Audrain County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1884 (part 4 of 17)

physician and surgeon, Vandalia. The Doctor, who is a native Mis¬ sourian, was born in Buchanan county, November 5, 1854, and was a son of John C. and Mary A. (Pritchard) Parrish, both originally of Virginia. Prior to the Doctor's birth, the family came out from Vir¬ ginia and located in Buchanan county, where the father died. After the father's death the Doctor's mother returned to Virginia with her children and made her home in Marion county, now of West Virginia, where the Doctor grew up. There were three other children, the Doctor being the youngest. His general education was acquired in the common schools of Mannington, W. Va., and in the high schools of the same town. Early conceiving a taste for the medical profes¬ sion, at the age of 15 he began to read books giving information on matters relating to physiology, hygiene, therapeutics, etc., and from that time to this, with but little interruption, he has been a diligent student of the science and art of his chosen calling. In West Vir¬ ginia he began a regular course of reading under Dr. William A. Mor¬ gan, and coming to St. Louis later along, he continued his course of studies under Dr. P. D. Yost, an eminent physician of that city. In due time Dr. Parrish matriculated in the American Medical College, of St. Louis, from which institution he graduated with high honor. Immediately following his graduation, in 1877, Dr. Parrish came to Vandalia and at once entered actively upon the practice of his profes¬ sion. A man of great natural aptitude for the healing art, and of good professional qualifications, active and energetic, and ready to go at all times for the relief of the suffering, he has so recommended himself by these qualifications and qualities, and by personal popu¬ larity to the esteem and confidence of the community, that he has built up a good practice, which is steadily increasing. In personal appearance Dr. Parrish is a man of fine presence, one, in fact, whom the ladies would not hesitate to call handsome, and in manners he is as suave and gentlemanly as he is good looking. The Doctor is un¬ married.

The subject of this sketch was born in Rowan county, North Caro¬ lina, on the 9th of March, 1797, and died in Audrain county, Missouri, March 22, 1880, in the 84th year of his age. He was married in his native State to Miss Nancy Carlton, on the 14th of January, 1819.

They spent a happv married life together of over 40 years, when at last she was taken away by death. Judge Pearson reared a large fam¬ ily of children, of whom four sons and two daughters are still living. In 1834 he removed with his family to Missouri and located in the northern part of Callaway county, but soon afterwards crossed over into Audrain county and settled on land which he had previously bought. This place was near where Mexico now stands, the city at that time not having; been laid off. On the farm which Jud^e Pearson then settled, he lived until his death. In 1848 he was made a mem¬ ber of the county court, and entered upon the discharge of his duties as such with Judges B. Z. Offutt and James Jackson. At the August term of 1850 he was made presiding justice of the court and held that position as long as he sat on the bench, up to 1858, when he declined to serve longer. From 1850 to 1854 Judges Calhoun and James Jackson were his associates, and from 1854 Judges Richard Phillips and Abram Hickes sat on the bench with him. In 1854 the contest between the Whigs and Democrats in Audrain county was a very close and exciting one, and Judge Pearson was the only man on the Democratic ticket elected. His long service and personal popularity carried him through successfully, notwithstanding the party was badly beaten. After his retirement from the bench, Judge Pearson, then past his 60th year, took no further active interest in public affairs, but remained quietly at home on his farm until his death. As a mat¬ ter of accommodation to his neighbors, however, he served them as justice of the peace. In all his official relations he ever maintained the highest standard of integrity and was punctual and scrupulous in the discharge of all his duties. Socially he was warm-hearted and of an exceedingly cheerful mind. For over 60 years of his life he was a member of the Old School Baptist Church, and was indeed and in truth a devoted member, and a faithful follower of the Cross. In the last moments of his life he felt no dread, but memoir of whose life precedes this, have been engaged in business at Vandalia continuously, either one or all of them, from the infancy of the place. In February, 1871, Clinton P. Pearson formed a partner¬ ship with John W. Jeffries under the firm name of Jeffries & Pearson, and they carried on business here for two years, when the present firm of Pearson Bros, was organized. These gentlemen are men of high character, good business qualifications and popular address, and by their energy and enterprise have built up a business house of enviable reputation. Coming here almost at the birth of the town, and having been reared in the county, their thorough acquaintance with the people gave them an important advantage in securing a large share of the trade of the surrounding country. This advantage they have well im¬ proved, and by placing only a good class of goods on the market for the prices charged, they have won and retained the confidence of the custom. Dealing honorably in their mercantile business, as they do in everything else, the custom has learned to place implicit reliance in their representations of the quality and value of the goods they offer. So many come to this house because they know they are safe in making purchases at the Pearson Bros.' store. Messrs. Pearson carry a fine stock of goods in their line, and are prepared to accommodate custom¬ ers with every variety of articles to be found in a first-class general store. The eldest of the brothers, Rufus S. Pearson, was born in Burke county, North Carolina, January 29, 1826, and was therefore -eight years of age when his parents came to this State in 1834. He was reared on the farm near Mexico, and on starting out for himself began clerking in a general store. In 1856 he was able to engage in business for himself, and merchandised with success for the following seven years. He then disposed of his mercantile interest and retired to a farm, and was engaged in farming up to 1873. During that year Mr. Pearson returned to merchandising in this county, and gave his store his undivided attention for about five years. He then sold out and went to Texas and located as a merchant at Denison. Remaining: there for two years, he returned in 1880 and became a member of the present firm. On the 20th of January, 1848, Mr. Pearson was married to Miss Lucy A. Ward, a daughter of Charles R. Ward, ofCallawav county. Mr. and Mrs. Pearson have had eight children : Charles A., Ginevra A. (now deceased), Nellie, CarterS., Nannie J., Wallace M., George M., Maurice and Nina. The above forms a complete outline of Mr. Pearson's business and industrial movements, except that in 1850 he went to California and was engaged in mining there for about eighteen months. It can be said of him with truth that he is in every sense a worthy son of his honored and lamented father, and that is a sufficient recommendation for him in Audrain county, where his father was so well and favorably known. He is also a member of the Masonic order. Marshall C. Pearson was born the year following the removal ot his parents to this State, and while they were in Callaway county. His natal day was the 21st of April, 1835. After he grew up he engaged in farming for himself, and on the 14th of September, 1859, was married to Miss Mollie J. Davis, of Callaway county. He continued farming until 1865, when he went to California and remained there for about seven years. Mr. Pearson's wife died while he was on the Pacific coast, in December, 1871. During the winter of 1871-2 he returned to Audrain county, and soon afterwards engaged in mer¬ chandising in Vandalia. To his present wife, formerly Miss Irene Gordon, of Columbia, Missouri, Mr. Pearson was married after his return from California. This union is blessed with three children : Joseph C., Archie and William A. Mr. Pearson is a man highly es¬ teemed in Audrain county, and is looked upon as one of the substantial citizens of Vandalia. He has many qualities which go to make him very popular. Clinton P. Pearson, the youngest of his father's family, was born on the farm near Mexico May 17, 1843. At the age of fifteen he began selling goods as a clerk, which he continued up to 1863. He then went to the mountains and spent three years in the Territories. Returning home in 1866, he followed farming on the old family homestead up to the time of engaging in business at Vandalia. As has been said, Mr. Pearson came to this place in 1871 and formed a partnership with Mr. Jeffries, which was the forerunner of the pre¬ sent firm in business. On the 27th of February, 1867, Mr. Pearson was married to Miss Kate Carrico, a native of Owensburg, Kentucky. Mrs. Pearson is a daughter of John W. and Mary (Willett) Carrico. Mr. and Mrs. Pearson have a family of three children : Mary, Henry and Paul. Mr. Pearson is a member of the I. O. O. F. and of the A. O. U. W. Mr. Pearson is noted for his great energy, activity and business snap. He is one of the most thorough-going, enterprising business men in this part of the county. With him failure would be almost an impossibility, for he combines nearly all the qualities that distinguish the successful business man. Personally he is highly popular.

