Greene County Biographies


From:  Past and Present of Greene County, Missouri
Early and Recent History and Genealogical Records
of Many of the Representative Citizens
by Jonathan Fairbanks and Clyde Edwin Tuck




ALFRED S. ABBOTT. The eminent position attained by Alfred S. Abbott,
master mechanics at the Springfield Frisco shops, has been the result of
long years of patient, painstaking, honest and conscientious effort, and
he is therefore deserving of his success. His record might well be studied
with profit by the young men who are striving for recognition in the
mechanical world, for it indicates, among other things, how merit wins,
despite obstacles, and that success is dependent on ability and integrity
more than anything else. But Mr. Abbott had good parents who taught him
from the start the duties of life--not ordinary instructions, but the
higher duties which all owe to each other and to society. The result has
been to give broad ideas of life and its responsibilities and to fit him
for honorable citizenship.

Mr. Abbott was born, May 23, 1868, in Pentwater, Michigan. He is a son of
Jacob B. and Elizabeth E. (Snowden) Abbott. The father was born in
Hamburg, New York, in 1842, and his death occurred in Joplin, Missouri, in
1886. The mother was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1844, and she
died in Joplin, Missouri, in 1901. These parents grew to maturity in the
East and were given the advantage of a public school education. Jacob B.
Abbott studied medicine when a boy and became a successful physician and
surgeon, which profession he followed the remainder of his active life. In
1873 he removed with his family from Pentwater, Michigan, to Kansas. In
1875 he located in Joplin, this state, but the rest of the family did not
locate in that city until 1877. Doctor Abbott was enjoying an excellent
practice in the mining town at the time of his death. Politically, he was
a Republican. During the Civil war he served in the Union army, having
enlisted in Company I, Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in 1861,
at Oregon, Illinois, and he saw considerable hard service in the South and
took part in many of the great battles of the war, Wilson's Creek,
Missouri, being among them. He was honorably discharged in 1865. His
family consisted of three children, two of whom are still living, namely:
Alfred S., of this review; Fred.J., deceased; and Harry C., who lives in
Birmingham, Alabama.

Alfred S. Abbott was nine years old when he came to Joplin, this state and
there he attended the common schools. In February, 1888 he began his
railroad career by going to work in the roundhouse of the Frisco railroad
at Joplin, and there and in Springfield he served his apprenticeship of
four years. In 1898 he was made division foreman at Sapulpa, Oklahoma,
where he remained until 1902, in September of which year he came to
Springfield as machinist in the North Side shops, and worked as such until
in December, 1902, then was made division foreman at Newburg, Missouri,
which position he held from December 13th, of that year until March 1,
1907, when he was sent to Birmingham, Alabama, as general foreman, where
he remained until July 1, 1909, when he was appointed master of mechanics
at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, which position he held until March 1, 1911, when
he was transferred to Sapulpa, Oklahoma, with the same duties, which he
discharged until August 15, 1911, when he was made mechanical
superintendent at Springfield, remaining in that position until September
1, 1913, since which time he has been master mechanic for the Eastern
division of the Frisco, and is at this writing discharging the duties of
this responsible and important post in a manner that reflects great credit
upon his ability, fidelity and integrity and to the eminent satisfaction
of the company, which has ever reposed in him the utmost confidence and
has regarded him as one of its most efficient, trustworthy and reliable
employees. He is not only a close observer but is a diligent student of
all that pertains to his lines of work and has kept well abreast of the
times in the same.

Mr. Abbott was married, June 26, 1894, in Joplin, Missouri, to Kate
Seanor, who was born in Iowa, January 1, 1871. She is a daughter of John
and Clara B. (Wilder) Seanor, the father a native of England and the
mother of Sandy Creek, New York. Mrs. Abbott received a good education,
including a college course at Boulder, Colorado.

To Mr. and Mrs. Abbott, three children have been born, namely: Katie P.,
born July 17, 1895; John Seanor, born January 31, 1899; and Alfred S. Jr.,
born February 1, 1907.

Mr. Abbott is a Republican. He is a member of the Episcopal church, and
fraternally belongs to the Masonic order, including the Knights Templars
and the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He also
belongs to the Modern Woodmen.






JAKE ALBERT. The career of Jake Albert of Springfield has been a varied
one, as will be seen by a perusal of the following paragraphs. But he has
been a man who has made stepping-stones of his adversities, and has
succeeded in his life work. He has for many years devoted a great deal of
attention to fruit growing, and is one of the best, informed men on
horticultural subjects in Greene county. He is also engaged in the real
estate business. Mr. Albert was born in St. Clair county, Illinois,
October 16, 1863. He is a son of Jake and Maggie (Coffenberger) Albert,
both natives of Germany, and there they spent their early childhood,
emigrating to the United States about the same time, the father being
about thirteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to our shores,
He had received a common school education in his native land. The family
located in Illinois, coming direct to that state, and there Jake Albert,
Sr., grew to manhood and married. His wife died when our subject was
fourteen years old, in Illinois, but the father of our subject survived
many years and died in Springfield, Missouri. He was a farmer and
gardener. His family consisted of eight children, namely: Maggie,
deceased; Jake, of this review; Peter, deceased; Daniel is living; Henry,
deceased; Annie, deceased; the next two died in infancy unnamed.

Jake Albert, of this sketch, grew to manhood in Illinois and he received a
common, school education; however, may be classed with the self-educated
men of our country, for he has been a great reader along varied lines. He
followed farming until he was twenty-one years old, then went to
Wellington, Kansas, and worked at the stone mason's trade. He came to
Springfield in 1887, and has made his home here ever since. From time to
time he worked for the Frisco system for many years, also followed farming
and fruit growing, the latter being his principal vocation, and he is
still active in the same, in connection with which he deals in real
estate. He had an addition of twelve acres in the edge of Springfield, and
still owns a part of it. He built his own pleasant home on West Atlantic
street three years ago, which is one of the most attractive and desirable
in that part of the city. He has long been enthusiastic on the subject of
fruit growing and is well informed on the various phases of the same. He
has been a man of energy, never afraid of hard work, and, possessing sound
judgment, has acquired a very comfortable competence.

Mr. Albert was married in September, 1886, to Dolly R. Davis, who was born
in Illinois in 1872, where she grew to womanhood and was educated, and
they were married in that state. She was a daughter of John and Emma
(Kimmel) Davis, natives of Pennsylvania and Illinois, respectively. Mr.
Davis has devoted his active life to farming, and he and his wife are
still living, having for some time resided in Greene county.

Mr. Albert was called upon to mourn the loss of his faithful life
companion, who was summoned to her reward on August 2, 1900, at the farm
of our subject, about two and one-half miles west of Springfield. She was
a worthy member of the Christian church and was a fine type of the refined
home-loving Christian woman.

Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Albert, named as follow: Otis,
born on October 15, 1887, died October 15, 1905; Nettie, born in 1889,
died in 1904; Emma, born in April, 1895, died in 1913; William, born on
July 18, 1897, lives at home.

Politically, Mr. Albert is a Democrat and has long been more or less
active in public affairs. He was at one time road overseer and
commissioner here, and was for three years a school director in his
district. Fraternally he belongs to the Eagles, the Loyal Order of Moose,
also the German Brotherhood, and religiously he is a member of the
Christian church.





WILLIAM ELIJAH ALBRIGHT, M. D. Dr. William E. Albright was born in Polk
county, Missouri, May 20, 1865. He is a son of William Franklin Albright,
who was born in Georgia in 1822. He spent his youth in his native state
and there received his education, in part, but was still a lad when, in
1843, he removed to Missouri, in which state he spent the rest of his
life, engaged in farming and in the ministry of the Cumberland
Presbyterian church, and did an incalculable amount of good in the work of
the same in various ways. He was of the hospitable kind and courteous type
of Southerner, and was greatly beloved by all who, knew him. He did not
live for self alone, but was constantly on the lookout for some way
whereby he might benefit others. He married Millie Jane Fullerton, who was
born in Tennessee, from which state she came to Missouri in her girlhood;
she, too, was a fine Christian character; she died at the age of sixty-two
years, but the doctor's father, truly a "grand old man of Israel," was not
summoned to his reward until he had reached the ripe old age of
eighty-nine years. Of their children two sons and one daughter are living
at this writing, namely: Dr. William E., of this sketch; Sterling Price
(named after the great Confederate general) lives at Purdy, Missouri,
where he owns and operates a drug store; Anna Elizabeth is the wife of
William D. Laney, also engaged in the drug business, and lives at Thayer,
this state. The maternal grandfather, James Fullerton, died many years ago
in Polk county, Missouri, whither he had moved from Tennessee, in an early
day, and spent the rest of his life in farming. His wife, Anna Elizabeth,
has also been deceased a number of years. One sister of the doctor's
mother survives, Mrs. Hannah Kerr, of Polk county, where her husband,
James Kerr, a farmer, died more than thirty years ago.

Doctor Albright grew to manhood on the home farm in Polk county and there
found plenty of hard work to do when a boy. In the winter time he attended
the public schools. He is a fine sample of the self-made man. After
entering his teens he earned his own way by engaging in various kinds of
business, principally farming, and he has seen life on its hardest side
but with indomitable energy and perseverance he has forged ahead and may
be justly proud of the large success which has attended his efforts. After
attending the public schools he entered the Pleasant Hope Academy, near
his boyhood home, completed the course and was graduated. Then he entered
the Kansas City Medical College in 1900, from which institution he was
graduated with the class of 1904. Soon thereafter he began the practice of
his profession at Kansas, where he remained two years, then came to
Springfield. He was successful from the first, and is now enjoying a large
and constantly growing practice.

Doctor Albright is a member of the Greene County Medical Society and the
Woods County Medical Society (Oklahoma). Fraternally, he belongs to the
Masonic order, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, also the Loyal
Order of Moose. Politically he is a Democrat, and in religious matters is
a Methodist.

Doctor Albright married Rosa Ellen Sullivant, a daughter of Jackson
Sullivant, a native of Pleasant Hope, Missouri. He formerly engaged in
farming in Polk county, but is now retired and makes his home with our
subject and wife. His wife, who was Sarah Elizabeth Edmondson, died in
1903. Mrs. Albright is the only child and is very fond of her father, who
is a fine old gentleman, highly respected by all who know him.

One child has been born to Doctor and Mrs. Albright, Claud Wellington
Albright, whose birth occurred in Polk county, this state, in March, 1891;
he received his earlier education in the ward schools of Springfield, was
later graduated from Drury Academy, and expects to complete the regular
course in Drury College, then take up the study of medicine; he is making
an excellent record as a student and is a lad of much promise. He is a
natural musician, and is also educating himself on the violin as a side
issue of his more serious life work.





NEWTON V. ALLEBACH. The beginning of the career of Newton V. Allebach was
characterized by hard work and conscientious endeavor, and he owes his
rise to no train of fortunate incidents or fortuitous circumstances. His
rise has not been of the meteoric type, but has been steady and slow. The
major portion of his life has been devoted to railroad service, having
been on the Frisco system for a number of years, and he is the present
popular general chairman of the Order of the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers, in which he has long been active and influential.

Mr. Allebach was born in Clarion county, Pennsylvania, August 6, 1860. He
is a son of Abraham H. and Catherine (Kramer) Allebach. The father was
born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, September 27, 1810, and the
mother was also born in the old Keystone state in the year 1833. There
they grew to maturity, received limited educations in the early-day
schools and they were married in Clarion county and established the family
home there, Mr. Allebach engaging in the mercantile business. He was twice
married, our subject being a child by his second wife, and is one of six
sons, four of whom are still living, namely: Ansen M. lives in New
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Rufus D. is deceased. Newton V., subject of this
sketch, Arlington H. is deceased; Melvin C. lives in New Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, and Victor L. lives in East Brady. The death of Abraham H.
Allebach occurred June 14, 1881, his wife, mother, of our subject,
surviving until in January, 1912, both dying in Pennsylvania, where they
spent their lives. Politically he was a Lincoln Republican, and
fraternally was a member of the Masonic Order, while his wife belonged to
the Eastern Star.

Newton V. Allebach grew to manhood in his native community in Clarion
county and he received a common school education. When he was seventeen
years of age he went to Minnesota and worked in various parts of that
state. For some time he engaged in lumbering at the head of Lake Superior.
In 1881 he went to. North Dakota, and in 1884 he began his career as
railroader at Fargo, that state, on the Northern Pacific as fireman, and
was later promoted to engineer on switch engines and freight trains. He
remained in the North until 1889, when he had a run into Montana and
Wyoming, then was in the employ of the Southern Pacific until in
September, 1895, when he came to Monett, Missouri and went to work for the
Frisco system as freight engineer, his run being from that city to Ft.
Smith, Arkansas, and in 1906 he was given a passenger train and was in
that service about seven years. His career in the trains service on all
the above named roads has been eminently commendable and satisfactory, and
is a record of duty ably and faithfully performed.

Mr. Allebach has been actively engaged in the work of the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers since 1895. He moved to Springfield in 1910, where he
has since resided. Since his election to general chairman in above order
he has devoted his time exclusively to the interests of the order. His
position is one of importance and considerable responsibility, and he is
kept very busy looking after adjustments and the man things constantly
coming up to be attended to, which requires a man of tact, diplomacy and
forceful personality, as well as energy and fidelity. The splendid record
Mr. Allebach has made in this important office with which he has been
honored would in dictate the wisdom of his selection and his services are
entirely satisfactory to all concerned. He is one of the best known and
most universally liked railroad men in the South West, being a good mixer,
friendly, genial, honest and conscientious.

Mr. Allebach was married in Monett, Missouri, December 25, 1897, to Nora
Blakeslee, who was born in northern Pennsylvania in 1870, where she spent
her early girlhood, being eight years old when her parents, Lafayette and
Delia (Cook) Blakeslee removed with her to Barry county, Missouri. These
parents were natives of Pennsylvania, where they grew to maturity received
limited educations in the common schools and were married. The death of
the father occurred in Barry county, Missouri, where Mrs. Allebach was
reared to womanhood and educated in the common schools. The mother is
still living. Mr. Blakeslee devoted his active life to farming and
contracting. His family consisted of eight children.

To Mr. and Mrs. Allebach four children have been born, namely: Franz, born
October 3, 1898; Vernon V., born September 13, 1901; Karl A., born
November 3, 1904; Catherine, born May 22, 1907, died December 4, 1908.

Politically Mr. Allebach is a Democrat. Fraternally he is a member of the
Masonic Order, is a Knights Templar, and a member of the Ancient Arabic
Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Religiously the family belongs to
the Presbyterian church.






JOHN D. ALLEN. The wanderlust, like a siren, calls to every youth to
forsake his ancestral hills and halls and go out in quest of a better
country. Many have heeded the summons to their advantage, but perhaps more
have answered to their doom. In such a county as Greene that young man is
fortunate who has the sagacity to remain at home. The call very frequently
leads men to forsake the "land of milk and honey" and go in search of a
never-to-be-attained oasis of a mirage, ultimately finding instead the
barren, sand-swept waste of a Sahara; often, too, after it is too late to
return and establish-themselves in their own native locality in a proper
manner. John D. Allen, foreman of the tin department at the new Frisco
shops, Springfield, is one of our native born sons who has been prudent in
remaining in his native county.

Mr. Allen was born at Cave Spring, Cass township, Greene county, March 18,
1870. He is a son of Stephen G. and C. N. (Penley) Allen. The father was
born in Georgia, April 15, 1845, and is still living at Cave Spring,
whither he removed from Dixieland in the year 1868. He has a good small
farm here and has followed agricultural pursuits for some time but being a
carpenter by trade his earlier life was devoted to work in this line. He
served in the Confederate army in the Civil war, enlisting before he was
eighteen years old. He was wounded in the battle at Atlanta, Georgia,
August 11, 1864. After the war, he located in Marion county, Tennessee,
where he was married, August 10, 1867, to C. N. Penley, a native of
Tennessee. In 1868, Mr. Allen came to Greene county, locating at Cave
Spring, where he has since resided and here has reared his family of seven
children, namely: J. Charles, John D., Laura, Louis M., Stephen G., Mary
A. and Katy J. The latter died at the age of four years. Mr. Allen, at the
age of seventy years, is a hale, hearty man and enjoys caring for his
little farm. Politically, he is a Democrat and belongs to the Universalist
church.

John D. Allen grew to manhood on the home farm in Cass township, where he
worked when a boy and he received his education in the district schools at
Cave Spring. He remained on the farm until he was nineteen years of age,
then came to Springfield and went to work in the office of the Springfield
Republican, later he worked at the barber's trade f or a short time. In
1890 he began work in the North Side Frisco shops where he learned the
tinner's trade, remaining there three and one-half years, then spent over
six years in the South-Side shops at his trade, after which he re-turned
to the shops on the North Side and has remained in the tin department
here, being now foreman in the new shops, which responsible position he
has held since the opening of the new shops. He has a large number of men
under his direction, and he is not only a most capable and highly skilled
workman but is a man of considerable executive ability.

Mr. Allen was married on December 5, 1892, in Springfield, to Della Gee,
who was born in Indiana, April 12, 1871. She is a daughter of Amos and
Nancy Jane Gee. The father was a native of Indiana and was born in 1845
and the mother was born in 1850. They are still living and reside on a
good farm near Alva, Oklahoma.

Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Allen, namely: Wade, born on
March 11, 1895; Gladys, born on July 15, 1899; and Louise, born on August
9, 1909.

Politically, Mr. Allen is a Democrat and fraternally he belongs to the
Modern Woodmen of America. He and wife belong to the Knights and Ladies of
Security.





HENRY S. ANDERSON. The western part of Greene county can boast of few more
progressive farmers and stock raisers than the well-known gentleman whose
name furnishes the caption of this article. His progenitors were among the
pioneers who reclaimed the land in the vicinity of Elwood from the wild
state, and Mr. Anderson has spent his life in this vicinity, and the last
three decades on the fine farm he now occupies and owns, and while
laboring for material success he has not neglected his duties as a
public-spirited citizen, always being willing to aid in such movements as
made for the betterment of his township and county, and it has been
fortunate that such men as he have been contented to remain in their
native locality instead of locating in other countries.

Henry S. Anderson. was born in Greene county, Missouri, November 7, 1856.
He is a son of Peter L. and Sarah (Hazelton) Anderson, and he has a
brother and sister living, namely: George W., of San Antonio, Texas, and
Martha J. Short, of Greene county, Missouri. The father of our subject was
three times married. He was a native of Tennessee, from which state he
came to Missouri when young and located in Greene county, where he
followed general farming. His death occurred in the year 1903. The mother
of our subject was born in the state of New York, and she accompanied her
family to southwest Missouri when young. Her death occurred in 1883.

Henry S. Anderson grew to manhood on the home farm and worked hard when a
boy and under his father gained a knowledge of agriculture that stood him
well in hand in later life. He received his education in the rural schools
of his district, and when a young man took up farming for himself. He was
born reared within a mile of the old homestead of his maternal
grandfather, Mr. Hazelton having entered the place from the government and
developed it. Our subject has lived on his present farm twenty-nine years.
It consists of one hundred and sixty acres of productive and valuable
land, on which he has made such improvements as were needed to make it the
equal of any in the vicinity, and here he has made a success as a general
farmer and has always kept a good grade of live stock. He has a good set
of buildings and keeps everything in ship-shape about the place.

Mr. Anderson has been twice married, first, to Jessie Wiley, by whom four
children were born, namely: George E., who is farming in this county,
married Elsie Henshaw, and they have one child, Mary; Bertha married H. B.
Morton, a merchant of Brookline, this county; Ardo D., who is engaged in
farming in Greene county, married Leota Pickering; Maud married Frank
Blanton, a farmer of Brookline township, and they have two children. The
death of our subject's first wife occurred in 1890, and he subsequently
married on October 28, 1894, Mary C. McCullough, of Christian county,
Missouri, and a daughter of William F. McCullough, a farmer. To this
second union three children have been born, namely: Earl R., born in 1895,
lives at home; Lynn T., born in 1903, is also with his parents; Claude
died in infancy.

Politically, Mr. Anderson is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Modern Woodmen of America.






JOSEPH G. ANDERSON. Death is always regarded by the masses as a visitor to
our homes to be dreaded, but before whose merciless power we are helpless,
and his crossing our thresholds seems doubly deplorable when he summons
the young and promising from the family circle, as he did in the case of
the late Joseph G. Anderson, a young business man of Springfield who was
apparently starting on a successful and brilliant career.

Mr. Anderson was born in Wichita, Kansas, on December 8, 1885. He was a
son of William John and Rachel (Gilbert) Anderson. The father was born in
New York and he came west to Kansas when a young man and learned the trade
of designing and decorating, which he followed most of his life. He had
been educated in the common schools of New York. His death occurred in
November, 1906, in Springfield, Missouri at the age of sixty-six years.
The mother of our subject was a native of Kansas, and she is living in
Springfield at this writing. Three children were born to these parents,
namely: Joseph G., our subject; Christ, who lives in Springfield; and
Maude, who makes her home in St. Louis.

Joseph G. Anderson came to Springfield with his parents at the age of
eight years, and here he attended the ward and high schools, also the
Southwest Business College, taking advantage of his spare hours at night
to advance his business education. He worked a year for Otto Holmes, the
decorator, and learned this trade in the meanwhile, and he devoted the
rest of his life to decorating and sign painting, building up a lucrative
and successful business. He first started a shop on Boonville street,
paying only five dollars a month rent, but he gradually worked up a large
business, handling most of the extensive sign work and bill-poster work,
also pictorial sign work, under the firm name of the Anderson Sign
Company, and was thus actively engaged at the time of his death, in 1914,
at his home on North Campbell street. Politically, he was a Republican. He
belonged to the Improved Order of Red Men and to the Master Painters
organization.

Mr. Anderson was married, April 10, 1910, to Edna McCartney, a daughter of
John William and Alice (Crail) McCartney. The father was born on April 24,
1844, in Cumberland county, Illinois, from which state he came to
Springfield, Missouri, in 1893, where he still resides. He is a son of
John and Susanna (Powell) McCartney. John McCartney, Sr., was born and
reared in Virginia, and he came to Ohio with his parents, Daniel and Polly
Ann McCartney, at the age of twenty years, the family locating in
Lawrenceville county. He operated a flatboat on the Ohio to New Orleans
and back. He moved to Illinois in 1836, where he followed farming until
his death. He entered one hundred and sixty acres at twelve and one-half
cents per acre, and later added another one hundred and sixty acres of
government land, for which he paid one dollar and twenty-five cents per
acre. Later he bought forty acres from the Illinois Central Railroad
Company, for which he paid twelve dollars and fifty cents per acre, making
him a total of three hundred and sixty acres. He carried on general
farming in a successful manner until his death, August 5, 1888, at the
advanced age of eighty-four years, on the farm which he cleared and
developed. He took an interest in public affairs and served his community
as justice of the peace for many years. He was a stanch Democrat and was a
member of the Missionary Baptist church. His family consisted of nine
children, only three of whom are now living, namely George and Nancy, both
of Cumberland county, Illinois, and John W., who lives in Springfield,
Missouri. The last named was educated in the common schools in Illinois,
studied medicine and practiced his profession in Cumberland county, that
state, also at Toledo and Newton, Illinois. He came to Springfield,
Missouri, in 1893, where, owing to failing health, he has lived
practically retired. He was mayor of Toledo, Illinois, for one term, and
was chairman of the Democratic Central Committee of Cumberland county,
that state, for four years, and was a member of the city council of Toledo
for a period of fifteen years. He was a prominent man in public life
there. He has belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1873.
He was manager of a sanitarium for two years in Springfield, Missouri.
After discontinuing the practice of medicine he entered the secret service
department of the government under E. G. Rathburn, chief of the service.
He remained in this work seven years, resigning before coming to Missouri.
He is a member of the Grant Street Baptist church. Mrs. Alice (Crail)
McCartney was born in Shelby county, Indiana, is still living at the
family home on North Campbell street. She is an active member of the
Baptist church. Ten children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. John
McCartney, three of whom died in infancy. The others are Frank, who lives
in Kansas; Mrs. Mattie Dodds, of Springfield; Walter, of Springfield;
Clarence, of Springfield; Mrs. Ethel Emmons lives in Arkansas; Edna, widow
of Mr. Anderson, the immediate subject of this sketch; and Mrs. Pauline
Lodge, of Springfield. Mrs. Anderson received a good common school
education. She is a member of the Grant Street Baptist church.





PAUL E. ANDREW. The life of the professional man seldom exhibits any of
those striking incidents that seize upon public feeling and attract
attention to himself. His character is generally made up of the aggregate
qualities and qualifications he may possess, as these may be elicited by
the exercise of the duties of his vocation or the particular profession to
which he belongs. But when such a man has so impressed his individuality
upon his fellow men as to gain their confidence and through that
confidence rises to important public trust he at once becomes a
conspicuous figure in the body politic of the community. Paul E. Andrew,
superintendent of the schools of Walnut Grove, is one of the deserving
young men of Greene county, who, not content to hide his talents in life's
sequestered ways, has by the force of will and a laudable ambition forged
to the front in a responsible and exacting calling and earned an honorable
reputation in one of the most important branches of public service. His
life has been one of hard study and research, and the position to which he
has attained while so young a man is evidence that the qualities he
possesses afford the means of distinction under a system of government in
which places of usefulness and honor are open to all who may be found
worthy of them.

Mr. Andrew was born, September 28, 1887, seven miles southwest of
Springfield, Missouri. He is a son of O. L. and Laura (Shinpaugh) Andrew,
the latter a daughter of H. H. and Maggie Shinpaugh, her people removing
from Tennessee to this section of Missouri in an early day. O. L. Andrew
was born in Macoupin county, Illinois, and there he grew to manhood and
received a common school education, including a business course at
Carlinville, that state. He came to Missouri when a young man and began
his career as farmer seven miles southwest of Springfield, where he
continued to reside engaged in general farming until 1913, when he removed
to Exeter, California, where he now resides. He owns forty acres there,
four acres of which include peaches and apricots, the rest of the farm
being in alfalfa, six and eight crops being harvested each year.
Politically, he is a Republican. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of
America there. He is a member of the Presbyterian church.

Paul E. Andrew only child of his parents, grew to manhood on the home farm
in Greene county and assisted his father with the general farm duties when
he became of proper age. He received his early education in the rural
schools, then came to Springfield and entered the high school, from which
he was graduated with the class of 1907, then entered Drury College, and
received the degree of Bachelor of Science from that institution in 1911.
He attended three summer sessions at the Springfield State Normal, from
which he received the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in 1914. He made a
splendid record for scholarship in all three of these institutions and
thus became well equipped for his chosen life work--that of educator. He
was principal of the high school at Miller for two years, then was chosen
superintendent of the Walnut Grove schools, the important duties of which
position he has discharged during the past two years in a manner that has
reflected much credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of the
board and patrons and he has been popular with his pupils. He has done
much to give Walnut Grove a better, stronger and more modern school
system, being a man of progressive methods and advanced ideas quick to
adopt the new when he deems it best, but using due discretion in laying
aside the old.

On December 27, 1909, Mr. Andrew was united in marriage with Edna Suavely,
a young lady of education and refinement, and a daughter of J. Edward and
Ida Suavely, a well-known family of Springfield. After graduating from the
Aurora high school, Mrs. Andrew attended Drury College, later the Normal
in Springfield, from which she was graduated in 1910, after which she
taught one year in the Marshfield high school, at Marshfield, Webster
county. She is now teaching English and Latin in the Walnut Grove high
school, and is regarded as an efficient and successful instructor.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew has resulted in the birth of one child,
Jewel Cyrene, born March 24, 1912.

Politically, Mr. Andrew is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Miller, also to Lodge No. 569, Masonic
Order, at that town. He is a member of the First Presbyterian church at
Springfield. He and Mrs. Andrew have made a host of friends since coming
to Walnut Grove.





GEORGE WASHINGTON ANTHONY. The biographies of representative men of a city
and county bring to light many hidden treasures of the mind, character and
courage, well calculated to arouse the pride of the family and of the
community, and it is a source of regret that the people are not more
familiar with the personal history of such men, in the ranks of whom may
be found tillers of the soil, mechanics,, teachers, professional men,
business men and those of varied vocations. George Washington Anthony,
well known among the business element of Springfield, where he has resided
many decades, is one of the creditable representatives of the class of men
who do things and as such he has made his influence felt in the locality
of which this history treats and earned a name for enterprise, integrity
and honor.

Mr. Anthony was born in Adams, Massachusetts, September 10, 1839. He is a
son of Abram and Eunice (Eddy) Anthony, the father also born in the above
named city and state, while the mother was a native of the state of New
York. Abram Anthony devoted his life to farming and lumbering, and owned a
large area of timbered land, and he had several mills. One of the
principal mills was on the site of the present noted Renfrew Gingham Works
started over fifty years ago. He spent his life at Adams and died there
when past his eighty-sixth birthday. Politically, he was a Republican, and
was a worker for temperance. His family consisted of ten children, all
still living but two, namely: Henry died at the age of sixty-five; Charles
L., George W., of this sketch; Edwin A., James, whose sketch appears on
another page of this work; Hannah M., Amelia A., Susan and Albert; the
other one died in early life.

George W. Anthony grew to manhood in his native state; his early school
days were interrupted as he had to work with his father, but nothing
daunted, he obtained his education after he was twenty-four years old,
having attended school at Lynnsborough, Massachusetts, which was a
boarding school. In the fall of 1865 he went to the state of Alabama and
operated- a sawmill there the following winter, was superintendent of the
mill and made good money there. Leaving there in the summer of 1866 he
came to Liberty, Clay county, Missouri, where two of his brothers lived,
both being engaged in the tobacco business, and our subject worked for
them awhile, finally coming to Springfield, this state, and he and his two
brothers bought a factory site of a Mr. Porter, in 1867, and here the
three brothers soon engaged in the tobacco business, which gradually grew
to large proportions and in which our subject is still engaged. With the
three brothers, George McCann formed a partnership which continued until
1873, when it was dissolved, our subject owning land on St. Louis street
and started in the tobacco business by himself in January, 1874, and is
still operating this business, dealing in smoking tobacco only, having
abandoned the manufacture of plug tobacco a number of years ago. His
principal brand in the latter was the "Royal Gem," and "Old Bachelor" is
his most famous brand of smoking tobacco. It has been sold over a very
wide territory and is a favorite with all smokers who have used it. Mr.
Anthony understands thoroughly ever phase of this business and his plant
is equipped in an up-to-date manner and only skilled artisans are
employed. He is one of the most widely known men in the tobacco world in
the Middle West and has made a great success in this field of endeavor.
Besides his plant he also owns: a large and attractive home on St. Louis
street.

Politically Mr. Anthony is a Republican and has been more or less active
in local public affairs during his long residence in the Queen City, in
which he was a member of the city council several years ago. Fraternally,
he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was a charter
member of the Knights of Pythias, with which he is no longer affiliated.
He is an active member of Calvary Presbyterian church, in which he has
been, an elder for over thirty years, and he was formerly a deacon in the
same.

Mr. Anthony has been twice married, first, in April, 1868, to Sylvia A.
Sales, who was a native of Adams, Massachusetts. Her death occurred in
1875. In December, 1877, Mr. Anthony married Mary L. Dean, who was born in
Adams, Massachusetts, and is a daughter of Dallas J. and Henrietta Dean.
To this second marriage two children were born, namely: Sylvia Carrie, who
lives at home, and Dallas Dean, who is engaged in farming; he married Ida
Phillips, a native of Greene county.





JAMES ANTHONY. The career of James Anthony, formerly engaged in the
tobacco business for many years in Springfield, and now employed as a
clerk in the local post office, illustrates most happily for the purpose
of this work the fact that if a young man possesses the proper attributes
of mind and heart, he can, unaided, attain to a position of unmistakable
precedence, and gain for himself an honored position among the men who are
factors in shaping the destinies of the community in which he lives. His
life proves that the only true success in this world is that which is
accomplished by personal c art and consecutive industry, by honesty and a
straightforward, unassuming attitude toward those with whom he comes into
contact.

Mr. Anthony was born in Adams, Massachusetts, May 12, 1843. He is a son Of
Abraham and Eunice (Eddy) Anthony, the former born in that vicinity also,
but the mother was a native of the state of New York. Abraham Anthony grew
up in his native community and there spent his life, engaged in general
farming and lumbering, owning considerable timbered land and operating a
number of saw mills. He was a Republican and an influential man in his
community and was a pronounced enemy of intemperance. He lived to be
nearly eighty-seven years of age. His family consisted of ten children,
two of whom are deceased; those living are: Charles L., George W., whose
sketch appears elsewhere in these pages; Ed win A., James, of this review;
Hannah M., Amelia A., Susan, and Albert.

James Anthony grew to manhood in his native community and there he
assisted his father with his work when a boy, attending the public schools
during the winter, later studying two years in a boarding school at
Lanesborough, Massachusetts. Believing the West held greater opportunities
than the old Bay state, he came to Liberty, Clay county, Missouri, in
March, 1866, and began in the tobacco business. Later he made a trip by
mule team to Junction City, Kansas, also returned overland to Missouri,
where he remained a year in the tobacco business also handling cattle,
then made the overland journey to Springfield in 1867 and this has been
his residence ever since. During this long period, he has seen a village
grow into an important city. Here he and his two brothers engaged in the
tobacco business, in partnership with George McCann, and enjoyed an
extensive and thriving trade, the partnership continuing until 1873, when
it was dissolved, but our subject remained in this field of endeavor until
1887, when he operated a cigar store for two or three years, after which
he traveled on the road many years, representing different wholesale
houses, giving satisfactory service to each. Later he went into the real
estate business which his industry and tact made a success. In 1890 he was
appointed mail clerk in the Springfield post office, and this position he
has retained to the present time. His period of faithful service covering
nearly a quarter of a century, is certainly evidence of his fidelity and
honesty as well as ability, giving satisfaction all the while to the post
office department of our government which is somewhat exacting in these
matters. Very few men living in Springfield have remained in one position
so long, and few there are anywhere who have been so long in government
service. A noteworthy fact is that he has worked here fifteen years
without a vacation.

Mr. Anthony was married October 1, 1870, to Hannah E. Lisenby, who was
born in Jonesboro, Tennessee, February, 18, 1850. She is a daughter .of
Charles and Susan (Carr) Lisenby, the father, a native of Tennessee and
the mother a native of North Carolina.

Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Anthony, three of whom are
living, namely: Dell, born November 22, 1871, married Dr. P. O. Hanford;
Harry, born January 2, 1874, died April 21, of that year; Robert L., born
September 18, 1876, participated in the Spanish-American war, and died
July 21, 1900; Helen F., born July 31, 1883, is the wife of Earl Seaman,
of Springfield; James P., born June 28, 1885, is single and makes his home
in Colorado Springs; Eunice S., born January 23, 1891, died August 11,
1893.

Politically, Mr. Anthony is a Republican, but while loyal to his party and
interested in public matters, he has never been an active politician. He
has a pleasant home on South Jefferson street.





FREDERICK W. ARMSTRONG. Mr. Armstrong was born in Hillsboro, Illinois,
January 13, 1868. He is a son of William F. and Minerva P. (Simmons)
Armstrong, the former born in Ireland, April 11, 1830, and the latter in
Hillsboro, Illinois, January 7, 1837. In that state she grew to womanhood,
was educated in the common schools and she and Mr. Armstrong were married
in the town of Hillsboro. Her death occurred December 17, 1901. William F.
Armstrong spent his early years in his native land and there attended
school, and when a young man he set sail across the broad Atlantic for
American shores and located in Hillsboro, Illinois. He was a carpenter and
contractor, which line of endeavor he followed during his active life,
except when in military service. Upon the first call for troops by
President Lincoln to put down the Southern Confederacy in April, 1861, Mr.
Armstrong enlisted in Company E, Ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and he
proved to be such a brave and excellent soldier that he was promoted from
private through the various subordinate ranks to that of major, and was a
successful and dashing officer, taking part in many important campaigns,
battles and skirmishes. He was many times wounded, receiving a severe
wound at the battle of Shiloh, and he carried five bullets to the grave in
his body. He served not only in the Civil war, but in some of the
campaigns against the hostile Indians of the West, and was in the United
States army in all nearly five years. After leaving the army he returned
to Hillsboro, where his death occurred April 17, 1868. Politically he was
a strong Republican. He belonged to the Masonic Order and the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows. His family consisted of four children, namely: Tom
W., a Springfield plumber, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this
volume; Elizabeth is deceased; Samuel, the eldest lives in Hillsboro,
Illinois, and Frederick W., of this sketch.

Mr. Armstrong of this sketch grew to manhood in Hillsboro, Illinois, and
there he received his education in the common schools, working at odd
times in a grocery store before leaving school, and when fourteen years
old he began working at the carpenter's trade, but after following it for
one summer he turned his attention to the plumbing business, serving an
apprenticeship and became an efficient workman in due course of time. He
remained in his native town in this work until 1899, when he came to
Springfield, Missouri, where he has since resided. He was in partnership
with his brother, Tom W. Armstrong. He has done a great deal of work of
this nature throughout the city, often turning out large contracts. He has
kept well up in his line in every respect and employed capable assistants
so that his jobs have always been satisfactory. He has been the official
plumbing inspector of the city of Springfield during the past four years
and discharged the duties of this important post in a manner highly
satisfactory to all concerned. He retired from this office April 15, 1915,
and at the present time is engaged in the grocery business for himself at
the corner of National boulevard and Kearney street, where he is enjoying
a good trade.

Mr. Armstrong was married in Hillsboro, Illinois, December 29, 1895, to
Minnie B. Follis, who was born in that city January 24, 1872. She is a
daughter of Joseph and Rachael (Roach) Follis, the father a native of
Kentucky and the mother of Illinois. Mrs. Armstrong is one of three
children.

Two children have been born to our subject and wife, namely: Tom Jr., born
October 18, 1897, and Minnie M., born May 5, 1906.

Politically our subject is a Republican. He is a member of the Knights of
Pythias, Knights and Ladies of Security, the Woodmen, and the Tribe of
Ben-Hur. He is a Member of the Methodist Episcopal church.





