USA > Missouri > Clinton County > The History of Clinton County, Missouri : containing a history of the County, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens, Clinton County in the late war, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men etc > Part 57
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G. B. LANCASTER,
superintendent of Clinton County Poor Farm, is well and favorably known throughout Clinton County. He is a native of Kentucky, and was born in Daviess County, May 15, 1828, was there educated and reared until 1844, and in that year, the mother, with the family, removed to Missouri, locat- ing in Buchanan County, the father having died when G. B. was quite young. In 1845, the family located in Clinton County, three miles east of Plattsburg, on a farm. In 1850, Mr. Lancaster went to California, and for two years, followed mining. He then returned to Missouri, and located in DeKalb County, where he lived three years, thence to Texas remaining one year, and then returned to Clinton County. In 1879, he took charge of county farm, which, under his skillful management, is in a substantial condition. Mr. Lancaster, has been twice married, first in 1848, to Miss Rebecca Jane Roberts. By this union they had twelve children : Sarah J., Mary E., George H., Littleton M., E. Ann, William G., John T., Fannie M., Emma A., Ira R., and two died in infancy. Mrs. L. died in 1869. He married for his second wife, Miss Ella Martin, in 1870. By this mar- riage they have had five children : Charles F., Eva M., Luella, Rosa M. and Luetta Pearl.
J. J. LEAKE,
furniture dealer and undertaker. Is a native of Missouri and was born in Saline County, February 11, 1836. His father, Benjamin Franklin Leake, was from Mason County, Kentucky, and among the early settlers of La Fayette County, Missouri. When sixteen years of age, J. J. com- menced and learned the carpenter trade. He received the benefits of a good education, employing, to an advantage, his early opportunities. For a number of years he followed school teaching. In 1851, he came to Clinton County, which he has made his home two-thirds of the time
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since. For a number of years he worked at the carpenter trade, at dif- ferent points, and was for a time engaged in the furniture trade at Orrick, Ray County. He also worked in the car department of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company. Four or five years ago he established in trade at Plattsburg, being favorably known throughout the county as a first-class workman, and his affable demeanor, has built up a lucrative business. He keeps thoroughly familiarized with the current news of the times, and is a man of excellent judgment. He married, in 1860, Miss Margaret Goode, of Ray County. By this union they have had six children, five of whom are living : Ida Florence, Ellen Jose- phene, C. Franklin, William Arthur, Elizabeth Ann ; lost one daughter, Matilda A. Mr. and Mrs. Leake, and oldest daughter, are members of the Baptist Church. The Leakes are of English ancestry. The father of J. J. has, for many years, been a resident of Ray County.
RICHARD COLE LINDSAY,
one of the representative pioneers of the west, was born at Lindsay Station, Scott County, Kentucky, December 25, 1795. His parents, Anthony and Alice Lindsay, were natives of Virginia, who emigrated to Kentucky in an early day. Lindsay's Station, settled by Anthony Lind- say, was for many years the frontier settlement of that section, and a noted stockade fort against the Indians. He was the third of a family ton children, six sons and four daughters. He was raised a farmer, and lived in the fort, his father's habitation, till he attained his majority, when he married Miss Julia Herndon Bond, daughter of Walker and Susan Bond, both natives of Virginia, and among the earliest settlers of Scott County, Kentucky. On his marriage, he moved to Gallatin County, Kentucky, where he began the battle of life in a small cabin, with no capital, but energy and a determination to achieve success. He contin- ued to reside there till 1856, when he moved, permanently, to Missouri. While in Kentucky, he became prominent as a breeder of fine stock, and in 1837, it was through his influence, mainly, that the first agricultural fair held in that section of the state occurred at Big Lick, in Gallatin County. Over this institution he presided during the first four years of its existence. In 1840, he took to Callaway County, Missouri, a herd of fine graded cattle, the pioneer importation, of that character, into that part of the state. While a resident of his native state, he was almost constantly in an official position of some kind. He was, successively, justice of the peace, assessor, and sheriff of the county. He was also generally recognized as a public and private arbitrator of differences, being frequently appointed a special commissioner, not only by his own but by neighboring counties, for that duty. For the hospitality prover- bial as existing in that age and locality, the house of Richard Lindsay
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was especially noted. His education was acquired in such schools as existed in that section of the country where he was born, and of these advantages he made abundant use. After his first visit to Missouri, in 1840, he made several return trips, and, being highly pleased with the country, sent, at subsequent periods, his children, as they became of age, to settle there, In 1856, he moved, himself, permanently, to Missouri, and settled in Shoal Township, Clinton County, near the present (1881) line of Lathrop Township. Here he continued to reside till the year 1864, when, with a daughter, Mrs. James B. Green, he moved to his present home in Jackson Township. It was not until the spring of 1880, that his mental and physical energies began to manifest any marked decline. He has had fourteen children, four sons and ten daughters. The four sons and six of the daughters attained to maturity. Thesc were : Edward E., D. Herndon, R. P., John T., Mary E., wife of George B. White, of Atchison, Cassandra, who married A. W. Osburn (she died some time after), Sarah Jane, wife of Captain John G. Scott, Alice, wife of A. S. Fry, of Clinton County, Julia H., wife of James B. Green. The other children died young.
