USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Vol. II > Part 31
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SALEM GOODNER, M. D .- Many theories have been advanced as to the best method of winning success, but the only safe, sure way to gain it is by close application, perseveranee and careful consideration of the busi- ness problems that are continually arising. Investigation will show that the majority of men who have started out in life with little or no capital and have won a competency have to attribute their prosperity to just such causes, and it is those elements which have made Dr. Salem Goodner one of the prominent and influential business men of Sarcoxie, Missouri, where he has resided for the past score of years. A banker, capitalist and extensive property holder in Jasper county, his personal interests are closely allied with the general welfare of this section of the state and his citizenship has ever been characterized by intrinsic loyalty and publie spirit.
At Nashville, Illinois, on the 18th of September, 1853, occurred the birth of Dr. Salem Goodner, who is a son of Salem and Elizabeth Good- ner, both of whom were born and reared in Murray county, Tennessee. The paternal grandfather of the doctor removed with his family to southern Illinois in the early pioneer days and there turned his attention to farming and stock-raising. Salem Goodner was likewise identified with agricultural operations during the major portion of his active career and in 1873 he established the family home in Kansas, loeating in the vicinity of Baxter Springs, where he passed the residue of his life. He was summoned to the life eternal in the year 1903, his cherished and devoted wife having passed away in 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Goodner were the parents of seven children, two of whom are living at the present time, namely,-Dr. Salem, the immediate subject of this review; and Ella, who is the wife of H. M. Anderson and who resides at Gridley, Illinois.
Dr. Goodner was reared to maturity on the old homestead farm in Illinois, in the work and management of which he early began to assist his father. He attended the neighboring schools until he had reached his seventeenth year when he was matriculated as a student in Mc- Kindre College, at Lebanon, Illinois, continuing to attend that excellent
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institution until he had reached his junior year. Hle then left college in order to take up the study of medicine in the office of his brother, at Nashville, Illinois. In 1872 he entered the Ohio Medical University, at Cincinnati, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1874, duly receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine. He initiated the active practice of his profession at Elkton, Illinois, remaining in that place for one year, at the expiration of which he located at Nashville, Illinois. Two years later he settled at New Minden, Illinois, where he continued to maintain his home and professional headquarters for the ensuing fourteen years and where he succeeded in building up a large and representative patronage. In the fall of 1890 he decided to locate in Jasper county, Missouri, and accordingly came to Sarcoxie, where he turned his attention to business enterprises. He entered into a part- nership alliance, with H. Sabert and S. P. Burress, organizing the Red Front Mercantile Company and engaging in the general merchandise business and general farming. He continued to devote his attention to those lines of enterprise until 1900 and for the following three years he traveled extensively throughout the United States. In September of 1903 he purchased Mr. Harlin's interest in the First National Bank of Sarcoxie, this being one of the oldest and most substantial banking concerns in this place. He succeeded Mr. Harlin as president of the bank and has continued the popular and able ineumbent of that im- portant and responsible position to the present time. In addition to his other interests Dr. Goodner is the owner of some seven hundred aeres of most arable land in the close vicinity of Sarcoxie, the same being worth at least fifty dollars per acre. He is an extensive strawberry grower and in that connection is a member of the Staple Fruit Co., the largest growers of strawberries in Sarcoxie at this time.
Dr. Goodner owns considerable valuable real estate in Sareoxie, hav- ing two fine business blocks and two beautiful residence properties in addition to his own handsome home, besides which he also has two briek business buildings in the city of Joplin, Missouri. He is a stockholder in the La Russell Townsite Company, is a stockholder in the La Russell Bank and is financially interested in the Sarcoxie Canning Factory, the latter being an industry that has increased greatly in seope and import- ance during the past few years. All Dr. Goodner's business dealings have been characterized by square and straightforward methods and this fact in no way detracts from his popularity both as a business man and as a citizen. He is a man of quick perception and shrewd diseern- ment and the splendid success he has achieved in the way of worldly at- tainment is the more gratifying to contemplate inasmuch as it is en- tirely the result of his own well directed endeavors.
