USA > Missouri > Lafayette County > Portrait and biographical record of Lafayette and Saline counties, Missouri : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 10
USA > Missouri > Saline County > Portrait and biographical record of Lafayette and Saline counties, Missouri : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 10
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English extraction and came to America in the early days of the new country. settling in Vir- ginia, where the grandfather of Mr. Browning was born. This grandfather bore the family name of William and was the father of six children, only one of whom was a son.
The father of our subject also bore the name of William and was born in Pulaski County. Ky., but removed to Missouri when only nine years of age, making the trip with his mother and family. They all selected Saline County as their place of residence and located east of Elmwood. In due time Miss Nancy Logsdon became the wife of Mr. Browning, Sr. Mrs. Browning was the daughter of John Logsdon, of Saline County. where she was born, reared, educated and married. When the War of the Rebellion burst out with all its terrible force upon the country, Mr. Browning was one of the first to volunteer. and served faith- fully throughout the entire struggle, being one of the State Guards. In polities, he is an ardent Re- publiean and bravely supports and upholds the principles of that party at any and all times. In 1871, Mr. Browning, Sr., removed to Sweet Springs, settling upon the place where he now resides and works at his trade of a carpenter.
The subject of this sketch, John William Brown- ing. was born near Sweet Water Spring, April 24. 1854, and was educated in the public schools of the county, diligently pursuing his studies, hav- ing early learned the importance and value of knowledge. At the age of twenty-two he left the home roof and began life for himself. pursuing the occupation of farming. October 19, 1882, Mr. Browning married Miss Mary S., daughter of Will- iam and Mary Hickman, of La Fayette County, and a native of Kentucky. The Hickman family hails from Kentucky, but is of English descent. The name of the grandfather of Mrs. Browning was William, that being a family name in the Hickman family also. He was born in Kentucky and married in that State. but later removed to Missouri and settled near Lexington. The maiden name of the grandmother of Mrs. Browning was Ennis.
When the father of Mrs. Browning was a lad of ten or twelve years, the family removed to a farm
four miles south of Alma, La Fayette County. The family of which Mrs. Browning's father was a member consisted of four boys and three girls, who grew to years of maturity: John died in California; Catherine, the wife of Henry Butler, died in Seattle, Wash .; Betsy Ann. wife of Chris- topher Mulker. died in La Fayette County; Will- iam, father of Mrs. Browning; Elnora died in California; James resides in Cedar County, Mo .; and Alfred resides at Higginsville, La Fayette County, Mo.
The father of Mrs. Browning was born in La Fayette County in 1836. and died in the same county in 1886. Mr. lliekman was one of the State Guards during the War of the Rebellion, serving one year in that capacity in the Federal army. After this, he returned home and remained until his marriage. when he settled on a farm south of Alma. About 1868 Mr. Hickman removed to a farm, which he improved, lying south of Blackburn, in La Fayette and Saline Counties, known as the William Hickman Farm. At the time of his decease he was the owner of about three hundred and twenty acres of well-improved land. Throughout his entire life Mr. Hickman was a farmer. In June. 1856, he secured a part- ner in his toil, Miss Mary E., daughter of John and Naney Smelser, of La Fayette County. The following children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hickman: Mary S., wife of our subject; Jolm 1., who resides on the old homestead; Will- iam F., who resides on the Grandfather Ilick- man farm, south of Alma; Addie N., wife of Jesse Ilitt, of Dover, La Fayette County; and one child who died in infancy. Mr. Hickman and his family were consistent members of the Christian Church.
The children born to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Browning are as follows: Susie N., Mary E. and John William. After his marriage, Mr. Brown- ing rented a farm in Saline County until 1891, when he purchased a farm of eighty acres known as the Dr. Halley Farm, two and one-fourth miles from Blackburn, and he here resides. On this land he carries on farming and stock-raising, being especially interested in Poland-China hogs, of which breed he has a very fine drove, ranging
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in value from the little suckling pig, worth $10, to a veteran porker, for which Mr. Browning would not take 8100. His residence is pleasantly situ- ated on a slight rise of ground, and is a very substantial and imposing structure. In front of this beautiful home stretches a velvety lawn, dot- ted with large and shade-giving trees.
