USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > A memorial and biographical record of Kansas City and Jackson County Mo. > Part 14
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In 1891, at the close of his second term in the legislature, Mr. Webb came to Inde- pendence and assumed the editorship of the Independence Progress. A few months later he purchased a half interest in the paper, still a few months later bought the other half, and has since been sole owner and proprietor. The Progress is a bright, neat and newsy sheet, has a circulation of about 800, and under the present management is enjoying prosperity. Mr. Webb takes an active interest in all that pertains to the public good. He is public-spirited and gen-
erous, and can be depended upon to aid with his influence and means any movement which promises to advance the best interests of his town. In his religious views he is broad and liberal. Politically, he has always acted with the democratic party. He is a
member of both the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias, maintaining membership in Christian lodge, No. 392, F. & A. M., and Rescue lodge, No. 3, K. of P.
March 15, 1894, in Independence, he was married to Miss Mabel Brown, daugh- ter of the late Dr. J. T. Brown, of this city, where she was born and reared.
ILLIS PERCIVAL KING, M. D. -- The life history of him whose name begins this review most happily illustrates what may be attained by faithful and continued effort in carrying out an honest purpose. It is the story of a life whose success is measured by its usefulness, and it furnishes an example of a man who has risen by his own efforts to a position of prominence in the profession which he chose as the field of his life labor.
Dr. King is numbered among the native sons of Missouri. He was born in Macon county, near where the little town of Callao now stands, on the 2 1st of December, 1839. His parents were William and Lucy King. The mother in her maidenhood also had the surname of King. By their respective par- ents they were both brought during their in- fancy from Madison county, Kentucky, to Missouri, in the year 1816. This was dur- ing the territorial days of the state, when Missouri was a frontier region and gave little promise of development. Situated thus on the far western frontier, -at old Franklin, in what is now Howard county,
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opposite the present city of Booneville, - the parents of the Doctor were reared in true pioneer style and had the usual experiences of life in far western districts. The follow- ing winter after their arrival the King fam- ilies had to seek protection in forts on account of the incursions of the Indians. The years passed and the two little cousins, William and Lucy King, grew to maturity and were married in 1834. After the In- dians had been driven from the country the families removed to the vicinity of the pres- ent village of Armstrong, between Glasgow and Roanoke. There were born to Mr. and Mrs. William King a son and daughter. With their little family they afterward re- moved to Macon county, a new settlement, and again went through the experiences of pioneer life, its hardships and privations.
Something of the primitive condition of the times and locality is shown by the fact that until the Doctor was ten years of age there was no school-house in the neighbor- hood. Up to that time he had no mental training save that which his home life afforded. The people of the community were not a highly educated class. They were more intent on founding homes and developing this wild region than in gaining knowledge. There were no newspapers and no books. About 1849 a little log school-house was built and therein the Doc- tor began his education, attending school through the winter months for three or four years. This, however, did not content him. With a mind that sought eagerly after bet- ter opportunities he made the most of his privileges, but found these far too limited, and his unsatisfied craving for learning caused him to run away from home when fourteen years of age that he might go to localities where there were good schools.
He worked for farmers through the summer months and in the winter pursued his studies as well as he could. The obstacles and difficulties in his path he overcame by per- sistent effort, pressing his way on to the goal of his hopes. When the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad was being built he worked in the pit with the construction gangs, driving a cart, for he was too young to use the shovel and the pick. He hoarded his money, spending not a cent that he could help, for he wished to save it for an education. After a time he returned to Howard county-to the old neighborhood, where his parents had lived-and entered school; for Howard county had by this time (1856-1858) become an old community compared with Macon county, and good schools had been established. Dr. King once more resumed his studies and attended and taught school alternately until 1861. In that year he was teaching in Pettis county, Missouri, south of the river.
