Audrain County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1884 (part 1 of 17)

Biographical sketches

Dr. Adams, a prominent and successful young physician of Farber, comes of two old and highly respected families of North-east Mis¬ souri - the Adams and Campbells. His parents on both sides were among the pioneer settlers of this section of the State. His father, Capt. Walter S. Adams, was in boyhood when the latter's parents came to Pike county from Kentucky, and after Walter S. grew up he was married in Audrain county to Miss Catherine Campbell, daughter of Nelson Campbell, an uncle of Lieut. -Gov. Robert A. Campbell, who, in all probability will be the next Governor of Missouri. Audrain county became Capt. Adams' permanent home, and here he became one of the prominent citizens and influential farmers of the county. Siding with the South during the late war, he entered the Southern service and was captain of a company under Col. Jones. He was captured, however, during the progress of the war and, unable to stand the hardships and privations of the inhuman life he was made to lead in a Northern prison, he died in military prison, yielding up his life, like the brave and true man he was, on the altar of his convic¬ tions. At any time he could have had his liberty on condition of foreswearing the cause he had sworn to defend, but he preferred to meet death with honor and in the line of his duty, to purchasing life at the price of everything a brave and honest man holds dear. How apt the noble sentiment in Longfellow's Christus : -

But if a word could save me, and that word Were not the truth; nay, if it did but swerve A hair's breadth from the truth, I would not say it."

So died as true a man and as brave a patriot as ever yielded up his life for his country. Poland, Hungary, Ireland and the South went down, but the love of liberty and independence, and the admiration of patriotism - heroism - have not perished from the earth . So long as these survive the memory of such men will be cherished as the proudest heritage of posterity. Dr. Adams was born on his fathers' farm, in this county, on the 2d of December, 1852. Reared on the family homestead, he was educated in the common schools and at McKee College, taking a three-years' course in the latter institution. After his college course, in 1872, he began the study of medicine under Dr. Wesley Humphrey, of Mexico, a leading physician of the county. In 1874 he graduated from the medical department of the University of Kentucky, at Louisville. Immediately after his gradu¬ ation Dr. Adams engaged in the practice of his profession, which he has continued with success up to the present time. The two years prior to his location at Farber he practiced at Ashley, Pike county, where he built up an enviable reputation as a physician. In June, 1881, Dr. Adams wishing to make his home among those in whose midst his boyhood days were spent, came to Farber, near which he was born and reared, and established himself in the practice at this place. Known in this vicinity from infancy, and respected best by those who have known him longest, thoroughly educated, both gener¬ ally and in his profession, naturally a man of remarkable aptitudes for the practice of medicine, and having had nearly ten years of active and successful experience in the practice, everything seemed to unite to recommend him favorably to the confidence and patronage of the community, and to make his career here a successful and useful one. Dr. Adams almost from the beginning commanded a good practice, and this has steadily increased until now he is one of the leading physicians of this part of the county. A man of high character and a perfect gentleman in the highest and best sense of the word, he is esteemed by the community for his personal worth and his skill as a physician, and is more than ordinarily popular on account of his genial, agreeable manners and his respectful, manly bearing to all with whom he is thrown in contact. Dr. Adams is not married and that is the worse that can be said of him ; but conscious as the writer is of the many fair ones in the vicinity of Farber, as noble-hearted, worthy and gentle as they are fair, this biographer feels assured that if the present sketch could be written at a later date - and not much later either - he would have the pleasure of recording his worthy subject as a beatified benedict. Nous verrons. The Doctor is a an industrious farmer and highly esteemed citizen of Cuivre township, is a son of Capt. Walter S. Adams, mention of whom is made in the sketch of Dr. Simeon Adams, which precedes this. Mr. Adams is an elder brother to Dr. Adams and was born in this county on the old family homestead, on the 15th of September, 1845. Mr. Adams was brought up on the farm and reared to habits of industry, to which he has adhered thus far through life, and not without accumulating the substantial evidences of untiring industry, well directed. His father being a man in good circumstances, and having: an intelligent appreciation of the advantages of education, gave his children good school opportunities. The winter months during George W.'s early youth were spent largely in the common and private schools of the neighborhood. As he grew older, and becoming sufficiently advanced in his studies to enter college, he became a matriculate in McGee Col¬ lege in Macon county, where he continued as a student until he ac¬ quired a somewhat superior general education. In the meantime the war had come on and was waged in this section of the State with great bitterness by both sides. Young Adams, in 1864, being then in his nineteenth year, went to Montana, making the trip overland and in company with his uncles, William and Benjamin Campbell. They made Virginia City their destination,* and young Adams re¬ mained there engaged in mining and freighting about two years. The summer of 1866 he spent in Colorado, returning the following fall to Audrain county. Here he resumed his farming operations, which he has since continued without interruption and with substantial success. On the 4th of June, 1869, he was married in Bowling Green, Pike county, to Miss Alice, a refined and amiable daughter of Capt. J. D. Kincaid, of that county. Mrs. Adams was reared and educated in Bowling Green and at a convent in St. Louis, and is a grand-daughter of the late Judge Martin, and one of the oldest and most highly re¬ spected citizens of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Adams have a family of six sons: George H., William D., James W., Homer M., Simeon C. and Ala K. After his marriage Mr. Adams settled in the south-eastern part of Audrain county, where he was engaged in farm¬ ing up to 1877, when he removed to his present place. Mr. Adams' farm contains 160 acres, all under fence and otherwise substantially improved, including a good residence, barns, granaries, etc. His place also has an excellent orchard, or rather two orchards, both of which are bearing. Mr. Adams is a thorough-going, energetic farmer and an enterprising, public-spirited citizen. He takes an active inter¬ est in the local affairs of the township and is an ardent Democrat. Recognizing his party zeal as well as his business qualifications, he was nominated by the Democrats in 1876 for constable of the town¬ ship, and was elected by the people by a large majority. Such was the efficiency and satisfaction with which he discharged his duties as constable that he has since been renominated and re-elected to the same position, which he still holds. Mr. and Mrs. Adams are both members of the Farber Baptist church. Mr. A. is a member of the Knights of Honor, a mutual life association.

William S. Adams

farmer, post-office, Vandalia. Mr. Adams' father, Heber W. Adams, was one of the early settlers of Pike county, having come to this State and settled in that county as early as 1833. He was afterwards married to Miss Elizabeth Reading, and they had a family of ten children, William S. being the eldest. William S. Adams was born in that county on the 1st day of July, 1850. His father was a farmer by occupation, and to this calling the son was brought up. He was educated in the com¬ mon schools of his neighborhood and on reaching manhood engaged in farming for himself. On the 14th of October, 1874, he was married to Miss Rosealtha Johnson. Mrs. Adams was born in Pike county, June 12, 1850, and was ^daughter of LeRoy and Sarah C. Johnson, both formerly of Kentucky, but who settled in Pike county in 1836. Mr. Adams continued farming in Pike county until 1880, when, hav¬ ing land in Audrain, he came to this county, and settled on his present farm. He has a good farm of 160 acres, with substantial fences, com¬ fortable buildings and other excellent improvements. Mr. Adams is a man of industry and irreproachable character, and is well respected in the community. Mr. and Mrs. A. have two children : Genevia C., and Heber Roy. Both parents are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. Mr. A.'s father still resides in Pike county and is a well-to-do farmer in that county.

Henry Ahrens

farmey and stock raiser. It is a rule to which there are but few ex¬ ceptions that the German-Americans as farmers are industrious, frugal aud successful, and as citizens are law abiding and true to every ob¬ ligation as men. Mr. Ahrens is no exception to this rule. Born in

Prussia in 1843, he came with his parents, Bernard and Susanna, to this country, when he was a lad ten years of age. The family settled in Osage county, Missouri, where Henry was brought up on his fa¬ ther's farm. When tweuty-one years of age, in 1864, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Samboler, also originally of Prussia, but reared in Osage county. Mr. Ahrens engaged in farming in that county for himself about the time of his marriage, and continued it there with success for about seventeen years when, in 1881, he removed to Audrain county and settled on the farm where he now resides. Not afraid to work, and expecting to succeed in life only by honest indus¬ try, Mr. Ahrens devoted himself to his farm affairs with an energy and perseverance' that soon began to bear abundant fruit. When he came to this county he had prospered so well that he was able to buy a fine farm of nearly 300 acres, which he still owns and which is one of the choice places in the township. He has 265 acres of land in cultiva¬ tion or pasturage, and his place has a good meadow and excellent im¬ provements. An intelligent, business-like farmer, he has fixed his place up in a neat, convenient and substantial manner. Mr. and Mrs. Ahrens have two children : Laborious and Mary. He and wife are members of the Catholic church.