MAJOR DAVID HERNDON LINDSAY, A. M.,
was born September 29, 1827, in Gallatin, now Carroll County, Kentucky. He was one of a family of fourteen children, and was the second son and sixth child of Richard Cole Lindsay, above referred to as now living in Jackson Township at the advanced age of eighty-six years. Major L. was raised on a farm and educated in the common schools of his county, attending the same at different times till he achieved his nine- teenth year, when he entered Franklin College, Indiana, where he remained till some time after he had entered the senior year, when, in consequence of sickness, he left without taking his baccalaureate degree. The institution, however, in recognition of the superior character of his attainments, afterwards conferred on him the degree of A. M. This was in 1851, when he moved to Missouri, settling first in Hainesville, where he immediately engaged in teaching. Here, in February, 1853, he married Miss Emma Hubbard, daughter of Col. Moses Hubbard, of Clay County. He then moved to LaFayette County, Missouri, where he taught in the Glendale Academy three years. His compensation here during his first year's experience was fifty dollars per month. At the end of the second year he was paid at the rate of $80 per month for the preceding ten months without any demand on his part ; and, for his ser- vices during the third, he was paid at the rate of $100 per month. In March, 1856, he moved to Miami, Saline County, where he established Saline Female Institute, which prospered abundantly till the breaking out of the civil war. On the day on which he dismissed his school, the
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same numbered one hundred and twenty pupils. From the different edu- cational institutions presided over and taught by Professor Lindsay over forty lady teachers have, at different times, been sent. The breaking out of the civil war, however, ended these peaceful and useful pursuits on the part of the Professor, now about to embark in the sterner realities of war. On the sixteenth of June, 1861, he left Miami, as lieutenant of a company raised in that locality, and of which Captain Smith was com- mander. On reaching Lexington, Missouri, however, Smith failing to be present, Lieutenant Lindsay was elected to command the company, a member of Colonel Hughes' regiment from Clinton County. The first battle in which he engaged was Carthage, Missouri. At Wilson's Creek he became separated from his command and was captured. On the second night, however, he effected his escape and rejoined his command. He served under Price in the Confederate army during the entire period of the war. In August, 1861, he was promoted to the rank of major, commanding a battalion in General Parsons' State Guard division. At Pea Ridge, Major L. commanded, by special order of General Price, the division of General Parsons, who was then absent in Richmond, Virginia. In this fight, the hardest contest was sustained by the regiment of Colonel Burbage and the command of Major (acting brigadier-general) Lindsay, these losing fully one-fourth of their men. On the march to Memphis, Major L. was taken sick and never fully recovered from the effects of the attack till after the close of the war, though he remained in active service during the entire period. In 1859, his first wife died, leaving one daugh- ter, Leora S., present (1881 wife of T. W. Walker. At the breaking out of the civil war, he was engaged to be married to Miss Lucy C. Nichol- son, daughter of William P. Nicholson, Esq., of Cooper County. In view of the distracted condition of the country, it was decided to defer the marriage till the close of the war. Miss Nicholson was earnestly devoted to the cause of the South, and, after the battle of Boonville, estab- lished a hospital for the Confederate wounded, which she assisted in tending, several months, till the last patient was able to be moved. Dur- ing the winter of 1861-'62, she was in Springfield, Missouri, actively engaged, with other ladies, in preparing and providing clothing for the soldiers. On her return home to Boonville, in the spring of 1862, she was arrested as a dangerous rebel, by Colonel Eppstein, a recently pro- moted vender of beer and bologna sausage, who proceeded to display his courage and magnanimity by confining her in prison for the period of eight weeks, at the end of which time she was released by General T. T. Crittenden, now (1881) governer of the State, who had just arrived and been informed of the outrage. She then went to Howard County, Missouri, where she engaged in teaching school. While there she inspired sufficient terror, to cause, at the command of Colonel Dick, the provost-marshal, her arrest by a force of forty men. Colonels James S.
