USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Vol. II > Part 16
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75
Joseph C. Watkins, JJr., received his early educational training in the public schools of Ennis, Texas, where he was graduated in the local high school as a member of the class of 1898. Subsequently he attended the Missouri School of Mines, at Rolla, Missouri, in the civil engineering department of which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1901.
673
HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY
Immediately after graduation, Mr. Watkins entered upon the work of his profession by accepting a position with the Fort Smith & Western Railroad Company, with headquarters at Fort Smith, Arkansas. This road was then in process of construction and Mr. Watkins was employed in the locating of line surveys. He remained with this concern for a period of six months, when he resigned his position in order to accept a more lucrative one with the McDonald Land & Mining Company. He located at Pineville, Missouri, and had charge of the pospecting or mineral lands, in connection with which he managed some forty thousand acres of min- eral and fruit lands, in McDonald county. He remained in that vicinity for one year, at the expiration of which he removed to Stone county, where he assumed charge of another tract of about forty thousand acres of land. He still has the management of the above tracts of land, a total of eighty-one thousand acres. In February, 1907, he removed to Joplin, where he has resided during the few intervening years to the present time. Mr. Watkins is manager for the McDonald Mining Company, and in addition to the affairs of that concern he is interested in a number of civil-engineering projects at Joplin.
At Pineville, Missouri, on the 14th of April, 1902, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Watkins to Miss Lola La Mance, who was born in Missouri, on the 27th of January, 1882, and who is a daughter of Marcus and Lora S. La Mance, prominent and popular residents of this state. Mr. La Mance is deceased, and his wife is living with Mr. Watkins. She is state agent for the W. C. T. U. Mr. and Mrs. Watkins have one child, -Lora Lee, whose birth occurred at Pineville, on the 2nd of August, 1904.
Mr. Watkins' paternal ancestors were of Welsh-Irish stock, while his ancestry on his mother's side was of pure Irish extraction. The ori- ginal representatives of the Watkins family in America came to this country in the early colonial days, some of them having served as sol- diers in the war of the Revolution. In his political convictions Mr. Wat- kins is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party, in which his activity extends only to the exercise of his right of franchise. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Masonic order, in which he is a valued and appreciative member of Joplin Lodge, No. 335, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Joplin Chapter, No. 91, Royal Arch Ma- sons ; and the Order of the Eastern Star. By reason of his father's ser- vice in the Civil war he is a member of the Sons of Confederate Vet- erans camp at Joplin and he is also a member of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association. In addition to his civil-engineering work and num- erous other activities Mr. Watkins is a regular student in the business men's law class at Joplin, where he is preparing for that profession. He and his wife are devout members of the First Methodist Episcopal church, in which he sings in the choir. Mr. Watkins is a business man of irreproachable conduct,-one whose fair and honorable methods have won him the confidence and esteem of his friends and associates. He is deeply interested in community affairs and gives freely of his aid and influence in support of all projects advanced for the good of the general public.
E. F. CAMERON .- True genius is that exemplified in determined ap- plication along a rigidly defined line of effort, and in its train such genius brings its due measure of success. By the proper utilization of natural power and acquired knowledge Mr. Cameron has gained a secure place as an able member of the bar of his native state, and he is engaged in the active and successful practice of his profession in the city of Jop-
674
HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY
lin, where he has so ordered his course as to secure substantial vantage ground in popular confidence and esteem.
E. F. Cameron was born on the homestead farm of his father, in Vernon county. Missouri, and the date of his nativity was February 6, 1879. He is a son of E. F. and Elizabeth (Sullards) Cameron, both of whom likewise claim Missouri as their native heath. The father was born in Andrew county and was a child at the time of his parents' removal to Clay county, where he was reared and educated and where he gained his early experience in connection with the great basic industry of agri- culture, to which he continued to give allegiance throughout the course of his aetive career and in connection with which he has gained inde- pendence and definite prosperity. In Clay county was solemnized his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Sullards and in 1869 they removed to Ver- non county, where the mother died when the subject was seven months old, on September 5, 1879. The father married again, and here they continued to reside for many years and where the father became a rep- resentative agriculturist and stock-grower. He is now living virtually retired, in Clay county, and he commands the unqualified esteem of all who know them. Of their children two sons and three daughters are living.
