USA > Missouri > Pettis County > History of Pettis County, Missouri > Part 68
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75
756
HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
of Versailles, Missouri; Amelia, wife of John Mahnken, of Morgan County, Missouri, and Mathilda, wife of William Mahuken, of Morgan County, Missouri; Rudolph and John, deceased.
Gevert Monsees and wife lived during the first summer of their mar- ried life on the farm of his father, and later purchased forty acres of land from his father, on which he built a small, one-room house. In this house they lived for quite a number of years, when later they built a larger and a more complete one in its stead. On account of his industry and good management Mr. Monsees accumulated a farm of 228 acres, which is today considered to be one of the best in this community. The following ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Monsees: Katherine, wife of Fred Wallace, of Morgan County, Missouri; John and Philip, of Smithton, Mis- souri; Rudolph, deceased; Metha, wife of John Bolte, also of Smithton, Missouri; Edward, of Brownsville, Texas; Harry and Frank, of Smithton, Missouri; Mary, wife of John Schluesing, of Smithton township, and Laura, wife of Denis Bluhm, of Bazine, Kansas.
During the Civil War Gevert Monsees served for one year in the Missouri State militia. He was a Republican in politics, and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a devout Christian, and was also a liberal giver to all charitable and worthy causes, and was ever good and kind to his family. No citizen of Smithton township stood higher in the community than Gevert Monsees. His wife enjoys the distinction of being one of the oldest and best preserved pioneer women of the county. She has forty grandchildren, ten great grandchildren, has two grandsons serving in the National Army-Irvin Wallace, serving with the American forces in France, and Star Monsees, who is an electrician, serving with the army near San Diego, California. His memory ever remains fresh in the hearts of those that knew him and loved him.
William Stockton Cotton .- "Woodford Farm," consisting of 620 acres in one body, owned and managed by William Stockton Cotton, Cedar town- ship, is one of the splendid country estates of Pettis County. This farm is the old Maj. William Gentry place, and the fine brick house still stand- ing in an excellent state of preservation, was erected by Major Gentry in 1852. This house was made from brick burned on the place by Gentry, and woodwork of the interior and exterior is of native hardwoods and pine. The doors and paneling, carving, etc,, was all done by hand, and no better example of ante-bellum architecture is to be found anywhere in
757
HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
Missouri. Walnut predominates in the interior finish of this fine old mansion, which consists of ten rooms, and has been modernized by the present proprietor. The house sets well back from the road, and the extensive lawn is shaded by great trees. Mr. Cotton maintains a herd of fifty pure-bred Angus cows, and usually produces 200 head of pure- bred Duroc Jersey hogs. He keeps pure-bred livestock from preference, but does not specialize as a breeder of registered stock.
W. S. Cotton was born in Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky, March 12, 1871. He is the son of William Samuel and Mary (Stockton) Cotton, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. William Samuel Cotton was engaged in the insurance business in Kentucky, and after his death, in 1881, the family, three years later, removed to Sedalia. The children are as follow: Augusta, at home with her mother; W. S., of this review ; Mrs. Louie Waddell, Sedalia; R. H. Cotton, judge of the County Court, Smithton, Missouri.
W. S. Cotton was thirteen years of age when his mother moved, with her children, to Sedalia. He attended the grade and high schools of Sedalia, following which he was engaged in the hardware business at Carthage, Missouri, for three years. He was employed for one year in St. Louis; one year at Wichita Falls, Texas, following which service he was traveling salesman for the Majestic Range Manufacturing Company for eight years. He was engaged in developing new territory for the firm, and his assignments were in Pennsylvania and Texas and the intervening country. During the last three years of his salesmanship he had charge of the Missouri territory. In 1900 he resigned his position and purchased the old Powell farm. In 1908 he bought his present place in Cedar town- ship.
Mr. Cotton was married December 12, 1900, to Miss Opal Stewart, of Sedalia, a daughter of John R. and Mary Stewart, both of whom are deceased. John R. Stewart was a Canadian by birth, and for many years was engaged in the hardware business in Sedalia, dying in 1885. Mrs. Mary Stewart was a native of New York, and died in 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart were parents of eleven children, four of whom are living: Mrs. J. M. Scott, Kansas City, Missouri; Arthur, Los Angeles, California; Ernest, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Mrs. Opal Cotton.
Mr. Cotton is an Independent Republican. He and Mrs. Cotton are members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Sedalia.
