USA > Missouri > Pettis County > History of Pettis County, Missouri > Part 28
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and took up land in that country in the hope of improving his health by a change of climate. He died in Canada in 1908. John H. and Lucinda (Momberg) Monsees were parents of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters : Mrs. Catherine Myers, deceased; Mrs. Martha Claggett, Brit- ish Columbia; Martin A., lives in Pettis County ; Benjamin O., Alberta, Canada; Mrs. Anna Glenn, Alberta, Canada; George H., Sedalia; William C., a dairyman, Cedar township; Alonzo, British Columbia; . Ira, Mel- ford, Saskatchewan, Canada; Mrs. Flora Robertson, Alberta, Canada. The mother of these children was born in Morgan County, Missouri, in 1841. She was the daughter of Lewis Momberg, a native of Hanover, Germany, who immigrated to America and made a settlement in Morgan County in 1842, and came from Morgan to Pettis County where he be- came a prominent farmer and stockman. His father-in-law, Mr. Goetz, accompanied the Mombergs to this country. This Mr. Goetz lived to be- come the oldest man in the county or State, dying at the age of 104 years. Mrs. Lucinda Monsees makes her home with her son Louis M., at Lime- stone Valley Farm.
Louis M. Monsees, although a man of versatile attainments and wide knowledge, received no other education than that afforded by the district schools. He assisted his father on the home farm until such time as he felt it time to branch out for himself. He began his own career as a farmer on a forty-acre farm, three miles south of his present home. He improved this place and after a year's residence thereon he returned to his father's farm, and for the ensuing two years, he set out fruit trees and assisted his father in building up his orchard. He then lived on a farm two miles south of Smithton for two years. In 1886, he purchased the nucleus of his present large holdings, consisting of 110 acres of land, and has continued to add to his possessions, from year to year, as suc- cess has come to him in reward for his endeavors, as a farmer and breeder. Every improvement on Limestone Valley Farm has been placed there by the proprietor, and the farm has sixteen miles of hog tight wire fencing. When Mr. Monsees began his own career he had no money, but had a team of horses and a good and faithful wife who has worked with him side by side these many years and has continually encouraged him in all of his efforts.
Mr. Monsees was married in 1880 to Miss Rickey Kastens, who has borne him children as follow: Nicholas A., D. O., Aundo and Kalo.
Nicholas, A. Monsees resides on the home farm, married Mollie
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Hyatt and has five children, Vivian, Shelby, Louis Hyatt, Albert J., and George A. D. O. Monsees lives on Limestone Valley Farm, married Ethel Shy and has three sons, David and Robert, and Dan. Aundo Monsees died when four years old. Kalo, farmer, lives at home, was born in 1896. The mother of the foregoing children was born September 20, 1858, on a farm in Morgan County, a daughter of Richard and Christina (Schlutz- hauer) Kastens, natives of Hanover, Germany, and Missouri, respec- tively. Richard Kastens was born in 1819 and died in 1906. He immi- grated from Germany to America in 1842, settled in Pettis County, where he reared a family of eight daughters and two sons: Mrs. Catherine Bluhm, Smithton, Missouri; Rudolph, Nevada, Missouri; Mrs. Caroline Bohon, Smithton; Mrs. Rickey Monsees; Mrs. Clara Lugin, Smithton; Mrs. Anna Chapman, Chicago, Illinois; Mrs. Lottie Schlutzhauer, Pleas- ant Green, Missouri; Frank, Smithton, Missouri; Mrs. Maude Roberts, Martinsburg, Nebraska. Mrs. Christina Kastens was born in 1828 and died in 1871.
The Democratic party has always had the support of Mr. Monsees. For the past eight years, Mr. Monsees has been president of the Bureau of Agriculture in Pettis County, this county being the first in Missouri to secure the services of an agricultural expert to advise and assist the farmers of the county. Mr. Monsees was one of the warm supporters and organizers of the project to establish a farm bureau in Pettis county, and is one of the strongest exponents of better farming methods in Mis- souri. He is vice-president of the American Jack Stud Association and is president of the Pettis County Wolf and Fox Hunters Association. This association, or its members, breed thoroughbred fox hounds and hold fox and wolf hunts annually, as a sport and to rid the country of the wolves and foxes. Mr. Monsees has held several local offices and has been a persistent and consistent booster of Pettis county, and is always found in the forefront of all movements tending to promote the welfare of the people of his home county. He and the members of his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and his son Kalo is a church worker. He belongs to the Woodmen of the World and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of Sedalia. It was through his influence that the great mule show was held at the State Fair grounds in 1911, when 317 head of splendid animals occupied a mile-long space in the parade held during the Fair. Genial, kindly, hospitable to the core, this Pettis County citizen is universally liked and esteemed by all who know him.
