USA > Missouri > Grundy County > The History of Grundy County, Missouri : an encyclopedia of useful information, and a compendium of actual facts > Part 43
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The lodge meets weekly-every Tuesday night -- in the Odd Fellows' Hall, opposite conrt-house. Their hall is nicely furnished, and the lodge owns a cemetery west of town, well taken care of.
DAUGHTERS OF TIIE TABERNACLE.
Golden Spray No. 41 .- This is a colored ladies' organization, which has been formed but a few months, and, besides their officers, numbers fourteen members. They hold monthly meetings, the first Monday evening of each month being the time set.
The present officers are as follows: Mrs. Mollie Hutchinson, C. P .; Mrs. Calvin Rucker, V. P .; Mrs. Phillis Carter, I. S .; Miss Annie Asby, P. C .; Miss Jane Bineson, C. R. R .; Mrs. Lanra White, recorder; Mrs. Kittie Steel, treasurer. Tribunes, Mr. H. Steel, Mr. A. Hutchinson, Mr. Wm. Henderson.
KNIGHTS OF TABOR.
Wm. Paul Quinn Temple No. 44 .- This order of colored men was or- ganized December, 1877, and has been very regular in its meetings. There are but few colored people in Trenton, and, of course, the order cannot be very large, but those who are members keep up its spirit and organization with great fervor. They number fifteen in membership, besides officers, and they hold regular monthly meetings. The present officers are as fol- lows: James Benton, C. M .; Harrison Steel, V. M .; Alex. Hutchinson, C. S .; Elbert White, C. T .; Hugh Penison, C. D. M .; Nathaniel Cook, C. S. B .; Logan Hutchison, C. S. T.
TRENTON POST-OFFICE.
While Trenton was first settled in 1834 and quite a thriving town, its post-office facilities were of the most primitive order until the year 1839. Spring Hill, in Livingston county, and Millport, in Daviess county or Ray county, up to 1837, were the nearest post-offices, and Lomax Store the gen- eral place of delivery. The person who went to either of the above named places brought up all the letters and papers for the neighborhood and left them at Lomax Store to be called for. This continued until the year 1839, when the United States post-office department established a post-office at Lomax Store, and the name was "Bluff Grove," and James S. Lomax was duly installed as postmaster thereof. Mr. Lomax continned to perform the ardnous duties of the office until the year 1842, when he was succeeded by George W. Moberly, then in the prime of early and vigorous manhood, and now the president of the Union Bank of Trenton. Mr. Moberly held the responsible office for nearly eight years, during part of the administra-
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tions of John Tyler and of James K. Polk. After the election of Taylor and Fillmore and the death of President Taylor, Mr. James Austin as- sumed the important position, Mr. Moberly retiring under the popular and well deserved cry of " Well done good and faithful servant." It was during the administration of Mr. Moberly the post-office name was changed from Bluff Grove to that of Trenton.
The administration of Mr. Austin and the management of the depart- ment was somewhat a peculiar one during his term of office. And to a " strictly confidential car " the years of 1851, '52, '53 and '54 may be said to have been the amusement years in the history of the Trenton post-office. At the end of Mr. Austin's term, which expired in 1854, Mr. Geo. M. Cooper, now a resident of Oregon, succeeded Mr. Austin as postmaster, but retained it only two years, when he was succeeded by Joseph Winters. Mr. Winters, however, enjoyed the highly honorable and lucrative position scarcely a year when that popular and reliable citizen and druggist of Tren- ton, Mr. Robert N. Featherstone, took possession of the office and held it during the remainder of the administration of James Buchanan.
THIE CHIANGE.
It was in 1861 when the alarm was sounded that the Union was in danger and young men were called to the front and at the post of danger that Mr. William Collier, one of the old pioneers and one of Trenton's best and most enterprising citizens was called to take charge of the office. During the dark days of civil strife he was at his post and all went well. When peace came and the light of liberty shone with a bright refulgence over all this broad land of ours, the old pioneer, this upright man and citizen, stood at his post and no one asked to take his place. And in the year 1869, after he had lived to see peace and prosperity overspread the land with its mantle of white and gold, and when his years numbered more than three score, the angel of death came and called him home. There was sorrow in Tren- ton then, for not only were they bereft of their postmaster but a good citi- zen had gone. On the death of Mr. Collier, Mr. David Crooks became post- master, and held it until the year 1878. The post-office had been moved several times and quite a feeling had sprung up in regard to its location. From Water Street it had been taken to Elm, and from the latter street back to Water, and for a few years it was kept in a building opposite the court-house, now called the "West End," and on the outskirts of the business part of the city. Rival parties had sprung up, one to retain and the other to bring it nearer the center of business.