TOM W. ARMSTRONG. The methods used now by modern plumbers are in many
respects vastly different from those in general use when Tom W. Armstrong
began this vocation over thirty-five years ago. During that period he has
followed the calling continuously and has kept well abreast of the times
in the same and today is one of the most efficient as well as one of the
best known plumbers in Springfield, where he has spent a quarter of a
century.

Mr. Armstrong was born in Hillsboro, Illinois, February 11, 1863. He is a
son of William F. and Minerva P. (Simmons) Armstrong, the father born in
Ireland, April 11, 1830, where he spent his boyhood and from which country
he emigrated to the United States when a young man. He located in
Hillsboro, Illinois where he spent the rest of his life and died on April
18, i867. He was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, serving
in Company E, Ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, enlisting in the spring
of 1861 at Lincoln's first call for volunteers. He proved to be a gallant
and efficient soldier and was promoted to the rank of major. He served
four years and nine months. He was severely wounded at the battle of
Shiloh. Remaining in the army some time after the close of the war he had
occasion to take part in some of the Indian wars of the West. He was in
many engagements and important campaigns and the fact that he went to the
grave carrying five bullets in his body indicates that he was not afraid
to mix in the fiercest of the fighting. He was a carpenter and contractor
by trade, which he followed until his death. He was a strong Republican,
and fraternally belonged to the Masonic order and the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows. His wife was born in 1835, in Hillsboro, Illinois, and they
were married in Hillsboro, Illinois. Her death occurred in December, 1900.
Four children were born to these parents, namely: Samuel lives in
Hillsboro, Illinois; Tom W. of this sketch; Elizabeth is deceased, and
Frederick W., who lives in Springfield, Missouri, is at this writing
plumbing inspector of the city.

Tom W. Armstrong grew to manhood in his native city and he received a
common school education there. On September 6, 1913, he married Mettie E.
Bowers, who was born in Chicago. When fifteen years old Mr. Armstrong
began learning the plumber's trade in his native city and served as an
apprentice two years, then in 1881 went to Abilene, Kansas, where he
worked at his trade nine years, moving from there to Springfield,
Missouri, March 31, 1890. He went in partnership with a Mr. Shearer on
North Boonville street, which partnership continued for ten years. Since
that time he has been engaged in business for himself, his present shop
and office being located at 206 East Olive street where he has a well
equipped shop and display rooms, carrying a large stock of modern fixtures
and a general plumbing outfit. He has been very successful in his line and
has built up a large business throughout the city. He handles some large
contracts and is always busy, keeping a number of skilled assistants.

Politically, Mr. Armstrong is a Republican. He has been a member of the
Knights of Pythias since the day he was twenty-one years old. He also
belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men, the Woodmen and Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks.





R. L. ARNETT. R. L. Arnett was born in Fredericktown, in southeastern
Missouri, on February 2, 1881. He is a son of R. C. and Fanny (Layman)
Arnett. The father was also born at Fredericktown, February 5, 1849, his
parents having been pioneer settlers there. The mother of our subject was
born in Piqua, Ohio,. December 21, 1853. She came to Fredericktown,
Missouri, when young and there met and married the elder Arnett, who
devoted his life to general farming, although he never lived on a farm.
Politically, R. C. Arnett was a Democrat was an influential man in public
affairs in his native locality, having represented his county several
times in the state legislature. His family consisted of five children, all
sons, and all still living, namely: Smith D. lives in Pine Bluff,
Arkansas; Sam R. lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota; R. L. of this sketch;
Eugene F. is in the train service and is located at Pine Bluff, Arkansas;
Alexander W. is attending Columbia University at this writing.

R. L. Arnett grew up at Fredericktown, where he obtained a good common and
high school education. When only thirteen years of age he was enabled to
begin the career he had long aspired to, that of railroading, and he has
kept it up to the present time, his rise being gradual, and he evidently
has greater things to yet accomplish in this field of endeavor. He began
work for the Missouri Pacific before leaving school and continued at
intervals with this road until he finished school, then went in the office
as clerk in his native town. With the exception of a few months spent in
the employ of other lines, he has remained continuously with the Missouri
Pacific, having in the meanwhile been nearly all over the system, in
various departments of this road. In September, 1908, he was promoted to
commercial freight agent, in Ft. Scott, Kansas, and in November, 1909, he
was sent to Springfield, where he is now occupying the same position. He
is a young man of energy, tact, versatility and honesty of purpose and his
superiors place great confidence in his ability and integrity.

Mr. Arnett was married, April 23, 1903, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to Anna
Lee Green, a native of that city, where she was reared and educated, later
attending Ouachita College at Arkadelphia, Arkansas. She is a daughter of
Thomas and Disda Green.

To Mr. and Mrs. Arnett one child has been born, Roeanna, whose birth
occurred July 11, 1905.

Politically, Mr. Arnett is a Democrat. He is a member of the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, also the Hoo Hoo or Black Cat fraternity. He
is a member of the Springfield Club and the Country Club.





DR. J. LEROY ATHERTON. As we stand amidst the wonders of modern
achievements and take a cursory glance over the factors that make up the
sum total of the highest civilization the world has known since the age of
Pericles, one factor looms forth conspicuously--the art of healing. Some
even in their enthusiasm claim that it is above all the rest. This may not
seem plausible to many in view of the fact that such great progress has
been made in the mechanical sciences, which is more closely allied with
our every-day life and is therefore more generally understood and
appreciated. Whereas the study of the ills of the flesh is restricted to a
proportionately small number of students. However, the progress in the art
of healing has been somewhat remarkable during the past half century. One
of the younger generation of physicians of Greene county is Dr. J. LeRoy
Atherton, who has been unusually successful in the practice of his
Profession, and that he deserves the good fortune that has attended his
efforts is indisputable.

Doctor Atherton was born in Illinois, February 13, 1879. He is a son of
Aaron S. Atherton, a native of Ohio, a minister in the Methodist Episcopal
church, who followed his profession until his health began to fail in 1883
when he located on a farm in Vernon county, Missouri, later removing to
Nevada, this state, where he resumed preaching and continued at this work
for about five years, practically doing charity work, filling various
pulpits without recompense. His death occurred in the city of Nevada about
1902, after a long and useful life. He was highly esteemed by all who knew
him for his many fine characteristics and he ranked high as a preacher.
His wife, mother of our subject, was known in her maidenhood as Mary
Sanders, and she traces her ancestry back to Holland. She is still living
in Nevada. Milton Atherton, paternal grandfather of the subject of this
sketch, was born in Ohio. In his later life he removed with his family to
Vernon county, Missouri, where his death occurred when about seventy-eight
years of age. His progenitors were very early settlers in New England from
which country they came to Ohio in pioneer days. From Ohio the family
removed to Illinois when that state was still a wild unimproved prairie.
The older members of this sterling old family were typical pioneers and
liked the wild frontier life best of all.

To Rev. Aaron S. Atherton and wife the following children were born: S. M.
Atherton, Waldron Arkansas; Mary E. Atherton, deceased; Ruth E. Pheils,
Nevada, Missouri; Aaron E. Atherton, Dover, Oklahoma; Joseph R. Atherton,
Nevada, Missouri; Gilbert H. Atherton, Girard, Kansas; J. LeRoy Atherton,
Springfield, and Agnes S. Johnson, Nevada, Missouri.

Dr. J. LeRoy Atherton received his early education in the public schools
and later studied at Baker University in Kansas, after which he began the
study of medicine at the Bennett Medical College, Chicago, Illinois, where
he made a good record, and was graduated with the class of 1912. Soon
thereafter he began the practice of his profession in Chicago Where he got
a good start and remained in that city until January 1, 1915, when he came
to Springfield, Missouri, opening an office with a view of remaining here
permanently. He has started out well in his new location, his patients
gradually increasing all the while. He is a member of the Greene County
Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical Association and the American
Medical Association. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic order,
including the Chapter, Royal Arch Masons and Council.

On December 18, 1909, he was united in marriage with Dr. Mary Jean
McLaggan, who was born in Chesley, Ontario, Canada. She grew to womanhood
in her native province and received her early education at Toronto, later
taking the course at the Bennett Medical College in Chicago, from which
she was graduated with the class of 1912, and a few months later began
practicing in that city with her husband, and since coming to Springfield
she has continued the practice of her profession with gratifying results.
A separate and complete sketch will be found of her on another page of
this volume.

The union of our subject and wife has been without issue. Doctor Atherton
is deserving of a great deal of credit for what he has accomplished in the
face of obstacles. He is a self-educated and self-made man. He has earned
his own living since he was seventeen years of age. He worked hard during
vacations to get money to defray the expenses of a higher education.
Learning something of civil engineering he followed that for the most part
between terms of school, but was not above doing any kind of work to earn
an honest dollar.





DR. MARY JEAN McLAGGAN ATHERTON. If one cares to take the time to examine
works on the early races of mankind he will be surprised to learn how
profoundly ignorant those early peoples were regarding the anatomy of the
human organism and how very little they knew of the art of healing, in
fact, they believed that the sick were possessed of evil spirits and that
they could not be dispersed by any means except, incantations. Many
centuries elapsed before the thinking Greeks established something of a
science in the treatment of diseases and began studying plants, advocating
the theory that certain ones possessed medicinal properties. This placed
the study of the human organism upon a scientific basis, and since that
remote age many theories have been advanced, little actual progress being
made, however, up to a century or two ago. The last two decades have
witnessed remarkable strides and new discoveries are daily being made. It
seems that there remains yet a very great deal to be discovered if
humanity is to cease suffering by reason of the "ills to which flesh is
heir." Many women have of late years been studying and practicing medicine
in its various branches, with success equal to the men. One of these is
Mrs. Mary Jean McLaggan Atherton, of Springfield, whose record is that of
a skilled, sympathetic practitioner, cheerful in the sick room, and,
possessing the happy faculty of winning the confidence of her patients,
which has much to do with their restoration to health.

She was born on May 28, 1882, in the Province of Ontario, Canada. She is a
daughter of John and Catherine (Munn) McLaggan, both natives of Scotland,
from which country they came to Ontario when young and were married there
and established their home on a farm near the town of Peterborough. It was
in 1852 that he left his native land and settled in Canada. When old age
came on he retired from active work on his farm. He had accumulated a
comfortable competency by his industry, and he and his wife are living at
this writing in Chesley, Ontario. To these parents the following children
were, born: FIorence Able, Chicago; Isabel, Ashelford, Toronto, Ontario;
Alexander McLaggan, Saskatchewan, Canada; Catherine Broughton, Toronto,
Ontario; Peter McLaggan, Vancouver, British Columbia; John McLaggan,
Metiskow, Alberta; Mary Jean Atherton, Springfield, Mo.; Elizabeth
McLaggan, Chesley, Ontario, and Martha McIntyre Chicago.

Peter McLaggan, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was born in
Scotland where he grew up and married Isabella Fisher, also a native of
that country, and there they resided until 1852 when they emigrated to
Canada and established their home at Peterborough, Ontario, where they
both died a year later of Asiatic cholera.

Mrs. Dr. Atherton grew to womanhood in her native locality and received
her early education in the common schools and at Harbord Collegiate
Institute, at Toronto, Canada, from which she was graduated with the class
of 1899; she attended the Toronto Normal College for Teachers in 1900, and
was a teacher in the Chicago Public School until 1908. In 1908 she entered
the Bennett Medical College, at Chicago, Illinois, making an excellent
record and graduating therefrom in the spring of 1912.

On December 18, 1909, our subject was united in marriage with Dr. Leroy
Atherton, who was a native of Illinois who attended the above mentioned
medical college at the time our subject was a student there and they were
graduates of the same class. They both began practicing in Chicago, she in
the fall of 1913 and there continued with success until their removal to
Springfield, Missouri, January 1, 1915, where she has continued the
practice of her profession, building up a large practice which is rapidly
growing. A complete sketch of her husband will be found in another part of
this volume.

Mrs. Dr. Atherton is a member of the Chicago Medical Society and is a
member of the Calvary Presbyterian church of Springfield.





JAMES O. ATTEBERRY. Cultivation of the soil began with the desire on the
part of the cultivator to destroy weeds or plants not desired that were
likely to crowd out and injure the ones in which he was interested. But we
now know that the destruction of weeds is a matter of very secondary
importance. We now cultivate to conserve moisture and to promote chemical
and biological activity. Our viewpoint has changed greatly with increased
knowledge, yet it is a fact that we do not do all we might in this
direction. We do not stir the soil during rainless periods as frequently
as we should, or we do not do it at the time we should and allow valuable
moisture to escape. It must be borne in mind that it is often quite as
important to do a thing at the right time as it is to do it at all. One of
the successful farmers of Clay township, Greene county, is James O.
Atteberry, who not only seems to know how to carry on the various
departments of modern agriculture, but when to do a thing and when not to
do it.

Mr. Atteberry was born in Cassville, Barry county, Missouri, January 30,
1861. He is a son of John B. and Mary E. (Bills) Atteberry. The father was
born in Tennessee, January 30, 1830, on the banks of the famous Cumberland
river, and there he spent the first nine years of his life, then his
parents brought him to Dallas county, Missouri, where he grew to manhood
on a farm and there received a common school education. He worked for his
father until he was twenty-one years of age, then bought a farm of eighty
acres. He learned the blacksmith's trade, which he followed in connection
with farming. Then went to Barry county, where he owned a blacksmith shop
for some time. Later he went to Springfield where he followed his trade
and at which he was engaged at the outbreak of the Civil war, when he
enlisted in the Federal army and was kept busy as a blacksmith for some
time by his general and later drove a team for his regiment. After the
close of the war he returned to Dallas county, where he lived until his
son James O. was fourteen years old, then came back to Springfield and
resumed blacksmithing, at which he was quite expert. About five years
later he moved back to Dallas county and bought a farm of eighty acres,
which he operated about seven years, then moved back to Springfield, where
he has resided to the present time, and is still active. Politically, he
is a Democrat. He is a member of the Christian church. He had natural
talent as a musician and when a young man taught vocal music, conducting
singing schools. His wife, Mary F. Bills, was born in Tennessee, October
8, 1836, and was reared in that state and in Missouri, having been seven
years of age when her parents brought her to Dallas county, making the
overland journey in wagons, experiencing numerous hardships. The family
located on a farm and there Mrs. Atteberry was reared. She has known what
hard work meant wove and spun in her earlier years and made clothes, the
last suit she made having been for the sheriff of Greene county. She is a
member of the Christian church and has long been a great church worker. To
these parents thirteen children have been born, namely: Mrs. Eliza Jane
Woodle is deceased; Mrs. Ruth Davidson lives in Springfield; James O. of
this sketch, and George, who lives in Christian county, Missouri, are
twins; Elsie is living in the West; Daniel lives in Springfield; Mrs.
Francis Welch lives in Christian county; Mrs. Laura Fishel lives in
Springfield; Mrs. Etta Lawing lives in St. Joseph, Missouri; Mrs. Blanche
Pritchard lives in Oklahoma City; the three youngest children died in
infancy.

James O. Atteberry spent his early boyhood on the home farm in Dallas
county, where he worked during the crop seasons and in the winter time
attended the common schools. When fourteen years of age he hired out on
farms in Greene county, working thus until he was twenty-two years of age,
when he married Mary E. McCorkle, and rented a farm for several years,
then moved to Christian county, where he rented land for fourteen years,
also bought a farm of one hundred and ten acres which joined the farm he
rented. In connection with general farming he raised cattle and hogs in
large numbers, also sheep. Finally selling out, he bought then farm where
he is now living in Clay township, Greene county, which consists of one
hundred and forty-five acres and is well improved and productive, one of
the best in this part of the county. In connection with general farming he
is successfully operating a dairy.

Mr. Atteberry's wife was born in Greene county, October 8, 1859. When
three years old her parents brought her to the place where she is now
living. She received a good common school education, and when eighteen
years old began teaching and taught two years in the rural schools. She is
a daughter of Neely and Catherine (Rainey) McCorkle. She is a member of
the Christian church.

To Mr. and Mrs. Atteberry eight children have been born, namely: George A.
is living in Greene county; Elmer is deceased; Neely J. lives in
Springfield; Mrs. Mary Snyder lives in Greene county; Stanley lives at
home; Lemuel lives in Greene county; Mrs. Birdie Jones lives at home with
her parents; Nellie is married and lives in Clay township, Greene county,
Missouri.

Politically, Mr. Atteberry is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen, the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and the Maccabees. He belongs to the Christian church.





GEORGE ALBERT ATWOOD. Truly one of nature's noblemen was the late George
Albert Atwood, one of the most prominent journalists and experts on
horticultural and agricultural subjects that southern Missouri and eastern
Kansas has ever known, and withal a citizen of high ideals and wholesome
life. As to his character one can truly say that he was a sturdy type of a
true man, firm in resolution, strong in conviction, helpful to his
fellowman. Among the numerous commendable qualities which stood out in his
character were business integrity, fidelity to trusts, reposed in him, a
deep love of nature in her various forms and family devotion. A thinker
and philosopher he knew that difficulties confronted men in every
occupation, that every man has his troubles and adversities, but he
believed that these things were necessary to develop the best qualities in
us; that man's necessity was ever the incentive to prompt him to seek out
a better way of doing things, a way to overcome, that cheerfulness and
optimism would help him find a way, when gloom and despair would only aid
in sinking him under the load. So he tried to remain cheerful, and, also
knowing that man cannot stand still, must either make progress or
retrograde, he always looked toward the heights, keeping in mind the
motto, "There is no excellence without great labor." His life was an open
sesame with all the simple sincerity that belongs to great-souled men.

George Albert Atwood was born in Barnard, Vermont, January 15, 1840, the
fourth in a family of ten children. He was the son of George Hammond and
Mary N. (Culver) Atwood, the father a descendant of William Penn and the
mother of Samuel Adams. George Hammond Atwood was the son of Ebenezer
Atwood. His parents were honest, industrious New England people, and spent
their lives on a farm in Vermont, on which their son George Albert Atwood
was reared to manhood, and on which he worked during the summer months
when he became of proper age. By dint of hard work under many
disadvantages in the rural schools, by alternately attending school and
teaching school, he obtained a good foundation for the fine education
which he finally obtained by persistent home study and contact with the
world. He studied at Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, New Hampshire, and
Oswego Business College of Oswego, New York. When the war between the
states came on he proved his patriotism and courage by enlisting in the
Union army in 1862, in Company B, Twelfth Vermont Volunteer Militia,
receiving honorable discharge after nine months' service. He then left the
home farm to carve out his own career in the world, and was appointed to a
clerkship in the United States treasury department, which position he held
for two years in a highly acceptable manner, and was in Washington when
President Lincoln was assassinated and shared in the intense excitement
that tragedy occasioned. Being ambitious to do something and to be
something, he resigned his position as clerk, seeing that there was no
chance for advancement, and returned to Vermont in 1866, where he farmed a
year and in 1867 started out West, where he thought to find larger
opportunities, and the remainder of life was spent, the major part of it
at least, west of the Father of Waters, with only occasional visits to his
New England home, to which he was always devotedly attached. He first
located in Adel, Iowa, and there his long editorial career began,
publishing the Adel Gazette, and served a term as postmaster at that
place. Leaving there he went to Kansas, where he spent seventeen years in
newspaper business. He published successively the Ellsworth Reporter, the
Western Magazine of Lawrence, the Manhattan Republic, and the Daily
Evening Press of Leavenworth. In all of these ventures he was successful,
being a man of keen foresight, executive and editorial ability, and he did
much through his publications for the upbuilding of Kansas in her earlier
history, and was recognized as one of the leading journalists of that
state, was widely known and his opinions and advice were constantly sought
by the leading public men of the Sunflower State in those days. During
these years he served a term in the Kansas state legislature with
satisfaction to his constituents. This was in 1875-76. At that time he was
also in charge of Fort Harker, an abandoned military post, now known as
Kanopolis, having received this appointment in 1875. He held this position
two years when the reservation was opened up for settlement. Here it was
that he distributed by appointment, government clothing to the sufferers
from the memorable grasshopper scourge in that dreadful season of 1875-76.
And in 1880 he was appointed a member of the commission to appraise the
United States military reservation of Fort Harker.

Subsequently being somewhat broken in health, under the advice of
physicians all moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he bought an
interest in the Grand Forks Plaindealer. The rigor of the climate proving
too severe, he disposed of his interests there and went to Florida,
intending to make that state his permanent home. But after repeated
freezes of the orange groves he had planted, and but little success with
his vineyards, he returned to Grand Forks and established an agricultural
paper, the Northern Farmer. This he sold as soon as it was placed on a
good footing. And when a warmer climate lured him again he came to
southwest Missouri. He had owned a farm near Neosho for several years.
This may have had some influence in his derision. He was captivated by the
country and its wonderful possibilities. In this faith he came to
Springfield in 1893, where the rest of his life was spent, and started a
horticultural journal, the Southwest, later known as the Practical Fruit
Grower. In the interest of this publication he traveled extensively over
the Ozark region, and met and interviewed more fruit men, probably, than
any other man in southern Missouri, acquiring a knowledge of facts and
conditions that made him an authority in matters horticultural. He bought
an eighty acre farm in Arkansas and set practically all of it out in
peaches, and at Garber, Taney county, Missouri, he planted a pear orchard.
He superintended the planting of the extensive orchard and vineyard on the
grounds belonging to the Maine Fishing and Hunting Club, near Branson, in
Taney county. Under his expert direction all these orchards and vineyards
proved highly successful. His candid opinion was constantly sought by
growers and orchardists for advice and it was always freely and gladly
given and was invariably followed with gratifying results. He was prime
mover in the organization of the Ozark Fruit Growers' Association, which
is one of the largest organizations, of its kind in the Southwest, and has
done much to better general conditions of the horticulturists of this
section of the country. He also assisted in forming many local societies.
He was one of the most active and prominent members of the Greene County
Horticultural Society, of which he was at one time president. In addition
to being directly connected with these associations, Mr. Atwood took an
active part in every movement where the farmer and the fruit growers were
interested, his opinions on all subjects being accepted as coming from an
authority. He was for some time editor of the farm page of the weekly
edition of the Springfield Leader. By reason of his experience he was
appointed superintendent of the Missouri fruit exhibit at the
Trans-Mississippi Exposition at Omaha, Nebraska. In this capacity he also
served at the annual state fairs held at Sedalia, Missouri, and he was
appointed by Governor Folk as a delegate from this state to the
seventeenth National Irrigation Congress held at Spokane, Washington, in
August, 1909.

Mr. Atwood was a personal friend of a number of the leading men of the
nation, including Gen. Nelson A. Miles and Senators Plum and John J.
Ingalls. From these celebrities and many others he received numerous
letters while engaged in newspaper work in Kansas. He also carried letters
of recommendation from Governors Burke of North Dakota; Humphrey of Kansas
and Governor Morrill, of Iowa. Among the many interesting letters he
received was one which Mrs. Atwood justly prizes more than all. It is a
letter and an original poem from Alice Cary, America's most famous
poetess. The poem is entitled "My Native Hills," and contains six verses
in the usual fine swing and imagery of that gifted writer. It was
purchased by Mr. Atwood and published in the Gazette in Adel, Iowa. The
letter and poem were written in the bold, legible handwriting of Alice
Cary, and in the letter which was written from New York City, she tells
Mr. Atwood that she usually received from twenty-five dollars to fifty
dollars for such verses, but in view of the fact that he was starting a
new publication, she asked only ten dollars for them. This was in 1867.

Mr. Atwood was married in 1865 to Rosa Ward, of Montpelier, Vermont, where
she grew to womanhood and received a good education. She is the daughter
of Hezekiah and Adeline (Walbridge) Ward. Mrs. Atwood is a direct
descendant of Gen. Artemas Ward, of Revolutionary war fame, and is a woman
of many estimable characteristics. They began married life in Washington
City. To this union three children were born, Birdie, who lives at home.
She has a studio in the Masonic Temple and is an accomplished piano and
pipe organ teacher and is the organist at St. Paul Methodist Episcopal
church, South. Linnie, who died in infancy, and Ward, who is a linotypist
at the Inland Printing Company and also is a photographer of no mean
ability.

Politically Mr. Atwood was a Republican. When a young man he was an active
member of the Masonic Order, but when he came to Springfield he never took
up lodge work. He also held membership in the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and a number of other fraternal organizations, including the Grand
Army of the Republic, in none of which he took an especially active
interest during the last few years of his life.

The death of George Albert Atwood occurred in Springfield on May 2, 1911,
at the age of seventy-one years, after an illness of three months. At a
regular meeting of the Greene County Horticultural Society, a few days
after the death of our subject, the following resolutions were adopted:

"Whereas, In the course of Divine Providence, one of our midst useful
members, Brother George Albert Atwood, has been removed by death from our
midst. We shall miss his presence and wise counsel in the advocacy of a
purer and better horticulture. Therefore, be it

"Resolved, That we express our deep sorrow and loss, and extend to the
bereaved family and friends, our sympathy and condolence, and recommend
that this resolution be spread upon the minutes of the society and that a
copy be sent to the bereaved family and published in the Springfield
papers.

Horticulturists could ill afford to lose such men as Mr. Atwood from their
ranks. The passing of such a man always leaves sadness and sorrow not only
in his immediate family, but among those who know him best. He was an
ardent lover of nature and took delight in being among his trees and
watching them grow. He was an optimist. He liked to help people. He was
pure minded and ambitious. He had the friendship of men of high official
rank, and of literary people as well. Genial in character and disposition
he made many friends, and was a promoter of peace in every organization
with which he was connected. He was devoted to his home and family, and
was a kind and affectionate husband and father. He loved life, but when
the end came he met it nobly, sweetly--almost his last words being,
"Beautiful Life!"





JOSEPH GEORGE AUMOTH. No more enterprising, courageous and altogether
desirable immigrants come to America from any country of the globe than
the Norwegians. They have both the will and ability to do things, are
loyal to our government and institutions, faithful and reliable citizens
and their coming among us has been mutually helpful. We have furnished
them comfortable homes and they have helped develop bur various states and
counties. The natural conditions in Norway have ever been such that only a
race of people of honesty persistency, tact and fortitude could survive.
The art of making a livelihood there is indeed quite different from what
it is in the South Sea islands where the natives need not put forth any
effort to subsist, merely plucking and eating the fruits Mother Nature
furnishes, but in the frigid mountains of Norway it is a constant battle
to survive, and this battle develops in her natives the qualities that are
necessary to win anywhere in the civilized countries of the world. They
were innate in such men as Joseph George Aumoth, who was one of the
prominent business men of Springfield, Missouri, in the early period of
her development, for many years a wholesale merchant and banker,
establishing the very first wholesale house in Springfield. He proved to
be one of our best citizens in every respect, even risking his life in the
defense of the flag during our great war between the states, and although
he has long since been summoned from earthly scenes, his influence on the
history of this locality a half century ago will be permanent.

Mr. Aumoth was born in Norway, on November 20, 1831. He was a son of
Joseph and Elizabeth Aumoth natives of Norway, where they spent their
lives, never coming to America. The father of our subject was a ship owner
and lived on the coast.

Joseph G. Aumoth grew to manhood in Norway and assisted his father when a
boy, and he was given splendid educational advantages, being educated by a
Lutheran minister. He early manifested a liking for business and had
decided talent in that direction, and he worked in a bank in his native
land when a young man at the age of eighteen years. Believing that greater
opportunities for advancement awaited him in the United States than in his
own country, he ran away from home, worked on a ship across the Atlantic
ocean to pay for his passage to the new world. His parents were people of
means and they sent five hundred dollars to the Norwegian consul at New
York, which sum was to be given to their son if he would return home. But
he came on west, his first stop being at Chicago, where he worked four
months, after which he came to St. Louis where he worked in a hardware
store and attended night school, and remained at work there until the
commencement of the Civil war when he enlisted in the Missouri State Home
Guards to protect the government arsenal at St. Louis, later enlisting in
Company C, Missouri Volunteer Infantry, under General Sigel, and served
about two and one-half years in a faithful and gallant manner, being
promoted from time to time for his meritorious conduct until he had
attained the rank of captain at the time of his discharge. He saw
considerable hard service, and among the engagements in which he
participated was the battle of Pea Creek, battle of Wilson's Creek and
siege of Vicksburg, being wounded during the latter by a grape-shot. He
was sent to the hospital where he remained nine weeks, after which he was
discharged from the service and came to Springfield, Missouri, and engaged
in the mercantile business, supplying clothes and other materials to
soldiers, etc. He remained in the mercantile business here for twelve
years, first as a retail merchant and, as before stated, was the first
wholesale merchant. He by nature was a mathematician, an expert accountant
and he could add three columns of figures simultaneously of greater length
and with more accuracy, than an average man could add one column. He was
very successful as a merchant and built up quite an extensive trade. Later
he became connected with the Greene County Bank of Springfield as
vice-president, which position he held until his death, and the rapid
growth of this institution during that period was due for the most part to
his judicious counsel, enterprise and keen foresight.

Politically, Mr. Aumoth was a Republican. He belonged to the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and religiously he was a member of the Lutheran
church.

Mr. Aumoth was married in St. Louis, December 10, 1866, to Mrs. Margaret
(Logan) Morton, a daughter of William B. and Elizabeth (McDowell) Logan.
William B. Logan was born in Virginia in 1808 and there grew to manhood
and engaged in the mercantile business in the city of Bristol. He remained
in his native state until 1845 when he came to Springfield, Missouri, and
opened the second store in the town. He sold goods at a reasonable figure
while his competitor sold his stock at five times its value. Mr. Logan was
well known to the early pioneer settlers of Greene county who admired him
for is honesty in dealing with them. He remained here until 1861 when he
went to St. Louis, where he lived until 1866, then went to Texas and
engaged in business in the town of McKinney until his death in 1887. His
widow survived until 1898, dying in Fisher, Texas. His family consisted of
ten children.

Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph G. Aumoth, namely: Nora
C., wife of H. B. McDaniel, president of the Union National Bank of
Springfield; Josephine, wife of Robert Boyer, one of the well known
business men of Springfield, and Paul, who died at the age of three years.

The death of Joseph G. Aumoth occurred February 10, 1874, at the age of
forty-three years, when in the zenith of his powers as a successful man of
affairs.

Mrs. Aumoth is living at the attractive family home on St. Louis street,
Springfield, now advanced in years, but a well preserved and well informed
lady, who has ever enjoyed the friendship of the best people of
Springfield.





MARTIN AUSHERMAN. One of the early-day business men of, Springfield who
was distinctively the architect of his own fortunes was Martin Ausherman,
who was true and loyal in all the relations of life and stood as a type of
that sterling manhood which ever commands respect and honor. He was a man
who would have won his way in any locality where fate might have placed
him, for he had sound judgment, coupled with great energy and business
tact, together with upright, principles, all of which have ever made for
success wherever they have been rightly and persistently applied. By
reason of these principles he won and retained a host of friends, who have
never ceased to his memory.

Mr. Ausherman was born November 1, 1840, in Frederick county, Maryland. He
was a son of John and Lydia (Arnold) Ausherman, and was one of thirteen
children, all of whom are now deceased. The family was well known in
Maryland for many decades, and they were all farmers except our subject
who devoted his life to mercantile pursuits.

Martin Ausherman grew to manhood in his native state and there assisted
with the general work on the farm when a boy and he received his education
in the common schools of his native community. Early in life he began his
career as a merchant, and remained in Maryland until 1876, when he came to
Springfield, Missouri, and opened a grocery store and was very successful,
building up a good trade, and he continued in the same until his death. By
his first marriage, Mr. Ausherman had one daughter, Eva, who married D. R.
Holt and lives in Oklahoma. They have three children.

Mr. Ausherman was married on February 20, 1872, to Mary Knox, who was born
in Washington county, Maryland. She is a daughter of Joseph and Nancy
(McCoy) Knox, natives of Ireland and Maryland, respectively. Mr. Knox was
a manufacturer of wagons and carriages and built up a large business,
there being a very ready market for his products owing to their superior
quality and workmanship. His family consisted of two children, Mary, who
married Mr. Ausherman, and one child that died in infancy. Mrs. Ausherman
was reared in Maryland, and she received a good public school education.
She has a pleasant home on South Market street, Springfield.

To Mr. and Mrs. Ausherman three children were born, namely: Ida, born
March 16, 1874, was educated in the Springfield schools, passing through
the public and high schools and later taking the regular course in Drury
College, from which institution she was graduated in due course of time,
having made an excellent record; she has been teaching English in the
local high school for the past twelve years, and is regarded by those
familiar with her work as one of the most efficient teachers in her line
in southwest, Missouri. Her long retention in the important position which
she now holds would indicate that she has given eminent satisfaction to
all concerned. Her work has been commended by Prof. J. Fairbanks, and she
is popular with both teachers and pupils. Chester, second child of our
subject and wife, was reared and educated in Springfield, and was a young
man of much promise when his untimely death occurred in 1900 at the age of
twenty-five years. M. Vernon, youngest of the children, was born May 17,
1877, was educated in the schools of Springfield, and he has conducted the
grocery store left by his father, remaining in the same building, and
during this period of twenty-five years he has become known over the city
and county as one of the leading grocerymen of Springfield, having built
up an extensive trade and carrying at all seasons a large and well
selected stock of fancy and staple groceries, in fact, everything to be
found in up-to-date grocery stores in any city. He has remained unmarried.

Politically, Martin Ausherman was a Republican, and was regarded by all as
an honest man and a good citizen in every respect. His death occurred on
January 20, 1899, at the age of forty-eight years, when in the prime.




REV. JOHN T. BACON. Examples that impress force of character on all who
study them are worthy of record, and the mission of a great soul in this
world is one that is calculated to inspire a multitude of others to better
and grander things; so its subsequent influence cannot be measured in
metes and bounds, for it affects the lives of those with whom it comes in
contact, broadening and enriching them for all time to come. By a few
general observations may be conveyed some idea of the useful, unselfish
and unpretentious career of Rev. John T. Bacon, for the past sixteen years
pastor of the First Cumberland Presbyterian church of Springfield, united
in whose composition are so many elements of a solid, practical and
altruistic nature as to bring him into prominent notice, who, not content
to hide his talents amid life's sequestered ways, by the force of will and
a laudable ambition forged to the front, rising by his individual efforts,
from an early environment none too auspicious, and is therefore one of
Greene county's best examples of a successful self-made man.

Reverend Bacon was born in Crawford county, Missouri, June 2, 1868. He is
a scion of a sterling old Southern family of the Blue Grass state, and is
a son of Thomas J. and Mary Ellen (Chapman) Bacon. The father was born
near Louisville, Kentucky, April 10, 1832, and when nine years of age
moved with the family to St. Louis, Missouri, where he spent his early
youth. He was compelled to work hard when a boy and his education was
limited to thirty-two days in a common school. When twenty-five years of
age he moved to Crawford county, this state, where he spent the rest of
his life engaged in general farming, in which he was fairly successful. At
the age of twenty-nine years he married and soon thereafter moved on a
farm adjoining that of his father, who had also located in that county.
His death occurred in 1888. He was an honest, hard-working and well-liked
man, who was influential in the general welfare of his community. The
mother of our subject, a woman of strong Christian character, was born
April 20, 1839, in Crawford county, Missouri, and there grew to womanhood
and received a common school education. Her death occurred April 17, 1885.

Five children were born to Thomas J. Bacon and wife, namely: Mrs. Mary
Elizabeth Caldwell, who died December 5, 1895; Emma died when five years
of age; John T., of this review; Charles Benjamin, a resident of Marshall,
Missouri, is at this writing postmaster at that place; and Reuben M., who
lives in San Antonio, Texas.

John T. Bacon grew to manhood on the home farm in his native county and
there he worked hard when he became of proper age during the crop seasons,
and in the winter time he attended the rural schools of his home district;
later was a student in the Salem Academy, Salem, Missouri for one term.
When twenty-one years old he entered Missouri Valley College, Marshall,
this state, from which institution he was graduated with the class of
1896. His alma mater honored him with the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In
the autumn of 1896, having fostered for some time the laudable ambition to
become a minister of the gospel, he entered Cumberland University,
Lebanon, Tennessee, where he made an excellent record and was graduated
with the class of 1899. He came direct from there to Springfield,
Missouri, accepting a call as pastor of the First Cumberland Presbyterian
church, which is located at Jefferson and Olive streets, and here he has
remained to, the present time, his long retention in this important church
being sufficient criterion of his popularity with the congregation and of
his ability, fidelity to duty and growth in power. He has remained a close
student all the while and has developed with his church. During his
pastorate here the membership has increased several hundred, until it is
today one of the largest, most earnest and wealthiest congregations in
Springfield. Mr. Bacon is a forceful, logical, learned and not
infrequently and eloquent pulpit orator, instructing and entertaining his
audience at the same time, and he is also a man of no mean business
ability, and has looked well to the material affairs of the church, as
well as to its spiritual welfare. Although a man of plain address,
avoiding the lime-light of publicity, he is nevertheless one of the most
widely known and popular ministers Springfield has ever had, and he has
been active for years in movements having for their aim the general moral
upbuilding of the city.

Mr. Bacon was married October 6, 1898, to Mary E. Dysart, who was born
near Fayette, Howard county, Missouri, October 3, 1874. There she grew to
womanhood and received a common school education, later was a student in
Howard Payne College at Fayette, from which she graduated in 1894. She has
proven to be a most faithful helpmeet and the success of our subject as a
minister has been due in no small measure to her sympathy, encouragement
and counsel. She is a very active church worker and a leader in the
societies of the church of which Mr. Bacon is pastor. She is a daughter of
William P. and Dora A. (Brown) Dysart, a highly esteemed and well-known
family of Howard county. Mr. Dysart was born in Randolph county, Missouri,
received a good education, graduating from old McGee College in the
fifties, and later in his early life taught school for awhile, later took
up farming, which he followed successfully until his retirement from
active life several years ago. He is now making his home with the subject
of this sketch. Mrs. Dysart was born in Howard county, there grew to
womanhood and received a common school education. She, too, is still
living, completing the happy circle of Mr. Bacon's household.

