Johnson County, Missouri - - Biographical, 1918 (part 11 of 19)

Samuel M. Dalhouse attended the Coleman district school and later, Spalding's Commercial College at Kansas City. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-seven years of age. In 1895, Mr. Dalhouse purchased his present farm home, a place embracing one hundred sixty acres of land, formerly known as the Thomas W. Glo\er place. All the improvements now on the farm have been placed there by Mr. Dalhouse and this is one of the best improved farms in Hazel Hill township. The residence, an attractive structure of six rooms, was built in 1913 and the large i^arn in 1900. There are numerous farm buildings - sheds, cribs, granary - and the place is always well kept. Mr. Dalhouse is devoting his time to general farming and stock raising. Probably the most delightful feature about the Dalhouse place is the beautifully shaded lawn. There are eight difterent species of trees growing in the yard.

In November, 1888. Samuel ^I. Dalhouse and Annie IMcKay Yancey were united in marriage. Mrs. Dalhouse was a daughter of Stephen L. and Catherine Yancey, of Lafayette county. Mr. and Mrs. Yancey came to Missouri from Virginia in 1866. Both are now deceased and their remains rest in Mt. Tabor cemetery. Mrs. Dalhouse died at the age of thirtv-three years, leaving four little ones, three of whom the father has reared to maturity and educated : Geal. the wife of Lucius Wilson, of Hazel Hill township: Clare, the wife of John J.

Ramsey, of Columbus township; Virginia, who is at home with her father; and Annie McKay, who died at the age of thirteen years. The mother's death occurred in 1897. The father deserves much praise and respect for the splendid manner in which he has done his duty in regard to his motherless children and he may well be proud of hi& girls, to whom he has been both father and mother the past twenty years, for no better family can be found in Missouri.

Orl Stillwell, the Ford auto agent of Warrensburg, Missouri, is one of the brave clan of honored pioneers of Johnson county, a Civil War veteran, and at the age of seventy-three years the youngest, most active, most progressive man in Missouri. He was born February 22, 1844 in Knox county, Ohio, the son of E. and Mary (Hamrick) Stillwell, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Virginia. The mother died in 1857 and Mr. Stillwell moved from Ohio to Missouri, locating first at Georgetown in Pettis county, where he remained several years, coming to Warrensburg during the war, in 1864. Mr. Stillwell opened a dry goods store in the old town of Warrensburg with a branch store in Rockville, Missouri, on the Osage river, and to the latter store he shipped goods on flatboats. At one time he had a large invoice of goods on the way to Rockville, when the low stage of the Osage river prevented him from going further by water and Mr. Stillwell was obliged to haul the articles the rest of the way. The delay and a heavy drop in prices caused him a loss of more than eight thousand dollars. Mr. Stillwell was a great admirer of Francis M. Cockrell and the senator was one of the most valued customers of the Stillwell store in the old town. The death of E. Stillwell occurred in 1910 in Warrensburg and his remains were interred in the Warrensburg cemetery.

Orl Stillwell received his education in the public schools of Knox county, Ohio and Pettis county, Missouri. He enlisted in the Civil War in 1861 at Georgetown, Missouri and served with the Union army throughout the war. Orl Stillwell was a member of Company C. serving under Major Montgomery. He was in the battle of Pearidge on Wilson creek and fifty-one other engagements. Mr. Stillwell was inthe service fifty-two months and during tliat time took active part in fifty-two battles. He was at Vickslnn-g twice; Jackson, Mississippi, twice; with General Sherman on his march to t!ie sea; and with Banks on the Red river expedition. Mr. Stillwell was mustered out and honoralily discliarged at New Orleans, Louisiana at the close of the war. After the war had ended he remained for three years on ilic coast of the Gulf of Mexico working in the employ of a New York lumber company, lie worked on the first iron hull vessel that operated on the gulf.

Mr. Stillwell returned to VVarrensburg about 1867 and assisted his father in the store and he has been connected with all sorts of mercantile affairs since that time. For twenty years he was employed at the water works at Pertle Springs. Orl Stillwell is the pioneer automobile man of Johnson county. When he entered the automobile business there were but seven cars in the state. He sold the first Ford car in the county to Dr. W. E. Johnson. This machine was a red one and is still in good running condition. It is a model R, roadster. Mr. Stillwell's place of business is located at 109 West Culton street in Warrensburg. Prior to entering the automo])ile business, he was engaged in the hardware business in W'arrensburg.

January 2, 1867, Orl Stillwell was united in marriage with Sarah Patterson, the daughter of Francis and Mary (tiinn) Patterson, of Washington county, Ohio. Mrs. Sarah (Patterson) Stillwell was born in Washington county, Ohio near Marietta. Her father was a native of Washington county. He enlisted in the Civil War in 1861 in the Forty-second Ohio Infantry and served two years when he was taken prisoner in 1863 and sent to .\nderson\ille, where he died. Mary (Ginn) Patterson was born in ^laryland. Her father was a cousin of the Ginns of Baltimore, the widely known book publishers. Mrs. Patterson was born in 1824 and died in 1907 in W'arrensburg. Her remains were interred in the Warrensburg cemetery. Mrs. Stillwell is the only living one of the three chihh-cn born to Francis and Mary (Ginn) Patterson, who were as follows: ]\lrs. Orl Stillwell. the wife of the subject of this review: Mrs. Susie Parmeter. who died in Morgan county, Ohio; and Mrs. Carrie Flinn, who died in West Virginia. Sarah (Patterson) Stillwell came to Warrensburg witli her widowed mother in 1867 and after the daughter's marriage the niotlier continued to make her home with Mrs. Stillwell. To Orl and Sarah (Patterson) Stillwell has been born one child, a daughter. Mattie, who is employed as clerk at Shepard's Dry Goods Store in Warrensburg.

For more than a half century. Mr. Stillwell has been a resident of Johnson county. He recalls the days prior to the Civil War, when people hauled bacon from Warsaw to Lexington, Missouri and sold it for one dollar a cut. He remembers a still in Georgetown. Missouri,

Mr. Stillvvell is afifiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and he is a Royal Arch Mason and a Knights Templar. He is also a nienil:)er of the Benevolent and Protecti\e Order of Elks of \A'arrensburg.

P. B. Collins, a successful and widely known farmer and stockman of Hazel Hill township, is a memlier of a prominent pioneer family of Johnson county. He is a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Dowell) Collins, the former, a native of South Carolina and the latter, of North Carolina. P. B. Collins was born May 25, 1849 in Lafayette, Missouri. Thomas Collins left his native state in early manhood and located in Lafayette county near Higginsville, coming to Missouri in the spring of 1833, having sold his property interests in South Carolina. In 1850, Mr. Collins entered one thousand fifty acres of land in Hazel Hill township and on that portion of the tract, which is now owned by his son, P. B., he built a cabin of three rooms and to this home the family moved from Lafayette, where they had been located. The father was engaged in the vocations of stock raising and grain growing and became very prosperous and influential in the new Western home, which he enjoyed but a few brief years, when his death occurred September 12, 1859. The mother, Elizabeth Collins, died February 18, 1886. Both parents were buried in the cemetery at Liberty, Missouri. Thomas and Elizabeth (Dowell) Collins were the parents of seven children: P. B., the subject of this review: Mrs. Sarah Russell, deceased; Mrs. Mary C. Elliott, now a widow, residing with her brother, P. B., on the home place: Golsia, deceased: Elizabeth, deceased; Emma, who resides with her brother, P. B., on the home place; and George, deceased. By a former marriage with Elizabeth Dyer, Thomas Collins was the father of seven children: A\'illiam, Kansas City, Missouri; Joseph, deceased; John A., Sedalia. Missouri: Noah, Lafayette county, Missouri : Richard, deceased : Mrs. Katharine Matlox, deceased ; and Mrs. Nancy Jane Buchanan. Thomas Collins richly deserves to be numbered with the brave, honored pioneers, who nobly did their part well in the upbuilding of the state and county. He and Mrs. Collins were splendid citizens of Johnson county, deeply interested in the welfare of the community and in all movements in behalf of progress and enterprise, genial, courteous, and kind, a family of many friends.

P. B. Collins and his two sisters. Mary C. and Knnna, attended school held in the Coleman school iuuise, which was located on the Collins homestead. Thomas Collins, the father, donated the land to the district for the purpose of erecting- a sclux)l building thereon, and he assisted in the building of the log house. Miss Golsia Martin taught the first school and, later, Mr. Milsi)augh and Mr. Windsor wielded the ferule of authority, in the \ ears prior to the Civil War. After the war. Miss Mattie Dubaugh and Miss Mollie Martin were employed as teachers of the Coleman school.

\\'hen Mr. Collins was a lad. his father would frequently bring home from a hunting expedition deer, wild turkeys, and prairie chickens. Fishing was consideretl an occupation more than a sport in the early days and it was not difficult to catch many good fish in the small streams scattered over the entire county. Among the settlers, who resided in Johnson county previous to the war of the sixties, whom P. B. Collins recalls, were: Morgan Cockrell, Johnnie Atkinson, "Billie" Browning, Nimrod Frost, John Gillilan, Edmond Coleman, John Smith, Samuel Grinstead, and Will Roberts. Mrs. Wooten lived just across the county line in Lafayette county.

January 4. 1913. the Collins home was burned and in the same year the present residence, a cozy, pleasant cottage of five rooms, was built. P. B. Collins has placed all the improvements now on the farm. He is engaged in general farming, stock raising, and poultry raising on a farm of one hundred thirty-se\-en acres. IMrs. Elliott has forty acres in Henry county. There are. at the time of this writing in 1917, eighty-four pure-bred Bronze turkeys and two hundred Rhode Island Red chickens on the Collins place. This farm is located fifteen miles northwest of Warrensburg and twelve miles from Odessa and onefourth mile from Robbins, thus the situation is all that could be desired for convenience in shipping stock and produce.

Mr. Collins is unmarried. He and his two sisters reside at the old homestead in Hazel Hill township, a farm which has been in the possession of the Collins famil\- for nearly seventy years. He is an excellent citizen, a man of candid, straightforward manner and pleasing personality. Mr. Collins and his sisters are well known and esteemed in Johnson county.

