USA > Missouri > Carroll County > Portrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 40
USA > Missouri > Chariton County > Portrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 40
USA > Missouri > Clay County > Portrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 40
USA > Missouri > Linn County > Portrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 40
USA > Missouri > Ray County > Portrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 40
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At the age of twenty-one, our subject began lite for himself by working on a farm for one year, and then in partnership with a brother. now de- ceased, rented land for two years. after which he rented alone until his marriage, which important event occurred December 19, 1880, to Fannie E. Renick, a daughter of flames W. and Willie ... (Warder) Renick. Four children have blessed this union. namely: Fannie E .. Cyrus R .. Lucien M. and Dasie M. His connection. religiously. i. with the Methodist Episcopal Church South. in which he is a faithful and devout member. In polities he is a strong Democrat and hold- to the platform of that party upon any and all occasions. The education of our subject was received for the most part at home and he increased his knowledge by subsequent extensive reading, so that at the age of twenty-seven he began teaching. adopting that calling in 1885, since which time he has taught every winter in the Ray County district schools,
G EORGE J. GARDNER. No fact of Ameri- can civilization is more striking than the millions of farms and farm houses occupied by their owner. Here oppression and landlords are unknown. and the American farmer is the most independent of men. Well known among this class to the people of his section is our subject. whose property is on section 28. township 52. range 27. Ray County. Our subject was born in Ravenna. Portage County, Ohio, in 1836, and is the son of William and Why Gardner. The father was a native of Berkshire County. Mas .. where he was reared on a farm until he reached the age of
fifteen, when he began to learn the trade of a shoemaker. A' the age of twenty-one the father of our subjeet marrick Abi Webster. Shortly af- ter his marriage he removed to Ohio, in 1832, and located at Theeden, where he operated a boot and shoe store for some time, after which he removed to Ravenna, in the same State, where he conducted a similar establishment for a number of year -. Finally he : ettled upon a farm, devoted his entire attention to agriculture, and died there in 1868. His wife survived hiin many years. her death oc- carring in 1891. They were the parents of seven children. four of whom are now living. our sub- ject being the sixth. In religion the father was a Universalist, having little patience with the doc- trines of eternal punishment in a hell of tire and brimstone. His wife was a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. Ilis sympathies were strongly enlisted in favor of temperance. and his attacks upon the liquor trathe were earnest and often eloquent. In early life he was a Jacksonian Democrat. afterward a Free Soil party man. and. finally. a Republican.
When about twenty years of age our subject be- came a clerk in the store of his father. having been qualified for the work educationally by a protracted course of training in the public schools. Ile continued in the store with his father until the removal to the farm. In 1856 he came West. and settled at Warsaw, Hancock County, Ill., where he engaged in a general mercantile trade on his own account for fourteen years. Thence he proceeded to Clinton County, Mo., and after a few years settled in Ray County, where he has resided ever since, giving his attention to farming and stock- raising.
In 1880 Mr. Gardner married Mrs. Nancy E. (MeClain) Wiley, daughter of Ebenezer McClain. a native of Washington County. Pa. Her father was the son of John McClain, a native of Ireland. who came to America before the Revolutionary War, and married Martha Wilson after his arrival in this country. The wife of Ebenezer McClain was Jane. daughter of John MeMurray, a native of Ireland. Mr. McClain was a farmer by occupa- tion and lived and died in Washington County. Pa .. his death occurring in 1867. at the age of
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seventy-five; his wife passed away in 1878, aged seventy-eight. He was a member of the Presby- terian Church and died a firm believer in its teaching. The first husband of Mrs. Gardner was Tappen W. Wiley. Our subject had been married twice previous to his last union. and his second wife bore him one son, James W.
OSEPH 11. HAYNES, our subject. is a highly respected farmer, whose industry. application and close attention to his own affairs, together with a kind and sympathetic nature, have won for him a host of personal friends. Hle was born near his present place of residence in township 52. range 27, in Ray County. in 1816, being the son of James P. and lane (Schooler) Haynes. The paternal grandparents of our subject, Joseph and Sarah Haynes, natives of Tennessee, were reared to farm life and always en- gaged in that occupation. They came to Ray County, Mo., and entered land from the Govern- ment near the present site of the city of Richmond. They were earnest members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The political opinions of Grandfather Haynes were those of Henry Clay. he being an old-line Whig.