Captain Richard S. Alcoke

farmer and stock raiser, post-office, Vandalia. Few men in Audrain county whose lives have been confined to the walks of private life, have careers more worthy of record in the present volume than the subject of this sketch. Capt Alcoke's early advantages were by no means the most favorable, yet he has lived a life well worthy the envy of many whose opportunities have been all that they could wish. In industrial and business affairs he has risen from a youth almost penni¬ less, and with no more than the hope of ordinary young men for ulti¬ mate success, to the position, even before the meridian of life is reached, of one of the foremost farmers and substantial, successful stock dealers in Audrain county, a county noted for its large number of wealthy and prominent agriculturists. His career as a soldier in the army of the Union during the greatest of modern wars is one of conspicuous gallantry. Richard S. Alcoke was born in Louisville, Kentucky, July, 28, 1834. His father, a native of Virginia, was Robert H. Alcoke, who came out to the Blue Grass State from the Old Dominion early in life, and was afterwards married to Miss Amelia Scott, formerly of Indiana. Capt. Alcoke's father was a car¬ penter by trade, which he followed through most of his life. In 1840 the family removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and six years later they came to Switzerland county, Indiana, where Richard S. grew up and re¬ ceived his education, which was limited to the instruction afforded at the common schools. Before he had reached his majority, however, Capt. Alcoke came to St. Louis ; and for six years afterwards was a pilot on the Mississippi, from St- Louis down to New Orleans. He became known in boat circles as one of the best pilots who ever ran the Mississippi. But becoming tired of river life, and desiring more settled employment, in 1858 he went to New York City, where he engaged in book-keeping and followed that occupation with success, and with satisfaction to his employer, up to the outbreak of the war. When the Rebellion broke out he held no half-way views as to the duty of the government, but believed that the Union ought to be re¬ stored at all hazards. Earnest in his convictious, and having the manhood and courage to act upon them , he threw himself into the conflict with all the ardor and enthusiasm of his nature. He became a mem¬ ber of Co. K, of the 57th New York Yol. Inft., of which he was made fifth sergeant. This regiment became noted in the progress of the war as one of the most gallant and intrepid in the Union service. Such were Capt. Alcoke's efficiency and bravery as a soldier that by the fall of 1862 he had risen by regular promotion through the intermediate ranks to the captaincy of his company. This company he led during the remainder of the service, and until he was honorably discharged in 1864 on account of disability resulting from wounds he had re¬ ceived. Capt. Alcoke took a brave part in many of the hardest fought battles of the war, including Fair Oaks, Gane's Mill, Peach Orchard, Savage Station, White Oaks, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Fredericks¬ burg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Cold Harbor and Petersburg. At Fredericksburg he lost his left arm, and at Peters¬ burg he was shot through the left breast and lung with a minnie ball. Capt. Alcoke was mustered out of the service on the 17th of October, 1864. Following his retirement from the service, he returned to New York City and resumed book-keeping, which he continued for about six years. In 1870, desiring an out-door, active life, and having al¬ ways had an inclination for farming pursuits, he came West with the view of engaging; in handling stock and farming. Here he bought his present place, which contains a fine body of 320 acres. Capt. Alcoke has one of the finest improved farms in the county. A man of taste and culture, and engaging in farming and the stock business in an intelligent, business-like way, he has improved his place so that it is well adapted to the purposes for which it is intended; and, withal, everything is neat and substantial. He has an elegant residence, being; the second one he has erected, the first having been burned down. Capt. Alcoke has been entirely successful as a farmer and stock dealer and is one of the leading agriculturists of the county. As a citizen he is public-spirited, and believes in doing every¬ thing that will redound to the improvement of the county. In the fall of 1870 he was married to Miss K. M. Mannell, a native of New York City, where she was reared and educated. Mrs. Alcoke is a lady of marked intelligence and culture, and has a decided taste for literature. She is one of the best informed ladies in the county, and is singularly engaging and interesting in conversation. It is under¬ stood that she is a most excellent neighbor, and is much esteemed by those around her. One of the finest libraries in the county is to be found at Capt. Alcoke's residence, for he, himself, is a man of great fondness for reading and study. The Captain and Mrs. A. have two interesting children, Florence and Daisy.

retail dealer in wines, liquors, cigars, etc., Vandalia. Like most of the citizens of Vandalia, or at least a large number of them, Mr. Balthrope is a native Missourian. He was born in Ralls county, October 31, 1841, and was a son of Lewis and Phyana (Wellman) Balthrope, his father originally of Virginia, but his mother formerly of Alabama. Lewis Balthrope came to Missouri in an early day and was for many years a prosperous farmer of Ralls county. There were six children in the family besides J. W. He was reared principally in Ralls county and followed farming in that county up to 1876 ; however, during the war he was in the Confederate army from the spring of 1861 to the surrender at Shreveport, La., in May, 1865. He served as a private soldier through the entire conflict, and bravely did his duty as a plighted trooper of the Southern cause. Several years after the war, having returned to Ralls county and resumed farming, he was married, in January, 1868, to Miss Alice E. Sperry, formerly of Kentucky. In 1876 Mr. Balthrope came to Vandalia where he engaged in merchan¬ dising ; from that he went to milling, and afterwards was in the livery business. Later along he resumed merchandising, which he followed up to the time of opening his present business house. He carries an excellent stock of goods in his line, and keeps one of the most orderly and civilly conducted houses in the county. Mr. B. is a lawabiding, worthy citizen, and is a credit to the business in which he is engaged, which is not always true of dealers in other lines of busi- farmer. Mr. Barnes is another one of those thrifty Illinois farmers who have settled in Audrain county within the last few years. He was originally from Pennsylvania, born in Washington county on the 12th of May, 1829. He was a son of William Barnes, Sr., and wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Lawson, both of old and respected families of the Keystone State. After William Barnes, Jr., grew up, he was married in his native county, March 4, 1852, to Miss Margaret Hill, a daughter of William Hill, of Washington county, Pa. Shortly after his marriage Mr. Barnes, Jr., removed to Illinois and settled in Pike county, where he resided for over twenty-five years. He became a well-to-do farmer in Illinois, but desiring to avail himself of the op¬ portunity presented of buying land at cheap rates in Missouri, and believing that the lands here would soon be as high priced as similar lands are in Illinois, he sold out in the Prairie State in 1880, and in the fall of the following year came to Audrain county, where he bought his present place. Here Mr. Barnes has nearly 200 acres of good land all under fence and in a good state of cultivation. His improve¬ ments are such as might be expected of an early settler of the State. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes have a family of seven children : John H., Thomas, Sarah E., now Mrs. Francis W. Potter, of Illinois; James William, David B., Mary M. and Albert N. Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of the Old School Presbyterian Church.

farmer and stock raiser, post-office, Vandalia. Among the prominent citizens of Cuivre township, who not only contribute largely to its material wealth and prosperity by their industry and intelligence, but who give tone and character to the community in which they live by their high standing and social influence, is the subject of the present sketch, Mr. Barnett. He comes of that old county which has given to the State some of her foremost citizens, time-honored and wealthy Old Pike, in which his father was one of the pioneer settlers, coming there from Kentucky when the smoke of the Indian's wigwam still rose above the green wilderness, and when the sad voiced wolf and slow-paced bear were still habitats of its ancient forests. Robert Bar¬ nett settled in Pike county away back in 1816, the day of block-houses and before the era of stick chimneys had dawned, even when corn was ground between stones which each family had for their own use, and when the music of the meal grater was heard in the land during the season of hardening roasting ears. He was a worthy, brave-hearted old pioneer, with brain and muscle to lay the foundation of civilization in a new country. With ax in hand he cleared away the forest on which he settled, and made himself a comfortable home, where he reared a large and worthy family of children. He became one of the substantial men and honored old citizens of Pike county, and died there at the venerable age of 79 years, December 20, 1875, sinking to rest amid the esteem, for his long and useful life, and the sad regret, for his taking off', of all who knew him. His wife, before her marriage, Miss Matilda Pritchett, is still living, a white-haired, motherly old lady, one of the beloved old mothers in Israel of Pike county. She bore her husband a family of nine children, and six are still living, including W. O., the subject of the present sketch. W. O. Barnett was born in Pike county, on the 30th of June, 1836. After he grew up he followed farming in that county, and the war coming on, he was an ardent Union man and offered himself as a volunteer for the ser¬ vice of the country. Although he enlisted three times in the regular Union army, he was not accepted on account of physical disability. Notwithstanding this he served three years in the State militia for the maintenance of the government, which the valor of Washington and the hero fathers of the Revolution established. After his military service, Mr. Barnett returned quietly to the pursuits of peace, and became a worthy farmer and well respected citizen of Pike county. In 1863 he met the lady who was destined soon to become his devoted wife. She was a Miss Sallie Shattuck, by nativity a fair daughter of Philadelphia, to whom he was married March 19, 1863. Her parents were Artemus L. and Maria (Hickey) Shattuck, who removed to Pike county a few years before the war. After his happy marriage Mr. Barnett went to work with a lighter heart and more willing hands to make a worthy home for his charming wife. The seasons prospered his industry with abundant harvests, and he has steadily accumulated property. Heaven having prospered him in his family, he removed to Audrain county in order to carry on his farming operations on a more extensive scale, and to get land for his children when the time comes for them to start out in life. Here Mr. Barnett has followed farming and stock raising and has been very successful. He is one of the best farmers in Cuivre township, and has a fine place of over 300 acres of land and large numbers of different kinds of stock. Mr. and Mrs. Barnett have three children : Laura L., Daisy E. and Robert G.

