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




DANIEL MARTIN NEE. One of the most promising of the younger members of the
Greene county bar is Daniel Martin Nee, a member of the firm of De Vorss &
Nee. He seems to be the possessor of the necessary qualification for a
success in the legal field and has most carefully prepared himself for his
chosen calling, taking a great deal more pains in this respect than many
of the older lawyer's. By wise and judicious legislation, a barrier has
been interposed against an easy and miscellaneous invasion of the legal
profession, and those who propose to enter it must submit to the rigid
requirements of the laws of the present time. The prescribed course of
study must be observed, the ordeal of examination must be borne, and fixed
grades and standards must be touched before the applicant can cross the
statutory line that separates him from the bar. The result is, the
profession draws its nutriment from a better, cleaner, stronger and more
intellectual class--men fitted for the profession and who will sustain its
high character. Our subject is of this class.

Mr. Nee was born at Thayer, Oregon county, Missouri, April 1, 1888, but
most of his life has been spent in Springfield, Greene county, whither the
family removed when he was a child. He is a son of Coleman C. and Mary
(Foley) Nee, both natives of Ireland, and from his progenitors our subject
seems to have inherited many characteristics of the Celtic race which will
be of inestimable benefit to him as a lawyer. These parents spent their
earlier years in the Emerald Isle, from which they emigrated to the United
States when young. The Foley ancestry were mostly tillers of the soil.
Coleman C. Nee received his education in the common schools of his native
locality and when eighteen years of age emigrated to our shores. Finally
penetrating into the Middle West, he took up his residence at Thayer,
Missouri, where he engaged in business. Seeking a larger field for his
operations, he removed to Springfield twenty years ago and has been a
successful business man here ever since, well known about town and highly
respected. Patrick Nee, the paternal grandfather, was born in Ireland,
lived and died there, following the sea for a livelihood; in fact, most of
the Nee progenitors were sailors by profession, and noted for their
ability and bravery in this line.

Daniel M. Nee grew to manhood in Springfield and here he received his
education, first attending the parochial schools, later was graduated from
the public schools and high school and attended Drury College for a time.
In 1906 he entered the law department of the University of Missouri, where
he made a splendid record and from which he was graduated with the class
of 1912. In July of that year he commenced practicing in Springfield in
partnership with J. T. De Vorss, and notwithstanding the fact that the
firm is a new one, the are doing a very satisfactory volume of business,
with very bright prospects, their auspicious start auguring well for the
future.

Mr. Nee has for some time been well known locally as an athlete and has
devoted considerable attention to athletics, of which he has been a
successful teacher, and has coached many baseball and football teams with
gratifying results, and at this writing he is in charge of the athletic
teams at Drury College. He was a professional baseball player, and by his
excellent work during vacation periods as a member of some good team he
earned money to defray his expenses in college, thus being enabled to
obtain his professional education.

Mr. Nee is unmarried. He is a Democrat politically, and in religious
matters is a Catholic. He is a member of the University Club and the Sigma
Chi. He was popular among the students while in school in Springfield and
at the University.




MARION A. NELSON. We do not find many Greene county people who originally
came from Arkansas. The reason is perhaps that they have as good a country
as ours and find it to their advantage to stay at home. Arkansas is a
great state every respect, greater than most citizens in other states ever
dream. This is due partly to the fact that there has never been a "boom"
there, the railroads have not put forth much effort to advertise it, as
they have had such over rated states as Oklahoma, Florida and California,
consequently the general public does not really know of the vast resources
and opportunities, to be found in the state just to the south of us.
Marion A. Nelson, engaged in the life insurance business in Springfield,
is one of the enterprising young men from that state who has cast his lot
with the people of Greene county.

Mr. Nelson was born at Wilmar, Drew county, Arkansas, November 20, 1875.
He is a son of Thomas D. and Maggie N. (Alexander) Nelson. The father was
born in Tennessee, in which state he grew to manhood and, there enlisted
in a regiment in the Confederate army during the Civil War, serving with
credit until the close of the conflict. After the war he came to Arkansas
and engaged in the lumber business until 1882, when he went to Louisiana,
where he has since made his home, and there he is still engaged in
business. His family consisted of nine children. The maternal grandfather
of our subject was a native of the state of Mississippi, and during the
Civil war he was a soldier in the Confederate army and was killed in
battle. His family consisted of three children, all now deceased. His
daughter, Maggie N. Alexander, mother of our subject, died April 25, 1914,
in Dubach, Louisiana.

Marion A. Nelson spent his childhood in Drew county, Arkansas, being seven
years of age when he removed with his parents to northern Louisiana, where
he grew to manhood and received his education in the public schools there.
After graduating from the high school in his community he began his career
by entering the lumber and mercantile business, continuing these lines
with ever-increasing success in northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas
until 1909, when he took a position with the Equitable Life Assurance
Society, in which his advancement has been rapid, and he now occupies the
responsible position of agency manager for this district, with
headquarters at Springfield, and he is discharging his duties in an able
and faithful manner that is highly satisfactory to the company.

Mr. Nelson was married on February 17, 1902, to Pearl Hale, at Junction
City, Arkansas, and they resided at that place until 1913, when they
removed to Springfield, Missouri, where they have since made their home.
They are the parents of four children, namely: Marion Hale, James Denny,
Maurice Sanders and Rose Elizabeth.

Politically, Mr. Nelson is a Democrat. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Masonic order, including the Royal Arch degree. He has long been quite
active and influential in this order, and while in Arkansas was deputy
grandmaster. He has also been a member of the Knights of Pythias for many
years, and has been equally active and prominent in this order, having
passed all the chairs while living in Arkansas. He is a member of St.
Paul's Methodist Episcopal church, South, in Springfield. He and his wife
have made many warm friends since locating in this city.




JOHN GLENN NEWBILL. Judge John G. Newbill, the present judge of the police
court of Springfield, is serving his second term in that now important
office. When reelected in April, 1914, he was the only candidate on the
Democratic ticket who carried every ward in the city. He was appointed by
President Cleveland to the position of register of the United States land
office at Springfield in 1894, and discharged the duties of that office
during a term of four years, more than a year of which time was under the
administration of President McKinley. Judge Newbill is also editor of The
Express, an earnest and strictly reliable Democratic weekly newspaper that
he established on April 1, 1881. For a period of fourteen years he was the
efficient secretary of the Democratic central committee of Greene county,
and during all his journalistic career he has been a well known
correspondent of different metropolitan daily newspapers, as well as agent
of the Associated Press when William Henry Smith was its able manager.

John Glenn Newbill is a native of southwest Missouri, his first
recollection beginning on his father's fine farm two and one-half miles
west of Springfield on the Mt. Vernon road. His father, Tyree Glenn
Newbill, was a native of Franklin county, Virginia, in which all his
ancestors located when they came to America during the days of the
colonies, prior to the Revolution, in which a number of them took an
active part as soldiers in the army of General Washington. Judge Newbill's
parents came to Greene county in the early fifties, and his father was one
of the most enterprising farmers and stock raisers in this section. He was
the president of the local fair association the two years preceding the
War of the Rebellion, and like his son, was an earnest and devoted Free
Mason, the names of both as members being in the archives of United Lodge
No. 5 and Springfield Chapter No. 15, Royal Arch Masons. Judge Newbill is
also a thirty-second degree Mason of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish
Rite, his membership being in Joplin Consistory No. 3, at Joplin,
Missouri.




EDWARD F. NEWTON. Why is it that railway magnates, presidents of banks and
heads of great enterprises who must perforce do business in cities, almost
all try to have homes on farms in the country, where they develop soils,
plant crops and breed animals? It is because there is wearisome monotony
in piled up brick and stone. There is confusion in crowded streets and
clanging trolley cars and hot smoky railways. These things man has made,
and they are needful, but they are not life, much as the farm boy may
imagine them to be. It is the dream of millions of country bred boys to
get established in some city, but after they have tried urban life a few
years and see the many objectionable phases of it, they begin to have
other dreams of returning to the farm, where there is more freedom, better
health and greater happiness. Edward F. Newton, well known farmer and
breeder of live stock of Franklin township, Greene county, has been wise
enough to establish himself in the country.

Mr. Newton was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, March 2, 1864. He is a son
of Hiram and Caroline (Kite) Newton. The father was born in Massachusetts,
from which state he came with his parents to Bowling Green, Kentucky, when
voting and there spent the rest of his life, engaged principally at the
carpenter's trade, his death occurring in 1865, when about fifty-two years
of age. Politically, he was a Democrat. He owned valuable property in
Bowling Green. His wife was born in Warren county, Kentucky, and her death
occurred also in the year 1865, when forty-four years of age. To these
parents fourteen children were born, named as follows: Richard, James,
John, Hiram, Jr., are all deceased; George lives at Beaver Dam, Kentucky;
Andrew Jackson and Silas are both deceased; Edward F. of this sketch;
Mary, Fanny, and Eliza are deceased; the next child died in infancy; the
two youngest, twins, also died in infancy.

Edward F. Newton was reared by his sister, Mrs. Elizabeth McCrary, with
whom he came to Greene county, Missouri, when a child, the family locating
near Ebenezer, and bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres on which
our subject remained until he was twenty-two years of age. He received a
common school education.

Mr. Newton has been twice married, first, to Nettie Berry, a daughter of
William and Martha (Latham) Berry. She was born in Franklin township, this
county. William Berry was born in Tennessee, from which state he came to
Greene county, Missouri, when young, making the tedious overland journey
with an ox team, bringing his wife and household effects. He settled on
rough land, which he cleared and developed by hard work, and here he and
his wife spent the rest of their lives, dying on the farm now, owned by
our subject. Mr. Berry purchased one hundred and sixty acres of railroad
land, later took up other railroad land. He devoted his active life to
general farming.

Mr. Newton was married again in 1909 to Mrs. Elva (White) Massey, which
union has been without issue, but he is the father of seven children by
his first wife, namely: Roy, born September 20, 1886, married Mazie Murray
and lives in Springfield; Ethel, born March 28, 1889, married John Jacoby,
lives in Springfield and they have one child, Kenneth; Theodore, born
August 5, 1892, married Bertha Goetz and they live in Franklin township;
Ralph, born November 4, 1894; Maver, born August 13, 1897; Harold, born
July 13, 1900; and Thelma, born October 24, 1903. Their mother died
February 6. 1903.

Mr. Newton moved to his present farm in 1885, after his first marriage. He
has prospered through his close application, sound judgment and honest
dealings, and he is now owner of one of the choice farms of the township,
consisting of two hundred and fifty-three acres, of well improved and
productive land, all under cultivation, but ten acres in timber. He built
his present substantial residence, also outbuildings, in 1904. In 1912 he
built a modern breeding barn, thirty-two by forty feet, with box stalls
and other conveniences found only on up-to-date farms. In connection with
general farming he makes a specialty of breeding live stock and owns some
fine animals which are greatly admired by all. At present he has three
jacks and two stallions–Black Eagle, Blue John and Silver Song, Skelix and
Young Roman. Black Eagle is a fine black jack with mealy points, fourteen
and one-half hands high, heavy bodied, high headed, large flat heavy
boned. He was sired by old Ratter, a large breeder, well known in the
southern part of Polk county. Black Eagle's dam was a mammoth jennett,
stood fifteen hands high. Eagle's sire and dam were both high bred
animals, making Black Eagle a well-bred jack. Blue John is a blue jack,
fifteen hands high, jack measure, and is well known throughout Greene
county to all breeders. His colts are heavy-boned, with good heads, and
always make big fine mules that never fail to top the market. Silver Song
is a fine black jack, weighing about one thousand pounds, and is fourteen
and three-quarters hands high; he is sired by Big Eagle, dam, Lad M.
Skelix is a dark bay stallion fifteen and one-half hands high, black
points, weighing eleven hundred pounds. His sire is Kiosk, No. 21359, Vol.
12, page 88. Trotting record, 2 31, sire of five trotters in the list;
chestnut, star, one white hind foot: sixteen hands high; weight over
twelve hundred pounds; sire, Kremlin, 2:07 3/4, trotting; champion of the
world in 1892. Dam, Ellsta, 2:20; dam of Elison. 2:17, trotting; second
dam Green Mountain Maid; dam of nine 2:30 trotters. Young Roman is a draft
stallion, eight years old in 1915, sixteen and one-half hands high, weight
seventeen hundred pounds. He is three-fourths Percheron, has fine style
and action, is an extra well made horse with large heavy bone. He is an
entirely black stallion. Young Roman was sired by Roman Prince, an
imported and thoroughbred Percheron. He weighed two thousand pounds and
was as fine a breeder as the southwest has ever afforded. His dam is a
large black mare, one-half Percheron, and weighs fifteen hundred pounds.

