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 29
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 29
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After his marriage Allen McReynolds located on the farm where F. C. now resides and built the house which is still standing. In politics he was a Democrat, but was never in favor of secession. On the 24th of December, 1864, he was killed by a band of Kansas and Missouri militia under cir- cumstances peculiarly atrocious. Several men rode to his house, where he and his daughter were alone, the other members of the family being ab- 1
sent at Waverly making Christmas purchases, as it
was Christmas Eve. The men asked for dinner, which was supplied them, and after they had been thus hospitably entertained they rode away, but in a few moments some of them returned, and on pretext of having Mr. MeReynolds show them the way, called him out. Ile went down the road a few rods with them and was shot dead. The dangliter and a neighbor's girl, hearing the shots, hurried down the road, and meeting some of the murderers riding back were coolly told that the father was dead, and if they wanted his body they would find it beyond. Mr. McReynolds was known by all to be a peaceable and law-abiding cit- izen and this cruel deed caused wide-spread dis- approval, for all felt that if such men as Allen McReynolds were to be killed. no one was safe. lle was a member of the Methodist Church and a man held in the highest regard throughout the community. Ilis wife died in the spring of 1879.
Unto this worthy couple were born ten children : Elizabeth, wife of John Robertson, of Kansas City; William, deceased; Angeline, wife of William Kennedy, of St. Clair County, Mo .; Samuel, of Carthage, Mo .: Samantha, wife of John Blanchard, of Saline County; Franklin C .; Nannie, wife of O. M. Thompson, of Fresno, Cal .; Lulu, a school teacher of Carthage, Mo .: Charles, deceased; and Ida, wife of Abram Kimble, of Kansas City.
We now take up the personal history of our subject, who spent the days of his boyhood and youth in the usual manner of farmer lads. llis early education, acquired in the public schools, was supplemented by study in the State Normal School at Kirksville. lle then returned to his home and has since engaged in agricultural pursuits. He now owns and operates two hundred and twenty acres of land, a valuable farm, the neat appearance of which indicates his thrift and enterprise.
On the 19th of February, 1880, Mr. McReynolds was united in marriage with Miss Alice, daughter of Charles Sill, of La Fayette County. Their union has been blessed with two children, Virgie and Lovie, the latter deceased. Their household is the abode of hospitality and in social circles they hold an enviable position. In his political atliliations, Mr. MeReynolds is a Democrat, and in his religious belief is a member of the Christian
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Church. Ilis farm extends to the village of Grand Pass, and his home is pleasantly located on a bluff. He is a successful and enterprising farmer and is a worthy representative of one of the hon- ored pioneer families of the county. Ile well de- serves representation in this volume and with pleasure we present his sketch to our readers.
ACOB II. BURGAN, a popular citizen and prominent manufacturer of granite and marble monuments in Higginsville, has for the past twelve years been identified with his present business and intimately associ- ated with the best interests of the city. Upright in character, honest and industrious, he is highly respected. As a proof of his popularity, it may be mentioned that in the spring election of 1891 he was the only Republican elected on the city ticket to the responsible oflice of Alderman, the duties of which position he is discharging to the utmost satisfaction of the general public, who ap- preciate his energetic and able service in their behalf.
Our subject was born in Bluffton, Wells County, Ind., January 1, 1852. His paternal grandfather, Jacob Burgan, was a native of Westmoreland County, Pa., and when a young man settled in Wayne County, Ohio, and there improved a large farm and continued the pursuit of agriculture until his death at seventy-live years of age. lle was a good citizen and an earnest. resolute man, of Welsh and German descent. His wife. Mary Brown, was a native of the Quaker State and a most worthy woman. Their son, George F., fa- ther of our subject, was the second in a family of nine children, and was born in Wayne County, Ohio, in 1820. lle was reared in his native county, and afterward located in Wells County, Ind., in 1818, purchasing a farm, upon which he ! resided many years, but finally retired to Bluff- ton, that county, where he still lives. Ile intro- duced the first sawmill used there, and planted
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the first shade trees in Bluffton. His wife, known in her maidenhood as Sarah Widmer, was a na- tive of Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, and was the daughter of Frederick Widmer, a native of Switzerland, and an early settler of Wooster, but later a resident of Orrville. He died in Van Wert County, Ohio, at a good old age.
