Biographies
Biographical Sketches
A-C
From Goodspeed's 1889 History of Camden County
R. H. C. Appleton, a dealer in general merchandise and a farmer of
Adair Township, Camden County, was born in that county January 22, 1854,
and is a son of John and Levina (Elmore) Appleton, both natives of
Tennessee. John Appleton, who was a blacksmith and farmer, was born in
1823; he moved from Tennessee to Jefferson City, Mo., and afterward
located at Linn Creek, Mo. He was twice married, and was the father of
sixteen children, eleven of whom are still living. The paternal
grandfather of our subject was John Appleton, a native of South
Carolina, who afterward went to Tennessee, and was a farmer, millwright
and carpenter; he served in the War of 1812, participating in the battle
of New Orleans, and his wife was Polly (Pepper) Appleton, of Virginia.
John Appleton, Sr., died in 1843. Mrs. Levina Appleton died in 1863.
She was a daughter of Ebenezer Elmore, of Tennessee. R. H. C. Appleton
has devoted the greater part of his attention to the pursuit of farming,
but in 1879, as a member of the firm of A. J. Campbell & Co., he engaged
in the mercantile business at Osage Iron Works Post-office, which he
continued until 1881; in the latter year he purchased and moved to a
farm of 150 acres in Adair Township, which he still owns, and has about
100 acres under cultivation. He also owns other landed property, in all
amounting to about 622 acres. In March, 1887, he purchased a new stock
of general merchandise, and in partnership with Henry Dougherty opened a
store at Osage Iron Works, which they still conduct with success. In
1881 Mr. Appleton married Miss Rosa E. Carroll, who was born in Camden
County, Mo., in December, 1855, and is a daughter of George and Cordelia
A. Carroll, natives of Kentucky. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Appleton only one survives, Myrtle Eve. In politics Mr. Appleton is a
Democrat.
Dr. John W. Armstrong (deceased). The Armstrong family first
became represented in the United States a short time previous to the
Revolutionary War, and were of Anglo-Saxon origin. The great-
grandfather, James Armstrong, located in Fauquier County, Va., and there
his son, Mason Armstrong, was born. The latter came to Kentucky with
two of his brothers, Roland and James, about 1810, and here they married
and settled down to tilling the soil, but Mason remained single until
after the War of 1812, in which struggle he took an active part under
Gen. Harrison, and then returned home and married Mary Crook, who was
born in Madison County, Ky., and was a daughter of John Crook and a
sister of Maj. Crook. Mason Armstrong was a minister of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and died in 1856, at the age of seventy-two years.
His son, James M. Armstrong, was born in Kentucky, and graduated from
the Transylvania Medical College, of Lexington, Ky., in the spring of
1844, and in 1855 came with his family to Missouri and located in Elston
Station, Cole County, where he resided until the breaking out of the
late Civil War, when he enlisted as a surgeon in the service and served
until the close. He then returned to his home, and located with his
family at Sarcoxie, where he died in March, 1884. His wife, whom he
married October 27, 1837, and whose maiden name was Mary J. Searcy, was
also born in Kentucky, and is an active worker in the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South. Dr. John W. Armstrong is the eldest of their
ten children, and was born in Kentucky on the 26th of September, 1838,
and there resided until 1856, when he came to Missouri with his parents
and located on a farm. He attended school at Liberty and Danville, Ky.,
and was a close student all his life, and wrote a biography of the
Armstrong family, which is considered quite valuable. He became eminent
in his professional career, and was a man of decided mental endowments,
being the editor and publisher of the Rustic Stoutland, which paper he
also founded. He removed his machinery to Linn Creek, thence to
Lebanon, but the paper still retains its original name. The first paper
was issued on the 14th of June, 1873. He was a man of very active
habits, and owing to his excellent judgement was a man of influence
wherever he resided, and was alike esteemed for his social and business
qualities. In the fall of 1860 he came to Camden County to practice
medicine, but in 1862 enlisted in the Confederate Army, in the Trans-
Mississippi Department, Company K, Sixteenth Missouri Infantry, as a
private, and made an honorable and faithful soldier. July 4, 1863, he
was wounded at Helena, Ark., which finally resulted in his death October
28, 1884, at the age of forty-six years, one month and two days. August
27, 1865, he espoused Miss Lucy E. Dodson, at Bonham, Texas, but she was
born in Camden County, Mo., on the 30th of January, 1844. [The sketch
of her father, Dr. Dodson, appears in this work.] To their union the
following children were born: James W., Joseph S., Mary Ella (Sellers),
Benjamin A., John R., Charles H., and Elizabeth D. Mrs. Armstrong lives
on the home place with her family, and is an active member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and owns over 600 acres of valuable land,
about 200 acres of which are well under cultivation.
