Portrait and biographical record of Marion, Ralls and Pike counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties; together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the Unted States, Part 8

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, C. O. Owen & Co.
Number of Pages: 820


USA > Missouri > Marion County > Portrait and biographical record of Marion, Ralls and Pike counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties; together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the Unted States > Part 8
USA > Missouri > Pike County > Portrait and biographical record of Marion, Ralls and Pike counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties; together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the Unted States > Part 8
USA > Missouri > Ralls County > Portrait and biographical record of Marion, Ralls and Pike counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties; together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the Unted States > Part 8


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The silver question precipitated a controversy between those who were in favor of the continu- ance of silver coinage and those who were op- posed, Mr. Cleveland answering for the latter, even before his inauguration.


On June 2, 1886, President Cleveland married Frances, daughter of his deceased friend and part- ner, Oscar Folsom, of the Buffalo Bar. Their union has been blessed by the birth of two dauglı- ters. In the campaign of 1888, President Cleve- land was renominated by his party, but the Republican candidate, Gen. Benjamin Harrison, was victorious. In the nominations of 1892 these two candidates for the highest position in the gift of the people were again pitted against each other, and in the ensuing election President Cleveland was victorious by an overwhelming majority.


BENJAMIN HARRISON.


BENJAMIN HARRISON.


ENJAMIN HARRISON, the twenty-third President, is the descendant of one of the historical families of this country. The first known head of the family was Maj .- Gen. Harrison, one of Oliver Cromwell's trusted followers and fighters. In the zenith of Cromwell's power it be- came the duty of this Harrison to participate in the trial of Charles I., and afterward to sign the death warrant of the king. He subsequently paid for this with his life, being hung October 13, 1660. His descendants came to America, and the next of the family that appears in history is Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, great-grandfa- ther of the subject of this sketch, and after whom he was named. Benjamin Harrison was a men- ber of the Continental Congress during the years 1774, 1775 and 1776, and was one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was three times elected Governor of Virginia.


Gen. William Henry Harrison, the son of the distinguished patriot of the Revolution, after a successful career as a soldier during the War of 1812, and with a clean record as Governor of the Northwestern Territory, was elected President of the United States in 1840. His career was cut short by death within one month after his in- auguration.


President Harrison was born at North Bend,


Hamilton County, Ohio, August 20, 1833. His life up to the time of his graduation from Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, was the uneventful one of a country lad of a family of small means. His father was able to give him a good education, and nothing more. He became engaged while at college to the daughter of Dr. Scott, Principal of a female school at Oxford. After graduating, lie determined to enter upon the study of law. He went to Cincinnati and there read law for two years. At the expiration of that time young Har- rison received the only inheritance of his life-liis aunt, dying, left him a lot valued at $800. He regarded this legacy as a fortune, and decided to get married at once, take this money and go to some Eastern town and begin the practice of law. He sold his lot, and, with the money in liis pocket, he started out with his young wife to fight for a place in the world. He decided to go to Indian- apolis, which was even at that time a town of promise. He met with slight encouragement at first, making scarcely anything the first year. He worked diligently, applying himself closely to his calling, built up an extensive practice and took a leading rank in the legal profession.


In 1860, Mr. Harrison was nominated for the position of Supreme Court Reporter, and tlien be- gan his experience as a stump speaker. He call-


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BENJAMIN HARRISON.


vassed the State thoroughly, and was elected by a handsome majority. In 1862 he raised the Seventeenth Indiana Infantry, and was chosen its Colonel. His regiment was composed of the raw- est material, but Col. Harrison employed all his time at first in mastering military tactics and drill- ing his men, and when he came to move toward the East with Sherman, his regiment was one of the best drilled and organized in the army. At Resaca he especially distinguished himself, and for his bravery at Peachtree Creek he was made a Brigadier-General, Gen. Hooker speaking of him in the most complimentary terms.


During the absence of Gen. Harrison in the field, the Supreme Court declared the office of Supreme Court Reporter vacant, and another person was elected to the position. From the time of leaving Indiana with his regiment until the fall of 1864 he liad taken no leave of absence, but having been nominated that year for the same office, he got a thirty-day leave of absence, and during that time made a brilliant canvass of the State, and was elected for another term. He then started to rejoin Sherman, but on the way was stricken down with scarlet fever, and after a most trying attack made his way to the front in time to participate in the closing incidents of the war.