HIe whose name introduces this sketch gained his preliminary educa- tional training in the public schools of his native county, where he was reared to adult age under the benignant influences of the home farm. After completing the curriculum of the district school he entered the high school at Nevada, the judicial center and metropolis of Vernon county, and in the same he was graduated as a member of the class of 1896. Thereafter he was for three years a student in the academic de- partment of the University of Missouri, at Columbia, and he then en- tered the law department of the same admirable institution, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1901 and from which he re- ceived his well earned degree of Bachelor of Laws. His graduation in- volved his prompt admission to the bar of his native state and in June, 1901. he came to Joplin, where he formed a professional alliance with Preston E. Gardner, with whom he continued to be associated in practice until Mr. Gardner removed to Texas, in 1909. Sinee that time Mr. Cam- eron has conducted an individual practice and he has shown himself so thoroughly qualified as to gain a substantial and appreciative clientage, in connection with which he has appeared in many important litigated causes and gained repute as a versatile, painstaking and successful ad- vocate, as well as a conservative and well fortified counselor. He served as city attorney of Joplin in 1905-7, and gave a most successful adminis- tration. In 1906 he was made the nominee on the Democratic ticket for the office of prosecuting attorney of Jasper county, but was unable to overcome the Republican majority which compassed the defeat of his party ticket. He has been a zealous and valued worker in behalf of the cause of the Democratic party and has been active in its various cam- paign manoeuvers. He is one of the representative younger members of the bar of Jasper county and his success in his profession cannot but prove cumulative, as his powers and close application insure consecutive and well merited advancement in his chosen calling.
In the city of Joplin, on the 8th of May, 1907, Mr. Cameron was united in marriage to Miss Nora Molloy, daughter of Timothy C. Molloy, concerning whom individual mention is made on other pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Cameron have one son, David Molloy, who was born on the 20th of September, 1910.
675
HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY
EDWARD J. PEARSON .- As the years relentlessly mark the milestones on the pathway of time, the older generation slowly gives way to the new and gradually there passes from our midst the men who made our country what it is and who built up this western empire for the men of now. In every generation and in every community some few men leave an indelible imprint upon the history of that community and upon the memory of those who have known them by their ability to fight and win even against great odds, and by that kind of character which wins lasting friends because of that innate quality which people know as loyalty. Edward J. Pearson, who passed into the great beyond at his home in Joplin, Missouri, on the 18th of December, 1907, was one of those.
Edward J. Pearson was one of the best known men in the city of Joplin, where he figured prominently in business and public affairs from the time of his arrival here, in 1888, to the time of his death, in 1907. Mr. Pearson acquitted himself with the efficiency which is always characteristic of signal ability in every undertaking to which he directed his attention. He was a native son of the state of Kansas, his birth having occurred at Lawrence on the 22nd of September, 1865. He was a son of William and Sarah Pearson, and when a small boy his parents removed to Cherryvale, Montgomery county, Kansas, where he was reared to maturity. His preliminary educational training con- sisted of such advantages as were offered in the public schools of Cherryvale, the same being effectively supplemented by extensive read- ing and by instruction from that greatest of all teachers, Experience. He initiated his independent business career as a clerk in the hardware store of Butler & Frickleton, of Cherryvale, and he continued to be identified with that line of enterprise for a number of years. Subse- quently he was employed as a clerk in a dry goods house at Baxter Springs, Kansas. In 1888, however, he severed his connections with the firm last mentioned and came to Joplin. Missouri, where he soon became connected with the J. J. Graham Grocery Company. of which he became president and general manager on the death of Mr. Graham. When that concern went out of business, in 1904, Mr. Pearson became district representative of various cigar manufacturers and for a time he was himself engaged in the cigar manufacturing business. At the time of his demise he was representing several of the largest cigar con- cerns in the country.
