USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 56
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Trained from his childhood in the tenets and principles of the old Democratie school, and confirmed in his faith by his own reading, observation and reflection, the doctor has been a lifelong Democrat in politics, and while he has neither sought nor desired any of the honors or emoluments of publie office, has at all times given his political views expression in earnest, intelligent and effective work for his party and its candidates. He has also long been connected with the fraternal life of the community in a leading way, being a member of the Masonic order, the Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America, and taking an active part in the work of each of these fraternities. ยท Professionally he is medical examiner for the Modern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World, and the Equitable, New York, Travelers and Penn Mutual life insurance companies, and an active and zealous member of the North Missouri Medical Association. He was married on November 24, 1901, to Miss Daisy B. Bell, of West- ville, who gives the charm of her presence to their comfortable home and aids greatly in making it a center of attraction to their hosts of friends.
JOHN G. HUGHES.
It is a matter of satisfaction to the editors and publishers of this historieal edition to be able to present within its pages reviews of the careers of many representative citizens and business men who are native sons of Maeon county and who have here found ample scope for suc-
JOHN G. HUGHES
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cessful effort along normal industrial and business lines. In this cate- gory Mr. Hughes eminently merits classification, as he is ineumbent of the office of cashier of the State Bank of Bevier, which is his native place, and is otherwise prominent and influential as a business man of marked acumen and versatility. He has won snecess through his own efforts and has so guided his course as to retain at all times the inviolable confidence and esteem of the people of his native county.
John Gilbert Hughes was born in Bevier, Macon county, Missouri, on the 3d of December, 1877, and is a son of Joseph R. and Lenora S. (Davis) Hughes. His father was born at Pomeroy, Meigs county. Ohio, on the 28th of June, 1850, and was reared and edneated in the state of Illinois, whither his parents removed when he was a child. He was still a youth at the time of his parents' removal from Illinois to Bevier, Missouri, and here he learned the trade of carpenter, to which he devoted his attention until the early seventies, when he engaged in the general merchandise business, in which he continued for a few years. Thereafter he resumed operations in the line of his frade, becom- ing one of the successful contractors and builders of Bevier, where lie continued operations along this line until his death, on the 12th of February, 1882, at which time he was only thirty-two years of age. He was a stanneh Republican in his political proclivities and was an active worker in the party cause. He had the distinction of serving as the first elerk of the village of Bevier, after its incorporation, and was a citizen who ever commanded the respect and high esteem of the com- munity and was eminently worthy of the slight tribute which it is pos- sible to pay his memory in a sketch of the limitations necessarily pre- seribed for the one at hand. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and his religious faith was that of the Congre- gational church. On the 7th of September, 1875, was solemnized the marriage of Joseph R. Hughes to Miss Lenora S. Davis, who, like him- self, was born in the state of Ohio, and who is now the wife of Edward Elias, of Bevier, individually mentioned elsewhere in this volume. Joseph R. and Lenora S. Hughes became the parents of three children, of whom two are living-John G., subject of this sketch, and Ruth L.
John Gilbert Hughes was about four years of age at the time of his father's death and he was reared to manhood in Bevier, to whose public schools he is indebted for his early educational discipline, which was supplemented by a course in the Spaulding Business College, in Kansas City. In September, 1894, he became bookkeeper in the State Bank of Bevier, where he soon proved his ability and gained the implicit
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confidenec of the interested principals. In April, 1898, he was advanced to the position of assistant cashier, in which he continued until May, 1901, when he was chosen to fill the responsible office of cashier, of which he has since been incumbent. As a financier and excen- tive officer he has shown much initiative power and marked discrimina- tion, and it has been in large degree due to his well-directed policy that the State Bank has become one of the substantial and popular financial institutions of this section of the state. It controls a large business and in capitalistie reinforcement and administrative control leaves nothing to be desired in covering its field. Mr. Hughes is now one of the stockholders and directors of the bank and gives to the same the major portion of his time and attention. In April, 1898, he became secretary of the Bevier Building & Loan Association and he gave effective service to this beneficent organization, retaining the office noted for a period of about five years. He is a valued member of the Missouri Bankers' Association, and during 1905-6 was secretary of Group 1, of this organization; in 1906-7 he was chairman of the same body, and he continued to be actively identified with the affairs of the association. Mr. Hughes is a member of the directorate of the New Cambria Land Company, which is incorporated under the laws of Missouri, with a capital stock of $10,000. He is liberal and progressive as a citizen and his influence is ever given in support of all enterprises and measures tending to advance the eivie and material welfare of his home city and county.
