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 67
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 67
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ON. ELISHA M. EDWARDS, the well- known, energetic and enterprising lawyer and ex-State Senator, of Waverly, was born in Cabell County, W. Va., January 26, 1823, but for more than a half-century has been closely identified with the prominent and growing interests of La Fayette County, Mo., and has held various official positions of trust in his adopted State. The father of our subject, Joseph Edwards, was a native of Pennsylvania, and the paternal grandfather, Edward Edwards, was also born in the Quaker State. The mother of Elisha M. Ed-
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wards was Sara McComas, who was a descendant of the MeComas family who settled in Virginia in ' 1620. The Edwards are of Welsh ancestry, and inherit the sturdy virtues of their forefathers.
Mr. Edwards remained in West Virginia until he was seven years old, when he removed with his parents to Kentucky, where he received an educa- tion in the private schools and passed his youth. Arriving at an age when he desired to be self-sus- taining, our subject learned the tailor's trade, in which he found ready employment, and at the same time ambitiously read law. Determined to try his fortunes in a new home, Mr. Edwards came to Missouri, and upon November 2, 1839, made his home in Johnson County and engaged in busi- ness as a tailor, though he also continued the study of law. In 1861, our subject was admitted to the Bar, and began the practice of law in Waverly, Mo.
In 1857 Mr. Edwards received the appointment of Postmaster of Waverly, and held the position for one year, when he resigned. Our subject, as- sisted by Charles Il. Collins, of Waverly, drafted the charter for the incorporation of Waverly, which charter was approved and accepted December 23, 1859. Mr. Edwards was one of the first Aldermen of the city of Waverly, and also ably occupied the Mayor's Chair for four years, materially aiding by his excellent counsel in the progress and local improvements of his home eity. In 1876, Mr. Ed- wards was elected to the Missouri Senate, efficiently serving a term of four years, and was rewarded by his constituents with a re-election in 1880. Since 1884 our subject has devoted himself to his excel- lent legal business, but is still active in politics and was a delegate to the two last Democratic State Conventions, where, by convincing logic and sound argument, he successfully sustained the wishes of his political friends and neighbors.
Fraternally, Mr. Edwards has, since 1849, been a member of Waverly Lodge No. 61, A. F. & A. M. In 1849 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary B., daughter of Peter F. Lyons, a native of Kentucky. By this estimable lady our subject had eleven children, of whom but one child, a son, now survives, G. W. II. Edwards. In May, 1871, Mr. Edwards married his present wife, then Mrs. Frances R. Berryman, a daughter of R. F. Rollins, , and in the summer of 1861 became a member of
a native of Kentucky. Of the three children whose presence has blessed the pleasant home of Mr. and Mys. Edwards, one only is living, Frank R., who attended Wentworth Military Academy, at Lexing- ton, Mo., and St. Benedict College, in Atchison, Kan., for two years. This son, now in the dawn of early manhood, gives promise of a bright and successful career.
Mr. and Mrs. Edwards are among the valued and honored members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and are ever active in the good works and various enterprises of that denomina- tion. Our subject owns fine farming property, and is extensively and profitably interested in agricultural pursuits. His legal duties, however, occupy the most of his time, and aside from a large private practice, he is, and has been, City Attorney for the past six years. For one year he was also local attorney for the Missouri Pacific Railroad on the Boonville Branch. An upright, useful and honored citizen, always interested in progress and reform, Mr. Edwards has ever wielded a powerful influence in behalf of right and justice, and has won a high place in the esteem and confidence of all who know him.
OIIN R. SMITH, an honored and represen- tative citizen of La Fayette County, Mo., residing upon his farm located on section 1, township 19, range 27, was born in War- ren County, Ohio, June 3, 1840. Ile is a son of Hugh and Sarah (Rogers) Smith, the former a na- tive of Maine, and the latter of New Jersey. This worthy couple were early settlers of Warren County, and both died in the year 1860, in that State. John was reared to manhood in his native county, early learning the duties of farm life, and receiving his education in the public schools of Warren County. Upon the breaking out of the Civil War, Mr. Smith hastened to place his name among those ready to defend their country's flag,
-
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Company A. Thirty-fifth Ohio Infantry, and was assigned to duty in the army of the Cumberland, during his service being under the distinguished Generals. Thomas, Rosecrans and Buell.
