USA > Missouri > Vernon County > History of Vernon County, Missouri : past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county Vol. II > Part 15
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were Drs. Leonard Dodge and James White. Dr. Badger con- tinued his extensive practice in connection with farming; he was a large land-holder, owning 2,200 acres at the commence- ment of the war. At the outbreak of the Kansas troubles he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel and ordered to defend the Missouri border, and early in the Civil War his company was ordered by Governor Jackson to accompany him to the Arkansas line. Before this was reached, however, the battles of Wilson's Creek and Carthage were fought, and at the latter the Doctor was wounded, necessitating his return home, though not until after he had been placed in charge of a hospital ward where there were Federal soldiers. After receiving surgical treatment and convalescing at a St. Louis hospital he was employed as chief clerk in the Naval Ordnance Department, a position he continued to fill for eighteen months. At the close of the war he returned to his home, but only to find that during his absence $10,000 worth of property, including money, chattels, etc., had been stolen. But not disheartened, the Doctor set about repairing his impaired possessions. In 1853 he was married to Miss Sarah E. Halley, of this county, who was born in Charleston, Va., in Au- gust, 1827 ; her father, a man of superior educational attainments, settled in Blue Mound township, this county, in 1839. Mrs. Badger died February 19, 1885, in the full triumph of a Chris- tian faith. She was the mother of two boys and six girls : Henry L., born in 1855; Albert H., born in 1866; Emily A., born in 1854; Mary J., born in 1857; Rebecca P., born in 1859; Eliza- beth, born in 1861; Agnes W. L., born in 1868, and Lulu, born in 1870. The Doctor was a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1843, and also assisted in organizing the first Grange in Badger township. He was justice of the peace for many years and for four years served as probate judge of the county, the first to be elected to that position. Politically he was a Democrat. One of the Doctor's brothers, Commodore Badger, entered the United States Navy in 1840 and fired the first shot into Fort Sumter after the Confederates had captured it. His sister, Emily D., the widow of Dr. Joseph N. M. Harding, is a lady of rare intellectual accomplishments. She was educated at Mt. Holyoke Seminary. Dr. Badger was intimately associated with all the improvements of the day. He died March 14, 1911.
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Jabe W. Bailey, is one of the prominent and prosperous farm- ers of Harrison township, Vernon county, Missouri. He was born in Columbia county, Wisconsin, March 16, 1855, and is a son of Joseph and Mary (Spaulding) Bailey, both natives of New York. The father was a civil engineer, served four years in the Civil War, entering the service as captain of a company in the Fourth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry, and by successive pro- motions attained to the rank of colonel and brigadier-general. On October 23, 1864, as an appreciation of his skill and work, performing a difficult engineering feat, constructing a dam across the Red river, Admiral Porter presented him with a gold sword and massive silver punch bowl. After the war he moved with his family to Vernon county, Missouri, and settled on 400 acres of land in section 19, Harrison township. While in the discharge of his duty as sheriff of Vernon county (to which office he was appointed), in attempting to arrest two noted criminals, on March 26, 1867, he was brutally murdered. His widow survived till March 22, 1891.
During his boyhood our subject attended one of the common schools until he was fourteen years old: He then entered the school of Fort Scott, Kan. When he was twenty-seven, on Janu- ary 31, 1882, he was united in marriage, at Sterling, Kan., with Miss Ella Stratton, and bought a tract of 130 acres of land in Bourbon county, Kansas. His present farm is in section 19, Har- rison township, Vernon county, and comprises 265 acres of fer- tile land, highly cultivated and splendidly improved with a fine class of buildings and all the accompaniments of a model, modern farm. There are on the place two thrifty orchards and the hand- some residence, set in the midst of massive shade trees, presents, with other environments, a scene of entrancing rural beauty.
Of five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Bailey, the two now living are Ruey, who was born December 27, 1884, and Lois, who was born May 30, 1893.
