Shelby County, Missouri - Biographical sketches, 1911 (part 6 of 16)

William A. Hughes

Shelliy county ^fedical Society and the Tri-State ^ledical Society, and is local medical examiner for the New York Life Insurance Company, the Missouri State Life Insurance Cimipanj^ the Intei'uational Life Insurance Company, of St. Louis, and the Bankers' Life Insurance Company, of Des Moines, Iowa. In politics he is a staunch adherent of the Democratic party, and he is afTiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern AVoodmen of America. The doctor is a bachelor.

In even a cursory review of the careers of the honored business men and leading farmers of Shelby county there is eminent consistency and, in fact, imperative demand that recog-nition be given to the late William A. Hughes, who for seventy years was an honored resident of this county. He was a dominating figure in the business circles of the county, and through his well-directed etforts accumulated a modest fortune. Progressive in both private and public affairs, he proved a most valuable citizen, and he so ordered his course as to retain at all times the confidence and esteem of his fellow men.

William A. Hughes was born in Boone county, Missoliri, on the IStli day of February, 1830. He was a grandson of Josejih Hughes, one of the first pioneers to enter the wilderness of Kentucky, having emigrated to the "Blue Grass" state in about 1766, which was several years before Daniel Boone ever made a track in its wilderness, and there he passed the residue of his life, making for himself and family a home in what is now Jessamine county of that great state. It was there that the father of our subject, John Hughes, was born in 1777. He grew to manhood amid the pioneer scenes of Kentucky and bore his full part in clearing away the forests and helping rid the country of the treacherous, lurking red men who made life perilous to the early settlers.

During the war of 1812 he saw active service in the northern campaign, and after peace was restored he returned to his home and began the work of clearing a home for himself amid the dense forests of his native county. Not being content with the advantages offei'ed him in Kentucky, in 1822 he gathered together his belongings and started for the then far west, coming to Boone coimty, Missouri, in that year. The Indians were still in possession of the coimtiy and all was still a forbidding wilderness. Nothing daunted by these surroundings, he liegan at once the work of establishing a new home, and continiied to be a resident of that county until 1838, when he removed to Shelby county, securing a farm in Black Creek township, on which he resided until his death in 1865, having reached the advanced age of eighty-eight years.

He was three times married. His first wife was Elizabeth Perry, who died in Boone county, this state. He chose for his second companion Mrs. Jane E. West, a daughter of Jose]iIi Miller, of Bourbon county, Kentucky, and after her death he married Mrs. Isabella Shambaugh, a daugliter of Jacob Vannort, of Virginia.

county. The countiy was unimproved and he bore his full part in reducing it to cultivation, and in early life became inured to the liardships and privations of pioneer life. He secured such education as was possible in the primitive schools of that day, which was necessarily limited. He remained on the home farm assisting in its labors, and on the death of his honored father he became the owner of a part of it, to which he added from time to time, until at the time of his death he was the owner of a fine landed estate of 320 acres, well improved with model buildings and everything that goes to make up a modern farm. Besides attending to his farm labors and its allied industry of live stock, of which he handled a large amount annually, he was also largely interested with the late Dr. Dimmitt and John T. Cooper in founding the first bank of Shelbyville, which was opened for business in 1874, and was kuown as the Shelby County Savings Bank. Mr. Hughes continued to be interested in that bank for some years, when he disposed of his stock, but later became one of the original stocldiolders in the Citizens' Bank "of Shelbyville, and continued to be a director of that bank until his death, which occurred at Shelbyville on May 4, 1908.

One child was born to this union, Nellie E., who is now the wife of T. B. Damrell, of Shelbyville. Mrs. Damrell was a student of the Christian College, of Columl)ia, ^lissouri. Further mention of Mr. Damrcll will be found on other pages of this volume.

Mrs. Hughes is still living and makes her home with her daughter at Shelbyville, where she continues as far as possible the church and charitable work begun by her husband.

In religion Mr. Hughes was not a member of any denomination, but aided generously all church organizations in the city and county, no matter what they belonged to. In fraternal relations he belonged to the Masonic fraternity, being a charter member of Shelbyville Lodge, No. 96, and was among the last of the charter members to pass away.

In politics Mr. Hughes was allied with the Democratic party, and was an intelligent advocate of the principles and policies for which it stood sponsor and rendered effective service in the promotion of the party cause, but would never consent to accept public office.

He was a man of the loftiest principles and strong intellectual powers, and will long be remembered as being among the most influential and honored citizens of Shelby county.

His memory is revered by all who remain to have remembrance of his gentle and noble life and who came within the sphere of his gracious and helpful influence.

John Il Terbill

The life and labors of the late John 'M. Terrill, who died at his home in Shelbyville, on November 5, 1894, were such as to eminently entitle him to memorial tribute in this history, while added consistency is given from the fact that he was a native of this section of Missouri and a member of one of its honored pioneer families. He was a man of broad mental ken, generous attribvites of oliaracter and distinctive public spirit, and he did much to encourage and support measures and enterprises tending to advance the civic and material progress of the commimity. His life was ordered upon the loftiest plane of integrity and honor and he left that best of all heritages, a good name, which is "rather to be desired than great riches." Through his own ability and well directed efforts he accumulated a competency, but he ever had a deep appreciation of the responsibilities that success imposes and showed his stewardship by kindly succor and aid extended to "those in any ways afflicted in mind, body or estate." Loyalty is a tine thing in human nature, and this sterling citizen showed in all the relations of life the utmost loyalty, so that he richlj- merited the high esteem in which he was held by those with whom he came in contact.

John M. Terrill was born in Marion county, Missouri, on September 12, 1825, and, so far as available data indicate, his parents came to this state from Kentucky in the early part of the second decade of the nineteenth century, numbering themselves among the sturdy pioneers of Marion county, where they passed the residue of their lives and where his father was a fai-mer by occupation, tilling the willing soil and aiding in transforming the wilderness into productive fields and blossoming meadows. Owing to the exigencies and conditions of time and place, the subject of this memorial received in his youth only such educational advantages as were afforded in the ])riraitive pioneer schools, but his alert and receptive mind enabled him to profit generously from the valuable lessons gained under the tutorship of that wisest of all head masters, experience, and he became a man of broad information and mature judgment. He became eventually the owner of a landed estate of 320 acres, in Marion and Shelby counties, and he was long numbered among the progressive and representative farmers and stock-growers of this favored section of the state. He devoted much attention to the buying and shipping of live stock, and in this field of enterprise he built up a large and prosperous business, being one of the leading dealers in this part of the state and gaining a wide acquaintanceship in the country throughout which his operations were extended. He continued actively identified with this line of business until about ten years prior to his demise, when, owing to impaired health, he removed from his homestead farm to Shelbjt'ville, where he thereafter lived virtually retired until he was summoned from the scene of life's mortal endeavors. In Shelbyville he purcluised the attractive and commodious residence in which his wife still maintains her home. He was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Citizens' Bank of Shelb}^- ville and served as a member of its board of directors. His widow still retains his stock in this solid and popular financial institution and has also added somewhat to her holdings in the same.

Mr. Terrill was ever found ready to contribute generously of influence and means to the promotion and support of public enterprises that met the approval of his judgment, and few citizens were more liberal and luiblic-spirited in this respect. Mrs. Terrill has endeavored to emulate his example in this regard and is known as a woman of exceptional business acumen and as one who takes a lively interest in all that touches the welfare of the community. She was a charter member of the Slielby County Railroad Company, and had the distinction of being the only woman to become thus identified with the enterprise, to which she gave her support more through imblic spirit than from .speculative motives. She is now associated with her brother, James Edelen, in the dry-goods and millinery business in Shelb.yville, where she is thus an interested |)rincipal in the tinn of James Edelen & Company, whose establishment is one of the leadingmercantile conceras of the countj'. Mrs. Tevrill is a devoted and zealous member of the Presbyterian church, as was also her husband, and in politics he was found arrayed as a staunch and effective exponent of tlie principles and policies of the Democratic party, though he never was a seeker of public office.

On November 13, ISGG, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Terrill to Miss Nannie Edelen, who was bom in Marion county, this state, on April 25, 1843, and who is a daughter of George and Ann (McElroy) Edelen, the both of whom were born in Kentucky. The parents were numbered among the sterling pioneers of this section of the state and the father was a merchant by vocation. The father died at Hannibal on October 20, 1843, and mother at Shelbj-A-ille on Jime 25, 1899, aged eighty-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Terrill had no children. Mrs. Terrill has been a prominent and popular member of the social circles of Shelbvville, and here her friends are in number as her acquaintances.

