The History of Jackson county, Missouri, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens, Jackson county in the late warhistory of Missouri, map of Jackson county, Part 130

Author: Union Historical Company
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Kansas City, Mo. : Union historical company
Number of Pages: 1068

USA > Missouri > Jackson County > The History of Jackson county, Missouri, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens, Jackson county in the late warhistory of Missouri, map of Jackson county > Part 130

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J. D. KREEGER,

Farmer and stock raiser, section 27, is a native of Jackson County, Missouri, and born February 22, 1855, and was a son of George W. Kreeger, one of the old settlers of Jackson County. Our subject received all the advantages of a common school education, and afterward was for two years, a member of Central College, Howard County. After completing his education he became engaged in teaching for a number of years, and was considered a very successful teacher. He was mar- ried December 22, 1880, to Miss H. A. Armstrong, of Vernon County, but orig- inally of Mercer County, Kentucky, and born May 6, 1854. She was a daughter of Joseph Armstrong, of Kentucky. Mr. Kreeger was appointed census enumera- tor for the thirty-third district of the sixth supervisor's district of Missouri, in the spring of 1880. He has 340 acres of choice and well improved land, and deals extensively in stock. Another member of the family, is his younger brother, R. R. Kreeger, who is connected with him in his farming and stock interests. They are all members of the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Kreeger is a lady of education and refinement, and both of the young men are possessed of a good education and fine business qualifications, and are leading and influential members of society.

HENRY LONG, JR.,

Farmer, section 24, post-office Lone Jack, is a native of Surry County, North Carolina, born October 24, 1828. Is a son of Henry Long, Sr., a native of North Carolina, and one of the old pioneers of Jackson County. At the age of fourteen years, and in the year 1842, he located in Van Buren Township, near where he now lives. His occupation through life has been farming. He was married February 4, 1858, to Sally Long, who was born Februry 6, 1836. They

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have four children : Rettie Ann, born September 30, 1860; Isaac Lee, July 31, 1865; Eddie E, February 4, 1874; Rena May, January 5, 1876. He is an earnest worker for good schools, and spares no pains to give his children a liberal education, believing it to be the best legacy he can leave them. His daughter, Rettie A., has been a very successful teacher, and is highly accomplished, both in vocal and instrumental music By industry and good management he has secured a fine home of 200 acres of well improved land, and on his farm is one of the finest orchards in the county. He makes a specialty of horticulture, and there are but few who can excel his well selected and large stock of all kinds of fruits and berries. All this has been gathered together by the united care and labor of Mr. and Mrs. Long since their marriage, with the exception of what he made in about eight months in California, in 1850. A this time he crossed the plains and endured many hardships and lost his health, but returned $2, 000 the gainer. His ancestry are noted for longevity, there being four members in his father's family, three sons and one daughter. The daughter died at the age of seventy-seven, and one of the sons at eighty-seven, and another son is now eighty- two, and the other, the father of our subject, is now seventy-eight years of age.

L. C. MARTIN,

Farmer and stock raiser, section 29, is a native of Henry County, Virginia, born November 1, 1847, and is a son of John R. and Susan Martin, who were both na- tives o fVirginia, their ancestors being originally from England and Scotland. Mr. John A. Martin, the father of the subject of our sketch, is one of the most renowned ministers of the Baptist Church in Henry, Franklin and Pittsylvania Counties, Vir- ginia, where he has been a faithful and honored laborer for forty years, and al- though now in the sixty ninth year of his age, is still in full health and vigor. He is a representative of the Martin family of Virginia who were very extensive land and slave owners, and who have done much toward building up that part of the State in which they live. Our subject came to Missouri in 1869, and locat- ed in Sedalia, and lived there and in Pleasant Hill until 1877, when he located upon his farm in Van Buren Township. He was married May 16, 1872 to Sally Jones, a daughter of William Jones of Pleasant Hill. Mrs. Martin was born April 27, 1852. Two children have been born to the family: Willie R., born September 16, 1875, and Charles F. born March 14, 1879. Mr. Martin owns a beautiful farm of eighty acres finely improved and stocked, and it has all been secured by the united labor of Mr. Martin and his excellent wife within a few years. They are both members of the Baptist Church, and are living a quiet peaceful life, honored and respected by all who know them.

