Hugh Craig, Jr.   Mr. Hugh Craig, Jr., was born in Peel county Canada, west, in the year 1848, and was educated in the Canada country schools. When about 16 years old he came to the states, stopping first in Michigan, thence to Missouri, stopping in Osage, then in Cooper county. He then came to Arrow Rock, and June, 1876, he was married to Kathrina M. Wood, daughter of George Wood, by whom he has two children, both boys. At the present time he his living on his farm about two and a half miles from Saline City, upon which he has a steam saw mill, which he operates.  Page 56

Mrs. Amanda Barnes.  Mrs. Barnes, the subject of this sketch was born in Old Franklin, in Howard county, Missouri, September 14, 1821. When yet a child, her parents (Henry V. and Mary A. Bingham) removed to a farm near Arrow Rock, where she grew to womanhood, and where she was married to Mr. James Barnes, September 25, 1838. Her husband was also born at Old Franklin. After the marriage, Mr. Barnes followed the business of farming and merchandising until his death, which occurred in Collin county, Texas, April 27, 1870. Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Barnes has lived on her farm, near Arrow Rock, with her two sons. She is now nearly sixty years of age, and is remarkable for her excellent memory. She remembers the first steam-boat that ever came this far up the Missouri river – the Globe – which landed at Arrow Rock; and also remembers when the Mormons passed through here on their way to Independence. She is the mother of eleven children, eight living and three dead. The eldest living, Abram, is married and lives in California; George C., who lives with his mother; Matthias, Mary A., married to E. Wallace; Amanda, married to Alfred Wallace; Luther, Emma and Louisa, at home. Mrs. Barnes is a member of the Methodist Church South, and has been for 47 years.  Page 563

John H. Kibler, a native of Pulaski county, Virginia, was born July 29, 1846. Phillip and Lucy A. Kibler, his parents, were also natives of Virginia, and his father by trade was a blacksmith. At the age of sixteen, Mr. Kibler joined the Confederate army, and went to Kentucky, where he served under Gen. Humphrey Marshall fifteen months, when he was transferred to the east and assigned to the command of Gen. Jubal A. Early. He was in the battles of Perryville, Middle Creek, Princeton, Harper’s Ferry, Frederick City, Snicker’s Gap, Fisher’s Hill, the two battles at Winchester, and all the important engagements in which Early’s division participated. He surrendered with Gen. Lee’s army at Appomattox, received his parole, and returned to his home in Virginia, where he remained till April, 1871, when he came to Arrow Rock, Missouri. Here for about one year, he pursued his occupation of black-smithing, and then embarked in the mercantile business, dealing in groceries, agricultural implements, etc. In 1878, he bought a farm near Arrow Rock, but after occupying it two years, returned to the village and resumed his trade, manufacturing and dealing in wagons and all kinds of agricultural implements. He has a large trade, the result of good workmanship, liberality, and honesty. December 30, 1876, Mr. Kibler was married to Miss Jessie E. Reid, of Cooper county. Their children are two: Eleanor M. and John H.  Page 563-564

   Hardin Bruce Redmon, M. D., was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, February the 24^th, 1830. His parents, William and Elizabeth Redmon, were natives of the same state. Dr. Redmon’s literary training was acquired in the common schools, and at Georgetown College. At the age of fifteen, he accompanied his parents to Missouri, and with them settled in La Mine township, Cooper county, where his father continued the pursuit of farming and trading till his death, which occurred in 1864. In 1848, Dr. Redmon commenced teaching school, and followed that occupation several years. In June, 1858, he entered the office of Dr. John Wilcox, of Rocheport, Missouri, as a medical student, and in September, 1859, the University of Virginia, where he completed his medical course in 1860. Returning to Cooper county, he began the practice of his profession near Pilot Grove. He remained there but a short time, however, till he moved to La Mine township. In the spring of 1880, he located in Arrow Rock, where he had previously lived several years, practicing medicine, and was, as he is now, an honored citizen, esteemed no less for his professional ability, than for his sterling worth in the private walks of life. Dr. Redmon is a careful student, keeps abreast with the advancement of medical science, and hence is a successful practitioner. In 1849, he was married to Miss Rowan McQuitty, who died in 1855. In 1857, he again married, this time Miss Elizabeth McClelland, of Howard county, to whom was born a son, Luther W. His second wife demised in October 1859, and since that event Miss Edmonia Harris, daughter of G. W. Harris, Esq. of Cooper county, has become the Doctor’s third wife. This union is blessed by a daughter Cybele.  Page 564

   Beverly T. Thompson was born October 14, 1835, in Old Franklin, Howard county, Missouri. His father P. W. Thompson, was a native of Tennessee, and his mother Brunette, whose maiden name was Lawless, was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, October 13, 1801. When Beverlywas about six years old, his father moved from Old Franklin to Saline county, and occupied the premises near Arrow Rock, known as “Chestnut Hill.” Mr. Thompson received his education at Arrow Rock; and while it was confined to the common schools, he has greatly improved and enriched it by his studious habits, and patient, long-continued research. While living on a farm in the country, he employed much of his time in teaching school. In the spring of 1865, he moved to Arrow Rock, where he engaged in merchandising, a pursuit he abandoned long ago. At present (March, 1881), he is principal of the public schools of Arrow Rock, and is regarded an efficient teacher, and faithful public servant. April 18, 1861, he was married to Miss Annie Herron, of Saline county. They have six children living: Nettie F., Lester H., Beverly T., Harry G., M. Louise, and George W.   Page 564-565

