USA > Missouri > Johnson County > Portrait and biographical record of Johnson and Pettis counties, Missouri ; containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 48
USA > Missouri > Pettis County > Portrait and biographical record of Johnson and Pettis counties, Missouri ; containing portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 48
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The mother of our subject was three times married. On the death of James B. Burrows she became the wife of William Amick, who died in 1861, leaving her with four children: George M., born January 9, 1857; Dossell B., whose birth occurred February 27, 1858, and who was killed in April, 1883, near St. Clair, this state; Hattie C., born April 13, 1860; and William F., March I, 1862. After the death of Mr. Amnick she was married to George W. Buckmaster; he is also deceased, and she now makes her home with a daughter near Holden.
A USTIN M. SANKEY, one of the influential young business men of Holden, is a member of the firm of S. R. Sankey & Bro., buyers and sellers of real estate, negotiators of loans, and representatives of well known insurance compan- ies. Our subject was born in Harrison County, Ohio, December 5, 1859, and was reared on a farm until after reaching his majority, in the mean time receiving a good general education.
The parents of the above-named gentleman, natives of Harrison County, Ohio, are Samuel F. and Eliza J. (McGee) Sankey. They were mar- ried in Ohio, and resided there until 1870, when they came to this county and lived on a farm un- til 1886. Mr. Sankey still owns eighty acres in this place, on which he now lives retired. His family numbered six children, but one is now de- ceased.
With an uncle, A. M. Sankey learned the plasterer's trade, and followed the business for about three years in Nortonville, Kan., making good wages. About 1883 he began clerking in a grocery in Holden, filling the same position for seven years. Then, in partnership with his brotli-
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er, he bought an interest in the business which they have since conducted, and in which they have been quite successful. Following his fa- ther's example, he is a Democrat, but not a politi- cian.
February 19, 1883, occurred the marriage of Mr. Sankey and Laura J. Dick, who was born in Iowa. They are both members of the Presby- terian Church of Holden, our subject being hon- ored with the positions of Treasurer and Trustee of the same.
The Sankey family is of very ancient origin, so much so that in a genealogy of the family print- ed in Europe, it is related that, according to tra- dition, they are descended from St. Peter, to whom were given the Holy (Sanc) Keys, but at any rate there are branches of the family in Wales, Scotland, England and Ireland. The Irish branch, from which our subject is descended, was founded in the Emerald Isle by a Sankey who went with Cromwell in 1649, helped to conquer the island, and was awarded a tract of land and a coat-of-arms separate from the one held by the English branch. The name has been variously spelled. As early as 1207 there is mention of one Gerard de Sanki, and his son is spoken of as Ralph de Sanchi. The modern orthography is Sankey, Sinky or Senky. While some author- ities believe that all the American Sankeys are descendants of one William Sankey, who came to these shores from Ireland in 1735, the accounts differ. Our subject has copies of wills made by Thomas and William Sankey, from the former of whom it is certain that he is descended, and both are natives of Ireland. They settled in Delaware and afterwards moved to Mifflin County, Pa., their wills being recorded at Lewistown.
Samuel Farmer Sankey, father of A. M., was a son of Samuel and Hannah (Farmer) Sankey, the former of whom was a son of James and Jean- ette (Milligan) Sankey. The father of James Sankey was a son of Thomas, who was undoubt- edly the brother of that William Sankey who moved from Ireland to America in 1735, and died about 1794. Another brother, Rev. Richard Sankey, died, leaving no children. James, son of Thomas, was born in 1771, near Lewistown, and,
moving to Jefferson County, Ohio, in 1798, died there in 1821. Our subject's grandfather was born in the same county, March 13, 1813, and died there September 12, 1851. His son Samuel was born August 12, 1836, in Jefferson County, and moved to Harrison County, Ohio, and from there, in 1870, to Holden, Mo. He is a distant relative of Ira D. Sankey, the great Evangelist, who is a great-grandson of William, brother of Thomas Sankey. The mother of our subject, Eliza Jane (McGee) Sankey, was a second cous- in of her husband, as her grandmother, Mrs. Shaw, was a daughter of Thomas Sankey, before mentioned.
