Macon County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1910 (part 5 of 20)

John Wesley Wiggans

All of the forty years of life that have so far been vouchsafed to this very progressive and successful farmer of Independence township, in this county, have been passed in the county and all of his aetivities have been employed in the commendable work of helping to build up and develop it and advance the best interests of its people. He was born and reared in Macon county, obtained his education in its publie schools, married one of its native daughters, and has been engaged all of his mature life in tilling a portion of its soil as his own particular and productive enterprise. He has also been active | and serviceable in its public life, and has ministered to the welfare of its people by ability and fidelity in a number of public offices. Mr. Wiggans is, therefore, wholly a product of the county, and is thoroughly imbued with the spirit, desires and aspirations of its inhabitants, and truly representative of the best that is in them.

The useful life of John Wesley Wiggans began on May 1, 1869. His father, William Harrison Wiggans, was born in Indiana and | brought to Missouri by his parents when he was but five years old. He passed his life as a farmer in this county, ranking well among its enterprising agriculturists and standing high in the regard of the people as a citizen. In 1846 he was married to Miss Clara Johnson, and by this marriage became the father of four children, but two of 1 whom are living: Elizabeth, the wife of John Bennett, of Chillieothe, { and Matilda, the wife of John Faught, of Atlanta. Their mother J died in 1857, and in September, 1860, the father married a second time, being united on this oeeasion with Miss Jane B. Russell. Of the second marriage eight children were born, and of these but three are living: John W.; Nancy, the wife of Henry Collins, of Atlanta, and Arzella, the wife of Bert Clough. The father died on July 28, 1887, and his widow in 1890.

"Their son, John Wesley Wiggans, grew to manhood on his father's farm, assisting in its labors during his boyhood and youth, and attending the country schools in the neighborhood when he eould get a chance for a few weeks during the winter months at intervals. When his school days were over he gave his whole attention to farming, for awhile in the service and under the direction of his father, and then on his own account. He has stuck to his first choice of an occupation ever since, allowing no allurement, however rosy, and no temptation, however strong, to lead him away from it, and he has won the usual reward of constancy and fidelity, suecess in his undertakings and a firm hold on the regard and good will of his fellow-men. His farm of ninety aeres, located near the town of Atlanta, with its ample improvements and full equipment, has risen to great value under his careful and intelligent management, and is one of the attractive and desirable country homes of the township. His live-stock industry also flourishes, giving him good returns for his labor in connection with it and sustaining and widening the excellent reputations he has in the trade for the superior quality of his output.

Mr. Wiggans is a pronounced Democrat in his political faith and adherence, and he is at all times earnestly serviceable to his party. He has helped it greatly as a soldier in the ranks for many years, and has reflected high credit on it by the able and conscientious performance of every duty in a number of different official positions. He has been township committeeman four years, a member of the school board more than eight, and constable for over twelve. In these several positions of trust and responsibility he has fully satisfied the people of the township by the manner in which he has attended to the public business and the straightforwardness and strict integrity of all his official transaetions. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and warmly attached to his lodge, in the proceedings of which he takes a very active part. On July 28, 1897, he was united in marriage with Miss Ella Epperley, who was born and reared in this county, but whose grandparents came to this state from Kentucky, and whose great-grandparents emigrated to the United States from Germany, where their forefathers were domesticated from time imme- morial. Mr. and Mrs. Wiggans have five children: Evert, aged eleven; George, aged ten; Nellie, aged eight; John D., aged five, and Ben Franklin, an infant of tender years.

James N. Greenstreet, who is one of the prosperous and progressive farmers of Drake township, this county, with a fine farm of 170 acres of well cultivated land lying near the village of Tullvania, was born in Byron county, Kentueky, in 1844, and has been a resident of Macon county, Missouri, fifty-five years, except for a short.time

| during the Civil war. His parents were Thomas and Sarah (Williams) | Greenstreet, the former born and reared in Kentucky and the latter | a native of Virginia. They came to Missouri in 1854 and located in this | l until death ended their labors, that of tke mother occurring in 1900, and that of the father in 1889. They had nine children and five of them nre living: Elizabeth, the wife of E. T. Davis; James N.; Newton; Joseph, and Mary, the wife of James Golden. The parents were married in 1832 |

For a quarter of a century after attaining his maturity the father | conducted farming operations in his native state, and, although the | appeals of the farther West became at times insistent and almost per- | suaded him to become an element in its productive industries, he clung | to the seenes and associations of his childhood and continued his ardu- 1 ous endeavors for advancement in the locality in which he had begun them. At length, however, the winning smile of the region beyond l the great ** Father of Waters" from his home overbore all other con- | siderations, and he became a resident of Missouri. Results proved that | his move was a wise one, for he prospered in the new country and i became prominent and influential in its local affairs. He was a Demo- | crat in polities, and, although he would never consent to accept a political office, he took a great and helpful interest in his party and during the whole of his residence in this county was one of the zealous and effective workers for its success.

His son, James N. Greenstreet, grew to manhood on his father's farm and completed in the district schools of Linn county, in this state, the education he had begun in those of his native county in Kentucky. When he was seventeen years old the great Civil war began, and, believing firmly in the cause of the Confederacy, he enlisted in the Confederate army as a member of Company B, First Missouri Infana try. He remained in the service to the close of the mighty conflict and took an aetive part in many of its sanguinary engagements, among them the battle of Lexington. In the shock of battle and fury of the charge he never flinched, but on every field of carnage and in every military duty bore his part with the valor of his native state and in accordance with the traditions of his family. Yet he escaped serious disaster, and after the end of the war returned to the peaceful pursuits of husbandry at his Missouri home. In this domain of industry he has had his hand to the plow continuously ever since, with steadily inerea ing prosperity and widening reputation as a wise and skilful farmer. He now owns 170 acres of excellent land and has it all under eultivation, exeept the portion which is reserved for grazing purposes in earrying on his extensive operations in raising live-stock.

The interests of the township and county have been ever considered as of the highest importance in the sweep of Mr. Greenstreet's vision, and to their advancement he has given the full share of a good eitizen's tribute in counsel, in effort and in the stimulus furnished by an inspiring example. As a member of the local school board for more than twenty years he has rendered excellent service in eonneetion with one of the most valued and important publie institutions in the country, and in many other ways, also, he has contributed to the general prosperity and progress of the region in which he lives. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic pz id in behalf of its success he is at all times an ardent and energetie worker. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic order, and in religious affiliation belongs to the Christian church. His lodge and his church receive careful attention and loyal support from him in eounsel and in more material assistance, and in both he is held in high regard as one of their most useful members.

Mr. Greenstreet was married twice, in 1866 to Miss Mary E. Nagel, of Linn eounty, Missouri. They have had nine children and now have five living: Robert, Walter, Ernest, Ralph and Lizzie. After the death of his first wife, in 1892, he was married to Miss Martha T. Johnson, of Elmer, Missouri. They have one child, Eugene. The father is what is called a ''self-made man" in the better sense of the phrase, and a ereditable produet of his own capacity and endeavors. He has made his own way in the world, without the aid of Fortune's favors or specially favoring eireumstances, and all his triumphs are the direet results of his own ability, industry and good judgment. In this respect, as in his general demeanor, his breadth of view, his enter- prise and his lofty ideals, he is a representative of sterling American manhood and good citizenship, and as such he is held in the highest esteem wherever he is known.

John M. Denison

Among the enterprising, progressive and successful farmers of Drake township, none stands higher in business circles, in rank as a skilful eultivator of the soil, or in the general estimation of the people as a useful and publie-spirited citizen than John M. Denison, whose well-improved and highly valuable farm is located near the village of Tullvania. It is equally true that no one is more deserving of the esteem of the people or wears it with more modest worth. Whether viewed as a produetive force in the industries of the township as a leading representative man among its residents, as an ornament and inspiration in social life, or as a stimulating and energetie potency in publie affairs, or as all together, he measures up to a high standard of. excellence, and is appreciated accordingly.

Mr. Denison is a native of this county and was born on October 11, 1860. He is a son of William M. and Martha J. (Turner) Denison, the former a native of Iowa and the latter of Kentucky. The father came to Missouri in 1846 and located in Macon county west of Bloomington. He devoted himself to farming here until the beginning of the Civil war, when he enlisted in the Union army as a member of Company C, Tenth Missouri Cavalry, which was under the command of General Wilson. Mr. Denison saw considerable active service, taking part in a number of leading battles and many minor engagements. He followed the flag of his country wherever duty led him and courageously faced every danger incident to the service, winning a good name for valor in the field, endurance on the march and commendable behavior under all circumstances. He escaped the trying ordeal without serious injury, and when the war ended returned to his Missouri home and his former occupation. He was faithful and true in his military service, but the irregular life he lived during its continuance, and the constant change of location and duty, together with the enforced idleness and absence of restraint much of the time, did not unfit him for regular and systematic industry, and he took up his farming operations with the same spirit of enterprise and devotion he had given them before they were interrupted by the trumpet blast of the conflict that ealled him to arms.

