Bates County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1918 (part 8 of 19)

Mr. Beaman was a resident of Bates county, Missouri, during the grasshopper visitation in 1874 and 1875 and he recalls their coming and how they ate everything green in sight, from peelings of sumac bushes to the growing plants in the fields. But, there is no cloud so black but has its silver lining, and the next season he raised the largest crops he has ever raised. Mr. Beaman was a resident of Deepw^ater township for a few months previous to his coming to Summit township. When he came to Bates county, he was the ow^ier of one horse, three calves, and seven pigs. A kindly neighbor hauled the pigs from Pettis county to Bates county for him. If any man in Bates county has earned the right to be called "self-made," that man is David W. Beaman. He began hfe with little of this world's goods but w^ith the most valuable capital with which any young man could possibly be endowed - good sense, a clear brain, discriminating judgment, a strong arm, and determination to succeed. Mr. Beaman is not a theorist but a man of sound, practical ideas. He has undoubtedly earned the distinction of being numbered among Bates county's best citizens and most representative pioneer agriculturists. Mr. Beaman loves the country, the freedom of the great out-of-doors, to watch and study the mysteries of Nature in growing plants and animals, and when people have querulously inquired of him why he doesn't move to town and escape the hard work of the farm he has always wisely replied that he is happier where he is and would rather be on the old home place where he and his noble wife reared their children and where they have together enjoyed the passing of the seasons for more than fifty years.

Frank T. Clay, a successful and prominent pharmacist of Butler, Missouri, is one of the enterprising and leading business men of Bates county. Mr. Clay is pre-eminently a self-made man. He is a native of Texas. He was born in 1878 in Tarrant county, a son of Mark S. and Rachel A. (McGuire) Clay. Mark S. Clay was born in Virginia in 1825. He died June 3, 1915 at Butler, Missouri, where he had been living a quiet, retired life since 1886. At the time of his death, Mr. Clay was ninety years and three months of age. Mrs. Clay, a native of Indiana, survives her husband and is now residing in Butler at 211 North High street. Mark S. and Rachel A. Clay were the parents of four children, who are now living: W. H., a prosperous farmer and grain dealer. South St. Joseph, Missouri; George, a well-known laundryman of St. Joseph, Missouri; Frank T.., the subject of this review; and James, a well-to-do druggist, Caldwell, Idaho. Mark S. Clay enlisted in the Civil War in 1861 at Springfield, Illinois and for many months served with the Twenty-second Illinois Infantry. He later enlisted with the Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry at Madison, Wisconsin. After the Civil War had ended, Mr. Clay returned to his home in Illinois. Later, he came from Illinois to Missouri and thence went -to Texas, returning from that state to Missouri in 1881, where he spent the remainder of his long life of usefulness. Mark S. Clay was an honored and highly valued member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Frank T. Clay obtained his elementary education in the public schools of Bates county. He has since added to his store of knowledge by wide reading and by practical experience gained in the best, most thorough, but hardest of all schools. He began studying the drug business in the drug store of H. L. Tucker in 1894. Ten years later, when Mr. Tucker died, Mr. Clay was able to purchase the stock of drugs and merchandise and to successfully continue the business. Clay's Drug Store is one of the best business establishments in the city, Mr. Clay is a registered pharmacist, having obtained his certificate in 1902. His stock of goods is complete, fresh, and neatly kept. He occupies a building 22 x 70 feet in dimensions, a structure comprising two stories. Mr. Clay has, in addition, won for himself distinction as a curio collector and he is justly proud of his collection of Indian arrow heads and fifty- .three rattlesnake rattles, to which he is constantly adding. Mr. Clay has his specimens nicely displayed at his store.

Mr. Clay is afTfiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which fraternal order he has been a member since 1904, the Scottish Rite Masons, the York Rite Masons, the Shriners since 1910, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Modern Woodmen of America.

Thomas Webster Legg, a late worthy and widely known citizen of Butler, Missouri, a noble and upright gentleman whose life for many years was closely interwoven with the local history of Bates county, was a native of Piqua, Miami county, Ohio. He was born November 20, 1854. He was a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Webster) Legg. Joseph Legg was a skilled cabinet maker of Piqua, Ohio and at the age of eighteen years his son, Thomas W., had mastered the carriage maker's trade. He was reared and educated at Piqua.

December 26, 1876, T. W. Legg and Mary C. Catterlin were united in marriage at Piqua, Ohio. Mrs. Legg is a daughter of S. B. and Louisa (Jones) Catterlin, the former, a native of Ohio and the latter, of Kentucky. Both father and mother of Mrs. Legg died at Butler, Missouri, to which city they had come from Ohio to make their future home. Mr. Catterlin departed this life one year after their coming West and Mrs. Catterlin joined him in death a few years later. To T. W. and Mary C. (Catterlin) Legg were born three children, two of whom died in infancy, one child, a daughter, now living: Mrs. A. C. Coberly, who resides with her widowed mother, the wife of A. C. Coberly, a prominent business man, who is in the employ of the Logan Moore Lumber Company, manager of the Butler lumber yard and manager of advertising for the thirty branch yards controlled by the company. Mrs. Legg and the Coberlys reside in Butler at 506 West Ohio street.

In 1879, Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Legg came from Piqua, Ohio to Butler, Missouri. Mr. Legg, within a short time afterward, began the erection of a carriage shop. His first shop was a large, two-story structure, a frame building, and a few years after Mr. Legg had completed it the shop was destroyed by fire. He rebuilt immediately and continued the business of iron working and carriage making until his death on April 22, 1914, after which his widow managed the factory until in November, 1917 the shop was again destroyed by fire. Mr. Legg built carriages, buggies, and spring wagons and in addition did a large amount of repair work. There are scores of people in Bates county who still own vehicles made by T. W. Legg in his shop at Butler.

At one time, Mr. Legg was a member of the city council of Butler. He was a director of the Butler Building & Loan Association and a director and stockholder in the Peoples Bank of Butler, one of the charter members of the latter financial institution. Mr. Legg was deeply interested in church and Sunday school work. He was a devout member of the Butler Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was chorister, organist, and superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Legg had held the same positions in Ohio. He was superintendent of the Methodist Sunday school for more than thirty years. Mrs. Legg still treasures gifts and remembrances given Mr. Legg by the church and school in appreciation of his long years of faithful service. He was at one time and for many years president of the Bates County Sunday School Association and had visited the different schools in all parts of the county. Since early manhood, Mr. Legg was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He died April 22, 1914 and interment was made in the Oak Hill cemetery at Butler.

Incomplete would be a biographical compendium of Bates county without mention of T. W. Legg. His name has been inseparably linked with the history of the business interests in Bates county. He was a model citizen, a gentleman, one who had justly earned an enviable reputation as a successful manufacturer, an enterprising citizen, a true Christian. He was widely and favorably known throughout the county as a man of extraordinary good sense, skill, judgment, and force of character. His death was long deeply deplored in Bates county and the memory of the "good fight" he made remains a priceless heritage. His influence in behalf of all that was noble and uplifting will be felt for scores of years to come, a monument to his memory more enduring than obelisk.

George W. Dixon, one of Bates county's successful merchants, a grocer, hardware and music dealer of Butler, is a native of Kansas. Mr. Dixon was born October 16, 1864 in Miami county, Kansas, a son of J. W. and Martha E. (Tharp) Dixon, both of whom -were born in Virginia. J. W. Dixon was a Union veteran of the Civil War. He enlisted with the Federal troops at Miami county, Kansas, and for many months served with Company I, Ninth Kansas Infantry, and later with the Cass county home guards. In the second year of the Civil War, in 1862, J. W. Dixon and Martha E. Tharp w^ere united in marriage in July and to this union were born nine children,- all of whom are now living and the youngest child is, at the time of this writing, thirty-seven years of age: Etta, the wife of Houston Gillogly, of western Kansas; George W., the subject of this review; Emma, the wife of A. C. Stewart, Miami, Oklahoma; Elmer, Dodge City, Kansas; Anna, the wife of O. D. Kuhu, Miami county, Kansas; Ella, the wife of Mr. Dunham, of lola, Kansas; J. W., B. O., and Jud P., who are engaged in the junk business at Rich Hill, Missouri. Years before the war, J. W. Dixon came to Kansas and settled within two and a half miles of the state line, in Miami county, Kansas in 1857. With him came J. W. White and Archie Trammel. A son of Archie Trammel, William Trammel, is now residing on a farm near Rich Hill, Missouri. Mr. Dixon returned to the farm after the close of the war and continued to reside there the remainder of his life. He died in 1885. The widowed mother is now living at Butler, Missouri.

George W. Dixon received his elementary education in the public schools of Miami county, Kansas, and later, he was a student for one and a half years at Kansas Normal College, Fort Scott, Kansas. Mr. Dixon began life for himself in 1889, alternately teaching school and farming in the winter and summer seasons in Miami county for a period of seven years. In 1899, Mr. Dixon purchased the G. B. Hockman furniture stock in Butler, Missouri and since acquiring the store he has added hardware, musical instruments, and groceries and has moved to his present location in 1907. Mr. Dixon owns the store building, a two-story brick structure 45 x 80 feet in dimensions, which fronts on Main street. He carries a complete line of groceries, furniture, hardware, and stoves, which are on the ground floor of the store, and linoleums, rugs, furniture, and musical instruments, on the second floor.

In 1903, George W. Dixon and Dora Collins were united in marriage. Mrs. Dixon is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. H. Collins, of Chapman, Nebraska. The Dixon home is in Butler, located on Havanna street, an attractive, modern residence built in 1917. In addition to his home, and his store, Mr. Dixon is owner of a good farm comprising one hundred twenty acres in Vernon county, Missouri and he is one of the organizers and stockholders of the Peoples Bank of Butler, with which financial institution he has always maintained a close connection.

