Biography of William R. Russell

William R. Russell, one of the earliest settlers of Riverside and for many years a leading horticulturist of the colony, is a native of Holt County, Missouri, born in 1840, son of John and Margaret (Oiler) Russell, the former a descendant of a prominent Southern family and a native of Kentucky, who early in life settled in Ohio and was there married, his wife being a native of Virginia. In 1840 he moved to Missouri and settled in the county where the subject of this sketch was born. When William was fourteen years of age, his father crossed the plains … Read more

Biography of John Wesley Kieff

John Wesley Kieff, widely known throughout Oklahoma as a journalist, is now serving as justice of the peace of Miami and is generally conceded to be the most capable incumbent in that office in the history of Ottawa County. A native of Indiana, he was born in Tippecanoe County on the 9th of March, 1857, his parents being John and Mary (Ryan) Kieff, the former a native of Ireland, while the latter was born in the Hoosier state. The father followed the occupation of farming and both parents passed away during the childhood of the subject of this review. John … Read more

Biography of Charles H. Groom

CHARLES H. GROOM. Charles H. Groom, one of the most progressive and successful young attorneys of Taney County, Missouri, was born in Holt County, Missouri, January 16, 1861, to the union of Sylvanus L. and Semira E. (Boswell) Groom, natives, respectively, of the Empire State and Indiana, the former born May 19, 1818. Isaac Groom, grandfather of the subject, was a native of the green isle of Erin and was probably the first of the family to come to America. He passed the remainder of his days in the State of New York. Sylvanus L. Groom and his brother, Edward, … Read more

Biography of Ira C. Buzick

Ira C. Buzick was one of the pioneer lawyers of Lincoln County. He was the first man elected to represent that county in the State Legislature after the county was formally organized in 1870. He had a long and active career as a lawyer and in public affairs, and the name is still continued on the professional rolls of the Kansas bar through his son, Alonson Ruckman Buzick of Salina. Ira C. Buzick was born June 21, 1841, at Dayton, Ohio. His parents were also native Ohioans. At the age of twenty-two he took up the study of law, and … Read more

Biography of Rev. John Dunbar

Rev. John Dunbar was a missionary to the Pawnes Indians of the West for a period of more than twenty years before he became a resident of Kansas. He spent a little over a year in the territory and, as its first treasurer, assisted in the organization of Brown County. Mr. Dunbar was a native of Palmer, Massachusetts, born March 3, 1804. In 1832 he was graduated at Williams College, and later at the Auburn Theological Seminary. While a student at the latter institution he received an appointment as missionary to the western Indians; was ordained at Ithaca, New York, … Read more

Biography of Anson S. Cooke, Hon.

Hon. Anson S. Cooke. A resident of Kansas during a period of forty-five years, a pioneer of the prairies of Mitchell County, and for twelve years a member of the State Senate, Hon. Anson S. Cooke is well and favorably known in various parts of the commonwealth, and particularly so at Topeka where he now is living in retirement. During his long and useful career he has risen from poverty to affluence and from obscurity to prominence, and while engaged steadfastly and successfully in the promotion of his personal interests has also contributed to the welfare of the state which … Read more

Biography of Thomas J. Crain

Thomas J. Crain was born near the Ohio river, in Fleming county, Kentucky, September 4, 1830. He was reared and educated in his native place, and continued to reside there until 1855, when he migrated to Missouri and entered land in Holt county, improving the same and living upon it until 1864, in February of which year he rented his farm and went to Nebraska City, Nebraska. Here he was engaged in freighting to Denver, Colorado, for one year, when he opened a feeding stable, and carried on that business until the spring of 1866, then went to Hamburg, Iowa, … Read more

Mallon, Donald Lee – Obituary

Joseph, Oregon Donald Lee Mallon, 79, of Joseph died June 29 at Wallowa Memorial Hospital. A memorial service was held today at Bollman Funeral Home. Mr. Mallon was born June 14, 1927, to Charles E. and Elsie M. Bridgeman Mallon in Craig, Mo. The family lived in Lone Rock before moving to Alder Slope in 1939, and Joseph in 1941. He attended one year of high school and served in the Army during World War II. On aug. 29, 1948, he married Ruth “Anne” Homewood. She died in 1996. He worked as a logger and for the Chief Joseph Lumber … Read more

Biography of Hon. John Stewart

HON. JOHN STEWART. – This gentleman was born February 12, 1800, in Virginia, that grand old state which has given birth to heroes and cradled the world’s best since the white man first took possession of this fair land of ours. There our subject was nurtured through all his infancy and until his fifteenth year, when his parents moved to Terre Haute, Indiana. He resided in that state until 1837, learning the blacksmith trade, which calling so nearly broke down his health that he abandoned it and engaged in trading cattle. He first earned his title of captain in the … Read more

Biography of Prof. G. M. Siler

PROF. G. M. SILER. This able, experienced and successful educator of Douglas County, Missouri, is a native of Holt County, this State, where he was born July 28, 1864, a son of Granville L. and Nancy J. (Bohart) Siler, for a history of whom see the sketch of J. G. Siler, of Taney County. Prof. George M. Siler received his education in the schools of Arno, Ava and Silver Shade, and eventually graduated in the teacher’s course from the well-known Bradleyville School. He was brought up on a farm, and while following the plow or wielding the hoe he learned … Read more

Missouri Atlases and Plat Books

Sample Missouri Plat Book closeup

198 online plat books and atlases organized by county and ordered by date for the State of Missouri. At the bottom of the page are two items that can help you use these documents in your genealogy research. The first is a blog post Plat Books Revealed: Mapping Generations of History and the second a video where Ben Clark explains what plat maps are used for, how to navigate them, and pulls out a few interesting stories from them.

Biography of Anna Mallows, Anna

Miss Anna Mallows. To paraphrase an old proverb, To woman’s work there is neither end or limit of capacity for human service and usefulness. Women have succssded as home makers, as teachers, in all the learned professions, in executive business, and one of the bright Kansas women, Miss Anna Mallows, is a very successful newspaper woman, proprietor, and publisher of the White Cloud Globe. The White Cloud Globe is now the only paper published in that city. It was founded in 1892 by John J. Faulkner, and throughout its twenty-five years it had never exhibited more enterprise as a real … Read more

Biography of Joseph H. McGauhey, M. D.

Joseph H. McGauhey, M. D.,had been in the general practice of medicine at White Cloud, twenty-eight years, and is also identified with the banking business of his town, and had farming interests in Brown County. The McGauhey ancestors were Scolch-Irish, and Doctor McGauhey’s great-grandfather was the immigrant to this country. His grandfather was Archibald McGauhey, who spent most of his life as a farmer in Indiana, where he died. John McGauhey, father of Doctor McGauhey, was born in Pennsylvania in 1809. For a time during his childhood his parents lived in North Carolina and afterward moved to Indiana, where he … Read more