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 82
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 82
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Dr. W. B. Scales was born in Warrick County, Ind., October 9, 1841, and is the youngest of four children, three of whom are living. From the time he was nine years of age, he was reared in Selvin and Boonville, and when in his seventeenth year he commenced teaching school in his home district, and followed that profession for six years altogether, a part of the time being Prin- cipal of the high school at Lynnville, Ind. In the fall of 1863 he enlisted in the Ninety-first In- diana Infantry, being assigned to Company B, and was mustered in at Evansville, Ind. He was placed in the Army of the Tennessee, and ten days later was detailed and commissioned Quar- termaster's Sergeant. As he was taken sick and discharged from service on that account, he re- turned home and became a clerk in a drug-store, and later read medicine with Dr. Hoagland for three years. In 1868 he entered the Ohio Medi- cal College at Cincinnati, and after taking one course of lectures, practiced for a short time in Gibson County, Ind. Then, settling in Boonville,
he made that place his field of work for the siic- ceeding seventeen years. In the mean time he returned to the Ohio Medical College, in 1877, and was duly graduated the following year with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In 1890 he moved to Sedalia, opened an office at No. 418 Ohio Street, and has since been very successful in his practice here.
In 1868 the Doctor was married in his native county to Emma Badger, who was born in Perry County, Ind., and who is the daughter of Wesley Badger, a farmer. The Doctor and wife have two children, Herbert L. and Daisy B. The son graduated from the high school at Boonville, and received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from De- Pauw University. On determining to follow his father's example, he entered the Louisville Medi- cal College, graduating in the Class of '92, and is now engaged in practice with his father. Daisy B., also a graduate of the Boonville (Ind. ) High School, is an accomplished young lady and is still at home with her parents. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and move in the best social circles of Sedalia. In his political affiliations the Doctor is an uncompromising Dem- ocrat.
12 ANIEL GROW, General Yardmaster of the Missouri Pacific & Kansas City Railroad at Sedalia, has efficiently filled this responsible place for fifteen years, thus being one of the old- est officials of the road in this city. The yards have thirty miles of track, with six switch en- gines and six crews, there being about forty men employed in the, yards. Mr. Grow has worked his way up from the ranks, having been success- ively brakeman, conductor and switchman, until his superiors found that they could rely on his faithfulness and gave him a more important place.
The birth of our subject occurred May 14, 1844, in Wabash County, Ind., his parents being John and Mahala (Collins) Grow, The former
30
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was a native of Culpeper County, Va., but when a young man moved to Indiana. He had learned the cabinet-maker's trade and engaged in the manu- facture of furniture, also managing an undertak- ing business in Wabash. Later he moved to Grant County, and in 1853 went to Sidney, Cham- paign County, Ill., afterward settling in Danville, in all of which places he was engaged in work at his trade. His wife was born in Tennessee, and was a daughter of Ephraim Collins, an early pio- neer of Grant County. Mrs. Grow died when quite young, leaving only one child, our subject. The father enlisted in Company I. Tenth Illinois Cavalry, in 1861, as a Sergeant, and after serving two years was mustered out on account of disa- bility. He was called to his final rest in 1892, at the age of seventy-seven years. His father, who was of German descent, was born in Maryland, and owned a large plantation there.
Until the outbreak of the war Daniel Grow at- tended school in Illinois, but in the spring of 1861 went to Indiana, and from there enlisted in Company C, Eighth Infantry, being mustered in at Indianapolis in the Army of the West. After participating in the battle of Pea Ridge he en- gaged in manœuvers around Vicksburg under General McLaren, and after the surrender was sent to New Orleans, and thence to Texas. There he assisted in the capture of Ft. Esperanzie, and was in the engagements at Indianola and other points. January 1, 1864, he veteranized and went home on a furlough, but soon returned to his regiment in the Crescent City. With them he sailed for Baltimore and went up and down the Shenandoah Valley with Sheridan, being a part of the Nineteenth Army Corps. He was in the battles of Winchester and Cedar Creek, and later went with his regiment to Georgia, where he did provost-guard duty. In September, 1865, he was mustered out with the rank of Corporal at the close of over four years of constant service. At Vicksburg he was wounded by a minie-ball in the right hand, but did not leave the ranks, and at Cedar Creek he was captured, though he managed to get away the same night.