Morris C. Baker, the father of Zach. H. and James S. Baker, was born in Ashe county, North Carolina, and there was reared to manhood. He married Miss Matilda Stamper, after which they removed to Tennessee, living there until 1849. Following this, Mr. Baker made his home in Arkansas one year, coming thence to Lawrence county, Missouri, and in 1854 to Vernon
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county, and settling in the eastern part of the county; but in 1856 he moved his family from that locality to section 31, of Drywood township, later going across the line into Barton county. This continued to be his home until his death in 1878-an event sincerely mourned by many who had known him during life. Baker's Grove, in that county, bears his name. Besides his widow, Mr. Baker left a family of seven children: Sarah, Mrs. Long; Zach., James S., Lamenda, Mrs. Dougherty, and Andy J. He was a man of sterling integrity and honor and commanded unbounded respect from all who were favored with his acquaint- ance. For many years he was postmaster at Baker's Grove, and in 1857 took the contract for carrying the mail from Carthage to Little Osage, receiving for this service $450 annually, the round trip being made once a week. During the years 1858-59-60 the mail was carried on horseback by the two boys, Zach. and James, but at the outbreak of the war the route was abandoned.
Zach. H. Baker was born in Tennessee, March 10, 1839. In 1864 he married Miss Nancy Gillmore, of Osage county, Missouri, and they have five children: Amanda, Andrew, Eva, William and Morris. He is a member of Sheldon Lodge, No. 371, A. F. and A. M.
James S. Baker has had an experience in some points not unlike that of his brother. His birth occurred in Tennessee, No- vember 25, 1845. In 1881 Mr. Baker moved to Sheldon, being among the first business men to open out in the town, the store which he started and afterwards conducted for some time being a hardware establishment. In 1871 Mrs. Mische Taylor, nee Hill, became his wife, she being a native of Pettis county, Missouri. Mrs. Baker had two children by a former marriage: William and Ida (who married F. B. Shelton).
Wilfred T. Ballagh is a popular and prominent druggist of Nevada, Mo. He was born in Canada in 1870 and acquired his education in his native country. Since settling in Nevada Mr. Ballagh has taken an active part in business, civic, social and fraternal affairs and is rightly counted among her wide-awake and enterprising citizens. He is identified with the Knights of Pythias and all branches of the Masonic bodies, belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, subordant and camp of the Modern Woodmen of America, past-exalted ruler of Elks and
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first charter member, and the National Association of Retail Druggists. He was president of the Nevada School Board and a director of the Farm and Home Loan and Savings Association and the only member of the American Pharmaceutical Associa- tion in the city. He is also captain of "Troop A," the only cavalry troop in the state, and is noted as a breeder of registered Jersey cattle and fancy pure-bred poultry, being one of the organizers of the Southwest Missouri Poultry Association. But that to which Mr. Ballagh gives his chief attention is his model drug store at the corner of Cedar and Cherry streets, where every facility is provided for the convenience and comfort of patrons. In the carefully selected stock is to be found complete lines of drugs, chemicals, rubber goods, toilet articles, postcards, im- ported and domestic cigars and smokers' supplies, while special attention is given to filling physicians' prescriptions by graduate pharmacists. Mr. Ballagh has also installed one of the finest soda fountains to be found in this section of the country and has fitted up a suite of recreation parlors in a manner that leaves nothing undone looking to the comfort and convenience of those seeking a refreshing glass of non-alcoholic beverage or a dish of delicious ice cream or sherbert and other refreshing and cooling viands. This business, which was established in 1900, has in- creased, keeping pace with the growth and development of the city, and in all its branches and details shows the efficient work- ing of the master mind that has brought it to its present standing among the best in its line in southwestern Missouri.
Mary D. Baze, who is supposed to be the oldest native resident of Vernon county, Missouri, was born December 1, 1835, one and a half miles southeast of the site of the present town of Metz, and is one of three survivors of a family of eleven children born to Jesse J. Summers, who moved from Wayne county, Kentucky, to Warren county, Missouri, about 1820, and who settled in Metz township in 1829. The other two children are Mrs. Jane Morris Bachelor, of North Dakota, and Mr. Jesse Summers, of Monte- vallo, Mo. Mrs. Baze has the distinction of having spent her active life time within two miles of her birth place, except six months while visiting in Wright county, Missouri, and three months in Colorado. She attended the first school in the county, the school house being situated on the site of the present Sum-
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mers Grave Yard. She also attended school at Balltown after the first school house was destroyed by fire.
In February, 1861, she was united in marriage with Mr. Squire J. Baze, and there were born to them six children, of whom the four survivors are Leslie M. Baze, W. J. Baze, Mrs. Delien Blake and Mrs. Lillie M. Williams, all of Metz. Mr. Baze, the father, died November 19, 1893.
Both Mrs. Baze and her husband were charter members of the Rinehart Christian Church, which was organized in 1872, and for years prior to that had attended services held at Double Branches, thinking little of having to travel seven and eight miles to church.
