USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 70
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Guy N. Hitchcock entered upon his public school training when but six years of age and continued his studies until he reached the age of fourteen. In 1889 he put aside his textbooks and made his initial step in the business world and continuously throughout the intervening period he has been identified with banking. He first secured
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a position as messenger boy in the Continental National Bank and his loyalty and capability won him promotion from time to time, each forward step bringing him a broader outlook and wider opportunity. He gradually worked his way upward and in 1902 was advanced to the position of assistant cashier, in which capacity he con- tinued to serve until the National Bank of Commerce bought out and took over the Continental National Bank when he went to the former institution as assistant cashier and continued to serve in that capacity until the 1st of July, 1919, at which time he assumed the duties of vice president, having been one of three elected as vice presi- dents of the National Bank of Commerce. His long service with the institution and his fidelity and business ability well recommended him for the advancement. He has represented the bank on numerous occasions at bankers' conventions and is an acknowl- edged expert on questions pertaining to transit and collection phases of banking.
Mr. Hitchcock is also well known socially in St. Louis. He belongs to the Belle- rive Country Club and similar organizations. He is an Episcopalian in religious faith and has served as vestryman of the Church of the Holy Communion. While America was actively at war with Germany he did everything in his power to promote the Liberty loan drives and other war activities. His political allegiance is given to the demo- cratic party and he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day, although he does not seek office as a reward for party fealty. He has concentrated his efforts and attention upon his business and those who indulge in fantastic theorizing as to the cause of success may examine his record and that of hundreds of other successful young men and find that their progress is due entirely to individual effort, thorough- ness, close application and laudable ambition.
EDWARD GLION CURTIS.
Edward Glion Curtis, a man of upright character and of exceptionally well bal- anced legal mind who has always remained a student of his profession, has during the fifteen years of his connection with the St. Louis bar gained a most creditable position. He was born in this city February 11, 1882, his father being William S. Curtis, a native of Newport, Wayne county, Indiana, and an educator of high rank who became dean of the Washington University Law School. Born in 1850 he is a son of William C. and Elizabeth R. (Harker) Curtis. He was a student in Mckendree College in Illinois in 1869-70 and was graduated from Washington University of St. Louis in 1873 with the Bachelor of Arts degree, while in 1876 he completed a course in the St. Louis Law School with the LL. B. degree, this institution conferring upon him the LL. D. degree in 1905. From 1876 to 1884 he taught in Washington University and Smith academy. He was engaged in law practice in Omaha, Nebraska, from 1884 until 1894 and in the latter year became dean of the St. Louis Law School, the law department of Washington University. He was a delegate to the Universal Con- gress of Lawyers and Jurists of St. Louis in 1904 and he was a member of the Ameri- can, Missouri State and St. Louis Bar Associations, also the Missouri Historical Society and the St. Louis Academy of Science. He belonged to the University Club and to the Round Table and his religious faith was that of the Unitarian church. He was married in St. Louis in 1881 to Hope Goodson and their only child is Edward Glion Curtis of this review. William S. Curtis passed away in May, 1916.
In the acquirement of his education Edward G. Curtis attended the public schools of Omaha, Nebraska, also spent a year in study in Europe and afterward entered Smith academy of his native city. He next attended the Washington University where in 1903 he won the Bachelor of Arts degree. He remained as a student in the law de- partment of that institution and gained the LL. B. degree in 1905. The same year he was admitted to practice at the St. Louis bar where he has since continued and his thorough preliminary training and subsequent study, combined with his careful prep- aration of his cases, have given him high standing among the representatives of the legal fraternity in St. Louis.
On the 28th of September, 1908, Mr. Curtis was married to Miss Isabel Wallace, daughter of James W. Wallace, the general auditor of the Iron Mountain Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis have five children: Edward Glion, Jr., who is attending school at the age of eleven years; Thomas Bradford, aged nlne; Ernest Mifflin, six years of age; Willlam Shepley, aged five; and James Wallace, a haby.
