The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information, Part 55

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Kansas City, Mo., Birdsall & Dean
Number of Pages: 906

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EDWARD HOYLE,

pension agent and justice of the peace, Brookfield, was born near Man- chester, England, December 18, 1810. He was reared and educated in his native town, living there until 1833, from whence he emigrated to America'. He landed at New Orleans, Louisiana, and found employment as a clerk in a mercantile agency until. 1842. He came that year to Missouri, located at Brunswick, Chariton county, and was employed as book-keeper by the firm

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

of Brinker & Worsham, and others, until 1848. That year he became a resident of Linneus, Linn county, and established himself in the mercantile business and as dealer in leaf tobacco, doing business for a period of sixteen years, during which time he was elected and held the office of county treas- urer. He left Linneus in 1864, returning to Brunswick, where he engaged in dealing in tobacco until the spring of 1866. He then made Brookfield his home, and became book-keeper for E. S. Carlton & Co., and others until 1872. At the spring election of that year he was elected justice of the peace, for Brookfield township, and has served as such, and notary public, until the present writing. October 4, 1849, he married Miss Sarah E. Hol- land, of Linneus. They have five children, Mary, wife of Dr. B. W. Shot- well, of Brookfield; Emma, wife of T. E Vansant, Trenton, Missouri; James, of Colorado; Lawrence, of California; and Carrie, of Colorado. He is a member of Brookfield Lodge No. 86, A. F. & A. M.

SAMUEL P. HUSTON,

attorney-at-law, Brookfield, Missouri, was born in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1839. His parents were John P. and Elizabeth Huston, with whom he remained until attaining his majority. He was educated in Eldridge Academy and Jefferson College, Pennsylvania. At the breaking out of the civil war, he enlisted in Company F, Twenty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served in that regiment until the summer of 1863, when, on account of disability, he resigned, having been promoted to a second lieutenancy, and returned home. During the fall of the same year, having regained his health, he organized a company of three months' men, holding the position of first lieutenant. At the expiration of the three months the company reënlisted as Company C, Ninety-Ninth Pennsylva- nia Volunteer Infantry, for three years or during the war, and were mus- tered out in July, 1865. Mr. Huston returned to Kittanning, the county seat .of his native county, entered the office of the Hon. Jackson Boggs, as a law student. He came to Missouri in the spring of 1866, and located at Brookfield, and the same year was admitted to the bar, and he at once com- menced the practice of law.

In 1873-74, he represented Linn county in the legislature. October 9, 1867, he married Miss Mattie R. Campbell, of Armstrong county, Penn- sylvania. They have four children living, John, Samuel, Florence, and Martha. They have lost one daughter, Annie D., who died at Brookfield in the spring of 1877, at the age of eight years. Mr. Huston and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church at Brookfield.

DR. JOHN C. KELLY.

This gentleman is the only son of Roger R. and Lucinda Kelly, and was born in Xenia, Ohio, June 22, 1834. He continued to reside with his par-

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

ents till his eighteenth year, the early part of that period being spent in his native town, and the latter part on a farm in Jay county, Indiana. In 1862 Dr. Kelly began the study of dentistry under J. P. Wilson, M. D. and D. D. S., of Burlington, Iowa. He studied under Dr. Wilson over a year, and then began the practice in Iowa, and remained there till the fall of 1866, when he came to Brookfield and established himself in his present practice, and has been thus engaged most of the time ever since. His eye- sight became affected from over work, and he was forced to suspend his pro- fession for three or four years, during which time he was engaged in the produce trade at Hamilton and other places. He resumed practice at Brook- field in June, 1876, and since then steadily engaged in his professional du- ties, Dr. Kelly was married February 22, 1855, to Miss Annie, daughter of Henry T. Franklin, formerly of Virginia. They have two children, named Lucinda and Hattie Jane. He is a member of the Masonic, Odd Fellows, and United Workmen orders, and holds his membership in each at Brookfield.