W. H. MAXWELL,

Farmer and stock dealer, is a native of Johnson County, Missouri, and was born March, 27, 1850. He was a son of O. J. Maxwell who was one of the first set- tlers in Johnson County, Missouri. Our subject came with his parents to Jack- son County, and located on the farm on which he now lives. He received his education in this county, and was reared on a farm and thoroughly taught his business of farming and handling stock, in which business he is quite proficient. He was married December 23, 1869 to Eliza D. Yankee, a native of Jackson County, and born September 17, 1854. By this marriage three children have been born : Sally E., born December 28, 1870 ; Charles O., born March 14, 1872, and Joe K., born October 8, 1873. These children are all more than ordina- rily bright and intelligent, and one seldom finds any one of their age so well ad- vanced in education and general knowledge. Mrs. Maxwell is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and Mr. Maxwell a leading member of the A. F. and A. M. fraternity. He owns 120 acres of fine land with good improvements. He is a self-made man, and illustrates fully what may be accomplished by a young

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man when he has energy and perseverance, coupled with integrity and honor. He is now, in connection with two other young men, Oscar Cash and Fred Ed- mondson, using great exertions to raise funds to build a fine Union Church in Lone Jack.

W. J. PHILLIPS,

United States Store-keeper and Gauger, Lone Jack, was born in Steuben County, New York, September 6, 1838. Removed with his parents to Lee County, Illinois, in the spring of 1854, and came to Missouri in the fall of 1856. Was connected with the engineering party on the survey and location of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, until the fall of 1857, when he came to Kansas City, since which time he has made this county his home, though much of his time has been spent abroad, in the employ of the United States Government, either in the military or civil department. He was a member of the 2nd Colorado Cavalry, in the quartermaster's department and as acting ordnance officer. Has also been connected with many of the Kansas City newspapers, and was one of the founders of the Kansas City Evening Mail. Has also visited the most of our · western and northwestern cities, but for the greater part of his time has been con- nected with the revenue department. Was married July 22, 1866, to Mary S. Luggle, at Hickman's Mills, she having been born in Cass County, March 10, 1849. The family consists of four children: Ocie G., born June 16, 1867 ; Pearl V., born December 25, 1869; Jettie M., born January 12, 1872, and Irving A., born June 3, 1876. He owns a beautiful and pleasant home at Lone Jack, and is surrounded by a pleasant and happy family.

EDWARD RAGGSDALE,

Physician and surgeon, post-office Lone Jack. The subject of our sketch is not only one of the old settlers, but has been one of the most useful and honored citizens of Van Buren Township. Born in Bedford County, Ten- nessee, July 30, 1836. He was a son of Edward and Sarah Raggsdale, both natives of Tennessee. When he was but an infant, his mother died, and when he was but eighteen months old, his father moved to Lexington, Missouri, and lived there till 1842; then moved to Lone Jack, Jackson County. Remained there but a short time, then went to Texas, but soon returned to Lone Jack, and lived there till 1851; then in Lafayette and Holt Counties till 1854, when his father died. He received his education at Chapel Hill College, and graduated in the class of 1856. He then engaged in teaching for six years. He afterward took a course of medical lectures at St. Louis, and subsequently was a member of Jefferson Medical College, in Philadelphia, and graduated from there in 1868. He began the practice of medicine before attending college in Philadelphia, and during the War was steadily engaged in practice at Lone Jack and Chapel Hill, and rendered valuable service to the wounded at the battle of Lone Jack ; here he has ever since remained, actively and successfully engaged in his profes- sion. He has been twice married. First, on March 3, 1861, to Elizabeth Easley, of Jackson County, who was born December 3, 1840, and who died August 7, 1875. By this union, five children were born: Luetta, May 2, 1862; William Lee, February 9, 1864; Ann Eliza, April 12, 1866; Edward W., December 29, 1870, and Thomas, December 3, 1873. He was again united in marriage, March 29, 1876, to Virginia W. Easley, a sister of his first wife, and who was born March 11, 1844. His present wife was a personal but unwilling spectator of the terrible carnage at the battle of Lone Jack. She was a guest at the hotel, which the Federals occupied during the battle, and was standing in the front door when the battle began ; several balls passed through the door while she was there. She was obliged to get what shelter she could, by lying on the floor among the dead and wounded, till the close of the battle. Although a lady of

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refinement, she was also one of compassion and tenderness, and at the end of the battle rendered great aid in caring for the wounded.

