Dade County

W. C. Holman is a native of Dade County, having been born here in 1851. His parents are Giles and Louisa (Hayter) Holman, of Tennessee, where they were married, and, in 1850, came to Dade County; they have since lived near the boundary in Polk County. Mr. Holman has a good farm, and is a successful farmer and stock-raiser. His wife died in 1876. W. C. Holman is the oldest of eight children, four sons and four daughters, and was educated in the common country schools. In 1872 he was married to Elizabeth J., daughter of James Moore, born in …

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Joel T. Hembree, ex-county judge and proprietor of the Challenge Mills at Greenfield, Mo., purchased one half interest in the mills in 1881. The mill was erected in 1880, at a cost of $3,000, with two sets of buhrs, and in 1887 it was changed to eight sets of rollers, with a capacity of forty barrels per day. Mr. Hembree started in partnership with C. Depee, but in 1883 he bought Mr. Depee’s interest. Mr. Hembree was born in Roane County, Tenn., in 1824, and is the son of Isaac and Mary (Blake) Hembree, and is the grandson of Joel …

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Amos Helphenstine, hardware merchant of Greenfield, and one of the prominent business men of the city, was born in Greene County, Penn., in 1837, and is the son of William Alexander and Elizabeth (Piatt) Helphenstine, and the grandson of William Henry Helphenstine. The grandfather was a native of Holland, and come to the United States long before the Colonial period, and the family took active part in the Revolution. He was merchant at Winchester, Va., and died in 1852, at the age of 87 years. William Alexander Helphenstein was a native of Winchester, Va., born April 1, 1808, and was …

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William T. Hastings, farmer and notary public of rock Prairie Township, was born in Jackson County, Ala., in 1826. His father was John H. Hastings, born in North Carolina I 1793, who married Margaret Gentry, a native of Tennessee, who died when the subject of this sketch was three weeks old. Mr. John H. Hastings married the second time in Tennessee, and in 1846 came to Greene County, Mo. He was of a roving nature, and lived in Texas at the breaking out of the war, and afterwards went to Kansas, where he died in 1866. He was a son …

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John Harrison, postmaster at Greenfield, Mo., was born in Boone Co., Mo., May 22, 1825, and is the son of George and Malinda (Lynes) Harrison, and the grandson of John and Elizabeth (Harris) Harrison. George Harrison was born in Alexander, Va., September 3, 1800, and was left an orphan when but a small boy. After the death of his parents he was taken by his uncle, a Mr. Dennis, who removed to Woodford County, Ky., and here George learned the saddler’s trade. When a young man he went to Old Franklin, Howard County, Mo., and shortly afterward to Columbia, Boone …

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Charles W. Griffith, editor of the Greenfield Vedette, was born in 1837, near Gettysburg, Adams County, Penn. He lived in the State of Ohio from 1842 to 1870, and was educated at the Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio; taught in the public schools of that State seven years; served in the Union army from August, 1863, until November, 1866. Came to Dade County, Mo., in September, 1870, where he has ever since resided.

Frederick Grether, hardware merchant, of Greenfield, is a native of the Grand Dutchy of Baden, Germany, born in 1850, and is the son of Jacob and Mary Grether. There were eight children born to this union, five of whom came to the United States. Frederick Grether was but nine years of age when he accompanied his sister to the United States. They settled in Philadelphia, remained there three years, and then Frederick emigrated to Bond County, Ill., and two years later went to St. Louis. In 1866 he commenced working at the tinner’s trade, and served an apprenticeship of three …

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Charles W. Gray is a member of the firm of C. W. Gray & Co., dealers in general hardware, farm machinery, etc., at Lockwood, Mo. This business was established in 1888, as successors to H. C. Watterman & Sons, the value of the stock being from $5,000 to $6,000, and is one of the best establishments of the kind in Dade County. Mr. Gray was born in Chester County, Penn., in 1834, and is the son of William and Catherine (Bender) Gray, natives of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, respectively. They were married in Pennsylvania, and when their son, Charles W. …

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Henry Gillman, an extensive sheep-raiser and farmer of Marion Township, Dade County, Mo., and president of the Bank of Lockwood, was born in Brunswick, Germany, in 1831. His parents, Andrew and Mary (Lohman) Gillman, were both natives of Germany, the former born in Brunswick in 1800, and the latter in Hanover in 1811. They were married in their native country, emigrated to the United States in 1849, and settled in Macoupin County, Ill., where the father spent the remainder of his days. He died in 1868, but the mother is still living, and is a member of the Lutheran Church. …

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E. C. Gillett, presiding judge of the county court of Dade County, and a resident of Lockwood, was born in Stephenson County, Ill., in 1836. His father, Ezra B. Gillett, was descended from three brothers who came from Wales in a very early day; he was born in Oneida County, New York, in 1806, but left home in 1826, went to Wisconsin, and mined several years, then to Ohio, where he married Sophronia Rima, a native of Onondaga County, New York, born in 1810. From there he removed to Illinois, thence to Wisconsin, and in 1870 to Lawrence County, Mo., …

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