1868, when he was re-elected, receiving the largest vote of any candidate on the ticket, except the vote for Grant. Judge Whitmer concluded his term as judge of this court, which had probate, as well as common law and equity jurisdiction, with a complete index to the probate records from the beginning. After the expiration of his term of service upon the bench,. Judge Whitmer again devoted himself to the practice of law. During all this time he has been a citizen of Richmond, Missouri. Though frequently solicited, he refused to run for any political position other than city offices; and although a Mason and Past High Priest of Royal Arch Chapter, A. F. & A. M., has always opposed all secret political organizations as dangerous to the liberties of the people. April 20, 1859, he was married, by Elder James A. Garfield, now president of the United States, to Miss Vashti Whitmer, daughter of Peter Whitmer, deceased. She is a lady of culture and refinement, and together with her husband, enjoys the confidence of her numerous friends. They have no children living. Judge Whitmer ranks high as a lawyer, and is in the prime and vigor of manhood.

THOMAS D. WOODSON.

It is not alone among military heroes; nor in the cabinet; nor among the luminaries of literature, of science, or of art, that we are to look for great and good men. There is another and larger class of citizens, not so dazzling, to be sure-whose fame, indeed, is circumscribed; who have never been renowned for achievements in war, nor for eloquence, great learning, or statesmanship, but who are, nevertheless, entitled to grateful recognition for the parts they have taken in sustaining society, religion, and the economy of government, who are really more useful to the world than many of those whose fame has extended far and wide. Such men, we mean, as quietly pursue the various necessary vocations of life; who live honorably, discharge the duties of citizenship, and by liberality, christian deportment, and individual effort contribute to the happiness of all. Thomas D. Woodson, son of Robert S. and Hulda Ann (Young) Woodson, was born in Woodsonville, Hart county, Kentucky, March 10th, 1828. His father was born in Goochland county, Virginia, November 26th, 1796, and moved with his parents to the present site of Woodsonville, then in Barren county, Kentucky, in 1804. His grandfather, Thomas Woodson, was born in Goochland county, Virginia, on the River James, twenty miles above the city of Richmond, December 2d, 1772, and died in Woodsonville, February 14th, 1857. His grandmother, also a native Virginian, born May 2d, 1776, died in the same village, July 21st, 1844. His mother was born January 14th, 1801, in Rockingham county, Virginia, and is still (1881) living, and resides with the subject of this sketch in Richmond, Missouri. His great grandfather, Matthew Wood

son, was born in 1731, and married Elizabeth Levilian, only child of John Peter Levilian. His maternal great grandfather, Jesse Saunders, married Mary, only child of Anthony Levilian. His paternal great grand parents, grand parents, and his and his father were Old School Baptists. This faith, extending back to John Peter Levilian, making the fourth generation, reminds one of the faith of Paul and also of Timothy, which extended backward to the third or fourth generation. The parents of our subject had nine children, three of whom died in infancy. The rest are as follows, arranged with respect to their ages:. Jane Ann, who married John H. Ardinger, Esq., a merchant of Woodsonville, Kentucky, who subsequently moved to Lexington, Missouri, where he was a prominent citizen a number of years; he is now living in Texas; Philip J.; Martha A., who became the wife of the late Governor Austin A. King, of Missouri; the subject of this sketch; Elizabeth Levilian, wife of Shelby A. Jackson, M. D., of Ohio county, Kentucky, and Robert Hyde, who joined the Confederate army at the commencement of the civil war, and receiving a wound at the battle of Champion Hills, Mississippi, fell into the hands of the enemy and died. His grandfather Thomas was the founder of Woodsonville, once a bright and attractive village, situated on a high plateau, overlooking the surrounding country, on the south bank of Green river, in Hart county, Kentucky. Thomas D. Woodson was a soldier in the war against Mexico. He volunteered in 1847, joining the 4th Kentucky infantry, and served till the close of the war, in the company of which, at first, Pat Gardner and afterwards Thomas Mayfield, was captain. At the close of the Mexican war, he came to Missouri and located at Kingston, in Caldwell county, where he engaged in the mercantile business. He remained in Kingston until in the spring of 1852, when he crossed the plains, with a train of ox wagons, to California. Continuing in California till January, 1854, he returned to his home in Missouri, and pursued his former vocation at Kingston till in 1863, when he removed to Richmond, Ray county, where he resumed merchandising, and conducted a store till the fall of 1878, at which time he closed out to Messrs. Holt & Hughes. In 1868, he participated in the organization of the Ray County Savings Bank, and was chosen its vice-president. He held this position till he disposed of his mercantile house, as above stated, when he turned his attention to banking exclusively. In 1879 he was elected president of the Ray County Savings Bank, and still holds that position. Mr. Woodson has also been extensively engaged in dealing in live stock, farming, etc. He owns several well improved and fertile farms in Ray and adjoining counties. He was married December 5, 1854, to Miss Sabina L. Hughes, a native of Clark county, Kentucky. They have three children living, viz. Lydia Annie, born September 27, 1855; Harrie Philip, born March 23,

