USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 63
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MAJOR MINFORD A. HANNA, M. D.
Major Minford A. Hanna, M. D., who was surgeon at Base Hospital, No. 81, in France during the World war, having the distinction of being one of only two ob- stetricians who were chosen as surgeons for active overseas service and who is now successfully engaged in practice along the line of his specialty in Kansas City, was born in Carthage, Missouri, May 25, 1878, a son of Thomas James and Emma (Armour) Hanna. The father's birth occurred in Nashville, Tennessee, while the mother was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. In young manhood the father, Dr. Thomas James Hanna, graduated from the Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee. After the war he removed to Ritchey, Missouri, and subsequently to Carthage, Missouri, where for forty years he continued in the general practice of medicine and surgery.
Dr. Hanna was a high school student in Carthage, Missouri, and also attended the Carthage Collegiate Institute. He afterward became a student in the Kansas City Medical College which is the medical department of the University of Kansas. He was a member of the first four years' class and completed his course in 1903 with the M. D. degree. He later did post-graduate work in the New York Lying-In Hospital of New York, and also spent seven months in the Chicago Lying-In Hospital. He served as an interne at St. Joseph's Hospital and in 1905 entered upon the general practice of his profession, to which he devoted three years. In 1908 he began concentrating his energies upon obstetrical work and was the first specialist on female diseases and obstetrics in Kansas City that confined himself to this particular branch of the profes- sion. He does much hospital work in connection with his private practice, being iden- tified with the St. Joseph's, the Christian Church, the General, St. Vincent's and Swedish Hospitals.
It was in 1911 that Dr. Hanna became a member of the Medical Officer's Reserve Corps and in 1917 was called upon for active duty, serving with the rank of captain at Camp Travis. He was afterward made chief surgeon at Base Hospital, No. 81, at Neuf Chateau and was one of but two obstetricians having charge of surgery in the base hospitals with the American Expeditionary Force. He was on active duty from August 31, 1918, until July, 1919, and was promoted to the rank of Major on the 5th of April of the latter year. He is now a member of Fitzsimmons Post of the American Legion.
Dr. Hanna was united in marriage to Miss Mary Dagenais, a daughter of Joseph Dagenais, a native of Canada, and afterward a resident of Atchison, Kansas. Dr. Hanna gives his political allegiance to the democratic party. He belongs to Ivanhoe Lodge, No. 446, A. F. & A. M., and is a member of the Rotary Club, the City Club, the
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Kansas City Club and the Automobile Club. He likewise belongs to the Jackson County, Missouri State and American Medical Associations and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Concentrating his efforts and attention along obstetrical lines he has become most proficient in that field of practice and has gained a wide and well earned reputation.
LEO D. KELLY.
Leo D. Kelly, assistant cashier of the National Bank of Commerce in St. Louis, came to Missouri from the neighboring state of Illinois, his birth having occurred at Russell, Lake county, March 12, 1886. His father, the late Timothy Kelly, was a native of Michigan and of Irish descent. He became a successful farmer and stock raiser, following agricultural pursuits until he passed away in Russell, Illinois, in 1908, at the age of sixty-eight years. His wife, who in her maidenhood was Margaret Hoye, was born in Salem, Wisconsin, and was also of Irish lineage. She died in Russell, Illinois, in 1906, when sixty-six years of age. By her marriage she had become the mother of eight sons and six daughters, thirteen of whom are living.
Leo D. Kelly, who was the youngest of the family, passed through consecutive grades in the public schools until he had completed a high school course and later he attended the College of Commerce at Kenosha, Wisconsin, from which he was graduated in 1904. He started out in the business world as a stenographer in Chicago and afterward entered the railroad service with the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Rail- road Company in Chicago, becoming private secretary to H. I. Miller, the vice president of that road and later filling the position of secretary under W. E. Hodges, vice presi- dent of the Santa Fe Railroad Company.
