USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Vol. II > Part 19
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tor and large stockholder in the Interstate Wholesale Grocery Company and is a stockholder in various mining companies in Joplin and its vicinity. As already stated, Mr. Schifferdecker is now living practically retired, though he finds ample demands upon his time and attention in the supervision of his large and varied capitalistic interests. His fine modern residence, at 422 Sergeant street, is one of the best in the city, and the same is a recognized center of most generous and gracious hospitality. He and his wife are charitable and benevolent, and they fully appreciate the stewardship that success should ever involve. Mr. Schifferdecker is fond of travel and in addition to having visited di- verse sections of the United States, he and his wife have made numer- ous sojourns in the land of his nativity, where he has thus renewed the gracious associations of his youth.
He has never been an aspirant for political preferment. Both he and his wife are zealous and liberal members of the German Lutheran church. He has completed the circle of both York and Scottish Rite Masonry, and in the latter division of this time-honored order he is one of the few in Missouri who have attained to the thirty-third or maxi- mum degree. He is also a valued member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks and its local adjunct, the Elks' Club.
On the 24th of September, 1877, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Schifferdecker to Miss Mina Martens, of Joplin. She was born in Ger- many and is a daughter of Wilhelm Frederic and Frederica (Bald- schmidter) Martens, both of whom were natives of Germany, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they came to America when young. They settled on a farm near Keokuk, Lee county, Iowa, as pio- neers of that state, and later they removed to southern Missouri, where they passed the remainder of their lives and where the father became a prosperous agriculturist and representative citizen. Mr. and Mrs. Schifferdecker became the parents of one child, Charles, Jr., who was born August 21, 1878, and who died on the 9th of the following October.
The career of Mr. Schifferdecker offers both lesson and incentive, for he has been the architect of his own fortunes and has gained suc- cess through worthy means, the while he has so ordered his life as to merit and retain the inviolable confidence and respect of his fellowmen.
DAVID DOUGHTY HOAG .- Some men are the special beneficiaries of Nature in that she gives them capacity for great affairs, and bestows upon them such a harmonious combination and subordination of powers that they can design and execute the largest undertakings with ease. She is also generous to them in conferring with her other endow- ments the clearness of vision which enables them to know themselves accurately, and the genius of application which leads them to use the full measure of their resources to their own advantage and for the benefit of the interests they serve.
David Doughty Hoag, of Joplin, one of the most active and suc- cessful promoters in this part of the country, is one of these men. From his entry into the active pursuits of life he has been engaged on big projects of great force in the development and improvement of the regions in which they are established, and has made them all the circumstances would allow in each case. He is a native of New England, born in Sherman, Connecticut, on March 18, 1848, and a son of David D. and Eliza Oakley (Gardner) Hoag. He began his education in the public schools and was a student of Yale University of the class of 1873, where he was thoroughly prepared for useful- ness according to the bent of his mind.
Before leaving the university he took another important step, be-
Arvid Asking
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ing married on October 1, 1872, in Ottawa county, Kansas, to Miss Maria V. Kennedy, of New Haven, Connecticut. Fired by a spirit of determination and conquest, and with his domestic shrine already established, Mr. Hoag had only to seek a place for the employment of his faculties which would give them full scope and a plenteous oppor- tunity. The great Southwest looked inviting to him, with its vast undeveloped resources, and he chose it as the region for his intellectual forge and factory.
He became a resident of Ottawa county, Kansas, and was soon recognized as a potential force and leading citizen by its people. From 1875 to 1881 he served the county well and wisely as probate judge. But the duties of the office, faithfully as he performed them, were not sufficient to employ all the energies or satisfy the demands of his enterprising mind. In 1877 he began the work which resulted in the building of the Solomon Railroad, a branch of the Union Pacific in Kansas, and until 1882 was secretary of the company which constructed and operated the line.
