CHAPTER XXVII (Part 111)
BIOGRAPHICAL
Clinton E. Butcher, farmer and stockman of Big Creek township, is a native son of Henry County, and was born on the Butcher homestead, located just two and one-fourth miles southwest of Norris, in Big Creek township. He was born August 24, 1875 and is the son of Alexander M. and Margaret (Waugh) Butcher, an extended biography of whom appears in this volume. Mr. C. E. Butcher is one of nine children born to his parents, as follows: Mrs. F. M. Engle, Warrensburg, Missouri; James Wallace, Urich, Missouri; P. P., deceased; Frank S., lives at Lawrence, Kansas; Charles W., Centerview, Missouri; Milton E. and Harry E., deceased; Mrs. Frank M. Gray, Big Creek township: Clinton E. Butcher was educated in the Norris public school and attended the Warrensburg State Normal School for two terms. He has always followed farming and has made a splendid success. For many years, he has followed the practice of feeding considerable numbers of cattle and hogs each year and is widely known as a successful stock raiser.
November 17, 1897, Clinton E. Butcher and Edith Bertha McQuitty were united in marriage. Mrs. Edith Butcher is the daughter of George W. and Martha M. McQuitty, both of whom are deceased, and a sketch of whom appears in this history. Mr. McQuitty was a native of Boone County, Missouri, and his wife was born near Frankfort, Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. McQuitty were parents of children as follows: William T., Mrs. Edith Butcher, George N., Mrs. Alice McQuitty, Mrs. Mattie Crews; Mrs. Maude Maize. By a former marriage, Mr. McQuitty was father of two children. John R., Welch, Oklahoma; and Elizabeth A., deceased.
To Clinton E. and Edith Butcher have been born children as follows: Marion J., a graduate of the Norris High School, class of 1917; Frank G., a student in the Norris High School; Elmer G., and Mary Alice.
The residence of Mr. and Mrs. Butcher is a modern structure and was erected in 1910. It is a house of eleven rooms, with hot and cold running water, acetyline lighting system, and the farm buildings are in accord with the residence. The output of live stock from the Butcher farm will run from 100 to 150 head of cattle and from 200 to 300 head of hogs annually. The home farm consists of 320 acres and is situated one mile east of Norris. Mr. Butcher owns another tract of land consisting of 240 acres, situated one-half mile west of Norris. Both of these farms have good improvements. Mr. Butcher purchased his home farm in 1906 from T. S. B. Slaughter, who had bought it from Thomas Casey in 1901. Mr. Casey had previously purchased the tract from Robert B. Casey. The land was originally entered for settlement by Elizmond [Elizemond] Basey and P. D. Lane and one other party.
Mr. Butcher is a Republican and a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Chilhowee, the Chapter at Warrensburg, and he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America of Blairstown. Mrs. Butcher is a member of the Baptist Church, and Mr. and Mrs. Butcher have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances throughout this section of Missouri.
Charles F. Crews, a progressive farmer and stockman of Big Creek township, who is farming 110 acres of land, is one of the leading farmers of this County. Mr. Crews is a native of Henry County and was born in 1882 at Windsor, Missouri. He is the son of Samuel P. and Clara (Snelling) Crews, a sketch of whom appears in this volume.
Samuel Crews was born in 1852 in Boone County, Missouri, and his wife is a native of Henry County. They are engaged in farming in Shawnee township. They have the following children: Darrell, Huntingdale, Missouri; Essie, the wife of Nathan Gilliam of Big Creek township; Charles F., the subject of this sketch; Snelling, farming in Shawnee township; and Raymond, of Big Creek township.
Charles F. Crews received his education at Huntingdale schools, Huntingdale, Missouri, and since early manhood, he has been engaged in general farming and stock raising. He is one of the successful farmers of Big Creek township.
Mr. Crews was married May 9, 1906, to Martha McQuitty. She is a daughter of W. G. and Martha McQuitty, of whom extensive mention is made in this volume; see biographical sketches of George and William McQuitty. One daughter, Dorothy, has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Crews.
Mr. Crews is one of the substantial men of Henry County and comes of pioneer Missouri stock. He is public-spirited and one of Henry county's foremost citizens.
Samuel P. Crews, a well-known farmer and stockman, is a native Missourian. He was born in Boone County, Missouri, in 1852, a son of Erasmus and Elvira E. (Crosswhite) Crews, who were pioneers of that county. They came in the flush of youth to conquer the wilderness and convert its wild fertility to cultivated fields of wheat and corn. They moved to Windsor, Missouri in 1870 and later moved to Huntingdale, Missouri, where they spent the rest of their lives and are laid away in the Carrsville Cemetery. Four children, all of whom are living and successful in their several vocations, were born to them as follows: William, the first born, is in Reno, Nevada; Samuel P., the subject of this sketch; Floyd J., in Kansas City, Missouri; and Everett, resides in the State of Washington.
