USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Vol. II > Part 42
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He was united in marriage with Miss Sarah I. Winn, a native of Illi- nois, who came to Carthage at an early age. They have four children, their daughters Ina and Mae, both of whom are living at home with their parents, and their two sons, Willis I. and Arthur G., who are now in charge of the business of the company founded by their father, he having retired from active connection with the management of it.
The sons were educated in the public schools of Carthage, attending those of the lower grades until their courses of instruction were com- pleted, and then the high school. As soon as they left school they went into business with their father, giving his venture a new impulse and greater expansion, and gradually taking the burden of its management off his hands. They are young gentlemen of strict integrity, fine busi- ness capacity and great progressiveness. They have built the opera- tions of their company up to large proportions by their enterprise, in- telligence and persevering energy, and they now enjoy the admiration and esteem of the whole community for their sterling qualities of head and heart and the excellence and usefulness of their citizenship, which is a potent force for good in Jasper county.
Willis I. Wheeler is the vice president of the Wheeler Company, and practically its head and the director of its activities. He was married
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on the 18th of November, 1908, to Miss Melva Hughes, of Carthage. He takes an active part in all matters of improvement and progress for his community, giving every worthy undertaking for its betterment the bene- fit of his excellent judgment and fruitful influence, as well as his ac- tive support in counsel and more material assistance. He and his brother are zealous and valued members of the Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Young Men's Christian Association. They belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and are devoted to its welfare and energetic aids to its progress. In politics they are allied with the Republican party, but they are not active partisans, and have no desire for official station of any kind in public life, preferring to serve their day and generation from the unobtrusive but honorable post of private citizenship and in the expansion of the business forces of their city and county.
Arthur G. Wheeler was reared and educated in his native city, and, as has been stated, after leaving school entered the business enterprise his father was conducting, becoming an important force in its fruit- ful operations. Ilis advent in the councils of the company marked a new departure for it. All kinds of building material were added to its stock in trade, and its site was change to one close to shipping facili- ties, the junction of Meridian street and the railroad tracks being selected. There the business has flourished handsomely, growing in magnitude and increasing in value year after year, and from time to time requiring greater facilities for its accommodation.
Mr. Wheeler, the younger, is looked upon as one of the most capa- ble and resourceful young men in the city, where is valued his real merit at its true worth. The future is full of promise for him and his past record indicates that he will realize all it has to offer in full meas- nre through his own efforts and unvarying fidelity to every duty.
COLBY CLABORN GENTRY, M. D., has been engaged in the general practice of medicine at Webb City, Missouri. during the past dozen years, and ranks with the leading citizens of Jasper county.
Dr. Gentry is a native of Kentucky. He was born in Clark county. that state. August 18, 1850, fifth in a family of ten children of Pleas- ant Tillman Gentry and Mary (McMurtery) Gentry, both natives of Kentucky. Grandfather Gentry, a farmer by ocenpation, was a Vir- ginian. who in early life moved to Kentucky, where he reared his family and passed the rest of his days. On his mother's side the Doc- tor's ancestors for several generations were Kentuckians. His grand- mother had nineteen children, sixteen of whom lived to be grown. His father, Pleasant T. Gentry, was for nearly fifty years a Missionary Baptist preacher, and from 1855 to the time of his death in 1896, was a resident of Audrian county, Missouri. He lived to the ripe old age of eighty-four years. His widow, now ninety-one years of age and in good health, was born in Madison county, Kentucky. She still owns the old homestead, a farm two miles north of Sturgeon, Audrian county, and resides with her son Andrew F. Gentry.
Dr. C. C. Gentry, being the son of a minister, had the advantage of good home precept but lacked financial backing when he started out in life for himself. He attended country school and worked his way through college, after which he engaged in farming and stock raising and followed this occupation for a period of ten years. In 1881 he en- tered the Missouri Medical College. now a department of Washington University, and fitted himself for the practice of medicine. After his graduation he opened an office at Saling. Audrian county, where he began his professional career and where he remained nine years. From
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there he moved to Mexico, the county seat, and in 1899 came thence to Webb City, arriving here September 18, and here he has since been successfully engaged in general practice as a physician and surgeon.