Kentucky, where her ancestors lived for two or three generations. Of the six ehildren born of their union four are living: John M., Felix R., Jose M. and Daniel H. The mother died in June, 1907. The father is still living and engaged in farming. He is a Republican in polities and aetive in the service of his party. In the affairs of the community he has always taken an earnest and helpful interest, having served as a member of the school board for many years and done good work for the advancement of the township and county in many other ways.

John M. Denison grew to manhood in the locality of his birth and obtained his education in the schools of the neighborhood and at the Kirksville Normal school. He felt that farming was his proper life work and offered the best chance available to him for the most satisfaetory and profitable employment of his faculties. After he reached this conclusion he lost no time in getting into the industry and doing all he could to make the most of it. He has applied his energy with wisdom and good judgment, and has been.eminently successful in all his undertakings. He now owns 700 acres of fine land, which he has improved with good buildings and other necessary structures, completely equipped with the most approved machinery for his purposes and brought to a high degree of productiveness by his skill and diligence as à husbandman. He is also engaged in general stock-raising on an extensive scale, devoting to that industry the same energy and intelligence he applies to his farming operations, and making it likewise leading and suecessful in its line. In addition, Mr. Denison is connected with the real estate, loan and insurance business in a way, and is one of the stockholders and directors of the Farmers State Bank at New Boston.

The publie affairs of the county, state and nation in which he lives have always interested Mr. Denison deeply and commanded his earnest and thoughtful attention. He belongs to the Republican party in national polities and supports it with earnestness and zeal at all times. With reference to local affairs he looks first to the substantial welfare of the people and the promotion of their interests, with partisan claims as a secondary consideration. During the last twelve years he has been the county eommitteeman of his party for Drake township, and for many years has given the publie excellent service as a justice of the peace. In religious matters he has no decided bias. He sees good in all the churches and helps all with judicious and well-appiied liberality, as he does every enterprise whieh he deems worthy and conducive to the general weal of the community. Drake township has

Inheriting from a sturdy German ancestry the characteristies of self-reliance and industry, together with the frugality and thrift, for which the German people are everywhere distinguished, and trained in their use by the spirit of enterprise and progressiveness that marks all phases of American life, Charley A. Wolf, of Gifford, has conducted his business and developed his career in a manner that is creditable alike to the land of his forefathers and that of his nativity. He was the first inhabitant of what is now the thriving and progressive town of Gifford, and largely through his efforts he has seen it spring into being and grow to its present state of development, influence and industrial and commercial promise.

Mr. Wolf was born in this county on January 28, 1881, and is a son of Gottfried and Antoinette (Shinnaman) Wolf, natives of the Fatherland, the former born in Hamburg and the latter in Bremen. The father came to the United States in 1843 and, heeding the voice of what. was the distant and undeveloped West, became a volunteer in her army enlisted in the eonquest of the wilderness and the founding of a new on eomparatively unknown to the residents of the older portions of the country. He journeyed from the Atlantic eoast to the farther side of the Mississippi and located in Macon county, Missouri, His occupation was that of a farmer, and in this new region he found everything ready for his industry and enterprise. "True, the land was not yet reduced to systematie produetiveness throughout the region and much of it was in its primeval state of wildness. But it was ready for the studious applieation of mental foree and physical industry, and he was well equipped by nature and desire to make the application. He worked with ardor and fidelity, and all-responsive Nature yielded him a living in return for his arduous labors, and with relenting generosity increased his store from year to year.

In 1872 he was united in marriage with Miss Antoinette Shinnaman, who was, like himself, far from her native land, but well pleased with the opportunities for advancement furnished by that of her adoption. "They became the parents of seven children, and they are all living and helping to promote the welfare, quieken the progress and magnify the importance of this part of the country. They are: Frederick W., Mary S, Henry E. Caroline, Charley A., George A. and Florence. In polities the father is a Demoerat, but he has never taken

_ active pursuits and he and his wife are enjoying the rest they have so richly earned and the competence which is the result of their labors.

Their son, Charley A., was reared on the family homestead, which during boyhood and youth he helped to improve and cultivate. He attended, when he eould be spared from the exaetions of the farm, the distriet school near his home, acquiring in its humble and unpretentious course of study the foundation of his education. He completed his aeademie training at the Kirksville Normal school, and after leaving that institution passed six years as a teacher in the publie schools. In 1904 he started an enterprise in mercantile life in which he is still actively and extensively interested. He also trains with the Demoeratie party in politieal affairs, and in a quiet way is serviceable to his party. In April, 1905, he was appointed postmaster of Gifford, and he has held the office continuously from that time to the present. It is a high tribute to his ability and fidelity in the performance of his official duties that, although he has been serving under administrations with which he is not allied politieally during his whole tenure of this important office, with which all the people in the community have a direet and intimate connection, his retention in it has been generally approved and his management of it has given general satisfaction.

In religious connection Mr. Wolf is a Baptist and devoted to the welfare of the congregation to which he belongs. But he is not narrow in his ereed any more than he is in his polities, and aids liberally in the support of all denominations. His fraternal affiliation is with the Order of Woodmen, and his eamp in this also has his loyal support and energetie efforts for its advancement. He was married on December 20, 1904, to Miss Della B. Hayden, a native of Macon county and a daughter of parents who eame to this state from Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Wolf have no children, but the head of the house feels a sort of paternity toward the town he started and has aided so materially to build and improve. Its progress in every material, mental and moral way has ever been an object of prime importance to him, and no one of its citizens has labored more earnestly or with greater intelligence, publie Spirit and breadth of view for its permanent and most substantial improvement than he has. It can be truthfully added that the services of no other citizen in its behalf have been more highly appreciated than his own, and none of its people is held in higher or more general esteem than he enjoys.

Hon. Albert D. Nortoni

This eminent lawyer and jurist, whose name is as familiar as a. household word throughout Missouri, and whom the people of the state look upon as having dignified and adorned every walk in life which he has pursued, was born at New Cambria, Macon county, on January 26, 1867. Heis a son of Dr. Edward Warren Nortoni, who was born and reared at Hebron, Conneetieut, and came to Missouri in 1866. The doetor located in New Cambria when he arrived in this state and had his residenee on the lot in that town on which his son's law office now stands and on the very site of that building. It was in this dwelling that the son was born. His mother, whose maiden name was Hannah T. Howell, was a native of Newark in the state of New Jersey, and there she was reared to maturity and obtained her education, There, also, she was married to the doctor about the year 1858.

When the present Judge Nortoni was about twelve years old his father rented forty acres of land adjoining New Cambria and put him to work as a farmer of that land. The discipline was severe and the responsibility seemed weighty, but the youth was courageous, selfreliant and determined, and he, with the help he had, made a good erop the first year. The next spring the whole family moved to a farm near Bynumville in Chariton county, and in that neighborhood it resided about two years, the son working on the farm in summer and - attending the distriet school in the winter. In April, 1882, the family took another flight within the state and moved to Benton county, locating in the Ozarks on what is known as the Buffalo road, about ten miles southeast of Warsaw, the county seat. The future jurist remained on the farm thus s ed as the parental home until late in 1886, pursuing his general studies under the direction of his father and preparing himself to enter upon the study of his chosen profession of the law.

The early years of the useful life briefly recounted in these paragraphs has been dwelt on to this extent because it was the formative period of the character that has so signally exemplified a high type of Missouri manhood and given the chronicles of the state a name that will ever be high on the roll of its distinguished men. In the latter part of 1886 the young man went to Linneus and at onee began the study of law under the direction of Edward W. Smith, Esq:, one of the leading lawyers of Linn county at that time. A few months later he was employed as an assistant in the office of the clerk of the circuit court, where he remained several years, aiding in keeping the records and doing other work, and thereby gaining a valuable practieal knowledge of the legal profession which he could scarcely have had a better opportunity to get. He also continued the study of law while acting as deputy circuit clerk, and in his studies had the valuable advice and direction of Judge G. D. Burgess, now of the supreme court, and Judge Carlos Boardman. In February, 1888, he was admitted to the bar in the circuit court of Linn county at Brookfield, Judge Burgess presiding, but he continued to work in the cireuit clerk's office until about January 1, 1889. In April of that year he located at Brookfield and began the practice of his profession, but on August 10, 1891, he removed to New Cambria beeause his parents had sold their farm in the Ozarks and returned to New Cambria to live, his father being in very poor health. He remained in the town of his birth until about January 1, 1903, when he removed to St. Louis, where he has ever since resided.