Mrs. Barnett, whom the writer well knew as Sallie Sh'attuck in the days long agone in the classic suburbs of New Harmony, is a lady of the rarest charms of mind and conversation, and in those days was the belle of all the country round about. Mr. and Mrs. Barnett's home is one where the deity of hospitality presides supreme.

Jesse Barnett

proprietor of Barnett's livery, feed and sale stables, Vandalia. At the age of ten years Mr. Barnett was left an orphan by the death of his father, and he was therefore compelled to make his own way in the world as best he could. His mother survived her husband's death for many years, and was a woman singularly devoted to her family. So far as motherly sympathy and encouragement could go, Jesse Bar¬ nett was not without paternal care and advice. But those who have been reared under a father know the blessings of his council and in¬ fluence upon their lives, to say nothing of the material help he ren¬ ders in preparing them for future usefulness and starting them out in the world. This advantage Jesse Barnett never knew, but, notwith¬ standing, he has gradually come up in life, developing a worthy character for useful citizenship, and-has been fairly successful in ac¬ cumulating some of the substantial evidences of prosperity. He came to Vandalia in 1875 and established his present business here, which he has since conducted with good judgment and a satisfactory degree of success. Mr. Barnett's livery business, both in the quality of his stock and the custom he has, would do credit to a town much larger than Vandalia. Having good buildings and first-class horses and vehicles, his stables have acquired a wide and enviable reputation with the traveling public, and are even more popular locally. By nativity and bringing up Mr. Barnett is a son of Audrain county, having been born and reared within its borders. His parents, John W. and Aretta (Willingham) Barnett, were among the earliest settlers of the county. They came here from Virginia in about 1830, and settled near Mexico, where they reared their families, and where the father died in 1848. The mother survived him until 1874. They had a family of ten chil¬ dren, but two of whom are now living: Thomas, of Mexico, and Jesse, of Vandalia. Jesse Barnett became a farmer after he grew up, to which, indeed, he was reared, and which he followed up to the time of his removal to this place. On the 23d of February, 1860, he was married to Miss Dorothy, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Spotsworth) Mase, formerly of Pike county. Mr. and Mrs. B. have one child, Charlotte. Mrs. Barnett is a lady of great strength of character and superior intelligence, and contributes not a little by her fine judgment and business qualifications to her husband's success. Attract¬ ive in personal appearance, she is even more charming in manners and disposition. Mr. Barnett started to the Confederate army during the war with Porter ; he was in the fight at Newark, Kirksville and Walnut Creek, where they were overpowered and Porter disbanded his men. Mr. B. is a member of the I. O. O. F.

William N. Barney

farmer. To any one who knows anything of the early history of the eastern part of Audrain county, the name of Barney is a familiar one. Timothy Barney, the father of William N., was one of the early settlers and well and favorably known citizens of this part of the county. For over a generation he was one of the old landmarks of the county. He was a Pennsylvanian by nativity, and came out here away back in 1835, nearly a half a century ago. He was married be¬ fore his removal to this State. His wife's maiden name was Catherine Sox, also a Pennsylvanian. He was an intelligent, thrifty, hard¬ working man, such a man as was calculated to lead the way by his stalwart character, great industry and boundless hospitality, for civili¬ zation into a new country. He settled on Cuivre, where he made himself a home and opened a farm. To become wealthy was not his ambition. He strove to become comfortably situated in life, so that he could enjoy himself in a substantial, sober way, and entertain his friends on the plain, comfortable fare of an honest farmer. For years his house was a stopping place in the midst of an almost wilderness for travelers and others, and the latch string of his door always hung on the outside for any neighbor or worthy passer-by. Few men dis¬ pensed hospitality more generally and generously than Timothy Bar¬ ney. He was such a man as posterity should be proud to remember and venerate, for he was a typical, great-hearted, noble old pioneer settler of the country. The memory of such men we cannot afford to leave behind the veil of oblivion. He is now spending the twilight years of his life with a worthy daughter of his, whose home is in Texas. William N. Barney, the subject of this sketch, was born on the old Barney homestead in this county on the 28th of October, 1842. As he grew up he had the usual school advantages of the time in this section of the country, perhaps not the best, but still sufficient for all the practical purposes of a farmer's education. Under his father he was brought up to principles of strictest integrity and to habits of steady industry, neither of which he has forsaken in subsequent years.

He remained with his father some years after he had attained his ma¬ jority. On the 25th of December, 1868, he was married to Miss Mary Frisby, a daughter of James Frisby, formerly of Illinois, but Mrs. Barney was principally reared in this county, her parents having moved here when she was in girlhood. After marriage it's as natural for families to seek separate homes for themselves as it is for bees to go to independent hives. So, in obedience to this great law of nature, two years after his marriage, young Mr. Barney went to a home of his own. At that time he bought the land on which he now resides, where he opened his present farm. Like his father he is a frankhearted, open, generous man, industrious and sufficiently thrifty to accumulate around him the substantial comforts of life. He has made himself a neat farm and is cozily fixed on his place. A sociable, clever man, he is well liked by all his neighbors and acquaintances. During the war Mr. Barney sided with the Union cause, although he thought a great deal of his neighbors arA friends on the other side, and like a parent correcting his c' fldren he was sorry that he was under the painful necessity of Assisting to whip them back into the Union. But he felt that -,/e had it to do, and he went about it in a sensible, thorough way. In 1862 he enlisted in the militia and served up to 1864, when he re-enlisted and served until the close of the war. His policy was to scare his Confederate friends all he could and hurt them as little as possible, but still to get them back into the Union. After the war he was one of the first to kill the fatted calf and give them a feast under the gegis of the old Stars and Stripes. Mr. and Mrs. Barney have a family of two children : Nellie and Daisy. Four are deceased : William F., died in October, 1878, in his twentieth year; James T., Nettie and Charles died in tender ages. Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church.

Charles J. Beeby

farmer and breeder of fine stock. Mr. Beeby, one of the enterpris¬ ing stock men aflU solid citizens of Cuivre township, on his father's side is of English parentage, William Beeby, his father, having been born and reared in Lincolnshire, England. On his mother's side, also, Mr. Beeby is of English descent, his mother, whose maiden name was Lucy Patchet, having been a native of Boston, England. In 1836 the family of three children removed to the United States and settled in Illinois, where the father was engaged in farming with success for many years. Charles J., the subject of the present sketch, was born in Madison county of that State, on the 20th of

March, 1841. His youth was characterized by similar incidents and surroundings common to the other boys of the neighborhood. His time, after he became old enough to attend school and be of service on the farm, was well occupied either at study in the school-room or at farm work, the latter during the cropping season, and the former mainly during the winter months. Coming up in these circum¬ stances, he developed a good, physical constitution, learned thor¬ oughly the practical details of farm life, and also succeeded in obtaining a fair education. Thus when the time arrived that it was proper for him to start out in life for himself he was well fitted for the activities and responsibilities of useful and successful industry. Following the way of all the world, while still in early manhood he took to himself a worthy and gentle partner of his joys and sorrows, as well of his hopes and disappointments and of his successes and re¬ verses. On the 10th of March, 1863, Miss Mary A. Roach, a young lady of singular charms of h nd and person and of an amiable and devoted disposition, became bride. She was a daughter of John F. Roach, formerly of the Bi le Grass State, but she, herself, was native to and brought up in Illinois. Mr. Beeby having given him¬ self over to the occupation of farming, followed that worthy and independent calling with perseverance and intelligence, and not with¬ out substantial returns, in Illinois, until 1867. Lands being compar¬ atively exceedingly high in Illinois, in view of prices of similar land in Missouri, he determined to come to this State in order to secure a place at reasonable figures commensurate with the magnitude of the farming and stock operations he desired to carry t>n. Accordingly, removing to this State he found a body of land in Audrain county, which he believed to be suitable to his purposes, and which he suc¬ ceeded in purchasing at a fair price. Casting his fortunes, therefore, with the people and the future of this county, he went to work to ful¬ fill the ambition by which he was stirred - to become a leading farmer and fine stock man of the community. Mr. Beeby is one of those clear-headed, intelligent men who have the sagacity *to see in what direction success in life may be achieved, and subordinating all their energies and activities to the pursuit of this course, thus ultimately attain the object in view. It is too generally the custom with farmers to shape their affairs with respect alone to the interest of each season, not looking forward with sufficient appreciation to the future. Thus it is that we have so many who follow in the old beaten track of raising hogs and corn from year to year for the markets, and if they raise any other class of stock it is mainly stock of an inferior quality.