Mr. Baze was a blacksmith, and they lived on the old home place, a half-mile north of Old Metz, where he worked at his trade till his decease. Since then Mrs. Baze has resided with her chil- dren, and now makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. J. D. Williams, in Metz.
Ransom H. Beagles, who has resided in Vernon county, Mis- souri, since 1882, was born in Crawford county, Missouri, October 22, 1842, the sixth of a family of seven children born to Edwin and Minerva (Medlock) Beagles, both natives of Tennessee. The mother died in 1845 and the father married again and had seven children by the second marriage. He settled in Crawford county in the early days and went thence to Cass county, Arkansas, thence he went to Van Buren county, Arkansas, settling near Fort Smith, where he passed away in 1872. He was a prosperous farmer, a man of commanding influence in his community and an honored member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Ransom H. lived at home and attended the common schools till he was fourteen years old. At the age of sixteen he drove a team of six yoke of cattle across the plains to Salt Lake City, Utah, traveling at the rate of ten miles per day and taking six months for the journey. Mr. Beagles served six months under General Cooper in Oklahoma among the Indians, in 1862. In 1861 Mr. Beagles enlisted and served in the Confederate army till the end of the war, in 1865. He was with Generals Price and Shelby in the campaigns of Missouri, Arkansas and Texas and among other hard fought engagements took part in the battles of Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove and Springfield, Mo., Helena and Little
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Rock, Ark., and many desperate skirmishes. At Westport, in Price's raid, he was shot through the lungs and captured and sent to St. Louis, where he was tried by a military court for "bushwhacking" and acquitted. . He afterwards joined the Con- federate army in Richmond, Va., and served until the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox. Returning to Missouri, Mr. Beagles, on March 21, 1867, was united in marriage with Miss Sophia Baker, in Johnson county, and lived there till his settle- ment, in 1882, in Harrison township, Vernon county, on a tract of 2401/2 acres in section 6, where he has since made his home. Mr. Beagles is a thorough farmer, and has been eminently success- ful in his operations, making somewhat of a specialty in breed- ing and raising high-grade horses and mules, owning several thoroughbred imported jacks and stallions. In political opinions and actions he is a staunch Democrat.
There were born to Mr. and Mrs. Beagles six children, of whom two sons and one daughter are now, 1911, living, viz., Charles B. Beagles, who was born June 2, 1869; Rose, who was born April 9, 1870, and Ransom, who was born September 14, 1873. Mrs. Beagles passed away October 4, 1894.
Jack Hardin Bean was born August 27, 1874, at Paris, Mo., the son of James Monroe and Francis Virginia Bean. The former was born in Frederick county, Virginia, and the latter at Wash- ington, D. C. They both came to Missouri in early life and located at Paris, where they made their home, and it was here that he established the "Paris Mercury," which he conducted during his lifetime, and at the time of his death was the senior editor. Dur- ing the Civil War the Union army made a raid on his town and burned the office of the paper, but the elder Bean soon recon- structed the building and re-established the paper. He was a close political and personal friend of ex-Governor Charles Hardin, for whom J. H. Bean was named. Mr. Bean served two terms in the Missouri State Senate, and it was while serving his second term that he passed to his great reward, deeply mourned and respected by all who knew him. He was married in 1849, to Frances Virginia Runkle, and the subject of this sketch was the youngest child born to this union.
J. H. Bean received his education in the public schools of Paris, graduating from the high school in 1893. His first employ
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ment was as printers' devil in the office of the "Paris Appeal," edited by J. H. Blanton, and in this office he learned to set type, feed presses and to carry coal and water for the first steam engine which furnished power to run the presses in that office, and which replaced the old negro who had been the power in use for many years. Mr. Bean continued in the office for several months and received the customary salary of $1 a week, and when he left was given a good recommendation. He located at Nevada in the spring of 1894, and worked as a typesetter on the "Post," and about two years later worked in the job printing department of the "Mail," and later was tendered the position as manager of circulation of the "Daily Mail," which he held for two years, and then accepted the position as city editor, which place he filled for more than twelve years. Associated with W. L. Earp, on April 1, 1910, he purchased the "Daily Mail" and the "Southwest Mail," which were established in 1882.
Mr. Bean takes an active interest in the affairs of the county and is a strong supporter of the good roads movement, and the Democratic party receives his best efforts. He cast his first vote for William Jennings Bryan and always supports the straight ticket.
