History of Saline County, Missouri, Part 85

Author: Missouri Historical Company, St. Louis, pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: St. Louis, Missouri historical company
Number of Pages: 1008

USA > Missouri > Saline County > History of Saline County, Missouri > Part 85

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).

WILLIAM H. ANCELL, dealer in sewing machines, fanning mills, etc., P. O., Marshall. Was born in Cooper county, Missouri, October 22, 1844, and in 1845, his parents moved to Arrow Rock in this county, where he was raised and educated. In 1862, he enlisted in company H, Seventy-first regiment, E. M. M., under Capt. Bingham, and was appointed sergeant-major of the regiment. He was stationed at Lexing- ton, and served two years. He then went to St. Louis, and graduated at Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, then returned to Arrow Rock, and clerked in the stores until 1870, when he was elected county recorder, which office he held one term of four years. In 1875 he carried on the grocery house of Sutherlin & McMahan, in Marshall, for one year; then, with G. W. Lankford, bought out Sutherlin & McMahan, and then, in 1877, bought out Lankford, and carried on the business alone until 1880. He then engaged in his present business. In October, 1870, he was married to Miss Jennie Tucker, daughter of William and Elizabeth Tucker. They have had three children, two now living, Earnest L. and Bessie M.

DANIEL MCGRATH, harness and saddlery, P. O., Marshall. Was born in County Wallford, Ireland, June 21, 1824. At the age' of fourteen years he commenced to learn the saddler's trade, at which he was appren- ticed seven years. In 1849 he came to the United States, and located in New York City, and worked at his trade four years. In 1853, he went to Winchester, Clark county, Kentucky, and carried on his trade there

HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.

until 1865, when he came to Carroll county, Missouri, and purchased a farm, and farmed for four years. In 1869, he came to this county and settled in Marshall, where he now has a prosperous business. He was, at one time, a member of the city council of Marshall. He was married, in 1855, to Miss Jane Cannon, of Winchester, Kentucky, and has had eleven chil- dren, nine now living: Elizabeth, John A., Catherine, Annie, Richard A., William C., Thomas D., Anora M., and Robert E.

MEREDITH M. MARMADUKE, P. O., Marshall. Son of Gov. M. M. Marmaduke, was born June 24, 1835, in Saline county, Mis- souri, where he was raised on a farm, and was educated at the Masonic College at Lexington, Missouri. In 1863 he went to Colorado, and returned in 1865, and engaged in farming in his native county until 1880. In that year he located in Marshall, and engaged with Mr. J. G. Harvey in the agricultural implement business. He was married February 16, 1858, to Miss Mary L. Bruce, daughter of Aaron F. and Jane Bruce, of Saline county. They have six children: Pearla, John S., Georgia Glen- ora, Emmet B., Meredith M., and Mary B.

JOHN W. BRYANT, P. O., Marshall. Mr. Bryant was born in Richmond county, Virginia, June 4, 1820. He was educated at Chesa- peake Academy, Lancaster county, and graduated at Mt. Airy, Richmond county, in mathematics and the other higher English branches. At the age of eighteen, he removed with his father, first, to Limestone county, Alabama, where he remained one year, and then to Marshall county, Miss- issippi, near the town of Holly Springs. He entered the law office of Chalmers & Barton, Holly Springs, where he read law for one year. In August, 1841, he came to Saline county. Engaged first, as tutor in the family of Col. John F. Yancey, in the Grand Pass neighborhood, in which capacity he served for three years. In 1844 he came to Marshall, was admitted to the bar, and immediately opened a law office. In 1854 he was appointed circuit attorney, vice Samuel L. Sawyer, resigned. Prior to this, by appointment of the county court, he had been county attorney for a number of years. In 1856, he was elected to the office of circuit attorney for four years. His circuit then comprised what are now the counties of Jackson, Cass, Bates, Vernon, Johnson, Pettis, Saline and Lafayette. In the meantime, he had been appointed one of the govern- ment commissioners for the location of the " swamp and overflowed lands" of the county. His report is still on file in the proper office. In 1861, when the war was in prospect, Mr. Bryant opposed secession, and took no part in the movement to take Missouri out of the Union; but when the war actually began, and there was no neutral or middle ground for him to occupy, he sympathized with, although not actively aiding, the cause of the south. In consequence of his political views, when the Federal authority was established in the county, he and his family were greatly

