Linn County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1912 (part 8 of 15)

In 1908 he was elected a member of the county court, serving one term of two years. He is a Democrat in political relations, but while he is always eager for the success of his party, he is not an active partisan, and seldom takes any part in political contests. Fraternally he belongs to the Modern AVoodmen of America and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in religion he is a Christian Scientist.

Mr. Post was married on June 20, 1893, to Miss Sallie C. Collins, a native of the state of Delaware. They have one child, their daughter Margaret H., who still abides with them in the family home and is one of its greatest attractions. She is prominent in the social life of the city and couuty and active in all good works for their advancement, according to her opportunities, omitting no effort on her part that will aid in bringing about good results.

Mr. Post's business is extensive and exacting, and he gives it his .close and careful attention. But he does not allow it to absorb him to the exclusion of his social duties to the community or any of the proper claims of citizenship. He is genial and companionable and enjoys a strong and wide-spread popularity, being known and held in high regard in all parts of Linn county and in many parts of those adjacent to it. Northeastern Missouri has no better citizen, and the people cheerfully accord him the distinction of being one of the best. But he is modest in reference to his merit and claims no such distinction, or any other beyond those of dealing squarely with everybody in his business and living correctly in all the affairs of life.

B. J. Patrick

Whatever may be the interest of other men in the progress and prosperity of Linn county, and whatever their claims to the regard and esteem of its people, there is an element in the case of B. J. Patrick, a prominent contractor and builder of Brookfield, which raises his above those of the most of them, if not of them all. His own work in the county would give him a deep and abiding interest in it and a strong claim on the good will of its people. But the history of some of his kin in connection with its affairs is of a nature to make him almost reverence it. This history also gives him a strong claim on the respect of the people, and the claim is strengthened by his own high character, personal worth and usefulness as a man and a citizen of public spirit and progressiveness.

Two of Mr. Patrick's grand aunts were the first white women who made their homes within the present limits of the county. The chain that connects him with its soil, therefore, runs back unbroken to the time when it was first turned by the white man's plow and yielded its first fruits to the white man's systematic husbandry, although he is not himself a native of the county. He was born in Howard county, Missouri, on January 27, 1868, and is a son of William H. and Sarah E. (Jones) Patrick, the former also a native of Howard county, and the latter of Richmond, Virginia.

March 31, 1900. The mother is still living and resides in Brookfield. They were married at Fayette, Missouri, and had two sons and six daughters, five of whom are living, the two sons and three of the daughters. The father served in Company A, Ninth Missouri Cavalry, in the Union army, during three and a half years of the Civil War. He was engaged mostly in scout duty, but took part in the battle of Kirksville.

His father, Larkin C. Patrick, was born in Breathitt county, Kentucky, in 1814, on October 6, and was brought by his parents to this state before he was a year old. He passed his whole subsequent life in Howard county, and died at the age of seventy-five on the farm in that county entered from the government by his grandfather. Larkin was a son of Luke Patrick, also a native of Kentucky, a farmer who brought his family to Howard county, this state in 1815, and was a son-in-law of George Cason who accompanied Daniel Boone from Kentucky to Howard county.

Luke Patrick was a farmer, but did not depend on this occupation wholly for his livelihood and provision for his family. The returns from farming in Missouri at that early day were meager, but even if they had been abundant they would not have satisfied him. For he was of an adventurous nature, a veritable frontiersman of the most pronounced type, and became a hunter and trapper and Indian fighter of considerable local renown. It was his custom to come to what is now Linn county every fall on hunting expeditions, and in the neighborhood of the present city of Linneus to pursue the pleasures and profits of the chase.

He served in the Indian wars of the period, was a famous teller of stories of adventure in the wilds and one of the most interesting characters in this part of the world in his day. In 1829 he killed on Elk creek the largest elk ever seen alive and wild in Linn county, and the creek received its name from this incident. He was well pleased with this region and recommended it to his friends who wished to plant their feet farther in the wilderness, and so his two daughters, Mrs. George M. Pendleton and Mrs. Joseph Newton, with their husbands, became the first white residents of what is now Linn county.

B. J. Patrick was reared to the age of fifteen in Howard county and obtained his education in the district schools. In 1888 he located at Marceline, where he began his apprenticeship as a carpenter, finishing his instruction in the craft in Chicago. In 1901 he moved to Brookfield, and here he has made his home ever since, and been engaged in contracting and building, winning success and rising to prominence in his occupation. As a means to the highest standard and best results in

He has built some imposhig structures in Brookfield, among them the Methodist Episcopal church and some of the best dwelling houses. He also drew the plans for the Christian church, and has done a great deal of superior work outside of the city. He is a thorough master of his trade, a good architect and a workman of excellent judgment. Whatever he does in the way of building is well done, no part of it ever being slighted, and all redounding to his credit and sustaining the high reputation he won early in his career as a builder.

Mr. Patrick was married on December 19, 1900, to Miss Carrie Newton, a daughter of Kenneth A. and Luella (Bowling) Newton, and a grand daughter of Joseph Newton, one of the two first white male settlers in the county. He is therefore connected by marriage as well as by blood with the founders of civilization in this jiart of the state. He and his wife are the parents of one child, their daughter Olive. The parents are members of the Christian church and active workers in the congregation to which they belong, in which the father has long served as an elder and one of the trustees.

While Mr. Patrick takes no part in political contentions he is always interested in the welfare of his city and county, and at all times ready to do whatever he can to promote it. He is particularly active in behalf of public improvements, and intelligent and judicious in his efforts to help them along. He is also wisely and judiciously zealous in aiding all educational and moral agencies at work in the community, manifesting in all his desires and activities the attributes of sturdy, upright and progressive and public spirited American citizenship.

William James

As taste and fashion in jewelry is always changing, the man who handles it must be bright and attentive to the requirements if he wishes to succeed. He ought also to be a skillful workman, familiar with all the details of his craft and ready to supply all demands in the best style of workmanship. William James, who conducts the largest, most elaborate and most artistic jewelry store in the city of Brookfield, is well up in all the requirements of his business, and he carries it on in a manner that greatly pleases the people and is highly creditable to himself.

1866, but he was not allowed to remain in his native place long enough to appreciate its gi'eat commercial advantages, its fine and ample harbor, its superb situation, its magnificent buildings and the rich scenery of sparkling bays, emerald islands and luxuriant vegetation which surrounds it.

His parents, Isaac and Elizabeth (Williams) James, were migratory persons, and soon after the birth of the son returned to Wales, their native land, and in 1869, when he was but three years old, came to the United States and located in Missouri. The father was a gold miner, and pursued his occupation wherever the field seemed most promising and fruitful. He emigrated to New South Wales, Australia, and passed all of fourteen years in that country. He also followed mining in New Zealand.

After the family returned to Wales it did not linger long in that country, but in 1869, as has been noted, came to the United States and found a new home at New Cambria, where it was the intention to make a short visit to friends and then move on to California. But the father was so well pleased with Macon county in this state that he determined to remain and bought a farm there. In that county the parents passed the rest of their lives, the father dying on his farm in 1877, and the mother in 1904, having survived her husband twenty-seven years. He had succeeded well in his mining operations in Australia, where he was a pioneer in the gold fields, and was well fixed financially when he took up his residence in Missouri. He and his wife were the parents of four sons and four daughters, all of whom are living but one of the sons.

William James grew to manhood on the parental homestead in Macon county and was educated in the district schools. He was early fired with an ambition to make his own way in the world, and in 1889, when he was twenty-three years old, came to Brookfield and entered the employ of C. P. Almroth, a jeweler, with a view to learning the trade and proper management of the business. He learned his trade in company with J. P. Horker, who is now associated with him in business. Mr. Almroth failed in business in 1896, and during the next two years Mr. James carried on the operations of the store. He next passed two years in the states of Oklahoma and Kansas, and at the end of that time returned to Brookfield.

In 1902 he founded his present business, which has grown to be the largest of its kind in Brookfield, and its growth is entirely due to his skill as a workman, his excellent judgment in reference to the wares he handles, his fine business ability and his studious attention to the wants of the community in his line. He is always up to the latest turns of the market in his stock and knows his business in and out thoroughly, so that he is able to buy to the best advantage and give his patrons the full benefit of his extensive knowledge.

Mr. James was married in Macon county, this state, on October 8, 1902, to Miss Martha Evans, the daughter of Thomas 0. and Maria (Young) Evans, esteemed residents of that county. Two sons have been born of the union, William I. and David T., both of whom are attending school in Brookfield. They are bright boys and almost sure to make their mark in a highly creditable way in the world when they reach maturity.