Johnson county, Missouri. He is tiie first born of eight children born to William and Susanna (Jones) Heizer. who were united in marriage September 26. 1867, their children being, as follow: David E., of this review; Mrs. Bertie Parsons, Columbus township, Johnson "county; Mrs. Myrtle Warren, Warrensburg, Missouri ; Mrs. Mary Bratton, Columbus township, Johnson county ; W. A., Centerview township, Johnson county: C. C, Wasco, California: and two children died in infancy. William Heizer was born September 1. 1844 in Ross county, Ohio, where he was reared and educated. The same year in which he was married to Susanna Jones, the daughter oi John and Mary (Canman ) Jones, Mr. Heizer came with his wife to Missouri to establish their new home in the West. With his uncle, Sylvanis Lockard, his brother. Stephen Heizer, and a neighbor, D. F. Braden, William Heizer drove through from Ohio to Missouri. They settled on a tract of splendid farm land in Columbus township, where Mr. Heizer was successfully engaged in farming and stock raising the remainder of his life. He bought and fed stock extensively and was widely known as one of the leading shippers of livestock in Johnson county. At the time of his death, October 31, 1905, Mr. Heizer was owner of two hundred eighty acres of choice land in this county. Mrs. Heizer joined her husband in death July 28. 1913 and both parents were laid to rest in the cemetery at Jacoby Chapel. Mr. and Mrs. Heizer were brave, noble pioneers and good, substantial, industrious citizens, whose loss has long been deeply felt in Johnson county.

Cyrus Heizer, the paternal grandfather of David E., the subject of this review, was born in Virginia in 1815 on the plantation owned by his father. When the child Cyrus was nearly seven years of age, his parents moved from Virginia to Ohio and settled on a farm in that state. Here, Cyrus Heizer was reared to manhood, his boyhood days spent in assisting with the work of the farm and learning many valuable lessons from the school of experience. In early maturity, he was married to Jane E. Cripps and they located first on a farm in Ross county, Ohio, where their son, William, was born, and then in 1867 came West to Missouri, where they settled on a farm in Columbus township, Johnson county. The closing years of their lives were spent at this country place. Jane E. (Cripps) Heizer died about three vears prior to the death of Cyrus Heizer. which occurred April 11, 1891. Both are interred in the cemetery at Jacoby Chapel.

History Ok Joiixsox Cotxty 821

David E. Heizer attended the city scliools of Warrensburg and the Warrensburg State Normal School. He was a student at the latter institution in 1890 and 1891. Leaving school in 1892, Mr. Heizer returned to his father's farm and engaged in the pursuits of agriculture. In October, 1897, he purchased his present farm, located in Hazel Hill township, a place comprising one hundred twentv acres of land, formerly owned ])y Sammons brothers, from wliom lie obtained it. This tract of land was entered from the government James W'aldon. Mr. Heizer has since increased his holdings by purchasing fifty acres more land, located north and adjoining the Shackleford place. Sixty acres of "Oak Ridge Stock Farm" are fertile bottom land and the balance of the farm is upland. Mr. Heizer has never failed to produce annually a fine corn crop. He pays much attention to the raising of high grade Aberdeen Angus cattle, in which breed he first became interested in 1913. He has at the present time, in 1917, twenty liead of cattle and a registered male Iieads the lierd. He raises and feeds .'^ome cattle and hogs for the market each year. "Oak Ridge Stock Farm" is well located, plentifully supplied with water, and nicely improxed. .\11 the improvements on the place, David E. Heizer has himself put there and his country home is one of the most attractive in the countv.

October 4, 1893. David E. Heizer and Emma Jeannette Crutcher, the daughter of J. W. and Martha Leona (McMahan) Crutcher, were married. J. W. Crutcher and Mrs. Crutcher came from Kentucky in 1860 by boat to Lexington, Missouri and thence by land to Hazel Hill township, where they settled on a farm. They were the parents of the following children: ^^'illianl Lewis, (lirard. Kansas : Mrs. Mary Brown, Girard, Kansas: Mrs. Lenna Brown. Girard. Kansas: Frank, Washington. Missouri; Fred. Providence. Rhode Island, who was a member of the Coast .'\rtiller}' but is now with the Baird North Company; and Mrs. David E. Heizer. the wife of the subject of this rex'iew. The mother died in March, 1901 and the father is now residing in Warrensburg. To Wr. and I\lrs. Heizer liaxe been liorn four children: Jennie Leona. ^^'illiam Elden. Marcus, and .Adrian. Mr. Heizer is one of the county's most successful and enterprising farmers and stockmen and he and IMrs. Heizer, who is the great-granddaughter of William Stockton, one of the first and most honored pioneers of Johnson count\-, are held in the greatest respect and esteem in this community, where their families ha\'e long been considered among the verv best.

Eli Blacksten, proprietor of "Busy Bee Farm," a place named for the activity of the bees which for the past eight years have been making honey in the walls of the Blacksten residence, is, at the age of seventyfive years, one of the best-informed, most intelligent, most active horticulturists in Missouri. He was born in 1842 in \\'a\'ne county, Ohio. Mr. Blacksten is one of three sons now living born to Daniel and Harriet (Griffith) Blacksten, the former, a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. When a lad eleven years of age. Daniel Blacksten came to Ohio and in that state grew to manhood and was married to Harriet Griffith. To them were born: Dr. H. E., a prominent physician of Excelsior, Missouri; H. M., a well-known horticulturist of Dalton, Ohio; and Eli, the subject of this review. The father was deeply interested in horticulture and planted two fine orchards on his country place in Ohio, in the care of which he took great pride. Both father and mother have long since been deceased.

In 1866, Eli Blacksten moved from Wayne county, Ohio, to Moniteau county, Missouri, and there resided until 1895, when he came to Hazel Hill township, Johnson county, and purchased his present home from Jerry Shores, a place originally owned by Judge Harrison, the father of Wesley Harrison, one of the first settlers of Hazel Hill township, to which he came in the early thirties. The farm is well watered by a well, three hundred fifteen feet in depth to strata water, and a. fine spring. There is a large, splendid stock and hay barn, of two stories and a basement, on the place. The residence, a house of nine rooms, well-constructed and conveniently arranged, was built by Mr. Shores and remodeled by Mr. Blacksten. A stray swarm of bees has taken possession of a nook under the weather-boarding of the residence, gaining entrance through an opening made by the birds, and now whenever Mr. Blacksten wishes honey for his dinner, a board or two will be remoxed, all the honey he desires taken out. and the boards replaced to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. Every year, Mr. Blacksten secures about one hundred pounds of honey, which is of the very best quality. At the present time, in 1917, there are four dififerent swarms in the wall. Besides honey, the "Busy Bee Farm" produces fruit, grain, and stock. The place comprises two hundred sixty acres of land, one mile from Favetteville on the county seat road. Tiiis farm is one of the most attractive, delightful country places in Johnson county. Forty acres of the farm are in orchard, all, with tlie exception of four acres.

SO planted by Eli Blacksten. The trees are well cared for and, in season, thoroughly sprayed. There are in the Blacksten orchard four hundred pear trees, fifteen hundred apple trees, a large number of peach trees, and many cherry trees. In the spring time, when the trees are in bloom, the air for a long distance is weighted with perfume and "Busy Bee Farm" is a most picturescpie spot, looking as if the trees were co\ered with snow which the warmth of Ma\- can not melt. Mr. Blacksten makes a specialty of the ^'ork Imperial, as a winter apple, and he also has in season the Missouri Pippin. Mammoth Blacktwig. Winesap, and numerous other \-arieties. His largest crop came about six years ago, wdien the orchard produced ten thousand bushels, a part of which were shipped to North Dakota in two cars and the rest to Illinois. The best year for pears, there were six hundred fifty bushels of the Improved Keifer. Lincoln, and Gerber \arieties. .\s a stockman. Mr. Blacksten is equally successful. He keeps about fifty head of cattle, raising registered Holsteins. Jerseys, and some of the Aberdeen .\ngus breed. He has se\'eral mules and a large number of high grade hogs, the latter being registered stock. Xearh^ one hundred thirty acres of the farm are in pasture ami. this past season of 1917. forty acres were in corn. JMr. Blacksten annually alternates corn and oats and every other year raises wheat. He is one of the most thorough, progressive, capable farmers and stockmen in this section of the state.

In 1871. Eli Blacksten and Lydia K. Mowrey were united in marriage. Mrs. Blacksten was formerly of Wayne county, Ohio. To Eli and Mrs. Blacksten were born five children: ]\Irs. Lucy L. Hoover, who is the mother of one child, a daughter, and resides near Pierce City. Missouri; C. E.. who married Eva J. Gist and they now reside on a farm near Menlo. Kansas, wdiere he is engaged in wheat growing, and to them have been born four children: F. W., of Tcxhoma. Oklahoma, who married Etta Xichols. of W'arrcnsburg and to them ha\-e been born eight sons; Mrs. Bertha M. McPhail. the wife of a leading physician of St. Joseph. Missouri: and V. G.. who married Cora Harding, of Warrensburg. and they live at home with his father. Y. G. Blacksten has charge of the orchard, de\-oting his entire attention to that part of the farm, as he is a thoroughlv informed horticulturist, understanding all the multitudinous details of this line of work. Eli Blacksten is very proud and fond of his thirteen grandchildren. Mrs. Blacksten, one of Johnson county's noblest women and an ideal mother, died in 1910 and her remains were laid to rest in Liberty cemetery.

Judge B. F. Summers, ex-mayor of Kiiob Noster and president of the Bank of Knob Noster, was born in 1862 in Benton county, iVIissouri, liie son of Benjamin and Angeline (Chandler) Summers. Benjamin Summers was the son of John Summers, a prominent farmer of Tennessee. In 1835, Benjamin Summers came to Missouri from Tennessee. He located in Nodaway county and there was united in marriage with AngeHne Chandler, the daughter of John Chandler, a native of Kentucky. In 1864, Benjamin and Angehne (Chandler) Summers moved from Nodaway county to Johnson county and settled on a farm in Grover township, where they spent the remainder of their lives. To Benjamin and Angeline Summers were born six children: Mrs. Louisa Jane Couch, Knob Noster, Missouri; Mrs. Susan Wampler, Knob Noster, Missouri; T. J., who is deceased; J. M., who is deceased; S. H., who resides in Seattle, Washington; and B. b'., the subject of this review.

