Bates County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1918 (part 7 of 19)

In 1874. J. B. Lotspeich and Nannie Jester, daughter of Stephen and Bettie (Saunders) Jester, of Marshall, Saline county, Missouri, were united in marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Jester were natives of Kentucky. To J. B. and Nannie Lotspeich have been born eight children, seven of whom are now living: Luolla, the wife of C. A. Campbell, Butler, Missouri; Jester, who died in 1885 at the age of seven years; Hugh, who resides in Wyoming but receives mail from the postofihce at Decker, Montana; Ernest, who resides in Wyoming; Percy, Mecaha, Montana; Johnny, the wife of Orval Ray, Butler, Missouri; Ralph, Decker, Montana; and Frank, who was, at the time of this writing in 1917, with the United States Navy Training Camp at Mare Island, California studying wireless telegraphy, having enlisted at Denver, Colorado on June 18, 1917 and is now aboard the battleship "Connecticut." Mrs. Lotspeich was a member of the Christian church for several years prior to her marriage and in Saline county in 1876 Mr. Lotspeich joined the same church.

Distinctively one of the leading farmers and stockmen of Bates county, J. B. Lotspeich is exceptionally worthy of mention in a work of this character, pre-eminently entitled to be classed with the enterprising, representative, "self-made" men of Missouri. The firstborn of a large family of eight children, Mr. Lotspeich enjoyed but few advantages in his youth and experienced all the privations and straits of pioneer life and war. Early in life he mastered the lessons of industry, thrift, and self-reliance, lessons few college graduates grasp, and beginning life with but limited financial resources, with innumerable difficulties to overcome, he has acquired a sufficiency of this world's goods to make the remainder of his long life of usefulness comfortable and free from care.

J. R. Jenkins, president of the Peoples Bank of Butler, Missouri, is one of the conspicuous figures in the history of Bates county. Mr. Jenkins had twenty-one years of experience in the banking business before he became connected with the Peoples Bank of Butler. Mr. Jenkins was born in Virginia and came to Missouri, in 1858, locating first in Henry county, and for the past forty years has been a resident of Bates county.

For two terms, each of four years, Mr. Jenkins served as circuit clerk of Bates county. Since the organization of the Peoples Bank of Butler in 1908, he has been at his desk regularly every day, attending business with the same careful exactness and keen interest which characterized his habits when he first started in business. Mr. Jenkins is a member of the Mother Church of Christian Science and he was one of the organizers of this church in Butler. He has taken the lead in many public enterprises, encouraging the moral as well as the material advancement of the community.

Arthur C. Moreland, county superintendent of public instruction of Bates county, Missouri, is one of the most prominent and influential citizens of this county. Mr. Moreland is a native of Bates county. He was born December 1, 1883, in Osage townsrip, a son of James H. and Lucinda J. (Dejarnette) Moreland, who were the parents of five children, all of whom are now living: Arthur C, the subject of this review; Dr. George H., a prominent physician now serving as a first lieutenant in the National army; Fannie, the wife of AVilliam Papalisky, of Buffalo, New York; Grace M., the wife of Archie Thomas, of Butler, Missouri; and Miss Jessie, a well-known and popular teacher in the rural schools of Bates county, Missouri. All the children of Mr. and Mrs. James H. Moreland have been engaged in the teaching profession and each has at some time during his or her career been employed as an instructor in the schools of Bates county. James H. Moreland was born in 1853 in Shelby county, Kentucky, a son of Porter Moreland, a native of Shelby county. Porter Moreland was one of the honored pioneers of Bates county, to which he came in 1868. He settled on a small tract of land, located in Osage township, a farm originally comprising sixty-three acres, to which he later added thirty-seven adjoining acres of land. On this farm in Bates county, Missouri, Porter Moreland died in 1884 and since his death the Moreland homestead has been sold. W. L. Rider now owns the original farm of sixty-three acres and J. H. Brown owns the tract of thirty-seven acres. James H. Moreland was a youth fifteen years of age, when he came to Missouri with his parents and his mature life was all spent on the Moreland farm in Bates county, where he was engaged in farming and stock raising. Lucinda J. (Dejarnette) Moreland was born in Kansas, January 31, 1860, a daughter of Joseph Dejarnette, of French Huguenot descent. The Dejarnettes settled in Bates county as early as 1869. Mrs. Moreland died at the Moreland homestead on June 4, 1895. Eleven years later, in 1906, she was joined in death by her husband. Interment was made in Rider cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Moreland were highly respected in this county. In the early history of Bates county, the Moreland name was as it is today, the synonym of honorable and noble manhood and womanhood and no family has been more closely' identified with the growth and development of this part of Missouri than the Moreland family.

Arthur C. Moreland

Arthur C. Moreland is a graduate of the Warrensburg State Normal School in the class of 1917. He was a student at this institution for six years and prior to entering the Normal School, he taught school in Bates county for twelve years. In April, 1915, Mr. Moreland was elected superintendent of the Bates county public schools, which position he still occupies at the time of this writing in 1917. At the present time, there are one hundred thirty-two district schools in Bates county and one hundred thirty of these are under the supervision of Mr. Moreland, the exceptions being the Butler and Rich Hill public schools. In his official station, Mr. Moreland has given new impetus to the cause of education in Bates county by inaugurating a number of splendid reforms and advancing the standards of proficiency for both pupils and instructors. As an educator, Arthur C. Moreland is well and .favorably known throughout the state and he takes an active interest in the various educational associations. He is himself a scholar, a man of open mind, and he has made his influence felt as a potential factor in the noble work to which he is devoting his life and energies.

August 12, 1914, Arthur C. Moreland and Loe Reese were united in marriage. Mrs. Moreland takes a keen interest in school work. She was a teacher in the Butler schools at the time of her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Moreland has been born one child, a daughter, Doris. They reside in Butler at 408 West Pine street.

John W, Coleman, secretary and manager of the Denton-Coleman Loan & Title Company of Butler, Missouri, is one of Bates county's most progressive "hustlers." Mr. Coleman was born October 24, 1889 near Johnstown in Bates county, Missouri, the only son of Samuel L., Jr. and Martha A. (Eads) Coleman. Samuel L. Coleman, Jr. was born in Bates county, Missouri and has lived all his life in this county. He is a son of Samuel L., Sr. and Nancy (Witt) Coleman, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. The former was born in Todd county and in early manhood came to Missouri, locating in Bates county at Johnstown in 1854 and one year later Samuel L. Coleman, Jr., the father of John W., was born in the new western home. At the time of the outbreak of the Civil War, the Colemans moved from Bates county to Lincoln, Missouri and there the father, Samuel L. Coleman, Sr., died in 1864. The widowed mother survived her husband many years and departed this life at Butler in 1912. Samuel L. Coleman, Jr. was born at Johnstown in 1855 and he has been a resident of that place ever since. He is wel) known and highly respected in this county and has been prominent politically, serving the county four years .as treasurer. Martha A. (Eads) Coleman was a native of Sangamon county, Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Samuel L. Coleman, Jr. were born two children: Nannie A., the wife of J. M. Kash, a prosperous agriculturist of Bates county, Butler, Missouri; and John W., the subject of this sketch. The mother died in 1916 at Butler and her remains were laid to rest in the cemetery at Johnstown, Missouri.

John W. Coleman attended Butler High School and Central Business College, the latter institution at Sedalia, Missouri. Mr. Coleman left school in 1908 and for four years served as deputy county treasurer of Bates county, under his father. When his term of office had expired, John W. Coleman entered the employ of Holloway & Choate and for one and a half years was engaged in insurance work with their agency. In 1915, Mr. Coleman organized the Denton-Coleman Loan & Title Company of Butler, Missouri and is the present efficient and enterprising secretary and manager of this company.

October 12, 1911, John W. Coleman and Bessie Cussins, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. J. C. Cussins, of Decatur, Illinois, were united in marriage and to this union has been born one child, a son, Samuel T., who was born October 24, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Coleman reside in Butler on North High street.

The Denton-Coleman Loan & Title Company of Butler, Missouri was organized in March, 1915, with a capital stock amounting to twenty thousand dollars and with the following officers: C. A. Denton, president; Wesley Denton, second vice-president; Samuel L. Coleman, first vice-president; John W. Coleman, secretary and manager; and J. E. Thompson, treasurer. At the time of this writing in 1917, the officers are still the same. This company paid their stockholders eight per cent, per annum until May 31, 1917, at which time they had an accumulated fund of four thousand dollars, undivided profits, that they returned to the stockholders and increased the capital stock to sixty thousand dollars, the officers remaining the same. The Denton-Coleman Loan & Title Company has at the present time loans in force amounting to nearly one million dollars. They have two branch offices, one at Bentonville, Arkansas and the other at Harrisonville, Missouri. Their loans are chiefly confined to farm land in southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas. The company has a complete set of abstract booksfor Bates county, Missouri.

Mr. Coleman is essentially a business man and a firm believer in the efficacy of honesty. He possesses keen, deliberate judgment and is seldom mistaken in his estimate of men and affairs. He is the type of man, now so rarely found, who will allow no difficulty deter him from a* purpose to which he has once addressed himself. With the business men of Butler and with the public generally, Mr. Coleman has always maintained an enviable reputation,

George P. Wyatt, a lumberman of Butler, Missouri, is a native of Ohio. He was born in Athens county in 1869, one of three children born to his parents, H. C. and Mary F, (Pratt) Wyatt, both of whom were natives of Ohio. The children of H. C. and Mary F. Wyatt were, as follow: Mrs. Anna Jewett, deceased; George P., the subject of this sketch ; and Edward, who died in infancy. H. C. Wyatt was born in Athens county, Ohio in 1830 and in that state was reared to maturity. At the time of the outbreak of the Civil War, he was a young man, thirty-one years of age. He enlisted with the Thirty-sixth Ohio Infantry and served until dangerously wounded at the battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863, when the Federal list of casualties totally amounted to fifty-five hundred men, after which time Mr. Wyatt was stationed as guard near Washington, D. C. until the close of the conflict. In 1871, H. C. Wyatt came to Butler, Missouri and engaged in farming for several years, when he abandoned agricultural pursuits and established the lumber business on Ohio street, now known as the H. S. Wyatt Lumber Company. Mr. Wyatt purchased the Warner Lumber Company at that time and he and his son, George P., continued the business until November 19, 1915, when they were succeeded by H. S. Wyatt, son of George P., of whom further mention will be made in this review. Mary F. (Pratt) Wyatt, mother of George P., died in 1907 and H. C. Wyatt has been making his home with his son since her death.