That our subject became acquainted with the horrors and honors of war may be inferred when it is known that he took part in the fearful battles of Perryville, Corinth. Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Kenesaw Mountain and the siege of Atlanta. At this time his term of service expired, and he was discharged in Louisville, Ky., in September, 1861. Ile returned at onee to Ohio, and in the fall of 1865 came to La Fayette County, Mo. The class of settlers who had preceded him to this county promised to become the best of citizens, therefore Mr. Smith decided to locate permanently here. Ilis first settlement was made in Lexington Township, where he remained until 1881, when he located upon his present farm, where he has suc- ceeded in developing the land until the place is considered second to none in the county.
In this desirable part of the county Mr. Smith owns three hundred and fifty acres of land, so well improved that the stranger need wander no far- ther to decide upon the capabilities of the soil of La Fayette County. His buildings, fences, or- chards and farm implements are such as might be expected upon a place of this kind. The marriage of Mr. Smith took place June 10, 1870, when Miss Anna Ferguson became his happy wife. She was born in Adams County, Miss., a daughter of Will- iam 1. and Elizabeth ( Brabston) Ferguson, the former a native of Frankfort, Ky., and the latter of Mississippi, the ancestors of the families having come to America from Scotland and Wales. In 1850 William Ferguson migrated from Mississippi to Missouri, settling upon the farm where our sub- ject now resides, and was an early settler in the county. llis demise occurred here December 20, 1876, his wife surviving him until May 20, 1889.
Mrs. Smith is not the only one of her family now living. as her brothers and sisters are yet left, and are well known and respected in their several neighborhoods. They are as follows: Dr. James Ferguson, of Mayview, Mo .; William, a resident of Vernon County. Mo .; Alice, the wife of Dr. S. Hardman, of Kansas City, Mo .; and Clifton, a
resident of Jackson, Miss. William Ferguson was one of the best-known men of this locality during life, and left to his family a spotless name and the record of a life of good deeds. In the Old-school Presbyterian Church he was a valued member, his walk in life agreeing with his profession. In his political feelings Mr. Ferguson was a Democrat, and when he died La Fayette County lost one of her strongest citizens.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have an interesting family, only one of whom, Lunsford, has been taken out of the family circle. The remaining five are as follows: Hugh, Grace, Clifton. Roger and Laur- ence. Both Mr. Smith and his excellent wife are active members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and in its communion and services they find a broad field for influence and work. In his politi- cal faith Mr. Smith is a Republican, as earnest in that body as in all of the affairs of life.
R EV. GEORGE W. HYDE, a prominent and influential resident of Lexington, Mo., was born in Chancellorsville, Spottsylvama County, Va., March 25, 1838, a son of Richard and Eliza D. Ilyde. The grandfather Hyde was of English birth, and during his life made frequent visits to his native country. The family traces its descent to Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. in honor of whom the celebrated Hyde Park in England was named. The father of our subject removed to Chariton County, Mo., in 1839, and there reared a family of eight sons and one daughter. Both he and his wife were valued mem- of the Old-school Presbyterian Church.
Our subjeet was but one year old when his parents came to Missouri and settled near Keytes- ville, where he was reared. Mr. Hyde was converted at Keytesville, and connected himself with the Baptist Church there in May, 1853, and he has continued a faithful member of that de- nomination ever since. After his conversion he
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felt ealled upon to enter the ministry, and in pur- suance of this idea entered the Missouri Univer- sity in September, 1855, where, after taking a full course, he graduated in July, 1859. The follow- ing October he entered the Southern Baptist Theo- logical Seminary, then located at Greenville, S. C., where he took the full course, graduating there- from in May, 1862. lle was the only student from Missouri in this seminary until it was closed during the war. While a student there he held his membership in the Columbia Baptist Church, and was made Superintendent of its Sunday- school, and was licensed to preach by the same. Our subject was ordained at the Peterville Chureli, Powhatan County, Va., in August, 1863.
