A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 52

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

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In the summer of 1867, Mr. Parks was married to Miss Emma Mc- Cormick. Mrs. Parks was the daughter of Andrew J. McCormick and Elizabeth Heyburn McCormick. Her father, who was a native of New York, and of Irish descent was one of the pioneers in the Milwaukee district of Wisconsin, and besides being a man of considerable prop- erty, was of some influence in his neighborhood, as is attested by the fact that he was elected to the city council and state legislature.

After his marriage, Mr. Parks settled down to a steady business at home. He did not, however, sever his connections with things musical, but engaged in the retail piano trade, handling the old Matheshek piano, and the George Woods organ. In a somewhat primitive community, such as the Louisiana district then was, luxuries like pianos and organs were not much in demand, but this fact did not discourage Edgar Alonzo Parks, Senior. As his father had done with the sewing machine, he created a demand for musical instruments. After the influential people of the county had bought from him, orders poured in from all sides, and it was not long before his business had advanced far enough for him to change his position from that of a mere receiver of consign- ments to that of a dealer on a cash basis. He forsook the small, ten- by-twelve shop in which he had conducted his business and erected a fine new building on the corner of Fourth and Georgia streets. This he filled with a stock of all kinds of musical instruments. In 1891, he enlarged his building into the more pretentious Parks' block, which is familiar to the dwellers in Louisiana at the present time. He arranged the upper floor of the remodeled structure to serve as an opera house, which he conducted successfully until his death in 1898.

The death of Edgar Alonzo Parks, Senior, was an occasion for mourning throughout the whole community. Although he was not a member of any church, his funeral was the most largely attended of any that has occurred within the history of Louisiana. He was known as a man of talent in various departments of music. He made his first appearance as a vocalist when only eight years, and was a masterly per- former on the violin, and had studied both branches under several emi- nent teachers. He also evinced great skill as a composer of piano, band, and vocal music. Aside from being an efficient musician, he had gained the reputation of being a good business man. Unaided, he had laid the firm foundations of one of the chief commercial houses in Louisiana, and that he built well is shown from the fact that it has continued to

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prosper even after his death. Under the excellent guardianship of his son, the business has put out new tentacles into untouched territory, and has given to Louisiana one of the best music houses along the Mis- sissippi. Although deeply interested in the welfare of the community in which he made his home, Mr. Parks was not a believer in partisan poli- tics. It is significant of his popularity that on the only occasion on which he was elected to public office, it was as a member of the council on the Republican ticket, and the ward that elected him was one that was strongly Democratic, and that has never since broken away from its party. Like his father, the senior Mr. Parks was a Mason, being a member of the chapter and commandery. He left only one child to mourn his death, Edgar Alonzo Parks, Junior, the subject of this sketch.

"Druey" Parks received his education in the public schools of Louisiana, from which he graduated in 1889, with second honors. He inherited his father's musical talent, and was able to play his favorite instrument, the cornet, from the time he was eight years old, and at one time, it seemed that he was destined for a musician's career. He did actually become the leader of the Louisiana band, but his father wisely persuaded him to forsake the rather precarious existence of the artist for the surer success that awaited him as a business man. When his education was finished, he was given a team and a wagon, and sent out to gain experience as a salesman. He had learned piano tuning, so this made part of his duty "on the road." His first day out netted him the sale of two organs and a piano, and he had to his credit one tuning in addition. After a year of correspondingly successful sales- manship, his father gave him the charge of the office. He proved equal to the responsibilities involved, and instituted new methods that greatly furthered' the prosperity of the business.

When the father had laid down his task, the son whom he had trained with such wise foresight, was thoroughly capable of carrying on the business without assistance. He continued the management of the theatre in the Parks' block until 1904, in which year the building was remodeled again, and its upper floor devoted to display rooms, offices, and practice rooms, and for the storing of supplies. He did not go out of the theatrical business altogether at this time, but took up the man- agement of the old Burnett Opera House, which he rechristened "Parks Theatre," and he continued to operate same until its destruction by fire, in 1908. About six months prior to the burning of the theatre. he had opened up the Nickelodeon, Louisiana's first moving picture theatre. This proved to be his last venture in the amusement field. In connection with the amusement enterprises, he also operated the Parks Bill Posting Co., having one of the best plants in the state, all of steel construction. The Parks Music House was incorporated in 1909, with Edgar Andrew Parks, Junior, as president; W. Wirt Parks, as first vice-president; R. W. Young, of Hannibal, as second vice-president ; E. M. Parks, as secretary, and M. D. Parks, as treasurer.

