USA > Missouri > Greene County > Past and present of Greene County, Missouri, early and recent history and genealogical records of many of the representative citizens, Volume II > Part 72
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JAMES QUINN.
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GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
mium, a gold medal, for penmanship, in a contest about 1880, embracing the United Kingdom.
James Quinn grew to manhood in his native land, and there received his education. When a young man he learned the blacksmith's trade, at which he became quite proficient. When twenty-one years of age, in 1869, he crossed the Atlantic to our shores, first locating in Luzerne county, Penn- sylvania, later coming on west to Chicago, thence to Burlington, lowa; from there to Cedar Rapids, that state; next to St. Joseph, Missouri. In the fall of 1873 he came to Springfield and worked at his trade for thirteen and one-half years for the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company. He had been following his trade ever since coming to America. About 1880 he purchased his present farm of one hundred and twenty acres, and several years later moved onto the same, and here he has since resided and has engaged successfully in general farming and stock raising. He has an excel- lent set of buildings on his place, including a fine two-story dwelling and large outbuildings.
Mr. Quinn was married on June 25, 1874, in Springfield, to Adelia McGaughey, a daughter of James WV. and Isabell (Cinnamond) McGaughey, both natives of Kentucky, from which state they removed to this county in an early day. Mr. McGaughey was a farmer during his active life, and he served in the Mexican war. His death occurred at Sprague, Missouri, about 1895, and he was buried near that place. His family consisted of five chil- dren, namely : Angeline is deceased; Keelan is deceased; Rufus lives in Nevada; Adelia, wife of our subject; and Marcus, deceased. James W. McGaughey was a Democrat, a member of the Masonic Blue Lodge, and the Baptist church.
Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Quinn, named as fol- lows: John, who was graduated from the Springfield high school and the old Normal here, is a locomotive engineer on the Frisco, and lives at Okla- homa City: Mrs. Susanna Rountree, whose husband is engaged in farming in this county, was also graduated from the local high school ; William James died when six months old; Mrs. Alma Waunette Gott is the wife of a Greene county farmer: Hugh is deceased; Herschel, a high school grad- uate, lives at home : George is a student in the State Normal school here.
Mr. Quinn made a visit to his old home in Ireland in 1900, and. after his American training, claims that he saw more things of interest during his short trip there than he saw during the twenty-one years that he lived there in his childhood and young manhood. Politically, he is a Democrat. He belongs to the Masonic Blue Lodge, and holds membership with the Congregational church. He has been a keen observer, is well read, and, jolly by nature, is a good talker and a pleasant man to meet.
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GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
WILLIAM J. JONES.
We have stronger evidence with each succeeding day that the bitter- ness and animosity resulting from the great Civil war and preceding influ- ences is passing away and that the solidarity of the nation is becoming more and more a fact. To this many things have contributed, among which may be mentioned the natural kindly spirit of the South, which has invited the people of the crowded North to share its vast unoccupied land spaces and invest in its promising possibilities, while enjoying its delightful climate. And in the long lapse of half a century the war trenches have been filled, the temporary forts demolished, and the plow passes peacefully over their ruins. Many of the actors in the bloody drama are dead and their graves with those of their comrades who fell in battle are green and fragrant with grass and flowers, while the wounds, physical and moral, of the survivors have long since healed and only scars remain.
One of the Confederate veterans of Greene county is William J. Jones, better known as "Hickory" Jones, a merchant of Walnut Grove, formerly engaged in general farming near that place. He is one of the soldiers of the sixties who is willing to "forget." Mr. Jones was born in this county on May 22, 1846, and is therefore one of the oldest native sons of this com- munity, having passed his sixty-ninth birthday, and during that long period of residence here he has noted and taken part in many great changes, seeing the country develop in a general way. He is a son of Richard M. and Mary Ann (Hartin) Jones, the father a native of Virgina, and the mother was a native of Tennessee. The father died in this county in 1898. The mother died here in 1896. Our subject's father was a cabinet maker by trade. He was in the land office here for eight years in the fifties. In his latter life he did some farming but lived retired until his death. Our subject was one of eleven children, only two living at this writing: Mrs. Mary J. McDowell, who lives in Springfield, and our subject.