The father has taken a great interest in public affairs in Brookfield, and has won extensive popularity among the residents of the city. He was a member of the city council in 1909 and 1910, and in other ways has been of service to the city in a commendable manner and to a considerable extent. He is always interested in public improvements of every worthy kind and at all times ready and willing to give practical aid in promoting them. He is also prominent in social circles and an ornament to those in which he mingles. In religious faith and allegiance he is a Presbyterian.

Dr. James B. Eure

This well known and highly esteemed physician and surgeon of Brookfield, who is also one of the leading and influential citizens of Linn county, is a native of Nash county. North Carolina, where his life began on June 26, 1865, and where his parents, Alfred and Delia (Finch) Eure w^ere also native and passed the whole of their lives. The father was born there in 1808 and died there in 1872. He was married three times, and was the father of eight sons, three of whom were in the Confederate army during the Civil War, and five of whom are still living.

His ancestors came to this country from France in colonial times and some of them were prominent in the Revolutionary War. They fought valiantly for American independence, and when that was secured they settled down in the country which they had helped to redeem from foreign domination and devoted the remainder of their lives, as their descendants have done ever since, to the promotion of American industrial, intellectual, social and commercial life and power, taking place and part in every domain of human effort and making their contributions to each of great benefit to it and their country.

Dr. James B. Eure secured his academic education in his native icounty, completing it at the Stanhope and Mt. Pleasant academies there. He began the study of medicine in 1894, and was graduated from the Barnes Medical College of St. Louis in 1897, having become a resident of Missouri in 1893. He taught school for a number of years in North Carolina and one year in this state before beginnig work on his preparation for his profession, but since his graduation from the medical colleges he has devoted all his time and energy to professional work.

The doctor began his practice in 1898 in Brookfield, and he has been located in that city and engaged in a general practice throughout all the subsequent years. He stands high in the profession and in the confidence and regard of the people of the county, and his practice has grown to very large proportions. He is knowing and skillful, diligent and obliging, giving all calls prompt attention and all patients wise and judicious treatment, and both on account of his ability and his faithfulness in caring for those who need his services he is widely and justly popular as a physician and as a man.

The organizations in his profession formed and maintained for the improvement and enjoyment of its members, have always appealed strongly to him as means of valuable assistance to all practitioners, and for years he has been active in his membership in several of them. He belongs to the Linn County and Missouri State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association, and is at this time (1912) president of the first named. He has also been studious in the use of the literature of his profession and availed himself of additional instruction whenever he has had opportunity, pursuing special courses in the Polyclinic School in Chicago in 1905 and Washington University in 1910. And in winter of 1912 attended lectures at the Eye & Ear Infirmary of New York city.

In fraternal relations the doctor is connected with the Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. His religious afiflliation is with the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and in this and his lodges he takes an earnest interest and an active part in all their work. His membership in all is highly valued. He was married in 1896 to Miss Alberta Langston of Mississippi county, Missouri. They have had no children, but they have adopted their community as an object of their greatest interest, care and solicitude, and to its advancement and improvement in every way they devote all the energy they can. Linn county has no better citizens and none whom the people hold in higher or more deserved esteem.

The doctor is now devoting his practice to diseases of eye, ear and throat and is located at Poplar Bluif, Missouri, Butler county, where he is also interested in farming.

Robert J. Beauchamp

Having tried his hand at several different lines of mercantile business, life insurance, railroading and farming, Robert J. Beauehamp of Brookfield finally found a field of operation suited to his .capacity exactly and in accordance with his desires, in real estate transactions. He is the head of the real estate firm of Beauehamp & Baker, which he founded in 1897, and with which he has ever since been connected. The firm handles lauds in Texas and all parts of the Southwest generally, and conducts an extensive and active business which covers a very large extent of territory.

Mr. Beauehamp is one of the "Blue Hen's Chickens," having been born in Dover, the capital of Delaware, on July 22, 1861. His parents were James H. and Louvisa (Lank) Beauehamp, the former a native of Delaware and the latter of Maryland. Gidiah Beauehamp, the grandfather of Robert, was a Kentuekian by nativity but located in Delaware when he was a young man. His son James H. was a dry goods merchant in his native state. He moved his family to Brookfield, Missouri, in March, 1877, and soon afterward took up his residence on a farm near Browning in this county, which he lived on and cultivated until his death, which occurred in 1892. The mother died in 1908, having survived her husband sixteen years.

They reared four of their children, three sons and one daughter, to maturity, and all of them are still living. They are: Robert J., the subject of this brief memoir; James K., a capitalist and real estate merchant of Kansas City, Missouri. He served eight years on district and supreme bench of Oklahoma Territory; Benjamin D., who deals extensively in real estate from his home in Oklahoma City, and Rosa, who is the wife of G. E. Moore of Brookfield. The spirit of the parents is reproduced and kept up to date in their offspring, and keeps alive the fine examples of elevated American citizenship the families on both sides of the house have given to the world for generations

Robert J. Beauehamp was sixteen years old when he came with his parents to this county in 1877. He grew to manhood and completed his education here, attending the public schools and Findlay Academy in Brookfield and also attended Felton College of Felton, Missouri. He began his business career as a clerk in a store and afterward engaged in the life insurance business. From this he turned to the clothing trade, to which he devoted two years. At the end of that period he moved to Liberal, Kansas, where he engaged in the hardware trade for two years.

He then returned to Brookfield and during the next six years was employed in train service on the Burlington Railroad. Quitting railroad work, he engaged in farming for a year, then, in 1897, formed a partnership with his brother Benjamin D. which existed until 1904 and in 1906 the present firm was formed consisting of our subject and Albanes W. Baker for the purpose of conducting a real estate business, and in this he is still extensively and profitably engaged. He has made a study of his business and is considered one of the best posted and most discriminating men in it in this part of the state. His opinion as to values and possibilities of improvement is widely sought and always has weight and the correctness of his judgment in real estate matters is never questioned, but is usually followed by those to whom he gives it.

Mr. Beauchamp's public spirit, his devotion to the general welfare, his genuine interest in the city and county of his home and the nature of his business all combine to make him forceful and enterprising in reference to public improvements and everything that seems likely to promote the advancement of his locality. He can always be counted on for practical aid in any commendable undertaking for the betterment of the community or the advantage of its people, and he is judicious in the help he gives.

He takes an active part in political affairs as a loyal member of the Democratic party, but he has no ambition for public office and has never had. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, the Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights of the Maccabees and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. In religious matters he is affiliated with the Christian church. To all of these organizations he gives such care and attention as good, active and serviceable membership demands, and in each he is a potent factor for good.

In October, 1882, he was married to Miss Sallie N. Dunn, a native of Randolph county, Missouri. They have one child, their son Frank B.. who is a student in the State University. All the members of the family stand well in the community, in all of whose worthy activities they take part, and are regarded as excellent representatives of its citizenship in business enterprise, in moral uprightness, in religious tone and in domestic and social life. No residents of Brookfield are more highlyesteemed or more deserving of high esteem.

Mr. Beauchamp has served two terms as a member of the school board of Brookfield, and is still serving. He also is an extensive holder of real estate in Linn county and Oklahoma.

Dr. Willis E. Scott

A resident of Brookfield since 1888, and during the whole of his residence in the city active in the practice of dentistry. Dr. Willis E. Scott has rendered the people of Linn coimty long-continued and excellent service in his professional work. He is the oldest practitioner of dental surgery in the county in continuous work in the profession and one of the most eminent in this part of the state.

Dr. Scott was born in Livingston county, Missouri, and is a son of Thomas F. and Amanda (Stone) Scott, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Missouri. The father was a farmer in his native state until 1844, when he came by the river route to Brunswick, in Chariton county, then journeyed overland to Livingston county, where he again engaged in farming until 1849. Then, when the excitement over the discovery of gold in California was at its height, he joined a train of men eager to secure a portion of the treasure, and they made the trip to the gold fields across the plains with ox teams.

The train had some difficulties with the Indians, but after its arrival at its destination Mr. Scott was fairly successful in his mining operations. He was not, however, satisfied with his progress, and went to Australia in search of more rapid returns for his labor. Even there his love of adventure and quest of fortune was not wholly appeased, and he visited some of the rich mining regions of South America. He returned to his Missouri home in 1855, and some years later moved to Brookfield, where he died in 1910. The mother died in 1893. They had two sons and two daughters, all of whom are living.

