USA > Missouri > Linn County > Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri > Part 45
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Mr. Spalding is a native of the great state of Ohio, and was born at Ravenna, Portage county, on December 11, 1844. His parents were Ebenezer and Frances L. (Day) Spalding, the former born in Conn. Windham county, and the latter in Ravenna, Ohio. She died in St. Louis, Missouri. They had three sons and two daughters, all living but one.
The father was an attorney and made a good living for his family in his profession, furnishing its members with the comforts required for their physical wants and affording his offspring good educational facilities. He graduated from Yale, class of 1838 and Cambridge law school in 1839. Practiced in northern Ohio and in St. Louis one year prior to his death, which occurred there August 17, 1866, of cholera.
His son Charles began his education in the common schools and completed it at Union High School in his native place, where he lived until October, 1865. At the age of eighteen he secured from the Chicago & Pittsburg Railroad Company large contracts for supplies of timber,
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which he carried out with great profit to himself. When he attained his majority he moved to St. Louis, in this state, where he became warmly interested in the steamer Rosa Lee, and accepted a position as her clerk. The steamer was lost in the great ice gorge which occurred at the St. Louis levee on the Mississippi in the winter of 1865-6.
After this disaster Mr. Spalding was employed for a short time by Alkire & Co., wholesale grocers of St. Louis, and was recommended by them for the post of confidential clerk and bookkeeper to W. H. Elliott, of St. Catharine, in this county. He accompanied Mr. Elliott to St. Catharine, arriving on April 6, 1866, and at once took charge of the store and mill accounts of his new employer. He remained with Mr. Elliott in an intimate and confidential relation until 1875, when he pur- chased the stock and buildings of the business, and from that time until 1890 conducted its affairs on his own account. His trade expanded rapidly through his great enterprise and progressiveness, until, in 1881, it amounted to fifty thousand dollars for the year. After that it con- tinued to increase from year to year with a steady progress, and when he sold it in 1890 was one of the most extensive in northern Missouri in the line of its operations. During all this period Mr. Spalding was also one of the largest buyers and shippers of wool in this part of the state, and one of the best known men in the country in that field of traffic.
In 1890 he sold his interests in St. Catharine and moved to Brook- field, where he had helped to organize the Wheeler Savings Bank and was also heavily interested in real estate. In addition to his interests in Brookfield at that time, and what he has since acquired, he is a stock- holder in the Linn County Bank, of which he is director. He is con- nected also with many enterprises and holdings of value outside of this state, and although now at an age when many men retire from active pursuits, still gives his close personal attention to all his pos- sessions and business affairs.
In his political faith Mr. Spalding is a firm believer in the principles of the Democratic party and always gives it and its candidates hearty and loyal support. But he has never sought or wished for public office for himself. He was married on December 26, 1870, to Miss Adella Crandall, a native of Concord, Erie county, New York. They have had four children, their son Elliott, their daughters Irene and Lena, and their other son Seymour. Elliott is a lawyer in St. Joseph, Missouri, and Lena lives in Billings, Montana. Irene and Seymour have died.
Mr. Spalding belongs to the Masonic order, and holds his member- ship in Brookfield Lodge No. 86 at Brookfield. He has served two terms as the worshipful master of that lodge, and taken an active part in the
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work of the fraternity in many other ways. He is prominent in the social life of the city and county, has a commanding influence in their business circles, is a potential factor in connection with their public affairs, and is universally regarded as one of their best and most representative citizens. Mrs. Spalding is one of the gifted and culti- vated ladies of the country. Her graceful and resourceful pen has delighted thousands of readers of her magazine articles and other pro- ductions in literature, and given her a high rank among the occasional writers of our land.
ALBERT C. CLARKE
(Deceased)
Although nearly fifteen years have passed since the death of this leading and most highly esteemed citizen of Brookfield, his memory is still green in the minds of the people, who cherished him highly while he lived and revere his name since his death for his great enterprise in helping to build up the city and his genuine worth as a man and a citi- zen. His work for the community was substantial and enduring, and is today the best monument to his progressiveness and public spirit, and will be a benefaction to many succeeding generations of the people of the city yet to come.