The nickle an inch from the eye hides the dollar a foot away. Mr. Beeby is not one of this class of farmers. He perceives the advan¬ tage of fine stock raisins: as the most lucrative of all the agricultural industries, and to this mainly he is directing his attention. His farm is exceptionally well adapted to stock raising, both naturally and in point of the improvements he has put upon it. His ideas of im¬ proving a farm and the proper methods of conducting it he brought with him from Illinois. The result is he has made his place a neat, typical, Northern stock farm. Everything about it is in tidy, pre¬ sentable shape and, withal, his improvements are of a substantial and durable kind. His place contains 500 acres, which includes large till¬ able fields and ample pastures for stock, and the farm is abundantly watered. Mr. Beeby carries on grain growing to an important ex¬ tent, but makes a specialty of fine stock, principally short horn cat¬ tle and Merino and Cotswold sheep. He has a herd of fine short horn cattle headed by Short-horn, one of the yvnest blooded anirpals in the country. His flock of sheep is without a superior, so far as quality is concerned, in this section of the State. Looking at Mr. Beeby's place, large and tastily improved as it is, and considering the value of his fine stock and the importance of his farming operations, it hardly appears reasonable that he has accomplished so much in comparatively so short a time, for he is still hardly a middle-aged man. Mr. and Mrs. Beeby have a family of eight children: Lucy A., Alice L., William F., Charles C., Mary E., Arthur J., Carrie and Edward L., the latter the eldest. Mr. Beeby also makes a specialty of stall-feeding stock for the wholesale markets, which has been an important source of his success.

Judge William B. Beshears

retired farmer and business man, Vandalia. Judge Beshears, who in a few months will have completed the allotted age of three-score and ten years, is an old gentleman'still well preserved in mind and body, and has brought down with him to his old age the confidence and esteem of those who have known him through the long years of his past career. His life has been one of great activity and industry, and has not been left without the substantial rewards of energetic and well directed employment. Though not a wealthy man, he has an ample competency to support him and his family through the twilight of his old age, and until the sun shall sink down below the Western sea on his career forever. Judge Beshears was born in Montgomery county, Kentucky, on the 24th day of August, 1814. He was reared in that county up to the age of nineteen, when his parents, Robert and Elizabeth (Whitton) Beshears, his father a native of Virginia, but his mother formerly of Maryland, came to Missouri and settled in Pike county, where the father died in 1872 and the mother two years before. Judge Beshears was reared to the occupation of a farmer, and on the 10th of March, 1836, he was maried, in Ralls county, to Miss Zethlinds Llewellyn. He followed farming in that county after his marriage until 1847, when he removed to Clark county, where he engaged in merchandising after having farmed there for about ten years. In 1847 Judge Beshears returned to Pike county, but four years afterwards removed to Montgomery county where he was en¬ gaged in both farming and merchandising, or rather one or the other, for about fourteen years. In Montgomery county he was very suc¬ cessful, both as a farmer and in business, and attained to an honorable prominence as an influential citizen of the county. While a resident there he was three times elected a member of the county court, and held the office continuously; 'from the time of his first election up to 1863, when he was ousted by operation of the test oath prescribed by the Drake constitution, which he refused to take. In 1865 Judge Beshears returned to Pike county, but in the fall of the same year he located in Ralls county, going, however, to Frankfort where he en¬ gaged in merchandising. In about 1867 Judge Beshears settled on a farm in Pike county, where he remained for several years. Follow¬ ing this, in 1870, he removed to Curryville, where he was engaged in selling goods forabouta year. Soon afterwards Judge Bashears went to Ralls county, but shortly settled near Vandalia where he lived until January, 1880, when he came to this place. Since coming to Vanda¬ lia Judge Beshears has led a retired life, having withdrawn from all business and farming interests. During the years of his activity he was an extensive land-holder, and dealt somewhat largely in real estate - trading, buying and selling - and owning different farms at different times, this fact necessitated frequent removal of his place of residence, so that instead of making his home in one countv all the time, he has lived wherever his landed and other interests required his personal presence. Judge Beshears lost his first wife in 1866. She left him six children, of a family of nine born to them. The living are as fol¬ lows : James H., Thomas J., William H., Bazil L., Pauline E., now Mrs. Shackelford, and John G. Judge Beshears' present wife, before her marriage to him, was a Mrs. Margaret Elizabeth Hutchinson, of Pike county. Her maiden name was Rogers, and she was a widow lady at the time of her marriage to the Judge. But two of the chil¬ dren of a family of five from this union are now living: Verna L. and

Pearly L. By her former marriage Mrs. Beshears had two children, one of whom is still living, Charles L. Judge Beshears is a man of fine intelligence, wide and varied information, and a most interesting and entertaining conversationalist. He has had a long experience in business and public affairs, and has been a diligent reader, both of the current events of the times and of historical and general literature, so that he is well prepared to talk on most of the questions interest¬ ing to the generality of men. No pleasanter hour can be spent than with him when he is disposed to discuss questions of general concern on which he is posted. He is a man whose acquaintance every one farmer, post-office, Vandalia. Mr. Bird, one of the best educated men in this section of the State, and a man of extensive and varied general information, has been engaged in farming in Audrain county for nearly ten years. Mr. Bird comes of two prominent New England families, - the Birds and Ridgleys, and was born in North Yarmouth, Maine, September 25, 1828. His father, a native of Massachusetts, was Lemial Bird, and was married in that State to Miss Rhoda Ridgley, after which they removed to Maine, subsequently returning to Massachusetts, whence, in 1836, the family came West and settled in Warren county, Illinois, removing eight years afterwards to Macoupin county, where the mother is still living at the advanced age of eightythree. When twelve years of age Richard left his home in Warren county and came to Alton, Illinois, where he remained two years with his uncle, Richard Ridgley, of that city. He then went to St. Louis, where he remained with another uncle, the Hon. Stephen Ridgley, until the spring of 1851, when he went East for the purpose of com¬ pleting his education. He entered Gilmanton Academy, of Belknap county, New Hampshire, where he took a thorough preparatory course for college. Following this he entered Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, in which he continued until his graduation from that in 1857. Having been intended for the ministry, he then matriculated at Andover Theological Seminary, but the hard study and confine¬ ment incident to his college course proved too severe for his constitu¬ tion, and his health broke completely down before completing his theological course. Mr. Bird being, therefore, compelled to quit college, returned home and remained on the farm with his father in order to recover his health. Becoming attached to farming pursuits, he determined to devote himself exclusively to agricultural interests.

As soon as he was able to begin work, he commenced farming for himself and continued it in Illinois up to 1875. He soon turned his attention to fruit growing, which became his specialty and which he followed in Illinois along with farming during the whole time of his subsequent residence there. In the meantime, on the 3d of January, 1865, he was married to Miss Mary A. Y. Adams, a daughter of E. M. and Elizabeth (Miller) Adams, formerly of Nova Scotia, but later of Illinois. Mrs. Bird's father was for nearly twelve years a soldier in the British army, and was for five years stationed at Gibraltar on the coast of Spain. From Illinois Mr. Bird came to Audrain county, where he bought land and improved his present farm. Mr. Bird is cultivating about 300 acres of land, over half of which he owns, and the balance he is expecting soon to purchase. He is engaged in gen¬ eral farming and stock raising, and is meeting with excellent success in both. Though comparatively a new-comer in this county, he has made a favorable impression upon the people, and is looked upon as not only an energetic, enterprising farmer, but as one of the best citizens of the township. Mr. and Mrs. B. have four children : Edward E., Stella M., Milton P., and Leander A. Mr. Bird is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the order of Odd Fellows. He and wife are members of the M. E. Church, in which Mr. Bird is an active class-leader.

