Linn County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1912 (part 9 of 15)

He continued farming in Illinois until 1900, when he came to Missouri and took up his residence in Linn county. On his arrival in this county he bought 120 acres of unimproved land. He has since added to this and now has over 675 acres, and this he has made fruitful in production by his enterprise and skill as a farmer, and attractive as a country home by his excellent judgment and good taste in planning the dwelling, barns and other improvements he has put on it. In erecting his buildings he had an eye to the future, and built with a view to coming needs as well as to present requirements, and so his constructions are ample for a long time to come as well as adapted to every present need.

On October 10, 1889, Mr. Stockwell was united in marriage with Miss Rosa VoUmer. She was born in Grundy county, Illinois, and is a daughter of Gotfried and Anna (Meier) VoUmer, the former born in

Germany and the latter in Switzerland. They came to the United States in 1870. They settled on a farm in Grundy county, Illinois, and later in 1878 moved to Coal City, Illinois, where the father still resides. The mother died a number of years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Stockwell have had six children, and four of them are living: Walter C., Henry D., Elmer L. and Vera A. They are all still members of the parental family circle. The father is a Democrat and active in the service of his party. As its representative he has served on the school board for a number of years. He is well known and well esteemed.

James I. Hamilton

A native of Clay township, in this county, and now engaged in farming the homestead on which he was born, and on which he has passed the whole of his life to this time (1912) except when he was absent at school, James I. Hamilton has a special interest in the welfare and progress of the county, and he manifests it on all occasions by his earnest and intelligent support of all undertakings for the betterment of the region or tlie increase of conveniences and advantages for its residents.

Mr. Hamilton's life began on May 22, 1875, and he is a son of Neanian B. and Mary E. (Couch) Hamilton, the former born in Scotland and the latter in Linn county. The father was brought by his parents to Toronto, Canada, in his infancy, and soon afterward the family moved to Genesee county. New York. There he grew to manhood and obtained a good education in the district and high school convenient to his home. He learned the shoemaker trade and worked at it in New York and Boston imtil about 1857, when he came to this county and opened a shoe shop in Linneus.

This shop he conducted until 1862, and was doing well in his undertaking. But the Civil War stirred his patriotism to its depths, and he determined to go to the defense of the Union. He enlisted in Comi)any he served to the close of the war, most of the time on guard duty protecting the railroads from destruction, and seeing but little field service or much of the sanguinary i)hase of the great sectional conflict.

In 1867, having returned to this county, he bought 160 acres of the farm on which his son James now lives. The land, when he bought it, was in a wild and uncultivated state, and he proceeded to break it up and improve it. As his prosperity increased he bought additional land until he owned 480 acres, all of which he soon had under the plow and bringing him in large returns for his labor. He managed all his farming operations with judgment, conducted his Avork with skill and intelligence, controlled his business affairs with wisdom, and became a man of considerable property and prominent in the affairs of the township and county of his home.

His marriage with Miss Couch took place on March 16, 1872, and resulted in the birth of four children who grew to maturity and are still living. They are: James I., the immediate subject of this brief review; Nettie, who is unmarried; Olive, who is the wife of Jasper Van Horn, of this .county, and Rose, who married David A. Pittman, and is also a resident of Linn county. The father was a Republican in political alle- giance, but he was not an active partisan and never sought a public offi,ce of any kind. He died in October, 1908, but the mother is still living and has her home at Meadville. The grandfather, whose name was also James Hamilton, was born in Scotland and died in Genesee county. New York. He was a shoemaker by trade.

James I. Hamilton was reared on the farm on which he now lives. He began his education in the district schools and completed it at the Chillicothe State Normal School, which he attended three years. When he left that institution he returned to his home and took charge of the farm, and he has been its manager and controlling spirit ever since. He follows general farming and raises and feeds cattle for the markets, doing both on a scale of considerable magnitude and with highly gratifying results.

On Christmas day, 1907, he was joined in wedlock with Miss Susie Phillips, a daughter of William D. and Malcena (Drews) Phillips, natives of Missouri and still active among its people and cordially respected by all classes of them by whom they are known. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have two children, their son James E. and daughter Elizabeth. The head of the house belongs to the Masonic order and takes an active and serviceable part in the work of his lodge in the fraternity. Like his father he is free from active partisanship in political affairs, but he never neglects the duties of citizenship, and in bestowing his suffrage considers only the general welfare of the township and county without regard to political or personal claims. He is well and favorably known throughout the county as one of its most enterprising and promising young farmers and one of its most reliable and estimable citizens in all the relations of life.

James I. Woollen

Having been born and reared on a farm, and having never had any inclination for any other occupation, it is but natural that James I. Woollen, of Clay township, this county, should still be a farmer now when he has passed the half-century mark in life, and has made a gratifying success of the industry. Nor is it surprising that he should be one of the most enterprising and progressive men in the business in this part of the county. For, as he has always regarded farming as his life work, he has studied it diligently and with close observation, and kept himself in touch with the rapid progress in the business, and at all times ready to secure for himself the benefits of all new discoveries in every department of it.

Mr. Woollen was born in Adams county, Illinois, on January 6, 1859, his parents at that time being residents of that county. They were James A. and Susanna (Borgholthous) Woollen, the former a native of Dorchester county, Maryland, and the latter of Holland. The father's life began in 1821 and the mother's in 1826. When the father was seven years old his parents moved to Wayne county, Indiana, where he lived until 1842. He then moved to Adams county, Illinois, and joined one of his brothers, who was living there a few miles south of Quincy.

He was married in 1845, and lived near the Mississippi river until 1892, part of the time in Iowa. In the year last mentioned he came to this county, and here he passed the rest of his life, which ended on August 6, 1910. The mother died here in December, 190G. They were the parents of ten children, five of whom, two sons and three daughters, are living, three of them in Linn county. The father was a Republican in political relations and firm in his loyalty and devotion to the principles of his party.

James I. Woollen was reared to manhood in his native county and educated in its district schools. He began life for himself as a farmer there, and he has adhered to that occupation ever since. He continued his operations in Illinois until 1892, and then came to this county and bought the farm on which he now lives. It comprises 180 acres, the land is of excellent quality and he has improved it with good buildings and furnished his place with all the modern appliances required for its proper cultivation according to the most approved methods of the present day.

breeding Durham cattle and Poland-China hogs. In this department of his industry his work is carried on with sedulous attention to every detail in all stages, and vigilant care in every way to secure the best results. As a consequence the products of his stables are in wide and general demand and have the highest rank in the markets, local and general.

On October 12, 1882, Mr. Woollen was united in marriage with Miss Louisa S. Dickhut, a native of Adams county, Illinois, where the marriage was solemnized, and is the daughter of Adolph and Augusta (Misselwitz) Dickhut, who were born in Germany and are both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Woollen have three children: Ada M., who is the wife of E. E. Schultz, of this county; Ethel B., who married N. J. Marcum and resides at McClade, in the state of Colorado; and Adolph L., who is still at home with his parents. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church in Meadville, and the father belongs to the Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America in his fraternal relations. The people in all parts of the county know him well and esteem him highly for his estimable traits of character and genuine worth.

Henry Miller

After having farmed successfully and profitably for a number of years in Clinton county, Indiana, where he was reared from the age of two years to manhood ; and served his country valiantly and faithfully for seven months during the expiring agonies of the Civil War, participating in the capture of Richmond, the last citadel of the southern Confederacy, which fell when General Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Henry Miller, now one of the prominent and prosperous farmers of Clay township in this county, again gave fifteen years of effort and fruitful service to the farming industry in the first state of his adoption. But since 1881 he has been a resident of this county, and one of the potential factors in its progress and development subsequent to the time of his arrival here.

Mr. Miller is a native of Ohio, born on May 30, 1840, and the son of Daniel and Susanna (St. Clair) Miller, the former, like himself, a native of Ohio, and the latter born in Pennsylvania. The parents moved to Clinton county, Indiana, in 1842, when their son was two years old, and in that county the father cleared a farm on which the family lived until 1881. In that year all the members of the household moved to Linn county, Missouri, and here the parents died, the father in 1883 and the mother in 1896. They had two sons and two daughters, all now deceased but their son Henry and his sister Margaret, who is the widow of Frank Ferguson, and resides in Meadville, Missouri.

Henry Miller obtained a limited common school education in Clinton county, Indiana, the schools of which were of the usual tyi^e of the country at the early period of his boyhood. The houses in which they were kept were rudely constructed of hewn logs, and not always hewn, and furnished with slab benches and other primitive appliances for their purposes. Their range and methods of instruction were limited, and their utmost results were meager compared with those of the country schools of today. But even as they were, Mr. Miller had opportunity to attend them only during the winter season for a few years, the circumstances of the family making it necessary for him to do all he could for himself and work whenever he could.

