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 45
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Peter Teel of Deywood township. was a pioneer settler. Leonard Teel his grandfather. was a Revolutionary soldier under Gen. Anthony Wayne and participated in the capture of Stony Point and also the capture of Lord Cornwallis. at Yorktown. David Teel his father. was a native of Pennsylvania. and of Ger- man parentage. while his mother, whose maiden name was Mary MaCartney, came of Irish origin. They had a family of nine children and the eldest of these children was Peter. whose birth occurred in Richland county, Ohio. May 18. 1826. The year fol- Wwing the Black Hawk War the father moved to Knox county.
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Illinois, going thence in 1841 to Clay county, Missouri. from whence in about a year. or in July, 1842. be started for what was then Bates county, settling south of Nevada, where he made for bis family a home. A claim was purchased from Nich Ganther. the land having been surveyed by the Government. Here David Teel died in 1850. his widow surviving bim until 1879. when she. 100. passed away. In March. 1859. Peter Teel went to Hansas in account of war troubles, and while there enlisted as a stabel Union man in the three months' service in the 21 Kansas. but afterwards became a member of Company A. - th Kansas, serving for seven months. A third time be enlisted. becoming associate l with the 2d Kansas Light Artillery, and for two years and rine months he was actively engaged in service. participating in the battles of Drywood. Sherwood, where he was wounded May IS 1663 : the battle of Cane Hill, and also Newtonia. besides numerous skirmishes. The war elosing. Mr. Teel returned to Kansas. ber in 1867 again cam- to this county and resumed his former wood- pation of farming. He held the position of postmaster a number of years at Drywood, and was also constable a number of years of this township. In 1847 Mr. Teel married Mis: Elizabeth Griffth. of Vermillion county. Illinois, who died in 1856. leaving three children : William J .. Andrew ML. and Stephen A I= 1857 Miss Amanda M. Grace became his wife, and a family of five children were given them: James J .. Pleasanton 0. Sherman, Rosa Mami. Edward M. and Chester E. Mrs. Teel was born in Ray county. Missouri, her father being James Grace. of Tennessee. who cam- to this county before its organization, serving as ome of its frst judges.
Hiram L. Tillotson, whose decease at Nevada. Mo = 1902 after an honored and eventful career. was mourned as a great publie loss. was a native of Terre Haute. Ind, and was born September 24. 1829. He was one of a family of three children who grew to maturity. all of whom are now deceased, bom to Elijah and Sarah |Hickox Tillotson, who were natives of New York and Connecticut, respectively. and who settled in Indiasa in the early twenties and passed their lives there. He was a jeweler by trade and also filled the office of judge.
Our subject passed his borhood in his native state. anquir- ing his education in the public schools, serving am apprenticeship
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of four years learning the saddle and harness maker's trade, and then spending four years in business for himself. He next car- ried on a successful business at Middleton, Ind., some eight years until about the time of the opening of the Civil War, when he entered the Union Army, leaving his business in charge of his wife, who closed out the business. He entered the service as a first lieutenant in the Eighty-fifth Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, Infantry, at the beginning of the war, and was made adjutant, and served in that capacity three years. At the Battle of Thomp- son's Station, he was taken prisoner and confined two months in Libby Prison. After being exchanged, he rejoined his regiment, and was on guard duty on the Nashville Railroad during 1863, but in the spring of 1864 joined the army at Chattanooga under command of the famous general "Fighting Joe Hooker," and was under him till his discharge at the close of the war. In 1866, Mr. Tillotson settled at Nevada, and opened a saddle and harness shop in a small frame building on the site now occupied by the Thornton Bank. This building was also occupied by the postoffice, the first post master after the war being Mr. F. P. An- derson, who was succeeded a little later by Mr. A. A. Pitcher, under whom Mr. Tillotson served one year as deputy. He was then appointed post master by President Johnson, and disposing of his saddle and harness business, he opened a book and station- ery store, which he carried on in connection with his official duties. Mr. Tillotson served as post master under successive ministrations for a period of eighteen years to the entire satis- faction of the community and with credit to himself. His high standing as an honored citizen and successful business man, was aptly shown by his election to the state legislature for the term of 1886-7, by a handsome majority, in an overwhelmingly Demo- cratic county, which was the only county in the state to honor a Republican by electing him to that body. After his retirement from the postoffice, Mr. Tillotson, having gained a competency, abstained from active business till 1890, when he was elected president of the First National Bank of Nevada, an office which he continued to fill to the time of his decease, June 7, 1902. Mr. Tillotson was a worthy member of the First Baptist Church, of Nevada. He had been connected with the Masonic Order ever since he attained his majority, and was also a member of Gen'l Joe Bailey, No. 15, Post, Grand Army of the Republic.
