USA > Missouri > Linn County > The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information > Part 46
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In 1874 he was elected by the Democracy as county treasurer, to make the race against the Republican incumbent. He was again elected at the expiration of his first terin, 1876, and served two terms in that office. When his second term expired, Mr. Philips went into the mercantile busi- ness again, and has been in it ever since.
He was married on the twenty-second day of October, 1856, to Miss Cynthia E. Sorrell, daughter of John Sorrell, of Randolph county, Missouri, formerly of Virginia, and who served from that State in the War of 1812.
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Mr. and Mrs. Philips have eight children living, four sons and four daugh- ters, and one daughter, Emma, dead. She was a member of the Christian Church. Mr. and Mrs. P. are both members of the same church, and their oldest living daughter belongs to the same. Mr. Philips belongs to the Good Templars and the A. O. U. W.
Politically, Mr. Philips is a life-long Democrat, as was his father before him. Mr. Philips is an old settler, and thoroughly identified with the best interests of the county.
JOHN P. PHILIPS.
This gentleman is a native of the Old Dominion, and was born in Bed- ford county, Virginia, on the fourth of October, 1823. His parents were Zachariah and Pamelia (Murphy) Philips, the latter a daughter of John Murphy, of Virginia.
On the paternal side the family is English, and on the maternal side, of Irish origin. When John was but a child, his parents removed to Camp- bell county, Virginia, and there he was reared and educated, and resided till 1849. In that year he made an overland trip to California, joining a train that was sent out from Lexington, Missouri. Mr. Philips spent eighteen months in the mines of that State and returned to Illinois in 1851, where he remained till 1852. He then went back to Bedford county, Virginia, and was there married on the twenty-sixth day of October, 1852, to Mary F. Ownsby, daughter of Powell Ownsby, Esq., of that county. They have no children. The next year, he came to Missouri and settled in Yellow Creek township, Linn county, and has been a citizen here ever since.
He quit farming in 1864, and soon afterwards became station, express, and land agent for the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad at Bucklin. This position occupied him till he was elected sheriff. He received the nomina- tion in the summer of 1876, and beat his Republican opponent by a close race in the fall election, and assumed the duties of the office in January following. Mr. Philips was nominated and elected as his own successor, making him two terms in the sheriff's office. He and his lady both belong to the Baptist Church, and he also belongs to the Masonic fraternity.
Politically, he was formerly an old line Whig, but at the dissolution of that party, went to the Democracy, and has been allied with them ever since. Though other sheriffs since the war had been Democrats, Mr. Philips was the first nominee of the party on that ticket that was elected since the war.
JAMES S. POUNDS
is a native of Adams county, Illinois, having been born there November 2, 1852. His parents were Presley and Nancy (nee Thomas) Pounds, the lat- ter a daughter of James Thomas. Both parents were natives of Jefferson county, Kentucky. James was but three years old when his father removed
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
to Linn county, and settled on the place which he now owns and lives upon, four miles north of Linneus. Here James was reared and educated. He followed farming until September, 1881, when he purchased a half interest in a livery stable at Linneus. He is still interested in the same business. the firm being Westgate, Kelly & Pounds. Mr. Pounds was married in December, 1879, to Miss Huldah J. Jones, daughter of Marion Jones, for- merly of Linn county, but now deceased. They have one child, a son named Bertie Lee. Mr. Pounds is not a member of any church or secret order. He is an energetic young man and devotes his time exclusively to his business.
CHARLES B. PURDIN.
