Linn County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1912 (part 12 of 15)

Mr. Miller was married on December 27, 1899, to Miss Cora E, Glasgow, a native of this county and the daughter of Thomas and Emma (Anderson) Glasgow, early settlers in the county, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have two children, their sons Thomas Ole and Lawrence E., who are now attending school. Politically the head of the house is a Democrat, firm in his convictions and true and loyal to his party. He has served six years as township trustee, and so widely cared for the interests of the township and its residents that his work in the ofiSce is held in the highest appreciation. His only aflSliation in the fraternal life of the community is with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Yoemen. His rank as a merchant is high; his usefulness as a citizen is pronounced, and his life as a man is above reproach. The people of the whole county esteem him in accordance with this estimate, and know that he is worthy of it.

Dr. John C. Scott

In the death of the late Dr. John C. Scott, who departed this life on March 14, 1905, at the age of sixty-five years, Linn county lost one of its leading physicians and most active and useful citizens. He had been a resident of the county for fifty-one years, and had practiced his profession among its residents for thirty-seven. He also owned a fine farm of 148 acres near the town of St. Catharine, and in that town he had a fine residence on one of the principal streets. In addition to his lucrative practice and profitable farming operations he Avas largely engaged in raising live stock for the general markets.

Dr. Scott was born on June 14, 1840, in Tazewell county, Virginia, and was a son of Bazwell and Marinda (Carter) Scott. He obtained his academic education at Mount Pleasant College, which is located at Huntsville in Randolph county, this state, and became a resident of Linn coimty in 1854. For a number of years after locating in this county he was engaged in farming. When he determined to stady medicine and make the practice of that science his chief work for the rest of his life, he entered Keokuk (Iowa) University, and from that institution he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1868. He at once began the practice of his profession in this county, and here he continued it until his death.

Dr. Scott rose to prominence and influence in his work in the county, serving as the secretary of the Linn County Medical Society for a time and as county coroner for some years, being first elected to this office in 1880. He pursued a post graduate course in special training at Rush Medical College in Chicago and was always a diligent student of the best literature of his profession and a keen reasoner on its manifestations in his practical work, and in addition was ever willing to communicate the information he possessed to his professional brethren, although modest and unassuming in doing so. They esteemed him highly, as did the people of the whole coimty, both as a physician and as a man and citizen.

The doctor was a Freemason in fraternal life and a Democrat in politics. But while he was loyal to his party and at all times desirous of its success, he never sought any of its honors or emoluments for himself. His religious connection was with the Methodist Episcopal Church South, of which he was a devout and consistent member for many years. He also took a cordial and very helpful interest in the lodge in the Masonic order of which he was so long a valued member.

Dr. Scott was married on July 27, 1875, to Miss Eliza A. Williams, who was born in Chariton county, this state, on November 27, 1852. She is a daughter of Nathaniel L. and Clarinda (Vance) Williams, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Missouri of German ancestry. Mrs. Scott's grandfather, William Williams, came to Old Chariton in Chariton county among the first settlers in that locality. He died there in 1861. Dr. and Mrs. Scott were the parents of four children, all of whom are living: Florence A., who is now the wife of E. E. Rouse, of Kansas City, Missouri; Minnie M., who is now the wife of Mark Wigle and lives at Cameron in Clinton county, this state; and Everett E. and Grace M., who are still residing at home with their mother. She is one of the most esteemed matrons in the community of her home, in which she has always taken a lively and serviceable interest in connection with every department of its intellectual, moral, material and social life, giving a fine example of elevated womanhood and usefulness to the people living around her.

Kev. Petek J. Oullex Rev. Peter J. Cullen

Genial, whole-souled and companionable, with a hearty welcome and an open hand for all comers, whether of his faith or not ; yet with a stern and unrelenting sense of duty in his sacred office and all that pertains to it; always as ready to reprove error as he is to commend upright living, and as forceful in one as he is gracious and cordial in the other; with a high order of business capacity also, and great industry in the use of it. Rev. Peter J.CuUen, pastor of the Catholic church in Marceline enjoys great and wide-spread popularity and is richly deserving of it. His place in the regard of the whole people of Linn county is an elevated one, and it is firmly established, for he is one of the best citizens of this section of the country and has shown that he is genuine in every way.

Father Cullen was born in County Cavan, Ireland, on January 9, 1856. He is a son of James and Ellen (Cullen) Cullen, also natives of County Cavan in the Emerald Isle, where the father was a farmer, carpenter and loom maker. They were the parents of four sons and five daughters, four of whom, two of the sons and two of the daughters, became residents of the United States.

Rev. Peter J. Cullen was reared in his native land and obtained his education there, both academic and clerical. He attended the National school of the country, then pursued a four year's course in Latin at St. Bernard's College, from which he was graduated with the honors of his class. After leaving this institution he located in Dublin, and during the next five years was a student at All Hallows College near that city, an institution devoted to foreign mission work, and to training students for the priesthood in that department of the church's undertakings. He was graduated from this college in 1879, and was ordained as a priest in June of that year. In the September following he came to this country and proceeded direct to St. Joseph, Missouri.

After passing a year in the cathedral in St. Joseph, and one at St. Patrick's church in that city, he worked six months in the counties to the north. At the end of that period he was assigned to the church at AVeston, wliere he remained two years. From Weston he was transferred to Liberty in Clay county, and there he was busily employed in his beneficent duties of looking after the spiritual welfare of his parish and building up its material interests for fourteen years. During this period he also built the church edifice at Excelsior Springs.

ever since. He also has charge of the church at Bucklin. During his pastorate at Marceline Father Cullen has vastly improved the church property at a cost of over $3,000, the improvements including newwalks in the grounds and around them, electric lights and other modern requirements; Soon after his arrival he also bought land and laid it out for a cemetery, the first one in the city. Since coming to this city he has administered the rite of baptism to 267 persons and added to the church membership considerably. There are now over eighty families belonging to the church as regular communicants, and the progress is still going on at a healthy and gratifying rate, in both Marceline and Bucklin.

These are but logical results of Father Cullen 's great industry and influence. He is an indefatigable worker, he understands human nature, and he is devoted to the interests he has in charge. He therefore succeeds in what he undertakes, because he omits no effort necessary to success, and laughs at obstacles to his purposes, often turning them to his service by the force of his determined and umdelding will. He is also an accomplished and impressive speaker, with a thorough mastery of the teachings of the church and great power and eloquence in presenting and advocating them. Out of the sacred desk he is a lover of good-fellowship in the best sense of the term, and under all circumstances he is a high-minded, progressive and deeply patriotic American citizen. These qualities of mind and heart have given him a strong hold on the confidence and regard of the people, without regard to creed or church connection, and been of great service to him in many ways. His church has nowhere a man better adapted to the situation in which it has placed him, and Linn county has no better citizen, as the united voice of its residents of all classes cheerfully and admiringly attests.

Father Cullen 's pastoral duties have not been allowed to absorb the whole of his time and attention, although they are never neglected or slighed in the least degree, however great their exactions. But he has literary ability of a high order, and he has used it with great skill and decided benefit to thousands of people who have had the advantage of following his strong and fluent pen. He has written two forcible books of an argumentative character on subjects pertinent to his regular work, and they are considered by excellent judges very convincing in their logic, pleasing in their style and helpful in their effect.

One of these books is entitled "A Guide to the True Faith," and the other "Socialism and the Christian Eeligion." Each has been highly commended by the press and scholastics in many parts of the country. Some of the press notices of the first are as follows : Public

Opinion says of it: "It is written with a good spirit and a clear, direct and fascinating style." Church News declares: "It is full of valuable information for Catholics as well as non-Catholics." The Baltimore American calls it: "A plain, practical exposition of the doctrines of the Catholic Church intended for all those who are desirous to know its true belief." The Philadelphia Ledger says: "The author speaks from the standpoint of a faithful parish priest rather than as a casuist. His arguments are such as will reach the understanding of open-minded Americans desirous of maintaining loyalty to their country and their church."

The work entitled "Socialism and the Christian Eeligion" has received many favorable notices, some of which follow. Father Lambert, in the New York Freeman Journal, says of it : "It is an excellent little book and most opportune. It is for the workingman, weary and dissatisfied, who is ready to give a willing ear to the delusive promises of Socialism that Father Cullen has written his book. And it is the book that the puzzled toiler needs." Ave Maria analyzes it in this language: "The author discusses, with admirable lucidity and force, the nature of Socialism; its aims and purposes; the banefulness of its teachings and doctrines on religion, morality and justice ; and the manifold evil consequences that would inevitably ensue from its adoption."

