USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > Past and present of Nodaway County, Missouri Volume II > Part 14
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To Mr. and Mrs. Medsker have been born eight children, who are briefly mentioned as follows :
(I) Homer S., who resides on his farm five miles east of Graham, this county, married Dora Shields, and they have three children, Robert, Marie and Eudora.
(2) Ida M. became the wife of Thomas Howden, of Skidmore, and they have a son. Lawrence.
(3) Lulu is the wife of Rev. Emmett L. Robinson, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church now located at Westboro, and they are the par- ents of four children, Bessie, Merrill, Louise and Mildred.
(4) Minnie is the wife of Herbert Cornish, of near Osborn, Missouri, and they have two children, Marguerite and David Herbert.
(5) Josephine is the wife of Abraham Goodpasture and they reside in Maitland. Mr. Goodpasture is a farmer and stock raiser and owns a good farm five miles west of Maitland.
(6) Tilghman, who lives near Guilford, owns two farms, aggregating two hundred and thirty-five acres. He first married Pearl VanAusdall, who died five years afterwards, without issue. Subsequently, he married Lizzie Beggs and they have two children, Leland and Mary May.
(7) Annie became the wife of Frank Campbell, by whom she became the mother of three children, Josephine, Wilson and Franklin. They resided in Oklahoma, where Mr. Campbell was employed as superintendent of schools. His death occurred in July, 1909, and since then Mrs. Campbell has bought a home in Skidmore, where she now resides near her parents.
(8) Ephraim Michael, who lives on his father's farm west of Skidmore, married Georgia Connor, the daughter of Rev. David Connor, of Maryville. and they have four children, David Francis, Eva May. R. G. and Theodore.
Politically, Mr. Medsker is a stanch Republican and has taken a live interest in local public affairs. While living in Holt county. this state, he served for twenty-five years as a school director, and has served as assessor of Monroe township. He takes a commendable interest in educational matters and gives an unreserved support to every movement that promises to benefit the community in any way. He is genial and companionable and is well liked by all who know him.
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PRESTON SEAFERS.
Living in comfortable homes, dotting the broad, fertile prairies of Nod- away county, may be found many citizens, most of them now getting well along in years, who have come here from the old Keystone state. They are such men of quality and force as to win in any section of the great national union and this county owes much to their citizenship. Of this class the name of Preston Seafers should be mentioned among the first.
Mr. Seafers was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, November 14. 1845. the son of Frederick and Maria (Carson) Seafers, the father a native of Germany, from which country he came with his parents to America when sixteen years of age. Maria Carson was a native of Pennsylvania. They married in that state and settled in Chester county, and lived there until the fall of 1853, when they came to Hancock county, Illinois, where Mrs. Seafers died, after which event Mr. Seafers came to Nodaway county, Missouri. where he remained a few years, then moved back to Hancock county, Illinois. on a visit and while there, died. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom Preston, of this review, was the third in order of birth. He accompa- nied his parents to Hancock county, Illinois, where he grew to manhood and where he attended school, spending his early life on a farm. In the fall of 1869 he came to Nodaway county, Missouri, and purchased a small farm in Jackson township and here he continued to live until April, 1892, when he moved to Maryville where he has since resided, having a neat and comfort- able home here. He is the owner of about four hundred and thirty acres in Jackson township, all improved and ranking among the best land in the township. Before retiring he devoted himself exclusively to general farming, stock raising and feeding on an extensive scale and his efforts met with great success.
On December 28, 1870, Mr. Seafers married Clarissa Casteel, who was born in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, July 14, 1851 ; she is the daughter of Harvey and Nancy (McCreary) Casteel, both natives of Pennsylvania. They came to Nodaway county, Missouri, in 1867 and settled in Polk township and there they spent the balance of their lives. Of a family of eight children, Mrs. Seafers was the fourth in order of birth. She came to Nodaway county with her parents.
To Mr. and Mrs. Seafers three children have been born, namely: Charles F. is a practicing physician in Port Arthur, Texas : Adella is the wife of Fred Curfman, of Jackson township: Lulu E. is the wife of Ernest Wel- born, of Maryville.
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Mr. Seafers is a Republican in politics, taking more than a passing inter- est in the political and other affairs of his township. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and active in the work of the same. They have enjoyed a wide and warm friendship since coming to this county and rank among our best people.
