Greene County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1915 (part 9 of 29)

In April, 1885, tnc marriage of Judge Lincoln occurred to Jennie M. Adams, a native of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, a daughter of Henry H. Adams, a merchant, who at present resides with his daughter, Airs. Lincoln, in Springfield. Missouri. His wife was know in her maidenhood as Isabel I-. Swaner.

To the union of our subject and wife three sons were born - William Lincoln, born in Springfield, in January. 1887. was graduated from the local high school, later attending Drury College several terms; he married Pauline Burns in 1908; she is a daughter of F. M Burns, and to this union one child has been born, William Burns Lincoln, whose birth occurred in January, 1910. Harold Thomas Lincoln, second son of Judge Lincoln and wife, was born in Springfield November 11, 1888. He was graduated from the Springfield high school and from the Columbia Law School in Ohio, and commenced the practice of his profession with his father in 1909, and he is regarded as one of the leaders of the younger generation of the Greene county bar. In December, 191 1, he married Maggie Sims, and to this union one daughter has been born, Margaret Lincoln. Harold T.

Lincoln is a Republican. He was appointed city tax attorney, which position he held two years, and was assistant prosecuting attorney of Greene county under James H. Mason. Urged by his friends, he was a candidate for city attorney in 19 14, and his election was regarded from the first as most probable, since he is popular with all classes, and his record as a public servant in his former capacities was most commendable in every respect.

Mr. Lincoln is a Republican. He is a member of the Masonic order and the Improved Order of Red Men. Religiously he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church.

Year has been added to year ami decade to decade until seventy-seven years have been numbered with the past since Charles L. Robertson, a venerable and highly honored farmer of Murray township, came to Greene county, this long span of years embracing nearly the whole of his life, which has been .-.pent in this locality. Upon the arrival of the Robertson family this section of the state was largely an undeveloped region, awaiting the awakening touch of the sturdy pioneer- to transform its wild lands into rich farms and beautiful and comfortable homes, to establish churches and schools, and in many other ways reclaim the country for the use of man. Our subject has played well his part as a citizen of enterprise and public spirit, has lived to see and take part in the transformation of the county, whose interests he has ever had at heart, and, having been a close observer all the while, he is an interesting talker on what the vicissitudes of time has wrought here.

Mr. Robertson was born in Hamilton county, eastern Tennessee, April 5, [837. He is a son of Jefferson and Mary Ann (Lodspeach) Robertson, representatives of very old Southern families. Jefferson Robertson was born in Roam- county, Tennessee, in [806, and there he grew up and married and made his home until [837 when he came to Greene county, Missouri, with his family. Springfield then being known to many of the settlers as "Stump Town." In [839 he purchased two hundred acres of laud where our subject now lives, the latter owning forty acres off this tract. The lather devoted bis life to general farming, and here he resided until his death in 1877, was known to his neighbors as an honest, hospitable and hard working man. He was a Democrat, and belonged to the Methodist Epis- COpal church, South, first, when the services of this denomination were held in Murray school house later, when a church house had been built at Willard. he attended there. His wife was born in Greene county, Tennessee, and when nine years old she left there with her parents and the family located at Sweetwater, Tennessee, where she grew to womanhood and married. She was born in 1817 and died May 9, 1908, at the unusual age of ninety-one years, having outlived her husband thirty-one years, he having died in the inline of life. She was a grand old lady, beloved by all who knew her.

To Jefferson Robertson and wife eleven children were born, t namely : Charles L. of this review; Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Young of Willard, Greene county; .Mrs. Nancy Caroline Grant of Polk county, Missouri; Mrs. Armeldia Potter of Oklahoma; John Lindsay of Oklahoma; Mrs. Josephine Gilmore, of Cave Spring, Cass township, Greene county ; Mrs. Eliza Jane Snider, who lives on the old homestead in Murray township; Mrs. Sally Murray, of Murray township; Mrs. Martha Frances Philips, of Panhandle, Texas; the two youngest children died in infancy unnamed.

Charles L. Robertson was alumt two years old when his parents brought him from the mountains of Eastern Tennessee to the vicinity where he now resides and here he grew to manhood on his father's farm and there worked hard when a boy in assisting to clear and develop the place, and dining the winter he attended the brief >essions of the old-time subscription schools in his locality. He remained on the homestead until he was twenty-one years of age then began farming fur himself, settling on a part of what he now owns and has lived here continuously to the present time, successfully] engaged in general farming and stock raising. He owns one hundred and twenty-acres, one hundred acres .if which is under cultivation. He has heen a hard working man all his life and has a well improved and well kept place and a good group of outbuildings. He always keeps an excellent grade of various kinds of live stock and is one of the best known men n\ the township, respected by all his acquaintances.

Mr. Robertson was married May 10, 1857, to Eliza Ann Wittenburg, a native of Greene county, Missouri, and a daughter of Phelix and Nancy (RobbersorO Wittenburg, both natives of Eastern Tennessee, the father born August 17. 1810, and the mother August 15, 1820. The latter was eleven years old when her parents brought her to Missouri and she died here October 5, 1844.

Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Robertson, all dying in early childhood but two, who are still living. Mrs. Mary Caroline Olinger, of Murray township, this county; and William J., who lives in Walnut Grove, Missouri.

Politically Mr. Robertson is a Democrat, but has never aspired to office, preferring a quiet home life. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church South, at Pearl, Cass township, where his wife and daughter also hold membership. During the Civil war he served three months in the Confederate army in a very creditable manner. (78)

One of the best-known physicians of the city of Springfield, an honored veteran of the Civil war, and for a quarter of a century one of the respected citizens of Greene county, is Dr. William M. Smith. He chose medicine as his life profession and life purpose and pursuit. The environment of his earlier years, its discipline, his college course and drill, the culture that comes from books and study and travel, the success with which he has met as a physician, and the standard in his profession to which he has risen - all testify to the wisdom of his choice.

Dr. Smith was born in Barnesville, Ohio, June 7, 1S42. He is a sou of John C. and Hannah (Thompson) Smith. The father was born in 181 7, was reared a Quaker, and was a carpenter and contractor during his active life. Toward the early part of the Civil war, although then advanced in years, he enlisted for service in the Union army in August, 1862, in the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Col. John H. Howe, and he served in the battles around Yicksburg, Mississippi, but the hardships of army life proved too much for him and he died before his term of enlistment had expired and was buried in the National cemetery at Mound City, Illinois. The mother of our subject was born January 18, 181S. in Huntington county, Pennsylvania, and was a daughter of Amos Thompson, a farmer. She came with her family to Ohio when she was a child, and her parents both died in that state. She spent the latter part of her life at the home of our subject in Springfield. Missouri, where her death occurred in 1889, and was buried in Hazelwood cemetery here. Some of the maternal great-great-uncles of our subject were soldiers in the Revolutionary war. The family is of German-English, Scotch and Irish ancestry.

Dr. Smith was reared in Ohio and there he received his early education in the common schools, later graduating from the Kewanee Academy, at Kewanee, Illinois, and was preparing for college at the time of his enlistment in the Federal army, in September, 1861, in Company A, Forty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Col. Stewart, later serving under Col. Northrop. He saw considerable hard service and proved to be a gallant defender of the flag, participating in the battles of Farmington. Stone River, and the great battle of Chickamauga, in which he was wounded and taken prisoner, but was later paroled and sent to General Hospital in St. Louis. He \\a> honorabl) discharged at St. Louis at the expiration of term of enlistment and later re-enlisted. February 7, 1865, in the Ninth Illinois Cavalry, serving until October, 1865, and was discharged at Selma. Alabama. After his career in the army Dr. Smith returned home and taught school for several terms, devoting his spare time to the study of medicine, and in

1868 he entered the Keokuk Medical College, at Keokuk, Iowa, later entering Rush Medical College, Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1870. He first began the practice of his profession at Atkinson, Illinois, remaining there nine years, and had a good practice; he then went to Sterling, Illinois, and practiced three years, after which he moved to Beadle county, South Dakota, where he practiced six years, and in 1888 came to Springfield, .Missouri, where he has remained to the present time, enjoying an excellent practice all the while and ranking among the leading general practitioners in the county.