The mother of our subject, after a long life of usefulness, passed away in June, 1892. She and her husband were members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and were highly respected. Of their nine children, seven are now living. The eldest son. Arthur, enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirtieth Indiana Regiment and served faithfully two years, remaining in active duty until the close of the war. Ile was only fifteen years of age when he became a soldier, and was distin- guished by his courage and gallant bearing upon the field of battle. Jacob Il., the fourth child in order of birth, was reared upon his father's farm and attended the publie schools, completing his course of study in the Bluffton High School. He remained at home until he was mineteen years of age, and was then apprenticed to learn the marble business at Bluffton. Ile remained in the shop for three years and then worked in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, and traveled through the South. spending his time principally in the large cities.
In 1879, Mr. Burgan returned to Indiana, and was married there to Miss Rebecca Suter, a native of Bluffton and the daughter of Jacob Suter, who was born in Pennsylvania and was a farmer by occupation. Our subject resided in Bluffton until 1881, when he came to Missouri and engaged in business. Upon locating in Higginsville, he bought out L. M. Hebner, and has continued in the marble business ever since. Beginning with a small capital, he has steadily increased his business, and has prospered accordingly. His stock is the larg- est in this section of the State. In 1889. he erected on Russell Street a handsome stone front block. 21x70 feet. and two stories in height, the upper story being a hall used by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Burgan superintends the business and keeps three workmen constantly employed, besides hav- ing two men on the road. He transaets the prin-
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cipal business in that line in La Fayette, Jolinson, Jackson and Saline Counties, and has the finest blocks of marble in this portion of the country.
Mr. Burgan resides in a beautiful residence on Grand Avenue. Ile and his wife are the parents of seven children. Nettie B., Fannie, George, William, Howard, Wade, and an infant unnamed, are the bright group who make sunshine in the happy home. Mrs. Burgan is a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject is fraternally connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is Past Grand. He is also Prelate of the Uniformed Rank of the Knights of Pythias, and is a Woodman of the World. Politically, he is a stalwart Republican, and has ably represented his constituents at vari- ous county and State conventions. As above stated, he was elected to the Board of Aldermen from the Third Ward, and is on some of its most important committees. Ile is numbered among those officials who spare themselves neither time nor expense to accomplish their public duties in an energetic and efficient manner.
S AMUEL II. JOHNSTON, a prominent resi- dent of Saline County, makes his home in township 51, range 22. He is of Irish de- scent, his grandfather, Samuel M. Johnston, having been born in Cork, Ireland. The latter emigrated to Virginia, from there went to Ohio, and after his sons had made homes for themselves in Missouri, in his old age he joined them, and died when eighty-three years old. By trade he was a shoemaker, and also engaged in contracting for making levees.
The father of our subject, Thomas P., was born in Virginia, and his death occurred in April, 1872, at the age of forty-four years. At an early age he made his way to Ohio, and gained his livelihood by working on a farm; in the fall of 1856, he came as far West as Missouri, rented land near Marshall,
and engaged in buying and selling stock. Later he removed to a farm near Malta Bend, which he first rented, and in the spring of 1865 purchased the property, consisting of four hundred and eighty acres, where our subject now makes his home. Until his death Mr. Johnston carried on an extensive business in farming and stock-feeding. In politics, he was an ardent Democrat, having imbibed the principles of Democracy in his native State. He improved the place to a great extent during his life and built the comfortable home where our subject now resides.
The mother of our subject was Eliza J. Hin- son, a daughter of Micajah and Elizabeth Hmson, of Pike County, Ohio, where she married Mr. Johnston in June, 1868. Her ancestors were of Scotch origin, and the first representatives of the family in this country located in North Carolina. Mrs. Eliza Johnston died July 2, 1872, and both she and her husband now rest in the beautiful cemetery at Mount Olive, near Marshall, Mo. The parents of Thomas P., the father of our subject, had a family of four children, as follows: Thomas P., James S. and William B., all deceased; and Isa- bel A., wife of D. M. Baker, of Marshall.
