Greene County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1915 (part 7 of 29)

William J. Crawford grew to manhood at Coshocton and there he attended the common and high schools, leaving school when seventeen years of age to enter the milling business at his home town, serving an apprenticeship of two and one-half years in the Empire Mills there. He then came to Topeka, Kansas, where he had charge of the Shawnee Mills for a period of nine years, being head miller, and he was responsible for the prestige and general popularity of these mills during that period. Next we find him at Newton, Kansas, where, for fifteen months he operated the Newton Mill & Elevator Company's plant. He came to Springfield, Missouri, in the latter nineties and while here enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war, on August jo, 1898, in Company A, Thirty-second United States Volunteers, and served in the army until 1901 with a most creditable record, having seen active service in the Philippine Islamic taking part in several campaigns on the island oi Luzon, and fought in the battles of Tarlac, Orami, Colcobin and others, also was 111 many skirmishes. He was injured while in the service and was for two months in a hospital in San Francisco, in which city he was mustered out in May. [901. Soon after he went to his old home in Ohio, and from there returned to Springfield and entered the employ -1 the Frisco railroad, first a- (luck- clerk in the freight department, then became chief of the delivery department in the inbound freight department which responsible position he -till holds.

Mr. (raw ford was married in [902 to Mary E. Voorhees, a daughter of George W. and Elizabeth (Bretzl Voorhees. lie was a captain in the Union army during the Civil war, having enlisted at Scio, Harrison county. Ohio. Mrs. I 'raw ford'- uncle. Richard Voorhees, is at this writing circuit judge in Ohio, his circuit embracing the counties of Coshocton, Muskingum and Summit. The Voorhees has long been a prominent family in Ohio and

Politically, Mr. Crawford is a Democrat in principle, but he votes independently, lie i- a member of the Knights of Pythias, and he belongs to the Presbyterian church, lie resides on Washington avenue in a pleasant hi line.

Mr. P. V. Collier

The Walk-Over shoe man of Springfield, Mo., who lias one of the best ami mosi up-todate shoe stores in the State of Missouri, which carries a complete line of men's and women's "Walk Over" shoes. Located at 312 South SI reel.

Many minds labor under the misapprehension that real patriotism is peculiar to men of high genius or the favorites of fortune. The true patriot is one who, from love of country, does, or tries to do, in the proper sphere, all that appears necessary to promote her honor, prosperity and peace. The substantial elements of this precious virtue which underlies the welfare of every nation, and especially of one professing to be free, like our own, are furnished by men in every walk of life, who step out of the realm of mere self-love, and seek to further and augment the commonweal. Among those who fill the highest seats, and prove themselves most deserving of public gratitude, many have been the farmers of the land, who have redeemed this great country from the wilderness and made even the rocks drip with fatness and blessing; or they may have, many of them, come from the ranks of tradesmen, doing their allotted tasks in the shops and factories of the country, in fact a patriot and useful citizen may spring from any walk of life. B. F. Rathbone, formerly an agriculturist, and for many years one of the Frisco's dependable shop employees, was born under alien skies, but he has spent most of his life in America, fifty-seven years of which have been lived in Greene county.

Mr. Rathbone was born March 13, 1848, in Birmingham, England. He is a sun of Thomas H. and Sarah Ann (Warr) Rathbone, a sketch of whom will be found on another page of this work. The father of our subject immigrated to the United States in the spring of 185 1, and the family followed during the autumn of that year. They all remained in New York City until 1858, when they removed to Greene county, Missouri, and established their permanent home.

B. F. Rathbone, of this sketch, was three years of age when his parents brought him from England. He spent his boyhood in New York City, where he attended school. He also went to school after coming to Greene county, having attended the Capt. John R. Kelso Academy. However, his education was limited, the Civil war having interfered with his studies. The family settled at the old Rathbone spring, northeast of Springfield, and there our subject worked on the farm when he was a young man, in fact, he followed general farming until 1882, in which year he removed to Springfield, and in August of that year began working in the old North Side Frisco shops. His first work for this road was the hauling of all the rock for the culverts from Springfield four miles east of the city. His first work in the shops proper was as blacksmith's helper. He remained in the shops until 1888, when he was elected constable of Campbell township, and he became deputy sheriff under Joe C. Dodson, however, he served but a short time in this capacity when he was appointed to a position on the police force. He served in all twelve years in the various official positions, proving to be an efficient and dependable officer. He then returned to the shops and finished learning his trade. About nine years ago he was as>igned to the work of spring maker at the North Side shops, and this position he has continued to hold to the present time, having long since become an expert in his line.

Mr. Rathbone was married March 13. 1871, in Springfield to Emily Rush (Woods), a daughter of Samuel Woods, a well-known citizen here a few decades ago. He came to Greene county from Tennesee in an early day and devoted his attention to general farming. During the latter years of his life he served one term as county treasurer, and prior to that was deputy sheriff. He made a good official and was well liked by all who knew him. lie was a gentleman of the old school. Our subject's wife's mother was known in her maidenhood as Mary Ragsdale. To their union six children were born, only three of whom are living at this writing. Mrs. Rathbone was born at Springfield, reared to womanhood and educated here.

vive, namely: Emma R., burn March i, 1872, is the wife of Albert L. Schofield; Ernest G.»born January 9, 1874, married Erma Smith, and they reside in Springfield; Harold H., born August 29, 1877, married Ida Robinsun, to which union two children were born, Milton and Marjorie; John I)., burn May 24, 1879, married Mary Culler, and they have two children, Erma and Dorothy; Walter G., born September 9, 1884, married Clara Parker, and they have two children, Ross and Emily; Edith L.. born January 18, [891, married Brandt Gaffga, and they have one child, Emily L.

Politically Mr. Rathbone is a Republican and he has always been loyal in his support of the party. He is a member of the Orient Lodge No. Nil. Knights of Pythias, and he served a- captain of Ascolon Division No. 15. Uniform Rank. Knights of Pythias, and Lodge No. 218, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having passed the chairs in both these orders. He also belongs to the Blacksmiths' Union. The family holds membership in tin- Benton Avenue Methodist Episcopal church.

At the outset of Ids career John A. McMehen. well-known farmer and stockman of Walnut Grove township, Greene county, recognized the fact that it takes self-reliance, perseverance and fortitude to win success in any line of human endeavor, so he did not seek any shady lanes to the goal of prosperity, but began to work diligently and along honorable lines to advance himself and the result is that he is now numbered among the successful and progressive citizens of his locality, and is a creditable representative in every way to the McMehen family, one of the must influential in the vicinity of Walnut Grove for the past forty years or more.

Mr. McMehen was born on a farm near Champaign, Illinois. November 12, 1869, some four years after his parents, James and Hannah R. ( Mc- Connell) McMehen, settled there. (See sketch of William A. McMehen on another page of this volume for further mention of parents.)

John A. McMehen grew to manhood on the home farm, being a small boy when the family removed here from Illinois, and he received his education in the local public schools. He remained on the home farm until he reached young manhood, doing his share of the general work, then started out for himself, buying seventy-three acres from his father and at the present time he owns a productive and well-kept place of one hundred sixty-nine and one-half acres. In connection with general farming he handled live stock on an extensive scale, especially mules, and is one of the well-known and successful stockmen of the county, being all excellent judge of them-

Mr. McMehen was married on December 24, 1893, to Jessie B. Rountree, who was born in Cedar county, Missouri", October 22, 1874, and there she grew up and was educated in the public schools. She is a daughter of Thomas B. and Dorothy (Haley) Rountree, both of whom still live on the homestead in Cedar count}-, and are actively engaged in the mercantile business at Cain Hill, Missouri.

To Mr. and Mrs. McMehen six children have been born, namely: The first child died in infancy, unnamed; John A., Jr., born August 26, 1898; Rountree, born on September 7, 1900; Blon, died on April 29, 1902; Jessie B., born March 23, 1903, and Andrew M., born December 30, 1912.

