Henry County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1919 (part 5 of 17)

Doctor Fewel was the fourth in a family of nine children. He began his education in the public school near his old home and in 1870 was a student at Sylvan and through the succeeding two years attended school at Center Point Academy. He next entered Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois, from which he was graduated June 27, 1877. He de- termined to make the practice of medicine his life work and with that end in view began reading medicine in 1878 at Shawnee Mound, Missouri. He was in business at that time as a member of the firm of C. 0. Fewel and Brother. He afterward attended the St. Louis College of Medicine and was graduated March 3, 1881. He later attended the Chicago School of Higher Arts and Sciences, completing his course in 1893, and he took post-graduate work in the Chicago Polyclinic in 1901, completing his course on June 21. Throughout his professional career he has continued a student in the science of medicine and has thus constantly benefited his knowledge and promoted his efficiency.

In early life, however, before he was able to take up the study of medicine. Doctor Fewel taught school. He was then about nineteen or twenty years of age. He afterwards engaged in merchandising at Shawnee Mound for about three years, but sold out in 1880 in order that he might continue his studies. He began practicing at La Due, where he continued for a year, and in 1882 came to Montrose, where he has since followed his profession. He now devotes practically his entire time to his practice, which is large and growing. Besides, he is the owner of a fine farm of 160 acres in Henry County, to which he gives general supervision. In his practice he specializes to some extent in the diseases of women and children.

September 22, 1881, Doctor Fewel was married to Miss Rosa Frances Vickars, who was born on the old home now owned by her. She is a daughter of Henry Clay and Elizabeth (Roberts) Vickars. Her father, a native of Kentucky, went to Virginia in early life and was there reared. The mother was born near Charleston, West Virginia, where she was married and removed from Virginia to St. Louis. Mr. Vickars engaged in farming near St. Louis for a number of years, but afterwards came to Henry County, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits until his death. In early life he was a merchant in Virginia. Both he and his wife are deceased.

Doctor Fewel votes with the Democratic party and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge and belongs also to the Modern Woodmen Camp and he and his wife are members of the Eastern Star. Professionally he has membership in the County Medical Society, the Medical Society of Southwest Missouri, the State Medical Association and the Amei'ican Medical Association. Doctor Fewel had the first telephone line in Montrose run-

He was appointed a member of the Henry County Council of National Defense and received his commission from Governor Gardner in June, 1917. He was elected vice-chairman of County Council at its second meeting. Also was appointed and served as deputy county food administrator for Henry County.

Doctor Fewel has ever been an earnest and discriminating student of the science of medicine and is very conscientious and capable in the discharge of his duties. His ability has increased with the passing years and both his colleagues and the public pay high tribute to his professional service and to his fidelity to the highest standards of his profession.

Edward F. Rock, buyer and salesman of the grocery department of the Kahn Commercial Company of Montrose, Missouri, was born in Franklin County, Missouri, May 1, 1880. He is the son of Fred and Rosina (Bauer) Rock, natives of Switzerland. Both parents of Edward F. Rock came from their native land to America when young with their respective parents. They were reared to maturity in Illinois and were maiTied at Herman, Missouri. He removed to a farm in Montgomery County, Missouri, in 1887, where he died in 1915 at the age of sixty-seven years. Mrs. Rosina Rock was born in 1845 and still resides upon the fann in Montgomery County. They were parents of eleven children, six of whom are living: Edward F., Victor, Walter and Rosina, at Big Springs, Montgomery County, Missouri; Herbert, McKittrick, Missouri; Henry Rock, a farmer in Davis township, Henry County.

Edward F. Rock was educated in the public schools and the college at Warrenton, Missouri. After completing a business course at Warrenton, he was employed in a store at McKittrick, Missouri, until his removal to Montrose, in 1908. He became a member of the firm upon its organization in 1909 and is now of the grocery department of this large establishment.

February 3, 1911, Edward F. Rock and Miss Nell Faulk of Montrose, Missouri, were united in marriage. This marriage has been blessed with a son, Edward F., Jr., aged three years. Mrs. Nell Rock is a daughter of Samuel Faulk.

Mr. Rock is a Democrat and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a good, thorough business man who has made good in his chosen vocation and his place among the leading citizens of Montrose is established as one of the leaders of the community.

Anton Bartels, proprietor of a splendid farm of 322 acres located in the Germantown neighborhood in the northwest part of Deepwater township, was born in 1861 in a log cabin which stood on the farm which he now owns. He is the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Kleine) Bartels, both of whom were born in Germany. Joseph Bartels made a settlement in Henry County as early as 1853, or thereabout, and departed this life in 1869. After the death of his parents, Anton Bartels lived with the neighbors and friends and worked out by the day at whatever he could get to do and earn an honest dollar. For over thirty years he was employed in Kansas City and returned to the old home farm in 1912. For sixteen years he served as baggageman in the union depot at Kansas City and for ten years he was in the employ of the William Voelker Wholesale Company of Kansas City. During the thirty years spent in steady, constant employment, he saved his money and invested it in the old home place of his father in Deepwater township and additional land. In 1912 he returned to his birthplace and is contented to live the life of an agriculturist and stockman, independent of the time clocks and the bosses for the rest of his natural life.

Mr. Bartels was married July 16, 1912, to Miss Geraldine Black, an orphan girl, who was born May 9, 1892, and came to Missouri when three years of age, living first at Montrose and later at Germantown. Mr. and Mrs. Bartels have one child: Virgil Anton, born December 6, 1917.

Mr. Bartels is an independent voter who is not held by the party fetish worship idea. He thinks and acts for himself and votes accordingly. He and Mrs. Bartels are members of the Catholic Church.

August Engeman, a successful farmer and stockman of the Germantown settlement and owner of 1871/2 acres of good farm lands, was born in Hickory Grove township, Warren County, Missouri, a son of Henry Engeman, who emigrated from England to America in the thirties. Henry Engeman was a native of Germany and in his younger days was employed in a sugar refinery at London, England, prior to his immigration to America. His wife was Mary Fisher, who bore him the following children: August, the subject of this review; Mrs. Dena Dansenbrink, Montrose, Missouri; Henry Engeman, Jr., of Warren County; Charles Engeman, Montrose, Missouri; Lena, Montrose, Missouri; Lizzie Engeman, a Sister in Ohio, and John Engeman, Montrose, Missouri. In 1871 Henry Engeman came to Henry County, where he remained until he retired to a home at Appleton City, where his death occurred.

For a good many years August Engeman supported his parents and helped the family with his earnings. He began life with the handicap of poverty and the additional burden of having to support his parents. For four years he was employed on the irrigation ranches in Humboldt County, Nevada, and during that time he sent regular remittances to the home folks. During one season when he was in Nevada he took his mother with him and she remained there one year. Even after his return from Nevada he still cared for his parents. His first purchase of 194 acres of land was made in 1879, near Appleton City, Missouri. In 1897 he made his first purchase of land in the Germantown locality, and has been adding to his acreage continuously until he now owns 189 V2 acres in different tracts. Mr. Engeman paid good prices for his land and has managed to accumulate his acreage by the exercise of hard work, industry and economy of the strictest character. In 1900 he erected a comfortable and imposing brick residence of eight rooms.

Ml'. Engeman was married in 1884 to Miss Lizzie Meyer, who was born in Franklin County, Missouri. To this marriage have been born eight children : Mary resides with an aunt in Franklin County, Missouri ; Joseph, at home assisting his father in the farm work; Annie, died at the age of three years ; Regina, a Sister in Perry County, Missouri ; August, Jr., Louise, Rose, Henry and Anthony at home with their parents.

Mr. Engeman is an independent in political matters and votes for the individual rather than supporting the man who bears a party label. He and all of his family are members of the Germantown Catholic Church.

John J. Cook. - One of the oldest living pioneers of Henry County is John J. Cook of Germantown, who enjoys the distinction of not only having resided in this county for a period of over fifty-seven years, but also served in the Union Army during the Civil War. For years Mr. Cook was the well known merchant of Germantown and became widely knovm throughout Henry County as a shrewd business man and an intelligent and enterprising citizen. He is now living in peaceful retirement at his home in Germantown.

John J. Cook was bom in Germany February 23, 1844, the son of John and Frances (Koch) Cook, who immigrated to America in 1851. John Koch was twice married, his first wife, Catherine, dying in 1848, and he then married Frances, his second wife. When he came to America he located in Henry County upon a farm situated just one-half mile west of Germantown, where his death occurred in June, 1877. There were four children by his first marriage, of whom John J. Cook, subject of this review, is the only survivor. Two children out of three born of the second marriage are living: Henry, deceased; Joseph, a farmer in Walker township; Anna, widow of William Rotert, resides in Nebraska.

On February 23, 1863, John J. Cook enlisted for service in the Civil War in Company H, 7th Missouri Cavalry, under Captain Box and General Brown. He served until his honorable discharge, April 20, 1865. He enlisted at Greenfield, Missouri, and from that point went to Linden, in southeast Missouri, thence to Marshfield, always fighting the bushwhackers who infested the State during that troublesome period. It was the duty of his division to give protection to the loyal citizens of the territory assigned them for patrol. His next station was at Warsaw, then to Tipton, Missouri, thence to Warrensburg, Missouri, and from there he went to St. Louis, where he was mustered out of the service. His brother, Anton Cook, was shot three times while serving with the Union forces at the battle of Lone Jack.

After his return from the war Mr. Cook tilled his father's place for three years, then after his marriage he purchased a farm of eighty acres near Montrose which he tilled for five years, eventually trading this farm for another tract, which he owned and farmed for twelve years. He then rented his farm and came to Germantown, where he engaged in the mercantile business for twenty-five years. Mr. Cook has done well. He has accumulated a comfortable competence, reared a splendid family and can now live in peace for the remainder of his days. He retired from active business in 1911, but is still kept busily engaged in raising vegetables on his tract of four acres, which, as Mrs. Cook says, "the plot just furnishes enough vegetables to feed the children when they come to visit the old folks on Sundays and holidays."

