USA > Missouri > Pike County > The history of Pike County, Missouri : an encyclopedia of useful information, and a compendium of actual facts > Part 37
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James R. Wells .
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farmers' sons of that early day, received only a common English education. He was married in September, 1837, to Miss Merriam Kite, which union was blessed with seven children. Mrs. Nally died in May, 1854, and Mr. Nally was subsequently married to Miss May Ayers, daughter of Richard Ayers, of this county, and one of the early settlers of Pike. Mr. Nally has, for several years, served as justice of the peace in the township where he resides. Ile has 200 acres of excellent land, which he cultivates to the best advantage, and from which he annually derives a good return for his labor. Mr. Nally has lived in the county since 1839, and is well known to many of our best citizens, who hold him in high esteem. He is a member of the Methodist Church, and strictly attends to his religions duties.
Alfred Oden. Among the early settlers of Ashley township and well worthy of a conspicuous place in the history of the county is the subject of this sketch. Mr. Oden was born in North Middleton, Bourbon connty, Kentucky, on the the 10th day of July, 1812. His education was received while he yet resided within the limits of his native state. On the 15th of October, 1828, he arrived with his parents in Pike county and settled three iniles southwest of Ashley on what was known as Brushy Creek where Mr. Oden cut the first tree, preparatory to a clearing, that had ever been felled in that section. At that early day many of the settlers entered their land, and Mr. Oden's father did the same, and began at once to improve his prop- erty, which soon came to be valuable. Mr. Oden remembers that game was at that time very abundant and the wolves so numerons and destructive to pigs and lambs that it was next to impossible to raise either. During the winter of 1829 and 1830 our subject performed the duties of clerk for two of the merchants of Bowling Green, and well remembers when Judge Tucker held court in a room without any floor other than the earth, and when the logs were piled in the middle of the room and burned in a heap for the purpose of warming the apartment. In 1832 Mr. Oden enlisted as a soldier in the Black Hawk War, under Captain Mace of Peno township. Mr. Oden was married, May 23, 1831, to Miss Frances Ann Brown, a na- tive of Virginia, who died in 1861, and some years thereafter he was again married, to Miss Susan C. Davis of Pike county. Mr. Oden has raised a family of six children. He has long been identified with the growth and prosperity of Ashley, and has contributed no little to advance its material interests. Our subject is a gentleman of good information, thoroughly familiar with the history of the county; an enterprising citizen, a good neighbor, a Mason above reproach, and a consistent and zealous mem- ber of the Christian Church.
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HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY.
George F. Poyser. The subject of this sketch was born in Stark county. Ohio. March 27, 1817. He is the son of John and Barbara Poyser, and was left an orphan at the age of five years. He passed his youth on the farm, and at the age of seventeen commenced to learn the carpenter's trade. He moved to Washington county, Ohio, where he married Ency Burk, March 18, 1838. To them two children, Ronena and A. D. Poyser, were born. Having lost his wife Mr. Poyser was married the second time to Elizabeth P. Wells. In 1835 he came to Pike county and settled near Ashley. He has a farm of 100 acres and is doing a good business with the Ashley meat market, of which he is the proprietor.
Theodore Purse. The subject of this sketch is a native of New York, born in the metropolis of the Union on the 28th of July, 1832. He is the son of John and Susan De Gove Purse. His father was a native of Ireland, and his mother a native of Vermont. Mr. Purse had good advantages for obtaining a plain and practical English education until he had reached his fourteenth year, at which time he abandoned the school-room and went to work to learn the carpenter's trade, which he continued to follow between five and six years, when in 1852 he made a visit to this county, and in the spring of 1853 he moved west and settled in Ashley, which place he has since made his home. For several years he was engaged in the manufacture of reapers. which passed rapidly into the hands of the farmers and met a want which had not before been wholly supplied. In 1881 he engaged with his present partner, Mr. Wells, in the hardware trade, conducting the only house of the kind in Ashley, and doing a safe and successful business. Mr. Purse was married in April, 1857, to Miss Samantha Wells, daughter of L. M. Wells, also of Ashley. They have three children: Eliza U., now Mrs. Bowinan of Louisiana; W. D., who is the county surveyor; and Susie Dora Purse, still at home with her parents. Mr. Purse is a member of the Old School Presbyterian Church and also of the Knights of Honor. By his honorable conduct and upright dealing with his fellow men he has made many friends and occupies in his community a reputation for honesty and purity of life and character that the good can well afford to envy.
