Linn County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1912 (part 2 of 15)

"That in the death of Judge Brownlee the members of the bar have sustained an irreparable personal loss, and while we bow our heads in sorrowful submission to the mandate that must surely come to us all, yet we will ever cherish in affectionate and grateful remembrance the genial, grand, noble character of our departed friend.

"That these resolutions be spread upon the records of this court, and that a copy be furnished the family of the deceased, and the press of Linn county for publication."

Judge Brownlee was born in Indiana and admitted to the bar at Princeton in that state, having been graduated from the law department of the university at Bloomington about 1855. He practiced his profession at Princeton for a short time, then came to Missouri in 1857, making the journey overland from Champaign, Illinois, where he conferred with Abraham Lincoln about the choice of a location. He was accompanied by George W. Thompson to Brunswick, Chariton county, and from there he traveled on foot to Milan in Sullivan county.

where he located a Mexican war land grant given to his father, John Brownlee, for his services in an Indiana regiment in our short, sharp and decisive contest with our sister republic on the south of us. The father was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and served in the War of 1812 from that state. He died in Indiana in 1855.

Judge Brownlee began practicing law in this county at Linneus, where he was associated with George W. Thompson until about 1868. The next year he moved to Brookfield, and here he passed the remainder of his days. He had a broad and comprehensive mind, which was fully capable of dealing with several lines of activity at the same time. And he found an outlet for his surplus energy in the banking business, becoming one of the early bankers of Brookfield as the successor to T. D. Price & Company, the firm name becoming later Price & Brownlee, and still later Price, Brownlee & DeGraw. The judge was the first president of the Linn County Bank, and held that position until 1893, when he founded the Brownlee Banking Company.

Judge Brownlee was a Democrat in politics and one of the wisest counselors and shrewdest leaders of his party. In 1860 he was elected judge of the probate court of Linn county, which office he held until 1864. Six years later, in 1870, he was elected judge of the court of common pleas, and this office he also filled with great credit to himself and benefit to the county for a period of four years. At the end of that time he declined a re-election, and devoted his attention to his profession oft" the bench and his other extensive business operations.

In summing up his career as a professional man too mucii stx'ess could scarcely be laid on his extensive, accurate and profound knowledge of law, his excellent judgment and his great ability, fairness and eminent qualities in all respects as a judge. He was often called upon to act as a special judge in prominent cases, and was very seldom reversed by a higher court. He made no pretentions to oratorj-, however, and did not try many cases as an advocate in the courts, his greatest value to litigants being as a counselor. But he was as generous as he was able and frequently made no charge for giving adrice.

The judge has two sons and two daughters living in Brookfield, where his widow also resides. The two sons, Walter and Richard, are now carrying on the banking business founded by their father, and so long and wisely managed by him. They also are excellent business men, and have high rank in the business world and the social and public life of their community. They are worthy exemplars of tlie virtues that adorned their father in all the relations of life, and as highly esteemed in their way as he was in his.

The virtues of tlie father were aptly enumerated and described in the press of his home city at the time of his death. In a tribute to him, full of cordiality and warmth of feeling, the Brookfield Argus said:

"Those who were familiar with the life and character of William H. Brownlee, Avho have known him as husband, father, neighbor, counselor and friend, attest best to the gentleness of his being, the kindness of his heart. For years, for three or four decades, he has been to legions in this community, adviser and benefactor. It was a part of his life to be doing little acts of kindness which he was not prone to herald. A thorough optimist, his presence was a sort of benediction to those with whom he came in contact. Ever of an even temperament, he was never disposed to retaliate for real or imaginary ills. The democracy of heart of Judge Brownlee was as broad as his charity for the unfortunate. In manner he was a cavalier, a veritable 'gentleman of the old school,' having acquired the charm of gentility in that epoch when men could take time from business to do so. This pioneer loved companionship; the association with friends, but, first and foremost, he loved his home. There was his haven, his solace, his restful retreat; there was his chief est interest. He belonged to no fraternal orders save that of homecraft, to no club save that where wife and children dwell. There it was that his influence, his gentleness, his kind indulgence, showed forth in a character that will make his memory cherished by those who knew him best and loved him most.

"While this departed pioneer, this distinguished citizen who has been gathered in the harvest, applied himself to banking for the past thirty years, his ideals were far above those simply of money-getting. He looked upon money only as a means to an end, for the comforts, the culture, the pleasures it would bring."

The Brookfield Gazette, commenting on his exact and comprehensive knowledge of the law and the principles which underlie it, paid him this high but just tribute:

"We once heard one of the ablest lawyers who ever practiced at the -Linn county bar say that no man who has been engaged in the practice of that profession in Linn county had a more thorough and broader knoAvledge of the law, from its basis and elementary principles upward, than Judge William H. Brownlee. That he possessed a thorough and complete knowledge of the law was fully demonstrated while he was judge of the Linn county court of common pleas, as no decision made by him was ever reversed by the supreme court."

George L. Joyce

A prominent and influential attorney and counselor at law, and an enterprising and wide-awake real estate dealer, and taking an active and helpful part in local public affairs, George L. Joyce, of Bucklin, this county, is one of the leading citizens and most energetic business and professional men in that portion of the county in which he lives, and which has the benefit of the principal part of his intelligence and legal knowledge in zealous endeavors for his own advancement and that of the locality of his home in the promotion of the general welfare.

Mr. Joyce is a native of Linn county and received a large portion of his academic training in its schools. He was born on his father's farm four miles east of Linneus on December 6, 1867, and was reared to manhood there. After completing the curriculum of the public schools in the neighborhood of his home he attended the State Normal School at Kirksville for special instruction that would prepare him to teach school, and he subsequently pursued a thorough course in training for business at the Gem City Business College in Quincy, Illinois.

After completing his scholastic training in these several lines he taught school for a number of years and while doing this also studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1898 and at once began the practice of his profession at Bucklin, where he had been superintendent of schools for two years. He has since added dealing in real estate and loans as a side line to his business, and has prospered in all three departments of his work, standing well at the bar and in the estimation of his professional brethren, and being one of the most enterprising and successful real estate and loan men in his part of the county.

Mr. Joyce is a son of Edward and Lowvicy (Burton) Joyce, the former a native of County Cork, Ireland, and the latter of the state of Kentucky. The father came to the United States as a young man, and on landing in the city of New York soon found employment in railroad construction work in New York state. This was in the forties, and he made his way westward by gradual stages, working from place to place, and finally arriving in Linn county in 1844. Here he took up a tract of government land which he improved into a good farm, on which he died in 1888. The mother is still living. They were married in Illinois and became the parents of fourteen children, thirteen of whom, seven sons and six daughters, grew to maturity. Of these ten are living, and all but one of them are residents of Linn county, where the mother also has her home.

George L. Joyce was married on November 21, 1907, to Miss Blanche Pancost, a daughter of Lester E. and Serena Pancost, esteemed residents of Chariton county, Missouri, for many years, but now living in Marceline. Mr. and Mrs. Joyce have one child, their son Maureece. His father has been active in local politics and attained considerable influence in public atfairs in his township and throughout the county. He is a member of the Democrat party, and in all campaigns renders it etfective service in helping to uphold its principles and aid its candidates to success in the elections. He is connected in religious ties with the Christian .church. He is universally regarded as an excellent citizen, with high ideals of duty and a cordial and serviceable interest in the progress and improvement of his township and county, and at all times ready to aid in promoting their welfare and that of their whole people. He is a representative man in his community and is accorded high rank among its residents.

Clarence M. Kendrick

One of the most esteemed and influential citizens of Marceline in Linn county is Clarence M. Kendrick, a leading lawyer there, and a man of great public spirit in reference to the substantial and enduring welfare of his city, county and state in every way. He has shown his interest in the progress and improvement of his locality by practical service in behalf of its residents, and they appreciate his efforts to add to their comfort and enjoyment, as is well known by the high standing he has among them and the honors they have bestowed upon him.

Mr. Kendrick was born in Carroll county, Missouri, on January 29, 1865. His parents, Morton G. and Sarah E. (Wilson) Kendrick, were natives of Kentucky. The father was a stone cutter and worked at his trade many years in this state. His parents brought him to Missouri in 1839, while he was yet in his childhood, and located in Clinton county. He attained his manhood in Carroll county, and moved to Linn county in 1891, locating at Marceline, where he still resides, retired from active pursuits. During the Civil War he was a soldier in the Union army, serving four years in the Seventh Missouri Volunteer Cavalry. His regiment took part in the battle of AVest Point, Virginia, in May, 1862, and aided greatly in winning a decisive victory for the Union cause. It was also in many other engagements, in all of which Mr. Kendrick participated. In the peace and comfort of his present life his wife shares fully, as she is still living. Two of their children are also living, their son Clarence M. and their daughter, Mrs. H. C. Webster, who has her home at Braymer in Caldwell county, this state.

