USA > Missouri > Pettis County > History of Pettis County, Missouri > Part 33
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Peter Pehl, conducting a hotel and cafe business, opposite the Missouri Pacific Depot; Otto B. Pehl, proprietor and manager of the Main Street Hotel and Cafe. The Pehl residence is a handsome and substantial struc- ture, situated at 1016 West Broadway. Mrs. Augusta (Bartel) Pehl is the daughter of Henry and Henrietta Bartel, of Florence, Missouri, the former of whom now resides in California, and the latter is deceased.
Since the organization of the Sedalia Trust Company, Mr. Pehl has been a member of the directorate of this thriving and important financial institution. He is also a director of the Sedalia National Bank. He is fraternally allied with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and he is a liberal and enterprising citizen, whose purse and influence have ever been ready to assist in the promotion of worthy enterprises.
Mel T. Henderson .- One of the most conspicuous successes achieved in Pettis County by an adopted citizen is that of Mel T. Henderson, former sheriff of this county, and proprietor of the Henderson Garage, at Second and Moniteau streets. Mr. Henderson began his career in Pettis County in 1885 as a farm hand, soon became a farmer on his own account, then became a land owner, later being elected sheriff of the county. Engaging in the automobile business, he became the local salesman for the Ford cars and has recently completed one of the largest and best equipped garages in western Missouri, located at the corner of Second and Moniteau streets, the structure being 90x120 feet in size, with basement, and built of con- crete, brick and steel.
Mel T. Henderson was born in Fayette County, West Virginia, June 1, 1861, the son of Thomas and Mary (Gilliam) Henderson, both of whom were natives of Virginia. Not long after the birth of Mel T. Henderson his parents located in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and there spent the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of seven children, as follow: Sydney, Estie and Julia, deceased; Martha E., wife of George Shorter, living in Virginia; William, resides at Ford, Oklahoma; Gran- ville, San Francisco, California ; Mel T., subject of this sketch.
When twenty-four years of age Mel T. Henderson left Rockbridge County, Virginia, and came to Pettis County, where he was first employed on the farm of B. L. Porter, near Houstonia. He worked on the Porter farm for two years and then rented the tract for two years, buying eighty acres of the place at the expiration of his lease, in 1901. He later pur- chased the remaining eighty and became owner of a valuable farm, which he tilled successfully until his removal to Sedalia, in 1905, to take up his
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duties as deputy sheriff of the county under Sheriff I. N. Sprecher. In the fall of 1908 he was elected sheriff of Pettis County and served for the ensuing four years. Mr. Henderson made a capable and reliable county official. At the expiration of his term of sheriff, in 1913, Mr. Henderson engaged in the automobile business and has one of the largest and most successful enterprises of the kind in Sedalia.
September 8, 1889, Mr. Henderson was married to Miss Anna C. Porter, of Houstonia, Missouri, a daughter of B. L. and Addie Porter, the former of whom is deceased and the latter makes her home in Sedalia. The children born to B. L. and Addie Porter are as follow: Mrs. Anna C. Henderson, of this review; Maggie, wife of W. A. Block, of Portland, Oregon; Emma, wife of W. I. Dishman, Prineville, Oregon; Lila Beryl, wife of Henry Summers, Sedalia, Missouri ; Bessie and John died in infancy. To Mel T. and wife have been born four children: Mary, Sydney B. and Melville S., deceased; Paul Y., now in the United States Army, twenty- one years of age, attended the officers' training school at Fort Riley, Kansas, the school of aviation at Champaign, Illinois, served as military instructor at Columbia, Tennessee, and holds a commission as captain and is now in active service in the Naval Aviation Corps; Robert Q., member of Company B, Machine Gun Battalian, has been in active service in France since July 1, 1918, enlisted in the National Army when eighteel1 years of age.
The mother of these children died August 9, 1918, and her remains were interred in the cemetery at Houstonia, Missouri. The Henderson resi- dence in Sedalia is located at 701 West Broadway. Mr. Henderson is a member of the South Methodist Episcopal Church, and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
Eugene W. Couey .- Fifty-two years ago Judge Eugene W. Couey of the Probate Court of Pettis County was born, on Pettis street, Sedalia, Missouri, and at the present day is voting in the same ward in which he was born. Judge Couey was born November 30, 1866, and is the son of Silas H. and Amaranda (Jones) Couey, the former a native of Illinois and the latter of Tennessee.
