Linn County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1912 (part 15 of 15)

He saw active field service at Louisville, Kentucky, and in the battles of Nashville, Murfreesboro (Stone River), Lookout Mountain and other engagements in Tennessee and Georgia. After his final discharge from the army he returned to his Illinois home and remained there until 1867, when he came to Missouri with his parents and located with fhem in Livingston county. He lived in that county until 1891, then moved to Linn county and bought a farm. This he improved and then sold a part of it, after which, in partnership with his son, he bought the farm they now own, live on and work. This was also unimproved when they became possessed of it, but their systematic, well-applied

Mr. Walby was married in 1867 to Miss Catherine McCeary, a native of Pennsylvania. They have had seven children, six of whom are living: James A., John S., Rosella E., Wesley A. R., Lydia C. and Lavina M. Rosella is now the wife of R. U. Rice, of this countj^; Lydia C. married E. H. Walker; Lavina M. is the wife of Floyd Wright. The mother died in 1908 after forty-one years of useful domestic life and faithful attention to the duties of her home.

Mr. Walby is a member of that fast-fading organization, the Grand Army of the Republic, and he and his wife belonged to the Christian church while she lived, and he still adheres to it and his devotion to its welfare. He saw this part of northern Missouri when it was in the infancy of its civilized life, with all its possibilities speaking volumes of promise but as yet yielding almost nothing to the service of mankind. He has helped to bring it to its present state of development and fruitfulness in material products, raise it to the height it occupies in moral and mental force and culture, and augment its commercial activity and social influence to their present magnitude. At every stage of the advance he has done his part intelligently, cheerfully and with the utmost fidelity, and the residents of this part of the state esteem him highly for the service he has rendered it and the admirable type of citizenship he has shown.

Benjamin S. Cotter

Born, reared and educated in Linn county, Missouri, and throughout his life from the daAvn of his manhood to the present time (1912), except a period of three years, during which he lived in western Montana, one of the enterprising, progressive and successful farmers of Locust Creek township, Benjamin S. Cotter has a hold on the esteem and good will of the people of all classes and conditions few men, if any, have ever surpassed him in. He is modest and unassuming notwithstanding his popularity, and this fact adds to its extent and heartiness, for, while his merit has been demonstrated to the residents of his township and county, he seems himself to be unconscious of it or the eifect it has produced.

Mr. Cotter's life began in Linn county in 1869, and he is a son of William E. and Mary E. (Oxley) Cotter, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Indiana. The father was born in 1835, and was reared on a farm. When he reached man's estate he became a farmer himself. When he was a child the family came to Missouri and located on a tract of wild land south of the village of Browning which the father bought. Some years afterward he moved to another south of Linneus, on which he died in 1908. The mother passed away in this county.

They were the parents of seven daughters and five sons, and of the twelve eight are living. During the Civil War the father served three years in the Union army in the Twenty-third Missouri Volunteer Infantry.

In politics he was an unwavering Republican and rose to a position of leadership in his party in this county. He kept alive the memories of the war, without any of its bitterness of feeling, by active membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, and his religious connection was with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was a devout and consistent member, belonging to it for many years. His father, Stephen V. Cotter, was born in Tennessee and died in this county, where he made himself locally famous as a great hunter. He was united in marriage with a Miss Fair, who died in this county also.

Benjamin S. Cotter was reared in Linn county and educated in its district schools. From his youth he has been a farmer in the county except for a period of three years, during which he was in western Montana, as has been stated. He has been successful in his farming operations and won from the soil a substantial competency, and this is not surprising, for his work has been directed by intelligence and good judgment and prosecuted with industry and skill.

In 1901 he was united in marriage with Miss Bessie Forman, a daughter of Maj. Luther T. Forman, who was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, on August 21, 1821. Her mother was his third wife, and before her marriage to the major she was Mrs. Emily Graham. The major was prominent on the Union side in the Civil War, and in Republican politics after the memorable conflict closed. During the closing years of his life he was a Greenbacker in politics. He also was a great hunter in his time. In religious aflSliation he and his wife were members of the Christian church.

Mr. and Mrs. Cotter have one child, their son Lee R., who is now a promising student in the public school near his home. In fraternal relations Mr. Cotter is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows and the Yeomen of America. He takes an earnest and appreciative interest in the proceedings of these fraternities, and his membership is highly valued in both of them by their other members. The interests of hia township and county have his intelligent and helpful attention, too, and every worthy undertaking for their promotion has his energetic and serviceable support. In all the duties of citizenship he is faithful and true, always performing with exactness according to his sense of right, and with a view to getting the best results for his community. As a man he is representative of all that is best Linn county manhood, and the people in all parts of the county who know him so regard him.

Henry Smith

For a continuous period of thirty-one years this prominent and progressive farmer and influential citizen of Baker township has occupied and cultivated the farm which he now owns and lives on in the neighborhood of St. Catharine, this county, and his life has been an open book before the people around him without a stain on any of its pages. He has been a resident of the county since 1864, .coming hither immediately after his discharge from the Union army after three years' service during the Civil War, in which he experienced all the horrors of military strife, including a serious wound received during the engagements around Vicksburg.

Mr. Smith is a native of Massachusetts, born in the city of Lynn on March 29, 1837. His parents, Hiram and Martha (Pendergrass) Smith, were also New Englanders, the former born at Gilford near Lake Winnipiseogee in New Hampshire and the latter in Massachusetts. The father was a carpenter and a stair builder, and never left the section of the country in which his life began. He was married in Massachusetts and then took up his residence in that state, where he passed the remainder of his days. The mother also died in that state. They were the parents of one son and two daughters, all now deceased but the son. The grandfather, Paul Smith, was bom and reared iu Scotland, and came to the United States a young man. He took up his residence in New England and passed the rest of his life in that part of the country.

Henry Smith grew to manhood in his native city and obtained his education in its public schools. He learned the carpenter trade and worked at it a short time, then picked up the craft of a wheelwright and blacksmith and followed that at intervals for thirty years. In 1861 he enlisted in Company E, Seventh Missouri Volunteer Infantry, in which he served three years and took part in many important battles, among them the conflicts at Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion

Hill and the siege of Vicksburg, all in Mississippi, and many minor engagements there and elsewhere. He held the rank of second lieutenant for a time and was then promoted to that of first lieutenant, with which he was mustered out of the service. During the siege of Vicksburg, as has been stated above, he received a serious wound, being shot in his right breast. This disabled him for some months, but he was able to return to his regiment without a very long absence.

In 1864, having some knowledge of Missouri and Linn county from a previous residence here, he returned to this county and located here permanently, and in 1879 he took possession of the farm he now owns and cultivates, and on which he has made his home ever since. He has carried on a general farming industry with energy and enterprise, tilling his land with intelligence and good judgment, and has made his work profitable to him in a worldlyway and serviceable in winning the respect, approval and good will of the people around him and in other parts of the county.

On January 8, 1867, Mr. Smith was married to Mrs. Rachel J. Peavler, a widow. Ten children have been born of their union, six of whom are living: Mary, now the wife of Robert Richardson; Martha, now Mrs. J. M. Logan; Margaret, who married F. Rauer and has her home with him in North Salem township; and William H., Charles and Thomas.

The head of the household is a Republican in his political relations, but, although he is a firm believer in the principles of his party and always supports them and its candidates loyally, he has not been an active political worker, and has never sought or desired a political office. Fraternally he is connected with the Grand Army of the Republic and takes a cordial interest in the meetings of the post in which he holds his membership. He is well known in the county and everywhere highly esteemed.

