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 27
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 27
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HIOMAS O'CONNELL. The Chicago & Al- ton Road is conspicuous for having among its employes clever, manly men. One of the most genial on the Kansas City Division is the subject of this sketch, a passenger engineer lo- cated at Slater. Ile was born in La Salle County, Ill., near Ottawa, February 18, 1847, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Malloy) O'Connell, the former a native of County Limerick, Ireland, and the latter of Maine.
Our subject's grandfather brought his family to America when his son Jolin was a young man. He first located in Maine, where our subject's father was married, and then located in Kentucky, where he had a pleasant residence near Frankfort, and where he died. John O'Connell went to La Salle County, Ill., in 1844, and purchased some canal land in Grundy County. This he improved and lived upon until his decease, which occurred in 1853. Ilis wife followed him one week later. They were the parents of eight children, six of whom are now living. One of our subject's broth- ers, Daniel, is Treasurer of Grundy County, and another brother is an engineer on the Chicago & Alton Road, and located at Springfield, Ill.
Thomas O'Connell was reared in Grundy County and his earliest efforts were in the way of farming. Ile attended the district school, but his advantages in this direction were limited, as the school was a distance of two miles from his home. On becom- ing orphaned he went to live with his brother Daniel, who gave to him the tender care of a fa- ther. In 1864, our subjeet enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Infantry. He was mustered in at Ottawa, and his regiment was sent to Ft. Leavenworth, Kan. After remaining there for five months, they went to Western Mis- souri, and Mr. O'Connell was finally mustered out at Springfield, III.
On returning to his brother's home, our subject was variously engaged until 1866. Ile spent con- siderable time in bridge-building, and then went South and spent a year in Louisiana and Missis- sippi. In 1871 he accepted a position with the Chicago & Alton Road as fireman, having a run between Alton and Springfield. In 1877, he was promoted to the engineer's position, running be- tween Bloomington and Chicago. He was sta- tioned at Mexico and St. Louis until 1880, when he was placed upon the Kansas City Division, and in 1882 he located his family at Slater. Ile has been a passenger engineer for eight years. During his long career as a railroad man, he has had several serious accidents. In one at Docksey Bridges his engine was demolished and he was thrown down a forty-foot embankment. Again, his engine ran over a horse, and was thrown off the track. He was laid up for two months as the result of this casualty. He has run engine No. 226 for seven years, and the five years previous had engine No. 204.
Mr. O'Connell is a member of the Sedalia Build- ing & Loan Association. He has accumulated a nice little property, and owns a pleasant resi- dence in Slater. Ile was first married in Alton to Miss Mary A. Graham, who was born in Sehenec- tady, N. Y. She died at Alton, leaving her husband one son, whose name is Frank G. Jan- uary 1, 1883, Mr. O'Connell was again married, in Springfield, Ill., the lady of his choice being Miss Mary A. Kelly, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was a daughter of Henry Kelly, a native
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of Ireland. and a prominent boot and shoe dealer in Ohio. For ten years previous to her marriage she was head saleswoman in two of the leading millinery stores of Springfield, HI., namely: Kim- ber. Ragsdale & Co .. and R. F. Herndon & Co., she having in charge the purchasing of goods for both firms in that line. Mr. and Mrs. O'Connell are the parents of seven children: Annie M .. Alice R. L., Daniel Parnell, Jerome T. 11., Emeline and Evaline (twins) and Luella Agnes. Evaline is deceased. Our subject belongs to the Brotherhood of Locomo- tive Engineers, and has been Chief for some time. lle also belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and to the Knights of Pythias. In their church relations he and his family are at- tendants and members of the St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Politically. he is a Democrat.
OIIN KRANZ. Among the most intelligent and typical German-American citizens of La Fayette County, Mo., we take pleasure in introducing the subject of the present sketch to the interested readers of this RECORD. Not only upon this side of the ocean is our subject known, but before his foot trod American soil he had won laurels in the army of his native land. lle was one of the brave and valiant soldiers of King William who took part in the historic wars known as the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prus- sian. These great struggles left so marked a result upon Europe that their influence has reached every shore of the globe.
