HISTORY OF HICKORY, POLK, CEDAR, DADE AND BARTON COUNTIES, MISSOURI, 1889.  Goodspeed Publishing Co.

Pg. 762

            William E. Nance, collector of Cedar County, Mo., was born in Trigg County, Ky., in 1849, his parents being Barton G. and Lavica S. (Harrison) Nance, who were born in Davidson County, Tenn., and Owen County, Ky., in 1822 and 1820, and died in Cedar County, Mo., May 15, 1888, and April 29, 1875, respectively.  The father went to Trigg County, Ky., in 1844, was married there in 1847, and in 1851 came to Cedar County, Mo., and located four miles east of Stockton, where he reared the following family: Sarah E., wife of J. F. Hopkins; William E.; Margaret M. C., wife of E. M. Morton; and John G., residing on the old homestead.  The maternal grandparents, Jeremiah and Sallie (Hearn) Harrison, were natives of Henry County, Va., and Woodford County, Ky.  William E. Nance was only two years old when his parents came to Cedar County, and here he grew to manhood on a farm, making his home with his parents until his thirty-first year.  In December, 1880, he married Miss Dora Hornbuckle, of Bates County, Mo., who was born in St. Clair County, Mo., in 1862, and by her has two children: Walter E. and Emmet W.  In 1874 Mr. Nance engaged in school teaching, and for about ten years followed that occupation during the winter seasons, and farmed during the summer months.  In November, 1888, he was elected county collector by the Democratic party, by a majority of 59 votes.  He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

Pgs. 762, 763

            Judge Newton S. Noffsinger, one of Cedar County’s leading farmers and stock-raisers, is a native of Botetourt County, Va., born in 1844, a son of John and Elizabeth (Trout) Noffsinger, the former of whom was also born in Botetourt County, his birth occurring in 1803.  He was married in Roanoke County (the mother’s birthplace), November 5, 1822, and in 1856 moved with his family to Cedar County, Mo., where he died July 5, 1860, having been a zealous member of the Lutheran Church from 1842.  His wife also died here in 1870, having borne a family of eight children, four now living.  Newton S. Noffsinger is the seventh of the family, and acquired a fair education in the common schools of Virginia and Missouri.  In 1863 he enlisted in the Confederate army, and after serving two months was disabled and returned home, removing soon after to Northwest Missouri, where he resided until the close of the war, and then returned to Cedar County.  In 1867 he married Miss Ann Dunnegan, who was born in Polk County, Mo., September 7, 1846, and to them was born a family of seven children, six now living: John F., Susan E., Lewis B. (deceased), Sarah E., Matthew N., William C. and Clyde.  Mr. Noffsinger came with his parents to Cedar County, Mo., in 1856, and with the exception of a few years has resided here ever since.  He owns 890 acres of land, and gives considerable attention to the propagation of good stock.  In 1880 he was elected by the Democratic party as county judge, and performed his duties very faithfully for two years, being an obliging and efficient officer.  He is a Royal Arch Mason, belongs to Stockton Lodge No. 70, and his and wife are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  Mrs. Noffsinger’s parents, Francis and Nancy Dunnegan, were born in North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively, and both died in Cedar County, Mo.

 Pgs. 763, 764

            Edward C. Peters was born on the 11th of August, 1833, in Botetourt County, Va., and is a son of Jacob and Barbara (Moomaw) Peters, the former born in the same house as his son July 4, 1810.  He is yet living in his native county, and for about thirty years was a member of the county court.  His wife was also born in Botetourt County October 7, 1805, and died in 1869.  Abram Peters, the grandfather, was born near Hagerstown, Md., and in 1817, while engaged in clearing new land, was accidentally killed.  His wife lived to be over 100 years of age.  Edward C. Peters is the eldest of ten children, and made his home with his parents until he was twenty-two years of age, then began working on a farm by the month as overseer of a gang of slaves, continuing one year, and then started to seek his fortune in the far West.  He came as far as Cedar County, Mo., where he purchased land, but at the end of two years returned to Virginia, and was married there to Miss Mary Henderson, who was born in Montgomery County, Va., in 1835, being a daughter of William and Elizabeth Henderson.  Their union resulted in the birth of six children, the following being alive: Mary Z., wife of Samuel B. Webb; William A., Anna L., and Nora V.  In 1867 Mr. Peters returned to his home in Missouri, and by hard work and good management has become the owner of 453 acres of land, which comprises some of the best land in the county.  He owned the first steam engine ever brought to Cedar County, and also the first steam saw-mill.  He belongs to the Masonic lodge of Stockton. He is a Democrat in politics, and during his residence in Cedar County has been clerk and treasurer of his school township three years, deputy sheriff two years, and served as county clerk four years, to which office he was elected in 1874.  During the war he served in the C. S. A. from March 1, 1862, to April 9, 1865, in Hardiway’s Battery of Artillery, Army of Northern Virginia.  He and wife belong to the Old School Presbyterian Church.