Samuel Crews received his education in the public schools of Windsor, where his parents settled in 1870. In 1883, he purchased a farm of fifty-five acres in Shawnee township, which he has improved and successfully farmed to the present time.
In 1874, Samuel Crews and Clara E. Snelling were married and five children have been born to them as follows: Darrell, a farmer of Huntingdale, Missouri, who has one daughter. Fay, and a son, Samuel; Estelle E., now Mrs. N. F. Williams of Big Creek township, Henry County; Charles F., of Big Creek township, Henry County, has one daughter, Dorothy; Snelling E., a farmer of Shawnee township, Henry County, has two daughters, Wilma and Estelle; and Raymond, who is a farmer of Big Creek township.
Mr. and Mrs. Crews are members of the Carrsville Baptist Church and are loyal workers of the same. The Crews family are well known in Pettis County and stand high in the community.
Charles A. Hendricks - Charles Hendricks is a grandson of Asa Hendricks, who came from Kentucky in 1832, locating in Bogard township, Henry County, shortly afterward. His days were spent in reclaiming the wild lands from their native unproductiveness and made the fields blossom as the rose, with the cumbersome oxen and crude tools with which he had to work. He and his wife are laid away in the fields from which they received the blessings of food for so many years. Their son, James M., the father of Charles Hendricks, was born in Bogard township May 25, 1839, and shared with his father many of the hardships of those earlier days and is now enjoying the fruit of the labors of those by-gone times.
Charles A. Hendricks was born November 1, 1863, in Pettis County, Missouri, and is the son of James M. and Mary (Brooks) Hendricks. The former is making his home with his son and enjoying the work of caring for twenty hives of bees. His early life was spent in traveling over the southwestern States and farming in Henry County. His wife was born in Indiana in 1841, and she was laid to rest in 1901. They were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Elizabeth Irene Hall of Bogard township; Charles A., Big Creek township; Mrs. Martha Susan Hall of Bogard township; John W., of Bogard township; Mrs. Amanda Bell Morgan of Honey Creek township; Sarah Ellen Hall of Oregon; George W., deceased; J. R., residing in North Dakota; Millie Ann Hall residing in Colorado.
The Rural schools of Bunker Hill and Comet District aided in the education of Mr. Hendricks. His first purchase of land was 120 acres in 1892 and later added 80 acres, making 200 acres in Big Creek township, which he is tilling.
October 22, 1892, was solemnized the marriage of Charles Hendricks and Cora Norris, who is the daughter of William A. and Virginia Norris, whose sketch appears in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks are the parents of the following children: Eunice, Inez and Brooksey at home with their parents.
For a number of years, Mr. Hendricks has been a school director and takes an active interest in the things which are for the uplift and progressiveness of his community.
William H. Rector - The northwestern part of Henry County was largely settled by people from Ohio who came to this county to found new homes after the close of the Civil War. The returned Union veterans, finding the best places usurped in their Eastern home localities by the stay-at-homes, looked to the westward and heeded Horace Greeley's advice to "Go West." They came in scores and hundreds to western Missouri. Such a man was the father of William H. Rector, large land owner and stockman of Bogard township. William H. Rector was born July 7, 1875, in Bogard township, the son of Henry E. and Margaret (Clay) Rector.
Henry Rector was born January 26, 1842, in Ohio and departed this life on April 8, 1875. His remains were laid to rest in Grant Cemetery, Cass County, Missouri. He was reared to young manhood in Ohio and enlisted in an Ohio Regiment of Volunteers for service in the Union Army on August 8, 1861. He faithfully served the Union on the southern battlefields for three years and received an honorable discharge from the service. Not content to remain at home while the victory had not yet been attained by the North, he again enlisted and served until the close of the war. He attained to the rank of captain of his company.
Captain Rector came to Henry County after the close of the war and purchased land here, where he remained engaged in peaceful agricultural pursuits until his death. To Henry and Margaret Clay Rector were born three children: Henry and an infant, deceased; and William H. Rector, of this review. The mother of these children was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, January 26, 1836, and she and Mr. Rector were married November 29, 1869, in Bogard township. She was the daughter of Henry Clay, a native of Pennsylvania, and early settler of Henry County.