Judge Summers received his education in the pubhc schools of Johnson County and the W'arrensburg State Normal School. After leaving school, Mr. Summers engaged in farming on his father's place in Grover township and for fifteen years was employed in the pursuits of agriculture. He left the farm in 1902 and moved to Knob Noster, where he opened a lumber yard. Mr. Summers" lumber yard and the improvements connected with it are valued at twenty-five thousand dollars. Within the last few years, lumber has advanced from twenty to fifty per cent, and oils and paints one hundred per cent. Judge Summers is the owner of the lumber yard, and of one of the best farms in Johnson county, comprising two hundred sixty-two acres of well improved land. He has a handsome residence in the city of Knob Noster, but his country home is the most beautiful place in this section of the state.

In 1897, judge B. F. Sunmiers was united in marriage with Mattie T. Hull, the daughter of Frank Hull, a highly esteemed pioneer of Johnson county, who came to Missouri from X'irginia in the early days. To B. F. and Mattie T. (Hull) Summers have ])een Iiorn two sons: John H. and Benjamin F.. Jr.

For two terms. B. F. Summers served as judge of Johnson county from the eastern district. He has also served two terms as mayor of the citv of Knob Noster. Judge Summers is now president of the Bank of Knob Noster. Politically, he is affiliated with the Democratic party. B. F. Summers has ever l)een an enthusiastic advocate of "conuuunity development,"' firmly upholding any principle which meant the betterment and advancement of communiiy life and giving his heartiest support and encouragement to all movements for better roads, better schools, and better churches. Judge Summers takes active interest in the moral uplift of humanity and is a highly regarded member and deacon of the Presbyterian church. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows. Mr. Sunnners has, in addition to his many other activities, l^een engaged in journalislic work, contributing many valualjle and \vi(lel_\- read articles on \-arious subjects to the "American Lumberman." Judge Sunnners is uuinl)ered among Johnson county's most \alued citizens, worthy of the highest respect and esteem. It has been such men as he', who have pushed this county to the front commercially and brought it to the present high state of prosperity.

P. Burriss, an industrious, energetic, young farmer and stockman of Hazel Hill township, was born in 1870 in Ohio, the son of Zadok and Jennie (Reed) Burriss. the former, a native of Virginia and the latter, of Ohio. Zadok Burriss moved with his parents to Ohio in 1833 and in that state was reared to maturity, and married. He and Jennie Burriss were the parents of the following children, who are now living: Benjamin, Jefferson county, Ohio; R. AI., Jefferson county, Ohio; Mrs. Ina Cole, Gary, Indiana; W. P., the subject of this review; Lomond, Gary, Indiana; and Elwood R., Gary, Indiana. Both father and mother are now deceased.

W. P. Burriss was born, reared, and educated in Jefferson county, Ohio. He attended the public schools of Jefferson county and after he had obtained a good common-school education, be began life for himself, engaged in the pursuits of agriculture in the state of Ohio until 1893. when he came to Missouri and settled in Johnson county. Mr. Burriss first located on the farm owned by his uncle, Mitchell Burriss, a place located in Hazel Hill township, where he resided for several years, when he purchased his present home in 1898. The Burriss farm originally comprised just forty acres of land, a part of the Cleveland tract, but Mr. Burriss has twice increased his holdings by purchasing land, forty acres in 1908 and forty acres in 1913, and at the present time his farm embraces one hundred twenty acres of choice farm land, well located, and on this place, Mr. Burriss is engaged in general farming and stock raising, keeping cattle, mules, and sheep. He is also renting

In March, 1897, W. P. Burriss was united in marriage with Ehza Doak, daughter of WilHam and AUce (Hinson) Doak, the former, a native of Missouri and the latter, of Virginia. William Doak, Jr., was a son of William Doak, Sr., who came to Missouri in the thirties and settled in Lafayette county, on a tract of land near Dover. Mr. and Mrs. William Doak, Sr.. drove through with emigrant wagons from the South and they were among the first settlers of Lafayette county. In that county, William Doak, Jr.. was reared and educated. He came to Warrensburg in 1882 and in 1892 to the farm in Hazel Hill township, where he purchased the place kno\\n a^- the Jnhn Cleveland farm. He is now residing in Post Oak township. William Doak is a veteran of the Civil War, enlisting under "Fighting Joe" Shelby, with wdiom he served throughout the conflict. To \\'illiam and Alice Doak have been born nine children: Bettie, deceased; Eliza, the wife of Mr. Burriss, the subject of this review: Henry. Ft. Collins. Colorado: Mrs. Lulu Stockton, Hazel Hill township, Johnson county: Charles, Nevada, Missouri; Mrs. Emma Marker. Warrensburg, JNIissouri: Mrs. Eva Burgard, Henry county, Missouri: Clarence, of Arizona: and Myra, Henry county, Missouri. Both Mr. and Mrs. William Doak, Sr., the grandparents of Mrs. Burriss are deceased and their remains are buried in Dover cemetery. Alice (Hinson) Doak is the daughter of Bushrod Hinson, wdio was killed in 1865 in Boone county, Missouri, an innocent victim of the bushwhackers. To W. P. and Eliza Burriss have been born five children: Stanton Scott, Kenneth, Leopold. Myron, and Ina. Mr. and Mrs. Burriss are workers, enterprising, capable, and highly respected. Their families ha\e lon.g been held in the highest esteem in this section of the state and there is no more honorable name in Johnson county than that of Burriss.

William G. Pollock, a most liighlx- resjiected and well-known citizen of Johnson county, son of a prominent pioneer family of Hazel Hill township, is quietly spending the closing years of his life at his pretty country place twelve miles from AA'arrensburg. He was bdrn in 1846 in Kentucky, son of W. A. and Margaret (Dawes) Pollock, both of whom were nati\'es of Kentuckv. \\'. .'\. Pollock was born February 25, 181. 'i. and was reared to maturity in Kentucky and in that state was married to ATargaret Dawes, to whom were born twelve children: Mrs.

Kate Bridgewater, deceased: Samuel, deceased; W. G., tlie subject of this review; Mrs. Susie Warren, deceased; George, of New Mexico; Mary Ellen, deceased; ]\Irs. Maggie Young, deceased; John, Hazel Hill township, Johnson county; James, Hazel Hill township, Johnson county; Mrs. Mattie Moyer, Kansas City, IMissouri; Thomas, Kansas City, Missouri; and Jesse, Lafayette county, Missouri. .All the children were reared to maturity and. with the exception of the youngest, all were born in Kentucky In 1867. the Pollocks came to Missouri and located in Hazel Hill township, when in the spring of 1868, W. .\. Pollock purchased the John NeiT place, a farm comprising two hundred acres in Simpson township, for which he paid twenty dollars an acre, the land having been entered from the government for one dollar and twentvfive cents by Jacob L. Neff, who honicsteaded a tract of four hundred acres of land in Johnson county. For thirteen years, this place was the Pollock home and then it was sold by Mr. Pollock, who rented a large farm in Post Oak township, where his death occurred, in .\])ril. 1891, at the age of se\enty-six years. Interment was made at Oak Gro\e cemetery.

W. G. Pollock obtained his education in the district schools of Kentucky. Until he was thirty-two years of age, he remained at home with his parents, ^^'hen Mr. Pollock began life for himself, he rented land for a few years and then purchased a tract in Simpson township, si.xty-five acres of which he still owns. In 1896, he purchased his present home farm, one hundred twenty acres of land, from Jacob L. Nefif, who entered it from the government. Mr. Pollock is engaged in general farming and raising high grade Hereford cattle. This place is well adapted for stock raising, being supjjlied with an al>undance of water from a well, one hundred twelve feet in depth, soft water coming from sandrock. Mr. Pollock has himself improved this farm. There are two well-constructed and roomy barns on the place and the residence is a comfortable house of seven rooms, built in 1882. Sixty acres of the farm are in pastm-e. forty-fi\e in bluegrass. and the remainder in small grain, this season of 1917, Mr. Pollock resides on the farm, but for tlie past few years has not been employed in the actual work of farming but of supervising, annually leasing the land.

On Christmas of the year 1878. William G. Pollock and Elizabeth Nef¥. daughter of Jacob L. Neff. a native of Erostburg. Maryland, and Catherine (.Atherton) Nefl^. of Perryville. Kentucky, were united in marriage. Jacob L. and Catherine Neff were the parents of the following children: George G. M., Montserrat township; Mrs. Elizabeth Pollock, wife of William G. Pollock, of this review; Elmore Pitts, deceased; Mrs. Emma McGraw, deceased; and Mrs. Gertie Pogue, Hazel Hill township, Johnson county. By a former marriage, Mr. NefT was the father of two children: John Henry, deceased; and Mrs. Hattie Horn, of Oklahoma. He was married to Catherine Atherton in Johnson county and both he and she are now deceased. The mother died July 2, 1899, and the father ten years later, January 1, 1909. Both parents are interred in Oak Grove cemetery.

Mr. and Mrs. Pollock are excellent and estimable people. Both are members of leading pioneer families and they justly deserve to be classed with those WiiO spent their lives bravely and nobly laboring for the upbuilding of Johnson county.

Charles Henry Dutcher, prominent banker and retired educator, was born February 17, 1841, in Pike county, Illinois, son of Squire and Elizabeth A. (Townsend) Dutcher, both of whom were natives of New York. Squire Dutcher was born in 1806 in Columbia county, a member of a highly respected family of moderate circumstances. He was reared on a farm and all his life was spent in hard labor. In early manhood, he learned the carpenter's trade and he became very skilful and dexterous in this vocation. While residing at Sandlake, Rensselaer county. New York, Mr. Dutcher became acquainted with Miss Townsend and at that place they were united in marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Dutcher left the state of New York in 1839 to establish a new home in the West, which was then a wilderness infested v^'ith Indians and wild animals. Many of their friends no doubt thought it was a rash, foolhardy, dangerous thing to do and parted sadly from the young people, convinced that the savage red men would never allow them to reach the new country. The Dutcher family traveled by canal to Buffalo, up Lake Erie to Cleveland, Ohio, down the canal to Portsmouth, down the Ohio to its mouth, and then up the Mississippi until they had reached what is now the western part of Pike county, Illinois. Across the wild, unsettled, open prairie they traveled until a fertile spot was reached near the present site of Barry, where the family settled. Squire Dutcher spent the remainder of his life at this place and here the children wore reared to maturity amid the scenes of primitixe. pioneer life. .Ml the pri\ations and hardships incidental to life in a new country were bravely and cheerfully borne by the father and mother, who wisely set an example for their children, an example of uncomplaining endurance of the trials and afflictions of this existence that will never be forgotten. Squire Butcher's death occurred at the home of his son, Albert. in Kirksville, Missouri, January 5. 1888. where he had been spending several years living in quiet retirement. Mr. and Mrs. Butcher were good people, indefatigable in right doing, earnestly and scrupulously exact in the performance of every duty imposed upon them.