Politically, Mr. Newton is a Republican, but he has never been active in
public affairs or held office. He is a member of the Anti-Horse Thief
Association. Fraternally, he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, at
Springfield, also the Royal Neighbors. He and his wife are members of the
Methodist church at Pleasant Valley. He is a great lover of good horses
and mules and is a good judge of them. He is a home man, is sociable, is
well acquainted over the county and has hosts of friends everywhere.




JOB NEWTON. It is proper to judge of a man's life by the estimation in
which he is held by his fellow citizens. They see him at his work, in his
family circle, in church, hear his views on public questions, observe the
operations of his code of morals, witness how he conducts himself in all
the relations of society and civilization and are therefore competent to
judge of his merits and demerits. After a long course of years of daily
observations, it would be out of the question for his neighbors not to
know of his worth, for, as has been often said, "Actions speak louder than
words." In this connection it is not too much to say that Job Newton,
well-known business man of Springfield, has ever stood high in the
estimation of his acquaintances here, during his residence of forty-five
years, for his conduct has been honorable in all the relations of life and
his duty well performed whether in private or public life, and that he has
ever been industrious, never waiting for some one else to perform his
tasks. He is one of the surviving band of the famous "forty-niners" in
Greene county, and his reminiscences of his various experiences in the
pioneer days when he was a young man are indeed interesting.

Mr. Newton was born five miles from Georgetown, Delaware, July 28, 1826.
He is a son, of ______ and Mary Ann (Mariner) Newton, each parent of
English descent. Mr. Newton's father died when he was an infant, and he
has no recollection of him. His mother brought him overland through a long
stretch of wilderness from Delaware to St. Louis, Missouri, in the year
1838; her other two children were Ann and Benjamin. Soon thereafter a
brother of our subject's mother came to St. Louis and removed her and her
children to Wabash, Indiana, in 1839, and there she spent the rest of her
life, dying in 1848.

Job Newton grew to manhood in St. Louis, was educated there in the public
schools and married there, remaining in that city until 1869, when he
removed his family to Springfield, where he has since made his home. He
first engaged in the woolen mill and fur business in St. Louis, but upon
reaching Springfield, he went into the dry goods business in which he
remained about eight years, enjoying a good trade, then he started a
produce business which gradually grew with advancing years until it
reached extensive proportions and he is still thus engaged, with the
exception of one year spent in Kansas City. He now handles not only
produce but grain, hay and seed under the firm name of the Newton Grain
Company, of which he is president, Dwight E. Newton being secretary and
treasurer. They have a large substantial building and their operations
extend over a vast territory. Although our subject is now advanced in
years, being nearly eighty-nine years old, he is hale and hearty and is
still actively engaged in business.

Mr. Newton was married in the fall of 1856 to Minerva C. Ault, a native of
Ohio, from which state she removed with her parents to Missouri when she
was a child. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Newton, three of
whom are still living, namely: Harry C. is the eldest; Joseph and
Jefferson are both deceased; Emmitt and Dwight E. are the two youngest,
the latter being associated with his father in business, and the former is
manager of the Lander theater of this city.

Mr. Newton is a member of the Masonic Order, United Lodge No. 5, Royal
Arch Chapter No. 15, is past commander of St. John's Commandery, No. 20,
and is also a member of the Chapter, also the Ancient Arabic Order of
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and is past grand patron of the Eastern Star
of Missouri; he has long been prominent in Masonic circles. Politically,
he is a Democrat and has been more or less active in public affairs, and
has been a member of the city council twice, and in the earlier years of
his residence here he was chairman of the Democratic committee.

One of the most interesting chapters in Mr. Newton's life is that relating
to his trip to the far West, when he crossed the plains with the gold
seekers in 1849, and had the distinction of taking the first goods into
Salt Lake City, Utah, after the Mormons had settled there. He started on
his long journey from St. Louis on March 17, of that year, and arrived in
California the following October, going the Truckee route, and he built
the second house in the city of Grass Valley, California. He returned to
St. Louis in 1851 by the Nicaragua route, on a Vanderbilt vessel, the
first line run in opposition to the Pacific Mail route, Mr. Newton being
one of the first passengers to come over this route. He crossed the
Isthmus of Panama in 1855 en route to San Francisco, California, and in
the spring of 1856 he returned to St. Louis, coming back via the Nicaragua
route. In the spring of 1868 he came to Springfield, having sold his
business interests in St. Louis. He immediately took up activities in the
dry goods business, and in the spring of 1869 he moved his family here,
where they have since remained with the exception of one year, which was
spent in Kansas City. In the spring of 1854 he again crossed the arid and
wild lands of the western territories, freighting to Salt Lake City,
having charge of about twenty-five wagons, and he took a large herd of
cattle on into California.




A. D. NICHOLS. Few young men of Springfield have achieved signal success
in an important calling so early as has A. D. Nichols. His career bears
out the oft-heard statement that this is a young man's age and that
positions of importance and lucrative remuneration are open to the youth
of good habits and industry.

Mr. Nichols was born in Springfield, Missouri, December 19, 1884, and here
grew to manhood and received good educational advantages. He began his
railroad career when seventeen years of age as clerk and stenographer for
his father, D. H. Nichols, a sketch of whose life occurs on preceding
pages. The latter was at that time vice-president and general manager of
the Pecos Lines, also Southern Kansas Railway Company of Texas, which
properties belonged to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company.
A. D. Nichols was employed at various places in New Mexico, Texas and
Kansas while connected with the Santa Fe, his principal work being
stenographer and secretary to the different officials at that time
connected with the road. He remained in the Southwest practically two
years and then went to the Frisco System at Springfield, Missouri, where
he was connected with the road's transportation department, having a
clerical position under C. R. Gray, who was at that time superintendent of
transportation of the Frisco.

Mr. Nichols remained with the Frisco System until he was twenty-two years
of age, and in May, 1907, went to Louisiana. He was with his father and
later with J. M. Parker during the promotion of the Arkansas, Louisiana &
Gulf Railway Company, and after construction was started held various
positions, having run track gangs, work trains and had charge of the steam
shovel work. After the line was completed and in operation, which was
September, 1908, he went into train service in the capacity of conductor,
where he remained for a year. In 1909 he went into the office of W. J.
Hillyer, at that time superintendent, as chief clerk, remaining with Mr.
Hillyer one year, and 1910 was spent by Mr. Nichols as chief clerk for T.
J. Shelton, traffic manager at Monroe, Louisiana. From 1910 Until May 30,
1913, he was employed as chief clerk to the general manager and car
service agent. On June 1, 1913, he was employed as superintendent of
transportation under J. M. Parker, receiver for the above named road, and
this responsible position he has filled to the present time in a manner
that has reflected much credit upon his ability and to the satisfaction of
all concerned. His headquarters are in Monroe, Louisiana, in which city he
now makes his home.

Mr. Nichols was married in the city of Monroe on January 4, 1911, to
Bernice Margaret Renwick, a young lady of culture, and the representative
of a fine old Southern family. To this union one child has been born, Joel
Rountree Nichols, who is one year old at this writing.

Fraternally Mr. Nichols is a member of the Masonic Order, the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks, and religiously he belongs to the Episcopal
church. He is a young man of exemplary habits and genial address and
judging from his commendable career in railroad service of the past, the
biographer predicts for him a future replete with honor and success.




CAPT. DANTON H. NICHOLS. Praise is always due to merit and especially
where merit is the product of unassisted energy and perseverance. The
self-made man commands our highest respect. The struggles by means of
which he has risen from obscurity to honorable distinction cannot fail to
enlist sympathy and call forth our warmest applause, and too, the record
of a life well spent, of triumph over obstacles, of perseverance under
difficulties and steady advancement from a modest beginning to a place of
honor and distinction in the industrial world, when imprinted on the pages
of history, present to the youth of the rising generation an example
worthy of emulation and may also be studied with profit by those of more
mature years whose achievements have not kept pace with their
expectations. On the roster of the names of those who have been
prominently identified with the development and upbuilding of Springfield
and southwest Missouri that of the late Capt. Danton H. Nichols merits a
place of honor. The major portion of his brilliant career was spent in
this city, and ever during that epoch his energies were effectively
directed along normal lines of industry and business
enterprise-railroading-through which he made distinct contribution to the
progress of this favored section of Missouri, and the same may be said of
him in other localities of the nation, for he was one of the most
prominent men of his field of endeavor in the United States for a number
of years and held many high and responsible positions. His life was one of
signal integrity and usefulness and such was his association with the
varied affairs of the Queen City that it is altogether proper that a
record of his strenuous, varied, useful and honorable career be
perpetuated in this publication.

Capt. Nichols was born in Lima, Ohio, on August 14, 1849, and was a son of
Mathias H. and Sylvia S. (Fisher) Nichols. The father was born in New
Jersey in the year 1827, and he spent his boyhood in his native state,
emigrating to Ohio when nineteen years of age, among the pioneers, and
locating at Lima, and he published the first newspaper in that town,
called The Allen County Gazette. He became a prominent man in that section
of Ohio, and when only twenty-four years of age was elected to Congress.
His death occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the early age of thirty-nine
years.

Thrown upon his own resources at the age of seventeen years, Danton H.
Nichols carved out his own fortune unaided. He had received a fair
education in the common schools of Lima and in the Illinois Military
Academy, which he attended two and one-half years. At the age mentioned he
came to Missouri and secured a job as peanut vender on trains out of St.
Louis. He afterward held various positions on the old Atlantic & Pacific
Railroad, which he filled with such satisfaction that the head officials
offered him the position of division superintendent of the road. This was
in 1875, and in 1881 he was advanced to the position of master of
transportation. He was for some time general superintendent of this road,
which is now a part of the Frisco System. Leaving the latter road, he went
to the New York & New England Railway to straighten out a freight
blockade. He did his work so promptly and thoroughly that when it was
finished he was made general superintendent of that road. He returned to
Missouri a year later to attend to some mining interests, after which he
went to Mexico as superintendent of construction of the Pecos Valley
System. When this road was built from Roswell, New Mexico, to Amarillo,
Texas, he was made general manager and vice president. He later left the
Pecos System to become president of the Kansas Southwestern Railway. After
two years in this position he returned to Springfield to live, and during
the three years following was with the Frisco Company rebuilding its lines
in southwestern Missouri. He then went to Monroe, Louisiana, as
superintendent of the construction of the Arkansas, Louisiana & Gulf
Railway, from Monroe to Hamburg and Crossett, Arkansas. After completing
this line he took tip the promotion of the line from Monroe through
southwest Arkansas.

It was while Capt. Nichols was general superintendent of the Frisco that a
fierce contest broke out among the officials of that road. Vice-president
John O'Day was on one side and Capt. Nichols and E. D. Kenna, assistant
general attorney, were on the other side. The fight became as bitter as a
political campaign and Springfield was the storm center. It resulted in
both O'Day and Nichols tendering their resignation, but Captain Nichols
remained sixty days after Mr. O'Day. Mr. Kenna remained with the Frisco
for a number of years as general attorney, but finally went to the Santa
Fe.

The business motto of Mr. Nichols was, "Do that which your sense of right
demands, leaving the consequences to take care of themselves," and this he
tried to observe at all times. One of the north side organizations of
railroad men was named for Mr. Nichols, and Nichols junction, the first
station west of Springfield on the Frisco was also named for him, as well
as Nichols street in the city of Springfield. He was greatly interested in
the upbuilding of the northern business section of Springfield, and he
also did much for the development of Drury College and was a decided
friend to the churches of all denominations, and every church in this city
received aid from him, which was always gladly and freely given, but in a
quiet manner. He was charitably inclined, but not in order to gain the
plaudits of his fellow-men, rather from a sense of duty and spirit of
genuine altruism. He became very religious during the latter part of his
life, and was instrumental in establishing Episcopal missions in New
Mexico and Louisiana.

