USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > The history of Buchanan County, Missouri > Part 80
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as salesman with V. B. Buck, wholesale boot and shoe dealer, in 1866, and was admitted as partner in 1870, remaining up to June, 1877, when he sold out to Patterson, Noyes. & Co. He then returned to Kentucky, remaining over two years. Since that time he has lived on his farm, three and one-half miles north of St. Joseph. January 1, 1881, he engaged in his present business. September 3, 1868, he married Miss Helen M. Conway. She is a native of Missouri, and was born January 17, 1852. They have had six children : John C., born November 23, 1869 ; Cleota, born November 25, 1871 ; Mary E., born January 2, 1874 ; Ferdinand W., born June 28, 1876 ; Robert H., born September 29, 1878, and an infant son, born June 15, 1880. Mr. McCoun is a Mason, and member of the Christian Church. In August, 1861, he was arrested at his home, in Mis- souri, cast into prison at Savannah, and finally parolled. He was bitterly opposed to secession, but this unjust arrest fired up his soul, enthused his Southern heart, and he enlisted in the Tenth Missouri Regiment, under General Price. Was in the Confederate Army four years, less one month, participating in every engagement in which the brigade took part. His mother and but one brother are still living out of a family of nine. Mrs. J. I. McCoun was born in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, December 23, 1802. She is active, and enjoys good health. The benevolent heart of Mr. McCoun is always in sympathy with charitable and progressive enterprises.
ROBERT MCCRARY,
cooper, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1817, and was there raised and learned his trade in that city. After serving his time he opened a shop which he operated for a number of years. Then removed to Ohio, remaining some time, and returned to Pittsburgh, and after a short sojourn located in Zanesville, Ohio. In 1866 he went to Kansas and took charge of the government shops at Leavenworth. After which he was in other places until 1875, when he became a resident of St. Joseph. He is a first-class mechanic, a gentleman unassuming in his demeanor, and popular with all who know him.
R. L. McDONALD
was born near Harrisburg, Kentucky, May 19, 1832. His father was a farmer of that neighborhood, and here the subject of this sketch resided till he was nineteen years of age, when he left his home for the West, and settled in St. Joseph, Missouri, where he engaged as a clerk in the store of Donnell & Saxton. In 1853, he was received as a partner in the business. A short time previous to the breaking out of the civil war, he purchased the interest of his partners, and became sole proprietor of the concern, a general retail dry-goods house, then located on the corner of
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Fourth and Felix streets. In 1865, he associated with himself C. H. Buckman and F. L. McLain, and under the name and style of R. L. McDonald & Co., engaged in the wholesale trade. In 1867, F. L. McLain retired from the partnership for the purpose of engaging in the retail business alone. He was succeeded by George Hen- derson. In 1872, Colonel J. H. Dayton became a member of the firm. In January, 1877, Dayton and Buckman both retired from the partnership, and W. A. P. McDonald became a partner. Since that period, this gentleman and George Henderson, Jr., have composed the Co. of the concern. In December, 1880, the elegant structure of the present business house of this firm, a brick faced with cut stone, on the northwest corner of Fourth and Francis streets, was completed and occupied. This is the largest structure of the kind in the city, having a frontage of one hundred feet on Fourth street, running back one hundred and forty feet on Francis street, and is four stories high, with an elegantly lighted basement, opening on the grade of Francis street. The floor space of the entire building includes 70,000 square feet. The stories are of unusual height, the basement being twelve feet, the first floor twenty feet, the second seventeen feet, the third sixteen, and the fourth story twelve feet. This house, the largest west of St. Louis, dis- tributes its sales over twelve States and Territories, employing con- stantly about twenty traveling salesmen, besides the sixty or seventy engaged in the house. R. L. McDonald was married May 16, 1857, to Miss Mary A. Wilson, daughter of Gen. Robert Wilson, formerly United States Senator from Missouri, and niece of Armstrong Beattie, deceased. They have had seven children. Of these, John, Maggie, Mattie, Robert, Annie and Marie, survive.
