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 59
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 59
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The wife of Grandfather Barker was Elizabeth Allenbaugh, a lady of worth and intelligence. She remained a widow for many years and devoted herself to raising her family of seven children. Hler three sons were Elias, John and William. The daughters of the household were Polly, Nancy, Margaret and Lucinda, all of whom accompanied their parents to Missouri, where one of the dangh- ters has since died. Elias Barker, the father of our subject, wasa native of Estill County, and remained in his native State some five years after his father and mother had gone to Missouri, but in 1836 he journeyed with his family to La Fayette County, and here settled in range 28, township 49, upon forty acres which he purchased, at the same time entering from the Government one hundred and twenty acres of excellent land. At the date of his death he owned six hundred acres, about four hundred of which he had entered from public lands.
Elias Barker was a man of more than ordinary ability. Able, energetic and industrious, he was also a large slave-holder, and was killed in 1862 by a party of bushwhackers and was buried upon the home farm. lle was about sixty years of age at the time of his death and was an influential citizen and a highly esteemed member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. His wife sur- vived him until 1886, and passed away in her eighty-seventh year. She was born in Madison County, Ky., and was a daughter of William War- ner, who died in Kentucky at over ninety years of age. Hle was twice married and was, in relig- ious beliet, a Baptist. Our subject was one of a
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family of seven children, of whom he was second in order of birth. Anna was the first-born; next came our subject, Stephen W .; then William, John W .. Elizabeth, Sallie A. and James.
Stephen W. was reared upon a farm and received only a primitive education, but was early trained into habits of industry and self-reliance, which were his main capital in life when, at the age of twenty-three years, he settled upon an eighty-aere farm and began life for himself. He still resides where he began his successful career so modestly, upon section 18, township 19, range 27, but now owns nine hundred acres of valuable land, and has already given to his children nine hundred and eighty-four acres, still retaining with his other real estate the original forty acres in the woods. Our subject carly displayed exceptional business ability. Ile dealt in stock, and with wise judgment invested liberally in various lucrative ventures. Before the war he was a Democrat, but since that epoch in national history has voted the Republican ticket. Hle was elected Justice of the Peace and, filling the position with efficiency, was re-elected, but at the expiration of two years resigned the duties of the office.
1
Mr. Barker was twice married. Ilis first wife, Miss Martha Cooley, was a native Kentuckian and was the daughter of William and Mrs. ( Franklin) 1
Cooley, and survived her marriage but one year. The second wife of our subject was Miss Mary A. llatton, who was born in Estill County, Ky .. a daughter of Josoph and Millie ( Asheraft) Hatton, who came to Jackson County, Mo., in 1838, re- moved to La Fayette County in 1842, and, finally, settled in Johnson County, where the father and mother of Mrs. Barker both died. They were Missionary Baptists in religious faith and ever lived consistent Christian lives. The Hattons were of Irish-German descent, John Hatton, the grand- father, having been an Irishman, while his good wife was of German birth. The sons and daughters who have bessed the home of our subject are nine in number, eight of whom lived to mature age.
Martha. now deceased, was the wife of Benton Baker; Matthew was the eldest son; then followed George; Mary, wife of John P. Durbin; Laura, wife of John P. Shipley; Robert; Zibe; and Stephen
W. Our subject and his wife have been members of the Christian Church for thirty-five years, and have ever been liberal supporters of that religious organization, aiding actively in the extension of its good work and influence. Mr. Barker has long been identified with the growth and progress of his State and county. and is highly esteemed as an upright. liberal-minded and publie-spirited citizen.
R OBERT TAUBMAN, the able and energetic President of the Commercial Bank at Lex- ington, Mo., has long been prominently connected with the financial interests of La Fayette County. and, holding at various times official positions of trust, is widely known, and possesses the esteem of the general public. He was born on the Isle of Man, April@. 1834. Ilis father, Kermode Taubman, was a native of England, and a miller by occupation, and resided about sixty-five miles from Liverpool. He was extensively inter- ested in several large mills, but a sudden strin- gency in the money market so affected his business, causing a swift break in the prices of produce, that he was obliged to elose his mills. Speedily wind- ing up his business affairs, he removed with his family to the United States, and landing upon American shores immediately located in Lexing- ton, where he died soon afterward and left his family strangers in a strange land.