768

HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.

persecuted, harassed and abused, principally by the home militia, some of the members of which organization were ex-criminals, whom Mr. Bryant, when circuit attorney, before the war, had prosecuted. He was often a fugitive, concealed or flying for his life. His daughter, then but a school girl of the tender age of seventeen, was arrested and taken off to prison, in St. Louis. His property was taken and destroyed; his house occupied by Federal officers, and he himself was arrested and carried off to St. Louis, where he was kept for some months, and only released through the interposition of Col. Thomas L. Price, a prominent Federal officer, but his personal friend, and upon giving a heavy bond. A com- pany of Confederates, in this county, had chosen him their major, with- out his knowledge or consent, and upon hearing of it, he rode to their camp and positively refused the position, yet he was pursued, as if he had been in the active military service of the Confederacy. Upon his return from prison, in 1862, Mr. Bryant went to Booneville, where he engaged in the practice of law with William Douglas, Esq., until the close of the war, when he returned to Marshall, where he has remained ever since. In politics, Mr. Bryant has always been a Jeffersonian democrat. Before the war, he was known as an anti-Benton democrat, and in 1860, was alternate elector on the Douglas and Johnson ticket, and stumped his cir- cuit for the " Little Giant." Upon the re-organization of the democratic party of the county, Mr. Bryant was made chairman of the county cen- tral committee, and served for some years, through the reconstruction period, until the party was restored to power, when he voluntarily relin- quished the position to other hands. December 12, 1844, Mr. Bryant married Elizabeth M. Twyman, a native of Woodford county, Kentucky, then living near Independence, Jackson county. To them were born

seven children, five of whom are now living, viz .: Wm. Cullen, John W. jr., Thomas A., Dixie Lee and Mary Susan, now the wife of John A. Cason. Mr. Bryant has long been a member of the Masonic order. He is not a member of any church, but holds to the general principles of religion, and believes more in works than in blind, unreasoning faith. His portrait appears on another page in this volume.

GEORGE B. BLANCHARD, P. O., Marshall. Was born in Lewis county, Missouri, August 4, 1839, and moved with his parents to Marion county, Missouri, where he was raised. His father was a merchant, and much of his early life was spent in his father's store. He was educated at Central College, Fayette, Howard county, Missouri. In 1865 he went to Kentucky, and was married to Miss Payne, daughter of Newton Payne, of Georgetown, Kentucky, one of the prominent families of Ken- tucky. Some years after he moved back to Missouri, and located on a farm in the western part of this county. He continued farming, raising stock and buying and selling stock until 1879, and then went to Marshall

769

HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.

and engaged in the lumber business, first with Capt. Fisher, then by him- self. They purchased the stock of Dreyfus, Hill & Woracek, and Mr. Blanchard now carries a large stock. He still owns his splendid farm of 320 acres in this county, and is one of the leading lumber merchants of Marshall. Mr. and Mrs. Blanchard have had eight children, of whom seven are living: Estelle, Frank, Marcus, Hiram, Oliver, Sallie, and Bowman.