Rev. John W. Porter

he gives his energies, and the perseverance with which he applies him¬ self to the pursuit he adopts. Casting a glance over the activities of life, to the sober and intelligent mind no mission seems calculated, when properly pursued, to be of so much value to the highest and best interest of humanity as the ministry. An exalted calling, it requires a mind of more than ordinary earnestness and strength to fulfill the duties which it demands. To labor for the welfare of our fellow-creatures here, and to strive to promote their security and happiness hereafter, is a field of exertion worthy of the highest ambition and the noblest qualities of mind and heart. After all the concerns of this life, except so far as they relate to the future, are but things of a day, and in a little while all the hopes we have placed upon this world will have passed away,

Mr. Porter, looking on life in a philosophic, Christian light, early decided to devote himself to the ministry, and desirous of being of the greatest possible value in his sacred office, he determined to qualify himself thoroughly for his great life-work. His early youth was spent on his father's farm in Mercer county, Pennsylvania. After complet¬ ing the usual course in the common schools, he entered Alleghany College, in which he continued a student until his graduation in 1848. He was not twenty-three years of age, having been born on the 16th of May, 1825, and he had lonsr been a devout and earnest member of the Presbyterian church. Soon after his graduation at Alleghany, having made up his mind to enter the ministry, he became a matricu¬ late of the Theological Seminary of Alleghany City, in Pennsylvania. He prosecuted his studies through his theological course with great energy and diligence, and graduated from that institution with marked honor. Up to this time Mr. Porter's life had been marked by a sober consideration of the duties of life, and an earnest desire to fit himself for their discharge according to the ability and opportunities with which he was favored. From an early age he was given to serious thought, and was not wont, as many youths are, to spend their time in idleness and useless sport. He may be said to have been a student from boyhood, and when he graduated he was not only honored by the degree which was conferred upon him, but he was eminently worthy, by reason of his qualifications, of the distinction he received. Few young men at that time possessed a more thorough general and classical education than he, or were more deeply and thoroughly learned in theology. He felt that he was called by the Power above into the great field of labor to which he had decided to devote his energies ; and he strove without ceasing to qualify himself thoroughly for the work he was called to do. Zeal, untiring, was characteristic of his whole course at college, both secular and theological. He was ordained to preach as a minister of the Presbyterian church, and afterwards, up to 1858, he followed the work of the ministry, divided with teaching school. He then came to Audrain county, where he was engaged in the work of the ministrv and also in teaching for some six or eight months, after which he removed to Callaway county and resided there four or five years. In the meantime, besides attending to the duties of the ministry, he had also become interested in farm¬ ing, and in 1863 he returned to Audrain county, in which he has since lived. Mr. Porter came to his present place in 1863. Here he has a neat place of 144 acres, all in cultivation and otherwise improved. Mr. Porter has never ceased to work in the pulpit, although he has not depended upon the labor of the ministry as a means of support. Following the precept of Paul, he has labored not a little with his own hand for the maintenance of himself and family, for he has a most excellent wife, and has reared a worthy family of children. Mr. Porter's work has been such as might have been expected from the character of man he showed himself to be in early life. No minister was ever more sincere and devoted to the sacred cause of religion. To labor for its promotion has been the all-important, crowning aim of his life. A man of learning and culture, a vigorous, forcible speaker, he has been an honor and an ornament to the pulpit. Nor has he been unsuccessful in winning souls to Christ. Many, very many, disconsolate and hopeless in sin, have been brought, through his benign instrumentality, to the inspiring hope of a glorious immor¬ tality. In his pastoral work, outside of the pulpit, he has been an exemplar of the noble qualities that should characterize the walk and talk and the work of the true Christian minister. He has been such a man, in short, as fathers would well wish their sons to be. Nor has his life been devoid of that consolation which those who devote themselves to the service of their Maker and their fellow-creatures justly hope to realize. Enjoying the respect and veneration of all who knew him here, he can look to the future life as a home of hap¬ piness to which this, however blessed, cannot be compared. As has been said, Mr. Porter is blessed with a most amiable and Christian wife. In 1847 he was married to Miss Matilda, daughter of Capt. John R. and Annie M. (Shombaugh) Boyer, both of old and highly respected Pennsylvania families. Mrs. Porter is a lady of rare qual¬ ities of mind and heart, and is beloved bv all her neighbors and acquaintances. They have reared nine children, all of whom are possessed of singular excellencies of character, and are a credit to their family and name, viz. : Rachel M., who was lately a popular teacher in the public schools of the county ; Amelia L., a graduate of Wooster College, Ohio, now the wife of Jacob Whitehead, and a teacher at Welaka, Indian Territory, where her husband is principal of the school in which she teaches ; James M. is a graduate of both Wooster and Yale Colleges, and now a prominent clergyman in San Francisco, Cal. ; John T., now at Wooster College, in the junior class ; Matilda, now a teacher in the public schools of this State ; Martin L., now teach¬ ing in Nebraska; Sarah J., now Mrs. Henry Morris, of Illinois; William M., now at Wooster College; Myron D., also at Wooster. All of Mr. Porter's family, but three, lire members of the Presby¬ terian church, and he and wife are also members of the Patrons of Husbandry.

George C. Richard

farmer. Audrain county has been fortunate, not less in the high class, than in the large number of Eastern and Northern farmers, who have settled within its borders since the war. To these is very largely due the wonderful transformation that has been effected in the last ten or fifteen years - the county brought from the condition of a wil¬ derness, almost, to that of one of the most populous and prosperous in the State. A worthy representative of this class of our citizens is the subject of the present sketch, Mr. George C. Richard, who came to this county from New York State shortly after the war. Mr. Richard was born in St. Lawrence county, of the Empire State, in 1835, on the 26th of July, of that year, and was reared and educated in his native county. His father, William Richard, was a farmer by occution and George C. was brought up to that calling. Reared in New York where farming is carried on according to the most approved methods, and where, indeed, practical agriculture has been reduced almost to a science, he learned thoroughly the art of successful farming. Mr. Richard followed farming in New York up to 1865, when on ac¬ count of the cheapness and comparative fertility of lands in Missouri, he came to this State with a view of continuing his farm operations in the favorable circumstances to be found here. In the meantime* however, he had spent nearly three years in the service of his country, during the Rebellion. It was in 1862 that he enlisted in the Union army, and for two months less than three years he followed the flag of his command wherever it led, and through many hard-fought and bloody battles until it had been borne in triumph to the sun-lit waters of the Mexican Gulf. Honorably discharged in the summer of 1865, after Lee had delivered his sword to the Great Captain of the age at Appomattox, he returned to his home with his victorious comrades, and the same year, on the 9th of November, won what all the brave deserve, the heart of a fair and loving bride. On that, the brightest and happiest day of all the years of his life, Miss Maria C. Allen be¬ came his wife. She was a lovely daughter of the Green Mountain State, her parents, Joseph and Marv Allen, having come of old and respected Vermont families. Mr. Richard's career as a farmer in this county has been one of commendable industry, and has not been with¬ out the reward of honest toil. He has a neat farm of 230 acres, which he has well improved. Mr. and Mrs. Richard have two children : Thomas J. and Arthur G. He and wife are both members of the M. E. Church. Mr. Richard's father (the mother having previously died), came West with him and died only a few months ago in the 79th year of his age. He was a native of Ireland and Avas possessed of a remarkably bright and cheerful disposition. When a young man he was fond of music, and in the good old days Avhen the light-hearted and happy whiled away the long evenings of winter, and often to the wee small hours o' night, in the mazes of the Terpsichorean quadrille,

And in his old age, even after the mists of life had begun to fall about him, he did not lose his love for his fiddle and bow, and at his son's, only a short time before his death, the passer-by would often hear the dulcet strains of the venerable old gentleman's fiddle, as he played some familiar air that had made his heart happy when young, and the feet of his young companions fairly fly in the dance. He Avas, Avithal, a good and Christian-hearted old man, Avith a soul as generous as his love of music was strong. And he so lived, doing wrong unto no one and kind deeds unto all whom it was in his power to help, that his last years Avere brightened by the daAvning hope of a radiant and happy hereafter.

W. H. Richard

farmer. Mr. Richard, a brother to George C. Richard, Avhose sketch precedes this, and a worthy farmer and citizen of Cuivre township, was born in St. LaAvrence county, NeAv York, January 1, 1844, and was reared on his father's farm in that county. Mr. Richard Avas educated in the common schools of his neighborhood, and in 1865, then twenty-one years of age, he came West and located in Audrain county, Missouri, where he engaged in farming. Mr. Richard bought a tract of land here and improved a farm on which he still resides. He has a neat place of 80 acres, substantially and well improved, and is making an excellent start in life. A man of industry and intelli¬ gence, full of energy and enterprise, he has every promise of becoming at no distant day one of the prominent farmers of the township. On the 14th of February, 1872, Mr. Richard was married to Miss Sarah A. Hoagland of Audrain county, but formerly of New England. Mr. and Mrs. R. are blessed with a family of five worthy and prom¬ ising children : Frank M., Mary E., Robert O., Julia N. and Charles E. Mrs. Richard was born in Somerset county, New Jersey, July 18, 1850, and was a daughter of Richard M. and Elizabeth (Parsell) Hoagland, both natives of New Jersey. Mrs. R. is a member of the O. S. Presbyterian Church. The history of Mr. R.'s family has been given in the sketch of his brother, which obviates the necessity of making this sketch of any greater length.