Cash Blackburn

of C. Blackburn & Bro., druggists, Vandalia and Marshall, Missouri. There is probably not a more prominent family in Kentucky than the Blackburns. They have been leaders in public life, in society and in business and professional affairs from the earliest days of that State. We cannot take the space here to mention the many dis¬ tinguished citizens of the Blue Grass State which this family has produced. Nor is it necessary. In this country every one stands or falls by his own merits or deserts. This is particularly true of the Blackburns. They are especially an independent, self-reliant class of people - each one relying on his own energy and character for his advancement in life. Mr. Cash Blackburn, the subject of the present sketch, and a representative of the old Kentucky family whose name he bears, possesses many of the strong characteristics of his lineage. Still a young man, by his own industry and intelligence he has come to be one of the successful business men of this section of Missouri. He is a son of Hon. W. F. Blackburn, of Shelby county, Missouri, and was born in Grant county, Kentucky, June 14, 1854. Young

Blackburn's mother, before her marriage, was a Miss Charlotte Maddex, also of a well-respected Kentucky family. When the son, Cash, was quite young, the family came to Missouri, and located in Shelby county. Cash grew up in that county and was educated at Hunnewell, where his parents resided. When he was nineteen years of age he began to learn the drug business at Hunnewell, in which he continued, in the capacity of a clerk, for about two years. Having mastered the details of the business during this time, for he was a diligent student of pharmacy, he decided to engage in business for himself, having a little means to start on. But about this time he was offered a clerkship in a drug store at Vandalia, at a tempting salary, which he decided to accept. Accordingly, coming here, he followed clerking in the business up to January, 1879, when he bought a half interest in the store. Two years later his brother bought the other half interest and they have since carried on the business together. They have had more than usual success as druggists. In fact so marked has been their progress in the business that, in 1882, they established another store, the latter being located at Marshall, Missouri. This is one of the finest drug stores in Central Missouri. Their Vandalia store is also tastily kept and well conducted. Not¬ withstanding Mr. Blackburn has been very attentive to his private interests, he has also found time to take an enterprising and liberal part in all movements designed for the promotion of the common weal, material and otherwise, of the community in which he lives. In a word, he is one of the most public-spirited of the young business men of Vandalia, and is a useful and highly respected citizen. Mr. Blackburn was married April 16, 1879, to Miss Lou Bell, a daughter of Dr. J. T. Bell, whose family is one of the most prominent, socially, in Louisiana, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. B. have one child, May Bell.

Charles E. Blain

retail dealer in wines, liquors, cigars, etc., Vandalia. Mr. Blain is a representative of an old and highly respectable family of Pike county. His father, William W. Blain, was a native of Virginia, and was a brick mason by trade. He was married in Virginia to Miss Annie M. Turner, of a family prominent in the Old Dominion and afterwards in Missouri. Soon after his marriage William W. Blain removed to Missouri and located at Bowling Green, the county seat of Pike county, where he lived for many years, and until his death. He became the leading contractor and builder in the line of brick-work at Bowling Green, and one of the most prominent builders in Pike county, if not in the whole of North-east Missouri. He built the first brick court¬ house ever erected in the county, and hundreds of other costly build¬ ings, residences, business houses, hotels, etc. He was a man of fine business ability, and his energy and enterprise hardly knew any bounds. Besides carrying on his building business, almost exclusively as a contractor, manufacturing brick and erecting houses, he was prominently identified with other interests. For over 30 years he ran the leading hotel of Bowling Green, and one of the best houses in that part of the country. It was a large brick structure erected by him¬ self, an ornament to the town, and exceptionally well adapted to the purposes for which it was intended. He was a typical landlord, hos¬ pitable, generous and accommodating in every sense of the word, and it seemed to be his only study to make his guests fat and happy. He also ran a large livery stable for many years, perhaps the best in the county. He was, moreover, identified with important mercantile and other interests from time to time. He became cpiite well-to-do in life, and if he had been avaricious he could have been a more than ordinarily wealthy man, for he had all the qualities that bring abun¬ dant success in life to a marked degree. He died in 1871 universally regretted, and his name will be remembered for generations in Pike county as that of one of its best citizens. His widow still survives him, and is left with a comfortable estate. There were nine children of the family, all of whom, however, lived to reach maturity. Some of them are among the prominent residents of the communities in which they live. Maggie is the wife of Gov. R. A. Campbell, of St. Louis, the present Lieutenant-Governor of the State, and, it is to be hoped, the next Governor of Missouri. Dr. J. C. Blain is at present a prominent citizen of Wellsville, Mo., and a leading dentist of that place. Charles E., the subject of this sketch, was born in Bowling Green, April 17, 1850, and was reared and educated in Bowling Green. He learned his father's trade as he grew up, and afterwards assisted him in carrying on his hotel and other business. Later alono; he went out to see somethins: of the world, and worked at his trade in various States in the West and South, principally in Colo¬ rado and Texas. In 1877 he returned to his home in Old Pike, and afterwards was married there June 13, 1880, to Miss Annie B. Spears,, a daughter of J. C. Spears, or "Uncle Jake," as everybody calls him, one of the best hearted men of Pike county and a worthy citizen of Bowlins: Green. In the fall of 1881 Mr. Blain came to Yandalia and engaged in his present business, which he has since followed. If any man ever did credit to his business, then he does double credit to the business in which he is at present engaged ; withal, a worthy and creditable business when it is worthily and creditably carried on, as he conducts it.

physician and surgeon, Vandalia. Dr. Bland, one of the plain, sub¬ stantial citizens of Vandalia, and one of the best physicians in this part of the country, though one of the most unassuming and least pretentious, has been engaged in the practice of his profession for nearly twenty years, the whole time in and near this vicinity. By nativity and bringing up he is a son of old Pike, that time-honored old county which has given to so many communities many of their best citizens. Dr. Bland was born in that county on the 30t.h of July, 1838. He, too, is of Kentucky parentage. His father, Thomas Bland, removed to Pike county, bringing his family, in an early day of the country, and was a miller by occupation, which he followed for many years. The Doctor's mother, before her mar¬ riage, was Miss Elizabeth Duncan. Both parents were natives of the Blue Grass State. They had a family of nine children, Dr. Bland being the seventh. The Doctor's early education was limited to the ordinary schools of the neighborhood in which he was brought up. Still, being a youth of sober, steady habits, of an inquiring mind, and with a marked taste for study, he succeeded in getting a good general English education. Deciding to devote himself to the medical profession, he entered upon a regular course of study under Dr. Stephen J. Reynolds, one of the leading physicians of Pike county. Pursuing his studies with great diligence under Dr. Reynolds, who always takes a special interest in the instruction of young men under his care, fitting themselves for the profession, he made rapid progress, and was very thorough in the knowledge of the books which he studied. In 1863, following his course of reading, he matriculated at the St. Louis Medical College, in which he continued as a student, until his graduation from that institution in March, 1866, two years later. A marked characteristic of Dr. Bland is that there is no pretense about him. Whatever he does, he does in earnest, in a plain common-sense manner ; thoroughly, going directly to the point in view. So when he read medicine. He read it not because custom and forms required him to go through a regular course of reading, but in order to learn and to qualify himself for the intelligent and successful practice of his chosen profession. Maintaining the same spirit while at college, he came away not only with a diploma, but in reality with thorough qualifications for the practice. He located at New Harmony, about five or six miles from this place, and continued there for about eight years. He built up a large and solid practice, having anions: his clientele the best and most substantial citizens of the surrounding country. And his New Harmony practice has never left him. In sickness he is still sent for by his old friends and pa¬ trons. The railroad having come through this part of Audrain county, and Vandalia being established here, in 1874 the Doctor moved over on the road to this place. Here he has since resided, and has built up in the vicinity the same class of practice that he had over at New Harmony. A man of sterling character and solid personal worth, these qualities, united with his unquestioned skill as a physician always recommend him to the confidence and esteem of the better class of people wherever he lives. Dr. Bland was married in 1869, March 17, to Miss Sallie C. Duncan, of Pike county. They have three children : Mary E., Thomas L. and Warren W. The Doctor is in fairly com¬ fortable circumstances, and is looked upon as one of the best citizens of Vandalia. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for over ten years.

