W.B. CARPENTER, M.D.
This gentleman was born in Madison county, Virginia, on the 13th day of September, 1827. He received a classical
education, and began the study of medicine at the age of nineteen years. He completed the course, graduating from
the Medical University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, in the year 1849, and the following spring commenced the
practice of his profession in the Shenandoah Valley, of Virginia, and continued it there, until 1856. He came to
Missouri on the 29th day of April, 1856, and located in Lafayette county, where he lived about two years, and then,
going to Carroll county, practiced medicine there, for some five years. In February, 1865, he came to Russellville,
Ray county, where he located permanently, and has ever since practiced his profession there. He has a fine residence,
good barn, orchard, etc., and is very well situated to live comfortably and happily. Dr. Carpenter was married
in the year 1852, to Miss Martha C. Winsborough, a native of Virginia, and daughter of William and Julia Winsborough.
Six children have been born of this union, named as follows: Emma V., Thomas W., Alice G., Minnie Lee, Joseph and
Archie. Dr. Carpenter was a member of the I.O.O.F. in Virginia, and is now a member of the Millville Lodge, of
the order of A.F. & A.M. Mrs. Carpenter is a member of the Christian Church. Dr. Carpenter is a successful,
able and popular physician, and a highly respected and valuable citizen.
Ray County History 1881
AARON H. CONROW
Aaron H. Conrow was born June 19, 1824, near Cincinnati, Ohio. He spent part of his boyhood days at, or near Pekin,
Illinois, and from that place, with his parents, moved to Missouri, and settled in Ray county. Here, by dint of
his own energy, he obtained a pretty thorough education, teaching school part of the time in order to get means
to complete the same. In this he was very successful. He then chose the law as a profession, and by rigid economy
and sedulous application, succeeded in making an eminent lawyer. On the 17th of May, 1828, he was married to Miss
Mary Ann Quesenberry, daughter of David H. and Lucinda Quesenberry, of Richmond, Missouri. From this union resulted
the following children: David, Benjamin, William S., and Mamie. He was appointed by the governor, judge of the
first probate court established in Ray county. From January, 1857, to January, 1861, he was circuit attorney of
the fifth judicial circuit of Missouri; an office that had previously been filled by such eminent lawyers as Hamilton
R. Gamble, Abiel Leonard, Charles French, Robert W. Wells, Amos Rees, Thomas C. Burch, Peter H. Burnett, George
W. Dunn, and others, but by none of them more zealously and efficiently than by the subject of this sketch. He
was a brilliant and successful advocate, a fine judge of law, and never descended to even the slightest artifice
to gain the advantage of an opposing brother lawyer. He was above all littleness, open, candid, ingenuous. He was
the preceptor of three young men who afterward became able and prominent lawyers; one of them is now a circuit
judge, and the biography of another, who lives in Richmond, appears in this volume. Aaron H. Conrow was ever the
fast friend of education, and no man contributed more liberally than he, in proportion to his means, to the support
of institutions of learning. He was ever a safe counselor in matters of moment relative to the town and community
in which he lived. In 1860 he was elected to the state general assembly - a democrat worthy to be trusted. He was
in the general assembly at the beginning of the war, and sided with the south. He was instrumental in recruiting
and equipping the first company organized in Ray for the defense of what he believed to be right. He ranked as
colonel in the Missouri state guards, a military organization he had helped to create by his vote in the general
assembly. He was by a majority of his comrades elected to represent his district in the confederate congress, and
in that capacity, as in all others, served with singular zeal and promptness. He was present at the first meeting
and at the final adjournment of that body. At the close of the war the amnesty agreed upon did not extend to members
of the confederate congress, and fearing that if he fell into the hands of the successful party his life would
be taken, he went to Mexico, and soon after arriving in that country, he was brutally murdered by a band of Mexican
soldiers on or about the 25th of August, A. D. 1865. Ray County History 1881
WILLIAM S. CONROW
William S. Conrow, son of the late Honorable Aaron F. Conrow, was born in Ray county, Missouri, May 4, 1855. He
was educated at Richmond College. After leaving school he adopted the law as a profession, and entered upon its
study under the instruction of Captain James L. Farris, attorney at law, Richmond, Missouri. In 1877, he was admitted
to the bar, and began the practice of his profession in partnership with Captain Farris. In April, 1878, he was
elected city attorney of Richmond, and re-elected in 1879, and again in 1880. April, 1881, he was elected city
recorder, an office he now holds. These positions of trust, bestowed by his fellow-townsmen, evince the confidence
they have in young Conrow. He is a talented young man, and if he continues prudent, persevering, and pains-taking,
will succeed in life. Ray County History 1881, Page 568
MATTHEW J. CREEL
Matthew J. Creel was born, August 18, 1833, in Culpepper county, Virginia. When about sixteen years of age, he
went to learn the carpenter’s trade,, and served an apprenticeship of four years. In 1855 he emigrated to Van Buren
county, Iowa, and two years later came to Ray county, Missouri. He was extensively engaged in farming till the
outbreaking of the civil war. After the close of the war, he embarked in the mercantile business, and followed
it for about ten years. Abandoning mercantile life, he resumed his trade, and has since worked at it in the city
of Richmond, Missouri, continuously. He has been a member of the M.E. Church South for many years, all the time
one of the most active and untiring workers in behalf of his church, and of religion generally. He takes a warm
interest in the Sunday-school work; leads in the Sunday-school singing, and is also leader of the church choir.
His wife is also a member of the M.E. Church South, and is a pious, unassuming Christian woman. He was married,
Mary 10, A.D. 1859, to Miss Mary E. Branstetter, of Richmond, Missouri. They have eight children: Sallie P., Myrtie
E., Henry L., Sterling Price, James P., Edard B., Mattie H., and John E.
Ray County History, 1881
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