William E. Riney

proprietor of the Vandalia livery, feed and sales stables. Prominent among the enterprising and progressive business men of Vandalia is the subject of the present sketch. Mr. Riney came to Vandalia in 1882 and engaged in the mercantile business, which he followed suc¬ cessfully until he engaged in his present business. In 1883 he erected a fine barn in this place with a capacity for thirty head of horses, and which cost over $1,000. This is already furnished with fifteen horses for general riding and driving purposes, and with a full supply of buggies, spring wagons etc. In a word, Mr. Riney has fitted up one of the finest livery stables of the county, and having the push and snap to make it a success, he has already become the leading man in this line of business in Vandalia. Although he has been in business less than a year, his stables have become well known to the traveling public, and he commands practically all of this class of custom, while the people of Vandalia go to him not only because he keeps the best rigs in town, but because he treats them fairlv and lets his teams at reasonable figures. Mr. Riney is a native of Daviess county, Ken¬ tucky, born December 20, 1852, but was principally reared in Monroe county, Missouri, to which his parents removed the following year after his birth. From 1853 to 1865 they resided in Scotland county, this State, returning then to Monroe county. William E. was reared on a farm and followed farming after he grew up until coming to

Vandalia in 1882. He was married January 15, 1878, to Miss Rosa Y. Leake, of Ralls county, a daughter of James M. and Julia (Schaffer) Leake.

composing the firm of Riney & Roberts, general merchants, Vandalia. This firm was formed in 1880, and both being young men who have made their own start in life, having good business qualifications, and commencing at this place with an excellent stock of general merchan¬ dise, they have rapidly built up a large trade, and now rank with the leading business houses in the north-eastern part of the county. Mr. Roberts is a native of Pike county, and was born on the 25th of Sep¬ tember, 1857. His father is Joseph Roberts, a substantial farmer and well respected citizen of that county. The Roberts came originally from Kentucky, Joseph Roberts' father, Henry Roberts, having set¬ tled in Pike county among its pioneer families. Mr. Roberts is re¬ lated to the Hawkins' and many other prominent families of that county. His (G. W.'s) mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Smith. G. W. Roberts was reared on his father's farm and educated in the common schools of the county. While still a youth he started out for himself and commenced life as a school teacher. Following this for some time, he saved up a nucleus of means to begin business on. Accordingly, in 1880, he came to Vandalia and engaged in his pres¬ ent business. The Roberts of Pike county are known as people of thoroughly upright character, industrious, energetic and good citi¬ zens. And G. W., the subject of this sketch, is no exception to the general rule of the family. He is a young man of great personal worth, and is entitled to no little credit for the success with which he has made his way to the front in business affairs so early in life. Personally he has the qualities that make him popular with all with whom he comes in contact. On the 14th of November, 1880, Mr. Roberts was married to Mies Cora Woods, of Pike county. They have one child, Cassius C.

R. P. Riney, the other member of this firm, is by nativity a son of the Blue Grass State, born in July, 1852. His birthday is the 2d of July. While he was still in infancy his parents removed to Missouri and located in Monroe county. They are now residents, however, of Nodaway county. R. P. was therefore reared in this State, and like his partner he, too, was educated in the common schools. On reach¬ ing his majority and having a natural taste for mercantile pursuits, he obtained a clerkship in a store, in which he learned the business of until 1879, and then came to Vandalia and followed clerking up to the time he became a partner in the present business. He is a selfmade man, and is justly accounted one of the worthy citizens of Van¬ dalia. Messrs. Riney & Roberts carry a more than ordinarily good stock of good general merchandise, and buying their goods almost entirely for cash, they get the benefit of discounts on the general market prices, so that they are able to sell at figures which place them beyond the fear of hurtful competition. It is a fact well known in and around Vandalia, that theirs is one of the cheapest houses, if not the cheapest, in this part of the county. Not only this, but their goods, considering prices, are generally of a quality superior to that of goods sold at other places. Being sober, steady, clear-headed business men, they know how to carry on their store to the best ad¬ vantage for themselves, and for the community. According to all indications their future can hardly fail to be one of exceptional success.

druggist, Vandalia. For about fifteen years prior to 1875 Mr. Robin¬ son was engaged in clerking in different hotels in this State, much of the time in St. Louis. He was known as one of the most popular and efficient hotel clerks in the State. From 1857 to 1861 he clerked in the leading hotel at Columbia, and the following year was at La¬ clede, in Linn county. In 1862 he went to Chillicothe, where, after clerking there through one summer, he was in a hotel at Macon City for the following four months. So well known had he become by this time as a hotel clerk, that in 1863 he was offered, and he accepted, the position of clerk in the Planters' House, of St. Louis, which he filled to the entire satisfaction of the proprietors and the public for three years. He then went to Chariton county, where he was engaged in farming for several years. In 1871 he was solicited to accept the place of clerk in the St. Nicholas Hotel, of St. Louis, which he held for the following five years. In the meantime, Mr. Robinson, being a man of an active, quick mind, and having a taste for books, had become more than ordinarily well informed by general reading. He made something of a specialty of study in the department of phar¬ macy, having a decided preference for that department of knowledge. Indeed, he had made up his mind to engage in the drug business ulti¬ mately, and read very largely with that object in view. In 1875 he found hiiji self in a situation, so far as means were concerned, to gratify his inclination for engaging in the drug business. Accord¬ ingly, he came to Vandalia and established his present store. The same qualities - geniality, an accommodating disposition and a pleas¬ ant address - that made him so popular as a hotel man, made him not less so as a druggist. Giving his whole attention to his business, he soon became a thorough master of it in all its details, and is now justly regarded as one of the most capable, reliable and efficient drug¬ gists in the county. He carries a large and well selected stock of drugs and goods of a kindred line, and has an excellent and steadily increasing trade. Mr. Robinson is too genial and susceptible-hearted a man to remain in the unhappy state of the maledict, and accord¬ ingly he has long enjoyed the beatitude of married felicity. He was married on the 20th of November, 1866, at which time Miss Frances M. Martin, a young lady of Chariton county, whose graces of mind and person were such as to render her worthy of the best of men, became his happy wife. Mr. R. is a member of the A. O. U. W. His parents, Maxwell and Elizabeth (Fidler) Robinson, were both natives and life-long residents of Kentucky. They reared a family of seven children, including A. W., who was born in Bourbon county, of the Blue Grass State, February 6, 1837. He was reared and edu¬ cated in his native State, and came to Missouri in 1857, where he has since resided.

dealer in lumber, etc., Farber. J. B. Schroll established his present business in 1880, since Avhich he has been conducting it with excellent success. He carries a large and well selected stock of lumber and building material of all kinds ; and buying for cash, he is enabled to sell at prices which place him beyond any possible injury from competition. A good business man, energetic and industrious, and Avell respected as a neighbor and citizen, he has built up a large trade which is steadily increasing. J. B. Schroll is a native of Penn¬ sylvania, born in Cumberland county, February 23, 1827. He Avas a son of George and Elizabeth (Bailey) Schroll, both also natives of the old Keystone State. The Schrolls came originally from Germany, but have long been settled in this country. The Baileys are also an old Pennsylvania family from England, as their name indicates. J. B. Schroll' s father was a farmer, and to this occupation the son Avas brought up. Up to his eighteenth year J. B. had good ordinary school advantages in his natal neighborhood which he improved with commendable zeal, and thus succeeded in acquiring a sufficient education for all the practical purposes of life. But when about eighteen years of age, feeling the necesssity of preparing himself for the future activities and responsibilities of life by learning some useful occupation, he decided to learn the stone-mason's trade, to which he accordingly apprenticed himself, and at which he worked under an instructor for two years. In the meantime, on the 1st of October, 1846, he was married to Miss Barbara Fisher, daughter of Godfrey and Abigail Fisher, of his native county, and the following year, having completed his apprenticeship at the stone-mason's trade, he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law (his wife's brother) in railroad construction work, which they followed with success until 1850. Having accumulated some means by this time, Mr. Schroll decided to engage in farming ; and apprised, as an intelligent, well informed man, of the superior fertility of the lands of the Mississippi Valley, he decided to cast his fortunes with the growing West. Lands being comparatively cheap in Illinois at that time, he selected the Prairie State as the scene of his future activities, and accordingly removed to Illinois, locating near Decatur, in Macon county, where he bought a farm. Mr. Schroll lived on his farm near Decatur for some fifteen years, where he prospered not out of proportion to his early expectations. He became one of the substantial, progressive farmers and well respected, public-spirited citizens of Macon county. While in the midst of his farming operations the Civil War burst upon the country in all its fury, the fatal shot from Charleston harbor sending a thrill of horror through millions of loyal hearts. At first it was thought the stru^Me would not be of long1 duration, but soon it became apparent that it was to be a conflict of unparalleled magnitude and severity. Bv the summer of 1862 it became manifest that it would require all the strength of the loyal States to put down and crush out the Rebellion. Recognizing this fact, and that every patriotic citizen owed his allegiance first to his country and above all other interests, Mr. Schroll bravely offered himself as a volunteer for the maintenance of the Union. He was mustered into Co. C, 116th Ill. Vol. Inf., in July, 1862, and gallantly followed the flag of the republic - a flag that has been born in triumph through every war in which the country has been engaged - through all the vicissitudes of camp and field, until the bright folds of the stars and stripes floated in triumph from the rock-ribbed hills of Maine to the sunlit waters of the Southern gulf. He had all the experiences of a brave and unflinching soldier - participating in many of the hardest fought battles of the war, taken prisoner and languishing in a Confederate prison-pen for months, and finally, on rejoining his command, being severely wounded while pushing the rebels into the last ditch of treason. He was in the engagement at Chickasaw Bavou, Arkansas Post, Baker's Creek, Black River, the siege of Vicksburg, the last battles at Jackson, Miss., in the capture of Atlanta and many others. After the second capture of Jackson he was taken prisoner and held at Belle Isle for about eight months. Afterwards, at the battle of Jonesboro, he was wounded, being struck in the forehead, or rather across the forehead, with a minnie ball, and although severely hurt and confined to the hospital for about two weeks, his head was too solidly set for the preservation of the Union to be broken by a rebel ball. Mr. Schroll's army record is an honorable one, a record to which those who come after him will refer with just pride and satisfaction. After the war he returned to Illinois, but having become apprised of the advantages offered for farming pursuits in Audrain county, Missouri, he sold his farm near Decatur at a good price and bought a farm near Farber in this county, where he resumed farming opera¬ tions and carried them on with success until 1880. Noting the rapidity with which the country around him was filling up, and perceiving the great demand for lumber of all kinds with no lumber yard near, he decided to bring on a stock of lumber, making his place of business at Farber, which he did some four years ago. His experience in this enterprise, as well as in all other ventures, fully justified his judg¬ ment. Having the only lumber yard at Farber, a point surrounded by a fine agricultural country now well settled up, he naturally commands a large trade ; and to his other advantages are added his well-known business capacity and wide personal popularity, two factors by no means unimportant to successful business management. He now sells from 70 to 80 car loads of lumber per annum. 'Squire Schroll is^ justly regarded as one of the solid business men and influential citizens of Farber and surrounding country. So generally is this fact recognized that he has been thought the proper man for the responsible office of justice of the peace, a position he filled for two years. 'Squire Schroll and his excellent wife have reared a family of five children: George F., A. J., Lincoln J., Lucinda, now Mrs. Charles Gilliland, and Matilda, now Mrs. E. W. Clayville. Two besides are deceased : Anna M., died in 18(53, at the age of sixteen, and an infant died non-baptismus . The 'Squire and Mrs. S. are both mem¬ bers of the M. E. Church and they are members of the Sons of Temperance order.

