USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > Past and present of Nodaway County, Missouri Volume II > Part 39
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Mr. Forsyth is a member of the Masonic fraternity. the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the Knights Templar and the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks.
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NODAWAY COUNTY, MISSOURI.
JOHN WIRTH.
(By Father Placid.)
A man who bore well the part assigned him in the upbuilding of Nod- away county and who, when his work was finished, left behind him a com- fortable competence for his family and the record of a well-spent life, was the late John Wirth. He was a native of Bavaria. Germany, born December I, 1832. Leaving the Fatherland in 1848. he emigrated to the United States. He remained a few years in Baltimore, Maryland, where he learned the English language and worked for his livelihood in a flouring mill. Later on he moved to St. Joseph, Missouri, and there was united in marriage to Mary Brand, on October 15. 1865. Of this happy union eight children were born, viz .: Two boys, of whom one died in infancy, and six girls. Of the latter, the oldest one, Mary, became the wife of Peter Winter, and departed this life in 1897: the next oldest. Rosalie, is married to Andrew Bliley : the third. Julia, married W. G. Hobbs : the fourth, Lucy, married F. Joseph Ruggle: the son. Joseph, married Lucy Schrader, of Maryville, Missouri. The two youngest daughters, Anna and Caroline, remained single. The former is holding the position of cashier of the Clyde Bank, and was until 1909 its president. All the surviving children live near Conception, Nodaway county. The mother of these children was called to her rest on March 26. 1879. Mr. Wirth then married, on January 15, 1883. Mrs. Catharine Fresh, nee Meyer, who survives him, living near Conception on a farm. No chil- dren were born of this second marriage.
After his marriage in St. Joseph, Mr. Wirth moved to Atchison county, Missouri, from which place he came, in September. 1871, to Conception, Nodaway county, where he bought four hundred acres of land, excellent in quality, about a mile from the noted Conception Abbey. Here he also en- gaged in buying, selling and shipping cattle, hogs and grain, in which business he had the confidence of all with whom he dealt.
No person ever came nearer the standard of honesty and uprightness than "Uncle John" Wirth (as he was familiarly known), and he was re- spected all over the county as a most just man, on whose word everybody could depend. He was. further, a well-educated man, and while he never held an important office, yet he was always ready to serve his country ; he took a lively part .in politics, very often sat on the jury bench, acted for more than thirty years as school director in his district and was one of the main organizers of the Clyde Bank, and its honored president until his death.
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In his religion, Mr. Wirth belonged to the Catholic church and showed by his conduct that good church membership and good citizenship can go hand in hand with each other. He did much for Conception Parish, of which he was a member, and acted, so to say, as the right hand of his pastor for many years. He was also the poor and unfortunate man's friend, and helped many in their distress and bad circumstances.
In the last years of his life, Mr. Wirth left the farm to his son, Joseph, and moved to the town of Conception, to be nearer to the church and prepare for a triumphant death. He had been a robust man all his life until very near the end, and he died peacefully on October 15, 1904. the anniversary day of his first marriage. The sorrow over his departure was universal among both the Catholics and non-Catholics, and his funeral, at Conception, on October 17th, saw everybody in Jefferson township and far beyond its limits, at his grave, and everybody said: "One of the best men we ever knew has gone to his reward."
JAMES W. SMITH.
Back to the early pioneer days is traced the interesting life record of James W. Smith, a well-known and highly-respected resident of Burlington Junction, whose long life has been spent in Nodaway county and a man who has played well his part in the development of his community. He has lived to see this part of our great country grow from a wilderness to one of the beautiful spots of the United States, and which is not yet developed to what it will be. He saw, when a boy, the Indian and the deer roaming these prairies, where now are fine houses and highly-cultivated farms, stocked with an excellent grade of cattle and horses, hogs and sheep. It is indeed interesting and instructive to hear him tell of the early days and of the sub- sequent development of the community. He is said to be the first white child born in Nodaway county, a distinction of which anyone might well be proud, his birth occurring near Guilford, January 9, 1842, and he is the son of Samuel and Sarah (Groom) Smith, the father a native of Tennessee and the latter of Kentucky, each representing old and highly-honored South- ern families. In an early day Samuel Smith moved from Tennessee to Clay county, Missouri, and to Nodaway county in 1841, being one of the earliest pioneers here. He was a sterling character and was never daunted by dan- gers or obstacles that stood in the way of his success. His death occurred
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at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. His mother, Sarah Groom, mar- ried a nephew of Daniel Boone. Two daughters were born to this family, Sarah and Casander (the latter emigrated to Oregon in 1854), and there were two brothers, A. W. and G. W., who live in Wyoming, where they own large ranches.