On November 21, 1899, he was united in marriage with Pearl McNeil, granddaughter of Col. Robert McNeil, a pioneer of Ver- non county. To Mr. and Mrs. Bean has been born one daughter, Mary Virginia, aged eight years.
G. B. Beeny, a native of Peoria county, Illinois, was born October 18, 1865, and is the eldest of a family of seven children, of whom five are living, born to Henry and Sophia (Rock) Beeny, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. The father immigrated from Germany when he was thirteen years old, with his parents, who settled in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, where they passed their lives. Henry Beeny went to Peoria county, Illinois when he was seventeen years old and worked as a farm laborer till he attained his majority, and after his marriage cultivated a leased farm till 1878. He then moved with his family to Bates county, Missouri. and thence two years later to Barton county, where he lived till 1906. He then sold all his property there and settled at Sheldon, in Vernon county, where he now lives, retired from active work,
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being seventy-six years of age. Our subject received a common school education in Barton county, Missouri, and lived at home till he was of age, and then engaged in farming on his own account. In 1891 he settled at Sheldon, in Vernon county, and established himself in business, buying, baling and shipping hay, and in 1894 also bought and sold grain. This grain business began in a modest way, with an elevator capacity of 3,000 bushels and shipments of one to two carloads per week, gradu- ally growing until at the present time, 1911, his elevators have a capacity of 15,000 bushels, while the shipments of grain range from one to three carloads per day. His warehouses for storing hay have a capacity of 2,500 tons and from 50 to 100 tons per day are handled. At the time he began buying and selling grain Mr. Beeny also began dealing in farm implements and machinery, and the annual sales in this department have increased from $500 the first year to more than $20,000 at the present date. Mr. Beeny also carries on a fine establishment and employs three expert workmen in the manufacture of high-class harness, and also a large blacksmith shop, thoroughly equipped with modern facilities, machinery, trip hammers, etc., for turning out the best class of work in that line. For the accommodation of his extensive business operations Mr. Beeny occupies an immense building and salesrooms extending the length of an entire block, the whole having grown, under his careful and enterprising management, from a small beginning to $100,000 in volume annually. In addition to his other enterprises Mr. Beeny owns and conducts à splendid farm of 160 acres in Drywood township, fully equipped with modern machinery and stocked with high-grade cattle and hogs, which he feeds for the market, and producing annually 7,000 bushels of corn and 2,000 tons of hay, besides other prod- ucts. Mr. Beeny takes an active interest in public affairs and has served two terms as mayor of Sheldon and several years as alderman. In politics he is a Democrat and adheres to the poli- cies advocated by William Jennings Bryan. He is active in fraternal organizations, being a member of the Sheldon Lodge No. 371, Ancient Order of Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights Templar, Sheldon Lodge No. 438, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Ancient Order United Workmen.
On March 4, 1866, Mr. Beeny married Miss Hattie J. Parson,
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and they have a family of three children, named, respectively, Georgia, Conwell T. and Calvin W.
Benedict Brothers. In 1868 two brothers of the name of Benedict came to Missouri from the East and located in Richland township, Vernon county, where they at once entered upon an agricultural career that has been both honorable and successful. These brothers are Robert F. and Walter H. Benedict. The senior brother, Robert F. Benedict. was born on Long Island, in Suffolk county, Massachusetts, January 24, 1844, the birth of Walter HI. also occurring there, July 27, 1847. Their parents were Asher M. and Huldah F. (Hallock) Benedict, both of Con- necticut nativity, the father being a miller and manufacturer by occupation. Three sons besides the two mentioned were in the family : John F., Frank E. and Fred H. Robert and Walter were reared on Long Island as fishermen and farmers. At the breaking out of the war the former enlisted in the 127th New York volunteer infantry, and took part in the battle of Honey Hill, S. C., where he was wounded, after which a return home was necessary, and he was confined in David's Island Hospital for some eight months. In 1868, as stated, he came to this county. In 1874 Mr. Benedict was married to Miss Ida Martin, originally from Boone county, Missouri. Three children are in their family : Asher M., Carrie R. and Eleanor R. Mr. Walter Benedict's mar- riage occurred in 1875, at which time Miss Alice S. Thomas, of Bates county, Missouri, became his wife. They have two chil- dren : Edwin and Frank. The Messrs. Benedict have in all 310 acres of valuable land, 200 acres of which are devoted to the raising of fruit; and of this tract three-fourths is in apples of the Ben Davis variety.
