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 36
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Mr. Miller is a Republican in political opinions and actions,
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and in religious faith and fellowship is identified with the United Brethren Church.
Harrison Mitchell, now retired from active business, has been for many years a prominent factor in the civil affairs of Nevada, where he has lived since 1878. He is a native of Warren county, Indiana, and was born March 17, 1844, and is the third child of a family of eleven children, nine of whom are now living-1911- born to Henry L. and Caroline (Osborn) Mitchell, who were mar- ried in Ohio, their native state, and moved from there to Indiana, and thence, in 1858, to Callaway county, Missouri, remaining there until 1860, then going to Benton county, Missouri, where they spent their active lives. The father was a farmer by occu- pation, and was prominent in military affairs during the days of border troubles and for a time was in charge of an Indian trading post in Colorado. Both he and his wife passed their declining days in Nevada, where he died in 1896 at the age of seventy-five years and where she passed away in her eighty-fifth year, in 1906.
Our subject grew up on his father's farm and acquired his education in the district schools. When seventeen years old he enlisted in the Union cause, in response to President Lincoln's call for three months' men, and at the end of that time re- enlisted for three years, in Company K, Eighth regiment, Mis- souri Volunteer Cavalry, and was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. At the expiration of his three-year term of service Lieutenant Mitchell organized Company E, Fourteenth regiment, Missouri veteran volunteer cavalry, and served as its captain till the end of the war. He served on the frontier-Indians' Santa Fe trail, at Fort Lyon, Colorado, and in 1865 was dis- charged at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Returning to Benton county, he was soon thereafter elected sheriff, then re-elected and served a second term, after which he served two years as ex- officio collector. On retiring from this office he engaged in farming for a time, and in 1874 went to Sedalia, Mo., and spent a year as proprietor of the Elgin house, after which he con- ducted a hotel at Appleton, Mo., for a year.
In 1878 Mr. Mitchell removed to Nevada, Vernon county, and, purchasing a prominent corner, erected the Hotel Mitchell, which he conducted as a first-class hostelry for nearly thirty
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years. In 1907 he leased his hotel to Messrs. Terry and Rafter, the present proprietors, and retired from active business.
Mr. Mitchell organized the first company of National Guards of Nevada-the old Fifth regiment-which was merged into the Second, and commanded Company H a number of years. At the opening of the Spanish-American War his regiment was ordered to the front and was the first southern regiment on the ground. Captain Mitchell was promoted to the rank of major, and served with his regiment to the close of the war with Spain, during which time he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the regiment and had command of the Second regiment at the close of the war and mustered out the organization on March, 1899, at Albany, Ga. He continued in command of the regiment and upon the return home reorganized it and was commissioned colonel, taking part in all military gatherings and encampments till August 6, 1906, when he resigned, receiving from his com- rades on that occasion a beautiful and elaborate loving cup as a token of their kindly feeling and loving regard.
Colonel Mitchell is a man of generous impulses, kind-hearted, loyal and true to the highest ideals of manly virtue, and is justly counted among the foremost of the public-spirited citizens of the city, in whose welfare he has devoted the best years of his life.
In politics he has always been a Republican and fraternally is connected with the Masonic order, being a Knight Templar, also with the Knights of Pythias and Grand Army of the Republic, having served as junior vice-commander of the state encampment, and is a member of the Loyal Legion of the State of Missouri.
Robert Willis Mitchell, well known as a wide awake journalist of Nevada, Mo., is a native Missourian, and was born in Clarke county, January 18, 1858, the elder of two children born to William C. and Nannie P. (Curd) Mitchell.
The father, also a native of Missouri, was a farmer by occupa- tion, and died when our subject was a young lad. The mother still survives and is living in New Mexico.