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Rollins, Odon Guitar and others interested themselves to have the lady released. Dick, however, had her taken to St. Louis and incarcerated in Gratiot Street prison. She was one of the only two ladies ever imprisoned in this place. At the end of four weeks she was removed to the female prison in the city. She was subsequently banished with a number of other ladies to Okolona, Mississippi. Traveling thence, in com- pany with the wife of General Frost, she reached Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and on the 22d of July, 1863, was married, at the general's headquarters, to Major Lindsay. She remained with the army till the close of the war, devoting much of her time to the aid and comfort of the soldiers. By means of tableaux, theatrical exhibitions, etc., principally inaugurated by herself, the means of clothing an entire brigade at Washington, Arkansas, were realized. At the close of the war, Major Lindsay returned to Kentucky, where he filled the position of assistant principal of Con- cord College, in Owen County. In 1867, he was elected Professor of Latin and Mathematics in Ghent College, Kentucky. In 1870, he was elected President of Warsaw Male and Female College, which position he filled till 1876, when he removed to Missouri and settled in Clinton County. While in Kentucky, he was, in 1873, elected a member from the Twenty-third Senatorial District to the Legislature of the State. His district included the counties of Owen, Gallatin and Boone. He left for Missouri before the expiration of his term of office. From 1876 to 1878, he filled, with ability, the position of Principal of the Plattsburg Public Schools. In 1878, he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court of Clinton County-for the term of four years. Major Lindsay has, by his second marriage, two children, Richard H. and Mary G. He has, from his early boyhood, been a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. Politically he has always been a Democrat.
ELDER G. W. LONGAN,
pastor of the Christian Church, is a native of Missouri, and was born in Howard County, December 31, 1819. His father, Austin K., was a native of Virginia, and his mother, Martha Litchworth, was a native of Maryland. His father is of Irish ancestry, and the mother of English origin. His grandfather Litchworth, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. When the subject of this sketch was about one year old, the family removed to Cooper County, Missouri. The father was a brick mason by trade, and, for a number of years, was identified with the build- ing interests of Boonville. He was also well known as a public man. having represented the county at three different periods in the Legislature, and had the honor of being the first from Cooper County. Here young Longan, was reared and educated, entering the ministry in 1847. His first charge, was in Cooper County. In 1852, he removed to Warsaw,
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Benton County, continuing until the close of the war, when his labors were changed to Pettis County, where he lived for some years, thence to Warrensburg, Johnson County, afterwards at Richmond, Ray County, and in 1877, took charge of the Plattsburg Church. During his pastorate in Missouri, Elder Longan, has done much towards the establishment of the moral sentiments, and the advancement of the cause of Christ. His career has been an active, useful and successful one. The churches that have been erected through his efforts, and societies formed in different parts of the state, during the long period of his ministry, are evidences of his untiring zeal and energy, in the interest of the Master, and his devotion to the society, with which he is connected. He is a thorough bible scholar, a good logician, and a clear, comprehensive and impressive speaker, as a pastor, faithful to every duty, and, as a contributor to the organs of his denomination, he being associate editor of The Christian, published in St. Louis, has achieved a well earned reputation. He has marked social powers, which have gained the love and esteem of his friends and acquaintances. He married Miss Myra P. Reaves, of Cooper County, Missouri, November 12, 1840. Their family consists of seven children : William H., Maria C., now Mrs. W. L. Black, of Pettis County, Missouri, Patrick Henry, Geo. B., a teacher in the Kansas City Public Schools, Mary E., wife of J. H. Stone, of Clinton County, Martha E., wife of H. C. Upton, and James A.
GEORGE W. LOTT.