758
HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
Arthur W. Brown .- Just a little northwest of old Georgetown is the pretty country place of Arthur W. Brown, consisting of 128 acres. This farm was formerly devoted to the dairy business, but with advancing age Mr. Brown found that the work of caring for a herd of Holstein cows was becoming too arduous and he sold his cows, in 1917. A. W. Brown is a native of the old Western Reserve, of Ohio. He was born June 22, 1852, at Bainbridge, Geauga County, Ohio, a son of Peleg Brown and Adaline Barton Brown.
Peleg Brown located in Ohio in 1834, going there from Madison County, New York, where he was born and reared. He bought land in Bainbridge township for $3.00 an acre. This land was all heavily tim- bered with hardwood timber, and but ten acres were cleared. Mr. Brown became a successful dairyman. After the war he became owner of the Chester Palmer farm, three-quarters of a mile west of Mulberry Corners, and accumulated a total of 800 acres, much of which he lost through finan- cial reverses. Later Peleg Brown came to Pettis County, and made his home with his daughter, Mrs. C. P. Shepard, whose home was south of Sedalia, dying there in 1880. His wife was Adaline Barton, of Herkimer County, New York. They were parents of the following children: Abner, . died in Los Angeles; William A., died in Pettis County ; Mrs. C. P. Shep- herd, Pettis County, and Arthur W., of this review. Peleg Brown drove from his old home in New York to Ohio by ox team in 1833. After pur- chasing land he built a cabin, and returned for his wife. He farmed in Ohio until 1879.
Arthur W. Brown is a self-made man. Every dollar which he owns has been earned by the sweat of his brow. He attended the old Geauga Seminary, then taught by Prof. W. D. Moore, his uncle. This is the famous school attended by President Garfield, and later taught by him. Mr. Brown came to Pettis County in 1879, and first lived on the Herman Kahrs place, in Lake Creek township. In 1881 he moved to Henry County, and resided at LaDue for seven years, returning to Pettis County in 1888. For seventeen years Mr. Brown was in the employ of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas and Missouri Pacific railways, as inspector in the railroad yards. He purchased his farm in 1896.
Mr. Brown was married in 1875 to Miss Lydia Rogers, who was born at Kirtland, Lake County, Ohio, in 1857. Two daughters and a son have blessed this marriage: Mrs. W. J. Menefee, Sedalia; Grace, wife of James
759
HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
Capen, Sedalia, and Forrest A., an electrician employed in the munitions plant at Nitro, West Virginia.
For the past twenty-two years Mr. Brown has been a member of Granite Lodge No. 272, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Sedalia.
James A. DeJarnette, farmer and stockman, Cedar township, owner of 150 acres of well-improved land, is a native of Pettis County. Mr. DeJarnette is farming 305 acres in all. He has recently erected a hand- some, modern home of eight rooms, which sets on a hill overlooking the rock road leading to Sedalia. The farm is devoted primarily to dairying purposes, Mr. DeJarnette maintaining a herd of twenty Jersey cows. The cream is sold to buyers, and in addition he is carrying on general farming operations.
James A. DeJarnette was born October 14, 1882, on the DeJarnette home place. He is the son of Thomas Jefferson DeJarnette, who was born in Pettis County in 1860, on a farm eight miles west of Sedalia. Thomas J. DeJarnette was the son of James A. DeJarnette, who was the son of John DeJarnette, who came from Kentucky to Missouri as early as 1819, later making a settlement in Pettis County. James A. DeJarnette was reared in Pettis County, his father entering a large tract of land in this county.
Thomas J. DeJarnette farmed the DeJarnette place until his removal to Sedalia, where he has a home in the northwestern part of the city. He formerly owned 745 acres in one tract in Cedar township. He is father of two children: James A., subject of this sketch, and Charles A., a farmer in Cedar township. The mother of these two sons was Alice Cunningham, prior to her marriage. She was born in 1863, a daughter of William Cunningham, who came to Pettis County after the Civil War.
James A. DeJarnette was educated in the public and high school of Sedalia. After attending the high school he pursued a course in Hill's Business College, and then took up farming as his life vocation. He was married in 1905 to Miss Mary Dow, a daughter of Squire Alexander Dow, of Georgetown, a sketch of whom appears in this volume. Three children have blessed this union: Alice Louisa, aged twelve years ; Jeffer- son Dow, aged ten years, and Edith Helen, aged eight years.
Mr. DeJarnette is a Democrat in politics, is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and is affiliated fraternally with the Woodmen of the World.
