CHAPTER XXVII (Part 75)
BIOGRAPHICAL
S. W. Robison, the veteran agent of the Frisco Railway Company at Harvey Station, is a Henry County pioneer. Mr. Robison was born in Windsor township, Shelby County, Illinois, in 1849. His parents were David and Elizabeth Ann (Warren) Robison, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Tennessee. The father died in 1872 and the mother departed this life in 1889. They were the parents of four children: Peter, Lakewood, Illinois; David, Butler, Missouri; John, Johnstown, Missouri; and S. W., the subject of this sketch.
S. W. Robison was reared and educated in his native state. In 1882, he came to Missouri, and located in Honey Creek township, Henry County, where he was engaged in farming and stock raising for four years. Before coming to Missouri, Mr. Robison taught school in Illinois for a number of years, and also was engaged in teaching after coming to this county and was a very successful educator. On April 7, 1900, he was appointed agent for the Frisco railroad, and since that time has held that position. During the course of his career, in dealing with the public as a representative of the railroad company, Mr. Robison has acquired an extensive acquaintance and by his courteous manner and accommodating methods in dealing with the public, has made many friends. He not only has won the goodwill and esteem of the public, but the confidence of his employers in the carrying out of the trust and responsibilities imposed in him.
Mr. Robison was united in marriage in 1882 with Miss Anna Miller of Honey Creek, a daughter of John and Rebecca Miller, and to this union have been born five children: George M., an electrician; D. B., employed by the Western Electric Company, Chicago, Illinois; Edgar S., State agent for the Westinghouse Electric Company, located at Dallas, Texas; Mary, resides at home with her parents, and Margaret, Clinton, Missouri.
Mr. Robison has seen much development in the county since he settled here thirty-six years ago. He has seen the town of Garland grow up from the beginning. He is now in his sixty-ninth year and as active in the affairs of every-day life as the average man many years his junior. He is a representative citizen of Honey Creek township and one of the substantial men of his community.
John Owen, of Honey Creek township, is a Henry County pioneer and perhaps the oldest settler in Honey Creek township, where he has lived for sixty-five years. He was born in Kentucky in 1844, and is a son of David Owen, who was born near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and spent a large portion of his early life in Louisiana and Kentucky, leaving home when a boy, and for forty years his people heard nothing from him. He came to Lexington, Missouri, in 1848, and to Henry County in 1853.
He located in Fields Creek township, where he entered six hundred twenty acres of Government land and bought three hundred eighty acres, and at one time owned one thousand acres. Before his death, he deeded all his land to his children. He died in 1893 at the age of eighty-three years, and his remains were buried in Fields Creek Cemetery. His wife, Sarah Ann Campbell, was born in Russell County, Kentucky, in 1826, and died in Honey Creek township in 1865.
The Owen family is of old American stock. David Owen's father, grandfather of John Owen, was with General Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. He enlisted in Tennessee. David Owen was a nephew of David Crockett's wife, and he was named for David Crockett. Sarah Ann Campbell, was also a descendant of old American stock, of Scotch and Irish descent who served in the Revolutionary War. To David and Sarah Ann (Campbell) Owen were born the following children: John, the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Augusta Chrisman, Clinton, Missouri; Mrs. Alice Blackwell; Mrs. Edna Bush, deceased; Quitman resides in Montana; Mrs. Josie McBride, Mountain View, Oklahoma; and Charles, Sherman, Texas.
John Owen was reared amid the scenes of pioneer life, receiving a limited education. He bought his first piece of land in Honey Creek township, where he has spent sixty-five years of his life and where he has built up a reputation for honesty and integrity that might well be the envy of any man.
In 1875, Mr. Owen was united in marriage with Miss Louisa Waddell, daughter of James and Louisa Waddell, both now deceased. To this union were born twelve children, as follows: Nancy, Oles P., Jurina, William, Louisa, Emma, Nichols, Belle, Ada, Ella, Lizzie, and George.
During his sixty-five years of residence in Henry County, John Owen has seen this section develop from an unsettled waste to a populous community. When he came here in 1853, a boy of nine years, Indians were plentiful here, and he remembers of having seen them capmed in the vicinity of Cook's old mill, where they were engaged in fishing and hunting.
The Indians offered for sale venison at ridiculously low prices, compared with the high cost of living of today. Mr. Owen is one of the honored pioneers of Henry County, who is entitled to much credit for the part that he has taken in the development of the banner county of Missouri.
Jesse D, Croley, a well-known Henry County educator, now at the head of the Garland schools, is a native of Henry County, and belongs to a pioneer family of this county. Mr. Croley was born in Walker township, June 30, 1884, in an old house that was built August 10, 1861, the day of the battle of Wilson Creek. He is a son of Joseph and Rebecca (Short) Croley, both natives of Henry County, the father being born and reared in Bethlehem township. He died in 1887; he was a son of Berry Crowley, who was a very early settler in Henry County, locating near where La Due now stands at a very early day.
