Montgomery County, Missouri - Biographical sketches (1 of 2 so headed), 1885 (part 1 of 3)

Biographical sketches

In any worthy history of St. Charles county the name that heads © this sketch must always be given a place as that of one of the promi- - nent representative citizens of the county. Mr. Allen was a son of - Rev. Joseph Allen, who settled in this county from North Carolina as J far back as. 1829. His father (Rev. Mr. Allen) was a Virginian by ' nativity, and in 1811 was married to Miss Rachel M. May, just across | the Virginia line in Rockingham a npeahe N.C. ee M. Allen, q the subject of the present sketch, was born of this union in Henry county, Va., September 3, 1812. The family continued to reside in that county until their removal to Missouri, when William M. was about 17 years of age. The father became a well-known and _ highlyrespected citizen of this county. He was a minister of the M. E. Church, and also a successful farmer. He died here in 1833. Of the family of seven children he left, Hon. William M. Allen is the only one living. After William M. Allen grew up he became a farmer, or rather continued the occupation to which he had been brought up. Later along he also became interested in merchandising, and all in all, soon became one of the substantial citizens of the county. Mr. Allen has always shown commendable public spirit for the advancement of the general interests of the county, and particularly of this locality. He is the founder of Wentzville and has done a great deal to give it that prominence, as a local and prosperous business center, which it has attained. He had the town surveyed in 1855, and the plat duly recorded, according to the requirements of law. Afterwards he built the depot at this place, and accepted the appointment of station agent in order to get it established ag a regular stopping place or station on the road. Mr. Allen built the first store house ever put up at this place, and has always taken a leading part, both in work and in contributing his means, in all movements to help the town along. Years ago he became well known as one of the public-spirited and influential citizens of the western part of the county. He was once elected to represent the county in the State Legislature, and two years later he was elected to the State Senate from. this district, then composed of the counties of St. Charles and Lincoln. Asa legislator Mr. Allen proved a sound, conservative and faithful representative of the people. A man of strong natural ability and good sober judgment, he was eminently qualified to pass upon all proposed measures of legislation affecting the welfare and prosperity of the State. Mr. A. resides at Wentzville, where he has a pleasant and comfortable home with his son. In 1832 he was married to Miss Mary A. Shelten, a daughter of James C. Shelton, then of this county, but formerly of Virginia. Mr. Allen's wife died in 1862. She had borne him eight children, five of whom are living: Rachel A., Tobitha S., Mary M., William H. and Nancy H. The mother wasa worthy member of the M. E. Church South. Mr. Allen, though now two years past the allotted age of three-score and ten, is quite active, considering his

Joseph Amptmann

November 11, 1838, was the date of Mr. Amptmann's birth, and Bezerk, Arnsberg, in Prussia, the place ; he was a son of Casper and Tracey (Schultz) Amptmann, both of old families in that part of

Henry and Peter - to America, settling in St. Charles county. The mother died the first year of their arrival, and the father married a second time, to Miss Catherine Lenk. To them were born three children: Casper, Lizzie and Mary. Casper Amptmann followed farming in this county until his death, which occurred suddenly (caused by heart disease) in July, 1873. Joseph was the third in the family of eight children, and completed his majority in St. Charles county, following the saddler's trade. He visited Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, but upon returning resumed his farming operations. He served in the State militia, and his third brother died during the war, after having served three years in an Illinois volunteer regiment, and then re- -enlisting. In 1865 Mr. Amptmann was married to Miss Mary Summer, formerly of Germany. Already Mr. Amptmann had engaged in farming and this he afterwards kept up and with good success ; he has become one of the substantial farmers of Cuivre township ; he has over 400 acres of fine land and has his place well improved. He and wife have nine children: Emily, Nettie, Henry, Anna, hers . John, Joseph, Mary and Leonidas. .

At the age of 19, Mr. Blattner came over to America, from Switzerland, and landed at New Orleans November 20, 1840, two years before ~ his parents immigrated. He served his time at steamboat building in St. Louis and built the first boats constructed there. In the fall of | 1843 his parents came to this country and Frederick accompanied - them to Warren county, buying a tract of land in Hickory Grove - Prairie. The following spring he returned to St. Louis, where he ' followed his trade until the fall of 1848; then going back to his _ parents, in Warren county, on the farm he had previously purchased, he began merchandising, milling and manufacturing in Warren county. -In 1861 he embarked in merchandising in Foristell, or, as it was then called, Millville, Mo. In 1868 he removed his family to Foristell, discontinuing his merchandising enterprise in Warren county. His milling business was continued until 1875. It is unnecessary to go into the details of Mr. Blattner's career in business and industrial affairs. Suffice it to say that it has been one of unqualified and marked success. From a young man comparatively penniless and ina strange land and speaking a foreign language, he has risen by the strength of his'own character and the virtue of his own industry and intelligence to the position of one of the wealthy and influential citizens of St. Charles county; he is alarge property holder in this county and also has valuable property interests in St. Louis. Mr. Blattner has been married twice; his first wife was a Miss Marie - A. Uckley, of Montgomery county; she died December' 25, 1852, leaving him two children: Edward and Johanna, Edward is married and engaged in the livery business at New Florence. Johanna is unvee married and still at home. Mr. Blattner was married in April, 1853, to his present wife; she was a Miss Marie E. Wehrley, of St. Louis. They have seven children: Frederick, who is married and is a grain and stock dealer at Wellsville ; William B., whois married and a merchant at Foristell; Caroline, Elizabeth, Andrew and Allie, the last four being still at home. Mr. Blattner was a son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Wehrley) Blattner, of Switzerland, and who settled in Warren county, Mo., in 1843. The father was a farmer by occupation and died there in 1875; he had been a soldier in the Swiss army before coming to this'country. The mother died in1875. Frederick was the eldest of their family of three children.

William B. Blattner

Mr. Blattner was the third in his father's second family of children, mentioned in the preceding sketch, and was born in Warren county, January 24, 1856. His youth was spent in the neighborhood schools and assisting his father in the mill or on the farm. Going to Jones' Commercial College of St.-Louis, he took a regular course there, and became thoroughly conversant with the affairs of business and commercial laws and usages. He engaged in his present business in 1875, and has had an entirely successful career thus far. He carries a stock of about $3,000, and has built up a large trade. He is one of the popular young business men of this part of the county. Mr. Blattner is a worthy member of the I.O.O. F. The history of the family was given in his father's sketch, which precedes this, and it is therefore unnecessary to repeat here what has been said there.

George M. Cannon

The family name of the subject of this sketch is one among the first in the history of the settlement of the middle-eastern part of Missouri, Mr. Cannon's grandfather Cannon settled in St. Charles county, and on the same farm where the grandson now resides, as far back as 1811. - This has been the family homestead continuously ever since that time, through three generations of the family and for a period of nearly three-quarters of acentury. The senior Cannon removed from Tennessee with his family to this county, and lived here until his death, ata ripe old age. Further mention of his settlement in the county and his life as one of its first pioneers is made in the historical part of this work, so that it is unnecessary to dwell here upon the circumstances and events of his long residence as a citizen of the county. Philip 8. Cannon, his son, and the father of the subject of the present sketch, was yet at a tender age when the family came to Missouri, having been born in Tennessee in 1809. After he grew up in this county he was married to Miss Elizabeth McCoy, of another pioneer family earlier in the county than his father's. She was born

(deceased), Ellen (deceased ), Nathaniel and Sarah A. The father was a farmer by occupation, in which he had substantial success. He left a comfortable estate at his death, which occurred April 3, 1856. The mother died July 12, 1849. George M. Cannon was born on the homestead where he now resides November 30, 1830. Reared onthe farm, he thus acquired that taste for farm life which subsequently influenced him to continue in it as his permanent calling. He has therefore remained a farmer from youth up, and being a man brought up to habits of industry and to a frugal manner of living, he has, of course, been a success as a farmer. For a number of years, besides farming in a general way, he has made something of a specialty of raising stock, and has had a satisfactory experience in this industry also. Mr. Cannon owns the old family homestead of 310 acres, and besides this has a place of 140 acres near by, and 230 acres in Pulaski county. June 30, 1858, he was married to Miss Sarah C. Lewis, a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Gross) Lewis, of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Cannon have 10 children: John E., who is a practicing physician near Clarksville, Texas; Nancy E., Sarah E., James T., George R., Philip S., Oma May, Daniel W., Albert B. ane Lucy A., all but the eldest still at home with their parents. From infancy up Mr. C. has been absent from the county but once to remain any

William C. Dyer

Mr. Dyer is a worthy representative of the old and respected family of North Missouri whose name he bears. The family are originally from Virginia, but now have branches in Kentucky and Missouri and constable of the township, and during the war enrolling officer for this part of the county. He died here in 1864. His wife was a Miss Margaret Hayden before her marriage, from Lebanon, Ky. She died in 1849. They had a family of nine children, four of whom are living., the Home Guards, Union service, in which he continued until the close of the war. After the war he resumed farming, to which he had been brought up, and dealing in stock. August 15, 1861, Mr. Dyer was

HISTORY OF ST. CHARLES COUNTY. 511 of whom are living, namely: George, Annie, Patrick, Martin, Frederick, Bernard, William, Mary, Lawrence and Fenelon. Mr. and Mrs. Dyer and family are members of the Catholic Church. Mr. Dyer has been satisfactorily successful as a farmer and stock dealer, and has a comfortable property. He has a good farm of nearly 400 acres, nearly all of which is under fence and well improved. He is one of the prosperous farmers and well respected citizens of the township.