On May 19, 1867, John J. Cook and Elizabeth Schmedding were united in marriage. Mrs. Elizabeth Cook was bom in Deepwater township April 16, 1869, and is the daughter of Bernard and Mary Schmedding, natives of Germany who came to America in 1830 and were among the very first settlers of the Germantown neighborhood, Bernard Schmedding locating near the site of the village as early as 1834. Seven children have been born to John J. and Elizabeth Cook, as follow: Mrs. May Cook, Montrose, Missouri, mother of six children; Mrs. Minnie Bettels, Deepwater township, mother of seven children; John F., a clothing merchant in Montana, has one child; Mrs. Kate Kirsch, lives in Texas and has two chil- dren; Mrs. Emma Fick, Deepwater township, has six children; George A., with Armour & Company, in Texas, father of two children; Andrew B., a farm owner in Deepwater township, married Anna Cook and has two children. Mr. and Mi's. Cook have five great-grandchildren. On May 21, 1918, Mr. and Mrs. Cook celebrated their golden wedding anniversary with their children and grandchildren.

Depsite his age Mr. Cook is still active and strong, and takes a keen interest in life. He and Mrs. Cook are a jolly, contented and happy couple who keep themselves well informed on what is going on during these interesting days. Mr. Cook is one of the finest gardeners in the State of Missouri and is proud of his accomplishments in this respect. He is a Republican and served sixteen years as postmaster of Germantown. He served for two years as justice of the peace and is a notary public. He and Mrs. Cook are good Catholics, and he is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic.

William Doll. - In the north central part of Walker township is a group of some of the prettiest farms in western Missouri in which the owners take a just and abiding pride in constantly improving and making more beautiful. The farm home of William Doll furnishes a striking example of what can be done upon a tract of Missouri prairie land, and the tract of one hundred sixty acres is undeniably one of the finest improved farms in the western part of Missouri. A pretty cottage home faces a well kept roadway, the home being fronted by a beautiful lawn ornamented with large shade trees, and a handsome wrought iron fence. All of the farm buildings are kept in first class condition and well painted. Mr. Doll has another farm of one hundred sixty acres in White Oak township.

William Doll was born in 1864 in Edgar County, Illinois, and is the son of John and Mary (Wisner) Doll, natives of Germany, who first settled in Ohio after emigrating to America. They next made settlement in Illinois and from that State came to Henry County, Missouri, in 1867. The Doll family can justly lay claim to being one of the pioneer families of this county. The elder Doll settled in White Oak township and resided on his farm in that township until his death in 1907. The widowed mother still resides at White Oak having arrived at the great age of eighty-one years, her birth having been April 1, 1837. Mrs. Doll came to America aboard a sailing vessel. She boarded a ship at London on March 19, 1857, and the ship "Victoria" required forty-nine days to make the journey to

Wilijam Doll. Wife And Davcjhteu

New York. John Doll, the father, was born in Baden, Germany, November 17, 1831, and died September 2, 1907. He was married on February 14, 1858, to Mary Wisner. He removed from Ohio to Illinois in 1862 and thence to Missouri in 1867. To John and Mary (Wisner) Doll were born five children: William, subject of this review; John, Walker township; Jacob, a successful farmer of White Oak township; EfRe and Lizzie, the former of whom is at home with her mother and the latter is in Kansas City, Missouri.

William Doll was married in 1896 to Miss Elizabeth Barth, who has borne him three children : Anna Mabel, born June 26, 1908 ; Florence May, died at the age of nine years, eleven months and nineteen days ; one child died in infancy. Mrs. Lizzie (Barth) Doll was born in 1872 in White Oak township, and is a daughter of John and Mary (Lebold) Barth, who were among the best known of the substantial pioneer citizens of Henry County.

John Barth was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, January 10, 1838, and died near Lucas, Missouri, June 6, 1917. He was married September 21, 1862, to Maria Lebold, who was born in Bolivar, Ohio, and died January 12, 1874. This marriage was blessed with five children, as follow: John W., Dora Gretzinger, Mrs. Helen Doll, Mrs. Lizzie Doll, and Jacob S. Barth. On November 4, 1875, Mr. Barth was married to Sophia Rombold, who died May 27, 1911. She bore him ten children, nine of whom are living: Albert H., Maggie, deceased; Mrs. Clara Sevier, Josie, George, Tressie, Mrs. Ida Henny, Robert, Walter, David. John Barth immigrated to America in 1852 and located in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. From there he came to Missouri in the spring of 1868 and settled in White Oak township. During the course of years in active farming operations in Henry County he accumulated a large estate valued at over $100,000. He became owner of 2,280 acres of land which he divided among his children as they became of age and desired to make homes of their own. He was president of the Farmers Bank of Urich and was universally respected and admired as one of the county's most sterling, upright and successful citizens. He was a member of the Lutheran Church and his life was so lived that the example he set of industry and right living will forever serve as an inspiration and guide to his descendants.

Upon his marriage William Doll settled upon a one hundred sixty acre farm which was given to Mi\ and Mrs. Doll by the late John Barth. This farm they have successfully built up and have added another tract of one hundred sixty acres to their holdings in this county.

Mr. and Mrs. Doll are members of the Lucas Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Doll is inclined to the Republican view of things political, while Mrs. Doll is a pronounced adherent of Democratic principles. They are kindly and hospitable people who are progressive and enterprising in their views and stand high among the citizenship of Henry County.

John Witzel. - The two greatest fishermen in the southern part of Henry County are John Witzel and his long time friend, Joseph H. Wilson. These two old settlers have spent many happy days in fishing for the finny denizens which are plentiful in the Deepwater River and even now, when age has come upon them, they love to take hook and line and spend a long summer day in angling for the watei'y denizens. In the early days Mr. Witzel also liked to hunt and remembers shooting a deer while working in a field. Despite the fact that the deer got away he is practically certain that he shot the animal, which was afterwards chased by dogs and fell dead in a neighbor's yard.

John Witzel of Germantown was born in Prussia, Germany, in 1835, and is the son of Martin and Mary Elizabeth Witzel, both of whom died in Germany. John Witzel emigrated from his native country to America in June, 1866, and arrived at St. Louis when the cholera epidemic was raging in that city. He labored in that city for day wages until 1869 and then came to Henry County, where he rented a farm situated three miles southwest of Germantown. He purchased his home farm in 1881 and the place has been beautified until it is one of the pretty farmsteads in the county. For some yeai-s he and his son-in-law, Mr. Cook, farmed the place together and during that time many improvements were made of a substantial nature. Mr. Witzel is owner of seventy-seven acres of land.

On June 2, 1868, John Witzel and Elizabeth Kloer were united in marriage. Mrs. Elizabeth Witzel was bom March 7, 1848, in Germany, the daughter of Theodore Kloer, who immigrated to America in 1852. Both of Mrs. Witzel's parents died when she was but a child at their home near Cape Girardeau, Missouri. To John and Elizabeth Witzel were born children as follow: Frances, wife of J. H. Puthoff, Deepwater township; Mary, wife of August Schepers, a farmer near Montrose, who has three children : Joseph, Lizzie and Anton ; Josephine, wife of Henry Cook, who died at the Witzel home February 14, 1915. Mrs. Frances Puthoff has five children: Norbit, Clements, Lizzie, Agnes and Josephine. On June 2, 1918, Mr. and Mrs. Cook celebrated their golden wedding ani-

Mr. Witzel is an independent Democrat and he and his wife are members of the Germantown Catholic Church. He is one of the best respected and highly esteemed old settlers of this section of Henry County.

M. B. Witherspoon, cashier of the Bank of Deepwater, Henry County, Missouri, is a son of one of the oldest pioneer families in this section of Missouri. He was born near Gaines, Missouri, July 13, 1868, and is the son of H. B. and Amanda (Levy) Witherspoon, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Illinois. H. B. Witherspoon was a son of one of the first pioneers of this county who settled east of Deepwater as early as 1840.

H. B. Witherspoon was born in Kentucky in 1835 and died in 1914. He was a son of Isaac Witherspoon. Mr. Witherspoon followed farming during his entire life and died at Brownington, Missouri. His wife and mother of M. B. Witherspoon died in March, 1917. H. B. Witherspoon was twice married, there being two children by his first marriage: Mrs. J. N. Dunnin, a widow living in Deepwater, and Mrs. M. T. Beelor, Clinton, Missouri. There were four children born to the second marriage: M. B., subject of this review; B. H., Troy Mills, Iowa; R. L., died at Brownington in 1915, and Mrs. E. M. Beelor, living in Oregon.

M. B. Witherspoon was educated in the district school and attended Lamkin's Academy at Clinton. For a number of years he was engaged in the mercantile business at Brownington, Missouri, and came to Deepwater in 1905 and one year later (1906) he became cashier of the Bank of Deepwater.

Mr. Witherspoon was married in 1893 to Miss Lena L. Taylor, a daughter of Dr. M. B. Taylor of Brownington, Missouri. He is a Democrat and he and Mrs. Witherspoon are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Witherspoon is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and other fraternal societies.

The Bank of Deepwater was organized as a State banking institution on February 13, 1889. The principal organizers were W. F. White, C. N. White, J. H. Yentzer, Matthias Hageman and Isaac Shaffner. J. H. Yentzer was chosen president and served for a number of years, until his death in February, 1905. M. B. Witherspoon succeeded J. C. Smith as cashier in 1905. Mr. Smith is now in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. J. C. Yentzer was succeeded by Robert Terrill as president. Mr. Terrill was succeeded by Wesley Griffin, who was followed by J. M. Marmaduke, who in turn was succeeded by Jacob Rhoads, the present incumbent of the office, who is a substantial man of affairs.