So striking were his services in this connection, and so successful and productive in their results, that they attracted the attention of other activities, and in 1882 he was made vice president, secretary and general manager of the Kansas City Elevated Street Railway Com- pany, which connected the two cities of the same name in its work and ministered very effectively to the comfort and convenience of the resi- dents of both. He served the company in the triple capacity specified until 1894, but in the meantime found additional avenues of improve- ment for the employment of his surplus energy and the gratification of his pride in municipal and material advancement. Between 1886 and 1889 he located and plotted a valuable addition to Kansas City, Kansas, and founded and laid out the towns of Oakley. Colby. Sharon Springs and Winona in western Kansas on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Alert to everything that adds to human welfare and the progress of the country, he began to take productive interest in our newest and most versatile propulsive potency early in its history of practical usefulness. He soon saw that a combination of its energies and the agencies employing them would give them greater power for good and make them far more serviceable to the localities for whose use they had been harnessed. Accordingly he went to work to consoli- date a number of the electric light and power companies in south- western Missouri and southeastern Kansas, beginning the undertaking in 1904 and completing it in 1909 by the incorporation of The Em- pire District Electric Company, which includes the plants in River- ton and Lowell, Kansas, and Grand Falls, Joplin and Webb City, Mis- souri, with general offices in Joplin, executive offices in Galena, Kansas, and an Eastern office at No. 60 Wall street, New York.
Mr. Hoag is the secretary, a director and a member of the execu- tive committee of this great corporation and in a considerable degree its controlling spirit. He is also the secretary and a director of the Consolidated Light, Power and Ice Company, the Galena (Kansas) Light and Power Company, and the Joplin Light, Power and Water Company, and a director and member of the executive committee of the Spring River Power Company. These great agencies of modern life have in charge a large number and variety of interests, and lay upon him a heavy burden of duties. But he gives them all his per- sonal attention, and each feels the impulse of his far-seeing mind and quickening hand greatly to their advantage.
In political affairs Mr. Hoag follows the lead of the Republican
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party and is one of its reliable and serviceable workers in his locality. He has not been ambitious of publie offiee, but the people have desired the benefit of his ability and industry in the administration of publie affairs, and at one time succeeded in seeuring it, electing him a mem- ber of the state house of representatives for the term of 1899-1901. His record in the general assembly of the state was highly to his credit and fully satisfactory to the people of the county and the state. It demonstrated that the public confidence expressed in his election was not misplaced and his legislative work has been of enduring benefit to the commonwealth.
In the fraternal and social life around him Mr. Hoag finds much for the mental and moral advancement and elevated enjoyment of the people, and he takes a cordial interest in it in the most practical way. He is a Free Mason of the thirty-second degree, a member of the Order of Elks, a leading factor in the activities of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Kansas Commandery, and one of the illuminating forces in the University Club of Kansas City, Missouri. His religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian church, and he is duly attentive to the interests of the congregation to which he gives the value of his membership. In all the relations of life he is upright and straight- forward, and wherever he is known he is held in the highest regard as a man and looked upon as one of Missouri's most estimable and representative citizens.
EDWARD LEE SHEPHERD .- One of the most brilliant young represen- tatives of the Jasper county bar is Edward Lee Shepherd, whose at- tainments in his chosen profession have already proved of the soundest and most effective character. He is particularly well-born, his ancestors on both sides of the house having been stalwart defenders of American liberty and fine exponents of the highest type of citizen- ship since Revolutionary days, while his father, the late Jacob A. Shep- herd, was for nearly forty years one of the most sincerely respected and useful of the residents of the city. In addition to his other claims to distinction Mr. Shepherd was able to give signal mark of his own patriotism by enlisting at the time of the Spanish-American war.
Edward Lee Shepherd is one of Joplin's native sons, his birth having occurred in this city August 30, 1876. His father, Jacob A., was a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where his eyes first opened to the light of day, in the year 1827. He came to Missouri in 1870 and was sufficiently attracted by the charms and advantages of Joplin to take up his permanent residence here. It was his distinction to estab- lish the first lumber yards in the town and it was he also who built the first two-story residence here. the same being situated on what is now Main street. He was a man of great publie spirit and he labored man- fully for the enlightened progress of the community in which his inter- ests were centered and gave particularly excellent service as a member of the school board and the city council. The mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Coleman Thorne, was a native of Trenton, New Jer- sey, daughter of Daniel Thorne, also of Trenton, New Jersey. This admirable woman was called to her eternal rest in October, 1911.
