USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Vol. II > Part 38
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A native of Indiana, Dennis Thompson migrated to Missouri when young. and during the Civil war served for a time in the Seventeenth Iowa Cavalry, afterwards being in an Iowa regiment and later a men- ber of the Home Guards of Clark county, Missouri, his entire service covering a period of four years. He subsequently settled permanently in Grundy county, Missouri, where he is still engaged in agricultural pursuits, being a prominent member of the farming community. He married Margaret IIume, who was born in Clark county, Missouri, the log cabin in which her birth occurred being still in existence. She died in 1887, leaving seven children, as follows: H. Edward, the subject of this brief biographical review; Ira Alvin, engaged in teaching in Mon- tana; Mrs. Laura Ratliff. of Trenton, Missouri; Dennie Thompson, of
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Trenton, Missouri; Charley, also living near Trenton; Nora, living at home; and Mrs. Mary Ratliff, of Trenton, Missouri.
Having acquired his collegiate education in Trenton, Missouri, H. Edward Thompson went to Valparaiso, Indiana, and after two years of close study at the Valparaiso University completed his law studies, and on May 1, 1904, was graduated with honors, being chosen as valedic- torian of his class. Locating in Jasper county in 1905, he was city attorney at Carterville for a year. In 1906 Mr. Thompson bought property in Webb City, and has since been here actively engaged in the practice of law, being in partnership with his cousin, Charles O. Thompson. In 1909 and 1910 he was assistant prosecuting attorney, serving under Byron Coon, but has since devoted himself to his legal affairs, looking after the interests of his many clients, for whom he has won some very valuable decisions in the courts of Southwest Missouri.
Mr. Thompson married, August 18, 1904, in Tompkinsville, Ken- tucky, Ruby Comer, a daughter of Robert and May Comer, prosperous farmers of Kentucky, where Mr. Comer has long been prominent in political affairs. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are the parents of two chil- dren, namely : Merbell, born August 3, 1906, in Carterville; and Sum- ner, born January 14, 1909, in Webb City. Politically Mr. Thompson is a strong Republican, and fraternally he belongs to the Knights and Ladies of Security. He is broad minded and liberal in his views, and a member of the Christian church.
WILLARD L. BUTTS .- Like thousands of other men in the United States who have become distinguished in business or professional life, Willard L. Butts, one of the leading lawyers of Jasper county and the Southwest, passed his boyhood and youth on his father's farm and ac- quired habits of useful industry in doing his full share of the labor incident to its cultivation. And like others, also, he felt within him the yearnings of an ambitious spirit that longed to be among men in a greater aggregate and connected with their striving activities in an in- tellectual rather than a physical way, even while he found freedom, in- dependence and a varied field for thought and effort in farm work and throve on the self reliance it developed.
Mr. Butts is a native of Kentucky, and was born at Carrollton, in Carroll county of that state on March 18, 1873. His parents, John W. and Susanna M. (Cox) Butts, were also natives of Kentucky, the former of an old Virginia ancestry that came to this country from Eng- land in colonial days, and the latter descended from old Scotch families that were among the early arrivals in Maryland. The father was born on June 9, 1840, and died on February 1, 1904. The mother, who was born on February 5, 1843, is still living and has her home on the old family homestead at Carrollton, Kentucky.
The subject of this brief memoir comes of a martial strain, and shows it in his fighting proclivities in his professional work. His great- grandfather on his father's side, who was a resident of Culpeper county, Virginia, was a valiant soldier in the war of 1812, and John W. Butts, the father of Willard L., saw three years' hard service in the Confed- erate army during our Civil war and took part in numerous engage- ments, especially those fought with the forces under the renowned Con- federate raider, General Morgan. He belonged to the Fourth Kentucky Cavalry, and although almost continually in the field or on the march, was never either wounded or taken prisoner during his service.
Willard L. Butts was the first born of his parents' four children, two daughters and two sons. He obtained his academic training in the public schools and at Hanover College in the city of the same name in
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Indiana, receiving the degree of Master of Arts from that institution in 1904. His professional studies were conducted in the law department of the University of Louisville, Kentucky, from which he was graduated with the degree of LL. B. in the class of 1895, and he then began to look for a location suited to his desires for the development of a professional career.