Mr. Dixon has taken a keen interest in civic affairs and he was at one time a member of the city council of Butler. Mr. Dixon is one of the leading dealers in Bates county and has deservedly earned the liberal patronage accorded him by the public.

court, is a native of Franklin county, Missouri. Judge Smith was born March 31, 1859, a son of Nathan L. and Martha Ann (Adams) Smith. Nathan L. Smith was born in 1815 in Virginia. He was reared to maturity and educated near Richmond of that state. About 1835, Mr. Smith, then a young man, heard the call of the West and he left Virginia and came to Missouri, walking all the way. He was a blacksmith by trade and he followed his line of work at Old Port William for a number of years. He followed farming during his later life. Martha Ann (Adams) Smith was a native of Warren county, Missouri. She was born in 1826. To Nathan L. and Martha Ann Smith were born eleven children: David L., a retired farmer residing at Gray's Summit in Franklin county, Missouri; William P., deceased; Alphonso Theodore, deceased; Theopholis, deceased; Charles Wesley, who resides in Texas; Thomas D., Sedalia, Missouri; James Fletcher, Butler. Missouri; Mary Elizabeth, Martha Ann, Nathan L., Jr., and Daniel, who died in infancy. The mother died in 1889 at the age of sixty-three years and the father died February 7, 1908 at the age of ninety-three years. Both parents were laid to rest in the family burial ground at the old homestead in Franklin county, Missouri.

Judge Smith attended the common schools of Franklin county, Missouri. On leaving school, he alternately taught school and engaged in farming in Franklin county. He began the study and reading of law in the office of Crews & Booth in Union, Franklin county and in that county was admitted to the bar. He then came directly to Bates county and began the practice of his profession. Judge Smith came to Butler in 1882 and shortly afterward located at Rich Hill, where he remained for fifteen years in active legal practice. During this period, he served as mayor of Rich Hill for several years. In 1897, he removed to Butler. One year afterward, a vacancy in the probate court occurred due to the death of Judge Dalton and Mr. Smith was appointed to fill the vacancy. He served two years as judge of the probate court and since that time has been engaged in the practice of his profession at Butler. At the time of this writing, in 1918, Judge Smith is satisfactorily filling the positions of city clerk and city attorney, which ofiices he has occupied eight years.

In 1899, Judge J. F. Smith and Miss Hattie Scott were united in marriage. Mrs. Smith is a native of Bates county, Missouri, a daughter of Ben F. and Elizabeth Ann Scott, honored pioneers of this county. Ben F. Scott was widely and favorably known and universally respected.

He formerly resided on a farm north of Butler and he held several different offices of public trust in his township. Afterward, the Scotts moved from the farm to Butler and resided here until death called them. He died in 1914 and Mrs. Scott joined him in death three years later, in 1917. Mrs. Smith was reared in Butler and educated in the city schools. She is deeply interested in church w^ork and takes an active and prominent part in the work of the Butler Christian church, of which she is a valued member. Mr. Smith is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World, the Yeomen and the Masonic order, all fraternal orders of Butler. The Smith home is located in Butler on Ohio street.

Milton H. Price, a prominent farmer and stockman of Summit township, is one of Bates county's successful citizens and a member of a well-known pioneer family of Henry county, Iowa. Mr. Price is a native of Baltimore county, Maryland. He was born on December 12, 1839, a son of Jehu and Susan M. (Matthew^s) Price, natives of Maryland, who settled in Henry county, Iowa, in 1859 and resided in that state the remainder of their^lives. The mother died February 27, 1873, and the father joined her in death on March 6, 1873. The remains of both parents w^ere interred in Prairie Grove cemetery in Henry county, Iowa.

In October, 1859, M. H. Price and his brother, S. T. Price, left home to try their fortunes in Iowa, driving across country from Maryland. It will be recalled that 1859 was a momentous year in the history of our country and that for many months before the outbreak of the Civil War many events of tremendous import occurred. This was the year John Brown's raid upon the United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. On October 16, 1859, he with about twenty followers surprised and captured the arsenal, the supplies, and arms and the next day he was captured. One week later, the two Price boys appeared at Newmarket in Shenandoah county, Virginia - strangers coming upon the scene at a very inopportune time - and they were naturally looked upon as suspicious characters, the federal officers being convinced that they were two of Brown's men. To escape arrest and conviction, the young men had no little difficulty in establishing their identity and innocence.

M. H. Price was a student at Milton Academy, Baltimore, Maryland at the same time that John Wilkes and Edwin Booth were students at the same institution. There were probably one hundred students enrolled at Milton' Academy at that time and Mr. Price recalls seeing the brothers frequently in the amateur theatricals staged at the school. Edwin Booth, the peerless actor of the American stage, was but six years older than Mr. Price. The father of the Booth brothers, Junius Brutus Booth, was undoubtedly one of the greatest tragedians that ever lived and he gave to the world three sons of note : Junius Brutus, Jr., John Wilkes, the author of the greatest tragedy in the life of our nation, and Edwin, the greatest actor of America in his day. Strange stories were current in Baltimore of the elder Booth's peculiarities and eccentricities, of how he forbade the use of animal food on his place, "Belair," near Baltimore, the taking of animal life, and even the cutting down of trees. He could often be seen bringing his butter and eggs .to the Baltimore markets in person.

For thirty-four years, M. H. Price resided in Henry county, Iowa, on the home place, where his parents had settled in 1859 and which he had inherited from his father's estate. Mr. Price sold the farm in Iowa and came to Bates county, Missouri on February 1, 1894, locating on a farm, which he purchased in Mound township. This place comprised eighty acres of land and on it Mr. Price lived for four years. He then purchased a farm of one hundred sixty acres in Summit township and since has increased his original holdings until his place now embraces two hundred forty acres of valuable land, eighty acres lying on the north side of the Summit road and one hundred sixty acres on the south side. There is an excellent orchard, covering three acres of land, on the farm and sixty acres of the place are devoted to pasture. Mr. Price made the remark, at the time he first saw his present country home, "If I owned that farm, there are just two things that would make me leave it - the sheriff or the undertaker." He bought the farm one year afterward and he hasn't changed his mind yet. He is profitably engaged in raising registered Percheron horses and he is the owner of a registered Kentucky jack. Mr. Price gained some prestige among the horsemen of Bates county, when he presented at the Bates county fair, "Brilliant," a colt wdiich he had raised. "Brilliant" weighed eight hundred pounds when seven months of age and won three premiums at the diiTerent county fairs in Bates county, when a colt, when one year old, and again when two years old. The picture of "Brilliant," the colt, may be seen at the Farmers Bank in Butler, Missouri, and he, himself, is still on the farm, a valued possession of M. H. Price, who is a lover of fine horses.

26, 1878. Laura (Blackstone) Price, born at Middleburn, Guernsey county, Ohio, September 28, 1845, is a daughter of William Presley and Cecelia C. (Hayes) Blackstone, of Illinois. William Presley Blackstone was born in Belmont county, Ohio, in 1818, a son of William Blackstone, who came to America when he was twelve years of age with his father, Ebenezer Blackstone, a native of Scotland, a veteran of the War of 1812. Hugh Benjamin and Nathan Blackstone, sons of Ebenezer Blackstone, were veterans of the War of 1812. The Blackstones are relatives of William Blackstone, ^an eminent English jurist, who was born in London. July 10, 1723, and died in a railway carriage while traveling between Rouen and Caen, May 1, 1850. Cecelia C. (Hayes) Blackstone was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, in 1822. She was a distant relative of Rutherford B. Hayes, the nineteenth President of the United States. The Blackstone family in America trace tlieir lineage back to a Scottish chieftain, who fought side by side with Baliol, William Wallace, and Robert Bruce. Mrs. Price has in her possession an old land warrant signed by James Madison, President of the United States, and dated October 21, 1816, which is made to Daniel McPeek, of Guernsey county, Ohio, who entered land which her father purchased. This paper came with the abstract to the land. To Mr. and Mrs. M. H. Price have been born three children: Presley B., at home; Tacy C, who married Harry Raybourn and she died in 1910, leaving two daughters, Marie Elizabeth and Laura; and Blanche S., who married Del Lutsenhizer, a prosperous farmer of Deepwater township, and to them have been born two children, Hazel and Howard Benton. Mrs. Price's parents moved to Geneseo, Illinois, in 1857 and Mr. Blackstone became very wealthy.

Politically, Mr. Price is affiliated with the Republican party and he has served the public ten years as township committeeman, being chairman of the committee. He is a gentleman of strong conviction and pronounced views and a fearless upholder of principles which he believes to be right. Mr. and Mrs. Price are numbered among the county's most valued citizens.

Frank Priestly, proprietor of the Peoples Feed Yard at Butler, Missouri, is one of Bates county's successful business men. Mr. Priestly is a native of Linn county, Kansas, He was born July 5, 1868, a son of Joseph and Melinda (Taylor) Priestly. Joseph Priestly was born in England in 1830. He emigrated from his native land when he was a young man, twenty-one years of age, and came to America. Mr. Priestly located first in Illinois and later settled in Kansas in 1858. Melinda

(Taylor) Priestly is a native of Illinois. Her father died when she was but an infant and her mother remarried, her second husband being Levi Ward. The Wards and Melinda Taylor settled in Linn county, Kansas in 1854. To Joseph and Melinda Priestly have been born six children, who are now living : Mary, the wife of William Gould, of Oregon ; Emma, the wife of John Donnelly, of Oklahoma; Frank, the subject of this review; Hattie, the wife of Jack Williams, Spokane, W^ashington; William, Anadarko, Oklahoma; and Clara, who is at home with her parents at Pleasanton, Kansas. Edward, William, and Joseph Priestly, three brothers, located on a vast tract of land near Trading Post, Kansas in 1858, purchasing "squatter's" rights there. Joseph Priestly and his wife, the parents of Frank Priestly, resided on this land until February, 1904 when they moved to Pleasanton, Kansas, where they now reside. Mr. Priestly is now eighty-seven years of age and his wife is seventy-seven years of age. A biographical sketch of Mr. and Mrs. Priestly appears elsewhere in this volume.

