USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > Past and present of Nodaway County, Missouri Volume I > Part 36
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On October 9. 1859. Mr. Robinson married Rebecca J. Ray, who sur- vives, living at the old home in Maryville, where she is greatly admired by a wide circle of friends for her beautiful Christian attributes. She was born in Bardstown. Kentucky, November 26, 1837, the daughter of James and Sallie (Hungate ) Ray, each from excellent old Southern families, the father having been born in Virginia in 1792. the mother being the daughter of John and Molly (Coffman) Hungate. John was the son of Charles and Molly Hun- gate, and Charles was the son of William and Nancy Hungate. William Hungate was born in Virginia in January. 1725, and he nearly rounded out the century mark, dying in the community where he was born, in February. 1822. He was an ensign during the Revolutionary war, serving in a most gal-
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lant manner throughout the struggle. He was on the commission which was signed by the committee of safety at Williamsburg, Virginia. October 22. 1775. The Hungate family can be traced back to the fourteenth century. Sir Philip Hungate was made lord of Saxton and Sherburn by Charles I. of England. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Robert Hungate founded and en- dowed two hospitals and a school at Sherburn. His father, Sir William Hungate, was a member of Privy Councillors of Queen Mary. William A. Hungate was an admiral in the British navy in 1836.
James Ray and wife came to Missouri in the early forties, making the trip by water, coming on a boat from Louisville.
To Mr. and Mrs. Theodore L. Robinson five children were born, three of whom are living at this writing. James B., Fred P. and Jennie I. The last named is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and she is a trustee of Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.
James B. Robinson was educated in the schools of Maryville, and at the age of seventeen he took up banking, following in the footsteps of his father by becoming a clerk in the Nodaway Valley Bank, and by close application and merit gradually worked his way up to cashier. In 1892 he became a part- ner in this institution, and at the re-organization of the bank and the death of the elder Robinson he became president, in 1894. and he has very ably discharged the duties of this responsible position ever since, maintaining the solid and conservative policy of the bank and greatly increasing its prestige, its patrons having constantly increased in numbers from year to year. He has inherited much of the sound business acumen and rare discernment of his father. Politically he is a Democrat, a member of the Christian church and of the Knights of Pythias.
James B. Robinson was married in October. 1894. to Maggie Garrison, a lady of culture and refinement, the daughter of Dr. I. B. and Sarah Gar- rison, an influential family of Worth county, Missouri. This union has been graced by the birth of three children. Theodore G .. James B., Jr., and Chilton K .. all attending school in Maryville.
Mr. Robinson is a worthy son of a worthy sire, and he is a public-spirited. genial and industrious gentleman. unassuming and well liked by all classes for his integrity and simplicity.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DUNCAN.
The biographer. in writing of the representative citizens of Nodaway county. Missouri, has found no subject more worthy of representation in a work of the province of the one at hand than Prof. Benjamin Franklin Dun-
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can, who is widely known as a man of high attainments and practical ability and as one who has achieved success in his profession principally because he has earnestly worked for it. His prestige in the educational circles of this locality stands in evidence of his ability and likewise stands as a voucher for intrinsic worth of character. He has used his intellect to the best purpose. has directed his energies in legitimate channels, and his career has been based upon the wise assumption that nothing save industry, perseverance, sturdy integrity and fidelity to duty will lead to success. The profession of teaching. which the subject has made his principal life work, offers no opportunities to the slothful. It is an arduous, exacting, discouraging profession to one who is unwilling to subordinate other interests to its demands, but to the true and earnest devotee it offers a sphere of action whose attractions are equal to any and whose rewards are unstinted. That the subject possesses the qualities enumerated is undoubted, owing to the success he has achieved and the high regard in which he is held by all who know him.
