General history of Macon County, Missouri, Part 41

Author: White, Edgar comp; Taylor, Henry, & company, pub
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago, H. Taylor & company
Number of Pages: 1106

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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

enterprises, and zealous in efforts to augment and intensify the power of all commendable ageneies at work in the communities of their several homes.

RICHARD S. MATTHEWS.

Judge Matthews, the subject of this sketch, is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of Missouri, which fine old commonwealth has represented his home from the time of his nativity to the present. He was born on a farm in Randolph county, this state, on the 14th day of July, 1847, and is a son of Richard Newman Matthews and Minerva Grundy (Phelps) Matthews, the former of whom was born and reared in Fauquier county, Virginia, a member of one of the old and honored families of that fine old commonwealth in which was cra- dled so much of our national history, and the latter of whom was born and reared in Oldham county, in the state of Kentucky. They were married in Randolph eounty, in the state of Missouri, and made their home from that time in Randolph county, where the father became a successful agrieulturist and merchant and a man of prominence and influenee in his seetion. Richard N. Matthews was originally a Whig and later a Democrat in his politieal allegianee, but he never desired or held public office. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity. He was born October 12, 1812, and passed the closing years of his life in Ran- dolph county, this state, where he died July 19, 1894, at a venerable age. His cherished and devoted wife was born September 22, 1822, and was summoned to eternal rest August 16, 1887, and their two sons sur- vive them, the subject of this review being the younger. Robert H. is a resident of Cairo, Randolph eounty, Missouri, and is engaged in farming.

Richard S. Matthews, to whom this review is dedicated, gained his preliminary education in the schools of his native county, and in the furtherance of his academic training he was matriculated in MeGee College at College Mound, Macon county, in which well-ordered insti- tution he continued a student for four years, and graduated from that institution. After leaving college he became a teacher in the same college for three years. In the meanwhile he had taken up the study of law, during the summer vacations, and read law under the effective preceptorship of Judge John W. Henry and Col. John F. Williams of Macon, Missouri, and in August, 1873 he demonstrated his eligibility for and was admitted to the bar of his native state, upon examination before Judge George H. Burkhart, of Randolph county. On the 1st of the following month he opened an office in Macon, and here he soon built

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up a satisfactory professional business. He gained a large and important clientage and he today controls an enviable practice both as a trial lawyer and counselor. He has been a close and appreci- ative student and has ever given much care to the preparation of his cases, being fortified by broad and exact knowledge of the science of jurisprudence and showing marked versatility and power in the appli- cation of such knowledge. He has continuously given his attention to the active work of his profession, and for thirty-six years has been actively engaged in the practice of law at the City of Macon, and he stands today as one of the able and representative members of his pro- fession in this section of the state, where he has ever maintained an inviolable hold upon popular confidence and esteem, having ordered his course according to the highest principles of integrity and honor.

Judge Matthews has been active in the promotion of the cause of the Democrat party and is one of its recognized leaders in his county. In 1878 he was elected judge of probate, and he continued incumbent of this office for three consecutive terms, representing a period of twelve years. He handled the affairs of the office with great ability and dis- crimination and his record in the same redounded to his credit and to the efficiency of service in this important branch of the County govern- ment. While Judge of the Probate Court he continued the practice of law in other courts. He also served twelve years as school director of Macon, and he has ever given his aid and influence in support of all that has touched the best interests of his home city and county. He is the owner of a considerable amount of productive land in Macon and Randolph counties and gives a general supervision to his farming inter- ests. He is largely interested in horticulture, and has given it con- siderable attention. He is president of the Citizens' Bank of Macon and also of the Macon County Abstract Company. His material accumula- tions represent the tangible results of his own well directed endeavors, and his success has been achieved through worthy means, so that he has never been denied the fullest measure of popular confidence and esteem in the community which has so long represented his home and to whose progress he has contributed his due quota. He is not a member of any secret order or society. Both he and his wife are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church and are active in the various depart- ments of its work as well as liberal in the support of its collateral benevolences.