Frank Priestly received a good common school education at the Priestly school near Trading Post, Kansas. The Priestly school was named in honor of the Priestly brothers, Edward, William, and Joseph, upon whose land the school building was located. In 1890, Frank Priestly purchased the Cottrell homestead in Valley township, Linn county, Kansas and there resided for five years, going thence to Pueblo, Colorado, where he remained five years. When he returned to Kansas, Mr. Priestly purchased a farm located two miles south of Pleasanton, where he lived until his coming to Butler, Missouri. He purchased a feed yard at Butler, which he later traded for a farm he formerly owned, the place south of Pleasanton, Kansas. He was residing on the farm two years, when he repurchased the Peoples Feed Yard, the yard he had previously owned and which he still owns and manages. Mr. Priestly handles coal, feed, wood, and grain and in connection operates a feed stable.

November 27, 1889, Frank Priestly and Minnie M. Cottrell were united in marriage at the Cottrell homestead in Valley township, Linn county, Kansas. Mrs. Priestly is a daughter of Moses L. and Ruth A. (Whitaker) Cottrell, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. Cottrell was born in Darke county, Ohio in 1827 and Mrs. Cottrell was born in Indiana in 1839. To Moses L. and Ruth A. Cottrell were born the following children: John H., of Colorado; Mrs. Rosa J. Black, Greenwood county, Kansas; Mrs. Josie (Cottrell) Nuckols, deceased; and

Mrs. Frank Priestly, the wife of the subject of this review. The father died in 1883 in Linn county, Kansas and he was joined in death by the mother on June 21, 1892. Both parents were laid to rest in East Mount Zion cemetery in Lincoln township. Mr. and Mrs. Priestly are the parents of three children: Winnie, who is teaching her fourth term of school in the Taggart district in Bates county; Ray, who is on the home farm at Pleasanton, Kansas ; and Marion, at home with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Priestly have in addition reared and educated a nephew, George Nuckols, son of Mrs. Josie (Cottrell) Nuckols, a sister of Mrs. Priestly. The Priestly home is in Butler at 204 West Dakota street.

As a citizen, Frank Priestly stands high above reproach, being noted for his honesty and honorable dealings and from the beginning of his career to the present time he has commanded the unqualified respect and esteem of his many friends and neighbors and business associates.

E. A. Bennett, one of the organizers of the Bennett-Wheeler Mercantile Company of Butler, a skilled mechanic, a successful business man of Bates county, was born May 14, 1849 at Springfield, Ohio. Mr. Bennett is a son of B. G. and Anna (White) Bennett, the former, a native of Chester, Pennsylvania and the latter, of Hagerstow^n, Maryland. B. G. Bennett was born in 1818. He came to Missouri in 1872 and settled in Holt county, where he resided until his death. Mr. Bennett died at Oregon, Missouri, about 1897. He was an expert mechanic and a citizen universally respected and esteemed. Mrs. Bennett died in 1911 while visiting her son in Oklahoma. Both father and mother were interred in the cemetery at Oregon, Missouri.

In the public schools of Clark county, Ohio, E. A. Bennett received an excellent common school education. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, E. A. Bennett was but a child twelve years of age. Nevertheless he felt the call of his country much more keenly than many of his elders and from 1862 until 1865 served in the Clark county, Ohio militia. He was then a growing boy, from thirteen to sixteen years of age. Mr. Bennett came to Missouri in 1869 and located in Holt county. His first mercantile experience was at Whig Valley in that county, in a crossroad store near the site of Mariland, where he was employed until 1878 when he accepted a position as traveling salesman for the Deere-Mansur & Company of Kansas City, Missouri, later the John Deere Plow Company.

Mr. Bennett mastered the mechanic's trade when he was a youth. He was for many years with John A. Pitts, of Dayton, whose father invented the Pitts separator. B. G. Bennett was foreman of the woodworking department of the factory owned by John A. Pitts and there E. A. Bennett learned to make every piece of a threshing machine except the iron parts. His part of the work was to assemble the different portions of the machines. Mr. Bennett also learned thoroughly the carpenter's trade, which knowledge later proved to be of inestimable benefit in the implement business that he followed in after years. He was one of the three organizers of the Bennett-Wheeler Mercantile Company of Butler in 1890, from which organization he resigned probably in 1900. Since that time, Mr. Bennett has been engaged in the loan business at Butler, with the exception of six years spent in Colorado.

In 1878, E. A. Bennett and Hannah J. Roberts, of Holt county, were united in marriage. To this union were born four children: Mrs. Doctor Zey, Butler, Missouri; Mrs. Charles McFarland, Butler, Missouri ; Charles R., who is employed as civil engineer, by the United States Government, in the city of Manila, Philippine Islands; and Gordon, a successful farmer and stockman, Holt county, Missouri. In November, 1910. E. A. Bennett and Minnie Chandler were united in marriage. Hannah J. (Roberts) Bennett had died in May, 1909.

The Bennett-Wheeler Mercantile Company of Butler, of which O. A. Heinlein is now manager, was organized in 1890 by E. A. Bennett, C. S. Wheeler, and J. B. Armstrong with a capital stock of thirty-five thousand dollars. This firm succeeded Bennett-Wheeler & Company, organized in 1882 with a capital stock of five thousand dollars, successors of B. G. Wheeler, who occupied a small frame building, 25 x 50 feet in dimensions, located on the present site of the Missouri State Bank building. There B. G. Wheeler had started in business in partnership with Mr. Harwi, under the firm name of WHieeler & Harwi. The latter retired from the firm later and went to Atchison, Kansas, where he established a wholesale and retail hardware and implement business and became wealthy. Mr. Harwi died about 1912. B. G. W^heeler left Butler after selling his interest in the store in 1882 and went to Boston. Massachusetts and in that city he died, probably in 1908. C. S. Wheeler was engaged in the real estate business at Westplains, Missouri at the time his death occurred. He died at a hospital in Kansas City, Missouri in 1909. J. B. Armstrong is still with the Bennett-Wheeler Mercantile Company. Mr. Bennett retired from the company after eighteen years service,

E. A. Bennett was one of the original stockholders of the Farmers Bank and for many years was a member of the directorate. He later became vice-president of this bank and also served as president of the Farmers Bank until January 1, 1911. He has been a member of the city council two terms, during which time the city ownership of the waterworks was being agitated. Honored and respected by all who know him, there is no man in Butler or Bates county, who occupies a more enviable position in commercial and financial circles than does Mr. Bennett, not alone on account of the marked success he has achieved, but also because of the honest, straightforward policy he has ever pursued.

J. F. Kern, the well-known promoter of Drainage District Number 1 in Bates county, Missouri, is one of the most progressive and energetic citizens of Bates county. Mr. Kern is a native of Indiana. He was born in 1859 in Boone county, Indiana, a son of William Perry and Caroline (Potts) Kern, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Kern were the parents of four children, who are now living: -Charles P., San Francisco, California; Mrs. Josie K. Pease, St. Louis, Missouri; Mrs. Emma Hutchison, Boise City, Idaho; and J. F., the subject of this review. The father died many years ago in Indiana. Mrs. Kern was making her home with her daughter at Kansas City, Missouri, when she died. Both parents were interred in the cemetery near the Kern homestead in Boone county, Indiana.

In the public schools of Indiana, J. F. Kern obtained a good common school education. His boyhood days and early manhood were spent in that state. He came to Missouri in 1898 and located at Kansas City. Four years later, in 1902, Mr. Kern settled at Butler. Prior to his coming, he had purchased six hundred fifty-eight acres of land now included in Drainage District, Number 1 and since he has added to his holdings twelve hundred acres. Mr. Kern is the present owner of eighteen hundred fifty-eight acres of land in the above named district, some of the very best farm land in Bates county, on which vast tract he has five sets of improvements. Eight hundred acres of his farm are, at the time of this writing in 1918, under a high state of cultivation. Mr.

In 1895, J. F. Kern and Fannie Beatty, daughter of Joseph and Ruth Beatty, of West Virginia, were united in marriage. Mrs. Kern's parents are both now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Kern have been born two children : Ruth, who is a student in the Butler High School ; and Frances, who is in the grade school. Although the Kerns are comparatively newcomers in Bates county, they have made countless friends in the county and in Butler, where they are numbered among the best families.

As has been above mentioned, J. F. Kern was the chief promoter of Drainage District, Number 1 in this county. The preliminary work on the ditch, twenty-three and a half miles in length, was begun in 1906. The labor of digging was begun in the autumn of 1907. This ditch drains forty-one thousand three hundred acres of land. There are eleven miles of lateral ditches cut and the entire work, as originally planned, was completed in 1909. The assessment on the land was ten dollars and ninetythree cents an acre for the original labor, but in 1911 it was decided to cut the ditch ten feet deeper and an additional assessment of four dollars and ninety-eight cents was made. The statutes of Missouri provided for the organization of drainage districts where a majority of the acreage in the district petitioned the court for such organization. The statutes also provided for bonding the assessments. Drainage District, Number 1 issued bonds at six per cent, for twenty years, which bonds were sold for a premium of fifteen thousand dollars. Mr. Kern states that the crops grown in this particular valley, where none ever grew before the ditch was dug, last year, of 1917, would pay the indebtedness created at the last assessment, namely one hundred seventy-one thousand dollars. The land is being gradually put under the plow and ultimately all will be under cultivation, one of the richest agricultural sections in Missouri. Naturally, at the beginning of the stupendous undertaking, as does every man who introduces an innovation, J. F. Kern met with much opposition but time and experience have proven conclusively the wisdom of the splendid improvement. Mr. Kern is a clear, logical thinker and the type of man who does big things. He plans and then studies practical means of carrying out his plans, keeping persistently at one attempt until he has accomplished his purpose and success comes. At the present time, Mr. Kern is "boosting" the Torrens system of land transfer. He was instrumental in getting a bill introduced at the last session of the Missouri State Legislature for the adoption of the system in Missouri. The bill passed the House but failed in the Senate. Mr. Kern has not given up the fight and some day the bill will undoubtedly become a law of the state, for it has much to recommend its adoption. The Torrens system of land transfer is practical and would save thousands of dollars to land owners of Missouri.

