USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Vol. II > Part 17
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He continued in connection with newspaper work in Kansas City until 1894, then went to Chicago and secured employment in the cir- culation department of the Chicago Tribune, with which he was eon- nected about three years. In 1897 he came West again and located in Kansas City, Missouri, where he opened a retail grocery store, establishing himself at the corner of Main and Thirty-first streets. One year of mercantile life was enough for him at that time, and at the end of it he returned to the newspaper line, taking employment in the cireulation department of the Joplin Globe. He remained with the Globe nine years, and made an excellent record in its service.
In 1908 he was appointed receiving teller of the Joplin Gas Com- pany, a position in which he has given eminent satisfaction to his employer and its patrons, and extended and intensified the general esteem in which he has always been held. He is eareful and correet in his work, courteous and obliging in his demeanor, constant in at- tention to the requirements of his position and faithful in the per- formance of every duty. These traits of character, together with his well known ability and his loyal service on all occasions to his polit-
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ical party, induced his party to appoint him city clerk under the Democratic administration of 1911.
Mr. Robinson is a firm believer in the political principles of the Democratic party and an earnest and effective worker for its success in all campaigns. He is recognized by both its leaders and its rank and file. He knows the voters and how to commend the cause he represents to their judgment and approval, and is therefore able to render great service to the organization and its candidates whenever he takes the field, as he always does.
His ancestors on his father's side of the house came to this coun- try from the north of Ireland and located in Ohio. Members of the family have helped materially to develop and build up that great state, and have written their record in its history in lines very cred- itable to themselves and deeds very serviceable to the commonwealth. Succeeding generations have lived and labored in many states, and everywhere have well sustained the traditions and inspiring examples furnished by the earlier arrivals and residents of the family con- nection on American soil.
Mr. Robinson was married in Kansas City, Missouri, on June 9, 1897, to Miss Nellie Norris, a daughter of Captain W. H. P. Norris, a valiant soldier in the Twenty-first Missouri Infantry during the Civil war. They have one child, Charles A. Robinson, Jr., whose life began in Joplin on June 26, 1904. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. They have an attractive home in Joplin, at 616 North Joplin street.
EVERETT POWERS, M. D .- For a number of years Dr. Everett Powers has been engaged in the practice of medicine at Carthage, Mis- souri, and the years have told the story of a successful career due to the possession of innate talent and acquired ability along the line of one of the most important professions to which a man may devote his ener- gies,-the alleviation of pain and suffering and the restoration of health, which is man's most cherished and priceless possession. This is an age of progress in all lines of achievement and Dr. Powers has kept abreast of the advancement that has revolutionized methods of medical and surgical practice in recent years. He is now devoting his entire time and attention to the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat and along those lines has achieved marked success in this section of the state.
A native of Missouri, Dr. Powers was born in Franklin county, this state, on the 2d of June, 1869, and he is a son of John Alexander and Maria Lonisa (Crowder) Powers, the former of whom was born in the old commonwealth of Virginia and the latter of whom claimed Mont- gomery, Alabama, as the place of her nativity. The father was a physi- cian and surgeon by profession and he settled in Franklin county, Mis- souri, about the year 1843. He was summoned to the life eternal in 1885 and his cherished and devoted wife passed away in 1902.
The last born in a family of ten children, Dr. Powers, of this notice, received his preliminary educational training in the public schools of Franklin county, and he also attended the Missouri State Norman School. As a young man he decided upon the medical profession as his life work and in 1889 he was matriculated as a student in the Eclectic Medical Institute, at Cincinnati, Ohio, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1892, duly receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Subsequently he attended Jefferson Medical College, in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in which he was graduated in 1896. Ap- preciating the value of specialization along the line of his profession, he turned his attention to the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat,
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taking special courses in that field in the New York Post-Graduate School & Hospital, in 1895, and in the Philadelphia Polyclinic, in 1900. He went abroad for work in 1901, studying for a time at Vienna, Aus- tria, and in 1903-4 he studied at Berlin, Germany. He has been en- gaged in the active practice of his profession at Carthage, Missouri, for the past ten years, and is here recognized as the best specialist in the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat in the state. In connection with his work, Dr. Powers is affiliated with the Missouri State Medical So- ciety, the Southwest Missouri Medical Society. the Jasper County Medi- cal Society and with the American Medical Association. His prac- tiee is limited to the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and he maintains well equipped offices in the Central National Bank building.