Edward Lee Shepherd was the youngest in a family of thirteen children. He received his primary education in the schools of Joplin and subsequently entered the Marmaduke Military Academy and after graduating from that institution, became a student in the law depart- ment of the State University of Missouri, at Columbia, being graduated with the class of 1898, with the degree of L.L. B. After the latter event he went almost immediately into service in the Spanish-American
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war and was made first lieutenant of Company G, Twenty-second Missouri Regiment, of which Colonel William K. Caffee was command- ing officer. The regiment saw no active service and after his discharge Mr. Shepherd returned to Joplin and began the practice of the law which he continued alone until July, 1908, when he formed a part- nership with Robert A. Mooneyhan. This association was continued until January, 1911, when it was dissolved and Mr. Shepherd has con- tinued alone since that time, engaged in general practice. He has been in the field for more than a decade and has won recognition as one of the gifted members of the profession in the field of southwestern Mis- souri. He has held the office of tax attorney for Joplin and is now assistant prosecuting attorney for the county. He has other interests of large scope and importance in addition to his practice, and is a director of the Cunningham National Bank and also attorney for that monetary institution. Politically Mr. Shepherd gives heart and hand to the men and measures of the republican party, in whose affairs he has always taken an active interest. He is an enthusiastic member of the time-honored Masonic order, belonging to Fellowship lodge, No. 345, and he is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Commer- cial Club. In the good causes of the Bethania Presbyterian church he is one of the zealous workers, and is a trustee and deacon in the church organization. Mr. Shepherd is identified with those organizations look- ing toward the unification and advancement of the profession of which he stands an enlightened representative, belonging to both the State and American Bar Associations.
In July, 1907, Mr. Shepherd became a recruit to the ranks of the Benedicts, at Westfield, Hamilton county, Indiana, Miss Maude White, daughter of John F. White, also a native of Westfield, becoming his wife and the mistress of his household. The Whites are old settlers of Hamilton county and highly respected in the community. The home of the subject and his wife is one of the attractive abodes of Joplin.
Mr. Shepherd's paternal ancestors came from Sheffield, England. Three brothers, Jeff, John and James (the latter being the great-grand- father of the subject), came as British soldiers at the time of the Revo- lutionary war, being members of the British Dragoons. One of the brothers was reprimanded, as he thought unjustly, on a matter of dis- cipline, and induced the two others to desert the British army. They joined General Washington at White Marsh and fought under him throughout the war, remaining at its close to be American citizens and receiving for their services a grant of land near Philadelphia. The maternal ancestors were English Quakers and came to America before the Revolution. G. G. F. Coleman, in direct line with the subject, was a soldier in Washington's army and participated in the battles of Tren- ton and Princeton. He lived and died in Trenton, New Jersey.
CHRISTIAN GUENGERICH .- The great empire of Germany has contri- buted its fair quota to the upbuilding of this American nation, and among its representatives in this country are to be found successful men in every walk of life from the professions to the prosperous farmer. Mr. Guengerich, whose name forms the caption of this article, has re- sided in the city of Joplin, Missouri, for nearly two seore years and during that time has devoted his attention largely to the extensive mining interests of Jasper county.
On the 24th of October, 1843, at Hesse Cassel, kingdom of Prussia, Germany, occurred the brith of Christian Guengerich, who is a son of Jacob and Marie (Brenneman) Guengerich, both of whom were born and reared near Wetzlar, Prussia. The father was born in 1811 and Vol. II-9
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he was summoned to the life eternal in 1876, while the mother. who was born in 1820. died in 1885. Jacob Guengerich was a farmer by occupation and he was a prominent and influential factor in connec- tion with public affairs in his home community during his lifetime. Mr. Guengerich, of this review, was reared to maturity in the old Fath- erland, where he received an excellent education in his youth. After completing the curriculum of the public schools he received consider- able private instruction and he immigrated to America in the year 1886, at which time he was twenty-three years of age. After arriving in the United States. he proceeded directly to Illinois, locating at LaSalle, where he secured employment and remained for a short time. removing thence to Galena. Illinois, where he continued to maintain his home until 1872. In the latter year he decided to pay a visit to his relatives and friends in Germany and after passing one year in that manner he returned to this country, establishing his home at Joplin. Missouri, where he has resided during the long intervening years to the present time. The attraction which brought Mr. Guengerich to Joplin was the great zine-mining industry, which was being boomed at that time. He started in here as a zinc and ore buyer. occasionally taking a "flyer" in the interests himself. and meeting with varying luck. IIe is a man of considerable ability and in due time he achieved marked success in the business world of this city, where he is well estab- lished in the confidence and esteem of his fellow men and where he has been an important and influential factor in connection with all mat- ters advanced for the well being of the community.
