USA > Missouri > Pettis County > Sedalia > The History of Pettis County, Missouri, History of Sedalia > Part 98
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118
PETER COURTNEY.
He was born in Shelby County, Ky., June 25, 1836, son of Peter Court- ney, an early settler of that State. He married Miss Rhoda Quisenberry, whose father emigrated to Missouri in the fall of 1839. In the spring of 1840 he moved near Independence, Jackson County. In the spring of 1849, he and two sons started for California, on which trip he contracted a disease and died shortly after reaching California. A portion of the time the subject of this sketch lived in Jackson County, making a trip to New Mexico in 1854. In the fall of 1855 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Bracht. In 1864 he took a trip to Oregon and Idaho. He assisted in laying out the town of Dresden. Since that time he has been engaged in farming, dealing in stock and grain. He has a fine farm of one hundred and seventy-five acres, of which ninety acres are under cultivation. He has a family of nine children living: J. W., now in business in Sedalia; L. P., Thomas L., Carrie S., Mary C. (deceased), H. Hugh, Elizabeth N., Ennis, H. C. and Katie, Mr. and Mrs. Courtney have been worthy members of the Christian Church since 1855.
917
HISTORY OF DRESDEN TOWNSHIP.
JOHN M. ELLIOTT, M. D.
Was born Sept. 25, 1830, in Washington County, Penn., and is the son of Abraham and Nancy E. Elliott. His mother's maiden name was Blake- way. They were both natives of Pennsylvania. John M., the subject of this sketch, was educated in his native county, attending Prosperity High School for two years, and for two years more pursued his studies under private tutors. In 1851 he engaged in teaching, which he continued to the beginning of the war. At the call for men to defend the government he enlisted in the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, which was known through- out the Army of the Cumberland as the " Anderson Cavalry," so called from its Colonel, John William Anderson. He served until 1864 when his health failed him, and he was discharged by reason of this disability. Before entering the army he had begun the study of medicine, and after coming home he continued reading with Dr. D. W. Braden, of Waynes- burg, Greene County, Pa. He attended lectures at Cleveland Medical College, Cleveland, O., and began practicing in 1866, in Marshall County, West Virginia. He remained in this county six years, and then moved back to his native county, where he continued in active practice until Sept. 18, 1881. Leaving his large and lucrative practice in Pennsylvania he came to Missouri and engaged in farming. Mr. Elliott has been twice married, the first time on Dec. 1, 1864, to Rachel C. Braden, who died, Oct. 1, 1869. By this union they had three children, only one of whom is living, Charles Norton, aged fourteen years. On March 4, 1871, Dr. Elliott married his present wife. Her maiden name was Nancy E. Steele. They have had three children, two of whom are living, Walter L., aged ten, and John M., aged five years. Mr. Elliott is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and has held the office of N. G. and Past Worthy Patriarch. He is at present a member of Hopewell Lodge, No. 504, of Claysville, Washington County, Pa. In September, 1881, Dr. Elliott came to Pettis County, Mo., and in connection with his nephew, D. W. Elliott, also a native of Pennsylvania, purchased the beautiful two hundred and six acre farm just southwest of Dresden, where they now reside. Mr. Elliott is a true type of the enterprising eastern farmer and business man, and in his new home is fast winning friends among his neighbors.
WILLIAM Y. EVANS.
He is a native of Tennessee, born in Sumner County, May 16, 1825. His father, Wm. Evans, was a native of North Carolina, and was one of the original proprietors of Leesburg. He removed to Tennesse and then to Missouri in 1841, and settled in Hickory County, near Warsaw, where he continued to reside till he came to his son's present farm. His mother died Oct. 20, 1858. Youthful Wm. Y. spent his days on the farm.
918
HISTORY OF DRESDEN TOWNSHIP.