The great-grandfather of Clarence M. Kendrick was John S. Kendrick, who was born in Virginia, moved from there to Kentucky, and came to Missouri in 1839, locating in Clinton county, where he died well advanced in years. When the gold excitement over California was at its height in 1850, he crossed the plains to that state accompanied by his grandson, the father of the interesting subject of this brief review. They remained in the gold fields one year, then returned to Missouri. William Kendrick, the grandfather of Clarence, also came to Missouri in 1839. For many years he operated a stone quarry in Carroll county, where he died.

Clarence M. Kendrick grew to the age of sixteen in Carroll county and secured his academic education in the public schools. He learned the printing trade, and after serving his apprenticeship worked at the craft eight years, setting type in the leading newspapers of Kansas City, St. Joseph and St. Louis. He studied law in Kansas City under the direction of John Burgin, and on the suggestion of Judge Clarke of that city decided to locate at Marceline. He did this in 1891 and was admitted to the bar by Judge Brownlee in 1892. He began practicing the same year in Marceline, and that city has been his home ever since. "jf^!

From 1893 to 1902 Mr. Kendrick was editor of The Mirror' in Marceline, and he has also served fourteen years as city attorney. He was elected to the state legislature in 1900, and there he served one term with credit to himself and benefit to Linn county and the state of Missouri. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar and a Scottish Rite Freemason of the thirty-second degree, and also belongs to the Order of Knights of Pythias. He has a large practice in his profession, is an orator of note on the hustings and at the bar, and is held in high regard for his pronounced and effective public spirit, which has helped to bring about many valuable improvements in the city and township of Marceline. In this line of activity he has been conspicuous in his enterprise in helping to push forward the paving of the city streets, providing the commimity with an abundant supply of good water and establishing the City park, which is a source of great pride and pleasure to everybody living in the township. In fact, there is no manner in which the interests of the people of his locality can be advanced as to which he is not far-seeing and energetic, doing great work himself and stimulating others to action by his influence and the force of his impressive example. He is essentially a builder of progress, and every commendation bestowed upon liim as sucli and as a citizen has been justly and fully deserved.

Irvin Ogan

The mastery of Man over Nature, in all its phases, is an inspiring theme, which, because of its familiarity, often loses its force. Readily enough we perceive and acknowledge the grandeur of the great army which some chief or despot assembles and draws out to feed his vanity by display or his ambition by conquest; but the larger and nobler armies, whose weapons are the ax, the mattox and the spade, which overspread the hills and line the valleys, until through their rugged skill and persevering efforts a highway of commerce is opened where late the panther leaped, the deer disported - is not theirs the nobler spectacle - more worthy the orator's apostrophe, the poet's song? Consider the irregular but persistent advance of the pioneers of civilization in our country! Onward, still onward, they have swept, and still before them have bowed and vanished all obstructions to their progress! In the eye of a true discernment, what host of Xerxes or Cfesar, of Frederick or Napoleon, ever equaled this in majesty, in greatness of conquest, or in true glory? It opened up America to settlement and productiveness, and made our country what it has beei. aptly called "The last great charity of God to the human race."

One of the advance guard, if not a division commander, in this mighty army of peaceful conquest was Irvin Ogan, the first permanent settler in what is now Clay township, Linn county, Missouri. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Rebecca Jones, and who were both born in Mason county, Kentucky,', came to Linn county from Boone county, this state, in 1835, and located on a tract of wild land in Parson Creek township. The next year, however, they moved to Clay township and the husband took up from the government a tract of land in Section 13, Township 58, Range 22, which is within the presents limits of Clay township, and is occupied and farmed by their daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. William W. Sidebottom, a sketch of whom is published in this history.

They cleared this land and brought it to a fair state of productiveness during their lives, the remainder of which was passed on it as their home. The mother died on this farm on January 28, 1882, and the father in 1887. He was a man of considerable prominence and influence in the early history of Linn county, serving its people in a number of township and county offices and finally representing its residents in the state legislature in 1840. He declined a second nomination. On one occasion when he was a candidate for the office of justice of the peace in Parson Creek township he received every vote that was polled for this office in the township.

Mr. Ogan was one of the renowned hunters of his day in this locality, but while he bad a large score of trophies of the chase to the credit of his steady hand and unerring eye, he was also very serviceable in ridding his township of wolves which made it almost impossible for any of the settlers to raise lambs or pigs, so numerous and voracious were these predatory beasts of prey. He and his brother James, who was also a Nimrod of the greatest repute, killed about one hundred of them and by this means gave the herds and flocks of the pioneers in the locality comparative safety. They also brought down deer and wild turkeys without number, and frequently carried home the carcass of a bear to replenish the larders of the settlement, while they added to the adornment and comfort of their cabins with the pelts. There is a tradition in the township, too, to the effect that no fox however old and wary, was too cunning for their skill.

The Ogan brothers aided very materially in founding the civil, educational and social institutions of Clay township, and had potential influence with reference to such things in all parts of the county. They were also of great service in starting the industrial activities of the region and making the required preparations for their further development and expansion. In every phase and form of the life of this part of the state they took an active part, and their wisdom and breadth of view were important factors in starting progress on right lines and toward the most wholesome improvement and desirable ends. The people of Linn county hold their names in sincere veneration, appreciate their services as of great value and point to the examples of elevated and progressive citizenship which their records furnish as worthy of all emulation.

Judge A. B. Bond

For more than fifty-three years this eminent citizen of Linn county has lived within its limits, taken part in its industries, helped to administer its public affairs at different times and in various capacities, adorned its social and civil life, and in every way open to him helped to promote its progress and development. He came to the county as a boy of twelve, and lias lived here ever since, and from the time when he left school has been industriously and profitably engaged in farming. He has proven himself worthy of the highest esteem in public and private life, and the people of the county hold him in the estimation he has shown he deserves, and they do this in all parts of the county.

Judge Bond was born in Harrison county, Virginia, now West Virginia, in 1847, and in 1859 accompanied his parents to Missouri and Linn county in their long, wearying and oftentimes dangerous journey across the country with wagon teams. He is a son of Peter and Elizabeth (Peyton) Bond, also natives of Virginia, as it was when they were born, undismembered as yet by the keen edge of the sword of civil war. The father was a planter in the "Old Dominion," and a farmer after his arrival in Missouri. He located on a tract of unbroken wild land north of Brookfield, which he broke up and transformed into a fine farm. He sold this in 1864 and moved to where the town of Purdin now stands. There the mother died in 1889 and he in 1891. They had two sons, both of whom are living.

The father was a Democrat of pronounced convictions and firm faith in the principles of his party. He was prominent in its councils in his native state and rose to a position of leadership in it in this county. He was also one of the most prominent and zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South in this part of the country. His father, Levi Bond, grandfather of the judge, was also a native of Virginia and a planter in that state, and died there at a good old age. He was of Scotch ancestry, and in his life and achievements manifested many of the salient characteristics of the remarkable race from which he sprang.

Judge A. B. Bond grew to manhood in this county and obtained his education in the primitive schools of his boyhood, which were conducted in houses rudely constructed of logs and furnished with slab benches. They lacked scope and equipment, and their methods of teaching were far behind those of the present day. But they were veritable temples, and in them Liberty received her purest worship, and through them, also, though in humble and lowly guise, she secretly breathed her strength into the lieai't and sinews of the nation.

While attending school and after completing his education according to the facilities he could command, the judge worked on his father's farm until he attained his majority. He then began farming on his own account, and he followed this occupation steadfastly and with increasing prosperity until a few years ago, when he retired to some extent from all active pursuits, although he is still connected with the management of his fine farm of 350 acres. This was wild land, virgin to the plow, when he took possession of it. He cleared it, broke it up and reduced it to systematic productiveness, and he also improved it with good buildings, making it one of the choice countryhomes of the township in which it lies.

On December 6, 1871, Judge Bond was united in marriage with Miss Hester Schrock, a daughter of Isaac and Charlott Elizabeth (Burns) Schrock, long highly respected residents of Sullivan county, where the marriage was solemnized. Mrs. Bond is still living, but no children have been born in the household. She is a lady of force and breadth of view, and held in high esteem as one of the most serviceable and influential matrons of the community in which she lives, although altogether modest and unassuming in her demeanor, and shrinking from prominence of any kind.

