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 80

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 80
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 80
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 80
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 80

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).

Mordecai Quinn, farmer, was born March 22, 1842, the first born of Benjamin Quinn's family. He was reared on the old homestead, near La Grange. In 1869 he married Elizabeth, the daughter of H. P. Wood, whose sketch appears elsewhere. After marriage they located on their present estate of 160 acres, a few miles from La Grange. They have had one son and five daugh- ters, but two of the latter are deceased. Our subject is one of ten children, six of whom are sons, and but three of whom sur- vive-our subject, John and William. The father was born Octo- ber 13, 1817, in Franklin County, Ky., and when a young man came to Marion County, this State. In 1841 he married Ann- vira Gash, and the same year located on the farm where the mother still resides. He was a successful farmer until his death, December 19, 1880. He was a respected citizen, and a member of the Baptist Church. Politically he was a Democrat. The paternal grandfather, John, was born in North Carolina. and after his marriage to Leah Culbertson, they moved to Marion County, this State, where they spent their lives.

Silas Ramsey (deceased) was born in Woodford County, Ky., in September, 1806. He is a descendant of Seth Ramsey, of Cul- peper County, Va. Our subject was employed as ·a mechanic in his native county until he was twenty-four years of age. He was twice married, and had a numerous family. After his first mar- riage he came to this county near to what is now Canton. He made the boards that were used to build the first clerk's office. In 1837 he bought the P. G. Womack farm, whose papers of entry are now owned by his son, Silas. M. Mr. Ramsey lived there for about half a century. His children now living are John B., Martha, Robert L., Samuel H., Silas M., James W., Mary H. and Newton. Silas M. married Mary A., the daughter of Henry A. Barkelew, and she died, leaving four children: Fran- cis M., Archie B., Florence and Zetie A., who are living with their father at the old place. Our subject died in 1887 at the age of eighty-one years. He was a devoted Christian, and left a widow at the age of seventy-three. She and her son, Silas M., live together at the old place. The estate is a large one of 240 acres. Silas M. is a Democrat, and a member of the F. & A. M. and of the A. H. T. A.

Robert L. Ramsey was born in this county in 1836, the son of Silas and Elizabeth (Brown ) Ramsey, natives of Kentucky. The father came to a farm near Canton about 1830, and in 1837 settled

818

BIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX.

permanently on a farm near Monticello, where he died February 8, 1887, aged eighty-one years; he was a Baptist. The mother died when Robert L. was about five years old, and the father mar- ried Henrietta (Baker) Swartz, who with her four children sur- vive him. By his first marriage the children living are John B., of California; Martha, the wife of A. Nesbitt ; our subject and Samuel H. Robert L. grew up with country advantages, and was a successful farmer in this county until 1868, when he came to Canton. Since 1873 he has been a successful grocer, and since October, 1886, has been in his present large store room, with a full stock of groceries and provisions; is also engaged in packing and handling a large amount of pork and salt meats. February 3, 1858, he married Sarah E. Ray. Their children are M. Bea- trice, a graduate of La Grange College in 1879, since a successful teacher in Canton public schools; Lula E., a graduate of Chris- tian University, in 1886, and married to W. H. Wells March 23, 1887; Sarah and Bettie (Pet and Pone, twins). Our subject is a Democrat, and a R. A. M .; he and his wife are Baptists.

J. W. Ramsey was born in 1848 near Bunker Hill, in this county, the sixth son of Silas and Henrietta (Baker) Ramsey, of Kentucky. The father came to this county in 1829, and was one of the oldest pioneers. He was a successful farmer, and died at the age of eighty-one years. Our subject is one of eleven children, and received a fair education. He left home when twenty-seven years of age, and began the grocery business. He followed that for a few years, and then began farming again. He soon after returned to Williamstown, and since 1882 has been a successful merchant with a large business. He was married in December, 1872, to Mary D., a daughter of Samuel and Elisa- beth (Pile) Athey, formerly of Kentucky. Their children are Lillian A., Robert M., Lucy L., Fannie P., John P., James R. and Henrietta E. M. Our subject is a Mason, and is a follower of the Democratic party. In religion he, his wife and two chil- dren hold to the faith of the Christian Church. The family is of Irish, German and Scotch descent.

W. L. C. Ratherford was born in East Tennessee, October 24, 1836, and was left an orphan when an infant. His mother's maiden name was Lucinda Rogers, and otherwise he was left with no knowledge of his parents. After his father's death his mother came to Jefferson County, Ill., and he came to Lewis County in the fall of 1855. He soon after came to Deer Ridge with G. F. Baltzell. Since then he has been engaged as a mechanic, and with fair success. He was married to Elizabeth Seaman, of Knox County, Mo., on June 10, 1858. Elizabeth Seaman was the eldest daughter of Harrison and Louisa A. Seaman, of

819

LEWIS COUNTY.

