BiographicalS k e t c h e s . All men cannot be great; each has his sphere and the success of his life is to be measured by the mannerin which he fills it. But men may be both true and good, maybe morally great, tor in true living there are no degrees of greatness —there is no respect to persons. It is not intended in the following pages to include all the several and seperate acts of a man's life, important or otherwise. The design is to give the merest outline, for a complete review of the life and character of the person named, would be both unwarranted and without general value. The names which follow, for the most part, are those of men who have been or are now closely identified with the interests of the county and their respective townships. The sketches of many of the early settlers are found elsewhere in this volume; but to have given a sketch of every man in Johnsoncount}' would have been utterly impossible. If any have been omitted, who should have bt5en represented, it was more the fault of them selves or their friends than the publishers of this work. For the most part these have contributed to the enterprise which the publishers have been able to furnish the people. Great care has been taken to give the facts in these sketches as they were given to the historian, and if occasional errors are found, it is largely due to the incorrect statement of the inform ant. WARRENSBURGTOWNSHIP. WILLIAMH. ANDERSON, a leading merchantof Warrensburg,was born in Campbell county, Ten nessee, on the 28th day of March, 1813. His father, John Anderson, was a native of Bedford county, Virginia, and his mother of Withe county, the same state. His grandfather was a native of Scotland, and came to America and settled, in Virginia, where he lived till his death, dying at the advancedage of one hundred and one years. John Anderson, the father of William H., died at his homein Campbell county, Tennessee, in 1838. T h e subject of this sketch lived in his native county till twenty years of age. During this time he had made some progress in learning, and had whatmay be termed a good English education for his day. In 44 688 HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY. 1833 he set out on horseback and traveled all the way overland to the state of Missouri, the land he had chosen for his future home. Here he settled with his brother, who had come previously. This was severi years prior to the laying out of the town of Warrensburg. He was not ashamed of labor, and engaged in making rails. Three years after arriv ing he 'engaged as clerk for James A. Gallaher, with whom he continued for the space of two years. In 1838 he went to Warrensburg, when it was in its infancy, and has remained ever since, with the exception of seven years. In 1839 he was appointed deputy sheriff, and held this office for two years. After this he engaged as clerk in a dry goods store for a period of five years. In 1643 he embarked in the mercantile business for himself, running a general store, which he continued until 1857, when he sold out his stock with a view of farming, but just at that time a branch of the Union Bank of Missouri was established at this place, and he was elected cashier, and served till 1862 when the bank closed. He then took his family, also the money belonging to the bank, and moved to St. Louis, where he remained till after the close of the war, then moved to Pleasant Hill, Cass county, Missouri, where he engaged in the mercantile trade until 1869, when he returned to Warrensburg, and soon afterward assisted in the organization of the Johnson county savings bank, of which he was elected cashier, and served acceptably for two years. After that he engaged in the retail grocery trade, which he has continued to the present time, having established a reputation for honesty and fair dealing, richly meriting the esteem and confidence in which he is held. He was elected treasurer of Johnson county in 1848, and served till rendered inel igible by the law of the state. He took a very active part in establishing the line of the Missouri Pacific railroad to the town of Warrensburg, for which the people ought ever to feel grateful. He was married to Miss Mary A. Davis, February 4, 1844. She was born in Kentucky, but raised in Johnson county, Missouri. She is a lady of culture and refined domestic habits. Ten children were born, seven are now living: John D., Zachary T., Henry B., Wm. H. Jr., James I., Mary A. and Charles. Two children died in infancy ; Sallie died when twelve years of age. Mr. Anderson is a plain man, though a true gentleman. In politics he has always been a democrat. He has for years been a devoted member of the M. E. church (south), and now serves as superintendent of the Sunday school in his church. He is social and temperate, and although advanced in years, he retains a wonderful vivid memory. REV. A. L. BARR, pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Born in Alabama, and when young came with his parents to Miller county, Missouri. His father, Rev. J. N. Barr, was born in North Carolina, in 1816, and moved HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY. 689 to Alabama in 1834, coming to Missouri in 1850. He is still living, near Pleasant Hope, Polk county, a hale and vigorous man, having reared a large and influential family to bless the world. His wife, Mary Ann Brandon, is a native of Tennessee, who moved to Alabama in 1834. The children of this worthy pair are: Ailanthus L., Fidelia S., Lalande R., Malzarine L., Ursula L., Nannie J., Ritha U., Thaddeus M., and Rufus M., who died in infancy. Malzarine L. died at the age of nineteen. A. L. attended McGee College three years, then studied at Drurie College, after which he spent two years in teaching and preaching in Green and Polk countys. He then spent two years in the school of theology at Cumberland University, Tennessee, coming directly to Warrensburg, June 5, 1881, where, as pastor of the C. P. Church, he has, in- a compara tively short time, endeared himself to his own congregation, and the public generally.. Rev. Barr is a clear and practical speaker, and though a young man, possesses high attainments, both as a scholar and Christian minister, and will render eminent service in the cause of Christ. He joined the McGee Presbytery August 24, 1871; was licensed in Spring- field Presbytery October 5, 1»74, and ordained at Pleasant Hope, March 6, 1875. BENJAMIN P. BLACK, was born in Mercer county, Kentucky, October 12, 1828. His father Daniel Black, was a native of Virginia, and moved to Kentucky in 1820. He was a farmer, and Benjamin helped him, and received a very limited education in the old log school houses of that day. He removed from there, when he was twenty-nine years of age, to this state, settling in this county, on the place where he now lives. Was married to Miss Amanda Quarls, a native of Virginia, in 1848, by whom he has had ten children, six of whom are living: Mary E., now Mrs. Harmon, living in this county; Jeremiah, Sarah, now Mrs. M. Cobler; T. G., Amos C, and N. L., the youngest daughter. Mr. Black has been an industrious and per severing farmer, and by hard work and good financiering has secured a good home, to which he has added a well improved tract of land, and he is to-day one of the substantial men, who have helped to make Johnson county. WILLIAM H. BRINKER. Of the many examples of self-made men which this western country has produced, none are more worthy of record the subject of this sketch. He is a native of Crawford county, Missouri, and was born December 23, 1851. His father, John B. Brinker, was a native of Missouri, and was among the earliest settlers of Johnson county. William's grandfather was killed by the Indians, in Jackson county, about the year 1830. His HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY. mother is also a native of this state, and is still living, though about sixtv- six years of age. Mr. William B. Brinker's father died in 1S55, with the cholera, while on his way home from St. Louis, where he had been to pnrchase goods, being at this time one of the prominent dry goods mer chants, of Warrensburg. He was an energetic, straightforward man. William H., at the outbreak of the war, was about ten years of age. In 18G2 his mother's house was burned, and everything taken, and the family was left destitute. His mother took her family, and went to St. Francois county, this state, for safety. In 1SG4 William joined Gen. Price's army, then hut thirteen years of age, and served during the war. In 1867, he and an older brother crossed the plains, and on ariving at his place of destination hired out to drive cattle to Salt Lake, and soon after was employed to work on the Union Pacific railroad, in Wyoming territory. He returned to St. Louis, and in the spring of 18(19, in company with his mother's family, moved back to Johnson county, where he worked one year on a farm, and, being encouraged by Prof.