On the 29th of October, 1903, at Carthage, Missouri, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Powers to Miss Marian Lucy Wright, who was born in the state of Indiana and who is a daughter of Curtis Wright. The Wright family is one of the most prominent ones in Carthage, where the home has been maintained since 1889. To Dr. and Mrs. Powers has been born one child,-Marian Louisa, whose natal day is the 16th of June, 1905.
While Dr. Powers is not aligned as a supporter of any political party he manifests a deep and sincere interest in all public questions and takes an active part in community affairs. He is independent in the exercise of his franchise, preferring to give his support to men and measures meeting with the approval of his judgment rather than to vote along strictly partisan lines. In his religious faith he is a con- sistent member of the Presbyterian church and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with Carthage Lodge, No. 197. Ancient Free & Accepted Masons; and with Meridian Sun Chapter, No. 61, Royal Arch Masons, at Carthage.
WILLIAM P. GREEN .- Education and financial assistance are very im- portant factors in achieving success in the business world of to-day, but they are not the main elements. Persistency and determination figure much more prominently and a man possessed of those qualities is bound to win a fair amount of success. William P. Green, whose name forms the caption for this article, earned his own education and during the later years of his life he has elimbed to a high place on the ladder of achieve- ment. He is one of the most prominent citizens in Carthage and at the present time, in 1911, is secretary and treasurer of the Carthage Trans- fer & Storage Company, one of the most important business concerns in this city.
William P. Green was born in Clinton county, Ohio, on the 9th of February, 1848, and he is a son of Jesse and Alice (Paxson) Green, both of whom were born and reared in the state of Ohio, the former in Clinton county and the latter in Logan county. In the agnatie line Will- iam P. Green traces his ancestry back to stanch old North Carolina stock, his ancestors having come to America from Ireland, about the year 1800, and on the maternal side he is descended from an old Tennessee family. Jesse Green maintained his home in Ohio until the winter of 1870, at which time he removed, with his family, to Jasper county, Missouri, where he devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits in Marion town- ship and where he was also a preacher in the old Quaker church in that vicinity. He was a very religious, high-principled man and at the time of his demise, in February, 1886, the community lost one of its best and most public-spirited citizens. He did not serve in the Civil war on ac- count of his religious principles and he was violently opposed to slavery. His cherished and devoted wife, whose maiden name was Alice Paxson, Vol. II-8
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was summoned to the life eternal in 1887. Concerning their six children the following brief data are here incorporated,-Anna is the widow of Christian Stout, of Carthage; John died in Jasper County, Missouri, about the year 1890; William P. is the immediate subject of this review ; John, who was a physician and surgeon by profession, was engaged in that line of work at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, for a number of years, and coming to Carthage, Missouri in 1884, he was here engaged in the prac- tice of medicine until the time of his death, in 1890; Angelina is the wife of Joseph Hubbard, who is a farmer and contractor at Miami, Okla- homa; and Delphina is the wife of C. N. Wetherell, a plumber at Carth- age, Missouri.
In the public schools of his native place William P. Green received his early educational training, working on his father's farm during the busy seasons and attending school during the winter terms. He was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Ohio until the year 1870, at which time he came to Jasper county, Missouri, where he was engaged in farming un- til 1875. In that year he settled in Carthage, where he engaged in the farm machinery business, following the same for the ensuing five years, at the expiration of which he began to travel for a farm-machinery con- cern. He represented the Champion Harvester Machine Company of Springfield, Ohio, for ten years and for three years he was with the Deere Mansur Company of St. Louis, Missouri. Subsequently he again entered the employ of the Springfield company, traveling for twenty-six years in all. In 1894 he established the Green-Hurst Transfer company, his business partner having been Earl Hurst and the place of business lo- cated at Carthage. Three years later, when the Carthage Transfer & Storage Company was incorporated, Mr. Green became secretary and treasurer of that concern. The other officers are: W. H. Thorp, presi- dent ; and Earl Hurst, vice-president.
