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 92
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 92
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 92
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867
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
the graveyard at Ashley, in Pike county, where, in the dread presence of the dead, a place sacred even to the wildest of savages, he caused them to be brutally murdered, and without cause or excuse. Mr. Gilmore's widow was left with five children. She was a dutiful wife, as she is a devoted mother and Christian lady, and has had a hard struggle to rear her family of children.
William L. Gatewood, the next in his father's second family of children, is the subject of the present sketch and has already been spoken of.
Dr. R. H. T. Gatewood, the youngest of the family, is now a prac- ticing physician in the vicinity of Wellsville, but across in Audrain county, where he is also engaged in farming. He was born in Clark county, Ky., May 27, 1829. His school advantages, like his brothers', were very limited, but he nevertheless succeeded, almost exclusively by self-culture, in obtaining a good general education. He became a successful and popular school teacher and then read medicine. For a number of years he was one of the leading physicians of Pike county. He married and now has a family of three children, all of whom are grown to mature years. In the history of Audrain county is contained a more extended sketch of his life.
ARCHIE A. GORDON
(Dealer in Staple and Fancy Groceries, Montgomery City).
Mr. Gordon has just (October, 1884) recently established himself at his present stand on Second street, and has opened out a new and exceptional choice stock of goods in his line. He keeps as good groceries as can be found in any town no larger than Montgomery throughout the surrounding country, and is liberally patronized. Mr. Gordon is not unknown to the people of Montgomery City as a business man, as he has been engaged in business at this place for nearly two years. He and his brother-in-law, T. T. Pitman, were first in the livery business here, and Mr. Gordon continued the business after Pitman's retirement from the firm. Finally, he, too, quit the livery business, and in the spring of 1884 he and Mr. Crochett engaged in the grocery trade. They continued in this until June, 1884, when the firm was dissolved, after which Mr. Gordon proceeded to establish his present store. Mr. G. was the son of Philip D. Gordon, who married a Miss Woolfolk, both formerly of Kentucky, and was born at St. Louis, October 7, 1859. His mother died when he was quite young, and his father afterwards married again. He is now an enterprising busi- ness man of Pleasant Hill, but was formerly in the grocery trade at St. Louis. He was also for some years a resident of Montgomery county, engaged in farming here for nearly 20 years, up to about a year ago. Archie A. Gordon was reared in this county on the farm about a mile and a half from Montgomery City, which he and his only sister, now Mrs. T. T. Pitman, own. Their farm contains over 200 acres. Mr. Gordon is a young man of good business qualifications and thorough- going enterprise.
868
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
JOHN GREEN
(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Montgomery City).
Mr. Green's farm contains 283 acres, and is well improved - one of the valuable homesteads of the township. He is to some extent engaged in raising stock, and has good success in this line of industry. He also has other valuable lands in the county, and, in fact, is one of the substantial men of the community. Mr. Green came to this county in 1863, and has resided here continuously ever since. He was from Pike county, where he was born and reared. His parents were William and Elizabeth ( Standford) Green, his mother a relative of the Standford, of this county. The family came from Kentucky and settled in Pike county in an early day. The mother died there in 1861, the father in 1869. John Green was born October 16, 1841, and was reared on the farm in Pike county. In 1863 he was married to Miss Elizabeth S. White, a daughter of William White, Sr., of this county, and a sister to Judge William White, whose sketch appears on another page in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Green have but one child, an interesting and promising son, William S., now a fine lad some 10 years of age. They have two little orphan daughters: Ben- nie, aged 12, and Jessie Skinner aged nine years.
1
STEPHEN D. HAM
(Postmaster, Montgomery City).