August E. Forderhase

Among the active and energetic business men of Foristell the subject of the present sketch occupies a worthy and well recognized position. He ships about 30,000 bushels of grain annually - seme 20,000 bushels of wheat and the balance principally oats. Mr. Forderhase has acted as postmaster of Foristell since the spring of 1871, when he was appointed to the office by Postmaster-General John A. J. Cresswell. He has made an efficient postmaster, a satisfactory and popular servant with both the post-office department and the public in and around Foristell. Mr. Forderhase was a son of Henry A. and Marie (Suhre) Forderhase, who came from Prussia and were among the first settlers of Hickory Grove Prairie in Warren county. The father was a farmer by occupation, and died there in 1862. The mother died in 1848. August E. was the third in the family of four children, three of whom are living. He was born in Warren county, August 13, 1846. He receiveda district school education as he grew up, and also attended the Central Wesleyan College at Warrenton for about a year. He then obtained a situation in a store at Wright City, where he clerked for two years, and came thence to Foristell. Here he afterwards clerked for Frederick Blattner for two years, and in 1869 he and E. M. Pringle formed a partnership and engaged in general merchandising at this place. Mr. Forderhase continued in the. firm until 1876, when he sold out and built a business house of his own, where he opened a general stock of merchandise. He conducted this store for about four years and then disposed of it also. He has ever since been engaged in the grain business. During the war Mr. F. served about a year in the Forty-ninth Missouri regular U.S. eo April 15, 1875, he was married to Miss Cornelia M. Blackwell, daughter of the Rev. Harleigh and Cathern A. (Banker ) Blackwell ; the father a native of Kentucky. but her mother a native of New York. Mrs. F. was born and reared in St. Charles county, where she was also educated and married. Mr. and Mrs. F. have no children. They are both church members.

Edmund C. Gannaway

versity, and continued teaching for about eight years, or, rather, he. has continued it up to the present time. He has established a wide and enviable reputation as a teacher, and his services are in request wherever he is known. Meanwhile, he was chosen to serve the people in the office of justice of the peace, and he exercised the duties of this office to the entire satisfaction of the public for several terms. He is still serving as justice for Cuivre township. In 1878 he was appointed deputy assessor, and is now a candidate for election for the office of county assessor. Mr. Gannaway is well known in the county as one of its worthy and popular citizens. In the spring of 1876 he was married to Miss Maggie E. Luckett, a daughter of John C. Luckett. Mr. and Mrs. G. have three children : Frank L., Pearl M. and George Vest. Mr. Gannaway has a good farm in the vicinity of Wentzville of nearly 200 acres, where he carries on farming. He resides in the town of Wentzville, and has a comfortable residence property here. He isa native of St. Charles county, born in this county, October 27, 1853. His father is Robinson Gannaway, formerly of Virginia, and a farmer by occupation. His mother was a Miss Martha M. Ferney (now dead) before her marriage. The father still resides in this county, where he settled in 1850. There are two children of their family, besides Edmund C., both of whom are living.

Henry G. Grove

graffchart of Hanover, and mayor of Harsum. He died 'there in 1842. Mr. Grove's mother was a Miss Gertrude Rohlman before her marriage. Mr. Grove was reared in his native country and came to America in 1847, at the age of 10 years. He first located at St. Louis, where he learned the blacksmith's trade for about four years, and then traveled and worked at his trade in different parts of the Eastern

Catharine Wenzel, a daughter of Peter Wenzel, formerly of Bavaria, - Germany. Ten children have been the fruits of this union and of these seven are living, namely: Theresa, John, Gertrude, Josephene, Lena, Frank and Caroline. Henry C., Henry J. and William are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Grove are members of the Catholic Church, the Catholic Knights of America, and the Patrons of Husbandry. Besides his farm Mr. Grove has 150 acres of good land in another tract. He is one of the worthy and respected citizens of Cuivre

Leo W. Hayden

Among the well-to-do farmers and respected citizens of Cuivre township is the subject of the present sketch, Mr. Hayden. His father, William B. Hayden, came to Missouri from Kentucky in 1838, and located first in Montgomery county. Subsequently he removed to Lincoln county and then to St. Charles, where he married and settled permanently. His wife was a Miss Mary Freymuth, of a respected German family that settled in this county in an early day. Mr. Hayden, Sr., became comfortably situated in life, and reared a worthy family of eight children. Leo W., the oldest in the family of children, was born July 4, 1847, and was "veared on the farm in this county. He received a common-school education, and about the time of arriving at the age of 29 engaged in farming for himself. April 24,1877, he was married to Miss Mary C. Corley, a daughter of Henry and Rosa Corley, of this county. Mr. and Mrs. H. have three children: Beatrice, Henry and Mary Rose. Both parents are members of the Catholic Church. Mr. Hayden's farm is a tract of 446 acres, about 300 acres of which he has well improved.

James R. Hayden

The Hayden family, as all know who know anything about the people of North Missouri, is one of the old and highly respected families of this section of the State. The family came originally from Maryland, but several branches were located for a time in Kentucky, coming thence to this State. Mr. Hayden's father, William B. Hayden, came from Kentucky to Missouri when a young man in 1840. He first located in Montgomery county, but afterwards resided in Pike and Lincoln and finally settled permanently in St. Charles county in 1845. He married here the following year Miss Mary B. Freymuth, a daughter of John C. Freymuth, an early settler in this county from Prussia. After his marriage he engaged in farming and subsequently here November 16, 1878. His wife had preceded him to the grave nearly seven years, dying January 15, 1872. Both were exemplary members of the Catholic Church. They reared a family of eight chil-

'dren, five boys and three girls, all of whom are living. James "Ri Hayden, 'the subject of this sketch, was the second of their children, and was born on his father's homestead in this county, June 8, 1849. Reared on the farm, he remained with the family until 25 years of age, when he built on and improved his farm, building one of the best barns in the county. He was married September 7, 1876, to Miss Rosa P. Bowles, a daughter of John B. and Mary Jane (nee Onan) Bowles. In 1881 Mr. Hayden engaged in merchandising at St. Paul, and has been in the business here ever since. He carries a good stock of goods and has an excellent trade. Mr. and Mrs. Hayden have two children, Mary M. and Albert. Another, Lula, is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. H. are members of the Catholic Church.

Henry F. Higginbotham

Mr.' Higginbotham was reared on his father's farm in this county and continued at home with the family until he was about 19 years of age, when he went to Pendleton, in Warren county, and entered the telegraph office there to learn telegraphy. He had received a good district school education, and of a naturally quick, active mind, and closely attentive to his work, he soon mastered the art of telegraphy. Indeed, his progress and proficiency as an operator were unusually rapid, and by the following fall he was warmly recommended by his preceptor, Mr. W. Ex Bon Durant, as being fully qualified to take charge of an office. The office at Foristell becoming vacant about this time,-he made application for the position, and being indorsed for the place by Mr. Bon Durant, as well as being known to the superintendent of telegraphy on the Wabash, he was given the appointment, and has had charge of this office ever since. He has made a thoroughly efficient operator, and has given entire satisfaction to the road and telegraph management and 'to all concerned. Appreciating the fact that to make himself useful or of any value as a railway agent, he should understand the general principles of book-keeping and the modus operandi of depot business, he familiarized himself also with these, and has thus been able to discharge - the duties of his position as ticket, freight, and express agent with efficiency and dispatch. As is well known, Mr. Higginbotham i is one of the most active and capable station agents along the line of the Wabash, and of deserved popularity in the community where he is located, no less than with the officers and operators of the road. Like was born and reared in: that section of Virginia, a native of Henry county. On his mother's side Mr. Hig einbotham i is a representative of the Dyer family, another old and "respected family of Virginia. His mother, whose maiden name was Miss Sarah A. Dyer, is a first cousin of Col. D. P. Dyer, of St. Louis. Mr. H.'s parents came to Missouri in 1840, and settled in St. Charles county. His father is a substantial farmer and well respected citizen of the county. Henry

Walter B., who is still at home with his father ; Robert W. is a clerk ~ in, the drug. store of his uncle, William Dyer, of Jonesburg, and Charles P. *' meta is still at home with his father. Henry Fountain -

Miss Emma Schatz, a daughter of Jobn G. Schatz, of this place, on the 7th of July, 1880. Mr. and Mrs. H. have two children, Florence Eugenia, born July 15, 1881, and Clarence Leroy, born July 7, 1882. The latter died July 17, of the same month. Thus,

Garner B. Hitch

Mr. Hitch learned the carpenter's trade early in life and worked at it in St. Louis for atime. From there, in 1850, he went to California, where he followed his trade, principally in the line of making machinery for mining purposes. He formed a partnership with Mr. Mabie, and for several years the firm of Mabie & Hitch did a large business in the manufacture of machinery. He was also interested in mining and continued in California for over five years. He then returned to Missouri and settled in St. Charles county, where he had been partly reared. He was married here shortly afterwards to Miss Mollie T. Hand, formeriy of Virginia. She survived less than two' years, leaving no issue. His present wife was a Miss Alice Griffin, of Louisville, Ky. Of this union there are also no children, but they have become the foster-parents of four orphan children. Mr. Hitch has followed farming uninterruptedly since his return from California and has a comfortable homestead of 300 acres. His parents, Garner B., Sr., and Mary (Barbee) Hitch, were from Virginia to Missourl, and came out in 1837. His father had served through the War of 1812, and died in St. Louis county in 1840. The mother survived to the advanced age of 90. Garner B., Jr., was the third of their family of ten children, and was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, March 17, 1829. In 1842 he came from St. Louis county, to which his parents had brought him, to St. Charles county, but he returned to the former county in 1848. Thence he went to California.