He was married to Miss Ellen S. Nance, of St. Clair County, Mo., daugh- ter of Edmund Nance. She died Jan. 31, 1881. Their daughter, Mary Ardella, born Nov. 21, 1852, married James M. Agee, 1868, and died Feb. 6, 1876.
JOEL B. GENTRY.
The subject of this sketch was born in Pettis County, Mo., April 8, 1855. His father, Major Wm. Gentry, was a native of Howard County, Mo., born April 14, 1818, and settled about five miles north of the present site of Sedalia in 1824. In 1840 Major Gentry was married to-Miss Anna R. Major, daughter of Lewis R. Major, of Pettis County. In 1846 he purchased and settled upon the farm where he now resides, two miles northwest of Sedalia. By this union there were eight children, of which Joel B. is the fifth. His early boyhood was spent upon his father's farm and attending school, the principal time at Georgetown Academy, then the leading school in the county. His education was finished at Prof. Kemper's school at Boonville, where he graduated from the Scientific Department in 1873, standing high in a class of forty. After leaving school he returned to his father's farm, where he remained until 1875, when he took charge of his present home, "Locust Grove Farm." This consists of 1,143 acres, of which 1,000 acres is in splendid grass pasture. . When Mr. Gentry took charge of the property it was littte more than a wild prairie, but under his careful management it has risen to one of the finest estates in the county, with convenient and substantial barns and out- buildings for the housing of fine stock raised on the farm; pasture laid off in eighty and one hundred acre lots and divided by neat board fences and growing hedges, and supplied by wells of living water and ponds fed by living springs. On this farm he keeps one of the finest herds of cattle in the county, consisting of twenty-five full-blood Short-horns and Rose of Sharons, to which "Burnheart," a two year-old thoroughbred, was added this season at a cost of $500; a stud of fine saddle and harness horses, of which Denmark Chief stands at the head, and pure blood Berkshire hogs. He annually feeds and ships from 300 to 400 head of stock cattle, leases 800 acres of land, on which he grows 500 acres of corn, 200 acres of wheat. and fifty acres each of rye and oats. To farm this land he keeps over forty head of work horses and mules, and men enough to run them. Mr. Gentry unites with his natural adaptation to farming, his experience of having been raised on the farm, his thorough education, his advanced views and ideas, and these have enabled him to make the business not only pleasant but profitable. He is associated in the stock business with his father, Major William Gentry, and T. J. Wallace, under the firm name of Joel B. Gentry & Co. Locust Grove Farm is located eight miles north- west of Sedalia. Mr. Gentry is one of the most enterprising young men
919
HISTORY OF DRESDEN TOWNSHIP.
of the county. He is unmarried, but entertains his friends at his beautiful home in a truly royal manner. A native of Missouri, he is proud of his birth-place, and as the years roll on there is a grand field for future useful- ness spread out before him.
JOSHUA GENTRY.
Farmer; post-office, Dresden, Mo. Was born in Marion County, Mo., May 21, 1836. He is the son of Joshua Gentry, Sr., and grandson of Richard Gentry, of Madison County, Kentucky. His mother's maiden name was Miss Adaline Henry, a native of North Carolina. Joshua Gentry, Sr., died in February, 1863, aged sixty-seven years. He was a man of indomitable will and great energy, and figured as one of the leading men in building the Hannibal and St. Joe Railroad across the State, being President of the Board of Directors of the company for a number of years. Above all others, he was the instrument that pushed the road through to its completion. When the line was graded a few miles at each end the company failed, and Mr. Gentry recognizing the vast value that it would be to the State, determined not to let the project die out. In accordance with his plans, he made two or three trips to Bos- ton, got eastern capitalists interested, was largely instrumental in securing aid from the State, and pushed the road through. For nearly twenty years he represented his county in the General Assembly of the State. He was the first Sheriff of Marion County, being appointed when the State was admitted, by the Governor. A man of wonderful business foresight and capacity, he built for himself a fortune. He resided from 1817, until the time of his death, on his farm near Hannibal, where his wife still resides. The subject of this sketch was educated in the schools of Palmyra, Mo., principally at the Baptist College. When he left school he came to Pettis County, Mo., in 1855, and purchased a small tract of land just east and adjoining where Dresden now stands, and he has added to it until he now has 600 acres, all enclosed and in cultivation and pastures. He has been married twice, the first time in 1855 to Amanda Haggard, who died in 1870. By this union they had six children: three boys and three girls, named respectively, Clay, Andrew, William, Anna, Bina and Amanda. Clay and William are in Colorado, Anna married Thomas Glasscock, and now lives in Ralls County, this State; Bina lives with her grandmother in this county. Two are at home, Andrew and Amanda. Aug. 1, 1871, he was again married to Miss Olive Shaw, of Pettis County. This marriage has been blessed with one child, Richard, a bright boy of eight years. Mr. Gentry served during the war in the State Militia, and during a great part of the time was engaged on special duty, rendering very important service on several occasions. He takes an active interest in the progress of farming in this county, keeps on his
920
HISTORY OF DRESDEN TOWNSHIP.
