Audrain County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1884 (part 8 of 17)

John Hofsess

farmer and stock raiser. Mr. Hofsess is one of the many thrifty and intelligent farmers who have settled in Audrain county since the war, from the North. He was born in Quincy, Illinois, October 5, 1841, and was reared in that city up to the age of twelve. The family then removed to Pike county, Illinois, in which the father settled on a farm. John grew up on the farm in Pike county, and remained at home until the outbreak of the war, when he enlisted in the 5th Ill. Cav. and served until the final triumph of the Union army. His cam¬ paigning was principally in Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas. He was in a number of the hardest fought battles of the war. During the first part of the service he was cor¬ poral of his company, but ultimately held the rank of sergeant, from which he was mustered out in 1865. Returning to Pike county after the restoration of peace, he engaged in farming there, which he fol¬ lowed with energy and success for nearly ten years. During this time, on the 4th of February, 1869, he was married to Miss Nancy L. Stauffer, native to that county. In 1874 Mr. Hofsess, who had become acquainted with the advantages for farming in this section of Missouri, removed to this State and settled in Audrain county. Here he bought his present farm. He has a handsome place of 240 acres, and has his farm more than ordinarily well improved. His house and barn were erected at a cost of nearly $3,000. He is doing a good business in stock raising. He is one of the best farmers in the township. Mr. and Mrs. Hofsess have a family of five children : John William, Sarah Rosanna, Mary Margaret, George Christopher and Fannie Elizabeth. Two younger children were Charles Augustus, who died July 24, 1880, at the age of two months, and an infant child, named Bertha Myrtle. He and wife are both members of the Christian Church and he is a member of the Masonic order.

Anthony Holtermann

farmer. Mr. Holtermann, who is of German descent, is a native Missourian, born in Osage county, August 10, 1843. His father's name was John F. Holtermann. His mother's maiden name ivas Elizabeth Heitmeier. They came to Osage county in about 1835. The father was a farmer and lived on his place in that county for nearly half a century, dying in the winter of 1882. The mother still lives on the old homestead. The family became comparatively wellto-do and Anthony was given good school advantages. On complet¬ ing his course in the neighborhood schools, he was sent, at the age of sixteen, to St. Mary's College, near Perryville, Mo., which he at¬ tended two years. Returning home after this, he was in the State militia a short time and then taught school eight or ten months. Intended for a business life, he went to St. Louis and entered Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, from which he afterwards graduated with honor. Following this he clerked in St. Louis for some months, but met with a misfortune, being run over by a street car, and having his elbow broken, which disabled him from filling his position. After his recovery he clerked in a warehouse on the Osage river and had the singular bad luck to have his arm broken again in the same place. Thrown out of employment a second time, as soon as he was able to work he obtained a position as clerk in a store at Westphalia, Osage county; and in a short time was offered, and accepted, a place as book-keeper in a steam mill in St. Louis, which he held for about six months. He now formed a partnership with Mr. Holtschneider in a store in Osage county, which they carried on together for about two years. This proved not a successful venture, Mr. Holtermann losing what money he had invested in the business. After this he took charge of a landing on the Osage river and remained there for about ten years, meeting with good success and accumulating some means. Selling out on the river in 1880, Mr. Holtermann came to Martinsburgh at this place, and besides his town property owns 100 acres of im¬ proved land. He is engaged in farming and does some general trading. He has a comfortable home and is neatly fixed on his place. On the 4th of February, 1868, Mr. Holtermann was married to Miss Mary Hoer, of Osage county. They have six children: John B., Eliza¬ beth H., William, Mary, Frank A. and Ferdinand H. He and wife are members of the Catholic Church.

Richard E. Johnson

farmer. Mr. Johnson has been on his present farm for about twenty years, during which his continued industry has not been unrequited of the substantial results of honest toil. When he came on this place he had but little to begin on, and was compelled to rent for several years. But he had the good sense to save what he made, and he soon became able to buy the place. He has a good farm of nearly a quarter section ©f land, and has it substantially improved. Heretofore he has handled considerable stock, but is now engaged, principally, in raising grain, particularly wheat for the markets. Like many of the better class of citizens of Audrain county, Mr. Johnson is by nativity a son of the Old Dominion, and was born near the James river in Fluvanna county, of that Commonwealth. In 1856, his parents, William and Elizabeth (Herndon) Johnson, came to Missouri, and after stopping a short time in Callaway county, near Fulton, settled in Audrain county. Since then, with the exception of a few years spent across the line in Montgomery county, they have continued to live in Audrain. However, the mother died in this countv several years ago ; the father is still living on his farm. Soon after coming to this State, Richard E., who was then approaching manhood, learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked for three years. He then engaged in farming in Callaway county, and on the 27th of November, 1861, was married to Miss Mary S. Dye, formerly of St. Louis county, but later of Montgomery county, where their bans were cele¬ brated. Mr. Johnson came on his present farm in 1864, since which he has continued to reside on it. He and his good wife have been blessed with seven children: Annie, Johnnie S. P., Pearl, Minnie, Elmer, Mary and Aleta. Annie is the wife of E. W. Crane ; Johnnie died on the -8th of October, 1883. He was just approaching his twen¬ tieth year and was a youth of more than ordinary promise ; gifted with a bright mind and a kindly disposition, he was esteemed by all who knew him ; Pearl, his sister, died September 30, 1883. She was in infancy. Mrs. J. is a member of the Baptist church.

William Johnson

farmer and sheep raiser. Mr. Johnson, who had been engaged in his present lines of industry in Ohio, for about sixteen years, came to Missouri in the spring of 1882 and bought the William H. French farm in Audrain county, containing 663 acres, with the view of engaging largely in raising merino sheep. He now has about 500 head of this stock of sheep, and expects to largely increase his interests in this line. He is a man, as the above facts show, in easy circumstances, and has achieved his success in life by his own exertions and merits. He Avas born in Wood county, West Virginia, on the 14th of March, 1825, and was brought out to Washington county, Ohio, when quite young. His parents Avere Jacob and Sarah (Locker) Johnson, both natives of Virginia. While still a youth William left the farm in Ohio and Avent on the river, which he ran for about seven years. He then returned to Washington county, Ohio, and Avas married on the 5th of October, 1853. At that time Miss Henrietta Boothby became his Avife. She survived her marriage, hoAvever, only about four years, leaving at her death one child, Winfield Scott, uoav deceased. In Ohio Mr. Johnson folloAved farming and Avas very successful. Turning his attention largely to sheep raising, he became one of the leading farmers of his county in that line of industry. Mr. Johnson served tAvelve years as justice of the peace in Washington county, by virtue of four com¬ missions. The first issued by Salmon P. Chase, Governor of Ohio, was dated December 24, 1858 ; second by William Dennison, Gov¬ ernor of Ohio, dated December 19, 1861 ; third by Rutherford B. Hayes, Governor of Ohio, dated April 12, 1871, and the fourth by William Allen, Governor of Ohio, dated April 21, 1874. He also served three years as notary public in Washington county, having been commissioned by Thomas L. Young, Governor of Ohio, his com¬ mission, which Avas dated the 18th day of September, 1877, expiring September 18, 1880. He served one term as vice-president of the Agricultural Society of Washington county, Ohio. In April, 1858, he Avas married to Miss Elvina Stumpf. This union has been blessed with eight children : George E., John J. F., Edward W., Cornelius W., Jacob C., Eral J., Annie C. and Clara Belle, all at home.

Oscar Krieger

several thousand dollars, invested with judgment and to the best ad¬ vantage in well assorted goods, suitable to the trade of Martinsburgh and surrounding country. The Germans are known of all men for their integrity and solid character, as well as for their industry and intelli¬ gent thrift. Mr. Krieger, who is a native of the Fatherland, is no exception to the general rule of his country in this respect. Seeking to succeed only by honest methods, the public is not slow to find that a man may be depended upon in business pursuits. Commencing in a small way, comparatively, by fair dealing he has inspired the con¬ fidence of the community and is rapidly building up a large trade. Knowing him as we do, we have no hesitation in saying that unless all signs fail he will at no distant day become one of the leading mer¬ chants of this section of the county. His trade is rapidly increasing and he is keeping his store up with the growth of his business. Mr. Krieger was born in Prussia, on the 1st of February, 1858. At the age of seventeen he emigrated to America and spent his first year here in Cincinnati. In 1876 he came to St. Louis and six years afterwards removed to Martinsburgh where he engaged in the retail liquor trade, and followed it with success until May, 1883, the time he established his present business. Like most of his countrymen who come to this county, he has steadily accumulated around him the substantial evi¬ dences of prosperity. Besides his business he has a neat, comfortable homestead property in Martinsburgh. On the 2d of January, 1881, Mr. Krieger was married to Miss Elizabeth Hoffman of St. Louis. Mr. K. is a member of the Knights of Honor.

