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




JAMES S. WADDELL. The fair Sunflower state has developed into one of the
greatest in the sisterhood of forty-eight commonwealths in our beloved
Union, and she has produced men and women of a rare strength of mind and
character, who have taken their places in the nation along with the best.
Her native children find so fine opportunities within her own border that
they seldom leave, especially to come east, and so there are few Kansasans
to be found in Greene county, Missouri. James S. Waddell, a contractor of
Springfield, is one of these.

Mr. Waddell was born in Saline county, Kansas, September 28, 1873. He is a
son of James and Eleena (Selmon) Waddell. The father was born in Des
Moines county, Iowa, in 1813, the mother was born near Quincy, Illinois,
in 1836. She was a second cousin of Abraham Lincoln. These parents grew up
in their respective communities, received limited educations and when
young each removed to the state of Kansas, in pioneer days, and there met
and married. James Waddell was a merchant in his earlier days, but the
latter part of his life was devoted to agricultural pursuits. He
maintained the first store that was ever established in what is now the
thriving city of Salina, Kansas. His death occurred at Lawrence, that
state, in the year 1880. His widow survived thirty years, dying July 6,
1910, near Nashville, Missouri. The only child born to these parents was
the subject of this sketch.

James S. Waddell grew to manhood in Kansas and received a somewhat limited
education in the schools of Ft. Scott, that state. He followed farming and
mining until he came to Springfield, Missouri in 1900, when he went to
work in the repair department of the north side Frisco shops, remaining
with this company about five years. Upon leaving the shops in 1905 he
began cement contracting, building curbs, sidewalks, etc., which business
he has since conducted alone and in an eminently satisfactory and
successful manner, enjoying a wide patronage, and promptness and honesty
have been his watchwords.

Mr. Waddell was married February 23, 1897, in Taney county, Missouri, to
Grace Wicks, who was born in Kansas, May 29, 1879. She is a daughter of
John K. and Maggie (Waterbury) Wicks, both natives of the state of New
York, where they were reared, attended school and were married and where
they spent their earlier lives, finally moving west and establishing their
home in Taney county, Missouri.

Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Waddell, namely: Elsie, born
November 22, 1897; Stella, born April 9, 1901; John, born April 8, 1904;
Frank, born October 12, 1911.

Politically, Mr. Waddell is an independent voter, preferring to cast his
ballot for the men whom he deems the most capable and honorable for public
positions, rather than for any special party, and is a member of the
American Brotherhood of Cement Workers No. 181.




CHARLES E. WADLOW. Human life is made up of two elements, power and form,
and the proportion must be invariably kept if we would have it sweet and
sound. Each of these elements in excess makes a mischief as hurtful as
would be its deficiency. Everything turns to excess; every good quality is
noxious if unmixed, and to carry the danger to the edge of ruin nature
causes each man's peculiarity to superabound. One speaking from the
standpoint of a farmer would adduce the learned professions as an example
of this treachery. The farmer has a much better chance to observe and
enjoy art as it is found in nature, and, therefore, ought to be a man of
the highest ideals and cleanest characteristics. One of the well-known
citizens of the northern part of Greene county who has been contented with
life in the rural districts and has been a close observer of the uplifting
things about him is Charles E. Wadlow, who is not only an excellent
agriculturist, but a good citizen in the fullest sense of the term.

Mr. Wadlow was born on the old home farm in Murray township, Greene
county, March 3, 1864. He is a son of John Wesley and, Mary Ann (Lethco)
Wadlow. The father of our subject was born on December 17, 1797, in
Washington county, Virginia, now a part of West Virginia, and there he
spent his earlier years, removing first to Tennessee, where he remained
until about 1835, when he made the rough overland journey to Greene
county, Missouri, and settled about twelve miles northwest of Springfield.
On July 24, 1837, he married Mary Hastings, and to them seven children
were born, namely: Alzirah Jane, deceased; Mary Louisa is living; Sarah
Ann, Margaret Elizabeth, Martha Agnes, Matilda Caroline and John W. are
all deceased. Mary Hastings was born on January 27, 1820, and her death
occurred on December 12, 1854. John W. Wadlow married, on November 29,
1858, Mary Ann Lethco. To this second union were also born seven children,
namely: Joanna, Susan Arbell, Charles E, George W. and Dora Emma were
twins; Laura May is deceased; and Lillie D. The death of the mother of
these children occurred on March 13, 1909. Cyrus Cunningham, grandfather
of the subject of this sketch, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
John Wesley Wadlow was one of the early-day leaders in the Southern
Methodist church in Greene county. He gave a tract of land on which was
built the Wesley chapel, of Murray township, and close by he donated
ground for a cemetery, in which he himself was finally laid to rest, when
he had finished his useful, industrious and honorable life at the ripe old
age of ninety-two years. In his early days he taught school, and was a
justice of the peace in Greene county for many years. He was a successful
farmer and accumulated a comfortable fortune by his thrift and honest
dealings. He was a well-informed man, was a loyal Democrat and an
influential citizen. His wife, Mary Ann Lethco, was born on March 28,
1829, in Richland county, North Carolina, and when twelve years of age she
emigrated from that state to Illinois, later to Greene county, Missouri,
the family locating near Ebenezer, in Robberson township. Her death
occurred at the age of seventy-nine years; she had been a member of the
Southern Methodist church for over sixty years.

Charles E. Wadlow spent his boyhood days on the old homestead, where he
assisted with the general work, remaining there until he was twenty-seven
years of age. He received his education in the public schools, mostly at
the Waterloo schoolhouse. Later was a student in the preparatory branches
of Morrisville College, in Polk county. Later he attended a business
college in Springfield. After his marriage he located near where his
present farm is located. He has spent all his life in Murray township, his
native county. He has been very successful as a general farmer and
stock-raiser and is owner of a finely improved and productive farm of
three hundred and fifty acres, all in Murray township. They have a
pleasant home in the midst of attractive surroundings. Mr. Wadlow formerly
handled large numbers of cattle and hogs, and at present he feeds a great
many mules from year to year. He built his present commodious residence in
1898, but for seven years previous he had lived in a small house on his
farm.

Mr. Wadlow was married, November 26, 1890, to Jerena Boston, a daughter of
Thomas Y. and Nannie (Killingsworth) Boston. Mrs. Wadlow was born in
Greene county, here grew to womanhood and was educated. Her family is well
known in the northern part of this county, where they have long been well
established on farms.

To Mr. and Mrs. Wadlow five children have been born, namely: Mabel L.,
Thomas Wesley, Jerena, Mary Charlotte and Josephine. They are all at home.

Politically, Mr. Wadlow is a Democrat, and while he has never been an
office-holder, he has been more or less active in party affairs.
Fraternally, he belongs to the Royal Arch Masons, at Springfield, and the
Blue Lodge at Willard, being chaplain of the latter. He is also a member
of the Modern Woodmen of America at Willard. Religiously, he belongs to
the Southern Methodist church at Willard and is on the official board of
the same. His wife also holds membership with this congregation and they
are both active in church and Sunday school work. As a representative of
one of the leading families of Greene county Mr. Wadlow is widely and
favorably known, having the reputation of being a good neighbor, and
helpful, public-spirited citizen, always ready to assist in any laudable
movement having for its aim the betterment of his community in any way.




ELMER G. WADLOW. As a lawyer Elmer G. Wadlow is characterized by quickness
of perception. He has a seeming intuitional knowledge of the principles in
the cause of trial; a clear comprehension of testimony, and the methods of
its analysis and application; and, as an advocate, enjoys rare, peculiar
and praise worthy gifts. As a cross-examiner he has tact, without
simulated intimidations. He does not, however, confide alone in his
inherent power and abilities. Being an alert, logical and indefatigable
inquisitor after underlying principles, he thoroughly digests and prepares
every case, and then, thrice armed, he becomes a formidable antagonist. He
is entrenched in the fundamental and basic principles of the law. In
argument he is clear, concise, analytical and convincing. "Persuasion
hangs upon his lips and sly insinuation's softer arts, in ambush lie about
his flowing tongue.

Mr. Wadlow was born in Ash Grove, Greene county, Missouri, June 22, 1874.
He is a son of Elijah G. and Izora L. (Arnn) Wadlow, and is of Scotch,
Welsh and Irish descent. The father was born near Cave Spring, Greene
county, this state, September 15, 1848, and there grew to manhood and was
educated in the early-day rural schools. He devoted several years of his
life to farming and was then in the United States internal revenue
service, and has for many years lived on his farm near Marionville,
Missouri. The mother of our subject was born in Paris, Tennessee, February
11, 1850, and was a child when her parents removed with her to Missouri in
the early fifties, and here she grew to womanhood and was educated in the
district schools. She is a step-daughter of Judge John R. Earnest, judge
of Greene county court from 1856 till 1860. To Elijah G. Wadlow and wife
seven children have been born, five sons and two daughters, namely:
Clarence was killed by the kick of a horse in 1880 when he was a boy;
Elmer G., of this review; Maud is the wife of V. K. Darby, a merchant of
Marionville, Lawrence county, Missouri, and they have four children: Clyde
V., who is engaged in the mechanical business in Springfield, being a
machinist by trade. He married Carrie Weiss and they have one child;
Ernest C., who is a Methodist minister, now in charge of a church at
Pierce City, Missouri, married Ella Gibson, and they have two children;
William H., a paint contractor in Springfield, married Bertha Cohnen;
Beulah died in early life.

Elmer G. Wadlow was reared on the home farm and he received his early
education in the public schools of Springfield, and he worked his way
through school by firing the boiler in the Baker block during nights, and
experienced the usual hardships of a poor boy with ambition in obtaining
his education. He also attended the Springfield Business College. He
studied law in the office of A. Harrington, under the preceptorship of T.
J. Delaney and Charles J. Wright, all prominent attorneys of Springfield.
He made rapid progress and was admitted to the bar in 1901, and has since
been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession here.

Mr. Wadlow was married on November 24, 1901, to Mary M. Evans, who was
born, reared and educated in Greene county, Missouri. She is a daughter of
John and Mary (McClary) Evans, residents of this county. Mrs. Wadlow has
one brother, W. L., who lives in Hartville.

To our subject and wife one child has been born, George W. Wadlow, whose
birth occurred August 18, 1902.

Politically, Mr. Wadlow is a Democrat. He has been more or less active in
public affairs, and he was deputy county collector under R. H. Trevathan.
He attends the Methodist Episcopal church, South. Fraternally, he belongs
to the Modern Woodmen of America, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
the Improved Order of Red Men and the Loyal Order of Moose.




JAMES THOMPSON WALKER. Nearly sixty years has passed into the irrevocable
past since James Thompson Walker, deputy collector at Springfield, came to
Greene county. Thus he has lived to see and take part in the great
transformation of the country from practically a wilderness to one of the
leading agricultural and commercial centers of the state of Missouri, and
he talks most interestingly of the early days here, since which time
everything has so changed as to make it seem that he is living in an
entirely different country. He has not only lived to see the forests
replaced by fine fields of grain, log cabins by large farm houses but an
insignificant handful of buildings grow into the great city of which
everyone of this section of the state is justly proud. Mr. Walker has
served his country well, both as a soldier and as a public servant and
citizen and now in his eightieth year, he is still active and efficient as
a result of a carefully lived life, and he enjoys the good will and esteem
of all classes, all well knowing that his long life has been one of
usefulness.

Mr. Walker was born in Bedford county, Tennessee, September 23, 1834. He
is a son of Isaac W. and Violet Matilda (Reed) Walker. Isaac Walker was
born in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, November 12, 1800. Isaac
Walker was a man of much industry and devoted his life to farming in
connection with carpentering and stone mason work. He and his mother
removed to Tennessee in 1806, locating in Bedford county, the township in
which they settled being now a part of Marshall county. There he grew to
manhood and spent the rest of his life, and became a prominent citizen
there, served as county commissioner for a number of years. His death
occurred in July, 1888. Politically, he was first a Whig and later in life
a Democrat. His wife Violet Matilda Reed, was born in Logan county,
Kentucky, July 1, 1802, and died in July, 1865.

James T. Walker grew up on the farm where he worked hard when a boy. He
had practically no chance to obtain an education, learning what he could
in Sunday school, but later in life he became a well read man, and is well
informed on general topics. He remained in Tennessee until he reached his
majority and in 1855 came overland to Greene county, Missouri, reaching
here November 12th . He found employment as clerk in a small store in the
village of Springfield. Later he farmed in Robberson township, Greene
county, until the commencement of the Civil war, when he enlisted in
Company A, Twenty-fourth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, August 5, 1861. He
was in a number of engagements, including Pea Ridge, Arkansas, and Tupalo,
Mississippi. His fidelity and ability were soon noted by his officers and
he was made first sergeant, then duty sergeant and afterwards orderly
sergeant, and served with his regiment in all the campaigns until mustered
out October 14, 1864 at St. Louis. He was sick for two months at Helena,
Arkansas, but was never wounded or a prisoner.

After the war he returned to Springfield, and engaged in farming near here
until 1885, with the exception of six years, when he served as assessor of
Greene county, having been elected in 1867, and he made such a
satisfactory and commendable record that he was twice re-elected. He
established his permanent home in Springfield in 1883. In 1898 he was
appointed deputy revenue collector, which position he has held to the
present time, a period of over fifteen years, his long retention being
evidently a criterion of his faithful and satisfactory service.

Mr. Walker was married December 23, 1856, to Margaret H. Mullings, who was
born in Bedford county, Tennessee, April 8, 1833. She was a daughter of
Hosea and Margaret (Reed) Mullings, who came to Greene county, Missouri,
in 1833. She has proven to be a faithful life companion. Mr. Mullings was
in the war of 1812. Mrs. Walker is one of only a few of the real daughters
of the war of 1812, there being only three living in Springfield. To the
union of our subject and wife, eight children have been born, two of whom
died in infancy: Etta is at home; John Clay is farming in Greene county;
Hosea E. is a physician in New York; Violet is the Wife of H. S. Warner,
of Denver, Colorado; Maude is the wife of G. G. Beckley, who is employed
by the Frisco railroad; and Isaac G. is a member of Fire Department No. 1,
Springfield.

Politically, Mr. Walker is a Republican. Religiously, he is a member of
the Presbyterian church. He belongs to the local post of the Grand Army of
the Republic, of which he has been post commander. He was a member of the
Masonic Order, but is now demited.




LEONARD WALKER. The name of Leonard Walker is entitled to a high position
in the list of Springfield's successful attorneys-at-law, as those
conversant with his record will readily attest, for he possesses the
personal characteristics that should always enter the make-up of the man
who essays a legal career. In addressing the jury or the court he is
interesting, forcible and decisively natural-natural in his native
conceptions of the law—forcible in his scrutinizing of it, direct, lucid
and concentrative in his presentations, employing and using in a
remarkable measure the language of the law, if not by actual quotation, in
a vocabulary of his own, highly comparative with its best standards of
legal and literary expression He easily obtains the understanding of the
court, and uniformly places himself in such relations to it that he will
not be misunderstood. His powers with a jury is well known. His arguments
come from the sources upon which decisions are based, radiate the light of
his judgment and investigation, and his words are but the echo of the law
with which courts are disposed to co-ordinate themselves.

Mr. Walker was born near Ozark, Christian county, Missouri, on March 1,
1866. He is a son of Leonard and Nancy M. (Adamson) Walker. The father was
born in Wilson county, Tennessee, on July 12, 1812, and was a son of
William J. and Polly (Adams) Walker. William J. Walker was born near
Dublin, Ireland, and he emigrated to America when a boy, just after the
close of the Revolutionary war. He first located in North Carolina, later
lived in Virginia and Tennessee, and was a resident of the latter state
during the war of 1812 and joined Gen. Andrew Jackson's force and fought
with the famous Tennessee Riflemen at the memorable battle of New Orleans.
After the war he returned to Tennessee and accumulated a handsome fortune,
owning six hundred and forty acres of rich bottom land, also a large
whisky distillery. He owned many slaves, but sold them after the death of
his wife, and began trading in live stock, buying up large herds and
driving them to the far South and selling them, and while on one of these
trips he contracted a fever in northern Alabama and died there about 1827.
Politically he was a Whig, and was a great personal friend of both Henry
Clay and Andrew Jackson. Religiously he was a Baptist. Leonard Walker,
Sr., was reared on the home plantation in Tennessee, and received a
limited education in the schools of his native locality. His mother died
when he was ten years of age and he was reared by an old negro mammy, who
did not accord him very tender treatment. He was fifteen years of age when
his father died. The estate was all squandered and he was left practically
pennyless. When young in years he began his career as a general farmers
also engaged in the tinware business, remaining in Tennessee until 1842,
when he made the tedious overland journey to Missouri, stopping first near
Bolivar, Polk county, and farmed there for three years, then moved to the
Finley Creek bottoms near Ozark, Christian county, where he purchased a
farm of two hundred and five acres, which he developed and operated in a
fairly successful manner until his death, which occurred on January 18,
1896. He was regarded as one of the substantial, useful and worthy
citizens of that county and was more or less influential in public
matters. Politically he was first a Whig, later a Republican and was a
stanch Union man during the Civil war period. He belonged to the Baptist
church. He and Nancy M. Adamson were married in September, 1842. She was
born in DeKalb county, Tennessee, on July 24, 1826, and was a daughter of
Wells Adamson and wife, pioneers of that state and there Mrs. Walker grew
to womanhood and was educated in the old-time log cabin schools. Her death
occurred on October 15, 1901. Twelve children were born to the parents of
the subject of this sketch, ten of whom are still living at this writing.
One son, W. J. Walker, was a soldier in the Civil war.

Leonard Walker, of this review, grew to manhood on his father's farm and
assisted with the general work during the crop seasons, and he had the
advantages of a good education, attending the district schools in his home
community, and later was a student in Drury College, Springfield, but was
compelled to leave his studies on account of failing health. When only
sixteen years of age he was deputy assessor of Christian county. He has
remained a close student and has become a well educated man, not only
keeping fully abreast of the times in his chosen profession, but is
familiar with the world's best literature and well informed on current
topics. He began studying law when quite young and made rapid progress in
the same. However, ill health interrupted his studies and he underwent an
operation in a hospital in St. Louis in 1890. He studied in the law
offices of Harrington & Pepperdine, a well-known firm in Springfield, in
1891, and was admitted to the bar in February, 1892, and ever since he has
been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession in
Springfield, enjoying a constantly growing and satisfactory business and
ranking among the leading lawyers of Greene county.

Mr. Walker was married in August, 1892, to Lucy Jania Robertson, of Ozark,
Missouri, where her birth occurred on December 25, 1866, and there she
grew to womanhood and was educated. She is a daughter of J. W. and Martha
Robertson, a well-known and highly respected family of Christian county.
To Mr. and Mrs. Walker two children have been born, namely: Harold M.,
born on November 2, 1895, is at this writing a junior in Drury College;
Helen A., born on October 26, 1896, is now a sophomore in Drury College;
they are both making excellent records in scholarship.

Fraternally Mr. Walker is a member of the Masonic Order and the Knights of
Pythias, being past chancellor of the latter lodge in Springfield and a
member of the Grand Lodge of Missouri. He is a member of the
Congregational church.

His Americanism and Republicanism, neither give nor take quarter from any
faction, junta or party. Practically self-educated, self-qualified for the
exercise of his civic duties, fortified in his political views by the
confirming theories and opinions of the most brilliant and powerful
leaders of the Republican party, Mr. Walker stands nobly erect in the
ranks of the gigantic national political organization to which he belongs.
The principles that gave birth to it, that vitalized it in infancy
nurtured its growing years, and in its maturity impart to it, its dominant
and beneficent character, are those that he advocated in the days of
Grant, Garfield and Blaine, for even when a boy he had pronounced views on
national questions, and he has ever been in straight and uniform alignment
with the Republican party and its policies, and he has been one of the
local leaders in the same for many years. He was elected city attorney of
Springfield in 1896 and re-nominated in 1898, but went down in defeat with
the entire ticket in Greene county. Again in 1912 he was elected city
attorney. As a public servant his record was eminently satisfactory to his
constituents and all concerned, being marked with fidelity to duty,
honesty and ability of a high order.




ROBERT H. WALKER. A worthy example of the progressive twentieth century
business man is Robert H. Walker, president of the Globe Clothing Company
of Springfield, Missouri. He is one of the potent factors in the
upbuilding of the greater Queen of the Ozarks, which has been forging
ahead at such noticeable strides during the past decade. As in the
performance of his industrial duties, he leaves the impression of his
individuality on his work, in like manner and degree he impresses his
associates. He delights in good companionship, and his greeting are
uniform and friendly. In his ordinary relations and contacts with his
fellow men he is quiet and modest; with his intimate friends he is frank,
genial and confiding. Mr. Walker's character is strong, deliberate,
candid, truthful and he is punctilious in his adherence to obligations. He
is a kind and generous hearted man, an inheritance of his sterling father,
who never turns the unhearing ear to those who should be heard, whose acts
of benevolence are not performed in an ostentatious manner, but with quiet
and kindness, following the Divine injunction not to let the left hand
know what the right hand doeth. Of Celtic blood, he has inherited many of
the winning traits of that noble people.

Mr. Walker was born in Liverpool, England, December 18, 1864. He is a son
of Ralph and Fanny J. (Wilson) Walker, the father born in the northern
part of Ireland and the mother in the Isle of Man. It was in the historic
Cloncanon House, November 27, 1831, that the late Judge Ralph Walker first
saw the light of day. He was a member of one of the oldest families of
that section of the Emerald Isle. There he grew to manhood and received
excellent educational advantages, attending the preparatory schools, later
Ranella College and afterwards studied in the city of Londonderry. He
immigrated to the United States in 1859, locating in Philadelphia, but
subsequently came on west to St. Louis to join his brother, and in the
latter city he accepted a position in the office of the Adams Express
Company. In 1854 he became clerk on a river steamer which plied between
St. Louis and St. Paul, Minnesota, later he served in similar capacity on
a steamer which plied between Louisville, Kentucky, and New Orleans,
Louisiana. From 1852 to 1862 he was general freight and passenger agent of
the Wabash Railroad Company in St. Louis. In 1862 he took over the first
cargo of petroleum that was ever sent across the Atlantic ocean, returning
to St. Louis in 1865 about the close of the Civil war. He came to Greene
county soon thereafter, and in 1866 laid out the town of Ash Grove.

He was elected county judge in 1870. In the early seventies he performed
one of his greatest services to the locality in assisting in the
reorganization of the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis railroad, thus
securing a new railroad for Springfield. He became one of the leaders of
the county in public affairs, and one of the most influential and popular
men of this section of the Ozark region. He served as mayor of Springfield
three different times, and gave the city splendid administrations, doing
much for the general welfare of the same and winning the hearty
commendation of all parties. He was a leader in a number of important
enterprises here for years, and his memory will long be revered by a very
wide circle of friends and acquaintances. In 1859 he was married in
Dublin, Ireland, to Fanny Wilson, a, daughter of Major Henry Wilson. She
is a lady of culture and strong mentality, and is now making her home in
New York City. To these, parents eight children were born, seven sons and
one daughter, four of whom are deceased; those living are Harry Wilson,
who is a prominent newspaper man and author of New York City; Rev. Ralph
J., Albert E., and, Robert H., of this sketch. The death of judge Ralph
Walker occurred at Paris Springs, Lawrence county, Missouri, in July,
1907, at the age of -seventy-six years, thus closing a long, useful and
successful life.

