USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > A memorial and biographical record of Kansas City and Jackson County Mo. > Part 33
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Later biographers will have other pages to add to the Doctor's history, for he will, without doubt, make his mark in the world.
ILLIAM J. SMITH was for many years prominently con- nected with the commercial in- terests of Kansas City, belonging to that class of enterprising, progressive men to whom the upbuilding of a community may always be attributed. The part he has taken in the development of this city has largely promoted its material prosperity and other interests.
The origin of the patronymic he bears is a matter of interest and of history. He can trace his ancestry directly back to Lam- mer Arianson, who was a blacksmith at a place now called Blauveltville, in New York, and hung up his sign, which read, " Arian- son Smith," and his family ultimately came to be called Smith instead of their own name. This Lammer Arianson was one of the first sixteen settlers, farmers from Hol- land, who purchased from the Tappan In- dians a tract of land in New York, bounded on the north by Greenbush swamp, on the east by the Nyack mountains, on the south by the Dues Kill or Cross creek (near the present Randall Station on the West Shore Railroad), then supposed to be the north line of the province of New Jersey, and on the west by the Hackensack creek. This tract of land was about eight miles in length and from two to five miles in width. The purchase was confirmed during the governor- ship of Thomas Dougan, of the province of New York, by an instrument in writing under his hand, sealed with the seal of the prov- ince in the reign of James II, King of Eng- land, on the 24th of March, 1686.
Lammer Smith had three sons. The eldest, Garrett, was settled by his father south of the swamp; the second, Abraham, remained on the old homestead; and the third, Cornelius, built on what was then called the Ridge, just west of the present Erie Railroad. The eldest was the great- grandfather of the late Cornelius T. Smith, father of Mrs. John L. Salisbury, and also of Gerrit Smith, the celebrated abolitionist and philanthropist.
On the maternal side also has our sub- ject descended from an old and honored family. His grandfather, James Wood, by an invention revolutionized one of the im- portant industries of this country, brick- making. He was the first man to establish successfully a brick manufactory at Haver- straw, New York, which made his town one of the most flourishing on the banks of the Hudson. He was a native of Colchester, England, and came to this country in 1801. He was the first man to mix coal with the clay in the manufacture of bricks, which made them burn better. From the time of the Egyptian taskmasters down to the early part of the present century there had been no improvement in the process of brickmak- ing. During all that long period the clay had been trodden by human feet and molded by human hands without the aid of machin- ery. The man who gives to the world a practical and useful invention may well be termed a benefactor of his race.
The parents of our subject were James P. and Frances W. (Wood) Smith, both natives of New York. They had a family of five children, a son and four daughters, but the latter are now all deceased. The father was a farmer and died in the Empire state, in 1841, at the age of thirty-eight years. His father was Cornelius Smith,
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who was born in New York of Holland an- cestry and carried on farming to a ripe old age. His family numbered three children. Mrs. Smith, the mother of our subject, came to Kansas City in 1868, and died here in 1893, at the age of eighty-three years. The parents were both members of the Presbyterian church.
The gentleman whose name introduces this review was reared on his father's farm, and acquired the greater part of his educa- tion in the Irving Institute, of Tarrytown, New York, which was named in honor of Washington Irving, and was situated in the beautiful region made famous by him in his legend of Sleepy Hollow. At the age of fifteen he left home and went to New York city, where he engaged in clerking in a dry- goods store. He then determined to try his fortune in the west and emigrated to Illinois, locating on a farm at Lawn Ridge. in Marshall county, not far from the city of Peoria. There he remained for about eight years, when, in 1866, he came to Kansas City and embarked in business as a dealer in agricultural implements, carrying on operations along that line for twenty-two years, in connection with George J. Keat- ing. They were progressive merchants, studying closely the signs of the times, and, realizing the tendeney toward combined effort and concentrated energy in the world of trade, after several years they organized a stock company known as the Smith & Keating Implement Company. This busi- ness was successfully and profitably carried on until 1887, when it was sold. A short time previous, Mr. Smith became interested in and was one of the organizers of the Kansas City Cable Railroad Company, of which he served as president until 1894, when he sold out, and is now living retired.
