USA > Missouri > Linn County > Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri > Part 52
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In 1908 he was elected a member of the county court, serving one term of two years. He is a Democrat in political relations, but while he is always eager for the success of his party, he is not an active partisan, and seldom takes any part in political contests. Fraternally he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in religion he is a Christian Scientist.
Mr. Post was married on June 20, 1893, to Miss Sallie C. Collins, a native of the state of Delaware. They have one child, their daughter Margaret H., who still abides with them in the family home and is one of its greatest attractions. She is prominent in the social life of the
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city and county and active in all good works for their advancement, according to her opportunities, omitting no effort on her part that will aid in bringing about good results.
Mr. Post's business is extensive and exacting, and he gives it his close and careful attention. But he does not allow it to absorb him to the exclusion of his social duties to the community or any of the proper claims of citizenship. He is genial and companionable and enjoys a strong and wide-spread popularity, being known and held in high - regard in all parts of Linn county and in many parts of those adjacent to it. Northeastern Missouri has no better citizen, and the people cheerfully accord him the distinction of being one of the best. But he is modest in reference to his merit and claims no such distinction, or any other beyond those of dealing squarely with everybody in his busi- ness and living correctly in all the affairs of life.
B. J. PATRICK
Whatever may be the interest of other men in the progress and prosperity of Linn county, and whatever their claims to the regard and esteem of its people, there is an element in the case of B. J. Patrick, a prominent contractor and builder of Brookfield, which raises his above those of the most of them, if not of them all. His own work in the county would give him a deep and abiding interest in it and a strong claim on the good will of its people. But the history of some of his kin in connection with its affairs is of a nature to make him almost rever- ence it. This history also gives him a strong claim on the respect of the people, and the claim is strengthened by his own high character, per- sonal worth and usefulness as a man and a citizen of public spirit and progressiveness.
Two of Mr. Patrick's grand aunts were the first white women who made their homes within the present limits of the county. The chain that connects him with its soil, therefore, runs back unbroken to the time when it was first turned by the white man's plow and yielded its first fruits to the white man's systematic husbandry, although he is not himself a native of the county. He was born in Howard county, Missouri, on January 27, 1868, and is a son of William H. and Sarah E. (Jones) Patrick, the former also a native of Howard county, and the latter of Richmond, Virginia.
The father was a farmer and never followed any other pursuit. He was born on May 6, 1845, and died at Marceline, this county, on
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March 31, 1900. The mother is still living and resides in Brookfield. They were married at Fayette, Missouri, and had two sons and six daughters, five of whom are living, the two sons and three of the daugh- ters. The father served in Company A, Ninth Missouri Cavalry, in the Union army, during three and a half years of the Civil War. He was engaged mostly in scout duty, but took part in the battle of Kirksville.
His father, Larkin C. Patrick, was born in Breathitt county, Ken- tucky, in 1814, on October 6, and was brought by his parents to this state before he was a year old. He passed his whole subsequent life in Howard county, and died at the age of seventy-five on the farm in that county entered from the government by his grandfather. Larkin was a son of Luke Patrick, also a native of Kentucky, a farmer who brought his family to Howard county, this state in 1815, and was a son-in-law of George Cason who accompanied Daniel Boone from Ken- tucky to Howard county.
Luke Patrick was a farmer, but did not depend on this occupation wholly for his livelihood and provision for his family. The returns from farming in Missouri at that early day were meager, but even if they had been abundant they would not have satisfied him. For he was of an adventurous nature, a veritable frontiersman of the most pronounced type, and became a hunter and trapper and Indian fighter of considerable local renown. It was his custom to come to what is now Linn county every fall on hunting expeditions, and in the neighbor- hood of the present city of Linneus to pursue the pleasures and profits of the chase.
He served in the Indian wars of the period, was a famous teller of stories of adventure in the wilds and one of the most interesting char- acters in this part of the world in his day. In 1829 he killed on Elk creek the largest elk ever seen alive and wild in Linn county, and the creek received its name from this incident. He was well pleased with this region and recommended it to his friends who wished to plant their feet farther in the wilderness, and so his two daughters, Mrs. George M. Pendleton and Mrs. Joseph Newton, with their husbands, became the first white residents of what is now Linn county.
B. J. Patrick was reared to the age of fifteen in Howard county and obtained his education in the district schools. In 1888 he located at Marceline, where he began his apprenticeship as a carpenter, finishing his instruction in the craft in Chicago. In. 1901 he moved to Brookfield, and here he has made his home ever since, and been engaged in con- tracting and building, winning success and rising to prominence in his occupation. As a means to the highest standard and best results in
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his work he attended the Architectural Institute in St. Louis, from which he was graduated in 1896, after a full course of instruction.
