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




ELISHA DEBOARD. The true western spirit of progress and enterprise is
strikingly exemplified in the lives of such men as Elisha DeBoard, one of
Greene county's most progressive citizens whose energetic nature and
laudable ambition have enabled him to conquer many adverse circumstances
and advance steadily. He has met and overcome obstacles that would have
discouraged many men of less determination and won for himself not only a
comfortable competency, together with one of the very choice farms of this
favored locality, but also a prominent place among the enterprising men of
this section of our great commonwealth, and no man is worthier of
conspicuous mention in a volume of the province of the one in hand.

Mr. DeBoard, one of the leading citizens of Republic, and president of the
State Bank of that city, is of Huguenot descent, his more immediate
forebears being of the Blue Grass state. His birth occurred at Mt. Vernon,
Kentucky, January 5, 1860. He is a son of Abner C. and Susan (Souel)
DeBoard, and is one of twelve children, five sons and seven daughters. The
father was a native of Kentucky where he spent his life, he and his wife
dying in that state a number of years ago.

Elisha DeBoard grew to manhood in his native state and there received his
education in the common schools, adding to this foundation in later years
by contact with the business world and by wide home reading. leaving
Kentucky when twenty-one years of age he came to Greene county, Missouri,
and took up farming for his life work. Saving his earnings he purchased a
farm of his own when twenty-five years old, and by close application and
good management prospered with advancing years. He purchased the fine farm
on which he now lives near Republic in 1896, and this he has brought up to
a high state of cultivation and improvement. It consists of three hundred
and twenty acres, and on it stands a commodious home in the midst of
pleasant surroundings and numerous substantial barns and other buildings.
He has been a general farmer and has paid special attention to raising
good grades of live stock and preparing them for the markets. In the year
1912 he became interested in the Republic State Bank and is a heavy
stockholder in the same, and since 1912 has been president of this
popular, sound and safe institution, one of the best banks in this section
of the state and one of the most ably and conservatively managed. Its
rapid growth and increased prestige of recent years has been due for the
most part to the wise management and popularity of its president, who has
ever been a man in whom the people of this locality have reposed the
utmost confidence. It was organized in 1912, with a capital stock of ten
thousand dollars. A general banking business is carried on under the state
laws of Missouri. The other officers of the bank, besides our subject are,
Jim Decker, vice-president; Lon Edmondson, cashier; Ray Grove, assistant
cashier; directors, William Pierce, Ed Gammon, Jack Davis, William Beard.
The bank has a modern equipment in every respect, safety vault and all
conveniences and has a substantial building.

Mr. DeBoard was married in July, 1884, to Mary Harlason, who was born,
reared and educated in Greene county. She is a daughter of James Harlason
and wife, and is one of five children, three sons and two daughters. Mr.
Harlason was one of the earliest pioneers of Greene county, having come
here in the year 1825 and developed a good farm and became well known. His
death occurred in 1901 at an advanced age.

Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. DeBoard, namely: Ralph is
married and farming in Republic township, this county; Roxie married
Milton Paulson, a farmer, and they have two children; Susie is still with
her parents; Ruby married Lawrence Britton, a farmer, and they have one,
child, Don; Glynn is married, lives in Aurora, Missouri, where he worked
for the Shendon-Robinson hardware firm; Lucy, William and Fay are all
three at home.

Politically, Mr. DeBoard is a Republican, but he has never sought to be a
leader in public affairs. He and his family attend the Christian church.





MOSES ROBNETT DeGROFF. There was something essentially American in the
life of the late Moses Robnett DeGroff, for many years one of the widely
known and influential citizens of southwest Missouri. The United States
has given rare opportunities to men with courage, honesty of purpose,
integrity and energy, to achieve success. The bulk of men who have stamped
the impress of their personalities on the minds and hearts of their
fellow, citizens in any manner have been men with the above enumerated
characteristics. Mr. DeGroff believed that a man's life work measured his
success, and that he who devoted his powers to the accomplishment of an
honorable purpose was to be honored, and that if a careful study was to be
made of the motives that actuate every man's life, there would always be
found some paramount object for which one lives and hopes and strives. All
who came within range of our subject's influence were profuse in their
commendation of his numerous admirable qualities of head and heart and he
was in every respect entitled to the high regard in which he was held in
the three counties in which he was especially well known—Greene, McDonald
and Newton.

Mr. DeGroff, whose late home was in Springfield, Missouri, was a scion of
the best French and Scotch-Irish stock, an old ancestry. His birth
occurred in Paris, Bourbon county, Kentucky, October 16, 1848. He was a
son of Abraham P. and Margaret Elizabeth (Robnett) DeGroff. The father, A.
P. DeGroff, was a grandson of John DeGroff who emigrated to America from
France in the old Colonial days, being among the persecuted Huguenots who
were compelled to flee from their native land during the ecclesiastical
war, famous in history. He settled in New York, and from him descended the
present numerous family of DeGroffs in the United States. When seventeen
years of age, A. P. DeGroff went to Ohio to attend college, after which he
went to Paris, Kentucky, where he met and married Margaret E. Robnett, of
Scotch-Irish ancestry. She was a daughter of Moses Robnett, and a
granddaughter of Capt. James Kennedy, who was an officer in the
Revolutionary war.

When Moses R. DeGroff was two years old his parents moved to Monroe
county, Missouri, and settled on a farm near Paris, later moving to
Neosho, this state, and while there Moses was employed part of the time by
the United States government at Fort Sills. When his father was elected
sheriff and collector of Newton county he served as a deputy. Later he
moved to Pineville McDonald county, and for a period of eight years filled
the position of deputy circuit and county clerk for that county, and for
four years was county clerk. In 1894 he received the governments
appointment of land receiver with headquarters at Springfield, and he was
in offices in the government building when it was dedicated and opened for
public inspection. He was appointed to this responsible position under
President Cleveland's administration and served four years in an eminently
creditable and acceptable manner. He also gave the people of Newton and
McDonald counties faithful, honest and high grade service in the offices
of which he was incumbent in each, and was for a number of years
influential in politics in all these counties, in fact, was one of the
leaders in the Democratic party in southwest Missouri for a number of
years. He was a splendid example of a self-made man, having practically
educated himself and become one of the best informed men on general
topics, especially relating to public affairs in this section of the
country. Fraternally he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and he held membership in St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal church,
South.

On March 4, 1875, Mr. DeGroff was united in marriage to Jennie LaMance, at
Pineville, Missouri. She is a daughter of James P. and Cynthia H. LaMance,
one of the well-known pioneer families of McDonald county. These parents
were both natives of Tennessee, where they were reared and married, and
from there emigrated to Missouri before the Civil war and established the
family home in McDonald county. Mr. LaMance enlisted for service in the
Confederate army in 1861, and served in the southwestern part of the
state, for the most part he was a gallant soldier and rose to the rank of
captain for meritorious conduct. He remained in the service about three
years. He engaged in the mercantile business at Pineville for many years
and enjoyed a good trade with the people of that town and the surrounding
country. He went to California in later life, where he resided five years.
His family consisted of eight children; one of his sons was a soldier in
the Civil war, enlisting in 1861, and serving four years.

Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. DeGroff, five of whom are living,
namely: Edgar N. is the eldest; William H. and Robnett are both deceased;
Bessie A., Edna L., Addie I. and Jennie F. are all living

The death of Moses R. DeGroff occurred at the pleasant family home on
Broad street, Springfield, August 8, 1901. We here quote, in part, from an
article which appeared in a newspaper at Pineville, Missouri, at the time
of our subject's death:

"There was scarcely a man or child in McDonald county who did not know M.
R. DeGroff. Genial, manly and enterprising, he made friends wherever he
went. But 'Mose,' as he was familiarly called, belonged especially to us.
It was to McDonald county he came as a young man; in Pineville that he
married his wife; in Pineville that all his children were born; here that
he served as county clerk, and here that he was for years an acknowledged
leader in county politics. We all knew him as the best of neighbors, a
public-spirited citizen and a most affectionate husband and father. Will
H. DeGroff, his second son, formerly a clerk in the Frisco store
department, died May 1, 1901. Mr. DeGroff was a sincere Christian and
tried to be reconciled to the Lord's will, but he was in feeble health and
the blow occasioned by his son's death was more than he could bear. His
anxious family did everything possible to restore him, but in vain, and he
passed away, leaving the record of a well-spent life behind him."





WILLIAM DELANGE. Although William DeLange, now engaged in farming in
Wilson township, Greene county, has lived but thirty-two years, he has
crowded into that brief span more than the average man experiences in the
full Biblical allotment of three score and ten, and it would require a
good-sized volume to set forth his life record in detail. Mr. DeLange was
born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1882. He is a son of
Eugene and Rose DeLange. The father was a native of Germany, from which
country he emigrated to America when young, but he had previously traveled
all over Europe as valet to a wealthy Frenchman, with whom he also visited
the Far East and the Mediterranean countries, and while in Russia had
difficulty with a party of Nihilists, one of whom fired a shot that
wounded Mr. DeLange, the bullet entering his leg, and our subject is now
the possessor of this leaden pellet, which was successfully extracted from
the wound. Upon reaching the New World the elder DeLange settled in
Philadelphia, and was in the employ of the immigration bureau in that city
for the government for a number of years. He was a highly educated man,
was able to speak, read and write several languages, and could speak seven
different tongues and read and write four of them, and at the time of his
death in 1908 he was manager of the Continental Hotel in New York City. He
was married after coming to Philadelphia, and to this union nine children
were born, eight of whom survive at this writing, namely: Charles; Joseph;
Mrs. Laura Freedman, who lives in Pennsylvania; Archibald is deceased;
Anthony, Theresa, William, Harry and John, who lives in New York City.

William DeLange spent his early days in the City of Brotherly Love, up to
his eighth year, and he attended the public schools there two years. When
but a small boy he was left an orphan, and was taken care of by his
Maternal grandmother, who found a home for him in Kent county, Delaware,
on a farm, where he remained until he was fifteen years of age, and while
there he attended the district schools two months out of each year. At the
age of fifteen he ran away, returning to Philadelphia, but remained there
only a few months, then went to New York City and began working as a
messenger boy and at other similar work, such as a boy his age could find
in a great city, remaining there about two years. He then went to work on
a truck farm at ten dollars per month and board and spent two years in
this manner. Later he enlisted in the Eleventh United States Cavalry, in
Troop M, for three years' service, during which time his regiment sailed
from New York for the Philippine Islands, by way of the Suez canal, and
was on the water sixty-eight days, and the regiment, after its service in
the antipodes had expired, returned to the United States by way of
Nakisaki, Japan, and the Sandwich Islands, stopping at Hawaii, landing at
San Francisco after a long voyage across the Pacific Ocean. From the city
by the Golden Gate the regiment was sent to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri,
and after the expiration of his term of service in the army Mr. DeLange
went to New York City, thus completing the circuit of the globe. In 1905
he came to St. Louis and took a business course in the Jones & Henderson
Business College, completing the course as stenographer, and he worked at
that vocation in various positions in St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago.
In June, 1910, he was appointed to a position in the civil service under
the Isthmian Canal Commission, and was accordingly sent to the Panama
canal, where he spent two and one-half years resigning his position there
in January, 1913, and returning to Missouri. Desiring to lead a quieter
and simpler life, he purchased a farm in Wilson township, Greene county,
ten miles southwest of Springfield, near the historic battlegrounds, and
now owns the old Thomas Phillips homestead, located on the old "wire
road," and which place consists of fifty-nine acres, and here he is
engaged in general farming and has a well located and productive place.

Mr. DeLange was married January 20, 1913, to Bertha E. Moody, a daughter,
of Nathan E. and Martha Jane (Cooke) Moody, who formerly lived at Viroqua,
Wisconsin, later coming to Missouri and locating at Jerico Springs, Cedar
county, Mr. Moody coming to the Ozark Mountains for his health. He was a
successful farmer in the North and accumulated considerable wealth

To Mr. and Mrs. Moody were born four children, namely: Bertha E., wife of
Mr. DeLange, of this sketch; Mrs. Jessie Whitsitt, Mrs. Helen Graff, and
Mrs. Ethel McKenney.

Politically, Mr. DeLange has leaned toward the Republican party in
national affairs. His wife, who is an exceptionally well educated woman,
is a member of the Methodist church.





EDWARD J. DEWITT. It has not been so very long ago that a number of
immigrants from our older Eastern states coming to Missouri could procure
good new land and thereby get a start with small capital. Now the new
lands Of our country that can he profitably farmed are practically all
occupied. The only course left for the American farmer to pursue is to
adopt a system of farming that will not only build up and maintain, but
will increase the production of the land. The dairy cow seems to be the
means through which a part of our farmers are destined to do this. One of
the citizens of Center township, Greene county, who secured new land upon
casting his lot with us is Edward J. DeWitt, and this he developed
intelligently and now has a good farm and has been making a comfortable
living all the while.

Like many of our worthy population he hails from grand old Virginia, his
birth having occurred in Bedford county, that state, January 17, 1840. He
is a son of Elisha D. and Susan (Coleman) DeWitt, both of whom were
natives of Virginia, where they grew up, were educated and married and
established their home. Their parents came from Scotland, so our subject
is of Scotch descent from both sides of the house and he manifests many
traits of that excellent race. These two families immigrated to the United
States prior to the war of 1812. Ten children were born to Elisha D.
DeWitt and wife, five of whom are living, namely: Lafayette is a tobacco
manufacturer of Lynchburg, Virginia; Marion is farming in Bedford county,
Virginia; Mary is the wife of John Thomasson a sales agent for a carriage
manufacturing concern of Lynchburg, Virginia; Eliza is the wife of William
Owens, a farmer of Bedford county, Virginia; and Edward J. of this sketch.
All three of these sons served through the Civil war in the same company.

Edward J. DeWitt grew to manhood on the home farm in his native county in
the Old Dominion and there he worked during vacations, attending the
common schools in the winter time. He remained at home until he was
twenty-one years of age when he enlisted in the Tenth Virginia Artillery,
Lee's army, at the commencement of the Civil war and remained in the
service until Lee's surrender, April 16, 1865. He proved to be a faithful
soldier and rose to the rank of sergeant. He took part in many of the
important battles and campaigns of the war. After being mustered out he
returned home where he remained until October 26, 1866, when he married
Mollie Coleman, a daughter of William and Amelia (Wooley) Coleman of
Bedford county, Virginia. Upon his marriage he moved to near Kiser, West
Virginia, where he rented a farm and resided until 1873 in which year he
came to Greene county, Missouri, locating in Campbell township where he
lived four years, then bought his present farm of eighty acres in Section
12, Township 29, Range 23, Center township, the same having been formerly
the property of the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company, and Mr.
DeWitt was the first person to secure a deed to the property. He cleared
it up and placed it under good improvements and cultivation.

To Mr. and Mrs. DeWitt two children have been born, namely: Willit J.,
born on August 13, 1874, received a public school education and lived at
home until his death, January 13, 1907; Monnie P., born on December 14,
1882, married on November 22, 1905, to Elmer Reynolds of Springfield, he
being in the service of the Frisco lines at that place; they have three
children, May who is eight years old, Clarence who is five years old, and
Ernest who is one year old.

Mrs. DeWitt's family has a commendable war record. Two of her brothers
were killed in battle during the Civil war, another was wounded, and one
served out his enlistment without accident. They were all in the Southern
army.

Our subject and wife have been lifelong members of the Methodist Episcopal
church, South. Politically he is a Democrat.





THOMAS ELLIS DABBS. Thomas Ellis Dabbs was born in Champaign county, Ohio,
August 8, 1878, and when three years of age he came to Greene county,
Missouri, with his parents and here has since resided. His father, William
P. Dabbs, was born in Virginia, May 28, 1829, and was the son of Abner and
Mary Dabbs, who located in North Carolina in 1838, after spending their
earlier years in the Old Dominion. In 1844 they left the old Tar state and
made the long overland journey to Greene county, Missouri, where William
P. Dabbs grew to manhood. On October 3, 1858, he married Hannah M.
Johnston, a daughter of John B. Johnston, formerly a citizen of
Springfield. To this union ten children were born, six of whom are living
at this writing, namely: Mary C., Hannah E., Clara L., Ellen V., Thomas
E., and Robert Lee. The last named is a girl.

William P. Dabbs was a Southern sympathizer during the war between the
states, and in the fall of 1891 he enlisted in the State Guards, and in
February, 1862, joined Capt. "Dick" Campbell's company, and served in the
regular Confederate army under Gen. Sterling Price. He took -part in a
number of engagements and was taken prisoner at the hotly contested battle
of Champion's Hill, Mississippi, May 17, 1863, and was held at Camp
Morton, Fort Donelson and Point Lookout until March, 1864, when he was
released. He made his way to Clark county, Ohio, where he joined his
family who had been ordered out of Greene county, Missouri, in the spring
of 1864. He remained in Ohio until 1881 when he returned with his family
to Greene county and bought a farm of one hundred and seventy-five acres.

Thomas E. Dabbs grew to manhood on his father's farm where he assisted
with the general work. He received his education in the district schools
and the old Springfield Normal, which he attended two years. On December
25, 1901, he married Eleanor Miller, a daughter of James Todd Miller and
Christina (Stephenson) Miller. The father was born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, and the mother in Henry county, Illinois. James Miller,
grandfather of Mrs. Dabbs, was a native of Ireland, from which country he
immigrated to the United States when a young man and settled in New York,
later locating in Philadelphia. He was a weaver by trade which he followed
until about 1865 when he came to Bureau county, Illinois, where he
purchased three hundred and sixty acres of land and there his death
occurred seventeen years ago, at the age of seventy-seven years, and he
was buried at Kewanee, Henry county, that state. His wife, Jane (Legette)
Miller, was a granddaughter of Joseph Robert and Eleanor (Sloan) Legette,
natives of Ireland, from which country they immigrated to the United
States and died at Kewanee, Illinois, he at the age of ninety-two years,
and she at the age of eighty-eight years.

To James T. Miller and wife six children were born, namely: Eleanor, wife
of Mr. Dabbs of this sketch; Christina lives at Meta, Missouri; Jean
married Fred Krone and they live in St. Louis; James S. lives in LaCrosse,
Wisconsin; Will T. lives in Lafayette, Indiana; Joe Marshall is at home.

James T. Miller was but a child when his parents took him from
Philadelphia to Bureau county, Illinois, where he remained until 1899,
when he came to Greene county, Missouri. He engaged in merchandising in
Springfield, where he remained until 1904, then went to Meta, Missouri,
and retired.

Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dabbs, namely: William James,
born in 1903; Margarite Christina, born in 1907; Helen Miller, born in
1909; and Mary E. born in 1912.

Mr. Dabbs has devoted his life to general agricultural pursuits. He owns a
productive and well-tilled farm of eighty acres in Campbell township, near
Springfield, only a mile from the city limits. Here for four years he
conducted a successful dairy, but has abandoned this part of his
operations. He has also devoted considerable attention to the live stock
business.

Politically, he is a Democrat. He is a member of the Anti-Horse Thief
Association. He has served his community as road commissioner. Our
subject's wife is a member of the Calvary Presbyterian church,
Springfield.





DABNEY COSBY DADE. To rescue from fading tradition the personal annals of
the pioneers of our country is a pleasing but laborious task; not so
laborious, perhaps, as perplexing, by reason of memoirs from which many
impressions of the early days have long since faded. To gather up the
broken threads of strange yet simple stories of individual lives, to catch
the fleeting chronicles and fireside stories and hand them down to
posterity is a laudable ambition worthy of encouragement on the part of
every one interested in his community. Dabney Cosby Dade, long since a
traveler to "that undiscovered bourne," of which the world's greatest poet
wrote, was one of the pioneers of Springfield, who were in the van of
civilization moving to new frontiers of the West, who passed through years
of toil and hardship such as few now living have ever experienced. A
western man in the broad sense of the term, and a native of the country
which the Indians named "the high muddy water," he had the sagacity to
realize what the people needed in his day and generation and with strong
hand and active brain sought to supply the demand generously and
unsparingly. It would require a volume to properly write the interesting
life history of this man, his struggles for recognition during his youth,
his hazardous journey across the wild Western plains with the famous band
of "forty-niners," his life in the mines of the Pacific coast, his voyage
around Cape Horn, the southernmost point in the Western Hemisphere, his
struggles as a leading lawyer and politician, his efforts in behalf of the
Union during the great crisis of the sixties and his influence as a
citizen in the movements for the betterment of his locality, would all
form chapters interesting and helpful to the rising generation. He ranked
high among the citizens of Greene county of his day, and was in every
respect a most commendable example of the courageous, unselfish successful
self-made man.