Politically, our subject is a Democrat, fraternally a member of the Masonic order, and he belongs to the Methodist church. His wife is a member of the Christian church.

Jefferson E. H Ax Sell

One of the popular, capable and courteous passenger conductors of the Frisco System is Jefferson E. Hansell, a man who is universally liked not only by railroad men but by all with whom he comes in contact. He has had charge of passenger train-- between Springfield and Memphis for twenty-five years for the Frisco and the old "Gulf" railroad, and it stands to reason thai in' "iK- c<mld retain such a responsible position a quarter of a century were they not capable, honest and trustworthy.

.Mr. Hansell was born July 1, 1856, in Marion, Lynn county. Iowa. He is a son of Joseph and Hannah (Leeka) Hansell, both natives of Ohio, the father born near Cincinnati. They grew up in the Buckeye state, received such educational advantages a- the schools of those early times afforded, and there they were married. Joseph Hansell learned the carpenters trade when a ydung man and became a successful carpenter and contractor, and in later life was a traveling salesman. He was a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting in [861, in Company K. Iowa Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Christian, Mr. Hansell having located in Iowa in 1855. He served three years in the Union army, principally against the hostile Indians of tin' West, and he saw a yreat deal of hard, active service. After the war he returned to Marion, Lynn county, Iowa. His family consisted of four children, namely: Francis M. was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war: Mary Elizabeth, William Madison and Jefferson E. of this sketch. These children are all living at this writing. Politically Joseph Hansell was a Republican, and he was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Jefferson E. Hansell grew to manhood at Marion, Iowa, and received his education in the public and high schools. After leaving school he drove a team across the great western plains to Salt Lake City, Utah, and back. In 1881 he began his career as a railroader, which he has continued to the present time, a period of thirty-three years. He first secured employment with the Chicago, Burlington & Ouincy, first as freight brakeman, then was promoted to freight conductor. In [886 he came to Springfield, Missouri, with his family and went to work for the Frisco railroad, first as brakeman, and for three weeks worked on the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis railroad, which road was purchased by the Frisco Railroad Company in 1900. On December 25, 1889, Mr. Hansell was promoted to passenger conductor and placed in charge of a train between Springfield and Memphis, and this has been his rim continuously to the present time. He took the first train over the mammoth bridge across the Mississippi river at Memphis, May 12, 1902.

Mr. Hansell was married, May 17, t88l, 1" Minelte Risser, w In > was burn at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, October 15, 1862. She is a daughter of Daniel and Martha (Foarisend) Risser. Mr. Risser was born in Germany, from which country he emigrated with his parents to the United States when he was five years old. The family first located at Cleveland, Ohio, and there Daniel Kisser grew to manhood and received his education, and from there he moved to Salem, Iowa. He was born in 1832, and died in 1904. J lis wife was born in Richmond, Indiana, and came west in 1845 to Iowa. She was born in [842, ami is still living, making her home in Springfield, Missouri. She and Mr. Risser were married in Salem, Iowa. Politically, Mi. Risser was a Democrat, and he served for some time as justice of the peace, and was also postmaster for a while at Pilot Grove, Iowa. His family consisted of eleven children, five of whom are still living, namely: Minette, wife id' Mr. Hansell of this sketch; < '. H.. Omer E., Mamie and Etna. Mrs. Hansell grew to womanhood in Mt. Pleasant. Iowa, and therereceived her education in the public schools and an academy, under Professor Howe, completing the teacher's course, but was married before she could begin a career as teacher.

Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hansell, all living, namely: Bertha, born December 2. 1882. is the wife of Mathew H. Gait; Emma E., born December 2, 1885, is single and is living at home; Jefferson E.. born October 25, 1891, is a reporter on the Springfield Republican; Don M.. born May 1. 1893. 's m tne hardware business and lives at home.

The Hansell home is a beautiful new brick structure at 1440 Fast Walnut street. Politically, Mr. Hansell is a Republican. He belongs to the Masonic order, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree. He is. a member of the Order of Railroad Conductors and the Springfield Club.

I I 68 Greene County, Missouri Robert Ezra Darby, M. D.. D. D. S.

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

1 )r. Darby is descended from a sterling old American family. Daniel Darby, his paternal grandfather, was born near Ripley, West Virginia, October 31, 1799, and died on November 27, 1862. He married Phoebe Evans, of Ohio, September 12, 1822. She was a daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (Faucette) Evans. Mrs. Phoebe Darby was born on November 13, 1803, and died January 18, 1880. Her great-grandfather came to America from Wales. The names of her brothers were. Ephraim, Jonathan, Samuel, Robert, Edward and Mark, the latter dying in childhood; and her sisters were Mrs. Ellen Stoots, Mrs. Margaret Starcher, Mrs. Tabitha Wright, .Mrs. Sarah Starcher. Mrs. Lydia Eong, Mrs. Priscilla Beezlev, Mrs. Ann Stoots. Thirteen children were born to Daniel Darbv and wife, four of whom died in infancy, namely: Jedediah, Jonathan, Sarah Ann, and Cynthia; the nine reaching maturity were. Elizabeth, who married Noah Bray, was burn in West Virginia, September 29, [823, died January 21, 1851; Rebecca, born in West Virginia, December 23, 1826, died January 24, 1842; Joseph Wright, who became a Baptist minister, was born in Indiana, May 9, [832, and .lied in Cedar Mill, Texas, January 2^,. 1863; Ezra Faucette, father of the subject of this sketch, was next in order of birth: Ruarni, born in Vermillion county. Illinois. April 4, 1N37. died December 24. [913, having remained unmarried; Ephraim Evans, a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church, South, was born in Hickory county. Missouri, December 10. [839, and lives in (.'enter Point, Texas; William Henry, a farmer and carpenter, was born in Hickory county, this slate. April iS, 1842, now lives in Dallas county, Missouri; George Washington, farmer, born in Hickory county, May 13, 1844, lives in Corpus Christi, Texas; Isabella Jane, who married Rev. Samuel Lopp, was born in Hickory county, February 1. 1847, lives with a daughter in Pennsylvania. The four last named reared large families. /

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

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

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

Our subject's maternal family also goes back through many generations of excellent citizens. The Andrews family came to America from England. Adam Andrews lived near Petersburg, Virginia. He died of the "black plague" while a soldier during the War of 1812. This family, although living near Richmond, the Confederate capital, were always opposed to negro slavery. Dr. Mark Andrews, a son of Adam Andrews, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Chesterfield count}-. Virginia, December 28, 1812. He married Martha Ann Griggs, April 12, 1835. She died on February 21, 1836. One child was born of this marriage - Martha Ann Eliza, the mother of the subject of this sketch. Martha Griggs had two brothers and one sister who came West. Joseph went to California, William to Greenfield, Missouri. The sister married Jacobs, a well-known merchant and banker of Greenfield, Missouri. Dr. Mark Andrews later married Virginia Thompson, August 25, 1836. They came to Missouri in 1840 and located at Buffalo, Dallas county. Here she taught the first school ever taught in that town : was also a teacher in the Sunday school. Thev moved to the farm near Urbana in 1850. Doctor Andrews lived a very (74) active life in the practice of his profession and became very prominent. Overwork and exposure hastened his death which occurred on June 31^ 1865. His family consisted of eleven in number, namely: Mary Elizabeth, who married William Howard, was born June 16, 1837, and died in 1885; Robert Jones, born December 31, 1838, died while a soldier in the Union army, July 6, 1864; Virginia Atkinson, born June 11, 1840, married C. P. Fletcher, lives in Meade. Kansas; Emily Frances, born July 13, 1843, >s the wife of W. H. Darby, of Urbana, Missouri; Lucy Jane, born July 4, 1845. is the wife of I. N. Reser, of Urbana, Missouri; Dr. John Polk Andrews, born July 14. 1847, lives at Marionville. Missouri; Harriet Yerlinda. born March 7, 1850. is the wife of VV. B. Coon, of Republic, Missouri; Jesse Edwin, born February [9, 1852, died June 18. 1853: Joseph William, born September 11, 1854, was a farmer, and died in 1893; Susan Buchanan, born March 4, 1857, is the wife of Charles Darby, of Medford, Oregon: Mark Lafayette, born Jul}" 7, 1859, is a farmer of Urbana, Missouri.