Mrs. Browning, the wife of our subject, was educated in the public schools of the county and at Camden Point Female Orphan School, in Platte County,an excellent institution, where young ladies who are not orphans are also admitted. So thor- oughly did this boarding-school impart knowledge to Mrs. Browning, that for one term prior to her marriage she was the efficient teacher of a dis- triet school. Mr. Browning is a well-known man in his portion of the county, and his upright life refleets credit upon himself as well as on the State that gave him birth. Mr. Browning came of a good old family, and five of the ten children born to his parents now survive, namely: Lucy, wife of Henry Richardson, of Texas; John W., our subject; Sarah, George L. and Nancy. One brother, Henry C., died at the age of sixteen, and four children died in infancy.
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S AMUEL L. SMITH, one of the most promi- ment men of township 49, range 26, La Fayette County, Mo., is presented in this sketch. ITis birth occurred December 28, 1825, in llampshire County, W. Va., he being a son of Lewis and Mary (Emmitt) Smith, the former born in West Virginia, although his father was an Eng- lishman and a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The mother of our subject was also a native of West Virginia, and was of German origin. Lewis Smith was a soldier of the War of 1812, and after the close of the Civil War re- moved to Pike County, Ill., where he remained until the time of his death in 1879, the demise of his wife having occurred two years previously.
Our subject grew to manhood in his native State, obtaining an education in the district schools, which prepared him for his life work. The teacher of the log cabin school was a practical surveyor, and seeing the eagerness of his pupil, readily im- parted his knowledge, which was put to advantage very soon afterward. For some forty years our subject followed the business of surveying in con- nection with that of agriculture, and served at one time as Deputy County Surveyor of Johnson County, Mo. On the 14th of November, 1853, he married Miss Lavina McCauley, who was born in llampshire County, W. Va., August 10, 1832, a daughter of John and Sarah (Smith) MeCauley. The paternal ancestors of Mrs. Smith were of Scotch-Irish descent, the grandfather having served in Colonial times as a soldier in the Revolutionary War.
The maternal ancestors of Mrs. Smith came from England, and of the nine children born to her parents, she is the only one remaining. Our subject and wife became the father and mother of a family of live children, as follows: Walter Il. and John L., living; but Edward O., Mollie S. (who married J. A. Atterbury ), and Gus- tavus A. are numbered with the dead. In 1855, our subject removed with his wife and children to . La Fayette County, Mo., but later went to John- son County, where they remained until the break- ing out of the Civil War. In this county he served for some time as Justice of the Peace. At the beginning of the war he started to make preparations to jom in the fray, and linally en- listed in the fall of 1862, in Company I, Second Missouri Cavalry, C. S. A., and participated in the battles of Prairie Grove, Springfield, Hartsville and Helena, beside numerous skirmishes, where the danger was just as great, if the glory was not.
While with Shelby's brigade in the southern part of Missouri, our subject was captured when on a recruiting expedition, and was confined from August until March, being exchanged at Rich- mond, Va. After this experience he returned home to Missouri, and in 1863 removed to La Fayette County, at first renting land, later settling upon a farm in township 48, range 26, where he remained for some time, not locating upon his
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present farm until 1881. Our subject has two hundred and forty acres in this and Davis Town- ships, of which he holds the title deed, and has made of the farm one of the finest in the neigh- borhood. Both Mr. and Mrs. Smith are active and devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. he having served as Steward, while Mrs. Smith is a member of a Foreign Missionary Society. being one of the working members of that denomination in this place. Mr. Smith has been a successful farmer. believing in the best kind of stock, of which he has some fine specimens. Ilis political views have led him to affiliate with the Democratic party. in whose policy he firmly be- lieves.
ILLIAM THIEMAN is a prominent and thrifty farmer of La Fayette County, lo- cated upon section 27, range 25, township 49, where he has one of the finest farms in this part of the State of Missouri. His birth took place in this county June 15, 1848, the son of John II. and Sophia Thieman, natives of Germany. The father of our subject was one of those worthy sons of the Fatherland who came over to America about 1844, trusting that in this land of freedom there would be room for the growth of the young brood that was overflowing his hearth. After landing in the United States, Mr. Thieman, with his family, came immediately West to Missouri, where they settled upon a farm in La Fayette County.