On his return to the North after his army life, Daniel Grow went to Richmond, Ind., and ob-
tained a position as brakeman on the Chicago & Great Eastern (now the Panhandle) Railroad, and a year and a-half later was made conductor between Richmond and Logansport. He served in that capacity until 1869, when he went to Galesburg, Ill., and became a conductor on the "Q" Railroad between Aurora and that city. In the fall of 1869 he entered the employ of the Mis- souri Pacific Railroad at Kansas City as a switch- man in the yards, and in 1872 was sent to Sedalia as night yardmaster. Soon afterward he was made day yardmaster, and in 1880, upon the con- solidation of the Missouri Pacific and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Roads, was made General Yard- master, and has served as such ever since. For one term, during Mayor Rickman's administra- tion, he was a member of the City Council from the Third Ward, having been elected by the local Democracy. Fraternally he is a past officer of the Knights of Pythias, is a charter member of the Royal Tribe of Joseph, and is Past Commander of George R. Smith Post No. 53, G. A. R.
In 1867 Mr. Grow and Sarah F. Mason were united in marriage in Richmond, Ind., of which city Mrs. Grow is a native. Their only child, Walter T., a graduate of the Sedalia High School and the Central Commercial College, is now in the St. Louis freight office of the Missouri, Kan- sas & Texas Railroad, and is a young man of much promise.
RANK H. LAUGING, a successful farmer and stock-raiser of Pettis County, was born in Germany, December 10, 1826, and is a son of Ernest H. and Eliza Lauging. As was the custom in that portion of the Fatherland where the family lived, the children were known by the name of the inother, who owned the home farm. At the age of seventeen Frank H. accompa- nied his parents to America, his two elder brothers and one younger coming with them. Settling in St. Charles County, Mo., the father purchased
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eighty acres, and upon that place he made his home until death. His wife also passed away in St. Charles County, the same year as that in which he died.
At that time our subject was a youth of nine- teen years, and as his parents had left but a small property, he began to work for neighboring farm- ers. He never attended school after coming to America, but received a fair education in Ger- many. For a time he was employed in St. Louis, working at anything by which he could obtain an honest livelihood. When about twenty-four years of age, he was united in marriage, in St. Louis, with Miss Mary Eliza Klostermeier, a native of Germany, who was about twenty-six years of age at the time of her marriage.
Embarking in agricultural pursuits, Mr. Laug- ing rented the farm which his father had left, after a year's experience upon another rented place. From St. Charles County he removed to Bates County, Mo., where he entered three forty- acre tracts from the Government, at the same time entering eighty acres in St. Clair County. This entire property, with the exception of eighty acres, was swamp land, too wet to be improved, and has never yet been placed under cultivation. The tillable portion he improved into a valuable farm, residing upon it until the war broke out. On account of the depredations committed by bushwhackers, and as they had also threatened his life, he moved to Pettis County, where he rented a farm for three years. Later he bought the tract of one hundred and forty acres in Bates County on which J. A. Heck now lives, making it his home for four years. He then traded it for the farm near Green Ridge, paying $300 to boot -a poor trade, he now considers it. Prospered in his undertakings, he added to his original pur- chase, until he finally acquired the ownership of over one thousand acres of land, all in one body. The place is well improved with a neat house, good barn and granaries, substantial fences, and other improvements.
Politically Mr. Lauging is a Republican, but has never taken an active part in political affairs. He was reared in the Lutheran faith, to which he has always adhered. For many years he has
made a specialty of stock-raising, in which en- terprise he embarked on a small scale and with a very limited capital, but by degrees enlarged the scope of his operations, and is now devoting a large portion of his time to the work, which he finds quite remunerative.
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A. HALLAR, M. D., is engaged in practice at Rose Hill, Johnson County, where he has been located for about sixteen years. He has invested from time to time in land, and is now the owner of six hundred acres in the vicinity of his home. He is a native of the Blue Grass State, and his birth occurred December 15, 1841. There he grew to manhood, having but poor op- portunities for obtaining an education. His par- ents were John H. and Rebecca (McDaniel) Hal- lar.