Silas H. Couey came to Sedalia from Illinois in 1865, and was first employed by the Cunningham Transfer Company, then with the Holmes Lumber Company and the Bloess Lumber Company, the pioneer lumber companies of Sedalia. After a period of employment with the Gregg Egg
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Company and the Polson Egg Company, packers and shippers of eggs, which in those days were packed in barrels, he engaged in farming, and followed this vocation in Pettis County until his removal to Colorado, in 1902, where both he and his wife died, their mortal remains being brought home for interment in Crown Hill Cemetery. To Silas H. and Amaranda Couey were born children as follow: Alfred, deceased; Minerva, wife of Russell McRarey, Trinidad, Colorado; Laura, wife of Joseph Shackleford, Saline County, Missouri; Rudolph, Trinidad, Colorado; Eugene W. Couey, subject of this review; Nora, widow of John Clark, now principal of Columbia School, Trinidad, Colorado; William, Deming, New Mexico; Emory, Lexington, Missouri; Sallie, wife of Hugh Satterwhite, Rocky Ford, Oregon; Russell, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Three children died in infancy.
Eugnee W. Couey received his education in the old Franklin School of Sedalia, the Georgetown public school, and attended district school in Elk Fork township for one term. He finished his public school work at Prospect School and graduated from the Sedalia High School. Attending the State University at Columbia, he graduated from the law department and began the practice of law in this city, where he has since resided with the exception of seven years spent in Colorado. He went to Colorado in 1899 and returned to Sedalia in 1906. Mr. Couey served two years as assistant prosecuting attorney and four years as prosecuting attorney of Pettis County. In 1914, he was elected to the office of probate judge of the county, winning the Democratic nomination over Mark A. McGruder, author of this history of Pettis County, now State senator.
Judge Couey was married on January 1, 1891, to Roza I. Goff, a daughter of William and Nancy Goff, of Warrensburg, Missouri, the former of whom is deceased, and the latter resides near LaMonte, Mis- souri. Judge Couey and wife have three living children, as follow: Tropha, wife of Norman Bockelman, Sedalia, Missouri; Bernice, deceased, was a graduate of Sedalia High School, and at the time of her death, in 1916, was a teacher in Liberty School; Edith, a graduate of Sedalia High School ; Lawrence, a student in the high school. Mr. and Mrs. Couey have a grand daughter, Dorothy Lorine Bockelman. The Couey residence is located at 1010 West Fourth street.
Frank Monroe, the efficient recorder of deeds of Pettis County, is a descendant of a pioneer family, who traces their ancestry to Revolutionary stock. Frank Monroe was born in Sedalia September 22, 1873, and is a son of Col. Thomas and Adelia (Stallard) Monroe, the former a native
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of Tennessee, born in 1819 and died in January, 1881, and his remains are buried in Crown Hill Cemetery. Adelia (Stallard) Monroe was born in St. Charles County, Missouri, in 1846, and now resides in Sedalia. She is a daughter of Joseph Stallard, who served in the War of 1812. Joseph Stallard was a son of Lieutenant Randolph Stallard, who served in the Revolutionary War.
Col. Thomas Monroe, Frank Monroe's father, was a member of the Missouri State Senate from the 28th District of Missouri when the Civil War broke out and he entered the Confederate service with the rank of lieutenant-colonel and served until the close of the war. In 1871 he came to Sedalia and here spent the remainder of his life.
Frank Monroe was educated in the public schools of Sedalia, and for a time was a salesman and later engaged in the insurance business in Sedalia, in partnership with Mr. A. P. Espenscheid, under the firm name of Espenscheid & Monroe. Later he was engaged in the insurance and real estate business, in partnership with Mr. I. N. Sprecher, under the firm name of Monroe & Sprecher.
Mr. Monroe is a Democrat, and since he has been old enough to vote has taken an active interest and part in politics. In 1900 he was elected city assessor of Sedalia, serving a term of two years. In 1914 he received the Democratic nomination for county recorder. He was elected and, at the expiration of that term, he was re-elected in the fall of 1918, and is now beginning his second term in that office. He is a faithful, pains- taking and efficient public officer, to which the many who have business in the county recorder's office can truthfully testify.
Mr. Monroe was united in marriage in 1898 to Miss Mollie Hansberger, a native of Pettis County, and a daughter of W. F. Hansberger. Mr. Hans- berger and wife are both deceased and their remains are buried in Crown Hill Cemetery. He was a Confederate veteran of the Civil War, and served under Gen. Robert E. Lee, in the army of Virginia. In 1865, shortly after the close of the war, he came to Pettis County, and spent the remainder of his life here.