The Doctor has made some valuable real estate investments, includ- ing a farm of six hundred and fifty acres at Ochiltree, Texas, which ho purchased in 1907, and ten acres of land on the Gulf coast of Texas.
Dr. Gentry is not identified with any secret societies, but maintains membership in both the Jasper County Medical Society and the Mis- souri State Medical Society. Politically he is a Democrat, though he has never taken any active part in public affairs; following in the foot- steps of his honored father, he clings to the Baptist faith.
He married, in Monroe county, Missouri, December 24, 1871, Miss Annie L. Cobbs, a native of Virginia, daughter of Upton Cobbs, a mem- ber of one of the pioneer families of Monroe county. This union has been blessed in the birth of two children: Tandy E., born March 30, 1873, and Vetura Maude, born in 1875. The daughter died in August, 1877. Tandy E., is a graduate of the Armour School of Technology, with the class of 1910, and is now employed as master mechanic for the Sulzberger Bros. Co., of Chicago. He married in Mexico, Missouri, a Miss Miller, a native of that place, who died in 1897, leaving him a little son, Paul, born in Mexico, August 18, 1896.
JOSEPH E. HALL .- Jasper county may well take pride in her busi- ness men who have made this particular section one of the busiest and most prosperous in the great southwest. Among those who stand in prominent relation to her affairs are a number of young men whose ability and enterprise is of such high order as to bode well for the future growth and progress of the section. Prominent among the younger generation of business men stands Joseph E. Hall, who has won the admiration and confidence of Carthage by his initiative and excel- lent judgment in the role of a real estate dealer. He operates on a large scale in farming and mining lands and has handled some big deals in this county, enjoying an enviable reputation for reliability among the mining and real estate magnates. By no means of the type whose only consideration is self-interest, he has always taken a firm stand for whatever he considered to be for the best interests of the community and society in general.
The subject's father, Joseph I. Hall, was born in Virginia, and spent his early boyhood there on his uncle's farm. At the age of twelve he went to Iowa to make his living, being thus early thrown upon his own resources. In 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil war, he volunteered his services on the side of the north. The company which he joined was composed of farmers from the state of Iowa, but through some carelessness they did not take the precaution to be properly recognized as a volunteer company, so that when the war ended they were never mustered out. Colonel Ellsworth was the commanding officer under whom Joseph I. Hall and the other farmers from his locality fought for four years without receiving their commissions. At the end of the conflict between the states, Mr. Hall, the elder, came to Jasper county and located near the present site of Carthage. At that time Carthage was merely a collection of scattered houses, hardly to be dignified by the name of a village. Here Mr. Hall bought farming lands and be- came an extensive stock breeder in the county. He was a very pros- perous and highly respected citizen and remained an agriculturist to the time of his demise, which occurred in 1884 at his home near Carth- age. His wife, who was formerly Fannie Wilson, was born September
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28, 1844, at Belfast, Ireland, and came as a young child to America with her parents, their first home on these shores being at Baltimore, Mary- land. They did not stay in that city for an extended period, but answered the beckoning finger of opportunity from the southwest and packing their belongings on a wagon, came thus across-country to Jas- per county. They pre-empted a thousand acres of land on the present site of Joplin, but subsequently gave up the title to move farther into Jasper county, where they believed farming was better and they could make more money. The subject's mother is now an honored resident of Carthage.
Joseph E. Hall was born in the northeastern part of Jasper county, July 26, 1881, his boyhood and youth being passed amid the wholesome, rural surroundings of his father's farm. To the schools of Carthage he is indebted for his early education, finishing in the higher depart- ment. When a youth he felt an inclination toward a business life and to prepare for the same he attended a commercial college in Carthage for two years. His first adventure as an active factor in the world of affairs was in a clothing business, with which he was identified for three years. At the end of that time he sold out his interests and embarked in the hardware business, in which he engaged for a year. Again he disposed of his interests and was for a time interested in stone quar- ries before he very naturally drifted into the real estate field in which he has encountered success of so bountiful a character. His extensive dealings in mining and farming lands have been previously mentioned and such universal confidence is not usually the portion of one so young in years. His judgment has been found to be rarely at fault.
