USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > Past and present of Nodaway County, Missouri Volume II > Part 41
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The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hawk: Anna M., who married Joseph Proctor, is deceased ; Laura is the wife of Clark Fryar. a farmer in Jackson township: Vada, who married Frank Bentley, lives in Jackson township: Dona is the wife of Rev. Lloyd Felton, of the Adventist church, and is a fruit grower in Cuba : May is the wife of Robert Larmer, of Stansberry, Missouri: Oscar lives in Jackson township and Frank in Col- orado.
ELIJAH W. BISHOP.
One of the most successful agriculturists of Nodaway county is the well-known and highly-honored gentleman whose name introduces this bio- graphical sketch, than whom a more whole-souled, kindly, honest and public- spirited man it would be hard to find. He has long been an important factor in the development of Jackson township along all lines, and here his fine farm is to be found, one of the best-improved and most desirable in the township.
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Elijah W. Bishop springs from an excellent old Southern family, and doubtless much of his pleasant disposition and old-time hospitality are due to this fact, for they have that genuineness that can not be mistaken for artificiality. He was born on December 26, 1847, in Lee county, Virginia. and there grew to manhood and received a fairly good common school education, and he was married there on October 3, 1867, to Mary Larmer, daughter of John and Elizabeth Larmer, of Virginia. In 1869 Mr. and Mrs. Bishop came to Nodaway county, Missouri, and located at Sweet Home, where he practiced medicine for a period of fourteen years, having received his medical training in the East, and he soon had an excellent practice here. During the years of his practice he acquired a good farm and he finally decided to give his exclusive attention to agricultural pursuits, and he has been very successful in this line of endeavor. To his first purchase he has added from time to time adjoining land until he now has six hundred acres of excellent land in Jackson township, all well improved and well kept, be- sides other lands he has given his children. In addition to general farm- ing, he carries on stock raising on an extensive scale and does much stock grazing. He is regarded as an excellent judge of all kinds of livestock and has made few mistakes in handling them. In 1903 he built his farm residence on the portion of his land adjoining Ravenwood, and no more attractive, commodious and pleasantly located residence is to be found in Jackson township. He has also erected two excellent barns, and has made numerous other improvements. He has served his township as trustee. and at one time very ably filled the responsible position of county judge, and he represented Nodaway county one term in the state Legislature in a manner that elicited the hearty approval of not only his constituents but all concerned.
Fraternally, Doctor Bishop is a Mason, and he always supports the Democratic party. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church South.
Five children have been born to Doctor and Mrs. Bishop, namely: Wil- liam V., born February 6, 1869; Charles E., born December 19, 1870; Em- mett F., born November 10, 1875: Dorsey M., born September 19, 1877 : Martha E., born May 10, 1886.
JOEL B. BENTLEY.
Among the well-known and highly-respected citizens of Ravenwood. Jackson township, none is held in higher esteem in the community than Joel B. Bentley, who, after many years actively spent in agricultural and business
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lines, is now living practically retired from active work, enjoying that rest which he so richly earned. Mr. Bentley was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, on December 4, 1840, and is a son of James and Temperance Ann Bentley. The father was a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of Connecticut, though their marriage occurred in Ohio, where they established their home. James Bentley was a pioneer farmer and in Ohio he cleared and improved a farm, on which he lived until his death, at the advanced age of ninety-four years. A son. Amos, had come to Nodaway county, Missouri, in 1858, having previously lived a few years in northern Iowa, but the severity of the winters induced him to go further south, and he located on the Platte, in Jackson township. this county, two miles south of where Ravenwood now stands, and there he bought the start of a farm. Joel B. Bentley came here also to secure land, most of which was second bottom land, for which he paid four dollars per acre. It is worthy of note that this same land is now worth one hundred dollars an acre. He sold it in 1870 for twenty dollars an acre. During the Civil war Mr. Bentley took an active interest and en- listed in the six-months militia, serving his full term. and in 1862 he en- listed in the Fourth Missouri Regiment. under Coloney Hall. his company being made up largely of Nodaway county men. At the end of three years' service he was discharged, though it was some time before the close of the war. During his service he was in Missouri and Arkansas, having taken part in the fight at Springfield, in the Price raid of 1864, and was at Jef- ferson City and the battle of the Blue, now on the site of Kansas City. He was promoted to the rank of corporal and during his service he was never wounded or taken prisoner. He carefully husbanded his wages as a soldier and with this money he paid for the land he bought in Nodaway county, on which he settled on leaving the army. He operated this farm for about five years, at the end of that time selling it and engaging in the mercantile business at Sweet Home a short time. He then bought one hundred and twenty acres three miles west of Ravenwood where he lived about five years. He then bought an improved farm north of Maryville and devoted him- self to its operation during the following four years. About 1890 Mr. Bentley came to Ravenwood, not being physically able to continue his farm- ing operations, and here he engaged in the mercantile business in partner- ship with his brother-in-law. William Foote. This was a general store. but subsequently they engaged in the hardware business. Selling out his interests in this business, Mr. Bentley entered into a partnership with Mad- ison Goodson in the lumber business. succeeding to the business of E. W. Bishop & Son. Two years later, however, Mr. Bentley sold his interests in this business to his son-in-law. Ira A. Goodson, and has since lived retired.
