USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Vol. II > Part 12
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seends local limitations. Mr. Clay is serupulously painstaking in the preparations of all cases entrusted to him, and the many forensie vic- tories won by him have shown this appreciative work. as well as his broad and exact knowledge of law and precedent. His presentation of a cause is ever given incisively and with no undue verbiage, and thus he presents a strong argument and has marked facility in discovering the flaws in the cause of his opponent. While a resident of McDonald county he served as its prosecuting attorney. from 1896 to 1900, and he was also chairman of the Democratic central committee of that eounty. as was he later of that of Newton county. Sinee coming to Joplin he has been chairman of the Democratic city committee, and in each of these positions he has shown much discrimination and facility in the manuvering of the political forces at his command, the while he is known as an effective campaign speaker and an able advocate of the principles and policies for which his party stands sponsor.
As a citizen Mr. Clay is liberal and publie-spirited, and he is a valued member of the Joplin Commercial Club. besides which he is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. the Modern Wood- men of America, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Royal Arcanum. He and his family attend and give support to the Baptist church in their home city, where Mrs. Clay is a popular factor in con- nection with the best social activities.
On the 2d of February, 1898, Mr. Clay was united in marriage to Miss Corma M. Hine, daughter of Rev. Louis Hine, who is a clergy- man of the Baptist church and who now resides at Reeds, Missouri. Mr. Iline was born in Barton county, Missouri, and is a scion of one of the old and honored pioneer families of that section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Clay have three fine sons,-George, born at Pineville. McDonald county, in June, 1899; Stanley, born at Neosha. Newton county, in October. 1904; and Harry, born in JJoplin, in March, 190S.
FRANK L. FORLOW .- A native of the great state of Ohio, which was not so very long ago on our far western border, but is now in the eastern quarter of the country, and which has almost rivaled Virginia. "the mother of states and of statesmen," in the number of presidents it has given to the American republic. Frank L. Forlow, of Webb City, is a fine representative of the enterprise, progressiveness and all-conquering daring of the people of that illustrious commonwealth. He was reared to manhood on its soil, began his education in its publie schools and imbibed its very spirit by long and intimate connection with its institutions and association with its citizenship.
Mr. Forlow's life began in Defiance county, Ohio, on October 31. 1858. He is a son of Amos and Eliza (Myers) Forlow, the father a native of Butler county, Ohio, and the mother of Berks county. Penn- sylvania. The father has followed farming from his youth and is still engaged in that interesting and independent pursuit in Defiance county in his native state, although he is now living in the city of Defiance and is practically retired from the excessive labor of the farm.
Frank L. Forlow grew to maturity on his father's farm and at- tended the district schools in its vicinity. After completing their course of study he passed four years at the Northwestern University. and was graduated from that institution in 1878. He then taught school in his native county five years, and while doing so studied law with a view to realizing his great ambition for a professional career. At the end of the period mentioned he gave up teaching and entered a law office in Defiance to complete his preparation for admission to
Frault L. Trastout
DF
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the bar. In that city he was admitted to practice in 1885 and at once began devoting himself wholly to professional work.
He conducted a successful and increasing practice in his native county for a period of nine years. By the end of that time the region around him had become well settled and highly developed, and he longed for a newer territory, with its hopes and possibilities largely yet in embryo, and its opportunities still awaiting seizure and use. He therefore determined to come to Missouri, and in 1894 he became a resident of this state, locating in Jasper county and Webb City.
The law was still the idol of his longings and he has never aban- doned it. On his arrival in Webb City he immediately sought ad- mission to the bar of this county, and he has ever since been occupied busily in an active general practice in the courts of this state and those which adjoin it on the west and south. His practice is large and steadily increasing. and has included some of the most important cases in this part of the country. In fact, Mr. Forlow is one of the leading lawyers of southwestern Missouri, and is employed in every case he can find time to take.