Interested in everything that tends to benefit the public J. F. Kern is no idle spectator of current local events, but in a large degree he has directed and controlled them. Firm in his individuality, Mr. Kern never lacks the courage of his convictions. He is a gentleman of lively sympathy, abiding charity, and sterling integrity, one of the strong, noteworthy citizens of Bates county, and in the years to come he is destined to be an important factor in the history of public affairs in this section of Missouri.

John Lawson, a prosperous farmer and stockman of Summit township, is one of the favorably known citizens of Bates county. Mr. Lawson is a native of Sweden. He returned to his native land in 1903 to visit his brother and four sisters still residents of that country and to again see the old home at Orklejunga, near Helsinborg, which is located on The Sound between Denmark and Sweden in the southern part of Sweden near the Cattegat in Malmohus Ian or province. There he was reared and, in the schools of Sweden, educated. After coming to America, Mr. Lawson mastered the English language, learning to both sp'eak and read it. He was born in Sweden in 1846 and emigrated from his home land in 1869.

On coming to the United States, Mr. Lawson located at Kansas City, Missouri, where he was employed in bridge work, laboring on the first bridge that ever spanned the Missouri river. Later, he worked on the first street railway line in Kansas City, Missouri, and he recalls that when the old depot was built, there were but three or four houses in the bottoms. He left Kansas City to accept a position on the St. Louis & St. Joe railroad, after which he was employed on a farm in Clinton county, Missouri, for three years, on a farm in Nebraska for eight years, and again on a farm in Clinton county for four years. Thirty-two years ago, Mr. Lawson came to Bates county, Missouri. He purchased his present country place in 1890 from Mr. Davis, of Indiana, and since he acquired the ownership of the farm he has improved it, -^dding all the well-constructed buildings, putting up all the fencing, and planting all the trees and shrubbery. The residence is a pleasant, comfortable house of seven rooms and there are two large barns on the farm for the use of stock and hay. The Lawson place is one of the excellent stock farms of Summit township, conveniently located and six and a half miles east of Butler. When Mr. Lawson was in Nebraska eight years, having gone there in 1874, a plague of grasshoppers descended upon them like hail stones and for three years their crops were entirely destroyed by the pestiferous pests, but - in spite of the ravages of the insects - he proved his claim and sold the farm one year after leaving the state. The last year in Nebraska, 1882, eight feet of snow embanked the house and Mr. Lawson knows that he scooped more snow that winter than all the people in Bates county combined ever saw. Two of the children were born in a "dug-out" on their claim in Nebraska.

The marriage of John Lawson and Sarah Miller was solemnized in 1892. Sarah (Miller) Lawson was born in 1850, in Clinton county, Missouri, a daughter of William and Margaret Miller, honored pioneers of Clinton county, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Miller entered land in Clinton county for twelve and a half cents an acre. Both parents are now deceased. To John and Sarah Lawson have been born five children: George, Adrian, Missouri; Vina, the wife of Charlie Williams, of Kiowa, Oklahoma; Myrtle, who resides in Nevada; Oliver, who resides in Montana; and John, Jr., who is engaged in the real estate business at Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Lawson are justly proud of their only grandson, John David, the son of John, Jr., of Kansas City, Missouri.

John Lawson is a striking example of what an immigrant, beginning life in America with no capital and no knowledge of the spoken tongue, can by constant industry, pluck, and perseverance accomplish. Beginning at the very bottom round of the ladder, without one dollar, he has steadily ascended until he has gained the top. directed and controlled throughout his career by honorable and upright principles. Mr. Lawson long ago won the respect and confidence of all with whom he came in contact and his life, measured by the usual standards of success, presents much that is worthy of emulation.

H. G. Cook, the widely and favorably known manager of the American Clothing House, is a native of Iowa. Mr. Cook is a son of Capt. N. W. and Mary E. (Green) Cook, the former, a native of New York and the latter, of Indiana. Capt. N. W. Cook was engaged in the mercantile business practically all his life. He served in the Union armv dur- ing the rebellion as captain of Company D, Third Iowa Volunteer Cavalry and came to Missouri in 1882 and was in the real estate business at Rich Hill for several years. N. W. and Mary E. Cook were the parents of nine children, who are now living: William H., Los Angeles, California; E. G., Tacoma, Washington; N. G., Springfield, South Dakota; G. B. M., Chicago, Illinois; H. L., Ottumwa, Iowa; Mrs. J. D. Wiseman, Centerville, Iowa; Mrs. W. R. Heylmun, lola, Kansas; Mrs. C. C. Cain, Tacoma, Washington; and H. G., the subject of this review. The father died in 1889 at Rich Hill, Missouri and the mother joined him in death in 1907. Mrs. Cook died at Centerville, Iowa.

H. G. Cook attended the public schools of Red Oak, low^a, and in that state was reared to manhood. He came to Bates county, Missouri in 1883. The American Clothing House was incorporated by Mr. Cook and others in 1901. Since locating at Butler, H. G. Cook has been a member of the city council four years and mayor of Butler two years. During his administration as mayor, the water works system was purchased by the city, a seventy-five-thousand-dollar bond issue voted, the old water works system taken over for thirty-two thousand five hundred dollars, a pumping station built on the railroad and a transmission line to the old plant at the river installed which station pumps water by electrical power for city purposes. By this means the water and light plants were consolidated at a great saving of labor and expense. The opposition, naturally, was exceedingly strong at the beginning of the undertaking as there always is at the proposal of any improvement, but Mr. Cook, with a progressive council backing him, pushed through these innovations to a successful termination and the experience of the years which have followed have proven their wisdom and excellence. He was one of the organizers of the Butler Commercial Club and served as its first president two years. During his administration the bond issue for the new high school was carried, the Commercial Club having charge of the campaign.

In 1891, H. G. Cook and Sallie Easley, of Rich Hill, Missouri, were united in marriage. Mrs. Cook is a native of Pleasant Hill, Cass county, Missouri. Her father was a prominent merchant in the pioneer days. To H. G. and Sallie Cook have been born three children : Pauline, St. Louis, Missouri; Helen, who is a student at the Missouri State L^niversity, Columbia, Missouri; and Josephine, wdio is attending St. Terresa Academy, Kansas City, Missouri.

& Company in 1885 and was incorporated by H. G. Cook and others in 1901. The store was originally located in the middle of the north block and the stock of merchandise was moved to the present store building in 1892. The establishment has fifty feet frontage and occupies two floors of the building. Originally the stock of goods consisted of clothing and men's shoes exclusively. In 1912, ladies' shoes, dry goods, and ready-to-wear garments were added. The American Clothing House now carries a mammoth stock of merchandise and enjoys a liberal patronage in Butler and Bates county. Much of the company's marked success has undoubtedly been due to the efficient management of the store.

Mr. Cook is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Cook is essentially a business man, a firm believer in the efficacy of honest and honorable labor. He possesses excellent judgment and taste and is seldom mistaken in his judgment of men and affairs. He conducts all business operations fairly and justly and has financially met with success commensurate with the ability and energy displayed.

Charles L. Fisk, the head of the amusement business in Butler, owner and manager of the Butler Opera House, an active member of the Butler Commercial Club, is one of Bates county's most progressive citizens, one who is known far bjeyond the confines of this part of the state. Mr. Fisk was born in Carrollton, Missouri in 1875, a son of Tilford Lewis and Caroline (Albert) Fisk, natives of Kentucky. His mother died when he was a babe three weeks of age and the boy was chiefly reared by his grandmother, Mrs. Martha (Medcalf) Fisk. At the age of fourteen years, Charles L. Fisk came to Bates county to make his home with his father, who resided on a farm four miles east of Butler and with whom he remained two years. The young man was then apprenticed to a merchant at Carrollton and later was employed on the section of the Santa Fe railway. Afterward, Mr. Fisk had the opportunity he had always longed for to acquire a knowledge of music and started on a career which has taken him to every capital and leading city in the United States.

For two and a half years, Charles L. Fisk was in the emplov of the Dain Mower Manufacturing Company at Ottumwa, Iowa. With this company, he received his start in music, with the Dain Mower Manufacturing Company's band, and Mr. Fisk has kept up his work in music for the past fifteen years. He is the present capable leader of the Butler band, one of the best in Missouri, a band that has never missed a contest, the winner of six first prizes in competition with such bands as the Colorado Midland, the Marshall, the Topeka, Kansas, and the Gownley's bands, the last named of Ottawa, Kansas.

In 1890, Mr. Fisk located at Butler. For the past five years, he has had charge of the Butler Opera House and for the last twelve months has been the owner and manager. He has followed the amuscr ment and music business practically all his life and has been in all the capital cities and principal business centers of the country in pursuit of his vocation. Mr. Fisk is at the head of the Lyceum Course of Butler, which puts on an eleven-hundred-and-twenty-five-dollar course of entertainments annually, bringing to the city the best talent to be found in the United States. On November 5, 1917, Mr. Fisk gave a band contest, in which all the bands, except the Butler band, of Bates county were eligible to compete and had as guest at the Opera House that night Ex-President William H. Taft.

