A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 112

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864- , ed
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 912

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Mr. Page has been one of the wheel-horses in the local Republican party, and has a pleasing personality and ability to mingle with men, which is the quality first required in successful public life. He is one of the active members of the Christian church. Mr. Page is well in- formed in public questions and equally so with regard to the things which affect the local welfare of his home community, and his name and influence are readily available in the furtherance of every enter- prise and undertaking for the local good.

B. L. ROBERTS. No fitter personality might be found for the place he occupies than that possessed by B. L. Roberts, superintendent of the Sullivan county infirmary, one of the well regulated and properly con- ditioned infirmaries of Northeast Missouri. A man of the utmost integ- rity and responsibility, he is one whose pleasing manner and imposing appearance go far toward maintaining a proper spirit in the institu- tion of which he is in charge, and his opinions are respected and hon- ored by all over whom he holds jurisdiction, whether inmates or em- ployees. Under his régime, the institution has taken on a degree of efficiency and merit never before reached in the history of the state, and his excellent work and the results thereof are everywhere apparent in and about the infirmary.

B. L. Roberts was born on the 9th of September, 1867, in Delaware county, Ohio, and is a son of C. Roberts, also a native son of the Buckeye state. The Roberts family is one that had its origin in England, where they were noted for honor, morality and industry, qualities that have been ever apparent in those of the name throughout their identification with this country. C. Roberts, the father of Mr. Roberts, is seventy- four years of age now, and the mother is sixty-five. They had one son and one daughter, besides the subject, R. A. and Hester Roberts. B. L. Roberts was educated in a measure in the public schools, but the bulk of his education has been acquired in the school of experience, which has fostered so many of our successful men of affairs. Mr. Roberts was for some time in early life identified with the barber business, in which he was agreeably successful, and spent some time in Livingston county, Missouri, leaving that place in 1887. It was in 1906 that Mr. Roberts became identified with the Sullivan County Infirmary in his capacity as superintendent. The infirmary, which is located about a mile distant

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from the public square of Milan, was built in 1895, and is one of the model county buildings. It is a two-story building with some fifty-two rooms, all with high ceilings, large windows and spacious halls. The ventilation and heating systems are of the most complete, and the sani- tary conditions of the institution has been pronounced correct in every detail by the government inspector. Twenty acres of land are culti- vated in connection with the property, for garden and other purposes, and the place, all things considered, is one of the best managed and cared for in the state.

When Mr. Roberts was twenty-one years of age he married Miss Rahama Kinton, a native daughter of Sullivan county, where she was reared and educated. Her father was James Kinton. No children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, but they have one adopted son, . Frank, a school boy of thirteen years. Mr. Roberts is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 731, and is identified with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his wife is also a member.

THOMAS A. DODGE. For more than decade Thomas A. Dodge has been identified with the city of Milan in his capacity as editor and proprietor of the Milan Standard, and his activities in connection with his work in that respect, as well as his interest in all the affairs of the community of a public nature, have been weighty factors in the best interests of the city at all times. The term self-made, stereotyped and shop-worn as it undeniably is, is one that at times may not be avoided. Self-made is a term that describes Thomas A. Dodge, and to apply any other term were a misnomer. His fortunes he has built up entirely without help from any outside source, and every success that has come to him in his business is the result of the application of his own native talent and energy. Luck or chance has played no part in his achievements. Only common-sense, straightforward, honorable busi- ness methods have been employed, and these, backed by his native energy and determination, have brought home to him a complete success in the business that has occupied his attention.

Born in New London, Ralls county, on Christmas Day, 1866, Thomas A. Dodge is the son of Thomas R. and Frances (Mayhall) Dodge. The father was a farmer and a native of Frankfort, Kentucky, who came to Missouri as a young man during war times, and he served in the Union army during a great portion of the period when hostilities were in order. Just prior to the war he had began to publish the Ralls County Record, and when he returned home after the cessation of hos- tilities, he resumed the publication of the paper. He continued in New London for several years, then went to Palmyra and undertook the operation of the Palmyra Democrat, which he conducted for some two or three years. At the end of that time he moved to Hannibal and there issued a daily paper for a year, when he bought the Vandalia Leader. That paper he continued to operate for a number of years, when ill health caused him to dispose of his interests. He sold out and went to Colorado, and on September 6, 1891, he died at his home in Vandalia.

