Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II, Part 89

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 800

USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II > Part 89

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Foresters, United Order of .- A secret fraternal and benefit order, founded in Chicago in August of the year 1894 by Colonel W. W. Wharry, and which later established its headquarters at Madison, Wisconsin. The founders of the order were members of the Independent Order of For- esters of Canada, who separated themselves from that organization because of differences of opinion concerning certain rights and privileges to which the dissenting members thought the order entitled in the United States. Court St. Louis, No. I, was organ- ized April 15, 1895, by Deputy Supreme Chief Ranger E. J. Moore. Since then five courts have been established in St. Louis, which at the close of the year 1897 had an aggregate of two hundred and fifty members.

Forlow, Frank Leslie, lawyer, was born in Hicksville Township, Defiance County, Ohio, October 31, 1858, son of Amos and Eliza (Myers) Forlow. His parents are still living on the farm in Defiance County,

W. O. Fmint

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FORRIST.

which has been their home for more than half a century. Mr. Forlow's paternal ances- tors were natives of Ireland, members of the family locating in America prior to the Rev- olution, and his great-grandmother was a descendant of a German family, members of which were also among the pioneers of America. Mr. Forlow lived on his father's farm and attended the country schools in the neighborhood until he was fifteen years old, when he entered the public schools of Hicks- ville, Ohio, where he completed the course, after which he entered the Northwestern University, from which institution he grad- uated a few years later. He taught school in Logan, Ayersville, and Evansport, Ohio, and in 1882 he commenced the reading of law. In 1885 he was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Ohio, and a year later was licensed to practice in the United States courts at Toledo, Ohio. For a number of years he was a law partner of Honorable W. D. Hill, and practiced at his home town in Ohio until 1893, when he removed to Webb City, Jasper County, Missouri, where he soon established a lucrative practice, which since has continued to increase. In 1897 and 1898 he was city attorney for Webb City, and for four years was attorney for the city of Car- terville. Prior to his location in Missouri he held a number of minor offices in Ohio, and for two years was president of the North- western Ohio Teachers' Association. Mr. Forlow has always been an earnest worker in the ranks of the Democratic party, active in the campaigns, in the field and on the stump. He is a member of Joplin Lodge, No. 501, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of Lodge No. 244, Knights of Pythias, of Hicksville, Ohio, of which he is a past chan- cellor. For two years he was a member of the Ohio Grand Lodge of the last named order, and served as a member of important committees. He is a member also of the Webb City Camp of the Woodmen of the World. September 16, 1885, he was married to Miss Ida Harmany, daughter of Judge W. S. and Margaret (Mock) Harmany, well known residents of Joplin, Missouri. Mrs. Forlow is a niece of Rear Admiral David B. Harmany, of the United States Navy (re- tired), and is a Daughter of the Revolution. She is highly educated and accomplished, and assists her husband in caring for his large practice. Both Mr. and Mrs. Forlow are

members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Joplin.

Forrist, William O., eminent as a member of the bar of this State, was born October 1, 1826, in Trumbull County, Ohio, and died at his home in Mexico, Missouri, March 17, 1890. His natural abilities, schol- arly attainments and success as a lawyer made him one of the notable men of that sec- tion of the State of Ohio, where he was born, and engaged in the practice of his profession from his majority until he was forty-one years of age, and in that part of Missouri where he devoted twenty-two years of his life to the profession of law with almost a religious fidelity.

He was of New England stock on both sides. His father, Ira Forrist, was a native of Vermont, a soldier in the second war with England, who, in an early day, settled and improved a farm in the Western Reserve, where William was born and reared.

At the age of seventeen William graduated with honors at Farmington Seminary, an in- stitution of high repute in that day. After completing his education he for a while en- gaged in teaching as a means of procuring funds to enable him to study law. He read law with, and was associated in practice with, Seabury Ford, afterward Governor of Ohio. Ford was a Whig and an ardent friend of Henry Clay, from whom young Forrist took his political views. He became prominent in the Whig party, and, like most Whigs in the North, when that party dissolved, aligned himself with the new Republican party.

His researches into the common law were of the most profound and continued till late in life. Having been educated in the com- mon law practice, he never became wholly reconciled to the code, retaining to his death that antipathy to it found in so many able lawyers of his time, who believed that the common law was the "sum of all reason."