William H. Boulden

farmer and stock raiser. Mr. Boulden is one of those neat, Northern farmers, so many of whom have settled in this section of the State since the war, to the great benefit of the country. He is a native of Delaware, but has lived in Illinois since he was thirteen years of age, and may be said to have there received his ideas and learned his method of farming. He was a son of Frisby and Sarah (Davis) Boulden, both natives of Delaware, where William H. was born on the 18th of May, 1837. His parents both died in that State, his mother in 1845, when William H. was but eight years of age, and his father in about 1870. William H. started out for himself early in life. When but thirteen years of age he decided to cast his fortunes with the great West. Coming out across the Alleghanies, he came on to the Mississippi valley and finally made his home in Pike county, Illinois. There he grew up on a farm, and having to work his own way through life, he had but little or no opportunities to acquire an education. Ap¬ preciating, however, the importance of book learning, as well as a knowledge of the practical affairs of life, he occupied his leisure time in study, and thus as he grew up succeeded in obtaining a sufficient education for all practical purposes. Having had to work for his own maintenance, he thus became inured to hard labor and learned that by industry, only, was prosperity to be realized. At the time of the outbreak of the war, he was busily occupied in Pike county with his farming interests and was beginning to get something of a start in life. A Northern man by interest and sympathy, as well as believing that the Union should be maintained at all hazards, he was bold and outspoken from the beginning for the suppression of rebellion. At first it was thought that the war would be of only short duration, and that the South would succumb to the superiority of strength and the authority of the government in a few months. But soon it be¬ came manifest that it was to be a war of unparalleled severity, and that it would require the strength of all the loyal States to crush out treason in the South. Recognizing this fact, in the spring of 1862, Mr. Boulden offered himself as a volunteer in the Union army. He enlisted in Co. I, 11th Mo. Yol. Inf. A good citizen and a man of industry and energy, he became an equally good soldier. He followed the flag of his country through four long years of strife, and until it floated throughout the Union "with a State for every star and a star for every State." His time having expired in 1864, he re-enlisted and served until January, 1866. Commencing as a private, he was promoted from time to time for meritorious conduct as a soldier until he attained the rank of sergeant, which he held at the time of his dis¬ charge. Among the manv great death-duels of the war in which he participated are recalled those of Iuka, second Corinth, Jackson, Vicksburg, Nashville and Spanish Fort. He was in engagements of less importance almost without number. After his discharge Mr. Boulden returned to Pike county, Illinois, and resumed farming as an industrious and worthy citizen. The following fall, in November, 1866, he was married to Miss Rebecca J., a daughter of Henry and Rebecca Taylor, of Pike county. Mr. Boulden followed farming in Illinois with energy and substantial success until 1881. Lands being exceptionally high, and apprised of the cheapness and fertility of lands in Audrain county, Missouri, he decided to remove to this county and make his home permanently among its people. Coming here in the fall of that year, he bought the farm on which he now resides, which became his permanent home. The ideas and methods of farming Mr. Boulder had learned in Illinois, he brought with him to this county, and has accordingly made his place one of the neatest, most comfortable and presentable in Cuivre township. Not only is he a tasty farmer, but he conducts his place with an eye to profit, as well. Although his farm is not a large one, containing only 160 acres, he is perhaps as successful a farmer in point of substantial re¬ turns for the capital and labor expended as any one in this part of the county. Such farmers as he are of great advantage to the comrnun- ity. They introduce by example progressive, business-like ways of farming, which are soon taken up by others and thus redound greatly to the success and material prosperity of all around them. Mr. and Mrs. B. have a family of five children : Charles H., Lydia E., Annie R., Alva L. and Leta May. Mr. Boulden has for some time made a specialty of dealing in stock, in which he has been entirely success¬ ful. His farm is well adapted to handling stock, having good grass land and abundance of water, including an unfailing and bounteous well.

W. S. Boyd

farmer and stock raiser, post-office, Vandalia. The United States is noted for being the greatest stock country on the globe, both for the quantity and quality of its stock ; and Kentucky is the leading State in the Union, if not in the amount of stock it produces, in the superior orade and value of its breeds. 'In fact, to the influence of Kentucky on the country is largely due the importance which the stock business in the United States has assumed. The Blue Grass State was settled, originally, mainly from Virginia, and its people found the conditions in the new country far more favorable for raising stock than for any other line of business. Its grass lands have a world wide reputation and its other advantages are hardly less favorable. The result was that stock raising became the all important industry of the State, and verv naturally its people became adepts and experts in the business. Kentuckians have long been known as the finest stock men in the Union, and to such prominence has that State attained in this business, that to-day in London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and most of the other cities of Europe, an exceptionally fine team of horses or saddle-horse can hardly be pointed out which is not from the Blue Grass State. As Kentucky filled up, its farmers came West, some into Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, and some into Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Texas, and into the other Western States ; and in all of these their influence was readily apparent in the impetus which they gave to stock raising. A Kentucky farmer in nine cases out of ten is a stockman, and generally a successful one. So that this section of Missouri, having been largely settled by Kentuckians, has become only second to the Blue Grass State in the importance and quality of its stock business. Among the stock men who came out here in an early day from Kentucky was John Boyd, the father of W. S., who settled in Callaway county in about 1820. In that early day, of course, the advantages for stock raising were not as favorable here as they are now, but still Mr. Boyd's father gave considerable attention to his favorite business and was fairly successful, considering the times and surroundings. A fine judge of stock and with a marked preference for handling them, as might be expected the son inherited his father's inclination for the business, and was brought up to understand it thoroughly. W. S. Boyd was born in Callaway county, on the 15th of March, 1829, and grew up on his father's farm in that county. On reaching manhood, farming and particularly handling stock became his regular and favorite occupation. Coming from the family he did and a worthy descendant from the old Blue Grass State, it is not to be wondered at that he has made a complete success in the calling in which all Kentuckians and the descendants of Kentuckians take a special delight. Young Boyd came across into Audrain county in 1854, being then about twenty-five years of age, and located in Cuivre township for the purpose of following farming and stock raising on a large scale. He had already secured a large tract of land here, and he went to work at improving it with the energy and enterprise that were certain augurs of his ultimate success. At that time the settlers in this township could be counted on one's fingers, and besides being entitled to the distinction, as he now is, as one of the leading citizens and most prominent stock men of the eastern part of the county, he is also one of its oldest settlers. Mr. Boyd improved a large farm and engaged extensivelv in stock raising and in dealing in stock. He prospered abundantly, and as time wore on he became one of the fore¬ most stock men in the county. For years he dealt extensively in mules, of which he still makes a specialty, and he handles large num¬ bers every year. His place consists of 1,600 acres of fine land, and his farm is handsomely improved. Intended for handling stock, it is adapted with singular good judgment by its improvements to this business. Everything is arranged to the best advantage and conven¬ ience. The pastures, fields and meadows are so fenced that stock and grain can be transferred with the least possible trouble. The fences are substantial and the buildings are of a superior class. Mr. Boyd's residence is the finest in the township, a handsome and commodious building erected in 1882. His place is one of marked beauty, the contour of the land being such as to present a handsome landscape to which his fine buildings, well kept fences and large herds of stock lend additional charms. Mr. Boyd is a man of a high order of intelli¬ gence, good education and extensive information acquired both in the practical affairs of life and by reading. As a citizen he occupies a prominent position among the leading men of the county. Mr. Boyd was married in the fall of 1860 to Miss Nancy C. Wright, a daughter of John F. and Elizabeth (Goodman) Wright, of Pike county, but formerly of Virginia. Mrs. Wright is a lady of strong character and a most amiable disposition, highly refined and educated, and presides in her elegant home with a grace and dignity that do honor to her surroundings. Mr. and Mrs. Boyd have a worthy family of seven children : Sallie, William, John, Walter, Eliza, Luella and James. Mr. and Mrs. B03M are members of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Boyd spent two years, from 1849 to 1851, in California, engaged in mining, and not without substantial results. Mr. Boyd's mother's maiden name was Miss Mary F. Scott, of the well known Scott family, of Kentucky, and is still living and resides on her homestead in Callaway county. She was the mother of thirteen children, and seven of them are still living. A venerable and noble-hearted old lady, she is revered and beloved as one of the noble old mothers in the county.