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John T. Heard was born at Georgetown, in Pettis County, Missouri, October 29, 1840, and has always claimed Pettis County as his home. His father, George Heard, was the pioneer lawyer and school teacher in the county. He was born at Lancaster, Garrard County, Kentucky, June 22, 1809, and, coming with his mother, a widow, to Missouri Territory in 1817, was reared in Howard County, where, after being admitted to the bar, he resided till 1835, when he removed to Pettis County, and built the first dwelling house in Georgetown, the original county seat. In 1830, George Heard married Amanda Gray, daughter of John Gray, who, in 1817, removed from Lebanon, Washington County, Kentucky, where the daughter was born in January, 1810, to Boone County, Missouri, and en- tered the land and made his farm on the tract which is now the site of the town of Rocheport.
Located in Georgetown, George Heard began the practice of law, and while waiting for clients, taught the first school ever opened in Pettis County. He continued in the practice of the law at that place until the county seat was removed to Sedalia, where, associated with his sons, John T. and George C. Heard, he remained in the practice until 1875, a period of more than forty years.
After attending the schools in Pettis County, John T. Heard entered the State University at Columbia, Missouri, and graduated from that in- stitution, in the irregular course, July 4, 1860, and later received therefrom the degree of Master of Science. In 1862 he was admitted to the Pettis County Bar, and, associated first with his father, and later with his brother G. C. Heard, he continued in the practice until 1876, when, on account of impaired health he retired to engage in other business pursuits.
In 1872 he was elected as Representative of Pettis County in the Lower House of the Legislature, and in 1880, elected to the State Senate from the Sedalia District, and served as a member of that body until 1884, when he resigned to qualify as Representative in the National Congress from the Sixth District of Missouri, a position which he filled (from the 6th and 7th Districts) for ten years.
As member of the Legislature and of the National Congress Mr. Heard was elected as a Democrat, to which party he has always belonged.
As a member of the National Democratic Convention which met in St. Louis in 1904, he represented the State of Missouri on the Committee on "Platform and Resolutions."
From 1901 till 1904 Mr. Heard was president of the Sedalia Trust
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Company, from which position he retired in the latter year to give his exclusive attention to his private business affairs. Always ready to assist any enterprise to help develop the city and aid the community, he main- tains his connection with the City Chamber of Commerce, and other civic organizations of the city and county.
During the late European War he has been a member of "The State Council of Defense," and is an enthusiastic and liberal supporter of the Red Cross, and every other patriotic activity in the interest of "Winning the War."
Mr. Heard is a prominent Free Mason, having been made a member of Granite Lodge A. F. & A. M. of Sedalia, November 20, 1868 ; and a member of St. Omer Commandery, Knights Templar September 23, 1869, while it was acting under "Dispensation"-not having yet received its charter.
At this date, after the lapse of fifty years, John B. Gallie and Mr. Heard are the only known survivors of the membership of that body as it then existed.
Anthony D. Stanley, president and business manager of the Sedalia Democrat Company, is one of the well-known newspaper men of Missouri. He was born in Cole County, Missouri, in 1854, a son of Theodore and Martha (Goode) Stanley, the former a native of East Hartford, Connecticut, and the latter of Richmond, Virginia. The father came to Missouri in the early fifties and spent the remainder of his life in this state. He died at Pleasant Hill, Missouri, and his wife survived him a few years and died in Sedalia. They were the parents of three children, as follows: Mrs. B. C. Christopher, Kansas City, Missouri ; Anthony D., the subject of this sketch ; and Theodore, who resides in Paris, France.
Anthony D. Stanley was about seven years of age when his parents settled in Cass County, Missouri, and he was reared to manhood in that county. He was educated in the public schools, Kemper's Military Academy at Boonville and Bryant and Stratton's Business College, at Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Stanley was then engaged in the grain business in Kansas City, for a period of five years. In 1893, he came to Sedaila and since that time he has been engaged in the newspaper business here. He became manager and president of the Democrat Company in 1906, and has held that position to the present time. Thus Mr. Stanley has been an active factor in the newspaper business of Sedalia for a quarter of a century, and is recognized as a veteran in the field of journalism, who has made a suc- cess in this field of endeavor. The Sedalia Democrat Company publishes the "Daily Democrat" and the "Weekly Democrat." Both are high
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standard publications and have extensive circulations. More extensive mention is made on these newspapers elsewhere in this volume.
