USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 28
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Mr. Smith was born at Worcester, Massachusetts, January 29, 1834, and though a few years older than the Scotch philanthropist, bears a striking resemblance to the pictures of that gentleman. He is short, stout and wears a well-trimmed beard just like Mr. Carnegie does. Mr. Smith's life has always been full of activity and he stands well among the people of Macon.
Soon after the Iowa and St. Louis railroad was constructed into Macon county. rival townsite companies hurried to establish a couple of towns in the northern part of the county. The location was in the heart of the Chariton valley, right near the river and was most pictur- esque. Indian hill loomed to the northward and on all sides was rich bottom land. Both settlements were called Gifford. They were dis- tinguished as North and South. Later on, the North was dropped from the norsh town and it became known simply as Gifford. The towns were separated by a bluegrass meadow, belonging to J. A. Urquhart. In both places buildings were rapidly erected, town lots sold and industries of all sorts established. Then came the big fight for the postoffice and the depot. A postal inspector went up, talked with the people of both towns and returned, unable to make a decision. He said it was the most trying problem he has had put up to him during his service with the
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
government. The railroad company felt the same way about it, for it hesitated a long time before establishing the depot, hoping that the towns would settle it themselves. The feeling was naturally somewhat strained, and for a while there was but little intercourse between the two thriving towns lying so close together. At one time the manager of the Iowa and St. Louis railroad, Mr. Brimson, furnished a private car for one of his ministerial friends to go to the Giffords and conduct religious services in a tent. The car was kept at the north town and the preacher put up his tent in the south town. The meetings were largely attended and much good resulted, it is said, but the preacher was not successful in causing the glad hand to be extended across the Urquhart meadow.
At last the railroad put up a very nice depot at the north town and placed an agent in charge. At this time the south town was really the larger place, but the north town claimed that it had a contract with the railroad and that established its right to the depot. This settled the postoffice question, the rule of the department being that the office had to be near the railroad depot. For quite a while the south town received its mail largely through rural route service out of Elmer, preferring that to going to the north town for it.
During all the years of rivalry the two towns grew in spite of it. Both of the towns had banks and large business houses. Residences were also numerous. The south town had a good newspaper, The Gifford Gazette. The north town had a box factory which worked a large force of men.
In May. 1907, there was a notable meeting on the Urquhart meadow by the representatives of the two Giffords. Following are the men composing the committee; North town-John Saddler, H. C. Surbeck, T. I. Murray, Dr. Foster, J. G. Magers. South town-Samuel Gash, Jose Bradley. W. A. Robinson, Levi Thompson, J. C. Bradley. .
The proposition was to join the two places and have one good large town under the same organization. Following were the concessions offered by the north town : To move its bank a short ways to the south; to assist in defraying expenses of moving the Greenstreet building; to move the depot down to the corner ; to consolidate lumber yards!
Concessions offered by south town : To merge bank into the north town bank; to move Bradley poultry house up on Urquhart forty, bewteen towns; to centralize the school building between the towns; to open street through to north town and encourage building up so as to connect the two towns; to work together to make united Gifford the best town in North Macon county.
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
The two committees met as per agreement and discussed the pre- liminary points in a friendly way, but when it came to moving the depot the North Giffordites could not see the practicability of it. On that proposition the committees hitched and the pacification proposition fell through.
It will not be long, however, it is thought, before a street is run through the center of Mr. Urquhart's meadow and that will result in a practical union of the towns. There is greater harmony now then at first and farmers do their trading at both places. With the completion of the railroad on through to the main line a united Gifford is almost a certainty, which means a large and prosperous community.
Macon county enjoys mail facilities unexcelled by any community in the state. There are thirty-six Rural Mail Routes traversing all the more populous sections, radiating from the following towns; Macon, 7; Excello, 1; Bevier, 2; Callao, 4; New Cambria, 4; Anabel, 2; Ethel, 3; Elmer, 3; Atlanta, 5; La Plata, 5; Rural Route carriers cover about twenty-five miles. They receive $900 per annum.
