in Rice County, Kansas, leaving a family; Webster Fail, of Hodgeman
County, Kansas; Samuel Fail, who died as a Union soldier at Atlanta,
Georgia, leaving a family in Iowa ; George Fail, who died at St. Joseph ;
Mrs. Joshua Selby, who now lives in Oilman City; Jane, who married
John Brown of Oklahoma; Elizabeth, who died near Bethany as the
wife of James Buck. Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Selby had the following
children: Rose, wife of Dr. J. A. Magraw, of Gilman City; Columbus
O. ; Percy, a farmer in Harrison County ; and Clifford, who occupies the
old farm.
In Sherman Township Columbus 0. Selby was born September 20,
1867, and since reaching manhood a quarter century ago has done much
to prove his ability as a home maker and a good citizen. His education
in the country schools was supplemented by the old Stanberry Normal,
and for twelve years he was actively engaged in educational work. His
first school was the Pin Oak District near Bethany, and his last was at
High Point, his home district. For two years he was principal of the
Blue Ridge schools. During the summer seasons while teaching he either
farmed or attended school. While a teacher he was a member of one of
the old boards of commissioners appointed to aid the county superin-
tendent in selecting instructors for the county institute. Since leaving
the school room his career has been one of increasing activity as a farmer.
His attractive and well improved estate comprises 210 acres, in sections
17 and 7, township 63, range 27, being a part of the George Selby Farm.
His business may be described as mixed farming and stock raising.
More or less ever since reaching manhood Mr. Selby has mingled in
local and national politics. As a republican, he was in the County
Central Committee sixteen years, its secretary and treasurer six years,
and his voice was influential in making candidates and party manage-
ment. He campaigned in Harrison and Daviess counties in 1896 and
1900 in opposition to free silver and imperialism. In 1912 he became
interested in the progressive movement, supported Roosevelt for Presi-
dent, and is now chairman of the Progressive County Committee. , He is
a director in his home school district, and his church is the Christian.
September 3, 1899, Mr. Selby married Miss Ethel Miller, a teacher in
the schools of Harrison County. She is a daughter of John A. and
Adella (Collins) Miller and a granddaughter of Dr. Ben Miller, who was
at one time county superintendent of schools of Harrison County. He
came from Indiana to Harrison County before the war, locating in Sugar
Creek Township, where he practiced medicine and lived until his death.
Doctor Miller's children were : Green Miller, Mrs. Matilda Magraw, Mrs.
Alice Hart, Mrs. Ann Price, Mrs. Samantha Myers, John A. and Jasper,
the last named being a resident of Colorado. John A. Miller now lives
at Maysville, and is a mechanic. His children are: Mrs. Selby, who
was born September 3, 1876; Herbert, of Maysville; Ben H., deceased,
who was a teacher in Harrison County; Percy A., of Daviess County;
John, of Harrison County; and Merl, a teacher in Harrison County.
Mr. and Mrs. Selby have one son, Eugene, who was born July 23, 1903.
Hon. Edward M. McLeod has maintained his residence in the
district near the dividing line between Gentry and Worth counties
for more than forty years, and though his splendid landed estate is
situated in Gentry County, the Village of Denver, Worth County, repre-
sents his postoffice address. His has been a life of signal achievement
and sterling principles, and he has ever commanded the confidence and
1692 HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI
esteem of his fellow men, his title of judge being conferred by reason
of his service as judge of the county court of Gentry County. To him
also is the honor of having been one of the patriotic and loyal young
men who gave gallant service in preserving the integrity of the Nation
in the climacteric conflict of the Civil war, and in the more mature
years of his long and useful life the same spirit of faithfulness has
characterized him.