W. A. P. McDONALD
was born in Plattsburg, Clinton County, Missouri, August 17, 1847. His father, D. M. McDonald, now (1881) a prominent lumber dealer of St. Joseph, soon after moved to Stewartsville, in DeKalb County, where he was engaged in general merchandising till the breaking out of the civil war, when he sold out and entered the Confederate service. The subject of this sketch was the third son of a family of seven children, four of whom are living. He completed his education in Stewartsville Academy, an institution presided over by Rev. W. O. H. Perry. From his earliest boyhood he worked in stores and was bred to mercantile pursuits. In early youth he also had a varied experience, acquiring a knowledge of several trades, among which were sign painting, printing, etc. He was also at one time a railroad agent and telegraph operator. In 1865 he was employed by R. L. McDonald & Co., now the largest wholesale dry goods house in St. Joseph. He was soon promoted to the
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position of entry clerk, and subsequently to that of book-keeper, which position he filled till 1870, when he engaged as traveling salesman, con- tinuing in this latter place till 1872, when he was appointed general salesman in the house. In 1873 he left the dry goods business, and engaged with the Merchants' Insurance Company. He remained gen- eral agent of this company for the space of four years. In 1877 he again associated himself as a partner in the firm of R. L. McDonald & Co. January, 1872, W. A. P. McDonald was married to Miss Forrestine Gower, daughter of Col. A. G. Gower, a prominent railroad man, and the builder of several roads through Buchanan County. By this mar- riage they have two daughters, Forrestine, aged about eight years, and R. L. aged seven.
DR. SILAS McDONALD.
Buchanan County, was fortunate in having among its early settlers men of solid worth. They contributed to that excellent reputation of the county of which it has ever had just cause to be proud. Of this number no one has contributed a larger share than Dr. McDonald. He was born in Washington County, Kentucky, April 18th, 1812, and was there raised. After making choice of the practice of medicine as a profession, he attended his first course of lectures at Transylvania University, in 1834, and his second course was at the Cincinnati Medical College, in 1837. In 1836, he came to Missouri, and settled in Howard County, and in 1837 made a prospecting tour to Texas, but not liking the country, he returned, and made his home in this county. In January, 1838, he pre-empted a claim, and at the same time engaged in the active duties of his profession. He was the first physician to settle in what is now known as Buchanan County. Dr. McDonald is a man of acknowledged ability, as a physician, and his services as such are recognized by a host of appreciatory friends. His kind and sympathetic nature made him a welcome visitor in the sick room, and when in active practice, his calls were numerous and remote. He is well known throughout the county, and the respect shown him is as wide as his acquaintance. He has rid- den hundreds of miles to administer to the necessities of the poor, at all seasons of the year, without any expectation of compensation. Day and night he answered calls, regardless of the pecuniary circumstances of the summoner. As a man he is a genial companion, positive in his char- acter, and warm-hearted as a friend. Ten years ago he retired from active practice. Having acquired a competency, his time has been occu- pied with financial matters. He married Miss Sarah Donnell, October 30th, 1839. She was born in North Carolina. She is a lady of refined taste and domestic habits, whose life has been devoted to making home happy and attractive. Their family consists of seven children : Martha (now Mrs. France ;) Daniel (late a banker at Forest City ;) John T.,
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Hettie (now Mrs. Dr. Lindsay ;) William F. (also banker at Forest City ;) Silas (cashier State Savings Bank,) and Alexander (in college.)
JOHN MCGINTY,
dairyman, was born in Ireland, in 1816, and when he was small his parents died. He was married in the fall of 1839, to Miss Ellen Short. By this union they had nine children, John. Patrick, Owen, William, Ellen, Charles, James, Barney and Kate ; four of them have died. He and his wife are members of the Catholic Church. Mr. McGinty emi- grated to America in 1853, and located in St. Louis, and there followed the dairy business. In 1866, he immigrated to St. Joseph, and has been engaged in his present business ever since. He has been crippled with rheumatism for sixteen years, but otherwise enjoys good health.
J. H. McGUIRE,
job printer, is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, where he was educated, grad- uating as a compositor from the Leader office. He came to St. Joseph in the spring of 1871, and was in the employ of the Steam Printing Com- pany, until 1878, when he embarked in the job printing business. Pre- vious to coming to this city he was engaged in working at Rand, McNally & Co's, and other first class printing houses in Chicago. For artistic card, railway and commercial printing, his work is on an equality with any done in the West.