Early in life, before he reached manhood, he began farming on his own account, and he continued his efforts in this line of industry until 1865, when he enlisted in the Union army as a member of Company K, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in which he served seven months and was present at the occupation of Richmond, Virginia, by the Union forces, as has been stated. When he received his honorable discharge from the army he returned to his Indiana home, and on December 17, 1868, was joined in wedlock with Miss Mary A. Somsel, who was born in Ohio.

They have two children, their son David, who is a Linn county farmer, and their daughter Susanna, who is now the wife of William H. Somsel and resides in Linn county. In 1881 Mr. Miller brought his family to this county and bought 200 acres of unimproved land, on which he has expended all his time and energy ever since, converting it into the tine farm on which he now lives. He is a Democrat in political relations, but has never been an active partisan or held or sought a public office.

He has, however, given earnest and intelligent attention to the progress and improvement of his township and county, and been of great assistance in making them what they are. Every undertaking of value for their betterment has had his zealous and helpful support, and his services in this behalf are warmly appreciated by the people of every class and condition, and throughout the county he and the members of his family are held in the highest esteem for their genuine worth and usefulness.

Hubert Hansen

Although not a native of the United States, the late Hubert Hansen of Brookfield was a resident of this country almost fifty years, and during a .considerable portion of the time lived in this county. After reaching manhood he was a car repairer throughout the years of his active labor, except during a short time when he was engaged in farming, and made an excellent record for the high character and great amount of his work when employed at his trade, and for his patriotic and serviceable citizenship at all times. During the last few years of his life he lived retired from all active pursuits, and found great enjoyment in the rest he had so richly earned.

Mr. Hansen was born in Prussia, Germany, on August 14, 1829. He was a son of Mathias and Catherine Hansen, also Germans by nativity and life-long residence, never having left the Fatherland, although frequently urged to do so and come to America by their son after his arrival in the country in 1852. Soon after he reached our shores he located in Galesburg, Illinois, where he found employment at his trade and remained for a number of years. He turned his attention to farming for a short time, but again found his trade more attractive and satisfactory to him, and in 1886 came to Linn county and located in Brookfield, where he worked for the Burlington Railroad until he retired. Here he died on December 16, 1901, aged seventy-two years, and enjoying the respect and confidence of all who knew him for his devotion to the interest of his adopted country, his usefulness as a citizen and his genuine worth as a man.

On June 5, 1856, Mr. Hansen was united in marriage with Miss Mary Kummer, a native of the grand duchy of Luxemburg in Europe, and the daughter of Nicholas and Susanna (Daufield) Kummer, long esteemed residents of that country. Mr. and Mrs. Hansen became the parents of six children, three of whom are living, Elizabeth, Albert and Joseph. Elizabeth and Albert are married and each have children, there being five grandchildren of the Hansen household in the family at the time of this writing (1912).

Mr. Hansen was a progressive and enterprising man, and showed his interest in the welfare and improvement of his home city in the most practical way. In 1888 he put up a large store building in Brookfield, and in 1895 prepared Hansen's addition to the city for the use of the people, plotting it into city lots and giving them ready sale. The addition contains seventy-four acres and has become one of the choice residence sections of Brookfield. He also took an earnest interest and an active part in local public affairs, although he had no political ambition and was not an active partisan politically. But every worthy undertaking for the progress and development of the community along wholesome lines of growth received his energetic, intelligent and effective support and the stimulus of his good example. In religion he was a faithful and zealous Catholic, cordial in loyalty to his church and at all times ready to do everything for its benefit he could. In fact, there was no duty in life to which he was unfaithful, or toward which he was negligent. All his activities were impelled by high ideals and directed to practical results of immediate and enduring value, and his course, although neither ostentatious or noisy, was true to the line of strictest rectitude and fruitful in good for everybody who came within its range. The whole people esteemed him highly and he enjoyed in a marked degree their unbounded confidence as a craftsman, a useful citizen and a thoroughly upright, honorable and enterprising man. And he lived long enough among them for them to have full knowledge of his worth.

James Tooey

The name and memory of this pioneer of Brookfield is held in veneration by the people of the city, not only because he was one of the men who helped to found it and blazed the way for its subsequent progress and development, but also because of the service he rendered it in all of the forty-six years of his residence in the wilderness as he found it, prosperous and progressive village as he helped to make it, and thriving city as he left it when he departed this life on November 4, 1898.

Mr. Tooey was a native of the Emerald Isle, whose sons and daughters have dignified and adorned every walk in life and made their mark in almost every part of the world, impressing their versatality and mental power on every civilization and contributing light, life and fruitfulness to every department of human endeavor. He was born in County Mayo, Ireland, in March, 1832, and was a son of Augustine and Margrett (Buckley) Tooey, who emigrated from that country to the United States in 1839 and located at Allegany, New York, where the father died in about 1844. The mother died in Linn county in 1859. Our subject was a contractor in railroad construction work and moved about, wherever duty called him, in this country and Canada, until 1852,

He was associated with his brother Patrick Tooey in his contract work, and they helped to build canals as well as railroads, working on the canals mainly in the state of New York. He did everything connected with the construction and operation of a canal, even, at one time, driving a mule team on the tow-path in the slow progress of canal boats. An interest in contract work on the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad brought him to Missouri, and he worked on that until 1860. In that year he opened the first real store in Brookfield and gave a start to its mercantile life.

Mr. Tooey 's store, according to old records, was a two-story frame building, and stood on Brooks street, between Main and Livingston streets. In the first story the store was conducted, and the room above this was used for various purposes, among them the first protestant meeting in the village, which was held there by the congregationalists in the summer of 1863, and the first Sunday school, which was organized there by Ephraim Banning the same season. Mr. Banning acted as superintendent and had about twenty scholars. The books were furnished from the East.

Mr. Tooey was also the first postmaster of Brookfield, having been appointed to the office in August, 1860, by President Buchanan. He afterward turned the office over to W. T. Snow, who served as postmaster for more than twenty years, but Mr. Tooey continued merchandising until 1876. The next year the governor of the state appointed him tax collector for Linn county, the county system of collecting having just been adopted. At the first election subsequent to his appointment, which occurred in 1878, he was elected to the office for a full term, and at the end of that in 1880 he was re-elected. He continued to fill this office until the county system was abandoned and the township system of collecting taxes was again put in operation, and he made an excellent record in the performance of his official duties, carefully looking after the interest of the county, and at the same time avoiding oppressing any of its citizens.

On November 26, 1859, Mr. Tooey was united in marriage with Miss Catherine McCormick, the marriage being solemnized in Hannibal. They became the parents of eight children, three sons and five daughters. Two of the sons and three of the daughters are living, the two sons and one of the daughters being residents of Brookfield. Another of the daughters lives at Raton, New Mexico, and the third has her home in Atlanta, Missouri.

During the Civil War the father belonged to the Home Guards and did his part well in the matter of attending the meetings and drills of the company of which he was a member. In politics he was a firm and faithful member of the Democratic party, active and effective in the service of his party, and for many years one of its leaders in Linn county. His religious connection was with the Catholic church, of which he was a devout and consistent member from his childhood to his death. He was one of the leading men and most representative citizens of Linn county both during his residence at Thayer and after he moved from there to Brookfield, cheerfully bearing his full portion of all public burdens and giving time, effort and intelligence to the direction of affairs and the aid of all good agencies at work among the people for the advancement and improvement of this part of the state and the most wholesome development and application of its resources. His widow is still living and has her home in Brookfield, where all classes of the people do her reverence as one of their oldest and most estimable citizens, worthy of their esteem from every point of view and enjoying it and their good will in the fullest measure.

Edwin M. Lomax

Through a variety of occupations and business engagements, but all tending toward the position he now holds and the duties it involves, Edwin M. Lomax, president of the Linn County Bank of Brookfield, has risen to his present high standing in the business life of Linn county, and by faithful, conscientious and intelligent performance of all the duties of citizenship, including valuable public service for a number of years, he has secured his strong hold on the confidence and esteem of the people and won his widespread and universal popularity.