William J. Jones grew to manhood in his native county and he received a good education in the common schools, attending school eight years in Springfield. His early life was spent on the farm. He was quite young when the Civil war began and did not. enlist until in the fall of 1863, when he entered the Confederate service from Arkansas, in Company F, Third Missouri Cavalry, under Col. Colton Green, who was subsequently promoted to brigadier general, being succeeded in his former command by Col. Lenten Campbell, who was promoted to that rank. Our subject saw considerable hard service and participated in a number of important engagements, prov- ing a very courageous soldier despite his youth. He was paroled at Little Rock in the spring of 1865 at the close of the war. After coming home
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from the army he resumed farming, which he followed for four years, then located in Springfield, where he worked in a hardware store for D. J. B. Skinner and W. H. Mansfield for some time, then returned to the farm for several years. In 1882 he moved to Walnut Grove and farmed in this town- ship with his usual success until 1896, when he went into the grocery busi- ness in Walnut Grove, which he continued for seven years, then sold out and lived retired for two years, then went into the furniture business in 1907 here and is still thus engaged. He keeps a good stock of general furniture and has a very satisfactory business.
Mr. Jones was married in 1872, to Josie B. Carter, of Greene county. She is a daughter of Tillman Carter and wife, who were well-known early settlers here. He was in the tobacco business for several years.
Four children have been born to our subject and wife, namely: George E., deceased; William H., Richard T. and Hattie B., all live in Walnut Grove. Here they grew to maturity and received good educational advan- tages.
Politically, Mr. Jones votes independently. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and his wife belongs to the Methodist church. The Jones family is well known and held in highest regard in Walnut Grove and vicinity.
MARION D. WRIGHT.
The record of the successful self-made man is always interesting and instructive. It encourages those who have been held back by an unfavorable carly environment. There are a great many people abroad in the land who would make a great deal more of their opportunities and make themselves useful citizens if they had the proper encouragement at the right time. The life record of Marion D. Wright is one that should be read with interest and profit by many who have become discouraged on life's rugged highway, for we find that Mr. Wright has forged his way to the front in the face of adversity and with no outside assistance. He was for some time one of the successful merchants of Walnut Grove and is now classed among the most progressive general farmers and stock men of the northwestern part of Greene county.
Mr. Wright was born in Polk county, Missouri, November 28, 1861. He is a son of John and Mary (Wood) Wright, both natives of that county also, the father's birth occurring in 1835, and the mother's in 1842. They grew to maturity in their native community, were educated in the old .. subscription schools and were married there and established the:
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a farm. John Wright spent most of his life in Polk county, but lived in the West several years. He owned a good-sized farm in Polk county where he carried on general farming until the breaking out of the Civil war when he enlisted in the Union army and died while in the service, at Arlington Hospital, Pilot Knob, Missouri, in October, 1862. Politically, he was a strong Republican and pronounced in his views on public affairs. He was a member of the Turkey Creek Baptist church, and was a highly respected citizen and well known among the early settlers. He had but the one child, Marion D. Wright, of this sketch. The mother of our subject was a daugh- ter of Isaac and Susanna (Vaughn) Wood, both natives of east Tennessee, from which country they emigrated to Polk county, Missouri, in an early day and established the family home on a farm. Mrs. Mary Wright re-' married and is now living in Walnut Grove.
John Wright enlisted in Company L, Sixth Missouri Volunteer Infan- try, for three years, but died from exposure soon afterwards.
Marion D. Wright spent his boyhood days on the home farm in Polk county, and he worked hard when growing to manhood during crop seasons, attending the district schools during the winter months. When eighteen years of age he entered the Southwest Baptist College at Bolivar, Missouri, and took a four-years' course, making an excellent record. After leaving college he returned home and resumed work on the farm, but soon there- after he went to Walnut Grove and began in the general merchandise busi- ness and flour milling, which lines of endeavor he conducted with ever- increasing success and satisfaction until 1902, in which year he sold out and bought the farm of one hundred and eighty-three acres where he now resides. He has made many improvements, such as erecting a silo and out- buildings, fences, etc., until he now has one of the valuable, productive and desirable farms of the county, which is well located near the thriving town of Walnut Grove. In connection with general farming he raises a good grade of live stock of which he is an excellent judge, and he is regarded as one of the most progressive general farmers in this section of Greene county as well as one of the most substantial and successful citizens, a man who has done much for the general good of the community.