Knox County, Mo. W. L. C. Ratherford and Elizabeth Rather- ford's children are Ida L., Harrison S., Lizzie E., John L. and William W. Our subject served in the militia for several weeks, and has served as justice for ten years, and school direct. or for thirteen years. He is a Mason, a member of the grange, and a member of the Anti-Horse-Thief Association. His ancestry is Scotch-Irish.

J. P. Richards was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, in 1835, the son of Samuel and Mary (Livingston) Richards, na- tives of Loudoun County, Va., the former of German and the latter of English origin. The parents came to our subject's birthplace in 1831, and lived there until their deaths, in 1852 and 1876, respectively, the father at the age of fifty-nine, while the mother reached the years of seventy-eight. Our subject began for him- self at sixteen years of age, and at twenty engaged in clerking. He soon went to Adams County, Ill., where he taught one winter, and afterward clerked for a time at Quincy, Ill. About the beginning of the war he was married to Lou, a daughter of Rob- ert Thompson. He then served in the war for three years, and was at Vicksburg, Pea Ridge and other places. His wife died in 1865, and three years later he married Maria E., a daughter of John Richards, of Adams County, Ill. He then moved to Lewis County, Mo., in 1869. He is a member of the F. & A. M. and the A. H. T. A., and he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church.

Moses M. Risk was born in Scott County, Ky., November 25, 1804. His father, John Risk, or Risque, as the name was spelled in Scotland, was a native of Virginia, a soldier in the Revolution, a surveyor of land, who immigrated to Kentucky, settling among the Indians, and whose life was full of adventure and peril. Moses M., the youngest son of a large family, was brought up to the tailor's trade, and spent his early life as a merchant tailor in La Grange, Ky. After marriage he and his brother, William, bought a mill on Elkhorn, selling their flour in Frankfort. Finally he bought a farm near Versailles, Ky., and cultivated it until he immigrated to Lewis County, Mo., in May, 1842, settling near Antioch Church, where he secured a farm of 600 acres, and raised grain and stock for thirty-three years. Mr. Risk was a deacon in the Christian Church at Antioch, a good neighbor and useful citizen. In politics he was a Whig; was grealty annoyed during the war, and after it voted with the. Democratic party. He was a Freemason, a member of the grange, and hospitable and social to a fault. He was fleshy, had dark hair, which became quite gray, and was a well favored gentleman. In his seventy-first year, January 13, 1875, he

820

BIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX.

went alone to a stream near his home, in his usual health, to cut the ice for his stock to drink. His family had gone on that day to visit a married daughter. When they returned in the evening he was not to be found. His wife and daughter gave the alarm to the neighbors, when he was found, about 10 o'clock at night, dead, lying partly on the frozen stream, with his hat under his head. He probably had dizziness of the head, occa- sioned by a heart trouble. His children are John C., William H., James T., Ferdinand G., Robert C., Henry C., Mary F., Annie E., now living, and Charles Edwin, deceased. His widow, Mrs. Fannie Risk, is a daughter of John and Nancy Crosby, natives of Fauquier County, Va., who removed at an early day to Shelby County, Ky., where she was born January 31, 1813, and married, October 1, 1829, in the seventeenth year of her age. She is a woman of remarkable industry, and a consistent member of the Christian Church at Antioch. She governed her family with wonderful ability, and now, in her seventy-fifth year, slender in form yet in good health, resides on the old farm, a noble, hospit- able mother in Israel, beloved of her kindred, brethren and neighbors. James T. and Miss Mary F. Risk, who authorize this publication, reside with their mother at the old home, are members of Antioch Church and of the grange, and are highly respected and honored in the community. James spent several years in the gold mines of Montana, but returned, at the death of his brother, Edwin, and took charge of the farm. He has occu- pied responsible positions in the grange and in the county. This is one of the sweet homes of Lewis County, honored of God and respected of men.

Dr. R. C. Risk was born in the blue-grass region, in Ken- tucky, the fifth son of Moses M. and Frances (Crosby ) Risk. The father was a merchant tailor, and afterward became a farmer in Woodford County, Ky. He came to Lewis County in 1842, and died in 1875, at the age of seventy years. He farmed during his later years. He left a family of eight children, all of whom are living but one. Our subject has been in this county since in- fancy, and attended Christian University, at Canton, and then grad- uated from the Christian Academy, at Hustonville, Ky., in 1861. He then returned to Missouri and afterward to Ann Arbor, Mich., where he graduated from the medical department of the univer- sity. After five years of practice near Williamstown, he moved to the latter place, where he has since practiced and carried on a drug store. He does nearly all the business of his profession in that place. He is a Mason and a Democrat.