In his political convictions Mr. Pearson was a staunch advocate of the principles and policies promulgated by the Democratic party, in the local councils of which he was an active and zealous factor. He was closely identified with the local leaders of the party and at election time many of the details of the campaign were entrusted to his never failing activity and energy. He was a close personal friend of the late Thomas Connor, whom he served in the capacity of private secretary during that gentleman's incumbency of the office of state senator in the Missouri legislature. His work as a designer of some of the laws that have been adopted by the state government is well known and fully appreciated. "He was skilful in debate. a parliamentarian of ability and knew the rules of the political game thoroughly." He was a mem- ber of the house committee of the state legislature at the time of his call to the great beyond. He was an especially prominent member in the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in which he was honored with many important positions of trust and responsi- bility. As a citizen he was decidedly loyal and public spirited and no one in Joplin commanded a higher degree of popular confidence and esteem than did he. His extraordinary executive ability and inde-
676
HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY
fatigable energy won for him the place he occupied in the business world and his jovial disposition and broad human sympathy endeared him to the hearts of all with whom he came in contact, the list of his personal friends being practically coincident with that of his acquaintances.
Mr. Pearson was twice married, but there were no children born of the first marriage. In the year 1895, on the 15th of May, at Joplin, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pearson to Miss Pearl Graham, a daugh- ter of John James and Hettie (Campbell) Graham. Mr. Graham was born in Athens, Ohio, and Mrs. Graham in Maysville, Kentucky. To this union was born one child, Graham Pearson, who was born on the 7th of March, 1899. Mrs. Pearson is a woman of many accomplish- ments, and during his lifetime was her husband's closest friend and companion. Their domestic relations were of an ideal character, marked by complete devotion and unstinted conjugal affection. Sur- viving Mr. Pearson are a mother who resides in California; a widow and a son.
As indicating the generous and sympathetic personality of the man and the appreciation in which he was held by his fellow citizens, the following brief statements are taken from an article which appeared in the Joplin News Herald at the time of Mr. Pearson's death.
"Mr. Pearson was conscious to within a few minutes of his death, his last words being: 'Tell the people that my heart is all right.' In these words Ed Pearson epitomized a character that was loved by even his enemies. Those who knew Ed Pearson's failings loved him for his faults. Those who knew his goodness of heart forgot that he pos- sessed faults. In that he loved his fellowman and had for all a kindly sympathy and a generosity that was one of his chief characteristics, his heart was right. His benevolence was as broad as the field of thought; his desire to aid and befriend his neighbors was sincere and tactful. The closing speech of his career was typical of his nature."
ROBERT M. JAMES, M. D .- Numbered among the able and popular representatives of the younger generation in the medical profession in Jasper county is Dr. Robert Myles James, who is established in the suc- eessful practice of medicine and surgery in the city of Joplin and who is one of the loyal and progressive citizens of the county and city in which he has elected to establish his home.
Dr. James was born in Alma, Arkansas, on the 18th of February, 1880, and is a seion of one of the old and honored families of that state, within whose borders were also born his parents, John D. and Mary (Steward) James, who now maintain their home in Joplin, where the father is prominently identified with mining interests and has other in- vestments of important order. He is one of the highly esteemed citizens of Jasper county, ever ready to lend his cooperation in furthering en- terprises for the general good of the community and known as a man of sterling character and marked business aeumen. John D. James es- tablished his permanent home in Joplin in 1897 and he is now known as one of the representative citizens of this flourishing city, where his circle of friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances. Though never a seeker of political preferment, he accords a staunch allegiance to the cause of the Democratic party. John D. and Mary (Steward) James had seven sons and one daughter, and the family relations have been of the most grateful order, marked by harmony and common interest and helpfulness.