James W. Smith grew up on the home farm, which he assisted in de- veloping, learning the meaning of hard work when only a lad, attending the common school of those early days during the winter months. Although educational advantages were limited at that time, he made the most of his opportunities, and, later, by contact with the world and much reading, became a well-informed man. He has always devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits and has met with very gratifying success. Starting with nothing in 1865 except his hands and a willingness to work, he has by perseverance, energy and good management accumulated nine hundred acres of valuable land, which ranks with the best in Nodaway county, his attractive place being widely known as "Riverside Farm," one of the "show places" of the county. He placed the best of improvements of all kinds on his land and so skillfully rotated his crops and managed his fields that the soil has re- tained its original fertility. He has an excellent residence and large, sub- stantial outbuildings on his place, but he has now retired from active life and is living at his beautiful and modern home in Burlington Junction. Considering the fact that he started without capital or influential friends to assist him, having forged his own way to the front, he is deserving of a great deal of credit for what he has accomplished.
An interesting chapter in the life record of Mr. Smith is that relating to his experience in the great conflict between the states. He being of Southern blood on both sides of the house, it was quite natural for him to cast his lot with the Confederacy, enlisting as a private in Company B. Third Regiment Missouri Cavalry, Confederate States Army, he being nine- teen years old at his enlistment. He served very faithfully through the war, never shirked duty or shrank from danger or hardship. He was wounded at the fierce conflict at Franklin, Tennessee, taken prisoner, and sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he was released in June, 1865. Besides the engagement mentioned above, he took part in the battles of Blue Mills and Lexington, Missouri; Corinth, Baker's Creek and Jackson, Mississippi ; Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Altoona Pass, Georgia, and many other minor engagements.
Mr. Smith was married on May 5, 1870, to Adaline Johnston, daughter of Ephraim and Rebecca (Jones) Johnston, of Burlington Junction, Mis-
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souri, and this union has resulted in the birth of the following children : Eva C., born April 3, 1874, married Prof. P. W. Jenkins, of Ohio, but now they live in the state of Wyoming, where Mr. Jenkins is ranching; Annie B., born October 22, 1877, married W. H. Pitkin, of Ohio, whose residence is now Sioux City, Iowa, where he is engaged successfully in the practice of law : Edna P., the youngest child, born May 9. 1884, married L. O. Staples, son of R. R. Staples, of Atchison county, Missouri; the son owns a two-hundred-acre farm near Burlington Junction, Nodaway county.
Politically, Mr. Smith is a Democrat, and he belongs to the Christian church. He has always led a quiet, honest and well-regulated life, which has gained for him the respect of a host of admiring friends who regard him as one of the leading citizens of Nodaway county.
GEORGE LEWIS WILFLEY.
Theories look well on paper and have a mellifluous sound when pro- claimed from the platform, but in the present rushing age the value of things is tested by the stern rule of experience, it being the practical man who makes his influence felt and whose services and discourses are largely sought. The present is essentially an age of progress and in every line of activity the man of practical ideas is in evidence. The world of industry owes him a debt beyond estimate and to him is due the credit of bringing to humanity privileges and blessings which, if simply hinted at a half century ago, would have subjected the one uttering them to the ridicule of his fellows; but times have changed as the world has moved, and the wild dreams and vague chimeras of yesterday have become the familiar facts of today, especially in business circles. To the clear brain, trained mind, wide-awake, far-see- ing, practical men of affairs who inaugurate these conditions and crystallize into the probable and actual what appears to be but flights of fancy. to those who have played important parts in bringing the present splendid system of business and commercialism to what it is, all honor be due. It is of such a one in Nodaway county, Missouri, that the chronicler here essays to write in this connection, but with little hope of rendering adequate justice to the useful- ness accomplished in his chosen sphere of endeavor.