George P. Wyatt came to Butler, Missouri, with his parents when he was not yet three years of age. He attended Butler Academy and when sixteen years of age, succeeded H. C. Wyatt in the lumber business and continued in this business until 1915, when his son. H. S. Wyatt, succeeded him.

In 1891, George P. Wyatt and Nettie Steele were united in marriage. Mrs. Wyatt is a daughter of John Steele, of Butler. To Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt have been born five children, four of whom are now living: H. S., owner of the H. S. Wyatt Lumber Company, a progressive, ambitious, young man and unmarried; Doris, a student at Monticello Seminary, Godfrey, Illinois; Ruth, who is attending Butler High School; Esther, who is a pupil in the graded schools of Butler; and Mary, deceased.

When local option was voted in at Butler, Missouri, George P. Wyatt served the city as street commissioner and marshall for four years for one dollar annually. He was afterwards elected city alderman. At the close of this term he was nominated for the office of mayor without opposition, but his health prevented his acceptance. Mr. Wyatt is now one of the directors of the Butler School Board.

Wesley Denton, the capable and obliging president of the Peoples Bank of Butler, Missouri, is one of Bates county's most enterprising citizens. Mr. Denton is a native of Illinois. He was born August 21, 1879, in Hamilton, son of Judge C. A. and Emma (Baldwin) Denton, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. The Dentons came from Illinois to Bates county, Missouri, in 1880, locating at Rich Hill, and eight years later in October, 1888, moved to Butler.

Mr. Denton, whose name introduces this review, obtained his elementary education in the public schools of Butler, Missouri. He is a graduate of the Butler High School in the class of 1898. After completing his high school course, Mr. Denton was employed as clerk in the postoffice at Butler, working under Postmaster A. O. Welton for seven months. On account of ill health, he was obliged to resign his position as clerk and later accepted a position, in the law office of Francesco & Clark, as stenographer, which he filled for six months and then left Butler to accept a position in Kansas City, Missouri, with the A. J. Gillispie Live Stock Commission Company in 1900. Returning to Butler, three years afterward, Mr. Denton entered the Farmers Bank of Bates County as bookkeeper. In August of the same year, 1903, he resigned his position with the Farmers Bank and entered the employ of the Missouri State Bank, as bookkeeper, and in a short time was promoted to the assistant cashiership of the bank. In 1908, J. R. Jenkins and he organized the Peoples Bank of Butler, Missouri, and Mr. Denton was elected cashier of the institution, serving in that capacity until January, 1918, when he was elected president. A sketch of the Peoples Bank of Butler, Missouri, is given in connection with the review of J. R. Jenkins, which will be found elsewhere in this volume. This financial institution, with which Mr. Denton is connected, has proven to be one of the solid enterprises of the community and has been an important , factor in maintaining the financial credit and stability of Bates county.

No small amount of the success of the enterprise is due to the indefatigable efforts and wise discrimination of Mr. Denton, whose capabilities have been demonstrated to a marked degree. His energy and tact have done much toward pushing the bank to the front in the banking circles of this section of the state.

November 25, 1911, Wesley Denton and Edith Lindsay were united in marriage. Mrs. Denton is a daughter of A. Lindsay and Alice (Wyatt) Lindsay, prominent residents of Butler. To Mr. and Mrs. Denton have been born two children: Alice and Ruth. Both Mr. and Mrs. Denton are members of the Presbyterian church of Butler and Mr. Denton is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Butler Lodge No. 254. He has also served as director of the Butler Commercial Club for several years..

The greater part of Mr. Denton's life has been spent in Bates county, and he has the interests of his community as well as his own in mind. His career has been one of great activity and has been crowned with a degree of success attained by those only who devote themselves tirelessly to their work. Mr. Denton is a man of earnest purpose and high ideals.

A. W. WeMott, the senior member of the widely and favorably known firm of WeMott & Major, harness dealers and manufacturers, is a native of Texas. Mr. WeMott was born at Bryan, Texas, in 1861. He is of French descent, a son of T. T. and Ellen S. WeMott. His father was a native of New York and his mother of Massachusetts. T. T. WeMott was a carpenter by trade, but he also engaged in farming extensively and successfully. He came to Missouri with his fafnily in May, 1868, and settled at Butler in Bates county. The elder WeMott was well known in this city as a gentleman of exceptionally fine character, loyal to his home and friends. Wlien he was nearing the "Valley of the Shadow," at Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. WeMott requested on his death bed that he be taken back to Butler for burial, back to the old home where his friends, who had known and esteemed him for so many years, still lived. His remains rest in Butler cemetery. T. T. and Ellen S. WeMott were the parents of the following children: Herbert, deceased; Mrs. Ada Powell, Kansas City, Missouri; Alice, Kansas Citv, Missouri; Mrs. Stella Corder. Kansas City, Missouri ; Claudia and Maude, both of Denver, Colorado: and A. W., the subject of this sketch.

himself and Claude Major, since 1882, working first for McFarland & Son, former owners of the establishment. Mr. WeMott had charge of the manufacturing department for twenty-five years. In April, 1916, Claude Major, who had been with the firm for eighteen years, and A. W. WeMott purchased the stock and have continued the business. This is the pioneer harness shop of Butler and is still today one of the flourishing business establishments in Bates county. WeMott & Major usually employ three or four assistants and they are enjoying an extensive patronage. Both owners are skilled workmen and possess excellent business judgment.

In 1889, A. W. WeMott and Flora Denny, daughter of Charles Denny, a well-remembered grocer of Butler, Missouri, were united in marriage. The Dennys came to Bates county among the earliest settlers, many years prior to the time of th-e Civil War. They were residents of Butler during the troublous times of the civil conflict and did much to assist the needy, dependent people, who were reduced to penury by the long struggle. To A. W. and Flora (Denny) W^eMott have been born four sons: Theodore Charles, who is now at Fort Riley, Kansas; Herbert H., who is in the employ of the Levy Mercantile Company of Butler, Missouri ; \\'alter, a stenographer, who is now at Fort Riley, Kansas; and Samuel, who is at home with his parents. The WelMott home is in Butler on East Dakota street.

For nine years, during which period the paving of the city streets of Butler was laid, Mr. WeMott was a member of the city council. He is affiliated with the Modern W^oodmen of America at Butler. A. W. WeMott is a gentleman, whose fidelity to the duties of good citizenship, whose honor in business and industry have attracted the attention of his fellowmen and made his example worthy of emulation.

John A. Silvers, attorney-at-law of Butler, Missouri is a native of Iowa and a worthy representative of an old and honored, pioneer family of Decatur county. The Silvers family were originally from Kentucky, but in the early days before Iowa was admitted as a state to the Union they moved to the territory of Iowa in 1840, having first located in Missouri about 1836. From Iowa, in 1873, "they came to Bates county, Missouri, and settled on a farm one and a half miles west of Butler, where the father died in 1889. Thomas Silvers was a successful farmer and stockman, a citizen who throughout life maintained an unimpeachable record and in Bates county no one has ever been more highly regarded than was he. Elizabeth (King) Silvers was a native of Ten- nessee. She died recently at Parsons, Kansas and interment was made in the cemetery at Butler, Missouri, John A. Silvers was born in Decatur, Iowa, in 1864, a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (King) Silvers.

When John A. Silvers was a child, nine years of age, he came with his parents to Bates county, Missouri, and was here reared and educated. He attended the public schools of Bates county and Butler Academy and later studied law, reading with his brother, T. W. Silvers, and in December, 1889, was admitted to the bar. Mr. Silvers has been engaged in the practice of his profession in Bates county ever since that date. He first opened a law of^ce with W. O. Atkeson, on January 1, 1890, at Butler and afterward dissolved partnership and opened an office where he labored at law independently for many years. In 1907, Silvers & Dawson formed a law firm, which partnership still continues. Mr. Dawson is the present county attorney of Bates county, Missouri. Mr. Silvers resided at Rich Hill, Missouri, for six years and was living in that city at the time he was elected probate judge of Bates county, taking office January 1, 1903, and serving two terms, until January 1, 1911. He was associated with Judge C. A. Denton in 1895 and 1896. Mr. Silvers well recalls the "boom days" of Rich Hill, when the streets were crowded with miners and men from the smelteries and when "booze" was plentiful and easily obtained, eight saloons doing a flourishing and prosperous business. While in Rich Hill, Mr. Silvers was appointed city attorney during the administration of William W. Ferguson, the mayor of the city, and in one year cleaned out the houses of prostitution and gamblers that had infested the city, but refused a second appointment as city attorney.