 Pgs. 764, 765

            Dr. John B. Phipps, practicing physician and surgeon of El Dorado Springs, was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, in 1829, and is the seventh of eight children born to John C. and Rebecca (Burnett) Phipps, and the grandson of Isaac Phipps, who was a native of Chester County, Penn., but who removed to Ohio in 1812, and there died about 1841.  He was of the fourth generation born in America.  The first of the Phipps family came to America with William Penn, and were Quakers for many years.  The maternal great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Enos Passmore, was born in Chester County, Penn., was a great iron man, and was the owner of Valley Forge at the time Gen. Washington went into winter quarters at that place.  John c. Phipps was born in Chester County, Penn., in 1791, and his wife was born in Loudoun County, Va., in 1792.  They went with their parents to Ohio in 1809 and 1802, respectively, were there married in 1814 or 1815, and died in Harrison County, Ohio, at the age of seventy-nine and seventy-five, respectively.  Both were members of the Christian Church for many years.  Mr. Phipps was a tanner, shoe and harness manufacturer, nurseryman and pottery and brick maker, and the latter part of his life was engaged in merchandising, and was also occupied in keeping a hotel.  He was well known in eastern Ohio.  He was the first to start a nursery and the first to manufacture pottery in Eastern Ohio.  Dr. John B. Phipps received a good common school education, and, in 1847, began the study of medicine with Dr. D. A. Scott, of Akron, Ohio, and graduated from the Eclectic Medical College, Petersburgh, Va., in 1849, when but twenty years of age.  He practiced in Akron, Ohio, until 1855, when he removed to Story County, Iowa, and there practiced with success until 1873.  He then spent four years back in Ohio, after which he came to Cedar County, spent about one a half years at Virgil City, and then located at Clintonville, but since 1881 he has been at El Dorado Springs.  He has practiced with success for more than forty years, and is among the oldest practitioners of Southwestern Missouri.  He filled the position of justice of the peace for some years while in Iowa.  He was married January 25, 1857, to Miss Martha J. Chandler, daughter of Sylvanus and Sarah (Harlow) Chandler, natives of Maine, but in 1855 they removed to Story County, Iowa, where they died in 1883 and 1881, respectively.  Mr. Chandler was of English descent, and was a farmer by occupation.  To Dr. Phipps and wife were born ten children, two sons and three daughters now living: William B., Clara B., wife of Rodney M. Prouty; Roland C., Emma R. and Nellie J.  In politics the Doctor was formerly a Whig, casting his first presidential vote for Gen. Scott in 1852, but since the war he has been a Republican.  He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, Clintonville Lodge No. 482, and he joined the I. O. O. F. at Anamosa, Iowa, twenty-five years ago.  He has been a prominent member of the last order, has held all the offices, and has represented his lodge in the Grand Lodge, etc.  He has been a member of the Encampment for eight or ten years.  He has been a member of the Christian Church for thirty years, and his wife has been a member for thirty-seven years.

