USA > Missouri > Ray County > History of Ray county, Mo. > Part 80
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THOMAS LINVILL.
Thomas Linvill was born in Campbell county, Tennessee, September 9, 1805. His parents were Aaron and Rebecca Linvill. They removed when Thomas was very young to Howard county, Missouri, and located in " Sugar-tree bottom." There they remained for some time, then came to Ray county. Our subject located on his present farm at the age of twenty-four years, and has lived there ever since, during more than half a century. He owns five hundred acres of land, section twelve, township fifty-four, range twenty-eight, well improved and in an excellent condition of cultivation, well watered and stocked. About the first of December, 1834, Mr. Linvill was married to Miss Martha A. Stone, a native of Kentucky, born October 13, 1818. Her parents were John and Sallie
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Stone. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Linvill, five of whom are yet living: James A., born December 25, 1842; John E., born Feb- ruary 10, 1846; Bessie A., born June 21, 1865; Eliza A., born February 15, 1836; Sallie A., born May 12, 1838. Mr. Linvill was engaged in the local war against the Mormons, and was one of the party that captured Joseph Smith, the Mormon leader. Mr. Linvill was much annoyed by the local strife during the civil war, and lost heavily of his property. He has, however, entirely recuperated his losses, and is in a very prosperous condition. He is a leading farmer and an influential and prominent citizen.
MRS. HARRIET McVEY.
Mrs. McVey is the daughter of Jesse and Eleanor Brady, and was born December 21, 1828, in Richland county, Ohio. She came with her parents to Ray county, Missouri, at the age of nine years. They settled first near Millville, then lived for a time in the vicinity of Knoxville, and removed to the present place of residence in the year 1852. Our subject was first married in the month of February, 1852, to Mr. Oliver P. Creason. They became the parents of one child, Emma, born January 9, 1853, in Ray county, Missouri .- Miss Emma Creason, after finishing the course in the district schools, attended Professor Huffaker's select school at Richmond during two terms. After leaving this academy she engaged in teaching, in which profession she has been deservedly popular and successful. She has taught in both this and Caldwell counties. She is the owner of one hundred and forty acres of land, sections one and two, township fifty-four, range twenty-eight, well improved and in cultivation .- Her husband hav- ing died some years previous, our subject was again married on the 3d day of April, 1860, to Mr. Alexander McVey. The issue of this marriage was three children. Their names with date of birth as follows: Mary E., born February 4, 1861; Perry A., December 21, 1867; James B., May 22, 1869. Mr. McVey died at the age of thirty-seven years, and Mrs. McVey has since remained a widow. She owns one hundred and eighty acres of good land, about one hundred and forty acres of which are in cultivation nicely improved with neat comfortable and convenient buildings, good, orchard and an abundance of pure water. Mrs. McVey is taking great care and pains to properly rear and educate her children.
JOSEPH GOSSAGE.
Was born in Bedford county, Tennessee, on the 7th day of July, 1834. His father, William B. Gossage, and his grandfather, Daniel Gossage, were natives of the state of Maryland. His grandfather was one of General Washington's soldiers, in the war of the revolution. His father emigrated from Maryland to Tennessee, about the year 1820, and married the 45
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mother of our subject, who was Miss Mary Hendrickson, after settling in the latter state. Mr. Gossage's ancestors, on the maternal side, were from the state of North Carolina. Soon after the birth of Joseph, his father moved from Bedford to Blount county, Tennessee, and, after living there for fifteen years, to Campbell county in East Tennessee. Here Joseph remained until he was twenty-six years of age, and then came to Ray county, Missouri. He spent the first year after coming in school- teaching near the town of Knoxville, and then the civil war came, and he enrolled in company -, Captain Grimes, and joined the state militia. He subsequently served under both Captains Whitmer and Tiffin. He did good service in defense of the Union his grand father had shed his blood to found and make free. Mr. Gossage was married, on the 5th of March, 1863, to Miss Fannie Nance, daughter of Bird Nance, Esq., of Richmond. Four children, three sons and one daughter, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gossage. The oldest and youngest sons are dead, the other two children, Ella and Joseph, are living with their parents. After the war, Mr. Gos- sage farmed for about a year, in Ray county, and then, going to Clay county ran a stage line between Liberty and Weston. He conducted this business for three years, and then went to farming again, in Ray county, and continued so doing until 1873, when he was appointed, by the county court, superintendent of the county poor farm. This institution he man- aged very efficiently and successfully until 1881, when he declined to be re-appointed. He then moved to a farm, which he had bought, near Swanwick, on the St. Joseph branch of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad. Both Mr. Gossage and his estimable lady are members of the Missionary Baptist Church at Richmond. Mr. Gossage has a neat, com- fortable home, and is prospering well in business. He is a respected and valuable citizen of Richmond township.
