USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 67
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
and where he duly availed himself of the advantages of the schools of the period.
In 1844 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McCully to Miss Mary Jane Harvey, who was born in Howard county, Missouri. Fairfax county, Virginia, was where the family had long been one of prominence and whence came her parents to Missouri. In 1847 Mr. MeCully took up his residence in Macon county, settling on a farm on the Sheridan river, near Bloomington, which was then the county-seat. In pur- chasing this property he also became the owner of an old over-shot water wheel, which was used for the operation of a saw mill and also a grist mill and which was long an object of interest, as it was the only one of the kind between the Missouri river and the state of Iowa. In 1856 Mr. MeCully removed from his farm to the village of Bloom- ington, where he became associated with Alfred Tobin and Albert L. and George Shortridge in the general merchandise business and the manufacturing of tobacco. With the same representative citizens he was also prominently identified with the organization of the Bloom- ington Bank, which was the first to be established in the county and of which he was one of the largest stockholders, as well as an executive officer. Mr. MeCully was a man of great business acumen and his activities were diversified and of wide scope and importance. As a manufacturer of lumber he operated upon an extensive scale, buying large traets of timber land in Missouri and Arkansas and operating four saw mills. He contracted for the construction of one of the first railroad bridges at St. Joseph, Missouri, and later was the leading bridge and tie contractor for the Missouri & Mississippi Railroad in Macon county.
Mr. MeCully was a man of impregnable integrity of character and his life was guided and governed by the highest principles and ideals. In the earlier days he was the owner of a large number of slaves, but he never sold one and freed them all long prior to the inception of the war between the states. During this great internecine conflict his sympa- thies were with the south and in the perpetuation of the institutions under whose influences he had been reared. During the war he main- tained a neutral attitude so far as active service was concerned. He was a stanch adherent of the Democratic party but never sought the honors or emoluments of public office, as he was intrinsically and essen- tially a business man. Both he and his wife were zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, to whose support they contributed in liberal measure.
Henderson and Mary J. (Harvey) MeCully became the parents
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of seven children, of whom four are living : Walter G. is general manager of the Columbus Electric Light & Power Company, at Columbus, Nebraska; Wiliam E. is individually mentioned on other pages of this work; Ada is the wife of William J. Brasfield, of St. Louis, Missouri; and Arthur P. is anditor of the Rhea Lead & Zine Company, at Joplin, Missouri.
WILLIAM E. JONES.
V
The aggressive enterprise and strong initiative that have caused so wonderful industrial progress in all sections of the United States within the past decade find exemplification in no uncertain way in the person of this able and popular young business man of Macon, where his energy and ambition have been so coupled with discrimination and business prescience that he has gained a place of prominence as one of the essentially representative citizens here identified with industrial and commercial activities. Though he is not yet thirty years of age he is president of the W. E. Jones Cutlery Company, which is engaged in the manufacturing of razors and other articles of entlery and which is rapidly forging to the front as one of the leading concerns of its kind in the country. Its operations are based upon adequate capital and mechanical facilities, and under the effective direction of its president its affairs are being administered with most excellent results, so that it proves a valuable acquisition to the industrial interests of Macon county and the state of Missouri.
William Edward Jones was born at New Cambria, Macon county, Missouri, on the 8th of August, 1881, and is a son of Dr. Evan Jones, who was born in Wales, in the year 1845, and who was there reared to maturity, receiving a good common-school education. In 1870, at the age of twenty-five years, he left his native land to seek his fortune in America, to which Wales has contributed a most valuable element of citizenship. He was variously engaged for some time after his arrival in the United States and finally entered a medical college in the city of Keokuk, Iowa, in which institution he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Soon afterward he located in New Cambria, Missouri, where he engaged in the active work of his profession and where he built up a large and successful practice, becoming known as one of the able physicians and surgeons of that section of the state. He still maintains his home in New Cambria, but has been virtually retired from active professional work since 1905. He is identified with the Missouri State Medical Society, is a Republican in politics, though never a seeker of public office of any description, and he and his wife
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HISTORY OF MAACON COUNTY
hold membership in the Presbyterian church. He is affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights of the Maccabees and other fraternal and social organizations, and is one of the honored and influential citizens of the thriving town in which he has so long maintained his home and in which he has rendered effective service to suffering humanity. In New Cambria, in the year 1880, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Elizabeth James, who was born in Australia, whence she came with her parents to America when a child. Dr. and Mrs. Jones became the parents of nine children, all of whom are living, their names, in order of birth, being as follows: William E., Alice, Nell, Thomas C., Jolm K., Ida, Robert L., James I., and Virgil C.
