USA > Missouri > Linn County > The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information > Part 53
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
of the work returned to his home farm. In 1870 Colonel Brott was elected sheriff of Linn county, which office he held two terms. His home is three miles southwest of Brookfield, on a farm of three hundred acres, under an excellent state of cultivation, good building improvements, and a fine apple orchard of five hundred trees. Colonel and Mrs. Brott have all the com- forts of life surrounding them, and have reared an interesting family, con- sisting of two sons and two daughters, whose names are as follows: Wal- ter E., Edwin V., Katie L., Susan E. It may be truly said of Colonel Brott that he is a self-made man, having started out in life without money but with a strong will, energetic, active, and a determination to succeed, his pathway through life, although having its trials and struggles, has been one of success, and he enjoys not only an enviable reputation but is fully blest with a good home.
JOHN HUTCHINSON BROWN.
This gentleman, one of the first mechanics of Brookfield, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 3, 1836. His parents were John and Elizabeth Brown, and he was reared in the city of his birth, receiving his education in the city schools. At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade under J. and W. Wilson, of the " Quaker City," with whom he served four years. After the expiration of his term he worked as a journeyman in Circleville, Ohio. He was at that place when the Rebellion broke out, and he enlisted for three months, in Com- pany C, of the Thirteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. At the expiration of that term he reenlisted in Company I, Second Regular Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served eighteen months as a musician. He was mustered out, but again entered the government service and served during the war as a mechanic in the quartermaster's department of the Army of the Cumber- land. On quitting the army, in the fall of 1865, he returned to Ohio, and the following spring came to Missouri and permanently settled in Brook- field, this county. Mr. Brown has done much to help build up the town, and has, as a contractor, built some twenty or more of business houses, be- sides over one hundred and twenty-five dwelling houses and barns in this and Chariton counties.
Mr. Brown was married on August 7th, 1867, to Miss Minnie Bullard, of Brookfield, by whom he has two children, named, respectively, Lorin and Leonora, both of whom were born in Brookfield. He is now a mem- ber of the school-board, and formerly served on the town-board. He is a . member of Brookfield Lodge number 86, of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and of Linn Chapter number 41, Royal Arch Masons; he also be- longs to the Cœur de Leon Commandery number 14, of the Knights Tem- plar. He is a member of Brookfield Lodge number 161, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Linn Encampment of the same order.
532
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
REUBEN S. BLOSSOM.
This gentleman is of l'uritan extraction, and was born on a farm near Syracuse, New York, October 26, 1819. He is one of four sons of Reuben and Lyda Blossom, whose ancestors came over in the Mayflower. When he was thirteen years old he left home and went to Syracuse and began clerking in a dry goods house with which he remained seven years. At the early age of twenty he began the dry goods business for himself at Syracuse, and continued till 1843. He then went to New York City, and did business as salesman and solicitor for S. & T. Laurance in the whole- sale dry goods trade. In 1850 he became associated with C. T. Longstreet in the clothing and dry goods jobbing line, the firm being Longstreet & Co. He retired from this firm in 1861, and embarked in the same business for himself in the same city. In 1863 he became associated with the firm of Blossom, Robinson & Co. in the produce commission business until 1875, when they closed out, and Mr. Blossom spent a year in prospecting in the West. In 1878 he came to Linn county and settled in Brookfield town- ship, and engaged in farming and stock-dealing. He has been twice mar- ried, first to Miss Matilda King, on September 14th, 1840, by whom he has one daughter, named Daisy. His first wife died July 24, 1860, and he was again married, December 18, 1862, to Miss Angeline Bunn. By the last marriage Mr. Blossom has five children-Martin, Thomas B., Reuben S., George, and an unnamed infant. Mr. Blossom is both an Odd Fellow and a Freemason.