The father of our sufijeet was born in Tennessee. about 1815, and was reared in his native State, where he attended the public schools. In his youth he removed with his parents to Ray County. where he took up the greater portion of the old home farm from the Government. In this county, he married the daughter of Nathan and Sarah Schooler, and they reared a family of six children, namely: our subject; George R .: James H .: Rosabel, deceased, formerly the wife of William Mi-ener, who died leaving one child: Mary E., wife of S. M. Meadows; and John A. The father began life with- out capital and for several years he followed the profession of a teacher. after which he'embarked in agricultural pursuits. Politics always had an inter- est for him, his affiliations being with the Demo- cratic party. He served a number of terms as Justice
of the Peace and was Public Administrator at the time of ris death. By economy and industry. he had accumulated three hundred and fifty-even acres at the time of his demise, in 1856. Itis de- voffon to the Presbyterian Church, of which he was a member, was strong. He was a Mason. hold- ing his membership in the lodge of Master Masons at Richmond.
Our subject began life for himself on the home farm and remained there until his marriage. in 1870, to Mary E., daughter of Pitman II. and Su- san (Sherwood) Frazier. His first investment in land was the purchase of forty acres, and later thirty more. from his father. He is a Presbyterian. holding membership with the church in the neigh- borhood of his home. The Democratic party plat- forin enunciates viens in accord with his own and he always votes that ticket. The niece of Mrs. Hayins. Ethel Frazier, a young lady, makes her home with our subject. The family occupies a high place in the regard of a large circle of ac- quaintances and is one of social prominence.
HOMAS N. FOWLER. A prosperous farmer of section 17. township 51. range 29. of Ray County. our subject is very highly esteemed by all who know him for his many fine qualities. He is the son of M. R. and E. M. (Mos) Fowler. His father was a very prominent farmer and stock- raiser of Ray County. Mo .. and owned two thou- sand seven hundred acres of arable land. Our subject is one of seven children, one of whom is deceased. The father was a Democrat in politics, and took an active interest in the progress of his party. 1 consistent member of the Christian Church. he was greatly esteemed for his zeal and piety. He wasn Lieutenant in the late war. where he won distinc- tion for bravery, and underwent the privation of a prisoner. His wife, to whom he was married in 1864, was a daughter of A. P. Moss, a citizen of Ray County.
Our subject started out in life for himself nine
young Truly MCBaind M. 2
1 1
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year ago. and now has four hundred and eighty acres of land, all arable, and is regarded as a very promising citizen and farmer of Ray County. He carries on general farming and stock-raising, and displays very good judgment in the management of his property. Mr. Fowler was married April 20. tes9, to Miss Nellie Page. who died August 7. 1891; a child born to her died on the 15th day of the same month and year. His wife was a most estimable and lovable woman, and a devoted mem- ber of the Christian Church. Oui subject is a Democrat. and maintains a deep interest in public matters, taking care to inform himself upon the issues of the day. concerning which he talks intel- ligently and interestingly.
Mr. Fowler is a man of mueh general information, having enjoyed the advantages of education and subsequent reading. llis schooling was received at Kirksville, Mo .. in the teachers' institute and the mercantile department. While the duties of the farm are somewhat arduous, he finds time for reading the newspapers as well as books. and to digest what he reads to his own profit and that of others. The work of improvement is constantly going on upon his farm, and the value of the place is steadily increasing. lle has a property of which any man may be proud, and his energy and thrift indicate strongly that he will continue to add to the value of the farm. cither by further en- largement or the improvement of what he has, or both.
ILLIAM C. BAIRD. M. D., has been for nearly thirty years a practicing physician in Carroll County, and now makes his home in Tina. He is a local minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church South. having preached during the past fifteen years. He has always taken a very zealous interest in church affairs, and was ordained a Deacon in 1891, which position he still holds.
Our subject is of Scotch descent. His father. James Baird, was a native of Kentucky, and one of the early honored pioneers of Lincoln County, Mo. He married Miss Martha A. Briggs, also of
Kentucky, whose father, Benjamin Briggs, was a leading man in char State. The Doctor was born in Lincoln County, this State, July 9. 1838, and was one of fire children. In his boyhood he at- tended the district schools near his birthplace. U'pop arriving at mature years he concluded to adopt the medical profession. and in pursuance of that resolve commenced a course of study under Dr. G. P. Herndon. Ile then took a course of lee- tures at the St. Louis Medical College, and in 1865 was graduated from Rush Medical College of Chi- cago. In 1862 Dr. Baird and Miss Janie L. Erick- son were married. Mrs. Baird was a daughter of William L. Erickson. of Kentucky. Seven children were born to them, of whom six are living: James Ji .; William E .; Mattie. wife of William Hender- son; Emma L., now Mrs. James L. Cramer; Ethel. wife of Edmond Walker. who is engaged in farm- ing; and Thomas, now attending school. TH . faithful wife and mother was called to her final abode November 6. 1877. In 1880 the Doctor mar- ried his present wife. Mrs. Martha J. McCall. dangh- ter of John M. Biadon. of this county.
