USA > Missouri > Linn County > Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri > Part 43
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FRANK M. WOLFE
A native of Knox county, Illinois, a resident for some years of Chariton county in this state, and having his home in Linn county con- tinuously since 1882, Frank M. Wolfe, now (1912) postmaster of Marce- line, has had experience of a varied kind in several residences, and has attended schools under a considerable variety of circumstances, and secured his education under somewhat difficult and trying conditions. But he has been game from his boyhood, and always faced his difficul- ties with a manly and resourceful spirit and a determination to make the best of whatever has befallen him. This spirit has been his main reliance and has won him success.
Mr. Wolfe's life began on June 14, 1868, in the great prairie state, and when he was but six years old the family moved to Missouri and located in Chariton county. Eight years later, that is in 1882, they all changed their residence to Linn county, and this has been the family home ever since the year last named. Mr. Wolfe is a son of Warren and Sarah E. (Buck) Wolfe, the former born in Iowa and the latter in Illinois. The father is a retired farmer, having given up active work in the management of his farm in 1910, after carrying on its operations twenty-eight years.
In 1863, during the progress of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Twenty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry in defense of the Union, and in that regiment he served to the end of the great conflict which so nearly dismembered our country and was so costly in blood and treas- ure. He was with General Sherman on his historic march to the sea, and also took part in a number of battles, but while frequently in the very deluge of death in some of the great engagements of the war, he escaped unharmed except by the hardships and privations of the serv-
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ice, which were considerable to him, as he was in the midst of the most active and telling requirements most of the time.
Mr. Wolfe, the elder, and his wife were the parents of seven sons , and four daughters, all of whom are living. Frank M. was the second in the order of birth. He obtained his education in country schools, and for some years after the dawn of his manhood followed farming. He then turned his attention to merchandising, in which he was engaged for seven years in Marceline. He was appointed postmaster of Marce- line on August 5, 1909, and has held the office continuously since that time, rendering the people very acceptable service and making an excel- lent record in the office.
Mr. Wolfe has been a life-long Republican in his political faith and allegiance, and has long rendered his party good service, both by his wisdom in counsel and his energy and effectiveness in action. Frater- nally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in religious affiliation he is connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He takes a very active and serviceable interest in the affairs of his lodge and his church, and his membership in both is highly appre- ciated by the other members, who find him very effective as a worker for the good of the two organizations and enterprising in promoting their welfare.
On December 2d, 1892, Mr. Wolfe was united in marriage with Miss Mabel E. Burch, of Linn county. They have three children, Ruby, The- resa B. and Fern M., all of whom are still members of the parental family circle. All the members of the family are highly esteemed throughout their township and in other parts of the county for their usefulness and worth as members of their community and as citizens generally, and they are fully deserving of the high regard in which they are held.
DR. JOHN L. BURKE
For the greater part of thirty-five years a physician and surgeon in active practice in times of peace, and during the Civil War a Union soldier, Dr. John L. Burke, of Laclede, has shown his interest in the welfare of his fellow-men and his devotion to his country in practical service to both. He comes of a military family, too, being of the third generation of his male line that has taken up arms in defense of Ameri- can liberty and the preservation of the Union and its institutions.
He was born at Morgantown, Butler county, Kentucky, on January 11, 1847, and is a son of Dr. Bartlett J. and Amanda H. (James) Burke,
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also natives of Kentucky. The father completed his professional edu- cation in the medical department of Louisville University and prac- ticed in his native state until 1856. In that year he moved to Tazewell county, Illinois, where he practiced nine years. At the end of that time he came to Missouri and located in Livingston county, moving later to Lathrop in Clinton county, going there in 1868, and being the first physician there.
The father served during the Civil War in the Seventieth and the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, enlisting in 1863, and remaining on duty to the close of the memorable and san- guinary conflict. At one time he was elected captain of Company A, the One Hundred and Eighth Illinois regiment, but he never served in that capacity, being retained all the time as hospital steward. During his residence at Lathrop he was a justice of the peace for a number of years. In fraternal life he belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic and the Masonic order.
His father, James Burke, was also a native of Kentucky. He was a son of John Burke, who came to this country from Ireland in 1760 and helped to win independence for the United States as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. On his arrival in this country he located in North Carolina, and during the Revolution served in a North Carolina regi- ment. He died near Richmond, Indiana, and was for some years before his death on the Revolutionary pension roll of the country.
Dr. John L. Burke's mother died in 1883 and his father in 1905. They were the parents of eleven children, six of whom, five sons and one daughter, grew to maturity. One of the sons was killed in the Civil War, and four of the eleven children are yet living. The doctor, who is the immediate subject of this brief review, was reared in Kentucky and Illinois and attended the district schools in both states. When the Civil War began he enlisted in the Union army twice, but was rejected each time on account of his youth. He was accepted in 1864 as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served in that company one hundred days, the full term of his enlist- ment. In 1865 he enlisted again in Company D, One Hundred and Fifty-second Illinois regiment, with which he remained until the close of the war. He was in the Missouri campaign during his first service and was assigned to the duty of guarding prisoners in Illinois ; also saw service in middle and west Tennessee during last enlistment.