It can easily be inferred that his professional duties have been ex- tensive and exacting. But he has not allowed them to absorb all of his time and energy. He has also been interested in mining, and is so at the time of this writing (1911). He has been very successful in his professional activities. for he has shown in them ability of a high order. His mining operations have also been fruitful and re- sponsive to his hopes, for they have been conducted with judgment and governed by prudence and foresight. In every department of his industry Mr. Forlow has shown himself to be master of the situa- tion with all its powers and opportunities in his control. The people all around him accord him the first rank in the legal profession, and they also hold him in esteem as a very capable. enterprising and suc- cessful business man.
Mr. Forlow has always taken a very active interest in public affairs. In political thought and action he is allied with the Democratic party and has made himself by his energy, zeal and efficiency in its service one of its leaders and most potential forces in his part of the state. HIe has served as chairman of the Jasper county Democratic committee, and in that position has displayed a capacity for organizing and en- thusing the rank and file of his party that has been of great benefit to it. He was for six years also one of the leading and most active mem- bers of the school board, and as such he was effective in raising the standard of the schools and greatly augmenting their usefulness.
All matters of public improvement in his city and county have had his earnest and helpful support and felt the force of his resource- ful mind and quickening hand. In fraternal life he has long been a member of the Order of Elks, and in religious connection has for years belonged to the Episcopal church. His lodge and his church are looked upon by him as highly useful moral agencies and he gives them his close attention and renders them every assistance in his power in the good work they do.
On September 18, 1885, he was united in marriage with Miss Ida M. Harmany. a native of Rock Island, Illinois. Her father, W. S. Harmany, came to Missouri and located in Joplin in 1877. Soon after his arrival he founded the first machine works in Joplin and for many years was in active control and management of them. He is still a resident of that city. and one of its most esteemed citizens.
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HARRY C. MOORE .- Does Webb City go a-hunting. it asks Harry C. Moore to be its Master; do the Republicans seek a staunch, influential backer. they call on Harry C. Moore; do the Presbyterians need money or other support for their church work, Harry C. Moore will not fail them ; do the Elks need some one for either social or benevolent work, Harry C. Moore is their man.
N. T. Moore, father of Harry C., was born near Winchester, Adams county, Ohio, October 5. 1835, and as soon as he was through school he followed his natural bent and began to teach. Ile continued in this work until the Civil war was inaugurated, when he enlisted in the Fifty- ninth Ohio Infantry. He was in the army from 1861 to 1865, partici- pating in many hard-fought battles. At the close of the war he went back to the teaching which he loved and for which he was so admirably fitted. He married Sarah Louise Manker, who was born in Thincastle, Brown county, Ohio, August 5, 1844, and was a mere child at the be- ginning of the war. Mr. Moore taught in various places, and in 1878, on the 9th day of October, while they were living at Butler, Kentucky, Harry C. Moore was born. Mr. Moore's whole life, with the exception of his four years' military experience, has been spent in the noble work of teaching. Now, in 1911, he has retired from his profession and is living a quiet life with his wife in Webb City, still having an oppor- tunity to instill into his grandchildren's minds the stores of knowl- edge he accumulated during his years of teaching.
Soon after the birth of Harry C. Moore his parents, in one of their many changes, moved from Kentucky to Indiana, thence to Arkansas, and later to Mountain Grove, Missouri, where they spent two years. They then moved to a farm near that city, spending nine years there, and they then returned to Mountain Grove, where their son attended school. After the completion of his education he became a clerk for the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad Company, remaining in their employ for four years, one year as an apprentice and three years as assistant agent at Mountain Grove. Thinking he could probably make more money in a mercantile business, Mr. Moore gave up railroad- ing and came to Webb City, where he seeured a position with the whole- sale grocery firm of W. F. Spurgin. He remained with the firm nine years. filling the positions of salesman and bookkeeper. When W. F. Spurgin united with the firm of the Interstate Grocery Company, of Joplin, Missouri, Mr. Moore was still employed by the merged firm and remained with them until 1901. He then resigned and secured a posi- tion with the Pacific Coast Borax Company, of Chicago, and traveled for them through the middle west and southern states for four years, when he decided to go into business for himself. He sent in his resigna- tion to the Chicago firm and returned to Webb City, buying out the business of Walter F. Spurgin.
