WASHINGTON C. BATES

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office Santa Fe). Mr. Bates is one of those sterling old Virginians, so many of whom we are favored with in this State, who possess the qualities of industry and clear, vigorous intelligence that make them successful men almost without exception wherever their lots are cast, and who contribute an important measure to the building up and developing of the respective communities in which they reside. Mr. Bates was born near Marion, Va., in 1818. His parents, Thomas and Nancy (McCarty) Bates, had nine children, of whom he was the fifth. His father died in 1835

whilst Washington C. was a youth 17 years of age, and two years later the mother with her family, including Washington C., came to Missouri and settled in Platte county. They were among the early settlers of that county and opened one of the pioneer farms in its

wilderness. The mother died, however, in 1838, and Washington C. then went to Buchanan county where he bought a quarter of a section of land and improved a farm. There he lived for nearly 30 years and in the meantime was twice married. He came to Monroe county in 1866 and bought a part of the land on which he now resides. Here

he has since been engaged in farming and handling stock, which he had previously followed in Buchanan county. His career has been one of continued success and he now has a fine place of nearly a section of land, all substantially and comfortably improved. He started in the world for himself with but little or nothing to begin on and he is,

therefore, what may be fairly termed a self-made man. He has made most of what he has in the stock business, dealing in cattle, mules, etc., and has been a very successful stock shipper, a business he still follows to some extent. He was absent for several years during the war, a part of the time in the Southern service and the balance engaged in freighting on the plains. He was in the fights at Blue Mill and Lexington and several other less engagements. While on the plains he ran several teams from Nebraska City to Denver, and made some money in that business. Mr. Bates was married the first time in 1841 to Miss Caroline Blue, of Audrain county, who survived her marriage only two years. There is only one child by this union, Aimira, now the wife of Charles McCarty. To his present wife he was married in 1844. She was a Miss Nancy Kerr, a daughter of John and Susan (Hannah) Kerr, formerly of Virginia. They have nine children: Susan S., John W., Thomas M., Emma, Eleanor, Robert A., James B., Jefferson Davis and Katie A. He and wife are members of the M.E. Church South and he has been a member of the I.O.O.F. for 30 years. He has been a school director for a number of years and still holds that position.

THOMAS M. BATES

(Dealer in Drugs and Groceries, Santa Fe). Mr. Bates is the third son of Washington C, Bates, the worthy old citizen of Monroe county whose sketch precedes this. Thomas M.

was born in Platte county in 1848 but was reared in Buchanan county, where his father resided up to 1866. He received a good common school education, and remained with his father on the farm after the latter’s removal to this county, until 1871. He then engaged in the saw mill business, which he followed with great success for about 12 years. Selling out his small interests, he now came to Santa Fe and began as a druggist and grocer, lines of trade he has since followed. He has a neat stock of both these lines, and by his well-known integrity and his accommodating spirit has won a good patronage for his house. His trade is gradually increasing, and it is his intention to increase his stock as rapidly as his business justifies. In 1872, Mr. Bates was married to Miss Ollie Hagar, a daughter of Dr. Hagar, of Monroe county. Mr. and Mrs. Bates have two children, Nannie B. and Fulton D. Mrs. Bates is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and he is a member of the I.O.O.F. He has a handsome property in Santa Fe, and a good start in life. His future as a business man seems one of promise.

FRANCIS M. BRASHEARS

(Farmer and Blacksmith, Post-office, Santa Fe). Mr. Brashears was one of a family of 15 sons of Solomon and Jemima (Pittit) Brashears, of South Carolina, and subsequently pioneer settlers of Ralls county, Mo., removing to that county from the Palmetto State as early as 1831. Francis M., the subject of this sketch, was four years of age when the family came to Missouri, having been born in Spartanburg district, S. C., May 28, 1827. His mother died in Ralls county, and in 1854 his father removed to Adair county, where he died two years later. He was reared in Ralls county, and was brought up to be a farmer and blacksmith, both of which occupations his father followed. He remained with his father until he was 27 years of age, and, indeed, went to Adair county with him, where he was married on the 30^th of December, 1858, to Miss Sarah J. McCoy, formerly of Indiana. Subsequently he removed to Monroe county, and in 1879 settled on the place where he now resides. He has a place of 200 acres, all improved except a small piece of timber, and he still follows blacksmithing, to which he was brought up, as well as farming. A man of unflagging industry and of strong intelligence, his life has been one of success, and now he can contemplate approaching old age with the easy assurance that the later years of his life are well provided for, so far as necessities and comforts are concerned.  He and his good wife have had 11 children: Edward T., Fannie D., Francis M., Robert L., Benjamin H., Lewis A., Nina J., Alva H., and Myra E. The other two are deceased, Amos and Mary Elizabeth, both having died in infancy. He and wife are members of the Baptist Church, but one of his sons is a member of the Christian Church.

JAMES BLEDSOE

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe). One of the most influential and public spirited citizens of the township is he whose name heads this sketch. Owning a magnificent farm of 400 acres, all under fence and with every improvement and convenience, Mr. Bledsoe conducts his business according to the most enterprising and enlightened method. He is one of the most intelligent farmers in the county, and deals also extensively in stock. He is raising mules for the market as well as hogs and cattle. He keeps only the highest grade of short-horn cattle. Mr. Bledsoe takes a lively interest in public affairs, and is one of the strongest advocates of public schools. He is the son of Willis and Jane Bledsoe, both natives of Kentucky, and was born January 17, 1839, in the Blue Grass State.  His father came to Missouri April 6, 1846, and settled on the farm where James now lives, and where his own days drew to a peaceful close on the 21^st of October, 1881, his wife having died 12 years before. He was a farmer and stock-raiser, and will further be remembered as a man of the highest moral character. He was never heard to use an oath in his life, and was ever a consistent and pure Christian. In his early life he was a member of the Baptist Church, but after coming to Missouri adopted the faith of the Universalists. James was educated in the common schools, and, coming of age, began working for himself. He, however, still remained on the old homestead, and in 1873 bought the place, affording a comfortable home for his parents until their demise. November 28, 1878, James married Miss Ella Powell, a native of Kentucky, by whom he has two beautiful and attractive children, John and Bertie. Mr. Bledsoe is a charter member of the Masonic Lodge at Santa Fe.

CHARLES F. BROWNING

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Long Branch). Mr. Browning’s parents, Charles W. and Catherine A. (Hines) Browning, were early settlers in Monroe county, where they bought the Maddox farm, on which they resided for over 20 years. In 1864, after Charles F. had grown up, the family removed to Audrain county, where they made their home. The father died there in 1870; the mother is still living, an old lady of advanced years, but still in comparatively good health and active considering her age. When they came to Monroe county they had to rely on deer and turkeys for meat and corn meal for bread, which was ground at the old fashioned horse-mill. Preaching was held at the house of neighbors; schools were something of a novelty. Their trading point was Hannibal.  They were blessed with a family, however, of 13 children, most of whom have grown up and become parents themselves and some of them grandparents. Mrs. Browning, the good old mother, has had, as already said, 13 children. She also has 13 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren, the odd number seeming, as usual, to be a lucky one. Charles F. Browning, the subject of this sketch, was born in Culpeper county, Va., on the 26^th day of July, 1841, and was reared on a farm after the family came to Missouri, in Monroe county. In 1862 he, in company with John Wood and William Wilson, started to join Price’s army, but were captured on the way, and confined in prison at St. Louis for about four months. On taking the double, back action, iron-clad oath of loyalty, he was released, and remained at home until 1864, when, being drafted into the Union service, he quietly drafted himself out of it by crossing the draft of the Mississippi into Illinois, where he laid low until the close of the war. After a sojourn in Illinois for some 18 months, he went to Texas, and then visited several other Southern States, finally locating in the Indian Territory in 1876, from which he shipped cattle, mainly, to Tennessee.  Some 12 months afterwards he came back to Missouri, and in 1882 bought the Baker farm, a half mile off the place where he was reared in Monroe county, where he now resides. He has continued to deal in stock and has had satisfactory success. October 3, 1882, he was married to Miss Hattie Rayl ?, of Pulaski county, this State, but formerly of Tennessee. Mr. Browning is one of the well respected citizens of his community, and is a thorough-going, enterprising farmer and stock-raiser.

JOHN F. BUCKLES

(Farmer, Section 6). Mr. Buckles is the son of George and Betty (Wakley) Buckles, of Ohio, and was born December 27, 1852. His father came to Missouri in 1859 and settled in Shelbyville, Shelby county. When the war came on he joined the Federal forces and after a year’s service, being wounded, was honorably discharged. He was then for some time in the militia, and has ever since been working at his trade of miller, both in this county and Montgomery. He had a family of 13 children, of whom six are living. John grew up on the farm and attended the common schools of the county. He worked for a year on the Hannibal Courier, then losing his heart to Miss Betty A., daughter of Simon and Emily (Rudder) Finks, formerly of Vermont, he married her in 1873, and settling down became a farmer. He is an honest and industrious citizen and bids fair, though now quite a young man, to become one of the leading men of the township. Mr. and Mrs. Buckles have four children, bright and charming as fresh roses in the morning sun. Their names are respectively: Netta A., Stella S., John R. and Charles T.

GEORGE W. BYBEE

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Section 7). Mr. Bybee was born May 19, 1838, of John S. and Jennetta (Creed) Bybee. His parents came to Missouri among the earliest settlers, and so few facilities were there at that time for housekeeping that they were compelled to do their marketing in Hannibal. Mr. Bybee improved a farm one and one-half miles northwest of Santa Fe, and raised principally hemp and corn. George attended school, helping his father meanwhile with the farm until he was 17. He then worked for a year with an uncle in Fulton county, Ill., two years with his brother in Audrain county, and the war coming on, he went into the Confederate army with Capt. Murry. After six months’ service he was discharged at Pea Ridge and worked on a farm in the Indian Nation. Returning to Illinois, he married January 25, 1864, Miss Mary J. Powell, a native of Missouri, and farmed there until 1865, when he again took up his residence in Monroe. The following year he bought the home farm where he still lives. He is an energetic and capable farmer and stock-raiser. He deals in cattle, hogs and sheep. Mr. Bybee owns 223 acres of land, upon which he has just erected a new residence, barn, etc., causing it to present a very tidy and attractive appearance. He has a family of eight children: Isadore, Anna, Celia, Harris, Emma, Wallace, Leon and Charles. Mrs. Bybee is a member of the Christian Church.

