Macon County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1910 (part 14 of 20)

Dorian Dudley White

The position of station agent on a busy railroad line, or several of them, and in a populous and progressive community, is a very important one in itself and in its relations to the people. Almost everybody in the community has business with the man who fills it, and the comfort and convenience of the whole population can be greatly promoted or interfered with by him, according to his disposition. If it be to accommodate and please, he ean be of great serviee and win extensive and general popularity. If, on the other hand, he ehooses to do only what is required of him, and that in a perfunetory or autocratie manner, he can bring both himself and the road or roads for which he works into disfavor and make the patrons of the latter very uncomfortable and dissatisfied.

Dorian Dudley White, railroad agent at La Plata, belongs to the class of officials who aim to please those who have dealings with them and afford the publie every proper accommodation. And, although he has been stationed at his present post only a few months, he has already won the regard and good will of the whole community. By his course he has also brought greater popularity to the railroads centering in La Plata, and rendered them less subject to criticism and censure.

Mr. White is a native of Montgomery county, in this state, and was born at Wellsville on September 13, 1869. His parents, Fielding and Rebeeca (Hyatt) White, also natives of that county, were born and reared at Middletown. The father's life began there in 1844, and there he grew to manhood and obtained his education. When he reached maturity he took up his residence at Wellsville and opened a drug store. He prospered in his undertaking and eondueted the business with suecess and profit until his death, which occurred on December 15, 1893.

His marriage took place at Middletown and he and his wife became the parents of six children, all of whom are living and are: Naomi, the wife of A. N. Jones, of Wellsville; Anna, the wife of D. E. Payton, also of Wellsville; Dorian D., who now lives in La Plata, as noted above; Ollie, the wife of C. M. MeCoy, of St. Louis; Lottie, the wife of H. W. Sehultz, of St. Louis; and L. H., who lives in Dallas, Texas. In political faith and allegiance the father was a firm and faithful Demoerat, and in religious connection he was allied with the Christian church, He was cordially devoted to his church and took a very active part in its good work for the benefit of the community in which he lived. He was one of the charter members of the congregation to which he belonged, and it was through a liberal contribution from him that the chureh edifice in Wellsville was erected. In all respects he was a most estimable man and a very desirable citizen, conducting his business on a high plane of integrity, and his private life with noticeable uprightness.

Dorian D. White obtained his education in the publie schools of Wellsville and was graduated from the high school in that city. After leaving school he clerked in his father's store for two years, then engaged in railroad work as a telegraph operator at various places until he was appointed station agent at Gallatin, Missouri. He occupied that position six months, and at the end of that period was transferred to St. Peters, where he remained two years. His next assignment was to Jonesburg, and there he was retained four years. He was then sent to Atlanta and during the next four years had control of the railroad business in that city. In October, 1909, he was transferred to La Plata, and in that city he now has his home. In all the places in which he has lived and labored he has taken a hearty and helpful interest in the welfare of the community and has contributed essentially to the promotion of the comfort and convenience of the people. He has also assisted in promoting general advancement and improvement wherever he has been, and has won hosts of friends by his course.

Mr. White is a stoekholder and director of the Bank of Atlanta and was one of its founders and a charter member of its direetorate. He was married on October 16, 1897, to Miss Anna Tate, a resident of La Plata and a daughter of Jesse and Sallie Tate. He is a pronounced Democrat in his political faith and activity, and he and his. wife are zealous members and regular attendants of the Christian church, They are earnest but unostentatious church workers, and they nid in every way they ean to augment the force and inerease the beneficial activity of all good agencies at work around them, social, intelleetual, moral and religious.

sixty-five years, except when he was absent during the Civil war, and has reached the ordinary limit of human life as fixed by the psalmist, is a son of Seamon and Naney G. (Weatherford) Atterberry, and a brother of Philander Atterberry of Lyda township, in a sketeh of whom, which will be found in this volume, the life story of the parents and the family history is given. He is a worthy son of a distinguished

Mr. Atterberry was born on January 13, 1840, in Davis county, Iowa, and came with his parents to Macon county, Missouri, when he was about five years of age. He obtained a limited education in a school taught by his father in what is now the eity of Atlanta, which the father founded and laid out. After leaving school he worked on the home farm and assisted the family until 1862. He then obeyed the impressive eall of President Lincoln for volunteers to save the Union from dismemberment and enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Eighth Illinois Infantry. His company was at first under the command of Col. John Warner and later under that of Col. Charles Turner, and was in turn a part of the army divisions commanded by Gen. A. J. Smith and General Grant. He served until the close of the war and was mustered out in Chicago in August, 1865.

Mr. Atterberry found that military life was no holiday. His eompany was constantly on the mareh or in the field and saw some of the most active and dangerous service known in the momentous conflict between the seetions of the country. He took part in the battles of Haynes' Bluff and Arkansas Post, the sieges of Vicksburg and Mobile, battle of Gun Town, and a large number of minor engagements. He was often in the very center of a deluge of death, but escaped unharmed, and after the close of the war returned to his Macon county home and gave his attention to farming, carrying on his operations extensively and vigorously, and continuing them until 1899, when he retired from business activity and moved to Atlanta, where he and his wife now reside. His fine and well improved farm comprises 180 aeres and he owns valuable town property besides.

Enterprising and zealous as Mr. Atterberry has been in seeking to advance his own interests, he has not been oblivious of the welfare of his township and county, but has, on the contrary, done everything in his power to aid in promoting it. He has been an energetie supporter of all worthy undertakings for the development and improvement of the region of his home and the comfort and convenience of its people. As school director he rendered the township valuable and appreciated service for a number of years, and in many other ways he has fostered and advanced its general well being.

He was married on April 18, 1868, to Miss Minerva J. May, a daughter of Philetus and Rachel (Ford) May, long residents of Macon eounty, who eame to this state from Indiana. Three of the five children born of the union are living: Rachel, the widow of the late John D.

Wood, who is making her home with her parents; Mary, the wife of George Taylor, of Los Angeles, California; and Oren, who resides in Macon county. Their mother died in 1886 and on March 6, 1889, the father married a second wife, his choice on this occasion being Miss Martha A. J. Bunch, a daughter of J. W. and Lucinda (Bunch) Bunch. Mr. Atterberry is a Republican in polities, a member of the Grand Army of the Republic in fraternal relations and a Universalist in religion, he and his wife being active workers in the congregation to which they belong, and in which their productive membership is valued by all who are interested in the church and the good work it is engaged in.

School teacher, soldier, merchant, farmer and stock man, lumberman and local publie official, Albert M. Atterberry of Atlanta has run almost the whole ordinary gamut of human occupation, and it is greatly to his eredit that he has done well in each line of activity that he has followed. His grandfather and his father were Kentuckians and farmers, and both were men of consequence in their day and locality. They did what they found to do with zeal and fidelity, in both private and publie life, and they never failed to uphold the highest ideals of American citizenship, whatever was at stake. The grandfather's name was Thomas and the father's William P. Attebery.

William P. Atterberry was born in Barren county, Kentucky, in 1804 and on March 8. In 1828 he left his native heath and moved to Woodford county, Illinois, where he acquired a farm of 160 acres and farmed vigorously and successfully until 1856. He then sold his farm there and bought one of 592 acres in Macon county, Missouri, on which he passed the remainder of his days, extensively engaged in farming and raising stock until his death, which oceurred on April 25, 1878. He was very active and influential in polities but never sought or accepted a political office. He took a great interest in church work, belonging to the sect known as **Christian," and was one of the founders of the congregation of that sect at Eureka, Illinois, and a liberal contributor to Eureka college at that place, which is eondueted under the supervision of the church organization. He was married in 1826 to Susanna Glazebrook, of Kentucky, and by this union became the father of eight children, three of whom are living: John J., whose home is in Adair county, Missouri; Albert M., and Cynthia, the wife of Dr. H. K. Cunningham, of La Plata, in this county.

schools of his native place, continued it at Eureka college, in the same county, and completed it in some of the higher schools of Macon county, Missouri, whither he eame with his parents when he was fifteen years old. After leaving school he was engaged in teaching until 1861. Then, being cordially attached to the Union, he volunteered in its defense against dismemberment, enlisting at Eureka, Illinois, in Company K, One Hundred and Eighth Illinois Infantry, under Col. John Warner and later Col. Charles Turner, in the eommands of Gen. A. J. Smith and General Grant. He served until the close of the war and was mustered out on July 27, 1865, at Vicksburg, Mississippi. His military service was active and took him into the thick of the fight on many a bloody field, among them the siege of Vicksburg, the big battle of Champion Hill and Black River, and the hot eontests at Arkansas Post and Guntown, Mississippi, besides a large number of engagements of less importance.