CLEASON ROBERTSON.
This gentleman was born in Sevier county, East Tennessee, on the 28th day of May, 1834. His father was a farmer and the son was required to work, as soon as large enough, upon the farm, and his advantages for secu- ring education were not very favorable. His father removed to Missouri in the year 1838. Our subject remained at home, working on the farm, until he was about fourteen years of age, when he began to hire out as a farm laborer, and make a living for himself. During the rest of the time until his majority, young Robertson lived in Caldwell county, Missouri, though his father remained in Ray county. At the age of twenty-three he was married to Miss Susannah McGhee, daughter of Mr. Samuel McGhee, of Caldwell county. The date of this union was September 6, 1857. They became the parents of three children, two sons and one daughter. The daughter died in Nevada. The sons, William C., and
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George Nelson, are still living with their father. At his marriage, his father-in-law gave Mr. Robertson one hundred and thirty acres of land, which he speedily improved, and made a comfortable home. This farm was situated about twelve miles south-west of Kingston, in Caldwell county, Missouri. He subsequently traded farms several times succes- sively, moving each time to a new place, but a short distance from his former one. Finally, in 1863, he sold the one he then possessed, and went to California, reaching that state in August, 1863. He traveled overland, with mule teams, taking his family with him. He remained but one winter in California, and then Ieturned to the mines of Dayton, Nevada, where he staid for about eight years. During a part of that time he was engaged in mining, and then he began the business of a wood merchant, which was very profitable, and Mr. Robertson made considerable money. He came back to Missouri in 1872, and located in Ray county. Here he was engaged in speculating and trading for about two years. At the expiration of that time he moved upon a farm which he had purchased upon his return from California, about seven and a half miles northwest of Richmond. This farm, including subsequent purchases, comprises six hundred acres of most excellent land, well improved. Mr. Robertson gives his attention chiefly to grain-raising and the feeding of stock. In the year 1848 he went from Kansas City, Missouri, to old Mexico, the trip at that time requiring four months' time. He made a similar trip in 1852, freighting goods. Mr. Robertson, his wife, and son George, are members of the Christian Union Church, which worships at Pleasant Valley Chapel. He is also a member of the Masonic lodge, at Knox- ville. Cleason Robertson has had a varied experience in life, and has seen much of different parts of the country. He has been very successful in business, considering the disadvantages and obstacles he has had to overcome. He is, to-day, a successful farmer, and a useful citizen of the grand old county of Ray.
REV. WILLIAM MULLIN.
Was born in the state of Tennessee, on the 24th day of February, 1818. His father was poor, and could not give his son such an education as he desired. The whole family removed from Tennessee to Missouri, while . William was yet a boy, and in the schools of the latter state he received the greater part of his scholastic training. During his entire life, he was a hard student and an inveterate reader; in this way he became possessed of much more knowledge than many graduates of colleges and universities. He lived on the farm with his father, in Ray county, until he was married. Mr. Mullin professed religion at the age of eighteen, but did not join the church for many years afterwards. He was married, the first time, at about the age of twenty-three years, to Miss Elizabeth Stewart. The
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issue of this marriage was five children, three girls and two boys, four of whom are now living. Mrs. Mullin died, September 13, 1848, while the family were living near Lexington, in the Ray county bottom. The winter following the death of his wife, Mr. Mullen bought a farm near Albany, in Ray county, and moved upon it. In 1849, Mr. Mullin was again married. The lady becoming his bride at this time, was Miss Mary Lafever, daughter of William Lafever, formerly of Ray county. Fifteen children were born as the result of this union. Twelve of them are now living. Though Mr. Mullin removed from place to place several times, within the county, after his second marriage, he never changed his residence from Ray county. In 1852, he united with the Missionary Baptist Church at Pleasant Valley, but did not commence preaching as an ordained minister until the year 1872. During his labors as a minister of the gospel, he preached in several counties of North Missouri, but principally in Ray county. He was a Master Mason, and member of the King Hiram Lodge, No. 309, at Knoxville. He was universally esteemed for his piety and goodness of heart, and was a popular and successful preacher. He died on the 12th day of December, 1879, and was buried with Masonic honors, at the family cemetery, upon his farm.