Samuel H. Linhart

This highly esteemed citizen of Linn county and model farmer of Enterprise township, who is also actively, extensively and profitably engaged in breeding horses and cattle of superior strains, and owns 500-acre farm, has been a resident of the township in which he now lives for more than fifty-four years, and during the greater part of the time has been energetically engaged in one of the leading industries of the county, considerably to his own advantage, and also in ways highly beneficial to his township and Linn county in general. He was a lad of eleven years when his parents moved to the county, and even then was able to render good service on the parental homestead.

Mr. Linhart was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, on November 3, 1847. His parents, Adam and Elizabeth (Brown) Linhart, were also natives of that state and engaged in farming there. In 1858 they moved to Missouri and Linn county, and located on a tract of unbroken land in Enterprise township. The father broke up his land with ox teams, replaced the wild growth of ages with the products of systematic husbandry, and transformed the virgin expanse into a fine farm and a very comfortable and attractive home.

They were the parents of eight sons and five daughters. Five of the sons and four of the daughters are still living. Five of the sons of the household fought in defense of -the Union during the Civil War in Missouri regiments, and all made good records for valor on the field, endurance on the march and fidelity to duty in every way. The father was first a Whig and afterward a Republican in his political relations, and in religious connection both he and the mother were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. The grandfather was born in Germany and the grandmother in England.

Their son Samuel grew from the age of eleven years to manhood in this county, and completed in its country schools the education he had begun in those of the county of his nativity. He assisted his father in clearing and breaking up the farm and drove five yoke of oxen when fourteen years old to break up the sod, and aided in its cultivation until he reached the age of twenty-one. He then set up as a farmer on his own account on the farm which he now owns and lives on. Like his father, he began on virgin soil, and like him also, he has transformed a tract of 500 acres of the wilderness into a garden and made it fruitful with all the products and fragrant with all the flowers of systematic farming in this part of the country.

In connection with his farming operations he has been engaged for a number of years in breeding high grade cattle and horses, and by his sedulous care, broad intelligence and striking enterprise in the business, has won a place among the most prominent and successful stock breeders in northeastern Missouri, as well as high rank as a progressive, successful and up-to-date farmer in touch with the latest developments in the business, and studious of its advancement and judicious in the application of all he learns on the subject. Also educated his children in the State Normal at Kirksville, Missouri.

Safreed, a native of Jackson county in what is now West Virginia. Her father, Samuel Safreed, died in that state, and her mother brought the family to Missouri and reared and educated her children in this state and died in Oklahoma, eighty-four years old. Mr. and Mrs. Linhart have seven children living: Edith R., who is now the wife of E. E. Harris; Alfa J., who is the wife of Dr. J. W. Dodson; Clinton C, who is a Dr. A. S. O.; Ernest W., Dr. A. S. 0.; Jennie M., who married Dr. W. E. Atherton and has her home with him in Missouri; Walter T., Normal student ; and Ephonzo, Dr. A. S. 0.

Mr. Linhart trains with the Republican party in political affairs and is a firm believer in the principles of his party. But he is not a very active partisan, and has never been an office seeker. He and his wife are devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in the congregation to which they belong he has served as superintendent of the Sunday school and his wife as a teacher in it for a number of years. Both are well known all over the county, and both are highly esteemed by all classes of its residents, the husband as a progressive, enterprising and public-spirited citizen, and the wife as a conscientious, industrious, intelligent and widely serviceable lady, true to her duty in every way, and a force for good in her community through her zeal and activitj^ and the fine example of sterling womanhood which she gives to all who know her.

Philip Fox

To no class of its foreign population does this country owe more than to that resourceful, all-conquering and thrifty element that has come from Germany. Wherever representatives of the German people locate, in this land or any other, they make the most of their opportunities and the locality in which they settle soon feels the quickening impulse of their quiet but persistent industry, and soon shows the beneficial results of their presence and the influence on others which they exert.

Philip Fox, one of the leading farmers and live stock men of North Salem township, this county, is a fine representative of the race, and his successful and useful career in his home locality is strong proof of the stm'diness and fi-uitfulness of the race to which he belongs by nativity and training. He was born in Germany near the Rhine on November 26, 1852, and there, also, his parents, George P. and Ann E. (Kuhn) Fox, first saw the light of this world and passed the whole of their lives. The father was a farmer there and prospered in his business according to the standards of the country, and, at the end of long lives of toil and fidelity to every duty, there he and his wife laid down their trust and were gathered to their fathers, the descendants of many generations of residents in the neighborhood. They were the parents of one son and two daughters, but their son Philip is the only one of their offspring living in the United States.

Philip Fox gTew to the age of seventeen in his native land and learned the baker's trade there. In 1869 he went to London, and there he worked at his trade until 1872. In that year he came to the United States and journeyed westward to this state, taking up his residence in Shelby county, where he passed five years working at his trade at intervals, but on farms most of the time, and then spent three years in Adair county in the same occupations, not making any considerable amount in the way of wages, but working hard, living frugally and saving his earnings for a more ambitious and productive course in life.

In 1880 he came to Linn county and bought a tract of railroad land in North Salem township, and from the service of others he at once transferred his energies to the promotion of his own welfare, breaking up his wild purchase and making it productive. He has improved his farm with good buildings and fences, cultivated it carefully, wisely and energetically, and made it all pay tribute to his enterprise and industry. As he prospered he made additional purchases until at one time he owned 490 acres, a large part of which is still in his possession. On this land he has followed general farming extensively, and has also given attention to feeding live stock for the markets with success and on a considerable scale.

On May 8, 1878, Mr. Fox was married to Miss Mary F. Thudium, a daughter of Juhn G. and Christina (Straus) Thudium, a sketch of whom will be found in this volume. One child has been born of the union, a daughter named Annie D., who is now the wife of H. C. Spencer, an esteemed farmer of Linn county and one of the leading citizens of the locality of his home.

Mr. Fox belongs to the Masonic order fraternally, is a German Lutheran in religious affiliation and a Republican in his political relations. He takes an active interest in local public affairs, but not as a politician or candidate for public office, but solely for the purpose of aiding in promoting the welfare of his township and county and the good of their residents. He has a good farm, for he has made it one, and is a stockholder in the Bank of Purdin. His citizenship is of an

Daniel Thudium

An excellent farmer and a good school teacher, Daniel Thudium, of Linn county, Missouri, has shown himself to he a man of capacity and progressiveness in two lines of useful endeavor, in each of which there is plenty of room for intellectual and business ability of a high order, and in both of which considerable force of character and selfreliance are necessary to win any considerable degree of success. Mr. Thudium has won this in both, and he has thereby displayed the needed characteristics. He has also established himself in the regard and good will of the people of the county as a first-rate citizen and a square and upright man.

Mr. Thudium was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 23, 1851, and is the second son and child of John G. and Christina (Straus) Thudium, a sketch of whom will be found in this work, in which the family history is given at some length. While Daniel was still in his infancy the parents moved to Wisconsin, and in 1856, when he was but five years old, they brought their family to this state and located in Linn county. Here he grew to manhood and obtained such an education as the primitive country schools of the time could give him. They were in keeping with the condition of this region in the period of his boyhood and youth, full of the proper spirit, but lacking development and facilities for the best work they aimed at, but still tending upward, like the people who supported them, and making the best showing they could.

Mr. Thudium assisted in clearing and breaking up his father's wild domain, remaining at home until he reached the age of twenty, and then set up as a farmer for himself. He repeated on another tract of unbroken prairie the performance of his father, hi« brothers and himself had worked out on the old family homestead. While waiting for his land to come to fruitfulness he taught school in the winter months for a number of years, and his reputation as a schoolmaster is still a good and strong one.