ERNEST PRANG.
There is profit as well as satisfaction in reviewing the life record of a man who has made a success in any vocation and won the respect of his fellow citizens. Briefly stated, this is the history of Ernest Prang, the enterprising and progressive merchant at Skidmore, Nodaway county, in which he holds high rank as a public spirited citizen, and where he has long maintained his home, ever having at heart the interests of his community, for in all the rela- tions of life he has proven true to every trust reposed in him and no citizen of this section of the county is worthier of the high esteem in which he is held.
Mr. Prang was born at Creston, Nebraska, March II, 1881, and is the son of Samuel and Henrietta (Schlick) Prang, both natives of Prussia, from which country they came to America and located in Nebraska. Ernest Prang grew to maturity on a farm in Nebraska and lived there until 1906, working on the home farm and attending the public schools.
In August. 1902, Mr. Prang married Eva Nash, daughter of W. T. Nash and wife, of Braddyville, Page county, Iowa. He continued farming until 1906, in which year he moved to eastern Kansas and entered the real estate business at Hartford. remaining there one year; then. in February, 1907, he moved to Decatur county. Iowa, and followed farming and stock raising for two years, and in February, 1909, sold out and came to Skidmore, Nodaway county. and in 1908 bought the store he now owns and which. under his able management, has rapidly grown in prestige and ranks well with the best stores of the county. It is the largest store in Skidmore, and none in this or any other town its size is better or more modernly equipped, the building being a substantial one, one hundred and twenty by thirty-six feet, two stories. each devoted to his business. He deals in dry goods, clothing. men's and ladies' furnishings, shoes. groceries and queensware. He carries an excellent and carefully-selected stock of goods and his prices are always right, according to the statement of many of his customers, who come from a wide extent of
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territory and the number of which is constantly increasing, for at this store there is always prompt and courteous service. Mr. Prang is building an ele- gant home in Skidmore, one of the finest in the town, modern throughout, well finished and hot water heated.
Mr. and Mrs. Prang are the parents of three children, Leon Earl, Mil- dred Henrietta and Delphin Luverne.
Mr. Prang is a member of the Royal Highlanders, the Knights of Pyth- ias. the Modern Woodmen of America, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in all of which he takes a great interest and is popular. He is a thorough business man, seem- ingly possessed of tireless energy and is always busy. He is genial, obliging, accommodating and sociable. thus makes friends easily and has no difficulty in retaining them.
CHARLES E. DAWSON.
Persistent industry, sound judgment and marked business ability have been the elements which have contributed largely to the success which has come to Charles E. Dawson, a successful farmer and leading stock man of Monroe township, and today he occupies a conspicuous position because of the eminent success which he has attained and the splendid qualities which have characterized his life in this community.
Mr. Dawson was born in Stark county, Illinois, in 1867. and he is a son of David and Amelia (Champ) Dawson. David Dawson, who was born in the state of Ohio, was the son of William Dawson and on attaining mature years he married Amelia Champ in Stark county, that state. She was the daughter of William Champ and moved from Ohio to Illinois with her par- ents. The subject of this sketch was reared on the parental farmstead and in 1876 he accompanied the family on their removal to Andrew county, Missouri, where they remained a year. In the spring of 1877 they came to Graham. Nodaway county, and in the spring of the following year David Dawson bought eighty acres of land located two and three-quarter miles south of Skid- more in Holt county where he and his wife now reside. They became the par- ents of eleven children, of which number seven are living. The four who died are Becky, who married G. W. Randall and died in 1908, leaving four chil- dren : John W., who died in 1897. leaving four children : Horace Melvin, who died in 1909, unmarried. and Carrie, who died while the family were living
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in Illinois. The living children are as follows: Almira is the wife of F. C. Hurst and lives two and a half miles south of Skidmore ; James H., of Denver, Colorado; Charles E., the subject of this sketch; Cora B., the wife of W. L. Mitchell, of Chase, Kansas: Julia, the wife of T. A. Zachary, of Maitland; Daisy is unmarried and lives at home with her parents, and the same can be said of Arthur Jacob.
