and a member of some of its committees. He organized St. Luke's
Mission, South St. Joseph, in 1906. His fraternal relations are with
the Masons, in which he is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member
of the Royal Arch, and with the Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks. He was a member of the Benton Club and the Country Club
1724 HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI
of St. Joseph, and from October, 1912, to May, 1914, he was chaplain
of the Fourth Regiment Infantry of the National Guard of Missouri.
Since resigning the rectorship of Christ Church Parish, St. Joseph,
he has removed with his family to Warrensburg, Missouri, where his
son, the Rev. Edward Henry Eckel, Jr., is rector of Christ Church.
On June 27; 1889, Rev. Mr. Eckel was married to Miss Anna Todd
Reynolds, the ceremony taking place in St. Andrew's Church, AVilming-
ton, Delaware. Three children were born to them. Edward Henry;
Elizabeth; and Albert Reynolds ; the last named died in 1913. The
first named took his B. A. degree in the second class of the honor school
in theology in Oxford University, England, in 1913, having won a
Rhodes scholarship while a student in the University of Missouri, and
a year later he graduated with the degree of B. D. from the General
Theological Seminary in New York City. He has since been ordained
a deacon and priest by Bishop Partridge. Miss Eckel, after filling posi-
tions in public libraries of Cincinnati, Ohio, is at present living at home.
E. Powell. Because of the extent and quality of his achievements,
his financial soundness and acumen, his public spirit and integrity, and
his generally excellent record as agriculturist and citizen, E. Powell,
of Clay Township, Holt County, furnishes an encouraging example of
success gained through the proper use of everyday ability and oppor-
tunities. Of him it may be said that his life work is a response both
to his early teaching and the needs of his positions as he has reached
them. He has laboriously climbed every round of the agricultural ladder,
and now, in his declining years, he may look back contentedly over a
career characterized by steadfast perseverance and unquestioned in-
tegrity, satisfied in the knowledge that his handiwork has been good.
Mr. Powell was born in Kentucky, October 10, 1838, one of the five
children of David and Jane (Riddle) Powell, the others being John,
Mary, Nancy and Lucy. He early met with handicaps in life, for when
his mother died he was placed in the hands of strangers to rear, who
were so mercenary that they kept the lad almost constantly at work,
leaving him but little time to acquire an education. Thus he grew to
manhood, and when the war between the South and the North broke
out, his southern sympathies caused him to enlist in the Confederate
army, with which he served for two years during the latter part of
the struggle, but received his honorable discharge prior to its close.
He was married in his native state to Miss Charlotte Elizabeth Nute,
and they subsequently became the parents of two children, both born in
Holt County, Missouri : Charles W., who married Maud Duncan, and
has two children, Homer K. and Mary Catherine ; and Sallie A., who
married Frank Gibson, and has two daughters, Hazel and Irene.
In 1869 Mr. Powell left the state of his birth and with his young
wife traveled by rail to Forest City, Missouri, from whence they drove
through by team to Holt County. For the first year they lived on a
rented farm, but in 1870 Mr. Powell bought the present home place,
erecting the house in that same year. Subsequently as the years passed
he put up other buildings and installed other improvements, all the
present structures having been built by him with the exception of the
barn, which the son built. This tract of 160 acres is now one of the
fertile, productive and well-managed properties of Clay Township, and
yields large and valuable crops of grain, which are fed to the cattle,
Mr. Powell having for some years been extensively interested in stock
raising. He also carries on general farming, and in each of the branches
of his vocation has met with success. Mr. Powell is now somewhat
HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI 1725
retired from active life, having reached the age of seventy-six years,
but supervises the operations on his property, which are being carried
on by his son.
Mrs. Powell died September 24, 1911, at Maitland, in the faith of
the Presbyterian Church. She was a devout Christian woman and an
excellent helpmate to her husband, while in the community she was
beloved and respected for her many qualities of heart and mind. Mr.
Powell and his children are members of the Christian Church, and he and
his son have always been firm and unwavering democrats. While he
has not sought office for the emoluments or honors thereof, Mr. Powell
has been always ready to serve his community, and for a number of
years was a director and member of the school board. His upright and
public spirited life has attracted to him the confidence and esteem of
the community, as well as the warm friendship of many who, like
himself, have developed with the forces within rather than without.