This sketch outlines the life of one of the oldest settlers still living in Linn county. Charles B. Purdin was born in Kent county, Delaware, July 22, 1797. His parents were William and Huldah (Melven) Purdin, both natives of Delaware. Charles was the third child and third son of eight children, seven of whom lived to be grown. When he was a small child his parents moved to Virginia, and after a residence of about two years removed to Ohio and resided in some different sections of that State, but lived longest and last in Brown county. Mr. Purdin grew up in Ohio, and received but a limited education. While living in that State Mr. Purdi . was first married on the twenty-fourth of August, 1818, to Miss Mary Duffy, daughter of John Duffy, and a native of Pennsylvania. He had first begun life as a farmer, but owing to rheumatism he learned the chair- making trade in Madison, Indiana, having moved to that State in 1820. He followed this occupation about eight years. In 1834 Mr. Purdin moved to Missouri, and for two years lived at New Franklin, Howard county. From there he went to Glasgow, where he remained two years. His was the first family that ever moved to Glasgow, and he built the first house of that now classic city. It was a log building, with one room, and floored with plank. brought down the Chariton River. In 1836 Mr. Purdin left Howard county and settled five miles north of Linneus, on the present site of the town of Purdin, named in honor of this patriarchal early settler. He soon afterwards entered four hundred acres of land in that locality and subsequently bought one hundred and sixty acres more lying adjacent to the first entry. In 1868 he moved to Linneus. February 11, 1857, Mr. Purdin's first wife died and he was subsequently married to Miss T. dia Ann Lee; widow of Matthew Lee, who died in Kentucky in 185! Mrs. Purdin's maiden name was Logan, daughter of William Logan, of Ken- tucky, of which State Mrs. Purdin is a native. By Mr. Purdin's fi"~' mar- riage there were twelve children, eight sons and four daughters; the latter are all dead. By his second union Mr. Purdin is the father of four chil- dren, named as follows: Lou Ann, Isabel, wife of Edward McNeally, Bet-
Volim & Power3
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
tie Ray, and Nettie. They are all finely educated and two of them are teach- ers in the public schools, Lou Ann having taught several terms in the Lin- neus high school. Mr. Purdin has been a member of the Methodist Church for over sixty years, having joined it in 1819. He opposed the division of the church, but when the split came he went with the Southern wing of that great body, the congregation to which he belonged, and which held services at his house for twelve years never divided, but went South; excepting only one member. Politically, Mr. Purdin is an old Jackson Democrat and has never voted any other ticket since "Old Hickory " made his second presidential race. At the time of this writing Mr. Purdin is in his eighty-fifth year. Long has he figured a true and worthy citizen of Linn county, and enjoys the highest esteem of his fellow-men wherever he is known.
ISAAC M. REID.
Among the best citizens of Locust Creek township is the gentleman above named, who resides on section twelve, township fifty-eight, range twenty-one. Mr. Reid was born in Lewis county, West Virginia, April 17, 1832. At the age of twelve years he removed with his father's family to Ohio, and lived in Knox and Morrow counties in that State until in the fall of 1852, when he removed to Muscatine county, Iowa. Here he lived un- til 1862, being engaged principally in the business-for it was then a busi- ness-of breaking prairie. He broke out and rendered fit for cultivation thousands of acres of Iowa prairie. In August, 1862, Mr. Reid enrolled among the soldiers of the war for the Union as a member of Company D, Thirty-fifth Iowa Infantry, and served with the boys in blue for about twenty-eight months. During his military career he participated in the siege and reduction of Vicksburg, in skirmishes in the rear of that place while its investment was in progress, and at the capture of Jackson, May 14, 1863. In the spring of 1864, the Thirty-fifth Iowa accompanied Gen. A. J. Smith's expedition into Louisiana to cooperate with General Banks in his famous Red River expedition. While at Henderson's Hill, Louisiana, the brigade to which Mr. Reid was attached surprised and captured about six hundred Confederate prisoners. In the desperate battle at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, April 9, 1864, between the Federals under Generals Banks and Smith, and the Confederates under General Dick Taylor, Mr. Reid was severely wounded by a minie ball in his right hip, and his right eye was badly injured by a flying missile of some sort. His comrades carried him from the field, and after much suffering in various hospitals, and enduring many privations, he was at last mustered out of service at Davenport, Iowa, December 20, 1864, by reason of disability occasioned by his wounds, which unfitted him for further duty. He now receives a pension at the rate of ten dollars per month. After the war he visited Missouri, and lo-
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
cated in Linn county. In 1879 he settled on his present location. April 29, 1874, Mr. Reid was married to Mrs. Maggie Means (nee Hartsock) rel- ict of Jacob Means. The ceremony was performed at Laclede by Rev. James Reed. Mrs. Reid is a native of Ohio, born June 22, 1840. Her first marriage occurred May 3, 1859. She has two daughters by that union, Mary Eva and Elva Ara Means, both accomplished and admirable young ladies. Mr. and Mrs. Reid have one child, Harry P., born December 18, 1875, a precocious youngster, and the pet of the household. They also own a fine farm, all under fence, and, except thirty-five acres of good timber, in an excellent state of cultivation. Their home is an excellent and pleasant one. They reside in a comfortable, attractive house, finely located; have two good bearing orchards, and are reasonably well supplied with this world's goods, which they seem to understand how to wisely enjoy.
