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 77
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MERIAM & HOLMES,
photographers. This firm is composed of J. H. Meriam and Moses Holmes. The former was born in Canada, August 21, 1838. His parents were residents of Brandon, Vermont. When he was a boy they moved to Saginaw City, Michigan, and when fifteen years of age J. H. went to Canada, where he learned his present business, and which he has since continued to follow. Remaining in Canada till 1869, he then located in Southeastern Kansas, and in the fall of 1878 settled in Stewartsville. Mr. M. was married March 4, 1861, to Miss Sarah A. Allen, of Wood- stock, Canada. She was born in 1842 and died in 1865. They had one child, Salem. He was again married September 19, 1867, to Mrs. Qui- lesta Donalson, her maiden name being Wilson. She is a native of Maine. He and wife are members of the church of the Latter Day Saints. The junior partner of the firm, Moses Holmes, was born in Wayne County, North Carolina, December 1, 1846. When two years of age his mother and her family moved to Pontotoc County, Mississippi, where Moses remained till 1870, when he went to California, and there remained till December 26, 1877. At that time he came to Stewartsville and since then has been engaged in his present business.
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CITY OF STEWARTSVILLE.
PROFESSOR W. O. H. PERRY.
The subject of this sketch is a native of Ohio, and was born in Lake County, February 11, 1838. When but a child, his parents, Wil- liam C. Perry and Eliza (Brown), moved to Adams County, Illinois, remaining in that and Hancock Counties till he attained the age of eight years, when they moved to Nodaway County, Missouri. There he grew to manhood. His primary education was received at home, with his mother as preceptress. When fifteen years of age, he attended school at Savannah, Andrew County, for only two months. He then taught for a period of six months, and, when eighteen, taught another term of three months, and then entered the McGee College, where he was a student for a four years' course, graduating in June, 1860. In the year 1866, he received a diploma from the same institution as Master of Arts. In the fall of 1859, he was licensed to preach in the Cumberland Presby- terian Church, and was ordained in the fall of 1864, and has, since this time, been actively engaged in the ministry. In 1863, he came to Stew- artsville, and has since conducted his present school, which was known as the Stewartsville Seminary till April 19, 1879, when a charter was given as a college. He has made additional improvements in the building, and has now an institution which is a credit to the town and vicinity. March 2, 1862, Professor Perry was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie Ozenberger, who was born in Holmes County, Ohio, October 11, 1839. Her parents came to Missouri when she was nine years of age. They have had seven children, only two of whom are living, William F. and Arthur E. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and belongs to Stewartsville Lodge No. 137.
ED. G. SHELDON
is one of the most successful and prominent merchants and repre- sentative men, not only of Stewartsville, or DeKalb County, but of the great and growing west. He is a native of New York, and was born in Willsborough, Essex County, on the ninth of April, 1848. He spent his youthful days in the district around and about that country, receiving his education in the common schools. In the year 1865, he came to Stewartsville, and has since been engaged in business. A large portion of his landed estate is located in Clinton County, just across the line, his residence also being situated there. Immediately after coming to this place, Mr. Sheldon was engaged in clerking for three years. At the end of that time, he accepted a position as salesman with the well-known dry goods firm of Chambers, Marney & Co., of St. Joseph, and with them remained until 1875, when he again became a resident of Stewartsville. Having become thoroughly familiarized with this branch of business, while in the employ of others, it was natural that he should continue it
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when commencing for himself, on his own account. Here he has built up a reputation for honesty and fair dealing, that any one might envy. In connection with his general stock of goods, he keeps a full line of agri- cultural implements, buggies, wind-pumps, etc. ; and his trade, which is an immense one in this vicinity, extends into. Clay and Ray counties on the south, and on the north to Gentry and Andrew counties. His busi- ness is so large that he is obliged to have in his employ about twenty men. His signs and wind-mills are to be viewed by all, within a radius of seventy-five miles, in any direction from Stewartsville. Mr. Sheldon was married on the 30th of July, 1878, to Miss Maggie Saunders, a daughter of the late Daniel Saunders. She was born on the 6th of July, 1853, and is a native of Gentry County, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. S. have one child, a daughter, Clara, born February 4, 1880. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Stewartsville Lodge No. 182, and also of Royal Arch Chapter No. 77. He is an Odd Fellow, and has taken great interest in Stewartsville Lodge No. 37, in which he is a prominent member. Mr. Sheldon's success in life is largely due to the care with which he has watched over the minutest details of business, and the con- stant and close attention he has given to everything connected with his enterprises. His connection with any business transaction is a sure guarantee of its success.
