A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 113

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

USA > Missouri > A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2 > Part 113

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

2046

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI

almost the beginning of pioneer history in this state. Mr. Hammett and wife are the parents of one son, Francis Harold Hammett, who was born at Huntsville, June 10, 1892. He is now a student of law at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

EUGENE NELSON. It cannot be otherwise than gratifying to note that an appreciable percentage of the native sons of Marion county have here found ample scope for effective endeavor in various fields of activity, and among those who have become able and representative members of the bar of their native county a place of definite precedence must be accorded to the popular attorney whose name initiates this review and who is engaged in the successful practice of his profession in the city of Hannibal, the fine metropolis of Marion county.

Eugene Nelson was born on a farm near the little village of Taylor, this county, on the 21st of September, 1875. William L. Nelson, his father, was born in this county April 5, 1837, and is a son of John F. and Susan (Lourin) Nelson, the former a native of Virginia, and the latter of Kentucky. His parents were among the early settlers of Marion county, coming to it in 1829. Mr. Nelson was educated in the schools of his neighborhood, and also at Palmyra, Canton, and La Grange and grew to manhood on his father's farm. In 1858 he began teaching, in which vocation he was very successful and continued up to 1861. He then began farming and has been engaged in that pursuit almost con- stantly. He now owns the old homestead, which consists of three hun- dred and sixty acres. March 4, 1869, he married Miss Annie M. John- ston, daughter of Isaac and Nancy (Singleton) Johnston. The parents came to Missouri in 1830. To this union have been born three children, Ernest, Eugene, and Bertrude. Mr. Nelson has a fine home surrounded with the comforts of life and is respected by all who know him. He is a member of the Christian church at Antioch.

To the public schools of his native county Eugene Nelson is indebted for his early educational advantages, which were supplemented by those of most liberal academic and professional order. He entered the Missouri State Normal School at Cape Girardeau, in which he was grad- uated as a member of the class of 1898, and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Scientific Didactics. Soon after his graduation in the normal school Mr. Nelson was matriculated in the law department of the University of Missouri, at Columbia, in which he completed the prescribed technical course and was graduated in 1900 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws and with concomitant admission to the bar of his native state.

He was prominently identified with university activities as an under- graduate and at the time gave marked evidence of possessing the fine dialectic powers which have signally conserved his success as an advo- cate at the bar. He was representative of the university in the inter- collegiate debating contest with the University of Wisconsin, and he has remained most loyal to his alma mater, of whose alumni association he is an active member.

On January 1, 1901, Mr. Nelson opened an office in Hannibal, where he has since continued as a representative member of his profession in Marion county. His popularity and specific eligibility soon marked him for official preferment at the suffrage of the voters of the county, and in 1908 he became the Democratic candidate for the office of prose- cuting attorney of the county. He was elected by a gratifying major- ity and the best voucher for the efficiency of his administration is that given in the fact that he was retained in this important office for four consecutive terms of two years each, his retirement from office occurring

2047

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI

at the close of the year 1910. In January, 1911, Mr. Nelson entered into a professional partnership with B. E. Bigger, under the title of Nelson & Bigger, and the firm has a substantial and representative general practice of constantly cumulative tendency.

Mr. Nelson is essentially loyal and progressive in his civic attitude and manifests a lively interest in all that touches the welfare of his home city and county. He is the owner of five excellent farms in Marion county, the aggregate area of his landed estate being four hundred acres, all available for effective cultivation. These properties are well improved and he leases all of his lands to desirable tenants with the exception of his fine little homestead place of twenty acres, which lies contiguous to the city limits of Hannibal, on the west. This home place is most attractive, with a large and substantial residence and beautiful trees, lawns, shrubbery, etc. A lover of nature, Mr. Nelson has found special pleasure in securing a fine collection of wild birds, for which he has provided admirable accommodations and in the care of which he finds much satisfaction, his aviary being one of most interesting order.