   John P. Sites. The subject of this sketch was born in Virginia, May 1, 1821. In 1834, he came to Missouri with his father, who settled at Marion, in Cole county. The following spring his father moved to Booneville, where he plied his vocation, that of gunsmith. Here our subject, with his father, learned the trade of gunsmith. In 1841, he left Booneville and located at Clifton, in the same county, where he pursued his calling, till 1844, when he moved to Arrow Rock, Saline county, where he has ever since resided. He has carried on gunsmithing more than forty-five years, and is now well known to be one of the best and most skillful artisans in the country. By continued industry, coupled with prudence, good management and fair dealing, Mr. Sits has met with marked success, and enjoys the esteem and respect of his fellow-townsmen. September 21, 1841, he was married to Miss Nannie J. Toole, an estimable lady of amiable disposition. They had one child, who died at the age of ten and three-fourths years. Mr. S. has lived in Arrow Rock since 1844, and is located for the rest of his days.  Page 565

John J. Tucker was born in Hampshire county, Virginia, May 23, 1824. In the fall of 1841 he, in company with his mother, three brothers and two sisters, came to Missouri and settled near Old Palestine, in Cooper county. In 1849 Mr. Tucker was one of the thousands of emigrants, attracted by the newly discovered gold fields of California. He paused, however, in Nevada, and for a time, followed mining, in the vicinity of Nevada City, and then moved to the village, in which he was one of the first settlers. Remaining there, engaged in mining in the celebrated Gold Run mines, till the fall of 1850, he returned to Cooper county, and married Laura, daughter of James Hutchison. His wife lived only four years after their marriage, but Mr. Tucker, since the loss of his first wife, has married Miss Sarah E. Fisher, of Morefield, Virginia. They have five children living: Mary S., wife of Frank G. McCutchen, Esq., of Cooper county, Laura H., John J., Jr., George F. and Robert Lee. After his return to Cooper county as stated above, Mr. Tucker lived at Bell Air, where he was engaged in farming and merchandising at the same time. He has ever been a public-spirited, unselfish gentleman having at heart the welfare of the people, and lending personal support, as well as material aid, to whatever tended to promote the good of his fellow citizens. His education is such as he obtained in the common schools, but strong native intellect and a retentive memory, enriched by studious, careful reading, do much of obviate the deficiencies of early scholastic advantages. In the spring of 1865 Mr. Tucker went to Nebraska City, Nebraska, but remained there only a year, when he returned to Bell Air and lived in that village till March, 1879, at which time he moved to Arrow Rock, in Saline county, where he succeeded T. C. Rainey in the dry goods and grocery business, in which he is now engaged. Mr. Tucker’s experience in life has been extensive and varied, but upright and honorable, and it may be truly said that he has not lived in vain.  Page 565-566

   William L. Townsend, farmer, was born in Cooper county, Missouri, November 16, 1824. His father was a native of South Carolina, but emigrated from that state to Kentucky at an early day, and after about ten years moved to Missouri and settled on a farm in Cooper county, where the subject of this sketch was born and grew to manhood. His education is limited to that of the common schools. After living on the farm with his father about twenty-one years, Mr. Townsend moved to a farm in Saline county, where, excepting a brief interval, he has lived every since conducting his farm, which is one of the best in that part of the county. April 2, 1846, he was married to Miss Sally Staples, of Saline county, an amiable lady who still lives to gladden a peaceful household. They have ten children: James T., Saunders, Peyton N., John B., Nathaniel S., Williams G., Benjamin F., Mary V., Edward F., and Susan A. E. Mr. Townsend is an old citizen of Saline, a successful farmer, and a worthy gentleman.  Page 566

   Monarch Murphy.  The subject of this sketch is a native of Orange county Virginia, and was born May 10, 1809. When he was ten years old, his father emigrated to Kentucky, and settled in Mercer county, near “Shaker town” on the Kentucky river. He was reared on a farm and during the winter months attended the common schools, the curriculum of which his education is necessarily limited. He is a carpenter by trade, an occupation he learned in 1838, after he was married. He continued to ply his vocation twenty-eight years in New Castle, Kentucky, and December 19, 1866, left that state, to locate in Arrow Rock, Saline county, Missouri. Here for about six years he worked at the carpenter’s trade, but at the end of that time turned his attention exclusively to the undertaker’s business, in which he is now engaged, and has a large trade, which he deserves, as he attends closely to business, is a good workman and deals fairly with all. February 1^st, 1830, he was married of Ann Hall, of New Castle, Kentucky, by whom he had four children: Lucy A., Susan, Priscilla, and William. His first wife died in 1839, and May 3, 1843, Miss Mary Watts, of New Castle, became his second wife. This second union is blessed by two children: Elizabeth and Florence.  Page 566

John C. Thompson was born in Winchester, Virginia, July 27, 1837. His father, Samuel Thompson, was a soldier in the Mexican war. He enlisted in battery 6, 4^th artillery, at Baltimore, December, 1846, and fell at the battle of La Puebla, in August, 1847. The subject of this sketch lived in Winchester till the death of his mother, which occurred when he was about six years old. Subsequent to that event he lived with his grandparents, Thomas and Margaret Jackson, in Washington, D. C., where he was a student at Abbott’s College. At the age of seventeen, he came to Saline county, Missouri, and lived with his uncle, John C. Thompson, Sr., at Saline City. Shortly after coming to Missouri, he made a profession of religion, was very soon licensed to preach the gospel, and became a member of the St. Louis annual conference of the M. E. Church. He traveled different circuits in central and southwest Missouri, and, in 1860, was stationed at Christy Chapel, in St. Louis. After remaining pastor of that charge throughout the year 1860, he asked a location and moved to California, Missouri, when he became temporarily connected with the Missouri Pacific railway. In 1862, Mr. Thompson was admitted to the bar in Moniteau county, and practiced law in California, until he refusal to take the “iron-clad” oath, under the Drake constitution, when he abandoned the profession and re-entered the employ of the railway company above mentioned, and continued in connection therewith till the spring of 1869. He then moved to Arrow Rock, in Saline county, where he has ever since resided. He is local elder in the M. E. Church, South, at that place, and is esteemed an unpretending Christian gentleman. December 12, 1858, he was married to Miss Susan I. Adams, a daughter of Judge J. D. Adams, of California, Missouri. They have four children living and one deceased, as follows: Mary E. B., Joseph Lee (deceased), Charles T., Maggie M. and John C., Jr. 