Robert W. grew to manhood in Montgomery and Ralls coun- ties and acquired a good education which has been of inestimable value to him in subsequent years. He was a student at Mont- gomery College for a time. Also studied in Westminster College,
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at Fulton, Mo., and secured mental training and a theoretical knowledge that soon afterwards was enhanced and strengthened by an invaluable practical experience. Mr. Mitchell began his journalistic career when he was but nineteen years of age, as editor and publisher of a college paper, showing marked ability and enterprise. Following this he was connected with the "Chamois Leader," and a little later became interested in the publication of the "Ralls County Guide." Removing to Nevada in 1883, he associated himself with Mr. R. B. Speed as one of the editors and proprietors of the "Southwest Mail," and became a prominent factor in the life and history of that journal whose influence as a news gatherer and moulder of public opinions was widely felt not only locally, but also througout a wide range of territory in the state and southwest. In the sketch of Mr. Speed, appearing elsewhere in this work, further mention is made of that paper and its growth and influence. In 1896 Mr. Mitchell assumed the duties of his present position as editor of the "Even- ing Post," at Nevada, whose popularity and power under his able management is a matter of common report.
On December 8, 1881, Mr. Mitchell was united in marriage with Miss Maggie Wellman, a native of Ralls county, Missouri, and they have two children named, respectively, Curd and Virginia Mitchell.
George H. Mobley was born in Hickman county, Kentucky, September 5, 1845, and was the son of H. P. Mobley, a native of Chariton county, Missouri, born in 1811. His wife was formerly Miss Mary Jackson, a Kentuckian by birth, born in 1815, and their marriage occurred in Hickman county, that state, where also their children were all born save the youngest daughter. The father gave his attention to agricultural pursuits in the Blue Grass State up to 1856, when he moved to Vernon county, Missouri, purchasing and entering at that time some 1,400 acres of land. The children in his family were Lucy E., Sarah E., Mary N., Amanda J., George H., Annie L., Julia S., Nancy A. and Ida J. George, the only son, was principally brought up in this county. October 29, 1867, he was married to Miss Susan Logan, daughter of Israel Logan and Susan, nee Belcher, the former of Montgomery and the latter of Bates county, Missouri. Mrs. Mobley was born in this county, September 23, 1848. After
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this event Mr. Mobley resided in Nevada for several years, serv- ing part of the time most acceptably as deputy sheriff under L. J. Shaw, and following that he was engaged in the grocery business twelve years, during the greater part of which period he resided on a farm north of town, now a part of the asylum tract. After disposing of this place he returned to the old home- stead in Clear Creek township, where he was occupied in con- ducting a most excellent farm of 775 acres, especially adapted for the raising of stock and bees, having superior water facili- ties, etc.
Martin L. Modrel was among the earliest pioneer settlers of southwest Missouri. Born at Harmony Mission, Bates county, Missouri, October 8, 1827, he was the son of William and Philena Modrel, nee Dodge, the former of Tennessee, and the latter of Vermont nativity. William Modrel up to the time of his death was a man of prominence and influence in this section. Mrs. Modrel was a daughter of Nathaniel B. Dodge, Sr., a Congre- gational minister, who came from Barry, Vt., in 1820, and founded Harmony Mission, being superintendent of the Mission family and leading them on their long journey from Vermont, which lasted seven or eight months. As previously mentioned he was at the head of the Mission until it was disbanded and disorganized owing to the removal of the Indians, though his zeal and love for them followed them to their reservation on the Neosho river, where he
remained three or four years. Subsequently he returned and settled on the farm later occupied by Mr. Modrel, where his death occurred September 3, 1848; his remains now rest in the old cemetery near Balltown. Before coming to Missouri, he had fought in the War of 1812, at the battle of Bennington; his father had fought valiantly for independence. Mr. and Mrs. Modrel had two children besides Martin; Mary E., born June 27, 1829, married Marcus P. Woodruff, and died in 1855; Sarah, born February 21, 1831, became Mrs. Hiram P. Wells, and resided in this county until her death in 1865. Martin L. came with his father's family to Vernon county when four years old and received his educational instruction at pioneer subscription schools and from his father, a man well qualified to teach and impart knowl- edge. At the age of 22 he went overland to California (in 1850), reaching there after four months of hazardous and perilous ad-
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ventures. For twelve months he was unsuccessfully engaged in prospecting in the mines, then took charge of a cattle ranch, and afterwards, until 1859. was occupied in blacksmithing, then returning to Missouri full of life and vigor after so many years of hardy mountain experience. When the war broke out he was among the first to enlist in the Confederate Army, joining Com- pany F, Hunter's Regiment, remaining with it until 1862, when he organized a company and served as its lieutenant until the close of the war. He took active part in the battles of Carthage, Wilson's Creek, Drywood, Lexington, Pea Ridge, Helena, Prairie Grove, and numerous others. February 10, 1870, Mr. Modrel was married to Miss Eliza L. C. Sterling, daughter of Robert A. Sterling, of Osage township.
