USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 40
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John Michael Surbeek was brought to the United States by his par- ents when he was eight years of age. He grew to maturity and was edu- eated in Toledo, Ohio, and for a time conducted profitable farming operations in the vicinity of that city. In 1868 he came to Missouri, where the ravages of the Civil war were still visible and the country was just beginning to show the first fruits of its rejuvenating spirit. He believed that with the increasing prosperity and growing greatness of the state his own fortunes might be profitably linked and share the same benefits. On his arrival in this section he located in Macon county, buying land near Elmer in Walnut township, and here continuing exten- sively the farming and stoek-raising industries he had begun on a small seale in his former American home. He is still pushing his progress
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J. M. SURBECK
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in these lines of production and steadily expanding his enterprise to larger dimensions and more considerable returns. At this time he owns more than 1,800 acres of good land, the greater part of which is in an advanced state of cultivation, and is considered the most substantial and progressive citizen of Elmer.
All the fiscal, industrial and economic interests of the township enlist his cordial attention and have his effective assistance for their promotion toward the highest and most fruitful development; and the moral, intellectual and social agencies at work in the community look to him for aid with confident expectations and are never disappointed. He was one of the founders of the Elmer Exchange Bank and has served as its president from the beginning of its history. Under the impulse of his enterprise it has thriven, steadily increased its business and more and more firmly established itself in the confidence and regard of the people. Its wise and liberal policy has made it a source of great benefit in the improvement of the town and township and given it an excellent name and a host of friends in other parts of the county.
Mr. Surbeck adheres to the Republican party in political affairs and does yeoman service in its behalf. He is averse to official life and has no desire for either the honors or the emoluments of public station, but he believes firmly in the principles of his party and feels that it is his duty to do all he can to help them to supremacy in the control of the government, local and general. Still, he never allows partisan interests to darken his vision or stay or direct his hand in reference to local matters in which the enduring good of his community is involved, but looks to that alone in determining his course in connection with them.
In June, 1868, Mr. Surbeck was united in marriage with Miss Eva Dorothy Sorge, a native of Ohio. They have seven children: Eliza- beth, Villa, Frank K., George M., H. C., Tress and John L. In their several localities, pursuits and stations in life they are all exemplifying in their daily lives the lessons given them by admonition and example around the family hearthstone, and doing their parts as progressive and productive citizens of the country. The parents are not known where they are not esteemed, and the number of their admiring friends is coextensive with that of their acquaintances.
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J. F. GROSS, M. D.
The life of a country physician in a new country is one of great privation and hardship, and its difficulties are not occasional or sporadic, but continuous and unavoidable. He is obliged to forego almost entirely his own comfort in providing for that of others, and
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dare not give much consideration to the condition of the weather or the conveniences of travel. Neither is a night of rest vouchsafed to him after a day of toil with any degree of certainty. Sickness and death respect neither circumstances nor conditions, neither calm nor tempest, neither day nor night, and the physician in a sparsely settled country, who has the territory largely or wholly to himself, is their slave and must ignore all outward bearings just as they do. His life requires heroie qualities and constant devotion to duty, and it is greatly to the credit of American professional life that these qualities have seldom, if ever, been found wanting in this class of publie benefactors.
One of the finest illustrations of their possession and use in the service of a large extent of country in this part of the world is furnished by the professional career of Dr. J. F. Gross of Callao in this county. For more than forty years he has devoted himself with assiduous industry to the study and practice of medicine in Macon county, giving the people excellent professional service and exemplifying all the time and in all the relations of life the best attributes of a lofty, progressive and broad-minded American citizenship. And that his career is appreciated is fully shown by the high and universal esteem in which he is held and the unvarying respect and consideration with which he is treated by all classes of the people.
.Dr. Gross was born in Randolph county, Missouri, on April 15, 1842, and is a son of Noalı and Mary (Sears) Gross, natives of Ken- tueky. The father was born in the Blue Grass state in 1816 and came with his parents to Missouri in 1818. They were thus pioneers in two states, having been born and reared in the Carolinas and migrated from there to Kentucky in early life. They located on a farm in Ran- dolphi county of this state and there redeemed a traet of wild land from the waste and made it over into a comfortable home with the aid of their children whom they reared to maturity on this rugged frontier. Their son Noah, the Doctor's father, was married in 1839, and he and his wife became the parents of eleven children. Seven of these are living: Dr. J. F., the immediate subject of these paragraphs; G. W .; Bettie, the wife of George W. Talbott; Sarah, the wife of Rufus Good- son; J. H., T. J., and Minnie, the wife of Jesse Truitt. The father died in February, 1901, and the mother on January 23, 1904.