In 1868 Gen. Harrison declined a re-election as Reporter, and resumed the practice of law. In 1876 he was a candidate for Governor. Although defeated, the brilliant campaign he made won for him a national reputation, and he was much sought after, especially in the East, to make speeches. In 1880, as usual, he took an active part in the campaign, and was elected to the United States Senate. Here he served for six years, and was known as one of the ablest men, best lawyers and strongest debaters in that body. With the ex- piration of his senatorial term he returned to the practice of his profession, becoming the head of one of the strongest firms in the State.


The political campaign of 1888 was one of the most memorable in the history of our country. The convention which assembled in Chicago in June and named Mr. Harrison as the chief stand- ard-bearer of the Republican party was great in every particular, and on this account, and the at-


titude it assumed upon the vital questions of the day, chief among which was the tariff, awoke a deep interest in the campaign throughout the nation. Shortly after the nomination, delegations began to visit Mr. Harrison at Indianapolis, his home. This movement became popular, and from all sections of the country societies, clubs and delegations journeyed thither to pay their re- spects to the distinguished statesman.


Mr. Harrison spoke daily all through the sum- mer and autumn to these visiting delegations, and so varied, masterly, and eloquent were his speeches that they at once placed him in the fore- most rank of American orators and statesmen. Elected by a handsome majority, he served his country faithfully and well, and in 1892 was nom- inated for re-election; but the people demanded a change and he was defeated by his predecessor in office, Grover Cleveland.


On account of his eloquence as a speaker and his power as a debater, Gen. Harrison was called upon at an early age to take part in the dis- cussion of the great questions that then began to agitate the country. He was an uncompromising anti-slavery man, and was matched against some of the most eminent Democratic speakers of his State. No man who felt the touch of his blade desired to be pitted with him again. With all his eloquence as an orator he never spoke for ora- torical effect, but his words always went like bul- lets to the mark. He is purely American in his ideas, and is a splendid type of the American statesman. Gifted with quick perception, a logi- cal mind and a ready tongue, he is one of the most distinguished impromptu speakers in the nation. Many of these speeches sparkled with the rarest eloquence and contained arguments of great weight, and many of his terse statements have ' already become aphorisms. Original in thought, precise in logic, terse in statement, yet withal faultless in eloquence, he is recognized as the sound statesman and brilliant orator of the day. During the last days of his administration Presi- dent Harrison suffered an irreparable loss in the death of his devoted wife, Caroline (Scott) Har- rison, a lady of many womanly charms and vir- tues. They were the parents of two children.


1


MARION, RALLS AND PIKE COUNTIES,


MISSOURI.



0


O


Lyme orman P. Munger.)


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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


THE MUNGER BROTHERS.


T HE MUNGER BROTHERS. Their an- cestry is English, and is traced back to Nicholas Munger, who, when a lad, came from England to New Haven, Conn., in 1639, and subsequently settling in Guilford, died there Octo- ber 16, 1668.


Their paternal grandfather was Elias Munger, born in Guilford, Conn., February 17, 1756. He served under Washington in the war for Inde- pendence, and was afterwards given a pension by the Government until his death, September 27, 1841. He married, July 19, 1804, Elizabeth Aus- tin, a native of the same State and town, who was born March 21, 1785. Not many years subse- quent to the Revolution they left what was con- ceded to be the civilized portion of the new Re- public, and traversing a wild country, settled in what is now known as Rutland, in Vermont. There they began farming, and lived and died, the father passing away September 27, 1841, and the mother, August 19, 1853. Ten children were born to them, nine of whom grew to mature years. Of these Carlton Austin Munger was born May 30, 1808; he grew to manhood and married Lucy Ann Paige, May 26, 1834. She was the daughter of Ralph Paige, and was born in Rut- land, Vt., December 2, 1813. Ralph Paige was born at Hardwick, Mass., August 21, 1769. He was a direct descendant of Nathaniel Paige who, associated with seven other English gentlemen, came to Massachusetts December 27, 1686, and purchased from the Indians a tract of land eight by twelve miles square, on which the town of Hardwick was subsequently located. The Indian conveyance was afterward confirmed by Colonial Courts. He was a successful business man, was prominently known in the State, and was espe- cially noted for his great physical strength and


1


mental energy. He died in Rutland, Vt., August 20, 1856.