Following are the postoffices where mail is received and delivered : Anabel, Ardmore, Atlanta, Axtell, Bevier, Callao, College Mound, Elmer, Ethel, Evelyn, Excello, Gifford, Goldsbery, Kaseyville, Keota, La Crosse, La Plata, Lingo, Love Lake, Macon, New Cambria, Nickellton, Redman, Tullvania, Walnut-25.
These are the villages which appeared on the records in 1884 as postoffices, but are now served by Rural Delivery: Beverly, Barnes- ville, Bloomington, Barryville, Economy, Ettle, Goldsberry, Seney, Maple, Mercyville (Ehner), Lyda, Narrows Creek, Nickellton, Kasey- ville, Ten Mile, Woodville-16.
Congress has, within recent years, appropriated $60,000 for a Fed- eral Building at Macon. The site has been located on Rollins street, three blocks south of the Court House, and the lots paid for. It is expected construction work on the building will begin soon.
Free city delivery in Macon was established in 1902. At that time the postoffice inspector, Mr. W. L. Reid, said Macon was the smallest. town in the United States that justified city delivery. The postoffice receipts were over $10,000 per annum. They have steadily increased since then. In 1909 the Macon office's patronage brought $14,000. There are four uniformed carriers, making two deliveries daily in the residence districts and three in the business section. Including the seven Rural Route Carriers, seventeen persons report for duty at the Macon post- office. Charles Farrar is postmaster; Thomas MeKay, assistant post- master; Miss Nelle Wilson, money order and stamp clerk.
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY MACON COUNTY'S VOTE On Presidential Candidates : 1892.
Cleveland, Democrat. ,3,274
Harrison, Republican.
.2,722
Weaver, Third Party 739
1896.
Bryan, Democrat. .4,465
McKinley, Republican
.3,475
Palmer, Gold Ticket.
27
1900.
Bryan, Democrat. .4,177
McKinley, Republican.
. 3,565
Debs, Social Labor Ticket.
128
1904.
Parker, Democrat. .3,592
Roosevelt, Republican
.3,674
1908.
Bryan, Democrat.
.3,911
Taft, Republican. .3,543
thomas Ehandell
BIOGRAPHICAL
THOMAS WARDELL.
Thomas Wardell, senior, the pioneer coal operator of Macon county, was born in the county of Durham, England, July 4, 1835. His father was John Wardell and his mother's name was Jane Trumble. Mr. Wardell came to America in 1844 and here he was married to Miss Ann Surtees, daughter of Theopolus and Jane Surtees. Mr. Wardell's first occupation in America was that of a miner. He came to Macon county in 1861 and located at Bevier. He worked as a coal miner until the age of 30, which was three years after he settled at Bevier. But not long did he work as an ordinary hand. He soon developed that business ability which in later years was destined to make him one of the most successful coal operators in the West. He began supplying coal to the railroad company from a mine he operated himself, and grad- ually extended the capacities of his plants until he controlled a large tract of valuable coal land and was employing 600 men. During his active life Mr. Wardell was also interested in coal mines in Wyoming. Being a practical miner and knowing the business thoroughly, he was an accurate judge of values and of men. He foresaw that all of the land to the south of Bevier would some day be utilized in supplying coal for the market, and when he died he had acquired enough of this land to operate for many years. It is now in the possession of the Central Coal & Coke Company, successor to the Kansas & Texas Coal Company, and a railroad line, the property of the coal company, runs through the heart of the district. Mr. Wardell died October 12, 1888, leaving his wife and four children: Thomas E., Elizabeth, Mary and Jane. Elizabeth is now Mrs. Harry M. Rubey; the next oldest, Mary, married Harry Wilkinson, of Chicago, and the youngest daughter, Jane, is now Mrs. Sidney Broek.
Mr. Wardell was one of the most energetic men that ever operated in the Macon county coal fields, and those who knew him predicted, had he lived, that great things would have been accomplished in this county
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
through his enterprise. He died in the prime of life. Right in the midst of his business activity and full of plans for the development of a great ambition. His son, Thomas E. Wardell, has shown a great deal of his father's public spirit in the encouragement of enterprises about Macon.