Caleb Tinsley Martin

The history of Audrain county can never be properly written with¬ out mention of the name of the family of which the subject of the present sketch is a worthy representative. Aside from the fact that Mr. Martin's father was the founder of Martinsburgh, he was longidentified with the aoricultural interests of this section of Audrain and of Callaway counties. William R. Martin, the father of Caleb T., was a native of the Blue Grass State of Kentucky, where, after he grew up, he was married to Miss Margaret P. Wright. Subsequently, in 1822, he removed to Missouri and settled at Richland, in Callaway county, where he resided some 12 years. He then went to Auxvasse station, on the Chicago and Alton Railroad in Callaway county, Mis¬ souri, where he improved a large farm. Sixteen years afterwards he located at Fulton for the purpose of educating his children. In 1854, however, he came to Audrain county and settled on a farm about three quarters of a mile south of Martinsburgh. In comparatively easy cir¬ cumstances, he entered and bought large bodies of land and, with the rest, the tract now including the site of Martinsburgh. In 1857, when the North Missouri Railroad came through this part of the county, being a man of intelligence, he saw that the country would settle up, and that this point would be an excellent center for business purposes, having a tine stretch of country all around it. Accordingly he laid off the town and christened it Martinsburgh. The war coming on soon afterwards, and as he was already approaching the twilight of life, he did not live to see the place fulfill the expectations he had formed of it. But although he has passed away, time is vindicating his judg¬ ment, and the town is rapidly springing up here which will stand as a monument to his memory

He died February 22, 1867, closely approaching, at the time of his death, the allotted age of three score and ten. He was a noble-hearted, good man, broad-minded, liberal and generous in all his impulses, a man with a full appreciation of all the duties and responsibilities of life, which he strove faithfully, according to the abilities which God had given him, to perform. He was substantially successful in life and reared a worthy family of children, whose education he carefully provided for. No citizen of Martinsburgh need ever blush at the name of the founder of the town in which he lives. Caleb T. Martin, the subject of the present sketch, was born near Richland on the 29th of April, 1837, and completed his education at Westminster College in Fulton. After he grew up he was railroad agent at Martinsburgh and was the first station agent at this place. Afterwards he was engaged in mercantile business here and was the junior partner of the firm of Williams & Martin. On the 11th of November, 1863, he was married to Miss Lucy W. Fyke, and two years afterwards he removed to Cuivre township, where he resided about sixteen years. In 1879 he returned to the vicinity of Martinsburgh, where he has since lived. Mr. Martin has a neat farm substantially improved, and has hereto¬ fore been identified to some extent with the stock business. He is not now engaged in any special line of business. Mr. and Mrs. M. have a family of six children : Mary Leta, William Russell, Birdie, Marvin, Charles and Edward. Both parents are members of the M. E. Church South. Mr. Martin has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for nearly twenty-five years. He is a son by his father's first marriage, there having been fourteen children of the first family, but four of whom are living; James S., William H., Caleb T. and Elizabeth, now Mrs. George Tanner. William H. is banking in Brownwood, Texas, having been educated as a lawyer ; James S. is a bachelor and capitalist, living with his sister in Boone county, Missouri ; Mrs. Eliza¬ beth Tanner's husband has a large stock farm on Two Mile Prairie, in Boone county, Missouri ; John and Albert have large stock farms close to Martinsburgh, Missouri. All are doing well and are possessed of charity and many friends, and all have high reputations for truth and honor. Of aunts or uncles surviving, Samuel P. Martin is the only one, of Auxvasse station, aged 75. Mr. M.'s father's second wife was previously Miss Mary J. Davis, of Montgomery county. She died in 1874, leaving two children : John W. and Albert W.

Joseph S. Mustek

carpenter and undertaker, Martinsburgh. Mr. Muster, one of the , active citizens of this place, and now serving a second term as consta¬ ble of Loutre township, like many of the better class of citizens of Audrain county, is a native of Kentucky, and was a son of William and Mary (Jones) Muster, both born and reared in that State. He was born in Shelby county, March 19, 1831, and when still quite young was left an orphan by the death of his father. His mother subsequently married John Tennyson, a descendant of the well known English family of that name. In 1844 young Muster was apprenticed to a carpenter at Louisville to learn the trade, and worked for five years at that calling. Following this he came to Missouri and began work in this section of the State at his trade. Mr. Muster erected the first frame house in Wellsville and built large numbers of dwell¬ ings and business houses in Montgomery and Audrain counties. On the 15th of September, 1852, he was married in Campbellsburg, Ken¬ tucky, to Miss Annie E. Merriwether, and brought his family with him on coming to this State. In 1862 Mr. Muster enlisted in the Confederate army under Gen. Marmaduke, and took part in many of the hard fought battles of the war on this side of the Mississippi, in¬ cluding that at Cane Hill. He was also under Gen. Shelbv and was a participant in most of the engagements into which that doughty cavalrv rider led his men. He was at the last battle at Helena, Ar¬ kansas. In 1864 he was honorably discharged, having served out faithfully his time as orderly sergeant, whereupon he returned home line of undertaker's goods ; in the latter branch of trade he has since continued. Mr. Muster is regarded as one of the best workmen in this part of the county, and does a large business as contractor and builder. He is quite prominent in local affairs and has held the offices of town marshal for a number of years, and of member of the town board ; as already stated, he is now serving his second term as con¬ stable. Mr. and Mrs. Muster have had a family of nine children: Mildred E., who died about four years ago, the wife of Barton Bris¬ coe ; Mary E., who died in tender years; William Thomas, now in Texas county; Annie Belle, Katie (deceased), Charles C. and Lula. Mr. and Mrs. Muster are members of the Christian Church.

David T. Owen

a worthy and highly respected citizen of Loutre township, and at present engaged in the lumber business at Martinsburgh, was born in Callaway county, September 3, 1839. His father was John Owen, originally of Virginia, as was also his mother, whose maiden name was Miss Huldah Laughone. They were of Bedford county, that State, where they were married, and from which they emigrated in 1832 and settled in Callaway county, Missouri. Mr. Owen's father was a farmer by occupation, and an industrious, sober-minded man. He was fairly successful as a farmer and reared his family of children in comfort, and died possessed of personal property. In the early days in which he lived, especially in the frontier country where he brought up his family, as Missouri then was, advanced education was not esteemed a necessity, and hence there was not given that at¬ tention to educational interests which has obtained in later times, and under changed conditions. Notwithstanding this, Mr. Owen's afther fully appreciated the advantages and importance of education, and was known in the community where he lived for his zeal in its behalf. Though he was not a wealthy man, and there were no high schools in the vicinity, he was careful to keep his children at the com¬ mon schools of the neighborhood during all the time that they were open, so that they were not permitted to grow up utterly deprived of the benefit of the knowledge to be derived from books. Mr. Owen's father was a man of strong moral character, and above and bevond liberal of his means than ardent in his zeal for the promotion of the cause of religion, among the laymen of his denomination he was one of the stanch pillars of the local church ; and when at last he was called from his work in this life to his rest on high, he left a place in the congregation which his death made vacant, that was hard to fill. He was a good man, and died the resigned, peaceful death of a Chris¬ tian ; and this is all, and the most that can be said of the truest and best on the earth - and more than is often said of the first and greatest in the world, whose lives, like a comet, have blazed away across the canopy of human affairs. In his family, besides David T., there were four sons : John W., Robert I., James L., and Benjamin F. The father died when David Turner Owen, the subject of this sketch, was still in boyhood. After David T. grew up, he went to Williamsburg, Callaway county, in April, 1858, and remained there until June, 1861. At the closing of the war he returned to Williamsburg, and was married on the 9th of December, 1866, to Mrs. Lizzie C. Hays, of Callaway county, whose maiden name was Elizabeth C. Scholl. At that time as before stated Mr. O. was living in Williamsburg, in Callaway county, and moved in 1870 to Martinsburgh, Audrain county. He learned the blacksmithing trade when a young man and followed this with satisfac¬ tory success and with industry at the place named. He re-engaged in the business at Martinsburgh, which he continued until the 1st of March, 1883. Mr. Owen being of sturdy, faithful, old Virginia ancestry, when the war broke out, as a true descendant of the grand Old Dominion, he showed no half-hearted zeal in rallying to the defense of the honor and institutions of the South when they were threatened by the Sec¬ ond Great Conquest of the Northmen, recorded in history. Like a brave Roman in the days of old, he flew to the standard of the chiv¬ alry and civilization of the South against Northern vandalism, and for four long years and over followed the meteor-like banner of the bright-barred but ill-stared flag of the Confederacy, until it was furled, to kiss the breezes of heaven no more, forever. A gallant soldier, he bore a soldier's part on many a hard-fought field where the mysterious death river rolled, and all, save the wild rattle of musketry and the deep-toned voice of canonading, pierced now and then by the shrieks of the dying, and ever and anon by the stern voice of command rising above the universal din, were mute. Mr. Owen was paroled on the 15th of May, 1865, and returned a brave soldier, though defeated, to lead a worthy life as a citizen. Mr. Owen's life has been one of hon¬ esty and industry, and one as near true to the teachings of religion as is often found in this world of human fraility and weakness. He has ever been a warm friend to the church, and takes a deep interest in Sabbath-schools. Mr. Owen has I0112: been a deacon in the Christian Church. He and his good wife have reared two children: Lewis T. and Liunie. Since March, 1883, Mr. Owen has been engaged in the lumber business, and thus far has had good success.