Mr. Lomax was born on a farm near Laclede on September 30, 1867, and is a son of H. C. and Matilda A. (Turner) Lomax, an account of whose lives will be found in this work. He was educated in the public schools of this county and w^orked on the farm until he reached the age of seventeen. He then became a clerk in the postofBce under J. W. Lomax, and after giving up that position passed some time in St. Louis. Like several other members of his family, he had a decided taste for the banking business, and when an opportunity came to gratify that taste he immediately took advantage of it, and since then he has never sought any other occupation.

clerk. After serving the institution in that capacitj' four years he moved to Brookfield to take the position of .cashier of the Wheeler Savings Bank, which he filled until 1900. In that year he was chosen vice president of the Linn County Bank, and in 1906 was elected president of that institution. He has been president of the bank ever since, and it has vastly expanded its business, enlarged its operations and augmented its influence and importance under his management.

The policy he has adopted in the operations of the bank is one of judicious enterprise and wise conservatism united. He makes the institution as liberal toward all public and private interests as he can with due regard to the safety of its depositors and stockholders, carrying this rule into all departments of the general banking business it conducts, and by this means he has given it such standing that it is everywhere recognized as one of the soundest, safest and most serviceable fiscal agencies in this part of the state.

Mr. Lomax has taken an active part in public affairs also and been a potent factor in pushing forward the development and improvement of the city and county of his home. He has served as a member of the board of education in Brookfield for twelve years, and in this office rendered such signal and commendable service that the people turned almost as one man to him in looking for a suitable person to be elected mayor of the city in the spring campaign of 1912. He is a Republican in political faith and allegiance, but it was not on this account that he was chosen mayor. It was his high character, his broad intelligence and his often shown cordial and genuine interest in the welfare of the city and its people that induced the electorate to fix on him as the city's chief executive and force the official harness on him. It is quite certain that his course in the office will fully justify the faith expressed in his nomination and election, and that Brookfield will be a great gainer thereby.

In fraternal relations Mr. Lomax is connected with the Masonio Order and the Order of Elks, and in religious faith he is a Presbyterian. While on the school board he served as its treasurer, but every school under the control of the board felt the quickening impulse of his active mind and skillful hand, and is much the better for it. He was married in Brookfield on November 27, 1890, to Miss Essie M. Wanamaker, a native of Linn county and the daughter of Norman E. and Laura A. (Daulton) Wanamaker. One child has blessed the union and brightened the family hearthstone, a daughter named Laura Dale.

as a public official he has won universal commendation and shown that he deserved it; to his fraternal obligations he is true and faithful, both in the lodges and in his daily life; socially he is complaisant and entertaining, and in reference to the public interest and welfare he is one of the most zealous and energetic men in the community. He takes an especially deep and helpful interest in the public schools, but in every respect he is one of Linn county's best and most useful citizens.

James T. Hamilton

Beginning life as a farmer's son, and remaining on the home farm until he reached the age of manhood ; then coming to Linn county and serving as railroad agent for three years; after that engaged in mercantile life as a grocer for six years, and now one of the leading lumber merchants of this part of the state, James T. Hamilton of Laclede has made his own way in the world from obscurity and very moderate circumstances to consequence and good standing, and has done it by successive stages of advancement, with slow progress at first but always with improvement in his condition.

Mr. Hamilton was orphaned at the age of three years by the death of his father. But he practically never knew that parent at all, as the latter left home when the son was but one year old to seek a fortune for his family in the newly discovered gold fields of California. The care of the infant was then left wholly to the mother, but she did her duty by him faithfully and with every provision for his welfare she was able to make. He returned her devotion with equal fervor, and as soon as he was able gave all the assistance he could in the work of managing and operating the farm.

James T. Hamilton was born in Belmont county, Ohio, on January 24, 1848, and is a son of John F. and Margaret (Graham) Hamilton, the parents being, at the time of his birth well-to-do farmers in the county named. The father was born in New Jersey and moved to Ohio at an early age. About 1843 he was married to the mother, and they began the work of improving their domestic shrine and making provision for the family on the farm they occupied. The father was eager for a rapid advance in his fortunes, and in 1849, when the persuasive voice of California was thrilling the world with its golden music, he found himself unable to withstand the temptation to join the host of ardent argonauts that was flocking to the new El Dorado. He made the trip by the Panama route, however, and thereby escaped the dangers and privations of the long and tiresome journey with teams across the plains. He did not live long after his arrival in California to prosecute his search for the wealth he hoped to secure, dying in that state within one year of reaching it, passing away in 1851.

His son James T. was reared on the farm and educated at the district school in its vicinity. He remained with his mother until he reached the age of twenty-one, then came direct to Laclede in this county, where he has ever since resided. He arrived here in 1869, and during the next three years was employed by the railroad company as its agent in the town. At the end of the period mentioned he turned his attention to mercantile life and opened a grocery store. This he conducted until 1878, when he founded his present extensive lumber business, beginning on a small scale and gradually extending his operations and the volume of his business until it became one of the leaders in the traffic in Linn county.

He also began early to take an interest in public affairs in the coimty, and as his business prospered and grew his influence with the people and his reputation among them extended to such a degree that in 1884 he was elected county treasurer, and at the end of his first term was re-elected, serving in the office until 1889. He cared more for his business than for public office, however, and when his second term as county treasurer expired, he returned to his lumber trade, and to that he has ever since devoted himself exclusively and with great enterprise and energy.

In 1871, Mr. Hamilton was married to Miss Nannie Edwards, and two children were born of the union, only one of whom is living, Lee E. Hamilton, who is in partnership with his father in the lumber business at Laclede. His mother died in July, 1882, and her remains were interred in the cemetery in Laclede. In 1884, the father contracted a second marriage in which he was united with Miss Clara Schrock. Two children have followed this marriage also, Mabel and Edith, both of whom are living and still members of the parental family circle. They are ornaments to the social life of their community, and take a cordial interest in everything that helps to promote the enduring welfare of the town and county in which they have their home.

Lee E. Hamilton, the son of the household by the first marriage of its head, came into being in 1873, in Belmont county, Ohio, and was brought to Laclede by his parents the same year. He obtained his education in the public schools of Linn county and at Brookfield College. Soon after leaving college he was taken into the business of his father as a partner, and he has been very energetic and progressive in helping to expand it and advance its interest ever since. He is bright in tlie business and zealous in his attention to it, and is recogTiized as one of the most active and enterprising business men in the city.

He was married to Miss Flossie Ratchford of Unionville, Putnam county, Missouri. They have two children, their sons James and William. Their father is a Republican in politics, and while he is not a particularly active partisan, his worth has been recognized and he has been called to the public service of the people as township collector and township trustee. He is a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church, which his wife also attends.

Adgate L. Loomis

This prominent, successful and highly esteemed farmer and sheep breeder of Parsons Creek township, this county, has had a varied and interesting career. He was born and reared on a farm in Connecticut, the tirst representative of the family in this country settled at Windsor, Connecticut in 1638 and put on record a title to land he owned in 1640. His name was Joseph Loomis, and he came to this country from England and located at Windsor, Connecticut. There he became a man of considerable importance and influence, and took an active part in the affairs of the infant colony which he helped to plant.

The particular branch of the family to which the subject of this brief review belongs continued to reside in Connecticut until 1866, when he came to Missouri. His parents, Anson and Emily (Phillips) Loomis, moved to Missouri in 1877 and with their daughter, Mrs. Abell, took up their residence on a farm in this county near the present town of Meadville. Here the mother died on August 28, 1877, and the father on October 1, 1885. They were the parents of two daughters and three sons, all of whom are living but one, and all of the four who are living are residents of Missouri. The father was a native of Connecticut, a farmer in that state, and a member of the state legislature one term. The mother was born in Connecticut also.

The life of their son Adgate began at Lebanon, New London county, Connecticut, on December 4, 1843, and there he grew to the age of eighteen, obtaining his education in the public schools and at Windsor Academy. After leaving school he farmed and followed the vocation of teacher for a short time. In August, 1862, he enlisted in the Union army in Company C, Eighteenth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and served two years and eight months. His regiment met with disaster at the battle of Winchester, Virginia, which began on July 13, 1863, and lasted three days. In this battle a Union force of about 4,000 under General Milroy was pitted against some 30,000 Confederates of General Early's corp, and most of it was forced to surrender after making all the resistance possible.

After this Mr. Loomis was made captain of one of the companies of the Thirtieth Connecticut Colored Eegiment. He took part in the battle of Petersburg at the head of this company. He was fifth in rank at the beginning of the battle, all other officers were killed or disabled leaving him in command. Mr. Loomis was given command of the Thirtieth Connecticut Colored regiment and was in command of it ten months, when it consolidated with the Thirty-first United States Colored Troops. At regular monthly inspection he was complimented on being the best of the five regiments in the brigade.