Edward Miles McLeod was born in Delaware County, Ohio, on the
6th of September, 1846, and is a son of Ingles and Hettie (Roberts)
McLeod, the former of whom was born in the State of Kentucky, in
1822, of stanch Scotch-Irish lineage, and the latter of whom was born in
Delaware County, Ohio, her entire life having there been passed, and
her death having occurred in 1898. Ingles McLeod 's father was a native
of Pennsylvania, born near the City of Philadelphia, and in his earlier
life this worthy ancestor was a sea-faring man, later learning the trade
of rope making. He finally removed to Kentucky, for the purpose of
manufacturing rope in a district where adequate supplies of hemp were
grown, but when he found it virtually impossible to compete with slave
labor in the old Bluegrass Commonwealth, he removed with his family
to Delaware County, Ohio, where he entered claim to a section of wild
land and developed a fine farm, besides continuing to give more or less
attention to the work of his trade. He attained to the age of sixty-five
years, and his wife, who was born in Pennsylvania and whose maiden
name was Ingles, preceded him in death by a few years. They became
the parents of eleven sons and two daughters, namely : John, Reynolds,
Lewis, Turner, George, Edward, Ingles, Charles, Alfred, Walter,
Leonard, Margaret and Eliza. Margaret married Jacob Wicks and the
name of Eliza's husband was Amlin. The sons were reared to manhood
in the old Buckeye State, and it may be noted that of the number John
died in Shelby County, Missouri; Reynolds established his home in
Iowa ; Turner passed the closing years of his life in Southern Missouri ;
and Lewis and Edward were residents of Indiana at the time of their
death.
. Ingles McLeod learned the trade of ropemaking under the direction
of' his father, but when machines were invented for the manufacturing
of rope the tradesmen who still utilized the old-time hand method found
it impossible to compete with the modern system. Mr. McLeod became
one of the substantial and prosperous farmers of Delaware County, Ohio,
where he served also as a member of the state militia in the early days,
his son, Judge McLeod, having clear memory of the insignia of patriotic
colors which the father was entitled to and wore upon his hat, though
he was never called into active war service. He died in 1860, at the age
of forty-two years. His wife was a daughter of John Roberts, a Penn-
sylvania man who settled on "Yankee Street" in Delaware County, Ohio,
and, like all other residents of that colloquially designated thoroughfare,
he became a wealthy and independent farmer. Mrs. Hettie (Roberts)
McLeod survived the husband of her youth by nearly forty years and
continued to reside in the county of her birth until she too was sum-
moned to eternal rest, in 1898, at a venerable age. Of the children the
eldest is Emory, now a resident of Westerville, Franklin County, Ohio ;
Judge Edward M., of this review, was the second in order of birth; and
Caroline is the widow of Henry M. Williams, of Westerville, Ohio.
Judge McLeod gained his rudimentary education under the condi-
tions and influences marking the pioneer epoch in the history of Ohio,
and though he was but fifteen years of age at the time of the inception
of the Civil war he gave prompt evidence of his intrinsic and youthful
patriotism, by tendering his services in defense of the Union. In response
HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI 1693
to President Lincoln's first call for 300,000 men, he enlisted, on the
27th of August, 1861, as a private in Company I, Thirty-second Ohio
Volunteer Infantry — Capt. J. Dyer and Col. Thomas Ford. The regi-
ment was mobilized at Camp Denison, Ohio, and thence proceeded to
West Virginia, where it met with genuine hardships in its first camp, at
Cheat Mountain. In crossing the Allegany Mountains the forces of
General Lee were in front of the Union command in which Judge McLeod
was aligned, but the gallant soldiers of the Union pushed forward to
aid in the capture of the City of Richmond, the capital of the Con-
federacy. At Staunton, Virginia, the command was opposed by the forces
under Gen. Stonewall Jackson, and on the 9th of June, 1862, the battle
of Port Republic was fought. In the following September Judge McLeod
arrived with his command at Harper's Ferry, and here they were cap-
tured by the Confederate forces under Jackson, Longstreet and Hill.
The captives were taken to a point near Baltimore, Maryland and upon
receiving paroles were sent to the prison camp in the City of Chicago.