One child has blessed the union of our subject and wife, William Dysart
Bacon, whose birth occurred June 20, 1902; he is at present a student of
the State Normal here and is making a fine record for scholarship.

Politically, Reverend Bacon is a Democrat. Personally, he is a man of fine
physique with a striking resemblance to William J. Bryan, of whom he is a
great admirer. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic Order and the Knights
of Pythias. He is a broad-minded, genial, obliging gentleman of genteel
and courteous address and the number of his friends is limited to his
acquaintance.





JAMES BAIR. The army record alone of James Bair, deputy county clerk of
Greene county, entitles him to the respect of all good citizens who
remember the troublous times of the great war between the states. True
Americans can never forget the heroes of the sixties, nor should they ever
fail to do them honor. Mr. Bair has spent forty-five years in our midst
and each succeeding year has found him with more friends than the
preceding, which would indicate that he has been an honorable and valuable
citizen. Indeed his long record as educator and public servant in this
county is worthy of praise. He is an example of what honest effort,
combined with perseverance and right thinking, will produce. His beginning
was somewhat humble and discouraging, but he in due course of time rose to
a position in the body politic which commanded respect by his fellow
citizens. All the more credit is due him for his own brave efforts, and
his example may well be imitated by those whose youthful environments are
not of an encouraging nature, not that he has been a great success
financially, but what is better, that he has made a good and useful
citizen.

Mr. Bair was born at Canal Dover, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, on December 18,
1845. He is a son of Jesse and Elizabeth (Bonfield) Bair. Jesse Bair was
born near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, about 1817, was reared on a farm and
learned the millwright's trade when a boy, also worked at the carpenter's
trade. From his native state he went to Canton, Ohio, and about 1842 moved
to Canal Dover, that state, where he worked at his trades, erecting a
number of substantial mills and other buildings over that country; the old
Blake mills are still standing near that city as a monument to his skill
as a builder. Politically he was a Democrat, and fraternally a Mason. His
death occurred in 1890 at the home of our subject. Elizabeth Bonfield,
mentioned above, was born at Canton, Ohio, and was a daughter of Dr.
Bonfield, of that city. Her death occurred in New Philadelphia, that
state, in 1853. Four children were born to Jesse Bair and wife, James, of
this sketch, being the only survivor at this writing. His eldest brother,
Martin V. B., was a soldier in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war, and was one of the large number
of soldiers who met death by drowning by the sinking of the steamer
Sultana in the Mississippi river in 1865.

Upon the death of his mother in 1853 James Bair went to live with
relatives near Waynesburg, Ohio. He received his education in the public
schools there, and on December 22, 1861, enlisted in Company F, Eightieth
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and proved to be a gallant soldier for the Union,
serving in a number of important engagements, such as Farmington, Iuka,
Corinth, Raymond, Jackson and the siege of Vicksburg, all in Mississippi,
later in the battle of Missionary Ridge, Tennessee, and Resaca, Georgia,
then joined Sherman during the Atlanta campaign and marched with his army
to the sea. He had previously re-enlisted in the same company and
regiment, which entitled him to rank with the veterans. After reaching the
coast at Savannah he accompanied the army northward through the Carolinas
to Raleigh and was present when Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to
Sherman, then marched overland to Washington, D. C., camped at Arlington
Heights, Virginia, and later participated in the grand review at the
capitol. After that he was sent with some troops to Louisville, Kentucky,
and thence to Little Rock, Arkansas, and was honorably discharged and
mustered out on August 13, i865, as sergeant-major of his regiment, of
which he had been adjutant clerk from August, 1863, until May, 1865, when
he was appointed sergeant-major. Appreciating his ability as a soldier, he
was commissioned first lieutenant, but never mustered as such.

After his career in the army Mr. Bair returned to Waynesburg, Ohio, and
attended school for some time, then spent two terms at Mt. Vernon College
at Alliance, Ohio. After finishing school he clerked in a store at
Malvern, Ohio, for eight months, then began his career as teacher, for
which he seemed well qualified by both nature and training. His first work
as an educator was at Mapleton, Ohio, where he remained until 1869, when
he came to Springfield, Missouri, and soon thereafter began teaching in
the rural schools of Greene county, which he continued for a period of
seventeen years, teaching nine terms in one district. He was regarded as a
progressive, thorough and painstaking instructor and his services were in
great demand. He was one of the best-known teachers in the county of that
period. Since abandoning the school room he has served in various
capacities in business and county offices. He was deputy recorder of deeds
for two years, was deputy county clerk for one term, then bookkeeper for
five years for a wholesale company in Springfield, then traveled for a
firm for eighteen months in several states. We next find him as deputy
county collector for two years, then as deputy county assessor for four
years, and in 1903 he was appointed deputy county clerk, in which capacity
he has since served, being still in this office. His long career in the
county offices has made him one of the best-known men in the county, and
his work has been most satisfactory to all concerned, being not only well
performed, but promptly and courteously.

Politically Mr. Bair is a Republican. He is a member of the local post of
the Grand Army of the Republic, and religiously he is a member of the
Christian church.

Mr. Bair was married on August 11, 1870, to Virginia J. Jeffries, who was
born in Greene county, Missouri, in March, 1851, and her death occurred on
November 12, 1912. She proved to be a faithful and sympathetic helpmeet
and was a good woman in every respect.

To Mr. and Mrs. Bair four children were born, namely: Anna L., born on
April 20, 1871, died on August 9, 1905; William M., born on May 4, 1873,
died in March, 1875; Victoria, born on September 8, 1875, died on February
28, 1894; Charles A., born on May 2, 1878, is a conductor on the Frisco
Railroad and lives in Springfield.





S. A. BAKER. It will always be a mark of distinction to have served the
Union during the great Civil war between the states. The old soldier will
receive attention no matter where he goes if he will but make himself
known. And when he passes away, as so many of them are now doing, friends
will pay him a suitable eulogy for the sacrifices he made a half century
ago on the sanguinary fields of battle in the Southland or in the no less
dreaded prison, fever camp or hospital. And ever afterward his descendants
will revere his memory and take pride in recounting his services for his
country in its hour of peril. One of the eligible citizens for special
mention in the present volume is S. A. Baker, formerly a successful
bricklayer and plasterer, but now engaged in the grocery business in
Springfield, partly because he is one of the old soldiers who went forth
in that great crisis in the sixties to assist in saving the union of
states, and partly because he has led an honorable life. He is a plain,
unassuming gentleman who has sought to do his duty in all the relations of
life as he has seen and understood the right.

Mr. Baker was born in Washington county, Arkansas, June 10, 1844. He is a
son of S. A. and Terice (Looper) Baker. The father was born in
Massachusetts, in 1806, and was reared on historic Bunker Hill, Boston.
His death occurred in Springfield, Missouri, December 24, 1863. The mother
was born in North Carolina, December 9, 1823, and her death occurred on
January 19, 1904. These parents received a limited education, came West
when young and were married in Arkansas in 1843. S. A. Baker, grandfather
of our subject, was born in Massachusetts, being of an old family of New
England. His father was also S. A. Baker, and he was a soldier in the
Revolutionary war, which fact made our subject eligible for membership in
the organization of Sons of the American Revolution.

The father of our subject was a bricklayer by trade, also a plasterer. For
some time he owned a farm in Arkansas, having been an early settler in
Washington county. From there he removed with his family to Springfield,
Missouri, during war times, 1863, and his death occurred soon thereafter.
His son our subject, had come here the year previous. He was the only
child.

The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch grew to manhood in
Arkansas and there attended the common schools, receiving a fairly good
education, for those times. He was compelled to leave school when the war
broke out. In vacations he worked at surveying and in learning the
bricklayer's and plasterer's trades under his father. He came to
Springfield and enlisted, on September 4, 1862, in the First Arkansas
Cavalry, Company L, under Capt. John Bonine, and he saw considerable hard
service. He was in the battle of Fayetteville, in April, 1863, and three
other engagements also the battle of Prairie Grove and numerous
skirmishes, being in eight regular engagements in all. He proved to be a
faithful soldier and was honorably discharged in Fayetteville on August
23, 1865. Remaining in Arkansas until the following January, he came to
Springfield and worked at the bricklayer's trade, which he continued until
nearly twelve years ago, having become quite proficient. He spent a number
of years in the employ of the Ash Grove Lime Kiln works, building and
repairing lime kilns. Owing to an accident which injured his eye, he was
compelled to give up his trade, so he engaged in the grocery business at
635 West Chestnut street, and has remained in this stand since February
23, 1903. He has built up a very satisfactory trade, and carries an
excellent line of staple and fancy groceries. He owns his place of
business, as well as a fine brick borne adjoining.

Mr. Baker was married on February 26, 1900, in Greenfield, Missouri, to
Myrtle Henry. She is the daughter of David and Martha Jane (Morris) Henry.
She was born in Danville, Illinois, December 25, 1875. When she was a
small child her parents moved with her to Kansas, where she received her
education. They later moved to Greenfield, Missouri. Mrs. Baker is a
member of the First Christian church here, and is also a member of the
Ladies' Circle.

Politically, Mr. Baker is a Republican. He is a member of the Grand Army
of the Republic, also the Sons of the American Revolution as before
indicated. He belongs to the First Christian church.





LEWIS F. BANFIELD. Among the successful farmers of Greene county of a past
generation, was the late Lewis F. Banfield, who was progressive in his
ideas of husbandry, and in connection with his sound judgment and
foresight he had the proper industry and perseverance to make his chosen
life work a success. Like so man of our citizens of his generation he came
from Tennessee and he had the sagacity to see in this locality splendid
opportunities for the tiller of the soil, for no state in the Union has a
more complete and rapid system of natural drainage, or a more abundant
supply of pure, fresh water than Missouri. Both man and beast may slake
their thirst from a thousand perennial fountains, which gush in limpid
streams from hillsides innumerable, and wend their way through verdant
valleys and along smiling prairies or through shady forests, varying in
size, as they onward flow, from the diminutive brooklet to the giant
river. Our subject was a good farmer, good soldier and good citizen.

Mr. Banfield was born in Tennessee, August 16, 1845. He was a son of
Qualles and Lucy (Warren) Banfield, both of old Tennessee families. There
these parents grew to maturity, were educated in the old-time schools and
there were married and established their home. The father devoted his life
to farming and stock raising, first in his native state, remaining there
until 1846, when he moved his family to Missouri, his son Lewis F., of
this memoir, being then a year old. The family located on a farm in Greene
county, not far from Springfield, and here the elder Banfield applied
himself with his usual skill and diligence and made a success, and here he
and his wife spent the rest of their lives, dying respected by their
neighbors and friends. Their family consisted of six children, three sons
and three daughters, all surviving at this writing but the subject of this
sketch; the brothers and sisters are, Columbus, John, Mrs. Elizabeth
Carter, a widow; Mrs.. Samuel Dishman and Lucy, wife of Benjamin Potter
and subject, Lewis F. Most of them still live in Greene county.

Lewis F. Banfield was reared on the farm and assisted with the general
work there when a boy, and he received his education in the public schools
of his day. He was working on the farm when the Civil war began, and he
unhesitatingly proved his courage and patriotism, although but a mere boy,
by offering his services and his life, if need be, in behalf of the Union,
serving three years and three months in the Twenty-fourth Missouri
Volunteer Infantry in which he saw much hard service, taking part in many
important campaigns and engagements, including the battle of Chattanooga.
He proved to be a brave, gallant and faithful soldier, never shirking his
duty no matter how arduous or dangerous. He was but twenty-one years of
age when he was honorably discharged from the service.

After returning home from the army Mr. Banfield resumed farming, which he
made his principal life work, and became owner of valuable farming land in
Greene county, a few miles west of Springfield, which he brought up to a
high state of cultivation and improvement, and ranked among the best
farmers of his township.

Mr. Banfield was married July 13, 1865, to Nancy C. Gibony, a daughter of
Andrew and Sarah A. (Hackney) Gibony. -Mr. Gibony was a successful
contractor and builder. Andrew Gibony was born in the South and died in
Springfield. He built the first court house in this county, the one that
stood in the center of the public square. Mrs. Gibony was born in Boone
county, Missouri, and was a daughter of H. Hackney, who was an early
pioneer in Boone county.

Mrs. Banfield is one of a family of six children, three sons and three
daughters, namely: Mrs. Mary E. Foster; James; John P.; Elizabeth;
subject's wife; and one that died while young. Mrs. Banfield was educated
in the public schools of Greene county. Seven children were born to Mr.
and Mrs. Banfield, namely: Qualie W. died at the age of thirty-one years,
leaving a widow; George Frederick, who is engaged in merchandising at
McKinley, Lawrence county, Missouri, with his mother, is married and has
one child, Ruby; his wife was Alice Irby prior to her marriage. Nona E.,
third child of our subject, married Charles Aven, a farmer in Christian
county; this state, and they have two children, Bertha and May; Mary A.
married Thomas Carr, a farmer of Christian county, and they have two sons,
Ralph and Fred; Sterling E., a steam fitter, married Addie Gruebaugh, and
they live in Salt Lake City, Utah; Lucy E. married Ralph Wardell, who is
connected with the Springfield Seed Company, and they have two daughters,
Nona and Mildred; Louis Harvey died at the age of eighteen years.

Politically, Mr. Banfield was a Republican, but never very active in
public affairs. He belonged to the Cumberland Presbyterian church and was
a liberal supporter of the same. He belonged to the Sons of Veterans.

The death of Mr. Banfield occurred February 20, 1903. He was known as a
good business man, a kind husband and father and a good neighbor. Mrs.
Banfield, a woman of much executive ability in business matters, lives in
Springfield, owning a home on West Walnut street, and also valuable
farming land in the county.





THEODORE BANISTER. From the "banks of the Wabash far away" hails Theodore
Banister, and no doubt, in the language of Paul Dresser's famous song,
"oft his mind reverts to the happy scenes of childhood" in that fair
country where '"round his Indiana homestead wave the cornfields" with
"scent of new-mown hay" and sycamore bottoms and all that; for it is
indeed a desirable country, and,. of course, seems better to those whose
youth was spent there. It is not only a picturesque country, but it has
produced some of our best American citizens, men of industry, courage and
honesty, so that they have been welcomed into whatever communities they
have cast their lots. Not many of them have settled in Greene county, but
Mr. Banister has found it to his advantage to do so.

Our subject was born in Wabash county, Indiana, February 28, 1846. He is a
son of- Nathaniel and Emiline (Dale) Banister. The father was born
December 13, 1818, in Nicholas county, Kentucky, in which state he spent
his earlier years, finally emigrating to Indiana in an early day and
locating in Wabash county. They were married in Fayette county, Indiana,
February 9, 1841, and there began life in typical pioneer fashion, he
entering eighty acres of land from the government, which he cleared and
developed into a farm, making general farming his life work. He lived on
one farm for a period of forty-six years, and was a well-known man in his
locality. His farm in Wabash county consisted of one hundred and sixty
acres of excellent land. There his death occurred many years ago, but his
widow survives, having attained at this writing the unusual age of
ninety-four years, still making her home in the Hoosier state.
Politically, Nathaniel Banister was a Democrat, and he was at one time
trustee of his township. His family consisted of ten children, seven of
whom are still living, namely: Merritt, who has remained in Wabash county,
Indiana; Theodore, of this sketch: Louis, Alfred, Horace, Sanford and
Alice, all live in Indiana; the other three children died. in early life.

Mr. Banister, of this review, grew up on the home farm, where he when a
boy, and he received his education in the public schools of the first his
vicinity, the first school he attended being in a log cabin. He followed
farming until he was twenty-one years old, then began learning the
carpenter's trade, for which he had unusual natural talent. He remained in
his native state until in 1880, when he came to Springfield, Missouri. He
has continued in carpenter work all the while and is a fast and high-grade
and his services are in good demand at the highest wages.

Mr. Banister was married on November 7, 1884, in Springfield, to Laura
Loveless, who was born in the central part of Ohio, May 1, 1863, and there
she grew to womanhood and was educated near Bellefontaine, removing to
Springfield, this state, when young, and finishing her education here. Her
parents, George and Sarah (Outland) Loveless, spent most of their lives on
the farm. The father was born September 7, 1823, and died here July 16,
1892. The mother was born June 30, 1823, and died July 18, 1886.

To Mr. and Mrs. Banister three children have been born, namely: George E.,
born July 3, 1886, is a traveling salesman and resides in Springfield;
Ralph, born December 16, 1888, who is employed in Snyder's clothing store
in this city; Theodore, Jr., born October 21,1896, works in Holland's
Bank, this city.

Politically, Mr. Banister is a Democrat. He is a member of the South
Street Christian church, in which he is a deacon, and he has long been
active in church work. He has a cozy home on East Elm street.





GEORGE W. BARNES, M. D. It is a pleasure to the biographer to revert to
the life of an individual who surmounted the discouraging obstacles of an
early environment that was none too auspicious, and while achieving a
large measure of individual success has found time to be a good citizen in
a general way, making his locality better by his residence therein. Such a
man is Dr. George W. Barnes, for over a quarter of a century a leading
physician of the north side in Springfield. Frank, courageous, honest,
aggressive, he, nor his position as a citizen can not well be
misunderstood. In professional, civic and social relations he thinks and
acts along well-regulated lines, and does not evade, does not dodge an
issue. He has energy, intellect, and will; has self-purpose, resolution
and determination, throwing his entire force of body and mind direct upon
his work. His self-reliance has not been wholly acquired--it was born in
him. He believed at the start that if there were better days, and "good
times coming" that we are justified in hoping for, we must be capable of
making them for ourselves. The fable of the "labors of Hercules" is indeed
the type of human doing and success.

Doctor Barnes was born in Greene county, Missouri, April 7, 1855. He is a
son of Elisha K. and Mary J. (Small) Barnes. The father was born in 1830
in North Carolina, from which state he emigrated to Missouri in early
life, locating in Greene county, where he engaged in farming. When the
Civil war came on he enlisted in the Confederate army during the early
part of the conflict and fought gallantly until taken prisoner. He was
sent to the Federal prison at Indianapolis, Indiana, where he died. He was
of English ancestry. His father, Nineveh Barnes, was a native of North
Carolina. He married Phoebe Headlee. They spent their earlier years in
North Carolina, from which state they removed to Greene county, Missouri,
in pioneer days, located on a farm, and there spent the rest of their
days, each reaching advanced ages. The mother of Doctor Barnes was born on
August 4, 1833, in Greene county, Missouri, where her people, the Smalls,
were first settlers, and the old homestead has remained in possession of
the family to the present time. The Small family is of Scotch ancestry.

Elisha K. Barnes and wife were married on March 25, 1851, and they reared
a family of four children, three sons and a daughter, namely: Dr. George
W., of this review; Elisha E., born March 24, 1864, is married and lives
in Oklahoma City; Mrs. Mattie Dennis, who resides in Hutchinson, Kansas,
where Mr. Dennis is engaged in the real estate business, and Robert N.,
who died in Wichita, Kansas. The mother of these children is still living,
having attained her eighty-first year.

Doctor Barnes is an excellent type of the successful self-made man. His
parents were poor and his father died when the future physician was but a
boy, so he was early thrown on his own resources, and, therefore,
practically his whole life has been one of self-support. He grew up on the
farm and worked hard as a tiller of the soil during the summer months and
in the winter time attended the district schools. Later he taught country
schools in the winter months and farmed summers, and laid by funds to
complete his education. He finished his literary studies at Morrisville
College, in Polk county, this state, and, in 1882, he entered the Missouri
Medical College in St. Louis, from which he was graduated with the class
of 1884, and in that year he commenced the practice of his profession at
Brighton, Polk county, where he remained in a good country practice until
1888, when he removed to Springfield, opening an office at Boonville and
Commercial streets, which office he has since occupied, and his success
a's a general practitioner has steadily grown all the while, and it is
worthy of note that after a continuous practice here of twenty-five years
the past year was the best of all, which fact should be a sufficient
recommendation, not only of his ability, but of the confidence reposed in
him by the people of this locality. He now confines himself as much to
city practice as possible. He is often called in consultation on serious
cases with other leading physicians of the city and county. He does a
great deal of hospital work, and he has lectured at Burge Deaconess
Hospital, Springfield, since its organization. He is a member of the board
that lectures the nurses in training at this hospital, and also at the
Springfield Hospital. His principal subject is nervous diseases.

Doctor Barnes is a member of the Greene County Medical Society, of which
he was president in 1906, and vice-president in 1905, and is at this
writing a member of the board of censors of this society. He also belongs
to the Southwest Missouri Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical
Association and the American Medical Association. He is a member of the
Commercial Club. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic Order, Tribe of
Ben Hur, Improved Order of Red Men, the Woodmen and the Court of Honor.
Politically, he is a Democrat, and, religiously, belongs to the Methodist
Episcopal church.

Doctor Barnes was married, May 26, 1886, to Annie L. Fender, who was born
in 1864 in Greene county, where she was reared and educated in the public
schools. She is a daughter of Wilson and Louisa (Wallace) Fender, she
being the only child. Her father was a farmer, and when the Civil war came
on he enlisted in the Union army and saw much hard service, and as a
result of the exposure, contracted pneumonia while in the service was sent
home, and died soon afterwards. Mrs. Barnes was but a child at that time
and too young to remember him. A few years later Mrs. Louisa Fender
married again, her last husband being Capt. J. W. Peitz, an officer in the
Union army. Two children were born to the second marriage, namely: Joseph
E. Peitz, a member of the shoe firm of Peitz & Cogley, who conduct one of
the most extensive shoe businesses on Commercial street, Springfield; and
Mrs. Alice Meador, also of Springfield, and the wife of a passenger
conductor on the Frisco railroad.

To Doctor Barnes and wife one child has been born, Geneva Aline Barnes,
whose birth occurred in Springfield on December 13, 1896. She was educated
in the ward schools and is now in her fourth year in the high school. She
is a cultured and talented young lady, takes a fond interest in elocution,
has decided musical ability and tastes, and at present is taking voice
culture under Rev. Mrs. McClanahan, of this city.

In his private and social relations Doctor Barnes is enjoyable, animated,
jovial, and entertaining. There is no pretense or display about him, is
kind and generous-hearted, and with friends is firm and true.





JOHN BARRETT. There are farmers who might be known as one idea men, for
they give too much attention to some particular phase of their work to the
neglect of the general system required to make farming a success. Such men
may have a bad influence. The man who has a reputation for big crops
should study his farming to see if it will bear close critical inspection
in its various details. John Barrett, one of the foremost farmers of East
Center township, Greene county, does this. He gives such attention as is
necessary to produce large yields of all his crops and at the same time
keeps his place attractive in every way, thus setting a good example.

Mr. Barrett is a scion of one of the earliest pioneer families in this
section of the state, and for a period of eighty-six years the Barretts
have been well and favorably known in Greene county--good farmers and good
citizens. Our subject was born in Center township, this county, December
22, 1873. He is a son of Thomas Lafayette Barrett and Margaret A. (Binns)
Barrett, the mother a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Binns. The father
of our subject was born on November 10, 1843, in this county, here grew to
manhood, attended the early-day subscription schools, and spent his life
engaged successfully in general farming and stock raising, and became one
of the best known men in the county. His father came from Hawkins county,
Tennessee, early in the nineteenth century, and located in Greene county
when this country was wild and settlers were few, but he was a man of
courage and soon had a home established and land under cultivation. The
death of Thomas L. Barrett occurred in 1910, after a life of usefulness
and honor. He was married on September 28, 1871, and reared a family of
six sons and one daughter, namely: Eldorado married W. H. Yeakley, a
farmer of Stockton, Missouri; Walter, who is farming in Center township,
Greene county, married Bertha Redfearn of Center township; Arthur, who was
graduated from the Missouri State University, who is farming in Center
township, married Mattie Sparkman; Elbert Lee, who is also farming in
Center township, married Minnie Sparkman, a sister of his brother's wife;
Thomas V. died on October 3, 1913, at the age of twenty-three years, after
securing a good education in the Missouri State University; John, of this
sketch; Weldon L., who is in the state university at this writing.

Mr. Barrett, of this review, grew to manhood on the homestead, where he
assisted with the work during crop seasons when growing to manhood and in
the winter time he attended the local schools, obtaining a good education.
He has always followed general farming and lives on the homestead with his
mother, the place consisting of four hundred acres of valuable and
productive land, constituting one of the choice farms of this part of the
county. It lies, along the Carthage road, eight miles west of Springfield.

Mr. Barrett was married on June 4, 1911, to Mary Harris, a daughter of
William and Margaret Harris of Republic township, Greene county, where
Mrs. Barrett was reared to womanhood and educated. To our subject and wife
one child has been born, Esther Margaret Barrett, whose birth occurred on
October 1, 1912.

Fraternally, Mr. Barrett is a member of Bois D'Arc Lodge No. 449, Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons, also the modern Woodmen of America and the
Anti-Horse Thief Association. Politically he is a Democrat, and he and his
family attend the Methodist church. Like his father and grandfather before
him, he takes keen interest in all movements looking to the general
improvement of his township and county.





ROBERT FRANKLIN BARRETT. After a successful railroad career of nearly
thirty years, Robert Franklin Barrett decided on a less strenuous and
quieter vocation and turned his attention to the theater business with the
result that he is earning a very satisfactory livelihood as proprietor of
the "Happy Hour" moving picture theater in Springfield, and while there
are times, as might naturally be expected, when he longs again for the old
life of the train man, yet this mood does not last long, as a rule, and he
is well pleased with his new vocation.

Mr. Barrett was born in Salem, Missouri, November 13, 1855. He is a son of
William and Margaret (McDole) Barrett, both natives of Ireland, from which
country they emigrated to the United States when young in years and here
spent the rest of their lives. They established their home in Virginia,
where they spent many years and from there removed to Missouri, locating
at Salem over sixty years ago when that part of the state was sparsely
settled. They had been educated in the common schools of Virginia and
married in that state. There the father of our subject learned the
business of iron ore worker which he followed principally the rest of his
life, dying near Salem, Missouri, when his son, Robert F., was a boy. His
widow survived many years, dying at Bloomington, Illinois, in October,
1904.

After the death of his father the subject of this sketch was compelled to
get out and hustle for himself, but he was by nature courageous, having
inherited many of the indomitable traits of his Irish ancestors, and he
not only made his own way when a boy but also managed to obtain a fair
education. He came to Springfield when a young man and here began his
railroad career in 1879 as brakeman on the Frisco, running principally on
the western division, and he also worked as flag man on a passenger train
for some time. He proved to he a very faithful employee wherever he was
placed and he was promoted to freight conductor in 1885. Twelve years of
his railroad career was spent with the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company, a
part of which time he was passenger conductor. Leaving this road in 1898,
he returned to the Frisco system, and was given a position as freight
conductor on the central division. He continued with the Frisco until 1907
when he quit the road and engaged in the moving picture business in which
he has been very successful and which he has continued for seven years.
The first three years were spent at Hugo, Oklahoma, after which he came to
Springfield and opened the "Happy Hour" Theater at 502 East Commercial
street, which has been very popular and which continues to be one of the
best patronized in the city, for Mr. Barrett knows what a good show is and
tries to give his patrons the best and at the same time make them as
comfortable as possible no matter what the season or the weather is. He
has a neat, clean and sanitary place and a full modern equipment,
including an up-to-date electric piano. He shows the "Universal" program.
He shows four reels daily.

Mr. Barrett was married on December 7, 1898, in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, to
Josephine Crow. She was born in Iowa, January 4, 1864, and she is a
daughter of Jonathan and Helen (Dooley) Crow, both parents natives of
Cork, Ireland, from which country they emigrated to America when young and
here established their home, spending the rest of their lives in the New
World. They have been deceased for some time, the father having died in
Iowa and the mother in Arkansas. They gave their daughter, Josephine good
educational advantages.

To Mr. and Mrs. Barrett one child has been born, Irene J., whose birth
occurred on December 10, 1899, and who is now attending school.

Politically, Mr. Barrett is a Democrat and has been active in the affairs
of this party for many years. He was elected city marshal of Springfield
in 1886, serving one term in a manner that was highly pleasing to his
constituents and with credit to himself. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Masonic Order, having attained the thirty-second degree in the same, is a
Knight Templar and a Scottish Rite, in fact has taken everything in this
time-honored order but the thirty-third degree, the highest in the order.
He has long been prominent in Masonry in the Southwest.





WILLARD MAJOR BARRON. In placing the name of Willard Major Barron, of
Republic, in the front rank of Greene county's business men, simple
justice is done to a biographical fact, recognized throughout this section
of the Ozark region by those at all familiar with his history, for he was
the founder of the extensive manufacturing industry which bears his name.
A man of wise discretion and business ability of a high order, he manages
with tactful success an important enterprise and has so impressed his
individuality upon the community as to gain recognition among its leading
citizens and public-spirited men of affairs. What of the man and what of
his work? This is the dual query which represents the interrogation at
least nominally entertained whenever that discriminating factor, the
public, would pronounce on the true worth of the individual. The career of
Mr. Barron indicates the clear-cut, sane and distinct character, and in
reviewing the same from an unbiased and unprejudiced standpoint,
interpretation follows fact in a, straight line of derivation. In this
publication it is consistent that such a review be entered, and that
without the adulation of ornate praise.

Mr. Barron was born in Northhampton county, Pennsylvania, March 24, 1854.
He is a son of Samuel C. and Sallie (Major) Barron. Samuel C. Barron was
reared in Pennsylvania and received a good practical education, partly in
the schools of Easton, that state, and later in life started in the retail
cigar business for himself, which he continued until his death, in igo6.
He and his wife were both natives of, Northampton county, Pennsylvania,
and were reared and married there. The Major family were in the cooperage
business in, that locality and were well known and highly respected, as
were also the Barrons. During the war between the states Samuel C. Barron
served three years as a soldier in the Union army, as a member of a
regiment from his native state. For some time after the close of the war
he followed blacksmithing, but later took up the cigar business. Toward
the latter part of his life his eyesight failed and he finally went blind.

Willard. M. Barron was the, only child of his parents. He grew to manhood
in Pennsylvania, remaining there until he was nineteen years of age, and
there he was educated in the common schools. Leaving his native state he
went to Michigan, locating twelve miles south of Kalamazoo, where he
engaged in the grocery business for himself, later took in partners, the
firm name becoming Barron, Frank Boner & Company, continuing for two
years. During those early years in Michigan our subject learned the
cooperage business; for which he seemed to have a natural bent. His
grandfather had operated a cooper shop many years at Martin's Creek,
Pennsylvania, near the city of Easton, and there young Barron often
visited and watched the workmen at their tasks, however he did not attempt
the work himself at that time. He worked under John B. Major, an uncle,
who was engaged in this line of endeavor in Michigan. Mr. Major is now
deceased. He was foreman of the cooperage plant owned by. Jacob Johnson,
who had married the mother of our subject and was therefore at that time
our subject's, step-father. When twenty-two years old Willard M. Barron
went to Winona, Minnesota, where he worked at the cooper's trade three
years, then returned to Michigan and worked two years for his stepfather,
then located in Schoolcraft, that state, and started a grocery store,
which he conducted two years, then sold out and came to Missouri, buying a
farm in Jasper county, in 1880. In 1887 he same to Springfield and worked
for the Springfield Lumber and Cooperage Company about six years, then
went to Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, where he had charge of the Mammoth
Spring Roller Mills cooper shop, which position he held seven years, then
went to Nashville, Tennessee, and took charge of the H. C. Mocker
cooperage plant, which employed on an average of forty-five men. After
spending two years there he returned to Springfield, Missouri, and took
charge of the Wunderlich cooperage shop here, which he operated a year,
which ended his work for other people. In all the above responsible
positions he gave eminent satisfaction in every respect, being an
exceptionally highly skilled workman, energetic, reliable and handled the
men under him in a manner to get the best results possible and retain
their good will at the same time. He continued learning the various ins
and outs of the business until he felt eminently qualified to manage a
plant of his own, and thus he went to Republic and began in the cooperage
business for himself. He was successful from the first and his business
grew by leaps and bounds under his able management and wise foresight
until it has now reached enormous proportions and he has thriving
factories in a number of other cities besides his main plant at Republic.
Upon establishing his plant in the last named place he contracted to make
the barrels for the Becker, Langerberger Milling Company of Republic,
which, however, was even at that time owned by the R. C. Stone Milling
Company. He has three other plants, one at Joplin, one at Carthage, one at
Aurora and, formerly, he operated similar plants at Mt. Vernon and
Marionville. His main plant and head office are at Republic, and the
combined output of all his plants averages one hundred and fifty thousand
barrels per year, all hand-made and of a superior quality and workmanship.
The Barron Cooperage Company has a splendid financial rating and has from
the first stood high in the industrial circles of the Southwest. Each
factory is modern in every detail, equipped with up-to-date machinery and
only the most highly skilled artisans are employed and the best material
used. The various plants give employment to a large number of men.

Mr. Barron was married, first, to Mary Tweedy, a daughter of Thomas and
Sarah Tweedy. Mr. Tweedy was a native of Ireland from which country he
emigrated to New York, where he married a native of that state. He was a
tailor by trade. Mrs. Barron was born in Constantine, Michigan, and was
one of five children. She died three years after her marriage, without
issue. Mr. Barron was married on January 5, 1879, to Sarah Jane Baldy, who
was a daughter of Paul R. and Jane (Finley) Baldy, natives of Pennsylvania
and Michigan, respectively. They were the parents of two children-Frank
Baldy, who lives in Flint, Michigan; and Sarah Jane, wife of Mr. Barron.
The latter was quite small when her mother died, and when her father
married again he took her into his new home, she having spent about four
years after her mother's death with an aunt in Pennsylvania. The mother of
Mrs. Barron is living near Carthage, Jasper county, Missouri, where she
owns about three-quarters section of very valuable land.

Four children have been born to Mr. Barron and his last wife, named as
follows: Sallie Annette is the wife of, Edward Huckins and they live in
Republic; Willard B. lives in Aurora, Missouri; Flora J. is the wife of J.
C. McCleary, of Seattle, Washington; Lewis Whitfield lives in Joplin,
Missouri.

These children all received good educational advantages and are well
situated in life.

We quote the following paragraph from the leading newspaper of Aurora,
this state, which article recently appeared, and we deem it in keeping
with the rest of this chronicle:

"There may be some persons in Aurora and this section of the state who do
not know that Willard M. Barron has one of his largest cooperage plants in
this city, but everyone who is in the market for these goods has long
since learned that Aurora supports one of the largest plants of this kind
in southwest Missouri. The branch of the W. M. Barron Cooperage Company,
which is established in Aurora is under, the personal direction of Willard
B. Barron, who is a stockholder in the concern. He is the son of Willard
M. Barron, who is known throughout this country as being the pioneer in
cooperage works. The Barrons are a family of coopers. The father came to
this country fourteen years ago and located in Springfield. After
remaining there for one year he saw an opening at Republic and moved
there. He has been established in that town for thirteen years, now. As he
remained there he saw the development of the wonderful orchards throughout
Missouri. It was at this time that Aurora became the center of large
orchards and, knowing that great opportunities awaited him, he established
his plant here. Willard B. Barron, who has been in charge of the plant for
a number of years, has long since demonstrated that he is one of the true,
live ones of Aurora. He is for everything that will develop the city, and
progress is the motto of plant which he manages. With a number of young
men of Mr. Barron's type in this city, Aurora would soon forge to the
front ranks of the cities of Missouri.

"Lewis W. Barron, youngest son of Willard M. Barron, is soon to take
charge of the cooperage plants in Joplin and Carthage. These plants were
established in July, 1913. The Barrons have been spreading out until they
are now the 'barons' of the cooperage business in southwest Missouri. From
twelve to fifteen men are employed at the plant here whose salaries run
from eighteen to thirty dollars a week. The coopers work mostly by piece.
As in the other Barron cooperage plants, the workmen in this city are
highly skilled and are ranked among the high-class laborers of the city.
Despite the adverse conditions of last year, the plant here has done a
very nice business the present season. Thirteen cars of material have been
shipped into Aurora and fifteen cars of barrels and other products of the
cooperage plants have been shipped to points throughout the country. The
products are not confined to this territory, but are sent to many of the
neighboring states. Only recently a carload of the products was sent to
Oswego, Kansas. Aurora is fortunate in having a large branch of such a
concern. It means much to the city. Men are employed and money is brought
here. It is such establishments, as W. M. Barron Cooperage Company that
have put Aurora on the map as a commercial center"

Politically, Willard M. Barron is a Republican and is well-informed on
current public matters. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic order, the
Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of the
Maccabees, Woodmen of the World and Woodmen's Circle. Mrs. Barron is a
member of the Ladies of Maccabees and the Woodmen's Circle. Both belong to
the Methodist Episcopal church, in which they are active workers, he being
president of the board of stewards and is also a trustee of the church. He
was formerly leader in the Sunday school.

We close this article by quoting the last lines in an account of our
subject and his large business interests, which appeared some time ago in
a newspaper at Republic:

"Mr. Barron is a fervent Christian, being a member of the Hood Methodist
Episcopal church. He has been Sunday school superintendent for four years.
He is a member of nearly all the lodges in Republic. No better neighbor or
honest man lives today than Willard Barron, of the city of Republic."





JAMES HARVEY BARTON. Great achievements always excite admiration. Men of
deeds are the men whom the world delights to honor. Ours is an age
representing the most electrical progress in all lines of material
activity, and the man of initiative is the one who forges to the front in
the industrial world. Among the distinctive captains of industry of a past
generation in Greene county, a place of priority must be accorded to the
late James Harvey Barton, for to him was due the upbuilding of an industry
which was not only one of the most important in the locality of which this
history treats, but also one of the most extensive of its kind in southern
Missouri. The comparatively brief time in which he obtained pronounced
results as a man of affairs further testify to his exceptional
administrative ability and executive power. The city of Ash Grove and
vicinity owe him a debt of gratitude which can never be paid. Mr. Barton
was in the fullest sense of the word a progressive, virile, self-made
American citizen, thoroughly in harmony with the spirit of the advanced
age in which he lived, while he made the most of his opportunities and
worked his way upward from a beginning none too auspicious to a noble and
worthy success. He made good use of his opportunities and prospered from
year to year, conducting all business matters carefully and
systematically, and in all his acts displaying an aptitude for successful
management. He did not permit the accumulation of fortune to affect in any
way his actions toward those less fortunate than he, and he always had a
cheerful word and a helping hand for those in need. Indeed, Mr. Barton was
a most companionable gentleman, and had a very wide circle of warm and
admiring friends throughout southwestern Missouri. All who came within
range of his influence were profuse in their praise of his admirable
qualities, and the high regard in which he was always held, not only in
commercial but in social life, indicated the possession of attributes and
characteristics that fully entitled him to the respect and good will of
his fellowman, which were freely accorded by all with whom he came in
contact.