Among the old and respected families of Montgomery county, none are more highly esteemed by those who know them than Stephen D. Ham. His parents, Rev. Stephen Ham and wife (the mother having been a Miss Jane Johnson before her marriage ), were residents of this county for over half a century, and until their deaths and burials within its borders ; and throughout their long residence here their lives were linked and associated only with good works. They were from Madison county, Ky., -typical, hospitable, generous-hearted Kentuckians-and they settled in the south-western part of the county near Danville, on Prairie fork. They resided there on their farm ( for the father was a farmer as well as a minister) for several years, or until 1875, when he quit the farm (after his wife's death ), and came to Montgomery City, where several of the children lived ; and having accumulated a neat competence by industry and economi- cal, frugal living, he could well afford to retire with comfort, and without inconvenience. Mrs. Hrm died. September 30, 1875 ; he March 30, 1879, both at ripe and honored old ages. He was a min- ister of the Primitive Baptist Church - had been in the service of his church, of his fellow creatures, his Maker, for over 30 years - preaching to those whose welfare here and hereafter were dearer to him than life itself, the faith of the Redeemer, the abiding, enduring hope of heaven. When Rev. Stephen Ham died, a good man passed away from the councils of men, and so long as such men are sent
869
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
among us to labor for the good, to spend their lives in the service of God and humanity, we may feel assured that there is something Beyond greater and better and more enduring than this world affords to live for, strive for, die for. Rev. Stephen Ham and his good wife were blessed with a family of eight children, of whom five are living : John W., Har- din J., Stephen D. and Susana - Mrs. John W. Oliver. Of the others, William C. died in 1864, at the age of 39 ; James C. died at the age of 15, and Mary J., who became the wife of Nathaniel Christian, died in 1868. Stephen D. Ham, the subject of this sketch, was born on the old family homestead, near Danville, March 4, 1843. He was reared on the farm and received a good general, though not advanced, edu- cation. During the war he served for about 14 months in the Missouri Enrolled militia, under Capt. J. W. Stewart, or in Co. B of Col. Douglass' regiment. Afterwards he was engaged in farming and then became a school teacher, an occupation he followed from time to time, and in all for about four years. He was also in the grocery trade for a time before coming to Montgomery City, but his principal
occupation prior to this was farming. After coming to this place he assisted in the store of Ham & Bro. (the firm being composed of his brothers, John W. and Hardin J. ), from 1875 until 1880, after which he embarked in the grocery business as above mentioned, continuing it until March, 1882, when he was appointed postmaster, the duties of which office have since occupied his whole time and attention. Mr. Ham makes an efficient and capable postmaster, and one entirely satis- factory to the department at Washington. In 1882 he was a candi- date for county collector, and although running on the minority ticket and having as well one of the popular and influential men of the county as his opponent, he was defeated by only 14 votes. On the 12th of October, 1875, Mr. Ham was married to Miss Ella Jones, a daughter of James H. Jones. They have two children, Eustace H. and Julian D. Mrs. H. is a member of the M. E. Church South.
JOHN HAMILTON
(Dealer in Furniture and Undertaker, Montgomery City).
Mr. Hamilton's father's family were among the early settlers of Callaway county. They came to that county in 1837, and were from Augusta county, Virginia. They settled near Bachelor post-office, where the father, John C., entered land and improved a farm. He died there in 1856. He had been a soldier in the War of 1812, and was lieutenant of a company. He died within five days of the ad- vanced age of 80. The mother, who was a Miss Sarah Craig previous to her marriage, died in October, 1854. There were three brothers of the Hamiltons who came to Missouri, the other two being Andrew, who came in 1829, and Hugh, who settled in Saline county. John Hamilton, the subject of this sketch, was born in Augusta county, Va., August 7, 1814, and was therefore 23 years old when the family came to Missouri. He lived on the farm in Callaway county, and in 1840 was married to Miss Agnes G. Hamilton of that county, but of another
870
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
and distinct family from his own. She died in the fall of 1846, and he was married February 18, 1857, to Miss Sarah S. Moore, of Monroe county. Mr. Hamilton continued farming up to 1866, when he en- gaged in the grocery trade at Mexico. From there he came to Mont- gomery City in 1869 and established his present furniture store. He has since continued the business at this place, for a period now of 15 years, and is the master of this line of business at Montgomery City. He carries a good stock of goods, and has a substantial, satisfactory trade. By his first wife Mr. Hamilton reared a daughter, Margaret A., and by his present wife he has a family of five children : Sarah M., Mrs. Marion Ford ; Robert S., in the store of his father; Mary E., Emma M. and John M. He and wife are members of the Presby- terian Church. Mr. H. is a member of the Old Settlers' Association.
CHARLES T. HAMILTON
(Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, Paints, Oils, Stationery, Etc., Montgomery City).