On the breaking out of the Civil War he volunteered as a soldier in an Ohio regiment, but never left the State. His ability as an advocate made his services more valuable to the State as a recruiting officer, where he was retained by the Governor of the State till he had assisted in raising several regiments.

"Judge" Forrist, on account of his attain- ments as a lawyer, though never holding ju- dicial office, became to be universally so

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called by his acquaintances. He came to this State and settled in St. Louis in 1867, and on account of his abilities as an orator, at the request of the national committee, cam- paigned throughout the State for Grant and the Republican party in 1868. Though a Re- publican after the organization of that party, he was conservative and liberal, and was one of the prominent men of his party to advo- cate the re-enfranchisement of the ex-Con- federates. In the beginning of the agitation of that question he contended that the "con- flict of the war was one wholly over Amer- ican ideas, in which each side had its reasons to believe it was right. The Confederate was as patriotic as the Federal soldier, and should be accorded all the privileges and rights of any American citizen and be given an oppor- tunity to show his loyalty to the Union under the new conditions." During the agitation of the question he poured forth his logic and eloquence in behalf of the cause of re-enfran- chisement with all that zeal and ability of which he was so abundantly endowed.

In 1868 he settled in Mexico, where he be- gan a successful career as a lawyer, though never losing interest in public questions. He was always at the front in every enterprise for the benefit of his community, but was best known as an able lawyer, with a large practice, making the criminal law a specialty. From the time he began the practice of law in Audrain County until failing health, about two years before his death, he was engaged in the defense of every criminal case of any note in his own county, with a considerable practice in counties surrounding, and in other parts of the State, especially in cases of importance. He never lost courage, and would never yield till the last resource had been mustered. He was the leading counsel in the case of the State vs. "Monk" Brans- tetter, tried in January, 1877, on a charge of murder, growing out of a difficulty in which Jeff Lowry was killed near Vandalia, in Au- drain County, the December previous. Branstetter was a man about thirty years of age, a member of one of the old and promi- nent families of Pike and Audrain Counties, whose father was a minister much respected for his piety. The father had employed Judge Forrist to defend, and had implicit confidence in the judge's ability to clear his son. After a hard-fought trial of several days the jury returned into court a verdict of guilty, fixing

the punishment at a term of sixty years in the penitentiary. On the announcement of the verdict the father of the defendant was completely overcome and sank to the floor, bewailing aloud his son's misfortune and the family disgrace, amid much excitement of the spectators. Judge Forrist, undaunted, with a voice heard above everything, ex- claimed : "Father Branstetter, be not over- come nor discouraged at this verdict; the law suit has just begun." Forrist appealed the case to the Supreme Court, the decision of which is reported in the Sixty-fifth Mis- souri Reports. A new trial was ordered, when a change of venue was granted to an- other county, where the case finally resulted in the discharge of the prisoner.

He was never known to accept a retainer on the side of the prosecution. Not only was he able, but he possessed, to a remarkable degree, that chief element of success as a case-winner-the courage before court or jury to maintain the rights of his client. He believed that a lawyer was a public officer who owed a duty to the public, and was al- ways ready to accept service from the poor- est and most humble, and the impecunious person accused of crime could depend upon his ablest effort in his behalf, as could those able to remunerate him for his services.

Though always with a large practice and clientage, he never accumulated any prop- erty. He pursued the practice of the law more from the love of the great principles it em- bodies and enforces, his duty to his fellow man, as he felt, and that perfect sympathy he had for the distressed and unfortunate.

The bar of Audrain County, in its resolu- tions of respect to his memory, said of him, in part : "He was a lawyer of great ability and learning ; earnest and eloquent in behalf of the interests of his clients ; genial, cour- teous, true and accommodating to his brother lawyers, and kind and generous to a fault in social relations." His genius and talents were of that extraordinary kind that made him a character sui generis. Though dead ten years, such was the indelible im- pression he made upon the minds of the peo- ple of his community that his character, per- sonality and acts of generosity are still among the subjects of daily recurrence. In September, 1852, he married Miss Rosamond L. Pease, of Geauga County, Ohio, who sur- vives him. They reared two children-a son,

Dr. E. B. Forsee

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FORSEE.

