CHAPTER XXVII (Part 41)
BIOGRAPHICAL
John Braun, of Clinton township, was born in Wittenburg, Germany, April 9, 1859, and was of high German stock, being a son of Jacob Braun, who came to America and located in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1876. John Braun learned the trade of cigar maker and followed his trade in Kansas City for a time. After his marriage in 1882 he located in Wyandotte County, Kansas, on a farm and then settled in Johnson County, Kansas, where he followed the pursuit of agriculture until his removal to Henry County, Missouri, in 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Braun bought eighty acres of land in Clinton township and their first home in this county was a log house which was later supplanted by a handsome residence. On account of the poor health from which Mr. Braun suffered for twenty-two years, he was unable to do much work of any consequence, the task of improving a farm and making a home for the family fell to Mrs. Braun. Mr. Braun was taken seriously ill in 1895, and it became necessary to remove him to a State institution.
John Braun was married on March 4, 1882, to Kathrine Rentchler, who was born in Wittenburg, Germany, May 20, 1858, the daughter of George and Barbara (Lutz) Rentcheler,, who spent all of their lives in the land of their nativity. Mrs. Braun came to America in 1880 and resided in Kansas City for two years prior to her marriage. To John and Kathrine Braun have been born children as follows: Benjamin, born July 11, 1885, a land owner of Clinton township, married Ella Hoppe, daughter of August Hoppe, and has two children, Mary Ellen and Bessie May; John F., born October 15, 1887, resides on a farm in Fairview township and owns a farm in Clinton township, married Minnie, daughter of William F. Standke, and has one son, John William; George, born November 27, 1889, married Lottie, daughter of William Dunning, and has three children, Frank, William and Clayton; Mary, born January 18, 1891, lives in Clinton township, married Estes Williams and has four children, Philip, Daisy, Ellen and Dorothy; Henry, born February 16, 1893, on the home farm, married Violet Mitchell, born July 2, 1895, daughter of W. S. Mitchell, and has one child, Mildred, born August 14, 1915.
Many women would have been terrified and disheartened at the prospect of shouldering the burdens of both father and mother, but Mrs. Braun is made of the material which is never afraid to try to accomplish what is necessary. To her belongs the credit of rearing her fine family, of building up and improving a fine farm and her children and many friends take pride in speaking of what she did alone and unaided when her children were small. She is a capable and intelligent woman who is proud of her fine family and takes great pride in her home. She is a member of the Golden Gate Baptist Church and has led all of her children in the paths of true morality and religion, every child being a member of this church.
Fred Schmidt - For over forty years, Fred Schmidt has lived on the farm in the southeastern part of Clinton township which he cleared from the timber along the stream which flows through his land on the boundary line. He first cut the trees and cleared a place for his home and then gradually cut more trees and placed the ground in cultivation, until he had cleared 160 acres of splendid farm land. He purchased his first seventy-four acres of timbered land for $250 - an amount which was a fortune in the old days and which he obtained by the hardest kind of labor in the coal mines of Henry County. He next bought eighty acres at a cost of $32 an acre. The hardest kind of work during his long lifetime has placed Mr. Schmidt in comfortable circumstances, and now, in the eventide of his long and useful life, he can sit in peace and comfort and reap the reward of his years of unremitting labor.
Fred Schmidt was born in Baden, Germany, September 26, 1848, the son of Frederick and Rosa Schmidt, who lived and died in Germany. When a boy Fred Schmidt herded sheep for a livelihood and dreamed of the land across the seas where people were free and happy, and where it was possible to attain a home and even riches if one were honest and willing to work. His dreams were eventually realized, and in 1866 he crossed the Atlantic, arrived at New York, made his way to Cincinnati, and came to Henry County in 1873, after spending six years at labor in Cincinnati. Upon his arrival in this county he obtained employment in the coal mines, where he worked until he purchased his land and began making a home for himself and his loved ones.
