USA > Missouri > Pike County > The history of Pike County, Missouri : an encyclopedia of useful information, and a compendium of actual facts > Part 19
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Reuben Ludlam Foster, of the firm of Inse, Loomis & Co., ice pack- ers and shippers, was born at Millville, on Morris River, New Jersey. April 1, 1815. When he was nine years of age he went with his parents to Phil-
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adelphia, Pennsylvania, where his father died the following year. At the . age of sixteen he was thrown upon his own resources for maintenance, by the death of his mother. He then began to work in the brass foundry of Thomas Rogers, of Philadelphia, with whom he worked six years, up to 1837, and during that time received his education by attending night school. He then worked in the lamp and chandelier works of Cornelius & Son, of Philadelphia, until 1842, when he went to Chicago, Illinois, and was em- ployed as a sailor, and followed that avocation until 1848, when he became master of the brig Susan A. Clark, plying between Chicago and Buffalo, a position he held for twelve years, up to 1860, and during that time he had also become a ship owner. Leaving the lakes in 1860 he went to Peru, Illinois, where in 1861 he became associated with William L. Hues, of St. Lonis, and H. G. Loomis, of Chicago, in the firm name of Hues, Loomis & Co., and engaged in the ice business. In 1872, in the interest of the same company, he came to Louisiana city, and built the commodions and exten- sive ice houses at the confluence of the Salt and Mississippi rivers, with a capacity of storing 36,000 tons of ice, their markets being St. Lonis, Men- phis, Vicksburg, Helena, and other sonthern cities. In 1876 he was elected a member of the city council of Louisiana, and has been re-elected and filled that position ever since. December 23, 1844, he married Lucia Hues, of Chicago, by whom he has six children : Samnel S., of Alton, Illinois; Wil- liam J., of Lonisiana city; George F., of Little Rock, Arkansas; Clara S., wife of Rev. M. L. Curl, of Hannibal, Missouri; James HI., of Louisiana city; and Nellie, still at home. Himself, wife, and daughter Nellie, are members of the Seventh Street M. E. Church, of Louisiana. Ile is a mem- ber of Perseverance Lodge No. 92. A. F. & A. M., of Louisiana.
William Carroll Freeman, president of the Freeman Box and Wooden Ware Manufacturing Company of Louisiana city, and proprietor of the City Foundry and Machine Shop, was born near Perryville, Perry county, Tennessee, September 7, 1830. When eleven years of age he removed with his parents to Pike county, Illinois, they settling on a farm near the Miss- issippi River opposite Louisiana, where he lived with his parents until he was twenty-two. His father being a mill-wright as well as a farmer he learned that trade and mechanical engineering. He worked at various places until 1862 when he built a saw-mill in Pike county, Illinois, which in 1865 he removed to Louisiana city, and where he followed saw-milling until 1872, after which the mill was changed over into a box and wooden ware factory. He being a genius he patented a machine to manufacture wooden scoops for grocers' use without steaming or bending the wood, which, for
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economy in labor and material, excelled any machine of that kind. It works automatically, and saws the material in such a way that there is no wastage. He began to manufacture the scoops .on a small scale, but the demand soon become so great that more capital was required to increase the business that he had at his control, when, in 1SS1, a stock company was organized, by which he was chosen president. In 1872 he, with Willian . Jackson, founded the city foundry and machine shop on the corner of Fourth and Tennessee streets, Mr. Jackson being with him one year, and since then he has been sole proprietor and carries on an extensive business, requiring larger and more extensive shops and machinery. He mannfactures steam engines, saw and grist-mills, and house and ornamental castings. He has never held any office except that of councilman one term, he refusing to accept any, as his business demanded his whole time and attention. March 29, 1855, he married Miss Susan E. Willson, of El Dara, Illinois, by whom he has four daughters: Sarah E., wife of James Landrum, of El Dara, Illi- nois; Myra; Fannie, wife of Fred. D). Flye, manager of the Freeman Wooden Ware Factory; and May. He is a Master Mason and member of Globe Lodge No. 495, A. F. & A. M., of Louisiana, in which he has filled all the stations excepting Master. He is now Senior Warden.