Mr. Barton was born in St. Louis, Missouri, March 29, 1844. He was a son
of Waite and Hannah (Frothingham) Barton. The father of the subject of
this memoir was born in New England and there grew to manhood and was
educated, and in an early day he came west and located in St. Louis,
Missouri. He was a member of the famous band of "forty-niners," making the
hazardous journey across the great western plains to the California gold
fields, and while in that state was a member of the noted Vigilant
Committee. His wife died in early life, about 1848, but he lived to a good
old age.

Upon the death of his mother, James Harvey Barton, then only four years
old, was sent to the home of his aunt in Boston, Massachusetts, where he
grew to manhood and was educated. When eighteen years of age he enlisted
for service in the Union army, becoming a member of Company A.
Forty-second. Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, in which he served
faithfully and gallantly for three years, taking part in a number of the
important battles of the war, and was honorably discharged in 1865. After
the war he joined his father in Quincy, Illinois, and made a trip through
Kansas then back to St. Louis. When the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad
Company built its lines west from that city he followed the construction
with a supply store, which he continued until he reached Pierce City,
Missouri, where he engaged in the lumber business for a few years, then
built a lime kiln which he operated until 1880. In that year he came to
Ash Grove, and in company with Charles W. Goetz and W. B. Hill, formed the
Ash Grove White Lime Association. They began with one kiln, but their
business increased continuously until in a few years they had eleven kilns
running, using about forty cords of wood a day. A large number of men were
employed, and the owners of timbered lands did a thriving business. The
firm shipped its first lime in May, 1881. They also established a two-kiln
lime plant at Galloway. The firm incorporated in 1907 as the Ash Grove
Lime and Portland Cement Company, with a capital stock of two million
seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which stock is a staple one of
the country. The cement they handle is manufactured at Chanute, Kansas.
The firm is one of the largest of its kind in the Middle West and is
widely known, doing an extensive business over a wide territory. One
hundred and forty men are now employed by the plant at Ash Grove, this
plant being modernly equipped in every respect and has a capacity of
fourteen hundred barrels and three hundred barrels at the Galloway plant.
The firm owns four hundred acres of splendid quarry land, located just
west of Ash Grove, and four hundred and fifty acres of equally as good
land just north of the city. The firm also owns and operates its own
cooperage plant, making all the barrels it uses. It is not too much to say
that this company is the largest and best equipped lime and cement
manufacturing concern west of the Mississippi river and rivaling any
industry of its kind in the United States. And the motive force back of
the establishment and development of this mammoth concern was Mr. Barton,
who made few mistakes in a business way and who was a man of rare
foresight and courage.

Mr. Barton lived in Springfield for a period of eleven years, but returned
to Ash Grove to make his future home in 1900, spending his last years at
his beautiful estate, Woodbine, one of the most splendid country homes in
southwest Missouri.

Mr. Barton was married in 1877 to Cynthia Hill, who was born in Covington,
Ohio. She is a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Yetter) Hill, who finally
removed from the Buckeye state to Carthage, Missouri. Mr. Hill was for
years engaged in the live stock business.

To Mr. and Mrs. Barton three children were born, namely: William .H., born
October 23, 1884, was educated in the Springfield public school, which he
attended three years, then was a student at Drury College four years, then
spent three years in the Shattuck Military Academy, at Fairbault,
Minnesota. He was graduated from the high school at Ithaca, New York, in
1904, and from Cornell University at that place in 1908, from the
mechanical engineering department. At this writing he is superintendent of
the plants of the Ash Grove Lime and Portland Cement Company in Greene
county, and is a young man of much business ability. In June, 1909 he
married Edna Baldwin, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, August 21, 1886,
and died January 29, 1913, leaving one child, James H. Barton, whose birth
occurred April 19, 1912. Helen, the second child of James Harvey Barton
and wife, was born January 1, 1886, and is now the wife of Dr. Harry M.
Hosmer; James H., Jr., youngest of the children, was born in 1889 and died
in 1897.

Politically, Mr. Barton was a Republican and fraternally a member of the
Masonic order.

Mr. Barton was called to his eternal rest August 3, 1907, at the age of
sixty-four years, while still in the fullness of his powers and
usefulness. Interment of Mr. Barton's remains was made in Maple Park
cemetery, Springfield.

We quote the following lines from an article which appeared in the Ash
Grove Commonwealth at the time of our subject's death:

"Mr. Barton was an optimist of the broadest type, energetic, pushing and
always sanguine of the future. He knew no such word as failure in any of
his business ventures, and to this energy the Ash Grove Lime and Portland
Cement Company is indebted for its splendid growth and present magnitude.
He was ever kind and considerate of the welfare of those in his employ and
enjoyed their trust and respect to the fullest. As one of the employees
expressed it after his death, We worked together as one big family. He
could have been worth a half million more but for his generosity to those
in his employ. No more fitting tribute than this could be paid to the
memory of any man that those who worked with and for him loved and
respected him. No public enterprise for the betterment of the community
that came to his notice was left unaided, and in his death Ash Grove has
lost one of her stanchest friends and helpers, and the Ash Grove Lime and
Portland Cement Company a master mind, capable of grasping the
opportunities for its future development." The following is a paragraph
from an article entitled "Death of a Prominent Citizen," which appeared in
the Journal, of Everton, Missouri, at the time of our subject's death:

"With the last twenty-five years there has been no movement for the
betterment of Ash Grove and vicinity that Mr. Barton has not been
identified with. He has ever been for progress and improvement. Liberal
and broad-minded, he endeared himself to hundreds of men who were in his
employ, and together with Mrs. Barton has done much for the mental and
moral advancement of the people who have built up a little city around the
big plant. All during his illness the workmen at the plant, together with
their families and his friends from Ash Grove and Springfield, have
besieged the Woodbine home for news of the sick man whom they loved so
well. His death has cast a pall over the city of Ash Grove."

From these paragraphs it will be seen that Mr. Barton was eminently
deserving of the high esteem in which he was universally held.





SAMPSON BASS. One of the oldest pioneers of Greene county is Sampson Bass,
one of best-known citizens and, substantial farmers of Jackson township,
who has spent nearly all of his long life of eighty-seven years in this
county, which he has seen come up to its present position from the
wilderness where roamed the red man and wild beast and where very few
white people were to be found. To all this change he has been an
interested and by no means a passive spectator, having sought to do his
full share in the work of progress in the locality where he has been
contented to abide through many decades. He talks most interestingly of
the early days when customs and manners were different, men and women were
different--everything, in fact, unlike what our civilization is today. He
and other early settlers are of the opinion that those were better, at
least happier, times than now, and this is, in the main, true. He might
well be compared with the character represented by .the American poet,
Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his beautiful lines, "The Last Leaf," for Mr.
Bass has lived to see his early acquaintances and friends perform their
allotted acts in the local drama of civilization and then pass on to rest,
coming down to us from a former generation.

Mr. Bass was born in Marion county, Tennessee, on December 8, 1827. He is
a son of Andrew and Ellen (Smith) Bass. The father was a native of
Georgia, from where he removed to North Carolina, thence to Tennessee when
a small boy, and he grew to manhood in the last named state on a farm, and
there received a limited education. He emigrated with his family in 1830
and, by mistake, settled on land belonging to the Indians, who
subsequently drove him off and he settled in Greene county in the fall of
1830, securing eighty acres at first. He started with practically nothing
in this state, but being a man of exceptional ability, he became wealthy
for those times and owned fourteen hundred and forty acres of land at the
time of his death, having acquired his property by hard work and good
management, and he died in 1867 on the place where our subject now lives.
He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife was a native
of Marion county, Tennessee, and there grew up on a farm, received a
limited schooling and there she married Mr. Bass. She was a pioneer woman
in every respect, working hard assisting her husband to get a start in the
wilderness, spinning and weaving, molding candles, making soap and the
thousand and one things about the house, of which the modern woman knows
nothing except by tradition. She was also a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church. Her death occurred on the homestead here in 1862. To
these parents fourteen children were born, namely: Sampson, our subject,
is the oldest; John, Henderson, Jackson and James are all deceased, Martin
V. lives in Greene county, Newton, McCord and Leonard H. are deceased,
Lila lives in Polk county, Missouri; Leda, deceased; Narcissus, deceased;
Margaret is living in Greene county; Ellen also lives in this county.

Mr. Bass, of this sketch, was three years old when his parents brought and
he was reared in Greene county and here received such limited educational
advantages as those early times afforded. He worked hard assisting his
father clear and develop the home farm, remaining under the parental roof
tree until he was twenty-one years old, when, in 1849, he married Ann
Rogers, who was born in Tennessee on October 11, 1830, from which state
her parents brought her to Greene county, Missouri, when she was a child,
and here she grew to womanhood. Her death occurred in1866. Mr. Bass
married a second time, in 1888, to Eliza Lowder, who was born in Green
county, Missouri, October 9, 1850, a daughter of George H. and Juda
(McCall) Lowder. She is a member of the Baptist church, as was also Mr.
Bass' first wife. To the first union nine children were born, namely:
Elizabeth, deceased; Jane, Polly, Riley, Sampson H., Jr., deceased; Dave
J., deceased; the three youngest children died in infancy. To Mr. Bass'
second union two children were born, Roy and Wright.

After his first marriage Mr. Bass went to work as a wagon maker, later
bought forty acres. His father then gave him eighty acres, and later he
entered forty acres. He worked hard and managed well and therefore
prospered with advancing years. He continued to buy land until he
accumulated seven hundred acres, constituting one of the finest farms in
the county, which land he placed under an excellent state of improvement
and cultivation and established a commodious home. In 1860 there was no
mill in this part of the county and one was badly needed, so Mr. Bass
invited his neighbors to his home on Christmas day of that year for the
purpose of talking over a proposition to establish a mill in the
neighborhood. It finally devolved upon Mr. Bass to build a mill in section
15, Jackson township, and for years he carried on a large and successful
business with his combined flour and sawmill, sawing lumber for residents
in adjoining counties, as well as for those who lived in Greene. This was
in 1860 and was the first steam mill to be operated in Greene county.
During the Civil war he ground flour for the armies in this part of the
state. He sold his mill in 1866 and resumed farming. The town of Bassville
in this township was named for our subject.

Politically Mr. Bass is an uncompromising Democrat. He is a member of the
Masonic Order, and religiously belongs to the Baptist church.





LOUIS N. BASSETT. Every human being either submits to the controlling
influence of others or wields an influence which touches, controls, guides
or misdirects others. If he be honest and successful in his chosen field
of endeavor, investigation will brighten his fame and point the way along
which others may follow with like success. Consequently a critical study
of the life record of the gentleman whose name forms the caption of this
paragraph may be beneficial to the reader, for it has been one of
usefulness and honor and indicates how one may rise to positions of
responsibility in the industrial world while yet young in years if he
directs his energies along proper paths and is controlled by proper
ideals.

Louis N. Bassett, superintendent of terminals of the Frisco Lines at
Springfield, is a worthy representative of a distinguished family. He was
born August 21, 1874, in Allen county, Ohio, and is a son of Samuel H. and
Mary (Whipp) Bassett. The father of our subject was born in Ohio, October
1848, and there grew to manhood and received a limited education, and
there he married and spent his earlier years. His wife was also born and
reared in the state of Ohio and was educated there, the date of her birth
being in September, 1850. To these parents eight children were born,
namely: Ollis O., Mrs. Rosie Buchanan, Sarah (deceased), Louis N.
(subject), Clara, Samuel, Jr., DeWitt and Glen.

Samuel H. Bassett is a fine example of a successful self-made American. He
made up for his early lack of education of a higher order by wide home
study and by contact with the world until he became an exceptionally well
informed man, and, choosing a military career, has attained a prominent
place in the United States navy, having been connected with the navy
department since 1896, and is now occupying the responsible position of
auditor of the navy, with offices in Washington, D. C., and is discharging
his duties in a manner that reflects much credit upon himself and to the
satisfaction of his superiors in that department. During the Civil war he
joined the Federal army in the fall of 1863 and served very gallantly as a
private in the Twenty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company I. He saw a
great deal of active service in the far South, and was with General
Sherman in his campaign about Atlanta and was on the memorable march to
the sea. At the close of the war he was mustered out, and honorably
discharged. Many years ago he worked in the internal revenue department in
northwestern Ohio and from that went into the navy, in which his rise has
been rapid. He has shown much natural ability, and this, combined with
keen observing powers and the fact that he has been a diligent student of
everything that pertained to his work, has made him very efficient as well
as popular in this branch of the government service, and he is popular and
well liked in government circles in Washington. He is a member of the
Grand Army of the Republic and belongs to the Knights of Pythias.

Louis N. Bassett grew to manhood in Allen county, Ohio, and there received
a good common school education, later studying at the Ohio State Normal,
at Ada, that state. He began his railroad career in 1896 in Kansas City,
Missouri, as messenger boy for the Frisco in the terminal department
there, and he has remained with this road to the present time. Being
diligent, quick to learn, faithful and reliable in all his work, he has
been promoted until he now holds a very responsible position. He became
chief clerk in that department, which position he occupied until in 1908,
when he was appointed superintendent of terminals at Springfield, and has
since held this post in a manner that has proven him to be entirely
capable and worthy of the high degree of trust and esteem in which he is
held by the company. He looks after the operation of trains, both
passenger and freight, also the yards, tracks and station. He is regarded
as one of the best men, in this particular field, the Frisco has ever had,
and he is frequently complimented by his superiors for his efficient and
prompt work.

Mr. Bassett was married April 3, 1895, in Ohio, to Genevieve Murray., who
was born in Allen county, that state, where she was reared and well
educated. She is a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Depler) Murray. Mr.
Murray was one of the oldest residents of Allen county and was twice
married and reared a large family. To his second wife eight children were
born, three of whom were triplets. Dr. Robert D. Murray, the brother of
our subject's wife, was, at one time, government physician, specializing
in yellow fever, and was United States surgeon for many years and was
located at Ship Island, Mississippi, for a time, and then went to Macon,
Georgia, and was instrumental in wiping out the yellow fever epidemic at
New Brunswick, Georgia, and in 1903 died in Key West, Florida.

Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bassett, namely: Clifford,
born September 19, 1904, and Howard, born August 29, 1906.

Politically, Mr. Bassett is a Republican. Fraternally, he is a member of
the Masonic order, including the blue lodge and other degrees of the
Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and including the
latter. He is active in the affairs of the order, in which he stands high.
Religiously, he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Personally,
he is a man of fine character, is a good mixer, and has made a host of
friends since locating in Springfield.





PERCY J. BATES. Ruskin says that we are always given strength enough and
sense enough for what nature intended us to do, and that, whatever we are
doing, we cannot be properly fulfilling our earthy mission if we are not
happy. ourselves. A part of our service to the world is unquestionably
cheerfulness, and unless we are happy in our work and in the life we lead
among men we are withholding something that is essential to true
serviceableness. Percy J. Bates, rip track foreman at the North Side
Frisco shops, Springfield, is a young man who is cheerful in his daily
tasks, thus making them much lighter to perform.

Mr. Bates was born September 28, 1886, at Essex junction, Chittenden.
county, Vermont. He is a son of Job Bates, who was born in Westford,
Vermont. He grew up in his native state and attended school there and in
his younger days followed farming, later owned and operated a general
store at Essex junction. He was very successful as a business man and
became owner of three or four fine farms, which he kept well stocked and
highly improved, but keeping them rented, merely looking after them in a
general way. He owned a large town house in Essex junction, where he spent
about twenty-five years of his life. He was very fond of good horses and
made a specialty of raising them, always owning some fine ones.
Politically he was, a Republican, and was a road master and selectman,
influential and prominent in his town and county. He was a member of the
Congregational church. His death occurred on May 12,1904, at the age of
seventy-five years. His widow, who was known in her maidenhood as Mary
Ella Brackett, a daughter of Hiram Brackett, of Amboy, Illinois, is living
at Burlington, Vermont; she was born in 1851.

Eleven children were born to Job Bates and wife, named as follows: Kizzie
married Allen Martin, an attorney of Essex junction, Vermont; Julia I. has
remained single and lives at home; Charles M. is manager of a hotel at
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania; Marion E., single, is teaching school in
Los Angeles, California; Willis S. is physical director at Southwestern
College, Winfield, Kansas; James S. lives at Amarillo, Texas; Jessie E.,
single, is teaching in Burlington, Vermont; Percy J., of this sketch Mary
E. is the wife of Dr. John Hunter, of the University of Vermont; Alice B.
is a missionary in Labrador, teaching in the Dr. Grenville Mission there;
Dorothy S. is single and lives at home.

Percy J. Bates grew to manhood in Vermont and there received his education
in the common schools, two years in high school, then studied at Kimball
Union Academy at Meriden, New Hampshire, from which he was graduated in
1904, then in 1905 he came West and entered Fairmount College at Wichita,
Kansas, from which institution he was graduated in 1909. Taking an
interest in athletics he played professional base ball in 1909 and 1910
for the Wichita Western League, being right fielder for that team, then
played center field for the Arkansas City (Kansas) State League. He
entered railroad service at Arkansas City with the Atchison, Topeka &
Santa Fe Road, in the transportation department, and later worked in the
mechanical department until May 5, 1912, when he went to Amarillo, Texas,
where he worked as time keeper and in the car department of the same road.
On, January 26, 1914, he entered the service of the Frisco System at
Chaffee as piece work checker. On June 1, 1914, he was transferred to
Springfield, Missouri, as rip track foreman in the North Side shops, which
position he is holding at this writing. He has thirty hands under his
direction and is giving his usual satisfaction.

Mr. Bates has remained unmarried. Politically, he is a Republican, and he
belongs to the Congregational church. He is a member of the Masonic Order.





HENDRY BAXTER. Diversified farming in its truest sense calls for a
methodical practice of a thorough rotation of crops, and three main points
are to be kept in mind. First, the raising of paying crops; that is, crops
that will of themselves return good revenues to the farmer. Secondly, good
crops must be raised with which to feed the live stock of whatever nature
it may be. Thirdly, it is necessary to keep up a rotation of crops to meet
these needs during the whole year, and consideration must be given also in
this rotation to the improvement and maintenance of the fertility of the
soil of the farm. All this is clearly understood and successfully carried
out by Hendry Baxter, of Wilson township, Greene county, who, with thrift
and foresight characteristic of the Scotch wherever they cast their lot,
has by his own efforts become one of our best tillers of the soil and
leading dairymen.

Mr. Baxter was born in Glasgow, Scotland, December 16, 1867. He is a son
of David and Love (Cuthbertson) Baxter, both also natives of that city and
country, where they grew to maturity, were educated, married and
established their home. To them eleven children were born, six sons and
five daughters.

Hendry Baxter was reared in his native city and there received fairly good
educational training. He first came to America and a year later the entire
family finally set sail for our shores, when our subject was nineteen
years of age. The parents came to Greene county, Missouri, and settled on
the farm of J. Peachers, which place consisted of eighty acres and here
became well established through their industry and economy. Our subject
first went to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where he spent a year, then joined
the rest of the family in Greene county, where he worked at farming, and
when twenty-six years old he made the long trip back to Scotland for the
sweetheart of his boyhood and in the city of Edinburg was married to Ellen
Russell Gibson, a daughter of James and Elizabeth Gibson, both natives of
Scotland, and there Mrs. Baxter grew to womanhood and received her
education. Our subject stayed seven and one-half years in the United
States before going back to Scotland. After his return from Scotland, he
rented for nine years and then purchased the place where he now resides.
He has worked hard, managed well and has made a good living and brought
his farm up to a fine state of productivity and has a comfortable home. He
is making a specialty of dairy farming and is now milking twenty-eight
cows of a good grade of jerseys. All his products are of a high quality
and are sold direct to one concern in Springfield. He understands
thoroughly the various phases of dairying and keeps his cows healthy and
well cared for, everything about his place is sanitary and he believes in
a "place for everything and everything in its place." He has made all his
own improvements.

To Mr. Baxter and wife five children have been born, namely: Elizabeth,
David, James, William, all living at home; and one who died in infancy.
Our subject's father and mother are both deceased; the mother of his wife
is living, but the father died when our subject's wife was quite young.
Our subject and family are members of the United Presbyterian church, and
they stand high in the community throughout which they are well known.






KIRK BAXTER. Kirk Baxter will long be remembered by the people of
Springfield as a minister in the Christian church, and as a teacher, a man
who was imbued with the deepest and most helpful altruistic spirit, and he
gave his best years to the furthering of the movements calculated to
uplift and make the world better. Pure, constant and noble was the
spiritual flame that illumined the mortal tenement of the subject of this
memoir, and to the superficial observer can come but small appreciation of
his intrinsic spirituality, his faith having been fortified by the deepest
study, and the Christian verities were with him the matters of most
concern among the changes and chances of this mortal life. No man with his
intellectual vigor and the love of truth which marked him could live long
without inevitably being brought to investigate the great moral laws
governing life, in fact, he was a strong man in every respect and was
successful in all he undertook.

Mr. Baxter was born in New York City, in the year 1836. His parents were
natives of England, where they grew up and were married, finally
emigrating to America, and both died in New York City, when their son,
Kirk, who was the youngest of three children, was small, his two brothers
being William and George Baxter. They are all now deceased.

Kirk Baxter received his education in his native city, through the
assistance of his oldest brother, William Baxter, but while still a boy,
the three brothers went to the Southland, locating in Louisiana, where our
subject continued his education in a college, and there entered the
ministry of the Gospel, and for many years preached at various places in
the South. He went to Mississippi after leaving Louisiana, and later
located in Arkansas, where he remained a short time, and, in 1868, moved
with his family to Springfield, Missouri, and became minister of the local
Christian church, holding this charge for many years, during which he was
one of the most popular ministers in this city. He also taught school,
private classes, here for sometime, and as both preacher and educator his
work was high-grade. He was a man of learning, of advanced ideas, was well
versed in the Bible and was a forceful and entertaining speaker.

Mr. Baxter was married in Louisiana to Emma F. Jackson, a native of that
state, and a daughter of Jarrett E. Jackson and wife, and she grew to
womanhood and was educated in her native locality, and she proved to be an
excellent helpmate to her gifted husband. They became the parents of eight
children, namely: Charles W., who died January 30, 1914; Mary lives in the
state of Washington; Lena lives in Oklahoma; William H. died in 1879; Rosa
lives in the state of Washington; George H., born February 5, 1867,
received his education in the Springfield schools and the old Ash Grove
College, and on December 27, 1898, he married Elizabeth Ramsey; he lives
in Springfield, travels for a large St. Louis shoe house, and fraternally
he belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Royal
Arcanum. Curt, the seventh child in order of birth, is living in Montana;
Walter W., the youngest of the family, was born February 3, 1872, in
Springfield, and here grew to manhood and was educated; on December 28,
1899 he married Sarah Ramsey, which union was without issue; he was for
some time general manager of the Springfield office of R. G. Dunn & Co.;
his death occurred in January, 1901.

Politically Kirk Baxter was a Democrat. For a period of twenty-five years
he was prominent in the upbuilding of Springfield, especially along civic
and moral lines, and during that period few men did more for the
educational development of Greene county. He started the first Girls'
Seminary in Springfield, and was the founder of the Ash Grove College. He
was a man of whom it may be said, "truly his works do follow him." He was
summoned to his eternal rest in 1895.




EDWARD L. BEAL, M. D. For a period of a quarter of a century the name of
Dr. Edward L. Beal has been a household word in the western part of Greene
county, where he has engaged in the general practice of medicine,
maintaining his home in Republic. His marked success in the world's
affairs has been achieved by close attention to business, and by an
honorable and consistent course he has risen to a worthy position among
the enterprising men of the locality of which he is a native and where his
life has been spent. It is plain record, rendered remarkable by no strange
or mysterious adventure, no wonderful or lucky accident and tragic
situation, no epic breadth of expedients. For Doctor Beal is one of those
estimable character whose integrity and strong personality necessarily
force them into an admirable notoriety, which their modesty never seeks,
who command the respect of their contemporaries and their posterity and
leave the impress of their individuality upon the age in which they live.

Doctor Beal was born in Greene county, Missouri, on a farm, January 16,
1864, and is a scion of one of the oldest families of the county, where
Daniel Beal, the paternal grandfather settled among the early pioneers,
coming here from Kentucky, and entered land from the government which he
cleared and improved and on which he established the future home of the
family, and on this farm occurred the birth of our subject's father,
George T. Beal, in 1832, and here he grew to manhood, and in early life
purchased a farm near Springfield where he engaged in farming until 1855
when he made the long overland journey to California, and prospected for
gold for two years after which he returned home and spent the rest of his
life in general farming and stock raising in this county. During the Civil
war he was a soldier in the Union army, a member of the Home Guards, rose
to the rank of captain, commanding a company in the Marmaduke raid upon
Springfield. After the war he resumed farming which he continued with
gratifying results until 1896 when he retired from active life and moved
to Republic where he resided until his death in 1910. He married Ann Eliza
Rountree, who was born in Greene county, Missouri on February 19, 1841,
and grew to womanhood and has always resided. She is a daughter of Junius
and Martha J. (Miller) Rountree. She still lives in Republic, and has
attained the advanced age of seventy-three years. To these parents six
children were born, four sons and two daughters, namely: Dr. Edward L., of
this sketch; Marshall F. died at the age of forty-one years, in 1908,
after a successful career as contractor and builder; J. Solon, born in
1870, who is a contractor at Seattle, Washington, is married and has two
children; Carrie M. died in 1896 at the age of eighteen years; Nettie
married George Decker, an electrical engineer; they reside in Kellogg,
Idaho, and have one son. Thomas M. died in infancy.

Doctor Beal grew to manhood on the old homestead and there he found plenty
of hard work to do when a boy, being the oldest child. He received his
early education in the public schools of his home district in Ozark
College at Greenfield, and Morrisville College, in Polk county. He began
his preparation for a physician when but a boy, and he received his
medical education in the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, and in the
Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he made a
brilliant record, taking the highest honors of a class of one hundred and
eighty-eight graduates, an honor which has never been attained by a
student from the state of Missouri in that college, before or since, and
was graduated from that historic institution on April 8, 1888. Soon
thereafter he returned to Greene county and began the practice of his
profession and since March 16, 1889 he has maintained his office at
Republic, and has built up a very large and lucrative practice, and has
long ranked among the leading medical men of the county. He was associated
with the late Dr. J. E. Tefft, the eminent surgeon of Springfield, for
about five years.

Doctor Beal has been very successful in a financial way, and he is owner
of a finely improved and valuable apple orchard of eighty-two acres, which
is one of the best orchards in this section of the country, and he also
owns thirty acres which are set in strawberries, and which also bring in a
handsome annual income.

Doctor Beal is a Democrat politically, and while he has always been ready
with his support in all measures looking to the general good of his
community in any way, he has never sought public office. He attends the
Methodist Episcopal church. He is a member of the county, state and
national medical Societies, and fraternally belongs to the Ancient Free
and Accepted Masons at Republic, also No. 471 Republic Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, Maccabees and Woodmen of the World.

Doctor Beal was married March 30, 1889, to Mary E. Landers, who was born
July 24, 1867, in Dade county, Missouri. She received a good education in
the public schools. She is a daughter of John N. and Ellen J. (Wilson)
Landers. Mr. Landers was a native of Missouri and he devoted his active
life to farming and was a banker and merchant at Dadesville, where he died
June, 1909. The mother died August 29, 1908.

The union of Doctor Beal and wife has been without issue but they have an
adopted son, Luther Beal, who was born on January 30, 1894. He has been
given good educational advantages, and he has a decided taste for
horticulture. The Doctor is a gentleman whom everybody respects and
trusts, his long record in his home community being above all idle cavil
and his success in life is well deserved.





CAPT. GEORGE T. BEAL. A prominent and useful pioneer citizen of Greene
county was the late Capt. George T. Beal of Republic, for a long lapse of
years a leading farmer in the western part of the county. He was a man of
industry and public spirit, willing at all times to do his full share in
the work of development, never neglecting his larger duties to humanity.
He was neighborly, obliging and kind, which traits made him popular with
all who knew him and won the respect and good will of those with whom he
came into contact. Thus for many reasons, not the least of which is the
fact that he was one of the worthy veterans of the great army that saved
the national Union, we are glad w give him special mention in this volume.

Mr. Beal was born November 10, 1832, on his father's farm near Verona,
Missouri, but his long life of seventy-eight years was spent in Greene
county, he being an infant when brought, here by his parents, Daniel N.
and Nancy (Gibson) Beal. He sprang from an old Colonial family, members of
which have been influential in their localities in America for many
generations. Our subject's paternal grandfather was a native of North
Carolina. The father, Daniel N. Beal, was born in that state, May 19,
1799. He was a cabinet maker by trade, and when a young man went to Giles
county, Tennessee, and there he and Nancy Gibson were married. She was a
daughter of George Gibson, and they were the parents of seven children,
namely: George T., Allen H., James M., Martha A., Damaris, Mary J., and
Penelope. Mr. Beal remained in Giles county, Tennessee until three
children were born and in 1831, moved to Crawford county, Missouri, and
settled near where Verona now stands. Judge James White came the same
time, and here Mr. Beal made a clearing and began his home. He was in
company with Judge White in the ownership of land, and as they thought the
tract of land not large enough for both, Mr. Beal sold out and came to
Greene county, the latter part of 1833 and settled in what is now Campbell
township, on Wilson's creek, four miles west of Springfield. Here he
cleared up a farm and passed the remainder of his days, owning two hundred
and eighty-eight acres. In politics he was a Democrat, and both himself
and wife were members of the Baptist church. Mr. Beal died in the prime of
life, dying December 7, 1847, being about forty-seven years old. He was
one of the frontiersmen of southwestern Missouri and highly respected by
the early settlers, by whom he was well known as a man of integrity of
character and honest worth.

Capt. George T. Beal grew to manhood on the old home place in Campbell
township, where he worked when a boy. He attended the old pioneer log
school house three months each year until he was twenty years of age. He
had taken an interest in farming from the start, and at the age of
twenty-one years, in 1854, he was one of the gold seekers, crossing the
great Western plains toward the "sundown seas," as the poet Joaquin Miller
sang of them and their goal. He made the trip to California with three of
his neighbors, Samuel G. Bragg, John H. West, and George Likins, the
journey being made with an immense ox-wagon, drawn by four yoke of cattle.
They also had two riding horses with them. The trip across was uneventful,
in fact, pleasant and required four months, somewhat quicker than many
others made it, the majority of them spending five and six months on the
way. Mr. Beal engaged in gold mining at Shasta City on the Sacramento
river for two years and then returned by way of the Isthmus of Panama and
New York City.

The next year he again crossed the plains, driving a herd of cattle and
milch cows, remaining nine months and returning home by way of Panama and
New Orleans, and took up general farming in Greene county.

March 20, 1860, Captain Beal married Ann Eliza Rountree, born February 19,
1841, a daughter of Junius and Martha J. Rountree, an old and prominent
Greene county family. After his marriage Mr. Beal settled on a farm which
he had purchased the year previously, which place consisted of one hundred
and twenty acres. By his thrift and industry he added to this until he
owned a fine farm of two hundred acres which he placed in a good state of
cultivation, and here carried on general farming and stock raising until
his retirement in 1896 when he removed to Republic where he spent the rest
of his life.

To Captain and Mrs. Beal were born five children, named as follows: Dr.
Edward L., a well known physician of Republic, a complete sketch of whom
appears elsewhere in this volume; Marshall F., Joseph S., Carrie M., and
Nettie R. All of these children were given excellent educational
advantages.

Captain Beal had a military record of which his descendants may well be
proud. When the war between the states broke out in April, 1861, he
enlisted in the Home Guards and he was one of the guides for Gen.
Nathaniel Lyon, from Springfield to Wilson's creek battle ground the night
before the attack. The Union army left Springfield in the evening, the sun
being about one hour high and Mr. Beal rode with General Lyon and staff in
the advance, the general frequently asking him questions about the road.
The route taken was the Mt. Vernon road until five miles from Springfield
and then across the prairie in the direction of the Confederate camp.
About two o'clock in the morning a halt was called at a point one mile
east of Brookline where the home of Milford Norman later stood, the troops
resting quietly on their arms until daylight, which at that time, August
10th, was about five o'clock. Mr. Beal was sent back to the Mt. Vernon
road with dispatches to Major Wright, who was in command of several
companies of cavalry and was encamped as a picket outpost, to instruct him
to close up immediately and be ready to go into battle at daybreak. By the
time the command was in marching condition it was daylight and they rode
rapidly to the battle field, the fighting having begun when they reached
the ground. Mr. Beal reached the scene of conflict at six o'clock a little
behind the cavalry. The armies of Generals Price and McCulloch had been
taken entirely by surprise and their first alarm was the shooting at two
of their foragers who were out after roasting ears and gave the alarm. The
firing began on both sides when the armies were fully one mile apart but
little of the battle could be seen owing to the broken condition of the
country hills, black-jack woods and underbrush being in the way. After six
hours of terrific fighting the Federals began retreating about eleven
thirty o'clock, and Captain Beal and another guide rode back to
Springfield, the country being entirely deserted and they met no one on
the way. Soon thereafter Mr. Beal returned to the farm, bringing his wife
back from her mother's where she had been for safety. He remained at home
until November when Fremont's army occupied Springfield, and went on to
Rolla. Mr. Beal went to Illinois, taking his wife there, and he remained
in that state until the following March when he returned to his farm and
made a crop. On August 9, 1862 he was elected captain of a company of
Missouri State Militia which he had assisted in enlisting in his township,
and he served as captain until he resigned two years later, being regarded
as a brave and efficient officer. He commanded his company at the battle
of Springfield when Marmaduke attacked the city. Two of his company were
killed and fifteen wounded. Captain Beal was struck by a spent ball but
not seriously injured. This was all done from one fire of the Southerners,
Captain Beal's company being stationed where Colonel Moore's residence
later stood, in fact, the hardest fighting occurred there.

After the war he lived quietly on his farm and was known as a good
citizen, a friend of education and honest government. He served his
district several years as school director. In political opinions he was a
stanch Democrat, although he neither sought nor accepted office. Both he
and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church, in which he was for
many years a deacon.

The death of Captain Beal occurred in Republic July 14, 1910, and his wife
is living in Republic. They were a fine old couple, beloved by all who
knew them and they will long be remembered in this locality.





MAJOR JOHN W. F. BEATIE. Effective management of one's affairs has ceased
to be a one-man game. A generation ago farmers and business men could and
did carry on their enterprises quite independent of each other. If they
could not make a satisfactory deal with one man, there was another at hand
with which they could open negotiations. But there has been a gradual
breaking down of independent individual action and a growing up of
gigantic systems of combination. Small business establishments have been
absorbed by the larger ones which have united their interests by working
agreements. Farmers now see the necessity of co-operation for cheaper
production and less expensive marketing.

One of the farmers of Washington township, Greene county, who is alive to
new conditions is John W. F. Beatie, who was born near St. Louis,
Missouri, April 9, 1837. He is a son of Robert and Mary Anne (Smith)
Beatie. The father was born in Lincoln county, Tennessee, July 29, 1811,
and was reared on a farm in that state, and when a young man he learned
the blacksmith's trade. He remained in his native state until 1837 when he
made the overland trip in a wagon to Missouri, Greene county being his
destination, and our subject was born en route. The family settled about
ten miles southeast of Springfield at a place now called Palmetto. Here
the elder Beatie secured a tract of land which he cleared and worked in
connection with blacksmithing, keeping a shop on his farm, and was one of
the best-known blacksmiths among the pioneer settlers in that part of the
county. There he spent the rest of his life, dying on March 22, 1884. His
wife was born in Lincoln county, Tennessee, and there grew up and received
a limited education. She did not live long after coming to Missouri. To
these parents ten children were born, namely: Martha Jane, deceased;
Lucinda, deceased; John W. F., of this sketch; Sarah Elizabeth lives in
Webster county, Missouri; David M. is living in Rogersville, Webster
county; Mrs. Frances Gault lives in Rogersville also; William R. makes his
home at Rogersville; Anna Eliza, deceased; Lucretia G., deceased; the
youngest child died in infancy.

Major Beatie grew to manhood on the home farm where he worked when a boy,
and in the winter time he attended the district schools of his community.
He has lived in Missouri all his life, and being now past his
seventy-seventh birthday he is one of the oldest citizens of this
township, which he has seen develop from a wild state to a fine farming
community, and he has taken an interested part in the many improvements.
When the Civil war began he soon took a stand for the Union and at first
joined the Home Guards under Captain Waterson. After the battle of
Wilson's Creek he entered the United States service, serving six months in
Company D, Phelp's regiment, under Capt. J. W. Lisenby, then joined the
Missouri State Militia, and later was a member of the Sixteenth Missouri
Cavalry. He saw considerable service, but principally in his home
district, and at the close of the war he was honorably discharged at
Springfield.

Major Beatie was married in 1872 to Matilda Pickel, who was born in
Tennessee, and from that state she removed with her parents at a very
early age to Greene county, Missouri, the family locating just across the
road from the Beatie family and there she grew to womanhood and received
her education in the district schools. She is a daughter of Jacob B. and
Malicia (Holt) Pickel, who came to Greene county, Missouri, from
Tennessee, and located on a farm in Washington township.

To Mr. and Mrs. Beatie five children have been born, namely: Mrs. Mary
Alice Davis lives in Greene county; Robert M. is at home; Mrs. Emma
Holland lives in Greene county; Mrs. Jennie Isabel Webb lives in Greene
county, and Mrs. Bessie F. Painter resides in Springfield.