TIIE PRESENT INCUMBENT.
In 1878 the present popular and efficient postmaster, Dr. E. F. Horton, received his commission, and being "chuck full" of pride as well as energy
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went to work to make the post-office of Trenton an institution worthy of the town, and the department itself a convenience to the people. He ad- mirably succeeded, and the Trenton post-office has not its equal north of the Missouri River, or in the State for the size of the town, for beauty, conve- nience, excellent management and a courteous desire on the part of the officials to see the people well and promptly served.
The post-office removal fight had been pretty fierce for the past year. It was one the postmaster, Dr. Horton, did not feel like deciding, and the matter was left to the post-office department at Washington. An agent was sent out, and the new building, then in the course of erection near the Elmore House, and what is known as the "Five Corners," was selected by the agent of the department, and accordingly on the 19th of August, 1881, the office was removed and Dr. Horton took possession of his new quarters and fixed it up in splendid style. The location by the agent was in a meas- ure influenced by the fact that it would be near enough to the Rock Island Railroad depot to cause the delivery to be made at the expense of the rail- road company, and second, it was the central business point of the city. The " West End" felt sadly over the move, and for a few days tried to as- suage their grief by offering "West End" property at remarkably low rates, either for cash or "Central City" property. Just how much comfort they experienced in their laudable effort was not reported, but it was believed that it was not a grand success.
The full statement of the receipts and expenditures of the office has not been secured, but through the courtesy of Dr. Horton, the present efficient incumbent, the last quarter is presented.
The report is very flattering to a town of only 4,000 inhabitants, and will undoubtedly compare favorably with any city of corresponding size in the State.
The quarterly returns for the quarter ending Jnne 30, 1881, show the total postal revenue to have been $3,821.80 The total money orders issued for the same quarter amounted 28,664.19 to. .
And the amount of money paid on the money orders received 11,599.19 was.
Total $17,065.08 Leaving a balance as above which was remitted to the money order ac- count to the United States depository.
The rapid growth of Trenton and its increasing population will cause this showing to be handsomely added to, and it will soon become one of the im- portant inland offices of the State.
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HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
CHAPTER XVIII. MEDICAL SOCIETY, CRIMES, ETC.
Trenton College-When Incorporated-Medicul Society-When Organized-Qualification of Members-Railroad and Machine-shops-Number of Employes-Expenditures-Coal Consumed-Waste and Oil Used-Managers-Crimes-The War Period-Robbery and Murder-Burglar Captured and Shot-Biographies-Alphabetical List of Sketches- Prominent Citizens of Trenton.
TRENTON COLLEGE.
An institution of learning, bearing the above title, was incorporated by the General Assembly of Missouri, and received executive approval, on the 26th of October, 1857. A board of trustees was appointed, consisting of Messrs. William H. Nelson, William H. Robertson, James R. Merrill, Wm. W. Brooks, James Austin, John B. McDonald, William C. Benson, Geo. W. Parker and Jerry Bradley, who were given full authority to appoint "all such officers and servants as they shall deem sufficient or useful, and declare the tenure, duties and emoluments of the same." The faculty were granted all the powers belonging and appertaining to a collegiate institution, such as the bestowal of diplomas, which "entitled the possessor to all the immu- nities which, by law or usage, are allowed possessors of similar diplomas granted by any college or university in the United States." The first named trustee was authorized to appoint the time and place and call a meet- ing of said board of trustees. Whether such meeting ever took place is not known, but certain it is that further than the act of incorporation, the Tren- ton College never became a reality, and only lives as one of the attempts to make Trenton an established seat of learning.
GRUNDY COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.
The question of organizing a medical society, though frequently broached by the physicians of Trenton, never resulted in an organization until in June, 1880, when the above named society became one of the institutions of the city and county. The following named physicians and surgeons were the original members: Solomon Stewart, W. R. Berry, J. W. Patton, R. Cash, J. E. Harris, C. E. Webber, Isaac Coles and Thomas Kimlin, who organized by electing Dr. Kimlin president, and Dr. Webber secretary.
The regular meetings of the society are held on the first Monday in each month. Any physician possessing the qualifications required by the Amer- ican Medical Society, may become a member of the Grundy County Medi- cal Society by having his name proposed, balloted for and receiving a majority of the votes cast. The society is governed by the same rules as
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HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
the American Medical Association. The meetings of the society are of much interest, affording, as they do, opportunity for the discussion of ques- tions of importance to the profession, and at the same time cementing the bonds of fraternal fellowship among the members.
