Nodaway County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1910 (part 1 of 6)

Biographical sketches

Fealty to facts in the analyzation of the character of a citizen of the type of James Byron Robinson, the well known president of the Nodaway Valley Bank, one of the leaders in financial circles of this county, is all that is re¬ quired to make a biographical sketch interesting to those who have at heart the good name of the community, because it is the Honorable reputation of the man of standing and affairs, more than of any other consideration that gives character and stability to the body politic and makes the true glory of a city or state revered at home and respected abroad. In the broad light which things of report ever invite, the name of Robinson stands secure in Nodaway county, for the character of each member of this old and well established family has been exemplary ; and though of modest demeanor, with no ambi¬ tion to distinguish himself in public position or as a leader of men, the career of Mr. Robinson has been signally honorable and it may be studied with profit by the youth entering upon his life work, for he has attempted to bear aloft the worthy principles and precepts set by his father, long one of the prominent and influential men of this locality.

James B. Robinson was born in Maryville, Missouri, November 24, 1864, the son of Theodore L. and Rebecca J. (Ray) Robinson. Owing to the prominence of the father in Nodaway county for a period of over fifty years, his life record will be given in detail in the following paragraphs.

Theodore L. Robinson was born in Callaway county, Missouri, Febru¬ ary 8. 1833. the son of Daniel and Martha Robinson. He was born of poor parents and nis mother died when he was between three and four years old and soon afterwards his father placed him and his two little brothers with their grandmother and went to Texas, never returning to Missouri. His father re-married in Texas and by this marriage had three children. He died there, and Theodore, then hardly more than a boy, learning of the desti¬ tute circumstances of his stepmother and her children, drove from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Houston, Texas, with a team and brought them back to Missouri and cared for them as long as he could. When eleven years old Theodore L. Robinson came with his grandfather's family to Buchanan county, locating near St. Joseph, where the grandfather pre-empted land; but owing to sickness and being unable to do farm work, young Theodore, when twelve years old, went to St. Joseph and secured work in the old Madi son House, at that time one of the leading hotels of that city. Later he ac¬ cepted a position with John Curd, a pioneer and a prominent merchant, for whom he worked for five years? at a salary of sixty dollars per year, about enough to clothe him. During that time he attended school only six months. In the spring of 1849 be- bke many other youths of this part of the country, started for the gold fields of California, Mr. Curd having equipped him with a small lot of cheap goods and a team. He "spliced" teams with another young man and they drove oxen across the plains. After many hardships he reached the coast, got very little for his goods, but he was fairly successful in mining and remained there until 1855, when he returned to St. Joseph, in¬ tending to go back to the gold fields; but finding that his father and elder brother had died in Texas, his younger brother having died in 1844, he in¬ vested the little money he had in a two-horse team which he drove from St. Joseph to Houston, Texas, and brought the family to St. Joseph, where, after trying for more than a year to support them, he found he could not do so on a salary. Mr. Curd furnished a stock of goods and located him in Mary¬ ville in 1857 from which time until his death. May 28, 1894, he was contin¬ uously in business here, being actively engaged for a greater number of con¬ secutive years than any other man in Nodaway county. In 1873 he became connected with the Nodaway Valley Bank and for several years he was in partnership with the late James B. Prather in this bank, Mr. Robinson, how¬ ever, always having charge of it. Upon the death of Mr. Prather, he took his son, James B. Robinson, who had been in the bank as bookkeeper and as¬ sistant cashier, into partnership with him. During his last sickness, and on April 7, 1894, the bank was incorporated, and has been ably managed by the son, James B. Robinson, to the present time. In fact, before his death, with that perception and clearness characteristic of the man, he made final dispo¬ sition of his vast business affairs and very large estate, with a precision, care- ' fulness and foresight that corroborates the estimate always placed on him by the community as a far-seeing and eminently safe and successful business man. No man had in larger measure the confidence of the community. He was always plain, candid, wide-awake, unassuming and attended to his duties assiduously. Self-possessed, even-tempered, no one, whatever the provoca¬ tion or aggravation, ever saw him in a passion. Notwithstanding his great wealth, and his very busy career, he always had time to grant a consultation or to give advice to even the humblest citizen, if advice was sought, and when that was sought and heeded, the party, almost invariably, if not entirely so. profited thereby. So that while successfully managing his own large busi¬ ness interests, he was a great help to many others. He was truly the architect of his own fortune, having commenced life without means and achieving his success by overcoming obstacles to which less determined and less clear¬ sighted men would have yielded.

As a citizen Theodore L. Robinson always manifested a great interest in all that had a tendency to promote the interests of the county. In educa¬ tional affairs he was especially prominent. He was a member of the public school board and its treasurer for twenty years consecutively, and to no one man does the city of Maryville owe more for the high standard which her public schools has reached. He was one of the first to engage in the Mary¬ ville Seminary enterprise, though that was technically under the control of another church than his own, and he always stood by it. He would have been successful in any line of human effort. He had that energy, application, self-reliance and comprehensive grasp of details which insure success. He acted largely on the idea that if care he taken of the little things, larger affairs will, to quite an extent, take care of themselves. His life affords many lessons of great value to young men especially. A large volume could be written on the generous side of his nature and disposition and added to his great worth as an active business man and an honorable, useful citizen. No true history of the growth and development of Maryville or of Nodaway county would leave out as a potent individual factor the name of Theodore L. Robinson. He left an estate valued at three hundred thousand dollars, besides thirty-five thousand dollars life insurance. All this he made unaided, starting with nothing, and he made it, too, in an honest manner, as all those who know him best will attest, his relations with his fellow-men always being straight¬ forward. His home, one of the most attractive and imposing in the city, has always been a place of hospitality and good cheer. Shortly before his death he became a member of the Christian church, hut from his youth up he had been a man of exemplary character, against whom no word of reproach could have been uttered.

On October 9, 1859, Mr. Robinson married Rebecca J. Ray, who sur¬ vives, living at the old home in Maryville, where she is greatly admired by a wide circle of friends for her beautiful Christian attributes. She was born in Bardstown. Kentucky, November 26, 1837, the daughter of James and Sallie (Hungate) Ray, each from excellent old Southern families, the father having been born in Virginia in 1792, the mother being the daughter of John and Molly (Coffman) Hungate. John was the son of Charles and Molly Hun¬ gate, and Charles was the son of William and Nancy Hungate. William Hungate was born in Virginia in January, 1725, and he nearly rounded out the century mark, dying in the community where he was born, in February. 1822. He was an ensign during the Revolutionary war, serving in a most gal- lant manner throughout the struggle. He was on the commission which was signed by the committee of safety at Williamsburg, Virginia, October 22,

1 775- The Hungate family can be traced back to the fourteenth century. Sir Philip Hungate was made lord of Saxton and Sherburn by Charles I, of England. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Robert Hungate founded and en¬ dowed two hospitals and a school at Sherburn. His father, Sir William Hungate, was a member of Privy Councillors of Queen Mary. William A. Hungate was an admiral in the British navy in 1836.

To Mr. and Mrs. Theodore L. Robinson five children were born, three of whom are living at this writing, James B., Fred P. and Jennie I. The last named is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and she is a trustee of Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.

James B. Robinson was educated in the schools of Maryville, and at the age of seventeen he took up banking, following in the footsteps of his father by becoming a clerk in the Nodaway Valley Bank, and by close application and merit gradually worked his way up to cashier. In 1892 he became a part¬ ner in this institution, and at the re-organization of the bank and the death of the elder Robinson he became president, in 1894, and he has very ably discharged the duties of this responsible position ever since, maintaining the solid and conservative policy of the bank and greatly increasing its prestige, its patrons having constantly increased in numbers from year to year. He has inherited much of the sound business acumen and rare discernment of his father. Politically he is a Democrat, a member of the Christian church and of the Knights of Pythias.

James B. Robinson was married in October, 1894, to Maggie Garrison, a lady of culture and refinement, the daughter of Dr. I. B. and Sarah Gar¬ rison, an influential family of Worth county, Missouri. This union has been graced by the birth of three children, Theodore G., James B., Jr., and Chilton K., all attending school in Maryville.

Mr. Robinson is a worthy son of a worthy sire, and he is a public-spirited, genial and industrious gentleman, unassuming and well liked by all classes for his integrity and simplicity.

Benjamin Franklin Duncan

The biographer, in writing of the representative citizens of Nodaway county, Missouri, has found no subject more worthy of representation in a work of the province of the one at hand than Prof. Benjamin Franklin Dun- can, who is widely known as a man of high attainments and practical ability and as one who has achieved success in his profession principally because he has earnestly worked for it. His prestige in the educational circles of this locality stands in evidence of his ability and likewise stands as a voucher for intrinsic worth of character. He has used his intellect to the best purpose, has directed his energies in legitimate channels, and his career has been based upon the wise assumption that nothing save industry, perseverance, sturdy integrity and fidelity to duty will lead to success. The profession of teaching, which the subject has made his principal life work, offers no opportunities to the slothful. It is an arduous, exacting, discouraging profession to one who is unwilling to subordinate other interests to its demands, but to the true and earnest devotee it offers a sphere of action whose attractions are equal to any and whose rewards are unstinted. That the subject possesses the qualities enumerated is undoubted, owing to the success he has achieved and the high regard in which he is held by all who know him.