Major Beatie has always followed general farming, and soon after his
marriage he moved to the farm where he is now residing, purchasing one
hundred acres, to which he later added twenty-six and one-half acres, one
hundred acres being under cultivation, the balance in timber. He has a
good farm and a comfortable home and has made an easy living here. He has
owned farms in different parts of the state.

Politically, Mr. Beatie is a Republican, and while loyal to his party has
never sought leadership or public office.





JOHN BECKERLEG. Enjoying the distinction of being the oldest engineer on
the Frisco system, John Beckerleg is deserving of special mention in the
present volume. Forty years is a long time to work for one company, and in
one line of work, but that is his record. It indicates many things to the
contemplative mind, among them being the fact that he has been not only
faithful but efficient, trustworthy and reliable, for a railroad company
is not going to trust its costly rolling stock, to saying nothing of the
lives of its patrons--the passengers--to men who are not true and tried.
It also indicates stability. Some men fly from one occupation to another,
go from one place to another, are never settled, never satisfied; they may
be railroaders by profession, but if they stick to the work forty years
they have perhaps worked for a score of roads.

Mr. Beckerleg was born in the extreme southern part of the Dominion of
Canada, just across the river from Detroit, Michigan, November 11, 1852 .
He is a son, of John and Margaret (Glendenning) Beckerleg, both natives of
England, the father born April 1, 1825. He received a good education,
learned the trade of stone cutter when young, and followed the same the
rest of his life. When young he emigrated to Canada, where he established
his future home. He was twice married, our subject being by his second
wife. Our subject's father died on October 4, 1869, and the mother's death
occurred in November, 1885, both dying in Canada. Our subject is one of
five children, three of whom are still living, namely: John, of this
review; James lives in Paris, Texas; William and George are deceased;
Joseph lives in British Columbia.

John Beckerleg grew to manhood in Canada, where he received his education,
and there he resided until 1870, when he came to Pacific, Missouri, which
was on the east end of the Frisco railroad, and there he went to work, on
March 17th, of that year, in the machine shops, and later became a
blacksmith, and before the end of that year he was given a run as fireman
on the east end of the division, later he ran on the middle division, from
Dixon to Springfield, then worked as extra out of Springfield and in
various capacities, until 1875, when he had a regular run as engineer on a
freight train. In 1880 he was promoted to extra passenger engineer, and in
1882, was given a regular passenger run from Pierce City, Missouri, to Van
Buren, Arkansas; continuing as engineer of a passenger he was given a. run
in 1886 out of Ft. Smith, Arkansas, and for a number of years he has been
running between that city and Springfield, and is still active and as good
an engine driver as at any time in his career. As stated, he is the oldest
engineer on the Frisco, in point of years of service, and is deserving of
a great deal of credit for his faithful work.

Mr. Beckerleg was married July 23, 1874, near Sullivan, Missouri, to,
Retta Waits, who was born in August, 1854, twelve miles from Rolla, this
state. She is a daughter of John F. and Mary (Botoff) Waits, the father a
native of Columbus, Ohio, and the mother was horn in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. Mr. Waits was an iron molder by trade. His death occurred in
Springfield, Missouri, in March, 1888, and his wife preceded him to the
grave in 1883. They had made their home in Springfield many years. They
were both of German blood.

Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Beckerleg, namely: John Waits,
born on September 8, 1875, in Franklin county, Missouri, received a common
school education, and early in life gave evidences of a mechanical turn of
mind. He began working in the round-house in Springfield, for the Frisco,
and later was given a position as fireman, and has been in the road
service ever since 1898; twelve years ago he was given charge of a switch
engine and is still thus employed; he married Vedie May White, a native of
Greene county, this state; they have no children; he is a member of the
Brotherhood of Firemen No. 51. The second child of our subject was Charles
Wesley, who was born in 1877, and died when three months. Old. Walter
Blanchard, the third child, was born April 20, 1886. He received a public
school education, and he began railroading as a fireman before he was
twenty-one years of age, and he is now an engineer. On November 2, 1908,
he married Edna Morris, which union has been without issue.

Politically, John Beckerleg is a Republican. He belongs to the Masonic
Order, is a member of Division No. 83, Brotherhood of Engineers, and
religiously he is an Episcopalian.





H. S. BENNETT. Mr. Bennett was born at Shelton, Connecticut, October 5,
1861. He is the son of a sterling old New England family; the son of Henry
and Emily Shelton Bennett, both born in Fairfield county, Connecticut,
where our subject first saw the light of day and where his parents grew to
maturity, received their education, and were married. The father was a
steamboat captain on Long Island Sound, spending the principal part of his
active life in charge of boats running out of New York, on the Bridgeport
and Derby lines, where he was well known and popular, both with the
passenger and freight patrons of these lines. Politically, he was a
Republican, and for several years was a major in the Connecticut State
Militia. H. S. Bennett, only child of his parents, grew to manhood in his
native community, and received his education in the public schools and the
Episcopal Academy of the state of Connecticut at Cheshire, Connecticut. In
1882 he left his New England home and came West, locating in St. Louis,
where he engaged in the grocery business a few months; then entered the
employ of the Waters Pierce Oil Company. In February, 1883, this company
made him their local agent at Springfield, Missouri. In July, 1913, this
company sold out to the Pierce Oil Corporation, Mr. Bennett retaining the
position of local agent for the new concern.

Mr. Bennett was married in Shelton, Connecticut, in 1881 to Ila J. Wason,
who was born at Bridgeport, Connecticut, and is a daughter of Captain
James and Elizabeth Mary (Fairchild) Wason. Captain Wason was born in
Virginia and Mrs. Wason at Newton, Connecticut, where they were married.
Captain Wason, in his early life, was proprietor of the Berkshire Mills at
Bridgeport, Connecticut, and was captain of coasting schooners during the
latter years of his life. He and his wife are both now deceased. Mrs.
Bennett grew to womanhood in Bridgeport, and received a high school
education, finishing it at Newtown Academy, Newtown, Connecticut. Mrs.
Bennett is a member of the Daughters of the Revolution.

Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, namely, Shelton W.,
born March 18, 1883, married Mabel Clara McClain, and is now engaged in
farming and general stock raising at the head of Lake Taney como, in Taney
county, Missouri; James Hurley, born in 1897, died in 19088, and Henry
Fairchild, born September 29, 1895, and is now at home with his parents.

Politically, Mr. Bennett is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Masonic order, and is a past high priest of Vincel chapter. He is also a
member of the Elks, and of the Sons of the Revolution, having had three
great-grandfathers in the Revolutionary war; and is a member of the James
River Club.





RICHARD H. BENSON. It is not the weaklings that accomplish worthy ends in
the face of opposition but those with nerve and initiative whose motto is,
"He never fails who never gives up," and with this terse aphorism ever in
view, emblazoned on the pillar of clouds, as it were, before them, they
forge ahead until the sunny summits of life are reached and they can
breathe a breath of the purer air that inspires the souls of men with
respite. Such has been the history of Richard H. Benson, of Springfield,
whose career has been a varied one, and the earlier part of which was as a
deep sea sailor, but the latter years of his life has been more prosaic.

Mr. Benson was born in Belle Haven, Accomac county, Virginia, July 12,
1850. He is a son of James S. and Catherine (Mears) Benson, both natives
of Virginia, where they grew up, were married and established their home.
The father was one of four children, John S., Edward, James S., and
Keeley, all now deceased. The mother of our subject was one of five
children, Margaret, Richard, Thomas, Sally, and Catherine. Richard Mears
was a sea captain and in his service rescued many crews, among them was a
Canadian crew, for which act he was rewarded by the Canadian government,
Secretary of State Everetts presenting him with a fine watch, set with
diamonds. James S. Benson and wife spent the latter years of their lives
in North Hampton, Virginia, where the father's death occurred December 8,
1876.

Richard H. Benson spent his boyhood days in Belle Haven, Virginia, where
he received a public school education. When but a lad his inclination was
to the sea, and, leaving home when about seventeen years of age, he made a
sea voyage on the ship Edwin Rowe to the west coast of Africa, under
Captain Miller, of Portland, Maine, and was gone seven months, during
which he visited Siereleone, in the western part of the Dark Continent,
and passed in sight of Monrovia, stopped at Bassa, Grand Bassa, Cape
Palmas, Dixcove, the River Gaboon, then returned to America, the voyage to
New York requiring fifty-one days, and he was required to lay aboard the
vessel in Brooklyn two months. On February 26, 1868, he landed in Lacon,
Marshall county, Illinois, stopping with his uncle, John Benson, who owned
a farm there, and in the fall of 1869 the uncle came to Springfield,
Missouri, and our subject joined him here in the summer of 1872; leaving
here the last of September of that year, Mr. Benson went to Chicago and
remained there until Christmas, then went back to Belle Haven, Virginia,
and remained with his father until in June, 1873, when he went to
Baltimore, Maryland and shipped as a seaman in the government survey,
remaining in the service until the spring of 1875, when he came to St.
Louis, Missouri, and took a position as solicitor for the printing house
of John McKitrick & Company, but after a short time he went to Chicago and
entered the hotel business, which he followed. until he came to
Springfield to make his permanent home in 1886, and thus he has been a
resident of this city twenty-eight years, during which time he has been
engaged in the sewing machine business as an agent for the Singer
Manufacturing Company, remaining in their service for about eighteen
years, and then took up life insurance business, staying in this line for
one year, then took up the sewing machine business again.

Mr. Benson was married, July 3, 1888, to Ella V. Berry, a daughter of P.
Jesse and Eliza (Cowling) Berry. The father was a minister in the
Christian church, and had charge of churches in different states, and was
an able and popular preacher. His family consisted of four children,
namely: Ella V., wife of Mr. Benson; Maggie, who married W. J. Bills;
Gertrude, who married Dr. M. Ney Smith; the youngest child, died in
infancy.

Mrs. Ella V. Benson was born in Pennsylvania, from which state she later
moved to New York state, then to Maryland, Iowa, Ohio, Missouri, and
Illinois, and she received part of her education in the college at Eureka,
the latter state. She came with her parents to Springfield, Missouri,
first in 1879, and the second time they came to this state was in 1881.

Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Benson, namely: James Berry, John
E., and Richard K., all living in Springfield.

Politically, Mr. Benson is a Democrat, and he and his whole family are
members of the South Street Christian church. They have a pleasant home on
the Bolivar road, near Talmage street.





JAMES A. BERRY. Since James A. Berry, well-known farmer and stock breeder
of Franklin township, Greene county, located in this vicinity over sixty
years ago he has noted many changes--among others, a change of climatic
conditions--the seasons are not so dependable now as formerly,
consequently, the farmer has had to change his methods. One of the most
serious conditions now to be met with is a drought at some period during
each growing season. But he, with others, have learned that when crops are
grown in rotation and proper tillage methods are followed, they will
suffer less from dry weather than when they are grown continually, that
crop rotation is usually of more importance than the method of tillage
used in this respect, although both are important.

Mr. Berry was born, January 1, 1842, in South Carolina. He is a son of
William B. and Martha (Latham) Berry. The, father of our subject was a
native of Alabama and was a son of Robert Berry, who located in South
Carolina when a young man, where he married, after which he moved to
Tennessee, remaining in that state until 1852, when he emigrated to Greene
county, Missouri. The subject of this sketch was two years old when he
left his native state with his parents, and his early boyhood was spent in
Tennessee. William B. Berry was a life-long farmer, and owned a good farm
in Greene county, and here his death occurred on the homestead September
21, 1892. Politically, he was a Republican, but was never active in public
affairs. The mother of our subject was also a native of South Carolina,
and her death occurred on the home farm in Greene county in 1891. She was
a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church at Mt. Comfort, and she and
her husband were both buried in the cemetery near that church. They were
the parents of eight children, named as follows: James A., of this sketch;
Mrs. Calverna Ann Runnells, deceased; Mrs. Emily Runnells, deceased; Mrs.
Mary Jane McCurdy; Mrs. Dora Lay lives in Center township, this county;
Mrs. Etta Newton, deceased; the two youngest children died in infancy.

James A. Berry was eleven years of age when he accompanied the rest of the
family to Greene county, Missouri, and he worked on the home farm in
Franklin township, and was educated in the township schools. He remained
on the home farm until his marriage, then moved to his present farm of one
hundred and twenty acres. He also owns forty acres west of his home farm,
which lies near the old home place. He has been very successful as a
general farmer and live stock raiser, making a specialty of grain and
trading in horses and mules, and formerly he raised large numbers of hogs
annually, but of late years has not made such an extensive effort along
this line. He has an excellent group of buildings. In the fall of 1912 he
built a breeding barn, thirty-six by forty-eight feet, with box
stalls--modern and complete. He is one of the best-known horse breeders in
this part of the county and owns some fine stock, including a beautiful
black Percheron stallion, "Charley," which is a splendid saddle horse,
registered. He also owns "Roscoe," six years old, fifteen hands high;
weight, fourteen hundred pounds. He also owns two fine jacks; one, "Black
John," is a coal black, seven years old, and fourteen and one-half hands
high.

Mr. Berry was married on December i8, 1860, to Elizabeth Katherine
McCurdy, a daughter of Thomas and Nancy M. (Appleby) McCurdy. Mr. McCurdy
Was born in Tennessee, December 5, 1820, and removed from that state to
Arkansas when he was eleven years of age. Remaining in that state until he
was twenty years old, he came to Greene county, Missouri, married the
following year and located on a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, of
well-improved land in Franklin township, and here his death occurred
August 28, 1904, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. His wife was
born in Tennessee, July 27, 1821, and died on the home farm in Greene
county, Missouri, July 3, 1901. Thomas McCurdy was a soldier in the Civil
war, having enlisted in Company K, Seventy-second Missouri Volunteer
Infantry, in 1861. He did guard duty mostly, and was kept with the
garrison in Springfield most of the time. He had several very narrow
escapes from serious wounds and at one time holes were shot through his
hat and cape, and at another time a grape-shot narrowly missed his foot,
but he went through the conflict unscathed, and was honorably discharged
in 1865.

Fourteen children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Berry, namely: Leroy
McClelland was killed by a falling log at the age of seventeen; Oliver
DeWitt lives in Franklin township; Rolland Pate lives in Pittsburg,
Kansas; Mrs. Calverna Ann Patterson lives in Springfield; Gustavus Antioch
Finklinburg is a memberof the real estate firm known as the Ozark Land
Company, Springfield; Mrs. Fidelia Cornell lives in Springfield; James
Blaine lives in Springfield and is a member of the firm of the Ozark Land
Company, being in the real estate business with his brother; John Logan
lives in Springfield; the other six children died in infancy.

During the Civil War Mr. Berry enlisted for service in the Federal army in
1861, in Company K, Seventy-second Missouri Volunteer Infantry. He drove a
team most of the time, however he took part in the battle of Springfield
when Marmaduke and Shelby attacked the town, on January 8, 1863, and he
was also in several skirmishes. He did guard duty for some time about the
commissary. He was mustered out and honorably discharged, August 20, 1865.
He remained in Springfield during his entire service. He is a member of
the Grand Army of the Republic. He has always been a Republican but now
votes independently in local affairs. His wife is a member of the
Cumberland Presbyterian church at Mt. Comfort. When a young man, just
before the breaking out of the Civil war, Mr. Berry hauled lumber for the
old court house, also hauled sand from the James river for the same,
driving six yoke of oxen. He recalls many interesting reminiscences of the
early days, and it is a pleasure to visit his home.





JAMES BLAINE BERRY. Of the younger business men of Springfield, few seem
to have better prospects of large success in future years than James
Blaine Berry, who has a diversity of natural gifts and, although it is a
far cry from an iron moulder to the music business, he did both with
gratifying results, and was for many years a well known traveling man over
the Southwest, and now we find him a member of the Ozark Land Company,
which his enterprise and keen discrimination is making one of the most
successful and important real estate firms in southern Missouri.

Mr. Berry was born on a farm in Franklin township, Greene county,
Missouri, April 30, 1882. He is a son of James A. and Elizabeth (McCurdy)
Berry a highly esteemed old family of this county, and as the reader will
find a complete sketch of these parents on another page of this volume,
the record of their lives will not be repeated here.

James B. Berry grew to manhood on the home farm, and there assisted with
the general work during the summer months when he became of proper age,
and during the winter attended the district schools; also took an academic
course in the State Normal School at Warrensburg, Missouri, after which he
came to Springfield and learned the iron moulder’s trade. Although he
became a good moulder, he did not altogether fancy the work, and abandoned
the same, and in 1903 went on the road as a salesman for the A. Beste
Music Company, of Pittsburg, Kansas, and was assigned to southwestern
Missouri and eastern Kansas, in which territory he did much, during his
two years of service with this company, to increase the prestige of the
same. He then returned to Springfield and took a position as city salesman
for the Martin Music Company, which position he held for a year, then went
on the road as advertising and demonstrating representative for the
Baldwin Piano Company, of Cincinnati, Ohio, covering Missouri, Kansas,
Oklahoma, a part of Arkansas and Illinois, with headquarters at St. Louis.
In all these responsible positions he gave his employers eminent
satisfaction in every respect and was regarded as one of their most
faithful, efficient and trustworthy employees. In 1909 he resigned his
position with the Baldwin people and returned to Springfield, Missouri,
purchasing an interest in the Ozark Land Company here, and has since been
connected with the same and has been a potent factor in making it a large
and successful business.

Mr. Berry was married, March 10, 1904, to Marry B. Tedrick, who was born
February 25 1884, in Springfield, Missouri, where she grew to womanhood
and received an excellent education. She is a daughter of George and Emma
Tedrick, a highly esteemed family here.

To Mr. and Mrs. Berry one child has been born, Doris Dolores Berry, whose
birth occurred February 3, 1905. She is attending school and is now in the
fifth grade.

Mr. Berry is a Republican in his political affiliation. Religiously, he is
a Presbyterian. He is a member of the Illinois Men's Commercial
Association.




GUSTAVUS F. BERRY. Gustavus F. Berry is the president of the Berry Land
and Investment Company at Springfield, in which connection he has a wide
acquaintance throughout the Southwest. Greene county, Missouri, numbers
him among her native sons, his birth having occurred on July 23, 1876,
upon the farm of his father, James A. Berry, who is a native of North
Carolina, born in 1843, The latter was, however, but nine years of age
when, in 1852, he was brought to Greene county, Missouri, where he has
since made his home, and where he has been identified with agricultural
pursuits throughout the period of his manhood. On the 18th of December,
i86i, he married Miss Elizabeth E. McCurdy and they became the parents of
nine sons and five daughters, of whom five sons and two daughters are
still living, while the parents also survive and are well known and highly
respected residents of their locality.

In the country schools Gustavus F. Berry began his education, which he
continued in the Southwest Baptist College at Bolivar, Missouri. He
started out in the business world as a salesman for the Champion Harvester
Company and subsequently represented the International Harvester Company,
being thus employed for four years. He then turned his attention to the
real estate business and for two years he was in the employ of the Ozark
Land Company before he purchased the Berry Land and Investment Company. He
now stands at the head of that concern, and as such is thoroughly informed
in regard to realty values and the market conditions of real estate. What
he undertakes he accomplishes, for his energy is unfaltering and his
persistency of purpose has enabled him to overcome many difficulties and
obstacles in his path. As he advances step by step there opens before him
broader opportunities, and his ready recognition of possibilities points
out to him the ways of success. .

On the 22d of April, 1902, in Springfield, Mr. Berry was united in
marriage to Miss Clara Lloyd, and unto them has been born a daughter,
Hazel T. The family attends the Presbyterian church and in social circles
they are well known, the hospitality of many of the best homes of the city
being freely accorded them. Mr. Berry belongs to several fraternal
organizations, and clubs, holding membership with the Masons and Elks,
with the Springfield Club, the Country Club, and the Young Men's Business
Club. He has had military experience and training through three years
service as a member of Company K, Second Regiment of the Missouri State
Guard. His political endorsement is given to the Democratic party, but,
while he votes for its men and measures at the polls, he does not seek
office. His primary interest is in his business, with the opportunity it
gives him of providing well for his family and doing his part in the
world's work.





FRANK A. BEYER. When we are told that such and such a man is a general
foreman of no matter what, we know at once that he is a man who possesses
native talent and that he has not attained his position at a single bound,
but that he has spent years in close application and careful preparation;
that he has been faithful to every trust reposed in him and that he is a
man of self-reliance and fortitude. Without any attempt to unduly praise
Frank A. Beyer, general foreman of the locomotive department of the new
Frisco shops at Springfield, we can truthfully say that he is such a man
as we have here indicated.

Mr. Beyer, who has spent his active life in railroad service, is a man of
Teutonic origin, his birth having occurred in Germany, August 5, 1877. He
is a son of Joseph and Margaret (Fleysch) Beyer, both natives of Germany,
the father's birth having occurred on November 22, 1861, and the mother
was born in 1865. There they grew to maturity, attended school and were
married and spent their earlier years, emigrating to America more than
three decades ago. The mother died in Topeka, Kansas, in 1904, and in that
city still resides the father. He is a machinist by trade. It was in the
early eighties that he came to that city from his native country and there
he has since resided. He soon found employment in the shops of the Santa
Fe railroad in Topeka and he has since worked there in this capacity. His
family consists of five children, namely: Frank A. of this review, he
being the only one born in the old country; Rosa, Tressey, Anna and Emma.

Frank A. Beyer was a small boy when he came to the United States, and he
grew to manhood in Topeka, Kansas, and there attended the common schools,
the high school and a business college, and as thus well equipped when he
began life for himself. When a boy he began his career as railroader,
serving his apprenticeship in the Santa Fe shops at Topeka, and later
worked at many different places on that system, during a period of eight
years. In 1904 he came to Springfield and began working as machinist in
the North Side shops. When the new shops were opened he was promoted to
the position of erecting foreman and in 1910 was promoted to general
foreman of the locomotive department which responsible position he still
holds, having a large number of skilled mechanics under his direction.

Mr. Beyer was married on August 17, 1899, in Topeka, Kansas, to Carrie
Mohmeyer, who was born in Louisville, Kentucky, September 7, 1882. She is
a daughter of Henry and Anna (Sutter) Mohmeyer. Her father is a trunk
maker by trade.

Two children have been born to our subject and wife, namely: Frank, born
August 24, 1900, is attending Springfield high school; and Mary Etta, born
October 1, 1906.

Politically, Mr. Beyer is a Democrat, and fraternally he belongs to the
Woodmen of the World, the Eagles and the Germania Hall Society. He is also
a member of the Masonic lodge, including the Shriners.





WILLIAM C. BILLASCH. Parents should carefully consider the inclinations of
their children. "The great mistakes of life are owing in a large measure
to the fact that young people adopt professions or enter businesses for
which they have no natural ability. It is easy to see that if young men
could start out in early life in the pursuit for which nature has best
adapted them, and if they should persist in that line industriously and
energetically, success would be assured in every instance, no matter if
they were not possessed with brilliancy or unusual ability; persistence in
this one line will bring success. William C. Billasch, foreman painter of
the Springfield Wagon Works, has followed his profession from boyhood,
having been fortunate in selecting the vocation for which he seems to have
been well qualified by nature.

Mr. Billasch was born in Dubuque, Iowa, June 18, 1856. He is a son of
George F. Billasch, whose death occurred in Dubuque in 1910 at the age of
eighty-three years. He had been inspector in a leather factory there and
previously held a similar position in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a
native of Germany, from which country he came to America when young and
settled in Philadelphia, where he became superintendent of a large
tannery. He came west at the age of twenty-nine years, establishing his
future home in Dubuque, Iowa. After working there and at Sioux City for
some time as leather inspector in factories, he worked as round house
foreman for the Illinois Central Railroad Company for a period of forty
years, retiring five years prior to his death. While living in
Philadelphia he also engaged in the cooperage business for six or seven
years. Politically, he was a Republican. He was a life member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, by which lodge he was buried. He
belonged to the Lutheran church. His wife, who was Henrietta Louise
Reinicka before her marriage, was a native of Germany, from which country
she emigrated to the United States when a girl, locating in Philadelphia,
and there she and Mr. Billasch were married. Her death occurred also in
the year 1910, at the age of eighty-one years. These parents were an
excellent old couple, industrious and honest. They were the parents of
seven children, namely: William C., subject of this sketch; Theodore died
when fourteen years of age; George is engaged in mercantile pursuits in
Dubuque, Iowa; Edward is superintendent of a hardware factory in Chicago;
Albert lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he is in the employ of the
Indianapolis Railway and Construction Company; Henry Louis is deceased; he
and Henrietta Louise were twins; she is the wife of August Northdorf, who
is employed as foreman for the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, of
Chicago.

William C. Billasch received a common school education and took a course
in a business college in Chicago. He studied two years at a night school.
When thirteen years of age he went to work in the A. A. Cooper Wagon Works
at Dubuque, Iowa; then worked three years in Chicago in the Schuttler
Wagon Works, two and one-half years of which were spent in the painting
department, and then was foreman in the plant of the Webber Wagon Company
in Chicago for a period of seventeen years, in the painting department,
and in that city he also worked a year in the Staver Manufacturing
Company. From there he came to Springfield, Missouri, in the fall of 1895,
and took a position as foreman painter in the plant of the Springfield
Wagon Works, assuming charge of that department, which position he has
held continuously for a period of twenty years, which fact would indicate
that he has been not only an expert in his line but faithful and reliable
all the while.

Mr. Billasch was married August 30, 1879, to Catherine Wyant, a daughter
of Peter and Christina (Eckert) Wyant. To our subject and wife six
children have been born, one of whom is deceased. They were named as
follows: Christina, deceased; Henrietta is the wife of A. A. Scott, a
traveling salesman, and they live in Kansas City, Kansas; Louise is the
wife of William Powell, who is engaged in the grocery and meat business in
Kansas City, Kansas; George is record clerk for the telephone company at
Springfield; Fred is clerking in Repp's dry goods store, Springfield;
Gertrude, who has remained unmarried, lives at home and is employed as
stenographer at the office of the Hall Drug Company, Springfield.

Politically, Mr. Billasch is a Democrat and he has been more or less
influential in local public affairs since coming to this city, and for two
terms he served as a member of the city council from the fourth ward,
under both Mayor Blain and Mayor Lee. His record as councilman was
eminently creditable and satisfactory. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Loyal Order of Moose and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, his
membership in the latter being in Chicago. He is a member of the Reformed
Lutheran church.





FRANKLIN T. BISHOP. There are few more inspiring aphorisms in our tongue
than Emerson's famous "Hitch your wagon to a star." Posterity is indebted
to the Sage of Concord for the crisp and noble counsel so universally
needed. The privilege belongs to us all of gearing our lives up to lofty
motives, of glorifying our commonplace and prosaic days with ideal
sentiments and aspirations. There is happy suggestion likewise in
reversing the good advice, to sense its truth from a slightly different
angle. It is just as good philosophy, and in many ways even more helpful,
to read the words "Hitch your stars to your wagon." In other terms let the
infinite forces help you, join with you in tugging your particular load up
the hill, harness the mightiest power in the world to your human
necessities. The life of Franklin T. Bishop, proprietor of beautiful
"Clover Dale Farm" in Wilson township, Greene county, would indicate that
he has ever striven to live up to high ideals and direct his efforts along
well regulated lines, and therefore material success has attended his
efforts and at the same time he has established a reputation for right
thinking and wholesome living, and what necessarily follows-good
citizenship.

Mr. Bishop was born in Cumberland county, New Jersey, March 7, 1862. He is
a son of Horace and Phoebe (Housted) Bishop. The, father was for many
years engaged extensively in oyster raising on the Atlantic coast, and
owned an interest in a large oyster vessel, with a crew of six men. He
also owned a farm in that state.

Mr. Bishop, of this sketch, grew to manhood in his native state and
received his education in Cedarville, New Jersey, attending school during
the winter months and during the crop season worked on the home farm until
he was eighteen years of age, when he left home to seek his fortune in the
great West. He selected the state of Nebraska, where he took up a claim of
three hundred and twenty acres, which he homesteaded and on which he spent
twenty-three years, developing it into a fine farm and there he prospered
with advancing years, and added to his original holdings until he owned
one thousand acres. He traded the entire amount for an excellent farm of
four hundred and eighty acres in Kansas, and removed to the Sunflower
state, continuing general farming with his former success for two years,
then traded his farm there for Missouri land, in Mercer county, which he
subsequently sold, and moved to Greene county, this state, where he now
resides, and is now owner of a finely improved and productive farm of two
hundred acres in Wilson township, on which he has an attractive residence
and numerous substantial, convenient and :modernly appointed outbuildings.
He raises a diversity of crops common to this latitude, but in connection
with general farming he specializes in dairying, in poultry raising and
handling blooded horses, and in one of the best-known and most successful
stockmen in the western part of the county. His place is known as "Clover
Dale Farm." He has a large herd of cows of an excellent quality, and he
keeps his barn in a sanitary condition, and looks to the well-being and
comfort of his stock at all seasons. His dairy products are all taken by a
Springfield concern. Mr. Bishop also specializes in poultry raising, and
does an extensive business in this line, keeping a large number of best
breed of chickens, in the proper care of which he is well versed and is
properly equipped for this work, and he also finds a very ready market for
all his products in this department in Springfield. He is an admirer of
good live stock of all kinds, especially horses, and he keeps a very fine
herd of registered Percherons, including at this writing a stallion and
four mares. His fine stock is greatly admired by all who sees it.

Mr. Bishop has been twice married, first, in Mediapolis, Iowa, to Mary
Bridges, and to this union eight children were born, seven of whom are
living in Greene county, Missouri. The wife and mother passed away on May
7, 1910, and October 11, 1911, he married Etta Huffman, a daughter of
Frank and Mary Huffman, formerly of Kentucky.

The following are our subject's children, all by his first wife: Phoebe
A., Gladys M., Ora M., Floy, Frank T., Laura K., Chester and Casper
(deceased).

Politically, Mr. Bishop is a, friend of prohibition, and religiously he
and Mrs. Bishop are Christian Scientists.




JAMES BISSETT. The pioneer railroader, for many years master mechanic in
the Springfield shops, the gentleman whose life history is herewith
outlined, was a man who lived to good purpose and achieved a large degree
of success solely by his individual efforts. By a straightforward and
commendable course Mr. Bissett climbed to a responsible position in his
calling, winning the hearty admiration of his fellow workmen and earning a
reputation as an enterprising, reliable, trustworthy and efficient man of
affairs which a number of the leading railroad officials of the country
were not slow to recognize and appreciate, and those who knew him best
will readily acquiesce in the statement that he was eminently deserving of
the good things which fate brought him during his life.

James Bissett was born in Scotland, May 15, 1840, and had many of the
characteristic traits of the noble race of Scots. His birth occurred
within two blocks of the house in which Andrew Carnegie first saw the
light of day, but his family brought him to America when he was a child
and he was reared in Madison, Indiana, receiving his education in that
town and in Indianapolis. However, his schooling was limited, and his
knowledge, which was considerable and general, was acquired chiefly by
experience in the practical affairs of life. He was a son of Thomas and
Mary (Walker) Bissett, both natives of Scotland, where they grew up and
were married. The father died in Madison, Indiana. He was a machinist by
trade. His family consisted of seven children; five of whom are still
living, namely: Thomas is deceased; Elizabeth; William; Robert; David;
Ellen, and James of this sketch, who was the second in order of birth and
who died on November 11, 1914.

James Bissett returned to Madison, Indiana, after he left school in
Indianapolis, and went to work in the railroad shops of North Madison,
remaining there as an apprentice about four years, or until 1858, then
went to Nashville, Tennessee, and from there to Huntsville, Alabama, where
he was living when the war between the states began. He returned to
Nashville and went to work in the Memphis & Nashville machine shops there,
later ran a locomotive between Huntsville, Alabama, and Brownsville,
Mississippi, and while thus engaged was captured at Huntsville by the
Federals, the Fourth Ohio Cavalry, under Col. O. M. Mitchell. The invaders
were later driven out of that city, and our subject went to Chattanooga,
Tennessee, arriving there while General Bragg was crossing the river with
his army, just prior to the battle of Chickamauga. He went on to Atlanta,
being with Bragg's army most of the time. All the while he had been
running an engine for the Confederates, and he took his engine from
Atlanta to Macon, Georgia, later, where, the fire box giving out, he left
it, and from there went to Selma, that state, and worked on the Blue
Mountain route. From there he went to Birmingham, Alabama. He was captured
at Selma by "Billy" Wilson.

After the war Mr. Bissett came to Nashville and went to work on the
Nashville & Chattanooga railroad as engineer, but in 1865 he returned to
his old home in Madison, Indiana, then went to work for the Louisville &
Nashville Railroad Company. Later he was in the employ of the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, with headquarters at Galesburg,
Illinois, and from there he went to Omaha, Nebraska, for the Union
Pacific, which company sent him to Wyoming, in 1868, that country then
being a territory. He ran an engine for some time and later was foreman of
the company's shops at Laramie, remaining there three years, then came to
Moberly, Missouri, and took charge of the old North Missouri shops,
remaining there some time, then went with the Santa Fe road, and was the
first master mechanic on that road west of Topeka, Kansas, his
headquarters being at Dodge City, where he remained two years, after which
he went to Los Angeles, California, in 1876, from which city he ran an
engine to and from Wilmington. Later he went to Colton, at the edge of the
desert, which was at the end of the road, which was only one hundred miles
long. It was a private road at that time, but is now a part of the
Southern Pacific. Subsequently Mr. Bissett ran a locomotive for the
Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad Company between Parsons, Kansas, and
Hannibal, Missouri. Leaving this company, he ran an engine out of
Marshall, Texas, for the Texas Pacific road, and later was given an engine
on the International Great Northern. He came to Kansas City in 1883 and
was made foreman of the Missouri River, Ft. Scott & Gulf shops, remaining
in charge of the same until October, 1890, when he came to Springfield,
Missouri, as master mechanic for the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis
road, remaining with the same until 1901, when this road was purchased by
the Frisco System. He remained in the same capacity with the latter road,
discharging his duties with his usual fidelity and success and to the
eminent satisfaction of all concerned. When the old Gulf shops on the
South Side were closed, he was retired with a pension, having reached the
age limit.

Mr. Bissett was married on December 25, 1866, in Madison, Indiana, to
Levena Aigner, who was born in Jefferson county, Indiana, November 13,
1844. She is a daughter of M. C. Aigner and wife, her mother dying in the
year 1865. She grew up in her native city and had the advantages of an
excellent education.

Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bissett, two of whom are living,
namely: James, born in Galesburg, Illinois, is deceased; Harry, born in
Laramie, Wyoming, February 13, 1871, was graduated from the high school in
Kansas City, after which he came to Springfield and went to work for the
Frisco, beginning at the bottom, and is now foreman of the South Side
shops. He married on June 27, 1900, Emma Weaver, daughter of Major Weaver
and wife, and they have one child, Marion, born September 7 1903; Clyde,
youngest child of our subject, was born March 19, 1876, and is living in
Kansas City.

Politically, Mr. Bissett was a Democrat. He was an interesting talker on
early railroading in this country, and his vast experience in so many
places, made his reminiscences entertaining and instructive. His death was
a great loss to the community and he will long be remembered as one of
Springfield's best citizens.





GREEN IRWIN BLANCHARD. There is a recess in every man's brain that answers
to the call of the wilderness, a heritage of pre-historic origin which
will be with us always. If given the opportunity, it will respond at once
to nature's beauty and depth. What is more natural than man's love for the
conditions and environment that gave him food and shelter, enabling him to
live during the dawn of his existence? Thus it is easy to understand why
many of us prefer the country and life on the farm to that of the city.
One such family is the Blanchards of whom Green Irwin Blanchard, of Center
township, Greene county, is a creditable representative. For generations
they have tilled the soil, made a good living and been happy. The older
members knew what it was to fight the wilderness in order to live, but
this they did courageously and successfully, and never complained that
their lot was hard.

Mr. Blanchard was born on December 17, 1838, at Russelville Logan county,
Kentucky. He is a son of Henry Hudson Blanchard and Mary (Patton)
Blanchard, both of whom were born, reared and educated in that county and
state and there they were married and established their home. Their
parents were from North Carolina, immigrating to the Blue Grass state in
an early day. The family is of English origin but for the last four
generations they have lived in the United States. When our subject was one
year old he was brought by his parents in 1839 to Greene county, Missouri,
the family locating in Center township on what is known as Leeper's
Prairie and theirs was the first house built in that neighborhood, their
nearest neighbor being over three miles away. When Henry H. Blanchard
landed in the wilds of this locality his worldly possessions consisted of
a broken down wagon, a team of ponies in the same condition and five
dollars in money; but, being a man of enterprise, he forged ahead and at
the time of his death in 1862 he had acquired over three hundred acres of
good land, several hundred head of live stock and a competency, besides a
comfortable home. This was considered quite an achievement for those days
and proves the sterling mettle from which the Blanchards are made. His
family consisted of but two sons, Green I. of this sketch and John A., who
was born in 1836. The latter received his education in the district
schools of Greene county and here worked on the home farm when a boy, and
he devoted his active life to general farming. He took a deep interest in
public affairs and in 1872 was elected recorder of deeds of Greene county,
the duties of which office he ably discharged for four years, then moved
back to the farm, and later he served fourteen years as justice of the
peace and was a member of the school board for several years, giving
satisfaction as a public servant in every respect; in fact, he was a
strong personality and influential in his locality. His death occurred in
1895.