On the 21st of August, 1872, was solemnized the marriage of Judge Matthews to Miss Martha Armada Gilstrap, who was born and reared in Macon county and who is a daughter of Col. Abner Lee Gilstrap

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and Julian Ann (Cook) Gilstrap, who here continued to reside until her death. Her father was a prominent lawyer of the state, and filled a number of official positions of trust and honor. Miss Martha Armada Gilstrap, to whom Judge Matthews was married, went to and was a gradnate of the same college as her husband. Judge and Mrs. Matthews became the parents of four children, concerning whom the following brief data are entered: Orlow Bertrand, who was a graduate from Cumberland University, in Tennessee, with the degree of A. B., and who had been admitted to the bar of Missouri, died soon thereafter of typhoid fever, on the 7th of October, 1897, at which time he was twenty- four years of age; Otho F. is one of the representative younger mem- bers of the Macon county bar and is associated with his father in prac- tice, and is a graduate from the same university as his brother, Orlow B. He was married to Miss Mary Alby Anderson, of Palmyra, Mis- souri, December 25th, 1901. She is a descendant of one of the old and honored families of Missouri. Corinne and Richard Lee remain at the parental home. Richard Lee is a young business man, with good edn- cation and business qualifications. After finishing his studies in the Macon Publie School he went to Missouri Valley College, and after- wards attended the State University at Columbia, Missouri. Corinne, .after graduating from the Macon High School, completed her educa- tion in Monticello Seminary at Godfry, Illinois.

JAMES THOMAS MATHIS.

Although neither a pioneer himself nor the son of one, James T. Mathis, whose farm of over 100 acres, located in Independence town- ship, is one of the model country homes of Macon county, had noted pio- neers among his ancestors on both sides of the house, and inherited their spirit of endurance, self-sacrificing industry, conquest and improvement. He has contributed essentially and substantially to the development and enrichment of the region in which he has his home, and through its advancement to the progress and aggrandizement of the whole state.

Mr. Mathis is a native of Macon county and was born on Decem- ber 10, 1879. His parents, John and Elizabeth (Hall) Mathis, were also born and reared in this county, and here they passed the whole of their married life, the father ending his days in August, 1883. amid the scenes of his useful labors and rich in the esteem of the whole people. He was a farmer and a very active man in connection with everything in which the enduring welfare of the township and county were involved. His father was born and reared in North Carolina,

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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

and moved from that state to Kentucky in his early manliood. He was married to a Kentucky lady, whose family had been domesticated in the state for one or two generations before her birth. In 1890 she was married a second time.

James T. Mathis was the only child of his father, and grew to man- hood on the parental homestead. He obtained his education in the coun- try schools in the neighborhood of his home, and as soon as he left school began farming, for a time with his father and afterward on his own account, continuing his operations in this line of activity until 1907, when he started the mercantile establishment of which he is still the proprietor and enterprising manager. He still owns his farm, however, and oversees its cultivation and also gives his personal atten- tion to the thriving live-stock industry conducted on it. His store is located in the progressive village of Cottage, and is in keeping with the wideawake and enterprising people of that neighborhood who patronize it. Mr. Mathis holds high rank as a very energetic and thoroughly up-to-date merchant, keeping his stock at all times up to the full requirements of the community and conducting all his dealings with the utmost fairness and propriety.

