USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 29
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Clyde H. Smith spent his boyhood on the home farm, and attended school by going a mile and a half to the nearest schoolhouse. His father died when the son was fourteen years of age and he removed to Phillipsburg, Kansas, where he at- tended the high school. He was a member of the National Guard when the Span- ish-American war broke out but was too young to be accepted for active service. In 1899 his mother removed to Ohio, and the son worked on a big dairy farm. In 1891 Mr. Smith entered college at Cleveland, Ohio, working his way through the institution. He was employed on the Cleveland Plain Dealer for a time and after completing his course in the business college he spent two years in the Western Reserve University at Cleveland.
Mr. Smith next went west to Colorado where he engaged in newspaper work, being employed on the Colorado Springs Evening Telegraph. He afterward founded the Inter-Mountain Fruit Journal, published at Grand Junction, Colorado, conduct- ing the paper for four years. Later he became associated with the Denver Weekly Post and still later with the advertising department of the Denver Times and the Rocky Mountain News. In October, 1914, he came to Kansas City as advertising manager of the Kansas City Weekly Post. In 1915 he was made advertising manager of the A. S. McCleary Hospital, one of the biggest institutions of the kind in the world. In January, 1917, he became general manager of the Rohe Auto & Tractor School, and while thus engaged the government there trained its first quota of men as mechanics for the motor transport corps-a total of more than five thousand men were thus trained.
In August, 1919, Mr. Smith resigned his position to organize and become pres- ident of the Kansas City Auto & Tractor School, where practical training was given to young men who desired to be motor mechanics, the training being based on broad experience gained in government work, In December, 1920, Mr. Smith. dis- posed of his interests in the Kansas City Auto and Tractor School. In January, 1921, he became associated with the reorganized firm of Smith and Smith Adver- tising Company, 221-222 Dwight building, Kansas City, Missouri. As a'member of this firm he is recognized as one of the most experienced men in Kansas City on subjects pertaining to advertising and merchandising.
Mr. Smith is very widely and favorably known among advertising men of the country. He belonged to the Ad Club of Denver and is one of the most active members of the Ad Club of Kansas City, and in the latter has held nearly every office, being vice president in 1918 and president in 1919. He was one of the or- ganizers and a director of the Advertisers Protective Bureau and he is a member
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of the Associated Advertising Clubs of the world who have adopted as their motto: "Truth in advertising." Mr. Smith is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Kansas City and was chairman of the press committee for 1920 which put over the hig allied charity drive, the greatest in the history of the city. He is now a member of the publicity committee of the chamber.
On the 20th of June, 1906, Mr. Smith was married in St. Louis to Miss M. Cal- houn, a daughter of William and Martha Calhoun, descendants in the same ancestry as the distinguished statesman-John C. Calhoun. Her father was formerly a travel- ing salesman and is now a retired farmer and makes his home near Hobart, New York. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith has been born a son, Ralph Daniel, whose birth occurred in March, 1914, and who, through the maternal line is a descendant of John C. Calhoun and through the paternal line a descendant of Daniel Webster.
While in Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. Smith was a charter member and the first sec- retary of the camp of the Modern Woodmen of America. He belongs to the Kan- sas City Athletic Club, the Meadow Lake Country Club, and to the Masonic fra- ternity, having membership in Westport Lodge, No. 340, A. F. & A. M., while in the Consistory he has attained the fourteenth degree of the Scottish Rite.
ROBERT MARVIN NELSON.
Robert Marvin Nelson, secretary and treasurer of the Certain-teed Products Corporation of St. Louis, was born at Volga, South Dakota, October 13, 1885, his parents being Edwin and Tena (Vold) Nelson, whose family numbered two sons, the elder, William Edwin, being now deceased. The parents removed to South Dakota in the latter part of the '70s, the father coming from New York, while the mother is a native of Iowa. Mr. Nelson was interested in lands, both in connection with mining and agricultural activity. On leaving South Dakota he went to St. Paul, Minnesota, and there engaged in manufacturing interests. He passed away in St. Paul about 1902 and his widow is still residing in that city.
Robert M. Nelson pursued a high school education in St. Paul and then en- tered Harvard, where he was graduated in 1913 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. During his college days he was a member of the editorial staff of the Harvard Advocate and he also took a keen interest in athletics. He made his initial step in the business world by working after hours during his high school days for the West Publishing Company and for two years he was on the editorial staff. Later he completed a law course by study at night and was admitted to the Minnesota bar and became a member of the bar association of that state.