George Arnhold, a prosperous miller and farmer of Camden County,
Mo., was born near Frankfort, Prussia, on the 14th of February, 1835,
and is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Moore) Arnhold, who were also
natives of Prussia, the father being a miller by trade, which occupation
he followed the greater part of his life; he was the owner of a mill
near Frankfort-on-the-Main. He and wife both died in their native land,
having become the parents of eight children, five of whom are now
living: Christopher, who resides in Cole County, Mo.; John, who manages
the old home mill in Germany; Sophia and Dora, who are also in Germany,
and George, who is the youngest of the family. He learned the miller’s
trade with his father, and after attaining the requisite age to enter
the German army, concluded to come to America, and took passage at
Bremen, and after a forty-four days’ voyage landed at New York Ciy.
Here he remained about five months working at his trade, and then went
to Rochester, N. Y., thence to Detroit, and afterward to Chicago, then
to St. Louis, and finally to Jefferson City, Mo., in 1855. He was in
the latter city when the war broke out, and he enlisted in the Home
Guards, serving two years and participating in several hard skirmishes.
He located on his present farm of 200 acres in 1878, and since that time
has made many improvements, and has about half of his farm under
cultivation. His grist-mill is located on the Big Niangua, six miles
west of Linn Creek, and is one of the most extensive in Camden County.
In connection with this he operates a saw-mill, farms, and is
extensively engaged in raising stock, having met with good success in
all these undertakings. He was married in 1859 to Miss Dora Schortt, a
native of Germany, by whom he has seven children: August, William,
Ameil, Henry, Louisa, Sophia and Clara. Mr. and Mrs. Arnhold are
members of the Lutheran Church, and he belongs to the I. O. O. F. lodge.
E. F. Avery, another enterprising and industrious farmer of Osage
Township, was born in Londonderry, Rockingham Co., N. H. August 18,
1830, and is the son of Foster and Rebecca (Robinson) Avery, natives of
Massachusetts and New Hampshire, respectively. The great-grandfather
Avery was a native of Scotland, and on the Robinson side the ancestry
can be traced back to the “Mayflower”. Foster Avery was but nine years
of age when he went with his parents to New Hampshire, and in that State
he passed his last days. He was a farmer by occupation. He was the
father of eight children, four sons and four daughters. Jeremiah M.,
Ephraim F., Sarah, wife of Louis Stiles, of Massachusetts, and Eda A.,
wife of Nathaniel Ballou, who now resides in Iowa, are the ones now
living. E. F. Avery was reared and educated in New Hampshire, and
afterward went to Lowell, Mass., where he worked in a cotton mill until
twenty-one years of age. In 1851 he went to Wisconsin, locating in
Waupaca County, where he remained for some time, and then moved to Eau
Claire County. He continued to live there until 1871, engaged in
farming, and then came to Laclede County, Mo. In 1872 he was employed
on the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad, where he remained until 1876,
at which date he was employed on the Missouri Pacific Railroad as a
freight conductor. In 1878 he retired from the railroad business and
moved on his farm in Laclede County, where he lived until 1886, when he
moved to his present property in Camden County. This consists of 294
acres, with a good portion under cultivation, and is considered one of
the finest farms in the county. Mr. Avery was married in 1851 to Miss
Olive H. Cole, a native of Vermont. To them were born five children,
four now living: Emma, wife of J. R. Pierce, is now residing in
Wisconsin; Edna C., wife of John B. French, of St. Louis; Roy, married
to Miss Effie T. Churchill, and Charles E. While living in Wisconsin
Mr. Avery was chairman of the board of supervisors one term.
Dr. Jacob M. Bollinger, a successful practicing physician of Camden
county, Mo., was born in Hickory county, Mo., February 12, 1850, being
a son of Wright M. and Sarah A. (McSwain) Bollinger, and grandson of
Jacob and Sarah (Moreland) Bollinger. The grandfather was of German
nationality, and moved from Tennessee to Illinois, from there to Camden
county, Missouri, in 1833, and finally located in Polk County, where he
died. He was a farmer by occupation; was a private in the War of 1812;
and was at the battle of Mobile, Ala. The maternal grandparents
(Salina Hall grandmother's maiden name) moved from Kentucky to Polk
county, Mo., about 1837. He was a farmer and stone cutter by occupa-
tion. Wright Bollinger was born in East Tennessee in 1812, and died
July 10, 1882. His wife was born in Kentucky in 1822, and is still
living. He moved with his parents from Tenn. to Illinois, from there
to Camden county, Mo., in 1833, and then to Hickory county, Mo., in
1837. He was in the Home Guards in the late war. Of the five children
born to his marriage, all are living in Hickory county, Mo., with the
exception of Dr. Bollinger. These children are named as follows:
Jacob M., Joseph C., Salina D Mashburn, Sarah F. Bollinger and Jerusha
B. Richardson. Dr. Bollinger spent his youthful days in Hickory Co.,
Mo., and at the age of nineteen years began farming. He was married
August 30, 1868, to Miss Margaret R. Dixon, who was born June 30, 1854
in Greene county, Mo., and who was the daughter of Hiram and Nancy R.
