The History of Daviess County, Missouri. Daviess County, Missouri: Birdsall & Dean. 1882.
G. R. Vickrey was born on March 4, 1847, in Greene County, Ohio. After moving to Bureau County, Illinois, in 1856, he pursued farming and joined the Sixty-fourth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry in 1863, serving notably in the Atlanta campaign and the march to the sea. After returning home post-war, he settled in a new county in 1870. Vickrey married Sarah A. Hockens on December 19, 1865, and they had six children together.
H. L. Yates was born on September 21, 1830, in Rappahannock County, Virginia, to Garret and Frances Yates. After receiving an education in local schools, he moved to Missouri in 1852, later settling in Holt County. Yates married Mary M. Bird in 1854 and had nine children, seven of whom survived him. Following Mary’s death in 1875, he remarried twice, first to Mary J. Cravens in 1876 and then to Clarinda M. Clor in 1880.
Levi Slone was born on November 7, 1818, in Clermont County, Ohio, and received his education in local schools. After moving to Boone County, Indiana, in 1838, he learned blacksmithing, which became his primary profession. In 1866, he relocated to Bancroft, where he later turned to farming. Slone was married three times, first to Maria J. Jolley, then to Sarah Mulligan, and finally to Eliza Turner. He had a total of ten children from these marriages, facing the loss of two wives early in his life.
Austin Smith was born on February 22, 1830, in Cocke County, Tennessee, to Rev. Benjamin F. Smith, an early settler. At five, his family moved to this county where he was raised on a farm and attended local schools. He married Annie Cox on May 9, 1853, who passed away in 1861, leaving three children. Smith later married Perlina Mills on January 13, 1869, and they had two children together, expanding his family further in the following years.
Dr. A. K. Scott was born on February 24, 1817, in Lee County, Virginia. After moving to Tennessee and then Illinois, he pursued medicine at the age of twenty-four due to health issues. He began practicing medicine after eighteen months of study. In 1855, he relocated to Coffey County, Kansas, and later settled in the surrounding area where he combined farming with his medical practice. He married Louisa Troxel in 1838, and they had eleven children, contributing to his legacy in the community.
A. O. Siple, born on June 12, 1844, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, pursued education at the Millersville State Normal School and graduated from Duffs Commercial College in 1864. He moved to Missouri in 1865, initially teaching before entering the mercantile business in LaPlata. Siple later shifted to the stove and tinware trade in Novelty and then Jameson, where he also became a blacksmith. In 1875, he was appointed postmaster of Jameson. He married Lettie Park in 1870 and they had four children.
Samuel H. Wynn was born on October 21, 1842, in Tazewell County, Virginia. He was educated in Virginia’s common schools and moved to Missouri in 1853. Before the Civil War, he relocated to Illinois, where he enlisted in the Union Army in 1862. After the war, he returned to his county in 1866 and engaged in farming, with a brief trip to California from 1875 to 1876. He married America Pugh on November 14, 1867, and his mother lived with him into her old age.
James Wynn was born on January 21, 1822, in Tazewell County, Virginia, to John and Olivia Wynn. He was educated at Emory and Henry College and served in the Mexican War with Company K of the Eleventh Regiment Virginia Volunteer Infantry, participating in numerous major battles. A veteran of the Civil War as well, he joined the Fourth Regiment Missouri Confederate Cavalry. Wynn spent his life as a farmer and married Sarah Buren in 1845, with whom he had seven children.
T. F. Rodgers was born on September 18, 1826, in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, to Charles and Margaret Rodgers. He received education in local schools and began his career in a dry goods store. In 1857, he moved to Knox County, Illinois, where he engaged in farming and milling. After relocating to his current county in 1866, he focused on farming and stock-raising. A respected public servant, he served multiple terms as a justice of the peace. He married Tabitha McClung on March 30, 1840, and they had five children.
Hamlet Wynn was born on November 25, 1838, in Tazewell County, Virginia, and moved to Missouri with his family in 1858. He began working at a young age due to his father’s illness, eventually establishing himself as a successful stock-raiser on a 160-acre farm. Wynn specialized in breeding thoroughbred cattle and horses, significantly enhancing livestock quality in Daviess County. He married Mary E. Davis in 1862 and together they had five children. Wynn’s contributions to agriculture and breeding have had a lasting impact on the region.