During the war Dr. Hallar enlisted in the Ken- tucky State Guards, taking part in several skir- mishes and holding the rank of Sergeant. He then enlisted in the regular United States service at Camp Kenton, and drilled with the Second Ohio Infantry, though a member of Company I, Eighteenth Kentucky Infantry. He assisted in driving Gens. William and Humphrey Marshall from Kentucky, taking part in numerous small engagements. In the spring of 1862 he was sta- tioned in central Kentucky as Sergeant in com- mand of a blockhouse and twenty-four men. In June, Morgan took Cynthiana, only seven miles distant, and this scared his guards so that they left him, and he was left on duty alone for two days. Relief then came from Covington, and he was promised a commission for his fidelity, but through some one's neglect failed to get it. In1 August he was present at the battle of Richmond, Ky., and his regiment suffered severely, Colonel Warner being shot through the right lung, the lieu- tenant-colonel being shot in the arm and right jaw, and Adjutant Duall being killed, as was also Captain Lewis, and the First Lieutenant, James
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Dunlap; while the Sergeant-Major was wounded and the acting Lieutenant was killed. Dr. Hal- lar, the Second Sergeant, was slightly wounded in the right leg by a piece of shell, his cartridge box shot off, with slight injuries to his spine. He was picked up on the field and kept a prisoner from Saturday until Tuesday without rations. Then, being paroled, he returned home and re- mained one night, when the rebel guerrillas sur- rounded the house and he was obliged to leave secretly. With Captain Boone, he traveled to the Ohio River, his feet bleeding and sore, and at Augusta found a regiment with a detachment of United States soldiers. He took up arms again and helped defend Augusta, but the Confederates won the victory, and he made his escape only by swimming the river and landing in Ohio. Re- porting to his regiment at Jeffersonville, he did duty there as ranking officer. Just before the battle of Perryville Colonel Millwood found out that he was on parole and ordered him to Camp Clase to be exchanged. Fourteen days later he returned to Kentucky with letters and dispatches, and in January, 1863, after he had been ex- changed, joined his regiment and started south- ward. At Franklin, Tenn., he was placed in command of one hundred and twenty men who were to cut a ditch around Ft. Megley and Nash- ville. At the end of two months he started for Carthage, Tenn., to join his regiment, and was on board the transport "Chippewa Valley" when, the second morning after leaving Nashville, the vessel struck an obstruction in the river and sank. Mr. Hallar was lying in the engine room, and only had time to reach the hurricane deck. In company with a fellow-passenger, he jumped off and swam to the Kentucky side. A few persons on the doomed vessel clung to the wreck and floated to the Tennessee shore, the rebels shooting at them from the river bank. Mr. Hallar and his friend in misery took a life-boat, paddled back to the wreck, and were taken aboard a gun-boat. At length, reaching his regiment, he remained with them until after the battle of Chickamauga, when, as his leg was getting worse all the time, he was discharged, in December, 1863.
In January of the next year Dr. Hallar was
awarded a pension of $4 a month for his injuries, and as he was a cripple it is but little wonder that he was too indignant to accept such a compensa- tion. He now receives $24 a month, and, con- sidering what he has gone through, even this is a small return. Desiring to improve himself, he commenced studying at home in earnest, and February 20, 1864, married M. E. Roundtree, who was a good scholar and was of great assist- ance to him. In a year he was able to obtain a first-class certificate, and began teaching. Dur- ing the six years which followed he studied med- icine and taught all but two weeks of each year. He attended the Normal Institute at Carlisle, Ky., taking a special course in the liberal arts and sciences, after which he went to the Louis- ville Medical College for two years, graduating in 1876. He at once began practicing medicine in his native county, and it was not until 1879 that he moved to Johnson County.
The first wife of Dr. Hallar died in 1877, leav- ing five children, all but one of whom still sur- vive. In 1879 Miss D. E. Taylor, of Nicholas County, Ky., became his wife, and by this union there have been born five children. The parents are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and stand high in the estimation of all who know them. The Doctor is a Mason of the Third De- gree, belonging to the lodge at Holden.
2 AVID F. BROWN, M. D., of Dresden, is a man of versatile talents, and while engag- ing in the general practice of his profession, has also other important interests. His home place, which is pleasantly situated on the edge of Dresden, consists of two hundred acres, in ad- dition to which he is the owner of two hundred and sixty acres in Hughesville Township, and three hundred and twenty-five acres northeast of the railroad at Dresden. For some years he has been engaged in raising and shipping cattle, which industry he conducts on a large scale,
JAMES A. CAPEN.
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making a specialty of Galloway cattle and Poland- China hogs. Formerly he held an interest in several stores.
