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 35
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 35
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Mr. Williamson served ably as Highway Commis- sioner of Ins township for four years, and has been a most efficient School Director for the same length of time. Ile is a prominent Democrat, has been a member of the County Committee, and has repre- sented his political friends at State and county conventions. He was present on the morning when the now prosperous eity of St. Joseph, Mo .. was surveyed and staked out, and, an intelligent observer of the rapid growth of the broad West, bas materially aided in the prosperous advance- ment of his adopted State.
HARLES NIEMEIER, a prosperous agricul- turist and highly respected citizen, resides in township 50, range 19. near Arrow Rock. Saline County, Mo. Our subject was born June 2, 1850. in Hildesheim, Hanover. lle is a stone-ma- son and brick-layer by trade, and worked at that business in the Old Country, Landing in Boston,
April 3. 1870. our subject went to St. Charles, Mo., where he remained six years, working at his trade. In 1876, he came to Saline County, near Saline City, and bought land, which he cultivated until 1883, when he purchased the old Benjamin Hus- ton place. three and a-half miles from Arrow Rock, and now resides there.
Mr. Niemeier married, September 14, 1877, Miss Mary Brend, at Sweet Springs, Saline County. Our subject and his wife have six children. three sons and three daughters: Fritz. Henry, August, Lena, Annie, and Katherine. All of the family are at home, and the older ones are now acquiring their education in the excellent home schools of the neighborhood. Mr. Niemeier now owns and cultivates two hundred and twenty-two acres of excellent land. Through his ability and energy, he has won his way upward. Arriving in St. Charles with only fifteen cents in his pocket. he has gained an ample competence and now enjoys the fruit of his labor in the satisfaction which honest industry is sure to confer upon its posses- sor. The handsome acreage, yielding to the intel- ligent and patient culture of our subject, increases in value year by year. llis practical knowledge of stock-raising has made him much money, and he is now numbered among the leading farmers of the county.
The father of our subject was August Niemeier, who was born and died in Waldesheim. His mo- ther was Doras and is now hving at home. The father died February 22. 1881. Mr. Niemeier had a brother, Fritz, who died at the age of seven years. Of his sisters, two, Angusta and Lena, live in Lincoln County, Mo., and three, Betty, Johanna and Bertha, still reside in Germany. Augusta is the wife of John Steffen. and Lena is the widow of Fritz Mier. Few of the farming properties of Sa- line County present a more attractive appearance than the homestead of Mr. Niemeier, which shows the results obtainable by thrift and energy. The residence is commodious and well planned, and the ontbuildings are all in fine order. The Short- horns and PoHled-Angus and his superior breed of hogs are noted throughout the county as the best of their kind. Comfort and plenty abound, and all that our subject owns has been gained by his
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own self-reliant work and excellent management. An able, earnest and law-abiding citizen, Mr. Nie- meier has worthily won the esteem and friendship of the neighbors and the general community among whom he has passed so many long years.
ANIEL SNIDER. Among the farmers and stock-growers of La Fayette County, Mo., our subject occupies a prominent position. llis fine farm of eighty-two and one-half acres is located in township 79, range 26, where he engages in farming and stock-raising very successfully. The birth of our subjeet took place in Rockbridge County, Va., June 23, 1825, a son of John and Sallie Snider, his father a native of Pennsylvania, and his mother of Virginia. To the latter State, John Snider came with his Ger- man parents when but five years of age, remaining there until the close of his life.
Our subject grew up a Virginian youth and schoolboy, imbibing those principles which made of him a good Confederate soldier through one important year of the Civil War. lle took part in the battle at llatchie's Run, and while fighting bravely in front of Petersburg was wounded. necessitating a continement in the hospital a short time before the surrender of Richmond. After the giving up of this stronghold of the Confederacy, our subject returned home. His prospects in his native State were not very flattering, and in 1868 he decided to remove with his family across the Mississippi River.
The marriage of our subject was celebrated Feb- ruary 17, 1848, with Miss Elizabeth Golladay, a native of Augusta County, Va., born in 182-1, a daughter of John Golladay. This union was blessed with nine children. only three of whom have been spared to their affectionate parents. These are John; Ida, the wife of Andrew Foster; and Newton E. Mr. Snider has become one of the well-known men in the county and from his ex- cellent methods of managing his farm produces
more satisfactory results than many enjoy from a much larger acreage of land.