John Kranz, now located upon section 4, town- ship 19, range 26, was born July 20, 1835. He was the son of Anton and Barbara Kranz, worthy and honest natives of Germany. Their son was sent to the best schools of his neighborhood, and read- ily absorbed all of the learning there obtainable. At the age of manhood he entered the regu- lar army, where he continued for seven years, en- gaged in active warfare against the enemies of his country. His was the Brandenburg Regiment, Num-
ber 2, Dragoons, which made a name at the great battle of Koniggratz, in the Austro-Prussian war, and continued to win fame in other engagements.
Our subjeet was an under officer at the battle of Sadowa, and when the Franco-Prussian war came on he was also at his post in the front rank, ready for battle, taking part in the siege of Strasburg, and that of several other fortified towns. He was mobilized into the army with the Landwehr vet- eran commander, Gen. Von Treskow, who was commander of his division. The regiment saw much hard service in that war, and many brave men went out never to return. During his resi- dence in Germany, in 1869, our subject married Miss Augusta Rassmann, and one son was born of this marriage, to whom the name of Luza was given.
In 1872 after the close of the war with the French, Mr. Kranz, with his dear ones. made his way to Stettin, and crossed to Hull. England, going from there to Liverpool, England, by rail. Upon reaching there the little family took passage upon the steamer "England" and landed in New York City after a voyage of about three weeks. For some three months Mr. Kranz found employment upon a farm in the State of New York, near Sing Sing, but later removed to Wisconsin, in the lumber regions, where he first obtained employment in chopping logs, and then in a saw-mill. At this work he continued for about a year. Ilis army life had made him stout and strong, and this hard labor did not at all frighten him.
However, for various reasons, he removed the next year to the town of Higginsville. La Fayette County, Mo., where he remained for several years, working on the Chicago & Alton and Missouri Pa- cific Railroads as a seetion hand, and for a short time was boss of a section on the latter road. Mrs. Kranz died in 1874. and Mr. Kranz was united in marriage in 1882 with Mrs. Lonisa Schimdt, widow of Christopher J. Schimdt, who was a soldier in the late war. The following children have been born of this marriage: John, Minnie, Emma, Lou- ise, Cornelius and Flora. By her first marriage his last wife had six living children, as follows: Annie, Christoph, Louis. William, Lizzie and Mary.
In 1882 Mr. Kranz came to his present farm,
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which contains two hundred and twenty-six acres of land, under good cultivation. In his politics our subjeet is a Republican, one of the progressive men of the county, and much esteemed by all. His German neighbors are very proud of his record in the wars, and he has three medals which were presented to him for meritorious conduct. As a neighbor he enjoys the friendship of all, and as a man of business his word is unquestioned.
OHN H. C. FULTON was formerly one of the best-known and most extensive dealers in cattle in the neighborhood of Malta Bend. Ile was born in Loudoun County, Va., in 1828, of Irish descent. When about seven years of age he accompanied the other members of the family to Adams County, Ohio, where his boyhood days were passed, attending the publie school and assisting in the labors suited to his age upon the home farm. Later he had the advantages offered by the High School in Greenfield, where he carried on his studies for a period of two years.
Following his school life in Greenfield, our sub- jeet finished his education in one of the excellent institutions of learning at Delaware, Ohio, thus obtaining a thorough knowledge of books. Ilis marriage occurred February 13. 1851, with Miss A. D. Sileott, a daughter of Craven and Elizabeth (Taventer) Silcott. The young couple began their domestie life upon the farm belonging to the father of our subjeet, but which was afterward purchased by the latter and sold by him prior to his removal to Missouri in the spring of 1869.
In October, 1868, our subject came to Missouri with the intention of purchasing land, and subse- quently bought a farm in Saline County; soon af- terward he brought his family West and located here Mareh 15, 1869. At once he began to make improvements, and the majority of the buildings and other embellishments which now make the place so attractive, with the exception of the house, The family history of Mrs. Fulton goes back to were put here by him. He was of a very active and ; English ancestors. Grandfather Jacob Silcott re-
energetic nature, and he possessed good business ability, so that while he had his own way to make unaided in the world, his land amounted to as much as six hundred and forty acres at the time of his death. He had received a part of the estate of his father, but this was a small part of his posses- sions. During the war. Mr. Fulton was a Union man, and responded in Ohio to the call for men for one hundred days. Politically, he was a Re- publican.