Dr. Goodner has been twice married, his first union having been to Miss Jennie Boucher, who was born and reared at Nashville, Illinois, and who was summoned to the life eternal on the 24th of May, 1882. This union was prolific of two children, one of whom died in infancy, the other being Estelle B., who is now Mrs. A. H. Forsythe and who resides at Joplin, Missouri. In June, 1886, Dr. Goodner was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Sabert, of Sarcoxie, she being a daughter of Judge J. H. Sabert, of that place. Dr. Goodner is a consistent mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church in his religious affiliations and he and his wife are popular and prominent factors in connection with the best social activities of Sareoxie, where they have so long resided.
In politics Dr. Goodner endorses the cause of the Republican party and while he has neither time nor ambition for the honors and emohi- ments of publie office he is ever on the alert to do all in his power to advance the best interests of the community and of the county and state at large. In a fraternal way he is a valued and appreciative mem-
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ber of the Masonie Lodge, No. 293, Free & Accepted Masons. Dr. Good- mer is indeed well deserving of mention in this work devoted to repre- sentative citizens of Jasper county. Ile is one of the enterprising west- erners whose foree of character, sterling integrity, control of circum- stances and whose marked success in establishing great industries have contributed in such eminent degree to the solidity and progress of the entire country. His life has been manly, his actions sincere, his manner unaffected and in every connection he is well deserving of the unalloyed confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens.
SIDNEY A. MYERS .- Beginning for himself among men the struggle. for advancement with no capital but his sterling manhood, vigorous health, ambition for success and determination to win it, Sidney A. Myers, one of the leadng mining men and real estate dealers of Joplin, has steadily worked out his purpose and demonstrated anew the value of self-reliance and persistent industry guided by good business capacity. What he is as a man, a citizen and a business promoter, he is wholly the product of Missouri. He was born in Vernon county on February 10, 1863. He grew to manhood in the state, drawing his stature and his strength from its soil. He was educated in the public schools of Butler, Bates county, which he attended until he reached the age of sixteen; and at Rockville in that county he learned the trade of steam engineer- ing, which he followed until 1889.
Mr. Myers is the son and only child of William H. and Eliza J. ( Laughlin) Myers, the former a native of Berlin, Germany, and the latter of Green Castle. Indiana. The father was born in 1803 and was brought to this country in 1812 by his parents. They located first in Illinois and later in Missouri. arriving in this state among the pioneers and before there was a railroad anywhere within the boundaries of what is now the commonwealth, making their new home in Benton county, where they passed the remainder of their lives in farming in the style and with the facilities of their day.
William H. Myers, the father of Sidney A., was also a farmer. He {lied in 1867. His widow, who was born on August 10. 1831, is still living, in the full enjoyment of good health and very unusual strength of body and mind. She also became a resident of Missouri at an early age and participated in the work incident to its development from a wilderness to a region of great fruitfulness, rich in all the products and crowned with all the blessings of civilized life.
Her son Sidney became a resident of Joplin in 1889. and began at once to give his attention to the prevailing industry of this part of the state. He entered the domain of mining on his own account and con- ducted his operations without a partner. All of his subsequent years have been devoted to this industry. and he has been successful in it, acquiring the ownership of many mines from time to time, and opening new felds for the increase and expansion of the business. He was one of the founders of Chitwood and one of the hand of courageous men who opened and operated the Benham mine, the first one worked in that locality. He also aided in opening and developing the H. V. E. and the Granby. both. like the Benham, very productive properties. In the same neighborhood he owned the Little Jewel and the Cock Robin. The latter he sold at a good price to Thayer & Chandler of Chicago. He still has interests in many of the mines with which he has been con- nected. and has other holdings of valve. including an interest in the Gus James Machinery Company of Joplin.