He was a Democrat, a prominent Mason, and was always a power in his community. His father was of English birth and ancestry, and with two brothers, came from England when quite young. His wife, Frances Mayhall, was a native of Missouri. Her father was born near Frankfort, Kentucky, and her mother near Richmond, Virginia. They came to Rall's county in an early day. Mrs. Dodge still lives in Van- dalia, and is aged about seventy years. She is a devout and active mem- ber of the Vandalia Christian church. Of her six children five are yet

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living, and of that number Thomas A. Dodge of this review is the third in order of birth.

Thomas A. Dodge continued in the vicinity of his birthplace near New London until he had passed his sixteenth birthday. At that time the family moved to Palmyra, where the father continued in the news- paper business, and the boy attended the public schools until he was seventeen. At that age he entered the print shop with his father and worked as a journeyman printer for some time. He was somewhat of an athlete and gave no little attention to baseball in his early days, for several years playing professional ball in the Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Virginia leagues. He eventually returned to the printing office and for seven years was employed in the old State Printing Company's office at Jefferson City, Missouri, then under the management of Henry W. Ewing. At the end of that time he determined to establish a busi- ness of his own, feeling himself sufficiently experienced to make the venture a success under favorable conditions, and he accordingly bought the Sweet Springs Herald, in Saline county, Missouri. He operated that paper for about two years, then sold out and came to Milan in 1902. Here he purchased the Standard, which is the only Democratic paper in the county, and which has a subscription list of over two thousand. Prosperity has attended his effort here, and today Mr. Dodge is the owner of his fine home in Milan, the newspaper plant and building, the plant being one of the best in the state. Since he came into ownership of the Standard Mr. Dodge has built up the equipment from the bottom, and one of the eight model 8, three-magazine linotype machines to be found in the state today finds its use in the office of the Standard. Everything in the way of equipment is of the best and most modern, and the plant is in every way properly equipped and provided for the carrying on of a first class printing business. The Standard controls a large jobbing business in Milan, by reason of its capacity to turn out clean, and up-to-the-minute work on the shortest possible notice, and as a newspaper that partakes of every quality that goes to make a clean, wholesome, family news sheet, its reputation will not be gainsaid.

Politically, Mr. Dodge is a Democrat, and he is admitted to be one of the strong political weights of the party in this section of the state. His citizenship is of the quality that calls forth the highest praise, and the welfare of his community is always a vital matter to him.

On the 16th day of August, 1896, Mr. Dodge was married to Miss Frances M. Lee, a daughter of John A. Lee, who was long a bookkeeper in the office of state treasurer under Treasurer Cowgill and Treasurer Deal. He served twelve years as bookkeeper in the state auditor's office, and is well known in official circles in the capital city. They have one daughter, Lydia Lee Dodge, now eight years old.

Mr. Dodge is one of the most popular men in Milan. He has been especially active in Democratic circles, and has served as chairman of . the County Central Committee for two years. He was a delegate to the National convention at Denver, Colorado, in 1908, and has served sim- ilarly on other occasions. He was a member of the local school board for six years, and in that office, as in his every other official connection. he gave an excellent account of himself and went on record as the friend of advanced educational methods and improved systems. Fra- ternally he is a member of the A. F. & A. M., the blue lodge and chapter, and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, his affiliation in both orders being with the Milan lodges. Mrs. Dodge is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church South. Recently Mr. Dodge was appointed to the office of postmaster of Milan, and he will enter upon the duties of his new office in April, 1913. Vol. III-48

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J. C. CUSTER. For twenty-eight years engaged in teaching, later identified with the banking business, and for six years cashier of the Mutual Bank, with later identification with the County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of which he was secretary for some years, and now extensively engaged in the real estate business, J. C. Custer has had a varied business career, and one that has conduced to his own material prosperity, as well as to the advancement of his community along the best lines. He takes his place today among the leading citizenship of Green Castle, where he lias the confidence and secure regard of the oldest and best among her people.

