CHAPTER XXVII (Part 28)
BIOGRAPHICAL
William Wilson - The ranks of the Old Guard are fast thinning. It is only here and there can be found one of the sturdy veterans of either side of the great civil conflict which convulsed the Nation from 1861 to 1865. The wounds of that great struggle have long since healed and it is a matter of history that the fighting men of both armies never at any time had any great personal animosity towards one another. The feeling which existed between the North and the South for so many years was kept alive by politicians of both sides of the imaginary line which divided the two sections. In these trying days when the grandsons of these old veterans are far across the Atlantic giving up their life's blood that the principles for which their ancestors fought and died might be kept alive on this earth forever, the ties which bind the people of this great Nation together are stronger than ever before. William Wilson, or "Major" Wilson as he is affectionately called in Montrose, Missouri, is one of the last survivors of the old guard which fought in defense of the Union.
William Wilson was born in Licking County, Ohio, in 1840 and is the son of John A. and Agnes (Curry) Wilson, natives of Pennsylvania, and Licking County, Ohio, respectively. His mother was of Scotch descent.
John A. Wilson was born in 1815 and died in 1880. Mrs. Agnes Wilson was born in 1817 and died in 1888. They came to Henry County in 1867 and settled upon a farm located three and a half miles northeast of Montrose. John A. and Agnes Wilson were parents of ten children: William, subject of this sketch; Stewart, Omer C., John W., Mary E., Eoline and Clara, deceased; Thomas, resides at Reynoldsburg, Ohio; Monroe lives at Cincinnati, Ohio; James resides in Montana. In 1861, William Wilson enlisted in Company A, 76th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served for nearly four years with his command, being honorably discharged from the service on July 15, 1865. He served with the 15th Army Corps under Generals John A. Logan and Sherman.
He participated in the great battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Mission Ridge, Lookout Mountain, and was in the campaign through Georgia, marched from Atlanta to the sea with General Sherman's Army, and thence through the Carolinas to Richmond, after the surrender of General Lee. He marched in the Grand Review of the victorious Union troops through the streets of Washington and then returned home. He accompanied his parents to Henry County and engaged in farming in this county until 1885, when he located in Montrose and engaged in the retail meat and butchering business. He followed this for several years and was also employed in a local grocery store for some time. Of late years Mr. Wilson has been living in peaceful and well earned retirement.
William Wilson has been twice married. His first marriage occurred in 1868, with Eliza E. Stubblefield, who died in 1890. His second marriage took place in 1893 with Miss Emma Tuttle. Mr. Wilson is a Republican in politics and has served four years as city assessor of Montrose. He also filled the post of city collector of taxes. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and is affiliated fraternally with the Grand Army of the Republic Post at Appleton City, Missouri.
Jacob Rhoads, pioneer settler and president of the Bank of Deepwater, was born in Edgar County, Illinois, July 30, 1847, the son of Alney McLean (born January 11, 1820, died February 12, 1892) and Susan (Dixon) Rhoads (born 1820, died December 24, 1859). Alney McLean Rhoads was born in Kentucky and was the son of Jacob Rhoads, who migrated to Edgar County, Illinois, in 1823 and was a pioneer settler of that county. The parents of Jacob Rhoads were reared and married in Edgar County, Illinois, and resided there until 1854. In that year, A. M. Rhoads, wife and six children, gathered up their belongings and drove in wagons across the intervening country to find a new home in Henry County, Missouri. They arrived at their destination after a three weeks' trip and located upon a tract of land situated on the banks of Deepwater Creek, two and a half miles north of the town of Deepwater. Mr. Rhoads built a cabin of poles, having a stick chimney and a dirt floor to supplement the tent which had sheltered them of nights when making the long trip from Illinois. This rude structure served as the family domicile while the father was cutting and hewing logs to build a cabin. This log cabin was erected in September of that year and served as the home of the family until 1868, when a frame house was built. There were nine children in the Rhoads family, only two of whom are living: Jacob, subject of this review, and Mrs. Elizabeth Moyer, Deepwater, Missouri.
