USA > Missouri > St Charles County > History of St. Charles, Montgomery, and Warren counties, Missouri, written and comp. from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri > Part 89
USA > Missouri > Montgomery County > History of St. Charles, Montgomery, and Warren counties, Missouri, written and comp. from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri > Part 89
USA > Missouri > Warren County > History of St. Charles, Montgomery, and Warren counties, Missouri, written and comp. from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri > Part 89
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842
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
he was married to Miss Elizabeth L. Spinsby, a daughter of Maj. Henry Spinsby, of Montgomery City. Mr. and Mrs. C. have three children, May E., Lottie M. and John E. Mrs. C. is a member of the Catholic Church.
F. S. CLARE, M. D.
(Retired Physician and Farmer, Post-office, Montgomery City).
In the sketch of Dr. Clare's brother, Walden G. Clare, of Bear Creek township, something of an outline of their family history is given, so that it is unnecessary to repeat here what is said there. The children of the family, besides himself, were Francis, still of Lincoln county ; Jacob, who died in 1849, at the age of 35; Thomas, who died at the age of 21, in 1844 ; John S., a resident of Montgomery county ; William, who died at the age of 50, in 1870; Margaret, who died whilst the wife of Armisted Uptegrove, but who had previously been married and lost her first husband, Hiram Palmer; Susan, who died whilst the wife of J. W. Jamison, and Horatio, a resident of Lincoln county. Dr. Clare, the sixth of the family, was born on the family homestead in Lincoln county, February 11, 1833, and like his brothers was brought up to a farm life. In 1853, then a young man 20 years of age, he came to Montgomery county and put himself under the instruction of Dr. Pearson, a leading physician of this county, as a student of medicine. After a thorough course of read- ing under Dr. Pearson, he matriculated at the St. Louis Medical College in 1854, and was graduated with marked credit in the class of '56. After his graduation Dr. Clare located at Middletown and engaged in the practice of his profession. Thoroughly qualified as a physician, he built up a large practice which kept him in the saddle most of the time. Not a man of the most vigorous constitution, the hardships and burdens of his practice began to tell seriously on his general health, so that after about 10 years of hard work in the pro- fession he was compelled to seek rest in retirement. In order not to be idle he engaged in merchandising at Middletown, and continued that with success for 10 or 12 years. In 1872 he was nominated and elected to the responsible office of county collector, and two years later he was elected circuit clerk of the county, serving in the two positions for a period of six years. While in office he necessarily resided at the county seat, Danville. On laying down the ensignia of office in 1878, he removed to Montgomery City, and engaged in merchandising at this place. Afterwards he retired to his farm near Montgomery City, where he has since been occupied with the inter- ests of his place. He has a handsome farm of 320 acres in his homestead. Dr. Clare has been married twice. His first wife was a Miss Hannah C. Hogue, a daughter of Samuel Hogue, of Middle- town. To her he was married in 1856. She died in 1882, and had borne him five children : Floy, who is now the wife of Paul Brown; Minnie, now the wife of Warry Palmer ; Fulton and Montrose. Dr. Clare's present wife was a Miss Manda Orr. She was a daughter of
843
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
Philip Orr, of Middletown. They have been married less than a year. The Doctor is a member of the Christian Church ; his wife is a Methodist.
JUDGE WILLIAM CLARK
(General Livery Business, Montgomery City).