JAMES CAMPLIN

(Farmer, Section 18). The parents of James Camplin were natives of Kentucky, and there his father, James Camplin, died. His mother, Jane Penn Camplin, then moved with her children to Missouri and located in Monroe county. Her sons carried on the farm for her until 1845, when she accepted as a second husband Benjamin McCarty, a Virginia gentleman, who had emigrated to the county. She died in 1869. James Camplin finding himself, on account of his father’s death, called on to assume much of the responsibility of the family support, naturally was deprived of many advantages in education which had otherwise been his. He made the most, however, of his limited opportunities, and if his acquirements were not so extensive as those of most young men, he had the satisfaction of knowing that they were sacrificed in a holy cause, and that he had been a good son to a widowed mother. At the age of 24 he married Miss Marinda Crigler, daughter of Lovel and Mary (Oats) Crigler, and one of a family of 14 children. Her father moved from Virginia to Missouri in 1836. By this marriage there were six children: Mary J., wife of J. Fleming; William R., a farmer; Susan G., Allie E., wife of F. Vaughn; James, and Cynthia, who died at the most interesting age of four years, just as the affections of her parents had become so closely twined about her that to tear them away was almost to destroy the root of life. Mr. Camplin, a progressive and energetic farmer, owns 105 acres of land all under fence, and well improved. He devotes much attention to the raising of stock for sale, and it may be said without exaggeration, that those wishing to purchase can nowhere receive more value for their money. Mr. Camplin’s stock are of the best grades, and will compare favorably with any in the county. His courteous and obliging manners make it a pleasure to deal with him. Mr. and Mrs. Camplin are members of the Christian Church in Santa Fe.

BENJAMIN E. COWHERD

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Florida). Mr. Cowherd’s father, William Cowherd, was one of those sterling, enterprising farmers of the early days of the country who had the industry and intelligence to make a success of agriculture, and who, as a neighbor and citizen, was highly thought of for his high character and neighborly disposition. He was a large land owner and owned quite a number of slaves. He died in this county in 1853. He and his family were from Kentucky, and his wife, before her marriage was a Miss Celia Estes. She died here in 1867. They had seven children, namely: Mary, Emily, Elmira, Sarah A., David, Susan and Benjamin E., the subject of this sketch. Benjamin E. was born in Shelby county Ky., in 1817, and was well advanced in youth when the family came to Missouri. He remained with his father on the farm, however, until 1842. He then began farming for himself on a farm of 200 acres which his father gave him or rather he began the improvement of a farm on the raw land given him by his father. Two years later, like the early birds in the springtime, though not as quickly of course, he had succeeded in making himself a comfortable home, and then he was married. Miss Elizabeth McNutt became his wife on happy Christmas Eve, Anno Domini 1844. Bringing his young wife to their new home, he went to work with renewed industry and resolution, as a farmer of the county. He also soon turned his attention to raising stock and has steadily accumulated the substantial evidences of prosperity as the years have rolled away, even up to the present time. During the war he sustained some heavy losses, both in slaves and other property, having nine negroes taken from him by a single stroke of Mr. Lincoln’s pen, and some valuable horses and other goods and chattels by several strokes of the militia. However, he is still in comfortable circumstances and has in his homestead tract of land 440 acres, his place being one of the choice stock farms of the township. Mr. Cowherd raises and deals in all sorts of farm stock, and is one of the successful, enterprising stock men of the community. Mr. and Mrs. Cowherd have two children: John M. and William. John M. is working on the farm in partnership with his father, but William is married and farming in the vicinity. Mr. and Mrs. Cowherd are members of the Presbyterian Church.

JACOB COX

(Farmer, section 1). Mr. Cox deserves more than most residents of the county a place in these pages, for without his public spirit and generosity the county would not now have cause to glow with pride in the possession of the Prairie High School, one of the finest institutions of learning in the land, whose existence is due almost entirely to the noble efforts of the subject of this sketch. He and Mr. John Forsythe were the first to advance the project and Mr. Cox was one of eleven who organized the school and of their private means erected the first building, costing about $300. In order to induce children to attend the school, they boarded them for the nominal sum of seventy-five cents a week. It may be remarked that the Prairie High School has showered upon the world, from the inexhaustible fountain of its learning, a larger number of professional men than any similar institution in the country. Mr. Cox was born in 1810, in Franklin county, Ky. His father, Thomas Cox, was a farmer and miller by occupation, and was a native of Kentucky.  He married Miss Jane Smith of the same State, and died in 1825, his wife having one year before crossed to the dark Plutonian shore. Jacob, one of a family of nine children, received a good education and worked on the farm until he was of age; then, after a trip by river to New Orleans, and a summer’s work on the turnpike in Ohio, he returned to Kentucky, and learned the stone mason’s trade. He worked at this, farming at the same time, until 1836, when he moved to Monroe county and settled near Florida. In a few years he changed his residence to his present farm. He first bought 80 acres of land upon which was only a little log cabin. His grinding was done with horse mills and in order to sell his wheat and produce and purchase supplies he went to Hannibal. The country abounded in game and though in those days living was simple, it is a question whether the world was not better off then than in this progressive and artificial age. Mr. Cox married January 14, 1834, Miss Cassander ? Talbott. There were born nine children: Francis J., Elizabeth, Martha A., John T., James, Emeline, Cassy, Nellie, and one who, startled by one glimpse of this sin-sick world, fled in affrighted haste back to its native heaven. The eldest son, John T., a young man of whom any parent might justly be proud, is a graduate of the Marion Medical College, at Cincinnati, and is now a practicing physician at Moberly. Mr. Cox’s farm now consists of 160 acres where he and his worthy wife, faithful sharer of his early struggles and later success, bask in the sunshine of prosperity, after weathering triumphantly the fitful gales attending the voyage of life. They are among the most highly esteemed residents of the township. All the family belong to the Christian Church in Santa Fe.

LOCKHART A. CREIGH

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Post-Office Santa Fe). Mr. Creigh is a native of the Old Dominion, West Virginia, born in Greenbrier county, September 15, 1855. He was a son of David S. and Emily (Arbuckle) Creigh, of old and respected families of Greenbrier county. The father in early life was a merchant, but later along engaged in farming near Lewisburg, W. Va. He was successfully following that business when the war broke out, and although his sympathies were naturally with the South, he took no part whatever in the struggle. During the progress of the war, however, his house was visited by a ruffian Union soldier, and Mr. Creigh on going into his own house found the plunderer just about to enter the room of an invalid daughter when he told him not to go in the room, upon which the robber placed his revolver in Mr. Creigh’s face and demanded all of his keys. At this junction Mr. Creigh drew a small derringer pistol, which failed to fire, and then he grasped the robber’s pistol and in the struggle killed him with his own weapon. Afterwards, in retaliation for this, he was taken out by a party of soldiers and hung without judge or jury, or semblance of trial or defense. This was one of the many sad and unhappy events of that most unfortunate and unnatural war. His family remained in Virginia until 1871, when his wife, still a widow, removed to Missouri with her family of children and settled on a place in this township. Here they improved a farm and lived on the place they improved until 18- ?, when they sold their place to advantage and bought their present place, on which they have since resided. Mrs. Creigh, the mother, has been blessed with 11 children, and three of her sons, including the subject of the present sketch, Lockhart A., are engaged in running the farm. Their place contains 480 acres and is one of the choice farms of the township. They are quite extensively engaged in raising stock and also deal in stock to a considerable extent, in all of which they have been very successful. One of Mr. Creigh’s brothers, C. A. Creigh, is a prominent citizen of Paris, Mo., and the present circuit clerk of Monroe county. Mr. Creigh is a member of the Masonic order at Santa Fe.

JAMES B. DAVIS

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Santa Fe). Among the prominent men and better class of citizens of the southeastern part of the county Mr. Davis occupies a concededly and deservedly leading position. His farm is recognized as one of the best and the finest improved in South Fork township, and on account of his success as a farmer and stock man and of his sterling intelligence and generous public spirit, he wields a marked influence in the affairs of this part of the county, though he is a plain, unassuming man, without any pretensions whatever, but this perhaps is an additional reason why he is esteemed so highly. Mr. Davis has been repeatedly requested to become a candidate for county judge, and his consent to a candidacy would inevitably result in his election, but he has persistently declined, desiring no public office and preferring to remain at home in his own family and among his neighbors and acquaintances. Mr. Davis was born on his father’s homestead in this county, in August, 1841, and was the eldest in the family of children of which he was a member. He received a good practical, common school education, all that is necessary if properly used, and he was of course brought up to a farm life, which he has always preferred to follow. In 1861 he joined Co. B, First Missouri State Guard, Southern service, under Capt. Murray, and served for six months, participating in the battles of Lexington, Pea Ridge, etc. He then came home on a visit with the intention of rejoining the army, but was captured by the Federals and taken to Mexico as a prisoner, where he was kept in confinement for a short while. He was then paroled and came home, where he has since been farming and handling stock, that is since 1863. On the 15^th of November, 1863, he was married to Miss Lou Stuart, a daughter of William Stuart, president of the Savings Bank at Mexico. As has been intimated, Mr. Davis’ career as an agriculturist has been one of abundant success. His farm, known as Evergreen Lodge Farm, contains 640 acres, and is one of exceptional beauty and value. The residence is the finest one in the township, a handsome two-story building, substantially and tastily constructed, containing 10 rooms, not including the halls, and is a remarkably conveniently arranged dwelling. Mr. Davis is entitled to the principal credit for the architectural skill and taste displayed in its arrangement, plan, trimming and finish, for his house was built mainly from his own design. His large farm is fenced on the outside with fine hedge fencing almost exclusively, and it is literally check-worked with cross fencing, the same excellent judgment being shown in the arrangement of his fields and pastures, and meadows, etc., that is shown in the plan of his dwelling. He also has handsome and commodious barns and other buildings and improvements to correspond in utility and style with those mentioned. Mr. Davis has had his principal success in handling and raising stock, of which he has on hand constantly large numbers. He sells a number of cattle and hogs every year, which bring him in a substantial income. He was one of the three citizens of this vicinity who took the personal responsibility to keep a school going for the education of the children of the neighborhood before the public schools had reached their present state of efficiency. They kept the school going for two years, and paid the teacher out of their private means. He has always been actively identified with the public schools since their revival. He gave the land for the school house site and also contributed $100 to its erection. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have three children: Elizabeth E., a graduate of Hardin College; now at home; Franklin S., now taking his educational course, and James F., who has entered school. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are members of the Christian Church, and he has been a member of the Masonic order for nearly twenty years.

CHARLES C. DAVIS

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe). Mr. Davis was born April 1, 1849, in Monroe county, of Benjamin and Eleanor (McCarty) Davis, both of Virginia. Charles was given every educational advantage, and in his leisure moments assisted on the farm, thus familiarizing himself with the routine of a life which he expected to embrace. September 15, 1870, at the age of twenty-one, he married Miss Mary E., daughter of John Heiger, and settled on the farm where he lives. It is a fine place of 400 acres, all prairie land, and under cultivation. His improvements will compare favorably with any in the county, and his stock, the raising of which is his principal occupation, are as fine as can be found any where in the country around. He does much for the advancement of this branch of farming, and has met with the most flattering success in his ventures. He raises cattle and hogs. Mr. Davis is a man respected in every rank of life, and both in his family and in the relations he sustains towards the public richly deserves the regard manifested towards him. He has a charming family of five children: Mamie B., Joseph C., Jesse L., John H. and Nanuie ? E. Mr. D. is a member of the Christian Church, while his wife belongs to the Presbyterian Church at South Fork. He is senior warden of the Masonic order at Santa Fe.