George Lewis Wilfley, who, as president of the Maryville National Bank, is too well known to need anything like a formal introduction to the citizens of northwestern Missouri through the pages of this history, was born August
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1, 1857, near Cooper's Mill, in Nodaway county; and is the fifth child of Red- man and Marie (Baker) Wilfley. The Wilfley family comes of good German stock, the name originally being Wolfie. Redman Wilfley, the paternal grand- father of George L., was a native of Tennessee, who came to Callaway county, Missouri, at an early day. He was a successful farmer. His son, Redman Wilfley, father of George L., is a native of Missouri, born April 30, 1825. He was one of the early pioneers of Nodaway county, and is well known throughout northwestern Missouri. He was a merchant in Maryville prior to the Civil war, and was afterwards engaged in various pursuits during a long and active life in several different localities. During the conflict between the states he was lieutenant-colonel in Colonel Slayback's regiment of the Con- federate army. He is now residing in Kansas City. Missouri, living in re- tirement at the hale old age of eighty-five years. He is a man of strong characteristics and a splendid type of the hardy pioneer, who, a decade ago, blazed the way for the march of progress and civilization that has made Mis- souri a commonwealth of rich potentialities.
Redman Wilfley married Maria Baker, who was a native of the state of Kentucky, born September 26, 1832, and a representative of a fine old pio- neer family well known in Nodaway county. To them were born eleven chil- dren, eight of whom are living. The register of birth follows: Frances, de- ceased, was the wife of Milton Spence; Belle is the wife of Walter Bales, of Kansas City, Missouri; Sarah E. is the widow of John Eaton ; Charles B. resides at Twin Falls, Idaho: George L., of this review ; Arthur R., of Den- ver, Colorado: John M., of Salt Lake City, Utah ; Robert E. Lee is deceased ; Earl A., of Crawfordsville, Indiana: Leola M. is deceased; Lola M. is the wife of Jesse Scovey, of Hostotipaquillo, Mexico. The mother of these chil- dren passed to rest in 1894, at the age of sixty-two years.
George L. Wilfley was educated in Kansas City, Missouri, and when a mere boy he determined upon a business career, entering the mercantile field when sixteen years of age as a clerk in a grocery store in Sedalia, Missouri, for Rod Gallie. After remaining with him three years, he sought a wider field by returning to Kansas City, where he worked as a wholesale dry goods clerk for one year. Then he turned his attention to banking, which he has since followed with singular success, his first employment being as bookkeeper for the Missouri Valley Bank, in which capacity he remained for two years. In 1880 he left Kansas City and came to Maryville. Nodaway county, and clerked for four years in the Baker, Saunders & Company's Bank. His next move was to Bolckow, Missouri, in company with B. A. and F. I. Dunn, pur- chased the Savings Bank there. Selling out his interests in that place in 1887, he purchased an interest in the Baker, Saunders & Company's Bank in
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Maryville. Upon the death of Mr. Saunders, in 1889, and the dissolution of the firm. the present Maryville National Bank was formed with G. S. Baker, president : George L. Wilfley, cashier, and E. Fraser, assistant cashier, Mr. Wilfley now being president of the same. Much of the growing prestige of this popular, safe and conservative institution has been gained through his judicious management, for he undoubtedly understands all the workings of the banking system and, being a man of unquestioned integrity and courteous and considerate to all, he has inspired both the confidence and good will of the bank's many patrons and friends. Mr. Wilfley is also a large stockholder in the Gillam, Bellows, Pierce Loan Company.
Politically, Mr. Wilfley is a Democrat, and he is a member of the Chris- tian church. and, as already intimated, he takes an abiding interest in what- ever tends to the uplift of his locality. He was married on April 7, 1881, to Jennie Saunders, daughter of James H. Saunders. an old and influential family of Maryville, and this union has been graced by the birth of four children. namely : Clifford R. is a mining engineer in Hostotipaquillo, Mexico; Ray S. is agent for the North American Life Insurance Company at Mary- ville ; Marjorie and Geneva are living at home.
NATHANIEL SISSON.
The Sisson family name is among the first New England settlers. Au- thentic history of this branch of the family in America begins with Richard Sisson, whose name would indicate him to have been of English ancestry, probably the first to settle in America. This ancestor of the subject of this sketch. and probable ancestor of most persons of the name in America, was born in 1608, died in 1684. His wife's name was Mary. They resided at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, situated on the island of that name in the Narra- gansett bay. their residence being contemporaneous with the life of Roger Williams, the founder of that state, to whose colony, as history tells us, for their recognized friendship for the Indians, was presented this beautiful island by Miantonomoh, chief of the Narragansetts.