After receiving an honorable discharge from the army the doctor returned to Illinois, but remained there only a few weeks, then came to Missouri with the rest of the family. Here he taught school for a time
,
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and studied medicine under the instruction of his father. In 1877 he began practicing as an under-graduate, and attended lectures at the Missouri Medical College during the terms of 1878, 1879, 1880 and 1881. On receiving his diploma in the year last named he came at once to Laclede, and has lived here ever since. Prior to going to the medical college he lived five years in Kansas, but nearly the whole of his mature life has been passed in this state and thirty-one years of it at Laclede.
On February 27, 1873, the doctor was married to Miss Mary F. Moss, a native of Livingston county, Missouri. They have had four children, three of whom are living: Dr. Foster W. Burke, of Laclede; Louise H., who is now the wife of Alvin C. Lippitt, of Meadville, Linn county ; and William E., who is a resident of Brookfield. The father is a Republican in political faith and allegiance, but is no longer an active partisan. He belongs to the county, state and Grand river medical societies, is a Freemason and an Odd Fellow in fraternal connections and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He also holds active and appreciated membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. Offi- cially he is a member and the president of the United States Pension Board for Linn county. No citizen of Linn county is more highly esteemed, and none is more truly deserving of the high regard in which he is held by all classes of the people.
Dr. Foster W. Burke, the son of Dr. John L., was born in Clinton county, Missouri, on September 29, 1874. He obtained his education in Linn county, being but seven years old when his parents located at Laclede, and is a graduate of Brookfield College. He began the study of medicine in 1894, entering for the purpose what was then Marion Simms Medical College but is now a part of the St. Louis University. He was graduated from that institution in 1897, and has since then been actively engaged in practice at Laclede, with a steadily increasing patronage and growing popularity as a physician and citizen of fine attainments and high character.
The doctor belongs to the county, state and Grand river medical societies and the American Medical Association. He is also a member of the United States Pension Board for Linn county and the secretary of the board. In politics he is a Republican and active in the service of his party. He has been a member of its county central committee twelve years and for six chairman of it. For two years he has been a member of the state committee. Fraternally he is connected with the Order of Odd Fellows and the Order of Elks, and in religious affiliation with the Methodist Episcopal Church.
On October 20, 1906, the doctor was united in marriage with Miss
.
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Georgia E. Maxey, of Kansas City, Missouri. They have one child, their son Foster W., Jr. Mrs. Burke's father, Stephen Maxey, was a soldier in the Confederate army under General Price. He was a native of Ken- tucky. He died a number of years ago. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Templin, and who is still living, is a native of Ohio.
Dr. Burke, the younger, is one of the most prominent and promising young professional men and civic forces in Linn county. He is thor- oughly informed and very skillful in his professional work, stands high as a citizen, is a sunbeam in social gatherings, and has shown himself to be deeply and intelligently interested in the wholesome progress and enduring welfare of his township, county and state. The people all over the county know him well and favorably, and they all esteem him in accordance with his universally acknowledged worth, ability and enterprise.
E. W. TAYLER
The leading druggist and the oldest merchant in continuous busi- ness in Marceline, E. W. Tayler has earned the high place he holds in the business world of this part of the country, and as he has also been public spirited and progressive in connection with the development and improvement of the city and county of his home, he is well deserving of the cordial esteem which all classes of the people bestow on him with- out stint. He is not a native of Missouri, but has lived in the state from infancy, and was not reared in Linn county, but has dwelt among its people and taken part in their activities for almost a full quarter of a century. He is therefore imbued with their spirit, deeply interested in their welfare and feels a just and commendable pride in their achieve- ments, in which he has borne his part in full measure and with eagerness.
Mr. Tayler was born in Galesburg, Illinois, on March 14, 1869, and before the end of that year was brought by his parents to Missouri and found a new home in Chariton county. He is a son of Edward H. and Emma J. (Wilmot) Tayler, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Illinois. The father was a farmer and located on a tract of wild land in Chariton county on his arrival in this state in 1869. He devoted himself exclusively to the improvement and cultivation of his farm until the spring of 1887, when he opened a general store on the farm for the purpose of supplying the needs of the workmen who were then building the Santa Fe Railroad. During the winter of the same
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year he moved the store to Marceline and restricted himself to the drug trade.
