USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > Past and present of Nodaway County, Missouri Volume II > Part 20
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of one hundred and forty acres, making general farming his chief occupa- tion. He is an extensive buyer and shipper of hogs, the only one in this line of business at Quitman.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Rodman, namely : Mary L. is the wife of Dick Brooks and they live on the Malvern farm, about three miles northwest of Quitman ; Vera M. is attending the nor- mal school at Maryville: Olga Lee, the youngest daughter, is at home with her parents.
The maternal grandfather of these children, Theodore Pifer, was born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, November 9, 1841, and when twelve years of age he left that place and came to Monticello, Illinois, with his parents, Stephen and Elizabeth (Ihinger) Pifer. Both his parents were from Holland, from which country they came to Pennsylvania. thence to Illinois, in which state Theodore Pifer grew to maturity. When the Civil war broke out he en- listed in Company F. Second Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, and served four years and six months. receiving an honorable discharge. On September 20, 1866, he married, at Quitman, Missouri, Martha Ellen Brown, daughter of William and Sarah ( Banner) Brown. She was born on a farm near Louis- ville, Kentucky, and lived in Illinois, then came to this county and settled on a farm one mile and a half from Quitman, her death occurring when Martha Ellen Brown was sixteen years old. William Brown remarried when seventy- five years old and lived at Quitman until his death. Mrs. Rodman's father was twice postmaster of Quitman, and he owned a grocery store there. He had three hundred and twenty acres of farm land, two and one-half miles west of Quitman. He made his own way after coming to Missouri and was very successful. His death occurred at Quitman in 1893. He was for some time justice of the peace and school director. He was a Mason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic and the Lutheran church. Mrs. Rodman's mother died on July 14, 1878, at the home place west of Quitman. The death of Stephen Pifer occurred in February, 1874. Elizabeth (Ihinger) Pifer died on June 27, 1887, when seventy-eight years of age. Grandfather Brown died on March 14, 1883. Theodore Pifer was married twice, the second time on June 8, 1880, to Martha J. Ogle. To this union were born four children, two of whom died young. Of those living, Genie Pearl mar- ried John Callaway, of Quitman. Nellie Josephine married first Edward C. Booth, who died on September 18, 1905, and she later became the wife of Joseph Cockayne. of this county. By his first union Mr. Pifer was the father
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of three children: Mrs. Rodman; Mary Ellen, who became the wife of Dil- lard R. Palmer, and Edward M.
On April 14, 1886, a cyclone swept over the home of Mrs. Rodman's parents, when she was eighteen years of age and living at home. Her father owned a half-section of land on which stood three dwellings and numerous outbuildings. All three houses were swept away and much gen- eral damage was done. The storm struck between seven and eight o'clock in the evening, the entire family being in the house when it was demolished. Two little boys were killed in the house and a farm hand was injured by being blown against a tree; a number of ducks and chickens were blown into the well. Some of Mr. Pifer's private papers were later found across the line in Iowa, whither the wind had carried them. Fortunately, he car- ried cyclone insurance.
Samuel Rodman is a Democrat politically. He has always been identi- fied with the public life of his community, and he is now serving his third term as a member of the township board; he is also a member of the school board, and the aggregate of his terms in that capacity would be seventeen years. He has been repeatedly urged to run for county offices, but has re- fused to do so. He is a member of the Masonic lodge at Quitman, also the Modern Woodmen. The Rodman family are affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church.
DAVID WHITE.
There is now taken under review one of the sterling citizens of Green township. Nodaway county, where he has resided for many years and where his life has been spent in such a manner as to gain him an ample competence. Mr. White is one of the successful farmers in this community, where he owns an attractive farm, having so conducted his business affairs as to bring success to himself, comfort to his family and good to the community.