Mr. Dade was born September 30, 1830, in Boonville, Missouri, and was a
son of John and Agnes (Bullock) Dade, both natives of Kentucky where they
spent their earlier years but removed to Cooper county, Missouri, in
pioneer days, remaining there until in the early forties when they removed
to Springfield. John Dade followed merchandising in his earlier years, but
engaged in the real estate business after locating here, and he became
owner of considerable land in Greene county. He was twice married, the
subject of this memoir being the youngest of four sons, all now deceased,
by his first wife.

Dabney Cosby Dade spent his early childhood in Cooper county and was about
twelve years old when he came with his parents to Springfield and here he
grew to manhood. He had little opportunity to obtain an education, but
later in life made up for this lack by extensive home study and contact
with the world, thus educating himself, and was through life a great
miscellaneous reader. When but nineteen years old he made the long and
dangerous journey across the trackless plains to California, with the
great band of gold seekers, and there he worked in the mines for some
time, later going to Oregon and many other places in the far West, and he
made the return trip east by ship down the western coast around Cape Horn
and up the eastern coast of South America to New York City. He then made
the long journey to Texas and after much wandering finally settled
permanently in Springfield, Missouri, began the study of law and was
admitted to the bar in an early day and this remained his life work until
the end. Possessing a brilliant mind and rare tact, industry and
perseverance he forged to the front ranks of his professional brethren and
for many years was regarded as one of the leading lawyers in southern
Missouri, his name figuring conspicuously in important trials in various
courts and he met with uniform success. He was a man of pronounced
convictions, always ready to take a stand for what he believed to be
right, and while in Texas prior to the breaking out of the Civil war he
announced that he favored the Union cause. He joined the Home Guards in
Springfield in 1860 under Colonel Holland, but was not called into actual
service. After the war he formed a partnership here with judge Geiger
which continued for several years. Active in politics and influential in
local public matters Mr. Dade was elected to represent Greene county, on
the Greenback ticket, in the state legislature, in 1879, and he served his
time there in a faithful and commendable manner. At one time he was police
judge of Springfield, being the only Democrat elected on the ticket of
that year, which is sufficient indication of his popularity here. He
remained faithful to Democratic principles the rest of his life.
Religiously he was a member of the Christian church, and was prominent in
church work, was a teacher in the Sunday school for some time. He was a
member of the Masonic order from the age of twenty-one years.

Mr. Dade was married, January 1, 1872, to Donna Mack, who was born in
Maury county, Tennessee, September 1, 1845. She is a daughter of John and
Sarah V. Mack, the father a native of North Carolina and the mother of
Virginia, the former born in 1800 and the latter in 1802. Mr. Mack's death
occurred in 1854, and his widow survived until 1867. They were married in
Tennessee and in 1852 the family removed to Greene County. Missouri,
locating in Springfield where they became well established, and here Mrs.
Dade grew to womanhood, being seven years old when. she came here with her
parents and here she was educated, being a student in the first college.
She is one of nine children six daughters and three sons, two of whom are
living at this writing, Mrs. Donna Dade, and Mrs. Narcissa Edwards.

Three children Were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dade, namely: Agnes, born April
26, 1873, is the wife of Dr. R. M. Cowan; Matilda, born September 18,
1876, is at home; Virginia born on September 11, 1882, married George B.
Rayfield, and they have one child, Dabney Dade Rayfield, born on January
1, 1906, and is now attending school.

The death of Dabney Cosby Dade occurred on May 25, 1912. His life was an
open book, known and read by his many friends, who found therein no blank
pages and nothing to offend, for he always endeavored to measure his life
by strict principles of rectitude, and few of his contemporaries could
present a character so nearly flawless or a reputation against which so
little in the way of criticism could be uttered.





WILLIAM A. DAGGETT. Believing with Longfellow that "within ourselves is
triumph or defeat," William A. Daggett the present librarian at the
Springfield State Normal school, determined at the outset of his career to
so shape his course that when life's goal was reached he could look
backward along the labyrinthin highway without compunction or regret, and
so far he has left no stone unturned whereby he might honorably advance
himself.

Mr. Daggett was born on March 14, 1876, at Waldoboro, Lincoln county,
Maine. He is a son of Athern E. and Helen M. (Parsons) Daggett, both
natives of Maine, each representatives of old families there. These
parents grew up and were educated in the early-day schools of that state
and were married there in 1875 and have since resided near their early day
home. To this union, one son, William A., was born. The mother was a
daughter of William and Margaret (Fitzgerald) Parsons, descendants of
English emigrants who established the future home of the family among the
early settlers of Maine. The father of our subject was, reared on the farm
of his parents and he devoted the major portion of his active life to
agricultural pursuits; however, he engaged in other lines of endeavor,
including the confectionery business, for a period of twenty years.
Politically, he is a Republican and he belongs to the Congregational
church.

William A. Daggett attended the public schools in his native state and
when fourteen years of age left there and spent two years in Tabor Academy
at Marion, Massachusetts, then came to Springfield, Missouri, in 1893 and
studied two years in Drury Academy and four years in Drury College, from
which institution he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in
1899. Soon thereafter he accepted a position as assistant principal at
Rogers Academy, Rogers, Arkansas. He taught mathematics and science there
for two years. His advancement as an educator was rapid and it was not
long until his services were in demand in other and larger fields than the
one at Rogers where he won such a creditable record during his two years
at that place as an instructor. Learning of his success the board of the
Springfield high school tendered him the position of instructor in
history, which position he accepted, and in which he accomplished a work
of far-reaching importance, such as had probably never before been
attempted here and more, signally successful than his former efforts as
teacher. After spending six years in this school in the department of
history, he was selected librarian at the Springfield State Normal, the
duties of which position he has since discharged in an able and highly
satisfactory manner, and at the same time has taught some in the history
department; however, he has had no classes for two years, his increasing
work as librarian claiming all his time and attention, including his
committee work in the school and the library instruction course by him. He
has also held positions as an instructor in athletics and physical
culture, in which lines he has pronounced natural ability of a high order.

Mr. Daggett was married on June 12, 1900, to Evelina Park, youngest
daughter of Dr. William H. Park, a pioneer doctor of Greene county,
Missouri, also a prominent business man of Springfield. Mr. and Mrs.
Daggett are the parents of two children, Athern, born on January 10, 1904,
and Algoa, born on April 11, 1906, and died January, 1914.

Politically, Professor Daggett is a Republican, and a member of the First
Congregational church, in the work of which he has been active and
influential for a number of years, having been identified with the various
branches of the church of this denomination in Springfield. Personally he
is an unassuming, accommodating and likable gentleman.





GEORGE DAIGLER. Mr. Daigler was born October 14, 1837, in Erie county, New
York, and is one of a family of five children, three of whom survive at
this writing. The old homestead of the Daigier family is six miles from
the city of Buffalo and is operated by Adam Daigler, brother of our
subject.

George Daigler, of this sketch, grew to manhood on the home farm and there
worked hard when a boy, and he received his early education in the common
schools of his vicinity. When the Civil war came on he enlisted in 1861 in
the First Wisconsin Light Artillery, he having removed from his native
state to Wisconsin prior to the war. He was sent to the far South and saw
considerable hard service. He was in General Grant's army and fought
during the long siege of Vicksburg, was also under General Banks on the
Red river expedition. He served a year under General Morgan, and was in
the battle of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, serving in that locality about a
year. He was in the service three years and three months and was mustered
out and honorably discharged at Madison, Wisconsin, in 1864. He came to
Springfield, Missouri, in 1889, and here purchased an interest in the firm
of Bunger & Company, who handled house furnishing goods, and he continued
this line with his usual success until 1904 when he sold out and retired
from the active affairs of life.

Politically, Mr. Daigler is a Republican.





HARRIS K. DALE. The soil is a great conservator of health, not a menace;
its life and death processes are among the most wonderful in nature. "Back
to the soil" needs to he a health slogan as well as an economic one. But
what kind of soil? The best answer is that of modern scientific fanning,
which conserves the soil as well as man. Science was long a very
artificial thing; but it is now being naturalized, and the encouraging
thing is that science pays in efficiency and dollars and cents. Scientific
farming is not only the most profitable, but it is one of the greatest
conservators of public health. Harris K. Dale is a scientific farmer of
Center township, and by reason of his long career as tiller of the soil he
has enjoyed the best of health. He has spent nearly a half century in
Greene county, where he has worked his own way up from a modest beginning
to a position of independence and comfort.

He is of German and Welsh descent and up to some seventy-five years ago
the name was spelled Dahle, it being simplified at that time to conform to
the Anglo-Saxon way of spelling. Our subject was born in Clarion county,
Pennsylvania, March 29, 1854. He is a son of Solomon and Katherine B.
(Zink) Dale. The father was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in
October, 1819. His mother was of Welsh descent and the father's parents
were both natives of Germany, from which country they emigrated to America
in an early day and established their home in the old, Keystone state. The
mother of our subject was born in Clarion county, Pennsylvania, January 6,
1820. The Zink family was of Welsh extraction. These parents grew up in
Pennsylvania and there attended the early-day schools and were married
there. Solomon Dale, however, received more, than the ordinary amount of
education for his day, and he became a successful teacher. He was well
informed on a great diversity of subjects and could speak seven different
languages. He devoted many years to educational work in his native state,
but finally took up farming, which he followed during the latter part of
his life. He removed with his family from Pennsylvania to Greene county,
Missouri, in 1867, reaching here on October 16. They lived a year on a
farm a few miles west of the place now owned by the subject of this sketch
in Center township. In 1868 Solomon Dale bought the farm now owned by his
son Harris K. from the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad Company (now the
Frisco). It consisted of one hundred and sixty acres and now lies on the
Carthage road just west of Springfield. He improved the land by hard work
and persistent application and here spent the rest of his life. When the
above named railroad was built through Greene county he was employed by
the company as interpreter, as many of the gangs of workmen could not
speak English and they represented many different nationalities.
Politically he was first a Whig, and later a Republican after this party
was launched back in the fifties. He took an active interest in public
affairs and was influential in politics in his locality. Before leaving
Pennsylvania he served as tax collector and as school director, also
filling the latter office after coming to Greene county. He was a member
of the German Lutheran church in his native state, but joined the
Methodist Episcopal church when he came to this county. His death occurred
on August 3, 1874. His widow survived him over thirty years, dying March
3, 1906, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. They were both buried in
the Brookline cemetery.

To Solomon Dale and wife ten children were born, named as follows:
Margaret E., Isaiah K., Mary M. and Sarah Ann are all deceased; Mrs. Edith
Best lives in Kansas City, Kansas; Harris K., of this sketch; Mrs. Emma A.
Parker lives in Springfield; Katie, Ceora and Walter Monroe are all three
deceased.

Harris K. Dale was thirteen years of age when he came with his parents to
Greene county, Missouri, from Pennsylvania. He received his education in
the public schools of his native state and this county. His brothers and
sisters received good educations, mostly in Pennsylvania, and some of them
made teachers, and taught school, in Greene county many years. Our subject
worked on the farm when a boy and he has followed general farming all his
life, and for some time he has made a specialty of raising fruit and
livestock. He began operating a threshing machine of his own in 1878, and
followed this work continuously, with the exception of about two years,
during the threshing season to the present time, and is one of the best
known men in this line of endeavor in this part of the state. He has also
operated a clover huller and corn shredder for some time. He holds the
record for threshing the greatest number of bushels of wheat of any man in
Greene county. He has worked hard, managed well, been economical and is
now a man of easy circumstances financially, all due to his own efforts
along honest lines.

Mr. Dale was married in Greene county on October 17, 1877, to Sarah
Robertson, a daughter of William R. and Mary (Saline) Robertson. She was
born, reared, and educated in this county, where her father was long
widely known as a prosperous farmer and stock man, having handled for many
years more Shorthorn cattle than any man in the county.

The following children have been born to William R. Robertson and wife:
Isabell is the wife of E. R. Shipley, a Greene county farmer; William
Wesley married Rody World and he is engaged in the grocery business in
Springfield; Sarah J., wife of our subject; Cordelia is the wife of F. G.
Cowen, who is connected with a dry goods firm in Kansas City, Kansas; John
Green is engaged in the grocery business in Springfield; James L. is a
wholesale groceryman in Springfield; Florence married Charles Baxter, for
many years a baker of Kansas City, Kansas, but is now deceased; Nanny died
in infancy; Leonidas E. is engaged in business with his brother under the
firm name of the Robinson Grocery Company, of Springfield.

To Harris K. Dale and wife one child has been born, Mawdy Irene Dale, who
has received an excellent education in the Springfield high school and the
old Normal in that city.

Politically, Mr. Dale is a Republican and has always been a loyal
supporter of his party. He has served his community as road commissioner
and also as school director. Fraternally, he is a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having joined the Elwood lodge eighteen
years ago; he also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and to the
Rebekahs. He has done much to promote general public and material
interests and, like his father before him, his character has always been
unassailable.





CHARLES E. DANDO. History is made rapidly in these latter days,
representing ceaseless toil and endeavor, the proudest achievements and
the most potent progress in all lines, and thus it is gratifying to mark
the records of those whose influence has impressed itself along the
various channels through which the swelling tide of accomplishment makes
its way. If the present volumes are to contain the names of the men who
have "done things" in Springfield and Greene county, the name of Charles
E. Dando will necessarily have to be included within their pages. For many
years he was a widely known railroad man, an engineer and passenger
conductor, after the usual preliminary positions, and was also a skilled
machinist and worked in many different railroad shops. Later we find him
owner and manager of a number of noted horses, then he was in the moving
picture business, and now is living in retirement. He enjoys the
distinction of having driven the engine that pulled the first passenger
train from Kansas City to Springfield, which was over the old "Gulf road."

Mr. Dando was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 8, 1850. He is a son
of Joseph M. and Mary (Ball) Dando, both long since deceased; and he is
the youngest of four children, two of whom are deceased; Mrs. Harriet
Prichard, the eldest, and Joseph and William were the brothers.

Charles E. Dando received a limited education, but in later life became a
well informed man by contact with the world and wide reading. When only
fourteen years of age he began his railroad career, securing employment
with the old Atlantic & Great Western railroad, now owned by the Erie
railroad. He started in the shops at Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he
remained two years, and from there went to Galion, Ohio, where he began
firing a switch engine in the yards; six months later he entered the
railroad shops of the Atlantic & Great Western, learning the machinist's
trade, which he worked at for three and one-half years, then left Galion
and went to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he went to work in the
Shakespeare & Gettys foundry, remaining there about a year, then went to
Litchfield, Illinois, and worked for the Illinois & St. Louis Railroad
Company as a machinist in their shops there, remaining a year and a half.
He then went to Kansas City, in the spring of 1872, and worked in the
machine shops of the Missouri River, Ft. Scott & Gulf railroad for about
four months, when he began firing, which he continued about a year when he
was promoted to engineer and assigned to a locomotive which ran as both
freight and passenger. When the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis road was
built between Kansas City and Springfield, Mr. Dando ran the engine that
pulled the first passenger train from Kansas City to Springfield. Judge
John G. Newbill rode in the cab with him from Ft. Scott to Springfield.
Mr. Dando was later made a conductor and worked in this capacity a few
years, then went back to running a locomotive. He finally retired from
railroading and purchased some fine race horses, including the famous
"Black Dick." He took his horses all over the Eastern states, engaging in
a large number of races, and was very successful. Of late years he has
been engaged in the moving picture business in Springfield, but has lived
in retirement during the past four years, owning a good home on South Main
street.

Mr. Dando was married, March 23, 1884, to Lizzell Davis, of Fort Scott.
Kansas, a daughter of Dr. and Sarah F. (Hulse) Davis, whose family
consisted of four children, namely: James, Faustien, Lizzell, and
Josephine; the last named is deceased. Doctor Davis was born in France.
Mrs. Dando grew to womanhood in Ft. Scott and received her education
there, making excellent grades in all branches. Our subject and wife had
two children, one living: James Edward was born April 19, 1886, and died
October 24, 1904; Charles Joseph was born February 19, 1896, and is in a
military school at Ashville, North Carolina.

Politically, Mr. Dando is a Democrat. He is a member of the Eastern
Division of the Order of Railway Conductors, No. 321, and the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers. Fraternally, he belongs to the Knights of Pythias
and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was also made an
honorary member of the Grand International Division of the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers, No. 378.





WILLIAM R. DANIEL. No matter what line of work one is engaged in he should
strive to become an expert in it, which will not only result in better
remuneration, but a greater degree of satisfaction and pleasure all
around. If one goes at his work in a half-hearted, slip-shod manner very
little good will be accomplished and little satisfaction gotten out of it.
In fact, it is not too much to say that poor work should never be done,
for it is very often worse than nothing-detrimental. William R. Daniel,
the skilled coach carpenter in the Frisco's new shops at Springfield,
realized these facts when he made up his mind when a young man to become a
carpenter. He knew the world was full of wood workers in various lines and
that to achieve anything really worth while he would have to become a
superior workman. Years of patient and careful work have made him one.

Mr. Daniel was born on October 5, 1857, in Savannah, Tennessee. He is a
son of Calloway and Caroline (Hutton) Daniel, natives of Tennessee and
Alabama, respectively. They grew up in the South, attended school and were
married in Tennessee, from which state in 1861 they removed to Illinois,
where they lived during the Civil war, and, in 1865, came to New Madrid
county, Missouri, where they spent the rest of their lives on a farm,
dying near the town of New Madrid, the father in 1883, and the mother in
1893. Politically, Calloway Daniel was a Democrat, and he belonged to the
Granger order. His family consisted of ten children, namely: Emily and
Elsie are living; Thomas is deceased; James is living; Patrick is
deceased, William R. of this sketch; Jane, Alice, Benjamin and George are
all deceased.

William R. Daniel was four years old when he left his native state of
Illinois and was about nine years old when his parents brought him to New
Madrid county, Missouri, where he grew to manhood on a farm and there
worked during the summer months, attending the district schools in the
winter. He followed farming in that county until 1884, when, on August
12th of that year, he came, to Springfield, this state, and engaged in
carpenter work for a few years. On November 23, 1890, he went to work for
the Frisco System at the old North Side shops, in the coach department as
a carpenter, where he remained until 1909, when the new shops were opened,
at which time he was transferred to the latter and promoted to coach
carpenter, which position he still holds, giving eminent satisfaction, for
he is not only exceptionally skillful, but is a fast and painstaking
workman, always conscientious in his work.

Mr. Daniel was married on December 22, 1880, in New Madrid, Missouri, to
Fanny V. Edmondson, who was born there June 26, 1864, and was reared and
educated at that place. She is a daughter of John and Lavina S. (Freeman)
Edmondson. Her father was born in Louisville, Kentucky, November 10, 1820,
and her mother was born in North Carolina, December 1, 1834. They grew up
in the South, were educated and married there, removing to Springfield,
Missouri, where the death of Mr. Edmondson occurred on February 3, 1901;
his wife died in Kansas City, May 8, 1904; they are buried in Springfield.
Mr. Edmondson, who devoted his life principally to agricultural pursuits,
was a well-read man. Politically he was a Democrat. His family consisted
of four children, namely: Mrs. Elizabeth J. Warrington lives in Kansas
City, Missouri; Laura is deceased; Fanny V., wife of Mr. Daniel of this
sketch, and William, who is the youngest.

To our subject and wife two children have been born, namely: Laura Lavina,
was born in 1882, and died when a year old; the second child died in
infancy, unnamed.

Mrs. Daniel is a well educated and accomplished woman, who is prominent in
local club life. She is an active and influential member of the Women's
Christian Temperance Union. She also belongs to the Progressive Workers'
Club. She was first vice-president of the Children's Home when it was
first organized in Springfield. She is a member of the Pickwick Sewing
Club, and is a member of -the Young Men's Christian Association Auxiliary,
and belongs to the Second Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Daniel is also
a member and an elder. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Order,
the Improved Order of Red Men and the Maccabees. Politically he is a
Democrat. Mr. Daniel owns a cozy home on Weller street, Springfield.





DOMINO DANZERO. From the far-away land of purple peaks and turquois skies,
the genial clime of sunny Italy, the favored haunt of authors and
painters, hails Domino Danzero, who is proprietor of a popular bakery in
Springfield. Inheriting many of the commendable traits of head and heart
of the respectable middle classes of the realm of the once mighty Caesars,
he has proven to be a good citizen of Greene county, a man of industry,
good habits and proper decorum, and while he at times longs for the subtle
beauties of his picturesque home land, as is quite natural and right, he
nevertheless appreciates the opportunities in this our land of the free
and is content to remain in the broad republic of the west.

Mr. Danzero was born near Turin, Italy, January 13, 1871. He is a son of
Jack and Angelina Danzero, both natives of the same vicinity in which our
subject was born, and there they grew to maturity, received common school
educations and there married and established their home, and the father is
still living in his native land and is still active, being a painter and
decorator by trade and is a highly skilled workman. The mother died when
our subject was five years of age. To these parents two children were
born, Domino, of this sketch, and John, who died when eleven years of age.

