Benton Township
Thomas Christian
1853 –
Thomas Christian, a farmer and stock raiser, was a native of Adair County. He was the youngest of Thomas & Elizabeth (Jones) Christian’s four children. [Elizabeth’s Journal obit]
Thomas W Fickel
31 Jan 1848 – 4 Mar 1923
Thomas W Fickel, of Hocking County, OH, moved to Adair County with his parents and new bride, Adeline Webb, in 1869. The younger couple settled in Benton Township where Thomas farmed until 1909 when he retired and moved to Kirksville. That summer, he was appointed County District Judge to complete the term of the incumbent who had resigned. He served until the next election but was unsuccessful in his bid for election in 1911. Thomas and Adeline had two sons, William and John. He and his second wife, Jennie Henry, had five children: Charles, Leo, Frank, Mary and Roy. [Violette; KDE obit]
Lafayette Lorton
10 Feb 1855 – 25 Dec 1921
Mary Anna (Vaughn) Lorton
21 Jan 1954 – 18 Dec 1941
Lafayette Lorton was four weeks old when his parents moved to Adair County from Burlington, Iowa. Raised on a farm near Sublette, he began farming on his own as soon as he reached his majority and in 1895 purchased 300 acres just north of Kirksville. He was a well respected breeder of hogs, cattle and horses. Anna (Vaughn) Kerns, a native of Sullivan County, MO, was a widow with two sons when she and Lafayette married in 1887. Together, the couple raised four children; the Kerns boys, Alexander & James, and their own two sons, George & Jessie Lorton. [Violette; KDE obits]
John Lowe
2 Jan 1840 – 12 Jan 1904
Armilda Lowe
26 Jan 1841 – 25 Jan 1907
John Lowe was a farmer-stockman who came to Adair County in 1866. He and his wife, Armilda, are buried at Oak Grove Cemetery east of Kirksville. [Adair Co Cemeteries]
Peter H More
26 May 1834 – 26 May 1921
Susana Carson (Smith) More
18 Dec 1842 – 6 Jan 1910
Peter H More, a farmer and stockman, was born in Fredericksburg, OH and moved to Adair County, MO as a young man. A few years later he married Susan Smith, a native of Randolph County, MO and the couple raised eleven children, some of whom, along with spouses, are pictured here. The Mores moved to the drier climate of Kinsley, KS in 1908. Susan died there and Peter returned to Kirksville to make his home with a daughter and son-in-law in 1915. [KDE & Journal obits]
Frank Sylvester Spitzer
5 Dec 1854 – 18 Feb 1939
Farmer and stockman Frank Spitzer was born in Harrisburg, VA, and raised in Breme, OH. He lived for a time in California in his twenties and while there met Eugenia Chandler, a young lady who had been raised in Adair County, MO. The couple married in 1885 then moved back to her home county and settled on a farm just north of Kirksville. They were the parents of four daughters and one son. [KDE obit]