USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Vol. II > Part 30
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After completing the curriculum of the public schools of his native place, Orville T. White entered Spiceland Academy, at Spieeland, In- diana, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1893. After leaving school he came west, locating at Galena, Kansas, where he accepted a position as superintendent of the McCann Mining Company's interests, having charge of all the properties of that gigantie concern, among them being the lands of MeCann, Hedges Brothers, Miller & Ping, Oronogo, and others, all big producers. In 1900, however. he withdrew from the mining world in order to engage in the staple grocery business at Galena. In this connection he bought out C. F. Thomas and conducted the business built up by him in partnership with John M. Allen. In 1906 he purchased the produce establishment of O'Neil & Kuhn, at Joplin, which city he has made his main headquar- ters. He has continued to branch out here and he still conducts his con- cern at Galena. in addition to which he also has a branch house at Bax-
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ter Springs. He makes a specialty of all kinds of domestic and foreign produce and he controls an extremely large and lucrative business.
At Galena, Kansas, on the 29th of June, 1904, Mr. White was united in marriage to Miss Amanda Stone, who was born in Kansas City. Mis- souri, and reared in the state of Kansas and who is a daughter of William B. Stone, a prominent mine owner and influential business man at Galena. Mr. and Mrs. White became the parents of one child, Charles W., who was born at Galena, in 1907 and who died in the same year. Mrs. White is a member of the Clio Club at Galena, Kansas, and she is also affiliated with the Daughters of the American Revolution and a member of the P. E. O. elub, Joplin, Missouri.
In addition to his mercantile interests Mr. White is a director in the Miners State Bank at Galena, Kansas, and he is also a director in the W. B. Stone Mining & Milling Company of that city. In politics he votes the Republican ticket and in their religious faith he and his wife are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Joplin, of which Mr. White is Sunday School superintendent. They are both prominent and popular in connection with the best social affairs of Joplin, where their spacious and atractive home is recognized as a cen- ter of most gracious and generous hospitality. Mr. White is very fond of hunting and fishing in the way of out-door sports and in all the relations of life he is affable and kindly, his good humor and generosity winning him the friendship and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact.
R. A. THORNTON, M. D .- During the years which mark the period of Dr. Thornton's professional career he has met with gratifying success and during the period of his residence in Joplin, Missouri, he has won the good will and patronage of many of the best citizens here. He is a thorough student and endeavors to keep abreast of the times in every- thing relating to the discoveries in medical science. Progressive in his ideas and favoring modern ideas as a whole, he does not dispense with the time-tried systems whose value has stood the test of years. In addition to his professional work he is president of the large and enterprising concern known as the Thornton Drug Company ; is deeply interested in mining enterprises in this section and in Old Mexico; and is a stock- holder in the beautiful Joplin Theatre.
A native of Missouri, Dr. Thornton was born at Frankfort, Pike county, on the 1st of November, 1867, and he is a son of James G. and Nellie (Cash) Thornton, the former of whom was born in Virginia, but reared in Kentucky, and the latter of whom was a native of Kentucky. James G. Thornton established the family home in Pike county, Mis- souri, in the year 1845, and in 1880 he removed to Nevada, Missouri, where he passed the remainder of his life and where he was summoned to the life eternal in 1893, at the age of sixty-eight years. Mrs. Thornton is living, and has passed her seventy-fifth birthday.