John Calien Risk was born in La Grange, Oldham Co., Ky., October 14, 1830. His father, Moses M. Risk, was of Scotch de-

821

LEWIS COUNTY.

scent, a native of Scott County, Ky., and his mother, Fannie (Crosby) Risk, was reared in Shelby County, Ky. His parents moved to Lewis County, Mo., May, 1842, and settled on a farm near Antioch Church, where they raised a family of nine chil- dren. J. C. Risk, the eldest, was trained to farming, but during leisure seasons of the year was kept in the country schools, and at the age of twenty entered Missouri University, at Columbia, where he graduated July 4, 1855. During his first session, 1851, he joined the Christian Church, under the preaching of President James Shannon and Elder D. P. Henderson, and stud- ied the Bible as opportunity offered through his college course. The vacation after graduating, at the solicitation of President Shannon, he taught a private school in Columbia. In September, . 1855, he was chosen by President John A. Williams as a teacher in Christian Female College, Columbia, Mo. A year later he re- turned to Lewis County, and founded Monticello Institute. In 1858 he took charge of Christian Academy, Hustonville, Lin- coln Co., Ky., which he successfully conducted for three years, until the academy was interrupted by the civil war. Mr. Risk removed to Harrodsburg, Ky., and spent a year studying the Bible under President J. A. Williams, in Daughters' College. In July, 1861, he was ordained to the Christian ministry by President Milligan and Dr. Richardson, in the Bible College of Kentucky University. In 1861 he returned to his father's home, in Lewis County, and devoted himself to preaching the gospel, which he had been doing, as opportunity offered, until the close of the war. In September, 1864, he located in Canton, Lewis County, and took charge of De Soto Institute, a female school, and continued in it for three years. Mr. Risk was chosen trustee · of Christian University, located at Canton, and was made its financial agent, and for years has been its secretary. At his sug- gestion, De Soto Institute was united to the university, and be- came the female department. In 1872 he was chosen principal of the Canton public schools, and in 1873 was elected to the chair of English language and literature in Christian University; but he finally gave up teaching, and devoted himself to preaching the gospel. He has since lived in Canton, and has preached for churches in the county, has organized congregations, has secured the building of meeting houses, and has been engaged in other min- isterial work, having baptized 424 persons, and has received by let- ter, and otherwise, many others. He has also married 137 couples, has been president of the county and district Sunday-school con- ventions, and is actively engaged in temperance work, now hop- ing to secure local option in the county. He has devoted himself to missions, having taken a life membership in the State, the

822

BIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX.

general and foreign societies, and has for years been secretary of the county missions. He has written considerably for the press, and is the author of several pamphlets on the church and the gospel. Elder Risk was happily married, February 4, 1885, to Mrs. Eliza F. Bumbarger, an estimable Christian lady, widow of Judge John F. Bumbarger, and daughter of Elder John Shanks. They have a comfortable home, are in good health, and can say that "goodness and mercy have followed us all the days of our lives."

John E. Roberts, Jr., farmer, was born in this township in 1851, the son of Quiltincy (Thompson ) Roberts, the former born in Baltimore in 1808, and the latter in Virginia in 1824. The father was a teacher, and merchant, and afterward a farmer. In 1837 he came to Clark County, and became a merchant at Water- . loo. In 1839 he married, and about 1850 came to this county. His estate in Union and Canton Townships embraces 280 acres. He died in 1873, and the mother in 1879. Their children are John E., James A. and Julius W. Our subject left home in 1877, and was educated at La Grange College. He began teach- ing at the age of twenty-five, and continued six sessions. In 1872 a severe accident befell him, so as to disable him for several years. February 10, 1876, he married Demarious B., the daughter of George H. and Mildred B. (Thompson) Sheckells, and born May 22, 1856, in this county. Their children are Edgar S., Roy E. and Jesse J. After marriage he remained on the home place three years, and in 1884 bought eighty acres of his present farm. He is a Democrat, and first voted for Greeley. He is a member of the grange, and for the past twenty-seven years has been a Missionary Baptist, while his wife has been a member within ten years of as long. He is an esteemed man.