Robert H., Walker was brought to America by his parents when but a child.
He received a good education in the common schools and Drury College. He
began his business career by starting in the clothing business in 1880
with Jake Rothschilds, where the Holland Bank now stands, corner St. Louis
street and the Public Square. Later he was in the same business with Jake
Marx, then was associated with the Nathan Clothing Company on the north
side of the Public Square for a period of twenty years. Three years ago he
began business for himself and at the present time is president of the
Globe Clothing Company, one of the largest clothing stores in the
Southwest, occupying a large and conveniently located building at the
corner of South street and the Public Square, and he is enjoying a rapidly
growing business, carrying a complete and carefully selected stock of
goods, standard brands of manufacture and is up to date at all seasons. He
employs a large number of assistants, and courteous, prompt and honest
treatment is his aim.

Mr. Walker was married in March, 1891, in Springfield, to Lottie A.
Levitt, a native of Iowa, a daughter of the late Col. C. F. Levitt, for
many years one of the best known and most influential Masons in the state
of Missouri. Mrs. Walker was educated in the Springfield schools, having
removed to this city with her parents when a child.

To Mr. and Mrs. Walker one child was born, Helen Marie Walker, whose birth
occurred on December 20, 1891. She received an excellent education in the
schools of Springfield and Belmont College, Nashville, Tennessee.

Politically, Mr. Walker has followed in the footsteps of his honored
father and is a stanch Democrat, although he has never been active in
political affairs. Fraternally, he belongs to the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks and the Royal Arcanum Lodge. He holds membership
in the Episcopal church.




JOHN A WALLIS. Although the twentieth century farmer is of necessity a
very busy man he can nevertheless keep on equipping himself with such
information as advancing times make necessary. John A. Wallis, a farmer of
Jackson township, Greene county, is a man who has kept abreast of the
times in a fairly commendable manner, being both a wide reader and a close
observer and he is therefor succeeding.

Mr. Wallis was born near Ebenezer, Greene county, Missouri, May 16, 1867.
He is a son of Allen and Mary E. (Bedell) Wallis, both natives of North
Carolina, the father born on October 1, 1823, and the mother on November
18, 1832. They were young in years when they emigrated with their parents
to Greene county, Missouri, each family being early settlers here. These
parents of our subject grew, to maturity on farms in this locality and
were educated in the district schools, which they attended a few months
each winter for a few years, and here they were married on January 21,
1849. Allen Wallis became a very successful farmer, owning a farm of four
hundred acres. He lived in different parts of this county. His death
occurred on December 23, 1898, and two years later, on June 10, 1900, his
wife followed him to the grave. They were worthy members of the Methodist
Episcopal church, were great charity workers and kind to their neighbors,
especially in sickness and were greatly beloved by all who knew them. They
were the parents of seven children, namely: Mrs. Malissa J. Cowden, Mrs.
Sara E. Cowden, these gentlemen being brothers; Luther E. is engaged in
farming in this county; Mrs. Nettie O. Brackett is deceased; Charles L. is
farming; John A. of this sketch; and Allen M., a farmer.

John A. Wallis was reared on the home farm where he worked until his
marriage, having meanwhile received a good common school education. On
September 23, 1888, he married Ella Huff, who was born in Greene county,
April 23, 1869, on the farm where she now lives, and here she was reared
and she was educated in the public schools. She is a daughter of Charles
W. and Missouri (Whitlock) Huff, both natives of Greene county, the father
born on July 16, 1830 and the mother was born on June 21, 1834. Mr. Huff
was one of the successful farmers of this county, owning seven hundred
acres at the time of his death, June 15, 1886. His wife died on October 7,
1911. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and she belonged
to the Presbyterian church. They were well known and highly respected. To
these parents eight children were born, namely: Thomas A., Charles C.,
Mrs. Sarah E. Gridges, a widow; Samuel, deceased; Annie E., deceased; Mrs.
Lulu N. Brown; Etta A., wife of our subject, and Marvin, deceased.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Wallis has been without issue.

After his marriage Mr. Wallis bought a farm of one hundred and sixty-five
acres. He at present lives on his father-in-law's farm, owning two hundred
and fifteen acres of the same, and in all he owns three hundred and five
acres. He is engaged in general farming and stock raising in a, successful
manner and keeps his land well cultivated and well improved and has a
pleasant home.

Politically, Mr. Wallis is a Democrat, and he is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church.




JAMES T. WALSH. When a man is called "foreman" it means more than the
casual observer might at first suppose, for it indicates that he has
labored persistently and conscientiously else he would not be in charge of
the men in his department. It does not matter what he is foreman of,
whether a machine shop, factory, a crew of farm hands or on public works.
The same conclusions may be drawn no matter what kind of a firm he
represents, or whether it is one of world-wide reputation or only of local
importance. So when we speak of James T. Walsh as foreman of the boiler
shops in the new shops of the Frisco railroad at Springfield, we confer
upon him a well-deserved title of honor.

Mr. Walsh was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 21, 1860. He is a son of
James and Celia (Collins) Walsh, both natives of Ireland, where they grew
to maturity, attended school and were married. Upon emigrating to America
they located in the state of Ohio. After living for some time in the city
of Cincinnati they removed to St. Louis, Missouri, where they spent the
rest of their lives, both dying there. Mr. Walsh worked at various
occupations after coming to the United States. For years he worked as
river man on the Ohio. His family consisted of four children, the subject
of this sketch being the only survivor.

James T. Walsh was an infant when his parents removed with him to St.
Louis and there he grew to manhood and attended school, his education
being limited to the eighth grade. When a young man he began learning the
boilermaker's trade in the shops of Rohan Brothers St. Louis, with whom he
remained for several years. He came to Springfield in 1881 and went to
work at his trade in the old north side Frisco shops, where he remained
until he was transferred to Memphis, Tennessee, in December, 1906, as
foreman of the boiler shops for the Frisco there. He was retained by the
company in that city until in December, 1909, when he was made foreman in
the boiler shops at the new shops on the north side, where he has since
remained, giving eminent satisfaction in every respect and being regarded
as one of the best men in his line on the entire system, not only
understanding every phase of his department, but he is also a man of
considerable executive ability and handles his force of men in an able
manner.

Mr. Walsh was married on April 18, 1883, in St. Louis, to Nora Shea, who
was born in Ireland, and is a daughter of Dan and Nora (Lyons) Shea. These
parents lived and died in Ireland, spending their lives on a farm, where
Mrs. Walsh grew to womanhood and there she attended the common schools.

The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Walsh, namely:
James, born on February 26, 1884; Mary, born on March 24, 1885, lives at
home; Francis J. born on November 18, 1886; Daniel, born on July 6, 1888;
Robert, born on August 29, 1890, and Thomas, born on November 29, 1892.

Politically Mr. Walsh is a Democrat. Fraternally he belongs to the Royal
Arcanum and the Knights of Columbus. He is a member of Sacred Heart
Catholic church.




MASON CLAUDE WASHBURN. Although Springfield is a city of considerable
size, where the inhabitants are engaged in a great variety of pursuits,
yet a large number of her citizens are engaged in railroading or dependent
upon the railroads, one way and another, for their livelihood; and where
there are so many actively engaged in as hazardous a calling as
railroading there necessarily occur many fatal accidents. One of the most
regrettable was the loss of Mason Claude Washburn, a Frisco employee, who
met his untimely death while a member of a train crew over thirteen years
ago. He was a young man of much promise, only a quarter of a century
having passed over his head, and he was summoned before his judge in the
Great Beyond when it seemed that he was most needed here. He was both a
railroader and a minister of the gospel, and no doubt would have
eventually become a leading preacher in the Christian church in southern
Missouri had he been spared.

Mr. Washburn, who was familiarly known as "Claude" Washburn, was born on
July 19, 1875, in the state of Illinois. He was a son of Henry Harrison
Washburn and Molly E. (Wilson) Washburn. The father was born on September
25, 1849, and the mother's birth occurred June 14th of the same year, both
being natives of Kentucky, where they grew to maturity, were educated in
the common schools and were married, and from that state they immigrated
to Illinois, where they resided until about 1886, in which year they came
to Springfield, Missouri, and established the future home of the family. A
few years ago the parents of the subject of this memoir removed to Cape
Girardeau, this state. Henry H. Washburn has followed railroading ever
since he was a boy, has been in the employ of several roads, and has been
with the Frisco system about thirty-five years, all told. He is now a
passenger conductor; in fact, has been for many years. His family
consisted of four children, namely: Lutie lives in St. Louis; Mason C.,
subject of this sketch; Pearl lives in Cape Girardeau, Missouri; and Harry
H. lives in Chaffee, Missouri. The father of these children is a prominent
Mason, having attained the thirty-second degree in this order.

Mason C. Washburn was young in years when his parents brought him to
Springfield, Missouri, and here he grew to manhood and received a good
education, including the public and high schools, a business college and
the old Normal school. He prepared himself for the ministry in the
Christian church, in which he was engaged for five or six years, during
which time he had a church on the north side and supplied a number of
pulpits in his denomination. He was a successful minister, well versed in
the Bible, and was an earnest, forceful and convincing speaker and a man
whose influence in all the relations of life made for better living.

Mr. Washburn secured a position as brakeman on the Frisco railroad in
November, 1896, and was assigned to a freight crew to run between Monett,
Missouri, and Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Mr. Washburn was married on June 28, 1898, to Lydia M. Wilkerson, who was
born on April 16, 1875, in Polk county, Missouri. She is a daughter of Dr.
J. M. and Mary (Ayers) Wilkerson. Doctor Wilkerson was born in Tennessee
on November 2, 1844, and his wife was born in Missouri on September 8,
1849. He received his medical education in the St. Louis Medical College
and practiced for many years in Humansville, Polk county, this state,
finally removing to Springfield, where he and his wife still reside. A
complete sketch of them appears on another page of this work. Mrs.
Washburn grew to womanhood in the town of Humansville and she received a
good education in the public schools.

To Mr. and Mrs. Washburn one child was born, James Harrison Washburn,
whose birth occurred on June 22, 1899, he is being educated in the
Springfield schools. Mrs. Washburn and son live on North Jefferson street.

Politically, Mr. Washburn was a Republican.

The tragic death of Mr. Washburn occurred on November 13, 1900. We quote
the following account of the accident from the Springfield Leader of that
date:

"Claude Washburn, one of the most popular trainmen in Springfield, met a
horrible death at Aurora this morning. He left Springfield this morning as
a brakeman on an extra run out in charge of Conductor Garvin. At Aurora
the train was heading in and while taking the side track Claude Washburn
was riding the pilot of the engine. By a sudden jerk of the locomotive the
unfortunate man was thrown from the pilot directly in front of the track
and then the engine wheels crushed his life out. He was dragged a short
distance, there being scarcely room for a body to pass beneath the pilot,
but the wheels of the engine passed over both legs and he was horribly
mangled. The engine was stopped as quickly as possible, but the brakeman
lived but a few minutes after being taken from beneath the engine. The
remains were brought to this city on a passenger train.

"Claude Washburn grew to manhood in Springfield. He came here when only a
small boy with his parents. He was about twenty-five years of age and
leaves a wife and one child. He was an extra conductor and had been
running trains a great deal this fall. He would soon have had a regular
run as a conductor if he had lived, as he was considered a most efficient
man. His father, H. H. Washburn, an old Frisco conductor, resigned his
position yesterday and left last night for Little Rock, Arkansas. His
mother and aged grandfather are now at the home on Benton avenue and are
heartbroken, as Claude was the pride of the family. Out on Summit avenue
and Pacific street there is also his heartbroken widow, almost prostrated
by the untimely death of her husband. She is the daughter of Dr. J. M.
Wilkerson.

"Claude Washburn was a religious man and a member of the Christian church
on Washington avenue. Before he began to work on the railroad he had a
strong liking for the ministry, and had in fact been a local preacher. He
was a member of the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, and
attended the national convention in Boston as a delegate in 1895. He was a
member of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen. He is spoken of in the
highest terms by all who know him, and there is probably not a railroad
man of Springfield whose death would cause more general sorrow."




GILBERT RUSSELL WATSON. A fine type of the sturdy, conscientious American
of today is Gilbert Russell Watson, farmer of Murray township, Greene
county. He is a man who unites a high order of ability with courage,
patriotism, clean morality and sound common sense, doing thoroughly and
well the work he finds to do and asking praise of no man for the
performance of what he conceives to be his simple duty.

Mr. Watson was born March 13, 1850 in Monroe county, Tennessee. He is a
son of Spencer and Margaret (Holloway) Watson. The father was born in
December, 1823, in Monroe county, Tennessee and there grew to manhood, was
educated in the common schools and worked on the farm when a boy and there
he married in 1845 and purchased a farm of his own of two hundred and
eighty acres, which he operated until in the spring of 1852 when he came
to Lawrence county, Missouri, and made a crop on Turnback creek, then came
to near Ebenezer, Robberson township, Greene county where he spent the
winter in a camp, cutting logs and building a cabin there. This was in the
winter of 1852-3. Later he purchased two hundred acres on Robberson
prairie, and moved thereto in the spring of 1853 and later entered eighty
acres adjoining and there resided until 1866 when he sold out and moved to
Cass township, locating on the edge of Grand prairie, owning three hundred
acres there on which he spent the rest of his life, dying June 20, 1887.
He was one of the leading general farmers and stock raisers in this
locality, handling many horses and mules annually. He was sixty-four years
old at the time of his death. His wife, Margaret Holloway, was born in
Monroe county, Tennessee in the year 1820, and there she grew to womanhood
and was educated in the early-day schools. She was a daughter of Mintor
Holloway, also a native of Tennessee, who became an extensive tobacco
raiser in that state. He married Marjorie Edmonds, a native of Tennessee,
whose death occurred April 8, 1883. To Spencer Watson and wife nine
children were born, namely: John T. lives at Willard; Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth
Tatum is deceased; Gilbert Russell of this review; Polly Ann lives in
Springfield; William R. lives in Springfield where he trades in mules, and
also owns about seven hundred acres of land in the vicinity of Cave
Spring, Cass township; Ruth Jane is deceased; Mrs. Susan C. Young lives in
Springfield; George W. is deceased; Francis M. is farming near Willard.

Politically, Spencer Watson was a Democrat, and he and his wife belonged
to the Methodist church.

Gilbert R. Watson was two years old when his parents brought him from
Tennessee to Greene county, Missouri and here he grew to manhood on the
home farm where he worked hard when a boy, and he received such
educational advantages as the schools of that period furnished in the
rural districts, and remaining a wide reader all his life he has become a
well informed man. He has always followed general farming and stock
raising, and besides operating his own valuable and well improved farm of
one hundred and twenty acres he has charge of forty acres belonging to his
sister, Polly Ann.

Mr. Watson was married October 22, 1884, to Mary L. Bond, daughter of
Holbert and Corenna (Lemon) Bond. Mr. Bond was born in Tennessee, June 14,
1837, from which state he immigrated to Polk county, Missouri, when young
and there engaged in farming near Morrisville until the breaking out of
the Civil war when he enlisted in the Confederate army and served for some
time. He was wounded in the foot in a battle at Corinth, Mississippi,
which made him slightly crippled for life. In a later day he spent many
years about the lumber camps in California, but finally returned to Polk
county and spent the rest of his life engaged in farming, and there his
death occurred June 15, 1910. Corenna Lemon was born in Polk county,
Missouri, September 13, 1834, and her death occurred June 8, 1878. In Polk
county also occurred the birth of Mrs. Watson and there she grew to
womanhood and attended school. Holbert Bond was the father of six
children, named as follows: John Henry is deceased; Mrs. Charlotte Pipkin
lives at Willard; Mrs. Martha Sims lives in Texarkana, Arkansas; Mary L.,
wife of Mr. Watson of this sketch; Benjamin who lives on a farm just south
of Morrisville, Polk county; Holbert, Jr., is deceased.

The union of Gilbert R. Watson and wife has been without issue.
Politically, Mr. Watson is a Democrat, and while he is always ready to do
his full share in promoting any cause for the general good of his township
and county he has never been a seeker of public honors. Fraternally, he is
a member of the Masonic order and the Court of Honor. He was reared in the
Methodist faith, and his wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church,
South, at Willard and takes an active part in all church work, and is
president of the United Missionary Societies.




JAMES WATSON. Success comes to the deserving after all, though it seems
sometimes that this is not the case. The man who puts forth the proper
effort long enough and hard enough will achieve just about what he set out
to achieve. This fact was realized early in life by James Watson, another
of the sterling Tennesseeans who have cast their lot in Greene county, and
by so doing have benefited alike themselves and us. He has now passed his
three score and ten years' limit of the Psalmist, and is living in
retirement in his home in Republic, after a long and successful career as
a general farmer and stockman. His life record has been especially
characterized by the most absolute integrity of word and action, which has
gained for him the unqualified respect of the entire community. Added to
this is a spirit of good fellowship and geniality which has brought to him
a large circle of warm friends.

Mr. Watson was born in Monroe county, Tennessee, September 2, 1842. He is
a son of Thomas and Bersheba (McCray) Watson, and was one of ten children,
eight of whom survive.

The father of these children was born in Tennessee and there grew up and
married and engaged in farming until the year 1844 when he removed with
his family to Greene county, Missouri, and he spent the rest of his life
on farms in this and Lawrence counties, dying about 1863. He served six
months in the Confederate army during the Civil war, when he was killed in
Arkansas, being assassinated by his own comrades, he having attempted to
escape further service in the army. The mother of our subject was born in
Tennessee in 1890 and there resided until removing with her husband and
children to Missouri. She spent the latter years of her life in Greene
county, dying here in 1900 at the advanced age of eighty years. She was a
woman of heroic mettle and after the death of her husband returned from
Arkansas to the farm in this county and reared her small children in
comfort and respectability, and gave them such educations as could be
obtained in that day in the country schools.

James Watson grew to manhood on the home farm, in Greene county, having
been but two years old when his parents brought him here from Tennessee,
and he worked hard when a boy assisting his mother in making a living. He
received his education in the district schools. In the early part of the
war between the states he enlisted in 1862 in the Eighth Missouri Cavalry,
in which he served three years in the Union army and saw considerable hard
service, taking part in many of the campaigns, and battles of that noted
regiment. He was incapacitated for some time as a result of sun stroke,
but was retained for active service until honorably discharged in August,
1865.

After returning home from the war Mr. Watson resumed farming which he
continued in Greene and Christian counties in an eminently satisfactory
manner, becoming owner of valuable and productive farming lands, which he
brought up to a high state of improvement and cultivation and on which he
carried on general farming and stock raising on a large scale up to a few
years ago, when he retired from the active duties of life and is now
living retired, surrounded by all the comforts necessary to happiness in
old age, as a result of his earlier years of activity.

Mr. Watson was twice married, first, in 1861, to Martha Ann Brashears, a
daughter of Walter Brashears and wife. She was a native of Tennessee. She
survived twenty-eight years after her marriage, her death occurring in
1899. In the year 1893 Mr. Watson married for his second wife, Louisa
Balcom, a daughter of John and Amanda (Swadey) Balcom. She was born in
1844, in Greene county. She was the mother of five children by a former
marriage, two girls, three boys, namely: Alice, born in 1874, now Mrs.
Alice Cantrell; Charles, born 1878; James Thomas, born 1881; John
Lawrence, born 1884, Mary Ellen, now Mrs. Fred Keltner, of Springfield.

Mr. Watson's second union has been without issue, but he is the father of
twelve children by his first wife, five of whom are now living, namely:
William, of Goodland, Kansas; Robert, of southern Missouri; John, of
Republic township; Mary, now Mrs. C. O'Neil, of Oklahoma; Malinda, now
Mrs. William Garroutte, lives in Missouri.

Politically, Mr. Watson is a Republican. He is a member of the Grand Army
of the Republic, Post 219, at Republic, in which he has carried the flag
for the past thirty years, and has been active in the work of the same. He
belongs to the Christian church. Mr. Watson was justice of the peace for
twelve consecutive years and served on the school board for thirty years.




LORENZO TIPTON WATSON, M. D. 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 affluence, honor and distinction in
the industrial and professional worlds, 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.
Dominated by the highest principles of integrity was the course of the
late Dr. Lorenzo Tipton Watson, one of the most distinguished citizens of
Springfield and Greene county during a past generation, who, for a long
lapse of years was among our leading men of affairs. His life was a varied
and useful one and during its course we find him not only a skilled
physician, but a successful teacher, farmer, merchant and real estate
dealer, and during the nation's greatest crisis he was a soldier. For
nearly half a century Greene county had been his home, and his career had
crowned so many successes and wrought so many achievements that he had
become distinguished for his thrift, energy and enterprise.

Doctor Watson was born near Madisonville, Monroe county, Tennessee,
September 13, 1833. He was a son of Barnard and Jane (Holloway) Watson. He
was the second child of a family of twelve children. The father was a
highly respected and substantial farmer in Tennessee, of old Southern
stock, his people and also those of his wife being of the Andrew Jackson
type, all courageous and clear in their conceptions of duty. These parents
remained in that state until 1847, when they removed to Greene county,
Missouri, and secured land west of Springfield on which they spent their
declining years. In his early boyhood Lorenzo T. Watson followed the plow
on the old homestead, and he was about fifteen years of age when his
parents moved to Missouri, but he remained behind in his native state, for
he was determined to work his way to an education there. After attending
the public schools he entered Hiwassee College at Madisonville, where he
made a creditable record. He then taught school three or four years in
Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia, and in the fall of 1853 he came to
Greene county, Missouri, and taught school two years in Cass and Robberson
townships, spending the summer months on his father's farm near Cave
Spring. Having cultivated a desire to study medicine, and being ambitious
to become a physician and surgeon he began reading medicine while engaged
in teaching and saving his earnings to defray his expenses in medical
college. He entered the Missouri Medical College in St. Louis, where he
made a good record and was graduated in 1859, having defrayed his own
expenses with the money earned by teaching. He began the practice of his
profession at Hartville, Wright county, this state, and was getting a good
start when the Civil war began. He was strong in his Union sentiments and
clearly saw that his duty called him to the defense of the country, and
without hesitation he entered the Federal army enlisting at Rolla, in
October, 1861, in the Twenty-fourth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and was
commissioned assistant surgeon of the same, which he held until in
October, 1862, being part of the time on duty with his regiment at various
places in southern and southeast Missouri, and the remainder of the time
on detached duty in the military hospital at Springfield. In October,
1862, he was promoted to surgeon of the Fourteenth Missouri State Militia
Cavalry, with the rank of major, under command of Colonel John M.
Richardson and held the position until the regiment was out of existence
by the consolidation of the Fourteenth regiments so as to make ten full
regiments of that arm of the service, in March, 1863. His services in the
army of three years were highly patriotic, efficient and honorable. During
his service he was closely associated with Doctor Robberson. Shortly
before the close of the war Dr. Watson was honorably discharged and
mustered out. Soon thereafter he located in Springfield and began in the
mercantile business which he continued for about three years, then sold
out and purchased a well improved farm in Cass township, this county, and
prospered rapidly as a general agriculturist, stock raiser, breeder and
trader. He remained there until 1881, having proven himself to be a man of
remarkable industry and energy. No exposure or hardships could daunt the
courage of this man. But after ten years as a farmer he sold out and
located again in Springfield where he spent the rest of his life in a
picturesque brick residence on South street still occupied by his widow,
and about which are associations of pioneer and war days. Numerous bullets
were fired into it during the battle of Springfield as it was located near
one of the forts where a spirited engagement took place. After leaving the
farm he engaged extensively in buying and selling real estate. He was
eminently successful as a man of business and accumulated quite a handsome
estate, valued at a quarter of a million.