JOHN M. DAVIS

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 27). Mr. Davis is a son of one of the first settlers of the county. His parents, Benjamin and Eleanor (McCarty) Davis, came from Virginia to Missouri in 1836, settling near Santa Fe. The first residence in which Mr. Davis went to housekeeping on his arrival was a pen used originally for sheep, and the first bedstead upon which he rested his wearied limbs after the day’s honest toil, was made with his own industrious hands, of rails. His marketing was done in Hannibal, whither he drove his hogs, dressed them and sold at two and a half cents a pound. Mr. Davis purchased a farm of 160 acres, upon which he lived for seventeen years, then moved to the one his son now owns, where a useful life drew to a peaceful close in 1877. John M. was born in the goldenclad October, in the year 1853. His youth was passed in the healthful interests and sturdy sports of a farm, to whose cultivation his vigorous arm materially contributed. He obtained, meanwhile, a good education. At the age of seventeen he went for two years to the Christian University for the completion of his studies. Upon his return he was married almost immediately to Miss Sudie Judy ?, a native of Kentucky, but resident of Audrain county, Mo. Mr. Davis then settled down on the old homestead, where he is now largely engaged in stock dealing. He makes a specialty of raising shorthorn cattle, and owns twenty-two thoroughbred and twenty graded cattle. He raises hogs, chiefly of the Poland-China breed, and also handles horses. His farm consists of 400 acres in Monroe county, and he owns, besides, 115 acres in Audrain county, all well improved and under fence. Mr. Davis is one of the most active business men in the community, and is successful in everything he undertakes. Intelligent, industrious, and of fine executive capacity, there is no man in the county who commands more respect. He has two interesting children: David C. and Bessie B. Mr. Davis and his wife belong to the Christian Church.

JOHN S. DRAKE, M. D.

(Physician and Surgeon, Santa Fe). Dr. Drake, a leading physician of the southeastern part of the county, though born in Shelby county, Ky., February 1, 1841, was reared in Monroe county, Mo., his father, Hon. Samuel Drake, having removed to this county in an early day. Samuel Drake was one of the leading men of this part of North Missouri in the early days of the country, and represented this district in the State Senate for some years. He was a prominent Whig, and ran against Col. Horse Allen, of Palmyra, the Democratic candidate for the senate, beating him by an overwhelming majority, although the district then was very close between the two parties. He received every vote in Santa Fe township except two. In 1852 he was elected representative of Monroe county in the Legislature. He was a man of moderate means, high character, superior education and fine intelligence, and was eminently public-spirited in all affairs affecting the interests of the people. He was especially active and influential in politics, and was one of the leading men of the county. He died early in 1867, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. His wife died in June, 1880. She was a Miss Margaret South before her marriage, and of one of the best families of Kentucky, a daughter of Col. John South, for many years State treasurer of the Blue Grass State. Dr. Drake, reared in this county, received a good English education as he grew up. He was 20 years of age when the war broke out, and coming of a Southern family, and being himself of Southern principles and sympathies, he promptly identified himself with the struggle for the maintenance of Southern rights and institutions. He joined Col. Porter’s command, and was with that officer until captured by the Federals. He was then taken to Alton Ill., where he was confined for some time, and afterwards banished to remain out of Missouri until the close of the war and take no further part for the South in the struggle. Returning to Monroe county after the war, he soon began the study of medicine, and in 1868 entered the Miami Medical College of Cincinnati, Oh., in which he continued until his graduation in the spring of 1871. He then located at Santa Fe, in this county, where he has since been engaged in the practice. Dr. Drake is a thoroughly capable and skillful physician, and has built up a large practice in this vicinity. Highly esteemed as a man, his personal popularity contributes only less than his professional success to his reputation as a physician. On the 6^th of May, 1874, Dr. Drake was married to Miss Pattie Capps, formerly of Clark county, Ky. They have had three children, one of whom died in infancy. The other two are Effie Bowen and Ewell Travis. Dr. Drake is Master of Santa Fe lodge No. 462, A.F. and A. M., and also a prominent member of the I.O.O.F. He and wife are both church members, he of the South Fork Presbyterian, of which he is an elder, and she of the Missionary Baptist. Mrs. Drake is a lady of superior mental endowments and fine culture. She is at the same time companionable and gentle of heart and manners, a veritable good angel in her own home, and indeed wherever her gentle presence is met.

BENJAMIN C. DRAKE

(Deceased, late Farmer, Section 28). Surrounded by a loving wife and dutiful children, possessed of a delightful home and with every personal qualification necessary to give happiness to himself and those around him, in the flush and vigor of a more than ordinarily useful manhood, Benjamin C. Drake was transfixed by the swift and pitiless arrow of Death. As the stateliest forest tree is chosen by the woodsman, thus was he a shining mark for the insatiate Archer. But conscious of the purity and blamelessness

of his life, he felt no fears. A Christian’s armor enveloped him so closely that the dangers of the dread journey were powerless to terrify him, and from the bosom of his God, his sainted spirit still watches over his loved ones on earth. Born November 25, 1829, near Frankfort, Ky., the son of Samuel and Adelia Drake, Benjamin C. came to Missouri when a child. He grew up on his father’s farm, and at the age when most young men are just beginning to leave their boyish follies behind them, he was filled with the steady resolves and unflinching purpose of a man. At the age of 21 he took to himself a wife, Miss Louisa J. Davis, daughter of Benjamin F. Davis, being the happy bride. The knot was tied in August, 1850. Eleven times ? (Not sure what this means)

Time put his sickle in among the days,

The rose burned out, red autumn lit the woods,

The last snows, melting, changed to snowy clouds,

And spring once more with incantations came,

To wake the buried year.

Then this dream of bliss was over and with a grief too deep for tears, too constant for complaint, the bereaved widow found herself left to untangle alone for herself and her fatherless little ones the snarled thread of Fate. Developing that hitherto dormant energy and self-reliance which so often is born of sudden trial to a timid and dependant woman, Mrs. Drake has nobly guided herself. She has purchased 80 acres of land, erected upon them a comfortable residence, and other improvements, and has as cosy and attractive a home as heart could wish. Her womanly strength and independence, and the heroic fortitude and bravery which she has brought to bear upon life’s manifold knocks and blows, have forced from an admiring community the most enthusiastic expressions of commendation. Mrs. Drake has five living children: Adelia, wife of James Carter; Alice A., wife of John Cowherd; Mary, Walter D., now carrying on the farm, and Benjamin. Emma, wife of J. Stevenson, died in 1872, leaving two daughters, and Lillian, pure as her name, was taken at the age of six years, to join that celestial throng, eternally chanting seraphic songs around the throne. Mrs. Drake is a consistent member of the Christian Church at Santa Fe.

LEWIS FLEMING

(Supervisor of Roads, Santa Fe). It was on the 16^th of January, 1842, and in the State of West Virginia, that the subject of this sketch was born. He was the third son in a family of seven children of Weightman and Mary (Lough) Fleming, both also natives of Virginia. The others of the children were David, Nathan, Joseph, Andrew and Bettie. When Lewis was twelve years of age, in 1854, the family removed to Missouri, and settled in Monroe county, where the father engaged in farming which he had previously followed in West Virginia. Lewis was brought up to farm life and remained at home on the farm until the outbreak of the war in 1861. He and his father and several of his brothers joined the Southern army, becoming members of Co. C, of the Ninth Missouri. Their first engagement was at Elk Fork, in Monroe county, where the father paid the tribute of his life to the Southern cause, being killed during the progress of the fight. Lewis continued true to the cause consecrated by the blood of his father and by the lives of thousands of brave men all over the South, and bravely did his duty in many a hard fought field until near the close of the war when he was taken prisoner. Among other engagements he was in those at Moore’s Mill, Kirksville, Cane Hill, Cypress Bend and others. While participating in the Arkansas campaign he was captured by the Federals, and taken to Springfield, Mo., and thence to St. Louis, where he languished in duress vile until he was paroled in the spring of 1864. He then returned home, greatly broken in health from the hardships he endured during active service and from long and close confinement in prison. As soon as he was able for work he resumed farming and on the 14^th of January, 1869, he was married to Miss Eliza Farebaien, a daughter of John B. and Catherine (Hoover) Farebaien, formerly of Virginia. Mr. Fleming has a handsome homestead property in Santa Fe and is one of the well respected citizens of the place. He is now serving his eighth year as supervisor of roads, and so well and faithfully has he performed his duties that the excellence of the roads around Santa Fe are the boast of all the county and the especial delight of the people of this vicinity. He and wife are worthy members of the Presbyterian Church, and he is an active and useful member of the I.O.O.F.

WILLIAM H. FOREE

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe). The Foree family, as all old Kentuckians know, is one of the influential and highly respected families of that State. Dr. Foree, of Louisville, now deceased, who was a distant relative of the subject of the present sketch, was one of the really great physicians of the country. He was employed far and wide in all important surgical operations of special difficulty or danger, where his services could be had. Others of the family are equally as well known. Mr. Foree is, himself, a native of the Blue Grass State, born in Henry county, December 22, 1838. However, when he was 10 years of age, in 1848, his parents, Joseph and Caroline (Shrader) Foree, removed to Missouri and settled in Monroe county, where William H. was reared. He remained with his parents until he was 23 years old, assisting on the farm, but in January 1861, was married to Miss Elizabeth Jackson, a daughter of James and Anna M. (Mathis) Jackson, who came here from North Carolina in 1832. Both her parents are now deceased.  Mr. Foree’s parents had a family of 15 children, and his wife was one of 13 children. One of her brothers, Rev. William Jackson, is the well known Methodist minister at Pueblo, Col. After his marriage young Mr. Foree continued farming, to which he had been brought up, and in the spring of 1875 was able to buy a tract of land. He bought 150 acres where he now resides, to which he has since added, until he now has nearly 200 acres. His place he has mainly improved himself, and it is one of the best improved farms of the township.  He has a handsome new residence and a commodious, tastily built barn with other improvements to correspond. He and wife have five children, Mary L., Emmett, Anna, Eva and Susan. The two eldest are members of the M.E. Church South, and he and wife are also both members of that denomination. Mr. Foree is what may be fairly termed a farmer in the broad and better sense of that word, for he is industrious, energetic, and a good manager, and understands the practical work of farming thoroughly.