Benjamin F. Duncan was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, on April 29, 1842, and is a son of Daniel Boone and Eleanor (Cook) Duncan. His paternal grandparents were William and Martha (Jennings) Duncan, of Garrard county, Kentucky, where the former was a successful farmer. His wife was a daughter of Gen. William Jennings, a prominent officer in the American army during the war of the Revolution. Daniel Boone Duncan was born in Garrard county, Kentucky, on November 5. 1806, was reared on a farm, and after the completion of his common school education, he read law with Judge Lusk, at Lancaster, Kentucky. He was admitted to the bar and rapidly gained not only a large legal practice, but a wide recognition of his ability as a successful trial lawyer and jurist. He served as surveyor of Shelby county, Kentucky, and also gave efficient service as judge of the probate court of that county. In October. 1832, he married Eleanor Cook, a daughter of Rev. Abram and Sarah Cook, natives of Virginia. To this union were born nine children, six of whom are living. The subject's parents are both deceased, the father dying in 1883 and the mother in 1892. They were Baptists in their religious faith.
Benjamin F. Duncan was reared on a farm and received his elementary education in the public schools. Having determined upon a pedagogical career, he pursued his studies in Jewel College, in Missouri, and Georgetown College, Kentucky. On the completion of his education. he became principal of an academy at Campbellsburg, Kentucky, retaining this position three years. He then became president of Concord College, at New Liberty. Owen county,
(25)
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Kentucky, a position which he had declined three times previously because of a predilection for the legal profession But his ability as an instructor was so plainly indicated that he was not permitted to relinquish this work and he remained at the head of Concord College three years. At the end of that time Professor Duncan purchased the seminary at Eminence, Kentucky, and during the following six years he remained at the head of this institu- tion. In 1879 he came to Missouri and during the following three years he was superintendent of schools of Richmond, this state. Then for four years he was principal of the Maryville high school and during the following eight years he was superintendent of the Maryville schools. His educational and executive abilities were generally recognized, and he was elected county superintendent of schools, giving such eminent satisfaction in this position that he was re-elected. serving two full terms. On the completion of his official term, he accepted the chair of Latin and economics in the Fifth Dis- trict Normal School, at Maryville, filling the position satisfactorily for three years.
On November 14. 1867. Professor Duncan was united in marriage to Sallie E. Buchanan, the daughter of Prof. J. M. and America (Greathouse ) Buchanan, natives of Kentucky. To this union have been born four chil- dren, namely : James B., of Kansas City, Missouri : Blanche, wife of S. V. Dooly, of Parkville. this state; John M. and Eva M .. of Maryville. Relig- iously, Professor Duncan is a member of the Baptist church, to which he renders an earnest and generous support. Professor Duncan is a man of broad mind and large-hearted sympathy and enjoyed remarkable success as an instructor, not a little of his success being due to the fact that he always kept in close touch with the students under his charge, showing his friendly and personal interest in their welfare at all times, thus winning not only their esteem, but the confidence and respect of the community at large. He is popular in the city, where he has resided for so many years and enjoys a large circle of warm personal friends, who esteem him for his genuine worth.
JUDGE WILLIAM H. CHAMBERS.
It must be true that an honest. faithful. capable life, considered even in its temporal relations. is not lived in vain : that its influence is not as transient and evanescent as mere physical vitality, but that the progress of mankind.
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in all that is virtuous and ennobling, is accelerated by it; that although the life of one man may be a small factor in the aggregate history of the race, yet if well spent, its after influence is perceptible and continues to endure for the good of mankind.
Among the well-known citizens of Nodaway county whose work will long exert an ameliorating influence upon his locality is Judge William H. Chambers, of Union township. for his career is that of a man who, while advancing his own interests, has been vigilant of the progress of others. He was born in Coles county, Illinois, May 30, 1849. He was reared in Fulton county, that state. He is the son of John A. and Elizabeth Ann ( Ellis) Chambers, the father a native of Kentucky and the mother of Indiana. John A. Chambers devoted his life to farming, dying in Fulton county. Illinois, at the age of fifty-two years. He served in the Civil war in Company A. One Hundred and Third Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and the hardships of the service made such inroads on his health that his death was finally due to that cause. He ranked as third corporal. His wife died when William H., of this review, was seven years old, and he married Matilda Ellis, sister of his first wife.