Born in Highland county, Ohio, near the town of Hillsboro, in 1846, J. C. Custer was a boyhood playmate of former Governor Foraker. He is the son of George C. Custer, a cousin of the immortal Custer of the Indian wars of the later years of our Indian troubles, and a general in the Civil war. The mother of the subject was Hannah Gans, who was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. They were married in 1839, and came to Ohio in 1845. George C. Custer, the father, went to Cali- fornia in 1857, making the trip via Cape Horn, and in that new and wilderness country he was foully murdered. He left his widow and nine children in their country home in Ohio, and one of his four sons, John L. Custer, was a private in the Union army and now makes his home at Lawrence, Kansas.

J. C. Custer was reared in Ohio and at the age of twenty he engaged in teaching in Sullivan county, Missouri, where he went in 1866. He was successful in that work and for many years continued in it, winning position and prominence with the educators of his state, serving two terms as county superintendent of schools of Sullivan county, Missouri. In later years he promoted the Mutual Bank, and for six years he was cashier of the institution, retiring because of depleted health. He was also a promoter of the County Fire Insurance Company, and for seven years was secretary of the concern. In more recent years he has given his attention generally to the real estate and loan business, in which he has gained prominence and prosperity, as well. He has today some of the finest improved farms in Sullivan county for sale.

Mr. Custer is a man of excellent business attainments, and is one whose reputation is of the best in the places where he is best known.

He was married in 1869 to Miss Phoebe Doze, at Green Castle, and they have one son, Frank O. Custer, who is well known in business circles of Milan, Missouri. J. C. Custer's wife died in 1897 and he married Miss Rebecca Trautwein, of Carlisle, Ohio, in 1898, who died in 1903, and in 1904 he married Mrs. Louise Heidmeyer, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, a special friend of boyhood days in Ohio. They now enjoy their pleasant home in Green Castle, Missouri. He lived most of the time for thirty-four years on his farm two miles from Green Castle until he sold it and moved to Green Castle, Missouri.

JAMES H. SPENCE. When the first settlers of Chariton county came to this locality, they found none of the present day developments which seem so essential a part of the landscape. All of the land was wild, some in prairie, other parts covered with timber, and a portion under water. It was a mighty task to turn the virgin sod, fell the mighty forest trees and drain the pestilent swamps which were not only useless but bred various diseases, and yet these old-time pioneers proved equal to overcoming the obstacles which lay in their paths. While all did not live to see their hopes materialized, all laid a sound foundation, upon which the present remarkable structure of civilization has been built. and to them is due the initial credit. One of the families to whom

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belongs the distinction of having commenced this great work is that bearing the name of Spence, a worthy representative of which is found in James H. Spence, the owner of an excellent property situated seven miles southwest of Salisbury and three miles northwest of Shannondale, in Chariton county. Mr. Spence was born in Howard county, Missouri, five and one-half miles south of Fayette, April 7, 1849, and is a son of William and Rebecca (Hayes) Spence.

William Spence was born in North Carolina, and as a boy was taken by his parents to Madison county, Kentucky, from whence he came at the age of sixteen years to Missouri, in company with his mother and older brother Jesse. They settled among the pioneers of Howard county, two miles north of Estill, but Jesse Spence subsequently removed to old Chariton, in Chariton county, and there spent the remainder of his life, dying in middle age. After his mother had settled down in Howard county, William Spence came on to Chariton county and joined his brother, and here, in 1836, he was married to Rebecca Hayes, daughter of Robert and Priscilla (Bently) Hayes, also natives of Kentucky. The Hayes family came to Missouri about the year 1818, settling on a part of the present farm of James HI. Spence, Robert Hayes becoming an extensive slave-holder and large land-owner, his holdings covering some two thousand acres. His wife passed away when thirty-six years of age, while he passed away in middle life, during the '40s, and they were the parents of the following children: Rebecca, who married Mr. Spence; Eliza, who married Moses Hurt, and became the mother of Grant Hurt, who is living on a part of his father's farm; Catherine, who married Thomas Allen, and both died on a part of the home farm; Elizabeth, who married John H. Allen, brother of Thomas Allen, and both died advanced in years; and James R., who died while a student at Danville, Kentucky.