JAMES A. TIPPING, P. O., Marshall. Was born in Selma, Alabama, September 16, 1851, and his parents soon after his birth moved to St. Louis, Missouri, then to Jefferson City, and then, 1858, to Arrow Rock, in this county, where he was raised and educated. At the age of eighteen he learned the marble and tombstone business, and started the first mar- ble yard in Marshall, for Ed. Farley, in 1871. In 1873, he returned to Arrow Rock, and carried on the marble business there for several months. In 1874 he located in Marshall and entered into partnership with Mr. Farley, and the next year, 1875, went into business for himself, and is now doing the most extensive business in his line in Saline county, and does work for Kansas and Nebraska, as well as Missouri. He employs about fifteen men. He commenced life with nothing, and has made his way by his own energy, industry, and judgment. Mr. Tipping was mar- ried in 1874 to Tinnie Bihr, of Columbia, Missouri, and has four children: William V., Mary E., Kate, and Frederick.

HUGH G. ALLEN, P. O. Marshall. Was born in Jessamine county, Kentucky, April 10, 1844, where he lived until sixteen years of age, and was raised on a farm. In 1860 he came with his parents to this county, where he worked on the farm and taught school until 1877. He then came to Marshall and clerked in the store of G. C. Fletcher & Co., until 1879, when he went into the grocery business with Mr. Adams, and the firm of Allen & Adams is now one of the leading grocery houses of Marshall. In 1871 he was married to Miss Virginia Adams, of Lexington, Kentucky, and has one child, Minnie L.

JOHN W. REID, P. O., Marshall. Mr. Reid was born in Knox county, Missouri, May 3, 1843, where he was raised and educated at a private academy. From 1863 to 1870 he taught school in Knox, Lewis, and Saline counties. In 1871 he came to Marshall, in this county, and taught the public school there. In 1873 he went to California for his health, and returned in 1874, and continued to teach until 1877, when he engaged in the hardware business in Marshall, in which he has con- tinued to this time, the present firm being J. W. Reid & Co., who now carry one of the largest hardware stocks in the county. He is a live, energetic business man, and has made all he has by his energy and inhis- try. In December, 1876, he was married to Miss M. E. Holmes, daughter of Andrew Homes, Marshall.

770

HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.

HENRY STROTHER EsQ., P. O., Marshall. Was born in Henry county, Kentucky, August 6, 1850, where he grew up on a farm, and was educated at Newcastle Seminary, under Prof. Lee. He studied law under Joseph Barber, Esq., and Judge W. S. Pryor. During the time that he was reading law, he taught school. He came to Marshall in this county in 1874, and was admitted to the bar at Marshall by Judge Napton, in 1875. Mr. Strother pursued the practice of his profession in Marshall until 1879, when he combined with the practice a real estate agency and abstract of titles office, to which he now devotes most of his attention. In 1881, he entered into partnership with Mr. Thomas Boatright in the real estate and abstract business. They have now the best and most complete set of abstract books in Saline county, and are doing a large and growing business. On the 4th of October, 1SS0, he was married to Miss Sallie M. White, daughter of Col. D. B. White, of Howard county, Missouri. Mr. Strother's father was a minister of the Methodist Church South, and being a man of studious and industrious habits, did not allow his sons to eat idle bread, and Henry was kept actively employed all his early life, and has been constantly employed since. Henry Strother is himself a member of the Methodist Church South, and has been for many years.

THOMAS A. BRYANT, P. O., Marshall. Is a native of Missouri, and was born in Marshall, Saline county, February 10, 1857, where he grew to manhood, and was educated at Prof. Newton's high school. He has also a good musical education, and is possessed of a bass voice that has few superiors. A part of his early life was spent in clerking in stores in Marshall, and he spent some time in Texas and Colorado. In 1880 he went into the grocery business in Marshall with his brothers, under the firm name of Bryant Bros., and is now doing a flourishing business.

REV. B. G. TUTT, P. O., Marshall. Was born in Cooper county, Missouri, February 11, 1839, where he grew up; and was educated at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri. Much of his early life was spent on a farm. In 1860 he entered the ministry as pastor of Concord Church in Cooper county, the neighborhood in which he was born and raised, and was its pastor for fiteen years. The church had sixty members when he took charge; and he increased the membership to two hundred, and built a church building costing $4,000. In 1876 he accepted a call to the first Baptist Church in Marshall, in this county, where he has since lived and preached. In 1860 he was married to L. E. Thornton, daughter of Col. John Thornton, an early settler of Cooper county. They have six children living: William P., (deputy postmaster of Marshall), Anna G., George E., Arthur M., Henry T., and J. Maurice.

