Bates County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1918 (part 9 of 19)

Joseph Tipton, a highly respected farmer and stockman of Mount Pleasant township, is a member of one of the oldest pioneer families of Missouri. Mr. Tipton is a grandson of James Tipton, an honored pioneer of Benton county, Missouri. James Tipton came from Tennessee to Missouri in a "prairie schooner," having four fine Kentucky horses for motor power. As far back as they are known, the Tiptons have been lovers of good horses and these particular ones were draft horses of the type used in the forties, strawberry roan in color, with proudly arched necks, they created quite an impression upon the early settlers of Benton county. Joseph Tipton was born in 1848 in Benton county, Missouri, a son of Thomas, Sr., and Nancy E. (Henderson) Tipton, both of whom were natives of Tennessee. Thomas Tipton, Sr., came to Missouri with his father, James Tipton, about 1840. James Tipton died many years ago in Hickory county, Missouri. To Thomas, Sr., and Nancy E. Tipton were born five children, three of whom are living: Thomas, Jr., Benton county, Missouri ; William, who resides at the Tipton homestead in Benton county, Missouri; and Joseph, the subject of this review. The father did not live long amid the pioneer surroundings of their new western home. He died in Benton county. Mrs. Tipton remarried, her second husband being W^illiam Wright. To Mr. and Mrs. William Wright were born two sons and two daughters : John, who has been baggage master at Sedalia, Missouri, for the past twenty-five years; George, who is engaged in farming in Hickory county, Missouri ; Martha, deceased ; and Lucinda, deceased. Mrs. Nancy E. Tipton Wright departed this life in Benton county.

and Joseph Tipton was educated in the "subscription schools" of the early days in Benton county. In his boyhood days, the Indians of the vicinity frequently visited the Tipton home and traded their hand-woven baskets for articles which they wanted. Mr. Tipton remained at home with his parents until he was thirty-two years of age. He left home at that time and traveled in the West, staying six months in Oregon and two years in California. In the autumn of 1882, he returned to Missouri and located in Bates county near Appleton City. He rented land for a time and then purchased a farm, which he afterward sold and then went back to California. On his second coming to Bates county, Missouri, Mr. Tipton bought a farm located eight miles east of Butler. He again disposed of his land and left Missouri for California. In 1905, he returned to Bates county for the third time and at this time bought his present country home, a farm comprising forty acres located two and a half miles south of Butler on the Butler and x\ppleton City road. Mr. Tipton has himself improved the place, building and planting. He has a pleasant and comfortable residence of eight rooms, a large barn, and a smoke-house, now on the farm.

The marriage of Joseph Tipton and Cynthia J. Taylor was solemnized in 1880. Cynthia J. (Taylor) Tipton is a daughter of James Wesley and Sarah (Rice) Taylor, of Benton county, Missouri, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. James Wesley Taylor was a cousin of Zachary Taylor, the twelfth President of the United States, the soldierstatesman, who was born in Virginia in 1784 and died July 9, 1881, and he was a veteran of the War of 1812 and of the Civil War. In the War of 1812, Mr. Taylor and a comrade were so weak from prolonged marching that they were left behind by the troops to die. An acorn, which they divided, partially restored their strength and wnth a mighty effort they managed to regain their company the next day. In the Civil A\'ar, Mr. Taylor made up a company of men. Company I, Missouri State Militia, and of it was chosen captain. In times of peace, he was engaged in the profession of teaching. Mr. Taylor was intensely interested in horticulture and planted the first orchard ever planted out south of the Osage river at Warsaw. He carried the trees on the back of his horse from Jefferson City to his home. Mrs. Tipton still has a variety of rosebushes, which came from the Taylor homestead and were planted by her father there. Mrs. Taylor was always proud of the distinction of having been present to see the first steamboat sail up the Missouri river to Jefferson City, which was in her day as much of an event as the passing of the first aeroplane across our city would be to us. Mr. and Mrs. Tipton have no children of their own, but they have reared and educated as their own two girls : Jessie Miller, a niece of Mrs. Tipton, the wife of Fred Nickly, of Butler, Missouri; and Cecil Nickly, the oldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Nickly, who is employed as teacher in the Appleton City High School and will graduate from the Warrensburg Normal School in the class of 1918.

Joseph Tipton is a man of strong character, practical mind, and of enterprise and thrift. As citizens, both he and Mrs. Tipton are all, and more, that any community could desire, lending their support liberally and cheerfully to all good enterprises for the social, moral, and intellectual improvement of the township and county in which they reside.

Bate Batchelor, a late prominent and influential farmer and stockman of Deepwater township, was one of the substantial and leading citizens of Bates county. Mr. Batchelor was a native of Kentucky, born December 18, 1868, a son of John and Sarah J. (Allen) Batchelor, who came to Missouri and settled in Bates county on a farm located near Appleton City, when their son. Bate, was a child five years of age.

Mr. Batchelor, whose name introduces this review, was reared on the farm near Appleton City and his youth was spent much as the average lad on the farm spends his boyhood days. He assisted his father with the work on the home place and attended Oak Grove district school, applying himself assiduously to his farm duties and to his studies, growing strong and vigorous mentally and physically. Mr. Batchelor was always interested in agricultural pursuits and in early manhood began farming and stock raising, which he followed the remainder of his life. In 1900, he and his wife located on the farm, which is the present home of his widow, located four and a half miles south of Spruce in Deepwater township and, as the place is well adapted to the production of both stock and grain, Mr. Batchelor became very successful in both general farming and stock raising. He was very prominently identified with the stock interests of Bates county, especially, and his stock farm became noted for the high grade Poland China hogs and white face cattle bred and raised there on. In matters of business. Bate Batchelor was careful and methodical, and all his dealings were marked by discriminating judgment and a high sense of fairness and honor.

The marriage of Bate Batchelor and Clara Cumpton was solemnized June 1. 1898. Clara (Cumpton) Batchelor is a native of Deepwater township, born March 18. 1871. a daughter of W. G. and M. L. Cumpton.

Bate Batchelor And Wife

Mrs. Batchelor's father is a member of an honored pioneer family of Johnson county, Missouri, in which county he was born and reared. Mr. and Mrs. Cumpton are now living, he at the age of seventy-five and his wife is one year his junior. Mrs. Batchelor attended school in Cumpton school district in Deepwater township, Bates county, Missouri. To Bate and Clara Batchelor was born one child, a daughter, Nina E., who was born May 13, 1900. Mr. Batchelor died December 22, 1910 and interment was made in Union cemetery.

"Fairview Stock Farm" in Deepwater township, now owned by Mrs. Clara (Cumpton) Batchelor, widow of Bate Batchelor, is one of the pretty, rural homes of Bates county. The place is nicely located and well watered and the residence is situated at the highest point of the farm, affording a splendid view of the surrounding country, and thus the farm came by its name, "Fairview Stock Farm," which is registered. Mr. Batchelor purchased the land from Mr. Van Meter, of Butler, Missouri. The farm embraces two hundred acres of land, twenty acres of which are timber land. A barn, 32 x 42 feet in dimensions, having a capacity of sixty tons of hay, unbaled, has been added recently to the improvements of the place, the frame of which structure is of native timber, walnut lumber sawed for this purpose on the farm. All the pastures are enclosed with hog-tight fencing of wire. D. M. Cumpton, a brother of Mrs. Batchelor, has charge of the farm work.

The citizen, to a brief review of whose life and achievements the reader's attention has been herewith directed, was for many years one of the progressive stockmen of Deepwater township, who by his tireless endeavors and up-to-date methods contributed in a material w^ay to the agricultural advancement of this section of Bates county and in the course of an honorable career did as much as any one man to improve the grade of livestock in Bates county. Mr. Batchelor was a gentleman of wide perspective, of intelligence, of countless praiseworthy qualities. A Democrat in his party affiliations and a firm believer in the principles he espoused, he was by no means an office-seeker. Mr. Batchelor was essentially a stockman and a business man and his life, though in many respects uneventful, was fraught with much good to his community and Bates county was proud to number him among the successful and substantial citizens, grieved to enroll him among those who have gone on before.

Merle Simon, a prosperous, young agriculturist of Mount Pleasant township, is one of Bates county's successful citizens, a progressive farmer and stockman, and a comparatively new man in this part of the country. Mr. Simon is a native of Iowa. He was born in 1881 at Des Moines, a son of Martin and Margaret (Brown) Simon, both of whom were natives of Ohio. The mother died about 1890 and Mr. Simon resides in Oklahoma.

When Merle Simon was a small child, his parents moved from Iowa to Kansas and in that state in the schools of Fort Scott, Bourbon county, and of Wichita, Sedgwick county, he received his education. Mr. Simon has followed stock raising for tw^enty years in the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, and New Mexico. He slept for twelve years out in the open, while a "cowboy" on the plains. He came to Bates county, Missouri, on December 5, 1915, after purchasing his present country home in Mount Pleasant township in August of the previous year, a place formerly known as the Carpenter & Shafer farm, a dairy farm. This place is well supplied with water from a well, thirty-six feet in depth and eight feet in width, in which the water always stands within a few feet of the top, thus affording a bountiful supply in every pasture. Mr. Simon has placed a concrete cover on the well, the cover having an opening in which to insert the hose when filling, and this with an iron pump facilitates the handling of the tank problem. Since coming to Bates county, Mr. Simon has given much attention to sheep raising. He is a lover of fine horses and has on the farm an imported Percheron horse, weight two thousand pounds, a good grade Percheron, and a registered jack in addition to a herd of twentyfive good grade cattle. The stock barn is 50 x 64 feet in dimensions and has a concrete floor in the feeding stall.