He has built some imposing structures in Brookfield, among them the Methodist Episcopal church and some of the best dwelling houses. He also drew the plans for the Christian church, and has done a great deal of superior work outside of the city. He is a thorough master of his trade, a good architect and a workman of excellent judgment. Whatever he does in the way of building is well done, no part of it ever being slighted, and all redounding to his credit and sustaining the high reputation he won early in his career as a builder.
Mr. Patrick was married on December 19, 1900, to Miss Carrie Newton, a daughter of Kenneth A. and Luella (Bowling) Newton, and a grand daughter of Joseph Newton, one of the two first white male settlers in the county. He is therefore connected by marriage as well as by blood with the founders of civilization in this part of the state. He and his wife are the parents of one child, their daughter Olive. The parents are members of the Christian church and active workers in the congregation to which they belong, in which the father has long served as an elder and one of the trustees.
While Mr. Patrick takes no part in political contentions he is always interested in the welfare of his city and county, and at all times ready to do whatever he can to promote it. He is particularly active in behalf of public improvements, and intelligent and judicious in his efforts to help them along. He is also wisely and judiciously zealous in aiding all educational and moral agencies at work in the community, manifesting in all his desires and activities the attributes of sturdy, upright and progressive and public spirited American citizenship.
WILLIAM JAMES
As taste and fashion in jewelry is always changing, the man who handles it must be bright and attentive to the requirements if he wishes to succeed. He ought also to be a skillful workman, familiar with all the details of his craft and ready to supply all demands in the best style of workmanship. William James, who conducts the largest, most elaborate and most artistic jewelry store in the city of Brookfield, is well up in all the requirements of his business, and he carries it on in a manner that greatly pleases the people and is highly creditable to himself.
Mr. James was born in the city of Sydney, Australia, on April 13,
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1866, but he was not allowed to remain in his native place long enough to appreciate its great commercial advantages, its fine and ample har- bor, its superb situation, its magnificent buildings and the rich scenery of sparkling bays, emerald islands and luxuriant vegetation which sur- rounds it.
His parents, Isaac and Elizabeth (Williams) James, were migra- tory persons, and soon after the birth of the son returned to Wales, their native land, and in 1869, when he was but three years old, came to the United States and located in Missouri. The father was a gold miner, and pursued his occupation wherever the field seemed most promising and fruitful. He emigrated to New South Wales, Australia, and passed all of fourteen years in that country. He also followed mining in New Zealand.
After the family returned to Wales it did not linger long in that country, but in 1869, as has been noted, came to the United States and found a new home at New Cambria, where it was the intention to make a short visit to friends and then move on to California. But the father was so well pleased with Macon county in this state that he determined to remain and bought a farm there. In that county the parents passed the rest of their lives, the father dying on his farm in 1877, and the mother in 1904, having survived her husband twenty-seven years. He had succeeded well in his mining operations in Australia, where he was a pioneer in the gold fields, and was well fixed financially when he took up his residence in Missouri. He and his wife were the parents of four sons and four daughters, all of whom are living but one of the sons.
William James grew to manhood on the parental homestead in Macon county and was educated in the district schools. He was early fired with an ambition to make his own way in the world, and in 1889, when he was twenty-three years old, came to Brookfield and entered the employ of C. P. Almroth, a jeweler, with a view to learning the trade and proper management of the business. He learned his trade in com- pany with J. P. Horker, who is now associated with him in business. Mr. Almroth failed in business in 1896, and during the next two years Mr. James carried on the operations of the store. He next passed two years in the states of Oklahoma and Kansas, and at the end of that time returned to Brookfield.
In 1902 he founded his present business, which has grown to be the largest of its kind in Brookfield, and its growth is entirely due to his skill as a workman, his excellent judgment in reference to the wares he handles, his fine business ability and his studious attention to the wants of the community in his line. He is always up to the latest turns of the
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market in his stock and knows his business in and out thoroughly, so that he is able to buy to the best advantage and give his patrons the full benefit of his extensive knowledge.
Mr. James was married in Macon county, this state, on October 8, 1902, to Miss Martha Evans, the daughter of Thomas O. and Maria (Young) Evans, esteemed residents of that county. Two sons have been born of the union, William I. and David T., both of whom are attending school in Brookfield. They are bright boys and almost sure to make their mark in a highly creditable way in the world when they reach maturity.
The father has taken a great interest in public affairs in Brookfield, and has won extensive popularity among the residents of the city. He was a member of the city council in 1909 and 1910, and in other ways has been of service to the city in a commendable manner and to a con- siderable extent. He is always interested in public improvements of every worthy kind and at all times ready and willing to give practical aid in promoting them. He is also prominent in social circles and an ornament to those in which he mingles. In religious faith and allegiance he is a Presbyterian.