Dr. Thornton was the fourth in order of birth in a family of eight children, and he received his preliminary educational training in the public schools and in Christian College, of Nevada, Missouri. Subse- quently he took up the study of medicine, under the able preceptorship of Dr. Pryor, at Frankfort, and in 1890 he was matriculated as a stu- dent in Beaumont Medical College, at St. Louis, in which excellent in- stitution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1893. Imme- diately after graduation he engaged in the active practice of his profes- sion at Poplar Bluffs, where he remained but one year. coming. in the spring of 1894, to Joplin, where he has since resided. He rapidly built up a large and lucrative patronage and now holds prestige as one of the
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most skilled physicians and surgeons in Jasper county. He is a decidedly successful business man and is an important factor in the commercial world of Joplin. In 1896 he opened a drug store, which was known as the Mays Drug Company and which, was sold to Dr. Bloekwell in 1900. In 1901 Dr. Thornton started the Thornton Drug Company, the same being incorporated in 1906 for ten thousand dollars. This concern is officered as follows: R. A. Thornton, president ; C. Thornton, vice presi- dent; and Sam Thornton, secretary and treasurer. Dr. Thornton eom- menced his drug business in the same bloek in which he now is, and dur- ing recent years wonderful changes and improvements have been made. He has also mined successfully and extensively in the Joplin field and since 1910 has aeeumulated a number of gold and silver-mining interests in Old Mexico. In 1900 he attended the New York Polyelinie, in which he was graduated. He was one of the incorporators of the Joplin theatre and is a stockholder in that enterprise. In all his professional and busi- less relations he has so conducted himself as to win the confidence and unalloyed regard of his fellow men and he is widely renowned as one of Joplin's most prominent and influential citizens.
At Lamar, Missouri, on the fourteenth of November, 1896, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Thornton to Miss Stella Mayes, who was reared and educated in this state and who is a daughter of H. C. Mayes. To this union has been born one son, Gordon Mayes Thornton, whose birth occurred on the 20th of November, 1907. Mrs. Thornton is a woman of most gracious personality and she is a potent influence for good in the home and community.
Dr. Thornton is affiliated with a number of professional organiza- tions of representative character and in a fraternal way is a Mason and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. His political allegiance is accorded to the Democratic party, and while he is not an office seeker his loyalty and public-spirit in all matters affecting the general welfare have ever been of the most insistent order.
HARVEY W. NASH, who is the decidedly popular and efficient incum- bent of the office of city collector at JJoplin, Missouri, is a citizen who regards a public office as a public trust. He was first elected city col- lector in 1905 and has been his own successor in the office continuously to the present time, in 1911. Mr. Nash was born at Crown Point, In- diana, on the 17th of November, 1869, and he is a son of E. M. Nash, who was a well known and prominent citizen of Joplin at the time of his demise, in September, 1904. The father was a contractor and stationary engineer during his active business career. He was born in the state of New York in the year 1849 and as a young man established his home in Indiana, whence he later removed, in 1876, to Joplin, Missouri. He mar- ried Miss Hannah Shupe, of Pennsylvania. The mother died in 1872, when Harvey W. was a mere child.
At the age of seven years Harvey W. Nash aecompanied his father to Joplin and he received his early educational training in the public schools of the east side of the city. After leaving school he was employed by G. B. Young as elerk in a dry-goods store, continuing to be thus en- gaged for a period of six years, at the expiration of which he began to work for the English Supply Company. After leaving that concern he again clerked in a dry-goods store and two years later he was hired to install the machinery in the mine of the Kansas & Texas Coal Company, at Weir City, Kansas. This latter work consumed a whole year, but so effective and thorough was his work that it has been copied on a num- ber of different occasions. In 1903 he was urged to accept a position in the city collector's office. This he did, becoming deputy collector, under
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W. A. Kirkpatrick, on the 17th of October, 1903. In 1905 he was per- suaded to himself run for the office of city collector and in the ensuing campaign he was elected by a majority of sixty-nine votes over his op- ponent. He filled the office with great eredit to himself, and so great was the trust in his ability and honesty that he was elected as his own successor in that office in 1907. In that campaign he received a larger majority than any ever given to a candidate in this city, the same being one thousand seventy-nine votes over his nearest opponent. In 1909 he was elected with a majority of four hundred and eighteen votes and he was again elected in 1911, with four hundred and eighty-two majority. Mr. Nash's long incumbeney of the office he now holds is the best proof of his capability as a public official. Neither in public nor in private life has he ever betrayed a trust; his word is his bond and he is every- where honored for his upright and sterling character.