GEORGE RHEEM,

Farmer and stock raiser, section 25, is a native of Fairfield County, Ohio, and was born January 13, 1844. He was a son of Daniel and Sarah Rheem. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and his mother of Ohio. He was reared on a farm in Ohio till 1866, then moved to Jackson County, Missouri, and located where he now lives. His father and mother both came to Missouri with him and lived on the farm now occupied by Mr. Rheem until their deaths, which oc- curred on the following dates : His father's on March 19, 1873, and his mother's on March 14, 1876. His grandfather on his father's side was the noted soldier, Samuel Rheem, of Revolutionary fame, who was in the Prussian Army, and emigrated to America in time to lend a helping hand to our forefathers in the struggle for independence. Mr. George Rheem was married February 25, 1874, to Miss Lucetta Dutro, of Jackson County, Missouri, but formerly of Mus- kingum County, Ohio, born July 30, 1850. By this union they have been blessed with two children : Mary, born January 25, 1875, and Sally, born October 16, 1880. He owns a farm of 340 acres. Mr. Rheem is an active mem- ber of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masonic fraternity, and is a well respected citizen.

MARTIN RICE

Ranks among the old settlers of the county, though not among the oldest. He was born in what is now Union County (then Campbell), in east Tennessee, on the 22nd of November, 1814, and came with his father and mother, and a large family, to Jackson County in the fall of 1833. His father Enoch Rice entered the farm on which Martin now resides in October, 1833. It is near Lone Jack, in Van Buren Township, and to this farm he moved in the next month. Martin was the oldest son, then nineteen years old, with nothing but his own energy to depend upon. After assisting to open and fence a small farm in the brush, he was hired to a neighboring farmer during cropping time, for ten dollars per month. After that he taught a small school in a small house (or pen) for a small term, and for very small pay; and again during the winter assisted in improving his father's farm. The next summer, 1835, he made a crop with his uncle Absalom Powell, who lived near the road between Independence and Blue Mills, where Salem Church now is, and during the fall he molded and burned the first brick that was made in Van Buren Township, some of which may be seen in his chimneys to-day. Later in the fall he sold his crop, and with the money obtained and some borrowed, entered lands near his father's (a part of the present Yankee Farm, in Van Buren Township); sold it in a few months, and in March, 1836, entered land in Van Buren (now Cass County). On the 3rd of April, 1836, he married Mary Lynch, near Greenton, in Lafayette County, a girl of sixteen, and moved to his newly purchased home in Van Buren County, where he remained during twenty years, until after the death of his wife in December, 1855. His father having died before, he sold out in Cass County and bought his father's old farm, on which he yet lives. When he married and settled on the Shawnee trail, his nearest neighbor was a mile and a half off; and the first house below him on the road toward Clinton, was twenty miles away. In August of that year at the first general election in the county, he was elected county surveyor, and in April, 1837, surveyed, or laid out the town of Har- risonville. He is remembered yet by the old settlers of Cass County as one of the business men of the olden time. At the meeting of the Old Settlers' Association of that county in 1879 he was by a vote of the association made an honorary member of it; and was also by vote requested to prepare and read a poem, descriptive of old times, at their next annual meeting, which he did on

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the 30th of September, 1880. He had also before that, at the request of the Old Settlers' Historical Society, of Jackson County, prepared and read one at Kansas City in May, 1880. Mr. Rice. during his career in life, has been farmer, surveyor, school teacher and nurseryman. In 1849 he commenced the propaga- tion of fruit trees, which he has kept up ever since, and some of the oldest orchards in Jackson County and adjoining counties, are of his grafting; he has often been heard to say, "when I am dead and gone, the orchards will be my memorial stones." He began the world poor, and has never accumulated much of this world's goods. Since he moved to the old homestead in Jack- son County, his aged mother has made her home with him, and it was only a short time since (March 12, 1880) that she was laid by the side of her husband and father, who preceded her by nearly thirty years.

Martin Rice is now sixty-six years old and is considered par excellence the old fogy of the township. He is one of those who cannot be made to believe that the new-fashioned way of doing things is much better than the old.

In his youth he had not the advantages of a scholastic education. He never went to a college or an academy-not even to a public district school; and but little to the subscription schools of that period. Before he was fourteen he quit school altogether, and he says he had then never seen the inside of a grammar. Webster's American Spelling Book, the Testament and Pike's Arithmetic were the sum total of his school books. In the fall and winter of 1832 he taught the first free school taught in the district, Claiborne County, Tennessee. He had seen the inside of a grammar then and knew something about it, by hard study at home, having carried Lindley Murray in his hat while following the plough. In the winter of 1833, while making rails and grubbing by day to open up a farm on the new Missouri home, he studied Gibson's Surveying at night, and continued the study until it was mastered. And to-day, in some branches of mathematics, he stands head and shoulders higher than any college professor in the land.

