USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 30
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The Goodding brothers own a fine farm of 260 acres and have all of it under regular cultivation, except what they reserve for grazing purposes. Their stock interests are extensive and are looked after with all the energy and intelligent study, experience and intelligent observation have given them. They are Democrats in political faith, but have never sought or desired political positions of any kind, although attentive to the interests of their party and effective in its service. The honorable post of private citizenship fully satisfies them and they prefer to serve the public as well as they can from that sta- tion. But they are widely known and have the confidence and esteem of the people in all parts of the county.
WILLIAM JOSEPH BOULTON.
Combining in his parentage the sturdy qualities of the manly and self-reliant yeomanry of England and the cavalier spirit of Vir- ginia, William Joseph Boulton, who is one of the prosperous and pro- gressive farmers of Jackson township, Macon county, has well exem. plified in his successful career the characteristics of his ancestry and done credit to the place of his nativity as well as to the places in which his parents were born and reared. He was born in the township in which he now lives, and in which the whole of his life to the present time has been passed, on March 25, 1877, and is a son of Charles William and Emma Dee (Ellyson) Boulton.
The father was born March 12, 1844, and reared in England and came to the United States and Missouri in 1868. He located in Jackson township, this county, and here passed the remainder of his days actively and profitably engaged in farming. The mother was a daugh- ter of Davis and Ruth Ellyson, of Virginia, and descended from families long resident in that state. The father was also a newspaper correspondent of prominence and won as much reputation by his pen as he did success by his plow. He and his wife were the parents of three children, but two of whom are now living, their son, William Joseph, and their daughter, Ruth, who is the wife of Albert Harrison. The mother died in 1886 and the father in August, 1893.
William J. Boulton obtained his education in the district schools of
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his native township, and while attending them learned the practical requirements of the work he has been connected with during all the years of his maturity by making a full hand, as soon as he was able, on his father's farm. After leaving school he began farming for himself and has been connected with the same industry in a leading way ever since. He had the qualities that command success and progress, and he has achieved them in a very gratifying manner. He now owns 160 aeres of excellent land, left him by his father, which he farms with intelligence and skill, reserving from cultivation only what is required as pasturage for his stock. For, in addition to being a vigorous and progressive farmer, he is also engaged in raising live-stock for the markets on a scale commensurate with his facilities for the business and his extensive practical knowledge of it.
Mr. Boulton was married on August 26, 1908, to Miss Vada Mans- field, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of Isaac and Lyddie (Smith) Mansfield, who have resided in the state for many years. Mr. Boul- ton is an active, working Democrat in political relations, always zeal- ous and effective in the service of his party, and regarded with great respect by both its leaders and its rank and file in his township and county. His wife is a member of the Christian church, in which he also takes an active interest. In the public affairs of the county he is energetie and useful, giving special attention and the most effective support to every worthy enterprise in which the enduring welfare of the region of his home is involved, or which ministers to the advance- ment or comfort of its people. He is esteemed as one of the leading citizens and most representative farmers of Jackson township, and is held in high regard in other parts of Macon county, where his sterling worth and elevated manhood are known.
CHARLES O. BROWNSON.
This successful and progressive farmer and stock man of Jackson township, in this county, became an orphan at the age of three years by the death of his father, and it became necessary for him to begin making his own way in the world at an early age. For, while his mother, who survived her husband thirty years, was true and faithful to her trust in striving to rear her children, it was impossible for her to eare for them as she wished and they were thrown on their own resources to a considerable extent, while they were still young. They met the responsibility with energy and zeal and have proved that the lessons and example given them by their faithful surviving parent were not lost upon them in any degree.
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Charles O. Brownson was born at Prairieville, Barry county, Michigan, on November 9, 1856. He is a son of Oscar F. and Deborah A. (Steele) Brownson, the father a native of Richmond, Vermont, and the mother of Allegany county, New York. The father moved to Michigan with his parents when he was a young man, and there he met with and married his wife. They had four children, two of whom are living: Sarah E., the widow of the late Alfred Wyatt, of Kansas City, Missouri, and Charles O., the immediate subject of this brief review. The father died in 1859 and the mother in 1889. Their son, Charles, with his sister, Sarah E., was brought to Missouri by his mother when he was a small boy, arriving in this state and Macon county in 1864. He attended the distriet schools from the age of seven until twenty years old.
On leaving school he turned his attention to farming and raising stock, and these have been his steady occupations ever since. He now owns ninety-five acres of first-rate land, which he has improved with good buildings and provided with everything required for its vigorous and profitable cultivation. His stock industry is extensive and managed with great enterprise, so that it, also is profitable and flourishing. He has been very successful and has to his eredit the fact that all his acquisitions are the results of his own direct efforts, ability and good business capacity.