EDWARD G. CURTIS
Vol. V-41
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In addition to the pleasant home which he occupies in St. Louis, Mr. Curtis has a fruit farm near South Haven, Michigan, devoted to the raising of apples. He is a member of the St. Louis and Missouri State Bar Associations and has membership in the Algonquin and Sunset Hill Golf Clubs and finds his recreation largely in a game of golf. He belongs to the Unitarian church and his life has been characterized by those principles which make for recognition of the rights of others and for high personal standards in every relation.
JOSEPH BIRD COWHERD, M. D.
Dr. Joseph Bird Cowherd, member of the medical profession in Kansas City, specializing in pediatrics, was born in Shelbyville, Shelby county, Kentucky, November 25, 1885, his parents being John M. and Fannie (Bird) Cowherd, both of whom are natives of Kentucky. The father engaged in farming and also in the real estate busi- ness. He came to Kansas City in 1913 and through the intervening period has con- ducted a real estate agency in this city.
Dr. Cowherd, after attending the public schools, continued his education in Center College at Danville, Kentucky, and won his Bachelor of Science degree upon graduation with the class of 1905. He also became a member of the Beta Theta Pi during his student days there. He afterward entered the Columbia University as a student of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, completing his course in the New York institu- tion in 1909. He subsequently spent two years in the New York City Hospital, giving his attention particularly to research work and to pediatrics. In 1912 he started west with the intention of locating in Texas but was so well pleased with Kansas City that he determined to locate here and confine his attention to pediatrics and diseases of children. He has since made marked progress in his chosen line and is now serving on the staff of Mercy Hospital, also of the Bell Memorial Hospital at Rosedale, Kansas, and is at the head of the pediatric department of the University of Kansas. In addition he has a large private practice and his work has been of a most important character. He has come to be recognized as an authority on his special branch, for he has developed his skill and efficiency to a high degree in that connection. He belongs to the Jackson County, Missouri State and American Medical Associations. He deserves much credit for what he has accomplished for he worked his way through medical school and while a student of Columbia became a member of the Nu Sigma Nu, a medical fraternity. He has a personality that renders him particularly successful in his work with children. He easily gains their confidence because they recognize his sympathy and kindliness and he always works along the belief that happiness brings health. His practice is now very extensive among the best families of Kansas City and he is doing most important professional work.
Dr. Cowherd was married to Miss Lila Grant and they have one son, Grant Cow- herd. The parents are members of the Linwood Boulevard Presbyterian church and they occupy a very enviable social position.
LANEVILLE ASHLEY BROWN.
Laneville Ashley Brown is the president of the Brown Bed Company, one of the growing and prosperous manufacturing enterprises of Kansas City. The history of the Brown family shows that all its male representatives have first been farmers, then merchants and later in life have taken up manufacturing interests. Mr. Brown of this review was born in Shelbyville, Shelby county, Kentucky, November 18, 1867. His father, Archibald Brown, was a native of Nicholas county, Kentucky, born in 1837, and was of Scotch Presbyterian stock. He wedded Martha J. Hall, a native of Shelby county, Kentucky, and she, too, is of Scotch descent. In young manhood Archibald Brown engaged in farming and stock raising in Kentucky and afterward turned his attention to the dry goods business at Newcastle, Indiana. In 1886 he removed to Gentry county, Missouri, where he acquired large land holdings and engaged ex- tensively in the raising and feeding of stock. He was very prominent in that connec- tion and built up a business of large and gratifying proportions. He later became
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interested in financial affairs and in 1897 removed to Maryville, Missouri, while in 1902 he came to Kansas City and was here associated with his sons in manu- facturing interests. During the Civil war period he put aside all business and personal considerations and served under General Nelson as a defender of the Union cause. His political allegiance was given to the republican party and he was very active worker in its ranks but was never an office seeker. The Presbyterian church numbered him among its devoted and faithful members and his labors in its behalf were far- reaching and beneficial. He passed away in Kansas City in 1905 and is still survived by his widow.