Judge Clark has been a resident of Montgomery county for 17 years, and his life here has been one of marked energy and industry, directed by good business judgment and not without the rewards that usually attend such activity. He has been largely interested in grain shipping besides farming. A man of thorough intelligence, good judgment and excellent business qualifications, as well as a man in whom the people have implicit confidence, in 1876 he was elected to the office of presiding justice of the county court, a position he held for four years, and the duties of which he discharged with efficiency and ability, and with general satisfaction to the public. Judge Clark is a native of Ireland, born in county Westmeath, in December, 1830, and was a son of Patrick and Margaret (Killmeary ) Clark, the ances- try of each of whom had been settled in Ireland as far back as the family records can be traced. When a lad seven years of age, how ever, he was taken by some relatives in Scotland to rear, and grew to- manhood in that country. When about 22 years of age, he came to America, and for some years made his home in St. Louis. There he was employed at teaming, and afterwards in a commission house. Later along he engaged in the grocery trade and made gratifying pro- gress in obtaining a start in life. He continued business in St. Louis with success until 1867, when he had accumulated some considerable means. From that city he came to High Hill and engaged in the retail grocery trade, having for partners R. T. Matthews and James Conran. In a few years he bought Conran out, and subsequently bought out the interest of Matthews in the firm, and then carried on the business alone until 1876. Meanwhile, in the fall of 1856, he was married, Mrs. Ellen Dullard, a widow lady, becoming his wife. She died in the fall of 1878, leaving a son by her first marriage, whom the judge has reared, and one by her last marriage, William H., the Judge's only son. In 1876 his step-son became his partner in busi- ness, and two years later William H. also became a partner, the firm now taking the name of William Clark & Sons. Thus it continued for four years, when the Judge retired from the firm, his sons continu- ing it under the name of Clark Bros. While merchandising at High Hill, Judge Clark was also engaged in handling tobacco, and was an extensive grain buyer and shipper of hay. He was likewise engaged in handling railroad timber, buying timbered land for that purpose and establishing saw mills, of which latter he had several. He also dealt in lands, and he still has some valuable mineral lands. He owns a fine farm near High Hill, which he has had run for a number of years, and he has another excellent place in the county. Judge Clark and Mr. Woolfolk formed a partnership in the livery business in June
844
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
of the present year, and are successors to Scott Kimble. Judge Clark was married a second time, in the fall of 1881, Mrs. Nancy J. Love- lace becoming his wife, the widow of Judge Walter Lovelace, deceased, who was a member of the Supreme Court at the time of his death, She was a daughter of the Hon. Mr. Bush, of this county. Mrs. C. is a member of the Baptist Church, and he is a member of the Catho- lic Church. They are highly esteemed residents of Montgomery City.
HENRY CLARK,
(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, and Breeder of Thoroughbred Short-horn Cattle, Post-office, Montgomery City).
Mr. Clark was born and reared in this county, and was a son of Henry Clark, Sr., a pioneer settler of the county, and one of its successful farmers and stockmen. The latter was the first sheriff of Montgomery county, and executed the sentence of death on the first criminal ever hung within its borders under the forms of law. He was quite an active and prominent man in his day, and accumulated a comfortable fortune, leaving a large estate at his death, in 1841. He was a Virginian by nativity, and, indeed, he remained in his native State until after his marriage. His wife was a Miss Katharine Jacob before her marriage, also of Virginia. They came to Missouri in 1831, and settled in the southern part of Montgomery county. There Mr. Clark, Sr., improved a large farm and engaged, somewhat ex- tensively, in raising and handling stock, He was one of the promi- nent slave-holders of the county, and also became a large land-owner. In youth, his educational opportunities had been better than those of the generality of young men among whom he was reared. Henry Clark, Jr., the subject of this sketch, was born on his father's home- stead in the southern part of the county, January 29, 1841. He was reared on the farm and given excellent advantages for an education, having the benefit of a course at the Missouri State University, and of one, also, at St. Louis. After concluding his studies, Mr. Clark returned home and engaged in farming and stock-raising on the old family homestead. February 22, 1863, he was married to Miss Fan- nie, a daughter of Col. D. D. Mitchell, deceased, late of St. Louis. Two years after his marriage, he removed to the farm on which he now resides, a mile north of Montgomery City. Here he has a fine tract of 400 acres, all under fence, and otherwise in an excellent state of improvement. Mr. Clark is quite extensively engaged in raising and handling stock in a general way, and, in addition, he is making a specialty of fine short-horn cattle, a breed of which he has some of the best representatives to be seen in the county. His farm is exception- ally well adapted to stock-raising. Mr. Clark also still owns the old family homestead in the southern part of the county, a tract of about 800 acres of land He also has some 400 acres in the vicinity of his present homestead ; nearly all of his lands are improved and either in cultivation or used for stock pastures. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have a family of 10 children, namely : Mary M., Katharine M., Susan C.,
845
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
Henry, Jr., Martha E., Ninette, Georgia and Arthur (twins ), Christy and Myrtle. Mr. Clark, himself a man of education and culture, fully appreciates the value and importance of early mental training in the schools, and is seeing to it that his own children are not permitted to grow up without good educational advantages. His eldest daughter is a graduate of a female institution of learning of high reputation in St. Louis, and she has also been given the benefit of foreign travel, having just returned from a somewhat extended tour in Europe. Mr. Clark also takes an active and commendable interest in public affairs, and is one of the leading men of the county in politics, and as a private citizen. He has never sought nor desired any official advancement for himself, but has exerted himself solely that none but worthy men and correct principles should prevail in public affairs. In political conviction and affiliation he is a Democrat, and has represented his party from time to time in its different conventions. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are members of the Episcopal Church.
JOHN C. DARNELL, M. D.