JOHN BOLTON,
one of Brookfield's pioneers, was born in the south of England, January 9, 1815. He is the son of George and Amy Bolton. When sixteen years old he emigrated to America with his parents, who located in Onondaga, New York, then a small town. There he became apprenticed to learn the shoemaker's trade, serving two years, when he began to work as a journey- man in the same place. He left Onondaga village in 1839 and located in Baldwinsville, New York, where he engaged in manufacturing and dealing in boots and shoes. In connection with his boot and shoe business he was to some extent engaged in building, erecting quite a number of residences for speculation. He resided in Baldwinsville until June, 1868, when he came to Linn county, Missouri, purchasing an improved farm one and one- half miles north of Brookfield, and also town-lots in Brookfield. He im- mediately buitt the residence in which he now lives, near the park, and where he has since resided, excepting one year on his farm. Since coming to Brookfield he has been variously employed as farmer, manufacturer of boots and shoes, and has dealt some in real estate. He has built several residences and tenement-houses, and in 1871, in the greatest fire that ever
533
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
occurred in Brookfield, he lost heavily by the burning of his hotel, located near the corner of Main and Brooks streets, where J. C. Post's hardware store now stands. He has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Luthena Barry, of Orange county, New York. Mrs. Bolton died at Baldwinsville, New York, in 1842, and in 1844 Mr. Bolton was married to Miss Jane E. Toles, of Baldwinsville. They have two children: Emma, wife of Charles Solomon, of Brookfield, and Arthur J., a machinist of Brookfield. Himself and wife are members of Grace Episcopal Church, of Brookfield, of which he is senior warden.
WILLIAM H. BROWNLEE.
Judge Brownlee is a native of Indiana and came to Linn county in March, 1857, and began the practice of law at Brookfield. He still continues to do a lucrative business there in the line of his profession. In 1860 he was elected judge of the Probate Court of Linn county, which office he held till 1864. He was elected judge of the Common Pleas Court in 1870, and held the office for four years. Since then he has declined a re-election to any office, devoting himself exclusively to his profession.
ALBERT CHARLES CLARKE.
Prominently identified with the interests of the city of Brookfield and Linn county is A. C. Clarke, Esq. Foremost in every good work and in every laudable enterprise, he is well and favorably known not only through- out the the county but far and wide in northern Missouri. Mr. Clarke was born near Henderson, Jefferson county, New York, January 5, 1817, where he was brought up as a farmer. He lived with his parents until he was four- teen years of age, when his father hired him out as a farm hand until he attained his majority, receiving his wages in the meanwhile. Upon com- ing of age young Clarke began life for himself as a farmer on rented land. Two years later he purchased forty acres of wild land near Sackett's Har- bor, New York, paying for it by cutting and hauling wood to the Harbor and selling it for $1.25 per cord. This land he improved and lived thereon until 1844, when he engaged in dairying at Houndsfield, New York. The next year he purchased one hundred and ten acres of partially improved lan'd, agreeing to pay therefor his forty acres of land, valued at $600, and -$900 in cash. In two years the land had all been paid for, and Mr. Clarke had his head fairly above water and was striking bravely out for the shores of prosperity and competence. After living for twenty-two years on this farm, in 1867 he sold it for $5,600 in cash. Two years later he removed to Missouri, locating at Brookfield. Here he first engaged in business as a money lender, having after years of toil and honest endeavor become the pos- sessor. of a liberal share of this world's goods in general. He pur- chased one hundred acres of land adjoining the town of Brookfield, which
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
he had surveyed and platted, and which is known as Clarke's addition to Brookfield, but which has not yet been brought into market. In the near future Clarke's addition will be a very desirable location for residence lots .. Already rows of shade trees line the streets-a very desirable feature, in- deed. In 1871 and 1872, Mr. Clarke built the Clarke Block in Brookfield,. a substantial and imposing three-story brick structure, containing three well furnished business rooms on the first floor, and a large and convenient hotel on the second and third floors, which together with the hotel furni- ture cost $35,000. (See history of the city of Brookfield.) Since the com- pletion of this enterprise Mr. Clarke has purchased his "home farm," five. and one-half miles north of Brookfield in Locust Creek township, contain- ing 1,000 acres of valuable land, and his "grape-farm " of 320 acres, con- taining a six-acre vineyard, in the vicinity of Brookfield. At present he is. extensively engaged in general farming. On New Year's day, 1838, Mr .. Clarke was married to Miss Fannie Halloway of Adams, New York. They are the parents of two children living, Climena, wife of Ezra Clark of Hen- derson, New York, and Helen, wife of R. W. Davis of Linn county. Three of their children have died, Adelia, Ann, and Nellie. The last named died at the age of five years; the others had grown to womanhood.
MONTERVILLE M. CRANDALL.