He continued to carry on the business until March, 1901, when he retired and turned it over to his son, who is still conducting it. The father is now living in Oakland, California. His wife died in 1895 after long years of usefulness and upright living, true to her duties as a wife and mother, devoted to the welfare of her children and serviceably interested in the good of every community in which she lived. They had two children, one of whom has died. The father was a very pro- gressive and useful citizen during his residence in this part of the country. He was one of the earliest promoters of the coal mining industry at Marceline, and helped to finance the first mine opened here.
His father, Thomas H. Tayler, grandfather of E. W. Tayler, was born on the Isle of Wight, England, and was brought to the United States by his parents when he was ten years old. The family located in New York state, and in 1848 Thomas H. became a pioneer in the neigh- borhood of Galesburg, Illinois, keeping a tavern twelve miles north of that city, where he died. He married with Miss Lydia Strouse, and they became the parents of four sons, two of whom are living.
E. W. Tayler was reared on his father's farm and obtained his academic education in the public schools. He pursued a course of special training for business at the Avalon (Missouri) Commercial College, then entered his father's store as a clerk and student of phar- macy, of which he acquired a knowledge in the most practical way. He soon secured such a mastery of the science that he became a registered pharmacist after passing a highly creditable examination in the manner made necessary by the law.
Mr. Tayler remained in association with his father until the latter retired, then took charge of the business himself, since which time he has been its sole proprietor. It is enough, in description of him as a merchant, to say that he has kept pace with the progress of the times and is strictly up to date in his business. He studies the needs of the community and the best way of providing for them, both in his general line of drugs and chemicals, and in the other articles of merchandise that are usually allied with that in trade. As a pharmacist he is well qualified in the profession by extensive and accurate knowledge and in practical skill and genuine conscientiousness in the application of that knowledge.
On September 6, 1893, Mr. Tayler was united in marriage with Miss Jessie Null, a daughter of Dr. A. C. Null of Sumner, Chariton county, Missouri. They have two children, their sons Viers W. and Willard L.
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The father is a Democrat in political faith and allegiance and warmly interested in the success and continued supremacy of his party, seeing in its principles and their general application to public affairs the best guarantee of good government in city, county and nation. He has given the community excellent service for a number of years as a member of the school board. Fraternally he belongs to the Order of Odd Fellows and the Masonic order. The people of Linn county esteem him highly as a citizen and as a man, and he has a very considerable and helpful influence among them.
HARRY K. WEST
The whole city of Brookfield and county of Linn, as well as a large part of the surrounding country was thrown into grief and gloom by the untimely death of the late Harry K. West, which occurred on June 16, 1907, when he was at the height of his usefulness and but forty-seven years old. The vacancy in the professional and social life of the com- munity occasioned by his demise was keenly felt at the time and has not been filled. His memory is cherished and revered as that of one of the best citizens and most progressive and useful men in the county, as well as one of its most eminent lawyers and leaders of thought and action in all that ministers to the advancement of the county and the substantial welfare of its people.
Mr. West was born in Putnam county, Illinois, on February 23, 1860, and was brought to Linn county, Missouri, by his parents when he was but ten years old. He grew to manhood in this county and was educated in its schools. An account of the life of his parents, Robert N. and Susan K. (Mills) West, will be found in a sketch of his brother, Henry J. West, on another page of this volume. As soon as the young man completed his scholastic education he began reading law under the direction of Major A. W. Mullins of Linneus, and he made such prog- ress in his preparatory studies that he was admitted to practice in 1881.
He remained at Linneus until 1887, and by that time had built up a considerable practice and gained a high reputation for the extent and accuracy of his legal knowledge and his ability, skill and conscientious- ness as a practitioner. In the year last named he removed to Marceline, where he lived and labored at his professional work until 1899, then changed his residence to Brookfield, where he passed the remainder of his days.
Soon after locating in Brookfield Mr. West formed a partnership for the practice of his profesion with T. M. Bresnehen, a sketch of
.
Harry Kwith
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
whom will be found in this work, and this partnership lasted until Mr. West's death. He made an excellent record as a member of the firm and helped to carry its name to the first rank in the profession in this part of the country, being regarded as one of the most capable and upright lawyers in the county. He was also widely and favorably known in other parts of the state, and everywhere was highly esteemed as a man and an enterprising and progressive citizen, whose example was stimulating and whose influence was potential in connection with all matters involving the good of his city, county and state.
On December 26, 1883, Mr. West was married to Miss Lena E. Crawley of Keytesville. They became the parents of five children, all of whom are living but the first born. The mother and two of her children live in Brookfield, where they are crowned with the esteem and good will of the whole population and looked upon as very useful factors in the activities of the community which aid in promoting the mental, moral and social welfare of the people and raising the standard of the city in the estimation of the rest of the state.