On the 15th of August, 1900, Mr. Parks married Miss Mamie Dent. Mrs. Parks was a daughter of Walter D. Dent, of Welsh descent, and of Revolutionary stock. The Colonial ancestry of the Dents lived in Mary- land, and the first member of the family to move to the Louisiana com- munity was William Dent, the grandfather of Mrs. Parks. Walter D. Dent was for many years a road master on the St. Louis & Hannibal Railroad. His wife was Susan Zumwalt, the daughter of another pio- neer family of Louisiana. Mr. and Mrs. Parks are happy in the pos- session of three children : Charlene, who 'was born September 9, 1901;

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Edgar A., whose natal day was September 4, 1903, and Rosemary, who came into the world January 11, 1911.

After the example of his father and grandfather, Mr. Parks is a prominent Mason, being at present eminent commander of the Knights Templar. He aided, both by moral and material support, in the erec- tion of the Masonic Temple in Louisiana, and is in every respect a well-known exponent of the upright principles of Masonry. He is equally prominent in affairs of civic importance. He was an enthusias- tic worker in the old Business Men's Association, and gave a great deal of time to the organization' which did such good service for the city. He has been active in the work of the Commercial Club of Louisiana, and has had the honor of being president of that body, from which office he resigned in 1912. In every respect, Mr. Parks is known to his neigh- bors and friends as a cultured, capable man, broad minded and public spirited, a worthy son of the father whom they knew and loved.

JAMES DOWELL. One of the representative farmers of Northeastern Missouri, Mr. James Dowell has succeeded because of his industrious management of all the resources and opportunities committed to his care, and in the cultivation of the soil has found an ample prosperity. It is especially noteworthy that Mr. Dowell's farm land is now more productive than it was when he first began its cultivation, and in this respect he has not only enriched himself but has increased the resources which he shall in time pass on to others.

Mr. Dowell has been identified through a lifetime of residence with Audrain county. He was born in the northern part of the county April 1, 1856. His father, J. O. Dowell, was one of the early settlers here, coming from Virginia. He married a Miss Carter.

After his education in the local public schools, Mr. Dowell remained at home with his parents until he was twenty-five years old. Although he has always made an independent living, it was only within the last fifteen or twenty years that his efforts have been generously re- warded. In 1883 he located on a farm a half mile north of Benton City, but two years later came to his present homestead one and one-half miles south of Benton City, known as the Cloverdale Stock Farm. His farm comprises four hundred acres of first-class land, and on it for a number of years he has been raising cattle, hogs and mules and large grain crops, and has been steadily raising the standards of yield and fertility. He also raises some fruit. A little west of this homestead he also owns a hundred and sixty acres which he rents out, and he also owns valuable property in Wichita, Kansas.

Mr. Dowell was married at Mexico in 1898 to Miss Anna Crawford, formerly of Asheville, North Carolina. They are the parents of two children : Crawford, born December 20, 1900; and Elizabeth, born Octo- ber 19, 1903. Mr. Dowell is a Democrat and has always taken a good citizen's part in the affairs of his community. From 1895 to 1899 he served in the office of county collector.