During his residence at New Cambria he was very useful to the eommunity, serving as town attorney in 1892 and 1893, revising the ordinances for the town council and in a way reorganizing the town government. He also served a term of three years as a member of the school board in that town. On December 22, 1892, he was united in marriage with Miss Maggie Lina Francis of Bevier, Missouri. She died on September 30, 1894, and the judge then closed his office and abandoned the practice of law for a period of nearly three years. During the latter part of 1895 and a portion of 1896 he served as private secretary to Hon. Charles N. Clark, member of Congress for the First congressional distriet of Missouri, and during that time was a resident of Washington, D. C. In the summer of 1896 he was nominated by the Republieans of the Ninth senatorial distriet as their eandiate for state senator. He aecepted the nomination although he knew the race would be hopeless, as the district was overwhelmingly Democratic, and made a gallant fight which ended in his defeat. But the contest gave the people a better knowledge of his ability and spirit than they had before, for he made speeches all over the distriet, which ineluded the counties of Macon, Randolph and Boone.

In 1897 the judge opened his law office at New Cambria and again began praetieing. But he was not long left undisturbed to enjoy it. In 1898 he was made the Republican nominee for judge of the Circuit Court in the Second judicial district, consisting of the counties of Macon, Adair, Shelby, Schuyler and Putman. This was also a hopeless race in a strong Democratic district and ended in defeat, as he knew at the beginning it must. His opponent on the Democratic ticket was Judge Nat. M. Shelton. During the next three years Judge Nortoni praeticed law at New Cambria, eontinuing until December 26, 1902, when he was appointed assistant United States distriet attorney for the eastern distriet of Missouri under Col. D. P. Dyer, now judge of the United States distriet eourt. The appointment took effect on January 1, 1903, and the judge then moved to St. Louis and entered upon the discharge of his important official duties. His first work in the office was to make an investigation of what were called **the naturalization frauds,'' and his activity in this connection resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of a number of important politicians on the Democratic side. They appealed to the United States Cireuit Court of Appeals, but the judgment of the lower court was affirmed and they were all finally landed in penal institutions for terms ranging from two to five years.

During Judge Nortoni's term as assistant United States distriet attorney he also took part in the first trial of United States Senator Joseph Ralph Burton of Kansas, who was charged with having violated the federal statutes by using his office as senator in the service of a erooked grain company in St. Louis by trying to prevent the issuance of a fraud order against it by the United States postoffice department and the exclusion of its fraudulent correspondence and literature from the mails, and receiving pay from the company for his work in this behalf. The senator was convicted at the trial but the United States supreme court reversed the decision of the lower court, and he was again convicted on.a second trial in which Judge Nortoni took no part, as it occurred after his election to the St. Louis court of appeals. Senator Burton was senteneed to six months' confinement in the Iron county jail and served his sentence. He was also sentenced to pay a fine of $2,500.

In August, 1904, Judge Nortoni was nominated by the Republican judieal convention assembled at Jefferson City as its candiate for judge of the St. Louis court of appeals, and in the election which followed he was triumphant, seeuring a plurality of nearly ten thousand over his principle opponent, Judge Valle Reyburn, a member of the court and the Democratic candidate for re-election. Judge Reyburn was a most estimable man and an excellent judge, but the tide was against his party, and Judge Nortoni's record in the distriet attorney's office gave him great strength before the people. He was eleeted for a term of twelve years, which will expire in January, 1917, it having begun on January 1, 1905.

The most important cases in Macon county with which Judge Nortoni was connected were the Kennedy murder case, the Ethel fire cases, twenty in number and involving about $40,000, the case of the State of Missouri against Cornelius O'Brien and the Hawk-Summers hog-steal- ing case. The Kennedy murder case arose out of the killing of Cornelius Collins by Simon Kennedy at New Cambria on December 23, 1893. Judge Nortoni employed Captain Guthrie and Hon. Ben Franklin to assist him in the defense of Kennedy and he was aequitted. Nineteen of the Ethel fire cases were tried in the state eourts, and one more impor- . tant than the others, known as the W. R. Phipps ease, and involving $16,000, in the federal court. The case against O'Bri s for poisoning Jack Mohaney's well, pond and cattle. He was convicted and sentenced to serve two years in the penitentiary, and was the only man the judge ever defended who served time.

Of Judge Nortoni's record on the bench it is enough to say that he has fully met all the high expectations raised by his election, and has shown himself to be a man of fine judicial attainments, the most unserving integrity and eminent fairness and impartiality. He is also indefatigable in his industry in connection with his official duties, suffering no cause to be delayed longer than absolutely necessary when it is assigned to him for an opinion and making no expense for litigants that can possibly be avoided. He is a source of strength and an ornament to the bench as he is to the citizenship and manhood of the state, - an illustration of the highest attributes of life known among its people. He is everywhere revered and accounted in the first rank as a jurist and a man. On July 3, 1906, he bowed a second time beneath the flowery yoke of Eros, being united in marriage with Miss Emma T. Belcher, a native of Boone county, Missouri, who still abides with him and gives grace to the social life and cordiality and dignity to the hospitality of their attractive home, which is a social center of distinction and a popular resort of the most eultivated people in the state.

The really strong elements of character in American manhood which have given it complete success over every form of difficulty in the conquest of nature, in political progress, in industrial achievement, in adapting means to ends without regard to obstructions, and even in social life - which have formed its vigor at home and won it distinction abroad - are oftenest to be found in the men of sturdy independence and self-reliance, who have been obliged to make their own way in the world and have been in all essential particulars the architects of their own fortunes. One of these among the progressive and enterprising rural population of Macon county who must always challenge attention by his success and ability in his chosen lines of endeavor, and who has won universal esteem by his worth as a man and his usefulness as a citizen, is Isaae Harrison Vertrees, of Easeley township, near Elmer, where he has passed almost all the years of his life to this time (1909).

Mr. Vertrees was born in Illinois in 1854 and came with his parents to Missouri when he was but two years old. He is a son of William B. and Elizabeth (Mossberger) Vertrees, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter also of Kentucky. They were the parents of six ehildren, but all of them are dead but the interesting subject of these paragraphs. The father enlisted in the army in 1861 for the term of the Civil war and served valiantly in that memorable sectional conflict. He faced death without flinching on a well-fought field, and was commended by his comrades and superiors for his bravery and unwavering gallantry. His service in the army was short, as brain fever caused his death shortly after enlisting. After his death his widow was married to the late Judge Easeley, whom she still survives. She now has her home with her son.

Isaac H. Vertrees passed his boyhood and youth under the terrible shadow of the Civil war and the disasters it wrought. His opportunities for academic aequirements were therefore limited and confined wholly to the facilities afforded for the purpose by the publie schools, and even these he was able to attend only at irregular intervals in the winter months for a few years. The needs of the family were such that he was compelled to aid in providing for them, his own training in special lines for the battle of life, and his own advancement being secondary considerations. But he made the best use he could of the ehanees he had and laid a good foundation for the fund of general information he has since gathered in the stern school of experience and from reading, observation and reflection.

After leaving school Mr. Vertrees worked at various occupations for a time, doing whatever his hand found to do and doing all with enterprise, skill and a view to his elevation to higher funetions in life. At the age of nineteen he turned his attention to farming for himself, and to this exhilarating but exacting and often exhausting calling he has ever since devoted himself. He now owns and farms 182 acres of excellent land and also carries on an extensive industry in raising eattle and other live-stock. He has made his farm a model country home, both in the manner in which he has cultivated and improved it and the liberality with which he has provided it with the necessary appliances for advanced modern farming and stock-raising and the comforts and attraetions of domestie life. In addition, he is a stock-

The varied interests which Mr. Vertrees controls and manages are many and engrossing, but they have not obscured his vision as to publie affairs or diminished his zeal in helping to promote the substantial and enduring welfare of the township and county in which he lives. To every commendable project for their advancement he has given willing and serviceable assistance, and, in connection with the progress of the region, he is accounted one of the useful and reliable forces. He has been a valued member of the school board more than ten years, and all the schools have felt the impulse of his quickening spirit and the guidance of his strong practical mind. In polities he is a Republican, always interested in the success of his party and energetic in helping to bring it about. His religious alliance is with the Baptist church, and in its welfare he has shown an abiding and helpful interest. In fraternal affiliation he belongs to the Order of Fraternal Yeomen and to his lodge in the order he also gives a due share of his attention and enterprise.