William Harrison Glenn, sheriff of Pike county, was born in Louisi- ana, Missouri, September 20, 1838, where he was raised. At the carly age of nine years he began to work in the tobacco factory of Vanhorn, Hen- derson & Co., and was thus employed, and attended school in the winter, until he was twenty years of age. In the spring of 1858 he was employed as foreman in the tobacco factory of Sherman & May, of Flint Hill, St. Charles county, Missouri. Three months after he became Mr. May's suc- cessor, changing the firm name to Sherman & Glenn, and from that time up to 1875, excepting from 1859 to 1864, when he pursued farming near Frankford, he was interested in the manufacture of tobacco at Flint Hill, St. Louis, and Louisiana, as a member of different firms. His firm being burnt out at Louisiana in 1875 they were obliged to suspend business, when he was employed as foreman in the tobacco factory of John G. Meyers. of Louisiana. In 1876 he was employed in the same capacity in the tobacco factory of A. Tinsley & Co. In 1877 he was indueed by the tobacco man- ufacturers of Lonisiana to engage in handling leaf tobacco when he opened a commission tobacco warehouse, to which he has added wood, coal, and draying. In the spring of 1S7S he was appointed marshal of Louisiana, and served until 1SS0 when he resigned, and in the same year he was elected constable of Buffalo township. In 1831 he was elected sheriff of Pike
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county. and is now an incumbent of that office. In 1676 he received the appointment of chief of the fire department of Louisiana, and still holds that position. December 20, 1860, he married Mary E. Thurmon, of near Louisiana. They have three children: Edward A., associated with his father, Mary Nora and Jennie June. He is a member of Evening Star Lodge No. 28, I. O. O. F., and a charter member of Rising Sun Lodge No. 22, A. O. U. W .. Unison Lodge No. 1575, K. of H., and Auchor Lodge No. 60, K. of P., all of Louisiana.
William Omar Gray, attorney at law, is a native of Missouri. He was born on a farm in St. Charles county, August 20, 1819. When he was seven years old his parents removed to St. Charles where he lived with them and attended school until 1860, and in the fall of that year he went with them to Moberly where he attended school two years, after which he took charge of a store for his father at Sturgeon, Missouri, conducting the business there until his father's death in 1867. In 1869 he entered Central College at Fayette, Missouri, graduating from that institution in the class of 1871. IIe then taught the high school of Bloomington, Missouri, as principal, and had charge of the public school at Sturgeon, Missouri, until 1873, when he accepted the position of principal in the preparatory depart- ment of Central College, and taught there until 1875, when he came to Louisiana and entered the law office of W. HI. Morrow as a student and partner, he having previously studied law privately, and was admitted to the bar at Sturgeon in the fall of that year. In 1SS1 he received the ap- pointment of city attorney of Louisiana and was reappointed in 1882. Jan- uary, 1880, he was appointed by the judge of the circuit court receiver of the Louisiana Journal, it being in the hands of the sheriff under an execu- tion, he condneting its publication as such until May, 1881, when he pur- chased it, becoming its proprietor and editor, and published it until Octo- ber, 1881, when he sold it to its present proprietors, Parsons & Hoss. May 22, 1879, he married Mary, daughter of J. M. Gentry, of Louisiana, Mis- souri. They have two children: Henry L. and Mabel. Himself and wife are members of the M. E. Church South. In 187S he was a delegate to the general conference held at Atlanta, Georgia, and has represented his dis- trict in the annual conference for eight years, and has been sabbath-school superintendent for four years.
James Warren Griffith. farmer, post-office Louisiana, was born in Pike county, this state, September 19, 1826. He is the son of Wilberand Martha (Warren) Griffith, both natives of Bourbon county, Kentucky, who came to Missouri in 1819 and settled in Pike county. Our subject was reutred at his
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birthplace, and at the age of nineteen he began life for himself by learning the coopering business, which he followed in connection with farming up to 1855. He then gave up the coopering business and has devoted all his energies to his fine farm, the flourishing condition of which fully attests his skill as a manager, and his comfortable home with its tasteful surround- ings show that he knows how to make his home attractive for his family, as well as to the stranger who comes within his gates.