On November 19, 1897, he became a resident of Joplin, fate or good judgment having led him into pleasant associations and a promising field for his work, and immediately began practicing his profession. One month later he formed a partnership with R. A. Pearson, creating the law firm of Pearson & Butts, which is still in very active general prac- tice and has risen to the first rank in the profession in this part of the country. Its office at 314 Main street is a busy place in all but slack times, as the firm is engaged in every case of importance tried in this or any adjacent county within an extensive radius of the surrounding country.
The local affairs of his city and county have always been deeply inter- esting to Mr. Butts, and have had his careful and intelligent attention. He has proven himself a wise counselor in reference to them and a very energetic and influential agency in helping to secure their best admin- istration and promote all lines of enduring and wholesome development and improvement. He is at present (1911) a member of the Joplin municipal light board, and as such is in a position to gratify his strong desire to render the people of the community good service and secure for them every advantage available from their public utilities.
He is connected with the fraternal life of the community by his mem- bership in Joplin Lodge, No. 335, of the Masonie order, and is helpful in religious matters through his zealous membership in the Baptist church. On June 15, 1904, he was married at Carrollton, Kentucky, to Miss Virgie Voris Giltner, who was born in that town on March 4, 1882. a daughter of J. M. and Ida (Phillips) Giltner, old settlers there. One child has blessed the union and brightened the family circle. a daugh- ter named Virginia, whose life began in Joplin on March 10. 1907.
All the aid Mr. Butts has had in working out his advancement among man is embraced in his educational facilities, which were provided for him by his parents. The rest of his acquisitions and achievements are the fruits of his own natural ability and his intelligence and industry in developing it and applying it to whatever his hand has found to do. He stands well at the bar, is highly esteemed by his professional brethren. has a strong hold on the confidence and good will of the people, and is regarded wherever he is known as one of the most estimable and rep- resentative citizens of Jasper county and the state of Missouri.
CHARLES OTHO THOMPSON .- Possessing great natural aptitude for his chosen work, being industrious, conscientious and earnest, and persistent in the advocacy of his client's cause, Charles O. Thompson, of Webb City, has won unmistakable prestige as an attorney, and is widely known as an active and influential member of the Jasper county bar. A native of Missouri, he was born July 27, 1880, in Grundy county, and was there brought up on a farm.
His father, David Thompson, a retired farmer, was born in Indiana, June 20, 1848. As a young man he came to Missouri, settling first in Clark county, but later, in 1865, bought land in Grundy county, and was there successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits on the farm which he redeemed from its virgin wildness until retiring from active business. Too young to be accepted as a soldier in the army during the Civil war, he served faithfully in the Home Guards, enlisting in lieu of
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his father. He married Sarah Hume, who was born in Clark county, Missouri, June 21, 1850, and they are the parents of seven children, namely : Etta, wife of Charles Trumb, a prominent agriculturist of Grundy county ; Albert, engaged in farming in Grundy county; David, engaged in the restaurant business at Trenton, Missouri; Susan I., liv- ing with her parents ; Maggie, born July 29, 1882, died January 15, 1910; John A. Logan, engaged in the restaurant business at Trenton; and Charles O., with whom this brief sketch is chiefly concerned.
Educated primarily in his native county, Charles O. Thompson at- tended Trenton College, in Trenton, and afterwards entered Valparaiso University, in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he was graduated on June 1, 1904, from its law department. The following year he was principal of the high school at Laredo, Missouri, from there coming, in June, 1905, to Jasper county and locating in Carterville, where, with his cousin, H. Edward Thompson, he began the practice of law. On October 1, 1905, Messrs. H. E. and C. O. Thompson transferred their residence and busi- ness to Webb City, where they have since built up a substantial and re- munerative practice, which extends to all parts of the state.