Alexander Read

farmer, and one of Col. Doniphan's gallant old veterans of the Mexi¬ can War, is a native of that land of fair women and brave men, the Blue Grass Commonwealth of Kentucky. He was born in Christian count}^, January 2, 1822, and was a son of William and Polly (Chick) Read, both of the same State. Mr. Read was left an orphan in child¬ hood by the death of his father. His mother subsequently married Barba Collins and the family came to Missouri. Young; Reed was reared in Callaway and Audrain counties. Starting out for himself at an early age, he engaged in farming. But on the outbreak of the Mexican War he rallied to the flag of his country, and became a plighted soldier of the republic under that old hero-commander of Mis¬ souri, Col. Doniphan. He was a brave participant in all the hard¬ ships and dangers through which his command passed, and remained true to the cause he had sworn to maintain, even at the peril of his life, until the stars and stripes were unfurled in triumph over the capital city of the proud land of the cactus and banditti. After the close of the war, which resulted in giving to this country an empire of territory greater in extent and richer in natural wealth than that of any nation in Europe, he returned to his home iu Audrain county, justly proud of the part he took in that glorious conquest, and settled down like a good citizen to hard work in the peaceful occupation of farming. Of course everybody must marry, and so, on the 9th of February, 1848, Mr. Read was united to Miss Elizabeth Jones, a daughter of Hezekiah Jones. Three children now living and five dead followed as the fruits of this happy union : Virginia, now the wife of Alonzo Lundy, of Vernon county ; William A. and Ella J. Mr. Reed settled on his present farm away back in 1856, nearly thirty years ago, and since that time has resided continuously on this place. He has 120 acres of g;ood tillable land and the same number of timber. Although, during the war, Mr. Reed took no active part in the unpleas¬ antness, he was ruthlessly arrested by the shoke-house militia and rushed off to prison iu St. Louis. He was confined at McDowell's College in that city for five months, and notwithstanding he had been one of the bravest of the brave old soldiers of the country, he was made to give a bond of $1,000 before he was released. He and his good wife have long been members of the Christian church, and he is a member of the Masonic order.

Andrew J. Rogers

farmer and a native of Virginia, was born in Bedford county, Novem¬ ber 18, 1828, and was a son of Charles B. and Aletha W. (Overfelt) Rogers, who removed to Missouri in 1830 and located at Fulton, where they lived for many years and where the father died in 1852. The mother is still living, as is also besides Andrew J., one of her daughters, who is now the wife of John Kelso. Andrew J. was reared at Fulton and when a young man, in 1850, went to California, where he was engaged in mining for about two years. Returning in 1852 to Callaway county, on the 23d of December of that year he was married to Miss Jane M., a daughter of David M. Dunlap, one of the pioneer settlers of Callaway county. In the spring of 1854 Mr. Rogers, who had bought land in Audrain county, moved on to his land, which is about six miles south-east of Mexico, where he opened a farm and lived, following farming and stock raising with energy and success tor nearly 30 years. Mr. Rogers came to his present farm in 1881, and here he has since resided. He has a place of about 340 acres, practically all in a solid body. His farm is one of exceptional fertil¬ ity and substantially improved. He is one of the solid farmers of the township and commands the confidence of his neighbors and acquaint¬ ances. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have ten children : Charles, now county surveyor ; Mollie, now the wife of Thomas Dillard ; Jeffer¬ son, now in California ; Edward, a resident of Colorado ; Andrew and James (twins), Robert, principal of the Wylde School; Willard, Linnie and George. Mrs. Rogers is a member of the Christian Church.

Robert Sallee

farmer. The blacksmith trade was the occupation in which Mr. Sallee first began work for himself. He was reared in Callaway county, born on the land now the site of the Insane Asylum, on the 14th of December, 1829. His parents were Edward and Magdaline (Moseley) Sallee, who came from Kentucky a short time before Robert's birth. Soon afterwards the family located on a farm in the northern part of Callaway county, where the subject of the present sketch grew to his majority. In 1850, Robert Sallee, then 21 years of age, commenced to learn the blacksmith's trade under Mr. Hisey, near Concord. He worked there for six months and from thence went to Fulton, where he engaged in the same business the greater part of three years and then spent a season near Westport. In the meantime he had met Miss Lydia A. Swearingen, and their acquaintance ripened into affection. On the 15th of May, 1855, they were married, but their happy union was broken by the hand of death in a few months afterward. His loving and beloved young wife was borne to the grave the following September. Mr. Sallee now went to Mexico and worked at his trade until 1861. On the 4th of May, 1859, he was married to Miss Nancy J., an amiable and attractive daughter of Elder William Douglass, whose sketch precedes this. Two years afterwards Mr. Sallee settled on his present place and engaged in farming. He is a worthy farmer of the township and one of its well respected citi¬ zens. He has been a member of the Baptist Church for over 40 years. His wife is an exemplary member of the Christian Church. Mr. Sal¬ lee holds some prominence in the county and has been deputy assessor under Mr. Torreyson. Mr. and Mrs. Sallee have five children : Lucy E., now Mrs. John Gay, of Kansas; Nannie J., William R., Lena D. and John E. Four are deceased.

Jacob E. Stauffer

farmer and stock raiser. Mr. Stauffer, who was a gallant soldier of the Union during the late war, and is now one of the well respected citizens of Loutre township, claims the great Prairie Commonwealth as the State of his nativity. He was born in Pike county, Illinois, January 19, 1842. He was reared on his father's farm and at the age of 20, in 1862, he enlisted in Company F, of the 99th Ill. Inf., under Col. G. W. K. Bailev. He followed the flag of h is countrv through the remainder of the entire war, and did not return to his home until the last shot of the Rebellion had been fired. He served mainly in the department of the gulf and was in fourteen regular bat¬ tles. During the early part of the war he was 1st lieutenant of the company in which he originally enlisted, but afterwards transferred to Company B, he was 1st lieutenant of that company until he was mustered out in 1865. In the spring of 1866 he was married, Feb¬ ruary 22, to Miss Mary A. Crawford, native to Scott county, Illinois. The next month after his marriage Mr. Stauffer removed to Missouri and bought his present place, on which he has since resided. He has a good farm of 240 acres and has it substantially improved. Mr. and Mrs. Stauffer have a family of four children : John L., Jacob W., Sarah, Rhoda and Margaret Jeanette. Both parents are members of the Christian Church.

Captain Augustus W. Tapscott

justice of the peace, Martinsburgh. Capt. Tapscott, who has been prominently identified with the business interests of Martinsburgh almost since its organization as a town, is a native of the old Dominion. He was a son of James and Martha (Burgess) Tapscott, and was born in Buckingham county, January 26, 1829. Capt. Tapscott was reared to a business life, his youth being spent in a store in his native State. However, he was given ample opportunity to acquire a com mon school education, which he did not fail to improve. Coming of one of the better families of Buckingham county, and being himself a young man of more than ordinary intelligence, he occupied a some¬ what prominent position in society and affairs where he lived. Under the laws of Virginia a militia organization throughout the State was authorized, and young Tapscott was made captain of a company of State militia, a position he held as long as he continued a resident of the State. His company became noted for its fine drill and expert¬ ness in military maneuvers. When twenty-one years of age, Capt. Tapscott was married in Virginia,to Miss Sallie P. Thomas, of Buck¬ ingham county. He continued business in that county until 1854, when he decided to cast his fortunes with the West, and accordingly came to Missouri, locating at first in Spencersburg ; soon afterwards, however, he came to Audrain county and settled in Cuivre township, where he engaged in farming. Two years later he bought the well known Perry farm, four miles south-west of Martinsburgh, where he lived, successfully engaged in agriculture, for over ten years. During this time he and John Coil were in the mercantile business at Sham¬ rock a year subsequent to 1860. During the war, although Capt. Tapscott took no part in the struggle, he was arrested by superofficious Federal officers and thrown into prison. His release was obtained only on condition of giving a $10,000 bond not to do what he had never intended to do - antagonize the Government in any way. In 1866 Capt. Tapscott engaged in merchandising at Jacksonville, which he followed for about a year. After this he opened a store at Martins¬ burgh and conducted it with success up to 1860. Selling his mercan¬ tile business to advantage, he established a lumber yard at this place and was the leading lumber dealer of Martinsburgh for about fourteen years, and up to last spring. From youth Capt. Tapscott has always occupied a somewhat prominent position in the esteem and confidence of the communities in which he has lived. Soon after coining to this State he was elected justice of the peace, and he is now serving his eighteenth year in this office, although his tenure has not been con¬ tinuous. In this office the fact of his Ions: service shows the satisfaction to the public with which he has discharged his official duties. As is well known, he is one of the most capable magistrates and discriminating judges among the subordinate judicial conservators of the peace in the county. The people of the township have implicit confidence in his uprightness and high respect for his judgment and his knowledge of the law. The Captain and his wife reared but two children : Emma P. and Clara W. The former became the wife of Samuel W. Crutcher ; she died, however, before the flowers had faded in her wedding wreath - eleven days after her marriage. Several years afterwards the younger daughter, Clara W., also became Mr. Crutcher's wife. She survived her marriage but a few years. On the 24th of April, 1882, Capt. Tapscott lost his wife, the partner for over thirty years of his joys and sorrows. She was a woman of many noble qualities of heart and of superior intelligence, and was much beloved by all her neighbors and acquaintances. She had been a member of the Christian church for many years, and fell to sleep in death, not as those who die without hope, for beyond the shadow of the grave the cross shone forth before her fading sight, illuminating her pathway to her eternal home. The Captain, himself, has for twenty years been a member of the Christian church. He has been secretary of the Masonic lodge for fourteen years. The Captain's birthday is a day made memorable by the death of Dr. Jenner, the discoverer of the remedy of vaccination.

