USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 50
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98
Andrew J. Brown obtained his education in the public schools of Macon county, and after leaving school worked on his father's farm, during the life of the father conducting it in connection with him, and, since his death, on his own account. He is still living on that farm and continuing the high grade of cultivation and spirit of improve- ment for which the father was noted. He has, however, added to the extent of the place and it now embraces 255 acres. In connection with
418
IIISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
his general farming industry he long carried on an extensive and flour- ishing business in raising live stock. He has recently retired some- what from active pursuits and divided a portion of his land among his children.
Mr. Brown was married on February 27, 1868, to Miss Katharine Kreiter, a daughter of Frederick and Matilda Kreiter, well known citi- zens of this county. Of the four children born of this union all are liv- ing. They are Mary F .; George G., a resident of Wentzville, in this state; Bertha R., the wife of William Fetter, of Macon county, and Albert Sidney, who lives at Thoreau, New Mexico. Their mother died in 1886. In polities the father is a Democrat of firm convictions and active service, and in fraternal life an ardent and zealous member of the Masonic order. He is everywhere held in high esteem.
JOSEPH T. CASEY.
Trained to a mechanical pursuit in his youth and by energetic and productive work in its field of endeavor for years after reaching his maturity, and during the last five years employed in a capacity requir- ing many faculties and powers besides mechanical skill, Joseph T. Casey, one of the most prominent and progressive citizens of Laplata, has shown himself to be much more than a mere hand in the industrial life of the country and to possess creative and executive ability of a high order.
Mr. Casey was born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, on August 26, 1869, and is a son of Abraham S. and Elizabeth (Plumer) Casey, the father also a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and the mother of the same state. . They had six children, four of whom are living: Robert P .; Jennie, the wife of David Barrett; Ella, the wife of Daniel Night- ingale ; and Joseph T. The father was a blacksmith and when his son Joseph was a small boy moved the family to the western part of the state, locating at Mount Savage in Allegany county. There he wrought industriously and profitably at his trade until his death, which occurred in 1893. The mother died in 1891.
Joseph T. Casey grew to manhood and was educated in the public schools of Mount Savage, Maryland. After leaving school he learned the trade of blacksmith under the direction of his father and worked at it for a few years. He then entered the employ of the Southern Pipe Line Company of Pennsylvania, his trade being in frequent requisition in his work. With this company he remained about twelve years, rising steadily in rank among its employes and in the regard of his employers, making a good name for himself and acquiring business knowledge
479
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
which opened other opportunities for him and has been of great service in his use of them.
In 1904 Mr. Casey became connected with the Prairie Oil and Gas Company of Laplata as chief engineer, and this brought him to this county to live. He has been a resident of Laplata ever since, and has proven himself a very useful citizen and a valuable addition to the intel- lectual and industrial forces of the community. Hle takes great interest in its affairs and is zealous in helping to promote the welfare of its people, both by energetic efforts in behalf of its material progress in every way and by striving to augment the power of all its moral, mental and social agencies. He is a Republican in politics, but has never been an active partisan, yet he is by no means wanting in deep and earnest solicitude for the well being of the country and the proper manage- ment of its affairs. But he prefers to serve it from the honorable post of private citizenship without elose connection with its official life or active mingling in the political contentions which so often agitate and distress its people.
In the fraternal organizations so numerons among men Mr. Casey has favored two with his membership and appreciated personal service, the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias. Ile is zealous in atten- tion to the duties laid upon him by these two orders and does all he can to advance their interests toward the best and highest development and most extensive usefulness. In 1895 he was married to Miss Margaret Hinekel, who was born and reared at Mount Savage, Maryland. She has shared freely in his aspirations and been of material assistance in the progress of his career. He has been very successful in life, so far, and is one of the men who never stop but use every triumph as a step- ping stone to something higher. The present is full of prosperity and public esteem for him and the future full of promise.
JOSIAH GATES, M. D.