On the 8th of June, 1906, Mr. Moore was married to Miss Mae Chapell, of Dallas, Texas, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Chapell. Mr. Chapell is a well known contractor and builder in Dallas and Mr. Moore had made his acquaintance and that of his family during his travels for the Pacific Coast Borax Company. Mr. and Mrs. Moore have three children : Wilton Chapell, born April 29, 1907 ; Harry Clande, Jr., born March 12, 1909; and Dorothy Louise, born May 21, 1910.
Mr. Moore is a member of the Elk Lodge, No. 861, and his presence at any of the Elks gatherings is an assurance of a good time. In politics he is a Republican, and he may almost always be counted on to vote with the party. He attends the Presbyterian church and is a prominent man there, being always ready to give of his time and his money to any worthy cause. As a pastime Mr. Moore indulges in hunting, and is an
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excellent sportsman. He is a man of wide and varied interests, and such a man could not fail to be a powerful influence in his community. His circle of friends is a very large one.
ALVIN J. BAKER .- One of the most straightforward, energetic and successful business men of the thriving city of Joplin is Alvin J. Baker, wholesale and retail coal dealer, whose business is one of the most im- portant and longest established of its kind in the city. Few men are more prominent and more widely known ; in business circles he has long been an important factor and his popularity is well deserved, for in him are combined unbending integrity, unabating energy and an indus- try that never flags. He is publie-spirited, has at times taken an active part in local affairs, is a supporter of all measures for the publie good, and for many years has been numbered among the valued and honored residents of Joplin.
By circumstances of birth Mr. Baker is a native of the state of Illi- nois, Sangamon county of that state having been the district of his na- tivity, and its date March 10, 1860. His parents, Joseph and Mary (Lemon) Baker, both survive at the present day, this worthy couple being at the present time residents of Joplin. The father was born in Illinois in 1831 and farmed during the greater part of his life. The mother was born in Ireland, but when a small child her parents decided to cast their fortunes with the country across the Atlantic, of whose opportunity and independence such goodly account had been brought to their ears, and made the steps necessary to elaiming their share of them. When Alvin J. was a small boy his parents came to Barton county, Missouri, they being among the pioneer settlers of that section of the state. In 1875 the family removed from Barton county to Jop- lin where the father became identified with mining interests and became one of the most successful of those connected with that industry.
Seven years of age at the time the family came to the state, Alvin .J. received the greater part of his education in Barton county, although he is indebted to the schools of Joplin for a part of his higher instruc- tion. He finished his educational discipline about the time of the at- tainment of his majority and almost immediately took a position with the Frisco Railroad at Galena, Kansas, as ticket agent and in other capacities. His identification with railroad affairs was of about fifteen years duration and this business gave him ten years residence at Galena and five at Belleville. Possessing executive talents of superior order and a taste for commercial life Mr. Baker made a radical change by engaging in the wholesale and retail coal business, establishing the business himself, and remaining at its head ever since the day it first came into existence in the year 1896. The concern has a large and con- stantly growing patronage and is one of the most important businesses of the kind in the city. Mr. Baker, however, does not confine himself to his one line of activity, but has several other interests of broad scope and importance. He owns valuable agricultural property in Jasper county, has numerous city properties, and is a stockholder in the state bank and Southwestern Mercantile Company.
Mr. Baker is one of the stalwart adherents of the Republican party, having subscribed to its articles of faith from his earliest voting days, and at different times in his career he has exerted great influence in party ranks. He is decidedly public-spirited and can ever be relied upon to give his heart and hand to all measures likely to result in the greatest amount of good to the greatest number. He is a member of that important organization, the Commercial Club, and is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church. Vol. II .- 6.