Page 567

   Col. John Thomas Price was born in Arrow Rock, Missouri, July 13, 1836. His father, Dr. William Price, a native of Maryland, commenced the practice of Medicine here, and on September 24^th, 1835, married Mary Ellen Sappington, the youngest daughter then living of Dr. John Sappington. John T., or as he is familiarly called,  Col. Tom. Price, is, therefore, the eldest of the six children now alive, who were born of this union. The rest are Mrs. E. J. Collins, of Arrow Rock, and Capt. William M., and Stephen G. Price, commission merchants, of St. Louis, and the Misses Mary Alice and Hope Azola Price, who reside at the homestead of their mother, yet living near Arrow Rock, Missouri. Dr. Wm. Price, after a lucrative practice of thirty years, in which he vindicated himself to be a peer of the many able physicians whom the reputation and success of Dr. Sappington attracted to this vicinity, died in 1865 at his beautiful residence, near the above town, which had just been complete when the war broke out, and is one of the most attractive houses in central Missouri. It is here that Col. Price indulges occasionally in those literary, political, and philosophic speculations which are a necessity to any man of the education and intellect which he possesses, while at the same time not neglecting those essential of our physical existence, which the management of several thousand acres of farming land enables him very easily to acquire.  He is one of the most genial and cultivated gentlemen of the many whom we met in this section—the Athens of Saline county; and therefore a short sketch of his past life is well justified, though obtained with difficulty. We learned that it was a cardinal principle with Dr. Price to give all of his children a complete education, and for that purpose he set apart six thousand dollars for each one, as they grew up, to use at their option in this matter. To those who know John T., it is superfluous to add that he consumed his full sum, and would have used double if the paternal exchequer had permitted; valuing, as he does, intellectual and spiritual treasures beyond all price. And setting little store to that earthly dross which moth and rust doth so easily corrupt, and thieves so readily steal. At the age of fourteen, after having attended the best local schools about home, he was sent to New Haven, Connecticut, preparatory to entering a college, where two of his cousins, Col. Vincent and Gen. John S. Marmaduke, were then students. He was well advanced already, for after one year of study in Latin and Greek, he entered the Freshman class, and graduated in his twentieth year, one of its youngest members, in 1856. After studying law with Judge Krum in St. Louis, in the year 1857, not content, as yet, he spent the summer of ’58 at the University of Virginia, where William and Stephen Price then were, as a student in the chemical laboratory and from Charlottsville went to Europe. There he spent two years, being six months at Heidelberg; and besides the English language, we are informed he is the master of three others, German, French, and Spanish. He returned home on the eve of the election of 1860, and although in favor of Bell and Everett, the last representatives of the old whig party, in whose teachings of nationalism as opposed to sectional controversy, Col. Price had been reared – his father having always been a whig – after Lincoln was elected he opposed secession in public speeches at Marshall and Arrow Rock, with all the force and influence he could summon

   Saline county, being the centre of a large slave-holding interest, and the home of C. F. Jackson, his uncle by marriage, and the then Governor of Missouri, was the hot-bed of “Southern Rights,” and with party feeling ready to burst into organized war, it required not only strong convictions, but great boldness of character, even in a man of Colonel Price’s high social position, to resist the popular torrent. After argument had ceased, and the sword was unsheathed, on the first day of May 1861, Colonel Price was commissioned by the secretary of war a second lieutenant in the fifth infantry of the regular U. S. Army. Prefering to perform no acts except those incident to regular war, and not to participate in conflicts about home and among his own kindred – nearly all of whom where on the other side, and among them both his own brothers, he sought military service, honorable, but necessary, as remote as possible, and had the good fortune to be employed chiefly in the Adjutant General’s department. His first assignment of duty was at Fort Columbus, New York harbor, in the drilling and equipment of recruits, several detachments of which he distributed to the armies of Virginia in the summer of ’61, but in the fall of that year, he was chosen aid-de-camp on the staff of General C. F. Smith, who was ordered from Fort Columbus to Paducah, Kentucky, to collect and organize a column, which subsequently moved to Fort Donelson, and thence to Shiloh, and the sea. In the winter of ’62, however, Colonel Price was transferred to the headquarters of the Mississippi department, and there acted as adjutant general of the district of St. Louis, on the staff of General Hamilton, a brother-in-law of General Halleck, then chief commander of the department. St. Louis at this time was a vast camp, for the organization and shipment of troops to Tennessee, and when General Halleck, on the eve of his departure, took the field in person to command that army, Colonel Price as again promoted to be an aid-de-camp on his staff. In that capacity, alongside of Generals Grant, Sherman and Thomas, McPherson and Sheridan, the two latter of whom were also staff officers of General Halleck. Colonel Price served with the Tennessee army until Halleck was called to Washington to superintend, under Secretary Stanton, the strategic movements of all the United States armies. Therefore the staff of General Halleck was largely disbanded, and Colonel Price was returned to St. Louis, as chief mustering and disbursing officer of volunteers for the Mississippi department, having charge of hundreds of thousands of dollars, without any bond, and payable on his own individual check at the U. S. sub-treasury. Here he mustered into the U. S. service the commands of Generals F. P. Blair and Clinton B. Fisk, Governor Fletcher being a colonel of one, paying the expenses of collecting, drilling, and feeding the recruits, and large sums in bounties, etc., and as many irregularities then existed, he composed a phamphlet giving details of uniform action, in respect to this branch of the service, which afterwards became the basis of a fuller one issued from the adjutant general’s office. These duties being very onerous and responsible, while not very pleasant to a man indisposed to make money out of his office, opportunities and temptations to which were very abundant, Colonel Price, in the fall of ’62, accepted an offer from Governor Gamble, by consent of the secretary of war to command the Ninth Missouri cavalry, but as a vacancy occurred in the First Missouri cavalry, of which a regular U. S. army officer was commander, Colonel Price preferred to serve under him as lieutenant colonel, rather than accept a raw regiment. With this command he acted in Arkansas and Tennessee, but as the companies of it had been scattered in different departments, and could not be collected for any brilliant service, and he was shortly promoted to a captaincy of the Fifth infantry U. S. A., he asked to be relieved and put in command of his own company, then stationed in New Mexico, where he went in the fall of ’63, and served until it became evident that the toils of the Union armies were fast closing around the corpse of the rebellion.