This venerable and universally esteemed citizen of LaPlata, who is now nearing the age of four-score years, and who has given the peo- ple of Macon county a full half-century of valuable service in profes- sional life, efficient aid in conducting the public affairs of the county, and elevated and inspiring citizenship, is not a native of Missouri, although nearly all the years of his life to this time have been passed within its borders and in this county. He was born in the state of Illi- nois in 1832 and came with his parents to this state when he was but seven years old. He has ever since been a resident of Macon county, and from his youth has taken an active part in its industrial and social
480
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
life. He may therefore be justly called a product of the county, and its people are well pleased to have him taken as a representative of its citizenship.
Dr. Gates is a son of George and Sally (Stanfield) Gates, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Illinois. They were the parents of three children, two of whom are living, the Doctor and his sister. The father grew to manhood at a time in the history of this country when Bishop Berkley's prophetic line, "Westward the course of empire takes its way," was fast being practically realized through the mighty tide of migration from the Atlantic slope toward the Rocky mountains and the regions beyond them, which was for many years one of the most spectacular and inspiring phases of American life. It was "Westward, Ho!" for almost everybody, and among the host of hardy adventurers who were camping in hope for a season on the frontier, to live there a little later in comfort and prosperity, none was more enthusiastic or more thoroughly imbued with the spirit of con- quest and self-promotion than this young Kentuckian, who was not yet a man in age, but who had all of a man's fortitude, self-reliance and power of endurance. True, his native state and locality had not yet passed far from the pioneer stage of its history, but it was becoming tame with the monotony of quiet life and the regular progress of events, and as he longed for the excitement and variety of thrilling adventure, he left his parental acres and struck out into the wilderness to make a home and a name for himself. He located in Illinois, then a remote region from his home, and there he created a good farm out of the wilderness and prospered on its products.
His first venture proved agreeable and profitable to him, and as time passed he longed for another advance in the wake of the setting sun. So, in 1839, he moved to Macon county in this state and estab- lished his family on a farm in what is now LaPlata township. On this farm his wife died in 1862, and on it he, too, ended his days, passing away in 1872. His arrival in the county was timely for his own advan- tage and for that of the community in which he settled also. He had capacity for public affairs and was helpful in getting the newly organ- ized local government on its feet and started well in its progress to its present systematized and satisfactory condition. And the opportunities for profit to thrift and enterprise were great and he succeeded in getting a goodly portion of their fruits for himself.
Dr. Josiah Gates began his education in Illinois and finished it, so far as the academic portion was concerned, in the public schools of this county. His professional preparation for the battle of life was
481
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
made at a fine medical college in Cincinnati, from which he was gradu- ated with the degree of M. D. in 1859. He at once began the practice of his profession at old Bloomington in this county, where he remained and flourished until 1874. In that year he moved to LaPlata, where he has ever since resided and continued his beneficent life-work with steadily increasing demands on his time and attention and constantly augmenting returns for his labor, both in material substance and public esteem. He long ago rose to the first rank in his profession in this part of the country, and he has always, since his arrival in LaPlata, been considered one of its leading citizens and most useful and estimable men. His activity in connection with the public affairs of the township and county has been fruitful, appreciated and continuous. Every duty of high-toned and progressive citizenship has been fully and faithfully discharged by him, and every proper claim on his time, energy or generosity has been liberally and promptly responded to.
In political faith the Doctor is a Democrat and has been all his life. He was for many years very active in the service of his party and is still deeply interested in its welfare. Public office has never been invit- ing to him, but he waived his aversion to it for the public good and served on the school board for many years. Fraternally he has long been connected in a leading way locally with the Masonic order, and for many years has been one of the most interested and serviceable members of the county medical association. He was married in 1856 to a Miss Taylor. She died in 1857, and in 1859 he was united in mar- riage with Miss Marietta Linsay, a native of Wisconsin. They had three children, all of whom are living and contributing to the prosperity and advancement of the country. They are: Erskine M., assistant cashier of the LaPlata Savings Bank, a sketch of whom appears in this work; Sally Susan, the wife of John Kimball, of Ohio; and William, who is one of the leading citizens of LaPlata. The Doctor is now living in a large measure retired from active pursuits in the enjoyment of the rest he has so richly earned, and is crowned in his old age with universal esteem.