The mother of Robert, Elizabeth (C'lague) Taub- man, was born in England, and died in her home in Lexington. Our subject was the fifth of seven children, four of whom died in infancy, three of the family accompanying their parents to Lexing- ton. The boyhood of Mr. Taubman was passed in La Fayette County, where he enjoyed the benefit of the common schools. Like his father, he learned the trade of a miller, and followed the occupation for several years, when the Civil War interrupted the peaceful tenor of his life and business. It was not long before our subject joined the Union army, enlisting in Company B, Fifth Regiment of Mis-
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souri, Col. Mills commanding, and did duty mostly in the State of Missouri. Promoted for his gal- lant conduct upon the field, Mr. Taubman became the Captain of Company B, and in this rank served courageously during several severe battles and numerous skirmishes.
Our subjeet was captured by the forces under Gen. Price, but was soon paroled and returned to duty. After the close of the war in 1865, Mr. Taubman was united in marriage with Miss Amelia Kramer, of Lexington, a daughter of B. Kramer, a well-known merchant tailor: Soon after his mar- riage, our subject removed to Oregon and located in the Willamette Valley, there engaging in the milling business, which he conducted successfully for three years. Neither Mr. Taubman nor his wife liked Oregon, so they returned to their old home in Lexington in 1868. In 1870 our subject was elected on the Republican ticket to the official po- sition of Sheriff and Collector of La Fayette County, his term of office lasting two years. Dur- ing this period of time he became connected with banking interests and was one of the charter mem- bers of the Morrison & Wentworth Bank, and as one of its active organizers, received the position of Vice-President, in which capacity he served until. 1884.
In the meantime Mr. Taubman, in connection with others, organized the Commercial Bank of Lexington, of which financial institution he was immediately made President, and B. R. Ireland was appointed Cashier. Under the skillful guid- anee of our subject the bank was an assured sue- cess from its very inception. The Commercial Bank receives the county deposit, and does a gen- eral banking business. Mr. Taubman is also largely interested in real estate and farming properties, which he leases to others, and owns various pieces of city land, and has also valuable real estate in Jackson County and Kansas City. Our subject is Treasurer of the Board of Curators of Central Female College, and is deeply interested in the cause of educational advancement, and was one of the founders of the college at Lexington. Ilis handsome brick residence, artistic in design and elegantly finished, is one of the most beautiful dwellings in the city of Lexington. Four chil-
dren, two sons and two daughters, bring youth and gaiety into the home circle of Mr. Taubman and his esteemed wife: Edwin M., the second-born, is a book-keeper in the Commercial Bank, and Robert M., the third, is an assistant book-keeper in the same bank. F. May, the eldest, and Daisy M., the youngest, are the sisters.
Mr. and Mrs. Taubman have long been members of the Southern Methodist Episcopal Church, and are ever foremost in the promotion of its good work, and with their family are prominent factors in various social and benevolent enterprises of Lexington. In his political views, our subject is usually conservative. Before the war he was a Whig, and since in State and National matters has voted the Republican ticket. A public-spirited and progressive citizen, Mr. Taubman has won his way upward through energetic efforts, and, self- reliant by nature and upright in character, worth- ily commands the regard of all who enjoy the pleasure of his acquaintance.
erness.
ON. WILLIAM T. WOOD. There was a time in the settlement of the American Colonies when isolated and individual effort made the first impression in the wild- Among the English strangers who estab- lished pioneer homes in the county of Albemarle, Va., were two brothers by the name of Wood. From them descended the projenitors of the subject of this notice. No member of the original English family now survives, the last representative having died some forty years since, leaving an estate estimated at from £12,000,000 to £20,000,000 sterling, but none of this vast sum was ever realized by the Ameri- can family, owing to some mismanagement and blunders of the agents to whom it had been en- trusted.