JUDGE JACOB SMITH (DECEASED.)
The prominent citizen of Linn county whose name heads this sketch, though no longer among the living, still exists in the tender memories of the people of this county, among whom his lot was cast and the best years of his life were spent.
Judge Smith was born in Virginia, March 3, 1816. His parents emi- grated to Kentucky at an early day, while Jacob was still quite young, and settled near Columbia, the county seat of Adair county, where they resided until their death. His boyhood days were spent on his father's farm, and he received the benefit of such educational training as the limited school facilities at that time afforded; which, together with his own natural incli- nation for books and study, enabled him by the time he reached the period of early manhood, to possess a very fair English education.
During what was known as the "Florida War " against the Seminole Indians, Judge Smith served as a volunteer in the government service. Returning home from that brief military experience some time in 1838, he soon afterward entered upon the study of law, which he pursued somewhat irregularly for several years, meanwhile engaged the greater portion of the time in school-teaching. In January, 1839, he was married to Miss Fran- cis P. Crews, of Marion county, Kentucky, a lady of excellent qualities of mind and heart, who had received a very liberal education, being a gradu- ate of what was then known as " Boardstown Seminary, " located near Leb- anon, Kentucky. His coming to this State was in 1846, and he settled in Linn county, and for several years thereafter turned his attention chiefly to farming. During the winter months of 1846-47 he taught school, giving such attention to the study and practice of the law as his surroundings ad- mitted. In 1850 he was elected, on the Whig ticket, to represent Linn county in the Sixteenth General Assembly of Missouri. He was elected judge of the Probate Court of Linn county, which position he filled for
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
four years, and was the first citizen who ever served in that office in the county. His first wife died October 6, 1857, and he was again married in the spring of 1859, to Miss Jane T. Hickman, of Linn county, a lady who survived her husband and still resides with relatives in this county. At the commencement of the political troubles in 1861, Judge Smith was an unswerving friend of the Union cause, and invariably pursued his convic- tion's with such force and earnestness as left no doubt as to his political sen- timents. At the election held in February, 1861, he was chosen one of the delegates to represent the eighth senatorial district in the convention which met at Jefferson on the twenty-eighth of that month, for the purpose of " considering the existing relations between the government of the United States, the people and the government of the different States, and the gov- ernment and people of the State of Missouri," etc. After the adjournment of the first session of the convention, and during the spring and summer of 1861 he was actively engaged in aiding in the organization and equip- ment of the Eighteenthi and Twenty-third regiments of Missouri Volun- teer Infantry, and was elected and commissioned the first lieutenant-col- onel of the latter regiment.' He resigned this office in the early part of 1862, for the purpose of entering upon the discharge of the duties of cir- cuit judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, a position to which he had been appointed and commissioned by Gov. H. R. Gamble, and in which he served till January, 1864, when he was succeeded by Judge R. A. DeBolt. Every citizen of the county has, doubtless, heard something of the cowardly and brutal manner in which Judge Smith was murdered by a band of ma- rauders who raided Linneus on the night of January 9, 1865; and for a full and detailed account of that tragic event the reader is referred to the incident as fully set forth in another part of this volume. He died on the tenth day of January, 1865, from the effects of his wounds, leaving a widow and several children to mourn his sudden taking off. Some men- tion of these children will not be inappropriate in this connection. Judge Oscar F. Smith, the oldest son, was reared principally in this county, though he now resides in Keytesville, Chariton county, and ranks among the representative citizens of the county. He is a gentleman of superior legal attainments, a graduate of Howard Central College, and was admitted to the bar of Linn county in 1860. From 1871 to 1875 he filled with credit the position of probate judge, and served with ability as prosecuting attor- ney for two years, and was four years presiding justice of the County Court. Of Edward W. Smith, the second son, no extended mention is made from the fact that a sketch of his life elsewhere appears in this work. The other son, James M. Smith, resides in Linneus and is still an unmarried man at this writing. He is a painter by trade and has served as marshal of the town. The only living daughter is now the wife of A. W. Mullins and re- sides in Linneus.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
Judge Smith had a mind well stored with useful knowledge, and pos- sessed many of the qualities which give distinction at the bar. As a pub- lic speaker he made no effort at oratory, but spoke with ease and always with such earnestness and dignity as to command attention and respect. His powers of perception were quick and his judgment good, especially when applied in analyzing human character and human nature. He pos- sessed a keen sense of the ludicrous, which, together with a rich fund of humor and anecdote, enabled him, when so disposed, to take off any sort of a peculiar or eccentric character to the very life. In disposition he was eminently sociable and generous, and fond of the society of his family and friends. Successful as an attorney, possessing the confidence of all who knew him as a judge, honored as a citizen and revered and respected as a husband and father, Linn county met in the death of Judge Jacob Smith a loss not easily replaced.