Mr. Mvers has a versatile mind and a clear vision for onnortunities. He helped to organize the Joplin Engraving Company and is one of Vol. II-14
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its leading stockholders. This company started the engraving business in this part of the state, and although it has been recently founded and in business but a short time, its work provides for a want so long and so pressingly felt that its operations have already grown to large pro- portions. The company is incorporated, with Sidney A. Myers as a stockholder; Roy H. Noel, as president; and Effie L. Myers, as secre- tary and treasurer. In January, 1911, Mr. Myers added to his busi- ness operations extensive dealing in real estate, in which he has al- ready been very successful, although, at the time of this writing, he has been engaged in this interesting and profitable line of trade but a few months. His office is at 2141% West Fourth street and his at- tractive home at 1711 Pearl street.
The improvement of his city and county, and the substantial and enduring welfare of their people, have always been objects of primary importance with Mr. Myers, and have always enlisted his cordial in- terest and earnest support for every project in which they have been involved. He has also taken an active part in the fraternal life of his community as a member of the Improved Order of Redmen, being en- rolled in the tribe at Joplin. His religious affiliation is with the Bap- tist church in that city, and leads him to generous support of all its commendable undertakings.
On February 22, 1888, he was married in Bates county, Missouri. to Miss Jennie Williams, a native of this state and a daughter of Rev. John Wesley Williams, a Baptist minister and old settler of Morgan county. Mr. and Mrs. Myers are the parents of five children, all of whom are living, those old enough having been educated in the schools of Joplin. They are: Effie L., who was born in Bates county on Jan- uary 13, 1889; Jewell H., whose life began on February 26, 1890, and who is now the wife of Harvey E. Kayse, a resident of St. Louis and a student of dentistry in Washington University there, expecting to prac- tice his profession in Joplin as soon as he secures his degree; and F. Weldon, Lawrence L. and Sidney A., Jr., all of whom were born in Joplin, the first on June 20, 1894, the second on June 6, 1904, and the last on June 19, 1909. Their father's maternal ancestors were Scotch- Irish people and dwelt for many generations in the north of Ireland. The family on the father's side lived for ages in Germany.
WILLIAM M. HOLLY .- At this juncture in a volume devoted to the careers of representative citizens of Jasper county, Missouri, it is a pleasure to insert a brief history of William M. Holly, who has ever been on the alert to forward all measures and enterprises projected for the general welfare and who is a business man of splendid exeentive ability. Since 1904 Mr. Holly has been purchasing agent for the Gras- selli Chemical Company, of Cleveland, Ohio, this concern having added a smelting branch to their business, the headquarters of the latter de- partment being at Joplin.
Mr. Holly was born in La Salle county, Illinois, the date of his na- tivity being the 19th of January, 1872. He is a son of Theodore and Bertha (Brenneman) Holly, both of whom are now living at St. Paul, Minnesota. The father was born in the state of Ohio and in 1850 he removed from the Buckeye commonwealth to Illinois, settling in La Salle county, where he was for a time engaged in the mercantile busi- ness. His health failing, however, he was obliged to dispose of his store and turn his attention to farming. He is now living virtually re- tired, passing the evening of his life in full enjoyment of former years of earnest toil and endeavor. Mrs. Holly was born and reared in Ger- many, whence she immigrated to the United States about the year 1847. Mr. and Mrs. Holly became the parents of five children. of whom the
THE NEW IRK PUBLIC IPRARY
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ACTA. L TILD
Jacob Littoral
subject of this review was the second in order of birth and all of whom are living, 1911.
After completing the curriculum of the public schools of Peru, Illi- nois, Mr. Holly studied German under a private tutor and later he pursued a commercial course in a business college at Bloomington, Illi- nois. After finishing his education he was engaged in the general mer- chandise business for a short time and he then became associated with his father in the work and management of the home farm. In 1899 he entered the employ of the Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Company and came to Joplin in November of that year. He was bookkeeper for that concern until 1904, in which year he began to work for the Grasselli Chemical Company, of Cleveland, Ohio. This manufacturing chemical company opened a new branch of their business, commencing smelting operations at Joplin, Missouri, whither they sent Mr. Holly as purchas- ing agent. He has since retained that position and under his careful management an extensive and ever increasing business has been built up. He is very well known in the ore field and is recognized as an ex- pert in that line of enterprise.
