DAVID M. EDDY. This gentleman is one the most prominent citizens of Morganville, Clay County, being a pioneer merchant of that thriving town. He is now engaged in the sale of general merchandise, and is known as a man of the strictest integrity in business dealings, and as a citizen interested and active in the development of the young and growing city, he was one of the firm who bought the original town site and laid out a part of the town, and was one of the signers to the petition for the incorporation of the place. He owns a tasty residence and 115 acres of the section on which the town is situated. and is also the owner of the building in which his business is carried on.
Mr. Eddy comes of a long line of honorable ancestry, and in the history of the family for more than 300 years no member has ever failed financially to the detriment of his creditors. Honest principle has been observed in all their business affairs, and they have been known to their contemporaries as strictly reliable in all things.
Seth Eddy, the father of our subject, was a native of Massachusetts, and was married in Vermont to Miss Millie Huggins. They removed to New York and there reared their family of seven sons, all of whom are now living. They had one daughter who died at the age of twenty years. Their last days were spent in New York State, they dying at the ages of seventy-five and eighty-one years, respectively. Both were members of the Baptist Church, in which the father had been Deacon for about fifty years. He was an officer during the War of 1812.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was Samuel Eddy, also born in Massachusetts. There he was married to Miss Morton, whose father was in the Revolutionary War. In his native State Samuel Eddy reared his family, his own later years being spent in New York with his son, Seth. The maternal grandfather of our subject is supposed to have been a native of Massachusetts, although he reared his family in Vermont, to which State he removed early in life. His name was Adolphus Huggins, and his wife was Miss Hutchinson, who was at that time a noted singer. When ninety years old she could still sing the most difficult pieces of music. She was a great reader, well versed in foreign and United States history, kept well posted in political matters, and was a great Biblical student. She had a remarkable memory, and retained all her faculties until her death, which occurred in Marion, Wayne Co., N. Y., at the age of about ninety-six years. One of her brothers was a captain in the Revolutionary War, and he and two other brothers were victims of the Wyoming Massacre in Pennsylvania.
The gentleman whose name initiates this notice was born in Wayne County, N. Y., in 1818, and is the sixth of the seven sons born to his parents. He was reared in his native county and there received an excellent education. He was engaged in the mercantile business in his native State for many years. In November, 1871, he came to Morganville, and engaged in the drug business. The following January, his family joined him here. He continued for several years in the business which he had first opened in Morganville, adding a stock of groceries and dry goods. He then sold the drug business, and has since conducted the trade in groceries and dry goods.
The marriage of Mr. Eddy and Sarah S. Atkins took place at the home of the bride, in Wayne County, N. Y. Mrs. Eddy was the daughter of Alfred W. and Fidelia (Brown) Atkins, natives of the Empire State, where they spent their lives. She was their only child, and when an infant lost her mother. Her father lived to be fifty-six years old. Her maternal grandfather was Moses Brown, of the Empire State, and her paternal ancestors were Welsh. Seven brothers by the name of Atkins came from Wales to the United States about the year 1720, and of one of these Mrs. Eddy was a direct descendant. Of the children born to her and our subject, Lizzie is the wife of Fred M. Woods, of Lincoln, Neb.; Augustus is engaged in business in Yonkers, N. Y., and Seth W. resides in Lincoln, Neb.
The second union of Mr. Eddy was blessed by the birth of two children, both daughters. One. Millie, was taken from them by death after their removal to Kansas. Frances was married Sept. 19, 1889, to N. C. Johnson, of Lawrence, this State. Mr. Eddy and his family are members of the Baptist Church. We take pleasure in calling the attention of the reader to a fine portrait of our subject, which may be found elsewhere in this volume. He is one of the most highly respected citizens of Morganville, and his family share the esteem in which he is held.