The original homestead of Richard and Mary Sisson, at Portsmouth, is . now known as the "Mintwater Brook Farm." At death, they each left a will as recorded at Portsmouth, bequeathing their estates to their six children. There is now in the family of the subject of this sketch a complete family tree from these ancestors to the present, covering a period of some three hundred years. The exact date of settlement in Rhode Island is not known. but records
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NODAWAY. COUNTY, MISSOURI.
show Richard to have been a freeman of Portsmouth in 1653, which indicates a prior settlement and probable membership of the colony founded by the re- ligious exiles from Massachusetts headed by Roger Williams, who, in 1641, established a little republic, the first on this continent, the constitution of which republic being the first in the world to recognize freedom of conscience and to prohibit persecution for religious belief, which principles were to be and were afterward adopted into the constitution of the United States, certainly an ancestral beginning of which anyone might be and of which this family is justly proud.
Next in the ancestral line is George, the oldest child, born in 1644, and wife, Mary Lawton. Of the eleven children of these parents, Thomas, the ninth child, born in 1686, and wife, Jane, resided at Portsmouth, the parents of five children. Giles, the eldest, and wife, Elizabeth, parents of ten chil- dren, resided at Westerly. Rhode Island. John, the second child, born April 10, 1749. married Alchia Crandall, resided on a homestead on the banks of the Susquehanna river near Unadilla, state of New York, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, serving during the period in several different commands credited to Albany county, New York state, a record of his services being shown among the military archives in charge of the state librarian now at Albany, New York.
Simeon Sisson, the eleventh child of the fifteen children born of these parents, born April 2, 1786, grandfather of this subject, married Susan Potter and removed to Gallipolis, Gallia county, Ohio, in 1818. Both parents per- ished in the cholera epidemic which raged along the Ohio river valley in 1838. leaving six children.
Nathaniel Potter Sisson, the fourth child, the father of the subject. born at Gallipolis, Ohio, September 16, 1818, by the death of both parents left an orphan in his youth, had his struggles in life, being apprenticed to an uncle to learn carpentering, next boatman on the Ohio river, finally a farmer. He married Sarah Harrington Green, daughter of Andrew and Mary Green. formerly of Hagerstown, Maryland, and they became parents by this mar- riage of seven children, three dying in infancy; the four remaining are. David. a physician. Nathaniel, the subject, Francis M., merchant, and Annie E., widow of L. M. Harvey.
The eldest son of Mrs. Harvey has the unique distinction of having served as volunteer throughout the Spanish-American war, commissioned lieutenant in the regular army, sent with his company twice to the Philippines, circum- navigating the earth twice each time in an opposite direction from west to east, then from east to west, and is now captain in the Sixteenth United States Regulars.
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The subject of this sketch, Nathaniel Sisson, was born May 25. 1845. and was reared on a farm in Meigs county, Ohio. At the age of seventeen years he volunteered in the Ninety-second Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. in the Civil war. July. 1862. was rejected by the mustering officers because of his youth, again volunteered October 9, 1862, as private in the Second West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry, bugler in Company A, was promoted to corporal in Company K. He participated in many battles and skirmishes of the Civil war, notably those in the Shenandoah valley, Virginia, under Gen. Phil Sher- idan, to-wit : Opequon. Fishers Hill, Cedar Creek, of "Sheridan's Ride" celebrity, Sheridan's cavalry raid to the rear of Richmond February and March, 1865, thence to Petersburg and the battle of Five Forks April Ist, which battle determined the fall of Richmond, the Confederate capital, the city being evacuated by General Lee's army the next day. The subject served on the non-commissioned staff of Brig .- Gen. Henry Capehart as brigade bugler, was in the pursuit and final circumvention by Sheridan of Lee's army in its retreat from Richmond, culminating in the surrender of General Lee and his army to General Grant at Appomattox. He participated in the last engagement on the morning of April 9th, sounding the last hostile bugle call. the order to "charge," as well as the last call to "halt," which halted Curtus' charging column as the flag of truce in token of surrender was proffered to Custer, which ended the war.
Mr. Sisson is very proud of his military experience, as he may well be. transpiring as it did in his boyhood. The following letter from his General, whom he served as bugler. is now in his possession :
"Fargo. N. D., Aug. 13, 1891.
"Nathaniel Sisson, Esq .. "Maryville Mo ..