It was in July, 1913, that Mr. Nelson removed to St. Louis and became city salesman for the Pierce Oil Corporation. In 1914 he became identified with what is now known as the Certain-teed Products Corporation, accepting a minor position but steadily working his way up through the sales department and advertising department. In the latter part of 1915 he was made advertising manager and so continued until January 1, 1918, when he was elected secretary and treasurer of the Certain-teed Products Corporation. The business of this company is steadily increasing and plans are being carried out for a general production increase through- out the country in both the roofing and the paint and varnish branches of the business. This expansion is entailing the extension of manufacturing plants, espec- ially in the east, and the enlargement of factories near Chicago, together with the establishment of new foreign offices. In the autumn of 1920, the company took over Thomas Potter Sons & Company, Inc., of Philadelphia, a deal involving over $3,000,000. The Potter concern is one of the oldest manufacturers of linoleums. floor coverings, oil cloths, imitation leather, in the field. Since the European war all of the offices abroad have been reopened save those in Germany and new offices have been established in Copenhagen and Australia. The Certain-teed Products Corporation is capitalized for twenty-five million dollars and that the business is steadily increasing is indicated in the fact that the shipments made in the first eight months of 1920 exceeded by nearly forty per cent those of the corresponding period for 1919. All business, foreign or domestic, is cleared through the St. Louis offices. Mr. Nelson has made for himself a prominent position in the business
C UNDERWOOD & DTDEHWOO
ROBERT M. NELSON
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circles of the city by reaching his present official connection with the Certain-teed Products Corporation. His work is ever characterized by thoroughness and energy and he has a well trained mind and a complete knowledge of advertising, selling and finance. He quickly grasps the fundamentals of the work in hand and nothing can cause him to lose sight of these fundamentals until the object is accomplished. His success is due to his broad primary education and his study of fundamental conditions. His good education enables him to apply theory to practice and he is particularly well grounded in economics. In everything he does he is thorough, possesses natural good business judgment and makes decisions quickly but not hastily.
Mr. Nelson was united in marriage February 10, 1915, in St. Louis, to Miss Daphne McKee Brown, a daughter of George Marion Brown, and they have two children: Dorothy Katharine, born August 22, 1916; and Daphne Brown, born September 30, 1920. Mr. George Marion Brown is president of the Certain-teed Products Corporation, secretary-treasurer and member of the board of directors of the Standard Slate Products Company of Granville, New York; secretary of Thomas Potter Sons & Company, Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; secretary of the Harvard Club of St. Louis 1920-1921, and member of the Scholarship Committee of the Associated Harvard Clubs. In politics Mr. Nelson is a liberal republican and his religious faith is manifest in his membership in the Pilgrim Congregational church. He belongs to the St. Louis Country, Racquet and Noonday Clubs of St. Louis and the Harvard Club of Boston and New York; also the Indian Harbor Yacht Club and Greenwich Country Club, both in Greenwich, Connecticut. He finds his chief diversion in golf and yachting and also enjoys other athletic sports. In 1918 he won a gold medal as stroke oar of the Minnesota Boat Club eight-oared shell in a race at Springfield, Massachusetts, at the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen Regatta, his crew winning by a length against Detroit, with other crews trailing. He also stroked Minnesota four and eight oared crews to victory in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1908. Mr. Nelson has a very pleasing personality, is friendly, amiable and big-hearted, so that he is popular wherever he goes.
EDGAR M. JENNINGS.
Edgar M. Jennings was the senior member of the firm of Jennings & Cushman, conducting a general insurance business with offices in the Pierce building in St. Louis. He was born in London, England, March 20, 1886, and is a son of George C. H. Jennings, who was likewise born in London, and of Connie (Little) Jennings, also a native of the world's metropolis. They became the parents of five children, two sons and three daughters, of whom Edgar M. is the third in order of birth.
His youthful days were passed in his native country and he pursued his educa- tion in private schools at Enfield, Middlesex and at Margate, in Kent, England. He also attended college in London and for a time was a college student in Lau- sanne, Switzerland. He started upon his business career when a youth of eighteen as an office boy with the Broderick & Bascom Company of St. Louis. He arrived in America in 1904, making his way direct to this city, where he immediately entered the employ of the above mentioned firm. He later became a traveling salesman for the house and subsequently entered the Third National Bank of St. Louis in a clerical capacity in order that he might gain broader business experience. He con- tinued with the bank for a year and afterward accepted the position of manager with the Luckenbach Smokeless Furnace Company. Upon the organization of the American Automobile Insurance Company he became connected with it and was afterward made sales manager. In 1914 he entered the general insurance busi- ness under his own name and in October, 1919, formed the present partnership of Jennings & Cushman for the conduct of a general insurance business. Mr. Jen- nings has recently sold out the majority of his interest in the firm of Jennings & Cushman and has not as yet embarked in any other enterprise.