Domino Danzero grew to manhood in Italy, and there he received a good
common school education, attending high school two years. When nineteen
years of age he emigrated to America and settled in Chicago, Illinois,
where he worked in a bakery for four years, during which time he mastered
the various phases of this business. From there he came to St. Louis and
traveled for a bakery there for a period of seven years, giving his
employers entire satisfaction, being energetic and courteous to the trade.
He then came to Springfield, Missouri, where he has since made his home.
At first he managed a restaurant of his own, then opened a bakery on
Jefferson street, and about two years ago built his own bakery at Elm and
Pearl streets, which he has since operated with ever increasing success
and has built up an extensive trade owing to the superior quality of his
products which find a very ready market. His plant is sanitary in every
respect and is modernly equipped and only skilled employees are to be
found here. Prompt and honest service is his aim and he has therefore won
the good will of the people.

Mr. Danzero was married in St. Louis, August 18, 1902, to Bridget Roetto,
who was born near Monett, Missouri, February 19, 1883, and there grew to
womanhood and received a good education. She is a daughter of Charles and
Katherine Roetto, both natives of Italy (born in 1852 and 1857,
respectively), where they spent their earlier years, but emigrated to the
United States in an early day and settled in Missouri. Mr. Roetto has
engaged in agricultural pursuits in this state for a period of forty-two
years, has become wealthy through his good management and wise foresight,
and is the owner of several finely improved and valuable farms near
Monett, where he and his wife are still living and are well and favorably
known in that locality. Mr. and Mrs. Roetto are the parents of nine
children.

Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Danzero, namely: Angelina,
born September 26, 1903, and Leola, born June 14, 1907.

Politically, Mr. Danzero is a Republican. Religiously, he is a member of
the Catholic church, and, fraternally, he holds membership in the Knights
of Columbus and Modern Woodmen.





ROBERT EZRA DARBY, M. D., D. D. S. No doctor of dental surgery is better
known in southwestern Missouri than Dr. Robert Ezra Darby, of Springfield,
and certainly none are his superiors and few his equals in applying this
branch of science for the good of humanity. He has for years ranked as one
of the leaders among his professional brethren in Greene county and in the
state of Missouri.

Dr. Darby is descended from a sterling old American family. Daniel Darby,
his paternal grandfather, was born near Ripley, West Virginia, October 31,
1799, and died on November 27, 1862. He married Phoebe Evans, of Ohio,
September 12, 1822. She was a daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (Faucette)
Evans. Mrs. Phoebe Darby was born on November 13, 1803, and died January
18, 1880. Her great-grandfather came to America from Wales. The names of
her brothers were, Ephraim, Jonathan, Samuel, Robert, Edward and Mark, the
latter dying in childhood; and her sisters were Mrs. Ellen Stoots, Mrs.
Margaret Starcher, Mrs. Tabitha Wright, Mrs. Sarah Starcher, Mrs. Lydia
Long, Mrs. Priscilla Beezley, Mrs. Ann Stoots. Thirteen children were born
to Daniel Darby and wife, four of whom died in infancy, namely: Jedediah,
Jonathan, Sarah Ann, and Cynthia; the nine reaching maturity were,
Elizabeth, who married Noah Bray, was born in West Virginia, September 29,
1823, died January 21, 1851; Rebecca, born in West Virginia, December 23,
1826, died January 24, 1842; Joseph Wright, who became a Baptist minister,
was born in Indiana, May 9, 1832, and died in Cedar Hill, Texas, January
23, 1863; Ezra Faucette, father of the subject of this sketch, was next in
order of birth; Ruami, born in Vermillion county, Illinois, April 4, 1837,
died December 24, 1913, having remained unmarried; Ephraim Evans, a
minister in the Methodist Episcopal church, South, was born in Hickory
county, Missouri, December 10, 1839, and lives in Center Point, Texas;
William Henry, a farmer and carpenter, was born in Hickory county, this
state, April 18, 1842, now lives in Dallas county, Missouri; George
Washington, farmer, born in Hickory County, May 13, 1844, lives in Corpus
Christi, Texas; Isabella Jane, who married Rev. Samuel Lopp, was born in
Hickory county, February 1, 1847, lives with a daughter in Pennsylvania.
The four last named reared large families.

Daniel Darby was a mechanic of unusual ability and served the new country
wonderfully well. His early manhood was spent in Ohio, Indiana and
Illinois. He made a model of one of the first mowing machines which
clipped the grass in his own yard to the delight of the patentee. He had a
wagon shop in Danville, Illinois. He also made furniture and wooden
clocks; one of the latter he brought with him to Missouri in 1838. He
settled in that part of the state which later was made a part of Hickory
county. There he established a tannery of thirty vats and manufactured and
sold leather. He built a grist-mill with a forty-foot tread wheel on which
the weight of walking oxen turned the machinery that ground the wheat into
flour and the corn into meal. He also established a nursery farm, from
which he supplied the country f or miles around with fruit trees. He also
had his own blacksmith shop as well as carpenter shop. He supplied the
needs of the country with everything from a plow, spinning wheel or
fanning mill to a wooden clock. The power to become skilful with tools
seems to have been inherited by Doctor Darby.

Jedediah Darby, the paternal great-grandfather of Doctor Darby of this
sketch, was a native of Vermont, and at the age of twelve years he was
bound out to a millwright to learn the trade. He was then living in
Pennsylvania, but subsequently moved to West Virginia. He married Rebecca
Sayers, and in later life removed to Iroquois county, Illinois, where his
death occurred while he was in his eighties. Six sons and four daughters
were born to Jedediah Darby and wife, namely: Daniel, Owen, Moses, Aaron,
Elijah, Elisha, Hannah, Eliza, Sarah and Nancy. Longevity is one notable
characteristic of this family, two members of which live to be well into
the nineties--one of them still living.

Samuel Darby, father of Jedediah, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
He lived In Pennsylvania, and when last heard from was one hundred and one
years old. His ancestors came from England. The older stock of Darbys were
tall, strong men, with great endurance.

Our subject's maternal family also goes back through many generations of
excellent citizens. The Andrews family came to America from England. Adam
Andrews lived near Petersburg, Virginia. He died of the "black plague"
while a soldier during the War of 1812. This family, although living near
Richmond, the Confederate capital, were always opposed to negro slavery.
Dr. Mark Andrews, a son of Adam Andrews, grandfather of the subject of
this sketch, was born in Chesterfield county, Virginia, December 28, 1812.
He married Martha Ann Griggs, April 12, 1835. She died on February 21,
1836. One child was born of this marriage--Martha Ann Eliza, the mother of
the subject of this sketch. Martha Griggs had two brothers and one sister
who came West. Joseph went to California, William to Greenfield, Missouri.
The sister married Jacobs, a well-known merchant and banker of Greenfield,
Missouri. Dr. Mark Andrews later married Virginia Thompson, August 25,
1836. They came to Missouri in 1840 and located at Buffalo, Dallas county.
Here she taught the first school ever taught in that town, was also a
teacher in the Sunday school. They moved to the farm near Urbana in 1850.
Doctor Andrews lived a very active life in the practice of his profession
and became very prominent. Overwork and exposure hastened his death which
occurred on June 31, 1865. His family consisted of eleven in number,
namely: Mary Elizabeth, who married William Howard, was born June 16,
1837, and died in 1885; Robert Jones, born December 31, 1838, died while a
soldier in the Union army, July 6, 1864; Virginia Atkinson, born June 11,
1840, married C. P. Fletcher, lives in Meade, Kansas; Emily Frances, born
July 13, 1843, is the wife of W. H. Darby, of Urbana, Missouri; Lucy Jane,
born July 4, 1845, is the wife of I. N. Reser, of Urbana, Missouri; Dr.
John Polk Andrews, born July 14, 1847, lives at Marionville, Missouri;
Harriet Verlinda, born March 7, 1850, is the wife of W. B. Coon, of
Republic, Missouri; Jesse Edwin, born February 19, 1852, died June 18,
1853; Joseph William, born September 11, 1854, was a farmer, and died in
1893; Susan Buchanan, born March 4, 1857, is the wife of Charles Darby, of
Medford, Oregon; Mark Lafayette, born July 7, 1859 is a farmer of Urbana,
Missouri.

Ezra Faucett Darby, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in
Vermilion county, Illinois, October 30, 1834. In 1838, when he was but
four years old, his father came to Missouri, and settled in that part of
the state which was later organized into Hickory county. There he grew to
manhood and devoted his active life to general farming, stock raising,
shipping and also fruit growing. He became one of the most influential
citizens there, taking a very active part in public affairs, always
striving to better general conditions of living; he was a friend to
education, the church and everything that made for advancement. He was
ever broad-minded and a man of charitable impulses. He enlisted in the
Federal army at Urbana, Missouri, in the fall of 1863, in Company A,
Eighteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Stonaker. He was at once
sent with the regiment into Arkansas, the first stop being at Fort, Smith.
He was in the campaign to Camden, that state, in 1864. He took part in a
number of skirmishes. He was ordered from his regiment to the United
States hospital at Little Rock, as ward master, in May, 1865. While in the
army he demonstrated what he taught, that one can live the life of a
Christian, and of temperance, even in the face of adverse circumstances.
He married Martha Andrews, April 14, 1859. She was born in Dinwiddie
county, Virginia, January 29, 1836. Her father moved to Missouri in 1840,
and settled in Buffalo, where she attended school. She was a woman of
strong mind and fine Christian sentiment. Like her husband she was a
member of the Methodist church more than fifty years. She grew up in the
days when everybody worked in establishing and maintaining the home, in
the days of the spinning wheel, carding machine and loom and she helped
make the clothing worn by the family, doing her full share of the
household duties. She was a helpmeet beyond reproach, one of the most
devoted of mothers, with great forethought for others and but little for
herself. This splendid old couple retired from farm life in 1898 and came
to Springfield. They built a cozy home in a suburban orchard tract where
they enjoyed a quiet life until necessary to break up housekeeping, in
1912. They then went to live with their daughter in Fort Scott, Kansas,
where Mrs. Darby died September 26, 1914. Of their children the first born
died in infancy; Ira Barer, born January 4, 1876, died January 28, 1878;
the other five children reached maturity and have families of their own.
They are, Mark Evans, born June 12, 1862, lives in Springfield, and he has
been appointed to the fifth two-year term as state inspector of apiaries;
Robert Ezra, subject of this review; William Daniel, a merchant at
Marionville, Missouri, was born June 29, 1866; Vernon Kingsley, a
merchant, lives at Marionville also, and he was born on June 2, 1871; Mary
Alice, born on June 25, 1873, is the wife of W. O. Pardue, of Ft. Scott,
Kansas.

Doctor Darby was born in Hickory county, Missouri, March 31, 1864. There
he grew to manhood on the home farm and assisted with the general work. He
received his, early education in the public and private schools, later
entering Marionville Collegiate Institute at Marionville, Missouri, from
which institution he was graduated in 1886. Entering the Missouri State
University, he was graduated from the normal department in 1888. He taught
school a few terms, then studied dentistry and medicine. He was graduated
from the Western Dental College in Kansas City in 1892, and from the
University Medical College of Kansas City in 1893. He began the practice
of dentistry in Hickory county, remaining there and in the adjoining
county of Dallas until he came to Springfield in April, 1895, and
established his permanent business, which has gradually increased with
advancing years until he has long since taken a position in the front rank
of his profession in Greene county, and has been busy from the first. He
is a member of the lecture staff at Burge-Deaconess hospital. He has been
a trustee of Marionville College several years. He was one of the
organizers of the Springfield Dental Society, and was its second
president. He joined the Missouri State Dental Association in 1892. He has
read papers and given many clinics before it. He is also a member of the
National Dental Association. He was elected president of the Missouri
State Dental Association in 1909 in Kansas City; and presided over and was
one of the leading spirits in the annual meeting in St. Louis in May,
1910, when the association was reorganized to affiliate more closely the
National Dental Association. That was a memorable event, being a part of a
general move to raise the standard of the profession in the entire United
States, and make it a greater power for good. In. all these positions of
trust he has discharged his duties with fidelity and an ability and
soundness of judgment that has reflected much credit upon himself and to
the eminent satisfaction of all concerned. Doctor Darby is a learned and
forceful writer on subjects of interest to his profession. They have been
published in the leading professional journals and some of them widely
copied--one of which we chanced to see in the British Journal of Dental
Science, published in London.

Politically, Doctor Darby may be classed as an independent Democrat. In
religious matters the same independence is strongly characteristic. He
thinks for himself and makes his own interpretations. He has a good
library, and is a good reader on a wide range of subjects. He is a member
of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was a member of the building
committee when the present structure of the Dever Benton Avenue Methodist
church was built, and he was superintendent of the Sunday school for ten
years; the school was noted for being well graded, studious, and for its
system and well-ordered management. He has served the church in many
official capacities and is at present a trustee.

Doctor Darby was married on May 22, 1895, to Mattie Stemmons, a daughter
of F. B Stemmons, deceased, for many years a prominent farmer and stock
raiser near Golden City, Jasper county, Missouri. There Mrs. Darby grew to
womanhood and was educated in the public schools, later attending
Marionville Collegiate Institute, from which she was graduated in 1887.
She then spent two years in the Missouri State University, but prior to
that she had taught one term in Lawrence county. She had intended to
follow teaching, but her mother's death occurring after she left the
Marionville school she remained at home to help her father. After his
second marriage she then entered the University at Columbia. Mrs. Darby
was a teacher in the Sunday school for many years, taking an active part
in church work. She being a great home woman, with a wide circle of
friends, Mrs. Darby has been of incalculable assistance to her husband,
her encouragement, sympathy as well as counsel resulting in much of his
success. To our subject and wife three children have been born, namely
Winfred, born March 12, 1898, and died April 22, 1899; Wendell Ezra, born
May 17, 1909; and Robert Stemmons, born August 20, 1913.

Mrs. Darby has an interesting ancestry. Martin and Alexander Stemmons, two
brothers, came to this country from Germany. Martin never married.
Alexander's wife was of Scotch-Irish descent. To them four sons were born,
namely: Jacob, Martin, Henry and Stephen. We find these names running
through all the families of succeeding generations. Martin, Alexander and
the latter's oldest son, Jacob, who was Mrs. Darby's great-grandfather,
were in the Revolutionary war under General Washington. One descendant
never used glasses and could read fine print and write well at the age of
ninety years. He had one son who moved to Lagrange, Texas, where he and
his wife died, childless. They left by their will, except enough for a
monument to themselves, fourteen hundred and twenty-five acres of land and
all property to found an orphans' home and for other charitable purposes.

Jacob Stemmons was born in Virginia. He died in Logan county, Kentucky, at
the age of seventy years. He married Nancy Stovall and settled in Campbell
county, Virginia, in 1790. He manufactured bells, and was a silversmith.
They were the parents of ten children, one of whom died in infancy; the
other nine are, Elizabeth married Isaac Lewis; Mary G. married William
Gallian; Lucinda P. never married; Alexander Henry became a Methodist
minister; Jaquillian Martin became a physician; Mrs. Dorothy H. Armstrong;
Martha Wesley married William B. Hamilton; M. Ann Benton married Doctor
Stephens; and Harriet Madison married Thomas Noll.

Dr. Jaquillian Martin Stemmons was born in Logan county, Kentucky, in
1803. He was killed during the Civil war, in March, 1861. He was twice
married. His first wife was Harriet Allen, a daughter of Doctor Allen of
Logan county, Kentucky, in which county their children were all born.
Doctor Stemmons and family came to Jasper county in 1854. Two years later
a scourge of flux swept the county, taking his wife and three daughters.
Eleven children lived to be grown and also the two half brothers, making
in all thirteen. Their children were named as follows: William Henry, a
blacksmith, lived to be eighty-three years of age; John Martin, who was a
lawyer in Dallas, Texas, for many years, died at the age of seventy years;
Anna C., who married Robert Seymour, died at the age of seventy years;
Jacob died when a child; Mary Etta died when twenty years of age; Thomas
Jefferson is still living at the age of seventy-five years; Wilbur Fisk,
an insurance and real estate dealer in Golden City, Missouri, died when
about seventy years of age; Martha died at the age of eighteen years;
Redford was just entering young womanhood when she died; Felix Beverly, a
farmer, died at the age of fifty-five years; Napoleon L., a blacksmith, is
living at the age of sixty-eight years; James B., a farmer, is now
sixty-two years old.

Doctor Stemmons' second wife was known in her maidenhood as Susan Pane,
and she was a native of Virginia. To this last union two children were
born, namely: Alexander Clay, who is engaged in the real estate and
insurance business in Carthage, Missouri; and Jaquillian Martin, a
physician of Oologah, Oklahoma. Two sons of the first marriage served in
the Southern army and four in the Union army during the Civil war.

F. B. Stemmons, son of Dr. Jaquillian Martin Stemmons, Sr., and father of
Mrs. M. Darby, was a prominent farmer and stock raiser of Jasper county,
Missouri. He was a man who loved the good and the beautiful and was always
a friend to the needy and those in distress. He was a member of the
Methodist church for many years. He married Eliza J. Clark, March 6, 1867,
She was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church but after her
marriage united with the Methodist Episcopal church. She was a woman loved
by all who knew her, was devoted to her home and family. She lived a
consistent Christian life for years and strove to train her children in
Christian service. Her children were named, Mattie Ann, born December 22,
1867; Jaquillian Orange, born August, 25, 1870, died when a child; James
Monroe, a farmer near Golden City, married Alice Parker; he was born
January 16, 1872; Marietta, born April 25, 1875, and died October 7, 1894;
Mrs. Clara Allman, born March 20, 1879, lives in Glasgow, Montana; Luther
Beverly, born May 1, 1882, is a farmer in Nebraska, and is unmarried; Mrs.
Maggie Bell Marshall, born November 14, 1884, lives in Regina, Canada;
three children died in infancy, unnamed. F. B. Stemmons was twice married.
His second wife was Mrs. Lydia Wilson, and to this union one child was
born--Ruth Stemmons, born July 15, 1891, and lives in Carthage, Missouri.
The death of F. B. Stemmons, father of Mrs. Darby, occurred September 27,
1897.

Of Mrs. Darby's maternal ancestors, we mention Orange R. Clark, her
grandfather, who was born in St. Louis county, Missouri, February 6, 1820.
He was the twelfth and youngest child of Alexander and Mary Clark. He was
a Union soldier during the Civil war, and was killed July 20, 1864. He was
well educated for his time and had a good library. He was elected county
judge of Jasper county in 1860 but because of the Civil war never served
his term. Alexander Clark was born March 17, 1762; Mary, his wife, was
born February 2, 1777. The following children were born to them: John,
whose birth occurred August 2, 1793; James, born September 25, 1795;
Patience, born January 22, 1798; Thomas, born September 18, 1799; Harvey,
born June 12, 1802; Mary, born November 29, 1804; William Alexander, born
February 16, 1807; D. Franklin, born April 26, 1809; Elizan, born February
19, 1811; Pamelia, born January 7, 1814; Henry B., born February 3, 1817;
Orange Rector, born February 6, 1820.

Martha Lewallen, daughter of S. L. Lewallen, was born in Bowling Green,
Kentucky, November 13, 1818. Her grandfather came to America from
Scotland. In an early day her family emigrated to Missouri, locating in
Pike county, where she later married O. R. Clark, February 20, 1840. She
and Mr. Clark moved the same year to Jasper county, this state, and
settled on a farm near White Oak where their children were born. Her death
occurred November 11, 1880. Their children were: Mary Margaret, born
October 27, 1840, and died July 29, 1860; Thomas Kerr, born December 5,
1841, died January 1, 1842. Three girls, triplets, were born October 2,
1843; one died October 2, 1943; the other two also died in 1843: William
B., born September 13, 1845, and died March 29, 1873; Eliza Jane, born
September 6,1849, died February 16, 1889; she was the wife of F. B.
Stemmons, and they were the parents of Mrs. Darby. John F. Clark was born
March 26, 1852, he became a minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian
church; Martha Frances Clark, born July 7, 1855, and died September 15,
1856; James O. Clark, born October 4, 1858, is farming near Craik,
Saskatchewan, Canada. He is growing this year (1915) eight hundred acres
of wheat.

The Stemmons, Allen, Clark and Lewallen families were industrious
law-abiding, temperate, God-fearing people. By occupation, they were
farmers, for the most part, but there have been editors, physicians,
ministers and merchants among them.

Doctor Darby, when asked about the secret of his success, gave due credit
to the wisdom of his good father and mother who instilled within him high
ideals in life and brought him to manhood with noble purposes. Other
traits in his family history are important, two of which are typified in
his grandfathers--the one a physician, with splendid training for
scientific thought, the other a genius in mechanical construction. The
combining of scientific knowledge and ability in construction is said to
be of the greatest importance in his profession.