Green I. Blanchard grew to manhood, on the home farm in Center township
where he worked when a boy and he received his education in the schools of
his community, attending subscription schools until he was fifteen years
old, after which the public schools being established he attended them
until he was twenty-one years old. He was twelve years old when the family
moved to within a mile of Elwood and there our subject lived until his
marriage in 1860 to Mary Eaton, who died in 1884. For his second wife he
married Mrs. Mary E. Lawdermilk, nee Craven, a daughter of Thomas G. and
Mary Craven, of Center township, in September, 1886. The first marriage
resulted in the birth of seven children, six of whom are still living,
namely: Dora A., born on September 26, 1865, married in 1883 A. A.
Vaughan, a cabinet maker in the Frisco shops at Springfield, and they have
one child, Earl, born on July 24, 1895; he was graduated from the
Springfield public schools, and is now a teacher in a manual training
school there. Delia A., born April 2, 1867, married in 1884, B. L.
Chastain, a contractor of Springfield; Henry W., born on December 23,
1868, is a conductor on the Rock Island railroad, lives in Kansas City,
married Cora O'Neil in 1890 and they have one child, Irwin, who was born
in 1911. Fannie, born on November 9, 1870, married on May 30, 1893,
Millard Brady, a railroad man of Parsons, Kansas; they have one child,
Grace, who is now eleven years old; Robert Lee, born on August 12, 1874,
who is a conductor on the Missouri Pacific railroad; he lives in Kansas
City, and he married Bernice Gilty of that place. Virginia, born on
September 3, 1877, married F. E. Blockman, a farmer living near Elwood,
Center township, and they have two sons, Robert and June, fifteen and
thirteen years old, respectively. John M., born on June 25, 1880, was a
railroad man and died in Nevada, April 8, 1914; he married Della Kindrix,
of Center township, this county, who, with one child, Geraldine, eleven
years old, survives him.

Our subject's second wife was born on May 27, 1855, in Randolph county,
North Carolina; she was first married to Dr. A. A. Lowdermilk, who died in
1884. She spent her girlhood in North Carolina and there she was educated.
When nineteen years of age she removed with her parents to, Greene county,
Missouri, the family locating near Springfield where she livid until her
marriage.

Our subject has made a success as a general farmer. He moved to his
present farm of fifty-five acres in Section 11, Center township, in 1892
and here he has a neat home.

Mr. Blanchard was a soldier in the Civil war, having enlisted in May,
1863, in the Sixth Missouri Provisional Militia and served faithfully
until August, 1864, with the rank of corporal.

Fraternally, he is a member of United Lodge No. 5, Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons. He belongs to the Baptist church. Politically, he is a
Democrat.





ANDREW JACKSON BODENHAMER. The faculty with which the American soldier
laid down the implements of war, at the close of the great conflict
between the Northern and Southern states, and adapted himself to the
pursuits of civil life, has been the wonder of all nations, and scarcely
less surprising than gratifying to the American people themselves. While
not a few very profound citizens of the Republic were speculating as to
what was to become of the thousands of men mustered out of the armies, the
question was solved by the ex-soldiers themselves, who quietly stepped
into the ordinary walks of life, bent the force of circumstances to their
will, and became the chief promoters of a national progress which is
without parallel in history. One of these honored veterans is Andrew
Jackson Bodenhamer, a venerable farmer of Campbell township, and one of
the oldest native-born citizens of Greene county. He has spent his life,
which embraces three-quarters of a century, in this locality and has seen
many vast changes in that time. He has lived on the same farm over half a
century.

Mr. Bodenhamer was born in Greene county, Missouri, September 13, 1839. He
is a son of Jacob and Nettie (Goss) Bodenhamer, one of the pioneer
families of this county. The reader will find adequate mention of them in
the sketch of Louis F. Bodenhamer on another page of this volume.

Andrew J. Bodenhamer grew to manhood on his father's farm, where he worked
hard on the raw land and with the primitive agricultural implements of
those frontier days. He received a limited education in the old-time rural
schools and when a young man took up farming for himself, which he has
made his life work, now owning a good farm of one hundred acres in
Campbell township, where he has resided since the war, his wife having
purchased the place in 1863. He has paid a great deal of attention to the
raising of live stock in connection with general farming.

On July 29, 1862, Mr. Bodenhamer enlisted for service in the Federal army,
in Company A, Eighth Missouri Cavalry, and saw much hard service, taking
part in many battles and skirmishes, serving until the close of the
conflict under General Herron and General Davidson. Much of his time as a
soldier was spent in Arkansas and he fought at Fort Smith, Van Buren,
Little Rock and Prairie Grove, and was taken prisoner during the last
named engagement. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged and
returned home, resuming farming in Greene county.

On September 6, 1860, Mr. Bodenhamer was united in marriage with Elizabeth
Charlotte Wharton, a daughter of Emsley and Sarah (Crow) Wharton, who were
among the old families of this locality. Mr. Wharton served in the Civil
war in the same company and regiment in which our subject served, but it
became necessary to discharge him before the close of the war owing to
disability, sickness having overtaken him while at the front. . He was
born in North Carolina, September 22, 1821, and his death occurred on
September 28, 1898, in this county. His wife was born in Tennessee,
February 2, 1825, and her death occurred in this county, February 8, 1899.
They were both buried at Danforth cemetery. They were the parents of eight
children, namely: Elizabeth C., wife of our subject, was born February 1,
1843; John William, born on October 20, 1844, lives on a farm in Greene
county; Martha J., born on January 6, 1849, lives in Tulare, California;
Mrs. Eliza Green, born on December 11, 1850, also makes her home in
Tulare, California; Sarah C., born on December 22, 1852, lives in
Portland, Oregon; Emsley Lee, born on January 15, 1855, died when nineteen
years of age; Mary Lucinda, born on January 12, 1858, lives in
Rogersville, Missouri; Mandy Tissie, born on February 6, 1861, lives in
California. The father of these children devoted his life to general
farming. Politically he was a Democrat, and he belonged to the Methodist
Episcopal church, South.

To Mr. and Mrs. Bodenhamer the following children were born, namely: Sarah
Alice, born in 1861, is a graduate of the high school at Henderson,
Missouri, she married J. A. M. Lanier, and they live on a farm in Greene
county; Martha T., married J. E. Dennis, and they live near Rogersville,
this state; Nettie J., who was educated at Mountain Home, Arkansas, is the
wife of G. F. Dennis, and they live on a farm near the home of our
subject; Emsley Lee, who is emloyed as salesman for the Diffenderffer
Implement company, of Springfield, has an individual sketch of himself and
family on another page of this work; Ira G. is engaged in farming in
California.

Politically Mr. Bodenhamer is a Democrat, but he has never been active in
political affairs. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in
which he has been an active worker for many years.





EMSLEY L. BODENHAMER. By a life consistent in motive and action and
because of his many commendable personal qualities, Emsley L. Bodenhamer,
for many year's a successful farmer and stock raiser in Greene county, who
is now connected with one of the leading implement houses of Springfield,
has earned the sincere regard of all who know him. He came from an
ancestry that distinguished itself in pioneer times, having, had in them
that unrest of the old world races that drives humanity ever westward on
its great adventure, globe-girdlers and zone-conquerors. His progenitors
were courageous, large-muscled, a stolid sort of people, in whom acute
imagination was coupled with immense initiative, and who possessed,
withal, loyalty and affection as sturdy as their own strength. He has
inherited many of their commendable attributes.

Mr., Bodenhamer was born on December 27, 1872, five miles cast of
Springfield, on the old homestead. He is a son of Andrew J. and Charlotte
Elizabeth (Wharton) Bodenhamer, the former a native of Greene county and
the latter of South Carolina, from which state she came to Missouri
overland in an early day with her parents. The parents of Andrew J.
Bodenhamer were among the pioneer settlers of Greene county, locating on a
farm which they developed by hard work, enduring the usual hardships of
life on the frontier. On the farm our subject's father grew up and worked
when a boy, and he attended the early-day schools, in his vicinity. He has
devoted his life successfully to general farming, in which he is still
engaged. He and his wife are both now advanced in years. His farm formerly
consisted of one hundred and sixty acres, but is now only one hundred
acres, he having disposed of the balance, not caring to be burdened with
so much land in his old age. During the Civil war he enlisted, in 1861, in
the Eighth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, in Springfield, and he served
three years in a faithful and gallant manner.

Six children, all living, have been born to Andrew J. Bodenhamer and wife,
namely: Alice, William, Tenny, Josephine, Emsley L. and Ira G.

The subject of this sketch grew up on the home farm and there he assisted
his father with the general work when a boy, and in the winter months he
attended the common schools in Seymour and his native vicinity. He made
his start in life on the farm. When twenty years of age he went to Tulare,
California, where he spent three years, then returned to Greene county and
resumed farming on a place containing two hundred and ten acres, near the
old homestead. He continued general farming and stock raising on a large
scale for eight or nine years, then sold out and moved to Springfield, in
1906, bought city property and went to work for the Diffenderffer
Implement Company, at Market and Walnut streets, and has been employed by
this firm continuously to the present time. He has proven to be a most
energetic, capable and trustworthy employee and has drawn a great deal of
trade f or the firm.

Mr. Bodenhamer was married on December 18, 1895, to Mattie L. Quisenberry,
who was born in Greene county, Missouri, June 10, 1878, and here she grew
to womanhood and was educated. She is a daughter of Elcano and Ellen
(Vandergrift) Quisenberry.

One child has been born to our subject and wife, Minnie K. Bodenhamer,
whose birth occurred on June 28, 1897. She is attending the Normal School
here and is taking a course in music, having decided natural ability in
this line.

Politically, Mr. Bodenhamer is a Democrat, and, fraternally, he belongs to
the Modern Woodmen of America.





LOUIS F. BODENHAMER. Much worthy effort is expended in producing good
crops, but often times a gain in the best of crops is lost by feeding to
inefficient live stock. There is no surer way of losing money than by
feeding crops to animals, the products or gain from which do not pay the
cost of feeding. Some men attribute their success to the particular kind
of crops they grow or the particular way of feeding live stock. More
likely their success is due to a good-sized farm business, good or average
crops and a superior quality of live stock. One of the young farmers of
Greene county who, judging from his success, understands the proper
handling of his grains and live stock so as to get the best results is
Louis F. Bodenhamer of Campbell township, who lives on the old homestead
just east of the outskirts of Springfield.

Mr. Bodenhamer was born on the place where he now lives, June 16, 1878. He
is a son of Joseph J. and Laura (Farris) Bodenhamer, and a grandson of
Jacob and Nettie (Goss) Bodenhamer. The father of Nettie Goss was a major
in the Revolutionarv war. Jacob Bodenhamer was born in North Carolina,
where he spent his boyhood, and in a very early day immigrated to Greene
county, Missouri, in 1842, settling in what is now a part of Webster
county. He was a prosperous farmer and at one time owned seven hundred
acres of land. After spending eight years on the first place he settled
here, he removed to the place now occupied by our subject, which he
improved and on which he spent the rest of his life. He erected the first
frame house ever seen in this part of Greene county. He became prominent
in public affairs, and was for some time presiding judge of the county
court, serving for one dollar per day, riding daily from his home to the
court house when there was business to transact. He was a Thomas H. Benton
Democrat. His death occurred in 1860 and he was buried in the family
cemetery near his home. His wife was a native of North Carolina and they
were married there. To them eighteen children were born, only five of whom
are living at this writing, namely: Joseph J. and Jacob E., twins, the
latter living in California; Martin Van Buren lives at Mountain Home,
Arkansas; Andrew Jackson lives in Greene county, and Thomas H. Benton
lives at Rogersville, Missouri.

Joseph J. Bodenhamer was born on November 20, 1834, in North Carolina and
there he spent his early childhood, being eight years of age when his
parents brought him to Missouri and here he grew up on the farm, working
hard in helping clear and improve the wild land and he received a meager
education in the early day schools. He has devoted his life to general
farming and is still active, living on the homestead east of Springfield.
He has managed well and has made a success. During the Civil war he
enlisted in the state militia, and served in the Federal ranks under
General Holland, being in the same regiment with his twin brother, but the
rest of his living brothers were in the regular Union army. After the war
he returned to his farm and has since lived a quiet uneventful life. On
January 6, 1859, he married Elizabeth W. Steele, of this county, and to
them three children were born, namely, John A., James E., of Eldorado,
Oklahoma, and Elizabeth E. The wife and mother died on December 10, 1870,
and on November 13, 1871, he chose for his second wife Laura Farris. This
union resulted in the birth of only one child, Louis F., subject of this
sketch. The death of Mrs. Laura Bodenhamer occurred on January 19, 1898.
Joseph J. Bodenhamer was in his earlier life a Democrat, but is now a
Socialist. He is a member of the Christian church. He is a well-read man
and an intelligent conversationalist. He is widely known and has friends
all over the county, having lived here over three-score and ten years, and
during this long period saw many important changes in the county and city.

Louis F. Bodenhamer was reared on the home farm and he received his
education in the country schools, later taking a two-year academy course.
On October 3, 1909, he was united in marriage with Iva Gerhardt, a
daughter of Fred and Mattie (Molder) Gerhardt. She was born in Camden
county, Missouri, and was educated in the common schools. Her father is a
prominent man in that county and holds the position of judge of the first
district there. His wife is a native of Tennessee.

Louis F. Bodenhamer has remained on the home farm and is successfully
engaged in general farming and stock raising. He is a Democrat, and
fraternally he belongs to Mumford lodge No. 738, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, in which he is past grand knight. He also belongs to the Modern
Woodmen of America.





GEORGE IRVIN BOMGARDNER, D. V. S. Foresight is one of the greatest assets
of the individual. We all know what we should have done yesterday. The
real trouble is to know what to do today. There are opportunities in
southern Missouri and northern Arkansas for the young and middle-aged men
who are not afraid to work and wait for time to bring them recompense for
their years of toil. In the Ozarks, in the country and in the town there
are innumerable opportunities awaiting men with foresight, but the
majority of these opportunities will not be seen by the present generation
until they are brought within the range of vision of their retrospection.
Among the exceptions is Dr. George Irvin Bomgardner, a promising young
veterinarian of Ash Grove, Greene county, who had the foresight to first
get ready to do something that needed doing well and then locate in a
country that abounds in opportunities and has a great future.

Dr. Bomgardner was born at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on July 28, 1882. He is a
son of John and Adeline E. (Hawkins) Bomgardner. The father was born in
Somerset county, Pennsylvania, about 1848, and when quite young he went to
Iowa among the pioneer settlers, and was living there when the war between
the states began, and although he was quite young, he enlisted in the one
hundred day service in an Iowa volunteer regiment and served faithfully
until his term expired and he was honorably discharged. When a young man
he learned the painter's trade and followed that for some time, later
engaged in the coal and livery business. In 1875 he began farming, which
he followed with success until 1895, in Iowa, when he moved to Greene
County, Missouri, and bought a farm in Center township, adjoining the town
of Bois D'Arc, and here he spent the rest of his life, dying on June 4,
1898. His widow survived until November 26, 1913. Politically he was a
Democrat, and he belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic.

Dr. Bomgardner grew to manhood on his father's farm in Missouri and
assisted with the general work there. After his father's death he and his
younger brother took charge of the farm. He had the advantages of a good
common school education, and later he entered the Western Veterinary
College, where he spent one year, then was a student for three years at
the Kansas City Veterinary College, making an excellent record there, and
was graduated in 1911. The first Missouri Kansas City Veterinary College
Club was organized that year and our subject was elected vice-president
and the following year he was elected president. Soon after graduating he
began the practice of his profession at Ash Grove, where he has since
remained and has built up a large, satisfactory and rapidly growing
practice, and has had uniform success. He is very studious and keeps fully
abreast of the times in all that pertains to his profession.

Dr. Bomgardner was married on July 6, 1904, to Mary M. Hudgings, who was
born in Boone township, this county, on September 6, 1881, and here she
grew to womanhood and received a good public school education. She is a
daughter of F. M. and Dorthula (Gilmore) Hudgings.

To our subject and wife two children have been born, namely: Dorothy A.,
who is attending school, and Gertrude A.

Politically the doctor is a Progressive, and religiously he belongs to the
Baptist church. In March, 1913, he organized the Baptist Young Men's
Organization, the only organization of its kind. Dr. Bomgardner is a
teacher and active worker in the Sabbath school. He is Scout Master of the
Boy Scouts of America at Ash Grove, and is also a Free and Accepted Mason
in the Blue Lodge.





IRA CARL BON. It has been by close application and persistent, honest work
that Ira Carl Bon, general foreman of the reclamation department of the
South Side Frisco shops, has risen from a machinist's apprentice to his
present responsible position, and not by the influence of friends or the
inscrutable working of fate. He is a man of personal worth and popularity
and enjoys the confidence of all with whom he comes in contact. He is
enterprising and progressive by both word and example and seeks to infuse
that spirit into those with whom he is associated.

Mr. Bon was born May 3, 1876, at Centerville, Iowa. He is a son of George
Bon, who was a native of New York, from which state he came to the Middle
West when a young man and entered railroad service, and is at this writing
coach inspector at Centerville, Iowa, for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Railroad Company, having been employed by this road for a period of
thirty-three years. He helped build the shops of this company at
Centerville and has remained there ever since. He is sixty-seven years
old. He has charge of the superintendent's office and the depot. He is a
member of the Christian church and is a thirty-second degree Mason, and
belongs to the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; also
belongs to the Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
His wife was known in her maidenhood as Eva Swearengin; she is fifty-five
years old. Their only child is the subject of this sketch.

I. Carl Bon's grandfather was Henry Bon, a native of Germany, from which
country he immigrated to America when a young man. He was a cigar maker by
trade, and later in life became a railroad contractor, and was for years a
builder and contractor in the state of New York and in Iowa, maintaining
his home for some time at Centerville.

The subject of this sketch grew to manhood at Centerville, Iowa, and there
attended the common schools until he was sixteen years old, when he began
serving his apprenticeship as machinist in the shops of the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy railroad at that place, remaining there from 1898 to
1905, then worked for the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad at Canton, Ohio,
as storekeeper in the supply department, from 1906 to 1910. In 1910 he
went in business for himself, as agent for several standard makes of
automobiles. He continued in this field with success until 1914, in March
of which year he secured employment with the Frisco Lines at Springfield
as general foreman in the reclamation department, and he is discharging
the duties of this responsible position in a manner that reflects much
credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned. He
has under his direction three hundred and fifty men.

Politically, Mr. Bon is an independent voter. Fraternally, he belongs to
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons, and is a member of the Christian church.

He was married in 1908 to Alice Harvey, a daughter of William E. and Mary
M. (Streepy) Harvey, of Centerville, Iowa, in which city she grew to
womanhood and was educated. She is a member of the Daughters of the
American Revolution, her grandfather having been a soldier in that war.

To our subject and wife one child, Maxine Bon, has been born, whose birth
occurred June 20, 1910.





WALDO CORNWELL BOOTH. It would be to most of us a source of genuine
gratification to be able to trace our ancestry back through the centuries,
and to know how they lived, what they looked like, what they followed for
a livelihood, what they did in the world and what their ambitions were;
but, unfortunately, here in America, few of us are able to do this; in
fact, the majority of us know practically nothing of our progenitors
beyond our grandparents. The Booth family, formerly, spelled Bothe, Bouthe
and Boothe, seems to have had a greater pride in their family tree and
made a careful record of each generation, so that the history of the
family is today accurately traceable back through some six centuries. We
find that it is an ancient English family, and prominent and influential
both in that country and in America, whither some of the family immigrated
among the first in the earliest Colonial period, their descendants now
numbering thousands and are to be found all over the Union.

The family name first occurs in the county palatine of Lancaster, England,
where a son of Adam de Boothe was living in 1275. All the other families
of this name in various parts of England and America are believed to be
descended from this parent stock, through its younger branches. From his
son William the family comes down through Thomas, Robert and Sir Thomas,
who was knighted during the reign of Edward III in the thirteenth century;
his son John lived during the reign of Richard II. We come on down to Sir
Robert Booth, the first of the family to settle at Dunham Massey, in
Cheshire, who died there in 1450. Several members of the family about this
period became bishops and great lawyers and statesmen, and many of them
married into families of the nobility, Sir George Booth, who died in 1483,
marrying a relative of the King of Scotland. The Booths were also people
of wealth, owning vast estates. We find that, coming on down the line, Sir
George Bouthe was knighted by Queen Elizabeth during the latter part of
the fifteenth century, and died in 1652. Sir George Bouthe, who died in
1684, was a member of parliament and commander-in-chief of the English
army in Wales and western England, and was for eminent services created a
baron by Charles II, and from him descended a line of barons to Earl
George H. Grey of Stamford, who was living in 1825.

Richard Boothe of Stamford, ancestor of the name in Connecticut, and for
whom the city of Stamford was named, was born in 1607, but it is not known
from what part of England nor in what year he emigrated to America. He
held various offices of trust in his new home and seems to have been an
influential man in Colonial affairs. His large landed property was divided
among his children. During that early period of our history we also know
that Robert Boothe lived at Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1645, removing to
Saco, where he died in 1672; and John Boothe, who lived at Scituate,
Massachusetts, in 1656; Humphrey Boothe was a merchant at Charlestown,
Massachusetts. Richard Boothe mentioned above, married Elizabeth Hawley,
and to them eight children were born, namely: Elizabeth, Anne, Ephraim,
Ebenezer, John, Joseph, Bethiah and Johanna. From these children descended
the numerous Booths of the present generation throughout America.

Waldo Cornwell Booth, subject of this memoir, was born in Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, May 21, 1836, and was a son of George and Abby (Cornwell)
Booth. Both his grandparents were soldiers in the Revolutionary war.
George Booth was engaged in the foundry business in New Brittan,
Connecticut, for a number of years, finally removing to Cincinnati, Ohio,
where he lived with his son our subject.

Waldo C. Booth received an exceptionally good education for the period in
which he lived. He grew to manhood in his native state, and remained in
New England until 1853, when he came to Cincinnati with an uncle and there
engaged in the hardware business, first securing employment in a store and
finally working his way up until he became a member of the firm of R. W.
Booth & Company, which for years was rated as the largest wholesale
hardware company in that city, and there our subject became a prominent
man in both business and social circles, and he made a great success as a
merchant through his close application, honest dealings and the exercise
of sound judgment. He came to Springfield, Missouri, in 1870, on account
of failing health, which, being restored by the change, he again engaged
in the hardware business, operating here one of the largest and best
patronized stores of its kind in the city, and enjoying an excellent
trade, and later he also engaged in the tobacco manufacturing business
here, one of his most famous brands being "Old Coon," well remembered by
the older smokers of the country.

Mr. Booth was married on September 6, 1865, to Martha Thomas, who was born
in Buffalo, New York, December 11, 1839. She is a daughter of Calvin F. S.
and Eliza (Shields) Thomas, the former a native of New York City, where
his birth occurred in 1808, the family later removing to Norfolk,
Virginia. After the death of his father he, with his mother and sister,
went to Boston, where he established a printing office. Later he settled
in Buffalo, New York, where he engaged for some time in the publication of
a newspaper and in the wholesale paper business, owning a large paper
warehouse there. Meanwhile he had married and reared a family. After the
death of his wife he gave up his business and made his home with his
daughter, who had married Waldo C. Booth, our subject, in Cincinnati, the
family coming to Springfield in 1869. Mr. Thomas did not engage in
business here of any kind, his failing health compelling him to lead a
quiet, retired life. The Springfield people who yet remember him recall
him as a silent but cultured, kindly gentleman. He died in 1876 while in
Buffalo, New York, where he had gone on a visit. Mr. Thomas knew America's
greatest author, Edgar Allen Poe, whom he befriended when he was engaged
in the printing business in Boston, in 1827. Mr. Thomas then being about
eighteen years old. He was a poor boy, and with the assistance of a
widowed mother and what he could earn by his printing business, was trying
to get an education. In that year he met Poe, who was about the same age,
and who was then in the United States army, where he was known as Edgar A.
Perry. He prevailed on Thomas to publish a volume of his poems, and when
the thin, forty page volume was issued the title page was as follows:
"Tamerlane and Other Poems. By a Bostonian. Boston: Calvin F. S. Thomas,
Printer. 1827." It was of cheap paper, poorly executed mechanically, and
rudely bound. It contained ten poems, some of them without any title. But
four of them, "Tamerlane," "The Lake," "To ______," and "Visit of the
Dead," always appeared in later editions, and these four were subjected to
so much revision that they bear but small resemblance to their original
form.

To Waldo C. Booth and wife four children were born, namely: Stanley C.,
who is head bookkeeper for the McGregor-Noe Hardware Company of
Springfield, married Lydia Wood; Fred is deceased; Ralph W. is also
deceased; George H., who is now connected with the Springfield Wagon
Company, married Grace Hyner of St. Louis.

Waldo C. Booth was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war,
having enlisted at Cincinnati in 1861 in the Fifth Ohio Volunteer
Infantry. He was soon commissioned first lieutenant, later became a
captain. He was subsequently given command of a company in the One Hundred
and Thirty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He proved to be an efficient
officer, and took part in numerous important engagements. Politically, he
was a. Democrat. He was a member of the school board for a number of
terms, and he was often solicited to make the race for mayor of
Springfield, but always declined. Fraternally he was a member of the
Ancient Order of United Workmen, and religiously he was a Unitarian. He
belonged to the Shakespeare Club of Cincinnati. In his earlier life he was
an enthusiastic sportsman. Personally he was admired by all who knew him
for his integrity, business ability and exemplary character.





ROBERT A. BOWLAND. Robert A. Bowland has established a reputation for
honesty and integrity which is attested by the high estimation in which he
is held by his fellow citizens, being a citizen and neighbor highly
honored in his locality, and in his sphere of life, nobly and faithfully,
has he performed every duty that presented itself. Formerly he was one of
our efficient school teachers, and later served Greene county many years
as treasurer, and thus is well known over the city and county. He is a man
of positive temperament, firm in his convictions, forcible and fearless in
his adhesion to principles, and is regarded by all who know him as an
honorable man and obliging gentleman.

Mr. Bowland was born in Morrow county, Ohio. He is a son of Boyd M. and
Mar Elizabeth (Colmery) Bowland, both natives of Pennsylvania, from which
state they moved to Ohio when young and were married in the latter state,
and were educated in the public schools. The mother of our subject taught
school for some time prior to her marriage; Boyd M. Bowland devoted his
life to agricultural pursuits. He moved his family from Ohio to Greene
county, Missouri, when his son, Robert A., of this sketch was a small
child. Politically, the elder Bowland was a Republican. During the Civil
war he was a soldier in the Union army, and after the war he served for
some time as postmaster at Iberia, Morrow county, Ohio.

Eleven children were born to Boyd M. and Elizabeth Bowland, eight of whom
are living at this writing. They were named as follows: Charles C. and
Harry C. are the two eldest; Boyd M., Jr., is deceased; Robert A., of this
sketch; William B. is deceased; David M., Cora E., Edward B., Leroy R. and
Calvin are all living; and Samuel M., the youngest, is deceased.

Robert A. Bowland grew to manhood on the home farm and there assisted with
the work when a boy. He received a good education in the public schools
and the normal school in Springfield. He began life for himself by
engaging in farming for a few years, then taught school a number of years
with much success, and later was a deputy assessor, and served as such in
the Greene county court house for three years under W. A. Smith. During
that time he mastered thoroughly the ins and outs of the office, and in
1904 made the race for county treasurer and was elected by a large
majority. His record as a public official in this connection was so highly
commendable and he proved to be such a careful, honest and obliging public
servant, that he was re-elected and held the office eight years, to the
satisfaction of all concerned. Mr. Bowland owns a good home in
Springfield, which is tastily kept by a lady of refinement, known in her
maidenhood as Emma V. Kerr, whom Mr. Bowland married in 1895. She is a
native of Kansas, and when she was but a child she came with her parents
to Greene county, Missouri, locating on a farm near Republic, where she
completed her education in the Republic high school. To this union one
child was born, Robert Paul, born at Republic, Missouri, August 19, 1900,
and is at home attending public school. Her parents were born in Indiana
and went to the Sunflower state many years ago, but remained only a few
years.

Politically, Mr. Bowland is a Republican. He and his family are members of
the First Baptist church, in which he is a deacon and an active worker.
Fraternally, our subject belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and the Modern Woodmen. Mrs. Bowland is a charter member of the Wild Rose
camp, Royal Neighbors, of Republic.





BENJAMIN BOWMAN. It requires men of peculiar temperament to be successful
railroad conductors. There are many who have spent several decades,
perhaps, in railroad service who are still utterly unfit to take charge of
a passenger train, although they may be quite capable in some other
specific line of railroading. Among other attributes essential to a
successful conductor are fortitude, patience, quickness of perception and
coolness of temper, also a steady nerve; for one is often called upon
without an instant's warning to meet trying and exacting situations. One
of the trusted and popular conductors on the Frisco lines is Benjamin
Bowman, who has been with this company for over fifteen years and in the
railroad service for a period of thirty-three years; having had varied
experience in different parts of the country.

Mr. Bowman was born on February 27, 1865, in Shelby county, Illinois. He
is a son of Harrison and Sarah (Yarbrough) Bowman, the father born in the
old Keystone state of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, and the mother was a
native of Kentucky. The former, whose birth occurred in 1839, is still
living in Shelby county, Illinois. He was a successful farmer during his
active life, but is now living in retirement in the town of Cowden. The
mother of our subject died when he was about six years of age. To these
parents five children were born, namely: Mary, John W., Benjamin, Joe is
deceased, and James.

Benjamin Bowman grew to manhood on the home farm in Illinois where he
worked hard when a boy, and there he received a limited education in the
public schools. In 1881 he began his career as a railroader in the
Burlington shops at Beardstown, Illinois, but a little later he began as
brakeman for the same road and continued in this capacity until 1885, when
he was promoted to freight conductor. In I887 he went to Temple, Texas,
and went to work as freight conductor for the Santa Fe road, about two
years later he was promoted to passenger conductor, his run being from
Temple to Galveston. Leaving the Santa Fe road in 1895 he went to work for
the Missouri, Kansas & Texas out of Houston, Texas. About ten months later
he went to Mexico, and ran a train for the Mexican Central railroad out of
San Luis Potosi. Later he went to Vera Cruz, where he remained nine or ten
months, in charge of a mixed train on the Inter Oceanic Railroad, then
went to Salatio, Mexico, and worked on the Mexican National railroad,
having a mixed run. After remaining in the land of the ancient Montezumas
until 1898 he gave up his position there and came to Springfield, Missouri
and secured employment with the Frisco as freight conductor in which
capacity he worked a few years then was given a passenger run between
Springfield and St. Louis which he has retained for the past eleven years.

Mr. Bowman was married on January 30, 1889, in Sealy, Texas, to Lillie,
Harvey, who was born on a plantation in the Lone Star state, and there she
was reared and educated. Her death occurred on December 27, 1909.

To Mr. and Mrs. Bowman four children were born, namely: Bennie, the eldest
daughter, was born on May 3, 1894; Gordon, born on September 13, 1895;
Chester, born September 1, 1904; Virginia, born on October 30, 1908.

In May, 1911, Mr. Bowman was married a second time, his last wife being
known in her girlhood as Sarah Willia. She was born in Mobile, Alabama,
February 27, 1882, and is the daughter of a physician. She grew up under
the environments of a Southern home and she had excellent educational
advantages. To this union of our subject and wife one child has been born,
Lois, whose birth occurred on January 3, 1912.

Politically, Mr. Bowman is a Democrat. He is an Episcopalian in his
religious affiliations, and fraternally is a member of the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks, and also holds membership in Division No. 321
brotherhood of Railway Conductors. He lives in Denning Place, on the north
side of the city.





JOHN R. BOYD, M.D. It is not always easy to discover and define the hidden
forces that move life of ceaseless activity and a large professional
success; little more can be done than to note their manifestation in the
career of the individual under consideration. In view of this fact, the
life of the physician and public-spirited man of affairs whose name
appears above affords a striking example of well defined purpose with the
ability to make that purpose subserve not only his own ends but the good
of his fellow men as well. Doctor Boyd has long held distinctive prestige
in a calling which requires for its basis sound mentality and intellectual
discipline of a high order. In his chosen field of endeavor Doctor Boyd
has achieved success and his present eminent standing among the leading
medical men of southwest Missouri is duly recognized and appreciated, not
only in Springfield and Greene county, where he has been engaged in the
practice for the past score of years, but also throughout this section of
the state.

Dr. John R. Boyd was born in Logan county, Kentucky, December 16, 1854. He
is the son of R. G. H. and Isabella (Herndon) Boyd, both natives of
Kentucky.

The father was a land owner and ranked among the leading citizens of his
community. His wife's people, the Herndons, were also extensive land
owners in the Blue Grass state. The death of Mrs. Boyd occurred when her
son, John R.. was only six weeks old. She was a devout member of the
Baptist church. To R. G. H. Boyd and wife four sons and four daughters
were born. Three sons and one daughter survive. The living daughter makes
her home in Lawton, Oklahoma. Our subject's surviving brothers are engaged
-in farming in Kentucky and Oklahoma.

Doctor Boyd grew up on the farm and received his early education in the
common schools and in Auburn Academy. He remained in Kentucky until 1879,
when he came to Jackson county, Missouri, where he taught school and began
reading medicine. He spent one year in the Bellevue Medical Hospital
College of New York City-and completed his medical education in the
University of Louisville, Kentucky, from which institution he graduated
with the class of 1886, later taking a post-graduate course from the Post
Graduate School in Chicago, also a post-graduate course from the
Polyclinic Institute of Chicago. He began the practice of his profession
at Butler, Bates county, Missouri, in 1886, where he remained until 1895,
when, seeking a larger field for the exercise of his talents, he removed
to Springfield and has since been successfully engaged in the general
practice of medicine, being successful from the first, and during this
period of nearly twenty years has occupied an envied position among his
professional brethren.

In 1901 Doctor Boyd was elected state medical director of the Modern
Woodmen of America, which important office he still holds with much credit
to himself and satisfaction to all concerned. He was one of the promoters
of the Missouri Fidelity and Casualty Company, at the organization of
which he was elected a director, also medical director, and in 1912 was
elected president of the company. He is now a director of the Southern
Surety Company of St. Louis, Missouri. Several years ago he was president
of the Greene County Medical Society for one term. He still holds
membership in the Greene County Medical Society, the Southwest Missouri
Medical Society, and the Missouri State Medical Association. Doctor Boyd
was one of the founders of the Springfield Hospital, and has been a
director in the same from the first, and for the first few years was
treasurer and is now secretary of the same. He maintains a modern suite of
rooms in the Holland building, Springfield. He has been very successful in
a financial way and has been interested in numerous business enterprises
and has been influential in the latter-day upbuilding of the Queen City.
Politically, he has always been a stanch Democrat and, fraternally, he
belongs to the Masonic order, including the Council and the Royal Arch
degrees. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the
Modern Woodmen of America, and has always been interested in lodge
affairs.

Doctor Boyd was married in 1883 to Nannie M. Montgomery, of Lebanon
,Kentucky, in which state she grew to womanhood and received her
education. She is a daughter of a farmer and stockman and an excellent old
family. She has been prominent in the best social circles since coming to
Springfield, and is an active member of several clubs.

The union of Doctor Boyd and wife has been blessed by the birth of one
daughter, Lillian Boyd. She is a young lady of exceptional talent and
refinement. She was graduated from the Academy of Drury College and
afterward received the degree of A. B. Cum Lauda from that college.

Miss Boyd spent a year at the College of Hawaii, Honolulu, Territory of
Hawaii, where she specialized in science, taking the degree of B.S. She
was an enthusiastic member of the college fraternities, Mu Beta and Ph Bi
Phi.

The Doctor is a gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet, at once
impressing you with his polished Southern manners, his directness,
frankness and learning, also his unpretentious simplicity.





RAY C. BOYER. Ray C. Boyer was born at Meadville, Crawford county,
Pennsylvania, October 27, 1880. He is a son of Lukes Boyer, who was born
in Allentown, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. He was a carpenter and
contractor by trade, and spent many years of his life at the city of
Meadville, where his death occurred in 1888, and he was buried at
Sackerton, Pennsylvania. He was about fifty years of age. He was a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also belonged to the Lutheran
church. His widow, who was known in her maidenhood as Nancy Beige, is now
living in Springfield and is the wife of August Drishaver, a carpenter and
contractor. Our subject is the only child by her first marriage, and there
are no children by her last marriage.

Stephen Boyer, paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was
born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, later moving to Crawford county, that
state. He was a tanner by trade, but followed farming in his later life,
owning a small farm.

The Boyer family is of French extraction, and upon immigrating to America,
settled first at Trenton, New Jersey, later locating in Pennsylvania.
Boyertown, that state, was named after members of this old family, which
has lived in the United States since before the Revolutionary war, in
which conflict several of the Boyer men fought under George Washington.

Ray C. Boyer spent his boyhood in Pennsylvania, and was educated in the
Meadville public schools leaving school when seventeen years of age, he
began learning the painter's trade, which he followed three years. In 1898
he came to Springfield, Missouri, with his mother and stepfather, and
secured a position as hostler in the shops of the Kansas City, Ft. Scott &
Memphis Railroad. On June 27, 1909, he was promoted by the Frisco, which
company leased the former railroad in 1900, to engineer, after he had been
working as fireman for some time, and he is at this writing night engineer
in the south side shops.

Mr. Boyer was married twice, first, in 1904 to Nellie Massey, a daughter
of Bud and Thressa (Rathbone) Massey. Her death occurred in December,
1905. His second marriage was celebrated in 1908, when he married Eva
Massey, a sister of his first wife. Both marriages were without issue.

Mr. Boyer is a Democrat. He is a member of the National Association of
Steam Engineers, the Modern Brotherhood of American Engineers and is also
a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He lives on Wassola street,
where he built a cosy home a few years ago.





THOMAS H. BRADLEY. One of the chief concerns of every man in the
productive period of his life is to accumulate sufficient means to enable
him to properly care for himself and family in old age. Many men start out
with the best of intentions, but err in business judgment and find
themselves penniless in old age. Others seem to be followed by unfortunate
circumstances classified under the general heading of "hard luck." Thomas
H. Bradley has exercised such sound judgment and persistency in his active
career that he has been able to earn a good livelihood and rear his family
in comfort and respectability, notwithstanding the usual adversities that
occasionally beset the pathways of every mortal.

Mr. Bradley was born in Sumner county, Tennessee, September 17, 1844. He
is a son of Isaac F. and Sarah (Mabery) Bradley, an excellent old
Tennessee couple who devoted many years to successful farming in Sumner
county. The father received excellent educational advantages and was a
good scholar. He was born in 1820 and died March 8, 1879. Mrs. Bradley was
born in 1820 and died March 9, 1906.