In 1882 he moved to the farm he now owns and occupies, or a part of it, which was also wild prairie, and which he has transformed into a very valuable and highly productive and well improved farm. Nature did her part in making the land rich and fertile, and he has done his by accepting her bounty on her own terms of hard labor and good management. The bargain has been kept on both sides with the utmost fidelity. Mr. Thudium has cultivated his land with sedulous industry and skill and it has responded to his efforts with ever increasing generosity in the returns it has yielded.

Mr. Thudium was married on January 4, 1872, to Miss Sarah E. Hill, a daughter of Willis D. Hill. He was born and reared in North Carolina and became a resident of Linn county in 1856. Of the nine children born of the union seven are living: Charles W., Clara E., who is now the wife of A. J. Nester; Edward T., John W., Estella, now the wife of W. Warren; Benjamin H., and Eosie L., who is the wife of Lowel Pace.

General farming and raising live stock have been the occupation of this enterprising man from his youth. He was also engaged in buying and shipping of live stock for the last thirty years. He now owns 880 acres of land and cultivates the greater part of it. He is a Eepublican in politics, an Odd Fellow in fraternal life and a member of the Christian church in religious connection. He is public-spirited and progressive in reference to public affairs, just as he is in reference to his own interests, and always ready to do his part to advance the improvement of his township and county. His wife died in 1909, and thus deprived him of the help of an excellent woman.

Benjamin S. Wilson

Although not a native of Linn county, Benjamin S. Wilson, one of the most progressive and i^rosperous farmers of Marceline township, began the battle of life for himself as a tiller of its fertile and fruitful soil, and has been one of its leading agriculturists ever since. He has lived on the farm he now occupies and cultivates since 1876, and during the thirty-five years of his ownership of it has steadily improved it, increased its productiveness and value, added to its attractiveness and enhanced it in every way, until now it is one of the best in the township.

Mr. Wilson was born in Marshall county, Tennessee, on December 31, 1844, and is the son of Samuel and Martha (Weaver) Wilson, natives of North Carolina, where the father was born in 1817. He was a farmer in Tennessee, whither he went with his parents in early life, and continued his operations as such in that state until 1854. In that year he moved to Iowa, but remained only a few months, changing his residence from Iowa to Macon county, Missouri, before the end of the year. In Macon county he entered government land south of Laplata, on which he lived until 1865. He then moved to Henry county, this state, where he died in 1886. His wife died there in 1885. They were the parents of five sons and two daughters, and of the seven children born to them six are living.

The paternal grandfather, Samuel Wilson, emigrated from North Carolina to Tennessee and died in Marshall county in that state. Benjamin S. Weaver, the maternal grandfather, was a soldier in the War of 1812 and also in the Black Hawk Indian War of 1831-32. He bore himself bravely and sei-viceably in each, and made an excellent record as a valiant, capable and intelligent soldier, with fidelity for every duty and readiness to face the foe at any moment, no matter what the hazard.

Benjamin S. Wilson was ten years old when his parents moved to Macon county, Missouri, and there he completed his growth to manhood and obtained the greater part of his education, attending the district schools in the neighborhood of his father's farm for the purpose. He assisted his father in clearing the homestead and remained at home with his parents until he came of age. He then came to Linn county and began farming on his own account, purchasing and locating on the farm which is still his home.

On March 1, 1866, he was united in marriage with Miss Julia Stuart, a resident of this county at the time of her marriage. She became the mother of eight children by this union, and three of her offspring are living: Laura E., now the wife of H. H. Sportsman, of Marceline; Martha, who is now Mrs. Jones and lives in Oklahoma; and John S., who is a traveling salesman. Their mother died in 1882, and in 1885 the father married a second time, uniting himself on this occasion with Miss Flora B. Johnson, also a resident of this county. They have had five children, all of whom are living: Vonia, Claude, Urban, Ruth and Russell. All of them are residents of Linn county.

Mr. Wilson served in the state militia for three months during the Civil War. He is a pronounced Democrat in political faith and allegiance, and has been township trustee and filled other local ofiices. His fraternal connection is with the Masonic order, of which he has been a member many years. In all parts of the eoxmty he is favorably known and highly respected as a man, a citizen and an enterprising and representative farmer, warmly and helpfully interested in public improvements and zealous in behalf of everything that contributes to the welfare of his township and the coimty at large, or the comfort and convenience of their residents.

John G. Thudium

The wonderful thrift and resourcefulness, the firm inflexibility of purpose, the persevering and all-conquering industry, and the power to make the most of every circumstance, which characterize the people of the German empire, have been the theme of orator and poet on many occasions and in many latitudes. Their armies have been at times the terror of Europe. Their statesmanship has won the admiration of mankind. In latter days the products of their factories fill the markets of the world. Wherever they camp the wilderness blossoms as the rose, and whatever they put their hands to grows and flourishes. The results which follow their eftbrts in aggregation, are seen in proper proportion in their individual enterprise, the imderljing principles being the same in each case and tending to and working out the same end, in small or great achievements.

One of the best illustrations of what the basic elements of the German character and make-up can accomplish is furnished in the career and the achievements of John G. Thudium of North Salem township in this county. He is now one of the oldest residents of Linn county, but even at his advanced age he is still enterprising and progressive, in what he sees if not so much in what he does, or no longer attempts. For his day of toil, or trade, or ambition is over. The din of traffic and of worldly strife has no longer magic for his ear. The myriad footfall on the city's stony walks is but noise or nothing to him now. His day's work has been accomplished, and he has come home to enjoy the splendor of the sunset, the milder glories of late evening. What is to be said of him is therefore almost altogether retrospective, but it is none the less striking and instructive in a high degree.

Mr. Thudium was born in Wurtemberg, Germany on April 12, 1823. He is a son of Daniel and Christina (Blessing) Thudium, natives of the same province. The father was a truck gardener. He came to the United States in 1880, or about that time, and located in St. Louis, where he passed the remainder of his days. But before leaving his native land he served his time in the German army. The mother died in Germany in 1835. Of her offspring of two sons and two daughters, John G. is now the only one living. Sometime after the death of his first wife the father married a second, and by this marriage became the father of one son and one daughter, both of whom are now deceased. The grandfather and great-grandfather both passed their lives and died in Wurtemberg.

school. He then served three years' apprenticeship to a shoemaker, and after that did journey work in his native land for six years. In 1847 he decided to come to the United States, and took passage on a sailing vessel, which was fifty-six days making the trip across the stormy Atlantic. He landed at New York and went at once from there to Philadelphia, where he remained six years. During two years of the time he was in business for himself and did a great deal of work making shoes for the soldiers who were enlisting for the Mexican War, for which the government was then making ready.

While living in Philadelphia Mr. Thudium was married in 1849 to Miss Christina Strauss, who was also a native of Germany. In 1852 he moved to Dodge county, Wisconsin, and bought a tract of land. On that he followed farming for four years, then, in 1856, came to Linn county, Missouri, and settled on the farm which he now owns and occupies. This was government land, wholly unimproved and virgin to the plow. It was a tract of 160 acres, and on it Mr. Thudium built a log cabin and began to transform it into a home for himself and his family. He improved this tract and made it productive, then bought more land, and kept adding to his possessions by successive purchases until he became the owner of about 2,000 acres. On this vast expanse he carried on general farming and engaged in raising cattle on an extensive scale, and made both lines of business pay.

But he was not wholly absorbed in his own affairs. He had a warm and cordial interest in the land of his adoption, and during the Civil war took his place and rendered what service he could in defense of the Union in the Missouri State Militia. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the German Lutheran church. In addition to his extensive holdings of farming lands, he is also a stockholder in the Wheeler Savings Bank of Brookfield and the Bank of Purdin. He came to this county without means of any kind in the way of capital, and he is now one of the wealthy men of Linn county, and his estate is due altogether to his own industry, thrift and excellent bi^siness capacity and management.