The removal of our subject and his family to Missouri took place in 1868, when he located first in Carroll County, where he remained for three years; then in 1871 he entered La Fayette County, and settled upon the farm where he has since made his home. There seem to be no two opinions concerning this fine old county. The people are good and honest, the climate healthful and bracing and the land as fertile as any in the State. The political opinions of our subject are of the stanchi- est Democratic brand. Ile firmly believes in these principles, upholding them upon every necessary occasion. Mr. Snider is a self-made man, and as such deserves the credit which is everywhere ac- corded him.
6 EMPLETON C. McMAHAN, whose wife is the founder of the well-known academy of instruction, the McMahan Institute, located in Arrow Rock, is highly respected in the com- munity among whom he has dwelt fully two-score years. lle is a native of Cooper County, Mo., and was born October 10, 1830. The MeMahan family is of Scotch-Irish descent. Three brothers of the family, born in Ireland, separated in early youth, one of them going to France and there founding a family, from which sprang the illustrious de- scendant, Gen. McMahan, upon whom Napoleon Ill conferred on the battle-field the rank of Mar- shal of France, and the title of Duke of Magenta. The two young Irishmen who came to America settled in Kentucky.
Grandfather Samuel McMahan came to Missouri from Kentucky in the fall of 1810, and located in Cooper County, then in the heart of a wilderness. Soon after his arrival in his new home, he drove a herd of cattle to Coles Fort, and while on his re- turn trip to his family. was brutally waylaid and slain by the Indians, about two miles from Boon-
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ville. Cooper County. Ile was the father of five sons: William C., the father of our subject; Samuel W .. Thomas, John W .. and .lesse. William C. Me- Mahan was born in Madison County, Ky .. in 1803, and removed to Missouri with his father when but a lad of seven years. He married Miss Sarah Ilus- ton, a daughter of Benjamin and Polly Huston, of Cooper County, Mo. After his marriage he settled upon land of Ins own near his old home, and died in the place where his children were born, and where all the associations of mature life were en- joyed. He passed away in 1866, universally la- mented, and his good wife died in Arrow Rock in 1872.
The children of these early pioneers were: Ben- jamin F .; Sarah, Mrs. Warren Adkisson, residing in Marshall, Mo .; Templeton C., our subject; Mary Jane, deceased; William P .; John II .; Jesse and Adeline deceased. The surviving children are widely known as citizens of undoubted integrity and honor. Our subject received his early educa- tion in the subscription schools of his county, and in his boyhood worked upon his father's farm. At twenty years of age he went to Arrow Rock, and obtained a position in the store of his uncle, Jesse McMahan, in 1849. Ile next taught school for a few years in Cooper and Saline Counties.
In 1858, Mr. MeMahan was united in marriage with Miss Sarah E., daughter of W. W. and Sarah MeJilton. By this marriage three children were born: William E .; Nina. the wife of Coleman Kib- ler. of Saline County; and Joseph, deceased. Mr. MeMahan settled in Arrow Rock about the time of his marriage, and was competent to handie mer- chandise or pursue his trade of carpenter and builder. He was also an instructor of merit and ability, and for some years after his marriage profitably engaged in the commission business.
The first wife of our subject died in 1862, and Mr. McMahan was married to Miss A. M. Reid in 1870. This estimable lady is the daughter of Jesse and Margaret P. Reid. of Cooper County. The children of this union are Carl T., Aster R. and Marc E. The Reid family is of Irish descent. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. McMahan was William Reid, a Virginian, who settled in Ken- lucky. and engaged in the War of 1812. He after-
ward removed to Missouri, locating in Cooper County, two miles below Arrow Roek. His wife. Anna, was the daughter of David Jones, who was in the American army at the surrender of Cornwallis. 'The father of Mrs. McMahan, Jesse Reid, was one of a large family of children, and the first white child born in Cooper County, the date of his na- tivity being March, 1813, and the place of his birth the old Reid homestead. While he was an infant his parents were forced at times to take refuge at Cooper's Fort from the hostile Indians. The wife of Mr. Reid was Margaret Kincheloe, daughter of Joseph and Martha ( Edwards) Kin- cheloe, of Breckenridge County, Ky. Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Reid were married in September, 1833, and resided on their farm in Cooper County and in Arrow Rock. . Their five children were daughters: Anna, Mrs. Reid; Susan, deceased, formerly the wife of Christy Turley; Rebecca, Mrs. John Baker, of Nelson, Saline County; Miranda, wife of Will- iam Tyler, of Arrow Rock; Jessie, the widow of John Kibler, and a resident of Arrow Rock. Mr. Reid died March 9, 1873, and his wife passed away September 23, 1891, in Arrow Rock.