760
HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
William A. Kahl, farmer and stockman, and owner of 120 acres of rich prairie land in Cedar township, was born in Germany in 1859. He is the son of William and Elizabeth Kahl, who immigrated to America in 1872, and settled in Clinton County, Iowa. William A. Kahl was there reared to young manhood, and worked out as & hired hand until he was able to rent land on his own account. Mr. Kahl came to Pettis County, Missouri, and purchased his farm October 25, 1902. This farm is all paid for, and a substantial improvement in the way of a large barn has been built by Mr. Kahl, who is constantly fixing things on the place. The Kahl farm has increased greatly in value during the years in which Mr. Kahl has owned it.
On March 22, 1888, Mr. Kahl was married to Mrs. Annis M. Damon, nee Newhouse, the widow of Nathan G. Damon. She was born in Bureau County, Illinois, a daughter of Henry and Nancy (Grimes) Newhouse, natives of Indiana, who came to Lamoille, Illinois, after their marriage. Henry Newhouse died in 1852. His widow departed this life in 1861. Having been born June 9, 1852, Annis M. Newhouse was left an orphan in childhood. She was reared by her guardian, who gave her an excellent education, and she fitted herself for the teaching profession. She taught school in Illinois and Iowa for several years prior to her marriage.
Her first marriage took place on November 27, 1879, at Champaign, Illinois, with Nathan G. Damon, a native of New York, who died April 26, 1883. Two children were born to this marriage: Lloyd C., at home, and J. N. Damon, Chicago, Illinois.
One child was born to the marriage of William A. and Annis M. Kahl; Mayme Kahl, died on February 8, 1907, at the age of nineteen years. Mr. and Mrs. Kahl are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Kahl is a Republican in politics, and is affiliated fraternally with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows.
Jonathan D. Claycomb .- The late Jonathan D. Claycomb was one of the highly respected and honored old settlers of Pettis County. He was born in March, 1833, and departed this life January 25, 1918. Mr. Clay- comb was born near Martinsburg, Berkeley County, Virginia, and was a son of Frederick and Catherine (Tabler) Claycomb, who emigrated to Saline County, Missouri, in 1843, carved a home from the wilderness, and spent all of their lives there.
Jonathan D. Claycomb crossed the plains in 1850. He made the trip to the gold fields of the Pacific slope with pack mules over the old Santa Fe
761
HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
Trail. He remained three years in the gold mining country, saved a con- siderable sum of money, and returned to Missouri by way of Salt Lake City. A brother, William T. Claycomb, now deceased, also crossed the plains and mountains to the gold country, but only remained for one year, returning via the Isthmus of Panama.
In October, 1859, Mr. Claycomb was married to Georgiana Augusta Washburn, of Saline County, who was born on a farm near Racine, Wis- consin, in March, 1844. Mrs. Augusta Claycomb is a daughter of Elijah and Louise R. (Dodge) Washburn, natives of Connecticut, and descendants of early New England families.
Elijah W. Washburn left his native State and located in New York, going from there to Wisconsin in 1842. After making a home in Wis- consin he resided there until 1858, and then came to Missouri, locating in Saline County, where he resided until the Civil War. Mr. and Mrs. Clay- comb went to Texas in 1861, and upon their return, in April, 1862, they found the Washburns residing at Tipton, Missouri. The families lived in Tipton and California, Missouri, until 1863, and then moved to Sedalia.
In the fall of 1861 E. W. Washburn was captured one night, by bush- whackers, and was shot at several times, but in the darkness made his escape and went to Georgetown, where there were Federal soldiers. He afterward joined the Missouri enrolled militia, and was captain and adju- tant in a regiment. He was one of the first school teachers in Sedalia, Missouri, and was the first president of the Sedalia Board of Education. He was taken prisoner when Gen. Jeff Thompson captured Sedalia, but was released soon after. A rebel soldier, named James Ervine, was killed in front of the residence of Washburn that day, shot through mistake by one of Thompson's men. He was carried into the house, where he remained all night, and he and fifteen others were buried the next day. E. W. Washburn lived eighty-five years.
Elijah W. Washburn was the son of Ebenezer Washburn, one of the pioneer Methodist preachers. He preached for over sixty years, often having a circuit of 600 miles. He preached on his eighty-fifth birthday. He was born in 1772, and went to his reward in 1857, soon after his eighty- fifth birthday.