Dr. Scott was reared and educated in Livingston county and followed farming there until 1886, when he began the study of dentistry. In 1887 he entered the Cincinnati Dental College, from which he was graduated in 1888. He came to Brookfield within the same year, and has been in active practice in that city ever since. Realizing that dentistry is a very progressive science and art, and being ardently desirous of keeping up with its progress and in touch with all its latest developments, he has been an industrious student of his work, and has used all the means at his command to further his efforts. He is a member of the Missouri State Dental Society and the Northeastern Missouri Dental Club, and takes an active and helpful part in their proceedings, giving all the help he can to each and getting all the benefit he can for himself in return.

Fraternally Dr. Scott is a member of the Order of Elks, and in that organization he also takes an earnest and serviceable interest. He was married in 1887 to Miss Frances Evans of Harrison county, this state. They have no .children, but take a zealous part in the affairs of the city and county of their home, moral, mental, social and material, doing all they can to promote the general well being of the people and add to the consequence and celebrity of the region in which they live.

As a citizen the doctor is in the front rank both in his usefulness and the esteem of the people throughout Linn county. As a man his character is high, his life is upright and clean and his public spirit is pronounced and practical in aims and results. In all respects he is an admirable representative of all that is best in the manhood and citizenship of Brookfield, Linn county and the state of Missouri.

Charles L. Selleck

In the veins of Charles L. Selleck, one of the prosperous and prominent farmers and stock feeders of Parsons creek township, Linn county, the blood of New England mingles with that of Kentucky, and in his career he has exhibited the serviceable and commendable traits of the people of both sections. Although modest and retiring in his disposition, and seeks no opportunities for self-assertion, he is sturdy, steady and sterling in his manhood and ardently patriotic in his citizenship, warmly devoted to local interests and earnestly solicitous for the enduring welfare of his whole country in every phase of its multiform life and activity.

Mr. Selleck is a native of Adams county, Illinois, where his eyes opened to the scenes of this world on November 30, 1860. He is a son of Edward J. and Huldah J. (Robinson) Selleck, the former born in Vermont and the latter in Kentucky. The father, who has been a farmer all his life from his youth, except during a portion of the Civil War, was taken from his native state to Illinois by his parents in his childhood, some time in the forties. His father, Looman Selleck, was born and reared in Vermont, and during the first excitement over the discovery of gold in California, went to that state in search of a speedy fortune. He subsequently died in that state.

His son Edward was reared on the home farm in Adams county, Illinois, and farmed there until 1878, then came to Missouri and located in Chariton county. From there he moved soon afterward to Linn county, and a few years later moved back to Illinois. He is now living in Ralls county in this state. .The mother died in 1873. They had five sons and two daughters, all of whom are now deceased but their son Charles and his sister Rosa E., who is the Avife of Henry Adams, and lives in Arkansas. The father married a Miss Thorp for his second wife, and by this union became the parent of eight more children, all of them sons. For six months during the Civil War he served in the Seventy-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but took part in no actual hostilities, and at the end of the period mentioned was discharged on account of disabilities.

Charles L. Selleck lived to the age of seventeen years in Illinois, then came with the rest of the family to Chariton county, in this state. There he completed his education and for a number of years afterward assisted his father on the home farm. In 1883 he came to Linn county, and for a time farmed land which he rented. In 1900 he bought the farm he now owns and cultivates, which he has greatly improved and raised in value and attractiveness, making it one of the choice country homes of his township, and one of high rank among all there are in the county.

On February 6, 1878, Mr. Selleck was united in wedlock with Miss Mary J. Rosier, a daughter of John Rosier, who came to this county from Illinois in 1881, but moved to that state in his early manhood from Maryland. He died in Linn county in 1884, aged eighty-four years. Mr. and Mrs. Selleck have had two children, one of whom has died and the other, their son Harry, is living at home with his parents.

Mr. Selleck has followed general farming from the dawn of his manhood, and for a number of years has also engaged extensively in feeding live stock for the markets. In political relations he is a Democrat, and as such has served as a member of the township board. Fraternally he belongs to the Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of the Maccabees and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is well and favorably known in all parts of Linn and Chariton counties and highly esteemed in both.

The memory of this pioneer merchant and energetic promoter of improvements in Brookfield is enshrined in the hearts of the people of Linn county, among whom he lived and was in business twenty-seven years, and to whom he gave a fine example of sterling and upright manliness and commanding business enterprise, as well as great public spirit in developing the village of Brookfield, as it was when he became a resident of it, to the dignity and consequence of a city of considerable commercial influence, importance and celebrity throughout the state of Missouri.

Mr. Post was born in the village of Gwinsburg, near Cleveland, Ohio, on March 4, 1838, and was the son and only child of Simon and Lydia (Markle) Post, who died within a few weeks of each other and left him an orphan when he was but eighteen months old. He was adopted by his uncle, Charles Post, with whom he lived until the latter 's death, when the nephew was thrown on his own resources at the early age of eight years. The boy was resolute and self-reliant, and at once began to make his living by doing chores for a neighboring family, and by this means he maintained himself until he reached the age of seventeen.

He was living at the time near Findlay, Ohio, and in 1853 was apprenticed to learn the tinner's and brazier's trade in that city. Prior to this he had secured a fair common school education supplemented by a course in the Findlay Academy. He mastered his trade in three years, then went to Cincinnati, where he worked as a journeyman until 1858. From Cincinnati he went to Charleston, in what is now West Virginia, and worked there imtil the spring of 1859. At that time he returned to Findlay, where he remained until the spring of 1860.

By this time he felt a longing for the farther West and moved to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he remained four years in all. But after a short stay in that place he went to Cleveland, and in that city in 1862 was married to Miss Julia P. Hollister, a native of Jonesville, Saratoga county, New York. He then returned to Fond du Lac, and in the summer of 1865 came to Brookfield. Soon after his arrival in that city he bought a small business establishment and went to work. His line of commodities included tinware, hardware, stoves and kindred articles of merchandise, and by industry, enterprise and good management of a high order gradually built up a large and flourishing trade.

had the leading hardware establishment in the citj'. In 1871 this block was destroyed by fire, and Mr. Post then built the fine block now occupied by the James Jewelry Company. He retired from business in 1892, selling his plant and good will to his son, Marvin C. Post, a sketch of whom will be found in this work. When the father retired he went to California and resided at Pomona, California, where he passed the remainder of his life and died on November 3, 1896, at the age of fifty-eight years.

Mr. Post was a Freemason, and a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, four of whom are living : Minnie, who is now the wife of Jno. D. Howe, of Brookfield; Marvin C, who is now conducting the business he purchased of his father, and which he has expanded to greater proportions than it had when he acquired it ; Louie, who is the wife of Frank Arnold of Brookfield ; and Kate, who is the wife of George Howard of Walla Walla, Washington.

Mrs. Post, the mother of these children, is a daughter of Ephraim HoUister, a pioneer in Ohio, who was captain of a company in the Union army during the Civil war, and lost his li:ft in that renowned and sanguinary conflict. She is still living at the age of seventy years, but so hale, vigorous and active, that she gives her personal attention to all her large property interests. Carrjdng out the spirit of improvement shown by her husband, she has erected five modern dwellings in Brookfield within the last few years. She is one of the most highly esteemed matrons in the county, and is well worthy of all the regard bestowed upon her.

Jonathan Burdall

For years a stationary engineer, and connected with prominent manufactories while engaged in that occupation, then a farmer for almost a quarter of a century, and now one of the leading merchants of Brookfield, Jonathan Burdall has had an extended and varied experience in usefulness and self-development, and the manner in which he manages his business at present shows that he has profited by the lessons of life as they have come to him, and used them all for his benefit.

Mr. Burdall was born in Lincolnshire, England, on August 21, 1840, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Chantrey) Burdall, also natives of that country. The father was a watchmaker and machinist, and came to the United States with his family in 1850. He first located himself and his family in Utica, New York, and there he remained four years.

At the end of that period he moved to Syracuse in the same state, and some little time afterward to Zanesville, Ohio. During the Civil War he enlisted in 1863 in an Ohio regiment of volunteer infantry. But military service proved too severe for him, and he died in a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1864. The mother died in Chicago in 1886.

Of the four sons and two daughters born of their union only three of the sons are living. The grandfather of these children, William Burdall, died in England, where the family had lived for many generations, in 1848. He was a good representative of the honest and industrious yoemanry of England, and both his son and his grandson, the interesting subject of this brief memoir, have exemplified in their daily lives of usefulness and fidelity to duty many of the best traits of American citizenship.