THEOPHILUS PAUL SMITH, D. D. S.
Skill in practical work, accuracy in theoretical knowledge and gentility and considerateness of manner are large elements of value in the profession of dentistry, and they have been potential factors in the marked snecess of Dr. Theophilus P. Smith, of Laplata in his profes- sional career up to this time (1909). He knows what to do, how to do, and is always possessed of the ready will to do everything known to
482
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
liis profession to secure the best results for his patrons with the least inconvenience and suffering on their part. His knowledge covers every detail of his work, his skill and capacity are equal to every requirement, and his genial and reassuring manner, delicacy in operation and appli- cation of the easiest and most rapid means to reach any desired end go far toward robbing his chair of torture of its terrors. He is modern, progressive and masterly in every department of his calling and has made for himself an excellent and widespread reputation as one of the best dentists in the state.
Dr. Smith was born at Huntsville in Randolph county of this state on February 21, 1873. His father, Calvin Smith, who was born at Hightowers, Caswell county, North Carolina, came to Missouri in his youth and located at Huntsville, where he was profitably engaged for many years in farming and trading in tobacco. He was married Decem- ber 18, 1857, to Miss Melinda J. Sears, a native of Randolph county, where the son was born. They became the parents of six children, all of whom are living. They are: G. I .; Mattie S .; Anna S., the wife of W. W. Price, of Sturgeon, Boone county, Missouri; W. R .; Theophilus P .; and Mamie, the wife of Dr. O. Grey, of Sturgeon, editor of the Sturgeon Leader. The father died at Huntsville, and the mother at the same place in 1903.
The Doctor was reared and educated at Huntsville. In 1891 lie entered the dental office of Dr. W. A. Smith as a student of the profes- sion, and in his five years' connection with that office and association with its masterly proprietor he gained a great deal of practical knowl- edge of the utmost value to him in all his subsequent career. He attended the Western Dental College at Kansas City, Missouri, and was graduated from that institution with the degree of D. D. S. in 1896. Within the same year he began his practice at LaPlata, and he has continued it there with undeviating devotion to his business ever since. He has been successful in building up a large practice and win- ning a high reputation for his skill and capacity and sustaining and justifying it on all occasions.
In the public affairs of the county and state he is an active and helpful participant, taking great practical interest in everything that pertains to the general welfare of the town and its people, and giving his aid freely and fully to all commendable undertakings for their improvement. In political faith he is an unwavering Democrat and always zealous in the service of his party, although he has at all times refused to be considered available for a political office, resolutely declin- ing all tenders made him in this respect. With the purpose of using
483
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
every means at his command to enlarge his professional knowledge and keep himself in line with the best thought and latest discoveries in his work he is an industrious student of the literature of his profes- sion and belongs in active membership to the Missouri State Dental Association. In this organization lie takes great interest both as a contributor and a recipient of benefits, attending its meetings regularly and doing his full part to aid in making them pleasant and profitable to all who are concerned in them.
In fraternal relations he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of the Maccabees. These orders appeal to the human and fraternal attributes of his nature and give him enjoyment of an elevated intellectual and moral character. In the social life of the com- munity he is also popular, a welcome addition to every circle with which he is connected and a genial sunbeam in any company. Eminent in his profession, correet and upright in his daily walk and conversation, influential and prominent in public affairs, commendable in all the rela- tions of life, he is one of LaPlata's best and most useful and representa- tive men. With youth, health and becoming ambition among his pro- duetive assets, and with his position in public esteem already firmly established, the future opens before him with bright prospects of a very honorable and enviable career.
