Nodaway County, Missouri: 1882 History page 770

Nodaway County, Missouri History of 1882 Biographicals

(transcibed by Pat O'Dell: genpat@netins.net)

[page 777] M. Hilgert, proprietor of billiard hall, is a native of Belgium, and was born July 3, 1845. He was reared and educated in his native country, and in 1868 he emigrated to the United States, and traveled throughout sixteen states and territories. In the spring of 1869 he selected Nodaway County, Missouri, as the most desirable place to settle for a home. He purchased a farm in Jackson Township, and engaged in farming, stock raising, stock feeding, and stock dealing, and continued this business until February, 1880, when he settled in Maryville and embarked in his present business. He married Miss Josephine Schmiedeler. Their family consists of four children: Christian, John B., Mary, and Roseline.

[page 782] Polk Township - Samuel Hull, the subject of this sketch is a native of Virginia, and was born May 14, 1805. When he was but a child his parents, Ezekiel and Mary (Denton) Hull, moved to Ohio and located in Ross County, where he was brought up and educated, having the advantages only of the old fashioned subscription school. In 1824 he moved to Delaware County, Ohio, and in three years returned to Ross County. Three years later he again located in delaware County, where he resided till the spring of 1871, at which time he became a citizen of Maryville. He was reared on a farm and followed the ocupation of tilling the soil till he came to Maryville, and since then has been living a retired life. He is a member of the I.O.O.F., also belongs to the Baptist Church of which he has been a member [page 783] for fifty-five years. Mr Hull was married November 28, 1824, to Miss Cherissa Wilcox, who was born in Vermont, June 8, 1807. She died December 12, 1872. They had twelve children, eleven of whom grew up and ten are now living. Cornelius, born November 7, 1826; Clarissa, November 2, 1829, (now deceased); Herman W., December 17, 1831; Lydia A., November 21, 1833; Mary, December 15, 1835; Martha, August 24, 1837; Samuel E., February 4, 1842; George R., February 6, 1844; Joseph M., May 22, 1846; Harriet, July 20, 1848; Daniel D., November 9, 1850. Mr H. was again married April 9, 1876, to Mrs Mary J. Young, a daughter of Mr. Phineas Richardson and Mrs Elizabeth (St Clair) Richardson. Mrs H. was born in Dayton, Ohio, December 26, 1823, and reared in Hillsborough, Highland County, of the same state. There she was married to Milton Young, December 20, 1843. Mr Young was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, June 10, 1816. He was reared on a farm and educated in his native county. He then learned the carpenters' trade which he followed during life. During the war he was in service for four years, being confined in prison of eight months in that time. In 1865 he moved to Missouri, and located in Holt County, and in the following spring came to Maryville, where he resided till the time of his death, which occurred November 26, 1868. They had a family of ten children, four of whom are living. Laura, born December 7, 1844; William, June 16, 1847; Kate B., November 5, 1856; Elvira S., February 25, 1859. Mrs H. is also a member of the Baptist Church.

[page 789]White Cloud Township - Thomas Cowles Ellis, M.D., farmer, is owner of 660 acres of land on sections 16, 17, 5. He was born in Kentucky December 19, 1821, and in 1843 came to Buchanan County, Missouri. He received his education at the best schools in Kentucky and studied medicine in Buchanan County, practicing his profession for some time in St Joseph very successfully. He attended the Eclectic Medical College in Cincinnati, and graduated with honor in the winter of 1853. He was a practicing physician of Amazonia, Andrew County, for five years and in Savannah one year. In March, 1855, he came to White Cloud Township and bought the farm on which he now resides, and for thirty years has had a very large and successful practice. During this time he has improved a very valuable farm and erected good buildings. In his profession few have a better local reputation. In 1872 he received the nomination to the state legislature from this county and was defeated by only a few votes. In 1878 he was nominated by acclamation for the same position, and was elected by a large majority. He served the county faithfully and with acknowledged [page 990] ability. The Dr is a self made man, commencing life poor with much to contend with, obtaining his profession by himself with years of hard study and toil. He has now retired from active practice, living in comfort surrounded by a large circle of friends who know him for his worth as a man and Christian, and for the many acts of kindness shown during so many years of professional duty. He married Miss Louisa Pigg, of Buchanan County, Missouri, in 1847. She lived for two and a half years and then died. His second wife was Mrs J.H. Forbes, to whom he was married in 1854. Her maiden name was Jennie H. Gentry, a niece of Col Dick Gentry, of Boone County, and a daughter of Overton Gentry, of Kentucky. They have two sons: Leander E., a very successful farmer, living near his father, and Overton Gentry, who is now for the third year attending the State University. The Dr. was a Union man, and deserved great credit for his farm and consistent course during the war. Leander T. Ellis, the father of the Dr., was born in North Carolina in 1798, and moved to Kentucky in 1800, and came to this state in 1843. He lived in Buchanan County ten years, where he was sheriff. He came to this county in 1855, after living in Andrew County for two years. He settled near where the Dr. now lives, and at once became a leading man in the county. He was elected county judge for many years, and held that office during the war. He was a justice of the peace in Kentucky for twenty years. In his personal appearance he was tall and commanding, and a leader of his party. He married Mriss Harriet Humber in Kentucky. Their children are: Dr Thomas C.; Mrs Mary Key, wife of Thomas Key; Mrs Amanda Dittemore, Washington Territory; Elizabeth is married and lives in Oregon; Mrs H.L. Grant died in Lexington, Missouri, in 1879; Mrs Patience S. Blackman, of this township; twins, Leander and William; Albert T. is a druggist in Maryville, and Sarah Jane Ferguson is in California. Mrs Ellis died in 1856. Mr E. then married Mrs Elizabeth S. Cross, of New York. They had three children: Alexander C., died at sixteen; Charles A. and Alva C. Mr Ellis died when seventy years of age.

