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Encyclopedia of Missouri - Biographies
The Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri was edited by Howard L. Conard and published by the Southern History Company, of New York, Louisville, and St. Louis, in 1901.
The University of Missouri Library has made avilable the entire contents of the 6 volume set on its website as part of the Virtually Missouri project. The books are in a section called Missouri: Its History, Geology and Culture.
The following items have been taken from the book:
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Avery, Henry
Avery, Henry, one of the earliest settlers of Henry County, was a native of Tennessee. In 1812 he served under General Jackson against the Seminole Indians; he attracted the attention of General Jackson, whom he served as a secretary; the acquaintance was maintained until broken by death, and they kept up a friendly and confidential correspondence. Henry Avery married Miss Elizabeth Green, of White County, Tennessee, in 1819. In 1830 they immigrated to Missouri, stopping in the counties of St. Louis and Morgan. Avery visited Henry County the same year, and stake the claim upon which he settled and to which he removed his family in 1831. He made his home in Tebo Township, the first part of Henry (Rives) County which was opened by white men; he was probably the first to break prairie; he put up the first hews log home in the county, and about 1835 was the first to put window glass in a dwelling. In that house was born his daughter, Susan, afterward Mrs. Henry Roberts, the first white child born in the county. The first birth was that of a colored child, whose mother belonged to him. He was the first justice of the peace after the creation of Rives County, and the first county court sat at his home. Upon his land the first store was opened, by Stephen Clark. He was an old school Baptist, and was ordained to the ministry in 1832; he preached all through central and southwest Missouri, to Indians as well as to whites, without recompense; meanwhile he carried on farming industriously and amassed a competency. He was an earnest and forcible speaker, fairly well educated, and commanded great attention. In 1842 he engaged in a debate with Joshua Page, a Christian, which was regarded for years afterwards with admiration. He died September 26, 1845, aged fifty-two years. Of his children, August Clark became one of the most influential men in Henry County, and John M. became a leading financier. Both men reside in Clinton.
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Boone, Banton Gallatin
Boone, Banton Gallatin, an eminent lawyer, was born October 23, 1838, in Callaway County, Missouri, and died at Clinton, Missouri, February 11, 1900. He was descended from the famous pioneer, Daniel Boone, through both his parents, Banton Gallatin Boone and Elizabeth Boone, and the maiden name of the mother was the same as her married name. The father was a physician, who came to Missouri in 1818, locating first in Callaway County, thence removing to Pike County, and finally returning to Callaway County, where he died. The son, Banton G. Boone, was but three months old when his father died. Until he was twelve years of age he lived with his maternal grandparents, and when sixteen years of age he began work in a printing office in Troy, Missouri. In 1856 he went to Clinton, Missouri, and although without friends or means, he there began a career which became eminently successful. He soon obtained appointment as a deputy circuit clerk, and occupied the position for about four years. At the end of this time, although he had never attended school a single day, he was a well informed young man, who had devoted his night hours not only to the acquisition of an English education, but to reading law. In 1860 he was admitted to the bar, at Clinton, by Judge Foster P. Wright. He had scarcely begun practice when the Civil War began, and he entered the Confederate service., When peace was restored he returned to Clinton, and resumed practice, soon coming to be recognized as one of the foremost lawyers of western Missouri. In 1884 he was elected Attorney General of the State of Missouri, and acquitted himself in a manner which brought him the highest encomiums from the most distinguished jurists. During his term of service he represented the State in the Maxwell murder case, in the Supreme Court of Missouri, and in the Supreme Court of the United States. In his official capacity he was counsel in the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railway bond case, and appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States, where a judgment was rendered which saved to the state about one-half million dollars. Well read in all departments of his profession, he particularly excelled in that of constitutional law. He was a forceful speaker, and at times rose to flights of eloquence. One of his most masterly efforts, for which he was warmly complimented by Chief Justice Henry, and Judges Ray, Sherwood, Black and Norton, was a memorial address delivered upon the death of Judge Waldo P. Johnson, before the Supreme Court of Missouri. His address on the celebrated Birch vs. Benton slander case was a unique production, and has an enduring place in professional literature. He was a man of broad and liberal information, courteous in his bearing, and while tenacious of his views in upholding Democratic principles, he was tolerant of the opinions of others. In 1874 he was elected to the Legislature, from Henry County, by the largest majority ever received by a candidate in that county, and upon taking his seat was elected Speaker, defeating General James Shields. In 1887 he was appointed by Governor Marmaduke as a commissioner to the Centennial Anniversary of the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and in 1889 he was appointed by Governor Morehouse as a delegate from Missouri to the Centennial Anniversary of the Inauguration of President George Washington, at New York. He was married June 4, 1874, to Miss Irene Rogers, a daughter of Dr. John A. Rogers, of Clinton, Missouri. Her mother was a sister of Major General Gorman, once Governor of Minnesota, and United States Senator from that state, and a cousin of Senator Gorman, of Maryland.