From 1862 to 1865 Mr. Hyde preached at a military post in Powhatan County, Va., called lInguenot Springs, the Rev. J. B. JJeter having proeured him a Chaplaincy in the Confederate army. At this place his labors were much blessed, many of the soldiers professing conversion and being bap- tized, and it was during this period of his life that he was ordained to the full work of the ministry. After the war Mr. Hyde returned to Missouri, and in September, 1866, engaged in an ageney for the Sunday-school Board of the Southern Baptist Con- vention, and prosecuted this work for some time. In October, 1867, he married Miss Anna, the only child of Judge B. C. Clark, of Cooper County, Mo., but she died in July, 1878, having been the mother of four children, and in March, 1880, our subject married Mrs. E. G. Garnett, of Dover.
Rev. Mr. Ilyde spent one year as pastor of the churches at Keytesville and Brunswick, but the greater part of his ministerial life has been spent with the churches at Mt. Nebo, Concord, Mt. Her- man and Boonville, all in Cooper County, and for many years in the Concord Association. Mr. Ilyde has twice been agent of William Jewell College, and for one year was one of the general mission- aries of the General Association. lle was one of the original eight who founded the Jeremiah Vardeman School of Theology in William dewell College, for which purpose he gave $5,000, and he holds the position of Visitor to the Vardeman School. For twenty-two years he has been a mem- ber of the Board of Trustees of the college, and
for eight years has held the honorable position of Curator of Stephens' College; he is also a Trustee of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. While a student at Greenville, S. C., he superin- tended a large colored Sunday-school, which met Sunday afternoons in the gallery of the Baptist Church. In this work he was seconded by the church, and had for teachers some of the best students in the seminary. While in attendance upon the meeting of the Southern Baptist Con- vention at Greenville, in May, 1882, Mr. Ilyde met a colored man who was then, and is now, a member of the Sunday-sehool, who said, " Thank God I see you, my brother! Those were golden seeds you sowed among us, and they have yielded a blessed harvest."
For a number of years our subject has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Baptist Female College, at Lexington, Mo., and served as its President for a period of eight years. In 1890 the William Jewell College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. For five years he was assistant corresponding secretary under Dr. W. Pope Yeaman, Corresponding Secretary of the General Association of the State of Missouri, after which he organized and conducted the work of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention for about six years, being so success- ful in his labors that he turned over to the Board a large amount of money. At present he is the General Agent for the Missouri Baptist Sanitarium, located in St. Louis, and for several years he has served with efficiency as Vice-President for Mis- souri of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
OSEPH SCIHESZER, a successful general agriculturist and an energetic citizen of Sa- line County, is pleasantly located in town- ship 50, range 19, upon what was formerly known as the Hardeman place, near the Hardeman post-offiee. Our subject was born on the banks of
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the Rhine, in Wurtemberg, March 11. 1832. His father, Anthony Schieszer, was born in Wurtem- berg, where he passed his entire life. Joseph Schieszer was the eldest of nine children. all of whom remained in Germany but himself. He emi- grated to America when only nineteen years old, and. landing in New York Jime 2, 1851, found himself a stranger in a strange land.
Willing to accept any respectable work, our subject was variously employed, although princi- pally engaged in railroad work, and in a brief time had journeyed through nineteen States, tramping on foot over much of Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky and Minnesota. He was en- gaged in the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad from the time the first spadeful of soil was turned, and also worked on the Missouri Pacitie, ' when its construction was begun at St. Louis. In 1857, he settled on land in Minnesota, and experi- enced the privations and dangers incidental to life on the frontier. surrounded by Indians, hostile to the advance of civilization. In 1861, our subject, having been deprived of his wife by death, rented his farm and stock, and took his little daughter to ('hicago.
During the temporary residence of Mr. Schieszer in the Garden City, the Indians rose en masse and committed the fearful massacres and terrible atro- cities which destroyed so many homes and lives of men, women and children in the remote parts of Minnesota. While the absence of our subject and his child from their former home mercifully preserved their lives, Mr. Schieszer lost all of his property but the bare land itself,-house, barns, stock and farming implements, all were destroyed, and of the labor and accumulation of years, noth- ing was left, save the desolated acres, whose abundant crop was also a total loss. After remain- ing in Chicago about one month, our subject went to St. Louis, Mo., and for the succeeding twenty years made that city his home, or perhaps we should say his headquarters, as during a greater portion of this time he was engaged in teaming and business which necessitated frequent absences from the city.