CHARLES O. BARNES.
Thrown on his own resources at the early age of thirteen, and hav- ing in addition to the burden of supporting himself that of contributing to the necessities of the rest of the family, Charles O. Barnes, of Bevier, for some years past the deputy sheriff of Macon county, has made his way in the world through difficulties and gained every step of his prog- ress by arduous effort and a strict reliance on his own resources, which were nothing but his natural ability and determined spirit. His is not, however, the only story in the family history that is darkened with trial and has the element of the dramatic in it in large measure. His grand- parents were pioneers in this state and dared all the dangers and endured all the hardships of frontier life.
Mr. Barnes was born in the city of Macon, Missouri, on August 27, 1866, and is a son of Kit and Sophronia (Seney) Barnes, also natives of Missouri and the children of pioneers. The paternal grandfather, James Barnes, was born and grew to early manhood in Virginia. He came as a young man to this state and located in Boone county. Even though he was a preacher of the Baptist seet, and went about doing good, especially ministering to the spiritual welfare as well as the physical comfort of the Indians, he was obliged to build himself forts to protect himself and his family from the occasional fury of the savages, for their peaceful attitude and promises were by no means to be relied on. He preached in Boone and Macon counties for many years, in the early days, and was one of the best known and most highly esteemed men in the region, meeting all the requirements of his often perilous career with heroic courage and performing its always trying duties with fidelity.
His son, Kit Barnes, the father of Charles O., was born in Boone county in 1833, and grew to manhood amid the constant perils of the border. In 1852 he was married to Miss Samantha MeGhee, and by this union became the father of four sons. In 1856 he moved to the city of Macon and during the next three years was engaged in mercan- tile business there. He then became a farmer, and for several years le tilled the soil with industry and profit. But the bent of his mind was toward mechanical pursuits, and he learned the trade of plasterer,
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
and to this occupation he adhered to the end of his life, which came at Bevier, Missouri, on November 15, 1879. His first wife died in 1860 and 1862 he married a second, being united on this occasion with Miss Sophironia Seney. Three sons and five daughters were born of this union, and by the early death of the father were left as a charge to their mother, who gave herself up to rearing and caring for them with all her fidelity and ability. Yet the task was beyond her powers and each of the older children was obliged to take a hand in helping to provide for the household as soon as a suitable age for the purpose was reached.
Charles O. Barnes attended the district school in his native city during the winter months of a few years, but, owing to the circum- stances of the family, his education was necessarily limited. By the loss of his father, when he was but thirteen years of age himself, he had to go to work in the coal mines at Bevier at that age and work labori- ously for some time as a track boy at 50 cents a day, giving his earn- ings to his mother to help her along. He was, however, industrious and frugal, and in a few years got a little start in life, and was able to begin a career for himself. He continued to work in the mines and at other occupations until 1900, and then, because of his great interest in political affairs and his demonstrated ability for official duties, he was elected a member of the board of aldermen of Bevier. So satisfac- tory to the people were his services in this office that he was re-elected in 1902, 1904 and again in 1907. He had not given up the claims of industrial life on his energies and capacities, but having entered pub- lic life it has been difficult for him to break away from it, as the people have continued to demand his services. In 1908, when J. D. Hall was elected sheriff of Macon county, he appointed Mr. Barnes his deputy, and the latter has been serving the county in that capacity ever since. His duties have often been very trying and exacting, but he has been faithful to the limit in the discharge of them, and has made a number of very important and daring arrests in the state during his term in the office, and has aided in bringing back for trial a number of dan- gerous characters from other states.
In politics Mr. Barnes is a firm and loyal Democrat, always ardent and effective in the service of his party, and several times has been elected a member of the county, ward and city central Democratic committees. His religious alliance is with the Methodist church. On May 13, 1887, he was united in marriage with Miss Martha Whitaker, a native of Macon county, Missouri. They have had six sous and one daughter. Three of the sons died in infancy. The other four of the children are living. As a public official, as a citizen of progressive
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
spirit, deeply interested in the welfare of the county, and as a man of probity and uprightness, Mr. Barnes is highly esteemed. It is well known all over the county that he can always be relied on to do whatever is right in every relation of life, and he has the confidence and regard of the people in all parts of the county and throughont a large extent of the surrounding country, as well as in other states where he is known.