In the public affairs of the township and county of his home he has always taken an active and very serviceable interest, aiding in the achievement of every worthy undertaking in which the welfare of the people and the development of the region around him were involved. He served on the school board four years, was road overseer two years and road commissioner three years. He has also been a judge of the elections many times, and in numerous other capacities has rendered excellent service to the people. In politics he is a zealous Republican, always foremost in supporting the interests of his party and helping to promote its success. In church relations he is a Methodist, and for many years has been an ardent and successful worker for the good of the congregation to which he belongs. He is now one of its stewards and the treasurer of its Sunday school.
On January 1, 1890, Mr. Brownson was united in marriage with Miss Amanda A. Worth, a native of Missouri and a daughter of Andrew and Sarah (Gloyd) Worth, prominent residents of Carroll county, in this state. Mr. and Mrs. Brownson have had three children, but the only one living is their daughter, Bertha C. All the members of the family stand well in the community in which they live and enjoy the
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respect of the people in a high degree. They are recognized as very exemplary citizens, who perform all the duties of life with fidelity and meet every requirement in a spirit of entire devotion to what is right.
JOHN S. METTES.
1
Although himself born and reared in this country, this prosperous and highly successful farmer and stock man of Jackson township, this county, is of Holland parentage, his father, John Mettes, and his mother, whose maiden name was Gasenia Holofskopl, having been born and reared in that country. They had the characteristic energy and progressiveness of the wonderful nation from which they sprang, whose people enlarged their country by building it out into the sea and made it fruitful as a garden, and the son inherited from them the same qualifications for success in life.
The parents came to this country in 1850 and located in Oceana county, Michigan, where their son, John S., was born in 1855. He was one of their seven children and is the second born of the six who are still living. They are Nicholas, John S., William, Martin, Mary and Anna. The father also is still living and has his home at Leasburg, Missouri. The mother died August 22, 1904. The parents have been industrious and frugal farmers and prospered at the industry. They moved to Missouri in 1867, and at once became active and productive factors in the agricultural interests of Macon county, in which they took up their residence and the mother passed the remainder of her days.
John S. Mettes obtained his limited education in the district schools of his native county, which he was obliged to leave at an early age and go to farming. He accompanied his parents to this state when he was but twelve years of age, and ever since has been actively engaged in farming and raising stock in a general way. His progress was slow at first, for his undertaking was an arduous one and he was not fully equipped for it either by age or available capital. But he had a fortune in his energy and perseverance, and he studied the requirements of his work, in order to reap the largest and speediest returns. He soon got a good start and since then his progress has been steady and well main- tained. He has been very successful and won high rank among the best farmers of Jackson township, in which his operations are con- ducted. He owns an excellent farm of 300 acres and carries on an extensive and profitable stoek industry in connection with his farm- ing. To all departments of his work he gives the most careful and intel- ligent attention and makes every week of his labor tell to his advantage.
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In 1879 Mr. Mettes was united in marriage with Miss Mollie Lynch, a daughter of William and Katharine (Healey) Lynch, and a native of Illinois. Six children have been born of the union, all of whom are living. They are: Frances Grace, John William, James H., Joseph B., Katie Bess and Mary Ama. The father is an active working Democrat in his political relations and always gives his party good and faithful service, although he seeks none of the honors it has to bestow for himself. Fraternally he is connected with the order of Modern Woodmen of America and in his church relations is a Catholic. His interest in church work has always been cordial and helpful. He was chiefly instrumental in building the church of his faith which is located in Jackson township, and in many other ways has given earnest and serviceable attention to the welfare of the sect to which he belongs.
He has shown deep and abiding interest in the welfare of the town- ship and county in which he lives, also giving earnest and effective sup- port to all good projects for their advancement and the enduring progress and prosperity of their people. No citizen of the township stands higher in the good will of the inhabitants and none is more deserving of the regard he enjoys from all classes of the citizens among whom he has so long lived and labored.
STATE EXCHANGE BANK.
The State Exchange Bank of Macon was founded on March 1, 1894, and in 1896 it was consolidated with the Bank of Macon. Two years later it absorbed the First National Bank, and this move brought to its coffers $300,000 in deposits. The absorption took place in Jan- uary. 1908, and after it occurred the reorganization necessitated by the change of conditions resulted in the choice of the following directo- rate: President, John Scovern; vice-president, Thomas E. Wardell; cashier, Charles A. Wardell; assistant cashier, C. R. Maffery; direc- tors, John Scovern, Thomas E. Wardell, J. T. Doneghy, Ed. B. Clem- ents, Ben Eli Guthrie, R. G. Mitchell, T. S. Watson, H. V. Miller and Charles A. Wardell. Mr. Mitchell died in 1909 and was succeeded by W. E. McCulley.
