CHAPTER XXVII (Part 42)
BIOGRAPHICAL
John G. Goth, proprietor of a well improved farm in Deepwater township, is a native son of Henry County and is a descendant of one of the sterling pioneer families of German origin who have settled and developed the southwestern part of Henry County. Mr. Goth is owner of 241 acres of land, forty acres of which is located in Walker township. Mr. Goth erected the eight-room farm residence on his place in 1907.
When he took possession of his first tract of 120 acres the improvements were negligible and the soil was partly impoverished, through years of indifferent cultivation. Mr. Goth purchased his home farm in December of 1897 and moved to the place on March 1, 1898. He paid $30 an acre for the land which is now easily worth $75 an acre. He added eighty acres in 1913 at a cost of $60 an acre. The farm is in a high state of cultivation, and the buildings are all substantial.
John G. Goth was born September 24, 1870, on the old Henry Goth homestead, north of Germantown, in Walker township. Henry Goth, his father, was born in Indiana in April 1, 1842, and died in Henry County, September 12, 1889. He was the son of Joseph Goth, a native of Germany who first settled in Indiana after immigrating to this country, and came to the Germantown neighborhood in 1854. He was a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War, and served in Company H of the Seventh Missouri Cavalry. Mr. Goth served until the close of the war, receiving his honorable discharge in April of 1865. The Seventh Missouri Cavalry saw much active service in Missouri, Arkansas and were constantly fighting bushwhackers and giving protection to the loyal citizens of this section of the country. He became owner of the Joseph Goth home place and purchased other land until he owned 190 acres of excellent farm lands.
Henry Goth was married to Mary Teeman, a daughter of Henry Teeman of Deepwater township, deceased pioneer settler concerning whom an account will be found in this volume. Mrs. Goth was born in Henry County January 30, 1846, and died July 28, 1904. The children born to Henry and Mary Goth were as follows: Joseph H., living on part of the Goth home place; John G., subject of this sketch; George and Henry, deceased; Elizabeth Goth lives on the home place; Sylvester, farmer, Walker township; two children died in infancy; Florence, wife of Henry Danzenbrink, lives on the Goth home place in Walker township; Edward, a farmer in Deepwater township. Mr. and Mrs. Goth were devout Catholics and Mr. Goth was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
John G. Goth received his education in Oak Grove School and began doing for himself in 1891. In that year, he went to California and was employed on a fruit ranch for two years. Upon his return he managed the home place until he purchased his present farm. On October 1, 1895, Mr. Goth was married to Magdalena Kaumans, born in Shelby county, Missouri, November 16, 1875, the daughter of Joseph and Frances Kaumans, who came to Henry County in 1888. Her father is deceased and her mother resides in Montrose. The children born to this marriage are: Andrew, Lawrence, Felix, deceased; Benjamin, Frances, Linus, Gladys, and Alma.
Mr. Goth is a Democrat but has no time for political affairs, other than casting his vote at election time. Mr. and Mrs. Goth and the children are all members of the Catholic Church.
Frank Ragland, owner of a splendid farm of 300 acres in Bear Creek township, is a native of Henry County. Mr. Ragland purchased his farm in 1912 and it is a fertile and well watered tract, crossed by Panther Creek and situated in the southeastern part of Bear Creek township. Mr. Ragland was born in Clinton, Missouri, December 19, 1871, the son of Robert H. and Laura E. (Gillespie) Ragland. Robert H. Ragland, his father, was born in 1839 and died in March, 1906. He was born in Monroe County, Missouri, the son of Nathaniel Ragland, a native of Kentucky, who was one of the Missouri pioneers.
Nathaniel Ragland came to Henry County in the early forties and entered Government land, two and a half miles north of Clinton. He improved this tract and became prominent in the affairs of Henry County.