In 1876 Mr. Vertrees was united in marriage with Miss Nancy Mason, a native of Indiana. Of the seven children born to them six are living: Martha Elizabeth, the wife of Edward Wolfe; Electa Belle, the wife of Douglas Thompson; Sarah Anne, the wife of Burr Boring; Rosa Etta, the wife of E. B. Seamon; Alfleeta Ellen and Maude Emiline. The influence of the family on the social and business life of the community has been potent for good, and its aid in building up the moral and mental forces at work among the people has been felt and appreciated. Wherever they live and whatever line of action they are engaged:in the members of the household are esteemed as persons of great worth and radiating centers of wholesome and produetive stimulus for everything that is good in the locality of their homes.

Nature bestowed on William Henry Mangus, one of the prominent and successful farmers and stockmen of Easley township, in this county, an energetie and persistent disposition, however niggardly she may have been in her other gifts to him and grudging in the eireumstances in which she placed him. He accepted her endowment at its full value and has made the utmost of his opportunities in the use of it. He was born in Adair county, Missouri, in May, 1867, and his boyhood was passed there at a period when the state was still suffering from the devastation of the Civil war, and the path to wealth and dis- tinetion for boys of moderate means was a narrow and thorny one. But he took the road as he found it, and made his way over it with steady advances, even though his progress was for a time slow and painful. His goal was, however, constantly in his vision, and no obstaele discouraged him from pressing onward toward it. His conquests in life are therefore all his own.

Mr. Mangus is a son of Jacob and Sarah (Kreps) Mangus, the lormer a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Pennsylvania parentage, although born in Ohio. The father came with his parents from their Pennsylvania home to Missouri when he was ten years old. He was a farmer most of his life, and also took an aetive part in the publie affairs of the locality in which he lived, always working with force "and effect for the success of the Republican party and serving for a number of years as a member of the local school board. When the Civil war broke out he enlisted in the Union army in Company I, Seventh Missouri Cavalry, which was in service to the end of the conflict. Mr. Mangus took part in many battles and skirmishes, one of the most notable being the sanguinary contest of Perry Grove. Both he and his wife are still living and have their home at Gifford. They have had four children. Only two of the four are living, William H. and his sister, Airy Fritz. The latter is a resident of New Mexico.

William H. Mangus was reared to the life of a farmer and he has followed it all his years. His education was seeured at the publie schools near the family homestead, and he assisted his father in eultivating that while attending schopl and after he left school until 1888. He was then twenty-one years old and eager to begin operations on his own aecount. He therefore found or made a way for the gratification of his desire and began the career as a farmer, which he is still expanding and rendering more successful and impressive, and which he has been extending steadily from the start. His farm comprises 320 acres and the land is nearly all under cultivation except the grazing ground necessary as pasturage and a range for the large number of cattle and other stock he raises, feeds and ships every year. He is also a stockholder in the Farmers Exchange Bank of Gifford.

In polities Mr. Mangus is a Republican and a zealous worker for his party. He has served on the local school board nine years and is now president of it. His interest in the schools has been earnest and broad-minded, and he has aided them to great progress in elevating their standard and widening their usefulness in the most practieal ways, making them more and more helpful to the pupils in lines of the greatest need. In 1893 he was married to Miss Bina Day, whose parents came to Missouri from Illinois, but who was born in Knox county of this state. They have five children, Nellie, Chester, Paul, Harry and Day. They are all living at home and still adding to the brightness and cheer of the family circle.

Some men are born prosperous, some achieve prosperity, and some have prosperity thrust upon them. In this paraphrase of Bacon's renowned apothegm, the class to whieh Henry D. Robinson, of Gifford, belongs is noted second. He is very prosperous and a man of considerable worldly wealth, but all his acquisitions are the results of his own efforts and ability, and every element in the make-up of his suecessful and inspiring eareer has been brought into play by his own hand. 'Throughout his mature life he has been quick to see and alert to seize his opportunities, and then he has showr it enterprise and breadth of view in making the most of them for his own advantage and the benefit of the locality in which he lives.

Mr. Robinson was born in this county in 1861. His father, Creed W. Robinson, was a native of Virginia and eame to Missouri to grow up with the eountry in 1836. For the state was then praetieally in its youth, although even as it was it had already, by its lusty demands for recognition, greatly disturbed the political waters of the country and eentered all eyes in publie life upon its strength and promise of future greatness. Mr. Robinson took his place in the leading industry of the region in which he settled, and during the remainder of his life was one of Macon county's progressive and influential farmers. He was married in 1851 to Miss Wilhelmina Sehmidt, a native of Germany. They had nine children and reared six of them to maturity. Five are still living: Lucy E. the wife of Joseph Eitel, of Ethel; Alexander W.; Henry D.; Minnie, the wife of William Severs, of Elmer, and William N. When the Civil war broke out the father enlisted, but the command to which he belonged was never called into active service. His father was born in Ireland and his mother in England.

Henry D. Robinson's mother died on July 22, 1906, and his father on Mareh 12, 1909. The son was reared as nearly all the boys around him were. He grew to manhood on his father's farm and attended the publie school in the neighborhood when he had opportunity. His schooling was necessarily limited and irregular, for the demands of the farm work were exacting and insistent, and everything else had to give way to them. After leaving school he turned his attention to farming and raising live stock, and having put his hand to the plow in these lines of effort, he has never looked back, but has steadily pursued his chosen way. His devotion to his calling made him attentive to all its requirements, and this persistent watchfulness brought its due reward in great success and rapidly inereasing prosperity. His home farm now contains 321 acres, and the whole tract is rich in its annual yield, all of it being under vigorous and skillful eultivation except the portion needed for grazing purposes. In addition to this, which is one of the most valuable farms in the township of Easley, Mr. Robinson owns a considerable amount of fine real estate, including both town and eountry properties. He is also one of the stockholders and direetors of the Bank of Gifford, and holds the same relation to the Gifford Tile and Brick Manufacturing Company.

Mr. Robinson's allegiance in political affairs is given to the Demoeratie party, and while he neither seeks nor desires public office for himself, he renders his party loyal and effeetive service in all its eampaigns. The only official station from which he has sought to serve the publie is that of membership on the local school board, and this he has held during the last eight years, accepting the office and performing its duties solely for the good of the community, and with the desire to make the schools as effective and useful as possible. His fraternal relations are with the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He takes great interest in these fraternities and aids materially in the effort to extend their usefulness to the widest bounds and raise them to the highest standard of excellence and develop them to the fullest state of vigor and prosperity attainable.

Mr. Robinson was married in 1901 to Miss Lydia Rosella Buck, a native of Macon county and the daughter of Sylvester and Mary J. Buek who eame to this state from Ohio. "They have two children, their son Henry Manford and their daughter Rosetta Marie. The parents are well esteemed as representatives of the highest social life and most elevated citizenship in the community, and as exemplifying in every way the best attributes of exalted American manhood and womanhood.

Although he has a distinguished name, and one that stands for all that is pure, heroic and lofty in manhood, George Washington Bailey of Easley township in this county has borne it worthily during the forty years of his life to this time,-and has shown in his quiet but successful career some of the elements of manhood which the mention of it inevitably suggests. He has not been called into the limelight of publie notice, or contended with opposing forces on any field of historie renown, but in the faithful and unostentatious discharge of daily duties, and in the way of making the most of his opportunities, he has so eonducted himself and his affairs that the great soldier of the Revolution would commend his eourse with approval and feel that his name has not been diseredited by this man of our day.

Mr. Bailey is a native of the township in which he now lives, where hislife began in 1869. His father, George Bailey, was born in Virginia and became a resident of Missouri in He saw much of frontier existenee, with its trials and perils, its arduous labors and pinching privations. But he also witnessed its subsequent triumphs, and shared in their enjoyments as he had done in the struggle to win them. He was married in 1856 to Miss Anne Mariah Swalley, who was born in Ohio, where her parents settled when they moved West from their native state of Pennsylvania. Her grandfather was also a. Virginian by birth. She and her husband passed their years of residence in this state, after their marriage, in farming with industry and ability, and reared eight of their nine children to maturity. The seven of them now living are: Mary Elizabeth, the wife of J. E. Miller of Oklahoma; Byron C.; James W.; Emma Rebecca, the wife of William Griffith of California; and George W.; Joseph and Charles. The father was obliged to hew out his own way in the world without favoring eireumstances or any of the bounties of Fortune exeept such as he wrested from her reluetant grasp. In his day and generation he achieved a worthy success, but the divison of his estate gave a very small allowance to each of his children, and they in turn found themselves almost wholly dependent on their own exertions for advancement, just as he had been.