FRED ALBERT LAEDLEIN,

This gentleman was born in New York City September 10, 1845, and is the third and youngest son of Michael and Elizabeth Laedlein. His mother died when he was five years old. At the age of eight he went to live with some relatives and remained with them till his tenth year, and then went back to his father, who had married again, and moved to Williamsburg, Pennsylvania. He attended school till he was fifteen, and in 1860 was ap- prenticed to Johnson Brothers, machinists, to learn that business. He soon left them, however, and got a position as brakeman, and subsequently as- fireman on the Northern Central Railroad. In 1862 he went to Au- burn New York, and there engaged in various occupations, but chiefly in painting, a business he had learned something of while living with his- father, who was a painter. Mr. Laedlein came to Missouri in 1868, and spent the first year at Hamilton, coming to Brookfield in October, 1869. He was employed as fireman by the Hannibal & St. Joseph road, and ran as such for several years. In 1874, he was promoted to engineer, having served the required apprenticeship as fireman, and ran engines on both freight and passenger trains up to November, 1877. He then quit the road and engaged in painting till 1878, when he was elected city marshal of Brookfield, and again elected his own successor in 1881, his term of office being not yet expired. At the same time he is serving as city collector, and township constable, and also as street commissioner of Brookfield. He served two years as deputy sheriff under Sheriff John P. Philips. Mr. Laedlein is an energetic man and a faithful officer, and his fidelity in busi- ness has won him many friends in the county.

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

HECTOR LITHGOW

was born at Whetby, Canada, August 5, 1844. He came to Chicago with his parents at the age of three years, where he was reared and educated, and graduated from the high school of Chicago in 1858. He learned tele- graphing and was employed at various places until 1869 when he came to Brookfield, employing with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad as train dis- patcher, and remaining with that company until 1877, during which time he studied law and was admitted to the bar in the latter year. In 1877 he was employed as assistant attorney by the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, and served as such until 1881 when he permanently settled at Brookfield ås an attorney at law. October 25, 1869, he married Miss Celestia E. Gilbert, of Platte county, Missouri. They have two children, Frank H. and Ella G. Mr. Lithgow is a member of Capital Lodge No. 3, A. F. & A. M., of Omaha, Nebraska, and also a Royal Arch Mason, demitted from Linn Chap- ter No. 41, R. A. M., of Brookfield.

RICHARD D. LENHART.

The subject of this sketch is a son of Cyrus and Lydia Lenhart, and was born on a farm twelve miles south of Gallatin, Daviess county, Missouri, on the twenty-second day of July, 1854. In 1857, his parents moved to Harrison county, where the family resided till 1859, Richard living with them till he was about grown. He was reared a farmer and received his education in the common schools. In May, 1870, he began learning the photograph business with T. H. Hare, a first-class artist of Hamilton, this State. He remained with Mr. Hare two years, and then opened a gallery for himself at Cameron, Missouri, where he remained till March, 1874. Then coming to Brookfield, this county, he established himself in his pres- ent business, and has remained here ever since, always doing a good busi- ness in his line. Mr. Lenhart was married January 10, 1873, to Miss Mary D. Hart, a daughter of Corydon Hart, of Harrison county. They are the parents of two children, one daughter and one son, named Nora Belle and William. Mrs. Lenhart belongs to the Baptist Church, and holds member- ship at Brookfield.

JAMES LOCKWOOD.

This gentleman is a native of England, and was born there in 1846. His parents were William and Eliza Lockwood, and James lived with them in England till about ten years old. They then came to this country, and lived three or four years in the State of New York, and then James came to Illi- nois, and from there to this State and county in 1877. He has been engaged in farming most of his life. Mr. Lockwood was married January 22, 1879, to Miss Clara Brott, a native of Illinois, and daughter of Charles Brott, Esq.,

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

whose family came to Linn about 1872. They have two children, named Gertie and Frederick.

JOHN FERGUSON MC ARTHUR.

The subject of this sketch was born in Plymouth, Washington county, Ohio, May 1, 1853. He is the youngest and third son of Daniel and Mar- garet McArthur, who moved with him from Plymouth to Linn county, Mis- souri, and settled on a farm in Grantsville township, then a part of Locust Creek. Mr. McArthur lived with his parents until he attained his major- ity. At sixteen years of age, they sent him to the State Normal School at Kirksville, this State, and he attended there three years. In 1875, he at- tended the Bailey Commercial College at Keokuk, graduating from that in- stitution the same year. In the spring of 1876, he engaged in the live-stock trade at Grantsville, in which he continued until the following spring, when he came to Brookfield and established a feed and sale stable, to which he subsequently added the general livery business. He has been very success- ful as a horse and mule dealer, and has accumulated quite a property since coming to Brookfield in 1877. He was married on the 8th day of March, 1876, to Miss Eustatia, daughter of E. D. Harvey, of Meadville. Mr. and Mrs. McArthur are the parents of two children, Viola Pearl, and Clara, both of whom were born in Brookfield. He is a member of the Brookfield Lodge No. 86, A. F. & A. M., and also of Hope Lodge No. 29, A. O. U. W., and is a faithful member of both these orders.