The farm interests and the mercantile engagements which require the attention of Mr. Mathis are extensive and exacting, and he gives them all the most careful and intelligent attention, neglecting nothing in connection with them that good business management demands. But he does not allow them to wholly engross him, or put away from his view the interests of the community in a general way. Every under- taking in which the progress and elevation of the township and county are involved has his earnest, active and stimulating support, whether it be connected with the industrial, the moral, the mental or the civil and social life of the community. In politics he is a Democrat of firm convictions and is always zealous and effective in the service of his party. He is at this time (1910) its county committeeman for Inde- pendence township and his leadership in that section is recognized as wise and potential. As a member of the school board for over six years, and during most of that period its clerk, he rendered excellent and highly valued service to one of the most esteemed and useful public institutions the people have, the public school system. In fraternal life he is prominently connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. On December 24, 1899, he was married to Miss Morali Scott, a native of this county, where her mother also was born, the father being a native of Ohio. Two daughters have blessed the union, Hazel, who is now eight years old, and Daphne, who is six.

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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

CHARLES TIMOTHY SNOW.

The interesting subject of this brief memoir belongs to a family whose members have borne important parts in the later history and development of Macon county and have met every requirement of duty in public and private life with fidelity, capacity and breadth of view. They have shown ability to advance their own fortunes in a way that has commanded the approval and admiration of the people around them, and at the same time have exhibited an intelligent and broad- minded interest in the general welfare of the community of their home, which has been fruitful of good results to it and in the highest degree creditable to them. A short history of the family will be found in a sketch of Edgar Snow, which appears elsewhere in this volume.

Charles T. Snow is a brother of Edgar Snow. He was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in July, 1863, and came with his parents to Missouri and Macon county in his boyhood. He obtained his academic training in the public schools of the village of Economy and St. James Academy, of Macon, and, after completing it, engaged in farming for a few years. Mercantile life presented many attractions to him and laid strong temptations in his way. In 1884 he surrendered to its persuasiveness and joined his brother, E. O. Snow, in general mer- chandizing. The partnership lasted until December 1, 1887, when Charles T. sold his interests in the business and returned to the culti- vation of his farm. This embraces 395 acres and is well improved and provided with every appliance for its systematic and vigorous cul- tivation according to the most approved modern methods. Mr. Snow is unceasing in his industry, wise and prudent in his management and very progressive in his enterprise. And the returns from his husbandry are commensurate with the outlay of time, energy and intel- ligence he makes to secure them. In connection with his farming opera- tions he carries on an extensive and profitable industry in raising live-stock for shipment to the Eastern markets, in which his product has a high rank and an excellent reputation. He is also a stockholder in the Atlanta State Bank and connected with other institutions of value to the community.

In addition to taking a very earnest interest and a very helpful part in the local public affairs of the township and county, and doing all in his power to promote the substantial welfare of both, Mr. Snow has a deep and intense solicitude for the good of the whole country. He is a Republican in political relations and always manifests his interest in the success of his party by ardent and effective efforts to aid in bring-

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ing that about. He rendered the township excellent service for more than ten years as a member of the school board and an intelligent and studious devotion to the welfare of the schools. Another way in which he has been of signal service to the people has been as presi- dent and one of the promoters of the Union Telephone Company, which has been developed under their management to the highest degree of efficiency and become one of the prime necessaries of daily life to the business, social and domestic interests of the territory throughout which it operates.

In 1884 Mr. Snow was united in marriage with Miss Laura E. Moody, who was born, reared and educated in Macon county. They have had two children, but the only one living is their son, Raymond M. Like his parents, he is well esteemed in all parts of the county, and, like them, he shows in his daily demeanor a cordial interest in the welfare of the region in which his lot has been cast and all the lofty attributes of the best American citizenship, as all other members and connections of the family do. In the spring of 1910 he moved to Atlanta, where he now makes his home.