On the 27th of November, 1877, was celebrated the marriage of our subject and Miss Elizabeth D. Bussell, a daughter of George and Bethesda (Bryant) Bussell. Eight children have been born to them, namely: William F., Serena, Frances W., Elizabeth, Edward B., Alice E., Mabel and Marion. Their home is pleasantly located at No. 914 Locust street. In politics, Mr. Smith is a stalwart Republican, and has been an important factor in the upbuilding of the city and the promotion of its best in- terests. He started out in life for himself at an early age, and, wisely foreseeing that the west was an advantageous field of labor for young men, he left his old home and in Missouri has gained a handsome property and the high regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact.
UFUS MONTGALL .- In all of Kansas City's history, from the founding of the town up to the present time, there has never re- sided within its borders a more honored or honorable man then he whose name in- troduces this review. When his life labors were ended there passed away one whose noble career furnished to his friends an ex- ample of the highest type of faithful citizen- ship, unquestioned integrity and devotion to principle, and his influence will remain for good as long as those who knew him are left to tell the story of his life.
Mr. Montgall was a native of Shelby county, Kentucky, born in 1817. The public schools afforded him his educational privi- leges, and he spent much of his childhood and youth in assisting in the cultivation and development of his father's farm. In 1840 he was united in marriage with Miss Nancy
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Bryan, a most estimable lady, whose force of character and kindliness made her not only a faithful helpmeet to her husband but also a friend in whom all rejoiced. In 1840 the young couple started westward, the journey being made with a team of horses and wagon, and their objective point was Kansas City, Missouri. The journey was long and tedious, and on reaching Louisiana, Missouri, on the bank of the Mississippi, Mr. Montgall was stricken with rheumatism and forced to remain at that place for sev- eral weeks. His brother-in-law, William O. Shouse, who had come to Jackson county some years previous, hearing of Mr. Montgall's trouble, went to Louisiana and helped to bring him here.
In the southern part of Kaw township our subject made a location. Wild and primitive indeed was the region round, and the present site of Kansas City was covered with a dense forest in which the Indians often hunted deer and other game. With characteristic energy, Mr. Montgall began the development of a home. He cleared much of his land, transforming it into rich and fertile fields and meeting bravely and unflinchingly the many hardships and trials incident to frontier life. He continued his residence on Brush creek farm until 1857, when he removed to the old homestead on the corner of Nineteenth street and Agnes avenue. There he resided until 1882, when he took up his residence in his elegant city home at the corner of Thirteenth and Locust streets. Judicious investments in real estate and the rise in land values owing to the rapid increase of population brought to Mr. Montgall a handsome competence, making him a wealthy man. He was pre-eminently a business man, energetic, enterprising, per- severing. Above all he was strictly honor-
able in everything, and naught has ever been said against his sterling integrity. He was just to the value of a cent and thereby won the highest respect of all with whom he was brought in contact. It is said that he possessed the sturdy uprightness and unde- viating honesty of the Puritan, with none of the latter's bigotry. He hated all mean- ness, spurned the tricks of much of the business of the present day, and had a con- tempt for sham and pretence that he never feared to express.
For forty years Mr. Montgall took a prominent part in the public affairs of Kan- sas City, yet had no ambition in the line of office-seeking, and in fact steadily refused to accept office, although often solicited to do so. During the war and at the time of the border troubles he was placed at the head of a militia company, and did gallant work in the protection of the homes of this vicinity. His early political support was given the whig party, but on its dissolution he became a stalwart democrat, and was one of the trusted counselors in the ranks of the democracy.
