A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 24

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864-1935 editor
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 912

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Roscoe A. Morris attended the public schools of Petersburg, Illinois, until reaching the age of fifteen years, at which time he received his introduction to business methods in his father's plow works. He had just reached his majority when he came to Savannah, and here also was associated with his father for a time, but subsequently turned his atten- tion to the sale of agricultural implements, in which he was engaged for thirty-four years. This long period of unabated industry and well- directed effort culminated in the accumulation of a handsome competency, and in 1909 he retired from business cares, and since that time has lived quietly, enjoying the fruits of his labors. His name in commercial circles is an honored one, for he achieved his success through no underhand deal- ings, but ever maintained a high standard of business ideals. He is a public-spirited citizen, ever ready to give his support to progressive movements and enterprises, but his political activity has been confined to casting his vote for the candidates of the republican party. Like his father, he is a Mason.

Mr. Morris was married in 1881 to Miss Emmazella Stark, who was born at Dowagiac, Michigan, July 11, 1858, and was ten years of age when she came to Savannah, Missouri, with her widowed mother. She is a daughter of Erastus and Anna (Riggin) Stark, the former born in New York and died December 19, 1863. He was a grandson of Gen. John Stark. Mr. Stark was a farmer and mechanic, and spent the active years of his life on his property in Michigan. Mrs. Stark was born in Virginia, November 25, 1817, and died at Savannah. Of the five sons and five daughters in the Stark family, three sons and four daughters still survive. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Morris, namely : Mrs. Josephine Dailing, who resides with her parents and has a son-Roscoe Morris; and Martin S., residing on a farm four miles north of Savannah, who married Miss Laura Burns, of Andrew County.

HOMER L. FAULKNER. As vice president of the Peoples Exchange Bank of Jamesport, and one of the best known and most extensive breed- ers of the old original Big Boned Spotted Poland-China hogs in Amer- ica, Homer L. Faulkner, proprietor of Highview Breeding Farms, occupies an important position in the business, agricultural and financial life of Daviess County, Missouri. His interests are large and of a val- uable character, yet his activities have not been confined to participation in affairs merely for his own benefit, but have branched out into matters

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concerning the public and community welfare, in the advancement of which he has always been ready to enlist his time, his energies and his means.

Mr. Faulkner was born on the old homestead farm located south of Jamesport, in Daviess County, Missouri, September 1, 1876, and is a son of Lewis M. and Salatha Jane (Siler) Faulkner. His father was born in Campbell County, Tennessee, and his mother in Whitney County, Kentucky, counties which adjoined, being on the border of their respective states. They were married in the latter county in 1854, and during the same year started on their long and tedious jurney in a covered wagon, drawn by an old mule and a blind horse, to Jackson Township, Daviess County, Missouri, where the family located on unim- proved land in the timber, and near a spring of water. There was plenty of good prairie land to be secured near at hand, but like most of the pioneers they feared the cold winters on the prairie and the least desirable land was taken first. Springs of water and material for rail fences were to be found in the rough timber country, and there also were secured the logs with which Mr. Faulkner built the little family home. After this he cleared, fenced and broke the land, and added to his original hold- ings until he had 400 acres, part secured from the United States Gov- ernment, part from the old Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, and the balance from individual owners, all in Jackson Township. In addition to doing general farming, Mr. Faulkner was a raiser and breeder of thoroughbred Short Horn cattle. He and Mrs. Faulkner were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and in politics the father was a democrat. He died in 1878, and Mrs. Faulkner survived him until 1905, being seventy years of age at the time of her demise. Homer L. Faulkner was the youngest of a family of twelve children, of whom eleven are still living: Lucinda, the one deceased, passed away in infancy ; Marion, who is a resident of Gray County, Texas; Mattie, the wife of George D. Burge, of El Reno, Oklahoma ; Ferdinand, a resident of Swisher County, Texas; Samantha, who is the wife of Dr. J. G. Wingo, of Swisher County, Texas; King, a resident of Hood County, Texas; Mollie, who is the wife of J. T. McClure, of Jamesport, Missouri; Robert, of Swisher County, Texas; Siler, of Gray County, Texas; Marvin and George, both . resident of Swisher County, Texas; and Homer L., of this notice.