David White was born in Licking county, Ohio, on September 13, 1850, and is a son of William and Mary (Ash) White. When he was six years old the family moved to Fulton county, Illinois, where he was reared to manhood and where he received his public school education. On March 29. 1876, the family removed to Nodaway county, Missouri, locating in the southwest corner of Green township, where they bought the farm on which the subject now resides. There the parents spent the remainder of their
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days, the father dying in 1897 and the mother in 1903. The father had been a wagonmaker in his younger days, but from the time he moved to Illinois he devoted his efforts to farming. He and his wife were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church. David White has devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits, and he has achieved a definite success along this line. He is the owner of two hundred and forty acres of splendid land, all of which is under cultivation and highly improved. He is thoroughly prac- tical and progressive in his farm work, keeping in touch with the most ad- vanced ideas relating to the science of husbandry, and everything about the place indicates a careful and intelligent supervision on the part of the owner. A general line of crops are raised and on the place are to be found some fine livestock, in the handling of which Mr. White has met with satis- factory success.
Mr. White has been married three times. In December, 1877, lie mar- ried Mollie McDonald, a daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth McDonald, she being a native of Indiana. Three children were born to this union, one dying in early infancy, one at the age of eighteen months and the other at the age of two and a half years. Mrs. Mollie White died on October 18. 1882, and in 1885 Mr. White married Fannie E. Hutchinson, the daugh- ter of Jacob and Fannie Hutchinson. She died on June 12. 1903. and in April, 1905, Mr. White took for his third wife Mrs. Lettie (Adams) Latta, the widow of Melvin Latta. She was born in Lagrange county, Indiana, and when she was three years old she moved with her parents to Iowa, where she was reared to womanhood. While living there she married Melvin Latta and to them were born six children, Dale, Eva, Bessie, Lloyd, Blanche and Leta. Bessie and Blanche are living in Iowa, while the others are living with Mr. and Mrs. White. Mr. Latta died in September, 1903, and in 1905 his widow came to Nodaway county. To Mr. and Mrs. White two children have been born, Dorothy and William.
Religiously, Mr. and Mrs. White are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which they render an earnest and liberal support. Mr. White has through a course of years enjoyed to a marked degree the esteem and confidence of those who know him and who have held him in high regard because of his ability, sterling integrity and genuine worth. He is descended from sturdy and honorable ancestry, several of his ancestors having served in the war of 1812 and some in the war of the Revolution. The White family came originally from Virginia, that state which has sent so much of the best blood into the population of the great middle West.
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THADDEUS ANDERSON.
A happy combination of characteristics is possessed by the gentleman of whom the biographer now essays to write, for he has shown during his long residence in Nodaway county, Missouri, that he is a man of sound business ability. foresight and sagacity, at the same time possessing laudable traits of character, such as integrity, industry, sobriety and kindliness ; these, combined with his public spirit and model home life, have resulted in win- ning for Mr. Anderson the unqualified esteem of all who know him.
Thaddeus Anderson was born in Genesee county, New York, on March 30, 1837, the son of Squire and Emeline (Folliott) Anderson. The sub- ject's paternal grandparents were natives of Ireland, who emigrated to the United States and settled in New York state, where their deaths occurred. Emeline Folliott was born in Massachusetts, and in young womanhood moved to New York state, where she met and married Squire Anderson. About 1838 or 1839 they moved to Ohio, where they remained until 1846, when they moved to Peoria county, Illinois, spending the rest of their days in that part of the state. their deaths occurring at Galva.
Thaddeus Anderson was reared on the farm in Illinois and was edu- cated in the public schools. He was married in 1863, and in the spring of the following year he and his wife came to Missouri, locating first in An- drew county. Soon afterwards they went to Holt county. then to Gentry county, and in the spring of 1867 they returned to Holt county, where he bought a farm near Maitland. After living there about three years, he bought a farm near Albany, Gentry county, and spent a like period there. He then came to Nodaway county, but about 1880 he bought another farm about nine miles northwest of Maitland in Holt county, where he made his home about fifteen years, and at the end of that time he bought the farm in Green township, Nodaway county, where he now lives. This farm, which comprises three hundred and twenty acres, is eligibly located in the south- western part of the township, and he also owns one hundred and sixty acres of good land southwest of Hopkins. He is thus the owner of four hundred and eighty acres of as good land as can be found in the county, and it has all been acquired by his own efforts. Persistent and well-applied industry has been the keynote to his success, and today no man in his section of county is held in higher regard by those who know him. He is of a whole- souled and hospitable disposition, the latch-string of his home ever hanging on the outside, and an inviting and cheerful spirit pervades his home which makes the guest there feel doubly welcome.