place 500 fine Merino sheep, and has an elegant home, surrounded with all the comforts of life. A view of his elegant home appears on page 909 this volume.
JAMES L. HULL.
Post-office, Dresden. Mr. Hull was born in Franklin County, Mo., in 1851. He is the son of J. C. and Mahala Hull. Mr. Hull's parents moved to Johnson County, Mo., when he was about five years old, and settled near Columbus. After living there about twelve years they moved to Morgan County, Mo., and are now living ten miles east of Versailles. Mr. Hull was married on the 23d day of December, 1880, to Mrs. Dotie Gentry of Pettis County, and has lived here since that time. They have one child, Lillie Lee Hull. Mr. Hull is engaged in farming and stock raising. He is a worthy member of Ionia Lodge, Morgan County, Missouri. Mrs. Hull is the daughter of Andrew and Mary A. Haggard. She was married on the 23d of August, 1866, to J. C. Gentry. There were two children born to them, Charles C. and Mary B. Mr. Gentry was born in Marion County, Mo., in 1843. He was the son of Col. Joshua and Adaline Gentry. Col. Gentry was at one time president of the Hannibal & St. Joe Railroad. J. C. Gentry came to Pettis County in 1866, and settled five miles west of Sedalia. He spent most of his time on the farm and raising stock. He was four years in the army during the war. He was in Company E, 3d Missouri Volunteers. His death occurred July 15, 1878.
JAMES M. LEE.
Farmer; one-half mile west of Dresden. Was born in Canada, Oct. 28, 1843. His parents were John and Mary A. Lee, both natives of Canada. With his parents he came to Indiana and settled in La Porte County, in 1862. The subject of this sketch was principally educated in the com- mon schools of Canada and Indiana. He came to Missouri in March; 1872, and purchased the place where he now resides, which contains 178 acres, nearly all in cultivation. Mr. Lee was married April 14, 1871, to Miss Eunice M. Clark, of La Porte County, Ind. They have one child, Kingsley C., aged six years. Mr. Lee is a member of Lamonte Lodge, No. 296. He is an enterprising farmer and has one of the best arranged and carefully managed farms in the county, and is a pleasant, sociable gentleman.
STEPHEN T. LUPE.
Post-office, Lamonte. Mr. Lupe was born in Louisville, Ky., April 23, 1848, and is the son of James H. and Annie E. Lupe. They moved to St. Louis when the subject of this sketch was about ten years of age, where his father still lives. Mr. Lupe was married on Oct. 13, 1869, to
921
HISTORY OF DRESDEN TOWNSHIP ..