blacksmith and wheelwright, Martinsburgh. 'Squire Torreyson, one of the energetic citizens of Loutre township, is by nativity a son of the Old Dominion. He was born in Londoun county, Virginia, Sep¬ tember 5, 1823. He was a son of Lewis and Catherine (Tavernier) Torreyson, both of old Virginia families. 'Squire Torreyson's father having been a blacksmith, the sou was brought up to that trade, which he early acquired. Though much of his time as he grew up was spent in the shop, still he was not unappreciative of the import- ance of a practical education, and he applied himself, when not other¬ wise occupied, to study both in the local schools and at home. Hence when he reached manhood he was not only a skilled mechanic at his trade, but had a fair practical education. In 1852 he went to Lees¬ burg, Virginia, where he worked at his trade for about five years. During this time, on the 27th of March, 1856, he was married to Miss Margaret Young, a native of Frederick City, Maryland, born June 19, 1825. The following year 'Squire Torreyson, still a young man, be¬ came convinced that there were better opportunities in the West than in the older States of the Atlantic coast to situate himself comfortably in life, and accordingly he cast his fortunes with Missouri, and settled in Audrain county. Locating on John's Branch he opened a shop, which he carried on successfully for about six years. In 1858, such was the esteem and confidence in which he was held by the neighbors in his new home, he was made justice of the peace, a position, the duties of which he discharged with efficiency and singular satisfaction to the people. In 1864, however, he went East, and was a resident of Frederick City, Maryland, the home of his wife's parents, for seven or eight years. The disorder and confusion in Missouri brought on by the Avar having subsided, he returned to Audrain county in 1871 and located at Martinsburgh, Avhere he established a shop and has since resided. The 'Squire is highly respected as a neighbor and citi¬ zen, and is conceded to be one of the best mechanics in the county. 'Squire Torreyson and wife have reared tAvo children : Charles A., noAV in business at Laddonia, and Maggie W., Avho is now engaged in teaching in the public schools of the county, and is considered an effi¬ cient teacher. The 'Squire and lady are both members of the M. E. Church. While he Avas a resident at John's Branch he kept the postoffice at that place.

Walter Tratchel

farmer and stock raiser. It Avas nearly thirty-five years ago that Mr. Tratchel's parents, George and Elizabeth (Swartz) Tratchel, crossed the Atlantic, bringing their family of children from Saxony, Germany, to the United States. They came direct to Ohio, locating in Wash¬ ington county, Avhere George Tratchel, the pater-fcnnilas , followed farming. Walter, the subject of the present sketch, Avas born in the Old Country on the 26th of February, 1838. He Avas therefore partly reared in Ohio, and was brought up to the occupation of farming. On the outbreak of the AArar, in 1861, he enlisted in the 39th Ohio volun¬ teer infantry, under Col. Groesbeck, and served in the army of Ten- lies see, principally, throughout his three years' term of enlistment. He was in most of the important engagements in which that army participated. Honorably discharged at the end of his term, in 1864, he became foreman of the oil works at California, Virginia, and occu¬ pied that position until his removal to Missouri. In 1866 he was married in Washington, Ohio, to Miss Sarah Stumpf, reared in that county. In a few weeks after his marriage, Mr. Tratchel removed to Missouri, and bought 160 acres of land on the Cuivre, in Audrain county, where he improved a farm. Here he engaged in farming and stock raising in a general way, and has had good success. He has in¬ creased his possessions until he now has a fine farm of 320 acres, all well improved. He has just erected a large and tastily-built barn, at a cost of about $1,000. Mr. and Mrs. Tratchel have seven children: John Andrew, Nettie, Robert, Rhoda, William, Fannie and Sarah. Mr. Tratchel is a member of the Lutheran Church.

W. R. Whiteside

of Whiteside & Orr, dealers in general merchandise, Benton City. Mr. Whiteside, now in his thirty-first year, has led a remarkably active and a not altogether unadventurous life. Indeed, so lively have been his movements that in attempting to give a sketch of his career, we are reminded of the reply of the Irishman, who said, when asked how many pigs there were in a certain litter, that he couldn't tell, for although he had succeeded in counting them all but one, that one ran about so that he couldn't count him at all. So with Mr. Whiteside ; his movements have been so frequent and rapid that we are not sure we shall be able to track him through all his peregrina¬ tions. In conflict with the old adage, that a rolling stone gathers no moss, he has not failed to accumulate something as time has passed by. In fact he has been something like a snow-ball : he has gathered a little nearly everywhere he has traveled, and now has a comfortable start in life. Mr. Whiteside was born in Fulton, on the 28th of May, 1853. His parents were James M. and Susan II. (George) Whiteside, the father originally from West Canada, but the mother native to Callaway county. W. R.'s early youth was spent in Fulton, most of his time being occupied with study in the schools of that city. When fourteen years of age his parents removed to Cass county, where he spent the succeeding three years. In 1870, then seventeen years old, he drove a team to Texas, making the trip alone, and returned soon afterwards. During the sessions of 1871-72 he attended Westminster

College, and during the latter year went to Clay county, Kentucky, where he was engaged as deputy U. S. marshal for about six months in raiding " moonshiners," or illicit manufacturers of whisky. Dur¬ ing this service he had some thrilling adventures, which we have not here the space to relate. Following this he attended the British American Commercial College of West Canada for a term, and then went to Texas, where he was engaged under his great uncle, Andrew Bledsoe, who was at that time State Auditor, in State Auditor's office as clerk for about eighteen months. At the expiration of this time, in 1874, Mr. Whiteside returned to Missouri and spent another term at Westminster College. He then made a business trip to Kentucky, but soon returned and bought a farm in St. Charles county, remaining in that county, however, only a short time. The following winter he went to California, and in the spring of 1875 returned as far as Gold Hill, Nevada, where he engaged as book-keeper for a mining company. The succeeding fall he went to Texas, and carried on business on the frontier for some time, trading with the cowboys. He then traded his stock of goods for cattle, but stock raising proved unprofitable, and he lost practically everything he had invested in cattle. Starting to Arizona, he changed his mind before reaching that territory, and came back to Texas, coming from there on to Missouri. He now engaged in farming on his place in St. Charles county, which he con¬ tinued with success up to 1881. During this time, on the 10th of April, 1878, he was married to Miss Ada Selfridge, formerly of Scioto county, Ohio. The third year after his marriage he made his last trip (up to date) to Texas, having lands in Tavis county, which he desired to look after. The same year (1881) Mr. Whiteside came to Benton City, and during March of the following year, he and Mr. Orr formed a partnership and engaged in their present business. They carry a stock of general merchandise, and also deal in grain, coal, etc. Both are men of popular manners, and they have built up a large business. Theirs is one of the leading firms in the south-eastern part of the county. Mr. Whiteside is as public-spirited in affairs relating to the general interest of the community, and as prominent in social and church matters, as he is active in business. He and wife are both members of the Presbyterian church, and mainly by his efforts the church at this place was organized. He is also superintendent of the local Sunday school, and has established a literary society at Benton City, of which he is the leading spirit. Mr. Whiteside is prominently identified with the temperance movement, and is an influential member of the I. O. G. T.

St. Clair Wilburn

farmer and stock raiser. Mr. Wilburn, himself a time-honored old citizen of the county, comes of one of the pioneer families of this sec¬ tion of the State. His parents, John and Mary (Curtiss) Wilburn, immigrated to Missouri from Tennessee in 1816 and settled in Montgomery county. Subsequently they removed to Boone county, and in 1828 became residents of Callaway county, where they lived for many years. They were one of the worthy families of Callaway county, and are remembered by all old settlers still surviving as hospitable, kind neighbors. St. Clair Wilburn, the subject of the present sketch, was born while his parents lived in Boone county, on his father's farm, eight miles north of Columbia, on the 27th of December, 1820. Eight years of age when the family removed to Callaway county, he was therefore principally reared in the latter county. In 1841, then having attained his majority, he entered the land across the county line in Audrain county where he now resides. He soon began the improvement of a farm on this place, and on the 30th of July, 1845, was married in Callaway county to Miss Susan, a daughter of Noah Coil, of Shamrock. From the time he first came on to his present farm, now over forty years ago, he has continued to make it his home, and has added to his original tract of land until his possessions aggregate 400 acres. Having been all through life a man of hard work, sober habits and reasonably economical, the fruits of the forty harvests he has reaped have made him one of the substan¬ tial tax-pavers of the county. In the respect and esteem of those among whom he has lived so many years none stand higher. After a long and happy life of about thirty-five years, his good wife was at last taken from him by the decree of death. She breathed her last on the 7th of March, 1880. They were blessed with a family of four¬ teen children: Robert, now of Texas; Noah, John, William, Marga¬ ret A., George O., Charles, James ( deceased), Chesley T. , Mary, Edgar, Bertha, Banks and Caroline. Mr. Wilburn has always given more or less attention to stock raising, having a surplus every year, almost, for the general markets.