Doctor Watson was married in September, 1865, to Josephine Massey, who was
born in Greene county, Missouri, in January, 1845. She is a daughter of
Nathaniel and Nancy (Ellison) Massey. Mr. Massey was born in Charleston,
South Carolina, came to Greene county, Missouri, in an early day and here
became a prominent man of affairs, and here Mrs. Watson grew to womanhood
and received a good education. She is a lady of sterling attributes of
head and heart and. her long life in Springfield has been of decided
usefulness. The fortune which Doctor Watson left her has not diminished as
a result of her judicious management and rare executive ability. She has
long been known as one of our leading philanthropists and the city owes
her a debt of gratitude which it cannot repay. Among the liberal donations
which she has made to worthy movements have been those for the local Young
Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's Christian Association.
She is now advanced in years, but is well preserved, having the appearance
of a woman much younger and she is progressive in her ideas, well informed
on current matters and she numbers her friends only by the limits of her
acquaintance, owing to her affable manner, obliging and hospitable
disposition.

Only one child was born to Doctor Watson and wife, Edward Watson, whose
birth occurred in October, 1866, who grew to be a very amiable and
promising young man; he met an untimely death by the accidental discharge
of a gun while hunting.

Politically, our subject was a Democrat, at one time belonged to the
Masonic Order, and religiously he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, South.

The death of Doctor Watson occurred November 18, 1903. He was a close
friend of Hon. S. P. Hale, formerly president of the Hiwassee College,
Madisonville, Tennessee, and in speaking of his death, Mr. Hale said: "In
the last conversation I had with Doctor Watson during his last visit to
Tennessee about a year prior to his death he expressed himself freely on
the subject of death and future judgment: he had no fears of the terrors
of death and had an abiding faith in the efficacy of the redemption of
sinners made by Jesus Christ, our Savior."

Doctor Watson was an active member of Captain John Matthews Post No. 69,
Grand Army of the Republic, and at a meeting a short time after his death,
appropriate resolutions were passed by the post, respecting the life and
character of the subject of this memoir, a part of which we here
reproduce:

"Whereas, In His inscrutable wisdom the Divine Father of all mankind, the
Creator of our earth and of the great universe, has permitted the passing
away from us of our beloved, honored and never to be forgotten comrade,
Dr. Lorenzo T. Watson, who has surrendered his mortal and entered upon
immortal life, wherefore, be it

"Resolved, First, that we mourn his death, honor his character and for-
ever cherish him in our memory. Second, That we extend to his ever
faithful wife and widow, and to all his family, our most affectionate
consolation in these, their days of immeasurable bereavement. We now
humbly pray our Heavenly Father to so console her and them with the
outpouring of His Holy Spirit, and of His all-pervading love, that the sad
burden now so heavily weighing upon them may be removed, and that they may
possess the peace which passeth all understanding, and which comes to
those who bow in submission to the decrees of nature and the providence of
God. Our greeting to her and them is, and ever is Sursum Corda.

"Comrade Watson requested that he be accorded the honors of a Grand Army
burial by the post, and accordingly, on Sunday, November 22, 1903, we
loyally and with tender affection of our hearts, performed that sacred and
sad duty by consigning the mortal body of our comrade to the sheltering
bosom of mother earth in Hazelwood cemetery.

"Comrade Watson was successful in every vocation and enterprise and we are
glad to pay tribute to his creditable achievements worked out by him in
his long, useful and patriotic life, which closed when he had attained his
allotted three score and ten. Doctor Watson was thoroughly honest. No
taint of the least lack of integrity has or ever can stain his life or
character. His word was as good as his bond with surety. He amassed a fair
fortune which was his own by the labor of his mind and hands. He was never
guilty of the oppression of any man. He was a liberal supporter of the
church and a very substantial contributor to every public enterprise. His
life has been one of great credit to himself, his family, his community,
to this state and the state of his birth. He lived the life of a gentleman
and died the death of a Christian."




WILLIAM R. WATSON. One of the most enterprising of Greene count
agriculturists is William R. Watson, now living practically retired in
Springfield. He believed from the outset of his career that the "wisdom of
yesterday is sometimes the folly of today," and that while the methods of
our ancestors in tilling the soil were all right in their day, yet in the
twentieth century we have been compelled to adopt new methods and farm
along different lines, in view of the fact that conditions of climate,
soil, grains, etc., have changed since the days of the pioneers. Mr.
Watson has been a close observer of modern methods and is a student at all
times of whatever pertains to his chosen life work and he has therefore
met with encouraging success all along the line, and while comparatively
young took his place among the leading farmers and stock raisers of a
locality noted for its fine farms and adroit husbandmen.

Mr. Watson was born in Robberson township, Greene county, Missouri, July
11, 1854. He is a son of Spencer and Margaret (Holloway) Watson, both
natives of Tennessee. The mother was a daughter of Minter Holloway, an old
settler in Tennessee. The parents of our subject grew to maturity in their
native state and there received the usual limited educations in the
country schools of those early days and they were married in their home
locality, continuing to reside there until the spring of 1852, when they
made the overland journey to Greene county, Missouri, arriving here on May
10th. They bought and entered land in Robberson township, which they
developed into a good farm by hard persistent work and there they resided
until December 5, 1866, when they removed to Cass township, this county,
and there the death of the father occurred on June 20, 1887, being born on
December 9, 1823. He was a Southern sympathizer during the war between the
states but he was not in the service. Politically he was a Democrat, and
he held membership in Wesley Chapel Methodist Episcopal church, South.

William R. Watson, of this sketch, grew to manhood on the home farm where
he worked hard when a boy, and during the winter months he attended the
district schools, entered Drury College in 1877 and in 1878 took up his
studies at Morrisville College in Polk county. After leaving school he
began his life work as a teacher and for ten consecutive years followed
this profession with much success in the schools of Greene county, then
began his career as farmer on his own land in Cass township. Working hard,
looking well to details and being on the alert for new and better methods
of doing things he prospered with advancing years and he is now owner of a
well-improved and productive farm of six hundred and ninety acres in Cass
township, on which is to be seen a large residence and a group of
substantial outbuildings. Here he has long carried on general farming and
stock raising on an extensive scale, making a specialty of the mule
business. He is at present making his home on Benton avenue, Springfield,
owning a cozy residence there. He left the farm on August 26, 1911, his
object being that his children might have better school facilities.

Mr. Watson was married on October 12, 1884, to Laura Boston, a daughter of
Thomas Y. Boston, an old settler of Cass township, and a prosperous farmer
and well-known citizen in the northern part of the county. Our subject
began housekeeping on a sixty-two acre farm near Harold, November 6 1884.
Our subject's first wife died on March 3, 1889; she was the mother of two
children, the second of whom died in infancy; it was named Olga: the
other, Nannie, was born December 26, 1885, who married Ray Chumm, lives in
Carthage. On September 25, 1890, Mr. Watson took for his second wife Clara
Boston, a sister of his first wife. To this second union six children have
been born, namely: Agatha, born on August 9, 1891, who lives at home, was
graduated from Drury College in June, 1915, with the degree of Bachelor of
Arts; Minnie, born on February 10, 1893. Willie, born on December 16,
1895; Pauline, born October 7, 1897, and Florence, born on February 19,
1899, are all attending the Springfield high school; Helen E., born on
July 12, 1906, died when four years old.

Politically, Mr. Watson is a Democrat but has never been especially active
in public affairs. He is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of Ash Grove
Chapter, Blue Lodge membership, O'Sullivan Lodge No. 7, Free and Accepted
Masons, at Walnut Grove; he also belongs to the Modern Woodmen lodge at
Cave Spring. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church,
South, at Pearl, Cass township. , Personally, he is a well-educated,
well-read gentleman, with correct views in all the relations of life.

Mr. Watson is especially proud of the time spent in the interest of the
public schools of Greene county. He enjoys the distinction of being the
oldest member, in point of service, of any school board in Greene county.
He has always been a man to whom any deserving teacher could come for
advice and sympathy, for, being an old teacher he has always known the
needs and ambitions of those in this profession. As chairman of the school
board he put his energy and zeal into the work and, placed the Pearl
district school at the head of the list of schools of Greene county, which
position it held until he left the district and ceased giving his
attention to the rural schools.

Although Mr. Watson paid more taxes than any other citizen of his school
district he always advocated and voted for the constitutional limit for
school purposes.




HENRY T. WATTS. Restlessness causes many of us to leave our parental halls
and seek our fortunes in distant lands. Some people feel this wanderlust
spirit so strongly that they have no control over it. Offer to them
whatever inducements you please--wealth, honor, a pleasant home--they will
not yield to them, but rather struggle against the hardships which the
building up of a new domicile in a foreign land implies. It is exactly
this hardship that attracts them. They dislike nothing more than the
monotony of a well-regulated life, and consider themselves well repaid for
their troubles by the charms which ever-changing enterprises offer them.
Another cause for emigration is the attraction which another occupation
holds out to the new-comer. It is the outcome of the excellent and
infallible law of supply and demand. These are doubtless some of the
reasons that have brought millions of Europeans to America, among them
being the Watts family, of which Henry T. Watts, foreman of the air room
at the Frisco's North Side shops, Springfield, is a creditable
representative.

Mr. Watts was born in London, England. December 18, 1868. He is a son of
Robert Watts, a native of Summersetshire, his birth having occurred near
the town of Yoeville, England, and there he grew to manhood, was educated
and married. He was there engaged in wool buying until he emigrated with
his family to the United States, in 1872, having first traveled through
Canada, and located in St. Louis, Missouri, where he took up the
carpenter's trade and worked as a journeyman. After remaining in' St.
Louis ten years he removed to Springfield, in 1882, where he followed
carpentering, contracting and building for a number of years; also worked
as coach carpenter and bridge builder for the Frisco railroad for many
years. His death occurred at his home here in 1908 at the age of
sixty-eight years, and he was buried in Hazelwood cemetery. He was a
member of St. John's Episcopal church in England, but after coming to
Springfield he united with the Baptist church. His wife, who was known in
her maidenhood as Emily Baker, was born, reared and educated in the same
locality in England of which he was a native. She is residing in
Springfield with her unmarried daughter at their home on Sherman street,
and she will be seventy-two years of age on July 4, 1915. To these parents
the following children were born: Alice, Mollie, Bessie, Henry T.,
Frederick, Minnie and Frances.

Henry T. Watts was four years old when his parents brought him to America.
He spent his boyhood in St. Louis and received a common school education,
which was very limited, for he went to work when only nine years of age,
and has supported himself since that time, his record being one of
self-reliance, grit and unswerving perseverance, and he is deserving of
much credit for what he has accomplished. When a boy he worked for the
newspaper known as the Springfield Southwest, the name of which was later
changed to the Southwester. He held the position of "printer's devil" for
three years, then worked as pressman for some time at the plant of the
Springfield Patriot, and later was pressman on the Springfield Republican.
As pressman he turned out the first daily paper in Springfield, in the
building opposite the Metropolitan Hotel on College street. He remained in
the employ of the Republican five or six years. From there he went to
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1886, and was there during the memorable
flood, then went to Pittsburgh, but later returned to Johnstown. He
subsequently worked as machinist at Rankin, Pennsylvania, with the
Braddock Wite Company, and learned his trade there. Returning to
Springfield on a visit, he accepted a position at his trade in the
Frisco's North Side shops, first being under instructions, then worked
during the year of 1888 as regular machinist, and continued as journeyman
for sixteen or seventeen years, when he was transferred to the round-house
as air brake inspector in the North Side shops, which position he held for
four years, then was promoted to foreman of the air room there, in July,
1909, and is still holding this position, and discharging his duties in an
able and acceptable manner. He has ten men under his direction. They do
repair work for the entire system.

Mr. Watts lives at 1352 Clay street, where he bought a lot and had a neat
dwelling erected according to his own plans. He was married in 1880, to
Minnie Sterling, a daughter of John and Mary (Shepard) Sterling. Her
father is a farmer near Crocker, Missouri. She grew up in this state and,
received a common school education.

The union of our subject and wife has been without issue.

Politically, Mr. Watts is a Republican. He is prominent in fraternal
circles, being, a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the
Royal Arch, the Blue Lodge, the White Shrine and the Order of the Eastern
Star, also the

Woodmen of the World, the Loyal Order of Moose and the International
Association of Machinists.




JAMES W. WATTS. Not all of us can succeed in more than one line of
endeavor. As a rule it requires years of preparation, study and practical
experience to reap more than mediocre success. It seems that James W.
Watts, a well known citizen of Clay township, Greene county, is a man
endowed with a versatility of talents, for he has succeeded as a farmer,
stockman, veterinary surgeon, a breeder of live stock, pump salesman,
harness maker and shoemaker. He has always applied himself very
assiduously to whatever task he set himself to perform and, being
courageous has never permitted little things to deflect him from his
course, when once he decided that he was right.

Mr. Watts was born in Webster county, Missouri, September 5, 1864. He is a
son of Dr. Thomas J. and Martha A. M. (Hedgepeth) Watts. The father was
born in Tennessee, August 10, 1837. He came west at an early age and
settled in Greene county, Missouri, on the James river. He was educated in
the Ozark high school, and in early life taught school for some time. In
1859 he began the study of medicine under Doctors Robertson and Barrett.
In 1861 he began the practice of his profession in Webster county, and in
1864 moved where his son, our subject, is now living, in Greene county. He
was one of the well-known and successful early-day physicians of this
section of the state. He became owner of four hundred acres of valuable
land in this county. He married in 1863. His wife, mother of our subject,
was born on December 3, 1838, in Tennessee, where she was reared, and from
that state emigrated with her parents in ox wagons to Christian county,
Missouri. She received a good education and taught school several years.
She was a great charity worker. She was a member of the Christian church.
Her death occurred on February 7, 1905, and on April 19th, of that year,
she was joined in the Silent Land by her husband, they thus having run a
pretty even race on the highway of life. They were useful, influential and
highly esteemed in their community. To these parents only two children
were born, Lula T., who died in infancy; and James W., of this sketch.

James W. Watts grew to manhood on the home farm and received his education
in the local schools. He removed to the place where he now resides when he
was three weeks old, and thus he has here spent his life. After attending
Henderson Academy, he married, in May, 1890, Carrie K. Dixon, of Ohio. She
was born August 17, 1870. When young he learned the trades of harness
maker and shoemaker, but his attention has been directed principally to
general farming and breeding and handling live stock on an extensive
scale. He owns two hundred and eighty acres of well-improved and
productive land in Clay township, all in a body, constituting one of the
most desirable farms in this part of the county. He studied the science of
veterinary medicine and surgery at home and is well up in such matters and
maintains an office at his place and has a good practice. He is also agent
for The Hayes--the leading pump--and has sold a large number. He has been
very successful in whatever line he has engaged.

Mr. Watts' first wife was a daughter of Jack and Ardella Dixon, and her
death occurred May 20, 1905. To this union two children were born, Arlie,
May 18, 1892 and Gladys, born December 9, 1894, both at home. Mr. Watts
married for his second wife, Mrs. Lillie (Gray) Dixon, widow of George B.
Dixon. She was born July 6, 1875, in Douglas county, Missouri, and is a
daughter of John and Artela Gray. She became the mother of two children by
her first husband; they are Agnes A., born November 28, 1897, and Hallie
A., born August 22, 1899, both living at home. To Mr. Watts and his second
wife one child has been born, Thomas A. Watts, born December 22, 1911, who
is living with his parents. Mrs. Watts is a member of the Methodist
church. Politically, Mr. Watts is a Republican. Mr. Watts has been
repeatedly asked to take different public offices of the county, but has
always refused on account of his large varied interests which require all
his time.




SAM M. WEAR. It is not so much the different things which men do as the
way and spirit in which they do them, that makes the greatest difference
between men. The man whose daily work is simple drudgery, is, in spirit, a
serf. He regards himself as only a means to the end of accomplishing
certain fixed tasks. It is the very bitterness of serf's condition that he
is a mere instrument, a tool, and that he cannot rise above that relation
to his work. Hence, there can be for him but small delight in his
employment. His labor can possess no dignity for him, because he possesses
none in himself. Labor and service are invested with dignity only when the
individuals who perform them are brought into a true and responsible
relation to them. It is the person who dignifies the work. If he exists,
or supposes himself to exist, only for his drudging tasks, they share in
his degradation. Only as the individual is lifted into something of the
dignity of true, responsible, personal life, can his duties and work
assume new and higher meanings. This is true just because it is not the
simple performing of the duties which impart to them their meaning, but
the purpose, spirit, and way of doing them. In the instance of this
word-setting to Sam M. Wear, the present popular and able prosecuting
attorney of Greene county, it may be recorded of him that during his
career he has given dignity to his profession, the law, although he is a
plain, unassuming gentleman, but he communicates dignity to every duty he
performs. He infuses the new and higher meanings into all his work, and
his purpose, spirit and way of doing it, is what addresses our attention.
In his relations with his fellowman there has ever been the evident
purpose and spirit of an honest personality. This spirit and purpose are
illustrated along his private pathways as well as in his career at the
bar, his uniform integrity and fairness impressing all with whom he has
come in contact.

Mr. Wear was born at Cassville, Barry county, Missouri, January 14, 1880.
He is a son of A. H. and Ona (McConnell) Wear, both born, reared, educated
and married in Missouri. For a number of years they made their home in
Barry county, from which county they removed in, 1886 to Greene county,
locating in. Springfield. The elder Wear was at that time appointed
receiver of the United States land office here, filling this responsible
position with credit and satisfaction to all concerned for a period of
four years. He was a lawyer by profession, and practiced with success in
Barry and Greene counties for many years. In 1894 he was elected
prosecuting attorney of the latter county, the duties of which office he
discharged faithfully and well until 1898. His death occurred in November,
1910, at the age of fifty-six years, his wife having preceded him to the
silent land in 1896. They were both members of the Cumberland Presbyterian
church, and were highly respected by all who knew them, and politically he
was a Democrat and was long influential in local public affairs. To these
parents one other child besides our subject was born, Madeline Wear, an
accomplished young lady who makes her home in Springfield.

Sam M. Wear was six years old when the family moved to Springfield, and
here he grew to manhood and received his education, attending the public
schools when he became of proper age until 1895, when he entered. Drury
Academy here, from which he was graduated in 1898, then entered Drury
College proper, made a good record for scholarship and was graduated with
the class of 1902. When a mere boy he determined to follow in the
footsteps of his father in a professional way and began the study of law,
which he continued at spare moments until completing his college course,
whereupon he entered the Cumberland View law School at Lebanon, Tennessee,
from which he was graduated in 1904, and was at once admitted to the bar
and began practice in Springfield with his father, with whom he remained
for two years, then entered, as a partner, the well-established firm of
Farrington & Pepperdine, the firm then becoming Farrington, Pepperdine &
Wear, which continued thus successfully for two years, then Mr. Wear and
Mr. Farrington formed a partnership, which continued until both were
elected to office, our subject being elected prosecuting attorney of
Greene county in the fall of 1912, and he is filling the same in a manner
that reflects much credit upon his ability, fidelity and courage and to
the eminent satisfaction of all concerned, irrespective of party
alignment. He is fearless and energetic in the performance of his duties
and has proven himself to be thoroughly grounded not only in the basic
principles of jurisprudence, but also with the statutes of Missouri. He
always goes into court well prepared and he has great weight with juries
and the bench by his earnestness, clarity of his statements of facts and
interpretation of the law. In view of his eminent success at the bar so
early in life, the future must needs be replete with greater honors and
successes for him.

Politically Mr. Wear is a Democrat and loyal in his support of the party.
Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order of
Red Men and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Religiously he is
a member of the Presbyterian church.

Mr. Wear married Susan McClellan, a lady of many commendable
characteristics. She is a native of Claremore, Oklahoma, where she was
reared to womanhood and educated and where her family has long been
prominent. The union of our subject and wife has been blessed by the birth
of two children.




MAJOR WILLIAM MARION WEAVER. For many reasons Major William Marion Weaver,
a venerable pioneer of Springfield, is entitled to specific mention in the
present historical compendium, not the least of which reasons is the fact
that he enjoys the distinction of being the only survivor of the Mexican
war in Greene county, and in fact, one of the few men still living in
Missouri who engaged in that memorable conflict sixty-seven years ago,
within itself a span of years longer than is vouchsafed to but
comparatively few men. He is one of our oldest native-born citizens, being
the second white child born in the county.

Major Weaver was born April 25, 1830, in Greene county, Missouri, and is a
son of Samuel and Rhody (Fulbright) Weaver, she having been the only
daughter in a family of thirteen children. Samuel Weaver was a native of
North Carolina, where he spent his earlier years, finally emigrating to
Missouri and settling in Greene county, and was the founder of Delaware
town. His death occurred in 1833, when our subject was an infant. The
mother of our subject was also a native of North Carolina and her death
occurred in Greene county, Missouri, at the birth of Major Weaver. These
parents were married in Tennessee, where they settled when young with
their parents, and soon after their marriage they emigrated to Missouri,
with our subject's maternal grandparents. Samuel Weaver and wife received
limited educational advantages, and they spent their lives on a farm. To
them only one child was born. Our subject's paternal grandfather, Jacob W.
Weaver, was born in Normandy, France, from which country he emigrated to
the United States with Gen. Lafayette, and he served in the Revolutionary
war under Lafayette for several years, and after the conflict he located
in North Carolina. His name was originally Weber, in German, he having
been of Teutonic blood, but the name was subsequently changed to the
English spelling, Weaver. He married a North Carolina woman and they
reared three children, namely: Samuel, father of our subject, Robert and
Fred. The parents of these children spent their lives on a farm in the old
Tar State, and so far as known, died there. William Fulbright, the
maternal grandfather of our subject, was also a native of North Carolina,
as was also his wife, Ruth Hollingsworth, and they grew to maturity in
that state and were married there. To them thirteen children were born the
mother of our subject having been the fourth in order of birth. From North
Carolina this family removed to Tennessee, but did not remain there long,
coming on to Missouri in 1829, and in the autumn of that year Mr.
Fulbright settled the land on which the main portion of Springfield is now
-located, from the "Jordan" or properly Wilson's creek on the north and
west to Campbell street on the east and the old "wire road" on the south.
Mr. Fulbright became a prosperous farmer and owned about thirty slaves. He
was widely known among the frontiersmen. Physically he was a very large
man, weighing about three hundred pounds. He was very hospitable and
visitors were always welcome at his board. His death occurred when Major
Weaver was about thirteen years of age.