George W. Bailey aecepted his destiny with cheerfulness and entered upon his life work, when the hour came, with alacrity grew to manhood on the parental homestead and took his part in its laborious eultivation. When he could be spared from this he attended the eountry school near by during the winter months of a few years, then took up the burden of life for himself by working as a hired hand on farms in the neighborhood of his home. At the age of twenty-two he started his own career as a farmer and stock-breeder, and to this he has given almost his whole attention during all the subsequent years. He has lost no time, and his industry and good management have brought him a large measure of success. He now owns 499 acres of good land, with the whole tract well cultivated and prolific in returns except the portion necessary for grazing his stock. He is also a stockholder native of England, where he was reared and educated, and as a young man he severed the home ties and set forth to seek his fortunes in America. From his plaee of disembarkation on the Atlantie seaboard he made his way westward and located in the state of Illinois, whence he later removed to Missouri and located in Bevier, Macon county, to which place he returned after a few years' residence in the state of Wyoming, of which commonwealth he was a pioneer settler. His wife, whose maiden name was Emma Roberts, was a native of Missouri, and they are survived by three children, of whom the subjeet of this review is the third in order of birth ; Thomas S. is a resident of Bevier, and Mary is the wife of Marion Shoop, of Novinger, Missouri.

After the death of his father the widowed mother removed with her family to Bevier, where her death occurred, and here Charles A. was reared to maturity, being afforded the advantages of the publie schools and of St. James Academy, an excellent local institution conducted under the auspices of St. James" church, Protestant Episcopal, and later he completed a course in a business college at Quincy, Illinois, so that he faced the battles of life with adequate equipment in an educational way as well as in sturdy personal attributes of character.

In 1891, when twenty-two years of age, Mr. Wardell engaged in the general merchandise business at Pittsburg, Kansas, where he became associated with John S. Sharp, under the firm name of Wardell & Sharp. The firm built up an excellent trade and the business was continued until 1893, when it was sold to a merchantile firm in Fort Seott, that state. After thus disposing of his interests in the Sunflower state Mr. Wardell returned to Macon, where he initiated his eareer in connection with the banking business. He assumed a very subordinate position in the State Exehange Bank, and by his ability and eareful attention to the duties assigned to him he gained successive promotions until he was finally eleeted to the office of eashier, of which he has been incumbent since 1908. For fourteen years was assistant eashier prior to his election and in which he has shown marked diserimination and judgment in handling the executive affairs of the institution. No citizen of Macon has a stronger hold upon popular confidence and regard, and this fact has inured greatly to the success of the bank with which he is identified and in which he has won advancement through fidelity and effective service. He is a stockholder and director of the institution, which is one of the solid and popular banks of this section of the state, the same basing its operations upon a capital stock of $100,000 and enlisting the capitalistic and administrative co-operation of leading citizens of Macon county.

Progressive and public-spirited as a citizen, Mr. Wardell takes a loyal interest in all that tends to conserve the advancement and stable prosperity of his home city and county, and he gives his support to all that makes for good government in a local and generie way. His politieal allegianee is given to the Democratie party but to him publie office has shown forth no allurement. He and his wife are communicants of St. James church. Protestant Episcopal, and in a fraternal way he is identified with Macon Lodge, Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks.

On the 15th of June, 1898, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wardell to Miss Elizabeth Sauvinet, who was born and reared in Macon and who is the daughter of that prominent and influential citizen, Gustave Sauvinet, of Macon, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Wardell have one child, Thomas E., who was born on the Ist of September, 1902.

This enterprising and successful farmer and stock-breeder of Easley township, Macon county, was born on Christmas day, 1875, on the farm on which he now lives and on which he has passed the whole of his life to this time (1909). He is a son of James N. and Sarah (MeClanahan) Neet, the former born and reared in Sullivan eounty and the latter in Macon county. The father eame to this county about 1871 and purchased a farm. A little later he moved to Harrison county and remained three years. He then returned to Macon county, and here he lived until 1898, when he retired from active work and took up his residence at Browning in Linn county. He owns 1,000 acres of land, all of which are devoted to his extensive cattle and other live stock interests.

The career of this enterprising man, the father of Charles C. Neet, furnishes an inspiring example of industry and thrift employed under the direction of natural shrewdness and business capacity, and shows in a luminous way what those traits and that system of operation can accomplish in this portion of a land of great opportunities in almost every part, and of almost boundless possibilities in some. Mr. Neet began life as a poor boy, with no capital but his ability, good health and indomitable determination to win success in his chosen line of endeavor. He has triumphed even beyond his expectations, and the triumph is all his own. His parents came to this state from Illinois and bore the brunt of a hardy pioneer existence, which never brought them a fortune in a worldly way, but which gained them the esteem of the people who knew them, and gave them vigor of body and indedinde pendence and self-reliance of spirit, qualities which descended to their posterity by heredity and were intensified in their children by the training those children received at the family fireside. They have been nobly exemplified in the career of James N. Neet, and his son Charles, the immediate subject of this writing is also distinguished for them. Charles C. Neet was educated in the common schools of his native township and a high school conducted in connection with them. He made choice of his occupation early in life, and he has never varied from his first decision. As soon as he left school he took charge of a considerable portion of his father's interests in the agricultural and live stock lines, and he has been wholly given up to those pursuits ever since, carrying on the operations of the homestead in the same progressive and masterly way that his father inaugurated in its management, and adding to his system whatever modern investigation and discovery have proven worthy of adoption. He, too, has succeeded well and won a considerable estate. In addition, by his devotion to the welfare of his township and county, and his active efforts in hehalf of their advancement and improvement, he has won the regard and good will of the people as one of their most progressive and helpful eitizens and a representative of the lofty spirit of enterprise that animates them. In politieal affairs he is rather independent with leanings to the Republiean party, of which his father has long been a loyal but quiet and unostentatious member. He is also a member of the Order of Odd Fellows and the Order of Modern Woodmen. In religious affiliations he is connected with the Universalist church, as are also the members of his family. On February 15, 1899, he was married to Miss Amy L. Ross, who was born in Knox county, Missouri, in 1877. They have two children, their daughters Bernice L. and Thelka M.

Dr. Nat. L. Johnson

Although belonging to a comparatively new school in the science of medicine, and having allied with that an additional poteney of extensive application eovering only the last few years in general practice, Dr. Nat. L. Johnson of Gifford has won his way in popular esteem as a physician of ability and resourcefulness in his profession, and has given his line of praetice good standing in the community nothwithstanding the prejudiees it was obliged to overcome and the hesitation of the general publie to accept a new departure from the established usages of centuries.

a native of Indiana and the latter of Kentucky. The father came to Missouri in 1832 and was engaged actively and prosperously in farming until his death, which was due to an accident that ended his life in1865. He was married twice, his first wife having been a Miss Hubbell, who left five children at her death. The only offspring of the second marriage, which was with Miss Amanda Capps, who came to this state in infancy, was Dr. Nat. L., the interesting subject of these paragraphs. After the death of the father the mother married again and is now the widow of William Stokesberry. The Doctor's paternal grandfather, whose name was Frederick Johnson, was born and reared in Pennsylvania, and was one of the pioneers of Indiana.

Dr. Nat. L. Johnson obtained his scholastie training in the publie schools and at Avalon College. He taught school for a few years after finishing his own education, and then for a few more occupied himself with various lines of effort. He began the study of medicine in 1897, matrieulating for the purpose at the Osteopathie College in Kirksville, from whieh he was graduated in 1899. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession, and as time passed he realized the therapeutic value of medicine in human ailments, and with characteristie energy he devoted himself to a systematie study of it, In this effort to enlarge his information and increase his power as a doctor, he did not depend on private reading and investigation for his acquisitions. He pursued a regular course of instruction in a good eclectic institution devoted to this braneh of medical training, and was graduated from that institution in 1908. He also went through a complete post-graduate course.

After this thorough preparation Dr. Johnson resumed his practice, loeating in one part of Adair county for a year, then moving to Novinger in the same eounty. From Novinger he eame to South Gifford to praetice and also to engage in the drug trade. He has considerable professional practice and the business done by his drug store is large and profitable. In addition he is a stockholder and director of the Gazette Printing Company. This also gives inerease to his influence and popularity in the community, and extends his power to serve the people in every way that ministers to their enduring welfare.

Politieal affairs and fraternal interests have engaged the Doetor's attention in a leading way and he has risen to consequence and influence in them also. He is a Democrat in politieal faith, and while neither seeking nor desiring publie office for himself, he is always at the front with valuable and appreciated service for his party. His fraternal connections are with the Masonie Order, the Order of Odd Fellows and its adjunct, the Order of Daughters of Rebecca, the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of the Maccabees. He is devoted in his attention to all his lodges and zealous in his efforts to advance them to the highest development and most extensive usefulness, with a view to the welfare of their members and the community in general, and looking to the publie good, local and general.

