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 41
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pliment to say that his duties were discharged in a manner above reproach.
The Judge's wife was formerly Miss Mary A. Norris, also of New York nativity, and to them six children were born : Edward N., Lewis C., John J., Albert G., William H. and Austin. In religious belief Judge Requa was a Presbyterian. His death occurred November 20, 1893.
Thomas J. Rice, known as a substantial business man and citizen of Nevada, Mo., is of English and Scotch lineage and a native of Mckean county, Pennsylvania. He was born May 4, 1851, to J. H. and Roxanna (Ames) Rice, the former a native of New York and the latter of Vermont. They settled on a farm in Iowa in 1866, where the father was a local ordained minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Thomas J. grew to manhood on the farm and gained his edu- cation in the district schools. When he was twenty-two years old he began working at the carpenter's trade with his father, who was a millwright, machinist and bridge builder. Later he was engaged for a time in contract work at Sioux Falls, S. D., and in 1888 took up his residence in Nevada, where he has since made his home. During his earlier life, Mr. Rice built a number of bridges in Green county, Iowa, but since settling in Nevada has given his attention mostly to general contract work and has erected more than fifty of the finest business blocks and resi- dences in the city, and besides the state line bridge between the states of Missouri and Kansas has had charge of numerous other structures of that character, being recognized as a leader and expert in his line of business. Mr. Rice is identified with several fraternal orders, being a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which he has five times represented at the Grand Lodge, and also belonging to M. B. A., and represented this congressional district at the supreme con- vention of this order held at Denver, August 8 to 14, 1911.
On December 24, 1871, Mr. Rice married Miss Rebecca C. Blackburn, a daughter of James Blackburn, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Two children have been born to them, of whom, Cora E., the eldest, is married to Mr. J. R. Parsom, of Vernon county, and James C. is a partner in his father's business, which is carried on under the firm name of T. J. Rice & Son.
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James B. Ridgway, a prosperous farmer of Lake township, Ver- non county, Missouri, was born in Hamilton county, Indiana, June 18, 1860. He was the fifth child and is one of four sur- vivors of a family of ten children born to James and Elizabeth (Aldridge) Ridgway, both natives of Indiana. The paternal grandparents lived in Virginia. The maternal grandparents were of English and Scotch lineage. James Ridgway, our sub- ject's father, moved with his wife and eight children from Indiana to Kansas, and lived at Fort Scott some three years. In February, 1873, he settled in Lake township, Vernon county, Missouri, and cultivated leased land there till his decease in 1884. He was a good man, modest, unassuming and quiet in manner, and withal, kind hearted and charitable, giving cheer- fully and generously according to his ability and means, to worthy objects and those in need.
Our subject grew up in his father's home and attended the common schools and had the varied experiences common to the farmer boy. When he was twenty-seven years old, on Novem- ber 13, 1887, he was united in marriage with Miss Samantha Flagor, whose family came from Piatt county, Illinois. For several years after his marriage, Mr. Ridgway worked leased land, but in 1894 bought a small farm of forty acres in section 32, Lake township. He has since added to his original purchase and now, 1911, owns, in sections 32 and 33, 260 acres. Mr. Ridgway, while giving his attention to general farming has made somewhat of a specialty of raising and feeding for the market, cattle and hogs. His farm is well improved and equipped and well stocked, and he is justly counted among the substantial farmers of the section.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Ridgway are identified with the Christian Church and he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. In political opinion he is a Democrat of the William J. Bryan type. Edward Ridgway, who was born January 9, 1896, is the only survivor of four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Ridgway.
Johiel H. Rinehart, who has resided in Vernon county, Mis- souri, since 1866, was born in Green county, Pennsylvania, No- vember, 1836, and is one of nine children born to Stephen and Lydia (Britt) Rinehart, the former a native of Green county, Pennsylvania, and the latter born in the adjoining county in
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West Virginia, in 1809. They were married in Green county, and the father died there about 1842. Three of their children died in infancy, and about 1843 the mother left her four boys with an uncle in Pennsylvania and with two daughters went to Bureau county, Illinois, but returned a year later and got two of her boys, Johiel and Simon, and brought them to Illinois, where she married again.