THE RAILROAD SHOPS.
Among the industries which have contributed largely to the growth and prosperity of Trenton, the shops of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway take the most prominent place, and a statement of the manage- ment and operation of this department of Trenton's business is of more than passing importance.
The company employs in the shops some two hundred and fifteen men, and for the wages of these employés makes an annual expenditure of $142,296.60, nearly, if not all of which goes to swell the local trade of Tren- ton. These employés represent a class of thrifty and industrious citizens who spend their earnings in making and beautifying their homes, thus as- sisting in the material progress of the city.
Following will be found a more detailed statement of the management and operation of the master mechanic's department of the southwestern division of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway, under the efficient control of the head of the department, Mr. R. O. Carscadin.
There are one hundred and twenty-one machinists, laborers and wipers employed, for whose services the company pays out annually the sum of $55,051.80.
In the locomotive department employment is given to ninety-four engi- neers and firemen, the annual aggregate of whose salaries amounts to the sum of $87,544.80.
The coal consumed annually as fuel amounts to sixty-nine million pounds, a considerable portion of which is mined in Trenton.
In one year 19,500 pounds of waste are used, and 18,000 gallons of oil are necessary for the same length of time.
As above stated, the general management is under the charge Mr. R. O. Carscadin, master mechanic. Mr. John Kirk is the general foreman of the shops, and Mr. John Buckley is foreman of the blacksmithing department. Mr. L. T. Cox holds the position of time-keeper. These gentlemen are all thoroughly acquainted with their duties, as the excellent manner in which the business of the shops is conducted amply testifies.
CRIMES.
The list of crimes and casualties that have taken place in Grundy county, outside of those committed during the late civil war, were of but little con- sequence. With the exception of one murder, of a courtesan, referred to, the eases have been of lighter degrees of crime than murder. During the war,
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HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
hatred born of fanaticism, and a naturally depraved and brutal heart, com- mitted crimes in the name of liberty that not only damned their actors as fiends, but threw a veil of deep damnation over the fair fame of the Union itself, and caused a feeling of intense horror to take possession of the peo- ple. These acts were caused by the civil war when passion raged and judg- ment was lost in the fury of the hour. But what excited the horror and astonishment of the people was the fact that such devils incarnate were found among those who had lived in their midst. It was not for the love of Union, or the love of a Confederacy that caused these crimes to be com- mitted in freedom's name, but was the tigerish instinct and thirst for blood of a few demons in human shape. The people of Grundy can thank God that they had but a few of these beings around them, and these pages will not be polluted even by the mention of their names. The death of Mr. Wright, the cowardly assasination of Chambers, the brutal and fiend- ish hanging of Gooch, the murder of Sharp, and the sending of poor Bonta to his long home, are a portion of the list of crimes which have darkened the pages of an otherwise bright record in the rise and progress of Grundy county. This history briefly records these things because they are records of events that have their share in the annals of passing time, and to make this work complete, but not to dwell upon a chapter that, while it cannot be left unwritten, can at least be shortened in detail.
SAFE ROBBERS.
The county safe was broken into in April, 1870, and the robbers escaped, but were tracked to Kansas City and there arrested. They gave their names as Edward O'Dowell and John Fuller. Fuller also escaped from the Trenton jail, but was recaptured. The money was mostly recovered. The attempt to burglarize the bank of Shanklin & Austin was another episode in the annals of crime in Trenton. The fact was discovered and the bur- glar shot dead in his attempt to escape. His pal gave him away. On finding himself trapped he struck one man with his jimmy and hurt him severely, but the sheriff fired and killed him. His name was Carter.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
JAMES AUSTIN
Was born upon a farm in Boone county, Missouri, on the 23d of July, 1818. On the farm he continued to live until reaching his twenty-second year, receiving such education as the common schools of his native county afforded. Leaving Boone county in 1840 he came to Grundy county and settled in Trenton, then a very small village, and engaged in a general mer- cantile business with John Graham as a partner, under the name and style
-
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of Graham & Austin. In this business he continued, with few changes in the firm, until 1859, when he became associated with Messrs. Jacob T. Tin- dall and John H. Shanklin in the law and brokerage business, under the firm name of Tindall, Shanklin & Austin. This firm transacted business until 1862, when by the death of Colonel Tindall at the battle of Shiloh, the firm of Shanklin & Austin was established, and still carries on an ex- tensive banking and legal business, Mr. Austin having the general manage- ment of the banking department. Mr. A. has never sought political noto- riety or preferment, but has always interested himself in the building up and general prosperity of Trenton.