On the 15th of October. 1908, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Holly to Miss Rose Brunner. the ceremony having been performed at Peru, Illinois. Mrs. Holly was reared and educated in Illinois and she is a daughter of Herman Brunner, a representative citizen of Peru. Mr. and Mrs. Holly have two children .- Melita, whose birth occurred on the 12th of September. 1909; and Carl Rudolph, born on the 1st of February, 1911. In their religious adherency the IIolly family are consistent members of the Lutheran church and they are prominent factors in connection with the best social activities of their community.
While Mr. Holly has never manifested aught of desire for the hon- ors or emoluments of publie office of any deseription he gives a loyal support to Republican principles, believing that the doctrines set forth by that party contain the best elements for good government. As a citizen he is public-spiritedly devoted to the good of the general wel- fare and by reason of his kindly affable disposition he has won the confidence and high regard of all with whom he has had dealings.
JACOB LITTERAL .- One of the vital things about a man's existence is his love for the country and country life. Back to the land is the advice that the heart and soul offer man when unrest torments him in his city life. The man who ean heed this ery is very fortunate. Jacob Litteral, the well known farmer and mine owner of Carterville, Missouri, has found the ideal life. It used to be thought that brains were not necessary to manage a farm, but that age has passed. One man can grow thirty bushels of eorn per acre and another. on the same kind of land, ean only get twenty. The cause for this difference is in the grow- er's head rather than in his field. It is a fine thing for the country that so many men of brains and refinement are turning their attention to agriculture, bringing their intelligenee to bear on the land itself and causing it to bear erops to its fullest extent.
Jacob Litteral was born August 10, 1840, in Maggs county, Tennes- see. He was the son of James and Ruhama Litteral, the father a native of Virginia, and the mother of Tennessee. They came to Washington county, Arkansas, in 1846, where they bought a farm. James Litteral died at the age of seventy-one, in Washington county. Arkansas. and his wife died in 1875.
Jacob Litteral only remembers very indistinctly his southern home in Tennessee. as when he was a very small lad he came west with his parents to Washington county, Arkansas. He does remember very viv-
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idly that farm in Arkansas where he lived with his parents, attending the district school in the winter and laboring on the farm, in the old fashioned methods. in the summer time. When the Civil war was in- augurated he enlisted in the Confederate army, serving under General Cabble in the Second Arkansas Regiment. Company D. For three years and a half he participated in all the engagements in which his com- pany had a part. fighting valiantly for the cause of the South, the land of his birth. At the close of the war. being honorably dismissed, he tried to raise stock and to farm in Arkansas, but after several years, in 1893, he came to Jasper county, Missouri, still owning his old Arkansas home. Here he bought the farm he now occupies at Carterville. From 1893 until 1906 he was engaged in mine operating. but from 1903 up to the present time he has devoted himself almost exclusively to looking after his farm and bringing to bear all the improved methods of farni- ing of which he is conversant. He has, however, other interests, having a share in some mines; he is a stockholder in the Miners Bank at Jop- lin and in the First National Bank of Carthage. in addition to being a director in the First National Bank of Carterville.
In 1880 he was married to Miss Adelia Anna Hatcher, a native of Tennessee. She was the daughter of Jabez and Paulina Hatcher. Mr. and Mrs. Litteral have two daughters, viz: Jessie E., who is married to W. C. Burch, assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Carter- ville, and L. Pauline, married to A. J. Ilarrington, a prominent dry goods merchant of Carterville. A son. Charles, died at the age of twenty-four years, in 1907.
Mr. Litteral stands high in the Masonic fraternal order, being a member of the Chapter Lodge, No. 39; has filled all the chairs in the Blue Lodge and for many years being treasurer of the Casterville Lodge, No. 401, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He is a member of the Consistory, having taken the thirty-second degree, and of the Knights Templars at Joplin.
During the years that Mr. Litteral has lived in Jasper county he has become very prominent and he is both respected and liked by his numerous friends. He is most hospitable and takes the keenest delight in welcoming his friends to his home, where they are treated with true southern hospitality. He is deeply interested in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the county and his state, his by reason of adoption. It is hoped that he will live for many years to be an example and a guide to the younger citizens of the state.