At Zanesfield, Logan county, Ohio, on the 24th of February, 1870, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Green to Miss Jennie Hankins, who was born at Bordentown, New Jersey, and who is a daughter of William Hankins. William Hankins was one of the earliest settlers in Jasper county, Missouri, where he was long engaged in farming. Concerning the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Green the following brief record is here inserted,-Gertrude, who was born in Logan county, Ohio, is the wife of D. O. Clark, of Champaign, Illinois; Emma, born in Jasper county, Missouri, is the wife of Earl Hurst, who is engaged in business at Carthage with Mr. Green, of this review, as previously noted ; Bertha, who was born at Carthage, Missouri, remains at home with her parents, as does also Paul II., who is engaged in the plumbing business at Carth- age. The beautiful family home of the Greens is at 216 Meridian street.
In polities Mr. Green is an ardent supporter of Republican prin- ciples, believing that the policies of that party make for the best govern- ment. He has never desired political preferment of any description but gives freely of his aid and influence in support of all measures and en- terprises projected for the good of the general welfare. In their religious faith the family are devout members of the First Congregational church, in which Mr. Green is a member of the board of trustees. Mr. Green is strictly a self-made man and in view of that fact his success in life is the more gratifying to contemplate. He is a man of great benevolence and broad human sympathy and it may be said concerning him that the circle of his friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances.
JOSEPH DEAN HARRIS, lawyer, of Carthage, Missouri, was born on a farm in Jasper county, Missouri, on the 28th day of December, 1877. His father was Sylvester D. Harris, a native of New York and a veteran
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of the Civil war, he having served in the First Kansas Regiment. His mother, Mary Ann Harris, nee Patterson, was a native of North Caro- lina. He passed his childhood on the farm, there he became well ac- quainted with hard labor, at which he was employed during the sum- mer and in winter he attended school. He was educated in the public schools, later attending the Carthage Collegiate Institute, from which he was graduated in 1899. Thereupon he took up the study of law in the law office of Judge Amos Green, under Judge Green's immediate supervision, and was admitted to the bar in 1900. In June of the same year he opened a law office at Carthage, and within the course of a few years became one of the leading members of the Jasper County bar. Unflagging energy and an unrelenting disposition to thorough- ness are among his foremost characteristics, and to them in large meas- ure is due his success at the bar. Mr. Harris was elected to the office of city attorney of the city of Carthage in 1904, and was re-elected in 1906, serving four years in this office. During his incumbency in the city attorney's office the city was engaged in an unusual amount of heavy litigation, chief among which were numerous suits between the municipality and the public service corporations operating within its limits. All this varied litigation Mr. Harris conducted with marked ability, energy and skill. He retired from this office with a rapidly growing law practice that demanded his entire attention. He has built up and now enjoys a very large and extensive practice.
He was married to Miss Mary R. Maxwell on June 17, 1903, who with her parents came to Carthage from Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Harris delights in music and she is possessed of a splendid voice and a charming personality. She likewise takes an intense interest in her husband's success in his profession. They have three delightful children, Maxwell J., Mary Frances and Marcella Elizabeth Harris.
Mr. Harris owns one of the finest homes in Carthage, located at No. 107 North Maple street, in one of the best residence districts of the the city. It is built of Carthage stone and presents a very handsome appearance.
RICHARD THRALLS .- Industrious, enterprising and energetic, Richard Thralls has for several years been actively associated with the develop- ment and promotion of the mercantile interests of Webb City, being numbered among its leading grocers. Coming on the paternal side of the house of French and German ancestry, he was born October 6, 1862, in Vigo county, Indiana. His father, Charles Jacob Thralls, a native of Kentucky, spent a part of his early life in Indiana, from there removing with his family to Bates county, Missouri, in 1869. Taking up a tract of land, he was there engaged in tilling the soil until his death, in Feb- ruary, 1871, while vet in the prime of life. His wife, whose maiden name was Susan Cameron, was born in Kentucky, in 1830, of Scotch-Irish stock, and is now living in Joplin, Missouri, and, despite her burden of years, is in excellent health.