Mr. Thudium and his wife are the parents of seven children, all of whom are living. They are: Henry, Daniel, Mary, the wife of Philip Fox, a sketch of whom will be found in this volume; John, Sarali, the wife of Alexander Bailey; Matilda, who is living at home with her father; and George. Their mother died in March, 1910. The father ia now on the way to the ninetieth anniversary of his birth, and his vigor and activity shame many men of far fewer years. The storms of life have not shaken his firm foundations and its cares and burdens have not much bowed Ms frame or at all soured his nature. He is a genial, kindly, lovable old gentleman, whom everybody esteems and all Linn county venerates for hie genuine worth.

Standing well in business circles all over the county, and held in high regard as a man and citizen, Asa 0. McKinney, hardware merchant and dealer in farming and other implements, who conducts the only business of the kind in New Boston, has used his time and opportunities in life to the present time (1912) to good advantage for himself and also greatly to the benefit of the community in which he lives, which has been his home from his birth, and the scene of all his useful activity.

Mr. McKinney 's life began on a farm near the townsite of New Boston on February 2, 1879. He is a son of Charles and Maggie (Diedle) McKinney, the former a native of New York and the latter of Germany. After many years of faithful and profitable toil on his farm the father retired from agricultural pursuits and moved into New Boston, where he kept a drug store during the rest of his life, which ended in 1910. He was prominent and successful as a farmer, and he was also prosperous and held in high rank in his business as a druggist. The mother is still living at New Boston, where her two sons, the only survivors of her four children, are both in business and both doing well.

During the Civil War the father was a soldier on the Union side of the great sectional conflict, serving in Company C, First United States Reserve Corps, Missouri Home Guards, of which his father was captain. He was in this company seven months, and was engaged mainly in doing guard duty. At the end of the period mentioned he was discharged, and immediately re-enlisted, joining the Tenth Missouri Cavalry, but illness prevented his going into the service with that' regiment.

Asa 0. McKinney was reared and educated in this county, and after leaving school farmed for himself for five years. He then bought his present business, and to this he has given his attention ever since, studiously, progressively and with conquering enterprise. He has built up a large and active trade, and in doing so has established himself in the confidence and good will of the people as a straightforward, upright and conscientious merchant, as well as one who is master of his undertaking in all its features and details. He took charge of the

On November 23, 1901, Mr. McKinney was united in marriage with Miss Daisy Davis, a native of Macon county, Missouri, and the daugliter of Edgar and Eliza (Greenstreet) Davis, long residents of that county and well esteemed in all parts of it. Mr. and Mrs. McKinney have two children, their daughter Eudima and their son Charles Edgar. The father is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America in fraternal relations and earnestly interested in the welfare of both of the organizations to which he belongs.

In reference to public affairs, although he is neither an office seeker nor a politician, he is true to his duties as a citizen and always zealous for the best interests of his township and county. He cordially supports all undertakings for their progress and improvement, and gives effective aid to all good agencies at work among their residents for worthy ends, moral, intellectual, social and material. He has a profitable business and it requires his close attention. But he never allows it to absorb his time and energy to the exclusion of the claims of citizenship, and to these he always gives heed in a practical and fruitful way. He has made his mark in his township as one of ita best and most representative men.

Granville H. Stone

Although but fourteen years of age when he became a resident of Missouri, and but twenty-two when he located in Linn county, the late Granville H. Stone of North Salem township is fully entitled to be listed with the pioneers of this county and the state, and one of the heroic personages who blazed the way for the present high state of civilization and development in this part of the country. From the time of his arrival in Missouri, youth as he was, he made a hand on his father's farm and did as much as any other person in helping to reduce it to productiveness and improve it with the requirements of a comfortable home.

Mr. Stone was a native of Grayson county, Virginia, where his life began on November 11, 1820, and his parents, Stephen and Mary (Chaney) Stone, were of the same nativity as himself. The father was a planter and owned a large number of slaves. In 1834 he moved tis family by teams to Missouri, consuming six weeks in making the trip. He located near Fayette in Howard county, where he bought a small tract of land on which he lived and labored eight years. In 1842, at the end of the period named, he sold his land in Howard county and moved to Linn county, where he bought a larger tract of land in North Salem township.

On this new farm in the wilderness the parents passed the remainder of their lives, the father dying on it on August 7, 1846, and the mother on November 23, 1863. They had five sons and five daughters, all now deceased. The father was a Democrat in political faith and affiliation, but although fervently and faithfully loyal to his party, he never held or sought a political office and never desired one. He and the mother were long devout and serviceable members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Their son Granville attained his manhood in this state, and in the limited schools of his youth here completed the education he had begun in the similar schools of his boyhood in his native state. The farm on which the family located in Howard county was yet almost virgin to the plow when his parents took possession of it. He aided his father in clearing and breaking it up, and bringing it to productiveness. He accompanied the rest of the household to this county in 1842, and here, also, he assisted in the work of redeeming from the wilderness the land on which the domestic shrine was erected, remaining at home until he reached the age of twenty-two.

On September 1, 1842, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary C. Bailey, a daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Maddox) Bailey, who were born and reared in Kentucky and came to Linn county among its pioneers. They had twelve children, ten of whom are living: Albert H., of NeAv Boston, Missouri; Sarah, now the wife of S. F. Forest of Seattle; Washington G., of New Boston, Missouri; Walter J., who resides in Lind, Washington; Anna E., who married J. M. Eoberts, and has her home with him in Seattle, Washington; Martha, the wife of J. C. Cable of Windsor, Colorado; Andrew J., a resident of California; Melvina, who is now Mrs. Henry Mitchell of Wilson Creek, Washington; Mary E., who is the wife of Charles F. Little of Washington, Kansas, and John G., who resides in Warrensburg, Missouri. Their father, who was past ninety when he died, was a Democrat but never held or sought a political office. At the time of his death, which occurred on December 23, 1910, on the old farm which he occupied and cultivated for fifty-eight years, and 160 acres of which were given to his wife and himself by her parents at the time of his marriage, he owned 900 acres of land, all in an advanced state of cultivation and well improved. He was a deacon in the Baptist church and a leader in public affairs. His widow is still living on this farm with her son Albert, who is farming it with industry, judgment and skill.

Albert H. Stone, the oldest son and first born child of Granville Stone of this sketch, was born in Linn county, Missouri, on April 7, 1844. He grew to manhood and was educated in North Salem township, and after leaving school began life for himself as a farmer, the occupation to which he had beeu trained on his father's homestead. He has adhered to this calling ever since, and has succeeded in it in a gratifying degree, as he has deserved to have done, for he is an excellent farmer, enterprising, progi-essive and up to date in every way.

On August 25, 1865, he was married in Sullivan county, Indiana, to Miss Maria E. Roberts. They had four children, three of whom are living: Robert L., William W., and Mary J., now the wife of E. J. Baumberger. A son named Arthur died a number of years ago, and the mother died in 1877. On September 25, 1879, the father took as his second wife Miss Sarah E. Cable, a daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Hammond) Cable, who became residents of Linn ,county at the close of the Civil War. Nine children have been born of this union, eight of whom are living: Alma E., now the wife of L. J. Imbler; Ona E., the wife of Carl Locker; Joseph G.; Stella M., who is now Mrs. W. E. Morgan; and Albert H., Harry A., Charles C. and Beulah F. Their mother is living.