A. Henry Schulz

a thrifty German- American of the north-eastern part of the county, was born in Hanover, that country from which all the great indus¬ tries of modern times took their rise after the long night of the Middle Ages. He was a son of William and Louise (Loeser) Schulz. His natal day was the 18th of January, 1847. Up to the age of fourteen Henry's early years were spent mainly at school, where he acquired a substantial education in his own language. But when fourteen years of age he went to work on a farm not far distant from his birth-place, where he continued until 1867. Desiring to better his fortunes, and recognizing the advantages in that direction to be had in a new country, he decided to come to America, and accordingly sailed for this country. Landing here he pushed on out West, and first located in Pike county, O., where he lived three years. In 1870, desiring to come further West, where he could hope to secure a farm of his own by virtue of the cheapness of the land out here, lie came to Audrain county and bought a half section of raw land, upon which he made his present farm. Mr. Schulz has improved his place in a substantial and comfortable manner. He has good buildings, good fences, a thrifty young orchard and other betterments of an excellent class. On the 1st day of August, 1880, Mr. Schulz was married to Miss Josephine Detienne, daughter of Joseph Detienne, formerly of Bel¬ gium. Mr. and Mrs. Schulz have two children : Anthony H. and Odele D. Mr. S.is a member of the Lutheran church. Mrs. Schulz was brought up a Catholic, but is not at present identified with the church. Mr. Schulz possesses all the characteristics of his race - industry, frugality and sober perseverance. The Hanoverians have from time immemorial been noted both in their own country and elsewhere for their honest thrift, their worth as citizens, and their intelli¬ gent devotion to law and order. Hoping to succeed in life only by upright methods, they see in untiring toil the only means of success, and thus wherever they live they become thrifty and substantial. Mr. Schulz is no exception to the generality of his people. He began in life without anything to speak of, and is now, although still compara¬ tively a young man, one of the substantial farmers of the community in which he lives. With his present start in life, and with the indus¬ try and intelligence which are his characteristics, it is not too much to say that he has every prospect of becoming one of the prominent and influential agriculturists of the county. Mr. Schulz is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry.

Frank E. Scrogin

farmer, stock raiser and shipper. Few farmers in Audrain county who, in early life, had every opportunity and advantage to make their careers successful, occupy more prominent and enviable places in the agricultural affairs of the county than that held by the subject of the present sketch, Frank E. Scrogin. Yet Mr. Scrogin had nothing to begin on in life, not even an education, except such as he was able to acquire largely by his own exertions and without the assistance of an instructor. He commenced for himself when a young man by working out from month to month. But after all, as is forcibly proven in his case, success comes of the man, and not of his circum¬ stances. A man of strong character with the elements of success in him will master his circumstances. Mr. Scrogin was born on the 12th of May, 1853. He is a native of Franklin county, Ky. His father was Thomas D. Scrogin. His mother's maiden name was America Curry, also originally of Kentucky. The family came to Missouri in 1856 and settled in Pike county, where the father bought a farm and resided until his death, which occurred in 1863. Frank E. was therefore left an orphan at the age of ten, but his mother kept the family together and he grew up on the farm. His youth was, of course, spent at hard work, and his advantages for an education were exceedingly limited. While still young he went out to work by the mouth, and thus began his career which has proven so successful. At the age of twenty-two, on the 1st of March, 1875, he was married to Miss Amanda J., daughter of James Dooling, of Audrain county, but formerly of Kentucky. Prior to his marriage Mr. Scrogin had come to Audrain county and was engaged here in farming, keeping what is known as "bachelor's hall." He farmed here for four years, and afterwards two years in Pike county. He then returned to Audrain county, locating at Vandalia, and, having married in the meantime, he removed to his present farm in 1880. Mr. Scrogin's place contains 500 acres of tine land and is exceptionally well im¬ proved. It being a stock farm, he has about half of it in blue grass pasturage and timothy meadow. His place has three dwellings on it, two of them for tenants, and is otherwise suitably improved for exten¬ sive farming and stock operations. For a number of years Mr. Scro¬ gin has been engaged in the stock business - raising, buying, feeding and shipping - principally cattle and hogs, although he also raises a considerable number of horses and other stock. He handles from 100 to 250 head of cattle annually, and up to as high as 150 head of hogs.

He is one of the thorough-going, business-like, pushing farmers and stock men of the county. All he has he has made by his own exer¬ tions. Now only in his thirty-first year, in view of what he has ac¬ complished it hardly seems possible that twelve or fifteen years ago he was practically penniless and working out by the month. Already one of the solid citizens of the county, and considering that he is only just fairly entered upon the successful time of life, it is hard to place a limit beyond which, as an agriculturist, he may not go in the next twenty-five or thirty years of active industry still before him. Mr. and Mrs. Scrogin have four children: Lillie Lee, Thomas Jackson, Della and Ray Weaver. As a citizen Mr. Scrogin is liberal-minded, progressive and takes a worthy interest in all movements intended for the common weal of the community and of the county. Although his educational advantages were limited in youth, he has not neglected the improvement of his mind by study. While he has not been as studious as a spectacled professor, he has given sufficient attention to books to enable him to carry on all ordinary business transactions ; and besides, he has spent his leisure in useful reading, thus putting under his command a wide range of useful information. A practical man, familiar with all the every-day affairs of life, and reasonably well read, he is intelligent and entertaining in conversation, and by reason of his recognized sound sense and good judgment, wields not a little influence, and justly, on those around him.

W. O. Shannon

farmer and stock raiser. Prominent among the leading young farmers of Cuivre township is the subject of the present sketch, Mr. W. O. Shannon, who has one of the largest and best farms in the eastern part of the county. By nativity he comes of old Pike, that wealthy and influential old county which from the territorial days of the Common¬ wealth has given to Missouri many of its most distinguished citizens. Mr. Shannon was born in Pike county on the 23d of November, 1851, and is a worthy son of one of its pioneer and prominent families. Indeed, on both sides he comes of old and honored Pike county families. His father was John E. Shannon, of the well known Shannons of that county, who came out to Missouri from Kentucky before the wolf and deer had left for the Western plains. John Shan¬ non married Miss Margaret B. Biggs, the maiden name of whom ap¬ pears on almost every page of the land records of Pike county. The Biggs are residents of nearly every township of that county, and wherever they live are large land-holders and wealthy, influential cit- izens. W. O. Shannon's parents still reside in Pike county. They have a family of seven children, as follows : Emily J., now the wife of Dr. Salmon ; McCune, now of Audrain county ; Richard M., also of Audrain ; Minnie A., now Mrs. M. B. Holiday ; Byram and Peggy, both still at home; and W. O., the 2d in the family and the subject of the present sketch. He, like the others of his father's children, was reared on the farm and given a good general education. In the higher branches he was instructed at Watson Seminary, of Ashley, and in the Baptist College at Louisiana, Mo., thus receiving a some¬ what advanced English education. After completing his course at college, Mr. Shannon came to Audrain county and began the im¬ provement of his present farm. Going to work with energy and intelligence, and managing his affairs to the best advantage, he soon had his place in a forward state of improvement - in fact, had comfortable buildings, good fences, considerable land broken, etc., and having no taste for the bachelor's hall wav of living, he was married the following vear to Miss Louisa F. Wright, on the 27th of April, 1873. Mr. Shannon now pushed his farm affairs with redoubled energy and vigor, and the result is, he has a place which would make a picture of thrifty, prosperous farm life. Let a Kansas real estate agent take his farm for an original, and he would make a picture to send back East that would fairly make the average New England bean-raiser's mouth water. Mr. Shan¬ non's farm contains 480 acres, all under fence and handsomely improved. He is a man of fine judgment, progressive ideas and one of the most stirring and energetic farmers of the township. Mr. Shannon's wife was a daughter of John F. Wright, one of the wealthy men of Pike county. Her mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Goodman. Mrs. Shannon was well-known some 12 years ago as one of the belles of her native county. She was a lady of exceptional charms of presence and accomplishments, and Mr. Shan¬ non was considered one of the most fortunate of men when he won children: John Wright, May Beverly and Maggie E. Mrs. Shan¬ non is a member of the Methodist Church and her husband has been a member of the A. F. and A. M. and Baptist Church since early manhood.