Benjamin F. Duncan was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, on April 29, 1842, and is a son of Daniel Boone and Eleanor (Cook) Duncan. His paternal grandparents were William and Martha (Jennings) Duncan, of Garrard county, Kentucky, where the former was a successful farmer. His wife was a daughter of Gen. William Jennings, a prominent officer in the American army during the war of the Revolution. Daniel Boone Duncan was born in Garrard county, Kentucky, on November 5, 1806, was reared on a farm, and after the completion of his common school education, he read law with Judge Lusk, at Lancaster, Kentucky. He was admitted to the bar and rapidly gained not only a large legal practice, but a wide recognition of his ability as a successful trial lawyer and jurist. He served as surveyor of Shelby county, Kentucky, and also gave efficient service as judge of the probate court of that county. In October, 1832, he married Eleanor Cook, a daughter of Rev. Abram and Sarah Cook, natives of Virginia. To this union were born nine children, six of whom are living. The subject's parents are both deceased, the father dying in 1883 and the mother in 1892. They were Baptists in their religious faith.

Benjamin F. Duncan was reared on a farm and received his elementary education in the public schools. Having determined upon a pedagogical career, he pursued his studies in Jewel College, in Missouri, and Georgetown College, Kentucky. On the completion of his education, he became principal of an academv at Campbellsburg. Kentucky, retaining this position three years. He then became president of Concord College, at New Liberty, Owen county.

Kentucky, a position which he had declined three times previously because of a predilection for the lego l profession But his ability as an instructor was so plainly indicated that he was not permitted to relinquish this work and he remained at the head of Concord College three years. At the end of that time Professor Duncan purchased the seminary at Eminence, Kentucky, and during the following six years he remained at the head of this institu¬ tion. In 1879 he came to Missouri and during the following three years he was superintendent of schools of Richmond, this state. Then for four years he was principal of the Maryville high school and during the following eight years he was superintendent of the Maryville schools. His educational and executive abilities were generally recognized, and he was elected county superintendent of schools, giving such eminent satisfaction in this position that he was re-elected, serving two full terms. On the completion of his official term, he accepted the chair of Latin and economics in the Fifth Dis¬ trict Normal School, at Maryville, filling the position satisfactorily for three years.

On November 14, 1867. Professor Duncan was united in marriage to Sallie E. Buchanan, the daughter of Prof. J. M. and America (Greathouse) Buchanan, natives of Kentucky. To this union have been born four chil¬ dren, namely: James B., of Kansas City. Missouri; Blanche, wife of S. V. Dooly, of Parkville, this state: John M. and Eva M., of Maryville. Relig¬ iously, Professor Duncan is a member of the Baptist church, to which he renders an earnest and generous support. Professor Duncan is a man of broad mind and large-hearted sympathy and enjoyed remarkable success as an instructor, not a little of his success being due to the fact that he always kept in close touch with the students under his charge, showing his friendly and personal interest in their welfare at all times, thus winning not only their esteem, but the confidence and respect of the community at large. He is popular in the city, where he has resided for so manv years and enjoys a large circle of warm personal friends, who esteem him for his genuine worth.

Judge William H. Chambers

It must be true that an honest, faithful, capable life, considered even in its temporal relations, is not lived in vain: that its influence is not as transient and evanescent as mere physical vitality, but that the progress of mankind.

in all that is virtuous and ennobling, is accelerated bv it; that although the life of one man may be a small factor in the aggregate history of the race, yet if well spent, its after influence is perceptible and continues to endure for the good of mankind.

Among the well-known citizens of Nodaway county whose work will long exert an ameliorating influence upon his locality is Judge William H, Chambers, of Union township, for his career is that of a man who, while advancing his own interests, has been vigilant of the progress of others. He was born in Coles county, Illinois, May 30, 1849. He was reared in Fulton county, that state. He is the son of John A. and Elizabeth Ann (Ellis) Chambers, the father a native of Kentucky and the mother of Indiana. John A. Chambers devoted his life to farming, dying in Fulton county, Illinois, at the age of fifty-two years. He served in the Civil war in Company A, One Hundred and Third Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and the hardships of the service made such inroads on his health that his death was finally due to that cause. He ranked as third corporal. His wife died when William H., of this review, was seven years old, and he married Matilda Ellis, sister of his first wife.

At the time of his father's death William H. Chambers was twentythree years old. He was put to work on the home place when a mere lad and assisted in the care of the crops, consequently his early schooling was inter¬ rupted. He remained with his step-mother one year after his father's death, or until his marriage, at the age of twenty-four, to Frocine James, of Fulton county, Illinois, a neighbor girl and a schoolmate, she being eighteen years old at the time of her marriage. They began their married life on a farm which they leased, continuing to rent for some time. Mr. Chambers owned a team, wagon and harness, being in debt thirty-five dollars, but he went to work with a will and during the three years that he rented land in Fulton county he was very successful. He then came to Nodaway county, Missouri, in 1876, arriving at his future home on December 4th. He had invaded the West prior to this, visiting Nebraska and upon his return came through Nod¬ away county, Missouri, and, being impressed very favorably with the coun¬ try, finally decided to make it his home. He bought eighty acres of land on White Cloud creek, six miles northwest of Pickering, forty-five acres of which were in cultivation, and thirty acres in wild prairie; a small house was on the place, but no barn and little other improvements. He paid seventeen hundred and fifty dollars for the place, going in debt for about half of it; he had a sale before leaving Illinois and realized about eight hun- dred dollars from it; but being a hard worker and raising good crops, he soon had the place paid for and had it well improved, built an attractive and comfortable dwelling and excellent outbuildings, his house in 1886 and his barn in 1887. He has managed his place well and has added eighty acres to his original purchase, paying twenty-two hundred and fifty dollars for the same. This has been kept in native sod covered with blue grass and is used as a pasture. On this land Mr. Chambers, in 1907, built a stock barn, fiftytwo by sixty-two feet, a shed-like protection for his cattle and hogs, and he feeds from one to three carloads of cattle at a time. He has also long been an extensive feeder of hogs, no small part of his income being derived from his livestock. His place is well improved in every respect, and shows that a gentleman of refined tastes and good judgment has its management in hand.

Judge Chambers has long taken a lively interest in the affairs of his township and county, and because of his public spirit and his ability he has been entrusted with positions of public importance, having served on the township board and as a justice of the peace, also on the school board ever since he came to the township, with the exception of two years. In 1906 he was elected county judge for a period of two years, on the Republican ticket, and he proved to be one of the best judges the county has ever had, looking carefully after the county's interests just as if they were his own, possessing an excellent judicial mind and well qualified by nature for such a position. He is a member of the Baptist church.

The Judge's family comprise the following children: Perry, who is connected with the drug store at Hopkins; Harry is a barber at Loveland, Colorado ; Loren is at home and assisting with the work on the farm ; Irvin is also at home; Sylvia married Mack Ulmer, a farmer in Pettis county, Mis¬ souri ; Della married George Ulmer, a farmer in Llopkins township.

The following is the sketch of a plain, honest man of affairs, who by correct methods and a strict regard for the interests of others has made his influence felt in Nodaway county. His life presents much that is interesting and valuable and may be studied with profit by the young, whose careers are yet to be achieved. He is one of those whose integrity and strength of character must force them into an admirable notorietv, which their modesty never seeks, who command the respect of their contemporaries and their posterity and leave the impress of their individuality deeply stamped upon the community.

Judge Hugh H. McClurg, residing in Union township, was born in Mor¬ gan county, Illinois, March 24, 1859. His father was Thomas L. McClurg, who died in November, 1909, who lived on the old home farm, which he settled in 1868; his widow is still living in Maryville, at No. 204 South Wal¬ nut street. Hugh H. McClurg remained at home with his parents until of age. On March 16, 1872, when twenty-three years old, he married Ida E. Rickard, daughter of Ezra and Mary (Colvin) Rickard, who lived just south of Pickering and who came to this county from Indiana. Ida E. was born in Indiana, and had lived near Elmo. Mrs. Rickard came to this county when a girl. Both she and her husband are now deceased and are buried in the same grave. Miss Rickard was eighteen when she married. Mr. McClurg began life for himself by renting land on Honey creek in Jackson township, renting for three years, then hired out for a year, then rented land again, preferring this line of endeavor to that of school teaching, which he had followed from the age of nineteen to twenty-three in Nodaway coun¬ ty, during which time he took an active part in all teachers' associations. It fell to his lot to teach some pretty bad schools, but he made warm friends in each neighborhood and was successful. He continued to rent until com¬ ing to his present farm in the spring of 1892. He started with ninety acres at twenty dollars per acre, going in debt, but he had teams and proper farm¬ ing implements and soon made headway. The place had but a hull of a house, no fence or well. He has put at least two thousand dollars worth of improvements on the place, and has since added forty acres at sixty dollars per acre, which he has made from the place by hard work and good manage¬ ment. Besides general crops, he raises large numbers of mules and hogs. Of the ninety acres, about forty-five is bottom land on the One Hundred and Two river, where all of the forty-acre tract lies.