The Johnston brothers, Thomas and James, came together to Missouri, locating on land near Malta Bend, where they had everything in common and accumulated considerable property. They were good business men, successful in their operations, and made money rapidly. Subsequently their brother William came to the State and joined them. James died in January, 1876, unmarried; William died, leaving a family; and Thomas left but one son, our subjeet. The large and valuable Johnston property was divided among the children of William and Thomas. Our subject now owns the old homestead, upon which he has recently placed a great many modern improvements.
Samuel Johnston was born June 1, 1869, and was the only child of his parents. Ile attended the public school, and later an advanced school in Marshall, spending much of his time at his aunt's home. March 19, 1891, he married Miss Ada A. Day, a daughter of John Day, of Malta Bend, who came here from Ohio, and is of German ancestry, Immediately after his marriage Mr,
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Johnston settled on the property which he had in- herited, and now devotes his time to the cultiva- tion of its four hundred acres, upon which he ear- ries on farming and stock-trading. Ile and his wife have one child, a son. Samuel T. In his po- litical opinions, Mr. Johnston is a Democrat, and is a very active worker in the party ranks.
E RNST TEMPEL, a representative German- American farmer of La Fayette County, Mo., located upon his fine farm situated on section 20, range 26, township 49, is a self-made man, having carved out his own fortune, and bears the reputation of being one whose word is as good as his bond. Ilis beginning here was that of a poor man, but now he owns one hundred and twenty well-improved acres of land, which he has earned by his own perseverance and energy.
Our subject is of German birth and paren tage, having been born in Prussia, Germany, July 25, 1815. Ilis parents were Germans and they have lived always in their native country. They bear the names of Herman and Minnie Tempel, and are good and worthy people, who reared their son and sent him to the schools of his province, where he received a very fair German education. Since coming to this country he has adapted himself to our ways of speech, and thus has two languages at his command.
In 1869, Mr. Tempel emigrated to America, taking passage on a steamer at Bremen, and after a stormy voyage of fifteen days landed in New York City. Ilis destination was the State of Mis- souri, and he shortly after reached Warren County. For three months he continued at work in Warren and there received $16 per month as a farm hand, but later came into La Fayette County, where he worked on a farm for about three years, receiving as wages $200 per year with board.
About this time Mr. Tempel began to think of forming domestic ties and of having a home of his own. His choice of a companion was Miss
Frederica Tolle, a native of Germany, and their marriage took place August 4, 1872. Ten chil- dren have blessed this union, as follows: Minnie, Annie, Lena, May, Theodore, Gustavus, Fritz, Edward, and Louis. One child died young. Af- ter his marriage Mr. Tempel rented land for a number of years, gaining means and experience, but he finally purchased his present home and has lived upon it since 1882.
At the present time our subject owns one hun- dred and twenty acres of well-improved land and has upon it some very good buildings. In relig- ion, he is a member of the German Evangelical Church, and is very highly esteemed in that con- nection at Mayview. As a politician, Mr. Tempel is ranked with the Republican party, in which he is an important factor in his neighborhood. His influence is always given in favor of educational matters, and in every way our subject is a man much esteemed by those who have his acquaintance. Any matter affecting the public weal is sure to en- list his interest, and he is eredited by his neighbors with being governed by honest convictions in the side which he espouses.
AVID C. SLUSHER is a native and pioneer of La Fayette County, and was born April 7, 1837. He is a son of Roland and Lockie (Trigg) Slusher, the latter a native of Tennessee. Roland Slusher moved with his par- ents to La Fayette County in an early day and they were among the earliest settlers in the county. Our subject's father died when David was a boy of but ten years of age.
As is readily seen, the original of this sketch has acquired nearly all his ideas of life in the in- mediate neighborhood of his present place of resi- dence. lle was reared amid seenes of pioneer life with all its hardships, and has done his share in the developing process of the county, both in the improvement of land and in local political or- ganization, as well as in social interests, As a boy,
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he first learned his three R's in the log cabin school, which was conducted on the subscription plan. lle cleared sixty acres of the farm on which he now lives, developing it from a heavily timbered forest strip to its present agricultural perfection. He has devoted himself throughout life to his farming interests and is an aceepted authority on all mat- ters pertaining to his calling.