Harry C. Moore, who is recognized as one of the leaders in the, commercial and business circles of Nevada, Mo., was born near Paris, in Monroe county, June 9, 1849. He is the youngest of a family of three children born to Judge William and Nancy (Dun- can) Moore. The father moved from Virginia, his native state, to Missouri at an early day. He was a prosperous farmer in Monroe county, holding many offices of trust, and passed away there in 1856. His wife was a native of Nelson county, Kentucky, Judge William Moore was married four times and left three sets of children.
Harry C. passed his boyhood in Missouri and Kentucky, acquir- ing his education in the public schools of Paris and at the St. Paul college, a military school at Palmyra. Before attaining his majority he gained a considerable knowledge of mercantile business. having spent five years in the large house of Messrs. W. H. Johnson & Company at Quincy, Illinois. He came to Nevada, then a struggling village of three hundred inhabitants, in 1870, when he established, in a modest way, the general mer- chandising house which, under his careful and efficient manage- ment, has grown and extended with the growth and development of the city, until it now ranks among the largest and most com- plete drygoods houses in the Southwest. Not only to his own business has Mr. Moore devoted himself with untiring zeal, but also in the development of his adopted city, has he been an im- portant factor, his pride in her growth equaling in intensity that felt in his own private affairs; always a builder, he erected many
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substantial business buildings and residences. Most prominent was the Moore's Opera House, which was destroyed by fire twice. Mr. Moore was one of the originators and later owner of Lake Springs Park, which he developed from a small beginning into a place of surpassing beauty, widely known as one of the most delightful pleasure resorts in the State. Largely through his per- sistent work, State Insane Asylum No. 3 was located at Nevada, an institution which has greatly enhanced the material prosperity of the city, and not only was he one of its original board of managers, but also served as an appointee under every administra- tion since the chair of state was occupied by Governor Marma- duke. Nevada, known as the Gem City, owes her prosperity and high standing to the enterprise and progressive spirit that actuate her business men, among whom none is more deserving of credit than Harry C. Moore.
In January 1871, Mr. Moore was united in marriage with Miss Mollie McKay, of Chicago, a Southern lady. To them has been born one child, Glessner, who is married to Mr. George S. Few and lives in Nevada.
Mr. Moore stands high in many orders. He is a Mason and a member of O'Sullivan Commandery No. 16, Knights Templar of Nevada, a Shriner, Elk and member of the Knights of Pythias. In politics a Democrat ; upon all questions broad and liberal in his views.
James H. Moore, deceased, was born in Jefferson county, Virginia, October 30, 1819. James Moore, his father, was a native of Pennsylvania, but after moving to Virginia he married Miss Barbara Skyles, of the same state as himself, and they subse- quently reared a family of children, six in number. In 1835 he came to Missouri, settling in Callaway county first, but later in St. Charles county, from whence they moved to this (Vernon) county in 1835. Here the father died, May 4, 1857, leaving seven children living: Mary Ann, Evaline, John, James H., Hezekiah, Sarah J. and Joseph. Mrs. Moore died in Virginia. James H. passed his early life upon a farm in Callaway county, subse- quently being located in St. Charles county. His residence in Vernon dates from the year 1853. In 1849 he went overland to California, worked in the mines with good success, and in Au- gust, 1853, returned to the states, finally entering the land where
HARRY C. MOORE.
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he lived. April 5, 1855, Mr. Moore was married to Miss Esther Ann Caton, whose father, Noah Caton, was a native of South Carolina. Mrs. Moore was the first white child born south of the Marmaton river in Vernon county, her natal day being June 9, 1839.