From his birth Homer L. Faulkner has been compelled to struggle against disadvantages, for he was born of exceedingly small stature, yet in spite of this he has succeeded far better than the majority of men. He received his education at the Jamesport public schools and the Gal- latin High School, this being followed by a course at Grand River Col- lege, Gallatin, and after his graduation returned to the home farm, where his mother resided, and engaged in general farming and the raising of thoroughbred Short Horn cattle. In the latter line he con- tinued until 1907, when he had a disposal sale, preparing to devote his entire time to his thoroughbred hogs, this business having increased so enormously as to demand his entire time and attention. He had begun, in 1893, his now famous herd with three thoroughbred old original Big Boned Spotted Poland-China sows. Since that time his business along this line has increased until he now owns the largest herd of this partic- ular breed of hogs in the world, selling hundreds of hogs, principally boars, all over the United States, Canada and Mexico, through mail orders, and also holding an annual sale of sows, at which the price per animal averages about $100. At his 1915 sale he sold sixty thoroughbred sowS.

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Among the many famous boars which have come from Highview Breeding Farms may be mentioned "Budweiser," an animal owned by Mr. Faulkner for ten years, and the best advertised Poland-China boar in the world, and "Brandywine," one of the largest of the breed, weighing 1,060 pounds. Among the sows may be mentioned such famous animals as "Carrie Canton," "Miss Carrie," "Lady Perfection" and "Tecumseh Girl."

Mr. Faulkner has an excellent location for handling animals and sending them to various shipping points, Jamesport being located on the Rock Island Railroad, eighty-five miles northeast of Kansas City, and sixty miles northeast of St. Joseph, Missouri. His foundation stock came from the old spotted Poland breeders of Illinois and Ohio; his hogs are all recorded with the Standard Poland-China Record, Maryville, Missouri, of which he is a director, and he furnishes a certified pedigree with every hog he sells. Of the more than four hundred hogs he sells annually, not over half of them are seen by their buyers prior to their purchase, for his hogs are so well known that they are largely sold by mail order. He sends out only first-class stock, guarantees everything as represented, and every hog a breeder, and as he has always been faithful to his obligations he has an honored name in commercial circles. Mr. Faulkner is the owner of 160 acres of land in Jackson Township, forty acres of which was a part of his father's home place and pur- chased from the old Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad.

In March, 1904, Mr. Faulkner was married to Miss Ocie Owens, of Coffeyburg, Missouri, a daughter of John S. Owens, now a farmer in Iowa. Three children have been born to this union: Hazel Ray, Rich- ard and Thomas Benton. In 1908 Mr. Faulkner took up his residence at Jamesport, which has since continued to be his home. In January, 1912, he was one of the organizers of the Peoples Exchange Bank of Jamesport. and at its organization was elected active vice president, a position which he has continued to hold to the present time. The growth of this bank may be realized by a glimpse of the following figures : Resources January 10, 1912, $25.337.33; October 21, 1913. $80,680.32; March 4, 1914. $115,102.23. On the last named date the following state- ment was issued : Resources, loans and discounts, $80,164.45 ; overdrafts, $348.72; furniture and fixtures, $2,600; cash and sight exchange, $31 .- 989.06; total, $115,102.23. Liabilities, capital stock, $20,000; surplus, $3,500 ; undivided profits, $586.62; deposits, $91,015.61. The officers are as follows: John W. Thompson, president ; H. L. Faulkner, vice presi- dent; George B. Koch, cashier ; and these gentlemen and the following as directors : John Gildow, J. A. Smith, W. F. Burge and J. F. Kesler. Their new building, which they have recently occupied, is one of the most commodious and handily arranged bank homes in this part of the state, a feature of which is a large farmers' room, provided with an old- fashioned fireplace, library tables, comfortable seats and every other convenience which is found in all up-to-date banking institutions.