The Bank of Deepwater is in a very prosperous condition. This bank has a capitalization of $10,000 ; a surplus of $10,000 ; undivided profits of $9,000, and deposits exceeding $145,000. The present officers are Jacob Rhoads, president; Fred C. Hill, vice-president; M. B. Witherspoon, cashier; F. A. Houston, assistant cashier. The directoi's are: Jacob Rhoads, Fred C. Hill, George S. Hovey, F. A. Huston, M. B. Witherspoon and L. L. Shaffer.

James F. Flecker. - In every county are individuals who have been able to accomplish more than ordinary success. Whether it is because of exceptional ability or the power to take advantage of opportunities which present themselves is a moted question. If one were to ask the most successful men of Henry County as to the reason for their successes in the agricultural field of endeavor, we are of the opinion that the answer would be the same as that given by James F. Flecker, retired farmer and stockman of Deepwater and one of the largest land owners of Henry County, "Hard work, keeping everlastingly at it, raise lots of live stock, buy land and make the land help pay for itself." It is practically the truth of the matter and the only agriculturist who achieves more than an ordinary success is the fellow who is not afraid to woi'k, combined with good business management in order to make good.

James F. Flecker was born in Augusta County, Virginia, August 29, 1843, and is the son of John W. (born 1819, died 1877) and Eliza (Craum) Flecker (born 1820, died 1887). Mr. Plecker's parents were both natives of Virginia. They emigrated to Missouri and arrived in Henry County March 20, 1866, and until his death John W. Flecker was engaged in farming pursuits. He first settled upon 160 acres of land east and southeast of the Moyer place, where he lived for two years, and in 1868 moved to a tract of prairie land four and a half miles southwest of Deepwater, near the Fleasant Valley district school, and improved the land.

To John W. and Ann Eliza Flecker were born eight children: A. H. Flecker, an artist, Lynchburg, Virginia, an ex-Confederate soldier, aged seventy-eight years; James F., of this review; Mrs. Margaret Ann Moyer, Clinton township; Mrs. Mary Fomeroy, a widow, living at Kokomo, Colorado; Mrs. Augusta Virginia, wife of Jacob Rhoads, Deepwater; David Brown, Nowata, Oklahoma; Edward Jackson, Minot, South Dakota.

arte Army, in 1862 and served for the Southern cause for three years under Gen. William H. Lee, in the 10th Virginia Cavalry under Captain Newham. He took an active part in many battles and fikirmishes, among them being the great Battles of Gettysburg and Cold Harbor, and during a greater part of his time he was on skirmish and picket duty with cavalry detachments.

After the close of the war he returned home and began farming on forty acres of prairie land in 1868. From this small beginning, fifty years ago, he has become owner of 1,000 acres of land m Henry County. Seven hundred acres of this land is rented and he and his sons are farming the remainder. Mr. Flecker is also owner of 720 acres of land near Mt. Zion in St. Clair County, Missouri. He has some land in Texas. He has always been an extensive feeder of live stock and his success can be attributed to the fact that for years he has kept large herds of cattle and hogs on his farms. Mr. Flecker left the farm in 1913 and now makes his home in Deepwater, but continues to visit the farm daily and take a considerable part in the farming operations. In 1910 he located in New Mexico and farmed there for a few years but found that old Missouri was the best place after all, and he returned here in 1915.

Mr. Flecker was married in 1876 to Miss Millie A. Whitford, who was born in Moultrie County, Illinois, on January 9, 1859, and is the daughter of George W., a native of Illinois, and Henrietta (Hedrick) Whitford, a native of Kentucky. Henrietta Hedrick Whitford was born July 30, 1839, and was a daughter of John and Eliza (Fletcher) Hedrick, who removed to Illinois from Kentucky in 1839. George W. Whitford was born in 1834 and died October 12, 1903. Three children were reared out of seven born to Mr. and Mrs. George W. Whitford: Mrs. James F. Flecker; William Alonzo, Nowata, Oklahoma, and George Franklin, Great Falls, Montana. The Whitfords came to Missouri in the fall of 1868 and settled in the Fleasant Valley neighborhood. After some years they went to Colorado, thence to Oklahoma and from there to Arkansas, where Mr. Whitford died.

James F. and Millie A. Flecker have reared a large family of nine children: Ida May, Etta May, Roberta Mendora, Olive Frances, Naomi Alvira, Estella, Bessie Virginia, George Washington, Archie Lee. Ida May married William Cannon, resides near Windsor, Missouri and has one son, Orville. Etta May married Will Craig and lives in Kansas City, is mother of three children: Imogene, Marjorie and Roy Lee. Roberta Medora is the wife of William Bradley, Kansas City, and has seven chil- dren: Jewel Fern, Ernestine, Glenn, Helen, Wilma, Joseph, Eugene and Mark. Olive Frances married Harvey Sw^itser, Lawrence, Kansas, and is mother of a son, James David. Naomi, wife of James Eames, Denver, Colorado, has a daughter, Virginia Louise. Bessie Virginia, wife of Clyde Jackson, Denver, Colorado, has a son, William Benton. Estella is keeping house for her brothers on the home farm. George Washington Flecker is a farmer on the home place, married Maggie Huffman of Artesia, New Mexico. Archie Lee is on the home place. Mr. and Mrs. Flecker have fourteen grandchildren and up to a few years ago there were five generations of the family living on Mrs. Flecker's side and including her children and grandchildren.

The Democratic party has always had the allegiance of Mr. Flecker but he has never devoted much time to political matters. He and Mrs. Flecker and all of the family excepting one are members of the Christian Church and they are hospitable, jolly and kindly people who are highly respected and esteemed in Henry County.

Woodson A. Hastain. - The Hastain family is one of the oldest if not the oldest pioneer family living in Henry County at the present time. It is one of the old, honorable and well established families of the county, members of which have always taken a prominent and influential part in Henry County affairs. The late Woodson A. Hastain of Clinton was a worthy representative of this fine old family and left a record behind him of which his family and descendants can well be proud.

Woodson A. Hastain was born October 8, 1835, and departed this life February 18, 1914. He was born at old Tebo, five miles north of Calhoun, Henry County, and he was a son of Daniel McCumskey and Anna (Green) Hastain. Daniel McC. Hastain was born in White County, Tennessee, and came to Henry County in the early twenties, being among the very first pioneers of this county. He died here during the early seventies. Anna (Green) Hastain was born December 15, 1815, and died April 13, 1839. She was a daughter of Reverend John and Rachel (Mackey) Green. The Rev. John Green was born in North Carolina and died in Tennessee. He was the son of Jarvis and Sarah (Griggs) Green. The former was a private under Capt. Robert Forter, North Carolina, and enlisted in the Army of Independence for service in the American Revolution in 1777. He was killed in a battle with the Indians some time later. Daniel Mc- Cumskey Hastain was the son of David, who was born in 1772, and Margaret M. (Roddy) Hastain, born September 23, 1775, natives of Virginia who were in the vanguard of the early settlers of Tennessee. It will

Daniel McC. Hastain had children as follows: James Preston and John Green, deceased; Montgomery died in California; Mary Ann, wife of Abner Dice; Woodson A., subject of this review. All were reared in Henry County. Daniel McC. Hastain was twice married, his second wife being Martha Jane Wade, who bore him children as follow: Thomas Jefferson, died near Calhoun,, Missouri; Minerva Jane, Almira Elizabeth, deceased; Susan Melvina (Pigg) Ruhl, Denver, Colorado; Purlina Jackson, deceased; Mrs. Sarah Frances Schirk, died in Sedalia; Joseph Columbus, deceased; Mrs. Jennie L. Reese, Los Angeles, California; Pleasant Dawson, deceased.

When W. A. Hastain attained young manhood he was married, March 28, 1865, to Miss Sarah Jane Walker, who was born June 22, 1847, on a farm ten miles north of Clinton. She is the daughter of Pleasant (born 1796, died 1879) and Missouri Adeline (Lindsey) Walker (born 1816, died 1855). Pleasant Walker was born and reared in Kentucky and came to Henry County, Missouri, with George Wilcox Walker and made settlement in the northern part of Henry County in 1832. Pleasant Walker and George Wilcox Walker were brothers and partners during their entire lives. Mrs. Missouri Adeline Walker was a native of North Carolina. By a former marriage Pleasant Walker had a daughter, Mrs. Sarepta Avery, who died in 1917. The children of Pleasant and Missouri Adeline Walker were as follow: Mrs. Bethia or Bertha Middagh, deceased; Harriet Ann, died in childhood ; Mrs. Sarah Jane Hastain ; Mrs. Mary Doyle, Kansas City, Missouri; Almira, died at the age of ten years. Taylor Lindsay died in Henry County, and Mrs. Emily Glasgow, deceased.

After their marriage W. A. and Sarah Jane Hastain settled upon a tract of partly improved prairie land in Henry County, just south of the town of Leeton, and there made their first home and improved a splendid farm of 300 acres. They resided upon this farm until 1870, and then moved to a fine farm of 400 acres situated five miles east of Clinton. At first they bought an eighty acre tract which formed the nucleus around which they built up a large 400 acre farm. They erected a comfortable residence and good farm buildings and beautified the premises with shade trees and shrubbery, which in the course of years made a beautiful country home. Mr. Hastain was an extensive stockman who was a large feeder and grower of live stock and accumulated a comfortable competence in this manner. He took a considerable interest in affairs outside of his agricultural interests, and for twenty years he served as vicepresident of the Citizens Bank of Clinton. Mr. and Mrs. Hastain moved to Clinton in 1905, but after four years' residence in the city they again moved to the country, this time locating upon a place one mile east of the city, where Mr. Hastain died.