The marriage of Merle Simon and Addie Hawkins was solemnized March 14, 1906. Addie (Hawkins) Simon is a daughter of G. A. and Sarah Hawkins, both of whom were born in Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins were formerly residents of Texas county, Oklahoma, and they are now residing at Tyrone, Oklahoma. Mrs. Simon was educated in private schools in Pendleton county, Kentucky, and in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was reared in Kentucky and she and Mr. Simon were married in Stephens county, Oklahoma. To Merle and Addie Simon have been born two children: Luther and Benjamin. Mrs. Simon is doing all in her power to make the farm pay, in addition to making the home attractive, and she is capably managing the poultry industry, raising fine, large flocks of Buff Orpington chickens.

Bates county, Missouri, is noted for the many excellent stock and dairy farms within its boundaries and for the enterprise and progressiveness of the county's husbandmen. Merle Simon is "doing his bit" to sustain this reputation. He is the owner of one of the prettiest country places in Mount Pleasant township and he will find that in the years to come his well-directed efforts have not been in vain but were amply repaid in the increased value of his property and in the respect and esteem in which he is held. Mr. and Mrs. Simon have made many friends in Bates county since taking up their residence among us and Mr. Simon is even now rated as a broad-minded, industrious, and honorable gentleman and he has won the confidence and good will of all who know him.

Robert Sturgeon, a highly respected farmer and stockman of Summit township, is a member of one of the prominent pioneer families of Carroll county, Missouri. Mr. Sturgeon is a native of Henry county, Ohio, a son of Rowland and Elizabeth (Barton) Sturgeon, natives of Starke county, Ohio. The Sturgeons came to Missouri in 1869 in an emigrant wagon and settled on the farm afterward known as the Sturgeon place in Carroll county. Rowland Sturgeon died at the Sturgeon homestead in 1901. Mrs. Sturgeon makes her home at Hale, Missouri, and she is now eighty-four years of age, one of the most valued of the brave pioneer women of Carroll county. Mr. Sturgeon was a Union veteran of the Civil War. He enlisted in Henry county, Ohio, and served with Company D, One Hundred Eleventh Infantry. His son, Robert, was born April 1, 1853.

Robert Sturgeon is the only son and oldest living child now of the five children born to his parents, Rowland and Elizabeth Sturgeon, the children being, as follow: John, deceased; Robert, the subject of this review; Mrs. Lillian Dailey, Hale, Missouri; Alice, who died at the age of sixteen years ; and Maggie, who died at the age of five years. Mr. Sturgeon attended the public schools of Ohio. He remained at home with his parents until he was twenty-two years of age and then he traveled in the West, spending two years in Colorado, 1878 and 1879. He returned to Carroll county from Colorado in 1880 and engaged in agricultural pursuits there until 1909, when he came to Bates county. While a resident of the former county, Mr. Sturgeon filled the position of township collector for two terms in 1883 and 1884. Mr. Sturgeon purchased the R. J. Thomas farm, comprising two hundred acres originally, which is located about two and a half miles east of Butler on the Butler and Summit road. Mr. Sturgeon has since disposed of eighty acres of his farm and has now a tract of one hundred twenty acres, which he has improved. He has built a handsome residence, a structure of eight rooms, since he acquired the ownership of the farm. He is engaged in general farming and stock raising.

Robert Sturgeon and Melcena Elledge, of Carroll county, Missouri, were united in marriage in 1883. Melcena (Elledge) Sturgeon is a daughter of G. M. and Mary J. (Parish) Elledge, natives of Illinois. Mary J. (Parish) Elledge was a daughter of Abednego Parish, a prominent citizen of Illinois. James Simms, a great-grandfather of Mrs. Sturgeon, was an emigrant from Scotland and he settled in Illinois in the earliest pioneer days of that state. Mrs. Elledge died in January, 1900, and interment was made in the cemetery at Tina, Carroll county, Missouri. Mr. Elledge now resides at Halfway, Baker county, Oregon. Two brothers of Mrs. Sturgeon are still living: D. M., Bird City, Kansas; and Wesley, Powell, Wyoming. To Robert and Melcena (Elledge) Sturgeon have been born five children: Nellie, the wife of Fred Jeffries, Havelock, Nebraska; Elmer, Sterling, Colorado; Ray, Butler, Missouri; Jessie, the wife of G. G. Wirt, Harrisonville, Missouri; and Eulalie, who is a sophomore student in the Butler High School.

Although Mr. Sturgeon keeps himself well-informed upon the important issues of the day and upon current events in general, his quiet, unobtrusive, domestic tastes have kept him from entering the arena of public affairs in Bates county. He defends his opinions intelligently, votes his sentiments fearlessly, and leaves public distinction and the emoluments of ofifice to others. The Sturgeons are numbered among the best families of Summit township. Robert Sturgeon is an excellent neighbor and true friend, esteemed by all who know him. In his mental and moral makeup are combined the intelligence, industry, sterling worth, and courtesy of the pioneer and gentleman.

W. H. Deweese, a widely and favorably-known farmer and stockman of Summit township, is a member of one of the worthy and pioneer families of Bates county. Mr. Deweese is one of the boys of yesterday of Bates county, an own product of Summit township. He was born March 19, 1859, at the Deweese homestead in Summit township, a son of William and Mary (Bruner) Deweese, natives of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Deweese came to Missouri in 1856 from Illinois, in which state they had first located when they moved from Kentucky, and settled on a tract of land, comprising four hundred acres, which Mr. Deweese entered from the government. During the Civil War, when Order Number 11 was issued, the Deweese family moved to Morgan and Moniteau counties, where they remained until the conflict had ended and then returned to Bates county to again take up their residence at their home place. They found only a portion of the homestead still standing. Mr. -Deweese contracted a heavy cold, which developed into pneumonia, while moving back home and from this he died in 1866. Interment was made in Glass cemetery in Summit township. Mrs. Deweese survived her husband until 1906, when she joined him in death. She died at the home of her son, W. H., and her remains were laid to rest in Elliott cemetery. William and Mary (Bruner) Deweese were the parents of the following children: David, of Lawrence county, Kansas; Catherine, the wife of James Rogers, Rockyford, Colorado; W. H., the subject of this review; Sallie, the wife of John Bristow, Pawnee county, Kansas; Isaac, a twin brother of Mrs. John Bristow, of Rockyford, Colorado. An uncle of the Deweese children, George W. Swink, donated the land on which Rockyford, Colorado is built.

In the district schools of Summit township, Bates county, Missouri, W. H. Deweese obtained a good common-school education. When he was seventeen years of age, he assumed charge of the home place, which he now owns. The forty acres of land on which the house stood where he was born have never been mortgaged. Mr. Deweese now owns two hundred acres of land, located on the Butler and Appleton City road, five miles from Butler. He has himself improved the place, building the residence in 1880 and two good barns. The Deweese stock farm is one of the best in Bates county, the land slopes to the south, is well watered and supplied with all facilities for handling stock efficiently. Mr. Deweese has given special attention to raising registered Shorthorn Durham steers, Poland China hogs, mules, and horses and he has on the place, at the time of this writing in 1918, thirty head of cattle and nearly one hundred head of hogs.

The marriage of W. H. Deweese and Emma Copeland w^as solemnized in August, 1880. Emma (Copeland) Deweese is a daughter of Davis and Eliza Copeland, formerly residents of Ohio and then of Kansas. The Copeland family moved to the northern part of Missouri from Ohio and located in Scotland county, where the father died. Mrs. Copeland departed this life in Greenwood county, Kansas. To W. H.

and Emma Deweese have been born five children : Glenn, who is engaged in farming in Summit township, Butler, Missouri; Florence, the wife of Boone Smithson, Lone Oak township; Ada, the wife of Rome Daniels, of Hardy, Montana; Everett, now in the National Army service w^ith the Medical Reserve Corps of Cornell University from Ithaca, New York; and ]\Iarie, a graduate of the Butler High School and a former student of the Warrensburg State Normal School, who is at home with her parents, now teaching in Bates county.

Whatever success W. H. Deweese has achieved in life is due almost entirely to his industry, energy, and well-directed efforts. In early manhood, he began to make his own way in the w^orld with little aid and a limited allowance, and by resolute purpose, indefatigable thrift, and sound judgment he has acquired a comfortable competence and has worked himself up to a position of afifluence.

Albert Argenbright, a prosperous farmer and stockman of Summit township, is one of the successful citizens of Bates county, a member of a sterling pioneer family of this section of Missouri. Mr. Argenbright was born in Morgan county, Missouri, in 1861, a son of Preston and Rebecca (Harrison) Argenbright, the former, a native of Virginia and the latter, of Tennessee. ]\Irs. Argenbright was reared and educated in Missouri. Preston Argenbright came with his family to Bates county in 1865 and they settled on a farm near Altona in Grand River township, twenty miles northeast of Butler. Their trading point was Austin in Cass county. Mr. Argenbright purchased a tract of eighty acres of land, when he first came, and to this he constantly added until at his death in 1904 he was the owner of four hundred acres of valuable farm land in Bates county. To Preston and Rebecca (Harrison) Argenbright were born eight children: Albert, the subject of this review, who was born November 20. 1861; John A., Little Rock, Arkansas; J. E., Adrian, Missouri; C. H., Butler, ]\[issouri; Anna Steele, deceased; Lena May, the wife of J. E. Hook, Rockville, Missouri; Daisy, the wife of Joe Gardner, Little Rock, Arkansas; and Mrs. Bertha Hardin, deceased. Mr. and i^Irs. Argenbright moved from the farm to Butler in 1899 and in this city Mr. Argenbright died April 19, 1904. Mrs. Argenbright did not long survive her husband. She departed this life February 1, 1908. The father and mother were laid to rest in the cemetery at Butler.

in the public schools of Grand River township, attending at Mingo school house. He remained at home with his parents until he was twenty-five years of age and then began farming in Grand River township, where he was a resident for eighteen years. Mr. Argenbright purchased and improved a ninety-five-acre farm in that township, made it one of the best stock farms in the county, and then sold it. He purchased his present country home in 1905 and since he acquired the ownership of this place, he has been tirelessly at work improving it until he now has one of the finest rural homes in this part of the state, the well-planned arrangement of the buildings, the nicely-kept, high-grade stock, the general neat appearance of the surroundings silently bespeaking the industry, thrift, and care of the owner.