H. L. Tilliton
Mildred y Millotson
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On June 12, 1859, he was united in marriage with Miss Mil- dred J. Tichenor, daughter of Byron and Eunice (Kester) Tiche- nor, who moved from Kentucky, their native state, in 1816, and settled on a farm in Vigo county, Indiana, where they passed their lives. They had a family of nine children, of whom Mrs. Tillotson is the only survivor, and the seventh in order of birth. She was born in Vigo county, February 1, 1833. She was a de- voted wife, and a worthy companion and helpmeet of her worthy husband, and is universally loved and honored for her noble, womanly qualities of mind and heart. She is a woman of deep religious instincts, and the only surviving charter member of the First Baptist Church of Nevada, into whose history and growth her very life is wrought. Not only has she always been generous and liberal in its financial support, but also in its spiritual growth has she contributed her best in unstinted measure. For thirty- . three years she has had charge of the primary class in the Sun- day school, and the influence of her devoted and consecrated ser- vice in that work abides to bless the lives of scores of men and women whose early religious training was gained under her teaching.
Charles Thom, a leading banker and influential citizen of Nevada, Mo., is in the best sense of the term a self-made man, who has risen from comparative obscurity to his present position of trust, by conscientious and persistently following a fixed and determined purpose to make the most and best of himself. He is a native of Scotland, and was born in Aberdeenshire, April 5, 1859. He acquired his early education in the parochial schools of his native place, and began his career as a penniless boy, so that whatever he has achieved is the result of his own persevering work. He came to this country in 1872 and settled at Indian- apolis, Ind., equipped himself for business by pursuing a course of study in a commercial college there. In 1878, he took up his residence in Nevada, and found employment as bookkeeper in the hardware establishment of Mr. John A. Tyler, with whom he remained till September 1, 1887. He then accepted a similar position with the Thornton National Bank of Nevada, a time honored institution that was established in 1869, and that has grown to be one of the strong financial institutions of southwest-
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ern Missouri. A little later, in 1899, he was promoted to the posi- tion of assistant cashier, and on January 1, 1909, was elected cashier of the bank, an office which his abilities eminently fit him as evidenced by the masterly manner in which he has con- ducted its affairs. Mr. Thom is a thorough man of affairs, and interested in all that relates to the welfare of his city, and ready to do his part for the betterment of the community. He stands high in Masonic circles, and holds membership in both the chap- ter and commandery.
In religious faith and fellowship he is identified with the First Presbyterian Church of Nevada.
In April, 1884, Mr. Thom married Miss Nellie F., daughter of Mr. John A. Tyler, of Nevada.
Martin L. Thompkins, for many years a prosperous farmer of Richland township. Vernon county, Missouri, was born in Bureau county, Illinois. April 4, 1859, and is a son of John C. and Laura E. (Heathman) Thompkins, the former born in Ten- nessee in 1838, and the latter, in Summit county, Ohio, April 7, 1839. Their respective families moved to Bureau county, Illinois, the former's. when he was a young lad, and the latter's, about 1855; and they married there in 1856 and settled on a farm.
In 1862 John C. Thompkins enlisted and entered the Union Army, as a corporal, in the Ninety-third Regiment, Illinois Volun- teers. Infantry. and the following March died of swamp fever in the hospital at Memphis, and his body is interred in the National Cemetery of that city. Besides his widow and our subject, he left two other children. viz .: Andrew J. Thompkins, who was born May 22, 1857, and now lives in Richland township, and John G. Thompkins, who was born August 26, 1862, and resides in Naravica district, New Mexico. Accompanied by her brother, Stephen Heathman, her mother, and several other families, Mrs. Thompkins, with her children, in September, 1869, moved from Illinois, overland. to Vernon county, Missouri, where she bought and settled on fifty-five acres of land in Richland township. The journey was long and tedious, and our subject walked the whole distance, and drove the cattle. Mrs. Thompkins afterwards added other acres to her original purchase, and owned at the time of her decease, which occurred on February 7, 1905 a quarter section. finely improved. Martin L. grew up and
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acquired his education in Richland township, and made his home with his mother until he was thirty-six years of age, when he leased for eight years, and moved onto a farm of 320 acres, in section 13. In 1880 he bought sixty acres in section 24, eighty acres in section 23, in 1899, and in 1903, eighty acres in section 14, moving onto the tract last named, in 1903. In 1907 he bought a quarter section in section 23, and another eighty acres in the same section, in 1910; and thirty acres timber land in section 34, and now owns, all told, 490 acres.