Mr. Wright was married on December 23, 1886, to Maggie Mclemore, a daughter of Andrew Jackson McLemore, and Dialtha ( Alexander) McLe- more, long one of the prominent families of this section of the Ozarks. Mrs. Wright was born in Christian county, Missouri, and she received her education in the common schools.
Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wright, namely: Dean lives in Walnut Grove; Reu, Thomas, Dialtha, Marian and Laura Mae, all at home with their parents, but the eldest.
Politically, Mr. Wright is a Republican, and while he has never been an
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office holder he has been influential in public affairs of his locality, and his support may always be depended upon in furthering any movements in the community calculated to be of general good, in material, civic or moral mat- ters. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic order at Walnut Grove. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church at Walnut Grove, he having been clerk of the local congregation since its organization in 1903, and is a pillar in his church. He is a broad-minded, well-informed gentleman of positive ideas and correct principles and is highly esteemed by all who know him.
CHARLES J. OWEN.
It does not necessarily require a farm expert to look over some of the older farms of the locality of which this history treats and see that the soil has become thin very largely from the fact that proper attention has not been paid to rotation of crops. The land has been "grained" too much, the same fields sometimes for years having been successively sown to wheat or planted to corn, with never a seed of grass or other good "cover crops." The same methods were followed in a number of older states of the East with the results that one now finds thousands of abandoned farms there, the owners being compelled to remove to the newer agricultural sections of the West where the soil has not been ruined by improper tillage. But many of our farmers are awakening to the true situation, some of them after it is practically too late. It used to be the desire of most farmers to own large tracts of land. Their chief desire seemed to be to buy "the land adjoin- ing." This many of them have done and spent the rest of their lives trying to keep the interest paid on borrowed capital and a little paid on the principal. The same men are now understanding how they can live easier and happier on fewer acres and by more intensive farining methods.
One of the successful farmers and stockmen of Wilson township. Greene county, is Charles J. Owen, who is a student of all that pertains to his vocation and is thus avoiding some of the mistakes that others are making in handling their farms. He is a member of one of the well-known old families of Greene county, and his birth occurred here on April 15. 1866. He is a son of Charles B. and Nancy C. ( McCroskey) Owen.
Capt. Charles B. Owen, who was for many years one of the most extensive farmers of Greene county, was born in Marshall county, Ten- nessec. February 28, 1827. He was a son of Solomon H. Owen, who was born in eastern Tennessee, December 12, 1797. in Sullivan county, near the Virginia line. He was a son of Joseph Owen, who was reared in Penn-
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sylvania, was of Welsh stock, and married a Pennsylvania Dutch woman, and moved to Sullivan county, Tennessee, in an early day. He was a farmer and died when only thirty-five years of age, and was the father of Charles, Jesse, Solomon H., Hannah, Mary and Elizabeth. Solomon H., grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was married in Sullivan county, Ten- nessee, to Mary E. Bushong, of Pennsylvania and German stock. After their marriage they moved to the middle part of Tennessee and Mr. Owen purchased a farm of one hundred and seventy acres in Marshall county. In 1836 he moved with his wife and five children to Greene county, Missouri, and settled on four hundred acres which he entered four miles northwest of Springfield. He entered in all about two thousand acres in southwest Missouri. He gave all his children land. Like most of the early settlers from Tennessee, he was the owner of slaves. During the Civil war much of his personal property was destroyed. He removed to Springfield in 1874 at seventy-seven years of age. His family consisted of six children, namely : Susanna A., George H., who died at the age of twenty-one years ; Pleasant B., Charles B., father of our subject; Jesse W., and William S. Solomon H. Owen was a Democrat but was a Union sympathizer; he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church.