In the Spanish American War, Charles L. Fisk was in charge of the Sixth Infantry band of Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's command. Mr. Fisk was commissioned by Gov. Lon V. Stevens as captain and aid-de-camp to serve on the staff of Brigadier-General H. C. Clark and he holds an honorable discharge from the United States Government.

November 17, 1896, Charles L. Fisk and Mabel Jenkins, a daughter of J. R. Jenkins, president of the Peoples Bank of Butler, w^ere united in marriage. Mrs. Fisk died November 26, 1899. Mr. Fisk was united in marriage with Leta Van Doren, of Pontiac, Illinois, on December 6, 1906 and they reside in Butler at the Opera House block. Mr. and Mrs. Fisk are widely known and universally respected.

Walter Henry, the pioneer garage man of Butler, Missouri, the well-known agent for the Dodge Brothers' automobiles, is a member of a highly respected and prominent pioneer family of Butler. Mr. Henry is a native of Bates county. He was born in 1880 on his father's farm which is located due east of the townsite of Butler, a son of E. P. and Gertrude (Garrison) Henry. E. P. Henry, better known as Captain Henry, was a native of Ohio. He was born at Marietta in Washington county. He was a veteran of the Civil War, having been in service with Company B, Thirty-sixth Ohio .Infantry, commissioned as lieutenant. Captain Henry came to Bates county, Missouri in 1869, at about the same time the Garrisons settled here. He was united in marriage with Gertrude Garrison and to them were born the following children: Alice, the wife of Dr. J. T. Hull, Butler, Missouri; Bertha, the widow of Judge J. S. Francesco, a late ex-judge of the probate court of Butler, Missouri; Charles E., who is engaged in farming on the home place northeast of Butler, adjoining the city; Walter, the subject of this review; and one child, a daughter, died in infancy. Captain Henry was for several years engaged in the real estate business at Butler, Missouri, associated in partnership with Mr. Hartwell under the firm name of Henry & Hartwell. His name has been inseparably connected with the early history of the development of Butler. Captain Henry was one of the promoters of Butler Academy, one of the organizers of the Butler Presbyterian church, and one of the first interested in the old Bates County Bank at Butler. He took a keen interest in horticulture and an active part in the horticultural society, the members of which used to meet at the farms of the members, and he did much to promote orchard growing in Bates county. To encourage clover raising. Captain Henry purchased a clover huller and hired a man to operate it in order that clover growers might without incurring this expense thresh and save their seed. Captain Henry was an excellent citizen, public spirited, enterprising, and industrious. He did all in his power to help his fellowmen and how well he succeeded in his most laudable desire was attested by the universal esteem and respect in which he was held by his neighbors and friends. E. P. Henry died and was taken to his last resting place in the cemetery at Butler in 1889.

Walter Henry attended the public schools of Butler and Butler Academy. He resided on the home place with his mother and his brother, Charles, until 1907. Mr. Henry is the pioneer garage man of Butler. He opened his present place of business on North Main street in February, 1911 and for the past three years has had the agency for the Dodge Brothers' automobiles. Mr. Henry has been very successful as a salesman and is selling cars as fast as he can obtain shipments. In addition to holding the agency for the Dodge cars, general repair work of a high order is done at the Henry garage.

In April, 1907, Walter Henry and Hope Stubblefield were united in marriage. Mrs. Henry is a native of Bates county, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. N. Stubblefield, of Butler, Missouri. Mr. Stubblefield is a native of Missouri and for many years was actively and successfully engaged in farming in this county. To Walter and Hope Henry have been born three children: Robert E., Walter F., and an infant son. Mr.

and Mrs. Henry number their friends in Butler and Bates county by the score and they are very popular with the young people of their community, moving in the best social circles of the city,

J. K. Norfleet, a prominent merchant of Butler, Missouri, the senior member of the firm, Norfleet & Ream, is one of Bates county's best business men. Mr. Norfleet was born in Kentucky in 1846, a son of Larkin and Frances (Gann) Norfleet, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Norfleet were the parents of ten children: Mrs. L. M. Phillips, Higginsville, Missouri; Mrs. J. J. Bell, Little River, Texas; Mrs. Rosaline Blevins, who resides in Arkansas; Rev. L. P., Sedalia, Missouri; A. L., a prosperous banker of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; J. K., the subject of this review; Mrs. E. E. Wheatley, deceased; Mrs. Fannie Dickson, deceased; T. I., deceased; and one child died in infancy. The mother died about 1890 and the father followed her in death in 1909. Larkin Norfleet died at Mayview in Lafayette county. Both parents are buried in Marvin Chapel cemetery in Lafayette county.

When J. K. Norfleet was a child six years of age, he came to Missouri with his parents and they located in Miller county. He attended school at Knob Noster, Missouri, whenever the opportunity presented itself and though Mr. Norfleet is the only member of his father's family who was not given many educational advantages, who received but little schooling, he is probably as successful as any in the business world. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Norfleet enlisted with the Confederates and served four years under General Price in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri. Mr. Norfleet was at Baton Rouge, Louisiana when the war ended. He returned to Miller county, Missouri, and remained there two nights, going thence to Saline county, where he resided for a short time. From Saline county, J. K. Norfleet went to Knob Noster, Missouri, where he made his home with his parents for four years, and then with them to Lafayette county near Mayview, where both mother and father died. Mr. Norfleet was engaged in the hardware business at Independence, prior to coming to Butler in 1901 and entering his present business which he has so admirably organized.

In 1869 J. K. Norfleet and Laura McClellan, daughter of Doctor McClellan, of Versailles, Missouri, were united in marriage and to this union have been born nine children, seven of whom are now living: Mrs. C. M. Brosins, Kansas City, Missouri; Clyde K., a traveling salesman. Independence, Missouri; C. V., Sanford, Florida; J. D., Carl, and Roy, who are associated in business with their father in the firm of Norfleet

& Ream; and Mrs. Birdie Pauline Ream, Butler, Missouri. Those deceased are : Mrs. Leona Monroe and Ella Ruby, who died at the age of five years. Mr. and Mrs. Norfleet reside in Butler.

Norfleet & Ream, dealers in groceries, hardware, automobiles, and Case threshing machines, began business in the city of Butler in 1901. They first rented a store room, 14 x 60 feet in dimensions, located on the west side of the public square and began in the mercantile business as a Racket store. At the time of this writing in 1918, the site of the establishment is two doors north of the former location, the present building having a frontage of fifty-seven feet and a depth of one hundred feet. The Norfleet & Ream garage is located on Ohio street, the room being 50 X 100 feet in dimensions. The north room of the building on the public square, a building two stories in height, is used for the offices on the second floor and for salesrooms on the first floor. Norfleet & Ream own all the buildings in wdiich they transact business. They purchased the building on the public square ten years ago and the garage building three years ago, dating from 1917. The members of the firm of Norfleet & Ream are, as follow: J. K. Norfleet, F. C. Ream, J. D., Carl M., and Roy J. Norfleet, sons of J. K. Norfleet. This is the largest business concern in Butler and the annual budget of business amounts to two hundred fifty thousand dollars.

J. K. Norfleet is one of the most enterprising and progressive citizens of Bates counuty. His soundness of judgment and clearness of foresight have won for him the highest regard of the leading business interests of this part of Missouri.

Jacob R. Baum, proprietor of "The Baum Stock Farm" in Mount Pleasant township, is one of the progressive "hustlers" among the successful agriculturists and stockmen of Bates county. Mr. Baum is a native of Ross county, Ohio. He was born in 1867 near Chillicothe and in Ross county was reared and educated. Practically all his life has been spent in agricultural pursuits.

"The Baum Stock Farm" produces high-grade Percheron horses and white-face Hereford cattle, which Mr. Baum began breeding about eight years ago, dating from the time of this writing in 1918. This stock farm is located three miles northwest of Butler, in Mount Pleasant township, and comprises one hundred sixty acres of valuable farm land. originally known as the "McFarland Farm." John Baum, father of Jacob R., purchased "The Baum Stock Farm" in 1886, but never came to Bates county, and spent all of his life in Ohio, dying in 1898. Jacob

R. Baum came to Bates county, Missouri, in 1889 and assumed control of the stock farm and has been profitably managing it ever since. His father would never leave Ohio to come West, and the son states that if a man once "drinks from the ]\Iiami river he either never leaves or always returns." Mr. Bauiii has at the present time on the farm thirteen head of registered Percherons, the largest herd perhaps in Bates countv. eleven head of registered Herefords and good grade cows, and ten head of good grade horses. "Jonas," an imported registered stallion formerly owned by W. H. Bayliss, of Bluemound, Kansas, heads the Percherons and "Subject, the Forty-first," registered steer purchased in Iowa and owned by Mr. Baum for eighteen months, heads the Herefords. He does not ship his products but finds a ready market at home for all he is able to produce. "The Baum Stock Farm" is equipped with a large stock barn, 36 x 71 feet in dimensions, having a shed attached for stock, hav, and strain, a hav barn, 36 x 48 feet in dimensions, tool shed, corncribs, hog houses, and all modern facilities for handling stock. Mrs. Baum has charge of the poultry industry and is making a name for herself as a successful fancier, raising pure-bred \\'hite Leghorn chickens and Toulouse geese.

Jacob R. Baum was first united in marriage with Maggie Carr, of Ross county, Ohio. To Jacob R. and Maggie (Carr) Baum was born one child, a daughter, Nettie. Mrs. Baum died in 1905. Mr. Baum and May McCann, of Butler, Missouri, were united in marriage in 1906 and Miss Nettie makes her home with them at "The Baum Stock Farm."

Fraternally, Mr. Baum is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Baum is devoting his life to the ancient and honorable pursuit of agriculture and the farming and stock interests of Bates countv are represented in this volume by no more worthy man.