The judge has served in various local offices, and in 1908 was elected to the one that gave him his title. In that year he was chosen county judge, but at the end of his term he retired from further public service. He is president of the Citizens Bank of Linneus, and director of the Bank of Purdin, of which he was one of the founders. He is also one of the directors of the Purdin Mercantile Company. He and his wife are valued members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and active in all its good works. No citizen of Linn county is more highly esteemed, and none deserves to be.

William W. Sidebottom

The patronymic of this enterprising, progressive and successful farmer of Clay township, Linn county, runs like a veritable thread of gold through the early chronicles of this part of Missouri, and wherever it appears speaks credit for itself and benefit for the region. It is connected in a leading way with every phase of the life of this section, religious, civil, social and industrial, and dignifies and adorns them all. The founder and patriarch of the family in this part of the country was Rev. Robinson E. Sidebottom, the history of whose life is given in a sketch of his son Eugene Sidebottom to be found elsewhere in this work.

William W. Sidebottom was born in Madison county, Kentucky, on January 1, 1849, and brought to Missouri by his parents in 1857, when he was but six years old. From that time to the present (1912) he has been continuously a resident of Linn county, where his brothers.

Eugene and James H. Sidebottom, whose life stories are recorded on other pages of this volume, have also long been residents. He was educated in the schools of his boyhood, which were housed in log structures rudely furnished with slab benches and wanting in almost all the other sources of physical comfort, as they were in everything in the way of instruction beyond the elementary branches of learning.

Mr. Sidebottom assisted his father and brothers in breaking up the wild land on which the family located on their arrival in the county, remaining at home with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-seven. This was in 1876, and the next year he was married to Miss Mary J. Ogan, a daughter of Irvin and Rebecca (Jones) Ogau, the earliest settlers in Clay township, who came to Linn from Boone county in 1835 and located on a tract of land in Parson Creek township, from which they moved the next year to the land which is now owned, occupied and cultivated by their son-in-law and his wife. A brief account of their lives appears elsewhere in this history, and shows their early connection with the affairs of the county.

After his marriage Mr. Sidebottom moved to his present farm, and to the improvement and further development of this he has ever since given his attention in an energetic and thoughtful way, studying its needs, observing its manifestations, heeding its suggestions, and making the most of its possibilities in every direction. He has also given some care to breeding and feeding live stock for the markets, and while he has carried on this branch of his business on a small scale, he has so ordered it that he has made its products creditable to himself and his township and its operation profitable to a very gratifying degree.

Mr. and Mrs. Sidebottom have two children living, their daughter Willie Esther, who is the wife of E. V. Wilkinson of Livingston county, and their son Lawrence E., who is a resident of Linn county, and one of its most highly respected citizens. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the children also lean to that denomination. All the members of the family are recognized as persons of high character, upright living and productive public spirit. They take great interest in the progress and improvement of their several communities, and do everything in their power to advance the welfare of their residents.

In political relations Mr. Sidebottom is a Eepubliean with tirm faith in the principles of his party, but he has never been an active partisan, and has never held or sought a political office of any kind. He serves the state well and TNdselv in his industries and in the faith-

This gentleman has a special interest in the welfare of Linn county, Missouri, and by his sturdy and serviceable devotion to the good of its people has made himself one of the county's most substantial and highly esteemed citizens. His special interest in the county arises from his having been born in it and reared and educated among its residents, and in part also from his having been from his youth engaged in the leading industry of the locality of his home as a general farmer.

His life began in Yellow Creek township on February 2, 1861, and his father, .B. A. Kelley, was also a native of Missouri, born in Calloway county on October 5, 1839. His mother, whose maiden name was Mary White, was not, however, a Missourian by nativity, but was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, on March 10, 1839. They were prosperous farmers and their son, C. E. Kelley, was reared on the home farm, in this county, to which his parents moved prior to his birth. He obtained his education in the country school near the farm, and as soon as he was able began farming for himself.

Mr. Kelley 's grandparents were Francis and Mary (Pace) Kelley, who were born and reared in the vicinity of Frankfort, Kentucky, and moved to Missouri at an early date, passing the remainder of their lives in this state. They, also, were farmers, and persons of prominence in the community in which they lived. It is therefore not to be wondered at that the subject of this brief memoir should feel a very warm attachment to Missouri, since his family have lived in it and drawn their stature and their strength from its fruitful soil for three generations.

C. E. Kelley took to farming naturally, and he has never pursued any other occupation except for a time to render the county excellent service as county treasurer for two terms extending from 1896 to 1898 and from 1898 to 1900. As he has always been an active working Democrat and taken great interest in the success of his party, he was also its candidate for judge of the eastern district of his county in 1902, but owing to the preponderance of the other party in the district at the time, he was not successful in the election. This, however, did not dampen his political ardor or render him less active in seeking to promote the welfare of his party and the triumph of its prin- ciples and candidates, for whicli lie has continued to work tlirongli all the subsequent years of his life. A few years after the time of his candidacy for judge he was nominated for the lower house of the state legislature, but was again defeated, George W. Martin of Brookfield being chosen over him at the election after a very spirited campaign.

In fraternal relations Mr. Kelley is connected with the Order of Odd Fellows and that of Modern Woodmen of America. He has also been for over thirty years a member of the New Garden Baptist Church in his township, and been one of its trustees for a long time. His devotion to his church and church work has been very strong and his zeal in behalf of the congregation to which he belongs has been fervent and effective, giving him high standing in the church as one of its most useful and estimable members, always ready for any duty he can perform or any service he can render for the good of the cause of religion in general and his own sect in particular, counting no effort on his part too great if it brings results.

Mr. Kelley was married on August 1, 1883, to Miss Lily J). Eidgway, a daughter of George W. and Melinda (Hardy) Eidgway, and the granddaiighter of Thomas and Sally B. (Eidgway), natives of Kentucky and early arrivals in Missouri, locating in Linn county after a short residence in Howard county. Mr. and Mrs. Kelley have five children living and five grandchildren. The children are: Floella, the wife of M. D. Coster, who has one child ; Harry E., who is married and has three children; Leslie G., who is also married and has one child; Gladys, who is the wife of F. W. Maddox; and Gilbert, who is still living at home with his parents. All the members of the family are highly respected for their genuine worth, the elevated tone of their citizenship and their upright and useful lives. The people everywhere who know them esteem them cordially as representatives of the most sturdy and sterling manhood and womanhood of the county in -which their years have passed to the present time.

Charles R. Burris

Nearly two-thirds of the years the interesting subject of this brief memoir has lived have been passed in Linn county and on the farm which is now his home. He came to it with his parents when he was fifteen years old and has never known any other home except six years spent in Oklahoma since then. From it he completed his education at the neighborhood school; on it he finished his training as a farmer; liere he attained his majority and began his life work as a tiller of the soil ; and here, also, he has continued his operations as such to the present time. His life on this farm has been an open, industrious and faithful one before the people, and has brought him their good opinion as a farmer and their esteem as a citizen. The residents of Clay township know him well and have naught but good words to say of him in every relation of life.

Mr. Burris was born on October 17, 1863, iii Boone county, Indiana, and is a son of Robert T. and Louisa A. (Caldwell) Burris, also natives of that state. The father's life began in Boone county, that state, in 1835 and he was reared and educated there. There he was married, also, and there he farmed until 1878, when he moved his family to Linn county and located on the farm now occupied by his son Charles. He erected all the buildings and made all the other improvements on the place, and lived on it and at Meadville and in Linueus until his death, which occurred in January, 1911, moving off when he retired from active pursuits.

During the Civil War he was a soldier in the Union army, in the Seventy-second Indiana and Forty-fourth Indiana, for two years. His regiment was a i:)art of the mounted infantry, and he was in the portion of it detailed to scout duty. He also saw considerable active service in the field, and met every call to duty with ready responsiveness, a spirit of genuine courage and a willingness to face whatever was before him without regard to consequences. The mother is still living. They were the parents of four sons and three daughters, all now deceased but their sons Charles and Elmer. The father was a leading member of the Presbyterian church and an elder for a number of years in the congregation to which he belonged, and which he rendered faithful service.

The grandfather, Thomas M. Burris, was born and reared in Kentucky, and in his young manhood moved to Boone county, Indiana, where he was a pioneer. In that county he took up a tract of government land on which he passed the remainder of his life, improving it into an attractive and valuable farm, on which he died at a good old age, standing well in his community and enjoying the regard and good will of all its people. He and his wife had eight children, four sons and four daughters, two of the eight being still alive. He was a blacksmith and farmer, and a scion of families long domesticated in Scotland.