Judge McClurg has long been interested in local affairs, and in 1905 he was made secretary and treasurer of the No. 1 drainage district of One Hundred and Two river; he is also secretary and treasurer of the board of supervisors. This district runs from the Carr bridge, six miles south of Maryville, to the Iowa line, and about thirty thousand dollars has been ex¬ pended in strengthening and making new channels. In 1906 he was elected judge of the county court, his election being based on the liquor question, and, although a Democrat, he was supported by Republicans. He was elected presiding judge with Judges J. H. Campbell and W. H. Chambers. He has ever stood unswervingly for better conditions, and he has done much to bring about a more desirable state of affairs in every respect. He has been active in the affairs of the Democratic party for years and his influence in the same is generally recognized. He was at one time a delegate to the "Peace Con¬ ference," at Kansas City.

Judge McClurg is a trustee and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Pickering. He was superintendent of the Sunday school and a worker in the same for many years. Fraternally, he belongs to the Inde¬ pendent Order of Odd Fellows, being past noble grand, and he once served as district deputy.

The following children have been born to Judge McClurg and wife: Charles E., who formerly taught school in this county, is now living in the state of Washington; Myrtle E. ; Carrie A., a Nodaway county teacher, is now a student in the Normal at Maryville; Elmer L. is in British Columbia; Thomas O.. Ethel and Harold, at home.

Glenn Beal Roseberry

The march of improvement is accelerated day by day, and each succes¬ sive moment seems to demand of men a broader intelligence and a greater discernment than did the preceding, showing that successful men must be live men in this age, bristling with activity. The purpose of biography is to pre¬ serve the records of such individuals for the edification of succeeding genera¬ tions ; thus the lessons of biography may be far-reaching to an extent not superficially evident. A man's reputation is the property of the world, for the laws of nature have forbidden isolation. Every human being either submits to the controlling influence of others or wields an influence which toucnes, controls, guides or misdirects others. If he be honest and successful in his chosen field of endeavor, investigation will brighten his fame and light the way along which others may follow with like success. Consecpiently it is not improbable that a critical study of the life record of Glenn Beal Roseberry, superintendent of the Maryville Water Company, attorney-at-law and capi¬ talist, will be of benefit to the youth whose destinies for the future are to be determined, for his career has been one of usefulness and honor and has gained for him well-merited success while yet young in years.

Mr. Roseberry is a native of this city, having been born on July 14, 1874, the son of Mathew G. and Phoebe E. (Beal) Roseberry, the father a native of Columbus, Adams county, Illinois. He came to Missouri in 1858 when a young man. He studied law while a young man at Quincy, Illinois, and devoted his principal life-work to this profession. His death occurred on November 19, 1888. his widow surviving until October 4, 1890. For several years Mathew G. Roseberry was engaged in the real estate business and later took Albert Morehouse, former governor of Missouri, in as a partner, the firm being known as Roseberry & Morehouse, and they did an extensive busi¬ ness - laid out two additions to the city, one known as the Roseberry addition in the southwest part of the city. During the last year of his life he was active in the loan business with Lafe Dawson, as attorney. He owned valuable prop¬ erty and built a block himself.

Glenn Beal Roseberry was fourteen years old when his father died. He decided on law as his vocation and began the study of the same early in life, taking his degree of Bachelor of Laws in the University of Michigan, graduating with the class of 1895. He was admitted to the bar in the state of Michigan in superior and supreme courts, and in the circuit court at Maryville. He returned to Nodaway county and opened an office, forming a partnership sometime afterwards with Arthur Miller and for five years was engaged in active practice. The close application to office work made heavy drains on his health and demanded that he leave his desk for a less confining occupation, consequently he bought the Roseberry block, built by the Smith Brothers, and from 1899 to 1905, in partnership with John Airey, conducted a grocery business. He then became business manager of the Republican for one year, during which time he placed the paper on a paying basis and started it out auspiciously, infusing new life into every department. He also erected several residences, including his own house on East Seventh street in one of the best residental districts of the city. He is at present superintendent and manager of the city water-works, which he has placed under an excellent system. He has kept clear of politics, is a Republican, but prefers to devote his attention to business rather than office-seeking.

Mr. Roseberry was married on October 2, 1895, to Laura A. Frank, a lady of culture and refinement, the representative of an excellent Maryville family. Her death occurred on December 31, 1899. This union was with¬ out issue. On July 14. 1901, Mr. Roseberry married Eva P. Frank, niece of his first wife, and the daughter of W. C. Frank, a well-known local citizen. Mrs. Roseberry is a woman of education and social prestige and numbers her friends, as does her husband, only by the limit of her acquaintance. This union has been graced by the birth of one daughter, Esther Ardelia, three years of age at this writing.

Mr. Roseberry is active in the Christian church, which his father had been influential in building. It was but a small struggling congregation, with preaching about twice each month, but Mr. Roseberry gave liberally of his time and means and it began to thrive and is doing an important work in this community. Glenn B. Roseberry has been interested in and a mem¬ ber of this church since he was eleven years old.

Personally, Mr. Roseberry is a man of pleasing address, possessing the optimism and wholesome enthusiasm of youth, and such amiable character¬ istics as to render him popular with all classes of citizens, his habits being exemplary and his interest in the welfare of Maryville and Nodaway county deeply grounded, a worthy son of a worthy sire, ever seeking to bear aloft the high standard of living set by his honored father.

William Henry Totterdale

Among the influential and substantial men of a past generation who were prominently concerned in ushering in new areas of industrial activity in Nod¬ away county and who figured conspicuously in the affairs of the county in general, ranking among its best citizens, and who will long be remembered for the many good deeds and acts of kindness he did, was the late William Henry Totterdale, he having been a potent factor in the business, political, civil and moral advancement of this locality through a long course of years. His extensive interests placed him among the leaders in industrial circles in the county, and he achieved that success which is the logical result of enter¬ prise, systematic effort, resolute purpose and straightforward methods. There are no other qualities absolutely essential to development, and upon the ladder of his own building Mr. Totterdale climbed to prominence and prosperity, while in the community with whose interests he was so closely and conspicu¬ ously identified he was held in the highest esteem and confidence by all who knew him, since his integrity and honesty of purpose were questioned by none.

Mr. Totterdale was a native of England, born in Somersetshire, May 21, 1848. When ten years old he came with his parents to America and set¬ tled in Columbia county, Wisconsin, where they lived six years, then moved to Waukesha, the same state. Here young Totterdale learned the carpenter trade and became a skilled workman. In 1867 he came to Maryville, where he spent the rest of his life. His active business career began about thirtyfive years ago, when he and George Conrad entered into a partnership as con¬ tractors and builders. Many of the best residences and business blocks in Maryville were erected by them, among which might be mentioned the Ream hotel, four buildings on Fourth street facing the square, for A. P. Morehouse, John B. Cox, George Conrad and Brown & Montgomery, respectively, the building now occupied by H. T. Crane, for F. D. Snyder; part of the Robinson & Prather building; the four store rooms occupied by the Alderman Dry Goods Company, and the grocery department of the Maryville Mercantile Company, for M. G. Roseberry ; the Roseberry building, for Smith Brothers; the Forsyth Building, occupied by Byers & Bidder, for R. Iv. Townsend; the building next to it, occupied by F. P. Reuillard, for George Worst; the build¬ ing occupied by Airy & Simpson, for Jake Schrader; the next one south, for Elias Pittman; the Union bus barn for James B. Prather. Among the more pretentious residences erected by them in this city, were those of Jack Welch, W. C. Pierce and the Drennan home, all in the north part of town, and the Vinsonhaler and Weaver houses in the south part of the city.

In later years they retired as contractors and builders and established a lumber yard on North Main street, which they conducted with signal suc¬ cess for many years, enjoying a large trade. Finally disposing of this busi¬ ness to Curfman Brothers, they retired from active business life a few years prior to the death of Mr. Totterdale.

Mr. Totterdale was twice married, the first time to Susan Blend, May 18, 1870; she was also of English birth, and came with her parents to America. Her death occurred in 1880. On June 17, 1885. Mr. Totterdale was married, at Moberly, Missouri, to Frances Rebecca Hess, who, with two daughters, Carrie and Anna Belle, survives.

Mr. Totterdale always took more or less interest in political affairs and in the general welfare of Nodaway county, and he served in the city council from the second ward one or two terms, and was a member of the fire com¬ pany from 1879 to 1883. Although he never sought political preferment, always preferring the quiet life of an humble citizen, his abilities were recog¬ nized by political leaders and he was often importuned to run for office; finally in 1905 he accepted the nomination for mayor of the city of Maryville on the Republican ticket and was triumphantly elected, making for the city one of the best mayors it ever had, carefully looking after every public interest with a fidelity to duty that always characterized his daily life, and giving the people a straightforward, clean business administration the like of which will not soon be repeated.

The death of this excellent citizen occurred on October 23, 1908, in Kan¬ sas City, whither he had gone a few days previously and was operated on for intestinal trouble, from which he rallied, but peritonitis set in and he suc¬ cumbed to it.