After the war Mr. Atterberry returned to his home in this county and engaged in merchandising in Atlanta. He continued this enterprise two years and was very successful in it. At the end of the period mentioned he sold the business and bought eighty acres of land and began farming and raising live stock. He prospered in this venture also and increased his holdings until he owned 400 acres. He sold part of his land and, in 1888, entered the live stock and commission business in the National Stock Yards at East St. Louis. After operating there in that line for two years under very favorable conditions, he returned to his farm in 1890 and remained on it until 1893. He then removed to Atlanta and engaged in the lumber trade as a member of the firm of Shain & Atterberry. The firm was highly suecessful and the business flourished vigorously. But at the end of eleven years Mr. Atterberry tired of it and determined to retire from active pursuits and enjoy the rest and recreation he had so richly earned. Accordingly, in 1904 he sold his interest in the firm and sinee then he has been largely a gentleman of leisure, but has done some business in the domain of transactions in real estate.

Mr. Atterberry is a stockholder in the Atlanta State Bank and owns considerable farming land and a large amount of business and residence property in the eity of Atlanta and elsewhere. He has been a very enterprising and successful man and fortune has smiled upon him with a bounty corresponding to his devotion and fidelity before her shrine. Tn polities he is a Democrat and an important factor in the management of his party. Under the township organization he was assessor and collector and a member of the township board, and he is now secretary of the school board. When Atlanta was incorporated he was elected mayor and served as president of the city board of councilmen three years. His fraternal connections are with the Masonic order and its auxiliary, the Order of the Eastern Star. In his Masonie lodge he has been Senior Warden two years, Worshipful Master two years and secretary twenty-one years. He has also been Worthy Patron of his lodge in the Eastern Star five years. He and his wife are active, working members of the Christian church. On January 19, 1870, he was married to Miss Jeannette Atterberry, a daughter of Martin and Elizabeth (Weatherford) Atterberry, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of this county. Of the three children born of the union two are living, Phradie, the wife of Nicholas M. Moody, of Macon county, and Claude, who lives in Atlanta.

Retired now from active pursuits and spending the evening of his long day of toil and trial in peace after many conflicts, in comfort after mueh hardship and privation, Joseph Ward, of Atlanta, is a fine exemplifieation of the truth stated by the saered writer that the end of a good man is peace. Although not a native of Macon county or the state of Missouri, Mr. Ward has lived in Jackson township about forty-five years, forty of them on the farm on which he located when he came to the county, and during all of this long period has been deeply interested in and very helpful to the industrial, political and social life of the region. He has not chafed under the harness of citizenship, but has cheerfully and vigorously pulled his full share of the load of promoting the best interests of the township and county, giving both excellent service himself and stimulating others to inereased exertion by the force of his influence and example.

Mr. Ward was born on February 20, 1838, in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Jeremiah and Rachel (Kowan) Ward, the former a native of Columbiana county, Ohio, and the latter of Westmoreland eounty, Pennsylvania. The father was born in 1805, and was reared and edueated in his native county. When he reached man's estate he moved to Armstrong county, in the adjoining state of Pennsylvania, where he followed farming with enterprise and profit, after he got a start, until 1854, when he moved to Cedar county, Iowa, where he died in 1861, his life ending at Mechaniesville, in that state. He began the battle of life as a day laborer, but was industrious and spending no time or effort in vain, but making every hour and every stroke count to his advantage. When he died he was possessed

The elder Mr. Ward was married in 1830 to Miss Rachel Kowan, a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. They had eleven children, only four of whom are now living: Joseph, the interesting subjeet of this brief memoir; Emeline, the wife of George Greenfield, of Shelby county, Missouri; and Jeremiah and John L, both of whom are residents of the state of Colorado. In his political allegiance the father was a Whig and in his religious affiliation he was connected with the Methodist Episeopal ehureh. His venerable and venerated widow died in Shelby eounty, Missouri, in the autumn of 1909 at the advanced age of ninety-seven years.

Their son Joseph obtained a very limited education in the district schools of his native county, the only text book he owned while attending them being a testament. After leaving school he worked on his father's farm until 1861. Then roused by the armed resistance to the integrity of the federal Union, which had begun the Civil war, he enlisted as a corporal in Company H, Thirty-fifth Iowa Infantry, serving at first under the command of Colonel Hill and later under that of Colonel Keeler, being assigned to several divisions during his three years of service, and finally mustered out at Davenport, Iowa. He participated in the battles of Nashville, Vieksburg, Red River, Mobile and others of historie renown, and also in numerous engagements of minor importance. He was hit three times with bullets but received injury from only one, the others having spent their force before reaching him.

After the war Mr. Ward eame to Missouri and located in Macon county. He bought 100 acres of land and on this and the additions he has sinee made to his aereage he was aetively and successfully engaged in farming and raising stock until 1905, when he retired from active pursuits and moved to Atlanta. At that time he owned 356 aeres of first rate land, but he has since sold a portion of it. He has taken an interest in other matters of profit to himself and benefit to his community, having been one of the charter members in reorganizing the Atlanta State Bank and served as a director and the vice-president of the institution for a period of twelve years. But he is no longer connected with the bank, having sold his stock in it in the summer of 1909.

In the publie affairs of his community Mr. Ward has been one of the most active and serviceable men in it. Under the township organization he was treasurer of the township and since then he has been president of the board of town trustees of Atlanta and mayor of the city. He is a Republican in politics and at all times deeply interested in the welfare of his party. In fraternal life he is an active member of the Grand Army of the Republie and in religious affiliation a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is very energetie in church work and is now one of the trustees of the congregation to which he belongs and a member of the church board of management.

In 1866 he was united in marriage with Miss Judith E. Maxey, a native of Macon county and daughter of Joel H. and Peggy Maxey, residents of the county for many years. Only two of the six children born of the union are living: Jennie R., the wife of Morton Meisner, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Alice, the wife of Ernest Ocker, of Macon county, Missouri.

Y Philander Atterberry

The pioneers of all sections of Missouri, like those of other parts of the country, were a heroie race and flinched at nothing. They dared all that endangered them and endured with fortitude all that oppressed. And they have left enduring marks of the altitude of their spirit and the firmness and force of character that distinguished them. Some of them built special monuments to their enterprise and daring, although at the time they had nothing in view but the betterment of their own fortunes and the development of the country, which they found a wilderness and left rich in many of the produets of civilization and cultivated life.

Among the latter was Seamon Atterberry, the father of Philander Atterberry, of Lyda township, in this county. He laid out the town of Atlanta in what was at the time literally a howling wilderness and started it on its eareer of usefulness and progress. His father, Elijah Atterberry, was born and reared in South Carolina and in his young manhood moved from that state to Kentucky, locating in Barren county. There his son Seamon was born in 1814 and grew to the age of twelve years. Then the family moved to Missouri and took up its residence in Monroe county, where Seamon grew to manhood, engaged in general farming and also taught school until about 1836. About that time he moved to Davis county, Iowa, and there he continued farming until 1844. The wilderness, however, had for him a savor that no other condition could supply, and in the year last mentioned he again sought it in this county, taking up his residenee where the town of Atlanta now stands and building a house of some pretensions in size for that period. In this he taught the sons and daughters of the hardy pioneers the rudi- ments of learning, and seeing with clearness of vision the possibilities of the region, he determined to found a town in it. He therefore laid out what is now Atlanta, and built the first sehoolhouse in it on his own land. He continued to teach for a number of years and also farmed and operated two sawmills. The first of these was run by horse power and the second by steam.

At the time of his death, which occurred on July 4, 1886, he owned and cultivated 500 acres of land and had considerable town property. It will easily be inferred that he was a man of consequence in the community and wielded considerable influence; also that he was a leading spirit in all public affairs. During the Civil war he was postmaster of the town and practically held its destiny in his hands. In polities he was a Republican, and in all the relations of life a very reliable and upright man. He was a zealous member of the Masonic fraternity and belonged to the Universalist church, in which he was a very earnest and energetic worker for the good of the cause. He was married in 1837 to Miss Naney G. Weatherford, a native of Tennessee, but at the time of the marriage a resident of Monroe county. They had seven children, five of whom are living: Mary E., the wife of William T. Williamson, of Atlanta; David E., who lives in the same place; Sarah Ann, the wife of John B. Kimrel, of Moulton, Iowa; Philander and Benjamin C., both residents of Atlanta. Their mother died on February 8, 1852, and in October, 1853, the father married a second wife, his choice on this occasion being Miss Mary C. Dabney, also of Macon county. They had three children, two of whom are living: Buford M., of St. Joseph, and Erasmus M., of Williston, North Dakota. Four of the sons served in the Union army during the Civil war, freely offering their lives on the altar of their country and in defense of what they believed to be right.