   During the last year of our war, the Emperor Maximillian was at the height of his power in Mexico; while President Juarez, driven to El Paso, with some of his staff officers at work as laborers in the quartermaster’s department of Fort Bliss, headquarters of the 5^th Infantry, was, during the same year, flooding New Mexico with emissaries, seeking aid in the form of American soldiers and officers, to what seemed to be the dying cause of liberty in that republic. Col. Price, seeing no prospect or necessity for his regiment of regulars to be called from camp life on the frontier, eastward, where the death struggle of secession was then imminent; and preferring, at any rate, foreign to domestic war, determined to throw up his commission, so as to be in a condition to take part against French imperialism. This he did more readily on account of chronic rheumatism, which he contracted by sleeping on the ground, in crossing the plains, and required time and the hot springs of New Mexico for a cure. Col. Price hoped to combine a body of Federal soldiers, who would be mustered out of the U. S. service, with some ambitious ex-Confederates; but when the war ended Maximillian had weakened, while Juarez had strengthened, so as to be more independent, and then, what was wholly unaccountable, Generals Price, Shelby & Co. took the wrong side, thus sinking to nothingness in Mexico, when, by taking the other side, they might have been heroes, and forever regarded as the liberators of a nation. When these dreams, however, had faded, Col. Price, though still in the city of Chihuahua, and in correspondence with the Mexican government, hearing of the death of his father, which occurred September 30, 1865, immediately returned home, residing most of the time since with his mother, and assisting to keep intact a large landed estate through a long period of hard times and high taxes. In the spring of 1866, he opened a law office at Marshall, and helped to edit the Saline County Progress, strongly advocating the enfranchisement of the southern people; but when President Johnson and the Blairs reorganized the democratic party, subsequently, he withdrew from the paper and made an independent canvass for congress, as a conservative republican. He claimed then, as now, that “democracy” is a misnomer for the opposition to the northern monopolies; that it died with the war, and its name only keeps the north in power; that the new issues arising since our war, should have given us new names, new policies, new leaders, and a new era of peace and prosperity. He has since taken part in several canvasses as an independent republican, but always “scratches” his ticket in favor of the best men of either party. In religious matters Col. Price is as liberal, original, and independent as in politics. He thinks when no believer in Christ shall vote for a man who is not likewise a practical Christian, in his judgment, and that when this kind of virtue is generally elevated to office, as a matter of paramount importance to mere political differences, in contrast to the demagogues, liars, and thieves, now generally in office, the kingdom of God will have been established, to endure for ages, and that America, with its system of free suffrage, is the stone cut out of a mountain, which will some day fill the whole earth. In other words, it will represent a government of God’s rulers, for the benefit of God’s children. If not orthodox, he is at least patriotic. In 1866, December 5, Col. Price married Miss Sarah M. Bradford, of Arrow Rock, Missouri, who died December 30, 1870; and her death, together with that of an infant son, born September 24, of the same year, occasioned him much religious study for several years afterward. Of this union, Eulalia May Price, born June 12, 1868, remains to cheer her father.  Page 567-571

John B. Huston was born in Saline county, Missouri, July 16, 1854. His father and mother were natives, respectively, of Missouri and Virginia. He was raised on a farm, receiving his education in the common schools. He is a carpenter by trade, but is now engaged in the drug business, in Arrow rock. He has a good trade – is largely patronized, and deserves the success he has attained. He keeps a full assortment of pure drugs, and deals justly and liberally with his patrons. Mr. Huston is a young man, who is yet “heart whole and fancy free,” but is eminently deserving of the fair. Of temperate habits, active, energetic and preserving, a prosperous future awaits him, and, if spared to old age, it will surely be his pleasure to review a pathway to life all strewn with roses.  Pages 571