SAMUEL COLLEY.
Samuel Colley was born in Russell county, now West Virginia, on the 1st day of September, 1813. His father was a farmer, and the father of a family of eleven children, of whom our subject was the fifth in order of birth. His father died when Samuel was twenty-one years old, and his older brothers and sisters having married and left home, the charge and care of the family devolved upon him. The land was poor and worn out, and young Colley had a hard struggle to support the family, and longed to go to the new west, where the husbandman's labor is abundantly repaid by bountiful harvests. He conceived the original and daring plan of making the trip to Missouri by river, on a flat-boat. He had had con- siderable experience during the early part of his life as a flat-boatman on the north fork of Holston river. He prepared for his perilous journey by building, with the assistance of his neighbors, an immense flat-boat, during the winter and spring of 1838-'39. Several of Mr. Colley's kinsmen and neighbors, during the process of building the boat, became interested in the undertaking, and a number of them determined to join the expedition, and accompany the young adventurer on his passage to the west. Accord- ingly, when the novel craft was finished and launched in Clinch river, in the month of March, 1839, as many as sixty persons, including Mrs. Col- ley's family, embarked for Missouri upon her. They floated about two hundred miles down Clinch river, passing dangerous rapids in safety, and on into and down the Tennessee, thence along the Ohio river to its mouth,
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where they sold the boat, and the whole company took passage on a steamboat via St. Louis, for Lexington, Missouri, where they arrived in safety, after having been out about six weeks, and traveled more than fifteen hundred miles on a flat-boat. From Lexington Mr. Colley came, with his mother's family, to Ray county, and rented a farm near the pres- ent site of Mt. Hope Church. He afterward removed to a farm on the east fork of Crooked river, and, after living there for about two years, he took possession of a farm by pre-emption claim. This place he subse- quently sold, and bought another, upon which he lived until 1866, when he purchased and removed upon the place where he now lives. His farm includes two hundred acres, sixty in cultivation, and the rest in pasture land. It is located half a mile northeast of Haller, the residence being in full view of trains passing on the St. Joseph branch of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific railroad. Mr. Colley was married, the first time, in 1845, to Miss Eliza Jane Turnadge, daughter of Elder William Turnadge. By this marriage he became the father of seven children, one boy and six girls. In 1865 his wife died, and three years later he was married to Mrs. Martha McClain. This lady lived only about two years, and Mr. Colley was subsequently married the third time. His bride this time was Mrs. Esther Turnadge, widow of Jesse C. Turnadge, and daughter of Edwin Odell, Esq. His second and third wives each became the mother of one daughter. Both these girls are now living. Mr. Colley has been a mem- ber of the regular Baptist Church for about forty-four years. The pres- ent Mrs. Colley also belongs to the same denomination. They worship with the congregation at Crooked River Church.
HENDERSON SLOAN.
One of the largest land owners and most successful and prosperous farmers of his section of the county. Was born in Iredell county, North Carolina, in the month of April, 1822. His father was a farmer, and with the hope of making his business more profitable, he removed, while Hen- derson was quite young, to Bledsoe county, Tennessee. Here the father died, and our subject was engaged in conducting the farm until his mar- riage. He was married on the 21st day of August, 1845, to Miss Rebecca Swafford. The issue of this union was twelve children, all now living except two that died in infancy. Six of them are married and the rest are living at home. Two of the daughters are twins and so nearly alike as to be quite indistinguishable to any but members of the family. After his marriage Mr. Sloan continued farming in Tennessee, until 1852, when he removed to Ray county, Missouri, and purchased land in section 29, township 53, range 28. He has, at different times since, bought more land, until he now owns several hundred acres lying in sections 20, 29 and 30 of the same township and range. Mr. Sloan designs making, soon,
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some additional and valuable improvements upon his fine farm. He took but a small part in the civil war, only having been enrolled for a short time in the state service. He engaged in no battles and remained most of the time at home, attending to business upon his farm. Mr. Sloan is a member of the farmers' organization known as "United Taxpayers." His wife belongs to the Christian Church and his daughters are members of the Christian Union denomination. Mrs. Sloan attends services at the " New Church," and the young ladies at Rocky Fork school house. Henderson Sloan continues to reside upon the same farm he settled when first coming to Missouri, and gives his attention to the management of his large estate. He is a very successful farmer, and a highly respected and valuable citizen.