Captain Nichols was married in St. Louis on September 9, 1874, to Kate
Cummings, a lady of culture and many estimable attributes and a
representative of a sterling old family. She is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Daniel Cummings. She was reared in St. Louis and there received an
excellent education. Four children blessed the union of our subject and
wife, namely: Mary, born in St. Louis on March 4, 1876, is the wife of E.
B. Cowell, of Springfield; Sylvia S., born in St. Louis on October 15,
1878, is the wife of Seth Barham, chief accountant of the American
Radiator Company, Chicago; Clara, born in Springfield on December 7, 1882,
is the wife of Joel H. Rountree, of Springfield, and Arthur D., born in
Springfield on December 19, 1884, is superintendent of transportation for
the Arkansas, Louisiana & Gulf Railway, and lives in Monroe, Louisiana.

Politically Captain Nichols was a Democrat. Fraternally he belonged to the
Masonic Order, including St. John's Commandery, No 20, Knights Templar,
and was past master of Wentworth Lodge, No. 113, Ancient Order of United
Workmen. Captain Nichols was a charter member of Knights Templar of
Springfield and a member of the Mystic Shrine of Salina, Kansas.

The death of Captain Nichols occurred suddenly and without warning at
Monroe, Louisiana, on November 27, 1910, at the age of sixty-one years.
The funeral was held from the beautiful Nichols residence on East Cherry
street, conducted by Rev. F. F. Beckerman, rector of Christ Episcopal
church, with which the decedent held membership. Interment was made in
Maple Park cemetery. Captain Nichols will long be greatly missed by a very
wide circle of acquaintances and friends.

The following resolutions adopted at a meeting of the vestry of Grace
church at Monroe, Louisiana, December 5, 1910, signed by a committee
composed of Archdeacon M. R. Carson, LeDoux E. Smith and John G. Sanders:

"Whereas it has pleased Almighty God in His infinite wisdom and love to
remove from our midst the spirit of Danton H. Nichols, a member of the
vestry of Grace church, Monroe, Louisiana;

"And, whereas, his associates on that vestry and the congregation have
lost in him one whose counsel and example were at all times helpful and
inspiring;

"Therefore, be it resolved, That a formal record be made upon minutes of
the sense of genuine sorrow that is entertained by reason of his death.

"In Captain Nichols we saw a man of the deepest religious convictions. At
all times charitable, always regular and faithful in his devotions,
constantly endeavoring to realize the highest precepts of his church, he
stood as a splendid exemplar of the Christian faith. We shall miss him
deeply, and we shall long cherish the recollection of his noble life.

"Be it further resolved, that a copy of these resolutions be forwarded the
family of Captain Nichols with the assurance of our deepest and
profoundest sympathy."





GEORGE WILLIAM NICHOLS. During his residence in Springfield of nearly
thirty years, George William Nichols has figured as one of our most
enterprising business men. He has been by no means an idle spectator to
the growth of the city from a small town to a city of wealth and
importance. He had the sagacity to foresee the great future of the same
when he came here and he never lost faith in her great destiny, and no one
takes a greater pride in seeing the Queen City advance along all lines
than he. Mr. Nichols has been an advocate of right living not only in
private but commercial and public life as well, and he is recognized as an
upright citizen, square and honest in his dealings with his fellow-men,
and as one that can be relied upon when called to perform any of the
duties of a faithful citizen.

Mr. Nichols was born in Lincoln county, Missouri, February 11, 1851. He is
a son of Chesley H. and Sarah Ann (Sitton) Nichols, both natives of that
county also, and there, they grew up, were educated and married and there
established their home on a farm and spent their lives there, the father
dying in 1873 at the age of fifty-six years, and the mother survived to
the advanced age of eighty-six years. William Sitton, the maternal
grandfather of our subject, was at one time sheriff of Lincoln county. To
Chesley H. Nichols and wife six children were born, three sons and three
daughters, namely: George William, of this sketch; Mathias P., Jonathan
C., Mrs. Anna Johnston; Mrs. Melissa Williams, and Mrs. Fannie L. Martin.

Jonathan C. Nichols who was born in April, 1865, resides in Springfield,
and has been connected in business with his brother, George W., of this
sketch for the past five years. He married Laura A. Dillard, in October,
1889, in Lincoln county, Missouri; she is a daughter of John A. and Anna
(See) Dillard, both parents dying many years ago. Four children have been
born to Jonathan C. Nichols and wife, namely: Olin C., born in 1892;
Myrtle E., born in 1896; Dora Ida, born in 1905; and Roy Dillard, born in
1907. These children were given good educational advantages in the
Springfield schools.

George W. Nichols grew to manhood in Lincoln county, Missouri, and there
received his education in the public schools. He assisted his father with
the general work on the home farm, and continued farming until 1885, when
he came to Springfield, and engaged in the grocery business, soon
afterward adding the wood, coal, feed and fuel business, and conducted
both branches with much success until 1903 when he abandoned the grocery
store, and has devoted his attention exclusively ever since to the feed
and fuel business in which he has built up a very extensive trade, and has
one of the best established businesses in this line in the city.

Mr. Nichols was married in September, 1877, to Mary Ida Moore, of St.
Charles county, Missouri, where she grew to womanhood and received her
education. She was a daughter of S. W. and Mary (Griffith) Moore, of Pike
county, this state, where they spent their lives engaged in farming. The
death of Mr. Moore occurred in 1905, and his wife preceded him to the
grave in 1902.

One daughter was born to George W. Nichols and wife, Lulu E. Nichols,
whose birth occurred in St. Charles county, Missouri, in 1878. She was
graduated from Drury College and the Missouri State University. She
married Dr. W. J. Wills, September 1, 1910. Doctor Wills was graduated
from Drury College and from the St. Louis Medical College. They reside in
Sedalia, Missouri, where he is successfully engaged in the practice of his
profession.

Politically, George W. Nichols is a Democrat. Religously, he is a member
of the Congregational church, and fraternally he belongs to the Masonic
order, is a Knight Templar, and also belongs to the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks. He and his brother, Jonathan C. are members of
the Interstate Feed Dealers' Association.





GEORGE WESLEY NIEDERHUTH. The evolutions in the industrial world and the
improved modes of manufacturing things have been marvelous in the past
half century, and scarcely an industry exists that has been left untouched
by the spirit of reform. The demand of the age is for labor-saving
devices, improved appliances, machinery, and short cuts generally to
desired ends. George Wesley Niederhuth, chief engineer at Drury College
and agent for a number of standard makes of motorcycles, is one of
Springfield's young men who is giving much thought to these things and has
a comprehensive understanding of modem mechanical industries in general.

Mr. Niederhuth was born on August 2, 1889, at Eldora, Iowa. He is a son of
Rev. Otto Niederhuth, who was born in Hanover, Germany, on February 12,
1862, where he spent his boyhood and attended school, emigrating to
America when eighteen years of age, and he became a minister in the
Methodist Episcopal church, having studied theology at Wesleyan Academy at
Wilbraham, Massachusetts, in 1884; also studied at the German college and
the Iowa Wesleyan University at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa; then, being well
equipped for his serious life work, he went to Bismark, North Dakota,
having charge of the Grand Forks Mission, extending sixty miles north and
south and one hundred and fifty miles east and west. He drove over this
large field with horse and buggy and during winter often with thermometer
registering thirty degrees below. Later he filled appointments at
Crookston, Minnesota, Eldora, Iowa, also Olderbolt, Colesburg, Burt and
Burlington, of that state; Brighton, Illinois; Hermann, Mt. Vernon and
Truxton, Missouri, being still the pastor of the German Methodist church
at the last named place. He has done an excellent work in all these
charges and is a learned and eloquent expounder of Holy Writ. Politically,
he is a Republican, and fraternally a member of the Modern Woodmen. His
wife was known in her maidenhood as Louisa Launroth, a native of
Burlington, Iowa. To them nine children were born, and were named as
follows: Lulu is the wife of Rev. Herman Langer, a Missouri Methodist
minister; George W., of this sketch; Esther is the wife of Louis Schultz,
a farmer of Madison, Nebraska; Oscar, deceased; Otto, deceased; Irwin,
deceased; Raymond, Earl and Alberta are all three at home with their
parents.

George W. Niederhuth received his education in the common schools, then
studied two years at Central Wesleyan College at Warrenton, Missouri, and
after that took the International Correspondence School course in
electrical, and mechanical engineering. His first employment was at
Nokomis, Illinois, as assistant night engineer at the electric power plant
there, later being promoted to engineer and then to the position of chief
engineer, remaining there three years. He then came to Hermann, Missouri,
as assistant engineer at the Starr Roller Mills, where he remained nearly
a year, then went to Warrenton, Missouri, and entered college, working his
way through, and also worked at spare times at the city electric plant
there. He then came to Springfield, and secured a position as engineer at
the Woodruff building in January, 1911, filling this position until
December 11th following, then accepted his present position, that of chief
engineer at Drury College. He has given entire satisfaction in all these
places, being faithful, trustworthy and having an excellent working
knowledge of both electrical and mechanical engineering. He has for some
time also been agent for the best makes of motorcycles and does high-class
motorcycle repairing at his home at 1090 East Harrison street. He handles
motorcycle accessories, such as lamps, tires, horns, etc., and he has
built up a good business in this line. He has furnished motorcycles to the
special police of this city for some time.

Mr. Niederhuth was married on September 14, 1911, to Ella Boehm, a
daughter of John Boehm, a veteran of the Union army, formerly of Hermann,
Missouri, now of Springfield.

To our subject and wife two children have been born, namely: John Wesley
and Allyn Edison.

Politically, Mr. Niederhuth is a Republican. Fraternally, he formerly
belonged to the Modern Woodmen of America. National Association of
Stationary Engineers. He holds membership with the Cumberland Presbyterian
church.




DR.GEORGE L. NOLAND. Osteopathy has an able exponent in Springfield and
Greene county in the person of Dr. George L. Noland, a man who has studied
hard and left no stone unturned whereby he might get to the top, of his
profession. Thoroughness, promptness and honesty have been watchwords with
him and he is in every way deserving of the large success and the
popularity which he has attained, for he began at the bottom of the ladder
and has mounted its rungs unaided. He seems to have inherited many of the
traits that win in life from his sterling ancestors of the old Buckeye
state.

Doctor Noland was born at Big Plain, near Columbus, Ohio, in 1868. He is a
son of Beckworth and Martha (Biggert) Noland, a highly respected family of
that place, the elder Noland spending his life on a farm and was one of
the enterprising citizens of his community. George L. Noland was reared in
his native vicinity and when of proper age he assisted his father with the
work on the farm during the crop season, and during the winter attended
the public schools, later entered the State Normal School at Danville,
Indiana, completing the prescribed course there, after which he returned
to Ohio, and was married to Lou Tway, of London, that state, on November 2
1891, and then he engaged in farming for three years on the old home
place. He removed from the scenes of his childhood to Mt. Ayr, Iowa, where
he engaged successfully in the live stock business until the fall of 1899,
when he sold out and moved to Kirksville, Missouri, and there he and his
wife entered the American School of Osteopathy, where they both made
splendid records, and were graduated in due course of time. Immediately
thereafter they came to Springfield, Missouri, and began the practice of
osteopathy here in July, 1901, and they have continued the same to the
present time with ever-increasing success, and are among the most skillful
and best known osteopathic physicians in southern Missouri, and each. of
the thirteen years they have been here has found them further advanced and
with more patients and with more friends than the preceding.