Mr. Thompson married, August 16, 1905, in Trenton, Missouri, Grace G. Gass, a daughter of Columbus D. and Olive S. Gass, well known and highly respected farmers of Grundy county. Her father was a na- tive of Ohio, his birth occurring there March 3, 1835. He served three years in the Union army. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have two children, namely : Clifton O., born in Carterville June 7, 1906; and Virginia Gass, born in Webb City June 10, 1910. Fraternally Mr. Thompson be- longs to the Knights and Ladies of Security, and in his political affilia- tions he is a loyal Republican. He is a conscientious Christian man and a trustworthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
MELVIN ROSCOE LIVELY .- An able and influential member of the Missouri bar, Melvin Roscoe Lively has made good use of his natural and acquired forces, and through his skillful handling of difficult cases with which he has been associated has won a place of distinction and honor among the more prominent lawyers of Webb City. A son of Lewis Lively, he was born May 11, 1869, in Hancock county, Illinois, near Carthage. He is of Southern ancestry on the paternal side, his grandfather, William Lively, having been born in Kentucky, just south of the city of Louisville. He removed from his native state to Indiana and from there went to Illinois and improved a farm.
Lewis Lively was born on the home farm near Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1835, and there grew to manhood. At the outbreak of the Civil war he was living on an Illinois farm, and soon after the imperative call for troops enlisted in the Fourth Illinois Cavalry, and with his command was ordered to the front. He joyfully responded to the order, and just as about to take passage on a steamer, at Quincy, Illinois, his horse fell with him, and he received injuries that so disabled him that he was honorably discharged from the service, much to his disappointment and chagrin. He married Mary Jane King, who was born in Hancock county, Illinois, a daughter of Clark J. King, for many years a Baptist preacher of the gospel in Illinois, and they still reside near the Lively homestead in Il- linois. They reared four children, as follows: Argil J., of Joplin, Missouri, a retired business man; Minta, wife of Harry L. Verton, of Carlisle, Lonoke county, Arkansas; Harry B., of Carlisle, Arkansas, and Melvin Roscoe, a rice grower, our subject.
Having laid a good foundation for his future education in the rural schools of his native county, Melvin Roscoe Lively gained a brief experi- ence of college life in Illinois, attending the college at Carthage a part of Vol. 11-17
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one term, and one term in La Grange, Missouri. Going then to Valpa- raiso, Indiana, he completed the classic course at the Valparaiso Univer- sity, being there graduated on May 8, 1884, with the degree of A. B. Go- ing then to Chicago, Mr. Lively entered the office of McClelland & Mon- roe, a prominent law firm, remaining there a year and a half, gaining knowledge and experience of value. On June 8, 1886, at Ottawa, Illinois, he was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court, and for three months was engaged in the practice of his profession in Chicago. Locating at Ness City, Kansas, in the fall of 1887, he continued his practice in that vicinity until 1890, when he came to Jasper county in search of a favor- able location. He opened an office in Carthage, and at the end of seven months, in the spring of 1890, settled permanently in Webb City, and in the practice of law has met with eminent success. He is widely known as a strong and skillful lawyer and an able advocate, and in the handling of intricate cases in the courts of Carthage, Webb City and Joplin has gained an enviable reputation for legal sagacity, skill and knowledge. Mr. Lively is associated officially with several industrial organizations of importance, being a director of the Oakwood Mining Company, of the More-Veotch Realty Company, and of the Webb City Smelting Company.
Mr. Lively married, May 24, 1887, at Kankakee, Illinois, Martha Alice Nichols, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Nichols, farmers of that community. Politically Mr. Lively is an uncompromising Republican, supporting the principles of his party at all times and in all places. Mrs. Lively belongs to the Presbyterian church, in which she is a faithful worker. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mrs. Lively, like her hus- band, is prominent and active in social circles and belongs to both the Ladies' Study Club and the "Social Twelve" Club, of Webb City.
CLARENCE HI. KIER .- For fully a score of years Clarence H. Kier has been a prominent resident and business man of Joplin, Missouri, and in 1909 he was honored with appointment to the position of deputy mar- shal, which important office he has filled with the utmost efficiency dur- ing the intervening time to the present. During his regime more crim- inal arrests have been made and better order has prevailed than at any other time during the history of the city.