R OBERT WALKER, who is chief engineer of the waterworks at Sedalia, was born in Lehigh County, Pa., November 13, 1859, and is the son of Robert and Elizabeth (Creamer) Walker. His father was a native of Scotland, and was reared upon a farm in that country, re- ceiving such advantages as the common schools of the home locality afforded. In youth he was trained to a thorough knowledge of agricultural affairs, and when he left home, at the age of sev- enteen, he was thoroughly fitted for the life of a farmer. Emigrating to America, he was married to Miss Creamer in New York, and soon after- ward settled in Pennsylvania, whence he removed to Missouri. His death occurred in Pettis Coun- ty in 1878. While not a politician in the ordi- nary usage of that word, he adhered to the prin- ciples of the Republican party. In religious be- lief he was a Presbyterian, and was a consistent . member of that church for many years.
The first eight years of the life of our subject were passed in Pennsylvania. From there he came with his parents to Missouri and settled on a farm in Pettis County. Here his boyhood years were passed, and in the public schools of the dis- trict he laid the foundation of his education. Re- maining with his parents until twenty-one years
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of age, he then accepted a position as fireman in the Sedalia waterworks, and in that capacity he was employed for one year, after which he was promoted to be engineer. He still retains the latter position, working twelve hours each day. His younger brother, John, who began here about the same time he did, is engineer the other twelve hours of the day. Of his brothers and sisters there were five, of whom he is third in order of birth, and the eldest living. Henry, who is also an engineer, and resides in Sedalia, is in the em- ploy of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. David, the youngest of the family, is a machinist in the employ of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Rail- road.
June 26, 1884, Mr. Walker was united in mar- riage with Miss Fannie L. Burton, who was born near Higby, Mo., in November, 1867, and at the time of her marriage was living in Sedalia. They are the parents of three children, all born in Seda- lia, and named as follows: Myrtle, Robert James and Elsie May. In the spring of 1894 Mr. Walk- er bought a little home of eighteen acres on the south side of Flat Creek, in Flat Creek Township, and here he has a neat and cozy cottage. He has never been active in public or political affairs, preferring to devote his attention to his business affairs, but is nevertheless interested in all enter- prises calculated to advance the welfare of his fel- low-citizens or promote the prosperity of the city where he has his home.
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OHN REAVIS, who owns one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 27, township 46, range 25, Johnson County, has lived on this place uninterruptedly for the past forty-four years. In 1851 he entered forty acres of his pres- ent farm, and as his resources permitted in- vested in more land, until his farm reached its present dimensions. One hundred and twenty
acres of the place are under cultivation, and a large portion of it was cleared by Mr. Reavis himself, who cut logs and built a cabin, and there made his home until 1894, when he erected his modern residence.
The paternal grandparents of our subject were Mark and Lucy (Bradley) Reavis, who were born, grew to maturity, and were married in Ken- tucky. Afterward settling in Boone County, Mo., Mr. Reavis purchased a farm, and besides assisting in its management operated a horsemill for grinding grain. He was an extensive slave- owner in early days, but was a kind master. He died in Boone County at a venerable age, as did also his esteemed wife. They were the parents of ten children. Edwin died on the old farm near Bowling Green, Ky .; Jones married Hannah Modiset, and died in Monroe County, Mo .; James is our subject's father; Daniel married Eliza Chap- pel, of Boone County, Mo., and is now deceased; Andrew, a farmer, died in Saline County, Mo., in 1841; Overton died while on his way to Cali- fornia, and his wife, formerly Nancy Berry, died in Saline County; Doctor married Delilah Carey, and died in Saline County; John married Eliza- beth Preston, and is a farmer of Monroe County, Mo .; Martha became the wife of Milton D. Berry, and now makes her home in Greenwood Coun- ty, Kan., where her husband's death occurred; and Polly married William Ward, and both died in Pettis County.
The maternal grandparents of John Reavis were John and Betsy (Harris) Berry, both na- tives of Madison County, Ky., where they con- tinued to reside for several years after their mar- riage, later emigrating to Boone County, Mo. Of their nine children, Thomas married Eliza Lemons; Milton wedded Martha Reavis, who survives him, and is now living in Kansas; Tyra was three times married, his last wife having been a Miss Nancy Adams, who is also deceased; Hickison H. married Jean Lemons; Robert H. married Miss Mary Ann Patterson, who lives on a farm near Warrensburg; Eliza, our subject's mother, is the next in order of birth; Nancy be- came the wife of Overton Reavis, and is now de- ceased; Lucy became the wife of Edwin Reavis,
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and has since been called from this life; and Betsy first married Preston Patrick, and after his death became the wife of William Chapman. They are now living on a farm near Brownsville, Mo., Mrs. Chapman being the only survivor of her parents' large family.
