USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume V > Part 72
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THOMAS JEFFERSON WEEKS.
A man prominent in the farming, business, and financial circles of Montgomery is Thomas Jefferson Weeks, who in April, 1920, was elected to the mayoralty of that place for a term of two years. He is a native of Missouri, born at Williamsburg, Callaway county, June 7, 1891. His father, Samuel Thomas Weeks, was born in Bed- ford county, Virginia, and when sixteen years of age removed with his parents to Missouri. He was elected by the democratic party as state senator in 1896-98 and also served as county judge for two terms. The grandfather of Thomas Jefferson Weeks was Thomas Ellison Weeks, a native of Bedford county, Virginia, who came to Missouri in 1851. The Weeks family is of English descent. Missouri Virginia See, the mother of the subject of this review, was a daughter of Noah See. Her birth occurred in Montgomery county, but her father was born in Randolph county, West Virginia. Noah See was a cabinet-maker, farmer and surveyor. As the result of his own diligence and labor he became one of the wealthiest men in Montgomery county and was one of the largest landholders in the state. The father of Noah See was Michael See, a native of Virginia who engaged in farming throughout his life. The well known and famous astronomer, Thomas J. J. See, is an uncle of Thomas Jefferson Weeks. Dr. See's investigations and discoveries among the stars have been among the great events of the age. He has established two new sciences, namely: cosmogony, dealing with the creation of the heavens; and geogony, the creation of the earth. The first member of the See family in America was Adam See, a Baptist who fled from Prussian Silesia in 1734 and settled in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. In 1745 he removed to Virginia, settling in Hardy county where he died in 1790. Members of the See family fought, in the Revolutionary war and one of them, John by name, was pensioned for wounds received at Brandywine. Thomas Jefferson Weeks is a direct descendant of Adam See, the progenitor of the See family, Adam See being his great-great-grandfather.
In the acquirement of his education Thomas Jefferson Weeks attended the common schools until he reached the age of fifteen years, at which time he put aside his text- books and started in to work on his father's farm. On the 16th of August, 1916, he removed to Montgomery. and went into the automobile business as junior partner of Uptegrove & Weeks. In 1917 he bought out Uptegrove and in 1918 sold a third interest to Harry D. Gager. At this time Mr. Weeks entered the army, enlisting in the in- fantry and was stationed at the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College, near Starkville. Here he was instructor, truck driver, and clerk of Company I, with the
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rank of sergeant. He served in these various capacities until the armistice was signed and received his discharge December 9, 1918. Mr. Weeks then returned to Montgomery where he resumed his automobile business and bought his present location the day after he returned from service. When Mr. Weeks started into the automobile business he had nothing to back him but a grim determination to win, combined with ability and fearlessness of work. He has an investment of fifty thousand dollars and his busi- ness exceeds any in the section in the number of new cars and excellent equipment. His business is not strictly confined to the sale of pleasure cars, but he has built up a fine tractor and truck business. In the financial circles of Montgomery Mr. Weeks has also taken an active part and he is now a stockholder in the Farmers & Merchants Bank. He is also chief of the Montgomery Fire Department. That Mr. Weeks is a popular man in his community is well illustrated by the fact that in April, 1920, he was elected to the office of mayor for a term of two years.
On the 28th of April, 1917, Mr. Weeks was united in marriage to Miss Mary Helen See, a daughter of Millard Fillmore See and a granddaughter of Noah See of whom mention is made above. One boy has been born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Weeks, John Millard, whose birth occurred October 14, 1919.
Since age conferred upon Mr. Weeks the right of franchise he has been a stanch supporter of the democratic party and of the principles for which it stands. The religious faith of the family is that of the Methodist church. Fraternally Mr. Weeks is a Mason, belonging to Montgomery Lodge, No. 246, A. F. & A. M. He is also a thirty-second degree Mason, the degrees having been conferred by Missouri Consistory, No. 1, of St. Louis. In addition to his official duties and those connected with his automobile business Mr. Weeks operates a farm two and one-half miles from Mont- gomery. He finds recreation in hunting and fishing, and is a faithful follower of all outdoor sports. Mr. Weeks is likewise an enthusiast in automobile racing. In every- thing Mr. Weeks undertakes he is actuated by a most progressive spirit and in his vocabulary there is no such word as fail. His determination overcomes all difficulties and obstacles in his path and his self-reliance and energy have been the basis of his success.