Judge James Humphreys

Judge Humphreys was a lad about nine years of age when his parents, James. and Anna (Bailey) Humphreys, immigrated to the United States from England. He was born in Warwickshire, England, February 9,.1831. The family loeated at St. Louis in 1840, where the father followed his trade, rope making, for over 20 years. He then retired from active labor and removed to St. Charles county, where he died in 1864. - His wife was a sister to the noted William - Bailey, the manufacturer of the first railway steam engine ever operated on the present principle of traction. Judge James Humphreys was principally reared in St. Louis, where he continued until about

1864, when he came to St. Charles county, and here he engaged in farming. A year before coming to this county he was married to Miss Hannah Martin, a young "lady of St. Louis, but for merly of Massachusetts. Judge Humphreys has followed farming continuously in this county ever since his settlement here in 1854, 'for a period, now, of over thirty years. He is one of the neat, enterprising farmers of Cuivre township. He has become well and favorably known over the county as one of its highly respected and popular citizens. In 1882 he was elected a judge of the county court, and is now serving the people in that responsible position. Judge Humphreys is aman of sterling, sound good judgment, perfectly upright in all his dealings and purposes, as his past irreproachable life shows, and a man in whom the people have the utmost confidence. He has made a capable, impartial, and discriminating judge, and is always at the post of duty whenever public business requires his time and attention. As long as the affairs of the county are kept in the hands of Judge Humphreys and his associates\no uneasiness of the people need de felt for their faithful and economical management.

Of all the missions in this life which men are called to fulfill, there is not one that calls for the exercise of qualities so high and noble as those demanded in the priesthood. Of course men of the highest type are always found in this pre-eminent and sacred calling, for from the first followers of the Saviour there have, now and then, been those among His disciples who have betrayed themselves as unworthy of the high commission with which they were intrusted. But this does not alter the rule, nor does it lessen to auy appreciable extent the respect and consideration with which the priesthood has always been regarded.

'¢ The priesthood,'' Atterbury truthfully says, ' hath in all nations, and in all ages, been held highly venerable.'' And this is as it should be. Men dalled from among their fellows for the duties of this high _ office on account of the superior gifts of mind and of their deep, earnest piety, and prepared by long years of training, moral, mental and religious, for the sacred services they are to perform; men set apart from all others and forever divorced from the secular affairs of the world, solemnly and sacredly plighted to a life of celibacy, and renouncing forever the worldly comforts and happiness of home and family ; in a word, men turning their backs once for all on everything which the generality of mankind regards as nearest and dearest and most to be desired, so far as this life is concerned - family, the pursuit of wealth and personal advancement - and pledging 'themselves. alone to the service of God and the church, and of mankind through the church, they must needs have that high resolve of character and those noble instincts and impulses, which, combined with their high tion, the respect and confidence, and the admiration of those around them. Hence it is that in every community the parish priest is always looked up to as a safe and wise counsellor in sorrow and misfortune, and in all the affairs of family, as well as in religious matters. It is he who carries the key to the trust and confidence of his parishioners, and who wields a justly potent influence in the community. Such is the character of man the good Father is, who is the subject of this sketch ; and such the position he holds in this community. | The highest tribute that could be paid him as a man and priest is to say that he is in every way eminently worthy of his sacred office; and this can be said with truth and without qualification. His record in the priesthood has been one of earnest piety and of untiring zeal in the cause of religion and of the church; and one of ability and marked success as a priest. He is only less admired by those who know hina for his learning and eloquence, than he is loved for his religious devotion and his unceasing labors for the good of those who are brought under his benign influence. Rev. Father Krainhard is a native of Germany, born in the Kreis of Wiedenbruk, on the Ist of May, 1841. He wasason of Johann T. Pollmeier and Katharine Brunsick, and was the fourth in their family of six children. The parents followed him to America in 1868, and settled at St. Charles. His general education was acquired in different State schools in Prussia. Three years he visited the school at Marienfeld; five more at Herzebruck. Then he went for the higher branches of science one year and a half to Guetersloh ; from thence he came to Rietberg, and visited the college four years and a half. After having visited Reit school, at Felgte, half a year, he spent two years in the college at Warendorf; he obtained the certificate of maturity at the State's examination in the fall of 1863, and later visited the academy at Paderborn two years and a quarter. There he was made. acquainted with philosophical and theological sciences. In the fall of 1855 he left his native country for America to devote his life to the work of mission in the United States. Seven days before Christmas he arrived at New York and immediately went to the seminary of St. Francis of Sales, near Milwaukee, where he completed his theological studies. Then he offered his services to the Archbishop Peter Kenrick, of St. Louis, and was ordained July 18, 1866, by the Rt. Rev. Fahan, Bishop of Nashville, now Archbishop of Chicago. His bishop sent him to St. Charles to assist the pastor at St. Peter's Church. From thence he _was transferred to St. Joseph's Church, at Josephville, September 19, 1868, and in this position he has continually remained untilnow. His parents died in 1880, the father six months after the mother.

For 35 years continuously Dr. Lewis has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession at Flint Hill and throughout the surrounding vicinity. Though so long engaged in a large and arduous country practice, where the hardships and exposures are out of all comparison: more severe than those incident to a city practice, or practice in a large town and thickly populated community, he is still active and zealous in the work, and makes no hesitation when a call comes, to attend the suffering, but goes promptly in obedience to what he believes one of his most sacred duties, regardless of personal comfort or interest. Ever faithful thus to his duties as a physician, and a man of kindly bearing, and the most generous, unselfish impulses, he has very naturally become not only well established as a leading physician of the county, but to occupy a place in the esteem, and it may truthfully be said, the affections of the people of his community, which only such a life as he has led, and such a man as he is, could win. Dr. Lewis has been very successful as a physician, judging success in the profession as it should be judged, by the good one does. The people have confidence both in his ability and in his humane solicitude for those who come under his care and treatment. In his time-he has performed many extremely difficult cures, successes that 'in a large city would have made him a reputation worth a fortune. But he has not sought fame or wealth in his practice, but rather to do his simple duty" to suffering humanity, whenever and wherever called, in a plain, unobtrusive and conscientious manner. Thus, while perhaps he has not made as great a name in his profession as perhaps he otherwise might have done, yet he has the consciousness of having been true to himself, true to the public and true to his profession, and of having never sacrificed anything for personal advancement, a consciousness that is worth more to a true and just man than all the empty honors and wealth that the werld has to bestow. .Dr. Lewis is a native of Ken- - tucky, born March 31, 1823. His father was Russell Lewis, a leading merchant of Frankfort, Ky., and sheriff of Franklin county, that State, but originally of Boston, Mass. He died when Russell B. (the Doctor) was in infancy. The mother, whose maiden name was Maria Bell, born and reared in Frankfort, Ky., subsequently became the wife of William C. Lindsay, who removed with her family to Missouri, in - 1829, and settled in St. Charles county. The mother died in this county April 12, 1883, at the advanced age of 83 years. Russell B. Lewis, the only child by his mother's first marriage, was reared in this county, and received a common district school education. Subsequently, after attaining his majority, he taught school in the county for 18 months, and then went to Kentucky, where he studied medicine under Dr. Theophilus Steele, of Versailles. After a course of preparatory study with Dr. Steele, he took a course of lectures at Transylvania Medical College, of Lexington, Ky. Concluding his course there he returned to Missouri and completed his medical education at the Missouri Medical College, under the presidency of Dr. McDowell, from which institution he graduated in 1849. He then located at Flint Hill, and has been actively engaged in the practice here ever since. Dr. Lewis owns a good farm on which he resides, and the management of which he 'superintends. He has been married twice.. His' first wife was Miss Mildred Myers, a daughter of George Myers, of this county, to whom he was married April 4, 1849. She died April 21, 1870, leaving two children, Mary M., now the wife of Rev. Henry Kay, pastor of the M. E. Church South, of Montgomery City; and Mildred Bell, a young lady still at home. To his present wife Dr. Lewis was married January 11, 1876. She was a Miss Anna Chinn, of Frankfort, Ky., a daughter of Judge Franklin Chinn, of that city, and was educated at the "Shelbyville High School, of Kentucky. Of this union there are four children: Madge, Jennie, Russell B. and

Mr. McMenamy was born in Ireland, in March, 1838. When he was about 12 years of age the family immigrated to America and located at St. Louis, where they resided about two years. The family with the exception of the father who died on his arrival there from Ireland, in 1852, then came to St. Charles county. Here, during the war Mr. McMenamy, Jr., the subject of this sketch, served for a time

_ inthe Home Guards, Union service. Already he had engagedin farming in the county and he has ever since kept this up. Mr. "McMenamy by industry and good management has acquired a comfortable property. He hasa good farm of over 300 acres which is well improved and well stocked. In 18638 he was married to Miss Isabella Bowles, a daughter of Walter and Rosa Bowles of this county. Mr. and Mrs. MeM. have been blessed with 11 children, nine of whom are living, namely: Patrick W., Rosa A., Mary F., Litticia, Margaret T., Peter J., Perpetua, Bernardetta and John A. Mr. and Mrs. MeM. are members of the Catholic Church.