Jonathan Burdall was but ten years of age when the family came to this country. He attained his manhood in the state of New York, and in its schools completed the education he had begun in those of his native land. When he left school he began working for himself as a stationary engineer, and after acquiring a thorough knowledge of the work, moved to Saginaw, Michigan, in 1862, and there operated and managed the first steam salt works, the manufacture of salt being a leading industry in the region to which he gave new impulse, improved methods and commanding success.

In 1865 he changed his residence to Chicago and there operated an engine until 1867, when he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he remained until 1870. In that year he came to Brookfield, and soon afterward took up his residence on a farm in Grantsville township, on which he lived and labored prosperously for nearly twenty-three years. In 1892 he again located in Brookfield and turned his attention to merchandising. In 1899 he started the coal business which he is still conducting. He has managed his business with intelligence and care, and has risen to a righ rank in mercantile circles in this part of the state.

Mr. Burdall was married in 1859 to Miss Helen D. Greer, a native of New York state. They have six children living: William J., who resides in Chicago; Helen D., who is now the wife of J. H. Shafer, of St. Joseph, Missouri; John S., whose home is at Pingree, Idaho; Jennie, who is the wife of Matthew Penhole, of the state of Washington; Lena, who is the wife of J. F. Hunter and also a resident of Washington; and Harry G., who was a resident of Topeka, Kansas, and has since died November 19, 1911. All the members of the family belong to the Baptist church, and all, in their several localities, are regarded with esteem because of

Frederick W. Gould

Born and reared on a farm and himself a farmer from his youth, the life story of Frederick W. Gould, one of the prominent farmers of Jefferson township, in this county, presents few spectacular features and has but little of what is thrilling in incident and adventure in its make-up. He has, however, lived in various places and mingled with people working under widely differing conditions, and in this way has had variety in his experience which has been of great value to him in teaching him knowledge of himself and of his fellow men.

Mr. Gould was born near Toronto, Canada, on December 1, 1852, and moved with his parents, first across the line into the state of New York, and then by gradual stages westward until they finally located in Linn county. He is a son of James and Mary (Matthews) Gould, natives of Somersetshire, England, where the father's life began in 1817 and the mother's in 1821. They were married in that part of England in 1850, and in the same year emigrated to Canada, where they lived nine years.

In 1859 they moved to Niagara county. New York, where the father farmed until 1865. He then changed his residence to Hillsdale, Michigan, and there the family lived until 1879. In that year all its members took another flight in the direction of the setting sun, and came to Missouri, locating in Livingston county. After a residence of six years in that county they moved to Linn county, and here, in 1885, the father bought a farm of 102 acres, the greater part of which is now within the corporate limits of the town of Laclede. On this farm the father died in 1904. The mother is still living, aged ninety, but even at that age full of animation and energy, and sound and vigorous in body.

The father was married twice, his first union being with a Miss Carp. By his marriage with that lady he became the father of four children, two of whom are living, one in Laclede, this county, and one in California. The fruits of his second marriage were six children, four of whom are living: Frederick W., the immediate subject of this sketch; Emma, who remains at home and cares for her mother; Agnes K., who is the wife of Edgar Van Fleet and resides in Hillsdale, Michigan, and Everett E. The mother belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which the father was also a devout member in his lifetime.

that of thirteen in Niagara county, New York, and to that of twentyseven in Hillsdale county, Michigan. He was thirty-three when he became a resident of Linn county, and has lived here twenty-seven years. He has never been engaged in any other occupation than farming, but he has made a success of that, both in the quality of his work and the profits he has secured in it. He is progressive and enterprising, studies his land and the advances in the science of agriculture, and uses excellent judgment based on intelligence in all his operations on the farm.

In political faith and allegiance he adheres to the Republican party and in a quiet and unostentatious way works for its success in all campaigns. But he has never sought or desired a public office of any kind, although, for the good of the community, he has filled some in the township in which he lives. But his interest in the welfare of his locality and its people is constant and practical, and finds expression in the support he gives all matters of public improvement. He has never married.

Moses B. Harter

The interesting subject of this brief memoir was brought to Missouri and Linn county at an early period of its history and when he was himself a boy but seven years old. Since then he has had a somewhat adventurous career, living and working in a number of different localities and employed in several different pursuits. He has also contributed directly and substantially to the growth and development of this county and given considerable aid to the expansion of some of its industries.

Mr. Harter was born in Harrison county, Virginia, now West Virginia, on August 2, 1860, a son of Charles P. and Margaret (Utterback) Harter, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Virginia. The father was a merchant and hotelkeeper in West Virginia until 1867, when he moved his family to this county. He located in Laclede and was for some time engaged in the meat business there, then turned his attention to farming, which he still follows. During the Civil War he served in the Union army in the West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, and after the close of the sectional strife returned to his West Virginia home and former occupations.

He was married in West Virginia some years before the war, and he and his wife became the parents of seven sons and two daughters. Five of the sons and two of the daughters are living, and four of the seven reside in Linn county. Moses B., -who was the second cMld of the family in the order of birth, grew from the age of seven years to manhood in tliis county and obtained his education in the schools of Laclede. He began life as a farmer here, but soon afterward went to Prescott, Arizona, where he engaged in silver mining for one year. He then returned to Missouri and passed the next three years in the southem part of the state training horses for speed, especially as trotters.

At the end of the last period mentioned he came back to Linn county, and here he has ever since resided, having lived on the farm he now owns and occupies nineteen years. The farm comprises 160 acres and is devoted to farming in a general way. But Mr. Harter makes a specialty of breeding horses and jacks for the market. The strains he breeds in horses are pedigreed trotters and registered Percherons and Belgians for draft purposes. He has been very successful in the business and the output of his stables has a high rank in the marts of trade and throughout a wide extent of the country surrounding Linn county.

Mr. Harter was first married on March 7, 1887, to Miss Elva 0. Means, a daughter of Jacob and Margaret Means, who came to this " county to live about 1870. Mr. and Mrs. Harter had two children: Their son Herbert C, who is a resident of the state of Iowa, and their daughter, who is now the wife of Harry Baylis, of Linn coimty. The mother died in 1891, and on September 22, 1907, the father contracted a second marriage in which he was united with Miss Elizabeth Sensenich, a daughter of John and Harriet (Diller) Sensenich, who became residents of Linn county in 1878. No children have been bpm of Mr. Harter 's second marriage.

Li the public affairs of the township and county of his home Mr. Harter has taken a deep and serviceable interest, and has rendered the people excellent ser\nee as township trustee. He is a Republican in political faith and allegiance, a member of the Modem Woodmen of America in fraternal relations, and belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church in religious connection. The people of the county know him well and esteem him hio^hlv.

Oscar H. Pratt

This enterprising and progressive farmer and highly esteemed citizen of Clay township, this county, has a very unusual record in this part of the country in the fact that he was bom, reared and has passed the whole of his life to the present time (1912) on the faim on which he now lives. He therefore understands thoroughly the soil he is cultivating, and the results of his farming show that he knows how to handle it wisely. He also knows his township and its people well, is familiar with their needs and aspirations, and with true public spirit and genuine interest in their welfare, he does his part as fully as he can in helping to provide for the best interests of the region and all that is connected with it.

Mr. Pratt's life began on June 22, 1868, and he is a son of Henry and Ibeline (Connelly) Pratt, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Kentucky. The father was born in 1825 and the mother in 1828. The father was reared to the age of nineteen in his native state, and in 1841 came from there to Missouri and Linn county in company with his brother, John M. Pratt, who was for many years a respected and influential citizen of this county, where his life ended in 1904.

Oscar H. Pratt 's father, Henry Pratt, was a poor young man when he came to this state, bringing with him nothing in the way of capital but his stout heart, clear brain and ready hand, all guided by a resolute spirit and a self-reliant nature that made him ready for any requirement or emergency. The first money he ever earned he was paid for splitting rails, and with this he purchased a hat. After his arrival in Linn county he vv^orked on farms by the month, and in a few years accumulated enough to secure 200 acres of wild and unbroken land. He got this into a state of some fruitfulness, and then his profits began to increase at a more rapid rate and about 1855 he was able to purchase 191 acres of the farm his son now lives on. This was also wild land when he became possessed of it, but he improved it, and cultivated it with skill and vigor, making a good farm and a comfortable home of it, and living on it until his death, which occurred on June 30, 1891. The mother died on September 7, 1894.