The gentleman whose name heads this sketch is a native of Linn county, and was born on a farm near St. Catharine, July 6, 1857. His parents are Watson E. and Ann O. Crandall, and are old residents of this county. Monterville lived with them at his birthplace till he was eighteen years old and was mostly educated in the public schools, though he studied language and the higher mathematics under private instructors. He began the study of law in his eighteenth year in the office of Huston & Brownlee of Brook- field. He was under their preceptorship till February, 1878, when he was admitted to the bar and at once began the practice in partnership with A. W. Myers, the firm being Myers & Crandall. They were together till 1879, when they dissolved and Mr. Crandall continued to practice alone till May, 1881. He then became associated with W. H. Brownlee in the name of Brownlee & Crandall, and they have continued together till the time of this writing. In April, 1879, he was elected city attorney of Brookfield, and has been twice elected his own successor. Mr. Crandall was married June 22, 1879 to Miss Gabriella, daughter of E. R. Lee, an old resident of the county .-. They have one child, a daughter named Ethel, born at Brookfield October 21, 1880.
JOHN BENJAMIN COOLEY.
Mr. Cooley is the son of Grove and Jerusha Cooley, and was born in Virgil, Cortland county, New York, on the seventh of February, 1817. His mother's maiden name was Benjamin. When he was four years old
535
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
his parents removed to Attica, New York, and lived on a farın till he was grown. He acquired his education in the common schools, and at twenty- one years of age was married and immediately engaged in the dairy busi- ness at Attica. He abandoned this business in 1842 and began buying and shipping butter, cheese, etc., in partnership with William C. Smith. They did an extensive business in western New York for several years. In 1856 he and his partner put a steamer, called the Berlin City, on the Wisconsin waters, to ply between Berlin and Oshkosh. They lost this boat the following year by a boiler explosion, in which five persons were killed, Mr. Cooley barely escaping himself with some severe injuries. The loss was about $10,000. They soon afterwards rebuilt and continued running till the fall of 1858, when they sold out and quit steamboating. In 1860 they established a cheese and butter depot in New York City, and did an extensive business there till 1865. They then closed out, and the following year Mr. Cooley came to this State and county, and located at Brookfield, where he embarked in the lumber business with Augustus Turner. He soon quit that business, however, and engaged in the farming implement in which he continued until 1870. He and Dr. Cottle then engaged in the nursery business, purchasing the " Green nursery," which they conducted till 1872. Mr. Cooley then engaged in miscellaneous speculations till 1876, when he became associated with L. A. Smith in the mercantile busi- ness, and they remained together till 1880. Mr. Cooley then retired from business. He has taken an active part in building up the city of Brook- field, having erected six dwellings, three of which are equal to any in the city. In October, 1838, he was married to Miss Wealthy A. Winchester, daughter of Labanah Winchester, Esq., of Orangeville, New York. They have three children living: Dawson W., George W., and Marion L., and two deceased, Frank and Dona A.
WARREN D. CRANDALL,
Editor and proprietor of the Brookfield Gazette, was born at Fayetteville, New York, July 8, 1838. His parents were Daniel and Susannah Crandall, who, when he was four years old, reinoved to Marine, Madison county, Illi- nois, he living with them until the breaking out of the war. He received the rudiments of his education in the public school and the academy at Ma- rine, and afterward attended the Jacksonville College, Illinois. A complete course there was interrupted by his entering Company D, Ninth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, designated as the Fifty-ninth Illinois Volunteer In- fantry. At the organization of the company in Marine, in July, 1861, he was chosen first lieutenant, receiving his commission from Governor Gamble. This company, with many others, at that time having been formed in Illi- nois, entered Missouri in regiments and served under General Curtis in his campaign against General Price in western Missouri and Arkansas which
536
HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
ended at the battle of Pea Ridge, in March, 1862, in which memorable en- gagement Lieutenant Crandall commanded his company, losing several men killed on the field, among them his youngest brother, Eugene. He was de- tailed soon after this for special service in the Mississippi ram fleet, under command of Colonel Charles R. Ellet, being placed in command of one of the boats of the fleet, called the Lioness, and was engaged in the battle of Memphis. His service in that department of the war continued until the winter of 1862, at which time he was promoted to be captain and assistant adjutant-general, and was commissioned to assist in organizing the Missis- sippi Marine Brigade, commanded by Colonel Alfred Ellet, the duty of which organization was the patrolling of the lower Mississippi and its tributaries. The brigade having accomplished its mission, was disbanded at Vicksburg, in August, 1864. Captain Crandall was then