February 9, 1885, the marriage of Albert Argenbright and Katie Gloyd, daughter of Daniel and Katie Gloyd, of Cass county, was solemnized. Mr. and Mrs. Gloyd entered land from the government in the days prior to the Civil War. They are both now deceased and their remains are interred in old Dayton cemetery in Cass county. To Albert and Katie Argenbright have been born seven children : Cleo, the wife of W. A. Eichhorn, of Pilot Grove, Cooper county, Missouri; Grover C, who enlisted in the service of the United States in August, 1917, and is at present with Company One Hundred Twenty-eight, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma; O. R., a successful farmer of Summit township; Lyle, Walter, Celeste, and Glenn, all at home with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Argenbright have been married thirty-three years and in that time they have changed their place of residence but twice, which is an unusual record in this age of restlessness and discontent.

The Argenbright farm in Summit township embraces two hundred acres of land, conveniently located, well watered and drained, and splendidly improved. Mr. Argenbright has himself placed all the buildings on the farm, including a beautiful residence, a ten-room structure, modern throughout, a barn, 56 x 54 feet in dimensions, used for stock and grain and with a silo attached, 16 x 32 feet in dimensions, a barn 38 x 54 feet in dimensions, with a silo 14 x 30 feet in dimensions and covered with sheet iron, in addition to numerous other buildings needed in the handling of stock. The place is well stocked with seventy head of cattle, (of which Mr. Argenbright is at present milking six Jersey cows) sixty head of Poland China hogs, eighteen head of high-grade horses, and onehundred turkeys. The Argenbright place is situated on the Summit road on the way from Butler to Clinton and was formerly owned by Mr. Smith. The highest point on the farm is in the center and there are more than four hundred rods of tile used on the place. Mr. Argenbright pumps the water to the stock yards by means of a gasoline engine.

Albert Argenbright is a gentleman of remarkable industry and energy. He has improved and developed considerable land in Bates county and incidentally has accumulated a goodly competence. A progressive husbandman, an upright, public-spirited citizen, a courteous gentleman, Mr. Argenbright has made an enviable reputation in Bates county.

Elder Lewis L. Wix, proprietor of "Lone Elm Farm" in Deepwater township, a well-known and highly respected minister of the Church of Christ of Bates county, is a member of one of the sterling pioneer families of Missouri. Mr. Wix is a native of Bates county. He was born May 5, 1857 at the Wix homestead in Pleasant Gap township, the youngest son of Joseph and Sarah (Beatty) Wix, a sketch of whom appears in connection with the biography of Clark Wix, which will be elsewhere in this volume.

When Lewis L. Wix was a babe, three days of age, he was left motherless and dependent upon the care of his uncle and aunt, Joseph and Fannie Beatty, who reared him to maturity. Joseph Beatty came to Bates county in his boyhood days with his father, Robert Beatty, who had moved from Kentucky to Saline county, Missouri and thence to Bates county in the early thirties. Robert Beatty died in Bates county in 1853 and interment was made in Smith cemetery on the Beatty home place. Joseph Beatty entered a tract of land in Bates county, a farm comprising three hundred twenty acres, of which two hundred forty acres now form the country place owned by Rev. Lewis L. Wix. On this farm in Deepwater township he was reared, here were spent his happy childhood days, this is the only home he has ever known and around it are woven myriads of fond recollections. There are four hills on "Lone Elm Farm" and Reverend Wix has at different times resided on each one of them. Joseph Beatty died December 9, 1876 and interment was made in White cemetery in Deepwater township. Fannie Beatty was a native of Ohio, a daughter of Joseph and Julietta (Corbin) Beaver, and she came to Bates county when she was a girl, nine years of age. Joseph Beaver was an early-day pioneer preacher of the Christian church. He died in Texas in 1875, to which state he had gone on missionary work, Mrs. Joseph Beatty died April 4, 1913. She was one of the noblest pioneer women, who ever came to this part of Missouri.

Lewis L. Wix attended the country schools of Bates county and, by applying himself assiduously to his studies in his youth and by close observation, extensive reading, and concentration in his mature years, he has acquired a fund of knowledge the average college graduate might well strive to attain. The pioneer homes of Missouri were not supplied with the multitude of conveniences now found in even the humblest rural home in Bates county. Such a thing as electric lights were unheard of by the wildest dreamer, lamps had not yet come into use, and few homes were supplied with candles, although they were used extensively in some parts of the United States. The light from the large, open fireplace was usually all the light needed, but when it was necessary a sort of lamp was made by saturating a twisted rag in melted lard and placing it in a dish. Many and many a night, young Lewis L. Wix mastered his lessons for school the next day studying by such a lamp. Reverend Wix was ordained a minister of the Church of Christ thirty years ago and he has been engaged in ministerial work in this state and in Texas ever since. In the early days, he traveled on horseback or in a "prairie schooner" on his evangelical tours throughout the country. Reverend W^ix has made two trips across the plains. He made the first trip on a mule in 1874 and the second at a later date in a "prairie schooner."

The marriage of Elder Lewis L. Wix and Emma Hall was solemnized in August, 1876. Emma (Hall) Wix is a daughter of William and Martha Hall, who came to Bates county from Moniteau county in the days prior to the Civil W^ar. AA'illiam Hall was a veteran of the Union army in the Civil War, having served four years. Both he and Mrs. Hall died in Washington county, Arkansas many years ago. To Rev. Lewis L. and Emma (Hall) Wix have been born eight children: Lillie, the wife of Richard Johnson, of Great Falls, Cascade county, Montana; Rosa, the wife of Lewis G. Wix, a well-to-do farmer of Hudson township. Bates county; Joseph W., who resides in Montana; Salley E., the wife of D. G. Smith, of Lone Oak township. Bates county; Mary V., the wife of William F. Graves, and she is now deceased: Maud L., the wife of O. E. Job, of Sisters, Crook county, Oregon; Martha Stella, the wife of Howard W. Smith, of Lone Oak township, Bates county; and Lewis A., at home with his parents.

Politically, Reverend Wix is affiliated with the Democratic party. He has never aspired to hold political office but has been content to confine his energ"ies to the manifold duties of an evangelist and minister of the Church of Christ and the only office he has ever held has been an office in the church. He is successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising at "Lone Elm Farm," a beautiful country place located on Deepwater creek nine miles east of Butler, and among the progressive agriculturalists of the county takes high rank. Reverend Wix is a gentleman of exceptional oratorical ability, remarkable memory, and countless excellent qualities. As a citizen, he is a man of honor, uprightness, and stern morality, a true leader of men.

George K. Newlon, one of the most progressive and successful youngcitizens of Summit township, is a native of Winterset, Iowa. He is a son of Samuel J. and Ellen (Seevers) Newlon, the former, a native of Ohio and the latter, of Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs. Newlon were born eight children, who are now living: Daniel, Ballard, Missouri; Dr. J. S., a prominent physician of Butler, Missouri, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume; Lorraine, who resides at home with her widowed mother; Edith, the wife of H. O. Welton, Butler, Missouri; George K., the subject of this review; Thomas D., a salesman for the Motor Machinists Supply Company, of Kansas City, Missouri; Selina, who is a student at the Warrensburg State Normal School; and Alfred, a motor machinist, of Kansas City, Missouri. S. J. Newlon left his native county in Ohio, Marion county, in early manhood and went to Madison county, Iowa, and from there moved with his family to Nebraska. The New- Ions resided in Nebraska but a short time, when they returned to Iowa, in which state they made their home until 1902, at which time they came to Bates county, Missouri, and the father purchased the farm in Summit township, which is now the property of Mrs. S. J. Newlon and is known as the "Newlon Brothers' Stock Farm," a place comprising two hundred twenty acres of valuable land, lying four and a half miles northeast of Butler, formerly the Mitchell farm. S. J. Newlon died at his country home in Summit township in 1912 and interment was made in Oak Hill cemetery. His widow still resides at the home place with her son, George K., and her daughter, Lorraine. Thomas D. Newlon was until recently associated with his brother, George K., in farming

George K. Newlon attended the city schools of Winterset, Iowa, and the Butler High School. Since leaving school, he and his brother have been engaged in the stock business at the home place in Summit township. This farm is otie of the excellent stock farms of Bates county, well equipped with modern facilities for handling stock and abundantly watered. Mr. Newlon has high-grade cattle and hogs on the place, at the time of this writing in 1918, in addition to twenty head of yearling mules. He is giving special time and attention to the last-named stock, the product which has made Missouri famous in this country. The "Newlon Brothers' Stock Farm" is nicely improved and the neatness and well-kept appearance of the general surroundings bespeak the care of an expert agriculturist. The residence, a house of ten rooms, was new when the Newlons came to the farm and since their coming Mr. Newlon has built two stock barns, one 48 x 50 feet in dimensions, the other 50 x 60 feet in dimensions.

Although George K. Newlon is a comparatively newcomer in Bates county, few men of twice his age and years of residence in Summit township have as excellent standing as has he. His record for fair dealings has been far above criticism and in every relation of life his upright conduct has commended him to his fellowmen as a young gentleman of intelligence, industry, and irreproachable character.