James Edelen

One of the venerable and essentially representative business men of Shelbyville is James Edelen, who is here engaged in the general merchandise business, as head of the well known firm of James Edelen & Co. His career has been one of marked productive activity and much success, and he is one of the honored citizens of the countj' which has represented his home during the major portion of his life, being a native son of Missouri and a member of one of its sterling pioneer families. His status in the community renders specially consistent a review of his career within the pages of this historical publication touching Shelby county.

James Edelen was born in the little village of AVarren, Clarion county, Missouri, on July 25, 1839. His father, George Edelen, was born in the state of Kentucky in 1808, and was a scion of a worthy pioneer family of that commonwealth. George Edelen was reared to manhood in Kentucky and there he initiated his eft'orts in connection with the general merchandise business, with which he continued to be identified in his native state until about 1833, when he came to Missouri and settled in the village of AVarren, Marion county, where he opened a general store, to the conducting of which he continued to give his attention until his death, which occurred in 1843, having been fairly successful in his business affairs after coming to Missouri. In 1838 he was united in mar- riage to Miss Auu McElroy, who likewise was a native of Kentucky and who survived him by a number of years, her death having occurred in Shelbyville in Shelby county, in 1899, whither she removed with her two children after the death of the husband and father. Of the children the subject of this sketch is the elder, and Nannie, the widow of John M. Terrill, now maiutains her home in Shelbyville, Missouri.

James Edelen gained his early educational discipline in the common schools of his native county, and he was eighteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Shelby county, where he continued his studies for a time in the public schools of Shelbyville. He and his mother purchased a farm of 120 acres near Shelbyville, and after leaving school he there continued to devote his attention to farming and stock growing for the ensuing five years, at the expiration of which, in 1864, he and his mother and sister removed from the farm to Shelbyville, where he was engaged in the general merchandise business for three years, as a member of the firm of Vaughn & Edelen, his associate being Wilson Vaughn. He then sold his interest in this enterprise, having also disposed of the farm previously mentioned, and after his retirement from the mercantile trade he purchased 176 acres of excellent land in Black Creek township. He removed with his family to this place, upon which he made many substantial improvements, developing the projjerty into one of the model farms of the county. There he continued his active operations as a general agriculturist and stock grower until 1881, and in the meanwhile he had also become one of the interested principals in the firm of himself, John Sattles, Chaiies A. Haskins, James Vandever and James Gevin, which engaged in the importing of high-grade draft horses from Prance, the animals being sold from the well-equipped sales stables maintained bj' the firm in the village of Shelbina. The enterprise proved very profitable to those concerned, and Mr. Edelen also found that his farm contributed much to the sucees of the business, affording fodder and pasturage for the horses imported and raised by the firm of which he was a member. Upon leaving the farm, in 1881, he took up his residence in Shelbina, and after disposing of his interest in the horse-importing business at a distinctive profit, he returned to the farm, to which he continued to give his attention until 1887, when he sold the property and removed to Kansas, establishing his home in Mc- Cracken, Eush county, that state, where he became a prominent and influential citizen, having there become associated in the ownership and operation of a well equipped flour mill and also having become one of the principal stockholders of the Bank of McCracken, in McCracken, in which institution he still continues to be thus interested, also owning village property and farm land in that section of the Sunflower state. While a resident of McCracken he also conducted a prosperous enterprise in the buying and selling of farm lands and in the conducting of a general real estate business.

In the year 1890 Mr. Edelen returned to Shelbyville, where he has since been engaged in the general merchandise business, as head of the firm of James Ede- len & Co. The large and well equipped establislmient handles a stock whose average valuation is fully $20,000, and the trade of the concern extends throughout the territory normally tributary to Shelbyville. The business represents one of the leading mercantile concerns of the county, and the reputation of the firm is of the highest order, as fair and honorable dealings have begotten the most implicit popular confidence and esteem. Mr. Edelen is a man of excellent judgment and much executive and initiative ability, as is evident when we revert to the fact that no enterprise with which he has identified himself during his long and active career has been a failure. In politics he is a staunch adherent of the Democratic party, though never ambitious for the honors and emoluments of public office, and both he and his wife are earnest and zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

On September 1, 1864, Mr. Edelen was united in marriage to Miss Susan Sheetz, who was born and reared in Shelby county, being a daughter of the late Henry Sheetz, who was a ]iioneer of the county. They have never had children, but have reared and educated a boy and

Walter A. Dimmitt

A scion of one of the honored and pj-ominent pioneer families of Missouri and standing well to the forefront as one of the representative citizens of Shelby county, where he has extensive real estate and cai)italistic interests, Mr. Dimmitt holds the well merited prestige appertaining to large and definite accom- ])lisliniont through individual ability and effort, and he is thus specially well entitled to recognition in this historical publication, which has to do with Shelby county and its people. He was for many years one of the leading merchants of the county and he continued to maintain his home in Shelbyville, where he still has large interests, until May, 1909, when he established his home in the attractive village of Shelbina. His course has been marked by inviolable integrity and honor and in all the relations of life, and he commands the unqualified esteem of all who know him.

Walter A. Dimmitt was born in Monticello, Lewis county, Missouri, on November 22, 1850, and is a son of Dr. Philip Dimmitt, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume.

He gained his early educational discipline in the country schools of Shelby county, having been a lad of ten years at the time of the family removal from Booneville to this county. After completing this limited curriculum he continued his studies in the high school in Shelbyville, and that he duly profited by his scholastic advantages is shown in the fact that for four years he was a successful teacher in the district schools of this county, devoting his attention to such pedagogic labors during the winter terms and being identified with agricultural pursuits during the intervening periods. In 1874 he engaged in the general merchandise business in Shelbyville, and for more than a score of years he was actively identified with this line of enterprise, in connection with which he built up a business of wide scope and importance and one through which he gained large financial returns. He re- tired from tliis business in 1902, and upon liis career in connection with the practical activities of life there rests no shadow of wrong or injustice. Thus it may well be understood that he holds as his own the unqualified confidence and esteem of the people of the community in which practically his entire life has been passed. From 1897 imtil 1905 Mr. Dimmitt was editor and publisher of tlie Shelby County Guard, a weekly paper, and he made the same an effective exponent of local interests and also of the cause of the Democratic party, of which he has ever been a staunch adherent. Mr. Dimmitt is one of the extensive landholders of tlie county, where he is the owner of 1,060 acres, and in the thriving little city of Shelbyville he is the owner of an entire block of buildings used for business purposes. For twelve j^ears he was a stockholder and director in the Citizens' Bank of Shelbwille, and he served fourteen years as a member of the board of education of this city. He is one of the substantial capitalists and progressive and public-spirited citizens of Shelby county, and his aid and influence are ever to be relied upon in the support of measures and enterprises tending to advance the material and civic welfare of the community. He was one of the charter members of the Shelby County Railroad Company, in which he is still the owner of a considerable amount of stock. His various business interests are still centered in Slielbyville, though he now resides in Shelbina, as has already been noted, having purchased an attractive, modern residence in the latter village. Both he and his wife hold membership

June 4, 1872, liore record of the marriage of Mr. Dimmitt to Miss Ann Elizabeth Vaughn, who was born and reared in Shelby county, and who is a daughter of the late Wilson Vaughn, a prominent Inisiness man and influential citizen of Shelbyville. To Mr. and :\lrs. Dimmitt have been born five children, all of whom are living and concerning whom the following brief data are entered : Philip V. is now a resident of the city of St. Ijouis, where he is engaged in the postoffice; Walter T. is engaged in the jewelry business at Shelbyville, this state; Roy is identified with business interests in the city of Birmingham, Alabama; Joseph holds a position in a business house in St. Louis; and Bertha remains at the parental home.

Robert T. Jackson

The senior member of the real estate firm of Jackson & Neff, of Shelbyville, the subject of this sketch, is a native son of Shelby county, with whose annals the family name has been identified for nearly seventy years, and he is one of the well known citizens and successful business men of the county, where he commands unqualified popular esteem. He is the owner of a valuable farm property in the county, and was for many years actively identified with agricultural pursuits.

Mr. Jackson was born on the old Marmaduke homestead farm, in Black Creek township, this county, on May 23, 1851, and is a son of Thomas and Mary (Fer- guson) Jackson, both of whom were born and reared m North Carolina, where the respective families were founded in an early day. The father was born in the year 1807, and in 1841 he came to ^Missouri and settled on the old Marmaduke faiTa, as it is now known, near Shelbyville, where he continued to devote his attention to agricultural jiursuits for fourteen years, at the expiration of which he removed with his family to a farm about ten miles northwest of Shelbyville, in Leutner township, where he continued engaged in general farming and stock growing until his death, which occurred on April 27, 1867, at which time he was about sixty years of age. At the time of his death he was the owner of a well improved farm of 170 acres, and was one of the substantial citizens of the county, '^\;here he was ever known as a man of the highest integrity and as one whose life was one of signal usefulness and honor. In polities, while never a seeker of office, he was a staunch and intelligent advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, and during the Civil war he favored and su]iiiorted the cause of the South. Both he and his wife were consistent members of the ^lethodist Episcopal Church, South. They were married in Xorth Carolina in 1830. and Mrs. Jackson was sunnnoned to the life eternal in 1881, at the age of seventythree years. Of tlieir seven children all are living save one. Perry is a ]irosperous farmer of Shelby county ; Mary Jane also resides in tliis county and is not married; Martin is a resident of Linn county, Oregon; Sarah E. is the wife of Elias Edmonds, of Shelby county; Thomas is a resident of Josephine county, Oregon ; and Eobert T., of this sketch, is the youngest of the children. The one deceased is Perthia, who was the wife of AVilliam K. Grundy, and who died in Shelby county.