Mrs. Lou Tway Noland was born on July 16, 1870, in Fayette county, Ohio,
and there spent her early girlhood. When twelve years of age she went to
London, where she resided until 1895. She was graduated from the high
school there in 1888, and, subsequently, took a post-graduate teacher's
course in the State Normal at Ada, Ohio, after which she spent several
years teaching school in Madison county, that state, and was regarded as
one of the leading public school instructors of that county, and it was in
London that she and Mr. Noland were married. She spent six months studying
in Europe, in 1908, and took a course of lectures in osteopathy in
University of Vienna, Austria. She is profoundly versed in this science,
has met with pronounced success during her professional career and has
been of great assistance to her husband. She is a daughter of Perry and
Clara (Cartlich) Tway, the mother a daughter of Abraham and Lucinda (Will)
Cartlich. Lucinda Will was a daughter of George Will, who was born on May
3, 1749, and he died on October 13, 1828. He was a soldier in the
Revolutionary war, serving as first lieutenant and adjutant of the Sixth
Pennsylvania Regiment. He was commissioned first lieutenant on February 5,
1877, and his name is the last one on a list of officers, dated August 27,
1778. This regiment was in the disaster at Fort Wellington on March 16,
1776.

Mrs. Noland has served three years as treasurer of the Missouri
Osteopathic Association, which position she still holds. She is also
secretary of the Ozark Osteopathic Association. and has discharged her
duties in these capacities in a faithful and commendable manner. She is
one of the most widely known Osteopaths in the state and is popular in the
various associations. Religiously, she belongs to the Grace Methodist
Episcopal church. She is an active member of the American Osteopathic
Association, belongs to the Royal Neighbors of America, the Sorosia
Society, and the Daughters of the American Revolution.

To Doctor Noland and wife one child was born, Percy Ray Noland, whose
birth occurred in February, 1895, at Mt. Ayr, Iowa, and died on February
27, 1906, in Springfield, Missouri.

Doctor and Mrs. Noland have an up-to-date suite of offices in the Landers
building, and they are pleasant people to meet, intelligent, experienced,
and courteous to all.





GEORGE W. O'BRYANT. Although George W. O'Bryant, of Brookline township,
Greene county, does not farm on so large a scale as some of his neighbors,
yet he does well whatever he attempts and is making a good living. The
time has arrived when farms the size of his will be more numerous than
those that are larger, for it has been found that the methods of farming
must change as climate and general conditions change and in order to carry
on intensive farming one does not need a vast acreage. Our subject has
spent his life in this locality which he has seen develop from primitive
conditions to its present high state of prosperity.

Mr. O'Bryant was born in the above named township and county, October 7,
1864. He is a son of George W. and Mary Caroline (Howard) O'Bryant,
natives of Tennessee and North Carolina, respectively. The father came to
Missouri with his parents when he was quite young, the family locating in
Cedar county, near Cane Hill, on a farm, and there G. W. O'Bryant was
reared to manhood and received a meager education in the early-day
schools. When older he located in Greene county. His wife, Mary Caroline
Howard, emigrated from the far Southland with her parents to Missouri in
1839, the family locating near what is now Battlefield, on the James
river, in Greene county, and there our subject's mother was reared on a
farm and received such educational advantages as the early day schools
afforded, and she and Mr. O'Bryant were married in 1851. To their union
nine children were born, namely: Armitta died in infancy; Mary Frances is
the wife of Levi Taylor, of Polk county, Missouri; Martha Ann married J.
T. Phillips, both now deceased, who was at one time judge of the county
court of Greene county; William T. and Delilah E. are twins; the former
lives on a farm in Brookline township, and the latter is the wife of
Winfield Lawson, of Republic; Alice A., deceased, was the wife of a Dr.
Camp, of Springfield; Nancy C. is the wife of J. T. Crouch and lives in
Arizona; George W. of this

sketch; Jas. Henry is in the United States mail service in Springfield.

During the Civil war George O'Bryant, Sr., was a member of the Home
Guards, seeing considerable service in this locality. He was one of the
guides of Gen. Lyon's army from Springfield to the Confederate camps on
Wilson's creek the night preceding the great battle there, August 10,
1861, and he was at Springfield during the various engagements that were
later fought there. His death occurred on his farm in Brookline township
in 1866, his widow surviving until 1903, outliving him thirty-seven years,
and reaching the age of seventy-three.

George W. O'Bryant of this sketch grew to manhood on the homestead and
here he still resides, in fact, has spent his life here. He received his
education in the district schools of his native township, the first school
he attended having been taught in an old log house, equipped with an open
fire place and hewn slabs for seats with no backs. He was about twenty
years old before he went to school and eight years later he attended one
term in Republic, walking almost daily to the school house which was three
and one-half miles distant. He has spent his life engaged in general
farming and owns sixty acres, a part of the original home place, and he
has kept the land well tilled and it is very productive, and he has a
comfortable home.

Mr. O'Bryant was married, November 7, 1904, to Maude Kirby, a daughter of
James H and Mary (Woods) Kirby, who are residents of Mt. Vernon, Lawrence
county, this state. Mrs. O'Bryant was born in 1873 in the village of
Chesapeake, that county, and in that vicinity she grew to womanhood and
received a common school education. To Mr. and Mrs. Kirby the following
children were born: Mattie is the wife of George Hillhouse of Verona,
Missouri; M. Filmore lives in California; Sallie is the wife of William
Howard, of Lawrence county; Dora is the wife of J. N. McCacken, of
Springfield; Ella is the wife of G. W. Moore and they live in New Mexico;
Isora, deceased, was the wife of Henderson Maberry, deceased; Ollie lives
in Chicago; Maude, who was the first wife of the subject of this sketch,
died in 1909; Myrtle, youngest of the Kirby children, is now the wife of
our subject, they having married in 1911; one died at age of eighteen
years.

To Mr. O'Bryant's first marriage three children were born, all of whom
died in infancy. His second marriage has been without issue.

Politically Mr. O'Bryant is a Democrat. Fraternally he is a member of the
Court of Honor. He was formerly a member of the Presbyterian church but
now belongs to the Methodist church at Republic, as does his wife.




JAMES H. O'BRYANT. There is an habitual tendency in human nature to live
in and for that which is perishing, hence the necessity for something that
shall remind us of what is abiding, something that shall enable us to
realize our larger duties and higher destiny. The life of the masses of
the people tends to become commonplace, and the only way to give color and
zest and interest and beauty to the things around, us is to be able to
view them from the inside of a rich, splendidly furnished intellectual
home. This is possible no matter in what line of work we are engaged.
James H. O'Bryant is one of the citizens of Springfield who realized these
facts long ago, and he has thus sought to develop his mind along general
lines while engaged in his routine of daily tasks..

Mr. O'Bryant was, born in Greene county, Missouri, August 20, 1866. He is
a son of George W. and Mary C. (Howard) O'Bryant, natives of Tennessee and
North Carolina, respectively, the father's birth occurring in 1823, and
the mother's in 1830. They received limited educations in the old-time
subscription schools, and when young they accompanied their parents from
their respective communities in the South on the long journey to Greene
county, Missouri, both the O'Bryants and Howards being pioneer settlers
here, and here the parents of our subject were married. George W. O'Bryant
was a successful farmer and stock raiser and became owner of three hundred
and sixty acres of good land near Republic, and there his death occurred
in 1866. His widow survived about thirty-seven years, dying in July, 1903,
at the old homestead in Brookline township at an advanced age. Mr.
O'Bryant was a member of the State Militia during the Civil war and was an
active Union man, but served only in one important engagement--the battle
of Springfield, fought on January 8, 1863. His family consisted of ten
children, namely: Sarah Jane is deceased; Mary Frances lives in Polk
county; John C. is deceased; Martha A., deceased, was the wife of Judge
Phillips, of this county; William and Delila, twins, both live in
Republic; Alice A. is deceased; Nancy C. lives in California; George W.
near Republic, and James H., of this sketch, who is the youngest of the
family.

James H. O'Bryant grew to manhood on the home farm in Brookline township
and he received his education in the common schools. -He remained on the
home farm, of which he owned one hundred and forty acres, until 1899,
when, after a successful career as general farmer, he sold out, and in
that year was appointed superintendent of the Greene County Farm, serving
four years in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the
satisfaction of all concerned, doing much the meanwhile to improve the
general condition of the farm and inaugurating an excellent system of
management. In February, 1903, he began working as salesman for the J. T.
Carter Vehicle Company. Since then, or for nearly eight years, he has been
engaged in the mail messenger service in Springfield.

Mr. O'Bryant was married May 24, 1891, in Republic, to Maggie L. E. Hood,
who was born in Greene county, Missouri, July 31, 1873. She is a daughter
of James D. and Mary E. (Clack) Hood. Her father was born in this county
on December 31, 1848, and here he attended school, married and has spent
his life. He is still living on a farm northwest of Republic. His wife was
born in Tennessee, in 1856. These parents have always lived on the farm.
To Mr. And Mrs. O'Bryant eight children have been born, namely: Nellie A.,
born March 21, 1892, is teaching school in the state of Washington; Earle
J., born December 30, 1893, lives in Oregon; Leta F., born December 25,
1895, is married and lives in Kansas City; Elias B., born November 9,
1897, died August 15, 1900; Mary T., born February 15, 1902, is attending
school; John R., born August 15, 1905, died May 3, 1910; Helen L., born
September 19, 1907; Hazel C., born September 30, 1911.

Politically, Mr. O'Bryant is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Masonic order, including the Chapter and the Order of Eastern Star,. while
Mrs. O'Bryant is a White Shriner and was treasurer, also worthy matron in
the Order of Eastern Star, and is very active in lodge work. Our subject
and wife belong to the Grace Methodist Episcopal church.




JAMES O'BYRNE. Springfield has long been headquarters for a great number
of commercial travelers. Men representing a wide diversity of firms
maintain their homes here, which some of them have an opportunity to visit
only infrequently. It is a good residence town for their families, is
conveniently and centrally located in one of the best sections of the
Union, and salesmen go out in all directions in the adjacent territory,
representing not only local houses but companies in many of the eastern
and northern cities. Of this number the name of James O'Byrne should have
specific mention, as he is not only one of the most successful but one of
the best known traveling men out of the Queen City of the Ozarks.

Mr. O'Byrne is a native of northern Ireland, and is a son of Patrick
O'Byrne and wife. His paternal grandfather, James O'Byrne, emigrated from
the Emerald Isle to America in an early day and proved his loyalty to the
United States by enlisting in our army during the War of 1812, and he
fought at the memorable battle of New Orleans under Gen. Andrew Jackson.
He was a farmer and also a manufacturer of Irish linen of a superior
quality. He finally returned to Ireland, where his death occurred at the
unusual age of one hundred and three years, and was buried beside his
wife. He spent ten or twelve years in the United States. His son, Patrick
O'Byrne, father of our subject, was born in Ireland, where he learned the
machinist's trade when a young man. After emigrating to America he
followed his trade in New York City, working in one shop for a period of
seven years. After spending ten years in this country he returned to his
native land. His wife was known in her maidenhood as Margaret McCallig, a
daughter of Hugh McCallig, a native of Ireland. Two sons and one daughter
were born to Patrick O'Byrne and wife, James, our subject, being the only
one living, and the only one to come to America. The death of the father
occurred at the advanced age of ninety-eight years.

James O'Byrne spent his boyhood in Ireland and received a good common
school education. He has always been a commercial man, and he came to the
United States before the Civil war. On April 17, 1861, at New Orleans, he
enlisted in the Confederate army, among the first to offer his services,
and as a private in the Third Louisiana Volunteer Infantry he served with
valor and credit all through the struggle of four hard years,
participating in many important campaigns and nearly all the great
battles. After the war he remained in the South until the spring of 1867,
reaching Springfield, Missouri, on March 17, and he has made his home here
ever since. He has traveled in every state in the Union, also Central
America and South America and Australia, having a record as a commercial
traveler which few can equal in the United States. He has no doubt
traveled more miles as a salesman than any other man in the Middle West.
He has met with uniform success, no matter what territory was assigned to
him, and has been faithful and trustworthy at all times, ever alert to the
good of the firm he represents. He is a man of tact, diplomacy and
earnestness, a good mixer and makes and retains friends easily. He is one
of the most widely known commercial travelers in the country. He has long
owned a nice home in Springfield.