EDWARD W. SMITH.
The subject of this biography, who is now serving his third term as county attorney, is a native of Linn county, and a son of Judge Jacob Smith, deceased, whose biography appears elsewhere in this work. Edward W. was born September 22, 1852. His mother was Frances Crews, mentioned in the biography of her husband. Our subject is the youngest son and next to the youngest of a family of nine children. He was reared in this county, where he has always lived. His education was partly acquired in this county, and completed at McGee College. At twenty years of age he began the study of law in the office of Hon. A. W. Mullins, at Linneus, at which pursuit he remained two years. In December, 1873, he was licensed to practice, and at once began his profession in which he has been engaged ever since. In 1876 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the county on the Republican ticket; was reelected in 1878 and again in 1880. His last term is unexpired at this date. Mr. Smith was married, September 3, 1875, to Miss Maria L. Stephens, daughter of Judge George W. Stephens, of Linneus. They have one son and two daughters living, and one son dead. Though still young in years, Mr. Smith has succeeded in his profession, and his future success as a lawyer and citizen is as assured as may be that of any other gentleman of ability who brings energy, active industry, and a devoted love of his profession to bear upon all obstacles that may arise in his pathway.
SAMUEL D. SANDUSKY.
The gentleman whose name heads this outline is an old settler in Linn county, and since his first coming has done much to further the interests of the town and county of his adoption. Mr. Sandusky was born in Wash- ington county, Kentucky, on the twelfth of September, 1812. John San-
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dusky, his father, was the son of Samuel Sandusky, a native of Poland, who came to the United States in 1783. He had received a military edu- cation in his native country, and fled from there at the dismemberment of the Polish government in the year mentioned above. He was killed by the Indians in what is now Nelson county, Kentucky, in 1792. The father, John, was born in Kentucky, and was a soldier in the War of 1812. He enlisted late in the war, but early enough to receive his death wound in the battle of the Thames, where Tecumseh was killed. John Sandusky died soon after his return to his home in 1814. Samuel D.'s mother was Mar- tha (Huntley) Sandusky, a native Virginian and a daughter of Charles Huntley. She was married to Mr. John Sandusky in 1811, and had but two children, Samuel D. being the eldest. The other was a daughter named Emily, who died in Louisville in 1864.
Samuel D. was raised and educated in Washington, the county of his birth; he was, however, several years in attendance at a Catholic school called St. Mary's, now a station on the L. & N. Railroad in Marion county, Kentucky. He went to Cincinnati in 1832 and worked two years at cabi- net making. He thoroughly mastered this mechanical art and followed it up to about 1858. On leaving Kentucky in 1843, he went to Platte county, Missouri, but only remained one year, and then in 1844 came to Linnens, Linn county, and his home has been here ever since. At that time Linneus was but a hazel thicket, with only a few log houses. Mr. Sandusky has killed deer within the present corporate limits of Linneus. He worked at his trade here, and, in addition, kept a furniture store, sometimes working several hands. He bought his furniture in St. Louis and had it shipped to Brunswick, and hauled it thence to Linneus on wagons, using his own teams. He owned the first cook stove ever brought to the county, which he purchased in the spring of 1846 in St. Louis. It was of the old " Buck " make and was a great curiosity to the good people of Linn in those primi- tive days.
Mr. Sandusky has several times engaged in farming, but his success was not good, and he was fain to fall back on his cabinet business, which always gave good returns. Mr. Sandusky was justice of the peace in Linn county for about fourteen years before the civil war and until the institution of the test oath, which Mr. Sandusky refused to take. At this writing Mr. San- dusky is township clerk of Locust Creek township.