William E. Jones, the immediate subject of this review, is indebted to the excellent public schools of his native town for his early educa- tional training, which included a course in the high school. He later com- pleted a course in a business college at Quincy, Illinois, and thereafter was employed for one year in the New Cambria State Bank, where he held the office of bookkeeper. In 1900 Mr. Jones came to Macon to assume the position of quartermaster and instructor in commercial branches in Blees Military Academy, with which institution he was thus identified until 1904, when he became manager of the Macon Shear Company, He resigned this position in May 1905, and effected the organization of the W. E. Jones Cutlery Company, which is incor- porated under the laws of the state, with a capital stock of five thousand dollars, and of which he has been president and general manager from the beginning. The company has a well equiped plant, provided with the most modern facilities for the handling of the various details of manufacturing, and its ontput has gained a high reputation for superior, excellence. The principal products are razors, of both the ordinary and safety types, and though the enterprise may yet be classed with the "infant industries" it is certainly a sturdy youngster, strong in sinew and fostered under the most auspicions of surroundings, as is evident from the fact that its products are now shipped into the most diverse sections of the Union. In the establishing and maturing of this impor- tant industrial enterprise Mr. Jones has shown the utmost courage, confidence and self-reliance, and none can doubt that he has wisely applied his powers and that the splendid success of the business has amply justified his faith in himself and in the concern of which he is the executive head. Ile is not a man of idle moments but one who crystallized dreams into deeds, and, in his quiet, unassuming way, he gives the evidences of intrinsie strength and follows a definite course with that tenacity of purpose and that comprehensive viewpoint that
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
augur well for the still greater success of the enterprise with which he has thus identified himself. Though one of the youngest business men in Macon he is one of the most progressive as well as most pop- ular, and he is duly appreciative of the advantages and attractions of Macon as a place of residence and as an eligible manufacturing and distributing center. His loyalty is manifest in public spirit as well as in his fostering of a business that has large direct and collateral influence on the commercial precedence of the city. He is one of the enthusiastic and valued members of the Macon Commercial Club, of which he served as secretary in 1906-7 and of whose directorate he is a member at the present time. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, his religious views are in accord with the faith of the Presbyterian elmreh, and he is affiliated with the Macon lodge of the Knights of Pythias. It may be stated that this representative young citizen of Macon still clings to a life of celibacy.
WILLIAM D. COOK.
This prominent and progressive farmer, dairyman and stock- raiser of Callao township, who occupies a leading position in the indus- tries with which he is comeeted and is generally esteemed as one of the forceful and influential citizens of his locality, was born Marel 22, 1862, at Elmer, Macon county which his grandfather helped to found and where his father grew to manhood and passed the remainder of his days at Callao. The grandparents and the parents were all natives of Kentucky, and the paternal grandfather moved his family to this county in 1838 and located on a tract of wild land on a part of which the town of Ehner now stands. There he redeemed his land from the wilderness and made it over into a good farm, helping to start the influx of population and the spirit of improvement that have resulted in the present high grade of development of the region.