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Politically, Mr. Anderson is a Republican and he takes a true citizen's proper interest in public affairs, especially as relating to his own community, though in no sense is he a seeker after public office.
In 1863 Mr. Anderson married Lecy F. Lane, the daughter of Lemuel B. and Nancy (Bird) Lane, the former a native of southern Illinois and the latter of Kentucky .. Mrs. Anderson was born in Peoria county, Illinois, and subsequently came with her husband to Nodaway county, her father be- coming a successful and well-known citizen of Maryville, Missouri. To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have been born four children, two of whom died in infancy, those living being Ulysses A. and L. C. Ulysses married Georgia Stults and lives southwest of Hopkins, where he is engaged in the opera- tion of a quarter section of land. He has four children, Earl Marion, Ralph Norman, Opal and J. Thaddeus. L. C. is unmarried and lives at home with his parerts.
HENRY BOWMAN.
When the family of Henry Bowman left their Indiana home and came to Nodaway county, Missouri, they found a very sparsely settled country, and the major part of the wild prairie sod unturned by the plowshare of the husbandman. Numerous bands of Indians passed through the county, most of them going north. Deer were often seen and much wild game abounded. From such conditions Henry Bowman grew to manhood and is now one of the small band of citizens here who has lived to witness the growth of the county from such pioneer conditions. He relates very inter- estingly stories of those early days, when he shot at wild deer and killed the wild turkey and other denizens of the forests, now seen no more in the highly-cultivated fields of this locality. He was himself born in Indiana, in November, 1846, and is the son of Jonathan and Rebecca (Kraut) Bowman. When Henry was eight years old the family emigrated to Nodaway county. Missouri, and located in Nodaway township, where they bought a farm; from there they moved to the Possum Walk neighborhood, near Elmo. and there the mother died, and for a time the children were scattered. Later the father married Mrs. Odle, widow of John Odle, and moved back into Nodaway township, a mile north of Quitman, about 1860; then the children were brought back home. When the war between the states began Jonathan Bowman went into the Confederate army and was never heard from again.
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Henry Bowman started in life for himself when young in years, working out by the month, ard when still a young man he rented farm land and raised several crops. In 1861 he went with a wagon train to Julesburg, on the way to Denver. Soldiers were stationed about every ten miles to protect travel- ers from Indians. The wagon trains would be held and bunched until at least fifty men were in a company before they were allowed to proceed. Mr. Bowman started in Nebraska, across from Craig, but loaded with corn, etc .. at Nebraska City.
In 1875 Mr. Bowman married Barbara Jane Bowman, daughter of Henry and Mary Ann (Young) Bowman. He then went to farming for himself, buying land about two miles northeast of Quitman, and farmed there successfully until 1907. He first owned one hundred and twenty acres and now owns an excellent place of two hundred and fifty acres. His pres- ent beautiful and modern home was built in 1907. It stands on rising ground just north of the edge of Quitman, and there he is spending his old age in serene comfort ; but, being active and hearty, he is still very industrious.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bowman, namely: Nina : Ralph, who died when about two years old; Ernest and Linnie, who died in infancy. The daughter, a very pleasant and well-educated young lady, is still a member of the home circle.
Politically, Mr. Bowman is a Democrat, but he has always been too busy with his individual affairs to take much interest in politics ; however, his support is always on the right side of local questions. He is a splendid example of our enterprising, self-made citizens.
RUSSELL IRVING BILBY.
One of the substantial and widely-known stock men and agriculturists of northwestern Missouri is Russell Irving Bilby, living in Nodaway county, where he has large interests, but also controls extensive affairs elsewhere. His estate here represents much hard labor, but is one of the "show places" in this locality. Mr. Bilby, like his father, John S., and his brother. J. Edward. who are associated with him in a vast enterprise, sketches of whom appear elsewhere in this volume, is a man of well-known energy and determination in all business affairs. Indolence and idleness are entirely foreign to his nature, and his continued and successful activity in the management and development of this property has stamped him as one of the county's most
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progressive and representative citizens ; but he is plain and unobtrusive, never courting publicity or notoriety. Such characteristics as he possesses always make for success, and at the same time win the admiration and confidence of those with whom one comes in contact.