Richard M. Shannon

11011's grandparents came to that county among its pioneer settlers and at a time when John E. Shannon, the father of Richard M., was still in boyhood. They came from Kentucky, like many, and indeed, most of the early settlers of Pike county. John E. Shannon, after lie grew up, married into the Biggs family, one of the oldest and most prominent families of Pike county. His wife's maiden name was Margaret B. Biggs. She was born and reared in that county. John E. Shannon became one of the prominent farmers and leading stock men of Pike county. Richard M., the subject of the present sketch, was born on his father's farm in old Pike, on the 18th of May, 1858, where he was reared to manhood, and was the third of seven children - four boys and three girls. Two of the sons besides Richard are married, also two of his sisters. One brother, W. O., lives in this (Audrain) county. McCune is in Montgomery county. A sister, Emmie S., resides in Lincoln county, while Minnie A. is in Pike county. The youngest two, Byram and Peggie, are still at home. The father being a man of good education himself, and therefore of liberal ideas with regard to school matters, as well as being in com¬ fortable circumstances, Richard M. was given good educational advan¬ tages. As he grew up he attended the schools of the neighborhood, where good winter schools were kept, working on the farm in summer, and after he became sufficiently advanced he entered McCune College, where he became conversant with some of the higher branches. At the conclusion of his college course he returned to the farm, and in due time engaged in farming for himself. In the spring of 1879 he came to Audrain county and opened a farm, the place on which he now resides. The following year, on the 3d of March, 1880, Mr. Shannon was married to Miss Sallie S. Holiday, of Pike county, a daughter of William A. Holiday, an old resident of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Shannon have two children : E. Adair and Buckner McCune. Mr. Shannon's farm contains 320 acres, all under fence and either in pasturage or cultivation. His pasture land is all in blue grass. His improvements are substantial, and his buildings are neat and comfortable. Mr. Shannon, although quite a young man yet, is looked upon as one of the prominent and enterprising farmers of the township. He is expecting ultimately to go somewhat exten¬ sively into stock raising, and handling stock generally. Indeed, he has already had considerable experience with stock and has been gratifyingly successful. As an evidence of the character of farmer he is, it is worthy of mention that last season on ninety acres of land he raised nearly five thousand bushels of corn, or nearly twelve bar- rels to the acre, perhaps the largest yield of corn per acre in this part of the county. Mr. Shannon is a member of the Baptist church, and Mrs. S. is a member of the Presbyterian denomination.

J. T. Sharp

dentist, Vandalia. Dr. Sharp, a prominent and popular young den¬ tist of this county, comes of two old and respected families, the Sharps and Maupins. The Doctor's grandfather, Richard Sharp, came out from Virginia with his family to Kentucky in an early day, where he resided for a number of years. In the meantime his son, William Sharp, who afterwards became the father of Dr. J. T. Sharp, having been born in the Old Dominion, grew to manhood in Kentucky and came to Missouri in about 1832. He settled in Monroe county. His father, Richard Sharp, came out from Kentucky a few years after¬ wards and lived in this State until his death. William Sharp's wife, the mother of Dr. Sharp, was, before her marriage, a Miss Annie M. Maupin. She was also from Virginia, and now lives in Callaway county where her husband, the Doctor's father, died some years ago. Dr. Sharp was born while his parents were residents of Monroe county, March 18, 1854. His youth was spent on a farm and his education received in the common schools. Until Dr. Sharp began the study of dentistry he was principally occupied with farming pur¬ suits, but in 1874, having decided to devote himself to the calling in which he has since been engaged, he entered upon the regular study of his profession at Concord, in Callaway county. He continued the study of dentistry for about three years, during that time tak¬ ing a course at both dental and medical colleges. It was during the sessions of 1876-77 that he attended the Missouri Dental Col¬ lege and the St. Louis Medical College. Immediately following the conclusion of his professional college terms, Dr. Sharp entered actively into the practice of dentistry with Dr. J. W. Lucky, of Mexico, where he continued in the practice with success for nearly a year. He subsequently practiced first in Monroe and then in Callaway county until the spring of 1878, and then located at Shelbina, in Shelby county. Remaining, however, at Shelbina only a short time, he returned to Callaway county and was engaged in the active practice of his profession there until the 13th of February, 1882, when he came to Vandalia, where he has since resided. Dr. Sharp, being a thoroughly educated and experienced dentist, as well as a man of high character and popular address, has succeeded in building up a large practice at Vandalia, and has already taken front rank among the most prominent and skillful dentists of the county. Personally he is highly esteemed and he and his family move in the best society of this place. On the 4th of September, 1878, Dr. Sharp was married to Miss Laura W. Scott, an amiable and refined daughter of Dr. John Scott, now deceased, but for many years a prominent physician and influential citizen of Calla¬ way county. The Doctor and Mrs. Sharp have three children : Mary G., Walter S. and Lock T.

William B. Shepard

farmer. The sectional diversity of the people of Audrain county, and indeed their cosmopolitan character, becomes apparent to any one who glances over the biographical department of this work. The early settlers were generally from the Southern States, though there were not a few New Englanders and Northern people who came here even in the pioneer days of the country. Since the war, the bulk of immi¬ gration has been from the Free States, as they were formerly called, with, besides, a considerable sprinkling of foreigners, principally Ger¬ mans. Mr. Shepard comes of an old Free State family, now residents of Missouri, and he himself came here the next year after the war. His father, a native of Connecticut, was Russell Shepard, who came out to Indiana when a young man and was married in the latter State to Miss Martha Humes, born and reared in the State where she was married. Of this union there were nine children, of whom William B. was the eldest. He was born in Ripley county, Indiana, May 24, 1828. Reared in his native county, he was brought up to a farm life which he has followed up to the present time. He wasmarriedin Ripley county to Miss Nancy Wilson, on the 2d of April, 1854. Mr. Shepard continued to reside in Indiana until 1866, when, with the heavy tide of Northern immigration to Missouri, after the war, he came to this State and settled at first in Ralls county. Soon after¬ wards, however, he came to Audrain county, and in the fall of 1880 he located on his present place. He has a good farm of 160 acres of land and has it substantially improved. Mr. Shepard is one of those neat, thrifty, Northern farmers, who keep everything on their place in good order and carry on their farms on business principles, so as to make the most out of the capital invested - such men as build up a country and make it progressive and prosperous. Mr. and Mrs. Shepard have six children : Ellen V., Elizabeth A., William W., Urial one of the most successful farmers of Cuivre township, and a man who, in accumulating a handsome property by his own industry and intelligence, has done even more for the material development of the country as a producer than for himself, is a worthy son, by nativity and life-long residence, of Missouri, and was born in old Pike, that mother county of many of the best citizens of the State in almost every department of life. His parents, Albert and Catherine (Geary) Shotwell, were both from Kentucky and were married in this State. In about 1830, on coming to Missouri, they first located in Monroe county, but soon afterwards removed to Pike county, where they still reside. The father was a farmer by occupation, but is now retired in his old age, and lives in Bowling Green. James L. was born on his father's farm in Pike county on the lltli of January, 1848. He was reared to habits of industry, his whole time, as he grew up, being oc¬ cupied either with farm work or in study at school. Energetic and courageous beyond his years, he early felt able to make his own way in the world, and to be a staff on which one whom he loved and who had learned to love him could depend without the fear of want or of becoming dependent on any one save him alone. Indeed, she was as brave-hearted as himself, and felt that she could do her full part toward situating themselves comfortably in life. And so it has proved with both. On the 24th of June, 1866, whenjhe was only eighteen years old, and she still younger, James L. Shotwell was married to one of the fairest daughters of Pike county. Starting out without anything to speak of, except courage, industry and intelligence, and the ability and disposition to work, he began life for himself and family at the early age of eighteen ; and although not as old in experience as many, he has man¬ aged to get along in life a great deal better than most of his contempora¬ ries. In a word, Mr. Shotwell who, when he was married, had not even the six-by-three feet of earth to which every man is entitled, now has 754 acres of as fine land as there is in North-east Missouri, and one of the best farms, one of the neatest and most thoroughly and handsomely improved, in Audrain county. All of his land is under fence and either in cultivation or pasturage, and his home farm, which contains over a quarter section of land, is one of the model farms of Cuivre township, Besides other thorough and handsome improvements, in- eluding barns and other outbuildings almost ad infinitum, he has just completed a large and commodious two-story residence, an ornament to his place and a credit to the township. Judging him by his place, one would naturally take Mr. Shotwell for an Ohio farmer, so neat and substantial is the appearance of everything about his farm. Mr. Shotwell came to Audrain county in 1878 and bought the place where he now resides, which he has since greatly improved. Besides managing his general farming interests in a thorough-going manner, so as to make every edge cut, Mr. Shotwell for a number of years dealt in stock, bought and shipped, and also fed stock for the markets, in which he was very successful. Of late years, however, he has been giving his attention mainly to grain farming. He intends to sow his farm in grass and raise cattle and hogs on feed for the markets. Still a young man, with over twenty years of the very vigor of life before him, and considering what he has already accomplished, his future certainly seems a singularly bright one. Mr. and Mrs. Shotwell have a family of four children : Charles A., William, John R., and Leona. One besides, died in infancy. Mrs. Shotwell is a member of the Christian Church.