On the farm in Pike county, Illinois, Charles Henry Butcher was reared to manhood. His boyhood days were spent in assisting his father with the farm labor and attending the district school, which was located near his home. Later, he was a student for one \'ear at the Christian University at Canton and then he entered the Kemucky State University at Harrodsburg, where he pursued his studies for five years, graduating with the class of June, 1864, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Buring the Civil War, the work of the institution was interrupted slightly but was not seriously handicapped when the buildings of the State University were temporarily confiscated, for hospital purposes, by the authorities representing the Confederate government. Mr. Butcher and his colleagues were obliged to attend recitations held in the churches, the Masonic Temiile. the rear rooms of store buildings, and not infrequently on the street, where the students would be seated on the curbstones. Through all the trying times of the long conflict the work of the University was never abandoned, although it was continued much of the time under very adverse conditions. Practically the entire session of 1862 and 1863, Mr. Butcher served as volunteer nurse in both the Union and Confederate hospitals at Harrodsburg.

The first year after Charles Henry Butcher had completed his college course he was employed as professor in a boys' school at Banville. Kentucky. The succeeding eight years were spent in teaching in private schools and academies in Boyle, Marion, and Garrard counties, Kentucky. In 1872 and 1873. Mr. Butcher was principal of the city schools of Kirksville, Missouri, and from 1873 until 1877 he held the chair of natural science and Latin in the Kirksville Normal School. In the latter year he was called to the Cape Girardeau Normal School to assume the presidency of that institution. This school had been disrupted by factional quarrels, but Mr. Butcher's conservative, businesslike procedure in the management of the institution restored harmony and placed the school on a firm, substantial basis. In November, 1880, he resigned the position of president to engage in the banking business in Butler, Missouri. But, greatly preferring school work, in June, 1881, he accepted an election to the chair of natural science in the Warrensburg State Normal School, which position he filled until 1892, at which time he retired from the profession of teaching. Mr. Butcher was a true educator. His career in the teaching profession was pre-eminently successful. He possesses the rare gift of ability to impart knowledge and among his students are many who have attained prominence in the professional and business world, among whom are John R. Kirk, ex-state superintendent of public instruction of Missouri, who is now president of the Kirksville Normal School ; and W. T. Carrington, another ex-state superintendent of public instruction of Missouri, who is now president of the Springfield Normal School

In December, 1880, Mr. Dutcher and \\'illiam E. Walton established in Butler, Missouri, the Exchange Bank, a private financial institution having a capital of thirty-seven thousand dollars. One vear later, this bank was changed to the Butler National Bank with a capital stock of sixty-si.x thousand dollars and the first year after organization Mr. Dutcher was president of the bank. It was afterward reorganized as the Missouri State Bank of Butler and has since been conducted as such under the laws of the state. Mr. Dutcher is still one of the principal stockholders of this bank as well as of the Walton Trust Company of Butler, in the organization of which he was prominent. Mr. Dutcher was one of the founders of the Kirksville Savings Bank, at the time he was engaged in school work there in 1873, but he has since sold his interest in that banking institution. He assisted in tlie organization of the National Bank of Newton, Kansas, which was later sold, and Mr. Dutcher and his associates ]:)urchase(l the Park National Rank of City, Missouri, which bank they now own. He was one of the original' incorporators of the Montana Savings Bank of Helena, Montana, \yhich bank began business with a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars. During the panic of 1893, this bank went into liquidation, but within two years paid out in full and not a depositor or a stockholder was loser. At the present time. Mr. Dutcher is a stockholder in the Peoples National Bank of and also of tlie Bank of Foster.

town, Kentucky, were united in marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Dutchcr were born three children: Lydia M.. who died December 7, 1914; IHora B., at home: and Edwin 1\. a travehng .salesman, who resides in W'arrensburg. The mother died in 1880. In September, 1883 .Mr. Dutclier married Mrs. Rella P. Lynes, of Boone county. Missouri.

In 1895, Mr. Dutcher purchased a tract of land comprising forty acres, located one and a half miles east of W'arrensburg. He planted a young orchard on this place and in its growth he was keenly interested. He sold the place nine years later. Init retained his interest in horticulture and develo])e(l abilities along this line that ha\e been rcognized in various ways by the Missouri State Horticultural Society, of which he has been a memlier since December. 1892. He served as president of this association from 1905 until 1908, having filled the office of second vice-president from 1901 until 1903 and first vice-president from 1903 until 1905. In 1907. Mr. Dutcher was appointed president of the State Board of Agriculture of ^lissouri by Governor b""olk and served on that board four years. He still attends all the state meetings, however, and was present at the last one, which was held in December. 1916, at Kansas City, Missouri. He is a member of the Missouri \'alley Horticultural Society, with which he affiliated in 1898, an organization which has been in existence since 1868. In 1918. this society will celebrate its semi-centennial anniversary. The territory coxered liy this association includes all the counties of Missouri and Kansas contiguous to Kansas City. Missouri.

Since February. 1866. Mr. Dutcher has been a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted He has had conferred upon him the Royal Arch degree. In 1868. he affiliated with the OM Fellows. Mr. Dutcher is a valued member of the Christian church, of which he was an elder for many years.

When 'Sir. Dutcher was employed to teach his first school in Danville. Kentuckv, immediatelv after completing bis university course, he was two tliousand dollars in debt and had but seven dollars and fifty cents in his ]:)ocket. By the constant practice of industry and economy, he has accumulated a competence and he attributes his success to two excellent business principles - to live within his income and to make his -surplus work. Mr. Dutcher is now in his seventv-sixth rear and he might well be enxied b}' luen and women a score of years his junior. He has ever kept active physi- cally and mentally and he is not yet an "old man." At their home on Market street Mr. and Mrs. Butcher greet all their friends with the enthusiasm of youth and their friends are numbeired by the score, both in this state and far beyond its confines. As a leader of men, various elements have combined to clothe Mr. Dutcher with public influence - a child-like simplicity and purity of motive that placed him far above all suspicion of selfishness, the utter absence of everything factitious in matter or manner, a kindliness of nature that made him susceptible to every cry for human sympathy, a chivalry of sentiment that raised him above all the petty jealousies of public life, and a firmness of purpose, a force of will that has moved everything before it and which has won for him the respect and attention of the most learned scholars of Missouri.

Peter Theiss, proprietor of the "Prospect Hill Dairy and Stock Farm," was born in 1860 in southern Germany, the son of John and Margaret (Kunsig) Theiss, both of whom were natives of Germany and are now deceased. Mr. Theiss has one brother and two sisters in the old country, John, Jr., Elizabeth, and Katherine. and two brothers in America: Henry, who resides at Wheeling, West Virginia; and Jacob, who at present is in the Klondike region in the northwest territories of Canada, where the richest gold fields in the world are located.

In 1887, Peter Theiss emigrated from Germany and came to America, locating for a short time in Marietta, Ohio, from which city he went to Denver, Colorado, where he remained two years. From Denver, Mr. Theiss came to Missouri and lived for some time in Kansas City, coming thence to Warrensburg, in which city he has ever since resided. When Peter Theiss landed in America, he had but five dollars in his pocket, which constituted his entire capital with which to start life in the new and strange land.

In the autumn, of the year in which he came to Warrensburg, after being employed for several months in work on the Magnolia Opera House, Peter Theiss entered partnership with Gottlieb Leichhammer in the bakery business. They erected a brick building, to be used for the bakery, which placed them in debt one thousand dollars. Within a very brief time, Jacob Leichhammer left Warrensburg, his partner. Peter Theiss, to pay the debt. Life did not look very bright or hopeful in those days, which were burdened with debt, but Mr. Theiss never knew the meaning of the word "failure" and steadily pushed ahead until the debt was paid and the building traded for forty acres of land in Johnson county, which small farm is a part of his present splendid stock farm of one hundred thirty-seven acres of valuable land, which comprises the "Prospect Hill Dairy and Stock Farm." In 1897, Peter Theiss purchased the twenty-seven acres of land, upon which his residence is located. He devotes a part of his time and attention to the raising of hogs usually having on tlie farm one hundred head of fine stock annually. At the time of this writing, in 1917, Mr. Theiss has fifty head of cattle.

In 1890 Peter Theiss was united in marriage with Anna Giersig, the daughter of John and Theresia ( Klein) Giersig, of Warrensburg, Missouri. Both parents of Mrs. Theiss are now deceased. John Giersig was a stonecutter by trade, but after coming to Johnson county, Missouri in 1884, he engaged in farming. The Giersig family was well known and very highly respected in this county, as honest, industrious, capable citizens. To Peter and .A.nna (Giersig) Theiss have been born nine children: Henry Adolph, of Warrensburg, Missouri; Mary Elizabeth; Sophia Katherine ; William John; John Peter, who died at the age of eight years and six months; Francis Joseph; Anna Magdalene; Karl Antonio; and Louis George. With the exception of the oldest son. the remaining seven children are at home with their parents.

The dairy business was started at "Prospect Hill Dairy and Stock Farm" in 1901, when Mr. Theiss traded a large number of hogs for heifer calves. He was not able to feed the hogs on account of the drouth that year, which cut short the corn crop. When these calves had fully grown, the dairy business was begun. Both Mr. and Mrs. Theiss labored early and late, providing feed for the herd and keeping the milk flowing. Mrs. Theiss deserves much praise and commendation for the assistance she has always willingly and cheerfully given. Without her aid and encouragement, the "Prospect Hill Dairy" could not have been the splendid success that it is. There are only Jersey cows on the Theiss place and a pure-bred male heads the herd. At the present time, the milk is skimmed at "Prospect Hill Dairy" and the cream sold in the city of Warrensburg. Mr. Theiss owns the second separator brought to this county, a De Laval. The separating-room is kept perfectly clean and sanitary. In this room is a tank used in the cooling of the milk. The barn for the cattle is 36 x 48 feet, with a basement in which are the stanchions for twenty-eight cows. The milking-rooiii in the basement of the barn has a concrete floor with proper drainage. There are two concrete silos on the farm, one erected in 1907 and the other in 1913, both of which are 16 x 30 feet. The barn used for the horses and feed is 36 x 48 feet and there is a third barn, not so large.