In politics Mr. Nelson accords unswerving allegiance to the Dem- ocratic party and he has rendered effective service in behalf of its cause. His wife holds membership in the Christian church, and he is affiliated with the local lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity, as is he also with the lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

On June 5, 1905, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Nelson to Miss Ethel J. Goodrich, daughter of Edward J. Goodrich, a representative merchant of Canton, Lewis county, where he was engaged in the hard- ware business. Mrs. Nelson was born in Lewis county, this state, on April 19, 1882; and her gracious personality has made her a popular factor in the social activities of Hannibal. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have two children-Gail E., who was born on January 19, 1910; and Helen E., who was born on June 25, 1911.

CHARLES F. BASSEN. The history of a nation is nothing more than a history of the individuals comprising it, and as they are character- ized by loftier or lower ideals, actuated by the spirit of ambition or indifference, so it is with a state, county or town. Success along any line of endeavor would never be properly appreciated if it came with a single effort and unaccompanied by some hardships, for it is the knocks and bruises in life that make success taste so sweet. The fail- ures accentuate the successes, thus making recollections of the former as dear as those of the latter for having been the stepping-stones to achievement. The career of Charles F. Bassen but accentuates the fact that success is bound to come to those who join brains with ambition and are willing to work. Charles F. Bassen, one of the foremost busi- ness men of Hannibal, Missouri, launched out into the world on his own account at the age of fourteen years and at the present time, in 1912, as the result of his own well directed endeavors, he is president and general manager of the gigantic concern known as the Charles F. Bassen Wood Working Company.

A native son of Hannibal, Missouri, Charles F. Bassen was born April 25, 1871, and he is a son of John H. and Catherine M. (Meyer) Bassen, and both were born in Hanover, Germany. John H. Bassen immigrated to America as a mere boy, alone, in 1857, and immediately located in Missouri, where his first work was as a farm hand. Subse- quently he applied himself with the utmost diligence to learn the trade of shoemaker, which he followed, with marked success, until his demise in 1874, at the early age of twenty-nine years. Prior to his death he

2048

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI

had a shop of his own in Hannibal and had a force of six or eight men in his employ. He and his wife became the parents of two chil- dren-Emma, who became the wife of John A. Schinzlein, died in 1898, aged thirty-four years; and Charles F. is the immediate subject of this review.

To the public schools of Hannibal Charles F. Bassen is indebted for his preliminary educational training, which was supplemented with two years' attendance in the local night schools. At the age of fourteen years he began to work in the mill of his uncle, J. F. Meyer, a sketch of whose career appears elsewhere in this work. Four years later Mr. Bassen was made foreman in his uncle's shop and when he reached his twenty-fourth year he was admitted to the business as a partner. This mutually agreeable alliance lasted until Mr. Meyer's death, in 1909, and in April, 1910, Mr. Bassen sold out his half inter- est in the plant. During the last year, as a result of Mr. Meyer's sick- ness, he had full control of the plant, which had trebled its output during the thirteen years he was connected with it. May 1, 1911, Mr. Bassen organized the Charles F. Bassen Wood Working Company, which is incorporated under the laws of the state with a capital stock of $40,000. Its official corps is as follows: Charles F. Bassen, presi- dent and general manager; Fred C. Bassen, secretary and treasurer; and William E. Treat, vice-president. The plant is located at No. 62 Collier street in a building whose lateral dimensions are sixty-four feet by two hundred feet. Fifty men are employed and the output of the concern consists of general mill work, stair work, interior decorations, bank fixtures, church and pulpit work. The output is marketed through- out Missouri, Iowa and Illinois.

In politics Mr. Bassen is an uncompromising supporter of the Republican party and he is a director in the Hannibal Commercial Club and in the Home Building and Loan Association.

In 1895 Mr. Bassen was united in marriage to Miss Annie L. Rauscher, a daughter of Charles G. Rauscher, a prominent citizen in Hannibal. There have been no children born to this union. In their religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Bassen are devout members of the Luth- eran church and he is chairman of the parochial school board. Mr. Bassen is renowned as a man of sterling integrity of character and he commands the unalloyed confidence and esteem of all with whom he has had dealings.