On the 3d of February. 1895, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Nash to Miss Stella M. Lane, who is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Lane, the former of whom is a well known hotel man at Webb City, Mis- souri. Mr. and Mrs. Nash have become the fond parents of three chil- dren, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth,-Wil- lard Lanoix, who died in infancy; Galen Wayne, attending school; and Donald Carl.
In politics Mr. Nash endorses the cause of the Democratie party, in the local councils of which he has long been a most active and interested factor. In his fraternal associations he is affiliated with the local lodges of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of the Mac- cabees, the Knights and Ladies of Security and the Knights of Pythias. In their religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Nash are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the different departments of whose work they figure prominently, and the latter is also a valued and appreciative member of the Knights and Ladies of Security and the Knights and Ladies of Honor. It may be stated with authority that Mr. Nash is one of the most popular public officials in Joplin. He is the owner of some valuable real estate in this city, in connection with which he has a very beautiful home. which is a center of refinement and hospitality.
JOSEPH E. ALDRICH .- Endowed with a generous allowance of New England thrift. ingenuity and enterprise by having been born and reared among the people of that section of the country, where his parents were also born and passed their lives, and inheriting from long lines of English. Irish and French ancestors the salient characteristics of three of the most substantial. versatile and progressive peoples in the world, Joseph E. Aldrich, one of the most successful and prominent mine operators in the Southwestern mining district, was well equipped by nature for the requirements of almost any situation in which he might find himself. He was also well educated. attending first-rate schools at Catskill. New York, and Rutgers College. New Brunswick. New Jersey. being graduated from the latter in 1879. His natural abil- ity was therefore well trained in scholastic lines. and his great success in all his undertakings shows that neither his natural gifts nor his mental training was thrown away on him.
Mr. Aldrich is a native of North Adams, Massachusetts, where he was born on December 2, 1855. He is a son of Henry B. and Laura (Gray) Aldrich, both of the same nativity as himself. The father kept a livery stable and dealt extensively in horses. He was born on July 12, 1833, and died on January 19. 1890. The mother's life began in 1832 and ended in 1888. They had two children, their daughter Mary,
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who is the wife of Judge E. E. Sapp, of Galena, Kansas, and their son Joseph E.
After completing his course at Rutgers College Mr. Aldrich moved to Galena, Kansas, and engaged in mining on his own account and by himself. He has followed this line of industry ever since, and has owned and operated a number of rich and productive mines, some of them the best in the whole Southwestern mining district. Among the large number of which he has had the exclusive ownership are the Oasis. the Tender Foot, the Mooney, the Sun Flower and the Mary Ann. The last named was the richest ever opened in the district. It is located at Galena on the "Lost Forty," and was one of the wonders of the mining industry in its prime. Mr. Aldrich also owned the An- nie Rooney, the Nancy Lee and the Happy Rock mines, all good pro- ducers and all his exclusive property. He has known how to invest his accumulations, the fruits of his industry, enterprise and business acu- men. to good advantage, and has extensive holdings of real property, bank stocks and other valuable assets. being accounted one of the wealthiest men in the district.
But, although his success made him wealthy, it did not make him indifferent to the welfare of the region in which he acquired it. He has always been a potential force in public improvement and an earnest practical supporter of every worthy undertaking for the advancement or betterment of the section of country in which he lives, giving his active aid in good counsel and liberal material backing to whatever he deemed of worth in promoting the enduring good of the people around him.
He has ever been progressive, too, reaching out for new developments and in search of improved appliances for the work in which he has been engaged. He brought into the locality of his mines the first steam drill ever used in it, or in this section of the country, and erected the third concentrating plant in the United States. He also introduced the first ore crusher used in this part of the land. He had it manufactured at the Fort Seott foundry, and it was the first one ever turned out by that institution. The mill cost him fourteen thousand dollars, and would crush and clean only thirty tons at a shift. The machine was a source of great local pride in its day and gave a considerable stimulus to the demand for improved applianees. But it was insignificant in com- parison with the erushing mills now in use. and of course lacked many of their most useful features.