(Pitts) Dixon, both natives of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Dixon moved from
Kentucky to Hickory county, Mo., with their parents, were married in
the last named state, and there passed the most of their lives. He was
a farmer, and served in the late war. They were the parents of ten
children, five now living: William M., Sarah J. Moore, George W., John
T. and Mrs. Margaret R. Bollinger. The maternal grandmother of Mrs.
Bollinger, Rhoda (Ricks) Pitts, was born in Kentucky, and moved from
that state to Hickory county, Mo. Dr. Bollinger became the father of
seven children by his marriage, five now living: George F., Nancy A.,
Hiram M., Lee and Rosa May. Those deceased are Wright M. and an infant
unnamed. Dr. Bollinger began reading medicine under able instruction
at fourteen years of age, in 1874, and practiced in Polk and Hickory
counties from 1879 to 1882. He attended Joplin College of Physicians
and Surgeons in 1882 and 1883, graduating in the last named year. He
then engaged in the practice of his profession at Elixir Springs,
Dallas county, Mo., also practiced in Elkton, Hickory Co., in 1884, and
came to Mack's Creek in March, 1885, where he has since been occupied
in the active duties of his profession. He has bought property and
permanently located at Mack's Creek. He is the owner of 130 acres in
one tract, 40 acres in another, and a good frame house in the town,
with land adjoining. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and is
a Republican in politics, casting his first presidential vote for U. S.
Grant in 1872.
Valentine Bowers, merchant and postmaster at Decaturville, Mo., was
born in Carter County, Tenn., in 1855, and is a son of Rev. Abraham N.
and Mary (Ellis) Bowers, and grandson of Valentine Bowers, who was also
a minister, and who lived to be about eighty-six years of age. Rev.
Abraham N. Bowers and wife were born in Carter County, Tenn., and after
they had a family of four children moved to Gentry County, Mo., going
two years later to Morgan County, Mo., where the father resided until
1881, when his son Valentine took him to Eureka Springs, Ark., where he
died on the 21st of August, 1881, at the age of fifty-five years. He
was actively engaged in ministerial work throughout his career in
Missouri, and by his consistent Christian life, and earnest endeavor,
did much to further the cause of Christianity. His widow is still
living on the home farm in Morgan County, in her fifty-eighth year, and
always labored earnestly to aid her husband in his ministerial duties.
The following are her children who are living: Daniel, Valentine,
Reece, James, John, Jacob, Isaac, Polly and Barbara. Those deceased
were Archey, Lyda, Abigail, and two infants who died unnamed. Valentine
Bowers attained his maturity in Morgan County, Mo., and obtained a good
common and high-school education, and prepared himself for teaching by
also attending normal school. He then followed the occupation of
pedagoguing for eight years in Morgan and Camden Counties, and in March,
1883, engaged in the mercantile business at Decaturville, where he has
since successfully held forth. He was appointed postmaster of the town
in 1883, and since his residence here has held the office of school
director. Miss Mattie Oszmus became his wife on the 28th of October,
1881. She was born in Pettis County, Mo., and is a daughter of Andrew
and Jane Oszmus, who were natives of Germany and Indiana, respectively.
The father came to America when nineteen years of age, landing at New
Orleans, and afterward located in Indiana, where he was married. He
then moved to Pettis County, Mo., and at the close of the war to Camden
County, where he is still living, engaged in farming, near Linn Creek.
The following are his children: Maggie, Willie, Mattie and Mary
(deceased). Mr. and Mrs. Bowers are the parents of one child, named
Gracie. They belong to the Baptist Church, and he is a member of the
A. F. & A. M., and in his political views is a Democrat.
Joseph W. Burhans, merchant, farmer and stock dealer, and the
presiding judge of Camden county, Mo., was born in the State of New
York October 10, 1842, his father and mother, James and Eliza (Brown)
Burhans, being natives of New York and Connecticut, and of English and
German descent, respectively. In 1845, after their marriage, they
moved to Rock Co., Wis., where they engaged in farming. The father
enlisted to serve in the War of 1812. He died July 1, 1865, in Rock
county, Wis., at the age of sixty-nine years and six months, his wife's
death occurring in Stoutland, Mo., in 1883, at the age of sixty-six
years. Her grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and she
was the second wife of Mr. Burhans, and an active worker in the Baptist
Church. The following are the names of their children: James W.