Mr. Totterdale was a member of the Episcopal church from early youth, and he was a charter member of Nodaway Lodge, No. 470, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, also belonged to Maryville Commandery, Knights Templar, and was a Shriner at St. Joseph. Missouri; he was also a member of the In¬ dependent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

No person who passed from earthly scenes in recent years in Nodaway county was more universally respected than Mr. Totterdale; so far as known, he died without an enemy. This is remarkable when the fact is taken into consideration that he was actively engaged in business in Maryville for a per¬ iod covering more than thirty years. He was the soul of honor and in his dealings with his fellow men he was always ready to concede any point of contention. His home life was ideal, and although much of his time of even¬ ings was demanded by the brethren of the different civic societies of the city, of which he was an honored and popular member, yet by his own fireside is where his happiest hours were spent and where his simple, commendable and worthiest virtues shone with the greatest luster.

John C. Curfman

One of the most conspicuous figures in the history of Nodaway county, Missouri, is ex-County Judge John C. Curfman, for an enumeration of local citizens who have won honor and public recognition for themselves and at the same time have honored the community in wThich they live would be incom¬ plete without reference to him as a citizen, political advisor and business man, now living retired in his cozy home in Maryville after a long and eminently worthy career.

Mr. Curfman is a native of the old Keystone state, having been born in Huntington county, Pennsylvania, February 20, 1843, the son of Christian Curfman, a native of the same county and state, where the Curfmans had long been prominent. Christian Curfman, w7ho devoted his life to agricul¬ tural pursuits, moved to Jefferson county, Iowa, in 1850, and about 1875 he removed to Maryville. Missouri, where he lived until his death, in 1900, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. He worked at the carpenter's trade awhile after coming here, and he was a man who had the good will of all his neighbors as a result of his plain, kindly and honorable methods of living. As the name indicates, the Cur f man (originally spelled Kurfman) family is of German origin. Grandfather Curfman was a farmer and spent his en¬ tire life in Pennsylvania.

Margaret Garrett, the maiden name of the Judge's mother, was born in Huntington county, Pennsylvania, where she grew to maturity, received a limited education in the common schools, like her husband, and there mar¬ ried. Five children were born to this union, named as follows: John C., of this review; Dr. George W.. of Denver, Colorado, one of the examining phy¬ sicians of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company; Anion A. is engaged in the hardware business at Tarkio, Missouri; Anna A. is the widow of James Todd, late editor of the Nodaway Democrat. One child died in infancy.

When seven years of age Judge Curfman removed from his native hills in Pennsylvania with his parents to Iowa and there he received a com¬ mon school education ; applying himself with assiduity to his text-books, he was enabled to begin teaching when a young man and for three winters he taught in Jefferson county, Iowa. The Civil war being in progress, he left the school room to enlist in the Union army, becoming a member of Com¬ pany E, Forty-fifth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in which he served seven months, doing guard duty on railway lines. On May i. 1865, he came to Missouri, stopping first at Savannah, where he clerked in the hardware store of his uncle, Samuel F. Garrett, until March, 1867, when he came to Nodaway county, bringing five wagon loads of hardware and implements to Maryville, where he started a hardware store which his uncle stocked and he soon built up a very fair business in this line. After spending one year back in Savannah, he returned to Maryville in 1869, and continued to conduct his hardware business until 1887, when he sold out and moved to a farm a few miles south of Maryville. He proved to be as good a manager of a farm as he had been of a store and continued to prosper, developing an excellent place which he kept improved and well stocked.

When a young man. Mr. Curfman left home on a trip to New Mexico, which in those early days was fraught with no little hardship and dangers. His mother, remonstrating against this trip, told him that her chief reason for objecting was her fear of her boy having to pass through Missouri, little dreaming that he would eventually make his home and become prosperous in this state. He came to Maryville when it was a small village, and he could stand in his store door and see cattle roaming the fields and farms at will.

tie recalls riding the first train from Maryville to St. Joseph about 1870. Mr. Curfman's uncle, Samuel F. Garrett, spoken of above, afterwards moved to St. Joseph, Missouri, where he died in J909 at an advanced age.

When Mr. Curfman opened his store in Maryville the second time (in 1869) the firm was Garrett, Robinson & Company. In 1871 Mr. Robinson bought out Mr. Bariteau and Mr. Curfman bought out Mr. Garrett, the firm then being known as Curfman & Robinson, and about one year later Mr. Robinson sold out to B. F. Shaum, of Atchison county, Missouri, and Mr. Shaum managed the business until 1887, when the firm sold out and Mr. Curfman moved to his farm, where he lived until Christmas, 1894, when he moved his family to Maryville, where he has continued to reside, his pleasant home being a frequent gathering place for the many loyal friends of him¬ self and family.

Judge Curfman has always taken an abiding interest in the affairs of Nodaway county, aiding in any way he could in its development. In 1894 he was honored by the Republican party, whose interests he had long had at heart and sought to promulgate, by being elected presiding judge of the county court, his term lasting for a period of four years, after the expiration of which he has lived in retirement. As a judge he proved to be fair and his decisions unbiased, showing a deep knowledge of the basic principles of the law and of the intricate workings of jurisprudence; he was popular among attorneys and litigants as well and his term of office was satisfactory to all concerned, irrespective of party alignment.

The Judge was married on September 30, 1871, to Lenora A. Alexander, daught'er of Joseph E. Alexander, an honored citizen of Nodaway county, where Mrs. Curfman was born, reared and educated. This union was blessed by the birth of the following children: Edwin C. ; Frederick L. lives north¬ east of Maryville; Roy J. C. ; Mary A. is deceased; Dr. George lives in Salida, Colorado, being head physician of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company's hospital.

The Judge and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which the former is a trustee and a liberal supporter. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and fraternally holds membership with the Masons.

In his daily affairs Judge Curfman always manifested a generous regard for his fellows and as a large-hearted, whole-souled, companionable gentle¬ man, actuated by principles of honesty and integrity, no man in Nodaway county more fully merits and commands the good will of the people.

Abraham Merrill

One of the enterprising fanners of Polk township, Nodaway county, is Abraham Merrill, who was born in Wayne county, New York, April 3, 1843. the son Ripley and Maria (Van Alstine) Merrill, both natives of the state of New York, from whence they emigrated to Wisconsin when that state was a territory, about 1847, and settled in Rock county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Abraham Merrill accompanied his par¬ ents to Rock county and was reared there and was living there when the Civil war began, and in July, 1862, he showed his patriotism by enlisting in Company E, Twenty-second Regiment Wisconsin Infantry, in which he served until the close of the war. He took part in the following engage¬ ments : Resaca, Dallas. Rocky Face Ridge, Buzzard Roost, New Hope Church. Dalton. Georgia. Brentwood, Tennessee, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, siege of Atlanta, his brigade being the first to enter Savannah, Georgia; Bentonville, Goldsboro. Averysboro, in North Carolina, and he was in the grand review in Washington City. He was mustered out in June, 1865. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At Brentwood, Tennessee, in March. 1863, Mr. Merrill was taken prisoner and spent three months in Libby prison.

After the war he worked at odd jobs, whatever he could find to do, to make an honest living, running a threshing machine for several years. He remained in Wisconsin until 1867. or until he came to Nodaway county. Missouri, in September of that year. He purchased eighty acres in Polk township where he now lives. The land was wild but he soon placed it under cultivation and good improvements and has lived here ever since. He has erected excellent buildings, and as he prospered added more land, adding forty acres, now owning a choice farm of one hundred and twenty acres, carrying on general farming very successfully, also keeping some good stock from year to year.

On February 9. 1869, Mr. Merrill married Sarah E. Senians, who was born in Knox county, Illinois, the daughter of Clovis and Mary Semans, who came to Nodaway county, Missouri, in the fall of 1867; they both died in Polk township. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Merrill, named as follows; Alice is the wife of J. R. Carmichael, of Union township; Carrie E. is the wife of H. S. Cochrane, who for years has been in the employ of the Standard Oil Company and for four years was in India ; Charles lives in Polk township; Cora E. is the wife of D. W. Hubbard, of

Kansas City; Walter died when four years old; Mabel E. died when eighteen years old ; George L. is living in Polk township. The mother of these chil¬ dren passed to her rest on January 18, 1904, when fifty- four years old.

Charles H. Roney

As a farmer in Polk township, Nodaway county, Charles H. Roney has done as much as any man in his township for the promotion of its interests and its moral, educational and material progress during the quarter of a century he has here resided. He stands high for integrity of character, his family being equally well respected with himself.

Mr. Roney was born in Peoria county, Illinois, November t8, 1862. His father was Henry Roney and his mother Julia Roney. They were natives of Ireland, from which country they came to America when young, and mar¬ ried in Illinois. In the spring of 1883 they left the Prairie state and bought a new home in Nodaway county, Missouri, where they remained until their deaths, being successful at general farming, Mr. Roney dying in Maryville and his wife in Quitman.

Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Roney, named as fol¬ lows ; Peter F., living in Polk township; James, also of Polk township: Charles H., of this review; Alice is deceased; Ella; Anna is deceased; Mamie is the wife of J. E. Costello, of Maryville; Thomas is deceased.