The Doctor was born in North Carolina, near the village of High Point, October 22, 1845. He is one of nine children (seven sons and two daughters) born to the union of Haley and Jane E. (Spurgeon) Brown, also natives of North Carolina. Four of the family are now living: Phœbe J., wife of Dr. J. G. Ector, of Winston, N. C .; Dempsey S., of Pettis County, Mo .; Dr. David F., of this sketch; and Henry Clay, who is living near Houstonia, in Pettis County. The father, who was a railroad contractor and a farmer, died in North Carolina in 1866. His wife, who survives him, is now in her eightieth year (1895). In his community he was a man of prominence and for some time held the office of County Sur- veyor. The title of Major, by which he was familiarly known, was won by promotion to that rank in the militia.
The paternal grandfather of our subject, John Brown, was born in North Carolina and was a descendant of English ancestors. His occupation was that of an agriculturist, in which he engaged with success. He and his wife were the parents of three children. Our subject's maternal grand- father, Joseph Spurgeon, was born in North Car- olina, of English parentage, and followed farm pursuits. For a number of years he represented Davidson County in the Legislature.
David F. was reared in Davidson, Guilford and Randolph Counties, N. C., and received a good common-school education. Later he attended Trinity College, in Randolph County, and still later a Quaker college. On the breaking out of the war, he entered the Confederate service as a private in the First Battalion in the Eighth Georgia Regiment, and later served in North Carolina for twelve months. He participated in all the battles around Petersburg during 1864 and 1865, and was also in those around Hatcher's Run.
After the war was over, Mr. Brown spent a year and a-half in Saline County, Mo. Later, however, he went back to North Carolina and attended college, at the same time working on a
farm. In 1870, in Dresden, Mo., he began to study medicine with his brother J. A. C., and also attended three courses of lectures in St. Louis. It was in March, 1873, that he began practice in Dresden, and that his selection of a location was a wise one is shown by the large practice he has built up.
August 13, 1874; Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Virginia Schultz, daughter of Romulus and Christina (Spurgeon) Schultz. One child was born of this union, but it died in infancy. Dr. and Mrs. Brown are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the former is serving as Trustee of the congregation. His vote is cast in favor of Democratic candidates.
AMES ALBERT CAPEN is one of the most popular public officials of Sedalia, and after serving faithfully as Deputy-Sheriff and Dep- uty County Assessor was elected to the more re- sponsible office of County Assessor in the fall of 1894, on the Republican ticket. He did not en- ter upon his duties until June 1, 1895, and by a peculiar coincidence this was just ten years after his father was elected to the same office, on the Democratic ticket.
James Capen, the grandfather of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, was born in Bos- ton, Mass., and for many years resided in the city of Gardiner, Me., ten miles south of Augusta. His father, who bore the same Christian name, was born in Massachusetts, and was of French Huguenot stock. James Capen, Jr., participated in the War of 1812, and owned an extensive farm in the Bay State. Albert Capen, father of our subject, was born in Stoughton, Mass. On reach- ing mature years he obtained a position as book- keeper with a Boston firm, but in 1857 came West. For several years thereafter he worked as wagon- master for Jones & Cartwright, and also took freight trains from the Missouri River to Denver and Salt Lake City. In 1864 he purchased a
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farm in Longwood Township, Pettis County, and cultivated the place for twenty years. In 1884, coming to Sedalia, he was elected County Asses- sor and served one term. His death occurred in 1887, at the age of seventy-seven years. During his life on the plains he had many narrow escapes and won quite a reputation as an Indian fighter. His wife, Mary J. Nichols, was born in Massa- chusetts, and died in the East in 1844. Of her three children only one lived to maturity.
James Albert Capen is a native of Boston, his birth having occurred January 3, 1840, and in that city he passed the first ten years of his life. Thence he went to Maine, where he lived with his grandfather, and attended the high school at Gardiner, graduating at the age of twenty years. Coming to the West, he joined his father, and for two years was also on the plains, a part of this time being express messenger for the Leaven- worth & Pike's Peak Express Company. Sep- tember 24, 1861, he enlisted in Company B, Seventh Kansas Cavalry, and was mustered in at Ft. Leavenworth. Among the engagements in which he took an active part were the following: Little Blue, Iuka, Corinth, Coffeeville, Colum- ville, Memphis, Florence and many others. Fre- quently he was called upon to serve on detached duty, being clerk under different officers, and in January, 1864, veteranized, re-enlisting in the same company and regiment. September 26, 1865, he received an honorable discharge and was mustered out at Ft. Leavenworth.