Mr. O'Byrne was married, September 27, 1876, in this city, to Margaret
Hayes, a daughter of James Hayes, who owned a livery stable on Boonville
street, Springfield, for many years, or up to a few years of his death.
Mrs. O'Byrne was born in Mexico, Missouri, where she received a good
education.

To our subject and wife eleven children have been born, nine sons and two
daughters, namely: James Patrick died when twenty-six years of age; Ann
married Edward L. Maurice, who has long operated a confectionery on South
street, this city, and recently added a café; John, who lives in
Springfield, Missouri, is a widely known race horse man, having for years
participated in races in the United States and Canada; Margaret Ellen is
engaged in the coal business with her brother in Springfield; Leo, who
lives in Texas, is a commercial traveler; Edward Emmett is engaged in the
coal business on Main street, this city; Joseph William is a member of the
firm of Walker-O'Byrne Electric Company on East Walnut street,
Springfield; Eugene is an attorney-at-law, with an office in this city;
Lawrence is a salesman for the Walker-O'Byrne Electric Company; Francis
Xavier is employed in Mr. Maurice's cafe; Hugh Vincent lives in Lewistown,
Montana.

Politically, Mr. O'Byrne is a Democrat. He is the oldest Catholic resident
in Springfield. He is a stanch friend of Father Lilly. Fraternally, he
belongs to the Knights of Columbus. He holds membership in the Church of
the Immaculate Conception. He is also a member of the Illinois Commercial
Travelers' Association. He recalls with much satisfaction his meeting with
Count John A. Creighton, of Omaha, Nebraska, on the last birthday of that
well-known gentleman. During his residence of nearly a half century in
Springfield our subject has seen many important changes take place here
and has always been interested in the city's general welfare. Although his
vocation has made it necessary for him to be absent from the city a great
deal during this long period, nevertheless he is well known here and has a
host of good friends.




GEORGE F. OLENDORF. The theater has long been recognized as one of the
world's indispensable institutions, and the management of theaters, if
done judiciously, is a remunerative and pleasant one. Humanity needs
amusement amid its exacting and trying daily occupations, truly "the
show's the thing," as one of the wisest of men remarked. The human mind
must relax, must find relief at times, "must lose itself in other men's
minds," as the great essayist, Lamb, wrote. This can be done in no better
way than in spending an hour or so at a good play-house. The theater has
been popular with the masses-men and women of all creeds and convictions,
of all parties and denominations from remote ancient history to the
present time, from the days of Grecian one-act, outdoor tragedies to the
latest twentieth century complex grand opera, and it will ever be so.
George F. Olendorf, of Springfield, has long given his attention to the
theater business, and is widely known throughout southwestern Missouri in
this particular field. He has met with gratifying success because he has
been industrious, has had the tact of knowing what the people want and
because he has always been desirous of giving his thousands of patrons
adequate returns for their money and time. He has made it a study and has
therefore kept well abreast of the times in this line of endeavor.

Mr. Olendorf was born in Middleport, New York, July 20, 1875. He is a son
of George H. and Caroline (Forrest) Olendorf, both parents also natives of
the state of New York, where they grew to maturity, attended school and
were married. George H. Olendorf devoted his earlier life to the drug
business in his native locality in central New York. Back in the seventies
he removed with his family to St. Joseph, Missouri, where he engaged in
the furniture business fifteen or twenty years and where he resided until
twelve years ago, when he moved to Springfield, in which city he and his
wife still reside, living in retirement. The father has been a successful
business man and laid by a competency for his old age.

George F. Olendorf, the only child of his parents, was a small child when
the family moved from the state of New York to St. Joseph, Missouri, and
there he grew to manhood and received a common school education. In
September, 1893, he began his career in the theater business, which he has
continued to the present time with ever-increasing success. He began in
St. Joseph, and was also cashier of the large Tootle estate and had charge
of the Tootle Theater, the leading playhouse there, remaining with this
estate for about eight years, giving eminent satisfaction in every
respect. Then he and three other men leased a circuit of thirty-two
theaters in the state of Missouri, which proved to be a paying venture.
Mr. Olendorf came to Springfield in 1903 and leased the old Baldwin
Theater on St. Louis street, one of the finest theaters south of the
Missouri river in this state, with the exception of St. Louis, for many
years, if not the finest. He managed this with his usual success until it
was destroyed by fire in 1909. Afterward he was instrumental in promoting
the new Landers Theater on Walnut street, which he leased and managed
until 19112, when he re-leased it and promoted the Bell-Olendorf-Ballard
Amusement Company, of which he is president and which operates sixteen
summer theaters, including the Skydome in Springfield. He is also manager
of the Springfield Poster Advertising Company, and maintains offices in
the Landers Theater building. Each of these new ventures has proven
successful and he is kept busy in their management.

Mr. Olendorf was married on November 17, 1902, in Kansas City, Missouri,
to Matilda Meyer, who was born in St. Joseph, this state. She is a
daughter of J. B. and Marie Meyer, both natives of Germany, from which
country they came to the United States when young.

To our subject and wife three children have been born, namely: Marie
Caroline, born on May 3, 1905; George Meyer, born on November 17, 1910,
died August 3, 1911; and Forrest George, born on October 7, 1912.

Mr. Olendorf is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
and the Springfield Club; also is a thirty-second degree Mason, belonging
to the Knights Templars. He is active in Masonic affairs, and his daily
life is led along the lines laid down by this time-honored order.




ANDREW J. O'NEAL. One Of Greene County's most progressive farmers and
stock raisers is Andrew J. O'Neal, of the vicinity of Republic, where he
has resided for over a half century, during which he has seen wonderful
changes "come over the face of the land," and in these changes from the
old to the new order of things he has been by no means an idle spectator,
being a public-spirited man and never withholding his aid from any worthy
movement having for its object the general good of his township and
county. He has ever had an honest determination of purpose and an obliging
nature which impel him to assist others on the highway of life while
making the path of prosperity, for himself and family.

Mr. O'Neal is a scion of one of the earliest settlers of Missouri, his
grandfather invading the wilds of this domain of the red men one hundred
and ten years ago, and from that remote day to the present, members of
this family have been well known in southwestern Missouri and northern
Arkansas. Mr. O'Neal, of this review, was born in Carroll county,
Arkansas, February 18, 1848. He is a son of Charles and Martha (Hillhouse)
O'Neal. The father was born in Kentucky, and when seven years of age
removed with his parents from that state to Missouri, but after a short
residence here moved on to Arkansas and established their home. The father
of Charles O'Neal first came to Missouri in 1805, and later went to
Kentucky. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. The subject of this sketch
was fourteen years old when his parents left their old home in Carroll
county, Arkansas, and moved to the western part of Greene county,
Missouri, where they located, in 1862, during the Civil war period, and
here Charles O'Neal, the father, owned and operated a good farm during the
rest of his active life, dying here at the advanced age of ninety-four
years, in the year 1904. He was a good man and good citizen, neighborly
and hospitable, everybody knew him and respected him in this part of the
county. His wife, who came from near Lebanon, Laclede county, Missouri,
preceded him to the grave in 1897.

Andrew J. O'Neal grew to manhood on the home farm and there assisted with
the general work when he became of proper age and he received his
education in the rural schools. When a young man he began farming for
himself and this has always been his occupation, He prospered with
advancing years through good management and is now owner of one of the
choice farms of this county, consisting of two hundred and thirty acres,
which he has brought up to a fine state of improvement and on which he
carries on general farming and stock raising on an extensive scale. He has
a pleasant home and large convenient outbuildings, and a good grade of
live stock is always to be seen about his place. His farm includes a
portion of the old homestead.

Mr. O'Neal was married, January 16, 1868, to Nancy Jane Wallace, a.
daughter of Thomas J. Wallace, who was born in middle Tennessee, where he
spent his earlier years, and from there immigrated in an early day to
Greene county, Missouri, and here became a successful farmer and spent the
rest of his life. His family consisted of eleven children, four sons and
seven daughters.

Andrew J. O'Neal is also one of a family of eleven children, four sons and
seven daughters, four of the children being now deceased; some. are living
in Arkansas and some in Greene county.

Four children have been born to our subject and wife, namely: Charles
Thomas, born July 13, 1870, died at the age of sixteen years; Wilson S.,
who is farming in Republic township, this county, married Ruby Franklin,
and they have three children, two sons and one daughter; Nora, who was the
wife of Albert Franklin, died at the age of twenty-six years, leaving two
children, Albert Loyd and Lola Ruth; Nellie Alice married Ross Chriswell,
and they have one child, Irmyn.

Mr. O'Neal's father and four uncles were soldiers in the Civil war.
Politically, our subject is a stanch Republican. In 1898 he was elected
judge of the Greene County Court and served in that office two years,
discharging his every duty. most faithfully and winning the hearty
approval of his constituents.




GEORGE W. O'NEAL. One of the men who has stamped his strong individuality
upon the minds of the people of western Greene county in a manner as to
render him one of the conspicuous characters of this locality is George W.
O'Neal, who has had a somewhat varied career as a man of affairs, farmer,
miller, banker and lumberman. Faithfulness to duty and a strict adherence
to a fixed purpose, which always do more to advance a man's interest than
wealth or advantageous circumstances, have been dominating factors in his
life, which has been replete with honor and success worthily attained. He
is a scion of one of the sterling old families of the Ozark region, and
many of the strong characteristics of his progenitors seem to have
outcropped in him, and he has been most vigilant in keeping the record of
the family untarnished, for the O'Neals have always been noted for their
sterling honesty, their rare industry and their readiness to assist in the
general upbuilding of the communities in which they selected as their
homes.

Mr. O'Neal was born on April 8, 1841, in Carroll county, Arkansas. He is a
son of Charles G. and Martha (Hillhouse) O'Neal, natives of Tennessee,
where they spent their earlier years eventually moving to Carroll county,
Arkansas, where they located on a farm and were well and favorably known.
They were parents of thirteen children, twelve of whom lived to maturity
and eight of whom survive at this writing.

George W. ONeal grew to manhood on the homestead in Arkansas and there he
made himself useful when crop seasons came around, and in the winter time
he attended the district schools in his community, obtaining a practical
education which later in life has been greatly supplemented by wide
reading and contact with the world until today he is an exceptionally
well-informed man on current events. He remained on his father's farm
until he was twenty-one years of age, leaving home in 1862 to go to
Springfield, Missouri, where he enlisted in the First Arkansas Cavalry,
and served three years and three months in the Federal army during the
Civil war in a gallant manner, seeing considerable hard service in the
Southwest, and was honorably discharged. About the time the war closed his
father moved from Arkansas to what was known as the old Tom Dodd farm,
three miles northwest of Republic, and here spent the rest of his life,
and to this place came our subject when he returned from the army and
engaged in farming with success until 1885, when he bought out the lumber
yards in Republic owned by W. W. Coover, Keys, King & Company. When the
Bank of Republic was organized he took considerable stock in the company,
and was for a time its president finally resigning from this office after
he had placed the bank on a safe and sound footing and made it a
pronounced .Success. He also took a large block of stock in the Republic
Canning Company, which was organized in 1888 and when the other
stockholders of that company became discouraged after a year's run, Mr.
O'Neal got four other men interested and managed the canning company
himself, clearing ten thousand dollars the next four years and paying off
the old indebtedness. When the R. C. Stone mill burned in 1894 it was Mr.
O'Neal who took the contract to rebuild the mill, while the balance of the
citizens of Republic only contributed the necessary bonus to get the mill
to remain. In this transaction he lost considerable money, but he
considers himself fully repaid every time he looks at the big mill,
knowing that it gives life and support to a town that otherwise would be
dead. Mr. O'Neal has had other reverses, including the loss on the
contractor's bond of the new school building in Republic, but despite that
fact he is a successful man and justly deserves the wealth he has
attained. He has acquired a one-third interest in a flouring mill at Mt.
Vernon, Lawrence county, in which mill his son is the prime factor. Our
subject was for some time a stockholder, director and vice-president of
the Monitor Printing plant in Republic, which publishes the Weekly
Monitor, but has recently retired from this firm. He is a thorough
business man, ready at all times to help in any cause that will benefit
Republic and vicinity, and he has done as much as any other one man toward
the material upbuilding of this town and toward the general welfare of the
people in this section of Greene county. He has one of the most extensive
lumber businesses in the county, having recently rebuilt his sheds, making
them ninety by one hundred and sixteen feet and all covered with felt
roofing and iron. He is a progressive man of high ideas and has long
enjoyed the good will and confidence of all who know him. Religiously he
is a worthy member of the Christian church, and while he is deeply
interested in public affairs; he has never sought office.