His private life was as pure as his public life was blameless. He was strictly tem- perate, never addicted to the use of either intoxicants or tobacco. Though plain spoken and fearless in his condemnation of wrong, he yet possessed a kindly and sym- pathetic nature that was manifest to the poor and needy in substantial deeds of charity, and in his family by an earnest and untiring desire to promote their happiness and prosperity. His friends always found him true, and no man in all Kansas City had more friends than Rufus Montgall. The relation between himself and his wife was an ideal one. A noble Christian wo- man, Mrs. Montgall passed away about a
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year previous to the death of her husband, and he then said he felt that he had nothing more to live for, for though his son and daughter survived, they had married and gone to homes of their own, and no place could again be home to him without the loved companion with whom he had traveled life's journey for more than forty-five years. He spent the last year of his life in the home of his son, where he received all the loving care and attention possible, and he found happiness in his contributions to churches and charitable institutions, and many an unfortunate one has reason to bless him for timely aid in their hour of need. He was always unostentatious, however, in his gifts, which were frequently known only to the recipient and himself. He passed away November 14, 1888, and the entire com- munity felt that it had suffered a severe loss. He was a pioneer to whom the county owed much of its development and progress, and his name is inseparably connected with its history. The world is better for his having lived, for the life of every upright man is a benediction to the community with which he was connected.
0 R. J. L. ROBINSON is a native of Kansas, born near Oskaloosa, August 12, 1861, and is a son of Levi and Mary (Bradley)' Robin- son, natives of Indiana and Missouri re- spectively. Six children comprised their family, four of whom are now living, John Lincoln, Rettie, Georgie and Archie.
The father of our subject was a farmer by occupation and moved west with his parents in 1846, settling in Henry county, Missouri, where he grew to manhood and married. During the war he was enrolled
in the state home guard. His death oc- curred February 15, 1895. Mrs. Robinson still survives and resides at Calhoun, Mis- souri. She is a zealous member of the Christian church, with which she has been connected for many years. Mr. Robinson also was connected with that church, of which he was for many years an elder. The paternal grandfather of our subject was J. W. Robinson, a native of Virginia and a miller by occupation, who erected the first steam mill built in Henry county, Missouri. He now resides in Nebraska, at an advanced age. His life has been one of great usefulness. For many years he officiated as a preacher of the Meth- odist church, and in the early settle- ment of Henry county, Missouri, he also practiced medicine. He is the author of several religious works of interest; was an extensive traveler, visiting England upon one occasion. The maternal grandfather of Dr. Robinson was R. D. Bradley, a na- tive of Kentucky of Scotch descent, and a farmer by occupation, who removed to How- ard county, Missouri, where he lived till his death, in 1887, at a ripe old age. He had eleven children, a number of whom are yet living.
The boyhood days of our subject were passed in Henry county on a farm and in the common schools and at the Warrens- burg State Normal he received his education. Subsequently he took up teaching for sev- eral terms, when he decided upon medicine as a choice of professions. Accordingly, in 1881, he matriculated at the University Medical College, of Kansas City, at which he graduated in 1885. Immediately there- after he accepted a call from the manage- ment of the railroad hospital at Fort Worth, Texas, where for one year he was in charge
C. C. Mc Donald.
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as house surgeon. Returning to Kansas City he was prevailed upon to accept a simi- lar position in the Wabash Railroad hospital in this city, which after filling for six months he relinquished and went to the same com- pany's hospital at Peru, Indiana, where he remained eighteen months. He then went to New York city, where for a time he attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Polyclinic.
In 1888 he returned to Kansas City and entered into a partnership for the practice of medicine with Dr. J. W. Jackson, which continued for two years. Since 1890 Dr. Robinson has practiced alone. His practice is general in character and he has the confi- dence and esteem of a large circle of friends and acquaintances. He is a member of the Jackson County Medical Society, and is as- sistant surgeon at the Outdoor Clinic of University Medical College. Fraternally, he is a member of A. O. U. W.
On the 16th of April, 1895, he was united in marriage with Miss Annie, daughter of William and Mary Sote.
Politically Dr. Robinson is in sympathy with the principles of the republican party.
a ALVIN D. McDONALD, M. D., is the senior member of the firm of C. D. McDonald & Sons, well- known practitioners of Kansas City, who are located at a pleasant office in the Rialto building. The Keystone state he claims as the place of his birth, which oc- curred in York county, on the 23d of Jan- uary, 1835.