To Mr. and Mrs. Monroe has been born one son, Frank Monroe, Jr. He was educated in the Sedalia public schools and, after graduating from the high school, was a student in the University of Missouri one year, when he entered the officers' training camp at Fort Sheridan, Illinois.
Mr. Monroe is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and he and Mrs. Monroe are well and favorably known in Sedalia and Pettis County.
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John I. Whitsel, a widely known and successful stockman of Prairie township, has given attention to breeding spotted Poland China hogs and high-grade cattle for a number of years. To the well-directed efforts of such men as Mr. Whitsel Pettis County owes the high rank which she holds among her sister counties of the great commonwealth of Missouri.
Mr. Whitsel is a native of Pettis County, and was born on the farm where he now resides, April 1, 1862. He is a son of David C. and Margaret (Smith) Whitsel, both natives of Ross County, Ohio. They were mar- ried in Ohio, and during the Civil War came to Missouri and settled in Prairie township, Pettis County, on the place where John I. Whitsel now resides. Here the father was engaged in farming until his death. He died about 1874, at the age of fifty-seven years. His wife continued to operate the farm after her husband's death, and kept the family together. She continued to improve the place, and built the large, fine residence, which is still standing, and made a success generally of carrying on farm- ing and stock raising. She died in 1898, aged seventy-one years.
John I. Whitsel was one of a family of five children born to his par- ents. He was the youngest and the only one of the family born in Pettis County. The others were born in Ohio, and are as follow in the order of birth: Jennie, deceased; a girl, died in infancy ; Obed N., Knob Noster, Missouri, and Clay S., resides in Sedalia township.
John I. Whitsel, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of this county, and has made farming and stock raising the occu- pation of his life.
In 1908 the estate was divided, and he bought the interests of part of the other heirs. He eventually owned 443 acres, which is one of the valuable and highly improved farms of Pettis County. He improved and beautified the place and continued to operate it until January 23, 1919, when he sold it to C. B. Lane, of Raymore, Missouri, for a consideration of $52,000. This figure approaches the highest price per acre paid in Pettis County for farm land in any large acreage. This farm has been in the Whitsel family for over sixty years.
Mr. Whitsel was united in marriage October 12, 1899, with Miss Mary E. Payton, a native of Pettis County and a daughter of Louis O. and Mattie A. (McClung) Payton. To Mr. and Mrs. Whitsel have been born two children, Martha and Clay Payton, both of whom are now deceased.
Mrs. Whitsel possesses unusual talent as an artist. She evinced a
RESIDENCE OF JOHN I. WHITSEL.
Enr by E & Wiliams & Bro NY
Jan. 2. White
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natural talent in this direction since childhood, and has studied art under private instructors. She has painted a number of beautiful pictures, many of which decorate the Whitsel home. She does both oil and water color work with equal artistic effect.
Mr. Whitsel is a Republican, and he and Mrs. Whitsel are members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Whitsel is a man of keen foresight and good business judgment. He is a stockholder in the Sedalia National Bank, and a man whose thrift and industry have made a substantial place for him in the world of affairs.
Thomas R. Melton, the capable and courteous clerk of the Circuit Court of Pettis County, is a native Missourian. He was born in Morgan County in 1875, and is a son of J. H. and Martha (Baldwin) Melton, both natives of Moniteau County, and early settlers in Pettis County. They both now reside in Sedalia. J. H. and Martha (Baldwin) Melton are the parents of sixteen children, as follow: Ellen R., married J. R. Allen and resides in Moniteau County, Missouri ; William, deceased ; James E., resides in Sedalia; George A., resides in Sedalia; Rosa, deceased; Thomas R., the subject of this sketch; Henry M., El Paso, Texas; Ira E., Sedalia, Missouri ; W. Roy, Sedalia, Missouri; Ernest M., Sedalia, Missouri; Grace married J. A. Cordry, Camp Branch, Missouri; A. C., Sedalia, Missouri; Goldie L., inarried R. L. Harris, who served in the aviation corps of the United States Army as first lieutenant, and for a time was detailed as an instruc- tor at the aviation field at Wool, England; Alta Pearl, married Jesse S. Hudson, of Hughesville, Missouri, who served as a soldier in the National Army during the World War; Sidney K., who served as sergeant in the quartermaster's department with the American Expeditionary Forces in France. The youngest child of the family was a son, who died in infancy.