He is a Republican in politics, but has been too much occupied with his farming operations to hold political positions, except some minor township offices.
On December 6, 1893, Mr. Thompkins was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Myers, who was born in Clark county, Ohio, on June 29. 1859. Her parents, Joseph and Eliza Myers, settled in Lake township, Vernon county, in 1870, and soon afterward moved to Ft. Scott. Kan .. where Mrs. Myers died in 1870.
Mrs. Thompkins lived in Richland township with relatives till 1890. and from that time till her marriage, resided with her brother, Mr. John Myers, at Kansas City, Mo.
Mr. and Mrs. Thompkins have one son, John A. Thompkins, who was born December 16, 1894, and who lives with his parents.
D. C. Thompson* is a prosperous farmer and highly respected citizen of Harrison township, Vernon county, Missouri. He was born in eastern Tennessee, October 19, 1835, and is the second of a family of ten children born to Absolom and Susan (West) Thompson. The father in 1836 came with his parents from Ten- nessee and settled in Berry county, Missouri, where at the time of his decease he owned six hundred and forty acres of land.
Our subject grew to manhood on his father's farm in Berry county, and there attended the district schools till he was twenty years of age. In 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate Army, in what was known as the "Nichols Regiment," under General Shelby, and participated in the Price and Shelby raid and among others was in the battles of Newlands, Arkansas, and Pine Grove ; his regiment operated in Missouri, Arkansas and Texas. After the close of the war, in April, 1866, Mr. Thompson settled with his wife and three children in Vernon county. He bought at first forty acres in section five, to which he added one hundred acres
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in the same section at a later date. The place is highly cultivated and improved with a fine farm house, barn and other buildings, with all the facilities required in conducting a modern, model farm.
Mr. Thompson stands high in the community and is counted among the substantial men of the county.
In 1857 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Edwards. whose father was one of the pioneer settlers of Berry county. Missouri.
They had three children born to them, viz., Doethula, born April 17, 1859 ; Francis C., born April 13, 1860, and Walter, born January 10, 1863.
Joel Q. Thomson, who was born in Clark county, Kentucky. May 10, 1843, is one of two surviving children born to W. N. and Nancy (Quisenberry) Thomson, both natives of Kentucky, whither the grandfather, Mathew Thomson, came from Virginia in the early days. The other surviving child is Dr. B. F. Thom- son, of Mt. Sterling, Ky. The mother died when our subject was but nine days old, and the father afterwards married Cathrine Hoff, who bore him two children, viz .: Mathew G., now president of the Female College, at Paris, Ky., and Mrs. Thomas Shirley, of Ft. Scott, Kan.
The father passed away about 1890 in Kentucky. Joel Q. remained at home till he was twenty-four years old, and in 1867 went to Cass county, Missouri, whence, two years later, he moved to Vernon county, where he bought 240 acres of wild land in sections 7, 8 and 18, Walker township, which he subdued and has brought to a high state of cultivation, and improved it till it ranks with the best farms in the district. Mr. Thomson gives particular attention to breeding and raising high-grade cattle. sheep and hogs, and also is noted far and near as a raiser of fine jacks and jennies.
Mr. Thomson has given close attention to his farming opera- tions, never seeking or caring for political office. In national politics he has always supported the Democratic candidate, but in local elections is independent and supports the candidate whom he deems best qualified to fill the office sought, regardless of party affiliations. He is a member of the Christian Church, and served six years as superintendent of the Berea Sunday School.
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On December 29, 1869, Mr. Thomson was united in marriage with Miss Docia Combs, a native of Cass county, Missouri, who died in 1887, leaving two children, viz .: Mrs. Susie Roach, of Sedalia, Mo., and Mrs. Horace Taul, of Needles, Calif.
In 1888 Mr. Thomson married Mrs. Sadie (Hall) Weatherby, a native of Franklin county, Missouri, and they have three children, viz .: Mrs. Opal Spendiff, of Nevada; Mrs. Josie Gordon, of Walker; and Benjamin F., who lives with his parents.