Joseph Croley served in the Union Army during the Civil war and participated in the Battle of Wilson Creek. Rebecca Short, his third wife, was born in Bates County and also belongs to pioneer Missouri stock. Her parents were William D., and Susan Jane Short. Joseph and Rebecca (Short) Croley were the parents of the following children: Jesse D., the subject of this sketch; Thomas A., deceased; and Ada May, now the wife of Walter S. Schroeder, Urich, Missouri.
Joseph Croley was married three times. By his second marriage were born the following children: Albert Henry, Olney Springs, Colorado; and Alice, now Mrs. Seaman, Chicago, Illinois. And to the first marriage were born: William James, Lawson, Missouri, and Charles Edward, Brookfield, Kansas.
Jesse D. Croley was educated in the public schools of Henry County and the Urich High School. Later, he took a commercial course in a Kansas City business college. He has been engaged in teaching in Henry County for fifteen years, his first school being in American school district, and for the past six years, he has taught at Garland district No. 33. He is one of the well-known and successful teachers of Henry County, and has taught twelve terms in Honey Creek township. He received his first certificate to teach from Uel W. Lamkin, the editor of this work.
Mr. Croley was united in marriage May 12, 1908, to Miss Clara Horrell, a daughter of C. W. and Viola (Mitchell) Horrell of Clinton, Missouri. To Mr. and Mrs. Croley have been born two daughters, Dorothy May, and Clara Bernice. Mr. and Mrs. Croley are well known in Henry County, and have many friends.
John T. Cheatham of Garland, is a descendant of a pioneer family of this State, who settled in Henry County at an early date. Mr. Cheatham was born in Carroll County, in 1859. He is a son of James M. and Anna (Milsapps) Cheatham. The family removed to Saline County, Missouri, when John T. was a child and resided there during the Civil War, and in 1869 came to Henry County, and settled in Honey Creek township, which was then known as Flat Foot. Here the father bought two hundred eighty acres of land at ten dollars per acre. There were only a few settlers in this section of the county at that time, and among those who lived in the Flat Foot district when the Cheathams came were George Crank, William Daly, J. C. Nighbarger, David Simms, James Wiles, and a few others.
James M. Cheatham died in Honey Creek township in 1893, and his remains are buried in Fields Creek Cemetery. His wife now resides in Garland at the advanced age of eighty-seven. They were the parents of the following children: James P., died at the age of twenty; W. C., Garland; Charles, died in Los Angeles, California; John T., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Catherine Beauregard Brown; Anna Lee; Amanda J., and Madora.
John T. Cheatham received his education in the old Flat Foot school district, in Honey Creek township. He has been interested in farming and stock raising practically all his life. For eight years he conducted a general store in Garland, which was the second mercantile establishment there. He was succeeded by Thomas H. Raney. Mr. Cheatham is now interested in farming and has property interests in Windsor.
Mr. Cheatham was married in September, 1889, to Miss Janet G. Mastin, a daughter of William and Mary Mastin, and to this union the following children were born: Julia D., now Mrs. G. Gilbert, and James Thomas, who is in the National Army and has been in military service in France since October, 1918.
Mr. Cheatham is a Democrat and has always taken an active interest in political matters.
W. C. Cheatham, of Honey Creek township, was born at Brunswick, Chariton County, Missouri, and is a son of James M., and Julia Ann (Milsapps) Cheatham. The father was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1815; he died in 1893. His wife was a native of Cooper County, Missouri, born in 1831. During the Civil War, the family lived in Saline County, and in 1869, came to Henry County. At that time, there was no railroad in Henry County, and they drove here by wagon. The mother is now eighty-seven years of age and lives at Garland, Henry County. She is an interesting pioneer woman, and has a store of war-time and pioneer experiences. She says that at one time when they lived in Saline County, that the settlers had to take the calves inside the house at night to keep them away from the wolves. During the Civil War, she relates that William Quantrill and the James and Younger boys had a hiding place on the Cheatham farm, in Saline County, where they camped when they were operating in that section, and that she frequently cooked for them and furnished them with food. She says she also cooked for the Union men, when she was compelled to do so.
W. C. Cheatham received his education in the public schools and has always followed farming, until a few years ago when his health failed, and since that time he has not been actively engaged in any kind of work. When James M. Cheatham and wife settled in Henry County they bought two hundred eighty acres of land in the vicinity of Garland, and the Garland school house now stands on a portion of this land. The Cheathams were among the very early pioneers here, and practically saw Henry County develop almost from the beginning.