Cephas Bbadbury

of Minor, Tolson & Co., general merchants, Farber. The Bradburys, or at least the branch of the family to which the subject of the present sketch belongs, was originally from Massachusetts, where members of the family for generations past have risen to positions of promi¬ nence in public and business life. Mr. Bradbury's father, however, Nathan Bradbury, was a native of Maine, to which State his parents had removed in an early day. From Maine Nathan Bradbury came out to Ohio, where he was afterwards married to Miss Mehetabel Warren, of the family for which Warren, Ohio, was named. Some years after his marriage Nathan Bradbury removed to Pike county, Illinois, where he made his permanent home and lived until his death. He was a farmer by occupation and was substantially suc¬ cessful in his chosen pursuit. Cephas, one of the younger of his family of children, was born on the farm in Morgan county, III., on the 25th of August, 1828, and remained with his family until he was twenty years of age. As he grew up he assisted on the farm and also acquired a good practical education at the common schools. In 1843, having a natural taste for business pursuits, he obtained a situa¬ tion in a store as clerk, and followed clerking for some three years. In October, 1853, Mr. Bradbury was married in Pike county, Ill., to Miss Emily A. Ward, daughter of William Ward, formerly of In¬ diana. The following year after his marriage Mr. Bradbury engaged in farming, and in 1855 he moved to Knox county, Ill., and followed farming some five years. Returning then to his native county, he farmed there until the close of the war, when he removed to Shelby county, Ill. Mr. Bradbury continued farming in Shelby county for over ten years, but becoming acquainted with the fertility and cheap¬ ness of the lands in Audrain county, Mo., he determined to come to this county, and accordingly in 1876 removed to Audrain county and bought a farm near Farber, where he carried on farming with success for three years. In 1879 he sold this place to advantage and bought another farm, on which he lived until 1882. As a farmer Mr. Bradbury was entirely successful. Commencing without anything to speak of, by industry and good management he steadily accum¬ ulated until he became one of the substantial farmers of the north-eastern part of the county. In 1882, having always had a taste for mercantile pursuits, he became a member of the firm of Minor, Tolson & Co., at Farber, which has been referred to in the sketch of Mr. Minor, on a subsequent page of this volume. This is one of the leading business firms of this part of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Bradbury have a family of three children : Laura, now Mrs. Abram Tolson; Helena, the wife of A. J. Schroll, and Cephas W. Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of the Baptist church. Mr. Bradbury and his business partners have for several years been engaged in buy¬ ing and shipping stock. Mr. B. is a man of high character and busi¬ ness energy, and is looked upon as one of the leading men of Farber and vicinity.

Thomas B. Branstetter

farmer and raiser of fine stock. Mr. Branstetter, a broad-minded and progressive agriculturist of Cuivre township, comes of one of the oldest and most influential families of the western part of Pike county. This family has long been settled in the vicinity of New Harmony, where its representatives are quite numerous and promi¬ nent in the agricultural and business affairs of that section of the county. Perhaps no family in this section of the State can claim so many successful farmers and worthy citizens as the one whose name is borne by the subject of the present sketch. A number of brothers settled in Pike county in the territorial days of this State. Mr. Bran¬ stetter' s father, Frederick Branstetter, came originally from East Tennessee by way of Kentucky, in the latter of which States he was married to Miss Susan Branstetter, a distant relative of his. In 1821 he came on to Missouri and located not far from Ashley, in Pike county, in which county he spent over fifty years of a life as indus- trious and useful as any whose brain and muscle contributed to the early development and subsequent prosperity of that county. Thomas B. was born on his father's farm in Pike county on the 18th of March, 1833. Reared on the farm, he was educated in the common schools of the vicinity, and on attaining manhood he engaged in farming for himself. On the 18th of May, 1866, he was married to Miss Eliza¬ beth Branstetter, a daughter of Peter Branstetter, also a distant rela¬ tive. The same year of his marriage Mr. Branstetter removed to Audrain county and bought land and improved his present farm. He has a place of 200 acres, one of the best stock farms in the township. He has been entirely successful as a farmer, and ranks with the most substantial citizens in this community. Besides farming in a general way, he has made a specialty of breeding fine stock. He has an ex¬ cellent herd of short horn cattle, which includes some of the finest blood in the county. He has found raising fine cattle a most profit¬ able source of income. His stock command a good price wherever and whenever they are offered for sale, for besides showing what they are themselves, his indorsement as to their quality goes very far to ap¬ preciate their value. A man of unquestioned integrity, and an experi¬ enced judge of stock, whenever he recommends an animal the purchaser feels assured that he is getting exactly what is represented. He also raises fine mules and horses, and his representative stock in this line are known far and wide for their excellent and high grade. Mr. Branstetter has shown the intelligence to devote his energy to raising fine stock, seeing that it is but little more trouble, if any, to raise pure blood than cheap stock, whereas the profits are incomparably greater. Mr. and Mrs. B. have a family of three children : Norman T., Mason and Bessie. Four are dead, three in tender years and one in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of the Christian church. Mr. Branstetter is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry.

Simeon M. Branstetter

larmer, and an elder brother of Thomas B., whose sketch precedes this, in which an outline of their family history is given, was born in Pike county on the 3d of December, 1828. Simeon M. grew up on hi3 father's farm in Pike county, and had good common school advant¬ ages. On attaining manhood he started out in life for himself, and went to California in 1850, returning in 1851. Having been reared to habits of industry and frugality, he persevered in the way he was brought up and soon began to accumulate a comfortable start in life.

When twenty-five years of age, desiring to secure himself a home¬ stead, and the better class of land being at that time already taken up in Pike county, he entered a tract in Audrain county, 240 acres, a part of his present homestead. On this he went to work to improve a farm, and applying himself with energy to hard work and econo¬ mizing with intelligence, he soon began to be comfortably situated. Mr. Branstetter, after he had opened a farm in Audrain county and prepared a comfortable home, was married on the 17th of November, 1858, to Miss Lucinda, a daughter of Samuel and Susan Sox, of Audrain county. Mr. Branstetter has continued to reside on the place he first entered in 1852. As the years have circled by he has not failed to improve them to good advantage. He has not only greatly improved his farm, making it one of the choice places of the vicinity, but has added to his landed possessions until he now has nearly 400 acres of fine land. He has in cultivation or pasturage over 300 acres. His homestead has all the conveniences and comforts of modern farm life. He is a progressive farmer and keeps fully up with the advancement of the times. Mr. Branstetter's first wife died in September, 1870. In June, two years afterwards, he was married to Miss Elizabeth J., a daughter of Isaac Orr, of Pike county. By his first wife Mr. Bran¬ stetter reared four children : Stonewall, Sophia, now Mrs. John F. Hamilton; Owen Alexander and Samuel F., the latter the eldest. Mr. Branstetter is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry, and he and wife are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church.

Thomas B. Brown

farmer, like many of the substantial farmers of Audrain county, is a native of old Pike, born on the 25th of November, 1841. Pike county was originally settled mainly by Virginians and Kentuckians, and amoim the former was Mr. Brown's father, T. Woodson Brown. Woodson Brown settled in Pike county in an early day. His wife's maiden name was Lucy B. Hilliard. She was born in North Carolina. They lived on a farm in Pike county, and Woodson Brown was one of the substantial men of that county. Thomas B. grew up on his father's farm and his father being in comfortable circumstances, the son had orood educational advantages. He received a thorough course in excellent common and private schools, and acquired a good know¬ ledge of the learning of the schools. On completing his academic course he engaged in farming, to which occupation he had decided to devote his energies, which he has since followed and as the sequel shows with no mean success. On the 18th of March, 1875, Mr. Brown was married to Miss Edith, a daughter of William Carver, formerly of Virginia, but at that time of Saline county, to which he had re¬ moved from Pike some years before. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have three children : Claud, William G. and Everett W. In the spring of 1880, Mr. Brown removed to Audrain county and settled on his present farm two years afterwards. Mr. Brown has a place of 280 acres, all under fence and in cultivation. His farm is more than ordinarily well im¬ proved, including substantial fences, an excellent blue grass pasture, a timothy meadow, a large commodious two-story brick residence, a comfortable barn, a choice orchard, etc. Mr. Brown is an industri¬ ous farmer and good citizen, and is one of the really valuable men to the community of Cuivre township. He and wife are members of the Baptist Church, and he is a member of the A. O. U. W.

William A. Brown

an intelligent farmer of Cuivre township, who has been a resident of Audrain county for nearly thirteen years, was born in Pike county on the 11th of September, 1842. His father was James Brown, a native of Tennessee. His mother's maiden name was Abigail Lindsey. She was born and reared in Kentucky. James Brown came out to Ken¬ tucky from Tennessee with his parents wh<$n he was a youth, and afterwards was married and moved to Pike county, Missouri. He was one of the early settlers of Pike county, and was well thought of as a citizen and neighbor. He now resides in Lincoln county, where he settled in 1867. William A. was nineteen years of age when the war broke out, but did not enter the army until August, 1864, when he became a member of the 39th Missouri Volunteer Infantry (Union service), and served until discharged in 1865. Excepting his term in the army, his whole life, thus far, has been spent on a farm. In September, 1868, he was married to Miss Sarah E., daughter of John Grimmett, of Pike county. In 1871 Mr. Brown removed to Audrain county and bought the farm where he now resides. He has 140 acres of land with about 100 acres in cultivation. His improvements are substantial and his buildings comfortable. He also has a thrifty young orchard, and is giving some attention to grape culture. Mr. Brown's first wife was taken from him by death in March, 1874. She left him two children : Charles O. and Ida J. Seven years after his first wife's demise Mr. Brown was married January 27, 1881, to Miss Matie M., a daughter of J. P. Hadsell, formerly of New York. Mr.