Dr. Baird is an uncompromising Prohibitionist, and has always been very temperate in all hi- habits. Ile is well known throughout this and ad- jothing counties as a minister of no mean repute, and in the medical profession he ranks high among his brethren. In 1865, soon after his graduation. the Doctor commenced practicing at Mandeville. where he was located for a period of about twenty- seven years. He removed to Tina in September. 1892. and has here already acquired a large gen- eral practice in both medicine and surgery. He is a member of Mandeville Lodge No. 373. A. F. a. A. M .. of which he was Master for thirteen years.
ILLIAM G. ESTILL, M. D. The healing art, old as the infirmities of man. has al- ways engaged the best talent of the race. where search for medicaments has extended to every part of the globe, taking in the waters of the deep, as well as the things that grow upon the
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earth. As a class. physicians, especially those of the past few centuries. have shown themselves touched with the spirit of man's weakness, and hence great sympathy and kindness have stanmed their natures. Our subject, by his careful prepa- ration and continued investigations, united with: a kind and considerate nature. seems pre-eminently fitted for the noble profession.
Our subject was born in Clinton, Mo .. January 16, 1860, a son of William II. Estill. who was born in Madison County, Ky. William went at an early day to Clinton County. Mo .. bought a farm. and married Miss Mary Jane. daughter of George Denny, an old resident of the county. The father of our subject had three daughters and tour sons, all but one of whom are still living: John. who is in Western Kansas; Mary, the wife of Mr. Har- grave, living in Kan-as; Moses, living in Gentry County. Mo: Dr. .. T. Extill. living at Colorado Springs; Alice, who married Dr. James. of Lawson. and is deceased; and Luhe. wife of Edward Rear- den. The father was an active member of the Presbyterian Church.
Our subjeet was reared in Clinton County and educated at Liberty, Mo. After leaving school he was a clerk in a dry-goods store at Liberty for four years, then removed to Ray County. where he became a clerk in a drug store, at the same time beginning the study of medicine. Later he entered the Missomi Medical College at St. Louis, from which he graduated in 1883 and located at Vibbard. Mo. There he practiced for four years and then came to Lawson. Ray County, in 1887, where he has since remained, with the exception of two years spent in practice in Carroll County. Ilis practice now extend- throughout Lawson and the surrounding country, where he is held in the high- est esteem by all who know him.
Dr. Estill was married in 1883 to Miss Alice E., the daughter of W. W. Smith, a prominent citizen of Lawson. Two children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. E-till: Florence K. and Raymond P. The Doctor is a member of the Knights of Pythias and is Chancellor-Commander of Castle Lodge No. 129. of Lawson. He is a member of the Ray County Medical Society, and was also a member of the State Medical Society. In church aitmurs he is
very active, being much interested in church and Sunday-school work, having been Superintendent of the latter and now acts as teacher. He is a Democrat, but does not take a very prominent part in politics.
Recently ths Doctor completed a very neat and athactive brick office building, which occupies a good position, and here he is located. Dr. Estill has a large practice and is regarded as one of the principal physicians of Ray County. The entire community holds him in the highest esteem and he is what may be termed a growing man. his ac- quaintance and influence constantly increasing.
ANIEL L. SETTLE, our subject, has a fondness for horses that manifest itself in making a specialty of high-bred am- mals designed to become pets and favor- ites of future owners. It may be set down as a safe statement that such a man is humane. kind and considerate. for only such can successfully carry on such an important business. Mr. settle has a line farm in township 53, range 27. Ray County, within about one mile of which he was born November 8, 1817. His paternal grandfather. Louis Settle, was a native of Fanquier County. Va .. a farmer and a brave, patriotic soldier of the Rev- olutionary War, and spent his life in the Old Dominion.