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Brinkerhoff, William E.
Brinkerhoff, William E., banker, was born August 12, 1832, at Jamaica, Long Island, New York. His parents were John L. and Sophia (Platt) Brinkerhoff, both natives of New York. The father was descended from a Holland family, which settled on the site of the present city of New York in 1638, thirteen years after the erection of the first building on that ground. The sympathies of all were with the American Revolutionists, but none were of sufficiently mature years at the time to render military service. William E. Brinkerhoff was educated at a military academy at his native town, and upon leaving school learned the furniture business. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in General Sickles' Excelsior Brigade, and with that command served a three years' term in the Union Army. He was then commissioned quartermaster, with the rank of first -lieutenant, in the fifty-Sixth Regiment of New York Infantry Volunteers. While in the service he participated in nearly all the campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, in its various operations directed against Richmond, the Confederate Capital. In front of that city, in 1862, he suffered from a sunstroke, from the efforts of which he was disabled for a short time. He resigned his commission after the surrender of the armies of Generals Lee and Johnston. He then removed tom Missouri, located at Clinton, where he established a real estate and loan business, at the same time engaging in a furniture business in association with his brother. In 1869 he retired from the latter business, continuing his real estate and loan operations. In 1887 he merged his interests in a corporation called the Brinkerhoff-Faris Trust and Savings Company, of which he was President and manager. This business he disposed of October 1, 1890. In 1882 he bought the Traders' Bank of Carthage, which had succeeded to the liquidated First National Bank of the same city, and in the same year he removed to Carthage. In August, 1883, he reorganized the Traders' Bank as the First National Bank of Carthage, increasing the capital to $100,000. He was made president of his bank and has since filled that position, being now (1900) the oldest bank president, in point of service, in Jasper County. This was the first financial institution inn that place to operate with adequate capital. Under his management it has taken rank with the most prosperous and substantial banking houses in southwest Missouri. September 7, 1899 its official statement showed a surplus of $16,447.19; circulation $31,500; deposits $303,408.84, and loans $198,184.00. Mr. Brinkerhoff has occupied various positions of honor and trust, discharging with scrupulous fidelity and signal ability every duty imposed on him. From 1865 to 1867 he was deputy circuit clerk and record of Henry County and from 1868 to 1872 he was county surveyor. In 1872 and 1873 he was United States commissioner, having been appointed under President's Grant's administration. He has always been deeply interested in educational concerns, and for ten years, beginning in 1872, he was a public school director in Clinton, during his official term instituting and carrying to success various measures of material advantage to the interests which he held to be of paramount importance. He was formerly a Democrat, and an adherent of the Tammany organization in New York. In 1864, convinced that the preservation of the Union depended upon the re-election of Lincoln, he connected himself with the Republican Party, and from that day has been one of its most sincere and zealous members. In September, 1866, he was married to Miss Eliza Wicks, a daughter of Captain Hiram Wicks, of Bayport, Long Island, New York. To this union were born ten children, of whom two are deceased. Beatrice is the wife of Samuel P. Jones, member of a wholesale vinegar firm in Louisville, Kentucky. Mary B. is the wife of Alvah M. Tebbets, of the Mansure & Tebbetts Implement Company of St. Louis, Missouri. Cora is the wife of F. V. Norton, formerly of Champaign, Illinois and now residing in Louisville, Kentucky. Anna W., Ida C., Grace D., and Edith S. were educated in the Carthage schools. Elwyn is a student in the military academy at Bunker Hill, Illinois. Mr. Brinkerhoff gives his personal attention to the management of the banking house which he practically established. He is of robust frame and commanding appearance, and his personal qualities are such as to win the respect and confidence of all who come into contact with him.