Ezra Faucett Darby, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Vermilion county, Illinois. October 30, 1834. In 1838. when he was but four years old, his father came to Missouri, and settled in that part of the state which was later organized into Hickory county. There he grew to manhood and devoted his active life to general farming, stock raising, shipping and also fruit growing. He became one of the most influential citizens there, taking a very active part in public affairs, always striving to better general conditions of living; he was a friend to education, the church and everything that made for advancement, lie was ever broad-minded and a man of charitable impulses. He enlisted in the Federal army at Urbana, Missouri, in the fall of 1863, in Company A, Eighteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Stonaker. He was at once sent with the regiment into Arkansas, the first stop being at Fort Smith. He was in the campaign to Camden, that state, in [864. He took part in a number of skirmishes. He was ordered from his regiment to the United States hospital at Little Rock, as ward master, in May, [865. While in the army be demonstrated what he taught, that one can live the life of a Christian, and of temperance, even in the face of adverse circumstances. He married Martha Andrews, April 14. 1859. She was born in Dinwiddie county, Virginia, January 29, 1836. Her father moved to Missouri in 1840. and settled in Buffalo, where she attended school. She was a woman of strong mind and line Christian sentiment. Like her husband she was a member of the Methodist church more than fifty years. She grew up in the days when everybody worked in establishing and maintaining the home, in the days of the spinning wheel, carding machine and loom and she hel|>ed make the clothing worn by the family, doing her full share of the household duties. She was a helpmeet beyond reproach, one of the most devoted of mothers, with great forethought for others and hut little for herself. This splendid old couple retired from farm life in 1898 and came to Springfield. They built a cozy home in a suburban orchard tract where they enjoyed a quiet life until necessary to break up housekeeping, in 1912. The}' then went to live with their daughter in Fort Scott, Kansas, where Mrs. Darby died September 26, [914. Of their children the first born died in infancy: Ira Barber, born January 4, 1876, died January 28, 1878; the other h\x- children reached maturity and have families of their own. They arc, Mark Evans, born June 12, 1862, lives in Springfield, and he has been appointed to the fifth two-year term as state inspector of apiaries; Robert Ezra, subject of this review; William Daniel, a merchant at Marionville, Missouri, was born June 22, 1866; Vernon Kingsley, a merchant, lives at Marionville also, and he was born on June 2, 1871 ; Alary Alice, horn on June 25, 1873, 's trle wife of W. O. Pardue, of Ft. Scott, Kansas.

Doctor Darby was born in Hickory county. Missouri, March 31, 1864. There he grew to manhood on the home farm and assisted with the general work. He received his early education in the public and private schools, later entering Marionville Collegiate Institute at Marionville, Missouri, from which institution he was graduated in 1X8(1. Filtering the Missouri State University, he was graduated from the normal department in 188S. He taught school a few terms, then studied dentistry and medicine. He was graduated from the Western Dental College in Kansas Citv in iNo_>, and from the University Medical College of Kansas City in 1893. He began the practice ot dentistry in Hickory count)', remaining there and in the adjoining county of Dallas until he came to Springfield in April, 1895, anc^ established his permanent business, which has gradually increased with advancing \ ears until he has long since taken a position in the front rank of his profession in ( ireene county, and has been busy from the first. He is a member of the lecture staff at Burge-Deaconess hospital. He has been a trustee of Marionville College several years. He was one of the organizers of the Springfield Dental Society, and was its second president. He joined the Missouri State Dental Association in 1892. He has read papers and given many clinics before it. He is also a member of the National Dental Association. He was elected president of the Missouri State Dental Association in 1909 in Kansas City ; and presided over and was one of the leading spirits in the annual meeting in St. Louis in May. lgro, when the association was reorganized to affiliate more closely the National Dental Association. That was a memorable event, being a -part of a general move to raise the standard of the profession in the entire United States, and make it a greater power for good. In all these positions of trust he has discharged his duties with fidelitv and an ability and soundness of judgment that has reflected much credit upon himself and lo the eminent satisfaction of all concerned. Doctor Darby is a learned and forceful writer on subjects of interest to his profession. They have been published in the leading professional journals and some of them widely copied - one of which we chanced to see in the British Journal of Dental Science, published in London.

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

Doctor Darby was married on May 22, 1895, to Mattie Stemmons. n daughter of F. B. Stemmons, deceased, for many years a prominent farmer and stock raiser near Golden City, Jasper county. Missouri. There Mrs. Darby grew to womanhood and was educated in the public schools, later attending Marionville Collegiate Institute, from which she was graduated in 1887. She then spent two years in the Missouri State University, but prior to that she had taught one term in Lawrence county. She had intended to follow teaching, but her mother's death occurring after she left the Marionville school she remained at home to help her father. After his second marriage she then entered the University at Columbia. Mrs. Darby was a teacher in the Sunday school for many years, taking an active part in church work. She being a great home woman, with a wide circle of friends, Mrs. Darby has been of incalculable assistance to her husband, her encouragement, sympathy as well as counsel resulting in much of his success. To our subject and wife three children have been born, namely Winfred, born March 12, 1898, and died April _>_\ 1899; Wendell Ezra, bom May 17. 1900: and Robert Stemmons, burn August 20, [913.

Mrs. Darby has an interesting ancestry. Martin and Alexander Stemmons. two brothers, came to this country from ' Germany. Martin never married. Alexander's wife was of Scotch-Irish descent. To them four s<>ns were born, namely: Jacob, Martin. Henry and Stephen. We find these names running through all the families "i succeeding generations. Martin, Mexander and the latter's oldest son, Jacob, who was Mrs. Darby's greatgrandfather, were in the Revolutionary war under General Washington. One descendant never used glasses and could read line print and write well at the age of ninety years. He had one son who moved t'> Lagrange, Texas, where he and his wife died, childless. They left by their will, except enough for a monument to themselves, fourteen hundred and twenty-five acres of land and all property to found an orphans' home and for other charitable purposes.

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

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

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

F. B. Stemmons, son of Dr. Jaquillian Martin Stemmons, Sr.. and father of Mrs. M. Darby, was a prominent farmer and stock raiser of Jasper county, Missouri. He was a man who loved the good and the beautiful and was always a friend to the needy and those in distress. He was a mem- ber of the Methodist church for many years. He married Eliza J. Clark, March 6, 1867, She was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church but after her marriage united with the Methodist Episcopal church. She was a woman loved by all who knew her, was devoted to her home and family. She lived a consistent Christian life for years and strove to train her children in Christian service. Her children were named, Mattie Ann, born December 22, 1867; Jaquillian Orange, born August 25, 1870, died when a child; James Monroe, a farmer near Colden City, married Ahce Parker; he was born January 16, 1872; Marietta, born April 25, 1875, and died October 7, 1894; Mrs. Clara Allman, born March 20, 1879, lives in Glasgow, .Montana; Luther Beverly, born May 1, 1882, is a farmer in Nebraska, and is unmarried; Mrs. Maggie Bell Marshall, born November

14, 1884, lives in Regina-, Canada; three children died in infancy, unnamed. F. B. Stemmons was twice married. His second wife was Mrs. Lvdia Wilson, and to this union one child was born - Ruth Stemmons, born |ulv

Of Mrs. Darby's maternal ancestors, we mention Orange R. (lark. her grandfather, who was born in St. Louis county, Missouri, February 6, [820. He was the twelfth and youngest child of Alexander and Mary Clark, lie was a Union soldier during the Civil war. and was killed July 21 , [864. lie was well educated for his time and had a good library. He was elected county judge of Jasper county in i860 but because of the Civil -war never served his term. Alexander Clark was born March 17. 17(12; Mary, his wife, was born February 2. 1777. The following children were born to them: John, whose birth occurred August 2. 1703; James, born September 2;. 1705; Patience, born January 22. 1798; Thomas, born September [8, [799; Harvey, born June 12. [802; Mary, born November 29, 1804; William Alexander, born February [6, 1N07: I). Franklin, born April 26, 1809; Elizan, born February 19, 1N11: Pamelia, born January 7, 181.4; Henry B., born February 3, 1N17: Orange Rector, horn February 6, 1N20.