Eugene Rodolph Morerod, M. D. In various places within the present volume the name that heads this brief biography has been referred to, and very properly, too, for without flattery it may truthfully be said that no man in the county is more deserving of mention, or has done more to merit just recognition than he. Dr. Morerod was born at Vevay, Switzerland county, Ind., May 18, 1825. Rodolph Morerod, his father, was a native of Canton De Vaux, Switzerland, a boatman and cabinet maker by trade. He was reared in that country and in 1817 emigrated to the United States, settling near Vevay, Ind., where he remained single until his marriage in 1824. Subsequently with his family he lived there until the year 1826, when, on May 12, his death occurred, caused by the discharge of a cannon at a wedding celebration of a com- rade, who belonged to the same military company. His wife, who was a cousin of his. Miss Harriet Louisa Morerod, of Swiss parent- age, though born in the United States, was a daughter of Jean Daniel Morerod, one of the early Swiss pioneers, who at Vevay first introduced the culture of the grape west of the Alleghanies. He was a man noted for his liberality and hospitality. At his death Mr. Morerod left besides his widow an only child, Eugene R., at that time but one year old. Deprived of the care and guidance of a father, the education and development of this boy devolved upon his mother, who was a woman of many noble traits and force of character, and well did she discharge the duties placed upon her. He was also a pupil of Mrs. Julia L. Dumont (authoress of "Life Sketches from Common Paths" -- a work of wide repute at the time of its first introduction), and subsequently studied Latin in the law office of the father of Rev. Dr. Eggleston, who was a prominent lawyer. Spending the early portion of his life on a farm among orchards and vineyards, Eugene thus passed his time until the age of seventeen, when he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Joseph Mccutcheon, a celebrated physician of that day , and a graduate from the best schools of Dublin and Edinburgh. After a four years' course of preparatory study
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he took one course of lectures at the Ohio Medical College, of Cincinnati, O., but in May following further intentions in this direction were interrupted by the call for troops to participate in the war with Mexico. Enlisting in Co. D, 3d Indiana, under Capt. Scott Carter, he was soon made hospital steward, in the medical department, but took part in the battle of Buena Vista, after which he received an honorable discharge and returned home. Resuming the study of medicine, he was soon in attend- ance upon another course of lectures, and in March, 1848, was graduated, his first field of practice being in his native town. After remaining there some two years he removed to Louisiana, going thence in January, 1853, to Madrid Bend, Tenn., where at the outbreak of the war he had built up a large and lucrative practice. Entering into active military service, he enlisted a com- pany for the Confederate service and was commissioned second lieutenant of Co. G, 1st regiment, 1st division, Missouri State Guard. He was with Gen. Jeff. Thompson, and in September following they crossed the river into Tennessee and enlisted in the C. S. A., being assigned to different regiments until finally formed into the 33d Tennessee infantry. At the reorganization of the army in 1862 the Doctor was unanimously elected first lieu- tenant of his company by his comrades. At Shiloh he received a severe wound and also a slight one at Murfreesboro, where he was made captain; was subsequently wounded on the Stoneman raid at Macon, Ga. He served in various capacities, as quarter- master commissary, as aid to the provost marshal in the field, train surgeon, and the close of the war found him as surgeon in charge of wayside small-pox hospital at La Grange, Ga. He was soon made hospital steward of the 3d regiment of Indiana, and not only performed the duties of that position, but frequently that of surgeon and assistant surgeon in addition. Finally the war closed and then the Doctor returned to Obion county, Tenn., the scene of his long labors, and there again took up his profes- sional duties as physician and surgeon. April 26, 1866, Miss Elizabeth M. Russell became his wife, her birth having occurred in Cincinnati, O., but whose parents moved from there to Switzer- ยท land county, when she was quite young. In the spring of 1867 they left Tennessee, and after spending some five or six months in his native town came to Missouri on the 21st of September, 1867, locating in Nevada. Vernon county, where for several years
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he was engaged in practicing. Later on he was also occupied in the real estate business, but upon closing out his interests in that calling settled upon a farm near Schell City, where he actively en- gaged in attending to the duties of this occupation. In everything which tended to the advancement of the county he took an active and unselfish interest, and particularly in the direction of the development of coal deposits in the county; no man in the county did as much to awaken this interest as Dr. Morerod. In educational matters he was long an acknowledged leader, his energies having been to this end. Prominently identified with horticultural matters, he was none the less helpful in many other directions, and while he took great interest in these various enterprises not half the credit due was accorded him. To the Doctor and his worthy wife four children were given: Antoinette D., Samuel R., Amie W. and Eugene R.
