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 28
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Oran Heathman is married and has one child and resides in Lake township. Mr. Heathman is a thoroughly practical farmer, systematic and up-to-date in his methods, and his farm, which is one of the choicest in Lake township, is well stocked, finely
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improved and equipped with all the needed appliances of the modern model farm.
In political sentiment and action Mr. Heathman is an inde- pendent Republican.
Thomas Heavisides, who was born in England, January 15, 1856, is the second of two children born to Thomas and Mary Ann (Berry) Heavisides, both natives of that country. His mother died in 1861, and his father married a second wife, by whom he had eight children. He settled on a farm of 480 acres in Ford county, Illinois. His death occurred at Kempton, Ill., in 1907. He was a successful farmer, making a specialty of horses, sheep and swine for market. He was a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and in political opinions held to the principles of the Republican party.
Thomas acquired his early education in the common schools of Grundy county, Illinois, but left school when fifteen years of age and grew to manhood on his father's farm and has always been engaged in farming operations and is practical, progressive and thoroughly up-to-date in his ideas and methods. Besides a finely improved quarter section in section 10, Harrison township, where he makes his home, he owns another eighty-acre tract, well located in the same township.
Mr. Heavisides is a broad-minded, public-spirited man and a worthy citizen, universally esteemed. In political sentiment he is a Republican and he is identified with Lodge No. 603, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows at Garland.
On February 22, 1888, he was united in marriage with Miss Maggie M. Acox, and they have a family of four children, named, respectively, Eunice S., who was born March 5, 1891; Laura A., born December 31, 1893; Thomas C., born June 23, 1895, and Alice May, born February 25, 1898.
Alfred Hensen,* who was born in Winneshiek county, Iowa, September 3, 1864, is the fourth child and one of two survivors of a family of six children born to Henry and Margaret (Schaul- berger) Hensen, natives of Switzerland, who were married in 1859. The father came to this country in 1856 and settled on a farm in Iowa and lived there till 1866. Removing to Coal town- ship in Vernon county, Missouri, he there settled with his family.
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He acquired a good education in his native country and was an intelligent, respected citizen; and at the time of his accidental death, caused by a runaway team of horses he was driving, on September 12, 1881, he owned a fine farm of 520 acres, where he made his home.
Alfred attended the public schools till he was eighteen years old and remained on the family homestead till his marriage. On November 21, 1888, he was united in marriage with Miss Lena Vetters, daughter of a pioneer settler of Coal township, and began farming on his own account on 160 acres of land in sections 23, 24 and 25, which came to him from his father's estate. In 1903, Mr. Hensen bought a farm of 194 acres in sections 9 and 16, a mile and a half east of the town of Bronaugh, which he has improved and brought to a high state of perfection. There are on this place three living springs of pure water, which add greatly to its value as a stock farm. In his farming operations Mr. Hensen has given and now gives particular attention to breeding, buying, feeding and shipping cattle and hogs, and is one of the extensive operators in that line in his section.
Mr. Hensen has always been more or less active in affairs and in Coal township served as treasurer and clerk of the town- ship board. In political opinion, he is a staunch Republican. He is a worthy member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. As a farmer he is thoroughly up-to-date in his methods and has achieved marked success, being counted among the prosperous and substantial men of his community, while as a citizen he is highly esteemed by all who know him.
Mark B. Herrick. On January 6, 1885, there died at his home in Drywood township Mark B. Herrick, one of the substantial, progressive farmers of the community, and a man whose upright, straightforward qualities of mind and heart had endeared him to all with whom he had an acquaintance. Originally from Cayuga county, New York, he was born February 2, 1835, to Warner and Eliza (Herrick) Teff, both natives of the Empire state. He was the eldest child and only son of their family of children. Mr. Herrick enlisted in the 111th New York Volun- teer infantry, from which he was subsequently honorably dis- charged on account of disability occasioned by sickness. In 1869 he came to Vernon county, and from his first settlement here
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he took influential part in the development of the interests of this section. February 21, 1864, Mr. Herrick was married to Miss Almira Wells, of New York state, and to them two children were born, Stanton and Mary, Mrs. G. M. Mabrey.