Edward C. Wright

life has been one of great activity and he has struck most of the cords in the gamut of the industries. He was born in Franklin county, Kentucky, on the 3d of October, 1327, and was a son of James and Rebecca E. (Hawkins) Wright, his father a native of the Old Dominion, but his mother of the Blue Grass State. Up to the age of fifteen, Edward C. spent his youth on his father's farm, but in 1842 he went to clerk in the store of his uncle at Christiansburg, of that State, under whom he was employed for several years. Following this he obtained a position as clerk of a hotel at Frankfort, and be¬ came known as one of the most popular hotel clerks in that part of the State. Although that was not a time when a diamond pin was an indispensable concomitant to a first-class hotel clerk, still hotel clerks, even in those days, were required to dress well, be polite and not un¬ attractive to the ladies. Young Wright was not derelict to any of these requirements. He came well up to the mark in all that a firstclass city hotel clerk should be. A man of varied aptitudes, his dis¬ position was to learn all he could as time circled by. Accordingly, after quitting the hotel he entered a blacksmith shop to learn the trade and develop the physical manhood which every one may realize who has the courage to wield for a few years the festive sledge-ham¬ mer. He worked at the blacksmith trade for five years, and became master of this as he had mastered everything else. It has been said that Mr. Wright is a man of great activity and untiring industry ; and so he was prior to this. Besides attending to his daily affairs, he had devoted his leisure to study, and had succeeded in acquiring more than an average general education. He now transferred himself from the shop to the school-room, and became one of the successful teachers of Anderson county, in that State. He taught for two years, and many were the eager young minds that partook of the knowledge he imparted. He was now a young man only in his twenty-sixth year, yet he had learned farming, merchandising, the hotel business, the blacksmith's trade and the noble calling of the educator. He now saw across into a still brighter field which he longed to enter - the field of matrimony. One bright particular flower was blooming for him, and on the 22d of June, 1853, it became his. Miss Elizabeth E. Roach then became his loving, trusting and devoted wife. Re¬ nerved for the*great battle of life by this happy event, he was now anxious to cast his fortunes with the fertile region beyond the Missis¬ sippi. Accordingly he came West in 1854, and located at Martinsburgh, but soon went to Williamsburg, where he worked at the blacksmith's trade for about a year. As we grow older we all know how dear the scenes and employments of our youth appear to us. Mr. Wright now desired to return to farming, the employment of his youth. He therefore bought land and engaged in agricultural pur¬ suits, which he followed successfully up to 1857. Returning to Ken¬ tucky, he came back the following year and settled on Beaver Dam, where he lived until 1861. Mr. Wright came to his present place in 1864. Here he is engaged in farming and also carries on a blacksmith shop. Taking an intelligent interest in public affairs, in 1876 he was persuaded by his friends to become a candidate for the office of collector of the county. He received a large vote for the position, a gratifying indication of the esteem and confidence in which he is held by those who have known him so many years. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have a family of four children; David R., Ella B., Annie M. and Beatrice A. One died in childhood, Martha. Mr. and Mrs. W. are members of the United Baptist Church.

justice of the peace, Benton City. 'Squire Wvlde, one of the promi¬ nent men of this place, is by nativity a son of the Empire State of the West - Ohio - and was born in Erie county, March 16, 1847. While the son was still quite young the parents removed to Porter county, Indiana, and David was reared and educated in that county. His father, James Wylde, was originally from England. The 'Squire's mother, before her marriage, was a Miss Mary Hitchcock, born and reared in Ohio. 'Squire Wylde, being of studious habits, succeeded in acquiring more than an average common school education as he grew up. In 1869 he and four of his brothers came to Missouri, locating first in Warren county. Nine years afterward they came to the vicinity of Benton City, and bought 500 acres of fine prairie land, 60 acres of which the 'Squire improved. He still has a neat place in this vicinity. A man of sterling integrity and good business quali¬ fications, he came to be regarded as the proper man for the responsi¬ ble office of justice of the peace, and in July, 1880, he was appointed to that office by the county court. Such was the efficiency and fair¬ ness with which he discharged the duties of his position that two years afterwards he was elected to the same place by a large majority. 'Squire Wylde is considered as one of the most capable and upright magistrates in this section of the county. Of course the 'Squire is not unmarried. He is too worthy a man to be a small-souled malediet. On the 27th of September, 1871, he was married, in Porter county, Indiana, to Miss Mary Lewis, an acquaintance of his child¬ hood days, thus realizing the fondest dream of his earliest youth - to make her whom he loved more than all the earth the wife of his bosom. This happy union is blessed with three children: Carrie, Lewis and Hattie.

Benjamin F. Wylde

proprietor of the Prairie Home Nursery, Benton City. Mr. Wylde, a brother to D. L. Wylde, whose sketch precedes this, was born in Erie county, Ohio, September 11, 1845. As already stated, his father was a native of England, born in Shropshire, April 27, 1811, and came to America when twenty years of age. He settled in Ohio and married there Miss Mary Hitchcock, who was born in 1817 in Ashta¬ bula county, Ohio. He was a molder by trade, and followed that for many years in connection, after his boys grew up, with farming. They had seven children : Sarah A., now Mrs. E. L. Cohoon ; Benja¬ min F., the subject of the present sketch ; Lucy E., now Mrs. C. J. LeFaivre ; George W., James M. and William E., all of whom are now living in the vicinity of Benton City. In the winter of 1868-69 the family came to Missouri and located at Wright City, in Warren county, where Benjamin F. lived for about six years. Having bought land adjoining Benton City, in Audrain county, in 1873, which he had partly improved, two years afterwards he came to this place and began the nursery business here. For several years following his time was occupied with establishing his nursery, improving his place and teaching school, the latter of which he had formerly followed. Mr. Wylde has made one of the finest nurseries in this part of the State. He has 12 acres devoted to his nursery stock alone, and has from 50,000 to 100,000 apple trees of all varieties, and from 20,000 to 30,000 other fruit trees. He also has a large and fine variety of or¬ namental trees and shrubs. He makes a specialty of growing hedge plants, and keeps on hand from 500,000 to 1,000,000 plants. His place of about ninety acres is enclosed with a fine hedge fence, and is subdivided with fences of the same material. He has a fine orchard of 1,000 fruit trees of the best varieties adapted to this climate, and from which he propagates his stock. Mr. Wylde has built up a large business in the nursery and hedge lines and his sales are steadily in¬ creasing. His enterprise, besides the direct benefit it has been to this part of the country in encouraging farmers to turn their attention to fruit growing, has been of great value in demonstrating that the nursery business can be successfully carried on here. On the 29th of September, 1883, Mr. Wylde was married to Miss Annie Stockwell, formerly of Indiana, a daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth C. Stockwell, a widow lady, now of Audrain county. Mr. Wylde's parents in their old age have a welcome and pleasant home in his family.

