Missouri Genealogy, Author at Missouri Genealogy

Biography of Col. Benjamin S. Jones of Rock Prairie Township

History of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade and Barton Counties, Missouri

Col. Benjamin S. Jones, born in 1832 in Putnam County, Indiana, was a farmer and stock-raiser in Rock Prairie Township. Orphaned at twelve, he lived with an elder brother until adulthood. Jones attended DePauw University and taught school before enlisting in the Third Iowa Cavalry during the Civil War, eventually rising to the rank of colonel. He married Mrs. Kate Newcomb in 1864, with whom he had a daughter, Cora F. Post-war, Jones served as treasurer and auditor in Wayne County, Iowa, and edited the Wayne County Republican. He settled near Greenfield, Missouri, and was active in the Methodist Episcopal Church and the G. A. R. His wife passed away in 1883.

Biography of Monroe Ingraham

Monroe Ingraham, born November 16, 1825, in Chautauqua County, New York, was the proprietor of the Dadeville Roller Mill in Missouri. The eldest child of Thomas and Julia (Balis) Ingraham, Monroe moved with his family to Washtenaw County, Michigan, in 1832. He married Mary Abbott on August 7, 1850, and they relocated to Springfield, Missouri, in 1857, where Monroe established a foundry and machine shop. In 1870, the family moved to Dadeville, where Monroe operated a sawmill and later a grist mill. In 1886, he completed the first roller mill in Dade County. Monroe was a Prohibitionist and an active member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Biography of Seymour Hoyt of Greenfield

Seymour Hoyt, born in Marshall County, Illinois, in 1844, was a prominent attorney, real estate agent, and abstracter in Greenfield, Missouri. The son of James and Maria (Hitchcock) Hoyt, he was educated in public schools and Lombard University. Hoyt enlisted in the 132nd Illinois Infantry during the Civil War. Moving to Greenfield, Missouri, in 1867, he held various public offices, including probate judge of Dade County. Admitted to the bar in 1884, Hoyt practiced law and engaged in real estate and abstracting. He married Mattie McDowell in 1868, and they had seven children. Politically a Republican, he was active in the Masonic Fraternity and the Baptist Church.

Biography of W. C. Holman of Dade County

W. C. Holman, a native of Dade County, was born in 1851. His parents, Giles and Louisa (Hayter) Holman, originally from Tennessee, moved to Dade County in 1850 and later resided near the Polk County boundary. Holman, the eldest of eight children, was educated in local schools. In 1872, he married Elizabeth J. Moore. After living in Barton County and Kansas, they returned to Dade County around 1883. Holman worked as a liveryman and stock and grain dealer. Politically a Democrat, he served as constable in Everton and was active in the A. F. & A. M. and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Biography of Joel T. Hembree of Greenfield

Joel T. Hembree, born in 1824 in Roane County, Tennessee, was the ex-county judge and proprietor of Challenge Mills in Greenfield, Missouri. He purchased a half-interest in the mill in 1881 and became the sole owner in 1883. The mill, initially built in 1880, was upgraded in 1887 to a capacity of forty barrels per day. Hembree moved to Missouri in 1852 and was a successful farmer with 1,200 acres. A Civil War veteran, he served in the Missouri Cavalry and rose to second lieutenant. He was a Democrat before the war but became a Republican during and after. Hembree married three times and had numerous children. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and the G.A.R., and he and several family members were part of the Christian Church.

Biography of Amos Helphenstine of Greenfield

Amos Helphenstine, born in 1837 in Greene County, Pennsylvania, was a prominent hardware merchant in Greenfield, Missouri. He was the eldest son of William Alexander Helphenstine, a coppersmith and tinner, and Elizabeth Piatt. Amos was educated at Waynesburgh College and trained in the coppersmith and tinner trade. During the Civil War, he served in Company F, Eighth Pennsylvania Reserve Corps from 1861 to 1864. After the war, he moved west, eventually settling in Greenfield in 1867, where he established his hardware business. In 1868, he married Sarah Jane Newton, and they had two daughters, Mary E. and Annie E. Helphenstine was also a skilled musician, a member of the G.A.R., and a staunch Republican and supporter of public education.

Biography of William T. Hastings of Rock Prairie Township

William T. Hastings, born in 1826 in Jackson County, Alabama, was a farmer and notary public in Rock Prairie Township, Missouri. He was the son of John H. Hastings, born in North Carolina in 1793, and Margaret Gentry. Raised by an aunt in Tennessee, Hastings moved to Missouri in 1851 and settled in Dade County in 1853, where he acquired 240 acres of land near Everton. He served in the Missouri Militia and U.S. Missouri Cavalry during the Civil War. Married twice, he fathered twelve children. A lifelong Democrat, he served as justice of the peace and had been a notary public since 1886. Hastings was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and Washington Lodge No. 87, A. F. & A. M.

Biography of John Harrison of Greenfield

John Harrison, born on May 22, 1825, in Boone County, Missouri, was the postmaster of Greenfield, Missouri. He was the son of George Harrison, born in Virginia in 1800, and Malinda Lynes, born in Kentucky in 1803. John Harrison grew up in Boone County and initially worked as a harness maker before turning to merchandising in Greene County. He married Mary E. Foushee in 1853, and they had nine children. Harrison moved to Greenfield in 1866, establishing a harness shop. Appointed postmaster in 1885, he served effectively. A Democrat, he was also active in the local school board and city council.

Biography of Charles W. Griffith

Charles W. Griffith, born in 1837 near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was the editor of the Greenfield Vedette. He lived in Ohio from 1842 to 1870, receiving his education at Ohio Wesleyan University. Griffith taught in Ohio public schools for seven years and served in the Union army from August 1863 to November 1866. In September 1870, he moved to Dade County, Missouri, where he lived since.

Biography of Frederick Grether of Greenfield

Frederick Grether, born in 1850 in Baden, Germany, was a prominent hardware merchant in Greenfield, Missouri. He immigrated to the United States at age nine, initially settling in Philadelphia before moving to Bond County, Illinois, and later St. Louis. Grether began working in the tinner’s trade in 1866, eventually opening a successful hardware store in Greenfield in 1883. In 1881, he married Augusta Dienst from Gasconade County, Missouri, and they had three children: Walter, Frederick, and Ralph. A Republican, Grether cast his first presidential vote for Horace Greeley in 1872. He was also a member of the I.O.O.F. and A.O.U.W.