DR. EDWARD B. CLEMENTS.
This eminent physician and surgeon, who has employed his activ- ities and devoted his energies and acquirements in the service of the people of Macon county for a period of twenty-eight years, stands deservedly high in the estimation of the public as a professional man and a citizen, and holds an elevated rank among his professional breth- ren throughout Northern Missouri. He was born in Washington, D. C., on May 10, 1861, and was brought by his parents to Macon county when he was four years old. He is a son of John T. and Mary S. (Brush) Clements, the former a native of the District of Columbia and the latter of Virginia.
The father was an architect in Washington, D. C., and during the Civil war was an ardent supporter of the Union. Carrying his convic- tions into what was then a far western locality, he moved his family to Macon county, this state, at the close of the war and founded the Macon Journal, which was the first Republican newspaper ever pub- lished in this part of the country. He conducted this paper for some years, and also published for three years an independent daily which was known as the Macon Pilot. These were not his first ventures in the field of journalism. Prior to the Civil war he edited the Louis- iana Journal for a number of years. But when the war began, taking the Union side, as has been noted, he sought again his native heath in our federal district, and there joined the military organization known as "The National Rifles," which was soon afterward hurried to the front and was kept in active service throughout the memorable sectional contest that so awfully tore asunder and desolated our country. The command took part in the first battle of Bull Run and in many other engagements of the war, most of which made history and all of which established on imperishable records the valor of the citizen-soldiery of America, whether it fought under the Star Spangled Banner or the Bonnie Blue Flag. Mr. Clements rose by ability and fidelity in the army to the rank of captain and was breveted major for conspicuous gallantry on many a hard fought field.
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
At the close of the war he was appointed pension agent for Mis- souri and the adjoining states, and in acceptance of the appointment became a resident of Macon in this state. After ten years of faithful service in this locality, he returned to Washington and received an appointment in the pension department of the goverment, which he is still filling with acceptability. He and his wife are residents of Wash- ington and stand high in its social circles, being firmly established in the regard and good will of both its official and its civilian population. They are the parents of two sons and three daughters, all of whom are living. The family is of English and German ancestry, but both sides of it have long been resident in this country. Its American progenitors were prominent in the Revolution, which freed our land from foreign dominion, in the War of 1812, which gave us the same freedom on the high seas, in the Mexican war, which added vastly to the glory of our arms and the extent of our public domain, and in all other sanguinary struggles in which our people have been engaged.
Dr. Edward B. Clements grew to manhood in Macon and obtained his scholastic education in the public schools of that city. He had further preperation for usefulness in life through a course of special training which he pursued at a business college in the city of St. Joseph. He began the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. Thomas B. Hood, of Washington, D. C., and entered the medical department of Howard University, in that city, in 1877. He was graduated from that institution in 1881 with the degree of M. D. and immediately began the practice of his profession at Macon, where he has ever since resided and been actively engaged in his helpful service to the people of this and adjacent counties.
Dr. Clements has always been a close student of his profession and taken advantage of every means at his command to keep abreast with its latest discovery and thought. He has long been active and prominent in the county and state medical societies, and in 1886 took a post-graduate course of special instruction in the New York Post Graduate Medical School. For a number of years he was associated with Colonel Blees, an extensive manufacturer in this county, as the private physician for his family and employes, but at the same time continued his general practice with steadily increasing reputation and a steadily expanding body of patients. He is still in active practice and practically at the head of his profession in this part of the state.