WILLIAM S. FORSYTH

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Strother). Mr. Forsyth is well known as one of the prominent agriculturist and leading, influential citizens of the county. He has a fine stock farm of 610 acres in South Fork township, well improved and stocked with good grades of cattle, hogs, horses, etc. In 1876 his friends ran him for the nomination for county judge, but he took little or no personal interest in the contest and was defeated by Judge Dooley for the nomination. Nevertheless, it is generally conceded that if he had made the efforts usually put forth in a canvass, he would have been successful, notwithstanding Judge Dooley is regarded as one of the most popular men of the county. Mr. Forsyth, like many and perhaps most of the substantial citizens of Monroe county, is a native of Kentucky and was born in Mercer county, October 20, 1837. He was the third in a family of eight children, being a twin with a brother who still lives in Mercer county, Ky., the children of Andrew and Narcissa (McAfee) Forsyth. His mother died in April, 1875. The father is still living on his farm in Mercer county, Ky., hale and hearty, at the advanced age of 87 years. William was adopted into the family of his uncle, John Forsyth, and was brought to Missouri by them when about 10 years of age. His uncle settled in Monroe county, where he became a prominent and well-to-do farmer, and died here in 1870. He was a man of much public spirit and took a deep interest particularly in education. In 1855 he, with his neighbors, Jacob Cox, William Bridgeford and Joseph Sproul, determined to have a public school carried on regularly in their neighborhood, and, if the public funds were not sufficient, to supply the deficiency out of their own means. This school was kept open regularly for a number of years and until it was merged into Prof. French Strother’s present popular and successful private academy. Mr. Forsyth (the uncle) contributed regularly from $50 to $75 annually for the support of the school and threw open his house for pupils at a distance to board at a merely nominal cost while attending the school. A first-class teacher was secured and the school soon obtained a wide and enviable reputation for efficiency and thoroughness. After his uncle’s death, which occurred August 22, 1870, Mr. Stockwell Forsyth, the subject of this sketch, took the former’s place in the support and directory of the school, and has continued to fill it in a manner entirely creditable to the record his uncle made. His uncle had previously been school director, and Mr. Forsyth has been continuously elected, except two years, to the same position, in which he is still serving. In 1877 Mr. Forsyth, and the neighbors associated with him in the support and management of the school, secured the services of Prof. French Strother, an accomplished and successful teacher, and he was continued in the charge of it for about five years, when he resigned in order to build up his present private academy. Mr. Forsyth, with characteristic liberality and zeal for the educational interests of the community, kindly told Prof. French Strother to draw on him for all the funds necessary, which was done with becoming modesty and appreciation by the latter, only to the amount actually needed. This is now conceded to be one of the best private schools in the State, for which Mr. Forsyth is entitled to the credit, second only to Prof. French Strother himself. On May 18, 1871, Mr. Forsyth was married to Miss Anna M. Fulton, a daughter of John M. Fulton, who came to Missouri from South Carolina in 1868 and settled in Monroe county, where he and family still reside. Mr. and Mrs. Forsyth have two children, James Fulton and Mary J. Two others died in infancy. For a short time Mr. Forsyth was in the Confederate army during the war, but on being taken prisoner and sworn not to take up arms again, took no further part in the war. He is one of the most highly respected citizens of the county. For the last three years he has been county correspondent to the Commissioner of Agriculture, having been recommended by the Hon. A. H. Buckner, M.C. For a number of years he has been a ruling elder in the O.S. Presbyterian Church and has repeatedly been sent as delegate to her judicatories. Four years ago he was a delegate to the General Assembly which met at Charleston, S.C. Mr. Forsyth has paid but little attention to politics, but has used with commendable liberality his money, time and talent to everything that has tended to the mental and moral elevation of his community.

DR. WILLIAM M. HOUSTON

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe). There was once a party in this country known as the “Barnburners,” which, however, has long since passed away. But there is and has always been since the colony of Pennsylvania was founded a distinctive and pre-eminent class of barn builders, and these are the Pennsylvanians themselves. No less a personage than Horace Greeley once said that he could always tell a Pennsylvanian by the size, comfort, convenience and finish of the barn on his farm, whether in the East, West, North or South. And so it is that wherever you find a Pennsylvanian, one of the better class, at least, engaged in farming, you find him with a big barn, whatever his other improvements may be, and generally they are good, substantial and comfortable. Dr. Houston is of Pennsylvania parentage and a farmer, thrifty, well educated and energetic, and his farm forms no exception to those of the generality of Pennsylvanians. He has a place of 540 acres, all under fence except 60 acres of timber, and his place has substantial, durable and comfortable improvements on it, from the dwelling down to the pig-sty in the barn yard. He has an exceptionally large and well built barn, one of the best in the entire community, adequate for all stock-farm purposes, and comfortably and conveniently arranged for sheltering and caring for stock, for storing grain, and for protecting farm machinery and implements from the weather. Dr. Houston is a man of sterling character, possessing strong convictions, ready at all times to stand by them, but at the same time a kind-hearted man, generous and liberal in all his impulses, a good neighbor and a worthy, valuable citizen. Dr. Houston was a son of David and Margaret (Cowden) Houston, both born and reared in Pennsylvania. His father was the second son of William Houston, of Lancaster county, Pa., a soldier of the Revolutionary War and in after years an intrepid and exemplary soldier of the Cross. His father being a man of great pith and enterprise, accumulated a handsome estate, represented his county in the Legislature of Ohio, participated in the War of 1812, and was all his life a Democrat. His mother was a daughter of Joseph and Mary Cowden, an old and respected family of that State. Both parents were Presbyterians, born and reared in the faith and of uncommon faith and piety. There were 11 children in the family of Dr. Houston’s father, namely: William M., Joseph C., Amy J., Esther C., Mary Ann, John P., Martha S., Andrew D., Jemima, Margaret and Lillie. His grandfather and family removed to Ohio and settled in Mahoning county, where his father married and where William M. (the Doctor) was born (in Poland), July 6, 1819. His father was in comparatively easy circumstances, and after passing through the schools of Mahoning county, William M., at the age of 17, was sent to Pennsylvania to complete his education. He matriculated at the Jefferson College of Pennsylvania, and continued in that ancient and famous institution of learning until his graduation in 1843. He then began the study of medicine, which he prosecuted for two years. In 1845, having completed his studies in the medical profession, young Dr. Houston came to Missouri and located at Santa Fe, where he entered, upon the practice and pursued it with success for some 16 years, or until the outbreak of the war. A Northern man by birth and ancestry, his family having lived for generations almost within the sound of Liberty Bell, in Philadelphia, that pealed forth for the first time the glad tidings of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, he of course sympathized with the Union cause in the struggle of the Civil War, and, indeed, was a stalwart, out-spoken Union man. Soon after the beginning of the war he was appointed Provost-Marshal of Monroe county, and later along he enrolled the county under the enrollment law of the State. Since then he has held numerous other positions, of a local nature, however, and has been clerk and director of the school board for a number of years. He has always taken a commendable interest in the schools and has contributed a great deal to their success in his vicinity. In May, 1849, Dr. Houston was married to Miss Maria F. Davis, daughter of Capt. Benjamin F. Davis, both born in Wythe county, Va., but emigrating to Missouri, when the former was a little girl. The Captain was a man of tireless energy, unswerving religious faith (long an elder in the Christian Church), the builder of an ample fortune, a legacy to his family when he died in 1877. His wife, Eleanor B. Davis, survives him, a lady of the old Virginia pattern, the kind and affectionate mother of a numerous family, a woman unshaken in the faith and hope of a better life, but of serene contentment in this. The Doctor and wife have had 11 children, namely: William, who died in infancy; Algernon Sidney, now in the lumber trade at Mexico; Louisa E., wife of Douglas iMclhaney ?; Frederick, who died at the age of five years; May, who died at the age of four years; Mary V., who is now a public school teacher; Amy, who died in infancy ; Katie W., at home; Mariana E., also at home; Decima, who died at the age of four years, and tiny Coralie, now at home. On the 19^th of October, 1882, Dr. Houston had the misfortune to lose his wife. She passed quietly away, sustained in the last hour by the grace of Christian faith, with which she had been blessed from early life. For 33 years she had stood by her husband’s side, the faithful and devoted sharer of his joys and sorrows, and throughout she was a wife and mother whose single object seemed to be to make home happy to her loved ones. Her death left a void in her home and in the community which is sadly felt, for she was loved in her own family and by her neighbors and acquaintances with the depth and sincerity rarely shown for any one. Dr. Houston and all his children, save the youngest, are members of the Christian Church. He himself has, for many years, been a zealous and efficient officer and teacher in the church and Sunday-school. Not only in the church, but by his walk in the world, as well as by the religious training of his family, he endeavors to show forth the life of a humble and watchful follower of him who died on Calvary. In politics, he is now and always was a Democrat and emphatically “anti-protection.” While distinctly a farmer and stock-grower, yet by taste and predilection, he is much given to fruit raising, to agriculture, and especially to forestry. Tree culture may be called his hobby, but is his chief delight.

WILFRED HAYS

(Late Farmer, Section 7, Deceased). Though always an essentially peaceable and law abiding citizen, and taking no part in the late Civil War, by which the country was so recently distracted, Mr. Hays died a victim to the terrible state of affairs inseparable from such a war. In 1862, going to Florida to mill, information which he could not give was demanded of him by the advance guard of Col. Smart’s regiment. Incensed by his persistent refusal to tell what he really did not know, they first subjected him to many abuses, and then with the most cowardly malignity shot him four times. He lived until the next day and then expired, an upright, conscientious citizen, as foully and cruelly murdered as any whose dark fate stains the annals of history. Imagine the poor grief stricken woman who was left thus suddenly a helpless widow, with eight children dependent on her. She has remained always faithful to his memory, and has devoted her life to those little ones who alone remain of their love, raising six of them to man and womanhood. Mr. Hays was the son of William and Susan (Hayden) Hays, and came to Missouri in 1855, settling in Marion county. In 1860 he moved to Monroe and bought a farm near Elizabethtown, where he lived until his death. Mrs. Hays was formerly Miss Ann C. Janes, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Gibbs) Janes, natives of Kentucky. There were eight children: John H., Charles T., Eliza C., William, Martha T., Robert, and two, Benjamin and Susan, deceased.

JOSEPH HEIZER

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office Santa Fe). This venerable and highly esteemed old post-octogenarian citizen of South Fork township, still vigorous minded and quite active considering his advanced age, is a native of the Old Dominion, born only a few weeks after the beginning of the present century, away back in 1801, on the 6^th of February. He was a son of John and Nancy (Wright) Heizer, of Augusta county, and his father was a distiller. About his earliest recollections are of taking corn to the distillery on horseback, when he was so small that his legs weren’t long enough to hold him on the sack, that is, to balance him and weigh him down properly in obedience to the law of the line of direction familiar to all adepts in natural philosophy. His parents were both members of the Presbyterian Church and he was brought up in that faith, of which he has ever been a worthy exponent. He was elected an elder in the church away back in 1838. Mr. Heizer was reared in Augusta county and remained there on the homestead farm until after his father’s death, which occurred in 1821. On the 2d of September, 1824, he was married to Miss Nancy Hannah, and then removed to Augusta county, Va., where he resided for about 12 years, or until his immigration to Missouri. He came to this State in 1836, making the trip by wagon teams and being eight weeks on the road. He bought 80 acres of land, a part of the place where he now resides, which had a cabin on it and a sort of a cleared place where corn had made an amateur effort to grow a year or two before. The cabin had an apology for a board roof on it, held on with weight poles, that is the alleged roof was, but it was so tessellated with embrasures through which the light and air could enter that when it snowed it required a natural measurement to determine whether the snow was deeper on the outside of the house than in it. However, Mr. Heizer was young and hardy then, and he went to work, nothing daunted by the outlook, to fix himself and family comfortably in life. As the years rolled away, he succeeded in making a good home, and was soon as comfortable as one of sober tastes and desires would wish to be. His farm grew into a fine place of over 300 acres of land, and a large, comfortable house was built and other convenient improvements were made. Providence kindly prospered him in his family and blessed him with worthy children, namely: John, who, after he grew up, married Miss Nancy Carter, and now has a family of children of his own; he resides on the homestead and has charge of the farm, making a specialty of stock-raising, in which he is quite successful; Nancy V., who married Jackson Hickman, but died in 1873, leaving a family of children, and Margaret married Daniel Kerr. Mr. Heizer has 17 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