Politically. Mr. Faulkner is a democrat, but he has never sought or accepted public office. He is a member of the Commercial Club of Jamesport, of which he has served one year as secretary ; is fraternally connected with the Royal Arch chapter of the Masonic order and the Odd Fellow lodge and encampment, and is also a member of the Standard Poland-China Record Association of America, and has for the past three years been a member of the board of directors, a most important posi- tion. During the sixty years that the Faulkner family has resided in Daviess County, its members have made an enviable record for straight- forward and honorable participation in those things which have made its agricultural and business history, and Homer L. Faulkner is proving

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himself a worthy representative of a name that has always been held in the highest esteem.

ROBERT V. THOMPSON, M. D. Though a native of New York State, Doctor Thompson spent most of his youth on a small farm in Livingston County, Missouri, and is a successful physician and business man whose ambition and energy guided him in his early search for opportunity. Doctor Thompson now occupies a prominent position in business affairs at Jamesport as president of the Commercial Bank of that city, and except as business interests have interfered has been in active practice as a physician and surgeon for twenty-five years.

The Commercial Bank of Jamesport, of which Doctor Thompson is now the president, was organized in. 1892 as the Farmers and Merchants Bank. It began with a capital stock of $30,000, and the first officers were : T. B. Yates, president ; W. F. Phipps, cashier, and W. I. Jones, assistant cashier. Doctor Thompson was one of the original board of directors. In 1904 the capital stock was increased to $50,000, and in 1911 there was a consolidation of this with the First National Bank of Jamesport, at which time the name was changed to its present form. . The capital stock was then increased to $80,000. It is one of the soundest banks of Northwest Missouri, as a brief glance at some items from an official state- ment in October, 1914, will indicate. The total resources aggregated $417,514.64, and besides the capital of $80,000 the bank's surplus and profits aggregated nearly twenty thousand dollars. An important feature of the general statement is the amount of deposits, which at that time totaled upwards of $290,000. The personnel of the officials and directory include many of the best known men in Daviess County. Besides Doctor Thompson as president, the vice president is Ben F. Wood, a banker of long experience; James Guerin, secretary, and W. T. McClure, cashier. Other names from the list of directors are C. G. Mckinley, H. J. Kesler, T. K. Hays and W. C. Pogue.

Robert V. Thompson was born February 27, 1864, in Chemung County, New York, a son of Richard and Hester (Booth) Thompson. His father was a native New Yorker and of English descent, while his mother was born in England and was brought to America by her parents when one year of age. Richard Thompson was a miller by trade, fol- lowed his vocation in New York State, but died when Doctor Thompson was but four years of age. In 1868 the widowed mother brought her children out to Livingston County, Missouri, and bought a small slightly improved farm, which with the assistance of her older sons she broke up and improved, and that little homestead was the place where she ended her days, her last years being spent in comfort and plenty, passing away in 1898. Doctor Thompson was the ninth among ten children, and one daughter and three sons are still living.

Doctor Thompson grew up on the little Livingston County farm, attended the common schools in the country districts, and for a time was a student at Avalon College. His early medical studies were car- ried on under the direction of Dr. T. W. Foster, with whom he remained two years, and then entered the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, graduating M. D. in March, 1889. Doctor Thompson began his practice of medicine at Jamesport and has been one of the favorite physicians of the city the greater part of a quarter of a century. Three years after beginning practice he took a post-graduate course at the Chicago Poli- clinic, and then returned and practiced regularly until 1897. In that year he was elected cashier of the old Farmers and Merchants Bank of Jamesport and took an active part in the bank's affairs for two years. He then resigned to resume his practice, but after three years again Vol. III-11

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acquired an interest in the bank and was again its cashier for seven years. In 1909 he was elected president, and devoted all his time to the active management of the institution for three years, and since 1911, though still retaining his post as president, has continued the work of his profession. At one time Doctor Thompson owned a large amount of Missouri farm lands, but his investments in recent years have been turned to the irrigated district of Colorado, where he now has some valuable interests.

In his professional associations he is a member of the Daviess County Medical Society, Grand River Valley Medical Society, the North Missouri Medical Society and the Missouri State Medical Society. While never active in politics for the sake of an office, Doctor Thompson has never avoided the responsibilities of citizenship, and has filled elective offices . as coroner of Daviess County two terms, mayor of Jamesport one term, and as a member of the city council several terms. He is now and for seventeen years has filled the office of director and treasurer of the Jamesport School Board. In politics he is a democrat, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.

