B. W. HOGARD. There is nothing which speaks more eloquently of the enterprise or prosperity of a town than does the well-kept hostelry and Central Hotel, of which Mr. Hogard is the proprietor, at Gainesville, Missouri, which is one of the best in the county. Its neat and orderly appearance distinguishes it among others, and the polite service which its patrons receive and the excellent character of the cuisine, has influenced their permanent custom, and the place is exceptionally popular with the traveling man. Mr. Hogard was born in Weakley County, Tennessee, November 5, 1850, a son of Rev. John A. and Minerva (Miller) Hogard, who were born in Kentucky and Tennessee, respectively.
Mr. Hogard was taken by his parents to Tennessee, was eventually married in Weakley County, and there resided until 1875, when he came to Ozark County, Missouri, and here is still residing, having been a lifelong farmer. During the Civil War he was for about two years with Gen. Forrest, and during this time saw some active service. He has been a minister of the Methodist Church for twenty years, is a Mason of many years’ standing, and as a citizen, friend and neighbor his correct mode of living has endeared him to all. His father, Byas Hogard, was a Kentuckian by birth and bringing up, but removed to Weakley County, Tennessee, when it was a new country, and there he spent the rest of his life, becoming a well-to-do farmer and tobacconist. For many years he was engaged in flat-boating on the Mississippi River to New Orleans, but in the latter part of his life gave the most of his attention to the culture of tobacco and became one of the most extensive growers in the country. He died about 1886, at the advanced age of four-score years and ten. He was married twice, and his first wife, who was the grandmother of the subject of this sketch, died before the Civil War. To their union the following children were born: John A.; Asa, who died on his farm in Prairie County, Arkansas; Elizabeth, who died in Weakley County, Tennessee, the wife of Henry Jones (deceased); Jemimah, wife of James Mitchell, of Greene County, Arkansas; Frank, wife of Thomas Stofels, of Weakley County, Tennessee, and Ann, wife of John Heath, of Washington County, Arkansas.
The paternal great-grandfather, John Hogard, was supposed to have been a Virginian by birth, although of German descent, but became one of the pioneers of Kentucky, and died in Crittenden County of that State. His father was the first of the family to come to America. Mrs. John A. Hogard is the daughter of George Miller, who became an early settler of West Tennessee, it is supposed, from Georgia. He died in Weakley County after the war, and his wife passed from life after the great conflict was over. Their family consisted of five children: John H., of Tennessee; Wiley R., also of that State; Minerva (Mrs. Hogard); Elizabeth, wife of Frank Watts, of Ozark County; and Mary, who died at McKinzie, Tennessee, in February, 1894, the wife of Thomas S. Smith. To Rev. and Mrs. Hogard two sons were given: B. W., the subject of this sketch, and George Robert, a farmer of Ozark County, Missouri.
B. W. Hogard was reared on a farm in Weakley County, Tennessee, and attended the common schools of that section until he was sixteen years of age, when he entered McKinzie College, where he faithfully pursued the paths of learning until 1870, when he left school and the same year was united in marriage with Miss Nancy Bethany, daughter of Samuel and Sophronia Smith, the former of whom entered the Confederate service and was never afterward heard from. Mrs. Smith was born in Weakley County, Tennessee, and is still living. She was one of ten children, the most of whom have become wealthy, born to Amos and Nancy (Pratt) Waddell, natives of Georgia and Virginia, respectively, the latter being a descendant of the famous Indian maiden, Pocahontas. They were married in Alabama, from whence they removed to Carroll County, Tennessee, where Mrs. Waddell died in 1849 and Mr. Waddell in Hardeman County, Tennessee, in 1884. The latter had removed to Franklin County, Missouri, where he married Mary Brawley, but later he returned to Tennessee. He was a soldier of the War of 1812. Mrs. Hogard was born in Henry County, Tennessee, and there she and her two sisters and one brother were reared: Mollie, who became the wife of Benjamin F. Miller and is deceased; Frankie, wife of John Miller, and Callie, who was killed at Paducah, Kentucky, in November, 1893, while a member of the police force there.
Mr. and Mrs. Hogard have three children: John S., Thomas W. and Callie. Since 1875 Mr. Hogard has been a resident of Ozark County, Missouri, and lived on a farm until 1882, when he came to Gainesville, and for one year thereafter conducted a mill. He then conducted what is now known as the Ozark House for three years, at the end of which time he erected the Central Hotel, which is a two-story building, 42×48 feet, containing seventeen rooms. As has been said, his establishment is remarkably well conducted and as a natural sequence is liberally patronized. In addition to this property he is the owner of a good farm. For two years he held the office of justice of the peace, and was coroner of Ozark County for the same length of time, by appointment, and for the past four years has been constable and general collector. Mr. Hogard has always been a Democrat politically, and socially he is a member of Robert Burns Lodge No. 496, at Gainesville, of the A. F. & A. M.