ALBERT BADGER

 

From the 1887 History of Vernon County, Missouri, p. 440:

Dr. Albert Badger

(Section 11, Post-office, Nevada)

     No worthy history of Vernon could be written which failed to include a sketch of the life of this esteemed pioneer citizen, a man whose personal acquaintance and popularity have contributed only less than his long residence in the county in giving him an enviable reputation wherever his name is know.  Dr. Albert Badger was born in Windham county, Conn., in 1821, the oldest of three children in the family of his parents, Albert and Asenath Badger, nee Crosby.  The former was born in 1797 and died in 1825; he was a son of Edmond Badger, who for many years kept a hostelry in Philadelphia, a favorite resort for well known Whigs, among whom were Clay, Webster, and others; he died in 1849.  Mrs. Asenath Badger was born in 1798 in Hadlyme, Conn., and died in Vernon county, Mo., in 1864, at the age of 68 years.  She was a consistent member of the Congregational Church.  During the Revolutionary War her parents were living at New London, Conn., and in common with many others suffered many hardships and were obliged to undergo many privations; the father’s death occurred in 1816, but his wife reached the advanced age of 96, having lived a life somewhat remarkable in its nature.  Young Albert Badger, the subject of this sketch, deprived of the watchful guidance and care of his father when about four and a half years old, was reared by an uncle until the age of 15, his home being in Hadlyme, Conn., where he attended school during the winter months and worked on the farm in summer seasons.  Subsequently, and up to the fall of 1839, he lived with his grandfather at Philadelphia, Pa., and there completed an excellent education.  Going to Port Hudson, La., in 1839, he commenced the study of medicine and later on was graduated from the New Orleans Medical College, thoroughly fitted to enter at once upon a professional career.  In 1844 Dr. Badger left Louisiana and journeyed up the Mississippi, Missouri and Osage rivers as far as Osceola, St. Clair county, Mo., from which point he rode overland to his present location, purchasing his claim from an old settler for $30.  Since that time this county has continued to be his home.  His was the first “modern” house in the community, for it was hewed both outside and inside and had glass windows and a “nailed-on” roof.  Immediately after his settlement here he commenced the practice of medicine and soon met with a ready patronage, for professional men were not numerous in that early day.  The only physicians besides himself in this county then were Drs. Leonard Dodge and James White, both now deceased.  Dr. Badger continued his extensive practice in connection with farming; he was a large land-holder, owning 2,200 acres at the commencement of the war.  At the outbreak of the Kansas troubles he was commissioned lieutenant and ordered to defend the Missouri border, and early in the Civil War his company was ordered by Gov. Jackson to accompany him to the Arkansas line; before this was reached, however, the battles of Wilson’s Creek and Carthage were fought, and at the latter the Doctor was wounded, necessitating his return home, though not until after he had been placed in charge of a hospital ward where there were Federal soldiers.  After receiving surgical treatment and convalescing at a St. Louis hospital he was employed as chief clerk for the Naval Ordnance Department, a position he continued to fill for 18 months.  At the close of the war he returned to his home, but only to find that during his absence $10,000 worth of property, including money, chattels, etc., had been stolen.  But not disheartened, the Doctor set about repairing his impaired possessions, and as his present place shows, not without substantial success.  He now lives in comparative retirement upon his home farm of 760 acres, one feature of which is his fine residence, enjoying the fruits of a life well and profitably spent, and surrounded by the love and esteem of all who know him, occupying a warm place in the affections of his family and friends.  In 1853 he was married to Miss Sarah E. Halley, of this county, who was born in Charleston, Va., in August, 1827; her father, a man of superior educational attainments, became settled in Blue Mound township, this county, in 1839.  Mrs. Badger died February 19, 1885, in the full triumph of a Christian faith.  She was the mother of two boys and six girls:  Henry L., born in 1855; Albert H., born in 1866; Emily A., born in 1854; Mary J. born in 1857; Rebecca P., born in 1859; Elizabeth, born in 1861; Agnes W. L., born in 1868, and Lulu, born in 1870.  The Doctor has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1843, and also assisted in organizing the first Grange in Badger township.  He was justice of the peace for many years and for four years served as probate judge of the county, the first to be elected to that position.  Politically he is a Democrat.  One of the Doctor’s brothers, Commodore Badger, now on the retired list, entered the U. S. Navy  in 1840 and fired the first shot into Fort Sumter after the Confederates had captured it.  His sister, Emily D., the widow of Dr. Joseph N. M. Harding, is now a resident of Nevada and a lady of rare intellectual accomplishments.  She was educated at Mr. Holyoke Seminary.  Of her nine children (six of whom are living) her oldest son, Joseph E. Harding, a man well known in financial circles, is cashier of the Thornton Bank at Nevada.  Dr. Badger is intimately associated with all the improvements of the day.

 

 

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