Mr. O'Neal married Ellen Wallace, who died after a married life of
eighteen years, leaving six children, who still survive. Mr. O'Neal
married again in 1892, Zetta Bingman, of Greene county and a daughter of
James and Elizabeth (Lamb) Bingman, whose family consisted of ten
children.

Personally, Mr. O'Neal is a genial, obliging and courteous gentleman whom
it is a pleasure to meet.




JAMES L. ORMSBEE, M. D. There are but few professions or trades that "go
well together," that is, there are few men who are capable of following
successfully more than one specific line of endeavor, but here and there
we find a man like Dr. James L. Ormsbee of Springfield who has the innate
ability and has had the proper training to make him successful in two or
more lines of endeavor. He is a physician and pharmacist, and it is
doubtful if two distinct professions could be found to blend more
perfectly than these. He has built up a good business in both during his
residence in this city of twenty-six years, and he has become one of the
well-known professional men of Greene county.

Doctor Ormsbee was born at Corry, Pennsylvania, September 20, 1867. He is
a son of E. J. Ormsbee, a carpenter and farmer, born in Paris, Oneida
county, New York, in 1825, and who died in 1905 at the age of eighty
years. The mother of our subject was known in her maidenhood as Amelia
Mapes; she was born in 1836 in Belmont, New York, and died in 1913, at the
age of seventy-seven years. These parents grew to maturity in the state of
New York, attended the old-time schools and were married there, and spent
their lives in that state and Pennsylvania. James Ormsbee, paternal
grandfather of our subject was born in Providence, Rhode Island, June 21,
1792, and died at Paris, New York, in 1853; his wife, Philena Dimmick, was
born at Mansfield, Connecticut, January 16, 1798, and died at Paris, New
York, December 1, 1825. James Ormsbee, Sr., our subject's
great-grandfather, was born in 1765, and he married Abigail Ide. His
father was Daniel Ormsbee, born in 1723, married Keziah Cummings. His
father was Thomas Ormsbee, who was born in Massachusetts, November 11,
1645, and he married Mary Fitch, a daughter of John Fitch. His father was
Richard Ormsbee, born in England, from which country he came to Saco,
Maine, landing there in the year 1641. From that place he went to
Salisbury, Massachusetts in 1645, bought land in that vicinity and died
there in 1664. Thus the record shows that this is one of our oldest
American families.

Dr. James L. Ormsbee received his early education in the public schools,
later graduating from the Cayuga Lake Military Academy at Aurora, New
York, then took the course in the medical department of the Washington
University of St. Louis, from which institution he was graduated with the
class of 1891 receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Upon leaving the
city of St. Louis he came to Springfield in 1892 and at once began the
practice of his profession which he has continued here from that date to
the present time, having long since taken his place among the successful
general physicians of this locality. He found time to make a thorough
study of pharmacy and was given a license in that field and he has long
maintained a neat, well stocked and popular drug store at 1862 North
National Boulevard, and has built up a good trade in drugs and drug
sundries. He has enjoyed a large patronage ever since he established
himself in this city.

Doctor Ormsbee was married on October 25, 1914, in Springfield, to Alice
M. McLean, a daughter of T. B. McLean and wife. She received her education
in this city.

Politically, Doctor Ormsbee is a Republican. Religiously, he belongs to
the Episcopal church. He is a member of the Greene County Medical Society,
the Missouri State Medical Association and the American Medical
Association. He was secretary of the first named of the three for a period
of three years. He is also a member of the Greene County Retail Druggists'
Association, of which he was secretary for some time. He belongs to the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was county coroner in 1897, and upon
the death of the sheriff was appointed to this office, serving very ably
until another sheriff could be appointed. He was also health officer
during Mayor Bartlett's administration.

Doctor Ormsbee is deserving of a great deal of credit for what he has
accomplished, which has been in the face of obstacles and entirely through
his own efforts.




WILLIAM J. ORR. A lawyer of intense energy and application, William J.
Orr, of Springfield, has won a position in the front ranks of men of his
profession, in which he is what might be denominated a student lawyer. His
mind is of the workshop order, in contradistinction to the lumber room
sort. Its acquisitions are not uselessly there, and not alone for him, but
for others, they are ready to be shaped into the support of whatever
purpose is in hand. He knows enough to know, and he knows it by both
intuition and experience, that to be a good lawyer, a successful one,
means hard study and devotion to the profession. Hence, we refer to him as
a student, or a studious lawyer, as a man among his books, not as a
recluse, or a book-worm, but as a lawyer who busies himself with those
things in which success depends upon the symmetrical judgment and
practical grasp that come from reading and reflection.

Mr. Orr, who for nearly a quarter of a century has been district attorney
for the old "Gulf" and Frisco railroads, and one of the most widely known
attorneys in the Southwest, was born in Pike county, Missouri, February 2,
1856. He is a son of Robert S. and Henrietta A. (Early) Orr. The father
was born near Salisbury, North Carolina, but removed from that state to
Missouri in an early day with his parents and here he grew to manhood on a
farm and received good educational advantages for those times. When a
young man he worked as a stair builder for some time. When his health
failed he engaged in mercantile pursuits. His death occurred in Louisiana,
Missouri, in 1880. The mother of our subject was a native of Pike county,
this state, where she was reared on a farm and educated in the common
schools. Her parents located in that county upon their arrival in Missouri
from Virginia. She was the niece of Gen. Jubal A. Early, of Virginia. Her
death occurred in 1912 in Howell county, Missouri. These parents were
members of the Presbyterian church. To them eight children, were born,
four of whom are deceased.

William J. Orr was reared in his native county and there received his
primary education. He was graduated from Watson Seminary in 1878, but he
is for the most part a self-educated man, having remained an ardent
student all his life. In 1880 he went to West Plains, Howell county,
Missouri, later taking Horace Greeley's advice, went West and tried his
fortunes in the state of Oregon, remaining there several years, then
returned to West Plains. He was admitted to the bar in 1878 and has been
practicing law continuously ever since with pronounced success.
Twenty-four years ago he was appointed district attorney for the Kansas
City, Ft. Scott & Memphis Railroad, and when that road was leased to the
St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company he was retained in the same
position, being the only man from the law department of the former road
that is now with the law department of the Frisco. This long service would
indicate that he has been very capable and faithful in the performance of
his duties. He has retained the same district, Springfield to Memphis.

Mr. Orr was married in 1884 to Emma Winger, a daughter of J. B. Winger,
who was postmaster at Springfield during the Civil war. Mrs. Orr's death
occurred in 1898, and he was subsequently married to Ola B. Saunders, of
Kansas City. She is a daughter of L. L. Saunders. Both unions have been
without issue.

Politically Mr. Orr is a Democrat, but he has never sought the emoluments
of political office. He is a gentleman of pleasing address, impressing the
stranger with his versatility, sincerity and genuine worth.




THEODORE OTT. Theodore Ott was born on November 12, 1845, near Cologne, in
the Rhine country, Germany. He is a son of Adam and Mary Ott, natives of
Germany, where they grew up and were married, and made their home until
1857 when the family emigrated to America, locating in Calumet county,
Wisconsin, where the elder Ott became owner of a large farm, farming
having been his business in the old country. He continued this line of
endeavor until 1865 when he removed to Chicago and lived with his son,
Theodore, of this sketch, until his death at the age of seventy-three
years and he was buried in Chicago. His family consisted of nine children,
namely: Gertrude married John Smith, a farmer of Calumet county,
Wisconsin; Helena married William French, of Green Bay, Wisconsin, he
being now deceased; Henry is engaged in farming in Calumet county,
Wisconsin; Theodore of this sketch. The other five children are deceased.

Theodore Ott was twelve years old when his parents brought him to the
United States. He assisted his father on the farm in Wisconsin until 1863.
He received a common school education. When eighteen years of age he went
to Chicago and worked in a furniture factory as wood shaper and sawyer,
for the Thayer & Tobey Furniture Company, with which firm he remained
until 1873 when he began working for the McClusky & Craig Company, also
furniture manufacturers, remaining with this concern a year and a half, as
shaper and sawyer, and while there lost a finger in a saw. He then went to
Nashville, Tennessee, in 1874 and worked for the A. H. Field & Nashville
Furniture Company as wood moulder and sawyer, in fact, did all kinds of
wood work for one year, then went to Humboldt, Tennessee, where he worked
in the factory of the Humboldt Furniture Company for nine months, when the
plant was destroyed by fire. This firm also operated a plant there in
which were manufactured wagons, buggies and fruit box materials and our
subject worked in this three years, after which he went to Kansas City,
Missouri, and worked six months in the planing mill of Richardson & Heinz.
He came to Springfield in 1887 and began working for the Kansas City, Ft.
Scott & Memphis Railroad Company in their shops which are now controlled
by the Frisco lines. The year he came he purchased a lot at the corner of
Brower and Grant streets and built a comfortable home. He has been running
a wood working machine for twenty-seven years and has long been regarded
an expert in this line of work. He was journeyman for a number of years,
and when the Frisco took over these shops he was promoted to foreman of
the mill room which responsible position he still holds, having an average
of ten men under his direction.

Mr. Ott was married in November, 1865, to Elizabeth Bower, a daughter of
Joseph Bower, a farmer in Wisconsin at that time. Mrs. Ott was born in
Canada.

Besides owning a good home on Brower street our subject owns a valuable
farm adjoining Hazelwood cemetery. His family consisted of the following
children, namely: Mary, Annie, Adam, Frank, Josephine are all deceased;
Abbie married George Creiger, an Iowa farmer; Anton is a wood worker in a
box factory in Los Angeles, California; Allois, a barber by trade, lives
at Ozark, Missouri, where he also conducts a moving picture show; he is
married and has three children, Louis, Allois and Elizabeth.

Politically, Theodore Ott is a Democrat. He belongs to the Catholic
church, the Catholic Knights and was formerly a member of the Knights of
Pythias.




CHARLES J. OWEN. It does not necessarily require a farm expert to look
over some of the older farms of the locality of which this history treats
and see that the soil has become thin very largely from the fact that
proper attention has not been paid to rotation of crops. The land has been
"grained" too much, the same fields sometimes for years having been
successively sown to wheat or planted to corn, with never a seed of grass
or other good "cover crops." The same methods were followed in a number of
older states of the East with the results that one now finds thousands of
abandoned farms there, the owners being compelled to remove to the newer
agricultural sections of the West where the soil has not been ruined by
improper tillage. But many of our farmers are awakening to the true
situation, some of them after it is practically too late. It used to be
the desire of most farmers to own large tracts of land. Their chief desire
seemed to be to buy "the land adjoining." This many of them have done and
spent the rest of their lives trying to keep the interest paid on borrowed
capital and a little paid on the principal. The same men are now
understanding how they can live easier and happier on fewer acres and by
more intensive farming methods.

One of the successful farmers and stockmen of Wilson township, Greene
county, is Charles. J. Owen, who is a student of all that pertains to his
vocation and is thus avoiding some of the mistakes that others are making
in handling their farms. He is a member of one of the well-known old
families of Greene county, and his birth occurred here on April 15, 1866.
He is a son of Charles B. and Nancy C. (McCroskey) Owen.