Charles H. Roney grew to maturity on the home farm in Illinois where he assisted with the work during the summer months and attended the dis¬ trict schools in winter. He came to Nodaway county, Missouri, with his parents in 1883. and with them he remained, doing what was his full duty in developing a new home in a new country, not leaving his parental roof-tree until he was married. Then he settled in Green township, where he lived three years and then settled in Polk township in 1892. of which he has since been a resident.

On August 20. 1888, Mr. Roney married, in this county. Annie Tobin, who was born in Ireland, November 1, 1868. She was the daughter of James and Mary (Cummings) Tobin, of Nodaway county. To Mr. and Mrs. Roney eight children have been born, named as follows: James, Edward. Julia, Ered, Rov, Earl. Blanche and Paul.

Mr. Roney has been very successful since beginning his life-work here. Starting in a small way, he has managed well and worked hard and now has a well-improved and well-tilled farm of two hundred and thirty-five acres in Polk township. He raises abundant crops, handles some good stock and he has a very pleasant substantial home. He takes a great deal of interest in political affairs, and he and his family are members of St. Patrick's Catho¬ lic church in Maryville, of which they are regular attendants and liberal sup¬ porters.

W. Taylor Brown

One of Green township's old and highly respected farmers is W. Taylor Brown, a man worthy of the respect of his neighbors and friends, owing to his past life, which has been so carefully regulated as not to give offense to any one, willfully. He was born in Rock Castle county, Kentucky, April 14. 1844. and is the son of Stephen and Barbara Brown. He grew to maturity in his old Kentucky home and received some schooling in the old-time schools there. Leaving his native state, he came to Illinois and lived three years, coming to Nodaway county, Missouri, in 1867. About 1880 he bought the farm where he now resides in the south side of section 14, southwest part of Monroe township. He is the owner of a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres in his home place and one hundred and twenty acres in Holt county. In 1875 he married Nancy Jane Kyle, daughter of James Madison and Elizabeth Kyle. She was born and reared in Nodaway county, Missouri.

Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brown, namely: Fannie died when eighteen months old ; those living are, Archie and Arthur, twins : the former married Florence Gallagher and lives two and one-half miles southeast of W. Taylor Brown, and he has a farm of one hundred and sixty acres; Archie and wife are the parents of two children, Ray and Roy. the latter dying when two years old. Arthur Brown married Bertha Sanders and lives two miles south of his father's place, where he owns one hundred and sixty acres ; two daughters have been born to them. Hazel and Esther Floyd Brown has remained single and lives with his father, assisting him on the home place. Daisy Brown married Fred Wyman and lives six miles west of Maryville; they have one son. Earl. A sketch of Mr. Wyman appears on another page of this work.

Adam Nelson Shelman

Few men of recent years in Union township could claim a surer place in the affections of his fellow citizens than that occupied by the late Adam Nelson Shelman, who was known as a man of courage, self-reliance and of the utmost integrity of purpose, as a result of which he stood high in the esti¬ mation of his neighbors and is therefore deserving of a place in the history of his county.

Mr. Shelman was born in Breckenridge county, Kentucky, January 28, 1835, and after a successful and useful life he was called to his reward on July 12. 1898, at his home in Union township. His parents, John and Nancy M. Shelman, both died in this county, the father on May 7, 1866, and the mother on February 1, 1894, the latter being past eighty years of age. When their son, Adam N., was ten years of age they moved from Kentucky to Van Buren county, Iowa, where they lived until coming to Nodaway county, Mis¬ souri. In the former county the son married, on September 26, 1855, Sarah K. Watson, daughter of William and Elizabeth Ann (Atha) Watson, the father born in Indiana and the mother in Van Buren county, Iowa ; both spent their lives and died in the latter place.

In the fall of 1856 Adam X. Shelman and wife came to NAdaway county, Missouri, whither his parents had preceded him by a few months, coming in the spring of 1856. That fall the father returned to Iowa, bringing back Adam, his wife and the oldest child, William A., then three months old. John and his son, Adam N., both entered land, the tract where the latter's widow now resides, on the Mazingo branch, six miles northeast of Pickering and three miles from Gaynor City. John Shelman located two miles north of Adam's place and there spent the rest of his life, dying in 1866, his widow then making her home with her daughter, Mrs. William Wray. Harrison Shelman also came here and located on the place where John Groves now lives, but he returned to Iowa during the Civil war and died there. His brother John also came here when the Shelman family first made their advent in Nodaway, but finally left the county and is now living in southern Missouri. When the Shelman family came here in 1856 the country was somewhat wild and they had very few neighbors ; among them were Aunt Amanda Pistole and Martin Shelman, brother of John Shelman (uncle to Adam N., the latter's father). Martin Shelman and his father and John Shelman and the latter's wife, both being then old people, came here and lived several years, dying here.

The first house Adam N. Shelman and wife lived in here was a oneroomed cabin, twelve by fourteen feet, built of logs, which stood on a bare hill just east of the Mazingo, but snows and drifts having a clean sweep at this particular spot, induced Mr. Shelman, twenty years later, to build where his widow now resides, on the east side of the creek, erecting the present house about 1893; the old one is still standing. He entered one hundred and sixty acres of land and soon began to buy more land, finally owning three hundred acres, all in one body. Mrs. Shelman has since bought another farm, con¬ sisting of one hundred and twenty acres, which she rents. She purchased this place at a public sale, for a consideration of sixty dollars per acre. Most of the home farm was bought at about ten dollars per acre. Mr. Shelman had purchased a range and as soon as possible kept live stock and carried on gen¬ eral farming. He was a very successful business man. He was a member of the old-school Predestinarian Baptist church, attending church six miles west of Pickering, the congregation having formerly held services at the Owen home and in the school house. Mr. Shelman's funeral was preached by his old elder, the Reverend Simmons, who recently died at Hopkins. Mrs. Shel¬ man adheres to the same faith in religious matters.

To Mr. and Mrs. Adam N. Shelman these children were born : William Atha, of Union township; John Nelson, who died in infancy; Nancy Eliza¬ beth is the wife of Charles Killam, of Union township; she first married Lewis Pistole, now deceased; Clara Ann Watson Shelman married Bert Killam, brother to Charles Killam, and is living in Hopkins township ; Charles Andrew lives on Honey creek, Nodaway county; Rosa May is the widow of John Scott, of Union township; Henry Adam lives on Honey creek, this county; Mary E. married Minnis Holton, of Independence township, this county; Samuel E. is farming in South Dakota.

Mrs. Shelman stands at the head of several generations and she has be¬ tween forty and fifty grandchildren or great-grandchildren. She is now nearly sixty-eight years of age, has been faithful in rearing her children and has hosts of warm friends throughout the township, as did her husband.

Smith Hines

Because of his sterling qualities of character, marked business ability and genial disposition. Smith Hines has attained to an enviable position among his fellow-citizens of Hopkins township, Nodaway county, Missouri. (26)

He is the owner of a fine farm, which he has so managed as to realize grati¬ fying returns for his labor and he enjoys an excellent reputation as a hustling, progressive and enterprising farmer. Mr. Hines was born in Warren coun¬ ty, Iowa, in 1865, and is a son of William and Louisa (Chapin) Hines. These parents were natives, respectively, of Virginia and New York, their marriage occurring in the state of Illinois. They remained in the latter state until 1864, when they removed to Warren county, Iowa, making the trip from Illinois with teams. There they entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, which they improved and developed into a good farm, which was their home during the remainder of their lives. They were honored and re¬ spected residents of Warren county and enjoyed the esteem of all who knew them. William Hines was a stanch Republican in his political affiliations. They were the parents of six children, of whom all are living but the second born.

Smith Hines was reared under the parental roof-tree and secured his education in the common schools of the home neighborhood. As soon as old enough he took up the work of the farm, where he proved an able assistant to his father, with whom he remained until 1898. In that year he bought eighty acres of land in Nebraska, to the improvement and cultivation of which he devoted himself during the following six years. In 1904 Mr. Hines came to Nodaway county, Missouri, and purchased four hundred acres of fine land in Hopkins township, the land being in one tract, known as the Washburn place. This is one of the best farms in the township and here Mr. Hines has met with a gratifying measure of success in his chosen line of work. He carries on general farming, raising all the cereals and other products common to this section of the county, in connection with which he also gives consid¬ erable attention to the raising of livestock, in which also he has been success¬ ful. He is wide-awake and energetic, possessing a thorough realization of the advantages of "progressive" farming, and he. therefore, keeps in touch with advanced ideas relating to the science of husbandry, not hesitating to adopt new methods when their practicability has been demonstrated by ex¬ perience. His place is well improved and presents an inviting appearance, the comfortable and attractive residence, commodious barns and other out¬ buildings giving the place an air of thrift and prosperity.

In August, 1889, Mr. Hines was united in marriage to Katherine Bar¬ ton. a native of Cass county. Iowa, who has, in the truest sense of the word, been to him a helpmeet. They have become the parents of seven children, named as follows: Frank, Henry, Cassius, Lora, fohn, Eunice and Wallace, all of whom are living.

Politically, Mr. Hines gives an intelligent support to the Republican party, in the success of which he is interested, though he is not a seeker after public office. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to the subordinate lodge at Hopkins. He is a stanch supporter of every movement which promises to be of benefit to the com¬ munity in general and because of his sterling integrity and enterprising spirit he is numbered among the representative men of his township.