Mr. Sandusky was first married in 1834 to Miss Ann McKay, daughter of John McKay. She died in 1843, and in 1845 Mr. Sandusky was again married to Mrs. Martha A. Boisseau, relict of James Boisseau and daugh- ter of David Prewitt, who died in Linn in 1875. She also died on May 10th, 1873, and Mr. Sandusky has not remarried. By his first marriage Mr. Sandusky had four children, and by his last had six. Two of the former are living and all of the latter. In addition to his own children,
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Mr. Sandusky raised two children of Mr. Boisseau, and made no distinction between these and his own, and no family ever got on more harmoniously. Mr. Sandusky has been a member of the Methodist Church for forty-two years, and when the great split occurred in 1844 he went with the Southern wing of the Methodist family. Mr. Sandusky also belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and also to the Good Templars. He has always lived very tem- perately, never having taken a drink as a beverage in thirty years. He quit the use of tobacco at thirty years old and has never used it since. He never had a serious spell of illness in his life. He is, at sixty-nine years old, quite robust in health and able to ride all day on horseback, and can do any kind of work like a young man.
Politically, Mr. Sandusky was formerly a Whig, but on the dissolution of that great party he went to the Democracy and cast his first Democratic vote for George B. McClellan, a ticket he still votes without variation.
JUDGE GEORGE W. STEPHENS.
The gentleman whose name heads this sketch is of English descent and was born in Orange county, Virginia, February 22, 1826. On his mother's side he is a lineal descendant of the first Bishop Doggett, who founded Christ's Church under the British government, as seen by reference to Bishop Mead's celebrated comments on the "Early Religions History of Virginia." His father was a soldier in the War of 1812, and is still living in Virginia at the time of this writing (1881) at the advanced age of eighty- seven years.
. At the outbreak of the Mexican War, Judge Stephens, then a young mar- ried man, organized a company and was commissioned captain by Governor Smith, of Virginia, on the sixth day of April, 1846. He was promoted from active service, however, by the fact that only a limited number were accepted by the Governor as Virginia's quota sent to the seat of war. He was married in Hanover county, Virginia, in 1848, to a Miss Rouzie, a daughter of Dr. Rouzie, an eminent physician and surgeon. whose ances- tors came to America from France with General Lafayette. On her mother's side she is a lineal descendant of ex Governor James Pleasant, of Virginia.
Judge Stephens's first visit to Linneus was July 11, 1856, while the sale of Guitar's addition was in progress. He purchased two lots and soon afterwards bought the fine farm adjacent to Linneus now occupied by Will- iam H. Garrett. He was licensed to practice law in 1855, by Hon. James A. Clark, of Linneus, then judge of this circuit. Being a man of un- daunted energy and industry, he exerted his mental and physical powers in the successful practice of the law and the prosecution of any business en- trusted to his care. He became, at one time, one of the largest land-hold- ers in the county, and contributed largely to her material prosperity in the
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improvement and settling up of this fine country. He has filled several important offices in Linn county, and was, in 1865, appointed by the County Court as judge of the Probate Court, succeeding Judge Brownlee. Under the Fletcher government of the State he was removed from that office, to make room for a Republican, he being a Democrat. The same court appointed him (under the bounty act of the legislature) commis- sioner, and he was entrusted with the disbursement of a large amount of money. He has been several times elected by the citizens of Linneus as mayor of the city. .
Judge Stephens contributed largely to the building of the Burlington & Southwestern Railroad, having been elected president in 1869. He at once used his energies, and even his private funds in pushing the work onward. During the year he had the charter promptly extended to the Iowa line, and negotiated the bonds in the East, which, when done, the road rapidly approached completion, and will ere long unite the frozen regions of the North with the sunny seas of the South. His family consists of eight children, all living in Linneus. His oldest son, E. R. Stephens, is a regu- lar law graduate of the celebrated law university at Lebanon, Tennessee, and is at present practicing law in Linneus, being the senior member of the law firm of Stephens & Smith. This son was elected prosecuting attorney in 1874, and held the office till succeeded by the present incumbent, E. W. Smith, who married Judge Stephens's oldest daughter, Maria L. Stephen's.
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