F. L. REYNOLDS.

From the time when he was two years old, F. L. Reynolds, now one of the energetic and enterprising merchants of Economy, and also a prominent and progressive farmer of Lyda township, has been a resident of this county. He was born at Galesburg, Illinois, in 1874, and was brought by his parents to Missouri and Macon county in 1876. He is a son of Stephen and Mattie (Franklin) Reynolds, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Illinois. They had four children and three of them are living, Simeon, F. L. and Sadie, the wife of H. Ferguson, of Iowa. The father was a Republican in his political rela- tions and at all times took a very active part in the campaigns and councils of his party. He was a blacksmith in occupation and for years conducted one of the best known shops in the county. It was located in Atlanta and laid a very large extent of the surrounding country under tribute to its trade, for the proprietor was known far and wide as an excellent mechanic, and also as a citizen with a store of worldly wisdom and a cordial and helpful interest in the affairs of the whole region in which he was conducting his business. He died in 1899, having survived by seven years his wife, who passed away in 1892.

Their son, F. L. Reynolds, was reared in Atlanta and obtained his education in its public schools. After leaving school he at once took up the struggle for advancement among men for himself, working

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out on farms in the neighborhood of his home for his board and clothes for a few years. He was industrious and frugal, losing no time that he could employ usefully, and wasting no money in frivolity or pleasure. His progress was slow and painful for awhile, but as soon as he got a start he was able to put his reserve force in action and then the advance became more rapid, regular and productive. It has been steady and continuous ever since, bringing Mr. Reynolds into greater and greater prominence as a man and citizen and establishing him more and more firmly in the regard and good will of the people all around him. They saw that he was a man of thrift and enterprise, and they soon learned that he had a strong and abiding interest in whatever concerned the substantial and enduring welfare of the township and county, or the progress and comfort of its inhabitants.

Mr. Reynolds now owns and cultivates 110 acres of superior land and is extensively engaged in raising stock. He is also connected in a leading way with the mercantile life of the community as a produce and commission merchant of high rank and great activity. In his political faith he leans to the Republican party, but is rather inde- pendent. He always takes an earnest interest in political affairs and is an energetic worker for the side he favors; but the good of the com- munity is his first consideration and party interests come afterward, if at all. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonie order, the Wood- men of the World, and the Modern Woodmen of America. The relig- ious tendencies and activities of the family are manifested through Mrs. Reynolds' membership in the Baptist church and her husband's liberal support of the worthy undertakings of all denominations. Her maiden name was Mattie Wells, and she is a native of Macon county and a daughter of Illinois parents. Her marriage with Mr. Reynolds took place in 1899, and they have three children, Tyneth, Luran and Arnice. All that Mr. Reynolds is as a farmer, business man and citizen he has made himself. Fortune never smiled on him unless he com- pelled her to by his spirit and enterprise, and he has never enjoyed political favors of any kind, for all his life he has steadfastly refused to accept a public office of any kind. He is, altogether, a self-made man and creditable to the community in which he lives.

WILLIAM HENRY MILLER.

From his early youth, William Henry Miller, who is now promi- nent in the industrial and public life of Economy and Lyda townships. in this county, has been obliged to make his own way in the world, and do it under circumstances that for years were not only unfavorable

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but decidedly adverse. He became an orphan in his childhood by the deatlı of his father, but being the only child of his parents, it might have been supposed that he would have his pathway through life smoothed for him and receive substantial aid in his progress along its upward course. Fate decreed otherwise, however, and threw him on his own resources at an early age. It is to be said to his credit that he accepted her challenge and lifted her gage of battle in the spirit in which it was delivered. He took up the burden of life for himself cheerfully and has borne it vigorously, judiciously and successfully.

Mr. Miller is a native of Monroe county, Missouri, where he was born on November 6, 1859. His father, William Miller, was also a native of that county and was making a good record as an enterprising and progressive farmer when death laid low his hopes and ended his labors when he was but twenty-five years of age. The mother, whose maiden name was Melinda Goodding, assumed the burden of rearing their only child, William Henry, with the ardor of a faithful and devoted spirit, but her resources were unequal to her desires in the matter, and, although she did the best she could under the circumstances, it was not enough. Her mother was a native of Macon county also, and before the Civil war was in comfortable circumstances, owning extensive property and a number of slaves. The war left her almost destitute and her offspring with next to nothing. The Miller household was therefore dependent on its own exertions and met its crisis bravely. As soon as the son was able he began to provide for himself, and in the meantime the mother was married to a second husband.