Peter Theiss is a philosopher. He states that it has been his experience that if a man wants anything enough to be "willing to buckle in and work hard" he can have just about what he wants in this world. Mr. Theiss is perfectly right in his theory that "the trouble with a lot of people in this world is that they don't want anything." He bought the first manure spreader used in Johnson county and operated it on his stony farm and now "Prospect Hill Stock Farm" is as productive as any farm in this section of Missouri. He says any farm is good if one knows how to farm. ]\Irs. Theiss states that the hillsides of their farm would not even grow 3 decent weed, when the Theiss family came to live here. Further evidence of the truth of Peter Theiss' philosophy is found in the electric plant on the Theiss farm, which Mr. Theiss himself installed. The power generated by this plant runs the washing machine in their home, and pumps the water to both the residence and the barns. The Theiss home, a handsome, modern structure of stone obtained from the farm, was built in 1897 and is lighted by electricity and heated by a furnace. The pipes are so connected in the furnace room that both the residence and the barn, where the cattle are kept in the winter time, are heated. It must certainly be granted that whatever Peter Theiss wishes to do, he can do. He has an aquarium in an outdoor cistern, which he cut in solid rock, 50 x 100 feet in dimensions and sixty-five feet in depth, holding thirty feet of water in which he has placed a great variety of fish.

For the past twenty-five years, Mr. Theiss has been a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, being a charter member at ^^'arrensburg. There is no citizen in Johnson county more worthy of commendation and notice in a work of this character than Peter Theiss. He has succeeded remarkably well in life where failure was predicted and all the success that has deservedly come to him has been due to his own energetic and determined efforts. In his own words, he has been "willing to buckle in and work hard" and he is getting just about what he wants in this world.

Rudolph Loebenstein, tlic well-known district ;isenl for the Xnrtliwestern ^Mutual Life Insurance Conipanv, is a member of a prominent and highly respected family of Warrensburg, Missouri. He was born November 11, 1865, in Atchison. Kansas, son of Bernhard and Sarah (Aaron) Loebenstein, both of whom were natives of Germany. Bernhard Loebenstein was born in Datterode, Curhessen, and in that province was reared to manhood. In 1856, he emigrated from the old country and came to America, where he located for a short time in the city of New York, from which he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, thence to Rolla, Missouri. At the last named city, Mr. Loebenstein engaged in the retail clothing business and, later, was in the same business in Atchison, Kansas. In 1866, he moved with his family to Warrensburg, where he opened a clothing store on West Pine street. Within a brief time after coming to Warrensburg, Bernhard Loebenstein became associated in the mercantile business with Manuel Frank, and they conducted a clothing store in partnership until 1879, when Mr. Loebenstein purchased Mr. Frank's interest in the establishment. Later, Mr. Loebenstein was associated in business with John H. Wilson, who is at the present time conducting the Buente Mercantile Company's establishment. During the Civil War, Bernhard Loebenstein eidister in Sei)tember, 1861, at St. Louis, Missouri, with the Second Missouri Infantry and served until September, 1862 under Captain ]\Iarder and General Osterhaus. His corps took an active part in the battles of Wilson Creek and Corinth, Mississippi, fighting under General Grant at the latter place. Mr. Lobenstein was mustered out and honorably discharged at Benton Barracks, Missouri. September 27, 1863, he was united in marriage with Sarah Aaron in St. Louis, Missouri, and to them were born five children: Caroline, deceased; Rudolph, the subject of this review: Bertha, Warrensburg, Missouri : Dr. Samuel, a leading dentist of Kansas City, Missouri; and Flora, the w-ife of Sylvain Kahn, of Sedalia, Alissouri. The father died October 23, 1895, and interment was made in the Jewish cemetery at Sedalia, IMissouri. Mr. Loebenstein was a worthy and valued member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He was a thoroughly capable and strictly honorable business man. a citizen universally respected and esteemed. October 23, 1910, exactly fifteen years after the death of her husband, Mrs. Loebenstein joined him in death.

Rudolph Loebenstein attended the public schools of Warrensburg and the \^'arrensburg State Normal School and later, was a student at Spalding's Commercial College, Kansas City, Missouri. He assisted in his father's store in his boyhood days and from 1885 until 1889, he was associated in business with the elder Loebenstein, under the firm name of B. Loebenstein & Son. For one year, Rudolph Loebenstein was on the road as traveling salesman for C. H. Garden & Company, manufacturing hatters of Philadelphia. In 1885, Mr. Loebenstein became a member of the Sons of Veterans, United States of America, gaining his right to membership from his father's service in behalf of the Union. His rise in the order was rapid, being captain of the local camp, mustering officer of the Division of Missouri, commander of the Division of Missouri, chairman and member of the council-in-chief of the United States, and finally was elected major-general of the order (the third highest office in the United States) at the meeting held in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1890. He presided at the meeting of the commandery-inchief at Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1891, winning the respect and esteem of all his colleagues. In 1890. he was appointed assistant postmaster of Warrensburg, Missouri, which position he filled until August, 1892, when he was elected, at Helena, Montana, quartermaster-general of the Sons of Veterans of the United States of America, with headquarters located at Chicago, Illinois. At Knoxville. Tennessee, Mr. Loebenstein was re-elected to the same position, which he filled si.x years.

In February, 1900, Rudolph Loebenstein and E. N. Johnson, of the Peoples National Bank of Warrensburg, formed a partnership under the firm name of Johnson & Loebenstein and conducted a brokerage business at Colorado Springs, Colorado for three years. Mr. Loebenstein, in 1903, went from Colorado Springs to Sedalia, Missouri, where he was associated in the clothing business with the St. Louis Clothing Company of Sedalia until 1910. He was appointed district agent for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1911, which position he now holds. His territory covers the counties of Cass, Lafayette, Johnson, Pettis, and Jackson, exclusive of Kansas City and Independence. Mr. Loebenstein is a member of Corinthian Lodge Number 265 Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and of W'arrensburg Lodge Number 673, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is also a director of the Home Service Section of the .\merican Red Cross. Mr. Loebenstein is a quiet, unobtrusive, industrious citizen, one

Riley Coats, a successful and industrious agriculturist of Hazel Hill township, is one of Johnson county's excellent citizens, born Decendier 12. 1866 in \\'arrensburg township. He is a member of a fine pioneer family, who came to this county in the early days from Kentucky. .Mr. Coats is a son of Ariel and Mary ( Bryson i Coats, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. Ariel Coats came to Johnson county in 1835 with his parents. He was then but a mere boy, twelve years of age. His father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Amos Coats, lived for several years on a farm in Warrensburg township and there died. Both parents were laid to rest in the family cemetery, known as the Coats cemetery, which is located two miles east of the Coats homestead. To Ariel and Mary Coats were born eight children: Scjuire W'., deceased; Mrs. Lee Smith, a daughter, deceased: .\mos. Hazel Hill township. Johnson county: Mrs. Bettie Cecil, a widow, Cornelia, Missouri; Mrs. Mattie Dunn, Excelsoir Springs, Missouri; Robert. Hazel Hill township, Johnson county; Mrs. Katie Gorman, Wagner, Oklahoma; and Riley, the subject of this review. The father died at the age of seventy-three years, in Warrensburg township, and interment was made in Coats cemetery. Mrs. Coats, who was born in 1831, was burned to death at the home of her son, Amos, the tragic accident occurring in 1906, while she was visiting at his home in Hazel Hill township.

Riley Coats attended school at \'al!ey schoolhouse in Warrensburg township. He remained at home with his parents until he was twentyfour years of age. At that time he began farming for himself in Hazel Hill township and one year later, purchased a farm of ninety-one acres of land located near Liberty cemetery. Mr. Coats resided in \\'arrensburg seven years, 1906-1913, where he was engaged in the meat business. In 1908. he purchased his present country place. This is a farm comprising one hundred eighty acres of land, in Hazel Hill township, originally owned by Mitchell Burriss. Mr. Coats has greatly improved the farm since he moved to it. He lias built two large barns and put all the farm buildings in excellent repair. The farm is well watered and located, being six miles north of Warrensburg. Mr. Coats is engaged in general farming and he is considered one of the most capable and intelligent farmers in this county. In October. 1917. Mr. Coats sold forty acres of land, a part of his farm.

August 30, 1891, Riley Coats and Maud Ames were united in marriage. Mrs. Coats' parents, William B. and Clara L. Ames, were residents of Hazel Hill township. A historical sketch of the Ames family appears elsewhere in this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Coats have been born two children: Harold R., who was born in April, 1897, and now lives at home with his parents; and Gaylord, who died in 1900, at the age of seven years. Mr. Coats has an established reputation in Johnson county for honesty, uprightness, and fine morality. He and Mrs. Coats are highly respected and esteemed in their community.

Alpha E. Pollock and Cleo F. Pollock, popularly known as the Pollock brothers, well-known merchants of Fayetteville, Missouri, the former, the capable postmaster of Fayetteville, are sons of the late S. D. Pollock and Martha (Gott) Pollock, the former, a native of Kentucky and the latter, of Johnson county, Missouri. S. D. Pollock was born August 24, 1844. He was an efificient and versatile workman, having mastered the trades of carpenter, engineer, and blacksmith, and, in addition, was considered an excellent farmer. He came from Kentucky to Missouri in 1867 and located for tlie first three years at Knob Noster and then mo\'ed to a farm in Hazel Hill township. Most of the residences in tlie town of Fayetteville and vicinity were built by S. D. Pollock. He was united in marriage with Mattie Gott, who was born in Johnson county on August 24, 1844, the daughter of Reverend Jonathan Gott, a prominent pioneer Baptist minister. Reverend Gott was a native of Kentucky. He came as a missionary of the Baptist church to Johnson county about 1846. He conducted missions in Johnson, Lafayette, and adjoining counties and organized many congregations of the Baptist denomination. Reverend Gott possessed a fine saddle-horse and always rode horseback to meet with the settlers at the appointed places. He held services in the old log church at Liberty, at Providence, at Bethel, and at Mount Prairie. It was no easy task for him to go from place to place, through the dense forests and muddy swamps, yet Reverend Gott was always brave and cheerful and no preacher was more loved by the early settlers, who would willingly share with him all that they had. To S. D. and Martha (Gott) Pollock were born ten children: Mrs. Martha Kelsay, Hazel Hill township; Mrs. Bertie Burriss, Tipton, Missouri; Mrs. Anna Brown, Kingsville, Missouri; Mrs. Blanche Ludlam, Fayetteville, Missouri; Roy. Fayetteville, Missouri; Alpha E., of this review: Everett, Favetteville, Missouri: Mrs. Stella Minor. Centeryiew.