His parents were John and Catherine (Wynant) McDonald, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Pennsylvania. They had nine sons and two daughters, but
only five of the children are now living, namely: James M., of York, Pennsylvania; Thomas B., who is also living in the same place; David A. and Calvin D., of Kansas City; and George W., of Palo Alto county, Iowa. The father was a shoemaker in his early days, but subsequently became a farmer. He died in York county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1880, when about ninety years of age. His wife passed away some two years previous, at the age of eighty-six years. They had traveled life's journey together as man and wife for sixty-seven years, and their many excellencies of character won them high regard. They were members of the United Presbyterian church, in which the former served as elder. The paternal grandfather of our subject, James McDon- ald, was a native of Ireland, and the founder of the family in America. His death oc- curred in Pennsylvania. The maternal grandfather, John Winant, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and was of Holland lineage. He died at about the age of eighty years.
Dr. McDonald, of this review, was reared on the old home farm in the county of his birth, and acquired his literary edu- cation in the York Academy. Tiring of the routine of farm life and desiring to enter a professional field, he began the study of medicine about 1859, and met the expenses of his course with money he had saved from several years of teaching. He had also en- gaged in selling monuments, and in clerking in a country store. His first course of med- ical lectures was in the University of Mich- igan, at Ann Arbor, and subsequently he entered the Starling Medical College, of. Columbus, Ohio, where he graduated, and later began practice in Mount Blanchard, that state, where he remained for five years.
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In 1868 he came to Carrollton, Missouri, where he engaged in practice until the winter of 1870, since which time he has been connected with the medical profession of Kansas City.
On the 8th of November, 1859, Dr. McDonald married Miss Mary Shields, a daughter of Joseph L. and Meletha (Clayton) Shields. They have three sons and a daugh- ter, namely: Park L., who married Mattie Forris, and is engaged in practice with his father; Chett, who is also a member of the firm; Letha, who is keeping house for the Doctor; and Jay, who died at the age of five years. The mother's death occurred April 26, 1895, at the age of fifty-three years.
During the civil war, Dr. McDonald became sergeant of company F, twenty- first Ohio infantry, but served only a short time. He is a member of both the county and state medical societies, also the Kansas City Medical Club, and, socially, he is con- nected with the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Honor, and the Grand Army of the Republic. In politics he is an ultra republican. He served as county coroner from 1884 until 1886. He is a progressive physician, who has always been a student, and has kept abreast with the advancement made in the profession.
R ODERICK MAY is the proprietor of the only cooperage works in In- dependence, Missouri, and is a gentleman of sterling worth both as a business man and a citizen. He learned his trade in Stornowway, a fishing port in the northern part of Scotland, serving an apprenticeship of three years, and this trade he has followed all his life.
He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, Sep- tember 15, 1850, and was reared in Stornow- way. In 1870 he returned to Glasgow, where he made his home until March 15, 1873, when he embarked for America, be- lieving that the opportunities for advance- ment were better on this side the Atlantic than in the crowded countries of Europe; and his hopes and aspirations in this direc- tion have been realized. He came to this country without money. His first location in America was at London, Canada, where he resided until 1879. That year he came into the "states " and took up his abode at Wyandotte, Kansas, where he was employed in work at his trade until 1884, the time of his coming to Independence, and since then, as already stated, he has been at the head of the only cooperage works in this city and has been doing a thriving business. His present establishment had its inception in 1884, since which time he has been sole proprietor, carrying on an extensive busi- ness. In addition to his cooperage works in Independence, he has shops at Lee's Summit, Sedalia, and Golden City, all in Missouri, and has in his employ no less than twenty men.
Mr. May takes a commendable interest in the affairs of the town, and especially with church work is he prominently identi- fied. He is a member of the church of the Latter Day Saints, is financial agent for the general church for the Independence dis- trict, of which district he is president. To this work he contributes freely of both his time and means.
While in London, Canada, September 27, 1877, Mr. May was married to Miss Sarah J. Lively, daughter of Joseph Lively, of Chatham, Ontario. They have had six children, of whom four sons and one daugh-
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ter are living, namely: Nephi, John Charles, Alvin R., Elizabeth Pearl and William Henry. Their eldest, Barbara J., died in Wyandotte, Kansas, when ten months of age.