The MeMahan Institute was organized in 1871, at Arrow Rock. Here the youth of both sexes have the advantage of a thorough course of in- struction in all studies of a High School, together with vocal and instrumental music. Pupils fin- ished here are well prepared to enter universities and colleges and have taken a high stand in various celebrated institutions of learning, which they have attended after graduating here. The MeMahan Institute gives special attention to preparing scholars for teaching, and employs ex- cellent talent in every department. The institute, which opens the second Monday in September, is under the management of Mrs. A. M. R. McMahan, the wife our subjeet. In laying firmly the broad foundation for a higher education this well-known school excels, special attention being paid to mathematics and elocution. Parents may safely intrust their children to the care and training of the MeMahan Institute.
Mr. McMahan was elected a Justice of the Peace in November, 1890, and has in the discharge of the duties of this ollice given universal satisfaction,
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He looks after his farm, which is rented, and does a little building, but has mostly retired from active duty. He is now Chairman of the Town Board, and in both public and private life commands the respect and high regard of all who know him, Among the coincidences of life is the fact that the grandparents of Mr. and Mrs. McMahan came in the same company from Kentucky to Missouri, little anticipating that in the future their fami- lies would be united by the marriage ties. The beautiful residence occupied by Mr. McMahan is made even more attractive by the profusion of lovely flowers which he and his wife enjoy eulti- vating.
W ILLIAM J. WALLACE, one of the lead- ing and most influential citizens of Black- burn, Saline County, Mo., was born in Lancaster County, Pa., June 18, 1828. His great- grandfather, Robert Wallace, came from Scotland at an early day and settled in Pennsylvania, and in Laneaster County, that State, his son, John Wallace. was born, and died in the same place about 1850, at the age of eighty-seven years. Ilis business was that of merchandising in East Earl, Lancaster County, Pa., and before his marriage he made two trips to Ireland with cargoes of flaxseed. John Wallace married Lydia Smith, a native of Pennsylvania, and reared a large family, all of whom he settled in business and made comfortable. At one time he represented Lancaster County in the State Legislature.
The mother of our subject was a daughter of Ebenezer IIenderson, of Washington County, Pa. Her grandfather, Mathew, was a graduate of the Edinburgh (Scotland) College, a seceding minister, who joined the Covenanters at an early day, and came to America as a missionary. After the death of her first husband, Grandmother Henderson mar- ried Dr. Robert Agnew, of Lancaster County, Pa., and their only son was the distinguished physican, Dr. De Hays Agnew, so widely known in profes- sional eireles, and who became celebrated as one
of the surgeons in attendance upon President Gar- field. His recent death caused wide-spread regret.
The father of our subject was Davies Wallace, a native of Lancaster County. Pa., a prominent Re- publican, who during the administration of Presi- dent Lincoln held an official position in the Custom House in Philadelphia. In early life he entered the mercantile trade in East Earl Township, Lancaster County, and continued there for nearly fifty years. Some time before his death he removed to Phila- delphia, where for five years he acceptably filled the office spoken of above. His death occurred in Philadelphia, July 13, 1866, in his sixty-ninth year. The whole business career of this gentle- man was remarkable for strict integrity and fair- ness of dealing. For forty-five years he had been a member of the Presbyterian Church of Cedar Grove, Lancaster County, and at his death a wide circle of friends mourned his loss. The mother of our subject still resides in East Earl, Lancaster County, l'a., at the old home, crowned with the honors of eighty-eight years of righteous living.
The brothers and sisters of Davies Wallace were as follows: Harriet, deceased; Dr. William F. mar- ried a sister of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, a Miss Todd, and resided during life in Springfield, Ill .; .John P., a merchant in Franklin County, Pa., de- ceased; Mary, deceased, married C. S. Jacobs. a lawyer of Burlington, Iowa, but her death occurred in llarrisburg, Pa .; Robert died in Franklin County, Pa .; George died in Lancaster County, Pa .; Dr. Edward, deceased, an officer during the administration of President Lincoln in the Cus- tom House at Philadelphia; and Lydia M., de- ceased, married Nathaniel Kintzer, of Pennsyl- vania. The brothers and sisters of our subject are as follows: Henderson Agnew, who died at the old home place in 1892; John S., a merchant in the old store, which his father and grandfather before him kept; Mary Ann, widow of H. C. Falls, of New Castle, Lawrence County, Pa., who during life was a member of the State Legislature; and Ed- ward B., who resides on the old home place.