Moses Renner. This gentlemen is the son of George Renner, who was born in Germany, and when eleven years of age came with his parents to America. George Reuner resided in St. Charles county for some time, but after Pike county had been laid off and named he moved here, and was among its earliest settlers. He was first married to Miss Nancy Crow, by whom he had three children, and afterwards to Miss Jones, who was born and raised in Cuivre township, in Pike county. Four children blessed this
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union, and among them, and the youngest, the subject of this sketch, who was born April 15, 1862. Moses Renner was reared a farmer, and has de- voted all his life to the cultivation of the soil. He is a young and intelli- gent bachelor, of good habits, and more than ordinarily successful as a farmer. He has had but little time in which to make any history for him- self, but he has made a reputation for honesty and square-dealing that is worth much to any young man just entering upon the active duties of life. If his success is to be measured by his energy and perseverance, failure will be impossible.
Thomas A. Rhoades is a native of Tennessee, born near Nashville, December 10, 1829. He was reared on a farm, and received such education as usnally fell to the lot of farmers' sons in that early day. When twenty- two years of age he came to Pike county, where he has since lived. He was married February 3, 1856, to Miss Eliza Smith, daughter of Ephraim Smith, of Pike county, bat formerly of Casey county, Kentucky. They have no children. Mr. Rhoades has a farm in Ashley township containing 144 acres of well-improved and very fertile land, upon which he resides, although he is personally kept away from home a great deal on account of his busi- ness, as he has for the last fourteen seasons been engaged in running ma- chines for the purpose of threshing the wheat and oats of his friends and neighbors. Mr. Rhoades is a worthy member of the Cumberland Presby- terian Church, as is also his wife. He has the confidence and esteem of the people among whom he has long lived.
Judge S. S. Russell. Prominent among the business men of Ashley may be mentioned the name of Judge Russell. Indeed he is recognized by the people, among whom he has long lived as the best representative of the energy and enterprise, not only of the village of Ashley, but of the township of that name. Judge Russell is a native of West Virginia, where he was born September 17. 1823. He is the son of Joshua Russell, a na- tive of Ireland, and who came to Virginia in 1812, and for fifty years was engaged in selling goods in Tyler county. The mother of the subject of our sketch was Catharine A. Wells, of Ohio county, Virginia. Judge Rus- sell received but a limited school education, but early in life he entered his father's store and acquired that character of business knowledge which has been of incalculable advantage in his intercourse with the world. Judge Russell came to Pike county in the fall of 1848, and settled at Ashley, where he at once engaged in merchandising, which business he followed for eight consecutive years. For about two years he turned his attention to farming, when he again engaged in mercantile pursuits, continuing to seil
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goods until 1861. In 1865 he built a grist-mill in partnership with Mr. William Sisson, which was soon after burned, when he rebuilt, this time being alone, a larger mill, and with a capacity of about 400 bushels per day. With his sons, Judge Russell is now engaged in milling, and also in specu- lating in wheat and other grain upon quite an extended scale. His mills are at Ashley, while his elevator is situated at Bowling Green on account of the railroads furnishing suitable shipping facilities. Judge Russell has several times been elected justice of the peace, and was chosen one of the county judges in 1856, and served the county very acceptably in that im- portant and difficult position. Judge Russell has always been one of the foremost men in every enterprise that had for its object the interests of the county, or the advancement of the material prosperity of his own town, or township. He has taken a deep interest in the educational interests of the county, and has done much for Watson Seminary, a school situated near his home. Judge Russell was married November 5, 1846, to Maria Wells, daughter of Eli and Nancy Wells, and their union has been blessed with two children, both sons, Eli W., and John Russell, both of whom are still living and have families of their own. Judge Russell is a consistent mem- ber of the O. S. Presbyterian Church, of which he is an elder, and to the support of which he contributes liberally. Eli W. Russell, the judge's eldest son, was born September 8, 1848, and was educated at Watson Sem- inary; he was married November 11, 1880, to Miss Mollie Neff, daughter of John Neff. of Lafayette county, Missouri. John Russell, the youngest son, was born April 12, 1850, educated, like his brother, at Watson Sem- inary, and was married December 16, 1874, to Miss A. E. Reed, daughter of A. W. Reed, of this county. They have two children, Nellie and Henry M. Russell. Both Eli and John are associated with their father in the grain and milling business, which has proven quite profitable under their wise management and close business attention.
