USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II > Part 88
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Legends of places, such as relate to the great Indian pow-wow ground, "Blacksnake Hills," later, "Robidoux's Landing," now the city of St. Joseph; to the place of hidden treasure, depicted on a Spanish map, with its eastern extension at Springfield ; to the Sieur La Salle's lost gold mine in the Ozark Moun- tains ; to "Hell's Mouth," recently explored and renamed "The Great Marble Cave," and scores, perhaps hundreds, of others, are known to but few, and, in another generation may be lost, like the great body of Indian tradition the early settlers failed to secure, unless some ardent band of folk-lorists se- cures it and renders it as imperishable as printer's ink can render anything.
As to the folk songs and folk tales, the pe- Vol. II-31
culiar beliefs and customs of our negroes and foreign born population, it may be said of the first that volumes are filled with the deeds of Bre'r Rabbit and Bre'r Terrapin, and chants and hymns in Africo-English ; of the second, that busy men and women of their native lands have written out their Eddas, Sagas, Mabinogion ; their Quest of the Holy Grail, their contes and maerchen, their dragon and fairy lore ; that government officials have indited lengthy reports of archaic customs and extraordinary land tenures, and this work is as well done as the extent of the field will permit, but rare work is still left undone. A fine outline has been prepared, which may be filled in in Missouri better than almost anywhere. In our State, which is in itself almost a congress of nations, the va- rious elements of folk lore-myth, custom, habit, tradition, superstition, song and story -are so brought into contrast and compari- son that the collector's labor is reduced to the minimum, and the student of comparative folk lore finds his ordinarily dry and tedious task imbued with vitality and endowed with charm.
It is to be hoped that with such excep- tional opportunities there will be sufficient interest to prevent the holders of this great treasure of tradition, poetry and romance, in their newly educated indifference to what their fathers took delight in, from burying it in the oblivion whence the antiquarian shall rescue but its fragments, faded in color and graceless in form.
MARY ALICIA OWEN.
Forbis, James Brown, was born May 4, 1819, in Barren County, Kentucky. His father, James Forbis, was a prosperous farmer and life-long resident of Kentucky, and his mother, Elizabeth McGee, was also a native of that State. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom James B. is the only one now living. The son's advantages for securing an education were extremely meager, limited entirely to his own persever- ance and a determination to acquire sufficient knowledge to compete successfully with the difficulties that would be encountered in a struggle toward the goal of success. He is, therefore, deserving of the term "self-made," having reached an enviable place in the bus- iness world and in the estimation of men without school training or financial as-
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sistance in his younger days. When James B. Forbis was only ten years of age his father died, leaving a large family. In the spring of 1841 the subject of this sketch re- moved to Glasgow, Howard County, Mis- souri, where he was for two years engaged in farming. He then took up the business of buying and selling leaf tobacco and was suc- cessful. In 1864 he removed to St. Louis, Missouri, where he established a tobacco manufacturing plant under the name of Spear & Company. This venture was also rewarded by abundant financial returns. In 1868 Mr. Forbis, in the desire for a home life of quiet retirement rather than the noisy activity of a large city, at the same time selecting a place where his children would have educational advantages of the highest class, removed to Independence, Missouri, where he has since resided. Since his re- tirement from manufacturing circles he has been interested in real estate speculations and the brokerage business, investing his own capital with profitable results and in every way assisting in the development of the western portion of the State. During the existence of the Western Bank of St. Joseph, which had a branch in Glasgow, he was a director in that organization and has been otherwise identified with important financial interests in the commercial world. Devoting his time entirely to matters relating to his own interests and of his family, he has par- ticipated but little in political affairs and has never entertained ambitions in the direction of office-holding. His political views are in line with the principles of Democracy. His prominent characteristic is absolute honesty in all things. He has been a member of the Christian Church the greater part of his life and during his residence in Glasgow was an officer in the church. He was married in 1848 to Mary J. Hurt, daughter of Payton L. Hurt, of Glasgow, Missouri. Mrs. Forbis died October 30, 1876. To them seven children were born: Mrs. Robert L. Yeager, of Kansas City, is the wife of a prominent lawyer and president of the Board of Educa- tion of Kansas City ; Mrs. Wallace Estill re- sides in Howard County, Missouri; Miss Florence Forbis lives with her father at his home in Independence; James B., Jr., is a broker in Kansas City; Ada L. and Cleora reside at home, and Brent B. is the wife of J. D. Eubanks, who is connected with the
Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railway in Kansas City. The father of this splendid family, while enjoying the fruits of a life that has been creditably and profitably spent, en- joys at the same time the confidence of all who know him. He has been a resident of Missouri for fifty-nine years, has witnessed a remarkable development and marvelous changes, and to such men surely belongs the praise which a younger generation is wont to bestow upon the ones who made such great- ness possible.