The parents of William D. Cook were James Wade and Mary Ellen (Truitt) Cook, natives, as has been stated, of Kentucky, the former born in Barren county and the latter at Bowling Green in Pike county, of Missouri. They have seven children four of whom are living. They are: Victoria, the wife of Robert L. Wilkin, of San Juan, New Mexico: Ida, the wife of James Smith, of Ethel, Missouri; William D. and Phineas G., of Callao. The father died in 1902. He was a pros- perons farmer and a well esteemed citizen. The mother is still living and has her home in Elmer. She is advanced in years but enjoys good health and is hale and vigorous. Her experience has been highly inter- esting, although it has been repeated many, many times in American
WILLIAM D. COOK
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HISTORY OF MAACON COUNTY
history. She came to this county when it was very sparsely populated and the greater part of it was still under the dominion of its savage denizens of forest and plain, man and beast, and yet bore on its sur- face the wild appearance it has worn for ages. The soil was virgin to the plow, the forests were unbroken, the whole region, except in spots, was an unpeopled waste, untouched by civilizing influences and with all its powers and possibilities still slumbering as they had been from the time when the land emerged above the surface of the great deep. She has lived to see it a veritable garden in productiveness, the home of a progressive, enterprising and all-conquering people and rich in all the achievements of modern times. And she and her kindred have helped to accomplish all the improvements.
Her son, William D. Cook, attended the district schools in the neighborhood of his home and completed his scholastic training at St. James Academy in Macon. After leaving that institution he taught school for a number of years and had the benefit of the self-knowledge and knowledge of others which that instructive occupation gives its wideawake and observant pupil. He had aspirations, however, for a broader if not a higher field of effort, and with the savings he had accumulated he bought a farm and started a dairying business on a small scale. He has continued both his farming and his dairying ever since, steadily expanding both and also increasing his enterprise in raising stock for the markets, until now all are of magnitude and highly important in a commercial way. He owns 209 acres of good land improved with good buildings and fully equipped for advanced farming, and he cultivates it with spirit and intelligence. His stock interests are extensive and profitable, and his dairy work not only adds considerable to his revenues but also aids largely in supplying many wants of the community.
Mr. Cook has given full attention to the development and advance- ment of the region and the enduring warfare of its people. He is a stockholder and director of the Callao Fair Association and also a stockholder in the Macon Creamery. He has served ten years or longer as a member of the school board, and in many other ways has ministered to the welfare of the township and its inhabitants. Frater- nally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of Pythias, and takes an active part in the meetings and pro- ceedings of his lodge in each. He is a member of the Christian church in religious affiliation and earnest in promoting the activity and useful- ness of the congregation to which he belongs. In his church member- ship he has departed from the example of his father, who was a Prim-
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
itive Baptist, and was also zealous in the service of his church.
On December 31, 1884, Mr. Cook was united in marriage with Miss Laura D. Gentle, a native of Callao but of Kentucky parentage. They have two children, their son Herbert V. and their daughter Pauline.
JOSEPH L. BRIDGEFORD, D. D. S.
Not only by reason of his distinctive technical ability in a pro- fession that represents both a science and a mechanic art but also through his invention of an appliance that has proved of inestimable benefit to his profession the world over and a boon to those who utilize artificial teeth in plate form, has Dr. Bridgeford gained a wide repu- tation in his chosen calling, and he is today numbered among the widely known and distinguished exponents of the dental profession in the United States, being estabished in practice in the city of Macon, where lie is also president of the Pioneer Manufacturing Company, which manufactures his special dental appliance or preparation, to which further reference shall be made in this context.
Dr. Joseph Luekie Bridgeford is a seion of one of the honored pioneer families of Missouri, of which he is a native son and to which his fealty is of the most appreciative and insistent type. He was born in the village of Paris, Monroe county, Missouri, on the 16th of Sep- tember, 1871, and is a son of William Henry and Rachel Julia (Luekie) Bridgeford, the former of whom was likewise a native of Paris, this state, where he was born in 1840, and the latter of whom was born in Kentucky, whence her parents removed to Missouri when she was a child. The paternal grandfather of the doctor was William Bridge- ford, who was born and reared in Kentucky, where the family was early founded and whence he came to Missouri in the pioneer days, becoming one of the prominent and influential citizens of Monroe county, where he continued to reside until his deatlı.
William H. Bridgeford was reared and educated in the town of his nativity and as a young man engaged in the general commission busi- ness in the city of St. Louis. Later he turned his attention to the raising and handling of live stock, at Paris, where he became an exten- sive shipper of cattle. In 1885 he engaged in the general merchandise business at Mexico, this state, but he retired from active business in 1889, after which he returned to the eity of St. Louis, where his death occurred on the 2nd of December, 1892. His widow now maintains her home in Mexico, Missouri. Of their two children the subject of this review is the younger, and his brother, Dr. Emmet McDonald Bridgeford, is a representative physician and surgeon of Mexico, this
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
state. The honored father was an active factor in connection with the cause of the Democratic party in his native state, but never sought or held public office. He was a man of strong intellectual force and of the highest personal integrity, ever commanding the unreserved esteem of all who knew him. He was a consistent member of the Baptist church, of which his wife also is a devoted member, having been active in church work for many years.