In 1884 Dr. Johnson was united in marriage with Miss Lou W. aller, a native of Schuyler county, this state. They have two children, their daughter Ethel, the wife of S. J. Hopper, and their daughter Ursula, the wife of J. C. Salisbury. In the town of Gifford, throughout Easley township and in all parts of the surrounding country for a wide extent the members of the family are highly esteemed as most worthy and estimable persons and first rate eitizens. And their past records and present daily lives fully justify the good will and cordial regard bestowed upon them.

Scion of a house that was prominent in the very early history of Macon county, which his grandfather, Abraham Goodding, helped to divide into seetions, and to whose progress and development his father, Andrew L. Goodding, contributed for more than forty years, A. C. Goodding of Atlanta has had the stimulus of luminous examples in his forefathers for his own activity in industrial life and useful citizenship in all respeets, and nobly has he followed them. The growth and improvement of the county were matters of pride and pleasure with two generations of his family before him, and the duty of striving to help in furthering its interests in every way possible, which descended to him as a heritage, has been with him a labor of love also. And, while his efforts have been fruitful in good to the region on which they have been bestowed, they have also resulted in substanial and enduring benefit to him.

Mr. Goodding was born in this county on May 26, 1857, and is a son of Andrew L. and Mary Jane (Dameron) Goodding, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Tennessee. They were married in 1844 and had three children. "Two of them are living, J. B. of La Plata and A. C. of Atlanta. The father came to this county with his parents in 1818. At that time this whole region was an almost unbroken expanse of wilderness, in which the wild beasts of the forest and the wild men of the plains held undisputed sway and roamed at will. The dawn of civilization in it was just beginning to break and the slumbering world, which felt the light although it saw it not as yet, was disturbed in its long sleep of ages with premonitions of the voice of its coming master who would awaken it to action and start it in its beneficent career of progress and fruitfulness. What mattered it to the hardy adventurers of that day that wild beast and still more savage men opposed their coming and endangered their lives! What recked they that even Nature herself seemed in league with their foes for their extermination! What if she did resist all their wooings and persuasions, and had to be compelled with force to yield to their will! There was an empire at stake and they were determined to win it for their posterity and lay broad and deep its foundations for themselves. After a foothold was gained and firmly planted in the new region it was necessary that the country be divided into sections of land and that a sufficient form of civil government be established. In this work Mr. Goodding's grandfather was one of the leading spirits, and well he did his part. His son, the father of A. C., was a farmer and gave energetie and profitable attention to his work until his death, which occurred in 1859. That of the mother came just thirty years later, in January, 1889.

A. C. Goodding passed his boyhood and youth on his father's farm and attended the district schools near by when he had opportunity. His experience was not unlike that of most other boys in his situation. He worked on the farm when there was work that required his attention, and went to school when he could. His education was necessarily limited, so far as book learning was concerned, but the long schooling of every day experience was not lost upon him, and this broadened his nature and enlarged his information. As soon as he quit school he began life for himself as a farmer and farming has been his chief occupation ever since, with general stock-raising as 3 side issue, and in both he has been very successful. He now owns 370 acres of land, good in quality, well located for his purposes, and developed to a high degree of improvement and produetiveness by the skill and vigor with which he has cultivated it.

Mr. Goodding's farm work and stock industry have been exacting and required a great deal of attention. But he has found time to exercise his disposition to help all worthy interests in the township and county for their betterment and the welfare of their people. He was one of the founders of the Atlanta State Bank and has been one of its stockholders and direetors and its president from the beginning of its history in 1888. He is also vice-president of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Company of Maeon. As one of the ruling spirits in these institutions he has aided in giving them high standing in the business world and a firm establishment in the confidence and regard of the people. Other institutions with which he is connected have also felt the impulse of his skillful guidance and energetic nature. For he makes everything go that he puts his hand to, and makes all go right, as far as he can control the movement.

In political relations Mr. Goodding is a Democrat of firm eonvictions and great activity. The aff: of his party always command his attention and its interests always have his effective support. For more than a quarter of a century he served diligently and energetically as a member of the local school board, and the schools were greatly benefited by the attention he gave them. He is a Freemason in fraternal relations and a member of the Presbyterian church in religious connections. Both church and lodge get their full share of his aid in all their worthy undertakings. In 1881 he was married to Miss Emma Dunnington, who was born and reared in this county, but whose father was a native of Virginia. They have three children, Roy H., Buella, the wife of J. W. Tyler of Enid, Oklahoma, and Walter. The family is one of the leading ones in the township and deserves its prominence.

Following lofty ideas of eitizenship in all the relations of life and faithful to every duty, whether in the produetive pursuits of peaceful industry or on the field of carnage in the front of unrolling columns bent on the death and destruetion of their opponents, Asa W. MeDavitt of Richland township in this county, has given a good example to all observers and justified the faith his fellow men have in his integrity and the esteem in which they hold him for his enterprise and usefulness. He is a native of Randolph county, Missouri, born on August 13, 1845, but has lived in Macon county many years, the greater part of his life, in fact, except ten years, during which he was farming in the state of Nebraska.

Mr. MeDavitt is a son of Leo and Araminta (Kerbie) MeDavitt, the former a native of Woodford county, Kentucky, and the latter born. in Virginia. The father remained in his native county until 1825, then moved to Missouri and located in Randolph county, where he followed farming and raising stock for a number of years. Macon county seemed more to his taste than Randolph and he changed his residence to this loeality, and here he passed the remainder of his life, whieh ended on February 16, 1882. He was a pronounced Republican in polities and a zealous member of the Universalist church in religious alliance. His marriage to Miss Kerbie occurred in Randolph county, Missouri, and by it he became the father of nine children, six of whom are living: Sarah, the wife of Louis Dale of Elmer in this county ; Ellen, the wife of Simeon Broyles of Harrison county, Missouri; Mary, the wife of Jasper N. Patrick, whose home is also in Elmer; Dr. B. C. MeDavitt of La Plata; Asa W., whom these paragraphs chiefly concern, and William H., who is also a resident of Macon county.

Asa W. MeDavitt obtained his edueation in the distriet schools of Macon county, but owing to the state of the country and the cireumstances of the family, it was necessarily very limited. The schools were primitive, as they always are in a new country, and he could not attend them regularly or for any lengthy period. His services were needed on the farm as soon as he was able to work, and everything else had to give way before this necessity. He helped to improve the home place and generally assisted the family until 1864, He then enlisted in the Federal army in Company H, Forty-second Missouri infantry, under command of Captain Vail, and was soon assigned to the division of the army commanded by General Thomas. He took part in the battle of Nashville and was mustered out of the service in that city in the spring of 1865.

At the close of his military service Mr. MeDavitt returned to his Macon county home and bought 100 acres of his present farm. He at once began farming and raising stock, and in these interesting and profitable pursuits he has ever since been engaged, enlarging his farm to 290 acres and expanding his business as his prosperity increased. He has been very successful and at one time owned 475 acres of land, but as each of his sons came of age he gave the new man in the family a farm as a start in life.

On July 19, 1868, Mr. MeDavitt was joined in wedlock with Miss Mary M. Murry, a daughter of Fielding and Catherine (Dale) Murry, long residents in Macon county, where Mrs. MeDavitt was born and reared, and where she and her parents stand well in the regard of the whole people. Of the seven children born to her and her husband only three are living: Fred N., a rising man in this county; Arthur, now a minister of the Universalist church who resides in Marseilles, Illinois, and La Verne, who is connected with the State University at Lincoln, Nebraska. The sons, like their father, are excellent citizens and faithful to every duty, and are highly esteemed. The father is a Republican and a member of the Grand Army of the Republie, and he and his wife are zealous working adherents of the Universalist ehurch.

Edgar G. Snow

** "Tis not in mortal to command success, but they ean do more - they can deserve it.'" So sang many years ago a poet with clear insight into all the comedy and tragedy of human life, and all human experience before and since his time sustains the truth of his aphorism. Edgar G. Snow of Lyda township in this county, whose extensive farming and stock-raising industry is located near the town of Atlanta, has both deserved and commanded success, and is esteemed as one of the leading citizens of the township because of the qualities of mind and body with which he has won it and the manly and publie spirited way in which he has used it in promoting the best interests of the region around him and the people who inhabit it.