In addition to these serious works Father Cullen has written a number of poems, some lyrical, some didactic, some ardently patriotic in spirit and expression, and some in the form of hymns which breath the very essence of sacred devotion. Many of these poems have been published in local papers and many have reached the broader field of periodical embalmment. All have been received with favor and augmented the reputation of their author, whose pen is as graceful at the shrine of the Muses as it is vigorous in the domain of the logicians or that of the theologians.

J. Campbell Lawson

The pioneer grocer of Bucklin and engaged in his present line of trade in that town almost continuously for twenty-four years, J. Campbell Lawson has become thoroughly familiar with the needs of the community in his department of mercantile enterprise. As he has been studious of his business in all its phases and features, studying the markets as zealously as he does the wants of his patrons, he is able to meet the requirements of his trade in a way that gives great satisfaction to the public and is prefitable to him at the same time, county, Missouri, on July 1, 1861. His parents were Harvey and Ruth (ChaflBn) Lawson, natives of North Central Tennessee, where the father was born in 1818 and the mother in 1820. The father was a clergyman of the Christian church and a blacksmith by trade. He and his wife came to Linn county in 1852 and located three miles north and west of Bucklin, where they lived three years, then moved to Macon county. In 1865 they returned to Bucklin, and here they passed the remainder of their days, the mother dying in 1904 and the father in 1905. They had four sons and four daughters, all of whom are living, J. Campbell and two of his sisters being residents of Linn county.

In addition to being a minister of the gospel the father was also a farmer, and as he was eloquent and impressive in the pulpit, so was he also very practical, progressive and successful on his farm. For a year and a half during the Civil War he was chaplain of the Forty-second Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and in times of peace he took a cordial and helpful interest in the affairs of the state. He was one of the founders of the State Normal School at Kirksville, and was widely known throughout Missouri because of his devotion to the general welfare of the people, especially in connection with the cause of public education and the spread of the Christian religion, in both of which he took a very active part.

J. Campbell Lawson was about four years old when his parents brought him to Bucklin, and he has lived in that town ever since except for about three years. He obtained his education in the district schools of the town, and when he completed their course of instruction engaged in railroad construction work as a bridge carpenter on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy road, for which he worked some seven years. From early life, however, he had a desire for mercantile pursuits, and at the end of the period mentioned he determined to gratify that desire.

In 1888 he opened a grocery store at Bucklin, which he conducted for a number of years. He was then absent from this part of the county for three years, but at the end of that period returned to Bucklin, where he has been occupied in his former business ever since. He has been very attentive to his business and it has prospered. But he has not allowed it to absorb all his time and attention. Other business interests in the community have also had the benefit of his intelligence, enterprise and breadth of view in their management, as he has been for some years a director of the Citizens Bank and of the Bucklin Coal

Mr. Lawson was married on April 16, 1890, to Miss Belle Howe, a daughter of James Howe, a pioneer of Linn county and county judge for a considerable time. Mr. and Mrs. Lawson have two children, their son Ralph and their daughter Frances. The father is connected with the Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World in fraternal relations, stands well socially, has a high rank among business men and is regarded wherever he is known as one of the most enterprising and public-spirited citizens of Bucklin township and Linn county.

Michael A. Coffman

A well-fixed farmer on the fertile and fruitful land of Linn county, who has his business well in hand and prosecutes it with vigor and intelligence is in a comfortable condition in a worldly way, and almost beyond the reach of adversity. Moreover, his occupation is one that keeps him in close touch with Nature, the source and inspiration of all life, makes him independent of the rise and fall of political parties, the uncertainties and hazards of commercial life, and all the various and disturbing contentions among men. It makes and keeps him a veritable king in his own dominion, but without any of the fuss and artificial restraints, the trappings and gauds, the atmosphere of hypocrisy and pretense, and the other disagreeable attendants of royalty in the realms of state craft and government, where ambition is the ruling passion and power the prize sought.

Michael A. Coffman, one of the best known and most progressive farmers in the neighborhood of Marceline, is a man of this type and enjoys his membership in the class. He is a wide-awake and enterprising farmer, up to date in his methods, winning good returns for his labor, enjojing the confidence and esteem of his friends and acquaintances, and relying on his own resources for his advancement in life. He was born on March 2, 1861, in what is now West Virginia, but was then a part of tlie Old Dominion. His parents, Jacob and Elizabeth (Harr) Coffman, were also natives of that state, born and reared in Taylor county.

The father was a blacksmith and farmer. He moved his family to Missouri in 1868 and located on a tract of unbroken prairie in Knox county. This he lived on and improved until 1891. He is now a resident of Clark county, where he and his wife dwell together in a pleas- ant home. They have had eleven children, five sons and six daughters. Four of the sons and three of the daughters are living, two in Linn county, Michael and his brother James M., the latter residing at Marceline.

Mr. Coflfman was seven years old when his parents moved from West Virginia to Missouri, and from then until he was twenty he remained at home. He attended the district school in the neighborhood of the home farm, aided in breaking up its stubborn glebe and reducing it to systematic productiveness and bore his part in all its laborious requirements. At the age of twenty he went to Wisconsin to begin the battle of life on his own account, but after an experience of two years in that state he returned to his Missouri home, where he passed one year more, or a part of one.

In 1883 he went to Virginia City, Montana, and in the vicinity of that then busy mining camp became possessed of and operated a cattle and horse ranch. The country was wild; Indians and beasts of prey were still abundant in it; transportation facilities were meager; the ordinary comforts of life were often difficult to get, and the experience was one of hardship and hazard. But he remained ten years and in spite of all the unfavorable conditions was successful in his undertaking.

But he grew tired of the wild existence, and in 1893 returned to this state and bought a farm in Linn county. On this he has since lived and labored with sedulous and well-applied industry, keeping pace with the progress in his calling and making himself one of the best farmers in his township and his farm one of its most valuable and attractive rural homes. His efforts are directed by intelligence secured in a close and careful study of his work, his land as to its requirements and possibilities, and the varj-ing state of the markets with reference to products and desires. He is therefore always at the door of opportunity with his output, and it is always saleable and has good value, while every acre of his land is made to yield its full tribute to his industry.

Mr. Coffman was married on January 12, 1884, to Miss Lotie Buford, a daughter of James and Mattie (Glasscock) Buford, early settlers in Knox county, this state. Two children have been born of the union, but only one of them, a son named Earl M. Coffman, is living. The father is a Democrat in politics, but he has never filled or sought a political office of any kind, and is not an active partisan beyond performing faithfully the duties of good citizenship as a voter. Fraternally he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and hisf

Alonzo Withers

Having devoted the greater part of his life and energy to farming on an extensive scale, and also having given time and attention to profitable merchandising during the last twenty-three years, in connection with his farming operations, Alonzo Withers, of Marceline, has been a useful factor in the growth and development of this part of the state, a considerable contributor to its industrial and mercantile activity and influence, and a force of potency in its civic and social life.

While not a native of Linn county, Mr. Withers has passed a large part of his life within its borders and is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of its people. He had nothing to learn of this spirit when he came among them, for he was never remote from them and had no predilections in favor of other sections of the country to overcome. He was bom, reared and educated in the adjoining county of Chariton, where his life began on May 16, 1855, and since its founding in 1888 he has lived at Marceline.

Mr. Withers is the son of Arthur and Purlina (Hays) Withers, natives of Madison county, Kentucky. The father was a millwright and cabinet maker, and also followed farming. He came to Missouri about the year 1830 and located in Chariton county twenty miles north of Brunswick. There he took up government land, which he lived on, improved and farmed until his death in 1879. The mother died in 1880. They were the parents of six sons and six daughters, only five of whom are living, Alonzo and four of his sisters. The father took an active interest in public affairs, and for many years served his township as a justice of the peace, and also filled other township ofiices.

Alonzo Withers still owns the old family homestead in Chariton county on which he was reared and from which he was sent to the neighboring district school. He taught school for ten years and at the same time was engaged in farming. For a short time he also kept a store at Westville. In 1888, when the foundation of Marceline was laid, and the promise of its rapid growth and coming importance as a mercantile center engaged general attention in this part of the state, he located there and opened a drug store with general merchandise as a part of his stock in trade. That city has been his home and the seat of

Mr. Withers was married on August 17, 1879, to Miss Nanny D. Akers, a daughter of Simon P. and Catherine E. Akers, who came to Missouri from Virginia about 1840, and were among the early arrivals in this part of the state. Five children have been born in the Withers household: James A., Emma H., and Simon P., who have died, and Alonzo T. and Catherine, who are still at home with their parents.