In Bourbon county, Kansas, in August, 1890, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Gnengerich to Miss Amelia Kennel, who was born and reared near Wetzlar, Prussia, and who is a daughter of Daniel Kennel. To this union has been born one child,-Herman Daniel. whose birth occurred at Joplin, Missouri, on the 3d of July, 1891. and who is now a student in the Joplin high school. being a member of the class of 1912.
In his political convictions Mr. Guengerich is aligned as a stal- wart in the ranks of the Republican party and while he has never manifested aught of ambition for the honors or emoluments of public office he is ever on the qui vive to do all in his power to advanee the general welfare. In addition to his mining interests he is a heavy stock- holder and a member of the board of directors in the Miners Bank at .Joplin. He is affiliated with the Germania Club, of which he has been president for a number of years, and he is a member of the Road Com- mission, in connection with which he has done a great deal toward the establishment and improvement of roads and driveways in and about the city. He is a member of the Mennonite church, of which he and his family are devont members. Mr. Guengerich is a man of fine moral caliber and high principles and in all the avenues of life he has so con- dneted himself that his career will bear the closest serntiny. He is a true friend and a man of honor in all his business transactions.
H. EDWARD DANGERFIELD .- For more than two decades H. Edward Dangerfield has been a prominent and influential resident of Joplin, having come to this city in the year 1888. He has extensive business interests in this place, being a member of a large and successful real- estate concern and being president of the Middlesex Mining Company. Mr. Dangerfield was born in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, on the 11th of July. 1870. and he is a son of James H. Dangerfield, whose birth of- eurred in England, whence he immigrated to America with his parents about the year 1842. The Dangerfield family located first at Montreal,
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Canada, but after remaining there for a short time they removed to Cleveland, Ohio, which at that time was a mere hamlet. The paternal grandparents of him to whom this sketch is dedicated were James L. and Lois (Holliway) Dangerfield, whose marriage was solemnized in England. James H. Dangerfield wedded Miss Mary A. Newman, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. Newman, who were likewise natives of England and who passed the greater part of their lives in the Dominion of Canada and at Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Dangerfield became the parents of two children, and of the number the subject of this review was the second in order of birth.
In 1888 James H. Dangerfied, with his family, removed to Joplin. Missouri, and engaged in mining. Later he opened offices and launched out in the real-estate business, where he achieved marked success as a business man of ability and sterling integrity. He was summoned to the life eternal on the 14th of May, 1909, at the age of sixty-eight years. and his cherished and devoted wife passed away on the 21st of Novem- ber, 1908. H. Edward Dangerfield, the immediate subject of this sketch. received his early educational training in the public schools at Cleve- land and subsequently he attended a private academy in that city. in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1887. After leav- ing school he became interested in the shoe business. with which line of enterprise he continued to be identified for a period of one year, at the expiration of which he severed his connection therewith and in 1888 accompanied his parents on their removal to Joplin. He devoted his entire time and attention to mining operations for the ensuing twelve years, at the expiration of which he purchased a half interest in his father's real-estate and investment business, which had assumed such proportions that the latter could not handle it alone. After his father's demise Mr. Dangerfield assumed the whole responsibility of his busi- ness, which he still conduets, under the firm name of I. H. & H. E. Dangerfield. In connection with his mining interests Mr. Dangerfield is president of the Middlesex Mining Company. which is one of the extensive concerns of its kind in this section.