Dr. Smith is a member of the Greene County Medical Society, the Southwest Missouri .Medical Society, the Missouri State .Medical Association and the American Medical Association. He was president of the first named society for one term. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic. He has been secretary of the local board of pension examiners for the past sixteen years. Politically he is a Republican and religiously is a member of the Congregational church.

Dr. Smith married Viola M. Ferrin, December 15, 1870. She is a daughter of Isaac and Maria ( Bailey) Ferrin, both natives of New England. Mrs. Smith's father died when she was an infant. The mother spent her last years with our subject and died at his home in Springfield in 1890.

Four children have been born to Dr. Smith and wife, namely: Wells Ferrin, born in Atkinson, Illinois, in 1871, was educated in the Springfield high school and Drury College, later was graduated from Beaumont Medical College, in 1898, and he began his practice in Springfield, securing a position' in the Frisco Hospital, where he remained two vears, then removed to Arkansas, and is now division surgeon for the Iron Mountain Railroad, with headquarters at Little Rock. He married Robbie Blythe, of Clarksville, Arkansas, in 1905. and they have four children, Helen, John, Elsie and Elizabeth. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, and is a fine surgeon. Charles Wilbur Smith, second son of our subject, was born in Atkinson, Illinois, in 1873, was educated in the Springfield high school and Drury College, also studied at the Beaumont Medical College, graduating with the class of iqoi, later, in 1902, taking a post-graduate course, in the St. Louis Hospital. He began the practice of his profession at Keota, Missouri, in 1902, and remained there six years, then came to Springfield and has been engaged in practice here ever since, and is one of the most successful of our younger surgeons and general practitioners, doing a great deal of surgery. He is a member of the Greene County Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical Association, the Southwest Missouri Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He was at one time health commissioner of the city of Springfield. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias and B. P. O. E. He married Mary Helen

\"ail in 1902. She is a daughter of Edward Vail, superintendent of a local coal company. One child has been born to Dr. Charles W. Smith and wife, a daughter, Vail Smith, whose birth occurred in 1903. Amy Jessie Smith, daughter of the subject of this sketch, was born in Atkinson, Illinois, was educated in the Springfield high school and graduated from Drury College. She married Alfred H. Mansfield, an attorney, now chief claim agent of the Missouri Pacific Railroad ; they reside in St. Louis. To this union one child has been born, Elizabeth, born on August 8. 1914. Winifred Elizabeth Smith, youngest of our subject's children, was born in South Dakota, was educated in the Springfield high school and Drury College, and she married O. J. McCutcheon, president of the McCutcheon Bros. Vehicle & Harness Company, of Springfield; to them one child, Elizabeth, was born in 1910 in this city. The above named children were given every advantage as to education and general preparation for life, and they are all popular wherever thev are known, and are well situated in life.

John H. Shackelford

The Shackelford family has been known in Greene and Webster counties during the past three-quarters of a century, the father of the subject of this review having established the future home of the family here in the year 1840 when Springfield consisted of a few log huts, lately the site ot the Kickapoo Indian village: when the county was sparsely settled and very little development had been done, the virgin soil being covered with immense woods or rank wild grass, the haunts of many kindreds of the wild. So the elder Shackelford was an important factor in the early civilization of the county, f"r he was a builder by profession and was a man who never quailed at hardships and loved to see reclaimed this region of promise. From that early day l<> this the name of the family here has been one against which 11. > aspersions could be cast, and has always stood for good citizenship.

One of the best known of the present generation is John H. Shackelfunl. widely known contractor of North Campbell street. Springfield, who was horn on October 7, 1855, in Greene county. Missouri, and who has spent his life here and in the adjoining county of Webster. He is a son of Garland and Mary E. (Forren) Shackelford, and is a scion of old Virginia people on his father's side. Garland Shackelford was born in Virginia, January 16, 1816, and there he grew to manhood and spent his life until 1840 when he emigrated overland to Missouri, reaching the present site of Springfield on June 17th of that year, lie had learned the carpenter's trade when a young man in his native state and he at once began working at the same in his new community, and had the distinction of building the first frame house in Greene county, which was erected for Major Powell, father-in-law of Martin J. Hubble. He did a great deal of carpenter work and contracting and built many of the best houses in this locality in the pioneer days. In 1850 he joined the gold seekers across the great western plains, making the perilous journey to California, with Rip Weaver and Joe Farris. He returned to Springfield in 185 1, on account of sickness, making the return trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Upon his arrival here he purchased a farm two miles from town, and continued building and farming for six years, and in 1857 removed to Marshfield, Webster county, this state, where there was a better field for his contracting and building business. There he also bought a fanning and carding mill. He became one of the leading men of that county, and there he spent the rest of his life, reaching the advanced age of ninety-two years, his death occurring on July 9, 1908. He was twice married, Alary E. Forren being his first wife, and to this union thirteen children were born, six sons and seven daughters, six of whom, two sons and four daughters survive, namely: Garland C, of Springfield; Mrs. Mattie Robertson, of Marshfield; Mrs. Loma Darby, of Center Point, Texas; Mrs. Amelia McKnight, of Nevada, Missouri; Mrs. Josephine E. Lyon, of Marshfield, Oregon, and John H., of this review. The mother of these children was born in Tennessee where she spent her girlhood, coming to Springfield when twelve years of age, her mother having died some time previously. She came to this locality with her father who was a farmer, and here he died during one of the scourges of cholera which swept the country at intervals in those early times. The death of Mrs. Shackelford occurred on January 14. 1892, and the father of our subject subsequently married Miss Elian Whiticar. His last union was without issue.

John PI. Shackelford was two years old when his parents removed with him from Greene to Webster county in 1857, and he grew to manhood at Marshfield where he received his education in the common schools. He assisted his father with his general work as a carpenter, contractor and mill man while growing up, and upon reaching maturity engaged in business for himself first as a farmer and later, March 16, 1883, he came to Springfield and here he has resided ever since, engaging in business, for the most part as a contractor for gravel and composition roofing. His present establishment is located at 968 North Campbell street, where lie is well equipped for the prompt and successful carrying on of his line of endeavor, and he has built up an extensive and constantly growing business and employs a large number of skilled workmen. He has a reputation for honest, highgrade and quick work and is one of the popular contractors of Springfield. He always handles the best of materials and his prices are reasonable.

Mr. Shackelford was married on July 4, 1886, to Emma Donald, a daughter of William Donald, of Saline county, Missouri. His family consisted of five children, namely : Mrs. Julia Shelby, of Springfield, was twice married, first to ex-senator S. R. Bridges; she has three children; Mrs. Ella Louder is deceased; Emma, who is the wife of Mr. Shackelford of this sketch; Leander McCord Donnell, of Springfield, married Rosie Roberts, and they have four children; Royal, who is engaged in farming in Saline county, this state, married Mattie Crowder, and they have two children.

To John H. Shackelford and wife two children have been born, namely: Bessie E. Tolia Shackelford married Lake H. Gibson, of Springfield; he is city salesman for the G. D. Milligan Grocery Company, and Louis C. Shackelford, who was born on May 24, 1892. was educated in the Springfield schools and Christian Brothers College, St. Louis; he is engaged in the same line of business as his father - gravel and composition roofing, and is a promising young business man.

Politically, Mr. Shackelford is a Democrat. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Royal Arcanum and the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his family are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church.

Whether in the substance of our human nature or the spiritualities of an expectant future being, mankind is inclined to cling, with fierce tenacity, to not 1 mly the hope that the ego may not disappear, but that the tangible, if dissolving personally, may he fittingly remembered. To rescue, preserve and perpetuate was the mission of the ancient Chronicle.-, and this is the province of history; and equally so, of biographic narrative. "Man's sociality of nature." says Carlyle, "evinces itself, in spite of all that can be said, with abundant evidence by this one fact, were there no other: the unspeakable delighl he takes in biography." So when a man like Dr. Thomas Otis Klingner, one of the best-known specialists of his class in Greene county, ha- reached the honored position in the vicinity which he ha- attained, it is meet that something of hi- individuality he set forth.