Miss Mary S. Hood of St. Louis, a most estimable lady. Through this union they have six children, viz .: Annie, James, Lizzie L., Maud, Mar- garet and Cleo. Mr. Lupe came to Pettis County in March, 1870, and has lived here since that time. He has a magnificent farm of seven hun- dred and fifty-one acres of land, lying half way between Dresden and Lamonte. It is one of the finest and best improved farms in Pettis County. He is also an extensive stock-raiser and stock -dealer, and has a fine flock of pure Merino sheep. He also has a large lot of sheep near Garnett, Kansas. Among the illustrations in this work is a view of ""Fair View," Mr. Lupe's fine residence, which is a large two story frame building situated on a level tract and surrounded by trees and shrubbery. Through the center of the house there is a large hallway, with conveniently arranged rooms on either side. The square portion of the house was built by Rob- ert Saterwhite in 1856. It was planned and framed in Louisville, Ky., and brought to St. Louis by boat, then up the Missouri River to Arrow Rock, also by boat, then by ox-team to this site. The eastern portion of the house was built by Mr. Lupe in 1871. Mr. Lupe purchased his farm of Wm. P. Paff in March, 1870. Mr. Lupe is one of the most enterpris- ing and successful farmers of the county. His warm heart and genial social nature is a marked characteristic; not only to friends and neighbors is his open-handed generosity extended, but also to strangers he exhibits those qualities which raises man so high among his fellows. A view of his residence appears on page 459.
DR. T. P. McCLUNEY.
The subject of this sketch was born in Wellsburg, Brooke County, West Virginia, Jan. 25, 1836. His father, John P. McCluney, is a native of Pennsylvania, but went to Virginia when sixteen years of age. The Doc- tor's mother was born and lived in Wellsburg. They emigrated to Mis- souri in 1843, first settling in Hazel Hill township, Johnson County, where his father resided till his death, which occurred in September, 1865. In 1873 the mother, who is still living, removed to this county. He studied medicine, taking a course of lectures at St. Louis, where he graduated in the spring of 1860. He then settled in Pettis County eight miles north of Windsor, after which he came to the neighborhood of Dresden, and when Dresden was laid out he moved to the town, where he has since been suc- cessfully engaged in the practice of medicine. He was married to Miss Mary M. McClung in 1866. She died in 1873, leaving two children, viz .: Mary L. and Maud E. In 1874 he married his present wife, Mrs. Mary C. Smalley, daughter of Rev. J. K. Tuttle, a prominent minister of the M. E. Church. Dr. McCluney is a man of literary and cultivated taste, tak- ing a lively interest in social and religious circles.
922
HISTORY OF DRESDEN TOWNSHIP.
WM. H. MORRIS.
Merchant, Dresden. Was born in Philadelphia, Penn., August 30, 1831, and is the son of Andrew M. and Jane Morris,, both natives of Lan- cashire, England, who came to this county in 1829. Jane Morris' maiden name was Hampson. When five years of age, the subject of this sketch came with his parents to Ohio, and settled in Noble County, where he attended the public schools and assisted his father on the farm until his twenty-first year, when he engaged in selling goods for his uncle, Wm. Morris, a woolen goods manufacturer at Steubenville, Ohio, for six years. After this he taught school in Noble County for a time. In 1859 he engaged in mercantile business at Crooked Tree, Noble County, for four years, and then moved to Crumtown, the same county, where he entered into partnership with his brother John. They sold goods and purchased tobacco for one year. They then sold their stock and engaged in saw- milling and drilling oil mills in Washington County, Ohio. In 1866 Wm. Morris moved to Missouri and settled in Pettis County, one and one-half miles from Dresden, where he engaged in farming for four years. He then sold his place and moved to this town, where he engaged in mercan- tile business until 1876. During this time he purchased a flouring mill and moved it to Boonville, where he went to attend to this business and left his Dresden store in charge of a clerk. In the fall of 1881 Mr. Mor- ris returned to Dresden, having rented his Boonville property, where he now resides and carries on his business as merchant. Mr. Morris has been twice married; the first time to Miss Hanna Lock of Steubenville, Ohio, on Sept. 9, 1856. Mrs. Morris died about fifteen months after their marriage. They had one son, Edwin, who died in infancy. On May 8, 1859, Mr. Morris married Miss Martha J. Smithson of Washington County, Ohio. This marriage has been blessed with nine children, seven of whom are living, viz .: Mary E., born May 8, 1860; Sadie, born Aug. 26, 1861; Richard N., born Aug. 16, 1863; Carrie, born Feb. 12, 1868; Mat- tie, born Aug. 29, 1870; Walter H. and Alice Gertrude, born June 24, 1877; John and William died in infancy. Mr. Morris was postmaster of Dresden from 1870 until 1876, has also been Justice of the Peace and a member of the school board for a number of years. He is a Master Mason and has held the office of Secretary of this Lodge a number of terms. In politics he has been a life-long Republican.