In August, 1866, he came to this county and bought a tract of wild land in Clay township. He broke up and improved this land, and lived on it until 1871, when he moved to the farm on which he now resides in Parsons Creek township, and on which, also, he has made all the improvements put on it. He was but twenty years of age when he was put in command of the colored regiment in the war.

On August 2, 1871, Mr. Loomis was married in Missouri to Miss Melissa B. Hardy, a daughter of Moses D. Hardy, one of the early settlers in Linn county, this state. He was a native of Maine but came to Linn county in 1865. Nine children have been born of the union and all of them are living. They are: Emma W., who is living at Shiprock, New Mexico, a teacher in Indian school; Alma E., who is the wife of S. D. Evans and resides in Meadville; Lucius W., Edward A., Ida M., who is the wife of M. P. Benson of Laclede; Edith C, who is the wife of Ernest E. Benson of Laclede; and Ruth and Ralph, who are twins.

In addition to cultivating his farm Mr. Loomis is extensively engaged in raising sheep for the markets. He is always interested in the welfare and improvement of his township and county, and zealous in his efforts to promote their best interests in every way. But he does not take part in political contests, being independent of all party control in his exercise of citizenship, and desiring nothing in the way of public office for himself. He and his wife are members of the Congregational church.

Savage & Rankin

This enterprising, progressive and higlih- rated firm, wliich is one of the leaders in the real estate and loan business in this part of the state, and whose members are among the most prominent and influential business men of Laclede, is conducting a business which was founded in 1895 on the site which it now occupies, and which has passed through several hands. It has always enjoyed a good name and prospered, but it has never been conducted on so high a plane, so large a scale, or with such general approval as the present proprietors have secured for it.

The business was started in 1895 by May Jones, who carried it on until 1901, when he took Mr. Allen in as a partner, and the firm name became Allen & Jones. In 1908, B. S. Rankin bought the interest of Mr. Allen in the business and the firm became Jones & Rankin. On June 1, 1911, William S. Savage bought Mr. Jones out and since then the firm name has been Savage & Rankin, and the business has expanded and spread out at a rapid rate. The members of the firm are known throughout a large extent of the country surrounding Laclede as strictly upright, square and reliable men, with full mastery of their undertaking and all that pertains to it, extensive and accurate knowledge of property, its value, possibilities and chauces of improvement, and all that is necessary for its development to its highest usefulness and productiveness. They are recognized authorities on all matters connected with real estate transactions, and their judgment is relied on and followed by hosts of persons. This is a measure of popular esteem and confidence which they have won by their integrity in business matters, and their high tone and manhood as citizens and the people readily accord it to them because they are known to deserve it.

B. S. Rankin, the older member of the firm, was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, on July 17, 1855, and came to Missouri in 1880, locating in Gentry county, where he remained fifteen years. He is a son and one of the six children of James and Kazer (Hormon) Rankin. The mother died on September 10, 1861, and the father in 1889.

Mr. Rankin, the subject of these paragraphs, obtained his education in the common schools of his native coimty, and began the battle of life for himself at an early age. In 1895 he moved from Gentry county to Linn county, taking up his residence in Jefferson townplu]^, he was actively and profitably engaged in farming until 1908. He then formed a partnership with the late ]May Jones, and together

On December 25, 1879, Mr. Eankin was married to Miss Jennie Buckley, a daughter of William Buckley, a native of Indiana. Five children have been born of the union, all of whom are living: Daisy D., who is teaching school and resides at home with her parents; Walter D., whose home is near Springfield, Missouri; and Rorie A., Raseo C. and Hazel, who are also still members of the parental family circle.

Not only because of the nature of his business, but also by reason of his general progressiveness and desire for the best results of progress that can be secured for his township and county, Mr. Rankin is a very enterprising and public spirited man. He is an ardent and energetic supporter of everything that he believes will help to improve and benefit the locality in which he lives and promote the general welfare of its people. He is universally esteemed as one of the best and most useful citizens of his township and the equal of any man in the county in genuine merit.

Alexander A. Welsh

For the full period of forty-six years a resident of Linn county, and during all of the time one of its progressive, successful and prosperous farmers, and also one of its most sturdy and substantial citizens, Alexander A. Welsh of Jefferson township has long been a valued contributor to its progress and development, its industrial and commercial wealth and its sterling and elevated manhood. He has never been indifferent to its welfare or turned aside from any of its calls to duty, but has cheerfully given of his time and substance, mental and material, to aid in its imj^rovement along wholesome lines of advancement.

Mr. Welsh hails from the village of Glencoe, Belmont county, Ohio, where he was born on February 23, 1840. His parents, John and Mary (Sheldon) Welsh, were natives of that county, too, and his grandfather, Crawford Welsh, of Scotch parentage, died there in 1862, aged eighty years. Mr. Welsh's father, John Welsh, was a farmer and one of the directors of the old Ohio Central Railroad. He also served as county judge of his native coixnty, and was a man of local prominence thei'e.

The mother died in the place of her birth on May 13, 1855, and iu 1866 the father and his living children moved to Missouri. He located in Laclede, this county, where he bought the Bell Hotel and conducted it until his death on Februarv 2, 1888. His second wife was Miss

SabiBa Simpson, who died in 1907. Ten children were born of the first marriage, six sons and four daughters. Three of the sons and one of the daughters are living and all reside in Linn county. The fruits of the second union were one son and one daughter. The sister is living and has her home in Missouri, thus all the living representatives of the family are in this state.

Alexander A. Welsh grew to manhood in Ohio and obtained a good common school education there. He farmed and taught school in that statte until the spring of 1866, then accompanied his father and the rest of the family to this county. Soon after their arrival here he and his brother Asbury together bought a farm of 240 acres in Jetferson township. The land was wholly unimproved and had never been cultivated. By the industry and skillful tillage of Mr. Welsh it has been developed into a model farm, well improved with good buildings and richly productive.

Through the stimulus of his example and wise farming other land around his farm has also been made fruitful in productiveness and attractive in the improvements that have been put on it. His influence on the farmers of the locality began early, for he is now one of the oldest settlers of the township as nearly all who preceded him have passed away. He has passed the limit of human life fixed by the Sacred writer, but is still vigorous and active, and his example and influence are still forceful, for he has kept pace with the progress of events and always been up to date.

Mr. Welsh was married in Ohio in 1867 to Miss Louisa M. Mc- Veigh, who was born and reared in Monroe county in that state. They have had four children, two of whom died in infancy. The two who are living are Albert D., a farmer in Jefferson township, and Cecil, who is also a Linn county agriculturist. Their mother is still living, venerable in years and in the uprightness and usefulness of her life, and revered throughout the locality of her home by the people of every class and condition. In politics Mr. Welsh is a Kepublican, but he is not an active partisan, and has never sought or held a political office. All the members of the family support the Methodist Episcopal church.

Isaac H. Clough

The American pioneer, in all stages of our history has been a heroic figure, and his achievements have in most cases been remarkable, considering the privations, hardships and dangers amid which they have been accomplished. And the hardy endurance with which those priva- tions and dangers have been borne, and the all-daring courage with which they have been faced are worthy of all commendation. The race of these heroes is a fast-fleeting one, and the last of its representatives will be soon beyond our contact. It is well, therefore, to preserve some record of their lives while we have opportunity, in the pages of endur^ ing history.

Then, in the years to come, when the voice of song and story proclaims our greatness, and admiring strangers wonder over our marvelous progress, and the glory of our civil, religious and educational institutions, we can justify the praise and satisfy the wonder by saying: "See by whose hands the foundations of all this were laid, and what high examples were given to stimulate emulation in building as well as our forefathers founded!" The promoters of this work have peculiar pleasure, in this view of the case, in presenting to its readers a short account of the life of Isaac H. Clough, one of the heroic band that laid the foundations of civilization in this part of the country, and recording the deeds of the many others like him, whose life-stories will be found in this volume in various places.

Isaac H. Clough is one of the prominent, enterprising and prosperous farmers of Jefferson township in this county, and he came from the far away Atlantic coast, as it was then, to locate here. Mr. Clough was bom near Augusta, Maine, on November 28, 1837, in the same farm house that his father was born in, and perhaps his grandfather also. He is a son of Henry C. and Elizabeth D. (Tucker) Clough, also natives of that state, where the father was born on December 2, 1809. They were farmers in Maine, and prosperous according to their day and location. The mother died in 1892 and the father on January 8, 1894, the latter at the advanced age of eighty-five.