One of the important events of his life occurred in that year, -his marriage to Miss Albina Hoss, of Pettis county, who was then a maiden of sixteen summers, while the Doctor was little past twenty-one years of age. Soon after he took up the study of medicine, which he pursued in the intervals of school-teaching for some time. At length he entered the St. Louis Medical College, and after his graduation in 1866 went at once to Vernon county, in southwest Mis- souri, where he practiced for two-and-a- half years. In November, 1868, he removed to Nevada, the county seat of Vernon county, where he remained for six years, and during that time further perfected him- self in his chosen profession by pursuing a full course in Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, in the winter of 1870-1,
F. The Tears
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an ad-eundum degree being conferred upon him in March, 1871. In November, 1874, he removed to Sedalia, Missouri, wishing for a broader field of labor, where greater opportunities would be afforded him for the practice of surgery and gynecology, for which departments of the science he was specially fitted. He is extremely competent along these lines and has gained a most enviable reputation.
In 1875 Dr. King was made a local sur- geon of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and has ever since been in the service of the company. In 1884 he went to New York, where he took a post-graduate course in the polyclinic, and again in 1889-90 and 1890-91. In 1885 he was appointed assistant chief surgeon of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and was put in charge of the Sedalia (now Kan- sas City) division of the hospital depart- ment, and in charge of the hospital of said division, then located at Sedalia. In 1888 the hospital was removed to Kansas City, and the name changed to the Kansas City division. This embraces about three thou- sand miles of road.
The Doctor is a valued member of vari- ous medical organizations. He has served as president of the Pettis County Medical Society; was president of the Missouri State Medical Association in 1881 and 1882, and senior vice-president of the American Med- ical Association in 1890 and 1891. For three years, beginning in 1881, the Doctor was the lecturer on diseases of women in the medical department of the Missouri State University; for four years he held a similar connection with the University Medi- cal College, of Kansas City; for two years he lectured on orthopedic surgery in the same college; and for the past three years he has been the lecturer on railway surgery. He 7
is a fluent and forcible speaker, presenting his thoughts in a clear, concise and interest- ing, as well as instructive, manner. His contributions to medical literature have also been of great value to the profession. Among them is an article entitled " Ligation of Common and External Carotid and Su- perior Thyroid Arteries for Aneurism of Internal Carotid within the Brain: Re- covery;" also an article on "Wiring the Fractured Symphysis Pubis, Supplemented by a Steel Clamp." He is also the author of a book of 400 pages entitled " Stories of a Country Doctor," 10,000 copies of which have already been published.
P RANK WARREN SEARS, of Kan- sas City, president of the National Reserve Association, is one of the most prominent and popular insur- ance men of the west. He was born in Amboy, Lee county, Illinois, June 1, 1863, and is a son of Warren Clark and Nancy (Ives) Sears, the former a native of Massa- chusetts, born at Greenwich, on the Ist of August, 1834. In his earlier business career he followed banking and afterward turned his attention to merchandising. He served as a member of the state militia during the civil war, and is still living at Burling- ton, Kansas, at the age of sixty-one years, while his wife has reached the age of fifty- seven. There were only two children in the family, and the sister died in 1880, at the age of twenty-two years.
Mr. Sears descended from one of the heroes of the Revolutionary war, and is a representative of one of the oldest families of New England. The founder of the fam- ily in America was Richard Sears, who crossed the Atlantic from England about the
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year 1644. His son Silas became the father of Josiah Sears, and the last named was the father of Roland Sears, whose son, Freeman Sears, aided the colonies in their struggle for independence. His son, An- drew Turner Sears, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of Massachu- setts, and theré spent his entire life. The maternal grandfather of our subject, Almond Ives, was a soldier of the war of 1812, and his father, Enos Ives, also aided in that struggle which was followed by the estab- lishment of this glorious republic.
The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch spent his boyhood days in his native city and displayed special aptitude as a student in the public schools, being grad- uated at the high school of Amboy, at the age of fourteen years. He then accom- panied his parents on their removal to Bur- lington, Kansas, and through the following summer attended the Coffey County Insti- tute, while in the succeeding winter, having secured the highest-grade teacher's certifi- cate, he taught school. He has always maintained his interest in educational af- fairs and is himself a man of ripe scholar- ship and broad general information, who has read extensively and is thoroughly in touch with the questions of his native land.