As stated in a preceding paragraph Major Weaver was the second white child
born in the county, his uncle, Col. Daniel N. Fulbright, being the first,
both first seeing the light of day in the same house, there being only
three months difference to a day in their ages. Our subject grew to
manhood in his native community. Being left an orphan when an infant he
was reared in the home of his grandparents, the Fulbrights. When he became
of proper age he attended the subscription school in an old-fashioned log
cabin that was located on what is now College street. School lasted but a
few months during the winter, and his education was meager, however, he
has since become a learned man through wide reading and contact with the
world. The day he was seventeen years of age, April 25, 1847, he enlisted
for service in the Mexican war, and on June 14th following went to the
front. It was about the middle of May that year when one hundred and nine
young men left Springfield, he being among them, with instructions to
proceed at once to Independence, Missouri, the nearest mobilization point.
They represented some of the best families in southwestern Missouri. This
band of youthful patriots who composed Company G, Third Missouri Mounted
Volunteers, was made up almost wholly of young fellows from around
Springfield, which at that time was little more than a crossroads with a
store and a blacksmith shop. They were under command of Col. John Ralls,
of Ralls county, who was regimental commander under Gen. Zachary Taylor.
In 1848 half of the men in Company G returned home. Lieutenant Robert
Love, a brother of Thomas Love, who is now a resident of Springfield and a
former postmaster here, died en route overland to Santa Fe. The others
responded to the final and eternal ring of taps on the battlefield.
Fourteen went down in one battle with the Mexicans. Major Weaver is the
only man left of the one hundred and nine in that company, and although
eighty-five years of age, is well preserved and vigorous. He was one of
the young men to enlist with the first Missouri troops and he was among
the last to be mustered out in Independence after the Stars and Stripes
had been planted on the citadel of the Montezumas. His memory of the
incidents of the overland trip to the border, of the movements of General
Taylor's troops, and of the various incidents of the war is as clear as if
it were but yesterday that the happenings took place.

Young Weaver was made a bugler, and the troops with which he was serving
were sent to what is now El Paso, Texas. From there the march into
Chihuahua state and to the city of Chihuahua was begun. Juarez, Santa Cruz
and Chihuahua were taken in turn. Troops stopped their southward march at
Chihuahua. General Taylor sent reinforcements to General Scott, who was
advancing upon Mexico City from Vera Cruz, having first taken the city of
Monterey. General Taylor's men got as far as Buena Vista, where the final
and greatest battle of the war was fought, and in 1848 started bark to the
United States, the war having been terminated.

After the war Major Weaver returned to his native county. On December 24,
1848, he was united in marriage to Ester Ann Clements, who was born in
Wisconsin in 1830, and, with a sister, was left an orphan when a child.
The two moved to Greene county, Missouri, with a cousin, Jesse Gerard, and
here Mrs. Weaver received her education. By this Mr. Weaver's first
marriage, three children were born, namely: Mary Frances, who married
James Stewart, lives in California; Leonidas is deceased: Emma O. is
deceased. On March 6, 1868, our subject was married a second time, his
last wife being Jenna Ann Catts, who was born in West Virginia, from which
state she came to Mt. Vernon, Lawrence county, Missouri, when a child,
where she was reared. She is a daughter of George and Mary (Tarr) Catts, a
highly respected pioneer family of Mt. Vernon. Mrs. Weaver received her
education in the common schools of that place. She is still living. To
this last union two children were born: Charles, born January 23, 1869; he
was killed in an accident on the Frisco near Lebanon on July 29, 1903.
Emma, whose birth occurred September 3, 1871, in Lawrence county, this
state; she is the wife of Harry L. Bissitt, and they reside in
Springfield. A sketch of this family occurs in this volume under the
caption of James Bissitt. To Harry L. Bissitt and wife one child has been
born, Marian Weaver Bissitt, whose birth occurred in 1903; she has made an
excellent record in the ward schools and entered high school in September,
1914.

Major Weaver is entitled to be called a "forty-niners" for he was one of
the courageous gold seekers who made the precarious journey across the
vast, wild western plains to California—not, it is true, in the year i849,
but only a few months later in the spring of 1850. He engaged in mining
for some time on the Pacific coast, later returning to Greene county and
"wound up" his business affairs, and returned with his family to the
Golden State in 1852, and went into the hotel business there. He was
successful in this venture and remained in California until 1867, when he
returned to Missouri, the four long journeys having been made without
especial incident of importance. Upon his return he located in Barry
county in the southwestern part of the state and engaged in the saw
milling business, later removing to Lawrence county, this state, and
engaged successfully in mercantile pursuits until 1889 when he took up his
residence again in Springfield, after an absence of nearly thirty years,
and practiced law for twelve years and has been living a retired life ever
since, enjoying the fruits of his former years of activity and excellent
business ability. He owns a pleasant home on West Walnut street. Major
Weaver was elected in 1896 to the Missouri Lower House as a Democrat, of
which party he has always been a stanch supporters Major Weaver is well
and favorably known all over Missouri, the phenomenal growth of which he
has been deeply interested in, for he has lived to see it develop from a
wilderness on the then western frontier to one of the opulent and
important localities of the Union. He is a man of public spirit and is
hospitable, genial, likable, a man of never failing courtesy of the old
school, and now, in the golden Indian summer of his years he is held in
the highest esteem by a wide circle of admiring friends, and he can look
backward over a useful and well-spent life, and forward with no misgivings
or fears.




HIRAM H. WESTMORELAND. The lamented subject of this sketch, now sleeping
the sleep in God's quiet acre, as the old Saxons referred to their burying
grounds, was in life one of the best known agriculturists in North
Campbell township, Greene county, he having been one of that worthy class
of men who have fought their way to success through unfavorable
environment; and a study of Mr. Westmoreland's life record reveals the
intrinsic worth of a character which not only can bravely endure so rough
a test but gain new strength through the discipline. He was not favored by
inherited wealth or the assistance of influential friends, but in spite of
this, by perseverance, industry and wise economy, he attained a
comfortable position in life and left behind him what should be and is
prized by his descendants--a good name.

Hiram H. Westmoreland was born on July 16, 1848, in Tennessee. He was a
son of Henry Westmoreland and wife, who were born, reared and educated in
the South and there resided until they removed with their two children
from Tennessee to Greene county, Missouri, when the subject of this sketch
was seven years of age. The father devoted his life to general farming and
buying and handling live stock. He lived in Oklahoma for twenty years. His
death occurred in 1909.

Hiram H. Westmoreland grew to manhood on his father's farm, where he
assisted with the general work when a boy and he received his education in
the common schools and in Boonville College; however, his higher education
was interrupted by illness which compelled him to return home. After his
recovery he resumed work on the homestead and for some time engaged in
buying and selling cattle. He was still a young man when he took rank
among the well-known stockmen of his community, and prior to the breaking
out of the Civil war he frequently drove mules overland to Illinois and
sold them. Finally he purchased a farm of his own in Campbell township,
Greene county, on which he raised much stock, including brooded horses.
About thirty years ago, Hiram H. Westmoreland, with several other
Springfield men, went to Kentucky and purchased a thoroughbred horse known
as General Duke. This horse proved a wonderful sire and from him sprang
some of the best horse stock known in this part of the state. While there
he also purchased Denmark King. This horse was a grand breeder and noted
show horse. Most of our readers residing here remember a coal black saddle
stallion, greatly admired by every one. He also purchased on the same trip
a highly bred trotting stallion (Star Wilkes). That was the sire of some
of the best road horses ever raised in Greene county, Missouri. Another
stallion brought to this county by the subject was Diamond Denmark, who
was high bred and had many admirers among our stockmen. These are names of
but a few of noted horses Mr. Westmoreland owned and at that time his
reputation as a breeder of fine horses was well established over all this
part of the state. In later life he removed to Mountain Home, Arkansas,
where he operated a stage line between that town and West Plains,
Missouri, maintaining a station at Bakersfield where his drivers met and
teams were changed. The stage line covered a little over fifty miles. Our
subject also owned and operated a two hundred acre farm in Arkansas. Mrs.
Westmoreland owns a fine farm, which now comprises three hundred and
eighteen acres of productive and well improved land, the place being known
as the "Model Dairy Farm," an extensive dairy business being carried on,
for which the place is well equipped and adapted. This department is kept
very sanitary and a high grade of cows are kept. A very ready market is
found for the products in Springfield. A general farming business is
carried on by our subject's widow, who is a woman of rare business
ability. The old residence here was burned in September, 1896, but was
immediately rebuilt, and a fine, modernly appointed and attractive home is
now to be seen on the old site, about four miles northeast of Springfield.
The dwelling is surrounded by a spacious and well shaded lawn and a
generally attractive environment.

Mr. Westmoreland was married on November 13, 1873, to Susie E. Morton. She
was born in Greene county, August 8, 1851, and is a daughter of the late
Hon. John and Margaret (Logan) Morton, a well known and highly respected
old family of this locality, Mr. Morton being now deceased, but his widow
resides at the home of H. B. McDaniel in Springfield.

Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Westmoreland, named as follows:
Joseph H born November 1, 1876, resides on a part of the old home place in
Campbell township, engaged in general farming, raising and feeding live
stock; he married Eva Litton and they have four children, Austin, Belle,
Pauline and Robert: Lucinda W., born February 21, 1879, married Lee
Hopper, a farmer in Campbell township, and they have five children, Fay,
Donnie, Rolland, Louise and Ralph; Susie, born November 14, 1884, married
Edward Baker, deceased, formerly of Mountain Home, Arkansas, and she makes
her home with her mother; Ida, born November 24, 1889, married Blond
Gurley, a well known dairyman of Campbell township; Hiram H., born
September 19, 1894, is single and is living at home, assisting his mother
operate the farm.

Mrs. Westmoreland is a woman of hospitality, kind and neighborly, well,
read and she is an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal church, South,
of which her late husband was also a member, in fact, the entire family
are loyal in their support of this church. Fraternally, our subject was a
member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, also the Knights Templar.
Politically, he was a Democrat and active in public affairs. He was a
school director for some time, both in Arkansas and Greene county. He was
a man of fine character and was honored by all who knew him. He was called
to his eternal rest on March 1, 1903, his loss being deeply deplored by
the entire community in which he was so well and favorably known.




RICHARD F. WHALEN, JR. An undeceiving, earnest man, self-assertive and
self-controlling is Richard F. Whalen, Jr., superintendent of the
reclamation department of the South Side Frisco shops, Springfield. He has
owing to his Celtic blood, a number of the characteristics of his people,
and thus he has "certain things to say" when occasion demands, which is no
fault. Good nature beams through his features; a kind heart sits at the
windows of his imagination, and his soul is pervaded with sympathy and
good will. He is appreciative and sensitive to the opinions of others,
though strong to himself in the trial hour.

Mr. Whalen was born March 21, 1875, at Hannibal, Marion county, Missouri.
He is a son of Richard E. and Johanna (Cronican) Whalen, and a grandson of
John Whalen, the latter born in Ireland, where he spent the first half of
his life, finally immigrating to America, and spent the rest of his days
on a farm near Quincy, Illinois. The father of our subject was also born
in Ireland, in County Waterford, and he was brought to America by his
parents when six years of age. He grew to manhood at Quincy, Illinois and
was educated there, and in that city he served his apprenticeship as
machinist in the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad shops, then worked
there as a journeyman for many years. He later removed to Hannibal,
Missouri, where he worked as machinist and later as gang foreman for the
Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company for many years. For some time he
hold the position of master mechanic. He was subsequently employed by the
St. Louis & Hannibal Railroad Company, and then the Texas Railroad
Company. At this writing he is gang foreman at Hannibal for the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy road, although he is in his seventy-third year. He has
been very faithful in each of the positions with the several roads for
which he has worked and is a highly skilled machinist. He is a Democrat
and is a member of the Catholic church. His wife is now seventy years of
age. To them nine children have been born, five of whom are deceased;
those living are: Mary, who has remained single and lives with her
parents; John is traveling out of St. Louis for the fuel department of the
Frisco railroad; Richard F. of this sketch; Michael, of St. Louis, is
manager of the Payton Lumber Company.

Richard F. Whalen, Jr., attended the common schools until he was sixteen
years of age, when he began learning the machinist's trade with the St.
Louis & Hannibal Railroad Company in their shops at Hannibal, Missouri.
Later he went to the shops of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad as
journeyman machinist, then became gang foreman and finally general foreman
of the machine shop, of this road at Hannibal, remaining there until 1905,
when he became general foreman for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company at
the locomotive shops at Sayre, Pennsylvania. Remaining there until 1907,
he went to Topeka, Kansas, for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad
Company, as assistant superintendent of the road's shops there. He then
took a position with the Frisco system at Springfield as superintendent of
the reclamation department in the South Side shops, which position he
still fills, having two hundred men under his direction, whom he handles
in such a tactful and diplomatic manner as to get the best results
possible and at the same time retain their friendship and good will.
During his career of twenty-four years in railroad service he has filled
his many positions with the several roads mentioned above in a manner that
has reflected much credit on himself and to the satisfaction of his
employers.

Politically, our subject is a Democrat, and fraternally, he belongs to the
Knights of Columbus.

Mr. Whalen was married in September, 1897, to Margaret Burke, who was born
in Schomokin, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1874, and was a daughter of John
and Ellen (Whalen) Burke, of Hannibal, Missouri, in which city she grew to
womanhood and was educated. Mrs. Whalen died at her residence in
Springfield December 23, 1914.

To our subject and wife eight children were born, namely: Anna and Francis
are both attending the Springfield high school; Mary, Richard, Monica and
Regina are all attending the ward schools; Ellen and Margaret died in
infancy.

Mr. Whalen and family are members of the St. Agnes Catholic church.




WILLIAM W. WHALEY. Upon the role of representative citizens of Springfield
of a past generation and prominent and highly esteemed men of affairs of
Greene county for over a quarter of a century consistently appears the
name of the late William W. Whaley, merchant, banker, insurance and
general man of affairs, and prior to his coming here a prominent citizen
of Mt. Vernon, this state, to which locality the Whaley family moved from
the South when the Ozark country was little developed and here the subject
of this memoir and his worthy father did much toward the general
development of the country in a material, civic and moral way, and
gradually won their way into the affections of the people through their
genial, obliging and helpful natures, as well as their unswerving honesty,
in short, they both possessed those sterling qualities of character which
command themselves to persons of intelligence and the highest morality.
Such a family as this is deserving of conspicuous mention in any history
purporting to set forth the record of the lives of the most enterprising
and public-spirited citizens of the locality under consideration.

William W. Whaley was born in Dekalb county, Tennessee, not far from the
city of Nashville, October 31, 1837, and was a son of Seth and Elizabeth
(Bowen) Whaley, the father a native of Tennessee and the mother of
Maryland, each scions of splendid old Southern families, long noted for
their culture and enterprise. The parents of our subject received such
educational advantages as the early days in the South afforded and there
they were married on November 3, 1825, and this union was blessed by the
birth of eight children, all now deceased, namely: Mary, Nancy, Thomas,
Robert, Margaret, Elijah, William W. (our subject), and Henry. SethWhaley,
father of the above named children was twice married, and to his second
marriage three children were born. Seth Whaley devoted his earlier years
to teaching school, later learned the trade of harness-maker, which he
followed some time, and later engaged in farming. His death occurred in
Lawrence county, Missouri, in the late seventies.

William W. Whaley received a good education in the public schools of Mt.
Vernon, this state, where his parents located when he was about eight
years of age. He remained on the farm until 1851, when he entered a
general store in Mt. Vernon as a clerk, and having keen perceptive
faculties, he soon mastered the ins and outs of merchandising. About this
time he studied at the college at Fayetteville, Arkansas. In 1858 Mr.
Whaley began working for his wife's father, Benjamin Stone, and after the
death of the latter he continued to operate the store with the assistance
of Mrs. Stone, and kept the trade up to its former high standard. Later
Mr. Whaley engaged extensively in the banking business in Mt. Vernon, and
was for years regarded as one of the most enterprising and substantial
citizens of that city. Seeking a larger field for the exercise of his
business talents, he removed to Springfield in 1883 and became president
of the Commercial Bank, which he made most successful by his able and
conservative management. Subsequently he became a general business man,
finally devoting much attention to the insurance business, and toward the
latter part of his life Whaley & Company became one of the most important
insurance companies in Southwest Missouri and did a very large business.

Mr. Whaley was married on October 3, 1867, to Mary L. Stone a lady of many
commendable characteristics, who proved to be a most faithful helpmeet in
every respect. She was born near Sedalia, Missouri, on June 3, 1850, and
she is a daughter of Benjamin and Nancy (Owsley) Stone, both these parents
being natives of Tennessee, the birth of Mr. Stone having occurred in
1818, and he died on April 3, 1863, in the prime of life. The mother of
Mrs. Whaley was born on August 20, 1829, and her death occurred in 1898,
having outlived her husband thirty-six years. Mr. Stone was a successful
merchant. His family consisted of six children.

To Mr. and Mrs. Whaley two children were born, namely: Estella, who became
the wife of Dr, J. E. Dewey, of Springfield, is deceased; and Lena Stone
Whaley, who has remained single, lives with her mother in the commodious
family home on North Jefferson street.

Politically, Mr. Whaley was a Democrat, and, while he took much interest
in public affairs, was never an aspirant for political honors. Fraternally
he was a member of the Masonic Order, attaining the thirty-second degree,
was a Knight Templar and a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of
the Mystic Shrine. He was a member of the Baptist church, and was known to
all as a splendid Christian gentleman.




J. A. WHITE. The automobile business is a comparatively new line of human
endeavor. It has not been so very many years ago since the first
automobile made its appearance in Springfield. The business has grown with
perhaps greater strides than any other line in the twentieth century.
These autos are not only to be found in the larger cities, but in almost
every city and town in the Union, and even on the wide plains of the West
and in mountainous districts. One finds them in many of the rough, poor
sections of the Ozarks. People not only enjoy riding in them, but they
realize that they are time savers and thus in many instances money makers.
Those engaged in this line of business, whether in manufacture, selling or
repairing, are making a success. One of this number is J. A. White,
manager of the Western Motor Car Company of Springfield.

Mr. White was born in Springfield, Missouri, August 21, 1879. He is a son
of J. A. and Lou (Proctor) White. The father was a native of Tennessee and
the mother was born in Louisville, Kentucky. They left their native states
when young and came to Springfield, Missouri, where they were married, and
here J. A. White, Sr., engaged successfully in the contracting and
building business. During the Civil war he enlisted at Leavenworth,
Kansas, in the Twelfth Kansas Cavalry, and made a gallant soldier for the
Union, being promoted for meritorious conduct to second lieutenant. He
went out the first year of the war and remained in the service over three
years, taking part in many engagements and campaigns. Politically, he was
a Democrat and was active in party affairs. He was at one time a member of
the city council of Springfield. His death occurred here in 1884. His
widow is still living in this city. Three children were born to these
parents, namely: J. A., Jr., of this sketch; Mrs. May Costella, and George
P.

The subject of this sketch grew to manhood in his native city, and here he
attended 'school, receiving, however, only a meager education. He first
engaged in the bicycle business in Portland, Oregon, being naturally of a
mechanical turn of mind, and believing that the Far West held greater
opportunities than his own country. He was, however, later convinced that
this was not the fact, and after spending four years there, during which
he got a start in life, he returned to Springfield on October 8, 1900, and
here he continued the bicycle business until 1905 with much success, and
in that year he turned his attention to the automobile business, and
during the ten years that he has been engaged in this line he has met with
ever-growing and excellent success. He was first connected with Holland
Keet. He is now manager of the Western Motor Car Company, and is agent for
the Chalmers machine. His place of businesses located at 411-13-15 South
Jefferson street, where he has one of the largest and most complete and
modernly equipped repair shops in the Southwest. He is prepared to do
promptly and well all kinds of repairing and has in his employ a number of
practical and highly skilled mechanics . He also maintains here a charging
station for electrics. He is doing a large and lucrative business, and he
enjoys the good will and confidence of his hundreds of patrons, who know
him for a prompt, honest and obliging man of affairs. Mr. White was
married on June 28, 1904, to Alzora Sedgwick, a native of Kansas and a
daughter of A. C. and Anna (Palmour) Sedgwick. To this union one child has
been born, Charles S. White, whose birth occurred August 17, 1910.

Politically, Mr. White is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Masonic order, including the Knights Templar and the Ancient Arabic Order
of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is prominent in local club life, being
a member of the Springfield Club, the Young Men's Business Club, the
Country Club and the Springfield Gun Club.




ARTHUR LAFAYETTE WHITLOCK. This is the age of the expert. In every walk of
life there is an insistent demand for the man who has made a particular
study of one thing, whether it be in science, medicine, architecture,
agriculture, horticulture, or in fact, any other field of human endeavor.
In the few short years, however, that the soil expert has been a
recognized factor in the success of American agriculture, he has
demonstrated beyond dispute that he is, of all the experts, the most
valuable, for, upon him, as upon no one else, depends the success or
failure of America's most important citizen, the farmer. There are some
who cling to their old-fashioned methods and ideas and refuse to heed the
advice of the expert, all to their own detriment. But such progressive
farmers as Arthur Lafayette Whitlock, of Franklin township, Greene county,
avail themselves of the advice of the expert and, in fact, utilize all
practical information regarding their vocations and are therefore making a
success as general farmers.

Mr. Whitlock was born March 27, 1870, in the above named township and
county. He is a son of Lambert L. and Mary J. (Harkness) Whitlock. The
father was born in Tennessee, April 23, 1832. He was a son of Thomas J.
and Elizabeth Ann (Montgomery) Whitlock. Thomas J. Whitlock was a native
of North Carolina, from which state he emigrated to Tennessee, and finally
came an to Greene county, Missouri, in 1832, when Lambert L. was six
months old. Thomas J. located on a farm here among the early pioneers and
became an influential citizen. He devoted his entire life to general
farming and stock raising and, being a man of rare judgment and industry,
accumulated much wealth, was one of the largest land owners in this
county. He was the possessor of a number of fine farms at the time of his
death. He was associated with C. B. Holland in the horse and mule business
in Springfield for some time, and before the Civil war it was his custom
to buy up large herds of live stock and drive them to the South where he
disposed of them at a good profit. During the gold rush to the California
Eldorado, Thomas. J. Whitlock joined the throng that crossed the great
plains of the west in 1849 and remained on the Pacific coast two years.
Upon returning home he sent his sons, Lambert L. and Samuel T. to
California with a drove of cattle and they drove them across the plains
successfully. At one time, Thomas J. Whitlock owned sixteen slaves, for
whom he refused an offer of sixteen thousand dollars. He was a man of
hospitable and liberal impulses, and was a power for good in his
community. Everybody admired him and respected him. His advice was
frequently sought on various questions. His death occurred in Greene
county at advanced age of eighty-four years. His wife, who was also a
native of Tennessee, died in this county at a ripe old age. During the war
of the Rebellion, Thomas J. Whitlock owned and operated a grist mill at
Marshfield, Webster county, also owned and operated a grist mill and a
saw-mill in Greene county. He was identified with nearly every enterprise
that had for its object the upbuilding and advancement of the county in
any way. He was widely known, a good mixer, made, and retained friends
easily and was loyal in his friendships. He had no superiors and few
equals among the pioneers as a business man and public-spirited citizen.