In 1888, John A. Silvers and Emma Hixon, daughter of Amos Hixon and Barbara (Weaver) Hixon, of Clearfield, Pennsylvania, were united in marriage. Mr. Hixon died in Pennsylvania in the late sixties and Mrs. Hixon joined him in death in 1907. Mrs. Hixon died at Butler, Missouri, To Mr. and Mrs. Silvers have been born six children: Guy E., a graduate of Butler High School and of Columbia University, who was admitted to the bar in 1916 and is now deputy clerk in the Supreme Court of Missouri; Ada, who died in the sixteenth year of her life; Elsie B., a graduate of the Wafrensburg State Normal School and a teacher of the fifth and sixth grades of the W^ebster school in Butler, Missouri; Bertie J., who has taught two terms of school in the Franklin school of Butler, Missouri, and is now in his senior year at the Warrensburg State Normal School; Anna L., an undergraduate of the Warrensburg

State Normal School, who is now employed as teacher of the fifth and sixth grades at the ^^'ashington school in Butler, Missouri; and Mildred, who is a sophomore in the Butler High School. ]\Ir. and Mrs. Silvers reside in Butler on South Mechanic street. Both have always manifested a deep interest in education and Mr. Silvers has been a member of the Butler school board for twelve years. They are justly proud of their fine family of boys and girls, upon whom they have lavished all the advantages obtainable.

Missouri has long been noted for the high rank of her bench and bar. Probably not one of the newer states can boast of abler jurists or attorneys. Some of them have been men of national fame, many who were distinguished in the days gone by have long since laid down their briefs, still there is scarcely a city in the state but that can produce a lawyer capable of crossing swords in forensic combat with the best and most noted legal lights in the country. In John A. Silvers we find many of the rare qualities which make the successful lawyer and jurist. Perhaps he possesses few of those dazzling, brilliant, meteoric qualities, w^hich have at times flashed along the legal horizon, riveting the gaze of the multitudes and blinding the vision for a moment, then disappearing, but rather the more substantial qualities which shine with a constant luster. In all that goes to make up sturdy and upright manhood, John A. Sihers has stood pre-eminent and he has always commanded public confidence and universal esteem.

John H. Stone, the widely and favorably known treasurer of Bates county, ^Missouri, is a native of Kentucky. Mr. Stone was born December 17 , 1861, a son of \\'illiam and Agnes (Raney) Stone, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. A\'illiam Stone was a son of Joseph Stone, a veteran of the Revolutionary ^^'ar, who lived to be almost a centenarian. Joseph Stone died at the Stone homestead in Harrison county, Kentucky. Agnes (Raney) Stone was a daughter of James Raney, who settled in E!ast Boone township. Bates county in 1876. He lived but a few brief years to enjoy the new \\'estern home. Mr. Raney died in 1886. To William antl Agnes (Raney) Stone were born two sons: J. W., a farmer residing near Adrian, Missouri; and John H.. the subject of this review. In 1876, \\'illiam Stone moved with his family from Kentucky to Missouri and located on a farm, of two hundred forty acres located in East Boone township, which place was originally owned by Henry Tamer. This farm, when purchased by Mr. Stone, was a raw prairie and at that time farm land in Missouri was valued at five and eight dollars an acre. Mrs. Stone lived but a few months after the family came West. She died July 4, 1878, and was laid to rest in the cemetery at Everett, in Cass county. For twenty years, Mr. Stone resided on his farm in East Boone township, engaged in farming and improving the land. He then retired from the active labor of the farm and moved to Butler to spend the closing years of his life quietly at the home of his son, John H. William Stone died in 1913 and his remains were laid beside those of his wife in the cemetery at Everett. Mr. Stone occupied a high place in the ranks of Bates county's most enterprising and successful agriculturists. He believed in progress and spared no trouble or labor in making his country place one of the best farms in the county. He was a public-spirited citizen and for more than a score of years was one of the dominant factors in the growth and development of East Boone township.

John H. Stone attended school in Kentucky and in Bates county, Missouri. His early life was the same as the boyhood days of the average lad in the rural districts. He is a "self-made" man. for almost since childhood he has made his o"w^n way in the world. He began farming for himself on the home place in 1880 and there resided until 1896, when he moved to Adrian to engage in the work of carpentering and contracting. Mr. Stone was thus employed when, in the election" of November, 1912, he was elected treasurer of Bates county and April 1, 1913, assumed the duties of his of^ce. In the following election of November, 1916, he was re-elected county treasurer and he is the present incumbent in that ofifice. While always interested in public and political affairs, Mr. Stone has not been an active partisan and, until the time of his nomination for treasurer, he had not been known as a politician or party - -^vorker. For a number of years, his welldefined business policy and sterling honesty had been noted, and duly recognized, by his countless friends throughout the county, and it was by reason of these, and other qualifications, that his name was placed on the county ticket in the autumn of 1912. When he first entered upon the discharge of his official duties, the people, irrespective of party affiliations, predicted that Mr. Stone's career as a servant of the public would fully justify the wisdom of their choice and so far he has measured up to all expectations and has proven himself worthy, capable, and obliging, in every way deserving of the esteem and confidence in which he is held.

Webb, daughter of T. B. and Sarah (Sharpe) Webb, was solemnized. Mr. and Mrs. T. B. Webb were both natives of Jackson county and they are now deceased. To John H. and Mattie (Webb) Stone have been born four children, three of whom are now living: Ethel, wife of H. D. Chaney, of Kansas City, Kansas; John Webb, who was accidentally killed at the age of nineteen years; Dr. W. H., a prominent dentist of liiawatha, Kansas ; and Winifred, who is serving as deputy treasurer of Bates county. Mr. and Mrs. Stone and their younger daughter, Miss Winifred, reside at 204 North High street in Butler.

Mr. Stone is a valued member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Butler, and of the Blue Flag Lodge of the Knights of Pythias of Butler. As a skilled mechanic, Mr. Stone enjoys more than local repute and as a business man, he is careful and methodical, possessing executive ability of a high order, sound judgment, keen discernment and foresight. John H. Stone is a man of scrupulous integrity. His word is as good as a Liberty Bond and for many years he has enjoyed the distinction of being one of the broad-minded, representative citizens of Bates county.

A. H. Culver, the senior member of the A. H. Culver Furniture Company of Butler, undertakers, and manufacturers of special work in store fixtures and office furniture, is a worthy descendant of a long line of furniture manufacturers. His grandfather, William Culver, was the pioneer furniture manufacturer of Shelby county, Illinois, and John L. Culver, son of William Culver, was engaged in the furniture business in Edinburg, Illinois, until the time of his death in 1873. John L. Culver was a skilled manufacturer of coffins, and in addition an expert contractor and architect. His factory in Edinburg, Illinois, occupied a large two-story building. Both William and John L. Culver are now deceased and they were buried in Oak Grove cemetery in Christian county, Illinois.

A. H. Culver was born in 1853 in Sangamon county, Illinois, and in that state was reared and educated. At the early age of eighteen years, Mr. Culver began life for himself. For two years, he was employed in selling tombstones for a cousin and then he returned to his father's home and entered his employ. He soon mastered the art of coffinmaking and after the death of his father continued the business established by him, remaining at home with his widowed mother for many years. Later, Mr. Culver traveled for one year as salesman for a coffin factory. He came to Butler, Missouri, in 1878, via Fort Scott and'

Appleton City, overland on the stage coach from the latter city, to visit a friend and as he found Butler an inviting field, he opened a furniture and undertaking establishment afterward in partnership v^ith Mr. Young. This firm did well and prospered for three years, when the store was burned and the entire stock was a total loss, there being no insurance. This calamity broke up the business at that time and the owners were obliged to sell to P. J. Jewett, in wdiose employ Mr. Culver remained for six and a half years. For nine years, Mr. Culver clerked for the American Clothing House Company and again was one year on the road as traveling salesman. Twenty years ago, in 1897, he purchased an interest in a new and second-hand furniture store, having in addition an undertaking business, which establishment was conducted and owned by Mr. Campbell. About twelve years ago, A. H. Culver organized the A. H. Culver Furniture Company of Butler, Missouri, as a stock company and shortly afterward Mr. Culver bought out the others and he and a son, C. E., and daughter, Nina L., are now conducting the business, well prepared and equipped to attend to all demands coming within their line. Mr. Culver has advanced steadily, overcoming many obstacles and forging to the front until he now ranks among the most successful business men of Bates county. Industrious and energetic, he took advantage of every opportunity that came his way and his honorable dealings, unquestioned integrity, and keen discernment have borne legitimate fruitage in the comfortable competence of which he is now possessor.

In 1875, A. H. Culver and Julia Greenwood were united in marriage. Mrs. Culver is a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. B. G. Greenwood, of Edinburg, Illinois. She is a native of Sangamon county. Both parents of Mrs. Culver are now deceased. To A. H. and Julia (Greenwood) Culver have been born three children: B. G., of Leavenworth, Kansas, who is now superintendent of the Abernathy Furniture Factory of Leavenworth, Kansas; C. E., who is associated in business with his father; and Nina, who is an assistant in her father's oliice. B. G. Culver married Emma Whitsett, of Butler, Missouri, and they are the parents of two children, Ladine and Catherine. C. E. Culver married Hattie Newell, of Butler, Missouri, and they are the parents of one child, Hilda.

Mr. Culver has ably filled a number of ofifices of public trust and he has always done his part to "boost" for his home town. For the past five and a half years, he has been secretary of the Butler Commercial Club. He was a member of the city council for one term, during which period the municipal lights were installed in Butler, the lirst city in the state to have them. He was also a member of the first fire company of Butler. Mr. Culver has been, for the past five years, secretary and treasurer of the board of employment and public welfare and he was recently appointed county chairman of the County Council of Defense. He is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and for the past twelve years has been secretary of the Butler Lodge.

Pre-eminently a man of his word, A. H. Culver long ago won the respect and confidence of ^11 with whom he came in contact and from the beginning of his career to the present time he has maintained a reputation untarnished by a single unworthy act. Such is, in brief, the record of a "self-made" man, whose life, measured by the usual standards of success, presents much that is worthy of emulation.