Mr. Bilby was born at Bushnell, McDonough county, Illinois, in 1868. and is the son of John S. and Margaret (Applegit) Bilby. While he was in infancy his parents brought him to Nodaway county, Missouri, locating about four miles southwest of Quitman, in Green township, and there, on his father's ranch, he grew to manhood. Although John S. Bilby was at that early period of this county's history well-to-do, he did not permit his sons to grow up in idleness, but required them to do their just share of the general work about the place, thereby developing a robust manhood and a training of inestimable value in the practical affairs of life which has been of much subsequent value to them. As they grew older they were given larger responsibilities, and in due course of time the father shifted to their shoulders the entire responsibility of managing the Missouri ranches.
Russell I. Bilby married Maggie Miller, daughter of Alexander Miller and wife, an old and influential family, Mrs. Bilby being a lady of educa- tion and culture. Her father was born in Scotland. was highly educated and became a civil engineer. He came to America when a young man and .. penetrating to the interior, became a farmer near York, Atchison county. Missouri, but about 1904 moved to Russell county, Kansas, where he found land similar to that of his native country, and there he bought nearly one thousand acres.
The pleasant and attractive home of Mr. and Mrs. Russell I. Bilby has been graced by the birth of four children, two sons and two daughters, namely : Bessie, Ferol, John and Ralph. They have also taken to raise Ethel Miller, a little daughter of Mrs. Bilby's brother, the child's mother being deceased.
As is stated in the review of John S. Bilby, Russell I. is the partner of his father in the Nodaway Valley Cattle Company, owners of many thou- sands of acres of valuable land near Quitman, and assisting him in the management of the same are five foremen. There is a boarding house near his home for such of the hands as have no families. There are two ice houses on his ranch, a packing plant, a store stocked with about three thou- sand dollars' worth of goods, such as are in demand by his hands. There are two school districts on his ranch.
Mr. Bilby's two sons are being brought up. as was their father, to take their share of work and responsibility. He has trained them to develop their
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best abilities on the ranch. Not only can they ride bronchos and rope steers, but they are young men of sound business sense. Early in life they were given opportunities to buy and raise stock of their own, thus learning by experience, which is, after all, the best teacher, though sometimes a severe one ; and when still mere boys they owned two carloads of cattle. Seeking their father's advice as to the best place to market them, he suggested a cer- tain firm in Chicago, and the lads accompanied their stock to that city, and with that shipment began the third generation of Bilbys who have shipped stock to that firm from Nodaway county, and have helped make this section of Missouri famous as a cattle country.
Russell I. Bilby is regarded by all who know him as a man who is "on the square," easily approached, a man among men, standing for integrity in business and wholesome living. The story of his career is interesting and instructive from almost any view, and it is of little use to say that his life thus far has been signally successful and useful and that the future awaits with still greater rewards, having long since reached the reward that is sure, or almost sure. to crown those worthy to be crowned, success rarely coming to the undeserving. Since reaching manhood he has been not only a con- spicuous figure in the industrial circles of Nodaway county, but also in the affairs that concern the welfare of the entire locality, being interested in all lines of material advancement and an advocate and patron of enterprises that affect the social and moral good of his fellow-men, therefore winning and meriting their confidence and esteem.
WILLIAM R. HOLT.
In referring to the lives and deeds of those who initiated the onerous work of developing the virgin wilds of Nodaway county and thus laying the foundations for that prosperity and precedence which now characterizes this favored section of the state, it is imperative that recognition be had of the Holt family, members of which have been identified with the history of the state from the pioneer days and who have invariably maintained the highest standard of integrity and honor, commanding unequivocal respect and es- teem. The subject of this sketch, during a residence in this section of the state of many years, so ordered his actions as to merit the unbounded confi- dence of all who knew him, and as a representative citizen of the community in his day. he is now entitled to specific recognition in a work of this character.