Since 1880 Mr. Sears has been a resi- dent of Kansas City. He first sought and obtained employment in the wholesale drug house of Woodward, Faxon & Company, and after leaving that employ engaged in business for himself as a real-estate and in- surance agent. His energies were devoted to that vocation until 1891, when in con- nection with other prominent business men of Kansas City he organized the National Reserve Association, of which he has been president from the beginning. This is a
fraternal life insurance company, and has some very noteworthy features. It differs from any other fraternal organization in providing against excessive cost in any one year by placing a limit thereon, and by se- curing protection through a reserve fund. Its certificates are paid up and non-assess- able in twenty years. These features, com- bined with the low rate of mortality, have made the company strong and popular un- der the guiding. hand and careful manage- ment of Mr. Sears.
In 1883 was celebrated the marriage of our subject and Miss Marie E. English, of Cincinnati, Ohio. They have an interest- ing family of two children, -Warren Frank, aged ten years; and Helen Clara, who is seven years of age. Mr. Sears is promi- nent in social circles, is an honored member of the Odd Fellows society and the Knights of Pythias fraternity, and is a thirty-second- degree Mason. In manner he is social and genial, easily wins friends and his genuine worth enables him to retain them.
a HARLES H. LESTER, M. D., a well-known physician of Kansas City, whose skill and ability are demonstrated by his successful prac- tice, was born on the 10th of May, 1857, a native-born son of this place. There is par- ticular interest attaching to the fact that he thus belongs to the city where he has lived and labored to good result, gaining that honor which is proverbially denied to a prophet in his own country. That there is intrinsic truth in the adage of experience is evident, since it is never so difficult for one to gain distinction as in the community where he has passed his entire life, and where, from
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the consecutive phases of development, rare- ly noticeable in their transitions, it is well- nigh impossible for the people to realize the superior ability of one from their ranks. It is then significant that in Jackson county Dr. Lester is accorded a marked recognition as a foremost medical practitioner.
A son of Dr. Thomas B. Lester, he was born, reared and educated here, and was graduated at the high school of Kansas City. From his earliest boyhood he was familiar . with the profession, his father being a well- known physician; and it seemed but natural that his choice of calling should be what it is. He began the study of medicine under his father's direction when young, and after pursuing a course in the Kansas City Med- ical College was graduated at that institu- tion in 1879. The following year was spent in study in the Bellevue Hospital, in New York. Returning to his native city on the 9th of July, 1880, he at once began practice, which he has continued up to the present time, building up a very large business. Al- though a young man he to-day ranks among the foremost of the profession. He has been president of the Jackson County Med- ical Society for one year, - an honor justly deserved. For six years he served as demon- strator of anatomy in the Kansas City Med- ical College, and was then lecturer on, and subsequently made professor of, anatomy, and professor of diseases of children in the same institution, filling the latter chair at the present time. He has been connected with this college continuously since 1881. He was professor of the Kansas City Dental College for five years, when he resigned owing to the arduous demands made upon his time by his private practice. He is a member of the Jackson County Medical So- ciety, the Academy of Medicine, the Missouri
State Society, and the American Medical Association. He is alternate examiner for the New York Life Insurance Company, and by the profession and the public is ac- corded a high rank in medical circles. His political support is given the Democratic party.
HOMAS BRYAN LESTER, M.D., deceased. - It has been left to mod- ern civilization to perpetuate by written record the lives of those who in the quieter walks of business life faithfully perform their duty and win suc- cess. Deeds of battle have been the theme of story and song from the earliest ages, but the man who remained in the ranks of commercial or professional life, performing each day's work as it came to him and thus promoting the general prosperity, was un- noted by the singer, poet and historian. Modern civilization, however, accords to all their rightful place in their country's annals, and Macaulay says that the history of a country is best told in the lives of its citizens.
