USA > Missouri > Linn County > Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri > Part 44
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been suggested, a successful practitioner of his simple art of healing, and was widely and favorably known in many parts of the state.
The father was married twice. His first wife died in England, leaving two children for him to rear and care for. Of his second mar- riage, which was with the mother of the doctor, six children were born, four sons and two daughters, all of whom are now deceased but his brother Theophilus J., who lives in Dearborn, Michigan. Their mother died in 1874, having lived to see her children rise to standing and consequence among men.
Dr. Thomas P. Oven grew to manhood and obtained his academic education in Detroit, Michigan, and institutions not far from that city. For a number of years he attended a seminary near Adrian, from which he was graduated in 1872. It was a Quaker school, and while attending it he necessarily imbibed many of the tenets and practices of the sect which conducted it. These were of great value to him in his subsequent career because of their humanitarian essence and the inter- est they create and foster in all mankind, and the genuine desire they beget for the promotion of the welfare of the whole human race.
In the winter of 1873 the doctor taught school and in the spring of 1874 he began the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. E. S. Snow, of Dearborn, Michigan. He read the teachings of his profession studiously for two years with Dr. Snow as tutor, and during that period attended a course of lectures in the medical department of the State University at Ann Arbor. He completed his course at the University the next year and received the degree of M. D. from it in June, 1876. Afterward he attended a course of lectures in special training in the University of New York, and in the spring of 1877 he obtained from that institution also the degree of M. D. Later he broadened, ripened and augmented his professional knowledge by attending special courses of lectures at polyclynic colleges in Chicago and Philadelphia, and by active membership in the American Medical Association, the Missouri State and the Linn County Medical Societies, and the Northeastern Missouri Medical Society.
In March, 1877, Dr. Oven came to Missouri to live, and located at Milan, Sullivan county, where he practiced until February, 1881. At that time he took up his residence in Brookfield, and there made his home, and was actively engaged in a general practice until his death which occurred January 25, 1912. During the past twenty-seven years he was the surgeon of the Burlington Railroad system, and after his residence in the city began was one of its most prominent, successful and esteemed physicians and surgeons.
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On August 30, 1881, the doctor was united in marriage with Miss Clara M. Crumpacker, a daughter of D. H. and Emma E. (Wilson) Crumpacker, of Milan. The marriage has resulted in the birth of two children, one now living, Gerald D. Oven, now aged seventeen, and attending school. The father was a Republican in politics and a zealous worker in the interest of his party, but he was never desirous of a political office and never sought to get one. Fraternally he was con- nected with the Modern Brotherhood of America, holding his member- ship in Lodge 121 in Brookfield; also the Elks of Brookfield.
DR. REZIN T. FOWLER
There is high credit due to the pioneer in any line of activity in a community, and there is also something of heroism in bearing such a relation to its people. For the fact implies something of daring and a spirit of adventure. The field may be unoccupied and free from com- petition, but its possibilities have not been developed, and the person who starts the work takes all the chances of success or failure in his venture. If he have force of character, strong resolution and capacity for the work before him that he can rely on, the problem is in most cases already settled. For circumstances yield to persons so equipped, and their success is assured in advance, whatever the odds against them.
The professional career of Dr. Rezin T. Fowler, the pioneer dentist of Marceline, is a striking case in point. When he started to practice his profession in this place the municipality was but four years old and had scarcely risen from its cradle. What its stature and its strength were to be, was as yet wholly undetermined, although it was a lusty infant and full of promise. The country around was sparsely settled, and the tide of immigration was neither large nor constant. But Dr. Fowler had perseverance, and determined to await its development, believing that it was destined to a prosperous and progressive existence. His faith has been fully justified, and he is to be commended for main- taining it at all times.