L. A. Brown of this review spent his boyhood days on the home farm and in his youth pursued a high school education. He left the farm at the age of twenty-one years, however, and engaged in the furniture business at McFall, Missouri, his father establishing him in business there. He was thus engaged from 1888 until 1896 and in the latter year became a member of the firm of Brown Brothers, conducting a furni- ture and undertaking business at Maryville. In 1901 he removed to Kansas City and has since engaged in the manufacture of brass, iron and steel beds put out by the Brown Manufacturing Company. The business is owned exclusively by the family and their product is of very high grade. L. A. Brown of this review is the inventor of the Brown detachable disappearing bed, the only bed manufactured without counter balance weights. It is designed to operate in and out of a closet, in which a track is provided, so that it rolls into or comes out of the space intended for it with ease. Its equipment is such as to insure lightness as well as strength and durability. The company also manufactures the Brown adjustable wall bed, which remains stationary and when left out is entirely out of the closet space, while the Brown detachable bed may be removed to any part of a room. The product is today sold throughout the United States and the business has become one of magnitude. Mr. Brown displays great efficiency in the management of the factory and in the conduct of the business and is recognized as a wide-awake, alert and progressive business man, ready to meet any emergency that may arise in connection with the conduct of the factory and the development of the trade.
At Edwardsville, Illinois, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Eva May Rockwell, a daughter of George W. Rockwell, a prominent stockman. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have become parents of two children: Rockwell L., who is vice president and general sales manager of the Brown Bed Company; and Esther May.
In politics Mr. Brown has always been a stalwart republican and while living at Maryville, Missouri, was the only republican elected to the position of alderman. He has never been a politician, however, in the sense of office seeking, preferring to do his public duty as a private citizen. He belongs to the Republican Club and is active in promoting the successes of the party because of his firm belief in its principles. He has membership with the Knights of Pythias and formerly filled all of the chairs in the order but has not been active for several years. A Presbyterian in religious faith, he belongs to the Third Presbyterian church of Kansas City and wherever he is known he is recognized for his fidelity to and interest in those things which make for the uplift of the individual and the benefit of the community at large.
WARD H. LEONARD, M. D.
Dr. Ward H. Leonard, devoting his life to medical practice in Kansas City since 1898 and specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, was born in Highland, Kansas, January 4, 1872, his parents being James A. and Mary W. (Holmes) Leonard, both of whom were natives of Massachusetts, in which state they were reared and mar- ried. They came to Kansas in 1865 and the father followed farming and also engaged in the banking business in Highland. He was very active in educational advance- ment, serving for many years as a member of the school board, and was also inter- ested in the college of Highland.
.Dr. Leonard spent his youthful days under the parental roof, passing through con- secutive grades in the public schools until he completed a high school course in Highland, after which he entered the college there and was graduated with the Bachelor of Science degree in 1893. Having determined upon the practice of medicine as his life work, he went east to enter the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, and there pursued his medical course, being graduated in 1897 with the M. D. degree.
Ward /V. Temand
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The following year he opened an office in Kansas City and here he has engaged to a large extent in general practice. He has also specialized in obstetrics and gynecology and has developed a high degree of skill in those branches of the profession.
Dr. Leonard volunteered for service in the World war and in August, 1917, went to Camp Funston, where he was commissioned a lieutenant. He left there with the Eighty-ninth Division in June, 1918, and was in the field hospital service, his duties being of a most active and strenuous character. He was commissioned a captain and served throughout the war with the Eighty-ninth Division, receiving his honorable discharge on the 4th of June, 1919, at Camp Taylor. His experience overseas was that of the surgeon whose work was extremely arduous and difficult, and at all times he measured up to the strictest demands and the highest standards of military profes- sional service. Before going to Camp Funston he had served as a member of the examining board. In fact he offered his services to the government immediately after the declaration of war.
In politics Dr. Leonard maintains an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judgment. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church and fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and with the Knights of Pythias. Along professional lines his connection is with the Jackson County, Missouri State and American Medical Associations, and he is also a member of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. Modest and unassuming he is always approachable, and his genial manner and unfaltering courtesy gain for him the highest respect of all who know him, while in his practice he has always enjoyed the esteem of his professional brethren.
KENNETH W. TAPP.