Mr. Snow is a native of Michigan, born in the eity of Kalamazoo in 1849. His father, Orson Snow, was born and reared in Oswego, New York, and from there moved to Kalamazoo. He was married in 1847 to Miss Rosella Ward, a native of Ohio, and moved his family to Missouri in 1866, located in Macon county and Lyda township. The six ehildren born to him of his first marriage all grew to maturity and four of them are still living. "They are: Edgar G.; Julia, the wife of Riehard Butler; Stella, the wife of II. Goodding, and Charles. "Their mother died in 1880 and in 1886 the father married Miss Ida Woodford, who was born in Niles, Michigan. He died on February 26, 1909. His widow is now living at Atlanta, Missouri.

Edgar G. Snow grew to the age of seventeen in Kalamazoo and obtained his education in the publie schools and the Baptist College in that eity. After he eame to Missouri with his parents he did, not again go to school, but entered at once on his eareer as a farmer and stock dealer, and in extending and improving this he has ever since been engaged. It might be said that he was bred to the line of aetivity in which he is engaged. His father was a farmer, and although the son passed his boyhood and early youth in a busy, bustling manufacturing city, the whole period was connected with the operation of the farm in the work of which he bore his full part. In his own enterprise he has been eminently successful and his success is the logical result of the vigor and skill with which he has carried on his business and the capacity and industry he has exercised in the management of it. He now owns over 400 acres of land, the greater part of which is under cultivation and yielding rich harvests, and also conducts extensive operations in raising live stock.

Jacob N. Bruce

ing members of his party. In the general affairs of the township he takes an earnest and serviceable interest and a leading part. He has been one of the school direetors and president of the board for more than ten years, and has also served as road commissioner six. In these responsible and trying offices he has rendered good service to the people and has the satisfaction of knowing that his efforts to promote their welfare are highly appreciated. In fraternal life he is connected with the Masonie Order and in religious affiliation with the Universalist ehureh. His lodge and his church have been objeets of constant care and interest to him. He has received benefits of magnitude from them and found great enjoyment in their works of benevolence. And they, in turn, have been substantially aided by his membership and activity in their behalf. In 1873 he was united in marriage with Miss Anna Jones, a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania. "They have three children, their daughters Nellie, Grace and Katherine. All the members of the family enjoy in a marked degree the esteem of all who know them and are worthy of it. JACOB N. BRUCE.

This prominent farmer and stock-breeder of Macon county, whose industry was located in Richland township near the village of La Crosse, was born in Macon county on April 4, 1860, and moved with his parents soon afterward to the state of Minnesota. He is a son of Alfred and Diantha (Meechum) Bruce, the former a native of New York state and the latter of Ohio. The father came to Missouri to live in 1859, but did not tarry long, as has been stated. He was married four times. During the Civil war he enlisted in the First Minnesota battery of artillery and served through three terrible years of that memorable confliet. The mother died in 1866, and the next year the son returned to Macon county, where he lived until his death December 31, 1909, a period of forty-two years. His mother's death oceurred in Minnesota, and his father's at La Plata, the latter on October 22, 1891.

Jacob N. Bruce was not favored by Fortune, nor did the goddess of circumstances open her cornucopia for his benefit. His course through life was rough and thorny, and hewed out by his own persistent industry, ability and self-reliant energy. He obtained a limited edueation at the publie schools, and at an early age began the career in farming and raising stock which he made successful and condueted with a spirit and enterprise that have left room for no other result. He owned 130 acres of good land, all of which, except what is required for grazing purposes, is under vigorous and skillful cultivation, and yields abundant returns for the labor and intelligence bestowed upon it. The stock industry was an extensive and active one, and resulted in considerable profit for Mr. Bruce in a financial way, and also gave him a high standing and a wide reputation as an enterprising, far-seeing and reliable stock man.

In the political affairs of the country Mr. Bruce always took an active and serviceable part, feeling that it was a good eitizen's duty to do so, and being unwilling to neglect any part of what betonged to him as such. He belonged to the Republican party and was faithful and energetie in working for it. He served well and with general approval as road overseer of Richland township for four years, and was a member of the local school board for over fifteen years. His work in connection with these two elements of general publie convenience and progress was of an elevated character, and the results were shown in the high standard of excellence exhibited by both roads and schools while under his management and received the benefit of his intelligent and vigorous supervision. He performed his duties in eonneetion with them faithfully and his fidelity was the high appreciation of all the people.

On December 10, 1884, Mr. Bruee was married to Miss Elizabeth A. Simms, who is, like himself, a native of Macon county. They had no children of their own, but are rearing two adopted children, their daughter Minnie and their son Lester. It is in keeping with the generosity of their natures that they wished to share their prosperity with others, and in the ehildren they have taken under their care they have seeured worthy objeets of their liberality. For the children reward their care and attention with obedience to their wishes and a studious effort to exemplify in their daily lives the lessons bestowed upon them by admonition and example at the family hearth-stone. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce are highly respected by all who know them, and are fully worthy of the high position they have in general publie regard. Mr. Bruce was a member of the Knights of Pythias and the United Brethren church.

Unlike many of the young men born and reared in this section of the country who devote a considerable portion of their time in their earlier manhood to physical labor, Albert F. Smith of Elmer has been occupied mainly in intellectual work from the time when he left the academie shades amid which he completed his education. And while his engagements have involved a certain amount of bodily exertion, as all intelleetual pursuits do, that part of his activity has been merely incidental, matters requiring mental effort forming the principal burden of his daily toil. "That he has met his responsibilities in a masterly way and performed all the duties required of him with fidelity and ability is proven by his success in his career and the universal esteem with which he is regarded by the people of Macon county and the adjacent country.

Mr. Smith was born on January 2, 1880, at Clarence, Shelby county, Missouri, and is a son of B. F. and Beatrice (McAfee) Smith, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Shelby county in this state. "The father left his native state and came to Missouri in 1866. At that time the Old Dominion was a badly wounded giant, lying prone on the battlefield of the Civil war, with every energy prostrated and all strength for the time exhausted. Its once rich plantations were largely in ruin, its industries were paralyzed, and all its civil and social institutions were agonizing under the iron heel of a military despotism. But its fine spirit was only dethroned and as much as ever unconquerable. The subsequent history of the grand old state has given abundant evidence of its reeuperative powers, and commanded the admiration of the world by the rapidity, vigor and excellence of their work. Still the process of rebuilding was a painful and exaeting one, and had to be condueted in the face and in spite of the prejudices and obstacles born of the war, which levied heavy tribute on the depleted resources of the region for the evils which existed in addition to the cost of euring them. Under these circumstances Albert Smith's father believed his chances for advancement would be better in a country presenting fewer difficulties in the way of development. He therefore came to Missouri and located in Shelby county. This section, also, was wasted by the fraternal strife and had the prejudices incident to the contest. But its disasters had been neither so general nor so extensive, and it was comparatively a new country, with almost boundless resources which had not yet been developed. souri was not a towering giant of full maturity thrown down and erushed by superior force, but a young giant moving toward maturity with its progress temporarily checked by a passing storm.

The elder Mr. Smith chose wisely for himself and his offspring by enlisting under the banner of this growing poteney. Im the service and store-house of opportunity of the newer state he throve and flourished, working at his trade as a cooper, and through it becoming more than a mechanie working at a trade. He raised his business to the proportions and dignity of a manufactory, and by this means was of material service to the community of his home in supplying a portion of its wants. He was married in 1874 to Miss Beatrice McAfee, and by this marriage became the father of three children. His son Albert F. is the only one of the three who is living. His mother died in 1885, when he was a child of five years. B. F. Smith broke up house-keeping at this time and Albert F. was taken by his grandfather A. S. MeAfee at Clarenee, Missouri with whom he made his home until May 1890, when Mrs. MeAfee died leaving him again without a home. In June 1890, he found a temporary home with W. L. Thompson, near Anabel, one of the most extensive dealers of live stock in Macon county. Mr. Thompson became attached to the boy and decided to give him a home as long as he wanted it, also to give him as good an edueation as he could, sending him to the rural sehools and one year each at Clarence High Sehool and the State Normal.

At the age of eighteen Albert F. Smith began his eareer for himself still elaiming Mr. Thompson's home as his home and always staying there when he was not employed.

Tn his own words: **1t was the help and adviee and fatherly interest manifested by Mr. Thompson that has enabled me to become what I am, and I certainly appreciate it."

Albert F. Smith began his edueation in the district schools of Macon county, continued it at a high school in Clarence and completed it at the Kirksville Norman school.

After leaving the institution last named at the end of a three years' course, he taught in the publie schools for a period of seven years, passing two of them as principal of the schools in Elmer. In 1907 he became a stockholder and director of the Elmer Exchange Bank and was elected its cashier. This position he is still filling with great acceptability to the patrons and friends of the bank and to the entire satisfaction of its other officers. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Elmer Creamery Company, a member of the school board, and treasurer of the consolidated school district.