JAMES H. CLATTERBUCK. A publication of this nature exercises its most important function when it accords consideration to those sterling citizens who have done well their part in the furtherance of civic and industrial progress, who command the respect and confidence of their fellow men and who are representatives of pioneer families of the sec- tion in which they have lived and labored to goodly ends. In Calla- way county a prominent and honored citizen who well merits such recognition is James Henry Clatterbuck, who, after long years of close and effective identification with the agricultural and stock-growing industries in his native county, is now living virtually retired in the attractive little village of New Bloomfield, where, in the enjoyment of the goodly things of life and the association of friends who are tried and true, he finds that his "lines are cast in pleasant places." His has been a career of well ordered industry, and he has not been denied the just reward of temporal independence and prosperity.

James Henry Clatterbuck was born on the old family homestead, about five miles west of the village of New Bloomfield, Callaway county, on April 19, 1848, and is a son of William G. and Caroline (Leopard)

2049

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI

Clatterbuck, whose marriage was solemnized in this county. William Getter Clatterbuck was born and reared in Kentucky and was a young man at the time of the family removal to Missouri. His father, Reuben Clatterbuck, had served most gallantly as a soldier in the War of the Revolution, and upon coming to Missouri he secured a large tract of government land in Callaway county, where he reclaimed a productive farm and where he and his wife passed the residue of their lives. Wil- liam G. Clatterbuck forthwith identified himself vigorously with the activities of the pioneer community and eventually developed one of the excellent farms of this section of the state, the area of his landed estate having been nearly three hundred acres and the place having been given over to diversified agriculture and stock-growing, through the medium of which he gained definite success. He owned a number of slaves prior to the Civil war and was a man of strong individuality, marked thrift and industry and of sterling character, so that he natu- rally wielded no little influence in the community which long repre- sented his home and was the stage of his well ordered endeavors. He was originally affiliated with the Whig party but finally became an ardent supporter of the cause of the Democratic party. He died in 1874, at the age of sixty-one years and his loved and devoted wife survived him by several years, the names of both meriting enduring place on the roster of the honored pioneers of Northeastern Missouri. . They became the parents of eight children, all of whom are living and the names of whom are here entered in respective order of birth : John L., Elizabeth, William S., Benjamin F., Walter, James H., Robert Thomas and Caroline.

James H. Clatterbuck, twin brother of Robert Thomas Clatterbuck, was reared under the sturdy discipline of the old home farm and his educational advantages in his youth were those afforded in the com- mon schools of the locality and period. He made his independent efforts count in the way of definite achievement and in the course of years he became the owner of a landed estate of three hundred and eighty-seven acres. He made the best of improvements on this prop- erty and was long known as one of the successful and representative farmers and stock-growers of Callaway county, where he gave special attention to the raising of high-grade short-horn cattle and registered swine. He still retains in his possession a fine farm, and in March, 1908, he removed from his rural estate to the village of New Bloom- field, where he has since lived retired from the active labors and respon- sibilities which so long demanded his attention. He gives a general supervision to the farm.

Mr. Clatterbuck has lived a quiet and unassuming life but has stood exponent of loyal and ideal citizenship. He has not sought public office but has ever been ready to lend his aid in support of measures and enterprises advanced for the general good of the community, the while he has been found arrayed as a stanch advocate of the cause of the Democratic party. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and both he and his wife hold membership in the Bap- tist church, as did also his first wife.

Mr. Clatterbuck was married to Miss Sarah Charlotte Blythe, who was born in Callaway county in June, 1855, and who was summoned to the life eternal on March 3, 1880. The only surviving child of this union is Fannie E., who is the wife of Felix Bryant, a representative farmer in the vicinity of New Bloomfield. Mr. and Mrs. Bryant have five children-James M., Joseph Turner, Margaret, William and Rob- ert Thomas.

On December 22, 1900, Mr. Clatterbuck wedded Miss Catherine

2050

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI

Blythe, a sister of his first wife. She was born May 25, 1867, and presides most graciously over the pleasant home, which is known for its cordial hospitality. She is a daughter of William and Maria (Coonce) Blythe, honored pioneers of Callaway county, where both continued to reside until their death. Mr. Blythe was born on April 26, 1825, and his wife on June 10th of the same year.

