A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 32

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 32

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).

His mother died when he was very young but his father is still living, a retired farmer of Caldwell county. The early years of Charles Riddle were passed chiefly in the home of foster parents. From the age of four years to that of twelve he was reared by Solomon Alspaugh, in Ray county, by whom his education was almost wholly neglected. When the boy had reached the age of twelve he began to go to school somewhat regularly and to acquire an education. It was at first and indeed, for many years, a slow and laborious task. During the sum- mers he obtained work by the day and his winters were spent in the earnest pursuit of knowledge. At the age of nineteen Mr. Riddle was licensed to teach in the public schools of Caldwell county, where he spent seven years teaching in the rural and graded schools.

Being still a young man, though with seven years of teaching experi- ence to his credit, Mr. Riddle entered the University of Missouri, at Columbia, where he remained for four years as a student. A member of the class of 1909, he completed his required work in December, 1908, as a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Science, which was con- ferred upon him in the latter year. In January of 1909 he entered upon his present position, as superintendent of schools at Edina. His achievements here have been very creditable. The school has shown steady advancement in standing and general organization.

Mr. Riddle's domestic life has been established since his coming to Edina. On July 19, 1910, he was united in marriage to Miss Elsie Campbell, a daughter of Thomas and Lulu Campbell, of Edina. Mr. and Mrs. Riddle are the parents of one child,-a daughter named Elsie Allene. Not only is the superintendent a valuable accession, in his own person, to the life and society of Edina, but his wise and skillful con- duct of school affairs has made his work in that regard a matter for widespread gratification and a cause for a most optimistic outlook for educational affairs in Edina in future years.

JUDGE THOMAS ALONZO MCGEE, of Paris, Missouri, is an example of that class of men, who growing up during Civil war days, received but a haphazard education, and found themselves upon the threshold of young manhood with a devastated and ruined country before them and with only courage and empty hands to aid them in their fight for life. The judge, however, did not come from a family that knew defeat and setting bravely to work he has succeeded in overcoming the handi- cap of poverty, lack of education and hard times. He is now widely known as a capable and successful business man, a competent judge and a cultured and respected citizen of Monroe county.

Judge McGee is descended from one of the early settlers of this community, his grandfather, John McGee, having entered land near Paris, in 1824. Before arriving in Monroe county, he first stopped in

or A Mecher

1499

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI

Howard county for a short time, but conditions upon investigation appeared to him more favorable in Monroe county. He was born in Kentucky, where he married his first wife, who bore him the following children : Robert, who died in Ralls county, leaving a family ; Eliza, who married a Mr. Maupin, and passed her life in Monroe county ; David who lived and died in Audrain county, Missouri. His second wife he also married in Kentucky and it was with her and his family that he started from his first home in Howard county to the new one in Monroe, where he had erected a cabin. Sending his wife and all of the children but one of his daughters on ahead, he started out driving a drove of hogs, while his daughter was driving the loaded wagon in front. The road was grass grown, and showed few evidences of travel. On all sides the tall prairie grass waved in the wind; the solitude was unbroken, when suddenly a jet of flame burst forth from the dry grass and presently the whole outfit was in flames. The father and daughter had no time for escape, so quickly did the flames spread in the tinder- like grass, and both were fatally burned. John McGee was a man in the prime of life when this tragedy occurred and it left his widow with the care of a large family of children, who were as follows: Jane, who married Mr. McGee, and died in Audrain county; Lizzie, who became the wife of Joseph Sproul and passed away in Monroe county ; Syntha, who married Martin Goodrich and died in Hannibal, Missouri; Josiah J .; William, who died as a soldier in the Mexican war; Hugh J., who died in Monroe county, and Prudy died in Audrian county, having mar- ried John Gillmore.

