Greene County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1915 (part 1 of 29)

Jonathan Fairbanks

The name of Jonathan Fairbanks recalls the history of the public school system with which he has been identified for forty years and the successful development of which is due largely to his untiring efforts and capable administration as superintendent. A man of enlightened views, he has been eminently practical while liberal in his consideration of the various propositions which enter into the scheme of modern education. Mis pupils and those who have been under his general care as head of the schools are filling places of honor and trust in all the walks of life in this community and elsewhere. Some who have been prepared in these schools for prosecution of their studies in higher institutions of learning in a manner which has reflected credit upon all concerned while the great majority whose period of tutelage ended with the completion of courses in the common schools have found themselves well ecjuipped on entering the University of Life to continue their progress in a maner which has given an insight into its lessons enabling them to reach attainments in which they are not far behind the graduates of many colleges.

Early in his career, "Professor" Fairbanks, as the head of the schools was called in the old days, made his mark as a disciplinarian. And. yet, he was gentle while firm. Fie insisted on strict observance of the rules and regulations prescribed for the students but he was so human in his treatment of dereliction that he won the good will as well as the esteem of all. No stickler fur the text, he was insistent on a knowledge of the principles of the subject with the result that the pupils of the schools became imbued with the love of knowledge for its own sake rather than with the desire for credits, diploma^ and degrees, the value of which is problematical. This disposition has been made manifest also to those who have come in contact with him in his capacitv of county superintendent ami the various associations of school teachers. Always a student, he will lie found today reading scientific works embracing the latest discoveries of the world's specialists on all that relate to the problem of life in its various aspects. This is the habit of a (61) life-time and he has always given freely of what he has received from whatever source. In fact, he has regarded himself more as an instrument for the transmission of knowledge than as the possessor of it. He has been a fellow student with his pupils and teachers, rather than a preceptor, just as in his discipline he appealed to the self-esteem and ambition of all to keep them from delinquency and attain high standards of deportment.

He is public spirited to a degree and has forgotten more about politics than has ever been learned by some who have attained leadership in different parties. He is progressive in his views on this subject, but as on all others, he has never permitted himself to become dogmatic in his expressions therein. He is a modest, kindly man whose open friendship for all he meets has won him favor on every hand. He is a humanitarian, a student, a teacher, all that is implied in the fullest significance of these words.

The boys and girls of other days in Springfield have in the course of their lives and in the pursuit of knowledge met various teachers, professors and eminent specialists but the quiet unpretentious man who directed them early in the paths of learning holds a place in their memory and claims an influence 011 their careers, greater perhaps than that of any other with whom thev have come in contact. The people at large, in view of the visible results, are prone to believe that Jonathan Fairbanks is entitled to a niche in the local hall of fame which shall bear testimony fur many years to his efficiency, general worthiness and the great popular esteem in which he is held by all classes of people in the city of Springfield, in Greene county, and wherever he has been known.

'i"he man who has tlm- endeared himself to the people here, comes -if one of the oldest New England families whose members have displayed singular talents and virtues wherever their lots have been cast in the great country to which thev haw assisted in bringing the blessings of civilization during a period of three hundred years. 1 lardy pioneers, they have liven noted for patriotism, public spirit, devotion to the ideals of the republic and persistent application to tasks through which they sought the attainment of the higher end- of life. \ will kept book of their genealogy brings the record of then lives in orderly precision and ample detail down to die present time showing that they have been prominent in each succeeding generation .if people who in the proper conduct of business and the manifestation ol care for the general welfare have led in the upbuilding of communities and the development of the country in various ways. A majority of them ha Followed the pursuits of agriculture returning thereto often after adventures in business which have not proven profitable, sustaining reverses with equanimity, and bravelj beginning the reconstruction of their fortunes after the failures which so often come in the magical changes of American life which none are so well prepared as those who are imbued with the spirit of the patriot pioneers which has been the making of the Great Republic.

Their work in this country was begun by an immigrant family the head of which is known in their genealogy as Jonathan Fairebank (Fairbank, Fairbanks), of Dedham, Massachusetts, a town which he helped to establish after coming to Boston from England in 1033. He came from Sowerby in the West Riding of Yorkshire, lie was born prior to 1 1 ,00. The family had an interesting history in the old country, mementoes of which are found among the heirlooms of the old Fairbanks home at Dedham, built in 1036, and now preserved as a memorial after having been continuously occupied by the builder and his lineal descendants longer than any other homestead in Xew England. The first Jonathan Fairbanks passed from the scene of pioneer activities to another life at Dedham in 166S. In the fifth generation another Jonathan Fairbanks was horn at Holliston, Massachusetts, March 29, 1755. He was a soldier of the Revolution and died after a long and useful life at Sudbury. Massachusetts, February 28, 1840. One of his sons was Joseph Bradley Varnum Fairbanks, father of our Jonathan, who engaged in wool manufacturing at Andover, Massachusetts, and Fort Edwards, New York. With the assistance of two brothers, he built up an extensive business but when they were stocked up with a surplus they were bankrupted by a change in the tariff in 1833. Joseph Bradley Varnum Fairbanks married Miss Margaret Haclden in 1827. She was born in Scotland. February 25, 1803. They had three children. Jonathan, born in Andover, Massachusetts, January 7, 1828; James Dexter, born in Monroe. New York, August H), 1830; Joseph Bradlev Varnum, Jr., born in Sudbury, Massachusetts, August 29, 1833. The head of the family never recovered from the shock of his disastrous failure in business. He died at Monroe, New York. shortly afterward. May 20, 1833. The youngest child followed soon afterward, October 31, 1833. The mother had taken him to Boston, where she had gone to live, the two elder boys being placed in charge of relatives. The family had thus been reduced from affluence to poverty and broken up in a very short time. The widow made her home in Boston for a number of vears and afterward moved to Worcester. Massachusetts, where she died October 19, 1865.

Jonathan Fairbanks was just five years old when with his younger brother, Tames Dexter, he went to live with James Quinn and his wife, an aunt of the boys. Beginning to learn the hardships of country life at this tender age. he mastered all the details of the work so thoroughly that his relatives parted with him reluctantly when the time came for him to leave the farm at the age of nineteen. He had up to that time received no compensation for his labor except his board and clothes and the privileges of the district school, taking advantage of the meager advantages thus afforded for

Realizing the necessity of seeking a betterment of his condition he struck out for himself with resolution. In starting away he passed through a field in which James Reilly, a nephew of his wife's husband was working. "Where be y' going 'Jonton,' " said the Irish lad. "To look for a job." "But y' have no moneys, here's a 'sovroir for you." "

The gift was accepted in proper spirit, for the boys were somewbat of It was the first money Jonathan Fairbanks had ever received and he took it with the intention of returning it, although he had spent all the years of his young life in labor on the farm which Reilly was to inherit. Jonathan went to Boston, where he called on his mother and remained five days, after which he returned to the neighborhood in which he had been raised and went to work on the farm of another relative, Nelson Fairbanks, wild paid him wages at the rate of ten dollars per month.

In the meantime James Dexter had left the Quinn farm after remaining there a short time and gone to Concord where he grew up, learning the painter's trade in shops where be was under the tutelage of skilled workmen and became an expert, afterward making his mark in the business. lie was wounded while serving a second term a- a veteran volunteer in the Civil war and died October in, [864. He had married Olive Green, November 2, [855. They bad live children. The widow moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, where she died June 11. 1886.

Jonathan remained with his cousin. Nelson Fairbanks, a year, working eight months of the time and attending school four months. He had an excellent tutor here, w In > in addition t" assisting Jonathan to rapid advancement, induced him to prepare for entrance to the academy at New Ipswich, an institution famous as a training school for teachers and preparing students fur college. Hither the two journeyed together the nexl year, master and pupil, to complete their education in the same excellent school. Jonathan took widi him fifty dollars, the savings from his first year of work as a wage earner. lie had received eighty dollars for eight months' work and had spenty thirty dollars fur clothing, books and other necessities. He was now twenty years of age. He remained at Xew [pswich two years, working his way, and at the completion of his course there started oul as a teacher. He was successful in his firsl application for a position. He spared no pains when he entered upon his work at Ashby. He taught night school tour nights in the week for the benefit of ambitious students, specializing in arithmetic, penmanship and rhetoricals and preparation for a greal exhibition at the end of the year. The people said that they had never had such a school and that the young tutor would never teach such another. They took it for granted that he was working for a reputation, when as a matter of fact his single purpose had been to do all he could for his pupils. But that first year's work opened the way to great opportunities. The president of the school board at Wilmington, Delaware, had written to his father-in-law at Ashbv to send him the name of .some young man whom he could recommend, some up-to-date teacher who could come down to Wilmington and "wake 'em up." Jonathan Fairbanks was mentioned in complimentary terms and correspondence led to his employment at Wilmington. He says, speaking of his experience at that place : "1 spent four years at Wilmington. It was like a heaven on earth. 1 was told that if I would get married and settle down m Wilmington the people would build me a house. I formed lifetime friendships there and have corresponded with one of my pupils of those days for sixty years."