Burhans, Richland, Mo. (half brother); Joseph W.; Lavinia C. (Hudson),
Mary E. (Manes), Stephen S., Frank D., Nancy E. and Adora. The last
two children are deceased. Joseph W. Burhans grew to manhood in
Wisconsin, and after obtaining sufficient education engaged in
pedagoguing, which occupation he followed in Mason, Tazewell and Cass
counties, Ill., for about ten years, after which he came to Missouri
(in July, 1872), locating in Stoutland, where he is now engaged in
general merchandising, and is doing a business of over $20,000 per
annum. He owns several large farms, including a tract of 2,000 acres
in Kansas. In 1886 he was elected judge of Camden County on the
Republican ticket, and is always one of the first men in the county to
patronize worthy public enterprises and to aid church and educational
institutions. He is one of the wealthiest men in the county, and
deserves much credit for the success which has attended his efforts,
for all his property, with the exception of about $800, has been
acquired by his own exertions. On the 2nd of August, 1871, he was
united in marriage to Miss Lizzie Waite who was born and reared in
Vermont. She moved to Illinois in 1867, and is a daughter of Jacob U.
and Elizabeth (Ramsdall) Waite, who were also born in Vermont, and died
in 1879 and 1872, respectively. They were the parents of the following
children: Lizzie, Mary E., Daniel, Emma, George, Lottie (deceased),
Pliny J. and Eva.
H. W. Chalfant, circuit clerk of Camden county, and one of the
prominent men of the county, was born in the city of St. Louis, April 28,
1855, being the son of Louis P. and Maria (Russell) Chalfant, both
natives of Pennsylvania, the father born in Montgomery county and the
mother in Philadelphia. Louis P. Chalfant when nineteen years of age
went on the river to learn engineering and boating, which business he
followed for a number of years, principally on the Mississippi and
Missouri rivers. He continued boating until about sixty years of age,
and located in Camden county, Mo., in July, 1855, at Linn Creek, where
he followed boating on the Osage River. He served three years in the
State troops during the late war, and after cessation of hostilities
he purchased a farm on the Wet Auglaize River, which he still owns and
where he is now living. The mother of our subject came to St. Louis
with her parents when there were but few families living there, and
purchased a farm on which a part of the city is now standing. Her
father was a pilot on the Mississippi River, and was in the United
States navy employ at the time of his death, running a Government
vessel. He was aboard the gun boat "Essex" when she had her battle
with the "Arkansas," at the time she ran the blockade. H. W. Chalfant
was but an infant when he came to Linn Creek with his parents, and
here he grew to maturity, receiving such education as the schools of
those days afforded. He was reared to farm life, and followed this
occupation until elected to the office of sheriff in 1884, which posi-
tion he held one term. In 1886 he was elected to the circuit clerk
and recorder's office, which position he now holds. He is also engaged
in farming, and is one of the substantial and enterprising citizens of
the county. He was justice of the peace two terms before elected
sheriff. He was married December 27, 1877, to Miss Sarah A. Smith,
a native of Camden county, who bore him four children: Ida M., Sarah
M., Fred G. and Florence G. Mr. and Mrs. Chalfant are members of the
Christian Church.
L. P. Chalfant is a son of David H. and grandson of David Chalfant,
of Chester county, Penn., the latter being of Quaker origin, who was
drafted to serve in the Revolutionary War. The Quakers being opposed
to fighting, a dispute arose between his parents and the man he was
bound out to as to who would pay the penalty of the draft, when he ran
away and joined Washington's army at Valley Forge, and was severely
wounded at the battle of Brandywine, from the effects of which he died
at the age of seventy-eight years. He was born in Chester county,
Penn., but moved to and reared his family in Fayette county, and there
followed the occupations of farming and blacksmithing. His son, David
H. Chalfant, was his third child, and spent his life in Fayette county,
dying in 1875. He and wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Patterson,
became the parents of seven daughters and two sons, only two of the
family being now alive: L. P., and Martha, wife of H. C. Gearing, resi-
dents of Pittsburg, Penn. Mrs. Chalfant, who was a consistent member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, died in 1852; was a daughter of Col.