William T. Wood was born on the farm of his father at Gordon Station, Mercer County, Ky., March 25, 1809, a son of William and Sallie
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( Thomas) Wood. the former a native of Albemarle, and the latter of Culpeper County, Va. The Thomas family was represented among the early emnigrants from England to Kentucky. At the age of nineteen years, in December, 1828, our subject was licensed as a lawyer. and about the ist of January, 1829, left Kentucky on horseback for Missouri, reaching the home of his brother, Gen. Jesse T. Wood, in Columbia, Boone County, on the 15th of the same month, after a fatigning jour- ney. Here he remained until the month of July, when he made a business trip to Liberty, Clay County, arriving there on the 29th. Clay County was then on the western border of the State. and as it had an important trade and was a good business point, Mr. Wood determined to locate there.
In 1830, at the age of twenty-one. Mr. Wood was appointed Clerk of the County Court of Clay. The duties of his office were not incompatible with the practice of his profession. and it was to follow this occupation that he had come to Missouri. Af- ter holding this office for four or five years he re- signed, but was soon appointed by Gov. Lilburn W. Boggs, as Circuit Attorney of that judicial dis- trict, which office he filled with great acceptability for several years. In 1837 the "Platte Purchase" was annexed to the State of Missouri by act of Congress, this act having been passed on the peti- tion of the people of Clay County. At the meet- ing of the citizens, Gen. D. R. Atchison. Col. A. W. Doniphan, Peter H. Burnett and William T. Wood were appointed a committee to draft a peti- tion to Congress, and Mr. Wood was elected to prepare this document, which duty he satisfac- torily performed.
This territory was afterward divided by the Legislature of Missouri, and of it the counties of Andrew, Atchison. Buchanan, Holt, Nodaway and Platte were constituted. This country is noted for its wonderful fertility and was a valuable ae- quisition to Missouri, but, as emigrants began to seek it and settle upon its productive lands, as towns and trading-posts were established, Liberty lost much of its former trade, thus becoming less important as a business point. Mr. Wood still continued to reside there, practicing in the courts of all adjacent counties until 1815. when he re-
moved to Lexington, Mo., where he lived until 1856. A few years previous to his removal from Clay County, our subject, with Col. Doniphan and Maj. Dougherty, was elected to the Legisla- ture. gaining the first Whig victory, and beating Gen. Atchison, Col. Thornton and Capt. Wallace, the Democratie nominees. Such was Mr. Wood's popularity that he stood first on the list of can- didatos.
After loeating in Lexington, our subjeet con- tinued the practice of law. retaining most of his old clients and gaining many new ones, and his practice and popularity increased as the years progressed, he being regarded as a ster- ling citizen, able lawyer and honest man. In 1854 he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court, in this position displaying eminent prudence and legal ability, his decisions being clear and forcible. based upon the highest principles of law and equity. In 1856 he resigned the position of Judge, removed to St. Louis, and re-entered the practice of law, here as elsewhere maintaining his high char- acter at the Bar.
There were two tickets in the field for delegates to the State convention in 1861, and Judge Wood eame within a few votes of being placed upon both tickets. Between the two tickets. the vote was close, but the one upon which his name appeared was unsuccessful; he, however, was one of those who received the highest vote on the defeated ticket. In the early part of January, 1861. just preceding the commencement of the Civil War, there was fearful excitement in St. Louis, seriously threatening the peace of the city, and producing general apprehension and alarm. Many citizens carried arms, and there was danger of a general street fight, liable to commence any hour. Opin- ions were not fixed, and purposes were unsettled. It was felt that to preserve peace, some public ac- tion was necessary. yet there was good ground to fear that a public meeting would be attended with danger, the occasion demanding prudence and wis . dom.
A measure was adopted for the appointment of a committee to prepare action for a general and public meeting, and Judge Wood was selected as one of this committee, in which position he ren-
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dered efficient help in its delicate and difficult labors. The committee having succeeded in agree- ing on a preamble and resolutions, called the meeting for the 12th of January in front of the court house. Nearly the entire male population of the city was out on that day; thousands were armed with pistols and ready for emergencies. The result was most fortunate; the preamble and resolutions reported by the committee were adopted with acclamation, and the vast crowd retired in peace. In 1865, Judge Wood determined to re- turn to Lexington, where he immediately took his old position, standing foremost in his profession. Twice since that time he has been elected Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit.