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He has also sold his farm land and has concentrated his holdings at Raven- wood. He owns a comfortable and attractive residence at Ravenwood and has built several good residence properties. Among the land sold by him was one farm near Ravenwood, for which he received sixty-five dollars an acre, and which is now held at one hundred and twenty-five dollars an acre.
In 1868 Mr. Bentley married Elizabeth Foote, the daughter of William Foote, Sr., a native of North Carolina, who became a pioneer farmer in Iowa, coming to Nodaway county in 1870 and operating a fine farm near Sweet Home, though he retired later and lived at Ravenwood until his death, at the age of about eighty years. At the time of her marriage Mrs. Bentley was engaged in teaching school, though but sixteen years old. She died after thirty-two years of happy wedded life. They became the parents of five children, namely: Eveline, who became the wife of Charles Funk, of Sterling. Colorado, was a teacher in the Nodaway county schools prior to her marriage: Caroline became the wife of Ira A. Goodson, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work; William James, who is a carpenter in Col- orado; Eda Belle is her father's housekeeper and companion: Martin Lee is engaged in the hardware business at Blocton, Iowa.
Politically, Mr. Bentley was a stanch supporter of the Democratic party until the Cleveland administration, since which time he has been aligned with the Republicans, though he does not take a very active part in public affairs. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while his religious membership is with the Methodist Episcopal church South, of which he is at present a member of the board of trustees. Mr. Bentley has been an eye-witness to and an active participant in the great transformation and development which has taken place in this part of the country and his reminiscences of the early pioneer days here are extremely interesting and valuable. Settlements were few and far between at that time and conditions were in many respects very forbidding. But the land held out great promise for the future and those who were courageous enough to hold on were the ones who reaped the results. Mr. Bentley is a man of strong character and because of his genuine worth he enjoys the unbounded confidence and the high regard of all who know him.
MADISON GOODSON.
By a life of persistent and well-applied industry, led along the most honorable lines, the gentleman whose name appears above has justly earned the right to be represented in a work of the character of the one at hand,
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along with the other men of Nodaway county who have made their influence felt in their respective communities. As the senior member of the firm of M. Goodson & Co., he has taken a leading part in the business and com- mercial activities of Ravenwood and is numbered today among the leading citizens of his section of the county.
Madison Goodson was born in Clinton county, Ohio, on September 9. 1844, and secured his education in the public schools of that neighborhood and the Holbrook Normal School of Lebanon, Ohio. He remained with his parents until 1869, when he came to Knox county, Missouri, where he re- mained until 1873, when he located in Maryville, Nodaway county. He had been successfully engaged in teaching school in Ohio, and also in Knox and Lewis counties, this state, and after coming to Nodaway county he was likewise engaged for six years, meeting with eminent success along that line of effort. In 1875 he came to Jackson township and engaged in farming, in connection with which he also taught school four or five years. His first farm in Jackson township was located two and a half miles southwest of Ravenwood, but in 1882 he located on a farm four miles southeast of that place, where he remained until 1894. In 1900 he bought the lumber business formerly owned by E. W. Bishop & Son, and has since devoted his ener- gies to this line. He carries a large and complete stock of all kinds of timber and lumber, and a full line of builders' supplies, and he commands his full share of the public patronage, having gained an enviable reputation because of his sterling integrity and his upright business policy.