Robert Patterson, a native of Pennsylvania, who obtained his title in
the War of 1812, being a colonel under Gen. W. H. Harrison. His family
consisted of five children, four daughters and one son, whom he reared
in Fayette county, Penn. He represented that county a number of years
in the State Legislature. L. P. Chalfant, whose name heads this sketch
was born in Fayette county, Penn., in 1822, and remained under the home
roof until about twenty years of age, when he went to Pittsburg, and
began working at his trade, that of blacksmithing, which he had prev-
iously learned, but after a short time hired out as a deck hand on the
steamboat "Mayflower" and afterward became fireman on the "Expert"
under his uncle. He went up the Arkansas river to Little Rock, where
he gave up his position on the boat, and resumed work at his trade in a
foundry, continuing there about thirteen months, then rejoined the
"Expert" as assistant engineer, and returned to Pittsburg in the spring
of 1844. He afterward worked on the steamer "Majestic" running between
Pittsburg, Penn. and Cincinnati, Ohio, during the summer, and in the
fall he went back to the Arkansas River again on the steamer "Archer."
In the following spring he returned to Pittsburg; boated on the Ohio
River during the summer, when he went with the steamer "Archer" to St.
Louis, where the boat ran for awhile on the Upper Mississippi. Late in
the fall he went up the Missouri River, where he spent the winter of
1845-46, and arrived at St. Louis in the spring. From 1846 to 1855 he
was engaged as engineer on various boats, and running on all the prin-
cipal rivers emptying into the Mississippi, making his home at St.
Louis until 1855, when he came to Linn Creek, and worked for McClurg,
Murphy & Co., until 1862, and two years later returned to steamboating
on the Mississippi River, being connected with the boat "Minnehaha."
At a later period he returned to Linn Creek on the "Zouave," and a
short time afterward purchased his present farm, and on which he has
since lived. He helped to build the steamer "Emma" for Draper, McClurg
& Co., which boat he managed for about ten years, and also made trips
on other boats for this company. In the fall of 1847 he made trips up
the Osage River on the "St. Louis Oak" and is one of the oldest
Missouri River engineers now living. When the war broke out he enlist-
ed in the Forty-seventh Enrolled Missouri Militia, of which he was the
captain and adjutant, and was also captain of the Ninth Provisional
Enrolled Missouri Militia, and during his two years' service was in no
regular engagement. He served as Deputy United States Marshal under
Mr. Sitton in 1861, and under Mr. Wallace in 1862. In March, 1848, he
was married to Maria Russell, in St. Louis, who was born in Philadel-
phia, Penn., and was brought to St. Louis, Mo., when about four years
of age, where she was reared to maturity. Her father, Isaiah Russell,
was an old steamboat pilot and mate between St. Louis and New Orleans,
and was pilot on the gun boat "Essex," his son James being on the
"Arkansas" when they had a fight below Vicksburg. The former was
victorious, and the father saw his son crawl up the bank, as his boat
struck the shore, and make his escape. Mr. Chalfant and wife became
the parents of seven sons and four daughters, all of the latter dying
in childhood, save Joan Hester, who lived to be fourteen years of age.
The sons' names are as follows: Joab V., James L., Henry W., William
D., Edward C., Francis A. and George R. Mr. Chalfant is a Republican
in politics, originally a Whig, and was a delegate to the State conven-
tion, in 1870, at Jefferson City, and at St. Louis, Mo., in 1872. He
is a member of the A. F. & A. M., and is temperate in his habits.
A. S. Churchill, late editor of the People's Tribune, at Linn Creek,
was born in Laclede county, Mo., October 15, 1866, and is the son of
C. B. and Elizabeth (Ellis) Churchill, the father a native of Kentucky
and the mother of Missouri. He is one of six children, five now liv-
ing: Effie, wife of Roy Avery; Armistead S.; Lena B., wife of Dr. D.
H. Kouns; Harry and John, at home. The one deceased was named Edith,
and her death occurred in 1873. A. S. Churchill, subject of this
sketch, remained and assisted on the farm until 1884, and received a
liberal education. In 1884 he came to Linn Creek and clerked in the
store of his father for a short time, when he took charge of the drug
store and ran it for one year. During the summer of 1886 he was
engaged in farming, and in August of the same year he returned to the
store, remained one year, and then taught one term of school. In
January, 1888, he, in partnership with E. F. Shubert, founded the
People's Tribune, and continued but a short time when Mr. Churchill
bought out his partner and continued the publication alone until Janu-
ary 1, 1889, when he leased his paper to E. F. Shubert and W. T. S.
Agee. Mr. Churchill is now employed as clerk in the store of
F. Hooker, and is a promising young man.