The capital stock of the bank in 1908 was $100,000, and it is the same now. Under the present management the deposits and volume of business have steadily increased until at this time (1910) the bank is the strongest financial institution in Macon county. But its progress toward this distinction has not been remittent or jerky. It has been steady, continuons and along lines of wholesome development, growing out of the progress and improvement of the city and the increasing
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prosperity of its people. The president and cashier of the institution have had the clearness of vision to see and the alertness of action to seize the opportunities presented for its advancement, and it is mainly through their foresight and enterprise that the bank has made such sub- stantial progress. But they have done nothing speculative or experi- mental. They have simply met the requirements of the situation in a masterly way, providing for the wants of the community as it has kept growing, and have made the most of the circumstances.
Under a management so progressive and up-to-date it was to be supposed that every provision for the most approved modern banking business would be made, and it has been. The banking house, which is on Vine street, is modern in every way, equipped with everything necessary for its purpose and the convenience of its patrons, so far as office furniture and fixtures are concerned, and supplied with fireproof vaults and safety deposit boxes which can be rented at a moderate rate. The institution does a general banking business, including every fea- ture of modern banking, paying 3 per cent interest on time deposits, and exerting its whole energy for the accommodation of its patrons. In order to be of the greatest possible service to the community in which it operates, it confines its loaning operations to the people of Macon county.
Operating on safe and wholesome lines, keeping its activities at work to the full measure of the requirements, watching with sleepless vigilance every avenue of approach that might endanger the interests of its patrons and its own reputation, and exhibiting the utmost liberal- ity in business consistent with safety and good management, this bank has been a fruitful source of help to the city of Macon in the onward march of its progress and an invincible bulwark of defense to its people against financial disaster in times of trouble. In periods of fiscal depression, stringeney in business and panic in the industrial world, when other banks, in this and all other parts of the country, have been temporarily paralyzed or even permanently wrecked, this institution has shown itself to be as strong as Gibraltar, and against it all the assaults engendered by such conditions have been employed in vain.
JAMES LANDREE.
James Landree, who is one of the patriarchs of Lyda township, in this eounty, is now eighty-seven years of age and has lived in Macon county all of seventy-two years. During all of that long period he has been actively connected with the leading industry of this section and has expended his efforts faithfully and diligently in helping to build
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it up and to provide for the substantial welfare of its people. His long record among this people has been one of uprightness and use- fulness, and he is universally revered for the elevated character of his citizenship and the modest and unostentations way in which he has borne himself in all the relations of life.
Mr. Landree was born in 1823 in that part of Virginia which was torn from the Mother of States and Statesmen by the stern arbitra- ment of the Civil war, and grew to the age of fifteen in his native płace, attending the country schools and gaining his preliminary train- ing for the work that was to fall to him as a planter and farmer. He is a son of Jean Baptiste and Jeannette (Taylor) Landree, the former born in the province of Quebec, Canada, and the latter in Pennsylvania. His paternal grandfather came from France to Canada at an early period and his mother's father from England to this country, at some- where near the same time. The father moved to what is now West Virginia as a young man and was married in Pennsylvania. In 1838 he moved his family to Missouri, locating in Macon county and engag- ing in farming. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, only three of whom are living, James, Ada, the wife of Thomas Burns, and Charles W. The mother died in 1864 and the father October 18, 1876, in his eighty-ninth year. They were persons of consequence and standing in the county and held in high regard by all who knew them. They came to the state when it was largely wild and unpopulated and bore their full share of the burdens and hardships of frontier life, doing all they could to improve and develop the country around them and conducting themselves as only good citizens will.
Their son, James, became a farmer also on leaving school and has adhered to that line of effort ever since, although of late years he has been somewhat retired and less active than in his prime. He was married in 1846 to Miss Louisa Jane Johnson, a native of Macon county. Of the four children born to them only two are living, their sons. James Monroe and Walter. All the members of the family enjoy, in a marked degree, the respect of the communities in which they live and fully deserve the esteem in which they stand. For all are useful members of society and do their whole duty as citizens.
Mr. Landree, the venerable head of the household, has ever been active in the support of all undertakings for the good of his town- ship and county, and has made an excellent record as an energetic and progressive man. He has been a life-long Democrat in his political adhesion, and, while he has never sought or desired political prefer- ment, he has always given his party active and loyal support. Hle
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has managed his own business with vigor and prudence, and has shown the same qualities with reference to public affairs. At his advanced age he is still hale and hearty and displays as much activity as many men who are much younger. His life is a connecting link between the early days of the county's history, its state of untamed wildness, and its present state of advanced development and progress, and he has done his part to aid in bringing about the change.
JOHN MATTHEW ELSEA.
