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Below is a sample of a family biography
included in Portrait and Biographical Record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton,
and Linn Counties
Missouri and published by Chapman Bros. in 1893.
These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing
ancestors or filling in the details in a family tree. Family biographies often
include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.
Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place
of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including
maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if
married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service,
church and social organization affiliations, and more. There are often
ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical
record.
JOSEPH BAIER, a member of the firm of Baier & Haysler, wholesale and retail
dealers in meats, is a successful business man of Salisbury. He was born March
8, 1835, in the village of Weigheim, Wurtemberg, Germany, where both father
and grandfather before him had been born, and where they both died. His
grandfather followed the occupation of a farmer, while the father made a
specialty of stock-raising, and died in 1884 at the age of seventy years. The
mother of our subject was named Mary (Werner) Baier, and was born in Baden,
Germany, where she died at the age of seventy years. She had been a devoted
member of the Roman Catholic Church, and was the mother of sixteen children,
only four of whom survive.
Our subject was the eldest of the family, and was the only one who made a home
in America, He was reared in Germany, where he received his education in the
excellent schools and worked on the farm. He had read of the United States,
and through correspondence with friends had found out something of the
resources of the land beyond the sea, and at the age of seventeen he decided
to emigrate to the New World.
In the spring of 1852, Mr. Baier left Havre on a sailing-vessel, and after a
voyage of seventy days reached New Orleans, but not without mishap. Off the
coast of Cuba the vessel was injured so that she sunk on a rock, but was
pumped out, raised, and the passengers again set sail. All of the provisions
had been spoiled, hence there was a great scarcity of food during the latter
part of the journey. From New Orleans our subject went up the river to St.
Louis and commenced to learn the trade of blacksmith, but was taken sick, and
after recovery made his way to Glasgow. There with his uncle Philip he engaged
in the marble business, and remained thus occupied for two years. Afterward he
was apprenticed to learn the butcher business under Joseph Steadens, in which
capacity he continued for three years. He then became a clerk in a grocery
store at Glasgow, and for four years was in the employ of Stillman & Phipps.
Just at that time great excitement was occasioned by the report of vast
treasures to be found on Pike's Peak, and our subject was prepared to journey
thither, but fortunately he heard of the disappointment of those who had gone
and abandoned the idea. He then engaged in business for one year. The desire
to travel and investigate for himself induced him in 1860 to take a trip to
Colorado. With two wagons and four mules he started overland alone, crossing
the Missouri at St. Joseph, reaching the Platte at Ft. Kearney, and by way of
Ft. Laramie arriving in Denver. The trip consumed six months, and oftentimes
he was in close quarters with the Indians. From Denver he made his way to the
mines of California Gulch, and thence to Frying-pan Gulch. At the latter place
he did a thriving business as butcher for three months, and then went down the
Arkansas River, where he prospected and mined. It was necessary to lie out all
night wherever he happened to be at work, and to carry wood for fuel one-half
mile. While the mines were productive, the necessities were so expensive that
he did not get much ahead, and the frost soon compelled him to stop work.
During the winter our subject did some prospecting, and early in the spring he
discovered a claim at the top of one of the mountains called Lost Canyon Mine.
He went up on snowshoes and worked there until the middle of July, when the
water failed. Then he worked at Cash Creek, where he realized $200. Selling
out, he proceeded to Montana, leaving Denver September 20, 1861, with two yoke
of cattle and journeying to Virginia City, and thence to Bevins' Gulch, where
he remained during the winter. In the spring he began prospecting on the
Yellowstone, and there he remained until July. While there he fell in with a
tribe of Crow Indians, with whom he became friendly and remained all winter.
His were the first wagons they had ever seen. He and his four companions found
the Indians disposed to be kind and helpful, notwithstanding their reputation
for cruelty.
Later, Mr. Baier went to Big Horn and Little Big Horn. Making his way far up
on the divide, he could see where the streams of water which made fertile the
valleys below formed on the top of Bald Mountains. Snow was on the ground, and
the party made its way back to Virginia City almost starved. For a time our
subject worked the mines there, receiving $6 a day, and later was employed in
a butcher shop for one month, receiving $100 for his services. At Bevins'
Gulch he opened a butcher shop and made $1,000 in six months, but the
desertion of the mines caused a failure in trade. He then returned to Virginia
City, where he bought out a claim for $3,000, and opening it with another man
went to work. Often the outlook was very discouraging, but he persevered until
his receipts amounted to $40,000, when he quit.
At that time there was great excitement farther north, and with his partner
our subject proceeded thither. They bought a claim for $3,000 but lost it and
returned to the old place, bare-footed and ragged. They began to work in an
old mine near Helena, and with the start there obtained went to Utah to
speculate. There they bought stock, which they drove to Montana, but the
business was not a success, as they bought too many head. Then the partners
returned by coach to Colorado, which they reached with difficulty. After an
absence of nearly twelve years our subject returned to Glasgow in 1872. Many
of his experiences in the West had been thrilling, and at one time he shot a
grizzly bear.
After locating again in Glasgow, Mr. Baier formed a partnership with William
Meyers in the grocery business, which continued for four years. In 1876 he
came to Salisbury. At that time the present city contained but one small
butcher shop, and as the proprietor of this died soon afterward, our subject
bought the business and has conducted it ever since. His capital then was
$800. In 1886 he formed the partnership with Mr. Haysler which still
continues. Twice he has been visited by fire, but now has a fine brick
building 25x70, with out-buildings for ice and storage. He is also the owner
of eighty acres of well-improved land and is interested in farming. The firm
raises and feeds cattle, and in this way secures the very choicest quality of
beef.
In 1891 our subject laid out the Baier & Haysler Addition to the city. This
contains five acres and has been sold and built upon. He bought it for $300
and sold for $20,000. The marriage of Mr. Baier took place in Boonville, Mo.,
in 1873, to Miss Theresa Haysler, who was a native of Saxony, and came with
her brothers to Glasgow. Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Baier,
as follows: Minnie, now Mrs. Auspurger, of Salisbury; Arnold, Edward, Ernest,
Dorinda, Joseph, Jr., Leonard, Myrtie and Flossie (twins). Our subject was
Treasurer of Salisbury for eight years, and was also Alderman for the same
time, being one of the first Aldermen of the city. He was reared a Catholic,
and is a whole-souled Christian gentleman. In his political opinions he is a
Democrat.
This family biography is one of 555
biographies included in Portrait and Biographical Record of Clay, Ray,
Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties Missouri published
in 1893. For the complete description, click here:
Chariton County, Missouri History,
Genealogy, and Maps
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