USA > Missouri > Linn County > The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information > Part 44
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
In 1875, he was elected county commissioner and was reëlected in 1877. In July, 1878, he was nominated by the Democratic convention as their candidate for county clerk, and was elected over his Republican opponent in a county where the parties were nearly evenly balanced. He accordingly assumed the duties of the clerk's office in January, 1879.
Mr. Jones was married on the twenty-fourth of December, 1868, to Miss Maria Arnold, daughter of Dr. M. R. Arnold of Boone county, Mis- souri. They have four children living and one dead.
Mr. Jones is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and also of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Politically, he is a Democrat and votes no other ticket. At time of this writing Mr. Jones's term of office is unexpired. He has many warm personal friends here and at Brookfield, and the same is true of all parts of the county.
JAMES F. KELLEY
is the son of Francis and Mary B. Kelley, both of whom were Kentuckians. James was born in Callaway county, Missouri, May 27, 1837. He was partly reared in his native county, living there until he was about five years old. His parents then removed to Linn county, and settled near Linneus. Here James grew to manhood and received his education. He began life as a farmer and continued in that occupation for several years. In 1862, he learned the art of taking pictures and was engaged in that business three or four years. In December, 1880 he purchased an interest in a livery stable at Linneus, and has been in that business ever since, the firm being West- gate, Kelley & Pounds. Mr. Kelley was first married in January, 1866, to Miss Mary J. White. They had one child who died, and Mrs. Kelley also died in July, 1862. Mr. Kelley was subsequently married to Margaret J. (nee Fosher) Lambert, of Linn county. Mrs. Kelley has been the mother of twins twice and of triplets once, making seven children at three births. The triplets are still living. One pair of twins, and one of the first pair died. Mr. Kelley has eight children living. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He belongs to no secret order.
JOHN JACKSON KNIFFIN
Mr. Kniffin comes from the good old Knickerbocker stock which had so much to do with the settlement and development of the State of New York, and is so celebrated in song and story. He was born at Yonkers, Westches- ter county, New York, November 24, 1820. His father's name was John. His grandfather, Jacob Kniffin, was a native of Holland, and one of the Knickerbockers, so-called. Jacob Kniffin was a soldier for the Colonies in the Revolutionary War. He died at the extraordinary age of one hundred and three. The ancestors of the subject hereof were remarkable for their longevity, as well as the probity and general excellence of their lives. His
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
maternal grandmother died aged ninety-eight. In early life Mr. Kniffin worked at the hatter's trade, but since leaving New York he has followed farming and stock-raising. In 1845 Mr. Kniffin removed to Madison, Wis- consin, and there resided for twenty-three years. In the fall of 1868 he came to Linn county and located where he now lives, on section seventeen, township fifty-eight, range nineteen. November 3, 1845, he married Miss Eliza Keeler, a native of Danbury, Connecticut, born January 4, 1816. They have had born to them four children : Oscar N., born in 1847; John W., born in 1849; Ida Frances, born in 1852, died in 1870; and Marietta S., born in 1856. The two sons are married. Oscar lives in his father's house, and John re- sides near by. Oscar married Miss Catharine Arkansas Lindley, a native of Wisconsin; John was married to Miss Alice A. Potter, a native of Scott county, New York. The living daughter, Miss Marietta, resides with her parents. In politics Mr. Kniffin has always been an anti-Democrat. His. first presidential vote was given for General Harrison, in 1840. He was an old line Whig, and, upon the death of that party, became a Republican, and is still of that political faith. He has voted at every presidential elec- tion since 1840 but one, that of 1868, and was en route to Missouri at that time. During the civil war Mr. Kniffin lost three brothers in the Union army. When he first came to Linn county he was warned to leave by a Mr. Neece and another man, because he admitted that he was an " Abolition- ist," but he refused to go, and drove his would-be "bull-dozers" off the premises. Mr. and Mrs. Kniffin and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Kniffin farin comprises about four hundred and twenty acres of valuable land in Linn county. There is a commodious, comfortable residence, with four acres of apple orchard, comprising the best varieties of fruit, such as the Fall Pippin, Baldwin, Janet, Northern Spy, Ben Davis, and Jonathan. There are also a number of cherry trees, and all kinds of small fruits. Mr. Kniffin engages extensively in stock- raising, and expects to increase his business in that direction. He now has- about one hundred and forty head of sheep, including a dozen or more first- class Merinos, and about seventy-five head of cattle. While in Wisconsin Mr. Knitfin was a justice of the peace for some years, and also town super- intendent. Since coming to Missouri he has sought no office, but has- steadily striven to provide for himself a comfortable home, in which with his family he could pass his declining years in peace, and in this he has succeeded.