A lad of seven years when he came with his parents to Missouri, Richard Thralls obtained his early education in the rural schools of Bates county, attending regularly summer and winter until fourteen years of age. The ensuing four years he assisted in the management of the home farm. Ambitious, however, to do something for himself, he then rented one hundred and sixty acres of land and began farming on his own account, for six years being employed in tilling the soil and stock raising. Locating then in Butler, Missouri, Mr. Thralls carried on a very prosperons business as a dealer in meat and in live stock until 1903. Disposing then of all his interests in that locality he came to Webb City
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and embarked in the retail grocery business, for five years being located at the corner of Madison and Frisco avenues, but since that time having been at his present location, No. 202 South Allen street. Mr. Thralls has one of the finest equipped and best stocked grocery stores in the city, and is exceedingly well patronized, being especially successful in meeting the demands of his extensive patrons. He is a member of the Merchants' Association, and though affiliated with the Democratic party takes no active part in politics. Religiously he is a member of the Ro- man Catholic church.
Mr. Thralls married, in Butler, Missouri, October 25, 1887, Ella Evans, who was born in Wayne county, Iowa, July 30, 1864, of German and Welsh ancestry. Her father, Frederick Evans, migrated from Iowa to Missouri, becoming a pioneer settler of Bates county. He was in the dairy business, and was subsequently successfully engaged in business pursuits until his death, August 4, 1898. His widow, Elizabeth Evans, is still living, her home being in Oklahoma. Nine children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Evans, six daughters and three sons, Mrs. Thralls being the sixth child in succession of birth.
Mr. and Mrs. Thralls are the parents of three children, all of whom are living at home, namely : Zoe, born in Butler, Missouri, December 6, 1888; Vance, born February 9, 1890; and Mabel, born May 22, 1892.
JESSE A. ZOOK .- Sidney Smith once said : "Whatever you are from nature, keep to it; never desert your own line of talent. Be what nature intended you for, and you will succeed." The gentleman whose name stands at the head of this sketch has shown by his career that he under- stands the thought above expressed, for he has measured his own ability and hewn his way straight to the line thus marked out, becoming, in truth, a fine representative of the self-made men of Jasper county. A son of John W. Zook, he was born May 19, 1863, in Muncie, Indiana.
Coming with his parents to Missouri in 1869, Mr. Zook was educated in the public schools of Carthage. Soon after leaving school he secured employment in a printing office, beginning as a printer's devil, and in the years that followed mastered the mechanical details of the printer's trade with the same enthusiasm that later characterized his every ef- fort. In 1887 Mr. Zook joined the editorial staff of the Joplin Herald, edited by Kit Carson, and occupied the position until 1900. Continuing his journalistic work, he was editor and part owner of the Webb City Register from 1902 until 1906, when he sold his interests in the paper and returned to Joplin. The ensuing two years Mr. Zook was mining editor for the Joplin papers, and since 1908 has been special corres- pondent on zine and lead statistics, writing for Eastern Metal journals, his articles being of importance to the industrial world in governing zinc metal prices.
Politically Mr. Zook is identified with the Democratic party, and re- ligiously he belongs to the Christian church. Fraternally he is a member of Fellowship Lodge, No. 345, A. F. & A. M., of Joplin ; of Joplin Coun- cil of Kadosh, No. 3, A. A. S. R .; and of Joplin Lodge, No. 501, B. P. O. E.
On November 6, 1887, Mr. Zook was united in marriage with Ida E. Snodgress, daughter of Hamilton Snodgress, of Webb City, and into their home four children made their advent, namely: Dixie, born De- cember 26, 1888; Hamilton, born November 25, 1890; Jesse, born May 10, 1894; and Wesler A., born October 23, 1903, the latter, alone sur- viving.
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WILLIAM W. McNEILL .- For thirty years prior to his death, which occurred on the 5th of May, 1899, William Wallace McNeill has been numbered among the sterling citizens and representative farmers of Jasper county, where he developed a fine landed estate of one hundred and forty acres, upon which his widow still maintains her home. He achieved success through his well directed endeavors along normal lines of productivity and enterprise, was a man of strong character and independent views, and his rectitude and sincerity, as coupled with his generous and kindly nature, gained to him the unqualified confidence and esteem of his fellow men. His memory is held in lasting honor in the county that so long represented his home and it is most consonant that in this history be entered a brief record of his career.
