USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Vol. II > Part 34
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In 1875 Mr. Taylor was elected a delegate to the constitutional con- vention which framed the present constitution of Missouri. He repre- sented the sixteenth senatorial district, then comprising the counties of Jasper, Barton, Vernon, Dade and Cedar, and labored earnestly for the measures which he believed would prove of the greatest good to the majority of the citizens. He ever took a deep interest in political affairs and while living in Carthage, Missouri, was a member of the city council, but resigned upon coming to Joplin. In 1898 he was ap- pointed by the governor one of the commissioners to the Omaha Ex- position.
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In religious faith the subject was Presbyterian, his affiliation with the church dating from 1855. He was active in its campaign for right- eousness and was long one of its elders. His widow also belongs to this church. He was also aetively interested in and for six years was presi- dent of the Young Men's Christian Association of Joplin and was highly esteemed by the members of the organization, who recognized in him an ideal citizen. Upon the attainment of his majority he joined his father's fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Inde- pendence, Missouri, and he held many of its offices up to district deputy grand master. He was also a member of the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks. At one time he served as grand secretary of the Temperance Union of Missouri and his sympathies were all with the unfortunate and downtrodden. His charities and philanthropies were many, among the larger of these being his donation of the ground for the Children's Home.
Mr. Taylor formed an ideally happy life companionship when, on April 7, 1874, he was united in marriage to Miss Lulie Smith, daughter of Horly T. and Mary Wood (Mitchell) Smith. She was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, but it was in Independence. Missouri, that her marriage was celebrated. Mrs. Taylor is the scion of two of the distinguished families of the South, the Mitchells and Dents of Vir- ginia. Her great-grandparents became acquainted at the residence of General George Washington, while visiting at Mount Vernon, Colonel James Mitchell being an offieer under Washington, while Miss Dent was a cousin of Mrs. Washington. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, but only three survive. Belle, was married December 3, 1906, to Mr. Austin Allen, one of Joplin's leading architects. Morgan is a promising young attorney of the city, having been graduated from the law department of the State University of Missouri in 1911, and he is the president of the Taylor Land and Mining Company. Wilkins is secretary of the Taylor Land and Mining Company. Mrs. Taylor shares in the philanthropical ambitions of her late husband and the wealth at her command could not be in better, more generous and charitable hands. This admirable lady enjoys the general respect and esteem of the city and is prominent socially, her many graces and abilities fit- ting her for social leadership, while her charming, cultured home is the center of a most gracious hospitality. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
ANKRIM MARTIN .- On July 7, 1891, Ankrim Martin, pioneer and good citizen,
"Gave his honors to the world again, Ilis blessed part to Heaven, and slept in peace."
A score of years have passed since then, but his memory still lives with many of those who knew and admired this active and much re- spected man, whose loyalty to the state of Missouri was proverbial. Mr. Martin was born in Ireland in 1817 and came to America with his brother when a youth of sixteen years,-in 1833. They first took up their residence in Canada and after remaining there for a short time he came to the decision to become a citizen of the United States and located in Springfield, Missouri.
In his youth Mr. Martin had been apprenticed to learn the tailor- ing trade and in after years his knowledge of this stood him in good stead, for during the Civil war he was employed in cutting and fitting clothes at Springfied for the soldiers. He continued in the tailoring business in Springfield, and he came to Joplin from that city in the
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early '70s, being, in fact, one of the early pioneers in this district. During a previous short residence at Granby, Newton county, he had his first experience as a hotel keeper and met with much success in the role of "mine host." When he came to this city he resumed that oe- cupation and conducted one of the first hotels in the city. He became very well-known and highly respected; was a member of the Congre- gational church and one of its elders, and his right hand was given to all good causes.