Mr. Clarke was a native of the state of New York, and was born at Henderson, Jefferson county, in that state, on January 5, 1817. He was reared as a farmer, working under the direction of his father until he reached the age of fourteen. His father then hired him out as a farm hand to one of the neighbors and took and used his wages until he attained his majority. Under the circumstances he had almost no opportunities for attending school, being allowed to go only during the winter months, and even then but for a few years and when he could be spared from the work he was hired to do, and was kept at whenever his employer desired.
On coming of age he began life for himself as a farmer on rented land, but two years later bought forty acres of unimproved and unbroken ground near Sackett's Harbor in his native state. He paid for this land by cutting wood on it, hauling it to the harbor and selling it at $1.25 a cord. He improved it and lived on it until 1844, when he turned his attention to dairying at Houndsfield, New York. The next year he bought 110 acres of partially improved land, the purchase price being $900 in money and his other forty acres, which were valued at
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$600. The debt was discharged in two years, and from that time Mr. Clarke's prosperity was assured and his progress toward independence and wealth was rapid. By making additional purchases of land from time to time he became possessed of 1,000 acres in New York, and ranked among the leading farmers of the state.
He lived on his home farm of 110 acres until 1867, then sold it for $5,600 in cash. Two years later he moved to Missouri and located at Brookfield. He found here a great demand for ready money and, seizing the opportunity for furthering his fortunes as well as for being of service to the community, as he always did, he became a money lender and as such carried on an extensive business. He also kept a hotel for a number of years, making it the most popular and successful hostelry in the city.
In the meantime he purchased 100 acres of land adjoining the town and plotted into city lots about eighty acres of the tract. On these lots he built 100 houses, many of which he sold, but was still in possession of thirty-one of them at the time of his death. The property he added to the city limits, which is known as Clarke's Addition, was laid out and improved for residences, and Mr. Clarke planted rows of shade trees along its prospective streets, and in other ways made it very attractive.
He also realized soon after his arrival in the town the need of a bet- ter hotel than any in it, and in 1871 and 1872 built the Clarke block, an imposing structure three stories high and built of brick in a good style of architecture, at a cost, including its furnishings, of about $35,000. The first floor is devoted to business purposes and contains three rooms admirably adapted to their uses. The hotel is located in the second and third stories, was modern in every respect when erected and highly com- mended for the convenience of its arrangement and the completeness of its appointments. It was, in its prime, one of the leading ornaments of the city and very creditable to its builder's enterprise, public spirit and foresight.
Soon after completing this business house and hotel Mr. Clarke, bought a valuable farm of 1,000 acres in Locust Creek township five and a half miles north of Brookfield, and also his grape farm, containing six acres of vineyard, and 320 acres of land in all, located in the vicinity of the city. From then to the end of his life, which came on January 26, 1896, he was extensively engaged in farming in the most approved mod- ern style and with great success, his farm being a model in this part of the country.
On January 1, 1838, he united in marriage with Miss Fannie Hallo- way, a native of Adams, Jefferson county, New York. They had five
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children, all daughters and all now deceased but one, Climena, now the wife of E. J. Clark, of Linn county. Her mother died in 1885, and on January 5, 1887, the father married a second time, his choice on this occasion being Mrs. Mary Poole, the widow of J. H. Poole. Her maiden name was Mary Collins, and she was born in New York, a daughter of Luke and Phoebe (Bennett) Collins, who died in that state. Mrs. Clarke came to Missouri in 1869 and is still living in this county. She had one child, a daughter, by her first marriage, Minnie (she was Mrs. F. H. West at the time of her death), and has been dead for several years.