GEORGE SANDERSON.
George Sanderson, now (April, 1881,) assessor of Ray county, was born while his parents were en route from Tennessee to Missouri, at the time of their first removal to this state. The exact point at which his birth occurred is not now definitely known, but is believed to have been in the county of Sumner, Tennessee. The date was February 26, 1829. His father, Edward Sanderson, was a native of the state of Virginia, and, after coming to Missouri from Tennessee, he settled near Richmond, in Ray county. Here he lived with his family until he was thrown from his horse, which had taken fright at a railroad train, and killed. George Sanderson was educated in the schools of his father's neighborhood, which were supported by private subscription, the public schools not having then been established. He continued working upon the old home- stead until his marriage, in 1851, to Miss Mary A. McGaugh, daughter of John B. McGaugh, M. D., formerly of Ray county, now deceased. At the time of his marriage, Mr. Sanderson was living upon a farm five miles west of Richmond. His wife died on the 27th day of June, 1861, and he afterwards married Miss Margaret Parrott, of Ray county. Mr. Sanderson is the father of seven children, five by his first wife, and two by the second. The eldest, a daughter of the first Mrs. Sanderson, is dead. The others are living, and three of them are married. In 1865, Mr. Sanderson purchased the farm upon which he now resides. It is sit- uated in section eighteen, township fifty-three, range twenty-eight. He was appointed justice of the peace in his township by the county court, in 1867, and after serving in that capacity for two years, he was elected for a term of four years, and was filling the office at the time of his elec- tion to the office of assessor of Ray county, in 1880. He received the nomination in the democratic convention over six competitors. He had formerly served as deputy assessor, and brought experience as well as ability to the discharge of the duties of the office. Mr. Sanderson has
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twice taken the census of this county, once in 1876, and then again in 1880. He is a member of the M. E. Church South, and has been for more than twenty years. Mrs. Sanderson is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and two of the children belong to the Christian Union Church. Mr. Sanderson is also a Mason, with membership in Harmony Lodge No. 384, at Vibbard. A large portion of his life has been spent in public service, and he has discharged his duties so ably and so effi- ciently as to retain the respect and support of the people.
GEORGE E. ROBINSON.
This gentleman is a native of the state of Pennsylvania. He was born on the 2d day of May, 1860. When he was about eight years of age, his father removed to the state of Iowa, but remained there only seven months, and then came to Ray county, Missouri. Here he purchased a home and at once commenced farming. George attended school in the winter season, and assisted with the farm work during the summer, until the death of his father, in the autumn of 1870. The mother of our sub- ject married again in 1877, and he began work for himself. In the month of February, 1881, George E. Robinson was married to Miss Lillian Stonum, daughter of John Stonum, Esq., of Ray county. Mr. Robinson is a member of the Christian Union Church, and a very worthy young man. He resides with his wife on the farm his father owned, and is doing his part in the great work of developing the agricultural resources of his native county.
M. B. CRAVEN.
Max. B. Craven was born in Giles county, Tennessee, on the 12th day of June 1850. His father was a farmer and drover, who engaged largely in selling stock in the southern markets. When our subject was three years old his father removed from Tennessee to Ray county, Missouri, and here Maximilian has always since lived. He was attending school in 1861, but the further prosecution of his studies was interrupted by the outbreak of the civil war. After attaining his majority he remained at home until the death of his father, and then he exchanged his interest in the homestead, one-sixth, with his brother-in-law, Wiley Harris, Esq., for the farm on Crooked river, in section six, township fifty-three, range twenty-eight, upon which Mr. Craven now resides. Max. B. Craven was married on the 14th day of March, 1878, to Miss Mary Frances Thomp- son, daughter of Joseph Thompson, formerly a resident of Ray county. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Craven, a promising son, now about two years old. Soon after his marriage Mr. Craven returned to his farm on Crooked river, and has since lived there. In 1880 Mrs. Craven inherited a tract of land lying in township fifty-three, range twenty-eight,
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which Mr. Craven has since controlled, not farming it himself, but renting it to others. He has a very excellent farm, and intends making extensive improvements upon it in the near future. Both Mr. and Mrs. Craven are highly esteemed for their good qualities by their neighbors and friends. They are both young, and have just started upon the journey of practical life, but having made so propitious a commencement, they will no doubt live long and happily.