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Mr. Baker established an independent household when on June 16. 1897, he was united in marriage to Miss Helen E. Ellison, a native of Illinois and a daughter of Mary M. Ellison. They have no children. Their home is located at Joplin and is an attractive and hospitable abode. Mr. Baker is ,devoted to our national game-base-ball, which he enjoys above all other sports, and with the history of its affairs. national and local, he keeps in closest touch. In his veins mingle English and Irish blood, his paternal ancestors having come from the "right little, tight little island" and his maternal from "Erin's isle." He partakes of the most admirable of the characteristics of both races and is a fine example of the self made man, his success having come through his own efforts and being the logical result of sound judgment. keen discrimination, and a fine regard for the rights of his fellow man. IIe is one of the broad-guaged men of the community and keeps fully abreast of the times.
WINFIELD M. CLEAVELAND, D. D .- Other men's services to the people and the state ean be measured by definite deeds, by dangers averted, by legislation secured, by institutions built, by commerce promoted. The work of a minister, however, is entirely estranged from these lines of en- terprise and can only be measured by the good he inspires in the hearts of his fellow beings. Since 1908 the Rev. Winfield M. Cleaveland has had charge of the First Presbyterian church at Joplin, Missouri, and during his residence in this place he has gained the confidenee and es- teem, not only of his own congregation, but also that of the entire popu- lace, regardless of creeds. Dr. Cleaveland was born at Oxford, Ohio, on the 7th of July, 1872, and is a son of Edward Warner Cleaveland and Clara (Miller) Cleaveland, the former having been born at Northampton, Massachusetts, on the 23rd of January, 1842, and the latter at Oxford, Ohio, in the year 1850. As a young man the father accompanied his parents to Ohio, where a tract of government land was entered and where the Cleaveland family became pioneer farmers. The original progenitors of the Cleaveland family in America were natives of Eng- land, whence they immigrated to this country in the sixteenth century, · location having been made at Woburn, Massachusetts. The family has contributed many notable persons to the public life of this country, fore- most among them ,being the late Grover Cleveland. Mr. and Mrs. Ed- ward W. Cleaveland were united in marriage at Oxford, Ohio, in the vear 1870, and they became the parents of three children, of whom the immediate subject of this review was the oldest. The mother was sum- moned to the life eternal in 1877 and the father is still living near Oxford. Ohio.
Dr. Winfield M. Cleaveland was reared to maturity on the old home- stead farm, in the work and management of which he early began to assist his father. IIe availed himself of the advantages afforded in the country schools near Oxford, Ohio, where he attended until 1889. There- after he taught school during the winter months, devoting his summer vacations to work on the farm. In 1891 he was matriculated as a student in Miami University, in which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1896, duly receiving his degree of Bachelor of Arts. Ile then entered the theological seminary at Princeton, New Jer- sey, from which he was graduated in 1899, at the same time taking the degree of Master of Arts from Princeton University. In June, 1911, the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Miami University.
After completing his training Dr. Cleaveland went to Herington, Kansas, where he was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian church
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and where he remained as pastor of the First Presbyterian church for the ensuing five and a half years. He was exceedingly popular as a minister at Herington and discharged his duties to the entire satisfac- tion of his congregation, but in 1905 he was called to Topeka, Kansas, where he assumed charge of the Third Presbyterian church. He remained at Topeka for a period of four years, at the expiration of which he ac- cepted a call to Joplin, where he delivered his first sermon on Christmas day, 1908, and here he has since maintained his home.
On the 1st of August, 1901, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Cleaveland to Miss Frances Long, the ceremony having been performed at Jackson, Ohio, where Mrs. Cleaveland was born on the 2nd of De- cember, 1872. She is the daughter of Stephen J. and Emma (Ford) Long, both prominent and influential citizens of Jackson, where the father is a coal merchant. Rev. and Mrs. Cleaveland are the fond par- ents of one child, Frances Genevieve, whose birth occurred on the 19th of September, 1905.