JOSEPH MCINERNY,
proprietor of the Commercial Hotel, was born in the parish of Kilmurry McMahon, County Clare, Ireland, April 29, 1841, and came to this country in 1862, and settled in Freehold, New Jersey, where he worked in a hotel. In 1863, he went to Great Valley, New York, remaining there until early in 1864. At the beginning of the coal oil excitement he went to the oil regions in Pennsylvania, and worked there first in putting up machinery, and then at masonry till 1867, at which time he went to Meadville, Penn- sylvania, remaining there speculating in oil and other stocks till early in 1869. He moved to Kent, Ohio, where he kept a billiard hall for some nineteen months, and then came West, settling at Rock Island, Illinois. Then he visited the principal towns of Iowa, Illinois and Dakota, and finally landed in St. Joseph, Missouri, in September, 1870, when he settled and bought the property now located on the corner of Mitchell Avenue and Tenth Street, then an open prairie. He purchased of Milton Tootle the property he still owns, on which stands the Commercial Hotel. Was married to Miss Mary Kelly, in Davenport, Iowa, October 3, 1871. They have two children living. Mr. McInerny attended school in Ireland with
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the lady who is now his wife. They had not seen each other for fourteen years, when they accidentally met in Davenport. Mr. Mcl. keeps an excellent house, and enjoys great personal popularity. For several years has been elected Alderman of his ward, a position the duties of which he discharged acceptably. Is President of the Land League of St. Joseph, and is notably active and liberal in all church and school enterprises. He is a Catholic and a Democrat.
PATRICK McINTIRE,
County Judge, was born in County Linford, Ireland, May 15, 1833, and came to this country in 1849, stopping in Coldspring, New York, where he learned the grading business. In 1854, he came to Grand Rapids, Mich- igan, and remained for nine years, following his vocation. He married Miss Catherine Shaughnesey while there, and came to St. Joseph, in 1863, where he worked at his trade, and has done more, perhaps, than any other man, to level down the hills, fill up the valleys, grade the streets, and ornament them by setting trees, etc. His work has not been entirely confined to the city, for he has done many large jobs in the country. Among his more important works were, the grading of the court house site, the cathedral lot, and some of the largest blocks in the city. He has also done much railroad grading. He graded the fair ground track, and does all kinds of work in his line. He was elected County Judge in 1880, and no man on the Board takes a deeper interest in the welfare of the county, and attends to its business with more zeal and good common sense, than does Judge McIntire. He is a devoted Catholic, and a Democrat, always taking a lively interest in building up church and school interests.
J. H. McMACHEN
is a prominent architect and builder, and is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, where he was born July 23, 1818. He was there raised, edu- cated and learned his trade. Our subject, for eleven years, was in the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Railway, and constructed all the depot buildings on the line, including the depot at Washington, District Col- umbia, Camden depot at Baltimore, and also the first iron bridge on the road. In 1856 he came West and took up his abode in St. Joseph, and has been actively engaged at his trade since. Among the first buildings he worked on in the city were the Patee and Pacific Houses. Mr. McMachen has been twice married ; first, to Miss Mary Murry, of Mary- land. She died, leaving one son, J. Robert, and he was married the sec- ond time to Mrs. Christena C. Parsons, nec Shotts. By this union they have four children, John Robert, Samuel D., Harry E., and Benjamin. Mrs. McMachen by her first husband has a daughter, Elizabeth. Mr. McMa-
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chen belongs to the Encampment I. O. O. F., King Hill Lodge, No. 19. Has been an Odd Fellow forty-two years. For a number of years he was Deputy Grand Master.
W. B. MCNUTT,
Chief of the Fire Department, was born in Londonderry, Ireland, April 22, 1838, and came to this country in 1848, and with his father's family settled in Philadelphia, Pa. He there learned the bookbinding trade, and then went to Cincinnati and worked at it two years, and in 1857 came to this city and started the first bookbindery. He is still carrying on the business, in connection with one of the largest establishments in the city. He married Mollie Elder in this city in 1861. They have one child, Libbion Florence; lost one. McNutt has seen much of the substan- tial improvements, and has established a reputation as a first-class workman and a reliable business man that few enjoy. He has always taken an active interest in the Fire Department, was among the first to organize a company in 1874, was elected Chief Engineer of the Depart- ment, and held the position for six years.
J. J. McPOLAND,
carriage manufacturer, was born February 24, 1852, in Dubuque, Iowa, and was there raised, educated and graduated in the carriage works of Tom Connelly. He resided principally in the Key City until 1877, when he came West, taking up his abode in St. Joseph. He worked for a time as a journeyman, and then branched into trade, and is one of the best workmen in the state, and the firm of McPoland & Farrell, is rapidly coming to the front.