Benjamin F. Moore

Mr. Moore's grandparents on his father's side weve early settlers of Kentucky from Virginia, coming out to the Blue Grass State when his father, Benjamin Moore, Sr., was yet in early boyhood. The latter grew up in Kentucky and became a well-to-do farmer and respected citizen of Harrison county. He died while on a visit to his son, Benjamin F., in this county, in 1871. He was married twice, his first wife having been a Miss Thompson, who left him two children at her death, both now grown and married. His second wife was a Miss Patsey Dance, also of Harrison county, Ky. Eight children were the fruits of the last union, including the subject of the present sketch. Four are living. Benjamin IF'. was the second in this family and was born on his father's homestead in Harrison county, Ky., January 1,.1837. Reared on a farm in his native county, he continued at home until he was about 21 years of age, when he came out to Missouri and located in St. Charles county. Shortly afterwards the war broke out and he enlisted in the Southern army, serving under Price until the summer of 1863. He was principally in the recruiting army of the service. In 1864 Mr. Moore went West, and for five years following was mainly engaged in freighting on the plains. He returned to St. Charles county in 1868, and the same year was married to Miss Mildred Custer, a daughter of Hiram Custer, of this county, and descended from the old Custer family of Virginia. Mr. Moore at once went to farming after his return to the county and has been factorily well as a farmer. He now has a comfortable homestead of over 300 acres, substantially improved and well stocked. Mr. and Mrs. M. have four children: Lizzie D., Frank C., Edna B. and Elon H. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church. .

Judge Benjamin C. T. Pratt

In early life Judge Pratt was a civil engineer, and although he retired from that profession while still a young man, he had already attained to enviable prominence. Born in Wareham, Plymouth county, Mass., February 23, 1834, his parents shortly afterwards removed to Binghampton, where he was reared and educated, and where he studied civil engineering. His being almost devoted 'exclusively to mental culture in and outside of institutions of learning, he early passed through the usual curriculum of studies, and indeed, before he was 20 years of age had studied civil engineering, and became proficient and a licentiate in that profession. He then at once came West, believing men in his calling in this then new country not to be met with m the at St. Louis, he was in that city only a short time before ht was appointed civil engineer for the North Missouri Railroad Company, and in pursuance of his appointment he made the survey of the'road from St. Louis to the Iowa line. This reute was adopted by the company and his work has since been declared by the ablest civil engineers by any respectable authority. Young Pratt was then appointed superintendent of the construction of the road, and pushed the work of building it forward with vigor until 1858, when he resigned his position to engage in farming ~ in St: Charles county, where he had bought a large. body of land. Here he improved a fine farm and nas been successfully engaged in farming and stock-raising time. He has a handsome place of some 500 acres, and is one of the substantial citizens of the county. Judge Pratt has from time to time held various official positions, including 'that of associate justice of the county court for a number of terms. 'November 6, 1868, he was maro ever since that - ried to Miss Ellen T. English, a daughter of Dr. Benaia English, a leading physician of this county for many years, and a former representative of the county in the State Legislature, but originally of Vermont. Mrs. Pratt, Dr. English's daughter, was highly educated, and besides liberal instruction in other institutions, had the benefit of a collegiate course at St. Charles, where she graduated. The Judge and wife became the parents of seven children, namely: Edwin, who died in infancy ; Addie, Sarah, who died in young SS ean and after she had become the wife of Henry T. Keithley; Bennie, Lela, Henry and Albertena. Judge Pratt's parents were Hampton K. Pratt and Sarah (Tobey) Pratt, both born and reared in Wareham county, Mass. They removed to Binghampton, N. Y., in 1836, where the father opened the first hardware store established at that place, and which he carried on with success for some 25 years. The mother died there in 1862 and in 1863 he, the father, came West to Macoupin county, Ill., and two years later to St. Charles county, where he died in 1878. There were three children, the two besides the Judge being Sarah, who is the wife of Henry Wiggins, a prominent merchant of Brooklyn, N. Y., and Addie, who is the wife of William H. Scobill, a leading lawyer of Burlington, N. Y.

Dr. Pringle's father, Capt. Norman Pringle, from Connecticut, was one of the pioneer settlers of Warren county. Indeed he came here before the county had an existence in name, away back in 1820, and settled in what was then a part of Montgomery county, but what afterwards was included in the territorial limits of Warren county, when the latter was organized. He was a man of sterling worth, 7 strong intelligence, and Becanio a man of consideration in the county. He had served in the War of 1812, and came of an old and respected family of Connecticut, originally of Scotch descent. He was a tanner by trade and followed that in Connecticut until his removal to Missouri. Here he devoted himself mainly to farming, settling at Hickory Grove, and attained to comparatively easy circumstances, He served as post- 'master at Hickory Grove for a long time and until his death. He was for many years a worthy member of the Masonic fraternity. His wife was a strict Presbyterian. She preceded him to the grave by about two years. She was a Miss Sallie Kellogg, and was of Irish descent, but herself was born and reared in Connecticut. Nine children were the fruits of their long and happy married life. Of these Charles W. was the youngest, and was born at Hickory Grove, March 14, 1824. He was principally educated at a private school kept by Prot C. W.. Pritchett. Afterwards he began the study of! medicine, Dr. H. C. Wright being his local preceptor. After a regular course of preparatory study, in 1848, he matriculated at the Missouri Medical College under the presidency of the famous Dr. McDowell. After a regular course of two terms under Dr. McDowell he was regularly and honorably graduated, and at once returned to Warren county and located on his farm, about a mile north-east of Foristell, where he engaged actively in the practice of his profession. He continued located there at work in the practice and superintending his farm until 1872, when he removed to the town of Foristell, where he has ever since given his whole time and attention to his profession. Dr. Pringle has had a successful career as a physician, and stands not less favor ably as a citizen than he does in his profession. October 18, 1844, he was married to Miss Meroe S. Edwards, the second daughter of Moses and Sallie (Spires) Edwards of this county. The Doctor and Mrs. Pringle have been blessed with 12 children, 10 of whom are living: Edward M. , who is married and is a merchant at Foristell; Mark S., married and a farmer of Warren county ; Sallie H., the wife of John M. Bird, a farmer of that county ; John E., also married and a regular graduate and practitioner of medicine in Lincoln county ; Virgil K., a telegraph operator at Walloola Junction, Washington Territory ; Charles M., married and a farmer of Warren county; Cyrus E., 'engaged in the practice of medicine with his father; Lucy N., Julia O. aa Meroe A., the last three at home. Adelbert.and Mattie, the second and youngest child respectively, are deceased. The Doctor and wife and several of their children are members of the Christian Church; the Doctor is also a member of the A. F. and A. M.

Edward M. Pringle

Though hardly ane a man of middle age, Mr. Pringle bas already - achieved a degree of success that would do credit to one late in the evening of life and whose whole energy and intelligence had been well - enlisted in business and industrial affairs. Born i in Warren county September 18, 1845, he did not enter actively into business life until about 15 years ago. Yet within that comparatively short period, by his own energy and intelligence alone, he has placed himself ina prominent position among the leading business men of St. Charles county ; he is one of the "principal general merchants of the western part of the county, and also one of the leading dealers in lumber, grain - and live stock. Of general merchandise he carries a stock of about $3,000 and of Tee about $2,000, and also owns his business build- ~ ings and places of business ; his annual sales in these two lines aggre-_ cate over $40,000. Of grain he ships about 80,000 bushels a year, - and of live stock about $20, 000 worth per annum. These facts speak - for themselves and require no comment. Mr. Pringle resides at Yoristell and has an elegant and beautiful home, the handsomest placesi, by all odds, at this point. He is a man of culture and high character, - as well as of superior business-qualification, and stands well not ouly. at Poristell, but wherever he is known; he is the eldest son of Dr. Charles W. Pringle, whose sketch precedes this, and was reared on his father's farm, in Warren county, near Foristell. After taking the usual course in the district schools he entered the University of Si. Louis, where he received an advanced general education. Afterwards he followed farming for about a year, and then in 1868 was appointed station agent at Foristell. This position he held for some 12 months, but finding it too confining and that it afforded no opportunity for a field of business activity commensurate with his ambition he resigned it to enter into business lifé on his own account. He engaged in buying and shipping grain and live stock from this point and at once met with marked success; this he ever since continued; he also formed a business partnership in general merchandising with A. E. Forderhase, the two continuing in business together for about seven years, when Mr. P. bought his partner's interest and still continued the business. Later along he also opened a large lumber yard, and has conducted this with success for several years. Mr. Pringle has served-in the commission of notary public for about 12 years and transacts a great deal of business in this line for his neighbors and acquaintances in St. Charles and Warren counties. M: weh 17, 1874, he was married to Miss Anna G. Webb, a daughter of James T. and Sallie A. (Forney) Webb, of St. Charles county. They have three children: Edward C., Warren T. and John H. Mr. and Mrs. P. are members of the Christian Church.