Charles R. Burris lived to the age of fifteen in his native county and began his education in its public schools. He came with his parents to Linn county in 1878, as has been noted, and remained at home until lie reached the age of twenty-three, assisting in the work on the farm. He then taught school four years, at the end of which he returned to the farm, on which he has been settled ever since. For five years he also conducted a meat market in Linneus.

On August 12, 1886, he was united in marriage with Miss Emma J. Withrow, a daughter of James Withrow, one of the pioneers of Linn county and for a number of years county surveyor. By this marriage Mr. Burris became the father of two children, one died in infancy, and his daughter Bessie, who is now the wife of T. E. Proctor of Gage, Oklahoma. Her mother died in 1891, and in 1894 the father married a second wife, joining himself with Miss Sadie E. Boone, a native of Missouri. Her parents came to Linn county in 1866. Of this marriage one child has been born, Lillian Ruth Burris, who is still living at home with her parents.

Mr. Burris is an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias, and his religious connection is with the Presb5i;erian church. Although modest and undemonstrative by nature and in manner, he has been a man of force and influence in his township because he has shown genuine worth and manifested a cordial, intelligent and helpful interest in its progress and improvement and the enduring welfare of its people. He has always been a warm supporter of projects undertaken for the promotion of its advancement or the accomplishment of any good purpose. No man in the township is more highly esteemed, and none deserves to be.

John F. Wood

With 640 acres of good farming land, well improved and under an advanced state of cultivation, and conducting in connection with his farming operations a flourishing live stock business, John F. Wood of Clay township is one of the most prosperous and progressive men in this part of the county of Linn, and stands well among the people as a leading and very serviceable citizen. His industries are valuable to the township and county of his residence, and his attention to all public interests is always zealous and productive of good.

Mr. Wood was born in Appanoose county, Iowa, on December 5, 1861, and is a son of John and Augusta (Woodward) Wood, both born and reared in Indiana. The father was a farmer during the greater part of his life, but he enlisted in the army for the Mexican War and went through that short, sharp and highly beneficial conflict. He joined a company raised in Indiana and followed the flag of his country from the beginning to the end of the war, taking part in several of its bat- ties, and receiving a wound at that of Vera Cruz, which disabled him for the service for a time. But when he recovered he re-enlisted and was in at the death, entering the city of Mexico with the triumphant army of General Scott.

He moved to Iowa in the early fifties and located government land with the warrant he secured for his services in the war, choosing a tract on Soap creek near where the town of Moulton now stands, and there for a number of years he operated a saw mill. In 1864 he came to Linn county and took up his residence on a farm in Jackson township, where he died in 1908, and his wife in 1897. They had four sons and four daughters, and of the eight three of the sons and one of the daughters are living. The father was a great rifle shot and hunter, and kept his larder stored with the fruits of his skill. For wild game was abundant in the county at the time of his location in it, and he knew as well as anybody where to find it and how to get it. He was also a devout and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and always attentive to his duties as such.

The grandfather, James Wood, moved to Indiana from Kentucky, and his wife, Priscilla Wood, was near the Pigeon Roost Indian raid when it occurred in the latter state. Her remains are buried in Linn county. She and her husband were valued pioneers in at least two states and saw a great deal of the hardships and dangers of frontier life in each of them. But they were of heroic mold and bore all the trials of their lives with commendable courage and fortitude.

John F. Wood was reared to manhood in Linn county and obtained his education in its public schools, he being but three years old when the family moved to this county. He began life for himself as a hired man, but soon afterward changed his residence to Arizona, where for six years he was engaged in mining and the cattle industry, and did much in operating pack trains in that part of the country. In 1880 he returned to Linn county, and here he has lived ever since. As has been noted his farm comprises 640 acres, and he handles live stock on a large scale, raising mostly cattle and hogs, conducting every department of his business with great enterprise and success and making them all profitable to him.

Mr. Wood was married on April 12, 1891, to Miss Emma B. Powell, a daughter of Andrew Powell, a pioneer of Linn county who settled here about 1840, coming to the county from Boone county, Missouri, but being a Virginian by nativity. Mr. and Mrs. Wood have six children: Walter A., George W., Ethel S., Bertha G., Augusta M. and Julius F. Their mother died on December 25, 1910. She was a mem-

In his political faith and allegiance Mr. Wood is a member of the Democratic party, and is loyal to his convictions in reference to public affairs. He has not been a very active partisan, and has not sought any public offices, but he has served as school director for a nmnber of years. In the progress and improvement of his townsliip and county he is always warmly and practically interested, aiding in the promotion of all worthy undertakings involving the welfare of the people. He is well known all over the county, and in all parts of it stands well in the regard and good will of its residents, who look upon him as one of the county's most enterprising and estimable citizens.

Joseph A. Perry

This prominent and prosperous farmer of Clay township is a native of Linn county and has passed the whole of his life to the present time (1912) within its borders. He was born in Jackson township on December 9, 1870, was reared and educated in the county, married here and has been engaged in farming from his youth. So that all he is is a product of Linn county, all his interests have grown and flourished on its soil, it is the shrine of his domestic life, and everything promotive of its welfare has been an object of solicitude to him and enlisted his earnest and effective aid.

Mr. Perry is a son of Henry C. and Surepta (Smith) Perry, the former a native of Audrain county and the latter of Linn county in this state. The father was born in 1844 and brought to Linn county by his parents in his childhood. He grew to manhood in this county and obtained his education here. In November, 1861, when he was but seventeen years old, he enlisted in the Union army, being enrolled in Company F, Twenty-third Missouri Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Ein Morris, under whose command he served until he received his discharge in December, 1864, in Savannah, Georgia, after three years of very active and exciting service.

He participated in the battle of Shiloh and was taken prisoner there. For a short time afterward he suffered all the horrors of Andersonville prison, and while confined in that awful place his weight went down to ninety pounds. But he was soon exchanged and again in active field service, taking part in the great battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Eidge. After that he went with Sherman to the sea and had a share in all the engagements of that memorable and waste- ful expedition. He was also in the battle of the Wilderness, where Death reaped a great harvest of noble young men on both sides of the sanguinary conflict.

After his discharge from the military service he returned to Linn county and farmed here until his death, which occurred in 1903. He and his wife were the parents of four sons and four daughters. Three of the sons and two of the daughters are living, and all but one of the sons reside in Linn county. The father was a justice of the peace for many years, and was long a devout member of the Baptist church. He was a man of influence in the township and county, and was highly esteemed.

The grandfather, whose name was also Joseph A. Perry, was a Virginian by birth. He came to Missouri and located first in Audrain county, then moved to Sullivan county, and about 1847 changed his residence to Linn county. He operated the old Austin mill on Locust creek for a number of years, making lumber and shingles and grinding corn. The end of his useful life came in Linn county in 1871. He married with Miss Harriet Talley. She was born in Audrain county and met her death in a railroad wreck in 1883, a sad and sudden ending of a very useful life.

The grandfather also served during the Civil "War in the Twentythird Missouri Volunteer Infantry, being in that regiment four years fighting and marching side by side with his two sons, Henry and James W. Like his son, Henry, he was taken prisoner at the battle of Shiloh and confined in Anderson prison for a time. After his exchange he immediately went back into the active service and took part in all the battles and marches to the end of the war in which his regiment was engaged. In 1849 he crossed the plains with ox teams in search of fortune in the gold fields of California, and remained in that state a number of years.

Joseph A. Perry, the immediate subject of this review, has lived in Linn county all his life to this time. He was married in this county in 1896 to Miss Nellie C. Wilson, a daughter of Enoch G. and Annie (Marple) Wilson. Six children have been born of the union, all of whom are living. They are: Orlena S., Amy F., John F., Emogene Marie, Elzora and Nellie E. The father has served as constable and tax collector for six years, and as a member of the school board for a number of years. In religious affiliation he is a Baptist, and his wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally he is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He represents the third generation of his family that has lived in Linn county and labored for its growth and development, for all its civil institutions and the best interests of its people in every way. The record of the family is an honorable one in all respects, and the people of the county have paid its members in their day and generation the tribute of respect that is always due to genuine worth, elevated citizenship and useful service.