Mr. Stanley was united in marriage in 1876, to Miss Alma Dewar, a native of Zanesville, Ohio, who at the time of her marriage resided at Solomon, Kansas. To Mr. and Mrs. Stanley have been born three children as follows : Laura, married George H. Trader, Sedalia, Missouri ; W. P., who is associated with the Sedalia "Democrat," Sedalia, Missouri; Ada Inge, who is also associated with the Sedalia "Democrat."
Politically, Mr. Stanley has always been a staunch supporter of the policies and principles of the Democratic party and in the broad field of his newspaper activities, has rendered invaluable service to his party. Mr. Stanley is a member of the Sedalia Board of Trade and as publisher of the "Democrat," is a member of the Associated Press, the American News- paper Association, and the Missouri Press Association. He is one of Pettis County's foremost citizens.
Matthias Oakley Green .- Few men have had a more interesting or more varied career than M. O. Green, pioneer, Smithton, Missouri. At the age of eighty years, when most men have given up active careers to live at ease during the remainder of life, Mr. Green is still vigorous mentally and physically and in possession of much of the energy which enabled him to rise to the first rank of stockmen and large land owners of the county. This indomitable character has made two fortunes in Pettis County during his long years of residence in this county. While still in middle life he suffered reverses which would have forever dis- couraged and weakened men of lesser fiber, but he again put his shoulder to the wheel and achieved another success while an old man in years. This interesting character was born in Suffolkshire, England, August 13, 1838. He is a son of Matthew and Mary (Dale) Green.
Matthew Green was a well-to-do citizen of England who came of an excellent English family. He was a coachmaker in his native land, the factory having been operated by several generations of the family, and even at this day, members of the Green family are making coaches in Suffolkshire. Matthew Green emigrated to America in 1843 and located at Peru, Illinois, after having farmed a tract of 160 acres in Marshall County, Illinois, for some time. He engaged in business at Peru, Illinois, following the trade of wheelwright and carriage maker. He became well-to-do and was rated as a wealthy man but suffered financial reverses because of his willingness to go security for friends who sought his as-
M. Ogren
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sistance in various financial projects and through the dishonesty of his business partners. He remained in business until his death which oc- curred one month after the death of his wife, who fell a victim of cholera on July 28, 1853. Matthew and Mary (Dale) Green were parents of thir- teen children, only four of whom survive: Robert George, born June 16, 1837, lives at Glen Elder, Kansas; Matthias Oakley, subject of this re- view; Mrs. Mahala Ann Dovenspiek, Libertyville, Iowa; Adelaide, wife of Benjamin Foster, Toluca, Illinois.
At the outset of his career when he was faced with the problem of earning his own way in the world, M. O. Green willingly gave up his share of his father's estate, amounting to $700. This money went for the purpose of educating a beloved sister. When seven years of age, Mr. Green worked in the garden of a dear friend of his father. He was in the employ of a Mr. Jeager for a period of eleven years and it was' during this time that he learned much from association with his em- ployer's family. Mr. Jeager was a wealthy and cultured English gentle- man who maintained a fine home and was a hunter and sportsman. He was well educated and he and his wife taught young Green many things which were of benefit to him in later life. Being youthful and impres- sionable and having the faculty of absorption he accumulated a store of knowledge and acquired a liberal education through constant contact with Mr. Jeager and his wife. He accompanied his benefactor on many hunting trips and thus learned the lore of the huntsman in a section of country which then abounded in wild game. Mr. Green's first definite employment was as a farm hand at $20 per year. He worked for three years and earned sixty dollars and then paid ten dollars of his savings toward defraying the expenses of a sister's funeral. During his fourth year as a farmer he bought three yearling calves, paying eleven dollars per head for them. It came time for him to begin doing for himself and he rented land, after becoming possessed of two teams and farm imple- ments. His first purchase of a farm was a tract of 160 acres at a cost of twenty dollars an acre. There was a "cut throat" mortgage on this land which must be paid in the following July. He succeeded in having the time limit of the mortgage extended to September. Mr. Green was forced to pay twenty per cent. interest on the mortgage. During his first year of tenure he raised a good crop of barley and harvested eighty acres of wheat and thus raised the $1,000 and over. During 1860 he raised 2,700 bushels of corn which he sold for thirteen cents per bushel and still