JOHN A. HICKMAN

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe). Mr. Hickman was thirteen years of age when his parents, Hugh A. and Barbara (McNutt) Hickman, came to Monroe county from Virginia. Mr. Hickman’s father was a miller and trader by occupation, and when he came here he bought the Peter Stite’s mill, near Santa Fe, which he ran for about two years. He then settled on what is now known as the Hickman farm, where he made his permanent home. He continued to run the mill, however, for many years afterwards. In 1831 Mr. Hickman’s father, Major Penn and Dr. Kenyon laid out the town of Florida and John A., then a boy 14 years of age, carried the stakes for them whilst at the work, for which he received as compensation a set of store marbles, then a great rarity among the boys of this new country, and worth readily a sow and pigs or a good calf. Young Hickman grew up on his father’s farm and received a good common school education in the schools of the period. At the age of 25, on the 15^th of March, 1842, he was married to Miss Susan Cowherd, formerly of Kentucky. He then settled on the farm where he now resides. Here at first he had 160 acres, which he improved from the condition of raw land. Since then he has added to his farm until he now has 330 acres of well improved land. He has made farming and stock-raising his only industries and has had good success, as the above facts show. During the war he took no part in the struggle, but his brother, 2Esculapius ?, was one of the first who joined the Southern forces in Missouri, and is believed to have been the first one to fire a hostile shot on the side of the Confederacy, in this part of the State, at least he bears that reputation, and it has never been questioned. On the 3d of September, 1881, Mr. Hickman had the misfortune to lose his wife. She had borne him 12 children, namely: Samantha, Rebecca, Philander, Mary, Julia, Benjamin, Elizabeth, Emma, Ella, Lillie, Gallatin and Hugh. The mother was an earnest member of the Baptist Church and died in the full faith and hope of the Redeemer, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Mr. Hickman remembers very distinctly the time that the so-called prophet, Joseph Smith, of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, the second in the line of Prophetic succession in that church, camped on the prairie in this vicinity, and drilled his men every day as an army is drilled for action.

CLAY WEBSTER JUDY

(Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, etc., Santa Fe). Mr. Judy comes of several well known and highly respected families of both this State and Kentucky. A sketch of his ancestry is given on pages 607 and 608 of the “History of Audrain County,” of which county his father is a prominent citizen and stock man, so that it is hardly necessary to take the space here to repeat what is stated there. The Judys came to Kentucky in an early day, and there Mr. Judy’s grandfather, John Judy, was born in 1787. He married a Miss Susan Burroughs, of a leading Clark county family in Kentucky. His son, John A. Judy, was born in Clark county, in 1820, and married Miss Elizabeth J. Richart. She was a daughter of Duncan O. and Martha (Sharp) Richart. Her father was for many years sheriff of Bourbon county, and her grandfather Sharp was the founder of Sharpsburg, Ky. John A. Judy and family came to Audrain county, Mo., in 1864. He bought 1,000 acres of land of R.W. Sinclair, a leading and wealthy man of that county (for many years a noted negro trader and stock dealer). Mr. Judy himself had a large number of negroes. Clay W. Judy, the subject of this sketch, was born in Clark county, Ky., December 30, 1851, and received a common-school education as he grew up. On the 12^th of December, 1871, he was married to Miss Anna Sinclair, a daughter of R.W. Sinclair, mentioned above. Mr. Judy engaged in farming after his marriage and continued it for five years. He then came to Santa Fe and built the business house he now occupies, in which he engaged in the drug business. Later, however, he bought out the old Powell store and went to Mexico, Mo., and ran the bus line. Subsequently he sold that and went South, where he engaged in the mule trade, and continued to deal in mules up to the present year, when he bought the drug store at Santa Fe which he had previously sold, and resumed business at this place. He carries a first-class stock of drugs for a place of this size and commands a good trade. Mr. and Mrs. Judy have one child, Philip B., born March 18, 1883. Mrs. Judy is a member of the Christian Church, and he is a member of the I.O.O.F. at Santa Fe and has filled all the chairs in the lodge.

GEORGE W. KERR

(Dealer in Hardware, Tinware, etc., Santa Fe). Mr. Kerr, who is what may be fairly termed a self-made man, having made all he has by his own industry and enterprise, is a native Missourian, born in Monroe county, February 20, 1851. He was a son of John Kerr and wife, nee Esther Anderson. His father, an early settler in this part of the State, was in early life a wheelwright and cooper, and a man of great personal worth of character. For many years he was an active member of the Presbyterian Church, one of the pillars in that denomination, in fact, in his vicinity. He was twice married, and, in all, had 16 children. He died in about 1846, universally mourned by all who knew him. George W. Kerr was born of his father’s second marriage, and was one of four children, the other three being Thomas A., Kate and Martha. Their mother died October 12, 1880. George W. received a good common school education in Monroe county, where he was reared, and on the 20^th of October, 1870, was married to Miss Mary F. Marshall, of Audrain county, but formerly of Boone county, Ky. In 1873 he went to work at the blacksmith’s trade, which he followed with perseverance and industry until 1884, when he engaged in his present business. He brought on an entire new stock of hardware, tinware, etc., and is rapidly building up a large trade. Possessed of good business qualifications, strictly upright in his dealings, and accommodating to all, it seems evident that he is destined to have a successful business career. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr have five children: Lida N., Osceola L., Charles W., Bessie A. and Wretta ?, the third of whom died in infancy, August 29, 1880, in her second year. Mrs. Kerr is a member of the Christian Church, and Mr. Kerr is a member of the I.O.O.F. at Santa Fe.

THOMAS F. LIPP

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Long Branch). Mr. Lipp might without impropriety claim the motto ad astra per aspere ? as quite as expressive of the history of his career as it is of the career of the State by which it has been adopted. Commencing in the affairs of life a young man without a dollar, he went to work with energy and resolution to succeed, and his industry has not been unfruitful of substantial results. But misfortunes fell upon him, sickness, bad crops, etc., and twice his hard-earned accumulations were swept away, leaving him to begin again at the foot of the ladder. Since 1874 he has steadily advanced toward the front as a substantial farmer of the township. Since then he has paid for his farm - from the first $80, which he had paid in cash on purchasing it. This is an excellent place of 280 acres worth over $8,000, and besides this he has fully stocked his farm with cattle, horses, hogs, etc. Having succeeded in getting a good start sooner by far than is common, now that he has obtained it he will doubtless go forward in situating himself comfortably in life with more than ordinary celerity. As everyone knows the first $1,000 is harder to make than the next $10,000. Mr. Lipp is a native of Virginia, born in Madison county on the 13^th day of September, 1830. His parents, Thomas Sr., and Sarah (Hoffman) Lipp, removed to Missouri when he was six years of age, and located in Ralls county, where they resided 10 years. They afterwards made one or two other removals, and finally settled permanently in Putman county, where the father died in 1871. Thomas Jr., was reared partly in Ralls county, and up to the age of 21 had had but a four months term at school. He afterwards attended school another four months term, and on the 23d of March 1854, was married to Miss Elizabeth J., a daughter of Elijah and Elizabeth J. (Harrison) Peck, formerly of Kentucky. He then rented a farm and engaged in farming, with little or nothing to go upon but his own muscle and energy, for he had only one horse to plow with. In a couple of years he had saved from his earnings $500, but moving to Florida Mills, sickness fell upon his family, and this was all spent besides $100 of indebtedness he was compelled to incur. After the health of his family was restored he engaged again in farming, this time in Ralls county, and in a few years he had gathered about him considerable stock and had gotten a respectable start, but the Federal soldiers came along and stripped him of his horses, etc., and the hog cholera destroyed all his hogs, a fine drove of 100 head, so that he was left with nothing on earth but his wife and children, their household effects and a milch cow, the soldiers having taken all his other stock except his hogs, which the cholera made way with. The following winter he spent making rails for money to buy bread and meat with for the family, and he walked five miles to and from his work. That was a pretty blue time with him, but his courage and resolution never for a moment faltered. The next spring he went to farming again, and the wonder naturally arises how he managed to farm without anything to farm with or on. Where there is a will there is a way. There is a God in Israel as well as good men and kind neighbors in North America. He rented land on shares, some neighbors loaned him some unbroken young steers and a three-year-old filly. He and his family lived on corn bread and buttermilk; he broke the steers and filly, and with them raised a fine crop. He then bought his present farm on credit, paying $80 down on the purchase. But the next year the drought and chinch-bugs were extremely bad, and crops were therefore generally a failure. Soon, however, good seasons returned, the chinch-bugs disappeared, and from that time on to the present his career has been one of unbroken prosperity. He has fully paid for his farm, is entirely out of debt, and has his place well improved. Mr. and Mrs. Lipp are blessed with five children: Andrew J., Adolphus L., Elijah M., John L. and Elizabeth J. He and wife are both church members, he of the Methodist and she of the Baptist Church. He is also a worthy member of the Masonic order.

CHARLES P. McCARTY

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe). Charles P. McCarty, born in 1846, in Audrain county, is the son of Calvin and Maria (Spotts) McCarty, natives of Virginia. His father formerly kept a hotel in Abingdon, Va., whither, after moving to Missouri and living for 12 years in Audrain county, he returned in 1848. He again went into the hotel business, continuing it until 1862. The subject of the present sketch, C. P. McCarty, was the eldest of the family, and attended school until he was 16 years of age, when, unable longer to restrain his ardent enthusiasm, he rushed into the thickest of the fight then raging between the North and the South. Espousing the cause of the gallant Confederates, he enlisted in the Thirty-third Virginia Infantry, Co. K, one of Stonewall Jackson’s regiments. His first battle was that of Manassas, and he also took part in the battles of Port Republic, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, and most of the principal battles of the war. At Chancellorsville he was wounded and transferred to the cavalry. He was discharged at Lynchburg, Va., April 7, 1865, after many thrilling experiences and bitter hardships. Among the latter was a period of five months, during which he was closely confined in the Fort Delaware prison. This young hero came to Missouri in October, 1865, and began farming on a rented farm in Monroe county. Mr. McCarty built a mill in Santa Fe, which he traded for 155 acres of land in Audrain county. After living on this place for two years he sold it and bought his father’s farm, but in 1880 sold that also and purchased the one upon which he now lives. This contains 400 acres, all fenced and well improved. He is now dealing in stock of all kinds, and frequently feeds cattle. Mr. McCarty is a business man of much sagacity and occupies a very prominent position in the township. He is a Mason of high standing in Santa Fe. November 13, 1866, Mr. McCarty married Miss Elmira E. Bates. They lost two boys at a tender age, and have still two children, Carrie and Sidney. Mrs. McCarty is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

WILLIAM PEAK

(Farmer, Post-office, Perry). Mr. Peak was born in Monroe county, in 1843, and was a son of Henry J. and Mary (Bartlett) Peak, formerly of Kentucky. His parents came to Missouri in 1831 and settled in this county, and his mother died here when William, the youngest of four children, was four years of age, the others being Howard, Thomas and George W.  His father subsequently married Miss Nancy Martin, by whom there came eight children: Mary A., James, Horatio, Edward, Clarence, Fannie, Eugene and Lillian. The father lived to the advanced age of 82, having been born in 1799. William worked on the farm until he was 20 years of age and then went out to work for himself by the month at $20 a month. He worked that way for three years, and was married September 28, 1856, to Miss Caroline Duncan, a daughter of John C. and Martha (Johnson) Duncan, who came from Virginia in an early day, and had four children, Catherine, Mary, Sarah and Caroline. The mother died in 1848, and the father married Miss Carroll, by whom there were also four children: William, Thomas, Wesley and Velis. The mother of these died in 1871, and three years afterwards the father married Mrs. Morehead, who had had 10 children by her first husband. Meanwhile, William Peak, after his marriage, rented a farm and continued to rent and lease until 1877, when he bought the place where he now resides. He has 80 acres of land, neatly and comfortably improved. Mr. and Mrs. Peak have had seven children: John H., deceased; Charles H., Minnie, Minerva, Gertrude, Lillian and another died in infancy. Mrs. Peak is a member of the Christian Church.

