HISTORY OF HICKORY, POLK, CEDAR, DADE AND BARTON COUNTIES, MISSOURI, 1889. Goodspeed Publishing Co.
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Samuel F. Hurt, who is closely associated with the farming and stock-raising interests of Cedar Township, was born in that township in 1842, and is the eldest of four sons and three daughters born to Burgess and Elizabeth (Davis) Hurt, natives of Adair County, Ky. The parents resided in their native State until 1842, when they moved to Cedar County, Mo., and located one mile west of where their son, Samuel F., is now living. About two years later they returned to Kentucky, resided there for three or four years, and then moved to St. Clair County, where they remained until the war, when they moved to Kansas. Here Mrs. Hurt died, and afterward Mr. Hurt returned to St. Clair County, where he died in 1888. He was a blacksmith by trade and a farmer by occupation. His father, William Hurt, was probably a native of Virginia, and died in Adair County, Ky. He was of French descent; was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was sheriff of Adair County for a number of years. Samuel F. Hurt received a limited education, owing to the scarcity of schools, but was attending Fairview College when the war broke out. In 1863 he joined Company I, Fifteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, and remained with this company until the close of the war, serving most of the time on the plains of Western Kansas. He was sergeant the latter part of the war, and was wounded once by a gunshot. He was married in St. Clair County, Mo., in 1866, to Miss Mary, daughter of William and Nancy Dudley, and a native of St. Clair County. Mr. and Mrs. Dudley were born in Virginia and Kentucky, respectively, but were early settlers of St. Clair County, where they are living at the present time, and where Mr. Dudley is engaged in tilling the soil. To Mr. Hurt and wife were born three children, one son and two daughters. Mr. Hurt resided in St. Clair County until about 1877, and then moved to Cedar County, locating on his present farm, which consists of over nine hundred acres, and is considered one of the finest tracts of land in the county. He was collector of Washington Township, St. Clair County, two years; is a Democrat in politics, casting his first presidential vote for McClellan; is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Lodge No. 342, and has been master of the same for about two years. He and wife have been members of the Christian Church for many years.
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Jefferson Jackson, general merchant, and a member of the firm of Owen & Jackson, of Stockton, Mo., was born in Roane County, Tenn., in 1818, and is a son of John and Jane (Preston) Jackson, who were also Tennesseeans, born in 1792 and 1795, respectively. The father was a farmer and carpenter, and served in the War of 1812. They both died in 1840, her death preceding his nine days. Jefferson is the fourth of their nine children, and was educated in the early subscription schools, and was reared in a mill and still [sic] house. After remaining with his parents until twenty-one years of age, he began doing for himself, and, in 1843, was married to Miss Matilda Crawford, who was born in Roane County, Tenn., in 1818. To them were born seven children: Elizabeth Jane, wife of J. R. Owens; James M., a merchant of Stockton, Mo.; Margaret, the deceased wife of C. W. Paynter, of Stockton; Nancy S., wife of Daniel M. Bailey, of Kansas City; Sarah, wife of Dr. R. A. Brown; Amanda, wife of Lon Pyle, and John R. (deceased). Mr. Jackson left his native State in the fall of 1843, and moved to the State of Arkansas, but, in November, 1845, came to Cedar County, Mo., and settled, and until the late war was engaged in farming eight miles east of the county seat. In 1861, he enlisted in the Home Guards, but soon after returned home, and resumed farming. In 1862 he enlisted in Company M, Fifteenth Regiment Missouri Cavalry, and, after being in the service twenty months, was discharged at Springfield. His son James M. was in the same company. In the fall of 1865 he commenced clerking in Stockton for his son, James M., and J. R. Owen, remaining with them five years. In 1870 he was elected sheriff and ex-officio collector, and served two years. In 1880 he and J. M. Thompson purchased an interest in the general store of J. R. Owen, in Stockton, but, in December, 1888, Mr. Thompson sold his interest, since which time Mr. Owen and Mr. Jackson have been in business alone. Since 1871 he has had an interest in the store belonging to his son and C. W. Paynter, eight miles east of Stockton. He owns 550 acres of land in Cedar County, and is one of the