James Addison Roberts, farmer and broom maker, was born in Union Township in 1855, the son of John Roberts, whose history is mentioned in the sketch of J. E. Roberts. Our sub- ject, the fourth child, left home when of age, and February 24, 1876, married Anna, the eldest daughter of William and Mary (Cowgill) Turner. She was born in England in August, 1854, and came with her parents to Canton at the aged of three years. Their children are Arthur Addison, aged ten, and Maud Musa, aged five. In 1881 he bought Locust Shade, a farm of 102 acres, where he has since resided. He began the manufacture of brooms in the winter of 1886-87 in connection with his farming. He has made about ninety dozen up to the present, and has on hand at the present time ninety dozen brooms. He is a Democrat and first voted for Tilden. He is a granger, and he and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, having

823

LEWIS COUNTY.

joined thirteen years ago. He was ordained as a deacon in 1886. Since 1883 he has been school trustee, and is a promising young citizen.

Benjamin W. Roberts was born in Harrison County, Ky., in 1830, the son of Benjamin, Sr., a Virginian, and Sarah (Henry) Roberts, a Kentuckian. The father went to Kentucky at an early day, and in 1833 came to this State. He settled in Marion County, where his wife died in 1834, a devoted member of the Methodist Church. After several years of carpentering, and liv- ing with his sister, he died in Canton at the age of sixty-five. He was both a Whig and a Democrat. Our subject, the youngest of six children, was but three years old when they came to this State, and after the mother's death, when the family broke up, he went to live with his sister, Mrs. A. Smith. Eight years later she died, and he then went to live with another sister, Mrs. Price. With her he received an education, and worked on the farm until he accumulated enough to buy a land warrant from a Mr. Sears. That purchase was his present land. During this time he married Jane E., a daughter of Rev. John Shanks. Their children are Sarah E. (the wife of J. P. Bowles), J. J., E. J. (the wife of J. Bruner), W. H., Minnie S. and Benjamin A. Our subject's estate consists of 260 acres of well-improved land. Polit- ically he is a Democrat, and he and his wife and four children are members of the Christian Church.

Prof. George Root, the Missouri weather prophet, was born with- in 100 miles of Paris, France, April 11, 1837. He secured a good education in his native land, and made a specialty of meteorology and astronomy. In 1848 he came to New York, where he followed veterinary surgery until the late war. He enlisted in the Twenty- fourth New York Infantry, and served three years in his profes- sional capacity most of the time. He then began his extensive weather observations, and in 1865 located in this county on a farm. Ten years later he bought his present estate of 120 acres, where he has since resided at his home, Pleasant Grove. He has devoted his entire time to making planetary and weather observa- tions and forecasts, which have been published extensively in the metropolitan press of the United States. He was employed in 1883 by the Government as a tornado reporter. It may be said that all his prognostications have been fulfilled, notwithstanding the fact that he forecasts for a whole year in advance. The St. Louis Republican of April 21, 1887, contains a very interesting interview on this subject, in which the Professor states some excellent facts. By his first marriage, with Eliza Nicholson, he had two daughters, both deceased. She died ten years before the death of her children. Prof. Root married his present wife, Sarah

824

BIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX.

Powers, in 1886. He is a Democrat, but of an independent order. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is recog- nized as very prominent in the sciences of meteorology and astronomy.

Dr. Robertson M. Royalty was born in Washington County, Ky., September 1, 1824. His father, Thomas Royalty, was born July 4, 1797, and August 19, 1821, he was married to Margaret Robertson. In 1834 he immigrated to Illinois, and remained there until 1853, when he came to Missouri. He died in the autumn of 1862, the mother in the fall of 1871. The grand- father, Thomas Royalty, Sr., a Virginian of English lineage, was one of the early settlers of Kentucky, and lived to an advanced age. The maternal grandfather, George Robertson, was of Scotch parentage, and brought up a Presbyterian. He was a native of Pennsylvania, but was educated in Virginia, where he married, and settled on a farm. After a few years he with his family set out to make the trip overland to Kentucky; but the snowstorms of the memorable hard winter overtook them, and they were obliged to encamp in the wilderness. On the breaking up of winter, his horses and cattle were all swept off by the floods, except one small horse. With his wife and three little ones mounted upon the horse, and himself on foot, he finally reached "Astin's Sta- tion," where he met his brother, Alexander, who had come out the preceding year. Some time after this the two brothers, while out on an exploring trip, were surprised by a party of Indians. Alexander had his elbow shattered by a bullet, but escaped, and reached the settlement. George's horse was shot dead under him, and an Indian instantly struck him on the head with his tomahawk, and was in the act of scalping him, when the wounded man grasped the savage by the throat, and held him until the chief came up and released him. From motives of future reward and admiration of the white man's courage, perhaps, the chief resolved to hold him captive. After suffering incredible hard- ships he was delivered to the British in Canada, and held a pris- oner of war until the close of the Revolution. The father then, completely broken down, returned to his family in Kentucky, where he died in the early part of this century. Our subject was largely self-educated, and in early life was a successful teacher. He began reading medicine with Dr. Witty, at Mount Sterling, Ill., in 1847, and in 1850 entered the medical department of the University of Missouri, and the following year, located at Ver- sailles, Ill. He came to Missouri in 1853, but in 1855, his health failing, he accepted the position of editor of the Democrat, at Macomb, Ill. The following year he founded the Macomb Eagle, but soon sold his interest in that paper, and came to Mar-