Father William Alexander Schmidt was born in Linn Creek, Camden county, Mo., June 13, 1855. His parents, Fred. and Rosalie (nee Saettele) Schmidt, came to America from Baden, Germany, in 1849, and settled at Linn Creek a short time afterwards. At the age of 13 young Schmidt began a private course of classical studies 'at Alton, Ill., which he pursued there for four years. He then went to Quincy, that State, where he continued his studies for two years more. In 1874 he entered upon a philosophical course in the Diocesan College at Ruma, Randolph county, Il., and he subsequently pursued his theological studies at the Arch-Diocesan Seminary of Milwaukee, in St. Francis, Wis. Three years from the time he entered upon his 'theological course he had completed all his preparatory studies, and was accordingly-ordained a priest in 1878, his ordination being for the Arch-Diocese of St. Louis. Immediately thereafter he was appointed assistant priest of St. Mary's Church, at St. Louis, where he served until] 1879, when he was sent to the mission of Lake Creek, in Pettis county, Mo. While there he also attended the charges at Spring Fork, in the same .county, and Cole Camp, in Benton county. In November, 1880, Father Schmidt was recalled from the Lake Creek mission and appointed pastor of St. Mary's Church at Dardenne, in St. Charles county, of which he has ever since had charge. As a priest he is a man of thorougb learning and profound piety, and is earnestly and sincerely zealous in the cause of religion and the church. In the chancel and in all the relations of his holy office, as - well as his walk and talk in private life, his conduct and character are - in conformity with the duties and proprieties of his station, and happily illustrate the benign influence of Christianity upon its true followers. He is an able and eloquent pastor, and is greatly esteemed, not only by his own parishioners, but by the people of the community at large.

The above named firm was organized January 1, 1883, when they bought out the general merchandise stock of A. E. Forderhase at this place and eng: aged i in their present business. They carry a stock of about $6,000, and do an annual trade of some $20,000. In the grain line they handle about 16,500 bushels of wheat and about 6,600 bushels of oats. These facts show that they hold a position among the leading business firnis of the western part of the county. Both are men of thorough business qualifications, ample experience and unquestioned energy "and enterprise, and the successful career they have thus far had can hardly fail to continue in the future.

Mr. Scuatz is a son of John G. and Mary E. (Kiburz) Schatz, his father a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, but his mother originally of Obererlisbach, Switzerland. They early came to this country and resided in St. Louis for a number of years. The father is now retired and both live at Foristell. John Schatz, the subject of this sketch, and the eldest of five children, was born in St. Louis, April 26, 1855. He was principally reared at Foristell, and after his school experience in youth went out to the cigar maker's trade, which he followed until 1875. He then began clerking in a store at Foristell, and continued clerking until he engaged in his present business. November 14, 1883, he was married to Miss Minnie, a daughter of Paul and Prue Ochler, of St. Louis. Mr. 8. is a member of the I. O. O. F.

was born in St. Charles county, February 1, 1861.. His parents were William and Catherine (Kronsbein ) Schiermeier, both originally of Hanover, Germany. His father became a substantial farmer of St. Charles county, and served with courage and fidelity in the Union army during the Civil War. John H. was reared on the farm in this county and educated at the Central Wesleyan College of Warrenton. He then engaged in clerking in the store of E. M. Pringle at Foristell. However, before entering college he had followed clerking for about two years in the store of E. Hi. Meier, at New Melle. In all he had clerked for over four years before engaging in his present business. - omy - in agricultural and business affairs in this country. He commenced with as little to start on as the poorest of poor native Americans. But heis now one of the substantial citizens of St. Charles county. He has a large business in the general store line, and a fine farm in addition, which is well improved and well stocked. His tract of land contains over 600 acres, nearly all of which is under fence and improved. His residence is a substantial and commodious brick, and the other improvements correspond favorably with his dwelling. He also owns the business house occupied ae his store, an excellent brick building, well adapted to his business.

. Schmucker has a large trade and is doing a flourishing business. me was born in Ostraeden, in Prussia, November 1, 1832, and was a son of Heinrich and Elizabeth Schmucker, both of old Prussian families. There were five other children in the family besides Henry, the subject of the present sketch. Only three of the others, however, are now living. In 1886 the family immigrated to America and settled in Warren county, where the "father "engaged in farming. They resided there for over 20 years and then removed to St. Charles county, in 1857. The father served in the home guards during the war, as did also Henry, who enlisted in Co. K, of the Missouri cavalry, under Col. Bates, this being the regular Union service, however. He remained out until the close of the war. After the war Mr. Schmucker, the subject of the present sketch, resumed farming, which he had previously followed, and has continued in this industry and merchandising ever since. He has also been engaged in merchandising for a number of years. In 1857 Mr. 5S. was married to Miss . Frederika Panke, formerly of Germany. They have had eight children, six of whom are living: Marie, Heinrich, Elizabeth, Kathe, Joseph, Vina and Saluma.

Among the old and well known families of Central Virginia is that of which the subject of the present sketch is a representative. The Talleys came to Virginia from the south of Scotland prior to the Revolution, and since then branches of the family have become dispersed throughout nearly all the States, particularly of the South and West. Dr. Talley was a son of William P. and Francis ( Daniel ) Talley, of Cumberland, Va., and was born in that county July 5, of the others are now living. The father was a substantial farmer and respected citizen of Cumberland county, and served he people in the office of justice of the peace for a number of years. Dr. Talley:spent his early youth on his father's farm, and afterwards entered Randolph-Macon College, where he concluded his general education. He then began the study of medicine under his brother, Dr. Zach.

years later he came to Missouri and located in St. Charles county, where he at once engaged in the 'active practice of his profession. Dr. Talley has been enoaged i in the practice in this county almost continuously since that Hien or for a period of over 40 years. He has long held the position of one of the old and well established physicians of the county, and has been quite suecessful in his practice. In 1858 he was nominated for and elected to the Legislature, where he served the people with marked ability and public fidelity. He was one of the active men of the county in forwarding the building of the North Missouri Railroad, and was one of the prominent directors of the company. In 1845 Dr. Talley was married to Miss Paulina ©. Preston, a daughter of William R. and Elizabeth (Cabel) Preston, of this county, but formerly of Bottetourt county, Va. The Doctor and wife have been blessed with five children, but only two of them are now living: William P. and Edwin P. The Doctor is located at Wentaville, where he "has valuable town property. He is a prominent member of the Masonie order.

William P. Talley, M.D.

early displiyed a taste for studies of & medical character, and while yet a youth decided to devote himself to the profession of medicine. He was educated with that object in view, and took a course at St.

began the reoul: ir study of medicine under his f: ither, and later matriculated at the medical de partment of the State University of Virginia. After a regular course of Jectures at that institution he graduated with honor in the class of 768. Subsequently he took a post-graduate course at the St. Louis Medical College, in which he also received a diploma of graduation. In the fall of 1869 Dr. Talley. commenced the regular practice of his profession in this county.

Having # marked natural aptitude for the practice and being a physician of thorough qualifications, he soon established himself in the confidence of the public and acquired a good practice. His career in. the medical profession has been one of steady and uninterrupted success. In 1874 Dr. Talley was married in Marshall county, I Miss., to Miss Lucy P. Talley, a distant relative of his, born and reared in that State. She was the daughter of Joseph H. and Josephene Talley. The county, N.C., and came to\this county in 1831. His father became a successful farmer of the county, and one of its highly respected citizens. There were seven,in the family of children besides Charles J., but only three of the others are living. Charles J. Walker, the subject of this sketeh, was born on his father's homestead in this county June 30, 1846. His earlier years were spent on the farm, and in boyhood he attended the neighborhood schools. Subsequently young Walker took a course at Central C ollege, in Fayette, Mo., and also attended for two terms at Pritchett Institute, of Glasgow, in Howard county, this State. In 1868 he entered Dartmouth College, N. H., where he took a regular course and graduated with honor in 1870. Meanwhile he had decided to devote himself to the profession of the law, and he now entered upon his studies with that object in view. But receiving about this time a flattering offer of a professorship in Pritchett Institute, at Glasgow, Mo., he necepted it, and for four years afterwards was engaged in teaching in that institution. During this time his leisure was occupied with the study of law, and on quitting teaching in 1874 he was prepared to enter upon the practice of his profession. Accordingly he made application for license to practice law, and was duly admitted to the bar. Since then he has been located at Wentzville continuously, and has been engaged in the practice of his profession at this place and in the courts of St. Charles and neighboring counties. Mr. Walker isa prominent landholder of the county, and to some extent his time and attention are occupied with his real estute interests. He is a man of thorough general education and well grounded in the law, and has already proved himself to be an attorney of marked ability. A man of irreproachable habits and of cultured, pleasant manners, he is, as would be expected, highly esteemed in the county, and wields a marked influence on those around him. December 29, 1880, Mr. Walker was married to Miss Hattie Shore, of Trenton, Ill., a daughter of Benjamin Shore, deceased, formerly of St.