Carlton A. Munger, the father of the subjects of these memoirs, was for many years a merchant at Rutland. In February, 1849, he moved to Granville, N. Y., where, for twelve years, he was Treasurer of the Washington County Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In 1861 he moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where he resumed the mer- cantile business. In 1866 he followed his sons, who had settled in Hannibal, Mo., where he died March 4, 1878. He possessed an affectionate and genial disposition, and was an experienced reader, possessing fine literary taste. He was gifted with a remarkable memory, which, with his conversa- tional powers, made him a most agreeable com- panion.


To Carlton A. and Lucy Ann Munger were born five children: Lyman P., William A., Isa- bella, Henry E., and Lucy Ann. Isabella was married to James E. Trimble; Lucy A. became the wife of Dr. Wm. A. George.


Lyman P. Munger. Of the many bright stars that form the cluster of progressive and enter- prising citizens of Hannibal, who cast their rays upon life's pathway that humanity may be better and happier, none are more brilliant or shed a brighter light than he who is the subject of this memoir. His principal attributes are industry, energy and perseverance. To these may be added strict integrity of purpose and a genuine, chari- table and benevolent disposition. With these characteristics he cannot but have an abiding faith in whatever he undertakes, and with the fullest confidence in the ultimate success of his plans, he quietly pursues them to a successful termination.


The subject of this biography was born in Rut-


-


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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


land, Vt., October 26, 1836. He received a good education, being trained to business life in his father's office, and remaining with his father until 1854, when he went to Plattsburg, N. Y., and for a time was in the employ of a manufacturing com- pany. In 1856 he turned his face westward, and located in Joliet, Ill., where he engaged in the banking business as Cashier for the banking house of Thomas Hatton & Co. In 1861 he re- moved to Des Moines, Ia., where he established himself in the mercantile business, operating under the name of L. P. Munger & Co. Becom- ing interested in the gold fields of the Great West, which were then attracting so many adventurous spirits, he sold out his business, and in the Spring of 1863, with three agreeable companions, started for the wild and unknown regions from which the Territory of Montana was subsequently organ- ized, led by the first faint rumors of gold discov- eries there.


The relative situation in Western developments then and now are strikingly illustrated by direct contrast. At that time there were no railroads within seventy-five miles of Des Moines, and be- tween there and Council Bluffs, but two or three small villages. The great stretch of fertile lands was unoccupied and unfenced. Omaha was a little frontier village with but one or two short, tliinly-settled streets, and was the outpost of civil- ization. Montana was not then organized even as a Territory.


At Fort Kearney Mr. Munger and companions joined with others in forming the first train that ever went direct from the States into the region now known as Montana and Wyoming. For two and a half months the train pushed its difficult way, harassed at times by Indians, and repulsing one night attack. Climbing ranges and fording or floating across streams, the party reached the since famous Alder Gulch on "Representation Day," July 1, 1863, and cach pre-empted a claim, and in partnership with his companions, Mr. Munger prosecuted gold mining for over three years. This period covered exciting times, and illustrated most eloquently the American capacity for self-government.


The guerrillas of our civil war and the desper-


ate characters of all our frontiers poured into the new Eldorado, forming a society which, with the absence of law, it seemed impossible to restrain. But the miners created intelligently all necessary regulations as to the property rights and bravely enforced them. A miners' meeting was the "court of last resort" at that time.


During the two years in which they were out- side of statute law, they promptly met all emer- gencies with swift and salutary action. In the trial by miners of one George Ives for murder, there was developed a clue to a murderous band of twenty-seven men. An invincible vigilant or- ganization was formed in a few days, and all but one of this band were executed, but in a deliber- ate and orderly manner. Mr. Munger was a Lieutenant in the vigilantes, and personally as- sisted in the hanging of five thugs at the same time from one beam. The one he personally escorted to execution was Boone Helm, who is well known to old residents of Monroe County, Mo., where he, some years before, killed Mr. Shoot near Paris and escaped.


In September, 1866, after working out his mining interest, Mr. Munger, with about two hundred other well-armed men, crossed the Madi- son and Gallatin rivers and divides, on the way back to a more desirable civilization. Reaching the Yellowstone, and purchasing rights in open boats at a point where Livingstone is now located, they committed themselves to the current of the stream. At that time there was not a dwelling or even a fort in that valley. Passing down it with immense herds of buffalo, elk and other game constantly in sight, and on which they subsisted, they reached the Missouri, then floating down it, debarked at Sioux City. The voyage, prosecuted from early dawn until dusk, occupied thirty-two days, and was an interesting experience. It was also a novel experience to renew relations with a serener civilization. Mr. Munger kept a diary of his frontier life, which he still possesses.