George F. Alsbach, of Butler, proprietor of one of the best restaurants in Bates county, is a native of Illinois. Mr. Alsbach was born March 10, 1869, in Monroe county, the first-born of three children, who are now living, born to his parents, George and Mary (Powderly) x\lsbach, a prominent pioneer family of Shawnee township, Bates county. George Alsbach was born in Germany and in his youth emigrated from the old country and came to America. He first located in Illinois, where he was married and his son, George F., was born. In 1869, the Alsbachs moved from Illinois to Missouri and settled on a farm in Shawnee township in Bates county, where the father and mother spent the remainder of their lives. Mary (Powderly) Alsbach was a cousin of T. V. Powderly, who was an influential leader in Knights of Labor circles and in the latter part of his life was labor commissioner at the port of New York and the head of the immigration department there. Mrs. Alsbach was a native of Ireland. To George and Mary Alsbach were born the following children: George F., the subject of this review; William H., of Butler, Missouri; and Mrs. Annie E. Yates, Kansas City, Kansas. The father died on the farm in Shawnee township, September 23, 1900, and three years afterward his wife joined him in death. Both parents are interred in the cemetery at Butler.

George F. Alsbach attended the public schools of Bates county, Missouri. He well recalls the early days in School District Number 3, Shawnee township, when "spelling schools" were the attractions of the long winter evenings and contests held at the different schools in the township furnished entertainment for the neighborhoods and "literary societies" and "debating societies" met regularly. Mr. Alsbach enjoys recalling those old days of "Town Ball" and "Whip Cracker" and delights in relating an amusing incident in his school-boy life. He was to be whipped at school the next day for some infringement of the strict school laws. Mr. Alsbach has always 'been an ardent advocate of "preparedness," and that morning went to school with his back well padded with hay, tucked in securely under his vest. Of course, he let the big girls in on his secret preparation and when the "master" commanded him to remove his coat and proceeded to lay on the switch with much force and determination, they laughed heartily - behind their books. And George F. enjoyed it, too !

Until about ten years ago, George F. Alsbach was engaged in farming, and in raising, buying, feeding, and shipping cattle. He then resided on a farm in Shawnee township in Bates county. He left the farm in 1907 and came to Butler, where he opened a restaurant on the southeast side of the public square in this city. Three years ago, he moved his place of business to his present location, on the west side of the public square. Mr. Alsbach has an exceptionally fine restaurant and he enjoys a splendid trade. The Alsbach Restaurant opens at 5 a. m. and closes at 12 p. m. He has the following motto hanging in a conspicuous place in the restaurant:

In 1899, George F. Alsbach and Nettie Jenkins, daughter of S. M. Jenkins, of Mound township. Bates county, were united in marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins are the parents of eleven children, all of whom are now living, and the grandparents of thirty-eight children. Mrs. Alsbach's parents still reside on the home farm in Mound township. To George F. and Nettie (Jenkins) Alsbach have been born four children: George C. and Viola, who are students in the Butler High School; and Mary Catherine and Annie Rose, who are pupils in the graded schools of Butler. The Alsbach residence is in Butler on East Dakota street.

Mr. Alsbach is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Fraternal Aid. He has always pursued an industrious, honorable course in life, constantly adhering to the upright principles in which he was reared, and he is highly respected and valued as a citizen. At the present price of food stufTs, only an exceptionally capable and cautious business man could possibly make a success of the restaurant business, and Mr. Alsbach has been and still is making a marked success, and he is destined to continue in the future as in the past one of the enterprising, substantial, influential men of the city in which he labors and lives.

Henry Reinheimer, a late prominent and influential citizen of Butler, Missouri, the founder of the Butler & Rich Hill Telephone Exchange, was a native of Australia. Mr. Reinheimer was born March 15, 1862 at Castlemaine in the province of Victoria, a son of Peter and Catherine Reinheimer. When Henry Reinheimer was a child, six years of age, his parents emigrated from Australia and came to America, locating first in Canada, where they remained for one year and then moved to the United States, coming to Missouri in 1869 and settling in Shelby county, where the son was reared and educated.

Mr. Reinheimer, the subject of this review, attended the public schools of Shelby county, Missouri. In early youth, he engaged in farming, but about 1882 he had mastered the photographer's art and for several years he traveled over Shelby county engaged in the work of photography. He located at Shelbyville in 1888, where he opened a general mercantile establishment and until 1891 was one of the successful and leading merchants of that place. In 1891, Mr. Reinheimer disposed of his business in Shelbyville and moved to Butler, Missouri, where he installed a system of telephones which has developed into the Butler & Rich Hill Telephone Exchange. At that time, the Rich Hill Bank and the Bates County National Bank had a private telephone system connecting them, but so far as is known no one had as yet conceived the commercial possibilities of the telephone until the coming of Henry Reinheimer

With less than one hundred telephones all told in the city of Butler, Henry Reinheimer started to put his idea into concrete working form. The charge for a telephone at that time was one dollar and twenty-five cents for residence purposes and one dollar and seventy-five cents for business purposes, payable quarterly. The people of Butler called him the "crazy Dutchman," when Mr. Reinheimer started business, but undaunted he proceeded to carry out his conception, for his own experience at Shelbina and Shelbyville before coming to Butler had convinced him that he could make a success of the commercial telephone, and time has proven his judgment sound and correct. The telephone business grew so rapidly that within a very short time the farmers took up the proposition of connecting with the lines installed by Mr. Reinheimer and they ran lines to the city limits of Butler, where he connected with them. At the time of his death, in 1912, Mr. Reinheimer had about eleven hundred telephones in operation in Bates county, with exchanges at Butler, Rich Hill, and Spruce. After his death, his widow continued to control the business for three years, when she sold to H. W. Neuschafer, a nephew of the deceased owner, who sold the business after a few months to F. M. Campbell, the present owner.

In 1905, Henry Reinheimer and Maudelle Wood, daughter of Dr and Mrs. A. G. Wood, of Lentner, Missouri, were united in marriage. Dr. A. G. Wood was a native of Santiago, Cuba, and Mrs. Wood was born in Kentucky, Doctor Wood was a nephew of Fernando Wood, at one time mayor of New York City and a noted politician of that state. The doctor came to Missouri when he was a child, five years of age, coming with his parents, who settled in Shelby county. Dr. A. G. and Mrs. Wood were the parents of nine children, all of whom are now living: Fernando, of Houston, Texas; Mrs. Maudelle (Wood) Reinheimer, the widow of the subject of this review; Miss Bunton, of Butler, Missouri; Mrs R. J. Smith, Butler, Missouri; Mrs. A. E. Smith, Shelbina, Missouri; Lamar, Monroe City, Missouri; and Clunette, Gertrude, and Dr. A. N. Wood, all of whom resided at home with their widowed mother in Lentner, Missouri. Dr. A. N. Wood is now a first lieutenant, Medical Department, United States Aviation Corps, Waco, Texas. Doctor Wood, Sr., died in 1914 at the age of eighty-three years. To Henry and Maudelle Reinheimer were born two children, Mary Catherine and Martin Wood. Mr. Reinheimer's untimely death occurred at San Antonio, Texas, January 22, 1912. Mrs. Reinheimer and her two children reside in Butler at 403 North Delaware street.

Mr. Reinheimer was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was a worthy and consistent member of the German Lutheran church. He was still a young man, but fifty years of age, when cut down by the Grim Reaper, yet those fifty years were crowded with great activity and endeavor and were not lived in vain. The life of man is much like the waves of the sea. They flash for a few brief moments, reflecting the sun's golden beams, then are dashed upon the shore and disappear forever. The babe toddling from its crib is the man of tomorrow and with the lapse of a few short years is tottering toward the grave. Many in the innocence and beauty of childhood are taken to that "mysterious bourne whence no traveler ever returns," thousands like Henry Reinheimer in manhood's vigor and prime answer the last summons, while a few, like aged pilgrims going home from a long journey, lay down their staffs after three-quarters of a century of ceaseless toil and endeavor, yet at its greatest length how very short life is ! It is for us, the living, to catch the inspiration from lives like Mr. Reinheimer's and emulate their virtues so that, when the "summons comes to join the innumerable caravan which moves to that mysterious realm, w^e may, like him, approach the grave,

Dr. W. E. Lampton, a prominent and successful osteopathic physician of Butler, Missouri, is a native of Cooper county. He was born in 1858, a son of Benjamin C. and Anne (Wear) Lampton. Benjamin C. Lampton was a native of Cooper county, Missouri, and a veteran of the Mexican War. He moved with his family from Cooper county to Bates county and in 1881 located at Butler, where for several months he conducted a hotel. One year later, the Lamptons moved from Butler to Altona, where Mr. Lampton purchased a general store and for several years was postmaster. The mother died about the year 1868. Benjamin C. Lampton departed this life at Butler in 1904. Doctor Lampton has one brother living: Reverend T. A. Lampton, who is engaged in ministerial work in Oklahoma.

In the public schools of Cooper county. Doctor Lampton obtained his elementary education, which was later supplemented by a thorough medical education, received at Kirksville, Missouri. He graduated with the class of 1904 from the medical school and, immediately upon completing the course, opened his of^ce in the Farmers Bank building at Butler, where he has been located for the past fourteen years and now has a splendid and lucrative practice. Doctor Lampton was interested in osteopathy for many years prior to attending school, due to the fact that his wife had been cured of a chronic disease by a physician of this school when others had failed. Many people confound osteopathy with faith cure and massage treatments and are ignorant of the basic principles of this method of treatment. The underlying idea of osteopathy is the adjustment of structure, aiding the nerve and blood supply, and all schools of osteopathy now have a four-year course of medical training, at which time the structure of the human system is carefully studied. ?,. In 1884, Dr. W. E. Lampton and Nannie Covington were united in marriage. Mrs. Lampton was born in 1862 at Bolivar, Missouri, daughter of the pioneer harness maker of that place, who came to Bolivar from Kentucky. Doctor and Mrs. Lampton are the parents of one child, a daughter, Mrs. Samuel Armstrong, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Lampton home is in Butler on North Main street. Doctor and Mrs. Lampton are well known in the best society circles of Butler and they are numbered among the most highly respected families of Bates county.