Hox. Charles F. Booher. When the Fourth Missouri District
reelected Charles F. Booher to Congress in November, 1914, it insured
the retention in the House of Representatives of a faithful and able
public servant, a man who has already spent eight years in Congress,
and whose long career as a lawyer in Northwest Missouri and whose
ripe experience and judgment insure the wisdom of his choice as a
popular representative.
Charles F. Booher was born at East Groveland, Livingston County,
New York. January 31, 1847, a son of Henry and Catherine (Updegraff )
Booher. His father was a native of Switzerland and his mother of
Germany, and both were brought to America in early childhood by their
respective parents. They were reared in New York State and married
in Livingston County, where they spent the rest of their lives on a
farm. The mother died in 1859 at the age of forty-four, and the father
in 1886. aged seventy- four. Congressman Booher 's father was a great
reader, and was well posted in political history. Throughout his career
he voted with the democratic party. Both parents were members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. They reared ten sons and one daughter,
and three of the sons and the daughter are now deceased. The sons,
Henry. Samuel and James, were all soldiers in a New York regiment
during the Civil war, and Sam was killed at Blackwater River, Virginia,
and is buried in the National Cemetery at Hampton. James died several
years after the war as a result of wounds. The son Henry now lives
at Geneseo, New York.
Charles F. Booher was reared on a farm in Livingston County, New
York, and lived in that vicinity until 1870, when he came west and
located in Andrew County. Here he taught school, worked on a farm,
studied law and was admitted to the bar at Savannah in 1871. Alto-
gether he taught school for about seven years. Mr. Booher practiced
alone until 1888, and in that year formed a partnership with I. R. Wil-
liams, a firm that is now one of the oldest in the Andrew County Bar,
and Booher & Williams have since controlled a large amount of the
best legal practice in the Savannah courts. Since Mr. Booher 's election
to Congress his son Lloyd has been the active member of the firm, though
its title still remains Booher & Williams.
Mr. Booher has always affiliated with the democratic party, and
in his earlier public career served as prosecuting attorney of Andrew
County and as mayor of Savannah. He was elected to Congress to fill
the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. James N. Burris, and in
1906 was elected a member of the Sixtieth Congress and has been regu-
1726 HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI
larly reelected, his recent election in 1914 qualifying him for his fifth
successive term. Mr. Booher is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity
and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
In 1877 he married Sallie D. Shanks of Rochester, Missouri. To
their marriage have been born four children: Lloyd W., a young attor-
ney and partner of his father; Prince L., who is his father's private
secretary at Washington ; Nellie, at home ; and Helen W., wife of G. E.
Hines of Kansas City, Missouri.
Edward L. Watson. Of the native sons of Holt County who are
carrying forward the work commenced by their fathers, many years ago,
mention is due Edward L. Watson, whose well cultivated farm is found
in Clay township. Born September 11, 1871, he is a son of John W. and
Selah (Offutt) Watson, who were married at Oregon, Missouri, to which
place John W. Watson was taken by his father when a lad. In 1869
John W. Watson moved to Holt County and located on the old homestead
in Clay Township, on which he has continued to reside to the present time,
and which now consists of 443 acres. At that time this section was a raw
prairie, with no promises of the civilization that was to develop it into
one of the most fertile parts of Northwest Missouri. Roads there were
none, save the Indian trails, for the Indians were still numerous here
at that time and were frequently fed at the home of the Watsons, with
whom they were on the best of terms. The wild game at that time was
so plentiful that the hunters would not think of going after such small
game as ducks, and on a number of occasions Mr. Watson brought home
four deer as the result of one day's shooting. The house that he put up
not long after his arrival is still standing and was erected on a corn field,
as is evidenced by the fact that the withered stalks still stand under the
house. John W. Watson still survives, one of the oldest pioneers of his
locality. Primarily a farmer, he has never been a seeker after political
honors, but has served his communit^v faithfully as a member of the school
board. The mother passed away in May, 1914, leaving four children, all
of whom were born on the old homestead in Clay township : Edward L.,
of this review; L. H., who married Lena Lutz; C. N., who married
Gertrude Foster ; and Elmira, who married F. A. King.