Put he was persuaded to go west with his old teacher, George G. barker, and so they went together to Ohio, as they had gone to attend the academy at New Ipswich. Mr. barker stopped at Dayton but there was no school for his friend to be found at that place. Never dismayed Jonathan Fairbanks continued his quest and began seeking; a country school. Finally, after meeting Mr. Parker again at Piqua. he was informed of an opening at St. Man's and started over in company with Ardivan Rogers. Passing through the Ohio woods, a land of leaf and moonshine, he seemed to come under a mystical influence in which he received an impression of something unusual about to happen. He was in no desperate straits but repeated failures to find employment at this time had been discouraging. He arrived in a canal town, St. Mary's, at 3 :oo A. M. There he was informed that they wanted an assistant teacher. Without waiting to sleep after his long ride he called on the members of the board as soon as they were awake, with the result that be was engaged. Rogers was employed as principal and instituted an unusual division of the pupils. The bovs of the school who* worked on the canal part of the time had the name of being a hard lot. The people said they knew when school was let out, because they could hear for a distance of two miles the noise made by the boys as they came down stairs. One teacher after another had failed to restrain the disorder and it was said that nobody could discipline that school. Now the principal turned over the boys whom he could not handle, the larger ones in a body to his assistant, himself taking charge of the older girls while the smaller boys and girls were left in charge of lady teachers. The first thing Mr. Fairbanks did was to get well acquainted with his boys and explain to them the advantages of having order in the school, showing how it would promote their advancement and the interests of all concerned. The boys fell in with his ideas and he soon had them coming in and going out in orderly fashion with their arms crossed behind them. This kept their hands from meddling with those in front of them. After a couple of days there entered school a taciturn stubborn boy and there were knowing smiles when the teacher began to question Luther Bradley, who it was soon learned had been the leader in mischief in the school. Luther was cross-eyed and the teacher could not tell where he was looking, at him or the grinning boys. To the questions, have you studied this and have you studied that he answered a reticent "yes, sir" or "no, sir" without any particular respect in voice or manner. He was told to take his place and after a little was dismissed for recess with the rest of the boys. When they came back all entered in order with their arms crossed behind them, all except Luther, who despite instructions, came swinging his arms. The new teacher stepped up to him quickly. The boy was stocky and almost as large as the teacher, but the wiry little man grabbed the delinquent by the coat collar, gave him a jiu jitsu twist and the lad's feet lieu out from under him. I Ie went up in t lie air and bumped his head hard <>n the floor as he came down. It was a hard jolt but he was not hurt badly, but all the rebellion had been knocked out of him. The punishment was nune severe than the teacher had intended. He merely meant to give the Imy a good shaking but lost hi- hold on the coat collar with the result described. After helping Luther to his feet the teacher restored order and everything moved smoothly during the rest <>i the day.

That evening some one on the street who had heard of the occurrence. asked one of the reputed tough boys how they were getting along with the new teacher. "I dunno, he don't punish, he kills 'em."

Mr. Fairbanks never had to "shake" another boy in that school. But the irrepressible Luther Bradley came in for it just one more time. Passing along in Mont of the class looking out of the corner of his eye. the teacher saw Luther drop a paper wad into his pocket. Quick as a Hash he turned and grabbed Luther and shook him till his teeth chattered and the bones in his body seemed to he unjointed. Never again did Luther trouble the teacher, hut on the contrary they became fast friends. At the end of the year. Mr. Fairbanks was offered fifty dollars a month to teach the school in the summer time but he had made an engagement to teach at the Piqua high school, an exclusive private institution. There he had for pupils fifty-seven fine boys and it was a pleasant and profitable year for all concerned. Then he returned to St. Mary's as principal of the schools. He remained there seven years, leaving behind him an enviable reputation when he resigned for the purpose of engaging in another business. He had acquired an interest in a new patent steam engine and was to put it on the market. The time was not propitious however. The Civil war had upset business throughout the countrv. Mr. Fairbanks then accepted an invitation to return to Piqua, where he remained teaching during the next five years. At the end of that time he received all kinds of offers to continue teaching. Almost any position in the public schools of Ohio was open to him. But he had other ideas.

The best that was offered to the school teacher in those days in the way of remuneration was but meager compensation compared to the rewards of ability and energy in business. Air. Fairbanks had received a flattering offer from the West, a place called Springfield, in the heart of the Ozark region and the principal cit) of southwest Missouri, from J. C. Wilber, who was close in (.i'l. John M. Richardson, then prominent in the affairs of the city. The school teacher, who was bent on changing his vocation, arrived in Springfield, November 10, i860. He found a prosperous town of two thousand in the midst of a region of such great resources that he was satisfied there would be extraordinary development. There was so much building in progress that there was an unprecedented demand for lumber and when Fairbanks and "Wilber opened up in the sawmill and planing business they had all the orders they could attend to. They increased their facilities and their business expanded rapidly. Mr. Fairbanks worked early and late. Some weeks he would leave home Monday morning and eat, sleep and work at the mill until Saturday night. He and his partner prospered for nine years, while his family grew up around him, he built a comfortable home and the prospects of life were fair from every point of view. Then came the hard times following the panic of 1873, in which men possessed of property amply sufficient to secure all their obligations under ordinary circumstances were made bankrupt before they knew it. Mr. Wilber had borrowed fifteen hundred dollars and Mr. Fairbanks had signed a note for the amount and in the general crash of credits be was called upon to meet the obligation for its payment. Friends tried in vain to help him. The holder of the note, perhaps himself pressed by creditors, was inexorable and the money had to be forthcoming. The real estate owned by Mr. Fairbanks embraced one hundred and ten acres located in what is now a populous part of the city between Washington avenue and the National boulevard. Different tracts and numerous town lots estimated at the time to be worth eight thousand dollars were sold to satisfy the note for fifteen hundred. John M. Richardson purchased much of the land, which was resold at great advances. Mr. Fairbanks, acting as agent for Colonel Richardson, afterward sold forty thousand dollars worth of property. He bought back his old homestead from the Richardson heirs and still lives there. Following the climax of his misfortunes which came in 1874, Mr. Fairbanks made preparations to leave Springfield. He was on the point of returning to Ohio, when Hon. John McGregor, president of the Springfield school board, following a suggestion made by Hon. L. H. Murray, came to him with a proposition to take charge of the schools of this city. Mr. Fairbanks accepted, assuming the duties of superintendent the next year. From that time down to the present, forty wears, his work in connection with the schools of this city is well known.

There had been half a dozen superintendents of education during the years immediately preceding the beginning of the forty years administration of Jonathan Fairbanks. The chairman of the school board complained that the board had been called together nearly every week for a while to consider cases which should have been disposed of by the superintendent. On coming into office one of the first things which Superintendent Fairbanks noticed was the absurdity of some of the rules which had caused trouble.

The pupils were forbidden by one of these from entering the school building after a certain number of minutes during the noon hour when a number of them who lived at a distance hail no other place to eat their lunches. This rule was quickly abrogated, the children being left free to enter the building at the noon hour and special provision was made fur their comforl 111 other ways. The students of the high school were put on their honor, the pupils of the lower grades were treated with consideration, the schools were in a manner reorganized on a basis of reciprocal justice and kindness. Changes were made in the course of study by which the interests of practical education were conserved with continuous progress in liberalizing and otherwise improving it. Various other changes were made to meet the demands of the times and the efficiency and popularity of the schools continued to increase from year to year. The teachers of the Springheld schools welcomed the change to an enlightened administration at the beginning of Superintendent Fairbank's first term and became loyal supporters, lie was re-elected without opposition For another term, and again and again until his re-election at the end of each consecutive year became a mere matter of formality. In politics, Mr. Fairbanks has been a Republican all his life, though liberal-minded, progressive and independent in his views. In view of this fact, the Greenbackers having made great progress in this section in 1N7N. and wishing to put out a stmng county ticket, sent a committee to Mr. Fairbanks soliciting him to allow them to use his name as their candidate for county school commissioner. As a concession to the spirit of reform represented by their movements, he gave his consent with the result that he was elected by a majority of four hundred. Results similar to those which had followed his assumption of the duties of city superintendent followed throughout the county. The teachers of the country schools, as those of the city, had so. ,n felt the inspiration of Jonathan Fairbanks' presence and helpfulness in all their works. So he was re-elected county commissioner at the end of the term, lie was re-elected continuously during a period of twenty year- until the office was merged in that of county superintendent.