Clark Wix, the widely-known justice of the peace of Deepwater township, ex-judge of the county court of Bates county, Missouri, ex-deputy internal revenue collector of Missouri, and ex-postmaster of Butler, Missouri, proprietor of "Walnut Grove Stock Farm" in Hudson and Deepwater townships, is an honorable representative of one of the prominent pioneer families of w^estern Missouri. Mr. Wix was born February 5, 1850, on his father's farm in Pleasant Gap township, Bates county, Missouri, a son of Joseph and Sarah (Beatty) Wix, the former, a native of Tennessee and the latter, of Kentucky. Joseph Wix was born in Overton county, Tennessee, on June 15, 1820. In 1835. the Wix family left Tennessee and settled on a tract of land in Fulton county, Illinois, a farm located near Fulton. One year later, Joseph Wix left the homestead in Illinois to try his fortune in the West, as Horace Greeley aptly said, "to grow up with the country," and in 1836 came to Bates county, Missouri, with a cattleman, who brought stock to Polk county in this state, helping him drive the cattle. At Bolivar, Missouri, they encountered the surveyors returning from old Papinsville, who told Mr. Wix that the country from which they came was as fine land as they had ever carried a chain over and for him that was sufficient recommendation. Joseph Wix parted with his friend, the cattleman from Illinois, and set out for Papinsville. On his arrival in Bates county, he found that the Indians of this part of the state were celebrating with a drunken jubilee, and - knowing from experience the savage characteristics of an intoxicated red man - Mr. Wix became alarmed about his own safety and started to go on farther north, when, a few miles out from the site of Papinsville and just north of the site of Pleasant Gap, he saw a horse coming which he recog'nized as belonging to an old friend and neighbor, an Illinois man, and he inquired of the boydriver to whom the animal belonged. The lad replied that the horse was owned by "Dick" Elliott, a settler from Illinois. Mr. Wix's surmise was proven correct. Mr. Elliott assisted the newcomer in locating and he settled on the farm, where he made his home the remainder of his life, in Bates county, on the place now owned by his son, Seth Wix. Joseph Wix was one of the first settlers of this county and of the township, in which his farm lay, one of the first merchants. There was a small store at Pleasant Gap at the time of his settling in Missouri and he opened one at his country home and for it hauled his merchandise from Boonville, Cooper county, Missouri, employing yokes of oxen, traveling by way of Dayton and Boonville. Mr. Wix was one of the leading men of affairs in western Missouri, a man of much intelligence and skill, an exceptionally capable workman in those days before the cry for specialization and in 1841 and 1842 his abilities were recognized as far as Fort Scott, Kansas, where he was called to assist in roofing the fort. He served his township, Pleasant Gap, for twenty years as justice of the peace, he was judge of the Bates county court from 1861 until 1863 and again from 1866 until 1869, and he was a member of the Missouri State Militia in Capt. John B. Newberry's company. For three years, during the Civil War, Squire Wix and his family resided in Jefferson county, Kansas. They returned to their home in April,

1865, to find all the buildings on the farm had been burned, the fences destroyed, and their stock gone. It was not a pleasant scene or a happy outlook for the future, but Joseph Wix was a true, brave, undaunted pioneer and he nobly set to work to begin life anew. To Joseph and Sarah (Beatty) Wix were born the following children: Sarah Elizabeth, deceased ; John D., who was accidentally killed while serving with the Missouri State Militia during the Civil War ; Perry, who died about 1855; Clark, the subject of this review; Thomas H., Yates Center, Woodson county, Kansas; A. L., Butler, Missouri; and Rev. Lewis L., a well-known minister and successful farmer of Deepwater township, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. The mother died May 8, 1857, when her youngest born w^as a babe three days old. Interment was made in Deweese cemetery in Bates county. Sarah (Beatty) Wix was a daughter of Robert Beatty, a native of Kentucky, who located in Saline county, Missouri, in the earliest days of the history of Missouri and from Saline county came to Bates county. Mr. Beatty died in 1853 and his remains were laid to rest in Smith cemetery in Bates county. Mrs. Wix was one of the bravest of Bates county's pioneer women. Joseph W^ix remarried, his second wife being Mrs. Eliza A. Cox, and to this union were born two children: Joseph P., who resides on the home place in Pleasant Gap township; and Mrs. Fannie A. Pherrington, of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. By a third marriage, Joseph Wix and Rosanna Deweese were the parents of four children, who are now living: Benjamin F., who is engaged in the teaching profession and at present is employed in teaching the Cumpton school; B. M., the merchant and postmaster of Pleasant Gap, Missouri; Seth, who is engaged in farming on the home place in Pleasant Gap township; and Mrs. Minnie Ballweg, of Pleasant Gap township. Joseph Wix died February 26, 1895, at the Wix homestead. He was seventy-five years of age and, with the exception of three years residence in Kansas during the Civil War, the greater part of his life after attaining maturity was spent within the geographic limits of Bates county, Missouri. His career was a busy and useful one and a striking example of honorable dealings, steadfastness of purpose, and invincible courage that is well worthy of emulation by the young man oblig-ed to rely upon his own resources for a start upon the rugged highway which leads to success. Interment was made in Myers cemetery in Hudson township, Bates county.

schools" and the pubHc schools of Bates county. When he was twentyone years of age, he began life independently engaged in the pursuits of agriculture and stock raising. He farmed on the home place for three years and then purchased a part of his present farm in Deepwater township. C. E. Sharp entered from the government that part of "Walnut Grove Stock Farm" upon which the Wix residence is located and 240 acres of the farm were entered by B. Reed, a speculator from Tuscarawas county, Ohio. Ninety acres were entered by Mr. Dinsmore, of Ohio. "Walnut Grove Stock Farm," so-called from the grove of walnut trees planted on the place by Mr. Wix, comprises seven hundred sixty-five acres of choice land in Deepwater and Hudson townships. Mr. Wix has himself improved the farm, adding a handsome residence, a house of eight rooms, in 1887; a new barn, 60 x 60 feet in dimensions, constructed of native timber sawed on the farm, which is probably the largest, best-built, most substantial barn in Bates county; a second barn, 24 x 30 feet in dimensions, with two twelve-foot sheds attached; a stock barn, 24 x 50 feet in dimensions; and numerous other farm buildings needed in the efficient handling of large herds of stock. There are three different sets of improvements on "Walnut Grove Stock Farm." Mr. Wix has on the farm, at the time of this writing in 1918, from twenty-five to thirty head of horses and mules, perhaps seventy-five head of cattle, and twenty-five head of sheep. He raises only high grade Hereford cattle, the head of the herd being registered, and Duroc Jersey hogs. He is the owner of a splendid registered jack, also. Three hundred acres of "Walnut Grove Stock Farm" are in bluegrass and pasture land.

The marriage of Clark Wix and Caroline E. Brown was solemnized February 26, 1871. Caroline E. (Brown) Wix is a daughter of John W. and Elizabeth (White) Brown and a native of Champaign county, Ohio. Mrs. Wix's parents came to Missouri in 1866 and settled in Bates county on a farm in Hudson township and they are both now deceased. John W. Brown was an elder of the Methodist church for forty years and the leader of the movement which resulted in the building of Brown's Chapel in Hudson township, a church named in honor of the founder. He was the father of nine children, two daughters being the sole survivors of the entire family, namely: Mrs. Clark Wix, the wife of the subject of this review; and Mrs. George W. Pharis, of Hudson township. Mr. Browm died in 1900 at the age of eighty-six years. The remains of both the mother and father lie interred in Myers cemetery in Bates county.

T. C. Pollard, the well-known anil energetic i>\\ ner. manager, and "li\e wire ' oi Ihe Pollard Agenc\' oi I'ntler. the largest insurance agencx' in southwestern Missouri, is a native of West \'irginia. Mr. Pollard was born in 1874 near Powhatan, \\ est \'irginia, a son of Thomas T. and Phoebe (Ball) Pollard, who were the parents of the following children; Mrs. Mary llamm. Hopkins, Missouri; Mrs. Ida M. Haird, Pancroft, Iowa; Mrs. Luella M. Baird, Pawpaw. Illinois; Mrs. litiie J. Barnes, Hopkins, Missouri; and T. C, the subject of this review. The father died about 1874 and in 1880 Mrs. Pollard came to Hopkins. Missomi with her children and at that place her death occurred in PM4.

W hen T. C. Pollard was a babe, six months of age, his father died and. thus, the boy was early in life placed upon his own resources. Since he was a lad. elexen \ears old, ]\lr. Pollard has made his own way in the world. Seventeen years ago. he began his insurance work w'ith L. C. Gray, the present state agent for the Springtield Fire Insurance Company of Springfield, Massachusetts for Missouri and Kansas, at Kansas City. Missouri. Mr. Pollard has been writing- insurance constantly since that time. He left Kansas Citv in PHVi and went ti^

Greeley, Colcjrado, where he (;|)ene(l an ai[^ency, or rather organized an insurance company, the ("olony Investment Company, which is still doing a thriving business in that state. Seven years later, Mr. Pollard left Greeley and went to Rolla, Missouri, where he followed the insurance business for two years, in charge of the Livingston Clino jjland Insurance agency. In June, 1916, he came to lUitler, Missouri, when he purchased his present agency. He attends personally to every policy written, keeping close account of the policy and date of expiration. Mr. Pollard has traveling men looking after new business as well as the ohl, when losses occur, he is just as desirous to adjust and pay the insurance as to write a new policy. All losses are adjusted at Mr. Pollard's own office and his maxim of business is, "Do it now."