They were the parents of three sons and two daughters, all of whom are now deceased but their son Isaac and one of his brothers, who is still living in Maine. The paternal grandfather, James S. Clough, was also a native of Maine, born in 1780, and followed farming there until his death in 1865. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and rendered his country good service in that contest with the mother country. By his marriage with Susanna Palmer he became the father of five sons and two daughters. The family is of Scotch ancestry and the progenitors of its American branch were pioneers in Maine, coming over in colonial days.

Isaac H. Clough was reared to the age of eighteen in his native state. In 1855 he came west to Chicago and in that city worked at the carpenter trade for about fifteen months. On January 30, 1857, he arrived in this county, having made tlie journey by rail from Chicago to Palmyra, and from there by stage to Linneus. During the first year of his residence in Linn county he worked at his trade in and around Linneus, erecting many of the early dwellings in Linneus, Laclede and other parts of the county.

He was eager, however, to return to the occupation of his forefathers, and at the end of a year began renting land and farming, but also continued to work at his trade, for there was a great demand for Ms craftsmanship, the progress of the county having begun in earnest and there being a steady influx of immigrants who had to have homes. He continued to rent land until 1866, and in May of that year moved to the farm on which he now lives. This was all unbroken prairie when he bought it, but he has transformed it, by his well-applied industry, into a fine farm, in a high state of cultivation and well improved with good buildings.

Mr. Clough was married in 1858 to Miss Nancy Sensintaffar, a daughter of John Sensintatfar, who became a resident of Linn county in 1837. Seven children were born of this union, four of whom are living: Lucinda J., who is the wife of W. R. Sellars and resides in this county; Augusta M., w^ho is living at home with her father; Jacob H., who is a Linn county farmer; and Ethel L., who married with S. D. Edwards and has her home in this county. The mother of these children died on October 12, 1910. The father and the other members of the family stand high in the county and are regarded as among its most sturdy, sterling and representative residents.

Benjamin F. Griffin

(Deceased) The late Benjamin F. Griffin of Jefferson township, who departed this life on September 19, 1909, was a well known farmer of Linn county, in which he passed nearly forty years of his life, having become a resident of it in 1870. He was seventy-six years of age when he died, and was universally revered as one of the patriarchs of the township in which he had so long lived and labored. Throughout that long record his life was an open book before this people, and there was not a stain on any of its pages, nor was there one which was not filled with a record of fidelity to duty and integrity and straightforwardness in all his dealings.

Mr. Griffin was a Canadian by nativity, born in Hastings county, province of Ontario, on November 11, 1833. His parents were Stephen and Lyna (Hazelton) Griffin, who emigrated from New York and located in Ontario. He was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools, and himself followed farming in his native land until 1859. In that year he moved to Knox county, Illinois, and there he farmed until 1870, when he came to Linn county, Missouri, and bought the farm of 100 acres on which he died, and which is still occupied by his widow.

In 1864 Mr. Griffin enlisted in Company H, Thirty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in which he served until the close of the Civil War. His regiment was a part of the Army of the Cumberland, and took part in some of the hardest fighting of the war. Mr. Griffin was in the terrific battles of Franklin and Nashville, and also in many minor engagements, but he escaped without a wound and was never taken prisoner during the whole of his service in the army.

When he was released from military service Mr. Griffin returned to his home in Knox county, Illinois, where he remained, actively engaged in farming, until 1870. He then determined to gratify a longing he had felt for years to try his hand at farming in Missouri, and with this end in view he came to Linn county, and here he passed the remainder of his days, dying on September 19, 1909, as has been stated.

Prior to coming to this country, however, that is, on February 23, 1870, Mr. Griffin was united in marriage with Miss Sarah E. Hurlbutt, a daughter of Asa and Mary (Jones) Hurlbutt, of Knox county, Illinois. Three children were bom of the union: Alice A., who is now deceased; Edith E., who married with S. W. Ours of Brookfield and resides in that city; and Irwin H., who is still living with his mother on the parental homestead and managing its cultivation for her.

Mr. Griffin, the father, belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic, and was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was a wise and energetic farmer, a public spirited and progressive citizen and a sternly upright and straightforward man. The people around him respected him for his genuine worth and high character, and admired him for his general intelligence, enterprise in the management of his farm and the elevated manhood he exhibited in all the relations of life. His widow and children are also held in high esteem for the same sterling qualities that characterized him, and for many admirable traits of their own. They are widely known and in all parts of the county, are well thought of and enjoy a very agreeable popularity.

Henry Ehrich

Born, reared and educated in Prussia in the German empire, and there, too, trained in the handicraft of a tailor, Henry Ehrich," one of the well known farmers of Jefferson township in this county, turned from both his native land and his chosen occupation under the allurements of the open-handed bounty and freedom of opportunity offered by the rich farming lands of the Mississippi valley in this country. He came with the expectation of bettering his prospects and winning an estate, and he has not been disappointed in the realization of his hopes.

Mr. Ehrich's life began on Christmas day, 1855, amid the sturdy yoemanry of that historic land which, under the lead of Frederick the Great, astounded the world by withstanding the force of all Europe combined to crush it. He is a son of Christian and Christina (Traue) Ehrich, also natives of Germany. The father was a tailor and wrought faithfully at his trade until his death in 1883. The mother is still living. They were the parents of three sons and one daughter, and all of the children but one of the sons now reside in the United States.

The paternal grandfather, whose name was also Christian Ehrich, like his son and his grandson, was a tailor. But he was also a soldier in the Prussian army and fought in the wars of his country against Napoleon. In one of the great battles of those contests he was wounded, and soon afterward he was discharged from military service with honorable mention. He died in his native land at a good old age and universally respected.

Henry Ehrich grew to manhood and learned the tailor trade under the instruction of his father. He followed his craft in his native land until the death of his father in 1883, and then came to the United States. He located first in Adams county, Indiana, and after farmingthere for a few months, moved to Iowa, reaching that state in 1884, and remaining in it on a farm which he owned until 1902. He prospered in his farming operations, but ever felt a longing for the region farther west.

In 1902 he determined to gratify this longing, and sold his Iowa farm and other interests in that state, and moved to Linn county, Missouri. On his arrival in this county he bought a farm of eighty acres of land near Laclede, and on that he has ever since made his home. He has brought his farm to a high state of productiveness by skillful cultivation of it, and it is enriched with good modern buildings of every kind needed for its purposes and equipped with every appliance of the most approved type for working it. He has made it, in fact, a valuable up-to-date farm and it is a creditable monument to his vigor, enterprise and progressiveness as a farmer and his taste and good judgment as a builder.

Mr. Ehrich is a Republican in politics but not an active partisan. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and takes a cordial interest in the progress and welfare of both. On March 3, 1887, he was married in Iowa to Miss Levina Kent, a native of that state. They have no children of their own but are rearing an adopted son whose name is William, and who is now attending school and assisting in the work of the farm. The head of the house is a good citizen with an active, practical and helpful interest in all that pertains to the welfare of his township and county, and the progress and improvement of their residents. The people of the township have a high regard for him as a man and citizen, and he deserves it.

A. C. Moore

A farmer in times of peace and a valiant Union soldier during a portion of the Civil War, A. C. Moore, one of the enterprising, progressive and prosperous fai'mers of Jefferson township in this county, has demonstrated his devotion to his country and his abiding interest in its welfare in ways whose force and meaning cannot well be overestimated, and which leave no doubt of the sincerity and high quality of his patriotism, or his willingness to put it to any test that may be required.

Mr. Moore is a native of Guernsey county, Ohio, where he was born on October 10, 1845. His parents, John and Naucy (Waller) Moore, were natives of Virginia and died in Ohio, where they were engaged in farming many years. The father was a soldier in the Mexican War. Of the five children born of their union, two sons and three daughters, three are living, and in their several localities are exemplifying in their daily lives the most sturdy and sterling traits of American citizenship.

The family has been a martial one from the beginning of its history in this country. A. C. Moore's great-grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and even before it began. He was at Fort Necessity with General Washington in 1754-5, and subsequently served under him in the long struggle against Great Britain which ended in the independence of the United States and the formation of our present government. After a long record of usefulness to his country in vari-

A. C. Moore was reared to manhood and educated in the state of his nativity. He was a peaceful and productive farmer there until the Civil War was in full progress and threatening the integrity of the Union far more seriously than was at first supposed it ever .could, and he then enlisted in the army raised for the defense of the country from dismemberment, entering Company I, Eighty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. At the end of his first term of enlistment he was re-enrolled in the One Hundred and Seventy- second regiment, in which he served to the close of the war. He took part in the battles of Shrub Oak Mountain and Cumberland Gap, and also in many engagements of a minor character.