Thomas H. Bradley grew up on the home farm. As a lad he was not very
strong and his education was limited. He left his native state early in
1855, and arrived in Greene county, Missouri, on April 5th of that year,
locating on a farm near Springfield, when the place was a small village,
He continued to follow farming here until 1879, when he established a
livery business in Springfield, which he conducted until 1886, when he
sold out and went back to farming, which he carried on with his usual
success until 1894, when he moved back to Springfield and did a general
live stock and trading business until in October, 1913, when he bought a
livery, feed and sale stable at 1220 North Campbell street, which
he-conducted until recently.

Mr. Bradley enlisted during the early part of the Civil war in Greene
county, in the Seventy-second Regiment, State Militia, in which he served
for some time, later enlisting in Company E, Sixteenth Missouri Cavalry,
under Captain Headley, serving ten months, but was not in any engagements.
During the latter part of the war he married and hired a substitute to
fill out his military service.

Mr. Bradley married in Greene county, in September 16, 1863, Mary Louisa
Akin, who was a daughter of Lafayette and Patsey (Stricklin) Akin who were
both born in Tennessee, east of the Cumberland mountains.

Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bradley, named as follows: Thomas
Franklin is the eldest; John Harvey is deceased; Mrs. Lola May Smith,
William W., Samuel L., Robert Lee lives in Kansas City; Mrs. Evelia
Stocker lives in Kansas City; Luella is deceased; Elsie is also deceased.
Our subject owns several valuable pieces of city property here.

Mrs. Bradley is a member of the Baptist church. Politically, our subject
is a Republican.





JAMES B. BRAZILL. One of the best known citizens of the southern part of
Greene county is James Buchanan Brazill, a general farmer and fine stock
grower living near Galloway Station, southeast of Springfield.

Mr. Brazill is a native of Sharon, Pennsylvania, having been born there,
December 14, 1856. His father, H. L. Brazill, was a farmer and small store
keeper in Sharon and Meadville for a number of years. He was a stanch
Democrat and great admirer of President Buchanan and for that reason named
the subject of our sketch after the man who had just been elected
President.

Young Brazill was given a good education in the local schools and
graduated from what was then known as the Harrisburg Academy in June,
1875. For three years he worked in his father's store and then, having
married Lorrie Steele, he moved to the Western Reserve in Ohio, where his
wife's father was farming and remained there until October, 1884, when he
moved to Greene county, Missouri. He at once went to farming and has
succeeded to a remarkable degree.

Mr. and Mrs. Brazill have three daughters, Hester, Lorrie and. Martha, all
married except Martha. The Brazill farm is known throughout the county for
its high state of cultivation and for the fine cattle and hogs raised
there, it being the motto of the owner, "If it is worth doing it is worth
doing right." Mr. Brazill and all his family are members of the Baptist
church of which communion he is a deacon. He has served nine years as
school trustee and was some twenty years ago justice of the peace for one
term. He takes great interest in Democratic politics and is a great
admirer of Champ Clark, speaker of the House of Representatives. Mr.
Brazill was elected several times to state Democratic conventions as a
delegate.





CECIL ALVIN BRIGGS. By his close observance of fundamental rules of
business, based upon honesty, rectitude and fidelity to trusts and
confidences reposed in him, Cecil Alvin Briggs, secretary and general
manager of the George Briggs Lumber Company, of Springfield, has achieved
success while yet young in years, won the public esteem and fixed his star
in the ascendant. In all relations of life he is courteous and cordial in
his friendships, cautious, temperate, ambitious, zealous, consistent,
moral and circumspect in his daily existence, and punctuality is one of
his maxims.

Mr. Briggs was born July 19, 1887, at Verona, Lawrence county, Missouri.
He is a son of Sylvester A. Briggs, who was born September 26, 1847, in
Fountain county, Indiana, and was of French-English descent. He grew to
manhood in Illinois and received his education in the common schools near
the city of Danville. He began life for himself as a school teacher and
followed this profession for a period of upwards of fifteen years, in
Douglas county, Illinois, where his services were in large demand and he
became known as one of the leading educators of the county. Leaving the
Prairie State in 1885, he located at Verona, Missouri, where he engaged in
the lumber business until 1910, also maintained his home for a time during
that period at Siloam Springs, Benton county, Arkansas, where he has
retail lumber interests. About five years ago he retired from active life,
having accumulated a competency for his old age, and is now living quietly
with his son, our subject, in the Briggs residence on West Commercial
street, Springfield. The firm of Briggs & Wilks, with which he was
connected in southern Missouri so long, became well known. He is now in
his seventy-seventh year. Politically he is a Republican, always took an
active interest in public affairs was justice of the peace for a period of
eight years, and was also secretary of the school board at Verona for a
period of eleven years, filling these offices in a manner that reflected
credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of the public. He is a devout
member of the Christian church and for many years was an elder in, the
same at Verona. , The mother of the subject of this sketch was known in
her maidenhood as Frances Cannon, a daughter of G. N. and Elizabeth
Cannon. She was a woman of many praiseworthy characteristics. Her death
occurred October 2, 1909, at Siloam Springs, Arkansas. To these parents
seven children were born, only two of whom are living at this writing,
namely: Cecil A., of this sketch; and Floyd E., who lives at Pittsburg,
Kansas, is a brakeman on the Kansas City Southern Railroad, and is
unmarried. Our subject's paternal grandparents were Augustus and Ruth
(West) Briggs, natives of New York and Kentucky, respectively.

Cecil A. Briggs was educated in the common schools, graduated from the
Verona high school, took a course in a St. Louis business college, and he
began his business career in 1907, in the lumber firm of his father at
Verona, where he remained until 1910, as office manager for the firm of
Briggs & Wilks. He then came to Springfield as bookkeeper for the D. J.
Landis Lumber Company, with which he remained until 1912, then went to
Lamar, Oklahoma, as assistant cashier of the Bank of Lamar, remaining
there until March 4, 1914, when he returned to Springfield and assumed his
present connection with the George-Briggs Lumber Company, his previous
experience having made him familiar with every phase of the lumber
business and rendering him entirely capable of assuming the responsible
position he now occupies.

The George-Briggs Lumber Company is located at 425 West Commercial street.
It was incorporated under the laws of Missouri, February 4, 1914, with a
capital stock of fifteen thousand dollars, and the business was started on
that date, with J. H. George, president; B., H. George, treasurer; and
Cecil A. Briggs, manager and secretary. Their yard is three hundred by one
hundred and seventy-five feet and they have a neat office.

A full stock of well-selected lumber of all kinds, such as is to be found
in any up-to-date lumber yard in this part of the country, is carried, and
the business has been a success from the start. Their business is confined
mostly to Greene county. Four assistants are required in the yards.
Besides lumber they handle sashes, doors, cement, plaster, sand, brick,
etc.

Politically Mr. Briggs is a Republican. He is a member of the Christian
church, and was formerly a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.

Mr. Briggs was married, first, in 1909, to Elsie Browning, a daughter of
George W. and Jane Browning. Her death occurred August 28, 1913, leaving
two children, Genevieve and Jane. Our subject was married again in 1914 to
Flossie May Warden, a daughter of James L. and Dora (Blackman) Warden.





BRIGHT AND SALTS. Bright and Salts are today among the enterprising and
well known business men of Bois D'Are, where they are engaged in the
livery business, their barn being one of the best patronized in the west
part of Greene county. They have a modernly equipped barn, which they keep
in as neat a manner as possible and their horses are always well groomed
and give good service. Their vehicles are also well kept and the firm
tries to give prompt and honest service at all times, consequently it is
popular with the traveling public

John C. Bright was born in Benton county, Arkansas, February 10, 1881. He
is a son of Alfred W. and Kate (Maberry) Bright, both long since deceased.

John C. Bright grew to manhood in his native state and worked on a farm
when a boy, and he received his education in the common schools. He
continued farming in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, until 1913, having
removed to the last named state in 1905. He is at this writing
successfully engaged in the livery business at Bois D'Arc with Robert A.
Salts.

Mr. Bright was married February 22, 1908, to Maud Salts, who was born in
Center township, Greene county, Missouri, in December, 1885, and here she
grew to womanhood and received her education in the public schools. Two
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bright, namely: Harley A., born
June 19, 1909; James A., born July 28, 1912.

Robert Allen Salts was born in Center township, Greene county, Missouri,
February 19, 1893. He is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Walker) Salts, for
years popular and well known farmers of Center township.

Robert A. Salts grew to manhood on the home farm, where he worked when a
boy, and he received his education in the district schools of his
community. He engaged in general farming until 1914, when he went in
business with his brother-in-law, John C. Bright, at Bois D'Arc, a member
of the livery firm of Bright & Salts.

Mr. Salts married on January 13, 1912, Zula Shumate, who was born,
September 3, 1895.

Politically Mr. Salts is a Progressive, and religiously he is a Baptist.
He is a young man of much energy and is straight-forward in his dealings
with the public.





MADISON ANDREW BROWER. The man who produces double the customary crop
assumes a leadership that brings responsibilities. His farm is an object
of interest. When his work becomes known and his methods discussed he is
called a model farmer. Others want to see and learn, and then do likewise.
One of the farmers of Center township, Greene county, who not only raises
big crops, but who keeps his farm in an attractive condition, everything
well cared for thus presenting to the visitor a pleasing appearance, is
Madison Andrew Brower.

Mr. Brower was born in the above named township and county on December 2,
1869. He is a son of John Robinson Brower and Sarah Ann (Spoon) Brower.
The father came from North Carolina before the Civil war and located in
Center township, this county; the mother also came here from North
Carolina about the same time, and here they were married and spent the
rest of their lives on a farm, the father dying in 1899 and the mother
passing away in 1908. They were the parents of nine children, seven of
whom are living at this writing, namely: Louise married Daniel Henley, a
farmer of Oklahoma; James is farming in Center township, Greene county;
Calvin H. is teaching school in Center township; Etta married L. G.
Reynolds, who is employed by the International Harvester Company and
stationed at Springfield; Ella married John Cook, a farmer of Oklahoma;
Lizzie married Edward Miner, a farmer of Center township; and Madison A.,
of this sketch.

Mr. Brower of this review grew to manhood on the home farm, where he
worked when a boy during vacations, and he received his education in the
public schools of his community. He has always followed farming. He
remained with his parents until he was married when twenty-six years old.
He moved to his-present excellent farm of one hundred and sixty acres in
section 13, East Center township, in 1904, which he purchased at that
time. He also owns one hundred and sixty acres in section 23 of the same
township. His farm is one of the best improved and best kept in the
township and it lies on the Carthage road, five miles west of Springfield,
occupying one of the highest points in this part of the Ozarks. It is well
drained and very productive, having produced a number of record crops. In
connection with general farming he pays considerable attention to hog
raising, making a specialty of pure bred Poland-China hogs, and has been
more than ordinarily successful in this line. His dwelling and other
buildings are substantial and neat in appearance, and everything denotes
good management about his place.

Mr. Brower was married on May 10, 1895, to Mrs. Mary Ann (Johnson) Wilson,
widow of J. H. Wilson and a daughter of Ellis and Rachel Johnson, early
settlers of West Center township, where she grew to womanhood and received
her education.

Two children have been born to our subject and wife, namely: Lillian, born
on July 13, 1897, and Claude, born on June 19, 1900. They are both at home
with their parents.

Fraternally, Mr. Brower is a member of Elwood Lodge No. 278, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, also the Elwood Lodge of Modern Woodmen of America.
Politically he is a Democrat, and he has always manifested a good
citizen's interest in local public affairs. He attends the Methodist
Episcopal church, South.





ADDISON BROWN. Addison Brown has achieved marked success as a lawyer while
yet a young man, for the vocation he selected is one of the most exacting
of all Professions and, too, he has had to win his way in the face of
opposition n various ways and in a community long noted for the high order
of its legal talent. He throws his whole soul into his work. As a citizen,
he stands for the highest ideals in all the relations of life.

Mr. Brown was born on January 19, 1874, in Ozark, Christian county,
Missouri. He is a son of E. B. and Sarah A. (Clapp) Brown; the father was
born on December 5, 1845; the mother was born on July 15, 1856. These
parents received good educations, and the father attended the Keokuk
Medical College, at Keokuk, Iowa, from which institution he was graduated
in April, 1872. He first began the practice of his profession in Ozark,
Missouri, where he remained until 1889, when he removed to Billings, this
state, and there he is still actively engaged in the practice of medicine,
having built up a large patronage. Politically he is a Democrat. He
belongs to the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
other fraternal organizations.

To E. B. Brown and wife nine children were born, all of whom are still
living, named as follow: Mollie L., born on August 28, 1872, is single and
she has been teaching in the public schools of Dallas, Texas, for the past
seven years; Addison, of this sketch; Fred H., born on November 16, 1876
is single, and he is engaged in the practice of medicine at Billings,
Missouri; Ross B., born on June 20, 1879, married Elizabeth Berry, and
they live in Branson, Missouri, where he is engaged in the real estate
business; Frank H., born on July 15, 1883, married Lucy Garroutte, and
they are living in Billings, where he is engaged in the mercantile
business; Minnie V., born in 1886, is single, and is teaching in the
public schools of Dallas, Texas; Ned R., born on November 3, 1888, married
in 1909; he is a traveling salesman and resides in Colorado Springs;
Joseph D., born on January 11, 1893, is a pharmacist and lives in
Billings, Missouri; Alta L., born on December 8, 1896, lives in Billings;
she is a student in the State Normal school at Springfield, Missouri.

John D. Brown, the paternal grandfather of our subject, married Jean Bray,
and to them five sons and three daughters were born, all of the boys being
made physicians. Joseph Addison Brown was the father of Dr. William
McFarland Brown, a physician and surgeon of Springfield, Missouri, a
complete sketch of whom appears on another page of this work, in which
will be found a complete genealogy of the Brown family. Dr. G. P. S.
Brown, of Nixa, Missouri, is also a physician; he is an uncle of the
subject of this sketch.

Addison Brown received a common school education, being graduated from the
high school at Billings, Missouri, in 1893. He became a registered
pharmacist in Texas on July 15, 1893, and for a number of years engaged in
the drug business in the city of Dallas with much success. He was manager
of a number of drug stores there. Finally he decided to enter the legal
profession and began studying law during spare moments. Progressing
rapidly, he entered the law department of Washington University, at St.
Louis, Missouri, from which institution he was graduated on June 20, 1901,
having made an excellent record. From 1901 to 1905 he was engaged as
manager of drug stores in Dallas, Texas.

On September 1, 1905, Mr. Brown located in Springfield for the practice of
his profession. He has been very successful from the first and his
clientage has constantly increased since coming to this city. During the
past seven years he has been attorney for a number of wholesale merchants
here. He has long ranked among the leaders of the Greene county bar.

Mr. Brown was married on December 22, 1910, to Lydian D. Berry, of Nevada,
Missouri. She is a daughter of J. H. Berry. She received a good education.

Politically, Mr. Brown is a Democrat. He belongs to the Masonic order, the
Young Men's Business Club, and the Christian church.





FRANK E. BROWN. Successful farming calls for the best of judgment. It
means good crops, good live stock well fed and handled, and a thoroughly
balanced business in every way. No business needs better management all
around than farming. So many chances for failure are present that it is
the exceptional farm that is strong in every particular. Most farms
succeed in spite of certain weaknesses. Some of these weaknesses can be
corrected; others are due to conditions that cannot be improved, such as
naturally poor soil, short growing seasons, steep hills and various
things. No better example of a good general farmer, stock man and
horticulturist than Frank E. Brown, of Campbell township, near the
Springfield city limits, could be found in Greene county. He has applied
business principles to his farming and has used his mind as well as his
brawn. He hails from the far-away rugged state of Maine, but before
casting his lot with the people of the Ozarks, engaged in mercantile
pursuits in Minnesota a number of years.

Mr. Brown was born August 6, 1860, at Sangerville, Maine. He is a son of
Francis and Tamar (Brown) Brown, and a grandson of Oliver Brown, who was a
native of Maine his parents being among the, pioneers of that state. He
grew up and married in his native locality and later removed to
Sangerville, having been among the first settlers at that place, and there
he spent the rest of his life engaged in farming and died there, and there
occurred the birth of his son Francis Brown, our subject's father. The
latter grew up on the homestead on which he worked when a boy and in spare
times learned the carpenter's trade. After the Civil war he removed to
Minnesota, and engaged in contracting at Minneapolis, later moving to the
southern part of that state and farmed a few years in the vicinity of
Leroy. His death occurred in Minneapolis in August 1896, at the age of
seventy-three years. His family consisted of eleven children, four of whom
are living at this writing, namely: Anna, who lives in Everett,
Washington, is the wife of Clinton Stephans, a relative of the noted civil
engineer, Frank Stephans; Mrs. Ada Jones, whose husband is deceased, lives
in Minneapolis; Mrs. Fannie Hartley lives in Minneapolis; Minnie Stephens
lives at Red Wing, Minnesota, and Frank E. of this sketch.

The subject of this review was educated in the common schools of
Minnesota, where he removed with his parents when a child; however, he
left school when thirteen years of age and began learning the carpenter's
trade, later managed his father's farm, and during his father's last
illness he was appointed by the governor of the Gopher state as a delegate
to the Farmers' Congress which met in St. Paul. He continued general
farming there, also maintained a store for some time.

Mr. Brown was married at Leroy, Minnesota, March 7, 1888, to Anna Palmer,
a daughter of Cady and Sarah (Palmer) Palmer. Her father was a farmer and
one of the first settlers in the vicinity of the town of Leroy. There Mrs.
Brown grew to womanhood and attended the public schools. The union of our
subject and wife resulted in the birth of four children, named as follows:
Mrs. Grace May Holder is the wife of a civil engineer, and she lives with
her father; Charlie L., a graduate of the Agricultural department of the
University of Missouri at Columbia, also lives at home; Ida and Ruth are
both at home and are students in the Springfield high school. The eldest
daughter of our subject is a talented musician; she has the distinction of
being the first and only pupil to graduate in all branches also in vocal
music at Drury College. Mrs. Brown died in the fall of 1914.

Mr. Brown remained in Minnesota until in the spring of 1903, when he
removed to Greene county, Missouri, arriving here on March 5th. He had
purchased four hundred acres in Campbell township the year previous. He
began improving this valuable tract and soon had it under modern
improvements and also built an attractive two-story eleven-roomed house
with all modern conveniences, finished in original genuine black cherry,
seventeen hundred feet of which fine lumber he cut from his own land,
doing the work himself, as he is a skilled carpenter and experienced
builder. He has carried on general farming and stock raising on an
extensive scale, making a specialty of a good grade of cattle, among his
herd being a splendid Holstein bull for which he paid four hundred dollars
when a calf. Mr. Brown leased his farm some time ago and merely oversees
it in a general way, having retired from active farming, a lease of ten
years being made to his son and Mr. Holder, his son-in-law, who has given
up his work as civil engineer, in which he is quite accomplished, in order
to devote his entire attention to the farm. An indication that this is not
only a rich farm but is well operated is seen from the fact that a field
of one hundred acres of wheat in 1914, averaged over nineteen bushels per
acre.

Politically, Mr. Brown is a Democrat, but while a careful voter and loyal
to his party he has never sought political leadership, although he has
held numerous minor offices, such as road commissioner and was a member of
the school board in Minnesota for a period of twenty-five years during
which he did much for the general improvement of the schools in his
district. Fraternally, he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and was a past grand knight in Minnesota. He is a man whom it is a
pleasure to meet, being well informed, hospitable and companionable.





HARRY F. BROWN. We are so accustomed to think of man as a material
composition complete in the food that matches his hunger, in the water
that stakes his thirst, in the air that trades with his lungs, in the
raiment and roof that protects him from the cold, in the money that
relates him to the world's commerce, that we fail to recognize that the
person who has no mental abode in which to shelter his higher self, and
the moral, spiritual and intellectual furnishments necessary for its
equipment, health and inspiration lives on a level not much above that of
the animal. Harry F. Brown, who has charge of the store-room of the
reclamation department in the South Side Frisco shops, Springfield, is not
of the class referred to, but while laboring for the material comforts of
life, as if natural and right, he has not neglected to provide what might
be called an intellectual abode, being a thinking man of good ideals and
practices.

Mr. Brown was born in that great country which all Americans
admire—England, he having first seen the light of day at Earlingdean on
July 24, 1876. He is a son of Walter E. Brown, also a native of England,
in which country he grew up, attended school and was married, residing
there until the year 1881, when he immigrated with his family to the
United States, landing in New York. Coming on west he selected
Springfield, Missouri, as the best place in which to locate, and although
he had followed gardening in his home country, he here sought and found
employment with the Frisco railroad, in the North Side shops, where he
became foreman of a labor gang. He is now employed in the Florence
Bottling Works in this city, being owner of same. He remained with the
Frisco ten years, from 1882 to 1892, then spent ten years in the grocery
business, in which he was very successful, giving that line of endeavor up
in 1902 to engage in the bottling business at the corner of Lyon and
Division streets, where he has a modernly equipped and excellent plant,
employing a number of hands and from which he sends out large consignments
of his products all over this section of the state. He has been very
successful as a business man, being now a man of considerable means,
although he landed in this city with very little capital. Politically, he
is a Republican. He was a member of the city council for eighteen months.
Fraternally, he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the
Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Masonic lodge.

The mother of our subject was known in her maidenhood as Fannie Madden,
who was born in England, where she grew to womanhood and attended school.
She became the mother of five children, namely: William, who lives at
Lebanon, Missouri, is a machinist and electrician, and has charge of the
city’s lighting plant there; Harry F., of this sketch; Bert is engaged in
the bottling business with his father; Florence marred Thomas Hixon, who
was formerly engaged in the meat business in Springfield; Fannie married
John W. Crow, who lives at Strafford, this county, and is in the employ of
the Frisco.

Harrv F. Brown was five years old when his parents brought him from
England to America, and he grew to manhood in Springfield, and here
attended the public schools and a business college. When twenty years of
age he went to work, in 1896, for the Frisco system as baggage man at the
Springfield station, working there three years, then in 1899, was
transferred to the store department at the North Side shops. In 1902 he
went to work for the Kansas City Southern railroad, with which he remained
six months, then worked six months with the New Phoenix Foundry and
Machinery Company, after which he engaged in the grocery business for
himself until 1906 then went to work again for the Frisco in the store
department at the North Side shops, and was assistant there until 1909, in
which year he was sent to the new shops as foreman of the store
department, which position he held year, then was sent back to the old
North Side shops as general stock clerk, remaining there a year, then was
shipping and receiving foreman in the storeroom there for a year, after
which he was transferred to the reclamation plant in the South Side shops,
November 1, 1914, and is now foreman of the storeroom, and is giving his
usual high-grade service.

Mr. Brown was married, in 1898, to Ollie Oliver, a daughter of Benton
Oliver, of Springfield, a well-known dry goods merchant here, on
Commercial street. Mrs. Brown was reared and educated in this city. The
union of our subject and wife has been without issue.

Politically, Mr. Brown is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South.





JAMES M. BROWN. The name James M. Brown does not sound very Irish-like,
neither does the bearer of this plain old cognomen possess many of the
outward characteristics of the Celtic people, but it is evident that he
has inherited many of the praiseworthy traits of his ancestors, which have
resulted in his success in his chosen field of endeavor and in his
popularity among his associates. For we all know that there is no better
blood in this country than Irish blood. Our subject is filling the
responsible position of master mechanic at the Springfield Gas and Power
Company. Such positions are not attained without careful preparation.

Mr. Brown was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, May 28, 1864. He is a son of
John and Mary (Perry) Brown, the latter dying in 1910 at the age of
seventy years. The father was born in County Cork, Ireland, where he spent
his boyhood, immigrating to the United States when he was about nineteen
years of age, and located in Tennessee, where he became a railroad
contractor, making his home at Greenville, Greene county, that state,
where his death occurred at the early age of forty-eight years, in 1894,
and he was buried at Quaker Knob, Greene county. As a contractor he built
railroads in eastern Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. His family consisted
of six children, namely: William M. is an engineer for a railroad company,
operating coal mines in North Carolina; Thomas, formerly a stationary
engineer, lives at Little Rock, Arkansas; Daniel is engaged in farming in
Texas, James M., subject of this sketch; Mary, a trained nurse, resides at
Morristown, Tennessee; Sallie is married and also resides at Morristown,
Tennessee.

James M. Brown received his education in the public schools, but left his
text-books when only twelve years of age to go to work in a saw mill at
Bull's Gap, Tennessee, where his duties were to keep the sawdust thrown
back out of the way and to pull the whistle three times a day, considering
the latter privilege an honor. He was later fireman at the mill, receiving
a dollar and fifty cents per day, after he had been working only six
months at the plant. He held this position for two years, and being a
close observer and a willing worker, became a full-fledged engineer before
he was he worked on a farm two years; then worked in a water mill on Clear
fifteen years of age. He then went to McDonald county, Missouri, where
creek, hauling flour from the mill for one year, then came to Ash Grove,
Greene county, about 1880, securing a position with the Likins Milling
Company, and helped erect a plant there, of which, when it was finished,
he was engaged as engineer, which position he filled until 1895, then came
to Springfield and was employed by the Springfield Electric Light Company,
later the Springfield Traction Company, as engineer, and three months
later was appointed chief engineer, continuing in this position until
1913. The work became too heavy and he then took a position as repair man,
and is now master mechanic at the Springfield Gas and Power Company, in
whose service he has been employed for a period of twenty years. He has
given eminent satisfaction in every respect, being not only an expert
engineer and mechanic, but is faithful, reliable and trustworthy.

Mr. Brown was married on October 28, 1890, to Annie E. Sanford, of Walnut
Grove, Missouri. She is a daughter of Robert C. and Mary (Holder) Sanford,
To this union two children have been born, namely: Millard F., who was
educated in the Springfield ward and high schools, is single, and he has
been employed in the main office of the Frisco railroad for five years;
Sanford, who was educated in the high school, Drury College and a local
business college, is connected with the Heer Dry Goods Company, of
Springfield.

Mr. Brown owns a pleasant home on North Main street. Politically, he is a
Republican, and, religiously, a Presbyterian. He is a member of the
National Association of Steam Engineers, of which he was formerly
secretary. Fraternally, he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.





THOMAS TOLIVER BROWN. When Thomas T. Brown, one of Greene county's honored
citizens of a past generation, passed away, there was added to the list of
lamented dead whose earthly records closed like the "good and faithful
servant" spoken of in Holy Writ, and as long as memory remains to those
who knew him the influence of his noble life will remain as a source of
encouragement and inspiration. "Our echoes roll from soul to soul and grow
forever and forever," according to the poet Tennyson, and the good we do
lives after us through all the ages, handed down from generation to
generation. Who, then, can measure the results of a life work? Not to
condemn, but to aid, Mr. Brown made the practice of his life, and many of
his friends and acquaintances are better and happier for his having lived,
for though the voice is stilled in death, the spirit of his work remains
as the deep under-current of a mighty stream, noiseless but irresistible.
His influence was as the delicate fragrance of a flower to those who had
the pleasure of his friendship. His sympathies were broad and ennobling,
and his life was beautiful in its purity and virtues.

Mr. Brown was born May 20, 1856, in Newton county, Missouri. He was a son
of Smith W. and Mary (Goodman) Brown. The mother had been previously
married to a. Mr. Brock. The father came from Tennessee to Missouri in
1856, and the mother of our subject also came from that state. Smith W.
Brown.was a man of fairly good education. He studied law in his youth, was
admitted to the bar, and practiced his profession in Greene county for
several years. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company F, Eighth
Missouri Volunteer Infantry and served three years in the Union army,
taking part in several battles and a number of skirmishes. He was also
recruiting officer for a time. After the war he returned to Greene county
and took up masonry, also continued practicing law. He drew a pension from
the government in later years, having been wounded in one of the battles
of the war. He continued the practice of his profession until his death in
1910, but spent many years on the farm, and he was active in the affairs
of the Masonic Order. Thomas T. Brown was one of two children by his
father's first marriage, he having been the eldest. The other child, a
girl, died in infancy, the mother dying about the same time. His father
married a second time but did not live long with this wife separating when
the subject of this sketch was two and one-half years of age. The elder
Brown hired a family named Bailles in Bois D'Arc, this county, to take
care of Thomas T., and the latter remained in that home three years then
went to live with his grandfather, with whom he remained until he was
about seven years of age, when Smith W. Brown married a third time, moved
to Greene county after the war and here spent the rest of his life. Upon
his last marriage he took our subject into his home and there he remained
until he was fourteen years of age when he left home. In the meantime he
had been attending school and obtained a meager education. When he was
nineteen years of age he was married to Nancy Owens, September 16, 1875.
She is a daughter of Richard and Nancy (Garoutte) Owens, natives of
Tennessee and Indiana, respectively. To Mr. and Mrs. Owens eleven children
were born, namely: James was a soldier in the Civil war and was killed in
the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas; Isabelle married Andy Chaisteen, of
Greene county, is deceased; Andrew J. lives in Oklahoma; Charlotte married
Martin Marias and is now deceased; Richard W., deceased; Bernice is the
wife of William Brakebill and they live in Greene ,county, Missouri; Mary
married George Likens and they live in Greene county; Napoleon B. lives in
Douglas county, Missouri; Nancy Elizabeth is the widow of the subject of
this sketch; Sampson B., and Jeremiah both .live in Lawrence county, this
state. All the above named children lived to be grown, and the youngest
one living was fifty years old in April, 1914.

To the union of Thomas T. Brown and wife the following children were born:
Effie is the wife of Robert Nelson and they live in Barry county,
Missouri, and have ten children; May, deceased, was the wife of Ferd
Jackson, and left five children; Dollie F. is deceased; Lulu, deceased;
Sam R. lives in Pond Creek township, this county, and has four children;
Katherine is the wife of Roy Browning and they live in Greene county and
have five children; Richard, and Smith, both live in this county also;
Martha W. is the wife of Chris Bielier and they live in Greene county, and
have one child; Mary V. is the wife of Dal Davis of this county and have
one child; the two youngest children were twins and died in infancy. Mrs.
Nancy E. Brown has twenty-nine living grandchildren and one great
grandchild, all of this generation, and all but one live in Greene county.
Mrs. Brown owns an eighty-acre farm of rich bottom land, one of the
desirable small farms of this part of the county. It is operated by her
youngest son who has remained at home. He is married and has one child.

Thomas T. Brown devoted his active life principally to agricultural
pursuits; however, he was for many years engaged in other occupations.
Soon after his marriage he went into the drug business which he followed
about two years, then sold out and started a nursery business on his farm,
which he managed in connection with farming for six years. Later he took
stock in the corporation known as Owen & Cahill, which manufactured fence
building machines, and was connected with this concern for four years,
then secured. employment with the L. E. Lines music house of Springfield,
with which he remained for a period of seven years, or until his health
failed, causing him to give up active business and retiring to his farm in
Ponk Creek township, where he remained until his death about six years
later, on September 4, 1909. He was very successful as a business -man and
gave entire satisfaction to his employers. He was broad-minded,
far-sighted and was a good mixer, and, dealing honestly with the business,
world, always had the confidence of those with whom he came in contact.

Fraternally he was a member of the Modern Woodmen. Politically he was not
a party man, voting for the man rather than the party. He was a man of
upright character and loyal in his friendships, and his death was a loss
to the community.






DR. WILLIAM McFARLAND BROWN. The strength of a man is in a way measured by
the amount of persecution he can stand, his weakness is never thus tested.
Dr. Wm. McF. Brown is a broad minded symmetrically developed man, whose
interest in the public welfare is potent and salutary. He has so
thoroughly demonstrated the sincerity of his attitude as a physician and
citizen that he now stands secure in the confidence and esteem of a very
wide circle of friends and patrons. An insight into the true character of
Dr. Brown, may be obtained by noting his application of the following
words.

The importance of human relation can be no more admirably exemplified than
in the instance wherein one man can be of just benefit to another man. A
good character is the greatest worldly asset of mankind and that whoever
seeks to destroy it is worse than he who would steal away your property in
the darkness of night. Man's morality is evidenced by a reasonable degree
of self-sacrifice and unassuming display of sympathy and charity
commensurate with his ability to act. His bravery by his straightforward
way of doing things subservient to a will that meets a moral obligation
and a true measure of his success by what he has accomplished.

In contradistinction to the old adage that a prophet is not without honor
save in his own country, particular interest is attached to the career of
Dr. Wm. McFarland Brown, he having been born, reared and has lived his
entire life within the confines of the county of which this historical
compendium treats and that he has so directed his ability and effort as to
have gained recognition as one of our representative citizens and worthy
scion of two of our sterling pioneer families.

Dr. Brown has not only kept in close touch with the trend of current
medical thought and research, but is an appreciative student of all social
public and scientific subjects being thus one of the leading physicians in
a locality noted for its medical talent.

He is a plain unassuming gentleman who has a greater desire to be useful
than to gain the admiring plaudits of his fellow men. He so much enjoys
the discovery of good in other people that he has become a close observer
of human character and disposition and depends much more upon what he
observes that what he hears, especially self praise or soliloquy, the
former being considered by him as inexcusably foolish and funny as the
latter except, perhaps, on occasion when the soliloquist wants to hear a
smart fellow talk awhile.

He was born in Greene county on what is known now as the Duff farm, about
ten miles southeast of Springfield, on the 24th day of August, 1861. From
childhood he was remarkably vivacious and active, taking a great amount of
physical culture which, together with his active farm work during early
manhood resulted in the upbuilding of a vigorous constitution which has
doubtless served him well during his strenuous professional life, and
which in part solves the mystery of his wonderful endurance. He is regular
in everything except eating and sleeping, yet he eats and sleeps to live
and not to be considered otherwise in a single instance. He is ever
content to depend upon his natural reactionary powers for relief from
those tired feelings to the exclusion of all other agents.

He obtained his literary education in the schools here and vicinity and at
Morrisville College, after which, upon urgent request by Dr. Robberson,
Dr. Tefft, Dr. Rose and his father, he early decided to follow in the
footsteps of his father in a professional way and having had a decided
natural predilection in this worthy field of endeavor, he studied medicine
under his father until 1882, when he entered the Missouri Medical College
at St. Louis, where he made an excellent record and from which institution
he graduated with honor in the class of 1885.

Immediately after graduation he located in Springfield, this county, where
he practiced for about a year then moved a short distance east among the
people who had known him from childhood. Here he met with great
encouragement and gained universal confidence which still endures. In the
year 1890 he moved on a few miles east to the town of Strafford, this
county, where by meritorious professional work and conduct he built up a
very extensive practice and where he remained until the year 1909, when
seeking a broader field for the exercise of his talents he located in
Springfield, where he has since resided, at once taking his place in the
front ranks of the leading practitioners; he has thus stood secure in the
confidence and esteem of the people of this city and community, both as to
his professional ability and his personal worth, and is deserving, in
every way of the large success he has achieved. He has remained a diligent
student of all that pertains to his profession and has kept fully abreast
of the times in every phase of the same. He has acquired a large amount of
real estate, including several farms, a commodious residence on Benton
avenue, Springfield, and other city property.

The domestic life of Dr. Brown began on December 18, 1890, when he was
united in marriage with Alta Catherine Love, the daughter of Robert and
Margaret (Piper) Love, a prominent family of Strafford. The father was
born in Pike county, Missouri, and the mother was a native of Greene
county, Missouri; they became the parents of ten children. (See sketch and
portrait on another page of this work.)

Mrs. Brown was born in 1866, at Strafford, where she grew to womanhood and
received her education. She is a lady of many praiseworthy attributes of
head and heart. The union of Dr. Brown and wife has been blessed with four
children, namely: Mary, who was educated in the public school of
Strafford, and at Drury College, married on November 16, 1912 to Junius W.
Houston, son of Edward and Florence (Wilson) Houston, a well-known family
of Springfield. Mr. Houston is a talented electrician and a promising
young business man, having charge of the electrical supplies of the Frisco
railroad at the present time. He resides in Springfield and has one child,
a daughter, Meredith Brown Houston, who was born on Jannary 6, 1914. The
other children of Doctor and Mrs. Brown are Robert Addison Brown, who was
educated in the public school at Strafford and Drury College, and is now
living at home; Hermosa Rose Brown, who is in Ward Belmont College,
Nashville, Tenn., and Maxie Eleanor, who is at home.

Politically, Mr. Brown is a Democrat, but is duly considerate and
appreciative of friendship, efficiency and true manhood wherever found. He
is a church member, member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
Knights of Pythias. Eagles, Court of Honor, Woodmen of the World, Woodmen
Circle, Rebekahs, Modern Woodmen of America, Royal Neighbors, Knights and
Ladies of Security, Ben-Hur and Society of Colonial Wars. He is a man of
warm sympathetic impulses, obliging, companionable, and uniformly
courteous, with high conceptions of good citizenship and right living.

When young in years the father of our subject came with his parents on the
long and wearisome overland journey from his native state to Greene
county, Missouri, when the locality was but little developed and settlers
were very few. He first attended school at Green Mountain, North Carolina,
and later at Ebenezer Academy, this county, after which he taught school
for a few years, then studied law for two years; then took up the study of
medicine under Dr. G. P. Shackelford and completed his medical education
at the McDowell Medical College of St. Louis, Missouri. He entered upon
the practice of his profession near and at Springfield, Missouri, before
the Civil war, where he continued during and for some time after
hostilities had ceased, thereafter maintaining his home on a fine farm
near the National Cemetery, where he continued practicing until near the
end of the century. He was one of the oldest and best and most widely
known physicians in this county and a man whom to know was to respect and
honor, not only for his ability as a physician, but for his unswerving
integrity. Although of southern birth and breeding, he remained neutral
during the war between the states, prescribing and caring alike for
Federals and Confederates, which attitude resulted in making him many
enemies who did all in their power to annoy him and obstruct his freedom
and progress, even their persecutions continuing for years after the war
had ended.