Politically, Mr. Goodson is an ardent supporter of the Republican party, and for many years he has taken an active interest in the success of the party, standing high in the councils of his political associates. He has sat- isfactorily filled several offices, having been township collector, the candi- date of his party in 1886 for the office of county recorder, served twice, in 1880 and 1890, as census enumerator, was for many years a member of the school board and for ten years its secretary. He was the second mayor of the town of Ravenwood and it was he who secured the incorporation of the town. For several years he was chairman of the township Republican committee and served on the county central committee, having also been a delegate to a number of conventions of his party. It is thus seen that he has been a potential and recognized factor in the political life of the com- munity.
Fraternally, Mr. Goodson is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Grand Army of the Republic. His membership in the last- named organization is consistent from the fact that he enlisted during the
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Civil war, in the Forty-eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, being at that time but sixteen years old, and he was discharged because of his youth. In 1864 he enlisted in the One Hundred Forty-ninth Ohio Regiment and served until the regiment was mustered out of service, giving faithful and valiant service in defense of Old Glory.
In December, 1868, Mr. Goodson married S. A. Hampton and they became the parents of five children, namely: Eugene, a traveling salesman, living at St. Joseph, Missouri; Ira A., a partner with his father in the firm of M. Goodson & Company; Ruth, who was formerly a teacher in the schools of Nodaway county, but is now in Colorado; Grace, the wife of D. M. Bishop, a farmer near Ravenwood; Miss Frankie is at home. Ira A. Goodson was married on December 20, 1899, to Harriett C. Bentley, the daughter of J. B. Bentley, of Ravenwood, and they have three children, Glenn, Catherine and Ira, Jr.
Personally, Mr. Goodson is of a genial and approachable disposition and easily makes friends, enjoying a wide acquaintance throughout the eastern part of Nodaway county. His splendid personal qualities have commended him to the good opinion of all who know him and he is rightfully num -- bered among the representative men of his township.
HENRY ROSS.
One of the best known and most enterprising of the merchants in the eastern part of Nodaway county is Henry Ross, of Ravenwood, who was born northwest of Guilford, this county, March 15. 1843, being perhaps the second person born in the county, Elon Smith, of Jackson township. said to be the oldest. He is the son of Samuel and Rebecca (Rickman) Ross, the mother born in North Carolina and the father in Ireland. They came to Missouri and settled in Platte county in 1840, and in 1841 came to Nodaway county, where land could be procured very cheaply in the Platte purchase. When Henry was but nine years of age the father died, when less than forty years of age. leaving a widow with six small children, one of whom died soon afterwards. Mrs. Ross kept the children together until her death. January 29. 1862, one of them, a daughter, thirteen years old. dying the day following that of her mother's burial, this leaving only two children living. Robert, who lives in Ravenwood, and Henry of this review ; Mary Jane and Lafayette are deceased. Mary Jane Rickman, sister of Re-
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becca Ross, came to this county and lived with a sister and was here mar- ried to David Spoonmore, who settled in Jackson township in 1844; both lived and died here. His oldest son was Jesse W. Ross, who now lives near Ravenwood. The mother died at the age of fifty-eight years and the father when about seventy. He was the father of thirteen children by a former marriage, and she was the mother of nine children. Lafayette Ross died in this county when thirty years old, leaving two children. Jesse and Belle. Wilburn Rickman came to this county and died in Maryville, where his sons still live.