They Avere the parents of eight children, of whom six are living: William, John, Arthur and Oscar, sons, and Alice and Emma, daughters. Alice is now the widow of Daniel Maynard, of Kansas City, and Emma is the wife of W. P. Thorne, of Linneus. The parents belonged to the Baptist church, which they joined in 1865. The father kept on buying land as fast as he cold clear, break up and improve it, and at one time owned 701 acres.

The life story of Oscar H. Pratt presents no specially dramatic or showy features. It is that of a plain, industrious, thrifty and enterprising farmer; a good citizen attentive to every duty required of him in regard to the civil, social and political life of his community; a faithful and capable official when called into the public service, and an upright, reputable, worthy and estimable man in every relation in life. As such he has won a strong hold on the confidence and esteem of the people all over Linn county.

Mr. Pratt was married on December 5, 1906, to Miss Alice E. Harris, a native of Nodaway county, Missouri, whose parents, George and Elizabeth (McPherrin) Harris, now live in Brookfield. One child has been born of the union, a son named Howard H. Mr. Pratt is a Democrat in political relations, and as such has served as township trustee, but serving with equal fidelity all of the people without regard to party considerations. Fraternally he is a member of the Order of Elks, and takes a cordial and helpful interest in the work of his lodge. He is in all respects an excellent citizen and a very useful man in his neighborhood.

Eugene Sidebottom

Having come to Linn county as a boy of six almost at the dawn of authentic history in this region, and having lived in the ,county continuously for a longer period than almost any other of its present residents, Eugene Sidebottom, of Clay township, would be revered as a personage of interest by its people if he had no other title to their regard. But he has also been a constant and serviceable contributor to the progress and improvement of the coimty from his youth, and for many years a factor of moment in its industrial and commercial influence and importance. He is a progressive, enterprising and prosperous farmer, a wide-awake and public-spirited citizen and a representative man in this part of Missouri.

Mr. Sidebottom was born in Mason county, Kentucky, on June 18, 1851. His parents, Robinson E. and Nancy (Burton) Sidebottom, were also natives of Kentucky, the former born in Green county and the latter in same state and county. The father's life began in 1809. He was reared in Green county and obtained his education in the primitive schools of his boyhood in a region then not far from the borders of civilization, if not actually on the frontier. He worked on his father's farm while growing to manhood, and after leaving school began farming on his own account, and also assisted in a distillery owned an(' operated by his father.

While yet young he became a convert to the Christian religion according to the creed of the Methodist Episcopal church, and soon afterward began preaching in its service, starting his work in the ministry as early as 1832, when he was but twenty-three years of age. He preached in Kentucky until 1857, when he moved his family to Missouri and located in Linn county on a farm between Linneus and Laclede, which he occupied for four years. The family made the trip from Kentucky by boat, down the Ohio and up the Mississippi and Missouri to Brunswick, Chariton county. There the weary voyagers disembarked, and the rest of their journey was made overland with teams, and it was wearying, too, although not a great distance.

The father at once began preaching, in connection with his farming operations, in the course of a short time holding meetings in all parts of the county. He continued his church work almost to the time of his death, which occurred in 1879, and built the Methodist Episcopal church in Laclede and others at different places. He married many of the older persons in the county and preached a great many funeral sermons, being always ready to respond to any call to duty, and always faithful in the performance of any task he undertook, however great the inconvenience or discomfort to himself.

In 1862 he bought the farm on which his son Eugene now lives, which was a partly improved tract of prairie when he purchased it, and which he broke up and improved with comfortable buildings, good fences and other requirements. He passed the remainder of his days on this farm looking after its cultivation and further development. His widow survived him twenty years, passing away in 1899. They were the parents of ten children, seven sons and three daughters. Six of the ten are living, three of them in this county, and all esteemed as among its most worthy citizens.

The grandfather, William Sidebottom, was born in Virginia and in his young manhood became a pioneer in Kentucky. He was a planter and distiller, carrying on both industries for many years, but in the latter part of his life closing his distillery and destroying his still. In the Revolutionary War he fought under General Washington and won his approval, earlier members of the family having come to this country from Wales prior to that event and became extensive planters in the Old Dominion while it was still under the domination of the British crown.

Eugene Sidebottom was reared from the age of six to manhood in this county and obtained his education in its schools of the period of his boyhood, which were not unlike those attended by his father in Kentucky. As soon as he was able he began assisting in the work of the farm which required every available hand and all the force the family could command for its cultivation and development. He has lived on it ever since, and in its present high state of improvement and productiveness it represents the work of two generations of the same family, or three, in fact, for his sons aided him in farming it during their minority as he did his father during the life of that gentleman in this part of the country.

Mr. Sidebottom was married in Linn county on March 14, 1880, to Miss Alma M. Hardy, a daughter of Moses D. Hardy, who came to this county in 1865. Of the eight children born of the union six are living: Jay D., who resides in Colorado; Edwin E., who has his home in Montana; Mark E., who lives in Texas; Alvin H., also a resident of Colorado ; Ruth B., who is a teacher in the Commercial college at Cameron, Missouri, and Lissa May, who is still a member of the parental household, but is now pursuing a special course of instruction in music in Indianapolis, Indiana. The father is a Eepublican in politics, but he has never been an active partisan and has never held or desired a public office. Both parents are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church in Mead%'ille. Mr. Sidebottom 's father and mother and his maternal grandmother, Jane Bui-ton, were buried in Linn county at the time of their demise. In all parts of the county he is held in the highest esteem for his genuine worth and elevated citizenship.

Edmund B. Allen

Born on a farm in Indiana, and when he was one year old taken by his parents from the locality of his birth and brought to Missouri; reared by them on a fanu in this state the land of which was acquired from the government and was still virgin to the plow, never yet having heard the persuasive voice of the husbandman or felt the quickening and softening influence of his molding hand; then being chosen by the people of the county of his residence to serve them in an important official position, after passing a number of years as a grocer in active trade with the public, Edmund B. Allen, of Laclede, in this county, has had a varied experience, but the basis of it all has been connection with the soil and the interests of those who cultivate it.

Mr. Allen's life began in Daviess county, Indiana, on December 28, 1853, and he is a son of Rev. Calvin and Elvira (Crook) Allen, the former born near Paint Rock, Campbell county, Tennessee, on October 26, 1827, and the latter in Henry county, Indiana, in 1829. The history of their lives is briefly given on another page of this volume. Their son Edmund B., who is the only one of their offspring now living, came with them and the other members of the family to Grundy county, Missouri, in 1854, and to Laclede, in Linn county, in the fall of 1875.

In 1876 he began an enterprise in the grocery and dry goods trade in partnership with J. N. AVilson, with which he was connected a number of years. In 1894 he was elected sheriff of Linn county, and in March, 1906, was appointed internal revenue collector for this district with his office in St. Louis, and on March 1, 1910, he was reappointed to this position for a term of four years. He has performed the duties of the office in a way that has been entirely satisfactory to the government and also to the men and corporations affected by its operations, and his wisdom and capacity as a public official have been warmly commended by both.

Mr. Allen has been a zealous and effective worker in political affairs on the Republican side of the line from his youth, and served as chairman of the Linn .county central committee of his party for ten years continuously. But while loyal to his party, in office and out, he has never allowed his party spirit to overbear or diminish his interest in the substantial and enduring welfare of his township and county, but has at all times taken an active part in promoting that and the comfort, convenience and general advancement of their residents.

Throughout all of the thirty-seven years of his residence in Linn coimty he has never allowed an undertaking of value for the betterment of the region to go without his intelligent and serviceable support, and he has been at the origin of many good projects in this behalf. In connection with all such matters he has been as helpful through the wisdom of his counsel in reference to them as he has been energetic and productive in practical work. He sees clearly, he acts promptly, he employs all his resources in matters of public improvement, and his plans in reference to them always take in the whole situation. He is regarded in all parts of Linn coimty as one of Jefferson township's most useful, upright and representative citizens, and his record in public and private life fully sustains and justifies the high estimate placed on his worth by all classes of the people and universally approved.

James Goodwine

The most extensive farmer and live stock breeder and dealer in Linn county is James Goodwine, whose farm in Parsons creek township comprises 1,500 acres, and whose operations in live stock are commensurate with his acreage. Carrying on his business at the magnitude it has, he is one of the most useful citizens in respect to the material interests of the county, and one of the great public benefactors in this part of the state. He necessarily employs a large number of persons and thereby gives comfort, prosperity and happiness to numbers of homes and their inmates; and as his productions must be very considerable, he adds by them greatly to the industrial and commercial importance, influence and material wealth of the county.