1859, and Virginia Elizabeth, born September 11, 1870. Mrs. Woodson was a refined and amiable lady, but she is not now among the livinghaving died April 11, 1871. Mr. Woodson is a devout and consistant member of the M. E. Church South. His name is untarnished; his friends are legion; and his life not in vain.

PHILIP J. WOODSON.

The subject of this sketch, a brother of Thomas D). Woodson, was born in Woodsonville, Kentucky, January 6, 1823. In the spring of 1849 he went across the plains to California, spending five months on the way. He passed about twelve years in the mining districts of California, most of the time engaged in mining, in which he was quite successful. In the spring of 1861 he returned by the overland stage route, traversing Lower California, Arizona, and Texas, and traveling 2,800 miles in twenty-three days, reaching his home in Kentucky in May. In the spring of 1863 he returned to California, and remained one year, looking after his mining interests. In 1865 Mr. Woodson located permanently in Richmond, Missouri, where he is now a respected citizen. He was engaged in merchandizing in Richmond, in partnership with his brother, T. D. Woodson, Esq., until 1878, when they sold out their stock of goods, and since that time our subject has not been actively engaged in business on account of ill health. He is the owner of a fine farm, containing about five hundred acres, as well as some valuable city property. He was married October 25, 1865, to Miss Hallie J. Jackson, a most accomplished lady, of Bowling Green, Kentucky. He is a member of the regular Baptist Church, while his wife is united with the M. E. Church South. For genealogy of Mr. Woodson reference is made to the biographical sketch of his brother, Thomas D. Woodson, Esq.

JOHN C. BROWN.

John C. Brown was born near Richmond, Ray county, Missouri, January 29, A. D. 1835. His father, William, was born in Rutherford county, Tennessee, October 6, 1809, and was raised and educated in the county of his nativity, and emigrated to Missouri with his parents in 1829, living on a farm during his life. He was a Baptist of the old school type; never desired office at the hands of the people, but has been content to live the life of a farmer, and a Christian gentleman. He was married to Miss Sarah J. Ralph, in 1832. She was born in Guilford county, North Carolina, January 6, 1813, and came with her parents to Ray county, at an early day. By the marriage of William Brown to Miss Ralph, there were born seven children, one of whom died in infancy; James H. went to Oregon, and died there in 1873; Mary F. died at sixteen years of age; Isaac R.