William M. Arnold, of Butler, is a native of Lafayette county, Missouri. He is a son of John E. and Maggie C. (Allen) Arnold. John E. Arnold was born near Leesburg, Virginia, and in childhood came with his father. Reverend Mosby Arnold, to Missouri. Reverend Arnold was a leading pioneer preacher, a gifted Methodist minister, who entered government land near Lexington, Missouri, paying one dollar and twentyfive cents for each acre of his large tract, and on his farm built the home of walnut logs, even the shingles being of walnut. He died on the Missouri farm at the age of eighty-six years. John E. Arnold and his family resided eleven miles west of Lexington until 1882, when they left the farm and moved to Butler. Mr. and Mrs. John E. Arnold were the parents of eleven children, as follow: Allen R., Kansas City, Missouri; Henry B., Big Spring, Howard county, Texas; Walter S., Kansas City, Missouri; Dr. T. W., a well-known and successful dentist of Butler, Missouri; Mrs. T. A. Black, deceased; Mrs. G. W. Logan, formerly of Cairo, Illinois, and now deceased; Mrs. Jesse E. Smith, Butler, Missouri; Agnes, Butler, Missouri; William M., the subject of this sketch; and two children died in infancy. The father died in 1913 and interment was made in the cemetery at Butler. Mrs. Maggie C. Arnold, the widowed mother, still resides at Butler and she is now eighty-two years of age.

William M. Arnold was reared and educated in Lafayette county, Missouri. He recalls how, in the sixties, the James and Younger boys were want to call at his grandfather's home and demand food - which never failed to be forthcoming immediately. On the occasion of one of their visits, one of the intruders promised to bring him a revolver, such as he himself carried, when he came again, but much to the boy's disappointment the promise was never fulfilled. As William M. Arnold was then but a very small lad, it was perhaps best that it was not. He remem- 'j?rs, too, the throngs of settlers, who camped for many weeks near a large spring on his grandfather's pasture, when Order Number 11 compelled Jackson county people to leave their farms and find sustenance elsewhere. Amid the scenes of pioneer life and war, Mr. Arnold grew to manhood. He has made his own way in life since he was eighteen years of age. For several years, he was engaged in farming in Lafayette county. After coming to Butler he entered the employ of the Charles Sprague Grocery Company and later the Ed Steele Grocery Company. Mr. Arnold served as constable of Mt. Pleasant township for six years. He has been employed for the past twenty-two years by Mrs. E. Angela Scully, owner of the Scully lands in Bates county, as clerk at Butler, Missouri.

In 1886, William M. Arnold was married the first time to Lillie Patton, at Foster, Missouri. She died in 1899, leaving three children: Mabel, now the wife of W. L. Hodge, a prosperous merchant of Petty in Lamar county, Texas; Kate, the wife of J. H. McBee, manager of a large cotton plantation near Petty, Texas; and W. D., of Salt Lake City, Utah, who is a printer by trade. The mother was interred in the cemetery at Butler. Mr. Arnold was married a second time in 1900. Mrs. Arnold was formerly Mrs. Annie E. Smith, of Butler, Missouri. To William M. and Annie E. Arnold have been born two children: Marion F. and Asenith E. Mrs. Arnold, by her former marriage, is the mother of one son, Walker T. Smith, who enlisted with Company A, Twelfth Missouri Infantry, soon after the declaration of war by the United States and is at the present time located at San Francisco, California. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold reside in Butler at 501 West Fort Scott street.

Frank H. Crowell, the well-known agent for the forty thousand acres of farm land in Bates county, Missouri, owned by Mrs. E. Angela Scully, of Washington, D. C, is a native of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Crowell is a son of Joseph D. and Hulda S. (Lewis) Crowell.

The lands, for which Mr. Crowell is agent, were purchased in 1894 by Mrs. Scully. He says, "If I were writing my biography, I would simply state, T am alive and glad of it!' "

Dr. John W. Choate, retired physician and ex-representative of Bates county, Missouri, formerly United States pension examiner for this district, is a native of Bates county. Doctor Choate was born in 1858 in Deepwater township, a son of Nicholas and Pernelia Isabel (Wilson) Choate. Nicholas Choate was born in 1817 in Baltimore, Maryland, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Elias Choate. In his early childhood, Nicholas Choate moved with his parents to Kentucky and in that state, in Logan and Simpson counties where they settled, spent his youth and was educated. When he was nineteen years of age, he left Kentucky and came on horseback to Missouri, locating first at St. Louis in 1836. For several years, Mr. Clioate was employed as a farm laborer in St. Louis and Lincoln counties, Missouri. He was married in 1846 in Lincoln county, Missouri, to Lucinda Uptegrove and to this union were born two sons, who died in early manhood. The mother also died early in life and in 1854 Mr. Choate came to Bates county and entered a tract of land in Deepwater township, a farm comprising four hundred forty acres which he entered from the government at seventy-five cents an acre. Four years later he settled on this tract. In 1858, Nicholas Choate and Pernelia Isabel Wilson, daughter of Isaac and Rebecca Wilson, highly respected and prominent pioneers of Deepwater township, natives of Caldwell county, Kentucky, were united in marriage and to them were born five children, two of whom are now living: John W., the subject of this review; Mrs. Sarah J. Nickell, of Deepwater township, who is the present owner of one-half the farm entered from the government by her father, which land has never been transferred except from the government to Nicholas Choate and from Doctor Choate deeded to Mrs. Nickell; and Mrs. Martha Keziah Lewis, who died at the age of twenty years, leaving one child, a daughter, Emma Lewis, who is now deceased. The mother died at the age of fifty years in 1878 and her remains were laid to rest in the cemetery at Johnstown, Missouri. During the troublous times of the Civil War, Nicholas Choate remained on his Bates county farm, engaged in agricultural pursuits, with the exception of fourteen days, when he was just across the line in Henry county. All his horses and cattle were stolen during his absence, but he was able to obtain the return of his cattle and by using oxen in place of horses in his farm work succeeded in raising four good crops during the war without the aid of horses. Nicholas Choate was an honest, honorable, upright citizen and he lived to a venerable age, his death occurring in 1898 at the age of eighty-two years. He was buried beside his wife in the cemetery at Johnstown.

Mrs. J. R. Simpson, nee Margaret Lutsenhizer, who is yet living at the advanced age of seventy-five years, was the first instructor of Doctor Choate. She was at that time a young girl and she took much pleasure in teaching the embryo physician his ''a-b-c's." Doctor Choate later attended the public schools of Bates county and Butler x\cademy. He is a graduate of the medical department of Washington University at St. Louis, Missouri, in the class of 1886, and at that institution was one of two students receiving honorable mention and he also received the second prize for commendable work done in chemistry. Dr. John W. Choate opened his office and began the practice of medicine at Creighton, Missouri immediately after obtaining his medical degree. After six months, he left Creighton and moved his ofifice to Johnstown, where he purchased the practice of Dr. Matchett in the medical profession and and in the drug business for thirteen years, when he came to Butler, in 1899, and since that time has not practiced medicine. Upon coming to Butler, Doctor Choate engaged in the real estate and loan business and for several years was thus employed. He has been, for the past four years, the farm and loan inspector for the Walton Trust Company, a position he resigned recently upon the occasion of his son, Leslie R. Choate, joining the National Army. He purchased the interest of M. E. Fulbright in the Choate & Fulbright Real Estate Loans & Insurance and the firm is now Choate & Son. Doctor Choate is one of the directors of the Walton Trust Company of Butler. He was elected representative from Bates county to the Missouri State Legislature in 1892 and served two terms and in 1896 was re-elected for two years, under the administrations of Gov. William J. Stone. Prior to that time, the doctor had been brought prominently into public notice, when he was appointed under Cleveland's first presidential administration, 1885- 1889, United States pension examiner for his district, a position which he most ably filled.

In 1889, Dr. John W. Choate and Lulu L. Jackson, daughter of Judge John L. and Mattie E. Jackson, of Cass county, Missouri, were united in marriage and to this union have been born two children, a son, Leslie R., who is a graduate of the Butler High School, of Sedalia Business CoUege, Sedalia, Missouri, who for the past two years has been with the firm of Choate & Fulbright Real Estate, Loans & Insurance, and at the present time is associated with his father in business, though expecting to be called by the government into service. Leslie R. Choate was with General Clark on the border in the recent trouble between our country and Mexico, serving as the general's secretary. Young Choate was recently transferred to the department of sergeant of ordnance and is stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He is an intelligent, alert, young man of excellent capabilities and will "make good" in any line of endeavor he chooses. The youngest child died in infancy. Doctor and Mrs. Choate reside in Butler at 405 North Main street. They are well and favorably known in the best society circles of the city and county

Doctor Choate recalls that in the early days of the history of Bates county, people living in the vicinity of Johnstown firmly believed that the prairies between that place and Butler would never be fenced. Mr. Borland, now residing near Johnstown, made .the remark one day in the presence of Nicholas Choate, while looking across Deepwater valley, "Surely this will be fenced sometime, but I will never live to see it." Mr. Borland is still living there on his farm near Johnstown, amid the splendidly improved country places of the county and the fences of hedge and wire suggest the marvelous changes which have come within the lifetime of a single individual. Doctor Choate has always taken a deep interest in everything pertaining to the early history of Bates county. A pile of stone and brick and a clearing of perhaps one acre, overgrown with brush and trees, which evidently had been made long before the earliest known settlers came, was discovered by the doctor, when he was a young man, at the line between Bates and Henry counties. Wondering if this small patch of once cleared ground and the pile of brick and stone might be a clue to the name of one who had once lived there. Doctor Choate searched the records of the original government survey, made in 1837, and found among the notes that the line between the two counties at this particular point ran through "Christopher Greenup's garden" and again in the report mention was made that farther north another Greenup, probably a brother, lived just across the line in Henry county. The latter pioneer resided on land later owned by Isaac Wilson, the maternal grandfather of Doctor Choate. These old pioneers were evidently hunters and trappers, who went farther west when the incoming settlers ten and fifteen miles away crowded them out.