I )r. Klingner was horn near Fair Grove, Greene county, Missouri, March 3, 1874. fie i- a -on of John and Mollie ( Shade 1 Klingner. The father was born at North Vernon, Indiana, in [844, and there he -pent his earlier years working on the farm and attending the district schools during the winter months, and later he began teaching in the rural school-, which vocation, in connection with farming part of the year, he continued for some time. He eventually emigrated to Missouri and located in Greene county, where he purchased a farm near the village of Fair Grove and there he still resides, having developed a good farm and reared his children in comfort, giving them proper educational advantages. For many years he has served his community as a local preacher in the Methodist church, in which he is an earnest and influential worker, and is called on by all denominations to conduct funerals and marriages. He is widely known in his end of the county and everybody is his friend. Flis good wife, who has proven to be a most worthy helpmeet, was born in 1845.

This family is of German descent, as the name would indicate, the paternal grandfather, August Klingner, having been a native of Bingen, Germany, from which country he emigrated to America in an early day, with his wife, and settled at North Vernon, Indiana, where he engaged in farming, and there he and his wife spent the rest of their lives. The maternal grandfather, Henry Shade, who was of Scotch descent, was a machinist by trade, and he resided at many different places, but spent the latter part of his life on a farm near Fair Grove, Missouri.

Seven children were born to John Klingner and wife, named as follow.-: Dr. Thomas Otis, of this sketch: Henry Augustus resides at Wray, Colorado, where he is engaged in the mercantile business; John W. lives in Springfield, Missouri, and is engaged in the undertaking business; Charles E. is a farmer and has remained on the homestead with his parents; George Mack, of Roswell, New Mexico, is professor of English in the high school there; Mamie Louise, who has taught school for about twenty years, has remained single and lives at home; Florence Elizabeth, also unmarried, lives with her parents on the farm.

Dr. Thomas O. Klingner was reared on the home farm and there did his full share of the work during the crop seasons, and during the winter he attended the district schools, later entered Morrisville College, at Morrisville, Polk count}', Missouri, where he completed the course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, however, was not graduated. When about eighteen years of age he commenced life for himself by earning his own living and obtaining money by teaching with which to educate himself, also followed other pursuits, and in 1895 ne entered the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, where he made a good record and from which he was graduated with the class of 1898 with the highest honors in that class. Returning to Greene county, he began the practice of his profession at Willard, where he remained three years as a general practitioner, then spent two years at Walnut Grove, this county, enjoying a good practice at both places. In 1903 he took the civil service examination and went to Washington, D. C, where he was given employment in the medical department of the Pension Bureau, remaining there three years to the eminent satisfaction of the department. The last two years there he had the management of the eye and ear department. He came to Springfield, Missouri, in 1906, established an office on Commercial street, which he has maintained for the past nine years, building up a large and lucrative practice, which is rapidly growing, and he is now located at 318 Landers building. He has taken his place in the front rank of his professional brethren who confine themselves to the treatment of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He has met with great success in this field. His experience in Washington City was invaluable to him, but in order to further equip himself for his chosen work he took a post-graduate course, in 1906, in the Chicago Eye, Ear. Nose and Throat College; also in 1912 took a post-graduate course in the Chicago Polyclinic. Dr. Klingner is a member of the Greene County Medical Society, the Southwest Missouri Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical Association, and the American Medical Association, being a Eellow of the last named. He has been secretary of the Greene County Medical Society for the past five years, also has been president of the State Association of Medical Secretaries and counsellor for the Twenty-eighth District. He is oculist and aurist for the Burge-Deaconess Hospital, the Southwest Missouri Hospital, the Children's Home and the hospital for the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company. He is also vice-president of the Southwest Missouri Bospital, and is secretary of the J. \V. Klingner undertaking establishment. In all of the above positions of trust and responsibility he has discharged his duties in a manner that lias reflected much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned.

Dr. Klingner was married in 1900 to Effie May Kernaghan, who was born in Greene county, Missouri, November -7. [874. She i> a daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth Kernaghan, for many years residents of this county, who later made their home in Joplin, Missouri. -Mr. Kernaghan, who engaged in contracting for many year-, is now practically retired from active life. Mis wife died in Joplin in [904 and was buried there. Mrs. Klingner was reared in ( ireene county and educated in the public schools here.

To our subject and wife two children have been born, namely: Keating Kenneth, born in Washington. D. C, in 1004. died in 1908'. and Mary Elizabeth, horn in Springfield, Missouri, January 10, 1913.

fraternally Dr. Klingner is a member of the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically he is a Democrat, and in religious matter- is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. South.

Personally the Doctor is a gentleman of the highest integrity and sociability and the high position he has gained in the medical profession and the countv is in every way deserved.

Daniel Martin Nee

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

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

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

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

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

It is no invasion of the province of propriety to narrate or chronicle the exploits, achievements, character or the lesser or larger deeds of a man who is yet a living personality. The truest biographic insight of an individual will come to him who knows him best, has most closely studied him in his particular spheres of thought and action, and who has the advantage of aids of the subject of his narrative, as the living, suggesting source and inspiration of it. The artist's picture of the vanished original will not be an accurate photograph of it. It was a maxim of the Egoists, who were uncertain of everything, only a few things, that "each one submit to a record of himself, for hi- -elf's sake hut especially for his friends." Thus it affords the biographer pleasure t" set forth appropriately, but succinctly, and. we hope, accurately, the life record of Dr. Leonidas Clark Ross, who, owing t" the enviable position he has gained in the medical circles of Greene -county, is entitled t<> specific mention within these pages.

Dr. Ross was born in Greene county, Missouri, January r. i860, and is a scion of one of tin- oldest and most prominent families of the county. lie is a s' m m|' Rev. David and Eliza ( Robberson) Ross, the father a prominent minister in the Methodist Episcopal church. South, for many years in the pioneer days. His death occurred on January 6, 1869. The mother was a sister of the late Dr. I".. T. Robberson, of Springfield, Missouri, and also a representative of an "Id and well-known family. William Rn-. our subject's paternal grandfather, died in Morgan county, and was buried at Versailles, this state. William Robberson, the maternal grandfather, spent his lite in Tennessee, died and was buried at Farmington, that state.

Dr. Ross' brother. Dr. F. E. Ross, was for over a half century one of the best known physicians of Greene county, having practiced medicine in Springfield from 1865 until his death in J 910. His widow still lives in this city.

Dr. L. C. Ross grew to manhood in his native community and received his early education in the schools of Springfield. Finally deciding upon a career as a physician, he entered the Missouri .Medical College at St. Louis. where he made a good record and from which institution he graduated with the class of [891. In April of that year he began the practice of his profession in Springfield, and from that time to the present his patients have continued to increase in numbers until he is now a verv busy man and ranks with the most successful general practitioners of the county. Dr. Ross is a post graduate of the New York Polyclinic, attending in the year 1895.

He is a member of the Greene County .Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical Association, the Southwest Missouri Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic Order. Politically he is a Democrat, and in religious matters belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, South.

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

Dr. Nandy C. Williams was born in Warren county, Iowa, February 25, i860. He is a son of Uriah F. and Jane (Graham) Williams. The father was born near Indianapolis, Indiana, and there spent his earlier years, finally emigrating to Warren county, Iowa, where he established the family home. He devoted his life to general farming, and his death occurred in. 1878. His wife preceded him to the grave in 1871. William Williams, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was a soldier in the Mexican war and was killed in battle.

Doctor Williams grew up on the home farm and much hard work fell to his lot when he was a boy; however, he was ambitious and forged ahead despite obstacles. He received his early education in the public schools of his native community and also spent three years in the Simpson Seminary College at Indianola, Iowa, and in 1884 he entered the Iowa State University at Iowa City, where he remained two years. In order to defray the expenses of a college course, having to depend entirely upon his own resources, he engaged in any kind of honorable work he could get to do during vacations, and taught school seven years. His undaunted determination brought success. Making up his mind to enter the medical profession at an early age he began the study of medicine while still in school and began practicing under a preceptor in [888, and in 1894 received his degree from Barnes .Medical College, St. Louis. Missouri. In 1895 he came to Springfield, Missouri, and began the practice of his profession, which he has continued to the present time with much success, and has long since ranked with the best and most popular general practitioners in Greene county.