Lambert L. Whitlock grew to manhood on his father's farm, in the
development of which he had a hand, making himself useful during the crop
seasons, and during the winter attending the township schools; he was a
life-long farmer and stock man, inheriting many of the sterling
characteristics of his father. He became owner of one hundred and sixty
acres of excellent land and was one of the best general farmers in his
township, and with the exception of two years spent in California, he
lived his entire life within three miles of the homestead where the family
located when he was a child. Politically, he was a Democrat. He belonged
to the Cumberland Presbyterian church, in which he was a deacon for many
years. His death occurred on the home farm January 4, 1906, at the age of
seventy-four years, after a successful and honorable life. During the
Civil war he served in the militia. His wife, Mary J. Harkness, born
December 23, 1832, in Tennessee, came to Greene county, when twelve years
old, where she grew to womanhood and was educated, and here her death
occurred August 30, 1890. She too, was a devout member of the Cumberland
Presbyterian church at Mt. Comfort.

To Lambert L. Whitlock and wife nine children were born, five of whom died
in infancy. Those living are, Anna, who has remained on the home farm;
Arthur L. of this review; Finis E. is deceased; Mrs. Ollie Freeman lives
in Robberson township, this county.

Arthur L. Whitlock spent his boyhood on the homestead and there assisted
with the general work. He obtained his education in the rural schools of
his community, and here he has continued to reside, following general
farming. In December, 1898, he married Lula Wharton, a daughter of J.
William and Louise (Beckner) Wharton, the former a native of Greene county
and the latter of Laclede county, Missouri. Mrs. Whitlock was born, August
7, 1866, and was reared and educated in Greene county. To Our subject and
wife one child has been born, William Arthur Whitlock, born October 7,
1903.

A year after his marriage, Mr. Whitlock purchased the farm on which he now
resides, and, during his residence of over fifteen years on this excellent
farm, he has brought it up to a high state of cultivation and improvement,
until today, it ranks with the best in Franklin township. It consists of
two hundred and ninety acres of rich land. He harvests a large acreage of
grain annually and raises large numbers of Shorthorn cattle, Jerseys and
other live stock, of which he is a good judge. He has a pleasant home
numerous convenient outbuildings.

Politically, he is a Democrat and while he is interested in local as well
as national public affairs, like his honored father before him, he takes
no active part and has never held office. Fraternally, he is a member of
Modern Woodmen of America, No. 4975, of Springfield, and of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Fair Grove. He and his wife are
members of the Methodist church at Oakland, east of Springfield.




WILLIAMSON PORTER WHITLOCK. A name known to everyone who has had the
slightest acquaintance with the business history of Springfield during the
generation that is past, is that of the late Williamson Porter Whitlock.
During his active life he filled a large place in certain lines of
industrial affairs of the city, and as an energetic, enterprising,
far-sighted man whose judgment and discretion were seldom at fault and
whose influence made for the substantial upbuilding of the Queen City of
the Ozarks he earned a reputation among his contemporaries. He is
remembered as a man who possessed a broad, inquiring mind, who was keenly
alive to everything that tended to improve general conditions here and
benefit those upon whose shoulders fell the burden of making possible the
phenomenal progress resulting from the development and success of the
industrial evolution of this section of the country during the past half
century. Although modest and unassuming, he had a strong and vigorous
personality and was fitted by nature to manage important enterprises. He
was a representative of a sterling old pioneer family of Greene county,
the Whitlocks having been influential in the growth of the same from the
early period of her history to the present time and they have borne
untarnished reputations.

Mr. Whitlock was born in Greene County, Missouri, July 21, 1841. He was a
son of Thomas J. and Elizabeth (Montgomery) Whitlock, who located in this
county in the early thirties and here became well established and well
known. To them eight children were born, namely: Lambert, Mrs. Adaline
Huff, Samuel, Mrs. Clementine Snyder, Mrs. Susan Bedell, Williamson
Porter, of this sketch; Mrs. Mary Leathers, and Thomas Jefferson. They are
all now deceased.

Williamson P. Whitlock grew to manhood on the old homestead in this county
and he received such educational advantages as the early-day schools
afforded. When the Civil war came on he enlisted in the Home Guards under
Colonel Holland, at Springfield, in 1862, and he saw considerable service,
including the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, and of other minor
engagements. He was mustered out in 1863, and honorably discharged, after
which he went to St. Louis and engaged in the mule and horse business
there for two years. Returning to Springfield, he devoted the latter part
of his life to the livery business, in connection with handling horses,
mules and general live stock and was very successful and one of the most
widely known stock men in the county.

Mr. Whitlock was married, November 20, 1865, to Elizabeth J. Ross, a
daughter of David and Louisa (Robinson) Ross, who came from Kentucky to
Greene county, Missouri, in the early thirties, when this territory was
inhabited by Indians and white settlers were few and far between. Mrs.
Whitlock's mother was a native of Tennessee. Mr. Ross devoted his life to
the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, had charge of a
church in Springfield for many years in the early forties, and he was one
of the most prominent pioneer ministers in southwest Missouri. His family
consisted of twelve children, an equal number of sons and daughters,
namely: L. A. lives on a farm near Willard, Greene county; William, M.,
deceased; Dr. Francis E., for over a quarter of a century a leading
physician of Springfield, is deceased; Elizabeth J., widow of our subject;
Mrs. Mary Louise Skeen, of Ash Grove, Missouri; Mrs. Sarah M. Watson, of
Morrisville, Missouri; David W. lives on a farm near Willard; Mrs.
Henrietta Josephine Robinson lives in Texas; Bennette J. lives near
Willard on a farm; Mrs. Cordelia Robinson lives in Oklahoma; Laura Emma is
the wife of Dr. Robert Appleby, and they live in Topeka, Kansas; Dr. L.
C., a Springfield physician, lives with his sister, Mrs. Whitlock, at 315
West Center street. The father of the above named children owned a large
farm near Ebenezer.

To Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock nine children were born, namely: Mrs. Ina Belle
Fawcett, of McAlester, Oklahoma; Mrs. Lela Louise Hubbard is deceased;
George David, deceased; Thomas Ross was next in order; Emma Jane died in
infancy; Mary Jessie is a teacher in the local public schools; William
Porter, Jr., was next in order; Mrs. Lydia Layton, deceased; Georgia
Elizabeth is the wife of John Cassity, and they live in Kansas. City.

Politically, Mr. Whitlock was always a Democrat, although he was a Union
sympathizer during the Civil war. He was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, South, of which his widow is also a member.

Mr. Whitlock was called to his eternal rest on August 18, 1895.




FREDERICK CHARLES WILDER. One of the public-spirited citizens of Ash Grove
who withholds his cooperation from no movement which is intended to
promote public improvement in that city and vicinity is Frederick Charles
Wilder, who for the past fourteen years has been engaged successfully in
the livery business there and is one of the best known men in this line of
endeavor in Greene county, and what he has accomplished illustrates his
steadfastness of purpose. In his earlier years he was a farmer and also
worked as iron molder.

Mr. Wilder was born near Carpentersville, Illinois, August 9, 1865. He is
a son of Thomas and Catherine (Tubbs) Wilder. The father was born in the
state of New York, in October, 1828, was there reared to manhood and
educated in the district schools and he devoted his active life to
farming. He joined the tide of "forty-niners" for the gold fields of
California and remained in that state a few years, finally returning to
Illinois, his trips across the great trackless plains being without
particular incident. He resumed farming and remained in the Sucker state
until in 1869, when he removed with his family to Lawrence county,
Missouri, where he bought one hundred acres which he farmed until 1881,
when he went to Barry county, Missouri, and homesteaded one hundred and
sixty acres, which he cleared, improved and farmed until his death, which
occurred in 1902. Politically, he was a Republican, and religiously a
Methodist. Catherine Tubbs, mother of the subject of this sketch, was born
in 1837. It is not certain whether in Illinois or Wisconsin, and her death
occurred in 1875.

Frederick C. Wilder grew to manhood on the home farm, where he worked when
a boy, and he received his education in the district schools. He spent
four years in Dundee, Illinois, working for the Illinois Iron Bolt
Company, learning the molder's trade, from 1894 to 1898, after which he
returned to the home farm, in Lawrence county, Missouri, not caring to
continue the molder's trade as a livelihood. He engaged in general farming
until fourteen years ago, when he came to Ash Grove and started in the
livery business, which he has continued here and in Mt. Vernon, Lawrence
county, to the present time, and his is now the only livery business in
Ash Grove. He has a well-equipped barn, including such vehicles as his
needs require and a large number of good horses. His barn is popular with
the traveling public, prompt and honest service is his aim.

Mr. Wilder was married March 17, 1887, to Emma Bowman, who was born in
Christian county, Missouri, August 4., 1869, and was reared on the farm
and educated in the public schools. She is a daughter of William P. and
Sarah Bowman. The father was a pioneer of Christian county and the mother
was born there.

Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilder, namely: Oma, born
January 1, 1888, is cashier at Bourguenot's confectionery in Springfield;
Dade, born May 20, 1889, is employed by the Aurora Milling Company at
Aurora, Missouri; Nellie, born February 5, 1892; she married Richard. M.
Ryan and they live in Hot Springs, Arkansas; Luna, born March 19, 1894;
and Clyde, born May 17, 1897.

Politically, Mr. Wilder is a Republican. Fraternally, he is a member of
the Knights of. Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the
Woodmen of the World. Religiously, the family attends the Presbyterian
church.




GEORGE PARKER WILEY. There is no positive rule for achieving success, and
yet in the life of the successful man there are always lessons which might
well be followed. The man who gains prosperity is he who can see and
utilize the opportunities that come in his path. The qualities of keen
discernment, accurate discrimination, sound judgment and executive ability
entered very largely into the makeup of the late George Parker Wiley, for
a period of fifteen years one of the most prominent of the younger
business men of Springfield, and the above enumerated characteristics were
contributing elements to the material success which came to him.

Mr. Wiley was born at Charleston, Illinois, November 7, 1871. He was a son
of Eli and Martha Sanborn (Whittemore) Wiley. The father was born in
Bracken county, Kentucky, in 1822 and there grew to manhood and received
his primary education in the public schools, later attending a law school
in Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1860, and soon
thereafter began the practice of his profession in which he rose to
prominence. For many years he made his home at Charleston, Illinois. He
continued his law practice until his death. His wife was a native of
Sanbornton, New Hampshire, and she was graduated from the Kimball Union
Academy at Meriden, New Hampshire. To these parents were born seven
children, all now deceased, but a daughter, Mrs. Hagemeyer, who is living
in Cincinnati, Ohio.

George P. Wiley grew to manhood in Charleston, Illinois, and there he
received a good education in the public schools, and after his graduation
from Yale, class of 1895, he came to Springfield, Missouri, where he was
engaged for three years as cashier of the Springfield Traction Company,
then became interested in mercantile pursuits for a number of years. He
was secretary and treasurer of the George H. Tefft Grocery Company for
some time and at the time of his death he was secretary and part owner of
the Anchor Broom Works of Springfield, which he did much to make a
pronounced success by his industry, wise counsel and sound judgment, in
fact, all his business ventures had been a success.

Mr. Wiley was married on July 27, 1898, to Georgia Moist, who was born
near Springfield, Missouri, and there she grew to womanhood and received
her education. She is a daughter of Matthias and Anna (McCarty) Moist,
whose family consisted of three children; Georgia, who married Mr. Wiley
of this memoir; Roger and Marshall, all living in Springfield. The union
of Mr. and Mrs. Wiley was without issue.

Mr. Wiley was summoned to his reward very suddenly, after an illness of
three days, May 13, 1908, when in the prime of life, and when life to him
promised most. He evidently had a brilliant business career ahead of him
had he lived. He was well known and universally liked. Religiously, he was
a worthy member of the Presbyterian church, in Charleston, Illinois.




SIDNEY EDWIN WILHOIT. None of the one hundred and fourteen counties that
are embraced by the boundary lines of the state of Missouri can boast of a
more heroic band of pioneers than Greene county. In their intelligence,
capacity for civilization and loyalty to the right they have no superiors.
In their daring and courageous enterprise they have been equal to the
California argonauts, a vast number of whom were Missouri pioneers, not a
few from Greene county. Their privations, hardships and earnest labors
have resulted in establishing one of the foremost counties in this or any
other state, and one which still has a great possibility before it. The
Wilhoits and Rountrees were members of this worthy class of our earliest
settlers. They have been among our thriftiest agriculturists and worthiest
citizens. A well-known member of the present generation of one of these
old families is Sidney Edwin Wilhoit, manager of the Jefferson Theater of
Springfield.

Mr. Wilhoit was born in Greene county, Missouri, March 3, 1869. He is a
son of James M. and Nancy (Rountree) Wilhoit. The father was born in Clay
county, Missouri, in 1833, and the mother was born in Greene county, this
state, in 1848. The father of our subject grew to manhood in his native
county on the farm, and he received exceptionally good educational
advantages for those early times, having graduated from William Jewell
College at Liberty, Missouri. He was a school teacher by profession and
was prominent in educational work in Clay and Greene counties for some
time, however, his later life was devoted to farming for the most part He
was also one of the founders of the Springfield Wagon Works. He was a
leader in public affairs here, and was at one time city marshal of
Springfield, and was for two years superintendent of the county farm. He
was widely known and highly respected by all classes. He was a man of
ability, industry and public spirit, as well as known for his integrity
and hospitality. He was active in Masonic affairs, having been a member of
that order for many years. The mother of our subject grew to womanhood in
this county and was educated in the local schools. Her death occurred in
1906, while the father of our subject reached an advanced age, passing his
four-score years and more, dying in October, 1914. To these parents seven
children were born, all still living, namely: Sidney E., of this sketch;
Guy, Andrew, Ralph R., Ray, Bessie, and Roy.

The immediate subject of this sketch grew to manhood in his native county
and he received his education in the public schools. When young in years
he began his career as machinist in the Frisco shops in Springfield, the
South Side plant, known as the old Gulf shops. Here he remained two years,
when he gave up this line of work, which was not congenial to his tastes,
and went to Memphis, Tennessee, where he engaged in contracting. Later
returning to Springfield, he bought the old Hargrove Bottling Works.
Subsequently he returned to Memphis and worked in the Frisco shops, where,
he became general foreman, in which responsible position he gave eminent
satisfaction. Finally he began dealing in-apples, and was very successful
as a horticulturist. In 1905 he went into the theater business in Memphis
and has been very successful in this field of endeavor ever since. Since
then he has owned and operated thirteen shows. In September, 1913, he
opened the Springfield Hippodrome, in which he owned a half interest, and
on January 25, 1914, he took full charge of the Jefferson Theater at 216
South Jefferson street, an up-to-date and popular vaudeville house, with
two changes per week. In connection with a bill of several good acts of
vaudeville he features at each performance a pleasing moving picture. He
has been very successful with both the Jefferson and the Hippodrome.

Our subject was married on May 1, 1908, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to
Priscilla (Cagle), of Pine Bluff. They have one child, Thelma Vermel, who
is five years old.

Politically, Mr. Wilhoit is a Democrat. He belongs to the Springfield
Club, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Improved Order of Red
Men.




JAMES M. WILKERSON, M. D. Greene county owes a great debt of gratitude to
the state of Tennessee for the large number of sterling citizens which
have located here from that state, perhaps more than from any two other
states. They have proven themselves to be people of industry, honesty and
public spirit, true types of empire builders. Among this number is Dr.
James M. Wilkerson, who has lived in Springfield twenty-six years.
Formerly he was a successful general physician, but later turned his
attention to the real estate business in which he has reaped a
satisfactory reward.

Doctor Wilkerson was born in Bedford county, Tennessee, November 2, 1844.
He is a son of James and Lydia (Messick) Wilkerson, a fine old Southern
family. . The father was born in. Ireland on a farm in County Tyrone, in
the year 1808, and he immigrated to the United States when a young man and
established his home on a farm in Bedford county, Tennessee. During the
Civil war he removed his family to Arkansas, later to Kansas, where they
remained a short time, then came to Lawrence county, Missouri, where the
death of James Wilkerson occurred at the age of seventy-three years. He
had devoted his life to general farming and stock raising. His wife was a
native of Tennessee. Her death occurred in the year 1892. To these parents
twelve children were born ten sons and two daughters. Four of the sons are
now deceased.

Dr. James M. Wilkerson grew to manhood on the farm and he received his
early education in the common schools. He studied medicine under his
brother, W. C. Wilkerson, and Doctor Gray, of Lawrenceburg, Missouri, the
town at that time containing only a country store. Later he took the
regular course in the American Medical School in St. Louis, receiving his
diploma in 1878. Locating at Humansville, Polk county, in 1871, where he
was married, and soon thereafter he began the practice of his profession
which he continued there for a period of eighteen years with a large
degree of success, during which period he was regarded as one of the
leading physicians of the western part of Polk county. He removed to
Springfield, in 1888, where he continued the practice of medicine for
three years with his usual success, but desiring to take up a business
career, he abandoned his profession and took up the real estate business,
which he has continued to the present time with ever-increasing success
and is rated among the leading dealers in this part of the country and a
judge of property values, both city and rural.

Doctor Wilkerson was married, July 1, 1874, to Mary A. Ayers, a daughter
of Alven Ayers, a native of Virginia, where he spent his earlier life,
finally removing to Missouri. He devoted his active life to farming and
stock raising. He and his wife are both deceased. They were the parents of
five children.

Six children have been born to Doctor Wilkerson and wife, namely: Lydia,
married Claude Washburn who was killed in a railroad accident, leaving one
son, James, born, January 22, 1899; Mary H., married A. C. Hayward, an
attorney, of Springfield, and they have one child, Edgar; two sons and one
daughter of our subject died in infancy; Edgar, the youngest child, died
when five years of age.

Politically Doctor Wilkerson is a Democrat, fraternally a member of the
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and he and his wife belong to the
Christian church.




ELWOOD ALAMANDO WILLIAMS. It was Charles Kingsley, the noted English
author, who said that every morning we should remember to be thankful that
we have something to do during the coming day, whether we like it or not.
Being forced to work, and forced to do our best, will breed in you
temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness
and content, and a hundred virtues the idle will never know. Elwood
Alamando Williams, a farmer near Ash Grove, is one of the citizens of
Greene county who takes delight in his work and is therefore happy and
prospering.

Mr. Williams was born on a farm in Carroll county, Missouri, September 23,
1860. He is a son of Mortimer H. and Jennie S. (Gale) Williams. The father
was born in Monroe county, Ohio, June 20, 1837, and was a son of William
and Martha (Hurd) Williams. William Williams was born near Wheeling, West
Virginia, in 1809, and followed farming until 1848, when he began running
a boat down the Ohio river to the Mississippi, then up that stream and up
the Missouri river to Boonville and later to Carroll county, Missouri,
carrying freight and passengers, each trip requiring several weeks. He was
a cooper and cabinet maker by trade and was also a physician of the old
school. After locating in Missouri he made a professional trip to Ohio. He
was a learned man and remained a close student all his life, one of his
favorite studies being astronomy and he became an amateur astronomer of no
mean ability. He entered eighty acres of land in Carroll county, this
state on which he spent the rest of his life, dying there in 1887.
Politically, he was first a Whit, later a Republican. He was an ardent
worker in the cause of education and helped in the matter of establishing
schools. Fraternally, he was a member of the Masonic order, and he was a
free thinker and broad-minded man. His wife was also born near wheeling,
West Virginia, the year of her birth being 1812, and her death occurred in
1859.

Mortimer H. Williams had only such educational advantages as the frontier
schools could furnish in his day, but his father taught him much and
furnished him many books, so he became a well-informed man, and he taught
school in Carroll county, this state, for a number of years, and, moved to
Chillicothe, Missouri, where he followed his trade for about ten years,
then went to South Dakota, continuing blacksmithing there about six years,
then engaged in mining in the Black Hills a few years, after which he made
three trips to Alaska, finally locating in Rapid City, South Dakota, where
his death occurred in 1909. Politically, he was a Republican; religiously,
a Universalist, and fraternally a member of the Independent order of Odd
Fellows. His wife, Jennie S. Gale, whom he married in 1859, was born in
Chautauqua county, New York, on farm where the first chautauqua in the
United States was held. Mrs. Jennie Williams was born January 13, 1840,
and her death occurred in 1883. To these parents five children were born.

Elwood A. Williams received a fairly good education up to the tenth grade
in the Chillicothe schools. When seventeen years old he went to Deadwood,
South Dakota, where he worked as a freight driver, having charge of a
nine-yoke team hitched to three wagons, and this work he continued about a
year, then went to a lumber camp for a year, then was superintendent and
bookkeeper for a lumber camp for several years, after which he came to
Rapid City, South Dakota, and was head of the lumber yards there for three
years. During this time he filed on one hundred and sixty acres and proved
up on the same, sold out and filed on a homestead of one hundred and sixty
acres, and proved up on it, and lived on the same for seven years or until
1900, when he sold out and came to Greene county, Missouri, purchasing one
hundred and sixty acres in Boone township, and has since resided here. He
owned over one thousand acres of land in Dakota, which he finally sold. He
is making a specialty of live stock, raising a fine grade of mules,
horses, sheep, cattle and hogs for the market, and no small portion of his
annual income is derived from this source. He is one of the substantial
men of Boone township, and has made what he has solely by his own efforts.

Mr. Williams was married on November 29, 1888, to Maggie M. Trimmer, who
was born in South Dakota, October 1, 1872. She was born near Chamberlain,
that state, and there reared to womanhood and was educated. She is a
daughter of George M. and Mary (Boyua) trimmer. Mr. Trimmer was born near
Chenoa, Illinois, November 8, 1844, and was a son of Nicholas and Mary
Trimmer, who lived and died on a farm in Illinois. George M. Trimmer
received a common school education, working on the home farm during the
summer months, and when a young man he went to the eastern part of South
Dakota and began wood contracting for steamboats on the Missouri river. In
1876 he went to the Black Hills, and there engaged in mining and farming.
He was a sterling pioneer, and helped establish trails, towns, did
freighting and was incidentally a renowned hunter. He was a stanch friend
of the Sioux Indians, who liked him. He was the first settler in Hot
Springs, South Dakota, and he did much toward making it one of the best
towns in that state, and at this writing he owns a fine orchard of one
hundred and sixty acres near there, which was the first orchard set out in
that region. He is one of the prominent and influential men of eastern
South Dakota and has been offered many political positions of importance
in the state, but has refused them all. Politically, he is a Democrat, and
fraternally he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is an
enthusiastic worker in the same. On November 8, 1871, he married Mary
Boyua, who was born March 4, 1847. Grandfather Boyua was an early French
trader on the Missouri river.

Mrs. Trimmer was the real discoverer of the springs in what is now known
as Hot Springs, and cut the first bathing "tub" out of a rock. When a
child she was present at the New Ulm massacre in Minnesota, and was taken
prisoner by the Sioux Indians and carried to the hear of the Missouri
river.

To Mr. and Mrs. Elwood A. Williams three children have been born, namely:
Blanche G., born December 20, 1889, was given good educational advantages;
Barney B., born April 20, 1892, was also well educated in the schools of
Ash Grove, Missouri; M. Cleopatra, born September 26, 1897, graduated from
the Ash Grove high school with the class of 1915. These children are all
at home with their parents.

Politically, Mr. Williams is a Progressive, and is liberal in his public
views. Fraternally, he is one of the leading Masons of this locality,
being a member of Ash Grove Lodge No. 100, Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons; Ash Grove Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Zabud Council No. 125.
Royal and Select Masters; he also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. He has for some time been a member of the local school board, and
religiously he holds membership in the Presbyterian church. He has had a
vast experience in the world's affairs and talks most entertainingly of
his life in the picturesque pioneer days of the North, and it is a
pleasure to visit him in his near, hospitable home.