Edward L. Watson was reared amid the rural surroundings of his
father's home and acquired an ordinary education in the district schools.
He was reared to the pursuits of the farm, and has continued to devote
himself thereto throughout his life. At this time he is the possessor of
eighty acres of well-cultivated land, on which he has made the greater
number of improvements, his present home having been enlarged from
the original two-room house that was built on this property as early as
1865. His operations in general farming and stockraising have been
uniformly successful, and his success has come to him through the
medium of his own efforts and perseverance. Fraternally, Mr. Watson
is a member of the Woodmen of the World. He has not engaged to any
considerable extent in public affairs, but has always been ready to lend
his aid to beneficial and progressive movements, and has the entire confi-
dence of his community as a man of the strictest integrity.
Mr. Watson was married in Holt County, to Miss Clara Goodhart, who
was reared in this county, although born in Ohio, a daughter of John A.
and Minerva (Buckingham) Goodhart, the former born in Cumberland
County, Pennsylvania, and the latter at Richmond, Ohio. The parents
of Mrs. Watson came to Missouri in 1874, settling in Holt County, where
they have spent their remaining years in the pursuits of the soil. The
mother is of the old school Baptist and the father of the Methodist Epis-
HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI 1727
copal faith. They had two children : Clara, who became Mrs. Watson ;
and Oliver C, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
the Woodmen of the World, who is engaged in farming in Holt county,
and who married Laura Shield, by whom he has three children, all born in
this county : Ethel, Theodore and Bryan. Three children have come to
Mr. and Mrs. Watson, all born on the present farm : Dale, born January
9, 1895 ; Imogene, born August 16, 1896 ; and Velma, born October 3,
1903. They have been given good educational advantages, and well
trained for the places in life which they will be called upon to fill.
Seth H. White. Elected sheriff of Clay County in 1912, Seth H.
White represents the progressive farming element and the substantial
rural citizenship of his section of Northwest Missouri. Mr. AVhite is a
practical and successful farmer, has a large acquaintance and is very
popular in his home county, and by experience and native ability is well
fitted to discharge the important duties with which his fellow citizens
have intrusted him. Mr. White, besides his official connections with one
of the most important counties in this quarter of the state, is further
identified with the region through his pioneer family relationships,
since the Whites were among the first settlers and did their share in
developing the country from the wilderness.
Seth H. White was born near Missouri City November 26, 1867. His
grandfather, Jeremiah White, was born in Fayette County, Kentucky,
September 15, 1812, emigrated to Missouri in 1834, and acquired his first
land from the Mormons, who at that time comprised a large part of the
population in this section of Missouri. His land was situated near Mis-
souri City. In 1836 Jeremiah White married Elizabeth McQuiddy. He
was a man of unusual enterprise, and possessed the adventurous spirit
of early settlers. In 1850 he made the journey overland to California,
as a gold seeker, and found employment on the coast with a surveying
gang, carrying a chain at a wage of five dollars a day. Subsequently he
managed a livery stable in Sonoma, California. His return home was
made by way of the Isthmus of* Panama, to New Orleans, and thence
up the river to Clay County, where he remained quietly engaged in farm-
ing until his death. Jeremiah White was a whig in politics, but all
members of the subsequent generations have been democrats.
Benjamin White, father of Seth H. White, was born in Missouri City
June 21, 1839. He married Sallie Marlatte, who was born in the north-
eastern part of Clay County May 4, 1844. Her parents, Thomas and
Mahala (Munkers) Marlatte, were from Kentucky and among the earliest
of Clay County's pioneers. As to religion, all the early members of
these families were Hard-shell Baptists. Benjamin White and wife are
both still living on a farm in Clay County. They were the parents of
three children: Seth H., James, of Clay County, and Carrie, wife of
Charles Hart, of Clay County. Benjamin White at the beginning of the
Civil war enlisted in the Confederate service in Scott County, and served
until illness obliged him to leave the ranks in 1863. After that he lived
in the West, in Colorado, until after the close of the war, and has since
been identified with farming pursuits in Clay County.