Dr. J. F. Gross grew to manhood on his father's farm and took an important and helpful place in the performance of the labors it entailed on all the members of the family. He attended in an irregular way for a few years, and only during the winter months, one of the four country schools in the county, which were at that time the only
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educational institutions of any kind it could maintain, and thus aequired the rudiments of an academic education. But he was diligent and studions, and so far succeeded in the acquisition of knowledge that when he left school he beeame a teacher and followed that occupation for a time. He then engaged in farming until 1861, when he joined a Company enrolled by Captain Hallock for service in the Civil war, enlisting at Macon. His company was soon at the front and served first year of conflict between the seetions of our then distraeted country it saw considerable aetive and perilous service. It took part in many notable battles, among them those at Carthage, Lexington, and Wilson Creek, and also engaged in countless skirmishes and minor eontests.
After the war the Doctor returned to Macon county and again engaged in farming. In 1869 he began the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. Josiah Gates of Laplata and a little later entered the Eleetrie Medical College in St. Louis. After receiving his degree he began the practice of his profession in White township, Macon county, where he remained three years. At the end of that period he moved to Independenee township, and during the next sixteen years was actively engaged in a general practice throughout the county with head- quarters in that portion. He then took up his residence at Goldsberry, and for fifteen years stood at the head of his profession in that region, leading in both his standing as a physician and in the magnitude and activity of his praetice.
As the burden of years increased on him Dr. Gross felt more and more a longing for the quieter life of a farmer, although it was not to be expected that a physician so active as he had been and so eminent as he had become would be allowed to retire entirely from praetiee. But he determined to make the effort to gratify his desires as fully as he eould, and accordingly he returned to his former township and located on the farm there on which he is still living, continuing his practice in compliance with the wishes of the people and carrying on extensive farming operations to gratify his own. His farm comprises 160 acres of exeellent land and handsomely supports his extensive stoek industry besides yielding to the skillful husbandry bestowed upon it by the Doctor and his son abundant crops of general farm produets. It is one of the best and most desirable in the township.
On December 24, 1863, Dr. Gross was united in marriage with Miss Clarissa Stedman, a native of Wiseonsin whose parents moved from Ohio to that state. Of the eight children born of this union six are living : Eugene Chesterfield, who resides in the state of Wyoming; A. D., who is deputy sheriff of Macon county ; Nora P., who is the wife
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of H. Thurman of New Mexico; John B., Loren E., who is also a resi- dent of Wyoming; and Evart E. The father has been a life-long Democrat in political faith and adhesion and has always taken a very active part in the work of his party. While not an office seeker in any sense or to any degree, he served three years as township clerk and has been a member of the school board for more than twelve. His interest in the welfare of the people and the development and improve- ment of the township and county has been constant and serviceable and is highly appreciated. In religious affiliation he has long been closely connected with the primitive Baptist church, and for many years has been one of the most helpful and interested members of the congre- gation to which he belongs. The Doctor has well nigh completed the three score and ten years assigned as the ordinary limit of human life by the sacred writer, but he seems by no means near the end of his vigor. He is still hale, hearty and active, and would seem to have many years of usefulness yet in store for him. And that he may have is the universal prayer of the people among whom he lives and labors, by all of whom he is very highly esteemed and cordially venerated.
CLARK HERRIN.
Pushing his own interests with assiduous industry, good judgment and enterprising spirit, and looking after those of the community with ardor, progressiveness and fine breadth of view, Clark Herrin, one of the successful and prosperous farmers and stock-raisers of Liberty township in this county, is justly regarded as one of the county's most useful and representative citizens. He is, moreover, a native of the county and has passed all the years of his life, so far, among its people, mingling in their councils, taking part in their public life and contrib- uting to the expansion and power of their industries. In all the rela- tions of life he has shown that he has the best interests of the township and county of his home at heart and is earnestly devoted to the substantial and enduring welfare of all their people.
Mr. Herrin was born in this county in 1847. His father, James S. Herrin, was born and reared in Kentucky and came to Missouri to live in 1840. His grandparents came to this country in their early married life from Germany and took up their residence in Kentucky when that state was still a part of the great undeveloped West and much of it yet bore on its face the rugged aspects of Nature in her condition of primal wildness. It was a part of their destiny to help to smooth that rough face and reduce that wild condition to subjection, to bring the rich and responsive soil to systematie productiveness and
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render it fragrant with the flowers and bounteous with the fruits of cultivated life. They did their part with zeal and fidelity, and in his turn their son repeated on the virgin soil of Missouri what they had accomplished on that of Kentucky. Before leaving his native state he was united in marriage with one of its fair daughters, Miss Rebecca Truitt, who aided him greatly in planting their new home in a region strange to them, and gave to the duties of the household, remote from all their former ties and associations, the same diligent care and self- sacrificing devotion that he bestowed upon those of the field and stock range. They had ten children, three of whom are living: Melvina, the wife of Benjamin Williams who died in November, 1909; Millie, the wife of Joseph Agee; Clark, the immediate subject of this sketch; and Rebecca, the wife of H. B. White. The mother died on August 7, 1866, and the father on March 2, 1876.