JAMES SHEARER,
harness maker and speculator, is a native of Missouri, and was born in Clay County, December 18, 1837. When seven years of age, he went to Clinton County, near Plattsburg, where he was reared and educated. When fifteen years of age, he learned the harness maker's trade, in Plattsburg, which he has followed principally during life, working in many towns in the State of Missouri. In 1869, he came to his present location, and, since 1873, has been operating a shop. He also deals extensively in stock, real estate, etc. Mr. Shearer was married, Novem- ber 23, 1869, to Miss Sarah H. Perry, who was born in Hancock County, Illinois, April 16, 1845. Their family consists of three children : James P., George W. and Charles E. Mr. S. is a Mason, and member of Stewartsville Lodge No. 182.
R. H. SMITH,
physician and surgeon. The subject of this sketch was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, November 21, 1812. He was reared and educated at Shelbyville, in that county, and, in the year 1832, he began the study of medicine. In the spring of 1836, he was graduated from the medical department of Transylvania University, of Lexington, Kentucky. He
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CITY OF STEWARTSVILLI
was engaged in the practice of his profession, in his native county, till 1855, when he moved to DeKalb County, Missouri, and, since that time, has resided near or in Stewartsville. Here he has made the practice of medicine a success. Doctor Smith was married, February, 1842, to Miss Lucinda E. Thurston, who was born in Henry County, Kentucky, in the year 1825. She died in 1853. They had six children, two of whom are now living, Annie M. and Lucinda E. ; both reside in Kentucky.
L. DUPUY SMITH,
druggist, was born in Boonville, Cooper County, Missouri, May 22, 1846. When ten years of age he, with his parents, moved to St. Joseph, where he was reared and educated. The senior Smith being a promi- nent druggist of that city for many years, L. D., after he attained the age of sixteen, clerked in his father's store till 1867, when he moved to Stewartsville and began in the drug business for himself. Here he has since continued in the same occupation, except in the year 1876. Dur- ing this time he has built up an enviable and successful reputation. He was married October 14, 1869, to Miss M. A. Craig, of Missouri. They have two children, Frank C., and Guy H. Mr. S. is a Mason and mem- ber of Stewartsville Lodge No. 182. He also belongs to the I. O. O. F., and is a member of Stewartsville Lodge No. 137. His grandmother on his mother's side is now living in Brooklyn, New York, and is over ninety years of age.
J. H. SNOW,
grain and stock dealer. Among the highly respected and most promi- nent citizens of Stewartsville is the subject of this brief biography. He was born in Campbell County, Virginia, June 6, 1836. While he was yet an infant his parents moved to Boyd County, Kentucky, where he was reared on a farm. He was there educated and taught school for a short time, and in 1857 he came to Missouri, making Daviess County his destination. He was there employed in teaching for three years, meeting with a considerable degree of success. The spring of 1861 found him a citizen of Clinton County, Missouri, he having located in La Fayette Township, on section 28, where he now has a farm of 200 acres, which will compare favorably with any in the county, both in quality and improvements. He also has another farm of 100 acres in Clinton County, and considerable property in Stewartsville. Mr. S. began in life for himself a poor boy, and what he now possesses is the reward of his own judicious management and labor. In 1867, he moved to Stewartsville and embarked in the mercantile trade, which he continued for seven years, and on account of his failing health was com-
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pelled to suspend the business for a period. He subsequently resumed the same for three years. Since locating in Stewartsville, Mr. S. has more or less of the time been dealing in stock and grain, in which busi- ness he is at present engaged. He also devotes considerable attention to his farms. He is an active member of the M. E. Church. He was mar- ried January 12, 1860, while in Daviess County, Missouri, to Miss Amer- ica J. Williams, a daughter of the late John D. Williams, a well known and representative man of that county. She was born in Greenup County, Kentucky, July 11, 1836. While a child of about seven years of age her parents moved to Daviess County, Missouri, where she was reared and educated. Their family consists of two children, Laura E., born April 9, 1862, and William D., born May 16, 1864.