In April of 1862 Jonathan D. Claycomb enlisted at Georgetown, Missouri, in Company F, 7th Missouri Cavalry, under Capt. B. H. Wilson, whose company was a part of the command of Col. John F. Phillips, the
762
HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
regiment being part of the brigade commanded by General Crittendon. T. T. Crittendon was lieutenant-colonel of the 7th Missouri State Militia cavalry. He participated in the great campaign which drove General Price's Confederate army from Missouri and down through Arkansas, and was in many battles of that memorable campaign.
In September of 1869 Mr. and Mrs. Claycomb moved to the farm now owned by their son, W. A. Claycomb. They resided in the old Doctor Turley residence, the front room of which was built eighty years ago. The old house is still standing, and served as the Claycomb home for forty- three years. Mr. Claycomb accumulated an estate of nearly 500 acres of land, and prospered, as he deserved. In September of 1912 they removed to a home in Sedalia, where Mr. Claycomb died, aged nearly eighty-five years.
Three sons and a daughter were born to Jonathan D. and Georgiana Augusta Claycomb, as follow: Charles, who has a seed store in Guymon, Oklahoma; William A., a prosperous farmer in Longwood township, a sketch of whom appears in this volume; Robert, lives at Lawton, Okla- homa; Katherine, wife of Dee Rostine Powell, Hughesville township. Mr. Powell was born on December 28, 1874, in Saline County, a son of Charles and Nannie Powell, who were natives of Virginia, first settled in Saline County, and later came to Pettis County. He was married to Kath- erine Claycomb in 1904, and they reside on a nicely improved farm of 133 acres near Hughesville.
For over thirty years Mrs. Clacomb was postmistress of Thornleigh postoffice. This postoffice was so named by her mother, in honor of Squire Thornton, who induced the people of the neighborhood to sign the peti- tion asking for the postoffice to be established there. Thornleigh had the distinction of being the only postoffice of that designation in the United States. Senator Mark McGruder, author of this History, when a lad of fifteen, carried the mail from Hughesville to Thornleigh for a considerable time, and received the munificent salary of $25.00 per quarter for his services. Mrs. Claycomb is a highly intelligent lady, who has a wide and favorable acquaintance in Pettis County, and is universally admired and respected by all who know her. She is a member of the Methodist Church.
Stone W. McClure .- The McClure stock farm of 860 acres located in sections 21 and 28 of Hughesville township, is one of the most extensive and best improved estates in Pettis County, and is owned and operated by Stone W. McClure. It is probable that prior to the fire which in No-
763
HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
vember, 1918, destroyed the imposing brick mansion with all of its con- tents on the place, the McClure farm was the best improved in this sec- tion of Hughesville township. The farm is devoted to the raising and feeding of live stock and a recent departure of Mr. McClure is the breed- ing of thoroughbred Aberdeen Angus cattle. All of his Angus stock are registered and it is his intention to proceed in the breeding industry on an extensive scale. Mr. McClure feeds on an average 250 to 300 hogs annually for the markets, preferring the Chester White breed. He also fattens about 150 head of cattle each year. Two men are employed to do the farm work the year round and as high as three men are given em- ployment on the place. Mr. McClure has sown 210 acres of wheat for the harvest of 1919. The farm buildings which are of a substantial and attractive appearance, excepting the residence recently destroyed by fire, have been erected by Mr. McClure since he took up his residence on the place in 1902.
Stone W. McClure was born May 5, 1873, in Saline County, Missouri, a son of William F. McClure, a native of Kentucky. William F. McClure was born in 1842 and died in 1880. He was a son of Winston McClure, an extended biography of whom is given elsewhere in this history. Soon after the end of the Civil War William F. McClure came to Pettis County and was associated for a time with his brothers in the raising, feeding and shipping of cattle on an extensive scale. He became owner of a farm north of Houstonia, which he cultivated until his death, at the age of 38 years. He married Sallie D. Knight, who was born in Tennessee, a daughter of Henry W. Knight, who was born in Tennessee, and made a settlement in Montgomery County, Missouri, where he resided until his death. Mrs. McClure now resides in Colorado. To William F. and Sallie D. McClure were born the following children: Paige Anna, died in 1906; Lucy, a teacher in Colorado; John Wesley, Jr., died in August, 1912; Stone W., of this review ; Mrs. George Bassett, Colorado; Willie B., a sheep rancher in Colorado.