Charles county. Mrs. Walker is a lady of superior culture and refinement, and presides with rare grace and dignity over her refined and elegant home at Wentzville. Mr. and Mrs. Walker have an attractive home at this place, and a comfortable and tastily built residence, neatly furnished and set off with a handsome yard and pleasant surroundings. They have two children: Mary S. and Charles J.

Warren W. Walker

this. It is therefore unnecessary to occupy space here with the record of, the different removals of the family, and their final settlement in this county. Warren W. Walker, an elder brother to Charles J., was born on the old family homestead in this county July 4, 1838. He was brought up to the occupation of a farmer and in youth availed him- neighborhood. Having a marked natural taste for study and mental culture, he succeeded in acquiring more than an average education in the general English branches. Later along he became a school-teacher and has followed that occupation more or Tess continuously up to the present time. Mr. Walker has also been interested in farming all this time, and has shown himself to be a good manager of the attains of the farm. He has an excellent place of about 300 acres, not all of which, however, is in cultivation. Mr. Walker was married in 1863 to Miss Mary M. Allen, a daughter of Hon. William M. Allen, whose sketch appears on a former page of the present volume. Five children are the fruits of this union, namely: Warren A., Eddie 8., Lizzie, Minnie and Charles H. He and his wife are members of the M. EK. Chureh. Excepting two years spent in Howard county, including 1881, Mr. W. has been a continuous resident of St. Charles county from his birth.

Henry W. Williams

Mr. Williams, born and reared in St. Charles county, had geod advantages for mental culture and received more than an average general education. After taking a course in the district school he attended the Wentzville Academy, and from there matriculated at the State Normal school in Kirksville, where he familiarized himself with the higher branches. Following this he returned to his native county and engaged i in teaching, carrying on farming also at the same time, He continued to teach during the school months of each year until 1879, when he withdrew from that occupation and on the Ist of July engaged in the drug business at Foristell, also opening his present hotel on the Ist of March, 1881. He is still interested in farming, and has a place of 80 acres of well improved land adjacent to town. In the drug line he carries a good stock of about $800 value and has an annual trade of over $2, 000. His experience in the drug business has been one satisfactory to himself, and his trade has steadily - increased from the first. The Commercial House, the hotel of which he is the proprietor, and which he conducts, is: liberally patronized, especially by commercial travelers who have given it the name of: being one "of the best houses in -a small town on the line of the Wabash Railroad. Mr. Williams was born in this county, May 25, 1850, at Millerville. His father was Samuel W. Williams, a. natined of Virginia, born in Amelia county, on the 29th of June, 1818. His mother was a Miss Martha L. Johnson before her marriage ; was: born in that county December 2, 1821. They were married there August 28, 1839, and removed to Missouri the same year. They settled in St. Charles county, where they made their permanent home. The father died here August 26, 1854. The mother is still living and is now a resident of Foristell. The father was a farmer and tobacco dealer, and became comfortably situated. He was one of - the well known and well respected citizens of the county. Henry | W. was the sixth in the cele of eight children, all of whom are living and are now themselves the heads of families. They are: Napoleon E., John P., Mary L., Samuel R., Marshall W., Sarah A., Martha W., and the subject of this sketch. Henry W. Williams was married October 23, 1881, to Miss Margaret E. Gilkey, a daughter of Richard E. and Caroline (Dyer) Gilkey, of St. Charles county. They have one child, Martha E., born August 10, 1882. Mr. W. is a member of the Christian Church, and his wife of the M. E. Church South.

Dudley C. Wray

Young Wray is well known as one of the efficient and popular station agents in the employ of the Wabash. He was born and reared in this county, and has therefore been known to the people in this part of the county from childhood. In boyhood he was studious and received a good average education in the ordinary English branches. At an early age he evinced a predilection for business life, not desiring to make a farmer of himself. A good penman, quick at figures, and apt and active in attending to business matters, he soon became well qualified for business work after obtaining an opportunity to learn it. He has been the regular agent at this place since the spring of 1882, but had previonsly had valuable experience in railroad matters. October 25, 1882, he was married to Miss Lula P. Savage, a daughter of J. W. and Ruth K. Savage. They have one child, HeetherS. Mr. W. is a son of J. W. and Mary S. (Bond) Wray, his father originally from North Carolina, but his mother from Virginia. His father came here in 1829, where he was afterwards married. Both parents are still living, and are residents of this county. His father is a successful and retired farmer. Both are old and exemplary members of the M. E. Church South. They reared five children, all of whom are living. Dudley C., the eldest of the five now living, was born June 25, 1859.

Alexander Young

"Mr. Young came to Foristell in 1879 and established a blacksmith shop at this place. Since then, although absent a year shortly afterwards, he has succeeded in building up what may be fairly termed a large business, considering the size of Foristell and the trade of the surrounding country. He has added a full line of agricultural implements to his business, and manufactures wagons and other vehicles as well as doing general blacksmithing and repairing. He employsthree men, and has an annual business of over $6,000. Mr. Young is a native of Ireland, but is of Scotch origin on his father's side. He was born inthe county Down, July 16, 1853. His father, James Young, was a farmer of that county, and came there when a young man, from Scotland. His mother, formerly a Miss Mary Clint, was born and reared in the county Down. Both are still living, residents of that county. 'They are Protestants and members of the M. E. Church. Alexander was the fifth,sof nine children. While yet in boyhood he was sent across into Cumberland, England, where he had some relatives, and was there brought up to the blacksmith's trade. Subsequently, after growing up and starting out for himself, he engaged in the stationery business at Claytonmore, England. However, he soon resumed his trade, and until 1879 worked at it in different parts of England, Ireland and Scotland. He then came to America and established himself at Foristell. July 14, 1881, he was married at St. Louis to Miss Sarah J. Ferguson, a daughter of Alexander and Mary A. Ferguson, formerly of Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Young have two children: Minnie and James A. He and wife are members of the M. E. Church.

Eoe Gory General Description And Early History

General Description - Topography - Soil - Streams - Agriculture - Horticulture - Tobacco - Economic Geology - Dr. Maughs on the Mineral Resources in 1837 - Railroads - Early History - The First Europeans - Advent of the French - The Mysterious Stone House on the Loutre - The First Americans - Under American Domination - Settlements and Settlers on Loutre Island.

General Description

The county of Montgomery is bounded on the north by the counties of Audrain and Pike, east by Lincoln and Warren, south by Warren and the Missouri river (which stream separates it from Gasconade), and west by Callaway and Audrain. The county contains 327,129 acres. From north to south its extreme length is nearly 32 miles, following the range line between ranges 5 and 6. From east to west its extreme width is 20 miles.

According to one of its best informed citizens, Col. L. A. Thompson, editor of the tay, at Montgomery City, Montgomery county is part of the high lands in the fork of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, with an easterh boundary 68 miles west of St. Louis and 30 miles from-the Mississippi river, and the entire southern boundary is washed by the Missouri river. The watershed between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers runs through the county from south-east to northwest. It is so sharply defined at Montgomery City that the rain - water falling on the northern side of the railroad track flows into the

As to the topography of the county, Col. Thompson says that more than two-thirds of the territory, including the northern and central. portions, is beautiful rolling prairie, well interspersed by clear running streams, along the banks of which are rich bottoms, choice uplands and thrifty growing timber. The southern portion slopes gradually to the-Missouri bottom. The country is rarely diversified by fine landscapes, beautiful valleys and great bottoms, and is abundantly watered by living springs, spring branches and large creeks. 'The lands that have not been reduced to cultivation are covered by vast forests of various kinds of timber, including oak, hickory, ash, elm, birch, sycamore, persimmon, cherry, mulberry, pawpaw, cottonwood, basswood, white maple, sugar maple and walnut. Thousands of walnut logs have been taken from these forests to Eastern markets.

Regarding the adaptability of Montgomery soil for general agricultural purposes, Dr. Mordecai M. Maughs wrote as follows in Wetmove's Gazetteer (p. 124) in 1837: -

Although the soil of Montgomery may lack some constituent principle necessary to the production of heavy crops of corn, tobacco of a superior quality is here produced, and such as might be mistaken by an experienced inspector for the James river leaf. Hemp, wheat and grasses are cultivated with uniform success in Montgomery. The farmers of this county find stock-raising a profitable pursuit, and in this operation horses, horned cattle and hogs are produced for a foreign market.