Henry Tooey

Called from the scenes of his earthly labors at the early age of fifty-two years, when all his faculties were in full power and usefulness and all his plans for his own advancement and the good of the people around him were moving forward in steady and fruitful triumph, the late Henry Tooey left the wliole city of Brookfield and county of Linn to mourn their loss in his untimely death, and dazed by the suddenness of the dispensation of Providence which called him to the higher life. He died of pneumonia on Monday morning, April 24, 1911, after an illness of only four days.

It is a pleasing though melancholy task to place on record in a permanent form a brief account of his career while the recollection of its trials and conquests is still fresh in the public mind, and to pay tribute to his character, citizenship and achievements, which are a source of comfort to his surviving friends and of inspiration to those who are struggling after him, in whose memory they still linger with a celestial fragrance and an influence productive of good in many ways.

Mr. Tooey was born at Thayer, Linn county, Missouri, on January 19, 1859, and was a son of Patrick and Bridget (Dixon) Tooey, the former a native of County Mayo, Ireland, born in 1823. The father came to the United States in 1839 with his parents and brother and sister. The family located at Mount Morris, Livingston county, New York, and there the youth of sixteen grew to manhood and supplemented in the public schools the scholastic training he had received in his native land.

He did not linger long at the schoolroom form, however. He saw the great world before him with urgent claims on his time and ability, and became eager-hearted to be "in among the throngs of men" and bear a hand in their great work of accomplishment and development. At an early age he began contracting in construction work, and also kept a hotel in Buffalo, New York. Later he followed boating on the great lakes and the New York canals for a time, making a success of everything he undertook.

One of his first contracts was on the Genesee Valley canal, to the building- of which he made material and appreciated contributions. Afterward he secured large contracts on the Erie Railroad and for widening the Welland canal. By the time he completed these he heard the voice of the Great West proclaiming its need of men of his caliber, and he hearkened to the plea. Coming West, he took large contracts in the construction of the Ohio & Missouri Railroad in Illinois. In 1856 he built twenty-one miles of railroad in Callaway county, Missouri. Within the same year he located in Linn county and founded the old town of Thayer. About this time he also completed thirteen miles of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. In addition to these varied and exacting engagements, he conducted a large general store and was occupied in freighting from Brunswick and points in Macon county. His business was extensive and had many features in its wide variety. But he gave every department of it close and careful attention, and made it all tell greatly to his advantage.

During his residence in New York state he was united in marriage with Miss Bridget Dixon, and by this marriage they became the parents of nine children, three of whom are living: Gus, a resident of Brookfield; Stephen, who lives in St. Joseph, and Mrs. Kate GrifSn, whose home is in Kansas City, Missouri. The mother died in 1866 and the father in May, 1899. He was a Catholic in religion, a Democrat in political faith and action, a genial, companionable and stimulating man in social life, and is yet well remembered as one of the best and most useful citizens of the county and held in high esteem for his valuable services to the people wherever he lived and labored for the general welfare.

Henry Tooey was reared in this county and obtained his education in its public schools. His scholastic opportunities were, however, very limited, as at a very early age he began the battle of life for himself as a clerk and salesman for his uncle, James Tooey, whom he served with fidelity and ability for several years. His mother died when he was but seven years of age, and when he was fourteen he located at Brookfield, where he soon secured employment in the store of H. Emanuel & Company, thus following his natural bent, which was toward mercantile life, and for this he had such decided talent that he rose rapidly in its domain toward the first rank. It was manifest early in his career that he was a born merchant and possessed real genius for his chosen occupation. In the course of a few years he became the practical head and real guiding spirit of the establishment he had entered at the bottom of the ladder, and soon afterward became a member of the firm of Hartman & Tooey, of which Mr. S. P. Hartman was the nominal head but Mr. Tooey was the inspiring and directing force.

This is in brief the outline of the career of this fine specimen of Missouri manhood and business enterprise. Of the struggles and difficulties involved in that career; the obstacles in the way of the aspiring young man and his mastery over them; his wealth of resources for every requirement and readiness for all emergencies, and the substantial triumph he won over every obstruction to his progress, the community which witnessed his labors and shared in their benefits need not be told. Neither need its people be reminded of the uprightness of his private life, his strict integrity in business, his quick and responsive enterprise in reference to all matters involving the enduring welfare of the city and county of his home, or the obliging disposition, the courtesy, the grace and the consideration for others which distinguished him in social life.

The record of their esteemed citizen and leading merchant is an open book before them, and they are familiar with every paragraph inscribed on its pages. How well they knew him and how highly they regarded him was well shown by their grief over his early death and the universal honor bestowed upon him at the burial of his remains. He had no political ambition for himself, but was a devoted member of the Democratic party and zealous at all times for its welfare. In fraternal life he belonged to the Knights of Columbus and the Order of Elks, and in religious faith and practice he was a firm and consistent Catholic.

Mr. Tooey was married in 1887 to Miss Hattie Eider, a daughter of the late C. P. and Julia (Austin) Eider. The fruit of the union was one child their daughter Josephine, who with her mother, survives the father and has her home in Brookfield. The wife and daughter are among the most esteemed residents of the city, and they all are richly deserving of the regard and good will in which they are held by all classes of the people in the city. They are faithful to every duty, as was the head of the house during his life, and like him, they disseminate genial sunshine and the force of a good example in each case all around them.

Hiram K. Bargar

For the full period of forty-seven years Hiram K. Bargar, president of the Peoples Bank of Meadville, has been a resident of Linn county and one of the forceful factors in the aggregate of its productive potencies. He came to the county a young man twenty years of age, and during the next thirty-seven years was energetically and profitably engaged in farming on a tract of land he took up from the government in its state of primeval wildness, and which by industry and steady application he transformed into one of the best farms in Parson Creek township.

Mr. Bargar is a native of Harrison countj% Ohio, born on January 21, 1845. He is a son of John and Eliza (Gatchell) Bargar, natives of Chester county, Pennsylvania, and a brother of Henry C. Bargar, in a sketch of whom, on another page of this volume, the family histoi'y is briefly told. While he was yet quite young the family moved to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and there he grew to manhood and obtained his education, attending the country school near his home for the purpose.

After leaving school Mr. Bargar farmed in Tuscarawas county until 1865, then, in December of that year, came with his brother Jacob to Missouri. The brothers located in Linn coimty and bought a considerable tract of wild land, which they farmed together for six years. At the end of that time they divided the land, and each still owns the part he took at the division. Until ten years ago Hiram was engaged in general farming and breeding Shorthorn cattle. In 1902 he retired from farming and moved to Meadville, where he has ever since had his home.

Mr. Bargar was married in 1868 to Miss Esther Sproull, also a native of Ohio. They have no children, but they seem to have adopted the community in which they live as the object of their solicitude. For there is no undertaking designed to promote the welfare of its people in any way in which they are not zealous and energetic participants, and all their efforts in this behalf are guided by intelligence and impelled by a high sense of duty and comprehensive breadth of view.

When the Peoples Bank of Meadville was foimded, Mr. Bargar was one of its leading promoters and was chosen president at its organization. He has held this office and directed the policy of the institution from the start, and under his wise and prudent management it has flourished and grown strong in its resources and in the confidence and regard of the people of the whole county. In the development and improvement of Parson Creek township it has been of great service, and toward individual patrons it has always been liberal and considerate. And thus it has helped the region in which

In the fraternal life of the community Mr. Bargar has long been prominent and serviceable as a member of the Masonic order. While he seldom takes any part in political contests of any kind, he is a firm believer in the principles of the Republican party and gives it his support in all national and state campaigns. In reference to local interests he looks solely to the welfare of the people, and bestows his suffrage on the candidates he believes most likely to work for that. He is broad-minded and liberal in his views on all questions which divide men in opinion, and as tolerant toward the convictions of others as he is firm in his own. Every form of activity for good has his earnest practical support, and every duty of citizenship receives his careful and conscientious attention. Linn county has no better man within its borders, and none who is more universally esteemed.

James D. Hatfield

One of the best known and most highly esteemed farmers of Locust Creek township in this county, and one of its most sturdy and representative citizens, James D. Hatfield has won the station in the regard of his fellow men to which his merit entitles him, and the goal, in that respect, toward which he has been working throughout Ms quiet, imostentatious but very creditable and useful career. He has always performed his duty faithfully in all the relations of life, giving his own affairs close and careful attention, and ministering in the full measure of his power and opportunities to the growth, progress and improvement of his township and county.

Linn county has an especial claim on the interest and regard of Mr. Hatfield. It is the county of his birth and has been the seat of all his operations. And, although these have been wholly in the unobtrusive domain of general farming, they have been valuable to the county in at least the same proportion in which they have been profitable to him. His life began on May 10, 1871, and he is a son of William Henry Harrison and Ruth A. (Beckett) Hatfield, who were married on June 15, 1865.