While Mr. Withers feels a deep and patriotic interest in public affairs, and gives them a good citizen's attention, he has no ambition for prominence in the management of them and has never sought or desired a public office of any kind. He believes in and votes with the Democratic party, but is not an active partisan in the sense of being a campaign worker. He does not hide his hand in this respect, but neither does he flourish it in any ostentatious way. His impulse and incitement in the matter is the good of his county, state and country, and in working for this in his quiet way he fulfills his duty as a citizen and meets his obligation to his fellow men. In all matters of public improvement he is deeply interested and manifests his interest in active support of all worthy undertakings which have the public welfare

Hon. Emmett B. Fields

Although born on a farm in Sullivan county, this state, former Senator Emmett B. Fields, now a resident of Browning, has passed almost the whole of his life to the present time (1912) in Linn county, and for many years has been prominent in its civil, social, professional and political activities. He has been called by the people to several offices of responsibility and high trust, and has been commended by all classes for the excellence of his record in each. He finally received from Linn county the highest political honor it alone could bestow by his election to the state senate, and to emphasize their approval of his course in that body, the people of the county re-elected him to it twice, the full extent of his tenure of the office of senator being three terms, or twelve years.

The senator's life began on January 24, 1863, and he is a son of Patterson and Sarah (Jennings) Fields, the former a native of Russell county, Virginia, and the latter of Shelby county, Kentucky. The father was brought to Missouri in 1842, when he was but one year old. His parents first lived in Sullivan county for a few years, then moved to

Linn county, where their son grew to manhood on a farm near the town of Purdin. He was a farmer and died on his Linn county farm in 1872. The mother died in 1869.

They had three children who grew to maturity, and all of them are now living in this county. They are the senator, his brother, John W. Fields, an extensive live stock dealer, and their sister, Mrs. R. L. Bowyer. After their mother died the father married a second wafe, being united with Miss Nancy Baskett, who is still living. Two daughters were born of this marriage, only one of whom is living, Mrs. Sarah Neely, of Browning. The grandfather, Capt. Joseph B. Fields, was born in Virginia, came to Missouri to live in 1842, and died in Linn county in 1870. While living in Virginia he was a lieutenant-colonel in the militia of that state. His regular occupation was teaching school, and he served as county superintendent of schools in this county from 1853 to 1863.

He took an active part in the public affairs of the county, and on one occasion was the Democratic candidate for the state legislature and was defeated in the election by a majority of one vote. He was married twice and had a large family by his first wife. Of their offspring, two sons and one daughter are living: Thomas J. and Colin C. Fields, and Mrs. Elizabeth Baskett. The grandfather was born in 1805. He was a lifelong Democrat, beginning his service to his party by casting his first presidential vote for Andrew Jackson in 1828.

Emmett B. Fields was reared from an early age to manhood in Linn county and obtained his academic education in its schools. He began the struggle for advancement among men as a farmer and school teacher, and adhered to those occupations for a munber of years. In 1886 he began the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1887, in the month of June. He soon afterward started his professional career at Browning, and here he has been living and actively engaged in practice ever since. He assisted the state in the prosecution of the famous Taylor murder case, and also in other celebrated cases, and has been counsel for the defendant in a number of noted trials which have attracted wide attention.

In 1887 Mr. Fields was elected clerk and assessor for his township for a term of four years. He has also served as a member of the city council of Browning, and was mayor of the city from 1891 to 1896. In 1888 he was the Democratic nominee for prosecuting attorney of the county, but failed in the election by a narrow margin of seven votes. From 1890 to 1898 he was a member of the eountv central com-

C63 Histoey Of Linn County

Mr. Fields was first elected to the state senate in 1898, receiving the nomination of his party after a deadlock in the convention which lasted thirteen days, and in which 7,050 ballots were taken. He was re-elected in 1902 and again in 1906. During the whole of his service in the senate he was a member of the judiciary committee, and for eight years of the time its chairman. He was also on the revision committee and the committees on normal schools and insurance. In 1905 and 1907 he was president pro tempore of the senate, and during the interval between the expiration of the term of T. L. Ruby and the accession of John C. McKinley to the position of lieutenant-governor, Mr. Fields filled that office.

Senator Fields was married first on February 20, 1887, to Miss Eunice M. Jessee, a native of Virginia. They had one child, their daughter Eunice D., who is now the wife of William Dickinson, of Browning, Missouri. Her mother died on July 16, 1889, and on September 30, 1894, the father married again, being united on this occasion with Miss Gertrude Carter, who was born and .reared in Linn county. They have five children, all of whom are living: Wayne B., Florence G., Hazel E., AUilie M. and Sherborn.

In politics the senator is a firm and faithful Democrat. In fraternal relations he is connected with the Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Neighbors, and in religious faith he leans to the Southern Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a regular attendant. He is widely and favorably known throughout the state as a capable lawyer, an enterprising and progressive man in civil and political affairs, an earnest advocate of every undertaking that makes for the betterment of his county and state, and an excellent citizen from every point of view.

Charles E. Rinehart

This gentleman is the youngest man who ever occupied the office of postmaster of Browning since it was established, but in the full year of his tenure of it, which is now ended (April, 1912), he has demonstrated his entire fitness for its duties and responsibilities and his ability and readiness in a performance of them that has given complete satisfaction to both the people of the community and the authorities of the federal government under whom he works. He exemplifies in an admirable manner the Jeffersonian requirements for good public service - honesty, capacity and fidelity - and his exhibition of them is highly appreciated by all the patrons of the office and the general public which have the benefit of them.

Mr. Rinehart is a native of Linn county and was born on January 29, 1877, on a farm a short distance southeast of the village of Browning. He was reared on that farm and began work as a boy assisting his father in its cultivation. He started his education in the district school near the farm, but completed it at the Chillicothe State Normal school. He has therefore passed almost the whole of his life in this locality, and when its residents recommended him for appointment to his present office after the death of the late Benjamin F. Carter, its former incumbent, they knew full well what they were doing and the kind of official they were asking for.

Mr. Rinehart is a son of Arthur and Mary E. (Armstrong) Rinehart, natives of Green county, Pennsylvania, where the father was born in 1838 and the mother in 1843. The father was reared on a farm in that county, and farmed there himself until 1864, when he moved to Illinois, remaining in that state three years. In 1868 he came to Sullivan county, Missouri, but soon afterward changed his residence to Linn county, locating on the farm on' which he and the mother are still living, and which he has brought to a high state of development and fruitfulness. Three children have been born in the family, Charles E. and his brothers, George L. and Frank N. They are all living, and George and Frank are residents of Canada.

After leaving school Charles E. Rinehart farmed on his own account for a few years, then turned his attention to dealing in and shipping live stock to the markets, continuing his operations in this line for ten years. For a time he was also engaged in business as a furniture dealer and undertaker at Browning, and for three years served as township assessor of Benton township. In 1910 he was the census enimierator for this portion of the county, and in February, 1911, ffas appointed postmaster of Browning, taking charge of the office in April of the same year.

On November 9, 1898, Mr. Rinehart was united in marriage with Miss Ola Gooch, a daughter of James and Rebecca R. (Robinson) Gooch, residents and valued additions to the citizenship of this county. Three children have been born of the union, all of whom are living and still at home with their parents. They are : Marjorie F., Doris B. and C. Arthur. All the members of the family are ornaments to the social life of their community, and the parents are among its most esteemed

In political relations Mr. Rinehart is a Republican of influence in the councils of his party, and has been a member of its county central committee for a number of years. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America, and in this fraternity he takes a cordial interest and gives it loyal and helpful support. He is a broadminded, public-spirited and progressive man of the best American type.

Henry C. Bailey

While it cannot be said that Henry C. Bailey was present at the birth of Browning and one of the sponsors of this new municipal offspring of American enterprise and progressiveness, he was certainly one of the early arrivals at the place for permanent residence, and has been one of the most helpful and productive forces in promoting its growth and improvement. He arrived at what is now the town of Browning in the spring of 1881, just three years after the village was incorporated and eight years after the site for it was first surveyed. He at once opened a general store, and he has ever since been actively engaged in merchandising on an extensive scale with this town as his base of operations and the beneficiary of his large disbursements, voluminous transactions and stimulating and fruitful public spirit in behalf of the general well being.