ELIAS J. PAYN.
Post-office, Dresden. Mr. Payn was born on the Island of Jersey, where his family has lived continually on the family farm, since the Norman Conquest. He was born, June 24, 1840. His father, Elias Payn, is still living in London, England. He is a contractor. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Le Boutillier. She died in England, Decem-
923
HISTORY OF DRESDEN TOWNSHIP.
ber 9, 1860. Mr. Payn's grandfather, Philip Payn, died three years ago on the Island of Jersey, in his eighty-eighth year. The family have held all the different offices of the State from time immemorial. Mr. Payn, the subject of this sketch, was married, December 26, 1871, to Miss Asanath Bacheldor, the daughter of Samuel and T. Maria Bacheldor. They were married at Junction City, Kansas. Mr. Bacheldor was born in New York, and died at Leonidas, Michigan, in 1862. Mrs. Bacheldor, whose maiden name was Osgood, was a native of Massachusetts. She died at Leonidas, Michigan. Mr. Bacheldor was born in 1818, and Mrs. Bacheldor in 1814. They were married at Parma, Monroe County, New York. Mr. Payn, the subject of this sketch, came to America in June, 1863, and has been in the United States ever since. He has been a super- intendent and contractor all his life. He has been nearly all the time on public buildings and railroads. The last contract he had was putting up buildings and snowsheds on the Gunnison line of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Mr. Payn lived in Jersey until 1853. He then went with his parents to the Island of Alderney, where his father was a con- tractor on the British forts. In 1859, they moved to England. Mr. Payn bought the farm where he now resides in 1876. There are two hundred acres, all under fence. It is half a mile south of the village of Dresden, on the M. P. R. R. Mr. Payn intends to make this farm his home, and to use it exclusively as a stock farm. It is well supplied with living springs, and the land is fine mulatto soil, peculiarly adapted to blue grass. In politics Mr. Payn is a Republican.
R. A. S. WADE.
Agent and operator of the M. P. R. R. Co., at Dresden, is a native of Virginia, born in Highland County, Jan. 8, 1848. He came with his par- ents to Missouri in 1859, stopping in Cooper County until 1865, when they came to Pettis County. He received his education principally in the schools of Pettis County, and for fifteen months attended the State Univer- sity at Columbia in 1873 and 1874, after which he returned to this county and for seven years taught school in this and Johnson Counties. He learned the art of telegraphy at Lamonte, in this county, under the instruc- tion of his brother, J. R. Wade, at that time operator at that place. He was then put in charge of the Company's office at Houstonia, and after- wards transferred to Greenwood, then to Knob Noster, and from thence to Dresden, which office he took charge of March 1st, 1881. Mr. Wade is an accomplished gentleman in his business, a pleasant and affable acquaintance, and a man who will make for himself friends, wherever he goes.
924
HISTORY OF DRESDEN TOWNSHIP.