substantial business men of the community. When he commenced life for himself he was the owner of two ponies, two cows, and one colored man, but at present is one of the wealthy citizens of the county. He is a Democrat, and cast his first vote for Harrison for the presidency in 1840, being then a Whig. He is a Mason, and has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for twenty-five years. His wife died in 1876, and in 1881 he married Harriet E. Pollard, a native of Tennessee, whose maiden name was McMinn. James M. Jackson, his son, was born in Roane County, Tenn., and received his education in Fayette College, Howard County, Mo., which institution he entered in 1858, remaining eighteen months. When eighteen years of age he began teaching school in Cedar and Polk Counties, continuing this occupation until the fall of 1863, when he enlisted in Company M, Fifteenth Missouri Cavalry, U. S. A., and served for twenty months in Southwest Missouri, receiving his discharge at Springfield. January 1, 1865, he formed a partnership with J. R. Owen, and, until 1872, the firm was Owen & Jackson, but, at that date, Mr. Jackson purchased Mr. Owen’s interest, and, almost immediately, A. J. Bacon and Jefferson Jackson became members of the firm, which is now known as J. M. Jackson & Co. the establishment comprises two rooms and a basement, and is filled with a first-class stock of general merchandise. Mr. Jackson is a live, energetic business man, and, besides his store, owns 240 acres of valuable land, a one-third interest in Caplinger’s mills, and a general merchandise store, managed by T. B. Kannady, at the latter place. He is a Democrat, politically; his first vote being cast for John Bell, in 1860. He has served as a member of the town council, and has been secretary of the same. He is a Royal Arch Mason. On the 15th of March, 1866, he was united in marriage to Miss Seraphine Bacon, a daughter of Abel J. and Hannah (Hembree) Bacon. She was born in Roane County, Tenn., in 1849, and she and Mr. Jackson are the parents of four children: Walter L., a salesman in his father’s store; Abel J., a student at Morrisville College; Otis M. and Pearl C.
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John A. Jackson, Sr., who is classed among the prominent farmers and stock-raisers of Cedar County, was born in Anderson County, East Tennessee, April 21, 1820, and is the son of Claiborne and Kizzie Jackson, natives of North Carolina, where Mrs. Jackson had married a Mr. Cheek, who died. She went to Tennessee in about 1817, and was there married to Mr. Jackson in 1819, after which they spent their lives in that State, she dying just before the war, and he just after. Mr. Jackson was a farmer and trader, and was a member of the Baptist Church. John A. Jackson, the eldest of three sons and four daughters, received a very limited education, never attending school more that a few months in all. He was married September 15, 1842, to Miss Sarah L. Hardin, the daughter of Marlin and Maria Hardin. Mrs. Jackson was born in East Tennessee, August 28, 1822, and died December 9, 1888, aged sixty-six years three months and eleven days. When nineteen years of age she had joined the Baptist Church, but, at the time of her death, was a faithful member of the Christian Church. She left two sons and two daughters; Abner, John A., Jr., Sarah E. and Margaret C., wife of Elihu Hess. All are living in the neighborhood of their father. One son, Samuel Fuston, lost his life in the Confederate army, it is supposed. Mary J. died in August, 1865; Nancy A. died January 1, 1884; and Samantha A. died in September, 1880. In 1854 Mr. Jackson came to Cedar County, Mo., settled on his present farm, and there he has since lived, with the exception of a short period during the war. He has about 300 acres in different tracts of land, and is one of the substantial farmers of the county. He is honest, industrious, and is one of the county’s first-class citizens. He is a member of the Christian Church; was a justice of the peace about three years previous to the war, and is virtually the founder of El Dorado Springs. For some years prior to its publicity he had made considerable use of the water, carrying it a distance of two miles in a jug to his home, and, during the summer season, he would frequently spend nearly the entire day at the spring. It was he who piloted Joshua Hightower and family through the woods to the springs, they being the first to camp there. Mr. Jackson is a Democrat politically, and his first presidential vote was for James K. Polk, in 1844. He is one of the pioneers of northwest Cedar County, and at the time of his settlement on his present farm there were but eight acres cleared. He now has a well improved farm.