The father was born in Ray county, Missouri, on September 20, 1841, and moved to Linn county with his parents in 1853, when he was between twelve and thirteen years of age. He was reared on his father's farm, and was about to begin farming on his own account when the terrible storm cloud of the Civil War burst over our un- liappy country. At that time, -when the integrity of the Union was endangered, he deemed that his path of patriotism lay in the direction of the army of defense, and he promptly enlisted in Company F, First Missouri Cavalry.

He was in the service three full years and took part in all the engagements in which his regiment participated. He was many times in the very midst of a deluge of death, but he escaped unharmed, and when mustered out of the army returned to his Linn county home. From then to the end of his life he was actively and profitably engaged in general farming, and the performance of his duties as a worthy man and good citizen deeply interested in the welfare of his county and its people.

He died on February 7, 1910, and his remains were buried in the Beckett cemetery. By his marriage to Miss Ruth A. Beckett, which took place, as has been stated, on June 15, 1865, not long after his return from the war, he became the father of seven children, but three of whom are living: James D., his brother Walter Van Buren, and his sister Mary, who is the wife of Charles Palmer, of Eureka, Montana. James and Walter are joint occupants and cultivators of a farm of 110 acres four miles south of Linneus.

James D. Hatfield was reared and educated in Linn county, and has passed all the years of his life to this time (1912) within its borders. He has been a farmer from his youth and has studied his business to great advantage, applying the most approved modern methods to his work, and thereby greatly increasing the returns for his labor and giving force to his influence and example for progressiveness. He was married on June 29, 1904, to Miss May Chittum, also of this county.

Walter Van Buren Hatfield, the only brother of James, and his partner in conducting the farm, was born in Linn county on July 27, 1875, and from childhood his life has run parallel with that of his brother. He, too, has been a farmer ever since he was old enough, and has also been enterprising and progressive in the industry. He is active, energetic and knowing as a farmer, has public spirit and breadth of view as a citizen, and enjoys wide and well-founded popularity socially. He and his brother are members of the Order of Odd Fellows and take an active part in the work of the lodge to which they belong. On October 6, 1901, he was married to Miss Edith G. Logue, a native of Linn county. They have two children, their sons Harry L. and Joel James, who will probably be reared as farmers, too, and trained to follow in the footsteps of their father and his forefathers for many generations, since farming is coming to be one of the most scientific and expansive of all tlie ordinary industries among men, and is likely to soon engage the best minds of the country, and pay them well for their atention to it.

The first born of the five sons and only children of a very thrifty family, whose members, although they have all reached maturity and are in business for themselves, still all work together for their common good, with their father as general superintendent of their labors, Edward R. McDonnell, of Jefferson township, in this county, is a very interesting man, both in himself and in his unusual association with the other members of the family, and also in the striking example he and they give of the value of the unity of effort in a common cause.

Mr. McDonnell is a native of County Tipperary, Ireland, where he was born on January 17, 1866, and the son of Alexander and Ellen (Dempsey) McDonnell, both of the same nativity as himself. The father was born in January, 1821, and was a farmer and jobber. The mother is the daughter of Joseph Dempsey, a man of local prominence in the county of her birth, and prosperous according to his circumstances and opportunities.

In 1867 the father determined to move his family to this country, where he believed he would find better chances in life for himself and his offspring than his own land gave any promise of, and accordingly he braved the stormy Atlantic in pursuit of his hopes. The expatriated voyagers landed in New York, where they remained two years. But the father had not come to the United States to be kept cooped up in a big city, and decided to seek some locality in the West where he could enjoy the larger and more open life of a vast expanse, with all of its awakening industries crying aloud lustily for help in their development.

In 1869 he came to Missouri and took up his residence on a farm one mile and a half east of Clarence in Shelby county. He remained on that farm twenty years, making a good living for his family and gradually accumulating an estate of value. In 1889 he moved to Linu county and located about a mile and a half southwest of Laclede, where he is still living. The earnestness of his purpose in determining to make his home in this country for the remainder of his life was shown by the fact that as soon as he could, after his arrival on this side of the water, he took out his naturalization papers and became a citizen of the United States. As such he cast his first vote for General Grant for president in the national election of 1868. The partyhe then joined he has adhered to ever since.

In 1864 he was married to Miss Ellen Dempsey, and by this union became the father of five children, all sons and all living. They are: Edward Richard, whose farm is two miles and a half north of Laclede; Joseph, who is a conductor on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and has his home in Brookfield; John Thomas, who lives a mile and a half southwest of Laclede on a fine farm; James William, who is also a farmer, and lives on the family homestead near his brother John Thomas; and Alexander, who is living on the home farm with his father and his brother James William. The father and brothers together own 980 acres of land in Linn county, and the father is the general manager of the cultivation of all of it.

Edward R. McDonnell was about three years old when his parents brought him to Missouri. He was reared and educated in Shelby county, and as soon as he was old enough engaged in general farming, and to this line of endeavor he has adhered faithfully ever since. He and his brothers are industrious, skillful and progressive farmers, and they get good retui'ns for the labor and intelligence they bestow on their land. Their farms are models of judicious improvement and advanced cultivation, being reckoned among the best in their township, and worthy of all the praise they get.

Mr. McDonnell looks after his own business with the closest attention to every detail, and applies to it all the information he can get from reading, observation and reflection. To the affairs of his 'township and county he gives the same kind of attention with the view of aiding Avith all his power and according to his best judgment in promoting their further progress and development and securing the best conditions he can for the enduring welfare and highest improvement of tlieir people. He supports effectively all worthy undertakings which involve these results, and his help is always valuable and highly appreciated.

On April 16, 1902, he was married to Miss Katharine Carroll, a daughter of Thomas Carroll, of Quincy, Illinois. The five children born of the union are all living. They are Alexander Thomas, Edward Joseph, James William, Richard John and Ellen Katharine. The parents are well esteemed in all parts of the county for their industry and frugality, their strict uprightness in all the relations of life, their engaging social qualities, and the sterling character and genuine usefulness of their citizenship. They are warmly interested in all the agen- cies at work among the people for their betterment, and manifest their interest in the most practical and beneficial way. They are fine types of the sturdiest manhood and womanhood of Jefferson township, and are everywhere admired and commended as most worthy and estimable I>ersons.

M. G. Sturtevant, who is one of the prominent and progressive. and therefore highly successfnl, farmers ef Linn connty, is admirably located on the old family homestead of 275 acres of the best farming land in Locnst Creek township, about seven miles north of Brookfield, where he carries on extensive farming operations, and OAvns one of the most comfortable and attractive of all Linn coxmty rural homes. He is looked up to by his neighbors and acquaintances as a model farmer, whose example in modem scientific agricultural methods is well worthy of imitation, and cannot but be profitable in practical application to their own farming industry.

Mr. Sturtevant was bom in Sandusky county. Ohio, on October 5, 1861. and was nine years old when his parents, Lyman and Elsie Jane (George) Sturtevant. moved from his native state to Missouri and took up their residence on the farm which he now owns and cultivates. He is a brother of Eugene Sturtevant, in the sketch of whose Ufe, elsewhere in this volume, the family history will be found briefly outlined.

The immediate subject of these paragraphs obtained the greater part of his education in a country school in this county, and began farming on his own account soon after he left school. He has conducted his operations with great enterprise and progressiveness, and made them tell greatly to his own advantage and also to the benefit of the country arotmd him by the spirit of progress they have awakened and kept in action for many years throughout the township in which they are carried on.

Mr. Sturtevant was married in Xovember, 1887, to Miss Alice Murrain, and by this union has become the father of three children, all of whom are living. They are: Greorgia, the wife of C. B. Cleveland, whose home is about five miles north of Brookfield; and Laura Esther and Charley Orie, who are still living at home with their parents and adding to the brightness, warmth and attractiveness of the parental family circle.

in his township and county, and is always zealous in behalf of the best interests of their people. He is not an active partisan in politics, a dogmatist in religion, or a controversialist on any subject. He is tolerant of the views of others, and gives cordial mental hospitality to any suggestion that seems of value, no matter what source it comes from, and systematically applies his intelligence, the result of his observation and reflection, to the affairs of his locality with no view but that of securing the best results of every project started and every effort made for the good of the region and its inhabitants. He is an excellent citizen and universally esteemed as such, not only throughout Linn county, but in all other localities where his sterling qualities are known.