JOHN F. LASH.
Captain Lash was born in Centre county, near Butler, Pennsylvania, on the twenty-fourth day of February, 1838. His father, Mr. David Lash, -was manager of a mill in that county. The first work John F. ever did was at this mill. The father removed to Mount Vernon, Ohio, when John F. was ten years old, and he received the principal part of his education in
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
that place. At the age of nineteen he began learning the trade of mill- wright, and has worked at that business many years. His father had failed in business a short time befor this, and advised each of his sons to learn some safe trade. .
When the war of the Rebellion broke out, Mr. Lash enlisted on the nine- teenth of May, 1861, in Company B, of the Second Illinois Regiment of Light Artillery. While serving in the light artillery he was in several mi- nor engagements, but was in no heavy battles. He was transferred to the heavy artillery service at St. Louis in 1862. Soon after this he participated in the battles of Pittsburg Landing and Corinth, Mississippi, and a number of smaller engagements. In March, 1863, he was promoted and commis- sioned as captain, and assigned to the quartermaster's department, with the rank of a staff officer under Quartermaster General T. C. Bunton. Captain Lash held this rank till after the surrender, spending two years and nine months of the time at Columbus, Kentucky. He was discharged at St. Louis, in April, 1865, and returned to Ohio. There hè embarked in the grocery business, but was forced back on his trade of millwright from be- ing burned out without insurance, just one month to a day from the day he began. He followed the occupation of mill-building, working in different towns in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, and has built, as a contractor, many mills and factories. He came to Linn county, Mis- souri, in July, 1870, and lived the first two years at Meadville, removing to Linneus in July, 1872. Here he bought an interest in a flouring-mill, in partnership with three other gentlemen, and was in this business for about two years.
The lumber business was Captain Lash's next enterprise, which he has made a complete success, and is still in that line of business. He added the farming implement trade to his other enterprises, and is the only firm car- rying anything like a stock in this line in Linneus. He is also interested in the hardware house of Lash & Collins, and their stock in that line is com- plete. Mr. Lash handles the Studebaker, Rogers, and John Burg & Sons wagons; he also handles the Furst & Bradley plows, the Canton Clipper and the Weir plows and cultivators, besides Champion reapers and mowers, corn-planters, rakes, etc.
Captain Lash was married on the eighth day of April, 1869, at Bellville, Ohio, to Miss Catharine C. Collins, daughter of Archibald Collins, of Ohio. They have two daughters and one son.
The only secret order Captain Laish belongs to is that of the A. O. U. W. Politically, he is a conservative Republican, though he cares far more for his business affairs than for political agitation.
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. HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
JOHN WESLEY LANE, M. D.
This gentleman is a native of Boone county, Indiana, and was there born on the eleventh day of December, 1849. He is the son of Jesse and Eliza- beth (Jolly) Lane, the latter a daughter of John Jolly, Esq., of Kentucky. Dr. Lane's paternal grandfather was Jesse Lane, senior. The Doctor's par- ents reared a family of six children, of whom he was the third. The father followed the business of farming, a calling in which he took great pride. Our subject worked on the farm, taking great delight in all kinds of agri- cultural labor, till he was nineteen years old. During this period he attended school regularly every winter at what was known as the " Murphy school-house," in his locality. At the age of nineteen, in the years 1869-70, he attended Asbury University, a theological institution under the control of the Methodist Episcopal Church and then presided over by Bishop Bow- man. After attending two years at this college, Dr. Lane concluded him- self better adapted to some other profession than that of theology, and accordingly "stepped down and out " and engaged in school teaching for two terms. His ambition now tended toward the medical profession, the inspiration toward that calling having been caught while frequently attend- ing a dissecting-room in the same building where he had his study. Sub- sequent to his school teaching he taught writing-school, at the same time industriously reading medicine. His reading was first under the surveil- lance of Dr. Thomas H. Lane, a cousin of his, and subsequently under the able tutelage of Dr. George Nelson Duzan, of Zionsville, now filling a chair in the Indianapolis College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 1872-73 he attended lectures at the Bellevue Hospital and Medical College in New York City, and in 1873-74 took a course at Rush Medical College in Chicago, graduating from the latter in the spring of 1874, and receiving a diploma with the degree of M. D. At once returning to Zionsville, he went into partnership with his old preceptor, Dr. Duzan, and practiced with him till Dr. Lane came west in 1876. In March of that year he came to Linneus, Linn county, Missouri, and, for the first two years, practiced in partnership with Dr. P. H. Perkins. Since then he has enjoyed a lucrative practice without any partner, and few gentlemen of his profession liave been blessed with better success than he. On coming to Linneus, Dr. Lane had a cash capital of seven dollars and fifty cents, all told. He has never got a dollar that was not squarely earned, and has received small assistance from any source, even the acquiring of his education being largely the result of his own unaided efforts.