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John Montgomery Jackson, a farmer and stock-dealer residing two miles northeast of Stockton, Mo., was born in Roane County, Tenn., in 1842, and is a son of James Preston and Margaret (Montgomery) Jackson, who were also Tennesseeans, the former born in Roane County in 1816, and the latter in Roane County in 1822. They were married in their native State, and in 1843 came to Cedar County, Mo., and located on a farm eight miles east of Stockton, where the father has since been living. The mother was a daughter of John Montgomery, and died January 9, 1888. The paternal grandfather, John Jackson, was born in Jefferson County, Tenn., in 1792. John Montgomery Jackson is the eldest of five surviving members of a family of ten children, his brothers and sisters being as follows: Mary, wife of Samuel McAckron; Sarah, wife of John B. Salmon; Nancy A., wife of John Oldham; and William. John Montgomery Jackson has been a resident of Cedar County since he was one year old, and remained under the shelter of the paternal roof until he was twenty years of age. March 18, 1862, he enlisted in Company D, Eighth Regiment Missouri Cavalry, and August, of the same year, was wounded in Benton County, Mo., by a gun-shot, which disabled him for seven months, being in the hospital at Jefferson City two months, and the rest of the time at home. February 1, 1866, he was married to Miss Amanda J. Connaway, a daughter of Dennis H. and Rebecca (Tatom) Connaway, who came to Cedar County, Mo., in 1838. Rebecca Tatom was born in Bond County, Ill. Soon after Dennis H. Connaway came to Missouri his father died, leaving him, the only son, to care for the family—a mother and three sisters. He had a fair education, but maintained the family principally by farming and teaching school. Until later on in years, he honorably filled several prominent offices—that of clerk, collector and representative. He was married to Rebecca Tatom in the year 1844. They lived happily together eight years, when Mrs. Connaway died, leaving three small children, of whom Mrs. John M. Jackson is the oldest. The other two children, both boys, are now living in Oregon, the elder a doctor, and the younger, cashier of the First National Bank, Independence, Oregon. After the death of Mrs. Connaway, Mr. Connaway, with the help of his oldest sister, took care of his children and aged mother, for five years, at which time he married Serena J. Bugg in the year 1857. They had five children, four boys and one girl, two of the boys living in this State—one a veterinary surgeon, living at Columbia, Mo., and the other a doctor, living in Cedar County, Mo. The other three are living in Kansas, engaged in farming and raising stock. Mr. Connaway spared no pains in educating his children, and teaching them to be useful members of society. His mother died in the year 1864, aged seventy years. He is now in his seventieth year, and is in poor health; is now visiting his sons and relatives in Oregon. He is a strong Republican; held the offices of lieutenant and captain in the late war; has been a strict member of the Christian Church for a number of years. Mrs. Jackson was born in Cedar County in 1846. She and Mr. Jackson have four children: Oscar C., Samuel E., Margaret R., and Walter T. In 1864 Mr. Jackson bought 370 acres of land twelve miles west of Stockton, but in 1881 located on the farm of 360 acres where he now lives, were he is quite extensively engaged in stock dealing. He is a Democrat in politics, and he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
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Theo. L. Kerr, editor and proprietor of the Jerico Springs Optic, was born in Newark, N. J., in 1854, and is the youngest of four children born to Joseph and Jane (Hopkins) Kerr, both of whom were born in Sussex County, N. J., the former in 1819, and the latter about 1825. They are now residing in Newark, and are hale and hearty old people. The father is a printer by trade, and as early as 1850 published the Temperance Advocate in Newark, and is now the proprietor of a job printing office in that city. Here it was that the immediate subject of this sketch, Theo. L. Kerr, received his education, and in his youth learned the printer’s trade of his father, afterward working in different offices. In 1877 he went to Stafford, Kan., and for a short time edited the Stafford Citizen. He then gave up this work, and went to Arkansas, but, after tilling the soil for a short time near Little Rock, he was employed on the Little Rock Gazette, and at the end of six months came to Jerico Springs, and March 30, 1888, the first copy of the Jerico Springs Optic was issued. The paper is published in the interest of the Democratic party, is bright and newsy, and some useful information can always be gleaned from its columns. IN 1876 he was married to Miss Hannah Myers, who was born in Bradford County, Penn., in 1856, and is a daughter of Jacob and Hilah Myers. He and wife are the parents of four children. He is a member of the Typographical Union, and his wife belongs to the Christian Church.
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Simon B. Leedy has resided in Cedar County, Mo., since 1878 and has a fertile farm of 160 acres nine miles west of Jerico. His native State is Ohio, and he was born in Knox County of that State, December 14, 1838, being the eldest of twelve children of Samuel A. and Elizabeth (Bostater) Leedy, and the grandson of Abraham and Elizabeth (Zook) Leedy, the latter couple being Pennsylvanians, who died in Ohio, whither they had moved in 1829. The Leedys are of Swiss descent. Samuel Leedy and wife were born in Bedford County, Penn., and Washington County, Md., May 19, 1816, and August 26, 1815, respectively, and the former was a farmer and Brethren minister but is now retired from the active duties of life, and is residing with his son, Simon B. His wife died in February, 1887, in Cedar County, Mo., whither they had come in 1882. Simon B. Leedy resided with his parents until his marriage to miss Elizabeth Martin, which event took place in 1865. She was born in the “Buckeye State” in 1835, and is the mother of five living children: Ira C., Orpheus A., Elda M., Aquilla G. and Lucian G., Samuel is deceased. In 1878 Mr. Leedy remove to Cedar County, Mo., where he has since made his home. He has 100 acres of land under cultivation, and forty acres of timber land. Stephen A. Douglas received his first vote for the presidency, and he is now a Democrat politically. Mr. Leedy is a Brethren minister, and all the family are church members.