Captain Charles B. Owen was nine years old when he accompanied his parents from Tennessee to Greene county and here he grew to manhood and received a common school education. On September 18, 1856, he mar- ried Sarah E. Yarbrough. and to them were born two children, John S. and Stephen A. Douglas Owen. After his marriage, Mr. Owen settled on a farm on the James river, after having spent several years engaged in buying and selling live stock. He became one of the most prosperous and best-known general farmers and stockmen in Greene county. He finally became owner of thirteen hundred and ten acres, in one body, and three hundred and ninety-five acres besides, two hundred acres of which were entered from the government by his father. The land lay on either side of the James river, was well watered not only by the river but by six springs on various parts of the place. He cleared and improved about half of the entire tract, using much of it for pasturage, and a large portion of the place was kept in timber. His place was always stocked with large numbers of horses, mules, cattle, hogs and sheep.
The first wife of Captain Owen died March 18, 1862, and on Jan- uary 31. 1865. he married Nancy C. McCroskey, and to this union eight children were born, namely: Charles J., subject of this sketch; Mary Eliza- beth is deceased; Mrs. Margaret S. Martin: Mrs. Alwilda Madora Jane Garton; George D., Francis W., Wm. E., and Joseph L. are all living in Wilson township.
Politically, Captain Owen was a Democrat and was active and influen-
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tial in the affairs of his county. He was elected sheriff in 1870 and served two years, and was re-elected in 1874, serving two years more. He was one of the most efficient sheriffs Greene county ever had. In those days, during the reconstruction period after the Civil war, it took a man of cour- age and stability to fill that office. In May, 1861, he organized a militia company of Home Guards in his township and was elected captain, and then he consolidated his company with another, and being younger than the other captain, accepted the position of first lieutenant. When the Union troops occupied Springfield, General Lyon appointed him as guide to the troops under Col. Franz Sigel, and he led the army at night, August 9, 1861, to the Confederate camp on Wilson's creek, where the great battle was fought the following day, and he took part in that engagement. The Union troops having retreated to Rolla, Lieutenant Owen was enrolled at that place with his company in the United States service and was com- missioned by the governor of Missouri as first lieutenant in the United States army. He was mustered into the service at Benton Barracks. He was in a series of skirmishes with the bushwhackers in southeastern Mis- souri and was afterward in service against Marmaduke in that part of the state, and in skirmishes in different parts of Missouri and western Ten- nessee. At Columbus, Kentucky, his company did guard duty on the ord- nance boat General Grant, and later was on the march with General Sherman through Mississippi; was with Banks on the ill-fated Red river expedition, and at the occupation of Alexandria, also at the battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, where his regiment lost all of its officers except the major, cap- tain and one lieutenant, in killed and wounded, and lost one-third of the men. His own company lost one-half of its number in killed and wounded, and was then in severe skirmish fighting from April 9th to May 16th, where the battle of Yellow Brow was fought. Later he was in a battle near Mineral Point, Missouri. He was sick in a hospital in Memphis nine weeks, and was mustered out and honorably discharged in St. Louis, October 14. 1864, and returned home and took up farming again, which he continued until his death, March 15, 1907. His wife, mother of our subject. died on September 22, 1887.
Charles J. Owen, of this sketch, grew to manhood on the home farm and there he assisted with the general work when a boy. He received his education in the local schools in Wilson township. He remained on the farm with his father until he was thirty-five years old. then, having prev- iously purchased one hundred acres in this township, he removed thereto and has since resided here. engaged in general farming and stock raising. He also owns one hundred acres south of his original farm which he rents out. He pays considerable attention to raising a good grade of live stock. does an extensive horse and mule business, and maintains a popular breeding
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barn. He has three jacks-one a fine jack named Chief Benton, register number 3522, 1434 hands: weight, nine hundred and fifty pounds; large- boned and one of the best in Greene county. One extra large and fine jack named "Bill Wilson," No. 20415; black, 157/2 hands; extra large; weight, one thousand pounds ; a fine animal. Also Mr. Owen has one young jack named "Woodrow Wilson," which has great promise. Besides the above, Mr. Owen keeps two stallions, Percheron and one saddle horse. Mr. Owen's breeding barns are in the front rank in the entire county.