FRANK BOYDEN WILLIAMS. One of the most successful and best known members
of the Greene county bar is Frank Boyden Williams, whose name for years
has figured prominently in important cases in local courts.

Mr. Willams was born at Golden City, Barton county, Missouri, November 23,
1869. He is a son of Frank and Maria B. (Morgan) Williams, natives of
Memphis, Tennessee, and Burksville, Kentucky, respectively. They grew to
maturity in the South and were educated and married there, and made their
home in Kentucky until soon after the close of the Civil war, when they
removed from the Blue Grass state to Cedar county, Missouri. The father of
our subject devoted his life to farming and stock raising. He removed
front Cedar to Barton county and owned a good farm near Golden City.
During the war between the states he was a lieutenant in Company F, Second
Mississippi Cavalry, Confederate Army, under Gen. Nathan B. Forrest, one
of the greatest military geniuses the war produced on either side, and Mr.
Williams proved to be a faithful and gallant officer under this great
chieftain until he was mustered out December 2, 1862.

Frank B. Williams received his education at Sparta, Wisconsin, and
Watertown, South Dakota, attending the common schools there, later was a
student at Yankton College, Yankton, South Dakota, then entered the law
department of Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, where he made a
good record and from which institution he was graduated June 20, 1895. He
was admitted to the bar at Searcy, Arkansas soon after his graduation, and
in 1896 he located for the practice of his profession at Springfield,
Missouri, enrolling as an attorney-at-law, Greene county bar, March 9th of
that year, and here he has remained to the present time, enjoying a good
practices He was elected a member of the Springfield city council in
April, 1898, and was re-elected in 1900 and during that period he looked
well to the interests of the city in every way. He was elected probate
judge of Greene county, in November 1902, and served one term of four
years, after which he re-entered practice of the law, January 1, 1907, and
in December, 1912, he formed a partnership for the practice of his
profession with Matthew H. Galt, under the firm name of Williams & Galt,
which still continues, with offices in the Woodrufff building.

On June 27, 1905, he united in marriage with Harriett E. Kellond, daaghter
of William A. and Fanny J. Kellond, a highly respected family of
Springfield, and to this union three children have been born, namely:
Frances Kellond Williams, Harriett Morgan Williams, and Katherine
Selfridge Williams.

Politically, Judge Williams is a Democrat and is active in the affairs of
the party. Fraternally, he belongs to the united lodge of Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World,
also belongs to the University Club, the Springfield Club, and the Country
Club.




JOHN W. WILLIAMS. The most elaborate history is perforce a merciless
abridgment, the historian being obliged to select his facts and materials
from manifold details and marshal them in concise and logical order. This
applies to specific as well as generic history, and in the former category
is included the interesting and important department of biography. In
every life of honor and usefulness there is no dearth of interesting
situation's and incidents, and yet in summing up such a career as that of
John W. Williams, for many years one of the leading merchants of
Springfield, now living in honorable retirement after a successful, useful
and praiseworthy career, the writer must need touch only on the more
salient facts, giving the keynote of the character and eliminating all
that is superfluous to the continuity of the narrative. The gentleman
whose name appears above has led somewhat of a strenuous life, yet void of
the exciting, and the more prominent have been so identify with the useful
and practical that it is to them almost entirely that the writer refers in
the following paragraphs.

Mr. Williams was born in Lewisburg, Marshall county, Tennessee, April 18,
1851. He is a son of John and Hannah (Wood) Williams, the father born in
Tennessee in 1823, spent his life in that state and died there in 1850
when a young man; the mother was born in England in 1826, and her death
occurred January 27, 1912, at the advanced age of eighty-six years, having
thus survived her husband sixty-two years. Our subject was two years old
when, in 1853, he was brought to Greene county, Missouri, by his mother
and maternal grandfather, John Wood, a capitalist of considerable means
and one of the early important pioneers of Greene county. A full and
interesting sketch of this great man appears elsewhere in these volumes.
The family located on a farm five miles from Springfield. In 1855 our
subject's mother married Joseph Farrier, who had one son, Joseph W.
Farrier by a former marriage to Roxanna Weaver. The elder Farrier was a
money lender and was connected, with the old Missouri State Bank, also was
a pioneer hat manufacturer and merchant. He was a native of Kentucky and
he crossed the western plains in the early fifties to the California gold
fields, and from that time was a very successful business man. One child,
besides our subject, was born to Hannah Wood by her first marriage, a
daughter who died at four years of age, and her second union was without
issue.

John W. Williams grew to manhood in Greene county and was educated here,
having attended the first high school in Springfield, which was taught by
Prof. J. Fairbanks. Mr. Williams was young in years when he began his
business career as a retail merchant in Springfield, under the firm name
of Weaver, Wood & Company; later the firm was Wood & Williams and in 1886
he organized the John W. Williams Hardware & Stove Company, which existed
for some fifteen years. He prospered from the first and enjoyed an
ever-increasing business with the advancing years, building up a very
extensive trade with the town and surrounding country, remaining in the
same line for a period of thirty years, during which time he had the
reputation of maintaining the best equipped and most up-to-date store of
its kind in the city and he ranked with the leading merchants of southwest
Missouri. Having accumulated a handsome competency through his able
management, wise foresight, straightforward and honest dealings with the
public he retired from active life ten years ago, since which time he has
devoted his attention to his personal business affairs, looking after his
various properties, which include a beautiful residence on West Walnut
street, and some three hundred acres of fine improved farm land all in
Campbell township. He built and owns the Bank of Commerce building and
owns several important business houses in the city.

Mr. Williams was married February 18, 1873 to Juliet R. Vinton, who was
born in Springfield, Missouri, February 16, 1852. She is a daughter of
Samuel S. and Margaret (Campbell) Vinton, and is a niece of Jack Campbell
who donated the site for the city. Samuel S. Vinton, who was a merchant by
occupation, was born January 16, 1826, in Baltimore, Maryland, and was
brought here when a boy with Major Berry and entered into the mercantile
business with his uncle, Maj. D. D. Berry, and for many years was a
leading business man of Springfield, dying in Springfield January 16,
1890. His wife was born July 11, 1827, and died July 16, 1859. Mrs.
Williams grew to womanhood in the city of Baltimore and was educated there
in the high school and Baltimore College. She is a member of the Daughters
of the American Revolution, by virtue of the fact that her ancestors, the
J. K. Polk family, who were North Carolina people, took part in the
struggle of the colonists for independence.

Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Williams, all living, namely:
Mabel, born December 19, 1873, married Dr. R. B. Love, of Springfield, who
is now deputy state veterinarian; Bettie Weaver and Etta Vinton, twins,
were born December 11, 1876, the former married C D. Hamilton, of Los
Angeles, California; the latter married L. A. Biggs, Jr., and they live on
a farm near Springfield; Robert Farrier, born August 26, 1879, married a
Miss Buckner, and is now a physician of Springfield; J. Samuel, born
February 13, 1882, married Pearl Williams, and they live on a farm near
Springfield; Juliet M., born December 29, 1886, married Roy Cox, and they
live in Springfield; Joseph C., born May 23, 1888, is unmarried and is
connected with the Bank of Commerce, of Springfield; Dorsey A., born
November 10, 1890, lives at home and is a graduate of Drury College; John
W., Jr., born October 19, 1895, was graduated from the Springfield high
school with the class of 1914.

Politically, Mr. Williams is a Democrat, but being a great home man, and
best contented when by his own fireside with his congenial family, he has
never sought political office. Our subject and family are members of the
Episcopalian church.




NANDY C. WILLIAMS, M. D. To have the human name preserved has ever been,
not only the desire, but one of the illustions of the race and will
doubtless always be. Mausoleums are built and the tablets hewn--"A graven
stone to plead for tears with alien eyes," for the purpose of binding in
memory the fact of a life. In the very earliest of the Hindoo mythology
the milk of the sea was mystically churned to make the amrita which gave
immortality; and, all literature since bears trace of similar fancies.
This desire to be remembered, that our dust shall retain the tender regard
of those whom we leave behind; that the spot where it shall lie will be
remembered with a kind and soothing reverence; that our children will
visit it in the midst of their sorrows; and our kindred in after times
will feel that a local inspiration hovers round it, has been one of the
most potent forces in the history of man. Hence the value and importance
of biography and a volume of the nature of the one in hand, embracing as
it does the leading characters in the drama of civilization as staged in
Greene county, one of the well known and deserving, actors in it of the
present generation being the successful physician of Springfield, whose
name forms the caption of this article.

Dr. Nandy C. Williams was born in Warren county, Iowa, February 25, 1860.
He is a son of Uriah F. and Jane (Graham) Williams. The father was born
near Indianapolis, Indiana, and there spent his earlier years, finally
emigrating to Warren county, Iowa, where he established the family home.
He devoted his life to general farming, and his death occurred in 1878.
His wife preceded him to the grave in 1871. William Williams the paternal
grandfather of our subject, was a soldier in the Mexican war and was
killed in battle.

Doctor Williams grew up on the home farm and much hard work fell to his
lot when he was a boy; however, he was ambitious and forged ahead despite
obstacles. He received his early education in the public schools of his
native community and also spent three years in the Simpson Seminary
College at Indianola, Iowa, and in 1884 he entered the Iowa State
University at Iowa City, where he remained two years. In order to defray
the expenses of a college course, having to depend entirely upon his own
resources, he engaged in any kind of honorable work he could get to do
during vacations, and taught school seven years. His undaunted
determination brought success. Making up his mind to enter the medical
profession, at an early age he began the study of medicine while still in
school and began practicing under a preceptor in 1888, and in 1894
received his degree from Barnes Medical College, St. Louis, Missouri. In
1895 he came to Springfield, Missouri, and began the practice of his
profession, which he has continued to the present time with much success,
and has long since ranked with the best and most popular general
practitioners in Greene county.

On June 17, 1885, Doctor Williams was married to Etta A. Lyman, who was
born near Bloomington, Wisconsin, March 9, 1862. She is of Welsh ancestry.
To the doctor and wife one son was born, Leslie E., born at Clifton Hill,
Randolph county, Missouri, December 9, 1891; he was educated in public and
high schools at Springfield, this state, later spending three years in the
Fine Arts Academy at Chicago; he taught one year in the Art Institute of
Chicago, in 1913, and is now engaged in commercial art work; he lives in
New York City, and is unmarried; he was evidently born with the artistic
temperament, which has been well developed and he gives promise of a
brilliant career in his chosen field of endeavor.

The parents of our subject's wife are both deceased, George Lyman, the
father, who devoted his life successfully to farming, died in 1898, but
was living retired at the time of his death. His wife had preceded him to
the grave in 1890.

Doctor Williams is a member of the Greene County Medical Society, the
Southwest Missouri Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical Association
and the American Medical Association. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Masonic order, including the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine and the Order of Eastern Star; he also belongs to the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks. Politically he is a Democrat, and in
religious matters belongs to the Presbyterian church which he faithfully
supports.




JOHN P. WILLIAMSON. It is a pleasure to see a farm like that of John P.
Williamson, of Jackson township, Greene county, in which vicinity he has
lived for over sixty-one years and where he is well known. He has seen
this community develop from its pioneer environment to its present
thriving condition and he has taken a lively interest in this development.

Mr. Williamson was born in Bedford county, Tennessee, April 14, 1848. He
is a son of Robert H. and Sophia A. (Stevens) Williamson. The father was
also born in Bedford county, Tennessee, in October, 1818, and there he was
reared on a farm and attended the early-day subscription schools, and
there he began life as a farmer, remaining in his native locality until in
1853 when he brought his family overland to Greene county, Missouri. He
located on one hundred and twenty acres. He was a hard worker and good
manager and he later became owner of a valuable farm of two hundred and
forty acres. During the Civil war he served in the Missouri State Militia
and was in a number of engagements--skirmishes, but no real battles. He
was married in his native state in 1847. He was a member of the Cumberland
Presbyterian church. His death occurred on his farm here in 1902, honored
and respected by the entire community. His wife was a native of Bedford
county, Tennessee, and there she was reared on a farm and attended the
local schools. Her death occurred on the farm here several years ago. She
was a member of the Baptist church.

John P. Williamson was five years old when, in 1853, he accompanied his
parents from Tennessee to Greene county, Missouri, and here he grew to
manhood on the old homestead where he worked when a boy and he received
his education in the district schools. He remained with his parents until
he was twenty-one years of age, then started out in life for himself,
buying forty acres on which he worked hard and got a good start. Being
industrious and prospering he added to his original purchase until he
became owner of an excellent place of one hundred and ninety-three acres
the farm he now occupies. He has a well-kept and neat appearing place,
which produces well and on which he carries on general farming and stock
raising. He has dealt extensively in live stock in the past and no small
portion of his competence has been thus obtained.

Mr. Williamson was married on November 27, 1874, to Malinda Davis, who was
born in Dallas county, Missouri, April 15, 1853, and there she grew to
womanhood on a farm and received her education in the rural schools. She
is a daughter of Woodford I. and Netty (Highfield) Davis, both parents
being now deceased.

To our subject and wife five children have been born, namely: Robert I.,
Charles, Mrs. Flora Cole, Floy H. and John I.

Politically, Mr. Williamson is a Republican. He belongs to the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and to the Center Christian church.




THOMAS E. WILLIER. One of the best known and most efficient railway
builders of the West during the past generation was the late Thomas E.
Willier, a most successful man in his line, and a man whose career
indicates how perseverance, self-reliance, tact, honesty and genuine worth
will win in the battle of life.

Mr. Willier was born on the 6th day of August, 1864, in Peoria, Illinois,
and was the eldest of three sons of Joseph W. and Hanora Willier. His
father was one of the pioneers of railway construction, and at an early
age the son, too, took up the same business, and was identified with his
father in the building of a number of roads in the eastern states. Mr.
Willier came to Springfield in the year 1887 and was connected with many
of the most important railroad projects in the West and Southwest from
that time until his death. His labors also extended to Jamaica and Costa
Rico and about twelve years before his death he completed several
important contracts in that section of the country. The last important
work in which he was engaged was the building of the Iron Mountain
railroad from Crane to Springfield, a part of which was through some of
the most rugged sections of the Ozarks. For a number of years Mr. Willier
was at the head of the Willier Construction Company, but during the last
three years of his life he was not actively engaged in business. He was,
however, preparing to again take an active part in railroad construction
when he was suddenly summoned from the scene of his earthly labors.

On September 9, 1902, Mr. Willier was married to Anna E. Arnold, daughter
of George W. and Louisa (Buissart) Arnold. Five children were born to Mr.
and Mrs. Willier, namely: Catherine E., Thomas E., George J. Margaret
Louise and Robert A., all of whom, except the eldest, are living. Two
brothers and three sisters also survive Mr. Willier--Joseph, Dr. A. F.,
Nellie, Mrs. Frank O'Hara and Sister Marie Theresa, of the Benedictine
Convent.

Mr. Willier's death occurred on the 19th day of April, 1910, as the result
of an operation for appendicitis, performed at the St. John's Hospital in
Springfield. Mr. Willier was widely known to the railroad world, and
everyone familiar with his methods pronounced him a most efficient and
progressive builder of transportation lines. He was a persistent student
of all that pertained to his work, and was, consequently, a master in his
line, and one whose services were in great demand. He left behind him the
record of a life well spent in every particular, and will long be sadly
missed from the circles in which he moved.




IRVIN W. WINGO. Widely known in Greene and Dallas counties, Irvin W.
Wingo, of near Fair Grove, is a man deserving of a conspicuous position
for his biography in a work of the province of the one in hand, for his
career has been fraught with a large measure of success both as an
educator and agriculturist. Over three decades of his career were devoted
to school work with most commendable results, and for many years as county
superintendent of schools in the latter county he did much to raise the
standard of work in this field and place the county high in the list of
those of southwestern Missouri doing good educational work. Although a
school man in the broadest and best sense of the term and as such, making
every other consideration secondary to his professional and official
duties he never became narrow or pedantic as have so many whose lives have
been spent in intimate association with the immature minds within the four
walls of the school room. He remained a well rounded, symmetrically
developed man, fully alive to the demands of the times, thoroughly
informed on the leading questions before the public and has ever taken
broad views of men and things, and is, therefore a useful and influential
citizen in his locality.

Mr. Wingo was born in Dallas county, Missouri, July 8, 1861. He is a son
of Jasper and Nan (Johns) Wingo, both natives of Tennessee, the father
born in the middle section of the state, October 24, 1838, and the
mother's birth occurred in Weakly county, February 24, 1842. They came to
Missouri when young in years, with their parents, and here grew to
maturity on farms and were educated in the early day common schools and
were married in Dallas county, in 1859. During the war between the states
Joseph Wingo joined the Union army under Captain Kershner, in Company A,
Eighth Missouri Calvary, and he saw considerable service, taking part in
the battles of Prairie Grove and Brownsville and a number of minor
engagements. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged at St.
Louis, after which he returned to Dallas county and resumed farming. He
owned one hundred and sixty acres. He is now living in Fair Grove, Greene
county, in retirement, being advanced in years. His wife also survives.
They are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church and are highly
respected by a wide circle of friends. Two children were born to them,
Irvin W., of this review; and William W. of Springfield, who is employed
by the Frisco Lines.

Irvin W. Wingo was reared on the homestead in Dallas county and there
worked hard when a boy during the crop seasons, and in the winter time he
attended the common schools, receiving thereby and through his individual
efforts at home a good education. He began teaching school when only
sixteen years of age, teaching twelve years in rural schools, then entered
the Missouri State Normal at Warrensburg, taking a full course in
teachers' work, graduating in 1889. He was then fully equipped for his
chosen profession. Returning to his native county he was elected principal
of the schools at Buffalo county--seat of Dallas county, remaining in that
position five years. He then taught one year in the old Springfield
Normal, then taught three years at Cassville, Missouri, after which he
came to Fair Grove and taught until 1911, thus, out of a period of
thirty-four years, he engaged in teaching thirty-two years, during which
his services were in large demand and he gave eminent satisfaction
wherever he was employed, being progressive in his ideas and building tip
the work in general. He was elected school commissioner of Dallas county
for two terms, without opposition, and was offered a third term but
declined. This is sufficient criterion that his official duties were ably
and satisfactorily performed.

Finally tiring of the school room, Mr. Wingo moved to his fine farm of
four hundred and twenty acres which he had purchased while teaching and
has since devoted his time and attention to general agricultural pursuits
with gratifying results, now specializing in the dairy business for which
he is well equipped in every respect and he finds a very ready market for
his products. Everything is kept in an up-to-date and sanitary condition.
His place is well improved along all lines and he has a commodious home in
the midst of attractive surroundings. He is one of the progressive and
substantial men of his community and one of the most influential, and yet
is a man of entirely unassuming manners.

Mr. Wingo has been twice married, first, on October 10, 1881, to Ollie J.
Wills, by whom three children were born, namely: Fred, who is employed in
Springfield; Elbert lives in Springfield; and Mrs. Gertrude Jones, also of
that city. The wife and mother was called to her eternal rest on September
15, 1886. She was a daughter of Jack and Mollie (Goss) Wills. On December
26, 1889, Mr. Wingo married Julia McKee, a daughter of Melvin and Phoebe
Ann (Grimes) McKee, both now deceased. To this second union eleven
children have been born, named as follows: Glenn is living at home; Carl
W., Mrs. Bessie Albright, Russell is teaching school, Ruth is attending
high school at Fair Grove, Ralph, Charles is deceased, Jewett, Jasper,
Phoebe Ann, and an infant son, deceased.

Politically, Mr. Wingo is a Republican. Fraternally he belongs to the
Masonic Order, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd
Fellow. Mrs. Wingo is a member of the Christian church.




GEORGE F. WINTERS. It is the men of broad and comprehensive views who give
life to communities--men who have foresight and energy, pluck and energy
to forward whatever enterprises they are interested in and who still
retain an untarnished reputation through it all. Such a man is George F.
Winters, superintendent of the Springfield Wagon Works. He is deserving of
a great deal of credit for what he has accomplished, for he has mounted
the ladder of success without the aid of anyone and by honest efforts,
having from the beginning of his career sought to do well whatever he
undertook.

Mr. Winters was born September 13, 1873, at Cincinnati, Arkansas. He is a
son of Charles Winters, who was born in Dayton, Ohio, and who is now
living in retirement in Springfield, after working for the Springfield
Wagon Works about twenty-four years. He came to this city in 1883, having
previously been employed by the James Oats Wagon Works at Cincinnati,
Arkansas, making wagon gears under contract. He learned the wood worker's
trade when a young man and became quite expert in the same. On March 9,
1915, he reached the age of eighty years. He is a self-made man, has
always been a great reader, and when nineteen years old taught school for
some time in Chicago. For a period of nine years he was in the employ of
the government, making wagons, and worked at this during the Civil war in
Springfield. However, he spent three years of the war period as a private
in an Iowa volunteer infantry regiment. Politically, he is now a Democrat,
but in his earlier life was a Republican. He belongs to the Grand Army of
the Republic, and is a member of the Presbyterian church. His wife was
known in her maidenhood as Lucy Moller, a daughter of William Moller, of
Springfield. To Charles Winter and wife eight children were born, namely:
Della is the wife of F. L. McClellan, who is in the post office service in
Omaha, Nebraska; William is engaged in the poultry business at Houston,
Texas; Charles, Jr., is connected with the wagon works at Fort Smith,
Arkansas; George F., of this sketch;. Samuel died in infancy; Hazel died
in infancy; Winnie is the widow of Lawrence Denman, deceased; Bert is
engaged in the poultry business in Springfield.

George F. Winters grew to manhood in Arkansas and received his education
in the schools of Fayetteville. He left school when seventeen years of age
and went to work in a grocery store, then sold hay for six months, after
which he came to Springfield on October 23, 1890, and soon thereafter
found employment at the Springfield Wagon Works, laboring in the yards for
sixty cents a day, then worked in the wood shop there until 1900, at bench
work, and ran a wood shaper. He was then promoted to foreman of the mill
room or the wood shop, which position he held until 1914, when he was
promoted to the responsible position he now holds, that of superintendent
of the entire plant, the duties of which he is discharging, in a manner
that reflects much credit upon his ability and fidelity and to the entire
satisfaction of all concerned. He has on an average one hundred and twenty
men under his direction, and he knows how to handle them so as to get the
best results and at the same time keep on the best of terms with them. He
understands thoroughly every phase of the business and is a conscientious,
industrious workman, who has been the recipient of the highest trust from
the head officials of the plant from the first. He has been employed
continuously in this widely known plant for nearly twenty-five years.

Mr. Winters was married in 1900 to Letha Van Hoosen, a daughter of Alex
Van Hoosen, a traveling salesman, who was born in North Carolina. The
union of our subject and wife has been without issue.

Politically, Mr. Winters is a Democrat. He carries large life insurance.
He belongs to the Presbyterian church.