In 1886, Mr. Slusher went to Wallace County, Kan., and was for a time engaged at the carpenter's trade there. He also ran a stationary engine for a railroad company and spent about three and a- half years there. He was some little time in Col -. orado, although his place of residence remained in Kansas.
The original of this sketch was married March 25, 1861, his bride being Miss Rachael A. MeCor- miek, a native of Covington, Ky., and a daughter of Jolin H. and Mary McCormick. They have be- come the parents of the following children: Roland F., Pearl M., Cora F. and Katie D. Mr. Slusher is the owner of one hundred acres of well-improved land. lle is practically a self-made man, having had no advantages superior to those of the major- ity of the youth of his day. For a number of years he has served as School Director, and favors any advance in educational methods. He is both public-spirited and enterprising and does not withhold his encouragement from any progressive plans. Politically, he is a Democrat and is num- bered among the most prominent native pioneers of the township.
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G REEN D. SATTERFIELD was born on the Cumberland River, in Sumner County, Tenn., December 10, 1822, and so bas reached his three-score years and ten. Reared under the Southern sky and of Southern nativity, it is but natural that ease, versatility, chivalry, and love of the beautiful should be his, and these quali- ties distinguish him while even the snows of years have whitened his head.
In the spring of 1838 our subject moved with his parents to La Fayette County, Mo. Ilis fa- ther and mother, James and Frances JI. Satterfield. were both natives of North Carolina, who had moved to Tennessee in 1817. The family num- bered twelve children, as follows: Henry, Mary, John, Elizabeth, James II., Green D., William B., Frank, 11. C., Sarah, Thomas and Amelia, James II., who was a soldier in the Mexican War under Gen. Sterling Price, was appointed Wagon-master, and in fulfilling his duties sickened and died at Santa Fe, N. M.
Our subject started out in life for himself at the age of twenty-four years. He was educated at Chapel Hill College, which was burned during the late war. After finishing his course, he was engaged for three years in teaching. In 1851, he married Miss Nancy HI. loyee, a native of Virginia, and they soon after moved to Jackson County, Mo. On coming to La Fayette County, they set- tled on the farm where they now reside. Ilere they liave reared a family of five children, an in- teresting group, who are as follows: Sarah, Vir- ginia, James A., Mary and Jessie F. Sarah mar- ried Jesse Cave in 1879, and James A. was married to Miss Maggie Long in 1881. Both live in Missouri. The other children are still at home.
Mr. Satterfield is the owner of two hundred acres of fine farming land, which he has im- proved himself. On locating here the place was a wilderness, and both large and small game still abounded. It was not rare to see deer following the streams, and wild turkeys kept the larder of the family supplied `with meat. The township had but thirty voters when our subject first be- came a citizen. It now has six hundred. The assessed value of the township was then between $50,000 and $60,000. It is now about $600,000, so that the rapid strides the locality has made in every way are so plain that he who runs may read.
Mr. Satterfield held the ollice of Constable for two years, and was afterward elected lustice of the Peace. He was next appointed Deputy Sheriff of the county, and was Notary Public from 1872 to 1878. Hle was a Director and the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the old Lexing- ton Lake & Gulf Railroad, and, as he had learned
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civil engineering, his services were in requisi- tion the county over, and he can say that he has surveyed almost every tract of land in the county. lle laid out the city of Odessa and lo- cated the Lexington branch of the Missouri Pa- cific Railroad through the county. Ile is at the present time candidate for County Surveyor on the Republican and People's party ticket. Polit- ically, he was a Democrat until the breaking out of the late war, when he became a Republican. Ile is not connected with any church, but inclines to the Protestant faith, in which he was reared.
ON. C.J. MILLER. The man who has held publie trusts and come out of them with the full confidence of his constituents merits the reputation of strict integrity, and this is said of Squire Miller, a farmer living on section 15, township 19, range 28, La Fayette County. Ile is a son of John W. Miller, a native of Virginia, a harness-maker by trade, and a soldier of the War of 1812. The family is of old Virginia stock: its first representatives there emigrated from Ger- many as early as 1701. The mother of our subject, Julia Ann (Shafer) Miller, a native of Virginia, was the daughter of a Hessian soldier, who was captured at Trenton and afterward remained in this country. She was married in Virginia and died there in 1863, her husband following her in 1869. They had eight children, tive boys and three girls, all of the former living.