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James William Legg, sheriff of Cedar County, and proprietor of the Tennessee Hotel at Stockton, Mo., was born in Cole County, of the same State, August 13, 1855, and is a son of Samuel Harrison and Elizabeth (Merritt) Legg, who were born in Tennessee and Virginia, respectively, the former’s birth occurring in 1831. He came with his father, Henry Legg, who was also a Tennesseean, to Cole County, Mo., and was there married, in 1866 moving thence to Morgan County, and ten years later to Barton County, and in the spring of 1889 to Vernon County, where he is at present residing. His wife died in 1874, having borne a family of nine children, eight of whom are still living: James W.; Sarah E., wife of Rev. DeJarnot, of Sheldon, Vernon County, Mo.; Ellen, wife of Leo Rouselbaugh, of Morgan County; Emma, John H., Edward F., Margaret and Alice. James William was reared on his father’s farm and resided under the shelter of the paternal. Roof until twenty-one years of age, and on the 20th of February, 1876, was married to Miss Martha Jane Buzan, a daughter of Payton Buzan. She was born in Camden County, Mo., in 1855, and she and Mr. Legg are the parents of five children: Charles S., Gracie, Laura B., Blanche E. and Evert. After his marriage Mr. Legg began depending on his own resources for obtaining a livelihood, and in 1882 came to Cedar County and began merchandising at Jerico, and in November, 1888, was elected to the office of county sheriff by a majority of fifty-five votes. He is a Democrat, and cast his first vote for Tilden in 1876. He is a member of Bear Creek Lodge No. 447, I. O. O. F., at Jerico, and he and wife are members of the Christian Church.
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Elisha Liston, nurseryman and fruit-grower, established his business in 1869, and has nearly eighty acres in standard orchard, largely young trees, and a full and complete stock of home-grown nursery trees. He also makes a specialty of raising bees and honey. He has the most extensive nursery in the county, and raises 1,000 to 2,500 bushels of apples per annum. He is also engaged in farming. Mr. Liston was born in Preston County, W. Va., in October, 1835, and is the son of Abraham and Elizabeth (Smith) Liston, natives of Preston County, W. Va., where they have spent all their lives. Mr. Liston died eighteen or nineteen years ago, but Mrs. Liston is still living. He was a farmer by occupation, and was captain of the militia in the days of muster. His father, John Liston, was a native of Delaware, and an early settler of Virginia. John Smith, the maternal grandfather of Elisha Liston, spent the latter part of his life in Indiana. Elisha Liston is the eldest of three sons and six daughters. He was educated in the common subscription schools, worked on the farm, and, in 1858, was united in marriage to Miss Martha Matheny, a native of Preston County, w. Va., and the daughter of Isaiah Matheny. She died in 1875, leaving five children: Dr. E. B.; Thankful Lurretta, wife of Rev. J. M. Galbraith, a Methodist minister; Prof. George M., a graduate of Warrensburg Normal School, and school commissioner and teacher of Cedar County; Emma A., and E. Herman. Mr. Liston’s second marriage was in 1878, to Miss Nettie Fittsjarrell, daughter of Levi Fittsjarrell, of Illinois. Her parents came to Cedar County, Mo., in 1874, and here her father now resides. The mother died in Illinois. Mr. Liston was a lieutenant in the militia in 1859 and 1860, and served about fifteen months in the Union Army, Company A, Seventh West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, as corporal, enlisting in 1861, but was discharged on account of disability. In 1856 and 1857 he was discharged on account of disability. In 1856 and 1857 he was with his uncle in the mercantile business in Indiana, and followed it by himself from 1864 and 1869, when he came to Cedar County to engage in fruit growing and stock raising, but, not being able to obtain the kind of trees he desired, he at once began to grow his own, and has been in the nursery business ever since, meeting with considerable success. He is one of the most active educational workers in the county, and has spared no pains to give his children good education. He is a Democrat in politics, having affiliated with that party almost all his life, and his first presidential vote was for Douglas, in 1860. He has been an active Prohibitionist for some years. He and Mrs. Liston and three children are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They are temperance and Sunday-school workers. He has been and active officer in the church since his membership. He has real estate of 240 acres near Virgil City, with about 125 acres under cultivation, all the result of hard labor and good management. He was postmaster at willow Branch Post office, Hancock County, Ind., for five years, from 1864 to 1869.