To Woodson A. and Sarah Jane Hastain were born a family of thirteen children: William T., a farmer living in the northern part of Henry County; Mrs. Anna Adeline Hoist, Los Angeles, California; Pleasant Walker, died at the age of two years; Emma Lena, wife of Thomas Wilson, Osceola, Missouri; Bertha May, widow of Joseph McCuan, Colorado Springs, Colorado ; Jennie Lind, died in infancy ; Sarepta, lives in Boston, Massachusetts; George Woodson, Searcy, Arkansas; Mrs. Sarah Frances Ellett, Tulsa, Oklahoma ; Sarah Frances had a twin who is deceased ; Mrs. Marie Farnham, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Maggie Ella, died in infancy; Maude Glasgow, wife of E. H. Cornick, assistant manager of the Larrabee Mills, Clinton, Missouri, makes her home with Mrs. Hastain. Each of the children received a high school education and several of them received a collegiate training at Baird College. It is also a matter worthy of recording that in 1858 Mr. Hastain, with others, drove a large herd of cattle across country to the Pacific Coast and engaged in milling on the coast for some time. The Hastains were married in Saline County, Missouri, and resided in Johnson County, Missouri, from 1865 to 1870.

Mr. Hastain was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as is Mrs. Hastain. He was a Democrat but took little or no active part in political matters, being devoted to his home and family. All of the daughters of the family are members of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Richard B. Wilson. - The Wilson family is one of the oldest and one of the most honored families in Henry County and dates their beginning with the history of Henry County as early as 1841. The striking characteristics of this family as a whole is the spirit of co-operation which has manifested itself during all these years among the various members of the family and which has brought prosperity in no small degree to the members of the family. Richard B. Wilson, better known as "Dick" Wilson, postmaster of Montrose, is a worthy descendant of excellent ancestry who has made a success of his life's work.

William W. Wilson

and Virginia, respectively. James R. Wilson was bom November 26, 1803, and died June 7, 1898. He was a son of James Wilson, a native of North Ireland who was of Scotch descent. He was one of the early pioneers of the state of Kentucky. James R. Wilson came to Henry County, Missouri, in 1841 and first settled in Bear Creek township, later entering free Government land in Deepwater township. To his first tract he added a considerable acreage which he purchased from the Government, improved his farm and resided thereon until his death. Susan (Everett) Wilson, his wife, was a daughter of John Everett, a native of Virginia. John Everett was a soldier of the Revolution and belonged to a prominent Virginia family. James R. and Susan Wilson reared a family of seven children: John M. Wilson, a miner in the West and in Califoniia and who died at El Paso, Texas ; Mary Everett, widow of Rev. James H. Houx, former noted minister of Warrensburg, Missouri ; Joseph H., of Deepwater township, a sketch of whom appears in this volume; Edwin Wilson, removed to Texas after the close of the Civil War, and died in Austin; Susan Elizabeth, residing on the old home place of the Wilson family; William W., born December 26, 1851, Montrose, Missouri, residing with R. B. Wilson; Richard B., subject of this sketch.

During the Civil War the Wilson home was a place of refuge for Bates County people who were forced to abandon their homes. During part of this period the Wilsons lived in Johnson County, returning to their home after peace was declared. Mr. Wilson received such education as was afforded by the district and private schools of his day and took up the life of a farmer. He is owner of a splendidly improved farm of 160 acres in Deepwater township and also owns another farm of 120 acres in Bear Creek township. He resided on his farm until 1913, at which time he came to Montrose, although his family are still living upon the home place, Mr. Wilson's position as postmaster requiring that he live in Montrose.

December 22, 1892, Richard B. Wilson and Marion Vickers were united in marriage. Mrs. Marion Wilson was born in Bear Creek township, a daughter of William H. Vickers, a pioneer of Henry County and whose people were old neighbors of the Wilsons in Virginia. To this marriage were bom three children: Edwin Vickers Wilson, who is tilling the home farm in Deepwater township; Katherine Frances and James Ramsey, at home.

Mr. Wilson. He received the appointment of postmaster at Montrose in 1913 and assumed the duties of his position in July, 1913. Mr. Wilson's conduct of the affairs of the office have been such as to commend him to the many patrons of the office. He is a member of the Methodist Church South, and is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World Lodge of Montrose.

William H. Vickars was one of the earliest of the pioneer settlers of Henry County who was reared in this county and spent practically his entire life here. He was born in Kanawha County, Virginia, December 25, 1842 and departed this life in Montrose, August 17, 1911. He was the son of Stephen Decatur Vickers, who was born in Maysville, Kentucky, in 1813, and died in Henry County, 1895. Stephen Decatur Vickars was the son of James Vickars of Virginia, who was a native of North Ireland and was descended from Scotch Presbyterian stock. When James Vickars immigrated to America, he first settled in Virginia and from that State went to Maysville, Kentucky, about the same period that the Wilsons settled in that vicinity. From Maysville, Kenucky, he went to the Kanawha Valley region of Virginia now West Virginia in company with the Wilsons. James Vickers built the first steamboat and operated it upon the Kanawha River, a feat which did much to open up the Kanawha Valley to settlement and development. He also in company with James Wilson freighted produce to New Orleans down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

Stephen Decatur Vickars left his home in the Kanawha Valley country in 1842 and came to Henry County, Missouri in search of a future home for his family. He entered free Government land in Bear Creek township and spent all of his days in this county engaged in agricultural pursuits, taking a prominent and important part in the early development of Henry County. His wife, prior to her marriage, was Frances Marion Stewart of the old Stewart family of Virginia of undoubted Revolutionary ancestry. She was the daughter of Daniel Stewart, who was also a pioneer settler in Henry County, who enlisted for service in the War of 1812 and received a grant of Government land in Henry County, coming here not long after Stephen Decatur Vickars and his family made a permanent settlement in this county. Mrs. Francis Marion Vickars, was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, in 1821 and died in 1915, one of the best beloved of the pioneer women of Henry County. Her life was devoted to good deeds and she was loved and revered by all the people of the countryside for her goodness and kindliness, a friend to all, all were friends of hers. She was deeply religious and an ardent and tireless church worker. It is a matter of history that the first school held in this section of Henry County, was taught in the home of Stephen Vickers and through his influence and liberality a teacher was obtained and the education of the youth of the neighborhood began and continued through the years. This school was taught by Mrs. Susan Bronaugh. After a residence here of some years the modest pioneer home of the Vickers family was supplanted by an imposing frame edifice erected by Mr. Vickars much of the material used in its construction, such as window sash, etc., being brought by steamboat from Cincinnati and then hauled overland from the landing place at Boonville on the Missouri. This house was one of the very first large residences erected in the county and for many years was a landmark.

To Stephen Decatur and Frances Marion Vickars were born three children: William Henry; Emeline, died at the age of fourteen years; Mrs. Frances Ann, or Nannie, deceased wife of William F. Carter.

William H. Vickers was reared to manhood in Henry County and became a farmer, following this vocation until a few years before his death, when he removed to a home at Montrose, where his death occurred. His farm was situated in Walker township. Mr. Vickers was married to Susan Cornelia Peyton, who was born in Boonville, Missouri, in 1846 and died in 1895. She was the daughter of Frederick S. and Lurcetia (Hartt) Peyton, who were natives of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and were early pioneers of Cooper County, Missouri.

Five children were born to William H. and Susan Cornelia Vickers, as follow: Ella Peyton, wife of Harry Armstrong, a farmer in Davis township, a sketch of whom appears in this volume ; Frederick resides in California; William Carter Vickars lives in California; and Mrs. Marion Wilson of this review.

L. E. Grant, retired merchant and live stock dealer of Deepwater, Missouri, was born in Knox County, Missouri, July 25, 1855. He is the son of Samuel Russell, bom in 1818 and died in 1871, and Elizabeth (Sharp) Grant. His father was a native of Zanesville, Ohio, and was a son of Samuel F. Grant, a native of Ohio. Mrs. Elizabeth Grant was born in Kentucky June 27, 1818, and died in September, 1910, and her parents were early settlers of Knox County, Missouri, where Samuel

Russell Grant removed in 1831. They were married in that county, settled permanently upon a fann and spent the remainder of their lives in agricultural pursuits. Samuel R. and Elizabeth Grant reared a family of six children: Samuel R., deceased; G. W. Grant, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Abram S., Seattle, Washington; Mrs. Sarah Maria Hicks, Pleasanton, Kansas; Mrs. Margaret Malvila Bryant, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; L. E. Grant, subject of this review.

Born, reared and educated in Knox County, Missouri, L. E. Grant resided there until 1885, when opportunity beckoned to him and he came to Deepwater, Missouri, and engaged in business pursuits in which he achieved more than ordinary success. For a period of twenty-one years he was engaged in the grocery and hardware business in that city and became well and favorably known throughout Henry County as a reliable and able business man. From his boyhood days he had always been interested in live stock and is an excellent judge of farm animals. Along with his other business, he has been engaged in the buying and shipping of live stock and probably holds the record as a live stock shipper in Hemy County in the number of live stock he has bought and shipped from this section. Mr. Grant's shipments from Deepwater would aggregate from 100 to 150 carloads of stock yearly and his dealings with the live stock raisers were so fair and honest that he was kept busily employed in taking care of the business. He retired from active business pursuits in 1917, but is looking after his farm of 290 acres, situated within two and a half miles of Deepwater, and he is also owner of another farm located five miles south of Deepwater in St. Clair County.

February 9, 1881, L. E. Grant was united in marriage with Miss Martha Gorman (born June 17, 1852, died January 7, 1915), a native of Darksville, Berkeley County, Virginia, a daughter of Edwin and Matilda (Vyse) Gorman, the former of whom was a native of Ireland and the latter of Virginia. Edwin Gorman came to America with his parents when a child. The Germans moved to Edina, Knox County, Missouri, from Virginia in 1857. Mrs. Grant was a true and faithful wife to her husband, devoted to her family, a kind mother to her children and a worthy helpmeet in every sense the word implies. She was an inspiration to her husband during the many years of their married life. She became a member of the Methodist Church, South, when but a child, and was a devout Christian woman whose activities and interests outside of her home were mainly in religious works.

