CHAPTER XXVII (Part 10)
BIOGRAPHICAL
Josiah G. McDonald, a Civil War veteran and an early pioneer of Henry County, is a native of Illinois. He was born in Sangamon County September 26, 1836, a son of John and Elizabeth (Knight) McDonald, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Culpeper County, Virginia. John McDonald came to Missouri from Illinois with his family in 1841, driving the entire distance with an ox team and wagon.
Upon coming to this State he first settled in Audrain County and came to Henry County prior to the Civil War. He settled at the town of Lucas, which was then quite a commercial center, for pioneer days, and here he engaged in the mercantile business. He also owned land in that vicinity. He died about 1883. His wife died in Audrain County before the family came to Henry County. They were the parents of the following children: Joseph and John, who are deceased; Josiah G., the subject of this sketch; Chapman, deceased; Frank, deceased; Mrs. Mattie Hargraves; Mrs. Ellen Ridgeway and Mrs. Mollie Carter, the last three named being also deceased.
Josiah G. McDonald spent his boyhood days amid the pioneer surroundings of Audrain County and attended school in a primitive log schoolhouse of the early days. He was engaged in farming in Clinton when the Civil War broke out. He then joined the Confederate Army and served about three years. During his military career he served, principally, in Missouri and Arkansas. He participated in the battles of Springfield, Wilson's Creek, Prairie Grove and numerous other engagements and skirmishes. At the close of the war he and his brother. Chapman, engaged in the general mercantile business at Lucas, which they conducted for a number of years in partnership, when the brother died and Josiah G. continued until 1897.
Mr. McDonald was united in marriage January 15, 1865, to Miss Mary M. Snedigar, a daughter of Robert and Malinda Jane (Clinkscale) Orear Snedigar, early Missouri pioneers. The father was a Confederate soldier and died at Springfield, Missouri, in 1862, and the mother died at Lucas, Missouri, January 18, 1910, at the advanced age of ninety-one years and two months.
Mrs. McDonald was born April 2, 1840, in Rawls County, Missouri, and was one of the following children born to her parents: Mrs. Martha J. Mason, deceased; Mary M., wife of Josiah G. McDonald; Mrs. Sarah Katherine Lee, deceased.
To Mr. and Mrs. Josiah G. McDonald were born seven children as follows: Dora, who resides at home with her parents; Robert E., Urich, Missouri; Catherine, married D. Gates, Craig, Colorado; Josiah, Urich, Missouri; George W., Urich, Missouri; Mary Florence, married James Marksbarry, Blairstown, Missouri; Viola, married Estelle Pelley, Craig, Colorado.
Mr. and Mrs. McDonald are truly entitled to be classed among the foremost pioneers of Henry County. They have lived on their present place for forty-five years. When the McDonald family settled in Henry County deer, wild turkey and other game of the unsettled frontier were in abundance. Clinton was a mere village and the few settlers that lived in the section of the country where the McDonalds located have long since passed to their reward. The McDonald family have in their possession a number of interesting relics of pioneer days, among which are a Seth Thomas clock which is over seventy years old and still measures time as accurately as it did during the Civil War. They also have a cherry dresser which has been in the family for four generations. The McDonald family are among the respected pioneer families of Henry County.
Mason Anderson, a prominent clothing and furnishing dealer at Clinton, Missouri, is a native of Henry County, and a member of one of its pioneer families. He was born at Leesville, February 17, 1875, a son of Christopher and Martha (Bell) Anderson.
Christopher (better known as "Kit") Anderson, was a native of Virginia, and came to Missouri when a young man and settled on the little Tebo, near Warsaw. He was a man who had a varied pioneer experience. In 1849, he started across the plains to California, but was taken severely ill. The parties who accompanied him drove away with his team and left him sick and alone.