Dr. Fowler is a native of Brown county, Ohio, where his life began on April 18, 1849. He is a son of Rezin and Eleanor (McElfresh) Fowler, the former born in Ohio and the latter in Pennsylvania. The father was a farmer in his native state until 1851, when he moved to Iowa. In 1855 he brought what family he then had to Missouri and located in Knox county. The trip was made by water as far as possible,
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the family journeying down the Mississippi to the landing place most convenient to its destination, and then traveling overland by teams to the new location chosen for its home.
The father became prominent and influential in the county soon after his arrival. When the Civil War began he recruited the first company for the defense of the Union in Knox county. This company afterward became a part of the Home Guards of the state. Mr. Fowler served in it nine months. He and his wife were the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters. Two of the sons and one of the daughters are living. Their mother died in 1890 after many years of usefulness to her family and of faithful performance of duty in every way.
The doctor grew to manhood in Knox county and was educated in the public schools. He followed farming until he reached the age of thirty-six. He then began the study of dentistry, and in the winters of 1889-90 and 1890-91 attended the Kansas City Dental College, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1891. He began practicing at Keytesville, and remained there about one year. In 1892 he moved to Marceline, where he has ever since resided and been in active practice. He knows his profession is a very progressive one, and he has made the efforts in reading and study necessary to keep pace with its progress. He has long been a member of the State Dental Association, and is up to date in every department of his work, although he is the oldest dentist in Marceline and one of the oldest in Linn county, both in years and in length of continuous practice.
Dr. Fowler was first married in 1883 to Miss Cora M. Speer, and by this marriage became the father of two children, one of whom grew to maturity but is now deceased. His first wife died in 1888, and in June, 1891, he married a second, uniting himself with Miss Lutie Wright, of Kansas City, Missouri, on this occasion. She still abides with him and presides over their pleasant and genuinely hospitable home, which is a popular resort and held in warm admiration by the numerous friends of the family.
The doctor has taken a good citizen's part in the public affairs of his city, township and county, but he has never sought or desired a political office of any kind. He votes and acts with the Republican party in national affairs because he believes in its principles, and in local matters his first and only consideration is the general welfare of the community without regard to party politics. His religious connec- tion is with the Methodist Episcopal church, and he takes an active part in its work, and in promoting and extending its usefulness.
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Dr. Fowler is quiet and unostentatious but sterling and serviceable in his citizenship. He stands high in his profession in the regard of both his professional brethren and the general public. Socially he is genial and companionable with all men worthy of his association, and in his business he is not only knowing and skillful as a practitioner, but strictly upright and straightforward in all his dealings. He is alto- gether a genuine and worthy representative of the best citizenship of the county, and is everywhere so regarded and esteemed accordingly.
THOMAS M. LUDDEN
Trained in the knowledge of men and of himself by several years experience in teaching school, and with residences in various places, which gave him a good knowledge of the country, Thomas M. Ludden, one of the leading real estate, insurance and loan agents in Linn county, whose home and base of operations is at Marceline, brought to his present business a good foundation in actual preparation for it in a general way, and an ambition to succeed in it that would not stop to consider difficulties or obstacles of any kind that might lie in the way of his progress. His success has been commensurate with the native and acquired ability he has shown, and in accordance with the self- reliance and resourcefulness that have been a large part of his working capital.
Mr. Ludden is a native of Clinton county, Ohio, where his life began on July 21, 1866. His parents, Bernard and Anna (Kilday) Ludden, came to this country from Ireland, where the father was born in 1826. Before braving the wintry bosom of the Atlantic for the land of un- exampled bounty in resources and opportunities, he passed a period in England, where he was employed in a cotton mill. But in 1848, when he was twenty-two years old, he emigrated to this country and took up his residence in Clinton county, Ohio, where he was engaged in farming for a period of twenty years.
