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ton opened a general merchandise store at Albany, and continued the business there for one year, and then moved to Sibley, Jackson county, and, after keeping store in that place for about twelve months, removed to Orrick, Ray county, and has ever since conducted the business with good success and prosperity there. Mr. Dorton is a member of Ada Lodge, No. 344, A. F. & A. M., at Albany.

WILLIAM N. KIRKHAM.

Was born in Montgomery county, Missouri, November 1, 1847. He is the son of David and Ann Kirkham, natives of the state of Virginia. His father was born in the month of February, 1820, and died May 8, 1873 Our subject was engaged at work for his father, who was a manufacturer of tobacco, until he attained his majority. Mr. Kirkham was married December 22, 1869, to Miss Susan A. Gooch, daughter of Alexander and Nancy Gooch, natives of the state of Kentucky. She was born October 2, 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Kirkham are the parents of three children living, and two dead. Their names and dates of birth are as follows: Emma, born January 5, 1875; Archie, born January 18, 1877; Maggie, born January 9, 1879; Charles A., born December 29, 1870, died March 31, 1872, and one other, an infant, died in 1873. After his marriage, Mr. Kirkham resided, for a time, on a farm north of the town of Albany, then removed to one in section 31, township 28, range 51, and in the year 1880, came to his present location, section 36, township 51, range 29. Here he owns 150 acres of very rich and productive land, well improved and cultivated, with a neat, comfortable residence and good orchard. Mr. Kirkham is a thrifty, industrious and successful farmer and stock raiser, and a vaiuable adjunct to the community in which he resides.

Ş. H. DEGRAFFENREID.

Stephen H. Degraffenreid was born in Jasper county, Missouri, April 2, 1848. He is the son of Vincent and Lucretia Degraffenreid, natives of Pennsylvania. His parents died when he was but three years old, and he was reared by his grandmother. At the age of nineteen years he left home, and began battling alone for a livelihood. He worked at various occupations until the commencement of the civil war, and then enlisted, September, 1863, in company C, 2d Ohio cavalry, and was assigned to the department of the west. He participated in the battle at Sugar Creek, and a great number of skirmishes besides. He was discharged in October, 1865, at Leavenworth, Kansas, and went, for a short time to the territory of New Mexico. From there he went to Colorado, and to Kansas, returning thence to Ray county, Missouri, where he has since resided. Mr. Degraffenreid was married on the 17th day of March, 1878, to Mrs. Angeline Tucker, daughter of Thomas and Margaret

McMullen, natives of Virginia, now deceased. He owns ninety-six acres of choice bottom land in an excellent state of cultivation, well improved, with neat, comfortable, and convenient buildings, good fences, orchard, etc. Mr. Degraffenreid is a member of Ada lodge, No. 444, at Albany. He is a successful farmer and a good citizen.

ANDERSON D. LOYD.

Anderson D. Loyd is a native of Ray county, Missouri. He was born March 22, 1851. His parents were Henry and Nancy Loyd, natives of Tennessee. Our subject received the advantages of a common school education, and spent the time until he was grown, on the farm of his father. Mr. Loyd was married August 24, 1871, to Miss Milly Conyers, daughter of D. and Louisa Conyers. She was born December 15, 1849, in Ray county, Missouri. Her father was a native of Kentucky, and her mother of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Loyd have four children: Buford A., born February 3, 1873; Bertie, born March 21, 1874; Richard, born February 8, 1876; Emma J., born January 19, 1878. Mr. Loyd owns and occupies the old homestead that was settled by his father. The place comprises one hundred and fifty-five acres of land, which, for fertility and productiveness, is unexcelled, perhaps, by any in the county. Mr. Loyd is a prosperous and successful farmer, and a well respected and esteemed member of the community.

see.

ABRAHAM ALLEN.'