Philander Atterberry was edueated in the publie school in Atlanta, but owing to the undeveloped state of the country and the lack of nearly all the ordinary concomitants of civilized life, the sehool was primitive in character and limited in scope, and his education was therefore necessarily a meager one, embracing only the rudiments of scholastic acquirements. After leaving school he worked on the home farm and generally assisted the family until 1867. He then started out in life for himself, working as a hand on neighboring farms and farming for himself seventeen acres of land given to him by his father. In 1869 he rented a large farm, and since then he has been continuously and very successfully engaged in general farming and raising stock, making a specialty of mules and dealing in them extensively. He owns and cultivates 343 acres of land in his home plaee, and also farms vigorously and with skill and intelligence a large aereage which he rents for the purpose. In addition he is a stockholder in the Atlanta State Bank and owns some mining stock of value.

On February 18, 1869, Mr. Atterberry was united in marriage with Miss Melissa J. Farmer, a daughter of John M. and Elizabeth J. P. Farmer, early settlers in Macon county. Five children have blessed the union and all of them are living. They are: Anna, the wife of E. E. Moss, of Maeon eounty; Cora E., the wife of J. B. Fisk, of Macon city; Fannie M., the wife of Joseph Newmyer, also of Macon city; Fred A., who lives in Atlanta; and Eula C., who still abides with her father. "The mother of these children died on May 29, 1895, and on March 17, 1896, the father married a second time, uniting with Mrs. Mary E. Fuqua, a daughter of James H. and Margaret Ann Farmer. The offspring of this union numbers three: Raymond L., Florence J. and Noble Eugene, all of whom are living under the parental rooftree and contributing to the brightness and warmth of the family fireside.

In polities Mr. Atterberry is a Republican and consistent in his loyalty to his party, as he is earnest and effective in his services to it. He is one of its reliable workers in his township in all campaigns and omits no effort possible for him to make with propriety to bring success to its candidates, and his zeal and industry in the party service is highly appreciated by both its leaders and its rank and file. But he has never sought, accepted or desired a political office for himself. His religious allegiance is given to the Universalist church, and he takes an active and leading part in all its works of benevolence and morality, aiding every worthy undertaking it inaugurates and helping in every way he can to build up and strengthen the particular congregation in it to which he belongs. In all the relations of life he is accounted estimable and fully entitled on demonstrated merit to the universal esteem which he so richly enjoys.

Ernest D. Landree

Among the younger business men of Macon county none stands higher than Ernest D. Landree, of Atlanta, and none is more deserving of high rank. From his boyhood he has used all his faculties and opportunities in doing good work for every interest with which he has been connected, and in keeping in the van of progress toward elevated and high-minded citizenship. At school he was diligent and studious, looking ever to future suecess in life and using all his facilities in preparing to win it. In the banking business for a number of years he was attentive to every duty and conscientious and capable in the performance of all. And now as a purchasing and sales agent he is alert, ready, resourceful and constant in his industry.

Mr. Landree is a native of Macon county, born in Lyda township on December 29, 1882, and is a scion of old Virginia fam domesticated in the Old Dominion from colonial times. His paternal grandfather, James Landree, was born and reared in that state, and with the adventurous spirit that has always characterized the family, came to Missouri in his young manhood and located in what is now the city of Macon. Here his son, J. Monroe Landree, the father of Ernest D., was born in 1855. He was reared and educated in Macon, and has lived there all his life to this time, actively engaged in farming and ing and dealing in live stock extensively. He has been very successful in all his undertakings and is one of the substantial is of the county. His fine farm comprises 370 acres and is nearly all under advanced cultivation. He was married in 1879 to Miss Jennie R. Nickell, a native, like himself, of Macon county. Two of their four children are living, their sons, Ernest D. and James C., the latter of whom lives in St. Louis. The father is a Democrat in political connection and a Modern Woodman of America. His wife is a zealous and devoted member of the Southern Methodist church. Both are highly respected and well merit the esteem in which they are held by all classes wherever they are known.

Ernest D. Landree began | 'holastie training in the public schools and completed it at the Kirksville State Normal school. After leaving that institution he pursued a course of special training at the Gem City Business College in Quincy, Illinois. Upon the completion of his edueation he was appointed assistant cashier of the Atlanta State Bank, which he served well and acceptably until 1908, pleasing both the bank officials and its numerous patrons by his fidelity and ability and his close attention to the business of the institution.

Desiring to carve out a business career for himself and oceupy his faculties in building up some enterprise expressive of his individuality and owing its being and magnitude to his own immediate direction, he quit the bank in the year last mentioned and turned his attention to handling timber for the Star Timber Company, of Des Moines, Iowa, in which he has an interest of value. He is still engaged in this line of activity and is making his mark in it. The business of the company in this portion of the country has flourished and grown under his management and is still steadily expanding. Mr. Landree also has farming property of value and other interests of high vitality and great promise.

He is a gentleman of considerable activity wherever the welfare of the community is involved, and as a loyal Democrat takes an active and helpful part in the publie affairs of the township and county in which he lives. In fraternal life he is a Freemason, an Odd Fellow sand a member of the Order of Elks, in all of which his membership is serviceable and highly appreciated.

The science of dentistry is one of the most progressive of modern times. New discoveries and inventions are constantly enriching it with applianees for better results, the artistie character of its produet is steadily rising in rank and the excellence of its achievements in every way is every year more and more admirable and commendable. It requires in its practitioners, who wish to keep pace with it, constant study and observation in practice, industrious reading of its literature, and frequent intercourse with the sources of advanced information, technical and practical.

Dr. Joseph Mort MeKim, of La Plata, is one of its enterprising and progressive votaries, and his diligent attention to its requirements is winning him the rewards that always follow fidelity in any pursuit of practical utility - publie confidence and esteem, widening reputation as a master of his craft, and material acquisitions in increasing patronage and the profits it brings. Dr. McKim is a native of Missouri, having been born at Newark, Knox county, in this state, on June 24, 1882. His father, the late Dr. Joseph M. MeKim, was a native of Kentueky and one of the pioneers of this state, coming here in 1839, and locating at Winchester. With Newark as a base of operations he practiced medieine and surgery in that place and throughout a large extent of the surrounding country for forty-five consecutive years, becoming prominent in his profession and an influential leader in the public affairs of that portion of the state. He was one of the representatives of Knox county in the state legislature for two terms, and served on the board of regents of the Kirksville Normal School during eighteen successive years. He was a thirty-second degree Free Mason and an energetic and determined Democrat in political relations.

The elder Dr. MeKim was married in 1858 to Miss Natelia Rose, who was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and brought by her parents to Missouri when she was but four years old. By their marriage the Doctor and his wife became the parents of six children: Hettie, the wife of James Nesbitt, of Shelbyville, Missouri; Dr. H. W., of La Belle, Missouri; James Montgomery, a prosperous druggist at Albuquerque,

New Mexieo; Dr. J. V., of Newark, in this state, who enjoys a large praetiee and is president of the Farmers Bank of Newz Natelia J., the wife of William Holloway of Canton, Missouri, and Dr. Joseph M., the immediate and interesting subject of this brief review. The father died in 1903. The mother is still living and has her home at Newark, Knox county, where she has so long resided and where she is known and esteemed by everybody.

Dr. Joseph M. MeKim was reared in his native place and began his academie education in its publie schools. He also attended the Kirksville Normal School and high school in St. Louis, the **Stoddard." He began the study of dentistry in the Medical College of Keokuk, Iowa, and finished the course at the Barnes Dental University, in St. Louis, from which he was graduated with the degree of D. D. S. on May 3, 1905. He started his professional eareer at Newark, his native place, but soon afterwards moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where he remained until late in 1908. On December 1, that year, he located in La Plata, and there he has been established ever since, actively engaged in a growing practice and rising to prominence in the affairs of the town. He is up-to-date in his professional work, and keeps abreast of its most advanced thought and discoveries in both theory and practice, meeting all the requirements of his business with a comprehensive knowledge of its details and the highest skill in the practical application of that knowledge. llis accomplishments in his profession are winning him a high rank in it, and his high eharaeter as a man and enterprise and usefulness as a citizen command universal esteem and eommendation. He is always at the front in the support of all worthy projeets for the good of the community, and in its moral, intelleetual and social life is one of the leading influences for advancement toward the highest standard of excellence.

In fraternal life the Doctor is extensively connected and serviceably energetie. He belongs to the Masonie order, the Odd Fellows, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Modern Brotherhood of Ameriea. In religious affiliation he is a Christian, and in political relations a zealous and hard-working Demoerat. On June 9, 1909, he was joined in marriage with Miss Bess Tansil, a native of La Plata, Missouri, and daughter of Lon and Minie (Yancy) Tansil.