Capt. Charles B. Owen, who, was for many years one of the most extensive
farmers of Greene county, was born in Marshall county, Tennessee, February
28, 1827. He was a son of Solomon H. Owen, who was born in eastern
Tennessee, December 12, 1797, in Sullivan county, near the Virginia line.
He was a son of Joseph Owen, who was reared in Pennsylvania, was of Welsh
stock, and married a Pennsylvania Dutch woman, two years, and moved to
Sullivan county, Tennessee, in an early day. He was a farmer and died when
only thirty-five years of age, and was the father of Charles, Jesse,
Solomon H., Hannah, Mary and Elizabeth. Solomon H., grandfather of the
subject of this sketch, was married in Sullivan county, Tennessee to Mary
E. Bushong, of Pennsylvania and German stock. After their marriage they
moved to the middle part of Tennessee and Mr. Owen purchased a farm of one
hundred and seventy acres in Marshall county. In 1836 he moved with his
wife and five children to Greene county, Missouri, and settled on four
hundred acres which he entered four miles northwest of Springfield. He
entered in all about two thousand acres in southwest Missouri. He gave all
his children land. Like most of the early settlers from Tennessee, he was
the owner of slaves. During the Civil war much of his personal property
was destroyed. He removed to Springfield in 1874 at seventy-seven years of
age. His family consisted of six children, namely: Susanna A., George H.,
who died at the age of twenty-one years; Pleasant B., Charles B., father
of our subject; Jesse W., and William S. Solomon H. Owen was a Democrat
but was a Union sympathizer; he and his wife wire members of the
Presbyterian church.

Captain Charles B. Owen was nine years old when he accompanied his parents
from Tennessee to Greene county and here he grew to manhood and received a
common school education. On September 18, 1856, he married Sarah E.
Yarbrough, and to them were born two children, John S. and Stephen A.
Douglas Owen. After his marriage, Mr. Owen settled on a farm on the James
river, after having spent several years engaged in buying and selling live
stock. He became one of the most prosperous and best-known general farmers
and. stockmen in Greene, county. He finally became owner of thirteen
hundred and ten acres, in one body, and three hundred and ninety-five
acres besides, two hundred acres of which were entered from the government
by his father. The land lay on either side of the James river, was well
watered not only by the river but by six springs on various parts of the
place. He cleared and improved about half of the entire tract, using much
of it for pasturage, and a large portion of the place was kept in timber.
His place was always stocked with large numbers of horses, mules, cattle,
hogs and sheep.

The first wife of Captain Owen died March 18, 1862, and on January 31,
1865, he married Nancy C. McCroskey, and to this union eight children were
born, namely: Charles J., subject of this sketch; Mary Elizabeth is
deceased; Mrs. Margaret S. Martin; Mrs. Alwilda Madora Jane Garton; George
D., Francis W., Wm. E., and Joseph L. are all living in Wilson township.

Politically, Captain Owen was a Democrat and was active and influential in
the affairs of his county. He was elected sheriff in 1870 and served two
years, and was re-elected in 1874, serving two years more. He was one of
the most efficient sheriffs Greene county ever had. In those days, during
the reconstruction period after the Civil war, it took a man of courage
and stability to fill that office. In May, 1861, he organized a militia
company of Home Guards in his township and was elected captain, and then
he consolidated his company with another, and being younger than the other
captain, accepted the position of first lieutenant. When the Union troops
occupied Springfield, General Lyon appointed him as guide to the troops
under Col. Franz Sigel, and he led the army at night, August 9, 1861, to
the Confederate camp on Wilson's creek where the great battle was fought
the following day, and he took part in that engagement. The Union troops
having retreated to Rolla, Lieutenant Owen was enrolled at that place with
his company in the United States service and was commissioned by the
governor of Missouri as first lieutenant in the United States army. He was
mustered into the service at Benton Barracks. He was in a series of
skirmishes with the bushwhackers in southeastern Missouri and was
afterward in service against Marmaduke in that part of the state, and in
skirmishes in different parts of Missouri and western Tennessee. At
Columbus, Kentucky, his company did guard duty on the ordnance boat
General Grant and later was on the march with General Sherman through
Mississippi; was with Banks on the ill-fated Red river expedition, and at
the occupation of Alexandria, also at the battle of Pleasant Hill,
Louisiana, where his regiment lost all of its officers except the major,
captain and one lieutenant, in killed and wounded, and lost one-third of
the men. His own company lost one-half of its number in killed and
wounded, and was then in severe skirmish fighting from April 9th to May
16th, where the battle of Yellow Brow was fought. Later he was in a battle
near Mineral Point, Missouri. He was sick in a hospital in Memphis nine
weeks, and was mustered out and honorably discharged in St. Louis, October
14, 1864, and returned home and took up farming again, which he continued
until his death, March 15, 1907. His wife, mother of our subject, died on
September 22, 1887.

Charles J. Owen, of this sketch, grew to manhood on the home farm and
there he assisted with the general work when a boy. He received his
education in the local schools in Wilson township. He remained on the farm
with his father until he was thirty-five years old, then, having
previously purchased one hundred acres in this township, he removed
thereto and has since resided here, engaged in general farming and stock
raising. He also owns one hundred acres south of his original farm which
he rents out. He pays considerable attention to raising a good grade of
live stock, does an extensive horse and mule business, and maintains a
popular breeding barn. He has three jacks--one a fine jack named Chief
Benton, register number 3522, 14 ¾ hands; weight, nine hundred and fifty
pounds; large-boned and one of the best in Greene county. One extra large
and fine jack named "Bill Wilson," No. 20415; black, 15 ½ hands; extra
large; weight, one thousand pounds; a fine animal. Also Mr. Owen has one
young jack named "Woodrow Wilson," which has great promise. Besides the
above, Mr. Owen keeps two stallions, Percheron and one saddle horse. Mr.
Owen's breeding barns are in the front rank in the entire county.

He was married, August 18, 1889, to Margaret C. Payne, a daughter of Lewis
and Margaret Payne, of Greene county. The death of Mrs. Owen occurred
January 16, 1904, and on April 29th.of the same year he married Annie
Beierle, a native of Newton county. The second union has been without
issue, but the following children were born to Mr. Owen by his first wife:
Roy Edward, born May 29, 1890, is deceased; Lewis Baker, born November 6,
1891, is assisting his father on the home farm, married Ester Campbell, a
native of Greene county have one child, Ralph Eugene, born September 26,
1914; Grace, born March 31, 1893, died in infancy; Earl Stephen, born
December 1, 1896, deceased; and Bennie Sterling, born May 16, 1898, are
all three deceased, and Charles Arthur, born February 14, 1903, who is
living at home.

Politically, Mr. Owen is a Democrat, and he is a member of the Anti-Horse
Thief Association. He is regarded as a man of good judgment, especially in
reference to live stock and is a good citizen in every respect.




JOHN S. OWEN. The name of the late. John S. (Sol) Owen needs no
introduction to the readers of this history, for he was widely known in
Greene county for many years, being a worthy representative of one of our
best pioneer families, and he was highly regarded by all who knew him.

Mr. Owen was born September 22, 1857, near Wilson's Creek, this county. He
was a son of Capt. C. Baker and Ellen (Yarbrough) Owen. He was a grandson
of Col. Sol Owen, who settled the old Owen farm in 1837, on which place
our subject's death occurred. The parents of our subject were both born in
Tennessee, from which state they came to Greene county, Missouri, in an
early day, when they were children, the father being twelve years of age
when he came here. Here he grew up and helped develop the farm. When the
Civil war came on he enlisted in the Federal army and became captain of
Company D, Twenty-fourth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, which he commanded
in a praiseworthy manner for three years. Later he served four years as
sheriff of Greene county. He was a farmer and stock raiser. He was a
strong Democrat and a leader in his party.

Captain Owen was twice married, first to Ellen Yarbrough, mother of our
subject. The only other child by this union was Stephen A. Douglas Owen,
who died in January, 1915, on his farm on the James river, this county.
The mother of our subject died when he was a small boy. Later Captain Owen
married Caroline McCroskey, an aunt of C. W. McCroskey, the present
superintendent of schools of Greene county. A sketch of Professor
McCroskey appears in this volume. Eight children were born to Captain Owen
and his second wife, all of whom are living but one.

John S. Owen of this sketch grew up on the home farm and he was educated
in the rural schools, however, educating himself for the most part, and
was an excellent example of a self-made man. When twenty-four years of age
he started in life for himself on a farm of one hundred acres, which was a
part of the old Owen homestead. He prospered and at the time of his death
owned two hundred eighty-seven and one-half acres, which valuable place is
now in possession of our subject's widow and children. Mr. Owen carried on
general farming in a very successful manner. He was never much of a
trader, for being a great home man, did not like to be absent from his
family. However, he handled many mules, of which he was an excellent
judge. This farm is known as the "Old Judge 'Sol' Owen place."

Mr. Owen of this sketch married, on April 28, 1881, Sarah M. Rose. She was
born in Greene county, Missouri, near the Wilson's Creek battleground, on
October 16, 1859. She is a daughter of Reuben O. and Lucy A. (McElhaney)
Rose. Mr. Rose was born in Tennessee, from which state he came to Greene
county, Missouri, devoted his active life to general farming and died on
his farm near Wilson's creek in March, 1880. His wife was also born in
Tennessee, and she is still living on the old homestead here, and,
although now advanced in years, is well preserved--in fact, looks many
years younger. She has always looked for the silver lining in life's
clouds and is the possessor of many admirable characteristics. Mr. Rose
was owner of the old Rose flouring mill, well known in the former
generation in this part of the country. To Reuben O. Rose and wife
fourteen children were born, ten of whom are still living. Mrs. Owen
received her education in the public schools of her community

Eleven children were born to our subject and wife, namely: Charles B.,
born April 5, 1882, married Evelena Murray, a farmer and stock man of Polk
county, Missouri; Jerome B., born November 22, 1883, married Olive Murray,
and they live on a farm in Greene county; Abble E., born April 13, 1885,
died September 10, 1886; Rose H., born December 3, 1886, married Charles
Reichle, a machinist in the Frisco shops, and they live in Springfield;
Joseph C., born March 1, 1889, married Amelia Helbig, and they reside on
the home farm; Robert F., born October 1, 1890, died July 24, 1891; Wilda
(Nora) A., born April 8, 1892, lives at home; Sarah E., born January 10,
1894, married Clarence Robertson, who is engaged in the banking business,
and who resides at 468 South Grant street, Springfield; Savanna F., born
February 3, 1896, is living at home; John Sol, Jr., born August 1, 1897,
is living at home; Hollie M., born February 5, 1899, is living at home.

Mr. Owen was a public-spirited man, always ready to give his support to
any good movement in his community. He was a deputy sheriff of this
county, serving under Sheriff John Day, serving the full two years very
creditably. In 1896 he was elected sheriff of Greene county on the
Democratic ticket, and served two years in a very creditable manner. Like
his father before him, he was loyal to the Democratic party. Fraternally,
our subject was an active member of the Knights of Pythias and was buried
by that order. He also belonged to the Modern Woodmen, the Woodmen of the
World and the Royal Arcanum. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, South. His wife and children also belong to this church. The death
of Mr. Owen of this review occurred October 24, 1899.




JOSEPH LEWIS OWEN. Scientific methods of farming disseminated through the
medium of the agricultural schools throughout the country have come as a
great blessing to those pursuing agricultural callings. Yet the farmers in
the early days of this country had no such advantages. They had to depend
upon their own judgment, their own foresight, their own intuition, as it
were, to overcome many a perplexing problem in farming. And yet their
success was more often than not almost phenomenal; and we can pardon the
veteran tillers of the soil who yet remain among us if they look askance
upon our newer methods. Joseph Lewis Owen, a creditable representative of
the well- known old Owen family of Greene county, who owns a fine modern
farm of large acreage in Wilson township, is making a pronounced success
as a general farmer, employing such of the progressive methods as are
consistent with this locality and climate, and his well-cultivated land
and comfortable home would indicate to the observer that his efforts have
been well rewarded.

Mr. Owen was born near what is now Battlefield, in the above named
township and county, May 7, 1880. He is a son of Capt. C. Baker Owen and
Nancy Caroline (McCroskey) Owen. Captain Owen was a native of Tennessee,
born in Marshall county, February 28, 1827. He was a son of Solomon H.
Owen, a native of eastern Tennessee, and of Welsh descent. Baker Owen was
nine years old when he was brought by his parents to Greene county,
Missouri, in 1836, his father entering four hundred acres of land from the
government, four miles northwest of Springfield. He continued entering
land until he owned about two thousand acres. He owned large numbers of
slaves. He became one of the most extensive farmers and stock men in this
section of the state, and remained on his farm until 1874, when he was
seventy-seven years of age, when he removed to Springfield. His family
consisted of six children, named as follows: Susanna A., George H.,
Pleasant B., Charles Baker, Jesse W., and William S.