During the Civil War, Jacob Rhoads enlisted for service in the Missouri State troops, but was exempted from active service on account of the fact that he was deficient in the sight of one eye. He was married in 1868 and began life for himself upon his father's farm. The family estate was left to him and his sister at the time of his father's death, but Mr. Rhoads had accumulated land on his own account. He has sold some of his land but is the owner of a total of 870 acres in Henry County. Mr. Rhoads has been active during his entire life and only of recent years has he turned over the actual cultivation of his farm land to his sons. Every day, he makes a trip to the farm and does some Avork about the place. He believes that it is better to wear out in the harness than to rust out as so many retired tanners do when they retire to a home in town.
In 1868, Jacob Rhoads and Augusta V. Flecker were united in marriage. Mrs. Augusta Rhoads was born in Augusta County, Virginia, June 2, 1852, the daughter of John W. (born April 15, 1817, died March 25, 1877) and Anna Eliza (Craum) Flecker (born March 15, 1820, died December 19, 1889). The Flecker family came to Henry County in 1866 and settled upon a farm which had been owned by A. M. Rhoads previously. To them were born ten children, eight of whom were reared to maturity: David B. Flecker, Oklahoma; Edward J., North Dakota; John A., Oklahoma; James F., Deepwater, Missouri; A. H., Lynchburg, Virginia; Mrs. Mary Frances Pomeroy, Colorado; Margaret Ann, wife of James Moyer, Clinton township; Mrs. Augusta V. Rhoads.
The children born to Jacob and Augusta Rhoads are as follows: Rosa Lee, John Alva, Dessie Ellen, Virginia Ann, Jettie Celeste, Harlan Francis, Mrs. Rosa Lee Sprouse lived in North Dakota, is deceased and left three children: Mrs. Edith Florence Wintsell, who has two children, Marie Wintsell and Nora; Earl Jacob Frouse, now in France serving in the National Army. Mrs. Bertha Virginia Lovell has one son, Eugene Merrill Lovell. John Alva Rhoads lives on the old home place, married Maude Haines and has nine children: Mrs. Cecil Audrey (Smith), Florence Floyd, Clifford Clyde, Carmel, Fay, Jacob Carroll, Fay Carmel, Ruby Lee, Raymond, Lois Virginia and Woodrow Wilson. Mrs. Dessie Allen De Armond, Deepwater, has two children: Goldie Fern and Dimple Violet. Mrs. Virginia Ann Woods lives in Deepwater. Mrs. Jettie Celeste Wilson, Deepwater, has one child, Leota. Harlan Francis, living on the Rhoads home place, married Gladys Holmes and has three children: Cleo Jacob, Opal Francis and Glenn, born July 4, 1918.
Mr Rhoads is a pronounced Democrat who has taken a more or less active part in political matters during his entire life. He was the first treasurer elected in Fairview township under the township organization and has filled several township offices. He is a director and president of the bank of Deepwater and assisted in the organization of this bank. He and Mrs. Rhoads are members of the Baptist Church.
Prior to his election as president of the bank in 1917 Mr. Rhoads served several years as vice-president of the bank.
It is a matter of history that A. M. Rhoads rebuilt Jackson's old water mill after the war and for a time it was operated by his oldest son until it passed into other hands. Jacob Rhoads recalls that the grinding of meal for the family table was done by tread-mill operated by cow power " This mill was located southeast of Calhoun and he took corn there to be ground and remained all night. There was a "still" near this grist mill and the distiller would trade whiskey for corn, more whiskey being given in exchange for yellow corn than for white corn.
In point of years of residence, Jacob Rhoads is probably the oldest living pioneer settler in the southern part of Henry County. Despite his age, he is energetic, well preserved and keeps well informed of daily happenings, taking a great interest in everything that is going on in the world He believes that a man, especially a man who is getting old, should keep alive his interest in everything which happens and will thus prolong his life and live much more happily than otherwise. When a man begins to lose interest in things mundane, he is ready for the grave.
In this case, Jacob Rhoads has a long time yet to live and enjoy life. Alfred H. Allison, proprietor of a well improved farm of 128.64 acres in Walker township, was born in Bates County, Missouri, December 18, 1868, and is the son of Otho C. and Zerelda (Baker) Allison the former a native of Illinois and the latter was born in Missouri. Otho C. Allison was born in 1845 and died in 1915. Mrs. Zerelda Allison was born in 1850. Otho C. Allison came to Missouri in 1865 and drove the stage from Sedalia to Butler, Missouri, for a period of two years. He then settled on the old Baker farm in Bates County, where he resided until 1870 and then located in Henry County. He improved the farm which his son, Alfred H., now owns and lived thereon until his death. He was father of two sons and two daughters: Alfred H., Rolla C., lives in Kentucky; Mrs. Roberta G. Williams, Walker township; Mrs. Cornelia Wilcoxen, lives near Lucas, Missouri.