Stephen Shepherd (deceased) was born in Adams county, Kentucky, February 28, 1825. When quite young he came to Pike county, Missouri, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred on the 29th of March, 1876. Mr. Shepherd was married in September, 1869, to Miss Martha Letitia Chamberlain, danghter of James Chamberlain, who now in his old age makes his home at her house. This union was blessed with three children: William B., Effie May, and James S. Shepherd. Since her hus- band's death Mrs. Shepherd has continued to reside at the old homestead, a nice farm of sixty-eight acres, well improved and in a high state of cultiva- tion, where, by her amiable disposition and self-sacrificing spirit, she con-
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tributes to the enjoyment of her children and the comfort of her aged father. She is striving hard to give her children the advantages of a good and thor- ough education, and thereby render them fit to fill up their missions in life as well as to be prepared to make for themselves a substantial and independent living. Mrs. Shepherd is a consistent member of the Christian Church, and by her zeal in the cause of Christianity, and her devotion to the inter- ests of her children, she endeavors to make the loss of the father as lightly felt as possible.
Jesse Shepherd was born in Wilks county, North Carolina, October 24, 1800. His father, Stephen Shepherd, was born in 1768, in Virginia, and weut to North Carolina, where he was brought up. He moved to Kentucky in 1811, where he died in 1825. He was a farmer by occupation. Jesse, our subject, spent his youth on a farm, and was educated in the rude log school-houses common in those days. He was married in 1826, to Miss Isabell Shaw, daughter of Thomas and Catharine Shaw, who was born in Mer- cer county, Kentucky, February 29, 1804. Soon after their marriage they immigrated to Missouri, coming all the way in a three-horse wagon, and settled on a farm near Bowling Green in this county. They reared eight children who lived to be men and women grown, five of whom are now liv- ing: Eliza J., now Mrs. Williams; Emily, now Mrs. Jones; Susan E., now Mrs. McCloud; William F .: John C., died in 1866; Martha A., Fannie, died in 1866, and James M. His wife died in 1873. He well remembers when he had to pay twenty-five cents for a single letter.
R. H. Strother. Mr. Strother is a native of Pike county, Illinois, where he was born, March 5, 1847. He is a son of Robert and Betsey A. Strother. His mother was the daughter of M. J. Noyes, long an official of Pike county, Missouri, and otherwise prominently identified with its mate- rial interests. Our subject's early life was spent in Louisiana, where he re- ceived his education, and where, at the age of nineteen, he commenced to learn the painter's trade. For two years he worked with Graham & Petti- bone, and then for the same length of time with James A. Ladd, and for eighteen months with Henry Couples. After this Mr. Strother continued in the business alone, doing much work in different sections of the county. In 1869 he moved to Ashley, and continued to work at his trade. For sev- eral years Mr. Strother lived in Bowling Green, where he did most of the work connected with his line of business. In September, 1882, he took charge of a furniture store at Ashley, which he still continues to conduct. Mr. Strother was married June 25, 1872, to Miss Mollie Houston, daughter of M. W. Houston, of Ashley, They have two children, Ina and Zella Mont
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Pier Strother. He is a member of the Odd Fellows' lodge at Bowling Green, and has a large cirele of acquaintances and many friends throughout the county.
Sammuel Thomas. This gentleman was born in Bourbon county. Ken- tucky, July 4, 1826. He is the son of Joseph Thomas, a native of the same county and state, and of Sally (Oden) Thomas, who was born in London county, Virginia. His parents moved to Pike county in the fall of 1827, where they resided until his fatheris death in November, 1834. The sub- ject of this sketch was raised on a farin, attending to its general duties, and receiving only such advantages of an education as the common district schools could furnish. About the time that he reached his majority, Mr. Thomas worked for several years at the carpenter's and cabinet maker's trades. From the time he was twelve years old until he grew to manhood his life was spent with his uncle, Alfred Oden. He bought his present farin in 1857, which he has taken much pains to make better year after year. He was married July 11, 1855, to Miss Lucy Tinsley, a lady born and partially raised in Virginia. Two children were born to them, only one of whom, Bettie Chelton, is now living. Mrs. Thomas died in September, 1865, and Mr. Thomas was married again in January, 1867, to Miss Ann M. Myers, of this county. They have but one child, Edward S. Thomas. Mr. Thomas's farm embraces 260 acres of land, which is well improved and adapted to farming and stock-raising. He is a member of the Masonic order. and a genial, affable, and hospitable gentleman.