Josiah J. McGee was born in Mercer county, Kentucky, October 27, 1819, and was therefore but a child when his father died. He received the primitive education that the little log cabin school near his home provided, and when he grew up naturally became a farmer, which was the occupation of practically all the inhabitants of the section in those early days. As he had been brought up to believe in slavery when the. Civil war broke out, in spite of the fact that he was living in a section of the country, where the Federals were in power, he gave his allegiance to the South. He was captured and thrown into prison, as many other farmers were during those times. When the war was finally ended he accepted the result quietly and though his heart was still with the Stars and Bars, he gave his allegiance to the Stars and Stripes, and became a loyal citizen of the Union once more. He was a useful and influential citizen of the community, and as a Democrat was prominent in the local affairs of the party, serving one term as county judge.

The wife of Judge Josiah McGee was Catherine Helms, a daughter of Joseph Helms, who had come from Kentucky to settle in Monroe county. She died in 1869 and he survived her for many years, passing away in 1906. Their children were Thomas Alonzo; William; Melissa, who married George Nugent and died in Audrain county ; Mattie, wife of Dr. Wood, of St. Louis and Bettie, also died single.

Thomas Alonzo McGee was born near Paris, September 17, 1847. He received a few more educational advantages than his father, but he also reached maturity with only the education of a country school, which was very rudimentary. Too young to do more than look on at the events that transpired during those terrible years from 1860 to 1865, he yet felt strongly the effects of the Civil war. Farming was the only profession open to him, for whatever the effects of the war, there was still plenty of good Missouri land, and by literally putting his own shoulder to the plough he was soon able to make more than a bare living. He continued to till the soil and gradually added to his holdings until today he is the owner of many of the richest and most prosperous farms

1500

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI

in the county. Among these is the old homestead which his grandfather entered, and the fine farm upon which he lives and which adjoins the townsite of Paris on the left.

In 1902 Judge McGee was elected to the bench as a candidate from the western district, the successor of Judge Allen. He continued to succeed himself in office, the people being thoroughly satisfied with the way in which he conducted the affairs of his court until 1910, when he became a candidate for presiding judge. He was elected to this office and succeeded Judge Allen on the bench. Many important matters have been brought up before this court since his term of office began, but none perhaps of more importance to the town and county than the proposition to erect a new court house. In the letting of the contract for this work, in answering objections and placating angry men who thought they should have been favored, or who objected to something about the building, in deciding the thousand and one worrisome little details that arose every day during the construction of the magnificent concrete structure, Judge McGee's was the dominant voice, and in all the conferences and deliberations over this work he was always present, always ready with advice, or equally as ready to accept advice from others.

As a business man Judge McGee is well known through his activity in the affairs of the Paris Savings Bank, of which he is vice-president and director. He is also a director of the Holiday Exchange Bank. In politics he is a member of the Democratic party, and in religious mat- ters he belongs to the Cumberland Presbyterian church. He is inter- ested in fraternal affairs being a member of the Masons and a Master Mason, and he is also a member of the subordinate lodge of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows.

Judge McGee was married on the 4th of January, 1884, to Miss Min- nie Lee Moore, a daughter of John Moore, and a member of one of the old families of Monroe county. Her mother was Jane Sharp, a daugh- ter of Colonel Sharp, of Callaway county, Missouri. Mrs. McGee died in December, 1902, leaving four daughters. Of these the eldest, Eula B., is the wife of John Glascock, a farmer of Monroe county, and at present the nominee for county assessor; Carrie McGee is a teacher in Wayne, Oklahoma, and a graduate of the Synodical College at Fulton, Missouri; Oma McGee; and Essie, who is the youngest and lives with her father and sister at the family home near Paris.