At Union Mills, Illinois, on the 12th of July, 1872, occurred the birth of C. H. Kier, who is a son of Thomas Kier, a native of Whiteside county, Illinois. Thomas Kier was one of the earliest pioneers at Joplin and for several years after his arrival in this place he was engaged in prospecting and in organizing and promoting the mining interests of this section. He then became interested in railroading and for a short period was conductor on the old Gulf branch road. He then went to Coffeyville, Kansas, where he turned his attention to mercantile work, returning later to Joplin and again engaging in mining. He was a sincere, hard- working man, a popular citizen and a successful business man. In 1898 he met with death by an accident, a boulder falling on him on the Lone Elm road. He was well known by and associated with the first comers here and during his active career was a highly respected gentleman. His wife, whose maiden name was Agnes Jacob, was born and reared in lowa and she is now living, at the age of sixty-three years, her home being at Joplin. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Kier became the parents of six children, and of the number five are living in 1911.
C. H. Kier, of this review, received his elementary educational train- ing in the public schools of Coffeyville, Kansas, and at the age of seven- teen years, in 1893, he returned to Joplin, where he has since resided. J. P. Frank, now of the Frank-Siever Undertaking Company, who mar-
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ried a cousin of Mr. Kier's, was then in the cigar manufacturing busi- ness and for a time after his advent here Mr. Kier worked under Mr. Frank in his factory. He continued to be identified with the eigar busi- ness for a period of fourteen years, at the expiration of which time he was appointed deputy sheriff of Jasper county, serving in that capacity for the ensuing six years. In 1909 he was appointed to fill the vacancy as assistant chief of police, of which office he continued the popular in- cumbent until April, 1911. The two years that he has been deputy mar- shal have been the most successful period in the history of the police department. Through his alertness and activity a greater number of criminals have been arrested and although there are but twenty-four men on the force better order has been in evidence throughout the city than at any other time. Mr. Kier is a man of splendid abilities, keen fore- sight and a broad sense of justice. He is popular and prominent in this distriet and is everywhere respected as a man of honor and sterling in- tegrity.
On the 9th of November, 1895, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Kier to Miss Myrtle Clark, who was born in Iowa, whence she came to Joplin in 1890. To this union has been born one son, Courtney, whose birth oc- curred on the 25th of February, 1903. He is an exceptionally bright and promising boy and is now attending school at Joplin.
In politics Mr. Kier is a stanch advocate of the cause of the Republi- can party, in the local councils of which he has ever been a most active and earnest worker. He is ever on the qui vive to do all in his power to advance the best interests of the community in which he maintains his home and he has also been influential in promoting progress and develop- ment throughout the entire county. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with the Knights of Pythias and with the Modern Woodmen of America.
JAMES P. STEWART .- Trying his hand at a number of different occu- pations in widely separated seetions of the country, enduring many hard- ships in his early life with fortitude and facing many dangers with un- wavering courage, promoting the welfare of the American people by pro- duetive industry in times of peace and defending what he believed to be their best interests by service on the battlefield when civil war threat- ened the dismemberment of the Union, James P. Stewart, of Webb City, has risen by his own efforts to his present rank and stands as one of the most substantial and influential citizens of Jasper county.
He is a native of Blair county, Pennsylvania, where he was born on March 24, 1845, and a son of Matthew and Mary (Cryder) Stewart, also natives of that county. The father was of Scotch descent and a scion of families long resident in the county of his nativity. The mother's forefathers lived in Germany, and the branch of the family to which she belonged were also early arrivals in Pennsylvania and lived in that state several generations before her birth. She and her husband were the parents of seven children, of whom James P. was the second in the order of birth. The parents were farmers and passed to their reward after many years of useful labor and fidelity to every duty in life.
Their son James obtained a limited education in the country schools of his native county, which he attended at intervals until he was sixteen years old, meanwhile making, even in early youth, a full hand in the labor required for the cultivation of his father's farm. When he reached the age mentioned his situation required that he begin the struggle for advancement in life for himself and make his own way in the world. He secured a position as clerk and salesman in the general store of Henry Thatcher at Martinsburg. Blair county, in which he remained
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about one year, and during that time, by close attention and diligent study, acquired a good general knowledge of the business. He then changed his residence to Sabbath Rest, in the same county, and found employment in the E. B. Isett Iron Works, doing clerical work and act- ing as assistant manager. By that time the Civil war was in full prog- ress and the demands of the Federal government for troops to defend the integrity of the Union became very insistent. Mr. Stewart was de- voted to the Union and deemed it his duty to enlist in the army as one of its defenders. He joined Company G., Twelfth Pennsylvania Vol- unteer Cavalry, and was soon afterward at the front in the midst of the hostilities. He remained with his command thirty-five months, partic- ipating in many of the notable battles of the war, among them that of Antietam, the battle of Winehester and all the engagements in the Shenandoah valley in Virginia. He was discharged by a special order of the War Department, having never been wounded or taken prisoner.