In 1866 he came to Missouri to live, and passed six years in Pettis county, then moved to Linn county in 1872. Since then he has farmed and taught school in this county, making a good record in each avocation and winning the respect, confidence and good will of the people around him in both. He is a Bepublican in his political party allegiance, but is not an active partisan, although always earnestly interested in the welfare of his township, county and state, and ardently desirous of seeing the best interests of the whole country promoted and advanced at all times.

Mr. Moore was first married in Ohio in 1865 to Miss Mary A. Gray, and hj this marriage became the father of five children, all of whom are now residents of the state of Oklahoma. They are: Frank W., who is a farmer in that state; Nettie A., who is the wife of Wm. Watson; Nancy J., who is the wife of Jess Foster; Maud S., who is the wife of Edward Moore; and James L., who is a farmer. The father's second marriage took place in 1900, and was with Miss Alma Shoemaker, a native of Chariton county, Missouri. They have two children, their sons Harry E. and Virgil L.

Thomas O'Neill

Having been connected with the railroad service in this part of the coimtry during the whole of his mature life, many years as a telegraph operator, and since 1878 as telegrapher and express, freight and ticket agent at St. Catharine, and having been all the time studiously attentive to his duties and generous in imparting his knowledge to others who were seeking to qualify themselves for similar work, Thomas O'Neill has teen a very useful man to the puble and of great and enduring benefit to scores of individual youths who were beginning their struggle for advancement among men and acq^iring the necessary knowledge for their progress.

Mr. O'Neill is a native of Lafayette, Tippecanoe county, Indiana, where he came into being on April 27, 1853. He is a son of William and Sophia (Mitchell) O'Neill, who were born, reared, educated and married in County Monaghan, province of Ulster, Ireland, and came to the United States in 1851. The father was born on December 24, 1830, and died on November 27, 1896. His parents were William and Catharine (Comiskey) O'Neill, and his father died when he, the son, was but one year old. The infant was reared to manhood in his native land and obtained a common school education there.

After reaching the required age he served three years in the Royal Irish Constabulary, and also passed a year and a half traveling through Scotland, securing a good knowledge of that country. After his arrival in America he was engaged in railroad construction work in various parts of Indiana and Illinois, and also kept a hotel for a time at Coatsburg in Adams county, in the latter state. In 1861 he moved his family to this county and located at St. Catharine, where he passed the remainder of his days keeping a hotel, railroading and dealing in live stock. The mother died on February 25, 1888. They were the parents of seven sons and one daughter, five sons of whom are living, three of them in Linn county, one in Clarence, Missouri, and one in St. Louis.

Thomas O'Neill was eight years of age when his parents located at St. Catharine. He passed the rest of his boyhood and his youth at that place attending private schools, in which he obtained a good education. At the age of twenty-one, having acquired a masterj^ of telegraphy, he entered the employ of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad as operator at St. Catharine, and has been so employed there ever since, except during three years which he passed at other points along the line. In 1878 he was also appointed agent for the railroad company at St. Catharine, and this position he has held continuously from the time of his appointment to it.

During his occupancy of the post of telegraph operator he has instructed and trained 226 students in telegraphy in his office, giving them all the best instruction he was capable of, and making of many of them first class operators, the training being the best attainable and the result of it depending largely on the readiness, quickness and intelligence of its recipient, for it was equally available and judicious for all.

Mr. O'Neill's faculties have not, however, been devoted solely to the railroad business. He served nine years and a half as postmaster of St. Catharine, and has given considerable attention to farming and dealing in live stock, still owning and cultivating the old family homestead. He also served as clerk to Hon. Walter Brownlee, the member from Linn county during the last session of the state legislature, and has been a member of the local school board and a justice of the peace for a number of years.

Mr. O'Neill was married on September 26, 1880, to Miss Eva Stolp, a native of Whiteside county, Illinois. They have two sons and one daughter : Edward P., who is now engaged in business in Kansas City, Missouri; William 0., who is at this time agent at St. Catharine; and Pauline C, who is still living at home with her parents. All the members of the family have lofty ideals of usefulness and great energy in working toward them.

In politics Mr. O'Neill has been a Democrat from his youth, and for a number of years one of the leaders of his party in this county. He is an energetic but judicious worker for its welfare at all times, and has great influence and etfectiveness with the people, as he is universally popular, and so conducts himself, in political and all the other affairs of life, as to retain his strong hold on the confidence and esteem of the public and deserve the regard and good will of all classes, always seeking to promote the public weal and secure the best results of all activities for his township and the county in general. He is truly patriotic and public-spirited in all his efforts, whatever may be the conditions involved.

He was reared in the faith and teachings of the Catholic church and is one of its most devoted and loyal adherents. At the same time he is tolerant of the views and convictions of other men, and ready at all times to aid any good cause, no matter what its origin may be. In fraternal life he is connected with the Knights of Columbus and the Woodmen of the World, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Order of Good Templars. Although tracing his ancestry from the 0 'Neill stock of the old kings of Ulster, he never speaks of this fact, and is in all respects a devotedly loyal, patriotic and high-minded American citizen, thoroughly democratic in his views and earnestly interested in the welfare of the masses of the people and the general improvement of their conditions of life. All American institutions have his unwavering support, especially those in which the enduring good of the plain people of the country is involved.

William L. Sensintaffar

The family name borne by the intei'esting subject of this brief review appears as eai'ly as 1837 in the history of Linn county, and it runs through the local chronicles of all the subsequent years. In that year Jacob and Nancy (Helonodolar) Sensintatfar came to the county from their native home in Tazewell county, Virginia, and cast in their lot with the founders of civilization in this region. They were of the proper caliber for pioneers, and showed it first by making the trip with wagon teams, long, wearjdng and dangerous as it was, and they showed it subsequently by the whole course of their lives on the frontier.

They were the grandparents of William L. Sensintaffar, and they took up the farm of 160 acres on which he now lives on a soldier's claim granted by the government. Jacob Sensintaffar also brought his father with him, and thus four generations of the same house have dwelt on the same farm in Linn county, which its present owner and occupant is peopling with the fifth. This is a very unusual if not a unique experience in a locality comparatively so new as this county. The grandmother did some of the first spinning and weaving in the county, and members of the family have, at various times, been the leaders in other good movements.

William L. Sensintaffar was born on the farm which he now owns on December 26, 1866, and is a son of Rufus and Harriet E. (Culbertson) Sensintaffar, the former born in Tazewell county, Virginia, and the latter in Shelby .county, Missouri. The father was brought to Linn county by his parents when he was but three years old, and the farm was then first occupied. He grew to manhood on it, lived on and farmed it to the end of his days, and died on it in 1889 and he and wife are buried on it. The remains of the grandparents of the present occupant, and those of his great-grandfather, are buried on it. By all its associations it is, therefore, hallowed ground to him, and he does himself credit by retaining it in his possession.

During the Civil War the father served four years in the Confederate army under General Sterling Price. He was in the campaign in the Southwest and saw a great deal of active ser-sdce, taking part in the battle of Lexington, Missouri, and all the engagements of the Red River region. He was married in Linn county in 1866, but death robbed him of his wife in 1883. They were the parents of seven children, five eons and two daughters, and six of their offspring are living, but only two of them are residents of Linn county. Their father was one of two sons born to their grandparents, who also had four daughters. All six are now deceased. The first representative of the family in America came to the United States in 1765 from Germany and settled in Pennsylvania. Two of his sons afterward moved to Virginia, and now its representatives are to be found in many states in the different sections of the Union.

The present owner of this interesting family homestead has passed the whole of his life to this time (1912) on it, and obtained his education in the country schools in its vicinity. His energies and his years have been employed in farming the land of his fathers, and he has never had or sought any other vocation. The spirit of improvement planted on the place by them has been his inspiration also, and has impelled him to keep pace with the progress of events and the improvements in farming, and he is regarded as one of the most enterprising and up-to-date farmers in the county, as well as one of the most intelligent and discriminating.

On September 27, 1888, Mr. Sensintaffar was married to Miss Mollie E. Moss, a daughter of Luke and Rebecca (See) Moss of Shelby county, Missouri, where they were early settlers. Five children have been born of the union, and all of them are living and still members of the parental family circle. They are : Olive Lillian, Pauline R., Naomi L., Walter W. and Robert M. They are all recognized as persons of genuine worth and wherever they are known they are esteemed as valuable members of their own community and desirable additions to the manhood and womanhood of Linn county and the state of Missouri.