Returning home, Mr. Capen embarked in farm- ing in Longwood Township, and for twenty years taught school successfully during the winters. In 1885 he was appointed Deputy-Assessor under his father, and served for two years. The next two years he again taught school, and in 1889 was made Deputy under John S. Woods. In 1891 he was appointed Deputy-Sheriff under E. R. Smith, acting as such for two years, and for a like period held a similar position with John C. Porter. In the fall of 1894 he resigned in or- der to accept his present office. While living in Longwood Township, he was Clerk of the same for two years. He has always kept up his interest in educational matters, being a member
of the State Teachers' Association at one time, and in 1886 and 1887 was in charge of the edu- cational department of the Central Missouri Sen- tinel, which is published in the interest of school work.
A marriage ceremony was performed by Rev. John Montgomery, in Longwood, in September, 1867, by which Sarah C. Chaney became the wife of Mr. Capen. She was born in Longwood, in 1850, and is a daughter of the late William H. Chaney, a farmer by occupation. Mr. and Mrs. Capen have had born to them six children: Will- iam A., who is in the printing business in Sedalia; Robert C., a carriage painter, also of this city; and James A., Clara E., Frank E. and Anna C., who are still at home. The parents are members of the Old-school Presbyterian Church. Mr. Capen is Quartermaster of George R. Smith Post No. 53, G. A. R.
B. MARTIN, who has been a resident of Sedalia for the past eleven years, is now serving as Alderman from the First Ward, and is prominent in political circles of the Repub- lican party. He is an expert in drilling artesian wells, and at present is in partnership with Charles Coleman, the firm being known as Martin & Coleman, and their shop is located at No. 113 Kentucky Street. Mr. Martin has been very suc- cessful in his business operations here, and has inore contracts on hand than he can well attend to.
The father of our subject, John Martin, was born in Germany and came to the United States in early manhood. Settling in the vicinity of Boonville, Mo., he purchased a large farm and also opened a blacksmith shop, in which he fol- lowed the trade he had learned in his native land. His farm is still owned by members of his family. At the time of his death, which occurred in 1881, he was in his sixty-fifth year. His wife was known in maidenhood as Lizzie Martin, but was
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not a relative, however. She was born in Germa- ny, and is still living on the old homestead. Both parents were devoted members of the Catholic Church, in which faith they reared their children. Nine of their family are still living, and most of the number reside in Cooper County. One of the sons, John C., a soldier of the Civil War, was wounded on one occasion as he was carrying the flag.
W. B. Martin was born near Boonville Cooper County, July 15, 1863, and until sixteen years of age was employed in agricultural pursuits. Heat- tended the common schools and the Boonville High School, acquiring a good education. When in his seventeenth year he began to learn the black- smith's trade at a carriage factory, and later worked at the business in Carthage, Mo., in com- pany with a Mr. Brownsell. Then, returning to Boonville, he was employed by John Welch for some time, and finally opened a shop in Bunceton, running the same for two years. Later he went to St. Louis, where he continued at his trade until his health failed, when he was obliged to take a vacation.
It was in July, 1884, that Mr. Martin made his first trip to Sedalia, and as he liked the enterpris- ing little city, decided to locate here permanently. For a time he assisted Mr. Fisher in his shop, and ultimately bought out the plant of Mr. Pauls. Besides the shop, he is the owner of other prop- erty in the city. In 1885 he began drilling wells, first using one drill and afterwards two. They are the latest improvements in this line, and are run by two engines, ten-horse power. At pres- ent the partners have a large contract for drilling wells at Forest Park, and their success is assured.
While living in Boonville Mr. Martin was mar- ried to Rosa M., daughter of Felix McGow, of Sedalia, and sister of John McGow, a well known citizen of this place. Mrs. Rosa Martin died, leaving two children, Rosa and Willie. The lady who now bears the name of our subject was a Miss Lizzie Snyder, a native of Sedalia, and to their union has been born one child, Harald. The parents are members of St. Vincent's Catho- lic Church, of which Mr. Martin is a Trustee. He is Vice-President of the Catholic Brotherhood
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