On January 27, 1892, Mr. Dawson of this sketch married Nellie Long, a daughter of Garrett and Lucinda Long, her birth having occurred three miles east of Skidmore. Her father was born not far from Cincinnati, Ohio, while her mother was a native of Illinois. These parents were married in Illinois and about 1872 they moved to Buchanan county, Missouri, where they remained for a year or two, at the end of which time they came to Nodaway county and located east of Skidmore, where they lived a few years, during which period the birth of Mrs. Dawson occurred. When she was about five years old the family moved to the south line of the county, about three miles southwest of Skidmore, where they were living when she was married. Gar- rett Long died about 1900 and his wife in 1893.
For about eight years after his marriage Charles E. Dawson rented land within three miles of Skidmore, and then bought a sixty-acre farm in section 18, southwest of Skidmore. After residing on that place three years, he bought a farm of one hundred and thirty-two acres located two and a half miles southeast of that town, but a year later he sold that place to J. W. Howard and bought his present fine farm, a half mile south of his former location. The farm, which comprises seventy-five acres, is most eligibly sit- uated and is well improved in every respect. Mr. Dawson has always followed farming, but during the past six years he has devoted the greater part of his attention to the buying and shipping of livestock, in which enterprise he has met with a very gratifying measure of success. He ships principally to the St. Joseph and Chicago markets, and being a good judge of livestock and a shrewd buyer and seller, he has prospered in his efforts. He is widely known among stockmen and farmers and is held in the highest esteem by all who know him.
To Mr. and Mrs. Dawson has been born one daughter. Bertha May, who remains with her parents and is attending school. Fraternally, Mr. Daw- son belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Wood- men of America, holding membership in these bodies at Skidmore. Genial and hospitable, he is liked by all and is rightfully numbered among the lead- ing men of his section of the county.
(46)
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FRED C. BARBER.
Nodaway is a county of magnificent and productive farms, in this re- spect being one of the most favored sections of the great commonwealth of Missouri, and among the fine farms of the county must be numbered that owned by the subject of this sketch and which lies in section 35, in the north- western part of Monroe township. Persistent industry, sound judgment and wise management have been the elements which have contributed to Mr. Bar- ber's success in his chosen vocation and as a representative citizen of his com- munity he is entitled to representation in a work of this character.
Mr. Barber was born in Adams county, Illinois, in February, 1857, and is a son of William and Eliza (Hammond) Barber. He was reared on the home farm until sixteen years of age, when, in 1873, the family moved to Nodaway county and located in Green township, where they subsequently bought a fine farm in the southwestern part of the township. In October, 1883, the subject married Laura Grigsby, the daughter of Capt. John Grigsby. whose personal sketch appears eleswhere in this work. After his marriage Mr. Barbei bought the home farm from his parents, the latter moving then to Skidmore, where they spent the remainder of their days. In November, 1892, Mr. and Mrs. Barber moved to his present fine farm, to the cultivation of which he has since given his earnest attention. The place, which comprises four hundred and eighty acres, is most eligibly situated and has been improved to such an extent that it is now numbered among the best farms of the town- ship. In addition to this farm, which is all in one body, Mr. Barber owns one hundred and twenty acres of land in section 1. Monroe township, eighty acres in section 15, the same township, and one hundred and eighty-four acres in Green township, making his total land holdings about eight hundred and sixty- four acres. Mr. Barber is thoroughly practical in his farming operations, and is enterprising and progressive in his ideas, keeping in touch with advanced ideas relating to the science of husbandry. He owns an attractive and com- fortable residence, and the general appearance of his place indicates the owner to be a man of good judgment and excellent taste, Right in the prime of his life, he takes an intelligent interest in the affairs of the community, and is always found on the right side of every question affecting the welfare of those about him. He takes a marked interest in educational matters and has seen to it that his children have received good educations.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Barber, namely : John W .. Lillis and William F. Lillis died in infancy. John, who is at home with his father, received a good public school education, and supplemented by four
Mrs Fred C Barber
Fred & Barbar
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years' attendance at the Missouri Wesleyan College at Cameron and also at- tended the college at Baker. William Frederick is now a student in the Mis- souri Wesleyan College. The mother of these children died on December 6, 1902, and on June 1, 1905, Mr. Barber married Viola McNutt. She was born in Indiana, but spent the greater part of her childhood at Blandinsville, Illinois. Her father was a well known minister of the Baptist church. From Illinois, Mrs. Barber went to Kansas with her parents and there completed her education. Subsequently she engaged in teaching school, being located at Beloit, Kansas, seven years, going then to Princeton, Indiana, where she engaged in teaching until her marriage to Mr. Barber.