William R. Holt was born in Orange county, North Carolina, in 1818,
MRS. WILLIAM R. HOLT AND HER DAUGHTER, MRS. J. W. LINVILLE, HER GRANDSON AND GREAT - GRANDDAUGHTER
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and was the son of William and Elizabeth (Rainey) Holt. He came to Clay county, Missouri, in 1837, and later went with an elder brother to Council Bluffs, where he assisted the latter in issuing rations to the In- dians. In 1839 his parents and family came to Clay county, Missouri, where they settled, and at the same time there came Brisco M. S. Warren, his wife, Adeline (Troxler) Warren, and their daughter, Sarah S. The latter was born November 18, 1824, and was reared in the same county in North Caro- lina as was Mr. Holt. A year or two later Mr. Holt returned from Council Bluffs and in 1841 he and Sarah S. Warren were married. After this event they went to Andrew county, this state, settling seven miles west of Savannah. There he located a government claim of a quarter section of land and lived there until 1844. He then sold this claim and went to DeKalb county, where he lived until 1848, in which year he came to Nodaway county and located about three miles south of where Quitman is now located. Part of this land he secured from the government and part by purchase from other settlers, and on this place he established his home. He went earnestly to work to put the land in shape for cultivation and soon the waving fields of grain adorned what was formerly wild land, untouched by the hand of the white man. As he was prospered he added to his landed possessions until at length he owned over five hundred acres of as fine land as could be found in his section of the county. On this place he lived until his death, which oc- curred on May 16, 1896.
Mr. Holt and his faithful companion were veritable pioneers in their section of the county, as at the time they came here their nearest neighbors were three miles distant, and where Quitman now stands there was then but a single settler, while Maryville, the county seat, was but an unpretentious village. Wild game, such as deer, turkey, wildcats and an occasional bear were found. Savannah was their principal trading point, though small pur- chases were frequently made at Maryville, eleven miles distant, which was the nearest place to secure a doctor or medicine. These pioneers were neces- sarily self-dependent in many ways, and they raised the wool, spun the thread and wove the cloth from which their common clothes were made, though for their finer suits they would buy the cloth and engage tailors to make the clothes. The Holt farm was most .eligibly situated and the land was diversi- fied in character, being both prairie and timber land. Mr. Holt was a hard working man and devoted himself without stint to the improvement of his farm and the comfort of his family. He was a man of keen intelligence and sound common sense and his judgment was good in business affairs. He was genial in his intercourse with others and enjoyed to a marked degree the
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friendship of all who knew him. His widow is now living, in the eighty- sixth year of her age and possesses her physical and mental faculties to a re- markable degree, considering her age, in evidence of which it is stated that she frequently walks as much as a half mile, without unusual fatigue.
To Mr. and Mrs. Holt were born nine children, briefly mentioned as fol- lows: Two died in infancy : Mary E., who was the wife of David Ramsey, of Atchison county, died on January 18, 1888, leaving a daughter, Sarah, now the wife of Hugh McDonald: Cornelia J. is the wife of Ambrose Collins and lives on the old homestead ; Emily is the wife of James B. Prather, of Boston, Massachusetts ; Benjamin F. died in his twentieth year: Missouri is the wife of John W. Linville, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work; Barton W., of Thomas, Custer county, Oklahoma; William Lewis, who lived at Oklahoma City, died at the age of thirty-nine years, leaving a widow and three children.
Politically, Mr. Holt was a supporter of the Democratic party, while his fraternal relations were with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Re- ligiously, he and all the members of his family belonged to the Christian church.
HANSON H. WARE.
Of the old settlers of Green township, Nodaway county, who have now finished their earthly career and joined the silent host of sleepers in "God's acre." wherein we all must rest, few will be longer remembered and none more highly revered than the late Hanson H. Ware, who for many years was a well-known farmer and breeder of shorthorn cattle near Quitman ; he was the owner of a fine farm which was situated in section 10, Green township, comprising three hundred and sixty acres under an excellent state of cultivation. He was a native of Highland county, Ohio, and was born July 31, 1839. His parents were John H. and Eliza J. Ware, the former a native of Washington county. Pennsylvania, born there in 1808, and the latter was born in Clinton county, Ohio, in 1818. They were married in 1835 and settled in Hardin county, afterwards moving to Ross county, Ohio, in 1847. In 1856 the family moved to Council Bluffs, and after remaining there six months came to Nodaway county, Missouri.
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