WILL. H. WOOD, P. O., Marshall. Was born in Saline county, Mis- souri, September 15, 1831, where he was raised on a farm, and educated

771

HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.

in the country schools. First clerked in a store in Arrow Rock for two years. 1n 1853 he engaged in the grocery and commission business, and continued thes ame until 1864. He then engaged in steamboating until the latter part of 1865; and then returned to the grocery and commission business in Arrow Rock, which he continued until 1874. In 1874 he moved to Marshall and entered into the banking business under the firm of Wood & Huston. They commenced with a capital of $20,000, which has now (in 1881), been increased to $50,000, with a surplus of $25,000. Mr. Wood was married in 1854 to Miss Jennie Fields, daughter of Judge Fields, of Saline county. She died in 1856, and he was again married in 1873 to Mrs. Wm. Potter, of this county, formerly a Miss Durrett. They have one child, Fannie Wood.

SAMUEL BOYD, EsQ., P. O., Marshall. Mr. Boyd is a native of Fleming county, Kentucky, where he was born, December 20, 1834, grew to manhood, and received a collegiate education. In 1854 he com- menced the study of law in his father's office; and in 1859 moved with his father to Bloomington, Illinois, and was there admitted to the bar. In the summer of the same year he moved to Marshall, in this county, and being admitted to the Saline county bar by Judge Russell Hicks, soon after his arrival, he at once entered on the practice of his profession. During the canvass of 1859 and '60 he had editorial charge of the Saline County Standard, which he conducted with marked ability. In the summer of 1861 he went south with Gen. Price's army, but remained in the army only a short time; then returned to Marshall and resumed his practice, to which his mind has since been wholly devoted. At present he stands at the head of the Saline county bar, and among the foremost attorneys of the bar of central Missouri. As a criminal lawyer he has had no equal in this county for many years, and few, if any, superiors in western Missouri. For fifteen years he has held one side or the other of every leading case in the county; and in criminal cases, has been employed in every important case not only in this circuit, but has been employed in Kansas, Nebraska, and north Missouri. As a lawyer he possesses abilities of a high order- keen, quick to discern the strong points of his own case, and the weak ones of his antagonist, his memory and his sagacity are rarely ever at fault; and his power over a jury consists in the clearness and forcible sim- plicity with which his arguments are addressed to their intelligence. His father, Wilson P. Boyd, Esq., and his mother, Susan E. (Lacy) Boyd, moved from Flemingsburg to Bloomington, Illinois, in 1857, and there Mr. Boyd practiced law until his death, in 1867. Mrs. Susan E. Boyd, after the death of her husband, moved to Arcola, Illinois, where she resided with her daughters until her death, March 10, 1877. Mr. W. P. Boyd was at one time a member of the state senate of Kentucky, and was appointed by the legislature of Kentucky chairman of the committee to

772

HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.

receive Gen. Zachary Taylor at Louisville on his way to be inaugurated president, in 1849. He was a whig until 1858, when he affiliated with the democracy. Mr. Samuel Boyd was married March 12, 1861, to Miss Fannie M. Clarkson, daughter of Dr. E. S. Clarkson, of Saline county, formerly of Kentucky, who died February 10, 1866, leaving three children: Caroline Russell, Wilson Porter, and Francis H. Mr. Boyd was again married, July 21, 1868, to Miss Marguerite M. Clarkson, sister of his first wife, and to this union have been born five children, two of whom, Sam- uel, Jr., and Isabelle, are living.