Mr. Hall laid the foundation of an independent household by his marriage on December 23, 1906, his chosen lady being Miss Alice F. Daugherty, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. B .A. Daugherty, of Carterville, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Hall share their delightful home with two little daughters-Harriet Frances, born September 29, 1907; and Jose- phine S., born November 2, 1908.
Mr. Hall enjoys a number of pleasant affiliations. He is a promin- ent and popular member of the Jasper County Real Estate Association, and belongs also to the Motor & Auto Club and the Miami Hunting and Fishing Clubs, organizations whose very names signify that love of out-door life and sports which is characteristic of this young man. In politics Mr. Hall gives heart and hand to the men and measures of the Republican party and is interested in all issues effecting the public welfare. He and his wife attend the Methodist Episcopal church. The Hall and Wilson families, of which he is a scion, are among the most prominent in the section and they both represent great wealth, owning thousands of acres within the boundaries of Jasper county. Mr. Hall is likewise to be numbered among the large property owners.
J. W. MEREDITHI, dealer in real estate, has done more to make known the resources of Jasper county than any other man in Missouri. In the whole southwestern part of Missouri there is scarcely a foot of land with which he is not familiar. When it was merely a scattered collec- tion of hamlets he drove over it, saw the country and realized its possi- bilities. He has advertised most extensively and it is through his in- strumentality that the fame of Jasper county has spread and people have found out that it is a desirable place in which to settle and pros- per. He handles land all over the country, but his faith in the superi- ority of Jasper county is so unbounded that he always gives that the preference, wherever he finds it possible to do so. IIe has sold many farms in Jasper county, feeling sure that he is selling a good thing.
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J. W. Meredith was born July 31, 1853, in Allen county, in the southern part of Kentucky. The old homestead in which he first drew. breath had been the scene of his father's birth, his grandfather's and his great-grandfather's. His mother, formerly Veleria Cooder, was also a. Kentucky maiden. After the war was ended David A. Meredith (father of J. W.), like many other southern gentlemen, found himself very much impoverished. He clung to the old place, however, for four years, hoping against hope that he might be able to rehabilitate him- self. In 1869 he decided it was of no use to try and hold on any longer, so he sold the old place for what little he could get, packed the few things he felt were indispensible, and with his wife, three boys and four little girls, bade farewell to the loved land of their birth. They crossed Ken- tucky and half of Illinois and came to Montgomery county. There they remained for two years, hoping to make a new home for themselves, but they could not get a footing. In 1871 they loaded their goods onto a wag- on and drove south through Illinois and Missouri until they came to Pierce City-at that time a mere railroad station-in Lawrence county, in the extreme southwest of the state. The hardships this proud South- ern family endured during that never-to-be-forgotten journey and for long after they reached their destination were hardly to be believed. Mr. Meredith was almost penniless when they arrived, but his courage was indomitable and he rented a farm near an adjoining town, west of Pierce City. There he and his sons worked early and late, while his wife, all unaccustomed to farm duties as she was, proved that South- ern women have the right stuff in them, as she did her part with the rest. With their combined efforts they prospered and at the end of four years were able to buy property and build a new home in the town. Mr. Meredith also bought a farm on the eastern side of Pierce City. In 1885, just at the time when he was looking forward to the reward of his labors,-a future of freedom from worry-he fell from a wagon and was killed, at the age of fifty-six.