JOHN N. SOUTHERN, M. D. Although Dr. John N. Southern is a rather new comer in Monroe City, having only been in practice here for the past four years, he has become a popular and useful member of society both as a physician and as a citizen. John N. Southern is a son of the Hon. John N. Southern, a leading attorney of law in Inde- pendence, Missouri, and a prominent citizen who has had an import- ant part in that city's public affairs for many years. There were but two children in his parents' family, and his brother, William, devoted himself throughout his life to newspaper work and dying in Independ- ence. John N. Southern was born in Tennessee, at Cumberland Gap, in August, 1838. Early in the Civil war he enlisted in his native state in the Confederate army. During his services he was wounded in the hip and taken a prisoner. His wound proved to be one that would permanently unfit him for service and he was therefore permitted to return home to take up again the struggle for existence, now handi- capped forever. His injured hip did not discourage him however, and he sought a position as a teacher, securing the post of principal in the schools of Lexington, Missouri. He remained there for several years, going at length to Lexington, Missouri, where he entered upon the practice of the profession, for which he had been studying for several years. His admission to the bar occurred in Lexington, and for fifteen years or so he united newspaper work with the law, being the editor of the Independence Sentinel, a Democratic weekly publi- cation.

His law practice has given him the opportunities to prove his abili- ties as a counsel and advocate, for he has been the attorney in many important lawsuits. Among the most notable of these may be men- tioned a case in which the Missouri Pacific Railway was a party and where a large sum of money was involved, and another case in which a suit for the possession of some church property was instituted by the Hendrickites of Independence against the other wing of the Mor- mon church. In both of these suits Mr. Southern won much distinc- tion and added to his fame as a lawyer. He was special judge of the circuit court before whom Bill Ryan, a member of the "James" gang was tried. As a Democrat, Mr. Southern has always proved an inval- uable aid to his party, though he has never been a candidate for office. He is an effective campaigner and is well known as a speaker in behalf of his party. He was a presidential elector for Mr. Cleveland in 1884. and he was selected by the Missouri electors to carry the result of the election to Washington, D. C., and place it in the hands of the presi- dent of the senate. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. Southern married Miss Mattie Allen, who was born in Tennessee in 1840. She and her husband are the parents of six chil- dren : William N., who is the editor of the Independence Examiner; Ethel, an artist of Independence; John N., Jr .; Mattie, who is Mrs. John Courtner and lives in Alabama; Mable and Allen, of Independ- ence, the latter being city attorney of that place.

Dr. John N. Southern was born in Independence, Missouri on March 11, 1871. He was educated in the schools of the city and when he went into the business world he began as a clerk in a drug store in

2051

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI

Odessa, where he spent two years. He then took up the study of medicine with Dr. Ewin, of Independence, also taking lectures at the University Medical College, of Kansas City, where he graduated in 1895. He first began to practice his profession in Atlanta, Missouri, and until 1908 was a resident of that city. He then removed to Monroe City, and succeeded in building up a good practice. In 1906 he took a course in the Chicago Polyclinic, not choosing to get out of touch with modern advance in his profession. He is a member of the county, state and national medical associations. That he has come to Monroe City to make it his permanent home, has been proved by his erection of a beautiful and modern home and also by his partnership in the drug business. He has other property interests in the city, and is always anxious to join in any plan for the furtherance of the city's interests.

In politics Dr. Southern is a Democrat, but he has never cared to become an active participant in the game. He is a member of the Masons, belonging to the Macon City Commandery and he is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The city of St. Louis was the scene of the doctor's marriage on June 16, 1896, to Miss Ada Harwood, a daughter of Dr. W. F. Harwood, of Renssalaer, Mis- souri, and his wife, who was a Miss Snyder. The children of Dr. and Mrs. Harwood are Mrs. Southern; Mrs. W. T. Rutledge, of Monroe City, Missouri; Irving, a mail clerk, and Iola Harwood, who is teaching in a college in Milford, Texas. Dr. and Mrs. Southern have one daughter, Helen.