OUIS E. WYNE, an attorney at law and a member of the upper house of the city council of Kan- sas City, Missouri, has for over fifteen years been identified with this place. A brief sketch of his life is as follows:
Louis E. Wyne was born in Macomb, McDonough county, Illinois, January 17, 1856, son of Joseph E. and Clarinda (Hayes) Wyne, both natives of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Wyne left their native state at an early day and made settlement in Illinois, and in McDonough county he was for many years engaged in mercantile pursuits. He served one term as clerk of the circuit court of Mc- Donough county, and his whole life there has been one of prominence and great use- fulness. At this writing he is retired. Louis E. is one of the eight children composing their family. He was reared and educated in his native town, completing his high- school studies before he was eighteen, and at that early age he began the study of law. In 1877 he was admitted to the bar in Illi- nois, having passed a creditable examina- tion before the supreme court of Illinois; but it was not until 1879 that he entered upon the practice of his profession.
In December of the latter year he came to Kansas City, and immediately after his location here began the practice of law. For several years he was in partnership with Colonel L. H. Waters, but for some time past has conducted his practice alone, having established a large and remunerative busi-
ness. From the time he took up his resi- dence in this city he has taken a deep in- terest in its affairs, and has served efficiently on its city board. He was a member of the board of freeholders, and drew the charter in the spring of 1889. This charter pro- vides for two houses of the city council. That same spring Mr. Wyne was elected a member of the new upper house, and served as such one term. In the spring of 1894 he was again elected to the same position, in which he is now ably serving. His political affiliations are with the republican party. He is yet unmarried.
OBERT LEE POMEROY is en- gaged in the practice of medicine in Kansas City as a representative of the regular profession. He was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Feb- ruary 14, 1859, and is a son of Daniel and Jane Ann (Aylesworth) Pomeroy, also na- tives of Ontario. Their family numbered five children: William M .; Alida, wife of George W. Rogers; John R., who is at pres- ent practicing medicine in St. Louis, Mis- souri; Robert Lee, of this sketch; and Mary Maude, wife of George Edward Lee. The father is an Episcopal minister of Ontario, and is now in charge of a church of that de- nomination in Highgate, Canada.
The paternal grandfather of our subject, John Pomeroy, was also born in Ontario, and carried on business as a lumber mer- chant. He served as a British soldier in the war of 1812, and his death occurred at the advanced age of seventy-seven years. His family numbered seven sons and two daugh- ters. The maternal grandfather of the Doc- tor was Job Aylesworth, also a native of Canada and a farmer by occupation. His
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death occurred at the ripe old age of eighty- eight years.
Dr. Pomeroy was reared in Addington county, and attended Newburg Academy, where he was graduated with the class of 1870. He afterward entered Albert College, at Belleville, subsequently pursued his stu- dies in Manitoba for two years, and later attended the Upper Canada College, at Toronto, where in two years he completed the course that entitled him to the degree of B. A. Returning to his father's farm he engaged in its cultivation for two years, after which he entered the Detroit College of Medicine, and was graduated at that insti- tution March 21, 1887. Immediately after- ward Dr. Pomeroy removed to Illinois, lo- cating in Cullom, where he remained from November, 1887, until June, 1889. In 1890 he came to Kansas City, where he has since engaged in general practice. He has built up a good business and is a member of the Kansas City Medical and Surgical Society. Socially, he is connected with the Independ- ent Order of Foresters, the I. O. K. of P. and La Societé Française.
LPHONSO L. HUNT, M. D .- It is a common experience of the his- torical investigator to find that the most prominent and successful business men, in many instances, have been reared on farms. The cities are full of country-bred boys, who, with enterprising and adventurous spirits and restless intellects and praiseworthy ambitions, have entered commercial or professional life and won both wealth and fame. To this class belongs Dr. Hunt.
His birth occurred in Lawrence, Kan- sas, on the 7th of October, 1857, and his
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