Brown's present wife, a worthy and excellent lady, was born in Alleghany county, New York, but was principally reared and educated in Pike county, Illinois. By his last marriage he has two children : Maud and J. Melvin Brown.

Leonard G. Burk

farmer. Mr. Burk started out for himself in the cabinet-maker's trade, to which he served an apprenticeship of about three years. This was in Orange county, Indiana. He worked at the cabinet¬ maker's trade afterwards in Indiana at different towns for several years, and then came to Illinois, locating at Barry, in Pike county, where he worked about a year. This was 1856. From Barry he went to Des Moines, Iowa, where he worked about a year, but then returned and continued in Barry until the second summer of the war. In July, 1862, he enlisted in the 99th Ill. Yol. Inf., in which he was made sergeant, but soon after joining the army he received an injury which disabled him from further active service. He was therefore detailed as clerk at Jefferson Barracks and St. Louis, in which capacity he served until the close of the war. He then returned to Barry and remained there some three years. A man of industry and frugal in his habits, he had accumulated some means by this time, and in 1868 he came to Audrain county and bought the land, 160 acres, on which he now resides, where he engaged in farming, which he has followed with success ever since. On the 9th of January, 1859, Mr. Burk was married to Miss Louisa A., a daughter of John T. Brown, formerly of New York State, but for many years a resident of Barry, in which place Mrs. Burk was reared and educated. Mr. and Mrs. Burk have two children: Lillie M., now the wife of Charles Bryant, to whom she was married July 4, 1883, having been a widow at the time, relict of the late J. W. Carroll, who died January 5, 1881, and to whom she had been married in February- the year before. The second of the family is also a daughter, Eugenia Grace, now in her ninth year. Mr. and Mrs. Burk are members of the Christian church. Mr. Burk was a son of James N. and Sarah A. (Green) Burk, the father a native of West Virginia and the mother originally of North Carolina. James M. Burk came out to Indiana in the territorial days of that State, when almost from center to circumference it was an untrodden wilderness. For a time, there being no white settlers in the section of the State where he located, he was compelled to make his home with friendly Indians. He was among the first white settlers at Martins- ville, in Morgan county, where he was married and reared his family. Leonard G. was born there on the 27th of January, 1834, and con¬ tinued at Martinsville up to about the age of seventeen. Mr. Burk has his place comfortably and substantially improved, and is otherwise pleasantly situated.

Wilson W. Butts

farmer and stock raiser. Among the men whose industry and intelli¬ gence have been largely influential in making this section of the State what it is - one of the most prosperous in the country, stands promi¬ nently the subject of the present sketch, Mr. W. W. Butts. Now approaching middle age, his whole life has been spent in honest labor as a producer. Nor have his exertions been without success. Mr. Butts has a fine farm of 320 acres, principally the fruit of his own toil, and this is but an emblement of what he has produced as an energetic, enterprising farmer. The agricultural classes are the main¬ stay and chief source of all material prosperity, and if credit is due to any one for leading a useful and successful life, it is to the farmer upon whom everything depends. Mr. Butts is a worthy representa¬ tive of that class of citizens in Audrain county. From his farm, beyond what is needed for home consumption, he is a large producer, sending to the markets every year important yields of both grain and stock which enter into the commerce and business of the country. Like most of the citizens of this section of the State who come of its early families, Mr. Butts came originally from a Southern family. H is father, Wilson Butts, was a North Carolinian by nativity, but early went to Tennessee, where later along he was married to Miss Louisa Kingston. In about 1880 they removed to Pike county, Missouri, where the father entered a large body of land. He opened a farm there and followed farming with success until his death, which occurred in about 1851. He was a man of sterling integrity, great energy and more than ordinary public spirit, and was as much esteemed by those who knew him as any man who ever lived in the county. Wilson W. was born after the removal of the family to Pike county, on his father's farm in that county, on the 18th of October, 1841. Reared on the farm, he was educated in the common schools, and on reaching man¬ hood began farming for himself. On the 15th of September, 1870, he was married to Miss Eveline, a daughter of Glenn Pegram, formerly of Tennessee. Mr. Butts continued farming in Pike county until 1877, when he removed to Audrain county, and here bought the land composing his present farm. He improved his own place and has put it in excellent condition. His farm contains good fields and pastures, has good buildings including a new barn just erected, and also an excellent orchard. Mr. Butts is still comparatively a young man and considering his age is more than ordinarily well and comfortably fixed. Although he has resided here not ten years yet he is well and favor¬ ably known in the north-eastern part of the county, and is looked upon as one of the most energetic farmers and worthy citizens of Cuivre township. Mr. and Mrs. Butts have had seven children : Homer L., Herman R., Edward K., Ella M., Charles and Elma E. Leslie, the third, died in his second year. Mr. and Mrs. B. are mem¬ bers of the M. E. Church South, and Mr. B. is a member of the Knights of Honor.

Matthew Chandler

farmer. Mr. Chandler, who was a gallant soldier in the Union army during the late war and is now a substantial and well respected farmer of Cuivre township, is a native of Kentucky, but was princi¬ pally reared in Indiana. His father, William Chandler, was originally from Tennessee, but came out to Kentucky with his parents when he was young, and afterwards was married there to Miss Frances Coy, a native of Garrard county Kentucky, and of a highly respected fam¬ ily. Matthew was born in Garrard county, of that state, on the 3d of June, 1825. The following year the family removed to Switzerland county, in Indiana, and later along moved to Bartholomew county of the same State, where the son grew up and was educated. He was reared on a farm and that became his per¬ manent occupation after he reached manhood. In September, 1845, he was married to Miss Mary Anderson, of the neighboring county of Brown, and she survived to brighten his home for more than twenty years, but at last was taken from him by death in 1867. She left him five children : Elizabeth F., now Mrs. Thomas Parks ; Martha, now the wife of John D. Minchee ; Sarah, now Mrs. Samuel Gilbert, of Arkansas; Maria, now the wife of Charles Leach, and Mary D. By industry and good management Mr. Chandler had accumulated considerable of the evidences of substantial prosperity prior to the war ; nor has he been less fortunate since that time. During the war, however, feeling that his duty as a citizen and his love of coun¬ try called him to defend the Union against dismemberment and disin¬ tegration, he volunteered himself as a soldier in the army of the National Government. It was in August, 1862, when he enlisted, and he became a member of Co. I, of the 79th Indiana Inf., and he followed the flag of the Republic until the close of the war, being honorably discharged in 1865. The 79th Indiana was conspicuous during the war for its gallantry and splendid drill, and was one of the most service¬ able regiments in the army. Mr. Chandler bore a brave part as a soldier in this honored regiment, and brought home with him an hon¬ orable scar - that proudest decoration a soldier can wear of his gal¬ lantry and heroism - as an evidence of his bravery and fidelity. He was in a number of the hardest fought battles of the war, including the terrible death-duel at Stone river, also those fatal encounters of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. Of the latter engagement, in his poem so celebrating the heroism of the Union soldiers in that awful cataclysm of battle, the gifted poet of Kentucky, George D. Prentice, thus describes it : -

Mr. Chandler was in the whole campaign of Atlanta, and was in the battle of Nashville and a score of others. At Kenesaw Mountain he was severely wounded, being shot in the hip and thus disabled for life, but notwithstanding his disability he went bravely on through the war. After the restoration of peace Mr. Chandler returned to Indiana and resumed farming. In September, 1867, Mr. Chandler was married to Mrs. Cecelia McMillan, widow of the late James Mc¬ Millan, her maiden name having been Holcraft. The year prior to this, however, he had removed to Missouri and located in Audrain county, where he bought land and improved a farm. Mr. Chandler is a hard working man, and has made himself an excellent farm. His place contains 260 acres, and besides other good improvements he has a thrifty young orchard on his farm. Mr. Chandler's last marriage has been blessed with five children : Ulysses S., Oliver A., William O., Perry L. and Catherine.