Martha l.ewallen, daughter of S. L. I.ewallen, was horn in Bowling Green, Kentucky. November 13. [818. Her grandfather came to America from Scotland. In an early day her family emigrated to Missouri, locating m Pike county, where she later married ( ). 1\. (lark, February 20, 1S40. She and Mr. ('lark moved the same year to Jasper county, this state, and settled on a farm near While Oak where their children were born. Her death occurred November 11. [880. Their children were. Mary .Margaret. born October 2-. [840, and died July 29, [860; Thomas Kerr, bom December 5, [841, died January 1, 1N42. Three girls, triplets, were born October 2. [843; one died October 2. [843; the other two also died in 1843: Will- iani B., born September 13, .1845, and died March _>y, 1873; Eliza Jane, burn September 6, 1849. <llei1 February 16, 1889; she was the wife of F. B. Stemmons, and they were the .parents of Mrs. Darby. John F. Clark was burn March 26, 1852, lie became a minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian church; Martha Frances Clark, burn July 7, 1855, and died September 15, 1856; James O. Clark, burn October 4, 1858, is farming near Craik. Saskatchewan, Canada. He is growing this year (1915) eight hundred acres of wheat.

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

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

Hox. John S. Phelps

The grand old state of Connecticut has sent out thousands of her sons in the founding and upbuilding of new communities in the West. Many of these have served their adopted states long and well, and have left the imprint of their character and courage upon the history of their times, carving their names and fame upon the very foundation stones of many of the great commonwealths. But never did the old state make a better gift, never did she send out a better man, a brighter intellect, than when she gave John S. Phelps to Missouri. The prominence, both state and national, of this most distinguished citizen of Greene county of a past generation, may well serve as a reason why this sketch is given a conspicuous position in this volume.

Mr. Phelps was burn in Simsbury, Hartford county, Connecticut, December 22, 1814. He was a son of Elisha Phelps, who was a lawyer of great prominence in the old Nutmeg state, who served his fellow citizens in the state Legislature, state offices and four terms in the national Congress. Noah Phelps, our subject's paternal grandfather, was first a captain, then a colonel in the Revolutionary war and a must successful scout and spy. He was one of the "committee of safety" that planned the cap-

John S. Phelps was reared in his birthplace, receiving his education in the public schools and in Washington (now Trinity) College at Hartford, completing his course there in 1832, graduating when seventeen years old. Subsequently he studied law under his father for three years, and was admitted to the bar on the twenty-first anniversary of his birth. After a year and a half of practice in Hartford, be married there and determined to come West and seek a better and wider field for an ambitious young lawyer. Acting with that wisdom and foresight which ever characterized him in both public and private life, he chose the newly admitted state of Missouri, and in 1837, set foot upon her soil. It was necessary to be reexamined, before being enrolled as a member of the Missouri state bar, and young Phelps went to Boonville, where Judge Tomkins of the Supreme court had agreed to meet and examine him ; the judge, however, failed to come, and Mr. Phelps mounted a horse and proceeded to Jefferson City, where the judge resided. Here again was a disappointment for Judge Tompkins was some distance in the country at a sawmill, and there, sitting on a log in the woods in Cole county. Missouri's future governor was examined and licensed to practice in all courts of record, the license being written on a leaf torn from an old blue ledger, that being the only paper in the mill camp. Armed with this document, the young lawyer started for the great Southwest, locating at Springfield, then a mere hamlet with but fourteen white families. He at mice entered upon a good practice. When here less than a week he was retained to defend Charles S. Yancey,, who afterwards became circuit judge. He rapidly ruse to the bead of his profession, practicing over a district extending from Warsaw on the north to Forsyth "ii the south and from Waynesville on the east to Neosho on the west. He was soon recognized as the leading member of the bar in that section, for young as he was. his great legal attainments enabled him to cope successfully with the most experienced lawyers.

His public life began at an early age. In 1840 he was chosen to represent Greene county in the General Assembly of Missouri, and but little of his life was spent in retirement from that time until his death. In 1844 he was elected to Congress, and For eighteen consecutive vears, served in the same high position of public trust, lie was the father of the postage stamp. Any attempt at a full statement of his acts comprised in those years - his many valuable services - would far transcend the limits of this work: but the bare fact that for twelve years he was a member of the committee on ways and means - always the most important committee of a legislative body - and part of the time its chairman, is, in itself, the best evidence of the esteem and confidence reposed in him 011 the part of his co- workers in Congress. He believed in a tariff for revenue only, and voted for the tariff of [846, a measure denounced by the protectionists as one fraught with destruction to the manufacturing interests of the country. In about ten years thereafter, when a further reduction of duties was advocated and carried, the leading manufacturers of the country besought Congress not to interfere with the duties established in 1846. Mr. Phelps favored the measure granting bounty lands to soldiers, lie favored the granting of lands by the general government to Missouri to aid in building a railroad from St. Louis to the southwest corner of the state. In 1853 when Congress was discussing the building of a trans-continental railway, Mr. Phelps favored the construction of a road through the Indian country to Albuquerque, thence to San Francisco, on which route a road was later built.

During his last term in Congress, which was in Abraham Lincoln's first administration, he was part iff the time in the field, the great Civil war being then in progress; and he was appointed on the committee of ways and means before he had been sworn in as a member, a compliment never before tendered to any other citizen, in 1861 he raised a regiment, known as the "Phelps Regiment," which did valiant service for six months, and was commanded by Colonel Phelps in person at the memorable engagement at Pea Ridge, in which it suffered such heavy loss. Without solicitation on his part Colonel Phelps was appointed military governor of Arkansas, in 1862, which he accepted, but ill health soon necessitated his return to St. Louis. In 1864 he resumed the practice of law in Springfield, his Congressional career having closed in 1863. He was nominated for governor of Missouri in 1868 on the Democratic ticket, but he failed of election but he ran 12,000 ahead of his ticket, but eight years afterwards he was elected to this high office by a larger majority than any governor of this state ever received up to that time, and no man ever did greater honor to that highest office than he, and no lady ever did the honors of the governor's mansion with more becoming grace than did his daughter. Mrs. Mary Montgomery. Had not the constitution fixed the one term limit on the governor's office, there is no doubt but that Mr. Phelps would have been re-elected, had he been willing. In the convention of 1876, no less a personage than the Hon. George G. Vest - Missouri's greatest senator since Benton - was defeated by Governor Phelps for the Democratic nomination. After the expiration of his gubernatorial term Governor Phelps lived in partial retirement, only occasionally giving legal advice in some very important cases. He spent considerable time in travel, including northern Mexico and Oregon. President Grover Cleveland tendered him the position as American minister to any country in Europe, excepting the four great powers, but he declined the honor owing to failing health.

Few men had greater conversational powers or enjoyed more keenly the social intercourse of friends, than did Missouri's great governor, from Greene county. He enjoyed a large circle of distinguished acquaintances from various parts of the Union, and when he was summoned to his eternal rest in 1886 he was mourned not only by the state but by the nation as well.

David R. Francis, mayor of St. Louis, afterwards governor of Missouri, declared a half-holiday in St. Louis and came in person to attend the funeral.

Great, genial, magnanimous, easy of approach, and yet dignified withal, scholarlv, brilliant and a genteel gentleman in all the relations of life, Governor Phelps was just the style of a man that a whole people delighted to honor and revere, following his lead with the implicit confidence which is ever the surest criterion in pronouncing him a great man.