Our subject spent his boyhood days.on the old place in Laneaster County. After attaining his majority, he worked on the farm there a number of years, not coming to Missouri until 1869. He
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and his brother John were engaged in the mercan- tile business for about five years in Lancaster County, at the end of which time he sold out his interest to his brother, and removed to South Iler- mitage, where he conducted a store for two years, but returned to East Earl in 1863, and bought out his brother. The marriage of our subject oc- curred October 16. 1862, to Miss R. V. Wilson. a daughter of John D. Wilson, of Lancaster County. The children that have blessed this union are as follows: Josephine R., now the wife of Walter B. Buek, of Kansas City; Mary Henderson, the wife of E. W. Dowden, of Kansas City: Rachel W., Lydia M .. John P. and Sarah D. The older mem- bers of the family were all Whigs, but subsequently became Republicans, our subject being one of the stanchest supporters of the party in the family. He is a valued member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he takes a great deal of interest. Mr. Wallace has eighty acres of excel- lent farm land, which he has under a fine state of cultivation, and upon this he has a neat. comfort- able home, in which he and his family reside.
REDERICK PRICE. The record of the life of this former prominent citizen of Blackburn, who is now deceased, will be of interest to the people of Missouri among whom he lived and labored for many years. Before presenting. how- ever, the events of his life in detail, it may be well to mention briefly some facts with reference to his ancestry.
The Price family originated in Wales, and the grandfather of our subject, James Price, settled in Augusta County, Va., about the year 1750. lle married Miss Martha Hutchins, of South Carolina, and of their union were born two children, Fred- erick and Risdon Hutchins. Grandfather Price was a merchant and ship-owner and was a man of influence in the Old Dominion. where the closing years of his life were passed. Ile suffered loss by French privateers, and a claim has since been pre-
sented by the heirs before the authorities on the French spoliation claims, but nothing resulted. on account of loss by fire of some necessary papers.
Risdon Hutchins Price, father of our subject, was born in Virginia in June, 1780, and came to St. Louis in 1804 from New Orleans, rowing up the river the entire distance accompanied by his slaves. Upon loeating in St. Louis he engaged in the general mercantile business and also carried on an extensive trade in furs. He was interested in the Potosi Lead Mines, and in public and private affairs was alike irreproachable and influential. In the year 1808 he assisted in founding the St. Louis Republic, which still lives, a monument to the perseverance and energy of its founders. When the famous Marquis de La Fayette revisited America, Mr. Price was one of the committee ap- pointed by the mayor of the city to welcome him to St. Louis.
In August. 1815, Mr. Price married Miss Mary G., daughter of Gen. Daniel Bissell. of the United States army, and at that time Commander of the Department of the West, with headquarters at Bellefontaine, above St. Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Price became the parents of the following-named children: James. Frederick, Risdon, Anna, Martha, and Eliza. James went to California in 1819 and still resides in that State; Frederick, Risdon and Martha are deceased. Anna, widow of J. O. Price, lives in Baltimore, as does her sister Eliza. Risdon Hutchins Price died in St. Louis, in De- cember, 1845; his wife had passed away in Janu- ary of the same year.
The late Frederick Price was born in St. Louis in August, 1818. Ile received his education in his native city and at Staunton, Va., where he had been sent to live with an aunt and attend school. After reaching mature years he engaged in mercantile pursuits for a few years at Staunton, Va., after which he returned to St. Louis, in 1814, and engaged in farming near that city. Novem- ber 1, 1852, he married Miss Virginia, daughter of Dr. T. J. Minor, of St. Louis. In 1882 he removed to the place where his family now resides and where he died November 3 of the same year.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Price included five sons and three daughters, as follows: Risdon
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Hutchins, of Blackburn; Thomas Edwin, a resident of St. Louis; James Bissell, who makes his home in Wichita, Kan .; Jefferson Davis and Burtis, who are at home; Mary, wife of .I. Il. Ashurst, of Marshall, Mo .; Carrie, who married Amaziah Lo- per, of Saline County; and Corinne, who is at home.