Rev. Jehu C. Allen

Nodaway county has been the home and the scene of labor of many men who have not only led lives which should serve as a lesson and inspira¬ tion to those who follow them onto the stage of life's activities, but who have also been of important service through avenues of usefulness in various lines. Rev. Jehu C. Allen is to be classed with those men of well-rounded character, sincere, devoted, loyal and many other salient points which renders entirely consonant a tribute to his career in this compilation, his labors having long been directed for the amelioration of the people of this and other localities with gratifying results, but who is now living retired, enjoying a well-earned respite in the serene evening of his years.

The subject was born near Greencastle, Putnam county, Indiana, De¬ cember 5, 1833. the son of John G. and Sally (Cole) Allen. The father, who was born and reared in Indiana, was the son of James and Delilah (Wright) Allen, who came to Indiana from North Carolina in an early day. settling near Greencastle when their son. John G.. was about twelve years old. Prior to the Revolutionary war, or at least during that period, the Allen family lived in Virginia. John G. Allen was probably born in Washington county. In¬ diana, September 10, 1811. and it was about 1823 that the family moved to Putnam county. Owing to the expected birth of John G.. his father hired a substitute in the army of William Henry Harrison that fought at the battle of Tippecanoe, November 7. 1811. John G.'s father died in Greencastle and his mother in Iowa, having come West with her children. Sally Cole was born in the Hoosier state and reared there, receiving, like her husband, a limited education in the schools of the first settlers. In 1839 Tohn G. Allen and family of three children came direct to Buchanan county, Missouri, locating fourteen miles south of St. Joseph, near the village of DeKalb, and there the family remained until 1851. Mr. Allen volunteered his services in the Mexican war, but the company having its required number he was not taken and he went out as a teamster, driving an ox team to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was absent several months. When a young man he volunteered in the Black Hawk war, marching to Ft. Dearborn, now Chicago. For his services he received a land warrant from the government which he laid in Polk township, Nodaway county, Missouri, near the place where he settled in 1851. His first purchase of land is where the village of Bedison now stands, eight miles southeast of Maryville. At that time the country was wild and he had very few neighbors. Some of them were Allen and Silas Mosingo and their father, John Mosingo, Alexander Clelan. a Mrs. Cook, David Gaskill. John Kerliss. Allen Mosingo lived where Thomas Wright now lives; others lived three or four miles away, some living on One Hundred and Two river or Mosingo branch. The land was prairie at that time. John G. Allen had some money when he came here and he became one of the successful men of the county for those early times. On the place that he purchased was a hewn-log house. About 1875 he built the house that still stands. He at one time owned seven or eight hundred acres, securing most of it when it was cheap. He remained on that farm until 1884 or 1885, then moved to McDonald county, Missouri. After a residence of about thirty-four years in this state he died on his farm which he had successfully operated, on March 10, 1892, at the age of eighty years and six months. His wife Sally had died in Buchanan county. Their family consisted of five children, named as follows: Jehu C., of this review; Eunice died when about twelve years of age; James died in December, 1909, in Oklahoma at the age of seventy-two years: he lived in Nodaway county, Missouri, up to 1872, after which he lived in Kansas and Oklahoma; John G. left Nodaway county about 1902 and went to Texas county, Missouri, and is now living at Mountain Grove, this state; William died in infancy, two weeks after his mother died.

John G. Allen, Sr., was twice married, his second wife being Nancy Graves, a native of Tennessee, whom he married in Buchanan county, Miss¬ ouri ; she survived him, dying in McDonald county at an advanced age. Eight of her children reached maturity, namely: Wright Allen, who died when twenty-six years of age, left a widow and one child ; Elizabeth married Richard Burnett, who died in Arkansas, and his widow is now living in New¬ ton county, Missouri ; Jacob, of McDonald county, Missouri ; George died in Joplin, Missouri, in 1907, where he had been engaged in mining; Marquis D.

is a miner living at Joplin; Benjamin lives in Polk township, Nodaway county; Delilah married George McConnell and lives near Joplin; Martha married John Cunningham and lives in McDonald county, Missouri. Thus the only members of this large family left in Nodaway county are Jehu C. and Benjamin.

Rev. Jehu C. Allen remained at home, assisted with the work on the farm and attended the local schools, until his marriage, on July 10, 1856, to Mary Best, daughter of Silas and Susan (Harrington) Best. She was born in Andrew countv, Missouri, being nineteen years old at her marriage. Mr. Allen's father gave him forty acres of wild land where Noah T. Thompson now lives. Here Mr. and Mrs. Allen lived for a period of over fifty years or until 1907. They began here with one horse but no capital. Their first residence was a small cabin built of round logs, containing one room, suitable only for a summer house, but they set to work with a will and soon had a start ; in due course of time a frame house was built on the site of the present home. This was later rebuilt, and still later a second house was built to replace the first, which burned with all its contents, none of which was insured, this disaster being a severe blow to them. Mr. Allen added land until he owned one hundred and sixty acres, receiving one fortyacre tract from the government at one dollar per acre, on which he built his present house. Later he secured eighty acres at twelve and one-half dol¬ lars per acre, selling his first holdings at seventy-five dollars per acre, which at that time was the top of the market, but in three years was worth one hundred dollars per acre. He has carried on general farming very success¬ fully. He has confined his attention pretty closely to his farm, never aspir¬ ing to political offices. He was a school director for many years. Politically, he is a Republican but not a politician. He has a cozy home on East Third street in Maryville, where he now resides. Mrs. Allen was called to her rest on September 21, 1886. Four children were born to this union, namely: Belle married William Thompson, son of Logan Thompson, of Oklahoma, his father having been a pioneer of Nodaway county; Ulysses Grant is min¬ ing in British Columbia ; Mary A. married George Wright, son of Thomas Wright, of this county, and she is living in Idaho; John G. is living in the state of Washington.

Mr. Allen was twice married, his last union being to Mrs. Letitia (Graves) Donaldson, on April 30, 1890: she was born in Nodaway county, the daughter of Anthony and Margaret (Lower) Graves; one son was born to this union, Paul, now a student in the public schools.

he lived. He formed a church of this denomination near his old home m Polk township. He is an ordained minister in that church. He has been active in church work since 1863 and he has become well known as a local preacher, having been an ordained minister for thirty years. For twenty years he has preached constantly, but recent failing health has interfered with his work, and for the past ten years he has not taken a very active pan in ministerial affairs; but when possible he does what he can in furthering church work and in doing what good he can.

Roland E. Thomas

A highly respected and public-spirited citizen of Maryville is Roland E. Thomas, an active and successful farmer and stock man. He was born near Galesburg, Knox county, Illinois, April 26, 1867, the son of Milam and Eliza (McMurtry) Thomas, the father a native of Ohio and the mother of Indiana. They were married in Illinois, both having come to that state with their parents when young, during the days of the early settlers. Capt. William McMurtry raised a company there for the Black Hawk war and served for sixty days. He was a brother of John McMurtry, the father of Mrs. Thomas. It was in 1883 that Milam Thomas came to Nodaway county. M issouri. and bought of William Garrett a fifty-acre farm where his son Roland E. now lives, in the southeast part of Maryville, also two hundred and forty acres nine miles northeast of the city in Polk township. He was even then a retired farmer, and he put his daughter. Sarah A. Jordan, on this farm. He had a farm of six hundred and forty acres in Knox county. Illinois, including his wife's old home, the John McMurtry homestead. He there entered land at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. In 1883 he sold out at forty-five dollars per acre, and this same land is now worth one hundred and twenty-five dollars or more per acre. He paid one hundred and ten dollars for the fifty acres and thirty dollars for the farm, which is now worth eighty dollars or more per acre. He finally gave one of the farms to his daughter and his eightv-acre place to his son, Roland E. The house was built by William Garrett. Milam Thomas died August 14, 1895, having reached an advanced ege, his birth occurring on July 22. 1817. He was a man of splendid characteristics and was admired by all who knew him. Mrs. Milam Thomas was born March 3. 1830, married November 1. 1849. and died October 12, 1889. They were the parents of four children. Elias E., who is living with Roland E., of this review; John W. is living retired at Skidmore, Missouri, being interested in a hardware store with his son; Sarah A. married Thomas D. Jordan, living at Hydro, Oklahoma.

Roland E. Thomas was sixteen years old when he came to Maryville. He attended the public schools and graduated from the Normal Business Col¬ lege in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1884. On August 14, 1887. he married Alice Thompson, daughter of Lewis and Mary Alice (Arnett) Thompson. Mrs. Thomas was horn in Sullivan county, Indiana, in which state her mother died; soon after this event Alice came to Polk township, Nodaway county, Missouri, accompanying her father, who purchased a farm here on which he lived until his death. He died in Maryville in August, 1903, at the age of seventy-two years. His second wife was Josephine Gaskill. daughter of David Gaskill.

To Mr. and Mrs. Roland E. Thomas three children were born: Robert Raymond was born January 17, 1890, and died September 9, 1890; Mary Ann, who graduated from the conservatory of music in 1910, is the possessor of rare talent in music and both she and her sister, Vernie Irene, who is a high school student, live at home, being young ladies of refinement and favor¬ ites in the younger social set of the city.