In 1868 he moved his family from Ohio to Missouri, finding a new home on a wild tract of land in Adair county. This land he has made over into a well improved and highly productive farm, which he still lives on and cultivates. The farm furnishes a fine illustration of the fruitfulness of nature improved and rendered serviceable by art. The persuasive hand of the husbandman has tamed its wildness, reduced it to systematic productiveness, and greatly increased its fertility. It has also been built into a comfortable and attractive rural home, and be-
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come an asset of considerable value as a marketable piece of mer- chandise. On this farm the mother of the family died in 1910, leaving nine of the ten children born to her, six sons and four daughters, to mourn their great bereavement.
Thomas M. Ludden was but two years old when his parents moved from Ohio to this state. He grew to manhood in Adair county, attended the public schools, and prepared himself for the profession of teaching at the Kirksville Normal School. He was then employed in teaching in Adair county until 1894, when he moved to Marceline with other lines of work in view. After his arrival here, however, he continued teaching three years, part of the time in Linn county and part in Chariton. In 1897 he opened a real estate, insurance and loan office, and this he is still in charge of, with a steadily increasing business and a strengthen- ing hold on the confidence, regard and good will of the people. He has made a study of his business and all that pertains to it, and has become an acknowledged authority on all matters connected with or growing out of it, and it has grown in proportion to the mastery of it which he has exhibited.
Mr. Ludden was married on Thanksgiving Day, 1895, to Miss Anna Hardey, a native of McDonough county, Illinois. They have nine children: Gervaise J., Amonica, J. B., Thomas M., Jr., Willmia, Wini- fred, Earnest, Mary E. and May E. (twins); all living and all still members of the parental family circle, and all who are old enough attending school, as no one has a better knowledge or a keener appreci- ation of the value of education as a preparation for the duties of mature life than their parents.
In the political affairs of his township and county Mr. Ludden has taken an earnest interest and a leading part. His political faith is pledged and his zeal is devoted to the principles of the Democratic party, and for these he works at all times, although not allowing partisan considerations at any time to overbear his sense of duty toward his community. He served seven years as city clerk of Marceline and for a number of years has been a member of the school board and its president. In church connection he is a Catholic, and in fraternal rela- tions a Knight of Pythias, a Woodman of the World, a Knight of Columbus and a member of the order of Knights and Ladies of Security. In business circles he stands high; as a citizen he is wide-awake, enter- prising and progressive; socially he is warmly welcomed everywhere and an acquisition to any gathering; in the cause of public education he is an influential force, as he is in behalf of all good agencies at work among the people, and as a man he enjoys the esteem of all who know
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him in all parts of Linn county and wherever else he has lived and the public has acquired knowledge of his worth.
HON. ARTHUR L. PRATT
Holding the record for length of service in the office of probate judge in Linn county, and by that fact proving that his services in the office are well appreciated by the people of the county, Hon. Arthur L. Pratt, of Linneus has one very unusual distinction to his credit. But that is not the only fact in his record which is entitled to credit and honorable mention. It is also to be said in his favor that for years he practiced his profession as a lawyer with great success and public approval, that he filled an editorial chair in Linn county for two years acceptably, that he rendered the people of the county service that was highly satisfactory as circuit clerk for a full term, and that he attracted attention in his young manhood as a wide-awake, progressive and skill- ful school teacher.
Mr. Pratt is essentially in all particulars a product of Linn county and a representative of its most elevated and useful citizenship. He was born in the county on March 4, 1865, grew to manhood on one of its valuable and desirable farms, laid the foundation of his education in its district schools, and began the battle of life for himself as an instructor of its youth in its common schools. He completed his education at Avalon College in Livingston county and at Kirksville, Missouri, but the work of these institutions were only the development and further train- ing of faculties already bred and awakened to activity in Linn county, and was therefore nothing more than an application of an extraneous influence on material already well prepared in this county for the bene- ficial effect of any force, outside or inside the county, that might take hold of it.
Mr. Pratt is the son of Henry and Ibline (Connelly) Pratt, and the grandson of Jeremiah Pratt, a prominent citizen of Greene county in eastern Tennessee, where the judge's father was born on March 6, 1825. He, also, was reared on a farm, and in 1841, when he was but sixteen years of age, left his native state and came to Missouri. On his arrival in this state he located in Linn county, where he passed the remainder of his life, dying on his Linn county farm on June 30, 1891.