The farm upon which the father of our subject settled was about two miles southwest of the pres- ent site of the town of Concordia. There he en- tered land from the Government and began in pioneer style the development of it. This was at that time a sparsely inhabited country; houses were very far apart; the prairies were pathless, the markets far away. and the wild creatures of the country roamed at will. Those early days were times of self-denial and trial. Sickness and death invaded homes which often were not strong
enough or warm enough to shelter the weak; while sometimes the strong, brave-hearted father would be taken down; at others it would be the mother, when truly the family heart would be wrung.
Fortunately, no such trial came among the pio- neer hardships of our present subject. A family of five children survived these parents: Henry W., Frederick, Lewis F. and August were the names of the brothers of our subject. John Thieman was one of the early German settlers and won the es- teem of all with whom he came in contact. Ilis death took place in 1889. after years of devout at- tendance upon the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which he had membership. The county lost in him a good and peaceable citizen, who since the war had been a member of the Republican party. Always honest and industrions, he was an example to the younger generation. His health and strength were remarkable, and at the age of seventy-five years he was able to plow and hoe his corn.
Our subject was reared to man's estate upon the farm of his worthy father, and attended the schools of the neighborhood, such as they were at that time. For a short time, Mr. Thieman followed the trade of a carpenter, then for a number of years he followed the business of saw-milling and thresh- ing, but farming seemed to be the occupation which best suited his tastes, and to that he finally settled down. Our subject was united in marriage with Miss Lydia Rehkop, February 29, 1880. She was a daughter of Henry Rehkop, of Concordia, Mo., but was born in Canada. Six children have come to bless the home of our subject, to whom the par- ents have given the following names: Lewis W .. Daniel B., Melvin N., Laura B., Delia L. and Irvin D.
In the spring of 1892, our subject settled upon his present farm. consisting of three hundred and twenty acres of land. lle is what may be called a self-made man, yet is so well informed and reliable that his fellow-citizens have wisely elected him School Director, his position upon all educational matters meeting their approval. Progress and im- provement he believes in and shows it by his stock-raising. With him the best is none too good, his cattle being of the best Shorthorn breed and
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his hogs the choicest Poland-Chinas. Before clos- ing this brief sketch we wish to mention that Mr. Thieman is an earnest worker and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a man highly respected in his neighborhood.
G EORGE B. BLANCHARD, a prominent ag- riculturist and successful breeder of thor- oughbred and trotting horses, has at various times been engaged in leading mercantile inter- ests, and is widely known in Marshall, throughout Saline County, and in other portions of Missouri. As a member of business, religious and political associations, le commands a large circle of friends and acquaintances, by whom he is universally re- spected and esteemed.
Our subject was born in Lewis County, Mo., near Monticello, August 4, 1839, and for over fifty years has been an eye-witness of the growth and progress of the State. Ilis father, Hiram A., was a native of Wheeling, Va., and was born in 1812. His grandfather was a native of England, and was married in the Old Country, and located in Vir- ginia, where he worked as a carpenter, and after- ward removed to Missouri, where he died. In later years he became a speculator and was success- ful, dealing in real estate in Wheeling and, becom- ing prosperous, loaned out money. ITis son, Hiram A., was married in Virginia, removed to Ohio, re- mained there a short time, and then located in Lewis County, Mo., in 1837. flere he farmed and then engaged in the merchandise business and finally, in 1849, he located in Marion County, and again engaged in farming and general business. In 1868, he sold out and settled on a farm near Waverly, La Fayette County, and resides there now, over a full four-score years of age. In politics, he has ever been a Democrat, and, in religious belief, he is a Methodist of the good old kind.
The mother of our subject was Amanda J. Steph- ens, who was born in Stephensburg, Va., a daughter of Joseph Stephens, a large farmer in the Old Do-
minion. She died in Waverly, leaving eight chil- dren, of a family of nine. George B., the eldest, was reared in Marion County from 1849, and there at- tended the common schools, and at fifteen years of age entered Central College, at Fayette, Howard County, Mo., studying there four years; he then taught school two terms, after which he engaged in farming. In 1860, he bought a farm of three hundred and twenty acres near New London, Ralls County, and engaged in general agriculture for two succeeding years, and in 1865 came to Saline County, Grand Pass Township, and bought a farm of two hundred and eighty acres, and im- proved it. In 1879. he started in the lumber busi- ness in Marshall, near the depot of the Chicago & Alton, and successfully continued in the lumber interest ten years. Ile also conducted his farm until 1891, when he sold it.