Mr. Martin was twice married. His first wife was Miss Charlo Burns, who bore him four children and died after a number of years of married life. After the death of his first wife Mr. Martin remained a widower for some time, but when his children married and found homes of their own and age began to assert itself, he sought the consola- tion of an agreeable helpmeet and met and married Mrs. Charlotte Arterburn, a widow, who still survives him. She nursed him through- out his last illness with all the tender care that a loving wife could give and still holds dear the memory of the deceased. The present Mrs. Martin has a son by a former marriage,-Albert Arterburn, born January 21, 1877, in Cherokee county, Kansas. He married Ruth McMillin, and the two children born to the union are Roy, born De- cember 6, 1900, and in attendance at the Washington school of Joplin; and Hazel, born May 2, 1905, a small pupil at the Eugene Field school;
Mrs. Martin, widow of the immediate subjeet, is a remarkable lady in many respects. She enjoys much note for her writings and has composed a number of poems, the longest and most admired of which is her description of an interesting trip made by her in the summer of 1905 and entitled "From Joplin, Missouri, to the Pacific Coast and Return." This, graphically describing the scenes and pleasures of the trip, she has had printed in pamphlet form for distribution among her friends, whom she possesses in great number. The description of this pilgrimage touches upon the departure; Portland; the cosmopoli- tan population of the city; the Pacific Ocean; Checo Springs; Yellow- stone Park; its animals; and the return Home. The last division of the poem gives an insight into Mrs. Martin's love of her Missouri home and friends, and is given below in part :
"Home again, home again, from off the western shore, And, Oh, it fills my soul with joy to greet my friends once more. There I dropped a parting tear to see the ocean foam, But now I'm once again with those who kindly greet me home.
"Happy hearts. happy hearts, with me have laughed in glee. But, Oh, the friends I loved of yore seem happier to me ; And if by chance should be my fate that I should longer roam, But death alone ean break the tie that binds my heart to home.
"Mnsie sweet, musie soft, lingers round the place, And, Oh, I feel the olden charms that time cannot efface, Then give me but my homestead roof; I'll ask no palace dome, For I can live a happy life with those I love at home."
Mrs. Martin is a daughter of Dr. T. N. Selby, a well-known Missouri physician, who was born November 30, 1810, on the Cumberland River in Kentucky, and died after a useful and active life in Newton county, Missouri, the date of his demise being March 21, 1890. The mother, Mary E. (Moody) Selby, was a native of North Carolina and her union with Dr. Selby was celebrated in Indiana in 1834. This worthy
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woman died August 28, 1889, in Newton county, the mother of nine children and of one hundred descendants.
SARDIUS SMITH .- Since 1899 Sardius Smith has been identified with the upbuilding of Joplin, Missouri, and he has just reason to be proud of the fact that to his efforts can be traced many a substantial enterprise or advancement contributing greatly to the growth and prosperity of this section of the state. In every sense of the word he is a representa- tive citizen and a business man of marked capacity. Although he has now attained to the venerable age of seventy-three years, he still re- tains in much of their pristine vigor the splendid physical and mental qualities of his prime and he is conducting one of the finest general in- surance agencies in this city.
Mr. Smith was born in Scioto county, Ohio, on the 9th of January, 1838, and he is a son of Jasper and Dorothy (Hoyt) Smith, both of whom were natives of the state of New York. The father removed to Ohio as a boy and there he learned and worked at the carpenter's trade for a number of years. In 1856 he established the family home in Logan county, Illinois, where he turned his attention to farming ope- rations and where he continued to reside during the remainder of his life. He was summoned to eternal rest in the year 1868. Mrs. Smith accompanied her parents to the fine old Buckeye state of the Union when she was a young girl and she passed into the great beyond in the same year as her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were the parents of nine children, of whom the subject of this review was the first born.
To the public schools of Scioto county, Ohio, Mr. Smith is indebted for his preliminary educational discipline. After his father removed to Illinois he was associated with him for a time in the work and manage- ment of the home farm but at the time of the inception of the Civil war he immediately became fired with enthusiasm for the cause of the Union and enlisted as a soldier in Company G, Tenth Illinois Cavalry. He served from September, 1861, until January, 1866, having been mus- tered out of the army at San Antonio, Texas, as first lieutenant of Com- pany C, Tenth Illinois Cavalry. He took part in all the engagements of his command and gained distinetion as a gallant and faithful soldier. After the close of the war he pursued a commercial course in a Chicago business college and he then went to Mason City, Illinois, where he carried on an extensive grain business until 1872. In that year he opened a commission house in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, where he was a member of the St. Louis Merchants' Exchange. In 1899, however, he severed his connection in St. Louis and came to Joplin, where he engaged in mining for some time. In 1902 he purchased the general insurance agency which he has since conducted with such admirable success and which is one of the leading concerns of its kind in Jasper county. He represents a number of the most prominent insurance companies in the United States and is widely renowned as a well versed insurance man.