Eobert T. Jackson secured his early education in the district schools of Shelby county, and through his active association with men and affairs he has become a man of broad general information and marked business ability. ^Vfter his school days he was associated in the work and management of the old homestead farm until 1874, after which he continued in the same line of enterprise on his own responsibility, becoming one of the successful farmers and stock raisers of the county and continuing to be actively concerned in the operation of his well improved farm until 1898, since which year he has maintained his home in Shelby\'ille. He is still the owner of his farm, which comprises 140 acres, and which is located in Lentner townshi]). Upon locating in Shelbyville he established himself in the real estate business, in connection with which he has built up a prosperous enterprise and handled a large amount of property. Since 1906 he has been associated in this business with Andrew J. Neff, under the firm name of Jackson & Nefif. He has also rendered efficient service as a carrier on one of the rural free mail delivery routes from Shelbyville. He is a loyal and public spirited citizen, his political allegiance is given to the Democratic party. He is affiliated with the Court of Honor and botli he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

was united in marriage to Miss Catherine F. Carroll, who was lioru and reared in Shelby coimty, where her father, the late Phasant B. Carroll, was a representative farmer. Of the four children of this marriage tliree are living - Nona "\'irgina is the wife of Vergil F. Hirriliuger, a farmer of this county ; Thomas is a resident of the city of Seattle, Washington; and Nellie is the wife of L. E. Carson, of Shelby county.

William R. Turner

No monarch is so independent as the farmer who holds title to pi'oductive acres of ground, and there is a decidedly etliical significance in the sovereignty of the soil. No man was ever contaminated by association with nature, and to our nation the farm has given brain and brawn. Along whatever paths their amliition may lead them, men who have known the solace of association and generous companiouship with nature ever find allurement in the great basic industry under whose influence they were reared. It is emphatically one of the attractive features of this historical compilation that within its pages are found represented many of its successful aud enterprising farmers and stock-growers, and not a few of these claim Shelby county as the place of their nativity. Of this number is William R. Turner, who is the owner of one of the fine farm estates of the county and who has made so distinctive a specialty and success of the breeding of high-grade sheep that he has gained the local sobriquet of "Sheep Turner", to wliicji, owing to the wide

William R. Turner was born on his father's homestead farm, in Black Creek township, this county, on February 12, 1856, and is a son of Holman aud Catherine A. (Settles) Turner, the former of whom was born in Kentucky on February 21, 1828, and the latter of whom was ])orn in Virginia on June 21, 18.3.3. The marriage of this worthy couple was solemnized on February G, 1851, and of their nine children seven are now living, namely : Mary Jane, who is the wife of Rev. William N. Wainwright, a clerg\'- man of the M. E. Church, South, and now a resident of Monette, Missouri; William R., who figures as the immediate subject of this review; Susan C, who is the wife of Newton Garrison, deceased, of Bethel township; Lillian, who is the wife of John J. Hewitt, of Shelbyville, this county; James, who is a representative farmer of Shelby county, as is also Charles; and Anna, who is the wife of Thomas Herbst, of this county. The honored father came to Missouri in an early day and located on a farm about ten miles east of Shellmnlle, where he became one of the substantial pioneer agriculturists of Shelby county. Tie was a successful mule dealer, buying mules' colts and keeping them until three years old and had a very fine bunch of mules on hand when death claimed him on December 4, 1866, at which time he was but thirty-nine years of age. His widow now survives and lives on the old home place two miles north of Shelb^^'ille. Both were devout mem1)ers of the Methodist Episcopal Clnu'ch, South, aud in politics lie was aligned as a stalwart and intelligent supporter of the principles and policies of the Democratic party. He was held in high esteem as a man of inviolable integrity and honor and as a citizen of sterling worth.

William R. Turner is indebted to the district schools of his native county for his early educational discipline, which has been effectively supjilemented by the valuable lessons gained in the broad school of experience, and he was reared to manhood under the invigorating influences of the farm. After leaving school he engaged in farming on rented land, and he thus continued operations until 1880, after which he passed about two years as clerk in mercantile establishments, and for a time he owned and conducted a furniture store at Shelbyville and clerked in Captain Collier's store one year. In 1882 he removed to a farm in Black Creek township, about two and one-half miles north of Shelbyville, where he has since maintained his home and where, through his well directed energies and progressive ideas he has attained a high degree of s;iccess, being now the owner of a well improved farm of 286 acres, the major portion of which is available for cultivation. Mr. Turner has made a success of handling pure bred stock along all lines, his motto being, "The Best Is None Too Good."

In 1885 he began the breeding of pure blooded Shropshire sheep, and was so successful in this undertaking that in 1893 he exhibited his sheep at the World's Fair in Chicago, and carried off first lionors in this class, competing with the entire world.

In 1886 Mr. Turner turned his attention to the breeding of Duroc-Jersey hogs, and has been more than successful in this undertaking - he often pays as high as $300 for his male hogs - and his herd is now considered among the best in the state.

In addition to this he is largely interested in the breeding of "Short Horn" cattle, and for some years held annvial sales at Slielbina and other points in tlie county, ])ut on account of the vast amount of labor connected with this department, he has abandoned that feature of the business and now carries but a limited number of exceptionally fine bred animals on the home farm.

Mr. Turner's success in life has been due to his own efforts, having never had the advantages of capital, other than that he borrowed on his own security, but by fair dealing and strict attention to business he so(m gained for himself a reputation for honesty that enabled him to secure from the banks any amount of capital needed to successfully conduct his business. He is known as one of the representative farmers and stock-growers of the county and as a man of much enterprise, ambition and progi'essiveness, while his course has been so directed in all the relations of life that he has not been denied the fullest measure of ]iopular confidence and esteem in the county that has been his home from the time of his nativity. In politics he is aligned as a staunch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party and both he and his wife hold membership in the ^Fcthodist E]iisco))al church. South.

Geo. W. Humphrey

Saline county, this state, where her father, the late B. G. Doyle, was a successful farmer. Of the six children of this union, one, a son, Gordie AV. Turner, died at the age of two years, and the other five are still living, namely: Adelaide ^lay, who is the wife of Marion Feeley, a farmer of this county; and (Vera Florence, Cleveland Doyle, are in Colorado) Wade Grafflin, and Richard Lee, are at the parental home.

Senator George W. Humphrey

Eminent in his profession, distinguished in official relations and upright in his private life, Hon. George W. Humphrey, one of the leading lawyers of Shelby county and state senator from the Ninth Missouri senatorial district, well justifies his right to the high jjlace he holds in the councils of the state and the confidence and esteem of the people. ' In every relation, public and private, he has exhibited an elevated standard of excellence and proven himself to be a high type of the citizenship of the state.

Senator Humphrey was born near Rushville, Illinois, on August 21, 1865. He is a son of William T. and Mary (Rodifer) Huinphrey, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Missouri. The father was a farmer and lumber merchant, whose undertakings were extensive and profitable, and gave scope for the full exercise of his superior and commanding mental faculties. He is now living retired from active pursuits at Slielbina. Always patriotic and devoted to the welfare of his country, when the Cival war broke out he followed his convictions into the Confederate army, and during the momentous conflict which shook this country to its very foundations, rendered active and heroic service to the cause he favored. He participated in numerous engagements, and on one occasion faced it in captivity, being sentenced to be shot at Palmyra with a number of other prisoners. A few hours before the time fixed for the execution of the sentence he was released, and thus escaped the fate he seemed destined to, which the other prisoners suffered. It is worthy of note in this connection, that the first money ever earned by his son, Senator George W. Humphrey, was ex- ])ended for a handsome monimient, which he caused to be erected in the cemetery at Palmyra to the memory of Hiram Smith, the man who was substituted for his father at the time of the execution of Confederate prisoners at that place.