Alfred H. Allison was educated in the district schools of Walker township and has always followed the vocation of farmer and stockman. In 1903, he purchased a farm of eighty acres and in 1915 he traded his farm for the home place.
Mr. Allison was married in February, 1893, to Miss Bertie McClenny, the daughter of Frank McClenny, of Henry County. The following children were born to this marriage: Mrs. Cornelia Caldwell, Walker township; Mrs. Carrie Hart, Walker township; Ruby, at home with her parents; two children died in infancy; Hazel, the last born, died at the age of one year and eight months.
Mr. Allison is a Republican and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a good, industrious citizen, who tills his acreage so as to get the maximum yield of crops and is ever ready to assist a worthy local enterprise to the best of his ability.
Michael Kedigh, a Union veteran of the Civil War and an early settler of Henry County, is a well known farmer of White Oak township. Mr. Kedigh was born in Germany December 11, 1840, and is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Moring) Kedigh, both natives of Germany. The Kedigh family emigrated to America in 1845, when Michael was five years old. They settled in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where both the parents spent the remainder of their lives. The father died the same year that he settled in Ohio and the mother died in 1870. They were the parents of the following children: Michael, the subject of this sketch; George, who also served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and died at the age of seventy; Mrs. Caroline Ricker, spent her life in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and is now deceased.
Michael Kedigh received such schooling as the rural districts afforded in Ohio in his boyhood days, but as he says himself, his principal education was learning to work. Just about the time that he reached manhood the Civil War broke out and in November, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, 80th Regiment Ohio Infantry for a period of two years, and at the expiration of his term of service he re-enlisted as a veteran volunteer and served throughout the war, being mustered out of service at Little Rock, Arkansas, in August, 1865. He was a good soldier and made an unimpeachable war record of which he and his descendants for generations to come may be justly proud. He participated in many important battles and campaigns of great historic moment. He was with Sherman on his memorable march to the sea and took part in the battles of luka, Corinth, Jackson, Missionary Ridge and numerous other battles and engagements of lesser importance. He participated in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C. At the close of the war, Mr. Kedigh returned to his Ohio home and bought a small farm which he tilled for a short time. In 1870, Mr. Kedigh came to Missouri and located in White Oak township, Henry County. The first eighty acres which he purchased here was at a cost of twenty dollars per acre. He has added more land and now owns one hundred ninety acres, which is well improved and is one of the valuable farms of Henry County, and Mr. Kedigh is regarded as one of the successful farmers and stockmen of the county.
Mr. Kedigh has been twice married. In 1868, he was married to Miss Christena Baker in Ohio. She died in 1880, leaving the following children: Caroline, now the wife of C. D. Martin; Jacob, who was engaged in the mercantile business at Ballard, Missouri, for some time and is now a successful farmer and stockman of Bates County, Missouri; John, who resides at Mountain Home, Arkansas. Mr. Kedigh's second wife, to whom he was married in 1881, bore the maiden name of Margaret Henny. She is a daughter of Benedict and Martha (Zehnder) Henny of Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Benedict Henny was a native of Switzerland and came to America and settled in Ohio in 1854. In 1881, he came to White Oak township, Henry County, and died here November 6, 1893. His wife died in Ohio in 1880.
They were the parents of the following children: Benedict, deceased; John, lives at Delmar, Missouri; Rudy, deceased; Christian, Delmar, Missouri; William, White Oak township; Margaret, the wife of Michael Kedigh, the subject of this sketch; Edward; Mrs. Emma Goodman, Urich, Missouri; Mrs. Elizabeth Fraley, Bogue, Kansas, and Mrs. Mary Little, Walker township, and Mrs. Sarah Graff, deceased.
To Michael Kedigh and Margaret (Henny) Kedigh have been born three children, as follows: Benedict Edward, married Edith Scanlon and lives in Bogard township; Omer Frances, married Inez Hargrave and lives on the home place, and George William, married Lorena McDaniel and lives in White Oak township.
Mr. Kedigh is a public-spirited and progressive citizen and takes a keen interest in all matters for the public good. He took an active interest in the reclamation project in Henry County and for seven years served as a director of the drainage district board. He is one of Henry County's most valued citizens.