Uniting in his make-up the blood of Virginia and that of Ireland, and indoctrinated in the characteristics which distinguish the people of the Old Dominion and those of the Emerald Isle, John Matthew Elsea, of Lyda township, Macon county, is a fine example of elevated American citizenship with a versatility of capacity adaptable to any circumstances and a readiness in resourcefulness that enables him to meet any emergency with the spirit of a master who believes in himself and has nothing to fear. Mr. Elsea is himself, however, a native of Missouri, and was born in Shelby county on November 23, 1856. He is a son of John G. and Mary S. (Patton) Elsea, the former born and reared in Virginia, and the latter a native of Ireland, who came to this country with her parents when she was but thirteen years old.
The father came to this county when he was a young man and engaged in mercantile business for a number of years at Callao. He then tired of this pursuit and turned his attention to farming, at which he passed the remainder of his life, dying on his farm in 1887. His widow is still living and resides in Atlanta. They had six children, three of whom have died. Those who are living are John M., Will- iam B. and Ila Virginia, the wife of V. D. Gordon. The father pros- pered as a merchant and farmer, and by his upright and useful life secured the respect and good will of all classes of the people. He was a man of quiet demeanor and never sought prominence in public or private life. It was enough for him and satisfied all his aspirations to perform faithfully all the duties of citizenship in every relation of being, and this he did in full measure. He never sought or desired official station and mingled but little in public affairs.
His son, John M. Elsea, grew to manhood under the parental rooftree and obtained his education in the public schools, attending those located in Callao, mainly. After leaving school he entered upon the stage of action for himself as a farmer, and this is the part he has played in the world's industrial drama ever since. And he has played it successfully, winning substantial reward for his diligence and skill
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for himself and helping to build up and magnify the industrial and commercial greatness of his township and county at the same time. He has a fine, well improved farm of 120 acres, which lie has brought to a high state of productiveness by the vigor and intelligence with which he cultivates it, and he also carries on an extensive and flourishing live-stock industry, which is very profitable. It is conducted with the same care and attention that mark his farming operations, and it is but a logical sequence that both pay him well, because of the labor and skill he bestows upon them. He is also a stockholder in the Union Telephone company and takes an active interest in its success and further development.
Political affairs enlist Mr. Elsea's active interest and secure his helpful service. He is a firm and zealous member of the Democratic party, but, while he works with ardor for the success of his party, he never seeks or desires a public office of any kind, and has always refused when asked to take one, either by election or appointment. In reference to local affairs of interest and importance to the community, he is always energetic and influential, using his activities and giving his excellent example in behalf of progress and the enduring welfare of his township and county. His religious connection is with the Baptist church, in which he is deeply interested and in whose behalf he is an ardent and devoted worker. He has served many years as one of the trustees of the congregation to which he belongs and is always a leader in all its worthy and commendable undertakings.
Successful in his own business and of great assistance in pro- moting the general interests of his community, Mr. Elsea is looked upon as one of the useful and representative citizens of the township in which he lives. He is a fine specimen of the well-to-do and progressive Mis- souri farmer and his whole record is highly creditable to Macon county. On August 5, 1886, he was joined in wedlock with Miss Margaret L. Miles, a daughter of Major and Nancy (Daugherty) Miles, long residents of Macon county, where she was born and reared. She and her husband are the parents of seven children who are living and have had one that died. Those living are: William Arzwell, who resides in Texas, and Grace L., Gilbert Miles, Anna Lee, Marguerite, Claudine, and Corinne, all of whom live in this state.
WILBERT HENRY BROCKMAN.
Among the enterprising, progressive and successful farmers of Lyda township, in this county, Wilbert Henry Brockman, whose home is in the neighborhood of Atlanta, stands high and is fully entitled to
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the rank he holds. The story of his life, as told in plain and simple narrative, would seem commonplace and uneventful, for its record is one of fidelity to daily duty and the conscientious performance of every task belonging to him with the utmost of his capacity and zeal. This savors of the commonplace and presents few spectacular features to the analysis of history. Yet it is by no means without significance in the eye of a true discernment. "Contentment, like the speedwell, blows along the common beaten path." And the career of Mr. Brockman displays the beauty and fragrance dne to a peaceful and unruffled course of steady progress, and the strength and virility of the manhood that can pursue it without turning aside amid the clamors and con- tentions of our rushing and all-daring American life. In the success he has achieved by his method, his life also shows how potential the quiet and unostentatious forces are when concentrated on a single worthy purpose, and how much they can accomplish by standing aside and attending to duty while the noisy world rushes by them or roars and strives around them.
It is not to be supposed, however, that Mr. Brockman has been indifferent to the developing and improving potencies at work among the people amid whom he lives and labors. He has been one of the most active and energetic promoters of every undertaking in which the substantial welfare of his township and county has been involved, but he has not expended his efforts in this behalf, or any other, in a way that has been showy or intended to attract attention. He has labored for results and left to others the work of making displays and winning commendation. His life has been that of a plain farmer, and he has met every requirement of his station completely and in a masterly manner.
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