Frederick, and a daughter, Ella, who is the wife of Judge John A. Guthrie, of Mexico.

Forsee, Edgar B., physician, was born in Scott County, Kentucky, July 5, 1823, son of Stephen and Mildred (Blackburn) Forsee. His father was a worthy gentleman of the old school, who came of good family, and his mother belonged to the famous Blackburn family of Kentucky, of which the late Gov- ernor Luke B. Blackburn, of that State, and United States Senator Joseph C. S. Black- burn have been distinguished representa- tives. Dr. Forsee was reared in Kentucky and received a classical education in the best schools of his native State. He then matric- ulated in the medical department of the Uni- versity of Louisville, Kentucky, and at the end of a full course received a doctor's de- gree from that institution. Immediately after his graduation from the medical college he began the practice of his profession in the county in which he was born, and there gained his first experience in his chosen call- ing. Ambitious to attain an honored posi- tion in his profession, and to fit himself by every means possible for the most intelligent and successful effort, he left a growing prac- tice in Scott County and spent considerable time in one of the noted Southern hospitals, greatly adding thereby to his knowledge and experience. When he left this hospital he came to Missouri, and in 1850 established himself in practice in St. Louis. After a time, however, he found that his health was being seriously impaired by conditions which existed in that city, and he removed to Florissant, in St. Louis County, one of the noted old French towns of this region, and now a charming suburb of St. Louis. There he was engaged in successful profes- sional labor for four years, and there, on the IIth day of January, 1852, he married Miss Zeilda Musick, the eldest daughter of Joel L. and Marguerite (Presse) Musick. With health fully restored, he sought a more prom- ising field of professional labor than the rural district at Florissant, and in 1856 re- moved to St. Joseph, Missouri. There his superior attainments, kindly and sympathetic manner and courteous bearing at once brought him into prominence, and he soon built up a large and lucrative practice. He continued to be most actively engaged in professional labor until failing health admon-

ished him that he must seek a measure of rest and recreation. Withdrawing then as much as possible from the work to which he had previously devoted himself with such zeal and ardor, he gave himself up mainly to the pleasures of home and the consolation of religious reading and spiritual communion. Throughout his professional life he was a close student of everything pertaining to the science of medicine, a progressive thinker and a careful reader of the best medical liter- ature. His devotion to his profession was chivalrous in its character, and he never shirked any duty which it imposed upon him. Regarding the practitioner of medicine as a servant of the public, and accountable to God and mankind alike for the proper discharge of sacred duties, he was conscientious in every act and ready at all times to respond to calls which might be made upon him, regardless of the ability of his patients to rec- ompense him for his services. In his inter- course with members of the profession to which he belonged, he was ever courteous, kindly and helpful, and the esteem in which he was held by the public was not greater than the regard entertained for him by his professional brethren. His contemporaries of the medical profession remember him as one whose geniality, kindness of heart and cheerful disposition were distinguishing

characteristics, and all loved him for his per- sonal worth, and admired him for his schol- arly attainments and professional ability. In personal appearance and bearing in the sick room he was the ideal physician. His gra- ciousness, kindness and candor endeared him to the patient and commanded the fullest confidence under all circumstances. His appearance alone in the sick room, in many cases, was better than a healing cordial or a health-giving tonic. He had the happy faculty-which is of inestimable value alike to physician and patient-of "ministering to a mind diseased," and his tenderness of heart and solicitude for the welfare of those who sought his services were constant aids to medical treatment. His practice was of a general character and brought him into the most intimate relationships with his patrons, to many of whom he was friend and advisor, as well as physician, through long years of association. In many respects Dr. Forsee was the typical Kentuckian. He had the charming manners of the old-school South-

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ern gentleman, was of fine physique and com- manding personality, and, altogether, was such a man as attracts attention in any com- pany. At his own home his hospitality was charming, and both he and his accomplished wife were greatly beloved in social circles. Their married life covered a period of forty- two years, and the death of Dr. Forsee, which occurred November 2, 1894, brought to a close an ideal companionship of husband and wife. To the sharer of his joys and sor- rows, throughout a period of more than two score years, he was tenderly devoted, and all the wealth of his affection was reciprocated by the worthy woman who has survived him, devoting herself to various labors of love. Having passed somewhat beyond the allotted age of man, Dr. Forsee passed to a good man's reward at the end of a life filled with good works and deeds worthy of emulation. His remains rest in the family vault at Corby Chapel, an interesting memorial church, a sketch of which is published in connection with the biography of Mrs. Amanda Corby, sister to Mrs. Forsee. Rev. Father New- man, conducted the funeral services over the remains of Dr. Forsee and paid glowing tribute to his many virtues.