Mr. Bailey 's life began in Green county, Pennsylvania, on September 3, 1844, and he is the son of Eli and Elizabeth (Patten) Bailey, also natives of that state and county. The father was born in 1806, and even before the dawn of his manhood became a farmer on liis own account in his native state. In 1848 he moved his family to Peoria county, Illinois, and there he continued farming until 1866, when he can" 9 to Missouri and bought a partially improved tract of land in Sullivan county not far from where Browning now stands. On this farm the father died in 1869, and the mother six years later, that is, in 1875.

They were the parents of four sons and eight daughters. Two of the sons and four of the daughters are living, and three of the six reside in this state. Three of the sons served in the Union army during the Civil War, one in the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry and another in the Seventy-seventh Illinois Infantry and a third in the One Hundred and Eighth Illinois Infantry. One of the three gave up his

The grandfather, Joab Bailey, was born in Connecticut, and later became a resident of Pennsylvania, where he farmed and served in the state militia, taking part in several prolonged contests with hostile Indians in that state. He died there at the age of eighty-three years. The family was founded in this country by Joel J. Bailey, who came to the colonies from England in 1680 and located in New England, where his descendants lived ^\^.thout change of residence for several generations, and where some of them are yet to be found among the most highly respected and influential part of the population in that section of the country.

Henry C. Bailey grew to manhood from the age of four years in Illinois, and was educated in a graded school in that state kept by J. W. Cook, an instructor of considerable renown in that locality. He farmed in Peoria county, Illinois, until the winter of 1864, then enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry in which he served eleven months. He took part in the siege and capture of the Spanish fort in the harbor of Mobile bay in 1865, and also did police and garrison duty at various places. He was honorably discharged from the army in 1866.

In the spring of that j^ear he came to Missouri and took up his residence in Sullivan county three miles north of Browning, where he lived fourteen years. In the spring of 1881 he moved to Browning and engaged in general merchandising in partnership with Ehemick C. Clark, under the firm name of Bailey & Clark. In 1887 he began buying and shipping poultry and furs, and in this line of merchandising he has been engaged ever since, having paid out during the course of his operations in it, a sum exceeding $400,000, or an average of more than $16,000 a year.

Mr. Bailey is one of the founders and original stockholders of the Peoples Bank of Browning, and has been its vice president and a member of its board of directors from the time of its organization. He was married on February 11, 1869, to Miss Minnie Clark, a daughter of R. C. Clark, who became a resident of Sullivan county in 1865. Five children have been born of the union, and all of them are living. They are: Jessie M., the wife of S. C. Brossfield, whose home is in Oregon; Edward C, who resides in Montana ; Bertha, the wife of Isaac McDermed, who also lives in Oregon; Clara, who is the wife of Rev. T. S. Wheeler, and a resident of Canada, and Raymond C, who is connected with the Bank of Browning.

Mr. Bailey was postmaster of Browning four years under the administration of President Benjamin Harrison, and also served two years as township collector of Benton township. He is a pronounced Republican in his political faith and a firm and effective supporter of the principles and candidates of his party. In church connection he is a Baptist. Throughout northern Missouri he is well known and stands high in public estimation. In the marts or trade in all parts of the country, too, his name is a familiar one and his reputation is first class for integrity, intelligence and reliability as a merchant, while locally he is in the front rank in credit and influence as a citizen, a potential force for good, an exponent of the finest and best public spirit and an energetic promoter of the progress and improvement of his township and county in every way.

Farmers Exchange Bank

For fifteen years this enterprising, progressive and growing financial institution has been carrying on a general banking business in Browning with great benefit to the community in and around the town and bringing in gratifying profits for its stockholders and all who have interests in it. It has been well managed, and while commendably mdeawake in getting and attending to business, it has also been prudently conservative in protecting its stockholders and depositors from all imnecessary risks. By its wise policy it has established itself firmly in the public confidence, and by judicious liberality to near the limit of safety it has won hosts of friends and a widespread and enduring popularity.

The bank was founded in 1897 with a capital stock of $20,000, which has never been increased, although the volume of business transacted by the institution has greatly increased and keeps on increasing. The first officers were J. I. Harmon, president ; A. N. Thurlo, vice president ; Samuel L. Gibson, cashier. Mr. Harmon continued in the presidency for some time, and was succeeded when he retired by M. R. Jenkins, who_ gave way in turn to A. N. Thurlo. Then Mr. Harmon was made vice president, and J. M. Thurlo succeeded Mr. Gibson as cashier, with I. B. Christy as assistant.

After a time J. A. Calhoun became assistant cashier, and in 1896 he was elected cashier, and E. M. Wilson was made assistant. The next year R. M. Calhoun succeeded Mr. Wilson as assistant cashier, and since that time there have been no changes in the official staff of the bank. The directors at this time (1912) are: L. G. Sehrock, I. B. Christy, J. W. Sevier, J. M. Thurlo, H. C. Pearson, W. M. Shepherd, J. A. Calhoun, J. I. Harmon and A. N. Thurlo. These gentlemen give the atfairs of the bank careful and intelligent attention, and as they are all men of high standing in the community, well known and widely esteemed for their integrity and success in all their own undertakings, their control of the bank furnishes a guarantee of its soundness and the wisdom and prudence of its management. It now has a surplus of $9,000, and this, like the business of the bank, is steadily increasing at a gratifying rate of speed.

James A. CaJhoun, the present cashier of the bank, who has served it in that capacity since 1896, is everywhere acknowledged to be one of the best and most capable banking and business men in Linn comity. He was born in Pike county, Illinois, on January 4, 1854^ and is a son of Hardy and Mary (Allen) Calhoun, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of the state of New York. The father was a farmer, and about 1840 located in Pike county, Illinois, where he died in 1857. Afterward the mother contracted a second marriage, uniting herself with J. P. Hardy, and they came to Missouri with the intention of remaining.

The turbulence and manifestations of bitter sectional feeling before the Civil War led them to return to Illinois until that deluge of disaster swept by, then, in 1866, they came again to this state and located in Linn county. Here they took up a tract of unbroken land and made a good farm of it, residing on it i;ntil 1884, when they moved to what is now North Dakota. In that state Mr. Hardy lost his life in a blizzard in 1892, and the mother died in 1897, universally respected wherever she was known.

By her first marriage the mother had three children, her son, James A., and his two sisters. By her second marriage she had three sons and one daughter. Two of her seven children are living. The grandfather, Hansen Calhoun, was born and reared in Tennessee. About the year 1840 he moved to Illinois, where he died in 1862, on a farm he had owned and cultivated about eighteen years. He was the father of five children, three sons and two daughters, all of whom are now deceased.

The interesting subject of this brief review was reared to the age of twelve by his grandfather, then, in 1866, came with his mother to this county. He assisted in clearing and improving the first farm occupied by the family in this locality, and in his youth drove cattle often over the site of the present town of Browning. His education was begun in the district schools of Benton township and completed at the Kirksville State Normal school. In 1875 he started an enterprise in general merchandising at Browning, which he carried on until 1884.

In the year last mentioned he bought the old family homestead, and during the next eight years was busily occupied in raising live stock. In 1892 he became a traveling salesman, but this occupation was not at all to his taste, and he abandoned it at the end of the first six months. His next venture was in the hardware trade, in which he was engaged for something over ten years. In 1903 he assisted in organizing the bank of which he is now cashier, and with this institution he has been connected ever since.

Mr. Calhoun was married in March, 1875, to Miss Helen M. Thornton, a native of "Wisconsin. They have five children living: Eoy M., who is assistant cashier of the bank in which his father is cashier; John H., who is a hardware merchant in Browning, Missouri; Pauline, who is married to J. E. Warner, and resides in Las Ammuas, Colorado; Lucile and Clara, twins. Lueile is the wife of B. A. Burton and lives in Iowa. Both parents are living. The father is a Republican in political relations, but he has never taken a very active part in political contests, and at no time in his life has he sought or desired a public ofiBce, altliough he has served as mayor and as a member of the city council of Browning. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and deeply interested in the welfare and workings of his lodge in the fraternity. Throughout Linn county and the counties that adjoin it he is well and favorably known as a broadminded, public spirited and progressive business man and citizen of high character and fine social culture, and is cordially esteemed in accordance with this estimate.

Dr. Roy W. Whaley

During the last eight years, with highly commendable industry, the utmost fidelity to his duties and a generous and genuine consideration for his patients which gives him great influence with them and aids materially in making his treatment of their ailments successful. Dr. Roy W. Whaley has been a practitioner of medicine and surgery in and around Browning. He has won a high reputation for the extent and accuracy of his knowledge of his profession and his skill and intelligence in the application of that knowledge to the needs of those to whom he ministers. He also has high standing in the public regard as a man and citizen, and is an ornament to the social life of the enterprising and progressive community in Avhich he lives and labors so effectively for the general weal.