After due preliminary discipline in the public schools of his native state, Dr. Robert M. James entered the literary department of the Uni-
677
HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY
versity of Arkansas, in which he continued his higher academic studies for a period of three years. He then began preparing himself for his chosen profession, and for the work of the same he admirably qualified himself by completing the prescribed technical curriculum in the St. Louis Medical University, in the city of St. Louis. In this excellent in- stitution he was graduated as a member of 1904 and from the same he received his coveted degree of Doctor of Medicine. In October of the same year he opened an office in Joplin, where he has since been engaged in general practice and where he has demonstrated his professional ability in an unequivocal way. He has gained a satisfactory practice and his personal popularity has proved a very definite factor in further- ing his success as a practioner. He is identified with the American Med- ical Association, the Missouri State Medical Society and the Jasper County Medical Society, of which last mentioned he served as secretary for five years and of which he is at the present time vice-presi- dent. These preferments indicate the esteem accorded him by his pro- fessional confreres in the county. The Doctor is a most appreciative and indefatigable student and keeps constantly in line with the advances made in both medicine and surgery, the while his devotion to his profes- sion is such as to imply subordination of all other interests, though he is essentially alert and progressive as a citizen and loyal to all civic duties and responsibilities. In the Masonie fraternity is identified with the various local organizations and in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite he has attained to the fourteenth degree at the time of this writing. In politics he is aligned as an advocate of the principles and policies of the Democratic party. His wife is a member of the Baptist church.
On the 15th of June, 1905, Dr. James was united in marriage to Miss Winning Claycomb, who was born and reared in Joplin, Missouri, and who is a daughter of Hon. Stephen H. Claycomb, former lieutenant governor of this state. Dr. and Mrs. James have two daughters,-Robert Winning, born November 1, 1908, and Sara, born April 22, 1910.
WILLIAM S. WALLACE, senior member of the Wallace Hardware Com- pany, Webb City, Missouri, has been identified with the business ac- tivities of Jasper county since the fall of 1898, and figures to-day as a prominent factor in the commercial life of the town.
Mr. Wallace looks to Illinois as the place of his nativity, he having been born in Morgan county, that state, July 30, 1869, a son of Richard M. and Ellen J. (Potter) Wallace, the former a native of Illinois and the latter of Rhode Island, Connecticut. In 1872 the Wallace family moved from Illinois to Kansas and settled in Bourbon county, where the parents still live, the father being engaged in merchandising there. In their family were ten children, of whom William S. was the first born.
William S. Wallace was five years old when his parents moved to Kansas. In Bourbon county he was reared and received his schooling. Leaving school at the age of eighteen, he entered upon an apprentice- ship to the carpenter's trade, which trade he followed as a young man for about a dozen years, during this time taking some contracts and per- sonally conducting the work. This was in Bourbon and Crawford coun- ties, Kansas. In the autumn of 1898 he came to Jasper county, Missouri, landing in Webb City, October 1st. Here for six years he continued contracting and building, erecting a number of good residences and other important buildings. From 1904 to 1906 he was engaged in min- ing, which did not prove a profitable venture and from which he with- drew after having suffered considerable loss. He saved enough, how- ever, to enable him to open up a hardware business, in a small way, which he did in November, 1907, at 211 North Allen street. As his busi-
678
HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY
ness prospered he put his earnings back into it, and has increased his stock from time to time until to-day he has the leading retail hardware store in Webb City and is doing a most satisfactory business. On April 8, 1911, his son Richard L. Wallace became a partner with him, and the business is now conducted under the firm name of the Wallace Hard- ware Company. His younger son, Elbert N., is also a member of the firm.
Mr. Wallace is identified, fraternally, with the Modern Woodmen of America, the International Order of Odd Fellows and the Fraternal Aid, at this writing being president of the local organization of the last named. Politically he is a Democrat, but of recent years has taken little part in politics other than to cast his franchise, his time and attention having been given to his own private business affairs.