At Mason City, Illinois, in the year 1868, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Bell, who was born and reared in Ohio. To this union has been born four children, concerning whom the following brief data are here incorporated,-Grant, of Joplin. is a traveling agent for the M. N. & O., Railroad Company ; Sardius, Jr., is associated with his father in the insurance business; Mollie is now the wife of E. Strasburger, of St. Louis, Missouri; and Evelyn is Mrs. William E. B. Holland, of St. Louis.
In politics Mr. Smith accords a stanch allegiance to the cause of the Republican party, and while he has never been the incumbent of
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any public office he is deeply and sincerely interested in community affairs and is ever ready to contribute of his means and time to any worthy project advanced for the good of the general welfare. At the time of his arrival in Joplin, this place was merely a "town of shacks," and it is with the keenest interest that he has watched it develop into a beautiful and thriving commercial center. Mr. Smith retains a deep and abiding interest in his old comrades in arms and signifies the same by membership in Ransom Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at St. Louis. He is broad-minded and liberal in thought and action, is con- siderate of others' opinions and sensibilities, and his charity knows only the bounds of his opportunity. He is everywhere accorded that unal- loyed confidence and regard which are indicative of the highest type of citizenship.
HOWARD E. GRAY .- As the president and controlling force of the Howard E. Gray Agency Company of Joplin, the largest insurance agency in the Southwest, Howard E. Gray is in a position in which he can render great service to the people of Jasper county and the whole of southwestern Missouri, and it is but a just tribute to merit and fidelity to say that he utilizes his opportunities to the full limit of their power for good. Under his wise and progressive management the company of which he is the head is strictly upright in all its transac- tions, wisely considerate for the welfare of its patrons and eminently enterprising and energetic.
Mr. Gray has had a Inminous and interesting career in business, and throughout the whole of its extent has at all times exemplified the best attributes of the upright and conscientious business man. He was born at Shamburg, Pennsylvania, on October 24, 1873, and is therefore at the time of this writing less than thirty-eight years of age. But he has accomplished more already in his life than many men do in twice its length, and he is just now at the zenith of his capacity and energy. He is a son of Marshall and Emma (Cole) Gray, the former a native of Maine and the latter of Pennsylvania and English ancestry, as was the father. He died in 1877 and the mother, in 1898.
Thus orphaned at the age of four years by the death of his father, Mr. Gray was left wholly dependent on the exertions of his mother for his support until he could begin to do something for himself, which he did at an age when many boys are still in school. His mother ac- cepted and performed the duty of rearing her children with the forti- tude of a Roman matron, but it involved burdens beyond her strength, and her son Howard was obliged to take up the battle of life and strug- gle for his advancement years before he reached his maturity. He was reared and obtained such education as he was able to secure in Bradford, Pennsylvania, and Olean, New York, attending the public schools until he was sixteen years old. He then entered the service of H. A. Marlin & Company of Bradford as an office boy and messenger. The company was extensively engaged in the business of oil brokerage and kept him busy during the three years he passed in their employ. But, although his duties were at times onerous and exacting, he was well pleased with his work. It was teaching him knowledge of men and business methods, and, what was more to his purpose, was making him master of his own faculties and capacities. When he left the em- ploy of this company he became associated with the Bradford Era, a Standard Oil Company publication, with which he remained three years. He also joined the Pennsylvania militia, and as a member of that organization took part in quelling the riot at the steel mills at Homestead, near Pittsburg. After residing a short time longer in
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Bradford, he moved to Lima, Ohio, and during the next nine years was engaged in the gas business in that city. In this he was very suc- cessful, and in building up an extensive business won hosts of friends, as he has done wherever he has lived long enough to become known.