Doctor Thompson was married February 11, 1891, to Miss Jennie Nickell. Her father, Rev. W. N. Nickell, who has been identified with the Missouri Presbytery throughout a long career as a minister, is now Presbyterian clergyman at Lowry City, Missouri. To the marriage of Doctor Thompson and wife have been born three children: Blanche, wife of J. Frank Smith, of Colorado; Victor, who also lives in Colorado; and Mary Frances, still attending school.

GEORGE DOWE HARRIS, M. D. While he is one of the younger physi- cians of Daviess County, Doctor Harris has had unusual success since beginning practice at Jamesport about four years ago, and in 1914 was honored by election to the office of vice president of the Missouri Eclectic Medical Society. Through his grandparents on both sides Doctor Harris is identified with pioneer times in Northwest Missouri, since the familiies have lived here seventy years or more, and the first to come had to hew homes out of the wilderness.

George Dowe Harris was born in Grundy County, Missouri, January 1, 1884, a son of James P. and Jennie (Anderson) Harris, his father a native of Grundy County and his mother of Livingston County. The paternal grandparents, Jesse and Mary (Embrey) Harris, natives of Kentucky, where they were married, left that state more than three quarters of a century ago, drove overland with wagon and ox team to Grundy County, Missouri, where Jesse Harris was one of the very early arrivals, and entered a section of Government land in Jefferson Town- ship. This land, it is interesting to note, is now owned by Doctor Harris' father, who inherited it from its first settler. A log house was the first home of the Harris family in Missouri, and it was built by Jesse Harris, assisted by his neighbors. The old house is still standing, an interesting relic of bygone days, and in a good state of preservation. Jesse Harris was a hard working farmer, improved his land, and remained on the old place until he died. The Harris family have been members of the Baptist Church for generations.

The doctor's maternal grandparents were George Washington and Jean (Leeper) Anderson, who were also from Kentucky, the state which furnished so many early settlers to Northwest Missouri. They were mar- ried there and not long after the Harrises made their journey also came to Northwest Missouri, locating in Livingston County. The family and many of their household goods were conveyed in a covered wagon. During the excitement over the California gold discoveries George W.

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Anderson made two trips across the plains with wagon and ox team. Before coming to Missouri he had been a teacher in Kentucky, and in Livingston County served for more than twenty years as justice of the peace. Although a farmer by occupation, he never owned any land. His death occurred in Grundy County, just a mile from the Livingston County line, having moved to that locality a short time before his death. He was a stanch member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a class leader, and would travel many miles to attend the early camp meetings and revivals.

James P. Harris, father of Doctor Harris, was born on the old farm in Grundy County July 22, 1839, and has spent practically his entire lifetime, covering three-quarters of a century, on the same place. As a boy he attended a school supported by subscription and kept in a log cabin, which had a fireplace at one end, split slab benches, puncheon floors, and the open space that by courtesy was called a window was covered with greased paper. It was the custom for the family of each pupil in school to furnish one load of wood, and that wood was prepared and placed in the fireplace by the boy pupils. James P. Harris lived at home with his parents throughout their lives, and inherited the farm. His first wife was Elizabeth Crockett, and the two daughters by that marriage were: Alice Ann, now deceased, who was the wife of Lewis Saltzman, and was the mother of thirteen children, eleven of whom are living, and among them are two sets of twin girls and triplet boys ; and Polly, wife of Silas Chumley, of Grundy County. After the death of his first wife he married Jennie Anderson, who died shortly after the birth of her son, now Doctor Harris. The father then married Miss Ella Anderson, a sister of his second wife.