Seth H. White was reared on a farm, attended the common schools,
entered the State Normal School at Warrensburg, and in 1888 took up
work as a teacher, and was successfully engaged in teaching rural schools
for five years. Following this came an active period of farming in Mis-
souri City, and in 1903 he engaged in the hardware business at Missouri
City. Selling out his mercantile business in 1908, Mr. White retired to
the farm, and was employed with its management until his election in
1728 HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI
the fall of 1912 to the office of sheriff on the democratic ticket. Mr. White
on January 1, 1913, took up the duties of his office and has since had his
home in Liberty.
Mr. White is affiliated with the Masonic Order, the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. On November 6, 1905,
he married Mary C. Calvert, who was born in Clay County June 7, 1869,
daughter of F. H. Calvert, who is still living in this county. Mr. and
Mrs. White have one child, Ford, still at home.
Oscar M. Peters for the last twelve years has been associated with
a group of men who are active as officers and directors of the Cosby
State Bank, in the capacity of cashier of that institution, which
is one of the strong and well conducted country banks of Northwest
Missouri. For a number of years before taking up banking Mr. Peters
was known in Andrew County as a teacher, and is a thoroughly educated,
progressive and public spirited citizen in all his activities and relations
with the community.
His home has been in Andrew County nearly fifty years, but he was
born in Preble County, Ohio, October 22, 1864, a son of Joseph and
Rebecca (Reddick) Peters. His father was born in Preble County near
the birthplace of his son, while the mother was born across the state
line in Indiana. In 1865 the family left Ohio and came to Northwest
Missouri. They drove across the country in a wagon and there were
seven families who comprised the party. Joseph Peters located on a farm
three miles northwest of Cosby in Rochester Township, and spent the rest
of his life in that vicinity as an active farmer. He retired to Cosby in
1891. He was born April 10, 1827, and died at Cosby January 25, 1911,
when past eighty years of age. His wife was born January 16, 1831,
and is now living in her eighty-fifth year in Cosby. Besides farming the
father also did much business as an auctioneer, and for one term served
as a judge of the County Court. Politically he was a republican. Dur-
ing the Civil war. while living in Ohio, he was drafted for service, but
paid the salary of a man who was working for him to go as a substitute.
At that time help was very scarce, and almost all the burdens of farming
fell upon his shoulders. After swinging a cradle in the harvest fields
all day long, he would spend half the night binding up the grain. In
Andrew County he and his family were members of the Long Branch
Christian Church. The children were :- Frances Ellen, who died May 10,
1913. married T. J. Fox, also deceased, who was for a number of years a
merchant at Cosby: Mary H., who now lives with her mother in Cosby,
married the late William A. Brooks, who was an auctioneer ; Edward M.
is in the lumber and hardware business at Rushville, Missouri, but lived
at Cosby a number of years and established the Cosby State Bank, and
later was in banking at Rushville ; Clara B. is the wife of T. E. Maughmer,
a retired farmer at Union Star.
Oscar M. Peters has spent all his life in Andrew County since he was
one year of age, with the exception of the time he was away at college.
He attended the public schools, and for two years was a student in the
Stanberry Normal School. After that his services were employed as a
teacher, being principal of the schools at Rosendale two years. From
1895 to 1900 Mr. Peters was a student in Drake University at Des Moines,
Iowa, and has the degree bachelor of didactic science from that institu-
tion, spending one year in the university in the study of the sciences
after his graduation. He later became principal of the schools at Union
Star, and then spent a year in the same line of work at King City. In
1903 Mr. Peters took his present post as cashier of the Cosby State Bank,
HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI 1729
and for the past twelve years has devoted his entire attention to banking.
While it is the nature of hankers to take a conservative attitude in busi-
ness affairs, Mr. Peters has a genial personality which won him and the
bank many friends and patrons, and he can be depended upon to support
movements undertaken for the general welfare of this community.