In politics Mr. Hughes gives an unfaltering allegiance to the Repub- lean party and, while he shows a loyal interest in its cause, he has inva- riably refused to permit the consideration of his name in connection with publie office, save those of a purely local order. In April, 1899, he was appointed city clerk of Bevier, of which office he continued in tenure for two years, having been reappointed in 1900. In 1903 he filled out an nnexpired term as city treasurer. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he is identified with the local lodge, and he is also identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Hughes belongs to the First Baptist church of Bevier.
On the 12th of June, 1907, Mr. Hughes was united in marriage to Miss Mary Emma Walker, who was born in Clinton county, Missouri, in which state she was reared and educated, being a daughter of Judge T. W. Walker, who is now a resident of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have one child, Ruth Lindsay.
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
SAMUEL R. MORRIS.
From the time when he was a boy of six years old, a period of forty-four years, Samuel R. Morris, of New Cambria, has been a resi- dent of this county, and during all of his mature life has been an active and fruitful contributor to the advancement of the county and the improvement of all its material, mental and moral agencies for the good of the people. Until five years ago he was an industrious and progressive farmer; then, believing he had earned a quieter and less active life, he sold his farm and took up his residence in the town of New Cambria, where he has since been living retired from all aetive pursuits.
Mr. Morris is a native of Utica, New York, where he was born on June 12, 1859. His father, John Morris, was born and reared in Wales and came to the United States in 1840, when he was thirteen years of age. He found a home in Utica, New York, where he grew to man- hood and finished the education he had begun in his native land. He passed his youth on a farm, and when he attained his maturity he began farming on his own account, an occupation he adhered to until the end of his life. In April, 1865, he brought his family to Missouri and located at New Cambria. Here he continued farming and also conducted a cheese factory.
In 1855 he was married to Miss Jane Evans, a native of North Wales and a daughter of John and Mary Evans. They became the parents of seven children, five of whom are living: Samuel R .; Mar- garet, the wife of John Reese, of New Cambria; Mary, the wife of John Davis, also of New Cambria; Catherine, the wife of Harry Row- land, who is a citizen of New Cambria; Henry J., who also lives there and is the proprietor of "Shadyside," a well known Jersey farm. In polities the father was a staunch Republican. He died in 1901, and his widow in 1905.
Their son, Samuel R., grew to manhood and was educated at New Cambria. He assisted his father on the farm while attending school, and when he reached man's estate began farming on his own account. He continued his operations in this line of productive effort until 1904, when he sold his farm and gave np all active business. That year he also went to Europe and visited all the places of leading interest in that part of the world. The tour was an extended one, and was then and still is a source of great pleasure and profit to him, giving him a clear view of foreign peoples in their own land, amid their customary surroundings and engaged in their usual vocations. He learned much
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of their condition, customs and tendencies, and the economic views which animate and govern them. This gave him a clearer and better basis of comparison with affairs in his own country than he had ever had, and he returned home a truer and more loyal American citizen, a more devoted lover of his country and a more determined promoter of its welfare than he had been before, if that were possible.
In politics Mr. Morris has always been a Republican. He served two terms as township clerk and two as township assessor, and was district clerk for many years. He belongs to the First Congregational church, is one of its elders, and has been its clerk for fourteen years. He is also superintendent of the Sunday school and has been the leader of the church choir for a long time. In addition, he is a charter mem- ber of the American Bible Society and treasurer of the township Sun- day School Association. His zealons and untiring work in church rela- tions has covered a long period beginning with the dawn of his manhood and extending to the present time.
It has been said in this review that Mr. Morris is living retired from all active pursuits, but the statement needs qualification. As has been shown, he is very active in church work, and he is also intimately connected with several financial and industrial institutions. He is a stockholder in the Merchants and Farmers Bank, the Live Stock Improvement Company, of New Cambria, and the Pioneer Gold Mining Company, being a director of the latter, and he gives the affairs of eachi a fair share of his attention.
In 1890 he was married to Miss Jennie Evans, a daughter of David and Jane (Jones) Evans, all natives of Wales. He and his wife were the parents of one child, which is deceased. In all the relations of life Mr. Morris has proven himself to be a straightforward, upright and manly man. His life has been consistently clean and commendable, and by reason of it he has the esteem of all the people and is ranked among their best and most influential citizens. His industry has been great, but it has not been exerted solely in his own behalf .. His efforts have been prodnetive, and while they have been profitable to him, they have also multiplied in benefits to the people around him. He has turned his back upon no public duty and no proper elaim of the com- munity on his time, energy or resources. Its good has been an object of the greatest moment to him, and he has wisely aided in advancing it by every means in his power, as he is still doing. His record furnishes a fine illustration of what is possible to capacity, industry and frugality in this land of opportunities, and his example is well worthy of imita- tion by the young and the more mature, for it contains the elements of
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certain success-wise conduet, good judgment and steady perseverance in the right course, over all obstacles and against all insidious persuasions to quixotie or speenlative diversions.