This genial young gentleman is a native of Clinton County, Mis- souri, and was born July 4, 1858. His father, Fountain P. Lott, was among the pioneers, and was closely identified with the development of the county, until 1877, when he located in Atchison County. George W. was reared in his native county, and received a good education at the State Normal School.
J. M. LOWE,
attorney and counsellor at law, and present prosecuting attorney, ranks as one of the leading lawyers of the Clinton County bar. He is a native of Kentucky, and was born in Pendleton County. December 13, 1844. His father, Moses, was a native of Kentucky, and his grandfather, Lowe, was from Virginia. His mother, formerly Miss Nancy W. Porter, was a native of Kentucky. His nationality he traces to English and Scotch ancestry. J. M. spent his youthful days in Kentucky, receiving the ben- efits of a common school education. In 1863, he commenced the study of law, at Greenfield, Indiana, and after being admitted to the bar, prac- ticed in the courts in that locality until 1869. In 1870, he became a res- ident of Plattsburg. In 1872, he was elected prosecuting attorney, and
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re-elected in 1878, as the popular choice for that important office, and was also elected his own successor in 1880. Mr. Lowe has attained a well-merited reputation, and an established fitness as a prosecuting attorney. As a man, he is genial and companionable, commanding in a large degree the respect of his fellow-citizens. In March, 1876, Miss Mary E. McWilliams became his wife. She was a resident of Jackson County, Missouri, and a native of Kentucky. They have by this union two children, Roger and Florence M. Mr. L. is a Mason and a member of the Knights of Honor.
LYONS & CONNER,
dealers in dry goods, clothing, boots and shoes, hats, caps, carpetry, etc., are numbered among the leading merchants of Plattsburg. The firm is composed of E. M. Lyons and W. H. Conner. The former is a native of Jefferson County, Kentucky, and was born March 26, 1842. His boyhood days were spent in Carroll County, where he was reared and educated. He had an extensive mercantile experience in Louisville, Kentucky. For several years he was well known to the traveling pub- lic as the popular host of the Carthright House, of that city. In 1863, he came to Plattsburg, but returned to Kentucky in 1864, and in 1865, he again became a resident of Plattsburg, and engaged in his present business. William H. Conner is also a native of Kentucky, and was born in Greenup County, February 26, 1834. His father, the Hon. Wil- liam Conner, was an eminent attorney, and prominent in political mat- ters, being a Democrat of the old school. For eight years he was a member of the state senate, and six years of the lower house. The youth of W. H. was spent in his native state until 1852, when he came to Missouri, and the same year he crossed the plains to California, and for ten years was employed by different companies as train master, and earned an enviable reputation in this occupation. In 1867, he came to Plattsburg, and was associated in business with Hooper, Porter & Co., until he formed a partnership with Mr. Lyons, in 1870. Their career as business men is well known to the residents of Clinton County, and their reputation for honesty and fair deeling, is as wide as their acquaintance, and is recognized as such by a host of appreciative patrons. They have a branch store at Starfield, in the northern part of the county, which is an important adjunct to their large and increasing business.
WILLIAM McDONALD,
farmer and stock raiser, section 5, post office Plattsburg. The subject of this sketch is a native of Kentucky, and was born in January, 1817. At the age of fifteen, he emigrated to this state, and settled in Callaway
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County, where he remained about two years, after which time he removed to Platte County. He subsequently emigrated to Oregon, where he remained five years, and then returned to this state and set- tled in this county. He is, truly, a self-made man, having worked his way from an humble station in life to the position he now occupies. Mr. McD. has seventy-three acres of good, average land, most of which is under cultivation. He was married, February 16, 1848, to Harriet Swearingen. They have two children, Sophia L. and Laura J. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald are members of the Methodist Church, and contribute liberally toward its support.
THOMAS H. McKEE,
farmer and stock raiser, section 33, post office Lathrop. This popular agriculturist, although young in years, is, nevertheless, one of our rep- resentative farmers. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and was born August 11, 1848. He emigrated to this state in 1867, and settled in this county. Having been reared a farmer, he still follows that occupation. and owns 200 acres of good land, all of which is under cultivation. He is also a stock dealer of considerable prominence. Mr. McKee was married, August 4. 1868, to Miss Mattie B. Thomas. They have had five children : Joseph E., William A., Marshall P. (now deceased , Martha Z. and Mildred M. Mr. and Mrs. McKee are members of the Presbyte- rian Church.