SAMUEL DAVIS, P. O., Marshall. Is a native of Saline county, Missouri, where he was born on the 17th of April, 1847, and raised on a farm within a mile of Marshall. His education was mainly obtained in the Marshall schools, and one term spent at the Kemper high school, Booneville, Missouri. In 1868, he commenced the study of law in the office of John P. Strother, Esq., of Marshall, and was admitted to the bar, August, 1869, and at once entered on the practice in Marshall, where he has since resided and practiced. In the next year, 1870, he was elected justice of the peace for Marshall township, and in 1872 received the democratic nomination for prosecuting attorney, and, as the test oath had then been repealed, was elected by an overwhelming majority. This office he filled with marked ability, and in 1874, he was renominated ! and re-elected without opposition. In 1876 he declined a renomination for the office of prosecuting attorney, and was nominated to represent the first legislative district in the twenty-ninth general assembly, and was, of course, elected. In 1878 he was renominated and re-elected. Since then he has held no office, but has pursued the practice of his profession. In both capacities, as legislator and as a lawyer, as lawmaker and law- expounder, Mr. Davis has exhibited decided talent; and, being yet a com- paratively young man, a bright future is open to him. His father, Jesse Davis, was a well-known and highly respected citizen of this county, before the war. Was county clerk, at the beginning of the war, from which he was ousted by the Gamble government. He died in 1867, while yet a young man. His widow, Mrs. Lavinia (Jarboe) Davis, died in 1876. Samuel Davis, Esq., was married in Marshall, November 19, 1872, to Miss Julia Newton, daughter of Prof. G. B. Newton, of this county, and has had three children, only one of whom, George, is living.

HIRAM FERRILL, P. O., Marshall. Is son of Henry Ferril, one of the pioneers of Saline county, and the founder of the town of Miami, and was born in this county on the 30th of November, 1837. He was also raised and educated in this county. At the age of seventeen, in 1854, he entered a store as clerk, and remained there until 1860, when he com- menced the study of law, and pursued the same until the war broke out in 1861. In the spring of 1861 he enlisted in company B, 1st infantry,

773

HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.

4th division, Missouri state guards, under the call of Gov. Jackson, and was engaged in the battles of Carthage, Wilson Creek (where he was wounded in the head and went to the hospital), and Lexington. In December, 1861, (the Missouri state guard having been disbanded), he started south in Robinson's recruits, and was captured December 19, 1861, with nearly the whole body, on Blackwater, taken to St. Louis and Alton, Illinois, and exchanged at Vicksburg in October, 1862. He then enlisted and was second lieutenant in the 9th Missouri infantry, C. S. A., and was in the battles of Gaines' landing, Pine Bluff (on staff of Col. Lawther), Pleasant Hill and Jenikns' ferry, where he was promoted to first lieutenant. Served to the end of the war, and surrendered June 5, 1865. Served four years and never asked for leave of absence. In 1865 he returned home and clerked for John P. Scott, of Miami, two years; then went to St. Louis as barkeeper for Banks & Co., to 1870; then back to Saline, and was admitted to the bar 1877. Was justice of the peace for Miami township from 1875 to 1877. In January, 1881, he moved to Marshall, having been appointed deputy county clerk. He was married November 1, 1866, to Miss Eliza M. Cruzen of this county, and has no children living.

MICAJAH C. SANDIDGE, county recorder, P. O., Marshall. Was born in Hart county, Kentucky, April 13, 1835, and moved with his parents to this county, and settled six miles south of Marshall, where he was raised on the farm, and educated in the schools of the neighborhood. At the age of fifteen he clerked in a stone in Marshall, until 1857, when he went to Lanesville, Kentucky, and clerked two years in a grocery and commission house. In 1859 his father died, and he returned to Saline county, Missouri, and took charge of the farm. In 1861, he joined Capt. Crew's company, M. S. G., and was in the battles of Wilson Creek and Lexington, and was discharged at the end of six months. In August, 1862, he enlisted in company D, First Missouri cavalry, Jo. Shelby, colonel; then Gordon. This company was afterwards made General Marmaduke's escort, and was in the battles of Coon Creek, Newtonia, Prairie Grove, Helena, Little Rock, and Jenkins' Ferry. In May, 1864, he was sent in the Federal lines as a spy, taken prisoner, and sent, first to the Arkansas penitentiary, at Little Rock, then to Rock Island, Illinois, where he remained until February, 1865, then sent to New Orleans, and then exchanged on April, 1865; went to Shreveport, joined his command, and surrendered in June. In March, 1866, he returned to Saline county, Mis- souri, and sold goods for Q. O. Striker, in Marshall, aud then went to farming until 1875. He then sold his farm, and engaged in milling for three years, and in 1878 was elected county recorder for four years. On the 5th of December, 1869, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Mayfield, daughter of Dr. Thomas Mayfield, of Barren county, Kentucky. She