REV. ANTHONY A. JASPER was born March 10, 1870, in St. Louis, Missouri, at 1445 Sullivan avenue, the son of Anthony and Elizabeth (Timmer) Jasper. Both his father, a native of Hanover, Germany, and his mother died when Anthony, Jr., was still a child, and now his several brothers and sisters have also passed away so that he is the sole survivor of his family. Mr. and Mrs. Jasper passed their lives among the working people of the city. His education throughout was directed toward some kind of a professional career, and as he grew old enough to make the decision for himself he chose the ministry. He took one course

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in the Teutopolis College, at Teutopolis, Illinois, but practically all of his theological work was done in St. Francis Seminary, Milwaukee, Wis- consin. Having concluded his preparation as a student he was formally ordained for his duties as pastor in 1893. His first assignment made him an assistant to Father Willmes at St. Peter's church in St. Charles, Missouri. After twelve years spent here he went to Augusta, Missouri, and organized the Catholic church there. He remained there until 1910 when he was transferred to O'Fallon as the successor of the vener- able Rev. Father Brockhagen.

E. T. BARNES is editor and publisher of the Rutledge Record and has been identified with local journalism in Rutledge, Missouri, since 1909. The dissemination of news, the discussion of public questions and the promotion of the general welfare of the community through the columns of his paper constitute life's object with him as a private citizen.

A native of Knox county, Missouri, E. T. Barnes was born in Newark on the 13th of December, 1874. He is a son of Jabez Barnes, whose birth occurred in Maryland in 1812 and who immigrated to Knox county, this state, in 1833. Jabez Barnes, after his arrival in Missouri, located in Newark where he erected a store building and a. brick house. He was engaged in the general merchandise business during the remainder of his active career and he was summoned to the life eternal in 1896, aged eighty-four years. For over twenty years he was postmaster of Newark and he was likewise notary public, doing a great deal of legal business for his fellow citizens. By his second wife, whose maiden name was Caroline Oakes, Mr. Barnes became the father of five children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth, Mary is the wife of a Mr. Kelley, of Knox county; John is a resident of Illinois; George is postmaster at Baring, Missouri; Robert is a rural free delivery man at Newark; and E. T. is the immediate subject of this review.

After completing the curriculum of the public schools of Newark, E. T. Barnes entered the Kirksville Normal School, in which he was grad- uated. He likewise pursued a course of study in a business college and began to clerk in his father's store at Newark. He began to teach school and for the ensuing twelve years was engaged in that line of work in Knox and Adair county. For one year he conducted a newspaper at Gibbs, Montana, and in July, 1909, he came to Rutledge, where he has since resided and where he is now editor and publisher of the newsy little sheet known as the Rutledge Record. This paper was established in 1894 and went under the control of Mr. Barnes in 1909. Since that time he has built it up and increased its somewhat lagging circulation to five hundred.

In politics Mr. Barnes is a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies promulgated by the Republican party and in religious matters he and his wife are devout members of the Christian church. In a fra- ternal way he is affiliated with the Yeomanry and in connection with his newspaper work is a member of the Missouri Press Association. He is a man of mark in all the relations of life and is a self-made man in the most significant sense of the word. He commands the unalloyed confidence and esteem of his fellow men and is popular with all classes of people.

November 5, 1901, Mr. Barnes was united in marriage to Miss Myrtie Hayden, a daughter of James Hayden, of Newark. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes have one child, Irene.

JOSEPH W. GARRETT. Conducting a well appointed general store in the village of Portland, Callaway county, Mr. Garrett is associated with his father in the enterprise. He is a scion of one of the well known

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and highly honored pioneer families of Callaway county, where his pater- nal grandfather, William Garrett, reclaimed a productive farm and became a substantial and influential citizen. On the farm noted was born William Henry Garrett, and the date of his nativity was October 11, 1837, the old homestead being now owned by his brother, George W. Garrett. William Henry Garrett, father of him whose name initiates this review, was reared to manhood and has always maintained his home in Callaway county, and he has long been numbered among its substan- tial farmers and business men, as well as a citizen of progressive and liberal ideas. He is the sole owner of the flour mill which was originally erected and equipped by his father. The mill has been kept in operation for many years and it is now fitted with excellent modern machinery and accessories. Mr. Garrett is also the owner of a valuable farm of two hun- dred and forty acres, and the same is devoted to diversified agriculture and the raising of excellent grades of live stock. Mr. Garrett still resides upon and gives his personal supervision to the fine homestead farm, as well as to his milling business, and he is also a stockholder in the first National Bank of Fulton. He is a staunch adherent of the Democratic party and served as county collector in 1905-6. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and both are held in high regard in the county which has ever represented their home.