In 1907 Mr. Kelly came to St. Louis and accepted the position of secretary to Tom Randolph, then president of the Commonwealth Trust Company. In the year 1908 the National Bank of Commerce absorbed the Commonwealth Trust Company, at which time he entered the service of the National Bank of Commerce. In 1916 Mr. Kelly became an assistant in the new business department of the Bank of Commerce, which office he filled until January 14, 1920, when he became assistant cashier and has since acted in. this capacity. His advancement has been along the lines of an orderly pro- gression indicating the steady expansion of his powers and the thorough mastery of every task assigned to him. During the World war he was a captain of one of the bankers teams in connection with the Liberty loan and took an active part in advancing every loan campaign, also in promoting the Red Cross and other drives whereby the war interests were financed.
On the 21st of June, 1918, Mr. Kelly was married in St. Louis to Miss Ruth M. Kranke, a native of St. Louis, and a daughter of William Kranke. The religious faith of Mr. Kelly is that of the Roman Catholic church and he belongs to the Knights of Columbus. In politics he maintains an independent course. Step by step he has advanced as the years have gone on and his enterprise, determination and laudable ambition have constituted the ladder on which he has climbed to success.
CHARLES A. VALLETTE.
Charles A. Vallette, whose record is that of unusual perseverance, determination and endeavor, is now successfully engaged in the practice of law in St. Louis. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, March 9, 1854, and is a son of Frederick A. Vallette, who was a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and was descended from one of the early families of Boston, Massachusetts. Representatives of the name had come from France at an early period in the colonization of the new world and members of the family settled in Cincinnati in 1812. Frederick A. Vallette became a successful manufacturer and lumberman who on leaving Ohio in 1854 removed to Belleville, Illinois, while subse- quent to the close of the Civil war he became a resident of St. Louis, where he con- tinued to make his home until his death, which occurred in 1890 when he was seventy- three years of age. He had married Marcy Field, who was born near Providence, Rhode Island, and whose ancestral line could be traced back to 1637, following the arrival of
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. Roger Williams in the new world. The family was of Welsh extraction and settled in Rhode Island at a place which has since been known as Field's Point. Mrs. Marcy (Field) Vallette passed away in St. Louis in 1908 at the notable age of ninety-three years. She was the mother of seven children, five sons and two daughters, of whom Charles A. was the fourth.
After acquiring a public school education Charles A. Vallette, at the age of eighteen years, started out to earn his own livelihood and secured a position as a teacher near Upper Alton, Illinois, in the Wood River district. He taught successfully there for four years and then entered mercantile pursuits in a clerical capacity. In 1879 he was employed by the Bemis Bag Company of St. Louis, in the position of book- keeper, and continued with that house for eleven years, advancing from his first posi- tion to that of cashier and confidential man. At length he resigned the position and in 1890 became connected with the Missouri Electric Light & Power Company, with which he remained for nine years. On the expiration of that period he established the Ed- wardsville Electric Light & Power Company at Edwardsville, Illinois, of which he was one of the principal stockholders and the general manager, conducting the business until 1906 when he sold to the Illinois Traction Company. He afterward engaged in other electrical enterprises, which, however, proved disastrous owing to a stress in the finan- cial market, causing him the loss of his entire fortune.
This would have utterly discouraged many a man of less resolute spirit, but Mr. Vallette soon showed that he was made of sterner stuff. Inspired by an editorial which he read he determined that age should be no handicap to a new start in life and in 1912 he became a student in the Benton College of Law, from which he was graduated with high honors in 1915. He became a favorite with others attending the school and the dean of the school bore testimony to the fact that his business experience in earlier life had made him especially fitted for the complexities of the profession which he was undertaking. He is the oldest law graduate in Missouri. He began practice in St. Louis, where he has many friends, and through the intervening period he has made steady professional progress, specializing in probate law and in estates. He is now a valued member of both the St. Louis and Missouri State Bar Associations.
On the 13th of October, 1886, at Hartford, Connecticut, Mr. Vallette was married to Sarah E. Loomis, a native of that place and a daughter of Charles P. and Helen (Slaight) Loomis, both of whom are deceased. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Vallette: Helen, who is in social service with the St. Louis Provident Asso- ciation; Julian, a traveling salesman for the General Electric Company and a resident of Mattoon, Illinois; Frederick Field, who is superintendent of electrical construction with the Maryland Refining Company at Ponca City, Oklahoma; and Alice M., who is a nurse in St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis.