J. C. MACSPADDEN,
sole agent for the light running Domestic sewing machine, one of the representative sewing machine agents of Buchanan County, is our sub- ject. He is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was born January 13, 1850. At an early age he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, with his parents, where he was raised and educated, graduating in the High School of that city, His father, John MacSpadden, was well known in Cleveland as a contractor and painter. In 1869, J. C. moved to Kansas, and engaged in the sewing machine business at Lawrence, Leavenworth and Atchison, and was state agent for the Wheeler & Wilson Company. In 1877, he took up his abode in St. Joseph. He is a practical sewing machine man, and does a large and increasing business. He has the agency for several machines, but makes a specialty of the light running Domestic, which he considers superior to all others. He also carries a complete line of supplies, patterns, etc. In 1875, Miss Rosa Amann, a
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native of Canada, became his wife. They have two children, Volney C., and Marie R.
JACOB MADINGER
was born February 10, 1822, at Strempfelbach, Germany, aud left his birthplace, when fourteen years old, with his uncle, who was on a visit from America, and came with him, in 1836, to Louisville, Kentucky. There he served his apprenticeship as butcher, for two years, and was also employed for twelve years. He came to St. Joseph in 1850, where he commenced his business, which he carried on very successfully for six years, when he sold out. He retired from business, bought twenty acres of land, and commenced to become a wine grower, and was the first in this city. By his example he has animated others to follow, and has done much for St. Joseph. In acknowledgement of his merits, he was elected President of the Horticultural Society, of St. Joseph, and Vice President of the State Horticultural Society, of Missouri. In 1848, at Louisville, he was married to Miss Rosine Jant.
GEORGE R. MANN,
of the firm of Eckel & Mann, architects. One who has attained a wide and well merited reputation in this important art, is George R. Mann, who was born in Elkhart County, Indiana, July 22, 1854. There he resided until he attained his thirteenth year, receiving the benefits of the common schools, after which for three years he studied architecture, in Indianapolis, and also for four years at the School of Technology, in Boston. From this he graduated with high honors, taking all the prizes in the different classes, and the premium at the Centennial for the finest designs. He located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and after completing his studies, he remained two years, after which he was employed in Detroit and Washington, D. C., and other cities, as draughtsman. In October, 1879, he took up his abode in St. Joseph. Among the many specimens of his skill are the edifices of Tootle, Hosea & Co.'s, Turner, Frazer & Co.'s and R. L. McDonald & Co.'s stores, and J. G. Englehart's and A. N. Schuster's residences, the Union Depot, also the Court House and Jail of Nodaway County, and the Union Depot at Hannibal.
S. H. MANLY,
of the firm of Manly & Gray, carpenters and builders, was born in Cum- berland County, Pennsylvania, August 2nd, 1822, and when seven years of age, removed, with his parents, to Wayne County, Ohio, where his father, John, engaged in agricultural pursuits. S. H. spent his early life in farming in Wayne County, and there resided until 1866, when he came to St. Joseph. He is a natural mechanic, and this combined with
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close application, has made him among the foremost of the craft. For over three years he was foreman for R. K. Allen. He was married, in 1867, to Miss Sarah J. Hunt. By this union they have had three chil- dren : Samuel B. and Lillie Maud, living, and Franklin, deceased.
REV. CHARLES MARTIN, M. D.,
Principal of the Young Ladies' Institute, was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in January, 1812. He received a good academic education, and studied medicine with his father, Dr. Geo. Martin ; also attended medical lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in 1833. He practiced medicine exclusively for only about a year, yet he has been obliged to prescribe for his friends, more or less, ever since. In 1836, he entered upon the work of the ministry, in the Lutheran Church. In 1857, he became principal of the Luther- ville Female Seminary, near Baltimore, Maryland. In 1859, he estab- lished the Collegiate Institute, at Warren, Illinois. In 1865, he became principal of the Hagerstown, Md., Female Seminary. Here he remained until he came to St. Joseph, in 1869, where, in September of the same year, he established the Young Ladies' Institute, a school of recognized merit and increasing popularity. The Doctor desires this to be the crowning masterpiece of his life work. He contemplates making large additions to the present buildings, and fitting. them up in first-class style, to accommodate the increasing patronage of the institution. His first wife was Miss Eliza Carlton, of Maryland. By this marriage they had four children : George T., Elizabeth and Charles E., and Emma V., who died in 1833. Mrs. M. died in 1846. In 1865, he married Miss L. C. Robin- son, of Easton, Maryland. They have three children: Maggie R., Martina W. and Endora L.