In the last election he received one thousand seven hundred majority over three other candidates for county commissioner. In the administration of that office he did much toward the complete systematization of the county schools. Among other things, he kept a complete record of the proceedings of the boards and everything done in connection with the county during the twenty years of his incumbency. The record was unfortunately lost in a lire in Superintendent Bradley's office in recent years.

Superintendent Fairbanks never made a practice of punishing boys for fighting. His plan for dissipating this kind of trouble was to call them up and make them explain their differences and come to some kind of an understanding. Some interesting stories are told in this connection. Other problems which have vexed less capable minds were disposed of in a similarly happy manner.

Summarizing his observations on the subject of discipline Superintendent Fairbanks said in a recent conversation : "Teachers should assume as far as possible that there are no bad pupils. Boys and girls will do the best they know how. The thing to do is to make clear to them the reasons for the requirements made of them. They often do wrong when they think they are doing right. Reason and consideration will go farther in securing compliance with the wishes of the teacher than anything else. There is not nearly leniency enough in the world."

The Jonathan Fairbanks of today is as busy as though he had but begun his life's work at the end of the three-score years and ten allotted to man. He is still a student teacher and reader, though no longer under necessity of hearing sixteen recitations a day. the first one at 7 A. M. and often continuing his ta<ks by lamplight and then getting up at 2 A. M. to go over the lessons in advance of his classes in preparation for the work of the following day as he used to do at the beginning of his career as superintendent of the Springfield schools.

Much of the success and happiness of this venerable man's life is attributed to the helpfulness of the excellent woman who became his wife in youth and journeyed with him far toward the final rewards. Jonathan Fairbanks and Miss Angie Bowker were married September 3, 1856, in Sudbury, Massachusetts. She was born there June 13, 1832. She was a daughter of the Puritans, her parents, Samuel X. and Mary Earl Bowker. being descended from early settlers of New England, of ScotchAYelsh extraction. Children of Jonathan Fairbanks and Angie (Bowker) Fairbanks: Grace Ida, born in St. Mary's, Ohio, June 4, 185;. died October 1. 1858'. Joseph Maybin. born in St. Mary's, Ohio. March 12. 1859, died May .19, 1865. Mary Caroline, born in St. Mary's, Ohio, April 7, i860, died February 5, 1862. Alban Bradley, born in St. Mary's, Ohio, June 22, 1862, died in 191 1. Annie, born in Piqua, Ohio, March 20, 1866, died June 21, il

George Bowker, born in Springfield, Missouri, April 16, 1868. John Wilber, born in Springfield, Missouri. November 13, 1870. James Otis, born in Springfield, Missouri, October 30. 1873. George Bowker Fairbanks is env.ed in the general merchandise business at Foose, Dallas county, Missouri. lie married Sarah Davis, July 31, i<;io. Two children have been born to them. Perry George Fairbanks. September 23, 191 1, who died March 11, 1 913; and an infant daughter, Harriet.

John Wilber Fairbanks married Annie Jugram, June 5, 1902. They have one child. John Howard Fairbanks, born March to. 1904. James Otis Fairbanks married Miss Golden Sands, January 13. 1913.

It is not always easy to discover and define the hidden forces that move a life of ceaseless activity and a large professional success; little more can be done than to note their manifestation in the career of the individual under consideration. In view of this fact, the life of the physician and publicspirited man of affairs whose name appears above affords a striking example of well defined purpose with the ability to make that purpose subserve not only ln> own end- but the good of his fellow men as well. Doctor Boyd has long held distinctive prestige in a calling which requires for its basis sound mentality and intellectual discipline of a high order. In his chosen field of endeavor Doctor Boyd has achieved success and his present eminent standing among the leading medical men of southwest Missouri is duly recognized and appreciated, not only in Springfield and Greene county, where he has been engaged in the | ractice for the past score of years, but also throughout this section of the state.

Dr. John R. Boyd was born in Logan county, Kentucky. December 16, 1854. He is the son of R. G. H. and Isabella ( 1 [erndon I Boyd, both natives -of Kentucky.

The father was a land owner and ranked among the leading citizens of his community. His wife's people, the Herndons, were also extensive land owners in the Blue Grass state. The death of Mrs. Boyd occurred when her son, John R., was only six weeks old. She was a devout member of the Baptist church. To R. G. H. Boyd and wife four sons and four daughters were born. Three sons and one daughter survive. The living daughter makes her home in Lawton, < Iklahoma. ( >ur subject's surviving brothers are engaged in farming in Kentucky and Oklahoma.

Doctor Boyd grew up on the farm and received his early education in the common schools and in Auburn Academy. He remained in Kentucky until 1879, when he came to Jackson county, Missouri, where he taught school and began reading medicine. He spent one year in the Bellevue Medical Hospital College of New York City and completed his medical education in the University of Louisville, Kentucky, from which institution he graduated with the class of 1886, later taking a post-graduate course from the Post Graduate School in Chicago, also a post-graduate course from the Polyclinic Institute of Chicago. He began the practice of his profession at Butler, Bates county, Missouri, in 1886, where he remained until 1895, when, seeking a larger field for the exercise of his talents, he removed to Springfield and has since been successfully engaged in the general practice of medicine, being successful from the first, and during this period of nearly twenty years has occupied an envied position among his professional brethren.

In 1901 Doctor Boyd was elected state medical director of the Modern Woodmen of America, which important office he still holds with much credit to himself and satisfaction to all concerned. He was one of the promoters of the Missouri Fidelity and Casualty Company, at the organization of which he was elected a director, also medical director, and in 19 12 was elected president of the company. He is now a director of the Southern Surety Company of St. Louis, Missouri. Several years ago he was president of the Greene County Medical Society for one term. He still holds membership in the Greene County Medical Society, the Southwest Missouri Medical Society, and the Missouri State Medical Association. Doctor Boyd was one of the founders of the Springfield Hospital, and has been a director in the same from the first, and for the first few years was treasurer and is now secretary of the same.

He maintains a modern suite of rooms in the Holland building, Springfield. He has been very successful in a financial way and has been interested in numerous business enterprises and has been influential in the latter-day upbuilding of the Queen City. Politically, he has always been a stanch Democrat, and, fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic order, including the Council and the Royal Arch degrees. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America, and has always been actively interested in lodge affairs.

Doctor Boyd was married in 1883 to Nannie M. Montgomery, of Lebanon, Kentucky, in which state she grew to womanhood and received her education. She is a daughter of a farmer and stockman and an excellent old family. She has been prominent in the best social circles since coming to Springfield, and is an active member of several clubs.

The union of Doctor Boyd and wife has been blessed by the birth of one daughter. Lillian Boyd. She is a young lady of exceptional talent and refinement. She was graduated from the Academy of Drury College and afterward received the degree of A. B. Cum Lauda from that college.

Miss Boyd spent a year at the College of Hawaii, Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, where she specialized in science, taking the degree of B. S. She was an enthusiastic member of the college fraternities, Mu Beta and Pi Bi Phi.

The Doctor is a gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet, at once impressing you with his polished Southern manners, his directness, frankness and learning, also his unpretentious simplicity.

J. A. White

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

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

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

Mr. White was married on June 28. 1904, to Alzora Sedgwick, a native of Kansas and a daughter of A. C. and Anna ( Palmour) Sedgwick. To this union one child has been born, Charles S. White, whose birth occurred August 17. 1910.

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

James H. O'Bryant

There is an habitual tendency in human nature to live in and for that which is perishing, hence the necessity for something that shall remind us of what is abiding, something that shall enable us to realize our larger duties and higher destiny. The life of the masses of the people tends to become commonplace, and the only way to give color _ and zest and interest and beauty to the things around us is to be able to view them from the inside of a rich, splendidly furnished intellectual home. This is possible no matter in what line of work we are engaged. James H. O'Bryant is one of the citizens of Springfield who realized these facts long ago. and he has thus sought to develop his mind along general lines while engaged in his routine of daily tasks.