Missouri; Cleo F., of this review; and Opal, who lives at home with her mother. The Pollock home, on the Greenlee place, was destroyed by a cyclone, April 29, 1911. The residence was totally wrecked and all their household goods blown away, but none of the family in the house was injured. Mrs. Pollock now resides in Fayetteville. where she owns a pleasant and comfortable home.

In 1910, the Pollock brothers assumed charge of the Landis General Store in Fayetteville, which establishment they purchased at that time and have ever since owned and managed. In March, 1915, Alpha E., the elder brother, was appointed postmaster of Fayetteville, which position he now occupies. There is one rural route out of Fayetteville and T. C. Lamb is the mail carrier. Mr. Pollock, the postmaster and merchant, was engaged in farming for several years prior to entering the mechantile business. Both of the brothers are industrious, upright, young men, citizens of Johnson county worthy of the fine success which inevitably has and will attend all their best efforts.

December 30. 1908, Alpha E. Pollock and Mamie Fishback were united in marriage. Mrs. Pollock is the daughter of Dr. M. L. Fishback, one of the leading physicians of Johnson county, located at Fayetteville. To Mr. and Mrs. Pollock have been born three children: Lulu May, Allen, and an infant son. Mr. and Mrs. Pollock reside in Fayetteville, where they own their home.

Cleo F. Pollock and Myrtle Wyre. daughter of S. Lee Wyre ,of Fayetteville. were united in marriage in 1916. To them was born a son, December 18, 1916. Mrs. Cleo F. Pollock was born in Hazel Hill township. The Pollock faniilv is widely known' and respected in Johnson county, everv member of which bears an honorable and enviable reputation.

H. R. Garrison, the efficient secretary and treasurer of the Vitt- Mayes Manufacturing Company of Warrensburg, Missouri, was born in Schell City, Missouri, in 1886. He is a son of J. W. and Florence (Davis) Garrison. J. W. Garrison is a native of Illinois. He came to Missouri about thirty-eight years ago and to Johnson county in 1892. Mr. Garrison was engaged for several years in conducting the old St. Cloud Hotel in Warrensburg. At the time of this writing, in 1917, J. W. Garrison is in southeastern Oklahoma, traveling for the Vitt- Mayes Manufacturing Company. Florence (Davis) Garrison is a daughter of Robert Davis, a native of Pennsylvania, who settled in Schell City several vears after the Civil War. Mr. Davis was a veteran of the Confederacy. To J. W. and Florence (Davis) Garrison have been born the following children: Mabel, who is the wife of H. P. Bryant, of Marshall, Missouri; and H. R., the subject of this review.

H. R. Garrison is a graduate of the Warrensburg High School and he was a student of the Warrensburg State Normal School for several terms. In 1907, Mr. Garrison went to Garvin, Oklahoma, and for six years was in the employ of the Bank of Garvin. He returned to Warrensburg in 1913 and accepted a position as secretary and treasurer of the Vitt-Mayes Manufacturing Company, which position he holds at the present time, in 1917. This company is one of Warrensburg's best business firms, a progressive, enterprising, alert manufacturing establishment. A brief history of the company will be found elsewhere in this volume. The company is engaged in the manufacture of garments and at the present time in making khaki uniforms. Vitt- Mayes Manufacturing Company has never yet been able to supply the demand for their product.

In 1907, H. R. Garrison was united in marriage with Wyota Campbell, the daughter of R. L. Campbell, a prominent citizen of Warrensburg, the present chairman of the board of directors of the American Trust Company of Warrensburg. To H. R. and Wyota (Campbell) Garrison has been born a son, James Robert. Mr. and Mrs. Garrison are highly esteemed and popular young citizens of Johnson county. Their home is in Warrensburg at 203 South street.

Frank N. Ames, proprietor of "Elm-Wain Farm," is one of Johnson county's most valued citizens. He was born August 29, 1853 in Litchfield county, Connecticut, the son of \\'illiam B. and Clara Lambert (Allen) Ames. William B. .-\.nies was a native of Litchfield county, Connecticut. He came to Johnson county, Missouri and October 22, 1869 settled on the farm in Hazel Hill township, which is now owned by his son, Frank N., the su1)iect of this review. .\t tiie time of the coming of the .Ames family to this place, there was an old plantation house standing on it, an "L" shaped structure, l)uilt witli three large chimneys, fotir fireplaces, and of two stories, the entire house covered with black walnut weather Ijoarding. Tlie frame had l-)een put together by mortising. This house was luirned to the ground I\Tarch 8, 1877. In it had taken place the horrilile Sweit/er mnrdor in ISrifi. the coldbloodedness of whicli gave rise to tlic organization of tlie \'igil;ince Committee, which put an end to the horrors inflicted upon innocent

Victims by desperadoes, who followed iheir trade in this vicinity. W illiam B. Ames rebuilt the home in the same year, 1«77, and the residence, a house ot ei^dit rooms constructed u{ while pine, is toda) one of the most attractive homes in the township. The Ames farm was originally owned by Joel Walker. Mr. Ames had nearly four hundred acres of land and on his farm raised gram and stock. VVilliam B. and Clara L. Ames were the parents of the following children: Olive, who died in Connecticut; Nellie, who died in Connecticut; Frank \., the subject of this review; Herbert L., Lamed, Kansas; Mrs. Maud Coats, Hazel Hill township, Johnson county; and William C, who died September 7, 1893. The mother, who was also a native of Connecticut, died March 13, 1891 and in 1893, she was joined in death by her husband. The parents and their children, who have gone on before, are all buried in Liberty cemetery.

Frank N. Ames obtained a good common school education and he has since added to his store of knowledge by reading widely on many subjects and by observing closel}'. Mr. Ames is a reader of discriminating tastes and he has chosen from the inexhaustible field of literature only the best and now is conceded to be one of the well informed, most thoroughly educated men in this county. From boyhood, he has made his way in the world, though he was emplo\ed in work on the home farm until the time of his marriage, at the age of thirty-one years. In 1884, Air. Ames purchased forty acres of land from his father and later acquired the homestead. Fie now owns one hundred eighty-fi\e acres of land, located six and one-half miles north of \\'arrensburg on the Lexington road, a place that is widely known as "Elm-Wain Farm." For many years. Mr. Ames has raised hogs, usually keeping from one hundred to one htmdred fifty head of Poland China hogs on the farm. He raises annually from twenty-five to thirty choice cattle and at the present time owns one of the finest Shorthorn steers in the country. In the dry year of 1878. Mr. .Ames dug a well on his place, seventeen feet deep, which is a real "gusher," a veritable fount everflowing, for it has furnished an abundance of water for all purposes even in the dryest seasons. Mr. Ames is not now engaged in the actual work of the farm, hut in supervising and managing the saive, his plans being carried out by others.

united in marriage. Mrs. Ames was engaged in teaching school for eight years prior to her marriage and she was one of the most highly valued and prominent teachers in Johnson county. James H. Xarron came to Missouri with his father, Haywood Xarron, who left Tennessee about 1840 to make the new home in the West and they first located in Lexington, coming thence to Simpson township, w^here the elder Narron entered land from the government, perhaps in 1856. On this farm, the father and mother spent the rest of their lives. Mrs. James Narron died in 1886 and she was followed in death by her husband in 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Narron were the parents of nine children: Fannie, the wife of Frank N. Ames, the subject of this review ; James Augustus, of Iowa; Mrs. Lizzie Stewart, Independence, Missouri: Mrs. Lottie Tidswell, Independence, Missouri; ;Mrs. Daisy Cook, Independence. Missouri: Benjamin. Elbert, Colorado; Mrs. Delia A. Truitt. Richmond, California; John W., Richmond, California; and Mrs. Blanche Mac- Ouiddy, Bakersfield, California. To Frank N. and Fannie Ames have been born two children: Edith Grace, who was a student of the Warrensburg State Normal School and died a few weeks before she would have graduated; and Loris. who died in infancy at the age of five months. Mr. and Mrs. Ames are enrolled among the county's best families and most respected and intelligent citizens.

Thomas Henderson, a well-known and respected farmer and stockman of Columbus township, is a son of one of Johnson county's brave, noble pioneers. He was born in Columbus township October 17, 1855. one of ten children born to his parents, J. W. and Lena Ann (Houx) Henderson. J. W. Henderson was a native of Kentucky. He came to Missouri in the spring of 1839, coming on horseback the entire distance and carrj'ing what little money he had in his saddle bags. He settled on the farm now owned by his son, Thomas, a place located one-fourth mile north of Columbus, where he lived for fifty-four years and engaged in general farming. J. W. Henderson was the son of William Henderson, who came to Missouri within a few years after his son had settled here. J. W. Henderson, at the time of his death, was an extensive landowner, proprietor of the Nancy Greenwell home. Lena Ann (Houx) Henderson was a daughter of Nicholas Houx, an honored pioneer of Johnson county. He came to this county in 1827 and is well known as he who established the first cemetery in Johnson county and the first person to be buried there, mention of which is made elsewhere in this volume. Tlie children of J. W. and Lena Ann Henderson were. as follow: Mrs, Elizabeth Letton. Xevada, Missouri; William, Jr., of Arkansas; Mrs. Pattie Wolfe, Colorado Springs, Colorado; Thomas, the subject of this review; Mrs. Emily Jane Peffer. deceased; Mrs. Alice Simpson, deceased; Nicholas, deceased; and three children died in infancy. J- ^^ - Henderson was justice of the peace for many years and was universally known ever after\var<l as Squire Henderson. He was industrious and thrifty and. fmni the first, pros])ered. He owned several farms, comprising in all more than seven hundred acres of land, which included the places now owned by Thomas ?Ienderson. B. 1'. Simmerman. Milton Clifton, Ed \\'illiofl'. and "JetT'" CotYman, besitles the Captain Raker farm and the Specker farm. Squire Henderson died in 1893.