W. C. STAGG.
The subject of this sketch has attained the age which but few reach in the present century, and is now more active than an ordinary man at sixty-five. He was born in Mercer County, Kentucky, September 13, 1801. He was reared on a farm in his native county, and received his education in the days when the saw mills were scarce in the land, and when the mallet and wedge took the place of the saw ; consequently, hewed logs, split slabs for seats, and greased paper for windows, consti- tuted the school buildings. When seventeen years of age, Mr. S. went to Harrisburg, of his native county, where he learned the cabinet-making trade, serving an apprenticeship of three years. After completing his trade, he worked as a journeyman in different parts of Kentucky for sev- eral years ; afterwards he was engaged in the cabinet business in Harris- burg, Kentucky. In 1834, he moved to Putnam County, Indiana, and located on a farm, and was there occupied in farming till June, 1840, when he drifted westward, and located near Weston, Platte County, Missouri, in what was at that time known as the Platte Purchase. There he improved a farm, and resided upon it till 1855, when he moved to Jefferson County, Kansas, where his time was spent in tilling the soil till 1865. He then returned to Clinton County, Missouri. During his stay in Kansas, he met with great loss on account of the Kansas trouble in 1856. In 1867, he located in Stewartsville, and for the first year was engaged in the grocery business, since which time he has been retired from active business life. In October, 1876, he went to Texas, where he remained three years. Mr. S. was married in the year 1826, to Miss Sarah Keller, a native of Kentucky. She was born in 1803, and died in 1846. Their family consisted of eight children, six of whom are living : Squire, Kate, William, Mary, Ann and Frank H. He was again married in August, 1850, to Mrs. Margaret Finch, who died in January, 1880,
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CITY OF STEWARTSVILLE.
while on a visit in Texas. Mr. Stagg has been a member of the Presby- terian Church for over fifty years, and has always donated liberally to his church.
W. M. STIGALL,
proprietor of the Palace Drug Store, was born in Randolph County, Missouri, January 18, 1850. He was reared in his native county, and was educated in the Mount Pleasant schools. He then began teaching, and, in the year 1872, moved to DeKalb County, where he was consid- ered one of that county's most successful educators, being, for some time, professor of the Osborn and Stewartsville public schools. May 6, 1879, he began in the drug business, and, in 1881, he erected a new busi- ness building, as a result of which he now has a fine store. He is an Odd Fellow, and member of Stewartsville Lodge No. 137. He was married, April 24, 1873, to Miss Nannie Riggs, the only daughter of A. H. and Caroline Riggs. She was born in Boone County, Missouri, April 17, 1854, and died November 15, 1876. They had one child, born in DeKalb County, January 25, 1874. Mr. Stigall was again married September 6, 188t, to Miss Amanda C. Litzenberg, a daughter of William and Nancy Litzenberg, who now reside in Chillicothe. She was born in Adams County, Illinois, July 6, 1855.
J. H. WHEAT,
postmaster and express agent was born in Morgan County, West Vir- ginia, February 19, 1846, and was there reared and educated. January, 1864, he enlisted in Company E, Fifteenth West Virginia Infantry, and remained in service till the close of the war, receiving some severe wounds and losing the sight of one eye. After the close of the war he learned telegraphing, which he followed for eleven years, being three years on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and eight years with the Hannibal and St. Joseph Company. In 1875 he was stationed at Stew- artsville, and in 1878, by the wish of the people of Stewartsville, was appointed to his present position. He was married September 24, 1869, to Miss Anna Stafford. She was born in England September 21, 1852. They have had three children, only one now living, Minnie, born in Clay County, Missouri, August 24, 1873.
H. M. WHITE
was born in Cattaraugus County, New York, August 12, 1833. When seven or eight years of age his parents moved to Berrien County, Mich- igan, where he was reared and educated. In the spring of 1871, he moved to Stewartsville, and shortly located on his farm, on section 24,
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
La Fayette Township, Clinton County, and was there engaged in agri- cultural pursuits till 1877. At that time he removed to Stewartsville, but is still engaged in looking after the interests of his farm and stock. During the year 1880 he was engaged in the grocery business. He has also worked some at the carpenter's trade. Mr. W. was married, in December, 1861, to Miss Lydia M. Spaulding. She was born March 17, 1839, and is a native of Bingham, Somerset County, Maine. They have five children : George E., Lavina V., Hollis C., Mertie B. and Owen M.