Clark Herrin grew to manhood on his father's farm and took part in the cultivation of it from an early age. When he could be spared from its exacting labors, during the winter months of a few years, he attended the country school near his home, and in this he obtained all the scholastic training he had opportunity for. Soon after leaving school he began farming on his own account and raising live stock in connection with his farming operations. He has ever since been actively and profitably engaged in these pursuits, and it is sufficient proof that he has been successful to state that he started with nothing but his own ability and determination to win, and that he now owns and culti- vates over eighty acres of good land, which he has brought to a high state of productiveness and has improved with comfortable and com- modious buildings and other necessary structures; and to add that his stock industry has grown from a very small beginning to proportions of magnitude with a corresponding increase in profits and value. All he has he has acquired through his own industry, capacity and skill, without the aid of favoring circumstances or any special bounty of fortune. He seized his opportunities.as they came and made the most of them for his own advantage, trusting nothing to chance, but doing his own duty fully in every particular in connection with his work. By this means he has risen to the first rank among the skillful and pro- gressive farmers of his township, and his example has been a stimulus and a help to many others.
In the public affairs of the region in which he lives he has always taken a very active and helpful part for the good of the community. No undertaking of value in which the welfare of the people has been involved has been without his active aid, and all his efforts have been
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governed by intelligence, wisdom and breadth of view. He has served the people faithfully as a member of the school board for more than five years, and in many other ways has contributed to their substantial benefit and advancement. His political allegiance is given firmly to the Democratic party and he is at all times zealous and active in its service, doing what he can to promote its success and further the interests of its candidates, although he is not himself desirous of hold- ing office. In church connection he is a member of the Missionary Baptist church, and to that also he gives a due share of his time and service. In 1871 he was married to Miss Drusilla White, a lady of Macon county nativity and parentage. They had six children three of whom are living, their daughter Minnie, their son Ellis and their daughter Margaret, who is the wife of Joseph Bealmer. The mother of these children died on April 3, 1909.
WILLIAM V. CORBIN.
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On this land of many climates, comprehensive resources and almost boundless possibilities, Nature has bestowed her treasures with unstinted prodigality and in endless variety. But she exacts her price for them, and does not yield them up to any, however ardent their desire, unless they pay what she demands. This comprises industry, skill, endurance and the commanding might of mind. It embraces both technical and practical knowledge and energy in the application of both, with what has aptly been called "the passion of great men," patience in waiting for results. In the measure in which men or com- munities possess these attributes and place them in action she is free with her bounty and well pleased to dispense it.
William V. Corbin of Independence township is one of the resolute and determined men of Macon county who have found the way to her storehouse and wrung from her a liberal share of its contents. He is a self-made man in the best sense of the expression, having made his own way in the world without the aid of favorable circumstances or outside aid of any kind, and in doing this has displayed the qualities of head and heart that Nature has held her gifts in reservation for. Such men are always a credit to themselves and a benefit to the com- munities in which their activities are employed. They do things of value and by their influence and example they awaken and set in motion productive forces in others.
Mr. Corbin was born in Macon county on October 4, 1865. His par- ents were James and Millie (Mayhew) Corbin. The father was a native of Kentucky, and came from that state to Missouri in early
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life. They were progressive farmers and useful citizens here, repeat- ing in the soil of Missouri the serviceable performances of their fore- fathers on that of Kentucky. Both died in this county in 1874. They were the parents of six children five of whom are living: Cytha, the wife of J. S. Butler; William V., the immediate subject of this memoir ; Emma, the wife of R. Posey; Lon M., and Etta, the wife of Willard Buster.
William V. Corbin came into being a few months after the close of the Civil war and passed his boyhood amid some of the scenes of the desolation it wrought. The times were hard in all that section of the country that was just beginning to recover from the waste of its resources and the paralysis of its energies occasioned by sanguinary sectional strife. and the bare necessaries of life were often difficult to obtain. There was therefore but little opportunity for more than the most elementary schooling for the children of the depleted border, and this was all that young Corbin was able to get in the way of scholastic training. His share of even this was small and his chance of securing any was of short duration. He left school early and began to earn his own living and aid in the support of the family by working on the farm. In a few years, through his industry and frugality, he got a start and was able to begin farming for himself. He has been engaged in this industry, with stoek-raising as an allied business, ever since, and has been very successful in his efforts. He bestows on his farm work and his stock industry all the labor and care his energetic nature impels him to, and he applies his attention to them in a systematic and pro- gressive manner. His farm embraces 160 acres and is all under advanced cultivation except what is needed for grazing purposes, and it is also well improved with good buildings and fully equipped with the most approved modern appliances for the work that has to be done on it. It is one of the most valuable and desirable farms of its size in the township.