In political affairs Mr. Aldrieh adheres to the principles and candi- dates of the Republican party, but he has never been an active partisan, and has never had any ambition whatever for election or appointment to a political office of any kind or degree. As a member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, he takes an active part in the fra- ternal life of his community. He is also very charitable. contributing liberally to every worthy cause and the aid of all the mental, moral and social agencies at work among the people for the general weal. In so- cial life he is a genuine sunbeam, warming and gilding everything he comes in contact with, and is very popular for his cultivation and his sincere courtesy of manner and disposition, as he is also most highly esteemed for his uprightness, breadth of view, progressiveness and strict performance of all the duties of citizenship on an elevated plane of devotion to the best interests of his county, state and country.
In June, 1881, he was united in marriage with Miss Alice A. H. Bacon, a native of North Adams. Massachusetts. where the marriage was solemnized. She is a daughter of Joel and Elizabeth Bacon and a scion of some of the oldest families in the city and state of her nativity.
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No children have been born of her union with Mr. Aldrich. He is of English ancestry on his father's side, and of Irish and French on his mother's. He has made his own way in the world, and all his accumu- lations in worldly wealth and public esteem are the results of his own energy and worth.
AUSTIN HARVEY figures as one of the representative and progressive business men of the younger generation in the city of Joplin, Missouri, where he is most successfully engaged in the hardware business, his es- tablishment being well known under the firm name of Austin Harvey. Mr. Harvey was born at Bolivar. Missouri, on the 25th of November, 1872, and he is a son of Thomas and Luvino (Griffin) Harvey, the for- mer of whom was a native of the state of Missouri and the latter of whom claims Kentucky as the place of her birth. The father was engaged in farming during the greater part of his active career and he was sum- moned to the life eternal in 1879, at which time the subject of this review was a child of but seven years of age. The mother is still liv- ing, at the age of sixty-three years, and she is now residing in Newton county, Missouri, on a farm. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Harvey were the parents of two children, of whom the subjeet of this article was the first born.
Mr. Harvey, of this notice was eight years of age at the time of his mother's removal to Joplin, to whose excellent public schools he is indebted for his early educational discipline. After leaving school he went to work for J. C. Murdock & Company, at LeHigh, Missouri, work- ing in the hardware store of that concern for a period of six years, at the expiration of which he returned to Joplin and secured employment with W. S. Crane in a hardware store at a mining camp called Blen- ville. Three years later he entered the employ of E. Webster, remaining with him for one year. In 1894 he was appointed deputy constable, under W. Cox, and he retained that office for the ensuing two years. He then became interested in mining operations and in that connection went to the Blenville district, where he was identified with that line of work for two years. Eventually he returned to Joplin, where he en- tered the race for the office of constable. He was elected on the Repub- lican ticket, in 1898, and served with the utmost efficiency in that ca- pacity for a term of two years. He then entered into a partnership alliance with Elmer Webster in a hardware store on Seventh and Main streets. Subsequently he disposed of his interest in that business and opened up a hardware store for himself at 415 Main street. This es- tablishment he conducted with marked success for the ensuing three years, when he was forced, on account of increased trade, to remove to more commodious quarters. He then located at 822 Main street, where he has since remained. He controls a very extensive and decidedly up- to-date business and is everywhere accorded the unqualified regard of his fellowmen by reason of his square and straightforward methods. He is a business man of shrewd discernment, unusual energy and splendid executive ability and he owns his present position of prominence and influence in the financial world of Joplin to his own well directed efforts.
At Joplin, on the 13th of November, 1895, was celebrated the mar- riage of Mr. Harvey to Miss Thressa Kemp, who is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. Kemp, popular and prominent citizens of Joplin, where they have long resided. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey have two children,- Horace R., whose birth occurred at Joplin in 1896 and who is now at- tending the Jackson school; and Kemp, born in this city on the 19th of December, 1907.
In politics Mr. Harvey accords a stalwart allegiance to the cause
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of the Republican party, as previously intimated. and his fraternal affiliations are with the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights and Ladies of Security. In the time-honored Masonic order he has passed through the cirele of the Scottish Rite branch. and he has been honored with the thirty-third degree. In the York Rite branch he is connected with Home Lodge, No. 345, Free & Accepted Masons, and in addition thereto he is a memmber of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Harvey is very fond of fishing and all out-door life and he is a very genial, good-natured man. one who is deeply beloved by all with whom he has come in contact.