John R. Fain

Although he was nearly sixty years old when he died, the late John R. Fain, of Locust Creek township, Linn county, was at the height of his power and full of vigor, and gave promise of many years of active service to his family and his community before he was fatally stricken. His death occurred on April 3, 1909, when he was just fiftynine years and seven months of age, but he had already achieved enough in his struggle for advancement among men to entitle him to high regard as a forceful and enterprising man, and had exhibited public spirit and enterprise in reference to the progress and development of his township and county, and the elevation and improvement of their people, of a character sufficiently valuable to give him a place among the best and most useful citizens of this part of the state.

Mr. Fain was born in Howard county, Missouri, on September 3, 1849, and was brought to Linn county by his parents in 1852, when they determined to make this county their home. After completing his education with such facilities as were available to him, he became a farmer, following the occupation of his ancestors for many generations, and by industry, thrift and good management, rose to the first rank in the county in the extent and profitable results of his operations.

On June 8, 1872, he was married to Miss Ellen Beckett, of Linn county, and by this union became the father of four children, three of whom are living, Frank, Lesbia and Edith, and all of them still have their home with their mother. The father's death was universally deplored, and his remains were consigned to their last resting place, in the Beckett private burying ground, amid many manifestations of

The Fain family resided for several generations in Tennessee, and John Fain, Sr., the father of John R., was born in AVilson county of that state on May 19, 1812. He subsequently lived with his parents in Buncombe county. North Carolina, Habersham county, Georgia, and again in Tennessee, but this time in the eastern part of the state. In 1831, when he was but nineteen years of age, he came to Missouri to live, and located on a farm in Howard county. There he remained and cultivated his land until 1850.

About that time the voice of a siren broke forth upon the world and set millions of its inhabitants in many lands on fire with eagerness and hope. This was the voice of California informing mankind that her rivers, hills and mountains were teeming with gold, and calling upon all who wished a share of the treasure to come and get it. John Fain, Sr., hearkened to the call, and, in company with live of his neighbors, crossed the plains to the gold fields with ox teams. He was fairly successful in his venture, and continued his mining operations imtil 1852, when he met with a serious accident which crippled him for life. A heavy timber fell on one of his ankles and crushed it so badly that he never recovered the use of it.

He then determined to return to his Missouri home and rejoin his family, making the trip by water down the Pacific, across the Isthmus of Panama by land, and again by water up the Mississippi and Missouri to the place of debarkation nearest to his residence. He had accumulated about $3,000 during his stay in California, but owing to the excessive cost of medical attendance and necessary remedies for his wounded limb, he arrived at his home with only $1,200.

He at once moved his family to Linn county and took up his residence on a farm in Jefferson township, where he became one of the most enterprising, progressive and prosperous of all the farmers in that portion of the county, and one of the township's most prominent and influential citizens, being as enterprising and progressive for the locality in a general way as he was for himself, and devoting a great part of his energy to promoting its development and improvement.

He was married in 1835 to Mrs. Catherine Davis, whose maiden name was Hall. Three of the nine children born to them are living: Benjamin, who makes his home with the family of his late brother John R.; Thomas J., a resident of Silt, Colorado; and Sarah Jane, the widow of William Beckett, of Seagoelville, Texas. Their mother died in 1876, and some time afterward their father contracted a second marriage in which he was united with Mrs. Eebecca (Peacher) Stearns, of Howard county in this state.

Marcellus E. Ware

This venerable son of an esteemed pioneer of Linn county, and who was brought to the county when he was but two years old, has lived here seventy-four years, and from his youth has been engaged in farming except a period of a little over three years, which he passed in the^Union army during the Civil War. The martial life and the defense of his country in times of danger came to him naturally, for he is from a family of soldiers, his father and one of his uncles having fought in the War of 1812.

Mr. Ware was born in Chesterfield county, Virginia, on July 7, 1836, and is a son of William and Harriet (Lockett) Ware, natives also of that county. The father was born in October, 1795, and at the age of seventeen enlisted in a Virginia regiment for the overthrow of British aggressions on our commerce in our second war with the mother country. In 1838 he brought his family to Missouri and Linn county, making the long and trying journey with teams.

He purchased a claim on his arrival in this county, and in 1843 entered another on his record in the war. He improved his land and lived on it until his death, which occurred on August 20, 1862. The mother survived him four years to the day, dying on August 20, 1866. They were married in Virginia and had four sons and eight daughters, all now deceased but two of the sons and one of the daughters. In his political adherence the father was a Henry Clay Whig, and espoused the cause and doctrines of the great Kentucky statesman ^vith ardor and defended them with vigor, for he was a well educated and very intelligent man. He and his wife were members of the Baptist church. The grandfather was a well-to-do Virginia planter and died in that state. He had two sons in the War of 1812.

Marcellus E. Ware grew from infancy to manhood in Linn county and obtained his education in the early schools of the county. Primitive and crude in their housing and equipment, and narrow in their range of instruction as they were, they met all the requirements of the pioneers, for they and their children had no opportunity for advanced learning, the physical needs of their situation demanding all their time and attention except the meager allowance of the winter months for a few years which they were able to devote to schooling.

Mr. Ware worked with his father on the home farms until March, 1862, when he enlisted in Company F, First Missouri Cavalry, to aid in fighting to save the Union from dismemberment. He was in the command of Major MuUins and was in the service a little over three years. His regiment was engaged in fighting bushwhackers mainly, but these predatory warriors kept it busy and gave it plenty of active service. Mr. Ware was wounded in October, 1864, in Linn county, Kansas, in an engagement with the army of General Sterling Price. After the war he returned home and has been farming in this county ever since.

He was married in October, 1865, to Miss Emily Barnes, who died in 1882, lea\"ing no children. Mr. Ware was married a second time within that same year, uniting himself with Miss Mary Alsbury, a native of Pike county, Illinois, and a daughter of Charles and Margaret Alsbury. Thej' had eight children, six of whom are living: Eva J., Charles E., Ollie B., H. Elmer, Emma F. and Orpha M. The father is a Eepublican in political alliance. He has served as township trustee and school officer. He has been a member of the Baptist church for fifty-six years, devotedly loyal to it in feeling and service and fidelity to the teachings it enjoins.

Mr. Ware is now among the oldest settlers of Linn county in the number of his years and the length of his residence in the county. The early days with their dangers, privations and arduous toil are deeply impressed on his mind. He recollects distinctly when Indians were numerous in the county, when deer disported about the cabins of the pioneers, when wolves made night hideous with their bowlings, and when wild turkeys abounded in the whole region, unalarmed as yet by the gun of the hunter, unwise to the snares of the trapper, and seeing nothing to fear from the conquering invaders of their long undisturbed ranges. He can compare the state of the country then with what it is now, and rejoice in the share he has had in effecting the change. For he has always been alert and energetic in pushing forward the development and progress of the region, and doing his whole duty to it and its residents.

The Peoples Bank Of Meadville

This excellent fiscal institution is a state bank and was organized in June, 1903, with a capital stock of $15,000, and the following officers : H. K. Bargar, president ; T. J. Stevenson, vice president ; George W. Adams, cashier, and the president and vice president, with S. Darl- ing and H. Hartshorne, directors. Mr. Stevenson acted as vice president two years, and at the end of that period was succeedd by W. M. Botts. Three years later, however, he was again elected vice president, and he served in that office until his death in 1909.

The present officers (1912) are: H. K. Bargar, president; F. J. Black, vice president; G. W. Adams, cashier; E. E. Smith, assistant cashier; and H. K. Bargar, W. M. Botts, H. Hartshorne, F. J. Black and N. H. Randall, directors. The capital stock has remained the same as at the start, but the bank has now $10,000 in undivided profits and surplus. It does a general banking business, embracing all approved features of modern banking, and is regarded as one of the most progressive, enterprising and wisely managed banks of its size and capacity in Linn county.

George W. Adams, the cashier and controlling spirit, is a native of Jackson county, Ohio, born on April 29, 1840. His parents, George M. and Melinda (Helphenstein) Adams, were born and reared in Virginia and moved to Ohio in 1820, locating in Jackson county, where the father was a prosperous merchant tailor and passed all of the remainder of his life except the last few years, when he made his home with his son George W., in whose residence he died in 1887. The mother passed away in 1870. They were the parents of five sons and three daughters. All of the daughters and three of the sons are living.

The father served as auditor of Jackson county, Ohio, at one time, and in that office his son George W. began the active work of making his way in the world as a clerk. He grew to manhood in his native county and obtained his education in its public schools. After serving four years in the county auditor's office, he was engaged for three years in the dry goods trade in association wdth his father, and during the Civil War he was a clerk in the commissary department of the Union army in Nashville.