ARTHUR J. WIDMER.
Arthur J. Widmer, industrial engineer of St. Louis and recognized as a man of marked ability in his profession, was born in Newark, New Jersey, April 1, 1883. His father, Gustavus H. Widmer, is still a resident of Newark where he is engaged in business as an interior decorator. He was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the family having settled there on their arrival from Switzerland, their native land. The mother of Arthur J. Widmer bore the maiden name of Minna A. Leurich and is a daughter of Henry L. Leurich who emigrated from Switzerland and took up his abode in New Jersey. The early education of Arthur J. Widmer was acquired in the pub- lis schools and private schools of Staten Island, New York. He is a product of the Mechanical Engineering Department of Cornell University, class of 1904. After leav- ing college he did general work along the lines of his profession, serving as a steel worker, as a draftsman, mechanical engineer and designer. He became a structural designer for the Solvay Process Company of Detroit and during his connection with that corporation designed many large structures of steel and reinforced concrete. For a year he was chief draftsman for the Northern Motor Car Company and worked out all the designs and details for the construction of their motor cars. From 1907 until 1915 he was with the Trussed Concrete Steel Company of Youngstown, in charge of their St. Louis branch and had entire responsibility for and personal charge of the designing of more than four hundred structures of all types, mostly reinforced con- crete, including large grain elevators, bridges, etc. In May, 1917, in connection with L. L. Leonard and A. F. L. Heinicke he incorporated his present business under the name of Widmer Engineering Company of which he is the president. This company is now designing important work in China and also in many other parts of the world. The superior skill and the expert knowledge of the men at the head is bringing them a business of truly representative character.
In May, 1918, Mr. Widmer became major in the Construction Division of the United States Army with headquarters at Washington, D. C., and served until July,
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ARTHUR J. WIDMER
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1919, as acting chief of Requirements Division of the Construction Corps, having personal charge of the estimates for congressional appropriation for army construction and also had charge of and was responsible for the expenditures.
On the 20th of November, 1906, Mr. Widmer was married to Miss Lavina Roberts, a daughter of George H. Roberts of Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York, and they have become parents of six children: Margaret Helen; Alice Lavina; Janet May; Mary Elizabeth; Ruth Roberts; and Harriet Lindsey.
In politics Mr. Widmer maintains an independent course. His religious faith Is that of the Congregational church and his membership relations extend to the Missourl Athletic Association and to the City Club of St. Louis. He also belongs to the Ameri- can Society of Civil Engineers, the Engineers Club of St. Louis, the Chamber of Commerce, the Cornell Club of St. Louis, and is commander of Webster Groves Memorial Post, No. 172, American Legion. His attention is concentrated and directed in the line of his profession and he has perfected many inventions valuable to the building trade. He is a man of very marked ability with great capactiy for business in his line and his entire career has been characterized by industry and ambition. His exceptional talent, his indefatigable energy and his assiduous attention to business have placed him at a point of professional leadership that is most enviable.
EDWIN JULIUS KROPP.
Edwin Julius Kropp, assistant secretary of the Mississippi Valley Trust Company, is a man in whose business career there are no spectacular phases, but through steady progression, resulting from his thoroughness, close application and energy, he has risen to the office of responsibility in which he Is now serving. He was born in St. Louis, December 10, 1874, and is a son of William Frederick Kropp, a native of Herford, Germany, whose birth occurred May 15, 1845, and who passed away in St. Louis, March 14, 1899. His parents were August and Henrietta (Hasse) Kropp, the former a coal mine owner of Germany, who left his native land In the early '50s and became a resident of Jefferson county, Missouri, where his remaining days were passed.