In 1886, Mr. Blanchard bought his present place. one hundred and forty acres, and has farmed it ever since. Ile also owns forty acres east of the city, besides various houses and lots. In 1883, he built a handsome and commodious residence on the corner of Arrow and Elm Streets, one of the finest and most substantial improvements in the neighborhood. Our subject owns some of the fin- est thoroughbred horses raised in the State. Ile gives his especial attention to the Ilambletonian and Mambrino stock. Ile was the owner of "Don Pedro," a bay stallion. time 2.36. His death was a great loss, as he was an invaluable animal. Ile also has" Loomis," sired by "Brown Wilkes, " time 2.213, a three-year-old brown stallion; and "Gambart," a bay stallion, two years old, sired by "Ganmalion," and he by "Gambetta Wilkes." "Hard Pine," five years old, is another of his stud. Mr. Blanchard raised the brother, "G. B.," with a record of 2.20}, one of the fastest horses ever produced in the county, and which brought his owner a good price. "Marshall Maid," record 2.23g, "Tornado," and other valuable horses are housed in the capa- cious and well-built barns on the farm, which ad- joins the city and is highly improved. Specially noticeable among the other horses are the tilly, "Bon Ton," two years old, by "Wilton;" also the filly "Rozze," two years old, by "Patronage," two of the finest bred horses in the county. There are in
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the stables from eighty to one hundred head of handsome horses, beside some thoroughbred eattle.
Mr. Blanchard married in Warsaw, Ky., May 17, 1865. Miss Emmeline Payne. a native of that State, born in Georgetown, Scott County. She was the daughter of the Hon. Newton Payne, an ex-mem- ber of the State Legislature. Mr. and Mrs. Blanch- ard are the parents of eleven children, of whom ten survive: Estelle is a graduate of the Elizabeth Aull Seminary, of Lexington; Frank, a graduate of the High School, is a stockman and represents a commission house; Marcus is at home and attends Normal College; Hiram is at home; Oliver, Sallie, Bowman, Emma. May, and Tom complete the list of the living; George, a beloved son, is lately de- ceased. The entire family, sons and daughters, oceupy a prominent position in Marshall and are important factors in the social life of the city. Our subject was a Director in the County Fair Association, has served as Alderman, and was a School Director in Grand Pass, and in official duty has been earnest, able and ellicient. He is a mem- ber of the Stallion Trotting Horse Association and a thorough business man. He is a Trustee of the Southern Methodist Episcopal Church, and has long been a valued member of the same. He is a Democrat and lends his influence to the support of the ticket.
OSEPH MCKIM BARKS, editor of the Black- burn Record, is a young man who is mak- ing a success in the editorial field in this county. He is a man of ability, the son of a minister who is still doing efficient work in his chosen line. Mr. Barks was born in Benton County, Mo., February 18, 1860. His father, Joseph V. Barks, is a native of Delaware County, Ohio, where he was born September 17, 1817. His grand- father, Solomon Barks, was a Pennsylvanian by birth, while his great-grandfather was a native of Germany. The grandfather emigrated to Ohio, where he died.
The Rev. Joseph V. Barks is a graduate of Mari- etta (Ohio) College, and taught school for the pur- pose of earning means to defray his expenses through college. Ile took up theologieal studies in Lane Seminary, completed his theological edu- cation in Massachusetts, and entered the ministry in 1818, being an Old-school Presbyterian.
In October, 1849, Rev. Mr. Barks married and came to Warsaw, Benton County, this State, where he began his work as a minister. lle has always preached in Missouri, has lilled many pulpits, and is still engaged in his chosen work. His wife was Miss Diana Bancroft, of Granville, Licking County, Ohio, and her parents were members of a colony which came from Granville. Mass., in the early days and settled in Ohio. Her father was a soldier in the War of 1812. and became a prominent man of Licking County, Ohio, being Associate Judge in that county for several years. Ile died in 1871, at the age of ninety-two. Mrs. Barks' mother is now in her seventy-third year.
Joseph McKim was the fourth of seven chil- dren, four of whom are living. Ile received his preliminary education in the common district schools, and afterward spent about two years in Westminster College, Fulton. Mo. He was reared on the farm, where he remained until he reached his majority, and for several years afterward, man- aging the estate for his father.