PHILIP QUISENBERRY

(Dealer in Dry Goods etc., etc., Santa Fe). Mr. Quisenberry, a gallant soldier under Gen. Morgan, of Kentucky, during the late war, and one of the substantial business men of Santa Fe, is a native of the Blue Grass State, born in Clark county, December 5, 1835. His father, William Quisenberry, was a well-to-do and respected business man of that county, and Philip spent his youth principally at school, learning also merchandising as he grew up. At the first outbreak of the war he joined the Southern army and served with unfaltering fidelity and with unshrinking bravery on many a hard fought field until the close of that long and terrible struggle. He was with Morgan on the latter’s celebrated raid through the Northern States, and was one of the forty-three who crossed the river above Louisville into Indiana, mentioned at the time in all the papers. Twenty-two of the company were captured the day they crossed, and seventeen of the others were taken the day following, leaving but four who succeeded in joining the main army of invasion. Mr. Quisenberry returned to Kentucky after the war, where he continued until 1866, when he came to Missouri and engaged in the saw-mill business in Monroe county. He continued in that business for two years and then began merchandising at Santa Fe, where he has since resided. He has been satisfactorily successful as a merchant and by close attention to business, fair dealing and accommodating treatment of customers, has succeeded in building up a good trade, which he has long held, and which is steadily increasing. Mr. Quisenberry carries a good stock of general merchandise, well selected and of the best classes for the prices charged, for his policy is to sell at living figures, both for himself and his customers. In February, 1866, Mr. Quisenberry was married to Miss A. P. Elkin, formerly of Kentucky. After a happy married life of over eight years she was taken from him by death. She left him three children: Blanche, Elkin, and Frances. Mr. Quisenberry was married to his present wife, formerly Mrs. L.G.            Racklett, the widow of Dr. S. S. Racklett, deceased, and whose maiden name was Miss L. G. Tanner, on the 7^th of August, 1877. She has three children by her first marriage: Minerva, Henry C. and Estella. Mr. and Mrs. Quisenberry have four children: Fred, Maud, Walker and Wallace, the two latter twins. He is a member of the I.O.O.F., and she of the Christian Church.

GEORGE M. RAGSDALE

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Section 19).  Mr. Drury Ragsdale, father of George M., was a native of Kentucky, and came to Missouri in 1826. He settled with his mother in the northeast part of Monroe county, not far from Clinton. He lived there until he was 27 years of age, then married Miss Louisa C. Thompson, also of Kentucky, and moving to St. Louis, there embarked in the hotel and stock business. He was thus profitably engaged until 1847. He then returned to Monroe county, was for a short time in the drug business in Paris, and then determined to become a farmer. He followed this in connection with stock-raising until his death, which occurred February 22, 1875. His faithful wife had preceded him across the dark river by 10 years, and at last these loving hearts were united in that land where there is no parting. George M. Ragsdale was born November 25, 1854, near Paris, in Monroe county. He was raised on the farm, and received a common school education. When this was completed, he worked with his father until 1875, then began farming and feeding stock on his own account. In 1881 he and his brother took possession of their present farm. They have worked hard, and begin to feel the benefits of it. They have fenced their place entirely since they came on it, and have a good house, barn and other buildings, also a splendid young orchard. No young men in the county have a brighter future. They deal in cattle and hogs, and while their business is as yet in its youth, every year gives them more solid assurance of becoming, at no distant day, men of wealth. Mr. Ragsdale is an unmarried man, and many a sweet face flushes and tender heart flutters at the sound of his coming. His handsome face and manly bearing, and above all, the safe shelter offered by his true and loyal character for some fortunate fair one, win for him smiles upon all sides, and it is for him to choose who shall take with him that long journey through sunshine and shadow, which stretches its alluring length before him.

NATHAN P. RODGERS

(Farmer, Stockman and Capitalist, Post-office, Florida). In December, 1876, Mr. Rodgers alighted from the train at Monroe City, in this county, with his wife, direct from Virginia, and without a vestige of property or other means of any kind, except a few household goods, such as bedding, etc., which he brought along, but which he was not able to take out from the depot for the want of money to pay the freight on them. He borrowed $10 from a friend to pay his freight bill, rented a house and moved into it and went to work. The first break he made into the stock business was to buy a hog at a sale for $2.50 on credit. This hog was fattened on slops about the house, and when sold brought $12.80, which enabled him to repay the $10 he had borrowed and, also, pay the debt contracted by the purchase of the hog. He also rented a farm on credit and entered actively into farming, as well as continuing the stock business. From this small beginning in handling stock and farming, for he has since followed nothing else whatever, he has risen within the short period of eight years to the position of one of the largest stockmen in the United States, and of perhaps the wealthiest man in Monroe county. He is now assessed at $305,000, and is probably worth more than half a million dollars. This is so extraordinary that it seems hardly credible, yet it is the statement of a plain, actual fact. There may be examples in mining, speculating in grain, or stock jobbing on Wall street, of wealth as rapidly acquired as the one mentioned in this sketch, but it is certainly to be doubted whether there is another example in any line of legitimate industry where a fortune has been so quickly acquired by strictly honest methods. The facts read more like the story of the lamp of Aladdin in the Arabian Nights than the career of a man in this matter-of-fact business age. Let us then give briefly the record of the life of this man which, in other respects from his rapid acquisition of a fortune, will be found but little different from the facts in the lives of the generality of farmers in Monroe county. Mr. Rodgers is a native of Virginia, born in Greenbrier county, August 27, 1840. He was a son of Eli and Charlotte (Hope) Rodgers, both of old and respected Virginia families. His father was a farmer of Greenbrier county, and quite a successful one, noted, also, in the country round about for his sterling integrity of character and his earnest, Christian piety. He was a man of acute intelligence and great energy, and had marked ability for successfully conducting his affairs, though he was a man of great generosity, and in no circumstances would he avail himself of an advantage to the detriment of others. He was thus successful in life, and at the same time highly esteemed by all, for he is believed to have never been knowingly guilty of a wrong act. Mr. Rodgers’ mother was a lady of refinement, of more than ordinary culture and of decided natural intelligence. To such parents it is easy to trace the origin of those qualities and characteristics which the son, Nathan P., had displayed so clearly and distinctly in his later career. The war coming on when young Rodgers was not yet hardly of military age, he joined the Southern army nevertheless, and served until the close of the struggle. Thus not only were several of the most valuable years of his life virtually canceled out, but the effects of the war were such as to leave him practically penniless at its close. In 1865 he was married to Miss Joanna Patton, in Greenbrier county, Va., and he then rented a farm in that county and engaged in farming for himself. Remaining there for four years continuing farming, his success was not such as to satisfy his ambition.  He therefore came to Missouri in 1869 and rented a farm south of Monroe City. Two years later he rented another place in this county where he followed farming for two years more, and, meanwhile, had engaged to some extent in raising and handling stock. Mr. Rodgers was succeeding quite up to his expectations when, in December, 1874, he lost his wife. This sad event greatly broke his spirit and unsettled him. He boarded with a neighbor, however, and afterwards gave his attention principally to dealing in stock. In 1875 he took two car loads of stock to Memphis, Tenn., and subsequently dealt in stock at that city for nearly a year. But on account of the malarial condition of the country he was taken down with the chills and fever and thoroughly broken down in health and discouraged. He then went back to his old home in Virginia. Afterwards, December 14, 1876, he was married in his native county to Miss Virginia Nickell, his present wife. Immediately after his marriage Mr. Rodgers returned to Missouri for the purpose of making a new start in life, for he was now practically penniless. The financial condition in which he arrived at Monroe City has already been stated. The farm he rented, as mentioned above, he continued to rent for three years, working all the time with indefatigable energy and managing his affairs with marked business ability. At the end of his three years as a renter he made a sale and realized from it no less than $3,250. With that business acumen characteristic of the man, he had already seen that there was a fortune to be made in Texas cattle, and all he needed was a little means to start on. It was for this reason that he made his sale. He communicated his ideas to several of his acquaintances who had some means, who, seeing the practicability of his plans, and having confidence in his ability and honesty, readily joined him in a stock enterprise in Texas. There were five others besides himself, and the six formed a company with a capital of $15,000, with which they bought a herd of cattle in Shackelford county, Tex. Mr. Rodgers went to Texas to take charge of the herd in person, and he continued there for three years, trading extensively in cattle on account of the company, and also buying large bodies of land. Such were the profits of the enterprise that in 1883 they incorporated their company under the laws of Texas with a capital of $500,000. This was less than a year ago. Their stock interests now consist of 14,331 head of cattle and 300 horses. They also have 100,000 acres of fine land. Besides his interests in this company, Mr. Rodgers has a herd and ranch of his own, which consist of 6,500 head of cattle, 90 head of horses and 8,000 acres of land. He has also continued farming and handling stock in Monroe county. In 1882 he bought his present farm in this county. His homestead contains 680 acres of as handsome and fertile land as is to be found in the country. This place is improved with little regard to cost, and is one of the most desirable homesteads in the county. His improvements alone represent an expenditure of over $6,000. These are the plain facts of Mr. Rodgers’ career, facts which reflect only credit on him whom they most directly concern. Personally, Mr. Rodgers is a plain, unassuming man, sociable, kind and pleasant to all with whom he comes in contact. He has acquired a fortune and is still, perhaps, but little more than well started on his career. Speaking of his past, he says that his most gratifying recollection is that he has never knowingly wronged a man out of a cent. All who know him have implicit confidence in his honor and integrity. He has not obtained his wealth by oppressing the poor or by small, mean methods. But, on the contrary, he is a man of large heart and liberal ideas, and ever ready to help the needy or relieve the distressed wherever and whenever he can. Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers have one child, Lavenia, born October 2, 1877. Mr. Rodgers is an active and worthy member of the A.O.U.W.