Doctor Choate is an excellent citizen, belonging to that large and eminently respectable class of business men who have done so much to develop the resources of our country and give stability to the body politic. He is highly esteemed by his neighbors and friends and stands "four square to every wind that blows," a man in whom the citizens of Bates county repose universal confidence and trust and who has proven himself worthy of this mark of favor.

J. M. Christy, M. D., one of the most prominent physicians of Bates county, Missouri, is a native of Fleming county, Kentucky. Doctor Christy was born at the Christy homestead in Kentucky a son of Ambrose B. and Eliza J. (Logan) Christy, both of whom were natives of Ken- tucky. The Christys came to Missouri from Kentucky in 1865 and settled at Fayetteville, where the father died twelve years later, in 1877. Eliza J. (Logan) Christy was a cousin of John A. Logan, the illustrious statesman and general, of Jackson county, Illinois, who was nominated for the vice-presidency of the United States in 1884 on the ticket with James G. Blaine. To Ambrose and Eliza' J. Christy were born four children, as follow; Mrs. W. E. Seamands, Warrensburg, Missouri; W. A., Mansfield, Missouri; Dr. J. M., the subject of this review; and Mrs. Lula E. Rowe, formerly of Butler, Missouri, now of Boise, Idaho.

Doctor Christy attended the first term of school held at the Warrensburg State Normal School and afterward taught school for four terms in Linn district in Johnson county, Missouri. The doctor is a graduate of the Kentucky State University, Lexington, Kentucky in the class of 1877 and of the New York Homeopathic Medical College in the class of 1882. In 1916, Doctor Christy attended the annual meeting of the alumni associations of both institutions, of which he is an alumnus, and also visited both colleges, finding a few of his former classmates and in each school but one professor who was one of the faculty at the time of the doctor's graduation. Doctor Christy also attended the meeting of the alumni of Missouri State University at Columbia upon his return from Lexington, Kentucky. Dr. J. M. Christy began the practice of medicine at Fayetteville in Johnson county and in December, 1880 located at Butler, where he has ever since remained.

In 1876, Dr. J. M. Christy was united in marriage with T. Fanny Ellis, daughter of James M. Ellis, a highly respected and well-known citizen of Warrensburg, Missouri. To this union have been born three children, two died in infancy and a daughter, Stella A., who is now the wife of George G. Gilkeson, formerly of Warrensburg, Missouri, now of Chicago, Illinois, The doctor and Mrs. Christy reside in Butler on North Main street.

Doctor Christy is a public-spirited citizen, a man of widely varied business interests, and in countless ways he has been and still is prominently identified with the material prosperity of Butler and his name is invariably found in connection with all enterprises for the public welfare of Bates county. He was one of the organizers of the Peoples Bank of Butler, and he is still one of the directors of this financial institution, and prior to that was a director of the Missouri State Bank for twenty years. Doctor Christy is a stockholder in the Walton Trust Company, the Missouri State Bank, the Peoples Bank, the American Trust Com-

The Christy farm, one mile south of Butler, is one of the beautiful country places of Missouri. There are two ditTerent and complete sets of improvements upon the place, two comfortable residences and five barns. Doctor Christy is interested in breeding registered Poland China hogs and he is now the owner of the first herd of Holstein cattle brought to Bates county, Missouri, a herd comprising fourteen cows which were brought to Missouri from Iowa and formerly belonged to different parties, Mr. Douglass, a well-known dairyman, owning a part of the number. A lake on his farm, of four hundred twenty-three acres of valuable land, covers four and a half acres of the place and the doctor has this stocked with fish and has bathing and swimming facilities, including a bathhouse near the shore of the lake. Any spot along the water is a delightful place to rest on summer evenings. Doctor Christy says that his farm is his "side line" and looking after it, his recreation and he believes that it wall add ten years to his life time.

Wesley Denton, cashier of the Peoples Bank of Butler, with Dr. J. M. Christy organized the Bates County Calf Club and in October, 1917 brought to this county and distributed within a few miles of Butler one hundred nine head of high grade Holstein calves among the children of Bates county. In case the youngsters were unable to pay cash, a note was taken granting the privilege of paying for the calf one year later. At the end of the year, in October, 1918, the calves were to be brought to Butler and sold at auction. One of the wise provisions, for the benefit of the children, is that in case of the death of the calf threefourths of the cost price will be paid to the loser by the other parties who purchased calves. In 1918, the profitableness of raising good grade cattle will be thoroughly demonstrated and proven. The basic idea of this most unusual departure of the Peoples Bank of Butler, with which Doctor Christy is connected, is to encourage the handling of the best grade dairy cattle, to interest the boys and girls in the most profitable side of stockraising, and at the same time to build up the farms so long devoted to grain. And in the years to come, the one hundred nine firm friends of the Peoples Bank of Butler this business venture will assuredly make may prove to be a valuable asset. Doctor Christy has also promised Bates county a cheese factory, provided that sufficient support is guaranteed, his unselfish motive being to encourage the dairy business in this section of the state.

The reader has undoubtedly concluded, and correctly, from the foregoing brief synopsis of Doctor Christy's career that his has been a very busy life, into which a multitude of interests have been crowded. The lessons mastered in his youth taught him industry, enterprise, and humanity. The medical profession in Bates county is honored by having such as he a worker among and with them. Dr. J. M. Christy is widely recognized as one of the best posted and most intellectual gentlemen in the city of Butler.

James J. McKee, an honored pioneer of Bates county, is one of the highly valued citizens of Mount Pleasant towmship. The McKee homestead is located on the Butler and Appleton City road and a portion of the residence has been standing since 1869, when Mr. McKee settled in Bates county. Mr. McKee is a native of Richland county, Ohio. He was born September 14, 1837, a son of J. W. and Isabella (Fulton) McKee, both of whom were natives of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. The McKees moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio, where the son, James J., was born, and thence to California in the spring of 1850. Mr. McKee was outfitted for the journey across the plains from Missouri to California at Independence, Missouri. He crossed the plains and mountains with oxen and upon reaching California obtained employment in the mines and in November of the same year he contracted chotera and died. It will be recalled that this was the period of the excited rush for the newly discovered gold region in California, that from 1848 until 1861 the mines there yielded more than five hundred million dollars for which thousands of good men gave their lives. J. W. and Isabella McKee were the parents of eight children: Alexander, deceased; William F., deceased; James J., the subject of this review; J. P., who resides in McDonald county, Missouri; Mary, the wife of George McCully, deceased; Sarah, the wife of Houston Culbertson, deceased; Isabelle, Butler, Missouri; and Anna K., the wife of D. N. Thompson, Butler, Missouri.

In 1869, James J. McKee and D. N. Thompson came to Bates county, Missouri, from Henry county, Iowa, and purchased one hundred sixty acres of land, the present home place of Mr. McKee, and later added to their holdings two hundred forty acres of land located one mile north of Butler. Mr. Thompson bought and sold stock, driving to Appleton City to make shipments. He afterward purchased Mr. McKee's interest in the farm one mile north of Butler. The McKee residence, a part of which was built in 1869 and rebuilt in the eighties, is an eight-room structure. The farm owned by James J. McKee is considered one of the best in the township. The land slopes to the south and is well improved and located, the improvements including a barn, constructed of native lumber, 24 x 51 feet in dimensions, another one, 44 x 60 feet in dimensions, and numerous sheds. Mr. McKee put up the first barn in 1877. He has at present on the farm fifteen head of Hereford cattle, all registered cows, which breed he began raising in 1899 when he purchased three head of registered Herefords from James McKittrick, of' Greenwood, Jackson county, Missouri, and he has had as many as fifty registered Herefords on his place at one time since he became interested in raising them. Previous to 1899, Mr. McKee handled Jersey cattle extensively, but he learned at that time that dairy cattle were not in the same demand as beef cattle and he sold his herd, having no dif^culty to find a ready market in the vicinity of his farm. In addition to stock raising, Mr. McKee takes much pleasure in horticulture and he keeps his ten-acre orchard in splendid condition and finds apple growing a very profitable business. His favorite apples for commercial purposes are : Mammoth Black Twig, Ben Davis, Gano, Jonathan, and Winesap. Of the early maturing varieties, he prefers the Early Harvest, Bellflower, Maiden Blush, and Rome Beauty.

In 1872, the marriage of James J. McKee and Sarah Ann Hoffman, of Mount Pleasant township, was solemnized. Mrs. McKee is a native of Virginia, born on January 29, 1849. She came to Bates county in 1868 with her uncle. James Hoffman. To James J. and Sarah Ann McKee have been born three children: Newton W., who w^as killed at the age of twenty-one years by lightning while assisting with the work on the home farm; Mary B., the wife of John C. Lane, son of J. C. Lane, Butler, Missouri; and James F., at home with his parents.