   William B. Sappington, second son of Dr. John Sappington, was born in Franklin, Tennessee, January the 4^th, 1811. When William was about six years of age, his father moved to a farm, near the present site of Glasgow, in Howard county, Missouri. Thence, in 1819, to Saline county, where he remained with his father on the farm, attending the common schools of the neighborhood. At the age of seventeen, he was sent to Cumberland College, a manual labor institution, near Princeton, Kentucky, where he remained four years. Returning home, he commenced the study of law, but his eyes failing him, he relinquished the undertaking, and turned his attention to farming, at the same time, assisting his father in the manufacture and sale of “Sappington’s Anti-Fever Pills.” In the enterprise, he was associated with his father, as partner, about ten years. On the 3d day of September, 1844. Mr. Sappington was married to Miss Mary Mildred, a daughter of Gov. John Breathitt, of Kentucky. Their union resulted in the following children: William Breathitt, (deceased), John Cardwell, Mildred J., Erasmus D. and Stella. In politics, Mr. Sappington has always been a democrat, and during the war was in sympathy with the South. From his early manhood, he had been prominent in the politics of the country, not as an office-seeker, nor an office-holder, but as a representative of public sentiment in various political assemblies, during a period of more than forty years. In 1844, he was a delegate to the national convention, which met at Baltimoreand nominated James K. Polk, for president. He has also been a member of several state conventions, and other public bodies – yet he has persistently declined to hold office, preferring to pursue his private vocation, which demands his whole attention. He is ever ready, however, at the call of his friends, to assist, by both personal exertion and pecuniary contribution, in any measure deemed conducive to the public good, or necessary in the economy of government. A man of notable public spirit, he contributes liberally to any enterprise that looks to the advancement of his state, county or community. Of great heart and large charity, the suffering poor find in him a friend and benefactor. But the most beautiful trait of his character is his plain, unselfish, unassuming disposition, which invites the esteem of even a stranger, and makes one, temporarily beneath his roof, feel himself the participant of a genuine, old-fashioned hospitality. He has been more than twenty years, trustee and treasurer of the “Sappington School Fund.” In 1866, he was elected president of the bank of Missouri, at Arrow Rock, in which capacity he continues to serve. His wife, who was many years a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and an earnest Christian, died August 13, 1880. No man in Saline county is more closely identified with her interests; and in all the elements of true manhood, William B. Sappington is excelled by no living man. This is not the language of a fulsome panegyrist, but a faithful epitome of a life that challenges the admiration of every lover of truth, purity and benevolence.  Page 571-572

   Jesse T. Baker.  The subject of this sketch is a native of Saline county, Missouri, and was born in the town of Arrow Rock, September 5, 1847. He received a fair education in the common schools, which he has greatly improved by intercourse with men, and by his faculty of obtaining whatever of useful information is to be gleaned from passing events. In 1863, he became a clerk in the dry goods store of H. S. Mills, of Arrow Rock, and was thus employed about seven years, when he opened a drug store on his own account in his native village. In 1875, Mr. Baker embarked in the commission business in St. Louis, but after two years returned to Arrow Rock, where he joined the occupation of farming to that of merchandising. He is the owner of a farm in section 27, township 50, of range 19, which is undoubtedly one of the finest in the county. It contains 160 acres, and is excellently adapted, not only to the growth of all the cereals, but is admirably suited to the raising of hemp, and every variety of fruit indigenous to this climate. The soil is deep, fertile, and exhaustless, and the entire farm is finely improved. The dwelling and out-buildings are substantial and commodious, and the supply of water is perennial and abundant. The farm is convenient to market, and the completion of the proposed Hannibal & Southwestern rail-road, will make it one of the most valuable and desirable places in the county. Mr. Baker was married in January, 1874, to Miss Belle C. Bradford, a daughter of the late Dr. Charles M. Bradford. Lottie Cosette, Ida L, Lavinia Belle, and Jesse B. are their children.  Page 572-573

   Benjamin F. Townsend, was born in Logan county, Kentucky, October 11, 1818. In 1819, his father settled on a farm in Cooper county, Missouri. He attended the common schools in the vicinity of his home, and his education is only such as they afforded. The school houses at that early day were of a very rude and primitive kind, and the building in which our subject attended school was made of unhewn logs, one of which was removed from either side and the apertures covered with greased paper to admit the light. The floor was the naked ground. In 1836, Mr. Townsend was employed as a clerk in a dry goods store at Jonesboro, the then county seat of Saline, where court was held in a log cabin, one apartment of which was used as a stable. In 1847, he opened a dry goods store in Arrow Rock, and has been engaged in that business continuously nearly thirty-five years. During this long period he has dealt liberally, justly, charitably with his fellow-citizens, and merits their lasting gratitude. March, 1855, he was married to Elizabeth Ann Durrette, by whom he had eight children, four of whom are now living. May 22, 1867, his wife died.  Page 573

George A. Murrell. In 1805, George Murrell, with his father, Samuel Murrell, emigrated from Virginia to Kentucky, and settled near Glasgow, in Barren county. There, February the 18^th, 1826, the subject of this sketch, youngest son of George Murrell, was born. Mr. Murrell’s parents died in his infancy, consequently he knows nothing of them, save what he has gathered from tradition. He was raised on a farm; and farming, together with trading in live stock, has been his only occupation, except during a brief interval, mentioned below. His education is not more extensive than familiarity with the ordinary English branches – such as are taught in the common schools of the country. This, however, is greatly strengthened by strong natural endowments, coupled with a retentive memory that stores whatever of value is to be learned from passing events. In 1847 Mr. Murrell went to New Orleans and engaged in buying horses and selling them to the government for service in the Mexican war. Three years later he left Kentucky, seeking a location further west, and traveled the state of Missouriin every direction. Returning to Kentucky in the fall of 1850, he purchased and carried south a drove of mules, which he disposed of in the southern markets. Mr. Murrell then went to Louisville, Kentucky, where he bought a stock of dry goods and shipped them to Carrollton, Missouri, without having made any previous arrangement for their delivery, disposition, or storage – being unacquainted in Carrollton, and wholly unfamiliar with the mercantile business. He remained at Carrollton through the summer of 1851, selling his goods with profit; becoming dissatisfied with merchandising, however, he sold the residue of his stock to a gentleman who had accompanied him from Kentucky, and went to Saline county with the view of buying mules. Hearing of a certain lot of mules for sale, he called on their owner, intending to buy them; instead of doing so, however, he purchased the gentleman’s farm, in section 11, township 49, of range 20 – the same on which Mr. Murrell now resides. In the winter of 1856 he sold his farm and went to Texas, with the intention of settling in that state. He returned to Missouri, however, the following autumn, and re-purchased the farm he had sold. February, 1859, Mr. Murrell was married to Miss Sophia T. McMahan, of Cooper county, to whom were born three sons: Leonard D., Wm. B. and George A., Jr. The last named lost his life by falling into a well. Mr. Murrell’s wife died in 1874, and he has since married Mrs. Sarah M. Thompson, nee Abney. One child, Minnie Sophia, blesses the second union. Of active, ardent temperament, no other calling could have been so congenial to his disposition as that of farming; and following the bent of his inclination with unyielding, patient endeavor, incited by a laudable ambition, and sustained by a consciousness of his own rectitude of purpose, Mr. Murrell has been amply and handsomely rewarded, as the truly deserving never fail to be. In politics, Mr. Murrell was, up to the war, a democrat. He has not voted for a presidential candidate since 1860, when he cast his ballot for Stephen A. Douglas. While he deprecated civil war, he believed that secession was wrong, and that its toleration would be ruinous to the country. Since that time he has been properly regarded as a republican, though, in truth, he is a member of no party. He upholds what he believes to be right and contributes liberally to whatever, in his opinion, has a tendency to promote the public good, but supports no man merely because he is the “nominee” of a particular political party.  Page 573-574