Remaining with his mother till he was past twelve years of age, Johiel then went to work by the month as a farm laborer, and so continued till his marriage, after which he cultivated and lived on leased land till his removal to Vernon county, Missouri, where he arrived November 6, 1866. Settling on an eighty-acre farm in section 28, in Metz township, he lived there with his family till May, 1898, when he retired from farming and moved into Nevada, his present home. Mr. Rinehart prospered in his farming operations and added to his farm from time to time, until he owned 640 acres in one body. Beginning in a modest way with this wild prairie land, he improved it as his means would allow, until he had the entire tract fenced and under cultivation and handsomely improved with a fine class of buildings and all needed farming equipments. He first built a small "box house," which was destroyed by fire and replaced by a more pretentious frame house, and this in turn by the present substantial nine- room farm residence. On the farm Mr. Rinehart dealt exten- . sively in cattle, buying, feeding and shipping, and also dealt somewhat in mules. He was always prominent in the affairs of the township and served as one of three who, under direction of the court, appraised the "Falor estate." He also, under court appointment, served as receiver of the Conkling Brothers Bank, of Nevada, and being elected justice of the peace some two years after he settled in Metz township, he filled that office seventeen years, till he resigned, and also served several terms as township trustee. About the year 1900 he was made a director and vice- president of the Bank of Nevada, of which he became president three years later, and filled that office till failing health led him to resign in February, 1910. Prior to this, in 1898, he bought an assigned stock of shoes, valued at $9,000, and after conducting the store two years traded it for a farm which he afterwards sold.
Mr. Rinehart is a Republican in political opinion, and at the
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time he settled in Metz township was one of three Republicans then living there.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Rinehart are members of the Christian Church, and in 1874 he was one of the forty-three charter mem- bers who organized the church at Rinehart, only four of whom, and he the only man, are now living. He served as elder in the church from its beginning till he moved into Nevada, and has filled that office continuously till he moved away. Mr. Rine- hart now owns, besides his farm of 520 acres, a double two-story brick business block on South Main street, Nevada; two valu- able vacant lots and a handsome modern frame residence, where he makes his home.
In October, 1858, Mr. Rinehart was united in marriage with Miss Lois Patterson, who was born in Medina county, Ohio, Sep- tember 20, 1841, to Robert and Rozina (McIntyre) Patterson. The former, born in Canada about 1794, and the latter in Ver- mont in 1805. They were married at Rochester, N. Y., and lived there a number of years, Mr. Patterson working at the car- penter's trade, then moved onto a farm in Medina county, Ohio, where he died about 1847. His widow passed away in 1881. Mrs. Rinehart's paternal grandfather, whose home was in New York state, served in the Revolutionary War.
Of five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Rinehart, Madison A., born October 26, 1859, is postmaster at Richards, Mo .; William H., born November 15, 1861, is a farmer in Metz township; Stephen J., born January 30, 1864, is a merchant at Caney, Kan .; Miss Rose L., born January 11, 1869, lives with her parents, and Jay H., born May 17, 1871, is in the clothing business at Nevada.
Mr. and Mrs. Rinehart have nine grandchildren.
Leroy D. Roberts, who departed this life at Nevada, Vernon county, Missouri, December 12, 1876, was born in Roane county, Tennessee, October 10, 1834, the second child of a family of four children born to Col. Sidney R. and Margaret (Crow) Roberts, who, about 1844, settled in Camden county, Missouri, where the father carried on a mercantile business and also practiced law. In the early fifties he entered a large tract of land in Vernon county, but never lived there. At the beginning of the Civil War he entered the Confederate service as quartermaster of Marmaduke's regiment, under General Price, and in 1863 died of
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dysentery at Little Rock, Ark., being about sixty years of age. His widow passed away in 1864 or 1865.