On June 17, 1885, Doctor Williams was married to Etta A. Lyman, who was horn near Bloomington, Wisconsin, March 9, 1862. She is of Welsh ancestry. To the doctor and wife one son was horn. Leslie E., born at Clifton Hill, Randolph count}, Missouri, December 0, 1891 ; he was educated in public and high schools at Springfield, this stale, later spending three years in the Fine Arts Academy at Chicago; he taught one year in the Art Institute of Chicago, in 1913, and is now engaged in commercial art work; he lives in Xew York City, and is unmarried; he was evidently born with the artistic temperament, which has been well developed and he gives promise of a brilliant career in bis chosen field of endeavor.

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

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

A name that is deserving of a high position in the list of physicians in Greene county is that of Dr. Theodore A. Coffelt, formerly a Methodist minister. He is appreciated and respected in every relation of life - professional, social and religious - a learned doctor, a sincere and reliable citizen, and in the better and higher conception of him, an honest man. The unostentatious candor and openness of his character were never warped by selfish instincts, or obscured by professional ardor. As a friend and neighbor he is known as a genial, generous, kind-hearted man, free from circuity and deceit, gentle in disposition, modest, judicious, placid, reasonable and just; who holds his own and his friend's honor above all the blandishments of passion and the seductions of ambition and wealth ; and who aims to come, as nearly as human nature can come, to loving his neighbor as himself.

Doctor Coffelt was born in McDonald county, Missouri, April 10, 1855. He is a son of Rev. Wyatt and Jane (Sligar) Coffelt, the father a native of Kentucky, and who devoted bis active life principally to the ministry and was one of the prominent pioneer preachers of his day- He spent the last years of his life on a farm. His death occurred in Springfield, Missouri, October 17, iqoi. and he was buried in the Coffelt cemetery near Mason Valley, Benton county, Arkansas. The mother of our subject was a daughter of Adam Sligar, a German; she was born on June 18, 1816, in McMinn county. Tennessee. Her death occurred on January 20, 1886. She and her husband are buried in the same cemetery. They became parents of a large family, twelve children, an equal number of sons and daughters.

Philip Coffelt, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was born in Greenbriar county, Virginia, now a part of West Virginia. He was a son of Henry Coffelt, a native of Germany, from which country he emigrated to America in the old Colonial days. He was a member in George Washington's company at the time of Braddock's defeat, during the French and Indian war. Henry Coffelt married Ellen Ryan, who was born in Ireland, from which country she emigrated to America when five vears of age. She and her older brother were captured by the Indians when she was seventeen years old, but effected their escape after eight weeks of captivity. Their freedom was gained by the wit, perseverance and ingenuity of the girl. Her brother was lame, suffering with what was then known as white swelling of the hip. When the Indians were within one day's journey of their settlement they compelled this girl and her lame brother to carry wood from the nearby forest into camp. The girl suspected that this meant that they were to be burned at the stake while the red men engaged in their accustomed revels on such occasions. So she instructed her brother how to leave the encampment, where to go and await her coming. He got away late in the afternoon and when night came on she made a break for liberty herself. Finding her brother at the appointed rendezvous, they concealed themselves under a fallen tree in a dense thicket and remained there for three days, never daring to move. At one time the Indians in their search for the runaways climbed upon the very tree under which the children were lying. All the sister and brother had to eat during that trying period was the dried tongue of a horse which Ellen had stolen from her captors shortly before she escaped. Finally deciding that it was safe for them to leave their hiding-place they traveled by night, secreting themselves during the day, and eventually came to the Ohio river, which was at that season low, and, finding a shallow place the girl carried her brother on her back across the river, which she waded. The hardships proved too much for the cripple and when sixty miles from home he died. Ellen having no way of digging a grave, placed the body in the crotch of a fallen tree, and with much hard work piled limbs of trees, rocks and leaves over the body, and that was his only grave. She made her way back home which she reached after much privation and suffering from hunger and exposure. After Ellen Ryan's marriage to Henry Coffelt they settled in Greenbriar county, Virginia, and to them ten children were born. One of their sons, Philip, was the grandfather of Dr. Coffelt of this sketch. He married a Miss Wvatt, of English ancestry, who was a cousin of Sir Francis Wyatt, first governor of Virginia under old Colonial conditions.

Doctor Coffelt received his education in the common schools and the high school at Pea Ridge. Arkansas, after which he entered the medical department of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1883, where he remained one term, and in 1885 entered the Missouri Medical College from which he was graduated in 1886. He has been a practicing physician and surgeon since 1884. His earlier years were spent in Arkansas. Leaving that state in 1891 he entered the post-graduate department of the Missouri Medical College, where he remained until 1893, tnen removed to Carthage, Missouri, and began practicing as a specialist on the eye, ear, nose and throat. Remaining there two years, he then entered the ministry of the

Methodist Episcopal church, South, and was thus engaged from 1895 to 1901, having joined the Southwest Missouri Conference. During that period of six years he served the congregations of that denomination two years at Pineville, in his native county; two years at Willard, Greene county; and two years at Marshfield, Webster county. He did an excellent work in building up the churches at these places and was regarded as an earnest, faithful and capable pastor in every sense of the word. But on account of failing health he gave up the ministry and resumed the practice of medicine, opening an office in Springfield where he has since remained, confining himself to the eye, ear, nose and throat, in which field he has few equals and no superiors in southwest Missouri and has enjoyed a constantly growing business all the while. He maintains an up-to-date suite of rooms in the Woodruff building. In order to further equip himself for this special line of work, the doctor took the course in the New York Post-Graduate School of Medicine, from which he was graduated, and he also has a certificate of graduation from Washington University, 1888.

Doctor Coffelt is a member of the Greene County Medical Society, the Southwest Missouri Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical Association, the Western Academy of Ophthalmology and Oto-Laryngology and the American Medical Association. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic Order, including the Royal Arch and the Council degrees. Politically, he is a Democrat, and he belongs to the St. Paul Methodist Episcopal church, South. He has always been an ardent worker in the lines of his profession. He has been president of the Greene County Medical Society, also president of the Southwest Missouri Medical Society, vice-president of the Missouri State Medical Association, and in 1908 was appointed a delegate to the international tuberculosis congress which convened in Washington. D. C. He is now president of the board of directors of the Springfield Hospital.

Doctor Coffelt was married on October 1, 1885, to Mary M. Clayton, a native of Arkansas, where she grew to womanhood and was educated. She is a daughter of Rev. John M. and Cynthia (Dameron) Clayton. The father's death occurred in 1902 and the mother passed away September, 19 1 4, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Five children have been born to Doctor Coffelt and wife, named as follows: Everett C, born at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, July 14, 1886, was educated in the high school in Springfield and Drury College ; he married Vita Hampton, and they have two children, Kenneth, born in 1912, in Kansas City, and Kathrvn Ruth, born on March 1, 1915. They reside on a farm in Webster county, Missouri. Anna Maud, second child of Doctor Coffelt, was born in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, September 5, 1889, was educated in the Springfield high school and Drury College, also attended the State Normal here, and is at this writing a student in the Ward-Belmont School at

Nashville, Tennessee. Oscar T., the second son, was born in Pea Ridge, Arkansas. December 18, 1890, was graduated from the Springfield high school and is now a student of Drury College, where he will graduate with the class of 1915; Mabel Ruth, born in Willard, Missouri, September 19, 1898, is attending high school in Springfield; Glenn Palmore, born in Marshfield, this state, July 11, 1900, is in his last year in ward school.

Doctor Coffelt is, practically speaking, a self-made and self-educated man, and is a credit to himself, his family and the public; he is a master of his specific profession, and justly merits the large practice which he has gained through skilful work, honest dealings and courteous manners.

Lafayette A. Ross

One of the venerable and must widely known citizens of the northern part of Greene county is Lafayette A. Ross, who iias spent practically the entirety of his nearly four score years in this locality, which he has seen grow from a wild and sparsely settled prairie, dotted with log cabins, when land could be secured for one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre to its present thriving state when some of the best acres are worth one hundred and seventy-five dollars each and modernly appointed homes are numerous. And in this great transformation he has played well his part in every respect. His lout; life of usefulness, industry and charitable acts has won for him the sincere affection of almost every man, woman and child in Murray township, and of many erf those living in townships adjacent. His early industry has resulted in his possession of a neat competence, and while he still enjoys the glow of the golden rays of the sun of life that must eventually set behind the horizon of the inevitable, he share- that enjoyment with no stint in the companionship of the members of his family and bis wide circle of friends. won through his residence here of more than three-quarters of a century.