Judson Monroe Guile. dealer in boots and shoes, was born near Har- vard, Illinois, February 21, 1852. He came to Missouri with his parents in 1861, they settling near La Grange, in Lewis county, where he lived until the fall of 1862, when they removed to Palmyra, in Marion county, where his father died in 1868. He then went with his mother to Clarksville, Pike county, where, when seventeen years of age, he began to do for liimself, and maintained his mother by working at the trade of shoemaking. In 1872 he left Clarksville, taking his mother with him, and went to Pleasant Hill, Illi- nois, where he followed shoemaking until 1874, when he came to Louisiana and became associated with G. A. Reid in manufacturing and dealing in boots and shoes, in the firm name of Reid & Guile. Mr. Reid retiring soon after, he has continued in the business ever since. Although left penniless and without a father's care at an early age, and while not only main- taining himself but his mother also, he has succeeded in establishing him- self in a lucrative and prosperous business. April 9, 1874, he married Emma J. Stillman of Louisiana, by whom he has four children: Jennie Esther, Mabel Terry and Minnie Burt (twins), and Henry Franklin. He is a Master Mason and member of the lodge at Lonisiana.
Edward Hosmer Guiley, of the firm of Lock & Guiley, grocers of Louisiana, was born in Louisiana, Missouri. August 23, 1852, where he was raised. He was educated in the common school and the McAfee. now Mc- Cune, College of Louisiana. At the age of sixteen, in 1868, he began to clerk in the grocery store of H. P. Brown, and afterwards clerked for Weir & Brown, Dreyfus, Jordan & Co., and Joseph Pollock, up to 1879, when he became associated with T. W. Lock in the grocery business in the firm name of Lock & Gniley. He started out in life in his boyhood with nothing, but by attention to business and patient industry he has placed himself among the prosperous business men of his native city, a well-merited reward. Sep- tember 9, 1878, he married Sadie E., daughter of W. H. Miller, of near Louisiana. Himself and wife are members of the Fourth Street M. E. Church South.
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John Will Gunn is the son of Hon. William A. and Addie (Sher- man) Gunn, and was born at Louisiana, Missouri, in October, 1856, where he was raised and educated in the high school of that place. When fourteen years of age he began to clerk in the bakery of Charles Harris and was with him but a short time when he became associated with his father and brother in the grocery business, in the firm name of W. A. Gunn & Sons, they doing business for two years, up to 1873, when they were succeeded by Baird & Gunn, for whom he clerked until 1875, when he established his present business, his father being a special partner. In 1878 his brother withdrew from the business, since which time he has continued it alone. Mr. Gunn is a young.man possessing sterling business qualifications. He started with a small amount of capital, the earnings he carefully saved while elerking, and although beginning on a small scale he has built up an extensive trade and now rauks with the first grocers of Louisiana city. October 7, 1858, he married Sallie A., daughter of E. P. McClellan of Chester county, Pennsyl- vania. Himself and wife are members of the M. E. Church South of Louisiana. He is a member of Anchor Lodge No. 60, K. of P., and of Unison Lodge No. 1875, K. of II., of Louisiana.
William Handsome ( Pritchard), artist and photographer, is a native of England, and was born at Carlisle, Cumberland, July 20, 1827. In his infancy his parents removed to Glasgow, Scotland, where he lived with them until he was seventeen, when he was employed in a cotton warehouse until he was nineteen, when he was captivated by the nicely-uniformed company of the Fourth Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, while passing through the streets of Carlisle. Following them, he enlisted and soon after became orderly for General Arbuthnot, and served as such twelve months at Man- chester, when he was promoted to corporal and sent to Maidstone to be trained and qualified as drill instructor in the riding school. and after a thorough drill of twelve months he joined the regiment at Birmingham. In 1851 he purchased his discharge, when he accepted the position of receiv- ing warden and physician's assistant in Birmingham borough jail, serving as such until 1852, when he went to Liverpool and became hall keeper in St. George's Hall, continuing as such until 1862. Early in life he was fond of oil painting, and being a natural artist, he soon became master of the brush and palette. On leaving St. George's Hall, he became associated with Mr. Quillish in the firm name of Quillish & Handsome, and engaged in photographing, and learned that art of and was with Mr. Quillish until 1864, when he emigrated to the United States. He first settled at Chicago, where he established a photo gallery, and pursued that business until the
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great Chicago fire, in 1871, when he lost all he had by being burned ont. In 1872 he came to Louisiana, Missouri, where he was employed for a short time as operator in the gallery of Samnel Rice. He then engaged in giv- ing instructions in off painting, being for a time at Quiney, Illinois, where he took the nom de plume of " Prof. Pritchard." He also executed several pieces of oil painting for citizens of Louisiana, thereby accumulating means enough to again engage in photographing. He established his present gal- lery and studio, known as " Pritchard's," in 1873, and built up a lucrative business. His paintings that adorn the walls of his studio, and the sample photos, shows that they were executed by the hand of a skillful master. April 15, 1851, he married Hannah Cole, of Northfield, near Birmingham, England. They are members of Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church, of Louisiana.
