USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 68
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venerable and revered "mother in Israel," represents the first genera- tion; her daughter, Mrs. Gilbert, has a daughter, Viola, who is the wife of Pittman Lindley, of Livingston, Montana, and their daughter, Pearl, is the wife of Mr. Gilman, of Livingston, Montana, in whose daughter, Cordie Nell, is found the representative of the sixth generation.
Charles L. Farrar, whose name initiates this review, gained his early educational training in the schools of Macon, and after leaving school he became clerk in a local mercantile establishment. In this capacity he was thereafter employed by several other local concerns of representative order, and his business career aside from such ocenpation has mainly been that of city clerk (twenty-two years).
Mr. Farrar has long been a potent factor in connection with polit- ical affairs in his native county and has been one of the wheel-horses of the Republican party in this section of the state. In 1904 he was chosen secretary of the Republican committee of Macon county, in which office he served four years, within which he did effective work in the maneuvering of political forees in the various local and state cam- paigns. In 1902 he was elected chairman of the Republican city com- mittee of Macon, and he retained this incumbency until 1908. In 1886 he assumed the office of city clerk, and he held this position for a period of twenty-two consecutive years, resigning the same in May, 1908. In the following month he received his commission as postmaster of Macon, and he has given a most able and effective administration of the affairs of the office, having done much to systematize and facilitate the service and having gained unqualified popular approval. He is sig- nally interested in all that tends to advance the material and civic pros- perity of his home city, and is loyal and progressive as a citizen. He and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church, holding membership in the local parish of St. James, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Mod- ern Woodmen of America, the Independent Order of Foresters, and the Woodmen of the World. He enjoys unqualified popularity in his native county, where his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances.
On the 19th of June, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Farrar to Miss May Bennett, daughter of Edward F. Bennett, of Macon, and they have one child, Nelle.
In a reminiscent way it may be stated that Mr. Farrar's mother was a passenger on the first railroad train operated between Manches- ter and Liverpool, England. The engineer of this train is still living
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and is now a resident of the state of Iowa. A model of the primitive engine used in hauling the train was on exhibition at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, held in the city of St. Louis in 1904.
NATHANIEL M. LACY.
One of the representative members of the bar of Macon county, where he formerly served as assistant prosecuting attorney, Mr. Lacy has been most successful in the practice of his profession and is recog- nized as a strong and versatile advocate and well fortified counselor. He maintains his home and professional headquarters in the city of Macon, and is one of the loyal and public-spirited citizens of the county.
Mr. Lacy claims as the place of his nativity the fine old Hoosier state, having been born at Nineveh, Johnson county, Indiana, on the 6th of August. 1874, and being a son of James D. and Tamar (Maris) Lacy, whose marriage was solemnized in the year 1873 and who now reside in Johnson county, Indiana, where the father is living virtually retired, having long been numbered among the representative agricul- turists and stock-growers of that county and having been influential in public affairs of a local order. He now has his home in the village of Nineveh. James D. Laey was born at Coshocton, Ohio, on the 6th of March, 1846, and is a member of one of the sterling pioneer families of the Buckeye state. He was reared and educated in his native place. and for a number of years his vocation was that of contracting and building, which line of enterprise he followed after his removal to Indiana. Later he engaged in farming and stock-raising, becoming the owner of a valuable farm in Johnson county, and he continued to be identified with its work and management until about 1907, since which time he has lived retired, though still retaining possession of his fine farm. His wife is a native of Brown county, Indiana, and they became the parents of three children, all of whom are living, namely : Nathaniel M., William J. and Mary E. William J. is a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Mary E. remains at the parental home. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the father has long been a zealous worker in the ranks of the Republican party, in which he has wielded no little influence in a local way. He has held various local offices of public trust and is at the present time a member of the board of equalization of his county. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he is past master of his lodge.
Nathaniel M. Lacy was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and gained his early educational training in the public schools, after which he continued his studies for four years in Franklin College, at
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
Franklin, Indiana. In preparation for the work of his chosen vocation he was matriculated in the Indiana Law School in the city of Indian- apolis, and in this institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1899, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar of his native state shortly after his graduation and was engaged in practice at Franklin, Indiana, until 1901, when he came to Missouri and took up his residence in Macon, where he has built up a substantial and representative law business, having an excellent clientele and having appeared in connection with much important litiga- . tion in the local and state courts. In 1904 he was chosen assistant prosecuting attorney of Macon county, in which office he gave very able service and added materially to his professional prestige .. He retained this incumbency until 1906, and simultaneously held the office of city attorney of Macon.
In polities Mr. Lacy gives an unqualified allegiance to the Repub- lican party and he has been an active worker in its cause. He and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World. and the Phi Delta Theta college fraternity.
On the 9th of September, 1903, Mr. Lacy was united in marriage to Miss Daisy L. Strickler, who was born and reared in Indiana and who is a daughter of H. C. Strickler, of Franklin, that state.
HUNTER L. GARY.
On other pages of this publication is entered a review of the inter- esting career of Theodore Gary, whose capitalistic and industrial inter- ests in Missouri and elsewhere are of wide scope, and as his son, the subject of the sketch at hand, is intimately associated with him as private secretary and as an executive officer of the many enterprises with which he is identified, reference should be made to the review of the father's career in connection with that of the son. Under such referatory facilities it will not be necessary to repeat the data in this article. Hunter L. Gary is recognized as one of the essentially repre- sentative business men of the younger generation in Macon, and has shown distinctive acumen and initiative, while he has had the benefit of the counsel and effective training of his father, whose success has been of a most pronounced order, especially in the field of telephone development.