T. D. Embree, ex-clerk of the circuit court of Bates county, Missouri, was born December 27, 1867, in Bates county, a son of M. L. and Alice (Hulse) Embree, one of the pioneer families of this part of Missouri. M. L. Embree was born in 1841 in Pettis county, Missouri, at the Embree homestead located twelve miles west of Sedalia, a son of Thomas and Elvira (Butler) Embree. Thomas Embree came with his family to Pettis county, Missouri, in the early forties and in 1849 they settled in Bates county on a tract of land in Spruce township, which had been entered from the government by Samuel Pyle, to which was added eighty acres of prairie land entered by his wife. Thomas and Elvira (Butler) Embree were the parents of the following children: M. L., the father of T. D., the subject of this review; M. J., who died in Canada in 1903; and Mrs. Lucy A. Alexander, who resides in the state ot Washington.

hardships of life in a new country. He walked three miles to attend school, which was held in a little log school house, the only one in the township. John Reeder, from near Pleasant Gap, was the "master" and in the rude cabin M. L. Embree attended one term. There was a puncheon floor and puncheon benches and a large open fire-place in the room - the sum total of equipment and comforts. Mr. Embree attended school a few months during the winter seasons, the remainder of the time being devoted to hard labor on his mother's farm. He grew to manhood strong of body and with a clear mind, he proved to be a most valuable assistant to his mother on the home place. He recalls the grief of the family upon receiving the news that his grandfather, Martillus Embree, had died on the way to California in 1850, his death being due to cholera. This was the time of the wild rush to the gold fields of that state and more than one household was grief-stricken in those days, for thousands died on the way there and the bones of human beings, horses, and oxen marked the pathway of the goldseekers. His father, Thomas Embree, died in 1852. Mrs. Embree survived her husband forty-three years, when in 1895 she died in the state of Washington.

In 1861, M. L. Embree enlisted with the Confederates at Johnstown, Missouri, and he served throughout the Civil War in Parsons' Brigade, Sixteenth Missouri Infantry, under General Price. Mr. Embree took an active and important part in the battle of Carthage on July 5, 1861, and in the engagements of his company in Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. He was in Louisiana when General Lee surrendered in

1865. When the war had ended, Mr. Embree returned to Bates county, Missouri, and again took up his residence at the home place in Spruce township, where he resided until 1893, at which time he left Missouri to make his future home in Garfield county, Oklahoma, and in that state he has ever since resided.

1866. Alice (Hulse) Embree is a daughter of Daniel and Catherine (Cloud) Hulse, pioneers from Kentucky, who settled in Spruce township in the early days. Mr. Hulse was a Confederate veteran of the Civil War, having served two years in the Southern army. To M. L. and Alice Embree have been born eight children, seven of whom are now living: T. D., the subject of this review; R. L., who died in Oklahoma, December 31, 1916; Mrs. Lizzie A. Barton, Grapevine, Texas; Mrs. Laura B. Cole, Kansas City, Missouri; Mrs. Anna Fleming, Comanche county, Oklahoma; Mrs. Viola Woodson, Hunter, Oklahoma; Mrs. Ida

In 1849, in the boyhood days of M. L. Embree, he remembers that there were far more Indians than white settlers in Bates county, that deer and wild game of all kinds abounded, and that hunting was an occupation more than a pastime of the pioneers. He states that Major Glass, the Kennedys, and the Herrells were the only settlers on the prairie between Spruce township and Butler, though the city was not yet founded, the court house being located at Harrisonville. Mr. Embree has lived to see the removal of the county seat from Harrisonville to Papinsville and thence to Butler and the building of the three court houses in Butler. He was a witness of the first legal hanging in Bates county at Papinsville. Doctor Nottingham was hanged at the county seat for the murder of his wife. M. L. Embree is now seventy-six years of age and still enjoys fairly good health and possesses a remarkably retentive memory of early-day names, characters, and events.

T. D. Embree is the only member of his father's family now residing in Bates county, Missouri. He is the oldest of the eight children born to his parents and now the only one left in Summit township. He served four years as circuit clerk of Bates county, his term of office beginning January 1, 1907, and after retiring from this position he bought his present country home, a farm comprising eighty acres of land, known as the Orear farm, located six miles east of Butler in Summit township.

In 1894, T. D. Embree and Cora Teeter were united in marriage. Mrs. Embree is a daughter of Darius and Emma (Abbott) Teeter, of Spruce township. Mrs. Teeter died in 1901 and her remains were laid to rest in Cloud cemetery. Mr. Teeter still makes his home on the farm in Spruce township. Mr. and Mrs. T. D. Embree are the parents of two children; one child died in infancy; and Alice Catherine, who was born in 1908, at home with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Embree are widely and favorably known in this section of the state and they are numbered among the best and most valued families of Bates county.

John W. Harshaw, a pioneer of Bates county and one of the honored citizens of Deepwater township, is a native of Tennessee. He was born January 6, 1844. When he was a lad, fourteen years of age, he and his brother, Richard, or "Dick," as he was familiarly called, drove through from Tennessee to Missouri and they located first in Spruce, now Deepwater, township, moving shortly afterward across the Bates county line

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Mr. Harshaw was but seventeen years of age. He enlisted with the Confederates in General Parson's Brigade in August of the ensuing year and served from that time until the close of the conflict in 1865. Mr. Harshaw took part in the battle of Lonejack, which occurred three days after his enlistment, serving under Captain Martin. During the remainder of the war, he was with General Price and saw active service in numerous important engagements, in the battles of Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove, Wilson Creek, Jenkins' Ferry, Helena, Arkansas, July 4, 1863; and Mansfield, Louisiana. Mr. Harshaw was with Price at the time of the surrender at Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1865.

After the Civil War had ended, John W. Harshaw was employed at St. Louis, Missouri, for a short time and thence came to Bates county, where he leased the Samuel Coleman farm for five years, and with the exception of three years he has been a resident of this county e^er since. He purchased his present home in 1907, a farm comprising eighty acres of land, from Frank Winn, a place which had been entered by one of the Colemans and improved by Elvin Wilson, an excellent stock farm in numerous respects. The Harshaw place has the triple advantages of productive soil, convenient location from the county seat, and an abundance of water and fine shade. The farm buildings are all situated upon an eminence, from which one can look upon the surrounding country and there distinguish the dome of the court house at Butler, fourteen miles aw^ay. The residence is a beautiful rural home, a house of seven rooms, having verandas upon three sides and surrounded with handsome, old shade trees. This is one of the best, most neatly-kept country places in the township. The Harshaws spent three years in Yakima county, Washington state, and prior to that time Mr. Harshaw had at different times owned three farms in Bates county, namely, the McCork place; the Cutsinger farm; and the Hyatt farm, lying three miles east of Butler, which place he purchased from George Holland. The first farm he owned was located just east of Spruce now the W. A. Fads farm, and bought from William Price in 1878.

The marriage of J. W. Harshaw and Eliza McGlothlen was solemnized February 28, 1872. Eliza (McGlothlen) Harshaw is a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Cain) McGlothlen, born on June 2, 1854, in Monroe county, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. McGlothlen were reared in Indiana and from that state moved to Monroe county, Iowa, thence to Lucas county, Iowa, coming thence to Bates county, Missouri, in 1870 and locating in Spruce township near the town of Spruce. They later returned to their old home in Iowa and from that state went to Washington, where Mr. McGlothlen died in Yakima county. To J. W. and Eliza Harshaw have been born seven children, five of whorh are now living: Laura Elizabeth, who died in infancy; Harlan H., in the West, married Dora Slayback, and has two children; Mattie L., the wife of C. T. Norton, of Deepwater township; John, who died in infancy; Mary, the wife of D. W^ Newlon, of Spruce township; Stella C, the wife of Claude Hoover, of Hanford, Washington; and Nita R., at home with her parents. The three eldest daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Harshaw were, prior to marriage, school teachers and Miss Nita R. was for two years the postmistress at Spruce. All the girls attended the Warrensburg State Normal School and the youngest daughter took in addition a business course, studying stenography and typewriting. Miss Nita R. Harshaw was a student at Draughton's Practical Business College, Fort Scott, Kansas, and of the North Yakima Business College in Washington.

Among the old settlers along the line between Bates and Henry counties were, in 1860 and in the years prior to that, Hiram Snodgrass, William Baskerville, Barney Fereck, David Clark, Barber Price, James White, Mr. Treman, Mr. Tyree, Mr. Ludwick, and several different families of the Colemans, all of whom Mr. Harshaw vividly recalls. He did his trading at Johnstown in 1858, when there was but one good town in western Henry and Bates counties and that was Johnstown. There were several flourishing mercantile establishments at Johnstown in those days : Messrs. Warrens, Cummins, and Harbert, each had a prosperous store; old Mr. Chard conducted a drug store; Mr. Sayers owned a tin shop ; Howard 8z Willard had a carriage shop ; John Howard was the village blacksmith; and James H. Calloway was the genial and popular innkeeper. Ann (Ludwick) Howard, the widow of John Howard, still resides at Johnstown. The town was burned during the Civil War and has never been rebuilt.

Mr. Harshaw will be seventy-five years of age in January, 1919, and he still reads with comfort without the aid of glasses. He is a typical pioneer, one of the prominent men of Bates county who have done so much to advance the agricultural interests of this section of the state.

George W. Borland, a highly honored and valued Union veteran of the Civil War, an enterprising farmer and stockman of Deepwater township, is a native of Pennsylvania. Mr. Borland was born October 22, 1841 in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, a son of James and Margaret (Barr) Borland, who were natives of Allegheny county and Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, respectively. James Borland was born in 1818 and died in January, 1891. Margaret (Barr) Borland was born in 1821 and died in 1904. Both parents died in their native state. Mrs. Borland was laid to rest in a burial ground in Ross township, Allegheny county, located near Pittsburg.

In the public schools of Pennsylvania, George W. Borland received a good common school education. He enlisted in the Civil War in 1863 and served with Company K, Sixty-first Pennsylvania Infantry, taking part in about twenty-five engagements. Mr. Borland was in the battles of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864; Spottsylvania Court House, May 8 to 21, 1864; Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864; and with Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley. From the Rapidan to the James river. Grant's list of casualties in the campaign of The Wilderness was fifty-four thousand nine hundred twenty-nine men. Lee lost probably nineteen thousand. Mr. Borland was mustered out and honorably discharged at Braddock Barracks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1865.