assigned to duty on the staff of General Rosecrans, at St. Louis, serving in that capacity until the follow . ing October, when he was ordered to the Army of the James under General Butler, where he was assigned to duty as brigade adjutant-general, which he held until January, 1864, and then resigned. Captain Crandall after this made his home in St. Louis, entering the law office of E. W. Pattison, studying until July, 1865, when he was admitted to the bar at St. Louis. Captain Crandall came to Brookfield in the following August, and entered upon the practice of the law. In 1867 he, with Henry Ward, purchased the Brookfield Gazette, just established, they publishing it in the firm name Crandall & Ward. In 1870, Mr. Ward retired from the firm, when our subject found it necessary to abandon the practice of law, and devote his whole time to the conduct of the Gazette, which he still owns and edits. October 8, 1863, Mr. Crandall was married to Miss Georgie M. Nance, then principal of one of the public schools of St. Louis. They have two children, Maud and Claude. They have lost two, Minnie and Pearl. Mr. and Mrs. Crandall are members of the Baptist Church. He, himself, has long been prominently identified with the temperance cause in this State and one of the leading workers here. At present he is grand secretary of the order of Good Templars, in Missouri, and publishes the official organ for that or- der. His paper, the Gazette, never goes to press without a good word and sound argument in favor of temperance. Mr. Crandall is also prominently connected with the A. O. U. W., having been a charter member of his home lodge, in Brookfield, and now holding the office of grand overseer in the State Grand Lodge of that order. Mr. Crandall has been for many years a member of the Missouri Press, Association; was elected vice-president in 1880; and recording secretary in 1881.
JOSEPH JAMES CRAIN.
The subject of this sketch was born in Flemingsburg, Kentucky, Octo- ber 3, 1839. He was reared partly on the farm where he was born and
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
partly in Illinois, whither his parents had removed during Joseph's boy- hood. After obtaining a common-school education, he began life for him-, self as a farmer on a rented farm near Hamilton, Illinois. In 1862 he was employed as conductor on the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, and ran two: years, after which he served as express agent for the same company at Pal- myra, Missouri. Returning to Illinois, he purchased a farm in Adams. county, and farmed there two years. He then removed to Shelby county and improved a tract of wild land that he had previously purchased, selling it, however, in 1869. In 1870 he came to Brookfield, in this county, and began the butchering business, which he continued one year. He then be- gan buying and shipping stock, first on a small scale, but subsequently increasing it till his shipments are now as great or greater than from any other person in Linn county, and thousands of dollars have passed through his hands to the stock-producing farmers of this and adjoining counties. Mr. Crain was married, October 5, 1862, to Miss Lydia Moore, of La. Prairie, Illinois, and they are the parents of nine children. He is a Free- mason and belongs to Brookfield Lodge number 86. He also belongs to lodge number 61, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and to Linn Encamp-, ment number 70, and is " past grand " of the subordinate lodge.
WILLIAM G. DAULTON.
Mr. Daulton is a Kentuckian, and was born in Mason county, June 19, 1824. His father, James Daulton, was also a native of Kentucky, and his mother, whose maiden name was Naomi Wakeman, was a native of New York. William lived with his parents till he was eighteen years of age, and acquired a good common-school education. The family moved to Mis- souri in 1829, and settled in Ralls county, where they lived on a farm for several years. When William was eighteen he began learning the plaster- er's trade, under O. S. Heath, of Hannibal. After working three years under Heath, he went to Cincinnati and there learned the ornamental part of the plasterer's art under a Mr. Jones, with whom he remained till he was complete master of his trade. He returned to Hannibal and worked there till the spring of 1847, and then enlisted in the volunteer service for the Mexican War, in Company E, Third Regiment Mounted Infantry. He served for the remainder of the war under Colonel Rawls and Captain Laughlin, participating in the last battle of that war. Re- turning to Hannibal after the war, he carried on his trade there till 1861, and was then elected city marshal of that place, and served one year. He was also elected alderman for one term. At the opening of the civil war he enlisted in the Enrolled Missouri Milita for home protection, and was elected second lieutenant of Company E, of the Fifty-third Regiment, and so served till the close of the war. He returned to Hannibal and worked at his trade till 1866, when he finally removed to Brookfield, this county,
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HISTORY OF LINN. COUNTY.
where he has ever since resided, working at his trade. He was marshal of the town of Brookfield in 1872. Mr. Daulton was married, October 9, 1849, to Miss Mary Jane Self, of Marion county, this State, by whom he has two children-Laura A., wife of N. E. Wanemaker, of Laclede, and Mary Susan, wife of George J.' Crainer, of Brookfield.