Forsee, Zeilda, benefactress, was born in St. Louis County, near Florissant, Mis- souri, eldest daughter of Joel L. and Margue- rite (Presse) Musick, both of whom were natives of St. Louis County, and belonged to families numbered among the earliest set- tlers of Missouri. The mother of Mrs. For- see was a devout Catholic, and she was reared in the faith of that church and care- fully educated at the Sacred Heart Convent, in St. Louis. On the IIth day of January, 1852, she was married to Dr. Edgar B. For- see, whose honorable and useful career as a physician has been briefly reviewed in the foregoing sketch. She was admirably fitted in every way to become the wife of such a man as Dr. Forsee, and her domestic graces adorned his home, while her wise counsels and loving co-operation in the advancement of his interests contributed not a little to his success. Regarding home as the woman's kingdom, she made her own an ideal one in every respect, and during the years of her husband's life devoted herself mainly to her household and church affairs, never aspiring to social leadership. Naturally of a retiring

disposition and loving nature, she found within the sphere to which she devoted her- self the sweetest joys of life, and only those who have known her most intimately have been aware that she had artistic talents of a superior order. In the realm of art her at- tention has been given mainly to needle work, embroidery and china-painting. Some very fine Spanish embroideries are among the products of her skill in this connection, and specimens of her handiwork have re- ceived the first prize at the St. Louis and St. Joseph Expositions. Her collection of hand- painted china is a notable one, and has de- lighted her friends and associates. During the earlier years of her life she had compara- tively little to do with business cares, but when circumstances made it necessary for her to shoulder these responsibilities she demonstrated her natural fitness for all that pertains thereto. The death of her step- father, Mr. Sidney Harris; her mother, her husband, a brother, and, last of all, her sister, Mrs. Corby, left her the sole survivor of a family who had large business interests, and heir to a vast estate. The affairs of this es- tate she has managed with superb ability, using her means judiciously to do all the good which it lay in her power to do. Her kindly and sympathetic nature made her the helpful friend of numerous charitable enter- prises in early life, and in the work of ad- vancing the interests of her beloved church she has always been active. Warmly inter- ested in the labors of that noble band of Christian workers, the Sisters of Charity, she has aided them in many ways, and she built and gave to the hospital, of which the Sisters have charge in St. Joseph, in memory of her late husband, Dr. E. B. Forsee, a memorial altar, which is of solid marble, and which oc- cupies a place in the hospital chapel, a thing of exquisite beauty in richness and design. Since she came into possession of the estate left to her by her sister, Mrs. Corby, she has carried forward the benevolent enterprises originated by Mrs. Corby, and has broadened and extended these labors of love. Wher- ever she has seen an opportunity to accom- plish a lasting good in aid of the church or its charities, or educational institutions, she has not ceased to embrace such opportuni- ties, and her good deeds in this connection may be said to be almost innumerable. Many calls are made upon her for assistance, to all

Meilda Forsee

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FORSYTH-FORSTER.

of which she responds cheerfully, and her counsels and advice are a source of strength and constant aid to many useful institutions. At her beautiful home, in which she now lives alone, the last representative of her family, she busies herself almost entirely, aside from ordinary household duties, with listening to the requests of those who seek her assistance, and in responding to their demands for aid. Thus she grows old grace- fully, sustained and soothed by an unfalter- ing trust in the Christian religion, looking confidently to the future and an eternity of happiness beyond the grave. Lamenting the loved ones who have passed on before her, and missing their sweet companionship, she finds consolation in the thought that a sweet reunion awaist her, and bears cheerfully the burdens of the present life.