He is a son of George W. and Mary C. (Howard) O'Brvant, natives of Tennessee and North Carolina, respectively, the father's birth occurring in 1823, and the mother's in 1830. They received limited educations in the old-time subscription schools, and when young they accompanied their parents from their respective communities in the South on the long overland journey to Greene county, Missouri, both the O'Bryants and Howards being pioneer settlers here, and here the parents of our subject were married. George \Y. O'Brvant was a successful farmer and stock raiser and became owner of three hundred and sixty acres of good land near Republic, and there his death occurred in 1866. His widow survived about thirty-seven years, dying in July, 1903, at the old homestead in Brookline township at an advanced age. Mr. < ('Bryant was a member of the State Militia during the Civil war and was an active Union man, but served only in one important engagement - the battle of Springfield, fought on January 8, 1863. His family consisted of ten children, namely: Sarah Jane is deceased; Alan- Frances lives in Polk county; John C. is deceased: Martha A., deceased, was the wife of Judge Phillips, of this county; William and Delila. twins, both live in Republic; Alice A. is deceased; Nancy C. lives in California; George W. lives near Republic, and James H., of this sketch, who is the youngest of the family.

James H. O'Brvant grew to manhood on the home farm in Brookline township ami he received his education in the common schools. He remained on the home farm, of which he owned one hundred and forty acres, until 1899, when, alter a successful career as general farmer, he sold out, and in that year was appointed superintendent of the Greene County Farm, serving four years in a manner thai reflected much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned, doing much the meanwhile to improve the general condition of the farm and inaugurating an excellent system of management. In February, [903, be began working as salesman for the J. T. Carter Vehicle Company. Since then, or for nearly eight years, be has been engaged in the mail messenger service in Springfield.

Mr. O'Brvant was married May 24, [891, in Republic, to Maggie L. E. Hood, who was bom in Greene county, Missouri, July 31, [873. She is a daughter of James D. and .Mary E. (Clack) Hood. Her father was born 111 this county on December 31, [848, and here he attended school, married and has spent his life. lie is still living on a farm northwest of Republic. His wile was born in Tennessee, in 1N56. These parents have always lived on the farm. To Mr. and Mrs. O'Brvant eight children have been born, namely: Nellie A., born March 21, 1892, is teaching school in the state of Washington; Earle J., born December 30, [893, lives in Oregon; Leta I-"., born December 25, 1805. is married and lues in Kansas City; Elias !'>.. born November 9, 1897, died August 15. 1900; Mary T., born February 15. [902,

Politically, Mr. O'Bryant is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic order, including the Chapter and the Order of Eastern Star,, while Mrs. O'Bryant is a White Shriner and was treasurer, also worthy matron in the Order of Eastern Star, and is very active in lodge work. Our subject and wife belong to the Grace Methodist Episcopal church.

As a lawyer ( iuy I >. Kirby, now judge of the Circuit Court of Greene county, for many years stood at the front of his profession at the Springfield bar, his career being noted for strength, fidelity and honor in his character. The relations between him and his clients are ever loyal and genuine. He isever steadfast, sure and true. Among his professional brethren he is noted fi >r his thorough knowledge of the law, not only of its great underlying principles, but also for its niceties and its exacting details, and for his faculty of clearly presenting to court and jury the law and facts of the case. On the bench his painstaking, laborious review and study of each case, and his accurate recollection of precedents always keep him in thorough preparation, and his profound legal erudition and sound judgment prevent him from resting on any hazardous or uncertain ground. In every sphere he demonstrates the individual unit and creation of himself. Rectitude, moral force, integrity, innate love of justice, exalted sense of honor, and unflinching advocacy of that which is right, are well defined elements of his personal character. Add to these industry and mental equipment, and we have the key to his success as a lawyer and as a judge.

Judge Kirby was born in Springfield, Missouri, March 3, 1873. He is a sun of William M. and Virginia (Parrish) Kirby, the father being burn in Baltimore, Maryland, in' 1846. and the mother's birth occurred in Springfield, Missouri, in 1847. William M. Kirby spent his earlier years in the Monument City and received a good practical education, and when a young man came to Springfield, Missouri, and ran a drygoods store here for several years, then held various positions under county officers for a number of years, and, in 1881, began his long career as traveling salesman, which he has continued to the present time, being one of the most widely known commercial salesmen in the Southwest. On December 22, 1870, he and Virginia Parrish were married here. She grew to womanhood and was educated in her native county, receiving an excellent education. T<> the parents of our subject four children were born, namely: William C. is deceased: Guy

Judge Kirby grew to manhood in his native city and here attended the ward and high schools, later was a student in Drury College. Leaving school in 1895, he began the study of law with the late John O'Day as preceptor, and, having made rapid progress, was admitted to the bar in December, 1896. After that he continued studying law, lint did not begin the practice of his profession until 1900. He continued active practice in the local courts for ten years with much success, or until he was elected judge of the circuit court in 1910, since which time he has discharged the duties of this important position in a manner that has reflected much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents and all concerned, being generally regarded as one of the best men ever on this bench.

Judge Kirby has remained unmarried. Politically he is a stanch Democrat and active in local political affairs. He belongs to the Baptist church.

True biography has a more noble purpose than mere fulsome eulogy. The historic spirit, faithful to the record; the discerning judgment, unmoved by prejudice and uncolored by enthusiasm, are as essential in giving the life of the individual as in writing the history of a people. Indeed, the ingenuousness ol the former picture is even mure vital, because the individual is the national unit, and if the unit lie justly estimated the complex organism will ben niie correspondingly intelligible. The world today is what the leading men of the past generation have made it. and this rule musl ever In 'Id g 1. From the past comes the legacy of the present. Art. science, statesmanship and government are accumulations. They constitute an inheritance upon which the present generation have entered, and the advantages secured from so vast a bequeathment depend entirely upon the fidelity with which is conducted the study of the lives of the principal actors who have transmitted the legacy. Tin- 1- especially true of those whose influence has passed beyond the confines of locality and permeated the larger lite of the stale. h such a careful study are the life, character and service of the late T. Blondville Holland pre-eminentl) entitled. no1 onl) on the part of the student of biography, but also of every citizen who. guided by example, would in the present build wisely for the future. In studying a cleancut, sane, distinct character like that of the subject, interpretation follows fact in a straight line of derivation. There is small use for indirection or puzzling. Ilis character is the positive expression of a strong nature. As has been said of him, "he was distinctively one of the notable man of his day and generation, and as such is entitled to a conspicuous place in the annals of his city, county and state." Mr. Holland was a member of one of the oldest, best-known and must influential families of Greene county, Missouri, and in his lifetime had engaged widely in various business pursuits, and as head of the great banking company which has long borne his name, he wielded a potent influence in financial circles of the Southwest. 1 )espite the fact that his father was a wealth}- man, he began early to make his own way. He traveled by horse long distance in his youth in live stock deals and by exceptional ability in his efforts became wealthy in his own right. His name had become a household synonym of conservativeness, as trustworthy as a gold bond.

Mr. Holland was a sun of Gen. C. B. and Emiline H. (Bigbee) Holland, the latter a daughter of I apt. John S. Bigbee. T. Blondville Holland was burn in Robertson county. Tennessee, January i, 1836. He immigrated to Springfield. Missouri, with his parents in the spring of 1841, and here spent the rest of his life. The family made the tedious journey from across the Tennessee plains and the rugged range of the Ozark mountains. At that time Springfield had only a few small log huts, one of which the father of our subject rented. As no furniture could be bought, the elder Holland made his own furniture out of walnut rails from a fence nearby which he purchased from John P. Campbell, who donated the original townsite where Springfield now stands. With General Holland and family also came John L. Holland, his brother, who still lives in Springfield at the advanced age ol ninety-five years. He and the General were among the first merchants in this city. The two brothers married sisters. Lee Holland, a son of J. L. Holland, was a double cousin to T. B. Holland.