Politically he is a republican, is a member of the Long Branch Chris-
tion Church and has fraternal affiliations with the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, and the Modern Woodmen of America. In 1893 Mr. Peters
married Carrie E. Strock. She was born three miles west of Cosby
November 14, 1865, a daughter of Judge James F. and Minerva, (Spence)
Strock, who were natives of Kentucky and early settlers in Andrew
County, and both are now deceased. Mrs. Peters before her marriage was
also a teacher in Andrew County, and was in the Rosendale schools at
the same time with her husband. While he was a student in Drake Uni-
versity she took work in the music and department of expression in the
same college. Mr. and Mrs. Peters have three children : Lucile Majorie
Peters, born November 27, 1899 ; Virgil Leland Peters, August 4, 1906 ;
and Mae Evalyn Peters, May 31, 1908.
Jacob Heinz. The Town of Cosby in Andrew County is built largely
on land originally comprised within the farm of Jacob Heinz, who since
the railroad was built and the town started has been one of the most
active factors in its development. Mr. Heinz is no longer engaged in
active farming, having turned over the responsibilities of his land to his
sons, and is now chiefly engaged as president of the Cosby State Bank.
The other officers of the bank are: F. E. Kline, vice president; 0. M.
Peters, cashier; and P. E. Newburn, assistant cashier. The Cosby State
Bank has had a successful and prosperous record for a number of years,
and a statement of business in November, 1914, showed its total resources
to be nearly one hundred and thirty thousand dollars. It has capital
stock of ten thousand dollars, with a surplus fund of a like amount, and
undivided profits of nearly two thousand dollars. Its standing and
popularity in the community is well indicated by its total deposits, which
amount to considerably more than a hundred thousand dollars.
Jacob Heinz has spent about sixty years of his long and active life
in Missouri, and is the example of a poor German boy who came to this
country with no capital or resources except willing hands and for many
years has been one of the prosperous and influential citizens. He was born
in Wuertemberg, Germany, February 7, 1836, a son of Louis and Cather-
ine (Meek) Heinz. His parents spent all their lives in the old country,
but most of the children came to America. The five children were:
Jacob ; Kate, widow of George Haas of St. Joseph ; Anna, widow of
William Fick of Colorado Springs; Barbara, widow of Joseph Zimmer-
man of St. Joseph ; and Louis, who lives near Cosby.
Jacob Heinz left the old country, where he had been reared on his
father's farm and had acquired a substantial education, at the age of
eighteen, being the first of the children to leave Germany and find a home
in the New World. His first location was at Weston in Piatt County,
Missouri, and he was employed in a blacksmith shop during the fall, and
spent part of his time in the winter in work on a farm. He then moved
to the country near Rushville, and was employed at different places in
Piatt and Buchanan counties as a farm hand until 1860. He then worked
two years in various lines of employment, and during the war times
served for three years in the Missouri State Militia. In 1863 Mr. Heinz
bought a small piece of land near Rushville, and that was the start of
his independent career which has been accumulating success ever since.
1730 HISTORY OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI
Id 1864 Mr. Heinz married Mary Mereoff, who was born in Germany,
and died at Cosby in 1894. After his marriage Mr. Heinz continued
farming near Rushville, and about 1875 came to Andrew County, and
bought eighty acres of land lying across the line in DeKalb County.
Later he. bought ninety-six acres, comprising a portion of the present site
of Cosby. At that time the railroad had not been constructed through
this part of the country and when it was built the Town of Cosby was
laid out around a station on the route. All that portion of the town
lying north of Main Street is built upon land platted from Mr.
Heinz 's farm. When he bought this land he paid $30 an acre and it
was considered a rather fancy price at the time. For the past ten years
he has been retired from active farming, allowing his sons to conduct the
seventy acres which still remain of the old homestead. Mr. Heinz has
been president of the Cosby State Bank since its organization.
Politically he has been a republican since he became an American
citizen, and has been identified with that party since Mr. Lincoln was
first elected to the presidency. His church is the Methodist Episcopal.
To his marriage were born four children: Louis, who is a farmer con-
ducting the eighty acres bought by Mr. Heinz about forty years ago,
situated in DeKaib County half a mile east of Cosby; Mollie, wife of
Calvin Wild of St. Joseph ; Gustav, a farmer in Monroe Township ; and
one that died in infancy.
•
Frank E. Kline. When Frank E. Kline began business as a mer-
chant at Cosby twenty years ago he had only a thousand dollars in capital,