James O'Byrne

Springfield has long been headquarters for a great number of commercial travelers. Men representing a wide diversity of firms maintain their homes here, which some of them have an opportunity to visit only infrequently. It is a good residence town for their families, 1- conveniently and centrally located in one of the best sections of the Union, and salesmen go nit in all directions in the adjacent territory, representing not only local houses but companies in many of the eastern and northern cities. Of this number the name of James (J'Byrue should have specific mention, as lie is not onl) one of the most successful but one of the best known traveling men out of the Queen City of the Ozarks.

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

lames O'Byrne spent his boyhood in Ireland and received a good common school education. He has always been a commercial man, and he came to the United States before the Civil war. On April 17, [861, at New Orleans, he enlisted in the Confederate army, among the first to offer his services, and as a private in the Third Louisiana Volunteer Infantry he served with valor and credit all through the struggle of four hard year-, participating in many important campaigns and nearly all the great battles. After the war he remained in the South until the spring of 1867, reaching Springfield, Missouri, on March 17, and lie has made his home here ever since. He has traveled in even' state in the Union, also Central America and South America and Australia, having a record as a commercial traveler which few can equal in the United States. He lias no doubt traveled more miles as a salesman than any other man in the Middle West, lie has met with uniform success, no matter what territory was assigned to him, and has been faithful and trustworthy at all times, ever alert to the good of the firm he represents. lie is a man of tact, diplomacy and earnestness, a good mixer and makes and retains friends easily. He is one of the most widely known commercial travelers in the country. lie has long owned a nice home in Springfield.

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

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

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

Max Scharff

Among the enterprising citizens of Springfield who originally came from the German Empire is Max Scharff, the major portion of whose active career as a man of affairs has been spent in America, having for a number of years been a resident on a plantation of the far South before casting his lot with the people of the Queen City of the Ozarks.

Mr. Scharff was born in Esslingen, Rhinepfalz, Bavaria, September 9, 1854. There he grew to be seventeen years of age, and received his education, emigrating to the United States shortly after the close of the Franco- Prussian war, in 1871. lie was then seventeen years of age. He landed in Vicksburg, Mississippi, subsequently locating in Louisiana on a sugar plantation, where he resided until 1891, in which year he came to Springfield, .Missouri, and engaged in business on South street for one year, then moved to the northwest corner of Campbell and Walnut streets after the new building was completed here, in i8<)_> and this has been his location ever since. Ills industry and good management has resulted in success. He owns a modern and attractive home in this city.

Mr. Scharff was married September 6, 188 J, to Rosa Scharff. of Natchez, Mississippi. She was a daughter of Daniel and Carolina (Wertheimer ) Scharff. Her father is a native of Germany. To our subject and wife four children have been born, two sons and two daughters, namely: Daniel is engaged in business with his father; Clarence is a traveling salesman with headquarters at Vicksburg, Mississippi; Clara is the wife of M, A. Ullman, a member of the firm of the Ullman-Netter Dry Goods Company of Springfield: Fay is the wife of Marx Xetter, a member of the firm of the Ullman-Netter Dry Goods Company.

1889, and Mr. Scharff was married in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 1, 1895, to Carrie Hart, of that city. She is a daughter of Meyer Hart, a native of Villmar, Nassau, Germany, on the river halm. There lie grew to manhood and was educated. He came to America in 1896, and his death occurred in Springfield, Missouri, in 1907.

Mr. Scharff is a member of the Masonic blue lodge, Acacia, No. 116, at Plaquemine, Louisiana. He also belongs to the Royal Arcanum and to the Knights of Pythias, also Florence lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Politically, he is a Democrat; however, he is somewhat of an independent voter and does a great deal of "scratching" on his ballot, his aim always being to support the best man for the place sought, and his method is one to be commended to the voters of all parties. He is a member of the Temple Israel of Springfield, being vice-president of the same, and has been influential in the work here for years. He has led a quiet, law-abiding life, never having served mi a jury, and has never been sued or had to stand a law suit.

Henry T. Watts

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

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

Henrv T. Watts was four years old when his parents brought him to America, lie spent his boyhood in St. Louis and received a common school education, which was very limited, for he went to work when only nine years of age, and has supported himself since that time, his record being one of selfreliance, grit and unswerving perseverance, and be is deserving of much credit for what he has accomplished. When a boy he worked for the newspaper known as the Springfield Southwest, the name of which was later changed to the Southweslcr. He held the position of "printer's devil" for three years, then worked as pressman for some time at the plant of the Springfield Patriot, and later was pressman on the Springfield Republican. As pressman he turned out the first daily paper in Springfield, in the building opposite the Metropolitan lintel on College street. He remained in the employ nf the Republican five or si\ vears. From there he went to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in [886, and was there during the memorable flood, then went to Pittsburgh, but later returned to Johnstown. He subsequently worked as machinist at Rankin. Pennsylvania, with the Braddock Wire Company, and learned his trade there. Returning to Springfield on a visit, he accepted a position at his trade in the Frisco's North Side shops, first being under instructions, then worked during the year of [888 as regular machinist, and continued as journeyman for sixteen or seventeen years, when he was transferred to the round-house as air-brake inspector in the North Side shops, which position he held for four years, then was promoted to foreman of the air room there, in July, mot), and is still holding this position, and discharging his duties in an able and acceptable manner. He has ten men under his direction. They do repair work for the entire system.

Mr. Watts lives at 1^52 Clay street, where he bought a lot and had a neat dwelling erected according to Ids own plans. He was married, in 1880, to Minnie Sterling, a daughter of John and Mary (Shepard) Sterling. Her

Politically, Mr. Watts is a Republican. He is prominent in fraternal circles, being a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Royal Arch, the Blue Lodge, the \\ hire Shrine and the Order of the Eastern Star; also the Woodmen of the World, the Loyal Order of Moose and the International Association of Machinists.

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

Mr. Nelson was born at Wilmar, Drew count}-. Arkansas, November 20, 1875. lie is a S..11 ,if Thomas D. and Maggie X. (Alexander! Nelson. The father was born in Tennessee, in which state he grew to manhood and there enlisted in a regiment in the Confederate army during the Civil war, serving with credit until the close of the conflict. After the war he came to Arkansas and engaged in the lumber business until 1882, when he went to Louisiana, where he has since made his home, and there he is still engaged in business. His family consisted of nine children. The maternal grandfather of our subject was a native of the state of Mississippi, and during the Civil war he was a soldier in the Confederate army and was killed in battle. His family consisted of three children, all now deceased. His daughter, Maggie X. Alexander, mother of our subject, died April 25, 1 9 14, in Dubach, Louisiana.

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

Air. Nelson was married on February 17, 1902, to Pearl Hale, at Junction City, Arkansas, and they resided at that place until 19 13, when they removed to Springfield, Missouri, where they have since made their home. They are the parents of four children, namely: Marion Hale, James Denny, .Maurice Sanders and Rose Elizabeth.

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

Frank A. Frey

The chief characteristics of Frank A. Frey, prominent agriculturist and stock man of Taylor township, Greene county, who also maintains a home in Springfield, are keenness of perception, an unflagging energy, honesty of purpose and motive and every-day common sense, which have enabled him nol only to advance his own interests in a most gratifying manner, but also to largely contribute to the moral and material interests of the community. He worked his way from a modest beginning, having landed from a foreign strand on our shores many years ago, "a youth to fortune and to fame unknown." step l>v step to a position of no mean importance, by his individual efforts, which have been practically unaided from hoyhood, which fact renders him the more worthy of the praise that is freely accorded him by his fellow men. I lis life has been one of unceasing industry and perseverance, and the honorable and systematic methods he has ever employed are commended to others, if they court the goddess Success.

Mrs. Frank A. Frey

were educated and married, and spent their lives, and to them two sons were born, Aloys Frey, now deceased, and Frank A. Frey, of this sketch.