At the time of his marriage, William Spence returned to his mother's home in Howard county, although his wife had inherited one hundred and fifty acres of her father's property. That, however, was never their home, Mr. Spence carrying on operations on a tract of four hundred and fourteen acres in Howard county, twenty-seven miles distant. He became one of his community's leading agriculturists and a large slave- holder, and was one of the most valued citizens of his community, where his death occurred June 21, 1871, when he was sixty-nine years of age. His widow survived him until July 3, 1901, when she passed away in Howard county when past eighty years of age. They had eight children to reach maturity, namely: Jesse, now living on the old homestead in Howard county ; John L., on a part of the Hayes farm in Chariton county ; Bedford B., on a part of his grandfather's land north of Key- tesville ; James H .; Franklin B., residing in the West; Robert E., who died in Chariton county at the age of seventy years; William T., who for a number of years made his home in the state of Kansas, but who died in Chariton county at the age of sixty-eight years; and Bettie B., who married Keyler Pullam, and died in Howard county in middle life.

James H. Spence received his education in the public schools of Howard county, and remained at home until he was eighteen years of age, when, with his brothers, he came to Chariton county and settled on a part of the old Hayes farm, of which he secured eighty acres. To this original tract he has added from time to time, until he now owns two hundred and twenty acres, one hundred and sixty being land form- erly owned by his grandfather Hayes. He has confined his attention to farming, and his land, its buildings and its improvements, give ample and emphatic evidence of the presence of able management and com- mendable industry. Mr. Spence's whole life has been devoted to agri-

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cultural pursuits, and his section has no more skilled farmer, while he is also known as a supporter of all progressive movements for the bene- fit of his community and a friend of education and religion. With his son, he attends the Missionary Baptist church, which stands on a part of his farm, and of which his wife was a member. Mr. Spence is a Democrat in political matters, but has been no politician, and cares noth- ing for public preferment.

In 1875, Mr. Spence was united in marriage with Miss Elmira Hurt, who was born on the old Day estate, in Chariton county. Mrs. Spence, who was eighteen years old at the time of her marriage, was a second cousin of her husband, and the daughter of Robert and Phoebe (Day) Hurt, and granddaughter of Moses and Eliza (Hayes) Hurt. She died March 30, 1912, having been the mother of one son: Franklin B., who resides with his father and assists in the operation of the home farm. He married Anna Finnell, and they have one son: James H., Jr., who is fourteen years of age and a student in the public schools. Mr. Spence is a master Mason, and takes a great deal of interest in fraternal work. When he allows himself a vacation, it is invariably spent in a hunting trip through southeastern Missouri, from which he seldom returns with- out valuable trophies of the chase.

JAMES LEE HAMMETT. Since the pioneer settlement of Randolph county, this section of Northeast Missouri has known and been influenced by no one family to a greater extent in its business and civic develop- ment than by the Hammetts. Three generations of the name whose members have alike been distinguished for remarkable business talents, enterprise and large public spirit, have spent a portion of their lifetime in this county, and many of the larger and permanent business estab- lishments and enterprises in this section today are influenced in an im- portant manner by the activities of the Hammett family.

James Lee Hammett, son of Francis Marion and Susan Robertson Hammett, and whose name is usually signed Jim L. Hammett, has been for more than thirty years active in business affairs, and during most of this time has been cashier and manager of the J. M. Hammett Banking Company, at Huntsville. He was born in Randolph county, May 12, 1864. The early family history goes back to William Hammett a native of England, who crossed the Atlantic and settled in South Carolina dur- ing the colonial period of American history, and in South Carolina not only followed his regular vocation as a Methodist minister, but when the war with Great Britian came on he entered the ranks as a soldier. The descendants of this Revolutionary patriot and minister, were Elijah, Isaac and Hezekiah Hammett.