Dr. Whaley is a native of the adjoining county of Sullivan, where he was born in June, 1881, at the village of Scottsville. He is a son of Dr. David L. and Alpha (Tunnell) Whaley, the former was born in Iowa and the later in Sullivan county, Missouri. The father was a graduate of the Missouri Medical College and the medical department of the University of Michigan. He practiced his profession at Scottsville, Sullivan county, from 1877 to 1892, then moved to Browning, where he continued practicing until his death in 1911. The mother is still living and resides at Browning. The grandfather, David Whaley, came to Missouri from the state of New York in about 1840 and located in Sullivan county, where he died at a good old age, after many years of progressive and profitable fanning.

Dr. Roy W. Whaley was reared and obtained his academic education in the neighborhood of Browning. In 1899 he entered the medical department of Washington University in St. Louis as a student, and from that institution he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1904. He began practicing at Browning within the same year, and has been engaged in attention to a steadily increasing body of patients ever since. He is always prompt in his response to professional calls, studiously attentive to his patients, alert and analytical in his diagnosis, and reflective and discriminating in his observations and skillful in the application of remedies.

In order to keep himself in touch with the advance in his science he attends carefully to the instructions given and taken in the meetings of the county and state medical societies and the American Medical Association, to all of which he belongs. Fraternally he is connected with the Order of Odd Fellows, and he is also zealous in devotion to his lodge in this fraternity. In connection with the public affairs of the township and coimty of his home he is a decided and effective force for good, working always for progress and improvement, and the best interests of all the people by every means available to him.

On May 22, 1907, the doctor was united in marriage with Miss Alpha L. Ha^Tuaker, Avho was born and reared in Browning and is a daughter of Frederick M. and Maria E. (Kinman) Haymaker, well known and highly esteemed residents of that town, where they lived since 1865. Although not an active partisan and not ambitious of political preferment, the doctor is a firm believer in the principles of the Democrat party, and gives it his support in national affairs.

Locally he looks first to the good of the community and votes for that according to his view of the requirments. He is comparatively young yet in years and in his profession, and the future is full of hope for him.

John I. Purdin

Farmer, lumberman and dealer in farm implements in this state, afterward again a farmer and lumber merchant and also a live stock dealer in South Dakota, then the owner of a bank in that state and now president of the Stockgrowers Bank of Purdin, a town founded by and named in honor of his grandfather, John I. Purdin, has had a varied career in respect to both location and employment, and in all his residences and occupations has demonstrated his worth and ability as a man and his usefulness as a citizen.

Mr. Purdin is a native of Linn county, Missouri, where his life began on May 2, 1852, Benton township having been the place of his birth. He is a son of Alexander and Susan (Southerland) Purdin, the former born in Indiana and the latter in Orange county, Virginia. Their names are prominent in the history of the county, and have always been held in high regard by all classes of its people.

Their son, John I. Purdin, was reared and educated in this county and began life as a farmer in the township of his birth. After following the pursuit of the Old Patriarchs for ten years he moved to Browning and became a lumber merchant and dealer in farm implements, remaining there and continuing in business as designated from 1884 to 1887. In the year last mentioned he moved to Montrose, South Dakota, and there once more turned his attention to farming, but also kept up his operations as a lumberman, and in addition engaged extensively in bmdng and shipping live stock to the big markets of the country.

In 1892, in connection with E. L. Ketcham, his son-in-law, he purchased the Montrose Bank, which Mr. Ketcham is now in charge of. Mr. Purdin returned in 1904 to the city in this county which bears his honored family name, and there he has maintained his residence ever since. In 1910 he was made president of the Stockgrowers Bank, of which he is still the head and controlling spirit. The bank has a capital stock of $30,000 and a surplus of $2,100, and is in a very prosperous condition. It is managed with skill and enterprise, and its liberality and public spirit have won it well-founded and widespread popularity. It is conducting all the approved departments of present-day banking, and is looked upon everywhere as one of the best and most progressive and enterprising banking institutions in the county. Mr. Purdin is a capable financier and he devotes the greater part of his time and his best energies to the affairs of the bank, and his course in this respect is one of the strong elements of its success.

On September 12, 1872, Mr. Purdin was united in marriage with Miss Mary Hutchinson, a native of Pike county, Illinois. Her parents came to Linn county before the Civil War, being among the early settlers of this portion of the state, and becoming prominent in all phases of the political and social life of this region. Mr. and Mrs. Purdin have one child, their daughter Limnie, who is now the wife of E. L. Keteham, of Montrose, South Dakota, who is conducting the bank in that town, as has been noted.

In politics Mr. Purdin trains with the Republican party, and is active in his support of it. While living in South Dakota he served two terms on the county court and two terms in the state legislature. Fraternally he is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and he and his wife are members of the Christian church. Charles B. Purdin was his grandfather and gave his name to the town he founded, in which his name is revered, as are those of Mr. Purdin and his wife throughout Linn county.

Edward C. Williams

While there is nothing really old in this country since the dawn of civilization within its boundaries, except in a relative sense, every locality has a period in its history which seems remote and has a decided flavor of antiquity in comparison with the conditions and rapid pace of the present day, whether its distance behind us is measured by hundreds of years or only by decades. Linn county was first permanently settled within the memory of men now living, and yet the chronicles of its early days read like chapters from an old and hoary past.

And those days are, in fact, so far behind us in length of time, even, that there are few living witnesses of their continual succession of incident and adventure, their privations and hardships, their trials and triumphs, their incessant perils and countless hair-breadth escapes. Among the few remaining among the people of the county to tell the story of the pioneer period Edward C. Williams of Meadville is the oldest in years of residence in the county, and one of the oldest in the

Mr. Williams was born in Washington county, Ohio, on December 10, 1828. His father, Reuben Williams, was a native of Massachusetts, and his mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Johnson, was born in Connecticut. The father was reared in the state of New York and there learned the trade of a blacksmith, serving his apprenticeship in the city of Albany. During his young manhood he crossed the Blue Eidge and Alleghany mountains to Kentucky, and for a time worked at his trade at Frankfort in that state. From there he moved to Washington county, Ohio, and located on the Muskingum river near the present city of Marietta, where he opened a shop.

Here he was married to the mother, who had been in the party that crossed the mountains with him. They became the parents of twelve children, seven sons and five daughters, all of whom are now deceased but Edward C. and one of his sisters who lives in the state of Washington. In 1840 the whole family, as it was then made up, took boat for northern Missouri, voyaging down the Ohio and up the Mississippi and the Missouri to Brunswick in Chariton county, the father bringing his tools and household effects with him, for he knew that such things were almost unattainable in the wilderness to which he was going.

He worked at his trade in Brunswick the first winter and in 1841 began farming on Salt creek in Chariton county. But he moved to Bedford in Livingston county, near its junction with Linn and Chariton counties, a short time afterward, and there he followed his craft until his death, which occurred in 1849. He was widely and favorably known in all three counties, and cordially esteemed by the people of each of them. The mother married again, uniting herself with a Mr. Jones, and died in 1854, leaving her children the priceless legacy of a good name, as did the father when he departed this life.

Edward C. Williams was twelve years old when the family came to Missouri. Owing to the undeveloped state of the country where he lived, both in Ohio and in this state, he had very limited opportunities for schooling, and got but little education from books. At an early age he began learning his father's trade under that gentleman's instruction, and after mastering it worked at it in nearly every settlement in this section of the state, going from place to place, wherever his services were required, until in February of the year 1854.

At that time he came to where Meadville now stands, which was then the midst of a large expanse of land under cultivation, and the site of the present town was rich and beautiful with a very promising growth of corn. In 1855 he opened a shop on the land now owned by Judge Thomas Evans, and this he conducted with profit for one year. In 1856 he yielded to the prevailing temptation of the region and became a farmer, taking up eighty acres of land, which he broke up and improved, and the title to which has never passed out of his hands. Later he bought eighty acres of school land in section 26, and this he also developed and improved, making two excellent farms out of the unbroken wilderness. And while clearing and improving his farms he also wrought industriously at his trade.

But neither farming nor mechanical employment entirely filled his desires, and in 1864 he opened a general store in Meadville, which he conducted for two years, then moved his stock to Bedford and kept store there for three years. At the end of the period last mentioned he returned to his farm, but soon afterward opened another store at "Wheeling in Livingston county, building for the purpose the second building put up in the town. He continued to do business in the mercantile line at that place imtil some time in the seventies, then once more returned to his farm, and to that he has devoted his time and energies ever since, or did until he retired from all active pursuits a few years ago.