"My Dear Comrade :-
"It gave me sincere pleasure to receive your letter of July 31st from one of my old command. I remember you very well indeed and most agree- ably, as well as the death of your horse and mine at Deep Creek, Virginia.
"You say you were not a very 'loud' soldier. I remember that you were as good a 'boy' as any in a regiment of as brave and effective men as there was in the service. I do not know what one would ask of a soldier more.
"I still use the old chair that Grant sat in while arranging and writing the terms of Lee's surrender.
"With all good wishes in the world,
"Very fraternally yours.
"H. CAPEHART."
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Returning from the Civil war after almost three years' continuous ser- vice, still a minor, Mr. Sisson exhausted the remnant of his army pay in furthering his education. On July 31, 1866, with all his worldly belongings packed in a small grip, he started, like many boys of the time, to seek his fortune in the great unsettled West, arriving in Maryville August 9th, since which time Maryville for the most part has been his home. His civil life has been an active one. On arrival in Nodaway county his first employment was as farm hand, then school teacher, cabinetmaker, county road and bridge commissioner for three years, studying surveying and engineering the while. In 1871 he engaged as engineer with a firm of bridge contractors at St. Joseph. He designed and superintended the construction of a large bridge over the Brazo river near Calvert, Texas, spanning the entire stream with one span of two hundred and sixty-six feet. Returning to Maryville on April 13, 1875, with H. C. Fisher, the then cashier of the Farmers Bank (now known as First National), and Albert P. Morehouse, afterwards gov- ernor, he entered upon the real estate, loan and abstract business.
During the first year the firm published a lithograph map of Nodaway county, the original draft being the work of Mr. Sisson. Fisher retired from the firm in 1878, and, after fourteen years of partnership, Mr. Sisson bought the interest of the late Governor Morehouse and conducted the business alone until 1896, when his son, Paul, arriving at the age of majority, was taken as partner under the firm name of N. Sisson & Son, continuing so until December 30, 1904, when the business was incorporated as The Sisson Loan and Title Company, of which company Mr. Sisson is now the president.
On October 14, 1874. Mr. Sisson was married, at Lexington, Missouri, to Mary S. Hughes, daughter of George E. and Anna Groves Hughes. Two children were born to them, Capt. Paul Sisson and Donna, a daughter, who graduated with the Maryville high school class of 1905, attended for a time the Missouri University, finally graduating with highest honors in the Bach- elor of Arts degree in the Randolph Macon Woman's College at Lynchburg, Virginia, class of 1909.
Mrs. Mary S. Sisson, the wife and mother, died July 24, 1909. She had been a resident of Maryville since marriage and was well known in the social and religious life of the city. She was best known for her beautiful home-loving qualities, was much loved by her neighbors as a woman of many rare virtues and unusual mental powers, she being one of the first graduates in the Bachelor of Arts degree at Elizabeth Aul College, Lexington, Missouri. A member of the Christian church at that place and at Maryville, she was es- pecially beloved by the older people of the city with whom she became ac-
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quainted in her early life. The Sisson home occupies a beautiful ten-acre plat in the west part of the city, embowered in evergreen, shrubs and flowers- an ideal home.
In politics, Mr. Sisson early took an active interest as a member of the "Maryville Tanner Club," composed of two hundred Nodaway county voters. organized in the support of the Republican ticket of 1868. He was elected its captain and that year cast his first presidential vote for his old comrade, Gen. U. S. Grant. He has held office as city assessor, city clerk and alderman of Maryville, member of the Maryville public school board for six years, serving as president thereof, also member of the Maryville Seminary board and instrumental in donating that institution to the Northwest Normal School : was nominee of the Greenback-Labor party for Congress from the fourth Mis- souri district, made the race against M. A. Reed and James N. Borns in 1882; in 1892 was the nominee of the Republican party of Nodaway county for rep- resentative ; member and chairman of the Maryville public utilities commis- sion in 1909 and member and chairman of the Northwest Normal committee. which was instrumental in securing the location of that institution at Mary- ville : appointed by this committee, in connection with James Todd, Sr., editor of the Nodawcay Democrat, and H. E. Robinson, then editor of the Mary- ville Republican, to prepare a history of the Northwest Missouri Normal School; both the other members having died before the work was begun, Mr. Sisson prepared the history of the struggles Maryville made in securing the location of the Fifth District Normal School at this place, which history appears in another part of this publication.
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