GEORGE MARTIN,

real estate agent, and local agent for the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company lands, was born in Monroe county, Ohio, December 30, 1838, where he was raised and educated. He first attended the district school, and later at the Woodsfield high school. He taught a district school in his native county at the age of sixteen, continuing two years. In 1856, at the age of eighteen, he came to Missouri and taught in Montgomery and Lincoln counties until the fall of 1857, returned to Ohio the same fall, and resumed teaching in his native county, and continued for nearly two years. In 1859 Mr. Martin returned to this State and to Montgomery county, where teaching occupied his time for one year. He made a second visit to Ohio the following year. At the breaking out of the civil war he enlisted in Company B, Twenty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was promoted through the various grades up to that of first lieutenant, receiving his com- mission from Governor Todd, August 16, 1862. He was discharged Octo- ber 26, 1863, on account of physical disability caused by wounds received in action. He participated in the battles of Alleghany Summit and Mc- Dowell, at both of which he was wounded, second battle of Bull Run, Chancellorsville, where he was again severely wounded, and at Gettysburg,

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

where he lost his right arm. He served for a short time in 1863 as regi- mental quartermaster. At the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg he had command of his company. After his discharge he returned home and remained until the spring of 1864, when he became sutler of the One. Hundred and Sixteenth Ohio Regiment, and in October, 1864, was ap- pointed purveyor of the First Brigade of the First Division of the Army of West Virginia, accompanying that division to the Army of the James, and served as purveyor until the following spring. Mr. Martin came to Missouri in the spring of 1865, and engaged in the mercantile business. at Brookfield until the fall of 1866. Having sold out, he accepted the posi- tion as principal of the public school of Brookfield, teaching two terms .. In the fall election of 1868 Mr. Martin was elected assessor of Linn county for a term of two years. November, 1870, he was elected county clerk of Linn county, and reelected his own successor in 1874, filling that position for eight consecutive years, during which time he resided at Linneus. In January, 1879, after the expiration of his term, he returned to Brookfield and engaged in the real estate business, and at the same time was appointed local land agent for the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company. Octo- ber 24, 1865, he married Miss Sarah J. Wilson, of Wheeling, West Vir- ginia. They have three children, Georgie, Willie, and Charlie, all born in Brookfield. He is a member of Brookfield Lodge No. 161, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Linn Encampment No. 70, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Hope Lodge No. 29, Ancient Order of United. Workmen, of Brookfield.

GILLIAM MURRAIN.

This gentleman can boast of having been to the manor born, as he is a native of Linn county. Mr. Murrain is the son of William and Catharine Murrain, and was born on a farm three miles east of Linneus, April 11, 1846. He was reared on the farm and lived with his parents till he was nineteen years old, when he began to learn the blacksmithing trade under John Detwiler, of Linneus, with whom he worked some three years. In 1868 he went to Meadville and formed a partnership with Mr. B. L. Barbee, in the blacksmith's business, and they were together till the spring of 1870, when Mr. Barbee withdrew, and Mr. Murrain continued the business up to 1877, when he moved to Brookfield where he still continues the blacksmith and wagon-making business. Mr. Murrain was married, August 17, 1865, to Miss Catharine F., daughter of Captain Thomas Barbee, of Linn county. They have three children, named, respectively, Clara E., Delora, and Wal- ter. Mr. Murrain is a member of the Brookfield Lodge No. 86, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and also of the Linn Chapter No. 41, Royal Arch Masons; also a member of Cœur de Leon Commandery, Knights Templar, of Brookfield. He is a successful manager and controls a large and prosperous business.

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HISTORY OF LINN. COUNTY.

ABRAM W. MEYERS.