Mr. Williams was married on March 20, 1855, to Miss Margaret A. Belshe, a daughter of William Belshe, who became a resident of Linn county in 1834. Of the children born of the union two grew to maturity, William P., who has since died, and Nancy E., who is now the wife of William F. Van Dyke, of Meadville. The mother of these children died on December 14, 1906, after walking life's troubled way hand in hand with the father for fifty-one years and nearly nine months.

Mr. Williams recalls, in looking back from the height of development and progress to which this county has attained to the dawn of its history, the time when Indians were still numerous in this locality. He did work at his forge for them frequently in repairing guns and providing for their other mechanical wants, and while they were never unfriendly to him, they sometimes showed a feeling of hostility to other white men and the race of their conquerors in general. The one-time wild men of the forest and plains he worked for were mostly of the Sioux tribe, but he frequently saw members of other tribes who were visiting their Sioux brothers, or living among them temporarily.

In his political relations Mr. Williams was in early life a Whig and one of the local leaders of the party. After the death of that political organization he became Independent, but for a number of years he has not taken an active part in political contests. He was made a Freemason thirty-five years ago, and lias been constant in kis devotion to his lodge duties ever since. His religious connection is with the Baptist church, of which he is a devout and consistent member, and has been for many years.

Having almost reached the half-waj^ mark between four score and four score years and ten, he has the reverence due a patriarch from the people among whom lie has so long and so usefully lived and labored. He reminds the thoughtful observer of some genial year, drawing to its close undoubtedly, but with its seasons of warmth and beauty and fruitfulness not yet wholly spent. His life has been free from blemish, full of service to the several communities in which he has dwelt, and worthy of all commendation.

Alonzo L. Brown

So new to the world and in the domain of industrial production is Linn county, Missouri, in comparison with many other parts of the United States, and even some portions of this state, that Alonzo L. Brown, who lives near Purdin, enjoys an almost unique distinction in this locality in having been born on the farm which he now owns, occupies and cultivates, and his children represent the third generation of the same family drawing substance from its fruitful soil.

Mr. Brown's life began on this farm on January 8, 1852, and he is a son of Henry T. and Susan (Hannah) Brown, the former a native of Howard county, Missouri, and the latter of Virginia. The father was brought to Linn county in his childhood by his father, Henry Brown, who moved from his native state of Kentucky to Howard county in this state, and a little later to this cpimty. Here he entered a tract of wild land from the governmnt and remained on it until the beginning of the Civil War, when he returned to his former home in Howard county, where he died. He was the father of five sons and two daughters, all now deceased.

His son, Henry T. Brown, father of Alonzo, grew to manhood in Linn county and took up, under a government patent or as a homestead, the farm on which Alonzo now lives. He cleared, broke up and improved it to a considerable extent during his lifetime, and died on it in 1882, as did his wife in 1884. They were the parents of seven sons and three daughters, all of whom have died but two of the sons, Alonzo and his brother John, who lives in Linn county and is a farmer.

ing down hundreds of wild turkeys, a feat that is said to require more than ordinarj^ expertness and quickness of action with the gun, as well as unusual precaution and knowledge on the part of the hunter who gets this species of game. All forms of wild animal and bird life indigenous to this region were abundant in his young manhood, and they were plentiful even at a much later period. He knew where to find them, and when he went after them he got them, as everybody in the neighborhood knew.

Alonzo L. Brown was reared on the farm and attended the schools of his boyhood, such as they were - limited in scope, rudely equipped, and irregular in sessions. While doing so he assisted his father in the work on the farm, helping to clear it of its wild growth, break up its stubborn glebe and bring it to responsive production under the persuasive hand of the husbandman. In his youth and early manhood he was considerable of a hunter too, and followed in his father's footsteps in this respect, for game was still abundant in the township when he grew old enough to go after it.

On September 13, 1888, Mr. Brown was married to Miss EfRe Parr, a daughter of Howard Parr, who came to this county from Indiana in 1866, and by this marriage became the father of four children, three of whom are living: Vernie E., Henry H. and Roy. Their father is a Democrat in political faith and allegiance and devoted to the interests of his party, although himself not desirous of any of the favors it has to bestow in the way of public ofiS.ce. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is prominent and very serviceable to the congregation in which he holds his membership. In all parts of the county he is well and favorably known, and all classes of its people respect him for his genuine worth, good citizenship and elevated and upright manhood.

John Silas Clare

Having sprung from the ranks of the sturdy and sterling plain people of this state and county, and been taught by the instructions and examples of his parents to rely on that class as the bone and sinew, the hope and reliance of the country in productiveness in times of peace and for stalwart defense when the institutions of the country are assailed by armed resistance or invasion, it is inevitable that John Silas Clark, of Locust Creek township, this county, should feel a strong and abiding interest in the welfare and advancement of the foundation stratum of our population, and that Ms life should have been passed from boyhood to the present time (1912) in exemplifying in his own citizenship the best traits in him. He is not in any sense or to any degree a demagogue or pretender. He believes in the force and common sense of the common people, and in that respect he is a genuine American and true to all the traditions and best tendencies and instincts of our citizenship in this country.

Mr. Clark is a native of Linn county, born in Locust Creek township on August 20, 1867, and from his childhood has known no higher aspiration in life than an ardent desire to contribute, as far as possible in his day and generation, to the general welfare and substantial advancement of the residents of his locality and its progress and improvement along every line of wholesome and enduring development. He is a son of Z. W. and Jane Ellen (Fore) Clark, who were industrious and progressive farmers, and sought no distinction beyond that of doing as well as they could their full duty in exemplifying and spreading the benefits of progressive farming.

The family has been active in the history of northern Missouri for at least three generations, Mr. Clark's grandfather having been a prominent and influential citizen of Linn county for many years, and having died here in the fullness of years and public esteem. The father came to Linn county as a child and passed the remainder of his days among its people, and repeated on its soil the excellent record made by the grandfather, with such changes and variations as the difference in surroundings and conditions required.

John S. Clark was educated in the public schools of Linn county and from his boyhood has been engaged in farming. While growing to manhood and attending school he assisted his father on the home farm, and when he took up the burden of life for himself, he did it in the domain of useful endeavor to which he had been trained, and to which his tastes and desires were wedded. Having no other aspiration in life than that of becoming the best and most successful farmer his circumstances would allow, he has given his chosen occupation close and careful study, and kept pace with its progress in every way, having full knowledge of the theory of his business and showing its verity and reliability in practical achievements.

He has been earnestly and helpfully interested in the welfare and progress of his community, and has never withheld his hand from any worthy enterprise involving its advancement. But he has taken no active part in political contests, fraternal organizations, or any other activity than that in which he is engaged. In respect to national ques- tions he votes steadily with the Democratic party, as he is a firm believer in its principles and theories of government. But in local affairs he considers only the good of his township and county, and ignores all party and personal claims on his favor, yet never neglects the duty of a good citizen to give every local issue studious attention and support the side and candidates that seem most likely to promote the general weal and to provide most effectually for the public good. Mr. Clark was married on March 4, 1896, to Miss Clara Westgate, a daughter of George W. and Jeanne tte (Cochrane) "Westgate, of Linn county, she being a native of Linn county. Only one of the three children born of their union is living, their son John Westgate Clark. The religious connection of the family is with the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and in the congregation to which he belongs the father is an ardent worker and a highly appreciated member. In all the requirements of citizenship he is manly, zealous, independent and serviceable. And it is to the credit of the people around him that they appreciate him at his true value.

Edgar H. Schrock

For many years an enterprising and progressive farmer in Sullivan county, this state, and for a number a prosperous and successful business man in Linn county, Edgar H. Schrock, now living retired from all active pursuits in Linneus, has dignified and adorned the citizenship of northern Missouri in a way that is gratifying to all the people of this section and highly creditable to himself. When he farmed he farmed with all his might and applied to all his operations good judgment and comprehensive intelligence ; and when he was in business he was governed by the same forces of close application, judicious examination of conditions and requirements and a studious knowledge of all the ins and outs of trade.

Mr. Schrock was born in Sullivan county, Missouri, in 1851, and is a son of James W. and Sarah (Burns) Schrock, the former a native of Hampslare county, Virginia, now West Virginia, and the latter of Franklin county, Missouri. The father was born in 1828 and grew to the age of fifteen and obtained his education in his native county. In 1843 the family came to Missouri to live, making the long jaunt from their former home with wagon teams, and located on government land in Sullivan county. The land was wild and unbroken, and its occupants had to begin at the very foundation of building a good farm out of it.

