CHAPTER XXVII (Part 15)
BIOGRAPHICAL
Herman Millard Hull, a "real old settler" of Davis township, was born September 8, 1859, in De Kalb County, Illinois, a son of Silas C. and Angeline Hull, pioneer settlers of Henry County, a sketch of whose lives appears in this volume in connection with the sketch of J. M. Hull, brother of Herman Millard Hull. Mr. Hull accompanied his parents to Henry County in 1866, and was here reared to young manhood and educated in the Willow Branch district school, of which his father was one of the founders.
Mr. Hull is owner of a fine farm of eighty acres located in section 23, Davis township, and also owns a timber tract of five acres in section 33. For the past thirty years, Mr. Hull has been engaged in carpenter work and farming. He has done a great amount of foundation building in Henry County and has erected more dwelling houses from the ground up than any other carpenter and builder in his section of Henry County. Mr. Hull has always taken a just pride in the thoroughness and reliability of his work, which compares favorably with the best. From 1911 to 1912, he resided in Los Angeles, California, and was there engaged in carpenter work.
Mr. Hull was married on April 30, 1884, to Ida May Fahnestock, and to this marriage have been born children as follows: Gary Millard, born February 15, 1885, now managing the La Due Lumber Yard, married Stella Ferry and has one child, Walter G.; Irvin Milton, born October 22, 1888, resides in La Due, married Nellie Maddox and has two children, Richard Henry and Vivian Marie. Mrs. Ida May Hull was born July 26, 1866, in Darke County, Ohio, and is a daughter of Ephraim L. and Sarah (Gessamen) Fahnestock, the latter of whom died in her native State. The Fahnestocks migrated to Henry County, Missouri, in 1871 and Ephraim L. Fahnestock died in this county.
H. M. Hull has always been allied with the Democratic party and has held many positions of trust and responsibility in Davis township. He served for some years as township treasurer and for the past twelve years, he has filled the office of justice of the peace. Mrs. Hull and the members of the family belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Hull is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, La Due Lodge No. 772.
B. F. McKeaigg, president of the Bank of La Due, and a prosperous farmer of Davis township, was born in Lawrence County, Indiana, April 30, 1868. He is the son of Robert C. (born 1833, died 1893) and Alferna (Swindler) McKeaigg. Robert C. McKeaigg was a native of Indiana and a son of Harrison McKeaigg, of Kentucky, who was an early settler of Lawrence County, Indiana. In 1884, Robert C. McKeaigg came to Henry County, Missouri, and after residing here for a short time, he went to Oklahoma, where he homesteaded a tract of Government land and died in that State.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert McKeaigg were parents of nine children, seven of whom survive: William H., resides in Pasadena, California; B. F., subject of this review; (twins), Jasper N. and Oscar C, of Thomas, Oklahoma; Thomas, lives at Newkirk, Oklahoma; Louis, La Due, Missouri; Mrs. Carrie Massey, living near La Due.
Mr. McKeaigg accompanied his parents to Henry County in 1884 and was first employed as farm hand by Mr. Hinkle. He married and resided upon the Hinkle place as tenant for a period of seven years. In 1891, he purchased forty acres near Independence school house. Three years later, he sold this tract and then purchased his present farm, located in Davis township, west of La Due. This farm consists of seventy acres and is nicely improved. For the past twelve years, Mr. McKeaigg has successfully farmed this tract and has splendid improvements thereon consisting of a handsome white cottage, modern in its appointments, good barns and fencing kept in excellent repair.
Mr. McKeaigg was married November 24, 1893, to Mrs. Mary Reed, a widow, who was born in Illinois and is a daughter of J. B. and Caroline (Fellahauer) Sherbourne, who came to Henry County from Illinois in 1880. By a former marriage with Edward Reed, deceased, Mrs. McKeaigg has two children: Mrs. Allie Hemperley, Flagstaff, Arizona, and Harry E. Reed, of Clinton, Missouri. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. McKeaigg, Everett Ray, who died at the age of two years.
The Democratic party has generally had the support and allegiance of Mr. McKeaigg, and he and Mrs. McKeaigg are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 772 of La Due.
R. H. Maddox, cashier of the Bank of La Due, was born in Callaway County, Missouri, March 17, 1866. He is the son of Dr. R. J. and Mary (Keithler) Maddox. R. J. Maddox was born in 1837, a son of Stephen Maddox, a native of Virginia who was a pioneer settler in Callaway County. He was educated for the medical profession and became a successful practicing physician, residing on the farm while ministering to the sick folks of the country neighborhood in which he made his home.
Doctor Maddox was married in Callaway County to Mary M. Keithler, who was born in St. Louis. In 1882, Doctor Maddox removed to Bates County, Missouri, and practiced medicine in that county in the rural sections until his death in 1887. Dr. R. J. and Mary Maddox were parents of six children: W. J., a resident of Callaway County; Mrs. Minta P. Farmer and Mrs. Fannie E. Davis, both residents of Callaway County; S. J., living in Cedar County, Missouri; R. H., subject of this review, and E. M., a citizen of Cedar County.