In February, 1863, their exchange was effected and the Thirty-second
Ohio Regiment came into rendezvous at Cleveland, Ohio, where it was
armed and otherwise equipped for further field service. The regiment
joined Grant's army at Memphis, Tennessee, and took part in the Vicks-
burg campaign. Judge McLeod participated in the valiant charge on
the works and fortifications surrounding the City of Vicksburg, and
with others of his command assisted in carrying the ladders used in
climbing the Confederate breastworks at Fort Hill. Prior to this he had
taken part in the preliminary battle of Champion 's Hill, Mississippi. In
this battle, his regiment, which was a part of Logan's division, in
Stephenson's brigade, captured a battery of six guns. The command
remained at Vicksburg and performed its part in the siege until the
capitulation of the city, July 4, 1863, and there the most of the members
of the Thirty-second Ohio Regiment re-enlisted, as veterans, after which
the command accompanied General Sherman in the ever memorable
Atlanta campaign, taking part in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain and
later in that of Atlanta, July 22d»and July 28th at Ezra Church, and at
Jonesboro, which virtually marked the close of that campaign. The
regiment then followed Hood back toward Tennessee and kept that able
Confederate commander under surveillance until he had crossed the
Tennessee River, after which it returned South and accompanied Sher-
man's forces on the march from Atlanta to the sea. At Savannah Gen-
eral Sherman embarked most of his troops on transports which pro-
ceeded to Buford, South Carolina, and the Thirty-second Ohio was one
of the regiments for which this provision was made. It took active part
in the campaign through South Carolina, scattering the straggling Con-
federate commands that were attempting to make their way to North
Carolina, to join Johnston's army. The last battle in which Judge
McLeod took part was that of Bentonville, and about this time word was
received of the surrender of General Lee. Judge McLeod was at Raleigh
at the time when General Sherman and Johnston arranged their historic
meeting and conference at Goldsboro. Sherman's army marehed on to
Washington to take part in the Grand Review of the victorious Union
forces. The whole army of the Tennessee was ordered to the western
department, to aid in the subjugation of the forces under Gen. Richard
Taylor in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, and was at Louisville at the
time when the terms of his surrender w r ere arranged. There also the
troops of the corps received their pay and the Ohio command in which
Judge McLeod had proved so loyal and valiant a young soldier, was
among those shipped back to Columbus, Ohio, where his regiment was
disbanded on the 27th of July, 1865, and where he received his honorable
1694 HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI
discharge — three years and eleven months after the date of his enlist-
ment. He had participated in battles and skirmishes to the number of
more than thirty-two, but was never wounded. He celebrated his nine-
teenth birthday anniversary one month and eleven days after his dis-
charge from the army. It is hardly necessary to state that Judge
McLeod perpetuates the more gracious memories and associations of his
youthful military career by active affiliation with the Grand Army of the
Republic.
After the close of the war Judge McLeod set to himself the task of
supplementing the meager education which had been his when he subordi-
nated all other interests to go forth in defense of the Nation's integrity.
He finally became a student in an academy in his native county, and while
thus applying himself he also taught a class in geometry in the same
school. He knew and could recite by number every one of the 180
propositions in the nine books of geometry, and otherwise gave evidence
of his specially receptive memory and close application to study. After
his first year in the academy he was licensed to teach school, and he
taught two terms in his native state before coming to Missouri, iu 1869.
In 1870 he established his home in the neighborhood in which he has
resided during the long intervening years and in which he has a circle
of friends that is circumscribed only by that of his acquaintances. The
judge is a man of liberal education and fine intellectuality, his maturity
of judgment and broad views representing the result of years of long and
practical experience. For fully a quarter of a century Judge McLeod
continued to teach in the schools of Missouri during the winter terms,
and as soon as his accumulations justified the action he began to make
investments in land, his first purchase having been ninety-eight acres of
his present estate, this land having been unreclaimed and he having paid
$1,000 for the property. In connection with his operations as a farmer
and stock-grower progress and distinctive success have followed the well
ordered endeavors of Judge McLeod, as he is now the owner of a well
improved and valuable landed estate of 540 acres, divided into two
farms.
Judge McLeod has been a stalwart in the camp of the republican
party, which has ever been much in the minority in his home county and
district, so that he naturally failed of election when he appeared as
republican candidate for sheriff on one occasion and for that of circuit
clerk on another. His eligibility and personal popularity overcame the
partisan handicap, however, when he was elected county judge of Gentry
County, and he carried his own township by a vote of nearly two to one
over his opponent, likewise a resident of the same township. He served
one term, and notwithstanding the fact that this republican court did its
duty to the taxpayers, the letting of the county printing to the lowest
responsible bidder caused the defeat of the two republican judges before
the next caucus of the party. Judge McLeod is president of the Bank
of Denver, a substantial and popular financial institution of this section
of the state, and he is one of the local and progressive citizens of the
state that has long represented his home. Both he and his wife are active
members of the Christian Church.
On the 17th of June, 1869, was solemnized the marriage of Judge
McLeod to Miss Caroline Green, who was born and reared in Gentry
County and who is a daughter of William and Mary (Rambo) Green,
the former a native of Licking County, Ohio, and the latter of Richland
County, that state. Mr. Green came to Missouri in 1838 and became one
of the pioneer farmers and influential citizens of Gentry County, where'
both he and his wife passed the residue of their lives. In conclusion is
given brief record concerning the children of Judge and Mrs. McLeod.
HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI 1695
Charles died at the age of nineteen years, Lovina at the age of twenty-
one, and Onis W. at the age of thirteen months; Cora M. is the wife of
William Henderson, of Gentryville ; Hattie is the wife of Edward Todd,
of Gentry County ; Dr. Walter MeLeod was graduated in a medical college
in the City of Chicago and is now engaged in the practice of his pro-
fession in Illinois ; Miles E. is a progressive farmer of his native county ;
Elizabeth is the wife of Dr. Ira S. Abplanalp, engaged in the practice of
medicine in the State of North Dakota, Mrs. Abplanalp being a graduate
of the Missouri Normal School at Maryville; Albert is a representative
farmer of Gentry County ; Bessie is the wife of Christopher C. Spainhow,
of Gentry County ; and Carrie is the wife of Henry Seat, of this county.
George A. Richardson. Manager Of the Miner & Frees Lumber
Company at Gilman City, George A. Richardson is one of the enterpris-
ing business men of Harrison County, and has been a resident of Mis-
souri since 1890. For the first ten years he was engaged in farming
between Ridgeway and Cainsville in Madison Township, and then en-
gaged in the lumber business as an assistant to the Miner & Frees Com-
pany at Cainsville. Three months later he moved to Gilman City, and
as local manager has done much to build up and extend the trade of this
company over a large section of country.
George A. Richardson was born at Monroe, Wisconsin, May 28, 1852.
His father Asa Richardson, who was born in New Hampshire, came west
to Wisconsin as a young man, and spent much of his life as a banker.
He was connected with the firm of Ludlow, Bingham & Company at
Monroe, Wisconsin, and later the bank was carried on under the firm
name of the Bank of Monroe, and still later was organized as the First
National Bank. In 1870 Asa Richardson moved to Lawrence, Kansas,
where for a number of years he was identified with the Second National
Bank, and died on his farm near that city in 1886 at the age of seventy-
five. Politically he w T as a republican. Asa Richardson was married at
Monroe, Wisconsin, to Phebe A. Watson, who died at Lawrence, Kansas,
December 13, 1912. She was a daughter of George Watson, who moved
to Illinois from Pennsylvania, and spent the rest of his life as a farmer
in the former state. George* Watson married Miss Sarah Sutton, who
also died in Illinois. Asa Richardson had four brothers: Frank, of
Minnesota ; John, of New York ; Josiah, of Wisconsin ; and Seth, of Iowa ;
and four sisters : Hepibah, Mrs. Becker, of Wisconsin ; Mary, Mrs. Pat-
chin, of New York ; Nancy, Mrs. Norton, of Ohio ; and Sarah, of Iowa.
The children of Asa Richardson and wife were : Sarah A., of Lawrence,
Kansas; Flora, wife of 0. A. Colman, of Lawrence; George A.; Miss
May E., of Lawrence ; Alma, widow of Joseph Wallace, who lives near
Hermosa, Colorado; Don Albert, of Lawrence; Fred 0., of Lawrence;
Herman 0., of Lawrence; Mabel, wife of Arthur Pontius of Chase
County, Kansas; Ernest A., of Lawrence; and Olla, Mrs. Guy Bigsby,
who died in Douglas County, Kansas, in 1905.
George A. Richardson was eighteen years of age when his father
moved to Kansas, and previously he had attended the public schools of
Monroe and also spent one year at the Wisconsin State University. He
began life as' a farmer, was occupied in that business for about twelve
years near Lawrence, and then came to Harrison County, where he is
now one of the substantial business men.
George A. Richardson was married at New Hampton, Missouri,
October 29. 1883, to Miss Frances M. Miner, a sister of William A. Miner,
a sketch of whom is found on other pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs.
Richardson have the following children: Asa Verne, a merchant at
Broadwater, Nebraska, who married Beatrice Proper; Etta M., wife of
1696 HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI
Eugene Ham, of Chaney, Oklahoma ; Fannie M., wife of Haver Bruner of
Broadwater, Nebraska, and they have two children, Marjorie and Miner ;
Flora A., lives at home in Gilman City; and Edwyl E., assisting his
father in the lumber business. Mr. Richardson has identified himself
with the republican party, though never in office, and has been content
to do his civic duty as a business man and through his personal influence.