Mr. Ross was bom in Robberson township, Greene county, Missouri, February 21, 1835. lie is a son of David and Louisa 1 Robinson) Ross. David Loss, who was one of the noted pioneer preachers of southwestern Missouri, and one of the most extensive agriculturists and stock men of Greene county, was born in Kentucky, March i_\ r8i2, and he was six years of age when his parents, William and Elizabeth Ross, removed with their family to I'.oonville, Cooper county. Missouri. William Ross was a man of ability and an expert surveyor. While living in Cooper county he laid off the town of Boonville, and about that time was employed by the government of Mexico to assist in surveying the greater portion of what is now the state of Texas. After returning from the Southwest to Cooper county he brought his family to Greene county, having maintained his home in the former county six years. He took up a claim in Robberson township, before this locality had been surveyed, and on this he erected a log cabin, made such other improvements as were necessary in placing rawprairie land under cultivation, but he subsequently moved to Bolivar, Polk county, and engaged in mercantile pursuits for seven years, then located at Versailles, Morgan county, this state, where he spent the rest of his life, dying when past eighty years of age. His widow died at the home of their son, David Ross, when past eighty-two years of age. They were a sterling old pioneer couple and did much for the advancement of early civilizing influences in this section of the state. David Ross was twelve years of age when he accompanied his parents to Robberson township Greene county, from Boonville. Here he engaged in farming, erecting a log cabin and starting in true primitive fashion, and. being a hard worker, a man of rare foresight and good judgment he prospered with advancing years and became owner of over five hundred acres of fine farming land here, which he brought up to a high state of cultivation and improvement and carried on general farming and stock raising on an extensive scale, raisin- large numbers of horses, mules, cattle, hogs and sheep annually, and was a most excellent judge of live stock. He was one of the best known and most influential of the early settlers in this locality. For a period of over thirty-five years he was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and preached in Springfield for many years and all over this country. He was profoundly versed in the Bible, was an earnest, forceful and eloquent preacher of the old school. His wife, Louisa Robinson, was born in Tennessee about 1815, and her death occurred on the home place in Greene county at an advanced age. He died in 1869 at the age of fifty-six years, when in the zenith of his powers.

To David Ross and wife twelve children were born, namely: Lafayette A., subject of this sketch, is the eldest; William Monroe; Dr. Francis Emery, now deceased, was for over a quarter of a century one of the leading physicians of Springfield; Mrs. Elizabeth Jane Whitlock lives in Springfield; Mrs. Mary L. Skeen lives in Ash Grove, this county; David W. lives at Willard; Mrs. Sarah Melissa Watson lives at Morrisville, Polk county; Mrs. Henrietta Josephine Robinson lives in Texas ; Mrs. Cordelia Robinson lives in Oklahoma; Bennett J. is farming in Murray township; Mrs. Laura Emma Appleby lives in Topeka, Kansas : Dr. Leonadus Clark is practicing medicine in Springfield.

Lafavette A. Ross grew to manhood on the home farm and w< irked hard when a boy, and received such educational advantages as the early schools afforded. He remained on the farm until he was nineteen years of age, when, on April 10, 1853, he started overland across the great western plains to the gold fields of California where he remained three years, returning home on July 7, 1856. His experiences on his long journey to and from the Pacific coast and while in the West forms a most important and interesting chapter in his life record. With the exception of this brief period he has always lived in the locality of his birth, and has resided in his present home since in April, 1868, or over forty-six years. He owns a finely improved and well-kept farm of one hundred and twenty acres, which was a raw, unpromising looking tract when he purchased it, but by hard work and close application he has made a fine farm of it and has a commodious residence and substantial group of outbuildings, his place being now well worth one hundred and seventy-five dollars per acre. He has always followed general fanning and stock raising, and he is still active, although the frosts of old age are upon him. but he has had an exceptionally robust constitution and has lived a careful life. He is a man of fine business judgment and broad-minded in practical affairs.

Mr. Ross was married on September 21, 1856, to Malinda Evans, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Leathers) Evans, all three natives of North Carolina. Joseph Evans was born in 1804, and was fourth in a family of seven children. He grew up in his native state and when a young man learned the millwright's trade which he followed in connection with farming, plying his trade during the winter months. He removed with his family to Greene county. Missouri, in 1840, locating in Robberson township, at tin' edge of what has long been known as Robberson Prairie. He built the first frame house in Greene county, and also had the distinction of building here the first saw mill and grist mill. He sawed logs for his home out of black walnut trees that would now be worth a small fortune. He became a prosperous fanner and influential citizen among the early day residents. His death occurred in September, 1888, at the advanced age of eighty-five years. Ten children were born to Joseph Evans and wife, four "i whom are living at this writing, namely: Alexander makes his home in Springfield; Malinda. wife of the subject of this -ketch; Mrs. Emma McDaniel, who resides in Springfield; Daniel McCord lives in Willard, tin's county. The paternal grandparents of these children were Daniel Evans and wife, who, with their son, John, emigrated from England to the United States in an earl) day and settled in North Carolina.

Eight children have been born to Lafayette A. Ross and wife, namely: George Emery lives in Texas: William J. makes his home at Morrisville, Polk county; -Mrs. Emma Ault lives in Tulsa. Oklahoma; Mrs. Lula R. Appleby is living on the home place with her parents; David Edward lives in Willard; Walter Evans makes his home in Oklahoma. Two died in infancy.

Mr. Ross is a Democrat hut he has never held public office or desired to be other than a quiet, honorable and unobtrusive citizen. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. South, at Willard, has been secretary and trustee of the church at different times. His wife is also a member of the same church, and both are much interested in general church affairs.

Stahl Brothers

The firm of Stahl Brothers, horse-shoers and general blacksmiths at 218-220-222 West Pacific street, Springfield, is one of the most widely known and popular of its kind in Greene county and special mention of the success of these young men in this, one of the oldest and at the same time one of the most important and indispensable of the trades, should be noted in a work of the nature of the one in hand. They believe in employing progressive methods in their work and maintain a modernly equipped shop, where high-grade work is promptly done, and their customers come from over a wide territory adjacent to Springfield.

William F. Stahl, senior member of the firm, was born on September 26, 1878, in Sullivan, Franklin county, Missouri, lie is a son of Julius and Louise (Rauch) Stahl, both natives of the state of New York and of German descent, but they were reared in St. Louis, and they are now living in Springfield. The father is a contractor in concrete work and is one of the well-known men in his line in this locality, having lived here twenty-six years, removing at that time from Lebanon, Laclede count)-, Missouri. To Julius Stahl and wife five children were born, all still living, namely: William F.. Ernest A., Charles H., Julius A., and Paul W.

William F. Stahl received a common school education and when he began life for himself it was in the brick business, later was with his father in the concrete business, finally learning the blacksmith's trade, having commenced working at the age of eighteen for a blacksmith on Commercial street, Springfield. He then went to Watrous, Xew Mexico, and went into business as a blacksmith for himself, and later established a shop at Canyon City, Colorado, where he remained until 1906, when he returned to Springfield and continued his business in partnership with L. L. Calk at the corner of Campbell and Pacific streets, later purchased one-half interest in the firm of Stryker & Morgan, buying out Mr. Morgan. Then our subject's brother, Charles H. Stahl, bought a one-third interest in the business, the firm name changing to Stryker & Stahl Bros. The latter purchased Mr. Strvker's interest in 1908 and have since conducted the business under the firm name of Stahl Bros., at the present location, and have built up a large and constantly increasing business and enjoy a reputation for honest and excellent work as horse shoers and general blacksmiths. They began in a modest way, starting with a small shop, but in iqij it was necessary for them to add two new buildings, and they are now occupying a large, well-arranged and substantial two-story brick structure and are the leading blacksmiths on the north side of the city and equal to any in Greene and adjoining counties. Beside themselves they require seven skilled assistants.

William F. Stahl was married on August 7, 1908, to Bessie Sanders, who was born in Mountain Grove, Missouri, and is a daughter of William Sanders and wife. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Stahl has been without issue.

