Audrain County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1884 (part 17 of 17)

Reuben H. Wilcox

1831, being a son of Erasmus D. Wilcox, of Massachusetts, and Jane Stamps, of Virginia. The former came to Missouri at a very early date. Polk county is where he settled and remained until his death. E. D. Wilcox and wife had eight children : Sophia, Reuben H., William A., Lafayette, Cornelia, Albert, Virginia, and one that died in infancy. Mr. Wilcox was married the second time to Miss Nancy Elliott, of Tennessee. They had two children, Hamilton and Mary. Reuben H. Wilcox married Miss Elizabeth J. Wilson, of Meigs county, Tennessee. Her parents, Nathaniel and Sally (Miller) Wil son, were natives of Tennessee. They had nine children, viz. : Polly, Melvina T., Oliver, Elizabeth, Emily, James, John, Joseph and one child who died in its infancy. Reuben H. Wilcox and wife have four children: Nathaniel S., Inez, Leonidas and Buelah. The farm where they reside contains 200 acres of land, a good orchard which yields some of the finest fruit in the county, but the greater part of this tract he has given to pasturage. It can be said, and not without merit, that Mr. Wilcox raises and trades in some of the best stock in Wilson town¬ ship. During the war he lost some $1,500 in slaves and other prop¬ erty. He was in the Confederate army, belonging to Nichols' regi¬ ment, Lemmon's company. He served eighteen months in Shelby's command, surrendered with the command at Shreveport, Louisiana, and was paroled. He and his wife and two eldest children are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. He and wife have been members one of those thrifty, intelligent Northern farmers who have settled in this county since the war, came here from Christian county, Illinois, and in 1876 bought the place where he now resides. This is an ex¬ cellent farm of 240 acres, and is conducted with a neatness and in¬ dustry characteristic of the thorough-going farmer of the Prairie State. Mr. Young was born in Christian county, Illinois, April 23, 1840, and was a son of Ferdinand Young, formerly of Trigg county, Ken¬ tucky, and wife, who, before her marriage, was a Miss Emily Murphy of Arkansas. Ferdinand Young's parents were among the early set¬ tlers of Christian county, Illinois, and came there while Ferdinand was still young. He grew up and married in that county, and continued to live there for many years. He is now a resident of Butler, Bates county, Missouri. Edwin Young was the second of a family of eight children, five of whom are still living, and was reared in Christian county, where he made his home until his removal to this State. On t.lie 20th of August, 1802, he was married to Miss Mary E. Knoff, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Knoff, of Taylorville, Illinois. Prior to coming to Missouri, he followed farming with success in his native State, and mainly by his own exertions accumulated his present com¬ fortable estate. Mr. Young's first wife died in 1871. She left him two children, Earnstand Mary E. To his present wife he was married March 19, 1874. She, before her marriage, was Miss Della Y. Mc¬ Cullough. She was a daughter of George and Eleanor McCullough, of Howard county, but formerly of Jefferson county, Ohio. Like his first wife, she is a lady of many estimable qualities and is much es¬ teemed by her neighbors and acquaintances. Mr. and Mrs. Young have been blessed with four children, two of whom are living: Daisy D. and George E. Two are deceased, Lettie M. and Minnie B. Mr.

John R. Younger

a farmer and stock raiser of Wilson township, was born in Boone county, Missouri, November 7, 1848. His father, RobertM. Younger, was formerly of North Carolina, but his mother, Ann D. Younger, nee Gay, belongs to Missouri. After the marriage the young couple moved to Boone county, Missouri, where they bought and improved a farm. It was on this farm that John R., William P. and Nannie B.,

* their three children, were born and reared. As is generally the case where we have many pleasant memories of a certain place, so have we those that when brought to the surface by a train of thoughts comes in to feel very much like Longfellow when he wrote the following :

For in the self-same farm house both of his good, kind parents died. John R. Younger married. Miss Fannie Bratton, of Callaway county, daughter of W. A. Bratton and Ida Wade, natives of Kentucky. After a short but happy year of married life, Mrs. Fannie Younger died, leaving a little boy but one day old. This sad bereavement took place on August 11, 1872. On October 16, 1873, Mr. Younger was married to Miss Nannie P. Wade, of Callaway county, daughter of Robert Wade of Kentucky, and Frances Buckner. Mr. Younger has a farm of 200 acres ; the better part is given to pasturage, as he deals in stock, some of which is the best graded in the county. He was in neither of the wars. In religion they are good, worthy members of the Christian Church, and have been members of the Grange. Mr. Younger's mother had two brothers, Robert and David, and four sisters, Sarah, Lucinda, Margaret and Nannie. Her father had six children before he married her mother: James, Dunlap, Curtis, Elizabeth, Polly and Martha.