JOHN WILLIAM AYERS.
John William Ayers, the present postmaster of Callao (1909). is a native of Macon county and has passed the whole of his life so far among its people, showing a deep and serviceable interest in their wel- fare and doing all in his power to promote it. He is recognized as one of the leading and most useful citizens of the town, and is held in the highest esteem by all classes of its residents. As a farmer in their vicinity and a merchant in their midst, he has dignified and adorned the walks of life he has followed, and as a man of affairs and progress- iveness he has contributed measurably to their comfort and benefit in many ways.
Mr. Ayers was born on November 5, 1874, the son of Silvester D. and Nancy Frances (Gooding) Ayers, the father a native of Pennsyl- vania, where his life began in 1840, and the mother born and reared in this county. They were married in 1866 and have had ten children, eight of whom are living: Flora, the wife of John B. MeDuffic, of Atlanta, this county; George J .; Walter E .; John William, the subject of these paragraphs ; Clinton Lewis, a resident of Nebraska ; and Harry E., Edith and Joseph, who still reside under the shelter of the family rooftree. The father has been a member of the Republican party from the dawn of his manhood and always a zealous worker for its success and supremacy. He and his wife are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church and live near Atlanta. The father came to Missouri and became a farmer when he was twenty-three years old. He is still farming.
Their son, John William, grew to manhood at Atlanta and obtained his education there, attending the public schools when he could be spared from work on his father's farm. After leaving school he passed a number of years assisting his father in the management of the farm. Then, in 1902, went to Bueklin, in Linn county, and for something over a year carried on a livery business of considerable extent and activity. His tendency was, however, to mereantile pur- suits. and in 1905 he found a satisfactory opportunity to gratify his desires in this respect. In that year he formed a partnership with Victor Grove, under the firm name of Grove & Ayers, for the purpose of carrying on an enterprise in the hardware trade in Callao, and handling farming implements in connection with it. Two years later
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
the firm sold out the hardware branch of the business and it has since devoted its energies entirely to the implement trade, including all kinds of road vehicles for use and pleasure. The house has been very enter- prising in this line of traffic, and has won a gratifying and well- deserved success, occupying now a leading position in the trade in this part of the state and operating very extensively, its patronage coming from a wide scope of territory in this and adjoining counties, and some from other states.
Mr. Ayers has been an indefatigable worker in his business, pay- ing the full price in application and a study of requirements for the success he has achieved. But he has been more than a business man or merchant. He has taken an active part in public affairs, local and general, and has shown first rate capacity for participation in them to the advantage of the public. While he trains with the Republican party in political matters, he is above all partisan considerations in local affairs and looks first in all cases to the substantial good of the community. He aids his party in all respects to the full extent of his power where the interests are purely political, but he holds himself free to do the best he can for the people around him where only local interests are concerned. He served on the town board for three years, and in December, 1908, was appointed postmaster of Callao, a post of duty he is now filling with great satisfaction to the patrons of the office and pronounced credit to himself.
In the fraternal and religious life of the community Mr. Ayers has taken considerable interest. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America in his fraternal relations, and the Methodist Episcopal church in his religious allegiance. Both organizations are enriched by his membership and each has the benefit of his judicions counsel and his zealons assistance in all of its undertaking's of worth and moment. And he is also helpful to all other agencies for the advancement of the community and the benefit of its people, allowing no sectarian or other arbitrary considerations to interfere with his usefulness or with- hold his hand where he can aid good work. On April 1, 1896, he was joined in marriage with Miss Jessie F. Grove, a native of Macon county. They have one child, their son, Roscoe G., who is now twelve years old. The parents are among the progressive elements of the town, con- nected in helpful ways with every educational and moral agency at work in it, warmly welcomed and held in cordial regard in the best social circles, and numbering their friends and admirers among every class of its inhabitants. Closely in touch with all that is good and
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fruitful in the community, they are representative of it in the best sense of the term.
WILLIAM DEWITT ROBERTS.
William Dewitt Roberts, of New Cambria, has the double distinc- tion of having built the first house in that progressive town and of now being its oldest and most venerated inhabitant. And he is looked upon by the people with the esteem and affection which naturally belong to him on account of these two facts in his record, but also with that which springs from the knowledge of his long service to the community and his uniformly upright and commendable life among its people.