Three children were bom to L. E. and Martha Grant, as follow: Russell Lee and Mary Leta, twins, and L. Elmer, Jr. Russell Lee Grant is a successful real estate operator at Tulsa, Oklahoma. Miss Mary Leta Grant is her father's housekeeper in Deepwater. L. Elmer, Jr., is engaged in the real estate business with his brother at Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Mr. Grant has always been a worker in the ranks of the Democratic party in Henry County and has served as treasurer of his home city. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Deepwater and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of Clinton. He is a well preserved, genial, hospitable citizen who is well iiked and highly esteemed by his many friends and acquaintances throughout Henry County.

Rev. William Perry Armstrong. - "Hollyhock Place." - Unselfish devotion to duty and the cause of humanity has characterized the lives of the late William Perry Armstrong and his devoted wife, Mrs. Laura Avery Armstrong. Their beautiful suburban place in the northern part of the city of Clinton is noted the country over as "Hollyhock Place," because of the profusion of hollyhocks and flowers of all kinds which are blooming during the spring, summer and autumn. It is one of the show places of Henry County and western Missouri, and Mrs. Armstrong devotes the greater part of her spare time to caring for her flowers just to see them grow and have plenty for her friends.

Rev. William Perry Armstrong was a real man among men whose work as a minister of the Gospel, in a religious and constructive sense, will endure for all time to come. He was revered and respected by all who came in contact with him, and he was widely known throughout this section of the Middle West as an unselfish and devoted laborer in the vineyard of the Lord. He was bom in Warrick County, Indiana, October 29, 1837, the son of William and Mary (Perry) Armstrong, residents of Warrick County. The father of William, the elder, was bom in Cork County, Ireland. William P. Armstrong was twice married, his first wife having been Mary Caroline Hartenburg, of Washington County, Indiana, who died in Indiana. One child, Harriet Helen, was bom to that union, who died January 29, 1867. Mary Caroline (Armstrong) died February 16, 1868, at Salem Parsonage, Indiana.

Rev. William P. Armstrong's second marriage took place at Evansville, Indiana, November 1, 1876, with Mrs. Laura Avery (Knowles) Von Hiestand, who bore him children as follow: Ellen May, born at Manhat- tan, Kansas, and is the wife of George A. Taylor of Green street, Clinton, Missouri ; William Earl, born November 8, 1883, at Pierce City, Missouri, and died Tuesday, September 22, 1908.

Rev. William Perry Armstrong became a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church when a young man and devoted the greater portion of his life to spreading the Gospel and in religious works of a practical and enduring order. He was not only successful in his profession but achieved a success in a business sense so that during his later years he was relieved from any dependence upon the church and could devote his time and talents to the building up of small, struggling churches without need or desire of recompense. He followed the ministry, mainly, for the love of the work and not as a necessity. He sei-ved in the Evansville, Indiana, Conference until called upon to devote his time to various weak churches in different localities of the West which were in need of a strong, able man to lift church debts, erect new edifices, and place the congregations in a state of financial well being. Several years of his life were devoted to this arduous work and he felt well repaid for his successes as a builder and church financier. He built up a splendid church at Pierce City, Missouri. He came to Clinton, Missouri, in 1881 and built the present Methodist Episcopal Church and at the same time purchased a permanent abiding place consisting of a farm just on the northern edge of the city, embracing 165 acres of valuable land. From Clinton he was called to Springfield, Missouri, where during the second year of his work his health failed and he returned to his home to recuperate. For nine years after regaining his health he confined his religious and ministerial activities to purely local work and sei-ved the churches of Neosho and Pierce City, Missouri, building the Nevada Methodist Church. He built up many poor churches during his later years of active ministerial work purely for the love of doing good for the cause of Christianity. Rev. William Perry Armstrong departed this life on November 22, 1916, deeply and sincerely mourned by thousands of people who had known and loved him as an upright man of God.

Mrs. Laura Avery (Knowles) AiTnstrong, widow of Rev. William Perry Armstrong, was bom on Catalpa Plantation on the shores of the Tennessee River, Mississippi, and when but a few hours old was taken to Glen Marion Plantation, Arkansas, a beautiful tract which had been cut out of the heart of the forest and transformed into a magnificent country estate by her older brothers. She lived on this plantation until sixteen years of age. Laura Avery Knowles is a daughter of Doctor David and Emily (Avery) Knowles, the latter of whom was a member of the old Avery family of Mystic, Connecticut, which numbers among its members many famous men and women in America. Doctor Knowles was a finely educated physician and was bom in Connecticut. After his marriage he first moved to the Johnson and Bradish plantations, nine miles from New Orleans, where his first six children were born. Later he moved to Mud City, near Memphis, and then to Glen Marion Plantation. After the war he located in Mt. Vernon, Indiana, to be near his children and there built up a miniature Glen Marion in the suburbs of that city. He lived there until old age rendered him helpless and he then removed to the home of his son at Vienna, Illinois, where he died at the age of eightyseven years. Mrs. Knowles died at the age of eighty-four years. The children of Doctor and Mrs. Knowles are as follows: Ellen, Louisa, Latham, Dudley and Henry, twins ; Nancy and Amanda, twins ; Emma, Adele, and Laura Aveiy.

Laura Avery (Knowles) Armstrong was educated by governesses in her father's home in the South and attended a finishing school for young ladies at Henderson, Kentucky. Her first marriage occurred in 1864 and was a romantic character. A house party to which the young gentry of the surrounding country were invited, was being held and she and a young man whom she hardly knew were selected to pose as the bride and groom in a mock wedding ceremony. The young man was De Witt Von Hiestand, the youngest son of a rich planter who was the owner of Adams street in Memphis, Tennessee. After the social event and the performance of the mock wedding ceremony, it was ascertained that the individual who had performed the wedding ceremony was legally authorized to do so on account of being sherifi" of the county. This was in 1865 and the newly wedded couple made their home in Memphis until Mr. Von Hiestand's death in 1869. Three children were born of this marriage: Charles, at home with his mother; Elihu, and Hugh, deceased.

While a member of the Evansville Conference, the Rev. Armstrong saw Mrs. Von Hiestand's photograph on the wall of a home in Evansville where he was a guest, while attending the conference meeting and then and there decided and declared that if he ever married again he could be happy with the original of the picture for his wife. Strange to relate.

ten years later, when Mrs. Von Hiestand was called to Evansville from her Southern home to attend the burial sei'vices of her sister, the twain met, loved at sight, and were married. The marriage was a happy and prosperous one and each was in perfect accord during the many years of their married life.

Mrs. Armstrong has always been active in literary and charitable works and devotes a great part of her time and her income to assisting unfortunate and dependent women who are in need of a sister's or a mother's care. She and Mrs. Delavgerne started the first reading room in Clinton, which was the beginning of the present splendid public library. She was the instigator of the first Women's Christian Temperance Union in Henry County and has always been interested in good works of a civic character. Mrs. Armstrong has two grandchildren, Margaret Ellen and Jane Taylor. She has one great grandchild, Merry Christmas, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Christmas of Cleveland, Mississippi. She is a remarkably intelligent and well-read lady who is well preserved for her age. Her beautiful home is filled with curios, and a splendid library through which one could browse for hours and be entertained. Mrs. Ai-mstrong takes a keen interest in every-day aifairs and is devoted to her home city.

J. E. Adkins, proprietor of "Violet Vale Farm" in Bear Creek township, Henry County, is making a success as a breeder of Leghorn poultry. The principal output of this farm is eggs and poultry and Mr. Adkins keeps only the purest bred Leghorns. At this writing (April, 1918) Mr. Adkins has a flock of 425 hens, the average egg production of which will exceed twenty-one dozen daily, an output which brings in a substantial income each year. The Adkins farm consists of sixty acres and is well improved with a pretty residence, good buildings and fencing. Mr. Adkins is also engaged in the breeding of Holstein cattle, a department of animal husbandry in which he has just begun.

J. E. Adkins was born June 11,, 1880, on a farm in Clinton township, northeast of La Due, and is the son of H. Burt and Nannie (West) Adkins, natives of Missouri and Kentucky, respectively.

H. B. Adkins, who now lives retired at La Due, Missouri, was born October 8, 1860, in Davis township, Henry County, and is the son of John D. and Eliza (Hutchinson) Adkins. John D. Adkins was the son of John Adkins, a pioneer settler of Henry County. John D. and Eliza Adkins were parents of seven children of whom three are living: Tilden, Kansas City, Missouri ; Mrs. Alice May Laver, Joplin, Missouri ; and H. B. Adkins. After the death of John D. Adkins in 1878, his widow married Thomas Botkins, and bore him a daughter, Mrs. Kate Stevens, living near La Due. When he became of age, H. B. Adkins began doing for himself and purchased his first farm in 1883. He is owner of 230 acres of land in Clinton township which he cultivated until his retirement in 1912.

H. B. Adkins was married in 1880 to Miss Anna West, who was born in Kentucky, in February, 1862, the daughter of Felix and Letitia West, who located in Henry County in 1868. To H. B. and Anna Adkins have been born five children: J. Edward, of this review; Mrs. Nettie May Cromer, Fairview township; Archie Lee, died in infancy; Fred, a farmer in Clinton township ; Mrs. Pansy May Wilson, on the home place in Clinton township.