On the 23d of January, 1912, Mr. Jennings was married in St. Louis to Miss Mary Angela Broderick, a daughter of J. J. and Emelie (Kern) Broderick. They have become the parents of five children, two sons and three daughters: Maureen
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A., Virginia I. B., Eloise L., John Broderick and George Edgar, all natives of St. Louis.
Mr. Jennings was made an American citizen in 1918. He and his family are connected with the Roman Catholic church and he belongs to the Missouri Ath- letic Association, also to the Sunset Hill Country Club, the St. Louis Club and to the Chamber of Commerce. He is interested in all that makes for public progress and improvement and is a loyal supporter of many civic interests. In his business career he bas made steady advancement and his success is due entirely to his own efforts and perseverance.
DAVID B. SEIBERT.
David B. Seibert, who following his training received in country banks of Mis- souri has come to a prominent position in the financial circles of St. Louis as vice president of the International Bank, was born in Perry county, Missouri, December 29, 1853. His father, Daniel Seibert, was a native of Virginia and in his youth came with his father to Missouri, the family settling on a farm in Perry county where the grandfather spent his remaining days, his attention being devoted to general agricultural pursuits. The death of Daniel Seibert occurred in 1874. He, too, had been a successful farmer and he lived the life of a consistent Christian, holding membership in the Methodist church. In early manhood he wedded Melissa McCombs, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, who passed away in 1875. They were the parents of five children, of whom three are living.
David B. Seibert, the second in order of birth, was educated in the district schools of Perry county and in the St. Louis University, which he attended in 1872 and 1873. He afterward taught school for two years in Cape Girardeau and then took up the occupation of farming which he followed for three or four years. Sub- sequently he became identified with commercial pursuits as proprietor of a general store and also engaged in the manufacture of flour, managing a mill for several years. He was active and prominent in connection with public affairs in Cape Girardeau and for three years filled the position of city collector there. He later became cashier of the Cape County Savings Bank at Jackson, occupying that posi- tion for seven years after which he was made state bank examiner of Missouri by Sam B. Cook and occupied the office for four years. This gave him splendid in- sight into the banking business and on the 1st of March, 1895, he became connected with the International Bank of St. Louis as its vice president and has continued in this executive position to the present time.
In 1876 Mr. Seibert was married to Miss Rillie Wilson, of Cape Girardeau, and they have become the parents of two sons: Dr. David Glen Seibert, who is a prac- ticing physician of Jackson, Missouri, married Miss Ella Wilkinson, by whom he has four children; William Wilson Seibert, an attorney by profession, is now serving as state bank examiner of Missouri and married Miss Kate Dennis.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Seibert is a Mason, belonging to the lodge at Jackson, Missouri, of which he was master for a number of years, and at all times exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. He turns for recreation to our national game of baseball. While of quiet manner his sterling worth has won him a host of friends and his business ability has given him high standing as a banker.
REV. BENJAMIN YOUNG.
Rev. Benjamin Young, the widely known pastor of the Union Methodist Epis- copal church of St. Louis, was born in Derbyshire, England, January 25, 1868, a son of Samuel and Anne (Bamford) Young. The father brought the family to America when the son was a- lad of ten years and he was educated in Salt Lake Seminary of Utah and in the University of Chattanooga in Tennessee, from which he was graduated in 1896. He afterward attended the University of Wyoming, completing his course there in 1900 with the Master of Arts degree, and in 1906
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the University of Chattanooga conferred upon him the Doctor of Divinity degree. His entire life has been directed in the field of moral development and progress. He was ordained to the Methodist ministry, becoming a deacon in 1890, an elder in 1893, and from 1897 until 1899, was pastor of the churches at Lauden and Sheridan, Wyoming. During the succeeding two years he was in charge of a church in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and from 1901 to 1903 was located at Denver. He then accepted a call from a church in Salt Lake City, where he labored for four years, and in 1907 was ordained pastor of the First Methodist Church at Portland, Ore- gon, where he continued until 1914. He then accepted a call from the First Church at Topeka, Kansas, where he remained until 1916, and since October of the latter year, he has been pastor of the Union Methodist Episcopal church of St. Louis. While his attention has mostly been directed to the work of the ministry, in which connection he has accomplished great good, he has also proved an effective and forceful worker in other connections, closely studying many of the grave problems before the public at large with a view to better civic conditions. He served as a member of the Charter Commission of Portland, Oregon, in 1911, and he was a member of the committee of fifteen who accompanied President Taft on a tour of the cities of the northwest. He was likewise a delegate to the National Peace Conference in 1912 and a member of the General Conference of 1912 and of 1916. He was the first vice president of the committee of World's Christian Citizenship Conference held at Portland in 1913 and was a member of the commission on Social Service of the Federal Council of Churches. He was likewise made a mem- ber of the Social Service Council of the Methodist Episcopal church and engaged extensively in Y. M. C. A. war service.