Mr. Roberts was born in Wales on December 31, 1824. When he was but five years old his parents, David W. and Miriam (Williams) Roberts, emigrated to the United States and located in Oneida county, New York. A voyage across the Atlantic in this day of steam naviga- tion, floating palaces and electric speed, is a matter of little moment; ~ but it was not so when the elder Roberts, with his household Gods about him, his young wife and little family, turned their backs upon the scenes and associations amid which their forefathers had dwelt for generations, and embarked their hopes and all in a quest for a new home in a distant and unknown land. In their vision of hopefulness and youthful aspiration the land across the sea wore a winning smile, and the accounts which they had heard of its boundless opportunities, political freedom and equality for all before the law, gilded every prospect that might otherwise have been forbidding. It held out to theni a warm and open hand to welcome them to better fortunes than their own country could promise, and they rejoiced in the invitation. But the angry waters rolled between it and them, and before they could reach it they would have to undergo all the inconvenience and face all the hazards of a long voyage in a sailing vessel. If their hearts quailed before the outlook it is not to be wondered at.
But their nerve was good, their fiber was firm, and high hope sus- tained them. They made the voyage and arrived in safety, even though the trip was trying and the time consumed in it long. On reaching their new home in the interior of New York, which was then in a very undeveloped condition, they engaged in farming, which they followed in that part of the country for fifteen years. By the end of that period the farther West had risen somewhat from its sleep of ages, and, with siren voice, was inducing thousands to enlist in its great army of industrial conquest and hasten to subdne its still untrodden wilds. In 1844, the twenty-first year of their married life, the hardy
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emigrants who had braved the stormy ocean before, determined to brave the wilderness also, and moved to Wisconsin. There they rested and passed the remainder of their days, the father dying in 1854 and the mother about 1866.
They had five children, two daughters and three sons. Of this number William D. is the only one now living. He grew to manhood and obtained his limited education in New York and Wisconsin. His opportunities for schooling were few and primitive. The exigency of the times and the necessities of the family in their frontier life made it requisite that every hand should be busy in supplying the primary wants of the household, and the son, even at an early age, was obliged to work on the farm whenever there was anything to do there. He did his part faithfully and found his reward in the vigor of his body and clearness and force of his mind when he reached man's estate. After attaining his maturity he continued to do farm work and also labored as a carpenter for many years in the state of Wisconsin.
On June 5, 1864, he arrived in Missouri and located at what is now New Cambria, where, as has been stated, he built the first house in what was destined to become a very progressive and desirable center of population, business enterprise and social life. He again engaged in farming and continued his operations in this independent and profit- able occupation for thirty-five years, meanwhile seeing the country. grow in grace and productiveness around him and helping with might and main to aid the progress.
Being a man of more than ordinary information and force of character, he rose early to prominence and influence in the community. In 1866 he was elected county judge for a term of four years. At the end of his term he retired to private life and dwelt in comfort and contentment on his farm for a period of twelve years. In 1882 he was again called to the service of the people as a justice of the peace, an office to which he has been chosen at every election since that time He also served on the school board for a number of years.
In 1854 Mr. Roberts was married to Miss Catherine Williams, who was born and grew to womanhood in New York state. They be- came the parents of four children, three of whom are living and all residents of New Cambria. They are David A .; Minnie, the wife of William Bundren; and Maggie C., the wife of David M. Jones. Ex- emplifying in their daily lives the domestic and social virtues inculcated by the teachings and example of their parents, and serviceably inter- ested in the welfare of the town and its people, they are among the most respected and influential citizens of the township. Their father,
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as has been said, is the oldest resident of New Cambria, and he is esteemed in full accordance with his years, his character and his long and faithful service to the community. There is none so high as not to do him reverence.
NAT. L. GOODRICH.
"Every man to his trade" is a trite and well-worn saying whose very triteness and general acceptance proves its foree. The mind is best occupied when it finds pleasure in its duties and all its faculties are devoted to reaching the end it has in view. Nat. L. Goodrich found his proper place among the activities of life at an early age, and he has stuck to it and made a pre-eminent success of his career by doing so. He was manifestly fashioned by Nature for mercantile pur- suits, and she did not leave him in ignorance of the fact. He is now accounted one of the shrewdest and most enterprising merchants and business men in Macon county, the estimation in which he is held being based on what he has achieved in his line and the complete mastery of it which he exhibits on all occasions.
Mr. Goodrich became a resident of Missouri in 1867, when he was but two years old. Ile was born in Madison, Indiana, in 1865, the son of Rene S. and Martha (Woodfill) Goodrich, the former a native of Frankfort, Kentucky, and the latter of Pennsylvania. Before coming to Missouri the father was a manufacturer of tobacco in partnership with N. Hunt. In this state he followed farming with enterprise and profit, becoming one of the leading farmers of this county. Two chil- dren were born in the family, Nat. L. and his sister, Alice R., who is now the wife of T. W. MeCully, of Callao. The father died in 1871. The mother is living and has her home with her daughter in Callao.
Nat. L. Goodrich grew to manhood in Callao and obtained his edu- cation in its schools. In that town also he began the luminous and sueeessful business eareer for which he is distinguished, and in that town he has worked out all its subsequent developments. All that he is, he is Callao's own, and its people esteem him accordingly.
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