Joseph P. Wagner, M. D., was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, October 20, 1840. When Joseph was quite a small boy his father died, leaving him a meager estate, which he wisely elected to appropriate to the purpose of obtaining an education. He attended the common schools of his native county, was also a student at a neighboring seminary, and subsequently at the Ohio Wesleyan University. In 1857, Dr. Wagner left Ohio, to locate in Chamois, Osage county, Missouri. Here he studied medicine with Dr. W. S. McCall. In 1860-1, he attended the St. Louis medical college, at St. Louis, Missouri, and in the spring of the latter year, entered upon the practice of his profession in Chamois, Missouri. He continued to practice in that place until October, 1877, when he moved to Arrow Rock, Saline county, where he now resides, and is favored with an extensive lucrative practice, being known and esteemed as one of the leading physicians of the county, as well as a courteous Christian gentleman of a generous and obliging disposition. In November, 1861, Dr. Wagner was joined in marriage to Miss Clara R. Lyons, of Chamois. The union was blessed by five children, as follows; Lee, Mattie K., Georgia L., Clara L, and Ona (deceased). Mrs. Wagner, however, is not now among the living. She died in Arrow Rock, in March, 1879. Dr. Wagner has since married Miss S. T. Stratton, of Linn, Missouri. As a representative of Osage county, Dr. Wagner, was a member of the 28^th general assembly of Missouri. A good parliamentarian, a ready debater, a fluent, forcible speaker, his rank in that body is easily imagined. A man of unflagging energy, of zealous devotion to personal and professional duty, a skillful, vigilant practitioner, Dr. Wagner receives and deserves the moral and material support of those among whom his lot is cast.  Page 574-575

Francis M. Hickerson. The subject of this sketch is a native of Livingston county, Missouri, and was born August 6, 1841. When the boy was about three years old his father moved to Saline county, and settled on a farm, near the present site of Slater. His literary training is limited to that acquired in the common schools, but, in the fall of 1865, he entered the Ohio Dental College, at Cincinnati, Ohio. After attending a course of lectures, he returned to Missouri, and began the practice of dentistry, at Glasgow, whence, after one year, he moved to Arrow Rock, Saline county, where he has ever since remained, pursuing his profession. Dr. Hickerson was married July 9, 1868, to Miss Sallie Cobb, of Rocheport. They have one child, Mattie. Dr. H. has a good practice, which he justly merits, because he has succeeded. “The test of merit is success.”  Page 575

Carter M. Sutherlin. Michelborough and Sarah Sutherlin, the parents of the subject of this sketch, were natives of Virginia, but, in 1834, emigrated to Missouri, and settled on a farm, in Cooper county. Here, on the 11^th day of December, 1836, Carter M. Sutherlin was born. He received such education as the common schools of the neighborhood afforded, and in 1851 moved to Arrow Rock, where he embarked in the mercantile and commission business, in which he is now (1881) engaged. In May, 1860, Mr. Sutherlin joined the Missouri state guards, in which service he was first lieutenant, in Capt. W. B. Brown’s company, till that officer’s promotion, when he was elected to succeed him. After six months, Capt. Sutherlin joined the 2d Missouri cavalry, of the Confederate army, under command of Col. Robert McCulloch, and was first lieutenant in the company of which George Harper was captain. He was in the first Booneville fight and also in the engagements of Carthage, Springfield, Lexington, Pea Ridge, Corinth, Holly Springs, Tupelo, Memphis, and the famous Fort Pillow, as well as in all the important battles in east Tennessee and northern Mississippi, in which the 2d Missouri cavalry participated. Capt. Sutherlin served throughout the war, and, in May, 1865, received his parole, at Columbus, Mississippi, to return to his home in Arrow Rock, and resume the commission business—dealing in grain, groceries, tobacco, etc. In 1874, he was elected county clerk, but resigned in January, 1876. November 30, 1865, Capt. Sutherlin was married to Miss Nannie H. McMahan, of Arrow Rock, a union blessed by three children, as follows: Frank Gaines, Ray Michelborough, and Guy Hunter. A worthy citizen, a true soldier, a generous and obliging gentleman, we take pleasure in paying this tribute to a character deserving a more extended notice than the plan of this work will allow.  Page 575-576