Dr. Lane was married in February, 1875, to Mrs. Laura Parr, a widow lady whose maiden name was Burrow, a daughter of Green Burrow, Esq., of Greencastle, Indiana. Mrs. Lane died June 3, 1881. They had one child, a son, named Harry, born on December 26th, 1875. He, also, died
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
November 26, 1881, a few months after the death of his mother. Dr. Lane bore the grief of his great deprivations with the fortitude of a philosopher, and through all had the sympathy of the entire community. Since the death of his wife and son, Dr. Lane has been housekeeping with his wife's mother and sister.
Dr. Lane is a member of the A. O. U. W., and in Indiana was a member of the Red Men's order. Though not a member of any temperance society, he never in his life took a drink of liquor, nor did he ever use tobacco in any way. Temperate in his habits, full of energy and vitality, with a thorough medical education, and self-reliance that comes with success already attained, there is for Dr. Lane a future of great usefulness, the prospects of which are fully merited. What he has accomplished may be the legacy of any ambitious young man of ability who is willing to lead the life of labor and self-denial that has characterized the subject of this brief sketch.
WILLIAM S. MC CLANAHAN.
The subject of this sketch is an old settler of the country, having come to the State as early as 1836, and to Linn county in 1850.
Mr. McClanahan was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, five miles from Paris, on the eighteenth day of December, 1800. His father, Mr. Thomas McClanahan, was an early settler of that State, and was in the fort with Daniel Boone when they had to protect themselves from the wild men of the forest. He (the father) had been a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and fought under Colonel Thomas Marshall, who was an uncle of Thomas.
The mother of William S. was Nancy Green, a daughter of a gentleman of that name who came from England. She was married to Thomas Mc- Clanahan in Virginia, and was with him in the fort above mentioned. They raised a family of nine children, three sons and six daughters; and lost two in their youth, one son and one daughter. Of these, Mr. McClanahan was next to the youngest child, and is the only one left living. When .William was but two years old, his father moved to Logan county, and settled in what is now Simpson county, Kentucky. Our subject there received his educa- tion, and continued to reside there till he was about twenty-two, and then, in September, 1822, left there and went to West Virginia, and settled on a farm in Nicholas (now Braxton) county. Here, he was married, on the eighteenth day of March, 1823, to Miss Elizabeth M. Triplett, a daughter of Mr. Hedgman Triplett, of Nicholas county. Mr. McClanahan lived in West Virginia till May, 1836, when he sold out and came to Missouri, and lived in Boone county till the fall of 1848, when he removed to Liv- ingston county, and remained a short time. Mr. McClanahan purchased land in Linn county, in Jackson (now Clay) township, in 1849, and moved on to it in February, 1850. He has been a citizen of this county ever 28
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
since that time. In 1853, he was appointed and commissioned as county surveyor by Governor Sterling Price, to fill the' unexpired term of James P. Withrow, resigned. He was elected to serve in the same office in 1856, making him the incumbent for one whole term and part of another.
In the fall of 1862 he was nominated on the Republican ticket for county clerk, and at the following election was duly elected. In this office he served nine years, having been reëlected. He moved to Linneus soon after his election in 1862, and has been a resident of the town ever since. The city honored him with the mayorality in 1872-73.