Dr. Lester occupied an eminent position in medical circles and did much for the pro- fession by his valuable contributions to the medical literature of the country. It is with pleasure, therefore, that we record a sketch of his life work. He was born in Charlotte county, Virginia, June 24, 1824, and was a son of Bryan W. and Elizabeth ( Friend) Lester. The family emigrated to Illinois in 1835, and in Salem, that state, in September, 1837, both parents died, leaving him an orphan at the early age of thirteen. Thus thrown upon his own re- sources and forced to make his own way in
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the world, the success he achieved was a doubly creditable one. His elementary ed- ucation was acquired in the common schools, and subsequently he attended the Mount Vernon Academy and Shurtleff College at Upper Alton, Illinois. In the fall of 1841 he began the study of medicine under the guidance of Dr. M. W. Hall, of Salem, Illinois, and attended his first course of medical lectures in the medical department of the Missouri University, now the Missouri Medical College, of St. Louis, during the session of 1845-6.
During that time the Mexican war was in progress, and in the spring of 1847 a second call for Illinois volunteers was made, to which Dr. Lester responded, becoming a member of company I, first Illinois in- fantry, at Alton. On the arrival of the regiment at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the regular medical staff failing to report, he was detached and appointed acting assistant surgeon, a rank he held until he was mus- tered out at the close of the war. From Fort Leavenworth he accompanied the bat- talion commanded by Lieutenant Boyakin across the plains to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Brigadier General Sterling Price was in command. In December, 1847, he was put in charge of the general hospital at this point, and in February following was trans- ferred to a similar position at Albuquerque, where he remained until the close of the war.
Upon his return, Dr. Lester once more entered the medical department of the Missouri University, and was graduated in the class of March, 1850, whereon he formed a partnership with Dr. A. F. Haynic, and earnestly began practice in Salem, Illi- nois. While residing there he was married, on the 4th of June, 1850, to Miss Julia El- len Horner, of Lebanon, Illinois, and their
three children are Dr. Charles H., of Kan- sas City; Mrs. George Peake; and Mrs. Dr. J. H. Thompson.
Dr. Lester came to Kansas City in 1854, and cast his lot with its carly settlers, num- bering at that time only about four hundred population. Until his death he was actively identified with the city's upbuilding and progress and was especially instrumental in promoting the interests of his profession here. At the organization of the Kansas City Medical College, formerly the College of Physicians and Surgeons, he was elected to the chair of principles and practice of medicine, and in 1877 was made president of the faculty. His services in the early day were required by a mixed population, -- men of culture from the east who had sought homes here, the adventurous emigrants cross- ing the plains and the Indians who still lived in the neighborhood, who called him "the great white medicine man." He was presi- dent of the Medical Association of Missouri in 1870, several times served as a delegate to the American Medical Associaton, and was vice-president at the time of his death. He was ever a close student, carrying his investigations far and wide into the myste- rious realms of medicine and disease, and elucidating many of its mysteries. He was one of the most capable and thoroughly in- formed members of the profession west of the Mississippi, and his contributions to medical journals were many and valuable. He was the author of a valuable treatise on "Points of Analogy between Typhoid Fever and the Exanthematæ,-an argument in favor of its specific nature," which appeared in the Kansas City Medical and Surgical Review in July, 1860; "Malarial Poison and the Variety of its Manifestations," pub- lished in the Kansas City Medical Journal
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in August and October, 1871; and the "Chronic Pulmonary Consolidations of In- flammatory Origin, and their Termination," which was read before the Kansas City Dis- trict Medical Society in January, 1875. As a writer he was precise and methodical, and as a lecturer ready of speech, clear and convincing.
Socially, Dr. Lester was in 1848 initiated into Military lodge, U. D., of the Masonic order, at Santa Fe, New Mexico, and served as worthy master of Heroine lodge, No. 104, of Kansas City. His early political support was given the whig party, with which he affiliated until 1856, when he joined the democracy, continuing as one of its mem- bers until his death. He served as alder- man of Kansas City in 1857-8, and in the latter year was president of the council. From 1867 until 1870 he was a member of the board of education, and then declined a renomination, for his professional duties were too pressing to allow of further efforts in public life.