In the beginning of the Civil war our subject enlisted in the Union Army under his father. Gen. C. B. Holland, and served with distinction throughout the war. He was at one time offered and refused an officer's commission. He took much pride in the military history of his ancestors and was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. His father being a self-made man, he believed in boys assuming responsibilities in earlv life, and at the age of eighteen years. T. B. Holland started in a small mercantile business for himself at a point which at that time was in Taney county, now near the town of Rome, Douglas county, Missouri. Although the business proved successful, after two years he disposed of same and returned to Springfield, where he later entered into a partnership business with his father under the firm name of C. B. Holland & Son, which proved successful. Both dealt in live stock also, and later added the hanking business. (62)

The partnership was continued until the death of the father in 1901. During the early partnership before the war our subject several times drove horses and mules overland clear through from Springfield to New Orleans. After the war a general mercantile business was conducted in Springfield by C. B. Holland & Son which was continued until 1870. In the year 1875 the banking business was established as a private bank, which was likewise conducted under the firm name of C. B. Holland & Son and continued until 1896, when it was incorporated as the Holland Banking Company and has been conducted under that name ever since. Our subject was associated with the bank until his death and was president of the same the latter years of his life. .Mr. Holland was a strong character of sterling worth whose integrity and honor was his religion, and it was largely these characteristics injected into the business that won the Holland Banking Company the high standing in the community which it enjoys today. .Mr. Holland was the first president of the Springfield Clearing House Association.

The domestic life of T. B. Holland began in [860 when he was united in marriage with Matilda Dade, a young lad) of St. Louis and a sister to the late Dabney C. Dade, of Springfield, and a daughter of Judge John hade. She died in [875. This union resulted in the birth of five children. two of whom died in infancy, and two sons, T. 1). and VV. C, died after reaching manhood. The eldest daughter, Cora 1!.. died in [901. She was the wife of William I!. Sanford, now president of the Holland Banking Company. To Mr. and Mrs. Sanford one child was born, Grady II. Sanford. T. 11. Holland was remarried in 1S77 to Miss I'.. \. Hamilton, who survives him. with four children, all living and married: they are: Charles, proprietor of the Holland Stock and Dairy Farm near Springfield: Mrs. Will Darby, who resides with her mother in Springfield; Mrs. Manney Simmons, and Mrs. Clifford Jarrett.

Mr. Holland was prominently identified with the making of Springfield, doing as much as am other man for the material upbuilding of the city in which he always had implicit faith and took so great a delight. He was a large contributor i<> all public enterprises and charities but avoided publicity therewith, lie was a member of the first board of trustees of Drury College and remained a close friend of this institution throughout his life, especially through Us early struggles until it was well on the road to success. In the big fire that visited the heart of the business district of Springfield in the spring of [913, Mr. Holland was the heaviest property loser, he having accumulated considerable property in this section of the city.

After a period of ill health T. Blondville Holland was summoned to close his earthly career at the Holland home on St. Louis street, Springfield, on July 30, 1913, in his seventy-eighth year, after a long, useful, successful and honorable life, fraught with much good to his county, city, himself, family and the world, and the young man of today might well emulate his example, not only in a business way but in all walks of life, for his career presents to the contemplative mind many lessons of value.

Robert L. Ramsey

In his efforts he. who essays biographical or memorial history, rinds much of profit and much of alluring fascination when he would follow out. in even a cursory way, the teachings of an active, rightly lived life, seeking to find the keynote of each respective personality. These efforts and their resulting transmission cannot fail of value in an objective way, for in each case may the lesson of life be conned, line upon line, precept upon precept. The late Robert L. Ramsey was a man who lived to good purpose and while laboring for his own good and that of his immediate family, helped others on the road that leads to the mystic goal ahead

Mr. Ramsey was born in Lewis county, Missouri, in 1836. He was a son of Silas and Elizabeth (Brown) Ramsey, natives of Kentucky, where they grew up and were married and from there removed to Missouri, being among the early settlers of Lewis county, where the family has been well and favorably known to the present time. Seven children were born to them, all now deceased but one. namely: John; Martha is the only survivor; Thomas; Sarah; Lucy; Robert L., of this sketch, and Samuel, the youngest. Silas Ramsey, the father, was twice married, our subject having been by Ins first union, lie became one of the leading farmers of Lewis county, and owned three sections of fine land there.

Robert L. Ramsey grew to manhood in his native county and assisted his father with the work on the farm, and he received a fairly good education in the common schools. He was by nature an excellent mathematician. He began life for himself as a fanner, but believing that the business world held greater inducement for him he went to Canton, county-seat of Lewis county, when a young man, about [869, and there began his mercantile career, which he continued with ever-increasing success for over twenty years, enjoying an extensive trade with the town and surrounding country. He always carried a good stock of merchandise and dealt fairly and courteously with his customers, and thereby retained their confidence and good will. His health failing, he retired from active life three or four years

Mr. Ramsey was married in his native county, February 3, 1859, to Sarah E. Ray, who was born in Lewis county, Missouri, March 22, 1839. She is a daughter of Judge M. and Sarah ( Brown) Ray, the former a native of Tennessee and the mother of Kentucky.

To Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey six children were born, two of whom are living, namely: M. Beatrice; Mattie L. ; Lula E. ; Roberta; Sarah and Elizabeth, twins, are the only survivors; Sarah married Walter \Y. Baxter, who is mentioned in the sketch of Kirk Baxter on another page of this volume; Elizabeth married George H. Baxter, who is living a retired life in Springfield.

The death of Robert L. Ramsey occurred in Canton. Missouri. September 19, 1900, at the age of sixty-four years. His widow subsequently removed to Springfield, this state, to live with her two daughters. She purchased a home on South Eremont street, and there spent the rest of her days, being called to join her husband in the Silent Land on April 13. [914. The daughters now occupy the cozy home she left.

Mr. Ramsey was a Democrat, and religiously he was a member of the Baptist church. Fraternally he belonged to the Masonic Order, and Ins father-in-law was the first Mason in Lewis comity. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsej were excellent people, religious, neighborly and charitable and were beloved l>\ all who knew them.

William R. Daniel

No matter what line of work one is engaged in he should strive to become an expert in it, which will not only result in better remuneration, hut a greater degree of satisfaction and pleasure all around. If one goes at his worl< in a half-hearted, slip-shod manner very little good will he accomplished and little satisfaction gotten out of it. In fact, it is not too much to say thai poor work should never be done, for it is very often worse than nothing - detrimental. William R. Daniel, the skilled coach carpenter in the Frisco's new shops at Springfield, realized these facts when he made up his mind when a young man to become a carpenter, lie knew tin- world was full of wood workers in various lines and that to achieve anything really worth while he would have to become a superior workman. Years ,,f patient and careful work have made him one.

Mr. Daniel was born on October ;, 1857. in Savannah. Tennessee. He is a son of Calloway and Caroline (Hutton) Daniel, natives of Tennessee and Alabama, respectively. They grew Up in the South, attended school and were married in Tennessee, from which state in tS6i they removed to Illinois, where they lived during the Civil war, and, in 1865, came to New Madrid county, Missouri, where they spent the rest of their lives on a farm, dying near the town of New Madrid, the father in 1883, and the mother in 1893. Politically, Calloway Daniel was a Democrat, and he belonged to the Granger order. His family consisted of ten children, namely: Emily and Elsie are living; Thomas is deceased; James is living; Patrick is deceased; William R. of this sketch; Jane, Alice, Benjamin and George are all deceased.

William R. Daniel was four years old when he left his native state of Illinois and was about nine years old when his parents brought him to New Madrid county, Missouri, where he grew to manhood on a farm and there worked during the summer months, attending the district schools in the winter. He followed farming in that county until 1884, when, on August 12th of that year, he came to Springfield, this state, and engaged in carpenter work for a few years. On November 23, 1890, he went to work for the Frisco System at the old North Side shops, in the coach department as a carpenter, where he remained until 1009, when the new shops were opened, at which time he was transferred to the latter and promoted to coach carpenter, which position he still holds, giving eminent satisfaction, for he is not only exceptionally skillful, hut is a fast and painstaking workman, always conscientious in bis work.

Mr. Daniel was married on December 22, 1880, in New .Madrid, Missouri, to Fanny V. Edmondson, who was horn there June 26, 1804, and was reared and educated at that place. She is a daughter of John and I.avina S. (Freeman) Edmondson. Her father was born in Louisville, Kentucky, November 10, 1820, and her mother was born in North Carolina. December 1, 1834. They grew up in the South, were educated and married there, finallv removing to Springfield. Missouri, where the death of Mr. Edmondson occurred on February 3, 1901 ; his wife died in Kansas City, May 8, 1904; they are buried in Springfield. Mr. Edmondson, who devoted his life principally to agricultural pursuits, was a well-read man. Politically he was a Democrat. His family consisted of four children, namely: Mrs. Elizabeth J. Warrington lives in Kansas City, Missouri: Laura is deceased; Fanny V., wife of Mr. Daniel of this sketch, and William, who is the youngest.

To our subject and wife two children have been born, namely: Laura Lavina. was born in 1882, and died when a year old; the second child died in infancy, unnamed.