At the time of his father's death William H. Chambers was twenty- three years old. He was put to work on the home place when a mere lad and assisted in the care of the crops, consequently his early schooling was inter- rupted. He remained with his step-mother one year after his father's death. or until his marriage, at the age of twenty-four, to Frocine James, of Fulton county. Illinois, a neighbor girl and a schoolmate, she being eighteen years old at the time of her marriage. They began their married life on a farm which they leased. continuing to rent for some time. Mr. Chambers owned a team, wagon and harness, being in debt thirty-five dollars, but he went to work with a will and during the three years that he rented land in Fulton county he was very successful. He then came to Nodaway county, Missouri, in 1876, arriving at his future home on December 4th. He had invaded the West prior to this, visiting Nebraska and upon his return came through Nod- away county, Missouri, and, being impressed very favorably with the coun- try. finally decided to make it his home. He bought eighty acres of land on White Cloud creek, six miles northwest of Pickering, forty-five acres of which were in cultivation, and thirty acres in wild prairie ; a small house was on the place, but no barn and little other improvements. He paid seventeen hundred and fifty dollars for the place, going in debt for about half of it; he had a sale before leaving Illinois and realized about eight hun-
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dred dollars from it: but being a hard worker and raising good crops, he soon had the place paid for and had it well improved, built an attractive and comfortable dwelling and excellent outbuildings, his house in 1886 and his barn in 1887. He has managed his place well and has added eighty acres to his original purchase, paying twenty-two hundred and fifty dollars for the same. This has been kept in native sod covered with blue grass and is used as a pasture. On this land Mr. Chambers, in 1907, built a stock barn, fifty- two by sixty-two feet, a shed-like protection for his cattle and hogs, and he feeds from one to three carloads of cattle at a time. He has also long been an extensive feeder of hogs, no small part of his income being derived from his livestock. His place is well improved in every respect, and shows that a gentleman of refined tastes and good judgment has its management in hand.
Judge Chambers has long taken a lively interest in the affairs of his township and county, and because of his public spirit and his ability he has been entrusted with positions of public importance. having served on the township board and as a justice of the peace, also on the school board ever since he came to the township, with the exception of two years. In 1906 he was elected county judge for a period of two years, on the Republican ticket, and he proved to be one of the best judges the county has ever had, looking carefully after the county's interests just as if they were his own, possessing an excellent judicial mind and well qualified by nature for such a position. He is a member of the Baptist church.
The Judge's family comprise the following children: Perry, who is connected with the drug store at Hopkins; Harry is a barber at Loveland. Colorado: Loren is at home and assisting with the work on the farm; Irvin is also at home: Sylvia married Mack Ulmer, a farmer in Pettis county. Mis- sonri ; Della married George Ulmer, a farmer in Hopkins township.
JUDGE HUGH H. MCCLURG.
The following is the sketch of a plain, honest man of affairs, who by correct methods and a strict regard for the interests of others has made his influence felt in Nodaway county. His life presents much that is interesting and valuable and may be studied with profit by the young, whose careers are yet to be achieved. He is one of those whose integrity and strength of character must force them into an admirable notoriety, which their modesty
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never seeks, who command the respect of their contemporaries and their posterity and leave the impress of their individuality deeply stamped upon the community.
Judge Hugh H. McClurg, residing in Union township, was born in Mor- gan county, Illinois, March 24, 1859. His father was Thomas L. McClurg, who died in November. 1909, who lived on the old home farm, which he settled in 1868; his widow is still living in Maryville, at No. 204 South Wal- nut street. Hugh H. McClurg remained at home with his parents until of age. On March 16, 1872, when twenty-three years old, he married Ida E. Rickard, daughter of Ezra and Mary (Colvin) Rickard, who lived just south of Pickering and who came to this county from Indiana. Ida E. was born in Indiana, and had lived near Elmo. Mrs. Rickard came to this county when a girl. Both she and her husband are now deceased and are buried in the same grave. Miss Rickard was eighteen when she married. Mr. McClurg began life for himself by renting land on Honey creek in Jack- son township, renting for three years, then hired out for a year, then rented land again, preferring this line of endeavor to that of school teaching, which he had followed from the age of nineteen to twenty-three in Nodaway coun- ty, during which time he took an active part in all teachers' associations. It fell to his lot to teach some pretty bad schools, but he made warm friends in each neighborhood and was successful. He continued to rent until com- ing to his present farm in the spring of 1892. He started with ninety acres at twenty dollars per acre, going in debt, but he had teams and proper farm- ing implements and soon made headway. The place had but a hull of a house, no fence or well. He has put at least two thousand dollars worth of improvements on the place, and has since added forty acres at sixty dollars per acre, which he has made from the place by hard work and good manage- ment. Besides general crops, he raises large numbers of mules and hogs. Of the ninety acres, about forty-five is bottom land on the One Hundred and Two river, where all of the forty-acre tract lies.