ASBY POOL DOBSON
was born in Lewis county, Virginia, (now West Virginia,) on the twen- tieth day of December, 1823. His parents were Richard and Sarah Dob- son, and he remained at home on the farm till his twentieth year. He received his education in Clarksburgh Academy, and in Rector College, at Williamsport, Virginia. He began life as a farmer, on a place given him by his father, and on which he lived four years. Selling this farm, he soon purchased another, in Harrison county, and pursued farming operations there till 1854. He then sold out in his native State and came to Missouri, and purchased a tract of wild land in Grantsville township, Linn county, which he improved into a home on which he resided till 1877, or a period of twenty-three years. He still owns this farm, though he now keeps it rented out, having moved to Brookfield in 1877. While living in Grants- ville township, Mr. Dobson served several years as justice of the peace. He was married on the first of December, 1842, to Miss Harriet E. Lyons, of Harrison county, Virginia, by whom he has five children. Estelle Dob- son is now the wife of Judge W. H. Brownlee, of Brookfield, and Gertrude is the wife of Hon. Oscar Welburn, of Indiana. Charles Lee Dobson, who formerly held office in this county, is now a practicing attorney of Kansas City, and Bruce is a Texas farmer and stock-raiser. Mary L., the youngest daughter, is the wife of John S. Reger, a farmer of Sullivan county. Mr. Dobson and wife are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
AARON EMANUEL.
Mr. Emanuel is a native of Darmstadt, Germany, and was born on the third day of July, 1833. His parents were Moses and Babed Emanuel, and his father died when Aaron was only four years old, and after that he lived with relatives until he became of age. He received his education in the private schools of Obsigheim, and made his start in business after coming to America. He landed at New York City in 1854 and remained one year in the capacity of itinerant merchant. He had started in to learn cigar making, but not liking it, he soon abandoned it. For some four or five years he "peddled" through the New England States and then came to St. Louis, Missouri, where he continued in the same business till 1859. He then got a clerkship in the house of Jacob Emanuel, of St. Louis, which position he held till 1869. In that year he began merchandizing as a pro-
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
prietor in the same city, and continued till 1875, when he came to Brook- field, this county, and began business in partnership with Herman Emanuel under the firm name of H. Emanuel & Co. They continued together till 1878, when Aaron Emanuel drew out and established his present business.
He was married in April, 1860, to Miss Lena Emanuel, daughter of Jacob Emanuel, of St. Louis. They have three children, all living, named, respectively, Bertha, Bennie, and Lillie, the first two of whom are clerking in their father's store.
Mr. Emanuel belongs to the order of Free Sons of Israel and to the Bnai Brith, and also to the Kesher.
HERMAN EMANUEL.
This gentleman, one of the leading business men of the county, was born in the village of Obsigheim, Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, on the twenty- fifth of July, 1843, and was reared and educated in the land of his nativity.
In the summer of 1865 Mr. Emanuel came to America, landing at New York City, from whence he came to Chillicothe, Missouri. He was there employed in the business house of Berg & Co., remaining one year, when he came to Linneus in the fall of 1866. At the latter place he went into business as proprietor, the firm being H. Emanuel & Co., Jacob Berg, of Chillicothe, being part of the same. The firm continued thus till 1869, when S. Brandenberger became the successor to Berg, the house still going under the same name. Mr. Emanuel retired from the firm in 1874, and went to Brookfield this county, and bought out Tooey & Strawbridge, and established himself in his present business. His house now does about the heaviest business in the dry goods, clothing, and furnishing line of any in the county, his sales increasing from $40,000 per annum in 1874 to $100,- 000 in 1881 .. While living in Linnens Mr. Emanuel held the office of city treasurer, and in 1879 served on the school board of Brookfield.
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