Elijah Hammett, great-grandfather of the Huntsville banker, Jim L. Hammett, had five children, namely : Joseph M., and four daughters. Joseph M. Hammett, the grandfather, was father of a family of seven sons, whose names are as follows : F. M., J. W., Elijah, Joseph E., B. F., C. H., and J. D. Hammett. These men in their days have all been prominent in financial, civic and church affairs in their communities. . Frances Marion Hammett, oldest of these seven sons, was born in Ran- dolph county, Missouri, August 19, 1831, and after a long and success- ful career died in March, 1907. The year of his birth in Randolph county, attests the early settlement of the family in this county, and the founder of the family name and fortunes here was the grandfather, the above-mentioned Joseph M. Hammett. Frances M. Hammett was by occupation a farmer and banker, he had only a common school educa- tion at the beginning of his career, but possessed the best essentials which followed success and influence in the community. He was in reli-

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gion a Presbyterian, and a Democrat in politics, and was never occupied with public office nor with military service. He was a man of large affairs and in all the relations of life was just and enjoyed the esteem based upon a career of rectitude and one that was honest and of good report. From 1882 until the time of his death, he was president of the J. M. Hammett Banking Company. The late Frances M. Hammett mar- ried Mary Susan Robertson, a daughter of Hiram and Sidney (Way- land) Robertson. Both the Robertson and Wayland families were among the pioneer settlers of Randolph county, and came here from Virginia.

Mr. James L. Hammett, during his youth in Randolph county, received the advantages of the common school, as his father had before him. When he was but seventeen years old, his father Francis M. Hammett, sent him out to Colorado to look after his interests there, in the Hammett and Hall cattle ranch, located near Las Animas. This ranch was sold in 1883, and he consequently returned home and engaged in farming and stock raising at Darksville, Missouri, until July, 1890. At that date he came to Huntsville and entered the J. M. Hammett Banking Company, of which he has since been cashier and manager. This banking company, which ranks among the strongest in Northeast Missouri as a private combination of capital and banking facilities was established in 1874 by his grandfather, Joseph M. Hammett and his five sons. Mr. Hammett has large interests in land in Arkansas, Mis- souri and Texas, and has been connected with many large deals and financial operations in this part of the state. He was probably the most important factor in handling one of the largest coal deals ever con- sumated in Missouri, whereby the Randolph-Macon Coal Company bought forty-six thousand acres of coal land in Randolph, Howard and Macon counties. The cash consideration of this transaction was one and a half million dollars, and the purchasers made Mr. Hammett escrow dur- ing the progress of the negotiations, so that he handled and distributed this large amount of money.

An active Democrat all his career, Mr. Hammett has never sought any political honors or held any office that might properly be called political. At the same time he has given his support and interests to every movement involving the public welfare in its best aspects and has been connected with so many of the financial enterprises of the com- munity that he is in an important sense a public man. For sixteen years he has served as a member of the Huntsville school board. Mr. Hammett is a member of the Methodist Church South, and has been president of the official board of this church at Huntsville for twenty years. Fraternally he is a member in good standing of the Masonic lodge.

In April, 1891, Miss Laura B. Proctor became his wife. Her home at the time of her marriage was at Sturgeon in Boone county. Mrs. Hammett, who was educated in public and private schools, is a daugh- ter of James M. and Ella (White) Proctor, her father being one of the leading citizens of this section of the state. He was a merchant, farmer and banker, for two terms represented Boone county in the legislature, and was state senator one term, and during his legislative career was the acknowledged champion of the state university. Through his efforts the first appropriation was secured for the Agricultural College, and owing to his influence Lincoln Institute became recognized as a state institution. During the war he served in the Confederate army, and participated in the fight at Monroe Station, which was the first conflict on Missouri soil. The father of James M. Proctor was Dr. W. H. Proctor, one of the pioneer surgeons of north Missouri, and the grand- father was John Proctor, who emigrated from Kentucky to Missouri at

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A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 112

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864- , ed Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 912

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864- , ed
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 912