A Wilson Family Tree
Notes for Robert Stockton Sandidge
"Past and Present of Saline County, Missouri", by William Barclay Napton, B.F. Bowen & Co., Indianapolis, 1910, pp. 849-851 (obtained from http://www.archive.org/details/pastpresentofsal00napt):
ROBERT S. SANDIDGE.
The subject of this sketch is a pioneer of Saline county, both in the newspaper line and as a citizen. For nearly half a century Robert S. Sandidge has wielded an editorial influence as a moulder and reflector of public opinion in this section of Missouri, and his influence has permeated other parts of the state. To serve well a clientele, embracing the intelligence and worth of one of the richest and best counties in the great state of Missouri, is a task of no slight responsibility, whose faithful permanence entitles the one who does it to a high place in the county's history. Since 1865 the Progress has made its weekly visits to the homes of practically all the most substantial people of the county, conveying its message of current news of the town and country-side. It has always been on the right side of every question involving the public morals and general welfare. Its influence has been used for the uplift of the community, its growth, development and progress along right lines. Mr. Sandidge is a versatile and comprehensive writer, with a fine sense of discrimination and a just appreciation of his responsibilty to the community. Possessing a warm and generous nature and genial personality, his hearty friendship and interested sympathy appeal at once to all who share his acquaintance. This veteran editor was bom near Greensburg, Kentuckv, in 1838, his parents being Aaron and Polly (Thompson) Sandidge, the father a native of Albermarle county, Virginia, and the mother a Kentuckian. Grandfather John Sandidge was a planter in Virginia, who served in the Revolutionary war as a captain under General Washington. He joined the early emigration to Kentucky, when it was acquiring the name of the "Dark and Bloody Ground," secured some wild land and farmed on an extensive scale until his death. His son Aaron followed in his foot-steps as a farmer and devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits. His wife was a daughter of John Thompson, representative of a prominent Virginia family, who at a later period located in Kentucky and reared his children while farming on an extensive scale. Robert S. was one of the youngest of a large family and had the misfortune of being orphaned in his fourteenth year. He had the invaluable, though hard, training which comes to a boy on a pioneer farm. It was mostly work, amusements being few and far between, and opportunities for education were limited, owing to the poor quality of the schools and their scarcity. After his father's death, he decided to try his fortunes in the new state of Missouri, wisely selecting Saline county as a base of operations, and arrived at Marshall in March, 1855. John W. Sandidge, one of his uncles, had preceded him and he found a temporary home under his hospitable roof. For three years he was in the employment of Col. George W. Allen, after which he became a student at Miami Institute, from which he was graduated in due course. Leaving college, he secured a school in Saline county, and followed the occupation of teaching until 1860, when his real life's work began. From an early age he had had the "ink on his fingers" and longed to be an editor, with that enthusiasm which is half the price of success. His first investment was the Saline County Standard, which he edited until the opening of the Civil war and then suspended to exchange the pen for the sword. In July, 1862, he enlisted in the United States Missouri Cavalry, was assigned to Company E, and was mustered into the service at Lexington. Two of his brothers were in the Confederate army, but Mr. Sandidge stood firmly by the Union cause and risked his life for it on many a well-fought field. Among the more important battles in which he bore a part were those at Prairie Grove and Little Rock. During General Steele's expedition to Shreveport, Louisiana, Mr. Sandidge was appointed sergeant under the commanding officer and has very lively recollections of that march, as the fighting was going on every day and night. In 1864 and the spring of 1865 he served at department headquarters, during which time his advancement to the rank of captain was recommended, but he did not receive his commission until the close of the war. In June, 1865, he was mustered out of the service at Little Rock and returned home the following month. His old ambition had not left him and he lost no time in starting The Weekly Progress, which he has continuously edited since and made a household word all over Saline county. He has been in the midst of every political fight that has occurred since the surrender, his caustic pen being especially effective during the reconstruction period. He has a well equipped job ofifice in connection with his paper and enjoys a lucrative business.
In 1874 Mr. Sandidge married Alice Chastain, a native of Christian county, Kentucky. Although they have had no children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Sandidge have proven veritable good Samaritans in their assistance to others. They adopted two homeless unfortunates as their own, whom they have reared to maturity with tender affection, giving them every care that could be suggested by paternal regard. The names of these children are Robert and Alice Dunn, who looked upon Mr. and Mrs. Sandige with the affection of real children. Alice Dunn died at the age of twenty-four years in 1901. She was a young lady of rare attainments, a graduate of the Marshall high school and the Missouri Valley College, and her untimely death was a source of genuine regret to the entire community. For many years Mr. Sandidge has served as secretary of the Democratic county central committee and was honored by election to the mayoralty of Marshall. He belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge and, with his wife, is a member of the Christian church.
Middle name is from www.chastain.us/FamTree and from his death certificate. Other sources just had middle initial.
According to the Hal Wood information, Robert moved to Marshall, MO, in 1855, followed by his brothers Frank and Dabney in 1858. (According to his biography on pp. 437-438 of "Portrait and Biographical Record of Lafayette and Saline Counties, Missouri", Chapman Bros., Chicago, 1893, he came to Saline County in March of 1855.) He was the editor of the Progress newspaper of Marshall, MO, for nearly 50 years.
According to "History of Saline County, Missouri", pp. 389-391, the first newpaper ever published in Saline County was the Saline County Herald, established in 1856 by American ("Know-Nothing") party backers, including William A. Wilson. R. S. Sandidge was one of the employees of the newspaper. Apparently Robert and his brother Dabney switched to another newspaper, the Saline County Standard, when it was established in 1858. "...the Sandidge Bros., had charge of the mechanical department." The Standard ceased publication in 1861 because of the coming of the Civil War. After the war, R. S. and D. M. Sandidge established the Saline County Progress in Marshall, in Jul 1865. As of the publication of "History of Saline County, Missouri" (1881), the Sandidge brothers owned three-fourths of the stock in the paper.
On p. 353, it says that R. S. Sandidge was 2d sergeant in company E, 7th regiment M. S. M. (Missouri state militia -- Union). He was captured at Prairie Grove in 1862, but escaped soon after. He was promoted to captain, but never mustered in.
On p. 520, Robert S. Sandidge is mentioned as first chairman of the board of trustees and acting mayor of Marshall, MO, in 1870.
The name on his death certificate is Robert Stockton Sandidge (Stockton is hard to read). Cause of death was neurasthemia (?). Died in Marshall, Saline Co., MO.
Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above. ...Mike Wilson
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