a successful and progressive farmer of Salt River township, and one of the cultured and public-spirited citizens of Audrain county, is a native of the great Prairie State, and was born on the 17th of April, 1839. His father, John Anderson, born in Maryland in 1793, became one of the pioneer settlers of Madison county, Illinois, coming to that county as early as 1819. He was there subsequently married to Miss Susan C. Creamer, whose parents were early settlers of St. Clair county, that State, having come from New York. She was born in the latter State December 23, 1803, and they were married in 1823. Dr. Anderson's father died in Illinois April 11, 1876; his mother October 4, nifie years before. Mrs. Anderson's father was Philip Creamer, now deceased, as is also her mother. Of Dr. Anderson's father's family of twelve children, seven only are living, the Doctor being the only resident of this county. All the others, except two, are still in Madison county ; those excepted, two sisters, are residents of St. Louis. The father was a man of strong char¬ acter, great energy, and full of enterprise and push. He became one of the wealthy farmers of Madison county. The Doctor was reared on the farm in that county, and after a preparatory course in the common schools, entered the St. Louis University, at that time, as it still is, one of the foremost institutions of learning in the West. He continued there for live years and graduated with high honor in 1860, under the presidency of Dr. John Virden. Of his class of co¬ graduates but one besides Dr. Anderson is now living, Col. Frank McCabe, of St. Louis, well known for his connection with the police department of that city. Immediately after graduating Dr. Ander¬ son, or then plain " Rod Anderson," as he was called, began the study of medicine, and in due time entered medical college, grad u at* ing in the St. Louis Medical College under Dr. Charles A. Pope, in 1864. Following his graduation from medical college, Dr. Anderson was appointed assistant surgeon in the U. S. army, and his command was sent West on an Indian campaign. The command operated mainly on Powder river in the far North-west, and being removed by hundreds of miles from all vestige of civilization, it underwent the severest hardships. The Doctor was in the saddle almost constantly for weeks at a time ; and, running out of provisions, he as well as his fellow-soldiers often had to resort to mule and horse meat for food. Returning later along to St. Louis, he went to Westphalia, Osage county, and engaged in the general practice of medicine. But becom¬ ing disgusted with the practice, he withdrew from it altogether, and returned to Madison county, Illinois, for the purpose of engaging in farming. Dr. Anderson followed farming in that county with success until 1875, and then came to Missouri, locating in Audrain county, where he bought his present place. Here he has a fine farm of over 300 acres, one of the handsomest and best improved in the county. While he has taken great pride in the appearance of his place gener¬ ally, his accomplished wife has shown equal taste in beautifying their home and its surroundings. The handsome lawn that stretches out before their residence is beautifully ornamented with evergreens, shrubbery and flowering plants of great variety and rare qualities. Dr. Anderson was married to his excellent and refined wife on the 2d of June, 1865. Formerly Miss Genevieve Cord, on the father's side she was of a prominent Louisiana family, and on her mother's of an old and aristocratic French family. She was born at St. Martinsville, Louisiana, February 2, 1848. Her father, Jean Baptiste Cord, was also of French descent. Her mother, whose maiden name was Marie E. Henriho, was originally from Paris, France. Mrs. Anderson's parents, however, removed to St. Louis in 1859. Dr. and Mrs. Anderson have five children : Guillaume A., Oneziphore Louis, Silvestre Alphonse, Olivier Dupre and Charles Augustin. Three, besides, are deceased. The Doctor and Mrs. Anderson are members of the Catholic church, and Mrs. A. is connected with the Convent of the Visitation, at St. Louis.

John B. Armistead

farmer, on his father's side is of Scotch-Irish descent, but on his mother's of English ancestry. Both families, however, have been settled in Virginia for several generations. Mr. Armistead was born ki that State September 6, 1832. While he was still in infancy his parents, Francis and Martha G. (Falkner) Armistead, left Cumber¬ land comity, of the Old Dominion, where they had both been reared and were married, and came out to Missouri, settling in Callaway county at Stephen's Store, where they remained a short time and the following year, in 1834, came over into Audrain county and made their permanent home about two miles west of Mexico. This county then, however, was a part of Callaway county. Mr. Armistead' s father entered a large body of land here and improved a farm on which he lived until his death, which occurred in August, 1844, in the fifty-fifth year of his age, having been born in 1790. . The mother died in June, 1861, in the fifty-eighth year of her age. She was born in 1803. They had a family of nine children to grow to maturity : Francis, died in young manhood; Martha J., is now the widow of Joseph Beatty ; Lucy A., is now Mrs. George G. Berry, of the Indian Territory ; Mary F., died whilst the widow of Thomas J. Harrison; Virginia, is now Mrs. John H. Huddleston, of Texas ; Eliza, is Mrs. Frank Hendricks, also of Texas ; Joseph C., a resident of this county ; John R., the subject of this sketch, and James G., now deceased. John R. Armistead was twelve years of age at the death of his father, and in a few years afterwards engaged in farming for himself. As early as 1852 before he reached majority he had accumulated suffi¬ cient means to enter a good bodv of land, and he entered the land where he now resides and began the improvement of a farm. Five years afterwards he located permanently on his place and has since resided here. His farm contains 260 acres and it is in good condition both as a comfortable home and for grain and stock raising. On the 14th of February, 1867, he was married to Miss Martha T. Howe. She survived her marriage only a year, dying on her wedding day in 1868, leaving one child - Mattie E. A., born January 19, 1868. Mr. Armistead was married to his present wife July 22, 1869. She was a Miss Annie C. Myers, a daughter of Meredith and Nancy P. (Jennings) Myers, from Garrard county, Kentucky, born in this county September 3, 1845. Her parents came here in 1840 and her father, born in 1808, died in 1879. Her mother, born in 1812, died in 1854. Her father was married a second time, Mrs. Emeline Morton becoming his last wife. Mr. Armistead has an adopted son, William M. Jones, given to him by the child's father when the latter was on his death-bed. Mr. Armistead is a member of the Methodist Church South at Mexico and Mrs. A. has been a member of the Chris¬ tian Church for twenty-five years. Both are highly respected.

Mrs. H. T. Baird

The present age differs from former ones more radically, perhaps, in respect of the status of women than in any other. While, during the last generation, it was possible for woman to acquire an advanced education and fit herself for a useful life in some department of litera¬ ture or art, her opportunities were exceedingly limited, and if she suc¬ ceeded in doing so, it was mainly by her own unaided genius and will. Now, however, young ladies' seminaries and colleges, and schools of all descriptions, are open in every section of the country, and the way is clear for the advancement of women to the highest stations in the world of thought and culture. For this changed and happy condition she is largely indebted to herself. Representatives of her sex here and there, and everywhere, by the sheer force of their own charac¬ ters, have risen above the conditions around them, and have pioneered the way for the elevation of their sisters. Prominently among these in this section of the country, who have thus rendered an inestimable service to their sex and to all, must be written the name that heads this sketch, Mrs. H. T. Baird. With no opportunities of exceptional advantage in early life, and with a prospect for the future apparently not above the average of young ladies of her native vicinity, she has steadily come up, and in the face of unusual difficulties and trials, until now she occupies a position as a female educator conceded by all to be second to that of none in the State of her residence.

Let us, then, briefly trace the career of this talented and successful woman. We must do this, however, in the face of two special hinderances to our attempt, the absence of sufficient data, and the extreme .modesty of Mrs. Baird's character, which shrinks sensitively from all public exhibition and criticism. Shelby county, Kentucky, was the place of her birth. Her parents were Samuel E. and HarrietM. (Bell) Davis, both of old and respected families of Virginia, and both originally of Culpeper county. She was the eldest of their family of children. Mrs. Baird's girlhood days were spent principally in the local private schools of her native vicinity. Even then she showed a marked taste for mental culture as well as unusual aptness. Unlike not a few girls, her whole time during study hours was occupied with her lessons, and she was much given to study at home of evenings and during her other leisure hours. Her progress at school was marked by great thoroughness in the knowledge of her studies and, at the same time, was more than ordinarily rapid. While attending Science Hill Academy, where she completed her education so far as her early training is concerned, she was converted, under the ministry of Elder George Waller, aided by her grandfather, Elder Francis Davis. In 1845, /being then sixteen years of age, she was married to Jesse K. Baird, of Kentucky, a man of superior character and culture.

In 1850, Mrs. Baird was offered a situation in a select school at Shelbyville, Missouri, which she accepted, and she and her husband accordingly removed to this State. Commencing her career as an educator at Shelbyville, she has continued it since that time without interruption and with steadily increasing success and reputation. Mrs. Baird taught at Shelbyville for four years and while, during that time, she made for herself the name of being one of the best lady teachers who ever presided in a school-room at Shelbyville - faithful, attentive and successful in instructing those under her charge - she was at the same time perhaps a harder student than any pupil under her instruction. This habit of study, spoken of as a characteristic of her earlier years, has marked her whole subsequent career, and to this is largely due her eminent success as an educator. From Shelbyville, Mrs. Baird was called to take a position in the Female College, of Liberty, Missouri, in which she became an associate president with her brother, Prof. John T. Davis. Four years of successful work was done at Liberty, and by this time her repu¬ tation had become well established. In 1858 Mrs. Baird was ten¬ dered a position at Lancaster, in Schuyler county, where she taught for three years. She then became a popular teacher in the High School of Springfield, Illinois, and she was retained there some seven years, and until she resigned her position to accept the presidency of Bethel (now Ingleside) Male and Female College, at Palmyra, Missouri, which had been tendered her. Mrs. Baird stood at the head of that well known institution and conducted the college with singular ability and success until she was called to the presidencv of Hardin College in 1879, the position she has since oc¬ cupied. Her labors here have been attended with abundant suc¬ cess. The affairs of the college under her administration have been placed upon a substantial basis, and its reputation as an institu¬ tion of learning has been greatly enhanced.

there. But it may be remarked, in passing, that as an institution for the education of young ladies, notwithstanding it is hardly more than a decade old, it is without a superior in the State, and is second to but very few, if any, in the West. Less than five years ago, however, although it had previously been under the direction of an able educa¬ tor, its condition was by no means the most satisfactory. Perhaps, and doubtless, that fact was largely due to the inevitable embarrass¬ ments of its experimental years. But certain it is that since 1879, new life has seemed to be infused into its every department and, throughout, its affairs are carried on with that vigor and success which show that it is directed by a mind of superior force and ability. The attendance of pupils has rapidly increased, its financial affairs have greatly improved, and in every respect, its condition has been decidedly bettered.