In 1901 he became a resident of Joplin and at once began operations in insurance, forming a partnership with J. R. Woodfill, of Aurora, Missouri, and John W. Walker, of Joplin, for the purpose. The part- nership lasted until 1909, when the business was incorporated under its present name, the Howard E. Gray Agency Company, which is now the largest general insurance company in the Southwest, doing a business which aggregates $200,000 annually. From the time of the incorporation Mr. Gray has been the president of the company, Frank Ade, its vice president, and F. K. Eberlein, its secretary and treasurer. This company deals in life, health, accident, fire, tornado and plate glass insurance, employers, public and general liability, burglary, auto- mobile and steam boiler insurance, and court, municipal, official, surety and construction bonds. Through Mr. Gray it also represents the lead- ing old-line insurance companies of the country and is interested in mining, manufacturing and other industries. Mr. Gray's ability and activity have given him unusual prominence and influence in insur- ance and economic circles. He is secretary and treasurer of the Fire Insurance Agents' Association, chairman of the executive committee of the Zine Ore Tariff Association, and connected with other lines of endeavor involving the substantial and enduring welfare of the people of Jasper county and the surrounding country over a large extent of territory.
Wide-awake and alert as he is to everything that ministers to the advance and enjoyment of the people, the fraternal and social life around him appeals to him with force and persuasiveness. He is an active member of the Order of Elks, the Country Club, the Commer- cial Club and the Kansas City Club. In each of these organizations he takes an active interest and a leading part, and in all his membership is highly valued. In religious affiliation he is connected with the Episcopal church.
On October 16, 1896, he was married at Lima, Ohio, to Miss Lenore Hughes, a native of Ohio and daughter of Richard Hughes, a colonel in the Federal army during the Civil war. By this marriage he has become the father of one child, his daughter Charlotte, who was born at Lima, Ohio, on October 24, 1899. The father is held in the highest esteem by all classes in the community of his home and is widely and favorably known throughout the southwestern part of Missouri and the states adjacent to it, as well in all the localities of his previous resi- dences.
His ancestors on both sides of the house were English people and long domesticated in the land of their birth. The American progeni- tors of the family in this country came to the United States from Eng- land many years ago, those on the father's side locating in Maine and those on the mother's in Pennsylvania. The record of both branches forms bright chapters in the history of those two great states and furnishes many examples of the most sturdy and useful American man- hood and womanhood.
HARRY E. CORNISH .-- It has been the pleasant fortune of Harry E. Cornish to have obtained the highest prestige in his particular field of at an early age. Mr. Cornish, who is proprietor of the Cornish Studio, is one of the state's leading photographers, and is an artist in the truest sense of the word. his productions having the quality which
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distinguishes the work of one of truly artistic temperament from the commonplaceness of him who merely understands the mechanism of the camera and fails to reproduce the individuality of his sitters.
Mr. Cornish was born in Knox county, Illinois, December 19, 1884, and is the son of James and Ester (Ewing) Cornish. The father was English by nativity and came to America from Christ Church, England, where he was born October 16, 1837. He immigrated to America in the year 1855, and upon reaching the hospitable shores of the new country, he looked about him for a location and chose Galesburg, Illinois. IIe found Galesburg at that time a much smaller place than he had ex- pected, but although disappointed he decided to remain and began tak- ing work as a contractor and builder, which trade he had learned in the "old country." He was so successful that he remained there until 1888, a period of over thirty years, and he assisted in erecting a large part of the city of Galesburg, now one of the most interesting and beau- tiful of Illinois centers. In the year mentioned he removed to Arkan- sas City, Arkansas, where he continued the business in which he had encountered such thorough suecess and there, as in Galesburg, he is accounted one of the most highly respected and honored members of the community, being unusually well known and socially prominent. The subject's mother, Mrs. Esther (Erving) Cornish, was born in Zanesville, Ohio, March 29, 1848, and on the maternal side, also, he is of English origin, for the Ervings came from Great Britain in early days and made settlement in Ohio.