J. E. Adkins received his education at Independence district school and began farming on his own account in 1900. For seven years he operated rented land successfully, and then purchased his present home place of sixty acres. He was married in 1900 to Miss Iva Selby, a daughter of Thomas Selby. Six children have been born of this marriage, three of whom are living: Thora, Vera Glendella and Vernon Glendon (twins), two died in infancy; Retha died at the age of six years.

Mr. Adkins is a Democrat in politics and is a member of the local school board and the County Council of Defense. He and Mrs. Adkins are members of the Baptist Church. He is fraternally connected with the Woodmen of the World, La Due, Missouri.

Edwin M. Reavis, deceased, pioneer of Bear Creek township, was born in Kentucky, October 13, 1830, and departed this life in Henry County, March 30, 1882. He was the son of Edwin M. Reavis of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Ewdin M. Reavis was married in Texas in the fall of 1858 to Mary Margaret Hunt, bom November 29, 1836, in Saline County, Missouri, the daughter of William and Azubah Hunt, an account of whom is given in connection with the sketch of E. B. Hunt, of Walker township. Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Reavis came to Henry County and lived for a few years upon the farm he rented of E. B. Hunt until 1865. They then bought a farm of 100 acres of Joseph Capehart. This farm has been divided since Mr. Reavis' death and the home place, which is one of the prettiest improved places in Henry County, consists of sixty acres. Formerly there was a large orchai'd on the place, but several seasons of drought have played havoc with the trees. During the Civil War the family suffered from the depredations of Jayhawkers and lost part of their live stock.

The children born to Edwin M. and Mary Reavis are as follows: Elizabeth C, born August 8, 1859, died 1875; Susan M., William, and Sun (triplets) died in infancy, born August 2, 1861, the former of whom died November 11, 1867; William E. Reavis, at home. Mrs. Mary Jane Chrissman, a widow, living at La Due, Missouri; John A., bom April 6, 1865, died August 24, 1866; James B., born October 28, 1866, died November 4, 1867 ; Nancy E., wife of R. C. Grigsby, La Due, Missouri ; Alice C, William E., at home with their mother ; Joseph H., Drady, North Dakota ; Elmer S., California ; infant son, bom and died December 6, 1879 ; Florence M., born August 6, 1882, died November 4, 1897; Joseph H., born September 6, 1872, died November 29, 1918. Mrs. Reavis has six grandchildren : Edwin, Winona, Glenbourne, and Joseph, children of Joseph Reavis. Elmer S. has a daughter, Florence. Nannie Grigsby has one son, Cecil.

Mrs. Reavis and her son are members of the Bear Creek Methodist Church. In the early days she attended the Old Adobe Church, a picture of which through the courtesy of Miss Reavis is reproduced in this volume. The old-timers whom she knew in the early days were Mrs. Kintner, Mrs. Nick Erhart, and Mrs. Cleghorn, who were the first she met in this part of Henry county. She recalls that they would attend divine service at the Adobe Church, coming on horseback, and that the prairie grass which grew so luxuriantly on the unbroken prairie land was as high as the horse's back. Deer and game were plentiful and there were great droves of wild turkeys, quail, and prairie chickens, all of which have disappeared with the settling up of the country. Mrs. Reavis has many old curios and family relics which have been handed down to her from her ancestors, among them being an old walnut chest which was given her by Grandma Hunt, and was made by Isaac Whitaker in 1795. This chest was made for his daughter, May Whitaker, in North Carolina. He was Mary M. Hunt Reavis' great-great uncle.

Joseph B. Nold. - The section of country tributary to Montrose is one of the richest and most productive sections of Missouri and is noted for its fine farms and beautiful and well-kept homes. Combined with a rich soil, well watered, and which is highly productive, is an excellent class of industrious and ambitious farmers who are constantly endeavoring to improve their properties and to make the surroundings more attractive to the eye and more comfortable as places of residence. The farm of Joseph B. Nold of Bear Creek township just east of Montrose is a splendid example of what ambition and industry will accomplish in the course of a few years. This farm consists of 160 acres in the home place and 100 aci-es which Mr. Nold has recently sold to his brother. The land has on it fifty acres of timber, bordering on Bear Creek, and is well watered at all seasons of the year. Mr. Nold has a fine farm residence, a large barn covered with iron sheeting, sixty by seventy-two feet, two silos twelve by thirty feet, one of which is built of glazed tile. Mr. Nold is a breeder and feeder of shorthorn cattle, and feeds large numbers of cattle and hogs. For a number of years he has been engaged in the buying and shipping of live stock and handles from 50 to 100 loads annually.

Joseph B. Nold was born at Pilot Grove, Cooper County, Missouri, in 1868 and is the son of Albert Nold, who was born in Germany in 1843 and accompanied his parents to America in 1850. The Nolds first settled at Cincinnati, Ohio and then moved to Illinois, making a settlement in Cooper County. Missouri, in 1868. Charles Nold, a brother, brought the first threshing outfit to Cooper County. Albert Nold has prospered as he deserved and accumulated a farm of 240 acres in Cooper County, near Pilot Grove. He also owned another tract of seventy-five acres, but has recently sold his Cooper County land and moved to Montrose, Missouri, in August, 1918. His wife was Catherine Felton, born in Germany in 1817, the daughter of Bertram Felton, who came to America in 1850, and settled in Cooper County, Missouri, during the Civil War. Bushwhackers robbed him of everything that he owned during the war, and he had a very hard time of it for a number of years. There were eleven children bom to Albert and Catherine Nold, as follows: Joseph B., Max, Edward, Albert, John, Lee, and William, all living in Henry County; Mrs. Lena Neckerman, Mrs. Katie Grotzinger, Mrs. Anna Stoecklein, living in Cooper County ; Mrs. Freda Brzuchalski, Henry County, Missouri.

In 1893 Joseph B. Nold began his own career in Cooper County, Missouri, and became owner of a farm in that county. He disposed of his holdings there in 1909 and came to Montrose, Henry County, and invested in 160 acres of land to which he added 100 acres. He is of the opinion that there is no better section of country in Missouri than the Montrose neighborhood.

Mr. Nold was married in 1893 to Miss Mary A. Neckerman, who was born in Cooper County, Missouri, the daughter of Andrew and Barbara Neckerman, natives of Germany, who were pioneer settlers of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Nold have five children: Albert A., aged eighteen years; Lena, aged sixteen years ; Lovina, aged fourteen ; Frank, twelve years old ; and Theresia, aged ten years. Mr. and Mrs. Nold are also rearing an orphan girl, Christina, and have an adopted son, Andrew, aged twenty-eight years, now a private in the National Army, in France.

The Republican party has always had the support of Joseph B. Nold, and he is now serving as trustee of Bear Creek township. He and his family are members of the Montrose Catholic Church. He is fraternally affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Knights of America, and takes a prominent and influential part in the deliberations of these bodies. Mr. Nold is universally recognized as a citizen of honor and integrity and his place among the really successful men of Henry County is well established.

Charles W. Engeman, retired farmer and vice-president of the Montrose Farmers' and Merchants' Bank, Montrose, Missouri, was born in Warren County, Missouri, in 1853 and is the son of Henry and Mary (Fischer) Engeman, natives of Germany who immigrated to America in 1883, and first located in Warren County, Missouri. In 1872 they came to Henry County and settled near Appleton City on the Henry-St. Clair County line. Henry Engeman was bom in 1815 and died in 1885. Mary Engeman was born in 1846 and died in 1906. They were parents of ten children: August, lives near Germantown; Mrs. Dena Danzebrink, a widow, living at Montrose; Henry, deceased; Charles W. ; Mrs. Mary Hillerman, living east of Germantown; Mrs. Lena Thompson, a widow, living with the subject of this review; Anna, died at the age of eleven years; Louisa, now Sister Violante, New York; Christina, deceased; and John Engeman, Montrose, Missouri.

Charles Engeman accompanied his parents to Henry County in 1872, and in the spring of 1875 he went to Nevada, and was employed for three years upon an irrigated ranch near Winnemucca, Paradise Valley, Humboldt County, that State. In 1878 he returned to Montrose and resided here for two years. He returned to Nevada in 1880 and remained there for two years. He then came home and resided with his parents. In 1897, Mr. Engeman purchased his present farm of seventy-two acres and has since been engaged in farming and coal mining.

Seventy acres of the Engeman farm are leased for coal mining purposes and the coal is obtained by the "stripping" process of mining. Several thousand tons have been mined from the land and coal has been taken from the place for the past tw^enty years. During 1917 there were mined on the Engeman tract a total of 2,944 bushels of coal.

Mr. Engeman is an independent Democrat and is a member of the Montrose Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. He has been connected with the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank of Monti'ose since 1907.

Fred H. Heiman. - Although Fred H. Heiman, a successful farmer of Deepwater township, is what we might call a newcomer to Henry County, he has taken his place in the civic life of the Montrose community and is fast becoming one of the leaders in this section of the county. Endowed with a high mentality, a progressive and enterprising spirit which has been further developed by a good education, Mr. Heiman is one of the best informed citizens of the county and an excellent farmer.

Fred H. Heiman was born in Damiansville, Illinois, January 14, 1868, and is the son of John Herman and Mary (Santel) Heiman, the former of whom was a native of Illinois and the latter of Iowa. John Heiman was_of German descent and followed agricultural pursuits during his entire life. In 1887 he left Illinois and went to Ottawa County, Kansas, where for two years he lived on a farm near Delphos. In 1889, he went to Woodson County, Kansas, and made this county his home until his death in 1908. His widow still resides in Woodson County. There are nine living children in the Heiman family : August B., an oil man in California; Rosa M., wife of Herman Bruegeman, Woodson county, Kansas; Agatha, at home with her mother; Martin, Hooker, Oklahoma; William, lola, Kansas; George A., at home with his mother; Edward N., Woodson County, Kansas; John H., of Humboldt, Kansas, and Fred H., subject of this sketch.