Kenneth W. Tapp, practicing at the Kansas City bar, was born February 24, 1890, in the city which is still his home, his parents being Presley J. and Virginia (Miller) Tapp. The father, a native of Florence, Alabama, resided for many years in Louis- ville, Kentucky, where he was associated with the Southern Railway Company. In 1880 he removed to Kansas City. His wife was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, and Kenneth W. is their only son. The parents are members of the Episcopal church and are highly esteemed people.
The professional training of Kenneth W. Tapp was received in the University of Missouri, from which he won his LL. B. degree as a member of the class of 1911. He also studied law at Harvard and on the completion of his course in the Missouri University was admitted to the bar. Through the intervening years he has practiced his profession independently of partnership relations. His ability is widely recognized, as is manifest in his large and growing clientage. He is at home in all departments of the law and has gained a most creditable position among the younger representa- tives of the Kansas City bar. He belongs to the local bar association and enjoys the goodwill and confidence of professional colleagues and contemporaries.
In 1915 Mr. Tapp was married to Miss Rose Bancroft, of Denver, Colorado, daugh- ter of Frank M. Bancroft. They have membership in St. Paul's Trinity Episcopal church. Mr. Tapp gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day but does not seek nor desire office. He belongs to the Kansas City Athletic Club and turns to tennis and handball for recreation. This exercise and outdoor life keeps him physically fit for the arduous duties of his profession.
CAPTAIN OLIVER P. KLINE.
Captain Oliver P. Kline, secretary of the Good Roads Corporation of Kansas City, engaged in the building and manufacture of machinery used in building and main- taining roads, was born in Chicago in 1888, and is a son of Henry C. and Alice D. Kline. The father was for thirty-five years division passenger agent for the Wabash Railroad in Chicago. Captain Kline spent his boyhood and youth in his native city and was graduated from the Chicago high school. He afterward had the benefit of
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two years instruction in the Illinois State University where he made a specialty of the study of engineering. Later he was for eight years a broker in Chicago and on the declaration of war entered the First Officers' Training Camp at Fort Sheridan. There he received a commission as first lieutenant and was assigned to duty as instructor in artillery in Camp Funston and at Camp Jackson in South Carolina. He was promoted in September, 1918. He made earnest efforts to be sent overseas but was disappointed in this and was retained in the United States because of his ability as an instructor and he had a brother who was in the air service.
In April, 1918, Captain Kline was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Abendrouth of Chicago, and two years later in April, 1920, they came to Kansas City where Captain Kline has since been actively engaged in business as secretary of the Good Roads Corporation. This company handles roadbuilding and maintenance machinery. They make a speciality of combination high pressure atomizing road oilers, tar and asphalt spreaders. They have a large plant, a two story brick structure at Fourteenth and Chestnut streets which covers a great amount of space, is well lighted and ventilated and is thoroughly equipped for the purpose intended. They turn out machinery of the highest grade for use in the building and maintenance of roads and their products, including the high pressure atomizing road oilers, the tar and asphalt spreaders and the power flushers are unsurpassed in worth and durability.
Captain Kline is a member of the Lions Club, an organization that is not only formed in the furtherance of trade but which holds to the highest ideals of Ameri- can citizenship and believes thoroughly in the Americanization of every individual that lives within the border of this country. Captain Kline is also a member of the Uni- versity Club and has gained many friends among the most progressive and alert young business men of Kansas City.
ROBERT EDWARD KLEINSCHMIDT.
Robert Edward Kleinschmidt, prosecuting attorney of Jefferson county where he is engaged in the practice of law, is one of the most prominent men of the city. He was born April 17, 1890, at Hillsboro, a son of Charles H. Kleinschmidt, a native of Germany where he was born in 1858. He came to the United States alone when he was fourteen years of age, going at once to St. Louis where he sold newspapers and worked his way through the St. Louis Law School from which he was graduated in 1881 with the degree of LL. B. He took up his practice at Hillsboro and continued there until his death which occurred in 1911. He was a member of the legislature in 1895 and 1896. Fraternally he was a Mason having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He was the only son of John L. Kleinschmidt, a chemist and mining operator who made seven trips to the United States and passed away in 1895. He was the only son of his father and Charles H. was his only son while Robert Edward is the only son of Charles H. Kleinschmidt. The mother of Robert Edward Kleinschmidt is Theresa Vollmar, who lives at Hillsboro. She was born in St. Louis in 1861, a daughter of Edward Vollmar, a merchant and hotel-keeper who took up his residence in Hillsboro after leaving St. Louis. His father was born in Germany and spent his entire life there.