Although a man of prominence and influence, Mr. Clarke had no political ambition and never sought or desired a political office either by appointment or election. He was content and found his greatest satis- faction in performing his duty to his community as a private citizen, and was constant and energetic in attention to it. The general welfare of the people around him was his chief concern, and the expansion and improvement of the city and county of his home his leading desire. He deserved well of the public, and all classes esteemed him according to his merit.
JOSEPH W. MOORE
Joseph W. Moore, cashier and manager of the Moore Bank and city treasurer of Brookfield, is one of Linn county's most progressive, enterprising and representative citizens. He has a particularly deep interest in the welfare of the county from the fact that he was born in it, educated in its schools and has long been an active participant in its industrial and commercial activities, having, in fact, passed the whole of his life to this time (1912) within its borders and among its people.
Mr. Moore's life began on his father's farm near Linneus on July 5, 1861. He is a son of James A. and Sarah F. (True) Moore, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this volume. The son grew to manhood and attended the public schools, remaining at the parental fireside and taking his place in the working forces of the farm from his boyhood, just as other farmers' sons in the locality have done. After leaving school he engaged in farming until he reached the age of twenty-five, then moved to Brookfield and became a member of the firm of Powers & Moore, druggists.
He was connected with this firm and the drug trade eighteen years. In July, 1904, he and his father founded the Moore Bank in Brookfield, of which he was made cashier and manager at the start,
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and this position in the institution he has occupied ever since. He is also city treasurer of Brookfield, and is filling the office very much to his own credit and the satisfaction of the people. In this position he looks after the interests of the city and its inhabitants with sleepless vigilance, using his official power wisely and always for their benefit.
In politics Mr. Moore is an uncompromising Democrat in national affairs, and in all national campaigns he is energetic and effective in the service of his party. In local elections, while still adhering to his party under all favorable circumstances, he would never let partisan considerations outweigh the public good in his regard, and always has that first in mind. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal church.
On December 25, 1887, he was married to Miss Louie E. Crain, a native of Illinois and daughter of Joseph J. and Lydia (Moore) Crain. The father is dead and the mother resides in Brookfield. Three children have been born in the Moore household, in which all of them still abide. They are: Ruth L., Helen E. and Harold J. The family stands well in the community, and all of its members are held in the highest esteem. They are all active in good work for the mental, moral and social advancement of their city and county, and are everywhere taken as good representatives of the manhood and womanhood of Linn county in its best and most useful development and productiveness. They are unostentatious but sterling, and faithful to daily duty in every relation of life.
THOMAS M. BRESNEHEN
While a great deal may be justly claimed for the inspiring scenes and memorials of historic places, and their impulsions to heroic deeds in their influence on human lives, and no one can question the force of heredity on human character, all history teaches that earth has no choice spots for the birth of her strong men, and no one's characteris- tics are inherited wholly from his ancestors. Often in this country men of heroic mould have been born and bred on the very confines of civilization, and even the almost untrodden depths of the wilderness have brought forth high types of majestic manhood. It is true, also, that almost every man, although he must show, in the very nature of the case, traits of mind and character similar to those of his progeni- tors, exhibits others wholly new in his family or individual in his case.
Thomas M. Bresnehen of Brookfield, who is accounted one of the strongest and most capable lawyers in northeastern Missouri, furnishes
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a suggestive example of these facts. He was born and reared in a wild, undeveloped section of the country, and even though he inherited force of character, versatility of mind and adaptability to circumstances from his father he has developed and used these gifts in a way which proves that he came into the world possessed of other faculties that have so blended with these as to make him a very different man.
Mr. Bresnehen may not improperly be called a product of Brook- field, although he was born on April 16, 1860, within the present limits of the city, it is true, but before there was even a straggling hamlet on its site. Here, however, he began his education and grew to man- hood, surpassing the town in the rapidity of his development. For the latter he has since atoned by helping to promote its growth and improvement by every means at his command and exerted his influence to get others to do the same. No enterprise for the good of his com- munity has ever gone without his aid since he reached man's estate, and his aid has always been freely given and intelligently applied.