But they were equal to the task, and in time they made the wilderness in which they settled glad and profitable with all the fruits of systematic productiveness.

On this farm the mother died in 1895 and the father in 1902. They were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church and potent forces in starting that denomination on its luminous career of usefulness and benefaction in this part of the state. Two sons and three daughters blessed their union and brightened their family fireside, and of the five, two are now living. The paternal grandfather, Perez Sehrock, was also a native of Virginia. He was a farmer and moved to Missouri in 1843, as has been stated. He died on his farm in Sullivan county about 1868, and his wiie, whose maiden name was Nancy Long, died in Linn county in 1880. They were the parents of eight sons and eight daughters, all now deceased. The great grandfather, whose name was also Perez Sehrock, came to this country from Germany and settled in Virginia at an early date.

Edgar H. Sehrock attained his manhood in Sullivan county and farmed there for a number of years, and during a portion of the time he was also engaged in merchandising at Browning and Scottsville, just over the line in this county. In 1904 he moved to Linneus, and for three years thereafter was busy in the hardware business in that city. At the end of that period he retired from business, and since then he has been enjoying a well-earned rest and the fruits of his long and profitable labors.

In 1872 Mr. Sehrock was united in marriage with Miss Laura A. Garrett, a daughter of William H. and Missouri F. (Hickam) Garrett, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Booiie coimty, this state. Mr. Garrett was a "forty-niner," and in less than two years cleaned up in California $2,500, which he made in business in that state and brought back to Missouri in gold. AVith this he bought a farm in Linn county, and this was the nucleus of the very comfortable estate he accumulated. He came to Missouri from his native state in 1856.

Mr. and Mrs. Sehrock have two children, both daughters: Leona E., who is now the wife of D. R. Clark and resides in Linneus; and Bessie G., Avho married with E. L. Morris, and has her home in Linneus. Their father has belonged to the Masonic order for many years and has always taken a great interest in the affairs of the fraternity. He has at all times in his mature life been deeply and practically interested in the welfare of the community in which he lived, and done whatever he could to promote the substantial and enduring good of its residents. His public spirit has always been guided by intelligence and applied to securing direct and immediate results, and has been very effective on that account. The people of Linn county regard him as one of their best and most representative citizens, and all classes admire and esteem him for his genuine worth, his genial and unassuming manner and his high character.

Joseph Hemmings

Widely known and highly esteemed as is the interesting subject of this brief memoir, throughout Linn county and in many other parts of Missouri, he is not a native of this state, or even of this country. But he has been a resident of the United States since he was eight years of age, and of Marceline from the year when the town was founded. He passed his first three years of life in this country in Boston, Massachusetts, a number thereafter in Wisconsin, and twenty-five in Kansas. But he is so thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the people of Linn county, so deeply interested in the county's progress and improvement, and so earnest and effective in promoting that and the welfare of the people around him, that unless one knew to the contrary, he might believe the gentleman had been a resident of this locality all his life.

Mr. Hemmings was born near Bristol, England, on April 15, 1848. His parents, Samuel and Sarah (Freddy) Hemmings, were also natives of England, and belonged to families domesticated in that country for many generations. They came to the United States in 1856 and took up tlieir residence in Boston, where they remained until 1859. They then moved their family to Wisconsin, and in that state they died a number of years afterward. They were the parents of six children, two daughters and four sons. Three of the number are living, Joseph Hemmings and his brother and sister. The father was a cabinet maker and wrought at his trade both in his native land and in all the localities of his residence in this country.

Joseph Hemmings began his education in England, continued it in ^Boston and completed it in Wisconsin. In 1864, when he was but sixteen years old, he left his home and went to Kansas, locating at Neosho Falls in 1887, where he was connected with merchandising first as employe and afterward as proprietor for a period of nearly twentyfive years, remaining there until 1888. In that year Marceline was founded, and he learned of its promising possibilities, and at once sought the benefits of them, and the opportunities they afforded for advancement to enterprise, thrift and business ability.

He was sent to this locality, however, in the line of duty and in a capacity which gave scope for the full employment of his active mind and highly trained faculties. The Santa Fe Town & Land Company employed him to act as its assistant land agent here, and he sold the first town lots disposed of within the limits of the present city. He served the Town & Land Company with fidelity and success for two years, then became manager of the Marceline Coal and Prospecting Company. A few years after its organization this company sold its holdings and business to the Kansas & Texas Coal Company, and in 1893 C. J. Devlin bought that company out. He failed in 1905, and the property and business of the original company, and subsequent additions, are now owned by the Marceline Coal and Mining Company.

Mr. Hemmings has been the manager and controlling spirit in the business during all these years and through all the successive changes of ownership. He has been the leading man and the most potential force in the development of the coal mining industry in this region. He has also been all the time in control of the company's store, and in this position has been able to popularize the ownership of the property with 'the men employed by it, and so keep the industry going at the highest rate of speed and with satisfaction all around. He is, in addition, at the time of this writing (1912) manager of the Marceline Mercantile Company, one of the large and progressive merchandising establishments of Linn county.

Mr. Hemmings is a Republican in politics, and is deeply and intelligently interested in public atfairs. But he has always been averse to public station, and has never sought a political office either by election or appointment. But he did, on one occasion, yield to the persuasion of the people and the voice of duty, and consent to serve as city clerk of Marceline for three years, being the first man to occupy that office. While not seeking to serve the public as an official, he is, nevertheless, earnestly and actively interested in the welfare of his township and county, and the enduring good of their residents, and he manifests this by cordial and liberal support of all worthy undertakings for the improvement of his locality, its progress and development, and the increase of its importance in the mercantile, industrial, civic and social life of the state.

On January 17, 1880, Mr. Hemmings was united in marriage with Miss Melvina McConnell, a native of Illinois. They have two children, their daughters Jennie and Harriet M. Jennie is still living at home with her parents, and Harriet M. is the wife of George L. Smith, of Brookfield. The members of the family belong to the Congregational cliurch, in the good work of which, the father takes an active part. He is regarded throughout the county, and wherever else he is known, as a first-rate business man, an excellent citizen, a gentleman of high character and fine social culture, and a potent force for good in his community. The people everywhere respect him as such, and it is to their credit that they fully appreciate his worth and his great usefulness among them.

Manly H. Taylor

Manly H. Taylor, junior member of the hardware firm of Brown & Taylor, of Marceline, has been a resident of Linn county and Marceline township, as it is now, forty-four years, or since he was ten years old, and until 1898 was an active force in its agricultural industry, as he is in some measure yet. He has added to the wealth and importance of the county by his vigorous and progressive farming, dignified and adorned its citizenship by his upright and sterling manhood, helped in directing its public energies along lines of wholesome progress and development by his public spirit and enterprise, and aided in giving tone and high character to its mercantile activity by his elevated and straightforward course as a merchant. The people of his township and the whole county know him well and regard him as one of their most useful and representative citizens from every point of view.

Mr. Taylor is a natrve of Wisconsin, where he was born on February 23, 1857. He is a son of Erastus and Elizabeth (Howe) Taylor, natives of Genesee county. New York. The father was born in 1832 and passed the whole of his life as a farmer, except a few years which he devoted to teaching school, and the period of the Civil War, during which he was in the Union army fighting for the preservation of the country from sectional dismemberment, and all the horrors incident to such a disaster.

In his young manhood he moved from the state of New York to Wisconsin, and there engaged in teaching school until the beginning of the war. In response to the first call to arms for the defense of the Union he enlisted in the Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and in this regiment he served the full three years of his term of enlistment. His command saw a great deal of active service and took part in several of the historic battles of the great and momentous conflict between the sections of our unhappy country, but he escaped from all the carnage unharmed, and at the close of the war returned to his Wis-

In 1867 he came to this county and bought a farm one mile north of Marceline. It was all unbroken prairie, virgin to the plow and as yet had never heard the commanding voice of the husbandman or felt the impulse of his persuasive hand. Mr. Taylor awakened the responsive soil to systematic productiveness by his well-applied industry and skill as a farmer, and made the farm his home for twenty years. At the end of that period he returned to his native state, where he remained thirteen years. He then came back to Missouri, and he died in Linn county in 1907.

Mrs. Taylor, his widow, is still living in this county. They were the parents of three sons, all of whom are living, but Manly H. is the only one of the three who resides in Linn county. The father was a Republican in polities and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church in his religious affiliation. His father, John Taylor, was a native of Massachusetts, but early in life moved from that state to Genesee county. New York, where he passed the remainder of his days. The family on the father's side is of English descent, but members of it have lived in this country for many generations, its progenitor on American soil having come over in an early period in the history of our country.