Thomas R. Melton was educated in the public schools of Pettis County and the State Normal School at Warrensburg, Missouri. He then engaged in teaching, and for fifteen years was engaged in that profession in Pettis County, and was one of the most successful teachers that Pettis County ever had. Mr. Melton was a natural teacher, and therefore enjoyed his work, which is always productive of real results in the schoolroom. He introduced innovations in his school work which had not been even thought of in rural schools up to that time. While teaching at the High Point School, he instituted and carried out a school district fair for four con- secutive years. Exhibits of farm products and home economics methods were leading features. These fairs attracted a great deal of attention, and
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were written up by the local press and was given a great deal of publicity by the newspapers, not only of the State, but throughout the country. Since that time the teaching of agriculture in the public schools has become almost universal. At that time there was considerable opposition, as many thought this method of teaching agriculture was impractical. Mr. Melton deserves much credit for being one of the earliest pioneers in this most important field of modern education. A prominent living testi- monial of Mr. Melton's work in this branch of education is Mr. Ezra Iken- barry, who was a student of Mr. Melton's, who started him along agricul- tural lines, and Professor Ikenberry is the present County Agent for Jack- son County, Missouri, and is regarded as perhaps one of the best men in the state along that line of work.
Mr. Melton was appointed deputy circuit clerk January 1, 1911, under Circuit Clerk George W. Driskell, and served in that capacity for two terms, or until January 1, 1919. In the fall of 1918, he received the Democratic nomination, without opposition, for the office of clerk of the Circuit Court, and was elected. He assumed the duties of that office January 1, 1919, and is now serving in that capacity.
October 5, 1898, Thomas R. Melton was united in marriage with Miss Nora Lee Warren, of Sedalia, Missouri. She is a daughter of Hedgman Warren, and is one of the following children born to her parents: Colby D., a manual training teacher, Sedalia, Missouri; Elizabeth, married Luther Proctor, Portland, Oregon; Nora Lee, married Thomas R. Melton, the sub- ject of this sketch, and Birdie H., married W. H. Finley, Sedalia, Missouri. To Mr. and Mrs. Melton have been born two children, as follow: Warren M., in the employ of Swift & Company, Ottumwa, Iowa, and Birdie Eliza- beth, a student in the Sedalia High School.
Mr. Melton, although a young man, has had many years of experience in public service, and his capable and painstaking methods have won for him universal confidence and respect. He has ever followed the theory which was well stated in the language of former President Cleveland, who said, "Public office is a public trust, and not a private snap."
Dr. Charles Bell Trader, now serving his country as a captain in the medical department of the United States Army, and who was called to the service on August 30, 1918, is a native son of Pettis County. His father, Dr. John W. Trader, was one of the most prominent physicians of the last decade in Missouri.
Dr. John W. Trader was born in Xenia, Ohio, March 6, 1837, and
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was a son of Moses and Rebecca R. (Wells) Trader, who moved from Ohio to a farm near Brunswick, Chariton County, Missouri, in 1840, and from there moved to Linn County, Missouri, in 1844. In 1854, Doctor Trader began the study of medicine with Dr. Alex S. Hughes, of Lindley, Grundy County, Missouri. He graduated from the Missouri Medical Col- lege in 1859, and at once began the practice of his profession. During the earlier months of the Civil War he commanded a company of State militia, but joined the federal forces at Laclede, Missouri, and was com- missioned an assistant surgeon by Governor Gamble and mustered into the First Cavalry, First battalion of Missouri State militia. In 1863 he was commissioned a surgeon and mustered into the same regiment at Jefferson City. In 1864 he was made brigade surgeon of the First brigade of General Pleasanton's Cavalry Corps. Doctor Trader was mustered out of the service and joined the United States Medical Corps as a surgeon and was assigned to duty at Jefferson Barracks. He was then sent to New Orleans as medical director on the river steamer Baltic. This boat pro- ceeded to Vicksburg and took on three hundred Andersonville prisoners and returned to Jefferson Barracks. Doctor Trader resigned his com- mission in May, 1865. He was a gallant officer in the field and faithful in duty.
Dr. Trader located in Sedalia in 1865 and practiced his profession in this city until his death. In 1876 he visited Europe while holding an hon- orary commission from the governor of Missouri and attended the Paris Exposition. While in Paris he spent some time in studying the advances made in the science of medicine. In 1876 he was elected president of the Missouri Medical Association and served for two years. He was a delegate to the American Medical Association which met at Chicago in 1877, and during the same year he was appointed surgeon for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company, and held this position for three years. In 1878 Dr. Trader was appointed curator of State University, and served as a member of the examining board of the medical department of the univer- sity. He was an active member of the M. E. Church from 1854 until his death, and was for many years president of the Pettis County American Bible Society. He was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. Dr. Trader devoted much of his time to literary pursuits and was very fond of hunting, his leisure hours being spent abroad in the fields and woods with his dog and gun. He departed this life in 1907 and his remains lie in Crown Hill Cemetery. Pettis County and Missouri were bettered in
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many ways through Dr. Trader's activities and accomplishments.