The western part of the county is well watered and drained by the Loutre river, its largest tributaries, Prairie fork and Clear fork and the smaller streams of Quick and Murdock creeks and Dry fork flowing easterly, and Whip-poor-will and South Bear creeks flowing southerly into Loutre river. The high prairies in the northern and northeastern parts of the county are well watered and drained by Coal creek, which flows southerly into Clear fork of Loutre, in the western edge of the county, White Oak, Walker, Elk Horn and Brush creeks in the north-east, and North Bear and Price's creeks in the eastern part. . ; j

The soil now is generally productive, and, taking the county over, yields all grains, grasses, fruits, vegetables, vines, plants and herbs peculiar to the Mississippi valley. The grain and grass yield is so large that stock growing is easy' and remunerative. Many large herds of cattle, sheep and hogs are annually brought into this county

The dairy business is very profitable. Many farmers realize large incomes annually, by shipping milk to St. Louis. Others, with apparently less labor, have found cheese-making equally profitable. The New Florence creamery utilizes a large proportion of the milk in that section, and other establishments of the same sort are in contemplation at other points in the county.

quinces, and invariably more than quadrupled the value of their small farms. Montgomery county is famous for its abundance of fine apples, thousands of bushels being annually shipped from the county. Yet but few apple growers pay particular attention to their orchards. If they bear abundantly, well and good; if not, '* it's all right."'

Grape culture has been a source of wealth to many farmers in this county, especially among the German residents of the southern part of the county. Many premiums have been awarded grapes grown and wine pressed in this county, and some of these premiums have been given by the agricultural and horticultural societies at Hermann, the headquarters of the grape-growers and vintners of Missouri. But of late years the phylloxera has gotten its deadly work in on the grapes in this county, and elsewhere in this section, and the pursuit of wine growing does not pay as it once did. Indeed, some vinekeepers are quite in despair over the ill success they have. with their vineyards.

Some horticulturists have been trebly rewarded for growing the smaller fruits, such as strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and currants, for local and remote markets.

Tobacco grows well and its culture has ever been profitable to small producers. Much of it is prized and manufactured or made into cigars, for local consumption and foreign markets. The western portion of the county, especially Danville and the northern portion of Loutre township, produces large quantities of good tobacco. The _ white burley is a favorite variety. The establishment of the tobacco manufactory at Montgomery City has been of great advantage to the 'tobacco growers of the county in giving them a home market.

The economic geology of the county is important. As to stone there is such an abundance as to make it a disadvantage to many portions of the county. The whole country is underlaid with it, and in the southern and western and in many other portions of the county grades of limestone remain untouched and almost unnoticed, and the beautiful cotton rock is rarely made use of, nor is the value of the snow white [saccharoidal] and cream colored [ferruginous] sandstone scarcely admitted.''

What is called the Danville marble, a species of limestone, is susceptible of fine polish, but has not been sufficiently developed to be brought into practical use.

Mineral paint, much similar to Venetian red, is abundant and has been practically tested. As to quality it is said to bear favorable comparison with the celebrated Vermont mineral paint. Some of it has been shipped abroad and has given full satisfaction.

As to medicinal springs, without which no county in Missouri seems, in these days, to be of much importance, the Mineola, or Loutre Lick Springs are, beyond reasonable doubt, among the best mineral springs in the world. Many learned persons, who have used the water' of the most distinguished mineral springs in, the United States and in Europe, prefer the waters of Loutre Lick Springs to all others that they have tested. The use of these springs is free- to its mineral resources. But their seeming expectations that the future would show the existence of lead and iron here in considerable quantities have not been realized. Speaking of the economic geology of the county, in 1837, Dr. M..M. Maughs wrote ( Wetmore's Gazetteer, page 123) as follows : -

The mineral resources of this county have not been developed, but the sub-stratum of the whole country appears to be strongly impregnated with iron. Some very rich lumps of ore have been found on the surface of several hundred pounds weight, small specimens of genuine galena have been, picked up in the broken grounds of the county, and abundance of miners' tiff, of almost diamond luster and hardness, has been discovered i in this county. The rivulets abound

Loutre Lick is situated in this county, where salt was made by some of the early settlers; but the water, as it flows from the earth here, mixed with fresh veins, is too weak to be worked profitably. The bituminous coal that has been found in Montgomery has been used in furnaces of the blacksmiths, with and without coking. Several varieties of limestone and sandstone exist in this county, and the rock called millstone grit, or the ''lost rock,'' is found in detached masses, apparently rounded by attrition, of foreign aspect, and half imbedded in the earth.

The Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway traverses the territory for a distance of 30 miles and furnishes transportation for the most of the county. People in the southern or river district travel and ship by the Missouri river and the Missouri Pacific Railroad, which is on the southern bank of the river. The citizens of the northern part of the county have the privilege of the Chicago and Alton Railroad, which is within a few miles of the northern boundary, and curves around west via Mexico, intercepting the Missouri Pacific Railroad at Jefferson City. Besides these is the St. Louis and Keokuk Railroad, within a reasonable distance, which connects the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railroad with the Chicago and Alton; so that, in addition to being traversed by one of the best railroads in the State, and bounded on one side by the great Missouri river, Montgomery county is virtually encompassed by connecting lines of railroads.

At least the greater portion of Montgomery county was well known to the first Europeans that ventured up the Missouri. In the year 1705 the French ascended the Missouri as high as the mouth of the Kansas river (now Kansas City). As the object of all expeditions undertaken in those days in Missouri was the discovery of gold and silver, it is reasonable to conclude that the explorers did not fail to examine the rocky '' knobs'' and hills on both sides of the river, and of course did not pass by those of this county unnoticed and uninspected. The fur trade, too, was another inducement to the French occupation and .ultimate settlement of Missouri, and as the Otter island and Otter river.(Loutre) have been so called from time immemorial, it is but fair to infer that this island and this stream were examined by the very first trappers who came up the river and who

About the year 1722 the French ascended the Missouri, under M. De Bourgmont, and five miles below the mouth of Grand river, on an island, built a fort which they called Ft. Orleans. This fort was commanded by one Sergt. Dubois, who had married an Indian woman, one of the tribe of Missouris. In 1725 Ft. Orleans was attacked, totally destroyed and its inmates all massacred. By whom this bloody work was done has never been recorded, but it is probable that the © authors of it were the Sacs, Foxes and other northern Indians, who were the enemies of the French and their allies, the Missouris. There was some passing up and down the river while Ft. Orleans existed, and it is not improbable that the Loutre was ascended during this time, as the Gasconade certainly was.

After the year 1764, when St. Louis was founded, and the great Louisiana country passed into the hands of Spain, and especially after Les Petites Cotes (the little hills - St. Charles) was settled, travel up the Missouri as high as the mouth of the Loutre was frequent. And then the inquisitive Spaniards and more inquisitive French, who had become the subjects of His Catholic Majesty, certainly passed up into the country now called Montgomery county.

Somebody was up the Loutre before the first Americans. As late as 1820 there was in existence, on the top of a high bluff on the south side of the Loutre and overlooking the stream, a stone enclosure, evidently made with human hands, and the hands of civilized beings. This bluff stands on the north-east quarter of section 23, township 47, range 6, in the southern part of Danville township, about four miles north of Americus. The enclosure was of considerable extent and contained several chambers. It was composed of pieces of flat limestone, which had evidently been carried some distance, and these were laid one on the other, with the joints broken, '' as if done by-a mason Who understood his busimess.'' It did not seem that the - building - if it was a building - was ever completed. The early settlers did not understand it, and if the Indians knew anything about it they would not, or did not, tell what the enclosure was, or who - built it. Mr. W. B. Snethen and others, who were in the county in 1815-20, have seen this remarkable structure.

Wherever the French trappers could catch an otter or beaver, or even a muskrat or mink, there they wended their way and set their traps, and Loutre and Bear creek, and Whippoorwill, and even Elkhorn and Whitestone, abounded with these varieties of fur-bearing | animals in early days. There was beaver in Loutre even as late as 1816. ;

The First Americans

It is claimed that Daniel M. Boone, son of old Daniel Boone, was the first American bona fide and actual settler in Missouri. He came to the St. Charles country in 1794, and the next year his father came with his family. In the year 1798 Samuel Boone made his. contract with M. Zenon Trudeau, the Spanish commandant at St. Louis, to bring 100 American families from Kentucky and Virginia to Upper Louisiana, for which service he was to receive 10,000 arpens of land. In pursuance of this contract Boone induced a number of Kentucky families to come out the same year and locate. These came up into the Femme Osage country, and it is believed some of them came to Loutre island. [It must be borne in mind that at this time all of this country belonged to Spain, and the only banuer of authority that waved over the land was the flag of Castile.

In 1803 the country passed into the hands and under the control of the United States, having for three years previously been under French denomination.

In the year 1800 there were at least a dozen families on Loutre island, and in what is now the southern part of the county. One of these was Lewis Groshong, whose son, Jacob Groshong, born in 1800, was the first white child born in this county, and there were other families named Cole, Patton, Murdock and Lewis. (See history of Loutre township.) The settlements in what is now Warren county were so closely identified and interwoven with those of Montgomery that at this late day it is difficult to separate them. Sometimes a settler would be on one side of where the county line runs now, for one week, and the next he would cross over. The few old settlers now living can not remember just where some of the pioneers lived - whether in Warren or in Montgomery.

The influx of Kentuckians under Col. Ben Cooper and others in 1808 is mentioned in the chapter devoted to the history of Loutre township. The departure of Col. Cooper and others for the Boone's

- Lick country in 1810 is also noted. The settlements of Laney Bowlin at the Big Spring of John Snethen on Dry fork in 1807-08 were probably the first made in the interior of the county. Others were scattered about on Bear creek, Whippoorwill creek and the Loutre.