George W. Signor

farmer and railroad contractor, post-office, Vandalia. Among the more enterprising and intelligent class of citizens who have settled in Audrain county since the war, the subject of the present sketch occu¬ pies an enviable and prominent position. He comes of one of the oldest families in the Empire State of New York. The Signors of this country are of Dutch descent, and the founder of the family came to America during the last century, when New York was a Dutch colony. The family are of course from Holland, and some of its mem¬ bers were prominently identified with the celebrated Dutch East In¬ dian Trading company. Mr. Signor's grandfather was Henry Signor, of Dutchess county, New York, but the family originally settled at Albany, where they owned a large estate. Henry Signor's wife was Elizabeth Green, of another old New York family. Their son, Daniel Jackson Signor, became the father of George WT., the subject of the present sketch. Daniel J. Signor married Lucinda B. Barnum, of the well known Barnum family, of New York. Her parents were Enos and Marvel (Lee) Barnum. Mrs. Signor's grandfather was the John Lee of the Revolutionary army who took so conspicuous a part in the siege of Plattsburg. He died in 1846 in his ninety-seventh year. Daniel J. Signor lived in New York for about nineteen years after his marriage, or until 1849, when he came West and settled in Jersey county, Illinois. He was a resident of that county for about nineteen years and then, in 1868, came to Audrain county, locating on a farm about three miles south-east of the present site of Vandalia, where he and his good wife are still living, both in the enjoyment of compara¬ tively good health and buoyant spirits. He is now in his seventy-fifth year. They have reared a large family of children, there having been twelve in their family, not all of whom, however, reached maturity. George W. was born in Clinton county, New York, June 3, 1844. He was therefore principally reared in Jersey county, Illinois. In 1862 he enlisted in company D, 2d Illinois cavalry, and served in the Union army, though not in the same command, until the close of the war. Following this he enlisted in the United States telegraph serv¬ ice with which he was connected until January, of the following year. On the 15th of November, 1866, Mr. Signor was married at Taylorville, Illinois, to Miss Elizabeth Still, a daughter of Samuel and Martha (Tyler) Still, both of old Pennsylvania families. After his marriage Mr. Signor followed farming until 1868 when he and his father's family (as well as some of the others) came to Audrain county. In the fall of 1869 he began his career as a railroad con¬ tractor, which proved a very successful one and in which he rose to prominence in this important line of business. Commencing as a tie contractor for the Chicago and Alton Railroad in a small way, he retired from the railroad contracting business last July as superintendent of the wood and tie contract for the whole Iron Mountain System in Arkansas, aggregating 550 miles of track. Between 1869 and July, 1881, however, he was not continuously engaged in the contracting business, having during two intervals been occupied with farming. From his position on the Iron Mountain Road he came back to Audrain countv and resumed farming. Mr. Signor, now in comfortable circumstances, is making a typical Northern farm of his place in this county. He is improving it in a thorough manner and with an eye to taste only less than to durability, convenience and comfort. His purpose is to make it a homestead worthy of the county and equal to his own ideas of what a well managed farm ought to be. He is now erecting a commodious and handsome dwelling which, when completed, will be one of the best in the township. His place is three miles from Vandalia. Mr. and Mrs. Signor have had two children : Sidney and Lucy. Sidney died about two years ago. He was a youth of great promise, and his death was a heavy blow to his pa¬ rents. Miss Lucy is a daughter of singular amiability of disposition and great personal attractions. Mr. Signor is one of the leading men of the eastern part of the county, and one of its most highly esteemed citizens. A few years ago he was nominated for a seat on the county court bench, but his party being a minority in this county, he was of course not elected. He is one of that class of Northern men who have done so much for Missouri since the war - transformed it, in fact, into almost a new State, for it looks now as little like the Mis¬ souri of ante-bellum days as Arkansas looks like Ohio. Such men are always justly and warmly welcomed to the State.

William Strank

farmer. Mr. Strank is of German-American parentage, his father and mother (the latter of whom was formerly Margaret Loutensleiger) having emigrated from the old Fatherland during the first quarter of the present century, landing in America at New Orleans, where they lived fora number of years. William was born in the Crescent City on the 27th of December, 1833. Four years afterwards the family came West and settled at Belleville, Illinois, where the son grew to manhood, securing as he grew up a good ordinary education in the schools of that city. When he was 22 years of age he came to Mont¬ gomery county, Missouri, of which he was a resident for about 25 years. He was engaged in farming in that county, and with satisfac¬ tory success. Three years after his settlement there, on the 8th of September, 1858, he was married to Miss Mary, a daughter of Milton Finley, formerly of North Carolina, but for a long time a resident of Pike county. In 1880 Mr. Strank sold his farm in Montgomery county to good advantage, and bought the place where he now resides in Audrain county, to which he removed at that time. Mr. Strank possesses to a marked degree the characteristics of his nationality. - the German people. They are known all over the world as people of sturdy, steady, untiring industry, saving, frugal habits of life and in¬ defatigable energy. They make good, peaceable, law-abiding citizens wherever they reside. Mr. Strank has by his industry, having had nothing to commence on, gathered about him all the substantial evi¬ dences of prosperity by which he is surrounded. He has a good farm of 215 acres, about all of which is under fence in an excellent state of cultivation ; his place is otherwise substantially improved. During the war Mr. Strank was on the side of the Union, and in favor of up¬ holding the Government at all hazards. He served about three years in the State Union service. He enlisted in 1861 under Gen. Johu

B. Henderson, now of St. Louis, under whom he served until 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Strank have two children : Lendoria and Benona. Mrs. Strank is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

George H. Suggett

farmer. Among the early settlers of Callaway county was Volney Suggett, who came to that county when a young man, and afterwards married Miss America A. Holman. Subsequently he removed to Montgomery county, where he resided engaged in selling goods for several years, in Middletown. Then he went to California, where he died December 9, 1881. George H., one of the children of their family, was born while his parents resided in Callaway county, on the 11th of April, 1848, but was principally reared in Montgomery county. During the war George H., although still a youth, was zealous in his sympathy on the side of the Union, and in 1864, being then 17 years of age, he offered himself as a volunteer and was accepted in the Union army. He became a member of the 49th Missouri infantry volunteers, and followed the flag of his country until the final triumph of the Union arms, being honorably discharged in August, 1865. He participated in the engagement at Jefferson City, this State, in the siege of Mobile, Alabama, and in a large number of spirited skirmishes. After his discharge, returning to Missouri, he engaged in farming in Montgomery county, and subsequently, on the 1st of March, 1868, was married to Miss Effie K., a daughter of Isaac Whiteside, formerly of Kentucky. Mrs. Suggett, however, was born and reared in Lincoln county, Missouri, where her parents then resided. Continuing farm¬ ing until 1875 in Montgomery county, Mr. Suggett then removed to Audrain county and settled on the place where he now resides. Mr. Suggett has a neat farm of 80 acres, all under fence and otherwise substantially improved. Mr. and Mrs. Suggett have a family of four children: Homer M., Mattie R., Irene E. and Buford C. Mr. and Mrs. Simorett are members of the Christian Church, and Mr. Suo-gett is a member of the G. A. R. and of the Triple Alliance.

physician and surgeon, Yandalia. It was in about 1830 that J. H. Terrill, the father of the Doctor, came out to Missouri, from Garrard county, Kentucky, and located in Marion county. He was a young man then and was one of the early settlers of that county. Later he was married to Miss Catherine Turner, also formerly of

Mercer county, Kentucky, whose parents removed to Marion county, some years after, in 1838. Dr. Terrill's father became one of the re¬ spected and well-to-do citizens of Marion county, and reared a family of seven children, three of whom are now practicing physicians, and a fourth is a successful dry goods merchant. Dr. Terrill, the subject of the present sketch, was born in Marion county, October 28, 1844, and was there reared. When quite a young man he obtained a situa¬ tion in a drug store at Palmyra, which he held for some time, and during which he studied pharmacy and learned the practical details of the drug business. Later along, and while still in the drug store, he began the study of medicine with the view of devoting himself to the practice as soon as he could take a regular course and be duly graduated. He studied pharmacy for a time under Dr. Wishart, and then continued his course of the study of medicine under Drs. Davis & Ladd, of Hunnewell, Shelby county. In due time he entered the Medical College, of Keokuk, Iowa, from which he graduated in the class of 1874-75. Dr. Terrill then came direct to Vandalia and engaged in the practice of his profession. His career as a physician has been one of more than ordinary success. A man, personally, in every way worthy of the confidence of the community, his qualifications for the practice are such, that, uniting these two recommendations, he could hardly fail of drawing around him a large and lucrative clientele. He is one of the most popular men in the vicinity, and having the nack to make friends and inspire confidence in those with whom he is thrown in contact, patrons come to him on account of their personal regard for him only less than for the high estimate they place upon his professional skill and ability. The Doctor is one of the leading physicians of the north-eastern part of the county. On the 17th of October, 1878, he was married to Miss Sarah, a refined and accom¬ plished daughter of Abraham and Drusilla J. (Ely) Liter, of Ralls county. The Doctor's father died in the fall of 1882, at the ripe old age of seventy. His mother is still living and finds a welcome home in the household of her children, with whomsoever of them she may choose to stay. The Doctor is a member of the A. F. and A. M.