Pgs. 765, 766

          William B. Phipps, editor and publisher of the Cedar County Republican, was born in Story County, Iowa, in 1858, and is a son of Dr. John B. and Martha J. (Chandler) Phipps, the former being a native of Jefferson County, Ohio, his birth occurring May 5, 1829.  After studying medicine in Akron, Ohio, he entered a medical college at Petersburg, Penn., from which institution he graduated as an M. D. in 1850, and in the spring of 1856 went to Story County, Iowa, with his father, where he married, and practiced his profession for seventeen years.  In 1873 he returned to his native State, and located in Summit County, but in 1877 came to Missouri, and settled in Virgil City, Cedar County.  In the fall of 1881 he located in El Dorado Springs, in which place he was the first physician to settle, and is now one of the leading practitioners of the famous summer resort.  His wife was born in Maine in 1831, and previous to her marriage was a teacher by profession, and is now the president of the W. C. T. U. of Cedar County.  William B. Phipps is the eldest of their children, and received his early education in the common schools of Iowa.  In 1876 he purchased a small job press, with which he did local work in Western Star, Summit County, Ohio, and the following year came to Cedar County, Mo., with his parents, and in the fall of 1878 commenced as a journeyman on newspaper work in a printing office.  In February, 1880, he returned to Missouri, locating at Clintonville, and in the fall was appointed postmaster of the place, and at the same time established a job printing establishment, continuing this until July, 1881, when he went to El Dorado, and July 30 of the same year issued the first copy of the El Dorado News, just ten days after the first lot in the town was sold.  In January, 1883, he leased this paper to N. H. Cruce for six months, and went to Stockton to take charge of the Stockton Stalwart, but after managing that paper ten weeks, returned to El Dorado and published a pamphlet pertaining to the growth and prosperity of that town.  June 9, 1883, he issued the first number of the Weekly Cyclone in El Dorado, and September 3 of that year again secured control of the El Dorado News, and combined the two papers under the name of the El Dorado News-Cyclone, which was changed on the 22d of December to Uncle Sam, and as such now continues.  In December, 1886, he went to Stockton, and on the 30th of the same month issued the first copy of the Cedar County Republican, of which he has since been editor and publisher, but also retains his interest in the Uncle Sam.  Mr. Phipps is an able newspaper man, and from the columns of his paper interesting and valuable information can always be obtained.  He is a stanch Republican, being chairman of the Republican County Executive Committee, and is Noble Grand in the I. O. O. F.  In March, 1878, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah J. Conyers, who was born in Illinois, and by her has an interesting family of four children: Gracie M., Rollin B., Annie M. and William H.  The paternal grandparents, John C. and Rebecca (Burnett) Phipps, were born in Pennsylvania and Virginia in 1791 and 1792, and were of English and Irish descent, respectively.

Pg. 767

          James M. Preston, another one of the county’s prosperous farmers and stock-raisers, was born in Roane County, Tenn., in 1820, and is the son of Moses and Margaret (Allison) Preston, natives of East Tennessee, born in 1793 and 1792, respectively.  The parents were married in 1815, and in about 1828 they moved to Warren County, Middle Tennessee, and from there to St. Clair County, Mo., at a very early date.  Mrs. Preston died in the last named county, in 1856, at the age of sixty-five years, and Mr. Preston died in Cedar County, Mo., in 1885, at the age of ninety-one years.  He was of English descent, was a soldier in the War of 1812 with Jackson, and he and wife were members of the Baptist Church.  Hon. George Preston, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was one of the early settlers of Tennessee, and represented Roane County in the Legislature several times.  He died in that county.  James M. Preston, the third of seven sons and three daughters, was educated in the country schools, came with his parents to Missouri, and he and a younger brother, Abraham, enlisted in the Mexican War with Capt. Smithton of Stockton’s Regiment, were both taken sick, and Abraham died.  After recovering, James M. returned home, where he was married, in 1855, to Miss Fernetta Williams, daughter of Robert and Levicy Williams, natives of Tennessee, but among the earliest settlers of Cedar County, Mo.  Mrs. Williams died when Mrs. Preston was a child, and Mr. Williams died in 1881.  They were members of the Baptist Church.  He was a wealthy and prominent citizen, and was judge of the county court a number of years.  Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Preston, four sons and four daughters now living.  Mr. Preston resided in St. Clair County until 1876, when he came to Cedar County, settling on his present farm of 240 acres, sixty under cultivation, and there he has lived ever since. During the late war he was in the Enrolled Missouri Militia, in the Sixtieth Regiment, Company E, as sergeant, and was in hard service.  A Democrat in politics previous to the war, he has since been a Republican.  His first presidential vote was cast for James K. Polk, in 1844.  He and wife have been prominent members of the Baptist Church for thirty years.  Mr. Preston’s children are named as follows: Maria F., widow of Charles A. Allen, and the mother of one child; Elizabeth, wife of Hugh G. Sherman; Mary L., Robert S., Moses W., James H., Ida A. and John M.

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