Mr. and Mrs. Chris Wagner, Jefferson City

Chris Wagner was a prominent and highly respected Ayrshire cattle breeder and dairy leader in the early part of this century. He did much to encourage the development of the dairy enterprises that continue to this day in the Jefferson City area.

Mr. Wagner was born in 1874. His parents William Wagner and Margaret Fisher Wagner lived on a farm near Jefferson City. Chris grew up as a farm boy, attended Mt. Hope School, and started dairying before 1890

September 2, 1900 he and Matilda Wolfrum, a local girl, were married. They had one child, Elora, who became the wife of Henry LePage, well known County Recorder (52 years) and Brown Swiss breeder. They were the parents of five sons and one daughter. Mrs. LaPage died in 1978.

Mr. Wagner operated two dairy farms. One East and another West of Jefferson City. He had the most productive and well know Ayrshire herds in the state. His farm and home East of Jefferson City was a picturesque scene with the good type Ayrshire cattle grazing on the hillside and his well kept barns and attractive home in the background. It was a setting comparable to the County of Ayr in Scotland where Ayrshires originated.

Mr. Wagner helped to organize the first DHIA in Cole County. He was a member of the school board, the county road commission, and a director of the Cole County Farm Bureau. He was active in the Central United Church of Christ. He was involved in the state Ayrshire breeders organization and encouraged new breeders and junior dairymen. He helped to organize and promote dairy shows on the local and state level.

He bottled and distributed milk from his herds in Jefferson City. He helped to organize the Sanitary Milk Producers Co-op in its early beginning. He encouraged other dairyman to get started. One was his son-in-law Henry LePage to start his Brown Swiss herd now carried on by his son Tom E. and Grandson Tom at Russellville, MO. He assisted the Vanderfeltz family in picking cattle to start their herd in 1920.

Mr. Wagner farmed some 200 acres. The principal crops were alfalfa, corn and wheat. He was a strong booster for the Dairy Husbandry Department University of Missouri. His herd was frequently used in training student dairy cattle judges and his neatly kept facilities were an inspiration. More could be said about the Wagner herd but his grandson Tom advises that all the records were lost when their home burned in 1976.