Captain Owens, father of our subject, grew to manhood in Greene county and
here devoted his life to farming and stock raising on a large scale. On
September 18, 1856, he married Sarah E. Yarbrough, and two children were
born to this union, John S., and Stephen A. D. After his marriage Captain
Owen settled on a farm on the James river, however, he had previously
spent a number of years engaged in buying and selling livestock, and, like
his father before him, he became one of the most progressive
agriculturists in Greene county, owing a vast estate on either side of the
James river, aggregating over nineteen hundred acres. He cleared and
improved about one-half of the entire tract, leaving a large portion of
his land in timber and he kept large herds of various kinds of livestock
on his large pastures. The first wife of Captain Owen died in the spring
of 1862, and on January 31, 1865, he married Nancy Caroline McCroskey, to
which union eight children were born, named as follows: Charles J.,
Rachael M., Margaret S. E., Alwilda M. J., George D., Francis W., W. E.,
and Joseph L. (subject of this sketch).

Captain Owen was a Democrat and was influential in local public affairs.
He was elected sheriff of Greene county in 1870, and was reelected in
1874, serving two terms of two years each. He took a conspicuous part in
the local military affairs during the Civil war. In May, 1861, he
organized a militia company of Home Guards in Wilson township and was
elected captain, but when his company was consolidated with another, he
being the junior of the two captains, resigned and became a first
lieutenant. When General Lyon's army marched out from Springfield on the
night of August 9, 1861, to attack General Price and McCulloch on Wilson's
creek, Captain Owen was appointed one of the guides; and he led the
division under Col. Franz Sigel to the Confederate camp, he took part in
the battle on the following day. The Union forces having retreated to
Rolla, Phelps county, Captain Owen and his company were enrolled in United
States service there, and was commissioned by the governor of Missouri as
first lieutenant in the regular army. He saw considerable active service,
was in a number of skirmishes in the southern part of the state and later
fought against General Marmaduke in that part of the state and was also in
minor engagements in Tennessee and different parts of his own state. At
Columbus, Kentucky his company did guard duty on the ordnance boat
"General Grant," and later was with General Sherman on his march through
Mississippi; was with General Banks on the Red river expedition, also at
the occupation of the city of Alexandria, and the battle of Pleasant Hill,
Louisiana, where his regiment lost all of its officers except the major,
one captain and one lieutenant, in killed and wounded, and lost one-third
of the men. His own company lost one-half of its number in killed and
wounded. This company was in severe skirmishes, fighting from April 9th to
May 16th, when the battle of Yellow Brow was fought. Later Captain Owen
was in battle near Mineral Point, Missouri. He was sick in the Federal
Hospital at Memphis, Tennessee, nine weeks. He was mustered out of the
service in St. Louis, October 14, 1864. Soon thereafter he returned home
and engaged in farming until his death.

Joseph L. Owen grew to manhood on the home farm and there he worked during
the summer months and attended the district schools in the winter time. He
has always lived on the old homestead, he having taken the old home place
proper in the settlement of his father's estate, and he is owner of one of
the choice farms of this part of Greene county, consisting of three
hundred and twenty acres, two hundred acres of which is under cultivation
and he is carrying on general farming and stock raising in a highly
successful manner. He has carefully rotated his crops and otherwise
skillfully managed the old farm so that it has not only retained its
original fertility but the strength of soil has been increased.

Mr. Owen was married November 10, 1901, to Kate McConnell, a daughter of
John and Nannie (Aven) McConnell, both born, reared and educated in
Christian county, Missouri, and in that county Mrs. Owen was born January
25, 1883, and there grew to womanhood and received a common school
education. Her father's death occurred June 3, 1909, but her mother is
still living in Christian county. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
McConnell, namely: Lindsay is the eldest; Mrs. Maggie Avery, wife of Ed
Avery, of Christian county; Lucy is the wife of James Stewart, of Greene
county; Gracey is the wife of Herbert Avan and they live in Christian
county; Ross also lives in that county; Bertha, wife of Will Gooch,
resides in the same county; Kate, wife of Mr. Owen, of this sketch; the
other three children died in infancy.

To Mr. and Mrs. Owen. three children have been born, namely: Rosco died in
infancy; Clarence, born February 7, 1903, and Homer, born October 12, 1909
are at home.

Politically, Mr. Owen has voted the Democratic ticket since attaining his
majority. Mrs. Owen is a member of the Christian church. They are among
the popular young people of this part of the county.




STEPHEN A. D. OWEN. No industry is so vital to the well-being of the
nation as agriculture, and nothing is so vital to agriculture as the soil.
From its treasury it has been estimated that we draw annually about eight
billion and three hundred million dollars, and its possibilities are as
yet only partially realized. There are still in this country millions of
acres which have never felt the plow, while those which are now under
cultivation can, by the application of scientific principles, be made to
produce many times the present value of their products. How to use and not
abuse this great resource is the most important problem which faces the
farmer of today--one worthy of the best efforts of our profound and
learned scientists; for upon its solution depends the future prosperity of
the nation. One of the alert and wide awake agriculturists of Greene
county of a past generation was the late Stephen A. D. Owen, of Wilson
township, a scion of the prominent old Owen family of this locality.

Mr. Owen was born in Greene county, Missouri, January 6, 1861. He is a son
of C. B. and Ellen (Yarbrough) Owen, the former a native of Tennessee and
the latter of Christian county, Missouri, the parents of the mother of our
subject having emigrated from middle Tennessee to Missouri in an early
day. C. B. Owen was also one of the early settlers in the southern part of
Greene county, becoming an extensive land owner along the James river and
one of the most substantial and influential citizens here. He was twice
married, and had two children by his first union, namely: J. Solomon, and
Stephen A. D. During the Civil war C. B. Owen was a Unionist, and became
captain of the Twenty-fourth Missouri Infantry, serving three years with
distinction and credit. At the battle of Wilson's creek he acted as guide
to Col. Franz Sigel's column which marched from Springfield to the camp of
the Confederates the night preceding the battle. Mr. Owen took part in
numerous engagements, including the battles of Pleasant Hill and Ft.
Derussy and several of minor importance. He was never wounded but was once
struck with a spent ball. A fuller history of Captain Owen will be found
on other pages of this work.

Stephen A. D. Owen grew to manhood on the home farm, where he assisted
with the general work and in the winter months he attended the old
subscription schools, obtaining a meager education, which has since been
properly supplemented by wide miscellaneous reading. When he was forty-six
years of age his father died and our subject became possessed of a finely
improved and valuable farm of two hundred acres from the old homestead, a
part of which lies across the line in Christian county. Here he carried on
general farming and stock raising in a manner that indicated he was fully
abreast of the times of modern husbandry.

Mr. Owen was twice married, first, on April 28, 1883, to Luta L. White, a
daughter of Hardy and Tampey White, formerly of the state of Tennessee,
from which they emigrated to Greene county, Missouri, in an- early day.
She was one of three children, being the youngest, and her death occurred
March 18, 1888, leaving three children, namely: Alfred Wilson, Charles
Baker, and Horace Preston, all living in Greene county. Our subject was
married on February 17, 1894, his last wife being Rachael Ann Payne, born
April 6, 1858, a daughter of Lewis and Margaret Payne, natives of
Tennessee and Virginia, respectively. The father came to Greene county,
Missouri, when five years of age. His father was the second white man to
settle in Greene county. He found only Indians and a few Spaniards in
these parts. Our subject's second marriage was without issue.

Politically, Mr. Owen adhered to the principles of the Democratic party
since reaching maturity, but never sought public office, being content to
devote his attention exclusively to his pleasant home and his extensive
farming operations. However he served as constable four years. His death
occurred at his home, January 28, 1915.




JERRY W. OWENS. Although we are prone to rail at our environments and lack
of early opportunities, blaming these for our failures along the road
toward the "heights," yet the contemplative mind must conclude that life
is, after all, about what we make it. When but a boy Jerry W. Owens, of
Springfield, Missouri, general agent of the Penn Mutual Life Insurance
Company, of Philadelphia, realized that man is master of his fate; that he
is the captain of his own soul, and he set about in a laudable manner to
shape his destiny on "these banks and shoals of time."

Mr. Owens was born on September 6, 1875, on a farm eight miles northwest
of Carthage, Missouri, in one of the best farming sections of Jasper
county, and resided on this farm until he was twenty-one years of age. He
is a son of David D. and Frances M. (Stout) Owens. The father was born in
Wales, July 15, 1834, and moved to Newark, Licking county, Ohio, with his
parents when a mere boy, and the mother's birth occurred near Newark,
Licking county, Ohio, September 9, 1842. Her death occurred at Santa Cruz,
California, July 17, 1913, and in that city the father is still making his
home. David D. Owens received a fairly good education in the rural
schools. His wife was well educated and she spent her earlier years in
educational work, teaching about twenty terms in Ohio and Illinois. Mr.
Owens has devoted his active life to farming and stock raising, but is now
living in retirement, but still owns his fine farm of two hundred acres in
Jasper county, Missouri. During the Civil war he enlisted in an Ohio
regiment and served in the Union army, participating in several
engagements in Maryland and Virginia. He is a member of the Grand Army of
the Republic, and politically he is a Republican. His family consists of
four children, namely: Edwin J. lives in Canon City, Colorado, where he is
engaged in the mercantile business; David A. lives in Santa Cruz,
California, where he is engaged in the transfer and storage business;
James B. also lives in Santa Cruz, being in partnership with his brother
in business.

Jerry W. Owens spent his boyhood on the farm in Jasper county and received
his education in the common schools, later attending college in Carthage,
then came to Springfield and took a course in the Springfield Business
College. He began life for himself by doing clerical work for a number of
different firms in Springfield. He subsequently became official court
reporter for the Circuit Court and the Criminal Court, discharging the
duties of this important trust for a period of eight years in a manner
that was highly satisfactory to ail concerned. He reported all civil cases
in Division No. 2 and reported all criminal cases. While incumbent of this
office he found time to engage to some extent in the insurance business,
and about ten years ago he was made general agent for the Penn Mutual Life
Insurance Company, of Philadelphia, his territory comprising about
twenty-five counties in southwestern Missouri. He has offices at 826
Landers Building. He is one of the best known insurance men in this
section of the state.

Mr. Owens was married on March 10, 1909, in Springfield, to Minnie Clyde
Umbarger, who was born in Saline county, Missouri, June 21, 1877. She is a
daughter of Thomas A. and Mary Jane (Spates) Umbarger. The father was born
on July 5, 1846, near Bloomington, Indiana, and died on October 8, 1910,
his death being the result of an accident. The mother of Mrs. Owens was
born on February 16, 1837, near Louisville, Kentucky, and her death
occurred on March 5, 1903. To these parents six children were born, five
of whom are still living, namely: William W. is engaged in farming near
Marshall, Saline county, Missouri; Walter A., who lives in Springfield, is
a member of the firm of Boehn & Umbarger, fire insurance agents; Dr.
Thomas T. is practicing dentistry in Springfield; Maggie, who married
William W. Naylor. He was killed in a train wreck near Lebanon, Missouri,
September 15, 1914; Minnie C., who became the wife of Mr. Owens, of this
sketch. She attended the country schools, and the Missouri Valley College
at Marshall, Missouri.

Two children have been born to Jerry W. Owens and wife, namely: Mary
Frances, born January 10, 1911; David Allen, born January 1, 1913.

Politically, Mr. Owens is a Republican and is active in party affairs. He
is at this writing chairman of the county committee of his party and has
done much for the success of the candidates of his party. He belongs to
the Knights of Pythias and the Illinois Commercial Men's Association, of
Chicago. The family belongs to the Cumberland Presbyterian church.







Missouri Records
Kansas Records
Cemetery Transcriptions


Census Transcriptions
Marriage Records
Obituary Index


Family Research
Research Requests
Email Webmaster

 



Alienware Computer Coupons