On coming to Hannibal, in November, 1866, with a portion of his hard-earned money, Mr. Munger purchased the interest of H. W. Mead- ows, of the firm of Meadows & Munger (the latter being his brother) and under the name of Munger


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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


Brothers, engaged in the wholesale trade of agri- cultural implements until 1871, when they sold out and embarked in the manufacture of lime. Later, they were incorporated, and the business is now carried on under the name of the Hanni- bal Lime Company. They do a large and profit- able business, and ship the products of their fac- tory over the Western States.


Mr. Munger was united in marriage, in Pres- cott, Wis., October 19, 1869, to Miss Lucy, daugh- ter of Judge William Howes, of that place, who was a native of Montpelier, Vt. In politics Mr. Munger supports the principles of the Repub- lican party. He has not only been successful in the business walk of life, but in securing the esteem and confidence of his fellow men. He is now prepared to enjoy that contentment which is the result of a life well spent and the conscious- ness that he has dealt fairly with all mankind.


He spends much time in reading books of a higher character, and is a close student of nature, from which he not only receives instruction, but inspiration. He has an active, vigorous and an- alytical mind, a retentive memory, and is a fluent and pleasing conversationalist. He is a con- panionable man, kind, generous, charitable and greatly devoted to his home. With his sympa- thetic and devoted companion, alike in thought and literary tastes, his life cannot be less than a happy one. He is an honor to the State that gave him birth and the State of his adoption.


Hon. William A. Munger, of Munger Brothers, Hannibal, Mo., the subject of this memoir, is a native of Vermont, born in Rutland, October 9, 1838. He was educated at the common schools of his native city and at Granville, N. Y., to which place his parents removed. At the age of sixteen he entered the business world for himself, to carve out his own career. Leaving the parental roof, he made his way to the pretty town of Platts- burg, N. Y., where he found occupation as a clerk in the house of L. Myers & Sons, extensive merchants and manufacturers. Here he remained for four years, when he concluded that he needed a change of location, and, turning his face toward the Great West, located at Joliet, after traveling for a time in Minnesota. He remained in that


city until 1862, when, responding to the call of President Lincoln for more soldiers to meet the enemies of the country, he patriotically gave up his business and took up arms against the great rebellion. He at once began recruiting, and soon had a sufficient number of brave boys to form a company. They were organized as Company G, of the One Hundredth Illinois Volunteer Infan- try, and Mr. Munger was chosen their Captain. This was the first Company organized under that call. The Regiment, commanded by Col. F. A. Bartleson, left Joliet for Louisville, where it be- came a part of the Army of the Cumberland, Second Brigade, Second Division, Fourth Army Corps, and so remained until the close of the war. Capt. Munger and liis company had their first experience of warfare on the memorable field of Stone River. This was followed by the battles of Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and others. Subsequently his command was ordered to Knoxville to relieve Burnsides. While at Knoxville, Capt. Munger was placed on staff duty of the Second Brigade, Second Di- vision, Fourth Army Corps, and served in that capacity during the rebellion, taking part in all the camps, marches and battles of that corps, closing up with the campaign of Atlanta and the march against Hood's army, which ended with the great battles of Franklin and Nashville. Later his command moved into Northern Alabama, where it spent the winter of 1864 and 1865. In the spring of 1865, the command moved to Green- ville, Tenn., where it was maneuvering when Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Subsequently the One Hundredth Regiment was ordered to Nash- ville, where later, on July 15, 1865, its band of brave soldiers, including Capt. Munger, was mus- tered out, paid off and finally discharged. A re- markable feature of Capt. Munger's military his- tory is that he served through the war without receiving a wound, without hospital service or the loss of a day, and was never at any time out of sight of his command. Capt. Munger was dis- tinguished for his bravery, for cool, calm judg- ment in battle, and for being ever ready for action. He received special mention for gallant conduct at the battle of Stewart's Creek, from his Brigade,


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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


Division and Corps commanders, which will be found in the Government's history of the rebel- lion. Another unusual feature of his service was that nearly all the commissioned officers of his Regiment served in their respective places until the close of the war, which condition was against any promotion in line. It was the knowledge of this fact, and the high appreciation of his services and devotion to the cause of his country, that prompted his Brigade and Division commanders and Gen. Thomas to earnestly recommend Capt. Munger for a commission in the regular army.