On the farm of Mr. Jones, of Polk Township, in Cass County, there is pointed out the old cabin into which, on his marriage, he moved in 1836. It is now a stable, but has been made famous by his poem of "The Old Cabin Home."

.In 1877 he published his volume of poems entitled "Rural Rhymes, and Poems from the Farm," which has been read by thousands-and by thousands admired for their ease and simplicity. He is an old-fashioned farmer of the old- fashioned school; has been a member of the Baptist Church since 1841, and clerk of the Lone Jack congregation for the last twenty-five years.

Politically, he has nearly always been in the minority. In the great Civil War he was a firm friend of the Union, quietly remaining at home, aiding and be- friending, so far as he could, his neighbors on the other side, and being aided and befriended by them in turn.

W. M. RUST,

Farmer and stock raiser, a native of Murray County Tennessee, was born Jan- uary 31, 1821, and is a son of William Rust, a native of North Carolina, who. was a valiant soldier under General Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. When quite young he moved with his parents to Hamilton County, Illinois, and lived there about seven years ; then moved to McLean County in the fall of 1834, and lived there till 1867, when he came to Missouri and settled in Van Buren Town- ship, Jackson County, on the farm on which he now lives. He was married January 24, 1842, to Catherine Meyers, of McLean County, Illinois, who was. born February 25, 1825, in Christian County, Kentucky. There have been nine children born : James W., born December 18, 1842, and died at the age of two months; Mary J., born August 7, 1844, died November 7, 1871 ; Amanda,

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born February 17, 1848, now living in McLean County, Illinois; Franklin P., born July 9, 1851, now living in Jackson County, Missouri; Emma A., born September 30, 1853, now living in Cass County, Missouri; Andrew J., born Feb- ruary 27, 1856, died November 3, 1871; Carrie, born March 6, r859, now liv- ing in Vermillion County, Illinois ; Louisa M., born May 6, 1862, died October 30, 1871 ; George B., born October 6, 1864, now living at home. Mr. Rust started in life almost penniless and now owns 220 acres, a fine farm, upon which he has some very fine, blooded stock, especially horses. He gave each of his children an excellent education; several of them have been successful teachers, and George, the youngest son, is a highly accomplished pianist. Mr. Rust is a member of the Christian Church, and his wife and son George of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They are worthy citizens of the community.

JAMES SAUNDERS,

Farmer and stock raiser, section 28, a native of Fauquier County, Virginia, was born January 11, 1809, and is a son of Presley and Lancy Saunders, both natives of Vir- ginia. When five years of age, he went to Mercer County, Kentucky, and lived there till the fall of 1836; then moved to Missouri and lived for one year in Pettis County, and in 1837 located near where he now lives in Jackson County. He has always been engaged in farming. Was married April 27, 1837, to Mary Ann Yankee, who was born in Mercer County, Kentucky, July 11, 182r. She was a daughter of Samuel and Permelia Yankee, they being old pioneers of Jackson County, Missouri. There were nine children as the fruits of this marriage, five of whom are still living : Julia Ann, now Mrs. Spainhour ; Mary Frances, now Mrs. Gibson ; Samuel, married and living near his father ; Jacob B., married and living near home ; Josephine, now Mrs. Houston, and Robert Edwin Lee, living at home. Mr. Saunders has ninety-two acres of well improved land, and has been able to give each of his children an excellent eighty-acre farm. He lost at least $5,000 worth of personal property during the War. Mrs. Saunders died August 13, 1877, and he was again united in marriage to Miss E. H. Reed, March 14, 1880, she having been born in Alabama, July 10, 1821. They are both leading members in the church; he having been a member over thirty-eight years. All his possessions have been gained by his own labors, as he had no financial help to start with.

JOHN T. SHAWHAN,

Farmer and fine stock raiser, section 20, was born in Bourbon County, Ken- tucky, September 27, 1847. Was a son of Daniel and Minerva Shawhan. His father was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, December 5, 1801, and his mother in Harrison County, Kentucky, May 15, 1807. The father of Dan- iel, named John, was born in Hampshire County, Virginia, October 23, 1771, being a son of Daniel Shawhan, who was born in Kent County, Maryland, in the year 1738. John T. Shawhan was reared on a farm and lived in Bourbon County, Kentucky, until 1868; then came to Jackson County and located in Van Buren Township. He was married February 24, 1870, to Julia F. Daniel, born in Jackson County, Missouri, April 6, 1853, and a daughter of John Daniel, one of the old pioneers of Missouri, but originally from North Carolina. There are five children in this family : John D., born March 10, 1871 ; Thomas R., born November ir, 1872; Willie G., born November 13, 1874; Walter R., born July 18, 1877 ; and George A., born December 22, 1879. Mr. Shawhan owns 760 acres of fine land, all cultivated, and well stocked with 120 head of blooded cattle, etc. He has very fine farm buildings and good orchards. He met with a sad misfortune on July 1, 1874, as follows: he was driving his mower when his team started to run away, and to escape falling before the sickle, he jumped off and broke his ankle; through bad treatment and the mismanage- ment of his physician, it did not heal, but gangrene set in, and the amputation of