The Doctor served some years as one of the directors of the First National Bank of Macon and is now one of the directors of the State Exchange Bank of the same city. He is also vice-president
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
and general manager of the Blees Buggy Company, which does an extensive business and has enjoyed great prosperity under his direc- tion. In politics he is a pronounced Republican and for eight years served on the state central committee of his party. So efficient were his services in the councils of the party that he was recognized as having great capacity for public affairs, and was in consequence elected a mem- ber of the lower house of the Forty-second General Assembly of the state, in the deliberations of which he took a prominent and very effective part. In fraternal life he is a Free Mason of the Knights Templar degree and also belongs to the order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias.
In December, 1883, Dr. Clements and Miss Elizabeth Barclay were united in marriage. Mrs. Clements is a native of Ohio who came with her parents to Missouri in 1866. She and her husband stand high in the esteem of all the people of the county and are recognized as among its most useful and estimable citizens. They are active in all works of public improvement and energetic in promoting every intellectual and moral agency at work in the community. The public weal is dear to them, and their work in all worthy attempts to advance it is on perpetual record to their credit and the advantage of the people all around them, and they are esteemed in accordance with their worth and usefulness.
BENJAMIN R. DYSART.
This Nestor of the bar of Macon county and venerable citizen of the state, who has been connected with its progress and advancement in many leading ways, has passed the whole of his seventy-six years of life to this time within its borders and given all his energy and ability to the service of its people. As a professional man he has high rank; as a public-spirited and progressive potency in all that pertains to the welfare of the state he has been an important factor in its devel- opment ; as a valiant soldier in a short and disastrous military career during the early stage of the Civil war hie sealed his devotion to its cause in the great conflict between the sections with his blood; and in all the duties of citizenship in every relation in life he has well illustrated the best attributes of its elevated and progressive manhood and the characteristics for which its people are distinguished.
Mr. Dysart was born in Howard county, Missouri, on April 13. 1834. His father, John Dysart, was a native of Tennessee and came - to Missouri in his boyhood with his parents, who located in Randolph county some time prior to 1820, before Missouri was a state, and while
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
yet a great part of its wide domain was under the dominion of its savage denizens of plain and forest. The grandfather, James Dysart, was also a native of Tennessee, and, although his life in Missouri scarcely passed beyond the pioneer period, he rendered good service to the region of it in which he lived in helping to found its government and bring about the lasting benefits of its later civilization. The father was a farmer, and in the early days of the state's history was the county judge of Howard county.
His wife, the mother of Benjamin R. Dysart, whose maiden name was Matilda Brooks, was a daughter of William and Susan (Pyle) Brooks, who came from Kentucky to Missouri, where she was born and reared. She and her husband became the parents of nine children, all of whom grew to maturity except the two last born. Those now living are: Benjamin R., the immediate subject of this brief memoir; Martha, the widow of the late Rev. James B. Mitchell; and Elizabeth, the widow of the late Dr. T. P. Parkinson, of Chariton county. The father died in Howard county in 1869 and the mother in 1873.
Benjamin R. Dysart began his scholastic training in the public schools of Randolph and Howard counties. From them he went to. Central College at Fayette, Missouri, and later McGee College at College Mound. His preparation for his professional work was made at Cumberland University, which is located at Lebanon, Tennessee. He was admitted to the bar in 1858 and began his practice at Blooming- ton, at that time the county seat of Macon connty, associating himself with George W. Sharp, the firm name being Sharp & Dysart. The partnership lasted until the beginning of the Civil war, when Mr. Sharp entered the Christian ministry. He is now a Cumberland Pres- byterian clergyman and located at Kirksville, Missouri. When the partnership was dissolved Mr. Dysart obeyed the call of Governor Jackson and enlisted in Price's army for the defense of the state against armed invasion. He was severely wounded at the battle of Springfield, and this ended his military career. After recovering from his wound he returned to this county and located at Macon, which was made the county seat in 1863.
Here he resumed the practice of law and in this he has been actively engaged ever since. In March, 1891, he formed a partner- ship with the late Robert G. Mitchell, which lasted until the death of Mr. Mitchell on March 6, 1909. In politics Mr. Dysart has always been a Democrat and an important factor in the councils and activities of his party. In 1875 he was elected a member of the convention which formulated the present constitution of the state, and in that
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