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Keith, Richard H.
Keith, Richard H., whose name is linked with the most important commercial interest s of Kansas City, was born May 23, 1842, in Lexington, Lafayette County, Missouri.The Keiths were born in Fauquier County, Virginia and came to Missouri either in 1838 or 1839. The father, Smith Keith, was a prosperous planter, and also a \saddle and harness manufacturer, a man well known during the days which marked the pioneer history of the western portion of this State. The first Keith of which there is accurate record landed in this country in 1642, coming from Scotland. The early history of the family is conspicuous on account of the deeds of its members and the positions of honor which they obtained. Parson" Keith, a Episcopal bishop of note, was the first member of the family to settle in Virginia. The Keiths are related to the Marshall, one of the most distinguished Virginia families, and documents bearing on Revolutionary affairs contain records which give evidence of a lineage in which pride is justified. Richard H. Keith received his early education in the Masonic College of Lexington, Lafayette County, Missouri. After leaving school and until the outbreak of the Civil War he served as a deputy county and circuit court clerk at Georgetown, Pettis County, Missouri. At the beginning of internecine strife he enlisted in the Confederate Army. He was with Rains' Division at the Battle of Lexington and was afterward with Gen. Sterling Price. He had a lively and checkered service throughout the war, was at the battle of Corinth, the siege of Vicksburg, and other notable engagements, and in 1863 was made a prisoner at Vicksburg, being held until November following, when he escaped. After the war Mr. Keith went to California and was engaged in agricultural work there for about two years. Leaving the Pacific Coast, he came back to Leavenworth, Kansas, and was in the freighting business for the government for about two years. During the next three years he was engaged in the dry goods business in Leavenworth, and in 1871 removed to Kansas City, Missouri, where he has since resided. His first business venture in Kansas City was as a dealer in coal, and in that line he has continued, being successful to a marked degree. The name of the first firm with which he was connected in this branch of the trade was Mitchell & Keith. There were then successive changes which saw the establishment and dissolution of R. Keith & Co., Keith & Bovard, Keith & Henry, Keith & Perry, the Keith & Perry Coal Company, and, finally, the present substantial organization of the Central Coal & Coke Company, of which he is president. His relations with John Perry began in 1882. The Keith & Perry Coal Company was incorporated in 1888 and the existing corporation was authorized to carry on business in 1893. Mr. Keith is a director of the National Bank of Commerce of Kansas City, president of the Arkansas & Choctaw Railroad Company, and president of the Louisiana & Texas Lumber Company, and has financial interests in several other corporations. He gives his personal attention, however, to the management of the three companies of which he is president. He adheres to the Catholic faith in religious affiliation. He was married to Miss Anna Boarman, of Kansas City, daughter of Dr. S. Boarman, who was a former practitioner at Boonville and Kansas City, and a well known and honored citizen. He was one of the most noted surgeons in the central part of the State. To Mr. and Mrs. Keith three children, two sons and a daughter, were born. Charles S. Keith is assistant general manager and general sales agent of the Central Coal & Coke Company; Dr. Robert L. Keith is house surgeon at St. Joseph's hospital in Kansas City; the daughter is Mrs. C. W. Hastings of Kansas City. Mrs. Keith died in August, 1876, and Mr. Keith married, in 1878, Miss Mary Boarman, of Kansas City. They have five living children, Anna F., Richard H. Jr., Virginia, Emily C., and Mary T. Keith. Politically Mr. Keith is a Gold Democrat.