Mr. Schmidt has been twice married. His first marriage took place in 1868 with Elizabeth Leffler, of Wittenburg, Germany, born in 1836 and died in 1913, leaving four children: Amiel W., a farmer living two miles west of his father's place; Charles, a farmer of Clinton township; Mrs. Anna Standke, Clinton township; Frank, a farmer living two miles west of his father's place. His second marriage occurred in November, 1916, with Miss Margaret Schmidt, who was born in July, 1849, a daughter of Matthias and Sarah Schmidt, natives of Wittenburg, Germany, who immigrated to America in 1868 and settled in Henry County. Miss Schmidt was first married to Charles Gebhart, a stone mason, who died in 1903.
Nothing can portray the remarkable changes that have taken place since Fred Schmidt first came to Henry County more than the great increase in land values. Just a few weeks ago in April of 1918, Mr. Schmidt was offered about $50 an acre for his farm, a sum which would keep him in comfort in the city during his declining years. It is needless to state that he refused the offer and intends to spend his life on the spot he loves so well. Mr. Schmidt is a Republican and is an adherent of the Lutheran faith.
Elijah W. Saunders - Living in comfortable retirement and ease at his pleasant home in Deepwater is Elijah W. Saunders, one of the oldest of the Henry County pioneers, who came to this county fifty-one years ago. Mr. Saunders was born in Kentucky September 15, 1836, the son of Easton C. and Demaris (Fradry) Saunders, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Virginia. Elijah W. Saunders was reared to young manhood in Kentucky and was there married to Lucinda Cook, who died in 1865, leaving four children, two of whom are living: Robert, a farmer and road overseer of Fairview township, has a son, Harry, in the National Army; John, a farmer in Fairview township, has a son, Rolla, in the National Army. After his marriage Mr. Saunders removed to Sangamon County, Illinois, and settled on a farm near Taylorville, where he resided until November 11, 1867, at which time he came to Henry County and settled in Fairview township. During the first year he lived with Mr. Withrow, east of Deepwater, and then returned to Illinois for his children. He resided on the Withrow place until his second marriage and then settled on the Martin place, which he rented for a period of three years. He then bought a modest farm of forty acres, south of the town of Deepwater. He traded this tract for a farm of 160 acres on the county line, between Henry and St. Clair Counties, and improved a splendid farm near Pleasant Valley Church. He continued to accumulate farm land until he became owner of 500 acres of rich land.
Mr. Saunders has given 153 acres outright to his sons and has given each child a good start in Hfe rather than to have them wait until after his death.
January 3, 1869, Mr. Saunders was married to Miss Mary Hurt, who was born October 10, 1847, on a farm four miles south of Clinton. This marriage was performed by the Rev. Frank Laller, one of the well known ministers of that day. Mrs. Mary Saunders was born in her father's barn, as they had no house built at the time of her birth. She is the daughter of Andrew and Bertha (Mitchell) Hurt, natives of Ohio and Indiana, respectively. They were married in Indiana and first located in Boone County, Missouri, residing in that county until 1838, when the family came to Henry County and built the first cabin on the present site of the city of Clinton. Mr. Hurt entered Government land four miles southeast of Clinton. Mr. and Mrs. Hurt were parents of nine children, four of whom died in infancy: Margaret Allen, Eldorado Springs, Missouri; Mrs. Mary Saunders, of this review; Andrew, Deepwater, Missouri; Mrs. Berthina Langdon, living in Ohio. The children born of the marriage of Elijah W. and Mary Saunders are as follows: Lizzie, who is caring for her aged parents; Mrs. Diana Saunders, St. Clair County, Missouri; Charles, deceased; George, who is farming the home place, and took his father's place as school director of the home district, a position which Mr. Saunders filled for thirteen years and resigned upon removing to Deepwater in October of 1901.
Mr. Saunders is a Democrat and a member of the Baptist Church. He served for years as deacon of the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church and was one of the builders and a charter member of this church.
James D. Mann - A man's standing in his community is naturally measured by his accomplishments in a material and civic sense. If he be but a mere money grabber and cares for nothing aside from the amassing of dollars, his importance is limited by the power of his money.
If, on the other hand, he is broad-gauged enough to combine the highest duties of citizenship with the accumulation of wealth his position in the community is assured; his place in history is marked; and he is deserving of more than ordinary mention. Such a man was the late James D. Mann of Montrose, Missouri. He was a man of intellect, education, and decided business ability, an executive and organizer of a high order who had the highest conception of the duties of a good citizen and who was always found in the forefront of the advocates of civic betterment.