Mr. Cornish received his early training and education in the public and high schools of Arkansas City. He early evineed decided artistie ability and dating from the time he left high school he has engaged in photography with great success. He has made several changes of residence, engaging first in the protographic business at Arkansas City; then going to Oklahoma, where he established a studio at Elk City ; and going thence to Kansas City. His identification with Jop- lin has been of comparatively recent date, his removal here being early in 1910. Upon his arrival he sought a favorable location for a first- class photographic gallery and secured advantageous quarters at 513 Main street, of which he obtained a lease for a term of five years. He fitted it up in the latest style throughout, making it the most modern and up-o-date studio in this section, the equipment and furnishing costing two thousand five hundred dollars. Mr. Cornish has manifested himself an artist of no mean ability and in addition to general ap- proval at home his work has received enthusiastic commendation from art critics abroad.
This artistic ability seems to be a family heritage for Mr. Cornish has two brothers and one sister also successfully engaged in the same line of work at different points in the United States. The sister, Miss Alice G. Cornish, and brother, George B. Cornish, conduct a studio at Arkansas City; Arthur Cornish is a well-known photographer of Kansas City, Missouri; George Cornish, with his sister's assistance, is gaining prestige in this attractive business in Arkansas City, where the parents are located.
On September 12, 1904, Mr. Cornish became a recruit to the ranks of the Benediets, the young lady to become his wife being Miss Georgia Collins, of Arkansas City, formerly of Joplin, Missouri, a daughter of J. S. and Anna Collins, well known citizens of that place. To their union has been born one child, Anna Bell, on August 25, 1905, her birth- place having been Arkansas City.
Mr. Cornish's fraternal affiliations extend to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; he is independent in polities, giving his
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support to the measures and the man whom he believes most worthy and able; and has wife's church home is the Baptist. He is very fond of all out-door sports and he enjoys intercourse with his fellow man, being genial and social in disposition and having the friendship and acquaintance of the best people of Joplin. He is alert and energetic and has a brilliant future before him.
EDWARD PORTER-In the thirty years of his residence in Joplin it was given to Edward Porter to play a useful and prominent part in the life of the eity, exceeded in these qualities probably by no other citizen. He served with distinction as mayor and postmaster and was one of the most enthusiastic factors in the devolopment of the mining interests of Jasper county in the capacity of president of the Rex Mining & Smelting Company. He left a large estate at his demise and to the community he left a legacy of even greater valne, an unsullied record of good citizenship and high ideals whose influence has by no means been lost.
The late Edward Porter was born in Bowling Green, Pike county, Missouri, January 23, 1852, and was the scion of excellent families. His father, Gilcrest Porter, was a native of Virginia, who came to Hannibal, Missouri, at an early day and there as a talented and prominent member of the bar, attained honors and renown. His grandfather, Comerford Porter, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of a long-established American family, whose members well served their country as patriots and good citizens. Comerford Porter subsequently removed from his native state to the Old Dominion.
Mr. Porter spent his early life in Hannibal, Missouri, where he at- tended school for a short period, the greater part of his education having come later and having been of the self-imposed. but very effect- ual sort. He was of a practical turn and at the age of thirteen years he began to make his own living. He came to Joplin in the month of February, 1872, when a youth of about twenty years, and became as- sociated with R. M. Roberts, in the mining industry, continuing thus engaged until 1901, when he left the state and removed to San An- tonio, Texas, a short time before his death, on January 23, 1901.
Mr. Porter was a shining example of that typically American pro- duct, the self-made man, and the part he played industrially and in the development of natural resources of the state can not be estimated too highly. In addition to his other interests he was interested in one thousand acres of valuable mineral land owned by the Rex Mining & Smelting Company. He was one of the organizers of the Joplin Na- tional Bank and at one time held the office of vice-president. He was postmaster of Joplin under President Grover Cleveland (the first ad- ministration) to the general satisfaction, and for one term served as mayor of Joplin and his administration of the affairs of that office were in the direction of progress and civic integrity. His loyalty to Joplin was proverbial and he was exceedingly popular.
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