In April, 1866, George W. Borland left Pennsylvania and came to Missouri, where he located on a farm in St. Louis county. He was a resident of that county for thirteen years before coming to Bates county, Missouri in February, 1879. At that time, Mr. Borland purchased the Slayback farm, which comprised two hundred acres of land located one mile west of Spruce in Deepwater township. Since, he has added to his holdings and now the Borland place embraces two hundred seventyone acres of choice land in Bates county, forty acres of which are ''bottom land" and the remainder upland. Mr. Borland has himself placed upon the farm every tree and building now there. The improvements, which are of the very best, include a nice residence, a house of seven rooms, two and a half stories, built in 1879 and remodeled in 1890; a barn, 32 x 60 feet in dimensions, constructed of a native timber, a generalpurpose building, built in 1891; a feeder; a tenant house; and four splendid wells and an excellent cistern. The Borland place is one of the most attractive rural homes in the township and one of the finest stock farms in the county. Mr. Borland had more than one hundred acres of land in corn this past season of 1917. He recalls that when he and his family came to Bates county in 1879 they were obliged to travel a distance of ten miles across the prairie weekly to Butler to obtain their mail. Now, their mail is delivered daily at their door. In 1879, there was no store at Spruce. Within a few years after the Borlands settled in Bates county, Mr. Smith opened the first mercantile establishment at that place.

The marriage of George W. Borland and Doretta Puellman was solemnized October 21, 1869 in St. Louis county, Missouri. Mrs. Borland is a native of St. Louis county, a daughter of Lewis and Doretta Puellman, who emigrated from Germany to the United States and settled in St. Louis county, Missouri, about 1837. One sister of Doretta (Puellman) Borland is now living, Johanna, the wife of James Collins, of St. Louis county, Missouri. Mr. Collins was born in Ohio near Ravenna. To George W. and Doretta Borland have been born four children: Joseph A., who married Mary E. Cumpton and they reside on a farm in Deepwater township; George W., Jr., who died December 8, 1906 and is buried in White cemetery in Bates county; Margaret Jane, deceased, the wife of W^ E. Dickison, of Deepwater township; and Cora Belle, who is at home with her parents, the sunshine and comfort of her father's household and her mother's invaluable helper.

Throughout his long life of three score years and seventeen George W. Borland has discharged the duties of citizenship with the same loyalty and zeal which characterized him on Southern battlefields when he followed the Stars and Stripes to victory. He has endeavored to live up to the highest ideals of manhood, to discharge with fidelity and honor all obligations incumbent upon him and he is well worthy of the universal respect and confidence accorded him by his fellowmen.

S. B. Kash, a prominent farmer and stockman of Deepwater township, is one of the prosperous citizens of Bates county. Mr. Kash is a native of Wolfe county, Kentucky. He was born in 1860, a son of W. L. and Debby Jane (Swango) Kash, both of whom were natives of Wolfe county, Kentucky. W^ L. Kash came to Bates county, Missouri, with his family in 1872 from their plantation home near Hazelgreen, Kentucky, and located on the Redmond farm, which Mr. Kash rented. He afterward purchased a tract of land, embracing one hundred twenty acres, located one and a half miles from old Johnstown. Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Kash were the parents of the following children: S. B., the subject of this review; Mrs. Ora Ann Gutridge, deceased; David, who resides in California; James E., Eldorado Springs, Missouri; Mrs.

Mary E. Simpson, who resides in California; Mrs. Lillie Moore, Montrose, Missouri; and Joseph M., Johnstown, Missouri. W. L. Kash was a well-to-do and influential citizen of Bates county, one who always took an active and keen interest in the public welfare and in political matters. He served several years as member of the township board and invariably gave his support to all worthy enterprises. He was one of the leading stockmen of the county in his day and at the time of his death was owner of two hundred acres of valuable land in this county. Mr. Kash died July 9, 1916, at the Kash homestead near Johnstown. His wadow still survives him and she is now eighty years of age. Mrs. Kash makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Lillie Moore, in Henry county.

When S. B. Kash was a lad twelve years of age, his parents moved from Kentucky to Missouri, so he had received the beginning of his education in the schools of Wolfe county, Kentucky and after coming to Bates county, Missouri, attended Elm Grove school. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age and then he began farming independently on the S. W. Gutridge farm, the owner giving Mr. Kash one-fourth the produce and his board. Later, Mr. Kash rented land for several years and for two years operated a threshing machine in the county. He moved to his present country place in 1883 and farmed thereon for ten years before he purchased it. The original purchase included five hundred eighty acres of land, to wdiich Mr. Kash has since added a tract of two hundred twenty acres, and his place now comprises eight hundred acres of choice land in Deepwater township and Spruce township. For many years, Mr. Kash has been widely recognized as a most progressive and energetic stockman and his stock interests in recent years have been very extensive. He considers that the breeding and raising of hogs has been his best and most profitable line and he now has on his place a large herd of big-bone Poland China hogs, which are of good grade. Mr. Kash began with pure-bred stock and he has kept up the grade to a high standard. H«=' raises horses and mules, also.

The marriage of S. B. Kash and Susan E. Coleman was solemnized in 1883. Susan E. (Coleman) Kash is a daughter of Bonaparte and Elizabeth (McCombs) Coleman, the former, a native of Kentucky and the latter, of Missouri. The Colemans came to Bates county, Missouri, in 1855, and settled on the farm which is now owned by Mr. and Mrs. S. B. Kash. Mrs. Coleman died in 1860 and the father died in 1891.

Both parents are interred in Coleman cemetery. Mrs. Kash is the only living child born to her parents and she was born on the farm where she now resides. To S. B. and Susan E. Kash have been born four children: R. A., who is engaged in farming on the home place and who married Lela Stevens and to them have been born two sons, William Carl and Roy Donald; two sons died in infancy; and O. N., who is at home with his parents.

The Kash family settled in Bates county, Missouri, when the farm, which S. B. Kash has so well improved and cultivated, was prairie land upon which herds of Texas cattle grazed in the summer time and the ffrst home between the present Kash place and Butler was the home of old Mr. Barr, one of the earliest settlers of the county . The Kash family were residing on the Redmond farm in the memorable year of 1874, when the grasshoppers dispensed with all difficulties and perplexities as to the disposition and transportation of crops for that year and in the spring of 1875. The uninvited and most unwelcome pests took their departure in June, 1875, and an excellent crop of corn was raised that summer by the elder Mr. Kash, who sold twelve hundred bushels of corn at twelve and fifteen cents a bushel in the autumn of 1875. In speaking of the early days, S. B. Kash recalled a most striking example of the irony of fate and of how mistaken the judgment of the best of men may at times be. In the fifties, John Beaman was the owner of a tract of land in Bates county, a part of which is now the townsite of Butler. H-e traded his farm for another, near old Johnstown, which was at that time the big town of the county. John Beaman died at Johnstown when he was ninety-three years of age. He lived to see Butler growing into a city and Johnstown dwindling into a deserted village.

Although his father was a prominent Democrat of his township, S. B. Kash has never taken much interest in politics except to perform his duty as a public-spirited citizen and cast his vote. Mr. Kash long ago made it his policy to meet all business obligations when due and in no manner has any confidence or trust in him been betrayed. He has long ranked with the best and most enterprising men of this part of Missouri.

J. H. Baker, proprietor of "Gold Medal Stock Farm" in Deepwater township, is one of twelve worthy descendants of a good, old, sterling pioneer family of Bates county, Missouri. Mr. Baker is widely known in this part of the state as a successful and prosperous agriculturist and stockman. He was born May 8, 1870, in Pleasant Gap township, a son and seventh child of Zephaniah and Martha Ellen (Hale) Baker, the former, a native of Indiana and the latter, of Iowa. Zephaniah Baker brought his family to Missouri in the early fifties and they settled on a tract of land located near the present townsite of Butler. When the Civil War broke out in 1860, on account of the terrible drought of that year, the Bakers moved back to Iowa, where they remained during the four years of the conflict. They returned to Bates county, Missouri, in 1866 and Mr. Baker sold his farm, which was near Butler, and located one mile north of Pleasant Gap and about two years afterward, on a farm lying three and a half miles southwest of Pleasant Gap in March, 1872. To Zephaniah and Martha Ellen Baker were born twelve children, all of whom were reared to maturity and are now living, the youngest child being thirty-eight years of age at the time of this writing in 1918: J. W., the capable sheriff of Bates county, Missouri; Mrs. Lillie Ferrell, Rich Hill, Missouri; John T., a well-to-do merchant of Rich Hill, Missouri; Mrs. Mary Grififin, of Pleasant Gap township; Mrs. Anna Olan, who resides in Oklahoma; W. A., a well-known farmer and stockman of Pleasant Gap township; J. H., the subject of this review; Mrs. Parthena Beard, Parsons, Kansas; Mrs. Ella Dillon, Southmound, Kansas; Charlie Z., of Pleasant Gap township; Mrs. Ida Davis, Enid, Oklahoma; and George W., of Summit township. Mr. Baker, father of the children, was a highly respected, industrious citizen. He was for many years employed in hauling merchandise for Brooks & Mains, merchants of Pleasant Gap, from Pleasant Hill to Pleasant Gap and he was known to practically everyone in his township. Zephaniah Baker died at his country home in February, 1907. A few years prior to his death he moved to Butler but became dissatisfied and bought a farm of forty acres near his son, W\ A., where he died. The widowed mother survived her husband but a short time, wdien they were united in death. Mrs. Baker, one of Bates county's noblest and bravest pioneer women, died in 1910. Both father and mother are interred in Rogers cemetery in Bates county.

