they removed to Decatur County, Ind., and settled on a farm. In the fall of 1847 they immigrated to Knox County, Mo., where they resided until their respective deaths in 1867 and 1869. The father was a pioneer settler and farmer of Knox County, and at the time of his death owned 160 acres of land. Our subject received a common-school education in Decatur County, Ind., and at the age of nineteen began to study medicine at Greensburg, in that county, under Dr. William Armington, until the spring of 1847, when he went to Knox County, Mo., and bought a forty-acre tract of land, on which he has since resided. He began to practice his chosen profession in the summer of 1847, but in the fall of that year went to the State University at St. Louis, which he attended two consecutive sessions, graduating from the medical department and receiving his diploma in the spring of 1849. Since that time he has devoted his attention to his practice and farming, and has added to his original possessions until he became one of the larg- est landholders in the county, at one time owning 1,600 acres.

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History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records, Part 100

Author: Goodspeed, firm, publishers, Chicago (1886-1891, Goodspeed Publishing Co.) Publication date: 1887 Publisher: St. Louis, Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co. Number of Pages: 1308

Author: Goodspeed, firm, publishers, Chicago (1886-1891, Goodspeed Publishing Co.)
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: St. Louis, Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1308