Judge McClurg has long been interested in local affairs, and in 1905 he was made secretary and treasurer of the No. I drainage district of One Hundred and Two river; he is also secretary and treasurer of the board of supervisors. This district runs from the Carr bridge, six miles south of Maryville, to the Iowa line, and about thirty thousand dollars has been ex- pended in strengthening and making new channels. In 1906 he was elected judge of the county court, his election being based on the liquor question, and, although a Democrat. he was supported by Republicans. He was elected
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presiding judge with Judges J. H. Campbell and W. H. Chambers. He has ever stood unswervingly for better conditions, and he has done much to bring about a more desirable state of affairs in every respect. He has been active in the affairs of the Democratic party for years and his influence in the same is generally recognized. He was at one time a delegate to the "Peace Con- ference," at Kansas City.
Judge McClurg is a trustee and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Pickering. He was superintendent of the Sunday school and a worker in the same for many years. Fraternally, he belongs to the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, being past noble grand, and he once served as district deputy.
The following children have been born to Judge McClurg and wife : Charles E., who formerly taught school in this county, is now living in the state of Washington; Myrtle E .: Carrie A., a Nodaway county teacher. is now a student in the Normal at Maryville : Elmer L. is in British Columbia ; Thomas O .. Ethel and Harold, at home.
GLENN BEAL ROSEBERRY.
The march of improvement is accelerated day by day, and each succes- sive moment seems to demand of men a broader intelligence and a greater discernment than did the preceding, showing that successful men must be live men in this age, bristling with activity. The purpose of biography is to pre- serve the records of such individuals for the edification of succeeding genera- tions: thus the lessons of biography may be far-reaching to an extent not superficially evident. A man's reputation is the property of the world. for the laws of nature have forbidden isolation. Every human being either submits to the controlling influence of others or wields an influence which touches. controls, guides or misdirects others. If he be honest and successful in his chosen field of endeavor, investigation will brighten his fame and light the way along which others may follow with like success. Consequently it is not improbable that a critical study of the life record of Glenn Beal Roseberry. superintendent of the Maryville Water Company. attorney-at-law and capi- talist, will be of benefit to the youth whose destinies for the future are to be determined. for his career has been one of usefulness and honor and has gained for him well-merited success while yet young in years.
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Mr. Roseberry is a native of this city. having been born on July 14, 1874, the son of Mathew G. and Phoebe E. (Beal) Roseberry, the father a native of Columbus, Adams county, Illinois. He came to Missouri in 1858 when a young man. He studied law while a young man at Quincy, Illinois, and devoted his principal life-work to this profession. His death occurred on November 19. 1888. his widow surviving until October 4. 1890. For several years Mathew G. Roseberry was engaged in the real estate business and later took Albert Morehouse, former governor of Missouri, in as a partner, the firm being known as Roseberry & Morehouse, and they did an extensive busi- ness-laid out two additions to the city, one known as the Roseberry addition in the southwest part of the city. During the last year of his life he was active in the loan business with Lafe Dawson, as attorney. He owned valuable prop- erty and built a block himself.