J. W. Meredith, by reason of the necessity which existed that he should work to help his father, was able to have very little schooling, but he was naturally quick and he has learned lessons that he could never have learned at school. He has mixed much with others and has gleaned a good deal as he went along. For two years after his father died, J. W. Meredith worked on the farm he and his brothers had helped to acquire. Then, in 1887, he decided to strike out for himself. He learned wagon making, but soon made up his mind that there was no future in the business for him. He next traveled through the states of Missouri and Kansas for the Hoover & Gaines Nursery Company. In 1893 he became connected with Allen & Sons of Peirce City, general agents for the Home Life Insurance Company of New York. He rep- resented this company for a year and a half and during that time he wrote more policies than any man who ever worked that section. Tired of laboring for others, he then went into real estate for himself in Peirce City. In 1895 he came to Carthage and opened the office where he still does business.
In 1900, while living in Peirce City and writing insurance, he was married to Miss Rosell Slocum, a young lady who was born in Newton county.
Mr. Meredith is a member of the fraternal order of the Modern Wood- men of America and of the Knights and Ladies of Security. He and his wife are members of the Methodist church, South; their work in the church is as earnest and efficient as it could well be; their religion is of the practical order. Mr. Meredith believes that anything which will tend towards the betterment of the city or the uplifting of the people
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is worthy of support. It is a rare thing to find a man who has made a success in business and still adheres to the truth. Mr. Meredith's word is as good as many another man's bond. He is deeply and actively interested in polities, but he is ever tolerant ; he thinks and reasons for himself, rather than blindly and unthinkingly yielding himself to party behests. If more men were to take this view of politics there would be no danger from party.
WILLIAM H. GENTRY, M. D .- There is perhaps no calling in life the success of which depends so much on a man's own natural abilities and efforts as in the case of a physician. In the first place. only men with the right personality and temperament should ever attempt to become doctors. If a man has made up his mind that he has the requisite per- sonality, the next thing for him to do is to seek to know something about every branch of medicine and everything about some one branch. Dr. Gentry is a decided success in Carthage, so it is safe to conclude that both requisites are fulfilled in his case. So many men wear themselves out-and incidentally their friends, too-in their strenuous efforts to work all the time. Dr. Gentry does not believe in all work and no play ; he is of opinion that a man's efficiency is increased by frequent relaxa- tion, and he lives up to his own beliefs.
William H. Gentry was born at Bunceton, Cooper county, Missouri, February 18, 1873. His father, A. B. Gentry, was a native of Howard county, Missouri, and was born in 1844. When he was very young he went to Kentucky with his parents and when the Civil war was in- augurated he enlisted in the Union army. After a brief but eventful career in the army he was taken prisoner, but later paroled. He did not return to Kentucky to live, but came back to his native state and bought farm lands here. He carried on farming operations on an ex- tensive scale, his land being partly in Howard county and partly in Cooper county. He married Susan Woodson, who was born at Roanoke in Howard county, Missouri, in 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Gentry still live at Boonville, Missouri, where they are well known for their many good qualities. They are both very charitable.
William H. Gentry received his preliminary education at the public schools in Cooper county and then he attended Otterville College. He next took a course at the Missouri State University and before his course was completed he had decided that he wanted to become a physi- cian. He entered the Missouri Medical College at Saint Louis and ob- tained his degree of M. D. in 1896 and immediately began to practice in Gentry county. In 1898 he took a post graduate course at the Ken- tucky School and in the same year he came to Jasper county, Missouri, locating at Galesburg, where he remained until 1905. Then he went to Chicago and spent six months in post graduate work and returning, he located in Carthage, where he has become one of the leading physicians of the city.
On May 29, 1900, Dr. Gentry married Miss Ida Muntzel at Boon- ville, Missouri. Miss Muntzel is of German descent, being the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Chris Muntzel, of Boonville. Dr. and Mrs. Gentry have no children.
A. L. Gentry, brother of William II., is a farmer living at Boonville. The brothers have three sisters, Louise, Nannie and Osie, the latter mar- ried John Ed Moss and is living at Halsville, Boone county, Missouri.