SIMPSON S. NIX .- A fine old veteran of the Civil war and the present able and popular ineumbent of the office of city assessor of Joplin, Mis- souri. is Simpson S. Nix, who has here resided since 1900 and who is everywhere accorded that unalloyed confidence and esteem which are so indicative of sterling character and worth.
Mr. Nix was born in Weakley county, Tennessee, the date of his na- tivity being the 10th of April, 1841. He is a son of Riley F. and Mary Ann (Alexander) Nix, both of whom were born in North Carolina, the former on the 18th of February, 1820, and the latter on the 18th of December, 1820. The father removed to Tennessee as a young man and later he established the family home in Kentucky, where he was identi- fied with agricultural operations and where his death occurred on the 25th of April. 1898, at which time he had attained to the venerable age of seventy-eight years. He was sheriff and public administrator of his county for many years. Mrs. Riley F. Nix passed away on the 5th of January, 1899, at the age of seventy-nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Nix were the parents of nine children-five sons and four daughters, five of whom are living in 1911.
In the public schools of Tennessee and Kentucky Mr. Simpson S. Nix received his preliminary educational training. At the time of the inception of the Civil war he manifested a great deal of enthusiasm for the cause of the South and on the 10th of October, 1862, he enlisted as a soldier in Company G. Seventh Kentucky Regiment, in which he was given the rank of third lieutenant. He fought with all of valor and faithfulness until the battle of Shiloh, in which he was severely wounded. After convalescing he again proceeded to the front and he continued as a gallant soldier until the 10th of June, 1863, having received his honorable discharge a short time prior to the surrender of Vicksburg. After the close of his military career Mr. Nix returned to his home in Callaway county, Kentucky, where he was appointed deputy sheriff to serve under his father, who was then sheriff of the county. The father was also publie administrator at one time. During President Cleve- land's first administration Mr. Nix's son, Edward D., was appointed marshal of Indian Territory, with headquarters at Guthrie. and at that time the Nix family removed to Guthrie. Oklahoma, where the father became clerk and deputy marshal. In March, 1900, Mr. Nix came to Joplin, Missouri, where he was subsequently appointed city street com- missioner and where he was the first truant officer. He was honored by his fellow citizens with election to the office of city assessor, in which capacity he has served with the utmost efficiency for the past four years.
On the 29th of November, 1861, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Nix to Miss Rebecca Elizabeth Holland, the ceremony having been per- formed in Calloway county, Kentucky. Mrs. Nix was born and reared in Kentucky and she is a daughter of William Holland and Mary Jane
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(Miller) Holland. The father was long engaged in the mercantile busi- ness in the old Blue Grass commonwealth. Mr. and Mrs. Nix have seven children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth,- Edward Dumas, Will M., Leona J., May Etta, Nellie, Lila and Daisy. The family circle is a very happy one and the spacious and attractive home is widely renowned as a center of gracious and generous hos- pitality. Mrs. Nix is a woman of rare charm and magnetic personality and she is deeply beloved by all who have come within the sphere of her gentle influence. On the 29th of November, 1910, they celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage, at which occasion all the family were present.
In polities Mr. Nix gives a stalwart support to the principles and policies promulgated by the Democratic party and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with a number of representative organizations. In their religious faith the Nix family are consistent members of the Primitive Baptist church, to whose philanthropical work they contribute liberally of their time and means. Mr. Nix is popular among all classes of peo- ple and his friends are legion, bound in no sense by party lines, re- ligious creeds or social status. His home is his haven and his heaven, and probably no man regards more sacredly the ties and responsibili- ties of home life than does he. He has lived a life of usefulness such as few men know. God-fearing, law-abiding, progressive, his life is as truly that of a Christian gentleman as any man's can well be. Un- waveringly he has done the right as he has interpreted it.
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