Mrs. Daniel is a well educated and accomplished woman, who is prominent in local club life. She is an active and influential member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She also belongs to the Progressive

Workers' Club. She was first vice-president of the Children's Home when it was first organized in Springfield. She is a member of the Pickwick Sewing Club, and is a member of the Young Men's Christian Association Auxiliary, and belongs to the Second Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Daniel is also a member and an elder. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Order, the Improved Order of Red Men and the Maccabees. Politically he is a Democrat.

Walter P. Emersox

One of the enterprising and deserving young men of Fair Grove, Greene county, is Walter P. Emerson, who is filling very acceptably the position of postmaster and is also conducting a store there. He was formerly a resident of Springfield and has spent most of his life in this count}-.

Mr. Emerson was born in Jasper county, Missouri, November 14. [880. He is a son of James Daniel and Sarah Ann Frances (Wheeler) Emerson. The Father was born in [852, in Greene county, this state, spending his first years in Franklin township, in fact, with the exception of one year spent in Jasper county, be spent his entire life in his native county, and made general fanning his vocation, owning a good farm of one hundred and twenty acres, all under improvement, in Jackson township, and there his death occurred in May. 1904. Politically he was a Democrat, and while active in the affairs of his party was never an office holder. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. South, at Fair Grove, in which he took much interest, and in which he was a deacon for years. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at hair Grove. His wife was a native of Tennessee, and when young in years she came to Greene count}-, Missouri, with her parents, James T. and Nancy A. (Andrews) Wheeler. This was during the period of the ('ivil war. The family located at Hickory Barrens, anil secured one hundred and forty acres of good land in that vicinity, where Mr. Wheeler carried on general farming. During the war he was a private in a Missouri regimenl in the Union arm}-, later being promoted to corporal and was honorably discharged and mustered out as such. He saw considerable service and had a horse shot from under him in an engagement. He was in St. Louis at the close of the war. He enlisted on the road from Tennessee to Missouri and his wife continued on to Greene count}-, where he joined her after the war and resided the rest of his life.

Walter P. Emerson grew up on the home farm and assisted with the general work there. He was one year old when his parents brought him from Jasper county to Franklin township. He was educated in the district schools here, later taking a course in the Springfield Business College, from which he was graduated in 1902. He lived in Springfield six years, working as a street car conductor for four years, and as a teamster for two years. He moved to Fair Grove in March, 1908, where he has since resided. He has for some time been conducting a small general store, and in the spring of 1914 took the civil service examination and was appointed postmaster at Fair Grove the following July. He is discharging the duties of the office in a highly acceptable manner to the department and the people. Mis store is next door to the office. He is an honest, obliging and courteous young man, and his appointment to this office was highly pleasing to the citizens of Fair Grove and vicinity.

Air. Emerson was married October 9, 1901, to Pearlie Blair, a daughter of Thomas A. and Malinda ( Sharp) Blair. To this union five children have been born, namely: Audra Preston, James Thomas, Zelma Hazel, Flma Dazel and Claude Elwyn.

Politically, Air. Emerson is a Democrat. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World, both at Fair Grove, and his wife is a member of the Baptist church.

Ia.Mes S. Sartain

From the great Prairie state, where lived such renowned men as statesmen, warriors, men of business and authors, comes James S. Sartain, engineer of the Fruit Dispatch Company, of Springfield. He has not tried to emulate in his life work the eminent men of his native state only in that he has tried to do something well, not desiring the plaudits of the world in a public way, and so he has done his allotted work on earth just the same as if his name was inscribed high on the honor roll of the nation, for all good work by mankind is viewed as a part of the plan of creation, and we are taught that "each thing and person in their place is best."

Air. Sartain was born October 18, 1868, in Pike county. Illinois. He is a son of Charles and Matilda (Ham) Sartain. The father was born in North Carolina, in 1845, and the mother was born in Pike county, Illinois, in 1854. These parents received common school educations and were married in Pike county, Illinois, whither the father removed from the South when young. He devoted his active life to general farming and stock raising. He remained in Illinois until 1880, when he removed to Bates county, Missouri. During the Civil war he served a full term of enlistment, participating in a number of battles, and was captured at Arkansas Post. His death occurred in Bates county, this state, in 1909. His family consisted of nine children, seven of whom are still living.

James S. Sartain grew to manhood on the home farm and received his education in the public schools of Bates county and the high school at Adrian, that count}-. He lived on the home farm until he was eighteen years old, then engaged in the threshing business for several years. He also became a stationary engineer. In 1908 he moved to Springfield from Butler, Bates county, and here he has since been running an engine, at the present time being engineer at the plant of the Fruit Dispatch Company. He is regarded as an expert in his line and likes the work; moreover, he has proven to be a thoroughly trustworthy employee.

Mr. Sartain was married on November 18, 1889. in Adrian. Missouri, to Eulalia McCraw, who was born, reared and educated there, the date of her birth being February 27, 1874. She is a daughter of James and .Margaret (( alland) McCraw. who were natives of Pennsylvania, but who came West in early life. The father is still living, but the mother is deceased.

It was the great Thoreau who said thai men would be better if they had sufficient vision to look below the surface of things. This vision is not vouchsafed to many, but one of the favored in this respect is Dr. Richard Henry Hanson, a well known homeopathic physician of Springfield, whose long and useful career has been an interesting and varied one and of much good to humanity. We find that he was a gallant soldier in the defense of the Union, a worthy minister in the Methodist church for many years, an effective worker for the cause of temperance, a potent influence in the state legislature where lie served two terms, and enterprising merchant and for more than three decades ;i successful man of medicine, both a pharmacist and physician, and withal a true gentleman who deserves the high respect in w Inch he is universallly held.

1842. He is a son of Cyrus and Luanda (Hill) Hanson, natives of New England, the father born near Dover, New Hampshire, and when a boy he ran away from home and went to Vermont and later removed to near Peru, Xew York, where lie followed farming the rest of his life. The mother of our subject was reared in Vermont and her death occurred in Minnesota. Dr. Richard 11. Hanson grew to manhood on the home farm in Xew York state and there he received a common school education, later attending Malone Academy, at Malone, X. Y. He remained on the farm until he was twenty years of age, then studied chemistry and photography, the daguerreotype method. When the Civil war came on be enlisted in Company L, Sixth New York Heavy Artillery, and saw considerable bard service. He was among the troops which was detailed to guard the wagon trains of the Federal army during the battle of Cedar Creek, but the company he was a member of was annihilated. However, be effected his escape, was taken sick and spent the latter part of the war in a hospital in Philadelphia. After he was honorably discharged from the army he returned to bis home in Xew York state and soon thereafter bought a country store, which he conducted a few years, then came to Springfield. Missouri, in the early seventies. Later taking up the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, he joined the St. Louis conference and spent thirteen years in the ministry, during which time he was regarded as one of the most earnest, faithful and able members of the conference and a leader in this denomination in southern .Missouri. He was for a time connected with the school of this denomination at Marionville, and among his charges were Ash Grove, Marshfield, Windsor. Sedalia, Bloomfield. Iberia, Dixon and Hartville. In all these places he did a most commendable work and greatly strengthened the church in each. During the latter part of his ministry he studied medicine and finally abandoned the pulpit, much to the regret of those who had occasion to know of his splendid work in the gospel, and took up the practice of homeopathy, which he has continued with pronounced success for the past thirty years, and is one of the best-known men in this branch of medical science in the Southwest. He was duly licensed as a homeopath and was also given a pharmacy license, having made himself familiar with that profession also. While living in Wright county he served as coroner for a period of eight years in an eminently successful manner. He led the campaign for local option in Wright county, which won by a majority vote of over twelve hundred, the credit for this victory being due very largely to him. On the strength of his labors in this line he was elected representative from Wright county to the state legislature on the Republican ticket, and his record there was so highly satisfactory and commendable that he was elected for a second term by a much larger majority than previously. He was an ardent supporter in locating the State Normal School at Springfield, also was chairman of the emigration committee, which appropriated $io.cco toward bringing emigration to Missouri. In fact, for many years Dr. Hanson has been a power in the Republican party in southern Missouri.

Dr. Hanson owns and runs a sanitarium on North Main street, which is a spacious, fine building, with a fine, well-kept yard and grove. Dr. Hanson also has a fine 500-acre farm in Wright county, Missouri, which is also very valuable mineral land.