In his political views Mr. Vallette has always been a republican. Fraternally he is connected with Rosehill Lodge No. 550, A. F. & A. M .; Kilwinning Chapter, R. A. M .; and Ascalon Commandery, K. T. He also belongs to the Second Baptist church, of which he is treasurer and in the work of which he takes an active and helpful interest. He is truly a self-made man in the highest and best sense of the term. He never re- ceived financial aid from anyone and whatever success he has achieved and enjoyed is attributable entirely to his own labors. He may well be proud of the fact that he had the energy, determination and forcefulness to take up the study of law at an age when most men would have shrunk from such an arduous undertaking and that he has made good in his profession. He is a man of even temperament, pleasant and agreeable at all times, and is capable and versatile. His example may well serve as a source of in- spiration and encouragement to others, showing what can be accomplished when there is a will to dare and to do.
ROBERT G. NAYSMITH.
Robert G. Naysmith is the treasurer and manager of the Donnell Milk Company of St. Louis and is ranked with the enterprising business men of the city, having dis- played original methods in the conduct and development of his business which has be- come one of substantial success. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 25, 1876, and is a son of Robert Naysmith, who was a native of England and on coming to America settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he resided during the greater
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part of his life. He was a mechanical engineer and very successful in the practice of his profession. He was also the builder of the big glass plant at Valley Park, Mis- souri, of which he was manager for some time. He passed away in Pittsburgh. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Pare, is also a native of England and took up her abode in Pittsburgh on coming to the new world. She still survives and is now a resident of St. Louis.
Robert G. Naysmith was the fourth in order of birth in a family of two sons and three daughters. He was educated in the public schools of his native city and in the Pittsburgh Academy, from which he was graduated with the class of 1894. Immedi- ately afterward he took up bookkeeping, later becoming an accountant, and followed that profession until 1916, when he came to St. Louis and here entered into his pres- ent business relation as treasurer and manager of the Donnell Milk Company. This company was organized and incorporated August 31, 1915, being originally established by Dr. J. F. Donnell, who began business on a small capital and in a comparatively small way. Since Mr. Naysmith became connected with the enterprise he has devel- oped the business into one of the leading establishments of its kind in St. Louis. The company is today operating forty-two branch establishments, thus dispensing with the wagon delivery system. This was entirely the plan of Mr. Naysmith-a course that others in the business regarded as highly impractical-but since the opening of the first branch the method had proven a pronounced success and the business has steadily increased until the forty-two branches of the city are now serving a very extensive trade. It makes also a saving to the consumer, as without the added cost of delivery milk can be sold at a lower price. Moreover, it is more sanitary and desirable to patrons. Every branch is conducted with regard to the most scientific, sanitary prin- ciples and the excellent quality of the milk handled insures to the company a large trade.
In Ford City, Pennsylvania, Mr. Naysmith was united in marriage to Miss Adalina Marshall, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of John and Mollie (Anderson) Mar- shall. They have become the parents of two daughters: Dardee, who was born in Ford City, Pennsylvania; and Sarah, born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania. The elder daughter is a graduate of the Illinois State Normal School.
In his religious faith Mr. Naysmith is an Episcopalian. His political belief is that of the republican party, to which he gives stalwart support, but he never seeks nor desires office as a reward for party fealty, preferring to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his business affairs. Steadily he has worked his way upward, for he started out in life without capital and step by step has advanced through his own in- dustry and diligence and the wise utilization of the opportunities which have come to him, having gained a most creditable position among the substantial and enterprising business men of St. Louis.
LESLIE J. NICHOLS.
Leslie J. Nichols, alert, energetic, wide awake to every business situation that has to do with the conduct of his interests, is now resident manager for the Massa- chusetts Bonding & Insurance Company at St. Louis. He was born December 26, 1874, in Oil City, Pennsylvania, a son of James O. Nichols, who was also born in the Key- stone state and was of Scotch-Irish descent. He married Anna M. Bair, who was like- wise born in Pennsylvania and is of Scotch lineage. She is yet living and now makes her home in St. Louis. They had a family of five children, four sons and a daughter.