THOMAS McMICHAEL,
an early settler and representative citizen of Clinton County, was born in Xenia, Greene County, Ohio, May 22, 1810. His parents, who were natives of the neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky, moved to Ohio in an early day. He was the youngest of a family of three children, two sons and a daughter. The latter died young. Neriah, the second son, is a resident of the State of Iowa. Raised a farmer, Mr. McMichael received his literary education in the common schools of the country. These limited advantages he improved by unaided, though unre- mitting, application. A constant reader during the long period of his life, he has not only justly acquired the reputation of a man of superior intelligence, and, though uninformed as to the technic- alities of grammatical construction, is a singularly correct writer of his own language. In November, 1838, he moved to Missouri, and settled in Plattsburg, in the immediate neighborhood of which he engaged in farming, and also sold clocks. He was, at different times, for the period of thirty years, engaged in mercantile business in Plattsburg. In 1853, he traded his stock of merchandise to Thomas E. Birch, now of Glasgow, Missouri, for 3,300 acres of land, in Clin-
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ton County, valued at $10,000, two-thirds of which he, at different times, subsequently disposed of for about $60,000. In 1854, he again engaged in merchandising, in Plattsburg, continuing in the same till the year 1859, when he sold out his stock of goods to Abraham Funkhouser. In 1860, he again, and, for the last time, embarked in commercial busi- ness in Plattsburg, continuing in the same three years, when he retired from the active pursuits of trade, and closed his mercantile career. He married, in Xenia, Ohio, Miss Hannah Morgan, daughter of John Morgan, Esq., of Shenandoah County, Virginia. By this marriage they have had eight children : John M., William L., DeWitt C., Charles O., Augusta V., Leonora, Josephine and Thomas. These, with the exception of John M., the founder and present editor and publisher of the Lever, are all dead. Mr. McMichael united with the M. E. Church South, about 1845. Of this he has ever since continued an active and zealous member. He was a member of the first lodge of Sons of Temperance organized in Plattsburg, and has, all his life, been a pronounced temperance man. Politically, he has always been a Democrat. In 1881, he traded his magnificent farm, adjoining the town site, to B. F. Trimble, for a farm in Clay County, and moved his residence into Plattsburg.
HON. JOHN MORGAN McMICHAEL,
the eldest and only surviving of a family of eight children, was born in Xenia, Ohio, March 16, 1838. In November, 1838, his parents, Thomas and Hannah McMichael, above referred to, moved to Plattsburg, Mis- souri, where young John was reared, and where he has spent most of his life. He was educated chiefly in Plattsburg and in Ridgely Academy, Platte County. His first employment on leaving school was in the posi- tion of clerk in his father's store in Plattsburg, where he afterwards sold goods on his own account till 1868, when he entered on the study of the law in the office of Judge Porter. In 1869, he was admitted to the bar, and engaged in the practice of his profession till the year 1872, when he moved to Kansas City, where he assumed editorial charge of the Daily Evening News. In May, 1873, he returned to Plattsburg, where he established the Lever, a seven column weekly, which was immediately received with favor, and which has continued to meet with unqualified success. In 1875, the prosperous character of the enterprise warranted the enlargement of the Lever to its present (1881) dimensions, a nine column sheet, thirty-one by forty-seven and a half inches, the largest single sheet printed in the state. Always Democratic, the Lever has been ever noted for the independent character of its utterances. In 1876, it began boldly to espouse the cause of temperance, and has ever since continued to be recognized as the leading advocate of that princi- ple in the state. Mr. J. M. McMichael represented Clinton County in
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the State Legislature, in the sessions of 1869 and 1870. He was after- wards elected mayor of the city of Plattsburg, serving one year. In the convention of 1870, he came within a few votes of receiving the nomina- tion for Congress in his district. He has been a member of the M. E. Church, South, since the year 1858. He was also, at one time, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was, from time to time, a member of the different temperance societies as they existed in the town. He was married in Liberty, Missouri, May 5, 1864. to Miss Julia Lincoln, daughter of George T. and Julia A. Lincoln. They have had five chil- dren : Lenore, Fanny, Julia, Clara and Thomas. Of these all are (1881) living, with the exception of Fanny.
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