J. H. Baker received a good common-school education in the public schools of Pleasant Gap township in Bates county. His boyhood days were spent in assisting with the work on his father's farm and in attending the country school near their home. Mr. Baker remained with his parents until he was nearly twenty-one years of age and then he began farming independently on the home place, a part of which he rented for some time and then purchased a tract of one hundred twenty acres of land formerly belonging to his father. Mr. Baker, in early manhood, left Missouri and went to Oklahoma, where he took up a claim in Garfield county. After relinquishing his claim in Oklahoma, he returned to Bates county, Missouri, and in 1900 again located on a farm near the Double Branches church in Pleasant Gap township, where he resided for six years. He then disposed of that place to his brother, W. A. Baker, and purchased his present country home in Deepwater township, about ten years ago.

The marriage of J. H. Baker and Alma Edith Beard was solemnized December 17, 1890. Alma Edith (Beard) Baker is a daughter of Henry and Eliza (Kretzinger) Beard, a highly valued and worthy pioneer family of Deepwater township. The Beard family came to Missouri from Ohio, of which state Henry Beard was a native. He was a member of a family that had settled in Ohio among the first pioneers of the Northwest Territory and in that state was reared and educated. The Beards later moved to Indiana and there the father and mother of Henry Beard died. He then came West and located in Kansas, where he was united in marriage with Eliza Kretzinger and in the years immediately following the Civil AVar they settled in Bates county, Missouri, on a farm in Deepwater township, a place comprising one hundred eighty acres of land. To Henry and Eliza Beard were born ten children: Charles F., Parsons, Kansas; Mrs. Emma Frost, of Deepwater township; Mrs. J. H. Baker, the wife of the subject of this review; J. A., of Summit township; L E., of Deepwater township; Ava M., Lone Oak township; Mrs. Minnie Ferris, who resides (in Canada; Mrs. Maud Parker, of Deepwater township; Mrs. Dora Thomas, of Pleasant Gap township; and Mrs. Nina McKinley, of Hudson township. The father died in 1895 and the mother remained on the farm and alone reared and educated their children. Mrs. Beard still resides at the old homestead in Deepwater township and she is now sixty-seven years of age, one of the most honored residents of Bates county. Mr. Beard was interred in Smith cemetery in Bates county. To J. H. and x\lma Edith Baker have been born nine children : Roy Castle, who married Stella Ritchey and resides on a farm in Summit township; Ethel Viola, wife of Omer B. Randall, of Shawnee township; Ira Henry, of Summit township; Oscar Leland; James Lloyd; Z. Z. ; Vera Laverne; Arlie, deceased; and an infant son. deceased. Four of the children are at home with their parents. (41)

"Gold Medal Stock Farm" in Deepwater township was purchased by J. H. Baker in the autumn of 1907 from C. F. Beard, who had bought it from Joseph W. Webb. Mr. Webb had obtained the place from Mr. Matchett and he, in turn, had secured it from the one who entered the land from the government. This farm comprises two hundred twenty acres of choice farming land in Bates county, one hundred acres of the tract lying north of the Butler, Spruce, and Johnstown road and one hundred twenty acres lying south of the road and nine miles east of Butler. In point of location, no better could be desired and the land is chiefly prairie and well drained and watered. The soil is very productive, but Mr. Baker is as much interested in stock raising as in farming and at the time of this writing in 1918 he has on the place from eighteen to twenty head of Percheron horses, one of which is a registered animal, and jacks, and jennets, also registered; twenty-five head of cattle ; and fifty head of pure-bred Poland China hogs. Mr. Baker has built a new stock barn in recent years and the residence, which was originally built by Mr. Matchett forty-five years ago out of lumber hauled from Pleasant Hill, has been remodeled and all the other buildings on the farm put in good repair and all are now neatly kept.

I. M. Kretzinger, ex-trustee of Deepwater township, and a wellto-do farmer and stockman of Bates county, is a native of Warren county, Iowa. Mr. Kretzinger was born March 24, 1865, a son of Nicholas and Margaret (Kingery) Kretzinger, a prominent pioneer family of Bates county. Nicholas Kretzinger came to Missouri with his family in 1867 and they located on a farm one mile north and one mile east of Spruce, on the place known as the Payne farm, which comprised forty-six acres of land. Mr. Kretzinger sold this place after a short time and purchased a tract of land embracing one hundred forty acres, a farm lying on the south side of Deepwater creek, and before he had had an opportunity to carry out his plans in improving the land death came in 1872. This latter farm owned by Nicholas Kretzinger was known as the "Dick" Choate farm. Mr. Kretzinger was laid to rest in Dickison cemetery in Bates county. Nicholas and Margaret (Kingery) Kretzinger were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Eliza Beard, the widow of Henry Beard, a resident of Deepwater township. Bates county, further mention of whom will be found in connection with the biography of her son, J. A. Beard, which appears elsewhere in this volume; Van, who resides in Oklahoma; John, who is engaged in farming in Deepwater township; George, Rich Hill, Missouri; Mrs.

Emma Cunningham; I. M., the subject of this review; and William, of Vernon county, Missouri. The mother, one of the county's most estemed pioneer women, died in 1911 and her remains lie beside those of her husband in Dickison cemetery.

I. M. Kretzinger attended school in Deepwater township, Bates county. His educational advantages were not great, for he was obliged to assist with the work on the farm at a very early age and could attend school only occasionally during the winter seasons. His father died, when I. M. Kretzinger was a child live years of age and there were seven children left for the widowed mother to rear and educate. Mr. Kretzinger remained with her on the home farm until he was twentysix years of age and then rented a tract of thirty acres from his mother, where he resided for a short time. He then moved to the Newberry farm and resided thereon for nearly eight years, when he purchased his present country home, a place comprising one hundred ninety-three acres of land located one and a fourth miles east of Spruce, Missouri. Mr. Kretzinger has improved the farm, rebuilding the residence, now a pretty cottage of eight rooms, and building three barns. This farm lies on the north side of Deepwater creek on the Butler-Clinton State highway. Mr. Kretzinger is interested in both general farming and stock raising and usually cultivates about fifty acres of the farm, leaving the remainder in bluegrass and pasture land. He has on his place, at the time of this writing in 1918, twenty head of Shorthorn cattle, eight head of horses, and a large herd of Poland China hogs, each herd headed by a registered male.

April 24, 1891, I. M. Kretzinger and Susie Newberry, a daughter of Capt. John B. and Elizabeth Newberry, were united in marriage. Mrs. Kretzinger died in 1900 and interment was made in the cemetery at Butler. Mr. Kretzinger remarried, his second wife being Ona Stark, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Stark, of Warrensburg, Missouri. Mr. Stark is now deceased. Ona (Stark) Kretzinger is a graduate of the Warrensburg State Normal School in the class of 1900. To Mr. and Mrs. Kretzinger has been born one child, a daughter, Madge, born December 20, 1910.

In the public affairs of his township and county, I. M. Kretzinger takes a most commendable interest and he has served as township trustee of Deepwater township. He and Mrs. Kretzinger are valued citizens of Bates county.

Thomas Humphrey Dickison, an honored pioneer of Bates county, Missouri, a member of one of the oldest and best famihes of the state, ex-trustee of Deepwater township, is a native of Bates county, Missouri as its boundaries were at the time of his birth, December 23, 1846, or of what is now Little Osage township, Vernon county. Mr. Dickison is a son of Humphrey and Elvira Goff (Perkins) Dodge Dickison. Humphrey Dickison was a native of Licking county, Ohio. He came to Missouri in 1839 and settled on a tract of land, comprising one hundred sixty acres, in what was then Bates county. Mr. Dickison's wife, Myra (Goff) Dickison, whom he married December 6, 1821, died the year after their coming West on August 27, 1840 and her remains were interred in the Dickison cemetery on their farm, the first burial made there. To Humphrey and Myra (Goff) Dickison were born the following children: Ruth Anne, born October 16, 1822; Caroline, born December 22, 1824; William GofT, born March 11, 1827; Sarah Ann, born September 16, 1829; Anson, born March 4, 1832; Louisa, born June 1, 1836; Albert, born August 15, 1840. Mr. Dickison remarried, his second wife being Mrs. Elvira Goff (Perkins) Dodge, and to this union were born two sons: Thomas H., the subject of this review; and Edwin James, born November 17, 1852, who died in 1891 at Catskill, New Mexico and was buried at Trinidad, Colorado ; and a dauehter, Myra H., born in 1844, died in infancy. Mrs. Dickison, the mother of Thomas H. and Edwin James, was a native of Vermont, a highly intellectual and well-educated woman, who came to Missouri in 1833 and was employed as teacher at the old Harmony Mission school as long as the mission was maintained. She was a widow at the time of her marriage with Mr. Dickison. Her first husband, Nathaniel B. Dodge, was killed in 1838 in a battle with the Indians on the island of the Marais des Cygnes. The savages of the forest had been killing the cattle and hogs of the early settlers of that vicinity for some time until the annoyance had become unendurable. The hardy, fearless frontiersmen mustered a small band of thirteen men to teach the Indians a lesson in the only terms which they seemed to understand. The former demanded of the red men that they give over the marauders to be punished and this the Indians refused to do. In the battle which ensued, two Indians w^ere killed and others seriouslv wounded. Nathaniel B. Dodge was the only settler killed, but three others were wounded, among them two brothers of Mr. Dodge: Newell and Edward, both of whom recovered. The first burial made in the Balltown cemeterv, nine miles north and east of Nevada, Missouri, was made for the remains of Nathaniel B. Dodge, the first husband of Thomas H. Dickison's mother. Mrs. Dickison died in October, 1862. Humphrey Dickison died November 7, 1867.

There is a strange fascination about the horrible in life v^diich draws both young and old to witness the most revolting sights of our civilization and it is not all queer that young, ten-year-old Thomas H. Dickison should have been heartbroken and have wept bitterly for one whole day when his father firmly and sternly refused to allow him to attend the hanging of Dr. Nottingham at Papinsville in the autumn of 1856. It is not possible to put old heads on young shoulders and judgment and control of one's natural impulses come only with years of experience - and there is no doubt that there were hundreds of wise, old heads present at Papinsville that day to see the doctor's swing from the gallows, a sad but true comment \ipon curious human nature. A downpour of rain can't change it.