He was married, August 18, 1889. to Margaret C. Payne, a daughter of Lewis and Margaret Payne, of Greene county. The death of Mrs. Owen occurred January 16, 1904, and on April 29th of the same year he married Annie Beierle, a native of Newton county. The second union has been without issue, but the following children were born to Mr. Owen by his first wife: Roy Edward, born May 29, 1890, is deceased; Lewis Baker, born November 6, 1891, is assisting his father on the home farm, married Ester Campbell, a native of Greene county, have one child, Ralph Eugene, born September 26, 1914; Grace, born March 31, 1893, died in infancy; Earl Stephen, born December 1, 1896, deceased; and Bennie Sterling, born May 16, 1898, are all three deceased; and Charles Arthur, born February 14, 1903, who is living at home.
Politically, Mr. Owen is a Democrat, and he is a member of the Anti- Horse Thief Association. He is regarded as a man of good judgment, especially in reference to live stock, and is a good citizen in every respect.
JAMES A. RAMSEY.
The constant stream of humanity-capable boys and girls from the country-that has flowed toward the cities of the world, especially during the past few decades, has made a new economical problem in our civiliza- tion. The truth is, if the children of farmers are given the right sort of education at home they will not desert us and go to the city. They will stay on the farm if they are so instructed as to feel that on the farm they may find just as much pleasure in life and be just as successful. In an Iowa county the rural pupils were examined as to what they wanted to do with their lives. Most of the boys and almost all the girls answered that they meant to leave the farm when they grew up. Two years afterward the boys and girls in the same neighborhood were asked the same question. Most of them answered that they meant to stay on the farm. The change had been brought about because the teachers had been given more practical work to do in the schools. They had been giving the teaching a farm slant.
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They had been working in the schools on farm matters, and the girls had been studying domestic science, and they had forgotten about leaving the farm. They had been doing pleasant, interesting, practical work, and they were happy. They had come to see that there is just as fascinating work, just as intellectual work, just as big work in the country as any of them could expect to get in the city-in fact, much higher work than most of them could expect.
James A. Ramsey, a successful and contented farmer of Clay town- ship, Greene county, has been wise enough to remain in the country. He was born on March 23. 1866, near Effingham, Illinois. He is a son of Robert and Mary Anna (Jewlus) Ramsey. The father was born in Illi- nois in 1838 and was reared on a farm in that state, receiving his education in the common schools. About a year atfer the Civil war broke out he enlisted for service in the Union army, in a cavalry regiment, and was sent into Tennessee, where he took part in the battle of Lookout Mountain, and was in a number of other engagements. He was honorably discharged at the close of the war and returned to Illinois. He came to Greene county in 1869, where he has since lived on a farm, but retired from active life five years ago. He is a member of the Baptist church. The mother of the subject of this sketch was born in Virginia and her early life was spent in that state, Indiana and Illinois, and she was married in the last named state. She is a member of the Baptist church. She received a common school education. To Robert Ramsey and wife eight children were born, namely: William F., John (deceased) ; James .A. (subject) ; Mrs. Jennie Barnes, Albert. Frank (deceased) ; Mrs. Belle Vess, Mrs. Mollie McCurty ( deceased).
James A. Ramsey came to Missouri with his parents when two years old and grew up on a farm in Greene county, and here he received a com- mon school education. He worked on the home farm until he was twenty- two years of age, then rented a farm, later buying the place where he now resides, which consists of one hundred and twenty-nine acres, and on which is four good springs. It is well improved and one of the desirable farms of the township.
Mr. Ramsey was married in 1887 to Martha Trentham, to which union two children were born, Lee F., and Charle. Mr. Ramsey married for a second wife Sallie Latham, who was born in Greene county. November 2. 1888. She is a daughter of James and Mary Jane (Cox) Latham. The father was born in Tennessee, September 24, 1853, and is now living on a farm near Strafford, this county, having emigrated from his native state to Mis- souri in an early day. His wife, who was a native of Greene county, died some time ago. Mrs. Ramsey was reared on the home farm here and was educated in the district schools. To our subject's second union five children
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