Leroy D. acquired his preliminary education in the public schools of Camden county and later attended college at Jefferson City, and after leaving college was in the mercantile business with his father at Linn Creek, Camden county. Coming to Nevada about 1856, Mr. Roberts engaged in the mercantile trade on his own account, but traded his store for land in 1861, and enlisted as a private in Captain Hunter's company, but soon after leaving Nevada he enlisted and organized Company I, Fourth Missouri cavalry, and as its captain joined Colonel Burbridge's regiment in Marmaduke's division of General Price's army of the Confederacy, and being near his father was with him at the time of his death. Captain Roberts participated in many battles, but escaped injury till the battle of Pilot Knob, where a shell struck his foot and lacerated the ankle, finally necessitating amputation of the foot. At this time he was taken prisoner and sent to Johnson's Island, where he was held some four months, till the close of the war. Returning to Nevada, Captain Roberts, associated with Dr. J. N. B. Dodson, engaged in general mer- chandising. He afterwards bought his partner's interest and conducted the business in his own name till about 1872, when he sold it and opened a hardware store in company with Mr. John Tyler, and so continued till his decease.
Mr. Roberts was a thorough business man and prospered with the growth and development of the young city, and at the time of his death owned more than 500 acres of land in Vernon county, and had just completed a handsome brick residence at No. 125 West Austin avenue, Nevada, where his widow still has her home. He was a man of generous impulses, kindly and benev- olent, and withal of a deeply religious temperament, and while he contributed liberally toward the erection of church edifices and for their support, regardless of sect, he himself did not become a church member till shortly before the time of his death, when he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He gave heartily to worthy objects and his hand was always open to those in need.
On June 1, 1859, Mr. Roberts was united in marriage with Miss Mary J. Davis, who was born in Camden county, Missouri, August 27, 1841, to James A. and Sarah A. (Brown) Davis, who
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were born in Hopkins county, Kentucky, he July 19, 1812, and she April 28, 1821, and their respective families settled in Cam- den county about 1828. The father, James A. Davis, bought about a thousand acres of land in Walker township, Vernon county, near the beginning of the Civil War, and at its close moved thither and lived there till about two years prior to his death, August 19, 1898, when he broke up housekeeping and lived among his children. His widow passed away June 2, 1900.
Mrs. Roberts' grandfather, Harrison Davis, who died in 1861, at the age of ninety-eight years, was an intensely religious man, and his Bible, which he read through thirty-six times, is now in her possession. Mrs. Roberts was the second child of a family of ten children and is one of three survivors, the other two being Mr. Milton Davis, of Nevada, and Mr. Alexander Davis, who lives in California.
One sister and one brother of Mr. Roberts, our subject, still survive, viz., Mrs. Rebecca Swinck, of Dallas, Texas, and Richard A. Roberts, who also lives in Texas. Of five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, the first died when eighteen months old. Calvin, the second child, born November 23, 1868, is a grocer in Nevada. Leroy D., born in 1872, died in September, 1895. The fourth child died in infancy and Mary Anna, born February 17, 1876, resides with her mother.
Joseph Finis Robinson, physician and ex-superintendent of the State Insane Asylum, Nevada, Mo. Dr. Robinson was born near Knobnoster, Johnson county, Missouri, February 15, 1847, son of Jehu and Julia Ann (Oglesby) Robinson. His father was a native of Tennessee, and came of an old and honored fam- ily of that state. In 1818, at the age of six years, Jehu Robinson accompanied his father, Joseph Robinson, to Saline county, Mis- souri, where the father settled on a tract of land and at once engaged in farming pursuits. He and his family were among the earliest of the pioneer inhabitants of that section of the state and Mr. Robinson, being possessed of ability above the average of those times, was naturally regarded as a leader in the com- munity. During the early Indian wars, he received a commission as colonel in the state troops and commanded a regiment in numerous engagements brought about by the depredations of the red men. In 1835, or 1836, he located in Johnson county,
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and was one of the chief organizers of the first Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in that part of the state. The first house of worship was built by the congregation on his farm and for many years he held the office of elder. The Rev. John Morrow, whose name is well-known in the pioneer history of Missouri, was one of the earliest pastors of that society, and perhaps the first to serve in that capacity. Mr. Robinson was also a recog- nized leader in the ranks of the Democratic party, in those pioneer days, and continued as such until after the country had become more thickly populated, and the county government had been organized. He was judge of the county court of Johnson county for a considerable period, and a man of great influence in his community. His death occurred in Henry county, Mis- souri, in 1888. His wife, Dr. Joseph F. Robinson's mother, was born in Kentucky in 1820, and was a daughter of Tarlton Oglesby, a member of one of the most noted old families of the Bluegrass state. She died August 14, 1900, at the age of nearly eighty years, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Sallie B. Reynolds, in Henry county.