While working out his own progress Mr. Corbin has not neglected that of the locality in which he lives. He has been one of the foremost men in the energetie and practical support of every worthy enterprise for the improvement of the county and the benefit of its people. In public affairs he has at all times taken an earnest and serviceable inter- est, doing excellent work in behalf of the cause of public education for fifteen years as a member of the school board, and in many other ways adding the force of his influence and his inspiring example to the agencies at work for the general weal of the region around him. In
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politics he is a Democrat, in fraternal life an Odd Fellow, and in religions connection a member of the Christian church.
Mr. Corbin has been married twice. In 1889 he was united with Miss Sula B. Shaver, a native of Macon county. They had two chil- dren, their son William H. and their daughter Vear M. The mother of these children died in 1896, and in 1897 the father was married to Miss Mealia Steele, who, also, was born and reared in this county. Three children have blessed their union, their son Arthur and their daughters Lottie and May, all of whom are members of the family circle and attending school.
JOHN D. EPPERSON.
Farmer, merchant and public official, and making an excellent record in each line of action, John D. Epperson of Independence town- ship well deserves the high reputation he has as a man of sterling worth and a citizen of pronounced progressiveness and usefulness. The greater part of his life to the present time has been passed in Macon county and in productive industry among its people. He has shown that he is a man of resources and ability, and he is esteemed by his fellow citizens accordingly.
Mr. Epperson was born in Putnam county, Missouri, in 1857, and in a son of John B. and Lucy (Bunch) Epperson, natives of Kentucky, but long residents of this state. They were well-to-do farmers here, as their forefathers were in the state of their nativity, and they gave encouragement and active aid to every project which they deemed worthy for the development and improvement of the locality in which they lived. The father died in 1888, and the mother is still living. They were the parents of eleven children, nine of whom are living: James M., John D., Joel B., William O., Sarah F., the wife of T. C. Doggett, Alonzo F., Walter D., Gilbert B. and Edith, the wife of Howard Dog- gett. In their several localities and lines of endeavor they are all adding to the wealth and importance of the country and giving estimable examples of good citizenship.
The family is not without the dramatic element in its history. Mr. Epperson's maternal grandfather, John Bunch, was a colonel in the Mexican war and bore himself gallantly in many of the brilliant battles of that short but decisive international conflict, and, like most of the others of our soldiers who survived it, came home crowned with the plaudits of the whole American people for the manner in which they had vindicated the honor of our country and added to the glory of its citizen soldiery.
V
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John D. Epperson attained his manhood on his father's farm and secured his education at the country schools in its vicinity. He expected to be a farmer all his life, and deemed it best to devote himself to his chosen vocation at the earliest practicable date. Therefore, if he had any strong desire for more extensive scholastic attainments, he put them resolutely aside and turned his attention to farming as soon as he completed the limited course of instruction available to him in the great "university of the people," the common schools. But he did not close his eyes to opportunities in other lines of productive usefulness, and after farming and raising stock exclusively for a number of years he became a merchant, also, in 1901, locating at Ethel and handling poul- try and produce. Two years later he entered upon a larger enter- prise in the mercantile world, engaging in general merchandising at Cottage. He was connected with this business there for three years and then returned to farming, in which he has ever since been actively and profitably occupied. His farm comprises sixty acres and, in connec- tion with its advanced cultivation, he carries on a very comfortable and successful business in raising live-stock for the general markets.
Like all other good citizens who have the welfare of their country at heart, Mr. Epperson takes an active part in politics. He is a Demo- crat and a wheelhorse in the service of his party. It has found his services worthy of high appreciation and himself capable of reflecting credit on it and benefiting the public in the discharge of official dnties of importance and responsibility. He has been deputy assessor of the county for over five years and a member of the school board for more than three. He also served as road overseer nearly four years, and was recently elected a justice of the peace, but declined the office. His fraternal connection is with the Modern Woodmen of America and his religious affiliation with the Primitive Baptist church. His lodge and the congregation to which he belongs in his church receive a due share of his attention and both acknowledge the value of his service in all their worthy undertakings.
In November, 1875, Mr. Epperson was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth King, a native of Macon county, as her parents were, also. By their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Epperson became the parents of three children, but only two of them are living, Stella B., who is the wife of James Enyeart, and Calla M., who is the wife of J. R. Sunder- Jand. The parents and their daughters all stand high in the regard of the people around them and well deserve the esteem in which they are held. They are public spirited and progressive in behalf of their township and county, liberal and judicions in the support of all good
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