825

LEWIS COUNTY.

ion County, where he subsequently resumed the practice of his profession. In March, 1874, he married Mary E., a daughter of William and Elizabeth Yarbrough. She was born in Indiana, in December, 1844. Their only child is deceased. Early in the summer of that year he located at Maywood and entered at once upon an unusually large practice. In 1879 he removed to Dur- ham, but has for several years been on his farm near the latter village, to the superintendence of which he devotes his principal attention. He is a Democrat of the old school, and cast his first vote for Lewis Cass. He is a member of the Christian Church, but his wife is a Baptist.

Emilius Kitchel Sayre, A. M., LL. B., farmer and stock raiser, was born in Battle Hill (now Madison), N. J., in 1810, the son of Baxter and Elizabeth (Kitchel) Sayre, both of English descent. Her ancestor, Robert Kitchel, one of the first settlers of Guilford, Conn .; he came with Rev. H. Whitfield, in a company of Puritans, in the first vessel that ever landed at New Haven. His son, Samuel Kitchel, was one of the first settlers of Newark, N. J. The father, a descendant of Joseph Sayre, one of the first settlers of Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), N. J., was born in 1786 in Battle Hill. Moving to New York in 1828, he was one of the active builders of Chatham Street Chapel. He returned to New Jersey after a ten years' residence in that city. He was a zealous and active temperance and anti-slavery advocate, and a most earnest Christian worker. He was one of the first voters with the liberty party. He moved to Rock County, Wis., in 1851, and died in 1857, on a visit to his birthplace. The mother, born in Hanover Neck, N. J., in 1786, died in Wisconsin in 1854. Her father was Aaron Kitchel, a member of United States Congress, from New Jersey, from 1791 to 1793, from 1794 to 1797, and from 1799 to 1801; voting for Jefferson against Burr, and United States senator from New Jersey, from 1805 to 1809, when, his wife dying, he resigned. Our subject is the eldest of nine children; was educated at the common schools of his birth- place, and at the private schools of Moses Smith, in Elizabethtown, N. J. He joined the junior class of Amherst College, in October, 1826, and was graduated in 1828, third in a class of forty-two. He then served for three years as professor of Latin, geography and arithmetic, in Washington Institute, New York. He graduated from the law department of Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky., in 1833, was admitted to the bar there, and remained in active practice, in all the courts, State and Federal until July, 1852. He came to Monticello, in April, 1836, purchased about 3,500 acres of land, and commenced the extensive improvement of it. He moved his family upon it in July, 1852, and engaged in farming

826

BIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX.

and stock raising. In 1874 he lost his estate by loaning the use of his name to a firm of pork packers in St. Louis. Through the kind and wise providence of his uncle, David A. Sayre, of Lex- ington, his family now reside upon a part, about 1,500 acres, of his old farm. In 1861 he was a delegate to the State constitu- tional convention, voting against secession, but for active resist- ance to the war measures of the Government. In June, 1844, he married Elizabeth Pierson, born in 1823, daughter of Elijah Pierson, of New York, a descendant of Abraham Pierson, son of the first president of Yale College, from whom also her husband is descended through his daughter Grace Pierson, and of Col. Ebenezer Condict, of Morristown, N. J., who died there of small- pox in 1779, while in command of his regiment, in active service under Gen. Washington. Their children are Charlotte J., the wife of Thomas H. Boorman, of New York; Elizabeth S., the wife of William Frank Smith, of this county; David E., of Arkansas, who married a daughter of Gen. Joseph Porter; Emilius K., Jr., who died, a member of the St. Louis bar, in 1875; Thomas Dolan, resident of this county, on the old farm; John S., named after his maternal great-grandfather, Dr. John Stanford, of New York, assistant-surgeon in United States Navy; Hannah Meeker, and Farrand, second lieutenant of the Eighth United States Cavalry.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 80

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