Richard S. Thomas

The life story of this esteemed citizen of Bevier is one of arduous effort at all times for his own advancement and the welfare of his country, and of heroie struggle under great difficulties after a tragical visitation in the performance of important duties in an oceupation full of hazard, and in which the employers of labor seldom take sufficient precaution to protect their workmen from disaster, many of them seeming to consider human life eheaper than safety deviees or the enforcement of striet discipline in the operation of their business.

Mr. Thomas was born on October 19, 1865, at Morris Run, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, and is a son of John S. and Elizabeth (Hughes) Thomas, natives of Wales, where their forefathers lived many generations following the vocation in which their son Richard met with such signal disaster. The father was born in Wales on July 15, 1834, and came to the United States in 1863. On his arrival in this country he loeated at Morris Run, Pennsylvania, because there he had opportunity to follow the ealling to whieh he had been trained in his native land, that of coal mining. In Heolyfelin, Aberdare, South Wales he met with and married Miss Elizabeth Hughes of the same nativity as himself, the marriage oeeurring on March 6, 1862. They became the parents of twelve ehildren seven of whom are living: Thomas H. of Bevier; Annie, the wife of John F. Barnhart of Denver, Colorado; Sarah, the wife of David Abrahams of Rock Springs, Wyoming; Mary J., the wife of John Rice, who also lives in Denver; Maggie, the wife of Adam Walker of Amarillo, Texas; and Edward S., who is a resident of this county.

The family remained in Pennsylvania until 1869 and the father continued mining there until that time. He then moved to Missouri and located in Livington county, where he followed farming for two years, At the end of that period he changed his residence to Carroll county, and there he farmed for one year. In 1872 he moved to Bevier, and after mining for a time, again turned his attention to farming and raising stock, and in these oceupations he passed the remainder of his life, whieh ended on May 18, 1903. He was a Republican in polities, an Odd Fellow and charter member of Bevier Lodge in the order in fraternal li ind belonged to Mission Baptist church, in which he was an active worker and organizer.

Richard S. Thomas obtained his education in the publie schools of Bevier, and as soon as he completed it went to work in the mines there, as he had been doing from the time when he was nine years old. In 1888, when he was twenty-three, he went to Fremont county, Colorado, and there he again followed mining and gave supervisory service in various capacities to his employers until 1891, when he was so seriously injured while in the performance of his duties that he was unable to work at mining again for five years. During that period, however, he learned the barber trade and worked at it in Colorado until 1896, most of the time on crutches. In the year last named he returned to Bevier, and here he has ever since resided. Having recovered some measure of his strength and freedom of motion, he mined coal at Bevier until 1905, when he was appointed mine inspector by Governor Folk. He served four years under him and three months under Governor Hadley. Prior to that time, in 1899, he was elected doorkeeper of the state house of representatives, and after serving a term of two years in that capacity, was appointed assistant paymaster and clerk of the elerical force. Since leaving the office of mine inspector he has been selling coal for the Rombauer Coal and Mining Company of Novinger, Missouri.

Mr. Thomas has taken a very active interest in the affairs of the eity and county in which he lives and rendered valuable and appreciated services to their people in many ways. He has been a member of the eity board of aldermen for the last ten years, and has looked after the interests of the city with studious and intelligent diligence. He is a pronounced and unwavering Democrat in political allegiance, and on all occasions is an earnest and effective worker for the good of his party. During the past ten years he has been county committeeman of the organization and as such has won a high reputation as an organizer and energetic worker. In fraternal relations he belongs to the Order of Elks and the Order of Redmen.

On December 23, 1896, he was married to Miss Annie C. Scheller, a native of Eckhart Mines, Maryland, where she was born on December 19, 1875. They have had three children all of whom are living and still members of the family circle of the parental home. They are Leota, Marion and Cathryn. The mother is a daughter of William L. and Isabelle (Close) Scheller, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Maryland. They have for many years been highly esteemed residents of Macon county.

Louis J. Melvin, Sr., one of the progressive and prosperous farmers and stock men of Bevier township, this eounty, has had experience in several states of the American Union and a variety of occupations, and he has made it all tell to his advantage. Being an observing and thoughtful man, he has not been slow to take the hints his experience has given him, and being enterprising and energetie he has made full use of them in advaneing his own interests and helping to promote the wel-

Mr. Melvin is a native of Lawrenee county in the great central state of Indiana, where he was born on May 5, 1834. He is of old Southern stock, his grandparents having been born and reared in South Carolina, where their forefathers had lived for generations before them, and having moved from that state to Kentucky early in their married life. Their son Levi, the father of Louis J., Sr., was born in Kentueky and grew to manhood there. While yet a young man he moved to Lawrence eounty, Indiana, where he farmed industriously, raised live stoek extensively and profitably, and served as constable and deputy sheriff aeceptably until his death in 1834, soon after the birth of his son Louis J. He was married in 1820 to Miss Elizabeth Neal, a native of South Carolina, and they became the parents of six children, four of whom are living: George, whose residenee is at Laneaster, Missouri; Henry, whose home is in Schuyler county; Levi, who also lives at Lancaster, and Louis J., the immediate subject of this brief memoir.

After the death of Mr. Melvin's father his mother married Bennet Rector, and they also became the parents of six children, of whom three are living: James, whose home is in Kansas City, Missouri; Nancy, the wife of John Payton, of Omaha, Nebraska; and Frank, who resides in Iowa. "The mother did the best she could to rear her offspring by her first marriage and give them good preparation for life's struggle, but in the nature of the case it became necessary for them to begin providing for themselves as soon as they were able.

As a result her son Louis J. was thrown on his own resources at an early age and has ever since fought the battle of life for himself, relying on his own resources and efforts for success and winning it in a gratifying measure wholly through them. He obtained a very limited education in the distriet sehools of his native county, where he remained until he reached the age of eighteen, working at home and on neighboring farms. In 1854 he determined to come West and made his way to Kansas. But he remained in that state only a short time, as political and social life was greatly disturbed by seetional questions and the agitation over the aetivities and fate of John Brown. From Kansas he moved to Schuyler eounty, Missouri, and there he operated a saw mill until 1857, when he eame to Macon eounty and located on the farm which is now his home.

mines at Bevier for a period of thirty-three years, and since the expiration of that period he has been continuously engaged in farming and raising stock with immediate success at the start and inereasing profits ever since. He owns a fine farm of eighty acres, which is well improved and has been brought to an advanced state of productiveness. His live stock' industry is also a flourishing one, adding considerably to his revenue and helping to satisfy his desire for something of value to occupy his mind and engage his energies.

He has always shown a cordial and helpful interest in the welfare of his eommunity and has done his part in aid of all worthy undertakings for its promotion. He is a Democrat in political faith and works for the good of his party in all campaign a matter of duty and without any desire for any of the favors it may have to bestow as a reward for faithful service. He has long been a zealous member of the Masonie fraternity and always taken a deep and ardent interest in its work, giving his lodge as regular attendance as his circumstances would permit and standing by it with the utmost loyalty under all cireumstances.

On May 15, 1860, he was married to Miss Louisa J. Reed, a daughter of David and Elizabeth (Wilson) Reed and a native of Kentucky. They have had nine children and seven of them are living: David L., whose home is in Denver, Colorado; James, who is living at home with his parents; Mary E., the wife of W. H. Newlin of Macon county; Retta G., who is also still a member of the parental family eirele; Minnie J., the wife of Evan Jones of Bevier; Fannie B., the wife of W. F. Allen of St. Joseph, Missouri; and Louis J. Jr., who is also at home. "The wife and mother died March 25, 1891.

Three of the great commonwealths of the United States had the benefit of the intelligent and well-applied energy of Richard S. Tate, who was one of the leading farmers of Liberty township in this county, and while in all of them he had followed the same lines of endeavor, his experience had not been without variety and many different phases of interest. He farmed and raised live stock not only under different conditions as to locality and surroundings and amid people of widely diverse tastes, habits and dispositions, but also in successive stages in the progress of these industries themselves and the mercantile condition to which their produets were subject, involving all the elements of production, preparation for the markets, transportation and methods of barter and sale. "That he kept pace with the advance in all these

Mr. Tate was a native of Clark county, Kentucky, where he was born on September 8, 1832. His paternal grandfather, William Tate, was born and reared in Tennessee, and while yet a young man moved to Kentucky, where he passed the remainder of his life. He located in Clark eounty, and there he married and reared a family. In that county his son Waddy Tate, the father of Richard S., came into the world, and there he grew to manhood, obtained his education, married and became a farmer. His marriage was with Miss Ruth Winn, who was also a Kentuckian by nativity. They had nine children, all of whom have passed away. The family remained in Kentucky until 1841, then moved to Iowa, where it dwelt fifteen years, father and son engaging in farming and making substantial progress. In 1863 both families, that of the father and that of his son Richard, took another flight into a new country, this time coming directly south and locating in Liberty township, Macon eounty, Missouri. Here the father continued farming and raising stock until his death at the age of seventyfive years, and after a life of continuous usefulness.