The family, on the father's side, is of English ancestry, but has long been resident in this country. The grandfather of the senator, William Henry Humphrey, was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, and came to Missouri in 1839, making the journey on the rivers. He located in Lewis county, where he took up a tract of wild land and by skillful and systematic husbandry transformed it into a well improved and highly productive farm. On this he passed the remainder of his days, dying at a good old age and leaving behind him the ])riceless legacy of a good name and in addition a valuable monument to his thrift and enterprise in the excellent farm which he had redeemed from the wilderness and made fruitful in all the products of advanced

Senator Humphrey was reared in Lewis county, this state, and obtained his education in the public schools and at La Grange College. He taught in the public schools for a number of years and for some time was the superintendent of those in Shelbj-^dlle. In 1890 he began the study of law in the office and under the direction of Hon. R. P. Giles, of Shelbina, who was elected a member of the United States House of Representatives in 1896. He was admitted to the bar in 1893, and for nearly a year was a partner of Hon. James T. Lloyd, the present representative of the district in the congress of the United States. ' In 1907 he formed a co-partnership with J. T. Gose, who is still associated with him. From the dawn of his manhood, and even long before that, lie has taken a dee]i and earnest interest in public affairs, both local and general, being a close and reflective student of political policies and governmental theories. He is therefore wise on the subject and the people know it. They showed their confidence in his intelligence and public spirit by electing him to represent them in the state senate in the fall of 1904. The period since his election has been an exacting and fruitful one, and has given him exceptional opportunities for demonstrating that the public confidence expressed in his election was not misplaced. He has been prominent in every session of the legislature since his election, including the extra session of 1905, which had highly important matters for the

In the most elevated legislative forum in the state Senator Humphrey has served on many important committees, including the committee on appropriations, of which he was chairman in the session of 1907, and others of which he was made a member by special resolution of the senate. He was president pro tempore of the senate in 1909 and 1910, and as such served as governor during the absence of the governor and lieutenant governor from the state. It is worthj^ of note that in the whole history of Missouri he has been the second man who has enjoyed the distinction of occui)ying the govei-nor's chair as a member of the political party whose candidate was not elected to the office, and also that of being the only president pro tempore of the senate who has done this. "While president pro tempore of the senate he appointed all committees for the entire session. These are small and accidental events, it is true, but they are significant in showing that a man universally esteemed throughout the state had been placed in a position of exalted trust and prominence, and was therefore ready for the performance of a duty for which he had not been especially chosen. With one voice the people of the state rejoiced that their welfare had fallen into such clean and capable hands for proper preservation and promotion.

Senator Humphrey has been the legal counselor of the city authorities of Shelbina during all of the last twelve years and has rendered them satisfactory sei'vice in that capacity. He has also served the city as mayor, giving it a clean and progressive administration and looking carefully after all its interests. All his life he has shown a deep and abiding interest in the welfare of the community of his home and given his active and intelligent aid to every worthy undertaking designed to promote the comfort, convenience and substantial good of its people. In fraternal relations he is united with the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias and the Order of Elks. His religious affiliation is with the Baptist church. On November 25, 1903, he was married to Miss Gertrude List, an adopted daughter of the late W. H. Warren, of Shelbina, a sketch of whom will be found in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey are the parents of three children, their sons, William W., George E. and Patrick List, who bless and brighten the domestic shrine by their presence and the hopes of future good which they inspire in their ]iarents and all who know them.

William Steinbach

A sterling citizen and native son of Shelby county, Mr. Steinbach has been identified with the agricultural industry in said county during his entire active career, marked by industry and generous accomplishment, and he is now the owner of a fine landed estate of 255 acres, where he continued to reside until April, 1909, when he took up his abode in his native vilhige of Bethel, where he owns and occupies an attractive and commodious residence.

Philip Steinbach was born on February 6, 1824, and was reared and educated in his native land, whence he immigrated to America as a young man. In 1845 he became a member of the German colony founded at Bethel, Shelby county, Missouri, and he became one of the prosperous farmers and stock growers of the county, having continued his residence in the village of Bethel until the disbanding of the colony, after which he resided on his farm. He passed the closing years of his life, however, in Bethel, where he died on April 6, 1909, at the venerable age of eighty-five years. His life was one of sig-nal integrity and honor, and he was not denied the fullest measure of popular confidence and esteem in the community that so long represented his home and the scene of his earnest and fruitful endeavors. He was one of the organizers of the Bank of Bethel, of which he was president for ten years and of which he continued a dii'ector until the time of his death. He contributed materially to the industrial and social u]ibuilding of the county and was a broad-minded and loyal citizen. His political support was given to the Reimblican party, with which he identified himself at the time of its organization, and botli he and his wife, who died on October 7, 1888, were consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They liecame the parents of nine children, of whom seven are living - Philip, William, George and Henry, all of whom still reside in this county; Elizabeth, who is the wife of Julius Will, of Green City, Sulli-

William Steinbach gained his early education in the village schools of Bethel, and as a youth he learned the trade of blacksmith, to which he here devoted his attention for a period of fifteen years, having been a skilled artisan and built up a successful business. His career has been marked by consecutive and well directed industry and also by that earnest regard for principle that ever calls forth the confidence and good will of men. After abandoning the work of his trade he removed to a fami in Bethel township, where he continued successful operations as an agriculturist and stock grower until the spring of 1909, since which time he has lived retired in Bethel, where he is enjoying the rewards of former toil and endeavor and is surroimded by friends tried and true. He owns 255 acres of most productive farming land, has made the most substantial improvements on the property and still gives to the same a general supervision. In politics he is found arrayed as a staimch and intelligent advocate of the cause of the Eepublican party, and he and his wife hold membership in the M. E. church.

On September 14, 1879, Mr. Steinbach was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ziegler, who was ])orn and reared in this county, being a daughter of George Ziegler, who was for many years a representative citizen of Bethel, where his death occurred. Mr. and Mrs. Steinbach have four children, namely: Sojjhia, who is the wife of AValter r'nrry, of Kit Carson county, Colorado; and Albert W. and

Albert W. Steinbach

Mr. Steinbach is a reiDresentative of the third generation of the family in Shelby county, of which he is a native son, and he stands essentially as one of the alert, enterprising and loyal business men of the younger generation in the county and as a citizen whose popularity in the community is of the most unequivocal type. He is incumbent of the important ofSce of cashier of the Bank of Bethel, of which his honored grandfather, the late Philip Steinbach, was one of the founders and for a decade the president. Mr. Steinbach is a son of William Steinbach, a sketch of whose career is given on other pages of this volume, so that further review of the family history is not demanded in the present connection.

Albert W. Stein))ach was born in the village of Bethel, this county, on April 26, 1883, and to the public schools of his native town he is indebted for his early educational training. He manifested distinct predilection for business and in 1 906, when but twenty- three years of age, he was elected cashier of the Bank of Betliel, of which position he has since continued incumbent. His administration of the practical affairs of the institution has been marked by discrimination, judgment and progressive policy, and his efforts have been a distinct factor in the upbuilding of the substantial business of the bank, which is one of tlie well-conducted and alily managed fiuan- cial institutions of the county and one which receives a representative support. ]\Ir. Steiubach manifests a deep interest in all that tends to conserve the progress and material and social prosperity of his native town and county and lends his influence and aid in the promotion of all worthy public enterprises. He is a stalwart in the local camp of the Republican party, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a popular figure in the social life of the community and his circle of friends, is coincident with that of his acquaintances.

John C. Bower

Mr. Bower is one of the substantial citizens of Shelby county, which has represented his home from his boyhood days, and here he is the owner of a well improved farm of 320 acres, eligibly located in Bethel township. The farm is now rented to his elder son, and Mr. Bower is living virtually retired in the village of Bethel, where his parents settled in the pioneer days, as member of the sturdy Gennany colony founded here in the '40s.

John C. Bower claims the old Keystone state of the Union as the place of his nativitj', having been born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, on July 23, 1833, and being a son of John L. and Christina (Schnaufer) Bower, both natives of Wurtemburg, Germany, the father having been born in the year 1800. Their marriage was solemnized in the year 1832, in Pennsylvania. Of their twelve children eight are now living, and concerning them the following brief record is entered: John C, the eldest, is the immediate subject of this review; and Tlieodore L., Samuel F., Walter C, Christina, August, and David, all of whom are residents of Bethel, this county ; and Miranda, who is the wife of Charles F. Stecher, of Camp Point, Illinois. Christina is the wife of William Seppel, a well known citizen of Bethel. The family name has been prominently and honorably linked with the industrial and civic progress of this section of the county, and its representatives of the present day are well worthy of the unqualified esteem in which they are held in the community. The father came with his family to Missouri and numbered himself among the Bethel colonists in 1846. He was a cabinetmaker by trade and he followed the same in Bethel until his death, which occurred in 1872, his devoted wife having been summoned to the life eternal in 1863. Both were zealous members of the Bethel Colony church and he was identified with the Republican party from the time of its organization imtil his death.