S. L. Higgins, a substantial and wide-awake citizen of Nevada, Mo., is, in the best sense of the term, a self-made man. He was born in North Carolina, July 9, 1855, and is a son of John and Elizabeth Higgins. His father was of Irish ancestry and his mother of Quaker lineage, but she was a missionary Baptist in her religious faith, as was also the father in his earlier life, though at the time of his decease he was affiliated with the Christian denom- ination. Our subject was taken by his parents to Bentonville, Ark., when a child, and a little later, during the early days of the Civil War, to Greenfield, Mo., where his mother died. By the death of his mother while he was yet a lad he was led to rely. upon his own resources and chose to make his own way in the world and relieve his father, whose family became very large upon his second marriage. When he was eighteen years old, in 1873, he moved to Vernon county, where he was employed by Mr. Eugene Dodd, in Richland township. He attended the district schools and studied also in Westminster College at Fulton, Mo. At the age of nineteen he began teaching at a place then known as Hoover, in Vernon county, and followed that occupation con- tinuously during the winter months, engaging in farm work dur- ing vacations and summers until 1904, a period of more than thirty years. During these years Mr. Higgins taught in all sec- tions of Vernon county and had under his charge scores of youths who are now prosperous and substantial citizens engaged in life's real work throughout all the communities round about. Mr. Higgins has served one term as county assessor, one term as city assessor, and in 1904 was elected to the office of city clerk, which he still holds, having been re-elected for each succeeding term, a fact which speaks more eloquently than any words of praise as to his faithfulness and general efficiency as a public official.
On May 5, 1891, he married Miss Emma G., a daughter of Col. William Hocker, a prominent farmer and stockman of Howard county, Missouri. Of three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Higgins, Margaret, the eldest, is married to Mr. Ira E.
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Keller, of Lexington, Mo .; Estella is the wife of Professor S. J. Phelps, of Mountain Grove, Mo., and Robert L. is in the employ of Messrs. Goss and Glenn at Nevada.
Mr. Higgins is active in fraternal orders, being identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen of America. In religious faith he is affiliated with the Christian denomination.
Henry P. Hildebrant, who was counted among the wealthiest men of Nevada, Mo., and who passed away on April 13, 1909, as the result of a paralytic stroke, was born in New Jersey in 1832. His first business venture in the Southwest was at Fort Scott, Kan., whence he removed to Nevada in 1874. He was a man of good business judgment, with fine executive and financial abili- ties, and far-sighted withal, and with faith in the possibilities of Nevada he made large investments in valuable, well-located prop- erties, purchasing several business blocks and erecting others in the business center of Nevada, which rapidly increased in value with the remarkable growth and development of the city.
Mr. Hildebrant devoted his careful attention to the care and management of his property investments, and although he was actively interested in other business enterprises, it was from his real estate investments that he gained his great wealth. He was since 1884, a stockholder in the First National Bank of Nevada, and was vice-president of that strong financial institution at the time of his decease. Among other fine buildings Mr. Hildebrant erected and fitted up one of the finest homes in the city in which he lived at the time he passed away. Not only did he stand high in financial circles but also in his home and domestic relations and among his friends he was greatly beloved and esteemed for his loyalty and devotion to those near and dear to him.
Mr. Hildebrant was united in marriage to Mary E. Daley on December 24, 1890, and besides his devoted wife left surviving him two daughters, Almeda, born November 5, 1893, and Agnes, born December 16, 1895.
Mrs. Hildebrant is a capable woman of splendid business ability and qualifications, and since her husband's decease has assumed entire charge and control of the affairs of the estate and her home, where she and the daughters now reside.
HP Hildebrandt
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William W. Hill, the second child and eldest son in a family of seven children, was born November 12, 1840, in Warren county, Illinois, his parents being Thomas and America (Whitman) Hill, both Kentuckians by birth. The former was an excellent farmer in the Blue Grass State, and after coming to Missouri in 1849 resumed his former occupation until his death in Pettis county. His wife survived him until 1881, when she died in Warren county, Illinois. William W. was nine years old when the family. removed to Pettis county, Missouri, and from that time on until reaching his majority he passed his youth at farming in either Pettis or Cooper counties. During the progress of the Civil War he was by no means an idle looker-on, but for four years saw active service and twice realized most forcibly the real nature of that internecine strife. Three years he was in the Sixth Arkansas infantry and one year in the First Missouri cavalry, taking part in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Chickamauga and others of less importance, as well as several engagements west of the Mississippi river, such as Westport, Little Blue, Newtonia, Fay- etteville and Gum Springs. Two wounds were received by him, one at Shiloh and the other at Perryville. After returning from the army Mr. Hill came to Vernon county. For some time he was interested in farming, but subsequently entered into official life as assessor of the county, his duties as such lasting two years. In 1884 he was elected sheriff of the county, and was chosen for a second term. In 1869 Mr. Hill married Miss Marsaline Chambers, of St. Charles county, Missouri, though reared in Vernon county, and to them were born six children: Edmund Lee, Francis S., Thomas, William, Roy and Marmaduke. Mr. Hill was a member of the Masonic fraternity. He departed this life April 6, 1897.