Mr. Wallace married July 27, 1887, at Ft. Scott, Bourbon county, Kansas, Miss Louise Chimpky, a native of that county and a daughter of IIenry Chimpky, deceased. Henry Chimpky was born in Germany, and was one of the pioneers of Bourbon county. His wife, also deceased, was a native of Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Wallace have had four children, namely : Richard L., born September 23, 1888, married, December 4, 1910, Miss Ida Mayer, a native of Carthage, Missouri; Lula Pearl, born July 25, 1890, is the wife of D. C. Mallory, an attorney of Webb City, Missouri ; Grace May, born May 15, 1892, died in infancy; and Elbert Nelson was born February 23, 1893,-all natives of Bourbon county. The sons are high-school graduates and have had business college training.
JAMES T. B. YARYAN, county treasurer of Jasper county, Missouri, was born in Wapello county, Iowa, January 29, 1848, a son of Jacob and Sarah (Bedell) Yaryan. His ancestors, both paternal and mater- nal, were Pennsylvania Dutch, and his father and mother were natives respectively of Indiana and Ohio; both are deceased. Jacob Yaryan was one of the pioneer farmers of Wapello county, Iowa, he having settled there about 1840. In his family were six sons and one daugh- ter, James being the fourth in order of birth.
James T. B. Yaryan was reared on his father's farm and received his education in the country schools near by. After he reached his majority he engaged in farming in Ringgold county, Iowa, and carried on agricultural pursuits there from 1865 until 1870, when he came to Missouri and settled on a farm in Galena township, Jasper county. He has since that time made his home in this county, dividing his time between farming and mining until 1907, when he was elected to the office of county treasurer. In November, 1910, he was elected to suc- ceed himself, and is now the incumbent of this office.
During the Civil war Mr. Yaryan was a member of Company E, Twenty-second Iowa Infantry, and was in the service nineteen months, during which time he participated in numerous engagements, including the battle of Vicksburg and the march with Sherman to the sea. His honorable discharge is dated August 22, 1865, and he is a worthy mem- ber of the G. A. R.
Politically Mr. Yaryan has always been a Republican and has taken an enthusiastic interest in party affairs. His election to the office he now holds is fitting recognition of his standing as a party worker and repre- sentative citizen.
Mr. Yaryan married, October 30, 1875, Miss Ella F. Holt, a native of lowa and a daughter of George Holt, of that state. This union was blessed in the birth of five children : Burchard HI., George, Nellie, Ray T. and Ross. all born in JJasper county. Mrs. Yaryan died January 11,
Charles allobinson
679
HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY
1911. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as also is Mr. Yaryan.
CHARLES A. ROBINSON .- Through an extensive and varied experi- enee in newspaper work Charles A. Robinson, of Joplin, acquired a knowledge of men, their methods of thought and impulses to action, and of the world in general, which qualified him well for almost any other line of productive endeavor for which he was adapted by nat- ural endowment and inclination, and has made him snecessful in all his undertakings. Ile was a poor boy and early in life found himself at the mercy of the buffets of fate and compelled to take care of him- self and work his own way to comfort and consequence among men. He accepted his destiny with cheerfulnes and entered upon the task before him with alacrity, applying all his powers to whatever he had to do and making every hour of his labor tell to his advantage.
Mr. Robinson is a native of our adjoining state of Kansas, and was born in its county of Johnson on July 9, 1875. His father, Richard C. Robinson, was born and reared in Ohio, and the mother. whose maiden name was Mary Miller, was a native of Illinois. They are now living in Neosho county, Kansas, where they are profitably en- gaged in farming and generally esteemed as among the most worthy and useful citizens of the prolific and progressive region in which they live.
They were the parents of nine children, of whom Charles A. was the third in the order of birth, but the eldest of the six that survived. He obtained a limited education in the public school in Olathe, Kansas, attending it until he reached the age of eleven years. The exigeneies of his situation then compelled him to go to work for himself, and he began his useful and progressive career as a newsboy, selling the old line newspapers of Kansas City. He was so apt and alert in his work, and so keenly on the lookout for something better, that he soon secured a more agreeable and remunerative position in the circulation department of the Kansas City Journal. His duties in this engage- ment were to establish agencies and news depots in various places, and thus help to build up the eireulation of the paper. He was very energetie and successful in his efforts and won high commendation from the paper for his enterprise.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.