B. F. WHITE,
of the firm of B. F. White & Son, dealers in hardware, stoves, tinware, groceries, etc., is a native of Illinois, and was born in Fulton County, December 10, 1838. He was reared in the town of Canton, of that county, and was there educated, learning the tinner's trade in Abington, Knox County, where he worked until February, 1860, when he came to Stewartsville. He is now one of the oldest citizens of the town. Finan- cially, he was below par on his arrival in Stewartsville, but now has the most extensive hardware and grocery store in DeKalb County. He has figured conspicuously in the official positions of the town. He was mar- ried, January 24, 1861, to Miss A. M. Laffoon. She was born in Clay County, Missouri, July 18, 1839. She was reared in her native county, and came to Stewartsville in the year 1860. They have one child, R. M., born March 3, 1863. Mr. and Mrs. White are members of the M. E. Church. He was the first male member of the church in the town.
LATHROP TOWNSHIP.
-Oc
JACOB BOHART,
retired merchant, was born in Frederick County, Maryland, June 6, 1816, and in 1824, removed to Virginia, and afterwards to Kentucky, where he remained a short time. In 1837, he came to Buchanan County, Missouri, then attached to Clinton County, and located a claim near the head of Bee Creek, where he improved a farm. He married Miss Catharine Cogdill, daughter of Jacob Cogdill, August 26, 1838. Their family con- sisted of eight children : James M., Jacob C., Willard H., William A.,
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LATHROP TOWNSHIP'.
Sarah, Emeline, Elizabeth and Christa Ann, and he has taken great pains in their education. He has been a large farmer, merchant and stock dealer, and was extensively engaged in hemp raising. In 1865, he sold his farm, and moved to Nebraska City, where he engaged in merchan- dising. He erected several large stores, and took a live interest in other enterprises of the city. In 1867, he sold out, and returned to Worth County, Missouri, and there he was engaged in farming and dealing in stock until 1875. In 1879, after closing up his large business, he moved to Lathrop, Clinton County, where he settled, purchasing a good home, and assisting his boys in their enterprises. He built a fine brick store building, one of the first erected. Mrs. Bohart died November 15, 1876, in Worth County, Missouri. She was a woman of strong mind and great will power, and did much to aid her husband in accumulating his fine property. In June, 1881, Mr. B. was again married to Mrs. Sally Laugh- lin, daughter of Edward Lindsay, of Clinton County, Missouri.
JAMES M. BOHART,
banker, was born in Buchanan County, Missouri, in 1841. He was raised on a farm and received a good education in the schools of Andrew County, and for several years was engaged in teaching. When the war broke out, he entered the Confederate service, and commanded a com- pany. He was with Price, Bragg and Johnson for four years, partici- pating in the battles, and sharing all the hardships and deprivations incident to a soldier's life. In 1866, he engaged in the hardware business in Clay County, and continued in it for some years, with satisfactory success. In 1875, he was elected to the State Legislature, and made a diligent and worthy representative, securing a high reputation for his fidelity to his constituents, for his liberality, and for the courtesy extended to all who approached him. In 1879, he became a resident of Lathrop, and engaged in the banking business with his brother, W. H. The firm has also a bank at Kingston, Caldwell County. As a business man, prompt and energetic, upright in all his dealings, he has secured the esteem of all with whom he has had to do. As a citizen, he has taken an active interest in whatever promises to be of permanent benefit to the city, and in educational matters, he has been prompt to act, and efficient to work. He has been twice married ; first, to Miss Maggie F. Elliott, of Woodford County, Kentucky. She died in 1870, leaving one daughter, Sallie A. He married for his second wife, Miss Ada Field, in 1871. Their family by this union is composed of four children : Jacob Field, Nellie, Shannon Clay and Susie. Mrs. Bohart is a daughter of Jacob Field, Esq., of Liberty, Clay County, and is a lady whose graces of mind and person have endeared her to all who enjoy her acquaintance. She was educated at the female seminary of her native place, and at the St. Theresa Seminary, Kansas City.
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
WILLARD H. BOHART,
of the banking firm of W. H. & Jas. M. Bohart, of this city, was born in Buchanan County, Mo., May 6, 1850. He was raised a farmer until fifteen years old, receiving his primary education in a common school. He after- ward attended the William Jewell College for three years, after which he was engaged in teaching eleven years at the Clay Female Seminary at Liberty, the Female Orphan School at Camden Point and other places, where he gained an enviable reputation as a successful instructor. Form- ing a preference for a business life, in August, 1879, he formed a partner- ship with his brother James in the banking business in Lathrop, and at the same time started a similar institution at Kingston, Missouri. The firm have the entire confidence of the community as correct, honest and straightforward business men. He married Miss Margaret E. Pixler, eldest daughter of Major P. E. Pixler, of Clay County, in October, 1869. They have two children, James Edwin and Birdie Pixler. Mr. Bohart is an active member of the Christian Church, and takes a deep interest in the educational matters of the city.