Politically, he is a Democrat. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen and the Eagles, having been treasurer of the latter lodge for the past six years, is also treasurer of the Fraternal Aid. of which he has been a member for a number of years. He is a member of the Germania Club and the ( ierman Brotherhood.

Charles II. Stahl, junior member of the firm, was born on October 11, 1883, in Lebanon, Missouri, and received his education in the common schools in Springfield and when a boy began learning the blacksmith's trade and has since followed this vocation in Springfield. In his earlier career he worked for some time in the shop of L. L. Calk. He has remained unmarried. Politically, he is a Democrat. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen and the Eagles, the Germania Club and the (ierman Brotherhood. Both these young men stand well in the circles and clubs in which they move.

Robert Franklin Barrett

After a successful railroad career of nearly thirty years, Robert Franklin Barrett decided upon a less strenuous and quieter vocation and turned his attention to the theater business with the result that he is earning a very satisfactory livelihood as proprietor of the "Happy Hour" moving picture theater in Springfield, and while there are tune-, as might naturally be expected, when he longs again for the old life of the train man, yet this mood does not last long, as a rule, and he is well pleased with his new vocation.

Mr. Barrett was born in Salem. Missouri, November 13, 1855. He is a son of William and Margaret I McDole) Barrett, both natives of Ireland, from which country they emigrated to the United States when young in years and lure spenl tin- resl of their lives. They established their home in Virginia, where they spent main years and from there removed to Missouri, locating at Salem over sixty year- ago when that part of the state was sparsely settled. They had been educated in the common schools of Virginia and married in that state. There the father of our subject learned the business of iron ore worker which he followed principally the rest of his life, dying near Salem, .Missouri, when his son, Robert F., was a boy. His widow survived many years, dying at Bloomington, Illinois, in October, 1904.

After the death of his father the subject of this sketch was compelled to get out and hustle for himself, but he was by nature courageous, having inherited many of the indomitable traits of his Irish ancestors, and he not only made his own way when a boy but also managed to obtain a fair education. He came to Springfield when a young man and here began his railroad career in 1879 as brakeman on the Frisco, running principally on the western division, and he also worked as flag man on a passenger train for some time. He proved to be a very faithful employee wherever he was placed and he was promoted to freight conductor in 1885. Twelve years of his railroad career was spent with the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company, a part of which time he was passenger conductor. Leaving this road in 1898 he returned to the Frisco system, and was given a position as freight conductor on the central division. He continued with the Frisco until 1907 when he quit the road and engaged in the moving picture business in which he has been very successful and which he has continued for seven years. The first three years were spent at Hugo, Oklahoma, after which he came to Springfield and opened the "Happy Hour" Theater at 502 East Commercial street, which has been very popular and which continues to be one of the best patronized in the city, for Mr. Barrett knows what a good show is and tries to give his patrons the best and at the same time make them as comfortable as possible no matter what the season or the weather is. He has a neat, clean and sanitary place and a full modern equipment, including an up-to-date electric piano. He shows the "Universal" program. He shows four reels daily.

Mr. Barrett was married on December 7, 1898, in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, to Josephine Crow. She was born in Iowa, January 4, 1864, and she is a daughter of Jonathan and Helen (Dooley) Crow, both parents natives of Cork, Ireland, from which country they emigrated to America when young and here established their home, spending the rest of their lives in the New World. They have been deceased for some time, the father having died in Iowa and the mother in Arkansas. They gave their daughter, Josephine, good educational advantages.

Politically, Mr. Barrett is a Democrat and has been active in the affairs of this party for many years. He was elected city marshal of Springfield in 1886, serving one term in a manner that was highly pleasing to his constituents and with credit to himself. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic Order, having attained the thirty-second degree in the same, is a Knight Templar and a Scottish Rite, in fact has taken everything in this time-honored order but the thirty-third degree, the highest in the order. He has long been prominent in Masonry in the Southwest.

Frank Grubel

There was a time when a large per cent of the cigars consumed in the United States were imported, but of recent years this is not true to such a great extent, partly because American growers have improved in the stock of tobacco produced until some grades equal any in the world and partly because our manufacturers have learned mure about turning out high-grade products. One of the best known and must successful cigar manufacturers in this part of the country is Frank Grubel, of Springfield, who, as his name indicates, is of German descent, but he has resided under the stars and stripes many years.

Mr. Grubel was born on December 12, 1853, at Grafenhaynchen, Germany. He is a son of Edward and Christina (Muadrick) Grubel; both native's of the above named place also, where they grew up and were educated. The father was a woodturner by trade. He and his wife spent their lives in their native community and died there. Their family consisted of twelve children, eight of whom are living, namely: Edward. Frank, Ernst, Minnie, Emma, Paul, Carl and Herman.

Frank Grubel lived in his native land until fourteen years of age and there received his education. He emigrated to the United States in 1S68, locating ill St. Louis, where he learned the cigar manufacturing business, at which he seemed to have a natural aptitude and became quite proficient, and he has continued the same to the present time with ever-increasing success, lie came to Springfield, March 7, [873, remaining a short time, then moved away, but ten vears later, June 27, 1883, returned and has been in business here continuously ever since, in the cigar manufacturing business alone since 1897. 1° tnat year ne formed a partnership with August Engelking, under the firm name of Engelking & Grubel. which partnership continues. They manufacture a fine grade of five and ten cent cigars, a few of their leading and well-known brands being "Frank's Club House," "Sticker," "Little Puritan," "Frank's Financere, Hand Made," and "Promoter." They carry on both a retail and wholesale business, and employ six cigar makers and two stemmers. Only the best material is used and most modern methods employed, all cigars being hand-made. The tobacco, which enters the fac- tory in a raw state, is purchased of the most scientific growers of the South, .and it leaves the factor}' in the form of a line grade of cigars, boxed, sealed, ready for market which is found very readily and over a vast territory. The factor}- is located at i6n Boonville street.

Mr. Grubel was married on October 15, 1879, in East St. Louis, to Elizabeth Goetz, who was born in Louisville, Kentucky, August 27, 1859. She received a common school education.

To <mr subject and wife two daughters have been born, namely: Ida B., born on March 6, 1881, is teaching in a local school; Clara, born on August 10, 1882. married William Ipson, a local contractor.

Politically, Mr. Grubel is a Democrat, and fraternally he belongs to the Woodmen, Eagles and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, also the German Brotherhood.

Tom W. Armstrong

The methods used now by modern plumbers are in many respects vastly -different from those in general use when Tom W. Armstrong began this vocation over thirty-five years ago. During that period he has followed the calling continuously and has kept well abreast of the times in the same and .today is one of the most efficient as well as one of the best known plumbers in Springfield, where he has spent a quarter of a century.

Mr. Armstrong was born in Hillsboro, Illinois, February II, 1863. He is a son of William F. and Minerva P. (Simmons) Armstrong, the father born in Ireland, April 11, 1830, where he spent his boyhood and from which country he emigrated to the United States when a young man. He located in Hillsboro, Illinois where he spent the rest of his life and died on April iS, 1867. He was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, serving in Company E, Ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, enlisting in the spring of 1861 at Lincoln's first call for volunteers. He proved to be a gallant and efficient soldier and was promoted to the rank of major. He served four years and nine months. He was severely wounded at the battle of Shiloh. Remaining in the army some time after the close of the war he had occasion to take part in some of the Indian wars of the West. He was in many engagements and important campaigns and the fact that he went to the grave carrying five bullets in his body indicates that he was not afraid to mix in the fiercest of the fighting. He was a carpenter and contractor by trade, which he followed until his death. He was a strong Republican, and fraternally belonged to the Masonic order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife was born in 1835, in Hillsboro, Illinois, and they were married in Hillsboro, Illinois. Her death occurred in December, 1900. Four children were born to these parents, namely: Samuel lives in Hillsboro, Illinois; Tom W. of this sketch; Elizabeth is deceased, and Frederick W., who lives in Springfield, Missouri, is at this writing plumbing inspector of the city.