Mr. Hamilton may be said to have been reared in the drug business for he has been identified with this branch of trade either as a clerk or proprietor almost from boyhood. Now a druggist of first-class qualifications, he has also established himself in business on his own account, and has placed his store on a firm basis, sustained by a good trade. He was born in Knox county, January 19, 1861, and was a son of Elbert Hamilton and wife, who was a Miss Elizabeth Rutter, before her marriage. The father was originally from Virginia, and his mother from Kentucky, and the parents of each were early settlers in North Missouri, where their families were reared, Mr. Hamilton's father in Knox county, and his mother in Marion county. After their marriage they made their home in the vicinity of Newark, in Knox county, and during the war Mr. Hamilton's father, Elbert Hamilton, was murdered by the militia. He was one of the ten men shot at Macon city on the 26th of September, 1862, for no crime but that of sympathizing with the South, from which they were all de- scendants and whence their forefathers and kindred came. The
mother is now the wife of G. G. Morris, a successful druggist and respected citizen of Newark, in Knox county. Charles T. was reared at Newark, and received a high school education. He was early placed in his step-father's drug store, to learn the business, where he continued until 1878, when, after clerking for a time at La Belle, in Lewis county, he established a store of his own at that place. In the fall of 1882 he sold out there and came to Montgomery City, where he opened out in the same business. February 28, 1882, he was married to Miss Carrie H. Yancy, a daughter of Lyman Yancy, of Palmyra. They have one child, Lyman Elbert, born November 6, 1883.
871
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
CHARLES D. HARPER
(Farmer and Fine Stock-raiser and Dealer, and Proprietor of the Montgomery City Livery, Feed and Sales Stables).
All old citizens of Montgomery county are familiar with the life and career of the father of the subject of this sketch, Col. Charles P. Harper, a man whose record reflects only credit in the county of which he was a resident for over half a century. Col. Harper was a Virginian, and came to this State after his marriage, locating at Dan- ville in about 1831. His wife was a Miss Anna C. Price before their marriage, related to the family whose name is justly so highly hon- ored in Missouri and Virginia and in several other States. Col. Harper was for a number of years engaged in merchandising at Dan- ville. Meanwhile he improved a fine farm about five miles west of the present site of Montgomery City, where he afterwards made his home. He was a man who took a public-spirited interest in political affairs, and was an ardent Democrat. He became a man of wide and varied information, and a recognized leader of thought with the people among whom he lived. He was elected to different official positions, and among the rest represented his district with ability in the State Senate. He died here early in 1883, having reached the advanced age of 82. His wife had preceded him to the grave some six years. Charles D. Harper, the sixth in the family of children, was born on the farm near Montgomery City, May 4, 1841, and as he grew up received a common-school education, supplemented with a course of instruction at the Montgomery City high school. In 1861 he enlisted in the Missouri State Guard, Southern service, under Jackson's first call, becoming a member of Capt. Roger's company. He served out his six months' term of enlistment, and during this time took part in the battle of Lexington and several lesser engagements. After this he remained at home until 1864, when he went West, and remained in Nevada and California until the fall of 1865, being engaged in stock trading and in the livery business. On his return he resumed handling stock, and has continued it until the present time, making a specialty of breeding fine Clydesdale and Gold-dust horses. Mr. Harper owns the old family homestead near Mont- gomery City, containing some 400 acres, and about 400 acres in other tracts. He established his excellent stables at this place in the spring of 1884, and has about $6,000 invested in the business. Mr. Harper is doing a good business in the livery line, and his stables are popular both with the local and traveling public. He was married October 17, 1867, to Miss Carrie, a daughter of Charles Lewis, of St. Louis. They have a family of seven children : Bradley, Anna, May, Urton, Arline, Alice and Leona. Mr. Harper is a prominent Mason.
50
872
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
FRANK M. HAYDEN,
(Of Ferguson & Co., Proprietors of the Montgomery City Lumber Mills, and Dealers and Contractors in Railroad Timber and Native Lumber).