Politically, Mr. Price was staneh in his adherence to the principles of the Democratic party. He was an adherent of the Episcopal Church and a generous contributor to all religious causes. In his manner he was quiet and unassuming, ever genial, courteous and hospitable. His friends were many and his kindly nature invariably made of an acquaintance a personal admirer. It was his custom to help young men who were just starting in life, for he considered that was the period when they most needed assistance. Ile was buried at the Belle- fontaine Church, in St. Louis County, beside his three children who died in infancy.
The old Price homestead in St. Louis included an orchard which occupied the land on the corner of Third and Olive Streets, where stands the old post-office building. An interesting heirloom now in the possession of Mrs. Price is an old Bible bearing the date 1759, which has been in the Price family since its publication. It is a quaint volume, bound in leather, printed in the old style of type and of unusual size, measuring 16x10 inches.
The Minor family came from Fairfax County, Va., to St. Louis at an early day. Dr. T. J. Minor was the youngest of eleven children, ten sons and one daughter. Ile received his education in a military academy and among his classmates was his cousin, afterward famous as Gen. Robert E. Lee. Dr. Minor was first a lawyer and afterward a physician, which profession he practiced in St. Louis during most of his active life and until his death in 1850.
Mrs. Virginia E. Price was born in St. Louis and was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Florisant, Mo. She was left motherless at her birth, and has only one own sister, Mildred, now the widow of A. Putnam, a grandson of Gen. Putnam of Revolutionary fame. Mrs. Price owns three hundred and thirty-six acres on sections 4
and 5, township 50, range 23, and with her are two sons, J. D. and Burtis, each of whom has re- cently purchased land adjoining the home farm, their property amounting to about three hundred and sixty acres. They are engaged in general farming and stock-raising. in which they have met with success. The home of the family is in a large and substantial residence, set in the midst of a fine grove of trees, and pleasantly located. The sons are loyal in their adherence to the Demo- cratie party and are men of influence in their sev- eral communities. The eldest son, Risdon Hutch- ins, is a graduate of Washington Lee University at Lexington, Va., where he graduated at the age of nineteen years with the highest honors of his class. In her religion, Mrs. Price is an earnest member of the Methodist Church, and a lady of noble character, whose sincerity of religious belief is proved by the beauty of her life.
G EORGE W. OSBORN. The gratification that comes of success honestly earned can- not fail to be more pleasing than the for- tune itself, especially when the subject of it has the hearty good-will of his neighbors. Such is the case with George W. Osborn, a farmer living on section 19, township 49, range 28, La Fayette County, Mo., son of Cyrus and Sarah ( Walker) Osborn, residents of this township. Ilis parents have four children living, namely: our subject, Ehza Wooldridge, P. Walker and Lula.
Our subject was born January 2, 1847. in Lex- ington Township, grew up on his father's ranch, and attended the public schools of the township. Ile remained at the old home until he was thirty- two years of age, but worked for himself after at- taining his majority. November 28, 1878, he married Miss Rosie, a daughter of Charles MeRay, an early settler of the county, who now lives in Nevada, Mo .; her mother is deceased. Mrs. Osborn, one of five children living, was born in Welling-
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ton in the year 1860, where she grew to woman- hood and received an education in the district schools. She is the mother of six children, five of them living, namely: Sallie, Willie. Jessie. Ruby and Leroy.
Mr. Osborn has lived upon the farm all his life and is successful alike in the growing of grain and the raising of stock. His farm consists of six hun- dred and eighty acres, two hundred of which he received from his father, carning the remainder by his own labors; all of this except thirty acres is in cultivation. Corn and wheat are grown princi- pally upon this land, but he feeds a very large number of cattle. horses and hogs. Some of his land is rented out to tenants. who are required to keep it up and are not permitted to negleet its proper cuiti vation.
Mr. Osborn is Deacon and Treasurer of the Christian Church at Bates City. His wife is also a member of that church and both of them take an active part in the Sunday-school. He is a member of the School Board and is resolved to give his children a good education, believing they can start out with no better capital. In politics, he is a Democrat, and takes the interest of a good citi- zen in all political matters. The family of Mr. Osborn occupies the best house in the township, which was built in 1886 at a cost of $2,200. The farm is supplied with all necessary outbuildings. including a barn built in 1879 at a cost of $400. The land was all fenced in when he settled.
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