His duties, however, were never so great but that he had time to speak a word of encouragement to the downhearted, to give substantial aid to the poor and needy, or to extend a helping hand to those who were struggling to rise. He was especially the friend of young medical students, and did all in his power to aid their advancement in the profession. In manner he was always genial and kindly, but possessed a modest and retiring disposition. For many years he was one of the most active and faithful members of the Central Presbyterian church of Kansas City, and fromn 1867 until his death served as senier elder, while to its support he made liberal contributions. His public and private career were alike above reproach, and his eminent professional stand-
ing was equaled by his high moral char- acter.
Shortly after coming to Kansas City he had purchased an acre of ground south of Sixth street and extending from Main to Walnut streets. In 1858 he built the house afterward known as the Grand View Hotel, on the high bluff overlooking Main street, and in 1859 erected the old family mansion on the southwest corner of Sixth and Wal- nut streets, which was long one of the land- marks of the city. This eventually became very valuable property, the rapid growth of the city causing a corresponding rise in real- estate values. His profession also brought to hiin a handsome competence, but the monetary question was ever made a side issue when his medical services were needed, and he would as readily respond to a call from one where he knew there was little hope of pecuniary reward as from one who would give him ample return for his labors. He died February 24, 1888, in the sixty- fourth year of his age.
ON. BLAKE L. WOODSON stands to-day among the most prominent members of the Kansas City bar, and, by reason of his oratorical abilities, his sound logic and knowledge of the law, is no one more worthy of a place in this work of representative men.
He was born May 25, 1835, in Roanoke county, Virginia, and is a son of William and Martha G. (Haythe) Woodson, who were also natives of the Old Dominion. He traces his ancestry back to Dr. John Woodson, who emigrated to Virginia with Sir William Harvey, the latter being sent from England to act as royal governor of the colony of Virginia in 1632. When the
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oppression of the mother country had become so great that the colonies attempted to throw off the yoke of tyranny, the male repre- sentatives of the Woodson family were found among the patriots who fought long and earnestly for American independence. Different ones served in the various military capacities, some winning distinction as offi- cers of the colonial army, while in the Indian war preceding and in the war of 1812 the Woodsons were also defenders of their country. In various walks of life they be- came distinguished, and especially in the legal profession there were many eminent members, while in the affairs of state they were also prominent. The Woodson family has furnished governors to some of the southern states, and by intermarriage they have become connected with some of the best known and honored people of Virginia and Kentucky. The maternal grandfather was also a general in the revolutionary war. The father of Major Woodson was a farmer and died when a young man, leaving four sons and one daughter: Achilles A., now a merchant and farmer of Virginia; Blake L .; William D., who operates the old homestead; and Charles A., a Baptist minister of Virginia.
The Major remained upon the old home farm until fifteen years of age, and attended the country schools and boarding schools of the neighborhood. His literary education was completed by his graduation at Lynch- burg College, in 1858, with the degree of A. B. He determined to make the practice of law his life work and began his prepara- tory studies in the law school of John W. Brockenbrough, of Lexington, Virginia, and subsequently attended the university of his native state.
On the breaking out of the civil war,
Mr. Woodson enlisted, in May, 1861, in the Confederate army, raising the Lynchburg Beauregards, of which he was made first lieutenant, while his cousin, a graduate of a military institute, served as captain. During the first year of the war he was sta- tioned at Norfolk in the artillery service, and when that place was evacuated he went to the command of John B. Floyd in west- ern Virginia, where was organized the forty- fifth Virginia battalion, to which Mr. Wood- son's command was attached, while he was promoted to the rank of major, and brevet lieutenant-colonel. He served with this battalion until the close of the war, in May, 1865, and was twice wounded, first during a skirmish by a shell and the second time by a gunshot. He was captured at the battle of Piedmont in July, 1864, while he lay on the field wounded, but was paroled and ex- changed on account of his wound. He was in all the engagements in which his battalion participated, including some of the most hotly contested battles of the war, and was a fearless, courageous soldier.
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