C. V. WITCHER.
Post-office, Hughesville. Mr. Witcher was born in Pettis County, Mo., in 1854. His father, W. A. Witcher, was a native of Virginia, being born in Pittsylvania County. Mrs. Witcher, the mother of C. V. Witcher, was born in Kentucky, near Lexington. W. A. Witcher came to Pettis County in 1848, and located at Georgetown. He came all the way from Virginia on horse-back. He is an attorney. At one time he edited a paper at Liberty, Mo. He was married to Miss Major, the daughter of R. and Elvira Major, of Pettis County, Mo. She is now the wife of Major Gentry, of this county. C. V. Witcher was married on the 26th of May, 1880, to Miss Lillian M. Rucker, of Pettis County. She is the daughter of J. G. and Z. B. Rucker. They have lost their only child. They live seven miles northwest of Sedalia. Mr. Witcher has spent all his life on a farm, except two years that he lived in Sedalia; a part of that time he was in the general office of the M. K. & T. R. R .; the rest of the time he was in the grocery business. He is an enterprising and exem- plary farmer, taking pride and satisfaction in his chosen pursuit.
ALBION WOOD.
Farmer and stock dealer. He owns a farm of 333 acres of good land, all in cultivation. His residence is a large two-story building, situated upon a high and elevated spot, commanding a fine view of the surrounding country. Mr. Wood is a native of Pettis County; born in July, 1844. His father, Clifton Wood, was a native of Virginia. His mother was from Kentucky. They emigrated to Missouri in a very early day, and settled at a point called Pin Hook Mills, where he was engaged in selling goods, after which he moved to Georgetown, then the county seat of Pettis County, where he remained for several years; then moved to Seda- lia, and became the president of the Citizens National Bank, which posi- tion he held at the time of his death in 1878. Mr. A. Wood's mother died in this county in 1845. Albion, the subject of our sketch, was prin- cipally reared and educated at Georgetown. He was engaged in selling goods in Sedalia for several years. In 1868 Mr. Wood moved to his present farm, situated in the corner of three townships, since which time he has been actively engaged in farming and dealing largely in stock, and is one of the successful stock men of his neighborhood. In 1868 he was married to Miss M. B. Lightfoot, of Sedalia, and the daughter of Wm. Lightfoot, Esq. The happy result of this union has been five children: Mary, Alma, Hortense, Linn and Dora. Mrs. Wood is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
925
HISTORY OF CEDAR TOWNSHIP.
CHAPTER XVIII .- CEDAR TOWNSHIP.
Introduction-Name-Organization-Physical Features -First Settlers - Early Land Entries-Agricultural and Stock Interests - Churches - Schools - Statistics-Inci- dents-Georgetown-Post-Office-Pin Hook-Early Marriages-First Justices-First Lawyers-Early Ministers-First Teachers-Biographical.
There is a joy in every spot, Made known in days of old; New to the feet, although each tale A hundred times be told.
Cedar Township is one of the smallest of the county, but has a his- tory interesting and worth recording. History is the grand master key that opens to our view the past. In our sketch of Cedar Township will be found the name with its associations, the organization, and subsequent changes down to the present time, containing facts connected with the several eras of its development from a wild section, with a few settlers, to the present elegant and happy rural homes. The class of citizens within the bounds of this township are benevolent, generous, and prosperous, taking hold of every laudable enterprise that tends to elevate the moral and social status of the fireside.
NAME .- Objects and places become noted for their singular incidents and peculiar attractions. The name Cedar was applied to this township in the summer of 1877, probably, on account of the cedar shrubs which grew abundantly on Cedar Bluff, near the junction of Cedar Creek and Muddy. The cedar is an evergreen tree, cupressus, albies, and larix, remarkable for the durability of its wood, which has a fragrant odor. The Cedar of Lebanon, mentioned in the Bible, is the larix cedrus. The white cedar is the cupressus thyoides. The township honors no man's name, but perpetuates the shrubs that once grew abundantly on the hill- sides. At one time this territory was within the bounds of Mt. Sterling township.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.