After his discharge from military service Mr. Stewart returned to his native county and engaged in merchandising at Sinking Valley, forming a partnership with D. P. Tussey for the purpose. Two years later he sold his interest in the business to Mr. Tussey and went to Montana in company with his cousin, J. C. Stewart, to follow gold mining. He passed three years in Montana in various mining camps, but owing to protracted illness was forced to leave that part of the country. Once more he returned to his native heath and again engaged in mercantile business, becoming general agent for McClanahan, Stone & Isett, dealers in agricultural implements. He remained in the service of this firm three years, and near the close of that period was elected prothonotary and clerk of the several courts in the county. In this office he served three terms, nine years in all, and after leaving it was general agent for the Hartman Steel Works at Beaver Falls for a year and a half.
He still cherished a longing for the open range, free life and abun- dant opportunity of the West, and determined to gratify it by removing to Charter Oak, Iowa, where he organized the H. M. Moore & Company Bank and for a year served as its cashier. In 1888 he came to Missouri and located in Webb City, becoming cashier of the Exchange Bank, of which J. C. Stewart was president. One year later. when the Exchange Bank was merged into the National Bank, he was elected cashier of the new organization, which he served in that capacity until Jamary, 1910. At that time he was elected president of the Mineral Belt Bank. and he has filled that office ever since with great advantage to the bank and its patrons.
In the business, fraternal and social life of Webb City, Mr. Stew- art has long been a prominent figure. He is a member of the Com- mereial Club, of which he was president twelve years. He is also active and helpful in his connection with various branches of the Ma- sonic order, holding membership in Juniata Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter in Pennsylvania, Mountain Commandery of Knights Templar in Altoona of that state, and Mount Ararat Temple, Nobles of the Mys- tic Shrine, of Kansas City. He has given faithful service as treasurer to the local school board from its organization.
His political faith and allegiance are given to the Democratic party. but for a number of years he has taken no active part in campaign work. being too much occupied with his business and other claims upon his time and attention. His wife is a member of the First Presbyterian church and prominent in all its commendable work for the elevation and improvement of the community. His marriage took place in Al- toona, Pennsylvania, on December 7, 1877, and united him with Miss Kate A. Moore, a native of that city and a daughter of Johnson and
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Maria (Wilson) Moore, prominent residents of Altoona, and well and favorably known in other parts of the state. No children have been born of the union.
Mr. Stewart is essentially a self-made man. He had very limited opportunities for scholastic training, and derived his most valuable and lasting lessons in the rugged but thorough school of experience, es- pecially his life in the army, which gave him self-knowledge and self- reliance, equipped him with readiness for emergencies and made him fearless of danger. These attainments have been his most valuable assets in his business career and greatly helped him in winning the shining success which has crowned his efforts. They also taught him respect for the opinions and wishes of others, making him the courteous and obliging gentleman he is everywhere known to be, and establishing him firmly in the lasting regard, good will and admiration of all who have the benefit of association with him or knowledge of his sterling manhood and useful citizenship.
SARDIS W. BATES .- A prominent figure in the legal circles of Webb City, Sardis W. Bates occupies a secure position in the ranks of a pro- fession which embraces some of the brightest minds of our country. A son of William H. Bates, he was born June 10, 1876, in Sandusky county, Ohio, coming from honored patriotic ancestry, his great-grandfather, Andrew Bates, having fought with the colonists for independence in the Revolutionary War. Adam Bates, the grandfather of Mr. Bates, came with his parents from England to the United States, and when ready to make a permanent location settled in the northern part of Ohio, where he and his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Metcalf, spent their remaining days. Miss Metcalf was born in Ireland, and came with her parents to this country.
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