In former years, James J. McKee follow^ed freighting from the end of the Union Pacific railroad as it was built west. He made a trip to California in 1864, starting from Iowa. His second long journey was from Denver, Colorado, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. On the latter trip, he was caught in a blinding snowstorm when about fifty-five miles from his destination and all his cattle were lost in the storm. Mr. McKee hired Mexicans to take the two wagons on into Santa Fe, for which he was obliged to pay them two hundred dollars, at the rate of about four dollars a mile - and that was in the sixties.

ity, but wherever such a one is found the impress of his personality will be seen indelibly stamped upon the community. In this brief life history is exemplified the truth that success is the result of labor - well-directed, untiring labor. Beginning life with few advantages and handicapped by many discouraging circumstances, left fatherless at the age of thirteen years when he needed most a father's advice and counsel, Mr. McKee has triumphed over every obstacle and has steadily worked himself upward from penury to affluence and he is now numbered among the most substantial citizens of Mount Pleasant township, where for many years he has enjoyed precedence as one of the most intelligent and enterprising men of Bates county. He has himself lived a good, clean, moral life and both he and Mrs. McKee are deeply interested in whatever tends to benefit the public and exert a wholesome influence upon the community. We are proud to be able to still number Mr. and Mrs. McKee among the best citizens of Bates county. The ranks of the brave and noble pioneers are all too rapidly thinning. B. B. Canterbury, ex-deputy county clerk and secretary of the Bates County Old Settlers' Association, owner and manager of Real Estate & Loans at Butler, is a native of Kentucky. Mr. Canterbury was born December 7, 1857 at Little Louisa, Kentucky. He is a son of R. F. and Fannie E. (Hereford) Canterbury, who were the parents of six children, as follow: Elizabeth, who married Mr. Erwin and she is now deceased; Ben B.. the subject of this review; Eudora, the wife of Mr. Daniels, Denver, Colorado; Susan Ann, the wife of Dr. J. T. Walls, Portland, Oregon; George M., Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Samuel S., who died in 1912 and is buried at Kansas City, Missouri. R. F. Canterbury, a native of Kentucky, came to Missouri in June, 1858 with his family and they located in Sullivan county, moving thence to Saline county and in 1872 to Bates county. The father purchased the Tomlinson & Shorb mercantile establishment at Burdett and conducted that store from 1872 until 1881 and then moved the stock of goods to Archie, Missouri, where he continued in business for two years. From Archie, Mr. Canterbury came to Butler and resided until 1888, when he went west. He returned to Kansas City, Missouri in 1903 and at that place his death occurred two years later. Mr. Canterbury's remains were interred in the Mount Washington cemetery at Kansas City. Mrs. Canterbury, mother of B. B., the subject of this sketch, departed this life in 1901 and she was laid to rest in the cemetery at Kansas City. The Canterburys were well known and highly respected in Bates county, where they were numbered among the best families and most progressive and valued citizens.

B. B. Canterbury obtained his education in the public schools of Missouri and at the Warrensburg State Normal School, which institution he attended one term. Mr. Canterbury has made his own way in the world since he was a youth nineteen years of age. He served as deputy county clerk for one year, serving under W. E. Walton. Following this, he engaged in the real estate and abstract business for several years. In 1888, he moved to Howell county, Missouri, and there resided for fourteen years. While a resident of Howell county, Missouri, Mr. Canterbury served four years as probate judge. He returned to Bates county, Missouri in 1902 and opened an office at Butler, where he has continued the real estate and loan business ever since. He is pushing the amortized or rural credit plan of farm loans, of which an example is given : Twenty years ago, a farmer borrowed one thousand dollars at six per cent., straight interest on the old-fashioned plan. He has renewed the loan at intervals with constant expense of renewals, commissions, abstract charges, and recorder's fees, and he still owes the principal, one thousand dollars. He has paid sixty dollars interest every year for twenty years or a total of twelve hundred dollars. The old-fashioned loan of one thousand dollars has cost the farmer, not including commissions, abstract charges, and recorder's fees, twenty-two hundred dollars. Under the amortized plan, he would have paid, as follows:

First eleven payments, of eighty-five dollars and sixty-eight cents each, a total of nine hundred seventy-five dollars and forty-eight cents.

The sum total of all payments would be one thousand seven hundred twenty-eight dollars and sixty cents, leaving a balance of four hundred seventy-one dollars and forty cents in favor of the amortized plan.

Loans are made up to one-half the cash value of the land and loans from five hundred to ten thousand dollars can be made by Mr. Canterbury, The payments may be made at any time designated and at any bank the borrower may choose.

In June, 1880, B. B. Canterbury and Frances M. Pentzer were united in marriage. Mrs. Canterbury was born at Alexandersville, Ohio, a daughter of H. V. Pentzer, who came to Butler about 1870. Mr. Pentzer died in 1905. To Mr. and Mrs. Canterbury have been born two children: Katie L., the wife of O. A. Heinlein, manager of the Bennett- Wheeler Mercantile Company and mayor of Butler; and Deane B., who is with the Bennett-Wheeler Mercantile Company of Butler.

Old Settlers' Association, which position he still holds. At the last meeting of the association, the oldest settler was Judge Clark Wix, the oldest man present was Samuel Mellon, aged ninety-three years, and the oldest woman was Mrs. Catherine Patty, aged ninety-two years.

Mr. Canterbury takes an unusual interest in governmental affairs. He reads widely and extensively and is well known as a clear thinker and in conversation expresses himself concisely, fearlessly, and in a convincing manner. As was his father before him, Mr. Canterbury is highly esteemed among the enterprising, clear-headed, upright citizens and his family is widely known among the best in Bates county.

Judge A. B. Owen, one of Bates county's leading citizens, ex-collector of taxes in Grand River township and in Bates county, ex-treasurer of Bates county, and ex-mayor of Butler, is a native of this county. Mr. Owen was born in Grand River township, September 18, 1856. He is a worthy representative of a sterling pioneer family of this part of Missouri, a son of Crayton and Elizabeth (Haggard) Owen, both of whom were natives of Kentucky and among the earliest settlers of this state. Crayton Owen was born in Clark county, Kentucky in 1834. He came to Missouri with his father, Martin B. Owen, in 1842. The Owens settled on Elk Fork creek, where the father entered several hundred acres of land. Their trading was done at Lexington, Missouri, and the father would go with a yoke of oxen and a large w^agon once a year and at that time would lay in a supply of provisions sufficient to last the twelve months. During the Civil War, when Order Number 11 was in force, Martin B. Owen moved wnth his family to Pettis county, Missouri, returning after the war had ended to the homestead, where he died and is buried. Crayton Owen was employed by the Missouri Pacific Railway Company, when they were building the road through Pettis and Johnson counties. After the Civil War closed, he returned to the farm and engaged in cattle buying and shipping. Mr. Owen was widely known as a successful stockman in Bates county, as a large shipper of stock. His shipping point was Holden, forty miles away. Elizabeth (Haggard) Owen was a daughter of Andrew Haggard, a native of Kentucky and a highly respected pioneer of Pettis county. In that county, Mrs. Owen was reared, educated, and married. At her father's home near Sedalia, Crayton Owen and Elizabeth Haggard were united in marriage in 1854 and soon afterward they settled on a farm in Grand River township. Mr. and Mrs. Crayton Owen were the parents of the following children: A. B., the subject of this review; Mrs. M. E. Powell, deceased; James, a civil engineer, Kansas City, Missouri; Mrs. Anna Reeder, Adrian, Missouri; Mrs, May Taylor, Sedalia, Missouri; Mrs. Dottie Mitchell, Kansas City, Missouri; and Crayton, Jr., a prominent lumberman of Idaho. The father died in 1890 and his remains were buried in the family burial ground on the home place. Mrs. Owen died in 1916 at the age of seventyfive years and she was laid to rest in the cemetery at Kansas City, Missouri.

In the district schools of Bates and Pettis counties, Missouri, A. B. Owen obtained a good common school education. Until he was twentyfive years of age, he remained at home with his parents and then at that time began farming independently in Grand River township and engaging in stock raising. Mr. Owen served as collector of taxes in his township for nearly fifteen years prior to his election as county treasurer of Bates county in 1896 and re-election in 1898. He moved from the farm to Butler in the autumn of 1896 and at that time purchased his present home, a pleasant and comfortable residence located at 513 West Ohio street. Following the expiration of his four-year term in the treasurer's office, A. B. Owen was appointed by Governor Folk to the position of county collector of taxes to complete an unexpired term. When Estes Smith, judge from the northern district, died, Mr. Owen was appointed by Governor Majors to fill the unexpired term of eighteen months. A. B. Owen has served two terms as mayor of Butler and while an incumbent in that office, there were more sidewalks built than at any other time in the history of the city. Though he is not now an official in public service, Mr. Owen has still plenty of work to do in managing and attending to his financial interests, being the owner of property in Butler and Bates county and in Kansas City and a director of the Missouri State Bank and a director and stockholder of the Walton Trust Company.

December 23, 1879, A. B. Owen and Edna F. Reeder were united in' marriage. Mrs. Owen is a daughter of Joseph Reeder, of Mingo township. Mr. Reeder was a native of Virginia. He settled in Mingo township prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. To A. B. and Edna F. Owen has been born one child, a daughter, Jennie, who is now the wife of Dr. J. S. Newlon, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. Doctor and Mrs. Newlon are the parents of one child, a son, Robert Owen. Mr. and Mrs. Owen are active and valued members of the Christian church, of which Mr. Owen has been a member since he was twentyone years of age and a deacon for almost that entire period.

and scrupulous honor. He is a progressive business man in all that the term implies. He has always taken an active interest in the growth and development of his township and county.