William Frederick Kropp, on leaving school in Germany, came to the new world, reaching his father's farm in Missouri, December 15, 1853. He then followed agricul- tural pursuits until September 2, 1861, when he enlisted as a member of Company I, . Twenty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for three years' service and on the expira- tion of that period reenlisted as a veteran of Company A of the same regiment, being honorably discharged August 28, 1865. He participated in the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh and Vicksburg, serving under Generals Grant and Sherman and was with the latter on the celebrated march to the sea. In 1866 the Ohio legislature presented him a bronze medal in recognition of his reenlistment as a veteran and of the valor and gallantry which he had displayed during the long years of the war. The pay received during his military experience enabled him to pursue a course of study in Rohner's Commercial College, from which he was graduated with high honors. In 1867 he became bookkeeper for Merkel & Baumgarten, confectioners of St. Louis, and in October, 1868, he engaged in business on his own account as a retail grocer. On the 26th of November, 1869, however, he accepted a position in the wholesale grocery house of Wickham, Pendleton & Company and on the 1st of January, 1882, was admitted to a partnership. Following the death of Mr. Wickham the surviving partners purchased his interest in the estate, changing the firm name to Pendleton & Kropp. Mr. Kropp retired from active business January 1, 1894, having made for himself a most credit- able position in the commercial circles of the city, while his labors resulted in the acquirement of a very substantial competence. He was an earnest worker in the ranks of the republican party and the nature of his interests is further indicated in the fact that he belonged to the Knights of Honor, the Legion of Honor, the Humane Soclety and the Merchants' Exchange and Frank Blair Post, No. 1, G. A. R., being its youngest member at the time of his death. His remains were Interred with military honors by the post in Bellefontaine cemetery. In early manhood he had wedded Annie Emelia Mueller, daughter of Carl Adolph and Fredericka Mueller, pioneers of St. Louis. The wedding was celebrated October 31, 1868.
The only child of this marriage is Edwin J. Kropp of this review, who became a pupil in the Educational Institute at Ninth street and Chouteau avenue. Early in
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his business career he became connected with the Martin Woodward Company and later was associated with his father in the wholesale grocery trade for a short time. He afterward became connected with the Greeley-Burnham Grocery Company and later entered into active association with the Mississippi Valley Trust Company of which he is now the assistant secretary. Step by step he has advanced throughout his business career and each forward step has broadened the scope of his activities and his business vision. He is both a forceful and a resourceful man who carries forward to successful completion whatever he attempts, knowing that when one avenue of opportunity seems closed he can carve out other paths whereby he can reach the desired goal.
In March, 1897, Mr. Kropp was married to Miss Daisy Johnston, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Johnston, of England. They have become parents of four children: Helen, who is a teacher in the Principia school of St. Louis; Eugene, nineteen years of age, a student in Washington University; Robert, thirteen, and Arthur, ten, both now in school. The eldest son served in the United States navy during the World war, being stationed at Newport, Rhode Island, and is now in the Reserve.
Mr. Kropp is a member of Webster Groves Lodge, No. 84, A. F. & A. M. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has filled the office of alder- man. He belongs to the Christian Science church, in which he is a reader. He has a wide acquaintance in the city in which his entire life has been passed and the sterling worth of his character is attested in the fact that many of his stanchest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood to the present.
MAJOR PAUL V. WOOLLEY, M. D.
After two years' service overseas in the World war Major Paul V. Woolley is engaged in the practice of medicine in Kansas City where he is recognized as a man of high scientific attainments, particularly skilled in genito-urinary surgery, in which he specializes. Dr. Woolley was born in White county, Indiana, March 7, 1881, a son of Martin Newell and Mary (Ford) Woolley. The father, a physician by profession, removed to Colony, Kansas, in 1883, and five years later became a resident of Lips- comb, Texas, where he resided until 1892 and then went to Upland, California. He continued there until 1898 when he returned to Lipscomb and was not only active and successful in the general practice of medicine but was also prominent in the upbuilding and improvement of the town. He is a Mason, loyal to the teachings of the craft, and his political support is given to the republican party.
Major Woolley accompanied his parents on their various removals, largely ac- quiring his education in the schools of Lipscomb, Texas, and of Upland, California, and when seventeen years of age he accepted employment in hospitals, for he was interested in medicine and felt that he would gain knowledge of the art by such work. For a time he remained in St. Joseph's Hospital of Kansas City and later attended the Kansas City Medical College and also the University Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1905. In the same year he began the practice of medicine and now specializes in general surgery and in urological cases.