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Salmon, Harvey W.
Salmon, Harvey Wallis, banker and financier, was born January 26, 1839, in Greenville District, South Carolina. His father, Ezekiel J. Salmon, also a native of that State and a farmer by occupation, removed to Morgan County, Missouri, in 1839, and engaged in farming and stock-breeding. The son, Harvey W. Salmon, passed his boyhood upon his father's farm, in the winters attending such schools as were then maintained in an agricultural country. When thirteen years of age he engaged in a store at Versailles, in Morgan "County, and there laid the foundation for a substantial business career. In 1859, in the same city, he became a partner with his brothers in a general store, and was so engaged until May, 1861, when the firm closed their doors, leaving their goods as they were, to enter the service of the Confederate States, to which they have their hearty aid and sympathy from the outset. Harvey W. Salmon became a member of Company F, of Colonel William Brown's regiment, afterward Colonel Robert McCullough's regiment of Missouri State Guards, and with this command took part in the battles of Carthage, Wilson's Creek, Dry Wood, and Lexington. In October, 1861, he was commissioned captain of his company. On the expiration of his term of service, in November following, he went to Morgan county to engage in recruiting service, and was there made prisoner by the Federals, and endured confinement for ten months at St. Louis, Alton, Illinois, and Johnson's Island, Ohio. After being exchanged, he joined the Confederate forces in Arkansas and was assigned to duty as chief of ordnance upon the staff of Brigadier General Parsons, and served in that capacity until the close of the war. He sojourned for a time in St. Louis, and in November, 1866, located at Clinton, in Henry County. Here he was associated with his brother, G. Y. Salmon, and D. C. Stone, in the organization of the Salmon & Stone Bank, which opened for business November 1st of that year, it being the first bank in Henry County. In 1873 Mr. Stone retired, and since that time the business has been carried on under the firm name of Salmon & Salmon. In 1872 Mr. Harvey W. Salmon was elected State Treasurer of Missouri. During his term of office the public debt was reduced more than $1,000,000, and this was done at a time when it required upwards of $1,000,000 to pay the annual interest on the state debt. This handsome result brought to Major Salmon the hearty commendation of Governor Woodson, who in a message to the General Assembly, testified to his sagacity, honesty, and indefatigable industry. For a number of years he served as chairman of the Democratic Central Committee of Missouri, his term covering the important and bitterly contested campaigns when Cleveland and Bryan were the presidential candidates. In later years he has been prominent in the inner councils of the State and national Democracy, and has been the close personal and political friend of Colonel William J. Bryan, now the distinguished leader of that party. Cherishing in affectionate remembrance the memories of those companions who contended with him for the "lost cause," he has always been an earnest supported of and liberal contributor to all measures designed to promote the comfort of living indigent Confederate soldiers, or their dependents, and to perpetuate the memory of the dead. He was most active in assisting toward the erection of the monument in the Confederate Cemetery at Springfield. Mr. Salmon was married November 16, 1871, to Miss Katherine Kimbrough, daughter of J. S. Kimbrough, a leading citizen of Henry County. Their children are four in number, Harvey W., Jr. a graduate of Harvard University and now engage on the St. Louis "Republic,"; Merritt K., a graduate of the State University of Missouri and now engaged with the Wetmore Tobacco Company at St. Louis; Louise, a graduate of Baird College, and Warren, a student in the Clinton high school, the last two named residing at home. Major Salmon is one of the substantial and progressive citizens of Clinton, and is a leader in all enterprises conducive to then prosperity of the city and county.
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