First Troubles with the Indians - The IIl-fated Expedition of.Five Loutre Islanders in Pursuit of Indian Horse-thieves - The War of 1812 - Indian Treaties, Plans ~ and Purposes - A General Uprising of the Savages - Harris Massey, the First

Trouble, With The Indians

As always upon the opening of a new country the settlers had not only to subdue the wilderness, to conquer the wild beasts of the forest, but there were the cruel, crafty savages, who, human beings though they were, were more dreaded, and more to be dreaded, than beasts or brambles. The Indians fought the Americans in Missouri from the start. It does not seem that - so far as this county was concerned - there was anything like amity and good feeling between the first settlers of Montgomery and the Indians at any time. As to the fair right of the Indians to keep the whites out of the country, after the United States came into possession of it, the truth is such a right did 4 not exist. The Indians did not own this country; their homes were ~ not here; at the best they used it only asa hunting ground. Con- - cerning the tribal ownership of the country Dr. M. M. Maughs, who | made due investigation of the matter upon his first coming to the : county (1812), wrote in 1837: i

The vicinity of Loutre belonged originally to the Missouris, a tribe which appears to have been in possession of a large tract of ~ [ Iowas], Ottos. [Otoes], Omahas, Puncas [Poncas] and other. tribes, - the country in this vicinity frequently changed masters; and, at the - time that the narrator (Maj. Van Bibber) emigrated to this country, - was in possession of the Sacs and Foxes. The claim of the Sacs and 4 Foxes, however, was merely nominal; the Spanish government allowed no Tidion Seem within the limits 'of the King's domain; and the Sacs and Foxes claimed the country as their hunting g grounds only, the right to-which they obtained from the Spanish government. 3

But, whether they had a right to the country or not, the Indians held that they had a right to kill a white man whenever and wherever they could do so with tolerable safety, and also to deprive him of his property under the same conditions. The American settlers here were not the aggressors upon the Indians. The latter - who were the Sacs, Foxes and Pottawatomies - had their natural homes to the far nerth, from the mouth of the Des Moines river, in Southern Iowa, to the Rock river, in Wisconsin, and westward to the Missouri. Whenever they came down to the Missouri river country they were trespassers and intruders.

In 1806 a party of settlers from the Femme Osage settlement, led by Wm. T. Cole, of Loutre island, went up to the Loutre prairie to hunt elk, with which the prairie abounded. As near as can now be determined, somewhere near the present site of High Hill, they met some hostile Indians who drove them back to the settlements. Nobody was killed at this time, but the event was sufficient to teach the whites what they had to expect.

The Ill-Fated Expedition Of Five Loutre Islanders

The next year, 1807, occurred the memorable expedition of the five Loutre Islanders, the Cole brothers, James Patton, John Gooch and James Murdock, after their stolen horses which the Indians had taken. This expedition resulted in the death of Patton, Gooch and Stephen Cole, and the narrow escape of William T. (Temple) Cole and Murdock. Rose (p. 498) gives the date of this unfortunate expedition as '*the summer of 1812.'' Switzler (p. 174) gives it as 'in July, 1810;'? but Dr. Maughs, who wrote in 1837, and who obtained his particulars from Maj. Van Bibber, Col. Talbott, the Pattons, and others of the very first settlers who were either here at the time or came soon after, gives it as '** about 1806-07.'' McAfee's ** History of the late war in the Western Country "' gives it as '*the summer of 1807,'' and the writer has other evidence anda settled belief that this is the correct date.

Of the earliest settlements of the country Loutre island may be considered as one.of the first ; and among the first settlers of that part of the country were Temple and Stephen Cole (two brothers), Patten, Gooch and Murdock. About the year 1806-07 a small party, consisting of seven or eight Indians, Sacs and Pottawatomies, stole the horses of these settlers, and committed sundry depredations in the neighborhood. In consequence of this foray they were pursued by the Coles, Patton, Gooch and Murdock, who came in sight of them one evening on the Salt river prairies. Towards night the men made their encampment, kindled a fire, etc., probably with the intention of dealing with the Indians next morning; but in this they were anticipated by the savages, who attacked them furiously in the night. Temple Cole, Patton and Gooch were killed at the first onset. Murdock slipped under the bank of Spencer creek, near by, leaving Stephen Cole alone to contend with the enemy. Two stout Indians closed upon him; one of them stabbed him from behind, near the shoulder, the other encountered him in front. Cole, being a very powerful man, wrenched the knife out of the hand of the Indian in front-and killed him; but having to contend with such odds he sought safety in flight, and was fortunate enough to make his escape, favored of course by the darkness of the night. Having reached home he collected a party of men and returned to bury the dead. Murdock, not being acquainted with the roads, did not reach home for several days.

Some writers in narrating this circumstance (McClearey among them) made the mistake of putting down one of the men who was killed as '''Temple.'? There was no man of that name in the party. The initial «*T'' in the name of William T. Cole stood for Temple, and- he. was commonly called '* Temple'' Cole. This fact and the insertion of acomma in the wrong place makes certain writers state that '' the party was composed of Temple, Cole, Patton,"' etc.

The locality where the Indians were overtaken is not certainly recorded. Rose says: '* Many years afterward the skulls of the murdered men were found near where they fell, and the stream upon the bank of which they had camped was named 'Skull Lick,' the latter part of the name being derived from a deer lick not far distant, on the same stream.'' Rose further says this was '' now in -

Both Maughs and Switzler say that it was under the banks of Spencer creek where Murdock found a safe retreat, and Dr. Maughs © says the Indians were found ' on the Salt river prairies.'' It is quite: probable that the men were killed in Ralls county, as Switzler says. Rose's statement as to the finding of the skulls which led to the naming of Skull Lick is partially true, but they were not the skulls of

Patton, Gooch and Temple Cole, as Maughs speaks of the return of a party, headed by Stephen Cole, to bury the dead, and of course if the bodies were buried their skulls could not be easily fous: A

But the several accounts are mixed as to which one of the Coles was killed. Rose says it was Stephen Cole, and that Temple Cole escaped. Switzler agrees that it was William T. Cole that fought the hard fight and escaped, but Switzler calls Stephen Cole «*' Samuel '' - doubtless a slip of the pen. The truth is as Dr. Maughs states it. Temple Cole was killed. Stephen Cole escaped, and there is no name better known in the history of the Boone's Lick country than his. It was he who in 1812 built Cole's fort, the first county seat of Howard county, and it was for him that Cole county was named. Capt. Cole was killed by the Indians on the plains while engaged in the Santa Fe trade, about 1824.

In the years 1808 - 09-10-11 there was some emigration to 'the Missouri country,'' as it was called, and Montgomery got her share of the pioneers, who were chiefly from Kentucky. The country up and down Loutre was thoroughly explored by the hunters, who kept one eye out for game and the other for Indians. While traversing the knobs in the southern part of what is now the county it is said they would crawl cautiously up on the south side to the summit and peer cautiously over toward the north, east and west, looking for Indians, At this day but few of the knobs were covered with timber; they were mostly bare and sterile, owing to the annual burning of the woods by the Indians, and the slowness with which timber crept up the dry, stony hillsides.

Then came the War of 1812, or last War with Great Britain as it is often called, and the plight of the settlers in this quarter was a perilous one. . From its exposed situation and the thinness of the population Missouri Territory, especially the upper portion, suffered severely from the effects of Indian and British hostility during and even previous to this war. Tecumseh had visited Malden in Canada, and had received presents and promises from the British authorities there. On his return he endeavored to engage all the Indians in common cause against the Americans. But the Indians on the Missouri continued for some time to be peaceable. At lastthe Northern Indians - the cruel Sacs and Foxes, led by that bloody-minded and ambitious '*brave'' Black Hawk - descended the Mississippi and joined in the war against the whites.

With few exceptions, the Indians on the Missouri remained peaceable until the summer of 1811, when they committed some outrages in the Boone's Lick settlement, and on Salt and Cuivre rivers. Gen. Clark, who commanded this department, made every exertion to de- - tect the murderers ; but, as the American force was not yet organized, it proved unavailing. During the winter of 1811-12 murders became more frequent, and this territory began to suffer all the dreadful effects of Indian warfare. The Winnvbaesess determined to have revenge for their loss at Tippecanoe, continually displayed hostile intentions. From Fort Madison to St. Charles, men, women and children were continually put to death, and their habitations were

Upon receipt of this melancholy intelligence, Gov. Benjamin Howard sent orders to Col. Kibby, who commanded the militia of St. Charles, to call out a portion of the men who had been in requisition to march at a moment's warning. An express was also sent to the officer commanding the regular forces of his district, and the Governor himself immediately set out for St. Charles. On his .arrival at this place he organized a company of rangers, consisting of the most hardy woodsmen, who scoured by constant and rapid movements the tract of country from Salt river to the Missouri, near the junction of the Loutre. He also established a small fort on the Mississippi, which was garrisoned by a body of regular troops detached from Bellefontaine, under the command of Lieut. Mason. With these he - was enabled, in a considerable degrée, to afford protection to the exposed frontiers