MELVILLE E. DARK. One of the enterprising young business men of
Springfield is Melville E. Dark. What he has achieved in life proves the
force of his character and illustrates its steadfastness of purpose, and
his advancement to a position of credit and honor in the business circles
of Greene county is the direct outcome of his own persistent and worthy
labors, and he is a congenial and popular gentleman with bright prospects
for the future.

Mr. Dark, who is district manager of the Illinois Life Insurance Company,
with offices in the Holland building, was born at Lewisburg, Marshall
county, Tennessee, September 29, 1879. He is a son of Harris E. and Martha
E. (Dyer) Dark, the father born in Lewisburg, Tennessee, February 5, 1844,
and the mother was born in Franklin, that state, November 5, 1853. They
grew to maturity in Tennessee, received their educations in the public
schools, and were married there and established their home at Lewisburg,
where the father engaged in farming.

Melville E. Dark spent his boyhood days in his native locality and there
he received a practical education. He came to Springfield, Missouri, in
the year 1901 and has since made this his home finally becoming district
manager for the Illinois Life Insurance Company, the duties of which
responsible position he is discharging in a manner that reflects much
credit upon himself and to the entire satisfaction of the company, and is
rapidly extending the interests of the same in this territory where he has
built up a large business. He understands every phase of the life
insurance field and keeps well abreast of the times in the same.

Mr. Dark was married on November 14, 1911, to Katherine O'Dowd, a daughter
of Mike and Amelia (Engleman) O'Dowd, a highly respected family of
Springfield, Missouri.

Mrs. Dark was born at Richmond, Missouri, October 5, 1897. She moved with
her parents from Kansas City, Missouri, to Springfield in 1906, at which
time her father accepted a position as chief tie and timber inspector for
the Frisco railroad.

To Mr. and Mrs. Dark one child has been born, Winifred Dark, whose birth
occurred on September 15, 1912.





EMIL O. DAVIS. Though no land is richer in opportunities or offers greater
advantages to its citizens than America, success is not to be attained
through desire alone, but must be persistently sought. In this country
"labor is king," and the man who resolutely sets to work to accomplish a
given purpose is certain of success if he has but the qualities of
perseverance, untiring energy and practical common sense. Emil O. Davis,
well known Frisco passenger conductor, of Springfield, through his
diligence and perseverance has attained definite success in his calling
and has won the respect of all who know him through his unfailing courtesy
and trustworthiness.

Mr. Davis was born at Springfield, Greene county, Missouri, February 1,
1870. He is a son of Robert Henry and Victoria (Caynor) Davis. The father
was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and the mother is a native of Greene
county, Missouri. Robert H. Davis left his native state and located in
this county in an early day and here established his permanent home. He
was a soldier in the Civil war, in Company H, Eighth Missouri Volunteer
Infantry, under Capt. "Bob" Mathias, serving over four years in a most
faithful manner, taking part in several engagements, including the battle
of Wilson's Creek. He was mustered out and honorably discharged at St.
Louis. After the war he returned to Springfield and spent the rest of his
life engaged as traveling salesman for many years for the J. Baum Shoe
Company, of St. Louis.

Emil O. Davis, only child of his parents, grew to manhood in his native
community, and he received his education in the common schools of
Springfield. He spent his boyhood days at home, but in early life took up
railroading for a career, which he has followed ever since. In his early
boyhood, however, he was employed as a grocery clerk, and once when
delivering goods a patrol wagon overtook him and two policemen climbed
into his delivery wagon and were rapidly driven by young Davis to a place
where they desired to make an arrest, and in their haste most of the
groceries were lost along the street. This resulted in his employer
discharging him upon his return to the store. This seemingly insignificant
incident resulted in changing the lad's subsequent career, for soon
thereafter he took up railroading. In 1885, he accepted a position with
the Frisco as caller and later worked as switchman until 1899, when he
began his road service as brakeman, continuing thus for three years, then
was promoted to freight conductor and, in 1896, to passenger conductor.
Leaving the road service he was appointed yard master of the terminal in
1900, which position he held until 1904, when he went back to a passenger
run and has continued to the present time. During his entire service with
the Frisco, covering a period of nearly thirty years, he has never been
discharged. He has done his work faithfully and conscientiously and is one
of the company's most trusted employees.

Mr. Davis was married in this county, November 23, 1890, to Axie Burford,
a daughter of Phillip L. and Martha (Nichols) Burford, both natives of
Tennessee, where they spent their earlier years, but came to Missouri in
pioneer days and settled in Webster county on a farm, and became prominent
citizens in that section. In 1888 the family located in Springfield, and
here made their permanent home, in which the parents spent the rest of
their lives, the father dying in January, 1908, and the mother in March,
1904. They were the parents of twelve children, namely: William L.,
deceased; Jonathan D.; Daniel; F.; Ferdinand L., deceased; Albert N.; Mrs.
Elizabeth Callaway; Benjamin T.; Morris B.; Mrs. Lucy Pipkin; Phillip I.;
Mrs. Mattie H. Edwards, deceased; and Axie, wife of our subject. Mrs.
Davis had the advantage of an excellent education, in the public schools
of Marshfield, Morrisville College and Drury College.

Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Davis, namely: Robert O. and
Alma, twins; they have been given excellent educational advantages; the
son is married, and the daughter is living at home.

Mr. Davis is a member of the Order of Railway Conductors, Knights and
Ladies of Security; his wife and children also belong to the latter order,
and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South.





JOHN W. DEATON. A man whose career has been varied and busy is John W.
Deaton, the present custodian of the Carnegie Public Library at
Springfield; however, the careers of most men in this restless and
high-tensioned age are varied. Very few of us begin our life vocation in
boyhood and follow it in the same locality. It seems to be the universal
custom to fly from this occupation to that, to try one location then
another, many years often passing until one is really settled in his
serious life work. It may be that such a course is best, again it may be
it is not—no one can know.

Mr. Deaton was born January 18, 1853, near Columbia, Kentucky. He is a son
of John P. and Nancy W. (Pollard) Deaton, both natives of Virginia, where
they grew to maturity and were educated in the common schools, the father
becoming a well-read man and was a good writer. He was born in 1808 and
died in 1876. The mother of our subject was born in 1815 and died in 1889,
both having spent their last years near Pierce City, Missouri, where their
deaths occurred. They were married in Virginia and remained in that state
until 1844, when they removed to Kentucky, where they maintained their
home thirty years and reared their family. There John P. Deaton engaged in
general farming and prior to the Civil war period was an overseer of
slaves on a plantation. In 1874 they left the old Blue Grass state
and-made the overland journey to Springfield and on to, Pierce City,
Missouri, and located on a farm west of that place and there he and his
wife spent the rest of their days.

Politically John P. Deaton was a Democrat, but during the war he favored
the Union cause. His family consisted of five children, only two of whom
are living at this writing, namely: Sarah, Lucy Ann, Parmelia W. are all
deceased; Elijah D. lives in Pierce City, and John W. of this review.

The subject of this sketch, who is the youngest of the family, grew to
manhood on the farm where he worked when a boy and he received a common
school education in Kentucky, but by home reading has added to the same.
He accompanied his parents to Pierce City, this state, but remained there
only a few months, going on to Texas in February, 1875, where he rented a
cotton crop and farmed for a while, then returned to Pierce City and drove
a stage between that town and Fayetteville, Arkansas, for over six years.
He was then city marshal of Pierce City, having been elected on the
Democratic ticket. His services were so highly satisfactory in every
respect, his public career being marked with such fidelity to duty, tact
and courage that he was retained in this important office for a period of
ten years. He then went into the railway mail and post office service, in
which he remained for nearly twenty-five years, with satisfaction to the
people and the department at Washington, his services being marked for
honesty and faithfulness and strict attention to his own business. From
1887 to 1892 his run was between Kansas City and Springfield, Missouri. In
1892 he left the railway mail service and took a position in the post,
office at Springfield, where he was employed until 1912, his long
retention there being evidence of his able and honest service. He did not
engage in any special line of endeavor from the time he left the office
until January 1, 1914, when he was made custodian of the Carnegie Public
Library at Springfield, which position he holds it this writing and his
work here is satisfactory in every respect.

Mr. Deaton was married in Springfield September 9, 1891, to Emma. E.
Phariss, who was born at Mt. Vernon, Lawrence county, Missouri, December
31, 1859. She is a daughter of Samuel M. and Eleanor (Duncan) Phariss,
natives of Tennessee, from which state they emigrated to Missouri in early
days and spent the rest of their lives here. Mr. Phariss followed farming,
having taken up government land near Logan, Lawrence county, in 1840,
which he developed. He taught school in Springfield for a time after the
war. He was a highly educated man and active in politics, being a leading
Democrat of Lawrence county. He held several county offices, was circuit
county clerk and county recorder at an early day; he died in 1890 at
Logan. Mrs. Deaton grew to womanhood in Lawrence county and she received a
good education, was graduated from the college at Marionville, Missouri,
after which she taught school successfully for several years in Pierce
City and Aurora.

To Mr. and Mrs. Deaton two daughters have been born, namely: Gladys A. has
decided musical talent, especially as a pianist; after graduating under
Miss Birdie Atwood, of Springfield, she attended and was graduated from
the Kroeger School of Music in 1914, and is now teaching in Springfield;
Faerie Christine was educated in the Springfield public schools and is a
vocalist of more than ordinary ability.

Mr. Deaton owns a cozy home on Robberson avenue. Politically he is a
Democrat, and religiously he and his family are members of St. Paul's
Methodist Episcopal church.





JAMES C. DEEDS. If there is any man who needs to be neat in his work it is
the dairy farmer. Remember that the dairyman is producing human food every
day and it should be produced under the best of conditions if he is going
to make a first-class product. Interest in dairying is greater than it has
ever been before and it will continue to grow as long as the present
prices for dairy products continue. The chances are that there will be no
reduction in these for years to come. A successful dairyman and general
farmer of Greene county is James C. Deeds, whose well-kept place is to be
found in Franklin township.

Mr. Deeds was born on July 22, 1862, in the above named township and
county. He is a son of James M. and Drusella M. (Davis) Deeds. The father
was born in Tennessee in 1829, and he was but a child when his parents
brought him to Greene county, Missouri, in early pioneer days, and here he
grew to manhood on the home farm which was located near where our subject
now resides, and was educated in the local district schools. He devoted
his life to general farming, and died in 1862 at the early age of
thirty-three years. He was a member of the Baptist church at Liberty. His
wife was born in Tennessee, in 1834, and died in February, 1906, at the
age of seventy-two years. To these parents five children were born, one of
whom died in infancy: Mrs. Alice J. Gaston is deceased; Joseph R. lives in
Oklahoma; Mrs. Mary A. Jones is deceased; James C. of this sketch.

James C. Deeds grew to manhood on the home farm and was educated in the
common schools. On January 28, 1886, he married Martha A. Latta, a
daughter of John and Emeline (Ross) Latta. The father was born in
Tennessee and his death occurred in 1866. Leaving his native state when
young he located in Illinois where he farmed the rest of his life. His
wife was born in Tennessee and she is now living in Springfield, Missouri.
The wife of the subject of this sketch was born in Illinois on December
13, 1865.She received a common school education.

To Mr. and Mrs. Deeds seven children have been born, one of whom died in
infancy; the others are Mrs. Grace Ward, who lives in Springfield; Elzie,
Lizzie, Ora, Fleta and Marks, all live, at home.

James C. Deeds still lives on the farm on which he was reared, owning
sixty-five acres of the homestead, twenty acres adjoining, and forty acres
north of where he lives. It is nearly all under cultivation and is well
improved and has been well cultivated so that it has retained its original
fertility. In connection with general farming he is now engaged in the
dairy business, owning a large number of excellent cows. He keeps his
dairy barn in a thorough sanitary condition and is making a success.

Politically, he is a Republican; however, is an advocate of Roosevelt's
policies. He and his wife are members of the Methodist church at Pleasant
Valley.





WILLIAM A. DELZELL, M. D. In a comprehensive work of this kind, dealing
with industrial pursuits, sciences, arts and professions, it is only fit
and right that that profession on which, in some period or other in our
lives (the medical profession) we are all more or less dependent, should
be noticed. It is the prerogative of the physician to relieve or alleviate
the ailments to which suffering humanity is heir, and as such he deserves
the most grateful consideration of all. One of the most promising of the
younger physicians and surgeons of Greene county, who, by his own ability,
has attained a good foothold in his profession, is Dr. William A. Delzell,
of Springfield.

Dr. Delzell was born at Henderson, Missouri, June 4, 1885. He is a son of
Dr. William David Delzell, who was born near Rogersville, this state, July
4, 1844, his parents having located there in pioneer days. There he grew
to maturity, assisted with the general work on the farm and received his
education in the public schools of Webster and Greene counties. After
finishing his primary education he entered the St. Louis Medical College
from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1876. Soon
thereafter he returned to his native vicinity where he engaged
successfully in the practice of his profession until about 1896, when he
retired from practice and removed to his large stock farm near
Rogersville, Missouri, and engaged in general farming and stock raising on
an extensive scale. He has long been a prominent man in that locality in
public affairs, and in 1899 he was elected representative to the state
Legislature, serving his constituents in such an able and satisfactory
manner that he was elected for a second term in 1901 and again
distinguished himself as a member of the lower house. He was given by
nature many strong attributes, and he became a splendid example of a
successful and influential, self-made man, having forged his way to the
front up from the station of a poor farmer boy. His habits were above all
idle cavil and he has always been highly esteemed by all who know him. On
January 27, 1875, he was united in marriage with Sarah E. Thompson, a
daughter of William E. Thompson, a native of Greene county, Missouri, and
one of the early settlers here. His death occurred some twelve years ago.
A. D. Detzell, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was
a minister in the Presbyterian church, having commenced preaching when
eighteen years of age and followed the same the rest of his life. His
death occurred at the age of seventy-five years.

Dr. William A. Delzell grew up in his native locality and he received his
early education in the public schools and Morrisville College, in Polk
county. Desiring to follow in the footsteps of his father in a
professional way he entered the University of St. Louis, where he
completed his literary course, then was a student in the medical
department of that institution, making an excellent record and was
graduated therefrom in 1912, taking the full four years course. He then
served a year as interne in the St. Francis Hospital in Colorado Springs
Colorado, and thereby gained much valuable experience, especially in
surgery. He then came to Springfield and opened an office and he has
succeeded in establishing an excellent general practice and does a great
deal of surgical work, in which he is specializing and for which he seems
to be well fitted by both nature and training.

Doctor Delzell was married, January 27, 1914, to Myrtle Bearden, a
daughter of R. R. Bearden and wife, of Springfield, where she was reared
and educated.

Doctor Delzell is a member of the Greene County Medical Society, the
Southwest Missouri Medical Society and the Missouri State Medical
Association. Fraternally, he belongs to Lodge No. 5, Free and Accepted
Masons. He is a Democrat and a member of the Methodist church. He is a man
of industry, worked hard for his professional education and is still
working hard in order to further equip himself for life's duties. His
personal habits are above criticism. His offices are on the sixth floor of
the Landers building.




CAPT. ALBERT DEMUTH. The record of the life of such a man as the late
Capt. Albert Demuth, is worthy of perpetuation on the pages of history,
for various reasons. He was one of the brave defenders of the National
Union during its most trying period, the military record of our subject
being such as should inspire just pride in his family, descendants and
friends. He was one of the well known pioneer citizens of Springfield,
having cast his lot here when the place was little more than a straggling
village on the frontier, fifty-five- years ago, and he took a delight in
the development of the same into the metropolis of the Southwest. He was
widely known to the publishing world, having been connected with various
printing establishments during his active life, and was a master of the
"art preservative" in his day and generation. He was popular among his
co-workers, being an industrious, genial and kind-hearted man.

Captain Demuth was born in York, Pennsylvania, October 2, 1833, and there
he grew to manhood and received his education. In 1858 he went with his
father, John Demuth, to Iowa, and after a year's residence in that state
he came to Springfield, Missouri, with the rest of the family and for many
years lived in a residence immediately west of the present location of the
Masonic Temple on East Walnut street. At an early age Captain Demuth
learned the printing business and worked for some time on Harper's Weekly
in New York City. He also was employed in Philadelphia printing offices.
After coming to Springfield he worked on the Missouri Patriot and several
other papers.

When the Civil war came on, Albert Demuth did not hesitate to cast his
fortunes with the Federal government and he enlisted from Greene county on
December 169, 1861, in Colonel Phelps' regiment, to serve six months and,
was mustered into the service of the United States at Rolla,. Missouri, as
a private and was appointed first orderly sergeant under Capt. George B.
McElhannan of Company H, John S. Phelps commanding this volunteer
regiment, which regiment was chiefly engaged in protecting the lives and
property of citizens of that part of the state and the surrounding country
against attacks by guerrillas. Later the regiment was sent into Arkansas
and participated in a number of engagements such as Bentonville, Leetown
and the important battle of Pea Ridge. On March 7, 1862, at Pea Ridge, Mr.
Demuth was seriously wounded in the right knee, which a musket ball
entered, causing permanent injury. He was sent to a hospital at Cassville,
Missouri, where he remained a few days, and, being thus disabled for
effective service, with his regiment, he was honorably discharged, May 12,
1862, at Springfield, the entire regiment being mustered out at that time,
the term of enlistment expiring. His wound healing rapidly, Mr. Demuth
re-enlisted on June 19, 1862, to serve three years or during the war, and
was mustered into service at Springfield in Company C, Eighth Missouri
Volunteer Cavalry, under Capt. George L. Childress and Col. W. F. Geiger,
and our subject was soon promoted from private to first lieutenant of his
company on August 6th, following, and for meritorious conduct and faithful
service he was promoted to the rank of captain on July 3, 1863. This was
one of the most active and efficient regiments of cavalry ever sent out by
Missouri and was one of the best in the western army. It performed
uncomplainingly dangerous and arduous service wherever assigned. It was
attached to the Second Brigade, Cavalry Division, Seventh Corps, Army of
the Frontier, and participated in the following engagements: Lamar,
Prairie Grove, Miller's Lane, Van Buren Creek, Chalk Bluff, Brownsville,
Bayou Metoe, Bayou LaFurche, Little Rock, Little Red River, Augusta,
Pumpkin Bend, Clarendo, Long Prairie and a number of skirmishes in
Missouri and Arkansas. In February, 1865, the command was dismounted and.
moved to Little Rock where it performed outpost and picket duty until May
1st, of that year, when the regiment was again mounted and ordered to
Camden to receive the surrender of Kirby Smith's command, and afterwards
the regiment did scout duty. Captain Demuth was honorably discharged at
Little Rock, June 30, 1865.

After his career in the army, Captain Demuth returned to Springfield and
resumed his trade. On April 23, 1867, he married Nanna M. Foss, who was
born near Boston, Massachusetts, September 15, 1848, and is a daughter of
Walter and Hannah (Bodge) Foss, natives of the state of Maine, and to that
state they returned when Mrs. Demuth was a small child, but subsequently
the family removed to Ohio where Mrs. Demuth received her education. Her
mother died in Ohio. Finally she accompanied her sister, Mrs. W. C. Peck,
to Springfield, Missouri. In his earlier life Mr. Foss was engaged in the
manufacture of pianos in Boston, Massachusetts.

The union of Captain Demuth and wife was without issue. In politics the
captain was a Republican. He served in various county offices as deputy
and was familiar with the early records. He was elected county clerk in
1866 and served for twelve years in that capacity, his long retention
being sufficient evidence of his ability and the confidence reposed in him
by his constituents. He was deputy county clerk under Mr. Patton, later
under Mr. Cloud until a month before his death. He was an active member of
Capt. John Matthews Post, No. 69, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he
was at one time commander, later quartermaster. He took the school
enumeration of the Springfield district twice and resigned as registrar In
the Second ward only a few days prior to his death.

Mrs. Demuth, who proved to be a most faithful helpmeet, owns a cozy home
on South Grant street. She is a member of Grace Methodist Episcopal
church, and is president of the Ladies’ Circle of the Grand Army of the
Republic.

The death of Captain Demuth occurred, November 17, 1911, at the age of
seventy-eight years. His funeral was a large one, many of the older
citizens of Springfield, who had known him well, attended After Rev. S. B.
Campbell, pastor of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, delivered the
funeral sermon, W. C. Calland, commander of the local post of the Grank
Army of the Republic, eulogized our subject as a soldier and citizen. The
casket was covered with a large United States flag and many beautiful
floral tributes. The pallbearers were W. C. Calland, A. R. McDonald, H. E.
Patton, J. T. Walker, John B. Waddill and W. E. Smith. Interment was made
in Maple Park cemetery, and the large flag, covered with flowers, was left
on the grave.





BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DENNIS. The office of biography is not to give voice to
a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments, but rather to
leave upon the record the verdict establishing his character by the
consensus of opinion on the part of his neighbors and fellow citizens. The
life of Benjamin Franklin Dennis, president of the Bank of Rogersville,
for many years a leading agriculturist and business man of the eastern
part of Greene county, has been such as to elicit just praise from those
who know him best, owing to the fact that he has always been loyal to the
trusts reposed in him and has been upright in his dealings with his fellow
men, at the same time lending his support to the advancement of any cause
looking to the welfare of the community at large. No man has been better
known or more influential in this section of the county during the past
quarter of a century or more and yet he is a plain, easily approached and
unassuming gentleman, contented to lead a quiet life and be regarded only
as a good citizen.

Mr. Dennis was born near Gainesboro, Jackson county, Tennessee, on July
22, 1839, and is therefore nearly seventy-six years of age, but is still
hale and hearty and as capable a business man as ever in his career. This
is all due very largely to the fact, no doubt, that he has led a
well-regulated life, free from bad habits and worry. He is a son of
William R. and Sarah (Chaffin) Dennis. The father was born in North
Carolina in 1813, but removed to Tennessee at an early age, where he grew
to manhood and received a limited education in the pioneer schools. He was
reared on a farm, but when young learned the shoemaker's and carpenter's
trades, at both of which he was quite skilled. He remained in Tennessee
until 1850, when he removed with his family to Greene county, Missouri,
making a tedious trip by boat and wagon and encountered considerable
hardships and exciting experiences on the way. Upon reaching his
destination, William R. Dennis rented a farm for three years. He did not
live long to enjoy the new country, dying in January, 1853. He was twice
married, his first wife dying in Tennessee. In that state he married the
mother of our subject, who was born in that state in 1818, near the town
of Gainesboro, Jackson county, and there she grew to womanhood and
attended the old-time subscription schools, taught near her father's farm.
Her death occurred in Texas in 1876.

William R. Dennis' family consisted of six children, namely: Nancy,
deceased; Benjamin F., of this review; James William, deceased; Martha
Jane, deceased; Narvell A., deceased; Mrs. Elizabeth Brickey lives in
Newton county, Missouri.

Benjamin F. Dennis spent his early boyhood in Tennessee, being eleven
years old when he removed with his family to Greene county, Missouri, and
here he grew to manhood and has continued to reside for a period of nearly
sixty-five years, during which he has been not only a most interested
spectator to the wonderful development that has taken place here, but has
played well his part in the same. He received a limited education in the
early-day schools of Tennessee and Missouri, but he had by nature an
inquiring and plastic mind, and eventually became a. well-informed man by
wide miscellaneous reading and contact with the business world, and today
no one is better informed on current events in this community as well as
questions of business and civic affairs. He is a fine type of the
successful self-made man. He worked on the farm as a hired hand until he
was eighteen years of age. In 1856 he made the long and hazardous trip
across the great western plains to California and engaged in farming near
Sacramento for awhile, then returned home, but went back to California a
little later. However, he did not remain long, returning to Missouri in
1864, twenty-nine days of the trip being made by stage. He had numerous
unusual experiences in the West and talks most interestingly of them. Mr.
Dennis was successful as a man of business from the first, and he was only
a young man when he purchased a farm of two hundred acres in the eastern
part of Greene county. This he managed judiciously and added to his
possessions until he owned eight hundred acres of valuable, productive and
desirable land. Being a man of progressive ideas, he has always kept his
land well improved and under a high state of cultivation, and farmed on a
general plan and raised large herds of all kinds of live stock, making a
specialty of handling mules, and no small portion of his income for years
was derived from this source. He has long been regarded as one of the best
judges of mule, if not all kinds of live stock, in the county. On his farm
is to be seen a commodious residence in the midst of attractive
surroundings, and numerous substantial outbuildings everything about the
place denoting good management, thrift and prosperity.

Mr. Dennis continued agricultural pursuits until three ears ago, when he
retired from his farm, renting his lands since then, and making his home
in Rogersville, Webster county, where he has a modernly appointed and
pleasant residence. He has also built several new buildings in
Rogersville, and has done much toward the general material and civic
improvement of the town. He has for some time been the principal factor in
the Bank of Rogersville, of, which he is president, and its pronounced
success has been due in no small measure to his efforts. It is one of the
safe and popular banks of southern Missouri. A general banking business is
carried on. It is well equipped with a modern safe and other necessary
furnishings, and is, managed under a conservative and sound policy. It was
organized in 1892, and its capital stock is $10,000.00 and $10000.00
surplus. The other officers of the bank besides Mr. Dennis are George M.
McHaffie, vice-president; L. H. McHaffie, cashier, and H., E. Dennis,
assistant cashier. It is the second oldest bank in Webster county.

Mr. Dennis has been twice married, first, in April, 1864, to Margaret Anne
Smith who was born in Greene county, Missouri, in 1843, and here grew to
womanhood and was educated. Her death occurred in 1876, leaving four
children, all of whom survive at this writing, namely; John E., a sketch
of whom appears elsewhere in this work; Clara B., William A., and George
F. Mr. Dennis was married a second time, in 1877, to Martha G. Ferrell,
who was born in Tennessee in 1861 and there spent her early girlhood,
removing with her parents when thirteen years of age to Greene county,
Missouri, and here she received a common school education and lived on the
home farm until her marriage, which occurred when she was seventeen years
of age. She has proven to be a faithful helpmate, is industrious,
kind-hearted and genial and, like her husband, has a host of warm friends
throughout this locality.

Mr. Dennis is the father of five children by his second wife, named as
follows: Henry E. is assistant cashier in the Bank of Rogersville; Cora A.
is deceased; Grover C. is engaged in the hardware business in Rogersville;
Shirley V. died at the age of eighteen years; Ben Elmer is at present a
soldier in the regular United States army, and is stationed in California.

Mr. Dennis has traveled extensively and, being a keen observer, has
profited much by what he has seen. In 1898 he was a member of the
adventurous and hardy band of prospectors that invaded the Alaska gold
fields and experienced the usual hardships and privations of such an
expedition and from a financial standpoint the venture was not successful.
He was absent in the rugged and picturesque Northland made famous by
London, Beach, Curwood and other noted authors, about a year, returning to
his farm in Greene county. But, unlike many who returned from that
precarious country of the mighty Yukon, having lost their all in
practically a game of chance, Mr. Dennis had plenty to return to, and
despite the fact that he brought back no sacks of gold dust, is rated
among the well-to-do men of Greene county, and, having honestly earned
every dollar in his possession through his individual efforts, he is
eminently entitled to his fortune and also to the high esteem in which he
is universally held.

Politically, Mr. Dennis is an ardent Democrat and has long been
influential in party affairs, although not seeking to become a political
leader himself, preferring to devote his attention exclusively to his
extensive business affairs and his home. Religiously he is a worthy member
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and fraternally is a member of the
Masonic Order, including the Knights Templars and the Ancient Arabic Order
of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He stands high in all circles in which he
moves, being an honest, obliging, courteous and hospitable gentleman at
all times.





JOHN E. DENNIS. The mind of the farmer must be as well balanced as the
farm affairs. With a good mental grasp on the situation a farmer should be
enabled to get great enjoyment and must profit out of his specialties
without interfering with the known necessity for diversified farming. One
of the farmers of Washington township, Greene county who understands this
is John E. Dennis, and he is therefore making a success as a general
farmer.

Mr. Dennis was born in Greene county, Missouri, May 17, 1865. He is a son
of Benjamin Franklin Dennis and Margaret (Smith) Dennis. The father was
born in Jackson county, Tennessee, in 1830, and was eleven years old when
he accompanied his parents, William R. and Sarah (Chaffin) Dennis, to
Missouri, locating in Greene county. When a young man he made two overland
trips to California, but finally took up his permanent abode on a farm of
two hundred acres in this county, and in due course of time became one of
our most progressive farmers and extensive landowners, and was a heavy
dealer in live stock, especially mules. He continued active in his work
until 1911, when he retired from active life and moved to a fine residence
in Rogersville, Missouri, where he is now living. He is president of the
Bank of Rogersville and is one of the prominent men of the eastern part of
Greene county. Margaret A. Smith, whom he married in 1864, was his first
wife, and by her four children were born, all of whom survive, namely:
John E., Clara B., William A., and George F. The mother of these children
was born in this county in 1843 and her death occurred in 1876, after
which Mr. Dennis married, in 1877, Martha G. Ferrell, who was born in
Tennessee in 1861. To this second union five children were born, namely:
Henry C., Cora A., Grover C., Shirley V., and Ben Elmer.

John E. Dennis grew to manhood on the home farm and there assisted with
the general work, and he now owns and occupies one hundred and, sixty
acres of the place on which he was reared. He received his education in
the public schools of his community, and he has always followed general
farming and stock raising. His farm is well improved and is one of the
productive well located farms of the county, and on it stands a good group
of buildings.

Mr. Dennis was married on December 23, 1886, to. Martha T. Bodenhamer, who
was born east of Springfield, May 3, 1867, and was reared there on a farm
and educated in the district schools. She is a daughter of A. J. and
Elizabeth (Whorten) Bodenhamer. Both these parents were born in Greene
county, were reared, educated and married here and are still living on a
farm in this county and are high respectable people.

Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dennis, namely: Mrs. Volie
Hedgepath, born on October 12, 1887; Benjamin A., born on March 15, 1889,
and Charles Lee, born on July 23, 1893.

Politically, Mr. Dennis is a Democrat, and fraternally he belongs to the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen, at Rogersville,
Webster county.





WILLIAM ALFRED DENNIS. It is the dictate of our nature no less than of
enlightened social policy to honor the illustrious dead; to bedew with
affectionate tears the silent urn of departed genius and virtue; to
unburden the fullness of the surcharged heart in eulogium upon deceased
benefactors, and to rehearse their noble deeds for the benefit of those
who may come after us. It has been the commendable custom of all ages and
all nations. Hence the following feeble tribute to one of nature's
noblemen.

William Alfred Dennis, for many years one of the most prominent men of
affairs and esteemed citizens of Springfield, Missouri, was born in Des
Moines, Iowa, April 8, 1857. He was a son of Thomas Dennis and Caroline
(Miller) Dennis. The father was born near Paris, France, where he grew to
manhood, was educated and spent his earlier years, immigrating to America
about 1850, and engaged in business in Chicago. He was a prosperous
business man and at one time owned a line of steamboats on the Mississippi
river. He was a man of admirable qualities and had the highest conception
of honor, his name being a synonym for honesty in the locality where he
resided, and it was not uncommon to bear the expression, "as honest as
Thomas Dennis," and his son, William A., of this sketch, was not unlike
his father in his original and witty comments, his deep sense of justice,
his fair dealings, his tender, kindly and generous heart. The elder Dennis
moved his family to Des Moines, Iowa, where he lived for some time, later
removing to Paola., Kansas, where he spent the rest of his life, dying
about 1896. Religiously he was a Methodist. His wife, Caroline Miller, was
born in Rudolstadt, Germany, in 1834, was the daughter of a physician, and
was a woman of culture and finished education. She was an accomplished
linguist and was a teacher of German in a school for young ladies in
Chicago at the time of her marriage. She is now living in Paola, Kansas,
and although advanced in years is active in life, takes much interest in
the work of the Methodist church of which she is a member, and is teaching
the infant class in Sunday school.

William A. Dennis was an infant when his parents removed with him to
Paola, Kansas, and there he grew to manhood and received his education,
experiencing the varying and often perplexing vicissitudes of the
conditions in the early days in the Sunflower state. But he was a
resourceful lad and he believed that "Man is his own star; and the soul
that can render an honest and, a perfect man, commands all light, all
influence, all fate; nothing to him falls too early or too late." Even as
a boy he wished to construct, experiment, dig for information and do
things. With the first money he earned, when but ten years of age and with
the generosity and desire to make some one happy, which was the most
marked characteristic of his kindly nature, he spent the entire amount in
the purchase of a large Bible for his mother. Misplaced confidence in the
honesty of men brought about financial reversion in the family, and at the
age of fifteen years, young Dennis began to rely upon his own resources
and educated himself by working at night and attending school in the day
time. "Improve each precious moment" was ever his motto as a boy, and he
was always reading, studying, reaching out for more knowledge. He found
time to study telegraphy at night, made himself proficient in the same,
and his first position was that of telegraph operator, at a small station,
as relief man for the old Fort Scott & Memphis Railroad Company.
Subsequently he was agent for this company at Joplin, Missouri, which
position he held for nine years. He then went to Carthage as agent for the
Missouri Pacific railroad, but a year later went to Memphis, Tennessee,
and for a year held the position as traveling passenger agent for the Fort
Scott & Memphis railroad, his headquarters at that time being at
Bloomington, Illinois. He then took the general agency for that company at
Springfield, Missouri, in which position he remained but a short time,
retiring in 1889. In all these employments he acquitted himself well and
to the satisfaction of his employers. But railroad work was only a part of
his versatile business capacity. He could originate and carry out
extensive enterprises, and was by nature an organizer and promoter, a man
of keen business discernment and sound judgment, and he was at different
times in real estate, lumber and railroad construction work, engaging in
the first named for a period of six years, and for some time he was in
charge of the department of ways and maintenance for the Frisco system.
The latter years of his life were devoted to railroad construction
pursuits, and while it proved profitable, the exposure to which it
subjected him and the harassment and anxiety incident to dealing with
large numbers of men which were in his service essentially affected his
health. He was ever an industrious, faithful and enterprising man and his
untimely death was largely due to over application to business.

Mr. Dennis was married about twenty years ago to Mary Alice Maurer, of
Springfield, Missouri, a lady of much executive ability and genial
address, and she is still living in the attractive Dennis home in this
city, and is managing the large property interests left by her late
husband in a commendable manner. She was devoted to his interests and her
sympathy and counsel were of great benefit to him in his life work.

At the age of forty years, Mr. Dennis, in the midst of strenuous business
activities, found time to begin the study of law, at night, passed the
necessary examinations and was admitted to the bar, not with the intention
of practicing law, but merely with a desire to be better qualified for his
business pursuits, and at the time of his death he owned the largest law
library in the state outside of St. Louis and Kansas City. This splendid
library is now owned by the Springfield court of appeals. Had he entered
into the practice of his profession he would have doubtless become one of
the brilliant legal lights of Missouri. He was a Mason of high degree, and
belonged to the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine at
Kansas City. He was also a Knight Templar of Joplin, Missouri. He was also
a prominent member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at
Springfield. He was a worthy member of the Methodist church. He took an
abiding interest in public affairs, but was not a seeker after public
office, preferring to devote his time to his home and his private business
affairs. He deserved a great deal of credit for what he accomplished,
unaided and in the face of obstacles that would have discouraged men of
less heroic mettle. He never received assistance in a financial way from
any one. He was a man of broad charity, always gave the other fellow who
failed another chance, and many owe their success in life to his
encouragement and assistance. He was never too busy to listen to the tales
of misfortune related by those less fortunate than himself. He not only
listened with a heart full of sympathy, but he always provided some means
of relief. Distress, sorrow and misfortune he could not pass by without
lending a generous hand. He was ever the champion of the weak, and was a
lover and protector of dumb animals.

William A. Dennis was summoned to close his eyes on earthly scenes and
take up his work on a higher plane of endeavor February 29, 1904 not yet
forty-seven years of age, when in the very zenith of his prime and when
life promised most.

The following just estimate of this splendid and lamented citizen's worth
is part of an editorial which appeared in the Springfield Republican
shortly after his death:

"His character was extremely generous. To grant favors and to show
kindness to those about him was ever his delight. He possessed a tender
heart, was a lover of children and easily won their love in return, a good
neighbor, a public-spirited citizen, simple and unaffected in his tastes
and manners, devoted to his home and family, finding sufficient and
perfect happiness therein. Ambitious to succeed in life and always busy at
projects looking to that end, he was a most affectionate husband, brother
and friend, and has left an abiding sorrow, through his untimely death,
among those who knew him best."





JAMES DEVEREAUX. Although Wales, like Switzerland, is a small, rugged
country, it is surprising how large a number of excellent citizens have
come from there to the United States, where they have benefited both
themselves and us, for they are almost without exception, thrifty,
economical, painstaking in their work and are people of untiring industry
and in every way most desirable citizens. Of those who originally came
from that picturesque land "by the sounding sea" and located in
Springfield, Missouri, the late James Devereaux,

Mr. Devereaux was born near Swansea, Wales, April 12, 1838. He was a son
of Thomas and Jane (Wade) Devereaux, both natives of Wales, the father
born in 1793, and died in 1841; the mother was born in 1800 and died in
1848. These parents grew to maturity in their native land and received
good educations; there they were married, spent their lives on a farm and
died there. To them six children were born, only one of whom, John
Devereaux, of the state of Pennsylvania, is still living.

James Devereaux had little opportunity to obtain an education, but he was
a widely read man, always a great reader. When only eighteen years of age
he began running a locomotive on a railroad in his native land, when the
engines were very small compared with our present day moguls and were
built without cabs. He continued railroading in Wales until he was
twenty-three years of age, when he emigrated to the United States,
locating first in Pennsylvania, later removing to Coalburg, Ohio, where he
secured employment running a stationary engine for the Powers Ice & Coal
Company. After remaining there a few years he moved to Stark county, Ohio,
and ran an engine for a mine hauling coal, and he worked at several other
places in Ohio, then he removed with his family in 1880 to Kansas,
locating in the town of Rosedale, and was engineer in the iron works
there; later he was in the West for a short time, then came to Cherokee
county, Kansas, and there ran a hoist engine at coal and smelter works. He
came to Springfield, Missouri, in 1887, and worked as engineer in a saw
mill for a while. His family remained here from that time, but he worked
in other places most of the time, being able to get better wages and was
regarded as a stationary engineer of superior ability and performed his
duties most faithfully.

Mr. Devereaux was married May 25, 1867, in Hubbard, Ohio, to Mary Lloyd, a
native of Wales, and a daughter of John and Jane (Mathews) Lloyd, both
natives of Wales also, where Mr. Lloyd followed mining. His birth occurred
March 31, 1818, and he died January 17, 1885, in Weir, Kansas. His wife
was born January 9, 1820, and died May 18, 1888, in Springfield, Missouri.
These parents with the wife of our subject emigrated to the United States
in 1853 and the family settled in Pennsylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd
eleven children were born, three of whom are still living, namely: Mrs.
Margaret Hughes, Mary, who married Mr. Devereaux of this sketch, and
Edmond J.

To Mr. and Mrs. Devereaux nine children were born, six of whom are still
living, namely Thomas, born March 2, 1868, died August 20, 1883; Jane,
born Jannary 2, 1871, lives in the Province of Alberta, Canada; John, born
October 22, 1873, is an engineer, and lives in Weir, Kansas; Margaret May,
born May 11, 1876, died June 13, 1878; Naoma, born February 16, 1879,
lives in Springfield, she married Arthur Jones; James Garfield, born

April 29, 1882, died January 9, 1883; Edmond James, born December 4, 1883,
lives in Chicago, Illinois; Elizabeth, born November 7, 1886, lives in
Springfield, Missouri, married William Jones; Mary Lloyd, born May 31,
1889, is teaching in the Rogers' school.

Politically Mr. Devereaux was a Prohibitionist for a period of twenty-six
years. Fraternally he belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
the Masonic Order and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

The cozy family home is on West Lynn street, Springfield.

The death of Mr. Devereaux occurred June 24, 1906. He was a man noted for
his sobriety, peaceable nature and industry and he was highly respected by
all who knew him. He was a deacon in the First Baptist church for
thirty-five years. His family are all Baptists.





JAMES EDWIN DEWEY, M. D. The desire to be remembered is inherent in the
human race, hence the necessity for biographical and memorial works of the
nature of the one in hand. Dr. James Edwin Dewey, who is a distant
relative of Admiral George Dewey, one of America's greatest naval heroes,
is a descendant of a long line of French ancestry, many of his progenitors
having been men of prominence. History shows that the ancient Deweys were
compelled to flee from France, owing principally to ecclesiastical and
political reasons. They accordingly established homes in England, and
subsequently one of the number, William Dewey, immigrated to America,
landing at Dorchester, Massachusetts, in the year 1650. He was one of the
older members of the English colony of that name, and from him descended
the numerous families of Deweys in the United States at present. He had
five sons, who dispersed to various localities, establishing homes. From
one of them our subject is descended. They remained in the Atlantic states
for some three centuries, finally penetrating to the Middle West and the
plains beyond the Father of Waters, our subject's immediate family
locating in the state of Kansas.

Dr. James E. Dewey was born near Stockton, Kansas, November 1, 1879. He is
a son of Charles Holt Dewey and Mary E. (Lyon) Dewey. The latter was a
native of western New York. The father was one of the early pioneers of
Stockton, Kansas, and there has become well to do through farming and
other business operations, and is a well known and influential man in that
locality, and although he is now sixty years of age is still an active man
of affairs. The mother is also still living. Dr. Samuel C, Dewey, our
subject's paternal grandfather, spent his life in the practice of medicine
in Iowa and Wisconsin, principally in the town of Fairbanks, Iowa.