Stone W. McClure attended the Warrensburg Normal School after receiving his primary education in the district school and has always been a farmer. He was married in December, 1895, to Miss Effie Stevens and this marriage has been blessed with children as follow: Ira B., born in December, 1896, volunteered in the National Army service in April, 1918, as truck driver in the Commissary Department and was a corporal stationed at Camp Rairiton, New Jersey, detailed upon instruction duty,
764
HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
and received an honorable discharge from the service after the close of the war; Hazel Anne, a graduate of the class of 1918, Sedalia High School, at home with her parents; Stevens W., born August 27, 1911. Mrs. Effie McClure was born near Green Ridge, Pettis County and is a daughter of Benjamin F. and Hester A. (Perdue) Stevens. B. F. Stevens was a native of Moniteau County, Missouri, and early made a settlement in Green Ridge township, where he developed a fine farm and became a large land owner. He became owner of an estate of 1,700 acres which included the present McClure farm. He resided for some years on this farm and later made his home in Hughesville, where his death occurred January 1, 1903. Mrs. Hester A. Stevens died in 1910. They were par- ents of the following children : Mrs. Effie S. McClure, of this sketch; Mrs. H. C. Mitchell, a widow, Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Stevens in his day was widely and favorably known in Pettis County as one of the county's most successful and public spirited citizens.
The Democratic party has always had the steadfast allegiance of Stone W. McClure, his father and grandfather before him having been stanch Democrats of the old school. He and Mrs. McClure worship at the Methodist Episcopal Church. His fraternal affiliations are with the Ancient Free and Accepted masons of Sedalia, the Knights Templar and the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America of Hughesville. He is a thirty-second degree Scot- tish Rite Mason.
John William Curry, postmaster and well known merchant of Long- wood, Pettis County, is a native son of Pettis County and a member of an old Missouri pioneer family. Mr. Curry was born in Longwood town- ship July 5, 1861, and is a son of William A. Curry, whose father was among the first pioneer settlers of this section of Missouri.
William A. Curry was born in Virginia in 1834 and accompanied his parents to Pettis County in 1835. He lived in Heath's Creek and Long- wood townships all of his later life and until a few years ago he had never ridden upon a railroad train. At the time when the Currys settled in northeastern Pettis County the surrounding country was largely un- settled and Mr. Curry was familiar with every home and knew every resident on the trails between Marshall and Sedalia. William Curry served in the Missouri State Militia during the Civil War. His wife, who was Mary Hall prior to her marriage, was born in 1838. To William A. and Mary (Hall) Curry were born nine children, as follow: J. R., living
765
HISTORY OF PETTIS COUNTY
in Sedalia; J. T. Curry, deceased; J. W., of this review; Mrs. Leora A. Chaney, living in Arkansas; Mrs. Martha J. Smiley, Heath's Creek town- ship, with whom the elder Curry resides; S. R. Curry, Sedalia; M. M. Curry, Heath's Creek township; Mrs. Ella Alexander, living east of Long- wood in Heath's Creek township; George, resides in Sedalia.
J. W. Curry was educated in the district school and the Warrens- burg State Normal School. For a period of twenty years he was a suc- cessful school teacher. He taught for one year in St. Clair County, Mis- souri, two years in Kansas, four years in Pettis County and thirteen years in Saline County, eight of which years were spent in one district. The school which retained the services of Professor Curry for so long a period was known as the Miller school and had an enumeration in the district of 105 pupils with an enrollment of eighty-eight pupils. He established a graded school and made a record as a teacher and disciplinarian which is traditional in the annals of the Miller school district to this day.
After his marriage in 1889 Mr. Curry added farming as a vocation and cultivated the land on his place of 112 acres when not engaged in teaching. He resided on his farm near Longwood until his removal to Longwood and he established his merchandise business in the town on February 1, 1917. In addition to conducting his well stocked store Mr. Curry is the local postmaster. He was married in 1889 to Miss Annie C. Hall, a native of Lafayette County, Missouri, and a daughter of W. M. J. and Orlena (Renno) Hall, both natives of Missouri and early settlers of Lafayette County. Two children have blessed this union: Amy, wife of Joe W. Greer, residing east of Houstonia, and mother of two children, Catherine and Elizabeth.
The Democratic party has always had the steadfast allegiance of Mr. Curry. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and is fraternally affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Longwood.
John Dawson Prowell, M. D .- In practicing his profession in Long- wood, Pettis County, for the past thirty years, Dr. J. D. Prowell has won a name and place for himself in the ranks of the medical profession of Pettis County second to no physician in the county whose practice is similar. He is one of the oldest and most highly respected of the physi- cians in this section of Missouri in point of his many long years of suc- cessful practice during which he has endeared himself to the entire countryside over which he has ceaselessly traveled on his errands of succoring to the sick and ailing.
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.