The death of Mr. Fulton was most distressing to his family, occurring suddenly from heart disease, December 20, 1886. llis connection with the Metli- odist Episcopal Church dated from his twentieth year, he having been always a consistent follower of the principles of Christianity. In business his ven- tures proved profitable, managed as they were with good judgment, and his position in the county was that of a man of means. favoring all matters of publie weal. His place is vacant and cannot be filled, either in the family or community. Besides his bereaved wife, Mr. Fulton left the follow- ing children: Laura Belle, the wife of Frank Wright, of Saline County; Clarence E., who lives upon a part of the farm; Nora, the wife of Jolm Houston, of Saline County; Charles E .; Frances Virginia, Mrs. Albert Payne, of Malta Bend; Craven E., a student at eoliege in Ada, Ohio; Ashton, and Jessie Beatrice. Albert, the eldest child, died at the age of thirty-one years.
The father of our subjeet was David Fulton, the son of a Virginia planter. He was a farmer in Ohio for many years, but in 1851 he embarked in the mercantile business at Loudon, Adams County, that State, and continued thus engaged until within a few years before his death, which occurred in the fall of 1875. The mother of our subjeet, Phobe (Gibson) Fulton, was a native of Virginia, and died in 1853. She had seven children: Thomas Dorsey, who lives in Illinois; George Gibson, who resides in Ohio; Alfred; Sarah Frances, and Rebecca Jane, the others dying in infancy. David Fulton was a Republican and a Union man, and his son Alfred was in the Union army for about three years.
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moved from Loudoun County, Va., to Ohio, in High- land County, where he died. His wife was named Tabitha Cogel. The father of Mrs. Fulton, Craven Silcott, was born in 1806 in Loudoun County, Va., where he married, removing in 1834 with his family into Adams County, Ohio, where Mrs. Fulton was born. Mr. Silcott was a farmer and died in July, 1868. During his residence in Virginia he engaged in school teaching and taught the first school that John H. C. Fulton ever attended. When Mrs. Fulton was about twelve years of age she lost her mother. Her brothers and sisters are as follows: Ulysses, who lives in Adams County, Ohio, a mer- chant at Youngsville: Victoria, the wife of William Hoge, who lives in Morris, Ill .; Craven E .; and Virginia, the wife of Ilendley Hoge, of Grundy County, IN.
HOMAS G. GIBBS. The independence of the farmer's life and the possibilities of comforts and enjoyment are aptly ilhuis- trated at the home of our subject. His farm is situated on section 25, township 49, range 28, La Fayette County, and is well improved and care- fully cultivated. The father of our subject was Pascal A. Gibbs, a native of Bedford County, Va., born in 1808, and a farmer. The grandfather of Thomas G. was Bird Gibbs, a native of the same county and State, the son of one of three bro- thers who came to America from Scotland and settled in Virginia. The mother of our subject was Cassie N. (Creasey) Gibbs, a native of the same county as her husband and son, born in 1809, and a daughter of Thomas Creasey, a native of the same county as his daughter, his ancestors also be- ing from Virginia.
The parents of our subject were married in the county of their nativity, resided there until 1838, and then came to La Fayette County, journeying across the country in a wagon. At this time set- tlers were few in number, the country was wild. and Indians and wild animals abounded. The
father was a famous hunter, and killed large num- bers of deer, wolves, wild turkeys, etc. lle made permanent settlement at once and diligently cleared the land. He was the father of four chil- dren, of whom two are living, our subject and Mrs. Col. Ben. Elliott. They were members of the Old-school Baptist Church, in which the husband held an official position. lle was a live, progress- ive man and a hard worker, being known far and wide as a very successful farmer. In politics lie was an avowed Democrat. Death removed him in 1883. his wife having preceded him three years.
Our subject was born November 30, 1843, on the old home place, where he attended the com- mon schools of the neighborhood, and grew up to manhood. His education was interrupted by the breaking out of the war, in which he took a very active part, enlisting in 1861 in Capt. Wether's Company, Missouri State Guards, as a private, and participating in the battles of Spring- field and Lexington, with the surrender of Col. Mulligan. In February, 1862, he was transferred to Company B, Capt. Sam Taylor, Sixth Missouri Infantry, where he took part in the following battles: Elkhorn, Ark., Corinth and Port Gibson. He was made prisoner at the latter place and taken to Alton, Ill., and placed in the old peniten- tiary building. His capture was effected May 4th, and he was exchanged July 4th following.