Judge Wood has been three times married. His first wife was Miss Eliza Ann Hughes, by whom he had one son, Gen. Carrol II. Wood, Adjutant- General of Arkansas under Gov. Garland. The second Mrs. Wood was Miss Maria Il. Payne, who bore him two sons: Payne, now deceased; and T. C., a resident of Iowa. The third wife was Miss Mary E. Broadwell, and the issue of this marriage was a son, M. L. Wood, Lieutenant in the United States Navy, now on the war ship "Alliance," and a daughter, Miss Maria, at present residing with her father.
Judge Wood is in politics, a Democrat, and for many years has been an important factor of that party in the State. He was Master of a Grange, and a valued member of the Masonie fraternity. For many years he has been connected with the Old-school Presbyterian Church. When the Civil War commenced, and during its eontinuance, he was a member of the Pine Street Church in St. Louis, in which he held the position of Elder. Perhaps no religious organization in the whole country had more trials to encounter than had the Pine Street Church. Its minister was expelled by the military from his pulpit, banished from the State, and his church put in charge of a commit- tee; a fragment of the Presbytery, claiming to be the Presbytery, joined the military in its persecu- tions. The church in the interests of religion and liberty had to contend with the military and church courts combined. and during the whole contest Judge Wood was steadfast for the right. Hle at-
tended the general assemblies of the church in 1863-64, and openly and fearlessly before the whole country asserted the rights of the minister and the church, and exposed and denounced the wrongs under which they suffered.
S W. BROWN. M. D., a retired physician and farmer, living on section 28, township 51, range 24, Middleton Township, La Fayette County, Mo., born in Buckingham County, Va., in the year 1824, is a son of James Brown, a native of Virginia, and one of the pio- neers of Missouri, and of Mary R. (Palmore) Brown, also a native of Virginia. The ancestors of the Browns were from England, and settled in Virginia at an early day. Our subject enjoyed excellent educational advantages, attending the publie schools of Saline County, Mo., after his re- moval there with his parents at the age of seven years; subsequently, at the age of sixteen, entering Fayette College, at Fayette, Mo., where he pur- sued his studies for four years. Mr. Brown then read medicine under Dr. John L. Talbott, of Ilow- ard County, Mo .; afterward, at the age of twen- ty-two, entering the medical college at Louisville, Ky., where he remained one year.
Subsequently, Dr. Brown attended the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, from which he was gradnated in 1850. Not content with this course of preparation and training, which is much more than many practicing physicians have had, he went to St. Louis in 1854 and there took a post-graduate course. Our subject began in the year 1850 the general practice of medicine and surgery in Waverly, where he continued until the outbreak of the war, when he was appointed sur- geon of the First Regiment of the Trans-Missis- sippi Division of the Confederate States army, in which he served until the close of the war. Dr. Brown's services were arduous and distinguished, and he was engaged in many of the severe and bloody battles of the war.
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When the four years of strife were over, he re- turned to Waverly and resumed the practice of medicine, continuing in it until 1871, when, on ae- count of failing health, he removed to his present place of residence, where he has carried on farm- ing upon a very extensive scale up to the present time. Dr. Brown has two thousand acres of land, much of which is under cultivation, and has dem- onstrated the profitableness of agricultural pur- suits when conducted intelligently and on busi- ness principles.
Our subject was married thirty-six years ago, or in the year 1856, to Miss Elizabeth A., daughter of Col. David Henton. an early settler of Missouri. Four children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Brown, namely: Mary E .. wife of Samuel Dyer, of Texas; Spencer L., Benjamin Il. and William P. A careful student of current history. Dr. Brown takes a deep interest in national and State affairs, and in political affiliations he is a Democrat. Mrs. Brown is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
OIIN H. GREMIKE. The earth is a gener- ous mother, and. after all, man goes to her for his supplies of the necessities of life; hence it is that the vocation of a farmer is among the most important of all the callings. and the industrious agriculturist invariably commands respect. Our subject, a patient, faithful worker, has by the labor of his own hands, with upright conduet, amassed a competency, and, at the same time, won for himself the confidence and esteem of his neighbors. He was born in St. Charles County. Mo., December 20, 1813, his father being Henry Grumke, a native of Prussia, who came to this county in 1833, and settled in the county where our subject was born.