Among the many energetic, thorough going Northern men who came into Missouri after the war to make their future homes within her borders and to unite the contributions of their industry and in- telligence with those of the people of this State in the development of her resources and in advancing the State on the onward march of progress and prosperity, not a few settled in Montgomery county. Among the others of this class was the family of which the subject of the present sketch was a member. Mr. Hayden's parents, Nathan- iel and Sarah (Rhodes) Hayden, came to Montgomery county from Ohio in 1867 and made their home at Montgomery City, where the father engaged in the milling business. They had a family of three children, all of whom subsequently married, namely: Myra, who became the wife of Horatio Church, of Toledo, O., a railway conduc- tor by occupation, and who was killed on the Wabash road at Wells- ville, in 1875 ; Laura, now the wife of Edward Pegram, a well known live-stock man of St. Louis ; and Frank M., the subject of this sketch. Frank M. Hayden was born at Dover, Tuscarawas county, April 15, 1846. He was principally reared in that county, and as he grew up received a rather advanced education. He first took a course at the schools of Dover, and then entered the high school of Delaware, O. Subsequently he took a course in the schools of Cleveland, and, alto- gether, became well advanced in the higher branches. He also studied book-keeping, and received something of a commercial edu- cation. Mr. Hayden's first venture in business life was in the grain business at Cochranton, O., where he was a grain contractor for about a year. He was then offered a situation as clerk of the board of ex- aminers of the Fourth Army corps, stationed at Louisville, Ky., which he accepted and held for some twelve or fifteen months. In 1867 Mr. Hayden came to St. Louis and was for about a year in a real estate office at that place. From St. Louis he came to Montgom- ery City and engaged here in the milling business as a member of the firm of Hayden & Everett. He continued a member of that firm for four years, when Mr. Everett retired and Mr. H.'s father became a partner, the style of the firm becoming Hayden & Son. Frank M. Hayden sold out in 1873 and went to Kansas, where he remained some five years engaged in the hardware business at Garnett. Returning then to Montgomery City, he was in the grocery trade at this place for a year, after which he engaged in the tobacco business. In 1882, however, he resumed milling at this place and has continued it ever since. His partner in business is his brother-in-law, James Ferguson, of this place, Their present mill building was erected in 1881, and is a large, tastily built structure, well arranged for the purpose for which it was intended. Their plant of machinery, etc., is of the best make and pattern, and they have a capacity of about 5,000 feet of
873
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
lumber daily. They are contractors for supplying large quantities of road and bridge timbers, etc., to the Wabash railway, and they make heavy shipments of lumber to the West and North. Mr. Hayden is general manager of the mill. On the 2d of October, 1877, Mr. Hay- den was married to Miss Mary Ferguson, only daughter of that old and highly esteemed citizen of the county, Uncle Tom Ferguson. Mrs. Hayden was educated at the convent in St. Charles. Mr. and Mrs. H. have one child, Thomas N. Their eldest child, Irene, died in her second year. Mrs. H. is a member of the Catholic Church.
ZACHARY T. HAYES
(Farmer, Post-office, Montgomery City).
Mr. Hayes is a native of Tennessee, born in Hancock county, November 23, 1848, and the fourth of a family of 13 children, 12 of whom and both parents are living, now residents of Montgomery county. From Tennessee the family came to Missouri, including Zachary T. The parents now reside in Cass county, Mo. On the 31st of May, 1871, Z. T. was married, in this State, to Elizabeth, a daughter of John and Barbara Elrod, of Montgomery county, but formerly of Tennessee. The following year Mr. Hayes, the subject of this sketch, removed to Cass county, and was engaged in farming there for three years ; he then located in Callaway county, where he resided for five years and in 1881 came to Montgomery county to take charge of the Harper stock farm. for the owner, Mr. C. D. Harper ; he has since had charge of this farm, and has managed it with entire satisfaction to Mr. Harper and with excellent success. Mr. and Mrs. H. have four children : Barbara E., Lula A. M., Olie M. and Ora A. Irene is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Hayes are members of the M. E. Church South.
JOSEPH HIBBERT
(Retail Dealer in Wines, Liquors, Beer, Cigars, Tobacco, etc., etc., Montgomery City).