Addenda

Our endeavors to secure the following facts relating to the Opera House, and also several Lodges, that they might be placed in their proper position in this work, were unsuccessful at the time, and we insert them here : -

Opera House

The Opera House was erected in 1874, by George Kabrich, and is 44x100 feet in dimensions. The stage is 20x30 feet. The building contains three stories and a basement ; the first is used for business purposes ; the second for offices and Opera House, and third for Ma¬ sonic Hall. The opera room will seat from 800 to 1,000 persons. The original building was remodeled. The Mexico Ledger had this to say of the Opera House :

"New Opera House. - Mr. George Kabrich should receive the con¬ gratulations and thanks of all theater-going people of Mexico tor the magnificent manner in which he has remodeled and refurnished his Opera House. It is a great credit to our town to have such a tasty and comfortable place for amusements. The stage has been very much enlarged and new dressing rooms have been built. The four private boxes, together with the new galleries on each side, make a very handsome appearance. The entire space down-stairs will be seated with chairs, over two hundred elegant new opera chairs having been put in ; and the floor has been raised so that those sitting in the back of the house will have as good a view of the stage as those in front. Take it all in all, it is one of the neatest opera houses outside of the large cities and must be seen to be appreciated."

Hebron Lodge , No. 354, A. F. and A. M. - Was chartered Oc¬ tober 13, 1870. The first W. M. of the order was S. M. Edwards. Eighty-five members constitute the present lodge. The officers at this time are J. M. Riley, W. M. ; A. G. Turner, Treas. ; and A. Houston, Sec.

Mexico Lodge, No. 26, A. F. and A. M. - Met under dispensation January 7, 1852. Joseph C. Offut was W. M. ; B. L. Oftut, Sec. ; and Nathan Allison, Treas. The number of the present membership is about 100. The officers of the lodge at this time are L. H. Hightshoe, W. M. ; J. C. Bassford, Sec. ; C. J. Settle, Treas.

Mexico R. A. Chapter, No. 27 - Was granted a charter May 22, 1858, with Israel Lander, H. P. ; John W. McKee, K. ; and N. Alli¬ son, S. In addition to the above the following were charter mem¬ bers ; J. F. Gilliam, J. P. Snllinger, W. H. Northcutt, T. M. Northcutt, J. W. S. McCloud and Perry Cheatham.

Audrain Lodge No. 25, A. O. U. W. - Was organized August 24, 1877, with the following members: John D. Vincil, John A. Brooks, W. H. Kennan, A. C. Adams, J. Coatsworth, Dr. W. W. Macfarlane, Samuel Groves, E. S. Frost, H. B. Seeley, R. H. Fowler, J. D. Morris, John J. Steele, S. L. McKean, P. W. Harding, J. A. Glandon, Joel Guthrie, E. B. Cake, H. T. Brooks, Mark Pilcher, Thos. H. Mussick and M. Y. Duncan. The first officers were John

St. Brendan's Homan Catholic Church. - Among the first to unfurl the banner of the Catholic faith in Mexico was Father John Hogan, who occasionally said mass here previous to 1857, and among the members of the society were Patrick McGowan, John Hennelly, Thomas Fagan, Mrs. Conrad, Jeremiah Casey, Patrick Roden and a John Carrico and Louis Barada. Father John Hogan said mass in the old court-house and at the house of Thomas Fagan. In 1860 initiatory steps were taken towards building a house of worship, but owing to the outbreak of the war and the unsettled state of the country, the enterprise was abandoned for a time. As early as 1865, Father O 'Neil visited Mexico once each month, and held service. In 1866 a frame church building, known as St. Stephen's, was erected. Earlv in 1868 Father McCabe took charge of the church and made his home with a Catholic family named Conrad. Father McKenna suc¬ ceeded Father McCabe in October, 1869, and for about one year re¬ sided in Mexico, and then removed to Moberly. He had charge of the church until 1874, and from 1870 until 1874 he was assisted by Father O'Shea. In October, 1874, Father O 'Leary was appointed priest at this place. In 1875 the pastoral residence was built. In 1878 the present commodious brick edifice was erected, and services were held in it for the first time in the latter part of the same year. The church was dedicated by Bishop Ryan in 1879. Father Dempsey, the present priest, took charge in 1880. The congregation includes about 70 families. The value of church property is about $9,000.