Mr. McClanahan and wife had eight children, seven of whom lived to be grown, the youngest son dying in his sixteenth year. Two sons and four daughters are still living, and all married except one daughter.
Mr. McClanahan belongs to the Baptist Church, and his wife, who died in October, 1867, was a member of the same. All but one of the children are church members, but not all Baptists.
Mr. McClanahan has been a Freemason since 1852, and now belongs to Jackson Lodge, in Linneus. Politically, Mr. McClanahan was formerly a Whig, but at the disintegration of that party became a Republican. He was never, however, an agitating politician, and always managed to live peaceably with his neighbors.
Mr. McClanahan is well advanced in years, and soon must succumb be- the scythe of relentless Time, and be gathered to his fathers.
BERRYMAN H. MULLINS.
The old and recently deceased citizen whose name heads this sketch will. be remembered by many as an old settler of Linn county, having settled here as long ago as 1844. Berryman H. Mullins was a native of Virginia, born near Petersburg, on the third day of March, 1802. He was the son of Thomas Mullins, a Virginia farmer who moved to Washington (now Marion) county, Kentucky, when Berryman was but a small boy. In that State Mr. Mullins grew to manhood, and received a good common school education. He began life as a farmer, and followed that worthy calling throughout his long and somewhat eventful life. As already stated, he came to Linn county in April, 1844, and settled in Locust Creek township on the place where he died, three miles southeast of Linneus.
At that primitive day, settlements were sparse, and choice society was the exception and not the rule.
Judge Moore, and thé Beckets, James Pendleton, and a few others had settled in that neighborhood. Churches there were none, and the school- houses, erected by the settlers, were of the most primitive sort, built of logs, and seated with benches made of slabs with the flat side up. Mr. Mullins and the rest of those early settlers battled with the wilds till they made for themselves comfortable homes, supplied with all the necessaries
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
of life in a new country. Here, then, Mr. Mullins made his home, and he never moved from it during his life. He was married in Kentucky when he was twenty-eight years old, to Miss Susannah Jane Crews, who still sur- vives, living with her son and daughter on the old homestead, aged, at this writing, seventy-two. Mr. and Mrs. Mullins were the parents of eight children, five sons and three daughters. All of the daughters and two of the sons are still living, and all reside in Linn county, except Mrs. Baker, who lives at Kirkville, this State.
Mr. Mullins, though not a member of any church, was a man of scrupu- lous morals and rigid integrity, and was everywhere known as a worthy and upright citizen. Politically, he was formerly a Whig, but at the disso- lution of that party became a Republican, and ever since voted that ticket. Mr. Mullins died on his farm in his eightieth year, on the twenty-sixth of November, 1881. Though dead in the flesh, he is not dead in the hearts of his family and relatives, and in the tender memories of his many friends.
MAJOR A. W. MULLINS.
This gentleman is the son of Berryman H. and Susannah Jane Mullins, and was born in Kentucky on the twelfth of April, 1835. He came to this State and county with his father in 1844, and was reared on the old Mul- lins' homestead, three miles from Linneus (see biography of B. H. Mullins). He was educated wholly in this State, laying the foundation in the common schools of Linn county and completing his course at McGee College in Macon county, which institution he attended during the years 1854, 1855, and 1856. His legal education was also acquired in this State. Immedi- ately on leaving college he began reading law under the able preceptorship of Judge Jacob Smith. He was admitted to the bar at Linneus in October, 1857, by Judge James A. Clark, whose biography appears in this work.
Mr. Mullins at once began the practice in Linneus, and though his legal business has steadily grown and enlarged, frequently requiring his appear- ance in the State Supreme Court and in the Federal courts, yet he has never moved his office from Linneus, preferring to live and practice among those he has known from boyhood. He has filled official positions, both civil and military. In 1862 he was elected to represent Linn county in the State legislature, and was again elected in 1866, having skipped one term, making him altogether four years in that office. In 1865, between his legislative terms, he was appointed county treasurer to fill the unexpired term of Hoyle, resigned. On the expiration of his second term in the General Assembly, he was elected to the position of county treasurer and served two years longer. He had enlisted as a private, in the winter of 1862, in Col. McFerrin's regiment of First Missouri State Militia, but was soon commissioned major of the same regiment by Governor Gamble. He therefore had to obtain leave of absence from the military during his
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
attendance at Jefferson while a member of the legislature. For fuller details of Major Mullins' military career the reader is referred to the war history department of this work. In 1877 Major Mullins was appointed by President Grant to the position of United States Attorney for the west- ern district of Missouri. He filled this office for nearly a year, when his resignation, which had been previously tendered, was accepted by the de- partment, and he was succeeded by Colonel Waters, a gentleman he himself had recommended to the government. Since then Major Mullins has had no official connection whatever. He was married on the tenth day of Jan- uary, 1863, to Miss Nerissa Smith, a daughter of his old preceptor in the -law. Mr. and Mrs. Mullins are the parents of seven children, five of whom, three sons and two daughters, still survive. Those deceased were both boys.