Mr. Austin was united in the marriage bonds to Miss Susan Collier, in 1847. By this union they have a family of six children, named, respect- ively, Sarah Frances, now Mrs. William W. Hubbell, of Trenton; Eliza, now Mrs. N. Shanklin, of Trenton; William E., cashier of Shanklin & Austin's bank; Laura, now Mrs. James Carnes, of Trenton; Lizzie, now Mrs. E. M. Harber, of Trenton; and Alice, now Mrs. J. H. Hughes, of Trenton. Mrs. Austin is a worthy member of the Christian Church of Trenton.
ASHER BROTHERS.
This firm consists of M. C. and H. B. Asher, both natives of Muskingum county, Ohio. M. C. was born March 27, 1851, and H. B., March 3, 1853. They came to Grundy county with their parents in 1869, settling on a large tract of land eight miles northeast of Trenton, where they lived with their parents and helped to improve the farm until they began life for themselves. Before leaving home they had received a good common education. The senior, M. C., began teaching when nineteen years of age, and when twenty, his father gave him a tract of land adjoining the homestead, of which he made a good farm and still owns it. March 14, 1871, he married Miss Georgiana McMillen, of Muskingum county, Ohio, and began housekeep- ing on his new farm. Living there until 1875 he rented the place ont and came to Trenton to represent his father in the firm of Miller & Asher, and the same in their successors, Asher & Murphy, until 1879, when the pres- ent firm established themselves in business. He has one child, Orville. H. B., the junior member of the firm, remained on the homestead until 1876, when he came to Trenton and began learning the tinner's trade with Miller & Asher, working with them and their successors, Asher & Murphy, until 1879, when the present firm of Asher Brothers was formed. Decem- ber 24, 1876, he married Miss Elizabeth Humphrey, of Grundy county.
W. R. BERRY, M. D.
William R. Berry was born in McConnelsville, Ohio, April 14, 1840, and was there reared and received an elementary education in the common and
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IIISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
high schools of McConnelsville, afterward attending the State University at Ann Arbor, Michigan, from which institution he graduated in 1860. Re- turning home he at once entered upon the study of medicine under Dr. John Ewing, of McConnelsville, in whose office he remained three years. In 1864 he volunteered his services as army surgeon, and became assistant surgeon in the hospital department, under General W. T. Sherman in his celebrated march to the sea, remaining until the capture of Atlanta, in the fall of 1864, when he resumed his studies, graduating a doctor of medicine from the Michigan State University, at Ann Arbor, in the spring of 1865. Immediately after his graduation he came west and settled in Trenton, and entered upon the practice of medicine and surgery, remaining three years, and removing in 1868 to Macon City, Missouri, where he continued prac- tice until 1872. In this latter year he went to New York City and com- pleted a full course in the medical department of the university of that city, and graduating therefrom in the spring of 1873. From New York he went to Edinburgh, Scotland, entered the medical department of the Edinburgh University, passed an examination in the fall of 1873, and received a certifi- eate of membership to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons-an honorary degree. Returning to Macon City in the spring of 1874, he for a time gave up the practice of his profession, invested in mining stocks, and gave his attention to interests connected with the mines of southwest Mis- souri, in which business he was engaged for four years. In the spring of 1878 Dr. Berry again located in Trenton, and once more entered upon the practice of medicine, in which city he yet resides, and continues practice.
Dr. Berry was married in McConnelsville, Ohio, on November 1, 1860, to Miss Elizabeth Dunlap, of that place. They have a family of three children, named, respectively, Annie E., Corydon L., and William L. Dr. Berry is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and became a master mason in Trenton Lodge No. 111, in the year 1867.
IION. A. H. BURKEHOLDER.
Abraham Hudson Burkeholder was born at Dillsbury, York county, Penn- sylvania, June 27th, 1835. When he was four years of age his parents moved to Perry county, and settled on a farm near Newport, where he en- joyed the advantages of the neighborhood common school until his nine- teenth year, when he began the battle of life for himself. He went on the Juniata Canal as a boat driver and soon became a bowsman and steersman. In a few months, however, he was taken down with a malarial fever, from which he did not recover for nearly a year, and this event was the turning point in his life, as he entered the Markleville Normal Institute in his twentieth year, where he graduated, receiving the second honors of his elass, in his twenty-fourth year. He had no capital but his love of knowledge and a determination to obtain it by his habits of industry and economy.
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HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY.