GEORGE W. MARLOW,
proprietor of the Elephant Boot and Shoe Store, in St. Joseph, is a native of Loudoun County, Virginia, where he spent his boyhood's days. In 1869 he went West and settled in St. Joseph, where he embarked in the boot and shoe trade, locating on the north side of Market Square, where he remained till 1875, when he moved to his present location on Felix Street. Mr. Marlow has always borne the reputation of an enter- prising and honorable merchant. His business in St. Joseph proved a success from the start, and no retail house in the Northwest keeps a larger or more varied stock in his line. Every floor of the three-story building he occupies is filled with goods. His brother, Mr. John Mar- low, a courteous and affable gentlemen, is the leading salesman of the establishment.
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DESIRE MARECHAL,
of the firm of Marechal & Son. proprietors of the Valley commission house, and dealers in baled hay, corn, oats, etc., is a native of France, and was born November 13, 1826. Was there raised and educated, and served an apprenticeship to the brick and stone mason trade. In 1857, he came to America, and for a time was a resident of Wisconsin and Illinois, locating in St. Joseph in 1863. After a short sojourn he went to Montgomery County, engaging in trade for a time, when he again became a resident of St. Joseph. For a time he operated a feed mill on Frederick Avenue, previous to engaging in his present business. He is a worthy and honorable citizen. Was married, July 8th, 1848, to Miss Erenstine Rusel. They have a family of four children: Emeiale, Elish., Sarah and Theophelis. Himself and family are closely identified with the Baptist Church.
JOSEPH T. MARTIN,
foreman of the St. Joseph Planing Mill, is a native of Maryland, and was born in Emmettsburgh, July 31, 1846. He there spent his youthful days, and resided, until the breaking out of the rebellion, when he ten- dered his services to the Confederate cause, enlisting in the Second Maryland Battalion, and served until the close of the war, participating in many stirring events, among which were the second battle of Bull Run and Antietam ; was three times wounded, once severely, and was taken prisoner at Petersburg, and held two months at Point Lookout. In 1865, he came West, taking up his abode in this city, and entered the St. Joseph Planing Mill. Being a man of mechanical inclination, he rapidly progressed, and in about two years was placed as foreman. The duties of this responsible position he has since faithfully discharged. Mr. Martin, in scroll work and ornamental designs, of which he makes a specialty, has but few equals. A large amount of this class of work, which ornaments many of the imposing structures of St. Joseph, and throughout the Northwest, are specimens of his skill. He is esteemed by a large circle of acquaintances.
S. M. MARKLE,
real estate agent. Few citizens of St. Joseph have attained such a wide- spread and richly deserved reputation at home and in Europe than Major Markle. He is a native of Butler County, Ohio, and was born July 15, 1830. He graduated at the Miami University, in Oxford, attending the same period that Ben Harrison, and other, now promi- nent, officials were preparing for the voyage of life. At the breaking out of the rebellion we find him in the field as First Lieutenant of the
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Forty-seventh Ohio ; after a time he recruited and became Major of the Sixty-ninth. During his term of active duty he was at Pittsburg Land- ing and many other notable events. During the latter part of the war he was inspector of provisions at Cincinnati. In the spring of 1866 Mr. M. came to St. Joseph, engaging in the real estate and government claim business. He was railroad commissioner for the Denver Railway, and made the first sale of their land. In 1872, in company with Moses S. Beach, of New York, he purchased one hundred and four thousand acres of timber land in Arkansas, one of the heaviest transactions in real estate on record, and it must be conceded that it was a venture of more than ordinary consequence. The panic of 1873 coming on so affected the money market that they were obliged to keep it all entirely on their hands. They engaged in getting out large amounts of black walnut timber, and exported it to Europe, and latterly have been sup- plying the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine Manufacturing Company with enormous amounts of material. Mr. Markle made three trips to Europe to make a sale of this vast domain to foreign capitalists, the first time remaining a year, the second time six months, and the last time a shorter period. He negotiated with the moneyed men of London and Glasgow, and several times was on the eve of effecting a sale, when some trifling technicality would arise and retard its progress. However, property is becoming more valuable, and in the near future will hand- somely compensate the gentlemen for their venture. Mr. Markle has been twice married, first, in 1852, to Mary R. Give, who died, leaving two children, Charlie and Effie. He was again married in 1867 to Miss Lucy G. Give, and by this marriage they have four children, Frank, Willie, Jennie, and Miner.
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