Doctor Harris, while a member of a substantial family and reared in comforts far superior to those enjoyed by his father, has had to work out his own salvation, and paid his own expenses for his higher profes- sional training. He attended the country schools of Grundy County, and in 1902 entered the normal school at Chillicothe, remained there one year, and the next four years were spent in earning money as a country school teacher during the winter months and as a farmer in the summer. In 1907 he again entered the normal at Chillicothe and graduated the same year. The following fall saw him a student at the Eclectic Medical School of Cincinnati, Ohio, and after two years there he entered a regular school of medicine, the Bennett Medical College of Chicago, where he was graduated M. D. in 1911. Prior to his graduation and for some follow- ing months he served as an interne in Jefferson Park Hospital at Chi- cago, his service in that connection altogether being about six months. In July, 1911, Doctor Harris returned to Missouri and located at James- port, where he became associated in practice with Dr. Charles Gordon McKinley, under whom he had received his first instruction in medicine. This is one of the best known firms of physicians and surgeons in Daviess County, and they have a large general practice both in Jamesport and in the surrounding country.

Doctor Harris has professional associations with the Daviess County Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical Society, the Missouri Eclec- tic Society, of which he was elected vice president in June, 1914, and the National Eclectic Society. He is also serving as a member of the Jamesport Board of Health, and is an examiner for several life insur- ance companies. His church is the Baptist, while in politics he is a republican, and affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. On December 24, 1911, Doctor Harris married Miss Myrtle Sebastian, of Jamesport, a daughter of James E. and Marticia Sebastian, her father being a Daviess County farmer.

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GEORGE W. HILL. In the election of George W. Hill to the office of mayor in 1914, the citizens of Jamesport honored a man who has been identified with this part of Daviess County nearly sixty years, and who has always shown public spirit in community affairs and marked efficiency as a business man. His prosperity came from long continued operations as a farmer near Jamesport, and being now retired with an ample com- petence he has had the leisure and experience to give Jamesport an able administration of municipal affairs.

George W. Hill was born in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, November 11, 1843, and the same county was the birthplace of his par- ents, William P. and Elizabeth (Poage) Hill. His father was a black- smith by trade, and followed that occupation during his career in West Virginia. It was in the year 1855, when the present Jamesport mayor was about twelve years of age, that the Hill family left West Virginia, made part of the trip by wagon, part of it down the course of the Ohio River, and finally arrived by these combined methods of water and overland transportation in Daviess County, Missouri. William P. Hill had the vigor and enterprise of the true pioneer. He preempted 160 acres and bought another 160 acres lying west and south of the present site of Jamesport. That was only the beginning of his accumulations as a landholder, and at the time of his death his estate aggregated 1,300 acres, and was worth many times what he paid for his first land in this section. He was the builder of the first home occupied by the family. It was a house small in dimensions and with few comforts, and was constructed of round logs. The fall after his arrival he built a hewed log house, and then with these provisions for his family he proceeded to clear up the land, fence and improve it, and in the course of years the log buildings gave way to a substantial frame residence and barn, and there were few men in Daviess County more prosperous. William P. Hill was born in 1818 and died at the old homestead in Daviess County in 1882, while his wife was born in 1816 and died at Jamesport in 1906, when in her ninety-first year, being active and clear-minded to the last. George W. Hill was the second in a family of eight children, the others being men- tioned briefly as follows: John, who died on the home farm; Nancy, deceased, who was the wife of G. B. Kimball; Jane, who died of cholera shortly after the family came to Missouri; Sampson L., deceased ; Mary, wife of Samuel Leonard, of Jackson Township; Jennie, deceased; and Davis, of Gallatin.

George W. Hill has depended upon his native intelligence and a keen faculty of observation for his education, since all his regular schooling was compressed within the first eleven years of his life. He attended the schools for several winters in West Virginia, but after the family came out to Daviess County, owing to limited school facilities, he applied him- self to the more practical duties of clearing up a new farm. He con- tinued with his father until twenty-six years of age, and was then mar- ried and started for himself. Mr. Hill was married August 26, 1868, to Mrs. Addie (Leonard) Moore. He then began farming for himself on a place three miles southwest of Jamesport, on 160 acres of partly improved land. That was the scene of his activities until his final retire- ment from farming as a business, though the prosperity that grew with his continued efforts resulted in additions to his original ownership until he had 400 acres. Nearly all of this land has been well improved, and it has a group of good, substantial buildings. However, it is interesting to note that as Mr. Hill spent his first years in Daviess County in a log house, he also started housekeeping for himself in a similar home.

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A history of northwest Missouri, Volume III, Part 24

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864-1935 editor Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 912

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864-1935 editor
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 912