Tom W. Armstrong grew to manhood in his native city and he received a common school education there. On September 6, 1913, he married Mettie E. Bowers, who was born in Chicago. When fifteen years old Mr. Armstrong began learning the plumber's trade in his native city and served as an apprentice two years, then in 1881 went to Abilene, Kansas, where he worked at his trade nine years, moving from there to Springfield, Missouri, March 31, 1S90. He went in partnership with a Mr. Shearer on Xorth Boonville street, which partnership continued for ten years. Since that time he has been engaged in business for himself, his present shop and office being located at 206 East Olive street where he has a well equipped shop and display rooms, carrying a large stock of modern fixtures and a general plumbing outfit. He has been very successful in his line and has built up a large business throughout the city. He handles some large contracts and is always busy, keeping a number of skilled assistants.

Politically, Mr. Armstrong is a Republican. He has been a member of the Knights of Pythias since the day he was twenty-one years old. He also belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men, the Woodmen and Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

C. L. Rhodes

Life is pleasant to live when we know' how to make the most of it. Some people start on their careers as if they had weights on their souls, or were afraid to make the necessary effort to live up to a high standard. Others, by not making a proper study of the conditions of existence, or by not having the best of trainers - good parents - are side-tracked at the outset and never seem thereafter to be able to get back again on the main track. C. L. Rhodes, well-known produce man of Springfield, seems to have been fortunate in being reared under the superb influences of a good old Southern home and, having gotten a proper start on the highway of life, has succeeded admirably.

Mr. Rhodes was born in the northern part of Georgia, April 19, 1853. lie is a son of Wesle) and Nancy (Stewart) Rhodes, both natives of Xorth Carolina, in which state they grew to maturity, received limited educations and were married, removing in an early day across South Carolina into northern Georgia where they established the future home of the family on a farm which they purchased, and there they spent the rest of their lives, the mother dying in 1881 and the father in 1891. During the war between the states Wesley Rhodes enlisted in the Confederate army under Captain Stewart, in Tennessee, but served only six months. His family consisted of seven children, namely: C. L. of this sketch is the eldest; John is engaged in farming in Georgia; Mrs. Sarah Freeman and husband live on a farm in Lawrence county, Missouri ; Nancy has remained single and lives in Alabama; William X. lives in Billings, Christian county, Missouri; James and Emanuel are both deceased.

C. L. Rhodes grew to manhood on the home farm in Georgia and he received his early education in the public schools of his home district. He spent his early life in general farming and also operated a country store for awhile or until he removed to Christian county, Missouri, in 1886. There he engaged in farming four years, then moved to the town of Billings where he engaged in the produce and mercantile business, general trading, etc. Continuing there two years he returned to the farm for awhile, and in 1891 moved to Springfield and at once opened up a produce business which he has conducted with every growing success to the present time, or for a period of twenty-three years, during which he has become one of the most widely known dealers in produce in southwestern Missouri. However, he has had other business interests the meantime. His place of business has remained in the same block on South Campbell street ever since coming to this city and he is widely known to the rural visitors from Christian, Taney and other counties who come to Springfield to trade. He buys and ships all kinds of produce in carload lots, doing mostly a jobbing business, handling chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, eggs, furs, hides, roots, etc.

Mr. Rhodes was married in August, 1874, at Blairsville, Georgia, to Sarah Bishop, who was born in Georgia in 1858, and there she grew to womanhood and was educated in the common schools. She was a daughter of Alfred and Mary (England) Bishop an old Georgian family, Mr. Bishop having been a successful planter in that state many years. Mr. Rhodes' first wife died on August 2. 1911. To this first union twelve children were born, namely: Mary is deceased; Bettie is deceased; William S. lives in Springfield, and is engaged in business with his father: Mrs. Ida Bowman lives in this city; James and John, twins, both live in Springfield; Lou and Gertrude, twins, are both deceased ; Hershel and Ernest, twins, the former deceased, the latter living in this city; Minnie died in early life; Jessie also died when young.

On September 12, 1912, C. L. Rhodes married Frances Little, in Aurora, Missouri ; she was born in the same vicinity in northern Georgia of which our subject was a native, but was brought to Christian count)'. Mis- souri, when young by her parents and there grew to womanhood and attended school. She is a daughter of William and Louise Jane (Cobb) Little. Her mother was born in North Carolina, February 14. 1837, and her death occurred in Billings. Missouri, in 190S. The father of Mrs. Rhodes was born December 31, 1836, in North Carolina and his death occurred at Billings, Missouri. June 26, 1892.

.Mr. Rhodes has been very successful in a business way and owns considerable valuable property in Springfield, including a substantial modern residence on Phillips street. Politically, he is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his family are members of tbe Methodist Episcopal church, South, in which he is a trustee and a liberal supporter.

Charles F. Kaxxixg

When we learn that a man has engaged in one line of business for over a quarter of a century at the same location, as has Charles F. Kanning, well-known business man of Springfield, we know that he is tbe possessor of a rare combination of personal qualities which never fail to make for success wherever they are found. It indicates that he is a man of keen discernment, sound judgment, conservative and persevering as well as honest and honorable in all the relations of life.

Mr. Kanning, the well-known meat market man of Boonville street, was born March [9, [863, in Kentucky. He is of German descent and is a son of Henry and Mary (Kimmell) Kanning, both natives of Germany, from which country they emigrated to the United States when young, and were married in Xew York City, where they lived for awhile, then came West, finalh establishing then- home in Kansas. The father of our subject was well educated and was a merchant tailor by trade. The last fifteen years of his life was -pent in St. Loth-, where he followed his trade. During the Civil war he- served in the Union army.

Politically he was a Democrat. His death occurred in St. Louis in January. [909. His widow died 011 November 27. IQ14, at her home in Pittsburg, Kansas. To these parents twelve children were horn, namely: Agnes is deceased; Alexander; Fisco is deceased; Henry; Charles F., of this sketch: Mary: William: Clara; Tilly; Otto; Emma, and Bertha.

Charles F. Kanning received a common school education in Kan When he reached his majority he came to Springfield and went into the butcher business, starting with practically nothing, but by wise economy and good management he forged ahead and for many year- has enjoyed a grow- ing and lucrative trade. He has been in his present location, 527 Boonville street, for a period of twenty-seven years under the firm name of Kanning's Meat Market, which is one of the best known in the city. He carries a large line of everything commonly found in the best meat markets anywhere, and his place is neat and attractive. Promptness and honesty have been his watchwords. He is still active. He has a fine home on Poplar street.

Mr. Kanning was married in St. Louis on December 20, 1887, to Nannie I'.. Dunbar, who was born in Port Gibson, Mississippi, April 5. 1864. She is a daughter of Robert G. and Mary K. (Sevier) Dunbar, both natives of Louisiana, where the}' grew up, were educated and married. They each represented excellent old Southern families. The father of Mrs. [Canning died at Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, in 1866. His wife was born on June 5, 1S44, and her death occurred on July 17, 1887, in Nashville, Tennessee. She received a good education and was talented in music and was a cultured, refined lady in every respect. Her father, George VV. Sevier, was born near the city of Nashville, and he died at Port Gibson, Mississippi, about thirty-five years ago. He was a grandson of Governor Sevier of Tennessee. His wife, Sarah Knox, was a first cousin of James EC. Polk, President of the United States, also a niece of Mrs. Andrew Jackson and she was reared by President Andrew Jackson and went with him to New Orleans on his first trip down the Mississippi river. John Sevier, greatgrandfather of Mrs. Kanning, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, participating in thirty-seven battles of that conflict. By reason of his service in our Mar of Independence, Mrs. Kanning is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Pier paternal grandfather, Robert Dunbar, spent his life in the South and died in Louisiana. Her father, Robert G. Dunbar, was an extensive Southern planter, owning a large plantation. Ikwas an Episcopalian. His family consisted of three children, namely: Nannie B., wife of our subject: Isaac, now deceased, was the eldest of the children; and Robert, who lives in St. Louis, is the youngest.

Mrs. Kanning grew to womanhood in the South, and the careful training and wholesome home influences of her girlhood are still manifest in her general address, for she is a woman of culture, social inclinations and affability, and enjoys the friendship of all who know her. She had the advantages of a good education. When she was a child the family left the South, locating in Mexico, Missouri, but lived there only about two years.

To Mr. and Mrs. Kanning one child has been born, Margaret Norvell Kanning, whose birth occurred on June 25, 1893; sne was given excellent educational advantages, attending the Springfield high school and Drurv College : she is now a successful teacher in the public schools, and is a young lady of much promise.