He is past master of Gilman Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and has represented
the lodge in the Grand Lodge at Kansas City and St. Joseph. He is also
a past noble grand in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Charles F. Weller. The material circumstances that indicate thrift,
wise provision for the future, and long continued and wisely directed
industry, are the possession of Charles F. Weller, one of the most sub-
stantial residents of Clay Township and Holt County. The Weller
family has been identified with this section of Missouri for forty-five
years or more, and the name has always been associated with integrity
and substantial position in the community.
Charles F. Weller was born in Clark County, Indiana, September 21,
1856, a son of Jacob and Catherine Margaret Weller. Both parents were
natives of Germany, and his father followed school teaching in the father-
land for about eighteen years before emigrating to America. Out of a
family of seven children, four are now living. When Jacob Weller
arrived in America, his first destination was Louisville, Kentucky, and
from there he went to Clark County, Indiana, and bought some land and
took up farming. In 1870, one year after the arrival of Charles F.
Weller in Holt County, the father came on to the same section, and
located on land about a mile from where Charles F. now lives. He
improved that property and made a valuable farm of 160 acres. Jacob
Weller was a Missionary Baptist and for a number of years was a
preacher in that faith. He died in Holt County on his seventieth birth-
day, August 22, 1888. He was a democrat in politics after becoming an
American citizen, a man of exemplary habits, and both because of what
he was and of what he had accomplished from narrow circumstances in
youth was thoroughly esteemed.
Charles F. Weller grew up in Indiana, was educated in the common
schools, and in 1869 arrived in Holt County. Another member of the
family who should be mentioned is his brother Ernest, who is president
of the Farmers Bank at Maitland. Mr. Weller located on his present
farm about 1882, and is responsible for all the improvements that now
constitute it one of the best estates in Clay Township.
Mr. Weller married Maggie A. Carroll, a daughter of James and
Elnora Carroll, who were early settlers in Carroll County, Illinois, a
county that was named for the family. Mrs. Weller was one of eleven
children, and when she died in December, 1904, she left the following
living children : Charles F., James Robert, Paul Andre, Mark Anthony,
Charles Carroll, and Nellie Rosina, the wife of William Fedder. On
August 16, 1907, Mr. Weller married Mary D. Munk. She was born in
Germany, a daughter of Fred and Dora Johanna Munk, both of whom
are now deceased. Mr. Weller is a member of the Christian Church,
while his wife belongs to the United Brethren. He is a republican in
politics and has interested himself in all progressive movements for the
advancement of Clay Township and Holt County.
John- R. Thompson. One of the well improved estates of Holt
County is occupied by John R. Thompson, where he is successfully en-
gaged in diversified agriculture and the raising of high grade stock. Mr.
Thompson has lived in Holt County practically all his life, and commands
HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI 1697
the confidence and esteem of all who have known him from earliest
youth.
John R. Thompson was born in Benton Township of Holt County,
as was also his sister Helen, now the wife of Richard Gillis. The other
children of his parents were born in Buchanan County, namely : Corda,
wife of Frank Decker ; and James D., who married Fannie Smith. Those
children are likewise residents of Holt County. William Landon Thomp-
son, their father, was also born in Buchanan County, a son of Frank
Thompson, one of the prominent pioneer settlers in Buchanan County.
Virginia Dysart, the mother of John R. Thompson, was a daughter of
James Dysart, who settled about seven miles southeast of the present
site of St. Joseph, but long before St. Joseph came into existence as a
town. Most of the inhabitants of the region were at that time Indians,
and wild game was so plentiful that the pioneer could keep his family
supplied with meat. Virginia Dysart had six full sisters and six half-
sisters and two half-brothers. After the marriage of William L. Thomp-
son and Virginia Dysart they lived about six years in Buchanan County,
and then moved to Holt County, settling in Benton Township. He bought
land that cost him about ten dollars an acre, part of it being improved,
and unimproved land being worth at that time only about two and a
half dollars per acre. During the first years of their residence in Holt
County corn, though produced with almost as much labor as at the
present time, sold at from eight to ten cents a bushel, when delivered
in cars at Bigelow. Bigelow was then the main grain shipping station
and market for all the surrounding country, since Mound City had not