On the 30th of June, 1891, Mr. Young was united in marriage to Miss Virginia Rohm Crawford of Greensboro, Pennsylvania. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and was grand orator of the grand lodge of Oregon in 1912 and 1913. He has taken the Scottish Rite degrees in Masonry and has ever been a loyal fol- lower of the craft. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, nor does he lightly regard the duties of citizenship, feeling that it is the obligation of every individual to support his honest convictions concerning political matters. He feels that whatever affects the welfare of community, commonwealth or country should be a matter of individual concern and that moral progress is conserved in civic development. His life has heen fruitful of great good. He is an earnest logical speaker, a clear thinker and a man of the keenest human sympathy, so that his entire life has been a helpful outreaching to mankind.
GILL RICHARDS.
Since 1919 Gill Richards has served the town of Perry as mayor and in the administration of his duties has shown himself to be a man of true personal worth, high ideals, and honorable principles. He is a native son of Perry, born in that town on the 27th of November, 1879, a son of Marion and Annie (Murphy) Rich- ards. The father was born in Bath county, Kentucky, and when four years of age removed with his parents to Ralls county, Missouri. On reaching the age of nine- teen years he launched into the mercantile business, in which he continued until 1906, at which time he retired. His death occurred on the 23rd of January, 1913. Marion Richards was the son of John Longly Richards, a native of Bath county, Kentucky, who removed with his family to Ralls county, Missouri, in 1853. His death occurred at the advanced age of ninety-two years. The Richards family were originally from England, coming to Virginia, where they settled during the colonial days, and from which state they removed to Kentucky. The mother, Annie Murphy, is still living and resides in Perry. She was horn in Audrain county, Mis- souri, and was the daughter of John Murphy, a farmer in that county. John Murphy was of Irish descent and the family settled in Missouri prior to the Civil war.
Gill Richards received his education in the public schools of Perry and grad- uated from the high school there with the class of 1897. He then entered Chris- tian College, now known as Stockton-Culver, where he took a two years course. After putting his textbooks aside he engaged in the mercantile business as partner
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with his father and an uncle, A. A. Richards, under the name of the Richards Com- pany. The store was a general one and upon the death of A. A. Richards and the retirement of his father in 1906 Gill Richards became sole owner and manager. Under his careful management the business reached extensive proportions and soon became recognized as the largest department store in Ralls county. In 1912 he sold an interest to Floyd Richards, his brother, and retired from active manage- ment. Floyd Richards is still conducting the business under the name of the Richards Company, by which name it has been known since 1873.
Gill Richards for many years has been recognized as a successful and pro- gressive farmer and he owns some valuable land near Perry which he cultivates and on which he raises pure bred Durocs. In the financial circles of York he has also taken a prominent and active part, serving for many years as a director of the Perry Bank. He owns considerable business property in Perry and built the first moving picture theatre in that place. This venture proved a success from the beginning and his theatre is considered one of the most modern buildings of its kind in the surrounding territory. Mr. Richards has always taken an active part in politics, never seeking office for himself, however, but working in behalf of his friends. It was not surprising therefore when nominated for mayor by his many friends that he would not campaign for himself. His popularity, however, was made manifest by the fact that he received twice as many votes as both of his opponents combined. This election took place in 1919 and he ran on the democratic ticket.
