CYRUS W. CLAMPITT.

This gentleman was born in Guilford county, North Carolina, October 24, 1828. His father moved to Indiana when he was very young, and he received his education at Franklin, Johnson county, that state. After leaving school he remained on the farm with his father, who had again removed, going this time to Hamilton county, about fifteen miles north of Indianapolis, for several years. In 1852 he left Indiana to seek a home in Missouri, first stopping in Caldwell county for a short while; thence, he went to Clay county, and engaged in teaching school, about two and a half miles north of Missouri City, where he continued for about two years. From thence he came to Ray county, and has ever since been engaged almost constantly in teaching in the schools of this county. Owing to his holding the office of postmaster, he was exempt from military service during the late war. In 1856 he was married to Miss Martha F. Gant, of Crab Orchard, Ray county. They have five children, all living, named as follows: William C., Mary W., Victoria R., Cyrus R., and George B. Mr. Clampitt is a good practical teacher, and has, by his efficient labors, greatly benefited the rising generations of this county. He has been principal of the school at Hardin for a number of years, and occupies an enviable position in the esteem and regard of the people of that place.

ELIJAH T. MAPEL.

Elijah T. Mapel is a Kentuckian. He was born in Jefferson county, in that state October 29, 1825. He was educated at Bardstown, Spencer county, in his native state. After leaving school he served an apprenticeship of seven years under one Wm. Dye, of Jefferson county, Kentucky, spending most of the time at Louisville. Here he was married on the 18th day of January, 1851, to Miss Amanda S. Beckley, a native of the city of Louisville. She gave birth to seven children, only three of whom, Elijah T., John W., and Amanda S., are yet living. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Mapel operated a mill at Brandonburg for a time, then he owned, and for two years operated a three-run mill in the city of Louisville. Emigrating from Kentucky in 1854, he landed in Lexington, Missouri, whence he came to Ray county, where he has since made his home. When he first came here there were but four runs of mill-burrs in the entire county. Since that time, he alone has put in fourteen runs, more than any other one man in the county. He built and owned the Richmond mills, as well as the Telegraph mills at Hardin, besides several others in different parts of the county. Mr. Mapel was engaged but three months in the civil war, being exempt at the expiration of that time, on account of his occupation being that of a miller. His wife died. on the 6th day of June, 1869. On the 29th day of July, in the year 1874,

Mr. Mapel was again married, this time to Miss Ellen Lane, his first love, and the "girl he left behind" him when he came from old Kentucky. By a remarkable coincidence they were thrown together after so many years of separation, and by frequent meetings, and fond memories of the olden time, the spark so long dormant was again fanned into a flame, and they became one in name, as in heart. Mr. M. has always followed milling, and is also an adept mill-wright. In either branch of the businest he is the peer of any man in the state, and has, probably, done more in his line, for the advancement of Ray county, than any other man. He is a good and valuable citizen.

MOSES HENDERSON.

This gentleman is a native of Kentucky, having been born in Mason county, that state, in the month of September, 1836. He came to Ray county, Missouri, in the winter of 1847, with his father, who bought a farm of some three hundred acres, about three miles west of Richmond. He was educated in the district schools of Missouri and his native state. He farmed for a number of years in Ray county, and then, in 1865, going to Nebraska, engaged in the business of a cattle trader, in Richardson county, for the space of two years. Mr. Henderson was married in the spring of 1866, to Miss Meriles Frazier, at Lexington, having returned to Missouri for that purpose. They became the parents of two children, Ida and Amy, both still living. After his marriage Mr. Henderson returned at once to Nebraska, where he continued in the cattle trading business for some time. But, at length, he came back to Ray county, Missouri, and bought the farm upon which he has since lived. This farm, comprising one hundred and sixty acres of most excellent land, is one of the most desirable and most valuable of its size in the county. Mr. Henderson is a practical, successful farmer, and highly regarded as a neighbor, and a citizen of Crooked River township.

NILES ESREY.

Was born in the year 1835, in Edgar county, Illinois. His father immigrated to Missouri in 1840, and settled in Ray county, purchasing the farm upon which Mr. Esrey now resides. Here he was educated in the district schools, and grew up, working on the farm, in which vocation he has ever since continued, and is to-day a thrifty farmer, and owns one of the best and most valuable farms in Crooked River township. His marriage to Miss Missouri Stratton, of Ray county, took place in the year 1857. She has borne him seven children, who still are living. Their names are as follows: Jesse D., John T., Niles A., Missouri A., Mary, Elizabeth, and Minnie. Mr. Esrey's highly improved and fertile farm, comprising four hundred and seventy acres of land, lies two miles north

east of Hardin, on the prairie. Mr. E. is one of the oldest settlers in his section of the country, a good neighbor, and an industrious, progressive man, and a valuable aid to the advancement of the agricultural interests of his county. In November, 1878, Mr. Esrey was elected by the people to the responsible position of judge of the Ray county court. The duties of which office he discharged faithfully, and to the full satisfaction of his constituency.

SEPTER P. ESREY.

Is a native of Illinois and was born in Edgar county, in the year 1838. His father immigrated to Ray county, Missouri, in 1840, and the son, Septer, was educated in the schools of the last named county. He chose and followed the occupation of his father, that of a farmer. His present farm.is a portion of the one formerly owned by his father. He was first married in 1863, to Miss Mary Rosell, of Monroe county, Missouri. She became the mother of three children. Two of them, Sarah A. and Jonathan, are yet living. Mrs. Esrey died in 1868, and Mr. Esrey married a second time. The lady becoming his wife this time, was Miss Charlotte A. Jasper. She died in 1878, and subsequently, he again married. The last and present Mrs. Esrey was a widow lady, named Mrs. Mary F. Hill, of Ray county. Mr. Esrey owns a fine fertile farm comprising three hundred acres of the best land in Ray county, and has done much for that branch of industry in which he has spent his life.