And these enemies had to cope with the insurmountable effort, and
influence of his many true friends, exemplified in one instance when John
Fickle, a Union man, yet his friend and brother Mason, walked in a
roundabout way five miles barefooted in the dead hours of night to his
home, to apprise him of the plot of a gang of bushwhackers and their
appointed hour to take his life, thus enabling him to escape unharmed. And
in another when Dr. E. T. Robberson, who was the physician in charge of
the Federal hospital, which occupied the old building which still stands
at the George M, Jones place between Sherman street and Springfield
avenue, extended to him a hand in friendship and professional fellowship,
thus lending him material aid in his efforts to obtain a living, and at
whose hands the climax of assistance came when he sent Doctor Brown,
accompanied by wife and a guard, to treat Col. John A. Lee, who was sick
at Galena, Missouri, with pneumonia, where he remained at the bedside of
the colonel until convalescent, leaving his two children, Alice and
William McFarland, at home in the care of William Porter's family,
whereupon Col. John A. Lee enjoyed the discovery of the sterling qualities
and medical ability of Doctor Brown, and in prompt accord therewith sent
orders to headquarters at Springfield to immediately and continuously
remove all obstacles to his necessities, liberties and pleasures to the
peril of all violators.

But he was of an amiable and peaceful disposition, which doubtless
prevented him from receiving harsher treatment at the hands of his
enemies. He was a member of the Masonic order and occupied a high position
in all circles in which he moved. He lived to reach an advanced age, death
resulting from pneumonia at his home on the 17th day of February, 1894,
after a useful and commendable life, and his name will be perpetuated in
local history as being one of Greene county's ablest and most popular
pioneer physicians. He was of English descent by both parents, having
descended through his mother from Rev. Stephen Batcheler, of England, an
Oxford graduate who founded the city of Hampton, New Hampshire, and who
was presented to the living of Wherwell County Haunts by Sir Thomas West,
the second Baronet De LaWare, father of Lord Delaware, who gave his name
to the Delaware river, for sixteen years he was vicar of Wherwell.

Dr. Joseph Addison Brown, the father of our subject, was a blood relative
to John G. Whittier, the poet; Daniel Webster, the statesman; Hon. Justin
S. Morrill, United States senator from Vermont; Hon. M. B. Allison, United
States senator from Iowa; Gov. Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts; John
Bachelder, the inventor of indispensable parts of the sewing machine, and
many other noted people.

John D. Brown, LL. D., the paternal grandfather of the subject of this
sketch, was a native of Randolph county, North Carolina, and a son of
Henry Brown, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary army, as shown by
Colonial Records of North Carolina, Vol. XVI, page 1022. From the old Tar
state he removed to Arkansas in a very early day, and soon thereafter came
on to Greene county, Missouri, locating on a large tract of wild prairie
land a few miles southwest of the hamlet of Henderson, which land he
converted into an excellent farm by persistent and careful management, and
there spent the remainder of his life, dying of smallpox in the year 1863.
He was a dignified and courageous gentleman, possessed of a great amount
of natural intelligence and tact and, by profession, a lawyer.

Politically, he was a Democrat and a local leader in his party, but was a
man who always considered the public good first. He took an active
interest in public life both in North Carolina and Missouri. While in
North Carolina he filled the following offices and positions, namely:
justice of the peace, being appointed by the governor of the state;
probate judge of Randolph county; president of Springfield Female College,
and later judge of the court of chancery until he left the state. While in
Greene county, Missouri, he was justice of the peace, county school
commissioner for several years, and twice his party's candidate for
representative.

He was very successful in a business way, and at the breaking out of the
war of the rebellion was one of the wealthy men of the county, but he,
like nearly all of those who lived in this locality during those troublous
days, lost heavily. His widow, whose maiden name was Jean Bray, survived
him three decades, being well past her ninetieth birthday when she was
summoned to the Silent Land as a result of pneumonia.

To John D. and Jean (Bray) Brown, the following children were born:
Emeline married William Jessup, who established their home at Jamestown,
Arkansas; Lydia, who has long been deceased, was the wife of Anderson
Pendleton, of Christian county, Missouri, and at her death left one child;
Jane married Eli Jessup, also of Christian county; John D., Jr., who
located at Lead Hill, Arkansas, served through the Civil war in the
Confederate army under Gen. Sterling Price, and was once wounded; Dr. Eli
B., who became a physician at Billings, Missouri, also served in the
Confederate army and was shot through the shoulder in one of the numerous
engagements in which he participated; William T. was a soldier in the
Union army about a year, and was honorably discharged on account of having
suffered a sun-stroke, which thus disabled him from further service; Dr.
G. P. S., who was graduated from the St. Louis College of Physicians and
Surgeons, established himself in the practice of his profession at Nixa,
Christian county, and Dr. Joseph A., father of the immediate subject of
this sketch. The wife of John D., Brown is credited with the honor of
naming Christian county. John D. Brown, together with Gov. John S. Phelps,
was sent at one time as special delegate to interview President Jackson in
the interest of this part of the country, being accompanied by his son,
the father of our subject.

To Dr. Joseph A. and Martha A. (McFarland) Brown, parents of our subject,
the following children were born: Alice, who married Joseph Danforth, of
Greene county, and who died April 2, 1914, of tetanus, the germ having
been received into a small finger wound while preparing garden; Dr.
William McFarland, who is next to the eldest; Henry and James both dying
in infancy, James having died at the age of one year as a result of
swallowing glass; Jamie married C. J. Edmondson, of Greene county; Joseph
Edwin, who resides in Springfield; Martha, who is deceased; and Daniel
Keating, who is in California.

Hon. William McFarland, the maternal grandfather of the subject of this
review, removed from Cooper county, Missouri, in a very early day,
settling at the big Jones spring, where he built and operated one of the
first grist mills in this country and where the old mill race foundation
still stands, as a landmark of his ingenuity and industry. Here he
received and gratified patrons from the country far and near. He was
successful in this business. Later he became an extensive farmer and
stockman and became quite wealthy, owning about a thousand acres of
fertile land, a great many slaves, and an abundance of other personal
property. His home was situated four miles southeast of Springfield,
being, the same as was later owned and occupied by Dr. Joseph Addison
Brown, the father of our subject. A part of his land joined up with that
of Gov. John S. Phelps, just outside of the city limits. He was a fine
example of self-made man, a natural born leader, who was possessed of rare
ability and general information, and was an eloquent and forceful public
speaker, whose personality, knowledge and evident interest in the public
welfare placed him in demand on many occasions, especially during
political campaigns. Politically, he was originally a Whig, but became a
Republican at the birth of that party, which held him in abiding faith the
remainder of his life, death resulting from poisoned water, which set
cooling out on a shelf, thus rendered, it was believed, by the fiendish
impulse of an intractable slave whom he had sold on account of gross
disobedience. Although a slave owner, he was merely such by custom and
apparent necessity and not by principle, for he was a man imbued with the
spirit of sympathy and humanity, never having struck a slave but one time
in his life, and that was Stephen, the neighborhood fiddler, upon the
violation of his orders by proceeding to play for a dance at a house of
questionable repute. This occasion brought tears to the old master's eyes
while pleading with Stephen to be honorable and thus avoid the obligation
of treating a man as some men treat an animal.

He took an active part in the political affairs of this county, being
twice elected to the state Legislature, defeating the paternal grandfather
of our subject in both campaigns. He was also at one time sheriff of this
county. His wife was Patsy Roberts, one of the two children of John and
Rebecca (Langley) Roberts, who removed from Kentucky to Greene county,
Missouri about the year 1830. John Roberts was a typical pioneer, very
strong, and a man whose courage was never doubted. He delighted in the
crucial tests of physical manhood, and gloried in his ability to surmount
the obstacles allotted to his pathway. He was a great hunter, in the
pursuit of which he felt no terror at the sight of a redskin crouched
behind a rock or the vicious inhabitants of the woods nearby, having at
one time near a sink hole in the east field of what is now known as the
Joe McCraw farm down by old Mt. Pisgah church, attacked and killed a large
bear with no other weapon than his dirk knife.

He lived and conducted a mill and distillery at the big Jones spring,
where he prospered for a number of years, and later was coroner of Greene
county. He was shot and killed by an enemy on the public square of
Springfield whom he had previously frightened by a fun-making snap of his
spectacle case. His enemy had threatened him, which only served to
stimulate his mischievous attitude and he was unarmed when the fatal
moment came. His bodily remains still rest on the hilltop by that noted
spring marked by a tomb hewn from the native rock by the hands of a fellow
pioneer.

The wife of John Roberts was a good, industrious woman, bearing, it is
said, a strong resemblance to Gen. Winfield Scott, and who lived to the
advanced age of about ninety years, and died suddenly while sitting in a
chair. She left a great many nice things of her own handiwork, which are
still in existence, scattered among her posterity, and the occasional
display of which serves to remind us of her great worth and importance in
a generation long gone by. Patsy McFarland evidently inherited her
father's nerve, as shown on an occasion of her return from the Holland
bank to her home late one evening, when she was attacked by a highway
robber, whom she beat into a state of insensibility with her walking cane,
when old and very decrepit. The children of Hon. William and Patsy
(Roberts) McFarland were: Rebecca, the wife of John Pursley, who is
deceased; Harriet Greenlee, who was honored with the title of "Mother of
Springfield" before her death; George, who is still living in Greene
county; John T.; William; Nancy, wife of Abner Galbraith; Lucinda, wife of
Robert A. Mack; all being deceased, and James, a prosperous resident of
Tulare, California.

Dr. William McFarland Brown is a direct descendant of Christopher Hussey,
who married a daughter of Stephen Bachiler, who would only give his
consent to the marriage on condition that they would sail with him for
America. This agreement was complied with and, about 1631, they embarked
for America. About the year 1639, Christopher Hussey was appointed a
justice of the peace in Newbury, Massachusetts, a position of dignity and
importance in early days. He was also one of the purchasers of Nantucket,
Massachusetts, but did not remove there. He and his father-in-law were
proprietors of Hampton, New Hampshire, where they finally settled, and
from 1658 to 1672 was deputy or representative to the general court,
having been elected to this position.





ARTHUR W. BRYANT. In reading over the record of the lives of many of the
leading citizens one becomes impressed with the fact that certain families
show at the outset a strong inclination toward books and learning
generally, or in at least keeping up with the times on current topics,
especially dealing with national affairs. The Bryant family, which has
long been well established in Greene county, is one of this type, and we
find that Arthur W. Bryant, at present a progressive merchant of
Strafford, was formerly a successful educator and is a well informed man
on current topics.

Mr. Bryant was born near Fair Grove, Missouri, August 10, 1870. He is a
son of Junius A. and Sarah J. (Harkness) Bryant. The father was born in
North Carolina, June 9, 1834, and when a child his parents removed to
Maury county, Tennessee, where he grew to manhood and attended school,
receiving an excellent education for those times. He spent his early life
on the home farm. When twenty-two years of age he emigrated to Missouri
and located in Greene county, near Fair Grove, where he purchased a farm
and engaged successfully in general farming an stock raising. He taught
school a number of years with much success. Being successful, the last few
years of his life were spent in retirement from active work. His death
occurred January 6, 1910. During the Civil war he was a soldier in the
Eighth Missouri Cavalry, Union army, serving two years in Company C,
proving to be a gallant soldier in every respect. He was honorably
discharged in St. Louis on account of disability. He took part in a number
of minor engagements. He was a member of the Baptist church. The mother of
our subject was born in Tennessee, February 13, 1841, and when an infant
her parents brought her to Missouri, where she grew to womanhood on the
home farm near Fair Grove and was educated. She and Mr. Bryant were
married April 6, 1858. She was a member of the Baptist church. Her death
occurred December 10, 1911.

Seven children were born to Junius A. Bryant and wife, namely: Columbus
N.; Mrs. Nannie Dyer, deceased; John F.; Walter W.; Arthur W., of this
sketch; William S.; Viola, deceased.

Arthur W. Bryant grew to manhood on the home farm and worked there during
his boyhood, receiving a good common school education. He began life for
himself by teaching school four years, after which he began his career as
merchant in Strafford in 1896, and has continued in the same line with
ever increasing success to the present time, enjoying a large and
lucrative business with the town and surrounding country, and always
carrying a well selected stock of general merchandise at all seasons. His
aim is to deal courteously and fairly with all.

Mr. Bryant was married March 22, 1897, to Lola M. Bass, who was born near
Bassville, Greene county, December 22, 1877, and there she was reared on a
farm. She is a daughter of Martin V. and Edith (Allen) Bass, who are
living still on the old home place and are well known in this part of the
county. Mrs. Bryant received a good education and in her girlhood taught
school several years. She is a member of the Baptist church.

Five children have been born to our subject and wife namely: Junius S.,
born January 27, 1898; the second child died in infancy; Nola M., born
April 6, 1905; the fourth child died in infancy; Marion W., born April 1,
1911.

Politically, Mr. Bryant is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Modern Woodmen and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also a
member of the Baptist church, and has always borne an excellent reputation
as a man and citizen.





GEORGE W. BURGE. The biographer is glad to herein set forth the salient
facts in the eminently successful and honorable career of the well
remembered and highly esteemed citizen of Springfield whose name appears
above, the last chapter in whose life record has been closed by the hand
of death, and the seal set thereon forever, but whose influence still
pervades the lives of those with whom he came in contact. For many years
the late George W. Burge was closely identified with the industrial
development of the city of his choice and vicinity. The filial causes
which shape the fortunes of individual men and the destinies of nations
are often the same. They are usually remote and obscure, their influence
wholly unexpected until declared by results. When they inspire men to the
exercise of courage, enterprise, self-denial, and call into play the
higher moral elements such causes lead to the planting of great states and
great peoples. That nation is the greatest which produces the most useful
men, as these must constitute the essentially greatest nation. Such a
result may consciously be contemplated by the individuals instrumental in
their production. Pursuing his personal good by exalted means, they worked
out this as a logical conclusion, for they wrought along the lines of the
greatest good. Thus it is that the safety of our republic depends not so
much upon methods and measures as upon that manhood from whose deep
sources all that is precious and permanent in life must at last proceed.
These facts were early recognized by Mr. Burge, and the salient points
marked his career, for those who knew him best could not but help noticing
his many manly attributes and appreciating his efforts to inspire good
citizenship and right living, in both public and private life, and because
of these many commendable characteristics he won and retained the
confidence and good will of all who knew him or had dealings with him in
any way.

Mr. Burge was born in Troy, New York, May 25, 1842. He was a son of
William and June (Stevens) Burge, both natives of England, where they
spent their earlier years, finally emigrating to America and establishing
the family home at Troy, New York, where they spent the rest of their
lives, Mr. Burge engaging in the blacksmith's trade. To these parents
seven children were born, of whom George W., of this memoir, was the
youngest, and of whom only two are now living.

George W. Burge spent his boyhood in his native city and was partly
educated there, and when he was but fifteen years of age he and his
brother, James Burge, came to Springfield, Missouri, where our subject
finished his education and here he spent the rest of his life, about
forty-five years, during which period he saw the city whose interests he
had at heart, grow from a mere village to the metropolis of southern
Missouri. His first business venture was as a druggist on the south side
of the public square, in which he continued about three years, then moved
to aA farm north of Doling Park and lived there four years then moved back
to town and began clerking in a drug store on the North Side. In the
spring of 1876 he went into the general merchandise business on East
Commercial street, in which he remained, enjoying a large and lucrative
business and ranking among the leading merchants of the city, until his
retirement from active life in 1886. He had been very successful in a
business way, and accumulated considerable valuable property and a
competency, and the last sixteen years of his life were spent in looking
after his property interests, his death occurring, April 12, 1902.
Politically, he was a Republican. He belonged to the United Workmen order.
He was a charter member of Benton Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, was
long a trustee in the same and was prominent in church work.

On January 4, 1865, Mr. Burge married in Rolla, Missouri, Ellen A. Starks,
who was born in Ware, Massachusetts, near the city of Springfield, October
18, 1843. She is a daughter of Charles L. and Amelia Dorman (Whitman)
Starks, also Massachusetts people, from which state in 1852 the family
moved to Georgia and after remaining there a short time came on to
Tennessee, and in 1858 to Missouri, locating on a farm about fifteen miles
from Springfield, and in 1860 they moved to this city. Mr. Starks devoted
his life to agricultural pursuits. His birth occurred, July 4, 1819, and
he died in January, 1887. His wife was born in March, 1820, and died in
1896. Politically he was a Democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Starks were the parents
of four children, two of whom are now deceased. Mr. Starks was the owner
of land near this city which is now known as the Starks Addition. In his
earlier life he was a stone mason by trade. He sold the first lot on the
corner of Campbell and Mill streets, on which a foundry was built.
Religiously, Mr. and Mrs. Starks were members of the Methodist Episcopal
church.

The union of George W. Burge and wife was without issue.

Mrs. Ellen A. Burge owns a beautiful home on Washington avenue,
Springfield, and she is a great church worker, being a charter member of
the Benton Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, being trustee of the local
church ever since its organization; she is also an influential member of
the Ladies' Aid Society.

James T. Burge, brother of the subject of this memoir, first came to
Springfield in 1855 from Troy, New York, returning to his home in 1857,
and soon thereafter he brought George W. Burge to Springfield and they
located here. He was a contractor and built many of the leading buildings,
public and private, in this city and vicinity. He was born in England in
1831 and his death occurred February 25, 1911. He was never married. He
was a resident of Springfield for a period of fifty-five years, and his
name figures conspicuously in the early history of the city and county.

George W. Burge was a member of the Home Guards, organized in Springfield
in 1861 under Colonel Holland, and served three months for the Union,
aiding in the defense of this city against the Confederates. Both he and
his brother worked in the government shops at Rolla, this state, for some
time during the war.

The work of Mrs. Ellen A. Burge as a broad-minded, conscientious Christian
woman can not be estimated. Her lasting monument will be the splendid
Burge Deaconess Hospital of Springfield which she built in 1907, after Mr.
Burge's death. She has turned the property over to the Woman's Home
Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal church, she being still
president of the local board of managers. This is one of the leading
hospitals of the Southwest, is modern in every respect, sanitary,
attractive and is well patronized. Its medical staff is composed of many
of the leading physicians and surgeons of the city. Its training school
for nurses has no superior. Dr. J. C. Matthews and Rev. J. W. Stewart,
appreciating the inadequate hospital accommodations here, saw the
possibilities of a Protestant hospital, and the former took the matter up
with Mrs. Ellen A. Burge, who became interested at once, and offered a
site on North Jefferson street to the Woman's Home Missionary Society of
the Methodist church for a Deaconess hospital. The building on the site
was remodeled so as to meet the requirements of an up-to-date hospital,
and it was opened on Thanksgiving day 1906, and during the early part of
the following year the work was in proper swing, having opened up much
better than had been expected, and soon it was found that the quarters
would have to be increased. In August, 1907, Mrs. Burge purchased the lot
adjoining on the south with a view of erecting in the future a large
modern brick building. Ground was broken for the same the 21st of October
following, and the building was dedicated March 20, 1908, and the first
patients admitted to the new building the following July. The institution
has been a decided success, hundreds of patients being cared for, and
hundreds of dollars' worth of charity work has been done. In fact, this
excellent hospital has filled a long-felt want and is greatly appreciated
by the people of Springfield.

Those actively in charge of the hospital very appropriately paid Mrs.
Burge the following tribute, entitled "A Fragrant Life," which was
published in their first annual report of the work of this institution,
and which we believe should be appended to this article:

"In the picturesque northwest of this country flow the Gallatin and
Jefferson rivers, each unmindful of the existence of the other. They are
drawn unconsciously together at Fort Benton, Montana., From this union of
waters, commence the melodious annals of the muddy, yet mighty Missouri
river, having many miles of river banks and encircling them with its
alluvial deposits.

"Some years ago Charles Starks and Amelia Dorman, two helpful hopeful and
loving lives, were flowing on unconscious of any future relations. The
Almighty guided these lives, made them strong and beautiful. Their life
plans were merged, their lives became a unit. Into Ellen A., their
daughter, flowed the best of their souls' desires. And the symphony of
their lives has been heard all these years as a sweet cadenced tone of
glorified love. This daughter, a follower of Jesus Christ, was the
helpmeet of George W. Burge, and their lives, though not blessed by the
prattle and music of childish lips, a cause of regret to them, yet their
love was not buried in the casket of selfishness, but became a beautiful
shrine on the road way of life, where many have worshipped. Their clouds
have departed and its burning light on the altar, the beauty of its power
have cheered the hearts and strengthened the souls who lingered as they
passed, laying a wreath at its portals. Many and happy were the days of
their united lives. God prospered them and they in gratitude gave to God's
kingdom. For no fairer blossom casts its glorious sheen with richer color
and balmer fragrance than true gratitude.

"Mrs. Burge is a charter member and first Sunday school superintendent of
Benton Avenue Methodist Episcopal church in Springfield, Missouri, and the
helper in the erection of four edifices on the present site. Her
inspiration in this work was contagious. Others came laden with rare gifts
from their heart's chamber of self-sacrifice. She came to God's altar,
presented her gifts to the Marionville College, the Burge Deaconess
hospital and Benton Avenue Methodist Episcopal church. She went away with
the modest glow of the graceful violet, happy because she could bloom,
fill her niche in life and help bless men. She was always looking up and
not down,

‘Pessimism’s but a screen,
Thrust the light and you between
But the sun shines bright, I wean,
Just behind it.’

"Mrs. Burge was always ready to listen to the good things about her
friends. The unpleasant pained her heart. Ever loyal to her church, her
sympathy was a deep well. When a life-long friend was sadly bereaved, she
could not go to her at once, but after three or four days she brought the
tribute of her soul's love. Like a well in the mountain side which you can
neither see nor hear, because of its depth, yet its crystalline waters
assuage the traveler's thirst. With loving hands to help in causes good
and true, she finds that the light at the evening time doth brightly
shine. You might see, her as with hopeful step and buoyant heart she
walks, Mrs. Ellen A. Burge, the donor of our hospital, in the devious ways
of life. A handmaid blessed of God, may her years be many in the service
for her Lord. God grant that the mantle of her gentle nature may fall on
every reader of these lines."





CHARLES R. BUSCH. From the life record of Charles R. Busch many useful
lessons may be gleaned by the youth starting out on the road to success in
railroad service, for he has been a man who believed in the wise saying of
an old philosopher, "Lose no time in getting off the wrong road as soon as
you discover that you are traveling it." He has been an advocate of
progress in all phases of life, progress at any sacrifice, and, this being
a fact, he has achieved a somewhat unusual degree of success for so young
a man, but he began early to advance himself in his chosen arena of
endeavor and has left no stone unturned whereby he might do so, and the
future for him is redolent with promise.

Mr. Busch, who is chief clerk of the reclamation plant of the South Side
Frisco shops, Springfield, was born in this city January 29, 1892. He is a
son of Charles J. Busch, who was born near the River Rhine, in Germany,
and who was brought to America by his parents when he was four years of
age, and was educated at Litchfield, Illinois, in both German and English,
receiving a fine education, although he left school when seventeen years
of age. He soon became foreman for his father in the Litchfield Car and
Foundry Company, holding this position for four years, when he went to
Quincy, Illinois, as machinist for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
railroad and worked there a year. He located in Springfield in 1877 and
began working as machinist in the Frisco North Side shops, being promoted
to machinist foreman there in 1889, which position he filled until 1899,
and in that year was promoted to general foreman, which position he held
until his death, on February 7, 1913, at the age of fifty-five years.
Politically, he was a Democrat and was prominent in the affairs of his
party. He was county committeeman of Greene county for a period of twenty
years and was a member of the city council. He did much for the general
welfare of Springfield and was one of the city's most valuable and
influential citizens for some two decades. Fraternally, he was a member of
the Knights and Ladies of Security, the Modern Woodmen of America, a
charter member of the Improved Order of Red Men, and also belonged to the
Knights of Columbus. He was a member of the Catholic church. He belonged
to the Germania Hall German Society, and was one of the most influential
Teutons of Springfield. In 1876 Charles J. Busch married Catherine
Holland, a daughter of Charles M. and Annie M. Holland. She was reared and
educated in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father was at one time a tobacco planter
and lived at Cincinnati many years. She was educated in a convent. She is
now living with her son, our subject, and is now fifty-one years of age.

Five children were born to Charles J. Busch and wife, namely: Lena died in
infancy; Edna married J. J. O'Dowd, chief clerk to the president of the
Southern Pacific railroad, and he lives at Tucson, Arizona; Charles R. of
this review; Julions is deceased; and Leo, who is attending school at this
writing.

The paternal grandfather of our subject was also named Charles Busch and
he was a native of Germany, and a coffin maker by trade. He grew up in the
Fatherland and there received his education and learned his trade,
remaining there until he was about twenty-three years of age when he
immigrated to America and located in Buffalo, New York, where he remained
two years working as a cabinet maker, then went to Litchfield, Illinois,
where he opened up the Litchfield Car and Foundry Company, which concern
made all the equipment for all railroads west of Chicago for some time. He
remained thus successfully engaged until 1895, at which time the foundry
was sold to the American Car and Foundry Company, when he resigned and
retired from active life. He was general manager of the concern which he
founded, and through his exceptional business acumen and industry it grew
to very large proportions and made him wealthy. He was the largest
stockholder in the company. He is still living, being eighty-five years of
age, and makes his home in Litchfield, Illinois. He started in business in
this country on a small scale, manufacturing wheelbarrows and other small
conveyances, and gradually, but surely, he became one of the leading and
well known manufacturers of the Middle West, and solely by his own efforts
forged ahead from an humble beginning to a man of wealth and influence in
the manufacturing world. He is a Scottish Rite Mason.

Charles R. Busch was educated in the public and high schools and St.
Joseph's Catholic school. Thus well equipped for his life work, he began
his railroad career. In 1909 as stock clerk in the stock room of the
Frisco's North Side shops, Springfield, where he remained until October
13, 1910, when he took a trip to Tucson, Arizona, with his brother-in-law,
J. J. O’Dowd, the latter having lost his health and believing that the
climate of the Southwest would benefit him. Our subject accepted a
position with the general manager of the Mountain States Telegraph Company
as private secretary, but three months later the company sold out to the
Bell Telephone Company. He then entered the service of the Arizona &
Eastern railroad and the Southern Pacific Railroad of Mexico as
accountant, with offices at Tucson. He remained there until January, 1912,
when he was promoted to the position of traveling accountant, covering all
the western lines of these companies. While at Tucson he studied at the
University of Arizona, taking up law and economics, studying at night. On
September 1, 1913, he came to Springfield, Missouri, on account of the
illness of his father, and here secured a position as foreman at the North
Side Frisco shops in the general store department then was promoted to
accountant at the general stores; then became assistant chief clerk to A.
H. Young, September 24, 1913 resigning and accepting a position as foreman
of the reclamation plant, and on October 24, 1913, was promoted to chief
clerk of this department in the South Side shops, under R. F. Whalen,
which position he is holding at this writing, the duties of which he is
discharging in his usual high grade and faithful manner.

In 1912 Mr. Busch was detailed by certain American interests to collect
various data and information concerning varied enterprises in the states
of Sonora, Cinaloa and the territory of Tepic, Mexico, he made a trip in a
motor car over a vast part of the southern republic, and, being a man of
keen observation and quick perceptive faculties, secured the information
desired in a short time, and while there saw something of the great
revolution, and upon his return to Arizona wrote a graphic, interesting
and valuable article on his trip, telling of his varied experiences, the
manners and customs of the natives, the resources of the countries he
visited, and touched upon such other points in a manner that would have
been a credit to a trained and experienced man of letters.

Mr. Busch has remained unmarried. Politically, he is a Democrat. He is a
member of the Delta Omikron Omikron. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Knights and Ladies of Security and the Loyal Order of Moose. He is a
member of the Catholic church. Personally, he is popular with all who know
him owing to his genial and obliging manners and genuine worth which the
stranger at once perceives upon meeting him.





NELSON GARRETT BUTLER. The farmers of this generation are learning that
with the change of climate and general conditions in the Ozark region they
must employ somewhat different methods in tilling the soil, learning,
among other things, that continued cropping exposes the land to various
weaknesses of the particular crop that is grown, and as no two crops
extract the same proportion of plant food, the continually grown crop is
bound to lessen the available fertility of one or more of the principal
soil constituents. Rotation has the effect of making available all of the
plant food element, and as the average soil is generally well supplied
with fertile material, depletion will come that much sooner unless proper
steps are taken to maintain the principal soil ingredients. These and many
other problems of modern farming are well understood by Nelson Garrett
Butler, a farmer of Republic township, Greene county.

Mr. Butler was born near Ozark, Christian county, on a farm, October 24,
1857. He is a son of Benjamin and Emily (Morland) Butler, both of whom
came from Michigan to Christian county, Missouri, in an early day or
during the Civil war period, and shortly after locating here Mr. Butler
joined the Union army, and was in a number of battles, serving several
years, during which he contracted a disease which disabled him, resulting
in his discharge from the service. He returned home, but soon contracted
smallpox which caused his death in March, 1862, and about a month later
his widow also died. They were the parents of eight children, namely:
Frank is living but his whereabouts are unknown; Will is engaged in
farming in Oregon; Norman lives in Oklahoma; Fernando is deceased;
Benjamin lives in Republic township; Nelson G., subject of this sketch;
Mrs. Mary Myers lives in Oklahoma; the youngest child died in infancy. The
parents of the above named children were living on our subject's
grandfather's farm at the time of their deaths, and Nelson, G. Butler
continued to live with his grandfather for some time, then went to make
his home with an uncle when about seven years of age, with whom he
remained until he was ten years of age, when he went to live with an older
brother, remaining with him about a year, after which he went to live at
the home of Matt Martin and there he remained about six years, then came
to Greene county and hired out to James Decker, but after a short time
hired to Thomas Rose, for whom he worked two years, also worked for G. W.
O'Neal two years, then went to California and lived in that state four
years, working on a farm. Returning to Missouri he located in Cedar
county, and a year later came back to Greene county and once more took up
his abode at the O'Neal home. Mr. O'Neal moved to Republic to look after
his lumber yard there, and left our subject in charge of his farm. Later
Mr. Butler rented Mr. O'Neal's farm and operated it for five years, and
while there purchased eighty acres of land in section 13, Republic
township, built a comfortable home thereon and moved into it. He has
managed his affairs in a successful manner and is now owner of a
productive farm of one hundred and seventy-six acres, on which he carries
on general farming, and stock raising.

Mr. Butler was married on September 12, 1886, to Martha Britain, a
daughter of James and Eliza (Wade) Britain. The father was born in this
county, but the mother's birth occurred in the state of Georgia, and from
there she came to Greene county, Missouri, when she was a child. She is
one of nine children, named as follows: George, deceased; Nancy, deceased;
Thomas, deceased; James lives in Republic; Martha, wife of our subject;
Eliza is the wife of Albert White, of Republic; Harvey is deceased; Harry
and Laura, twins, the former lives in Pond Creek township, this county,
and the latter is deceased. Mrs. Butler received her education in the
common schools of Pond Creek township, where she grew to womanhood. Our
subject received his education in Christian and Webster counties.

Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Butler, namely: Elsie is the
wife of Sam Brown, of Pond Creek township; Nadie is the wife of George
O'Neal, of Republic; Maude is the wife of Ed. Mooneyham, of Pond Creek
township; Frank lives with his parents and helps work the home farm.

Politically Mr. Butler is a Republican, and has always voted this ticket
in national affairs since reaching manhood. He and his wife and daughters
are members of the Missionary Baptist church at Hopewell.





STEPHEN E. BUTLER. It is no reflection when we say a man is a Hoosier; on
the contrary it is a compliment, if the word is properly understood. All
natives of the great state of Indiana are known as Hoosiers, and everyone
knows that some of the greatest men of the nation have been born and
reared on her soil, including presidents, vice-presidents, great
statesmen, renowned army and navy officers and famous literary men and
women. Stephen E. Butler, foreman of the tin shop of the reclamation plant
in the South Side Frisco shops, Springfield, is a Hoosier although not yet
belonging in the class of the mighty just enumerated, however, being yet a
young man and possessing those traits that win success, one must
necessarily predict for him a future of usefulness and more than average
success.

Mr. Butler was born April 23, 1882, in Stark county, Indiana. He is a son
of Austin D. Butler, a native of Ohio, and a carpenter by trade. He left
his native state when a young man and located in Stark county, Indiana,
where he remained until 1888, when he went to Helena, Montana, whither he
removed his family the following year, and there his, death occurred in
1897 at the early age of forty-six years. He was a soldier in the
Spanish-American war; however, contracting malaria typhoid in the
Philippines not long after his enlistment, he was sent back home, having
spent about a year in service. He was a member of Company L, First Montana
Volunteer Infantry. Upon his recovery from the malaria typhoid he resumed
his trade of journeyman carpenter, in which he was exceptionally skilled.
As a soldier his comrades say he was brave, faithful and intelligent. His
untimely death was by accident, having been drowned in the Missouri river
near Stubbs Ferry, where he was working on a dredge. Politically he was a
Democrat He belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He belonged
to the Methodist Episcopal church. His widow, who was known in her
maidenhood. As Alice Miller, is now the wife of A. J. Lemkie, and they
reside in Helena, Montana. Three children were born to her union with Mr.
Butler, namely: Stephen E. of this sketch; Ethel married Earl B.
Richardson, who is engaged in the retail drug business at Helena; Hazel
married Charles H. Coar, superintendent of the telephone company at Minot,
North Dakota.

Stephen E. Butler was seven years of age when his parents removed to
Helena, Montana, and there he grew to early manhood and received a common
school education; however, he left school when only fourteen years of age
and began learning the trade of sheet metal worker there, serving a four
years' apprenticeship. He worked with Jacob Rummell about six-years in
that city, then went to the Pacific coast and the Northwest where he spent
a year working as a tinsmith, after which he came to Kansas City,
Missouri, and worked six months, then returned West and worked in Helena
and Virginia City three and one-half years, one year of which time he was
in business for himself as tinsmith. In March, 1910, he came to
Springfield, Missouri, and worked a year for the Anslinger Sheet Metal
Works, their took a position in the North Side Frisco shops in March,
1911, as journeyman tinsmith. On November 1, 1913, he was promoted to
foreman tinsmith of the reclamation plant at the South Side shops, which
position he still holds, and in this, as in all previous positions he is
giving entire satisfaction, for he is not only an exceptionally highly
skilled man in his line, but is energetic and understands handling those
under him to good advantage.

Mr. Butler was married in July, 1907, to Dora Etta Burrell, a daughter of
Charles and Mary (Codrey) Burrell, who reside on a farm near Conway,
Missouri; Mrs. Butler grew to womanhood in Lane, Kansas, and received a
common school education there and in California, where the family moved
after leaving Kansas.

To our subject and wife one child has been born, Austin Elmer Butler, born
July 18, 1911.

Politically Mr. Butler is a Democrat. He belongs to the Methodist
Episcopal church, South.





JAMES M. BUTTS. Among the, self-made men of Greene county who deserve
their present comfortable situation in life is James Butts, who hails from
the renowned Blue Grass state. This latter fact may not have much
significance to some who peruse this biography, but maybe if he had not
been fortunate enough to have had in his veins the blood of the sterling
people who lived in that state in its early history and had not been
reared in that splendid environment he would not have succeeded in
overcoming the obstacles that have beset his pathway. True it is that the
Kentuckians who have located in Greene county have all been courageous,
energetic and in every way good citizens, so there must be something after
all in the place where we happen to be born as the humorist Bill Nye
maintained long ago.

Mr. Butts was born in Simpson county, Kentucky, on December 28, 1842. He
is a son of H. G. and Mary (Barker) Butts. The father was born in
Rockingham county, North Carolina, in 1815, and was reared in Kentucky, to
which state he went when a small boy. He had no chance to obtain an
education. He made a trip to Texas but returned to Kentucky in 1850, and
in 1856 moved to Missouri, locating in Dallas county, where he spent the
rest of his life, dying on March 6, 1897. The mother of our subject was
born in Simpson county, Kentucky, in 1813, and was reared on the home farm
near the city of Franklin. Her death occurred on the Butts farm in Dallas
county in 1891. She was a member of the Christian church. To these parents
six children were born, namely: Reuben, deceased; John, deceased; James
M., of this sketch; Richard, deceased; Nancy deceased; the youngest died
in infancy, unnamed. So our subject is the sole survivor of his family.

James M. Butts was reared on the farm in Kentucky where he worked hard
when a boy. His education was neglected for lack of time and opportunity.
He came with the family to Missouri in 1856, and located in Greene county
in 1885. Here he went to work in a mercantile establishment, later worked
in a mill, then secured employment in a drug store. He became owner of a
farm of one hundred and twenty-four acres in Dallas county. His present
neat little farm of fifty-eight acres in Jackson township, Greene county,
is well kept.

Mr. Butts was married in 1861 to Mary F. McGlothlin, who was born in Barry
county, Missouri, on August 26, 1846. She is a daughter of Alexander and
Mary (Durham) McGlothlin, both natives of Tennessee, the father born on
October 15, 1808, and the mother born on February 2, 1809. They were
married on February 22, 1831. They came to Missouri in 1833 and located in
Barry county, making the trip over the rough intervening mountainous
country in wagons. Their farm in Barry county consisted of three hundred
acres. They were among the early settlers in that county. Mr. McGlothlin
was influential in public affairs there and at one time represented the
county in the state legislature. His death occurred in that county in
1857, in which year also occurred the death of his wife. Mrs. Butts was
reared on the home farm in Barry county and received her education in the
public schools there. She was ten years old when her parents died, but she
continued to reside in her native county until her marriage. She is one of
ten children, eight of whom are deceased.

Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Butts, namely: Columbia, born
on July 14, 1864; Mrs. Lula Bryan, born on December 6, 1867; Mrs. Mcie
Cowden, born on March 6, 1870; Mrs. Sipie Burford, born on October 26,
1872, is deceased; Mrs. Florence Leslie, born on April 24, 1975; the
youngest child, James H., died at the age of thirteen years.

Mr. Butts is a member of the Masonic Order, and he belongs to the
Christian church.








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