JAMES W. WALTHALL. The possessor of a finely cultivated farm of 100 acres, lying near Fulton, in Callaway county, James W. Walthall has been a resident of this section for nearly a half century, and is well and favorably known to its people. Mr. Walthall was born near Jeffer- son City, in Cole county, Missouri, November 26, 1846, and in 1865 re- moved to Callaway county, settling on the farm on which he now resides, three quarters of a mile northeast of Fulton, on the St. Louis road. His parents, the Rev. William B. and Matilda (Vaughan) Walthall, were natives of Virginia, and came to Missouri in 1843, where the father became pastor of the brick Providence church near Bloomfield, where he continued thirteen years. He also served in other pastorates of the Missionary Baptist faith, including the Unity church, and continued to preach the Gospel for forty years, until ill health caused his retire- ment and his death occurred in September, 1885, when he was sixty years of age. His widow survived him only one year, and was also ac- tively known in church work. They had a family of five sons and one daughter, namely : Jeter, a merchant at Fulton, died at the age of sixty- one years; Anderson M., a district judge at El Paso, Texas; George W.,

1501

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI

district judge at Crowell, Texas; Carey, of Salt Lake City, Utah, who died when fifty-three years of age; Mary, the widow of Joseph Dyson, living at Kansas City, Missouri; and James W.

James W. Walthall was second in order of birth, and was eighteen years of age when he accompanied his parents and brothers and sister to Callaway county. Two years were spent at Westminster, and at the end of that time he took charge of his father's farm, remaining with him until he purchased the land and started to work on his own account. At that time he had 160 acres of well cultivated land, but a part of this has since been sold, and he now has 100 acres. This has been brought to a high state of cultivation and the value of the property has been greatly enhanced by a number of modern improvements. The large modern country home is situated on a well-kept lawn, and is surrounded by native shade trees, the barns are commodious and substantially built, the fences neatly built and the whole appearance of the property giving evidence of thrift and good management. Mr. Walthall is known as an able farmer, and in addition to general farming buys and ships fat stock. For some time he had a contract to furnish the state hospital with seven or eight beeves per week. At this time he is a member of the Eight Mile District Good Road Association, and all movements of a progressive nature find him a stalwart supporter. In politics, Mr. Walthall is a Democrat, but has cared little for politics, his only race being a candi- date for county judge, in which he met with defeat.

In 1883 Mr. Walthall was married to Miss Lizzie Bartley, daughter of James' I. Bartley, of the same vicinity, and four children have been born to this union : Mary Vaughn, a graduate of William Woods College, and now teacher of music in the I. O. O. F. home, at Liberty, Missouri ; Anna Stone, wife of Robert Black, a student in Louisville Theological Seminary ; William B., residing at home, a student in Westminster; and Clinton, who is attending the public schools. Mr. Walthall is a member of the Baptist church, while his wife and children belong to the Christian denomination. He belongs to the I. O. O. F. lodge and en- campment, and has numerous friends in both. Mr. Walthall's life has been passed in agricultural pursuits and he is thoroughly conversant with every branch of farming. An earnest, hard-working farmer- citizen, he takes pride in having brought himself to a position of inde- pendence through the medium of his own efforts, and as a man whose activities have always helped to advance his community, he is worthy the esteem and confidence in which he is universally held. He has be- lieved firmly in education, and his children have been given the best of advantages and fitted to honorably fill any position that life might hold for them.

ARTHUR MIDDLETON SWETT. The late Arthur Middleton Swett was born in Bath, New Hampshire, on September 4, 1850, and died on August 30, 1911. He was the son of Moses and Elizabeth (Brickett) Swett, both of whom died in the youth of the subject, thus leaving him to fight his own battles at an early age. He received the usual common school advantages, and later attended the Kirksville, Missouri, Normal School, after which he learned the saddlery and harness business in Unionville. He was young in years, but possessed the courage and determination of a much older man, when he established himself in a saddlery and har- ness business in Unionville with a capital aggregating one hundred dollars and for thirty-eight years did Mr. Swett carry on his business in the place where he first located in Unionville. He was prosperous and gained a place among the leading business men of his city, and his business career was terminated only by his death in August, 1911. Mr. Swett was a man self made in the best acceptance of the term,

1502

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI

and his prosperity and success came as the result of his courageous and persevering activities in his business life. Conservative in his opera- tions, he was yet aggressive in his methods, and many of the telling business enterprises of Unionville and adjacent cities felt his influence and his financial support during the later years of his life. He was admitted to be the oldest business man in Unionville at the time of his death, and it may be said that he was one of the most highly esteemed men of the city which had known him and his work for so many years.