James Reavis was born in Warren County, Ky., in 1800, and his wife, Eliza, was born five yearslater, in Madison County, in the same state. Mr. Reavis left the parental roof in his early youth and entered land in Saline County, Mo., living there for about sixteen years. He then lo- cated in Pettis County, Mo., where he entered eighty acres and made some improvements on the place during the seven years of his residence thereon. Later coming to this county, he pur- chased forty acres of land on section 30, Warrens- burg Township, but a few years later returned to Pettis County. After a time he came back to this locality and invested in forty acres, but again his inclinations compelled him to return to the old neighborhood in Pettis County, where he bought forty acres, which he cultivated as long as his health permitted. Selling out, he lived with his children from that time until his death, which occurred October 17, 1874. His wife's demise occurred July 13, 1878. Of their union were born eleven children. Elizabeth, born in 1823, married Thomas C. Warren, after whose father the town of Warrensburg was named; our subject is the second of the family; Woodson, born in 1828, and now living in Washington, married Sallie A. Jennings, since deceased; Sarah Jane, now a resident of Oregon, first married Henry Howdyshell, and later became the wife of Louis Garrett, both of whom are deceased; Mark, born in 1833, died in July, 1886, and his widow, formerly Betty Hayes, is now living in Washington; Het- tie, wife of E. L. Porter, lives in Bates County, Mo .; James died at the age of twenty-one years; Anne Eliza became the wife of T. J. Coatney, a farmer of this county; Josephine wedded Z. T. Hayes, and lives on a farm in this county; Pres- ton P. married Laura Woulery, and is now in Claremore, Ind. T .; and Mary Frances died when two years of age.
The birth of John Reavis took place in Boone
County, Mo., September 27, 1826. When his parents moved to Pettis County, in 1844, he em- barked in business for himself, and, coming to this county, obtained work fromn Martin Warren, split- ting rails at forty cents per hundred, besides as- sisting in work on the farm. December 22, 1847, he married his employer's granddaughter, Lo- retta Warren, who was born in this county March 22, 1826. Her parents, Martin and Nancy (Hub- bard) Warren, were natives of Virginia, but were married in Kentucky, and later moved to Lafay- ette County, Mo., where they lived for several years. Then, coming to this county, Mr. War- ren entered land four miles east of our subject's present home. This was before Warrensburg was founded, and Mrs. Reavis remembers well the first house that was built there. Her father afterward spent several years in Gentry County, Mo., but later returned to this county, and here he died in 1840. His wife's death occurred in Lafayette County in May, 1833. They had four children, of whom our subject's wife is the young- est; Joel H., a practicing physician at Knob- noster, Johnson County, married Sallie Warren, who is now deceased; Mary C. became the wife of Samuel Porter, now of Cass County, Mo .; and Sallie D. married Madison H. Burnett, but both have been called from this life.
After his marriage John Reavis worked on farms in various parts of this county until he had saved a sufficient sum of money to enable him to buy forty acres in Pettis County. He lived there only three years, however, and since 1851 has cultivated his present homestead. His school advantages in youth were very meager, and, feeling the need himself, he has made it a point to give his children good advantages. For several years he has been School Director in this district. For five months during the war he was a member of the militia, and in early days was a Whig, but on the formation of the Republican party espoused its principles.
To Mr. and Mrs. Reavis were born ten chil- dren, as follows: Mary Eliza, March 2, 1849; William, August 19, 1851; Thomas L., Septem- ber 12, 1852; Martha Jane, February 10, 1854; Joel W., November 11, 1857; Nanny E., July
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24, 1860; Sallie J., January 17, 1863; Annie Vi- ola, December 17, 1865; Etta, February 28, 1868; and Allie, June 2, 1871. The eldest daugh- ter became the wife of M. L. Box, and is now living in Indian Territory; William died in in- fancy; and Sallie J., who was the wife of Squire Coates, of Warrensburg, departed this life Octo- ber 7, 1886; Thomas L., who is farming in this township, married Etta Millard; Martha J., also of this district, is the wife of C. T. Hull; Nanny married William P. Dyke, of Warrensburg; An- nie is Mrs. M. L. Krebs, and lives on a farm in Greeley County, Neb .; Etta, Mrs. George Adams, resides in Oklahoma; and Allie, wife of Wesley Hunter, is a resident of this township. Mrs. Reavis has long been a member of the Christian Church, and is beloved by all who know her.
IMON P. WELLER, Master Mechanic of the Missouri Pacific Railroad shops in Se- dalia, is one of the most popular railroad men in the state, and is thoroughly acquainted with the business in its every detail, having held this position for the past ten years. He has had wide experience, having commenced at the foun- dation and worked his way upward to his pres- ent responsible and trustworthy position.