Mr. Cleaveland is affiliated with Kansas Lodge, No. 307, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and since his arrival in Joplin, has manifested a deep and sincere interest in community affairs, having been decidedly successful in reaping a large harvest in spiritual and charitable work. He is a man of unusual equipment in the way of mental attainments, is liberal in his views and all his acts are influenced by that broad human sympathy which is so potent an influence in the various relations of life. He and his wife are popular and prominent in social circles and their attractive home is widely renowned as a center of most gracious refinement and generous hospitality.
WILLIAM B. MYERS, who is one of the leading business men and manu- facturers of Joplin, Missouri, inherited from his ancestors an adven- turous and daring disposition, and in a varied, and in many of its ex- periences a striking and spectacular career, he has fully gratified all the aspirations of that inheritance, but the same time has passed the whole of his life from the age of sixteen in the service of his fellowmen. He has rendered effective aid to the government in peace and war and in in- dustrial pursuits of different kinds, carried on in different localities, has added materially to the progress and improvement of the country by augmenting its productive wealth and commercial power.
Mr. Myers is a native of Bradford county, Pennsylvania, where he was born in the town of Athens, on June 1, 1845. His parents were Captain William and Eliza (Satterly) Myers, the father a native of Greene county, New York, and the mother born in Onondaga county, and reared in that state. The former's life began in 1817 and the latter's in 1821. Both died in 1899. Mr. Myers' maternal grandfather, Jacob Saterlee, was a native of New Hampshire. He was an officer in the war of 1812, and commanded a company at the battle of Long Island. He spent his last years in Onondaga Valley, four miles from Syracuse. Jacob Saterlee's father was a soldier of the Revolution. Captain William Myers was a railroad engineer and master mechanic. He served in the Union army during the Civil war as quartermaster under General Grant. for whose command he organized a company of mechanics. Of this com- pany he was the captain and, under the supervision of the quartermas- ter's department of the command, directed the motive power employed in its mechanical operations. In 1864 he was taken prisoner at Holly Springs, Mississippi, but was soon afterward paroled and returned to his home. He and his wife were the parents of four children, all sons, William B. being the second in the order of birth.
The family moved to Alton, Illinois, in 1859, and William completed
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there the course of instruction in the public schools which he had begun in his native county. He afterward attended the college at Clinton, In- diana, until the beginning of the Civil war. In response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers he ran away from school to join the forces assembling to save the Union from dismemberment. Going to St. Louis in obedience to his patriotic fervor, he there enlisted in the Fourth Missouri United States Infantry, although he was at the time but six- teen years old, the term of his enlistment being three months, during which he served under General Lyon, who was then in command in this state.
In 1862 he re-enlisted, his first term having expired, and was sent with the United States escorts across the country from Omaha, Nebraska, to Walla Walla, Washington Territory, to protect immigrants from the Indians. He was mustered out of the army at Walla Walla in the fall of 1862, and then went with a party of gold miners to eastern Oregon. Some little time later he joined another party of miners in an expedi- tion to what is now Boise, Idaho, but which was then a wild and prae- tically uninhabited region which had been brought into great publie notice by the discovery of gold in its hitherto unbroken soil. Mr. Myers helped to build the first house erected in the limits of the present city of Boise.
From Boise he made a trip to the Willamette valley in Oregon, stop- ping at Champoeg in that state, and teaching school there in the spring of 1863. His next engagement was with a government surveying party engaged in surveying the eastern end of Washington territory, with which he remained until December, 1863. He then returned to Portland, and a short time afterward went through British Columbia, and from there down the coast to San Francisco. He remained in California until February, 1864, then journeyed by ship to New York city by way of the Isthmus of Panama, arriving at his destination on March 28 following his first embarkation.
His parents had moved to Terre Haute, Indiana, and his longing to see them and the rest of the family indueed him to make them a visit in that city. But he did not tarry long at home. The war was still in progress and waging with great fury. He felt it his duty to again go to the aid of his country, and at onee enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-third Indiana Infantry, with which he fought to the end of the war. For a time his regiment was stationed at Bridgeport, Alabama, then was made a part of Sherman's army, with which Mr. Myers was connected until he received an honorable discharge from the service.
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