In April, 1900, T. C. Pollard was united in marriage with Nora L. Lancaster at Ada, Kansas. Mrs. Pollard is a daughter of John G. and Alpha Lancaster, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. Lancaster died at Boulder, Colorado on October 17, 1912 and five years later, to the day, he was joined in death by his wife. Mrs. Lancaster died October 17, 1917. To T. C. and Nora L. Pollard have been born four chilrlren: Charles L., Naomi B., Harold C, and Donald N. Mr. and Mrs. Pollard reside in Butler at 112 West Fort Scott street.

The Pollard Agency was first established by Thomas Evelsizer about 1890 anrl was then known as the Continental Insurance Agency. Mr. Evelsizer sold the agency after several years. Later it was acquired by Ben Canterbury. Mr. Canterbury and Mr. Travis conducted the business in partnership for many years under the firm name of Canterbury & Travis. The latter ])artncr sold liis interest back to Mr. Canterbury, from whom T. C. Pollard purchased the agency in June, 1916. The Pollard Agency has now thirteen companies and is doing the largest insurance business in this part of the country, covering the counties of P>ates, Cass, St. Clair, and Vernon for two fire insurance com])anies, one life insurance compjany, and r)ne casualty insurance company.

Although T. C. Pollard is a very recent addition to the good citizenship of Butler, he has in the brief period of his residence in this city won a conspicuous place in the respect and esteem of the business men of Bates county and is now classed with the most valued, substantial, and intelligent citizens.

township, is one of the excellent citizens of Bates county who are widely and favorably known beyond the confines of their immediate community. Mr. Wilcox is a native of Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie county, Iowa. He was born in 1865, an only surviving child of Milo W. and Mary (Weldon) Wilcox. Milo Wilcox was a native of Ohio and Mrs. Wilcox was born in Kentucky and in youth came from her native state with her parents to Ohio. Milo Wilcox and Mary Weldon were united in marriage at Springfield, Illinois, and immediately afterward located in Iowa, where their son, E. D., was born. They moved from Iowa to Bates county, Missouri, in 1866 and in September of that year settled on a tract of land in Mount Pleasant township, the northwest quarter of section 8, for which Mr. Wilcox paid five dollars an acre. Mrs. Wilcox did not live long to enjoy the new home. Two years after their coming West, in 1868, she died, leaving her son a babe then but three years of age. In 1869 Milo Wilcox was united in marriage with Mary Ashley, a native of Bates county, and to them were born five children: Mrs. Lillie Silvers, Springfield, Missouri ; Roy, Butler, Missouri ; Manning, Butler, Missouri; Newton, Butler, Missouri; and Mrs. Nellie Huffmain, Springfield, Missouri. Mary (Ashley) AVilcox died in 1895. Mr. AVilcox continued to reside on the 'farm, \vhere ilie had settled in 1866, until his death in 1906. He was highly respected in his township, where he was numbered among the leading citizens. Mr. Wilcox was public-spirited and enterprising and deeply interested in educational work, serving faithfully and well on the district school board for many years in his community. He and Isaac Conklin built the school house, located near the Wilcox home, which was named in honor of Mr. Wilcox. The school was organized about 1866 and there all the Wilcox children attended school. In all that constitutes genuine manhood and good citizenship, Milo Wilcox occupied a conspicuous place among his fellowmen. Honest and upright in all his dealings, with integrity unquestioned and a record untinged by the breath of suspicion or calumny, Mr. Wilcox fully merited the esteem and confidence in which he was held by the people of his township and county.

The old Butler and West Point trail ran due west of the Wilcox homestead, in the early days. The land was practically all open prairie when the Wilcox family settled in Bates county and the traces of the old trail may still be seen in the pasture at the Wilcox home. Milo Wilcox drove a span of mules to Missouri from Iowa and the year fol- lowing his coming west he disposed of his team for five hundred dollars. E. D. Wilcox recalls the many deer he saw in the county in the days of his boyhood. He remembers hearing his father relate how he hauled the lumber for the two rooms of the Wilcox residence from Pleasant Hill, Missouri. In a pioneer home, amid pioneer surroundings. E. D. Wilcox was reared to manhood and was educated. He obtained his education at the Wilcox school house, attending no other school.

Milo Wilcox made it a rule that when his sons had attained the age of eighteen years they were to begin life for themselves and thus, at the age of eighteen years, E. D. Wilcox began to make his own way in the world. He rented land and engaged in farming and then after several years was enabled to purchase a farm in Sheridan county, Kansas, to which he moved in 1902. After three years, Mr. Wilcox returned to Bates county and purchased one hundred twenty acres of land lying directly north of his old home place, forty acres of which he afterward sold. He then purchased additional land on the east side of his farm, completing an eighty-acre tract, forty acres of which were inherited by Mr. Wilcox from his father's estate. Seventy acres of this east eighty-acre tract were formerly a part of the home farm. Mr. AVilcox is successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising. He keeps on the place an excellent grade of Poland China hogs, which have proven in recent years to be a profitable investment.

In 1890, E. D. Wilcox and Mary Walton were united in marriage. Mary (Walton) Wilcox is a daughter of T. J. and Allie Walton, of Butler, Missouri. Mrs. Walton died in 1894 and Mr. Walton still resides at Butler. To Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox have been born two children : Irene, the wife of Carl Thompson, of Passaic, Missouri; and Walton, who resides at home with his parents.

With the energy characteristic of a Wilcox, E. D. Wilcox has improved his farm and put the place in splendid condition, constantly adding to the beauty and attractiveness of his country home until now the Wilcox place is one of the most comfortable, desirable rural residences within the boundaries of the township. Mr. Wilcox is a quiet, plain man of tlie people, one noted for good sense and broad, intelligent views of men and affairs. Honorable and upright in all his dealings, aiming to do right as he sees and understands the right, his life has been far above criticism. Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox are well-known and highly valued by the best families of Bates county.

James H. Rayboum, ex-deputy clerk of Bates county, Missouri, ex-assessor of Deepwater township, ex-secretary and a present member of the board of directors of the Mutual Fire and Lightning Insurance Company of Bates county, is one of the brave clan of noble pioneers of this county and a representative of one of the oldest families of western Missouri. Mr. Raybourn is a native of Missouri. He was born in Henry county on his father's farm near Calhoun in 1843, a son of John C. and Sarah P. (Pinkston) Raybourn, natives of Madison county, Kentucky. John C. Raybourn came to Missouri among the earliest settlers and located on a tract of land in Henry county near Calhoun, where his son, J. H., the subject of this review, was born. The Raybourns settled in Missouri about 1840 and Mr. Raybourn lived but a few brief years to enjoy the new Western home. He died in Kentucky, while on a visit to the old homestead, in 1845 and interment was made in that state. John C. Raybourn w^as one of the leading business men of Henry county in his day and although he was a resident of the county but 'a short time before his death his future career appeared bright and promising, when in early, vigorous manhood he w^as cut down by the Grim Reaper, leaving a wndow and five little ones, J. H., then a babe two years of age, in a strange country and with little financial support. J. C. and Sarah Raybourn were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Elizabeth M. Myers, Everett, Washington; Elihu G., who died at Appleton City, Missouri, in 1911, at the age of seventy-four years; W^illiam B., who is engaged in farming in Hudson township on land entered from the government by their stepfather, John D. Myers; J. H., the subject of this review; and George W., of Sedan, Kansas. John C. Raybourn was a member of the jury in Henry county that sentenced the first man to be hanged in that county. The cabin home built by him in the early forties on his land two or three miles northeast of Calhoun is still standing. There is the birthplace of J. H. Raybourn. Mrs. Sarah P. Raybourn remarried, her second husband being John D. Myers. Mr. Myers and Mrs. Raybourn were united in marriage in 1847 and to them were born four children, all of wdiom are now deceased: Clay F., who died at Appleton City in the eighties; Dewitt Clinton, who died about 1879; Oscar E., deceased; and Sarah, who died in infancy during the Civil War and is buried in a cemetery near Dresden, in Pettis county. Missouri. John D. Myers was a native of Pennsylvania, but he was reared to maturity in Virginia. He came to Missouri in the early days and settled in Bates countv, where he was for years one of the leading citizens and a prominent man of affairs. He served two or more terms as member of the county court and was presiding judge at the time of the outbreak of the Civil War. In the years immediately following the Civil War, Mr. Myers served as county clerk of Bates county. Mrs. Sarah P. Raybourn Myers died at Appleton City, Missouri, in July 1890.

When J. H. Raybourn was a small lad, he recalls being taken on horseback with his stepfather, Mr. Myers, to Butler to attend the county court in the days before the prairies were taken up by the early settlers and that they would not pass a dwelling on the way. Mr. Raybourn came to Bates county, Missouri with his mother and stepfather, about 1847, and they settled on land, section 6, in Hudson township, which is now occupied by William B. Raybourn, This land was entered by Mr. Myers, who died in the seventies and was buried in High Point cemetery in Hudson township. J. H. Raybourn obtained his education in the "subscription schools" of Bates county, in the "log college" of Hudson township, as he himself states. His stepsister, Catherine Myers, was his first instructor. Mr. Raybourn afterward attended school at Dresden and Knob Noster. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Mr. Raybourn left Bates county and took up his residence with his uncle in Henry county for three months and then joined his parents at Smithton in Pettis county. They returned to their home in Bates county in 1862 and in August of the same year Mr. Raybourn returned to this county. The First Iowa Cavalry were stationed at Butler and he joined the Missouri State Militia, enrolled under Captain Newberry, and served with his company until it was disorganized. Mr. Raybourn then joined the Fifth Provisional Regiment and, later, the Forty-fifth Missouri Infantry, and with the latter remained until the close of the war in 1865. After the war, John D. Myers assumed his official duties as county clerk, circuit clerk and ex-ofificio recorder and J. H. Raybourn was appointed his deputy. They were in office at the time the Bates County Court was held at Pleasant Gap, in 1865, and in the spring of 1866 Mr. Raybourn hauled the records to Butler and placed them in the temporary office of the Bates county clerk, located on the southeast corner of the public square. He served faithfully and well for six years in the county clerk's office and. after vacating his official position, was employed as assistant in mercantile establishment in Butler for many years. Early in the seventies, he purchased his present stock farm in Deepwater township, a place comprising one hundred fifty acres of land, and moved to it and there resided until 1912, when he moved to the country place