J. W. Eggleson, a prominent citizen of Bates county and a wellknown, progressive business man of Butler, Missouri, is a native of Illinois. Mr. Eggleson was born January 4, 1859 in Adams county, Illinois, the eldest of four children born to his parents, Asa W. and Amy (Eddy) Eggleson, both of whom were natives of Jefferson county. New York. Asa W. Eggleson was born in 1813. He came from Illinois to Vernon county, Missouri in 1866 and located on land lying on the line between Bates and Vernon counties. Mr. Eggleson owned the land which is now the site of the town of Panama. At the time of the coming of the Egglesons to Missouri, this was all open prairie and Mr. Eggleson and Lucius Horr built the first two houses there. One could then drive through to Paola, Kansas and not see one fence. At one time in the late sixties, when the farmers on the prairies had to go to mill driving to Pleasant Hill, Missouri or to Pleasanton, Kansas, Addie Robinson, a pioneer, made the trip for the neighborhood. Due to the slow methods of grinding, he was often detained several days waiting for the grist. J. W. Eggleson vividly recalls how the Egglesons existed on a ration of potatoes for three days or until Mr. Robinson's return from the mill. He also remembers the days of chills and fever, when at times there would not be a family on the prairie but was afflicted with this malady of pioneer times. In 1881, Asa W. Eggleson moved to Cedar county, Missouri and there he died at Jericho Springs in 1885. Interment was made in the cemetery in Balltown in Vernon county. Airs. Eggleson, mother of J. W., departed this life in 1861 and her remains were interred in the cemetery at Loraine, Illinois. J. W. Eggleson was left motherless when he was a child two years of age. The following children were born to Asa W. and Amy Eggleson : J. W., the subject of this review; E. E., who is engaged in farming in Bates county, residing on Rural Route 6, Butler, Missouri; Maria A., the widow of F. W. Riddle, Kaw City, Oklahoma; and Amy, who died at the age of seventeen years.

J. W. Eggleson obtained his education in the public schools of Vernon county, Missouri. Until he was twenty-one years of age. Mr. Eggleson remained at home with his father. At that time he began farming on rented land, raising corn enough the first year to pay for his team of mules. Asa W. Eggleson gave to his two sons, J. W. and

E, E., one hundred sixty acres of land, which were later found to be underlaid with coal. This land the Eggleson brothers sold to Charles Faler and then purchased eighty acres of land in Charlotte township, Bates county, which farm E. E. Eggleson now owns, and one hundred sixty acres, which they afterward divided. J. W. Eggleson at present owns the homestead in Charlotte township and a farm comprising one hundred acres in West Point township. He was for many years engaged in farming and stock raising, when he moved from the farm to Butler in 1914 and entered the garage business, purchasing the McFarland garage located on South Main street. He sold his place of business to the Newman brothers in the autumn of 1915 and in July, 1917 the garage was burned.

In 1885, J. W. Eggleson and Anna Corlett were united in marriage. Mrs. Eggleson is a native of Leavenworth county, Kansas, a daughter of Christopher and Laura (Walker) Corlett. Mrs. Eggleson's father was born on the Isle of Man in 1835 and in 1854 he emigrated from his native land and came to America. Mr. Corlett settled in Illinois and in that state was united in marriage with Miss Walker. Both father and mother died in Charlotte township. Bates county, to which they came in 1880, and their remains are buried in the cemetery known as the Morris cemetery in this county. J. W. and Anna Eggleson are the parents of five children: Willa, the wife of Bird Barr, whose death occurred in August, 1915; Pearl, the wife of Clarence Porter, of Charlotte township. Bates county ; Orland, who married Sallie Simpson, of Butler, and to them has been born one child, a daughter, Anna Laurie ; Bert and Frank, who are at home with their parents. The Eggleson home is in Butler at 211 West Eort Scott street.

J. S. Newlon, M. D,, a well-known and successful practitioner of Butler, Missouri, a specialist in the diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat, is a native of Nebraska. Doctor Newlon was born in Kearney county, Nebraska in 1883, a son of Samuel J. and Ellen (Seevers) Newlon, the former, a native of Ohio and the latter of Iowa. Samuel J. Newlon was a well-to-do and enterprising agriculturist. He was reared and educated in his native state and in 1854 left Ohio to make his home in Iowa, whence he moved with his wife and two children to Nebraska, where Dr. J. S. Newlon was born. Later, the Newlons returned to Iowa and in that state remained until 1903, when they came to Bates county, Missouri, locating near Butler on a farm. There the father died in 1912 and the mother still resides. To Samuel J. and Ellen Newlon were born the following children: D. W., a prominent farmer and stockman, Culver, Missouri; Lorraine, who is at home with the widowed mother on the home place; Dr. J. S., the subject of this review; Mrs. H. O. Welton, Butler, Missouri; George, who is engaged in farming on the home place ; Thomas D., a widely known automobile salesman, Kansas City, Missouri; Selina, who is a student in the Warrensburg State Normal School ; and Alfred, a motor machinist, Kansas City, Missouri.

Dr. J. S. Newlon is a graduate of Winterset High School in Iowa. After completing the high school course. Doctor Newlon entered Haynes Academy at Excelsior Springs, Missouri, matriculating later in the University Medical College at Kansas City, Missouri. He is a graduate of the latter institution in the class of May 8, 1908. Doctor Newlon has also attended the New York Polyclinic Institute. He began the practice of his profession at Ballard, Missouri, in 1908 and five years afterward located at Butler. He gives special attention to the diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat. Doctor Newlon is secretary of the Bates County Medical Society and also of the Missouri State Medical Association. He is a member of the Southeastern Medical Association, also.

September 15, 1915, Dr. J. S. Newlon and Jennie Mae Owen, tlie only daughter of Judge and Mrs. A. B. Owen, of Butler, Missouri, were united in marriage. A biography of Judge A. B. Owen will be found elsewhere in this volume. To Doctor and Mrs. Newlon has been born one child, a son, Robert Owen, who was born May 8, 1917, just nine years to the day from the time his father graduated from the University Medical College.

David W. Beaman, an honored pioneer of Bates county, is a member of one of the oldest pioneer families of Missouri. Mr. Beaman was born March 20, 1848, in Pettis county, Missouri, a son of William and Jane (Stanford) Beaman, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter, of Tennessee. William Beaman came to Missouri in 1826 and located in Pettis county, on a tract of land near the Cooper county line. In April, 1866, the Beaman family moved to Bates county and settled on a farm in Summit township, where Mr. and Mrs. Beaman spent the remainder of their lives. To William and Jane Beaman were born six children: Mrs. Margaret Jones, deceased; Franklin, a veteran of the Civil War, who served with Company C, Forty-fifth Missouri Infantry, and whose last known address is Soldiers' Home, Leavenworth, Kansas; Mrs. Jemima Frances Walker, Sedalia, Mis- souri; Mrs. Missouri Ann Stelman, Beaman, Missouri; Carlton Jobe, a veteran of the Civil War, who died August 12, 1917, at Fort Dodge, Kansas; and David W., the subject of this review^. By a former marriage, William Beaman was the father of five children : Lucinda, John, Martha, Sarah Ann, and Thomas, all of whom are now deceased. John Beaman was also a veteran of the Civil War. He was born in North Carolina. The father died July 8, 1874, on the farm in Bates county and three years later, in March, 1877, he was joined in death by his wife. The father was interred in Glass cemetery. The mother was buried in Mt. Olivet cemetery.

February 11, 1867, David W. Beaman came to Bates county and settled on his present farm in Summit township in the same year. His father and mother with his brothers, John and Carlton Jobe, and his three sisters, Margaret, Jemima Frances, and Missouri Ann, had preceded him and were already comfortably situated in Summit township in a small box house, which they had built on the farm. Their trading point was Butler, where Doctor Hill conducted a general store, dealing chiefly in dry goods and hardware, and Doctor Pyle kept a drug store. David Beaman is now owner of two hundred fifty acres of valuable land in Summit township, about half of which is devoted to pasture. Mr. Beaman has for years been engaged in stock raising and in former times was want to feed a large number of cattle annually for the market. He has, at the time of this writing, in 1918, forty head of stock on the farm. A good barn was built by Mr. Beaman about fifteen years ago and he is at the present time remodeling the residence.

The marriage of David W. Beaman and Missouri Delitha Ellitt, a native of Arkansas, was solemnized on January 17, 1866. Mrs. Beaman's father died in Arkansas when she was a little child and, when she was three years of age, she came to Missouri with her mother and they settled in Pettis county, where Mrs. Beaman was reared and educated. She has one brother living, Willi'am H. Ellitt, of Wichita, Kansas. Mrs. Ellitt died in Pettis county, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Beaman were married in Pettis county and soon afterward settled in Bates county on the farm which is still their home. To David W. and Missouri D. Beaman have been born eight children: William, Tola, Kansas; Jane Elizabeth, the wife of C. B. New, of Cromwell, Iowa ; John, who is engaged in farming on the home place; Robert Luther, Tipton, Kansas; Minnie Luetta, the wife of George Kersey, of Butler, Missouri ; James Nila, Adrian, Missouri; Leora Viola, the wife of H. C. Hyatt, of Adrian,

Missouri; and Effie Lillian, the wife of Charles Aman, of Independence, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Beaman celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary on January 17, 1916. They are still enjoying fairly good health and are as active, physically and mentally, as many a score of years younger. Mr. Beaman would have been sixty-seven years of age within two days when he was obliged to call for the assistance of a physician for himself for the first time in his life.

Mr. and Mrs. Beaman have twenty-five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. William married Mary Brooks and has five children: Ina, Roe, Emmet, Amos, Archie; Mrs. Mary E. New has four children: Boyd, Claude, Walter, Hugh. John married Myrtle Dent and has six children: Oliver, Mabel, Clarence, Howard, Wendell, Ruth. Luther married Alta Smith and has three children: Roberta, Robert, Norman. Mrs. George Iversey has two children, Kendall and Christine. Mrs. Leora Hyatt has two children, Henry Clay, Sr. and Elsie. Mrs. Efifie Aman has three children, Orville, Ellitt, Loran.

Mrs. Ina Dixon, daughter of William Beaman, has one child. Boyd New is father of one child, Ruby. Claude New is father of one child, Eugene.