William Hiller, now deceased, was a man of acknowledged prominence and substantial worth. He came originally from Greene county, Pennsylvania, where he was born February 5, 1832. His grandfather was William Hiller, and his father's name was also William. The latter was reared in Greene county, Penn- sylvania, and devoted himself largely to mercantile business, in which he became well known. When a young man he married Miss Charlotte Mulliken, whose father was Dr. John Mulliken, and as a result of this marriage nine children, six boys and three girls, were born. Five of the boys, together with the father, were
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in the Union army, one laying down his life at Hannibal while en route to join the regiment of which his brothers were already members. William grew to manhood in his native state, learning first the trade of saddle and harness making, after which, going to Alton, Ill., he engaged in the grain business for a brother-in- law, remaining there until 1857. About this time he started a mercantile establishment at Athens, Mo., conducting it up to March, 1858, following which he located in this county. Mr. Hiller's estimable wife was formerly Miss Sarah Roseberry, daughter of Thomas H. and Mary (Hill) Roseberry, to whom he was married September 27, 1857. Mrs. Hiller was also born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, but accompanied her parents to Clarke county, Missouri, in an early day. Their family numbered seven children : William, John M., Margaret M., wife of Hosea Potter ; Charlotte A., Harriet F., Sarah E. and Eva E. Mr. Hiller enlisted as a guide and scout and for a time was under General Blount and Colonel Judson, of the Sixth Kansas ; subsequently he entered the Second Missouri, and afterwards the Thirty-fifth Mis- souri, serving until the close of the war, a portion of the time as first lieutenant.
E. Seward Hood,* a prominent citizen of Metz township, Ver- non county, Missouri, was born in Columbia county, New York, September 4, 1846, and is the eldest of a family of five children born to Joseph and Lucretia (Teal) Hood, both natives of that county, where they grew up and were married, and settled on a farm, the father being a prominent stock raiser. In 1862, the family moved to Du Page county, Illinois, where the father rented land near Wheaton and continued his stock raising and farming operations four years. In the spring of 1867 the family settled on a farm of seventy-five acres on Reed's Creek, in Metz township, Vernon county, Missouri, and here, after the father's death in July, 1868, the mother and her boys continued to live and raise and feed cattle for the market. About 1880 the mother sold the home farm to her youngest son, and thereafter made her home with our subject till her decease in June, 1883, at the age of sixty-nine years. The other children of the family are : Catherine, who is married to Mr. Oliver Jones, of Santa Anna, Cal .; Lucious, of Metz township; Mary, the wife of Mr. John
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Hedden, of Metz township, and Edward, who bought the home farm.
E. Seward first attended "subscription schools" in his native state and after the family went to Illinois, studied in the public schools of Wheaton and at Wheaton College. He remained on the farm with his mother and after his father's death, till he was twenty-three years old. In 1872 he bought a farm of seventy acres in section 3, Metz township, where he has since made his home, engaged to a limited extent, in breeding horses, mules and swine, but giving his chief attention to fine poultry and- raising fruit. Mr. Hood is a man of domestic tastes, strongly attached to his home, and though a loyal Republican in political opinions, has never held office except that of township trustee. In religious faith and fellowship he is affiliated with the Christian Church.