Mrs. Baird is possessed of a mind of large and general powers, which, directed in any channel, would inevitably achieve success. Devoting herself, years ago, to the profession of an educator, she has continued in it with such zeal and fidelity that she has naturally won an advanced position in her profession. As an instructor, she is patient and untiring. Understanding thoroughly the knowledge she desires to impart, she not only makes her explanations clear and easy of comprehension, but she shows by her kindly disposition and her sympathy for her pupils that she is deeply interested in their welfare and advancement, and thus obtains mastery over their hearts not less than their minds, so that with them it becomes a pleasure to receive the instruction she imparts. Loved not less as a friend than respected as a teacher by those under her care, her conduct of a school, or college, is marked by that harmony and perfect understanding be¬ tween pupils and teachers so necessary to all concerned. Mrs. Baird's acquirements are not less varied than thorough. In the sciences, in literature, and in almost every department of collegiate learning, she is well advanced and proficient. Adding to these qual¬ ifications the quality of unusual executive ability, she is peculiarly fitted to conduct with success the affairs of a college.

Mrs. Baird's first husband died in 1869. He was a man of many estimable qualities of head and heart, and was only less esteemed by friends and acquaintances who had learned to know him well, than loved in his own family - and by wife and children he was held in the most tender affection. By him Mrs. Baird is the mother of three children, all of whom have received liberal educations and now oc- cupy prominent and enviable positions in life. The eldest, Belle, became the wife of R. H. True, a son of the well known and promi¬ nent citizen of Kentucky, Younger True. Mrs. True, besides re¬ ceiving a thorough general education, took a special art course, a department in which she is highly accomplished. She now has charge of the art classes in Hardin College. The only son, Dr. T. D. Baird, is a leading physician and surgeon of Pueblo, Colorado. He is at present, however, connected with the United States Hospital service at that place. Dr. Baird was for seven years assistant physician of the penitentiary at Joliet, Illinois. Itonia J., the younger of the two daughters, is the teacher of vocal music at Hardin College. She has taken a thorough course in vocal music under the best masters, both in this country and Europe. She completed her musical education at Brussels, Belgium. Miss Baird is not only thoroughly cultured in music, but has musical talent of a very high order and a voice of rare power, flexibility and sweetness. She is without doubt one of the most capable and accomplished teachers of vocal music in this section of the country. Mrs. Baird has taken, as these facts show, almost an enthusiastic interest in the education of her children, and, prov¬ ing themselves worthy of the interest she has taken in their advance¬ ment, they have thus reflected not less credit on themselves than they have done honor to their noble-hearted mother.

In 1875 Mrs. Baird was married to her present husband, Mr. H. T. Baird, the present efficient business manager of Hardin College. He is a gentleman of high character and superior business qualifica¬ tions. His sound judgment and clear-headed management of the business affairs of the college have been of the first importance in the career of success it has made since Mrs. Baird assumed the pres¬ idency of the institution. Personally, he is highly esteemed, and while a gentleman of thought and culture, he is at the same time un¬ assuming and easy in his manners, and in the society of friends shows great geniality, not to say jovial vivacity. He and his accom¬ plished wife are much prized in the best society of Mexico, and are highly respected by all.

We have now given an outline of the facts of Mrs. Baird's career - a career studded and jeweled with noble deeds from its beginning to the present. To attempt to characterize the life and works of this noble woman would be to undertake a task for which we feel that we are entirely incapable. Her career, itself, speaks a more eloquent eulogy on her character and services than any pen can indite. Most fortunate it was that Hardin College was able to secure the services of such a woman ; and it is not too much to say that no one could have been found better fitted for the work to be done, both in literary attainments and in every most needed quality, than she. Without reservation she entered the service of this institution, and in the great work she here began she has continued to the present, without abatement of zeal, and ever doing honor to herself and the college. Nor is it to be questioned that her reward even thus far has been great. Of the many young ladies who are annually under her instruction and influence, very few, if any, can be found who do not regard her with a feeling akin to filial affection. From those who have gone out of Hardin College since she has occupied the chair, one uniform testimony as to her, both as a teacher and friend, is given - the high esteem with which they regard her. Her associates in the college bear the same testimony, and with one accord speak of their dependence upon her and their great indebtedness to her influence.

Nor is it difficult to detect the secret of her power. She is lifeful and cheerful. She shows good sense and judgment. She abounds in hopefulness, which gives her confidence and courage. She has no misgivings, lest her duty should prove inexpedient ; and so her faith in the results of duty never fails her. She is self-sacrificing - doing cheerfully for others what she would gladly be excused from doing on her own account. With her it is, -

She is conscientious, anxious only to do the right thing herself,, and solicitous to aid others in seeing what is right and in doing it. On6 of the most sensitively gentle of women, she has still the firmest strength of will, holding herself and holding others as by inevitablelaw, to truth and duty. She could not compromise a principle,, though the world were to be won. With her the first question and the last is not, " Will it pay?" not " Is it fashionable? " not " Will it please the world?" but, is it rights She has the courage to facesneers and danger, even, if in the path of duty; and higher than all human codes and customs she holds the law of God. And so by her scentle and patient kindness ; by her fervent zeal and duty ; by her disinterested love and service for others ; by her uncompromising de¬ votion, she has made for herself an enviable place in the communi-

And still, 'as for so many years, she is prosecuting the same good work with the same success. Without denying the claims of her own family and home, in which she has reared to womanhood two daughters, and to manhood a son, she is still laboriously employed in the duties of her great work as an educator. In her daily work of personal interviews and consultations with pupils and teachers, and with the matrons and guardians of the homes in which the pupils reside ; in assigning daily exercises and studies ; in familiar lectures to the young ladies on all topics, outside of the general course of instruction in the classes, on which they need instruction and advice, Mrs. Baird is yet adding to the reputation she has already won as a woman of eminent abilities and services. But pre-eminently her best record is yet to be written. It must be traced in the career of the many gifted young women whom she has aided in fitting for service, good and great, like her own. Their success, when its causes are fully known, will add new lustre to the crown which she now so unconsciously wears.

Charles W. Baker

real estate, loan and insurance agent, Mexico. Mr. Baker is a thor¬ ough-going, energetic businessman, who came to this State from Ohio in 1867, and was engaged in farming in Callaway county for about three years, after which he bought out a leading agency at Mexico in his present lines of business, since which he has been prominently identified with this city. He was born near Zanesville, Ohio, Sep¬ tember 20, 1838, and received a good education in the public schools of that State. Though principally reared on a farm, much of his youth was spent at clerking in a dry goods store, aside from attend¬ ing school. He thus, as he came up, not only acquired a good school education, but also learned the practical details and duties of business life. His father dying in 1846, Charles W. remained at home near Zanesville for some ten years afterwards, when he went to Newark, Ohio, where he continued to reside until his removal to Missouri. While there he was engaged as a wool buyer for William Shields, a large dealer in wool, for some seven years. Up to the time, there¬ fore, of coming to this State, his life had been one of uninterrupted activity, mingling with men and transacting business with all classes of people. This experience was eminently calculated to fit him for the duties of a successful real estate agent. Having been brought up among farmers, and having had to do with them from boyhood, he naturally learned much of the values and advantages of farm land - the character of soil, water facilities, adaptation of crops, stock rais¬ ing facilities, etc. Mr. Baker has been engaged in the real estate business in this county for nearly fourteen years, and it is not too much to say that he has built up one of the most successful agencies in this line in Northern Missouri. He has an unusuallv large list of raw lands and improved farms in this and neighboring counties, which he offers for sale at prevailing prices and on terms to meet the wants of every class of purchasers. These lands are in tracts of forty acres and more, and they include grazing lands, stock, grain, fruit and dairy farms of every description of soil, locations, improvements, etc. Mr. Baker has also a large trade in Texas, and in Kansas, Nebraska and South-west Missouri, in farms and lands, and exchanges Western lands for property in the older States. He also buys, sells and rents city property; and rents farms, pays taxes, loans money on unincum¬ bered real estate, and makes investments for non-residents. He is also associated with Mr. J. W. Howell, an efficient and reliable youngbusiness man of this city, in the abstract and insurance business. Their abstracts cover every real estate title in the county. Mr. Baker is a wide-awake, genial, sociable man of quick, warm impulses, clear forecast, fine business methods, great energy and sagacity, and is one of the most influential, public-spirited men of the city - one whose success is unquestionably as decided as that of any man in Audrain county. He is a member of the regency of Hardin College, and was formerly its treasurer. He is largely interested b}' personal investments, in city property and farm lands, and has unbounded faith in the natural resources and future greatness of this part of the country. Thoroughly posted in his line of business, he is one of the best informed correspondents in answer to inquiries for information in his line in North-east Missouri, and is glad and anxious at all times to furnish information to those in any part of the country desiring it. On the 2d of July, 1872, Mr. Baker was married to Miss Emma F. Lapsley, originally of Alabama. They have four children : George W., William C., Willard R. and Hardin E. Mr. Baker is a member of the Masonic order, being a Knight Templar, and Mrs. Baker is identified with the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Baker's parents, Alanson Baker and wife, Nancy, nee Remington, were originally of New York and Massachusetts respectively. The mother came to Missouri with her son, Charles W., and died here two years ago.