On December 25, 1852, he was united in marriage with Miss Ibline Connelly, a native of Kentucky and a daughter of Rice and Ibline (Baskett) Connelly. Seven children were born of the union: Dr. James
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A., who died on December 17, 1908; Mary A., who is the widow of Daniel H. Manard, of Kansas City, Missouri; William H., who is also a resident of that city; John F., whose home is in Paul's Valley, Chicka- saw county, Oklahoma; Susan E., now the wife of W. P. Thorne, of Linneus, this county ; Oscar H., a resident of Meadville, Linn county ; and Arthur L., the interesting subject of this brief memoir. The mother of these children died in Linn county, Missouri, on September 7, 1894.
When he was sixteen years of age Judge Arthur L. Pratt entered Avalon College, in Livingston county, this state, as has been noted, and he passed two years in that institution. He then pursued a special course of preparation for the work of teaching school at Kirksville Normal School, and after completing it devoted several years to teach- ing in the district schools of the county of his nativity. In the fall of 1890 he was elected circuit clerk of the county, and during the one term he served in this office he studied law with a view to making the practice of that profession his occupation for the rest of his days.
The judge was admitted to the bar in 1896 and began his practice in Brookfield. But carefully as he had laid his plans, and zealous as he was in his efforts to work them out, fate had destined him for other duties. His services were required, for a short time at least, in another field of labor, and an opening for the use of them in it, was not long in coming. In 1898 he purchased the Brookfield Budget, and during the next two years he edited and published that paper in a way that brought him distinction in the county and gave him a potential voice in its public affairs.
But the work seemed to him to be interfering with his permanent designs, and in 1900 he sold the Budget to E. E. Gill and returned to his law practice. He had made his mark, however, and the people of the county were not oblivious of it. In 1902 he was elected probate judge of Linn county, and he has been kept in that office ever since, holding it for a longer period to the present time (1912) than any of his pre- decessors ever occupied it. As to the manner in which he has dis- charged his duties in this important position, the ability and integrity he has displayed in the performance of them, and the satisfaction he has given the people of the county during his tenure of it, comment is unnecessary. The electors have passed judgment on the subject by their repeated re-election of him to the office in a manner that, in force. and significance, goes far beyond anything the pen of a biographer could record.
Judge Pratt was married on November 24, 1887, to Miss Mary L. Davis, a daughter of John H. and Martha (Glasgow) Davis, the former
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a native of Kentucky and the latter of Pike county, Illinois. Two chil- dren have sanctified the domestic shrine and brightened the household: Fabian L., a recent graduate from the medical department of Vander- bilt University at Nashville, Tennessee, and now a resident of New York city, and Don Forrester, who is a resident of this county with his home in Linneus.
ALBANES W. BAKER
The progress and development of Linn county, and the counties that adjoin it on all sides, have brought into real estate operations in this part of Missouri many dealers of as many different measures of caliber and qualification for the business. Nature's inflexible rule, the survival of the fittest, has prevailed with reference to them, as it does with reference to everything else in the long run. The men who have shown aptitude for the business, whatever their previous calling, have succeeded in it and are still among its victorious operators.
Among those who have been successful in the business Albanes W. Baker, the junior member of the firm of Beauchamp & Baker, occupies a high rank and is firmly fixed in the confidence and regard of the people. He and his partner, Robert J. Beauchamp, a sketch of whom will be found in this work, have shown themselves to be ready and resourceful in taking advantage of every opportunity that has been presented to them, and also wise and farseeing in providing for the wants of pros- pective patrons. They study values and possibilities of improvement, keep themselves informed of the trend of the trade, and use all the means at their command to be ready for every requirement it may lay upon them.