(Of Varnette & Darnell, Physicians and Surgeons, Montgomery City).
Dr. Darnell, of the above-named firm, was born in St. Charles county, May 29, 1849, and was reared in the vicinity of Wentzville. At an early age he discovered a taste for medical study and read such books as he could avail himself of in that direction. At the age of 14 he decided to make a physician of himself and began the regular study of medicine at home. Later along he put himself under the instruction of Dr. Northcutt, a successful alopathic physician of Lincoln county, and during this time was engaged in the drug busi- ness at Fairview, in that county. In 1877 he engaged in the drug business at Americus and continued the study of medicine at that place under Dr. Bibb, an eclectic physician. A few years later he sold his drug business in order to attend medical college at St. Louis, where he took a course in the American Medical College. From there he went to Kansas, and on examination for admission became a member of the Kansas State Medical Society, being located at the time at Hollywood, in Ellsworth county, in the practice. After about 18 months at Hollywood he returned to St. Louis and took two more terms in the American Medical College, from which he graduated in 1882. The following November he became a partner with Dr. Varnette at Montgomery City. From Dr. Darnell's long and close study of medicine and from his experience at medical college, as well as his success in the practice, it goes without saying that he is a physician of thorough qualifications and ripe scholarship. Drs.
Varnette & Darnell are said to have a larger practice than any firm in the county. Dr. Darnell was a son of Jesse A. and Susan F. (Sulli- van ) Darnell, a daughter of Jeremiah Sullivan, her father originally of Virginia, as was also her husband. He had been previously married to a Miss Lizzie Hutchinson, who died, however, soon after- wards. He died at Mechanicsville, St. Charles county, in 1872. He
846
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
followed both merchandising and contracting and building, the last named during the later years of his life. The Doctor's mother is still living at Wentzville.
A. C. DEVINNA
(Of Devinna & Brown, Dealers in Dry Goods, Notions, etc., Montgomery City).
Mr. Devinna has been engaged in business in Montgomery City on his own account since 1880, though he has been known to the people of this place and vicinity in the mercantile line for the last 10 years. Merchan- dizing has been his occupation, either as clerk or proprietor, since before he attained his majority. He commenced as a clerk at Ver- sailles, Mo., some 15 years ago, and in 1875 came to Montgomery City in the employ of Mr. W. H. Godlove, for whom he had been previously clerking about two years, and with whom he continued at this place for five years afterwards. In 1880 he engaged in merchan- dising for himself, with John Barker as a partner. Afterwards, that firm was dissolved and he started in business alone. In a short time Mr. C. D. Harper became his partner. After their dissolution the present firm of Devinna & Brown was organized, Mr. E. R. Brown being the other member of the firm. They carry an excellent stock in their line and have a good and steadily increasing trade. Their house is one of the substantial and popular business houses of Mont- gomery City. In the fall of 1878 Mr. Devinna was married to Miss Nannie E. Harper, of this city, a danghter of A. Harper, formerly editor of the Standard. Mrs. D. was educated at the Montgomery City College. They have three children : Maurice, Frank and Bertha. Mrs. D. is a member of the Baptist Church, and Mr. Devinna is a member of the Chapter and Blue Lodge of the Masonic order. He is also city clerk and assessor, and has been for the last three years . Mr. Devinna was a son of John and Elizabeth ( Lampton ) Devinna, formerly of Howard county, but his father originally of Tennessee. In 1847 the family settled near Versailles, in Morgan county, where A. C. was reared. He was born in Howard county, November 6, 1845, and educated in the Belle Aire Institute, of Cooper county. He then began clerking in a store at Versailles.
FREDERICK H. DRYDEN
(An Old Settler and Retired Farmer, Montgomery City).