Paul F. Thornton is a man of recognized worth wherever known. His father, Dr. William T. Thornton, was a native of Caroline county, Virginia, but after growing up in Oldham county, Kentucky, he left there in 1832 and moved to Jackson- ville, Illinois, from whence he located in Henry county, Missouri, in 1839. In December, 1874, his death occurred. The wife of Dr. Thornton was formerly Miss Caroline Taylor, of Oldham county, Kentucky, and she died in 1847, leaving four children : William T .. James J., Caroline, wife of William S. Stone, and Paul F., whose name appears above. The latter was born at Jacksonville, Illinois, March 16, 1839, and having been taken to Henry county, Missouri, when very young he grew to manhood in that locality, obtaining a thorough knowledge of farm life. In 1856 he went to New Mexico in the employ of Waddle, Russell & Majors, but on his return in 1857 he entered Miami University, of Ohio, and spent three years. Later on he entered upon a course of reading preparatory to following the legal profession as his calling, and during the session of 1860-61 he was a student at the law school in Louisville, Kentucky. The outburst of war which had so long threatened the country led him to forego everything of a private nature, and in May, 1861, he joined General Price as an escort, in which capacity he served two years, afterwards com- manding a company in Woods' battalion. He was with Price in each serious engagement participated in by that gallant com- mander, and finally surrendered with him at Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1865. Returning to Clinton, Missouri, Mr. Thorn- ton entered the law office of R. Allen and was associated with him until 1869. In June, 1869, he came to Vernon county and organ- ized what is now the Thornton National Bank. Since his settle- ment in this county various positions of responsibility and honor have been thrust upon him, for he has never been a political
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aspirant, though always willing to serve those whose interests have placed him in official life. For eight years he discharged the duties of county judge, and for six years he was chairman of the congressional committee of the Democratic party of this dis- trict, with which party he has always been identified. Judge Thornton was married in 1872, Miss Medora Rogers, daughter of the late Dr. John A. Rogers, of Clinton, becoming his wife. Six children have blessed their union: Fitzhugh, Katie, Harry, William, Lucy and John Rogers.
After years of activity in Nevada, Mr. Thornton removed to Austin, Texas.
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Ezra Madison Towner is one of the prosperous farmers of Moundville township, Vernon county, Missouri. A native of La Salle county, Illinois, he was born April 12, 1853, and is a son of Nathaniel H. and Angelina (Osborn) Towner, natives of Ohio and Illinois, respectively. His paternal grandparents moved from Ohio, with their family to La Salle county, Illinois, when Nathaniel H. was seven years old, and he grew up and married there, and lived there till 1876 when he moved to Vernon county, Missouri. He settled on a farm in Harrison township, and estab- lished the family home where he lived till his decease, July 4, 1898, the day the Spanish fleet was destroyed in Santiago Bay, Cuba.
Ezra M. acquired a good common school education and grew up on his father's farm, and lived on the family homestead till the time of his marriage. At the age of twenty-five, on June 5. 1878, he went to La Salle county, Illinois, and was there united in marriage with Miss Maggie Murray, daughter of Mrs. Ann - Murray, a widow. Returning to Vernon county in the autumn of 1881, Mr. Towner bought a farm of 320 acres in section 36, Harrison township, which he afterwards sold, and bought the same number of acres in section 31, Moundville township, which he has cultivated and improved and transformed into one of the model farms of the township. His commodious farmhouse stands in the midst of numerous maple trees, and with the charming environment, presents a most pleasing picture of rural beauty. Mr. Towner has his place well stocked with a good grade of cattle, horses and hogs, and thoroughly equipped with every needed facility of an up-to-date farm. He is a wide-awake
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citizen, alive to what is going on about him, and keeps himself in touch with the trend of events. He is a firm believer in and is an advocate of Socialistic principles.
Of four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Towner, Melvin, was born June 2, 1879; Mabel, who was born September 23, 1880, died January 7, 1892; Roy was born May 26, 1882, and Maude was born April 29, 1887.
W. C. Thrasher is a native Missourian and a farmer by occu- pation. He was born in Lewis county, April 12, 1854, and is a son of Eli and Ann (Fretwell) Thrasher, the former a native of Ken- tucky, and the latter of Virginia. The father moved from Pendleton county, Kentucky, in 1821, and settled near Palmyra,. whence he moved to Pike county and lived some years, and then settled in Lewis county, where he died in 1900; his widow surviving and occupying the family homestead till 1909, when she passed away. They had a family of nine children, six of whom are now living, and our subject being the third in order of birth. The father was a mechanic and wheelwright, and followed his trade all his life. He was a kind-hearted, sympathetic man, generous and charitable, and gave liberally to worthy causes that appealed to him. He was active in religious work, and a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church (South), and for many years served as superintendent of the Sunday school, held in a log schoolhouse; and was held in high esteem as an upright, honorable and devoted Christian man.