Mr. Baker is a native of Warrick county, Indiana, and was born on a farm on October 25, 1869. His parents, William R. and Rhody J. (Hedges) Baker, were also natives of that county. They were reared and married there, and there the mother passed the whole of her life, dying amid the scenes and associations of her childhood and later life on February 7, 1882. Two years afterward the father, who was a farmer and dealer in farm implements, accompanied by his son Albanes, came to Missouri and took up his residence in Salisbury, Chariton county. He is now living retired from active business in Brookfield, where he enjoys the respect and good will of the people in a marked degree entirely in accordance with his worth.
He and his wife were the parents of three children, all of whom are living: Albanes W., the immediate subject of this review; Ivan,
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who is a resident of Kansas City, Kansas; and Arvilla, the wife of C. L. Henderson, of Kansas City, Missouri. The paternal grandfather of these children, Wilburn Baker, was also born and reared in Warrick county, Indiana. He passed the whole of his life in that county, and died there at a good old age and highly respected on account of his genuine worth and long life of usefulness. He was the father of four sons and one daughter, all of whom are still residents of Indiana except William R., the father of Albanes.
The family originally lived in South Carolina and descended from a Revolutionary soldier in the army of General Washington and under his immediate command, who came to this country in colonial times. His son William settled in South Carolina after the war, in which his father fought for the freedom and independence of the American colonies, although himself probably a native of England. But he imbibed the prevailing sentiment of the New World, which was deadly opposition to foreign domination, and with the virile independence and force of a real man, he put his faith in practice with fruitful results.
Albanes W. Baker was reared to the age of fifteen in his native county and began his education in its public schools. He came to Chari- ton county, Missouri, with his father in 1884, and then completed his education at the normal school at Chillicothe and the North Missouri Institute of Salisbury, Mo. He followed farming under the direction and in the service of his father until he became of age, and then taught school for sixteen years in Chariton and adjoining counties, also two years in Brookfield. While engaged in this inspiring but nerve-racking occupation he filled a number of important positions, being principal of the schools in Avalon, Hale and Rothville, and making an excellent record in each, and now holds a life certificate to teach in Missouri.
In 1903 he came to Brookfield and took charge of the Hickman School, which he conducted until 1905, then resigned to enter into part- nership with Mr. Beauchamp in the firm of which both are still mem- bers. The six years of their real estate and farm loan operations they have been steady and continued in their course of success and expansion in business, and they have risen to the first rank in the estimation of the people as judicious and discriminating dealers, with full knowledge of the business and its needs in this part of the state, and familiarity with the best methods of providing for all that it requires in every way.
On October 27, 1897, Mr. Baker was married to Miss Nellie A. Bushnell, a daughter of Harvey and Ruth (Mason) Bushnell, natives of Vermont who came to Missouri in 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have one child living, their son Francis E. The father served as county school
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commissioner in 1905, and has also been president of the city council. He is a Democrat in politics and zealous in the service of his party. Fraternally he is a Freemason of the Knights Templar degree and a member of the Order of Odd Fellows. He and his wife are devoted members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church and active in all its undertakings for the good of the community. They are widely known throughout the county and are everywhere regarded as most estimable and worthy citizens.
CHARLES L. SPALDING
Nearly half a century has passed since Charles L. Spalding, of Brookfield first became a resident of Missouri, forty-five years since he located in Linn county, and twenty-one since he set up his domestic altar in the city of Brookfield. The period has been sufficient in length to give even an indifferent lounger along the pleasanter by-paths of life's highway an intimate knowledge of the people of the county and state, and awaken in him some degree of interest in their welfare. But Mr. Spalding has been no lounger or indifferent observer. He has been an active force of productive energy in the industrial and mercantile life of the state, and therefore necessarily a diligent student of the aspirations, needs and habits of its people, and the basic motives which impel them to exertion. To all their efforts for advancement he has given his earnest practical support, and in all their desires and longings he has had his full share.
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