Politically, Mr. Barber renders a stanch allegiance to the Republican party. He is not an office seeker, but while living in Green township he served efficiently several years as a justice of the peace. He and his wife are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which they give an earnest support. In every relation of life he has performed well his part and because of his sterling integrity of character and his success in life he has won and retains the sincere respect of the entire community in which he lives.
HOMER S. MEDSKER.
Another Ohioan who has come to Nodaway county, Missouri, and be- come well established as a result of his persistent efforts along safe and legit- imate lines is Homer S. Medsker, who is the owner of a good farm in Hughes township, where he maintains a very comfortable home. He was born in Highland county, Ohio, May 30, 1865, and is the son of Robert G. and Lucinda (Roberts) Medsker, both natives of Ohio. They came to Holt county, Missouri, in the fall of 1865, when Homer S. was an infant, and there they lived until the spring of 1891. when they moved to Nodaway county: settling in Monroe township, two miles west of Skidmore, where they lived until early in the present century, when they moved to Skidmore where they now reside, advanced in years. They were the parents of eight children, of whom Homer S. was the oldest.
Homer S. Medsker grew to manhood in Holt county. Missouri, and was educated in the common schools there, working, in the meantime, on his father's place. and he remained in that county until 1900, when he purchased a farm north of Graham where he lived for four years, then sold out, but
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deciding to remain in Hughes township, purchased another farm, the place where he now resides, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, all well im- proved and well kept.
Mr. Medsker was married in Graham, Nodaway county, on November 20, 1890, to Eudora Shields, who was born in Holt county, Missouri, the daughter of William and Elizabeth (Goodson) Shields, who came to Missouri from Indiana in 1865 and settled in Holt county, where Mrs. Shields died November 30, 1907. Mr. Shields is still a resident of Holt county. Mrs. Medsker was the fourth child in a family of ten children. She and Mrs. E. R. Goodpasture, mentioned elsewhere in this work, are sisters. To Mr. and Mrs. Medsker three children have been born, William R., Marie and Eudora E. Mr. and Mrs. Medsker are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JAMESON M. MILLER.
This is an age in which the farmer stands pre-eminently above any other class as a producer of wealth. He simply takes advantage of the winds, the warm air. the bright sunshine, the refreshing rains, and with God's help and by virtue of his own skill in handling nature's gifts he creates hay, grain, livestock and vegetables, all of which are absolutely necessities to the in- habitants of the earth.
One of the residents of Hughes township. Nodaway county, who has had the ingenuity and the courage to develop the resources found round about him, thus gaining a comfortable living for himself and family and providing for "rainy days" ahead, is Jameson M. Miller, who is a native of the Prairie state, having been born in McDonough county, Illinois, February 1I, 1855. He is the son of Isaac and Martha J. (Berry) Miller, both natives of Indiana. After spending a good many years in Illinois, they left McDonough county and came to Nodaway county. Missouri, in the fall of 1868 and settled in Hughes township. where they resumed farming and spent the remainder of their lives. Thirteen children were born to them, of whom Jameson M., of this review. was the fifth in order of birth.
The gentleman whose name heads this brief review came to Nodaway county with his parents when about twelve years of age, and here he grew to manhood, assisted with the work on the place and attended the neighboring schools when not at work. When twenty-one years of age he returned to Mc- Donough county. Illinois, and remained there two years, then returned to
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this township and devoted his attention to farming here until the fall of 1882, when he again went to McDonough county and remained in the vicinity of his birth for two years more, after which he came back to Hughes township and has resided here continuously ever since. He has devoted his life ex- clusively to farming and stockraising; he is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres which are well improved and well tilled. He settled on the farni where he now lives in February, 1889.
Mr. Miller was married in McDonough county, Illinois, November 1, 1882, to Mary M. Odenweller, who was born and reared in that county, and was the daughter of Leonard and Elizabeth Odenweller. This union has resulted in the birth of three children, Isaac Leonard, Berry G. and Ross. Isaac Leonard married Addie Alkire and lives near his parents ; Berry G., who married Minnie Ashport, also lives near the old home. Ross O. is attending school.
Mr. Miller finds time to take considerable interest in public affairs. He is a Republican and he and his wife are active members of the Christian church.