In 1889 Mr. Barks came to Blackburn and asso- ciated himself with L. G. King, establishing the Blackburn Record. Six months later, he purchased Mr. King's interest, and since then has conducted the work alone. The paper is a seven-column folio, and is Democratic in politics. It follows that Mr. Barks is a Democrat, and, as we have said, he is a man of ability, and gives promise of still greater power. He is a member of the Presby- terian Church, being a Ruling Elder. Beside his editorial work on the Record, Mr. Barks is asso- ciated with Dr. Thomas M. Bridges in the publica- tion of the Corder Gazette.
The editorial pen is a power in the country, and if wielded aright may be a means of great good - and advancement. It has given to posterity the beliefs of some of our strongest and clearest minds, and is destined in the future to shape, to a large 1
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extent, the character of the masses. With this in mind, it behooves every controller of a paper to see that its pages are of benefit to the readers of them, and Mr. Barks' friends are confident that such is and will always be his aim.
B
NSON B. DAVIS, the popular engineer on the Chicago & Alton, Kansas City Divis- ion, has been connected with the Chicago & Alton Railroad ever since .June 13, 1866. and there is but one man who has been longer in the employ of the road as an engineer than he. An enterprising and upright citizen, an expert in his line of business, and a genial and courteous gentleman, our subject has a host of true friends and well-wishers. Mr. Davis was born in Medway. Mass., April 13, 1847. llis paternal grandfather was a tiller of the soil in Maine, and an honest, hard-working man and excellent citizen.
The father of our subject was born in Townsend, Mass., February 5, 1818, his father having removed to the old Bay State and there settled in early days. A. B. Davis, Sr., was reared in his native place, and having attained to manhood became a stage-driver, and started an express and coach line from Medway to Boston, which he controlled and managed for several years. He died of typhoid fever in the year 1857. His estimable wife, llar- riet Amanda, was born in Medway, Mass., June 28, 1820, a daughter of Ashel Barber, who was born in 1796, and was a cutter of sole leather. Ilis wife, Harriet Haven, was born in Leicester, Mass., in 1796.
Mrs. A. B. Davis now resides in Foxborough, and of her seven children bnt three are living; of these our subject is the second. His mother reared the family in Medway, and there Anson attended the district school, and at the very early age of thir- teen years began life for himself by serving an apprenticeship to a machinist in Boston. He re- mained learning his trade two years, and then en-
tered upon railroad work. Mr. Davis first began life on the rails as a fireman on the New York & New England Railroad, formerly the New York & Boston Air Line. fle spent eighteen months there, and then engaged with the Philadelphia, Wilming- ton & Baltimore about eighteen months as a fire- man; then, in 1866, came to Illinois, and found employment with the Chicago & Alton, with head- quarters at Bloomington, Ill.
Upon October 10, 1869, our subject began his sue- cessful career as an engineer, and has since contin- ued in this employment. In running on the Phila- delphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad, he was injured somewhat on the head in making a run- ning switch. Mr. Davis was engaged on the Chi- cago Division until 1879. In 1880, he was trans- ferred to the Kansas City Division, and then located in Slater. Since 1879 Mr. Davis has been a passenger engineer, and in all that time has been very fortunate, never having had a serious acci- dent. Since 1883 he has run the same engine, No. 224, and is much attached to the powerful machine that obeys the touch of his hand. Mr. Davis is a charter member of the Slater Building and Loan Association. Ile owns an attractive home in Northeast Slater, and the handsome house, with its well-kept grounds, is much admired.
Mr. Davis was married in Roodhouse, in 1885, to Mrs. Ehzabeth (Hartwiek) Sinclair. who was born in Jerseyville, Ill., and is a daughter of James Hartwiek, who was a brickmaker there. He was a very early settler in the State, and became an ex- tensive farmer and stockman. Ile died in Jersey- ville, aged seventy-four. Ile was a member of the New-school Presbyterian Church, and was a sin- cere, Christian man. His wife, Eliza Skillman, was born in Somerset County, N. J., and was a daugh- ter of an Englishman. The mother of Mrs. Davis resides in Carrollton, Ill., and is eighty-three years old. The wife of our subject is the third in a family of seven children. ller eldest brother, Uriah, was in the Ninth Illinois Cavalry, and re- mained in the service until the close of the war. He lives near Raymond. Mrs. Davis has been twice married. Her first husband was Alex Sin- clair. a farmer, and a native of the State of Illinois. He died there and left three children: Ella, Mrs.
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