Our subject was born August 17. 1820, in Fred- erick County, Va., where he grew to manhood and attended the common schools in all about nine months. He completed his studies at Frankfort under John P. Crothers, an undergraduate of Mi- ami University, qualifying himself for teaching. Hle entered the ranks and taught school for a num- ber of years. In the year 18H, he went to La Porte, Ind., and made his home in that State until the close of the war, in 1865. lle was married in 1817 to Sarah Young, a native of Indiana, who
bore him one child, Virginia. a widow living in Texas and the mother of seven children. Mrs. Sa- rah Miller died in 1861, and Mr. Miller married again in May, 1862, his second wife being Mary Imler, a native of Pickaway County, Ohio. They beeame the parents of nine children. namely: Ada B .; George B. MeC., now deceased; Andrew John- son, Lee Speese, Fannie, Cornelius, Ina, Lida and Mabel Clare.
During his residence in the Iloosier State, our subject worked at his trade of brick-laying and also owned a farm, which he managed. In 1865, he came to Missouri, and settled in La Fayette County in January, 1886, making his home on his present farm, which consists of eighty acres of cul- tivated land. Ile is a member of the Christian Church and frequently addresses congregations by expounding the Scriptures and exhorting his hear- ers. As a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. he has filled all the chairs in his lodge and has been a member of the Encampment. A friend of education, he has been made Director and Clerk of the School Board and has given his chil- dren good practical educations. He is unable to remember a time when he was not an all-round Democrat, and cast his first vote for James K. Polk. His first experience in polities began in Virginia. when he aided his party somewhat in the Van Buren-Harrison campaign of 1810, and ever since that time he has never failed to take an active in- terest in every campaign.
As soon as Mr. Miller settled in Indiana he he- gan to make publie speeches, and gained a wide experience and reputation which enabled him to answer, in 1860, a speech of the President of the United States. Ilis political career in that State . extended over twenty years. At one time he was labrarian of Clinton County, Ind., and in 1850 was elected delegate to the Constitutional Conven- tion, which held a five-month session. In attend- ance upon it at Indianapolis, he became acquainted with llendricks, Robert Dale Owen, Schuyler Col- fax, Jesse D. Bright and others. The Thirteenth Article of the Constitution of Indiana originated with Mr. Miller, who aided in its adoption. After holding the position of Swamp Land Commissioner for some time, he resigned it, In 1852, he was
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elected Recorder of Clinton County, and later was re-elected to that position.
In 1863, Mr. Miller was elected a member of the State Legislature and re-elected in 1865, when he resigned his seat. In the Legislature, he was Chair- man of the committee on county and township bus- iness. Again and again he was elected delegate to county and State conventions. Since coming to Missouri, Squire Miller has stumped the county and aided in reorganizing the Democratic party here, and has taken part in all the Presidential campaigns; has also been a member of the Township Board of Education, and has been Township Treasurer and Collector of Clay Township. In 1869, he was elected to the Missouri Legislature. His seat was contested by Mark L. De Mott, but our subject held the place, being the only Democrat in that Legis- lature who, having his seat contested, held it. During the past twelve years, he has held the office of Justice of the Peace, and during the last cam- paign, although more than seventy-two years of age, he took a very active part, making speeches and otherwise working to seeure its triumphs.
C Y. FORD, a prosperous farmer residing in township 49, range 28, La Fayette County, was born in Boyle County, Ky., April 12, 1843. His father, Jolm R. Ford, a native of the same county, was born in 1801, a son of Charles Ford, who settled in Kentucky at a very early day. The mother of our subject, Carrie ( Foster) Ford. was born in Mississippi in 1814, and was the dangh- ter of a soldier, a Colonel on the staff of Gen. Jack- son in the battle of New Orleans, and Postmaster at Natchez, Miss., during President Jackson's ad- ministration.
The parents of our subject were married at Natehez, where the father was a planter. Thence they went to Kentucky, where they lived upon a plantation, and afterward removed to Pettis County, Mo., in 1858. They finally came to Lex- ington Township, this county, where they still |
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