He is a son of Thomas and Honora (Daily) Bresnehen, natives of County Kerry, Ireland, where the father was reared to maturity, but he married his wife in the United States, whither he came in 1847. He landed at New York city and at once began sub-contracting on railroad work through New York, Indiana and Illinois. Continuing his prog- ress westward, he arrived in Missouri in 1857, and soon afterward secured a contract in grading work on the Hannibal & St. Joseph Rail- road west of Brookfield.
On the completion of the road he bought a farm near what is now the city of Brookfield, and on this farm he lived until his death in 1885. Of their seven children four are living, three sons and one daughter, Thomas and his sister being the only ones resident in Linn county. In politics the father was a loyal member of the Democratic party during the whole of his citizenship in this country, but he never sought or cared for public office. He and the mother were zealous and consistent mem- bers of the Catholic church.
Their son Thomas completed in the State University the scholastic training he began in the primitive country school near his home. He was graduated from the university in 1882, and immediately began the study of law under the direction of Judge Brownlee. So apt and pro- gressive was he in mastering the principles of his profession that he was admitted to practice it in 1883, after but one year's study. From then until now (1912) he has been an active general practitioner of the law in this community, with a steadily expanding practice and rising reputation as an attorney and counselor. Although giving attention
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to all departments of his profession, he has made something of a spe- cialty of criminal law, and in that fruitful field of practice has risen to eminence in this part of the state.
Mr. Bresnehen was first associated in the practice with J. M. John- son for a time, and then with the late H. K. West until his death in 1907. Since that event he has been in partnership with Henry J. West, a brother of H. K., under the firm name of Bresnehen & West. He was elected prosecuting attorney for the county in 1890 and held the office continuously until 1898. While serving the people in that capacity he was as capable, zealous and resolute in their behalf as he has ever since been in the service of a client charged with any wrong against their peace, dignity and government, being always faithful in the per- formance of his duty.
In political faith and allegiance Mr. Bresnehen is a Democrat of firm belief in the principles of his party and great energy and effective- ness in its service. He has been for some years a member of its state central committee, and as such has proven himself a vigorous and skill- ful leader and a wise and capable organizer. He is a member of the Catholic church.
On November 18, 1886, Mr. Bresnehen solemnized his marriage with Miss Isabel Hamsom, a daughter of Orrin and Elizabeth (Tenny) Hamsom, who came from Massachusetts to Missouri in 1868. One child has blessed the union and brightened the household, a daughter named Vivian H., who is a graduate of the State University and has received from that institution the degree of Master of Arts. She is a young lady of fine mental endowment and culture, and one of the orna- ments to the social life of the county.
LINN COUNTY BANK
This fine, enterprising and progressive financial institution, which is the oldest and largest in Brookfield, and the second in age in Linn county, has had a striking, and in some respects a remarkable history. It is a very suggestive fiscal entity, too, for its record parallels that of the region in which it is located, and its progress has exactly kept pace with that of Brookfield and the surrounding country, in the develop- ment and improvement of which it has been a potent and highly serviceable factor.
The bank was founded in 1876 by Dr. Hamilton De Graw, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this work, and was the outgrowth
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of the banking house of H. De Graw & Co., which had been doing a flourishing business in the expanding and aspiring city for some years. In 1882 it was made a state bank with a capital stock of $10,000. This was soon increased to $20,000, then, in 1893, to $30,000, afterward to $50,000 and finally to $100,000, which it is at this time (1912). This rapid development speaks for itself. The territory tributary to the business of the bank was improving rapidly, and the bank had to keep pace with it and hold itself in readiness to meet the constantly increas- ing demands on its resources. Here is the history of Brookfield and Linn county for the last thirty years condensed in a few figures, which, however, speak volumes in what they embody.
