Samuel A. Garth

Samuel A. Garth was born in Georgetown, Kentucky, in 1837. His grandfather, John Garth, had left Albemarle County Virginia, in 1788 and John's son, Jefferson Garth, was born in Kentucky in 1803. He lived in Woodford County and was married to Mary A Bowen Russell. In 1840 they moved to Boone County, Missouri when Samuel A. Garth was three years old. Jefferson Garth became a large landowner in Boone County, and his sons received their education in the schools of Columbia, Missouri, and the University of Missouri. Jefferson Garth was a liberal supporter of the University. When the Civil War broke out, the six sons entered military service--three for the Confederacy and three for the Union. Samuel took the side of the Union, and was made captain of a cavalry company. In 1863 he was made major and placed in charge of a battalion in St. Joseph responsible to General Odin Guitar of Columbia. At one time Major Garth, with his sergeant, faced down a mob planning to break into the City Hall. He earned a reputation for bravery and generosity. He was married to Miss Clara Craig during the war, on November 17, 1864. After the war he was engaged in a number of business enterprises-the management of the Pacific House and Metropole Hotels in St. Joseph, the insurance business, and cattle ranching in Oklahoma. There were three daughters and one son: Helen married J. G. Schneider, Mary became Mrs. John C. Landis, Ida did not marry, and James Jefferson Garth married Martha Alice Kirkpatrick.