Mr. Adams remained in the military service to the close of the war, and in the fall of 1865 moved to Brookfield, Missouri, where he conducted a flourishing enterprise in the grocery trade for some time, and afterward was engaged in real estate transactions on a considerable scale. He also served as deputy postmaster under W. E. Snow from 1873 to 188.3. In the year last named he was elected county clerk of Linn county, filling the office eight years. Then in 1891 he moved to Meadville and founded the Bank of Meadville, which he served as cashier for one year.

he became cashier of the Santa Fe Exchange Bank of Marceline. But he served in that capacity only a short time, as the people of the county again elected him county clerk, and he again occupied the office eight years in continuous and very acceptable performance of its duties. At the end of that period he once more turned his attention to banking, founding the People's Bank of Meadville, with which he has ever since been connected.

Mr. Adams was first married in May, 1861, to Miss Hattie Hyatt, who was like himself a native of Ohio. They became the parents of five children, two of whom are living, Edward M. and Hattie K., who is now the wife of Harry Boot of Portland, Oregon. Their mother died in 1877, and the father chose as his second wife Miss Lida Martin, a sister of George W. Martin of Brookfield. They had three children, all of whom are living: George M., who is a resident of San Francisco; Earl C, whose home is in St. Louis, Missouri; and Dr. Wilson E., who is a prominent physician and surgeon and resides in Linneus.

Mr. Adams lost his second wife by death in 1898, and in January, 1901, he contracted a third marriage, uniting himself on this occasion with Mrs. Mary D., the widow of L. N. Goodale of Meadville, who still abides with him. He has been a loyal and zealous Republican from his youth, and has always rendered his party energetic and effective service. Fraternally he is a Freemason and a Knight of Pythias, and in religious connection a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is one of the leading citizens of Linn county, and is regarded by all classes of its people as one of the most upright, influential and useful men in the county, and as a fine representative of all that is best in its manhood. The bank of which he is practically the head has prospered greatly under his judicious management, and every interest of the county has had, at all times, his cordial, intelligent and helpful support.

Joseph T. Walkup

All of the sixty-two years of life that have passed for Joseph T. Walkup to the present time (1912) have been spent by him in Linn county. His earthly career began in this county on February 27, 1850 ; he grew to manhood here; he obtained his education in Linn county schools ; his two marriages occurred in the county, and united him Avith two Linn county ladies ; his children were born in the coimty, and all the years of his activity have been employed in Linn county industries. This record, which is not unusual in the older sections of the country, where the march of history has proceeded for hundreds of years, and hosts of families have been settled for many generations, is somewhat out of the ordinary in this comparatively new section, wherein civilization began scarcely more than three-quarters of a century ago, and where the population was for many years largely of a migratory character, while so much of the territory was open for choice of location and occupancy.

Mr. Walkup is a son of John and Elizabeth (Smith) Walkup, natives of Boone county, Missouri, where the father was born on November 29, 1818, and the mother in 1823. The father grew to manhood in Boone county and in 1839, soon after attaining his majority, came to Linneus. He was a gunsmith by trade and opened a shop in Linneus. But he soon afterward took up land in Clay township and became a farmer. He broke up this land and brought it under cultivation, then sold it and moved to a location three miles west of Linneus. On this he lived and labored many years, but finally moved to Chillicothe, Livingston county. The mother died in 1880 on the old farm and his life ended in 1901 at the ripe old age of eighty-three years.

"When the Mexican War began Mr. "Walkup, the father of Joseph, enlisted in the company recruited here by Captain Barbee to aid in defending the honor of his country and avenge the insults heaped upon its flag by the hot-headed and heedless Mexicans. He served in that company throughout the war and was almost constantly on duty on the march or in the field during its progress, taking part in a number of its notable engagements, but escaping unharmed, although Death was often busy in the ranks around him.

After the close of the short but decisive struggle Mr. "Walkup returned to his Linn county farm and from then to the end of his life except during the Civil "War, devoted himself to the pursuits of peaceful industry. He continued farming, and was also very active in church work as an exhorter and local preacher. In the Civil War he was again in arms, fighting for the Southern Confederacy xmder the command of General Price, his old commander in the Mexican conflict. He and his wife were the parents of three children who grew to maturity and are yet living ; Joseph T., Andrew F. and Mary J., who is now the wife of John Gr. Wiley and lives in Linn county.

In politics the father was first a Whig and later a Democrat. He served as a justice of the peace for many years in this county. His father, Robert Walkup, the grandfather of Joseph, came as a pioneer to Boone county, this state, from his native state of Kentucky. He passed the remainder of his days in Boone county, residing there many years, as he came at an early date and lived to a ripe old age. He also was a farmer and a man of prominence and great activity in connection with the public affairs of the township and county in which he had his home.

Joseph T. Walkup has followed farming from his boyhood, and has also engaged in raising and feeding live stock for many years, handling mostly cattle. He has shown himself to be a good farmer and live stock man, and has been successful in making both branches of his industry profitable to himself and beneficial to the country all around him. He manages his work with close attention to every detail, pushes it with energy and vigor, and secures results commensurate with his outlay of time and labor.

Mr. Walkup was married in March, 1871, to Miss Mary L. Gish, and by this union became the father of two children, both of who have died. The mother is also deceased, having passed away on July 25, 1910. The father contracted a second marriage on November 16, 1911, in which he was united with Josephine Bailey, a daughter of A. K. Bailey, now the postmaster of Meadville, where the lady was living at the time of the marriage.

In the public affairs of his township Mr. Walkup has taken a lively and serviceable interest from the dawn of his manhood. He has served as township collector two years and as township trustee for four years. He was also trustee of Parson Creek township for eight years. He is a member of the Democratic party in political relations, of the Masonic order fraternally and he and wife of the Baptist church in religious connection. Both are favorably known and highly esteemed in all parts of Linn county, and in all other places where they have had opportunity to make their merit known to the people.

Albert J. Richardson

The grit and pluck and self-reliance, which are always elements in the character and make-up of the real man, are strikingly shown in the case of Albert J. Richardson, leading contractor and builder of Marceline in this county. From the humble condition of a coal miner at the age of eleven years, and with no educational advantages but what he secured for himself through correspondence schools, Mr. Richardson has raised himself to his elevated state of prosperity and consequence in the community of his present home. In very early life he was forced to live frugally and work hard, but his efforts for his own advancement were steady and continued in spite of great difiSculties, and his progress was of the same nature, as he held every foot of ground he gained in his struggle.

Mr. Richardson was born at Rothville, Chariton county, Missouri^ on June 4, 1880. He is a son of Silas J. and Alice E. (Hall) Richardson, the former a native of this state and the latter of Iowa. The father was a coal miner in his period of activity, but now both parents are living in Mareeline. The son grew to manhood in Macon and Linn counties, and for a short time at irregular intervals attended a public school. When he was but eleven years of age he began working in the mines at Lingo, Macon county, alongside of his father.

He continued this toilsome and unpleasant occupation until 1906, part of the time in Macon county and part in Linn. In the year last mentioned he began working at the carpenter trade, and in 1909 started contracting on large buildings. Among the monuments to his skill and enterprise are the new Methodist Episcopal church in Mareeline, which cost $14,000, two structures of magnitude in Macon county, and a number of other buildings for business and residence purposes. He is highly capable in his craft, thoroughly conscientious in his work and guided in everything by a high sense of duty. The people where he is known esteem him cordially as a mechanic, a contractor and an excellent citizen.

Mr. Richardson has been married twice, his first union, which was with Miss Myrtle Grady of Mareeline, was formed in 1901. They had one child, their daughter Willner, whose mother died in 1908. In September, 1909, the father married again, becoming united with Miss Mary Wilson, who is still living.

In the fraternal life of his community Mr. Richardson has taken an active interest as a member of the Order of Foresters and in its religious life and activities as a communicant and regular attendant of the Christian church. He has also been zealous and serviceable in the material advancement and improvement of his city and county. The very nature of his business makes him very desirous of such progress and energetic in helping to promote it. His private efforts at mental development have been fruitful too, and have made him a wellinformed man on a great variety of subjects and wise in the matter of public affairs. Although not an active partisan in politics, he believes firmly in the principles of the Republican party and adheres to them in the bestowal of his suffrage. His first interest in local affairs, however, is the welfare of his locality and that of the people who live in it, which he never allows party considerations to overbear or becloud. He