Grandfather Weller, who was of German de- scent and a merchant in Pennsylvania, was a very prominent man, and helped to build a plank road. He died when ninety-eight years of age, and his wife lived to pass the ninety-sixth anniversary of her birth. Daniel, father of our subject, was born in the Keystone State and followed milling in Som- erset County. Later he was similarly employed in Bryant, Ohio, where he remained until 1869, then moving to Kansas City, Mo., where he took charge of the English Diamond Mill, and became one of the largest merchant millers of that sec- tion. His death occurred in 1890, at the age of seventy-seven years, in Kidder, Mo., where he had been living retired for some years. During
the war he served as Wagonmaster in the Tentli Ohio Cavalry. Though he was wounded at the battle of Murfreesboro in the left ankle, he was present at his post of duty until the close of the war. While a resident of Pennsylvania he served as Sheriff, having been elected on the Whig ticket. His wife, whose girlhood name was Stt- sau Shockey, is also a native of the Keystone State, and is now making her home in Kansas City, at the age of seventy-eight years. Both she and her husband were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of her ten children, three sons took part in the War of the Rebellion, and all but four of her children are yet living. Rev. J. Q. A., a minister in the Congregational denomination, was a Captain, and afterwards became Major, of the Twenty- first Pennsylvania Cavalry, and for two years was an officer on the staff of General Ziegel, 110W deceased. G. W., of the First Michigan Cavalry, was wounded in the battle of the Wilderness, was taken to Richmond as a prisoner, and is now living in Kansas City. Z. T., of the Ninth Ohio Cavalry, was wounded in Tennessee, and died from the effects of his injuries.
S. P. Weller was born in Somerset County, Pa., January 3, 1850, and was seven years old when his parents moved to Ohio. He attended the high school there until 1869, when he located in Kansas City. At Armstrong, Kan., he learned the machinist's trade in the Union Pacific shops, and afterward entered the Omaha shops of the same railroad company, being made general fore- man. Thence going to Denver, he held the posi- tion of Superintendent of the machinery depart- ment of the Denver & New Orleans Railroad, after which he was foreman of the Missouri, Kan- sas & Texas shops in Parsons, Kan., until 1885, when he assumed the responsibilities of his pres- ent position.
Our subject is a Director in, and was one of the organizers of, the Sedalia Mutual Benefit Build- ing and Loan Association. He has passed all of the chairs in the blue lodge of the Masonic order, and has taken the Knight-Templar degree. He is Past Eminent Commander and is connected with the Ararat Shrine of Kansas City, and
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identified with the Knights of Pythias, the An- cient Order of United Workmen, and with the Sons of Veterans. Politically he is a stanch Re- publican, and endeavors to do his entire duty as a patriot and citizen.
While living in Kansas City Mr. Weller was united in marriage with Miss C. Belle Tredway, whose parents were natives of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Weller have a son and daughter, Dora E. and Simon C. T. They are members of the Calvary Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Weller is one of the Vestrymen.
MMER A. PALMER. The gentleman whose honored name appears at the opening of this sketch is a representative of the men of en- ergy and enterprise who have made Johnson County so prominent in the state. He owns one hundred and forty-five acres 011 section 2, town- ship 45, range 24, and besides raising thereon the usual amount of grain, makes a specialty of breed- ing Jersey cows, which he sells to advantage in large numbers. He has established a dairy on his place, and in this industry meets a long-felt want among the farmers of the county.
A native of Ohio, our subject was born in Summit County in 1845, and was the ninth in a family of eleven children born to Resolve and Mary Ann (Swine) Palmer, natives of New York and New Jersey, respectively. The parents were married in the Buckeye State, whither they had removed in an early day with their parents, and where they remained the rest of their lives. Mrs. Palmer died in 1851, while her husband lived un- til 1879, passing away when seventy-two years old.
Emmer A., like all sons of the early settlers, spent his early life in attendance at the district school, and in working on the home place. When nineteen years old he enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Ohio In- fantry, and, although not of age, was accepted and saw active service for ten months. He was
in all of the many engagements in which his com- pany participated for the first seven months, the rest of his term of enlistment being spent on de- tached duty in the telegraph service.
After his honorable discharge, Mr. Palmer re- turned home and worked with his father for one year. At the end of this time, in 1866, he was married and started for Nebraska. After pur- chasing land in that state, he came home and spent the winter, but the following spring took his family to his western home and at once en- gaged in farming. To this vocation he added that of dairying in 1872, and at that time had eighty-seven good milch cows. He was doing a good business in Nebraska when, in 1891, he de- sired to change his location, and disposing of his interests there came to Missouri, purchasing the tract of land upon which he is still residing. As stated in our opening paragraph, it comprises one hundred and forty-five acres, of which much is fine pasture land, devoted to raising Jersey cattle.