The father of our subject. Hiram P. Settle, was born in Fauquier County in 1815 and was one of two children, his sister Elizabeth being the wife of Ebenezer McDonald. His parents dying when he was a child. he was reared by an aunt, who after giving him the advantages of the common school. bound him out while yet a lad to learn the trade of a tailor. He served a full apprenticeship of seven years and worked some years afterward as a journeyman, when he turned his attention to farming. He married Juliet 1 .. daughter of Dan- iel and Mary (Harring ) Daval, and not long after that event. November IT, IsIt. he reached Ray
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County, Mo .. having brought his family in wagons across the country from his native State. Fifty- seven days were required for the journey, and he brought all his earthly effects with him, including ten slaves. In the spring of the following year, he bought the farm upon which he spent the re- mainder of his days and where our subject was born, a portion of it being purchased from the Govern- ment.
The thrift of Hiram Settle was such that he ac- cumulated in all five hundred and twenty-five acres. Seven children were born to him and his wife, three of whom are living, namely: Emily. wife of D). C. Allen, living at Liberty, Mo .; Daniel, our subjeet; and William E., who married Clara Pinckard and resides at Richmond. Mo. He was a member of Richmond Lodge No. 57, F. & A. M. In politics he affiliated with the Democrats and al- ways voted the ticket of that party. Death called him from earth in September. 1888; his wife sur- vives, having reached the advanced age of eighty. and makes her home with her youngest son at Richmond.
Our subject remained under the home roof until his twenty-seventh vear and received a good com- mon-school education in his youth. At the age above named he married Miss Nannie W., daughter of William A. and Mary ( Burford) Byers natives respectively of Harrodsburgh and Garrard County, Ky. Mrs. Settle was born and reared in Harrods- burgh. Ky .. and when eleven years old was orphaned by the death of her mother. In the spring of 1873. she came to Ray County with her father, being one of the four children that accompanied him. They were Mary, wife of Alexander Royston; Nannie W., wife of our subject; William II. and John E. Mr. and Mrs. Settle are the parents of three chil- dren; Mary. Juliet L., and William P., who died in infancy.
Mr. Settle began life for himself by tenting a portion of his father's farm. and at his death came into possession of the farm of one hundred and sixty aeres which he now occupies. The place was then in an unimproved state, but he has by diligent effort brought it into a good condition of cultivation and has erreted upon it a substantial house, barn and outbuildings. He carries on with
general farming stock-raising and feeding and makes a specialty of saddle-horses, having brought many of them from Kentucky to Ray County. Mr. Settle is a member of the Baptist Church. where his influence is strongly felt and for good. lle is in full accord with the views and principles of the leaders and platform of the Democratic party and has always supported its nominees.
D D. GANT, our subject, is a man of es- tablished character and reputation, highly esteemed by a large circle of friends. and leading a life worthy to be cited as an ex- ample for others. Itis farm is located on section 35. township 51. range 28. in Ray County, and is well improved and under good cultivation. lle is one of thirteen children, and was born in Orange County, N. C., in 1831. His brothers and sisters are: Eliza A., Spencer L., Elizabeth Jane, Jackson D., William F., Samuel S .. Wallace Il., Julia 1 .. and John O'Kelly. The others are deceased.
The father of our subject, James II. Gant, came to Ray County in 1838, and located nine miles west of Richmond, where he resided until 1856. During that year he removed to Liberty, Clay County. at which place he died in 1875. aged eighty-eight, having been born in 1787. Ilis wife was Mary A., daughter of Samuel Stuart, and the married life of this couple was a happy one. each being well suited to the other.
In 1869, our subject married Miss Ludia, daugh- ter of John Grimes. She was born June 11, 1819. at Jacksboro, E. Ten .. and was one among five children, one of whom died in infancy. Mr. Gant enjoyed but a limited training in the public schools of his district, and often farm duties came in the way of the lessons. The rural life is best suited to his taste and training, and he has always made his home in the country. He resides upon a line tract, comprising three hundred and forty acres, where he carries on general farming and stock-raising.
During the war the sympathie of Mr. Gant were
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with the South, and he served in the army for a time, but did not take part in any battle -. Mr. and Mrs. Gant have been the parents of three children, as follows: May Y., born April 11, 1871; Daisy D., born November 11, 1875, who died Oe- tober 8, 1877; and R. Kelly Guy, born January 29. 1879. May has received excellent educational ad- vantages, having attended the Female College at Lexington, and also carried on her studies in st. Louis. R. Kelly Guy is at school, where he ex- peets to remain until he gains a thorough educa- tion.
It would seem that the family of our subjeet has a very decided inclination toward the profession of medicine, as three of his brothers are physicians, and one brother has two sons who are doctors, and each of the others also has a son who is a practic- ing physician. One brother was for many years a leading physician, as he is now a prominent viti- zen, of Knoxville, having retired after achieving a decided success as a practitioner of medieine. Our subject and wife are active and earnest workers in the Methodist Episcopal Church South, of which they are members. Socially, he is a Mason. and has passed all the Chairs of Hiram Lodge No. 309. Hle is a Prohibitionist. and does all he can to keep out of the community the spirit of intemperance, which he considers the worst of evils.