There were no public schools in the Big Survey region of Callaway County where R. H. Maddox received his early upbringing and he had little opportunity to secure an education. His father had settled in this section of the county in order to practice his profession and the son grew to young manhood without the opportunity to even attain the rudiments of an education. His boyhood days were spent in tilling the soil of the family farm and cutting firewood until he was twenty years of age. He then went to Colorado and homesteaded a tract of Government land. During a twenty months' sojourn in that State he proved up on a claim in Bent County and then returned to Missouri, locating in Bates County. He took charge of a star mail route which extended from Rockville to Papinville, Missouri, and operated it for two years.
When he attained young manhood he realized the need of an education and he began a practice of self study which he has maintained to this day, and at the present time is a well informed, progressive citizen. After two years on the mail route he sold the route and then went to Cedar County and engaged in the mercantile business at Pleasant View in 1890. In 1906, he disposed of his mercantile business and came to La Due, in this county, where he established a mercantile business which he conducted until engaging in the banking business. Besides his banking business, Mr. Maddox is interested in farm land.
On April 11, 1889, R. H. Maddox and Florence S. Bradley were united in marriage. Mrs. Maddox is a daughter of the late Judge Burton Bradley and a niece of Senator Bradley of Bates County.
Mr. and Mrs. Maddox have children as follows: James N., manager of a grain elevator, at home with his parents; Mrs. Nellie Pearl Hull, Davis township; Edith, assistant cashier of the Bank of La Due; Claranett, deceased; Grace G. and Codie C., at home.
Mr. Maddox is aligned with the Democratic party and for the past six years has served as treasurer of Davis township. He is a member of the Baptist Church and is fraternally affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. It can truly be said of Mr. Maddox that he has made a success of his life work and is self-made from every standpoint.
The Bank of La Due was organized in 1912 by R. H. Maddox, H. B. Hollopeter and others. The bank was capitalized and chartered for $10,000. The past year has been the most prosperous that this bank has ever known as the statement of the increase of bank deposits will show. On March 17, 1917, the bank deposits were $24,612.15; on June 20, 1917, the total deposits were $28,451.91; on November 20, 1917, they were $58,487.12; on March 4, 1918, the deposits had reached the figure of $76,050.26. This substantial condition is evidence of the growing prosperity of the neighborhood served by the bank. The bank has a surplus of $1,279.30 and undivided profits of $600. The present officers are: B. F. McKeaigg, president; Robert D. Ming, vice-president; R. H. Maddox, cashier; H. B. Hollopeter and E. Maddox, assistant cashiers. The bank's directors are J. A. Vansant, R. D. Ming, H. B. Hollopeter, B. F. McKeaigg and R. H. Maddox. The stock of this bank is all held by thirty-one individuals who are engaged in farming. The institution is housed on its own new brick building erected in 1912 and fitted up with modern banking fixtures.
Otto Volkmann, manager and treasurer of the La Due Grain and Supply Company, La Due, Missouri, is a native son of Henry County, and was born on a farm in Clinton township, January 22, 1884. He is the son of C. H. and Catherine Volkmann, natives of Germany, who immigrated to America in 1862, first locating in Indiana. C. H. Volkmann later came to St. Louis, and thence to Henry County, in 1875, where he purchased a tract of prairie land and improved it, residing on his farm until his death in November of 1906 at the age of seventy-six years.
Mrs. Catherine Volkmann died in August of 1906 at the age of sixty-nine years. They were parents of eight children: Louis and William, living at Wallace, Idaho; Henry, Lincoln, Missouri; Otto, subject of this sketch; Mrs. Louise Beckmeyer, Fayette County, Missouri; Mrs. Emma Seifried, Clinton; Mrs. Mary Quest, deceased; and Bertha, living in Lafayette County.
Otto Volkmann attended the Independence district school and resided on the home place of his parents until the farm was sold in 1906. He was then employed as a farm hand until 1910 at which time he began farming on his own account. He followed farming pursuits until February 10, 1916, when he took charge of the La Due Grain and Supply Company as its manager and treasurer. Mr. Volkmann is a Democrat in politics and a member of the Lutheran Church. He is affiliated with the Travelers' Protective Association and the Modern Business Brotherhood of America.
The La Due Grain and Supply Company, of which Mr. Volkmann is manager and treasurer, was organized in the spring of 1915 and is a co-operative concern, the stock of which is held by the farmers of the surrounding country tributary to La Due. The capital stock was $6,000 at the time of organization. The company erected all of the buildings, the elevator having a capacity of 12,000 bushels of grain.
During 1917, there was handled by this elevator 24,000 bushels of corn, 30,300 bushels of oats and 16,500 bushels of wheat. In addition to handling grain the concern retails seeds, flour, feeds, cement and building material, the volume of business transacted during 1917 exceeding $100,000. The officers of the company are as follows: President, Claud Cordry; secretary, Clyde A. Rice; treasurer and manager. Otto Volkmann. The directors are as follows: William Lobaugh, F. K. Miller, George Mayes, Frank White, M. A. Harrison, C. H. Hartsock, George N. Angle, John Layman, John Wolfert, J. W. Brown, C. A. Rice, Claud Cordry, C. C. Collins, T. D. Vansant and William Mida.