Mr. Goodwine was born near the city of Danville in Vermilion county, Illinois, on May 19, 1851, and is a son of John W. and Jane (Charleton) Goodwine, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Tennessee. The father farmed in his native state until 1848, when he moved to Vermilion county, Illinois, and there in a few years became a leader in farming and live stock operations, his business equaling in magnitude that of almost any other man in the state, if he did not surpass them all. He died in Illinois in 1909 after making a record of which any might justly be proud. He was married twice, and his second wife is still living.

Their son James was reared in his native county, and after completing his education farmed 680 acres of the parental homestead for a number of years, devoting himself to general farming and raising live stock. He, therefore, had good training for his enterprise in this county before he began it. In 1906 he came to Linn county and bought the farm of 1,500 acres, which he now owns, lives on and cultivates. He is a wise and judicious farmer, as well as a very vigorous, industrious and enterprising one, always driving his business and never giving it a chance to drive him, and his returns are fully in keeping with the magnitude and character of his work and the skill of his management of it. This is equally true of the live stock department of his great industry, and together they form two great currents, one of outlay in effort and the other of income in results, that are striking in their volume and the steadiness of their constant and continually augmenting flow.

Mr. Goodwine was married in January - , 1879, to Miss Minerva King, a native of New Jersey. She died on September 1, 1901, leaving five of her children to mourn their loss: Nellie, who is the wife of J. C. Newberry, and resides in Henning, Illinois; Roy, who is associated in business with his father; Harry, who also lives in Missouri; Marie, who has charge of her father's household: and Goldie, who is the wife of Frank Hoover, and has her home in Danville, Illinois.

time and energy to take an earnest and very practical interest in the affairs of his township and county, and labor effectively for the welfare of their residents. By the very nature of his mind and make-up he is progressive and always looking for the best and most considerable results. He applies this disposition to the improvement and further development of the locality in which he lives with the same energy and excellent judgment that impels it in connection with his private business, and this makes him one of the best citizens of the county, which everybody acknowledges him to be.

John C. Ailor

Although a native of Tennessee and born in the eastern part of that state, seven hundred or eight hundred miles from his present residence, John C. Ailor, one of the best known and most enterprising and successful farmers and live stock men in Parsons creek township, this county, is to all intents and purposes a Linn county man, as all that he is and all that he has achieved are Linn county products. He was but three years old when his parents brought him to this locality from his former Tennessee home, and his growth, mental and physical training, social culture, capacity and enterprise as a citizen have been acquired here.

Mr. Ailor 's life began in eastern Tennessee in 1848, his parents, Luke and Edith ( Wood) Ailor, being then residents of that part of our neighboring state. The father was a farmer and brought his family to Missouri in 1851, making the journey by means of an ox team, and consuming the greater part of two months in doing it. On his arrival in this county he first located east of Linneus on the Carroll farm, where he lived two years. He then bought the farm of 100 acres on which his son John C. now lives. The whole tract was covered with timber at the time, and he and his sons cleared it for farming and brought it to high productiveness by their continued and well applied industry.

The mother died on this farm in 1888 and the father in 1893. They were the parents of two sons and six daughters, all living but two of the daughters, four of the surviving six being residents of this county. The father was a renowned hunter, killing turkeys, deer and other game in great quantities for a number of years. "When he settled on this farm there were only two houses for dwellings in this part of the county. He did his trading at Linneus and at Brunswick on the river, places near at hand and easy of access now, but then distant and difficult to get to by reason of the lack of roads, bridges and other facilities of travel.

John C. Ailor grew to manhood on the farm he now owns and occupies, in the clearing and breaking up of which he assisted, and aided in cultivating it until the death of his father, when he became the owner of it. He has ever since farmed it, and for a number of years has also been extensively engaged in raising live stock on it, breeding registered horses of the Percheron strain, registered jacks and superior grades of hogs and cattle. He has made both his farming and his stock industry profitable by giving each careful attention and conducting them with intelligence and good judgment, always studying the needs of his business and applying the results of his study and observation judiciously.

Mr. Ailor is a Democrat in political relations, but he has never been an active partisan or sought or desired a political office, although he has served for a number of years on the school board. In religious affiliation he is connected with the Church of Christ. On October 6, 1877, he was united in marriage with Miss Bettie Martin, a daughter of Valentine and Vashti (Boone) Martin, both now deceased, who came to this county from Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Ailor have six children living: Dora, who is the wife of Charles Goodwin and resides in this county; Charles, whose home is in Oi-egon; Earl, who is also a resident of Linn county; and Adelbert, Jessie and Mark, who are still living at home with their parents. The father is a public-spirited and progressive man with reference to the affairs of his township and county, as he is in connection with his own, and is Avidely known as a very enterprising and useful citizen. The people of the whole county esteem him for his genuine worth and elevated manhood.

William A. Balcom

Born on a farm in the state of New York, reared from the age of five years on another in Wisconsin, a Union soldier during a portion of the Civil War, and since 1866 a farmer in Linn county, William A. Balcom, of Jefferson township, has been useful in many places and in different capacities, and in each has proven himself worthy of esteem because of his fidelity to duty and his ability in performing it. His life has been varied in location and calling, but he has always been the

Mr. Balcom is one of the fast fading body of hardy pioneers who laid the foundations of Linn county's civil, educational and religious institutions, and started it on its interesting career of progress. He has lived long among this people, and been permitted to witness and enjoy the fruits of the early labors of his companions and himself, who came to this part of the state when it was but little past its days of an almost untrodden domain, and the people revere him as one of the county's real founders, subsequent builders and present patriarchs.

His life began in Wayne county, New York, July 13, 1837, and he is a son of Jesse and Martha (Reed) Balcom, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of the state of New York. The father was a mason and farmer. He lived in New York state imtil 1843, then moved his family to Walworth county, Wisconsin, where he cleared a tract of eighty acres of wild land near Lake Geneva and transformed it into a good farm. Both parents died in Wisconsin. They had five children, three of whom are living, William being the only one residing in Missouri. The grandfather, John Balcom, was a manufacturer and farmer. He died in New York.

William A. Balcom was but iive years old when his i^arents moved from New York to Wisconsin. He grew to manhood on the Walworth county farm, which he helped to clear and improve, and obtained a common school education in the neighborhood. His life was uneventful until 1864, when he enlisted in the Union army in the Forty-ninth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, then it assumed something of a tragic nature. He served until the close of the war, but saw no actual hostilities, being assigned during his whole connection with the army to detail duty in St. Louis.

When the war's ruffled plumes were smoothed and the battle flags were furled, he returned to his Wisconsin home, and in 1866 came to Missouri and Linn county. He located in Jefferson township, where he is still engaged in farming on a farm he has occupied ten years. He helped to clear two others and finally bought this one as a permanent residence. He has cultivated it with intelligence and vigor, and it shows in its every phase and feature the marks of skillful husbandry.

Mr. Balcom has been married three times. His first rmion was with Miss Elizabeth Kady, and was solemnized in this state in 1867. She died in 1869, and he was united in his second marriage, with Miss Laura B. Brunemer, in 1871. She passed away in 1879, leaving one daughter, who is now Mrs. May Duroche and lives in Rosedale, Kansas.

The third marriage took place in 1882 and joined him with Miss Nannie E. Ciough, a native of Missouri and daughter of Elbridge and Lettie (Sensintaffaer) Ciough, long esteemed residents of this county. They have two sons living, Russel L. and Harold C. The mother is still living also. The father is a Republican in politics and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic fraternally. He is an admirable type of the sturdy pioneer, a man of high character, and is everywhere held in the most cordial and admiring esteem.

Clellen G. Bigger

Having filled the office of county surveyor of Linn county for a continuous period of twenty-seven years, and since leaving it having still been engaged in surveying in many parts of the county, and having filled a number of county and township offices at ditferent times in his long career of usefulness to his people, Clellen G. Bigger of Marceline towjiship is probably the best known and most extensively acquainted man in the county. He has carried his compass and surveyor's chain all over it and become familiar with and known to the people in every section by mingling freely and frequently with them. Wherever he is known he is highly esteemed as a sterling man and useful citizen, and one whom the residents of the county would hardly know how to do without.