Manly H. Taylor was between ten and eleven years of age when his parents located in this county. He grew to manhood on his father's farm, taking part in the useful labor of cultivating it and attending the district school in the neighborhood. He remained on the farm and assisted in its management and work until 1898. He then entered into partnership with Mr. Brown as a member of the present firm of Brown & Taylor, and since doing so has given his attention mainly to the affairs of the business, although he still owns and superintends his farm.

On February 23, 1887, Mr. Taylor united in marriage with Miss Bertha E. Phillips, a native of the state of New York, like himself. Her parents, Josiah and Emma S. (Crane) Phillips, moved to Missouri and Linn county in 1868, and have resided here ever since. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have five children: Gene P., Don B., "Winifred, Kenneth and Manly H., Jr. While earnestly and intelligently interested in the progress and improvement of his township and county, the father has taken no active part in political contentions beyond doing a good citizen's part by voting according to his convictions as to men and measures for the best interests of his locality. But he has never stayed liis hand or withheld his counsel with reference to projects of value for the advance of the region in which he lives, and his aid has been potential in promoting all he has deemed advisable and worthy of support. Fraternally he holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is regarded as one of Linn county's best and most representative men and citizens, and all classes of its people respect him highly and many admire him warmly for his genuine worth.

John A. Hess

Few farmers, if any, stand higher in the regard of the people of Bucklin township than John A. Hess, and the good will and esteem they have for him is based on demonstrated merit and genuine worth as a man and as a citizen. He is admired and taken as an example, also as an enterprising and progressive farmer, and his farm shows by its appearance and general condition that his example is well worthy of imitation anywhere. He has been a resident of Linn county seven years, and in each of them has made a record that has been greatly to his credit and has strengthened his hold on the confidence and good opinion of the people around him.

Mr. Hess is a native of Clark county, Missouri, where his life began on June S, 1867. His parents, Simon and Mary (Voght) Hess were born in Germany, in the province of Hesse. The father was a farmer in his native land and also served three years in the German army. He came to the United States in 1866 and located in Clark county, Missouri, where he is still living, and following in this country the pursuit which engaged his faculties in the Fatherland. In Clark county he met with and married his wife, the mother of John A. Hess and his two brothers, all of whom are living, but John is the only member of the family residing in Linn county. The mother died in 1898, after many years of useful and upright living, fidelity to her duties as a wife and mother, and earnest and helpful activity in behalf of all her neighbors, friends and the community in general.

John A. Hess grew to manhood on his father's farm in Clark county and obtained what education he could in the district schools in the neighborhood. He remained at home working with his father on the parental homestead until his marriage on March 17, 1891, to Miss Emma Seyb, a native of Lee county, Iowa, and the daughter of Michael and Elizabeth (Rauscher) Seyb, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Ohio. He then determined to set up a domestic altar of his own and began farming on his own account. He and his wife have three children, their son, Harold S. and their twin daughters, Ella M. and Ruth E., all of whom are still living under the shelter of the parental rooftree and assisting in the labors of the farm and the household.

In 1904 the family moved to Linn countj' and the father bought 240 acres of land two miles and a half south of Bucklin, on which he has resided ever since. He has erected on this farm a fine modern dwelling, good barns and other necessar^v structures, making for his family a very comfortable and attractive home, and has cultivated it with every care and advanced intelligence, thereby securing full returns for his labor and at the same time steadily increasing the value of his land.

Mr. Hess has not, however, confined his energies and activity entirely to his own business. He is a man of public spirit and progressiveness in regard to public affairs and takes an earnest intei'est and a helpful part in endeavoring to have them properly administered. He is also zealous in his efforts to aid in the development and improvement of his township and county, add to the comfort and convenience of their people and promote the general welfare in every way open to him. The educational forces, the moral agencies, the religious institutions and the social energies of the region in which he lives all enlist his interest and have his cordial support and that of all the members of his family. He and his wife belong to the Evangelical church and are active participants in all the good works of the congregation in which they hold their membership. The whole family is held in high esteem wherever its members are known.

Dr. Catherine Standly

Pioneers in any line of activity and usefulness are always worthy of high regard. No matter what the line of utility may be, those who open it to the service of mankind, and blaze the way for their followers who are to develop it to greater fruitfulness, extend it to wider fields of operation and lift it to loftier heights of power, have a credit due them which no achievements of their successors can belittle. The men and women who opened this region to civilization, and founded its civil and religious institutions, are justly enshrined in the hearts of the people of the present day as worthy of their highest veneration. The same condition is true in other domains of effort, though less noted and commended, and in them, oft-times, nerve, endurance and perseverance

Tinder difficulties are required in as great a degree as contests with wild beasts and savage men, the fury of the elements and privation of the ordinary comforts of life, in an imsettled country, has ever exacted.

Dr. Catherine Standly, of Brookfield, is in some measure a type of the pioneers of enterprise in departments of useful labor apart from the subjugation and settlement of the wilderness. She was the first and is yet the only lady physician in this part of Missouri, and it must have required courage and determination of a high order on her part to enter alone upon a field of work until recently not occupied by the gentler sex of our race, and from which an unreasonable prejudice actually barred them. But she chose her life work after mature deliberation, and when her face was once turned toward it, she never for a moment hesitated in pushing her way in pursuit of all it had to offer to capacity and faithful industry. Her success in it has fully justified her choice and nobly crowned her heroism.

Dr. Standly is a native of Linn county and the place of her birth was Laclede. She is a daughter of Dr. Z. T. and Jennie (Vance) Standly, both born and reared at Paris, Illinois. Further mention is made of the former in the sketch of her father. Dr. Z. T. Standly, which will be found elsewhere in this volume.

Their daughter Catherine, the interesting subject of these paragi'aphs, passed through all the grades of the schools in Laclede, and was graduated from the highest of them in her academic studies. Having made up her mind that she could do well for herself and also serve her fellow creatures substantially by devoting herself to the science of medicine, she began the study of it under the direction and instruction of her father. In 1898 she became a student in the medical department of the University of Illinois, from Avhieh she was graduated in 1902. After passing one year as an interne at the Mary Tompson hospital in Chicago, she selected Brookfield, this county, as the center of her practice, and took up her residence here at once, losing no time in starting on her professional career.

The doctor is a specialist in diseases of women and children, and has established herself firmly in the confidence and regard of the people of Linn county by her knoAvledge of her science, theoretical and practical, her excellent judgment and skill in the application of that knowledge, her geniality of disposition and her general culture and excellence as a woman. In order to keep abreast of the department of professional intelligence and work with which she is connected, she has pursued special courses of instruction at the Chicago Post Graduate School and been an industrious and thoughtful reader of the best literature of

She has also been a strong believer in the frequent comparison of experiences and interchange of ideas as a valuable means of broadening and systematizing knowledge, and has for some years been an active member of the county and state medical societies and the American Medical Association, and for two years served with credit to herself and benefit to the organization as president of the Linn County Medical Society. It is greatly to the credit of the people of the county that they appreciate the merit of this lady at its full value and hold her in the highest esteem. And it is equally creditable to her associates in the medical profession in the county that they cheerfully and admiringly accord to her the true rank among them to which she is richly entitled.

William A. Borland

For forty-four years this skillful and successful farmer has lived on the Clay township farm which he now owns, and during all of that period has devoted his energies to its improvement and judicious cultivation, during a portion of the time in connection with and under the supervision of his father, but for more than twenty years as its owner and sole proprietor. He has helped to make it very valuable and attractive as a country home, and by his industry, energy and mastery of his business has brought it to a high state of cultivation and productiveness.

Mr. Borland was born, reared and educated in Franklin county, Ohio, where his life began on October 4, 1844. He came to Missouri and Linn county with his parents in 1868, when he was twenty-four years old, and the farm, which was then an unbroken and uncultivated expanse, which he helped to clear, break up and bring to fruitfulness, has been his home ever since. His parents, John F. and Mary A. (Carder) Borland, were also born and reared in Franklin county, Ohio, and farmed there until 1868, when they moved to this coimty and located on this farm. The mother died here in 1878 and the father in 1888. They had seven children, all of whom are now deceased but two. The father served in a number of local offices, and was a man of consequence in the township. The grandfather, William Borland, was born in Ireland and came to this coimtrv soon after the establishment of the present form of government. He first resided for a while in Pennsylvania and then moved to Ohio at an early day in the history of the state. He was a soldier in the War of 1812.