In his political faith and allegiance Mr. Sensintaffar is a Democrat, but, while he is at all times desirous of the success of his party, because he is a firm believer in its principles, he has never sought or desired any of the honors or emoluments it has to bestow for himself. The substantial and enduring welfare of his township and county is all he desires or seeks through local public affairs, and he is Avilling to leave the administration of them to those who have a taste for it. He is quiet and unostentatious in his manner of living and his general disposition, but he is sterling in his citizenship and manhood, and is universally regarded as being so and esteemed accordingly.

Joseph A. Dodd

Although not a native of Linn county Joseph A. Dodd, one of the prominent farmers and live stock men of Jefferson township, has lived in the county sin,ce he was one year old or less, and has mingled freely ''with the people here, taken part in all their activities, made their inter- ests his own, and been in every respect zealously and practically one of tliem. He received his education in Linn county schools, drew his stature and his strength from its soil, acquired all his social training in association with its residents, and has devoted all the years of his life from boyhood to expanding its industrial, mercantile, commercial and political power. He is therefore as much a Linn county man as if he were a native among its people, and this is the way he feels about the matter.

Mr. Dodd was born in Calloway county, Missouri, on April 29, 1854, and is a son of Joseph and Sarah J. (Jordan) Dodd, who came to this state from LjTichburg, Virginia, in 1845, making the journey with teams, which at that time was an undertaking of great magnitude and beset with peril almost all the way through. It required great fortitude and endurance, and even at the best was awfully wearying to both body and mind. But these persons were resolute and went through the ordeal without flinching, and when they reached their destination were ready for the new trials that awaited them.

They located in Calloway county and remained there until 1855, when they moved to Linn county. The father bought 420 acres of land on the boundary line between this and Chariton counties, and established his family on it. The land was wild and raw, untouched by the plow and wholly ignorant, as yet, of the persuasive hand of the systematic husbandman. Mr. Dodd broke up the land, improved it with comfortable buildings and reduced it to a considerable degree of productiveness, then sold it in 1867. In August of that same year he died. The mother survived him fifteen years, passing away in 1882. They were the parents of ten children, five sons and five daughters, all of whom are now deceased biit Joseph A. and his sister, Mrs. S. A. Henley, of Laclede. The parents were members of the Baptist church and assisted in putting up the first church edifice for that sect in this part of Missouri.

Joseph A. Dodd grew to manhood in the neighborhood of his present residence and obtained his education in the primitive schools of his boyhood here. The schoolhouses were then rudely constructed of logs and furnished with slab benches, and their course of instruction and methods of teaching were in keeping with their equipment. But -they turned out rugged and sturdy men and women, fitted for the duties before them, and with solid and serviceable attributes just suited to the work of laying the foundations of a great state and one of its best counties. He assisted his father in breaking up and improving

In his youth and young manhood he was a great hunter, and in 1873 went to Kansas on a buffalo hunting expedition that lasted six months. In his later years he has indulged in the ,chase but sparingly, but he still enjoys it with all his old time zest and enthusiasm. The farm he now owns and cultivates comprises over 200 acres of excellent land, and he farms it with skill and intelligence, carrying on general -farming operations with very gratifying returns for his labor. In addition, he is an extensive breeder of Shorthorn cattle and White Chester hogs. He has a good modern dwelling on his farm and all the other improvements are of present-day types, ample in size for their IJurjJoses and convenient in arrangement for what they have to house.

In politics Mr. Dodd is a pronounced Republican, but he has never held a political office or desired one, although he is loyal to his party and zealous in its service. Fraternally he is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. On January IS, 1880, he was united in marriage with Miss Eliza J. Benway, a daughter of Moses and Rose (Grappott) Benway, the former a native of Canada and the latter of the state of New York. They settled in this county in 1868.

Mr. and Mrs. Dodd have six children: Mabel E., who is now the wife of Walter Sanders and resides in Chariton .county; Osceola, who is living at home with the parents; Joseph, Jr., who is also still a member of the parental family circle; Edna, who is the wife of Clyde Day and also lives in Chariton county; and Moses B. and Clarence A., who are also still living at home. Mr. Dodd is well known throughout the coimty and is cordially esteemed in all parts of it as an excellent farmer, an upright man and a lorogressive and useful citizen from every point of view.

Henry F. Englehart

Bom in the state of New York and now a resident of Missouri; his father a native of Sweden and his mother of Pennsylvania; a school boy until he reached the age of eighteen, and then a soldier in defense of the Union to the close of the Civil War, and present in some of the most important engagements of the momentous and sanguinary conflict; and ever since "the battle flags were furled" an industrious and fruitful worker in the domain of peaceful pi-oductiveness, Henry F. Englehart, now one of the leading farmers of Jefferson township in this county, has had variety enough in location and pursuits to satisfy the most exacting. It must be said to his credit, however, that no matter where he was located or what occupation he was engaged in, he has always met the utmost requirements of his duty and performed it to the best of his ability.

Mr. Englehart was born in Niagara county. New York, on February 27, 1846, and is a son of Francis A. and Lydia (Shuck) Englehart, the former a Swede by nativity and the latter a Pennsylvanian. The father was born in Stockholm, the capital of his native country, and began making his own way in the world as a cabin boy on ocean going vessels at the age of twelve. He followed the sea twelve years, and during that period saw many countries and a great variety of manners and customs among men.

In 1843 he located in Niagara county. New York, and engaged in farming there. The next year he was married, and settled down to the uneventful routine of tilling the soil as a permanent occupation, vainly imagining that his days of excitement and thrill in life were over. But soon after the Civil War began he enlisted in Company H, Sixteenth New York Volunteer Infantry, and thus entered on another career full of tragedy and ending in disaster to him. His regiment was early in the field and in the midst of the hottest engagements. At the battle of South Mountain, Maryland, in September, 1862, his right arm was shot off, and he was soon afterward honorably discharged from the army. He returned to his New York home and there he died in 1908. The mother died in 1863. They had three sons, all of whom are living, one in the state of New York, one in Minnesota, and Henry F. in Missouri, Linn county.

Henry F. was reared to the age of eighteen in his native state and obtained his education there. In 1864, following the example of his valiant father, he enlisted in the Union army, in Battery M, First New York Light Artillery, and duty led him also into the midst of the carnage and often between unrolling colunms bent on each other ' ; destruction. He took part in the battles of Resaca, Buzzard's Roost, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Big Shanty and Pumpkin Vine Creek, Georgia, the siege of Atlanta, and many smaller engagements. During the siege of Atlanta he was taken ill and missed a portion of the fighting. On May 30, 1865, he was honorably discharged from tlio service and returned to his New York home, where he remained irn'M 1868.

In that year he came to Missouri and located first in Caldwell county, where he passed a number of years. He then spent three years in Colorado, and in 1885 settled in Linn county. For a time after his arrival in this county he rented land and farmed it as a tenant, then bought the fine farm of 127 acres in JeiTerson township on which he now lives. He has since devoted his time and efforts to its cultivation and improvement, and with its great fertility, its choice location and its good buildings of modern types, it has become one of the most valuable of its size in the county, or, indeed, in this part of the state.

On September 9, 1884, Mr. Englehart was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Johnson, a native of Noble county, Ohio, and the daughter of James and Margaret (David) Johnston, who came to Missouri to reside in 1866, selecting Linn county as their home, and ending their days here. Mr. and Mrs. Englehart have five children: Marcus J., Margaret, Francis A., Alva F. and Alice G. Francis is a cadet in the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, which he entered in 1909.

In political faith and allegiance Mr. Englehart is a pronounced and unwavering Republican. He cast his first vote for our martyred president, Abraham Lincoln, in 1865. Being a soldier in the field at the time. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and all the members of the family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Englehart saw this portion of Missouri when it was all almost unbroken prairie, and she and her husband have done their whole duty in helping to bring about the improvements with which she is now so highly gratified. They are excellent citizens, and all classes of the people esteem them as such.

Henry C. Bargar

Well known throughout Linn comity as one of its prominent and successful farmers and extensive breeders of Shorthorn cattle, and also standing high in the regard of the people as a progressive and enterprising citizen of fruitful public spirit and strong local patriotism, Henry C. Bargar of Parsons Creek township has reached his elevation through no favors of Fortune or specially propitious circumstances, but strictly and solely on his merit and the good work he has done for himself and his township and county. He has been a resident of Linn county for over forty-three years, and is therefore one of its oldest settlers now living. His whole career among this people has been creditable to him and beneficial to them.