Dr. Joseph L. Bridgeford was abont fourteen years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Mexico, Missouri, to whose public schools he is indebted for his earlier educational discipline, which was supplemented by a literary course in Washington University, in the city of St. Louis, and also by the completion of the prescribed technical eurrienlum in the dental department of the same institution, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1892 and from which he received the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery, besides winning the honors of his elass in examination in prosthetic dentistry, in which connection he received a valuable prize offered by the St. Louis Dental Manufacturing Company. It should be stated that Dr. Bridgeford has ever stood exponent of the highest professional ethics and has done all in his power to raise the standard of the same and to dis- courage the granting of licenses to those not thoroughly fitted for the important work devolving upon the practitioner of dental surgery. After his graduation Dr. Bridgeford located in Moberly, Missouri, where he was associated in practice with Dr. James T. Fry until the winter of 1893, when he came to Macon county and established him- self in practice at Bevier, where he continued his professional work until 1897, since which year he has maintained his home in Macon, where he has built up a large and substantial professional business, drawn from representative and appreciative sources. He is a valued member of the Missouri State Dental Association and the Missouri Dental Club, whose headquarters are maintained in the city of St. Louis.
In 1906 Dr. Bridgeford invented and placed on the market a sub- stance or preparation known as the Bridgeford plate paste, in the exploitation of whose merits he organized the Pioneer Manufacturing Company, which turns out the product upon a large scale, as the same is now in demand on the part of dental practitioners in all parts of the world.
In polities Dr. Bridgeford clings to the faith in which he was reared and is a staunch supporter of the canse of the Democratic party, though he has never evinced aught of ambition for political office. He manifests a deep interest in all that touches the welfare and progress
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
of his home city and is one of the most zealous members of the Macon Commercial Club, which stands representative of high civic ideals and which has done much to promote the industrial and commercial advance- 'ment of the city. He was secretary and treasurer of this organization, is identified with the local lodges of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, Knights of Pythias and Woodmen of the World, and is a mem- ber of the alumni association of his alma mater, Washington University.
On the 11th of December, 1907, Dr. Bridgeford was united in marriage to Miss Mary Melinda Stone, who was born and reared in Macon county and who is a daughter of Benjamin F. Stone, of Macon city.
PAUL W. TUTT.
One of the alert and progressive young business men and popular citizens of Macon is Paul William Tutt, who is a native of Germany and of distinguished and patrician ancestry. He is the only repre- sentative of the immediate family in America, and here his success has been such as to offer the best indication of his ability and his integrity of purpose.
Mr. Tutt was born in the city of Metz, Germany, on the 14th of September, 1881, and is a son of Colonel Dogobert F. and Catherine (Melchers) Tutt, the former of whom was born at Bensberg, near the city of Cologne, Germany, and the latter of whom is a native of Dus- seldorf. They now maintain their home in Metz, Germany, and the father there holds an important government office. Colonel Tutt was educated in the city of Cologne, and after leaving school he entered the German army, in which he rendered gallant service and from which he was finally retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1864 he was an active participant in the war between Prussia and Austria, in which he took part in the battles of Munchengratz and Sadowa, and later he participated in many of the important conflicts marking the progress of the Franco-Prussian war. After the close of this war he married Miss Catherine Melchers, and they have four children, concerning whom the following brief record is apropos in this con- nection : Carl holds the office of first lieutenant in the German army ; Elizabeth is the wife of Gardy S. Knox, a Prussian army officer stationed in Berlin; Paul William is the immediate subject of this review, and Henry remains at the parental home.
Paul William Tutt was afforded the advantages of excellent schools in his fatherland, having availed himself of the facilities of the Lyceum
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
in his native city, after which he attended a military school in Bensberg and a private school of high scholastic grade in Metz.