Dr. Robinson obtainel his elementary education in the com- mon schools of Johnson and Boone counties, Missouri. In 1865 he entered the Missouri State University and was graduated from the normal and scientific departments in 1870, with a degree of Bachelor of Science, and normal graduate. Three years later his Alma Mater conferred upon him the degree of Master of Science. After leaving college he taught school for one term of six months. In 1871 he matriculated in the St. Louis Medical College, which he attended for two consecutive terms, after which he located for the practice of his profession in Henry county. In 1875 he went to Philadelphia and took a course in the Jefferson Medical College, of that city, being graduated in that year with the degree of doctor of medicine. Resuming practice in Windsor, Henry county, after his graduation, he continued his professional labors there until his election to the responsible office of superintendent of the State Insane Asylum, at Nevada. In the meantime, however, and in 1878, he had taken post- graduate courses in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia and Bellview Hospital Medical College, in New York. In 1887, during the administration of Governor Marmaduke, he was named as a member of the first board of managers of the Nevada asy-
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lum, serving in that capacity for six years, during the last three of which he was president of the board. In 1893, during the ad- ministration of Governor Stone, the board elected him superin- tendent, and he continued to serve until April, 1905. During the administration of Dr. Robinson, the capacity of the institu- tion was increased to accommodate several hundred additional patients, without the necessity of special appropriation of monies on the part of the state. The increased accommodations are due to the economic administrations of affairs by Dr. Robinson, and were made possible by reserving from the funds appropriated for the yearly maintenance a considerable amount per annum, which in many institutions, would have been wasted through injudicious management. Originally the cost of the asylum represented a per capita expenditure (to make room for 540 patients) of about $625; during Dr. Robinson's administration, the capacity was increased so as to provide for the welfare of 850 patients, without in any manner effecting their well-being and comfort. This change in management represented a saving to the State of about $250,000, through the comparatively in- significant expenditure of $8,000 or $10,000 in fitting up and utilizing apartments in the building not intended for the pur- pose originally. This fact alone speaks volumes for the economy of the administration of the subject. Not only is this true, but the management under that regime was also characterized by a great increase of the average of recoveries on the part of those sent to the asylum for treatment. Biennial reports show that from 54 to 58 per cent, based on the number of patients re- ceived and treated each year, were discharged restored, an ex- hibit more satisfactory than that of any similar institution in the United States.
Dr. Robinson remained in office through the administration of five governors, and was connected with the institution in several capacities for a period of eighteen years continuously. In most states, political influence very frequently results in a rapid suc- cession in the office of superintendent. Dr. Robinson bears the distinction of being an original appointee of Governor Marma- duke, under whose administration the institution was erected. Dr. Robinson has always remained firm in his allegiance to the Democratic party, though he has never sought or held political office of any kind, always devoting himself closely to his chosen
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calling, and in more recent years his time has been more or less devoted to his business interests, which now mostly absorb his attention.
Though his parents were devout adherents to the Cumber- land Presbyterian Church, he has been a member of the Baptist Church since a youth of seventeen years. He has been identified with Masonry since his twenty-first year, and has attained the higher degrees in that organization. He was one of the charter members of the Blue Lodge, of Cold Springs, Johnson county, Missouri, now located at Leeton, and has always retained his connection therewith. He is a Sir Knight in O'Sullivan Com- mandery, No. 56, of Nevada, a member of Ararat Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Kansas City, a member of the board of of trustees of Cottey College, and director in the Thornton National Bank, Nevada. In 1889, while engaged in the general practice of his profession at Windsor, he became one of the pro- moters and organizers of the Farmer's Bank, located in that place, and for four years served as president of the institution, being its first president.