ABRAHAM GRANDSTAFF.

Abraham Grandstaff is a native Missourian, having been born in Boone county, in the year 1838. There he received a district school education, and lived until 1859, when he removed to Frankstown, Douglass county, Colorado, thirty miles south of Denver, where he was engaged for a number of years in farming. He came back to Missouri in 1864, settling in Ray county, and shortly afterward purchased the farm he now owns and lives upon, and which is situated two miles east of Hardin, on the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific railroad. Mr. Grandstaff was married in 1864, to Miss Susan Dehart, a native of Indiana. This union was blessed with three children: Sarah, John, and Samuel, all still living. Mr. G. owns one of the finest farms in Crooked River township, in a fine state of cultivation and highly improved. He is a prominent and highly respected citizen of the section where he lives.

GEORGE FRAZIER.

Is a Kentuckian. He was born in Anderson county, in the year 1812. He was educated and grew up to manhood in his native state. His father owned a large farm there, and early taught the son practical lessons in farming. In 1829 the family came to Missouri, and entering land a mile and a half east of Richmond, in Ray county, lived there some eight or ten years, when the mother of our subject died. He then removed to Crooked River township, and entered the grocery business, in which trade he continued about three years. He then moved near where he now lives, and again engaged in farming. Mr. Frazier was married about the year 1840, to Miss Almira J. Boiles, a native of Kentucky, though at that time living in Ray county, whom Mr. Frazier had known before leaving Kentucky. She became the mother of one son, who in after years, at the time of the civil war, entered the Confederate army,· and died of disease in Texas, in the spring of 1864. The first Mrs. Frazier died in 1846, and in the autumn of 1847 Mr. Frazier was married again, his bride this time being Miss Mary E. Utterback, a native of Kentucky, but reared in Indiana, and at the time of her marriage living in Ray county, Missouri. The result of this union was seven children: Laurinda, Alice, Lenora, Fannie, George A., Laura, and Hershel, all of whom are now living in Ray county. Mr. Frazier is one of the oldest citizens now living in Crooked River township. He owns a finely improved and valuable farm, some forty acres of which he has cleared out of woodland. His life has been characterized by enterprise and thrift, and he is a highly respected man, and one of Ray's substantial old pioneer citizens.

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HADEN S. TRIGG.

The subject of this sketch is a native of Tennessee, having been born fourteen miles north of Murfreesboro, Wilson county, that state, in July, 1813. Here he received his education, and remained until manhood. He afterward spent some time in Jackson and Sumner counties, TennesHe was married in the month of July, 1834, to Miss Elizabeth Wilson, of Gallatin, and in the following autumn removed to Booneville, Mo., at which place he taught school, and kept boarding house, during the succeeding winter. In 1835 he went to Morgan county, Missouri, near the town of Tipton, and engaged in farming and teaching, until November 1840, when he came to Ray county, settling two and a half miles west of Richmond, and continued the business of farming and teaching school. Two years later he moved to Millville, and commenced the business of milling with his farming. Going, in 1844, to Wakanda, in the same county, he settled a new place in the open, and, at that time, sparsely peopled

prairie. His wife died October the 17th, 1857. She was the mother of nine children: Mary S., Stephen C., Juliet, Daniel W., John W., Geo. W., Haden S., Sallie and Joseph. Of these, only four, Mary S., Stephen C., Juliet and Geo. W. are yet alive. Mr. Trigg was married the second time, in 1858, to Miss Mary S. Campbell. In 1861, at the beginning of the war between the states, he cast his lot with the fortunes of the south, joining Slack's division of the army under General Sterling Price, with whom he engaged in the battles of Carthage, Wilson's Creek and Lexington, after which on account of protracted illness, he was unable to re-enter the army. The second Mrs. Trigg was taken sick, and died during his absence in the war. Leaving his family in Ray county, he went to Booneville, Missouri, and from there to Illinois, returning to Hardin, Ray county, in 1869. Here he has ever since remained, occupied in mercantile business. Mr. Trigg is one of the most highly respected and influential men in the county, and one of her most valuable citizens.

B. FRANK DAVIS.

B. Frank Davis was born May 15, 1834, in Hart county, Kentucky. He received his education in the private schools of the neighborhood in which he lived. While his literary training is not extensive, he has a good English education, which is greatly strengthened by strong, practical common-sense, and improved by intercourse with men, close observation, a faculty for learning from passing events, and a retentive memory that stores whatever of useful knowledge is to be garnered from sources of general information. He was raised on a farm in his native county, in the cultivation and management of which, he, in common with his brother, T. J. Davis, assisted his father. He moved with his parents to Ray county, Missouri, in 1853, and on the 29th day of October of that year, settled in Ray county, near the present village of Morton, within one-fourth of a mile of where he now resides, conducting a farm, which, with the exception of a period of interruption from the beginning to the ending of the civil war, has been his life-long vocation. His father was an esteemed and honored citizen of Kentucky. He lost his life by accident, about a year after his arrival in Ray county. He was at work at a carpenter's bench, at the end of which and supported by it, stood a loaded shot-gun. The continued jostling of the bench, finally caused the gun to slip backward and fall on the hammer, discharging it. The contents entered the calf of one of Mr. Davis' legs, severing an artery, and causing his death by hemorrhage-medical assistance arriving too late to save his life. June 20, 1861, in response to the call of Gov. Jackson, Mr. Davis enlisted in the Missouri state guards, and participatedin the engagements at Lexington, Carthage, Oak Hill, Elkhorn, and other places. When in Arkansas the troops were ordered east of the