ALFRED H. WILSON. It has been said by those in the habit of superficial
thinking that the dead are soon forgotten and, according to one of
America's greatest poets, in writing of the dead, "All that breathe will
share thy destiny; the gay will laugh when thou art gone; the solemn brood
of care plod on, and each one as before will, chase his favorite phantom."
Whether this be a universal truth or not, it is safe to say that few men
of a past generation of Springfield will linger longer in the memory of
the citizens of Greene county who were contemporaneous with him than the
late Alfred H. Wilson, who only recently "went on the journey we all must
go. This is due to the fact that he had the qualities that impress men.
Prominent and prosperous in business, he established a character for
integrity, public-spirit and the social amenities of life, and he became
also one of the noted local public men of his day and generation, serving
faithfully and well in positions of honor and trust within the gift of the
people. He was one of our sterling pioneers, having been a resident of
Springfield for sixty years during which he saw and took an active part in
the development of the place from a straggling frontier village to the
rich capital of the entire Ozark region. He was a man of great force of
character and usually found in the lead when any movement was on foot for
the betterment of his city and county. Tenacious of his own rights, he
respected the rights of others, and in the best sense of the term he was
always a gentleman in social intercourse, as well as a model citizen in
the affairs affecting the public.

Mr. Wilson was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, July 21, 1835. He was a
son of William and Cynthia (Wasson) Wilson, both natives of North Carolina
where they grew to maturity and were married. Removing from the old Tar
state to Rutherford county, Tennessee, they lived there a number of years,
then, in 1854 made the overland journey to Greene county, Missouri, seven
weeks being consumed in making the trip. The family remained awhile at
Greenfield, Dade county, but soon thereafter came on to Springfield and
established a camp on what is now the lot of the Silsby home on St. Louis
street, but the family made their permanent location on a farm about five
miles north of Springfield, and there began life in pioneer fashion,
developed a good farm on which the parents of our subject spent the rest
of their lives. Ten children were born to them, three of whom are still
living, namely: Mrs. Samuel Ware, of Greenfield, Missouri; Mrs. Oliver
Ritter, of Greene county, and Elisha who also resides in this county.

Alfred H. Wilson grew to manhood on his father's farm and worked hard when
a boy. He received his education in the public schools of his native
community in Tennessee, and, remaining a great reader and a close observer
all his life, he became an exceptionally well informed man. He began life
for himself as a teacher, which he followed for some time. He was nineteen
years of age when he removed with his parents to Missouri, and he was
twenty-one years old when he left the farm and located in Springfield,
where he first worked in the United States land office. Later for several
years he was identified with the Holcomb-Thompson Company in the foundry
business at Phelps avenue and Campbell street. During the latter part of
his active life he was an associate of the late H. W. Diggins in the
insurance business. The last ten years of his life were spent in
retirement from active business. He was very successful in a material way
and it is understood by his friends that he accumulated a comfortable
income.

A considerable portion of Mr. Wilson's life was spent in public office, He
was a loyal Republican and active in party affairs during his long
residence in this locality in fact, was regarded as a local leader. He was
the first man in Greene county to be twice elected to the office of county
collector, in which he served two terms with satisfaction to all
concerned. He was also elected city clerk and city recorder several times,
proving all the while to be a faithful, able and conscientious public
servant.

Mr. Wilson was married in St. Joseph, Missouri, October 26, 1868, to
Maggie O'Noeal, who was born December 16, 1845, in Crawford county,
Pennsylvania. She is a daughter of John and Catherine O'Noeal, who were
born in Ireland. Mr. O'Noeal was a stone and street contractor. He paved
nearly all the streets of Weston, Missouri, where he long maintained his
residence and where his death finally occurred. His wife, Catherine
O'Gorman, was also born in Ireland; they grew to maturity in the Emerald
Isle and were married on board ship as they were on the voyage to America.
To this union seven children were born, four of whom are still living.

Mrs. Maggie Wilson received a good education. She is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

To Mr. and Mrs. Wilson one child was born, Charles A. Wilson, whose birth
occurred November 30, 1872. He was educated in the schools of Springfield,
where he grew to manhood. He is at present living in Wichita, Kansas,
where he is engaged in the jewelry business. He married Tilly Jocobi, and
to them two children have been born, namely: Dwight and Alfred J.

The widow of our subject lives in the old Wilson home on College street.

During the Civil war Alfred H. Wilson served in the Union army, ranking as
first lieutenant, but he did not see actual field service. He went to
Rolla, Missouri, in 1861, where he served in the quartermaster's office
until the close of the war, performing his duties most faithfully and
acceptably, and was honorably discharged.

Mr. Wilson formed an acquaintance at an early date with Martin J. Hubble
and other pioneers of Springfield. A booklet recently published by Mr.
Hubble relating reminiscences of certain old settlers contains the
following excerpt from an interview with Mr. Wilson shortly before his
death:

"It was a red letter day for Springfield about the middle of August, 1858,
when the first overland coach arrived. The business houses were decorated,
and men, women and children were out on the public square in force. If my
memory serves me right, three coaches came in together--horses and coaches
decorated with flags and ribbons, bugles sounding and the horses came up
Boonville street hill at a gallop. Young John Butterfield, son of the
promoter of the project, was on the first coach, and it was said that he
made the entire trip through to California, but of course he was relieved
for rest and sleep. The trip took about twenty-one days."

Mr. Wilson referred to the first stage coach through Springfield in the
above interview. The stage line was discontinued about the date of the
breaking out of the Civil war.

Mr. Wilson was called to his reward in the Silent Land on June 12, 1914,
after a long illness, which he bore with fine Christian fortitude. The
record he left will long be an inspiration to his descendants and those
who knew him and were associated with him, for Greene county has never had
a worthier name on her roll of honorable citizenship.




MARTIN VAN BUREN WOLF. Although, doubtless, most people would like to
remain on the old homestead where they "played away the happy hours of
innocent childhood," but few are permitted to do so, from one cause or
another but there is always a sentiment about the hearthstone where the
family gathered when we were children that cannot be replaced. So one who,
like Martin Van Buren Wolf, one of the venerable farmers of Washington
township, Greene county, and one of the oldest native-born citizens of
this locality, is fortunate enough to spend his life at his birthplace, is
to be envied, and, no doubt, being a fair-minded man, he-fully appreciates
the privilege. He has labored hard to keep the old farm well tilled and
improved, so that it has retained rather than lost its original strength
of soil, and the dwelling has been carefully looked after and guarded.

Mr. Wolf was born in the above named township and county, on the spot
where he now lives, December 21, 1840, nearly seventy-four years ago. He
is a son of David and Nancy (McCoy) Wolf. The father was a native of
Hawkins, county, Tennessee, and was reared on a farm in that state, and
there received a common school education and married there, and in an
early day he made the overland journey in a wagon to Greene county,
Missouri, experiencing a number of hardships en route. Here he entered
forty acres from the government, which he cleared and farmed, and,
prospering with the years, he added to his original holdings until he
owned a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres, having, cleared most of
his land and improved it himself. Here he became an influential citizen.
For some time he served the people of his community as justice of the
peace. Early in the war between the states he joined Company E, Third
Missouri Cavalry, under Captain Thorson and Colonel Green, and served
gallantly as a soldier in the Confederate army, but unfortunately took
sick about the close of the war, and died in Arkansas, after having seen
considerable hard service, including a number of engagements and a few of
the important battles. Politically, he was a strong Democrat, and
religiously he belonged to the Baptist church. The mother of the subject
of this sketch was born reared and educated in eastern Tennessee. She was
a member of the Baptist church. Her death occurred at the home of our
subject some thirty years ago.

To David Wolf and wife seven children were born, named as follows: Mary
M., who is living in Webster county, Missouri; Martin V., of this sketch;
James Huston, who was a soldier in the Civil war, was taken prisoner and
killed; Mrs. Louisa Jane Goskill is deceased; Robert Marion, who was a
soldier in the Civil war, was captured and killed; Mrs. Margaret E.
Bateman lives in Webster county, this state; Lafayette Jefferson is making
his home, in Christian county, Missouri.

Martin V. Wolf grew to manhood on the farm and he received his education
in the district schools. He joined the Confederate army in the fall of
1861, in the same regiment and company as his father--Company E, Third
Missouri Cavalry, in which he served most faithfully and efficiently until
the close of the war, taking part in a number of important campaigns and
battles; including that of Jenkin's Ferry, and the, battle of
Independence, Missouri, in which he was wounded. He was with the troops
that surrendered at Jackson Fort, Arkansas, where he was discharged, and
about a year later he returned to the old home place, and he and his
brothers ran the same for their mother until her death. Our subject then
bought the farm, which consisted of one hundred and sixty acres, but later
sold eighty acres. He has made a success as a general farmer and stock
raiser.

Mr. Wolf was married on September 8, 1867, in Arkansas to Lydia E. Suttle.
She was born in Virginia on October 20, 1845, a daughter of Edward J. and
Minty (Whitsel) Suttle, both of whom were born in Virginia and died in
Arkansas. The father was a farmer. He served a few months in the Civil war
but died of measles while in the service.

To Mr. and Mrs., Wolf six children have been born, namely: Nancy M. is
deceased Mrs. Alice Jane Johnson lives in California; Mrs. Mary Susan
Hooper is living in Montana; Minty M. is deceased; David E. is deceased,
William Martin is living in Greene county.

Politically, Mr. Wolf is a Democrat, and he is a member of the Baptist
church. He has lived to see his community develop from the wilds to a fine
farming section, and he is one of the most widely known men in the
township.




ALBERT WOOD. From the farms of Greene county the city of Springfield has
drawn its best citizenship during the past half century. The farmer boy,
tiring of what he considers drudgery, is often glad of an opportunity to
leave the plow and take a position in the city, no matter if the work is
really harder than his former work. Often he is wise in making the change;
again, it is questionable if he betters his condition. The railroad shops
here have absorbed the larger number of these young men from the rural
districts. Employing such large numbers of men and paying good wages, the
prospective employee has usually found a place waiting for him in some one
of the many departments of the Frisco's local plants, and if he has been
energetic, wide-awake and trustworthy, he has found his services
appreciated and has been advanced accordingly. Albert Wood is one of the
boys who left the farm and went to work in the shops, and, while yet a
young man, he has risen to the position of foreman of the steel car
repairing department in the North Side Frisco shops.

Mr. Wood was born in Franklin township, Greene county, on February 22,
1886. He is a son of Alec J. and Sarah (Johnson) Wood, the mother, a
daughter of Zadock Wood, is now fifty-two years old. The father was born
and reared in this county, four miles from his present farm in Franklin
township, where he owns fifty acres, and has always engaged in general
farming. He is fifty-four years old. Politically, he is a Republican, and
for ten years was road overseer in his community, and has done more for
the good roads movement there than any other one man. He is a member of
the New Salem church.

To Alec J. Wood and wife four children have been born, namely: Roxie is
the wife of Julius Webber, a farmer of Franklin township; Albert, of this
sketch; Clarence is employed in the North Side Frisco shops; Madge lives
at home.

James Wood, paternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of England,
having been born in the world's greatest city--London. He emigrated to
America when a young man, locating first in New Orleans, Louisiana, where
he lived for some time, finally coming to Missouri in an early day. He
entered a homestead in Franklin township, Greene county, and here
established the future home of the family, and developed a farm from the
wilds. He served in the Federal army during the Civil war in the Home
Guards.

Albert Wood grew to manhood on the homestead and there worked when he was
a boy. He received his education in the district schools, and remained
with his parents until 1907, when he came to Springfield and secured
employment in the freight yards of the North Side Frisco shops as laborer.
Three months later he went to work at steel car repairing, and remained at
this until 1912, when he was appointed foreman of the steel car repairing
department there, and has held this responsible position ever since,
giving splendid satisfaction. He has forty-two hands under his direction.

Mr. Wood was married in December, 1910, to Effie Bleckledge, a daughter of
Frank Bleckledge and wife. To this union two children have been born,
namely: Thelma and Alice.

Politically Mr. Wood is a Republican. He belongs to the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and to the Methodist Episcopal church.




JAMES G. WOOD. One of the worthy citizens of Greene county, who has lived
to see and take part in its development during the past sixty-two years,
is James G. Wood, for a long lapse of years one of our leading
agriculturists and stock raisers, now living in retirement enjoying the
fruits of his former industry, and although he is past eighty-two years of
age, he is in possession of all his faculties and enjoys life to the
fullest extent as a result, no doubt, of wholesome living and thinking. He
came here from the sunny South in the antebellum days, when this city was
an insignificant village and when the county was sparsely settled and
practically a wilderness or a wild prairie. His long life of usefulness
and honor has won for him the sincere affection of all who have known
hint. His early industry has resulted in his possession of a neat
competence, and while he still enjoys the glow of the golden rays of the
sun of life that must eventually set behind the horizon of the inevitable,
he shares that enjoyment with no stint in the companionship of the members
of his family and his wide circle of friends, won through his continued
residence here of over six decades.

Mr. Wood was born in Huntsville, Alabama, February 24, 1832. He is a son
of John and Elizabeth (Morris) Wood. John Wood was born in England in 1805
and there grew to manhood and was educated, and there he married Elizabeth
Morris, a daughter of James Morris, and she was born in England in 1804,
and died in 1866. To John Wood and wife thirteen children were born,
namely: Hannah, who was born in England, married John Williams, of
Tennessee, and after his death in 1850, she married a Mr. Farrier, in
1854, he being a hatter; her son, John W. Williams, became a leading
hardware merchant in Springfield, Missouri, and with him she spent the
latter part of her life. James G. Wood, subject of this sketch, was the
next child; John M. Martha E., who married J. M. Powell, also became a
resident of Springfield. The other children all died in infancy. After the
death of the mother of these children, John Wood married Mrs. M. E.
Weaver, widow of Joseph Weaver, and prior to her marriage to this
gentleman the widow of a Mr. Shackelford. She spent the latter part of her
life in Springfield. John Wood emigrated with his wife and child to the
United States when a young man, and was later followed by two brothers and
one sister, James, Samuel and Ann. He located in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, where he followed the trade of a cotton spinner, which he
had learned in the old country, and eventually became an expert in that
line of work. Mr. Wood moved to Huntsville, Alabama, where he erected a
power loom for the manufacture of cotton goods, which was the first built
in that state. From there he made many trips to Philadelphia for the
purpose of purchasing machinery for his looms and at one time made the
long journey on horse back. He was a man of exceptional physical
endurance, robust and courageous. In 1834 he removed to Rockford,
Illinois, being the third settler there, and there endured the many
hardships incident to life on the frontier. He made numerous trips to
Chicago, then a mere village. He became the owner of a ferry boat at
Rockford, which was one of the very first to cross the Rock river at that
point, and there he maintained a shop in which he did all kind of
engineering work. He removed to Franklin, Tennessee, where he built the
first power loom ever used in that state. He then engaged in the
manufacture of cotton goods and in his establishment was manufactured the
canvas that covered the wagons of many of the early emigrants who left
that country to come to Greene county, Missouri, prominent among them
being the Rountrees. In 1836 he located in Lawrence county, Tennessee,
where he built a cotton mill and engaged in the manufacture of cotton
goods for about sixteen years, and during that period also managed a large
plantation, and was, most successful in both enterprises. In 1853 he came
to Greene county, Missouri, locating on Grand Prairie, northwest of
Springfield, where he became the owner of a fine tract of land, which he
developed by the assistance of his sons, his advanced age compelling him
to merely oversee the place. During the Civil war he removed to Madison
county, Arkansas where he remained until 1864, and while there engaged in
the manufacture of knives and other utensils. After the close of the war
he returned to Greene county and lived a retired life until his death at
the age of eighty-two years, dying in Springfield, April 30, 1887.
Politically he was a Whig and while active in political matters was never
an Office seeker. Religiously he was a member of the Christian church, and
an active worker in the Sunday school. He even purchased a printing press
on which he printed a Sunday school paper and cards for the Sunday school
pupils. He was very liberal in his support of the church. He made money
rapidly and was always lenient with his debtors, never suing anyone who
owed him. He was a great Bible student and was well posted on the current
topics of. the day, was interested in the sciences, especially astronomy,
and he made for himself a splendid telescope, some six feet long, which
instrument is now in possession of his son, James G., of this review. By
the exercise of his varied talents he accumulated a large property, and
this, with an untarnished name, he left to his children. He did all his
work thoroughly and believed that whatever was worth doing at all was
worth doing well, and, besides his other fields of enterprise he was an
expert book-binder. His, cotton factory in Tennessee had an overshot wheel
thirty-five feet in diameter, and at the same time intelligently
conducting this factory he also, operated a tannery on a large scale in
connection with his other enterprises. He was musically inclined, and
first his own instructor in this art he later was able to instruct others.
He made a number of musical instruments, all of which he could play, and
they were considered excellent of their kind. He was never contented
unless busy at something and even in his last days was always working. He
was one of those men who had a keen observing faculty, and Mother Nature
in her varied forms possessed great beauty amid attraction for him, and
while on his way to and from Philadelphia from Huntsville, Alabama, he
always took occasion to visit the Natural Bridge in Virginia. He was one
of the best known men in Greene county and was greatly admired and
esteemed by all.

James G. Wood spent his boyhood days assisting his father with his various
pursuits, principally about his cotton mills and farms, and he also
learned the tanner's trade, and for some time had the management of that
branch of his father's business. Although the opportunities to obtain an
education in those days were not the best, he improved those he had, and
remaining a wide reader and close observer always he became a well
informed man. He left Tennessee in 1852, when he was twenty years of age,
having preceded the family several months, and located with the rest of
the family on Grand Prairie, Greene county, Missouri, where he engaged in
farming until the commencement of the war between the states, when he
removed with the family to Madison county, Arkansas, where he conducted a
tannery until in 1864, when he returned to Greene county, and a few years
later located on a farm of one hundred and sixty-seven acres near
Springfield, which was given him by his father, and on which he continued
to reside until his retirement from active life a number of years ago. His
to farm was desirably located four miles southeast of Springfield,
consisting of one hundred and eighty-seven acres, and was one of the best
improved and most productive in the county. On it stood a large dwelling
in the midst of attractive surroundings and a number of substantial
outbuildings. Here he carried on general farming and stock raising on an
extensive scale and prospered with advancing years through his able
management and close application, until upon the arrival of old age he was
classed among the wealthiest agriculturists of the county. He now resides
in a beautiful home on East Walnut street, Springfield, which he built
himself, surrounded by all the comforts of life.

Mr. Wood was married on October 1, 1857, to Susan Ann Dishongh, a daughter
of Henderson and Sarah (Hail) Dishongh. The father was born in North
Carolina, January 2, 1812, and was a son of Augustin Dishongh, who came
from France in an early day and located in North Carolina before the
Revolutionary war. At one time he ferried George Washington and his army
across the river at his plantation. His death occurred in 1847 in Giles
county, Tennessee, where he had moved in pioneer days. He reached the age
of eighty-two years. His youngest son, Henderson Dishongh, was killed by
lightning, June 16, 1847, in Giles county. The elder Dishongh was a
skilled mechanic, and for many years was engaged in the manufacture of
cotton cloth, and at the same time worked at his trade of millwright. He
was the inventor of one of the first improved cotton spinning machines
ever made. He was regarded as one of the greatest geneiuses in a
mechanical way in his day and generation in this country. Politically, he
was a Whig, took considerable interest in public affairs and was a useful
citizen in every respect and highly honored by all who knew him. He and
Sarah Hail were married in Tennessee. She was a daughter of Butler and
Elizabeth Hail, who were early pioneers of that state, and were relatives
of Dr. William Hail, a noted surgeon in the Mexican war. The death of Mrs.
Sarah Dishongh occurred in Giles county, Tennessee, December 26, 1850. To
Henderson Dishongh and wife six children were born, namely: George B.
became a prosperous manufacturer of cotton goods in Lawrence county,
Tennessee; Augustin, who owned a mill at Pulaski, that state, died at the
age of forty-three years; Elizabeth married J. K. Speer, a prominent
business man of Indianapolis, Indiana; Susan, who married James G. Wood,
of this sketch; Sarah A. married James R. Gilmore, of Alabama, and Martha
J., who married a Mr. Foster, of Greene county, Missouri, died in early
life. Mrs. Woods was born in Giles county, Tennessee, June 5, 1839, and
there she received a common school education. She was seventeen years of
age when she removed with the family to Lawrence county, Tennessee, where
she lived until her marriage to our subject.

Two children were born to James G. Wood and wife: Sarah E., whose birth
occurred June 11, 1859, died April 15, 1862, and Susan J., whose birth
occurred August 15, 1861. The latter was educated in the Springfield high
school. She married B. L. Routt, a leading groceryman of Springfield, and
to them four children were born, namely: Amma, now Mrs. Bert Richardson,
who has one child, Josephine; Josephine; Lonnie, who died at the age of
two years; James Routt, married, and is a clerk in the Metropolitan hotel.

The death of Mrs. James G. Wood occurred, February 2, 1912, when nearly
seventy-three years of age. She was a woman of strong mind and kind heart,
was beloved by her neighbors and friends, and was a devout member of the
Christian church. Mr. Wood is also a member of that denomination, and
politically he is a Democrat, but he has never been active in political
affairs. He is charitably inclined and has ever been generous to those
about him in need or distress, and has never hesitated to aid generously
all movements that have for their object the general good. Many a young
man owes his start and success in life to the material aid and sound
advice of this venerable patriarch whose example is worthy of emulation by
the youth who would not only make a success in life, but also become a
useful and highly respected citizen.




JAMES A. WOODSON. Some families seem to be born mechanics, just the same
as men are born with a bent toward any other vocation, and the children of
such are as a rule very precocious in the lines which they are destined to
follow, their inclination being shown in their toys and in their play
often when they can scarcely talk or walk. This bent should be carefully
encouraged by the parent, whose child may become in due course of time a
man of rare talent, if not an inventor of useful devices, at least a man
of great service in some way or another, capable of doing exceptionally
good work in some useful line and therefore be a blessing in a general way
to the human race. James A. Woodson, general foreman of the South Side
Frisco shops, Springfield, came from such a family and was such a child.
He has followed up his natural liking for mechanical work with the result
that he is one of the ablest mechanics on the great system for which he
works.

Mr. Woodson was born at Roanoke, Howard county, Missouri, May 10, 1859. He
is a son of William B. Woodson, who was born in the state of Virginia
where he grew up, attended school and learned the carpenter's trade when a
boy, later, in 1842, removing to Missouri and establishing his future
home. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and he became a well-known and
successful contractor and builder in Howard and Randolph counties this
state, maintaining his office at Roanoke, under the firm name of Woodson &
Phelps. His death occurred in 1893 at the age of seventy-four years.
Politically, he was originally a Whig, later a Democrat. He was a member
of the Baptist church. He married Martha C. Lockridge, who lived near
Roanoke. She was a daughter of William Y. Lockridge, who was one of the
first tanners in Missouri, who later became a manufacturer of shoes and
handled leather and leather goods, being well known in Howard county.
Archer W. Woodson, our subject's paternal grandfather, was a farmer near
Cordingville, Roanoke county, Virginia. Nine children were born to William
B. Woodson and wife, namely: Willie married P. A. Frederick, a broker and
real estate man of Kansas City; Emmett L, who died in 1909, was a
traveling salesman for Swift & Company; James A., of this sketch; Lutie is
the wife of a Mr. Mowinkle, traveling auditor for Swift & Company out of
Chicago; Ruth, Charles and Harry are all deceased; Bessie is the wife of
C. A. Carrier, who is engaged in the manufacturing business in Kansas
City; Maud, who has remained single, is with the secretary of the Relief
Board of Kansas City.