To Charles H. Dewey and wife a son and two daughters were born, namely:
Dr. James Edwin, of this sketch; Marion, who is single and is still with
her parents at Stockton, Kansas; and Mrs. Gertrude Welch, who resides at
Coffeyville, that state.

Dr. James E. Dewey grew to manhood on the home farm in the Sunflower state
and there he assisted his father with the general work when he became of
proper age, and in the winter time he attended the public schools in his
vicinity, later took the course of study at the Stockton Academy, after
which he entered the Rush Medical College in Chicago in 1899, and was
graduated from that institution with the class of 1903. Soon thereafter he
came to Springfield, Missouri, where he began the practice of his
profession and has remained to the present time with ever-increasing
success. He was house surgeon at the Frisco Hospital here for a period of
three years, filling this responsible, position in a manner that reflected
much credit upon his ability as a surgeon and to the entire satisfaction
of all concerned. He is now making a specialty of genito-urinary diseases.
He has spent considerable time in post-graduate work in Chicago and
Philadelphia, and is now well prepared for his special line of practice.

Doctor Dewey is a member of the Greene County Medical Society, the
Missouri State Medical Association, the American Medical Association, is
an honorary member of the Lawrence-Stone Medical Society, and the
Southwest Missouri Medical Society. Fraternally he belongs to the Modern
Woodmen and the Knights of Columbus. Politically he is a Democrat, and in
religious matters a Roman Catholic.

Doctor Dewey was married to Estella Whaley, of a well family of
Springfield where she was long popular with the best social circles. She
was a native of Mt. Vernon, Missouri. She was summoned to an untimely
grave on November 17, 1912. The union of Doctor Dewey and wife was without
issue.

Our subject is a young man of genial address and is well liked by all who
know him, having made a host of friends since coming to the Queen City of
the Ozarks.





DAVID MICHAEL DIFFENDERFFER. The man who gains success in this age of
materialism is he who can see and utilize the opportunities that come in
his path--seize them at the right time and use them properly. To do so
requires innate tact, keen discrimination and sound judgment; but after
all, the basic conditions of human life are ever the same, the
surroundings of individuals differing but slightly, and whether we achieve
positions of wealth and influence or whether we are underlings throughout
our earthly span of years depend, according to Shakespeare, "Not in our
stars but in ourselves." Realizing this at the outset of his career, David
Michael Diffenderffer, one of Springfield's successful business men, has
sought to advance himself along legitimate lines by hard work and
persistent effort.

Mr. Diffenderffer was born, August 30, 1870, in Ft. Bliss, Texas. He is a
scion of a Pennsylvania family of German ancestry, and is a son of David
R. and Margaret (Dunham) Diffenderffer. The father was born in New
Holland, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and there grew to manhood and was
educated in Franklin-Marshall College in the city of Lancaster. Shortly
after his graduation he went to Mexico and was appointed United States
consul to that country by President James Buchanan. After serving his term
in this responsible office in a manner that reflected credit upon himself
and to the satisfaction of the government, he returned to Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, and there engaged in the banking business with gratifying
success until 1874, when he came to Lebanon, Missouri, and there continued
in the banking business until his death, which occurred in the spring of
1900. He enjoyed the good will and esteem of all with whom he was
associated. Margaret Dunham, also a representative of an old family of the
Keystone state, was reared and educated in Lancaster and there they were
married. She is still living in Lebanon, this state. To these parents
seven children were born, namely: William, who lives in Lebanon; Mary has
remained at the old home in Lebanon; Harry W. is associated in the
carriage and implement business with our subject in Springfield; Jennie is
the wife of Carl Morris, and they live in Springfield; John is cashier of
the bank in Lebanon; Grace is the wife of William Owen and they live in
Lebanon; David M., of this sketch.

Harry W. Diffenderffer was but two years old when his parents established
the family home in Lebanon, Missouri, and there he grew to manhood and
attended the public schools, later was a student in the University of
Missouri. Leaving school in 1891 he went to St. Louis and engaged with the
Kansas & Texas Coal Company as assistant superintendent, remaining in the
em ploy of this firm three years, then went to Galveston, Texas, and took
a position as a reporter on the News, later went to Phoenix, Arizona, and
after working there two years went to Alaska in newspaper work and a
general prospecting expedition. He spent five years in that country, one
year of which was spent in carrying the United States mail from Dawson to
Circle City, over the ice, down the Yukon river, a distance of three
hundred miles. He walked this six hundred miles each month, driving six
dogs to a sled. He was also a member of the famous mounted Canadian police
force, and assisted in running down many criminals, including a gang that
had murdered three prospectors. He captured one, who was subsequently
hanged.

Returning to the United States in 1902, Mr. Diffenderffer located at
Caddo, Oklahoma, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He also entered
politics there and in 1908 he was assistant secretary at the national
Democratic convention in St. Louis, when William J. Bryan was nominated
for a third time for President. Mr. Diffenderffer was subsequently
national committeeman of the Independent political part of Oklahoma. In
1910 he went to New York City and was employed by William R. Hurst on the
New York American and the New York Journal, handling principally political
assignments, being sent all over the United States. He was regarded as one
of the ablest and most versatile writers on the Hurst papers and most
conversant with the political situation of the country. Finally tiring of
newspaper work and desiring to re-enter business, he came to Springfield,
Missouri, in the, fall of 1911 and engaged in the buggy and implement
business with his brother, Dave Diffenderffer, under the firm name of D.
M. Diffenderffer, the name being later changed to the Diffenderffer Buggy
& Implement Company. On April 24, 1902, he married Edith Kirk, and their
union has been without issue.

David M. Diffenderffer was about four years old when his parents removed
with him to Pennsylvania, and in 1876 the family came to Missouri. He
received his early education in the public schools of Laclede county, this
state, finishing his education at Drury College, Springfield.

He was with W. H. Owens Mercantile establishment in Lebanon while
receiving his early schooling. After leaving Drury College he went to
Portland, Oregon, where he was employed by a produce concern one year,
after which he returned to Greene county and went to work for the
McGregor- Noe Hardware Company in Springfield, and after working about a
year for this firm he took a position as traveling salesman for a hardware
firm in Chicago and remained with it one year, then, in 1897, he began in
the implement business in Springfield, under the firm name of D. M.
Diffenderffer, located at the corner of Walnut and Campbell streets, where
he remained about three years, during which he got well established, then
removed to the corner of Pearl and Walnut streets on what is known as the
Stewart and Cowan building, which was erected especially for Mr.
Diffenderffer. After remaining here about six years it became necessary to
seek larger quarters, and our subject purchased property at the corner of
Walnut and Market streets, where he erected a two-story, modern and
convenient brick building, with twenty-one thousand feet of floor space,
where the business has since been located.

This is the oldest implement company in this section of the state. A large
and well-selected stock of buggies, carriages and implements is carried at
all times. The business has been established over eighteen years and is
one of the most widely and favorably known of its kind in southwestern
Missouri. The volume of business has constantly increased with advancing
years until it has assumed vast proportions, an extensive jobbing business
being carried on over the Southwest, including a large portion of this
state, eastern Oklahoma, and northern Arkansas.

David M. Diffenderffer was married, June 14, 1900, to Mabel Dunning, who
is a daughter of A. C. and Laura (Crothers) Dunning, the mother being a
daughter of Colonel Crothers, formerly of Indiana. Both the colonel and
his wife are deceased. They were the parents of two children, Mrs. Mabel
Diffenderffer being the oldest; the other, Mrs. Edith Sheppard, is also
living in Springfield. Four children have been born to our subject and
wife, namely: Margaret Jane, born July 17; 1902; Katherine Louise, born
February 21, 1904; Mabel, born February 1, 1906, and David Rittenhouse,
born May 24, 1909.

Politically, Mr. Diffenderffer is a Republican. Both he and his wife are
members of Calvary Presbyterian church. He is a member of the Masonic
Order and the Royal Arcanum lodge; he belongs to Solomon lodge, Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons. He is one of the charter members of the
Springfield Club.

Mr. Diffenderffer has recently organized the Overland Motor Car Company,
of Joplin, Missouri, which has been incorporated by D. M. and J. L.
Diffenderffer. The object of the firm is to distribute the Overland
automobile in a territory of about fifty counties tributary to the city of
Joplin. Harry W. Diffenderffer will be in charge of this new enterprise,
with headquarters in Joplin.





HIRAM W. DIGGINS. Hiram W. Diggins was a resident of Springfield for
nearly thirty-five years and one of the best known railroad men in the
West. He was born at La Porte, Indiana, April 30, 1837, a son of Nelson
and Katie M. Diggins. His father's people were from the state of New York
and his mother's people from the state of Pennsylvania. When he was two
years old his people moved to a farm near Woodstock, Illinois, and Mr.
Diggins grew to manhood in that section and was educated in the public
schools of Woodstock, Illinois. He first began clerking in a general
merchandise store, but in 1857 commenced railroad work as freight brakeman
on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad. He was promoted successively to
freight conductor and passenger conductor and in 1867 he quit railroading
and for one year was joint proprietor of the Beaumont hotel at Green Bay,
Wisconsin. In 1869 he disposed of his hotel interest in Green Bay and came
to Kansas City and was made a freight conductor on the Missouri River,
Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad (later, Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis
railroad and now a part of the Frisco system). In 1871 he went to Ottawa,
Kansas, as trainmaster of the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston railroad
(now Southern Kansas branch of the Santa Fe). In the latter part of 1873
he accompanied Octave Chanute to the Eric system and was made
superintendent of second track work. He returned to Kansas City in the
latter part of 1874 and shortly afterward took charge of construction
train on Kansas-Midland railroad, building from Topeka to Kansas City.
After completion of this system it was absorbed by the Santa Fe and Mr.
Diggins was a passenger conductor on Santa Fe system from Kansas City west
for a number of years. In 1879 he came to Springfield as superintendent of
the Springfield & Western Missouri railroad, a short line which had just
been purchased by the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf. Mr. Diggins was the
superintendent in charge of construction of the Kansas City, Fort Scott &
Gulf railroad and Kansas City, Springfield & Memphis railroad, joint
systems in their extensions toward Kansas City and toward Memphis and he
remained with the. Kansas City, Ft. Scott and Memphis railroad as
superintendent at Springfield from 1879 until 1895, at which time he
retired from railroading and engaged in the fire insurance business with
his son, A. B. Diggins.

Mr. Diggins was married on November 12, 1861, to Emily Keeler, who was
born in Salisburg, Vermont, July 28, 1836, a daughter of Leavens C. and
Emily Norton Keeler. Mrs. Diggins' girlhood days were spent in Vermont,
but she had reached young womanhood when her parents moved to Palatine,
Illinois.

Two children were born to Hiram W. and Emily K. Diggins, namely, Charles
K., September 30, 1862, who died in March, 1865, and Archibald B., born on
November 19, 1865. Archibald B. married Delle Bosworth, of Brunswick,
Missouri, in 1886. Two children were born to this union, namely, Doris D.
and Emily D.

Hiram W. Diggins was a loyal Mason, a Knight Templar, being a Past Eminent
Commander, and was a loyal member of the Mystic Shrine. Although a
life-long Democrat, he was liberal in politics and was a man loved and
respected by all who knew him and a man who never spoke ill of any one,
and was stanch and loyal to his friends.

The death of Hiram W. Diggins occurred on December 10, 1910.





GEORGE E. DILLARD. One of the well-known railroad men of Springfield is
George E. Dillard, assistant superintendent of locomotive performance for
the Frisco lines. He is a scion of one of the old and respected families
of Greene county, and for reasons which are too apparent to enumerate here
should be given a place in this volume.

Mr. Dillard was born in Taylor township, Greene county, Missouri,
September 12, 1860. He is a son of George A. and Eliza J. (Gibson)
Dillard. The father was born in Tennessee, in 1827, and his death occurred
on the old homestead in this county in 1903. The mother was born in
Tennessee in 1835 and died on the home place here in 1911. They grew up on
farms and received limited educational advantages. They came to Greene
county, Missouri, when young and were married here, each emigrating here
with their parents about the year 1837. William Dillard, our subject's
paternal grandfather, was a native of North Carolina, where he was born on
May 1, 1782, removing from that state to Tennessee, where he lived for
some time before coming on to Greene county, Missouri, where he spent his
last years, dying here on April 13, 1877. His wife was known in her
maidenhood as Sarah Gregory. The maternal grandfather was John H. Gibson,
who was a native of Tennessee. He died in this county in the early
eighties. His wife was Isabelle Buchanan before her marriage. She was a
native of Tennessee, and her death occurred in this county in 1863. George
A. Dillard enlisted for service in the Civil war in the spring of 1861,
becoming captain of Company E, Twenty-second Enrolled Missouri Militia,
and his father was a member of the Home Guards. The former saw little
service outside of Greene county, taking an active part in the defense of
Springfield during General Marmaduke's raid. He spent his life engaged in
farming and stock raising. His family consisted of nine children, five of
whom are still living, namely: William C., who lives in Springfield, is
clerk in the office of the circuit court clerk's office; Mrs. Margaret
Turner; Mrs. Isabelle Demar; James L. lives on the farm; and George E., of
this sketch. .

Our subject grew to manhood on the home farm and he received his education
in the district schools, remaining on the homestead until he was
twenty-one years old, then came to Springfield and began working for
McGregor-Noe Hardware Company as clerk for a short time then began
railroading, which he has continued ever since, first as fireman on the
Frisco between Springfield and Dixon. He was firing a freight locomotive
when the road extended no farther than Pacific, Missouri. Later he fired a
passenger engine, and in 1886 was promoted to freight engineer. In 1910 he
was promoted to the position of road foreman of equipment, and he is now
assistant superintendent of locomotive performance for the Ozark division,
from Springfield to Memphis, Tennessee. The fact that he has been with the
same company so long and that his rise has been steady would indicate that
he has given entire satisfaction and that he is capable and trustworthy as
well as thoroughly understanding his work and diversified duties.

Mr. Dillard was married on November 29, 1883, to Sarah G. McGinty, who was
born in Howell county, Missouri, September 13, 1861. She is a daughter of
A. C. and Susan (Hayden) McGinty.

Politically, Mr. Dillard is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Masonic order, including the Blue Lodge, also the Royal Arcanum and
Knights and Ladies of Security. He and his family are members of the
Methodist Episcopal church.





EDWARD P. DINGELDEIN. The German element in Springfield is not as large as
in many American cities of this size, but those who have cast their lot
here have proved to be industrious and loyal citizens, become property
owners and have not hesitated to support such measures as have made for
the general growth of the city. Of this class is Edward P. Dingeldein, one
of our enterprising young Germans of the second generation in this
country, but who seems to have the characteristic thrift of the true
Teutons.

Mr. Dingeldein was born in St. Louis, Missouri, December 25, 1873 He is a
son of Sebastian and Dorothea (Studt) Dingeldein, both parents natives of
Germany, where they grew to maturity, received their educations, which
were limited, and there made their home until the year 1867, when they
left the Fatherland and emigrated to the United States, each locating in
St. Louis, Missouri, where they were married in 1869 and there established
the family home. There the father engaged in the malt business for five
years. The mother was one of eleven children, six sons and five daughters,
four of whom are living at this writing, one remaining in Germany.

To Sebastian Dingeldein and wife four children have been born, namely:
Julius W., who is associated in business with our subject in Springfield;
Edward P., of this review; Emelie M. is single and is living in
Springfield; William S. is deceased.

From St. Louis the Dingeldein family moved to Springfield in 1876, when
our subject was two years of age, and here the father established himself
in business and became comfortably situated. Politically he was a
Democrat. His death occurred on March 24, 1894. His widow is still living,
making her home in Springfield.

Edward P. Dingeldein grew to manhood in Springfield and here received his
education, attending the common school up to 1889, then took a business
course in the Southwestern Business College, including bookkeeping and
business forms, and was graduated from that institution in 1891. He began
his career as a railroader, working for some time with the old Kansas
City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railroad Company, and later was in the employ
of the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company, and in December, 1897,
he started in the retail liquor business with his brother, Julius W.,
which they have conducted to the present time.

Mr. Dingeldein was married in 1894 to Ida Stone, a daughter of C. M. and
Elizabeth Stone, she being one of four children. Her mother and father are
still living in Springfield. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Dingeldein, namely: Edna L., William J. and Edward S. The two oldest are
attending school.

Politically our subject is a Democrat and has remained with the party in
both victory and defeat as did his father before him. Religiously he is a
member of St. John's German Evangelical church, having been confirmed at
the age of fifteen years. He attended the church primary school of this
denomination in 1889. He has always sought the companionship of persons
older than himself, and has tried to profit by their; examples.
Fraternally he is a member of the Eagles, the Improved Order of -Red Men
and the German Brotherhood. He has always been a law-abiding citizen, and
has kept within the bounds of good citizenship.





SEBASTIAN DINGELDEIN. The late Sebastian Dingeldein, for many years a well
known business man of Springfield, afforded in his life and its success,
and, other evidence that industry, economy and straightforward dealings
constitute the keynote to honorable competency. Pre-eminence is a goal
that most men strive to attain. No matter what field, whether it be
literature, art, science or commerce, the ambition of the true man will
push him to such endeavor that his success shall stand out with glaring
distinctness and his position shall be above all others.

Mr. Dingeldein, as the name implies, was of Teutonic blood, his birth
having occurred in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, October 15, 1842, and was one
of a large family, seven daughters and six sons, and there he grew to
manhood and received his education. He learned the trade of brewer and
traveled around for some seven years. Emigrating to America, he landed at
New York City, October 6, 1867, and went from there to Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, and in, October, 1868, he went to St. Louis, Missouri. He
worked in the largest breweries and malt houses in that city for over
eight years, and then came to Springfield, this state. Here he engaged in
the brewery business the rest of his active life, the brewery in question
having been built in 1872 by Buehner & Finkenauer. Mr. Dingeldein leased
this property in October, 1876, for ten years, and in June, 1882, bought
it before the lease expired, and for a period of fourteen years he was
owner of the Southwest brewery, located on College street. It is a
substantial plant with walls of the best rock and laid in cement, the
cellar having a capacity of twelve hundred barrels. When first started the
brewery turned out eight hundred barrels per day, but Mr. Dingeldein
increased its capacity until, in 1882, it made twenty-one hundred barrels
per day. He thoroughly understood every phase of the business and built up
a large and lucrative trade, shipping his products all over the country.
He retired from active life a few years prior to his death, which occurred
on March 24, 1904. His father died in Germany in 1859 and his mother died,
in 1862.

Mr. Dingeldein was married in St. Louis to Dora Stuedt, who was born in
Keppeln, Prussia, April 5, 1844. She is a daughter of Peter and Annie
(Greisher) Stuedt, whose family consisted of eight children, four of whom
are still living-Mrs. Dingeldein, of Springfield; two daughters in
Illinois, and one in Prussia. Mrs. Dingeldein grew to womanhood in Germany
and received her education in the common schools there; however, her
textbook training was very limited. Her teacher was a man who had taught
in the schools for over fifty years, teaching all grades, and it was
compulsory for children to attend school two years to the local minister
for Bible education, Bible history, etc. Mrs. Dingeldein is known to her
many friends as a woman of kindness, charity and hospitality, and her
beautiful home on College, street is often visited by her many friends.
Religiously, she is a Protestant and belongs to the German Evangelical
church.

To Mr. and Mrs. Dingeldein four children were born, namely: Julius W.,
born in St. Louis on January 24, 1870; Peter Edward, born in St. Louis on
December 25, 1873; Amelia Margareta, born in 1882 in Springfield, and
William Sebastian, born in Springfield, August 18, 1885, the last-named
being deceased.





FRANCIS MARION DONNELL. Francis Marion Donnell, born in Polk county, just
over the line of Greene, December 22, 1846, has lived the greater part of
his life in southwest Missouri, and is one of the best known men in Greene
county. His father, John M. Donnell, came to Missouri in 1832, stopping
first at a place near the old Hodge, later known as the Union grave yard,
on the road between Springfield and Buffalo, two years later removing to
Upshaw Prairie in Greene county. He was of Irish descent, his grandfather
being an Irish emigrant named O'Donnell, who changed his name after coming
to Tennessee. His father, James M. Donnell, accompanied him to Missouri.
He married, near Nashville, Tennessee, in 1811, Miss Jane McClain, who was
of Scotch lineage. He was a farmer and stock raiser, dealing extensively
in mules after he came to Missouri, making many drives through to New
Orleans, which was customary in those days. He had eleven children by his
first wife, the youngest of whom was Francis Marion. After her death he
married Miss Jane Wills, one child being born to them. The children by the
first marriage were: Sons, James M., G. W., William M., Robert, C. W.,
Francis Marion; daughters, Mary Ann, Margaret, Jane, Caroline and Sarah.
He had one child by his second marriage, Winfield S. Donnell. Most of
their lives were spent in this county. C. W. Donnell is still living near
Grand, Oklahoma. Sarah, who married James M. Armstrong, a farmer, is also
living in Polk county. The father died in 1860, at the age of fifty-two
years.