J. B. RUSSELL.
John Boyd Russell was born in the state of Maryland on the 16th day of September 1811. In John's boyhood his father, Mr. R. Russell. removed his family to Mason county, Virginia, now Jackson county, West Virginia, where they continued to reside, except during four years spent in Ohio, until John was grown. Such educational advantages as he had were received in the schools of Virginia. Though his early education was to some extent neglected, he has by subsequent study, and almost constant perusal of standard works of literature, become possessed of a fund of useful knowledge. Mr. Russell immigrated from Virginia to Ray county, Missouri, in 1856, and settled upon the farm where he now resides, in sections five and eight, township fifty-three, range twenty-eight. This farm comprises four hundred and eighteen acres of productive and valu- able land, well improved, with good comfortable dwellings, strong fences, etc., is situated on the west fork of Crooked river. Mr. Russell has been twice married, first, before leaving Virginia, in the year 1834, to Miss Sarah McKnown. She died in 1863, and he was subsequently married to Mrs. Francis M. Thompson, widow of B. N. Thompson. Mr. Russell is the father of nine children, all the issue of his first marriage; only four of them are living and they are all married. In religious belief Mr. Russell inclines to Universalism. He has never been a member of the church or any secret society or organization. He was justice of the peace for four years in this county, and also served in that capacity in Virginia. Mr. Russell is a successful, prosperous farmer, and an esteemed and influential citizen of the community in which he lives.
GRANVILLE CRENSHAW.
The subject of this sketch is an enterprising and prosperous young farmer, and a native of the state of Missouri, having been born in Jack- son county, on the 31st day of January, 1847. His father, Robert A. Crenshaw, removed from Jackson county while Granville was an infant, and settled in Ray couuty, section four, township fifty-three, range twenty-eight. Here, engaged in working upon his father's farm, our sub- ject grew up. In obtaining an education, he received the advantages of the district schools in the locality of his home. In the month of October,
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1876, Granville Crenshaw was married to Miss Martha L. Thompson, daughter of J. A. Thompson, Esq., of Kansas City. Two children have been born of this union, both boys and both living. Soon after his mar- riage, Mr. Crenshaw became the owner of a fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres, lying on the ridge just east of the west fork of Crooked river. On this farm Mr. Crenshaw has since resided. Mrs. Crenshaw, a very estimable lady, is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church South. Mr. Crenshaw has a valuable farm, a handsome, comfortable residence, and is a rising young farmer, and a valuable mem- ber of the community in which he lives.
AARON TEEGARDEN.
Aaron Teegarden is a Virginian. He was born in Mason county, (now West Virginia), on June 10, 1816. His father, Job Teegarden, moved to the state of Ohio about the year 1826, and settled in Knox county. Here our subject received the principal part of his scholastic training, and after attaining his majority, came to Ray county, Missouri. He was just begin- ning life for himself, and was without means and a "stranger among strangers." Nothing else offering to be done, he hired out as a laborer, and engaged in chopping wood and making rails, and doing anything that he could find to do in order to make a living. Out of the wages of his labor he saved money enough in about a year to enter forty acres of land, and soon after he bought another tract of the same size. To this farm he continued to add other purchases from time to time, as his means would allow, until at the age of twenty-six years, he was the owner of a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres of valuable land. In the month of March, 1845, Mr. Teegarden was married to Miss Nancy Cummings, daughter of Moses Cummings, Esq., of Ray county. They became the parents of seven children, all of whom are now living, and five of them, two sons and three daughters, are now married. Mrs. Teegarden died in the year 1874, and Mr. Teegarden afterwards married Mrs. Philanda Shanks, a lady whose husband had been killed in the civil war. Mr. Teegarden has always taken much interest in politics, and great care and pains to keep himself informed respecting events in the political world. He is the owner of a fine, fertile farm of six hundred and twenty acres of bottom land, in a high state of cultivation and well improved. It is situ- ated in sections three, nine and ten, township fifty-three, range twenty- eight. Though he began life as a poor, friendless youth, he is now the possessor of a competency, and highly esteemed by all who know him.
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