Frank A. Frey sent his boyhood in his native land, and there received his education. When eighteen years old he emigrated to the United States, in 1871, landing in Xew York, where he remained only a month, then came on west to St. Louis, where he spent one year, then spent two years in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he was engaged in the butcher business, then went to 1'aris, Illinois, where he worked for George Mullins in the meat business for five years, then started in the same business for himself, and continued to operate successfully a meat market there for nine years, when he sold out and went to Grand Island, Nebraska, where he continued his former vocation for two years, then sold out and came to Springfield, Missouri and here established a meat business, which he carried on with his usual success for seven years, then sold out and started in the live stock business in connection with general farming in Taylor township, a lewmiles from Springfield, where lie owns a valuable and productive farm of two hundred and forty acres, which he has placed under modern improvements and a high state of cultivation, and there carries on general agricultural pursuits and stock raising on an extensive scale, and has become one of the leading fanners of Greene county. He keeps large numbers of various kinds of live stock of a good grade, and there is no better judge of stock in the county than he. A substantial, convenient and attractive set of buildings are to be seen on his farm, and everything about the place denotes good management, thrift and good taste. Mr. Frey also owns a fine new residence in Freemont street in Springfield, wdiere his family resides, and from there he makes frequent trips to his rural home. His holdings contain over thirtv-five acres inside the city limits, some of which is platted and is very valuable.

Mr. Frey was married first, in 1 881, in Paris, Illinois, to Emma Ormiston. whose death occurred twenty-two years later, on January 31, 1903. She was a daughter of David and Harriet Ormiston, who lived in Paris, Illinois, in which city Mrs. Frey grew to womanhood and was educated. To this first union one son was born, Paul A. Frey, who is engaged in farming two miles south of Springfield. In 1909 our subject was married a second time, his last wife being Mrs. Susie Smith, of Greene county, Missouri, widow of Samuel Smith, and a daughter of John and Julia (Miller) Harpster. She was born on April 29, 1856, and she received a common school education in White county. Illinois; where she was born and reared. This last union has been without issue. (75)

Mrs. Frey's first husband was S. R. Smith, an old railroad man. In late life he was injured, losing his right arm, and with his wife, went to farming in Taylor township, Greene county, and from a small beginning he and his wife accumulated two hundred and eighty acres. Mr. Smith died in 1904., leaving his widow with two hundred and eighty acres of land in Greene county and a heavy mortgage to pay. It is greatly to her credit as a manager, as well as to Greene county's wonderful resources, to state that in one year Mrs. Smith had paid up the mortgage, cleared her property and had an abundance of stock and property free of debt.

Residbncb Of Frank A. Frey

rise the righl of suffrage, However, he has never cared for public office, having no time to take from his private business affairs. Fraternally, lie is a member of the Masonic order. Air. Frey, in [882, and again in 1886, crossed the Atlantic to visit his native land.

Mr. Frey's grandfather served in the French wars under Napoleon for a period of fourteen years and attained the rank of second lieutenant, and took part in the great battle of Waterloo, seeing the fall of the mighty Corsican. ( hir subject is the possessor of a number of interesting relics and heirlooms, including a number Of grim reminders of the terrible wars of his native country a century or more ago. Among these is a sword carried by his grandfather, who was with Napoleon during the last years of the emperor's career in France.

Robert A. Bowland

Robert A. Bowland has established a reputation for honesty and integrity which is attested by the high estimation in which he is held by his fellow citizens, being a citizen and neighbor highly honored in his locality, and in his sphere of life, nobly and faithfully, has he performed every duty that presented itself. Formerly he was one of our efficient school teachers, and later served Greene county many years as treasurer, and thus is well known over the city and county. He is a man of positive temperament, firm in his convictions, forcible and fearless in his adhesion to principles, and is regarded by all who know him as an honorable man and obliging gentleman.

Mr. Bowland was born in Morrow county, Ohio. He is a son of Boyd M. and Mary Elizabeth (Colmery) Bowland, both natives of Pennsylvania, from which state they moved to Ohio when young and were married in the latter state, and were educated in the public schools. The mother of our subject taught school for some time prior to her marriage. Boyd M. Bowland devoted his life to agricultural pursuits. He moved his family from Ohio to Greene county, Missouri, when his son, Robert A., of this sketch, was a small child. Politically, the elder Bowland was a Republican. During the Civil war he was a soldier in the Union army, and after the war he served for some time as postmaster at Iberia, Morrow county, Ohio.

Eleven children were born to Boyd M. and Elizabeth Bowland, eight of whom are living at this writing. They were named as follows: Charles C. and Harry C. are the two eldest; Boyd M., Jr., is deceased; Robert A., of this sketch; William B. is deceased; David M., Cora E., Edward B., Leroy R. and Calvin are all living; and Samuel M., the youngest, is deceased.

Robert A. Bowland grew to manhood on the home farm and there assisted with the work when a boy. He received a good education in the public schools and the normal school in Springfield. He began life for himself by engaging in farming for a few years, then taught school a number of years with much success, and later was a deputy assessor, and served as such in the Greene county court house for three years under W. A. Smith. During that time he mastered thoroughly the ins and outs of the office, and in 1904 made the race for county treasurer and was elected by a large majority. His record as a public official in this connection was so highly commendable and he proved to be such a careful, honest and obliging public servant, that he was re-elected and held the office eight years, to the satisfaction of all concerned. Mr. Bowland owns a good home in Springfield, which is tastily kept by a lady of refinement, known in her maidenhood as Emma V. Kerr, whom Mr. Bowland married in 1895. She is a native of

Kansas, and when she was but a child she came with her parents to Greene county, Missouri, locating on a farm near Republic, where she completed her education in the Republic high school. To this union one child was born, Robert Paul, born at Republic, Missouri, August 19, 1900, and is at home attending public school. Her parents were born in Indiana and went to the Sunflower state many years ago, but remained only a few years.

Politically, Mr. Bowland is a Republican. He and his family are members of the First Baptist church, in which he is a deacon and an active worker. Fraternally, our subject belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen. Mrs. Bowland is a charter member of the Wild Rose camp. Royal Neighbors, of Republic.

There are not many Vermonters in Greene county, notwithstanding the fact that this New England state is one of the oldest in the American Union, and has been sending her population westward for over a century to_ help build up and develop the newer sections of our country. The}- have the record of being good citizens wherever they have located, being industrious, intelligent and law-abiding, for the must part. Owen M. Evans, chief engineer at the Springfield Wagon Works, and one of Greene county's honored citizens. is such a man.

Mr. Evans was born in Castleton, Rutland county, Vermont, December 27, 1862. He is a son of Moses Evans, a native of Wales, the little rugged country where all the numerous family of Evanses originated. There he grew to manhood and from there emigrated to the United States in the fifties, locating at once in the Famous Vermont quarry district. He engaged in prospecting and got out roofing slate for himself, owning and operating slate quarries at Castleton. ilis death occurred in [897, at the age of sixty-five years, and he was buried at Fair Haven, Vermont. Before leaving Wales he joined the Independent Order of odd Fellows. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, and was for many years active in church work. Politically, he was a Republican. Ilis wife, who was known in her maidenhood as Jane emigrating to America when thirteen years of age, and lived with her brother in Vermont until her marriage. Her mother died some time before she left her native land. She was a daughter of < )wen Williams and wife. She died in [910 at the age of seventy-two years and is buried at Fair Haven, Vermont. To Moses and Jane Evans thirteen children were born, named as Follow: Annie married William Peck, a carpenter and contractor at Stamford.

Connecticut, where they still reside; Owen M., of this sketch; John is engaged in farming in Pennsylvania; Laura married William Owens and they live in New York City; jane, widow of John Tackebury, lives in New Rochelle, New York; William is engaged in the grocery business in New York City; Moses is engaged in the bakery and confectionery business in West End. Xew Jersey; Elizabeth has remained single and is engaged as bookkeeper for the Bell Telephone Company at New Rochelle, New York; Margaret, widow of Llew Perrv, lives in Xew York City; Katie, who lives in Florida, is a twin sister of Nellie, who married Harry Owens, a slate operate at Poultnev, Vermont ; Winifred is unmarried and makes her home at Xew Rochelle, Xew York.