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managed to live and save money. When he came west, he owned 240 acres of farm land which he sold for $9,000. Fortified with this capital, he came to Missouri in 1866 and bought a four hundred acre tract north of Smithton in Bowling Green township, now the Louis Monsees place. He paid $10,000 for this fine farm and erected splendid buildings on the tract. He erected a fine brick house on this farm. The brick used in its construction were burned on the place. Mr. Green's farming operations during those early years of his career were carried on so extensively as to make the average farmer gasp with astonishment. No project was too large for him to undertake. His cattle and hog raising operations were on a large scale and the turn over of his live stock each year would run into the tens of thousands. Twenty-seven men were given constant employment on his large ranch, which was soon increased to over 1,800 acres in all. He operated fourteen mule teams and raised and fed live stock to the value of $10,000 to over $20,000 each year. In some years his corn acreage would exceed 700 acres, and he raised over 5,000 bushels of wheat yearly. During some seasons he fed the wheat to cattle on account of the ravages of the weevil. Some years he would raise as high as 500 steers, 400 hogs, and 50 mules. During the course of his long and active career Mr. Green has given outright 200 acres of land to his daughter, and 160 acres to each of his two sons who are now extensive farmers and middle aged. At the present time he is owner of 746 acres of land, much of which is rich creek bottom land. He and his two sons own over 1,800 acres.
Mr. Green was first married on March 1, 1860, to Mary Bane, who died November 28, 1883, at the age of fifty-two years. The children born to this marriage were: Martha Jane, deceased, wife of George Nichols, Chillicothe, Missouri, who left three children: Oakley Matthias, Lincoln E., and Alta; George R., a prosperous farmer, living north of Smithton; Mary Ellen, wife of Emmet Meek, died in Smithton, leaving three chil- dren, Mary, Jessie and Eunice, deceased; Frederick B., an extensive farmer living northwest of Smithton. Mr. Green's second marriage took place December 5, 1894, and was with Miss Laura Bertholf. Mrs. Laura Green was born in Lake Creek township, Pettis County, and is a daughter of Charles A. and Miranda Arabelle (Huffman) Bertholf.
Charles A. Bertholf was born in May, 1830, and died February 4, 1908. He was a well educated man and came of a very old Huguenot family who trace their ancestry back over seven hundred years. Charles
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A. Bertholf was a native of New York who came to Missouri during the early fifties and entered free government land in Lake Creek township, paying the government's nominal price for 700 acres. He owned a curi- osity in those day, which was a white yoke of oxen. These oxen attracted attention wherever Mr. Bertholf drove them, and one time, when one of his rich relatives from Brooklyn was visiting him, he drove the visitor to Smithton behind these oxen so that his wealthy relative could take the train for New York. Miranda Arabelle Bertholf was born in 1854 and died in April, 1908. She was a native of Ohio. To Charles A. and Mi- randa Arabelle Bertholf were born twelve children: Mrs. Bertha Smith, Sedalia; Mrs. Louisa Green, of this sketch; Alonzo, living in Dakota; Walter, a carpenter of Sedalia; Mrs. Julia Akers, Sedalia; Mrs. Phoebe Shrike, Sedalia; Aaron, Beaver, Montana; Ambrose, died December 3, 1918, in South Dakota ; Mrs. Sarah Hunter, Kansas City; Joseph, Charles and Harry live in Kansas. By a former marriage Mr. Bertholf had seven children, three of whom are living: Minnie lives in New York; Mrs. Louisa Farrell lives in Springfield, Illinois ; Benjamin lives in Marshall, Missouri.
During his youthful days Mr. Green had what any boy would call a "bully time" and his whole life has been so lived that he has few regrets for past years. He hunted and trapped the wild game of the Illinois forests when a boy, and was taught the lore of the woods by his bene- factor, Mr. Jeager. Mr. Jeager maintained a kennel of fine hunting dogs and the boy Green had the care of these dogs. He learned how to shoot deer in the dark, and shot many prairie chickens on his hunting trips. Whenever he made a mistake in his hunting expeditions hs employer would roundly lecture him. Mr. Green bought land in Illinois at the low price of $7.00 per acre and this same land is now worth $250 an acre. He paid $3.00 an acre for Pettis County land which is now worth from $50 to $150 an acre. This aged gentleman still takes a keen interest in affairs, is a great reader, keeps abreast of the times and is an interest- ing conversationalist. He is one of the most interesting and best re- spected citizens of Pettis County at this day, and is one of the few remaining pioneers who have resided in this county over half a century.