Again as private Mr. Gibbs was mustered into a company of Independents under Capt. Woodson, at Richmond, Va., which was placed on scont duty in the Shenandoah Valley and parts of Virginia. He did duty as picket scout and as advance and rear guard, operating chiefly inside the enemy's line. While in this service he took part in the following battles: Newmarket, Winchester and Martinsburgh, and fought Sheridan up the valley. His company was engaged in skirmishing nearly every day in the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains. Altogether he was a soldier for four years and was never badly wounded, although he was hit by a spent ball, and a six-pound cannon ball once passed between his legs; he was always on duty and never surrendered. He remained at home with his father. after his return from the war, for three years.
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Mr. Gibbs was married September 10, 1865, to Fannie W. Lee, daughter of William Lee, of Vir- ginia, who came to Missouri in 1840 and settled near Lexington. She is a native of this county, and was born in June, 1841. Our subject settled upon his present farm of one hundred and sixty-nine acres, which at that time was in a wild state. in 1868. He is the father of eight children, five now living, the youngest of whom is sixteen years old. They are: Effie, Lillia, Samuel. Cassie and Sadie. Mrs. Gibbs is a member in good standing of the Baptist Church. Our subjeet has been a member of the School Board for twelve years, and has given all his children a good education. In pol- ities he is a Demoerat. prominent in the councils of the party and a delegate to most of its conven- tions. Ile had a brother to whom he was warmly attached who was killed in the battle of Corinth.
AMES DRAPER, the popular and efficient City Marshal of Slater, Saline County, Mo., has for many years been a prominent and leading business man of the city, and ever since his first location in the county has identified himself with the growing interests and progress of his immediate neighborhood and vi- cinity, and has been an important factor in the completion of many needed and most desirable improvements. Energetie and enterprising, he gives to the duties of his position the earnest at- tention and wise management which have charac- terized his business.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was a native of Virginia, and a very early settler in Mt. Vernon, Ind., removing to the West when it was httle more than a wilderness. Capt. James Draper, the father of our City Marshal, was born in Indi- ana, and was a miller of Mt. Vernon, and was also an attorney in the office of ludge Price. After a time he started in the grocery business in Indi- anapolis, and later engaged in manufacturing sash, doors and blinds, and, an able and industrious busi-
ness man. prospered accordingly. In 1862 he en- listed in Company K, Twenty-first Indiana In- fantry, and as Captain served with gallantry for three years, and then was honorably discharged and came home.
In 1870 the Captain removed to Missouri and located in Macon City, and there engaged in the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds; he later settled in Shannon County, where he died. He filled various positions of trust during his useful life, and served as Justice of the Peace most ac- ceptably. The mother of our subject was born in North Carolina, and died when her children were all quite young. She left two sons and two daughters, of whom three are now living. Mr. Draper was the youngest of the family, born in Mt. Vernon, Ind., March 6, 1852, and was reared in the city of Indianapolis, and there attended the public schools, and when he was old enough as- sisted his father in his shop.
In 1872, he came to Macon City, and aided in the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds, and thus became familiar with the machinery and the business. In 1873 he began the work of a carpen- ter, and soon found himself exceedingly apt in the use of tools, and continued in the business of building in Salisbury until 1878, when he came to Slater, and, working at the carpenter's trade, was busy all the time. Industrious, energetic and an excellent workman, he found no idle time, but was constantly at work, week in and week out. He was one of the very earliest of the carpenters and builders who established themselves in Slater.
Mr. Draper was elected Marshal of Slater in April, 1892, and immediately entered upon the discharge of the duties of his office, and has proved the wisdom of the people who voted him into the position. Our subject was united in marriage in 1882 with Miss Mary Comer, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to America with her parents when she was but six years old, and has little re- membrance of any other home except the one in which her parents settled in the New World. Three intelligent, bright and promising children bless the pleasant home of Mr. and Mrs. Draper. Edith, Blanche and Anna are the trio of young sisters, who are now enjoying the excellent educa-
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tional advantages of the Slater schools. The at- tractive and commodious residence of our subject is in the northern part of the city. Mr. Draper is a member of the Slater Loan and Building Associa- tion, and is fraternally connected with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a valued member of that social and benevolent organiza- tion. In politics, our subject is a stalwart Repub- lican, and an carnest advocate of the party plat- form and principles, but is liberal in sentiment, and, essentially a self-made man, is always earnest in his endeavors to uplift and assist others less fortunate than himself.