September 1, 1865, Capt. Munger located at Hannibal, where he has since been engaged in business. He first engaged in the agricultural implement trade, associated first with Mr. Mead- ows, then with his brother. In 1871, they sold out this business and engaged in the manufacture of lime. Co-extensive with the lime business is the quarrying and cutting of stone for building pur- poses. They have a fine quarry on Bear Creek, which turns out first class stone which is shipped, chiefly to St. Louis and the West. They employ in their business from one to two hundred men.


Capt. Munger, with his brother Lyman, is also largely engaged in agriculture. They have a fine tract of some three thousand acres of land in the Chenal Ecarte, commonly called Sny Bot- toms, in Illinois, where they chiefly cultivate the cereals. This land is very fertile and the yield is generally large.


Mr. Munger was united in marriage at Joliet, Ill., December 3, 1865, to Mahalla Anna, daugh- ter of Samuel K. and Emily (McCreery) Casey, a native of Franklin County, Ill. Samuel Casey was a prominent and well known man of that State, and was for many years Warden of the Joliet Penitentiary. He died in 1872. Not long since, Mr. Munger was called upon to mourn the loss of his beloved companion, who departed this life January 3, 1894.


Mr. Munger was elected a member of the City Council in 1868, serving one term. In 1880 he was chosen Mayor, filling that office with credit to himself and to the city. In 1881 he was again elected to the City Council.


Mr. Munger has been a potent factor in the


growth and development of his adopted city, and is regarded as one of its most careful, progressive business men. By the exercise of good judgment, and by pursuing the most honorable business methods, he has acquired a handsome compe- tence, which he now enjoys.


Mr. Munger is personally of good physique, and a man of modest bearing; simple in speech, direct and earnest. Engaged for many years in a business that gives employment to a large num- ber of men, he has ever been accessible to the approach of the humblest laborer. While always interested, and generally actively engaged, in the public enterprises affecting this city he has equally been identified with its social life. He is a mem- ber of the Episcopal Church, and has long been a vestryman. In politics, he has always been a loyal Democrat, and while taking an active in- terest in the principles of the party, has never desired office. Yet neither in politics nor religion is he strongly partisan or sectarian, being a man of broad views and cosmopolitan in thought. De- siring the fullest liberty in the formation of his own opinions, he is ever tolerant toward those of others. He is always a subscriber to local phil- anthropic and charitable enterprises, and kind and generous in all the relations of private and public life. His personal character is spotless, and his word is readily accepted throughout the community in which he has lived for the past thirty years, and in which he is also so well known and so highly esteemed.


E DWIN C. SPENCE is one of the self-made men of Marion County, and one of her prominent and respected citizens. In his early manhood he learned the blacksmith trade, and over forty years ago opened a shop in Phila- delphia, Mo. During the intervening years he has engaged in farming in connection with black- smithing; he hires his farm work done and runs a blacksmith-shop, which is located in Philadel- phia.


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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


The father of our subject, Thomas Spence, was born in Virginia and was a very wealthy man, owning an extensive plantation and many slaves prior to 1831. For some time he was also a clerk in the City of Washington, D. C. It was in 1831 that he moved to Marion County and entered one hundred and sixty acres on Sections 30 and 31, Township 58, Range 8. The money necessary for this was sent to him by his father, who also purchased in this township land for another son. A short time after locating here Thomas Spence moved to Palmyra, where, in company with Will- iam T. Tandy, he carried on a cabinet-shop for several years. Then, in order to give his children better educational privileges, he moved to Phila- delphia, and was there engaged in the grocery business until his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Annie Maria Settles, was also a native of the Old Dominion, and by her union with Mr. Spence became the mother of ten children, name- ly : Caroline M., George Alexander, Olivia Maria, Patrick Henry, Edwin C., Emily Cornelia, Lucy and Henrietta (twins), Thomas Alexander and Mary V. After the death of Mr. Spence his wid- ow became the wife of Jourdon J. McCormick of Iron County, Mo., and bore him one son, Preston, who is now head engineer of the St. Louis Electric Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. McCormick lived for some time (about 1870) at the home of our sub- jcct, and then went to Quincy, Ill., where the hus- band died. The mother returned to the home of Edwin C., but finally passed to her reward in Carbondale, Ill. Her daughter Lucy married Dr. Marshall, since deceased, and is now living in Shelbyville, Mo.




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