After receiving his education in the Effingham County high school at Altamont, Illinois, Mr. Heiman was employed in a retail store for a time. He then became a farmer and joined his people in Kansas. He went to Ellis County, Kansas, and taught school for twelve terms, in all, eight terms of which were taught in Ellis County, and four terms in Woodson County. While teaching, during the latter four terms, he followed farming in Woodson County. He came to Missouri in 1903, and rented a farm, five miles east of his present place until 1909, at which time he purchased his farm of 160 acres south of Montrose in Deepwater township. Mr. Heiman has erected splendid improvements on this tract, including a handsome residence of eight rooms and pantry, a large barn, forty-eight by forty feet, a granary, twenty-six by thirty-four feet, a hog house, eight by twenty-four feet, a sheep shed eight by thirty-four feet sufficient to shelter fifty-six head of sheep, a cow shed 26 by 28 feet, and silo. Mr. Heiman also raises Duroc Jersey hogs for the market. A large windmill on the place pumps a sufficient supply of water.

On April 4, 1894, Fred H. Heiman and Miss Annie M. Swaters were united in marriage. Mrs. Annie M. Heiman is the daughter of John Swaters, a well-to-do resident of Deepwater township, and a sketch of whom appears in this volume. Nine children have been born to Fred H. and Annie M. Heiman : Regina, wife of John A. Nold, northeast of Montrose; Cornelius H., Leo, Martin, Rosa, Ferdinand, Loretta, John, Helen, all at home with their parents. Mrs. Regina Nold has two children, Loraine and Dorothy Nold.

Mr. Heiman is a Democrat and his family are members of the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Montrose. He is affiliated with the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association and Knights of Columbus.

Frank Wagner, owner of a nicely improved farm of 106.66 acres of land in Deepwater township, south of Montrose, was born in Germany in 1846, near the Swiss boundary line, and he naturally belongs more to the Swiss nationality than to the German. He is a son of Frank and Catherine Wagner, who emigrated from their native country to America in 1852 and resided in Illinois for the next seven years. In the fall of 1859 the family located in Henry County, Missouri, and Frank Wagner, the father, followed his trade of carpenter and builder, and cabinet maker. He made his first home in Bogard township on a farm which he cultivated in addition to following his trade in various parts of the county- He located in Deepwater township in 1872 and purchased a tract of unimproved prairie land consisting of 160 acres. In the course of time he added another quarter section which, upon his death, was divided among his three sons, Frank, Joseph, and Jacob, who all live on adjoining farms at the Cross Roads south of Montrose.

Frank Wagner, subject of this review, placed all of the improvements upon his land and has tilled his acreage successfully up to recent years or until his retirement from actual labor in the fields. Mr. Wagner was married in 1874 to Mary Schissler (born 1852, died 1891), a native of Deepwater township, and the daughter of David Schissler, a Henry County pioneer. Mr. Wagner has reared eight children out of ten born to this marriage: Kate, wife of Joseph Kaumans, living in Wyoming; Joseph, eldest of the family, lives in Kansas ; Henry lives in Kansas ; Mary, wife of William Hueser, who is tilling the home place, has seven children, Lenora, John, Ida, Loretta, Margaret, Bernard and Bertha; John lives at Rock Island, Illinois; Mrs. Annie Montague, resides at Grand Island, Nebraska; Mrs. Josephine Currie, lives at Rock Island, Illinois; Herman is a farmer in Deepwater township ; Frank is deceased.

Mr. Wagner is a Democrat. He is a member of the Montrose Catholic Church and is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus. His work here has been well done. He has reared a splendid family and accumulated a sufficient competence to care for his declining years, and has the honor of being one of the real old settlers of Henry County, and being universally respected and esteemed by all who know him.

Charles H. Martin, who is managing the Martin estate of 420 acres in Fairview township, Henry County, was born in Clinton, Missouri, the son of James B. Martin, one of the widely-known old settlers of Marshall Creek and a Union veteran now deceased. The Martin farm is situated on Marshall Creek, which, according to one of the old settlers who formerly resided in this neighborhood, should have been called "Jim" Creek on account of the fact that James or Jim Kirk, James or Jim Flecker, and James or Jim Henry Dunning, settled on this creek in the early days. However, the creek received the name of "Marshall" and the name has ever held.

James B. Martin was born March 24, 1838 and departed this life on June 29, 1910. He was born in Henry County, Illinois but was reared in Kentucky. He was the son of one of the old-time school teachers known everywhere as Uncle Billy Martin. When the Civil War broke out, James B. Martin enlisted at Louisville, Kentucky, in the Tenth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry and served for three years and four months with the Union Army. He was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga and lay in the Government hospital for eighteen months. The wound crippled him for life, a shot or minnie ball taking effect in his left heel. January 1, 1865, he came to Clinton, Missouri, and sometime later swam the Deepwater when it was filled with ice in order to escape from a band of guerillas who were still attempting to wage war against Union people. Edward A. Martin, a brother, preceded him to this county and Edward was tending cattle on the north side of the Deepwater at the time.

James B. Martin was a noted swimmer who at one time swam the Tennessee River while foraging after roasting ears. He was carried a mile down the river by the swift current with a companion named Alex Moore.

Soon after coming to Henry County, he was married to Ann Eliza Bridges, daughter of Charles Bridges of the Marshall Creek neighborhood. The Bridges came from Springfield, Illinois, to Henry County. Ann Eliza Martin was born in 1848 and died in 1915. Six children were born to James B. and Ann Eliza Martin, as follow: Charles H., subject of this review; Edward A., Coffeyville, Kansas; Mrs. Jessie A. Wolford, Fairview township; Emery, living on the Martin home place; James Claude, living on the home place ; Clifford B. makes his home with Charles Martin.

James B. Martin was an independent Republican. He was a member of the Christian Church and was affiliated with the Free Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Grand Army of the Republic. James B. Martin was a Henry County citizen worth while. He was an honest, upright, and industrious man of affairs who had the respect and esteem of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances throughout the county.

James Ramsey Wilson. - The basis of all true history is biography. History is but the narrative of the accomplishments of a body of people as a whole ; the individual is the doer and it is necessary in the presentation of a true history of Henry County, to present the salient facts in the lives of the men who have made possible the upbuilding of this important section of Missouri. James Ramsey Wilson, late of Deepwater township, was a pioneer of this county who contributed more than the ordinary man to the settlement and development of Henry County. His sons and daughters today occupy important places in the State, and are among the leaders of the communities where they reside and have resided.

James Ramsey Wilson was born in Maysville, Kentucky, in January, 1803, and died in Henry County, Missouri, in June, 1897. He was the son of James Wilson, who was born in the North of Ireland, and was a son of James Wilson, of Scotland, who moved from his native land to Ireland and there settled upon a large estate, which was named Bull Valley Castle. He had several children, among them being James Wilson, father of the subject of this review. James Wilson received a good education and during his twentieth year, he immigrated to America. The occasion of his leaving the old home in Ireland was owing to his disgust with the methods of dispensing justice in practice in the courts of his native country. One particular flagrant piece of injustice which he witnessed so incensed him that upon going home, he informed his father that he was not desirous of living in a country with injustice so rampant, and that he intended crossing the ocean to settle in America. His father gave his consent and supplied him with funds sufficient to last him for one year in the new country. Upon his arrival at New York, the captain of his ship recommended his services to a ship chandler or shipping merchant, as bookkeeper, the young man's skill as a penman having favorably impressed the ship captain. He immediately took up his duties and for many years was engaged in the mercantile business in various parts of the country, becoming successful, although his fortunes were variable. There were times when he was possessed of considerable capital and others when he was forced to start with little or no capital. One instance, the loss of a cargo of cotton valued at $40,000 and which cost him but $10,000, serves as an illustration of the varying fortunes of his career. This happened in New Orleans and it was not long until he had paid back every dollar of his losses. He became a merchant at Maysville, Kentucky, and was there married to Elizabeth Bailey, the daughter of Col. Samuel Bailey, who had come to Kentucky from Virginia and purchased a large tract of land in the vicinity from Simon Kenton. About 1812, Colonel Bailey settled near the mouth of the Ohio River and with his wife and children stayed at the hotel kept by Captain Dennis in Paducah. They moved to their new location aboard a Government steamboat confiscated from Aaron Burr at the time his ill fated plans for founding a great empire in the Southwest came to naught. Col. Samuel Bailey was killed by Indians a few miles above Bailey's Station, a frontier settlement which he had established on his land. He was attacked by a band of the savages and fought to the death. The Indians took his body and placed it in a new cabin near the scene of the crime. Later, Light Horse Harry Lee led a party to recover the body and give it proper burial near the site where he met his death opposite Rush Creek Island on the Kentucky shore of the Ohio River.

James Wilson did not remain long in Kentucky. Indians becoming numerous and on the warpath and the War of 1812 raging at the time, making it unsafe for settlers in the new country, he took his wife and children and went on horseback to country of the Kanawha River in what is now West Virginia. Here he engaged in the manufacture of salt in partnership with a Frenchman named Savaryn and made a permanent home in West Virginia.

James Ramsey Wilson was married in West Virginia to Susan Everett, born in Guyandotte County, Virginia, in 1811 and died in Henry County, Missouri, in 1875. She was a daughter of Col. John Everett of Guyandotte, Virginia, who married Miss Sallie Woodson of Charlottesville, Virginia. Col. John Everett was an officer of Virginia militia and was was the son of John Everett, a soldier of the Revolution who was noted for the depths of his patriotism. It is said of him that he refused a large grant of Government land as payment for his services in behalf of American Independence with these words: "I did not light for land; I fought for liberty." The wife of John Everett was Miss Sallie Deadman, a daughter of Captain Deadman, who also fought in the Revolutionary War on the American side. Mrs. Sallie (Woodson) Everett was the daughter of Tralton or Tarlton Woodson who married a Miss Shepherd.