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OEL SCOTT, deceased, for many years a prominent agrientturist and energetic and progressive citizen of Saline County, Mo., was a man of exemplary character, upright and honorable in all his business dealings, and when upon December 24, 1884, he passed from earth to the better world beyond, his death was mourned by friends and neighbors as a loss to the community. Born in Georgetown. Scott County, Ky., on the 28th of February, 1829, our subject was but a very little lad when, in 1832, he came with his parents to Missouri. The trip was made overland by wagons, and was long and tedious. The Scotts are of Scotch-Irish descent. Ezekiel Scott, the father of our subject, was a native of Scott County, Ky., and his wife, Dorothy, a daughter of Nicholas Hawkins, of Madison County, Ky., was also a native of the State.
Ezekiel Scott in 1833 purchased a tract of six hundred and fifty aeres near Arrow Rock, Saline County, Mo., upon which homestead his son Joel afterward died, and where the widow, the son Joel B., and other members of the family still reside. Mr. Scott received his education in the schools of Arrow Rock and Jonesboro, and at an early age undertook the management of his father's large farm, and was successful in all the details of agri- cultural work. In 1850 our subject, in company
with friends and neighbors and thousands of seek- ers after gold, adventurously crossed the plains to the far distant State of California. He engaged in the Golden State first in mining, and then traded between the camps and Sacramento, thus accumu- lating several thousands of dollars. After some time Mr. Scott returned to the Southeast by the way of the Isthmus and New York, and settled on the old homestead, where he afterward resided until his death from paralysis.
Mr. Scott was a prosperous farmer and a most successful stoek-raiser. He added to the original Scott homestead until the acreage exceeded one thousand. In poltical affiliations he was a Demo- crat, and during the Civil War he sympathized with the Southern cause. He had four brothers in Missouri, all older than he. They were Samuel B., Nicholas II., William R. and John C. There were also three sisters: Hulda C., who married Da- vid Gordon, of Boone County; Dollie P'., now the widow of HI. S. Mills, and who resides in Kansas City; and Hester, who married Henry Cook and also makes her home in Kansas City.
November 3, 1857, Joel Scott and Miss Nannie M. C. Townsend, daughter of Sanders W. Towns- end, of Cooper County, were united in marriage. Six children gladdened with their presence the hearth and home of Mr. and Mrs. Scott. William R., of St. Louis, married Miss Mollie Gibson, of Cooper County. This young and estimable lady died in 1887, leaving one child, a son, Gibson Scott. . John C., the eldest son of our subject, married Miss Annie, a daughter of James Wright, and they have two daughters, Ethlene and Lil- lian, and live near Marshall. Nellie, the third child, is married to S. W. Wilkinson. Hettie Viola married D. A. Hancock. Cynthia E. is also mar- ried, and her husband is G. II. Amsbury. Joel B. was united in marriage with Miss Evaline Mar- shall, daughter of Joseph Marshall, of Saline County, in the month of June, 1891. They are now residing upon the old Scott homestead, and have one little daughter, Mabel.
Mrs. Joel Scott was born in Cooper County, Mo. Her father, Sanders Ward Townsend, was the son of Benjamin Townsend, a Virginian, and a Revolutionary soldier, in which patriotic service
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he was wounded and crippled for life. He after- ward removed from Virginia to South Carolina. The Townsends are of Scotch-Irish descent, and the great-grandfather of Mrs. Scott came from "old Scotia" to Virginia. Sanders Ward Towns- end was a native of Virginia, and moved with his parents to South Carolina, and when seventeen years old went to Logan County, Ky. He there married Susan Nowlin, daughter of Peyton Now- lin, who subsequently removed to Missouri, and was the first ordained minister who preached in Saline County. S. W. Townsend moved from Kentucky to Cooper County, Mo., in 1818, and died in 1878, at the age of eiglity-seven years. He was a successful farmer; he reared a family of thirteen children, of whom the surviving are Will- iam, Sanders, Nathaniel, Permelia (wife of Dr. Ilardeman, of Franklin County, Mo.) and Mrs. Scott, the wife of the subject of this sketch. A na- tive of the State where she yet resides, Mrs. Scott has been an eye-witness of the wonderful growth and rapid advancement of her life-time home, and, closely identified with its progress, she is widely known and highly esteemed as one of the pio- neers who shared the privations of early days that their descendants might inherit the land.
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