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his left leg above the 'knee became necessary to save his life; and on the 12th of July, 1874, the operation was successfully performed.

GEORGE H. SHAWHAN,

Proprietor of distillery and drug store at Lone Jack, was born in Bourbon Coun- ty, Kentucky, December 2, 1843, and was a son of Daniel and Minerva Shawhan, the father having been born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, Decem- ber 5, 1801, and the mother born in Harrison County, Kentucky, May 15, 1807. The father of Daniel, named John, was born in Hampshire County, Virginia, October 23, 1771, being a son of Daniel Shawhan, who was born in Kent County, Maryland, in the year 1731, and who built the first still, and manufac- tured the first whisky in Bourbon County, Kentucky, and who first gave to his manufactures the noted name of "Bourbon Whisky ; " he commenced the manu- facture of this brand of liquor in 1787. Mr. George H. Shawhan lived in Bour- bon County, Kentucky, until sixteen years of age, then enlisted under D. How- ard Smith, Colonel of the 5th Kentucky Cavalry, commanded by Abe Buford, as brigadier-general; served about five months with that regiment, then served under Colonel Chenault for five months, and then returned to the original regi- ment commanded by Colonel D. Howard Smith, under General George H. Mor- gan. He was in Morgan's noted raid through Ohio, and was twenty-one days and nights without rest ; he was captured July 21, 1863, at Cheshire, Ohio, and sent to Columbus, Ohio, for one month, and then to Camp Douglas, Chi- cago, where he remained till the close of the War. He then returned to Bourbon County, Kentucky, and lived there till 1872, engaged in farming ; then came to Jackson County, Missouri, and located at Lone Jack, and engaged in his present business. Was married January 20, 1868, to Mary F. Tateman, who was born in Ohio on March 16, 1849. Six children have been born to this family : Daniel Lee, born on March 30, 1869 ; Margaret L., born May 8, 1871 ; Beulah F., born July 26, 1873 ; Edna M., born September 11, 1875 ; Georgia E., born Oc- tober 26, 1877 ; and Sally G., born September 11, 1879. All living except Georgia E., who died May 30, 1878. On the 9th of September, 1880, an acci- dent occurred at his distillery, by the bursting of the still, which resulted in the death of three persons and badly injured six others.

MARY E. SHARP,

Section 33, is a native of St. Genevieve County, Missouri, born August 15, 1820, and was a daughter of Conrad Norvine, who emigrated from Germany to America in the year 1819, and located in St. Francis County, Missouri. She was married January 28, 1840, to William G. Knorpp, of Jefferson County, Missouri, he being a native of Germany, and born February 4, 1816. By this marriage eight children were born, five of whom are still living. Mr. Knorpp died May 19, 1853. She was again united in marriage on December 24, 1854, to John Shires, a native of Switzerland. Three children were the fruit of this marriage : Caroline, born June 13, 1855; Barbara Ellen, born December 3, 1856, and William B., born January 19, 1861. Mr. Shires enlisted as a member of the Federal Army in 1861, and served one year when he was accidentally killed by being run over by an ammunition wagon. Our subject again married George Sharp on May 24, 1866. Mr. Sharp was a member of Company H, roth Mis- souri, Cavalry; during the entire term of his enlistment he served faithfully and. well, and was discharged June 27, 1865. After being married to Mr. Sharp they lived about two years in Jefferson County, and then located on the farm now occupied by the family in Van Buren Township. Mr. Sharp died April 21, 1877. Mrs. Sharp, with her three youngest children, now compose the family and form a pleasant and happy circle. William B., the youngest, is the main stay and

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The History of Jackson county, Missouri, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens, Jackson county in the late warhistory of Missouri, map of Jackson county, Part 130

Author: Union Historical Company Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Kansas City, Mo. : Union historical company Number of Pages: 1068

Author: Union Historical Company
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Kansas City, Mo. : Union historical company
Number of Pages: 1068