Leslie J. Nichols, who was the third in order of birth, was educated in the schools of Atchison, Kansas, for his family removed from Pennsylvania to the west in 1875. When a lad of eleven years he served as a page in the Kansas legislature and was after- ward employed by the Santa Fe Railroad Company as a messenger. He later took up railroading and served as a brakeman on various lines throughout the west and was on duty along that line in Texas for some time. He not only was on the road but also worked in the operating departments. In 1889, however, tiring of railroading and feel- ing that opportunity was greater along other lines, he came to St. Louis and entered the employ of the T. & H. Mining Company. On the 9th of September, 1910, he turned his attention to the insurance business, becoming associated with the National Surety Company of New York as a special agent. Since that time he has steadily progressed
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in the work and became manager of the St. Louis office. In that capacity he continued to serve until November 8, 1918, when the National Surety placed their St. Louis gen- eral agency with the Commonwealth Insurance Agency. Mr. Nichols continued with the latter, in charge of the surety department, until March 31, 1920, when he was made resident manager at St. Louis for the Massachusetts Bonding & Insurance Company. The trade journal known as the Western Insurance Review said of him: "In the nine and a half years that Mr. Nichols has been identified with the surety business in St. Louis he has made an enviable record and builded a big business for the National. He has always been a stanch believer in printers' ink, and his slogan, 'If you want a bond quick see Nic,' is a by-word among the brokers of St. Louis and vicinity. 'Nic' is one of the best versed surety men in St. Louis and the Massachusetts Bonding is to be congratulated upon securing his services as head of their eastern Missouri department. Their business is sure to prosper under his able management."
On the 2d of September, 1897, in St. Louis, Mr. Nichols was married to Miss Edna R. Eliff, a native of Red Bud, Illinois, and a daughter of Hogue and Alice B. Eliff. They have become the parents of one child, Delphine Leslie, who was born September 29, 1898. Mr. Nichols is well known in Masonic circles, having membership in Triangle Lodge, No. 638, A. F. & A. M .; Kilwinning Chapter, No. 50, R. A. M .; Ascalon Com- mandery, No. 16, K. T .; and the Scottish Rite bodies. He has also crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of Moolah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His religious faith is that of the Christian Science church. He is a man of genial nature, always looking upon the bright side and shedding around him much of life's sunshine. Polit- ically he maintains an independent course but is not neglectful of the duties and obliga- tions of citizenship, for his support and cooperation can be counted upon to further all measures and movements for the public good. While the opportunities of his youth were somewhat limited he has made steady progress, building character as well as suc- cess, and one of the popular young business men of St. Louis is Leslie J. Nichols.
ORLA M. HILL.
Orla Maurice Hill, attorney and counselor at law in St. Louis, was born on a farm in Delaware county, New York, March 5, 1878, the third son of Theodore R. and Adiela A. Hill. Theodore R. Hill, a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted on the 12th of January, 1864, as a member of Company A, 144th Regiment of New York Infantry with which command he continued until the close of hostilities, brought his family to Missouri in 1886, settled in Jefferson county and lived there as a farmer, stock raiser and builder until July, 1914, when he took up his abode in St. Louis. There he lived until his death, August 13, 1918, at the age of seventy-six years and four months. He married Adiela A. Bulloch, a native of New York, with whom he lived happily united for more than fifty years. She is yet living at the age of seventy-five years. To them were born eight children, five sons and three daughters, all of whom are living.
Orla Maurice Hill's early education was limited to the public schools of Jefferson county and his life to the age of twenty-one years was spent on the home farm, except the two years between the ages of eighteen and twenty when he was in railroad con- struction camps in North Dakota and Montana. Soon after attaining his majority he secured a position as bond salesman in St. Louis and later began business for himself as a stock and bond broker. Since leaving the farm he has made his home in St. Louis.