William Wallace McNeill was a scion of the staunchest of Scottish ancestry and exemplified in his character and labors the sterling quali- ties of the sturdy race from which he was sprung, the while he ever took due pride in reverting to the old Buckeye state as the place of his nativity. the family of which he was a representative having been founded in that commonwealth in the pioneer epoch of its history. Mr. McNeill was born on the homestead farm of his parents, near Chilli- cothe, the judicial center of Ross county, Ohio, and the date of his nativity was August 25, 1833, so that he was nearly sixty-six years of age when he was summoned from the scene of his mortal endeavors. He was a son of John and Rebecca (Wiley) McNeill, both of whom were likewise natives of Ohio. The former's parents were born and reared in Scotland and his father, who likewise bore the name of John, came to America as a young man. He first settled in Virginia, on the south branch of the Potomac river, and thence removed finally to Ohio, where he secured a tract of seventy-two hundred acres of the richest land to be found in the state, the same having been principally in Ross county, where he became a pioneer settler and prominent and influen- tial citizen. He developed a large farm from the virgin wilds and he maintained his home for many years at Frankfort, Ross county. He contributed in large measure to the material and civie advancement and upbuilding of that section of the state and was liberal and public- spirited, the while he was ever ready to lend a helping hand to those in need or affliction. He erected at Frankfort a good church edifice for the Methodist Episcopal society, and presented the property to the church organization. It is related as one of his kindly acts that when a poor man in the community lost one of his horses, which was killed by light- ning, Mr. McNeill promptly donated to this neighbor a good span of horses, and the same consideration and generosity was manifested in all the relations of his life. His son, John, father of the subject of this memoir, likewise became one of the extensive agriculturists and stock- growers of Ross county, where he owned a fine estate. His home was one in which a gracious and generous hospitality was ever in evidence, and the wayfaring man or the stranger was never sent away empty. His heart was attuned to sympathy and tolerance and his life was filled with kindly thoughts and kindly deeds. Strong in his convictions, he was an implacable foe of wrong and injustice, and he ever strove to aid his fellowmen in living lives of integrity and usefulness. He com- manded the high regard of all who knew him and both he and his wife continued their residence in Ross county, Ohio, until their death. Though he was zealous in the support of measures projected for the general good of the community he had no predilection for public office and never consented to accept candidacy for the same.
William W. MeNeill, the subject of this brief memoir, was reared to maturity under the benignant influences of the old homestead farm
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on which he was born, and he early began to assist in its work and man- agement, the while he duly availed himself of the advantages of the common schools of the locality and period. At the time of the gold excitement in California he was one of the adventurous young men who made their way to the New Eldorado in search of the precious metal, and he remained in that state for a period of seven years, within which he was measurably successful in his quest for gold and in connection with other lines of enterprise. After his return to his native county he there took unto himself a wife, in December, 1868, and in the follow- ing spring he came with his bride to Jasper county, Missouri, and estab- lished his home on the farm which he had here purchased in the summer of 1868. He soon completed the house on the place, having instituted the work of building the same before he went to Ohio for his bride, and here the young couple took up their abode. It is interesting to record that this original dwelling is the nucleus of the attractive residence still occupied by Mrs. McNeill. Additions and other improvements were made from time to time and the house is now one of the fine home- steads of this favored section of the state. The land here purchased by Mr. McNeill comprised a tract of three hundred aeres, and he paid for the same at the rate of twenty-one dollars an acre, which was con- sidered a very high price at the time, as other lands in this section could be bought for ten dollars an acre. He had, however, the pre- science to realize that the tract chosen by him was worth the price de- manded, and the fine farmstead is now one of the most valuable in the county. He made the best of improvements on the property and ever took great pride in keeping the farm up to the highest standard in every respect. Enterprising and progressive, he availed himself of the most improved farming implements and machinery, adopted scientific methods in the cultivation of the land, and eventually realized large returns for his long and zealous application. He resided continuously on the farm until his death, save for an interval of seven years when he resided in Joplin, six miles distant. This was at the time when the scourge of chinch bugs rendered it impossible to raise crops in this sec- tion of the state with any assurance of profit, and during that period his revenue from his farm was practically nothing. He resumed his operations on the land after his pestiferous foes had taken their depart- ure, and there he lived in peace and plentiousness until he passed to the life eternal.
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