Mr. Stone has served as township collector and toAvnship trustee and given the township good service in both positions. In political relations he is a Democrat, and in religious aflSliation he is connected with the Baptist church. He has a good farm and handles it wisely and greatly to his own advantage, and he also dealt in past years in blooded live stock of superior strains. In regard to public affairs he is progressive and enterprising, and the residents of his township regard him as one of their most useful and representative citizens, and one of their most upright and straightforward and reliable men.

George S. Thudium

This leading merchant at Garner and prominent and highly esteemed citizen of Baker township, this county, is native here, having been born in Linn county on October 13, 1865, a son of John G. and Christina Thudium, a sketch of their lives will be found on another page of this volume, natives of Germany. He was reared on his father's farm in New Salem township, and before he became a merchant was a farmer himself. He has also lived in other places and engaged in other pursuits, and also owns and controls a farm at the present time, so that his experience in life has been varied and brought him in contact with persons of different classes, customs and aspirations, and gives him considerable knowledge of human nature and a broad view of life.

George S. Thudium grew to manhood and was educated in Linn county. After leaving school he farmed for a few years, having been trained to the industry on his father's homestead, and then, m 1900, went to Colorado for a year. While in that state for health he engaged in merchandising. After his return to this county he again farmed for a number of years. In 1907 he turned his attention to general merchandising, and in that line of enterprise he has been engaged ever since. His store is the leading one in its locality, and is popular among the people for many miles around it. He conducts his business on rules of the strictest uprightness and square dealing, keeps his stock up to date, studies the wants of his patrons and makes every effort to provide for them. He is a progressive and enterprising merchant, and is successful in his business because he deserves to be and so manages his affairs as to command success.

On April 19, 1888, Mr. Thudium was united in marriage with Miss Ehnma A. Nester, a daughter of Colvil Nester, a Linn county pioneer who came to this county in 1837, and is still a resident of it. Four children have been born in the Thudium household, three of whom are living, William L., Lulu M. and Mabel M. Their father has served as a justice of the peace for fourteen years and also as townsliii) trustee. He is a Republican in .politics, but not a very active partisan. Throughout the county he is well known and in all parts of it he is well esteemed as a progressive and public-spirited citizen, a good business man and an estimable personage in every way.

Judge George W. Stephens

This fine old gentleman, who has filled many offices in the gift of the people of Linn county, and who showed his patriotism at the beginning of the Mexican War by promptly enlisting a company for service in that short but decisive conflict, is now nearing the age of ninety years, and his life has been one of great usefulness in services of a high character. His life-story is one of the most interesting which could engage the pen of the biographer. His career has been clean and commendable in every way, and the people of the whole county hold him in great esteem and veneration.

Judge Stephens was born in Orange county, Virginia, on February 22, 1826, and he is a gentleman of distinguished ancestry. On his mother's side he is a lineal descendant of the first Bishop Doggett of Virginia who founded Christ Church in that state in colonial times. The judge's father was a soldier in the War of 1812, and died in his native state at an advanced age after making a record of great credit to himself and benefit to his state.

When the Mexican War began Mr. Stephens, then a young man, enlisted a company and was commissioned captain by Governor Smith of Virginia on April 6, 1846. He was married in Hanover county, Virginia, in 1848, to a Miss Rouzie, the daughter of an eminent physician and surgeon whose ancestors came to America from France with General Lafayette. On her mother's side Mrs. Stephens was descended in a direct line from former Governor James Pleasant, of the Old Dominion.

Judge Stephens arrived in Linneus on July 11, 1856, while the sale of Guitar's addition was in progress. He purchased two lots and soon afterward bought the fine farm adjacent to the city later occupied by William H. Garrett. But he did not intend to devote his time and energies to farming alone. He was licensed to practice law in 1855 by Hon. James A. Clark of Linneus, then judge of this circuit. Being a man of undaunted energy and industry, he exerted his mental and physical powers in the successful practice of his profession, in which he rose to a high rank and commanding influence at tlie bar and before the people.

The judge, however, continued to purchase land and at one time was one of the most extensive landholders in the county, and contributed largely to its material prosperity and progress in the improvement and development of this fine country. He has filled several important offices in Linn county, among them that of probate judge, to which position he was appointed by the county court as the successor of Judge Brownlee. Under the Fletcher administration he was removed to make room for a Republican, he being a Democrat. But the county court immediately appointed him commissioner to administer the bounty act passed by the legislature, and in the discharge of the duties of this office he was entrusted with the disbursement of a

Judge Stephens contributed extensively to the building of the Burlington & Southwestern Railroad. He was elected president of this .company in 1869, and he at once began to use his energies and even his private funds in pushing the work onward. During the .first year of his service as president he had the charter of the road promptly extended to the Iowa line, and negotiated the bonds in the East. When this was done the road rapidly approached completion under the stimulus given to the work by the energy, foresight and resourcefulness of the president.

Judge Stephens has eight children all living in Linneus. His oldest son, E. R. Stephens, is a regular law graduate of the University at Lebanon, Tennessee, and was the senior member of the law firm of Stephens & Smith in Linneus. He was elected prosecuting attorney of Linn county in 1874, and held the office until succeeded by his brotherin-law, E. W. Smith, who married the oldest daughter of Judge Stephens, Miss Maria L. Stephens.

Politically Judge Stephens is a representative Democrat, and has served as a delegate to many county, congressional and state conventions since he became a resident of Linn county. But advancing years have stayed his busy hand, and for a long time now he has been practically retired from active pursuits. He is one of the reviewers of this Avork and gives it the sanction of his name and influence.

Lorenzo T. McKinney, the present capable, genial and obliging postmaster of New Boston, Baker township, this county, and one of the enterprising and wideawake merchants of that village, was born in Adair county, Missouri, on July 6, 1869, and is one of the two sons of Charles and Maggie (Diedle) McKinney, an account of whose lives will be found in a sketch of his brother, Asa 0. McKinney, which appears in this volume.

Mr. McKinney was brought to Linn county by his parents when he was six months old and has lived in the county and Baker township ever since. He grew to manhood on his father's farm and assisted in its cultivation until he completed the course of instruction in the district schools of the toAvnship. After leaving school he remained with

In November, 1906, he was appointed postmaster of New Boston, and he at once started his present mercantile business. He has held the office and carried on his merchandising ever since, giving excellent service to the public in the one and making a good record for enterprise and intelligence in business in the other. He is active, also, in the social life of the community, and a great force for good in connection with it, and he takes a cordial interest in fraternal affairs as a member of the Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.

On January 29, 1896, Mr. McKinney was married in Newkirk, Oklahoma, to Miss Carrie M. Crowder, a native of Linn county, Missouri. They have one child, their son Russell L., who is now in school and making a good record there. The father is modest and unassuming in manner and demeanor, but he is energetic and far-seeing in his zeal for the good of Baker township, and New Boston in particular, and the whole of Linn county in general. In political contests he is not notably active, but in all relations where the best interests of his locality and its residents are at stake he is outspoken for progress and improvement and always ready to do his part toward winning desired results and keeping the car of advancement in motion at the safest and most productive rate of speed. The people among whom he has passed his life so far have knowledge of his genuine worth and usefulness and estimate him at his true value as an excellent citizen, reliable and enterprising merchant, capable and conscientious public official and admirable representative of elevated and sterling American manhood.

Daniel Berkholder

During all of the last forty-two years Daniel Berkholder has been a resident of Enterprise township, this county, and throughout the greater part of the time, almost all of it, in fact, has been a leading farmer and an influential citizen of that part of Linn coimty. Like most of the other old settlers of the county, he took up unbroken and unimproved land when he came here, and like them, also, he has raado a good farm out of the wilderness, improved it with comfortable buildings and other needed structures, and transformed the wild domain into a desirable and valuable home.