Francis Marion grew up on the Donnell farm near Fair Grove, working during
the busy season and attending the district school in winter until he
reached the, age of sixteen, when he enlisted, in 1863, in Company E,
Sixteenth Missouri Cavalry, under Capt. S. W. Headley and Lieut. A. J.
Potter. He was in the battle of the Big Blue, in which the enemy were
under command of General Marmaduke, and a number of minor engagements.
After the war he returned to Greene county and farmed a number of years
near Fair Grove and also in Saline and Taney counties, in this state, and
in California. Returning to Springfield in 1880, be became a member of the
police force under Marshal Nat Turner, and afterward a deputy under
Sheriff Jack Potter. He then served as a policeman under Marshall Hollet
Snow, after which he was elected constable of Campbell township in 1882.
He was elected sheriff of Greene county in 1883, serving two years, after
which he spent six years more in farming, on a place two miles east of
Springfield, after which he removed to the city and engaged in the livery
business until he was again elected sheriff, to fill the unexpired term of
Dan Stewart, who had died after serving a few months. Since then he has
engaged by turns in different kinds of commercial business. He is now
living comfortably at the corner of Main and Atlantic streets in this city
in the elegantly finished mansion built by G. A. Ramsey, a number of years
ago. The interior wood work is of walnut and poplar. There are four fine
stone mantels, one of them being of marble inlaid with onyx. It is one of
the most substantial frame structures in the city and may shelter
generations of Donnells for many years to come.

One of the tragedies of Greene county history occurred during Sheriff
Donnell's first term of office. This was the lynching of George Graham,
for the alleged murder of his wife at the Molloy farm. Much time was spent
in preliminary examinations and various motions until rumors of intended
mob violence were heard. Sheriff Donnell kept close watch until, worn out
with long vigils, he was surprised by vigilantes who gained admittance to
the jail on the night of April 22, 1886, by telling an assistant that they
had a prisoner to deliver to him, pretending to be a posse from some
out-lying district. The man opened the door to find himself surrounded by
the night riders, who shoved revolvers into his face and made him keep
silence while they crowded into the bedroom of the sheriff, who was sound
asleep. When he arose half awake and started to dress there were weapons
jabbing him from all sides and loud demands for the keys of the jail.
These he had deposited in a drawer, the key of which he had managed to
throw unobserved behind a log in the fireplace. But his wife had another
bunch, which she was compelled to drop. They were picked up by a member of
the mob, the drawer opened, the jail keys procured, and then the jail door
was opened and the prisoner taken out while the sheriff and his assistant
and everybody else in sight were guarded. Strangers were halted and made
to hold up their hands as the wagon conveying the prisoner moved away from
the jail and out Boonville street to the place of execution in the
northwest part of the city. Sheriff Donnell went out and cut the body down
as soon as he got a chance.

Mr. Donnell married Miss Mary Ann Hall at Fair Grove in 1865. They have
four children, all born in Missouri: George Sylvester, near Fair Grove on
December 10, 1866; Charles C., near Forsyth, June 6, 1869; Rose Isabel and
James Milton, at Marshall, Saline county, the former, February 26, 1871,
the latter February 5, 1873. Of these three there are two living, Rosa,
now Mrs. De Camp, at Long Angeles, California; and James Milton, at
Stockton, California.

After the death of his first wife, Mr. Donnell married Miss Mattie J.
Williams in Springfield, September 7, 1882. They have six children:
Francis M., Jr., born in Springfield, July 11, 1883; Cordy, in
Springfield, October 1, 1884; Carrie I., in Springfield, October 13, 1887;
Lee A., in Springfield, April 12, 1890; Roy E., in Springfield, August 2,
1892; Helen L., Springfield, August 30, 1899. Frank is a druggist in this
city; Cordy is the wife of Lee F. Johnson, Carrie the wife of William
Wallace, both of Springfield; Lee is in the water service of the Frisco;
Roy is working for the Heer Dry Goods Company; Helen, the youngest, is
living at home.

Mr. Donnell is a member of the Woodland Heights Presbyterian church. He
was chairman of the Democratic city and county committees twenty-five
years, having always been a zealous worker in the interest of the party.
His son, Frank, is chairman of the Democratic city committee.





DR. WILLIAM F. DONOVAN. Ability, when backed by enterprising measures and
progressive ideas, will accomplish more than any other professional
requirement, an illustration of which may be seen in the career of Dr.
William F. Donovan, one of the most widely known opticians in the
Southwest. He ranks among the leaders in the professional circles of
Springfield, and is in every way deserving of the large success that he
has attained in life, for he has by his own efforts risen from an
environment none too auspicious to a conspicuous position in the
professional world. But this is not to be wondered at when we learn that
there runs in his veins blood of an excellent old Celtic family, and he
has doubtless inherited from his sterling ancestors the characteristics
that win in the battle of life.

Dr. Donovan was born in the city of Cork, Ireland, July 16, 1868. He is a
son of John and Mary (McCarthy) Donovan. The father's death occurred in
Hull, England in 1892. He was surveyor of the board of trade of the
British government for a period of more than thirty years. He was also an
officer in the Royal navy for a period of more than twenty years, having
been a lieutenant. Our subject's mother died when he was an infant and he
has little knowledge of her family.

Doctor Donovan attended the common schools and later was graduated from
Christian Brothers College in 1883. When a boy he immigrated to America
without the consent of his father. He went direct to St. Paul, Minnesota,
and there began working for an oculist, remaining in his employ for six
months, and then entered the University of Minnesota, near the city of St.
Paul, remaining a student there two years. He received funds from his
father to defray his expenses while in school there. He then went back to
work for his former employer, the "Pioneer" oculist, remaining with him
one year, then took a position in the technical department of the Spencer
Optical Company, of New York City, remaining there about five years.
Desiring to further his optical education, he spent one year in the
Philadelphia College of Optics, and then went to Chicago and took charge
of the Julius King Optical Company of the Chicago branch, this firm having
other branches in Philadelphia, Cleveland and Chicago, the company's
headquarters being in New York. After remaining three years with this
company in Chicago and becoming exceptionally well equipped for his life
work, he opened offices for himself on State street in Chicago, where he
built up a lucrative and satisfactory business, remaining there until the
opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, in 1904, when
he came to St. Louis to accept a flattering offer by the A. S. Aloe
Optical Company of that city, who had obtained exclusive optical
concession at the World's Fair. Doctor Donovan accepted the offer and
became general superintendent and head consultant in difficult cases. He
remained with this widely known firm until the close of the fair, giving
his usual satisfaction and high-grade service.

On February 6, 1905, Doctor Donovan came to Springfield, Missouri, and
opened an office at 303 South street, taking the entire floor, and
immediately built upon one of the largest businesses of its kind in the
Southwest. After a stay of six months it became apparent, because of the
crude and unsatisfactory work received in ordering his lenses ground in
St. Louis and Kansas City and the necessity of returning them frequently
for correction, it was absolutely necessary, if he was to turn out the
high-class work, which had already won him an enviable reputation in
Chicago and elsewhere, he must install a grinding plant of his own. In
September, 1905, an order for the same was placed with the Bausch & Lamb
Company of Rochester, New York, and on November 1, 1905, was ground the
first lens in southwestern Missouri, and his is still the only institution
equipped for lens grinding in southern Missouri; in fact, there are only
four other lens grinding concerns in the state. The extent to which Doctor
Donovan's private practice has grown is illustrated by the fact that he
has on file seventy-five thousand prescriptions for lenses, fitted and
ground under his supervision, in addition to this, many lenses for other
opticians in this section of the state. An average day's grinding amounts
to fifty pairs of lenses. Eight expert lens grinders and one frame maker
are employed. Sixteen people are employed by Doctor Donovan to assist him
in ministering to the needs of the eyes of the people of the Ozarks., In
1913 he removed from his first location to 306 South street, taking the
entire ground floor, his increased business making this move necessary. In
May, 1914, he began the erection of the attractive and substantial Donovan
building at 420 South Jefferson street, and it was completed the following
October. It occupies an excellent site just across the street from the Y.
M. C. A. building. It was built at a cost of forty thousand dollars, and
its erection would indicate the faith of Dr. Donovan in the future of
Springfield.

Dr. Donovan was married on Thanksgiving Day, 1909, to Mary B. Durbin, a
daughter of William F. and Matilda (Manning) Durbin, natives of Kentucky,
from which state they came to Greene county, Missouri, in 1879, Mr. Durbin
engaging in the grocery business on the public square, later removing to a
location on South Campbell street. He is now conducting a large grocery
store and meat market on College street. Mrs. Donovan was born in
Springfield, on September 20, 1885, and here she grew to womanhood and
received a liberal education in the Loretto Academy, making a good record,
and graduating from that institution in 1900. She was talented by nature
as a musician and she devoted special attention to the study of this art,
with the result that she is a highly accomplished musician, both vocal and
instrumental. Until her marriage she was a leader in the choir of the
Church of the Immaculate Conception. She is a lady of culture and has long
been a favorite with a wide circle of friends. The union of our subject
and wife has been without issue.

Dr. Donovan is a member of the Missouri State Optical Association, of
which he is president, the duties of which important office he is
discharging in a very creditable and satisfactory manner. Politically he
is a Democrat. He belongs to the Springfield Club, the Retail Merchants'
Association, the Young Men's Business Club, the Associated Retailers, and
he and his wife are members of St. Agnes Catholic church.

Personally Dr. Donovan is a genteel gentleman and he stands high in the
circles in which he moves.





THOMAS H. DORAN. Wise farmers of Greene county are now planning their
crops with safety first in mind. Dry years have impressed upon all of us
the fact that the certain and regular production of feed, every year, must
be the foundation of a safe system of farming. Very few are staking their
all on one feed crop, and still fewer are placing their entire dependence
on some "Cash crop," expecting to buy their feed. Thomas H. Doran, of Clay
township, is one of our farmers who plans well and can see ahead, one to
whom the previous successive dry years have taught valuable lessons. He is
a man who is ever on the alert to learn something more than what he was
taught by the early-day farmers, whose methods were all right then, but
since conditions have changed very materially, a new system of farming has
had to be adopted.

Mr. Doran was born in Greene county on March 9, 1871. He is a son of Alec.
H. and Catherine (Grubaugh) Doran. The father was born in Tennessee, May
9, 1825, and was reared in that state, receiving the usual schooling of
the times. When a young man he went to Illinois, but later moved to Greene
county, Missouri, then located in Christian county. He sold patent
medicine for awhile but farming was his main business. His death occurred
in Greene county, April 14, 1898. His wife was born near Springfield,
Illinois, in 1826, and was reared on a farm there. She was a member of the
Methodist church. Her death occurred on the old home place in this county,
November 24, 1889. To these parents nine children were born, namely:
William is deceased; Jennie, Edward, James, Meaford, Sherman, Mrs. Emma
Mutchler, Thomas H., of this sketch, and Mollie, deceased.

Thomas H. Doran was reared on the farm in Greene county and he received a
common school education. He lived on the farm which his father owned in
Christian county. He has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and has
owned farms in different parts of Greene county. His present place
consists of two hundred and sixty-six acres. He carries on general farming
and stock raising, and deals in live stock on an extensive scale. He has a
well-improved and productive place and a good home on the Rogersville and
Galloway road.

Mr. Doran was married in November, 1895, to Annie Stephens, who was born
on June 22, 1866, and it is a singular coincidence that she first saw the
light of day in the same house in which our subject was ushered into the
world. She was reared on a farm in Greene county, and received a common
school education. She is a daughter of John and Cynthia B. (Owen)
Stephens, both natives of Tennessee. Her father spent his active life on a
farm. He was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, under
Captain Kirby and saw much hard service remaining in the army until the
close of the war. He came home from the front sick and did not recover,
his death occurring on April 3, 1866. The mother of Mrs. Doran was born On
July 4, 1837, and died on December 8, 1906. To these parents three
children were born, namely: Mrs. Mary Smith, Mrs. Smathey Chaffin, and
Anna, wife of Mr. Doran. The last named is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church.

To Mr. and Mrs. Doran two children have been born, namely: Ralph, born
April 11, 1899, is living at home; Mabel L., born on November 26, 1907, is
with her parents.

Politically, Mr. Doran is a Republican, and fraternally, he belongs to the
Modern Woodmen.





GAYLARD DOUGLASS. Among the enterprising business men of Springfield and
Greene county of the present day is Gaylard Douglass, widely known dealer
in farm loans, with offices in the Landers Building, suite No. 934-36, a
man who has succeeded in life partly because he has inherited commendable
traits from his sterling Buckeye ancestors, and partly because he has
dealt honorably with his fellow men, thereby winning and retaining their
good will and confidence, and his reputation in the several localities
where he has lived has ever been above idle cavil.

Mr. Douglass was born near Ft. Wayne, Indiana, February 16, 1851. He is a
son of Samuel and Diana (Edgington) Douglass, both natives of the state of
Ohio, the father's birth occurring near Mansfield. These parents grew up
and were married in their native locality and established their home on a
farm in Allen county, Indiana, where they were known as honest,
industrious and neighborly people, and they spent their lives on a farm
and both died there, the mother passing away when the subject of this
sketch was but a child. They were the parents of twelve children, our
subject being the only survivor.

Gaylard Douglass grew to manhood on the home farm and he did his full
share of the work there when a boy. He received a limited education in the
public schools, but this lack of learning has later been supplied by wide
miscellaneous reading and by contact with the world, until he may well be
called a successful self-made man. In 1876 he left his native state and
came to Bates county, Missouri, where he spent ten years engaged in
general farming and, working hard and managing well, he got a good start.
He took much interest in live stock and handled a good grade. Although
liking the farm and live stock business, he finally decided that the city
held greater attractions and opportunities for him and removed to Clinton,
Henry county, this state, where he engaged in the real estate business for
some time, then went to California and remained in that state two years,
after which he returned to Clinton, Missouri, and went into the loan
business, and made his first loan at Schell City, Vernon county, this
state. He was successful in this line of endeavor and, seeking a larger
field for his operations, he came to Springfield in 1904, where he
continued to the present time, building up a large business in farm loans
and real estate. He maintains an up-to-date office in the Landers
Building, and is regarded as one of the best posted men in the value of
Missouri farm property or in the city. He is assisted by his son, J. M.
Douglass, and enjoys a constantly growing business.

Mr. Douglass was married on December 21, 1872, to Catherine Lovinia
Dolley, who was born and reared near Ft. Wayne, Indiana. She died in Red
Bluff, California, February 12, 1898, leaving two sons, namely: James M.,
who married Nellie N. Danley, lives in Springfield; Clark, who married
Mary Lee, of Mountain Grove, Missouri; later they moved to Seymour,
Webster county, where they now live. Mr. Douglass was married a second
time to Alice Davis, a native of Missouri and a daughter of Wilbur Davis
and wife. This second union has been without issue.

Mr. Douglass has been very successful in a business way, and he has a
beautiful home at 724 East Walnut street, Springfield. Politically, he is
a Republican, and religiously he belongs to the Presbyterian church.





DUERRETT WHITE DOZIER. Whether the elements of success in life are innate
attributes of the individual or whether they are quickened by a process of
circumstantial development, it is impossible to clearly determine. Yet the
study of a successful life, whatever the field of endeavor, is none the
less interesting and profitable by reason of the existence of this same
uncertainty. So much in excess of those of success are the records of
failures or semi-failures, that one is constrained to attempt in analysis
in either case and to determine the measure of causation in an approximate
way. But in studying the life history of the late Duerrett White Dozier, a
man of profound knowledge along electrical lines, whose career was a
varied and interesting one his last years being spent on a fruit farm at
Springfield, Missouri, we find many qualities in his make-up that always
gain definite success in any career if properly directed, as his was
evidently done, which resulted in a life of good to others as well as in a
comfortable competency to his family. A man of strong mentality and
vigorous moral fiber, he achieved signal success in a vocation in which
few rise above mediocrity. Broad-minded, charitable and courteous in
disposition, he never lacked for friends wherever his life work took him.
They all heard with profound regret the news of his transition into a
higher sphere of action, when he was still in the prime of manhood.

Mr. Dozier was born in Richmond, Kentucky, October 30, 1853, of fine old
Southern stock on both sides of the house. He was a son of John and Nancy
(Johnson) Dozier, the, former a native of Virginia and the latter a native
of Madison county, Kentucky. There they spent their childhood, later
moving to near Richmond, Kentucky, where the father owned and operated an
extensive plantation, and owned a large number of slaves; he also engaged
in merchandising and was a successful business man. He finally established
the family home in Carroll county Missouri, and was at one time sheriff of
that county and prominent in Democratic politics. There the death of our
subject's mother occurred when he was about twelve years of age. The
father died in St. Louis in 1904. Their family consisted of eleven
children, four of whom are still living, namely: William Cassus, died in
infancy; Margaret is next to the eldest; Mary is living; Elizabeth Holland
died in infancy; Eliza Andrew died in infancy; Nancy Jane, deceased;
Melisa, deceased; Susan, deceased; George Ann, living; Duerrett White, of
this memoir; John, who is the youngest.

Our subject had little opportunity to get an education, but later in life
he made up for this deficiency by wide home reading and by contact with
the world. He was a fine type of the self-made man. When but a boy he
turned his attention to electrical and steam engineering. He had the
distinction of starting the first threshing engine in Missouri, which was
while he lived in Carroll county. He eventually became a superintendent
and designer of power houses and superintended the building of some of the
finest electrical power houses in the United States. After leaving Carroll
county he became electrical engineer for the E. P. Allis Company, of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, remaining with this firm seven years, during which
time he did a great deal of traveling, giving the company eminent
satisfaction. In 1884 he came to Kansas City and was with the Metropolitan
Street Railway Company for a period of sixteen years, successfully filling
the responsible positions of superintendent and chief engineer. He then
went to Washington, D. C., where he followed the same line of work for a
year, then returned to Kansas City and resumed his position with the
company with which he was before and retained the same for nine years, or
until 1902, having given his usual high-grade service and being one of the
potent factors in the building up of that great street railway system. He
then became inspector of the glucose factories in Chicago and all
factories east of that city under Dr. Wagner, of Chicago. Resigning after
six months with this concern he went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and took
charge of the Twin City Rapid Transit Company, of Minneapolis and St.
Paul, remaining there five years, during which time he had charge of the
entire system, electrical and steam, under the direction of the president
of the company, C. C. Goodrich, successor to Mr. Lowery. He was largely
instrumental in building up one of the finest and most efficient street
railway systems in the United States, but owing to failing health he was
compelled to resign in 1907. He came to the Ozark country in the hopes of
benefiting his health, and purchased the forty-acre orchard on South
Campbell street, Springfield, which was considered one of the most
desirable apple orchards in this section of the country. Later he
purchased the five-acre tract on the Country Club lane, an attractive and
desirable property, where his widow now resides.

Mr. Dozier was married October 23, 1888, in Kansas City, to Mamie L.
Keough, a native of Hartford, Connecticut, and a daughter of William and
Theresa (Carroll) Keough. The father was born in Canada, twelve miles from
Montreal, in 1827, and his death occurred in Kansas City in 1912. Mrs.
Dozier's mother was born in Ireland in 1829, and from that country she
emigrated to America when a child. Her death occurred in Kansas City in
1898. These parents were married in Connecticut. Mr. Keough was a building
contractor by profession, and was a successful business man. His family
consisted of five children, two of whom are still living, namely: Mamie
L., who married Mr. Dozier of this memoir: Susan is deceased; Nellie lives
in Kansas City; William C. is. deceased; John P. also deceased.

Mrs. Dozier received excellent educational advantages. After passing
through the public schools she attended the Episcopal Seminary at Dubuque,
Iowa, from which institution she was graduated. Having decided natural
musical talent she made herself proficient on the piano. She is a lady of
culture and of amiable nature. She is a member of the St. Agnes Catholic
church.

Mr. Dozier left two sons, namely: Edward, who is married and lives in the
West; Thomas M., born November 14, 1882, was educated in the schools of
Kansas City, and on June 18, 1913, he married Erma H. Lawson, born
December 3, 1886, of that place, and they make their home in. Kansas City.

Politically Mr. Dozier was a Democrat, but was never an office seeker. He
was a member of the Catholic church and faithful in his support of the
same, and when he was summoned to his eternal rest on January 14, 1912,

His many friends felt that a good man and a good citizen had gone to his
reward.