J. H. Raybourn's first wife was Ada V. Holloway, of Cass county, a daughter of Thomas Holloway, an early settler on Tennessee branch, which took its name from the fact that Air. Holloway came from Tennessee. Mr. Holloway planted one of the iirst orchards in Cass county of apple trees grown from the seed taken from apples he had brought from Tennessee; but no two trees bore fruit alike or like the original apples. Ada V. Raybourn was a good, devoted wife. The marriage of J. H. Raybourn and Telitha V. Van Hoy was solemnized January 1, 1879. Mrs. Raybourn was born in 1851 in Henry county, Missouri, a daug-hter of Capt. John M. and Mary (Ludwig) Van Hoy, the former, a native of North Carolina and the latter, of Pennsylvania, both of whom are now deceased. The Van Hoys were honored pioneers of Henry county. Capt. John M. Van Hoy was an officer in the Federal army in the Civil War and he served as sheriff of Henry county for many years prior to the war. He was a prominent and influential politician of Henry county. His death occurred in Pettis county and his wife died in Bates county. To J. H. and Telitha Raybourn have been born the following children: Paul D., who died January 24, 1903 at the age of twenty-three years, while a student at Missouri State University, a graduate of Appleton City Academy; who died in infancy; Stella D., the wife of Payton R. Davis, of St. Clair county, Missouri ; Arthur, who died in infancy; Mary Alice, the wife of Lon Varus, Appleton City, Missouri; J. T., who is engaged in farming on the home place; C. \\, a well-known farmer of Deepwater township, and L. T., deceased, who were twins. By the former marriage, Mr. Raybourn is the father of three children, who are, namely: Mattie P., the wife of Henry Smizer, deceased about eight years, her death occurring at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Professor C. B., who has been superintendent of the Littleton Public Schools, Littleton, Colorado for the past fifteen years, in charge of the city and county schools; and D. C, Mountainburg, Arkansas. Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Raybourn are worthy and consistent members of the Presbyterian church, and regular attendants of the Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian church.

Mr. Ravbourn has for many years been a prominent citizen of his township. He has served the people of Deepwater township as assessor and as a member of the township school board. He was formerly secretary of the Mutual Fire & Lightning Insurance Company of Bates county and for the past eighteen years has been a member of the directorate of the company. He is numbered among the representative and substantial farmers and stockmen of Deepvvater township, in which township he owns two hundred twenty acres of valuable land. The hospitality and geniality of Mr. and Mrs. Raybourn are proverbial and there is no more highly respected and esteemed family in Bates county, Missouri. In point of years of residence in Bates county (seventy-one years) Mr. Raybourn is the oldest pioneer. He has continuously resided in this county for seventy-one years.

James Hardin, a prominent farmer and stockman of Mount Pleasant township, is one of the honored and respected pioneers of Bates county. Mr. Hardin is a native of Nicholas county, Kentucky. He was born October 16, 1845, a son of Wesley Hardin, a native of Virginia. Wesley Hardin had, in early manhood, moved with his parents to Kentucky and in that state was married. From Kentucky, Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Hardin went to Illinois and settled in Menard county in 1854 and there reared and educated their son, James, the subject of this review.

In February, 1865, at Springfield, Illinois, James Hardin enlisted in the Civil War and served until the close of the conflict in Company A, One Hundred Fifty-second Illinois Regiment of Infantry. Mr. Hardin was sent to Tullahoma, Tennessee and from there to Memphis, Tennessee, where he remained until mustered out at the end of the war. He had done guard duty in the war, principally. After the war had ended, Mr. Hardin returned to Springfield, Illinois, and from there went back home. In 1868, he came to Bates county, Missouri, and purchased his present home place in September of that year and in September, 1870, moved to it. He paid seven and a half dollars an acre for eighty acres of land and ten dollars an acre for ten acres of timberland at that time. The Hardin place was raw prairie at the time of the purchase. Mr. Hardin built a post and rail fence enclosing his land, the rails being nailed on the posts with old iron nails. This improvement was made the first year of his residence. A house, 14 x 22 feet in dimensions, was built of pine timber, the lumber for its construction hauled from La- Cygne, Linn county, Kansas. It required two days to make the trip. The first year, Mr. Hardin raised -twenty-five bushels of sod corn per acre and he has continued to improve his land and bring it up to a high state of cultivation through all the succeeding years. In the early days, a stage line operated from Butler to LaCygne, Kansas.

marriage at Lincoln, Illinois. To this union have been born five children: Fred L., at home; Edwin, Butler, Missouri; Katie Frances, at home; Frank S., at home; and Hugh, Little Rock, Arkansas. Mr. and Mrs. Hardin celebrated their Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary on October 17, 1917.

Mr. Hardin rebuilt the residence in 1907 and the Hardin home is now a comfortable, convenient house of seven large, well-lighted rooms.. A silo was erected in 1917. The farm is w^ell supplied with barns, having a commodious horse barn, cattle barn, and implement and crib barn, in addition to numerous sheds to facilitate the handling of stock, Mr. Hardin keeps registered Poland China hogs, which stock he has found to be the most profitable investment on the place. He milks ten head of Red Polled cows and ships the milk to St. Joseph, Missouri. Although Mr. Hardin personally oversees the work of the farm, he is not now actively engaged in agricultural pursuits but is quietly spending the closing years of his life on the home place, leaving the immediate supervision of the farm work to his sons, Fred L. and Frank S. Mr. and Mrs. Hardin have w^orked hard in the days gone by and no people in Missouri more deserving of the comfort and ease with which they are surrounded can be found.

The worthy pioneers of Mount Pleasant township are represented by no more enterprising and successful farmer and highly esteemed citizen than James Hardin. Belonging to the large and honorable class of good yeomen, who by deeds not words have done so much to develop the resources of our great commonwealth and advertise its advantages to the world, he has long been a forceful factor in Bates county and by a life singularly free from fault he has wielded a wholesome influence for good upon all with whom he has had business or social relations.

J. S. Brown, widely-known as the "Watermelon Man," of Butler, Missouri, propagator of the "Elsie Lee" watermelon, is the most noted plant breeder in this part of Missouri. Mr. Brown was born in Danville, Illinois, in 1851, a son of Shelby and Mary Brown, both of whom were natives of Tennessee. The Browns came to Missouri in 1869 and settled near Appleton City, where Mr. Brown engaged in general farming. To Shelby and Mary Brown were born the following children : Jacob, deceased; Abraham, a successful farmer of Pleasant Gap township; Dallas, whose address is unknown ; William, deceased ; J. S., the subject of this review; Mary, deceased; Mrs. Armantha Neal, Montrose, Missouri; Ellen, deceased; Almona, deceased. The mother died at the age of seventy-eight years at Appleton City, Missouri, on November 9, 1895. Shelby Brown joined his wife in death in November of the ensuing year, 1896.

In VermiHon county, Illinois, J. S. Brown obtained his education. He came West with his parents in 1869 and with them settled in Hudson township at a time when practically all Missouri was an open prairie. Shelby Brown purchased a farm comprising one hundred sixty acres of land, where the Browns resided until about 1890. The Brown homestead is still in the possession of a Brown, I. M. Brown, who, is, however, no relation to the family with whom we are now concerned.

J. S. Brown came to Butler, Missouri, in 1891, at which time he purchased his present country place from J. P. Edwards, a farm comprising one hundred acres of choice land, at that time but very poorly improved. The Brown farm lies two miles south of the Bates county court house and is now one of the nicely improved places in Mount Pleasant township. For several years, Mr. Brown has been engaged in stock raising and feeding, although he has always been interested in plant breeding and has raised watermelons in greater and lesser quantities since he came to Bates county. About 1905, Mr. Brown began privately investigating and experimenting and he has secured a remarkable result in crossing watermelon plants in the "Elsie Lee" watermelon, a fine, long, dark-green melon having a delicious, juicy, red core, a melon now very famous in this vicinity. Mr. Brown began the improvement of the ''Elsie Lee" nearly eight years ago and he is still at work. The melon was named in honor of his only daughter, Elsie Lee. He had planted four acres of his farm in melons in 1917 and finds the growing of them a very pleasant and profitable business, though involving much labor. He states that constant cultivation and care are the principal things to observe in melon production. Mr. Brown plants twelve feet apart and thins the plants to one in a hill. He thinks the reason why so many successful agriculturists fail in producing a paying crop of melons is that they neglect the melon plants for a few days when other plants need attention and those few hours in a hot. dry summer may mean the loss of the entire melon crop. Eive of Mr. Brown's melons brought one dollar and twenty-five cents each on the Butler market last year, of 1917.

January 22, 1880, the marriage of J- S. Brown and Annie Nettie Merryfield was solemnized at Appleton City, Missouri. Mrs. Brown is a daughter of Abraham and Mary J. (Moore) Merryfield. of Utica, New

York. Mr. and Mrs. Merryfield came from New York to Rockford, Illinois, and to Missouri in 1868 and settled at Appleton City, where both later died. To J. S. and Annie Nettie Brown have been born four children: Alva O., Spokane, Washington; Elsie Lee, the wife of Thomas Stout, a well-to-do merchant of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; Lena, deceased; and Omer E., who recently married Marie Council a daughter of H. H. Council, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Brown reside on rural route 7.

Actively interested in all that pertains to the public good and ready and willing at all times to put forth his best efforts to benefit his fellowman and make the community wiser and better, Mr. Brown is a commendable example of the "self-made" man. He is the Luther Burbank of Bates county.