In 1898, when seventeen years of age, Mr. Tutt severed the gracious ties which bound him to his home and fatherland and set forth to gain for himself a place as a loyal American citizen. He landed in New York city, and from the national metropolis came directly to Macon, Missouri, where he soon afterward assumed a position with the Macon Shear Company. In 1899, more thoroughly to familiarize himself with the English language, he attended the Blees Military Academy, at Macon, Missouri, and in 1901 he became bookkeeper for the Blees Mc Vicar Carriage Company, of Macon, continuing to be identified with the office affairs of the company until January, 1904, when he assumed the position of traveling representative of the concern, in which connec- tion he covered important territory in the northern states. In the same year he was assigned to the office of assistant manager of the company's branch establishment in Shreveport. Louisiana, and in April, 1905, he was called back to Macon to assume the office of manager of the Macon Shear Company. In November of 1906 he was elected secretary and manager of the Blees Carriage Company, of which position he has since continued incumbent, and he has gained precedence as a business man of much initiative power and fine administrative ability. His record since coming to America has been one of definite and worthy accom- plishment, and he has so ordered his course as to gain and retain the inviolable confidence and regard of those with whom he has been asso- ciated, both in commercial and social circles. In politics he has aligned himself as an ardent supporter of the cause for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and he takes much interest in all that pertains to the welfare and progress of his home city, where he is deservedly popu- lar, owing to his gracious personality and his careful consideration for others.
On the 14th of Jannary, 1909, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Tutt to Miss Mary Morrison Kern, daughter of Judge Robert H. Kern, a prominent and honored citizen of St. Louis, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Tutt are active in the best social life of Macon and in the same their popularity is of the most unequivocal type.
CHARLES L. FARRAR.
The name borne by the subject of this brief review has been identi- fied with the annals of Macon county for more than half a century, and his father was one of the prominent and influential citizens of this sec- tion for many years prior to his death. The son has well upheld the
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prestige of the name and is to-day one of the representative citizens of his native county, where he has been prominent in public affairs and where he is now the able and popular incumbent of the office of post- master of the city of Macon.
Mr. Farrar was born on a farm in Ten Mile township, Macon county, Missouri, on the 29th of May, 1861, and is a son of John and Selina (Thornton) Farrar, both natives of England, where the former was born in the year 1815 and the latter in 1817. John Farrar was reared and educated in his native land and as a young man came with his parents to the United States. The family located in the state of North Carolina, where he remained until 1857, when he settled in Macon county, Missouri, where he secured land and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, to which he continued to devote his attention for a number of years and in which connection his well directed endeavors brought him a due measure of material success. He finally took up his residence in Macon, the county seat, and here he was prominent in bnsi- ness and in public affairs. He espoused the cause of the Republican party at the time of its inception and ever afterward gave to the same an unwavering allegiance. In 1866 he was elected county clerk, and of this office he continued incumbent for four years. He also served as city collector for some time, and in 1888 was elected police judge, in which capacity he continued to preside on the bench for three years. During the Civil war he served four years as postmaster of Ten Mile. He was a man of superior intellectual and moral force, and no citizen of the county was accorded a fuller degree of popular confidence and esteem. In 1871 he became senior member of the firm of Farrar & Bourke and engaged in the wholesale and retail lumber business in Macon. He continued to be identified with this enterprise until 1877, when he disposed of his interest in the same, after which he lived virtu- ally retired from active business until his death, which occurred on the 2d of November, 1882. He was a member of the Episcopal church, of which his wife also has been a devoted member for many years. She still maintains her home in Macon and has attained to the venerable age of ninety-two years (1909). They became the parents of nine children, of whom six are living, namely: William, who is engaged in the insur- ance business at St. Louis ; Sarah, who is the wife of William B. Gilbert, of Macon: Alice, who is the wife of William B. Barnes, of this county ; Eliza, who is unmarried and resides with her mother; Carrie, who is the wife of Albert D. Strong, of Macon ; and Charles L., who is the immedi- ate subject of this sketch. It is interesting to record that six genera- tions of the family are now found represented. Mrs. Farrar. the
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