After his return to Missouri, he engaged in the mercantile business and for a time was located at Pleasant Hill, and later at Sedalia. He served in the United States Army for a time. He came to Henry County after the close of the Civil War and engaged in the mercantile business at Leesville. He remained there until 1884, when he came to Clinton and purchased the William Allison store on the east side of the square, just two doors north of where Mason Anderson's clothing store is now located. Here he was successfully engaged in business for a number of years. He died in 1888. "Kit" Anderson was twice married. His first wife was Miss Bradshaw, and one child was born to this union, who is now the widow of Dr. J. H. Baugh, and resides at Clinton.
After the death of his first wife, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage with Miss Mattie Bell, a native of Tennessee, who came here with her parents at an early day. She was a daughter of Rev. William Bell, who was a minister and also engaged in the mercantile business at Otterville, Missouri, during the Civil War. To Mr. Anderson's second marriage were born the following children: Christopher, traveling salesman for the Peters Shoe Company of St. Louis, lives in Kansas City, Missouri; Pauline, who was a teacher in the Clinton schools for a number of years, and is now engaged in teaching at Waitsburg, Washington; Mason, the subject of this sketch; and Berry, manager of the Osage Mercantile Company, Osceola, Missouri.
Mason Anderson was nine years of age when he came to Clinton with his parents. He received his education in the public schools and in Lamkin's Academy. After the death of his father, the mother continued the store for a number of years, and Mason assisted his mother in the business. In 1895, he went to Lowery City, Missouri, where he engaged in the drygoods, clothing and shoe business. In 1897, he moved his stock of goods to Clinton, and opened a store in the Reynolds building on the northwest corner of the square. In 1899, he sold out, and clerked for Mr. Weidemeyer in Clinton until March, 1918, when he bought out the Williams Clothing Company, on the east side of the square, where he has since conducted a first-class clothing store, with all the accessories in the way of furnishing goods that goes with it. He is located in the Weidemeyer building, which is one of the old commercial landmarks of Clinton.
Mr. Anderson was united in marriage June 30, 1898, to Miss Kate Calloway, a daughter of James Calloway, a former sheriff of Henry County, now deceased. Mrs. Anderson was born in Henry County and her parents were pioneers of this section. To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have been born three children, as follows: Mason, Jr., a graduate of the Clinton High School, and now attending school at Fulton, Missouri; Berry and Frank, both attending the Clinton schools. Mr. Anderson is a Democrat and has served two terms as collector of Clinton. He is a member of the Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America and is a progressive and enterprising business man.
Ben Rentchler, a prominent merchant of Clinton, who for a number of years has been successfully engaged in the grocery business, is a native of Nebraska. He was born at West Point, in 1871, and is a son of Christian and Barbara (Braun) Rentchler, natives of Germany, who came to America in 1860 and settled at West Point, Nebraska, where the father homesteaded Government land. Later he was engaged in the grocery and bakery business at West Point for a few years and in 1875 came to Kansas City, Missouri, where he followed truck gardening until 1890.
He then came to Henry County, Missouri, and bought a farm six miles northeast of Clinton. Later he moved to Clinton, where, after living retired for a few years, he died in September, 1913, and his remains are buried in Englewood Cemetery. His widow now resides in Clinton. They were the parents of four children, as follows: John, Kansas City, Missouri; Benjamin, the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Lizzie Schleiche, Rosedale, Kansas, and William, farmer, Clinton, Missouri.
Ben Rentchler was educated in the public schools of Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, and in early life was engaged in truck gardening with his father. After coming to Henry County he followed farming until 1905, when he came to Clinton and for about a year was employed by the White Swan Mills. In 1906, he purchased the grocery business from W. S. Hodd, and since that time has been engaged in that business. He is one of the live, progressive and up-to-date grocers in Clinton. The Rentchler grocery store is one of the busy places of Clinton. Besides his two sons, Mr. Rentchler is assisted by two other clerks, and this business is an example of the result of square dealing and good service.