Politically Mr. [vanning is a Democrat. Fraternally he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America; also the Improved Order of Red Men. His wife belongs to the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the Maccabees and the Presbyterian church.

Clyde B. Mack

A representative of an excellent old Greene county family and a successful young merchant of Springfield is Clyde B. Mack. He is a man who would win his way in any locality in which fate might place him, for he has sound judgment, coupled with great energy and business tact, together with upright principles, all of which make for success wherever and whenever they are rightly and persistently applied. He possesses many of the sturdy traits of his father who was long a prominent and highly esteemed citizen here.

Mr. Mack was born on December 27, 1872, in Greene county, Missouri. He is a son of Marshall H. and Lucy (Herndon) Mack. The father was born in Maury county, Tennessee, May 4, 183 1, and the mother was born in Virginia, April iS, 1837. They were brought by their parents from their respective localities in the South to Greene county, Missouri, in pioneer days and here they grew to maturity, were educated and married. John A. Mack, tbe paternal grandfather, was born in Maury county, Tennessee, and there grew up and married a native of that locality. It was in 1853 that they removed with their family to Greene county, .Missouri, and here he became a prominent man, was influential in public affairs and at one time was elected probate judge. He was a great student of law. Here he and his wife spent the rest of their lives. Their son, Marshall H. Mack, father of our subject, was twenty-two years of age when he came to this county. He had grown to manhood in his native state and there attended the common schools. He studied medicine and became a successful general practitioner alter the Civil war. During that conflict he served as a member of the Home Guards. Politically, he was a Republican. At one time he was road commissioner in this county. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. After a successful career as physician his death occurred in Springfield, March 17, 1888. . His widow survived many years, dying here on June 10, 191 1, at an advanced age. Her father, William Herndon, was a native of Virginia, where he grew up, was educated and married. He removed to Kentucky when the mother of our subject was fourteen years old, and after remaining there a short time came on to Greene county, Missouri in 1853 and established the future home of the family.

Eleven children were born to Dr. Marshall H. Mack and wife, namely: Lina L. is deceased; Ali O. is living; Harriett and Z. I. are deceased; the next child died in infancy unnamed; Austrian is deceased; Louella and Minnie are living; Clyde JB. of this sketch; Claude E. is living, and Clinton A. i> the youngest.

Clyde B. Mack grew to manhood in Springfield and here he received his education in the public schools. He first went into the grocery business as a clerk, later worked for the Wells-Fargo Express Company in Springfield for a period of eleven years, giving a high degree of satisfaction. In December, 1908, he went into business for himself at 1223 Boonville street, his place being known as the "Cash Grocery," and he was successful from the first. His present location is 1150 Boonville street, where he has a large and attractive store and carries at all seasons an extensive stock of fancy and staple groceries, and, having always dealt courteously and honestly with his many customers has enjoyed all the while a constantly growing trade.

Mr. Mack was married in Springfield on July 25, 1892, to Flora Portser, a daughter of L. F. and Jennie ( Guthrie 1 Portser, both natives of Pennsylvania, from which state they finally came to Springfield, Missouri, and established their future home. The lather is now deceased, but the mother is still living here.

William Vv. W'Haley

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

William W. Whaley was born in Dekalb county, Tennessee, not far from the city of Nashville, October 31, 1837, and was a son of Seth and Elizabeth (Bowen) Whaley, the father a native of Tennessee and the mother of Maryland, each scions of splendid old Southern families, long noted for their culture and enterprise. The parents of our subject received such educational advantages as the early days in the South afforded and there they were married on November 3. [825, and this union was blessed by the birth of eight children, all now deceased, namely: Mary, Nancy, Thomas, Robert, Margaret, Elijah. William W. (our subject), and Henry. Seth Whaley, father of the above named children was twice married, and to his second marriage three children were born. Seth Whaley devoted his earlier years to teaching school, later learned the trade of harness-maker, which he followed some time, and later engaged in farming. His death occurred in Eawrence county, Missouri, in the late seventies.

Mt. Vernon, this state, where his parents located when he was about eight years of age. He remained on the farm until [851, when he entered a general store in Mt. Vernon as a clerk, and. having keen perceptive faculties, he soon mastered the ins and outs of merchandising. .About this time he studied at the college at Fayetteville, Arkansas. In 185N Mr. Whaley began working for his wife's father. Benjamin Stone, and after the death nf the latter he continued to operate the store with the assistance of Mrs. Stone, and kepi the trade up to its former high standard. Later Mr. Whaley engaged extensively in the banking business in Alt. Vernon, and was for years regarded as one of the most enterprising and substantial citizens of that city. Seeking a larger field for the exercise of his business talents, he removed to Springfield in [883 and became president of the Commercial Ba k, which he made most successful by his able and conservative management. Subsequently he became a general lmsincss man. finally devoting much attention to the insurance business, and toward the latter part of his life Whaley &- Company became one of the most important insurance companies in Southwest Missouri and did a very large business.

Mr. Whaley was married on October 3. 1867, to Mar) I.. Stone, a lady of many commendable characteristics, who proved to lie a most faithful helpmeet in every respect. She was born near Sedalia, Missouri, on June 3. [850, and she is a daughter of Benjamin and Nanc) (Owsle) 1 Stone, both these parents being natives of Tennessee, the birth of Mr. Stone having occurred in [818, and he died on April 3. [863, in the prime of life. The mother of Mrs. Whaley was bom on August 20. 1820. and her death occur-

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

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

Eugene J. Rhodes, Jr

For most of us life has the elements of abundant cheeriness in it. It represents more of encouragement than discouragement, more of satisfaction than disappointment, more of joy than sorrow, more of comfort than pain. Souls that are depressed and downcast are quite likely to be weighted down by borrowed trouble. A successful business man must be of the former type. Understanding this. Eugene J. Rhodes, Jr., who is engaged in the motorcycle business in Springfield, newer permits the little things of daily life that "wear and Ire. the mil" manifest themselves in his countenance or disposition, and I is agreeable nan-, er is a good as^et in his business.

Air. Rhodes was born in Arkansas on March 26, 1883. He is a son of Eugene J. Rhodes, Si\. a. prominent business man and citizen, formerly of norther. 1 Arkansas, now living in Springfield, a complete sketch of whom is to he found on another page of this volume, hence will not be reproduced here.

Our subject moved with his parents from Arkansas when young to Springfield and here he received his education in the high school and the State Normal. For three years he worked as deputy under his father, when the latter was surveyor, after which he engaged in the lumber business in Arkansas, also engaged in this business in Springfield with his father for some time, then for a year or more he engaged in the grocery business in this city, and in iqir, with his brother. Clyde A. Rhodes, he began in the motorcycle business, under the name of Rhodes Brothers, at 319 South Jefferson street, where the)- have remained to the present time, and have enjoyed a large and growing business all the while. They handle all kinds of motorcycle supplies and auto accessories, maintaining a well-equipped garage and repair shop, doing all kinds of auto and motorcycle repairing promptly and of the highest grade of workmanship. They are also agents for several standard grades of motorcycles, including the Indian, Flying Merkel and Thor, and have built up a large trade in these. Our subject has made this line of business his special study for a number of years and has kept well up-to-date on the same.

Eugene J. Rhodes, Jr., was married on July 14, 1901, to Mure! Hart, a native of Iowa and a daughter of \Y. H. and Dora Hart. Mrs. Rhodes came with her parents to Springfield when young and she received a good education. To our subject and wife five children have been born, namely: Boyd, born on February 15, 1903; Vivian, born on September 22, 1906; Hugh, born on February 14. 1909; Maxine, born on April 7, 1912; and Mildred M., born on January 21, 19 15.

Hiram H. Westmoreland

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

Hiram H. Westmoreland was born on July \<>. [848, in Tennessee. He was a son of Henry Westmoreland and wife, who were born, reared and educated in the South and there resided until they removed with their two children from Tennessee to Greene county, Missouri, when the subject of this sketch was seven years of age. The father devoted his life to general farming and buying and handling live stock. He lived in Oklahoma for twenty years. His death occurred in [909.

Hiram H. Westmoreland grew to manhood on his father's farm, where he assisted with the general work when a buy and lie received his education in the common schools and in Boonville College; however, bis higher education was interrupted by illness which compelled him to return home.