James Ramsey Wilson left Cabell County, West Virginia, in 1840 and came to Henry County, selecting a tract of land in the southeastern part of Bear Creek township near the Teays settlement. He removed his family to the site of his new home in 1841 and for four years made his home in Marshall Creek. In 1845 he settled permanently in Deepwater township, erecting some time later one of the finest and largest houses in the county, modelel after an old Virginia home. This home is still standing and is the place of residence of Miss Bettie Wilson, a daughter. The estate which he built up has been operated by his sons as a corporation under the name of J. H. Wilson and Brothers and has prospered during all these years.

To James Ramsey and Susan (Everett) Wilson were born the following children: Joseph H. Wilson, a widely-known farmer of Deepwater township, a sketch of whom appears in this volume ; Mrs. Mary E. Houx, Warrensburg, Missouri, widow of Rev. J. H. Houx, late of Warrensburg, and who was a noted pioneer preacher of the Methodist Episcopal faith ; John M. Wilson, deceased; Capt. Edwin Wilson, deceased; Susan Elizabeth, or Bettie Wilson, residing on the Wilson Home Place; William W. Wilson ; and Richard B. Wilson, postmaster of Montrose, Missouri, a sketch of whom appears in this volume.

small for his age he never shirked duty and was always found in the thickest of the battles and struggles in which his command was engaged. He became a valuable assistant to the field surgeons and was advised, on account of his skill in handling wounded men, to become a surgeon. After the surrender of Parsons' Brigade in Louisiana, he went to Texas and was first employed in sampling cotton. Opportunities for advancement came rapidly his way and he became a large land owner and cotton planter on his own account. He also became interested in banking and was vice-president of the American National Bank of Austin, Texas, at the time of his death. He was a leader in the commercial and civic life of his adopted State and associated with the leading figures of Texas. He had large interests in Texas and New Mexico. His death occurred at Austin, Texas, June 10, 1912, at the age of 68 years. He married Lulu Bailey Wilson, who bore him two children: Mrs. John Harris, Dallas, Texas; and Mrs. Welburn Hudson, of Austin, Texas.

John M. Wilson went West when seventeen years of age and became a gold and silver miner. His life story reads like a romance were it possible to record his travels and adventures among the mining camps of the Rockies, the Pacific Slope, Mexico, and the Andes of South America. For many years he was engaged in various mining enterprises in these sections and became wealthy. The various vicissitudes and fortunes of the gold miner were his. During his career he was associated with widely known mining men of the United States. He died at El Paso, Texas, February 4, 1914, aged seventy-seven years. His whole career was characterized by honorable and upright dealings, attributes which have been the heritage of the members of the Wilson family for generations. He was married in early life to Miss Marion W. Wright of Washington, D. C, and to this marriage were born three children: James Robert, living in New Mexico; Isabella Everett, wife of Nathan Foster, Fayetteville, Arkansas, a veteran of the Spanish-American War ; Mrs. Anna Caldwell, whose husband is a mining man of New Mexico.

William W. Wilson was born December 26, 1851, in Deepwater township, and is the jolly batchelor brother of the family. He has always been engaged in farming and makes his home with his brother, Richard B. Wilson.

James Ramsey Wilson and wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and so lived their lives that a lasting and deep impression will be forever engraved in the annals of the county which they helped to create from an unbroken wilderness.

Martin Vanburen Brown. - For over the long period of fifty-one years, Martin Vanburen Brown, one of the old pioneers of Deepwater township, has resided on his splendid country place southwest of Montrose. The Brown homestead is a handsome, old style Colonial residence, built of the finest hardwood lumber, prior to the Civil War era. The home itself has a beautiful setting, being at the apex of a long gentle slope of green lawn which is dotted with a fine grove of shade trees. Mr. Brown is owner of 800 acres of rich farm lands, 320 acres of which is comprised in his home place.

Martin V. Brown was born on a farm located eight miles west of Springfield, Illinois, on Spring Creek, March 4, 1837. He is the son of Reason D. Brown (born 1813, died 1885), who was the son of Joshua Brown, a native of Kentucky, and who was a pioneer settler in Illinois, locating there in the early twenties. Joshua Brown assisted in the raising of the first house in the city of Springfield, Illinois, and was prominent in the early history of Springfield and vicinity. Reason D. Brown was married to Rachel Ernest (born 1815, died 1905), a daughter of Illinois pioneer parents. Reason D. Brown spent the last year of his long life on a farm, situated east of Appleton City, Missouri, and died there in 1885. He was father of twelve children, only two of whom are living: Martin Vanburen, and John D. of Deepwater township.

Martin V. Brown was reared in Illinois and enlisted in the ranks of hard workers when nineteen years of age. In 1861 he went to Idaho and was employed in the Salmon River mines for five years. During that time he earned and saved enough money to make a start on his own account. After a trip home to Illinois, he came to Henry County, Missouri, in the spring of 1867, and purchased 700 acres of land at a cost of $13 per acre. This land was already improved but Mr. Brown has succeeded in adding to this acreage another 100 acres. He has done exceedingly well but attributes a great part of his success to the assistance and counsel of his capable wife.

On September 26, 1869, M. V. Brown and Miss Helen Cecil were united in marriage. Mrs. Helen (Cecil) Brown was born on a farm east of Clinton in Henry County in 1848, and is the daughter of Wilson and Henny Cecil, who came from Kentucky and settled in Henry County in 1837. This marriage has been blessed with five children: Allie, wife of Charles Campbell, a merchant at Montrose; Missouri; Ernie C, a well-known farmer of Walker township; Charles M., a farmer of Walker township, married

Edna, daughter of Henry Oliver, and has three children, Cecil, Marie and Wilford; Helen, wife of J. Ed Dugan, Deepwater township, mother of two children, Wilfred and Martin Edward; Harry, living on the home place, married Clara, daughter of Robert Burns of Appleton City, Missouri, has a son, Robert Martin.

During his entire life since attaining his majority, Mr. Brown has been a consistent and faithful Democrat. He and his family are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. As a man and citizen there is none better in Henry County, and Mr. Brown is a typical gentleman of the old school. He is kindly disposed to all mankind and is spending the last years of his long life in comfortable and happy retirement, well content to shift the burden of the cultivation of his farms to younger shoulders. He is popular and is universally esteemed throughout the countryside.

Joseph F. Hibler. - For the past sixty-three years, Joe Hibler has been a resident of Henry County and is one of the typical, jolly, bighearted old-timers of Missouri - the kind of men we have all read and heard about as typical of the true Missourian. During his boyhood days, Joe Hibler attended school in an old log school house, a converted pioneer's log shack with cracks between the logs big enough to throw a boy through if the schoolmaster so minded. The boys in Joe's younger days were every whit as mischievous and full of tricks as the presentday boys, and it is probable that the schoolmaster found occasion to throw the boys through the cracks when they were mean. This school house had a puncheon floor, and slab seats. Along one side of the room was a big six-foot fireplace which was kept filled with big logs during the cold winter days. A roaring fire was kept up but the fire only warmed one side of the school boys. The wind whistled through the cracks and kept the air stirring in the room at all times. The only light in the building was obtained by sawing out a length of log about eight feet. This aperture let in both air and light. Joe Hibler has seen thousands of deer on the plains of Henry County in his youthful days and his father would shoot them from the doorway of their home. The nearest trading post was at old Germantown and Johnston in Bates County, then called "Hardscrabble" by the pioneers in the old days. Joe had a partner who assisted him in various misdeeds and it was a favorite pastime of theirs to entice a bunch of cattle near a hornet's nest and stir up the hornets. Another pastime was robbing the apple cellars of their relatives.

Joe Hibler was bom in Osage County, Missouri, in 1849 and is the son of Henry Hibler, one of the best-known of the eariy pioneers of this section of Missouri.

Henry Hibler was born in 1822 in St. Louis County, Missouri, and was living in St. Louis when it was but a small river village, peopled by Frenchmen and adventurers from all parts of the world. He and his parents were pioneers of Osage County, where Henry Hibler became a live stock dealer on a large scale. The live stock market was far away at St. Louis and the trip was a long and tiresome one to make. Mr. Hibler was persuaded by his neighbors to drive their cattle to St. Louis, sell them and bring back the proceeds. He soon got into the business and handled the cattle on commission. Taking assistants with him he would make the trip whenever a sufficient number of cattle were ready for the market. He would frequently drive a big drove of turkeys to the same market. On the return trip he would carry the money in saddle bags and no precaution was necessary to guard against thieves. People were so honest that upon arriving at a settler's cabin for the night the men would throw the saddle bags filled with money down on the floor in a comer of the cabin and pay no more attention to it, until ready to leave the next morning. When he arrived home, Mr. Hibler would distribute the money among the neighbors. In 1855, he settled in Henry County, and during the early days made frequent trips to Kansas, engaged in the cattle business. He purchased a farm, located just a mile north of where Joe Hibler now lives, in Walker township. His first home was a log cabin. He prospered as a farmer and stockman and in later years bought a home at Eldorado Springs, Missouri. He died in 1900 at Lamar, Missouri. Henry Hibler was three times married; his first wife was Nancy McQueen, who died in 1851, leaving children as follows: Samuel died in the Confederate service while a soldier in the Civil War; Mrs. Lottie Fisher, Walker township; Joseph F., subject of this review; Frank, a bachelor living on his brother's farm ; Mrs. Susie March, a widow living in Davis township. His second wife was Mrs. Pliney Parks who died in 1857, leaving three children by a first marriage: Ann, Arthur, and Sallie Parks. His third wife was Mrs. Mary Harper, mother of two children by her first marriage: John Shelley, died at Dallas, Texas, in 1916 ; Lizzie Shelley, living in Oklahoma ; and William T., Samuel, Walter and Annie Hibler.