JAMES SMILEY (Pere), AND JAMES R. SMILEY (Fils)

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe). James Smiley, the father of James R., was a son of Archibald and Mary (Hanna) Smiley, of Virginia, being one of seven children, William, Robert, Alexander, Archibald, Anna and Ella, being the others. James being born September 22, 1812. His father and an uncle were soldiers in the War of 1812. The father died in 1832 and the mother in 1842. James Smiley was reared as a farmer as he came up, for his father was an industrious and well respected farmer of that county.  He and his two brothers worked the farm until the winter of 1841-42, when he came to Missouri and located in Audrain county. On the 20^th of January, 1842, he was married in Audrain county to Miss Elizabeth Kerr, and the following spring he bought land and improved a farm. He lived there for 12 years engaged in farming and then removed to Monroe county in 1854, where he has since resided. He bought 160 acres of land, partly improved, or rather his tract had a log shanty on it and a small clearing not much bigger than a lonely cloud floating in the sky of a clear August day. He improved his land, however, and made a good farm and afterwards added to his place by industry and successful farming and stock-raising until he increased it to a farm of 320 acres. As his fields and herds prospered him he bought other lands, and owns another farm of 160 acres in the prairie, well improved. He has been quite successful in raising grain, principally wheat, but he attributes his principal success to stock-raising, and in this line he has given his attention principally to cattle and hogs. He ships to the Chicago markets mainly. Mr. and Mrs. Smiley have four children: William H., James R., Mary A. and Susan R. He has been director of the district schools for several terms, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. James R. Smiley was born May 3, 1852, whilst his parents were residents of Ralls county. Inasmuch as his parents removed to Monroe county when he was but two years of age, he was reared in this county. James R. secured a good common school education, and learned the practical work of farming as he grew up. Following the example of his father, he has become a stock-raiser, and fattens and ships cattle, hogs and sheep to the markets, and he is one of the successful young men in South Fork township in these lines. He also handles horses to some extent, and, indeed, trades considerably in all kinds of farm stock. February 24, 1880, he was married to Miss Bettie Emmons, a daughter of William Emmons, of Mexico, Mo., but she was taken from him by death in a few months after their marriage. She died on the 19^th of the following May. Mr. Smiley is one of the charter members of the Santa Fe I.O.O.F. lodge.

WILLIAM L. SMITHEY

(Farmer, Post-office, Paris). This young farmer of South Fork township is one of the worthy and deserving young men of the township, and enjoys the respect and esteem of the community as such. By the death of his father, three years ago, he was left with a large family to care for, and is faithfully acquitting himself of his obligation to his mother and younger brothers and sisters. He is a native Missourian, born in Audrain county, March, 22, 1863, and a son of John T. and Mary (Alberson) Smithey, formerly of Kentucky. His father was an enterprising stock trader of the State, and came to Missouri in 1862, the fall after his marriage, settling in Audrain county. Two years later, however, he removed to Lafayette county, where he resided for 13 years, and in 1877 came to Monroe county. He bought the old Poidlon farm here, a place of 80 acres, on which he resided until his death, and where the family still make their home. He was a worthy member of the Odd Fellows Order, and was, also, an exemplary member of the Presbyterian Church. He died April 29, 1882, leaving his wife and nine children to mourn his loss. The children are: William L., Jennie B., Louella, Robbie R., Anna M., Sallie T., John T., Ernest M. and James E. William L. was principally reared in Lafayette county, but grew up on the farm here from his fourteenth year. Since his father’s death he has taken charge of the farm and assumed the care of the family. He is a young man of excellent habits, industry and energy, and is providing well for those whom it is his natural obligation to care for. His sister Jennie B. died August 7, 1883.

JOHN R. SNYDER

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 31). Mr. Snyder’s parents, Powell and Elizabeth (Finks) Snyder, were natives of Virginia, and moved to Missouri in 1832. After residing for a year in Ralls county, and two years in Audrain, they came to Monroe county and settled on the farm upon which John R. now lives. Here the old man farmed until his death in 1844. His was a most beautiful Christian character, and the brightness of the halo that irradiated his pathway, will long linger in the mental vision of all who were so fortunate as to be witnesses of his pure life. A touching testimonial of his worth lies in the fact that his wife remained a widow, for his sake, until her own death in 1861. She left four children: Martha A., James H., Lucy J. and John R. The latter attended the common schools and helped on the farm until he was 16, at that age taking entire charge, managing the place for his mother. In 1860, he was himself married to Miss Salome, daughter of John and Rebecca (Hawkins) Story, formerly of Virginia. Mr. Story died in 1850, and in 1876 his widow came to Missouri and lived with her daughter, Mrs. Snyder, until her death, which occurred three years later. She was the mother of eleven children, nine of whom are living. Soon after his marriage Mr. Snyder joined the Confederate army with Porter. He was in the battles of Newark, Kirksville and MQore’s ? Creek, after which he returned to his disconsolate bride and resumed his farming operations, which he has ever since continued. His farm comprises 120 acres, 80 under fence, and contains all needful improvements, including a tasteful residence, the surroundings of which are further beautified by the soft green velvet of an exquisitely kept lawn. Mr. Snyder is extensively engaged in raising stock, cattle, hogs and horses, in which he is meeting with gratifying success. He is one of the substantial farmers of the township. Mrs. Snyder is a member of the Baptist Church.

CHARLES W. TANNER

(Dealer in Dry Goods, etc., and Postmaster, Santa Fe).  Mr. Tanner, who has every promise of a long and successful business career at this place, was a son of Silas Tanner, who was also engaged in business here for many years. His father was a prominent business man of Sante Fe for about seventeen years and died here in 1872, widely and profoundly mourned, for he had many friends throughout this part of the county and few enemies, if any at all.  Mr. Tanner’s mother (Charles W.’s) was a Miss Lucy J. Crigler before her marriage. She is still living. Charles W. was reared at Santa Fe, and received a good general and business education in the schools of this place and in the store. In 1874 he was married to Miss Sarah M. McClintock, a daughter of William McClintock, a prominent merchant of Mexico, Missouri. After his marriage Mr. Tanner engaged in farming, but a year later quit the farm and accepted a situation in the store of Quisenberry & Botts, where he clerked for four years. He then engaged in the drug business on his own account, but in 1881, after being in the drug store for two years, went back to the farm, where he was engaged in farming for three years. On the 20^th of March, 1884, he bought out Wilkerson & Son of this place, and has since been continuously engaged in the dry goods business. He carries a neat and carefully selected stock of dry goods, hats, caps, boots, shoes, etc., and has a good custom, ? which is steadily increasing. He is a. plain, unassuming, popular man, with good business qualifications and strictly honorable in all his dealings. Mr. and Mrs. Tanner have had seven children: Lydia, Wallace, Mattie, Ada L., Edith I., Dennis D. and William A. Mattie and Ada L. are deceased. Mr. Tanner is an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also constable of South Fork township.

JOHN G. TILLITT

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Perry). No conspectus of the substantial farmers of South Fork township would be complete which failed to represent the subject of the present sketch. Mr. Tillitt comes of one of the old and respected families of the county, his parents, Henry and Lurena Tillitt, having settled in this county from Kentucky away back in 1837. The father died here in 1869 and the mother in 1882. John G. spent his youth on his father’s farm, and received a common school education. When he attained his majority he rented a farm one season and then bought a place of his own. Two years later he sold that at a small profit and bought the place where he now resides. Here he first had 132 acres, but industry and good management have enabled him to add to it until he now has a fine farm of 400 acres, all but 20 acres in the prairie, and well improved. The 20 acres are devoted to timber.  He has a good residence, a large barn and excellent other buildings and good fences. Mr. Tillitt raises considerable stock which he has found quite a profitable industry. He also feeds cattle and hogs for the market, at which he has been very successful. In 1865 Mr. Tillitt was married to Miss Susan Smith. She brightened his home for 12 years, but at last fell to sleep in the cold embrace of death. She left three children, namely: Edwin P., Mary S. and Cordelia. In 1879 Mr. Tillitt was married to Miss Ann L. Ely, a daughter of James and Dulcena Ely, who came to Missouri from Kentucky in an early day. By his second marriage Mr. Tillitt has had two children: Henry E., now in infancy, and an older one who died when an infant.

JAMES W. TRIMBLE

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe). Mr. Trimble, one of the substantial property holders and old and respected citizens of South Fork township, is by nativity a worthy son of that grand old Commonwealth of the South,Virginia, not only the mother of Presidents and States, but of many of the best citizens of all the Southern and Western States. Mr. Trimble was born in Augusta county in July, 1818, and was reared in his native county. In 1846 he was married in Virginia to Miss Isabella Sterrett, and he continued to reside in Augusta county until 1857, when he removed to Missouri with his family, and settled on the place where he now resides. Here he bought 500 acres of land, which he improved. He has followed farming and stock-raising uninterruptedly, and has long been recognized as one of the successful farmers of the township. He has added to his place until now it includes over a section of fine land, all of which is improved except about 40 acres. He has two sets of homestead improvements, one of which his son George occupies. Mr. and Mrs. Trimble have six children: William S., a minister of the Presbyterian Church, at Cahoka, Mo.; Mary, now the wife of William McCrutcher; George S., John W., Joseph W., lumber dealer at Mexico; Thomas T., at Westminster College, Fulton. Mrs. Trimble is a worthy member of the Presbyterian Church. He has long taken commendable and active interest in the cause of education, and particularly of public schools, and has been a director of the district schools for the past ten years, and still occupies that position. Mr. Trimble was a son of James B. and Margaret (Wilson) Trimble, both of old Virginia families. He was one of 10 children, five sons and the same number of daughters. His father was a blacksmith and miller, and also ran a large farm, superintending the whole business himself. He was quite successful in life, and was in easy circumstances. During the War of 1812 he served with credit as a soldier in the American army, and for many years was a worthy elder in the Presbyterian Church. He died at a ripe old age in 1863. The mother died in 1862.