Mr. Thomas bought the old Adam Terhune farm, containing twro hun¬ dred and sixty acres, three miles southeast of Maryville,' and there farmed successfully for several years, but finally sold this. He owns eighty acres in Polk township which he rents. He was formerly well known as a breeder of Poland-China hogs, and is a member of the Poland-China Breed¬ ers' Association. He is a member of the Maryville Commercial Club, tak¬ ing an active interest in the welfare of the vicinity in every way. He is the owner of twelve and one-half acres of valuable land within the city limits, which has been laid out into lots, being a part of Chamberlain's first addi¬ tion. His place is largely in fruit of choice varieties.

Mr. Thomas served as a member of the city council from 1907 to 1909, having been elected on the People's ticket, but in national affairs and local issues as wrell he is a Democrat and active in the affairs of his party. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Rebekahs ; also the Modern Woodmen and the Royal Neighbors. He en¬ joys outside sports, and often takes a pleasant outing with rod and gun. He has a very pleasant and attractive home, and personally he is a very pleasant gentleman to meet, hospitable, genial and straightforward in his relations with his fellow-men.

Abraham Lutz

In looking over the list of eligible citizens in LInion township for a work of this nature one does not carry his investigations far until the name of Abraham Lutz is encountered, and that his career has been a worthy one is seen by a glance at his very active record, which is here briefly set forth. He was born in Knox county, Ohio, March 8, 1845, but nearly all his life has been spent in this state, having come to Missouri in 1857 with his parents, Jacob and Sarah (Bulyar) Lutz, both natives of the state of Pennsylvania. Upon coming to Nodaway county, the parents located on the farm adjoining the one on which Abraham Lutz now resides, paying eight dollars an acre for one hundred and sixty acres and even as low as five dollars an acre for some; only a very small portion of this was cleared and broke. Their nearest neigh¬ bors were three miles to the northwest and there was but one house where the town of Maryville now stands; so this was the first family to locate on this prairie, but, being of the true pioneer type, they soon had a comfortable home and a good farm. Four families accompanied them from Ohio, but the others stopped in Iowa, the Lutz family being the only one to locate in Missouri, and it was two or three years before other families settled close around them. There were open stock ranges in this section up to i860. Jacob Lutz lived on the place he first settled here until his death, in 1872, at the age of sixty-five years. He became the owner of a large body of land, about one hundred and sixty acres of which he placed under cultivation. He was born August 27, 1815. His wife was born June 15, 1819, and died February 20, 1906, hav¬ ing reached the advanced age of eighty-six years, having survived her husband nearly thirty-five years.

The following children were born to them: Samuel lives in Pickering; John died in the army hospital, in the sixties, at the age of twenty years; Abraham, of this review ; Eliza married George McGinnis ; she is now the wife of George M. Ulmer, of Hopkins township; Sarah married John Taylor, of Hopkins township; William died when seventeen years of age.

Abraham Lutz was thirteen years of age when he came to Missouri. He served in the state militia early in the war for a period of six months, having marched with a local company to Lexington. He remained at home until February 19, 1863, when, lacking one month of eighteen years of age, he wedded Melissa Thornton, daughter of Richard and Charlotte Thornton, of Ohio. She came to Missouri when a child with an aunt, Mrs. Edwin Wray, living near Pickering. Mrs. Lutz was about seventeen years old when she married. On March 5, 1865, just two years after her marriage, her death occurred. She left two children, one dying when young; the other, Echvin Grant, grew to maturity and is now living in Atchison township, having spent most of his life on a farm near his father. He married Cyntha Moon, and they are the parents of three children, Henry, Walter and Edith.

Abraham Lutz married a second time, on September 23, 1866, to Lucetta Thornton, a younger sister of his first wife. She was reared in Ohio, and came to Missouri to visit her sister; however, she did not get to see her. Until her marriage she made her home with Mr. and Mrs. Wray. Her death oc¬ curred on October 20, 1903. She became the mother of the following children : Rosa married Frank Lock, of Lhiion township, and they are the parents of five children, Millie, Nora, Katie, Mary and George; Malissa, the wife of George McElray, and they have five children. Johnnie, Bessie, Abraham, Glen and Bernice.

The third marriage of Abraham Lutz was to Mrs. Maggie E. Proctor, of Maryville, on March 2, 1905. She was born in Delaware county, Ohio, and when ten years of age, in 1866, accompanied her parents to Missouri, she being the daughter of William and Catherine (Ingles) Hinton. They settled two miles south of Pickering, in Polk township; there her father re¬ mained until his death, in 1886, at the age of seventy-seven years, his widow then moving to Maryville, where her death occurred at the age of seventyfour years. When seventeen years of age Maggie Hinton married Newton Proctor, the latter being twenty years old. After living on a farm fifteen years, they moved to Maryville, living together over thirty years and becom¬ ing the parents of six children, two of whom reached maturity, Grace, who married Richard Broyles, of Clearmont, and Edward, of St. Joseph, who mar¬ ried Bertha Miller in March, 1908. Mr. Lutz took Leslie Taylor, when three years old, to rear, he being seventeen now, and he is working on the home farm, having the same advantages as if he was the child of Mr. Lutz.

Abraham Lutz began his married life on his father's farm, which he started to rent, but the father gave him eighty acres on which he still lives, but he continued to rent. He finally came to his own land and lived in a log house until 1872, when he built a better house and in 1880 he built his pres¬ ent home. He has prospered and has added one hundred acres to his original holdings, paying fifty-two dollars and fifty cents per acre for land that could have been purchased at one time for five dollars per acre. He has a splendid hay barn, built in 1891. He has also a hay barn on the last land he purchased. About the place is to be seen a beautiful grove of maples. He has had a good income from his hay for years, also has raised a great deal of grain. At one time he had one hundred and seventy acres in hay. Unfortunately that year hay declined in price, selling at two dollars and fifty cents per ton. After that Ire gave more attention to grain.

Mr. Lutz has been a loyal Republican. He is a worker in the Methodist Episcopal church and his wife is a member of the Baptist church at Maryville.

Theodore Blatter

The United States can boast of no better or law-abiding class of citizens than the great number of German people who have found homes within her borders. Though holding clear and sacred the beloved mother country, they are none the less devoted to the fair land of their adoption. Among this class is Theodore Blatter, now living in retirement in Maryville, who for a number of years has been one of the leading German citizens of Nodaway county, where he has labored not only for his own advancement, but also for the good of the community, his efforts having been amply repaid with abun¬ dant financial success and the esteem of his fellow-men.

Mr. Blatter was born in Baden, Germany, March 23. 1849, anc^ there he grew to maturity and was educated. In 1869 he came to the United States, locating in Morgan county, Illinois, where an uncle had located and there engaged in the butcher business. He spent three years with his uncle, in the meantime sending for his brother, who was in Germany. In the fall of 1872 he came to Maryville in company with an old Englishman whom he met in Illinois. After locating here Mr. Blatter worked in the butcher shop of William Yehle for one year, and the next year he and Lambert Yehle opened a shop and continued as partners for a period of twelve years, during which time they built up a very thriving business. After Mr. Yehle retired, Mr. Blatter continued the operation of the shop alone until about 1895. He was centrally located and enjoyed an excellent trade. In 1873 he started in with a capital of only five hundred dollars, but by good management and economy he became one of the substantial business men of the town. He erected a large and substantial block on North Main street which he rented for a period of twenty years. He built his attractive home in 1879 at the southwest corner of the town, where he owns twenty-two acres. He also bought a platted block several years ago at the intersection of Grant and Walnut streets. He also owns other desirable property, two residences on Dewev street and four lots in town.

Mr. Blatter was married while living in Morgan county, Illinois, in 1875, t° Elizabeth Wittauer, who was born in Germany. This union resulted in the birth of four children, namely : Anna is living at home ; B. F. is con¬ ducting a meat shop in Maryville; Willie is a student in the college at Con¬ ception. graduating with the class of 1910; Anthony also is in college at Con¬ ception.

Mr. Blatter is a Democrat politically. He was reared in the Catholic church, and he and his family are members of St. Mary's and very faithful in their attendance and support of the same.

Mr. Blatter is a man whom it is a pleasure to meet, whole-hearted, jovial, genial, always hospitable in his home and he has led such a life of activity and scrupulous honesty that his friends are legion wherever he is known, for they have been able to trust him in all the relations of life, and his large success in a business way has been due to his desire to deal fairly with his patrons at all times.

Samuel Scowden

One of Nodaway county's substantial citizens who has led an active and eminently useful life, not entirely void of the exciting, is Samuel Scowden, the more prominent facts of whose life have been so identified with the use¬ ful and practical that it is to them almost entirely that the writer refers in the following lines.