Mr. Rentchler was united in marriage in October, 1905, to Miss Carrie Mann of Clinton, Missouri, a daughter of Valentine and Caroline Mann, early settlers in this vicinity, coming to Clinton in the sixties. Valentine Mann is now deceased and his widow resides in Clinton. To Mr. and Mrs. Rentchler have been born three children as follows: Philip, Ernest and Freda, all of whom reside at home with their parents. The two boys assist their father in the store. Mr. Rentchler is one of the progressive citizens of Henry County and the Rentchler family stand high in the community.
V. J. Day, the capable cashier of the Clinton National Bank, although comparatively a young man, has had an extensive and successful career in the field of banking and finance in western Missouri. Mr. Day is a native son of Missouri. He was born in Johnson County, near Warrensburg, July 4, 1877, and is a son of Daniel L., and Fanny (Covington) Day. The Day family are truly a pioneer family of western Missouri.
Daniel L. Day, father of V. J., was born in Johnson County in 1851. He has been a successful farmer and stock raiser in the county of his birth and is now living retired at Chilhowee, Missouri. He is the son of Richard W. Day, a native of North Carolina, who settled in Johnson County, south of Warrensburg, in the early forties, and spent the remainder of his life in that vicinity. Fanny (Covington) Day, mother of V. J. Day, is a native of Kentucky and came to Johnson County, Missouri, with her parents when she was about twelve years of age.
To Daniel L. and Fanny (Covington) Day, have been born three children, as follows: V. J., the subject of this sketch; Robert, a farmer and stock man near Chilhowee, Missouri, and Dennis, a well-known live stock dealer and farmer at Chilhowee.
V. J. Day was reared on his father's farm in Johnson County, receiving his early education in the district schools. Later he attended the Warrensburg State Normal School, after which he was a student at the Central Business College, Sedalia, Missouri, and was graduated from that institution in 1900. He then accepted a clerkship in the Commercial Bank of Warrensburg, and was continuously employed in that bank for ten years. He began as bookkeeper and when he resigned, in September, 1909, he was assistant cashier. He then returned to his farm, near Warrensburg, which he sold a short time afterwards and for about six months was assistant cashier of the Farmers Bank of Chilhowee. He then bought an interest in the Schell City Bank at Schell City, Missouri, and was elected cashier of that institution. He conducted the affairs of that bank very successfully until he resigned to accept the cashiership of the Clinton National Bank in the fall of 1917, which position he now holds.
The Clinton National Bank is one of the important financial institutions, not only of Henry County, but of western Missouri. It was organized April 29, 1905, under the Federal Banking Laws with a capital stock of $50,000. The first officers were, William Docking, president; Dr. W. H. Gibbons, vice-president, and C. W. Snyder, cashier. The original stockholders were William Docking, George S. Hovey, Lee Clark, J. D. Robertson, William C. Henrice, C. W. Snyder, Dr. W. H. Gibbons, C. H. Avery, E. C. Kent, W. L. Garner, Thomas B. Lee. Thomas G. Hutt succeeded William Docking as president of the bank, and later went to Kansas City, Missouri, with the Drovers National Bank. He was succeeded by Dr. W. H. Gibbons, who served as president of the Clinton National Bank until January, 1915, when E. C. Kent became its president, and is still serving in that capacity. C. W. Snyder served as cashier from the organization of the bank until 1910, when he was succeeded by William L. Poynter, who served until September, 1917, when V. J. Day became cashier.
V. J. Day was united in marriage April 7, 1901, with Miss Mary Lewis of Warrensburg, Missouri. She is a daughter of Elijah Lewis, who settled in the vicinity of Pertle Springs. To Mr. and Mrs. Day have been born two children, Frances Louise and Mary Katharine. Mr. Day is a man who possesses the unusual mental qualifications that go to make up a successful banker. He is a progressive businessman, and at the same time possesses that degree of conservatism so essential to safety in the great field of finance and banking. Mr. Day takes a commendable interest in local affairs and while a resident of Schell City, he served three terms as a member of the local school board, and takes a deep interest in the public schools. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and he and Mrs. Day are members of the Presbyterian Church.