Thomas J. Wood, born on March 15, 1836, in Fountain County, Indiana, spent most of his life in Daviess County, Missouri, where his family settled in 1839. Enrolling in the State Militia in 1862, he served two years in the home guards. A dedicated farmer, he resides on an improved farm near Winston. In 1869, he married Emily J. Ray, with whom he had six children, five of whom survived: Ida, Susan, Joseph, Josephine, and Benjamin.
Robert Carter was born on February 28, 1822, in Holmes County, Ohio. He grew up there before moving to Daviess County with his family, where he began farming at nineteen. During the Civil War, he served in the State Militia and later returned to Colfax Township, where he managed a 247-acre farm. He married Sarah J. Kier on October 5, 1843, and they had ten children, including James A., John, and Martha.
Lewis Evans was born in December 1834 in Watertown, New York. He spent his early years on his family’s farm before moving to Minnesota in 1854, where he worked for nearly two years. After returning to Jefferson County and subsequently relocating to Daviess County, he settled and continued farming. Evans married Adaline Paddock on February 22, 1866, and they had two children, Leona B. and George.
Michael W. Young, born on August 17, 1831, in Europe, immigrated to the United States with his German parents at age four, settling in Stark County, Ohio. After his mother’s death, he worked for his education until he began farming. Young married Sarah Koons in 1858 and moved to various locations, including Will County, Illinois, and Daviess County, Missouri, where he engaged in farming and brick-making. The couple had eight children, and Young was an active member of the I.O.O.F. throughout his life.
Dudley Malcolm Clagett, M.D., was born on March 24, 1846, in Natchez, Mississippi. He moved to St. Louis at age ten, graduating from high school in 1865. After studying medicine with Dr. G. O. Hardeman, he graduated from St. Louis Medical College in 1872. Clagett settled in Victoria, Missouri, before establishing his practice in Winston in 1875. He married Mary A. Wood and had one surviving child, Oscar F. He also served as Daviess County coroner and was a member of the local Odd Fellows lodge.
Henry G. Deering was born on August 11, 1826, near Grayson, Kentucky. He moved with his family to West Virginia, then back to Kentucky, and later to Ohio, before settling in Daviess County in 1848. A farmer by trade, he married Melinda M. Hanna in 1850 and had twelve children, nine of whom survived. Their children include John B., James W., William E., Sanford B., Martha F., Ida M., Henry E., Albert D., and Margaret B., born as twins.
Frederick Converse Eastman, M.D., was born on December 28, 1842, in Ontario, Canada. Following his father’s death, he worked as a clerk and pursued education at Gilsonburg Academy. Eastman began studying medicine in 1861 and graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1865. He established a successful medical practice in Alto Vista, Iowa, before moving to Winston in 1878. Married in 1877 to Carrie F. King, they had three children, all of whom died. He was active in his community and church.
Thomas John Jefferies was born on November 9, 1841, in Somersetshire, England. At the age of eight, he left home to pursue a new life in the United States, arriving in New York City in 1849. He was taken in by a farmer, Reuben Reynolds, and lived with him until 1870. Jefferies studied at Knox College and later pursued a career as a station agent for the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad. He married Helen Orr in 1877 and was active in local organizations and government.
Henry C. Kelso, born on December 13, 1846, in Daviess County, Missouri, was the son of New Jersey farmer E. C. Kelso. He received his education at home and began his career at nineteen. After a year of travel, he worked in a drug store in Hamilton before returning to Daviess County to pursue farming. In 1873, he married Virginia A. Ray, and they had two daughters, Leah and Anna D., the latter of whom passed away at a young age.
A. J. Kemberling, born on March 24, 1828, in Union County, Pennsylvania, was engaged in farming and education until the age of twenty-one. He moved to Seneca County, Ohio, in 1849, farming there for twelve years before relocating to St. Joseph County, Michigan, for nine years. Kemberling later settled in Daviess County, purchasing a farm in Colfax Township before managing a hotel in Winston. He married Rebecca Oldt in 1850, and they had four children; she passed away in 1880.