In 1872 Mr. Hood was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. Wickham, who was born near Zanesville, O., in 1855, and who passed away in 1888, leaving two children surviving, viz .: Robert Edward, who was born in 1874, and now lives at Golindo, Tex., and Lillie, who was born in January, 1876, and who is the wife of Mr. Fred Henley, of Adrian, Bates county, Missouri. One child, an infant of one year, died in 1879. In 1888 Mr. Hood married his present wife, Lillie, (who was born in Cooper county, Missouri) a daughter of E. Le Roy and Margaret (Mumford) Stephens, the former born in Tennessee in 1832 and the latter a native of England, born in 1845; she (Mrs. Stephens) was brought to this country when she was about one year old, by her parents, who settled in New York City. When she was thir- teen years of age she went to Benton county, Missouri, with her adopted parents, and after her marriage to Mr. Stephens, they moved to Cooper county and lived there till their removal to Metz, in Vernon county, in 1878. A little later they went to Rich Hill to live, but afterwards returned to Metz, where Mr. Stephens died in 1900, at the age of sixty-eight years and where Mrs. Stephens passed away in 1909. They had a family of four chil- dren, viz .: Fannie Stephens, of Metz; Lydia, who was married to Mr. Robert Stephens, now deceased, and who lives in Cooper county, Missouri; Stella, the wife of Mr. John Campbell, of Ft. Scott, Kan., and Lillie, who is married to our subject.
Mr. and Mrs. Hood have one child, E. Seward Hood, who was horn March 23, 1903.
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Samuel F. Hoppenbrock, a native Missourian, was born in Drywood township, Vernon county, December 2, 1869, the sixth child of a family of eight children born to Francis W. and Mary (Simpson) Hoppenbrock, who were married January 20, 1859. The father, born in Prussia, Germany, was the sixth of a family of ten children born to Henry F. and Gertie (Feldman) Hoppen- brock, both natives of the Fatherland. Francis W. left home when he was twenty-five years old and came to this country, settling first at St. Louis, Mo., and going thence, three months later, to St. Charles county, where he lived three years. In 1856 he settled in Vernon county, with barely enough money to enter eighty acres of land in section 21, Drywood township. Going to work with a will, by hard work, frugality and thrift, he mas- tered all obstacles and added to his original purchase from time to time, until he owned 860 acres, all acquired by his own efforts. He served in the Confederate army, a member of Col. D. C. Hun- ter's regiment, under General Price, and after leaving the army returned to his home and lived there on the first eighty acres he entered, till his decease, July 11, 1899. Our subject's mother was born in Gasconade county, Missouri, April 8, 1836, and was a daughter of Samuel Simpson, who moved from Gasconade county, Missouri, to Drywood township, Vernon county, in 1847, and lived there until the fall of 1877, and then moved to Brown county, Texas. He was born July 15, 1814, and died May 13, 1894. The mother passed away February 21, 1906. Of the other seven chil- dren born to Francis W. and Mary, the eldest, now Mrs. Howard F. Stevens, was born March 2, 1860; the second, born March 2, 1862, was married to Mr. August Kuhlman and died June 19, 1890; Charles H., who was born August 24, 1863, passed away February 10, 1894; the fourth child, born October 16, 1865, is the wife of Mr. J. N. Ford; Lee, born November 17, 1867, died De- cember 28, 1868; Lewey B., born July 9, 1872, died April 16, 1896, and Emma, who was born July 13, 1874, passed away December 16, 1897. Both the father and mother were worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Samuel F. grew up on the family homestead and lived with his; parents till he was twenty-eight years old, when, on January 28, 1897, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Kuhlman, who was born in Warren county, Missouri, May 24, 1874, to August and Anna (Wafle) Kuhlman, the former born in Germany, Sep-
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tember 24, 1833, and the latter in Warren county, Missouri, in September, 1836. They were married in Warren county in 1859 and had a family of ten children, Mrs. Hoppenbrock being their sixth child. Of the others, Henry, born in 1861, died in 1862; Au- gust was born June 23, 1863; the third child, now Mrs. Fred Runty, was born in 1866; William was born September 26, 1868; Charles was born November 10, 1871; John was born October 27, 1876 ; the eighth child, now the wife of Mr. Julian Obendorf, was born April 2, 1879 ; the next, who is now Mr. Floyd Pettibone, was born October 10, 1881; and Edward, the youngest child, was born February 18, 1884. August Kuhlman (Mrs. Hoppenbrock's father) left his native land at the age of thirteen for this country, and settling in Warren county, Missouri, there married and engaged in farming till his removal to Vernon county in 1881. He was a thoroughly systematic farmer, energetic, frugal and thrifty, and at the time of his decease, in 1891, owned 600 acres of splendid farming land in Drywood township. His widow passed away in 1893. After his marriage Mr. Samuel Hoppenbrock continued on the home farm till 1891, when he moved with his wife to Shel- don and for eight years gave his attention to the livery business. Selling this business he, in company with Mr. C. C. Donaldson, under the firm name of Hoppenbrock & Donaldson, engaged in the real estate business, which he has continued to the present time with gratifying success. Mr. Hoppenbrock owns a fine farm of 140 acres, where he makes his home, and another of 155 acres in Cedar county. He is a Democrat in political opinion and is now-1911-serving as city clerk at Sheldon. He is identified with Sheldon Lodge No. 438, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Mr. and Mrs. Hoppenbrock have two children, viz., William A., born July 2, 1898, and Clara E., who was born April 9, 1902.