Robert Edward Kleinschmidt acquired his early education in the public schools of Hillsboro and in St. Louis in the Sherman and Pope schools. Later he attended Marvin College at Fredericktown and was graduated with the degree of Ph. B. in 1906. He then attended the Central College at Fayette where he acquired his B. S. degree in 1909. He then became a student of the Washington University from which he was graduated in 1912 with the degree of LL. B. and took up his practice at Hillsboro where he has since remained. In 1914 he was elected prosecuting attorney, being reelected in 1916 and again in 1920. He was inducted into the army July 7, 1918, and stationed at Camp McArthur, Waco, Texas. He was sent to France and arrived in that country October 7, 1918, when he was assigned to the Eighty-third Division of the Infantry in the personnel department and was stationed at Le Mans, France. He was made an instructor in the Le Mans Army School and remained in France until June 29, 1919, receiving his discharge July 21, 1919.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Kleinschmidt the right of franchise he has been a stanch supporter of the republican party and the principles for which it stands and
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has always taken an active part in its affairs. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, of Hillsboro where he holds the office of steward and has been a teacher in the Sunday school. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to Joachim Lodge, No. 164, of which he is junior warden, and to Missouri Consistory, No. 1, of St. Louis, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. Professionally he is a member of the District, Missouri State and Jefferson County Bar Associations. He is keenly interested in all sports and finds recreation in fishing when leisure permits him to put aside his professional cares.
THOMAS WATSON WATSON.
Thomas Watson Watson, an extensive dealer in farms and farm lands in the vicin- ity of St. Charles, Missouri, was born March 7, 1889, on his father's farm at Howell, St. Charles county, Missouri, a town which was called Mechanicsville in that time. His father was Samuel McCluer Watson who now resides at Howell. The following account of the history of the family is taken from a former history of Missouri:
"Thomas Watson and his wife, Margaret Elizabeth Donnell, of Ireland had three sons: Thomas, Robert and William. Mrs. Watson having died, her husband came to America and settled in New Bern, North Carolina. Robert and William died young and Thomas married Sarah Graves Hannis, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Sanders) Hannis. John Hannis was a Revolutionary soldier and settled in St. Louis in 1837. There he became the associate editor of the Missouri Argus and subsequently purchased the paper. In 1842 President Van Buren appointed him postmaster at St. Louis, a position he held for four years. He was subsequently appointed land agent for the state of Missouri by President Polk. Mrs. Watson died in 1865 in her seventy-third year and Mr. Watson passed away in 1870 at the age of eighty-three. They were the parents of nine children, five of whom survived them: Henry, Emily, Julia, Sarah and Thomas. Henry was twice married, first to Miss Hay of Tennessee and second to Miss Maria Bergen. He resides in St. Louis; Julia lives in Mississippi; Sarah married John Jordan of Pensacola, Florida; Thomas has been a Presbyterian minister for thirty-two years and is one of the leading divines of that denomination in this state. He is pastor of the Dardenne church in St. Charles county which was organized in 1819 and was the first Presbyterian church west of St. Louis. Mr. Watson married Nancy McCluer; Emily married Mr. Houseman and spent most of her life in this state. In later life she moved to California where she died in 1809. Nancy McCluer was the youngest daughter of Robert McCluer who came in 1829 to St. Charles from Rockbridge, Virginia, and Sarah Campbell, the daughter of Dr. Samuel LeGrande Campbell of Virginia who was the husband of Sarah Alexander of Virginia. Mr. Wat- son is eligible to the S. A. R. through Charles Campbell, the father of Dr. Samuel L. Campbell who was in command of a company at the siege of York. Archibald Alex- ander and William Alexander the son of Archibald, both of whom were in the Revo- lutionary war. Archibald was sheriff and William was his deputy."
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