It was on the 17th of August, 1905, that Mr. Richards was married to Miss Sammie Lou Neville, a daughter of James W. Neville. She was born October 4, 1879, and her father's birth occurred on the 14th of October, 1844, in Pike county, near Bowling Green. He was a retired farmer of Perry county, where his death occurred in 1917. When just a boy he removed to Ralls county. He was a prom- inent man in his community and was a leader in the prohibitionist movement. Her grandfather was Presley Neville who was of German descent but a native of Ken- tucky. The mother of Mrs. Richards, Almira Briggs, was born near Florida, Monroe county, on the 8th of September, 1857, and died February 2, 1899. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Richards two children have been born: Marion Neville, whose natal day was May 29, 1906, and who is now attending the Perry high school; and Helen, who is attending the grade schools of Perry.
Mr. and Mrs. Richards and family are consistent members of the Christian church of Perry and Mr. Richards has served this organization as deacon for several years and is also clerk of the board of the church. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to Lick Creek Lodge, No. 302, of Perry, has served as senior warden of the Royal Arch Masons of Hannibal, and is a member of Moolah Temple of the Shrine at St. Louis. He is an exemplary member of the Elks, belonging to Lodge 1198 at Hannibal. Although the greater part of Mr. Richards' time has been devoted to his agricultural and business interests he finds recreation in the great out-of-doors and the strict confinement required in the mercantile business was the main cause of his retirement. Mr. Richards holds friendship inviolable and as true worth can always win regard he has a very extensive circle of friends. His thoughts are not self-centered but are given to the mastery of life's problems and the fulfillment of his duty as a man in his relation to his fellowmen and as a citizen in his relation to his city, state and country.
MRS. THEODORE SHELTON.
Mrs. Jane Redd Gentry Shelton, wife of Theodore Shelton, is one of the best known women of Missouri and no record of the state would be complete without extended reference to her, not alone by reason of the fact that she is a representative of one of the oldest and most distinguished families of the state and comes of a notably prominent ancestral line but also by reason of her personal contribution of valuable service to many of the important activities which tend to the uplift of the individual and the advancement of the community at large.
She was born May 28, 1848, at Oak Dale, the country seat of the Gentry family, about three miles northwest of Sedalia, Missouri, her parents being Judge and Mrs.
MRS. THEODORE SHELTON
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William Gentry, of Pettis county. She comes of a family distinctively American in both its lineal and collateral lines. Her great-grandfather, Richard Gentry, married Jane Harris, a granddaughter of Major Robert Harris, who was a member of the Vir- ginia house of burgesses from 1730 until 1742. Richard Gentry was a valiant soldier in the Revolutionary war and was present when Cornwallis surrendered his forces at Yorktown. Mrs. Shelton indeed has reason to be proud of her ancestral history, for she is a direct descendant of John Crawford of Scotland, who landed at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1643 and obtained several grants of land, upon one of which he settled Her great-grandfather, David Thomson, was a major of the War of 1812 and with the rank of general commanded the Second Battalion of Kentucky Volunteers at the battle of the Thames. The wife of General Thomson was Elizabeth Suggett, daughter of John Suggett and Mildred Davis, and it is a matter of record (Filson Club Publication Vol. 12, p. 50) that they were among those who made memorable the defense of Bryant Station, Kentucky, August 16, 1782, when it was learned that the Indians and British were preparing for an attack on Bryant Springs, near Lexington, Kentucky. It was found the fort was inadequately supplied with water and the women and children went bravely forth with their pails (as was their custom), reasoning that if the Indians thought the small garrison had no knowledge of their proximity, they would await night- fall for their attack, a surmise that proved to be true. The women and children there- fore went forth with their buckets, knowing they were under the eyes of savages, and Mrs. Mildred (Davis) Suggett and her husband's sister, Jemima Suggett Johnson, led the party to the spring, returning unmolested with the water for the siege. In the attack which followed the Indians shot flaming arrows into the fort and one of them fell into the cradle of the infant son of Jemima Suggett Johnson, Richard Mentor Johnson, who lived to become the vice president of the United States. A monument erected on the site of McClelland's Fort at Georgetown, Kentucky, to General McClelland and his men, and to the Revolutionary soldiers who were buried in Scott county, by the Big Springs Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in the summer of 1920, contains among the many names those of but two women, the great-great- grandmother of Mrs. Shelton, Mildred Davis Suggett, and Jemima Suggett Johnson, her great-great-aunt. Mrs. Shelton was among the many Suggett descendants who were present at the unveiling of this monument. By reason of their bravery in leading the procession for water they were classed with the soldiers who successfully defended the fort.
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