H. A. Wait. Mr. Wait was born in Jefferson county, New York, where he continued to reside until he was thirty-one years of age, when he came to Danville, Illinois, where. for three years, he was engaged in sawing and · selling walnut lumber. After this he engaged in a general lumber buiness. doing his own sawing, and moving his mill from place to place, as the quantity and character of the timber would seem to warrant. He located near Ashley in December, 1881. where he still continues to manufacture and sell different kinds of lumber, but making something of a specialty of timber suitable for railroads and bridges. Mr. Wait was married December 17, 1862, to Miss Emma Bannister, of Jefferson county, New York. They have four children: Bert, Cora O. M., Dora H., and Harry.
L. M. Wells was born in Ohio county, Virginia, June 10, 1807. ITis father was one of the earliest settlers of Ohio county, and was burned out three times by the Indians. The early life of our subject was spent on a farm, where he attended strictly to the duties of the farmer, and received but a very limited school education. He was first married in July, 1535.
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to Miss Eliza MeMahan, and their nion was blessed with seven children. He lost his wife in October, 1852, and was married the second time, in 1854, to Elizabeth Thornley, a native of Ohio. By this wife he had two children. Having lost his second wife, in December, 1865, Mr. Wells was married the third time, in December, 1872, to Catharine Logan, of Warren county, Mis- sonri. In July, 1837, Mr. Wells bought 250 acres of land near Ashley, and a little northwest of the town, upon which he moved bis family in the fo !- lowing spring. Here he lived for eight years, when he moved about one- half mile south of the town, where he continued to reside until 1872, when he built his present residence, one of the very best to be found in the town- ship. During the civil war Mr. Wells was badly treated, and made to sus- tain great pecuniary loss, and also to undergo munch personal suffering. Hle was arrested, taken to Macon, Missouri, where ten men out of forty were taken ont and shot for opinion's sake. He was held a prisoner for some time at Macon, then taken to St. Louis, and finally to Alton, Illinois. He is one of the largest land owners in Pike county, having some 5,500 acres, almost all of which is under fence and in cultivation. He has also been one of the most liberal contributors to Watson Seminary, giving at the start four acres of land and one thousand dollars in cash to help along this educational enterprise. He has also generously assisted the several churches of the town near which he continues to reside. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
William A. Wilcoxen. Mr. Wilcoxen is a native of Pike county. He was born in Calumet township, June 25, 1847, where he continued to re- reside with his father, attending the fann and dealing in stock, until he at- tained the age of twenty-six years. Ile received his education at the com- mon schools of the county, in the city of Clarksville, and at McGee College. Ile was married November 12, 1874, to Miss Jennie Emerson, daughter of W. B. Emerson, of Pike county. They have but two children living, Thomas Harly and Roy L. Wilcoxen, having lost their only daughter, Nora B., on December 9, 1881. Mr. Wilcoxen is a good farmer and successinl dealer in stock, of which he handles great numbers. He has a farm of 250 acres of land, well adapted to his purposes, and which he has from year to year continued to improve. Mr. Wilcoxen is-a man of excellent judgment and remarkable energy, and, although but a young man, has attained a financial standing which justly places him among the solid men of the county.
F. E. Williams, one of the best farmers in the neighborhood of Ashley, was born in Spottsylvania county, Virginia, near the " Wilderness, " Septem-
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ber 25. 1813. Ile is the son of P. M. and Elizabeth (Gale) Williams, being the only child born to his parents. His early life was spent in his na five state, where he received his education. At the age of twenty-one year- he came to Missouri and settled in Ralls county. eight miles from the town of New London, where he lived for one year, then moved to a farm four iniles west of the same town. where he continued to reside until 1866. when he bought and moved upon his present farm, just adjoining the town of Ashley. His farm contains 156 acres of excellent land, well fenced and in a high state of cultivation. He is largely engaged in wheat raising, in which he has been peenliarly successful. He has a substantial farm residence and is surrounded with all the comforts of a good country home. Mr. Williams has been twice married, first in February, 1834, to Miss Elizabeth Brown, who died in April of the succeeding year. He was again married in Octo. ber, 1837. to Miss Levisa Grant, of Kentucky. From this last marriage there were three children, Nelson, Juliett, and Panl. Mr. Williams had the misfortune to lose his wife in 1875, since which time he has remained a widower. He is a worthy member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and takes a lively interest in all matters appertaining to the religions or moral advancement of the community in which he resides. He has come to be well known in the county and is universally esteemed by his fellow citizens.