The doctor was married in Bolivar, Polk county, Missouri, in 1878. to Zillah F. Holt, a daughter of John L. and Joanna Holt. Her father was a spy for the Union army during the Civil war. He devoted his life to cabinet making, and was surveyor of Lawrence county for a number of years. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hanson, Viola, widow of Edward McXealy ; Perry L. lives at Hartville, Missouri; Golden lives at home, now Mrs. William Curry; (ialen lives in Springfield and Daisy lives at home.

Robert A. Moore

Eminent business talent is composed of a combination of high mental and moral attributes. It is not simply energy and industry; there must be sound judgment, breadth of capacity, rapidity of thought, justice and firmness, the foresight to perceive the drifting tides of business and the will and ability to control them, and, withal, a collection of minor but important qualities to regulate the details of the pursuits which engage attention. Robert A. Moore, superintendent and manager of the Moore Manufacturing Company, of Springfield, affords an exemplification of this talent, if not in its highest development, yet an extraordinary character, and notwithstanding the somewhat limited theater of his operations he has achieved a reputation which places him in the front rank of ( ireene county's progressive successful men of affairs.

Mr. Moore was born in Wayne county, Xew York, May 11, 1846. Ikis a son of Robert X. and Sarah ( Pollok ) Moore. The father was burn in Duchess county, Xew York, in 1818. received a good education in his nativestate and there married and engaged in farming, later becoming a capitalist and was a promoter in agricultural lines in the Smith until the war. Ili> death occurred at Burlington, Iowa, in 1870. llis wife was a native of Wayne county, Xew York, and the date of her birth was 1823. She grew to womanhood in her native locality and received an excellent education, including a course in the Elmira Seminary, from which institution she was graduated. She was a woman of culture and many praiseworthy attributes. Her death occurred in Richmond, Virginia, in 1858, when still a youngwoman. To Robert N. Moore and wife four children were born, namely: James Z., Robert A., Frank P. and Mary.

Robert A. Moore received a limited education in the public schools of his native state, but this early deficiency has more than heen made up by wide home reading and contact with the world in later years. He found it necessary to leave school when he was sixteen years old, and, taking Horace Greeley's advice, went West to seek his fortune. He located in Burlington, Iowa, in 1863, and there began railroading with the bridge and civil engineering department of the Chicago. Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, with which department he remained for five or six years, then took up contracting, which he followed until the death of his father in 1876. He remained in Burlington working as a millwright and superintendent until 1886, when he came to Springfield, Missouri, where he continued to work as millwright. In [892 he opened a manufacturing business at 600 East Phelps avenue, beginning the manufacture of school and church furniture. The business was a success from the first and it was incorporated in 1893. He has continued in this line of endeavor to the present time with ever increasing success, and the Moore Manufacturing Company is now widely known throughout the Southwest and has a capita! stock of twenty-five thousand dollars. Its products find a very ready market owing to their high-grade workmanship, finish and quality, seating, fine cabinet work and machinery being specialties; also school and church furniture, office fittings, tahles, desks, law cases, opera chairs, assembly chairs, hall seatings, railroad seatings, lawn seatings, etc. In connection with the wood work the company handles machinery for various kinds of wood work manufacturing and a large trade is also enjoyed in this department. The plant is a large, well equipped and substantial one, modern in its various appointments, and a large number of skilled mechanics and artisans are constantly employed. Only the best grade of material is used and only the highest grade of workmanship is permitted to go out of the factory. The officers of the company are: Flora L. Moore (wife of our subject), president: Robert A. Moore, superintendent and manager; H. A. Hutchins, secretary; Charles I. Moore and Frank P. Moore, directors.

Robert A. Moore was married twice, first in 1871, to Christiana Morgan, whose death occurred in 1879. To this union three children were born, namelv: Charles I., born in 1872, lives on a farm in Laclede county. Missouri; Frank P.. horn in 1877, is in business with his father; Julia L., born in 1879, died in May, 1900. In October, 1888, Mr. Moore was united in marriage to Flora L. Hutchins, in Springfield. Missouri. She was born in Greene county, this state, March 5, 1868, and was reared and educated here. She is a daughter of Thomas A. and Eliza A. ( Bowker) Hutchins, both natives of Massachusetts, the father born in June, 1824, and died in Arizona in February, 1893; the death of the mother occurred in Springfield, Missouri. July 11, 1901. Eight children were born to Thomas A. Hutchins and wife, namely: Howard B. is deceased; Mary E., Edward W., Angeline, Harriet. Flora L., Clara E. and Francis S.

Four children were born to Mr. Moore's second marriage, namely : Fred N., born in 1889, lives in Oklahoma and is in the employ of the Frisco Lines; Ester I., born in 1892, is principal of the high school at Miller. Missouri; Ruth \Y., born in 1895, is attending Drury College, and Katherine >.. born in 1 901, is also attending school.

Theodore Banister

From the "banks of the Wabash far away" hails Theodore Bani>ter. and no doubt, in the language of Paul Dresser's famous sung, "oft his mind reverts to the happy scenes of childhood" in that fair country where " 'round his Indina homestead wave the cornfields" with "scent of new-mown hay" and sycamore bottoms and all that; for it is indeed a desirable country, and,, of course, seems better to those whose youth was spent there. It is not only a picturesque country, but it has produced some of our best American citizens, men of industry, courage and honesty, so that they have been welcomed into whatever communities they have cast their lots. Not many of them have settled in Greene county, but Mr. Banister has found it to his advantage to do so.

Our subject was burn in Wabash county. Indiana. February 28, 1 S40 He is a son of Nathaniel and Emiline (Dale) Banister. The father was born December 13, 1818, in Nicholas £Ounty, Kentucky, in which state he spent his earlier years, finally emigrating to Indiana in an early day and locating in Wabash county. They were married in Fayette county, Indiana. February 9, 1841, and there began life in typical pioneer fashion, he entering eighty acres of land from the government, which he cleared and developed into a farm, making general fanning his life work. He lived On one farm for a period of forty-six years, and was a well-known man in his locality. His farm in Wabash county consisted of one hundred and sixty acres of excellent land. There his death occurred many years ago, but his widow survives, having attained at this writing the unusual age of ninety- four years, still making her home in the Hoosier state. Politically, Nathaniel Banister was a Democrat, and he was at one time trustee of his township. His family consisted of ten children, seven of whom are still living, namely: Merritt. who has remained in Wabash county, Indiana: Theodore, of this sketch; Louis. Alfred, Horace, San ford and Alice, all live in Indiana; the other three children died in early life.

Mr. Banister, of this review, grew up on the home farm, where he worked when a boy, and he received Ins education in the public schools of his vicinity, the first school he attended being in a log cabin. He followed farming until he was twenty-one years old, then began learning the carpenter's trade, for which he had unusual natural talent. He remained in his native state until in [880, when he came to Springfield, Missouri. He has continued in carpenter work all the while and is a fast and high-grade workman, and his services are in good demand at the highest wages.

Mr. Banister was married on November 7, 1884, in Springfield, to Laura Loveless, who was born in the central part of Ohio, May 1, 1863, and there she grew to womanhood and was educated near Bellefontaine, removing to Springfield, this state, when young, and finishing her education here. Her parents, George and Sarah ( Outland ) Loveless, spent most of their lives on the farm. The father was born September 7. [823, and died here July 16, 1892. The mother was born June 30, 1823, and died in Springfield July 18, 1886.

To Mr. and Mrs. Banister three children have been born, namely: George E., born July 3, 1886, is a traveling salesman and resides in Springfield ; Ralph, born December id, 18XS, who is employed in Snyder's clothing store in this city; Theodore, Jr., born October 21, [896, works in Holland's blank, this city.

Politically. Mr. Banister is a Democrat. He is a member of the South Street Christian church, in which he is a deacon, and be has long been active in church work. He has a cozy home on East Elm street.

Kirk Baxter

The late Kirk Baxter will long be remembered by the people of Springfield as a minister in the Christian church, and as a teacher, a man who was imbued with the deepest and most helpful altruistic spirit, and he gave his best years to the furthering of the movements calculated to uplift and make the world better. Pure, constant and noble was the spiritual flame that burned in and illumined the mortal tenement of the subject of this memoir, and to the superficial observer can come but small appreciation of bis in- trinsic spirituality, his faith having been fortified by the deepest study, and the Christian verities were with him the matters of most concern among the changes and chances of this mortal life. No man with his intellectual vigor and the love of truth which marked him could live long without inevitably being brought to investigate the great moral laws governing life, in fact, he was a strong man in every respect and was successful in all he undertook.