Mr. Scowden is a native of Adams county, Ohio, where he was born July 12, 1849. He grew up principally in Pike county, Ohio. In 1874 he came to Nodaway county, Missouri, and here he so directed his efforts as to accumulate a very satisfactory competency for his old age and is now liv¬ ing in retirement in Maryville. He is the son of John and Susan Scowden, both born and reared in Ohio. Upon coming to Missouri in 1874, Samuel Scowden located near Gaynor City, in Independence township, Nodaway county, twenty miles northeast of Maryville and eight miles northwest of Parnell, on the Great Western railroad, ten miles southeast of Hopkins. The parents both died on that farm. Forty acres were at first purchased, Mr. Scowden having very little means, but the place was added to until the farm consisted of one hundred and sixty acres, the father dying here in 1889, at the age of sixty -five years, the widow surviving until 1899, dying at the age of seventy-nine years, having been four years his senior. William Scowden, brother of John, had been living in Independence township before the family located here, having come the year before. He later moved to Atchison county, this state, and after an absence of fifteen years returned to Independence, bought a farm and lived here until his death.

Samuel Scowden, the paternal grandfather of the subject, was a de¬ scendant of sterling Pennsylvania Dutch stock. The maternal grandparents, the Holtons, were also of the same stock.

Of the children born to Mr. and Airs. John Scowden, five reached ma¬ turity; Margaret Elizabeth married E. T. Gaynor and lived near Parnell, where her death occurred; Samuel, of this review; Jacob, who remained in Ohio, is a shoe dealer in Columbus; Angeline married Lewis Nigh, and lives on a farm in Independence township; James P. is farming in that township.

Samuel Scowden remained with his father and was in partnership with him. At the death of the elder Scowden, Samuel built a home on the old place. He received the entire farm, and he cared for his mother during her lifetime. He was very successful in the management of the same, which he finally sold and came to Maryville in 1904, soon after his wife's death. He owns a neat and comfortable little place in the west part of town. He carried on farming in all its phases and fed a great deal of stock.

Politically, he is a Democrat. In political affairs his father had been more active, serving as county commissioner in Pike county, Ohio, and as justice of the peace for years, both in Ohio and Missouri, serving here until his death. He was a worker in the party's conventions. During the drafting period of the Civil war he was the only available man in the township to escape being drafted. Samuel has never cared for political offices.

When thirty years of age Samuel Scowden married Elizabeth Barks, a native of Missouri. She died on the old homestead after a residence there of three years, dying without issue. Samuel married a second time, taking his last wife after his father's death. She was known in her maidenhood as Phoebe Jane Lowery, who was reared in California. Her father died when she was a child, meeting his death by drowning. Her mother's next marriage was with W. W. Wells, and in 1874 they settled in Independence township, Phoebe Jane then being a young woman. She was thirty years old at her marriage. Her death occurred on August 9, 1904. while living on the farm, leaving two children, ages twelve and nine. Bertha May is a student in the junior class at the Maryville high school, and John Jacob is now a school boy.

Samuel Scowden takes a great deal of interest in the education of his children. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Gay nor, where he formerly took a very active interest, having been trustee and class leader and held other minor offices in the congregation. He was made a Mason in Gaynor City lodge twenty-seven years ago, the lodge then being at Gaynor but now at Parnell. In earlier years he was active in its affairs, being past master, etc., and his life has been led in accordance with the high and noble principles of this order and the Methodist church.

Charles W. Stafford

A man who has performed well his part as a factor in the body politic of Nodaway county is Charles W. Stafford, one of the enterprising young farmers of Polk township, and no one questions his standing as an energetic citizen of the township in which he lives and of which he is a native, having been born here on July 15, 1872. He is the son of John L. and Sarah (Pruden) Stafford, the father a native of Indiana, in which state the mother was also born ; there they grew to maturity, met and married and from thence they came to Nodaway county, Missouri, in the fall of 1868, locating in Polk township where they lived until 1875, when they moved to Green township, where Mrs. Stafford died August 18, 1897. Mr. Stafford later sold his farm and moved to Burlington Junction, where he now resides. He is well known in the western part of the county. To Mr. and Mrs. John L. Stafford eight children were born, named as follows : Maggie is teaching school in St. Joseph, Missouri; George is living in Maryville; Hettie is the wife of Henry McComb, of Wilcox, this county; Charles W., of this review; Lue is the wife of W. F. Bolin, of Maryville; Emma is the wife of Edward Bolin, of Maryville; Maud; Inez died in infancy.

Charles W. Stafford was reared on the home farm in Nodaway county and was put to work in the fields when he became of proper age, and he was educated in the common schools. He remained at home until his marriage, which event took place March 30, 1893, while living in Green township. He selected as a life partner Edith Blanche Lawson, who was born in Jackson county, Indiana, February 24, 1878. She is the daughter of James and Rachael (Weddle) Lawson, the father a native of Kentucky and the latter of Indiana. They came from Indiana to Nodaway county, Missouri, and settled in Green township in 1888, where Mr. Lawson died October 31, 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Stafford are the parents of four children, three of whom sur¬ vive, namely: Ernest, Mildred M. ; Hugh M. died in infancy; Lyonel M.

Mr. Stafford takes a great deal of interest in political matters and he has always been a Republican. He and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and fraternally, Mr. Stafford is a member of the Yeomen of America and the Woodmen of the World. He has always followed agricultural pursuits and stock raising and has been very successful in each, now owning a well improved and neatly kept farm of one hundred and sixty acres, on which stand excellent buildings of all kinds.

Thomas Henry Roach

As a general farmer and stock raiser, Thomas Henry Roach, of Polk township, Nodaway county, has been unusually successful, and he bears an unsullied reputation wherever he is known, he and his family being sincerely respected for their many personal good qualities.

Mr. Roach was born in Dubuque county, Iowa, November 16, 1853. His father was Richard Roach and his mother was known in her maiden¬ hood as Julia Malone: the father was a native of Ireland and the mother of New York state, of Irish parentage. They married in Dubuque county. Iowa, and began their married life on a farm there, remaining in that county until 1865 when they came to Missouri, locating in Gentry county, where Mrs. Roach died.

Richard Roach was one of the famous band of "forty-niners" who made the long, hazardous trip across the plains to California during the gold ex¬ citement pf that time. After remaining in the far West for about five years, he returned to Missouri and spent his last days in Maryville, dying at the residence of his son, Thomas Henry, in July, 1897. He was a man of sterling qualities, and he and his wife were the parents of eight children, named as follows : Thomas Henry, of this review : Frank, William, David, Richard and Mary Ann, all deceased; Frances is the wife of Charles Terhuven, of St. Louis ; Elizabeth Jane is living in Polk township.

Thomas H. Roach lived with his father in Gentry county. Missouri, un¬ til he was nineteen years of age. and then came to Nodaway county and since 1872 he has been' a resident of the county. He received his education in tne common schools of his day, but early in life turned his attention to farming and stock raising, which he has continued till the present time. He has been a good manager and a hard worker and has succeeded, now owning one of the choice farms of the township, consisting of three hundred acres, which is kept well improved and well tilled and on which stands a beautifully located and substantial residence and good outbuildings. Some good stock of various kinds is always to be found about his place.

Mr. Roach was married in this township on January 1, 1877, to Martha Neal, who was born in Polk township, this county, the daughter of J. M. Neal, and here she grew to maturity and was educated. To Mr. and Mrs. Roach five children have been born, named as follows: Charles H. is farming in Polk township; Julia; Nellie is the wife of Rev. Lester M. Jones, a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church; Maud and Golda. Julia, Maud and Golda are all teachers and have life certificates; they are well educated and are very successful in their chosen work. Mrs. Nellie Jones was also a teacher before her marriage.

Mr. Roach always took a great interest in the education of his chil¬ dren, in fact, in all educational affairs. He and Mrs. Roach are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Although Mr. Roach has never found either the time or the inclination to mingle a great deal in politics, he has very ably served his township as road overseer and as a member of the local school board.

Lewis E. Rogers

In many respects Lewis E. Rogers, of Polk township, Nodaway county, is a model farmer, and as a stock raiser his success has been most encourag¬ ing. He aims to be progressive in what he does and having spent his entire life in his native community he is well and favorably known, having kept untarnished the excellent reputation always borne by the Rogers family. He was born in this township, on the farm where he now resides, April 12, 1877. His father was the late Francis E. Rogers, and his mother was known in her maidenhood as Grizell Hogue. The father was born in the state of New York and the mother in Pennsylvania. They came to Nodaway county, Missouri, in the early seventies and settled in Polk township where they developed a good farm and spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying July 12, 1903, and the mother on December 31, 1908. They were the parents of ten children, six sons and four daughters, of whom Lewis E., of this review, was the seventh in order of birth. He grew to maturity on the home farm and when but a mere lad began assisting with the general work about the place, and attended the common schools in his neighborhood, also the Maryville schools. He has always followed general farming and he has been very successful in his chosen line. He is the owner of one of the choice farms of his township, consisting of two hundred and eighty acres, all im¬ proved and under a high state of cultivation. He keeps from year to year a variety of good stock, and he has a comfortable and attractively located dwelling and good outbuildings.

Mr. Rogers was married in this township, on February n, 1896, to May Crouse, who was born in Nodaway county, reared and educated here. She is the daughter of Irvin Crouse, a well known citizen of Union township. To Mr. and Mrs. Rogers four children have been born, named as follows: Lester E., Oral E., Yesta and Elsie A.

Politically, Mr. Rogers is a Republican and he takes an active interest in township affairs, being influential in the councils of his party and he has been frequently sent as a delegate to township and county conventions. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World.