Mr. Smith's political faith is that of the Democratic party in whose affairs he takes an aetive interest and in whose behalf he is a faithful and appreciated worker. His fraternal connection is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to which he renders good and loyal service as secretary of his lodge, and with the Modern Woodmen of America. He is also a zealous member of the Christian church, and its interests received his eareful and helpful attention. In 1904 he was married to Miss Dora Salyer of this county. They have one child, their daughter Bertha. He and his wife are prominent in the social circles of the community and are looked upon as excellent citizens, warmly interested in everything involving the welfare of the community and willing at all times to do all in their power to promote it and add to the conveniences and comfort of its people.

Edwin I. Dunham

Like Freedom's battle in human history, when once begun and **bequeathed from bleeding sire to son, though baffled oft is ever won," the eourse of the empire in this country, through the onward surge of the pioneer wave, has made steady progress by the successive advances of one generation after another, until it has redeemed our whole wilderness from the waste and covered our whole wide expanse with thrifty, progressive and prosperous people. "This continued migration of hardy adventurers with the progress of the sun, from the Atlantic seaboard toward the Pacific coast, forms one of the most inspiring and spectacular pages of all our ehronieles. Almost within the memory of men yet living it was checked by the Ohio; then by the Mississippi; then by the Missouri, over whose triple source the Rocky mountains frowned with forbidding severity. But the army of axmen and plowmen kept pushing their progress fast on the heels of the flying buffalo, the sons taking up the march where the fathers laid it down, until having overspread the country, and thus accomplished its mission, it passed into history and became but a memory, yet a vivid one, and kept alive and green by the triumphs of civilization and mighty achievements for whieh it blazed the way.

The family to which Edwin I. Dunham of Elmer in this county belongs, and of whieh he is a worthy representative, embodies in its own an epitome of our country's story in this respect. Its American progenitors settled in New Jersey in 1680, emigrating to that state from Northumberland county, England. They flourished there as conquering frontiersmen, as the first generation of their descendants did in southeastern New York, and the next in the wild luxuriance of the Mohawk valley. Western Pennsylvania bowed in subjugation and yielded tribute to the third generation, and the unbroken prairies of Indiana to the fourth, as did those of Iowa a little later, to the fifth. In all these loealities the Dunhams were pioneers and well-to-do farmers, helping to build into beauty and systematie productiveness the region in which they camped and afterward dwelt in comfort.

of the family. By the time he came upon the scene of action we no longer had a frontier, and he took his place in the work of developing and improving the country those before him had opened to settlement. He was born on January 24, 1866, in Louisa county, Iowa, a son of Sylvanus and Mattie (Jamison) Dunham, the former a native of Indiana, bern in 1822, and the latter of Ohio and of North of Ireland ancestry. The mother was a daughter of William and Elizabeth Jamison, who, also, were born and reared in Ohio. The Dunhams were married in January, 1865, and had nine children, two of whom died in infaney. Those living are: Edwin I.; William W., of Fredonia, Kansas; Harry A. of Wapello, Iowa; Sylvanus V., of Montevista, Colorado; Nellie Ursula, the wife of Frank G. Colburn, of Oskaloosa, Iowa; and

The father moved from Indiana to Lot county, Iowa, in 1837, when he was but fifteen years of age. He was industrious and thrifty, and had a great deal of enterprise and business capacity. He became in time the owner of over 2,000 acres of land and one of the leading stock men of his day in the Northwest. Owing to his extensive operations in raising and dealing in live stock, and his general ability and high character, he rose to consequence in his section of the state, becoming, in faet, the most prominent eitizen in the portion he lived in. He died on September 4, 1902. His widow is still living and is now (1909) sixty-eight years old and has her home at Wapello, Iowa.

Edwin I. Dunham attended the district schools in his native county, and on completing their course of instruction, entered a good high school. After the completion of his scholastic training he taught school for a period of three years, then followed contracting and building for awhile in Salt Lake City. In 1890 he returned to Iowa and took up his residence at Oakville in the county of his nativity. There he dealt in cattle until 1896, when he became a retail druggist. In compliance with the state law he made a special study of his business in technical and practical training, taking his instructions from a private tutor and securing his registry in 1900. He found his new mercantile connection agreeable and full of stimulus for him, and stuck to it faithfully until 1905, when the utter failure of his health compelled him to give it up, and seek a more congenial climate and an out-door life. He then eame to Missouri and located at Elmer in this county. Since his arrival in this locality he has been energetically and extensively engaged in farming and raising stock, and has been very successful in both.

ships large numbers of cattle every year, and prepares his output from the very beginning of his work on it with the greatest care and intelligence. For this he has ample reward in the rank his shipments have in the markets and the high priees they bring. His business is large and makes exacting claims on his time and energies. But he does not allow it to wholly absorb him or lessen his interest inthe affairs of the township and county. In everything pertaining to their welfare he takes an earnest interest, and in all worthy projects for promoting that he bears an active and serviceable part. He was reared in the Republican school of politieal thought. For, although his father was not an active partisan and mingled but little with politienl affairs, he was a loyal Republican. His son's convietions, started by the father's views and opinions, have been strengthened by his own reading, observation and refleetion, and he is as active in the service of his party as his father was loyal and firm in his faith in it. His prominence in its eouneils and zeal in working for its success have brought him prominently before the publie, and in 1908 he was a drafted candidate for membership in the lower house of the state legislature. In 1903 he was made president of the school board and served with great energy and intelligence in that eapacity for three years. The value of his services is shown in the efficiency of the schools and acknowledged by the universal esteem in which the people hold them and him. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonie Order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America, and is active in his service of each. In 1896 he was united in marriage with Miss Melissa Miller, a native of Iowa and daughter of Jonas and Mary Magdalene (Fry) Miller. Two children have blessed their union, their daughter Ursula and their son Robert, both of whom are attending school. The parents are social favorites wherever they are known, warmly welcomed in the best eireles of society and brightening and warming them with their genial natures, cultivated manners and broad general intelligence. Im connection with local progress and improvement they are considered as among the most useful citizens of the township, and in all the relations of life they stand in the front rank in general popular estimation.

Active in the practice of one of the noblest and most beneficent of all the professions, with a large and loyal body of patrons, connected with a number of the financial and industrial interests of the county in a leading way, prominent in the fraternal life of his community and energetic and influential in local publie affairs, Dr. John P. Foster of La Crosse, Richland township, in this county, is deservedly regarded as one of the most useful and representative citizens of this portion of the state, and as a man is well worthy in every way of the high regard the people feel for him.

Dr. Foster was born on May 9, 1866, in Kirksville, Adair eounty, Missouri, which is known as an educational center of prominence all over the country because of the excellent normal school which is located there. He is a son of Hiram B. and Martha J. (Ferguson) Foster, the former a Kentuckian and the latter an Indianian by nativity. Of the eight children born of their marriage four are living: James M., a resident of La Crosse; Dr. John P. Jeannette, the wife of John T. Farmer; and Emmett O., whose home is also at La Crosse. The parents were married in 1861, and the father died on March 30, 1904. The mother is still living and has her home at La Cro:

The father moved to Missouri in 1: ind was engaged in merehandising until the beginning of the Civil war. Being warmly attached to the Union, and abhorred at the possibility of its dismemberment, he deemed it his duty to aid in saving it at any hazard, and with him to be convinced was to act. He enlisted in the Twenty-second regiment of Missouri infantry and was made lieutenant of his command. This was soon after its enrollment at the front and during the memorable conflict saw considerable active and dangerous service. Mr. Foster took part in the battles of Vicksburg, Nashville and other places where tragie history was written in blood, and also in many minor engagements. After the war he located in this county, coming here in 1866. He did not, however, return to mercantile life, but gave his attention to farming, and also practiced law. He attained good standing as a professional man and considerable influence as a citizen, using all his opportunities and powers in promoting the welfare of the region in which he lived and advaneing the interests of its people.

The Doctor was reared in his native town and began his education in its publie schools. His academie training was completed at the Kirksville Normal school, and his professional preparation was made by private reading and a thorough course of instruction at the Marion Simms Medical College, from which he was graduated on March 23, 1893. He at once began his creditable professional career at La Crosse, among the people who know him well and esteem him highly, and he has found them so fruitful in benefits to him and so appreciative of his services to them that he has remained with them ever since. Their interests have been dear to him and he has sought in every way avail- able to him to promote them. He is vice-president of the Bank of Gifford and also a stockholder and directer of the Gifford Brick and Tile company. In addition to these, other institutions of value to the locality have the benefit of his active interest and helpful counsel and assistance. He also serves both the government and the people as United States pension examiner.