Richard S. Tate grew to the age of sixteen in his native state and obtained his education in the publie schools of Clark county. In 1848 he accompanied his parents to Davis county, Iowa, and there he followed farming and stock breeding, occupations to which he had been reared, and in which he had previously been engaged.

He became a resident of Missouri in 1863, and one year later located on the farm on which he died on March 5, 1910. He bought eighty acres to begin with, and since then, by active and energetic farming and stock raising and good business management, he trebled his holdings, owning at the time of his death a fine farm of 240 acres, well improved with good buildings and completely equipped for the purposes of modern farming, making it one of the most attractive and valuable country homes of Liberty township. He had all his land under cultivation, but reserved a sufficient portion every year for pasturage for his stock. His stock industry was also extensive and flourishing, and like his farming, yielded good returns for the labor and care he bestowed upon it, and the intelligence with which he managed it.

Mr. Tate was a potential faetor in the development and progress of the county, always aiding in the promotion of every worthy enterprise for its advancement and helping to strengthen and quicken to greater usefulness all good agencies at work among its people. He was a Democrat in politieal faith and a hard worker for the success of his party, although never sought or desired any of the honors or emoluments it had to bestow for himself. His citizenship found its best and most serviceable expression in doing well what he had in hand for himself and contributing to the general weal by activity in its service and giving those around him an example of clean living and steadfast uprightness as a man, and not by the performance of official duties, however capable and acceptable he may of been for them. He was married on January 14, 1850, to Miss Caroline Lowe, a daughter of Obadiah and Caroline Lowe, natives of Kentucky and residents, at the time of the marriage, of Davis county, Iowa. Twelve children were born in the Tate household and nine of them are living: Catherine, the wife of Harrison Floyd of Price county, Wisconsin; Drucilla, the wife of George Holdberry of Adair county, Missouri; and Jefferson D., Richard S., Jr., Obadiah B., Caroline, the wife of Marion Johns, John, Daniel, and Ruth, the wife of George Lafond, all residents of Maeon eounty. His wife died in 1883. He was aetively engaged in farming until his death March 5, 1910.

Having contributed to the progress and prosperity of three of the great states of the American Union as a carpenter, a farmer and a breeder of high grade live stock, and having helped to save that Union from dismemberment as a valiant soldier in the Federal army during our Civil war, in which he faced death on some of the most sanguinary fields of the momentous conflict, Wilbur F. Morse of Liberty township, Macon county, has been a very serviceable citizen of this country, and has made a record that is wholly to his eredit. His varied and intense experience has also been of great value to himself, giving him breadth of view and readiness for emergencies that have aided him to many a personal advantage and helped to keep his ear of progress steadily in motion.

Mr. Morse was born on April 12, 1839, in Washington county, Ohio. His paternal grandfather, Justice Morse, was a native of England and eame to the United States a young man, locating in Connecticut, where his son, Madison Morse, the father of Wilbur F., was born in 1828. While he was yet very young the family moved to Ohio, and there he grew to manhood and learned the trades of tanner and shoemaker. He worked at these until his death, which occurred in 1900. He was married twice, his first choice being Miss Mary Porter, a native of Ohio. They had ten children, but only four of them are living: Wilbur Fisk, the subjeet of these paragraphs; Winslow, who lives in Nebraska; Wayne, who is a resident of California, and Willis, whose home is in Iowa. Their mother died in 1863, and in 1880 the father was married to Mariam Merritt, also of Ohio. In polities he was first a Whig and afterward a Republican, and in religious connection he was a Presbyterian. He served four years in the Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the rebellion as a member of the band.

Wilbur F. Morse was edueated in the distriet schools of Washington county, Ohio, and after leaving school learned the carpenter trade and worked at it until the beginning of the Civil war. In response to one of the early calls for volunteers to defend the Union he enlisted in the Eighteenth Ohio infantry for six months. At the end of that period he re-enlisted in the Thirty-sixth Ohio infantry, in which he served under Captain Palmer and Colonel Stanley until late in 1864, when he was mustered out at Columbus, the capital of his native state. His command was in the thick of the conflict almost continually, and Mr. Morse took part in the terrible battles of Antietam, Chickamauga and Second Bull Run, besides numerous engagements of minor importance. He escaped the deluge of death in which he was involved unharmed, and after his discharge from the army, came to Missouri on a prospecting tour, looking for a suitable place in which to plant his hopes and expend his energies in the struggle for advancement among men.

He remained in this state then but one year, and at the end of that time went to Kansas, where he remained two years working at his trade as a carpenter. In 1867 he returned to Missouri and located in Liberty township, Macon county, where he has resided ever since. Here, soon after his arrival, he bought 120 acres of land as a base of operations and the foundation of the competeney which he had determined io wrest from the soil, which, though fruitful and responsive, never yields up its treasures without due effort on the part of him who seeks them. He now owns 400 acres and carries on an extensive and flourishing business in advanced general farming and raising stock, his special lines in the latter being jacks and jennets and sheep. All his operations in both his farming and stock industry are directed by intelligence and good judgment, and they are eorrespondingly successful and profitable. He is regarded as one of the leading stoek men and farmers in this part of the state and deserves his rank.

While pushing his own fortunes with assiduous and wisely direeted industry, Mr. Morse has not negleeted the interests of the township. and county in which he lives, but has given their substantial and enduring welfare close and eareful attention and sought by every means available to him to foster and promote it, He has been a school direetor for a number of years, and in many other ways has labored for the progress and development of his locality and the comfort and well being of its people. In polities he is a Republican, but while rendering his party effective service in all campaigns, he has never sought or desired a political office for himself. On March 20, 1873, he was married to Miss Lizzie Milam, a daughter of Buise H. and Hannah (Riehardson) Milam, pioneer settlers in Macon county. Eleven children have been born of the union and nine of them are living: Alice, the wife of Darwin Salyer of this county; Mary, the wife of William Weise, also a resident of this county; Ansil, whose home is here also; Wayne, who is at school in Fayette, Missouri; Buise, who lives at Billings, Montana; and Mattie, Josephine, Lulu and Frank, all of whom are living at home, esteemed members of the parental family cirele and ornaments to the society of the township. The parents are held in high regard and number their friends by the host in all parts of this and the adjoining counties.

Born and reared on the farm which is now his home, and having passed all the years of his life on it so far, educated in this locality and taking an active interest in its industries from his youth until the present time, George R. MeDuffee of Liberty township, Macon county, has full knowledge of the region and its people, and is familiar with their needs and well posted as to all that is required for their progress and substantial welfare. He is justly taken as a representative man of his township, for he is thoroughly imbued with the spirit that pervades it and in full sympathy with the aspirations of its people.

Mr. MeDuffee's life began on May 11, 1865. He is a son of John and Lueinda (Harris) MeDuffee, and the youngest of their six children. The father was a son of Duncan and Nancy (Bine) MeDuffee, a native of Scotland who settled in North Carolina when he eame to this country, and in that state in Monroe county his son John was born on November 26, 1813. Four years later the family moved to "Tennessee, where John MeDuffee grew to manhood and obtained his education in common schools and Hoke College. As manhood began to ''darken on his downy cheek,'' that is, in 1839, when he was twenty-six years old, he took his father as an exemplar and plunged into the western wilderness on his own account. He eame to Missouri and located in Cooper county, where he engaged in farming and raising live stock until 1846. In that year he moved to Macon county and took up his residence near Atlanta, but a few years later he bought the present home of his son George in Liberty township, and on that he passed the remainder of his life, which ended on July 14, 1887. He was a farmer and stock man all of his mature life, except for a short period, during which he was merchandising in Tennessee, before he came to this state.

The elder Mr. MeDuffee was a very successful man and left the world improved for his having lived in it. He added to its wealth and advancement by his industry, thrift and business capacity, accumulating a competency for himself while doing this, and he also gave those around him a fine example of true manliness and elevated citizenship. In 1846 he was united in marriage with Miss Lucinda Harris, a native of Cooper county, Missouri. She is still living at the advanced age of eighty-five and has her home with her son George. Seven children were born of their union and six of them are living: Barbara, the wife of J. J. McDaniel of Bloomington, this county; Wm. F., who is also a resident of Macon county; Louisa M., the widow of the late John Taylor of the city of Macon; Cornelia, the wife of Richard P. Gooding of Randolph county in this state; Sarah, the wife of James A. Wright, who also lives in Randolph county; and George R., whose home is on the family homestead in Liberty township. In polities the father was a Greenbacker, in fraternal life a Freemason and in religion a Presbyterian, He was devoted to all the organizations of which he was a member and an earnest worker in each.