The first officers of the bank were: W. H. Brownlee, president, and W. H. De Graw, cashier. Mr. Brownlee served as president until 1893. In that year H. De Graw was elected in his place. Resigning in May, 1895, he was again elected president in 1902 and served until 1906. In that year E. M. Lomax became president, and he has served the bank and the community in that capacity ever since. The progress of the institution under his management has been steady, wholesome and continuous. The volume of its business has grown to great pro- portions, its popularity has been widely extended and deeply inten- sified, and its rank in the business world has reached the highest plane among the banks of the state.
W. H. De Graw, the first cashier, who had also been president for some years, from 1895 until his death in 1901. But prior to that time, in 1895, he had resigned as cashier, and when he did George W. Stephens succeeded him. In 1904 the present cashier, C. H. Jones, was elected to the office, and since then he has been the inspiration and directing power of the institution. He was well prepared for his duties by obtaining a good academic education and special training in several commercial colleges.
George W. Martin has occupied the office of vice president of the bank for many years. He was one of its founders, and from the begin- ning of its career has been connected with it in a leading way. The present officers in full are: E. M. Lomax, president; George W. Martin, vice president; C. H. Jones, cashier, and W. W. Martin, assistant cashier. The directors, in addition to these gentlemen are: H. De Graw, C. L. Spalding, R. W. Davis, R. S. Smith and R. X. De Graw. They all stand well in business circles and are accounted among the best citizens of Linn county.
The resources of this bank, as given in its published statement at the close of business on December 5, 1911, were: Loans and dis-
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counts, $426,302.07; overdrafts, $26.21; bonds, $24,000; and cash and exchange, $89,250.71; making a total of $539,578.99. Its liabilities at the same time were: Capital, $100,000; surplus and undivided profits, earned, $70,834.84; individual deposits, $322,481.11, and deposits from other banks, $46,263.04. The bank is well managed, uniting in its policy enlightened progress with judicious conservatism, and does a general business embracing all approved features of modern banking. The people believe in it fully because it has fully demonstrated its strength and reliability.
OLIVER CRAMER
Connected with the mercantile activities of Brookfield for a period of thirty-six years, and during that time devoting all his time and energy to business, except what has been required for the faithful per- formance of the duties of citizenship, Oliver Cramer, one of the leading dry goods merchants of the city and this portion of the state, has well earned the high rank he holds in the regard and good will of the people as a business man and the general esteem in which he stands as a man and citizen. For, in his long residence in the city he has shown that he is sterling, upright and straightforward, and cordially and helpfully interested in the enduring welfare and progress of the community.
Mr. Cramer is a native of Illinois, and was born in Jasper county of that state on March 15, 1862. He is a son of Isaiah and Margaret (Custis) Cramer, the former born in Ohio and the latter in Kentucky. The father was a farmer and school teacher; he died in 1866. The mother lived until 1894. They had three sons and one daughter, and labored diligently to rear their family to the best advantage. Oliver is the only one of their offspring who lives in Linn county, and his record is highly creditable to the rearing they gave him.
He grew to the age of thirteen in Livingston county, Missouri, then came to Brookfield and began to earn his own living as a clerk in the store of L. T. Ross. Later he became a partner of Mr. Ross and the active manager of the business of the firm. But in the meantime he was employed by the house of H. Emanuel & Co. for some years. In every position and business connection he showed fine capacity, sedu- lous attention to duty and a warm interest in the welfare of his em- ployer, and these manifestations have been of advantage to him in many ways. They were elements in promoting his progress, and they have been potential in establishing him in the confidence and esteem of the people ever since.
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In 1884 he opened a dry goods emporium of his own, and since then he has conducted one of the leading marts in his line of trade in the city, and managed it with primary reference to the wants of the com- munity. In all his dealings he has been strictly square and in the operation of his business he has given Brookfield and Linn county a fine example of superior business enterprise, up-to-date methods and a sweep of vision that is comprehensive enough to take in both present needs and future requirements and provide for all in the most satisfactory manner.
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