Abraham Allen was born in Ray county, Missouri, September 4, 1827. He is the son of Reuben and Rhoda Allen, natives of the state of TennesOur subject attended the subscription schools of his father's neighborhood, in the winter, and in the summer worked on the farm. In this way he was enabled to obtain a fair common school education. In the year 1849, he left his father's farm and went as a teamster in a government wagon train, to New Mexico, spending about ninety days on the route to Santa Fe. After spending more than two years in the employ of the government, he was discharged from the wagon train, and was soon after employed by Quartermaster Reynolds, for some months, at Santa Fe. He was, subsequently, in the employ of Quartermaster Sibley, at Fort Union. Again an order was issued to discharge all citizen teamsters, and Mr. Allen went, for a short time, to the placer gold-diggings. Soon after, he enlisted in company H, 2d U. S. dragoons, commanded by Lieutenant Johnson, and was assigned to the ninth department of New Mexico, where he was frequently engaged in skirmishes with the Indians, and was several times slightly wounded. At the battle of the mines on Gila river, he received a shot through the chin and mouth, which carried

away a part of his tongue, and passed out at the base of the ear. This wound disabled Mr. Allen, and he was kept under medical treatment until July, 1856, and then came home, after an absence of seven years. Mr. Allen was married, September 4, 1859, to Miss Martha Tucker, daughter of John W. and Nancy Tucker, natives of Virginia. She was born March 17, 1837, in Benton county, Missouri. The issue of this union has been four children, living: Elizabeth J., born December 13, 1864; Jessie T., born August 27, 1867; John W., born June 29, 1870; Katie S., born November 9, 1872. Mr. Allen was elected to the office of township constable, in 1860, and very efficiently discharged the duties of that position. At the commencement of the war of the rebellion, Mr. Allen raised a company of men, and served in the home guard from October 1, till Christmas, 1861. In February, 1862, he and his company were mustered into the Missouri state militia service, with headquarters at Richmond, Missouri. He participated in the battle of Springfield, Missouri, and commanded two companies there. After the war, Mr. Allen went to Texas, and lived there for two years, returning to Ray county, Missouri, in the month of August, 1868. In January he was appointed by the county court, to fill the unexpired term of Constable Burnett (who was accidentally killed, and has since been deputy constable under James Ralph. Mr. Allen has had a varied experience in life, and has always been an active, energetic man.

JOHN H. FRAZER.

John H. Frazer was born in Forsythe county, North Carolina, October 20, 1827. His parents were Jacob and Elizabeth Frazer, natives of Forsythe county, North Carolina. Our subject remained at home occupied with duties on his father's farm until his marriage. He was married, July 26, 1847, to Miss Jelina Studdard, daughter of James W. and Nancy Studdard, also natives of Forsythe county, North Carolina. Mrs. Frazer was born, July 27, 1831. Mr. Frazer and wife have ten living children; their names, with dates of birth, are as follows: Romulus G., born in North Carolina, June 2, 1848, now married and living in Ray county; Eliza A. C., born September 24, 1850, married to J. C. Ross and living at Orrick, in this county; Fatha M., born April 26, 1852, married to David Messenger, and living in Louisville, Kentucky; Maria L., born September 12, 1859, (married Thomas Brown, who died in 1880), now living in widowhood, at Orrick; Martin L., born January 19, 1856, married and living near his father's place; Joel B., born December 2, 1858, married and living near his father; John P., born March 6, 1862, living in the southern part of Missouri; Francis B., born May 9, 1864, died August 16, 1865; Hiram W., born July 30, 1866, died August 4, 1867; Stonewall, born June 12, 1868; Jelina E., born March 7, 1872; Jacob S., born March

7, 1877. Mr. Frazer came to Ray county, Missouri, in the year 1849, and settled upon a farm in township 51, range 29. He lived here and continued the business of farming, (except during the war) until 1873, when he removed to the town of Albany and engaged in gardening for market. At the beginning of the civil war, he enlisted in the Confederate army, company B., under Captain Parker, and participated in the battles of Sugar Creek, Pea Ridge, Iuka, Corinth, Grand Gulf and Farmington. He was discharged at Laurel Dale Springs, June 12, 1863, and reached home on the 19th of July following.