Dr. Woolley was one of the first Kansas City physicians to enlist in the army. In March, 1917, he became a lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps and was sent to France the same year, serving at Base Hospital No. 5 near Etap, with the British Expeditionary Forces. He was promoted to the rank of captain in September, 1917, and assigned to the American Expeditionary Forces with the Fifteenth Engineers. He was promoted to regimental surgeon at Geivres (A. P. O .- 713), the point at which the Fifteenth Engineers were stationed. There he established Camp Hospital No. 44. He was also appointed post surgeon at Geivres, the biggest intermediate depot of the American Expeditionary Forces. When the regiment was sent to Liffal le Grand, a regulating station, in April, 1918, Dr. Woolley, as regimental surgeon, was on duty there until August, 1918, when he was transferred to the Ninetieth Division, as consulting urologist. He served all during the drive in the Argonne Forest, operating on non- transportable cases. He was promoted to the rank of major in December, 1918, and returned to the United States May 20, 1919, after twenty-four months spent in France, receiving his discharge at Fort Sheridan.
With his return home Dr. Woolley resumed his practice as surgeon in Kansas
MAJOR PAUL V. WOOLLEY, M. D.
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City and in this branch of the profession is capable and well trained. He has had wide experience and is highly skilled in genito-urinary work. He has written some excellent articles along the latter line for the profession. He is now the secretary of the Jackson County Medical Society, a position requiring much industry and diplomacy. His high attainment in the line of his specialty has brought him wide recognition through the middle west. He is now serving as urological surgeon for the City, St. Luke's, St. Mary's and the Swedish Hospitals. He has membership in both the Missouri State and American Medical Associations.
Dr. Woolley was married to Miss Meroe Moies and they have two sons: Paul V. and Herbert M. Dr. Woolley is well known in club circles in Kansas City. He be- longs to the Meadow Lake Country Club, of which he is a charter member, and he also has a membership in the City, Knife & Fork and Automobile Clubs. He Is a Mason, belonging to Southgate Lodge, No. 147, A. F. & A. M., and to Orient Chapter, R. A. M. He was one of the organizers of the Fitzsimmons Post of the American Legion, and is very prominent and active in the work of the organization. Hls political endorsement is given to the republican party. All of the interests of his life are made subservient to his professional duties which are discharged in a most capable and conscientious manner, bringing him the high merited renown which he enjoys. While a close student of the literature of his profession he is also a wide reader of general literature and keeps in touch with the trend of modern thought.
ARTHUR JUDSON GAINES.
Arthur Judson Gaines, whose name has for a number of years figured most proml- nently in musical circles in St. Louis and the middle west, was born July 12, 1886, in Springfield, Ohio, and is descended from Welsh ancestry, four brothers of the name having come from the little rock-ribbed country of Wales to the United States about 1740. The paternal ancestor of Arthur J. Gaines removed from Virginia where the four brothers had settled, to Ohio in 1800, and it was near Springfield in the latter state, that Edmund P. Gaines, father of A. J. Gaines, was born and reared. He became an expert machinist and has devoted his life to that business. He is still living in Springfield, but his wife passed away in 1898. She bore the maiden name of Mary Louisa Shoup and was born near Springfield, her father being George Shoup.
Arthur J. Gaines pursued his education in the public schools of Springfield and passed through consecutive grades until he left the high school at the age of fourteen years in order to earn his living. For two years thereafter he filled such positions as the ordinary boy finds and at all times was actuated by a laudable ambition to advance. When a youth of sixteen he entered the printing office of the Crowell Pub- lishing Company, publishers of the Woman's Home Companion and also of the Farm and Fireside. He remained with that house for three years, during which time, as the result of his frugality and industry, he was enabled to arrange for a nine months' course at Nelson Brothers Business College at Springfield, his earnings being sufficient to meet his tuition. He had always been ambitious to become a high-class accountant and directed his studies along that line. For a few months he did clerical work for the Foos Manufacturing Company and was afterward made assistant cashier of the Springfield Gas Company at Springfield, Ohio, occupying that position for three years. In January, 1907, he came to St. Louis and entered into connection with the accounting firm of Price, Waterhouse & Company, with whom he continued until September, 1912. During this period he passed the examination for a license as a certified public accountant, being one of only thirty per cent of the number of applicants who suc- ceeded in passing the examination. It was a day of triumph for him when he received his certificate for he started out in life with a limited education and was forced to do much hard work in order to win advancement, utilizing in study snd labor the hours which most people regard as lelsure and which they devote to amusements.