BENJAMIN F. VAUGHN

(Farmer and Fine and General Stock-raiser and Dealer, Post-office, Florida). What energy, good common sense and perseverance can accomplish at farming and in the stock business in this part of the country, is forcibly illustrated by the career of the subject of the present sketch. Less than 18 years ago Mr. Vaughn was a young man 26 years of age, and with $150 in cash as his only worldly possessions, except his wearing apparel, which was by no means as gorgeous or expensive as Freddie Gebhardt’s. He started on foot into dealing in stock, buying and selling cattle, hogs, sheep, etc., and after awhile was able to begin farming in a small way on rented land. He has kept resolutely and intelligently at both of these occupations, and is now worth $60,000, having become one of the leading farmers and stock men of North Missouri, and having also large ranch interests in Texas. He has made every dollar he is worth by his own energy and industry, except $200 that his wife brought him at the time of their marriage. Perhaps it is more just to say that he and she have made it, for she has bravely and faithfully done her part at home in carving out their fortune, a part which, if it had not been well done, would perhaps have rendered success impossible. Mr. Vaughn when he grew up, had no extra chances to develop those qualities or acquire that knowledge of business affairs which are commonly considered important requisites to success. And then when he was a young man just nearly ready to get something of an education and make a start in life, the war came on and practically canceled out four years of his life so far as industrial activity was concerned, so that after the war he was left with only a horse, saddle and bridle, which he sold for the $150 above mentioned, to start on. He was son of William and Eliza (Poage) Vaughn, of this county, but formerly of Kentucky, and was born April 16, 1839. He was married on his father’s farm, near Paris, and being the oldest in the family of children, of course had to take the lead in and bear the brunt of the work on the place. Those were no days of sulky riding-plows, protected with a shade, and of selfbinders, or white school houses with walnut finished, casting mounted seats. They were the days of breaking prairie with ox teams and grubbing stumps in woods, fields and all that sort of things. Young Vaughn grew up on the farm, and at the age of 13 was commissioned captain of an ox team, which he commanded with unfaltering fidelity for five long years, he and the team becoming so used to each other that neither felt at home when they were separate. When he reached the age of 19 he began to see the necessity of an education, and to exert himself to obtain some knowledge of books, using his leisure time at home in study. He kept on at work, however, and when he reached majority, made a crop of his own, and a good crop at that.  As his crop ripened he began to see visions of a nice little start in life and of a neat little home of his own, and some nice little body in that home to make it bright and happy. The milkmaid’s dreams were never brighter or more rose-tinted when she was thinking of the new green gown that she was to buy and the party she was to attend, and all that sort of things, than were his anticipations. But about this time the Federal soldiers came along and swooped down upon his crop, so that the field that had known it knew it no more. He was now thoroughly incensed and joined the Southern army. He went out under Col. Green, and bravely did his duty as a soldier until he was overtaken by another shadow of misfortune. After participating in the battle of Pea Ridge and numerous other less engagements, and undergoing indescribable privations and hardships, he was at last taken prisoner and shipped off to St. Louis and then to Alton, at which points he had ample opportunity to philosophize on the vicissitudes of life, being confined within the somber walls of the military prisons of those places for six months. He was at last released under heavy bond not to join the Southern army again, but it is needless to say that the crop he had lost in 1861 was not restored to him. He then went to Boone county and tried cropping again, thinking that if he couldn’t get the old crop back he would make a new one. He also worked around and got a few cattle and. hogs. But about this time, times got squally again. Price made a raid in the State, and the Federals became as thick as blackberries all over the country. His second crop was swept away, and he found his only safety in flight, so he rejoined the Southern army. He got cut off from the main body of the army, however, and after hiding out in the woods all winter to keep from being shot as a bushwhacker, he finally made his way across the river into Illinois. There he obtained employment under Mr. Fisher as stock buyer and shipper, and shortly thereafter became the latter’s partner in business. But soon afterwards the war closed, and he came back to Monroe county, having made, during the short time he was in Illinois, his expenses and a little money, which he invested in a horse, saddle and bridle. He now commenced his career here as a stockman, as stated above. He rented land up to 1870, and then he bought 160 acres of raw prairie, which he improved, paying his board while improving his farm and at the same time making some money at handling stock. He kept on in this way for two years, making a little extra money each year; and November 14, 1872, he was married to Miss Mary Poage, who assisted him with $200 that she had. From that time he kept on farming and handling stock, his profits gradually increasing each year until they rose from hundreds to thousands, and finally to over $5,000 a year. We can not go into the details of his farming and stock operations, interesting and instructive as they are, for the limits to which these sketches must be confined will not permit it. Suffice it to say that he has raised and dealt in, on a large scale, and still raises and deals in, even more extensively, cattle, mules, hogs, sheep and all kinds of stock. He also raises extensively corn, wheat, oats, hay and all sorts of farm products, his grain crops rising to thousands of dollars in value. His farm contains 760 acres, a whole section of which is finely improved, fenced with white oak rails and hedge and plank, and his buildings and other improvements, taken as a whole, are second to none in the county. He has all forms of farm buildings on his place, including three barns, used for different classes of stock, and any number of sheds. He also has a stock ranch in Texas valued at $9,000. When asked to what he attributes his great success mainly, he replied, “Honesty and energy.” He said that his father always impressed upon him the great maxim, that “honesty is the best policy in all circumstances,” and that he has striven to never deviate from it in his own conduct. While he admires the man of brilliant mental qualities as much as any one, he holds that it isn’t brilliancy that succeeds best in the material affairs of life. On the contrary, it is a favorite maxim with him that a pound of energy with an ounce of talent can accomplish a great deal more than a pound of talent with an ounce of energy.” For high character and personal worth no man in the county stands higher in the estimation of those who know him than Benjamin F. Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn is making a specialty of raising’ fine half-bred Hereford cattle, and this year has about fifty calves, the product of his present year’s breeding in that line of stock. It is generally believed that he has the best Hereford bull in the county. He has about $6,000 invested in stock cattle that are now grazing on the farm. Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn have four children, namely: William Gray, Susie Clay, Bessie and Nathan Pierce. Master Gray Vaughn, the oldest, was nine years old last January, and rides his excellent pony, and has for two years gone with his father for cattle or mules, and riding from 25 to 40 miles per day. He and his sister, Susie, ride their pony to Sunday-school, three and a half miles, every Sunday. He and wife are both members of the Presbyterian Church.

JAMES WILLIAMS

(Farmer, Section 18). Mr. Williams was born January 6, 1822, in Clark county, Ky., of David and Polly (Raker) Williams, both of North Carolina. His father was a farmer who emigrated to Kentucky in an early day and later to Monroe county, Mo., settling five miles south of Florida, where he lived until his death in 1840. His wife survived him six years. They left a family of seven children. James, in the intervals of acquiring an education, worked on his father’s farm. He married August 3, 1843, Miss Cinderilla ? Bybee, daughter of John and Polly (Adams) Bybee, of Kentucky. Mrs. Williams’ father came to Missouri in 1822 and settled first in Howard county. In 1834 he moved to Monroe county, where he died in 1858. Mr. Williams is an active and intelligent farmer and no man in the township has more friends. He has a farm of 103 acres, 65 of which are under fence. His improvements are neat and substantial, and he derives a comfortable income from the place. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have had thirteen children. Six are now living: James R., Evaline, Hannah, Minerva, Barbara and David. The following are deceased: William, who died in Oregon in 1865; Mary G., who died at the age of four years; John J., who died when nine years of age; Minnie, who died in infancy; Martillus, ? who died at the age of 24; Edith J., who died at the age of 35; and Julia, who died when twenty-six years of age. Mr. Williams and his wife are members of the Christian Church at Santa Fe.

MILTON B. WILKERSON

(Farmer, Post-office, Santa Fe). Mr. Wilkerson is the son of Presley and Polly (Searcy) Wilkerson, of Kentucky, who came to Missouri in 1826, and made their home near Columbia, in Boone county. Mr. Wilkerson Sr., was a cooper by trade, but devoted much attention to farming. He was a noted hunter, and having induced many of his friends to come from Kentucky, when they needed meat they would work on his farm while, with trusty rifle, he replenished their wants. At that time the county was thickly infested with wild beasts of all kinds, as well as with every variety of game. Mr. Wilkerson died in 1876. Milton B., born January 10, 1830, in Boone county, was reared on the farm in Monroe county, and for fifteen years sipped assiduously of the Pierian spring of knowledge. He then sold groceries and dry goods for his father and himself at Florida and Santa Fe eight years and later farmed for several years near Santa Fe. He was afterwards, until 1864, in the furniture business, then returned to his farming operations, which he still carries on in connection, however, with a dry goods and grocery house in Santa Fe, which contains as large and complete a stock of goods as any in the township. Mr. Wilkerson has a nursery on his farm and keeps on hand such fruits as are most hardy in this country. His varieties, which are numerous, are considered the best in the State. Mr. W. has been postmaster for four years and he enjoys the confidence and esteem of all around him. Mr. Wilkerson married, February 17, 1851, Miss Amanda M. Bybee, by whom he has seven children: Ella M., wife of T. J. Wilson; Milton B., who married Miss Ada Hunt; William T., married to Miss Lucy Mussetter; Sallie M., Kelley B., Charles B. and Pet, a lovely little maid of eight summers, the darling of the family and the admired of all beholders. Mr. Wilkerson, his wife and four children are members of the Christian Church at Santa Fe.

PETER D. WILKINS

(Farmer, Post-office Strother). Mr. Wilkins was born in 1835 in Europe, and is the son of Louis Wilkins, who, emigrating to this country in 1837, settled in Washington county, Ohio. He farmed there for nine years, then moved to Shelby county, Missouri, where he died in 1847, leaving four children: Louis, Christina, John and Peter. After his father’s death Peter worked at the gunsmith’s trade until 1861, then began shoemaking. In 1872 he became a farmer and ten years later moved to the place where he now lives. He is thrifty and industrious and is a valuable citizen. Mr. Wilkins married May 21, 1857, Miss Susan Gorham, of Callaway county, daughter of Harvey and Grizzella (Oakley) Gorham. Mrs. Wilkins was one of eight children: William R., Eliza J., Nancy E., Daniel, James C., Mollie L., Cynthia L. and Susan, wife of Mr.  Wilkins. She has borne her husband five children: Frank L., James C., Eva, William G. and Charles R. Mrs. Wilkins’ brother, James, was, during the late war commander of a battery under Price. Mrs. Wilkins belongs to the Christian Church at Santa Fe, as does also Mr. Wilkins and the three oldest children.

SAMUEL WOOLDRIDGE

(Farmer, Post-office Paris). When the deer fed without fear on the present site of Boonville, Mr. Wooldridge’s parents, David and Elizabeth (Bingham) Wooldridge, were residents of Cooper county, and his father was offered the tract of land on which Boonville now stands for an Indian pony. This at that time was not considered as tempting an offer as the famous demand of Richard III. -“A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!” - whatever would be thought of it now. They resided in Cooper county until 1838, when they removed to Monroe county, and settled on the Campbell tract of land on Brush creek, where they improved a farm and lived worthy, respected lives until their death. Samuel Wooldridge was born in Cooper county, November 2, 1826. He grew to manhood in Monroe county, or until 20 years of age, when he went out to learn the blacksmith’s trade. Subsequently he followed blacksmithing and farming until 1862. He then joined the Southern army under Price, and remained out until the close of the war, surrendering at Shreveport, La., in May, 1865. Returning after the war to Monroe county, he engaged in farming and subsequently bought his present place, a neat farm of 90 acres. August 27, 1865, he was married to Miss Rebecca J. Johnson. They have five children: Mary E., William E., Effie F., Margaret and Mur.? Lee. He and wife are members of the Christian Church.

ROBERT H. WRIGHT

(Blacksmith, Santa Fe). Mr. Wright, one of the hardest working and most deserving young man in the township, was born in September of the year 1860. His father, James Wright, came from Tennessee in 1852. In 1857 he began blacksmithing in Paris, Monroe county, where in 1859 he was married to Margaret Ashcraft. The last 13 years of his life were spent on a farm where he died in 1883. He was a member of the Christian Church, and one of the elders of Deer Creek congregation. He was buried by the Masonic fraternity. His widow now lives in Santa Fe and her son Robert makes his home with her. He was educated in the county and is now running a blacksmith and wagon making shop, doing a good business, as he richly merits, since his natural intelligence, industry and close attention to his work combine to make him one of the very best blacksmith’s in the county. He is as yet unmarried, devoting himself with beautiful filial solicitude to the surviving parent. Mr. Wright is a member of the order of Chosen Friends, and also of the Christian Church.