The paternal grandfather of the above named children, whose name was Owen Evans, was a native of Wales, where he spent his entire life; he was a slate operator, and this business has been the principal vocation of many of his descendants.

Owen M. Evans, of this sketch, grew to manhood in his native state, and there attended the common schools, and when twelve years of age he went to work cutting stone, continuing for three years, then worked as a farm hand in that community for three years, after which we find him operating pumps and engines at the slate quarries at Castleton. subsequently working as engineer for the Castleton Milling Company, holding this position one vear. Leaving Vermont when twenty -eight years of age, in 1890, he came to Springfield. Missouri, and soon thereafter secured employment with the Dunlap Construction Company, later worked for the Metropolitan Street Railway Company, then was trimmer and lineman for the Springfield Lighting Company. In March, 1893, be was employed by the Metropolitan Electric Railway as chief electrician at the power house, and he held this position until the spring of [900, when he went with the Springfield Brewing Company as chief engineer, leaving there in July, 1901, and began working as night engineer for the Springfield Ice and Refrigerator Company. In November of that year he went with the Springfield Wagon Company as chief engineer, which position he has continued to fill to the present time, giving his usual satisfactory and faithful service. When he began with the last-named firm, steam was used throughout the plant, but Mr. Evans devoted his spare time for years to the study of electricity and has become a capable and thorough electrician, and, at his solicitation, the company installed an electric power plant in 1914. In January, 1913, Mr. Evans was promoted to the position of assistant superintendent, the duties of which he ably discharged for a period of two years, but finding the work too engrossing, he resigned, preferring the position of chief engineer. He has been in the employ of the Springfield Wagon Works thirteen years.

and Margaret Fox. Her death occurred in 1909, at the age of forty-six years. This union was without issue. In 191 1 Mr. Evans married Millie Grantham, widow of Howard M. Grantham. This union has also been without issue.

Mr. Evans is a member of the National Association of Steam Engineers, in which he has long been active and influential; in fact, he has the honor of being known as the founder of this new important and widely known association, of which he has for some time been president. He belongs to the Masonic order, including the Knights Templars. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias Sisters, the Order of the Eastern Star and the Royal Neighbors. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and politically is a Republican. He is chairman of the board of stationary engineer examiners. He was twice elected city councilman from the Sixth ward and served two terms of four years in this capacity. He is known as the father of the Concrete Paving Company, of Springfield. He is devoted to the work of citv progress, and he was one of the prime factors in starting the movement that led to the paving of our streets. He has always been conservative in the expenditure of the city's money; in fact, has done much for the general and permanent good of Springfield in many ways, and in all the positions of trust which he has occupied he has proven himself to be most capable, energetic, honest and trustworthy, meriting" the esteem in which be is universally held, and he ranks with the most representative and useful of our citizens.

Omer E. Rissi R.

Among the well known and popular railroad men of Springfield is Omer E. Risser, passenger conductor, who has been connected with the Frisco for over a quarter of a century, and his long retention by the system would indicate that he is a man of ability and worthy of the trust reposed in him. He is of German descent on his father's side and has inherited many of the commendable qualities of those people, and his success in life has been due entirely to his own efforts.

Mr. Risser was born in Mt. Pleasant, [owa, July 26, 1864. He is a son of Daniel and Martha (Tbwnsend) Risser. The father was born in Germany in [830, and there he grew to manhood and had the advantages of a good education, and he served three years in the army, as is the custom in that country of every able bodied man when he becomes of certain age. He was a shoemaker by trade, which he followed for a livelihood.

and became quite an expert workman. He emigrated to the United States when a young man and spent several years in Indiana, where he was married; later lived in Iowa during a protracted period, but finally removed to Springfield, Missouri, where his death occurred in 1898. The mother of the subject of this sketch was born in 1832, in New England, of Quaker parents, and was reared in their faith. She is now living on East Walnut street, Springfield, Missouri. To Daniel Risser and wife eleven children were born, five of whom are living at this writing, namely: Mrs. J. E. Hansell, of Springfield (a complete sketch of Mr. Hansell and family appears on another page of this work) ; Dr. C. H. Risser lives in North Manchester, Indiana; Omer E. Risser, of this sketch; Mamie Risser is living with her mother in Springfield; Airs. A. T. Moore, who lives on West Walnut street, Springfield.

Omer E. Risser received his education in the public and high schools of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and when but a boy he took up railroading as a career, first working, however, for the American Express Company, in the office at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. In 1883 he went to work for the Chicago, Burlington & Ouincy Railroad Company, with which he remained until 1886, in January of which year he came to Springfield, Missouri, and went to work for the Frisco system as brakeman, his run being between Springfield and Newburg, Missouri. In 1888 Superintendent W. A. Thomas requested our subject to go to the southwestern division, at Talihina, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), and after working there a short time he was promoted to freight conductor. Mr. Risser worked between Talihina and Paris, Texas, until 1893; then returned to Springfield and went to work on the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis railroad as brakeman behind twenty-six extra conductors. In 1897 ne was promoted to the regular crew again as conductor of a freight, and in 1903 he was promoted to extra passenger conductor, and for many years his run has been between Springfield and Thayer, this state. He has been very successful as a conductor and is one of the best known and most popular men of his division.

Mr. Risser was married June 19, 1889, in Springfield, to Rose Conlin, who was born in St. Louis, December 11, 1864. She is a daughter of Thomas and Ann (Mooney) Conlin, both born in Ireland, from which country they came to America in early life and were married in Auburn, New York.

Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Risser, namely: Ralph D., born March 2$, 1892, is at present employed in the city engineer's -office, Springfield: Kathrvn. born January 8, 1896, and Marjorie. born December 28, 1899.

Politically, Mr. Risser is a Democrat. Tn i8go he joined Division 30, Order of Railroad Conductors, and when on the old Gulf road was trans- f erred to Division 321. He joined the Masonic order in 1907. is a Knight Templar and became a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in 1908. In 1910 he was elected councilman from the fifth ward and served two years with much credit. Since 1907 he has been secretary of the local Order of Railway Conductors, and was a delegate to the annual meetings of the order at Jacksonville. Boston and Detroit. He has long been an active and influential worker in the same.

Obadiah Clark Mitchell

Few can draw rules for their guidance from the pages of Plutarch, but all are benefited, one way and another, by the delineation of those traits of character which find scope in the common walks of the world. The unostentatious routine of private life, although in the aggregate more important to the welfare of the community, than any meteoric public career, can not, from its very nature, figure in the public annals, though each locality's history should contain the names of those individuals who contribute to the success of the material, civic and mural welfare of the community and to its public stability; men who lead wholesome and exemplary lives which might be profitably studied by the oncoming generation. In such a class must consistently appear the name of Obadiah (lark .Mitchell, the present efficient and popular postmaster of Springfield, Missouri, a man who has led a plain, industrious life, a large part of which has been in government service, and suffice it to say that his record is without blemish, fur he has always endeavored to do his duty faithfully, deal honestly with everyone and contribute somewhat to the general public good in an unobtrusive manner. He is one of the best examples in Greene county of the successful self-made man, and is deserving of a great deal of credit fur what he has accomplished in the face of obstacles, having climbed, step by step, from an environment nunc too promising in his youth to a position of prominence in the affairs of the capital city uf the Ozarks. llis example might be studied with profit by the youth, discouraged and hesitating at the parting of the ways.

Mr. Mitchell was born in Dallas county. Missouri, October 20, 1858. He is a son of Greenberry Mitchell and Sarah (Williams) Mitchell, both natives of the slate of Tennessee, the father born in [819 and the mother in 1822. They each represented line old families of that state. There they grew to maturity, received such educational advantages as^the early days afforded and there they were married. At the age of twentv-three vears Greenberry Mitchell began the ministry of the Missionary Baptist church.