Mr. Baxter was born in New York City, in the year 1836. His parents were natives of England, where they grew up and were married, finally emigrating to America, and both died in New York City, when their son, Kirk, who was the youngest o\ three children, was small, his two brothers being William and George Baxter. They are all now deceased.

Kirk Baxter received his education in his native city, through the assistance of his oldest brother, William Baxter, but while still a boy, the three brothers went to the Southland, locating in Louisiana, where our subject continued his education in a college, and there entered the ministry of the Gospel, and for many years preached at various places in the South. Hewent to Mississippi after leaving Louisiana, and later located in Arkansas, where he remained a short time, and, in 1868, moved with his family to Springfield, Missouri, and became minister of the local Christian church, holding this charge for many years, during which he was one of the most popular ministers in this city. He also taught school, private classes, here for some time, and as both preacher and educator his work was high-grade. He was a man of learning, of advanced ideas, was well versed in the Bible and was a forceful and entertaining speaker.

Mr. Baxter was married in Louisiana to Emma F. lackson, a native of that state, and a daughter of Jarrett E. Jackson and wife, and she grew to womanhood and was educated in her native locality, and she proved to he an excellent helpmate to her gifted husband. They became the parents of eight children, namely: Charles W.. who died January 30, 1014: Mary lives in the state of Washington; Lena lives in Oklahoma: William II. died in 1879; Rosa lives in the state of Washington; George H.. horn February 5, 1867, received his education in the Springfield schools and the old Ash Grove College, and on December 2j, 1898. he married Elizabeth Ramsey; he lives in Springfield, travels for a large St. Louis shoe house, and fraternally he belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Royal Arcanum. Curt, the seventh child in order of birth, is living in Montana; Walter W., the youngest of the family, was born February 3, 1872, in Springfield, and here grew to manhood and was educated; on December 28, 1899, he married Sarah Ramsey, which union was without issue; he was for some time general manager of the Springfield orifice of R. G Dunn & Co.; his death occurred in January, 1901.

Politically Kirk Baxter was a Democrat. For a period of twenty-five years he was prominent in the upbuilding of Springfield, especially along civic and moral lines, and during that period few men did more for the educational development of Greene county. He started the first Girls' Seminary in Springfield, and was the founder of the Ash Grove College. He was a man of whom it may be said, "truly his works do follow him." He was summoned to his eternal rest in 1 89 s -

Harry Clyde Holden

One of the young men of Springfield who has found it to his advantage to remain in his native city rather than seek opportunities in other places is Harry Clyde Holden, foreman of the mill shop at the new Frisco shops in this city, where, by persistency and prompt and faithful service, he has climbed up from the bottom round of the ladder.

Mr. Holden was born in Springfield, .Missouri, March 23, 1871. He is a son of George and Elizabeth (O'Bannon) Holden. His mother was born in Charlestown, West Virginia, in 1841. and her death occurred in Springfield, Missouri, in 1893. George Holden. the father, was born in England, near London, the world's greatest city, in 1839, and his death occurred in Springheld, Missouri, April 12, 1908. He spent his early life in his native land and there received his education, emigrating to the United States when a young man and locating in Charlestown, West Virginia, where lie was married. He remained in the East until the close of the Civil war. when, in the year 1865, he moved to this city, after spending some time in Union City, Missouri. He participated in this war by serving in the Union army, taking part in many important battles, proving to lie an excellent soldier in everv respect. He learned the carpenter's trade when a young man, and this he followed the rest of his active life, being a very skilled workman. Politically, he was a Republican. I lis family consisted of six children, all of whom are still living, namely: Florence, Emily, George, Hannah, Harry C. and Dwight.

Harrv C. Holden grew to manhood in his native city and received his education in the local public schools. When a boy he went to work in the box car department of the Frisco shops, being only sixteen years of age at that time. After working in that department for some time he wrent to the pattern shops in the old North Side shops of this road, where he remained until 18Q2, when he went to St. Louis, where he secured employment in the St. Louis Car and Wheel Company's works, in the pattern department. Returning to Springfield in 1893, he resumed work in the pattern department at the old shops, where he remained about a year, then went to Cincinnati, Ohio.

remaining in that city until 1909. when he returned to Springfield, at the opening of the new Frisco shops, where he has since been employed as mill and cabinet foreman, the duties of which important position he is discharging in an eminently satisfactory manner, having a large number of men under him, whom he directs in such a manner as to get the best possible results and at the same time retain their good will. Me understands most thoroughly every phase of the work in his department.

Mr. Holden was married July 2. 1901, to Anna Moeller, in Dayton, Ohio. She was born in Cincinnati, that state, and is a daughter of August and Louisa ( Bradermyer) Moeller.

Politically, Mr. Holden is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic blue lodge and the Junior Order of American Mechanics. He is a member of the Baptist church.

John Maxwell Cowan

There is nothing in the world more beautiful than the spectacle ><i a life that has reached its late autumn with a harvest of good and useful deeds. It is like the forest in October days when the leaves have borrowed the richest colors of the light and glow in the mellowed sheen of the Indian summer, reflecting in their closing days all the radiance of their earthly existence. The man who has lived a clean, useful and self-denying life and has brought into potential exercise the best energies of his mind that he might make the world brighter and better for his being a part of it. while laboring for his individual advancement, cannot fail to enjoy a serenity of soul that reveals itself in his manner and conversation. When such a life is preserved in its strength and integrity so that even in age its influence continues unabated.

brought 111 contact with it. Such a life has been that of John Maxwell Cowan, who has played no inconspicuous part in the affairs of Springfield and Greene county since he cast his lot in our midst over a quarter of a century ago. and now in the ninety-third year of a life that has been noted for its sterling honesty, industry and devotion to family, church and his country, he can look backward with no compunction of conscience for misdeeds and forward to the mystic Beyond with no fear. Such a life merits a record of its deeds, that the debt due it may be acknowledged, and that it may serve as a stimulus to others to endeavor to emulate it. But his record is too familiar to the people of the locality of which this history treats to require any fulsome encomium here, his life-work speaking for itself in stronger terms than the biographer could employ in polished periods. There is no doubt but that his long life has heen due to his conservative habits, wholesome living and pure thinking. He is hospitable and charitable, his many acts of kindness springing from his altruistic nature rather than from a desire tn win the praise of his fellow men.

Air. Cowan springs from a sterling old family on both sides of the house, which may be traced back to the old Colonial days in American history, ile was born December 6, [821. He enjoys two distinctions worthy of note, one is that he was the first white child born at Indianapolis, Indiana, and he is the oldest living graduate of Wabash College, one of the oldest and most important schools id" the Hoosier state. He is the only child of John and Anna I Maxwell) Cowan, and he is of pure Scotch ancestry and inherits the sturdy qualities of his forefathers who were all frontiersmen of Virginia, in Colonial and Revolutionary time--, who helped blaze the trails into Kentucky and Tennessee. John Cowan was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 171 >N, and at an early age went to Tennessee, locating at Knoxville, where many of his family still live. !;nnn there he went to Charlestown, Indiana, and joined the army under Gen. William Henry Harrison, remaining in the service during the entire campaign against the Indians in tSii, taking part in the famous battle of Tippecanoe, November 9, 1811. He was a mounted ranger dining the war of r8l2. He was a son of Samuel and Ann 1 Walker ) Cowan, both natives of Virginia. Samuel Cowan was killed by the Indians while working in the harvest field, and his wife was taken prisoner the same day and held a captive many years, was finally ransomed and returned to her home in Virginia. John Cowan married first, Margaret Weir, in Virginia, [769, and his second wife was Anna Maxwell, who was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, in 1781. They were married in Jefferson county. Indiana, December 30, 1819, and she died in Indiana, in 1854, and he died in 1832 in Indiana. Anna Maxwell was a daughter of Bezaleel and Margaret (Anderson) Maxwell, the former born in Albemarle count}'. Virginia, in 1751. the latter born in Virginia in 1755; the)' were married in 1775: his death occurred in iN_>4. and she died in 1834. Bezaleel Maxwell was a son of John and Fannie (Garner) Maxwell, and Margaret Anderson was a daughter of John and Ann (Irwin) Anderson, the former born in Virginia in 17.23 and died in Kentucky in 1796. Ann Irwin was a daughter of Matliew and Elizabeth Irwin; the father died in .Augusta county, Virginia, in 17(12. John Maxwell, who was a son of Bezaleel and Rebecca ( Boyd) Maxwell, became a captain in the Revolutionary war, and both he and his son fought at the great Indian battle of Point Pleasant. John Anderson, mentioned above, was also a soldier in the war for independence and -63)