Dr. Gentry is a member of the Greek fraternity Phi Chi (medical). He belongs to the Jasper County Medical Association, to the Missouri State Medical Association and to the Medical Association of America. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. In politics he is a
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Democrat, but is not active in the political line. He is a member of the Disciples of Christ Church and his wife belongs to the German Lutheran church. The Doctor is also interested in mining and manufacturing en- terprises ; he is an enthusiastic hunter and belongs to the Miami Hunt- ing & Fishing Club and to the Horton Duck Club of Horton, Missouri. He is fond of all kinds of amusements. He is energetic in everything which he attempts, is a most capable practitioner and stands very high in the community, both with the professional men and his patients. He is a man that Carthage could ill do without.
JAMES H. VAN HOOSE .- For twenty years James H. Van Hoose has been identified with various business activities at Webb City, Missouri, and today ranks with its most substantial citizens.
Mr. Van Hoose has in his make-up a mixture of Holland and Scotch- Irish blood, his paternal ancestors having come to this country from Holland and made settlement in Virginia, from whence they subse- quently moved over into Kentucky, and his mother's people, who were of Scotch-Irish origin, having taken up their residence in Kentucky at an early day. His father, Moses Van Hoose, was born in Kentucky June 30, 1831, and is still living in that state, being now a resident of Lawrence county, where he has long been engaged in farming and stock raising ; his mother, Mary (Hays) Van Hoose, also a native of Ken- tucky, died August 16, 1884, at the age of forty-five years. They were the parents of fifteen children, James H. being the fifth in order of birth.
It was in Johnson county, Kentucky, January 26, 1866, that James H. Van Hoose was born. His boyhood days were passed on his father's farm, and up to the time he was fifteen he attended school, after which his education was carried forward in the broad school of experience. He continued farm work until 1891, when he came to Missouri, landing at Webb City January 21, 1891. Here he began prospecting and mining, and has been more or less interested in mining ever since. Since 1907 he has had an office at 108 West Daugherty street and in partnership with Mr. Ben C. Avlor has been handling mining leases and city and country property. During his early residence here he engaged in the wholesale and retail coal business, at first in his own name, and later having as partner Mr. L. B. Hare, and still later Mr. George W. Moore. Since Mr. Moore retired from the business, Mr. Van Hoose has conducted it alone. and in partnership with Mr. Aylor. as above stated, being in- terested in the real estate and loan business, in which he has likewise been successful. He helped to organize the Merchants & Miners Bank in 1905, of which he has since been a director. He is a member of the Commercial Club of Webb City, and is identified with a number of fraternal organizations. including the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights and Ladies of Security. Politically he has al- ways been a Republican, and for years has been an enthusiastic worker in party ranks. In 1894 and 1895 he was a member of the City Council. HIe and his family are members of the Latter Day Saints church.
On January 2, 1893. Mr. Van Hoose married Miss Maude Ray, a native of Jasper county, Missouri, born at Carthage March 7. 1876, daughter of one of the early pioneer settlers of this county, who came here from Indiana. Her parents are both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Van Hoose have two children : Charles Earl, born January 28. 1897. is now a high school student. and Alton LeRoy, born March 17, 1901. The family reside at 723 West First street.
SAMUEL C. BOGGESS. a well-known mine operator in Carthage, is a man who has always felt that education was a man's best capital and
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he has worked hard to gain an education that he might be prepared for the high position he intended to make. Men who have achieved legimate success without education obtained in schools and universities are numerous and many of them in America try to belittle education, but in the years to come the so-called self-made man, competing in the battle of business with scholarly rivals, will go down to certain defeat. Mr. Boggess has realized this, and he made up his mind that an educa- tion was necessary and an education he would have. He did not know exactly what line of work he would choose, but he felt that wherever his lines were east, education would profit him. It has taught him to make the most of his natural abilities. It has taught him how to understand people and it has given him that culture which is always in itself a sense of power. Mr. Boggess is a young man, but has already had an eventful carcer.
Born in Harrison county, West Virginia, August 12, 1874, he is the son of Samuel Boggess, a native of West Virginia. Samuel Boggess, Senior, was a well known flour miller in the state of West Virginia. He died in his native state in 1888. He had married Sarah E. Wood, a native of Virginia. She was born December 9, 1835, and is still living (1911), in Carthage, and is greatly respected and honored.
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