Mr. Berkholder is an Upper Canadian by nativity, having been born in the upper part of the Dominion on April 10, 1837. His parents were William and Barbara (Gothcheney) Berkholder, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Alsace-Lorraine, the province which was torn from France by Germany by the stern arbitrament of the sword in 1871. The father was reared on his father's farm in Pennsylvania, but at the age of twenty started out in life for himself, going to Buffalo, New York, and from there to Upper Canada. He remained in the latter country until 1869, when he came to Linn county to live and bought a tract of land in Enterprise township, which he cleared and made over into a good farm and a comfortable home. He died in Purdin, and the mother passed away some years before on the farm which she had helped to redeem from the wilderness.

They were the i^arents of fourteen children, five sons and nine daughters. Four of the sons and seven of the daughters are living. The grandfather, Berkholder, was born and reared in Switzerland. He came to this country in his young manhood and settled in Pennsjdvania, and after many years of usefulness as a tiller of the soil he died in that state at a good old age, comfortable in a worldly way and universally esteemed in the locality of his residence.

Daniel Berkholder grew to manhood in Canada and obtained a limited common school education in the country school near his home. He farmed in that country, after leaving school, until 1870, when he came to Missouri and located on the Linn county farm in Enterprise township which he now owns and occupies, and which he has changed from an expanse of wild prairie, enriched by the growth and decay of ages, to one of the best farms in the township. He has put up good buildings and fences, and farmed his land with judgment and skill, and in doing so has made an enduring impress on the township as an excellent farmer and a first-rate manager of his business.

On January 3, 1865, Mr. Berkliolder was married to Miss Caroline Gallmon, a daughter of John and Katie (Seeler) Gallmon, both born in Germany and both now deceased, having died in Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Berkholder have eight children: Rudolph, William J., Daniel, John H., Annie, the wife of F. 0. Kelley; Hattie, who is now Mrs. William Miller ; Emma, who is the wife of J. Guier, and Jay A.

The father is a Democrat in his political connection and firm in the faith and energetic and effective in the service of his party. He has been school director and road overseer, and has rendered good service in both positions. His religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian cliurch. In addition to liis extensive and progressive farming operations he is engaged in breeding heavy horses and superior grades of cattle and hogs, and his rank as a careful and successful breeder is high and widespread. He makes both his farming and his live stock business pay by his good management, and in reference to public affairs he is always at the front with energy and intelligent helpfulness. In all parts of the county he is highly esteemed.

Thomas Fox

The scion of old Irish families which for generations lived and labored in picturesque old County Sligo, and took part in its varied industries of cattle grazing, woolen and linen manufacturing and fishing, and followed their dailj^ pursuits in an atmosphere redolent with historical fragrance preserved and handed down for hundreds of years, Thomas Fox, one of the prosi)erous and progressive farmers of Yellow Creek township, Linn County, would have brought to this country an immediate personal inspiration born of the achievements of the people of his native place if he had lived there long enough to acquire a knowledge of them. But his parents left the land of their ancestors and all the associations and influences of their early life when he was three years old, and all that he knows of the Emerald Isle and its people he has acquired at second hand through recitals of his parents around the family fireside and his own subsequent reading. But even under these circumstances the spirit of his native land and his ancestors has had a controlling influence in his career, and helped to make him what he is. That spirit has stimulated his native energy and versatility to fruitful action and vastly aided him in working out good results.

Mr. Fox was born in the city of Sligo, Ireland, in March, 1830, and when he was three years old, as has been noted, his parents moved to Canada, where they passed the remainder of their days, living first in Toronto and afterward at Mount Albert, in the same province of Onatrio. They had been reared, educated and married in Ireland, and came to this side of the Atlantic in 1834, with a large hope of bettering their condition in a worldly way, and acquiring something for a better start in life for their children than they had themselves. In this design they succeeded in a measure, making good headway in prosperity in their new home and winning the cordial regard and good will of the people around them. They were Michael and Mary (Burns) Fox, and

Their son, Thomas Fox, became a resident of the state of Missouri and Linn county in 1870, having come into this region to engage in general farming, and in this pursuit he has ever since been occupied. He has conducted his operations in a way that has been highly creditable to himself and decidedly beneficial to the county and its residents. For he has been a progressive farmer, modern in his methods and upto-date in every respect. His land is naturally good, and his intelligent and systematic way of cultivating it has largely increased its fertility and fruitfulness and made it yield abundant returns for the labor and care bestowed upon it.

On February 24, 1868, Mr. Fox was married to Miss Elizabeth Martin, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, in the neighborhood of which her parents, William and Jane (Shea) Martin, were for many years busily and profitably engaged in farming. They came to this country from County Waterford, Ireland, and if they did not realize all the hopes they cherished when they came, they at least accumulated a comfortable competence for life and attained an elevated place in the esteem and general regard of the people among whom they lived and labored on this side of the ocean.

Mr. and Mrs. Fox have seven children, all of whom are living and unmarried. They are: Mary, William, Elizabeth, Joseph, John, Leo and Martin, and are all held in high esteem wherever they are known. The father is a firm and faithful Democrat in political allegiance and has always taken an earnest and serviceable interest in the welfare of his party. His religious connection, and that of all the members of his family, is with the Catholic church, to which they are all devotedly attached and in the service of which they are zealous and energetic, but they are at the same time tolerant toward the religious views of their friends and neighbors, and able to see good in all the organizations of men formed for benevolent and uplifting purposes and the general improvement of the human race.

In promoting the general welfare and advancement of his locality, Mr. Fox has always been a potential factor, working with zeal and energy in behalf of every worthy project designed to further the progress and improvement of the locality of his home and the substantial and enduring betterment of its people. He is widely and favorably known in Linn county, and in all parts of it is accounted one of its most sterling, sturdy and estimable citizens from every point of view.

Sheldon L. Wilson

A valiant soldier in the Union army during the Civil War, and bearing to his grave the marks of his service, and an enterprising, progressive and prosperous farmer in times of peace, the late Sheldon L. Wilson of Linn county, showed in his useful life that whatever the call to duty he was ready to respond to it, and whatever the perils or labor involved in the performance of it, he never shirked them or shrank from them. He was true to every requirement of his manhood, and at his death, on Jime 12, 1907, at the age of sixty years and six months, he left an excellent name and record as a man and citizen as imperishable legacies to his family.

Mr. Wilson was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on January 23, 1847, and was a son of Levi and Harriet (Wiggins) Wilson, also natives of that state. They moved from there to Iowa county, Wisconsin, where they lived until 1869, then came to this county and located on a wild tract of land, on which they passed the remainder of their lives, making it over into an attractive and valuable farm, and dying on it well advanced in years after a long period of usefulness here and elsewhere. They were the parents of three sons and one daughter. Two of the sons are living still, and keeping up the traditions of the family with credit to themselves and benefit to their several communities.

Sheldon L. Wilson was yet a child when his parents moved to Wisconsin. He grew to manhood in that state, and at a very youthful age enlisted in the Fifth Wisconsin Light Artillery for three years to take part in the Civil War in defense of the Union. He participated in seventeen of the most important, desperate and sanguinary battles of the war, among them those of Shiloh, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge,Lookout Mountain, Buzzard's Roost, Peach Tree Creek, and the sieges of Atlanta and Savannah. In one of these desperate encounters he was wounded in the left leg, and he felt the effects of the wound at intervals to the end of his life.