After the death of her first husband, Mrs. Rector married Leonard Elliot in 1884. Mr. Elliot died a few years later and the widow was then married on December 27, 1892, to Rev. Henry Willey, a United Brethren minister who passed away in 1914 at Urich, Missouri. Mrs. Margaret (Rector) Willey died on April 22, 1914.
William H. Rector was reared to maturity in Bogard township, received his education in the district school of his neighborhood and learned to till the soil. Mr. Rector is owner of 525 acres of well-improved land which he, with the assistance of his sons, is tilling. He has from forty to fifty sheep and many cattle grazing on his broad acres.
On September 5, 1894, William H. Rector was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Gamlin, who was born February 22, 1870, at Shipman, Macoupin County, Illinois. She is the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Baker) Gamlin, natives of England and now reside in Montgomery County, Illinois. To John and Elizabeth Gamlin were born the following children: Mrs. Catherine Rector; John, Bogard township; William, Sweet Water, Nebraska; Matthew, Jacksonville, Illinois; Joseph, Raymond, Illinois; Walter and Leroy, deceased; Mrs. Mary Burke, deceased; Mrs. Virgie Gamlin, Nokamis, Illinois; and Mrs. Nellie Henry, Raymond, Illinois. Mrs. William Rector was partly reared in Pettis County and was educated in the district schools of that county.
To William H. and Catherine Rector were born children as follows: John W., farming with his father, married Caroline Stewart; Walter E., Howard D., Mary E., Ida M., Paul F., Herbert Russell, and Ellen Lucille, all of whom are at home with their parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Rector are useful citizens who are popular with their neighbors and friends and are industrious and enterprising. Mr. Rector is a Republican and he and Mrs. Rector are members of the Presbyterian Church. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Blairstown.
Walter R. McCown is the son of pioneer people who came to Henry County before the Civil War and labored faithfully and hard that their posterity might enjoy the privilege of the present time. Mr. McCown was born April 18, 1863, in Bethlehem township, Henry County, and now resides one and one-half miles from his birthplace. His parents, William H., and Elizabeth (Hockersmith) McCown, were born in Kentucky and Tennessee, respectively. In 1840, with a rude ox-team as conveyance, they braved the terrors of the unknown country to trade with the Indians of Burham, Texas. They employed a native Indian as interpreter and for three years plied their business of trading with the Indians.
In 1843, they again wended their way eastward and this time located in Bethlehem township, Henry County, where one hundred twenty acres of land were purchased. Forty-seven acres of the land were in timber and this was felled to build the rude log cabin and enclose the farm with a rail fence. A few years of residence here, spent in hard labor, was ended by the selling of the farm and returning to Kentucky, whence a year later, they returned and purchased fifty-five acres in Leesville township, where they spent their remaining days and are now laid at rest in the Bethlehem Township Cemetery. They were the parents of the following children: Burr, deceased; Mary, deceased, wife of Capt. Granville Deaurah, a Union veteran of the Civil War; Melvin, resides at Kansas City, Missouri; Mrs. Luam Edwards, San Francisco, California; Luther, Osage township; Mrs. Elizabeth Minick, Leesville township; Walter R., the subject of this sketch and W. H., twins. W. H. lives at Malvern, Iowa. Louis died in 1914, leaving a wife and three children.
Walter McCown has spent his life in agricultural pursuits in this county and is now the owner of 160 acres of well tilled land. He also handles a large number of cattle, sheep and mules which he is constantly selling and buying for the markets. His early education was received in the district schools and in the early life, he rented land until 1908, when he purchased 35 acres. In 1909, he purchased 80 acres and 40 acres in 1917. He has made improvements on his farm, building two good barns, and also remodeling his home. A natural spring on the farm is piped to cement tanks for the cattle and is considered one of the best springs of the numerous ones throughout the county.
The first marriage of Mr. McCown to Fannie Greer was in 1886. She was laid to rest in Good Hope Cemetery in 1901. The following children came to bless this union: Edgar Earl, died at the age of five; Ora, wife of Isaac Harvey of Leesville township; Lulu, wife of Emmett Bailey, residing at Hancock, Iowa; Florence, wife of J. B. Simmonds of Deepwater, Missouri; Blanche, wife of Adolph Zobrist, Hancock, Iowa.
In 1902, Mr. McCown was married to Allie Hammond and five children have been born to this union: John Shelby, Wilber, Elbert, Walter and Beulah, all at home with their parents.
Mr. McCown is one of the substantial men of Henry County and well deserves to be classed as one of its progressive citizens.