A. B. ThoMAs .- Holding a place of marked prominence among the prosperous and influentail business men of Jasper county is A. B. Thomas, of Joplin, a well-known commission agent and the largest commission merchant in this part of the state. A native of Ohio, he was born in Spencerville July 28, 1865, the descendant of a Maryland fam- ily of note.
George Edward Thomas, his father, was a native of Baltimore, Maryland. Locating in Spencerville, Ohio, when young, he carried on an active and prosperous business as a miller for several seasons. Coming to Missouri with his family in 1870. he located at Carthage. Jasper county, and the following year erected the Globe Mills, which he conducted successfully for twenty years, being one of the more pro- gressive and successful business men of the place. Having by means of thrift and superior management of his affairs gained a competency, he retired from active pursuits in 1880, and spent the remainder of his life in a well-earned leisure, passing away in Carthage in October. 1908. His wife, whose maiden name was Nancy Whetstone, was born in
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Spencerville, Ohio, and is now living with her son, A. B. Thomas, in Joplin.
Having completed his early education in the public schools of Car- thage, Missouri, A. B. Thomas followed farming for ten years, meeting with satisfactory results. Coming to Joplin in 1890, he began working for a commission firm, and in 1898 started in business for himself, es- tablishing the Thomas Fruit Company, of Joplin, and later opening branch houses at Carthage and Webb City, and has since developed a large and extremely remunerative business, being one of the most prom- inent and successful commission men of this part of the county. He is a most social and congenial companion, fond of out-door sports of all kinds, is an enthusiastic automobilist and an active member of the Country Club.
Politically Mr. Thomas uniformly casts his vote in favor of the Re- publican party. Fraternally he is a thirty-third degree Mason, very prominent in the order, and he is also a member of the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, the United Commercial Travelers and of the Travelers Protective Association. Religiously he favors the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Thomas was united in marriage, May 29, 1889, with Miss Emma K. Freeman, and they are the parents of two children, namely : Clyde A., born September 24, 1890, is attending the Western Military College at Alton, being a member of the class of 1911; and Burt Alby, born October 6. 1905, is a bright. interesting lad, and the joy of the home.
JOHN A. MCCUNE .- Working his way slowly but steadily from pov- erty to worldly comfort by his own unassisted efforts, working hard and living frugally in order that his advance might be more rapid and all his acquisitions permanent gains, and also winning more and more of popular appreciation and esteem as time passed by his sterling manhood and serviceable devotion to all the duties of citizenship, John A. Mc- Cune, of Joplin, furnishes in his successful business career a shining example of the value of industry, uprightness and persevering progres- siveness in this land of immeasurable wealth and almost boundless opportunity.
Mr. MeCune was born in High Prairie township, Leavenworth county. Kansas, on December 16, 1877. He is a son of Joseph Allen and Ellen M. (Sawyer) MeCune, the father of the same nativity as himself and the mother born in the state of New York. The latter died in 1880 and the former in 1885. They were farmers. working diligently and effectively and making headway toward independence in a material way when death cut short their lives and bound the cruel burden of privation on their offspring.
Thus orphaned at the age of three years by the death of his mother. and again at eight by that of his father, Mr. MeCune felt in his child- hood the stings of destitution and the discomfort of dependence. He was reared by his grandmother, Mrs. Margaret A. McCune. who did the best her circumstances allowed for him, sending him to the public schools in Leavenworth until he was able to provide for himself. He then pursued a course of special training at the business college in Joplin for one year, and followed this with a year at the Kansas City. Missouri. Medical College. At the end of the year he concluded that he did not wish to become a physician, but a merchant or business man. and left the college. He was then nineteen, believed in himself, had a settled purpose in life. and saw the world before him with many in- viting localities open to his choice for the employment of his energies.
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He went to Arizona, located at Tuba, and began trading with the Navajo Indians. He was ninety miles from Flagstaff, the nearest shipping point, and in the very heart of a wild country which had scarcely yet heard the commanding voice of civilization or shown any signs of de- velopment or improvement.
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