SAMUEL HAYWORTH.
Briefly and as succinctly as possible will be recorded in the following lines the leading facts in the life of a very active and successful man, one of the leading farmers of Hughes township and a worthy citizen of Nodaway county.
Samuel Hayworth was born in the state of Iowa, August 5. 1846, and he was reared in Appanoose county, that state, where he attended the common schools and where he began farming on his father's place. He remained in that county until September, 1868, when he came to Nodaway county, Mis- souri, and rented a farm four miles north of Graham, in Hughes township. where he lived until March, 1872, when he rented a farm east of Graham. living there three years. Then, in the fall of 1875 he bought eighty acres of wild land where he has since made his home and which he has developed into a good farm, having settled permanently on this land in March, 1876. He has erected a very neat and comfortable dwelling and other good buildings on the place. As he prospered here he has purchased other land until he now owns two hundred and forty acres in this county and eighty acres in Brown county, Kansas. He has devoted his life to farming. stockraising and thresh-
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ing. being known as one of the leading threshing-machine operators in this part of the county, having threshed two million bushels of grain of all kinds.
Mr. Hayworth married. on July 14, 1867. while living in Appanoose county, Iowa. Margaret A. Dyson, who was born in Athens county, Ohio, July 3. 1846. She was the daughter of William and Rachael (Leeper) Dy- son, both natives of Ohio. The father died in Appanoose county, Iowa, in 1854, after which event the mother came to Nodaway county, Missouri, in 1865 and died in Hughes township in 1903 at an advanced age. Two sons and four daughters were born to them.
The parents of Samuel Hayworth were Elijah and Lodima (Smith) Hayworth. the former a native of Georgia and the latter of North Carolina. They came to Iowa and Mr. Hayworth died in Appanoose county, when seventy-one years of age, his wife dying in Holt county. this state, when about seventy-four years old. They were the parents of eight children, of whom Samuel of this review was the third in order of birth.
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Hayworth are the parents of six children, named as follows : William A. is farming in Hughes township: Joseph S. died when two years old: Mary E. is the wife of Eli V. Moore, of Portland, Oregon ; Rachael L. is the wife of John Miller, of Pasadena, California; Clora A. is the wife of M. A. Gray, of White Cloud township; Nora M. is the wife of H. L. Groves, of Brown county, Kansas.
Mr. Hayworth takes considerably more than a passing interest in the affairs of his county and township. He is a Democrat in politics. He is a member of Whitehall Lodge. No. 301, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. being the present master of this lodge and is the moving spirit of the same. Mrs. Hayworth is a member of the Baptist church.
ROBERT B. GEX.
A resident of Hughes township. Nodaway county, who has well earned the honor to be addressed as one of the progressive. public spirited citizens of the county is Robert B. Gex, who belongs to that class of men who win in life's battles by sheer force of personality and determination and in what- ever he has undertaken has shown himself to be a man of ability and honor. He was born in Gallatin county. Kentucky. October 26. 1850. His father was John A. Gex, also a Kentuckian, who, in his early business career, took flatboats loaded with produce to New Orleans. After that he engaged ex-
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tensively in farming, and lived in Gallatin county, Kentucky, until his death, at the age of eighty-eight years. He married Henrietta R. Brooking, who was a native of Clark county, Kentucky, and she died in Gallatin county, that state, when eighty years old. Their family consisted of five children, of whom Robert B., of this review, was the second in order of birth. He remained on his father's farm until April, 1872, when he came to Nodaway county, Mis- souri, and located in Hughes township, where he resided until about 1905, when he moved back to his old home in Kentucky, remaining there until the spring of 1910, when he returned to his former place in Hughes township. Farming and stockraising has been his life work and he has been very success- ful, meeting with few reverses in either, having been a good manager, careful in details and vigilant at all times to see and utilize every opportunity. He is one of the leading farmers of the southern part of the county, now owning nearly one thousand acres in Nodaway county, most of which is in Hughes township, well kept and under good improvements. He also owns the old home farm in Gallatin county, Kentucky, which consists of four hundred and forty acres ; he also owns three sections of land in Texas, comprising nine- teen hundred and thirty-eight acres in Lipscomb county, which is increasing in value and is proving a good investment. Mr. Gex has an attractive, substan- tial and nicely furnished residence, large barns and, in fact, everything about his place here shows thrift and good management.
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