WALLACE L. BOND. The material development of Monroe City owes much to the ability of Wallace L. Bond, the prominent contractor and builder. For sixteen years he has been identified with the structural interests of this metropolis of Monroe county; and for a man scarce out of his forties, he has to his credit a remarkably long list of worthy achievements in houses and public buildings. A native of Missouri, Mr. Bond comes of a family three generations of which have formed a part of the life of this state.

Thomas Bond, the grandfather of Wallace L. Bond, came as a pioneer from Scott county, Kentucky, to Missouri, where he spent the remainder of his life, which closed in St. Joseph, Missouri, just be- fore the outbreak of the Civil war. His vocation was farming. He and his wife, nee Hughes, reared two sons and one daughter. David Bond lived in Lathrop, Missouri; Kittie became Mrs. Julian Martin ; and John T. Bond, the youngest born and the second son, has lived in both Missouri and in Oklahoma. His birth occurred in Callaway county in 1849; he received education in the popular schools; he participated in the Civil war with the Confederate forces under General Shelby ; and after the war, still a mere youth, he learned the carpenter's occu- pation. He married young and located in Lathrop, Missouri, where he was a builder and hardware merchant. There he reared his family and lived until his removal in 1904 to Claremont, Oklahoma. Mrs. John T. Bond was in girlhood Miss Anna Brooking a daughter of Sam- uel Brooking and his wife, nee Branham, and maternally of the Long family. Mrs. Bond's progenitors were Kentucky people. Her brothers and sisters were the following: Samuel Brooking, who was a member of Hughes' Regiment of General Price's Army, and who died in Florida; John, who was killed in the battle of Wilson's Creek, near Springfield, Missouri; James, now a resident of Grimes, Oklahoma ; Asa, who died at Lathrop, Missouri; Hattie, who became Mrs. Moses Estill and a resident of King City, Missouri; Emma, who died as the

2052

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI

first wife of Mr. Estill; Drusilla, who is Mrs. Eli Moberly of Oklahoma City ; and Vie, who became Mrs. Jeff Denny and is now deceased.

The children of John T. Bond and Anna Brooking Bond were as follows: Wallace L. Bond, the special subject of this review and of detailed account below; Miss Hattie, of Oklahoma; Moss, of the same place of residence; Lulu, Mrs. R. C. Lucas of St. Joseph, Missouri ; Mary, who is Mrs. Eaton of Big Wells, Texas; and Clay, of Claremore, Oklahoma. The eldest of these, Wallace L. Bond, was born in Lathrop, Clinton county, Missouri, on June 3, 1872. He was trained in the public schools and came to the years of accountability under the influence and in the atmosphere of a carpenter. His education completed, he soon went to Excelsior Springs, Missouri, where he learned the car- penter trade and became a journey workman with the Elms Hotel Company, before he left the famous resort. The far west had some allurements for him and he went to Salt Lake City, in Utah, where for a half year he applied himself to mechanics.

Leaving the mountains, Mr. Bond returned to Misssouri and located in Monroe City, where he soon developed his business into that of a contractor. His first work of importance was the residence of Mrs. Finley. This home of the Doctor's widow elicited much favorable comment. Others that have followed it in establishing Mr. Bond's superior reputation as a builder are the homes of Dr. Proctor, Mr. Davenport, W. L. Reed, J. M. Johnson, Jasper Henderson and others. Minor plans and specifications have been executed by Mr. Bond and he has become somewhat noted as a church-builder for work of that char- acter done in neighboring towns. He built two churches in Centralia; two in Shelbina (besides a public school building in the same place) ; two churches in Monroe City; and one each in Vandalia, Perry and Clarence, Missouri. He has erected several business houses in Perry and Vandalia. The somewhat famous country home of Judge Gill of Perry and the splendid mansion of Jody Utterback at Madison, Mis- souri, represent the admirable executive power of this rising contractor. His ability has grown gradually, but surely. Having first become effi- cient in the handling of plans, he thus grew interested in the subject of architecture and fell to drawing plans himself. He is ever a student in his line and he pushes his business rather than follows it.

The local interests of Mr. Bond, aside from his business, include his fraternal association, which does not extend beyond his member- ship in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and his church con- nection, which is with the Monroe organization of the Church of the Disciples, his service in this religious hody beiing that of the honorable office of deacon.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 113

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