Mr. Meyers is the son of Abram and Margaret Meyers, and was born near Knoxville, Jefferson county, Ohio, July 2, 1824. He continued to live with his parents till he was twenty years old. His father was proprie- tor of a flouring-mill, and Abram, junior, was reared a miller. He obtained his education in the public schools, and at the Carrollton, Ohio, Academy, and the Allegheny. College of Pennsylvania, attending each of the two latter for one year. His father sold out the mill in 1844, and the family moved to Carroll county and settled near Malvern, Ohio. In 1849 young Meyers began reading law in the office of Eckley & Davis, of Carrollton, and was admitted to the bar in 1852, after an examination by the two pre- siding judges of the District Court. He first began the practice in 1853, at Columbia City, Indiana, and continued there till April, 1864, when he suspended business on account of failing health, and moved to Afton, Iowa. In 1865 he came to Brookfield, this county, and resumed the law practice, associating Col. S. P. Huston with him, in the fall of 1866. Mr. Meyers retired from the partnership in 1869, and in 1870 was elected to the legislature and served one term of two years. Soon after the expiration of his term he was appointed, by Governor B. Gratz Brown, on the State geological survey, and subsequently, by appointment of Governor Silas Woodson, as a member of the War Claims Commission. In January, 1880, Mr. Meyers became associated with J. A. Arbuthnot, as Meyers & Arbuth- not, and they have been in the law and real estate business ever since. Mr. Meyers was married, May 13, 1849, to Miss Sarah Hardesty, of Malvern, Ohio. She died at Columbia City, Indiana, May 6, 1855, and Mr. Meyers was a second time married, on April 26th, 1857, at Columbia City, to Miss Lavinia Ford. He had one child by his first marriage, a daughter, named Sarah J., born March 7, 1852; one child also has been born of the second marriage, a son, named Harry Courtland, born at Brookfield, Missouri, July 3, 1867. Himself, wife, and daughter, are members of the Presby- terian Church at Brookfield, and are all worthy members of society.

THOMAS P. OVEN, M. D.

Dr. Oven was born in Herefordshire, England, October 17, 1848. When he was quite young his parents emigrated to America and settled on a farm near Detroit, Michigan, and there he grew up and was educated. He attended for several years a Quaker Seminary, located near Adrian, Michi- gan, graduating from that institution in June, 1872. In the following win- ter he taught a district school near Detroit, and in the spring began the study of medicine under Dr. E. S. Snow, of Dearborn. He read with Dr. Snow two years during which time he took a course of lectures in the med- ical department of Ann Arbor, Michigan. He read with Dr. Snow the suc-

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

ceeding summer, and again attended lectures in the winter, this being his second course; after which he graduated in May, 1876, with the degree of M. D. He did not at once begin the practice, but pursued his studies under the same preceptor till the following fall, when he took a course of lectures at the University of New York, and received his degree of M. D. from that institution in the spring of 1877. In March following, Dr. Oven came to Missouri and located at Milan, where he practiced till February, 1881, when he came to Brookfield, this county, and located for the practice of his pro- fession. He was married August 30, 1881, to Miss Clara M. Crumpacker, daughter of D. H. Crumpacker, of Milan. He belongs to the A. O. U. W., and holds membership in Hope Lodge, No. 29, at Brookfield. Though he has but recently settled at Brookfield, he has already received such a pat- ronage as will warrant him in staying; and there is small room for question, but that on account of his superior attainments in medicine -- being a graduate physician from two colleges-will soon build an extensive and lucrative prac- tice in this county.

NEWTON ORMSBY.

Mr. Ormsby is the son of Elijah and Marietta Ormsby, and was born in Lorain county, Ohio, February 25, 1848. When he was four years of age his parents removed to Decatur, Michigan, and there Newton lived till he was past sixteen. He had obtained a good common school education by that time and was ready to make his entry on life's drama. Exciting scenes fol- lowed his debut on the stage of active life. The war, then in progress in the land, engaged his attention. Young Ormsby, though just in his seventeenth year, represented himself as past eighteen, in order that he might be taken into the service. Accordingly, he was enrolled in Company B, of the Tenth Michigan Volunteer Cavalry, and served the last year of the war. Most of the time he was private dispatcher to Adjt .- Gen. W. H. Por- ter. He received his discharge in November, 1865, and at once returned to Decatur, where, soon afterwards, he bound himself for two years to learn the carpenter's trade. After his term expired he worked at' Paw Paw, Michigan, and afterwards operated as a contractor and builder at Charlotte, till 1872. He then returned to Paw Paw, and became foreman in a hub, spoke, and felloe factory there. From that time till 1877, he worked at St. Joseph, Michigan, and at South Bend, Indiana, and from the latter place came to Brookfield, this county, and entered the service of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company. He served two years as fireman, and then took charge of a locomotive, and still continues to serve the company as engineer. Mr. Ormsby was married on the twenty seventh of October, 1869, to Miss Ella Longwell, of Michigan, by whom he has two children, named Charles E. and Fred E. Mr. Ormsby is a member of Brookfield Lodge No. 86, A. F. & A. M., and of Linn Chapter No. 41, and Cœur de Leon Com- mandary No. 14, K. T.