Mr. Schieszer was in the service of the Federal Government during the Civil War, and was en-
gaged on board supply boats, on the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, lle was present at the taking of Vicksburg, and was an eye-witness of many thrilling and historical scenes of those exciting days in our national existence. In March, 1880, he removed to his present loca- tion, and purchased about two hundred acres of land-the old llardeman farm. Ilere he prosper- ously devoted himself to the duties of general agriculture, and, identifying himself with all the best interests of his new home, has won the respect of the community. to whom he is well known as an honest, industrious and law-abiding citizen.
Our subject has been married three times, enter- ing into the bonds of wedlock first with Miss Car- oline Ostwold in 1856. His second wife, whom he married in 1865, was Miss Agnes Gardiner. Sep- tember 7, 1870, he was united in matrimony with Mrs. Barbara Keller, his present wife. The chil- dren of the second marriage are: Frank, Joseph, John and Katie; the daughter and sons of the last union are Annie, Robert, Matthew, Edward and Lawrence. The maiden name of Mrs. Schieszer was Barbara Witt, and she has by her first marriage two children, Frederick and Michael Keller. The intelligent sons and daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Schieszer are taking place among the useful and respected citizens of our great republic, and enjoy the esteem of a large circle of friends and acquaint- anees.
ILLIAM EVERT, a prominent and pro- gressive citizen of Concordia, La Fayette County, and a member of one of the fam- ilies who first settled in Freedom Township. is the subject of this notice. lle was born here Novem- ber 30, 1849. ITis father, Louis, was a native of Germany, having been born in the province of llanover, at which place he was reared to agricul- tural life and there married. Like many others. he became tired of the hard life in the contracted space which falls to the lot of the German farmer in the closely settheul portions of the Fatherland,
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and eagerly drank in the wonderful tales of the great green prairies of the Western World which were waiting for settlers. Consequently, in 1829, he set sail from Germany, and after thirteen long and weary weeks he landed upon American soil in the city of New Orleans, whence he came up the mighty Mississippi and landed in Lexington.
Our subject's father was not long in entering four hundred acres of tine land, and settled in the place when his only neighbor was also a German. The log cabin which Mr. Evert erected at that time stood until 1844, when he was able to replace it with the comfortable house which sheltered him in his old age. One of the most American feat- ures of the new home was the visits of the cop- per-colored savages who were not slow in making their appearance at the doors of the settlers' cabins. All trading was done at Lexington, though later Waverly offered the same facilities. Game was abundant, and until the appetite palled, the venison was a welcome addition to a not very varied bill of fare.
Mr. Evert developed a large tract of land and died here at the age of sixty-eight years. Ile had married Dorothea Rade, who was born in Ilanover also, and she became the mother of three boys and one girl. Their names are: Christiana, Fritz, Louis and William. Both Mr. and Mrs. Evert were consistent and pious members of the Evangel- ical Church, and it was through their instrument- ality that the present church was erected in 1854. She is still living and quite active at the age of seventy-eight.
Our subjeet was reared upon the farm and at- tended both English and German schools. The first of these temples of learning were made of logs, and were perfect in nothing but ventilation. The slab benches were like those of all the pio- neer schoolhouses, and the teachers were often as primitive as the houses. They often appeared to be of the opinion that their powers were unlim- ited, and proceeded to improve the manners and tempers of their pupils as well as to enlighten their understandings.
July 4, 1868, Mr. Evert married Miss Chris- tiana Meyer, who was born in Saline County, Mo., and eight children have been added to the family
in the years that have followed, though only six of them are vet living. The children were named as follows: Otto, Lizzie, Amelia (deceased), Rachel, Laura, Henry (deceased), William and Anna. Mr. Evert settled upon his present farm after his mar- riage, and there was then not much improvement on the place except a log house. There were only one hundred and tifty acres in the place, but now he has two hundred and fifteen acres and all are finely improved, and this work he has done him- self. Ile carries on stock and grain farming, and buys hogs and cattle, which he ships to Kansas City.