If anything approaching a satisfactory sketch of the life and family antecedents of the subject of the present brief mention were written, it would necessarily include a long and interesting chain of facts intimately interwoven with the history of the county. The family of which Mr. Dryden is a representative is well known to be one of the pioneer and most highly respected families of the county. His parents, Judge Nathaniel Dryden and wife, nee Miss Margaret Craig, came to this county away back in the " Twenties." They were from Washington county, Va., of which Judge Dryden had been
847
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
a leading and influential citizen. He had held different official posi- tions of local prominence in the county, and had represented it with distinction in the State Legislature. On coming to Montgomery county, he settled near High Hill, where he bought land and after- wards entered additional tracts on which he improved a valuable farm. In Montgomery county he became quite prominent in its affairs. He was early elected a judge of the county court and after- wards served as sheriff of the county. Again he was placed on the county bench by the voice of the people, and for a number of years he was presiding justice of the county court. In the later years of his life he was a victim to great physical suffering and died at his farm near High Hill in 1858. The life of none of its citizens reflects greater credit upon the history of the county than that of Judge Dry- den. He and his good wife were blessed with a family of 13 children, seven of whom lived to become the heads of families themselves, and all highly respected residents of their respective communities. Among the others is Judge John D. S. Dryden, the second son, a distinguished lawyer of St. Louis, and for a term one of the ousted judges of the Supreme Court of the State. Frederick H. Dryden, the subject of this sketch, was born in Washington county, Va., July 8, 1812, and was therefore quite a youth when the family came to Missouri. He became a farmer by occupation and on the 11th of January, 1838, was married to Miss Catherine Sharp, a daughter of Mr. James F. Sharp, a pioneer settler of Warren connty. Mr. Dryden lived on the farm with his father until he was 23 years of age, when he went to St. Louis, where he spent two years, engaged most of the time at milling. This was prior to his marriage, and two years following this event he lived with his father-in-law, J. F. Sharp, in Warren county, near Pinckney ; he then improved a farm near High Hill, where he remained successfully engaged in farming pursuits until 1869. However, during this time he was also for four years engaged in merchandising, and handling stock on a small scale. In 1870 he improved a farm four and a half miles east of Montgomery City, where he resided for 10 years ; he then came to Montgomery City to spend the remainder of his days in comparative retirement and take the rest which advancing years and the life of unremitting indus- try render necessary. Mr. and Mrs. Dryden have had a family of 10 children, namely : James F., now in Texas ; Mary, Mrs. P. M. Audrain, of Eldorado Springs; Margaret, who died in young maidenhood ; Catherine, now the wife of Judge Henry Parker, of Warrenton ; Jane, a young lady at home ; Nathaniel, a resident of Texas ; Alice, who died in tender years ; Susan, Mrs. Charles Winnegar ; Artemus, who has charge of the farm, and Robert, a practicing physician of Lafayette county. Mr. and Mrs. D. are members of the Presbyte- rian Church. Before the war Mr. Dryden was Whig in politics, but since that time he has acted with the Democratic party.
848
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
CAPT. DANIEL L. DUFFY
(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office Montgomery City).
Capt. Duffy is a man whose life has been one of more than ordi- nary activity and interest, both in the management of his affairs and in the care of himself and family, and now in his old age he is pos- sessed of a comfortable estate which enables him to live in easy re- tirement, notwithstanding he has met with heavy losses, resulting from the generosity of his nature and his over-confidence in friends. Nearly half a century of Capt. Duffy's life was spent on the sea, where indeed he was born, and on the river. Reared on the ocean, by his efficiency and fidelity in seafaring life, he rose from the humblest position of an apprentice to the command of a vessel. Before quitting the sea he was captain of different vessels, and became known as one of the most capable and faithful commanders on the water. Capt. Duffy was of Irish parentage, and his father, Capt. Charles Duffy, was an old and well known sea captain. Capt. Duffy, Sr., was reared in Ireland and educated for a priest, receiving an advanced university education, including a thorough course in ancient classics. But he conceived a distaste for the sanctuary, and early went to sea. He followed sea- faring for a number of years, principally as commander of a ship, and latterly he owned his own vessel, the " Mary Ann." But, finally, he left the sea and settled in America, first settling in Pennsylvania, but ultimately, in 1848, in Warren county, Mo. He died there in 1857. His first wife, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was a Miss Mary McNichol, a daughter of Daniel McNichol, and of Irish birth. She died when Daniel L. (Capt. Duffy, Jr. ), was yet quite young. Daniel L. Duffy was born on his father's ship, the " Mary Ann," in Delaware river, opposite Wilmington, November 21, 1810. At the early age of 7 years he entered upon his career as a sailor, and he continued it until after he was grown to mature man- hood. In 1834 he was married to Miss Catherine Roach, her father for many years afterwards a well known citizen of St. Lonis. About the time of his marriage, or a short time before, Capt. Duffy, Jr., quit the sea and went on the river. He became a pilot on the Mis- sissippi, and ran the river for over thirty years. He accumulated a respectable fortune and retired from the river in 1867. Meanwhile Capt. Duffy had lost his first wife, in 1850. She had borne him seven children, namely : Walter, who died in boyhood; Charles J., now a pilot on the Mississippi ; Bernard D., an engineer on the Mis- souri ; Daniel J., a resident of Chattanooga, Tenn. ; James J., who has charge of the farm in this county, and Mary and Eliza, both of whom died in infancy. In 1851 Capt. Duffy was married to Mrs. Margaret Angevine, of St. Louis, a niece of Alexander McNair, the first Governor of Missouri. Five children are the fruits of this union : Maggie C., Lewis A., Joseph A. and Stella M. In 1858, having bought a handsome homestead in Montgomery county in the mean-
849
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
time, Capt. Duffy removed his family to his farm in this county. Nine years later, as stated above, he also came to the farm. He has a fine homestead of about 500 acres, handsomely improved, one of the best farms in the county, and besides this he has other valuable property. He served four years and nine months in the War of the Rebellion as pilot in the Mississippi squadron.