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Thomas T. and Milton B. Loy, attorneys at law of Stockton, Mo., are natives of Cedar County, Mo., born in 1854 and 1859, respectively, and are the sons of Thomas and Sarah (Turner) Loy. In the latter part of the eighteenth century, Thomas Loy, the grandfather of our subjects, came from England and settled in the State of North Carolina, and about 1815 or 1820 removed to Adair County, Ky., bringing with him his son Thomas, who was born in North Carolina in 1811. The latter was married in that State in 1832, and in 1848 came to Cedar County, Mo., and in the latter year started out for the gold fields of California, but was taken sick with cholera and taken in Independence, Mo., where he was cared for until his recovery. He then returned to his family in Cedar County, and bought 200 acres of land, on which he settled and passed the remainder of his life, dying in July, 1884. His wife was born in Virginia in 1815, and is yet living, being the mother of six children: Louisa, wife of T. N. Hill; Mary E., wife of J. E. Hartley, president of the Stockton Exchange Bank; Jennie, wife of Nathaniel Jones; Georgia Ann, wife of w. D. Love; Thomas T., and Milton B. the last two named received their rudimentary education in the common schools, and were reared to manhood on their father’s farm. At the age of twenty-two years Thomas T. began teaching school, which occupation he followed four terms, and then entered the law department of the State University at Columbia, Mo., from which institution he graduated in 1880. He then formed a partnership with R. F. Buler, of Carthage, with whom he has since remained associated, Mr. Buler having charge of the practice at Carthage, and he at Stockton. December 12, 1880, he was married to Miss Emma Wells, who was born in Cedar County, Mo., in 1861. They have two children: Carroll G. and Alice E. Milton B. Loy commenced teaching school at the age of eighteen years, and in 1879 began attending the Commercial Business College of Keokuk, Iowa, and in the winter of 1879 and 1880 attended the Literary Department of the State University. In the latter year he became a disciple of Blackstone in the office of Judge D. P. Stratton, of Nevada, and was admitted to the bar the same year, but, upon the organization of the Stockton Exchange Bank, he was elected cashier, and filled the position very ably for five years. Since October, 1887, he and his brother Thomas T. have been law partners, and are enterprising and successful members of the legal fraternity. They are well posted, social, courteous, and have many warm personal friends. They are Democrats, and members of the Masonic Order, Stockton Lodge No. 283, Royal Arch Chapter No. 70, and Constantine Commandery No. 27, at Greenfield. They also belong to the Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 103. May 9, 1880, Milton B. was married to Miss Lurah D., a daughter of J. E. Hartley. She was born in Missouri, in February, 1864, and she and Mr. Loy have one son, Walter M. His wife, as well as his brother’s wife are members of the Christian Church.
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William J. Lyon, a farmer residing about ten miles east of Stockton, Mo., was born in Smith County, Va., on the 24th of July, 1824, being the only surviving member of a family of six children. At the age of thirty years he left the home of his birth, and came to Cedar County, Mo., where he has ever since made his home, being the owner of 176 acres of land, and is considered one of the successful farmers of the county. He is a member of the Masonic order, and in his political views is a Democrat, being elected by that party to the office of public administrator, and served two years. In 1847 he married Louisa Whitehead, who was born in Virginia in 1824, and died May 28, 1851, leaving one child: Robert Newton. In 1853 Mr. Lyon married Mrs. Sarah A. (Cowan) Lightner, who was born in Tennessee in 1825. She was a daughter of William and Nancy Cowan, and died January 30, 1866, having borne two children: Nancy a., wife of John A. King; and Mary F., wife of P. R. Holbert. Mr. Lyon married his third wife October 27, 1867. Her maiden name was Martha J. King, a daughter of Thomas and Ava King, and the widow of Mr. Kizer. Her death occurred on the 6th of November, 1885, she having become the mother of two children: James I. and David K. Mr. Lyon is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His parents, Jacob and Mary (Snodgrass) Lyon, and his grand parents, Umberson and Ann (Long) Lyon, were all Virginians, the former couple being born in 1779 and 1799, respectively. Thee fathr [sic] was a farmer, and died in 1867, his wife dying in 1850.
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