Mr. Palmer and Miss Jeanette E. Everst were married in 1866. The lady was a native of Ohio and the schoolmate of the man who afterward be- came her husband. She became the mother of seven children and died in 1884. Of her family four are living, namely: Herbert, Henry, Clara and William. The eldest son is employed on the railroad, and Miss Clara is attending school at Hamburg, Iowa. The other two sons are with their father on the home place.
April 22, 1887, Mr. Palmer chose for his sec- ond companion Sarah (Fishel) Whitaker, who only survived her marriage seven months. March 14, 1889, he married Olive Russell, the daughter of Davis and Sarah (Smith) Russell. Her father was born in Ohio, while her mother was a native of Indiana. She, however, was born in Illinois.
Our subject is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. Socially he belongs to the An- cient Order of United Workmen, also to Mans- field Post No. 54, G. A. R. In politics he is a Republican and has an abiding faith in the purity of that party's doctrines. He is one of those progressive farmers who have adopted such im- provements in farming and dairying that their ex- ample should be generally followed, and make
J. M. BYLER.
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of Johnson County one of the garden spots of the state. He and his estimable wife are highly re- spected in the community, and the success which has crowned the efforts of our subject has earned for him the good opinion of all.
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AMES M. BYLER, of Sedalia, has been longer engaged in the real-estate business here than any other citizen, and he also deals in loans. It was in June, 1865, that he estab- lished an office for the transaction of the real-es- tate business, there then being less than one thou- sand inhabitants in the city. In 1867 he com- menced a set of abstracts of titles, being the first person to accomplish this undertaking in the county, and in 1872 also engaged in the loan bus- iness. He has handled several additions to the city, and saw the foundations of the first brick house in the place laid on Ohio Street. Be- sides his extensive landed interests in this imme- diate locality, he also owns property in other places. For three years he published a journal known as the "Great Western Real-estate Reg- ister." Few men have been more influential in securing for Sedalia various advantages, which have increased her growth and usefulness, and in nothing has he been more active than in securing for her the railroad facilities which have been so prominent in her development.
It is found by tracing the records of the Byler family, that the progenitor of the American branch came from Switzerland early in the seventeenth century, and was a Lutheran. Our subject's great-grandfather, and also his grandfather, Jo- seph Byler, were natives of Lancaster County, Pa. The latter owned a powder-mill in the Key- stone State, and late in life moved to Buncombe County, N. C., where he engaged in farming. He married a Mrs. Walker, widow of General
Walker of Revolutionary fame, and three years later, emigrating to eastern Tennessee, settled on a farm. In 1818 he came to Missouri, locating seven miles south of Boonville, Cooper County, and was one of the first County Judges there. He was reared in a Quaker settlement, but after coming to this state he joined the Universalist Church. He lived to be nearly eighty-five years of age, and his mother attained the ripe old age of ninety-one years, dying in his Missouri home. In his political faith he was a Whig of the strict- est and most conservative stamp.
David C. Byler, father of our subject, was born in North Carolina, and with his parents came across the country to Missouri in 1818 in a wagon. His only educational advantages were comprised within a three-months term in a school held five miles from his home. Thus he was forced to rely on himself for such knowledge as he was able to compass. Like his father, he devoted his en- ergies to farming, but did not confine himself to one occupation. At different times he was en- gaged in freighting to Arkansas and the Indian Territory; he also conducted a brick-making plant, and mined coal on his farm three miles and a-half from Boonville, and during the war moved to that place, where he carried on a tobacco com- mission business. After the Rebellion had ceased he located on a farm in Cass County, where he accumulated over one thousand acres of fine land. His demise occurred in January, 1885, when he was nearly seventy-two years of age, as a result of a fall on the ice. He was a devoted meniber of the Christian Church, and was beloved and es- teemed by hosts of sincere friends. His first wife, Nancy E., was a daughter of David and Malinda (Burris) Lilly, and both were natives of Clark County, Ky., born near Winchester. In 1826 Mr. Lillie started with wagons for Cooper Coun- ty, and bought land adjacent to the site of the first fort ever built at Boonville. He served as Sheriff of Cooper County more than once, but re- signed his office on a certain occasion when a man was condemned to be hung. He was a Baptist of the old school, and one of six men who organ- ized the first church in his community. His death occurred at the age of sixty-six years, in 1866.
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