James Henry Morris, who departed this life November 12, 1905, was born in Simpson county, Kentucky, June 12, 1830. He was the next to the eldest of a family of seven children born to Andrew and Lavina (Foley) Morris, natives of Kentucky, the father being of Scotch lineage. Their other surviving children are : Almira J., the wife of Mr. John Snow, of Lawrence county, Missouri ; Thomas J., George W., Polly Ann; Alexander and John Marshall Morris, deceased.
James Henry grew to manhood in his native state and first worked with his father at the carpenter's trade. He settled at Mt. Vernon in Lawrence county, Missouri, in 1851, and two years later moved to Nevada, Vernon county. He served two years and ten months in the Confederate Army, as a member of Col. D. C. Hunter's regiment, after which he returned to Nevada and lived there till his decease.
On November 25, 1854, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah L. Baugh, of Nevada, a daughter of Benjamin and Marie (Boone) Baugh; the former moved from Virginia, his native State, to Kentucky, and in the fall of 1853 settled in Nevada. He was a son of Joseph Baugh, a farmer, who was soldier in the War of 1812 and also in the Black Hawk War, and whose wife's maiden name was Mary Gentry.
Benjamin and Marie (Boone) Baugh had a family of four children, named Moorning, who is married to Mr. James Cum-
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mins, of Nevada ; William R., who died in the Confederate Army ; Sarah L., widow of our subject, who was born January 20, 1840, and Patsy, the wife of Mr. Angus L. Journey, of Nevada. On coming to Vernon county, Mrs. Morris' father (Benjamin Baugh) entered from the Government much of the land on which East Nevada was built at a later date, and he gave to the city the site of the Central High School Building. He was a public-spirited man and had great faith in the future of the city.
Mrs. Morris has a vivid recollection of the perilous times dur- ing the Civil War, when Nevada was pillaged and burned by the Northern troops, and of the attendant heart-rending scenes. But notwithstanding these sad memories, she has always had a strong attachment for the place where she has lived since she was a child of thirteen years. Of nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Morris, those surviving are: Franklin B., who lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma ; Mary A., who has taught in Nevada schools seventeen years and is now-1911-principal of Franklin School; Edith A., of Nevada; Don, who is married to Mr. L. H. Hogan, of El- dorado Springs, and Thomas H., of Nevada. Those deceased are : Martha A., Sterling P., Mary L. and Alberta. who was married to Mr. Thomas F. Griffin, of Lakeland, Florida.
Mr. Morris (Uncle Henry Morris, as he was familiarly called) had a very wide acquaintance throughout Vernon county and was known as one of the largest stock dealers in this section. He was a large-hearted, broad-minded man and under all cir- cumstances was cheerful and optimistic. He knew what adversity meant, and he knew what it was to abound; but whatever the condition, he had learned therewith to be content, and so he was always cheerful, and for everyone had a kindly look, a friendly hand and a hopeful word.
He was a man of high ideals, who loved the true and the good and who despised a sham. Open-hearted, pure-minded and sympathetic, he delighted in doing for others, and by his kindly deeds and helpful, manly words, challenged the love and esteem of all who came within the range of his influence. His home life was ideal. A wise, indulgent father, a loyal, chivalrous husband, his influence with those bound to him by love's strong ties was such that his memory is cherished in fondest remem- brance and held as the choicest legacy that could have come to them.
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As a friend he was loyal and true, and in all his relations with his fellow men he sought to carry out the teachings of his Master, as laid down in the golden rule, and how well he suc- ceeded was aptly shown in the universal expressions of sorrow from all who had known him long and well when they realized that he had been called to the higher life and they should see his benign face and hear his kindly greeting never again.
Mr. Morris was for many years a worthy member of Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church of Nevada. Through all the suffer- ings of his last illness he bore his pains with that same fortitude and patience that characterized him throughout his life, and passed peacefully away early Sunday evening, November 12, 1905, and his body was gently laid to rest by loving hands, in Deepwood Cemetery, to wait the resurrection morn.
Charles W. Morrison was born in Morgan county, Illinois, February 16, 1860, the eldest of a family of four boys and one girl born to John W. and Mary (Peak) Morrison, both natives of Illinois. The father moved to Vernon county, Missouri, in 1869, and settled on a farm in Coal township, where he was known as a thorough farmer and esteemed as a man of upright, sterling character, a good neighbor and a worthy citizen. He died at the family home in 1906, his death being preceded by that of his wife, who passed away in 1903.
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