Mr. Bigger is a native of Marion county, Kentucky, where his life began on October 22, 1837. His parents, Harrison E. and Keziah (Crews) Bigger, were natives of Virginia. The father was born in February 3, 1813, in that state and was taken to Kentucky by his parents in his childhood. After reaching man's estate he became a farmer and continued his labors as such to the end of his life. He moved to Missouri in 1844 and located in Linn county, taking up his residence at first in the western part and afterward removing to a tract of 160 acres of wild land four miles south of Linneus. He cleared this piece of land and transformed it into a farm of considerable value, then moved to another adjoining it, on which he died on May 10, 1886. The mother died in 1852, and the father married twice after her death, losing his second wife also by an untimely demise long before her period of usefulness was ended.

By his first marriage, which was with the mother of Clellen G. Bigger, he became the father of two sons and three daughters who grew to maturity. Clellen G. and one of his brothers are the only members of the family now living. Another brother of the subject of this brief review was a soldier in the Federal army during the Civil war before he reached the age of manhood and died of the measles at Macon, Missouri, October 14, 1862, while in the service. He belonged to Company I, Twenty-third Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and saw considerable field duty while his life lasted.

By one of his subsequent marriages the father begot three sons and one daughter. Of these four children three are living. His father, William Bigger, the grandfather of Clellen G., was born and reared in England. When he came to this country soon after the Revolution he located in Virginia, and when the war of 1812 was in progress he raised a regiment for the defense of his adopted country against the aggression of the land of his nativity. The war was of short duration and his regiment was never called into active service, but was ready for the call at any time. From Virginia the grandfather moved to Kentucky, where he died. He was a civil engineer by profession and found plenty of professional work to do, in the unimproved state of that part of the country in which he lived.

Clellen G. Bigger was reared and educated in this county, attending first the district schools and afterward a school of more advanced grade in Linneus. He taught school for a number of years, and also began the study of medicine in the office and under the direction of Dr. Powers of Linneus. But destiny had marked him for other duties than the practice of medicine, and when its call came he obeyed it without hesitation or reluctance. In 1861 he was appointed county surveyor to succeed Jacob Holland, who resigned the office after holding it a short time.

This appointment changed all the plans Mr. Bigger had formed for himself. He filled the office of county surveyor for twenty-seven years in succession, and since giving it up has continued his work as a surveyor. In 1861, during August and September, he was a member of the Provisional State Militia. He also served four years as president of the comity court, as county assessor in 1866, and as deputy sheriff and tax collector for two years, while from time to time other township or county offices had the benefit of his wisdom, intelligence and ability as their incumbent.

In politics he is a pronounced Republican. In fraternal relations he is connected with the Masonic order. In local public affairs he has long been one of the forceful and energetic agencies for good, aiding in the promotion of the enduring welfare of his township and county by every means at his command, and as a farmer, in spite of his other engagements, numerous and exacting as they have been, he is in the froiit rank. He located on his present farm in Marceline township in 1872, and it has been his home ever since.

So accurate has been Mr. Bigger 's work as a surveyor that it has brought liim a high and wide-spread reputation. During the construction of the Santa Fe Railroad he was called upon to measure forty miles of it to settle a dispute between the company and some of the contractors who were building the road. He was married on August 24, 1870, to Miss Leah J. Powers, a daughter of Dr. J. F. and Isabella M. (Brownlee) Powers of Linneus. Nine children have been born to the union : Guy W. ; Mabel, who is now the wife of Samuel N. Roseberry of Bucklin ; Edward M. ; Ida, who is living at home ; Ray F. ; Charles ; and Eva, Harry and Lucile, all of whom are still under the parental rooftree. No citizen of Linn county stands higher in the regard of the people than Mr. Bigger, and none deserves to.

William R. Frakes

A pioneer of Linn county and one of the best farmers in Jefferson township, William R. Frakes has two strong titles to local distinction and public regard, and they are bestowed on him bj^ the people of the county in liberal measure. He is modest, however, and claims no special consideration for himself, even though he has himself been the architect and builder of his career, and was also, during the Civil War, something of a martyr to the sectional strife that so woefully devastated portions of our country and recovered from his losses then sustained by his own efforts.

Mr. Frakes was born in Perry county, Indiana, on Christmas day, 1844. His parents, John D. and Nancy (Brown) Frakes, were born in Kentucky, the former in Nelson county, in 1811, and the latter in Meade county, in 1818. The father was reared and educated in his native state, and soon after attaining his manhood moved to Indiana. In 1857 he moved his family to Missouri, and located in Laclede. In 1861 he bought a farm in Jefferson township, all prairie land, on which he erected one of the first dwellings built in that locality, and on that farm he passed the rest of his life and died on February 7, 1874. The mother died on January 10, 1895. They had six children, five of whom grew to maturity. All are now deceased but William and his sister, Mrs. Elvira Moore, who resides in Kansas City, Kansas.

A, Eighteenth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, but at the end of eighteen months he was discharged on account of disability incurred in the service. He was first a Whig and later a Republican in politics. The paternal grandfather, John Frakes, of Scotch ancestry, was born in Kentucky and died in Indiana, well advanced in years and standing high in his community. He also was a farmer, as many of his forefathers were and all his male descendants have been, and those of them who are living still are.

William E. Frakes was twelve years old when he was brought by his parents to Laclede, and completed his education in the common school in that town. He began the task of providing for his own livelihood on a farm and has been a farmer ever since. During the Civil War his home was robbed by the predatory spoilesmen known as bushwhackers, who terrorized large portions of this state and did a great deal of damage, ostensibly in behalf of the cause in the contest which they represented, but in large degree for their own benefit, and the persecution of those opposed to them.

Mr. Frakes began farming for himself in 1872, and soon afterward traded the farm he then owned for the one he now owns and cultivates, which he has vastly improved and made one of the best in the township. He has made his improvements with judgment and good taste, and done his farming with intelligence and skill. Every acre under cultivation yields good returns for the labor bestowed upon it, because he so manages the work that it must, and omits no effort on his part to bring the desired result.

On November 3, 1872, Mr. Frakes was united in marriage with Miss Madeline McCoy, who was born in Chariton county, this state. Her parents came to Missouri in the fifties, and were early settlers in the locality of their home. Six children have been born of the union: William E., who died on December 25, 1910; Ira B., who is a farmer; and Ernest W., Nancy, Margaret and Charles J., all of whom are still living under the parental rooftree. All the members of the family enjoy a large measure of public esteem and all are well worthy of the regard in which thev are held.

Dr. David F. Howard

With wise forethought and judicious liberality Peter F. and Phoebe (Davis) Howard, the parents of Dr. David F. Howard, one of the rising physicians and surgeons of Brookfield, moved their family from their farm in Montgomery county, Missouri, to Kirksville when their chil- dren were yet young in order to give them good educational advantages. They were born in AVarren and Audrain counties, this state, and early in life became residents of Montgomery county, where the father engaged in farming.

On the farm he cultivated there the doctor was born on March 3, 1870. When he was five years old the change of residence to Kirksville took place, and in that city he was educated academically, attending first the district school and afterward the State Normal School and the business college there. After accomplishing the object of their residence in Kirksville the parents moved to Brookfield, where the father died in 1895. The mother is still living and continues to reside in Brookfield. They had five children, two of whom, both sons, are living.

The doctor's grandfather, David Howard, was long a resident of Warren county, and from there as his base of operations he became a very successful trapper and hunter. When he moved to Warren county from his native state of Kentucky, the whole region around him in his new home was a wilderness, and it gave him fine opportunities for carrying on his chosen occupation, but in the pursuit of it he often had to defend himself and his possessions from the attacks of hostile Indians, who sought to get the fruits of his enterprise and who also resented his intrusion into their hunting grounds. But he was equal to the requirements. As well as Avinning celebrity by his success in hunting and trapping. He died of cholera in St. Louis in 1849 while on an expedition to that city for supplies. His remains were smuggled back to Warren county and buried there.

Dr. Howard first came to Brookfield in 1882, and for a number of years made an excellent reputation as a clerk and bookkeeper, and finally was selected as a bookkeeper in the Linn County Bank. He began the study of medicine in 1898, and after a due course of preparation in the State University, passed two years in the medical department of Washington University in St. Louis, from which he was graduated in 1903. He at once returned to Brookfield and began the practice of his profession, in which he is still engaged, with a steadily increasing body of patients and a steadily rising and widening reputation as a physician.