Major Mullins belongs to no church or secret order, and carries no insur- ance either on life or property, preferring to take his own risks, financially, as well as otherwise. He owns fine property, mostly in real estate, lying in Linn and adjoining counties. He is a successful lawyer, and has so gained and retained the confidence of the people that his business keeps him constantly engaged; and his knowledge of law is such that the mere verbal opinion of few attorneys goes farther with the courts than that of Major A. W. Mullins. Politically, Major Mullins is a staunch Republican, and is recognized as one of the leaders of that great party in his congres- sional district and in the State at large; and though his party here is in the minority, few campaigns are planned and executed, either in State or national affairs, without the personal cooperation of Major Mullins.
· JEREMIAH P. MOORE.
The subject of this sketch was born in Anderson county, Tennessee, on the twelfth of September, 1837. He is the fifth child and fourth son of Joseph C. Moore, whose biography also appears in this work. He was nearly six years old when his father moved to Missouri and settled in Linn county, and he grew up and received his education wholly in this county, and has always lived here since his first coming. At about twenty years of age he began farming for himself, and has always followed that most es- sential of all vocations. His father had given him 160 acres of unimproved land, which Jeremiah at once began clearing up and improving into a home. This land is a part of the fine farm owned by Mr. Moore. The place is in Locust Creek township, and is about four miles east of Linneus, in one of the best sections of Linn county. It now contains 480 acres, and is well improved, with a neat and commodious two-story frame residence, and other improvements to correspond. Mr. Moore's chief pride in farm- ing is that of stock-raising and feeding; and this biographer saw some fine specimens of western cattle when he visited the farm.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
Mr. Moore was married, on the third day of October, 1858, to Miss Frances M. Rollins, daughter of Oscar F. and Eliza Ann Rollins, of Linn county.
Mrs. Moore was born in Howard county, Missouri, March 2, 1842. She. came with her parents to this county in 1845, and here grew up and re- ceived her education, and in her seventeenth year was married to Mr. Moore. They are the parents of eight children, seven of whom, four daugh- ters and three sons, still survive. The deceased child was a daughter, who died when a little over a year old. Mrs. Moore belongs to the Missionary Baptist Church, holds membership at New Garden. Mr. Moore belongs to no se- cret, order, nor any organization of any kind. Politically, Mr. Moore is a Democrat, and votes no other ticket.
During the civil war his sympathies were with the cause of the Confed- eracy, and he enlisted in 1863, to serve three years in the Southern army. He got off from his long term by entering the courier service, and served three months, and then availed himself of the exemption privilege and came home. During his career as courier he made some narrow escapes. Once, when bearing dispatches from Price and Marmaduke to Quantrell, in Mis- souri, he was pursued by a party of 400 Federals, who chased him to the brink of the Muddy Missouri. Mr. Moore was alone, and knew he would be summarily shot if caught with papers addressed to Quantrell. The blood -. thirsty enemy, 400 strong, were close on his heels, and the dark and turbid river before him. In that instant of imminent deadly peril which makes men heroes, Mr. Moore forced his unwilling horse into the water and swam safe to the opposite shore, though lead rained like hail upon the water around him. This occurred at twelve o'clock in the day (twelfth of September, 1864) on which Mr. Moore was twenty-seven years old, and is one of the most remarkable escapes on record, as Mr. Moore was not hurt, only having his clothing cut by the rapid fusilade from the Federal guns. Mr. Moore was the fifth courier who attempted that perilous feat, and the only one who succeeded, and he delivered his papers safely to Captain Quantrell and Major Perkins. Soon after this he came home, and never again entered the service.
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