DR. JAMES B. EURE
This well known and highly esteemed physician and surgeon of Brookfield, who is also one of the leading and influential citizens of Linn county, is a native of Nash county, North Carolina, where his life began on June 26, 1865, and where his parents, Alfred and Delia (Finch) Eure were also native and passed the whole of their lives. The father was born there in 1808 and died there in 1872. He was married three times, and was the father of eight sons, three of whom were in the Confederate army during the Civil War, and five of whom are still living.
His ancestors came to this country from France in colonial times and some of them were prominent in the Revolutionary War. They fought valiantly for American independence, and when that was se- cured they settled down in the country which they had helped to redeem from foreign domination and devoted the remainder of their lives, as their descendants have done ever since, to the promotion of American industrial, intellectual, social and commercial life and power, taking place and part in every domain of human effort and making their con- tributions to each of great benefit to it and their country.
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Dr. James B. Eure secured his academic education in his native county, completing it at the Stanhope and Mt. Pleasant academies there. He began the study of medicine in 1894, and was graduated from the Barnes Medical College of St. Louis in 1897, having become a resi- dent of Missouri in 1893. He taught school for a number of years in North Carolina and one year in this state before beginnig work on his preparation for his profession, but since his graduation from the med- ical colleges he has devoted all his time and energy to professional work.
The doctor began his practice in 1898 in Brookfield, and he has been located in that city and engaged in a general practice throughout all the subsequent years. He stands high in the profession and in the confidence and regard of the people of the county, and his practice has grown to very large proportions. He is knowing and skillful, diligent and obliging, giving all calls prompt attention and all patients wise and judicious treatment, and both on account of his ability and his faith- fulness in caring for those who need his services he is widely and justly popular as a physician and as a man.
The organizations in his profession formed and maintained for the improvement and enjoyment of its members, have always appealed strongly to him as means of valuable assistance to all practitioners, and for years he has been active in his membership in several of them. He belongs to the Linn County and Missouri State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association, and is at this time (1912) president of the first named. He has also been studious in the use of the litera- ture of his profession and availed himself of additional instruction whenever he has had opportunity, pursuing special courses in the Poly- clinic School in Chicago in 1905 and Washington University in 1910. And in winter of 1912 attended lectures at the Eye & Ear Infirmary of New York city.
In fraternal relations the doctor is connected with the Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and in this and his lodges he takes an earnest interest and an active part in all their work. His membership in all is highly valued. He was married in 1896 to Miss Alberta Langston of Mississippi county, Missouri. They have had no children, but they have adopted their community as an object of their greatest interest, care and solicitude, and to its advancement and im- provement in every way they devote all the energy they can. Linn county has no better citizens and none whom the people hold in higher or more deserved esteem.
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The doctor is now devoting his practice to diseases of eye, ear and throat and is located at Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Butler county, where he is also interested in farming.
ROBERT J. BEAUCHAMP
Having tried his hand at several different lines of mercantile busi- ness, life insurance, railroading and farming, Robert J. Beauchamp of Brookfield finally found a field of operation suited to his capacity exactly and in accordance with his desires, in real estate transactions. He is the head of the real estate firm of Beauchamp & Baker, which he founded in 1897, and with which he has ever since been connected. The firm handles lands in Texas and all parts of the Southwest generally, and conducts an extensive and active business which covers a very large extent of territory.
Mr. Beauchamp is one of the "Blue Hen's Chickens," having been born in Dover, the capital of Delaware, on July 22, 1861. His parents were James H. and Louvisa (Lank) Beauchamp, the former a native of Delaware and the latter of Maryland. Gidiah Beauchamp, the grand- father of Robert, was a Kentuckian by nativity but located in Delaware when he was a young man. His son James H. was a dry goods mer- chant in his native state. He moved his family to Brookfield, Missouri, in March, 1877, and soon afterward took up his residence on a farm near Browning in this county, which he lived on and cultivated until his death, which occurred in 1892. The mother died in 1908, having sur- vived her husband sixteen years.
They reared four of their children, three sons and one daughter, to maturity, and all of them are still living. They are: Robert J., the subject of this brief memoir; James K., a capitalist and real estate mer- chant of Kansas City, Missouri. He served eight years on district and supreme bench of Oklahoma Territory; Benjamin D., who deals exten- sively in real estate from his home in Oklahoma City, and Rosa, who is the wife of G. E. Moore of Brookfield. The spirit of the parents is reproduced and kept up to date in their offspring, and keeps alive the fine examples of elevated American citizenship the families on both sides of the house have given to the world for generations
Robert J. Beauchamp was sixteen years old when he came with his parents to this county in 1877. He grew to manhood and completed his education here, attending the public schools and Findlay Academy
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in Brookfield and also attended Felton College of Felton, Missouri. He began his business career as a clerk in a store and afterward en- gaged in the life insurance business. From this he turned to the cloth- ing trade, to which he devoted two years. At the end of that period he moved to Liberal, Kansas, where he engaged in the hardware trade for two years.