In 1868 Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Sarah E. Miller of Wisconsin, where the marriage occurred, and the next year he brought his bride to this state and took up his residence in Linn county. Forced by circumstances to begin at the bottom of the ladder as a farmer here, be cheerfully accepted bis fate and resolutely entered upon the improvement of his finances and the building of his career in this locality. He took up a tract of unbroken, untamed, unimproved land, which

The tract embraced 120 acres, and in the course of a few years Mr. Wilson had transformed it into a productive farm, enriched it with good buildings and other improvements, and made an attractive and valuable home of it. As time passed and he prospered, he found it desirable to add to his industry, and became a successful and well known breeder of Heriford cattle, and also kept a store at Shelby for five years. He succeeded by his influence and energy in having a postoffice established there, and served as the first postmaster, keeping the office in his store.

Mr. and Mrs. Wilson became the parents of seven children, four of whom are living: AVilliam L., Charles L., Ethel J. and Herbert L. Ethel is now the wife of J. Berkholder. The father was a Eepublican in political relations, ardently attached to the principles of his party and zealous in support of them. Fraternally he was connected with the Masonic Order and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In the public aifairs of his township and county he was always deeply, practically and helpfully interested, and in seeking to promote the general welfare no man in his township was more energetic or effective.

Esteemed as a man and citizen, popular as a physician and surgeon and admired as a farmer, Dr. J. M. Boyles of Shelby, this county, hai evidently made a good record among the people for whom he has labored and with whom he has been associated professionally and otherwise from the time when he was ten years old, and as an active and capable doctor for about twenty-eight years. He is not a native of Linn county, but almost all of his life to the present time (1912) has been passed in it, and he is therefore as closely connected with its history, as warmly interested in its welfare and as strongly attached to its residents as he could be if he had been born here, as he waa reared and educated.

The doctor's life began in Hancock coimty, Ohio, on October 4, 1856. His parents, David and Rhodie (Gulp) Boyles, were also born in Ohio, and were reared and educated in that state. The father farmed there until 1866, then moved his family to this county, locating on a farm south of Linneus. He lived on and cultivated this farm until a few years ago, when he retired from active pursuits and took up hia residence in Linneus. While the Civil War was in progress he served in the Union army two years in an Iowa regiment, his service being all on the frontier. The mother is still living. She and her husband are the parents of seven children, four sons and three daughters.

The grandfather, John Boyles, was born and reared in Pennsylvania and moved to Ohio in his young manhood and the early history of the state. He came with his son David to Linn county in 1866, and here he passed the remainder of his life. He was the father of nine sons and one daughter. The daughter and two of the sons are living.

Dr. Boyles grew to manhood in Linn county and obtained his general academic education in the district schools. After completing their course of instruction he attended the State Normal School at Kirksville with a view to preparing himself for a teacher, and he taught school five years. While teaching he studied medicine under the direction of Dr. 0. H. Wood of Brookfield, and during the winter of 1880-81 attended the medical department of the State University.

He began practicing on a certificate in 1884 at North Salem, where he continued that arrangement until 1889. He then took a course of lectures in the Missouri Medical College, St. Louis, and from that institution he was graduated in 1890. He then took up his residence at Shelby, and here he has ever since lived, practiced medicine and engaged in general farming. His practice has been large and remunerative and his farming operations have been conducted in a way that has made them profitable. But the doctor has been a very busy man, for he has never allowed anything to interfere with his professional duties, and they have been very exacting.

On June 14, 1905, he was married to Miss Agnes R. Mattis, a daughter of John and Mary (Haas) Mattis, natives of Germany. The father died in his native land and the mother came to this country in 1888. Dr. and Mrs. Boyles are the parents of three children: John C, Francis N. and Robert E. The doctor is a director of the Stock Growers' Bank of Purdin. In fraternal relations he is a Freemason, and in all taatters involving the welfare and improvement of his township and county he is deeply, practically and helpfully interested. He is favorably known all over the county, and is esteemed as one of its best and most useful citizens.

Jacob E. Spencer

Standing well in the good opinion and approbation of all residents of Linn county as a first-rate farmer, enterprising, progressive and resourceful, and prominent as an advanced and successful breeder of mules and high-grade horses in this county and throughout a large extent of the surrounding country, Jacob E. Spencer of Grantville township, this county, has lived and employed his time and abilities to good purpose for his own advancement and the benefit of the locality in which he has passed his life from boyhood engaged in useful labor.

Mr. Spencer was born in Jasper county, Missouri, on April 3, 1869, and is a son of Richard W. and Mary C. (Pipes) Spencer, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Missouri. The father was yet a child when his parents moved from the Old Dominion to this state. His father, also named Jacob Spencer, selected Sullivan county as his place of residence, and located on a tract of wild land which he transformed into a model farm. He then moved his family to Jasper county in this state, and there both he and his wife died. They were the parents of five sons and four daughters, all but one of whom are living.

Their son Richard, the father of Jacob E., moved from Jasper to Linn county, and passed the rest of his days engaged in farming, dying on his Linn county farm in 1908. During the Civil War he served in the state militia, but was not called into actual hostilities. During many years of his life he was a devout and attentive member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and always he was an excellent and useful citizen. The mother is still living. Three sons and two daughters were born of their union, and all of the five are living.

Jacob E. Spencer was reared from boyhood in this county and educated in its country schools. He grew to manhood on his father's farm and acquired a thorough practical knowledge of farming by participation in its useful labors, aiding his father in the cultivation of it until he attained his manhood. When he took up for himself the struggle for advancement among men he naturally turned to the occupation he was trained to and became a farmer on his own account; and to this occupation he has ever since adhered without a break or interruption of any kind.

During the last five years Mr. Spencer has been actively and profitably engaged in breeding mules and high-grade horses in connection with his general farming operations. In this, as in his farming, he has been very successful, making money out of the business and winning a high reputation as a careful, enterprising and judicious breeder. His stables are extensively known and enjoy an excellent name for the superior quality of their output, which is always the product of intelligence, the utmost care and good management. The best results possible are what Mr. Spencer aims at, and he generally, if not invariably, hits his mark.

In 1890 he was united in marriage witli Miss Fannie L. Slirader, a daughter of Robert Shrader, who became a resident of Linn county about the year 1880. Of the offspring of the union seven are living: Earl, Ray, Roy, Lee, Gertrude, Goldie and Lloyd. They are domesticated with their parents on a fine farm of 470 acres belonging to the father, and all acquired by his industry, thrift, business ability and good management of his affairs. He has applied the same elements of power to the affairs of the county, where he has taken part in them, seeking always wholesome progress and development and the general welfare of the whole people. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic Order, and in all respects he is a first-rate citizen and universally esteemed as such.

Charles E. Smith

This gentleman is one of the leading country merchants of Linn county, and, although he has varied his occupation by farming for years at a time, he is now in his true field of enterprise, if fair inferences can be drawn from the success he is achieving in it. He was successful as a farmer, too, and throughout his long life in this county has demonstrated to its people that he has native ability and judgment of a high order, and would likely have won success in any line of endeavor.

Mr. Smith was born in Sullivan county, Missouri, on February 1, 1861, and is a son of Addison J. and Docia (Peaveler) Smith, the former a native of New York State and the latter of Kentuckj*. From the dawn of his manhood the father was a farmer. In his boyhood he moved with his parents from his native state to Illinois, and from that state to Missouri and Linn county, locating here in 1858. He took up his residence on a farm west of Salem in 1860, and was married in that neighborhood about that time. He was not allowed to enjoy his domestic happiness undisturbed for a very long period, however, as the Civil War began the next year after his marriage, and he felt it his duty to go to the defense of the Union. Accordingly, he enlisted in 1861 in the Missouri Volunteer Infantry, in which he served three years and six months. He was with liis company in a number of battles, notably the one at Prairie Grove, Arkansas. He was once taken prisoner, but was exchanged a few days later and returned to his company.