John Horn* is a prosperous farmer of Deerfield township, Vernon county, Missouri, and a prominent man in his com- munity. He was born in Hancock county, Kentucky, February 22, 1861, and is a son of Willis and Nancy (Boyd) Horn, both of whom were natives of Virginia, and died there. On attaining his majority in 1882, our subject came to Vernon county, Mis- souri, and began as a farm laborer and worked four years. On
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February 26, 1887, he was united in marriage with Miss Susan Baker, and they settled on a sixty-acre farm in section twenty, Drywood township, which Mrs. Horn had inherited, and later Mr. Horn bought eighty acres in section sixteen. Mr. Horn is a systematic and successful farmer and gives his attention closely to his farm operations. In political matters he adheres to the principles of the Democratic party as propounded by William Jennings Bryan, and takes a commendable interest in local party affairs. Mrs. Horn passed away in 1909, and on August 3, 1910, Mr. Horn married Mrs. T. Thornton, of Vernon county. There are no children by either marriage.
Joseph T. Hornback is a prominent physician of Nevada, Ver- non county, Missouri. He was born at Smithville, in Clay county, June 22, 1872, and is the youngest of three children born to John and Amanda Hornback, both of German lineage. The parents moved from Pennsylvania, their native state, to Missouri more than fifty years ago and passed their active lives on a farm. The father died at Nevada in 1908 at the age of sixty-eight years, and the mother still resides there.
Joseph T. spent his boyhood on his father's farm and gained his early education in the public schools of his native town. Later he attended Bryan College, at Sprague, Mo., and then pur- sued a course of study in Kansas City Medical College (now Kansas University), where he was graduated with the class of 1896. Dr. Hornback at once opened an office at Metz, in Vernon county, and continued there nine years, building up an extensive and lucrative practice and becoming widely known as a suc- cessful physician and surgeon.
In 1906 Dr. Hornback was appointed coroner of Vernon county, to serve the unexpired term of Dr. Truax, of Milo. At the expiration of that term he was elected to the office by the people, then re-elected at the end of his term, and is now-1911- filling that office efficiently and to the satisfaction of all parties.
Dr Hornback stands high among his professional brethren and is identified with the various national, state and county medical organizations. He is especially active in fraternal circles, being a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Brotherhood of America, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Yeomen, the Triple Tie and the Court of Honor.
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Oliver H. Hoss is one of the leading lawyers of Nevada, Ver- non county, Missouri, and comes of an old and prominent Ten- nessee family. His grandfather, Henry Hoss, was for many years prior to and at the time of his decease president of Greenfield College, Tennessee, and he married Miss Mary Blackburn. Repre- sentatives of the family moved from Pennsylvania to Tennessee in the early days. Oliver H., a native of Pettis county, Missouri, was born December 4, 1858, and is next to the youngest child of a family of nine children-seven of whom survive-born to Samuel B. and Almeda (Snell) Hoss. The father was a Tennessean by birth, and at an early day took up a claim near Sedalia, in Pettis county, Missouri, and was a successful and prosperous farmer and stockman and influential citizen there during his active life. He attained the age of eighty-four years, and passed away in 1904. The mother was a native of Monroe county, Missouri. Her death occurred in 1863, when she was forty years of age. Of their other children, Albina was married to Dr. W. P. King, now deceased, and lives in Kansas City ; Albert B. is a resident of Southwest City, Mo .; Granville S. lives at Cherryvale, Kan .; Emma is the wife of Dr. L. O. Ellis, of Neosho, Mo .; Edwin resides in Colorado and Fannie is married to Mr. W. A. Arnold and lives in Kansas City. Henry P. and Theodore are deceased.
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