On the 22nd of December, 1891, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Dangerfield to Miss Blanche Johnson, who is a native of Illinois and who is a daughter of Rev. and Mrs. A. P. Johnson. formerly of Wis- consin. Mr. and Mrs. Dangerfield have two children, concerning whom the following data are here incorporated,-Alfred HI., born in 1896, is a student in the Joplin high school; and Elinor. born April 3. 1901. is a pupil in the Jackson school.
In his political convictions Mr. Dangerfield maintains an independ- ent attitude. preferring to give his support to men and measures meeting with the approval of his judgment rather than to follow along party lines. His religious faith is in harmony with the teachings of the Presbyterian church and he is a man of broad mind and charitable im- pulses. He is a director of the Mount Hope cemetery and is a valued and appreciative member of the Commercial Club. He is very fond of out-door-life, indulging freely in the various sports as recreation. Socially he stands high in the community. being a man of pleasant address and affability.
DANIEL DWYER .- The strength of his native hills is shown forth in the character of this sterling citizen and influential business man of Joplin. Through his own powers and efforts he has conquered adverse conditions and has risen to a position as one of the foremost practical mineralogists of the country. He has been concerned with mining enterprises since his boyhood days and the great corporation with which he has long
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been identified is conceded to be the largest in the world, as touching the mining of lead and zinc. He is the manager of the properties and business of this corporation in Jasper county, and the local enterprise is conducted under the title of the Empire Zinc Company. The Em- pire Zine Company owns and operates extensive zinc and lead mines in diverse sections of the United States, as well as in Mexico, and with its development work none has been more prominently aligned than Daniel Dwyer,-a man whose life has been one of consecutive industry and whose character has been the positive expression of a strong, loyal and true nature, implying that he has well merited the unqualified confidence and esteem accorded to him by his fellowmen.
Mr. Dwyer claims the old Granite state as the place of his nativity and he is a scion of stanch Irish stock. He was born at Nashua, Hills- boro county, New Hampshire, on the 21st of January, 1849, and is a son of Patrick and Mary (Marah) Dwyer, both of whom were born in county Tipperary, Ireland, where they were reared and educated. Pat- rick Dwyer immigrated to America in 1833 and first settled in Canada, where he remained for a brief interval. He next went to Boston, Mass- achusetts, and finally to Nashua, New Hampshire. He became a suc- cessful railroad contractor and in 1849 he held the contract for con- struction work on the East . Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroad, now a part of the Southern Railway system. He continued to be identi- fied with this line of enterprise for many years, in various sections of the Union, and he passed the closing years of his life at Fredinsville, Pennsylvania, where he died on the 26th of February, 1873, at the age of sixty-four years. At Prescott, province of Ontario, Canada, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mary Marah, who had come to America with an aunt and had settled in Canada. Both she and her husband were devout communicants of the Catholic church, and their lives were marked by usefulness and honor in all relations. Of their twelve chil- dren Daniel was the third in order of birth and besides him three sons and one daughter are now living.
Daniel Dwyer was about ten years of age at the time when his par- ents' established their home in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, where he continued to attend the common schools until he had attained to the age of fifteen years. His academic training was thus limited, but in the school of self-discipline and practical experience he had gained a great fund of technical and general information and is a man of broad views and mature judgment. He was reared in a mining distriet and his earl- jest ambition was to identify himself with this line of industry. When fif- teen years of age he entered the service of the corporation with which he is now so prominently connected. IIe began his work as a laborer in the mines of the Neberoth Mining Company, in Lehigh county, and through faithful and efficient service he won consecutive advancement. He re- mained in Pennsylvania nntil 1884, when the company transferred him to Sussex county, New Jersey, where he continned in charge of its prop- erties for the ensuing five years, at the expiration of which he was as- signed to the superintendeney of the company's mining operations in Jasper county, Missouri. He arrived in Joplin on the 25th of January, 1889, and in the interests of his company he purchased the old Joplin zine works and four thousand acres of mineral land. He continued in charge of development work and other operations of the company in this district until 1892, when a disordered conditions of his eyes compelled him temporarily to abandon his close application. He resigned his office and for several years thereafter he was incapacitated for active business. He finally recovered entirely from his ailments, and in 1901 the com- pany again sought his serviees, with the result that he has since had the
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