Richard Johnson Hawkins, cashier of the Exchange Bank, of Louisi- ana, Missouri, was born on & farin near Bowling Green, Missouri, February 16, 1844. He is the son of William G. and Martha (Bondurant) Hawk- ins, pioneers of Pike county in 1827, and settled on the farm where our subject was born and where his father still resides. His mother died in 1854. He lived with his father until manhood, and obtained only a com- mon education. When sixteen years of age he enlisted in the Confederate ยท service under General Tom Harris. Soon after his enlistment he was taken prisoner by the Federal troops near Mexico, Missouri, and after six months' incarceration at Palmyra. Missouri, he was released on parole, when he re- turned home; and, as all his father's hands (negroes) had left him, he assisted in the farm work, continning so until 1866, when he came to Louisiana and clerked six months in the store of Ayres & Neville, when he became Mr. Neville's successor, changing the firmn to Ayres & Hawkins. In 1874 he retired from the firm and accepted the position of book-keeper in the Bank of Pike County. In 1875 he was promoted to cashier. In 1876 he resigned that position, having been elected county clerk of Pike county to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of H. C. Campbell. He was re-elected in 1878, and served until February, 1882, when he resigned, to accept his present position as cashier in the Exchange Bank of Louisiana. November 24, 1874, he married Fanny, daughter of Dr. J. T. Matson, of near Louisiana. They have one child, Edward Clifton. He is a Master, Royal Arch, and Knight Templar Mason, and belongs to the lodge and chapter at Louisiana and commandery at Bowling Green, and has served as recorder and captain general in his commandery for several years. He
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is also a Knight of Pythias, and served as presiding officer of his lodge at Bowling Green from its organization until he left Bowling Green, in 1882.
Henry Leopold Hart was born near the River Rhine, in Prussia, April 15, 1843. When he was ten years old, his parents being dead, he came to the United States with an uncle, with whom he lived one year in New York City and attended school. In 1855 he came to St. Louis, and living with relations attended school up to 1860, when he began clerking in a wholesale house in St. Louis. In 1861 he established himself in the dry goods business at Macon City, Missouri; removing from there to Spring- field, Illinois, in 1864, where he carried on general merchandising until 1865, when he came to Pike county and followed the same business until 1860. when he permanently settled at Louisiana and carried on general mer- chandising up to 1876, when he discontinued that business and engaged in the real estate business, and about the same time was elected constable and deputized sheriff and county collector, and served as such until 1SS0. In that year he began to contract with the Chicago & Alton, and Chicago, Bur- lington & Quiney Railroads to furnish them with stone and timber for bridges, and also in bridge building. In 1882 he, in connection with his other business, began the manufacture of cider and vinegar, and dealing in green fruits. In 1881 he, with others, incorporated the Freeman Box and Wooden Ware Manufactory of Louisiana, of which he was treasurer. June . 8, 1865, he married Sarah J. Foster of Petersburg, Illinois. They have one child, Stella. He is a Mason and member of Globe Lodge No. 495, A. F. & A. M., of Anchor Lodge No. 60, K. of P., and Union Lodge No. 1875, K. of H., all of Louisiana.
Hassler Brothers. Samuel Callaway Hassler and Michael Jefferson Hassler are sons of John and Elizabeth (Doud) Hassler. They were both born near the village of Williamsburg, Callaway county, Missouri, respec- tively, September 1, 1838 and February 29, 1840. They are of German- French origin. Their mother died in 1852 when the family was broken up, the elder brothers leaving home, these two brothers and a sister remain- ing with their father. In 1855 they removed to Montgomery county and engaged in farming near Middletown, where they lived until 1857, when they came to Lonisana, bringing their father with them. Their sister having married in 1556 left them without a housekeeper. and they were obliged to keep house for themselves. After coming to Louisiana they supported them- selves and their enfeebled father by following such occupations as were pre- sented until June, 1858, when the father died. They soon after became appren -
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ticed to learn trades, the elder brother to learn that of blacksmithing with another brother in Callaway county, and the younger that of wood turner with John T. Herbert of Louisiana. In the spring of 1861 they both entered the state military service in defense of the Union, at Louisiana, and were both honorably discharged in 1862 at the expiration of the enlistment. In the summer of 1862 they jointly followed the occupation of wool card- ers, at Bowling Green. In the spring of 1863 they returned to Louisiana and formed a co-partnership with Whitehead & Son for the manufacture of woolen fabrics. In 1865 they dissolved their co-partnership by mutual con- sent, the Hassler Brothers removing a part of the machinery to Rockport, Pike county, Illinois, where they engaged again in the manufacture of woolen fabrics, in the firm name of S. C. Hassler & Brother, and in the meantime the younger brother entered the Union army with a commission as a lieutenant in the volunteer service, and was honorably discharged in October, 1865, when he attended the Methodist College at Louisiana, until the close of the term in 1866. They continued in business at Rockport, Illinois, until 1867, when their machinery was destroyed by fire, when they returned to Louisiana, where the elder brother was employed as fore- man of the Pike County Nurseries and the younger became associated with C. M. Fry in the grocery business, and continued so up to 1876, when they engaged in the manufacture of vinegar and in dealing in green fruits at Lonisiana, in the firm name of Hassler Brothers, and so continue at this writing.