Dr. John B. Trader was married twice, his first wife being Miss Lucy A. W. Wyatt, a daughter of Capt. John Wyatt of Chillicothe, Missouri, who died without issue. In 1867 he married Miss Tillie B. Batterton, of Danville, Kentucky, who bore him seven children: Hattie Belle, born 1868, married Dr. C. E. Fletcher of Sedalia, Missouri; Dr. Charles Bell, whose name heads this review; Arthur Montgomery, born 1872, engaged in gen- eral auditing business at St. Louis ; John William, born 1875, manager of a large bakery at Washington, D. C .; George Henry, born 1877, manager of the Sedalia plant of Swift and Company; Clara Matilda Hope, born 1879, married Otto J. Schien, of Shreveport, Louisiana; Randolph Foster, born 1882, now employed with the Shipbuilding Corporation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Emmet Everett, born 1889, manager of the Metropolitan Garage, Sedalia, Missouri. Mrs. Trader now resides with her daughter, Mrs. C. E. Fletcher of Sedalia.
Dr. Charles Bell Trader was educated in the Sedalia Public and High Schools and graduated from the Kansas City Medical College in 1901. He immediately began the practice of his profession in his native city and has emulated his father in achieving a more than local success as a physician of prominence and attainments.
Dr. C. B. Trader was married in 1902 to Marian Tuck Batterton of Danville, Kentucky, a daughter of George D. and Hattie (Williams) Batter- ton, who now reside in Kansas City, Missouri. To this marriage has been born a daughter, Frances Ware Trader.
On August 30, 1918, Dr. Trader was called to the colors at Camp Funs- ton, to enter the medical service of the National Army and had previously received a captain's commission. He is a fellow of the American Medical Association, and is a member of the Pettis County and Missouri State Medi- cal Societies. For two years he filled the office of vice-president of the Pettis County Medical Society and served as secretary of the society for two years. At the time of his enlistment he was serving as a member of the Censor Committee of the local society. Dr. Trader is a member of the Local Draft Board of Pettis County, a member of the Pettis County Com- mittee of the Medical Section of the National Council of Defense and was active in the furtherance of all war activities in the county, only ceasing these loyal and patriotic works in order to engage actively and whole heartedly directly in the service of succoring the wounded and sick of the National Army as an enlisted officer in the service of his country.
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James P. Quinn .- The firm of Quinn Brothers, shoe merchants, is one of the best known and prosperous concerns of its kind in this section of Missouri. This business was started in 1904, at 206 Ohio Street, by James P., Joseph S., and Michael Quinn. The present members of the firm are: James P., Francis W., Joseph S., and Cornelius A., the latter of whom is now serving as a soldier in the National Army. The Quinn shoe store is one of the neatest and most modern stores in Sedalia and a splendid line of footwear is carried in stock and sold to an ever-increasing patronage throughout this section of Missouri. The building in which the business is housed has a frontage of 25 feet with a depth of 100 feet with a base- inent for the reserve stock. The first floor contains the office and sales- room and the second floor of the building is devoted to housing the reserve stock and as a repair room. A branch of Quinn Brothers store is located at 222 Ohio Street and is known as the Imperial Shoe Store, being located in a building having a frontage of 22 feet with a depth of 60 feet.
James P. Quinn, manager of this enterprising firm, was born at Bel- videre, Illinois, a son of Cornelius and Bridget (McGinley) Quinn, both of whom were born and reared in Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Quinn came to Amer- ica in 1876, and after residing at Belvidere, Illinois, for five years they came to Sedalia in 1885. The father of the family died in 1895, the mother departing this life in August of 1917. Cornelius and Bridget Quinn were parents of the following children: James P., subject of this review; John C., born at Belvidere, Illinois, has been a merchant in Sedalia for the past sixteen years ; Michael F., former member of the firm, died in 1909; Rev. Father William L., a priest of splendid educational attainments and one of the few notable scholars produced in Sedalia, is now located in New York City, in charge of the Indian Mission Bureau of the Catholic Church ; Joseph S., served in the National Army and received an honorable discharge November 29, 1918; Cornelius A., also served his country as a soldier in the National Army and received his honorable discharge from the army December 2, 1918; Francis W., who served for a time under the colors but received an honorable discharge from the service because of physical dis- ability ; Mary, and Johanna Quinn.
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