On the 3d of December, 1863, William H. Garrett led to the marriage altar Miss Mary T. Dyson, who was born in Nine Mile township, Callaway county, on the 13th of April, 1841, and who is a daughter of William and Lucinda (Davis) Dyson, sterling pioneers of the county. William H. and Mary T. (Dyson) Garrett became the parents of three children, of whom Joseph W., of this review, is the youngest and is the only one surviving. Amy Ockerman died in infancy; and George Early died at the age of nineteen years.

Joseph William Garrett was born on the homestead farm, about eight miles northeast of the village of Portland, on the 19th of January, 1874, and after duly availing himself of the advantages of the district schools he attended St. Charles College, at St. Charles, this state. Thereafter he continued to be associated with his father in the operation of the farm and mill until he turned his attention to the general merchandise business in which he is now engaged. The store of which he has the general super- vision and in the ownership of which he is associated with his father, as previously noted, was originally opened by the Portland Co-operative Association, as a grain store. Later D. R. Knox conducted a general store in the building, and he was succeeded by E. W. Knox, from whom the store and business was purchased in 1909 by William H. and Joseph W. Garrett, who have since continued the enterprise most successfully, under the firm name of W. H. Garrett & Son.

In politics Joseph W. Garrett gives unqualified allegiance to the Democratic party, and he has served as a member of the Democratic central committee of Callaway county, besides otherwise showing active interest in the furtherance of the cause. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the while they are popular factors in the social activities of their home village.

On the 5th of October, 1899, Mr. Garrett wedded Miss Maude Trago, who was born in Illinois, on the 23d of September, 1880, and who is a daughter of J. B. and Mary (Rudesell) Trago. Mr. and Mrs. Garrett have two children, Bert and Trago.

JESSE L. MAUGHS. Among the enterprising business men of Fulton, Missouri, is to be found Jesse L. Maughs, who is not only well known

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as a merchant in this city but in other sections of the state as well. For fifteen years he has been identified with the clothing trade in this sec- tion of the country, and as his business has grown year after year, so his personal popularity has increased. He has never been one of the kind of men, who, devoting themselves exclusively to their business, pile up fortunes, but by their absorption lose all the better things of life. Mr. Maughs, while devoting himself to his business in a way that makes a lazy man shudder, finds plenty of time to give to public questions and to the interests of his friends and neighbors. He has taken an active part in the government of the county, and is recognized as one of the men who may be called upon when a move for the betterment and progress of the community is to be put forward.

Jesse L. Maughs was born on the 14th of May, 1862, in Williamsburg, Missouri. His mother was S. E. Euerhart, before her marriage to Mr. Maughs. Their son after having safely passed the ordeal of grammar and high school in his home town was sent to Westminster College, at Fulton, Missouri. After he had completed his college course he went into the clothing trade, and on October 10, 1897, he came to Fulton, and in company with J. F. Henderson established the Henderson and Maughs Clothing Company. The business was begun on a modest scale but has developed in a remarkable fashion, due mainly to the energy and business acumen of Mr. Maughs. About ten years ago he bought Mr. Henderson's share of the business and has since conducted it with the assistance of George E. Futt who became his manager and a stockholder at this time. He has capitalized the company at $18,000, and his surplus amounts to the same sum. Mr. Futt was connected with the clothing business in Liberty, Missouri, and has made a most efficient manager of the business.

In political questions Mr. Maughs is a staunch Democrat. He served as county treasurer for one term of four years, being elected to office in 1896. He is now a commissioner of the Fulton Special Roads District and has given valuable service to this work.

In 1889 Mr. Maughs was married to Mary Curtis, of Callaway county, Missouri. She died on the 6th of June, 1906, and two years later in 1908, Mr. Maughs was married to Emma Patton, of Pike county, Missouri. Two children were born to Mr. Maughs in his first marriage: William Curtis and Jessamine. One daughter has been born to the second mar- riage, Frances Elizabeth.