Edward F. Towler

of the firm of Daniel & Towler, general merchants, Vandalia. The family of which Mr. Towler is a worthy representative, is an old and well-known one in North Missouri. His father, Col. Robert Towler, came to this State from Virginia as early as 1832 and settled in Marion county, where he still resides. During the Mormon war between Iowa and Missouri he was a gallant officer in the American army, and won high distinction by his ability as a commander and his intrepidity in the field. Now an old gentleman past the age of three-score and ten, for over half a century he has been one of the most prominent and highly esteemed citizens of Marion county. He became a successful farmer and large stock raiser of that countv, and accumulated a comfortable fortune which he is now enjoying in the calm Indian summer of a well spent life. On his mother's side Mr. Edward F. Towler comes of the well-known Maupin family of this State and of Kentucky. His mother, whose maiden name was Jane H. Maupin, was a daughter of Joe. Maupin, an early settler of Monroe county from the Blue Grass State. She is now deceased. Mrs. Towler was the mother of six children, including Edward F. Edward F. Towler was born on his father's homestead in Marion county, on the 19th of May, 1852. His father being a man of liberal ideas with regard to education, and in comparatively easy circumstances, the father saw to it that his children had good school advantages. Edward F. was educated at Lagrange College, of this State. After this he occupied himself with school teaching, which he followed desultorially up to 1877, when he engaged in business in Vandalia. He at first became a member of the firm of Parker & Towler, in which he continued for about two years, and this firm is still running a large stock ranch in South-western Kansas which is carried on bv George W. Parker, the senior member of the firm. In June, 1883, Mr. Towler became a member of the present firm of Daniel & Towler, with which he has since continued. The business of this firm has been spoken of in the sketch of Mr. Daniel, the senior partner, which precedes this. On the 28th of No¬ vember, 1868, Mr. Towler was married to Miss Emogene S. Satterlee, a daughter of Adrian and Susan (Demorest) Satterlee, of this county, but formerly of Michigan. Mrs. Towler is a lady of exceptional graces of mind and conversation. Her father is one of the public spir¬ ited citizens of the eastern part of the county, and has done a great * deal for the prosperity of Vandalia and the surrounding country. Mr. and Mrs. Towler have a family of two children : Etna and Ethel (twins), the latter deceased, and Annie May. Mr. Towler is a member of the A. O. U. W.

George H. Utterback

Utterback, the junior partner of the above named firm, comes of an old Virginia family, branches of which are now found in Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri and perhaps other States. His father, Adam Utterback, came out to Kentucky with the latter's parents when in boyhood, where he grew up and was married, Miss Mary Rouse then becoming his wife. In 1829 they came to Missouri and settled in Ralls county, where they lived until their death. Of their family of ten children Geo. H. was the eighth, and was born on the 3d of January, 1834. Reared on a farm, he not unnaturally chose that calling on reaching manhood as his regular occupation. He followed farming in Ralls comity with excellent success up to 1882, when he came to Vandalia, and became a partner with Mr. Ely in their present line of business. Though leaving the farm, Mr. Utterback did not dispose of it, but still superintends its management. His experience in mercantile busi¬ ness has been so limited that of course it cannot yet be said how suc¬ cessful he will prove as a business man; still, he has every promise, apparently, of a successful career. He is a man of superior intelli¬ gence, fair education and industrious almost to a fault, and being per¬ fectly upright in character and of popular manners, he can hardly fail to become prominent in business affairs. The two years during which he has been in business have been years of abundant prosperity to the firm of which he is a member, and for which the firm is largely indebted to his exertions and sound judgment. As a citizen he is a valued acquisition to Vandalia. On the 7th of November, 1856, Mr. Utterback was married to Miss Martha Leister, formerly of Kentucky. They have six children: Mellie P., Azna A., Sterling Price, Everett L ., Iola and Bessie. Mr. and Mrs. U. are members of the Baptist . Church.

Dr. VanDeventer, one of the oldest physicians in the eastern part of the county in point of experience, and one of the most successful practitioners, is a man of liberal, general and thorough medical educa¬ tion, and is one of the prominent citizens of this section of the county. Like many of the leading citizens of Audrain countv, and of Northeast Missouri, in fact, he is descended from a prominent and old Vir¬ ginia family. The VanDeventers have taken no unimportant part in the affairs of the Old Dominion in years gone by, in public, social, professional and business life. The name is a familiar one to all old Virginians. The Doctor was a son of John VanDeventer, of Loudoun county, Va. The Doctor's mother, whose maiden name was Harriet

Darnes, was also a native of that county. Dr. VanDeventer was born in Loudoun county, on the 11th of January, 1832. Four years afterwards the family removed to Missouri and located in Monroe county. Dr. VanDeventer's father, as has been intimated, came of one of the better families of Virginia, and he was, therefore, a man of liberal education and in comfortable circumstances. He came out to this State to engage in farming and stock raising on a. large scale. Accordingly, he bought an extensive body of land, including nearly 1,000 acres, on which he improved a large farm. He was entirely successful in his agricultural affairs, and became one of the solid men and influential citizens of Monroe county. He continued on his farm, surrounded by all the conveniences and comforts of well-to-do farm life until his death, which occurred in 1864. Few men have ever been borne to their graves amid regrets more sincere of their neighbors than that which surrounded the last sad rites of John VanDeventer. He was a man with as few faults and as many qualities of mind and heart, which attract the good will and esteem of men, as is seldom found Dr. VanDeventer's early youth was spent on his father's farm, and to good advantage in farm employment and in the local schools. His father, being a liberal-minded man, and taking a great interest in the advancement and welfare of his children, W. H. was given good opportunities to cultivate and im¬ prove his mind. He had courses in both the common and high schools, and succeeded in obtaining a more than ordinarily good English education. At an early age he manifested a marked taste and preference for information in the direction of the medical profession. He studied with avidity all books that came in his way relating to anatomy, hygiene and kindred subjects. In short it was clear, even . in boyhood, that he had the natural talents and aptitudes for a phy¬ sician. It is, therefore, not strange that he early decided to devote himself to the medical profession. And he went about carrying out this purpose in a systematic manner. After quitting high school, and on entering upon the study of medicine, he put himself under the instruction of Dr. Goodier, one of the ablest physicians of the county. And Dr. VanDeventer cherishes with profoundest gratitude the mem¬ ory of Dr. Goodier for the great kindness he did him. When Dr.

of the best grounded students in medicine in the institution. This reputation he kept up ; and he graduated with marked honor from the medical college of Keokuk, Iowa, in 1864. After his graduation he entered at once and actively on the practice of his profession, locating where he still resides. Dr. VanDeventer, besides being thoroughly qualified for the practice of medicine when he began it, had the advantage of singular natural aptitude for the practice. A man of strong sympathies, taking an interest of the heart in the wel¬ fare of his patients, he became at once not only a skillful practitioner, appreciating almost at a glance and by intuition, as it were, what was needed to be done, but also an excellent nurse, one whose kindly presence and manifest concern for the suffering did them almost as much good as medical treatment. Who will not bear witness to the difference in the effect of a kindly, humane physician in a sick-room upon a patient, and the effect produced by a gruff, unsympathetic doctor, who bolts into the room, feels the pulse, makes his prescrip¬ tion and leaves without a word of comfort or encouragement. Dr. VanDeventer is as popular personally and socially as he is highly esteemed as a physician. His career in the profession has been one of unusual success. Looking back over the past twenty years of his practice, he has perhaps fewer mistakes to regret than almost any one of equal experience in his profession. His practice has steadily increased until now, and for years past it has extended over all the eastern part of the county. Dr. VanDeventer is recognized as one of the foremost physicians in the county. While he has not made the acquisition of wealth the controlling aim of his life, while, indeed, on the contrary he has been less exacting in demanding what he has justly earned than most physicians, still, by years of hard work in his profession, and receiving simply a modicum of what he has made, he has placed himself in comparatively comfortable circumstances. Besides considerable personal property he has a good homestead of 260 acres, all under fence and well improved. He has 175 acres in meadow pasture and the balance in active cultivation. His buildings are of a superior class, his residence being a comfortable twostory house; and he has good barns and other out-buildings. Dr. VanDeventer has an excellent orchard on his place, and also a fine variety of grapes and other small fruits. In short, his place is such a home as, when the time comes for him to leave oft* the activities of life he will be glad to retire to, in order to spend the Indian summer of his life in ease and solid comfort. Dr. VanDeventer has not spent his life devoid of the society of one in whom the happiness of every true man chiefly abides. On the 24th of January, 1854, he was mar¬ ried to Miss Adelia H., an amiable and accomplished daughter of Samuel Drake, formerly of Shelby county, Kentucky, one of the best counties in the Blue Grass regions of that State. Mrs. V. was reared in Shelby county and educated at Springfield. She is a lady of superior endowments and of great personal worth. The Doctor and Mrs. VanDeventer have reared two children : Hattie, the wife of John X. Brown; and Edward D., a young physician now practicing with his father. Young Dr. VanDeventer is a gentleman of marked ability and of a high order of culture. He is a graduate of the State University and of the Missouri Medical College, from both of which he emerged with distinguished honor. Dr. VanDeventer, pere, and his wife are prominent members of the Presbyterian Church, and the Doctor is a Royal Arch Mason. Socially, their family rank with the best people in this part of the county.