In an old log school house, which stood in the ,-.ite of the present district school house, in Columbus township, Thomas ilondcrson received his education. After attaining maturity, he resided in i'arton county for three vears. where he was engaged in farming. Mr. llemierson returned to Johnson county to remain one year, when he mo\ed to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, and for ten years lived in that i)art of the country. Upon his return to Johnson county, he purchased the Raker farm, wdiich he afterward sold and bought one hundred fortynine acres of the homestead, which is his present country home place. He has added all the improvements and he now has a nicely improved, wellkept and equipped stock and grain farm, every acre under a high state of cultivation.

In 1882, Thomas Henderson and Delia Stotts were united in marriage. Mrs. Henderson was formerly from Ch.autauqua county. Kansas. To this union have been born three sons: Joseph W., at home; Archie, Pittsville, Missouri; and \'ictor. of Montana. ]\[r. and Mrs. Henderson are widely known and universally esteemed in this county, where the Henderson family has for nearly eighty years l)een considered one of the very best and most substantial families.

Mr. Henderson relates several incidents of significant historical interest in Johnson county. The old elm tree, under which the first court in Johnson county was held on the farm of Nicholas Houx, was blown down in the spring of 1916. A part of the original Nicholas Houx homestead is now owned by Fred Specker and a part is the present site of the citv of Columbus. Mr. Henderson recalls an amusing event relative to early day judicial procedure in Johnson county. The first two men convicted of crime in this county were placed under a wagon box for safe keeping and upon the top of the upturned box were stationed two guards. The quarters of the convicts were extremely close and uncomfortable, although there was plenty of room for meditation. Becoming thirsty, they pled with their wardens to send for some stimulating liquor. The not unwilling wardens did so and helped themselves so well and so frequently to the gallon of whiskey, that when they awakened from a long, deep, drunken stupor the}- found themselves where the criminals should have been and no trace of tlie former prisoners. Jolmson county's first "jail birds" had flo\\-n.

J. F. Dalton, a successful and industrious farmer and stockman of Columbus township, is a nati\e of Johnson county and a member of a highly respected pioneer family of Columl)us township. ]\lr. Dalton was born January 8, 1857 on his father's farm in Columbus township, a son of W. R. and Sabina Dalton. The father was born in Virginia in 1814, son of AX'illiam Dalton. William Dalton and his four sons, W. R.. Frank, R. R., and A. F., came to Missouri from Virginia in 1837 and located in Johnson county in 1838 or 1839, settling on the farm now owned by J. F. Dalton, the subject of this review. The elder Dalton (lied witliin a few years after coming West and he was buried in the faniilv cemetery. His four sons are all deceased, also. To W. R. and Sabina Dalton were born ten children: \\'illiam Matthew, a Confederate veteran, who fought in the Civil War with "Fighting Joe" Shelby, and who was serving his second term as probate judge in Bates county when his death occurred: Mrs. Fannie Kincheloe, deceased: Robert, a Confederate veteran, who ser\ed under Generals Price and Shelby and was wounded seriously at the battle of Corinth, Mississippi, and several ^-ears after the Civil War held the position of treasurer of Johnson county for four years, his death occurring in .April, 1''14; Mrs. b^-ank Ramsey, W'arrensl)urg, Missouri; Mrs. Rebecca Long, deceased: Mrs. M. L. Pemberton. Cliilhowee, Missouri; Mrs. Flla Fox, wlio lias resided in Colorado, Texas for the past thirty years: Mrs. N. S. Bailey, Denver. Colorado; J. F.. the subject 6f this review: and Maggie. Oklahoma City. Oklahnnia. The mother died in 1896 and the father in 1000. Roth parents were laid to rest in Mount Tabor cemetery.

Dalton recalls among the early school teachers of this district the following men and women: Miss S. M. Young: John \V. McGivans, who taught several terms of school here: George McDorman : Miss Belle Renick, who taught the school after the Civil War. when it was held in a private residence, the schoolhouse liaving lieen ruineil during the war: Miss Bettie Levicy. recently ileceased: and Miss Lizzie Emmons, of Pittsville, Missouri. Mr. Dalton has always lived on the farm he now owns. He inherited a part of the homestead and purchased the interests of the other heirs and in addition has hought forty adjoining acres and now the Dalton place comprises two hundred eight acres of land located five miles northeast of Columbus. The farm is well watered and fitted for both general farming and stock raising. Mr. Dalton cultivates from fifty to seventy-five acres of this place each year and keeps the remainder in grass and pasture. He has built a new barn and rebuilt the residence since he acquired the ownership of the farm.

In 1902, J. F. Dalton and Cora L. .Alkire. of Lafayette county, were united in marriage and to them has been born one child, a son, Leroy, who is now attending school at McCoy school house. Mr. Dalton has made a splendid success of raising high grade Shorthorn cattle, keeping a registered male on the farm, and Poland China hogs. He is an energetic, intelligent stockman and worthy of success. Both he and Mrs. Dalton are well known and highly regarded among the county's best citizens.

Lewis L. Burris, a progressive and successful farmer and stockman of Columbus township, is a member of a prominent pioneer family of Missouri. ]\Ir. Burris was born on the farm where he now resides December 17, 1868, a son of Captain Lewis and Elizabeth (Upton) Burris, the father, a native of Lafayette county and the mother, of Randolph, Missouri. Captain Burris was a Confederate captain of the regiment from Nodaway county. He was a son of Ennis Burris, who came to Missouri when a child, with his mother. The father of Ennis Burris was killed in Tennessee during an Lidian raid on their settlement in that state. He was a native of \"irginia and had resided in Tennessee but a short time, when liis untimely and tragic death occurred. Those of the settlers who were left unharmed moved to St. Louis and with these came Ennis Burris and his mother. The Burris family located in Nodaway county and there the son, Ennis, grew to manhood and married. Both he and his wife died at the Burris home-

Stead in Nodaway county and were buried in the family cemetery there. More than fifty years later, their remains were removed to the cemetery at ]Marvville, Missouri. In 1867 or 1868, Lewis Burris, Sr. moved to Johnson county and located in Columbus township on the farm now owned by his son, Lewis, Jr. The elder Burris resided on this place until 1886 and then moved to Warrensburg. To Lewis, Sr. and Elizabeth (Upton) Burris were born four children: Cornelia M., who resides with the widowed mother in Warrensburg, Missouri; Charles T.. who lives in the old home; H. J., Kansas City, Missouri; and Lewis L.. the subject of this review. By a former marriage, Lewis Burris. Sr. was the father of four children: George A., deceased; Mrs. Margaret F. Ramsey, Odessa, Missouri; W. E., Warrensburg. Missouri; and Mrs. Lena G. Howe, deceased. The father died in 1911 and burial was made in the cemetery at \\'arrensburg. The mother still makes her home in \\'arrensburg.

Lewis L. Burris attended the public schools of Johnson county and the Warrensburg State Normal School. At the age of twenty-one years, he began life for himself engaged in teaching school. ]Mr. Burris taught at Shiloh schoolhouse and then for three years lived in California. On his return to Johnson county, he associated with his father in the business of cattle raising and farming. Mr. Burris inherited a part of the home place and with Mrs. Burris. who also inherited land from the Smith estate, and in addition they purchased ninety acres of land and now have two hundred acres of choice farm land in Columbus and Hazel Hill townships. He has improved this tract of land and this past year, of 1917, remodeled the residence, which was built in 1897. He has a large barn, 40 .x 48 feet in dimensions, for hay and cattle and a smaller one for horses. Mr. Burris is interested in stock raising, specializing in pure-bred Polled Angus cattle, with which breed he began twenty-five years ago. For several vears, he, his father, and his brother, Charles T., were in partnership in cattle raising and they kept at one time from fifty to seventy-five head of Polled Angus cattle on the farm. Mr. Burris has at the present time sixty head of this breed. He also has thirty-five head of Oxford sheep and seventy-five head of hogs. He has always sold his stock in the home market and in 1916 could not fill the demand. Mr. Burris is an expert stockman and from the beginning has had marked success.

marriage. Both parents of i\Irs. Burris are now deceased and their remains He interred in Mount Tahor cemetery in Lafayette county. To Lewis L. and Mrs. Burris have been born four children: Lewis U., at home with his parents: Mrs^ J. S. Kinney. Warrensburg. Missouri; Marjorie. who is now a student at the \\'arrenslnn-g State Normal School: and Murl, at home.

A half century ago, the Burris family settled in Johnson county. The name has always stood for the best things in life, morally, socially, and commercially and the son, Lewis L., has admirably maintained the family's record for unimpeachable honor and honesty. Both he and Mrs. Burris are numbered among Johnson county's best and most substantial citizens.

Major James N. Warnick, a late prominent citizen of Warrensburg, Missouri, was one of the most distinguished of the early pioneers of Johnson county. He was born August 2, 1799 in Tennessee and in that state was reared to maturity. November 13, 1823, he was united in marriage with Siny P. Payton, daughter of John Payton, of Wilson county, Tennessee. They came to Missouri in May, 1833 and located temporarily in Lexington. In the autumn of the same year, Mr. and Mrs. James N. Warnick came to Johnson county, where they settled on a large tract of land in Post Oak township.

When the ^^'arnick family settled in Johnson county, it was the period of Indian depredations. Within a very brief period after their coming, the militia was called out to protect the settlers from murderous bands of Osage Indians, who were committing atrocities among the outlying settlements. James N. Warnick was a born leader of men and as captain of the home guard, heading one of the companies of militia, drove back the savages to their reservation. He later distinguished himself further during the Mormon trouble. At this time, he received his title as major, when his regiment was organized under the state militia laws and he was elected to that position in the army.

Major Warnick used to relate his experiences in "going to mill," which was considered a great pleasure in the early days. When the corn had ripened, all the settlers were gathered in and a sort of party was held, known as a "husking bee," when the corn would be husked after which the women would prepare a splendid supper and the fun and frolic would begin. The corn was shelled on rainy days and in the evenings. Even the children could help with this work and enjoyed making cob houses while the older ones raised blisters on their thumbs shelling corn. When a grist of corn was ready, it was placed in a sack thrown across the horse's back and taken to the mill many miles away. This meant a twenty to forty-mile trip, for the mill on Grand river was twenty miles distant and the mill at Lexington was forty miles away, so the man, or boy, who went with the corn always planned to wait at the mill from one to three days before he could get his corn ground. There was always a large number of men and boys at the mill waiting for their grists and, as one saw very few visitors in those days, it was a treat to hear the other men and boys tell stories, while they were waiting.