Our subject acquired a common school education in his na- tive county and lived with his parents until he attained his ma- jority. Starting on March 2, 1875, he went to California, but returned in January of the following year to Lewis county, and engaged in farming, working leased land, till 1883. In 1884 Mr. Thrasher settled in Vernon county on eighty acres of rich prairie land, in section 15, Drywood township, which he bought, and to which he afterwards added a forty-acre tract, and where he has since made his home with his family.
On first settling in Vernon county, he worked for a time for the railroad company, having charge of the pumping station ; but when the watering station was removed he resumed farming and has carried it on with good success since.
On first coming to southwestern Missouri, and after purchas-
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ing a piece of prairie land, it was necessary to make such im- provements as his limited means would permit, hauling part of the material for framing from a sawmill four miles northwest of Nevada, he built a small house, which was the beginning of the home-making on the then big open prairie, and as soon as the frost went out of the ground, breaking prairie sod was the order of the day, and killing snakes was part of his task, as they were everywhere. Sometimes they even came into the house and the good wife. scared if by accident she should step on one in attending to the poultry or while working in the garden, when she would call loudly for help, drop the hoe and run for shelter. We raised corn which we sold for fifteen to eighteen cents per bushel, and fat hogs sold for $2.60 per hundred, and fine big chickens sold for $1.50 per dozen at the market in trade. Not a cent in money could be coaxed out of any of the merchants for any farm produce, not even enough to buy a postage stamp with which to send a letter to the folks at home. Plenty of help was to be had at fifty cents per day from sun up to sun set, and good hands at that.
Mr. Thrasher is a Democrat in his political opinions, and takes an active part in the local affairs of his party. He is also a member of Sheldon Lodge, No. 438, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On March 27, 1878, Mr. Thrasher married Miss Susan Alexan- der Smith, of Lewis county, and they have two children, named, respectively, Earl and Elbert. They, both having attended the high school at Sheldon, and graduated with high honors. Earl has built, and is operating a garage and auto livery in Sheldon, with good and thorough training in his line, and has the confidence of all. Elbert has entered the same high school for a second term with bright prospects and stands high in his class with every hope of success.
Dr. James Lewis Truex, a native Missourian, is a public spirited citizen of Milo, Vernon county. He comes of French lineage on both the paternal and maternal sides, and was born in Benton county, January 15, 1862, to Jonathan and Aramenta A. (D'Spain) Truex, natives of Ohio and Kentucky, respectively. They had two children, one of whom is deceased.
Jonathan Truex came to this country with his parents some-
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time in the fifties and settled in DeKalb county, Missouri, whence they moved to Benton county, in 1860, where the father made his home twenty-four years. In his early life, he learned the carpenter's trade and followed it in Benton county, at Sedalia, Mo., and in Denver, Colo., where he spent four years. On his return he lived for a time at Rich Hill, in Bates county, then settled at Milo, where he now resides, at the age of seventy-four years. He is a Democrat in politics, and in religious faith a Baptist.
James L. attended the common schools in Benton county till he was seventeen years old, and also attended the Warsaw High School, and lived with his parents until his twenty-seventh year. In 1886 he turned his attention to the study of pharmacy, and after a satisfactory examination was duly licensed to practice in Missouri, and for some time was in the drug business at Sedalia, and also at Kansas City. Disposing of his business, Mr. Truex took up the study of medicine with Dr. J. T. Craig, of Kansas City, and after three year's study entered the medical department of the University of Kansas, and was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine with the class of 1891. During the next two years Dr. Truex practiced his profession at Denver, and returning in 1893, he served six months by appointment, as assistant surgeon of the University Hospital. He was afterwards appointed surgeon and physician of the Rich Hill Coal Company, and served in that capacity some ten years. In 1903 Dr. Truex opened a drug business at Milo, and carried it on in connection with his practice, some three years; then, in 1906, being elected coroner of Vernon county, he moved to Nevada; but after serv- ing in that office one year he resigned and returning to Milo, in 1907, he opened a general store for buying and selling every- thing in the line of merchandise. Too meet the needs of the large and growing trade, he erected a commodious brick building, which he now occupies with an immense stock of goods, compris- ing every variety of merchandise, agricultural implements, hard- ware, etc., and is doing an extensive and prosperous business. Dr. Truex is a thorough business man, energetic and progressive in his ideas and methods, and justly regarded as one of the lead- ing men of his town. He is identified with the Masonic Order and belongs to the Knights of Pythias. Dr. Truex also holds membership in the State Medical Association, the Vernon County
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