M RS. JULIA WILLIAMS, a lady of worth and ability and a life-long resident of Clay County. Mo .. and now residing on section 32, township 53, range 32, was born near Smithville. October 2. 1831. Our subject is the widow of the late lamented John Williams and a daughter of Abijah and Harriet ( Brooks) Brooks, her father and mother having been cousins. Mr. Brooks was born in Clark County, Ky., and there attained manhood. Ilis education was hmited to the knowledge gained in the district schools of the early days, and his father dying when he was but eighteen years of age. he was obliged to assume the responsibilities of life long before he had reached
his majority. After a period of time which he spent in travel through the South and East. le was married, when about twenty-one years of age. His wife, who was born and educated in Massa- chusetts. emigrated to Ohio with her parents and was married in the Buckeye State. The father and mother of our subject immediately following their union made their home in Kentucky upon one hundred and twenty acres of land left to Mr. Brooks by the death of his father. After farming some time in Kentucky. he removed with his fan- ily to Missouri, and in 1826. journeying by wagons and horse-teams, they slowly made their way to Clay County and settled upon an eighty-acte farm near Smithville, which Mr. Brooks had purchased. An energetic and enterprising man, he entered land from the Government and invested in real estate. until at the time of his death he owiel about one thousand acres.
When the father of our subject came to Mis- souri. he was financially prosperous for those pioneer times, owning excellent horse-teams. three negroes and several hundred dollars in cash. He was a consistent member of the Primitive Baptist Church. and in political affiliations was an ardent Whig. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Abijah Brooks were born fourteen children: Samuel J .; Abijah, decea-ed; Elizabeth, deceased. wife of William Owen: Mary. deceased. wife of S. G. T. Greenfield; John: Ben- jamin G., deceased; Thomas: Julia: Martha. de- ceased, wife of John Rogers: Virginia and Van W., deceased; Abigail. deccased. wife of II. II. Snail; Sarah E. and Harriet. deceased. The grandparents of our subject were Abijah and Nancy (Shrail) Brooks, the grandfather being a native of Ireland. who after emigrating to Canada lived there but a short time. and then located in Kentucky. Mrs. Juha (Brooks) Williams received her education in a rude little log schoolhouse of Clay County. Thor- oughly trained in habits of useful industry which well fitted her to assume the care of a household. she arrived at twenty-three years of age and was then united in marriage with John Williams, who was born October 3. 1 21. in Bourbon Coumy, Ky .. and who emigrated to Missouri in 1-51. settling at once upon the present homestead in Clay County. Mr. Williams obtained a primary education in the
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common schools of his native State. Ihis par- ents being in moderate circumstances, he was early obliged to make his own way in the world. and at the age of twenty-one years, having learned the carpenter's trade, followed the occupation of a builder until he came to Missouri.
Mr. Williams arrived within the borders of the State with a small capital, but devoting himself exclusively to farming and stock-raising. he ac- cumulated a handsome property and provided well for his family. leaving them at his death a valuable inheritance. Ile was a man of gen- erous nature. benevolent and kind-hearted and ever ready to aid the poor. lle and his wife were . both members of the Christian Church, our subject having joined this religious organization when she was but fifteen years ofage. Mr. Williams was politically a Democrat and a firm adherent of the Jeffersonian party. The only official position he ever held was that of Justice of the Peace. an office the duties of which he discharged with ability and fidelity. He passed away January 7, 1885. deeply mourned by a large eirele of relatives and friends, and as an earnest and public-spirited citi- zen his death was a great loss to the community. The pleasant home of Mr. and Mrs. Williams was blessed by the birth of two sons, John and Albert. John, born August 23, 1865. is married to Miss Nannie Moore, who is the daughter of L. P. and Jane (Pointer) Moore. Mr. and Mrs. John Williams have two children. J. Clifford and Arthur L. Al- bert Sidney Johnson Williams. born April 17. 1868. was united in marriage with Miss Lula Morton. The paternal grandparents of these two sons were James and Elizabeth (Wright) Williams. James Williams was born in Bourborn County, Ky., in May, 1797. and his good wife was born in the same county, April 11, 1798. The paternal great-grand- parents were Benjamin F.and Araminta ( Mathena) Williams.
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