Henry Ross, of this review, worked out on various farms in order to get a start in life and to assist in caring for the family of eight or ten. After the death of his mother he enlisted in Company F. Twelfth Missouri Cav- alry, for service in the Union army, and was with this company till 1866. In 1865, under command of Colonel Cole, Second Missouri Artillery, he accompanied his regiment on a western expedition. One piece of the artillery was abandoned and spiked on Powder river. Joseph Jackson, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work, was a member of the same company. After Lee's surrender this regiment was sent across the plains to Powder river to Montana and Wyoming. then back to Ft. Laramie, leaving Omaha. Ne- braska, July 1, 1865, and marched to Powder river. On April 1, 1866, after constant marching and frequent fights with the Indians, in which the regiment lost a number of men, it arrived at its destination. Once Mr. Ross's company was led after some Indians, who cut them off from the main body of troops, but after considerable trouble they managed to escape. Once for a period of thirteen days they had no bread, living on meat alone, and that mule meat most of the time. During the service Mr. Ross con- tracted rheumatism that has troubled him more or less through life. He was discharged at Leavenworth, Kansas. April 9, 1866, and soon afterwards returned to Nodaway county, and for two or three years was not able to do much hard work. He finally began farming in Jackson township, con- tinuing until about twelve years ago, when he moved to Ravenwood, and he is now engaged in business with his son, S. P. Ross. under the firm name of the S. P. Ross Department Store, in this place, this being his second time in the store, the last firm having existed two years. He has recently sold his farm and he has a very pleasant home in Ravenwood. He has bought and sold several farms, two being in Jackson township, one in Worth and one in Gentry county. He has a neat place of four acres in Ravenwood. Mr. Ross served as the first township collector in Jackson township, also served on the township board and as constable. He is a Republican.
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Mr. Ross was married in 1869, in Independence township, to Paulina F. DeShazer, who was born in Madison county, Iowa. She came to Nod- away county when a child and she was but seventeen years old when she married. They have eight children living, two having died in infancy, namely : Belle is the wife of Hurley Nelson, of Jackson township; S. P., of Ravenwood; Mary Ida is the wife of J. W. Kessler, living in Kansas ; Hattie is clerking in the store of her brother, owning an interest in the com- pany, being in charge of the millinery department: Effie is the wife of Wil- liam Woodburn, of Orrsburg, Jackson township; Grace is a teacher in the local public schools, having graduated here, also attended the normal school at Maryville ; Ethel is a student in the local high school; Frank is also in high school, graduating with the class of 1910.
Mr. Ross is a member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Re- public, and he is a supporter of the Methodist Protestant church. although not a member.
WILLIAM WOODHEAD.
Among the citizens of the thriving little town of Barnard. Nodaway county, Missouri, none is held in higher esteem by his fellows than the gentleman whose name appears as the caption to this sketch. During the many years he has lived here his life has been characterized by an honesty of purpose and an integrity of action that has gained for him an enviable standing, and is properly numbered among the leading men of his community.
William Woodhead was born in Yorkshire. England, on the 6th day of April, 1843. When a boy he came to America, accompanied by his par- ents, Joseph and Rachel Woodhead, a brother, Alfred, and two sisters. Mar- tha and Sarah. They were forty-two days in making the voyage across the sea, which was on a slow-going sailing vessel, and much sea-sickness was experienced by the members of the family. Joseph Woodhead was a weaver by trade, and upon landing in New York city the family came directly west to St. Joseph, Missouri, by railroad. thence by boat to Omaha, Nebraska. and finally located at American Fork, Utah. William Woodhead locating near Malad City, Idaho. At American Fork the parents spent the remain- der of their days, the father passing away in 1865. and being survived many years by his companion, whose death occurred in 1899.
William Woodhead remained in Idaho until the age of twenty-five years, when he and his family joined a company of emigrants, their trans-
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portation being by means of thirty covered wagons, drawn by ox teams. When the train reached Nodaway county but two families were left, those of John R. Evans and Mr. Woodhead, the others having stopped and located at different points on the way. With his ox team, Mr. Woodhead hauled lumber from Savannah to Maryville, before the Creston branch of the Bur- lington & Quincy was built. Later on he traded his ox team to George Swynford for twenty acres of land in Polk township, which he subsequently sold and bought eighty-seven acres, the land lying in sections 9. 10 and 15. near Barnard. He entered at once upon the improvement and cultivation of this land, and eventually developed it into one of the best farms in the township. He built a good residence and lived on this place about twenty years. About ten years ago Mr. Woodhead bought residence property in Barnard, and since that time has resided here. It is a marked testimonial to his standing among his fellow-citizens that he has been elected and re- peatedly re-elected to the offices of mayor of Barnard and justice of the peace, being the present incumbent of these offices, the duties of which he has continued to discharge to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. He has been active and progressive in his attitude towards local improvement, and not a little of the prosperity which now characterizes this section of the county is directly due to his influence and active efforts. A wonderful trans- formation has taken place in conditions during the years which have elapsed since his arrival here. In the early days there were no railroads here, no churches and no mail service. The humble tallow candle was the only me- dium for light, as coal oil lamps had not yet been introduced here. Now, no section of the country is more advanced in general economic conditions than Nodaway county, and her people will rank with those of any other section of the Union.