W. R. BLYTHE.

William R. Blythe was born on the 18th day of January, 1803. At the age of twenty years he came to Ray county, Missouri, and after staying here for a time, went back to Tennessee, where he had been reared. In the year 1826 he came again to Ray county, and entering a part of the homestead upon which he now resides, settled here permanently. He has since entered and bought other lands, and now possesses in all, about thirteen hundred acres of excellent land. His homestead is well improved with a handsome and convenient residence, good substantial barns, sheds and other buildings, well watered and enclosed by good fences and stocked with fine breeds of horses, cattle, hogs and sheep. Mr. Blythe was first married in 1830, to Miss Didama Fletcher, daughter of David and Rebecca Fletcher, of Indiana. She was born June 9, 1811. They became the parents of five children, only two of whom are now living: Thomas, born November 30, 1836; married and living upon the farm his father first entered; Rebecca J., born in March, 1832, married C. W. Stokes, and is living near her father. Mrs. Blythe died November 3, 1845, and January 5, 1848, Mr. Blythe was married to Miss Leanah Riffe, daughter of John and Polly A. Riffe, natives of the state of Kentucky. Mrs. Blythe was born in Casey county, Kentucky, in February, 1823. The issue of this marriage was nine children: John L., born July 29, 1849; married and living on a farm, section fifteen, township fifty-one, range twenty-nine; James W., born September 1, 1850; killed by a runaway team, April 14, 1880; infant, born in September and died in October, 1853; Elizabeth A., born October 10, 1854; married C. R. Kirkham, and is living on a farm, section fourteen, township fifty-one, range twenty-nine; Robert D., born June 2, 1857; Franklin R., born September 1, 1859, and died August 8, 1860; Sarah E., born May 16, 1863; Martha H., born December 8, 1865; Laura, born April 25, 1869. Our subject was first lieutenant of Captain Clark's company in the Black Hawk war. Mr. Blythe represented Ray county in the general assembly from 1840 to 1842, and was state senator from 1842 to 1846. He discharged the duties of these high offices with credit and honor to himself, and to the full and entire satisfaction of his

constituency.

Mr. Blythe is a leading, very prosperous and highly respected farmer. He has worked himself up by his own efforts, from a poor, friendless boy, to a position of distinction among his fellowmen, and acquired sufficient wealth to end his days in comfort and ease, and to leave a handsome patrimony to his children.

JOHN MASON.

The subject of this sketch was born in Lincoln county, Kentucky, November 27, 1814. He received a classical education and remained in his native state attending to the management of his father's estate until the year 1836, when he immigrated to Missouri, where he engaged in business. at various places successfully. First, at Middletown, Montgomery county, then at Louisville, Lincoln county. From Louisville he went to Clarksville, Pike county, and from there came to Ray county, where he only stopped a short time, and then returned to Kentucky, and remained there one year longer. He then returned to Ray county, and setting at the town of Albany, engaged extensively in merchandising, and also dealing in live stock. He was appointed notary public March 20, 1873, and has ever since held that office. Mr. Mason was admitted to the bar as an attorney at law, August 26, 1865, and has been very successfully engaged in the practice of his profession in the courts of this and other counties, and also in the supreme court of the state. He was married July 24, 1845, to Miss Mary H. Davis, daughter of William D., and Mary A. Davis, natives of Mississippi. She was born May 1, 1828. Her mother was a cousin of Jefferson Davis, president of the Southern Confederacy. Mr. and Mrs. Mason became the parents of eight children, five of whom are now living: Laura, born December 5, 1846, was twice married, first to William Nelson, who was killed by the accidental discharge of a gun, in 1867; second, to Frank Rhodes, in 1870. She died in 1874. John W., born January 23, 1848; Thomas, born March 24, 1850; Oscar, born October 13, 1852; George born May 16, 1855; died December 4, 1874; Belle, born February 4, 1858, died March 26, 1875; Mattie L., born October 15, 1864; Frank, born January 25, 1868. Mr. Mason was again married December 17, 1877, to Mrs. Letitia S. Williams, daughter of Doctor R., and Catharine Coffey, natives of Lincoln county, Kentucky. Mr. Mason is a member of the Masonic fraternity.

ISAAC M. RIFFE.

Isaac M. Riffe is the son of Jacob and Rutha Riffe, natives of the state of Kentucky. He was born in Ray county, Missouri, May 23, 1823. Our subject was reared upon a farm, and he learned his trade, carpentering in the winter season, and worked on the farm during summer. Mr.