O. C. Mitchell

About the year 1850 he moved to Missouri as a missionary of his church, and was one of the pioneer ministers of this section of the state. He was a. man of sterling character, a powerful preacher of the old school and he did an excellent work among the frontier settlers here, some of the older citizens yet remember him and revere his memory tor his kind, helpful and unselfish life. He was called to his reward in the Silent land in [S'88. His wife died in Greene count)- in 1882. They are both buried at the Union Grove cemetery, near Fair Grove, Missouri.

To Rev. Greenberry Mitchell and wife nine children were born, six suns and three daughters, two ot the sons and one of the daughters being now deceased. Those living are. Samantha is the wife of H. A. Highrield, and they live at Highrield. Arkansas; David 11. lives at Marshfield, Missouri; Rebecca A. is the widow of George W. Cooksey, of Strafford, Missouri; Robert G. lives in Cassville, Missouri; Allen J. makes his home at Pladd, this state; and Obadiah (A, of this review.

The subject of this sketch received a common school education and spent one year in Morris\ ille College, in Polk county, Missouri, after which he engaged in farming until March 0. 1887. when he came to Springfield and secured employment with the Frisci railroad with which he remained two years, then secured a position on the police force under Mayor Walker, which he held for two years, discharging his duties most faithfully, then engaged in the grocery business for a year. In [893 he was appointed mail carrier, in which capacity he served in a highly satisfactory manner to all concerned until in February, 1914. when he was appointed postmaster at Springfield, and he is proving to be a most faithful, conscientious and callable public servant, giving eminent satisfaction to both the department and the people. He has served the government faithfully for a period of twenty-one years.

Mr. Mitchell was married October _', 1878, to Elizabeth Donnell, who was born in Greene county, Missouri, March 26. 1858. She was reared to womanhood and educated in the public schools of her native community, and she has proven to be a most faithful helpmate. To Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell one child has been born, John E. Mitchell, who is employed in the Frisco shops at Springfield.

Politically, Mr. Mitchell is a Democrat and has been a worker in the party since attaining his majority. He has been a member of the Baptist church since 1877. He is a member of the Ozark Mountain Branch, No. 203, National Association of Letter Carriers. He has been president of the same for ten years, and has lieen a delegate to the state and national conventions af the .order. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the RoyaL Arcanum and the Woodmen of the World.

Irvin H. Campbell

The old Keystone state has furnished many of her good citizens to the newer western states who have been of inestimable value in developing them, for it seems that they have ever been people noted for their enterprise and courage. Although poor when they came into the wilder west, many of them, a few years finds them in possession of good homes, for they work with a will, are not thwarted by obstacles and make good citizens in general. One of this number was the late Irvin H. Campbell, for many years a successful agriculturist, later devoting his time to railroading, and was one of the trusted employees of the Frisco Svstem for a number of years.

Mr. Campbell was born in Huntington, Pennsylvania, January 8, 1848. He is a son of Armstrong Campbell and wife, both natives of the state of Pennsylvania, where they grew up, were educated in the early-day schools and married, later removing to Ohio, and from that state moved finallv to Illinois, the mother, however, dying while the family lived in Ohio. Armstrong Campbell devoted his life to general farming. His death occurred in 1893. Hc was twice married, the only child by his first wife being Irvin H., the subject of this memoir. Four children were born to his second marriage.

Irvin H. Campbell grew to manh 1 on the home farm and he assisted his father with the general work on the same during the crop season, and during the winter attended the district schools in Ohio. However, he had little opportunity to receive an extensive education in his boyhood, but he developed himself ami always depended upon his individual resources.

Mr. Campbell was a soldier in the days immediately following the Civil war. having enlisted, in May, [865, in Company 1. One Hundred and Thirty-second Regiment, < >lii< > National Guard. This was during the reconstruction period and his service was aboul the same as if he had enlisted during the regular period of the Civil war. in which he would gladly have served had he been old enough. He saw some service, however, and was in one skirmish. He was honorably discharged, and not long thereafter came west to Bureau county, Illinois, where his father had previously located, and there he took up farming, which he followed until March 8, 1881, when he came to Springfield, Missouri, where he first secured employment in the Queen City Mills, with which he remained some time, then went to work for tin- Frisco railroad, remaining with this company until about a year prior to his death, when he retired from active life, after a faithful and successful career as railroader.

who was born in Maryland, April 21, 1853. She is a daughter of Jacob D. and Margaret Ann (Houck) Ott, both natives of Maryland and representatives of old Southern families. Mr. Ott was a tanner by trade. When the wife of our subject was five years old the Ott family moved to Illinois, and later came to Missouri, where the death of the father occurred in 1904. The mother is still living, making her home in Springfield. Mrs. Campbell is the oldest of ten children, all living. She received a good education in the common schools in Illinois.

Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, namely: Eva M, born October 30, 1870, makes her home in Springfield; Blanche E., born April 30, 1872, married J. E. Ledman, and they have one child, Margaret Ann, born March 17, 1913; Lillian B., born August 30, 1874, has remained unmarried; William E., born October 8, 1885, died in infancy.

Politically, Mr. Campbell was a Republican in his earlier years, but later was a Socialist. He was a Christian Scientist in his religious beliefs, and he was formerly a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, but in later years dropped his membership in the same. He was a man of fine character and had a large number of friends here.

William C. Billasch

Parents should carefully consider the inclinations of their children. The great mistakes of life are owing in a large measure to the fact that young people adopt professions or enter businesses for which they have no natural ability. It is easy to see that if young men could start out in early life in the pursuit for which nature has best adapted them, and if they should persist in that line industriously and energetically, success would be assured in every instance, no matter if they were not possessed with brilliancy or unusual ability ; persistence in this one line will bring success. William C. Billasch, foreman painter of the Springfield Wagon Works, has followed his profession from boyhood, having been fortunate in selecting the vocation for which he seems to have been well qualified by nature.

Mr. Billasch was born in Dubuque, Iowa, June 18, 1856. He is a son of George F. Billasch, whose death occurred in Dubuque in 1910 at the age of eighty-three years. He had been inspector in a leather factory there and previously held a similar position in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a native of German}-, from which country he came to America when young and settled in Philadelphia, where he became superintendent of a large tannery. He came west at the age of twenty-nine years, establishing his future home in Dubuque, Iowa. After working there and at Sioux

City for some time as leather inspector in factories, he worked as roundhouse foreman for the Illinois Central Railroad Company for a period of fort}- years, retiring five years prior to his death. While living in Philadelphia he also engaged in the cooperage business for six or seven years. Politically, he was a Republican. He was a life member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, by which ludge he was buried. He belonged to the Lutheran church. His wife, who was Henrietta Louise Reinicka before her marriage, was a native of Germany, from which country she emigrated to the United States when a girl, locating in Philadelphia, and there she and .Mr. Billasch were married. Her death occurred also in the year 1910, at the age of eighty-one years. These parents were an excellent old couple, industrious and honest. They were the parents of seven children, namely: William C, subject of this sketch; Theodore died when fourteen years of age; George is engaged in mercantile pursuits in Dubuque, Iowa: Edward 1- superintendent of a hardware factor}' in Chicago; Albert lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he is in the employ of the Indianapolis Railway and Construction Company; Henry Louis is deceased: he and Henrietta Louise were twins: -he is the wife of August Northdorf, who is employed as foreman for the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, of Chicago.

William C. Billasch received a common school education and took a course in a business college in Chicago. He studied two years at a night school. When thirteen years of aye he went to work in the A. A. Cooper Wagon Works at Dubuque, Iowa; then worked three years in Chicago in the Schuttler Wagon Works, two and one-half years of which were spent in the painting department, and then was foreman 111 the plant of the Wrebber Wagon Compan) in Chicago tor a period of seventeen years, in the painting department, and in that city he also worked a year in the Staver Manufacturing Company. From there he came to Springfield, Missouri, in the fall of 1895, a,1(' took a position as foreman painter in the plant of lie Springfield Wagon Works, assuming charge of that department, which position he has held continuously for a period of twenty years, which fact would indicate that he has been not only an expert in his line hut faithful iinl reliable all the while.