HENRY O. NEWTON, M. D.
During the last thirteen years this esteemed and successful phy- sician and surgeon has been engaged in an active general practice of his profession in this county, for about one year and a half at New Cambria and the rest of the time at La Plata. He has made an excel- lent impression on the people of the county as a practitioner of medi- cine and as a business man and citizen, and has established himself firmly in their high regard. His professional brethren also esteem him highly for his skill and ability, which reflect credit on the line of work in which they are all engaged, for his character and demeanor as a man, and for his engaging personality, which makes him a very agreeable companion and friend.
Dr. Newton was born on November 22, 1867, at Cireleville, Ohio, and is a son of John D. and Laura (Peters) Newton, the father a native of Virginia and the mother of Ohio. The father left his ancestral home in his young manhood and sought a name and an estate in a region then distant and not yet wholly redeemed from the wild condition in which it had lain for ages awaiting the advent of the commanding might of
484
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
mind that was to call it forward to high development, rich productive- ness and political importance and power. He was equal to the require- ments of his new situation and flourished on the almost virgin soil to which he devoted his attention as a skillful and progressive farmer. In March, 1895, he died at the home he had created in the new location of his choice. His wife, whose maiden name was Laura Peters, survived him fourteen years, passing away in July, 1909. They were the parents of nine children, all of whom reached maturity and are living. They are: Edwin, Wilson, Famah, John, Charles, Lucy, George, Henry and Mattie. In their several stations they are worthy of esteem as good citizens and faithful aids in the great work of American progress.
Dr. Henry O. Newton grew to manhood in his Ohio home, assisting his father in the work of the farm in the intervals between the sessions of the schools he attended. He obtained his education in academic lines at the district schools near his residence and the Ohio Normal Uni- versity. After leaving the latter institution he began the study of medicine, and in due time entered Rush Medical College in Chicago as matriculate. At the conclusion of his course in this renowned profes- sional institution he was graduated with the degree of M. D., securing his diploma in 1896. He at once came to Missouri and located at New Cambria in this county, where he practiced for a period of eighteen months. In 1898 he moved to La Plata, and here he has had his home and the seat of his enterprise ever since. He has been continuously and successfully engaged in the practice of his profession during all his subsequent years and has risen to high rank in his work and an enviable place in the esteem of the people. His practice has grown steadily in magnitude and importance and he is now generally recognized as one of the leading physicians and surgeons and most prominent and influential citizens of the county.
Politically the Doctor is a Republican with an earnest interest in the welfare of his party and an energetic and effective devotion to its service. He is a vahied member of the Masonic order and the Modern Woodmen of America. In professional lines he is medical examiner for a number of life insurance companies, among them the New York Life, the Aetna and the Mutual Life of New York. He is also an active and serviceable member of the county, state and national medical asso- ciations, taking a leading part in their proceedings, contributing essen- tially to the interest and profit of their meetings and deriving a large amount of benefit from them himself.
In the matter of publie improvements he has been a valuable aid to every worthy enterprise undertaken in the city and township of his resi-
485
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
dence, for he is a firm believer in progress and makes his faith shown in his active efforts to promote it along all wholesome and desirable lines of development. The moral, intellectual and social features of the body politie all have his earnest support and the stimulus of his intelligent and well directed energy, and the interests of the people generally always engage his thoughtful attention and command his zealous advo- cacy and defense. His character as a man, his capacity in his profes- sion and his activity as a citizen have made him a leader in his community and a representative of the best elements of its population.
ERSKINE M. GATES.
The life current so far vouchsafed to this prominent and esteemed citizen and accomplished banker of La Plata has been calm and full, without obstructions to disturb its progress, and without either trag- edy or thrilling adventure to change its course or ruffle its placid sur- face. It has flowed straight forward, widening its channel as it has swept onward, and dispensing expanding benefactions to every field of endeavor through which it has passed. Mr. Gates has used his opportu- nities for his own advantage and the good of his fellow men without ostentation or trumpet blasts, but his services have been none the less because of the quiet and modest way in which they have been ren- dered, nor are they less appreciated by those who have had the benefit of them.