While a Republican in politics, Mr. Green is very liberal in his po- litical views and has always been inclined to support individuals and prin- ciples regardless of party affiliations. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but has broad views of religious matters. He is a
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sober, industrious citizen whose sobriety during his long life has been one of his marked characteristics. Broad minded to a high degree, taking a kindly and liberal view of things as they are, he goes serenely along through life enjoying what it has to offer him to the utmost.
Hon. Hopkins B. Shain, judge of the Thirtieth Judicial District, has been a member of the Missouri bar for forty years. Judge Shain is a descendant of one of the very earliest pioneer families of this State. He was born in Macon County, Missouri, September 27, 1860, and is a son of Captain Ed C. Shain and Emily (Bristow) Shain, both natives of Macon County, Missouri.
Capt. Ed C. Shain is a son of William T. Shain and Elizabeth (Smoot) Shain. William T. Shain was a native of Virginia, who came to Missouri with his parents, Abraham Shain and Martha (Turpin) Shain, both natives of Virginia. Abraham Shain's father was a native of Ireland and settled in Virginia. William T. Shain, grandfather of Judge Shain, was the first deputy sheriff of Macon County after its organization, when that county extended from the Randolph County line to the Iowa state line. At that time the sheriff's office collected the taxes, and in making a trip of several weeks, engaged in the duty of tax collecting, William T. Shain returned to the county seat and reported the collection of nine dollars in money and several pelts which were accepted in lieu of cash. William T. Shain was a real pioneer of northern Missouri. He knew Daniel Boone and the Long- mans, Boone's associates, and was related to the latter. He was a soldier in the Blackhawk Indian War. He and his wife died in Macon.
Capt. Ed C. Shain was born in Macon County, Missouri, in 1836. In early life he followed farming. When the Civil War broke out, he volun- teered in the Union army and served throughout the war as captain of Company K, Forty-second Missouri Infantry. After the war he returned to Macon County and later engaged in the banking business at Clarence, Shelby County, until 1911, when he retired from active business and now resides at Atlanta, Macon county, and is spending his days in peace and quiet, after a successful and honorable career.
Emily (Bristow) Shain, mother of Judge Shain, was also a native of Macon County, Missouri, and a daughter of Wesley and Sarah (Cherry) Bristow, both natives of Kentucky. They were born in the vicinity of Louisville and were married in their native state. The Bristow family were early settlers in Kentucky and of English descent. Wesley Bristow's father was a soldier in the War of 1812, and the flint-lock musket which he
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carried is still in the possession of members of the family, and Judge Shain saw it and also the powder-horn, while on a visit to Oregon some years ago. Wesley Bristow's brother, Eli Bristow, who was several years his senior, went to Oregon at a very early day and was among the very earliest set- tlers of that state. He explored many sections of Oregon and named many of the mountain peaks, rivers, etc. He took up several hundred acres of land there and many of his descendants are now among the prominent citi- zens of that state.
Judge Shain is the only child born to his parents. His mother died when he was about two years of age. He was reared to manhood in Macon County and was educated in the public schools, Canton University at Canton, Missouri, and the State Normal School at Kirksville, Missouri, and was graduated from the latter institution in 1875. He then taught school, reading law between terms of school. He read law in the office of Judge James Ellison, who for over thirty years has been a member of the Kansas City Court of Appeals. Judge Shain was admitted to the bar in 1879 and immediately began the practice of his profession in Kansas City, Missouri, and continued the practice for three years. He then accepted a position as private attorney whose business interests required all his time until 1893. During that year, he entered the general practice again in Shelby County, Missouri. In the spring of 1899, he came to Sedalia and entered into a partnership with O. M. Barnette, under the firm name of Shain & Barnette. This firm continued and was one of the leading law firms of Pettis County until 1911 when Judge Shain was elected judge of the Thir- tieth Judicial District, and in 1917 he was re-elected to that office and is now serving his second term.
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