James Monroe Beagles

farmer and stock raiser. Mr. Beagles' father, whose name is also James Monroe, was originally from Tennessee, blit when a young man was married in Virginia, on the 10th of April, 1850, to Miss Maria Little of the latter State, and the two soon afterwards removed to Missouri, locating in Callaway county, where the subject of this sketch was born. The father was a man of good family in Tennessee, and himself became a man of intelligence, solid character and highly res¬ pected. Receiving a fair common school education as he grew up, he was at the same time brought up to those habits of industry and under such influences that he was well fitted, when the time came for him to start out for himself, for the activities of life. Reared to a farmer's life, the pursuits of agriculture naturally became his permanent calling. He bought land on coming to Callaway county and began a successful career there as a farmer. Later along he removed to Audrain county, where he now resides. He is one of the well-to-do farmers of this county, and one of its valued citizens. There were seven children in his family besides James M., the subject of this sketch, namely: Lizzie, John, Jennie, Florence, Ella, Frank, Minnie and Noah. Both parents have long been members of the Christian Church. The father is a man of liberal ideas with regard to mental culture and takes a special interest in the maintenance of good schools in the neighbor¬ hood, and is himself a man of good general education and much given to sober thought and reflection on questions of interest to society and of advantage to the community in general. He is also a very earnest member of the church, and about his home is hospitable to a marked degree, as well as of a pleasant, sociable disposition in the society of all. James Monroe Beagles, Jr., was born in Callaway county, Mis¬ souri, on the 4th of July, 1853, but was reared in Audrain county. He has been engaged in farming for some years, and has a fine place of nearly 500 acres. Mr. Beagles' farm is more than ordinarily well improved. It is one of the choice places in the township. He is a young man of irreproachable character, industrious habits and quite enterprising as a farmer. Mr. Beagles, being young and unmarried, still has most of the record of his life to make, and if he is spared to an average old age, it will doubtless be one worthy of the good family of which he comes and of the county where, in all probability, it will be made.

Robert Bailey Kerr

farmer and stock raiser, P. O., Progress. It is but the statement of a plain fact to say that the man whose name heads this sketch is one whose citizenship is a credit to the county in which he lives, and whose life is of value to all around him - a man plain and unassuming, in¬ telligent and public spirited, irreproachable and faithful to every duty, devoted to family, church and the commonwealth, and of much merit and no pretense - such a man as who, in the sphere of private life, wields a silent and imperceptible but potent and beneficial influence on the life of the community about him, and such a man as who, in a higher sphere of action, would reflect credit and honor upon any sta¬ tion he might occupy. Combining worth and modesty in his charac¬ ter to a marked degree, he is recognized by every intelligent man who knows him as one of that class of strong-minded and capable men, yet unknown to fame, whom Wadsworth has so aptly des¬ cribed :

Robert Bailey Kerr was born in Augusta county, Va., June 11, 1827. His father was John Kerr, and his mother's maiden name was Susan Hanna, both natives of that county, and both of sturdy Vir¬ ginia stock, intelligent, vigorous and upright. A representative of the Kerr family was long a distinguished member of Congress from Indiana, in which State a branch of the family of which he came set¬ tled in an early day; other representatives of the family have also served in Congress from different States. John Kerr, of Virginia, a relative to R. B. Kerr's father, represented his district in Congress for a number of years prior to 1817. This family has also given several other representatives to the National Legislature. The Kerrs are of Scotch Highland descent, and the Hannas originally from Ireland. John Kerr, the father of our subject, starting out in life for himself a youth without means, and with only a limited education, learned the carpenter's trade, and being industrious and intelligent, as well as frugal' and of good habits, he succeeded. His motto through life was : " What is worth doing at all is worth doing well." He early accumulated a neat start and bought a good farm in the Val¬ ley of Virginia, in his native county. In 1840 he sold out in Virginia and removed to Missouri, and settled in Monroe county, near Santa Fe, about a mile from the Audrain county line, improving the place on which his son-in-law, Campbell Bates, now lives. An energetic and worthy man, he prospered herei-abundantly, or to quote the lan¬ guage another has used for him, " As a vine whom the Lord hath blessed." He bought several farms, amounting to 900 acres, and he surrounded himself with all the substantial comforts of life. A worthy member of the Old School Presbyterian Church, he reared his family in the fear of the Lord and to habits of industry and frugality. Like his son now is, he was a plain, unpretentious man, of much merit and not less modesty. He had no taste for show or outward adornment, but regarded the mind and heart as the true criterions of character. He was ardently attached to his church, and earnestly devoted to the interests of religion. For many years he was a ruling elder in his church, and was one of the most prompt and faithful members of the Presbytery, allowing no ordinary obstacles to prevent his presence at its sittings, and often riding fifty miles on horseback in the worst of weather to be on hand at the appointed time and place. He was a man of strong, practical good sense and great force of character. Thoughtful and clear headed, he was a safe counselor in matters of difficulty or embarrassment among his neighbors, and was generally appealed to for advice in such cases. While fond of the society of others and a welcome and agreeable companion to all, he was at the same time almost pre-eminently a home man, and as devotedly at¬ tached to family as husband and father could be. Everybody es¬ teemed him for his great personal worth and sterling character. He died at his homestead in Monroe county on the 16th of August, 1855. His loss was profoundly deplored and his memory is revered as that of a good and useful man, verifying the truth of the Scripture pro¬ verb, " The memory of the just is blessed." His first wife dying while he was comparatively young, he was afterwards, in 1848, mar¬ ried to Miss Hettie Anderson, of Paris, Mo., an amiable and excellent young woman . By his first wi fe he reared ten children , five daughters , who became, respectively, Mesdames, Mary Hizer, Bettie Smiley, Nannie Bates, Margaret Herd and Susan Botts, the husband of the last of whom is well known - Judge John Botts, of this county ; the sons are : William, Robert and John ; and two, Daniel and James, Sr., are deceased. By his second marriage there are three children:

Kate, now Mrs. Bridgeford, of Vernon county, and George W. and Thomas A., three having died in childhood. Of the sixteen children originally, in all, eleven are living. Robert Bailey Kerr, being thir¬ teen years of age when his father removed to Missouri, was partly reared in Monroe county. Of course he was brought up to the occu¬ pation of a farmer. Before reaching majority, however, his health he engaged in the Southern mule trade, in order to have the benefit of traveling in the South, which occupation afforded him means to defray his expenses, and the traveling had the effect to re¬ store him to physical vigor. Returning on the 25th of June, 1857, he was married to Miss Bettie E. Drake, a daughter of Walter 0. Drake and wife, Artemisia Nichols, both of Shelby county, Ky., and of highly respected families. Mrs. Kerr is a graduate from the Dom¬ inican Convent of Washington county, Ky. Her father was a mem¬ ber of the Legislature of Kentucky for six years, two in the House of Representatives and four in the Senate. Her uncle, Samuel Drake, represented Monroe county, this State, both in the House and Senate and the Legislature. Mr. Kerr started in life for himself with about $200, which his father gave him, and to this nucleus he has added until he is now one of the substantial citizens of the county. He has resided on* his present farm for a quarter of a century, and has ever led an upright, industrious and useful life. He makes a specialty of raising fine beef cattle ; also has raised and sold more good saddle horses than any other man in the county, and more fine Cotswold sheep, and has been very successful in this line of industry. His farm contains 400 acres and is comfortably improved. Everything is kept in good shape, his corn fields clean, his fences well repaired, and other things accordingly. As like begets like, so the mantle of the father falls to the son. The latter is just as fond of attending his church courts, for he has also long been an elder in his denomination, and just as faithful in the discharge of every duty, as the former. Mr. Drake was an elder in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Shelby county, Ky., " and once an elder always an elder. " Social and friendly, and hospitable and kind, "Uncle Bob Kerr," for so he is called by all, is a favorite with everyone who knows him, and those who have enjoyed the hospitality of his comfortable and generous home will never forget the kindness and good cheer they have re¬ ceived. We have spoken of him as a -man of superior intelligence; we have written thousands of life-sketches from notes taken by others ; this sketch is prepared from notes furnished by Mr. Kerr himself, and while they are candid and unpretentious, they are yet the best notes from which we have ever drawn a sketch - intelligent, well written, to the point, well spelled and grammatical - showing con¬ clusively that he is a man whose clearness and directness of mind stamps him far above the average of men.

Mr. and Mrs. Kerr have eight children: Artemisia, Meredith H., Anna E., Katie Bell, Robert Bailey, Jr., John Edmond, Joe. Johns¬ ton, and Walter Drake. One is deceased, Mary Susan. Mr. and Mrs. K. have been members of the Old School Presbyterian Church for many years. During the war Mr. Kerr warmly sympathized with the South, but took no important part in the struggle. He suffered, however, severely in property and by personal annoyances from a class of militia whose principal occupation it was to plunder and harrass non-combatants and terrify women and children.