Glenn Beal Roseberry was fourteen years old when his father died. He decided on law as his vocation and began the study of the same early in life, taking his degree of Bachelor of Laws in the University of Michigan. graduating with the class of 1895. He was admitted to the bar in the state of Michigan in superior and supreme courts, and in the circuit court at Maryville. He returned to Nodaway county and opened an office, forming a partnership sometime afterwards with Arthur Miller and for five years was engaged in active practice. The close application to office work made heavy drains on his health and demanded that he leave his desk for a less confining occupation, consequently he bought the Roseberry block, built by the Smith Brothers, and from 1899 to 1905, in partnership with John Airey, conducted a grocery business. He then became business manager of the Republican for one year, during which time he placed the paper on a paying basis and started it out auspiciously. infusing new life into every department. He also erected several residences, including his own house on East Seventh street in one of the best residental districts of the city. He is at present superintendent and manager of the city water-works, which he has placed under an excellent system. He has kept clear of politics, is a Republican, but prefers to devote his attention to business rather than office-seeking.
Mr. Roseberry was married on October 2, 1895, to Laura A. Frank, a lady of culture and refinement, the representative of an excellent Maryville family. Her death occurred on December 31, 1899. This union was with- out issue. On July 14. 1901, Mr. Roseberry married Eva P. Frank, niece of his first wife, and the daughter of W. C. Frank, a well-known local citizen. Mrs. Roseberry is a woman of education and social prestige and numbers
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her friends, as does her husband, only by the limit of her acquaintance. This union has been graced by the birth of one daughter, Esther Ardelia, three years of age at this writing.
Mr. Roseberry is active in the Christian church, which his father had been influential in building. It was but a small struggling congregation. with preaching about twice each month, but Mr. Roseberry gave liberally of his time and means and it began to thrive and is doing an important work in this community. Glenn B. Roseberry has been interested in and a mem- ber of this church since he was eleven years old.
Personally, Mr. Roseberry is a man of pleasing address. possessing the optimism and wholesome enthusiasm of youth, and such amiable character- istics as to render him popular with all classes of citizens, his habits being exemplary and his interest in the welfare of Maryville and Nodaway county deeply grounded, a worthy son of a worthy sire, ever seeking to bear aloft the high standard of living set by his honored father.
WILLIAM HENRY TOTTERDALE.
Among the influential and substantial men of a past generation who were prominently concerned in ushering in new areas of industrial activity in Nod- away county and who figured conspicuously in the affairs of the county in general, ranking among its best citizens, and who will long be remembered for the many good deeds and acts of kindness he did, was the late William Henry Totterdale, he having been a potent factor in the business, political, civil and moral advancement of this locality through a long course of years. His extensive interests placed him among the leaders in industrial circles in the county, and he achieved that success which is the logical result of enter- prise, systematic effort, resolute purpose and straightforward methods. There are no other qualities absolutely essential to development. and upon the ladder of his own building Mr. Totterdale climbed to prominence and prosperity, while in the community with whose interests he was so closely and conspicu- ously identified he was held in the highest esteem and confidence by all who knew him, since his integrity and honesty of purpose were questioned by none.
Mr. Totterdale was a native of England, born in Somersetshire, May 21, 1848. When ten years old he came with his parents to America and set- tled in Columbia county. Wisconsin, where they lived six years, then moved to Waukesha, the same state. Here young Totterdale learned the carpenter
H. D. Totterdale,
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trade and became a skilled workman. In 1867 he came to Maryville, where he spent the rest of his life. His active business career began about thirty- five years ago, when he and George Conrad entered into a partnership as con- tractors and builders. Many of the best residences and business blocks in Maryville were erected by them, among which might be mentioned the Ream hotel, four buildings on Fourth street facing the square, for A. P. Morehouse. John B. Cox, George Conrad and Brown & Montgomery, respectively, the building now occupied by H. T. Crane, for F. D. Snyder ; part of the Robinson & Prather building: the four store rooms occupied by the Alderman Dry Goods Company, and the grocery department of the Maryville Mercantile Company, for M. G. Roseberry : the Roseberry building, for Smith Brothers ; the Forsyth Building. occupied by Byers & Buhler, for R. K. Townsend ; the building next to it, occupied by F. P. Reuillard, for George Worst ; the build- ing occupied by Airy & Simpson, for Jake Schrader; the next one south, for Elias Pittman : the Union bus barn for James B. Prather. Among the more pretentious residences erected by them in this city, were those of Jack Welch. W. C. Pierce and the Drennan home, all in the north part of town, and the Vinsonhaler and Weaver houses in the south part of the city.
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