Thomas H. Dickison obtained his education in the "subscription schools" of Vernon county. The hard, primitive life of the early pioneers afforded but little opportunity for schooling and with the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 the majority of the few poor schools were obliged to close their doors. Mr. Dickison was reared on the farm and his youth was chiefly spent in assisting with the work on the home place and as most of his young life was spent out-of-doors he grew rapidly into a strong, vigorous, normal manhood. He resided in Vernon county until 1867, when he came to Bates county. Humphrey Dickison had entered a vast tract of land in this county and his son, Thomas H., was given one hundred acres. Mr. Dickison is now the owner of one hundred ninety-one acres of land in Bates county, a farm lying one and three-fourths miles east of Spruce, Missouri. He left this state in 1870 and took up his residence in Texas, where he remained for six years and then returning to his present home in 1876 he has rebuilt the residence, a house of two stories, and placed all the improvements on the farm.

The marriage of Thomas H. Dickison and Emma Caroline Snodgrass was solemnized in 1873 in Fannin county. Texas. Mrs. Dickison was a daughter of Isaac and Martha (Stubblefield) Snodgrass. To this union were born nine children, five of whom are now living: Walter Edwin, farmer near Spruce, Missouri ; Isaac Humphrey, a well-known merchant of Spruce, Missouri; Ennis Pearl, the wife of C. A\\ S^ephe-")- son, of Deepwater township; Ethel C, the wife of Arthur Strode, and they reside with Mr. Dickison on the home farm; and Cyrus B., who resides on a Scully lease in Bates county. Mr. Dickison has seven grandchildren, of whom he is very fond: Ophelia Fay and Omeda May Dickison, children of Mr. and Mrs. Walter E. Dickison; George Humphrey, Hazel Pearl Dickison, children of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Humphrey Dickison; and Lois Alene Stephenson, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Stephenson; Walter Lee and Velnia Ruth are children of Cyrus B. For three generations of the Dickisons, there has been a Humphrey Dickison in the family, a noble, old name wdiich the bearer should be proud to bear and ashamed to tarnish by a single unworthy act. The saddest event in the life of Thomas H. Dickison occurred October 27, 1917, when death entered the Dickison home once more and again broke the family circle. Mrs. Dickison, her husband's faithful and brave helpmeet and beloved companion for forty-three years, the loving mother of their children, answered the last summons last autumn.

Mr. Dickison has always taken a deep interest in the general growth and development of his county and state and has manifested a most commendable interest in the public and political affairs of his township. He has served one term in the ofifice of township trustee of Deepwater township. He has watched Bates county steadily emerge from an unsettled wilderness and prairie and become one of the best and most prosperous sections of Missouri and during all these years he has contributed his full share toward bringing about this marvelous development. Thomas H. Dickison is one of the county's most excellent citizens, a noble son of a noble father.

William Y. Osborne, a prominent citizen of Butler, a retired farmer and stockman of Charlotte township, is a native of West Virginia, a descendant of one of the leading colonial families of the South. Mr. Osborne was born July 19, 1847 at Franklin in Pendleton county, AVest Virginia, a son of J. AV. and Rachel Griggsby (Hamilton) Osborne. J. W. Osborne was one of the beloved Methodist ministers of the South, one who was engaged in ministerial work for fifty years. His son, W. Y., treasures among his priceless possessions the Bible which Reverend Osborne had when he entered the ministry at the age of twenty-five years. J. AA'". Osborne was a son of Joseph Osborne, a veteran of the War of 1812, who took an important part in the battle of Baltimore, who was a son of an English of^cer that had been in the siege of Yorktown, the turning point in the Revolutionary War of 1776, when Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781 with his eight thousand men. Rachel Griggsby (Hamilton) Osborne was a daughter of a wealthy plantation owner and slaveholder, John Hamilton. W. Y. Osborne has been given a book by his mother's sister, Mrs. Henrietta (Hamilton) McCormick, which volume contains the genealogy of the Hamilton family, tracing the lineage of Mr. Osborne back to ancestors of prominence in the Civil War, in the War of 1812, in the Revolutionary War, and in Scotland. Two brothers of Mrs. J. W. Osborne, the mother of W. Y. Osborne, were active participants in the War of 1812. The Griggsbys, Hamiltons, and McCormicks were of the "F. F. V.'s." Mrs. Henrietta McCormick has in her possession the powder horn carried by Alexander McNutt in the battle of the Cowpens, fought January 17, 1781, one of the most important engagements of the Revolutionary War. Rev. J. W. Osborne departed this life in April, 1881 at Baltimore, Maryland. He was seventy-five years of age. To Rev. J. W. and Mrs. Osborne were born the following children, who are now living: W. Y., the subject of this review; Dr. Oliver, a well-known attorney of St. Paul, Missouri; John H., a prosperous capitalist of Elk Falls, Kansas; and Virginia Elizabeth, of Chicago, Illinois.

W. Y. Osborne attended the city schools of Chicago, Illinois and Bryant & Stratton Commercial College of Chicago. He was employed in commission houses in Chicago for six years and then retired from business and began farming in Illinois near Chicago and in other parts of the state. Mr. Osborne left Illinois in March, 1875 and went to Texas, in which state he was for six years employed in the sheep raising business on a large ranch, having at one time a herd of seven thousand sheep on the range. He has in his early manhood traveled extensively, visiting and residing in many different states, and since June, 1881 he has been the owner of a valuable farm comprising one hundred twenty acres of land in Charlotte township. Bates county, Missouri. To his original holdings in this county, Mr. Osborne has since added a tract of forty acres of land and on this farm of one hundred sixty acres his son, William E.. now lives. W. Y. Osborne was for many years one of the successful and influential farmers and stockmen of his township. He moved from his country place to Butler in December, 1914 and now resides at 310 Fort Scott street in this city. He and Mrs. Osborne are spending the closing years of their lives, which have been spent in hard but honorable labor, in quiet comfort and ease. Their home in Butler is a beautiful, modern residence and Mr. Osborne enjoys working in his garden and in reading when he can no longer be employed out-of-doors. He has traveled over all the plains of the Southwest and wdiile in the business of sheep growing was located at Colfax county, New Mexico. He is a most interesting conversationalist and the relation of his travels and experiences on the plains would make a remarkably valuable, instructive, and delightful book.

The marriage of W. Y. Osborne and Eliza E. Cowgill was solemnized December 21, 1881. Eliza (Cowgill) Osborne is a daughter of James and Anna Barbara (Schaub) Cowgill, of Mount Carmel, Bates county, Missouri. Mr. Cowgill died in New Mexico in 1895 and Mrs. Cowgill joined him in death in July, 1898. The remains of each parent were brought back to Bates county, Missouri for burial and they are interred in Morris cemetery. To W. Y. and Eliza E. Osborne have been born six children: Mary M.. the wife of Jesse Lynds, deputy United States marshal, Muskogee, Oklahoma; Perry H., of Mount Pleasant township; William E., of Charlotte township, on the home place ; Grace M., the wife of Logan Cope, New Home township ; Robert George, of St. Paul, Minnesota, who has been called for service in the army of the United States; and Lillian, who is at home with her parents. The Osbornes are widely and favorably known in this part of the state and in Bates county there is no family of higher standing.

Jesse E. Smith, cashier of the Missouri State Bank of Butler, Missouri, is one of Bates county's most enterprising, young "hustlers." Mr. Smith is a member of a highly respected and prominent family of Butler, a native of Saline county, Missouri, a son of John W. and Susan P. (James) Smith, who came from Kentucky to Missouri in 1870 and located in Saline county, coming thence to Bates county in January, 1888, settling at Butler, where Mr. Smith followed the livery business and blacksmithing and later the stock business, buying and selling horses and mules. John W. and Susan P. Smith were the parents of the following children: James H., Arkansas City, Kansas; John R., Arkansas City, Kansas; Jesse E., the subject of this review; Mrs. J. A. Carey, Pittsburg, Kansas; Dr. G. R., a successful dentist of Duncan, Oklahoma; and Mrs. C. W. Knipple. Wichita, Kansas. The father died at Butler in May, 1916 and interment was made in Oak Hill cemetery. The widowed mother now makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. C. W. Knipple, at Wichita, Kansas.

in the public schools of Saline county, Missouri. He later attended the city schools of Butler for four years. Mr. Smith began his business career in the employ of W. G. Womack, a grocer of Butler, Missouri, about 1892. He was for six years employed by Deacon Brothers and ten years by F. H. Crowell, agent for the Scully lands in Bates county. In 1908, Mr. Smith accepted a position with the Missouri State Bank of Butler as assistant cashier and five years later, in 1913, was appointed cashier of the institution, which position he is capably filling at the time of this writing in 1918, one of the most responsible positions in Bates county. Since Mr. Smith entered the field of business at Butler several years ago, he has never had to ask for a position. The other man has always done the asking - a mute tribute to the intrinsic worth of this promising, alert gentleman, a tireless worker.

Jesse E. Smith and Sallie L. Arnold, a daughter of John E. and Margaret (Allen) Arnold, a native of Lafayette county, Missouri, were united in marriage and to this union have been born two children: Arnold and Agnes. Mr. Arnold is deceased and Mrs. John E. Arnold is a resident of Butler, Missouri. The Smith residence is located at 514 West Fort Scott street in Butler.