George R. MeDuffee obtained his education in the publie school at Bloomington, and after completing it worked on his father's farm and assisted the family until 1890. He then took charge of the farm himself and began farming and raising stock on his own account. He has been occupied in the same industries and on the same place ever since, and has been very successful. He has also taken a decided interest in the affairs of the township and county in which he lives, giving the people excellent service as a school director for twelve years, and in many other ways contributing to the substantial good of the locality and the benefit of its people.

In his political adherence Mr. MeDuffee is a Prohibitionist and a warm advocate of the prineiples of his party. He and his wife and two daughters are members of the Methodist Episcopal ehureh South, and all are active church workers. On April 4, 1889, he was married to Miss Rosa B. White, a daughter of Webb and Margaret (Spear) White, residents of Macon county and highly esteemed by all elasses of its people. Four children have blessed the union, Pauline, now deceased,

Mr. MeDuffee inherited from his ancestry the sterling qualities of determined industry and frugality which distinguish the Seoteh people, and received training in endurance and self-reliance in his residence in the stirring West of this country during the stage of its emergence from its undeveloped state and the difficulties thrown in the way of its progress by the Civil war. "These qualities and this training have been largely his eapital in making his own progress and he has used them to very good advantage. He is a man of prominence and influence in business, in social life and in the management of the publie affairs of the county, and in all he has shown himself worthy of the high esteem in which he is everywhere held.

One of the leading industries of Bevier township in this county, as everybody in this part of the state knows, is coal mining. This industry has been carried on here for many years with results varying in amount at times, but always substantial in their profits and considerable in the volume of the output. The discovery of the coal and the eontinuous and successful development of the industry have been largely due to persons of Welsh nativity or aneestry, who have themselves been eonneeted with the same line of work in Wales, or their parents have, and who have been, therefore, well qualified for the skillful and profitable operation of the mines. The industry has been of great value to this portion of the state and a potent factor in its general progress and improvement, adding vastly to its commercial importance and helping to build it up in population and all the elements of modern civilization.

The men who founded this industry and those who have built it up to its present proportions are entitled to full eredit for their enterprise and sagaeity, and the state owes them a debt of gratitude which all its thoughtful eitizens would be free to acknowledge. Among them are the brothers, David S. and Thomas James, who live on seetion nine in Bevier township and work with great vigor a rich coal mine that belongs to them and their mother, Mrs. Levi James, the widow of their father, the late Levi James. The parents were born and reared in Wales. The father's life began in 1843 and the mother's two or three years later. They came to the United States in 1869, immediately after their marriage, and located at once in.Bev township, Macon eounty. The home they founded is the one now oceupied by the family.

The father bought sixty-three aeres of land in seetion nine, and on this the family roof-tree has ever since stood. The mother's maiden name was Mary Evans. On their new domain, far from the scenes and associations of their childhood and youth, in a foreign land and amid a strange people, they went to work to make a living for themselves and their offspring as farmers, and here he wrought diligently in the mines in winter and tilled his soil and pushed his farming operations in the summer, gaining headway all the time and making his way toward comfort in a worldly way and consequence among the people. Fortune smiled upon their industry in an unexpected way. In 1893 the father diseovered coal on his own land and at once sunk a shaft and began to develop a mine. Ever since that time the mine has yielded regularly to its full average capacity of twenty-five tons per day. The father continued to work the mine progressively until his death, which oceurred in 1901. Since then it has been worked by the two sons, David and Thomas in conjunction with their mother. She and her husband were the parents of twelve children, eleven of whom are living: Margaret, who is living at home; David and Thomas, the immediate subjects of this sketch; Lizzie, the wife of Iver Thomas of Bevier; Alfred, who resides in Livingston county, Missouri; Marian, the wife of David Thomas of Bevier; and Idus, Edith, Katie, Jennie and Lee, all of whom are still on the parental homestead. "The father was a Republiean in polities, an Odd Fellow in fraternal life and a Baptist in religious conneetion, being a eharter member of the congregation to which he belonged. He was a man of sterling worth and was universally esteemed for his manhood and the elevated character of his citizenship. David S. James was born in Bevier township, this county, on June 1, 1872, and his brother Thomas in the same place on April 15, 1874. They were educated at the district school in the neighborhood of their home, and as soon as they were able began to assist in the work on the home farm. After the discovery of coal on this farm they became interested with their father in the development of the mine, and with this they have been connected in a leading way ever since. They know their business in all its details and phases, for they have both practical experience in it and the intelligence concerning it which they have gained in a careful study of its possibilities and requirements. They are regarded as expert miners and they certainly are successful and

The James Brothers are good citizens, as well as successful business men. They manifest an earnest interest and take an active part in whatever seems likely to be of advantage to their township and eounty or promote the substantial and enduring welfare of their people. No worthy enterprise in which these are involved appeals to them in vain or is allowed to go without their zealous and energetie support. They perform all the duties of good citizenship with fidelity and a conscientious regard for what is right, knowing that in all cases what is right is best. The people around them regard them with high favor and look upon them as leading men in the community, and this opinion is held concerning them wherever else they are known, and that is throughout a large part of Missouri and the adjacent states.

"The labor we delight in physies pain." All human experience proves the truth of this assertion which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of one of the characters in Macbeth, and it has grown almost trite from frequeney of use. Yet, it might well be doubted if those who quote it most glibly ever realize its full significance. The man or woman who finds delight in duty and performs it with free hand and constancy must be immune from overwhelming sorrows and proof against the serious inroads of eankering care. One of the callings in life that is always likely to furnish the strongest proof of the apothegm is that of the country physician, if he is devoted to his work. In this case, not only does the labor physie pain in others, but in himself, which is the real meaning of the saying. For he becomes so absorbed in what he is doing that he forgets himself; and if he should happen at times to be recalled to recollection, the knowledge that he is ministering to the necessities of others who are unable to help themselv nd aiding in relieving the common lot of human suffering, will give him comfort in his own troubles, if he has any.

An impressive illustration of all this is found in the life and professional services of Dr. Paul Revere Tainter, of Callao, who not only has plenty to do in his large and increasing practice, but finds pleasure in doing all he can in his chosen line of endeavor. He has been practicing but a short time, comparatively speaking, but he has won golden opinions from all classes of the people for his industry and skill, and his reputation is on a rapid ascent toward the first rank in the profession.

Dr. Tainter was born on February 11, 1878, at the historie town of Navoo, Illinois, to which the one-time residence of the great body of the Mormon church there has given a glamor of romance and unusual interest. He is a son of Daniel W. and Anna (Ritter) Tainter, the father a native of Boston, Massachusetts, where he was born on February 22,

1838, and the mother of Navoo, Illinois. They were married in 1874 und had five children, of whom four are living: George W., a prosperous farmer and stockbreeder of Lagonda, Missouri; Dr. Paul R., of Callao, the subjeet of these paragraphs, and Burrage and Flossie, who reside at Linn in this state. The mother died in 1888. The father is still living and has his home at Lagonda, Chariton county.

The Doctor grew to manhood at Chariton county and was started in his educational training in the publie schools of that county. He completed this at the North Missouri academy at Salisbury. After finishing the academic course he began the study of medicine, and at the opening of the next term matriculated at the Hospital College of Medicine in Louisville, Kentucky, from which he was graduated in 1902 with the degree of M. D. Armed with his diploma, enthusiasm in his profession and a determination to make the most of his powers and opportunities, he began his practice in Osage county, this state, where he remained three years. In 1905 he located in Callao and here he has been practicing ever since. He has built up a large practice, which steadily increases from year to year, and by close attention to his duties and the skill and ability he has shown in his profession has won the regard and good will of all the people. The Doctor is a member of the following medical societies and associations: Macon County Medical Association, Missouri State Medical Association and the Tri-State and American Medical Associations.

In connection with his practice he is also interested in the drug business in Callao, and he also owns and operates a large farm. To the drug business and his farm he gives the same careful attention and unceasing industry that distinguish him in his professional work, and from each he reaps a similar reward for his diligence and intelligence. He was married in 1905 to Miss Ethel Summers, a native of this county. They have one child, their daughter, Frances Willis.

In politics the Doctor is an ardent Republican with an abiding interest in the welfare of his party and a constant willingness to do what he ean to aid in promoting its suecess. He takes an active part in all its campaigns and his services in its behalf are always effective and highly appreciated. He has not, however, sought the enjoyment of its honors or emoluments for himself. The only office he has ever held was that of postmaster for two years at Freeburg, Osage county. In fraternal life he is allied with the Masonie order and its adjunct, the Order of the Eastern Star. He also belongs to the Order of Woodmen of the World. Professionally he is medical examiner for the New York Life, the Pru-

Hon. W. J. Owings

Having lived in Macon county all his life to this time, which covers a period of fifty-three years, and during the greater part of the time been, as man and boy, a contributor to its advancement and commercial importance, and for a considerable part of it a publie servant of the people in various eapacities, Hon. W. J. Owings of Valley township is justly regarded as a representative man in the county and an ornament to its citizenship. He has met all the requirements of publie and private duty in a straightforward and manly manner, and given a fine example of industry and thrift in his business and of uprightness, ability and devotion to the publie welfare as an official.