By teaching school and other labor, he paid for his own education. After graduating he entered the law office of MeIntire & Son at Bloom- field, Pennsylvania, in April, 1860, where he read law, and at the April term of the Common Pleas Court, in 1862, was admitted to the bar. In the meantime his father had moved to Ohio, near Toledo, and he immedi- ately followed him. He had been a Democrat up to this time and had voted the Douglas ticket in 1860, but here he cut loose from old party lines and afterward acted in harmony with the administration of Lincoln, and made speeches against the rebellion. On December 25th, 1862, he married Miss Rebecca Ada Waltner, of Putnam county, Ohio. They have a family of two children living, Poe and Norton. He taught school during the fall of 1862 and winter of 1863, at the close of which he took the field and made recruiting speeches for the Union army, and in June, 1863, enlisted as a private soldier in the Eighty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry. He was successively promoted till he became quartermaster of the One Hundred and Seventy-ninth Ohio volunteer infantry. He served till the close of the war, receiving his discharge at Nashville, Tennessee, when he returned to his home in Ohio, but immediately turned his eyes westward and moved to Missouri with his family, and settled in Trenton, where he at once began the practice of his profession. In the year 1866 he was elected as a Repub- lican to the office of probate judge and ex officio president of the County Court, for the term of four years. In 1872 he was elected prosecuting at- torney of the county, and in 1876 was elected to the State senate from the Fifth district, on the Republican ticket. On entering the senate Mr. Burke- holder at once took hold of legislation with a will and determination to make himself felt, introducing a number of important measures the first session and carrying several through successfully. He was a member of the committee on criminal jurisprudence and four other standing committees, and during the first session was regarded as a hard-working, zealous mem- ber, but as a member of the Thirtieth General Assembly, with the expe_ rience of the first session, he took rank above the average senator. In ad- dition to other committees, he was made chairman of the committee to re- vise all the taxation and assessment laws relating to railroads. He is the author of the law relating to the right to increase the levy for the support of schools and erecting school-buildings, and of the act of 1879 directing the State board of equalization to make a back tax assessment on all the rail- roads in the State for the year 1873, but the law was not enforced and the State lost from seventy-five to one hundred thousand dollars in taxes that the railroads owed the State. Passing by a number of his bills that be- came parts of the statutes, his services in procuring the charter of the Quincy, Missouri & Pacific Railroad extended for the term of three years and were invaluable. His incessant labors saved the bill from defeat and thereby enabled the railroad company to go on building the road west from Kirks-
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ville, and the people of Grundy now enjoy the completion of the road to Trenton, which will before long become a great through line. He possesses an enterprising spirit, always working in the interest of good society, and to build up the community and for the spread of education. He became president of the board of trustees of Grand River College in 1876 and he still fills that position.
L. D. BAILEY
Was born in Collinsville, Illinois, June 7, 1838. His father dying when he was only eight years old, he lived with his mother, remaining at home with her until he was twenty-six years old. He was edneated in the common schools in Illinois, which he completed with a course in the high school at Lindley, Missouri, in 1868. With his mother and brother James, he came to Missouri in 1857, and settled in Lindley, Marion township, Grundy county. In 1858 he and his brother embarked in the mercantile business at Lindley, under the firm name of J. M. Bailey & Brother. Retiring from the firm in 1862, he went to California, and settled in Sierra county, and engaged in ranching and farming until 1866, then sold out and went to Pomo, Mendocino county, California, and engaged in the mercantile bus- iness. In 1869 he returned to Lindley, Missouri, and became the successor of James Winters in the mercantile business, which he carried on at Lind- ley until 1870. That year he sold out and came to Trenton, and became associated with his brother in the firm of James M. Bailey & Company, changing the firm name to L. D. Bailey & Company. In the fall of 1872 he sold his interest in the firm to his brother, and again visited California, and engaged in hotel keeping at Ukiah, the county seat of Mendocino county, and continued the business until the fall of 1874, and then once " more returned to Grundy county, and again associated himself with his brother in the mercantile business at Trenton, under the name of J. M. Bailey & Company. Retiring from the firm in 1878, he opened a millinery and fancy goods store in Trenton, and carried it on for two years, when he became proprietor of the Elmore Honse, of Trenton, of which he is still proprietor. In January, 1862, Mr. Bailey married Miss Eliza D. Hayden, of Lindley, from whom he was divorced in 1880. They became the parents of five children; namely, Eli B., Laura, Clarence, Otto and Lulu. Eli B., Laura and Lulu are living with their mother in Davilla, Texas, and sup- ported by their father. On February 29, 1880, Mr. Elmore married Miss C. W. Bowen, of Trenton.
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