Marion C. Barnes

one of the better class of Kentucky farmers who rank among the best citizens of Audrain county, is the subject of the present sketch. Mr. Barnes, born in Bath county, Kentucky, January 1, 1827, was a son of Noble Barnes, formerly of Virginia, and wife, whose maiden name was Mary Boyd, of an old Kentucky family. Mr. Barnes was reared on the farm in Bath county, and began farming for himself on reaching manhood. On the 1st of February, 1848, he was married to Miss Alvira Barnes, a distant relative of his and a daughter of William Barnes, of that county. Three years after his marriage, Mr. Barnes removed to Indiana and followed farming in Montgomery county, of that State, until 1853. He then came to Missouri and located in Ralls county, but the following year bought the land composing his present farm in Audrain county, to which he at once went to work at improving. Mr. Barnes has resided in this county ever since, and has made himself a comfortable home. He has an excellent farm of 240 acres, with nearly half of his place in active cultivation. His buildings are substantial and comfortable. Mr. Barnes' first wife died in 1865, leaving him six children: Noble, Leander, Mary, who died the wife of Thomas Bybee ; William, Jane, Libbeth, wife of Thomas Swift and Marion. All but Jane and Marion of those living are married and have families of their own. In September, 1867, Mr. Barnes was married to Miss Mary, a daughter of James Cauthorn. She sur¬ vived her marriage about nine years, dying February 1, 1876. She left five children : Luther, Fannie, Sallie, Forrest and Orion. Mr. R. is a member of the Christian Church, and of the A. F. and A. M. He is one of the well respected citizens of the township.

William H. Barton

real estate agent, Mexico. Mr. Barton's life has been one of marked activity. A Pennsylvanian by birth, he was the son of John and Catharine (Ulmberger) Barton, and was reared on his father's farm in York county, where he remained until 1859, when he was in his eighteenth year. His advantages for an education were those of the common schools of his native county, which he did not fail to im¬ prove. Ambitious to accomplish something for himself in life, he took the advice of Horace Greeley and came West. Young Barton located at Clinton, Kansas, where he obtained a situation as clerk in a general store. He remained there for about a year when the Pike's Peak excitement being then at its height, he crossed the plains and spent about eight months in the new-found El Dorado of the West. But falling sick in Denver, where he kept what was called a corrall, where feed was sold and teams kept, he returned to Kansas, being "freighted " back across the plains in a wagon, although he was not able to sit up but little of the time. Recovering his health in Kansas, he went back to Pennsylvania on a visit, and afterwards went to Chicago, where he was engaged as merchandise clerk for a time. Subsequently he was clerk in the ( American) express office at Free¬ port, Illinois, and was later along engaged in other employments. Mr. Barton came to Montgomery county, Missouri, in 1864, and kept a general store at Amerieus, in that county, from 1870 to 1874, when he sold out and became a resident of this citv. He has been engaged in his present business for a number of years, and occupies an en¬ viable position among the leading real estate men of Audrain county. On the 23d of December, 1869, Mr. Barton was married to Mrs. Theresa Balmer, a daughter of a Mr. Thornburg, formerly of Hagers¬ town, Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Barton were blessed with but one child, an interesting little son, William Vernon, born November 23, 1870. Mrs. Barton, a lady singularly devoted to her home and family and much beloved by all who knew her, was taken away by the untimely hand of death on the 6th of March, 1880. Her loss was a bereavement to her family, as it seemed too hard to bear, for she was loved by husband and child, and by all her relatives with an affec¬ tion that could not bear to think of her taking off. She was a sincere and earnest member of the M. E. Church South. Her husband is also a member of that denomination. During the war Mr. Bar¬ ton took no part in the struggle, though his sympathies were with the Union arms, for he believed that the saddest misfortune which could befall this country would be the breaking up of the Union of States and the integrity of the Nation. As a business man and citizen he has the confidence of the community and is highly respected.

physician and surgeon. Dr. Baskett graduated from the Missouri Medical College in March, 1862, and at once entered the Confederate army, being appointed the position of surgeon, first in the general hospital at Little Rock, Arkansas, and afterwards in Southern hos¬ pitals at other points until about the close of the war. For the first five years after the war, he was engaged in the practice at Pleasant Hill, in Pike county, Illinois, and leaving his practice there, he came over to Callaway county and located at Auxvasse, where he continued until 1882. On the 19th of December, 1867, Dr. Baskett was married to Miss Mollie L. Jameson, of Callaway county. She was born in that county on the 9th of December, 1847. The Dr. and Mrs. B. have two children : Minnie B. and Thomas S. The eldest, Clarence J., died in tender years, in 1872. The Doctor is a member of the Masonic order, and he and his excellent wife are members of the Christian Church. He is a native of Callaway county and was a son of James and Mary (Baker) Baskett, both originally of Kentucky. The father died in 1854; the mother in 1851. The Doctor was born February 6, 1840, and received his general education at Bethany College, Virginia. His medical preceptor was Dr. Edward Rackleff, late of this city.

of Bassford & Tucker, real estate, insurance and loan agents, Mexico. Mr. Bassford came to Missouri in the winter of 1865-66, locating at Mexico, where he engaged in the grocery business. He followed that business here with success until the spring of 1881, when, having been elected mayor of the city, he disposed of his busi¬ ness interests, and for that year and the year following, served as mayor. Subsequently he engaged in the line of business with which he is now connected, and in which Mr. J. D. Tucker is his partner. In the real estate, insurance and loan agency business of Mexico, these gentlemen justly occupy a prominent position. Both being men of large experience in business affairs, and particularly in their present line of business, and gentleman whose reputations are without re¬ proach, as well as of popular manners and thorough-going energy and enterprise, as would be expected, they have built up an important business for their firm, and number among their patrons many of the best citizens of Mexico. In the real estate branch of their business, they have for sale some of the best town property, and large bodies of the best lands, as well as a number of fine farms in the county. Being thorough and accurate judges of real estate, and keeping fully up with the times in the fluctuations of value as well as in the variations of demand, they become at once the best medium through whom sellers and purchasers may effect their transactions with safety, satis¬ faction and dispatch. No purchaser of real estate in the county should conclude a contract without examining their schedule of property ; and as their firm is largely advertised and well-known to the public, to those desiring to sell property, their agency offers unusual advantages. In the insurance branch, they represent some of the best companies in this country and in Europe, and for perfect safety to the insurer their agency presents every guaranty, while, of course, the old and solid companies they represent enable them to offer terms with which younger and weaker companies cannot possibly compete. Messrs. Bassford & Tucker do a large loan business, and are prepared to make loans at the lowest rates the state of the money market will permit and on liberal terms with regard to payments - interest and princi¬ pal - by the borrower. Though they have been engaged in this busi¬ ness for some time, such has been the manner in which they have con¬ ducted it that they have never been accused of oppressing the unfortu¬ nate, while they have often favored debtors with unusual leniency. Mr. Bassford, the senior member of the firm, was born in Alexander county, Virginia, April 11, 1844, and while he was still quite young, was brought out to Ohio by his parents who removed to Monroe county, of that State. He was educated in the common schools of Monroe county, and remained there until coming to Missouri, in 1866. On the 20th of December, of that year, he was married to Miss Kate Osborn, originally of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. B. have two children : Homer S. and Wallace D. Mr. Bassford is a member of the Masonic fraternity. His wife and oldest son are members of the M. E. Church South.

John H. Bickley

of the firm of Bickley & Moore, dealers in groceries, glass-ware, queen'sware, wood and willow-ware, tin-ware, earthenware, etc., etc., Mexico. Mr. Bickley, who has been engaged in the grocery business for over 15 years, and is one of the prominent grocermen of Mexico, is a native of England, born in Devonshire, August 28, 1842. He was reared in his native shire, and educated in the local schools. In 1865 he came to the United States and located in Harrison county, Kentucky, where he followed farming near Cynthiana for three years, when he came to Mexico and engaged in the grocery business with his brother. They continued the business together here until 1873, when Mr. Bickley bought out his brother's interest and continued the business alone for the following four years. In May, 1877, Mr. Moore be¬ came his partner, and the firm of Bickley & Moore have since con¬ ducted the business. The character of their business has already been spoken of in the sketch of Mr. Moore, which appears on another page of this work. It may be added here, however, that they keep constantly on hand a large and well selected stock of goods in their respective lines, and are prepared to accommodate the trade with goods of a quality that cannot be excelled in North Missouri. Mr. Bickley, having long been identified with the grocery trade of Mex¬ ico, and being a man of tried integrity and great personal worth, has naturally drawn to his house a large and highly respectable cus¬ tom. It is one of the leading houses in Mexico. On the 21st of December, 1871, Mr. Bickley was married to Miss Amelia Wade, originally of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Bickley have three children : Frank, Ross and Mary. Mr. Bickley occupies quite a prominent position in local affairs, and wields a deservedly important influence among those around him. He has served three terms as city aiderman, from 1879 to 1881, inclusive.