After the war Mr. Smith located on a farm in this county, which he cultivated until 1882, then went to North Dakota, and from there to Evansville, Indiana, where he is now living. The mother died a num-

Charles E. Smith was reared in Linn county from boyhood and educated in its district schools. After attaining his manhood he farmed for fourteen years in North Dakota, but in 1894 returned to this county and opened a general store at Shelby. After a few years he abandoned merchandising and again engaged in farming for some years, then once more became a merchant, which he has been ever since. He is enterprising and progressive in his business, studies the wants of his community and does all he can to fully provide for them by keeping his stock comprehensive and up to date, and he, furthermore, deals with all his patrons with the strictness, fairness and integrity, giving them additional satisfaction on this account.

In 1889 Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie Mc- Ghee, a sister of William T. McGhee, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have seven children: Ray, Julia, Edith, Scott, Daisy, Isabelle and Horace. The father is warmly attached to his home and his family, and gives his business the closest and most careful attention. But he also takes an earnest interest and an active part in the affairs of his township and county, and is always ready to aid in promoting their progress and improvement. He is everywhere, in all parts of the county, regarded as a good business man and a thoroughly representative and public-spirited citizen, and for all his excellent qualities and characteristics the residents of the county hold him in the highest esteem, good will and approbation.

Daniel Ambs

If any person were to question the loyalty to the American Union of Daniel Ambs, one of the substantial and progressive farmers of Yellow Creek township, as no one who knows him ever will, he could answer with great force and pertinency: "I was born under a foreign flag and came to this country when I was but twenty-two years old. I was a resident of the United States but seven years when I shouldered my musket and marched to the front with other volunteers to save the Union from dismemberment by the stern arbitrament of the sword, and in the momentous conflict that ensued I bore my share of the responsibility and performed my portion of the duty required without flinching or hesitation. I suffered the horrors of military imprisonment, and faced death on several of the historic battlefields of the Civil War. And ever since the 'battle flags were furled,' and the war drum ceased to throb, I have been engaged industriously in a pursuit of productive fruitfulness, which has given me opportunity to contribute essentially and directly to the welfare of the country and the benefit of all its people. ' '

Mr. Ambs Avould not say this. With the genuine modesty of real merit, he is reticent about his own performances and achievements, and never blows his own horn. But it is all in his record, and he is entitled to full credit for it, and this is never withheld where he is known. Mr. Ambs was born in the city of Baden, grand duchy of the same name, in Germany, on April 21, 1832, and is a son of George and Mary Ann (Trinkley) Ambs, natives of the same place and belonging to families domesticated there for many generations.

Mr. Ambs grew to the age of twenty-two and obtained his education in his native land. In June, 1854, he came to the United States, the land of promise and opportunity for the masses of mankind in all other countries at that time, and at once took hold of the openings it offered for his advancement with the characteristic grip and persistent determination of his race. He landed in the city of New York and located in New Jersey, where he was employed on a farm for something over three years.

But the smail farming of the East in this country, intensive as it was, and highly profitable in many cases, owing to the abundance and activity of the markets in the big cities which abound in that region, did not satisfy his preconceived notions of American agricultural enterprise, or his own desire for participation in work conducted on a large scale. Accordingly, in 1858 he moved to Illinois and took up his residence in a very productive region southwest of Chicago, but not very far distant from the great city. Openness and amplitude were stili needed to meet the measure of his desires, and he did not find them where he was. So, in a short time he moved to Palmyra, in the prairie region of Macoupin county, and in the neighborhood of that city he lived until the beginning of the Civil War.

On July 22, 1861, imder one of the early calls of President Lincoln for volunteers to take part in the defense of the Union, he enlisted in Company H, Tenth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, being enrolled in the city of St. Louis. His regiment was soon at the front and face to face with actual hostilities and all the horrors of the battlefield. He took part in the battles of luka, Corinth and Jackson, Mississippi, including the forty-seven days' siege of Vicksburg, and the previous long and

This was in the winter of 1864, but he secured his release soon after his capture and returned to his Palmyra, Illinois, home. A few months later he got his honorable discharge from the army in St. Louis, and then moved to this county, where he has ever since had his home and employed his energies. On his arrival in Linn county he resumed his farming operations, and from that time to the present has adhered to them, notwithstanding many strong temptations to turn aside to other pursuits, and has found them steadily and satisfactorily profitable.

He was married on January 27, 1873. Nine children have been born to him, all of whom are living they are: John, Anna, who is now the wife of Joseph Ott of Brookfield; Catherine, who is living at home with her parents; Josephine, the wife of Charles Groetecke of Brookfield; and Simon, Andrew, Theresa, James and Joseph, all of whom are still members of the parental household and sources of light and life in the parental family circle.

In national political affairs the father is a firm and faithful member of the Republican party. But in local matters he considers first the welfare of his township and county, and casts his ballot in accordance with his convictions in reference to that. In church affiliation he is a Catholic and an ardent and effective worker for the parish in which he resides. He is one of the sturdy, sterling and reliable citizens of Yellow Creek township and Linn county, and is everywhere recognized and esteemed as such.

John J. Brown

The late John J. Brown Avas a native of Linn county and became one of its leading farmers. He was born here on August 3, 1850, and died here, having passed the whole of his life in the county. He was earnestly interested and helpfully active in behalf of the progress and improvement of the region, showing himself to be a broad-minded, public-spirited and useful citizen, and his death was universally deplored.

Mr. Brown belonged to a distinguished family in this part of the state, his kin having given tone and character to the citizenship of the region, and trend and force to the development of its resources, and the establishment and early course of its civil, educational and moral institutions. He was a son of Thomas and Thusia (Jones) Brown, the former a native of Howard county, Missouri. The name of this family runs clear and strong through the early history of the county, its members were prominent in all the social, political and business avenues of life in the locality, and showed the caliber they possessed by the breadth and firmness of the foundations of civilization they helped to lay in this region.

John J. Brown grew to manhood in Linn county and obtained what education he was able to secure in the primitive country schools of his day, which were like schools on the frontier everywhere. He remained at home with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-three, when he began farming on his own account on land that was partially cleared, and which he lived on and cultivated nine years. In 1882 he moved to the farm he died on, which he improved to a great state of advancement and made very valuable. He kept adding to his original tract by subsequent purchases as he prospered in his business until he owned 480 acres, all fenced and under cultivation. He also engaged extensively in raising registered Shorthorn cattle and superior breeds of hogs, and was as progressive and successful in this department of his industry as he was in his farming operations, in which hia success was extensive, positive and continued.

On March 5, 1873, Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Nevens, a daughter of Joseph T.and Elizabeth (Gooch) Nevens, who became early residents of Linn county. The father died here in 1888, but the mother is still living in the county. Mr. and Mrs. Brown became the parents of seven children, six of whom are living: Mary F., who is now the wife of Joseph Cornett; James L., William H., Lola L, who married Mr. Williams and resides in this county; and Ethel K., who is still at home with her mother on the family homestead.

During his life Mr. Brown was a member of the Christian church, to which his widow still belongs. In his political faith he trained with, the Democratic party, and being a strong believer in its principles, gave them and its candidates strong and serviceable support on all occasions. He took an active part in public affairs, always on the side of progress and further development, and all his efforts in this behalf were vitalized by great energy and directed by intelligence and clearness of vision. His influence was considerable in local circles and in addition to what he did for the general welfare of his township and county himself, he produced good results from others by his persuasiveness and the force of his stimulating example. The people everywhere respected him highly.