AARON CHARLES,
carpenter and builder, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, June 28, 1818. His educational advantages were limited, yet by his own exer- tions he has become a good business man. He learned the carpenter's trade in Philadelphia, serving an apprenticeship of four years, and after- wards became a competent builder. He erected many buildings in Pennsylvania, and, in 1856, moved to Illinois, and there he engaged in building. In 1868, came to Lathrop, Missouri, at the time that the town was started. Here he has built may of its best structures, among which is the M. E. Church, of which he is an active member. Mr. C. has a fine residence, and ten acres, just outside of the city corporation. His first wife was Miss Catharine Layman, whom he married in Philadelphia. By this marriage they had two children, Lewis and Emma. He was again married, to Miss Ann Perrigo, in Iriquois County, Illinois, June 24, 1863. They have by this marriage two daughters, Minnie L. and Susan Louisa. He is a member of the Lathrop Masonic Lodge, and loves to live by the precepts the order teaches.
ROBERT E. CHONSTANT,
editor and publisher of the Lathrop Herald, was born in Roanoke, How- ard County, Missouri, August 31, 1854. He received a good education in his native town, and also at the schools of Kingston. When quite young he entered his father's store as a clerk, in which he remained for some time, and then, at the age of seventeen, he entered the office of the
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Kingston Sentinel, where he learned the printers' trade. He has worked at that business in St. Joseph, Davenport (Iowa), New York, Philadel- phia, and St. Louis, and has became a proficient workman. In 1874, he bought the Caldwell Citizen of Kingston and published it for three years. In 1877, after selling out, he took charge of a drug store for eighteen months. During all these years he had been reading law at his leisure hours, and in the fall of 1878 he entered the law office of Chap man & Hoskinson, when he studied hard for two years and in 1880 was admitted to practice by Judge Broudders, of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. In April, 1880, after being admitted, he went to Lathrop, Clin- ton County, and started the Lathrop Herald, in the publication of which he has done a successful business, and secured a large circulation. In June, 1880, he was appointed one of the census enumerators for this county, and received the diploma offered for the most correct, system- atic, and neatly executed returns of the seventh supervisor's district of the state, consisting of 304 enumeration districts.
H. H. CLEPPER,
farmer and stock feeder, section 31, post office Lathrop. The subject of this sketch is a native of Michigan, and was born on a farm on the 2d day of August, 1832. He received a good common school education, and, at the age of eighteen, went to California, where he spent two years, and then returned to his home and made his parents a visit of several months. He next removed to Minnesota, and farmed for ten years. Closing out business, he located at Rockford, near Grand Rapids, Michigan, devoting his time to the grocery business, in connection With farming. This he continued for twelve years, when he closed out and went to Sherman, Texas, entering into the hotel and grocery business. After some two years, he unfortunately lost by fire property to the amount of $6,000, including all household and personal effects. Remov- ing to Emporia, Kansas, he remained two years, and there gave his children a good education. He then moved to Clinton County in 1880, where he now resides, owning a fine farm of 100 acres, well improved. Mr. C. was united in marriage, on the 18th day of August, 1857, with Miss Laura Scorell, a native of Schuyler County, New York. The fam- ily consists of five children : Fred, Mary J., John L., Eva G. and Nellie.
E. W. COOPER,
farmer, section 36, is a native of North Carolina, and was born May 17, 1820, and came to Missouri in 1844. His farm consists of 230 acres of land in a good state of cultivation, and he has proved himself a successful agriculturist. Politically, he is a staunch Republican, and during the
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late war was a member of Capt. Rogers' company of militia. As a citi- zen he has been upright, reliable, and honorable, and has secured in an eminent degree the respect of his fellow-men. In his religious prefer- ences he is a Presbyterian, and he is an active member and liberal con- tributor to that society. He married Miss Ann Pincy, a native of North Carolina, in July, 1847. They have a family of nine children, Mary M. (now Mrs. H. Hick), Martha (now Mrs. Wm. Lankford), John W., Susan E. (now Mrs. J. W. Douglass), Celia A., Jeanette (now Mrs. James Doug- lass), Wm. S., and Dora J. Mr. C. has taken great interest in the improvement of his stock, and his herds will equal any in this district.
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