To Major James N. and Siny P. (Payton) Warnick were born eight children: Robert N., who married Amanda J. Oglesby and to them were born Sanford Francis and E. N. Warnick, the former the father of Oscar D. Warnick, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume, and Mrs. Theodore Shock, of Warrensburg, Missouri, and the latter, a prominent merchant of Warrensburg, Missouri; Nancy Elizabeth; John P.; William S. ; Margaret F. ; Matilda Jane; James H. ; and Siny E. In 1882, there were one hundred descendants of James H. and Siny P. Warnick living in Johnson county, all of whom were highly respected men and women. There is perhaps no family in Johnson county which has exerted so great influence for good as has the Warnick family. Major and Mrs. W'arnick were worthy and consistent members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church and ever gave their most earnest support to all causes having for their object the betterment of the community.

Patrick H. Alexander, an honored and noble pioneer of Johnson county and Civil War veteran, now living retired in the city of Warrensburg, was born in March, 1834 in Henry county, Tennessee. He is the son of William and Martha (Job) Alexander, the former, a native of Kentucky and the latter, of Nashville, Tennessee. Both parents died, leaving their son an orphan when a very small child.

When he was a little lad, Patrick H. Alexander came from Tennessee to Missouri with his uncle, who settled in Crawford county. Three years later, the child came to Johnson county with his sister and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. AX'ood. Tlu- Wood family settled on a farm in the eastern part of the county and with them the hoy made his home, while he "worked out," for other people, to earn his way. .\s long as Colonel J. H. Robinson !i\cd. Patrick TT. Mcxander was always sure of a place to work. Colonel Robinson was one of the very first settlers of Johnson county and he was very fond of the Alexander youth, always employing him whenever he had work to be done. Mr. Wood entered forty acres of land, and Patrick assisted his brother-inlaw by working for Colonel Robinson for a wage of six dollars per month, turning over his wages to pay for tlie land. In 1849, Patrick M. Alexander made his first trip to Warrensburg. lie came on horseback, bringing two sacks of corn to the mill. The mill was of the old-fashioned tread type and he waited all day for his grist. Kach person nnisl wait his turn at the mill in those days, even if it took a week. I'ntil 1854, Mr. Alexander lived witli his brother-in-law and at that time he came to Warrensburg to make his home with Major .Morrow for whom he worked many years. In 1853. Mr. Alexander was employed as "bull wdiacker" in charge of a train, composed of thirty-six wagons, in command of Mr. Smith, bound for Vovt Laramie, Wyoming, the trip to be made across the plains for Majors & Russell. 'l^"oops guarded the train from the savage red men and three montlis were gone before the end of the journey was reached. It was a wild, dangerous experience, one that is never forgotten. Mr. Alexander went to Kansas in 1859 and took up a claim of land in what is now Cherokee comity. The Civil War broke out before he had proven his claim and as most of his neighbors were killed by either the Indians or the "bushwhackers," Patrick Alexander deemed it best to return to Missouri, where he was better known. The following year he went to Tennessee, traveling in a wagon.

In July, 1861, Mr. Alexander enlisted in the Twenty-seventh Missouri Mounted Infantry, serving under Colonel Grover. who was mortally wounded at the battle of Lexington. He served with Colonel Grover's regiment nine months and when his time of enlistment had expired, he returned to Warrensburg and enlisted with Catherwood's regiment for three montlis and then with Colonel Phillip's Seventh Missouri Cavalry, for the remaining two and a half years. Mr. Alexander saw active service in Arkansas and he was with the regiment sent after General Price, when on his raid through ^lissouri and Kansas. For ninety days after the war had ended, Patrick H. .Alexander served as first lieutenant in the Missouri state militia, his division being known as "Fletcher's Militia." which was called out to subdue the "bushwhackers." Fletcher was well known in Warrensburg.

twenty acres of land located seven miles south of W'arrensburg and on this place resided until about ten years ago, when he retired from active farm labor and moved to his city property in Warrensburg, where he now resides. The Alexander home is a nice, comfortable residence at 813 Holden street.

Patrick H. Alexander was united in marriage with Mrs. Mary E. (Marr) Jewell, September 15. 1867. Mrs. Alexander's former husband was a lieutenant in the Civil War, in which he was killed. By her first marriage, she is the mother of one child, a son, John M. Jewell, who is now a prominent manufacturer at Atlanta, Georgia. To Patrick H. and Mary E. Alexander have been born the following children: David William, Warrensburg. Missouri; Robert T., who is engaged in the transfer business in Kansas City, Missouri; Mrs. Martha Gardner, of Post Oak township. Johnson county; Sidney H., who died in 1916; and Julius Calvin, who is engaged in farming on the Alexander homestead in Post Oak township. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander are worthy, fine people, citizens of whom Johnson county may well be proud.

J. D. Wilcoxon, a well-known and progressive farmer and stockman of Columbus township, is a member of a prominent pioneer family. He was born August 7, 1861 on his father's farm in Lafayette county. located near the county line between Lafayette and Johnson counties. Mr. Wilcoxon is a son of William S. and Mrs. Lucinda (Ramsey) Wilcoxon, the former, a native of Bullitt county, Kentucky and the latter, of Clark county, Kentuckj^ The father was born July 8, 1821 and the mother, November 14, 1826. They were the parents of eight children: John L., born April 2, 1846 and is now of Eldorado Springs. Missouri : James T., born February 26, 1848 and died in infancy: Sarah Elizabeth, born January 31, 1850, now deceased: Susan L., born January 14, 1852, now deceased; Adkin Lee, born March 13, 1854, and is now residing at Odessa, Missouri; Baxter Allen, I)orn January 15, 1856. now deceased; Jefferson Davis, the subject of this review; and Mattie Kate, of Lafayette county, born April 16, 1865. All the children, excepting J. D. and Mattie, were born in Johnson county. The mother died September 19, 1876. Mr. Wilcoxon again married, his second wife being Eliza J. Hughes, of Pettis county. William S. Wilcoxon came to Missouri from Kentucky in the early forties, making the trip tliencc by I)oat antl locating first in Howard county. In 1844, lie came to tliis part of tlie state and for many years resided on a farm in Lafayette county. \\'hen the Civil War broke out. Mr. Wilcoxon and his oldest son, John L., enlisted in the Confederate service and for four years fought under General Price for the principles they firmly believed to be right. After the war ended in 1865, Mr. Wilcoxon returned to his home in Lafayette county and shortly afterward moved to the farm in Johnson county now owned by his son. J. D.. the subject of this review. At the time of his death, March 4. 1892, Mr. Wilcoxon owned one hundred ten acres of land. He was an industrious, honest, conscientious citizen, a man who well merited success.

J. D. Wilcoxon attended school in Johnson county in district Number 86. He has always lived on the home place, which now comprises three hundred acres of land located partly in Columbus township and partly in Lafayette county, iieing on the line between Lafayette and Johnson. This place is an upland farm, originally timbered. It is on the Odessa-Columbus road and one of the beautiful country homes of this county. There are three liarns on the farm, furnishing an abundance of room for both feed and stock, and the place is well watered. Mr. Wilcoxon raises hogs, cattle, horses, and Oxford sheep and finds the last named his most profitable stock and the iiest ])aying investment on the farm.

January 7, 1883, Jefferson D. Wilcoxon and Fannie S. Atkinson, daughter of Daniel S. and Anne O. Atkinson, of Lafayette county, were imited in marriage. Both parents of Mrs. Wilcoxon are now deceased. To this union have been born nine children: Daniel S., a successful farmer of Lafayette county: James Allen, at home with his parents: A\'illiam S.. a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. South, who just completed an eight-years course in college at Fayette, Missouri : Carl F., who is at present at Camp Funston in training with the National army for service in France, member Company G, Three Hundred Fiftysixth United States Infantry: Lucinda, who is a student in the college at Fayette, Missouri : Harold W. : Maurice E.. a junior in tlie Odessa High School: Evelyn: and one child, a daughter, died in infancy. The Wilcoxon residence is an attractive home, a house of eight rooms, nicely painted and kept in excellent repair. Mr. and Mrs. Wilcoxon are highly valued and respected among the county's best and most enterprising citizens. Thev are rearing one of the finest families in tins section of the state.

Missouri, has long been one of the leading citizens of Johnson county. He is a member of a family that for years has been influential and active in the work of upbuilding this section of the state. Mr. Harrison was born July 5, 1863 in Hazel Hill township, at Fayetteville, Missouri. He is a son of Alfred Bell and Elizabeth (Francisco) Harrison. Alfred Bell Harrison was born March 26, 1832 in Johnson county, Missouri, son of Harvey and Zilphia (Bell) Harrison, both of whom were natives of Tennessee, where they were united in marriage November 28, 1824. Harvey Harrison was born March 7, 1806 in Blount county and Zilphia (Bell) Harrison was born October 6, 1803 in Davidson county. To them were born twelve children: Hugh Bell, who died at the age of four vears ; William Craig, who married Lucinda J. Vanarsdel. both of whom are now deceased; Margaret C. who first married Hugh Eagan and after his death married James M. Shackleford, now deceased ; Joseph Patton, married Evaline S. Seamands ; Alfred Bell, the father of Charles Andrew, the subject of this review; Robert Donell. who died in childhood at the age of four years; Harvey White, married Gillen D. Calvin, and is now deceased; Andrew Jackson, married Priscilla Erancisco, Johnson county; John ^^'esley, \\'arrensburg, Missouri, of whom a sketch appears elsewhere in this volume ; George Washington, married Brunette Glass, A\'arrensburg, Missouri; Nancy Elizabeth, who died in childhood at the age of ten years; and James K. Polk, who died in W'arrensburg, Missouri at the age of seventy years on October 17, 1916. Harvey Harrison died March 7, 1890, not quite a year after the death of his wife, which occurred June 12, 1889. They lived to see among their descendants, forty-eight grandchildren, forty-five great-grandchildren, and one greatgreat-grandchild. The Harrisons located in Lafayette county in 1829 and settled in Johnson county the next year. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Harrison were buried in the new cemetery at Warrensburg.