James D. Mann was born September 23, 1858, and departed this life September 20, 1915. He was born at Neosho, Wisconsin, the son of John L. Mann, whose wife bore the maiden name of Parsons. They were natives of New England. The Mann family originated in the Isle of Mann and the history of American branch of this family dates back to Colonial times, they being among the oldest of the American families of English origin. John L. Mann was a pioneer in the State of Wisconsin, where he cleared a farm from the forest in the early forties. James D. Mann was reared and educated in his native county in Wisconsin and was a farmer until his removal to Missouri in 1892. Opportunity beckoned to him and he sold his Wisconsin farm and located in the thriving city of Montrose, where for two years he was in the employ of Sol Kahn, the veteran merchant of Montrose. In 1894, he established the grain business which bears his name. He successfully conducted this business until his death. In addition to his grain business, he was interested in agricultural pursuits and owned 240 acres of land located one mile north of Montrose.
While a resident of Wisconsin he was married in 1880 to Miss Le Moine Wilson, who was born in the city of Neosho, Wisconsin, a daughter of De Wayne Wilson, a well-known citizen of Neosho. Mrs. Le Moine Mann was born in 1863 and departed this life on October 1, 1913. The children of the family are: Arthur J.; Howard H., born November 15, 1898, in Montrose, Missouri, enlisted at Kansas City, on April 5, 1917, in the Third Missouri Regiment, now the 140th Infantry Regiment of the National Army, and is serving as a private in machine gun company, and prior to his departure to the fighting front in France, he was in training at Camp Doniphan.
Arthur J. Mann, who is now managing the Mann Grain Company and the family business interests, was born October 26, 1881, at Neosho, Wisconsin, and received his education in the public schools of Neosho and Montrose. After graduation from the local high school he studied for one year at the Missouri Valley College, Marshall, Missouri, and then pursued a business course at the Central Business College of Sedalia, Missouri. After graduation from business college he entered the grain business with his father at Montrose and now is in complete charge of the business as proprietor and manager. He completed a business course in 1902 and in the spring of 1904 went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he was employed as bookkeeper and traveling salesman for different grain firms having headquarters in the city for a period of ten years. The training which he received during those ten years has proven invaluable to him in conducting the Mann Grain Business.
On October 29, 1902, A. J. Mann and Miss Flora De Bold of Montrose were united in marriage. Mrs. Flora Mann is a daughter of Joseph De Bold, a former merchant of Montrose, now located in Clinton, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Mann have one son, Russell Mann, born August 25, 1903.
A. J. Mann is a Democrat in politics, has held the office of city alderman, and is a member of the local board of education. He is a director of the Montrose Savings Bank. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Kansas City Blue Lodge No. 299, the Orient Chapter, Oriental Commandery, and the Ararat Shrine of Kansas City.
The late James D. Mann was a Democrat and during his residence in Montrose he held practically every city office, serving several terms as mayor of the city. He was one of the organizers and president of the Henry County Boosters Club. He assisted in organizing the Missouri Grain Dealers Association and served two terms as president of this organization, being elected unanimously to this position. He was active in church work and was a ruling elder of the Montrose Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He was fraternally associated with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of Clinton, Missouri.
Mann Grain Company - The Mann Grain Company was established at Montrose, Missouri, in 1894, by the late James D. Mann under the firm name of Mann and Marsh. It was conducted as a partnership undertaking until the death of Mr. Marsh in 1903. Mr. Mann then became sole owner. After Mr. Mann's death on September 20, 1915, the business passed under the management of his son, A. J. Mann. The buildings of the Mann Grain Company cover considerable ground space. The elevator building is 300 feet by 40 feet in extent and has a capacity of 15,000 bushels of grain. The warehouse and office are 125x30 feet. The concern handles over 150 carloads of grain yearly as well as shipping twenty-five carloads of broom corn aggregating 250 tons each year. The firm also retails mill feed and seeds and two men are employed to attend to the extensive business.