Ford, Nicholas, merchant and member of Congress, was born in Ireland and came to this country in 1848, settling at St. Joseph, Missouri, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1878 he was elected, as a Re- publican, to the Forty-sixth Congress from the Ninth Missouri District, and in 1880 was re-elected, as a Greenbacker, receiving 17,430 votes to 16,257 cast for David Rae, Demo- crat.
Fordland .- A village in the southern part of Webster County, on the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railroad, laid out by Judge W. S. Thompson, in 1881, who named it after J. S. Ford, comptroller of the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railroad. It has a school, two churches, a newspaper, the "Times," a flouring mill, two hotels, a bank and fifteen business houses representing different branches of mercantile pursuits. Population, 1899 (estimated), 350.
Fordyce, Samuel Wesley, railroad president, was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, February 7, 1840, son of John and Mary A. Fordyce. The family to which he belongs is of Scottish origin, the founder of the American branch having come to this country from Aberdeen, Scotland, and settled in western Pennsylvania about the year 1750. The earlier representatives of the family were among the pioneers of western Pennsylvania and many of them fell in the desperate border warfare waged by the Indians against the white settlers of Greene, Washington and Fayette Counties. The immediate ancestors of Samuel W. Fordyceremoved to Ohio in the infancy of that great Commonwealth and not long after the beginning of the past cen- tury. He himself spent his boyhood in Ohio and obtained his early education in the public schools of that State. He afterward attended
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Madison College of Uniontown, Pennsyl- vania, and completed his studies at the North Illinois University of Henry, Illinois. When twenty years old, he began serving his ap- prenticeship to the business in which he has since achieved such marked distinction, and to which he has devoted the greater part of his active life. At that time he was appointed a station agent on what was then known as the Central Ohio Railway, a line of railroad which has since been absorbed by the Balti- more & Ohio system. He held this position until July of 1861, when the maelstrom of civil war swept him away from his moorings and changed the course of his life. Enlisting as a private in Company B of the First Ohio Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, he served with distinction as a soldier in the Union Army, winning promotion by his bravery, faithful- ness to duty and meritorious conduct. While attached to the cavalry corps of the Army of the Cumberland, he served as assistant in- spector general of cavalry. At the close of the war he went South and settled in Hunts- ville, Alabama where he established the banking house of Fordyce & Rison. While living in Alabama he not only became well known throughout the State as a business man of superior capabilities, indomitable energy and comprehensive views, but as a participant also in the conduct of public affairs. Acting with the Democratic party, he took an active interest in politics, and in 1874 served as a member of the Democratic State Central Committee of Alabama. In the early part of the year 1876 he removed to Arkansas and became largely interested in various business enterprises in that State. In 1881 he was made vice president and treasurer of the Texas & St. Louis Railroad Company, and in 1885 was appointed receiver for the same company. Within a year there- after he succeeded in relieving the corpora- tion of its financial embarrassments, and when the company was reorganized and its name changed to the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railway Company, he was elected to the presidency of the corporation. In 1889 financial difficulties again necessitated the appointment of a receiver for the company, and Colonel Fordyce was again designated by the court to act in that capacity. In 1891 another reorganization was effected, and Colonel Fordyce again became president of the company, a position which he retained