Judge Owings was born in the locality of his present home, Valley township, Macon county, on July 12, 1857, and is a son of Waller C. and Mary Jane (Rose) Owings, the former born in Randolph county, Missouri, in 1835, on October 15, and the latter a native of Macon county. The father moved to Macon county in 1850 and located in Valley township. Here he has been actively and successfully engaged in farming and raising live stock ever since. He now owns a fine farm of 240 acres of land, which is well improved and fully supplied with the means of eultivation according to the most approved present day methods of farming. His marriage oeeurred on December 17, 1855, and he and his wife became the parents of two children both of whom are living, the subjeet of these paragraphs and his sister Alice A., who is the wife of W. O. Clarkson of Macon county. In his political alliance the father has always been a member of the Democratic party, and in religious connection he has long been affiliated with the Primitive Baptist church. He is a deacon and a very active worker in the congregation to which he belongs.

His son, W. J. Owings, was educated in the publie schools and at the Kirksville State Normal school. After leaving this institution he taught in the district schools for a few terms, then bought 100 acres of good land on which he located and beeame a farmer and stock man of enterprise and progressivenes His farming and stock ng industries have been interrupted to some extent at different times by other pursuits, but they have never been abandoned by him, and they have been conducted with a spirit and skill that have made them highly successful and profitable. His farm now comprises 180 aeres and is nearly all under cultivation, yielding good returns for the labor and

In 1902 Mr. Owings was elected county judge, and at the end of his first term, was re-eleeted, serving two full terms in all. He has also been township trustee and long a member of the school board. He is now a justice of the peace and clerk of the Yellow Creek primitive Baptist Association. His politieal faith is anchored firmly to the Democratic party, in which he has been a zealous and efficient worker all of his mature life, and he and his wife are active working members of the Primitive Baptist ehureh. The maiden name of the latter was Mary E. Goodson, and she is a daughter of Dr. John E. and Mary (Elsea) Goodson, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Owings were married on August 8, 1878, and have two children: Ola B., the wife of Frank Z. Williamson of southwestern Oklahoma, and Grace G., the wife of William S. Brieker of Callao, Missouri. All the members of the family rank high in publie esteem and are looked upon by all who know them as most worthy and estimable eitizens, full of zeal for the general welfare and earnest in promoting it.

Approaching the verge of four score years of earthly existence, and during the last four leading a retired life, free from the cares of active work and securely comfortable through the competence he gained by his long term of sedulous industry, John Salyer of Liberty township, Macon county, has witnessed the march of mighty events in this country, and has also had leisure to reflect over them and rejoice in the opportunity that was given him to contribute to the advance as a part of the glorious procession. He is venerable in years and is venerated by the people among whom he has so long lived and labored for the uprightness of his life and his continued usefulness to the locality in which he has had his home.

Mr. Salyer was born on October 2, 1830, in Fayette county, Indiana. He is of South Carolina ancestry, his grandfather, John Salyer, having been born in that state and having helped to defend it during the Revolution, and his father, James Salyer having also been native there, where his life began in 1797. In 1803 the adventurous spirit of the grandfather led him to gather his household goods about him and make what was then a long and dangerous journey into the western wilderness. The way was long and the progress necessarily slow, as the only means of transportation for the most of the trip was by teams through the unbroken wilds. In much of it roads were unknown, streams were unbridged and every mile was beset with perils. And when the adventurers arrived at their destination they found almost the same conditions that attended them on the way. But they were of heroie spirit and, meeting the requirements of their frontier life with fortitude, they triumped over every difliculty by persistent industry and endurance.

In that then new country James Salyer grew to manhood and obtained a limited country school education. At an early age he became a farmer on his own account and he continued his operations in this line of industry in Indiana until 1858, when he followed his father's example and took a flight into the farther West, coming to Missouri and locating in Macon county. Here he renewed his farming industry and kept at it until 1863. In that year he made a visit to Indiana, but soon after arriving met with an accident that resulted in his death.

He was married on March 8, 1821, to Miss Elizabeth Arnott, a native of Kentucky. They had nine children but two of whom are now living, John and his sister Margaret, who is the wife of Samuel Jeneson of Fayette county, Indiana. Their mother died in 1839, and on March 10, 1842, the father married again, being united this time with Miss Mary Shepard, who was also a native of Kentucky. In polities he was a life-long Democrat, but, while energetie in the service of his party, had no desire for publie honors of official station for himself.

His son, John Salyer, the immediate subject of this brief memoir, obtained his education in the district schools of Fayette county, Indiana. After completing his own scholastic training he began to serve the next generation in the aequirement of its mental development by beeoming a teacher in the publie sehools. He taught in Fayette, Franklin and Wayne counties, Indiana, until 1858, then accompanied his parents to Missouri and found a new home in Macon county. Here he taught fourteen months, then abandoned the profession altogether. During the Civil war he was captain of a company of Missouri militia which volunteered its services to the Federal government in defense of the Union as a part of the Sixtieth Missouri regiment. The company served a short time and was then discharged.

After the close of his military service Mr. Salyer engaged in farming on a traet of eighty aeres of land which he bought when he first came to the county, and he eontinued his operations in this line and on that land until 1880. During the next five years he was associated with John Henry Griffin in conducting a distillery. He was next in the internal revenue department of the government for thirteen years at intervals, living in Macon during a portion of this time and on his farm the remainder, the farm on which he now resides. It now comprises eighty-one acres and is in a fine state of productiveness. Four years ago Mr. Salyer retired from active work to pass the remainder of his days in a well-earned rest and the enjoyment of the worldly comfort his industry and thrift have brought him.

On March 10, 1852, he was united in marriage with Miss Martha J. Bonham, a native of Indiana. She died in 1858, and on December 13, 1859, he contracted a second marriage, being joined on this occasion with Miss Ameriea A. Smith, who was born in Franklin county, Indiana. They had three children and all of them are living: Charles D., who resides in this county ; Anna M., the wife of Charles Belsher of Clarence, Missouri, and James W., whose home is also in Macon county. The father has all his life adhered faithfully to the Democratic party in political affairs and rendered it loyal and effeetive service. In 1868 he was eleeted a member of the State house of representatiyes, the first Demoerat elected after the Civil war, and he has also served two years as assessor and two as collector of the township. He was long a member of the sehool board and has belonged to the Masonie fraternity for fifty-two years. His day of toil and trial was stormy and trying, but its evening is ealm and peaceful, and in his old age he is erowned with the admiring esteem of all who know him.

This prominent and progressive farmer and extensive stock breeder | and dealer of Macon county, whose home is in Morrow township, which was named in honor of his distinguished father, is recognized as one of the most upright, enterprising and successful men in the township. The portion of the eounty in which he lives is his native heath and has been his abiding place during the greater part of his life. It was here that his parents loeated in the early days of the region's history, giving the township its name and laying the foundations of its present prosperity and commercial and industrial importance. A short account of their useful and appreciated lives will be found in a sketch of Mr. Morrow's brother, Johnson Morrow of Callao, elsewhere in this work. They were pioneers in this region and, like others of their elass, were of heroie mold, all-daring and all-enduring.

Jefferson Morrow was born in the township of his present residence, and which bears his name, on October 10, 1850. He begun his education in the eountry schools of the township and completed it at

MeGee College, located at College Mound, after attending for a period a graded school in Canton, Missouri. After leaving college he remained with his parents and assisted them in the work of the farm until 1872. He then went to California, and during the next three years was overseer on ranches located in Colusa, Shasta and Tehama eounties in that state. In 1875 he returned to the parental homestead, where he remained until the spring of 1876. He then began farming for himself on the place which is now his home, and has been so oceupied ever sinee. His farm at this time (1910) comprises 375 acres and nearly all of it is under cultivation. He has been very successful as a farmer and gained a reputation as one of the most enterprising and progressive in the eounty. But his favorite business has been raising and feeding live stock for the markets, and in this his operations have been very extensive and successful. He gives his attention prineipally to cattle and mules, and in the markets where they are sold extensively he is regarded as one of the most successful and reliable producers in this part of the country. For his output is always prepared for shipment with the utmost eare from the day when the stock comes into his possession until he parts company with it forever, and it is also shipped with every preeaution to seeure proper attention and good treatment in transportation,

Mr. Morrow is a man of great publie spirit and one of the leading factors in the development and progress of the township and eounty of his home. He has served as a member of the local school board for over twenty-five years, and as road commissioner for many. He is also a stockholder in the Bank of Callao. In polities he is a Democrat, and in all the relations of life a thoroughly reliable and upright man. In political affairs he takes an active and s eable interest with zeal in the work for the success of his party, but his devotion to it never blinds him to the substantial welfare of his community, which is, in all publie affairs, the first consideration with him, whatever the exigencies of the party eause may be.