John C. Bower, whose name introduces this article, gained his early education in the common schools of his native county in Pennsylvania and was about thirteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Missouri. He was reared to manhood in the village of Bethel, where he learned the trade of cabinetnuiking and also that of wheelwright, under the able direction of his honored father, who was a skilled and versatile mechanic. He continued to be associated with his father in the work of his trade until 1870, and in the meanwhile he has also turned his attention to farming and stock-growing. He eventually gave his imdivided attention to tlie latter lines of industry, with which he continued to be identified during the remainder of his active business career. Since 1894 he has lived retired, having an attractive home in Bethel and renting his farm to his son, as has already been stated in this context. He is known as a plain, unassuming citizen of sterling integrity of character and as one who has ever borne his share in connection with the work of material and social development and progress. His political support is given to the Bepublican party and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1861 'Sir. Bower was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Koser, who was bom in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 1, 1833, and who came with her parents to Shelby county in the pioneer days, the family becoming members of the Bethel colony. Mr. and ]\Irs. Bower became tlie j^arents of four children, of whom three are living. Miranda, who is the wife of Henry Fox, of Bethel ; John J., who resides on and rents the old homestead farm of his father; and Gideon, who likewise is a successful farmer of this county.

Harry C. Bair

The able and po])ular postmaster of the village of Bethel is Harry C. Bair, who is a native son of Shelbj^ county, where his grandfather, Reuben Bair, a native of "Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, took up his abode in 1846, having come hither from Stark county, Ohio. The postmaster is a son of Samuel J. Bair, who is the subject of a specific sketch on other pages of this volume, so that further reference to the family history is not demanded in this article.

Harry C. Bair was born in Bethel, this county, on October 15, 1875, and here he was reared to maturity, securing his early educational discipline in the public schools and assisting his father in his farming operations. At the age of twenty years he severed the home ties and during the ensuing five years he traveled about from place to place, principally in the west, for the sake of seeing the country, gaining experience, etc., the while he found em])loyment at various occupations and defrayed his expenses, besides saving a portion of his earnings. In 1900 he returned to Bethel, and here he followed the carpenter's trade and house painting until July 1, 1907, when he received appointment to the office of Postmaster, under the administration of President Roosevelt. He has since continued incumbent of this position, has carefully handled the affairs of the office and has gained public commendation of an unequivocal type. He is well known in this part of the county and his friends are in number as his ac(|uaintances. In politics he is an uncompromising Republican and he has been a zealous worker in the local camp of the "grand old party."

On August 30, 1908, Mr. Bair was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Ziegler, who was born and reared in Bethe! and who is a daughter of William F. Ziegler, of this village.

Samuel J. Bair

It is gTatifying to be able to enter in this volume even a brief review of the oai-eer of this well known and honored citizen of Bethel, who is a member of one of the sterling pioneer families of Shelby county, which has represented his home from his childhood days and which has been the scene of large and worthy accomplishment on his part, in connection with the practical and productive activities of life. He rendered valiant and faithful service as a Union soldier in the Civil war and in the "piping times of peace" his loyalty has ever been of the same insistent type, the while he has So ordered his life as to merit and receive the unqualitied confidence and esteem of his fellow men.

Mr. Bair claims the old Buckeye state as the place of his nativity, as he was born in Stark county, Ohio, in the year 18-t3. He is a son of Reuben and Mary (Berlin) Bair, both of staunch German lineage, and when he was about three years of age, in 1846, his parents came from Ohio to Missouri and numbered themselves among the German colonists in Bethel and vicinity, thus becoming pioneers of Shelby county, where they passed the remainder of their lives, secure in the respect and confidence of all who knew them. Mr. Bair's educational privileges were those atTorded in the village schools of Bethel and were somewhat limited, owing to the exigencies of time and jjlace. As a youth he found employment in a local furniture shop, where he worked at the trade of cabinet making, to which he devoted his attention for two years. At the age of nineteen years he subordinated all other interests to tender his aid in defense of the Union, whose integrity was in jeopardy through armed rebellion. On February l-t, 1862, he enlisted as a private in the Eleventh Regiment of Missouri State ]\Iilitia, under Cajit. James B. Lambkin, and he received his discharge at the ex- ])iratioji of his term, on September 27 following. On May 14, 1863, he re-enlisted in the Eleventh Missouri Cavalry, which was regularly mustered into the United States service, and he was assigned to Comijany G, under Captain Collier. He participated in a number of the important engagements marking the conflict between the opposing forces in Missouri and Arkansas, and among the more notable of these may be mentioned those of Cherry Grove, Kirksville, "Walkersville. Little Rock, Devall's Blutf and Clarendon, besides which he took part in many skirmishes and other minor engagements. He continued with his regiment until the close of the war and was mustered out in the city of New Orleans on Jiily 27, 1865, duly receiving his honorable discharge.

After thus admirably acquitting himself as a loyal and faithful soldier of the re]3ublic, Mr. Bair returned to his native county and located in Shelbyville, where he served as carrier of mail between the local postoffice and La Grange for nearly a year, at the expiration of which period he returned to Bethel and in this immediate vicinity identitied himself with farming and stock raising, in which connection he gained marked success through his close application and well directed energies, and he continued to give the same his ])ersonal supervision until

1906, when he sold the property. Since that tune he has lived virtually retired in the village of Bethel, where he has an attractive home and is surrounded by friends who are tried and true. In politics he gives a staunch supjjort to the cause of the Republican party, taking an intelligent interest in the questions and issues of the hour. He is identified with the Grand Anny of the Eepublic, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is now serving as justice of the peace.

On November 4, 1SG9, Mr. Bair was united in marriage to j\liss Eebecca E. Gooden, who was born in Indiana, whence her pai'ents, John and Elizabeth Gooden, came to Shelby county, Missouri, when she was eighteen years of age. ^Ir. and Mrs. Bair became the parents of five children, of whom four are living - William W., who is engaged in farming at Bethel; Harry C, who is individually mentioned on other pages of this work; Mary, who is the wife of Bruce Rimyon, of Bethel township, this county; and Reuben, who lives in this county.

In even a cursory review of the careers of the honored business men of the city of Shelbina there is eminent consistency and. in fact, imperntive demand that recognition be given the late Thomas W. P. Reed, who was for more than a fourth of a century engaged in the real estate and loan business. He was a dominating figure in the business circles of Slielliina, and through his well-directed efforts accumulated a modest fortune. Progressive in both private and public affairs, he jiroved a most valuable citizen, and he so ordered his course as to retain at all times the confidence and esteem of his fellow men.

Mr. Reed was born near Sidney, in Shelby county, Ohio, December '2, lS-t2. His parents, James and Mary (Johnston) Reed, were natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. His fatlier, James S. Reed, was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, but spent the most of his youth in Richland county, Ohio. In 1863 he moved to Iowa, in 1866 to Saline county, Missouri, and the following year to ]\Ionroe county. After a residence there of a few years he became a resident of Shelby county, where he passed the residue of his life, his death occurring at Shelbina on February 27, 1874, and that of his wife in 1880. Of their four children one is now living. The father was possessed of a fine landed estate at tlie time of his death, besides a considerable amount of citj' property. He was a man whom every one respected for his many sterling qualities, and was ever ready to promote the best interests of the people among whom he resided.

Thomas W. P. Reed was a young man at the time of the family removal to Missouri. After assisting for a short time with the labors of the home farm in Monroe county, he purchased a farm near Paris, Monroe county, in company with his brother Charles. This they successfully operated until 1876, when failing liealth compelled him to dispose of his . interest in the same, and for a year following was engaged in business at Ottumwa. Iowa. In 1878 he became a resident of Shelbina, and was here activelv

Thomas W. P. Reed

In 1895 Mr. Reed was one of the ten men who formed what was known as "The Shelbina Corn Company." This companj' purchased the surplus corn crop of that year, jjlacing the same in cribs along the railroad, and were compelled to hold it for over three years, finally disposing of it at a loss of several thousand dollars to themselves, but they prevented many a poor farmer from losing everything he possessed by thus furnishing a market for his crop and at a price far in advance of what was being offered for it elsewhere. Mr. Reed was a large stockholder of "The Old Bank of Shelbina" at the time of his death, besides having a large amount of city property.

He was married March 23, 1869, at Dayton, Ohio, to Miss Isabella Hoover. One child was born to them, Mary L., who is now the wife of John R. Morgan, of Shelbina, a sketch of whom will be found on other pages of this work. Both he and his wife were active and leading memliers of the Christian church. In politics he was ever found arrayed with the Democratic party, but never con sented to hold public ofSce of any kind, though often urged to allow his name to go before the people. He preferred to serve in the more humble position of a private citizen, though no worthy project ever went without his earnest support. He was a man who had unbounded confidence in the future of northern iNIissouri, and was ever ready to lend his aid and support to any \)\nn that promised to

August Bower

This well known business man and honored citizen of Bethel is a native son of Shelby county and a member of one of its sterling pioneer families. In the sketch of the career of his elder brother, John C. Bower, on other pages of this work, is given a review of the f amilj' history, so that it is not necessary to repeat the data in the present sketch.