Mr. Hibbert, one of the substantial property holders of Montgomery City, is by nativity a son of the Empress Isle of the Seas, and was born at Manchester, January 10, 1829. His parents were Thomas Hibbert and wife, who before her marriage was a Miss Elizabeth Lee. His father died when Joseph was quite young, and he was early apprenticed to the machinist's trade at Manchester, where he worked as an apprentice for three years. He then worked as a mechanic for two years in the same shop at full pay. In the fall of 1850 he em- barked at Liverpool for the New World, and in due time reached New Orleans. From there he came to St. Louis and soon afterwards be- gan work in the United States arsenal machine shops, repairing guns, artillery, etc. He continued in the Government shops for five years and then worked in the shops of Renfroe & Co. for one year, assisting to build during that time the St. Louis Water Works engine. While
874
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
at work for Renfroe & Co. he and John Stone built an engine and machinery for a mill. They had selected Montgomery City as the place to locate it, the town then having just been laid off and platted, and so shipped their mill and machinery to Portland and from there brought it to this place, arriving here July 4, 1856. A house had not yet been erected within the limits of the "town," so that in truth they were the pioneers of the place. They ran the mill until the outbreak of the war, when they added a distillery, which they also conducted for several years. In 1863, however, they sold out to Capt. Goodrich, and Mr. H. ran the mill for him for some two years. He then started a brewery, and later along a saloon, but five years later closed the former and is still running the saloon. Mr. Hibbert is no Pharisee. He believes in the great principles of religion as sin- cerely and earnestly as any man, and claims that his present occupa- tion is not only not opposed in the Scriptures, but is sanctioned and authorized by the inspired Word of God. January 24, 1847, Mr. Hibbert was married to Miss Mary Kelley. They have had 14 chil- dren, nine of whom are living. Mr. Hibbert is the chief patriarch of the Odd Fellows' Encampment, and his wife is a member of the Pres- byterian Church. He has a handsome residence property, built at a cost of $5,000 in 1883, and planned by Architect Legg of St. Louis. His house is on a beautiful plot of eight acres of ground, and is one of the finest residences in the vicinity of Montgomery City.
JOHN W. JACKS
(Proprietor of the Montgomery Standard, Montgomery City).
Mr. Jacks, of the Montgomery Standard, the leading newspaper of the county in circulation, and perhaps in influence, as well as in busi- ness prosperity and success, is justly entitled to no inconsiderable measure of credit for the enviable position his paper occupies among the better class of country journals in North-east Missouri. Mr. Jacks is a native of Missouri, born in Monroe county, September 1, 1845. His parents were John R. and Sally (Keithley ) Jacks, the former a native of Kentucky, the latter of Missouri. At the age of 14, Mr. Jacks entered the office of the Sturgeon, Mo., News, whose editor was Col. Strawn, where he worked until the office was closed by the war. During the war he sold newspapers for a time to the Federal soldiers stationed at Sturgeon. In 1865, he went to St. Louis and was engaged on the St. Louis Republican for some months. During the next four years he was engaged on the Mexico Messenger, Columbia Statesman, and in the printing offices at Jefferson City. In September, 1870, he established the Sturgeon, Mo., Leader, which he conducted till January 1, 1873, when he sold out. Mean- time, in March, 1872, in company with Col. John E. Hutton, he es- tablished the Mexico Intelligencer, with which he was connected until September, 1875. He then ran a job and book printing house in St. Louis for about three years, when he bought the Franklin County Observer, at Washington, Mo., which he conducted until September,
875
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
1879. In May, 1880, he purchased the Montgomery Standard, which he still edits and publishes. Mr. Jacks was married October 15, 1871, to Miss Narcissa B. Hulen, of Boone county. Four children have been born of this union. Mr. and Mrs. Jacks are both members of the Christian Church, and he is the superintendent of its Sabbath- school. Mr. Jacks is also a member of the A. F. & A. M., A. O. U. W., and Triple Alliance. He has frequently borne a prominent part in the deliberations and councils of his party, and in 1872, in the Democratic State Convention, he was chiefly instrumental in causing the large vote to be cast for the nomination of Hon. James S. Rollins as the Democratic candidate for Governor ; it was by his efforts that the Boone county delegation cast a solid vote for that gen- tleman. He was secretary of the Missouri Press Association for 1883-84, and of the Democratic Congressional Convention of 1884, at Montgomery City, which balloted 579 times unsuccessfully for a can- didate for Congress. He has also been secretary of numerous asso- ciations, lodges, etc., and occupies a prominent position in society and in the community. As an editorial writer, Mr. Jacks is plain, incisive, and pointed ; gives his opinions in the fewest words, and obeys the injunction of Geo. D. Prentice, to " quit when you get through." There is more in one of his dozen-line paragraphs fre- quently, than in half a column of the average " editorial."
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