The son secured what education he could at the free fountain of the public schools, and when he left school worked for a time on the farm and in the saw mill belonging to his stepfather. He learned the trade of blacksmith, and in 1885 started a shop of his own. He won his way from the beginning by very slow and toilsome advances at first, but on a smoother way and with greater progress a few years later. He is still carrying on his blacksmithing establishment in Econ- omy, and is also engaged profitably in farming, the operations of the farm being largely conducted by his young son, who, although but a boy, has the spirit of a man and has exhibited a man's capacity for work and management, too.

Mr. Miller trains with the Democratic party in political affairs and is one of its most effective and incessant working members. He takes an earnest and judicious interest in the local affairs of the township and village of his home, and gives all the aid in his power to promote the interests of the people who live in them. During the last six years he

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has been a member of the school board and part of that period its president. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and in religious affiliation with the Baptist church. On Novem- ber 6, 1898, he was united in marriage with Miss Ada Wells, who was born and reared in this county. They have three children, Emmett, Ruth and Ralph, all living at home, attending school and assisting in the work of the farm and the household. Among the people of Economy and Lyda township Mr. Miller stands high as a mechanic, a farmer and a citizen. In all relations he is conscientions and upright in the per- formance of his duties, with earnest consideration for the general weal, as well as for his own advancement.

JOHNSON MORROW.

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This gentleman, who is now serving as mayor of Callao, the office having sought and taken possession of him much against his will in April, 1909, is one of the most esteemed and influential citizens of Macon county. He was engaged in merchandising from his early manhood until a very recent date, and since leaving that department of human endeavor, has been cashier of one of the leading banks in this part of the state. In each field of labor he has exhibited fine capacity, great enterprise and a sterling worth that have brought him universal com- mendation and raised him to a position of leadership among the people. He has also labored for the general good while pushing his own affairs with success, and been one of the potential factors in promoting the development and improvement of the township and county.

Mr. Morrow is a native of Callao, where he was born on October 24, 1855. He is the son of Jefferson and Minervia (Summers) Morrow, a brief account of whose useful lives will be found on another page of this work. The son grew to manhood and obtained his education in the locality of his birth, and as soon as his limited schooling was completed began the struggle for advancement among men as a merchant at Bar- ryville, in this state. He was also postmaster of the town for eleven years. In 1899 he sold his interests at Barryville and moved to Callao, where he started a new mercantile enterprise under the name and style of Morrow, Pillers & Goodrich, of which he was the head for over nine years. On February 1, 1909, he sold out to his partners, Messrs. Pillers and Goodrich, and bought the stock of I. B. Jones in the Bank of Callao, of which he became the cashier on June 1, 1909. The bank has been a flourishing and progressive institution from its start, and it is certain that its pace in business will not be slackened and its ele-

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HISTORY OF MAACON COUNTY

vated tone in management will not be lowered while its affairs remain under the direction of Mr. Morrow.

In addition to the active business which ocenpies him in connection with the bank, Mr. Morrow owns and conducts the operations of a large farm on which he carries on a profitable industry in general farming and raising high grade Jersey cattle. This enterprise has contributed essentially to elevating the standard of cattle in the county and helped to bring the industry of stock-growing, as it is carried on in this local- ity, into general notice and good esteem throughout a wide extent of the surrounding country. Mr. Morrow's herd is one of the best in the state and products of it are eagerly sought by purchasers from many widely seattered localities.

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General history of Macon County, Missouri, Part 41

Author: White, Edgar comp; Taylor, Henry, & company, pub Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago, H. Taylor & company Number of Pages: 1106

Author: White, Edgar comp; Taylor, Henry, & company, pub
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago, H. Taylor & company
Number of Pages: 1106