Mr. Swett was an adherent of the Republican party, and his relig- ious affiliations were with the Presbyterian church. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity for many years, but beyond that had no other fraternal associations.

On March 24, 1881, Mr. Swett married Miss Cora Ardelle Payne, the daughter of Grandison and Victoria Payne, of Milan, Missouri. Mrs. Swett was a graduate of the Convent School of Chillicothe, Mis- souri. Two children were born to them: Charlie Estella Swett, born in Unionville on October 8, 1883, and Goldie Payne Swett, born in Unionville on the 18th day of September, 1886. The latter is married to Joseph H. Farance, a well known plumber and electrician of Union- ville.

Mrs. Swett still survives her husband and makes her home in Union- ville.

WALTER VALENTINE NALTY. It is given to few men to have a life of such varied experience as the popular photographer in the Whittle building, at Columbia, Walter V. Nalty. He has been a resident of this city since 1908, having arrived after a journey across half the globe, with Columbia as his objective point from the start. He was a student for some time in the academic department of the university, and also did work in his regular profession. In July, 1911, he bought the J. Waller studio in the Whittle building, and now has a prosperous business.

Mr. Nalty began his career in Australia, where he was born on the 9th of March, 1884. His father, James Newsome Nalty, born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1852, was a member of an aristocratic family, was reared in conformity with that position, and then about the time he attained his majority the enactment of certain laws of the empire deprived him and his family of their finances and stations. Thus thrown on his own re- sources, he made a success as an actor, until failing health compelled him to go to Australia. There he became superintendent of the mounted police organization known as the Troopers, and during that service his horse killed him. His death occurred July 22, 1884, after a residence in Australia of about five years. He married Eleanor Juliet Mitchell, who was born at Adelaide, Australia, a daughter of Walter Mitchell, and her death occurred in that country November 7, 1907. By her mar- riage to Mr. Nalty she had two children-Millicent, still living in Aus- tralia, and Walter Valentine, of Columbia. She married for her second husband a Mr. Duckmanton, and their children were Morton, Lancy and Thelma.

Walter Valentine Nalty throughout most of his life has been depend- ent on his own resources, and his talents and resourcefulness have kept him fairly prosperous in spite of difficulties. He attended the grade schools of his native land about five years, which was all the schooling he had until he arrived in Missouri. He was a newsboy, was a delivery boy for a grocery store, and at the age of thirteen began work in a brick yard, where he continued fifteen months. In the city of Mel- bourne he then got a job in a photographers' supply house, displayed

1503

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI

a ready talent for photographic work, and afterwards worked in dif- ferent studios and traveled throughout Australia following his pro- fession.

In 1906 he became a prospector in the desert gold fields in the heart of the Australian continent. Already at the age of twenty-four he was a seasoned veteran in the manners and activities of the world, and he then embarked on his venture to the other side of the world. In February, 1908, he signed as a coal passer on an ocean liner at Sydney, and made the voyage to London below decks and at some of the hardest work known to man. From London he took steerage passage as an emigrant on the steamship St. Louis, and from New York finally reached Colum- bia, where his activities in business have been described.

Mr. Nalty's talent has not been altogether devoted to his regular profession. He has been a newspaper correspondent and a contributor to magazine literature, his writings having appeared in The Student, the Post Dispatch, Leslie's Weekly, Sydney Bulletin, St. Louis and Can- adian Photographer, the World's News, and elsewhere. He has also had considerable success in delivering travelogues, and for all his literary work has a rare fund of experience and information. Mr. Nalty is a member of the Masonic order. He was married on June 26, 1912, to Miss Gertrude Selders, daughter of William and Alice (Sprague) Sel- ders. Mrs. Nalty was born at Centralia in November, 1889, and was educated at Christian College in Columbia.