until 1899. Under the reorganization of 1891 the name of the road was changed to "St. Louis Southwestern," but it is best known in railroad circles and to the general public as the "Cotton Belt Route." Con- nected with this line of railway for sixteen years, and during most of that time its chief executive officer, Colonel Fordyce has taken high rank among Western railroad man- agers, and his personal popularity among railroad men and with the large portion of the business public with which he has been brought into contact has been no less notable than his success as a director of railroad affairs. He has been a close student of what may be termed the science of railway trans- portation, and has brought to bear upon the problems presented to him for solution a broad knowledge of Western commerce, a genius for financiering and excellent judg- ment of men and affairs. A natural suavity of manner and equability of disposition have en- abled him to deal with the many vexatious questions demanding his attention with little friction and the affairs of a great corpora- tion move along smoothly under his direc- tion, those brought into daily contact with him having their tasks made easier and their burdens lightened by his uniform courtesy and kindness. He was prominent politically in Arkansas during nearly all the years of his residence in that State. In 1880 he was a delegate to the Democratic Gubernatorial Convention of that State, and in 1884 to the State Judicial Convention. From 1884 to 1888 he was a member of the. national Democratic committee from Arkansas, and in 1884, and again in 1892, he was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention, sit- ting in both the Chicago conventions which gave to Grover Cleveland the nominations which resulted in his election to the presi- dency and serving in the Convention of 1892 as chairman of the committee on permanent organization. As a Union veteran of the Civil War, he has been among the most prominent of those who have sought on all occasions to restore fraternal relations be- tween those who participated in that great conflict, fighting on opposite sides.
Colonel Fordyce married Miss Susan E. Chadwick, a Southern lady, who was a daughter of Rev. Dr. William D. Chadwick, pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of Huntsville, Alabama.
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FOREIGN CONSULATES-FOREST PARK UNIVERSITY ALUMNAE.
Foreign Consulates .- St. Louis is one of the larger cities of the United States in which various foreign governments are represented by consuls, or consular agents. In 1897 there were sixteen of these consular officers in the city, ten of whom were desig- nated as consuls, four as vice consuls and two as consular agents. The person appointed consular representative of a foreign govern- ment in the United States first presents his credentials to the State Department at Washington and receives from the Secretary of State an exequatur, authorizing him to exercise his powers in the place to which he is assigned. On receiving his exequatur he notifies the Governor of the State and the city authorities of the city to which he is accredited of his official recognition by the government of the United States, and enters upon the discharge of his duties. These duties consist in looking after the commercial interests of the country he represents and protecting the rights of subjects of his gov- ernment who are residents of the territory, or who may come within the territory over which his jurisdiction extends. The countries represented by full consuls in St. Louis are the Argentine Republic, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Germany, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mex- ico, the United Netherlands, Sweden and Norway-represented by one consul-and Switzerland. The countries represented by vice consuls are Denmark, Great Britain, Spain and Greece. France and Italy are represented by consular agents. The con- sulates which have been longest established in St. Louis are those of Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Great Britain, Italy, United Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. The newest of the consulates is that of Costa Rica, established in 1895. The Mexican consulate is one of the most important in St. Louis, and since 1893 the representatives of the Mexican government in that city have been a consul, a vice consul and a chancellor. Great Brit- ain and Spain, now represented by vice con- suls, but formerly represented by full consuls, established their consular bureaus there long before the Civil War. The waning trade in- terests of Spain have diminished somewhat the importance of the office, and a reorgan- ization of the British consular service in the Western cities of the United States has changed the rank of His Britannic Majesty's representative in that city.