August Bower was born in the village of Bethel, his present place of residence, on October 2-t, 1846, in which year his parents, John L. and Chi-istina (Schnauf er ) Bower, had taken up their residence in Shelby county, whither thej' came from the state of Pennsylvania. In the village schools of Bethel Mr. Bower secured his early educational training, and after leaving school he served a thorough apprenticeship to the trade of shoemaker, following the old German custom of the sturdy founders of the Bethel colony. After the completion of his apprenticeship he continued to follow the work of his trade for a period of three years and he then became associated with his father in the general merchandise business in Bethel. In 1867 he and his brother, Theodore L., purchased their father's interest in the enterprise, which they thereafter continued with ever increasing success, under the firm name of T. & A. Bower, until 188-f, when their Inother David purchased an interest in the business, which was continued under the title of Bower Bros, for the ensuing four years, when August and David sold their interests to Theodore L., who continued in business some years. In connection with his operations in the local mercantile field the subject of this review became the owner of farming property, which he utilized in general agricultural operations and in the raising of horses and cattle upon a somewhat extensive scale. After selling out his interest in the mercantile business he devoted his entire attention to his farming and stock growing operations for a period of three years, when he again entered the general merchandise trade, associating himself with his brother David and son Wesley A. under the firm name of D. & A. Bower & Co., which is still retained. The fii-m has a large and well equipped store and controls an extensive business throughout the fine farming district tributary to the thriving little village of Bethel. August Bower still continues to give a general supervision to his farming interests, and his fine landed estate in Bethel township comprises 400 acres of most productive land.

Mr. Bower is one of the substantial and progi'essive citizens of his native county and his business career has been marked by earnest and honest endeavor along noi'mal lines of enterprise, through which he has gained a large and definite success. He was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Bank of Bethel, in which he is still a stockholder, as is he also in the Commercial Bank of Shell)ina, another of the staunch financial institutions of the county. He takes much interest in all that tends to conserve the material and social well-being of the community, is a stalwart Republican in

On March 31, 1874, Mr. Bower was united in marriage to Miss Priscilla Bair, of Bethel, a member of one of the well known pioneer families of this county, where she was born and reared. Of the four children three are living, namely : Wesley, who is engaged in business with his father at Bethel ; Mary, who is the wife of William P. Kraft, of this village; and Gertrude, who remains at the parental home, which is one of the attractive residences of Bethel and known for its generous hospitality. Besides this property ^Fr. Bower also owns other real estate in his home village, where he commands the unqualified esteem of all who know him, and that implies the entire populace of this part of the county.

David Bower

The family of which the subject of this review is an honored representative has long been established in Shelby county, as his parents were identified with the founding of the staimch German colony whose interests centered in tlie village of Bethel, where he himself was born and with whose business atfairs and civic interests he is prominently identified. In the sketch of the career of his elder brother, John C. Bower, on other pages of this review, is given definite information concerning the honored parents, and by reason of this fact and the facility with which reference may be made to the article mentioned, the data are not repeated in this sketch.

Mr. Bowei' is one of the leadiug business men of Bethel, where he is junior member of the tirm of Bower Brotliers, who here conduct a thriving general merchandise business.

Mr. Bower was born in the village that is now his home and the date of his nativity was December 22, 1850. He is indebted to the public schools of Bethel for the early educational advantages that were ac^-orded to him, and after leaving school he learned the trade of cabinet making, to which he continued to devote his attention for a period of eight years. In 1884 he became associated with his elder brothers, who had established themselves in the general merchandise business under the title of T. & A. Bower, and after four years of identification with this enterprise he and his brother August sold their interest in the same to their brother Theodore L., a member of the original firm. After his retirement from this business David Bower was associated with his brother August in general farming and stockraising, to which he gave his undivided attention, making a specialty of the raising of horses and cattle, until 1891, when he and his brother August again entered the mercantile trade, by opening a large and well equipped general store in Bethel, where they have since conducted a large and prosperous business, under the firm name of D. & A. Bower & Company. The subject of this review still continues to give a general supervision to his farming and stock-growing interests, and is the owner of a fine farm of 400 acres, located in Bethel township. He was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Bank of Bethel, in which he is now a member of the board of directors, and he is also a stockholder in the Commercial Bank of Shelbina, this county. He is known as one of the reliable and honorable business men and sulistantial and loyal citizens of his native county, where he commands unqualified popular confidence and esteem. His political support is given to the Republican party and he is now a member of the county central committee of Bethel township. He and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.

In the year 1884 Mr. Bower was united in marriage to Miss Matilda Bair, who was born and reared in Bethel and who is a daughter of Reuben Bair, a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of this part of the county. Mr. and ]Mrs. Bower have four children, Clara, ^Marvin, Frank and Fannie.

Carl E. Bower

Mr. Bower has the distinction of being the youngest bank president in his native county, being at the present time the chief executive of the Bank of Bethel, and he is known as one of the progressive and representative business men of the younger generation in Shelby county, where he is well known and where he is not denied the fullest measure of objective confidence and esteem. He is a son of Theodore L. Bower, one of the honored and influential citizens of the coimty, and one to whom is accorded consideration in a special article on other pages of this volume, so that further review of the family history is not demanded in the present sketch.

Carl E. Bower was born in Betliel, Slielby county, ^lissouri, on March 20, 1871, and he gained his early educational discipline in the excellent public schools of his native village, where he completed the curriculum of the high school when twenty years of age. He then, in January, 1892, engaged in the general merchandise business in his home town, becoming associated in this enterprise with his brother, John A., under the firm name of Bower Brothers. They continued the business with marked success for the ensuing five years, at the expiration of which the subject of this review sold his interest and, in 1897, opened a drug store, besides which he became associated with his father in the furniture business. He continued his active identification with both of these prosperous enterpi-ises until February, 1909, when he sold his interest in the same, his father retiring from active business at the same time. On January 1, 1908, Mr. Bower was elected president of the Bank of Bethel, of which his honored father was the first president, and he is proving a most able and discriminating executive, directing the affairs of this substantial and popular institution with consummate judgment and according to the most approved and duly conservative ideas. He is devoting practically his entire time and attention to the bank and, as already stated, is the youngest incumbent of this important official position to be found in Shelby county. He is aligned as a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, is affiliated witli the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.

On October 26, 1898, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Bower to Miss Ella Vestry, of Shelbyville, this county, where she was reared and educated, being a daughter of John B. Vestry, a representative citizen of the attractive county seat city. Mr. and [Mrs. Bower have two children, Vivian ^laurine and Irene La- Carl, ilr. and Mrs. Bower are prominent and popular figures in connection Avith the social activities of the community, and their pleasant home is a center of gracious hospitality.

Theodore L. Bower

The Bower family has been one of special prominence and influence in connection with the civic and industrial development of that section of Shelby county which has its business and social interests centered in the thriving little village of Bethel, a town founded by sturdy German colonists more than half a century ago and one that has retained to the present day a large percentage of representatives of these worthy pioneer colonists. Of this number is Theodore L. Bower, who is one of the substantial citizens of the county, where he has large banking interests and is the owner of valuable farm property, besides which he was for many years one of the leading merchants of Bethel, where he is now living virtually retired, enjoying the rewards of former years of earnest endeavor and resting secured in the high esteem of all who know him.

ty, Pennsylvania, where lie was born on November 9, 1834, and be is the second in order of birth of the eight surviving children of John L. and Christina (Schnaufer) Bower. His father was born in ^A'iirtemburg, Germany, in the year 1800, and the mother was a native of the same place, where their marriage was solemnized in 1832. In 1846 John L. Bower left the old Keystone state and came with his family to Shelby county, Missouri. He settled in Bethel and here engaged in the work of his trade, that of cabinet maker, becoming one of the valued and successful business men of the village and ever commanding the high regard of the community with which he thus identified himself. Here his loved wife died in 1863. and he was sunnnoned to the life eternal in 1872. He was a Kepublican in his political proclivities. On other pages of this work may be found specific mention of their sons, John C, August and David.