EDWIN S. EAMES
(Farmer, Post-office, Montgomery City).
Mr. Eames is a native of England, born in the county of Hereford, on the 7th of January, 1852, a son of John and Sarah Ann Eames, of that county, who, in company with his father, Samuel Eames, who was born in the town of Bristol, Monmouthshire, in the year 1791, made necessary preparations to emigrate to the United States in the spring of 1854. Three days previous to the time intended to sail for New York City, Sarah A., wife of John E., became sick and died, conse- quently John E. declined emigrating to America until the summer of 1868, when he, with his aged father, went West and became engaged in the construction of bridges on the Union Pacific Railroad through the Territory of Utah, where they both died in 1869. John E. was a contractor and builder and an architect by occupation. Edwin S. came to Lincoln county, Mo., in 1868, where his uncle, James Eames, now resides. James has been a resident of Lincoln county for up- wards of 30 years. Edwin S. received a common school education and attended academy in the county of Hereford for three terms. He took a special interest in penmanship and became an accomplished calligraphist. In 1877 Mr. Eames was married to Miss Cora A. Calvin, a daughter of Walter G. and Mary S. Calvin, formerly of Ohio. Prior to his marriage, however, Mr. Eames had engaged in farming in Warren county, and in 1878 he removed to the vicinity of Belleville, in Montgomery county, where he was farming for six years. He then came to his present place, a neat farm of 120 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Eames have one child, James W. Sarah Castle died about a year ago, at the age of three years. Mr. and Mrs. E. are members of the Christian Church.
CHARLES P. EVERED
(Of Evered & Cluster, Grain Dealers and Proprietors of the Montgomery City Ele- vator).
Mr. Evered was 19 years of age when his parents, John and Sarah (Huke) Evered, emigrated from England and settled in Ontario county, N. Y., in 1849. Born in England, October 13, 1830, he had therefore been principally reared and educated when the family came to this country. Before coming to the United States he had begun to learn the machinist's trade, and he continued in this afterwards at Geneva, N. Y., and at Waterloo, that State. . He learned the trade and worked at it some 12 years, during the last three years of which
850
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
he was foreman of a shop at Geneva. He then, early in 1864, en- listed in the United States navy, becoming assistant engineer on the war steamer Chippewa, serving until after the close of the war. He was in the Atlantic squadron and participated in the battles of the blockade of Wilmington, N. C., until the fall of Ft. Fisher; both battles of Atlanta (five days in all) ; the battles of Ft. Anderson, Ft. Strong, and the bombardment of the forts around Richmond. Honorably discharged in May, 1865, he went into the oil regions of Pennsylvania and became superintendent of the Elk County Improve- ment and Mining Company. In 1866 he returned to New York and again became foreman of the machine shop at Geneva. After a year there he came to St. Louis in the summer of 1867, and the following fall came up to Montgomery City. Here he bought a half interest in the Montgomery City flouring mill, with which he was connected as an active partner for about 11 years. He was also during a part of this time dealing in grain, and was the proprietor of a blacksmith and machine shop, and was also handling agricultural implements on a large scale. Selling out his interests in the mill and machine shop, he established another machine shop, which he also sold after oper- ating it about a year. In the spring of 1863 Mr. Evered, in partner- ship with another man, built the elevator which he and Mr. Cluster now own, and since then he has been in the grain business. He is one of the principal grain dealers at Montgomery City and has had excellent success in this line of business. Mr. Evered has been mar- ried twice. His first wife was a Miss Mary A. Huke, formerly of England, to whom he was married at Geneva, N. Y., in 1856. She died at Montgomery City, October 13, 1879. To his present wife he was married December 23, 1881, at this place. She was a Mrs. Mary V. Thomas, widow of a Mr. Thomas, and daughter of John Martin, deceased, formerly of Tyler county, W. Va. Mrs. E. is a member of the M. E. Church and Mr. Evered is a prominent member of the Masonic order at Montgomery City.
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