James Nolion Henderson, post-office, Louisiana, is the son of James and Mary (Dawson) Henderson, who emigrated from Virginia to Missouri in 1843, and settled in Lincoln county, where they both died. Our subject was born in Danville, Virginia, December 28, 1832, and came with his parents to this county in 1833. His parents both dying when he was a child, he was raised by strangers until old enough to provide for himself. He was educated in the common subscription schools, attending during the winter terms. In 1850, when eighteen years old, he went to California, where he mined at various places for two years, when he returned to Missouri. After his return he engaged in teaching school in Calumet township in the vicin- ity of Clarksville until 1854, when he came to Louisiana and took a position as a clerk, which he followed until the summer of 1855, when he became as- sociated with W. G. Thurmond, Thomas Cast, and John Strange, in the firm name of Cast, Henderson, Strange & Co., in the manufacture of plug to- bacco, and they were the first persons to begin the business in Louisiana. On November 11, 1867, after making their enterprise a success, their factory
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burned down, causing them a loss of thirty thousand dollars, and closing up the business. In the following year he, with Messrs. Cast and Strange, went to Keokuk and again engaged in manufacturing tobacco, which they carried on until in 1870, when they dissolved the partnership. after which, until 1848, Mr. Henderson dealt in leaf tobacco, buying at different points on the Missouri River and shipping to St. Louis. He then devoted his time and attention principally to the improvement of his fruit farm, in the vicinity of Louisiana. In 1856 he was married to Miss Jane Bartlett, daughter of Dr. E. M. Bartlett of Louisiana. They have but one child living, Mer- rill, lately a student at college, but now at home. Mr. Henderson served as a member of the city council of Louisiana for the years 1857, 1858, 1859, 1860.
Abraham Dryden Hoss, of the firm of Parsons & Hoss, proprietors and editors of the Louisiana Journal, was born near High Hill, Morgan county, Missouri, September 6, 1856, and moved with his parents in 1860 to Montgom- ery City, and from there to Clarksville, Pike county, in 1866, where soon after he began to work in the office of the Clarksville Sentinel, and continued to do so until 1874, when he came with his mother to Louisiana city and was employed in the Riverside Press office by J. C. Jamison, where he remained until May, 1SS1, when he was employed in the office of the Louisiana Journal until October, 1881, when he, with A. O. Parsons, they having worked together in the Riverside Press office for about five years, bought the Journal, of which they are still proprietors and publishers. Mr. Hoss is Democratic in politics. He is a printer well skilled in the art, and under his foremanship the Journal is second to none in the county in appearance, and editorially is wide awake.
Joseph Stewart Irwin, of the firm of Irwin & Gamble, merchants of Louisiana, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, June 18, 1820. His father dying when he was an infant he lived with his mother in St. Louis until 1828, when he came with her to Louisiana where he was raised and obtained a common school education. Being thrown on his own resources in his boyhood he acquired business habits that were the foundation of his future success. At the age of fourteen he began clerking in the store of Francis Gregoir, of Louisiana, and was in his employ two years when. in 1838, he went to Bowling Green, Missouri, and clerked in the store of Levi Petti- bone until the following spring, when he went to Illinois, where he followed flat-boating, carrying stock, produce, etc .. from Shawneetown, on the Ohio River, and New Haven, on the Wabash, to New Orleans, continuing it some six years, up to 1845, when after making a tour through Ohio, Pennsylva-
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