Forest City .- A town of 550 inhab- itants in Holt County, on the Kansas City, St Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad, three miles from Oregon, the county seat, and twenty-eight miles northwest from St. Joseph. It was laid out in 1857 by Tootles & Farleigh, of St. Joseph, and Zook & Pat- terson, and Nave & Turner, of Oregon, on a tract of 520 acres bought from Joel Baldwin. The first sale of lots took place May 15, 1857, and the first store, a large two-story frame building was erected by Tootles, Farleigh & Co. Shortly afterward Nave, Turner & Co., built a house and opened a store there, which greatly improved the place. Zook & Bald- win put up the first brick house in 1858, and opened a drug store in it. The first post- master was Daniel Zook, appointed in 1857, and the same year John W. Moody opened a blacksmith shop. The first school was taught by James Walden, from Kentucky, in the winter of 1857-8. The first hotel was kept by G. W. Glasgow in 1859. The first church was built by the Southern Methodists in 1850, and the first preacher in it was Rev. Benjamin Baxter. In 1860 a lodge of Masons was established, and in 1873 the first bank, a private one, was opened by Frazer & McDonald. The first newspaper was started in 1858 by Van Natta & Conklin and was called the "Monitor." In 1858 the Missouri River shifted its channel and left the town two and a half miles from its bank. The "Carrie P. Kuntz" was the last steamboat to land at Forest City. Before the Civil War it was an important hemp shipping point, and in the palmy days of its prosperity its merchants and manufacturers did a business estimated at $300,000 a year. The town was incor- porated by the Legislature March 12, 1861, and the first mayor was George Weber. There are in the town several stores, a flour- ing mill with a capacity of 125 barrels a day, a sawmill, the Frazer McDonald Bank with capital and surplus of $27,000 and deposits of $35,000; four churches-Southern Meth- odist, Presbyterian, Baptist and Christian-a two story public schoolhouse and a lodge of Freemasons.
Forest Park University Alumnae. The Forest Park University Alumnae and Students' Association was first organized in 1881, and after the removal of the school to St. Louis was reorganized under its present
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name, enlarging the scope of the association by allowing students so desiring to become members. This reorganization was in Janu- ary, 1895, with a membership of fifty. The officers in 1898 were Mrs. Innis Hopkins, president ; Mrs. Lilie B. Reilly, secretary ; Miss Laura De Yong, treasurer. The mem- bers of the association are scattered over the country, prominent in church, missionary and temperance work and in literary asso- ciations, and there is a president for each State and Territory where they reside. The members in St. Louis and vicinity have a course of study and lectures on music, art and travel, given by men and women of dis- tinction. A monthly meeting is held, varied in character, and evening concerts are fre- quently given. The annual banquet is held in May. The association belongs to the State and General Federations of Women's Clubs, and is always represented at their con- ferences. It has also sent a traveling library bearing its name throughout the State to towns and villages having no public library.
Forest Park University for Wom- en .- This is one of the most notable in- stitutions for the education of women in the West, and had its origin in 1861, when Mrs. Anna Sneed Cairns founded Kirkwood Sem- inary. The school had, to begin with, but seven scholars, but Mrs. Cairns proved a wonderfully popular and successful educator, and the institution thus established grew steadily until 1891, when it was removed to St. Louis and incorporated as Forest Park University. At that time Mrs. Cairns ac- quired seven acres of land adjacent to and south of Forest Park, on which the univer- sity building was subsequently erected. It stands on high ground, commanding a fine view of the park, and its grounds have been ornamented in such a manner as to make this one of the most attractive spots in St. Louis. The university building was designed and carried to completion by Mrs. Cairns' husband, the late John G. Cairns, who was one of the most gifted architects who have practiced the profession in St. Louis. It is built in the Queen Anne style of architecture and is a remarkably beautiful structure. Forest Park University was the first univer- sity to be chartered solely for women in the United States. Its board of curators includes many ministers and other prominent citizens
of St. Louis, and many of the leading ladies of the city are members of its advisory board of visitors. Mrs. Anna Sneed Cairns is president of the faculty, and more than a score of able educators, in different depart- ments, are teachers in the institution.