The Missouri State Bank of Butler, Missouri was organized in 1880 by William E. Walton, who was for thirty-seven years its wellknown president and cashier. Mr. Walton also organized the Walton Trust Company, the latter financial institution in 1896, and was president of the same for twenty-one years, when at his rec[uest he was succeeded by his nephew, J. B. Walton, on January 1, 1917. The capital stock and surplus funds of the Missouri State Bank of Butler and the Walton Trust Company exceed a half million dollars. The present capital stock of the former bank is fifty-five thousand dollars and the deposits at the time of the last official report published on March 4, 1918 amounted to one million, eighty-seven thousand, four hundred seventy-three dollars and twelve cents.

Alfred A. Miller, one of Butler's respected citizens and a representative of a sterling pioneer family of Bates county, Missouri, is one of the native sons of Mount Pleasant township. Mr. Miller was born June 23, 1860 at the Miller homestead, a son of Alpheus and Rachel Ann (Wright) Miller, the former, a native of Ohio and the latter, of W^est Virginia. Alpheus Miller was born in 1817 at Gallipolis, Ohio and Mrs. Miller was born at Wheeling. West Virginia. They were the parents of the following children: G. C, who was born November 16.

1846 and is now deceased; J. T., who was born January 3, 1848 and now resides at Altoona, Kansas; Sarah E., the wife of J. E. Thompson, who was born September 16, 1850 and now resides at Washington, Iowa; Martha E., who was born July 22, 1852; Emma M., the wife of WilHam R. Huffman, who was born June 16, 1854 and was the mother of two children. Lulu B. and Anna E., and the mother and younger daughter are both now deceased; John R., who was born April 7, 1856 and died January 31, 1918; W. W., who was born March 23, 1858; and Alfred A., the subject of this review. Mr. and Mrs. Miller were united in marriage October 16, 1845 and for ten years following they were residents of Gallipolis, Ohio, coming to Bates county in 1855. Mr. Miller entered from the government a large tract of land located in the center of the county in Mount Pleasant, Summit, and Lone Oak townships. During the Civil War. the Millers moved from their farm to Calhoun in Henry county, Missouri, returning to this county in 1865. Alpheus Miller was an industrious and prosperous farmer and stockman in the early days and at the time of his death w^as owner of three hundred fifty acres of choice land in Bates county, a farm now in the possession of his children and grandchildren. He died in September, 1892 and interment was made in Fairview cemetery in Lone Oak township. Bates county. The widowed mother, one of the most beloved and bravest of Mount Pleasant township's pioneer women, survived her husband twenty-one years, when in 1913 they were united in death and she was laid to rest beside him in Eairview cemetery.

Alfred A. Miller attended the district schools of Mount Pleasant township in Bates county and acquired a good common school education. In early manhood, he began farming and stock raising. Mr. Miller recalls the days in Bates county when deer could be seen frequently from the doorway of his old home and when cattle roamed at large over the wide, unfenced prairie. The Miller children all attended school at Miller school house located in the vicinity of their home. This school building was the first to be erected in the neighborhood and it was built in 1870. The lumber and seats were hauled from Pleasant Hill, Missouri and Alfred A. Miller recalls how he was taken along on the three-day journey to herd the oxen when they were turned loose at the noontimes. Jefferson Aldridge, a cripple, was employed at Miller school house to "keep school" for the first two terms and he was in turn succeeded bv M. A. Stewart. The old school house was torn

In 1886, Alfred A. Miller went to Leadville, Colorado and for six and a half years was employed in the mines there. Mr. Miller succeeded well in Colorado and was prospering when the word came to him that his father was dead. He then returned home to care for his widowed mother and together they resided at Butler from 1897 until 1913, when death entered their home again and she was taken from him. Mr. Miller disposed of his farm two years ago, selling the place to his brother, and he is now living in quiet retirement in Butler. He is the owner of his home in this city, a residence of six rooms, modern throughout, which he purchased in 1897. Mr. Miller has been a most devoted son and he is a man highly honored in Butler because of his unselfish devotion to duty, a citizen who occupies a large place in the respect and esteem of his fellowmen. Mr. Miller has never married.

R. C. Hays, manager of "Maple Grove Stock Farm" in Spruce township, a well-known and successful breeder of registered Hereford cattle, is one of Bates county's enterprising, young agriculturists and stockmen. Mr. Hays is a son of J. B. and Ruth E. Hays, the father, a native of Saline county, Missouri and the mother, a native of Lafayette county, Missouri. The maternal grandparents of R. C. Hays were among the first settlers of Lafayette county and J. B. Hays is a son of William Hays, who was one of the leading pioneers of Saline county. J. B. Hays settled in Bates county, Missouri in 1874 on the farm in Spruce township, now operated by his son, R. C, the subject of this review, when the land for nearly eight miles north to Grand river was all open prairie. He began the breeding and raising of registered Hereford cattle in 1897 and for many years was wddely known in the county as an extensive feeder. His son, R. C, has continued the work begun by his father and they have on the farm, at the time of this writing in 1918, thirty head of fine registered Herefords, twenty-two of the herd being cows, and he and his father but recently sold twenty-seven head of cattle. "Maple Grove Stock Farm" in Spruce township comprises two hundred fifty-two acres of valuable land. T. B. Hays has retired from the active pursuits of farming and stock raising and since October, 1916 has been a resident of Adrian, Missouri. Mr. Hays, Sr. is now at the advanced age of seventy-four years, but a fairly well-preserved gentleman for one of his age, and he is numbered among the honored and invaluable citi- zens of Bates countv. His name has long been connected with all worthy enterprises, having for their object the upbuilding of the material and spiritual interests of his community and no man in Spruce township is more deserving of commendation in a work of this character than is he. J. B. Hays will long be remembered for the gift of one acre of land upon which the Fairview Baptist church was erected in 1882. He was for many years clerk of the church and his son, R. C. now holds the same position. Apparently, the father's mantle has fallen upon worthy shoulders.

The marriage of R. C. Hays and Miss Iva Evans, a daughter of George H. Evans, of Shawnee township, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume, was solemnized March 1, 1914. ^Ir. and Mrs. Hays are highly respected and esteemed in their community and they number their friends by the score in Bates county. As a citizen. R. C. Hays has always been a stanch advocate of progress and improvement.

Capt. John B. Newberry, the oldest living pioneer citizen of Bates county, ^lissouri. ex-sheritt of Bates county, ex-senator and ex-representative of the Missouri State Legislature, proprietor of "'Evergreen Liberty Bell Farm" in Bates county, is a native of Orange county. Xew York. Captain Xewberry was born May 25, 1829, a son of Joshua and Elizabeth (Stevins) Newberry, both of whom were natives of Xew York. Mr. and Mrs. Joshua X'ewberry moved with their family to Broome county. Xew York and there the parents died and are buried. They were the parents of seven children, of whom Captain X'ewberry is the sole survivor.

In the public schools of Orange and Broome counties. X'ew York. Captain X'ewberry obtained his education in the elementary' branches of learning. He later entered Harfard Academy, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania and was a student at that institution for one session. In his youth, he mastered the trade of blacksmithing and when he came to Missouri in 1853 he located at Papinsville, at that time the flourishing county seat of Bates county, and for four years followed his trade at that place. In 1857, Captain X'ewberry purchased his present country place in Bates county, a farm comprising one hundred twenty acres located two and a half miles southeast of Spruce. He recalls among the heads of families, that were residents of Papinsville in 1853, when he - a young man twenty-four years of age - came to this county, the following men: F. F. Eddy. F. H. Eddins. S. H. Loring, James McCool, George L. Duke. Stephen S. Duke, and D. B. McDonald. Captain Xew-

Captain John B. Newberry

"Uncle James" Hook hewed the timbers for the residence built on Captain Newberry's farm in 1844, a building which has been since remodeled by Captain Newberry. The frame of this building was built of hewed lumber, the lath and weatherboarding all hand-rived, the floors made of pecan lumber hauled from Ball's Mill on the Osage in Vernon county, the woodwork of the interior made from pine hauled by oxen from Boonville, Missouri. The road from Papinsville to Boonville passed Captain Newberry's farm and the primitive log cabin on the place was known far and wide as "The House with the Glass Window." It stood just a few feet northeast of the site of the present residence and Captain Newberry describes it as having a puncheon floor, and a ceiling of hickory bark, and a roof covering made of rived clapboards. The cabin was eighteen feet square. In 1873, the captain planted two Norway spruce evergreen trees on the lawn of his home and he has carefully and painstakingly trained them and one is so shaped as to present a marvelous resemblance to the famous Liberty Bell. It is a strangely beautiful tree and immediately attracts the attention of the passerby. Captain Newberry has the eye of an artist in matters pertaining to landscape gardening and the lawn of "Evergreen Liberty Bell Farm" is the most delightful feature of the place.

At Butler, Missouri, in 1862 Capt. John B. Newberry enrolled in Company F, Sixtieth Enrolled Missouri Militia in the Civil War and of this company was elected captain, and served as captain until the company was mustered out of the service. When Bates county was ordered evacuated in 1863, on account of Order Number 11, Captain Newberry's company was stationed in Henry county, in which county he remained after the war had ended until the autumn of 1865. During the summer of 1865, he worked at his trade of Ijlacksmithing in Clinton. When he returned home, he found his house still standing, Init found it with much difficulty as it was completely hidden by a rank growth of weeds.

In the election of 1870, Captain Newberry was elected on the Democratic ticket sheriff and collector of Bates county. He served faithfully and efficiently two years and did not ask for re-election. At that time he and his family resided at Butler. In the autumn of 1874, Captain Newberry was elected senator of the Missouri State Legislature to represent the district composed at that time of the counties of Bates, Cass, and Jackson. He served one term of four years during Governor Woodson's administration and again did not ask for re-election. In 1888, Captain Newberry was elected representative of the Missouri State Legislature and after serving one term in this official capacity he for the third time refused to ask for re-election. While a member of the House of Representatives in the Missouri State Legislature, Captain Newberry introduced a bill providing for the inspection of coal mines and the bill became a state law and it has countless times since proven to be a most valuable one, resulting in the saving of hundreds of lives.