Lucius J. Gaines was born in Petersburg, Virginia, but came to Missouriabout 1854, and taught school for several years in Glasgow, from which town he moved to Arrow Rock and engaged in business, first with D. R. Durrett and afterwards with Capt. C. M. Sutherlin. In response to Gov. Jackson’s call for troops for the Confederate service, he joined the “State Guards,” and retreated south with Gov. Jackson; was wounded at Carthage. In February, 1862, he joined the 2d Missouri cavalry, and was adjutant to its commander, Col. Robt. McCulloch. In this capacity he continued to serve until he lost his life in the battle of Moscow, Tennessee, in the autumn of 1863. He remains were buried at Holly Springs, Mississippi.  Page 576

Robert W. McClelland. The subject of this sketch was born in Callaway county, Missouri, December 24, 1835. His parents, Elisha and Elizabeth McClelland, were natives of Bourbon county, Kentucky, but about the year 1830, removed to Missouri, and settled in Callaway county, on the farm where Robert was born. The boy attended the schools of Rocheport, where he received the rudiments of an education, afterwards completed at Walnut Grove Academy, in Boone county, and at the University of Virginia. In 1858, he commenced reading medicine with Dr. John Wilcox, at Rocheport, and in the fall of the following year, entered the University of Virginia, above mentioned. After the execution of the celebrated John Brown at Harper’s Ferry, he returned to Missouri, and began the practice of his chosen profession. In the fall of 1861, he entered the Missouri MedicalCollege, in which he took two courses of lectures. During the latter session he was appointed dental surgeon of the college, which position he held till the succeeding winter, discharging its duties with credit to himself and to the faculty. Leaving the Missouri Medical College, he went to Pleasant Green, Cooper county, and re-commenced the practice of medicine. On the 18^th of December, 1861, Dr. McClelland was united in marriage to Miss Mattie Phillips, daughter of Judge Hiram and Elizabeth Phillips, and cousin of Col. John F. Phillips, at present (1881) a representative in congress. A daughter Nora Adella, blesses the union. Dr. McClelland being a sympathizer with the south, and an advocate of the principles for which she took up arms, was elected secretary of the first meeting held in that neighborhood for the purpose of raising troops for the Confederate service, in obedience to a call made by Claiborne F. Jackson, the governor of the state. This was a strong Union neighborhood, largely settled by Germans, all of whom were zealous adherents to the Federal cause; hence the surroundings were not congenial to one of Dr. McClelland’s views. About this time a regiment of Confederate recruits was organized, of which Dr. McClelland was elected surgeon. But having been petitioned by a number of the citizens of Bell Air and vicinity, to cast his lot among them, he chose to accept the latter.

Dr. McClelland remained at Bell Air till the fall of 1863. By this time the country had become infested by a class of soldiers, of either army, who had little regard for the property or lives of those who opposed them. Hence the safety of citizens was in constant peril. Especially that of one engaged in the active pursuit of a practicing physician. Therefore, Dr. McClelland accepted the invitation of his aged father-in-law to make the latter’s house his home. He remained with his father-in-law, in Boone county, till the spring of 1864, at which time he purchased a farm adjoining Millersburg, in Callaway county. Missouri, and continued thereon till the next spring, when he sold the farm and removed to Arrow Rock, in Saline county, where he continued the practice of his profession, and has ever since resided.

Dr. McClelland has been favored with a large and lucrative practice, to which professional skill, coupled with devotion to duty, justly entitle him. He is known not only as one of the leading physicians of Arrow Rock, but ranks high among the foremost physicians of Missouri. He was appointed by the general assembly a member of the board of physicians to examine the graduating class (1879) of medical students of the state university. On the death of Dr. Arnold, professor of theory and practice, in that institution, he was tendered that chair, by its president and board of curators. Preferring an active practice, however, he respectfully declined. A public-spirited gentleman, Dr. McClelland takes great interest in whatever looks to the advancement of society, or to the amelioration of the condition of his fellow man. Having ever been a fast friend of public enterprise, progressive, energetic, the success he has achieved, as a physician, citizen, and member of society, is not to be wondered at. In addition to his professional labors, Dr. M. deals in live-stock, and is considerably interested in real estate, owning three farms in Saline, one in Cooper and one in Gentry county, Missouri. He is now (February, 1881) in connection with others, actively engaged in furthering the project of building a railway, to be known as the Hannibal & Southwestern, and to cross the Missouri river at Arrow Rock.  Page 576-577-578

   John H. Gaines, P. O., Marshall. Was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, September 15, 1828. The third son of Mortimer D. Gaines, was about seven years old when his father moved west, from Virginia, and settled in Saline county. Most of his education was obtained in this county. His first teacher was David Howard, and the school house, near the present Russell farm, six miles from Arrow Rock, was a log cabin, the interstices in the wall daubed with mud, and the benches composed of split logs with legs put in them – similar to all the school houses of the county at that day. To reach this, John had to walk three miles across the prairie. Science may not have been so advanced in these old school houses as it is in the more imposing ones of the present day, but there was more religion, and somehow their teaching resulted in better men. Mr. Gaines lived with his father, off and on until 1868. About 1855 a quarter section of land, 160 acres, was entered for him by his father, and a hedge planted around it, to which 260 acres was afterward added. In 1862 he went to Canada, and remained there a year, spending some time at Niagara, and in Illinois. In 1863 he returned home, and went with his brother, Dr. Gaines, to Colorado, where he remained until February, 1864, returning to Nebraska City, where he spent some months. In the spring of 1864 he came back to his father’s farm and remained there until 1872, farming with his brother William. In 1872 he moved to his own farm, which he has improved finely, having 420 acres, all under fence, and fenced off into 40 acre fields.  Page 578