Mr. Gates was born in this county on March 19, 1864, and is a son of Josiah and Mary C. (Linzee) Gates, the father a native of Illinois and the mother of Wisconsin. They were married in 1862 and had three children : Erskine M., his sister Sallie S., who is the wife of W. P. Kimball, and his brother W. J., who lives at La Plata, Missouri. The mother died in August, 1889. The father came to Missouri in 1837. He was a physician and for many years had a large practice in this and the adjoining counties.
Erskine M. Gates was reared and ednacted in La Plata, and on leav- ing the quiet pursuit of learning for the more serious business of life, decided on a career connected with the financial interests of the country. In 1866 he was appointed assistant cashier of the La Plata Savings Bank, a position in which his services have ever since been required and faithfully rendered. He is a stockholder in the bank and one of its directors, and is therefore directly interested in its prosperity and directly responsible for its course in dealing with the publie and each of its patrons. He is conscious of the full measure of his respon- sibility and he does all in his power to meet it to the last extremity and
.
486
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
in every respect. He is accounted one of the most capable and faithful bank men in the county, and the regard the people have for him in consequence is universal and of a high order.
The banking business at best is necessarily monotonous and trying. Mr. Gates finds relief from its exactions and monotony in a flourishing farming and stock-raising industry which he conducts, and in which he has great enjoyment and reaps substantial profits. He owns a fine herd of beautiful Aberdeen Angus cattle, which is the pride of the township and a source of continual pleasure to him. By his enterprise in securing this herd and his liberality in the use of it, he has aided con- siderably in raising the standard of stock in the township and other localities, and made himself a name as one of the progressive and far-seeing promoters of the common good of the people and builders of the county's material wealth and importance. His reputation as an enterprising citizen and fruitful factor in the growth of the region in which he lives is fully justified by his activity in reference to other lines of improvement, in all of which he is energetic and helpful.
In polities he is a Democrat in national affairs. In local matters he looks first to the good of the community and to party considerations afterward, if at all. For many years he gave the city excellent service as a member of the city council, and in 1905 was elected mayor, an office in which he served a second term, being re-elected in 1907. In fraternal eireles he is connected with the Masonie order and the Knights of Pythias. In the former he is a Knight Templar and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. His interest in both orders is constant and his part in their work is always a leading one. His membership is warmly appre- ciated by his lodges as reflecting credit on them as well as giving them a very zealous and effective force for aid in all their laudable undertak- ings. On December 11, 1893, Mr. Gates was united in marriage with Miss Ella Tate, of La Plata, a lady of good family and general popu- larity in the town and throughout the surrounding country.
JACOB FREDERICK WEAVER.
Descended from sturdy German aneestry and inheriting the ster- ling traits of character of that industrious, thrifty and persistent race, Jacob F. Weaver, of La Plata, has justified his birth and training and well sustained in his own successful career the history and traditions of his family. He was made an orphan at the age of twelve years by the death of his mother, and lost his father in the same way when he was himself twenty-two. He was in consequence thrown on his own
ERSKINE M. GATES
487
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
resources at an early age and all of his success in life is the result of his own energy and capacity.
Mr. Weaver was born on March 29, 1850, near Sidney, Shelby county, Ohio. His parents, John Jacob and Louisa (Demler) Weaver, were born in Germany, where the father remained until 1840. He then came to the United States, and, making his way at once to the West, he located in the part of Ohio in which his son was born. In October, 1865, he moved his children to Missouri, his wife having died three years before. He established his household at Macon City and resided there until his death in 1872. His marriage occurred in 1847 and brought him three children, of whom his son Jacob Frederick is the only one living.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.