He then returned to Brookfield and during the next six years was employed in train service on the Burlington Railroad. Quitting rail- road work, he engaged in farming for a year, then, in 1897, formed a partnership with his brother Benjamin D. which existed until 1904 and in 1906 the present firm was formed consisting of our subject and Albanes W. Baker for the purpose of conducting a real estate business, and in this he is still extensively and profitably engaged. He has made a study of his business and is considered one of the best posted and most discriminating men in it in this part of the state. His opinion as to values and possibilities of improvement is widely sought and always has weight and the correctness of his judgment in real estate matters is never questioned, but is usually followed by those to whom he gives it.
Mr. Beauchamp's public spirit, his devotion to the general welfare, his genuine interest in the city and county of his home and the nature of his business all combine to make him forceful and enterprising in reference to public improvements and everything that seems likely to promote the advancement of his locality. He can always be counted on for practical aid in any commendable undertaking for the betterment of the community or the advantage of its people, and he is judicious in the help he gives.
He takes an active part in political affairs as a loyal member of the Democratic party, but he has no ambition for public office and has never had. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, the Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights of the Maccabees and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. In religious matters he is affiliated with the Christian church. To all of these organizations he gives such care and attention as good, active and serviceable member- ship demands, and in each he is a potent factor for good.
In October, 1882, he was married to Miss Sallie N. Dunn, a native of Randolph county, Missouri. They have one child, their son Frank B., who is a student in the State University. All the members of the family stand well in the community, in all of whose worthy activities they take part, and are regarded as excellent representatives of its citizenship in
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business enterprise, in moral uprightness, in religious tone and in domestic and social life. No residents of Brookfield are more highly esteemed or more deserving of high esteem.
Mr. Beauchamp has served two terms as a member of the school board of Brookfield, and is still serving. He also is an extensive holder of real estate in Linn county and Oklahoma.
DR. WILLIS E. SCOTT
A resident of Brookfield since 1888, and during the whole of his residence in the city active in the practice of dentistry, Dr. Willis E. Scott has rendered the people of Linn county long-continued and excel- lent service in his professional work. He is the oldest practitioner of dental surgery in the county in continuous work in the profession and one of the most eminent in this part of the state.
Dr. Scott was born in Livingston county, Missouri, and is a son of Thomas F. and Amanda (Stone) Scott, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Missouri. The father was a farmer in his native state until 1844, when he came by the river route to Brunswick, in Chariton county, then journeyed overland to Livingston county, where he again engaged in farming until 1849. Then, when the excitement over the discovery of gold in California was at its height, he joined a train of men eager to secure a portion of the treasure, and they made the trip to the gold fields across the plains with ox teams.
The train had some difficulties with the Indians, but after its arrival at its destination Mr. Scott was fairly successful in his mining operations. He was not, however, satisfied with his progress, and went to Australia in search of more rapid returns for his labor. Even there his love of adventure and quest of fortune was not wholly appeased, and he visited some of the rich mining regions of South America. He returned to his Missouri home in 1855, and some years later moved to Brookfield, where he died in 1910. The mother died in 1893. They had two sons and two daughters, all of whom are living.
Dr. Scott was reared and educated in Livingston county and fol- lowed farming there until 1886, when he began the study of dentistry. In 1887 he entered the Cincinnati Dental College, from which he was graduated in 1888. He came to Brookfield within the same year, and has been in active practice in that city ever since. Realizing that den- tistry is a very progressive science and art, and being ardently desirous
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of keeping up with its progress and in touch with all its latest develop- ments, he has been an industrious student of his work, and has used all the means at his command to further his efforts. He is a member of the Missouri State Dental Society and the Northeastern Missouri Dental Club, and takes an active and helpful part in their proceedings, giving all the help he can to each and getting all the benefit he can for himself in return.
Fraternally Dr. Scott is a member of the Order of Elks, and in that organization he also takes an earnest and serviceable interest. He was married in 1887 to Miss Frances Evans of Harrison county, this state. They have no children, but take a zealous part in the affairs of the city and county of their home, moral, mental, social and material, doing all they can to promote the general well being of the people and add to the consequence and celebrity of the region in which they live.
As a citizen the doctor is in the front rank both in his usefulness and the esteem of the people throughout Linn county. As a man his character is high, his life is upright and clean and his public spirit is pronounced and practical in aims and results. In all respects he is an admirable representative of all that is best in the manhood and citizen- ship of Brookfield, Linn county and the state of Missouri.
CHARLES L. SELLECK
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