CHARLES DRAPER. We are always glad to welcome to the United States the
people of England, between which two countries there now exists the
closest bonds of friendship, and it is very doubtful if these relations
will ever be broken, for each nation is depending in a great degree on
each other, not alone from a commercial standpoint either. We speak the
same tongue, sprang from the same original blood of the ancient Angles and
Saxons and our aims are similar, so we should be friendly. The late
Charles Draper was from the mother country across the Atlantic and he
proved to be a valuable citizen to Greene county, Missouri, where the
latter part of his life was spent.

Mr. Draper was born in England, in the year 1826 and there he grew to
manhood and received his education and made his home until he was thirty
years of age. He was a son of Thomas and Elizabeth Draper, and was one of
a family of five children, all now deceased. After emigrating to America,
about 1872, he located in Billings, Missouri, where he remained a short
time, then moved to Springfield about forty-two years ago and went to
gardening, which business he had followed from his early youth. His
knowledge of this line of work increased with the years until he became
one of the best informed and most successful gardeners in the southern
part of the state and was widely known in Greene county.

Mr. Draper was married in England to Elizabeth Newberry, who was born in
England, January 31, 1829, and there grew to womanhood and was educated.
She is still living on the farm at the foot of South Evans street,
Springfield, owning eighteen acres of valuable land, and although advanced
in years, she is active, and is a woman of executive ability and manages
her affairs well.

The union of Mr. and Mr. Draper was without issue. A sketch of their
adopted son, Joseph N. Draper, engaged in the gardening business, appears
on another page of this volume.

The death of Charles Draper occurred January 27, 1903, in his
seventy-seventh year.





JOSEPH NEWBERRY DRAPER. The life of a gardener is in many respects an
enviable one, and as a rule the men engaged in this vocation are
peaceable, helpful, pleasant citizens, not given to worry and many of the
ills of the flesh of their fellow-men who are engaged in other lines of
business. To the contemplative mind the reason is apparent. The closer to
Nature one lives, the healthier and happier one will be. This statement
can not be successfully refuted and is held by the world's best
philosophers, physicians and thinkers in all lines, from the days of
Aristotle and Homer to the present time. The gardener has little to
antagonize him, to chafe and annoy him in growing his products. He takes a
delight in seeing his plants develop, likes to smell the fresh mould and
feel the heat of the sun, to breathe the fresh air. He thinks broader
thoughts, purer thoughts. He can not well think any other kind.

One of the best known and most successful gardeners in Greene county is
Joseph Newberry Draper, whose, splendid greenhouses are located in the
southern part of Springfield. He hails from an old English home, having
been born on the "merry isle" on July 13, 1866. He is a son of John Draper
and wife, natives of England, where they grew up, were educated and
married. Joseph N., of this sketch, came to the United States when he was
a child, with Charles and Elizabeth Draper, his uncle and aunt, locating
in Greene county, Missouri, about thirty-one years ago, and here our
subject grew to manhood and received his education in the public schools
under Prof. J. Fairbanks. However, his opportunities along this line were
not as adequate as he would have liked.

Mr. Draper was married, November 23, 1892, to Bertha Bemiss, who was born
in Macon county, Missouri, June 22, 1868, and she grew to womanhood in her
native state and received a common school education.

Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Draper, namely: Harold, born
October 8, 1893, is living at home, and Ruth Inez, born June 15, 1907, is
attending school.

Mr. Draper turned his attention to the gardening business when a young man
and this he has continued to follow to the present time and has been very
successful and is now one of the best known and most extensive vegetable
growers in this section of the state and owns the largest greenhouses in
the county, which are located on South Evans street and are modern in
every respect, steam heated from his own large heating plant, and all
other equipment found in the best greenhouses; the ones he operates cover
about an acre of ground. He makes a specialty of raising lettuce and other
vegetables, and also operates about twelve acres besides his greenhouses.
He uses an auto-truck with which he delivers his fresh vegetables to
market over the city every morning. He has been very successful from a
financial standpoint and owns a good home near his greenhouses.





JOHN R. DRITT. The responsible position which John R. Dritt, freight agent
of the Frisco Lines at Springfield, fills while yet a young man, would
indicate that places of merit and responsibility are open to those who are
capable of filling them no matter what their age or early environment may
be. However, our subject had careful preparation, taking sure but definite
steps in his chosen field of endeavor from the time he was a boy, having
all the while been honest both with himself and his employers. This is, no
doubt, the secret of his success.

Mr. Dritt was born in Pierce City, Missouri, November 13, 1880. He is a
son of A. M. and Nancy Jane (Roark) Dritt. The father was born at Tipton,
Missouri. He was engaged in the harness and saddlery business at Pierce
City, where his death occurred in 1892, at the early age of thirty-four
years. Politically he was a Republican, and religiously he belonged to the
Baptist church. The mother of our subject is a daughter of W. B. Roark and
wife. The father is engaged in the mercantile business at Aurora,
Missouri, and in that city Mrs. Dritt is making her home. Three children
were born to the parents of our subject, namely: John R., of this sketch;
Russie, who married E. W. Cave lives in Chicago, where Mr. Cave is engaged
in the automobile business, Wiley M., the third child, who was engaged in
mercantile pursuits at Aurora, this state, died at the age of twenty-six
years. Joseph Dritt, paternal grandfather of these children, was a
prominent citizen of Tipton, Missouri, and was mayor of that town for a
number of years.

John R. Dritt spent most of his early years at Aurora, where the family
located when he was young, and there he attended the common and high
schools. When sixteen years of age he went to work in that town for the
Frisco System. He was messenger boy and did station work. Later he came to
Springfield and engaged in the hotel business, clerking for some time in
the Central hotel, then went back to Aurora and continued station work for
the Frisco, remaining there until 1904, at which time he went to Monroe,
Louisiana, and worked for the National Packing Company, remaining there
until in December, 1905, as cashier and auditor. He then came to
Springfield as cashier for the Frisco in its freight department. In May,
1907, he was promoted to assistant general agent of the general freight
department, and in December, 1911, he was appointed agent of the freight
department, which position he now holds, and the duties of which he is
discharging with his usual fidelity and general satisfaction, and with
much credit to himself. He has under his direction seventy-five clerks.

Mr. Dritt was married on December 15, 1912, to Edith Smith, a daughter of
Earl N. and Lola (Doss) Smith, a well known family of Ash Grove, this
county, where Mrs. Dritt grew to womanhood and was educated. To our
subject and wife one child has been born, Nancy Jane Dritt, who was born
April 27, 1914.

Politically Mr. Dritt is a Democrat. He belongs to the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks, and religiously he attends the Baptist church.





CHARLES J. DRURY. There is a great deal in being born under a good eye,
one that watches and guards off the error and folly that overtake so many
young men. The parents that are able to infuse into their children the
spirit of the Spartans--the spirit that can meet any fate and make the
most of the world-will see their children grow to years of maturity with
excellent habits and splendid principles, and see them become exemplary
citizens. Charles J. Drury, former superintendent of the North Side
machine shops for the Frisco, and a man who had an envied record in his
special line of endeavor, although a young man, was fortunate in having
broad-minded, honest and painstaking parents, so that he looked but upon
the world from a sane, intelligent and comprehensive viewpoint.

Mr. Drury was born September 17, 1878, at Chicago junction, Ohio. He is a
son of M. J. and Mary (Cook) Drury, the former a native of England and the
latter of West Virginia. M. J. Drury was born in May, 1849. He spent his
earlier years in his native land and received a good common school
education, but was young when he came to the United States. He has spent
his life in railroad service. He served his apprenticeship at Parkersburg,
West Virginia, in the shops of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company.
Later he went to Kansas and was general foreman at Parsons in the shops of
the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad Company, from 1880 until 1886, after
which he was gang foreman until 1892 for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
Railroad Company, was general foreman for this road at La Junta, Colorado,
until 1895. From that year until 1902 he was general foreman at Arkansas
City, Kansas, for the same road, and from 1902 to 1906 he was master
mechanic for the same road at Winslow, Arizona. He then was master
mechanic for about a year at Raton, New Mexico, for the same road, and
from 1907 to 1912 he was mechanical superintendent at La Junta, Colorado,
and since then has been at his present location, Topeka, Kansas, as
superintendent of shop. The mother of the subject of this sketch died in
January, 1907.

Charles J. Drury, who was the only child of M. J. Drury and wife, received
his education in the schools of Kansas City, Missouri; Topeka, Kansas, and
La Junta, Colorado, attending the high school in the last named place. He
entered railway service July 1, 1895, from which time until July 1, 1909,
he was machinist apprentice for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad,
at Atchison, Kansas. After serving his four years there he was, until July
1, 1906, machinist for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad, Southern
Pacific Company, Kansas City Southern railway, El Paso & Southwestern
railroad, Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad and other roads. From
July 1, 1906, to July 1, 1908, he was roundhouse foreman of the Santa Fe
at La Junta, Colorado. From November, 1908, to September, 1910, he was
general foreman of the same road at Albuquerque, New Mexico.From September
1, 1910, to April 1, 1911, he was master mechanic on the Oklahoma division
of the same road at Arkansas City, Kansas. From April 1, 1911, until
January, 1913, he was master mechanic of the Plains division of that road
at Amarillo, Texas. From January, 1913, until July of the same year he was
general foreman for the St. Louis & San Francisco railroad at Fort Smith,
Arkansas, and from that date until July, 1914, he was general foreman in
the Springfield shops of this company, and at his death was master
mechanic of the machine shops at Sapulpa, of the Oklahoma division. He was
a master of his special line of work and made a fine record in the
responsible position which he held as he did in all previous positions.
His death occurred October 19, 1914, as a result of typhoid fever.

Mr. Drury was married, in February, 1903, in San Francisco, California, to
Julia McKenry, who was born in Wisconsin, in August, 1880. She is a
daughter of William and Mary McKenry, who reside in Wisconsin.

Five children, four of whom are still living, have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Drury, namely: Mary, born December 25, 1904, died in January, 1908;
Florence, born March 11, 1907; Jack, born August 17, 1909; Charles, born
March 13, 1910; Frances, born January 12, 1913.

Politically, Mr. Drury was a Republican. He was a member of the Catholic
church, and, fraternally, he belonged to the Knights of Columbus.





JAMES E. DULIN. It requires men of grit, courage, coolness and decision to
make a successful locomotive engineer. It takes nerve on many occasions to
meet the unexpected which the engine driver often encounters--wrecks,
washouts, train robbers and various situations where one must think
rapidly and do the right thing at the right time. One of these men is
James E. Dulin, well known in railroad circles of this locality, one of
the oldest engineers on the Frisco running out of Springfield.

Mr. Dulin was born October 26, 1856, at Aledo, Illinois. He is a son of
Edwin R. and Sarah (Artz) Dulin. The father was born April 28, 1825, in
Columbus, Franklin county, Ohio, and the mother was born in Woodstock,
Shenandoah county, Virginia, March 13, 1828, and she moved with her
parents from the Old Dominion to Delaware county, Ohio, in September,
1834, when six years of age, and there she grew to womanhood and married
Mr. Dulin. They both received good educations for those times, Mrs. Dulin
becoming a fine scholar. From Ohio the parents of our subject moved to
Illinois, where they lived on a farm. Leaving that state, they settled in
Missouri and continued farming for a while, then moved to Kansas City,
where Mr. Dulin followed the trade of cooper and carpenter, and there the
death of the mother occurred March 22, 1897; the father died September 19,
1900. They were the parents of nine children, six of whom are still
living, namely: Ernestine; Josephine is deceased; Elwy died February 7,
1915; James, of this sketch; Archie died in infancy; May, Ettie, Lester
and Jesse.

When James E. Dutin was ten years of age the family located in Missouri,
locating in Johnson county, where he grew to manhood and received his
education in the common schools. He was of a mechanical turn of mind, and
his first work was in a woolen mill, where he spent one summer. He began
his railroad career in Urbana, Illinois, in 1873, in the shops there,
later began as fireman on the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western
railroad; he then went to Kansas City, Missouri, and went to work for the
Missouri River, Ft. Scott & Gulf railroad, in March, 1874, as fireman,
running between Kansas City and Ft. Scott, Kansas, and while on this run
was promoted to engineer on March 8, 1880, and transferred to Springfield,
Missouri, on November 7, 1883, to remain here only thirty days, helping
out on the new line; but he remained, and has been running on the Ozark
division, between Springfield and Thayer, and is the oldest engineer in
point of service on this division. This road was purchased by the Frisco
System in 1900. Thirty-one years is an exceptionally long time for a
railroader to work for a company on the same division, and Mr. Dulin's
long retention on this line would indicate that he is efficient,
trustworthy and faithful. In all, Mr. Dulin has been with the same company
for forty-one years.

Mr. Dulin was married June 16, 1881, in Kansas City, to Lillah H. Hagerty,
who was born in Princeton, Illinois, December 25, 1860. She is a daughter
of Rev. T. H. Hagerty, of St. Louis, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal
church. He has answered the roll call sixty-two consecutive times in St.
Louis Conference and is ex-chaplain-in-chief of the Grand Army of the
Republic. At present he is chaplain of the Ransom Post Grand Army of the
Republic, of St. Louis, Missouri. His wife, who was a Hull before her
marriage and a daughter of Rev. H. Hull, a Presbyterian minister, has been
deceased several years, her death occurring July 15, 1872. After her
mother's death she was reared in the family of J. Radle, Esquire, of
Meadeville, Pennsylvania, and there received her education. Mrs. Dulin
received a good education, being a graduate of Lewis College, Glasgow,
Missouri.

Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dulin, namely: Elsie, born
June 7, 1882, died April 29, 1884; Jamie H., born October 24, 1883, was
educated in the Springfield schools, graduating from Drury Academy. He now
lives in Chicago and is a designing artist, maintaining a studio of his
own there, where he turns out some very fine work in his line. He married
Dorothy Sessna; Everett, born. January 23, 1899, is a junior at this
writing in the Springfield high school.

Politically, Mr. Dulin is a Republican of the Progressive wing. He belongs
to the Methodist Episcopal church and is a member of Division 378
Brotherhood of Engineers. Fraternally, he is a Mason, and for the past
twenty-four years has been a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles
of the Mystic Shrine.





ANDREW B. DUNCAN. It requires not only close application and studious
habits to succeed in this day and age as a photographer, but also a
natural esthetic taste. These characteristics are undoubtedly possessed by
Andrew B. Duncan, one of the leading photographers of Springfield and
southwestern Missouri, a man whose work has kept well abreast of the times
and whose studio it is a pleasure to inspect by those who delight in and
appreciate art of a high order.

Mr. Duncan was born, April 20, 1850, in Ontario, Canada. He is a son of
Donald McDonald Duncan and Dorothy (Gennett) Duncan. The father was born
near Grennock, Scotland, January 15, 1812, and the mother was a native of
Ireland, born in 1815. They grew up in the British Isles and received
limited educations, were married there and remained in that country until
they emigrated to Canada, and there they kept an inn until the father's
death in the year 1864. The mother died in Ottawa, Canada, in 1873. The
maternal grandfather of our subject was captain of the Coast Guards in
Cork, Ireland. His name was Andrew Bennett. Nine children were born to
Donald M. Duncan and wife, only three of whom survive at this writing,
namely: Isabelle, Andrew B., and Frederick T.

Andrew B. Duncan grew to manhood in Canada and he received his education
in the common and high schools of Ottawa. When a young man he took a
position with the Singer Manufacturing Company in Montreal, which he held
for some time, and was in the sewing machine business for a period of
twenty years, during which time he became thoroughly conversant with every
phase of the business and made a success. He came to Kansas City,
Missouri, in 1886, where he was connected with the White Sewing Machine
Company for a period of five years. In 1891 he began his career as
photographer for which he had not only a natural liking but a decided
innate ability and consequently was successful from the start. For ten
years he was official photographer for the Frisco railroad, using his own
private car, which was a model in every respect of its kind. He traveled
extensively and did high grade work for which he was commended by the
officials of the road. He came to Springfield in 1903 and located at the
old Sittler place on St. Louis street. He was burned out there and he then
moved to his present location. Since coming to this city he has enjoyed a
large and constantly growing business and his neat and modernly appointed
studio is visited by people from all over the Southwest. His work is
high-grade in every respect. He is an expert at posing as well as in
finishing and he is never behind in the changing styles in his art.

Mr. Duncan was married on December 22, 1873, in Arnprior, Canada, to Mary
Lyon, a native of that place, where she was reared and educated. The union
of our subject and wife has been without issue.

Mr. Duncan is a member of the Masonic Order, including the Knights Templar
and Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He holds
membership in the Calvary Presbyterian church.





HARRY D. DURST. It is not an easy task to adequately describe the
character of a man who has led an eminently active and busy life in
connection with the great legal profession and who has stamped his
individuality on the plane of definite accomplishment in one of the most
exacting fields of human endeavor. Yet there is always full measure of
satisfaction in adverting, even in a casual way, to the career of an able
and conscientious worker in any line of human endeavor. Among the truly
self-made and representative men of Greene county, none ranks higher than
Harry D. Durst, who stands in the front rank of the bar in Springfield,
and he has become a conspicuous figure in the civic life of this locality.
A man of tireless energy and indomitable courage, he has won and held the
unqualified esteem of his fellow citizens. With the law as his profession
from young manhood, he has won a brilliant reputation and the future gives
promise of still much greater things for him.

Mr. Durst was born in Springfield, Missouri, August 27, 1869. He is the
only child of David H. and Annie E. (Julian) Durst. He grew to manhood in
his native city and received his education in the local schools, which,
however, has been greatly supplemented in later years by wide reading,
home study and contact with the world, until he is today an exceptionally
well informed man on current affairs, as well as all phases of
jurisprudence and the world's best literature. In his youth he took an
apprenticeship as an iron moulder and mastered that trade before reaching
his majority. He was too ambitious to accomplish something worth while in
the world to be contented to spend his life in the routine work of a
foundry, and began studying law while working at his trade and, making
rapid progress, was admitted to the bar on January 16, 1892. He has since
that time practiced this profession successfully, and is one of the best
known lawyers in southwest Missouri. For years his name has been
prominently connected with the important cases in all the Springfield
courts, and in cases in other parts of the Ozark country. He has kept well
abreast of the times in all that pertains to his profession, is not only a
thorough and indefatigable student of the law, but a strong, vigorous,
logical and effective advocate, earnest and eager, combining in a singular
manner general equanimity and a certain nervous energy. He always
carefully studies his cases, and is therefore well prepared to try them
when he enters court. He is a forceful debater, clear in his logic,
convincing in his argument, courteous to his associates and opponents, and
always dignified in, his deportment to the court as well as witnesses,
avoiding, as far as possible, wounding the feelings of anyone. He is
regarded as able, reliable, honest and safe. In earlier years, Mr. Durst
went to the Indian Territory when immigration was seething in strongly to
that portion of the Southwest, and was a resident there for three years.

In 1898, when the Spanish-American war broke out, Mr. Durst answered the
first call for volunteers by President McKinley, and served as a
lieutenant in Company K, Second Missouri Infantry, United States
Volunteers. He is a very active member of the Spanish War Veterans, and
has been twice elected judge advocate of the department of Missouri in
that organization and is at present the state commander of that
organization. Mr. Durst was married on January 10, 1900, to Eva Dickerson,
only daughter of Jerome and Susan (Geary) Dickerson, a prominent family of
Springfield, formerly of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Mrs. Durst was
born, reared and given the advantages of an excellent education. She is a
lady of culture and genial address. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Durst has
been blessed by the birth of three children, namely: Robert D. was
graduated from the ward schools with the class of 1914; Dorothy D. and
Harry D., Jr.

Politically, Mr. Durst is an uncompromising Democrat and has long been a
worker in the interest of the party, one of the leaders of the same in
southwest Missouri. He was for many years a member of the city council of
Springfield, during which time he did much for the general good of the
municipality. He was a candidate for Democratic nomination for Congress in
19l4. He made a splendid campaign, but was defeated. He is a man of
steadfast purpose, studious habits, gentlemanly manners and an orator of
no mean ability. He has contributed of his time and means to help the
cause of Democracy, and is a tireless worker for clean government,
advocating honesty in politics as well as wholesome living in social and
private life. He has filled numerous positions of trust with marked
fidelity and with credit to his party. His broad experience, obliging
disposition, his ready wit, keen intellectual discernment and unassuming
personality pre-eminently qualify him for high office. His unfailing good
judgment, correct sense of fairness and courage in his stand for the right
in all relations of life has been proven. His frankness, his tenacity in
clinging to high ideals and his indomitable fighting qualities have won
the confidence and respect of a host of stanch friends who will continue
to stand by him regardless of party alignment.

He is now in the prime of life, with a will and constitution that enable
him to make possible his strongest professional achievements. He is
possessed of the warmest sympathies and charities, is held in the highest
esteem by members of the bar throughout southern Missouri, and by friends
and neighbors, who entertain the profoundest regard for his character and
virtues. Mr. Durst and his family are members of the St. Paul Methodist
Episcopal church, South.






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