Like so many of Missouri's farmer boys he felt the urge of a broader education and so while working days he studied law at night; first under the able guidance of the Hon. G. S. Hoss and later at the City College from which he graduated with the LL. B. degree.
Since practicing law he has gained a large clientage; is a forceful speaker, a clear reasoner and devotes his attention principally to corporations, common law trust associations, contracts, etc.
Mr. Hill was married to his present wife, formerly Miss Grace Z. Clay, accom- plished daughter of W. A. Clay of Joplin, Missouri, at Mexico, Missouri, on September 12, 1919. He has one son by a former marriage, William R. Hill, born May 31, 1906. Mrs. Hill during the World war served approximately one year in connection with
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the American Red Cross in France. Her first three months were spent in Paris where she became familiar with Home Service Work in general. She was then placed in charge of Home Service Work with the Central Records Office in Bourges. Her work there covered many things,-locating boys erroneously reported "missing in action" or "killed in action"; tracing mail long delayed because a boy's family couldn't keep up with his ever changing addresses; seeing that local Red Cross aid went to the aid of families in distress back home; helping boys to recover lost service records, secure back pay, adjust allowances or allotments, etc. On her return to the United States she was met by Mr. Hill in Boston, where her transport landed; and was married to him soon after her return home.
Mr. Hill has membership with the Methodist church but does not confine his interest or support to that particular denomination. In politics he is a democrat; has strong civic pride and gives generous assistance, morally and financially, to all those forces which make for progress and improvement in a community. One of his great disappointments was that on account of physical ailments he could not get into active service overseas during the World war.
His chief recreations are reading and golf. His personal qualities make for warm friendships and he commands the respect and confidence of all with whom he comes into contact.
ROBERT S. HOXIE.
Robert S. Hoxie, manager of the St. Louis Lumber Trade Exchange, with offices in the Arcade building of St. Louis, was born in Cambridge, New York, July 28, 1874, and is a son of Florens E. Hoxie, who was likewise born in the Empire state and was of English descent. The first representatives of the family in America arrived at an early day in the development of the new world, settling in Washington county, New York, where they obtained land from the Indians in 1737. The progenitor of this family in America was William Hoxie, who arrived from England in 1630 and settled in New England. Later representatives of the name went to New York and through successive generations the family has been represented in the Empire state. Florens E. Hoxie, who was born in 1849, became a manufacturer, contractor and builder who successfully carried on business at Cambridge, New York, for many years, there resid- ing to the time of his death, which occurred December 29, 1915, when he was sixty- six years of age. He married Rhoda B. Skiff, who was born in Washington county, New York, and belongs to one of the old families of that county of English lineage, being a descendant of John Rodgers. She is still living at Cambridge and she there reared her family of four sons and a daughter, four of whom are yet living: Dr. George H. Hoxie, author, teacher and physician of Kansas City, Missouri; Professor Herbert G. Hoxie, Jamestown, New York; Mrs. Roy H. Allen of Perral, Mexico, and Robert S. of this review.
Robert S. Hoxie, the second child, after mastering the branches of learning taught in the public schools of Cambridge, continued his education in Union College at Schenectady, New York, from which he was graduated in 1898 with the Bachelor of Philosophy degree, while in 1901 the honorary Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him. During his college days he became a member of the Chi Psi, a Greek letter fraternity. In St. Louis he prepared for the bar as a student in the Washington Uni- versity Law School, being graduated in 1900 with the LL. B. degree. The same year he was admitted to practice, but this did not constitute his initial equipment for life's practical duties nor his preliminary experience in the business world, for at the age of fifteen years he had sought and obtained employment with the Delaware & Hud- son Railroad Company, with which he remained for four years. He then resigned to enter college and upon completing his college course in 1898 had removed to St. Louis. While pursuing his law studies he entered the service of the Frisco Railroad in a clerical capacity and was advanced through various departments until during the later years of his connection with that corporation he was chief accounting officer. He remained with the railroad until February, 1920, when he assumed his present position as man- ager of the St. Louis Lumber Trade Exchange. His previous training and experience well qualified him for the duties and responsibilities that devolve upon him in this connection.
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