When the great West was young the Mississippi River, as the principal gateway to it and almost the sole means of conveying its products to the out-side world was the center of commercial life. Men who followed the river were participants in stirring events and their work was fraught with an importance in the eyes …
DAVID FORD. – This highly esteemed citizen, a portrait of whom is placed in this history, was born in Indiana July 27,1837. After his marriage to Miss Mary Medler, October 11, 1857, he was occupied at his home until the war of the Rebellion, in which he served as a soldier in the Union army, …
HON. WILLIAM LAIR HILL. – The distinguished lawyer, author, versatile writer and thorough student whose name introduces this sketch was asked to furnish such data as might contribute in its production; and he diffidently and reluctantly responded. Among other hastily prepared notes, he answered: “Have lived an honest a life as my environments seemed to …