ALBERT ZURCHER
From the mountains of Switzerland, and their air of freedom, independence and self-reliance, to the plains of Missouri, with their wide expanse and atmosphere of equal independence and greater oppor- tunity, is a long step, but one which many a man has taken with advan- tage to himself and benefit to the community in which he has located. The Swiss people are full of manhood, resourcefulness and adaptibility to circumstances, and the great American republic is indebted to no class of its foreign population more than to them, in proportion to their numbers, for the great and gratifying progress it has made. And that it knows how to appreciate them when they have real merit is shown by the universal esteem bestowed upon Albert Zurcher of Marceline, one of their best representatives.
Mr. Zurcher's life began in the city of Biel, in the land of William Tell and Arnold Winkelreid, in 1882. His parents, Gotfried and Anna (Bosiger) Zurcher, were also born in that city, and there they have passed the whole of their lives to the present time (1912). The father is a watchmaker of great skill and reputation, and carries on a flourishing business in the city of his nativity. The mother is also still living. Of their six children three are sons, and two of them are residents of Marceline. Two of the three daughters also reside in the United States.
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The third son and one of the three daughters in the family still have their home in Switzerland, and are variously engaged in the diversified productive industries of that interesting country.
Albert Zurcher was reared to the age of twenty years in his native land and obtained his education there. He began working at watch- making when he was but fifteen years of age, and wrought at the trade in his native city for five years. At the end of that period, in 1902, he came to the United States, and secured employment at his trade at Waltham, Massachusetts, where he remained one year. He then passed three months at South Bend, Indiana, and from there moved to Chicago, where he remained a short time. From Chicago he changed his resi- dence to Elgin, Illinois, and in 1908 came to Marceline, Missouri. Here he bought the business of Percy Welkins, which the latter had con- ducted for twenty years.
Soon afterward Mr. Zurcher was made watch inspector for the Santa Fé Railroad at this point, he being an expert in that line of business, and this trust he still holds, having given great satisfaction to the railroad company and all its employes with whom he has had to deal. He has enlarged his business in many ways in his efforts to keep up with the times and the requirements of the community in which he is operating, and now has the largest stock in the county in his line of commodities and the leading business of his department of trade in Marceline. In addition to his wide and comprehensive stock of watches and fine jewelry he handles musical instruments, and is unusually well informed as to the value and capacity of every character and grade of the music making devices he has for sale.
Mr. Zurcher takes a cordial interest in the fraternal life of the community as a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He also takes an active and serviceable part in everything designed to promote the welfare and advance the interests of Marceline and Linn county. He believes in America and American institutions, and does all he can to increase their power and augment their usefulness. He believes also in Missouri and Linn county, and in no behalf is he more energetic and zealous than in theirs, whatever may be the issue at stake.
Mr. Zurcher also takes an active interest in his business, locally and collectively. His own trade is large, and gives him good opportunities to note the trend and tendency of the business. Besides, he is a gentle- man of more than ordinary capacity in his domain of industry, and is wideawake and alert to its requirements. He realizes that the jewelry and watch trade is a progressive one, and he welcomes every agency that will aid him to keep in its front rank and meet all the demands of
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such a position. For this reason he is an active and energetic member of the American Jewelers' Retail Association and takes a prominent part in its proceedings.
He was married on May 23, 1909, to Miss Margaret Breslich, a native of Elgin, Illinois, and at the time of her marriage a resident of that city. They have one child, their daughter Elise. Her father is regarded as one of the most upright and progressive citizens of Mar- celine, and throughout Linn county he has a high reputation for his skill and capacity as a jeweler, an enterprising and progressive business man and an elevated and patriotic, as well as public spirited and far- seeing citizen.
THOMAS P. OVEN, M. D.
(Deceased)
Brought to this country an infant two years old, Dr. Thomas P. Oven, of Brookfield, knew little of his native land except what he learned by reading and observation. He was therefore thoroughly American, and showed his interest in the country by aiding in its development, progress and improvement, and the substantial and enduring welfare of its people wherever he lived. His residence of thirty years in Brook- field was prolific of good for the city and its people, and they accorded him the full measure of approval and appreciation his merit and services entitled him to, which gave him the highest rank in public esteem and admiration.
Dr. Oven was born on October 17, 1848, in Herefordshire, England, and was a son of John and Margaret (Eckley) Oven. The father was of the same nativity as the son, and the mother was born and reared in Exefordshire, England. They were married in England and lived there until 1850, when they came to the United States, landing in the city of New York. The father was a blacksmith and farrier, and also a licensed practitioner of medicine to the extent of giving first aid to the sick and injured. He used simple remedies in his practice and was very skill- ful and successful in the application of them.
On his arrival in the city of New York the father felt the tug of the West on his heartstrings, and gathering his household goods about him, drove overland to Detroit, Michigan. There he followed his trade of blacksmith and practiced medicine until his health failed, then settled on a farm near Saline, in that state, on which he passed the remainder of his days, dying in 1857. He was a very skillful mechanic, and, as has
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