Robert H. Ragland became owner of a farm north of Clinton which he sold when he located in Clinton. He served as constable of Clinton township and was deputy sheriff of Henry County for eight years. He later bought a farm in Bates County upon which he resided for a few years, and at the time of his death, made his home with his son Fred in Clinton.
To Robert H. and Laura E. Ragland were born seven children: Ernest A., Harrison, Arkansas; Fred W., killed by a train in Clinton, in October, 1905; Frank, subject of this sketch; Robert, deceased; Mrs. Annie Wyatt, Shawnee township, Henry County; Roland and Auda, deceased. Mrs. Laura E. (Gillespie) Ragland was born February 11, 1838, and departed this life July 31, 1894. She was twice married, her first husband being Tolliver H. Whittaker, and to this marriage three children were born; George A., deceased; Mrs. Mary Elbertha Hoover, Grinnell, Kansas; Tolliver H., deceased.
Frank Ragland was educated in the district schools and he accompanied his parents to Bates County in 1881. After two years' residence in Bates County, he returned to Henry County and made his home with his uncle, George Blakemore, and operated the Blakemore farm for twelve years. Later he spent two years in Duluth, Minnesota, and returned to Henry County in 1901. For the ensuing six years he resided on a farm north of Clinton. For the next four years he rented a place in Bear Creek township, and then purchased his present farm. Mr. Ragland is engaged in general farming and stock raising.
January 10, 1893, Frank Ragland and Miss Ella Middlecoff were united in marriage. This marriage has been blessed with nine children, all of whom are at home with their parents: Walter F., born January 14, 1896, recently enlisted in the United States Navy; Robert N., born October 12, 1897; Jehu Baker, born October 25, 1899; Howard L., born March 5, 1902; Clara Belle, born June 27, 1903; John W., born March 14, 1906; Ernest Henry, born December 20, 1909; Calvin Land, born June 1, 1911; Mary Elizabeth, born March 19, 1914.
Mrs. Ella (Middlecoff) Ragland was born on a farm five miles east of Clinton in Deer Creek township July 8, 1872, the daughter of J. W. and Elizabeth (Land) Middlecoff. J. W. Middlecoff was born December 10, 1822, and died January 19, 1910. Mrs. Elizabeth (Land) Middlecoff was born April 6, 1834, and departed this life on March 27, 1887. She was born in Belleville, Illinois, the daughter of Aaron Land, a native of Tennessee. The first wife of J. W. Middlecoff was Amy W. Anderson, who bore him three children: James, John and Helen. James Middlecoff served in the Civil War and is deceased. John lives in Los Angeles, California.
Helen died in infancy. The second marriage of J. W. Middlecoff was with Elizabeth Land, who bore him children as follows: Byron Cicero and Lucy Ann, deceased; Aaron Land, Milan, Tennessee; Clara, wife of J. C. Inlow, Clinton, Missouri; Lawrence, was an attorney in Los Angeles, California, and is now deceased; Maryline, wife of John Foster, Lewis Station, Henry County; Judge Jehu Baker, a successful attorney and probate judge of Duluth, Minnesota; Elmer, Seattle, Washington; Walter Whitfield, an attorney, Los Angeles, California; Mrs. Ella Ragland; Archie, Los Angeles, California.
J. W. Middlecoff was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, and moved to Belleville with his parents when a child. He came to Henry County in 1866 and his first year in this county was spent on a farm north of Clinton. In 1867, he settled permanently on a farm five miles east of Clinton. He improved a large tract of land and built a home for himself and family, hauling the lumber from Warsaw, Missouri. He spent the rest of his days on this farm, reared his splendid family and became one of the most prominent citizens of Henry County. He was president of the Henry County Bank and was one of the wealthy and substantial citizens of this county. The Middlecoff family is an old American family, the history of which begins with Peter Mittelkauff, who sailed from Rotterdam, Holland, and arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 24, 1728.
Mr. Ragland is a Democrat and is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, Lodge No. 250, La Due, Missouri. He and Mrs. Ragland and the children worship at Teays Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church.