In Germany, Henry Grumke pursued the calling of a farmer. it being interrupted only by his ser- vice in the army, and after settling in Missouri, he again became a tiller of the soil. His wife bore
the maiden name of Catharina Hackman, and was born in Prussia. Their marriage was celebrated in Missouri, and their place of residence was St. Charles County until their death, the husband passing away in 1819, and the wife in 1869. They were the parents of nine children. four of whom are living, and one of them was in the Missouri Home Guards during the late war. The parents were members of the Evangelical Church, the fa- ther having been an official in the same, his long residence here, he having been a pioneer settler. together with his excellent character, causing him to be a man of much influence in that body.
Our subject was brought up on the home farm, which he assisted in cultivating throughout his youth, although in no way neglecting his educa- tion, which was imparted to him in the German as well as the English language. Ile remained on the home farm until he was thirty-three years of age, with an interval of absence in the army; he having enlisted in 1864, in Company E. Col. Crekel's Regiment, to guard the Wabash Railroad. After six months' service he was discharged and resumed his labors as a farmer.
In the year 1866 Mr. Grumke married Katie Relimeier, a native of St. Charles County. Eleven years later, in 1877, he removed with his family to La Fayette County, and located on a farm on sec- tion 29, township 50, range 28, where he has re- sided ever since. The original tract consisted of one hundred and sixty-seven aeres, but he has added to it from time to time, until he now has six hundred and sixty acres. all except sixty being under cultivation. Industriously and persever- ingly he proceeded with the work of improve- inent, building a residence at a cost of $800, and ereeting suitable outbuildings, fencing, etc., until now the farm presents a pleasing appearance. The home was burned in 1891. but has been replaced by another. Mr. Grumke carries on general farm- ing, growing various kinds of grain and raising stock, paying especial attention to good graded animals.
Mr. and Mrs. Grumke are the parents of twelve children, nine of them living, namely: Otto, Eliza, Annie, Charles, Meta, Willie, Alice. Augusta and Emma. The children have been carefully reared,
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and their parents have particularly considered in their cases the important element of education. Mr. Grumke is a member of the Evangelical Church at Wellington, as also is his wife, he being a charter member, and having served as a Director, or leader, for six years; he likewise has been an efficient teacher in the Sunday-school. Ilis inter- est in the cause of education led his neighbors to elect him a member of the School Board, a posi- tion filled by him very creditably. lle is a Repub- liean, in politics, and a firm believer in the prin- ciples laid down in the platform of that party. From the old estate he received the sum of $400, which was all the assistance received by him from any source, the remainder of his fortune being the result of his own labors.
ILLIAM WALKER, one of the most emi- nent practitioners of the legal profession in Lexington, La Fayette County, was born in Aurora, Ind., September 1, 1822. Ile is a son of James and Elizabeth (Nichols) Walker, and is the third in order of birth of a family number- ing ten children. Mr. Walker's father, James, was one of the patriots of 1812, while his grandfather, Benjamin, was a Revolutionary hero.
I'p to fifteen years of age William Walker was occupied in his native place much as other boys in ordinary circumstances are, with the usual modicum of mischief, and busy in acquiring a good rudimentary education in the common school. In 1837 he moved with his parents to Mason County, Ill., where his father settled on a farm. It is still the place of family residence, and in a beautiful locality, quite widely known as Walker's Grove.
Our subject remamed on his father's farm until he reached his majority. He then went to Spring- field, and with Col. Edward Baker, of that city, as preceptor, studied his Blackstone. After a stay of two and a half years there, he was admitted to the Bar in 1843, and began practicing in Mason and
adjoining counties, carrying on a general law practice until November 16, 1865, when he moved to Lexington, Mo., and opened an office. Here he has continued in the practice of his profession un- til the present time.
In 1867, the original of this sketch was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas at Lexing- ton, and the following year was elected to the same position, and held it until 1872. In polities, he is and has always been a stanch Republican. Ile cast his first vote for llenry Clay, and in 1864 was elected Presidential elector from Mason County, Ill., and had the honor of casting his vote for Abraham Lincoln in February of 1865.
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