774

HISTORY OF SALINE COUNTY.

died January 25, 1875, leaving three children: John T., Elizabeth A. and Micajah C. He was again married, March 5, 1879 to Mrs. Jennie S. Sappington, daughter of Captain Mason Brown, killed at the battle of Boonville in 1861. They have had two children, only one Ida C., living. S. E. DE RACKEN, P. O., Marshall. Was born in Williamsburg county, South Carolina, February 24, 1842, and was raised on a plantation in Marion county, and educated at Flintville Academy. Taught school until 1863, when he was ordained a minister in the Baptist Church, and was stationed at Mt. Hope Church, at Williamsburg, 1866 and 1867. In 1868 he moved to Sharpsburg, Kentucky, and had charge of the Sharps- burg male and female seminary until 1870, and then took charge of the Louisburg Academy, in Mason county, Kentucky, in 1870 and 1871. In 1871 he came to Missouri, and had charge of the Baptist Church at Rich- mond, Missouri, one year. Then had charge of the academy at Oak Grove, Jackson county, Missouri, in 1874 and 1875. He then came to Saline county and taught school several years, having charge of the Union Church one year. In 1880 he moved to Marshall, and engaged in the newspaper business with Dr. Holland, establishing the Independent Mis- sourian, and the next year, 1881, he bought out Dr. Holland, and is now editor and proprietor of the paper. May 28, 1863, Mr. De Racken was married to Miss Mary H. Conners, of Clarendon, South Carolina, and has had seven children, of whom five are living: Thomas H., Samuel E., Anna M., Lizzie C., and Wade Hampton.

WILLIAM H. LETCHER, EsQ., P. O., Marshall. Is a native Mis- sourian, having been born in St. Louis, September 4, 1824, and is the son of Isaac Addison and Julia (Robb) Letcher, the former of Virginia, and the latter of Pennsylvania. He was raised in St. Louis, and educated at Washington College, now Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia. He studied law, first with Hon. Edward Bates, and then with Hon. Wm. M. Campbell. He was admitted to the bar by Judge Ezra Hunt, in 1848, and in the same year located in Marshall, Saline county. During those early times he acted as justice of the peace and postmaster. In 1850 he took the United States census for this county. In 1852 he filled the office of county school commissioner, and held it four years. In 1856 he was nominated for the legislature by the Whigs and Americans, and elected, and was again elected in 1858. While a member of the assembly the debate on the "Cape Girardeau Sunday Bill" occurred, in which debate Mr. Letcher had occasion to answer Col. Chris. Kribben, who defended the law, and this reply gave him a reputation as wide as the state. In 1860 Mr. Letcher moved to California; returning to Mis- souri temporarily in 1864, he remained until 1866, and then went back to California. In 1868 he returned permanently to Missouri, and located for the practice of law in St. Louis. In 1873 he once more moved to this

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

History of Saline County, Missouri, Part 85

Author: Missouri Historical Company, St. Louis, pub Publication date: 1881 Publisher: St. Louis, Missouri historical company Number of Pages: 1008

Author: Missouri Historical Company, St. Louis, pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: St. Louis, Missouri historical company
Number of Pages: 1008