Mr. Woodhead has been married twice. While residing in Malad City, Idaho, he married Rachel Lambert, of that city, who died in 1876. To this union were born two sons. William and Joseph. William died in infancy. Joseph married Nora Fuller of this county, and they have four children, Vern, Cecil, Mildred and Lottie Ruth. Cecil died in the year 1901. In 1878 Mr. Woodhead married Sarah F. Morris, of Andrew county, Missouri, their home being in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they located in 1902.
Religiously, Mr. Woodhead is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, holding membership in the church at Guilford. Mrs. Woodhead holds membership with the Methodist Episcopal church at Bar- nard. In matters political, Mr. Woodhead takes an independent attitude, voting for the men he considers best qualified for the offices they seek. He
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has been true to his honest convictions in all things, and his dealings with others have been characterized by a sense of justice and square dealing which have earned for him the unbounded confidence and respect of all.
IREBY EDWARD WOHLFORD.
Among the energetic and progressive young farmers of Nodaway county. none enjoys a higher standing among his fellows than Ireby E. Wohlford, of Grant township, where he is assisting his father in the operation of the fine farm owned by the latter. Mr. Wohlford is a native son of Nodaway county, having been born on May 14, 1878. His father, Jonathan Wohlford, was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, on November 6, 1834, and his mother, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Jobe, was a daughter of I. S. Jobe, a respected citizen of this county, their marriage having occurred in the spring of 1856. The father, at the age of thirteen years, left his native state accompanying his father and the other members of the family to Stephenson county, Illinois, where they bought a farm. In 1855, at the age of twenty-one years, Jonathan Wohlford came to Nodaway county and bought the farm on which the family now resides. This farm comprised four hundred acres and other acreage has since been added to this. In many respects this farm has long been numbered among the very best in Nodaway county, being highly improved and very productive, the latter fact being due to the prac- tical and intelligent direction given to its operation. In 1868 Mr. Wohlford erected on this farm one of the finest and most attractive residences in the county. Considering the fact that Mr. Wohlford started in life on his own account with a total cash capital of but one hundred dollars, his success re- flects upon him the greatest credit. Untiring energy, good management and strict economy were the keynotes which gained for him this success and he occupies an enviable standing in the communtiy. Mr. Wohlford's patriotic sentiments were aroused at the inception of the Civil war and he enlisted in the Missouri state troops, with which he did valiant service in defense of the national integrity.
To Jonathan and Sarah Wohlford have been born six children, namely : Mary, deceased, was the wife of John S. Perkins, and she had children, Es- tella, deceased. John K., Averia, Carl, Katie, Eva, deceased; Samuel was twice married, first to Jelina Blakely, and second to Corrella Lyons, and he is the father of the following children. Maud, Margie. Robert. Walter, Nellie,
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Annis, Earl, Jeane and Ruth and Samuel, deceased; William D. married Elsie Conlin, and they have seven children, Edith, Jesse, Mamie, Eddie and Ova, Harrold, deceased. Jonathan, deceased: George C. married Nannie Thompson and their children are Claude, John, Annabelle, Goldie, Charles, Mabel, Glenn, Norma and Rena; Lenora E. is the wife of Marion Ankrum; Ireby E. The latter, who has remained with his parents, received a good edu- cation in the public schools, and is giving his best efforts to the management of his father's farm. He is a young man of energy, ability and good habits and is well liked by all who know him. In his work he has shown a capability and capacity for successful farming that speaks well for his future career in this basic profession.
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