resides in Carrollton, Missouri, and is clerk of the circuit court in the seventeenth judicial district; Charles W., salesman with McWilliams, Crooke & Co., wholesale hats and caps; Jennie, married to Samuel V. Endsley, of Ray county. John C. the subject of this sketch, was raised on a farm, and finished his course of study at Carrollton, Missouri, in 1856, acquiring a good English education and some knowledge of the Latin. He left school, and followed teaching in Carroll, Saline and Ray counties, always giving satisfaction as a teacher. In April, 1857, he was employed as salesman in the store of Messrs. Hill & Ely, of Carrollton, Missouri, and left in the spring of 1861, with the confidence and approval of his employers; went to farming and dealing in stock till 1872. In November, 1872, he was elected sheriff of Ray county, and having filled the office to the satisfaction of the people, was in November, 1874, re-elected by an increased majority, receiving the largest vote cast for any candidate at that election. At the end of his second term, December, 1876, he retired from the office of sheriff, and commenced the practice of law in partnership with Judge Wm. A. Donaldson, having been admitted to the bar in February, 1877. He was married September 27, 1860, to Miss Hattie A. George, of Caldwell county, Missouri, who is a native of Anderson county, Kentucky, and was born November 22, 1842; and emigrated to Caldwell county with her father, David George, and died August 24, 1872. To this union were born six children, one of whom died in infancy. Of the others, Wm. D. was born July2 7, 1861; Eugenie, August 5, 1864; Anna Bell, March 4, 1866; John Dudley, January 23, 1868, and Charles Oscar, April 29, 1871. On May 6, 1874, Mr. Brown was married to his second wife, Miss Olive E., daughter of Felix G. Miller, Esq., of Ray county, born November 2, 1851. With his father's consent, Mr. Brown left home when seventeen years of age, and without means, principally educated himself, as his parents were unable to give him much pecuniary aid. He attributes his success to the prompt manner in which he always met each and every engagement. Through life he has made it his determined aim to come promptly to time, thus proving the truth of the adage, “punctuality is the soul of business success." Mr. Brown is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and is a Royal Arch Mason; he is also a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and contributes liberally to the building of churches, and to the support of the ministry. In politics he is an unswerving democrat, and has been so from his early manhood. He is at present engaged in the mercantile business in Richmond, where he is respected and esteemed by every one.

GEORGE I. WASSON.

George I. Wasson was born September 19, 1819, in Wilson county, Tennessee, where he lived, assisting his father on the farm, till he was twenty-one years of age. In 1840, he moved from Tennessee to Missouri, and located in Richmond, Ray county, a stranger, young, without friends, without money, and with no resource, save his indomitable energy, pluck, perseverance, and habits of sobriety and economy. The young Tennesseean was not long in making "troops of friends;" his affability, good nature, and generous, obliging disposition, soon gained for him the esteem of all around him, and he was not long in finding employment, at once congenial, responsible and remunerative. Shortly after his arrival, he was appointed deputy sheriff of Ray county, and after holding this position, discharging its duties with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his principal and the people, he entered a dry goods store as clerk, and continued this occupation about two years. He was then elected constable of Richmond township, and held the office continuously till the year 1846, when, appreciating his steady habits, honesty, capacity and fidelity, the people elected him to the responsible office of sheriff of the county; and at the close of his term, two years afterward, chose him as his own successor.

In 1849, in connection with Joseph S. Hughes, he opened a dry goods. store. He continued in this business, meanwhile conducting a fine farm of six hundred acres, near Richmond, and dealing extensively in leaf tobacco, till in 1866. In he was elected president of the branch of Union Bank of Missouri, located in Richmond, and served with efficiency in this capacity till 1865, in which year he embarked in the private banking business. He continued in this business about twelve years, or until 1877, when he sold out, and engaged in the leaf tobacco trade, packing, pressing, and shipping, in which he was quite successful; but after about one year he resumed the mercantile business. In September, 1879, he exchanged his store for the hotel formerly known as the Shaw house, which same he has changed to Wasson house. Mr. Wasson is now owner and proprietor of the Wasson house, which he has greatly improved. He is a man of great versatility, of strong natural ccmmon sense, quick to comprehend, and of far-seeing sagacity. Knowingly, he never wounds the feelings of any man; he is ever the friend of public enterprise, of education, and of whatever he believes to be conducive to the good of his friends, of the town in which he lives, or of his county, In whatever department of industry he is engaged, he is the same genial, courteous, and accommodating gentleman, of generous impulses, warmhearted, sympathetic, and kind-hundreds of his fellow-citizens, less fortunate than himself, are indebted to him for deeds of charity. In 18- he