Theodore L. Bower gained his rudimentary education in the common schools of his native state and was a lad of eleven years at the time of the family removal to Shelby county, Missouri. He was reared to manhood in this county and in the village schools of Bethel he completed his educational work. As a boy he began a practical apprenticeship at the cabinet maker's trade, in which he received instruction imder the direction of his father, who was a skilled artisan in this line. He followed the work of his trade imtil 1863, when he engaged in the general merchandise business in Bethel. AVith this line of enterprise he was actively identified for many years, a portion of the time being associated with his brothers, and his success was large, being based upon fair and honorable dealings and 2)opular appreciation of his sterling integrity of character. He retired from the mercantile business in the spring of 1909, and since that time he has lived retired, though continuing to give his personal supervision to his various capitalistic and property interests.

Mr. Bower was one of the organizers and incoporators of the Bank of Bethel, in which he is still a stockholder and of which he served as president from the time of its inception until 1896, when he retired from this executive office. He is also a stockholder in the Citizens' Bank of Shelbyville, the Bank of Green City and the First National Bank of Green City. He is the owner of 240 acres of valuable farm land in the county, the major portion of this propertj^ being located in Bethel township, and he is also the owner of improved realty in the village of Bethel. A practical, thorough and progressive business man, Mr. Bower never had any desire for public office, though he has been loyal to all the duties of citizenship and is a staunch supporter of the cause of the Republican party.

On November 20, 1864, Mr. Bower was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Link, who was born in Ohio, whence she came with her parents to Shelby county when a child. Of the four children of Mr. and Mrs. Bower three are living, nameh" : John A., who is now a resident of St. Louis, Missouri; Carl E., who is individually mentioned on other pages of this work; and Clara, who is the wife of Andrew Boehringer, of Green City, this state.

Frank L. Schofield

The able and popular county treasurer of Shelby county is a native son of Missouri and is one of the progressive business men and re^jresentative citizens of Shelby county, where he is held in high popular esteem, as is evident from the fact that he has been chosen incumbent of his present responsible office.

Mr. Schofield was born in Marion county, j\Iissouri, on November 9, 1862, and liis early educational training was secured in the public schools of the village of Palmyra, after which he completed a course in the Gem City Business College, at Quincy, 111. After leaving school he became clerk in a mercantile establishment in Shelb\*\'ille, and he continued to be thus employed until 1885, save for one year devoted to agricultural pursuits. In the year mentioned he engaged in the confectionery biisiness in Shelbyville, and he has built up a prosperous entel^^rise, Avhich he still conducts, having an attractive establishment and catering to a large and discriminating patronage.

Mr. Schofield lias been essentially a progressive and loyal citizen and has been prominent in public atfairs of a local order. He served three terms as mayor of Shelbyville, giving an admirable administration as chief executive of the municipal government, and in 1906 he was elected county treasurer. That his handling of the fiscal affairs of the county proved capa])le and satisfactory is shown in the fact that in November, 1908, he was elected as bis own successor, for a term of four years. He is the owner of valuable real estate in Shelbyville, including his attractive residence, and he has been successful as a business man and ijublic official. In politics he gives an unequivocal allegiance to the Democratic party, in whose local camp he has been a zealous and effective worker, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Court of Honor.

On January 25, 1897, Mr. Schofield was united in marriage to Miss Ella Ennis, and they have one son, Frank Lee, who is attending the public schools of Shelbvville.

Hon. William Oerington Lunt

The interesting subject of this brief memoir, who has been a resident of Missouri for nearly forty-four years, and during nearly the whole of the period has lived in Shelbina, has the traditional advantage in his favor of being a seventh son as a suppliant for Fortune's benefactions, and what is of more consequence, has shown in his successful career the ])Ossession of the most useful and productive traits of American citizenshi]i in working out its destiny toward the goal of high ambition and utmost service to its day and generation. The record of successful men in this country embodies strong and forceful lessons in determination to succeed and persistent industry and endurance in the struggle involved in that purpose. It also embodies natural cai)acity of a high order and adaptability to circumstances which is ready for all emorgencies. Mr. Jewett has exhibited in his life work all these qualities in an eminent degree. As a young man look- ing up the loug ascent to consequence among meu and iuspired rather than deterred by its manifest ruggedness and obstructions ; as a soldier, meeting on tlie field of sanguinary conflict the enemies of his convictions as to the value of the Union and the vital importance of its perpetuity ; as a lawyer, defending in the forum of judicial contention the rights of individual citizens and the general public against those who would illegally invade them ; as a journalist, lucidly and forcibly proclaiming the truth as he saw it on public questions of policy and government at all times and under all conditions, and as a legislator, looking solely to the welfare of the whole people, he has dignified and adorned the citizenship of his locality and exhilnted the loftiest and most admirable attributes of American manhood.

Mr. Jewett was born in Bowdoinham, Sadahoc county, Maine, on December 27, 1836. He is the seventh son of Eev. Samuel and Sophornia (Huckins) Jewett, and with his father, mother and six brothers moved to Indiana in 1838, making the trip to what was then a remote and almost imknown region in a carriage. The family located in the southern part of the state, where it maintained its residence four years. At the end of that period another flight in the wake of the setting sun was taken and a new residence was found on a farm in Will county, Illinois.

There Mr. Jewett grew to manhood and obtained his education. His opportimities for scholastic training were very limited and the facilties attending them were meager. But he determined to secure an education, and bv the time he was sixteen years of age he had prepared himself for admission into the academy at Lee Center, Lee county, Illinois, wliich he attended one term. During the next summer he "tended corn" as a full hand, reading history at meal time and studying Latin at night. In the winter he made his home with his brother. Rev. S. A. W. Jewett, D. D., and attended schools at Plainfield and Ottawa. He followed the instruction gained in tliose schools with courses of higher instruction in Aurora Institute in the winter of 1860-61, from which he derived great advantage.

In the summer of 1861 the terrible cloud of Civil war, with its promised deluge of disaster and death, descended on our unhappy country, and being intense in his devotion to the Union and the principles he thought involved in its harmonious continuance, Mr. Jewett enlisted in opposition to its forced dismemberment in Company E, Thirty-ninth Volunteer Infantry, in a command known in commendatory history as the "Yates Phalanx," because of its invincible courage on the field of battle.

During his connection with this renowned factor in the federal forces of the war he served under General Shields in the Shenandoah valley in Virginia, and was afterward employed in the important engagements on the Peninsula on the James river. In January, 1863, he was discharged from the service for disability, receiving his release at a hospital to which he had been sent on account of an injury that resulted in sickness and disability. His release gave him an o]iportunity to make a visit to friends in Massachusetts, New Hamp- shire and Maine, and he tlien returned to his home near Wilmington, Illinois, where he taught school and began studying law in the office of Hon. G. D. A. Parks, one of the leading lawyers in that part of the country.

But inured as he was by this time to the pursuits, incitements and promises of peaceful industries, the war spirit within him was not satiated. The war was still in progress, and in the autumn , of 1864 he again entered the Union service, enlisting in Battery A, First Illinois Artillery. In this command he marched with Sherman from Savannah, Georgia, through the Carolinas, and finally participated in the Grand Eeview of the Union Army at Washington, which signalized the close of one of the most memorable conflicts in the history of the human race.

In June, 1865, Mr. Jewett entered the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and in the spring of 1866 he was admitted to the bar in Michigan and Illinois. But, while pursuing the arduous study of his profession as a lawyer, and even while musing around the campfire during his military service, the dream of journalism was with him as an insistent and persuasive influence. And while practicing law at Mt. Sterling, Illinois, until April, 1867, he edited a paper there. During the month last mentioned he moved to Missouri, and for nearly a year thereafter taught a public school north of Hunnewell.

The goddess of the law still claimed him as her votary, although the dream of success and usefulness in journalism never left him for a moment. But he paid his devotions at the altar of the former for some tune and left his dream in abeyance until later. In 1868 he opened a law office in Shelbina in association with H. Payne Higgins, and in this city he has ever since had his home. On Jime 3, 1869, he was united in marriage with Miss Ella Cox, of Hunnewell, who at once became the mistress of his pleasant home in She]l)ina and one of the social lights and inspirations of the city. Of the eight children born to them seven have grown to maturity and are now living, exemplifying in their several stations the excellent qualities of citizenshi]! acquired from the teachings and example of their parents.

In 1872, while Samuel A. Rawlings, one of the proprietors of the Democrat, was engaged in a political campaign, Mr. Jewett filled his place on the editorial staff of the paper for a time, conducting the publication in conjunction with Mr. Rawlings' partner, ]\Ir. Hoselton. Mr. Rawlings died in 1875, and thereafter Mr. Jewett assisted Mr. Hoselton in editing the paper until IMay, 1881, when he bought a half interest in it. Prior to this, however, in 1870, he stumped the county for Hon. B. Gratz Brown and the enfranchisement of the persons prohibited from voting by the provisions of the Drake constitution. He made a high repiitation as an effective and entertaining campaigner, and in 1876 was elected prosecuting attorney of Shelby county for a term of two years, being re-elected at the end of his term.