Dr. Robinson is a great lover of fine stock, and is credited with being one of the best judges of horses in Missouri. For many years he has owned and conducted one of the best stock farms in the state. This farm is located near Windsor, Henry county, Missouri, famous for its blue grass and clover and is known throughout the United States as the producer of some of the best horses, short horn cattle and jacks ever sent out of Missouri. It was established in 1884 as the Medow Stock Farm, and still bears that splendid reputation it established twenty- seven years ago through its founder. He also has a fine stock farm in Bates county, near Butler, and has recently added an- other stock farm, known as the Drywood Stock Farm, Vernon county, which is stocked with some of the best Jersey cattle, trotting horses and jacks that can be found in the country.
Dr. Robinson was married November 14, 1878, to Miss Linnie A. Sipe, daughter of Dr. Jacob and Harriet E. (Fewel) Sipe, of Warrensburg, Mo. Mrs. Robinson was born near Windson, Henry county. Her mother was a native of North Carolina and a pioneer of Henry county. Dr. Jacob Sipe, her father, for many years was a practicing physician of Henry county, and during the Civil War was commissioned as a surgeon in the Con-
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federate Army. He was captured by the Federals during an engagement in this state and continued in prison at Rolla, in Phelps county, where his death occurred. Mrs. Robinson was educated at the Methodist College at Lexington, Mo., and the Normal School at Warrensburg, of which she is a graduate. She is a lady of many rare graces of character, well fitted to adorn any circle of society. It is fitting to say that Dr. Robin- son, while occupying a position of eminence as a physician and surgeon, and is an expert alienist, stands equally high as a man outside of his professional career. He is possessed of a cheerful disposition, is broad-minded and liberal in his views, and these traits have endeared him to those with whom he has come in contact. His splendid record as the head of one of the great institutions of the state, aside from all other considerations, will cause him to be longer remembered as one of the most useful members of the profession which he adorns.
Dr. Charles A. Rockwood, was for nearly forty years a prominent physician and surgeon at Nevada, Mo., and passed away there on February 6, 1896. He was born in the city of New York, February 10, 1846, and was the fourth child and second son of a family of five children born to William H. and Susan G. (West) Rockwood, who, on account of the wife's ill health, moved from New York to Marengo, Ill., in 1856, and both died there. The father was a native of Vermont; the mother was a daughter of John G. West, in whose office Horace Greeley served his apprenticeship, learning the printer's trade.
Charles A. passed his boyhood on a farm and when but sixteen years old, leased his father's farm and carried it on successfully, at the same time acquiring a good education by private study and by attending a school at Woodstock, under the preceptorship of Rev. R. K. Todd. His great desire was to fit himself for the medical profession and with that purpose in view, he began his professional studies under the direction of Dr. James Northrop, and completed his medical course at Rush Medical College, Chicago, where he was graduated as an M. D. with the class of 1867. Dr. Rockwood began his practice at Afton, Iowa, then in his twenty-first year, and continued there with good results some two years; but an attack of Typhoid fever, coupled with the severity of the winters, lead him to re-
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turn to Illinois, and he was in practice at Sandwich, in DeKalb county one year. Then, in 1870, he took up his residence in Nevada, Mo., and resuming his practice as a physician and sur- geon, continued it to the close of his life with eminent success, both professionally and in a financial way. He had faith in the future of Nevada, and evidenced it by investing largely in real property, among his numerous holdings, being the brick struc- ture, long known as the Rockwood hotel, and for years a leading hostlery of the city. Dr. Rockwood was a member of the Ameri- can Medical Society, and other medical bodies. He stood high in Masonic circles, and was an honored member of the Knight's Templar as well as the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias.
On November 11, 1874, Dr. Rockwood was united in marriage with Miss Belle B. Berry, a daughter of Dr. Lucian and Emma L. (Kelley) Berry, of Nevada, Mo., and formerly from Winchester, Scott county, Illinois, and who came here in the year 1872. She is a woman of fine attainments, and is the youngest of a family of nine children, the other survivors being: Julia, who is married to Mr. J. C. Bennett, of Ft. Scott, Kan .; Martha B., the wife of Mr. A. Bennett, of Nevada; and Lillie B., who is married to Mr. J. M. Riggs, and lives in Winchester, Ill. Those deceased were named, respectively, Mary, Adeline, Marcus L., Emma L., and William C. Berry. The Berry family is of French lineage.
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