John H. Berghauser is one of the enterprising business men of Nevada, Mo., and a leading factor in one of her prominent indus- tries. He is a native Missourian and was born in Calloway county, April 12, 1868. He settled in Nevada in 1887, when he was nineteen years of age, and was first employed at the Missouri State Hos- pital for the Insane No. 5, then in course of construction. He was variously employed in his line of work for some years, and in June, 1894, as a co-partner with Mr. W. B. Looney, opened a general tin and repair shop, which was carried on by the firm
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1
until November, 1898, when he sold his interest to his partner. Early in 1899 Mr. Berghauser associated with Mr. W. F. Norman, under the firm name of W. F. Norman & Co., and was a prime mover in establishing the first sheet metal works at Nevada. The business, occupying a small building, was started in a modest way, but under careful and wise management rapidly outgrew its cramped quarters, necessitating a radical change. In January, 1905. with an increased capital, the business was incorporated as the W. F. Norman Sheet Metal Manufacturing Company, with Mr. W. F. Norman as president and treasurer and Mr. J. H. Berghauser vice-president and secretary, and the board of directors included, besides Messrs. Norman and Berghauser, Mr. C. C. Norman. To meet the requirements of this change a new location was secured and the plant was moved to its present site and greatly enlarged. The new impetus thus given to the busi- ness of the concern was followed by four years of prosperity and growth such as it had not known before, and the future looked bright and promising, when, on November 5, 1909, the entire plant was destroyed by fire, involving a loss of more than $100,000, besides that caused by several months' interruption of the business. But the men at the head of this enterprise were undaunted. With the same cool-headedness with which they enjoyed their prosperity they now met and found their mis- fortune and at once set themselves to the task of retrieving their losses and re-establishing the business on even firmer foundations and broader lines. Within an almost incredibly short time a new plant was erected and equipped and within a few months was in full operation, with improved and increased facilities for supply- ing the needs and demands of their patrons and the trade. The present plant covers two-thirds of an entire city block, bounded on the north by Hunter street and extending from Cedar to Wash- ington streets east and west. It employs a large force of work- men, varying at different seasons and ranging from 50 to 100 in number. Twelve traveling salesmen are kept constantly on the road, selling the products of the plant throughout the vast territory of Iowa on the north to Texas on the south, and west- ward through Colorado and other distant points.
The plant manufactures galvanized corrugated roofing and every variety of sheet metal work and represents the largest manufacturing industry in Nevada, and the fact that the volume
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of business has doubled each succeeding year since the start speaks more eloquently than any words of commendation for the wise management and business ability of the men who have directed the affairs of the concern.
John T. Birdseye, a native of Norwalk, Huron county, Ohio, was born July 5. 1836. and was the fourth of a family of eight children born to Gould P. and Mary A. (Lane) Birdseye, both of whom were natives of Huntington, Conn. The father was a successful farmer and trader and died in Ohio in 1885 and was survived by his widow, who continued to live there. Our subject made good use of his educational privileges and through- out his life were shown the results of his early training. He re- mained on his father's farm until he attained his majority; but afterwards turned his attention to the law, and after a course of legal studies was admitted to the bar in 1858. On the open- ing of the Civil War in 1861 he responded to the call of Presi- dent Lincoln for three months' men and enlisted in the Thirty- fifth Regiment Ohio Volunteers Infantry. He afterwards at- tained the rank of first lieutenant in the One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio Regiment of the Twenty-third Army Corps, par- ticipating in many battles and being with General Sherman in the Atlanta campaign. After an experience to which he often referred with pride he was honorably discharged from the serv- ice. and coming to Vernon county. Missouri, settled at Nevada and erected the first house that was completed there after the war. Possessed of little save his native talents and upright, manly character, Mr. Birdseye began at the bottom and grad- ually worked his way up to a place of commanding influence in the community. Turning his attention to the law. real estate. loans and insurance. his transactions and dealings were always characterized by keen foresight and good judgment and won him the confidence and respect of all. so that he came to be justly counted among the successful. progressive and substantial citizens of his city. Soon after the incorporation of Nevada as a city he was elected its mayor and gave himself with earnest and unselfish devotion to the welfare and development of the city and community. As a member of the firm of Birdseye and Harris he was a strong factor in the development of the busi- ness interests of the city and came to be prominently identified
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