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

JAMES MILTON PENDELTON.

The subject of this sketch was born near Fayette, Howard county, Mis- souri, March 22, 1826. He is the son of James F. and Maria Pendleton, the former a native of England, and the latter of Kentucky. The father came to Howard county in 1819, and mother had come the year previous. They were married in 1820, and settled in Howard county, on the place where James was born. His parents removed to Linn county, and settled two and one-half miles southwest of where Linneus now is, in 1831. James remained at home until his twenty-first year. ' He obtained a fair education in the subscription schools of the day, and in 1846 began learning the sad- dler's and harnessmaker's trade, under Lewis H. Collins, of Linneus. Mr. Pendleton remained with him three years and then went to St. Joseph, where he did journey work one year, and then went to Gallatin and estab- lished himself in that business.

He only remained in Gallatin a few months when the whole country be- came excited over the discovery of gold in California, and bright visions of wealth and of influence began to dazzle the minds of the multitude. Mr. Pendleton was caught in the whirlpool, and in 1850 crossed the plains to. California, arriving at Sacramento, August 27, 1850. While in that State he engaged in the exciting vocation of mining, working in the "Rough and Ready" mine. He left there in 1852 and returned to Linneus, via Panama and New York. He at once formed a partnership with Mr. Collins under whom he had learned his trade, and they did business in the harness and saddle line till 1856. Mr. P. then retired from the firm and engaged in the hotel business at Linneus till 1858. He again engaged in his old calling at Lin- neus till the spring of 1860, when he closed out and began farming, contin- uing in that vocation till 1862, when he began working as journeyman in Linneus and remained till 1870. From the last named place he went to Callao, Macon county, and established himself again in his old business, carrying it on till the latter part of 1871 and sold out. On quitting that business he was elected constable and also served as deputy sheriff in Macon county. In 1876 he came to Brookfield and worked at his trade, and also served as constable. In July, 1880, he once more came back to his first love, and opened a shop in Brookfield where he still continues to do a good business in his line.

Mr. Pendleton was married July 5, 1853, to Miss Susan A. Butler, of Randolph county, by whom he has three children, named, in order, Milton Byron, born March 22, 1854; Adelia, born February 5, 1856; and Martha Cora, born March 5, 1858. The son and oldest child is now a conductor on the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. Mr. Pendleton is a Freemason and be- longs to Brookfield Lodge No. 86, A. F. & A. M.

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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.

JEROME C. POST.

This gentleman is a native of Ohio, and was born in Gwinsburg, March 4, 1838. He is the son of Simon and Lydia Post, both of whom died within a few weeks of each other, and left Jerome an orphan when he was but eighteen months old. He was adopted by his uncle, Charles Post, with whom he lived until the latter's death, when young Jerome was thrown on his own resources at the early age of eight years. He began to make his own support by " doing chores " for a family, and in this way maintained himself till he was seventeen. In 1853 he was apprenticed to learn the tinner's trade at Finley, Ohio, and worked there three years. He ther. went to Cincinnati and did journey work till 1858, removing thence to Charleston, West Virginia, working there till the spring of the following year. Then returning to Findley he remained till the spring of 1860, and thence to Fon du Lac, Wisconsin, and after a short stay to Cleveland, Ohio. He was married in the latter city to Miss Jennie Hollister. He soon after- wards returned to Fon du Lac and worked at his trade till 1866, when he left that rising town and came to Brookfield. He at once established him- self in his present business of dealing in tinware, hardware, stoves, etc. Since coming to this county Mr. Post has built up a good trade in his line and amassed some property, and owns the commodious building in which he does business, the upper portion being used as the Odd Fellow's hall. Mr. Post is both a Mason and an Odd Fellow, and has filled official posi- tions in each order. He is the father of five children, Minnie L., Marion C., Louie, Kate, and Dick, all living at home. Minnie is being educated in the Brookfield Academy, and Marion is learning the tinsmith trade un- der his father.

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The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information, Part 55

Author: Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Kansas City, Mo., Birdsall & Dean Number of Pages: 906

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Kansas City, Mo., Birdsall & Dean
Number of Pages: 906