[page 793] Kuenster, G., wholesale dealer in coal oil, is among the prominent business men of Maryville. He is a native of Germany, and was born in County Coblenz, December 25, 1837. He was there reared to manhood, spending his youthful days in agricultural pursuits, and obtaining his education from the schools in that vicinity. At the age of nineteen years he immigrated to America and settled in Monroe County, Illinois, where he resided three months, and then went to Quincy, Illinois. A short season afterwards he removed to Grant County, Wisconsin, and engaged in farming. He subsequently returned to Illinois and engaged in clerking at Liberty, where he remained one year. We next find him situated at New Orleans, Louisiana, where he resided six months, and from there he settled in Kansas City, Missouri, and embarked in mercantile pursuits until the breaking out of the war. In 1861 Mr K. returned to Illinois and enlisted in Company B, Twenty-second Illinois Regiment, serving three months, and upon obtaining his discharge he re-enlisted in Company E, Twenty-fourth Illinois Volunteers, serving three years and one month. He took an active part in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chickamauga, Tennessee, and others of lesser note. He was for three months steward of the hospital at Bowling Green, Kentucky, and had under his command a small body of troops for the defense of that institution. After obtaining his discharge in 1864 he returned to Grant County, Wisconsin, and engaged in farming, and at the expiration of a four years' residence there he removed to this county, engaging in the grocery business in Maryville in 1868. Five months later he went to the county of his nativivty on a visit, which lasted seven months. At the end of that time he again came to Maryville, and in 1870 established the business now conducted by Wray & Moore. Mr K. was united in marriage, April 10, 1865, with Miss Elizabeth B. Hollauer, a native of Germany. They have six children: Joseph F., Mary E., Ferdinand T., Melie, Nettie and Chloe. They are members of the Catholic Church. He has been city tax collector one term, and was also for a like period county supervisor under the old system.

[page 793] Polk Township - N.B. Lamar, was born in Anderson County, Tennessee, March 13, 1829. His father, John M. Lamar, was also a native of Tennessee, while his mother, whose maiden name was Miss Hannah Smith, was from Virginia. When ten years of age N.B. accompanied his parents to Hendricks County, Indiana, and after remaining there two years, they moved to Platte County, Missouri, arriving in 1841. One year later they came to Nodaway County, Missouri, and settled on the Nodaway River, in the North-[page 794]western part of the county, there taking up a claim. A log cabin was erected, there being not a nail nor a pane of glass in the house. It contained a puncheon floor, the cracks between the logs were daubed with mud, and the chimney was made of sod. N.B. was a good shot with his old flint-lock rifle, and spent many pleasant hours in hunting. Roving bands of Indians infested the country on hunting expeditions. It was on this frontier that the subject of this sketch was reared. He received a common school education, and has taken a deep interest in the improvement of this county, having cultivated several fine farms. He now owns two, one in Nodaway and one in Atchison County. During the war he served in the Enrolled Missouri Militia. He has at present retired from active business life. Mr Lamar is the owner of a handsome residence in Maryville, besides other town property. He was married in June, 1857, to Miss Martha A. Seevers, a native of Tennessee, born November 18, 1835. They have two children: Sarah K., born March 27, 1858, (now Mrs Virgil W. Teeme, of Mexico, Missouri), and John J., born November 13, 1860.

[page 797] Howard McCommon, stock dealer, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, November 21, 1848. His parents, Samuel and Elizabeth McCommon, were both natives of Pennsylvania. Howard was brought up at his birthplace on a farm, and received a common school education. In February, 1868, he came west and settled in the southern part of Nodaway County, on the old Sixteen Mile or Half-way House, between Maryville and Savannah. There he remained a short time, when he came to Maryville in the spring of 1869 and has made this his home since. He has improved several farms in the neighborhood. He was also in the lumber business one year with Mr Williams, under the firm name of Williams, McCommon & Co. Mr McC. has been in the stock business more or less since he resided here, and at present gives his attention principally to that occupation. He is the owner of a residence in this city. He is a member of White Cloud Lodge, No. 92, I.O.O.F., of Maryville. He was married October 16, 1876, to Miss Laura Jester, daughter of S.M. Jester, of Saline [page 797] County, Missouri. She was born in Maryville, Nodaway County, Missouri, March 14, 1850. They have one child, Frank H., born May 22, 1878. Mrs McCommon is a member of the Christian Church, of Maryville.