Il. H. Wisdom. The subject of this sketch is a native of Kentucky, born June 24, 1813. His father was born in Virginia and his mother in North Carolina. Mr. Wisdom was raised on a farin and early acquired that knowledge of agricultural pursuits which has since been of incalculable ad- vantage to him. He came to Pike county in 1837, but removed to Ken- tucky where he resided some eighteen months, when he again returned to this county, where he has ever since continued to live. He first settled upon the farm upon which he at this time resides, although he has not lived there uninterruptedly during all these years. The land was wild then, but he has greatly improved it and opened up one of the best farms in that neighborhood. His house is beautifully located upon a very pretty little bluff. about 100 feet higher than the lands lying south or west of it. Mr. Wisdom was married to Miss Virginia Turner, and their union was blessed with eight children, six of whom are still living. Mrs. Wisdom died June 16, 1880, and he has never married again. Mr. Wisdom is a member of the Masonic order and also of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He is a genial and hospitable gentleman, and has the confidence and respect of all who know him.
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PRAIRIEVILLE TOWNSHIP.
J. J. Zumwalt. Mr. Zumwalt was born in Pike county, Missouri, No- vember 9, 1843, near the city of Louisiana. He is a son of Ivy Zumwalt, who was a native of St. Charles county, and one among the first settlers of Pike county; his mother was Sarah. (James) Zumwalt. a native of Adair county, Missouri. Mr. Zumwalt has spent his life upon a farm, to the duties of which he has been especially attentive. Hle received but & limited education, but has learned much from his association with the busi- ness men with whom his business has brought hint in contact. He was married February 9. 1865, to Miss Minerva F. Henderson, daughter of Ru- fas Henderson. This union has been blessed with two children, Ramsey and Porter. Mrs. Zumwalt died November 12, 1874. Mr. Zumwalt was married the second time, March 1, 1577, to Miss Einily Crosby, daughter of H. S. aud Elizabeth Crosby, of Calhoun county, Illinois. But one child. Ona C. Zumwalt. has been born to them. Mr. Zumwalt owns a good farm of 135 acres of well improved land, and besides farming deals to some ex- tent in different kinds of stock. Ile is a member of the Methodist Church, and one of the trustees of the same. His reputation for fair dealing has never been questioned, while his probity and integrity have gained for him many valuable friends.
CHAPTER XX.
PRAIRIEVILLE TOWNSHIP.
Description -- Characteristics-Schools-Civic Societies-Churches-Miscellaneous Observa- tions-Biographies.
DESCRIPTION.
In point of age this is the baby township of Pike county, and as in other families of nine children, there appears no good reason why this, the tenth, should ever have been born. Prairieville township was carved out of the southwestern corner of Calumet in February, 1570. It embraces all of con- gressional township fifty-two, range one, west, is six miles square, and con- tains 23,040 acres of land. It is situated in the southern portion of the conuty, and is bounded on the north by Buffalo township, on the east by Calumet, on the south by Lincoln county, and on the west by Cuivre. The township has both rich wooded lauds and beautiful rolling prairie, and its farmers are among the most energetic and prosperous of any to be found out-
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side of Calumet. Among some of the early settlers of this township, wl ... were contemporaneous with those of Calumet, may be mentioned John F., George S., and S. B. Turner; Judge John Fagg, William Richardson, Dr. M. N. Clark, Anetin Bensley, Major H. J. Pollard. Walker Meriwether, and others, and just outside of the township, but whose business transactions were all done at Prairieville, were Dr. Fountain Meriwether, and Major James Clark. Neither township, county, or country ever had nobler or better men than the early settlers of Prairieville. There are no towns, and but two small villages, within the limits of this township. Both of these are situated in the sonthern part of the township and not more than three-fourths of a mile apart. Prairieville is the largest and has a popula- tion of about one hundred inhabitants, while Folia, the smaller, and situated on the St. I., II. & K. Railroad, has not more than forty residents. After the organization of this district into a separate township, R. IL. Wright was the first justice of the peace, and Charles E. Clark its first constable. Drs. M. N. Clark and William IT. Pollard, both residents of the town of Prairieville, are the physicians of the township, and cach'has long done a large and Inerative practice. There are two saw-mills in the township, and one steam grist-mill. Among the oldest settled places are the Cole's farm and the Dum Spring place; the earliest practitioner was probably Dr. Rich- ard Anderson, while the first preachers were Revs. E. Lannins and Jesse Sutton, both Methodists. The first and only school of any special local character was the one taught in Prairieville by E. N. Benfils, about the year 1854. The first dry goods store was opened by Lewis Minor in 1837, while George Thurmond started both a grocery store and a tobacco factory as early as 1835. There are four school districts in the township, at all of which schools are in successful operation, while there is one place and one teacher for the instruction and education of the colored youth.
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