Forsyth .- The county seat of Taney County, on White River, thirty-six miles south of Springfield, and twenty-three miles south of Chadwick, the nearest shipping point. It has a public school, two newspa- pers, the "Republican," Republican, and the "Star," Democratic, and a flourmill. In 1899 the population was 500.

Forster, William A., a prominent practitioner and teacher of homeopathy, sur- gery and gynecology in western Missouri, was born May II, 1856, in Denmark. His parents were Andrew Peter and Keturah (Green) Forster. The father, son of Dr. An- drew Forster, a learned and skillful surgeon at Copenhagen, Denmark, was educated in medicine and became a practitioner in Lon- don, England ; he also became a Baptist min- ister, and performed missionary labors in Sweden, organizing the first church of his denomination in that country. In 1867 he came to America, and practiced for several years in La Salle County, Illinois, thence re- moving to Fort Scott, Kansas, where he died at the age of seventy-one years. The mother, daughter of an English Baptist min- ister, is living in Kansas City, Missouri. Their son, William A., acquired a rudimen- tary education in his native land. He was eleven years of age when his parents re- moved to America, and for several years he was engaged in farm labors, during the win- ter months pursuing his studies in the com- mon school and the high school at Tonica,

Illinois. When eighteen years of age he en- tered Shurtleff College, at Upper Alton, Illi- nois, where he pursued the literary course and became creditably proficient, although he was unable to remain for graduation. This education was acquired only through in- domitable resolution and painful economy ; he supported himself entirely through his own efforts, and there were long periods when mush was his only food. He devoted himself with equal determination and similar self-denial to the preparation for a profes- sion, in the Homeopathic Medical College of Missouri, at St. Louis, from which he was graduated in 1880, taking the first prize for proficiency in practical surgery. During a portion of his student life he was surgeon in charge of the Free Dispensary of the college, and assistant surgeon to the Good Samari- tan Hospital in St. Louis. After practicing for a time at Fort Scott, Kansas, in associa- tion with his father, he removed to Nevada, Missouri, where he remained upward of two years, going thence to Fort Scott, Kansas, where he was engaged for about one year. In June, 1885, he permanently located in Kansas City, Missouri, and entered upon an eminently creditable and useful professional career, taking place with the foremost of his school in the Missouri Valley. Noted for his methodical and studious habits covering all departments of medical science, he received special recognition for proficiency in surgery and gynecology, and for the strict conscien- tiousness which marks his practice and teach- ing. Soon after coming to Kansas City he attracted the favorable attention of Dr. Joshua Thorne, through whose instrumen- tality he became professor of anatomy in the Kansas City Hospital College of Medicine and Surgery. On the disruption of that school he assisted in founding the Home- opathic Medical College of Kansas City, in which he was for six years professor of sur- gery ; he is now the oldest of those connected with that school residing in Kansas City. For five years past he has been professor of surgery in the Hahnemann Medical College of Kansas City, of which he was a founder. He is also consulting surgeon and gynecolo- gist in the Kansas City Hospital for Women and Children, and lecturer on anatomy and abdominal surgery in the training school connected therewith. During his residence in Kansas City he has served as examiner

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FORT-FORT ST. CHARLES, THE PRINCE.

for various life insurance companies, but in recent years has restricted himself to exam- inations for the Illinois Life Insurance Com- pany. He holds membership in the American Institute of Homeopathy, the Missouri In- stitute of Homeopathy, the Homeopathic Club of Kansas City, the Missouri Valley Homeopathic Medical Association, and the Kansas State Homeopathic Medical Society, in all of which he is held in high favor for his superior professional attainments and his ex- cellent personal qualities. He has long been a valued contributor to the leading home- opathic medical journals. In politics he is a Republican. Reared a Baptist, for some years past he has been identified with the Presbyterian Church, of which his wife is a member. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of the Ameri- can Order of United Workmen, and of the Knights of Pythias. Dr. Forster was mar- ried, December 6, 1894, to Mrs. Fannie C. Roe, widow of Thomas T. Roe, and daughter of John A. and Sarah (Fogle) Cannon. His children by a former marriage are Jessie H. and Walter L., the former a high school student, and the latter attending a ward school in Kansas City.

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Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II, Part 89

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n Publication date: 1901 Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors Number of Pages: 800

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 800