James A. Woodson grew up in Howard county and there received a common
school education, and when but a boy he began work as a machinist at
Moberly, Missouri, where he served his apprenticeship in the St. Louis,
Kansas City & Northern Railroad shops, beginning there on March 8, 1874,
and remained with that company until 1880, then went to Mt. Vernon,
Illinois where he worked a year as machinist for that Louisville &
Nashville Railroad. He then worked at Tracy, Tennessee, as machinist for
the Tennessee Coal & Iron Company, was division foreman there for three
years. He then went to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he worked as
machinist for the Southern railroad for a short time, after which he came
back to Moberly, Missouri, where he worked in the Wabash railroad shops
for awhile at his trade, then went to Kansas City and found employment
with the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis Railroad Company, beginning as
machinist there on October 1, 1884, and remained there until October 1,
1890, then came to Springfield for this company, working in their shops
here until October 1, 1891, when he was appointed machine shop foreman. In
March, 1907, he was promoted to general foreman of the South Side shops
which position he has occupied to the present time, and was placed in
charge .of the round house here on August 11, 1911. He has under his
direction on an average of one hundred men. Everything is under a splendid
system of modern management and he is a man of such fine executive ability
that he gets the best results possible from his men and at the same time
wins and retains their good will and friendship.

Mr. Woodson was married in 1889 to Julia D. Wray, a daughter of Joseph A.
and Christiana (Rea) Wray, who were born near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. To
this union two children have been born, namely: Dorothy L is a student of
piano under Miss Atwood, of Springfield, and she has decided musical
talent; Gladys is a student in Drury College.

Politically, Mr. Woodson is a Democrat. Fraternally, he belongs to the
Masonic order, Solomon Lodge; also the Royal Arcanum, and the Modern
Woodmen of America. He is a member of Calvary Presbyterian church, in
which he was a deacon for some time. He has long been active in church
work.




RANSOM BENTON WOODWARD. Life primarily is designed for what joy one can
get from it. Happiness is the thing we all crave, the thing that we all
need, for it best builds character; it comes from several causes, one a
fine state of health. Happily the country affords the ideal place for
bodily health and vigor. Happiness comes from the use of the body in
vigorous and successful endeavor. Here is where life on the farm comes in
strong; there is chance to develop the body perfectly in all manner of
healthy work. And there is no need of overworking in the country.
Happiness comes, too, from having an appreciative mind able to take in the
beauty of the world and the delights of one's own environment. This
application comes from training, largely. There are men who cannot see
with any joy the most serene landscape and even view with utter
indifference the splendor of the autumn woods. Ransom Benton Woodward is a
farmer who fully appreciates the advantages for happiness in a rural life
and beauty of the outdoors.

Mr. Woodward was born two miles north of Bois D'Arc, Greene county,
Missouri, April 3, 1850. He is a son of Jacob and Susan Caroline
(Robinson) Woodward. The father was born on September 13, 1819, in
Calloway county, Kentucky, and was a son of Edward Woodward, who was born
in Virginia about 1795. The latter's father immigrated to America from
Scotland prior to the Revolutionary war, he and his four brothers working
their way across the Atlantic on board an old-fashioned sailing vessel,
the trip requiring several months, and they fought under Washington in the
Revolutionary war. The father of our subject came to Greene county,
Missouri, in 1837 and bought a distillery three miles northeast of Ash
Grove, which he operated until about 1850. The first farm on which he
lived after locating in this county was rented from Governor Polk. Early
in the fifties Jacob Woodward entered one hundred and sixty acres from the
government on the Leeper Prairie, now known as the Thorn place, and he
remained there until 1857. In 1859 he bought the farm now occupied by his
son, Ransom B. of this sketch. It lies in section 2, and consists of one
hundred and sixty acres. He erected the family home here, which was at
that time the only dwelling for miles around. The building is still
standing and is used by our subject for storage purposes. During the Civil
war Jacob Woodward enlisted in the state militia shortly after hostilities
began, under Capt. F. S. Jones, and he remained in the service until the
close of the war, and, being an excellent soldier, rose to the rank of
orderly sergeant under Gen. C. B. Holland, with whom he fought at the
battle of Springfield, January 8, 1863, when General Marmaduke and General
Shelby attacked the place. After the war he continued general farming and
stock raising. He devoted especial attention to mule raising, up to the
time of the war.

Ransom B. Woodward was reared on the home farm and his schooling was
limited to about fifteen months in the Kelley school, the only graded
school in Greene county at that time. It was under the management of Major
L. P. Downing and Professor Crane. Our subject lived at home and assisted
with the general work there until he was twenty-seven years old, at which
time he married, on October 3, 1877, Margaret Elizabeth McQuigg, a
daughter of John W. and Elizabeth Jane (Robberson) McQuigg. The former
died on August 16, 1883, but the latter is still living, having survived
her husband thirty years. She was born on August 28, 1835. She makes her
home with our subject, keeping house for him, his wife having died on
September 27, 1911. She was a woman of many praiseworthy characteristics
and was greatly beloved by all who knew her. She was a good wife and
helpmate, and no small part of our subject's success was due to her
counsel, encouragement and sympathy.

Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Woodward, namely: Freddy Elbert,
born in 1881, died in infancy; Edwin Deams, born on October 1, 1882, was
educated at Drury College, Springfield, and he returned to the farm in
1902; on September 16, 1904, he married Jessie C. Brower, a daughter of
Jesse D. and Mary E. Brower of Center township, this county. He lives on a
farm adjoining that of his father and follows general farming. Our subject
has devoted a large portion of his time during the past thirty-five years
to cattle and mule raising and has been very successful. He now owns two
hundred acres in one farm in sections 2 and 3, East Center township, and
eighty acres in section I, this township. The former place is one of the
best in the township, has good drainage into Clear creek and is well
improved in every way. On it is to be found a substantial residence and
good outbuildings; in fact, two comfortable residences, one of which is
occupied by his son.

In 1909 Mr. Woodward and wife made an extended trip through the West and
Northwest, including visits at Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland, Seattle,
Spokane and Billings. After Mrs. Woodward's death our subject took another
trip west as far as Los Angeles, where he spent two weeks, and then
visited San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, on up the coast to Seattle and
Vancouver, British Columbia, remaining six weeks in Seattle.

Politically he is a Democrat, and his support has never been withheld from
any movement having for its object the general public good. He is a member
of the Anti-Horse Thief Association.




EDWARD WAYNE WOOLDRIDGE. Practical industry, wisely and vigorously
applied, never fails of success. It carries a man onward and upward,
brings out his individual character and acts as a powerful stimulus to the
efforts of others. The greatest results in life are often attained by
simple means and the exercise of the ordinary qualities of common sense
and perseverance. This fact having been recognized early in life by Edward
Wayne Wooldridge, for many years one of the well-known members of the
Frisco office force in Springfield, he seized the small opportunities that
he encountered on the rugged hill that leads to life's lofty summit where
lies the ultimate goal of success, never attained by the weak,
ambitionless and inactive.

Mr. Wooldridge was born at Stockton, Cedar county, Missouri, on Friday,
August 10, 1866. He is a son of Madison Brasher and Ann Eliza (Morgan)
Wooldridge, the father a native of Christian county, Kentucky, where his
birth occurred on December 22, 1832; and the later was born in eastern
Tennessee, October 27, 1847. His great-grandfather was Edward Wooldridge,
born on April 30, 1789, and his maternal great-great-grandfather was
Thomas Brasher. Each side of the house may be traced back to sterling old
Southern ancestry. The parents of our subject grew to maturity in Dixie
land, received such educational advantages as, the times afforded, and in
pioneer days joined the numerous train of emigrants to southwest Missouri,
locating in Cedar county, where they became well and favorably known for
their industry, old-fashioned hospitality and general spirit of altruism.
The father, who was born and reared a Southerner, was at heart a stanch
Unionist, and, like many another during the polemic civil drama of the
early sixties, had conflicting opinions as to his duties. He first served
six months in the Confederate cause, then enlisted in Company A, Fifteenth
Missouri Volunteer Infantry. He always said the hardest battle in which he
ever took part was the "parting of the ways," when having to decide
between love for the South and its traditions and institutions and his
conscience. A physician by profession, he served at the front as surgeon,
was in many of the great battles of the war and was several times wounded.
He once performed the operation of trephining on a wounded comrade, with
only an ax for an anvil, a pair of old scissors and an old-time
half-dollar which he shaped to nearly fit the broken skull; a shell from
the enemy's ranks had just destroyed what crude surgical instruments he
then possessed. But the patient recovered and is at this writing living at
the advanced age of eighty-nine years, strong and healthy. The wound was
washed in dirty water through which a cannon had but recently been drawn,
but the same kind of water often made a very fine cup of coffee, an
experience which thousands of soldiers on both sides had. After the close
of the war Doctor Wooldridge returned to Stockton and resumed the practice
of his profession and for many years his name was a household word in
Cedar county, throughout which he enjoyed a good practice. His death
occurred in 1899, and his wife passed away in 1892. They were the parents
of the following children: Edward Wayne Wooldridge, Clara May Davis,
Carrie Lee Harris, Lula Margaret Wooldridge, John Franklin Wooldridge and
Madison Bruce Wooldridge.

Edward W. Wooldridge grew to manhood at Stockton and received his early
education in the public schools there and the Stockton Academy, later
attending the Southwestern Telegraph Institute, in Sedalia, Missouri, the
Southwestern Business College in Springfield, Missouri, the Berlitz School
of Languages in St. Louis, Missouri, the Strasburg Conservatory of Music,
Washington University of St. Louis, and the Cincinnati Phonographic
Institute. He thus obtained a high education, making an excellent record
in each of these institutions, in fact, he has remained a student all his
life and is familiar with the world's best literature, the sciences, the
arts and the current topics of the age.

The major portion of Mr. Wooldridge's life has been spent in railroad
service; however, when a young man he was a banker, a mine owner and a
teacher. He is now interested in the Joplin lead and "Jack" (zinc) fields.
He always taught young men who could not afford the expense of special
training. His specialty was rapid mathematical calculations, in which he
is commonly spoken of as one of the highest proficiency. He entered the
employ of the Frisco System in 1891, filling various positions in the
general offices at Springfield and St. Louis until promoted to his present
position, chief clerk of the car service department. Owing to his
fidelity, accuracy and trustworthiness he has always been regarded by the
head officials of the road as one of their most efficient and worthy
employees.

Mr. Wooldridge was married on December 18, 1909, to Beatrice Van Derford,
a lady of many estimable characteristics. She is a daughter of Monroe and
Belinda (Britton) Van Derford, a prominent family of Neosho, Missouri. To
this union one child has been born, namely: Wayne Wooldridge.

Politically, Mr. Wooldridge is a Democrat, but always votes independently
in local elections. He never aspired to any political office, not even
having been judge or clerk at elections. Religiously, he is a member of
the Christian church, or Disciples of Christ. Fraternally, he is a member
of the Masonic order, both branches of the York and Scottish Rites, a past
potentate of Abou Ben Adhem Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles
of the Mystic Shrine, a past master and past high priest in the Masonic
Blue Lodge and Chapter. He holds beautiful jewels presented by each of
these bodies in honor of long years of devoted service to the cause and in
recognition of his having been presiding officer of the several bodies. He
is one of the best known and most influential Masons in southern Missouri,
and one would judge from his daily life that he endeavors to live up to
the high precepts of this time-honored order. He is also a member of the
Woodmen of the World and a vice-president of the Frisco Railroad Club of
Springfield. He was offered a Carnegie hero medal, for what his modesty
calls "alleged," heroism in rescuing a boy and an old man from drowning in
icy waters at St. Louis in the year 1898, when he plunged into the stream
and after two trips brought them safely to shore; however, the experience
was a dear one as he was not only badly cut and mangled by the heavy
pieces of floating ice, but he suffered a long time from the exposure.
Personally, he is a plain, unassuming gentleman of genial and courteous
address, makes and retains friends readily, being esteemed for his true
worth by all with whom he comes in contact.




MARION D. WRIGHT. The record of the successful self-made man is always
interesting and instructive. It encourages those who have been held back
by an unfavorable early environment. There are a great many people abroad
in the land who would make a great deal more of their opportunities and
make themselves useful citizens if they had the proper encouragement at
the right time. The life record of Marion D. Wright is one that should be
read with interest and profit by many who have become discouraged on
life's rugged highway, for we find that Mr. Wright has forged his way to
the front in the face of adversity and with no outside assistance. He was
for some time one of the successful merchants of Walnut Grove and is now
classed among the most progressive general farmers and stock men of the
northwestern part of Greene county.

Mr. Wright was born in Polk county, Missouri, November 28, 1861. He is a
son of John and Mary (Wood) Wright, both natives of that county also, the
father's birth occurring in 1835, and the mother's in 1842. They grew to
maturity in their native community, were educated in the old-time
subscription schools and were married there and established their home on
a farm. John Wright spent most of his life in Polk county, but lived in
the West several years. He owned a good-sized farm in Polk county where he
carried on general farming until the breaking out of the Civil war when he
enlisted in the Union army and died while in the service, at Arlington
Hospital, Pilot Knob, Missouri, in October, 1862. Politically, he was a
strong Republican and pronounced in his views on public affairs. He was a
member of the Turkey Creek Baptist church, and was a highly respected
citizen and well known among the early settlers. He had but the one child,
Marion D. Wright, of this sketch. The mother of our subject was a daughter
of Isaac and Susanna (Vaughn) Wood, both natives of cast Tennessee, from
which country they emigrated to Polk county, Missouri, in an early day and
established the family home on a farm. Mrs. Mary Wright remarried and is
now living in Walnut Grove.

John Wright enlisted in Company L, Sixth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, for
three years, but died from exposure soon afterwards.

Marion D. Wright spent his boyhood days on the home farm in Polk county,
and he worked hard when growing to manhood during crop seasons, attending
the district schools during the winter months. When eighteen years of age
he entered the Southwest Baptist College at Bolivar, Missouri, and took a
four-years' course, making an excellent record. After leaving college he
returned home and resumed work on the farm, but soon thereafter he went to
Walnut Grove and began in the general merchandise business and flour
milling, which lines of endeavor he conducted with ever increasing success
and satisfaction until 1902, in which year he sold out and bought the farm
of one hundred and eighty-three acres where he now resides. He has made
many improvements, such as erecting a silo and out-buildings, fences,
etc., until he now has one of the valuable, productive and desirable
farms, of the county, which is well located near the thriving town of
Walnut Grove. In connection with general farming he raises a good grade of
live stock of which he is an excellent judge, and he is regarded as one of
the most progressive general farmers in this section of Greene county as
well as one of the most substantial and successful citizens, a man who has
done much for the general good of the community.

Mr. Wright was married on December 23, 1886, to Maggie McLemore, a
daughter of Andrew Jackson McLemore, and Dialtha (Alexander) McLemore,
long one of the prominent families of this section of the Ozarks. Mrs.
Wright was born in Christian county, Missouri, and she received her
education in the common schools.

Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wright, namely: Dean lives in
Walnut Grove; Reu, Thomas, Dialtha, Marian and Laura Mae, all at home with
their parents, but the eldest.

Politically, Mr. Wright is a Republican, and while he has never been an
office holder he has been influential in public affairs of his locality,
and his support may always be depended upon in furthering any movements in
the community calculated to be of general good, in material, civic or
moral matters. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic order at Walnut
Grove. He and. his wife are members of the Baptist church at Walnut Grove,
he having been clerk of the local congregation since its organization in
1903, and is a pillar in his church. He is a broad-minded, well-informed
gentleman of positive ideas and correct principles and is highly esteemed
by all who know him.




TIMOTHY J. WRIGHTSMAN. "Through struggle to triumph" seems to be the maxim
which holds sway with the majority of people, that is, those who attain to
a successful goal at all, must find it after arduous effort. And, though
it is undoubtedly true that many fall exhausted in the conflict, a few, by
their inherent force of character and strong mentality, rise above their
environment, and all which seems to hinder them, until they reach the
plane of affluence toward which their face was set through the long years
of struggle that must necessarily precede any accomplishment of great
magnitude. Such has been the history, briefly stated, of Timothy J.
Wrightsman, one of Greene county's pioneer business men and Civil war
veterans, who, after a long, busy and useful life, is living in retirement
in his attractive home in Springfield, spending the December of his years
in quiet, as he is now in his seventy-seventh year.

Mr. Wrightsman is the scion of an old Southern family and hails from the
Old Dominion, "the mother of Presidents," his birth having occurred in
Roanoke,Virginia, November 13, 1838. He is a son of Joseph and Kesia
(Beckner) Wrightsman, both natives of Virginia, also, the father's birth
having occurred in 1808, and the mother was born there in 1818. They grew
to maturity in their native state, attended the early-day schools and were
married there, and devoted their lives to agricultural pursuits, and the
father was also a cabinet maker by trade, and made a great deal of fine
furniture in his early life, thereby getting his start in the business
world. He remained in Virginia until about 1849, when he removed his
family to Illinois, remaining in that state until the year 1857, when he
brought his family overland to Greene county, Missouri, locating a few
miles south of Springfield, where he spent the rest of his life in farming
and was drowned in a small creek in that vicinity in January, 1883. His
wife had preceded him to the grave twenty years, having died in 1863, in
Illinois. To these parents ten children were born, six of whom are still
living, namely: Sarah and Julia are both deceased; Timothy J., of this
sketch; Ann lives in Ozark, Missouri; Lear is deceased; George lives in
Florida; Abbie lives in Webb City, Missouri; Susan lives in Kansas;
Rebecca lives in Rich Hill, Missouri, and Edward is deceased.

The Wrightsman family is of German descent, the paternal grandfather of
our subject, Alexander,Wrightsman, being born in Germany, from which
country he emigrated to the United States in Colonial days and located in
Virginia, where he became well established through his industry. He was a
soldier in the Revolutionary war, taking part in a number of principal
engagements.

Timothy J. Wrightsman was nine years old when his parents removed from
Virginia to Illinois, and there he grew to manhood, living there for a
period of eight years, when he removed with his father and the rest of the
children to Greene county, Missouri, in 1857, since which time he has been
a resident of this locality, and during that period of nearly sixty years
he has seen great changes "come over the face of the land," the forests
changed into productive farms, the wild prairies reclaimed on which
peaceful herds now graze, and small villages grow into cities of wealth
and renown. In his boyhood days he worked hard on the farm, and attended
the rural schools, receiving a limited education. In 1875 he began
operating a flouring mill at Walnut Grove, Greene county, which he
continued for four years, then ran a grocery store at Shell City,
Missouri, for four years, then, in the fall of 1883, he came to
Springfield and engaged in the grocery business on East Commercial street,
continuing this line there for a period of twenty-six years, during which
time he enjoyed a large and lucrative trade, ranking among the best known
and most popular grocers on the north side. He always carried a large and
well selected stock of fancy and staple groceries and dealt honestly and
courteously with his hundreds of customers, retaining their confidence and
good will to the last. He accumulated a comfortable competency through his
judicious business management and retired from active life in 1903, since
which time he has been living a quiet life, merely looking after his
various real estate holdings. He has a fine residence on North Campbell
street.

Mr. Wrightsman served three years during the Civil war in Company E, Third
Missouri Cavalry, Confederate army, under Captain Thompson. He first
served under old "Dick" Campbell, having enlisted in the fall of 1861. He
saw considerable hard service, including the battle of Pea Ridge, his
first real engagement. He did not participate in the battle of Wilson's
Creek, being held a prisoner in Springfield by the Federals at that time.

Mr. Wrightsman was married on January 11, 1870, in Christian county, to
Mildred Chestnut, a daughter of Judge Chestnut, one of the first judges of
that county. He and his wife were natives of Ohio, from which they removed
to Taney county, this state, in 1833, and were therefore pioneers of the
Ozark region. James Chestnut, brother of Mrs. Wrightsman, was the first
man killed in Christian county, on account of the Civil war, he having
been murdered by bushwhackers, while serving as deputy sheriff.

Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wrightsman, namely: Fred,
born in 1871, is a freight conductor on the Frisco, and lives in
Springfield; Walter, born in 1873, lives in Texas and is employed by the
Dean Drug Company; Frank, born in 1876, lives in Oklahoma; Herbert, born
in 1878 lives in Monett, Missouri; Cora E., born in 1880, is the wife of
S. O. Duemler, and they reside in Springfield.

Politically, Mr. Wrightsman is a Republican, but he has never been active
in public affairs, preferring to leave the troubles of public office to
others, merely striving to do his duty as a fair-minded citizen.




FRANK WYGAL. In most cases when a young man or a young woman starts out in
life, they are at a loss to know what to undertake, and the consideration
of what they are best intended for by nature is the last thing which they
consider. They are apt to be guided by circumstances, choosing the
undertaking or enterprise that offers itself most conveniently, or are
governed by considerations of gentility, selecting something that is
genteel, or so considered, or taking up enterprises or professions that
seem to offer the greatest reward for the least effort, or that give the
most promise of social position. Frank Wygal, foreman blacksmith at the
Springfield Wagon Works, selected a trade for which he was well qualified
by nature, one that he liked, and, not being afraid of hard work, he has
made a success at it.

Mr. Wygal was born on March 17, 1854, at Newcastle, Pennsylvania. He is a
son of Daniel Wygal, who was born in western Pennsylvania, where he grew
up, attended school, and learned the wagonmaker's trade, and finally went
into business for himself at Newcastle, then came west, and continued his
business in Eldora, Iowa, later moved to Cass, Missouri, then to Paola
Kansas, being in business for himself all the while, and under the firm
name of Wygal & Sons he operated a large concern at Paola, his sons, Frank
and Sylvester, being associated with him. His death occurred in Kansas at
the age of seventy-six years, having remained active in business to the
end. He was active in Republican politics, and he was a member of the
Presbyterian church. His wife, who was known in her maidenhood as Mary
Cubberson, died at the age of seventy-four years. To these parents ten
children were born.

Frank Wygal received a common school education. He spent his early boyhood
in Pennsylvania, being eleven years of age, when, in 1865, about the close
of the Civil war, his parents took him to Iowa. He went to work when
eighteen years of age with B. Miller, manufacturer of wagons and buggies,
with whom he remained three years, learning the trade, at which he became
an expert in due time. He was then for a period of eight years associated
with his brother and J. W. Miller in the same line of endeavor. He came to
Springfield in 1884 and on August 1st of that year began working for the
Springfield Wagon Works, as foreman of the blacksmith department, which
position he has held continuously to the present time, a period of over
thirty years, which fact is certainly a criterion of his fidelity, ability
and good habits. He mastered all phases of the work in his department
before coming here, and he has been quick to adopt new methods from time
to time, thus keeping fully up-to-date, and he has done much to establish
the sound reputation of this firm over the southwest. At present he has
thirty hands under his direction. He resides in his own cozy home on
Poplar street, which was built according to his own plans.

Mr. Wygal was married in 1882 to Katie A Bigelow, a daughter of Seth G.
Bigelow and wife, and to this union two children have been born--Winnifred
C., who is secretary of the Young Women's Christian Association at Reno,
Nevada. She has been highly educated, having attended the Springfield high
school, Drury College and the Normal, also the University of Nevada and
took a postgraduate course at Columbia University, in New York. Olive, the
youngest daughter who was educated in the common and high schools of
Springfield, is the wife of R. M. Humble, a farmer of Stone county,
Missouri.







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