William W. Watkins

attorney at law, real estate agent, justice of the peace and notary public, Vandalia. The name of Hon. Luke W. Watkins (the father of 'Squire Watkins) is a familiar one to most old men in this section of the State. He was a prominent lawyer of North-east Missouri and was a member of the Ralls county bar (in which county he resided many years) for nearly half a century. He represented that county in the Legislature as early as 1846, and was one of the leading mem¬ bers of the House of Representatives. It was through his influence largely that the original charter of the Hannibal and St. Joe Railroad was granted. He held numerous offices in the public service, and so lived that never a suspicion of a wrong act was cast upon his name. He was originally from Kentucky, where he was born February 3, 1801. He died in Chariton county, to which he had previously moved, September 2, 1872. Hon. Luke W. Watkins was twice married. By his first wife, who survived only a short time, there were three children, a son and two daughters and all dead but one daughter (Mary A. Ton¬ sil) still living, and a resident of Macon county, Mo. By his second wife, formerly Miss Mahala Krigham, there are three children living: John A., Julia, and the subject of the present sketch. The mother of these survived her husband's death about eight years. 'Squire Watkins was born while his father was a resident of Ralls county, at New London, on the 5th of March, 1838. His education was com¬ pleted at McGee college in Macon county, this State. The 'Squire read law under his father when a young man, but having strong natu¬ ral inclination for farming, he did not begin the practice as his first pur¬ suit in life. Marrying on the 14th of November, 1860, he engaged in farming soon afterwards, and followed it successfully in Chariton county, where his father's family then resided, for about four years. By this time affairs had gotten into such a condition in this part of the State that it was unsafe for a man to remain here, to say nothing of carrying on any sort of industry with security. He therefore went to Illinois and located at Quincy, where he resided until the close of the war. In 1865 he returned to Missouri and engaged in farming in Ralls county. 'Squire Watkins remained in Ralls county from that time up to 1880, and was also engaged in practicing law in the courts of Ralls and adjoining counties for a number of years previous to com¬ ing to Vandalia. He had been admitted to the bar years before. About four years ago the 'Squire removed to this place with the view, principally, to engage in the real estate business, which he has since followed. He also does some practice in the courts of the county, but is now justice of the peace himself, so that he can have but little to do with local practice. He was appointed notary public in the spring of 1882 and is still serving in that office. The 'Squire's wife was a Miss Fannie Watson, formerly of Chariton county. Their family con¬ sists of live children: Lizzie, now Mrs. William T. James; Ada, Johnnie, Mollie and Jennie. Mrs. Watkins was a daughter of John Watson, formerly of Virginia, but afterwards of this State. The 'Squire is a member of the Christian church, and Mrs. W. is a Pres¬ byterian.

Thomas E. Waugh

farmer. Among the many energetic farmers which the neighboring county of Pike has furnished Audrain county, is the subject of the present sketch, Mr. Waugh, who, although born in Virginia, was partly reared in Pike, Missouri, where he resided for nearly twentylive years. His native county in Virginia was Bedford, his birthday being the 18th of October, 1833. While still a youth he came out to Pike county, Missouri, in about 1850, where, after he grew up, he engaged in farming on his own account, following it without interrup¬ tion and with satisfactory success. On the 6th of May, 1867, he was married to Miss Sarah J., daughter of James L. Gillum, of Jersey county, Illinois, his wife, however, being born and reared in Pike county, Missouri, to which her parents had previously removed. Mr. Waugh continued farming in Pike county until 1874, when he removed to Audrain county and bought the land on which he now resides, where he improved his present farm. As has been said, Mr. Waugh has been substantially successful as a farmer. He commenced for himself without anything to speak of scarcely, and now has 160 acres substantially improved, including good fences, buildings, pastures, an orchard, etc., in fact, one of the comfortable, choice homesteads of Cuivre township. February 3, 1881, Mr. Waugh had the misfortune to lose his wife, with whom he had spent nearly fourteen years of a singularly happy married life. At her death she left him four children : Angie P., Ettie, James A. and Cora Belle. One year and three months after his first wife's death, Mr. Waugh was married to Mrs. Eliza, widow of Monroe Prichett and a daughter of James L. Gillum, by the latter's second marriage, being therefore a half sister to Miss Sarah J. Waugh, Mr. Waugh's first wife. Mr. Waugh's present wife has three children by her former marriage: Mary J., wife of Thomas Davis; Sarah J., wife of Alexander Tippett; and Annie M., wife of Robert Shepherd. Mr. W. is a member of the M. E. Church South, and also of the Patrons of Husbandry. Mrs. W. is a member of the Baptist church.

John B. Wells

ginia, born and reared in Tyler county, where he was married after he grew up, to Miss Maria Dawson, formerly of Monongalia county, W. Va. In 1848 William Wells removed to Missouri and located in Pike county. He was a man in comfortable circumstances, having come of a prominent and well-to-do family in Virginia, and in Pike county he purchased a large tract of land numbering 1,000 acres or more. In 1856 he removed with his family to Audrain county and entered a large body of land here. Improving a farm in this county, he resided on it for some twelve or thirteen years, when he sold out his landed interests and made his home in Mexico, this county, where he still resides. John B. was born before his parents left the Old Dominion, in Tyler county, on the 27th of April, 1839. He was tnerefore, reared mainly in Pike and Audrain counties, of this State. His father being somewhat extensively engaged in farming and stock raising, John B. was accordingly brought up to these occupations, in both of which he is now engaged and in which he has been very suc¬ cessful. His education was acquired in the common schools and at Watson Seminary, an institution for many years the chief educational resort for the youth of Pike and surrounding counties. Mr. Wells obtained a good education at Watson Seminary, and on leaving that seat of learning was amply qualified, so far as knowledge of books is concerned, for all the ordinary activities of life. Young Wells was twenty-two years of age when the war broke out, and identified with the South by kindred, sympathy and interests, he naturally espoused the Southern cause, and having the courage of his convictions, he was one of the first to volunteer in the service of his country. Under Gov. Jackson's call in the spring of 1861, he enlisted in the State Guard for the six months' term for which that organization was formed. Still zealous in the Southern cause, after the expiration of his six month's term he became a plighted soldier under the threebarred banner of the Confederacy. He served in Burbridge's regi¬ ment until the winter of 1863, when he was honorablv discharged on account of broken health. Up to this time he had borne a brave sol¬ dier's part in the great battles of Corinth and Pea Ridge, and had par¬ ticipated in numerous other engagements of less importance. After his discharge Mr. Wells returned home, and as soon as his health was sufficiently recuperated for active work he engaged in farming, which he has since followed. Continuing farming, on the 22d of Feb¬ ruary, 1870, he was married to Miss Matilda E., a daughter of Gill¬ iam and Margaret (King) Rhett, originally of Rockbridge county, Ya. To any one at all acquainted with the history of the public affairs of the county, the name Rhett is not an unfamiliar one. The Rhetts have long been prominent in Virginia, and of a branch of this family came Hon. Robert Rhett, the distinguished Senator from South Carolina, long the colleague of John Calhoun. Mrs. Wells inherits not a little of the mental strength of her family. She is a lady of singular force of character. Possessed of superior mental endowments, she has cultivated her mind by study, and is as enter¬ taining in conversation as she is clear and intelligent in thought. In addition to this she is a lady of the most kindly and amiable disposi¬ tion, one whose acquaintance is prized by all who have the pleasure of enjoying it. Since his return from the army Mr. Wells has resided on the home place, having settled there five or six years before his marriage. Mr. Wells is. an enlightened, progressive farmer, one to whom success comes as a matter of course, for having an intelligent appreciation of the requisites to success, he accordingly pushes his farming operations with vigor and enterprise. He has a fine farm of nearly a section of land, and has it neatly and substantially improved. For a numlber of years he has been making a specialty of handling stock - raising, buying, feeding and shipping, and this has been an important source of his prosperity as an agriculturist. As a citizen no man in the community is more highly respected and none are justly more influential with those around them. Mr. and Mrs. Wells have three children : William, Silas F. and Jessie, the last two twins. Mr. and Mrs. W. are members of the M. E. Church South. Mr. Wells is a member of the A. F. and A. M. of Vandal ia.