William Washington Allen, P. O., Marshall. Was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, May 17, 1820, where he was raised and educated. His father, Asa Allen was a native of Virginia, coming, when quite a boy, with his parents to Bourbon county, Kentucky, where he also was raised and educated. At the age of twenty-three, he was married to Miss Sallie Duly, born in Clark county, Kentucky, and to them were born nine children, of whom eight are now living, six girls and two boys;  Mrs. Mary Ann Ford, Mrs. Elizabeth Kennedy, Mrs. Amanda Ammerman, Mrs. Susan Cartrill, Mrs. Ellen Carrick and Mrs. Catherine Coil, John W., and Wm. W. In 1837, his first wife died in Bourbon county, and was buried at Pleasant Green Church. Afterwards, he married Miss Polly Berry, and by her had one child, a daughter, Mrs. Sallie Petticord. His second wife died in 1840, in Bourbon county, and was buried there. His third wife was Eliza J. Morgan, a native of New Jersey, and they have three children, all living, two boys and one girl: Earnest, David W., and Mrs. Elvira Anderson. Mr. Allen died September 10, 1856. Wm Allen, the second son of his father’s first wife, lived with his father on the farm, in Bourbon county, Kentucky, untll he was thirty years of age. During the next five years, he lived and farmed for himself. At the age of thirty-five, he was married to Miss Mary O. Ward, a native of Kentucky, and daughter of C. A. Ward, merchant. They had six children, four of them living, two sons and two daughters: Rubene, Asa W., William C., Georgie B.; all except the last born in Kentucky. In the spring of 1867, he moved to Saline county, and lived five years on the place adjoining Marshall, which Judge Strother owns, and where he now resides. Mr. Allen sold 20 acres of this lad, at $200 per acre. He also sold to Samuel Boyd, 40 acres, upon part of which the depot now stands – and then traded the balance, 137 acres, for 375 acres, where he now lives, six miles east of Marshall. He now has a fine farm of 260 acres, all under fence and in cultivation.  Page 578-579

   James M. Durrett, P. O., Marshall. Was born in Saline county, Missouri, October 24, 1853, where he was raised and was educated at Kemper’s Academy, Booneville, Missouri. His father, Marshall Durrett, was a native of Virginia coming to Missouriat about the age of eighteen, and was married to Margaret Garrett. After leaving school, he went home, and with his brother, M. C. Durrett, worked his father’s farm, eight miles east of Marshall, on the Marshall and Arrow Rock road. In 1876, he built on his own farm, just north of the old homestead, and moved there, and has lived there since. He owns 180 acres of prairie land, and is busily and successfully engaged in farming. He is not yet married, but then he may be any time.  Page 579

William F. Gaines, P. O., Marshall. Mr. Gaines was born in Albemarlecounty, Virginia, January 13, 1826. His father M. D. Gaines, was born in Culpepper county, Virginia, and was a farmer there. He was married, January 10, 1822, to Emily Fretwell, a native of Albemarlecounty, Virginia. They had five children, three of whom are now living, two sons, William F. and John H., and one daughter, Mrs. Matilda L. Piper. Mr. M. D. Gaines is still living; his wife died September 5, 1873, and was buried in the Marshall cemetery. He moved to Saline county in 1835, and first settled seven miles northwest of Arrow Rock on what is now known as the Dinsmore farm, bringing his negroes from Virginia with him. William F., the second son, was about nine years old when his parents moved to Saline county, and recalls very little of the then long tedious trip. He obtained his education in this county. Until he was married, he attended to his father’s business. In 1869, June 3, he was married to Miss M. A. Ingram, a native of Saline, and daughter of James S. Ingram, who was a native of Montgomery county, Virginia, and married Miss M. J. Gorham, a native of Tennessee. Mrs. Wm. F. Gaines was educated at McGee College during the years 1858-9. They have had four children, three of who are now living, all girls: Emma, Addie, and Ella. After his marriage, Mr. Gaines moved to a farm entered by his father, eight miles east of Marshall, on which he now resides, owning and farming 320 acres of splendid land. During the war he did not enter the army, his father being so feeble that he was compelled to stay and take care of him.  Page 579-580

George Willis, P. O., Orearville. Was born in Orange county, Virginia, June 14, 1834, where he was reared and educated. His father Joshua Willis, was a native of Madisoncounty, Virginia, and a farmer. He was married to Ara Willis, a native of Culpepper county, Virginia, and daughter of Isaac Willis. They had seven children, five of which are living; Owen T., Benj. F., George, Mrs. Betty T. Lewis and Mrs. Mary Ish. Joshua Willis died and was buried in Culpepper county, Virginia; his wife survived him, died and was buried at Mt. Horeb, in Saline county, in 1865. George, the fourth son, after stopping school, devoted his time to the management of his mother’s business on the farm. In the fall of 1857, he, with his mother and family, moved west, settling in Saline county, Missouri, where two of his brothers had already located some years previous. They traveled by land in wagons, and brought some twenty or thirty slaves with them. They first settled on what is now known as the Richard Durrett farm, two miles south of the present city of Slater, where he farmed until 1859. In April, 1859, he was married to Miss Margia Ish, of Saline county, a daughter of W. L. Ish. They have two children; Ortha L. and Etha G.; and in the same year he moved to the farm on which he now resides, five and one-half miles south of Slater, where he owns eighty-eight acres of first-class land. In the fall of 1864, he enlisted in company G, Williams’ regiment, Shelby’s division, as a private, and was in the battles of Independence, Big and Little Blue, Westport and near Ft. Scott. He was discharged in 1865, and returned to his farm.  Page 580

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