Mr. Jewett's services and the ability he displayed in the various fields of usefulness mentioned marked liim as a liroper jierson for further imblic service, and in 1886 he was chosen a member of the lower house of the state legislature, to which he was again elected in 1888. For many years before this time he had been prominent and zealous in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in 1899 he was made Grand Master of the order for Missouri, filling the office with great credit to himself and benefit to the oi'der. He maintained his rank as one of the leading citizens of the state, and in 1904 was appointed by Governor Folk a member of the board of visitors to the state university.

The last named position to which he was assigTied by official appointment did not come to him as an accident or a mere empty honor. He had sig-nalized his interest in the cause of general education for the people in another line of productive and valued usefulness. In 1892 he was president of the Missouri Press Association, and for five years sei'ved as chairman of the legislative committee of the National Editorial Association. In the Missouri Press Association he secured the passage of a resolution providing for the origin of the State Historical Society, with headquarters at Columbia, and in 1906 was its president. He is also called the "Father of the School of Journalism" at the State University, because he got the Missouri Press Association to adopt a resolution favoring the establishment of the chair of journalism in that institution.

The above brief account of the life of this highly serviceable and far-seeing citizen necessarily gives but a meager record of his services to the people of his county and state. His newspaper work has been a potential factor in helping to build up the territory in which the paper circulates, and has always been considered by him a direct and jjositive means of reaching the people for the purpose of benefiting thein in every way. He is a gentleman of strong convictions and fearless courage in declaring them. In all his efforts for the advance and improvement of his section of the country he has built for the future, and in the sweep of his vision no avenue to promoting the interests of the public, mental, moral, municipal, county or state, has been overlooked or given slight attention. His record of service to the people of Shelby county is a long one, and there is nothing in ii all that is not creditable to him and worthy of the most elevated and productive citizenship. And although he is approaching the age of four score years, his vigor is still unabated, and all his faculties are still in full harness and energetic work. Missouri has no better citizen and none who has done more for her welfare according to his opportunities.

John D. Tolle

Mr. Tolle has been a resident of Missouri from the time of his nativity to the present, is a member of one of the sterling pioneer families of this commonwealth, and he is now numbered among the representative farmers and stockgrowers of Shelby county, where he has maintained his home for sixty years and where he has gained a large measure of success, the while he has held a secure place in the confidence and regard of his fellow men. He was loyal to the cause of the Confederacy during the Civil war and was one of its valiant soldiers.

Mr. Tolle was born in Marion county, Missouri, on March 17, 1842, and is a son of Parmenas W. and Susan Jane (Davis) Tolle, both natives of the state of Virginia, where the respective families were founded in an early day. Parmenas W. Tolle was bom in the year 1812, and in the pioneer days he came to Missouri and settled in Marion county, where he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits and where he continued to reside until 1849, in which memorable year he joined the exodus of gold seekers making their way across the plains to California, and he died of cholera while en route to the new Eldorado, his remains being interred on the wild plains of the west. His wife survived him by a number of years, passing the closing years of her life in ]\rarion county, this state. She was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and of the same denomination her husband also was a member prior to its division from the Methodist church in the north, at the time of the Civil war. In politics Mr. Tolle was an old-line Wliig, and he was known as a man of superior mentality and sterlingintegrity of character. Of the eight children four are now living, and concerning them the following brief record is entered: Lucy Jane is the wife of "Wil liam P. Johnson, of Marion county; Paulina L. is immarried and resides in Philadelphia, Missouri ; John D. is the immediate subject of this review, and Frances P. is the wife of John Smith, of St. Joseph, Missouri.

primitive pioneer schools of Marion county, where he was reared to manhood and where he continued to be identified with farming until there came the call of higher duty and he tendered his services in defense of the institutions under whose influence he had been reared. In June, 1862, he enlisted in the command of Gen. Joseph Porter, with which he participated in the engagements at Moore's Mill, Clapp Ford, and Cherryville, besides a large number of skirmishes. He was wounded in the conflict at Moore's Mill and was taken off the field by Union soldiers, being cared for and receiving medical treatment at a farm house, and his injury was of such order that he was incapacitated for further service, so that he was mustered out and received his honorable discharge in 1862.

After the war Mr. Tolle continued to reside in Marion county until 1869, when he removed to Shelby county and took up his abode in Black Creek township, where he is now the owner of a well improved and valuable farm of 240 acres, the same being devoted to diversified agriculture and to the raising of excellent grades of live stock. Mr. Tolle has shown much energj^ and discrimination in the handling of his business affairs and the o])eration of his farm, and through his well ordered efforts he has attained to a position as one of the substantial farmers and representative citizens of the county. He is held in high esteem in the community tJiat has so longrepresented his home, is a staunch adherent of the Democratic i^arty, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and his wife

David Morgan

In the year 1870 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Tolle to Miss Martha A. Wheelington, who was born in Maryland, and who was a child at the time of her parents' removal to Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Tolle have four children, Susan E., who is the wife of Gideon McDonald, of Shelby county; Daisy I., who is the wife of Henry Wear, of this county; John P., a mail clerk, resides in St. Louis; Charles Wainwright is married to Grace D. Triggle, of Clinton county, Missouri, and resides on his father's farm. Mr. Tolle has five grandchildren.

Of the seventy-three years of life vouchsafed to the late David Morgan, one of the most successful manufacturers and business men of Shelbiua, and one of its leading and most representative citizens, fifty-five were passed in the United States and forty-six in Shelby coimty, Missouri. He was born in Wales on August 9, 1830, and became a resident of this country in 1848. The portion of his native land in which he lived was filled with highly-tinted stories of America as a land of great promise and almost boundless opportunity for industry, and these stories filled his youthful mind with an ardent desire to come to and live in a country of such openings and possibilities, and when he reached the age of eighteen years he could no longer resist the tug on his heart strings Columbia was making.

steam had not yet depoetized commerce and travel, and journey forth in an effort to work out for himself a better career than seemed possible to him in his own country. He left the scenes and associations of his boyhood, and without the companionship and encouragement of any other member of his family, embarked himself and his hopes in a sailing vessel bound for the city of New York. His voyage, although prolonged, was uneventful, and all the discomforts it brought him were cheerfully borne in the faith he cherished that he was making his way to prospei-ity and consequence among men. They were afterward amply atoned for by the success he achieved, the estate he accumulated and the influence and high esteem to which he attained.

On his arrival in this country Mr. Morgan took up his residence in Cortland county. New York. There he learned the trade of a wagon maker and worked at it until 1857. In that year the western fever that had been burning in his brain for some time reached a climax, and he came to Missouri, locating in Shelby county. When he arrived in Shelbina he at once started a wagon factory in the town, and this he conducted successfully and with a high and widespread reputation for the excellence of his output until his death on April 30, 1903. Some years later he also engaged in merchandising in imiilements and road vehicles, having his sons associated with him in the enterprise, which was carried on under the firm name of D. Morgan & Sons. This business was profitable, like the other, and ]\Ir. Morgan was highly esteemed. His popularity

On January 12, 1860, Mr. Morgan was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. "Williams, the marriage being solemnized in Monroe county, of which the bride was a resident at the time. They became the parents of four children, all of whom are living and reside in Shelbina. They are : William W., James H., David, Jr., and John R. Their mother is still living and also has her home in Shelbina. Many of her forty-three years of wedded life were years of toil and endurance. But like her husband, she was at all tunes sustained and buoyed up by the hope of better conditions, and was winning her way toward them by faithful attention to every daily duty, both with reference to her family and the commimity in which she lived. Her record is well known to the people around her, and there is not one who does not esteem her highly.

In political faith Mr. Morgan was an ardent Democrat of the old school. And while he was ever loyal to his party and faithful in its services, he never sought or desired a political office for himself either by election or ai^pointment. His principal concern in public atfairs centered in the welfare of his city, township and county, the progress and elevation of their people and the full and wholesome development of every industrial, mental and moral agency at work in their midst. And to the practical and useful realization of his desires in these respects he gave himself with ardor and an energy that accomplished good results in themselves and more in the forces in other persons which they awakened and set in motion. In fraternal life he was connected with and devoted to the Masonic order, socially he moved in the iirst rank in the community, and in business circles he was regarded as a leader, a judicious guide and a strong source of inspiration.

The men of the present day in Shelby county are doing their part to keep up and quicken the progress and sane and safe development of the region, and are doing many things which their forefathers could not do. But the latter wrought well with the means and the knowledge they had, and nothing can take away from them the credit of having laid broad and deep the foundations of the county's prosperity and civil institutions, and made them altogether worthy of the stately superstructure which has been reared upon them. Among the settlers in the coimty in the primitive stage of its history none is entitled to higher credit or was more worthy of esteem than David Morgan, the interesting subject of this brief memoir.