Even yet Mr. Gaines had not entered upon his real life work. Both of his parents were musical and he inherited a love and talent for music that might have carried him far along that line if he could have devoted his entire life to the art. When he was a lad of ten he joined the boy choir of the Episcopal church in Springfield, Ohlo, and was a member thereof for a decade. In September, 1912, he became manager of
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the Symphony Orchestra of St. Louis and secretary of the St. Louis Symphony Society, which positions he has since held to the satisfaction of the entire membership of the organizations.
On the 14th of September, 1910, Mr. Gaines was married to Miss Olive Sarah Charters, who was born in Warrensburg, Missouri, a daughter of Herbert and Emma (Camp) Charters, the former a native of Canada, while the latter was born in the state of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Gaines have become parents of two sons: Arthur Charters, born October 2, 1911; and William Bennett, born September 15, 1913. Both are now in school.
During the World war Mr. Gaines did everything in his power to advance the interests of the country and was a corporal of Company L of the First Regiment, Missouri Home Guard. In politics he maintains an independent course and religiously he is connected with the Episcopal church. He is a Mason, belonging to University Lodge, No. 649, of University City. He has membership in the Advertising Club of St. Louis, of which he is now treasurer, and in the Civic Music Association and he has ever found his recreation in music and in outdoor sports. Whatever he has accomplished has been the direct outcome of his ability, determination and energy. He is a man of forceful character and has made for himself a creditable place in business and musical circles.
WILLIAM ELLIOT COFFER.
William Elliot Coffer, a prominent young attorney of Farmington, Missouri, where he is engaged in the practice of his profession, was born January 28, 1886, in Ste. Genevieve county, Missouri, on his father's farm near Avon. He is the son of William Elijah Coffer, a Baptist minister, who resides on his farm in Ste. Genevieve county and who has often been sought to hold public offices but has refused, preferring to give his attention to the ministry. His father was Joshua Peter Coffer, a native of Jackson county, Illinois, who died with measles in 1864 in Nashville, Tennessee, while serving in the Union army. He was engaged in farming previous to his service in the army and came to Missouri about 1846. He was an advance scout in the army. His father immigrated from the city of Strassburg, when he was a young man and settled in Ste. Genevieve county, later removing to Illinois. He was married to Miss Wilkinson, a niece of Governor Wilkinson of a distinguished and prominent family in the early history of Missouri. His death occurred in New Orleans. The first Wilkinsons were from Cork, Ireland, and settled in North Carolina and later came west, settling in Missouri and Western Illinois. The mother of William Elliot Coffer was Sarah Elizabeth (Townsend) Coffer who was born in Ste. Genevieve county, Mis- souri, the daughter of William Townsend who was a prominent farmer of that county. Her mother was Meeka Woolford, a native of England who came to this country when a child. The Townsend family were Scotch-English and came to the United States in the early colonial days. The paternal grandmother of William E. Coffer was Sarah Elizabeth Boyd, a member of one of the substantial farmer families of Ste. Genevieve county. They were of English descent and came in the early colonial days to Virginia.
William E. Coffer attended the common schools of Ste. Genevieve county until he was seventeen years of age, when he became a student at Carleton College in Farm- ington, where he was graduated in 1911 with the degree of A. B. He then studied law in Valparaiso University for three months until illness prevented his continuing there. He completed by himself his legal education while teaching school, working in the mines and on the railroad. He passed his examination in 1913 before the supreme court of Missouri and was admitted to the bar and has been engaged In the practice of his profession since that time. He located in Flat River but came to Farm- ington in 1918 where he has since been engaged as prosecuting attorney of St. Francois county. He has been twice elected to that office and is now serving his second term.
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