Mr. Evert and his good wife are members of the St. John Evangelical Church. In politics, he was for long a Republican, but has lately been converted to the principles enunciated by the Peo- ple's party, and has become a member of the Farmers' Alliance. Mr. Evert has seen most of the growth of the county, and is a man of much prominence here.
OHIN CATRON, for over three-score years and ten a continuous and honored resident of La Fayette County, Mo., and a lifetime and prosperous agriculturist of Lexington Township, located upon ranges 26 and 27, town- ship 50, has but a faint remembrance of his early home in White County, Tenn., where he was born February 29, 1812. Having removed with his parents to Missouri when but five years old, the associations of his entire life are interwoven with the scenes and incidents, the progress and improve- ments of his adopted State. Our subject is de- scended upon the paternal side from German an- cestry, while his mother's forefathers were sturdy Welshmen. Grandfather Jacob Catron was born and bred in the Fatherland, but came to America and made his home in Virginia, where he reared his family.
John Catron is a son of Christopher and Eu- phemie (Jones) Catron, for a long time resi- dents of Mrs. Catron's native State, Tennessee,
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where her husband was a prosperous farmer; but Christopher Catron was born in Grayson County. Va., and in the Old Dominion received the rudimentary education which the schools of those early days afforded. Mr. and Mrs. Chris- topher Catron removed with their family to the Territory of Missouri, and located in Saline County. where they remained one year, but early in the fall of 1818 made their permanent home in La Fayette County, which was formerly Lillard County, so named in honor of an early settler, who was a member of the convention that formed the Constitution of the State. The latter became dis- satisfied and moved back to Tennessee and wrote an unfavorable account of Missouri, and the people changed the name of the county to La Fayette. Settling upon a farm, our subject's parents experi- enced all the privations and discomforts of pio- neer life, but, energetic, industrious and enterpris- ing. they aided their neighbors to lay the broad foundation of the future State of Missouri, which, however, did not arrive at the full dignity of Statehood until three years after the Catrons came within the borders of La Fayette County.
Our subject attended the little subscription school at a very tender age, but brief was his school- ing, for his father died August 19, 1819, when our subject was only seven years old, and he was even then compelled to assist his widowed mother to the best of his ability. lle was the third of live children, and as the two younger were naturally unable to do anything for their own support, John, child as he was, was obliged to begin the struggle of life. In 1828, he was apprenticed to a brick- layer, and, working steadily two years, acquired the trade, but since that time he has engaged in the duties of agriculture, which he has made a profit- able occupation. and from the tilling of the soil and stock-raising has amassed a competence. Ilis valuable farm of five hundred and thirty aeres is desirably located, and over four hundred and lifty aeres are under a high state of improvement.
In 1833 Miss Mary A. Fletcher, a most estimable lady and a native of Virginia, became the wife of our subject. She is a daughter of James Fletcher, a native of Virginia, who settled in La Fayette County in the year 1818, and continued his resi-
dence in this portion of Missouri until his death, in 1860. Mr. Fletcher was an excellent citizen and a good friend. and his death was most sincerely mourned as a public loss. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Catron has been blessed by the birth of eight children, seven of whom are yet living. These sons and daughters are: George M., James F .. Thomas B .; Elizabeth, the wife of James A. Gordon, a successful business man of Marshall, Sa- line County. Mo .: Carry, married to Jesse Nave, who lives in Bates County, Mo .; John, a resident well known in Henry County, Mo., his present home; and Mary Jane. the widow of John P. Good- son. The various members of the family are im- portant factors in the social and business elements of their several localities, and enjoy the confidence and esteem of their friends and fellow-citizens.
Always a leading promoter in the many inter- ests of his home neighborhood and vicinity. Mr. Catron has been content to accomplish what he could of good quietly and unostentatiously, and has never aspired to official positions or honors. Although he is not a politician in the common ac- ceptation of the term. he is an ardent and lifelong Democrat, and enjoys the success and triumphs of his party, desiring always that in both loeal and national issues the best men for the place shall head the ticket. Our subject's father had the first twenty-seven acres of prairie broken in the county, and had the first shingles made and the first plank sawed in the county.
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