He was married on February 1, 1876, to Miss Artelia Davis, a daughter of James and Susan (McKinney) Davis, the father a native of Illinois and the mother of Missouri, and both long residents of Macon county. Eight children have been born in the Morrow household and six of them are living: Minerva Susan, the wife of Willard Wright of Macon county; and Jefferson D., Mabel Gwendolyn, Tazwell F., Bertie Webb and Mary Emma, who are still living at home with their parents and adding to the attractions of the family circle.

Wilson R. Green

For more than seventy years this prominent and progressive farmer and highly successful stock man has lived in Chariton township, Macon county, where he was born on February 13, 1840, and from which he has never wandered, being like Wordsworth's skylark, a "Type of the wise, who soar but never roam, true to the kindred points of Heaven and home." Nature endowed him with qualifications that would have commanded success in any environment, and he never found it necessary to wander from the place of his nativity to give them opportunity or work out their inevitable produets - a competence for himself and an elevated place in the regard and good will of the people all around him.

Mr. Green is a son of Louis and Naney (Gross) Green, natives of Kentucky, where the father was born in 1805, in Wayne county. He remained in his native county until 1824, then, an aspiring young man of nineteen, adventured into the wilderness of this state, as it was at that time, finding a new home and a new field for the development of his hopes in Macon county. He took his place in the hazardous and exaeting life of the frontier and faithfully did his part to bring the region under the dominion of eivilizing and improving forees. Taking up a traet of wild land, he improved it by arduous and continuous effort, and made it over into a good farm, on which he passed the remainder of his days. He succeeded admirably, according to the measure and methods of his time, and reared his family of nine children to usefulness, two dying in infancy. Six of them are still living: "Sis," the widow of the late Isaae Johnson of Macon county; Isaae Robert; Run; Christiana, the wife of Grub Banning; Wilson R., and John, all of whom are residents of this county and esteemed as worthy members of its elevated and progressive eitzenship. The father was a Demoerat in politics and a member of the Christian church in religion.

Wilson R. Green began his seholastie training in the distriet sehools of Chariton township and after leaving this institution he assisted his father on the home farm until 1858; when he began the battle of life for himself by purchasing fifty acres of land and settling down on it as a base of operations and the foundation of the prosperity he had determined to win. He has been continuously engaged in farming ever sinee, and in addition, has carried on a very extensive and profitable industry in raising stock for the markets. He has increased his farm to 167 acres and enriched it with good improvements suited to its needs, and also provided it with everything necessary for its advanced and successful cultivation according to the most approved modern methods, and it is known far and wide as one of the model farms of the region in which it is located.

On December 30, 1858, he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Kitchen, a daughter of James and Pricilla (Vond) Kitchen, long esteemed residents of this county. Of the eleven children born of the union nine are living: Celia F., the wife of James Lucas; James L.; Phronia, the wife of William Teters; Sarah, the wife of John B. Lucas; William Logan; Ella, the wife of Clement Wolber; Mary Ann, the wife of Isaae Rice; Levi, who is living at home, and Etna, the wife of Wade Webster. They are all residents of Macon county except Mrs. Wolber, who lives in Carroll county.

In polities Mr. Green is a Democrat and an active and effective worker for the success of his party and its eandidates in all its campaigns, although he has been content with the honorable post of private citizenship and has never accepted a publie office for himself, either by election or appointment. It is not to be inferred, however, that Mr. Green's life has been all passed in the pursuits of peaceful industry and free from strife. During the last part of the Civil war he joined the state militia and served for a period of three months or more under the command of Colonel Denny. While the company to which he belonged saw some active service in the closing days of the hostilities, he escaped without disaster. He and his wife are devoted members of the Christian church and take an active part in the benevolent and improving work in which the church is engaged, giving their aid to all worthy undertakings and being held in high appreciation in the congregation to which they belong.

A. Frank Gibson

Descended from old North Carolina families which lived in the Old North state from colonial times and for many generations took part in the Civil government, military history and general development of that state, A. Frank Gibson of College Mound in this county, has by no means lowered the tone or been wanting in the elevated characteristies of the strain to which he belongs. Long an edueator and now a publie official and merchant, his career is ereditable alike to his family and himself, and furnishes a fine example of the best citizenship of this state.

Mr. Gibson is a native of Macon and was born in Chariton township on April 26, 1871. His grandfather on his father's side, Robert A. Gibson, migrated from North Carolina to Missouri in his young manhood and near the dawn of civilization in this region. He located in Randolph county, where his son, Robert L. Gibson, the father of A. Frank, was born in 1833. While the son was yet a small boy the family moved to Macon county, and here it has ever since been domesticated. Here Robert L. Gibson grew to manhood and obtained his education. Here also he was successfully engaged in farming until the beginning of the Civil war. And from here he went forth as a volunteer in the Federal army in defense of the Union, enlisting under one of the early calls for troops as a member of Company F, Second Missouri cavalry.

He remained in the service until the close of the momentous strugand bore faithfully and heroically his full share of the hardship and hazard incident to the strenuous military life of that memorable period. When 'the war drum throbbed no longer and the battle flags were furled,'' he returned to Missouri and took up his residence at College Mound, where he passed the remainder of his days in general merchandising. He served as postmaster of the town until his death in 1902, his tenure of the office covering a period of twenty-two years. As a merchant and contractor he furnished nearly all of the brick and sand used in the erection of MeGee College. He was very successful in all his undertakings and rose to considerable prominenee and influence during his residence at College Mound.

In 1866, soon after his return from the army, Mr. Gibson was united in marriage with Miss Louisa F. Summers, of Macon county. They became the parents of eight children and seven of them are living: Eugene, of Sayre, Oklahoma; A. Frank, who is the immediate subject of this review; Ione, the wife of W. B. Allen, of Columbia, Missouri; Lola, the wife of W. C. Rice, of Boise, Idaho; Estella and Everett E., who live in Kansas City, Missouri, and Robert E., whose home is at College Mound. The father was a Republican in polities, a member of the Grand Army of the Republie in fraternal life and was connected with the Christian church in religious affiliation, and was an ardent worker for the welfare of all the organizations in which he held membership.

A. Frank Gibson was edueated in MeGee College, and after lenving that institution became a teacher, pursuing his vocation in the district schools of Macon, Chariton and Randolph counties. His engagement as an edueator was as principal of the graded publie school at College Mound and Leathers distriet, and lasted until 1904, when he turned merchant and started the suecessful mereantile career which he is still developing. On the death of his father in 1902 he was appointed postmaster of College Mound, and he has held the office ever since. He is

Walter C. Goodson

In polities he, also, is a Republican and in fraternal life a Freemason, with membership in the auxiliary organization, the Order of the Eastern Star, a Knight of Pythias and a Modern Woodman. He belongs in addition to the Sons of Veterans, and in religious connection is a member of the Christian ehureh. On November 28, 1900, he was united in marriage with Miss Myra B. Cunningham, a daughter of Robert B. and Martha A. Cunningham, prominent residents of Chariton county. One child has blessed the union and sanctified the family hearthstone, a daughter named Dorothy Helen, who is living at home with her parents.

A representative of one of the old and honored families of Macon county, whieh has been his home from the time of his nativity, Mr. Goodson is one of the able younger members of the bar of the county and is engaged in the successful practice of his profession in the city of Macon.

Mr. Goodson was born in the village of New Cambria, Macon county, on the 25th of April, 1878, and is a son of Grandison and Missouri (Hammack) Goodson, who still maintain their home in New Cambria. Grandison Goodson was born in Carroll county, this state, on the 27th of May, 1848, and was reared and educated in Macon county, whither his parents removed when he was a child. For twenty years he was engaged in the drug business in New Cambria and he is now president of the New Cambria Bank. For a number of years past he has given his attention principally to agricultural pursuits, and he is the owner of a well improved landed estate in the vicinity of New Cambria. In 1876 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Missouri Hammack, who was born and reared in Macon county, where her father, Anthony Hammack, was an honored pioneer settler. Of the five children of Grandison and Missouri Goodson, four are living: Walter C., who is the immediate subjeet of this review; William Hammack, who is engaged in medical practice at Liberty, Missouri; John Virgil, who is engaged in the praetice of law in New Cambria, and Grandison Anthony, who is associated with his father in the management of the home farm.