THEODORE C. BRUERE, of St. Charles, Missouri, comes of a family whose name has been prominent in Missouri for half a century. Al- though when the first member of the Bruere family arrived in the state as a pioneer he had no more material resources to draw upon than any of his neighbors, and probably not as much as most of them, his natural abilities were such that he soon began to stand out in the community as a young man who was destined to play a big part in the public's affairs. He early justified this belief in him, prospering in his private career, advancing from a capable lawyer to a member of the legislature, and a representative of his state at several conventions. This man was Theo- dore Bruere, the father of the subject of this sketch.

Mr. Bruere, Sr., was born at Furst, Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, in 1831, the son of Jean Bruere, a well-known architect and builder of Cologne. Mr. and Mrs. Bruere (Miss Wilhelmina Taeger before her marriage) held a high place in the social and intellectual circles of the city, and were thus able to surround their children with an atmosphere of culture and refinement, that proved an excellent foundation for their later life. Until he was twenty years old Theodore Bruere remained at

home studying. He was an excellent classical scholar by this time, so that when he came to America, as he did in that year, he had an edu- cation far superior to that afforded the average American pioneer youth. On his arrival in the United States he found a position in New York as a civil engineer. This only lasted a short time, however, and in the autumn of 1851 he pushed on to St. Louis. He was unable to find work here, and as the only money he had was the scant amount he had been able to save in New York,, he left the city to travel up the Missis- sippi river hunting for something to do. He finally managed to secure a position as night watch on a mill in Warren county, Missouri, and when his services were no longer needed, to get work on a farm. He had to come to America alone in the first place, but he was followed soon after by several of his brothers and sisters, among them, John, Carl, Franz, Gustav, now a resident of California, Mrs. Minchen Becker of St. Charles, and Mrs. Lena Hass of Los Angeles, California. Like

1504

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI

their French Huguenot ancestors, they were imbued with the spirit of freedom and independence, and were willing to seek their fortunes any place in the world no matter how many thousand miles from home it might be.

Theodore Bruere remained on the farm for several months until he became acquainted with Judge Walker, who, seeing in the young man his educational advantages and his undoubted superiority to his sur- roundings, induced him to form a class in Latin, and the higher English branches. Some of the judge's own family were enrolled in the class, which soon became a distinct boon to the remote community, cut off from the higher schools of learning in the East. Later Mr. Bruere met a Colonel Krekel, the proprietor of the St. Charles Democrat, and this fatherly old German made a proposition to his young countryman that he should become one of the reporters for his paper. Mr. Bruere was eager for the work, and spent his spare time in reading law, so that within a short time he was able to enter a law school. In 1854 he be- came a student in the law department of the Cincinnati College, and graduated the next year in the class with George Ewing and W. H. Corwin, who have since become men of repute. He was examined for admission to the bar by Judge John F. Ryland of the Missouri supreme court, and when licensed began practicing in St. Charles at once.

Soon after he had hung out his shingle he was elected to the office of county surveyor, so that he did not have to depend upon his earnings from his profession which as in the case of all young lawyers were meagre the first year. In 1863 he was appointed city attorney, a posi- tion which he held for seven years. In the meantime his effectiveness as a public servant, and his ability as a speaker had commended him for more important work, so that in 1866 he was elected to the state senate. The election was unusual as Mr. Bruere had only had his citizen- ship papers for a short time. The people's belief in him, however, that he had been fully converted from his views as a subject to those natural to a sovereign citizen, were justified, and he carried through some important work during his term. During the last two years of his service he was chairman of the committee on judiciary, and one of the noteworthy bills he helped through the senate with the aid of Colonel Blodgett, was one granting negro suffrage. Another event for which Mr. Bruere is remembered in the history of the Missouri legislature con- cerned itself with the election as senator of Carl Schurz, the great Ger- man soldier and statesman. The term of United States senator from Missouri had expired, and the incumbent was unable to muster enough strength for re-election. There were other candidates proposed but none of them could gain the necessary number of votes. The name of Carl Schurz was then proposed as a compromise. This solution of the dead- lock commended itself to Mr. Bruere among other leaders of the legis- lature, so that Mr. Schurz found himself a member of the United States senate from Missouri almost as soon as he had acquired a residence in the state.

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 32

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