Mr. Bargar was born in Harrison county, Ohio, on November 15, 1840, and grew to manhood and obtained his education in that state, attending the district school in the neighborhood of his home in the winter and working on his father's farm in the summer. He is a son of John and Eliza (Gatchel) Bargar, natives of Chester county, Pennsylvania. They moved to Ohio early in their married life and for a number of years lived in Harrison county, then moved to Tuscarawas county in the same state, where their lives were ended on their farm.

Besides being a farmer the father was also a blacksmith, and he wrought diligently at his trade for some years and then bought a farm. Four sons and four daughters were born of his marriage, and of the eight six are now living, three of them in Linn county. He was a good farmer and a skillful mechanic. As a citizen and a man he was also estimable in all the relations of life and strictly upright in all his dealings with his fellow men. The mother was a woman of superior excellence and force of character, and both stood high in the regard and good will of everybody who knew them.

Henry C. Bargar has been loyal and fervent in his devotion to the Union from his boyhood, and he has shown his devotion in peace and war. In October, 1861, when he was not yet of age, he enlisted in Company E, Fifty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, to aid in saving the country from being torn asunder, and he still bears the mai'ks and feels the effect of his service in the army. His regiment was first in the Army of the Ohio, then in the Army of the Cumberland, and afterward in that of the Tennessee. In these commands he took part in the battles of Perryville, Kentucky, and Stone River. In the latter he was shot through the right leg, and in consequence of the wound was off duty for six months.

On his return to the service he participated in the Tullahoma campaign, and the battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and all those of the Atlanta campaign. His regiment was then returned to Tennessee and had active work in the terrible battles of Nashville and Franklin. In April, 1865, when General Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Mr. Bargar was in eastern Tennessee, and soon after that decisive event he was discharged from military duty and returned to his old home in Ohio, where he remained until 1869, again engaged in farming.

In the year last mentioned he became a resident of this county, locating at once on the farm he now owns and cultivates in Parsons Creek township. This was nearly all wild and unbroken land when he took possession of it, and he has devoted all his subsequent years to its cultivation and improvement, making it into a model farm in skill of tillage, amplitt/de and attractiveness of buildings and other equipment, and bounty of productiveness. And he has done all this in spite

Mr. Bargar was married in Ohio in 1866 to Miss Mary A. Laffer, who was born and reared in the state in which she was married. Eleven children have been born of their union, and ten of them are living: Alice, who married W. H. Eobbins and resides in Linn county; Ella, who is the wife of Wm. Terwillagar, and abides with him in Oregon; Ida, the wife of Howard M. Thompson of Parsons Creek township, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume; Jennie, who is the wife of Archabald Matthews, and also a resident of Linn county; Aggie, who married with John Lomax of this county; Lavina, who is the wife of William Jackson, and has her home in Livingston county; John, who is a resident of California; Joseph M., who is in business in Kansas City, this state; Thomas, who is a Linn county farmer; and Standly M., who is yet at home with his parents.

Mr. Bargar 's political affiliation is with the Republican party, but he has never been an active partisan or sought or desired a public office. Fraternally he is a zealous member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and in religious matters he leans toward the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his wife is a member. In the vast progress and improvement of Linn county since he first saw it he has borne a zealous and serviceable part, and he is now regarded, for what he is and what he has done, as one of the county's best and most serviceable citizens.

Howard M. Thompson

One of the rising young farmers of Parsons Creek township, and active and serviceable in all matters pertaining to the progress and improvement of his township and county, Howard M. Thompson has demonstrated his merit to the people around him in many ways and they esteem him in accordance with it. He has a special interest in Linn county and its residents, for he was born in it, drew his stature and his strength from its soil and has mingled actively and helpfully in its industrial and civic life from his boyhood, and in a forceful and influential way from the dawn of his manhood through all the subsequent years of his life.

Mr. Thompson's life began in Meadville on June 27, 1876. He is a son of Permenis M. and Nanny J. (Drummond) Thompson, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter of Missouri. The father was always a farmer in times of peace, but when anned resistance threatened the continuance of the Union he became a soldier, enlisting in the Second Ohio regiment and serving throughout the Civil War. He bore the marks of his valor and fidelity to his grave, having been wounded in one of the terrible battles of the momentous conflict, and also having been taken prisoner and suffered all the horrors of confinement in Andersonville prison.

After the end of his military service he sought a new field of enterprise in the yet undeveloped West, coming to Linn county, Missouri, in 1866, and buying a tract of wild land in Parsons Creek township. He located on this land and devoted the remaining years of his life to its cultivation and improvement, living on it until within a year or two of his death, which occurred at Laclede on February 26, 1906. He and the mother were married in Missouri and became the parents of five sons and two daughters, all of whom are living but one of the sons. The mother is also still living and has her home in Laclede.

Their son Howard was reared and educated in this count}", and has been connected with farm work from his boyhood. He worked on his father's farm Avhile attending school and for some years after completing his education, and since leaving that has been continuously occupied in cultivating a farm on his own account. He has been a diligent student of the science of agriculture in both theory and practice, and a judicious and discriminating observer of experimental operations and their results. By this means he has become one of the best farmers in the county, and is regarded as one of the most enterprising and progressive.

Mr. Thompson has taken an earnest interest in the affairs of his county and township also, and made his interest manifest in practical work for their advancement and improvement. No commendable project involving their betterment or the general well being of their residents goes without his ardent and serviceable support. The fraternal life of his community has appealed to him with force, and he has been active in that, too, as a member of the Masonic Order and the Knights of Pythias.

He was married on April 3, 1900, to Miss Ida Bargar, a daughter of H. C. and Mary A. (Laffer) Bargar, pioneers and long highly respected residents of Linn county. Five of the oif spring born of the union are living: Clifford C, Theodore C, Howard K., Genevieve L and Catherine E., all of whom still abide under the family rooftree and brighten and adorn the family circle of their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are among the most highly esteemed residents of Linn county.

George W. Anderson

The fertile land of Linn county has proven a great benefaction to hundreds of persons who have lived on it, and the usuallj^ genial climate of this section of the state makes its attractiveness all the greater. Those who are native to the soil and have known scarcely any other, are pleased with it, of course. But it attracted attention and had a reputation before many people occupied it, and drew settlers at an early day in the history of the county from many distant points.

Among the early but not earliest arrivals were George and Agnes (Hunt) Anderson, the parents of George W. Anderson, now one of the prominent farmers and leading live stock men of Jefferson township, who located in that township in 1869, when he was but six years old. They were natives of Genesee county. New York, where the father was born on October 29, 1831, and moved to Illinois early in their married life, locating in Peoria coimty. They farmed there until the land beyond the Mississippi, as it was to them, beckoned them with too persuasive a hand to be resisted, and then they came to this county to pass the remainder of their lives.

The father bought a farm in Jefferson township three miles southeast of Laclede, where they dwelt until 1891, then moved to Brookfield. In that .city the mother died in 1893 and the father in August, 1911. Of the eleven children born of their union nine are living, four of them sons, and three of these are residents of Linn county. The father served as a justice of the peace two years, and was among the most esteemed men in the county. The farm on which he located was at the time but slightly improved, but when he left it his skillful husbandry had brought it to a high state of productiveness, his excellent judgment and good taste had improved it with attractive modern buildings, and it had all the features and state of advancement of a first rate farm. He was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

The paternal grandfather. Esquire Anderson, was also a farmer and migrated to Illinois in middle life. In that state he took up his residence in Henry county, and died at Galva, in that county, in 1884. His offspring numbered five, four sons and one daughter. They are all living but one son, the father of the subject of this brief memoir.

George W. Anderson was born in Peoria county, Illinois, in 1863, and was but six years old when the family moved to Missouri, as has been noted. He attended the country schools near his home and worked on the home farm until he attained his majority, then moved to the farm of 360 acres in Jefferson township, which he now occupies, and which is one of the best in the county. The land is very fruitful and he farms it with vigor, carrying on general farming operations on an extensive scale and with gratifying profits. In addition he handles a large volume of live stock from year to year, and so conducts this branch of his business that it, also, brings him in handsome returns for his labor and enterprise. The farm is improved with good up-to-date buildings for all its operations, including the live stock department, and the dwelling is one of the most commodious, comfortable, attractive and completely equipped in the township.

Mr. Anderson was married on March 7, 1888, to Miss Lizzie Carter, a daughter of Carlos and Betsey (Gustin) Carter, who located in Linn county in 1859, where they both died some years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have four children, their son Carlos C. and their daughters Betty A., Orliva L. and Zina G. The father of these children is always warmly interested in the welfare of his township and county and the substantial and enduring good of their residents, and he is at all times willing and ready to do all in his power to promote the general well being in every way open to his efforts.