Foresters, Independent Order of. A fraternal and benefit order, founded at Newark, New Jersey, June 17, 1874, and composed originally of persons who sep- arated themselves from and declared them- selves independent of the Ancient Order of Foresters. In 1881 a division occurred, and the branch of the order now represented in Missouri was reorganized and obtained a charter from the Dominion of Canada, estab- lishing its supreme governing body-the Supreme Court-at Toronto, in which city the order has since erected a temple at a cost of half a million dollars. The Supreme Court is both the legislative and governing body of the order, and is composed of repre- sentatives elected by high courts of the order. High courts-each of which has the care of the order in a country, province or State-are composed of officers, elected either annually or biennially, and the dele- gates chosen by subordinate courts. In
1898 the order had a membership in excess of 100,000, scattered throughout the United States, Canada and Great Britain. In Mis- souri the first court was established in Kansas City, May 29, 1890, and the high court of the State is located there. In 1898 there were twenty-eight courts in the State, having a membership of about one thousand. Four subordinate courts were then in exist- ence in St. Louis, with an aggregate mem- bership of two hundred. An interesting feature of the history of the order is the fact that its principal founder and supreme chief ranger is a full-blooded American Indian named Oronhyatekha. As chief executive officer he has evidenced his great ability in the creation of a surplus fund of more than $2,500,000.
Foresters of America. - The writ- ten history of Forestry began with the insti- tution of Court Perseverance, No. I, at Leeds, England, in 1790. The traditional history of Forestry goes back to Sherwood Forest and the days of bold Robin Hood and his merry men. Like all of the older orders,
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FORESTERS, UNITED ORDER OF-FORLOW.
the origin of Forestry is unknown, but such evidences as exist show that from the very beginning the aims of Forestry have been beneficent and peaceful, and that it was founded upon the noble principle of the brotherhood of man. At the formation of Court No. I the title of "Ancient Royal Order of Foresters" was adopted. The fraternity progressed rapidly and harmoniously until the year 1834, when the arbitrary attitude of the High Court forced a division of the order. In the forty years intervening the order had grown from one to 358 courts. The result of the division was that 342 courts were reconstructed under the name of "Ancient Order of Foresters." The Royal Order of Foresters faded away to a few courts, whilst the Ancient Order of For- esters grew in beneficence and power. For- estry was brought to America in 1832 by the formation of Court Good Speed, No. 201, at Philadelphia. Thereafter other courts were instituted in the United States, but none sur- vived until the institution of Court Brooklyn, No. 4421, now No. I, of Brooklyn, New York, on the 28th day of May, 1864. From this-the oldest living court in America- Forestry has extended throughout the land. Until the year 1889 the order in America was under the jurisdiction of the High Court of England. In granting the privilege of estab- lishing the order in America it was very clearly admitted that practically home rule was to be allowed to the order in the United States. The High Court of England unan- imously granted the application for the establishment of a Subsidiary High Court "for the government of districts and courts in the United States of America." The order had splendidly developed under the accepted conditions, but in 1888 friction between the parent body and the home courts grew into flame over the elimination of the word "white" in the qualifications for membership. Very largely the order in America looked upon this action of the English High Court as an unwarranted blow at their vested liberty of action, and at the memorable con- vention of the Subsidiary High Court, held in Minneapolis in August, 1889, decisive action was taken. The result of two days' deliberation was that the order in America declared for absolute home rule.
With the independence of Forestry in the United States a radical change was made in
the form of the government of the order, and a purely American system was adopted. The Supreme Court is the recognized head of the order, but the grand courts, which have ju- risdiction in the several States of the Union, are conducted untrammeled on the principle of home rule. From the subordinate court to the supreme body the rules are the same as those which apply to the republic. Follow- ing the separation of the American Foresters from the parent order a controversy ensued as to their right to retain the name "Ancient Order of Foresters." This controversy was terminated in 1895 by the voluntary relin- quishment of their claim to the old name and the adoption of the name "Foresters of America." In Missouri, therefore, the Order of Foresters of America is the successor of the Ancient Order of Forresters, which took root in St. Louis in 1874. In that year Court Pioneer of the West was instituted, with twenty members.
In 1900 there were four courts in Missouri, with 250 members, three of the courts being in St. Louis, and one in Kansas City. The Grand Court of Missouri is located in St. Louis. In 1898 there were in the United States twenty-one grand courts, and 1,257 subordinate courts, with a total membership of 134,893.
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