WILLIAM N. DAVIS. At a point five miles south of the village of Wil- liamsburg, Callaway county, is situated the splendid farm estate of William Norman Davis, who has secure prestige as one of the representa- tive agriculturists and stock-growers of his native county and whose pop- ularity shows that he has fully measured up to the metewand of public approbation, so that there can be in his case no application of the scrip- tural aphorism that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own country."

Mr. Davis was born on the old family homestead, two miles southeast of his present residence, the date of his birth being May 31, 1855. He is a son of Simon Reader Davis and Ann (Darby) Davis, the former of whom was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, and the latter of whom was born in the state of Maryland, a few miles distant from the national capital. Simon R. Davis came to Missouri when a young man, in com- pany with his widowed mother and his two sisters, Lucinda and Margaret, and his brother Norman, the family home being established in Callaway county in the pioneer days. Lucinda became the wife of John Wren and after his death the wife of William Dyson and after his death wedded Joseph Everhart, whom she survived by a number of years.

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Margaret, the younger sister, became the wife of John Fish and their home was near Martinsburg, Audrain county. Norman Davis con- tinued to reside near the old homestead, in Nine Mile Prairie township, until his death. Attaway Davis, another brother, came to Missouri at the close of the Civil war and became a prosperous farmer in Audrain county, where he passed the residue of his life.

Simon R. Davis was married at an early age and settled on the farm on which his son William N., of this review, was born. He died at the age of thirty-five years, and was survived by his widow and five children, Simon Reader, Jr., William Norman, Samuel Attaway, Virginia, and America. Virginia became the wife of John M. Menafee and was a resi- dent of California at the time of her death ; America is the wife of J. A. Lovell, cashier of the Home Bank at Fulton, the judicial center of Calla- way county. Samuel A. Davis married Bettie Gregory and owns and lives on the old Davis homestead.

Mrs. Ann (Darby) Davis was a daughter of Samuel and Jane Darby and was fourteen years of age at the time of the family removal from Maryland to Callaway county, Missouri, where she was reared to maturity and where her marriage was solemnized. Her father secured land near Millersburg, where he improved a farm and where he and his wife con- tinned to reside until their death, at advanced age. Upon the death of her husband Mrs. Davis was left to care for her five children, whom she reared on the home farm, bravely facing the responsibilities which con- fronted her. She was the owner of nineteen slaves, but these she lost at the time of the Civil war. Her eldest son, Simon R., remained on the old homestead farm and cared for her with utmost devotion until - impaired health compelled him to seek a change of climate. He aecord- ingly went to Arizona, and there he died in 1909, at the age of fifty- seven years. He never married. The loved and devoted mother passed the closing years of her life with her daughter America, in Fulton, and there she died on Thanksgiving day of the year 1908, secure in the affec- tionate regard of all who knew her.

William Norman Davis was reared on the old home farm and early began to assist in its work, and in the meanwhile he was afforded the advantages of the common schools of the locality. He continued to be associated with the management of the old homestead for many years and he and his brother Samuel Attaway built up a prosperous business in the operation of a threshing outfit, to which line of enterprise they long gave their attention and in connection with which they became well known throughout all sections of their native county. In 1881 they pur- chased and placed in operation the first threshing machine operated by steam power in this country, and in the threshing business they there- after continued to be associated together for ten years, and they con- trolled a large and prosperous business in this line, frequently threshing sixty thousand bushels of grain in a single season.

At the age of twenty-nine years Mr. Davis became associated with John N. Dutter in the opening of a general merchandise store at Reads- ville, and he continued to be identified with this line of enterprise about three years. Soon after his marriage, in 1886, his wife's father died and he assumed the management of the latter's homestead farm, Mrs. Davis having been an only child and having been nineteen years of age at the time of her marriage: she was born in the house in which she and her husband now reside, and their fine homestead farm comprises four hun- dred acres of most productive land. Definite prosperity has attended the energetic and well directed efforts of Mr. Davis as a farmer and stock- grower and the estate owned by himself, his wife and his mother-in-law aggregates seven hundred and fifteen acres. Mr. Davis' own farm aggre-

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A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 52

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