The doctor has been well located for business, being associated with Dr. Oven in office occupancy, and he has taken all means at his command to improve himself in his profession and keep abreast of its rapid advance. He is a diligent student of its literature and an active member of the county and state medical societies. He attends their meetings and takes an active part in their proceedings, contributing

Dr. Howard was married on May 18, 1892, to Miss Lena Barbee, a native of Linn county. They have one .child, their daughter Euth. The doctor takes an active part in the fraternal life of the community as a member of the Woodmen of the World, and in religious matters as a member of the Christian church. He is attentive to the claims of both his church and his lodge, as he is to all those involving the advancement of his city and county and the general welfare of their people. No worthy undertaking for the further development and improvement of the locality in which he lives goes without his energetic and helpful support, and all his efforts are directed by intelligence and breadth of view.

Making rapid progress in his profession, widely known in the county, standing high in public estimation, and enjoying the cordial regard of a host of admiring friends, the esteem bestowed upon him wherever he is known is based on genuine merit, which he has shown he possesses by his close attention to his professional work, his high character as a man, his fidelity to duty in every way, and the elevated and progressive nature of his citizenship, which is a valuable and valued addition to the manhood and public spirit of Brookfield and Linn county.

John M. Kerr

Orphaned at the age of two years by the death of his father., and thereby deprived of many advantages he might otherwise have enjoyed in the way of education and a start in life, John M. Kerr, who is now one of the leading farmers of Linn county, has had to shift for himself from an early period, although living at home with his mother, and from the age of eleven to that of twenty-two with her and her second husband. But he was made of the proper metal for endurance, and took his part in the battle of life with a firm and confident spirit from the start.

Mr. Kerr was born at Greenfield, Highland county, Ohio, on July .3, 1853, and is a son of Elder and Nancy Kerr, also natives of that state. The father was a farmer, and a few months after the birth of his son John moved his family to Hancock county, Illinois, where he died in 1855. He was the father of two sons and two daughters, and of these children only John M. and one brother and sister are living. His sister

About the year 1864 the mother was married a second time, uniting herself with Lafillet E. Fay, and the next year the family moved across the river into Missouri and on to Linn county, making the journey with teams. A new home was found on a tract of new ground in Jetferson township in this county, and on this a dwelling was erected and all the available force in the family went to work to turn the wild domain on which it settled into a productive farm. It was located near the village of Forker, and there the mother died in 1905.

John M. Kerr remained at home until 1875, then bought seventysix acres of his present farm, which now comprises 180 acres, and is one of the best in the township. He was twelve years old when the family came to the county, and the long, slow jaunt was very trying but also very interesting to him. Nor was it without useful lessons for him. It helped to teach him self-reliance, and quickened the development within him of that resolute determination to grapple with and conquer difficulties which has ever since been one of his prominent characteristics.

When he started farming for himself his progress was slow and continued so for some time. But he held every inch he gained and used every additional advance for still further accretions to his power, and in a few years his pace became more rajiid, and he was able to enlarge his operations. He bought additional land from time to time, imtil he secured the ownership of 180 acres, as has been noted, but all the while he kept on improving and enriching the whole tract, and thus adding to his returns.

Early in his career as a farmer he began raising and feeding live stock for the markets, and he is now one of the most extensive and active live stock men in the county. He handles a considerable body of stock every year, and makes his dealings in this commodity pay him well. He is careful and uses good judgment at every stage of his work in this industry, thereby securing the best results attainable, and it tells to his advantage, as is shown by the high rank his output has in the marts of trade.

Mr. Kerr was married in 1891 to Miss Elizabeth Bush, a native of Knox county, in this state. They have two children, their son Lei'oy and their daughter Beulah. The father takes an earnest interest and a serviceable part in the affairs of the county, is always ready to do all he can in aid of all commendable public improvements, and gives close attention to all his duties as a citizen. He is well known and highly esteemed.

Abraham H. Read

Foi' thirty-two years a resident of Linn county, and during the greater portion of the period one of the leading farmers and most esteemed citizens of Jefferson township, the late Abraham H. Read, who died on a small tract of land to which he had retired a few years before, passing away in 1892, at the age of seventy-two years, combined in his characteristics and make-up the thrift and frugality of the Canadian, the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the New Englander, and the breadth of view and enterprise of the Westerner, who dares all for his purpose, working on expansive lines and looking to small things only as matters of necessary detail that cannot be ignored but need not be made much of.

Mr. Read was born near Rutland, Vermont, on January 30, 1821, and was a son of Loton and Elvira (Hutehins) Read, natives of Canada. The father was a carpenter and also followed farming to some extent, in a small way, as they all do in New England, for he moved his family to Vermont early in his married life. Fi'om Vermont he took his wife and offspring to Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and in that state he resided until his death. His father was a soldier in the American army during the Revolutionary War, serving to the end of the contest in a New England regiment, and sharing in the glory of its triumphs in the independence of the United States.

Abraham H. Read was but a child when he was taken by his parents to Pennsylvania, and there he grew to manhood, working on the farm as he passed from boyhood to youth and from youth to maturity, and at the same time receiving such educational training as the district schools of the neighborhood in which he lived afforded. Being trained lo farm work, and feeling no special inclination to anj^ other, soon after leaving school he engaged in farming on his own accoimt, and he followed that pursuit in Pennsylvania until 1857. He was successful in tis operations, but he felt a strong desire for easier labor and more expansive returns, and determined to seek them where they were said \o be found.

He had heard much of the rich lands of the West, especially of tliis rfate and some of its neighbors, and this part of the country seemed to him to embody the fulfillment of his hopes. But before coming to Linn county he took up a tract of wild land in Grant county, Wisconsin, on which he lived and labored three years, from 1857 to 1860. In the spring of the year last named he crossed the great "Father of Waters" and came on to this county. On his arrival here he secured a tract of wild prairie in Jefferson township, and at once began to put it into shape for a permanent residence, and make it the nucleus of a large farm.

As time passed and he prospered he bought additional land and improved that also, always seeking some new responsibility and field of enterprise for the enlargement of his estate. At the time of hi? death he owned and cultivated 350 acres of fine farm land, and had it all in an advanced stage of development and productiveness. Some years before his demise he gave up all large undertakings and moved to a small tract of his land near Forker, on which he died, and on which his widow still lives. She has reached the advanced age of ninety years, but is still hale, vigorous and active. She and her husband were married in about 1846 and by their union became the parents of four children, two of whom are living: Chester A., a prosperous farmer of this county, and Mrs. Flora A. Test, who also lives in Linn county.

Mrs. Test was born in Pennsylvania, and reared and educated in Missouri. On November 24, 1890, she was united with Eugene Test in marriage, and with him engaged in managing a farm. They became the parents of two children by this marriage, all of whom are living. Erwin, the first born, was by a former marriage to Lyman Boomer, and is now residing in the state of Oklahoma. John A., by second marriage, manages the home farm for his mother; and Gladus Viola, the third, is now Mrs. Lewis Bennett, of Chariton coimty. She is admired throughout the township for the spirit and enterprise she has exhibited. But, as has been noted, her son John now relieves her of the burden to a large extent, and is making a good record for himself as an industrious, skillful and progressive farmer.

Henry C. Stockwell

Raising fruit for the markets on an extensive scale is a comparatively new industry in Linn county, and the men who had the hardihood to inaugurate the movement for its introduction and their immediate followers in the matter are entitled to all praise. By their enterprise and daring they gave a new source of commercial power to the county, and the farther they have since carried their operations the more they have augmented that power and expanded its usefulness.

this locality, and has been successful in the venture to such an extent that he has steadily extended his plantings and enlarged his operations in the industry since he began to devote a portion of his fine farm to it. His general farming is considerable and its results are profitable, but his specialty in fruit culture gives his place an unusual interest, and makes it a resort for many who aim to follow his good example.

Mr. Stockwell is a New Yorker by nativity, born in Orange county, in the great Empire State, on July 28, 1853. But, while that county is rich in the production of fruit, he did not remain in it long enough to know anything about the industry there before he left. His parents, Luther and Jane (Dubois) Stockwell (the father was born in Moss and the mother in Orange county. New York), left that county when he was but four years old and moved to Illinois. The father was a physician and pra,cticed his profession in his native state until he left there and afterward in his new home in Illinois until his death. He was born October 28, 1812, and died July 28, 1860. The mother survived him eighteen years, passing away on May 29, 1878.

They had two children, their son Henry C. and their daughter Mahala E., who is now the wife of P. H. Hoyer and resides in Linn county. The son grew from the age of four years to manhood in Illinois and obtained his education in the district schools. He assisted in farm work in his boyhood and youth, and so acquix'ed a knowledge of the industry. And when he was ready to take up the burden of making a livelihood for himself, he became a farmer. To this occupation he has ever since adhered, his only departure from general farming being his cultivation of fruit.