Mr. Gary is a native of the city of Macon, where he was born on the 27th of May, 1884. and to the public schools of this city he is
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
indebted for his early educational training, which was supplemented by a course of study in Blees Military Academy, at Macon, where he continued a student for a period of three and one-half years. In 1903 he completed a thorough technical course in telephony in the Inter- national Correspondence Schools, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, thereby fortifying himself in a practical way for the supervision of the large telephone interests with which he is associated in an administrative capacity.
After leaving the military school Mr. Gary entered his father's office, and he has since been intimately associated with the latter in his varied business operations. He showed, even as a boy, a distinctive predilection for practical business affairs, and while attending school voluntarily sought employment during his leisure hours as collector for various business concerns in his home city, also acting as collector and bookkeeper for the Macon Telephone Company. His advancement has not been merely one of paternal or other fortuitous influences, for he is of the timbre from which strong business ability is naturally evolved, and his ambition has been one promotive of definite personal aecom- plishment. The importance of the enterprises with which he is con- cerned may be understood by referring to the previously mentioned sketch of the life of his father, to whom he is his private secretary in connection with all of the latter's operations. He is secretary and assis- tant manager of the Macon Telephone Company, and also assistant manager of the Atchison Telephone Company, of Atchison, Kansas; assistant manager and treasurer of the Nevada Telephone Company, of Nevada, Missouri; secretary and director of the Hudson-Gary Land Company, of Macon ; a director of the Theodore Gary Investment Com- pany, of Macon, Missouri; and a director of the Topeka Independent Telephone Company, of Topeka, Kansas, as well as of the Macon, Atchison and Neveda telephone companies, already mentioned.
In politics Mr. Gary is aligned as a stanch supporter of the princi- ples and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and he is identified with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained to the chivalrie degree, being identified with Emmanuel Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templar. He also holds membership in the local organi- zations of the Knights of Pythias, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and Knights of the Maccabees. He and his wife are zealous com- municants of the Protestant Episcopal church and are specially active in the work of St. James, parish in Macon. He is superintendent of its Sunday school at the time of this writing and has also been for twelve
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consecutive years incumbent of the position of secretary and treasurer of the Sunday school.
Mr. Gary has taken a deep interest in athletics and outdoor sports, and he has served as vice-president of the Missouri Trap Shooters' Association and as secretary and treasurer of the Macon Gun Club, which latter dual office he held for three consecutive years. He is one of the loyal young men of his native city and shows mnch interest in every enterprise tending to advance its civic and material welfare. He and his wife hold a prominent position in connection with the social activities of the community, and their popularity is of the most unequivocal order.
On the 28th of June, 1905, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gary to Miss La Mora Sanvinett, who was born at Macon, this state, and who is a daughter of Hon. J. M. Sauvinett, a prominent and influential citizen of Macon, of which city he was formerly mayor. Born to this union one child, Mary La Mora, July 15, 1909.
EDWARD S. SMITH, M. D.
Among the distinguished representatives of the medical profession of Macon Dr. Edward S. Smith is numbered and is well known in professional and scientific eireles.
Edward Sanborn Smith is a native of Salina, Kansas, where he was born on the 25th of April, 1875, and in his ambition and vital initiative he well exemplified the progressive spirit of the west. He is a son of S. Edward and Eunice (Webster) Smith, who are now resi- dents of Macon, Missouri, where the father is engaged in the clothing business. The doctor was a child at the time of his parents' removal from Kansas to Macon, and here he attended St. James Military Acad- emy, at Macon, for six years. In this institution he was prepared for college, and in 1894 he was matrienlated in the Johns Hopkins Uni- versity. He had taken up a pre-medical course during his regular uni- versity work in the academic department, and afterward he entered the medical department of the University of Maryland, in the city of Balti- more, in which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, in May, 1900. During that year he served as senior interne in the uni- versity hospital at the quarantine station of the port of Baltimore, and in this connection he gained invaluable clinical experience, so that his reinforcement for the active work of his profession was most admirable when he initiated his independent practice.
In May, 1901, Mr. Smith established himself in practice in Macon, and here his recognized ability and exceptionally advanced training in
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his profession have contributed to his splendid success not less than has his unequivocal personal popularity. He is associate medical direc- tor of the International Life Insurance Company, of St. Louis; is a member of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. with the title of major, conferred by the governor of Missouri ; is a mem- ber of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; a member of the National Geographic Society; and is also identified with the American Medical Association and the Missouri State Medical Soci- ety. He is unswerving in his allegiance to the cause for which the Repub- lican party stands sponsor and takes an active interest in the same, as does he also in all that tends to advance the material and eivic advance- ment of his home city and state, but he has never had aught of desire for the honors or emoluments of public office. Member of vestry of St. James' Episcopal church.
On the 14th of October, 1903, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Smith to Miss Emily Montague Frey, who was born and reared in the city of Washington, D. C., being a daughter of Robert E. Frey and a lineal descendant of Montague Barron, who fought under La Fayette in the war of the Revolution. Dr. and Mrs. Smith are prominent in the social life of their home city and their home is a recognized center of gracious and generous hospitality. They have no children.
SAMUEL L. GASH.
The personal history of American citizenship in all parts of the country, but particularly in the Middle and Farther West, is a suc- ยท cession of stories of men who have risen to consequence, and in many cases to celebrity, through their own efforts, because they have been quick to see, alert to seize and resourceful in using their opportunities to their own best advantage and for the benefit of the community around them. Fortune has not smiled upon them except as they have forced her to, and they have not needed her smiles. All they asked was a fair field and freedom of opportunity, and their own native ability has done all the rest. In many instances, even when circumstances have been unfavorable, they have compelled the adverse conditions to min- ister to their progress and become wings or weapons for their advancement.
A striking case in point is the life-story of Samuel L. Gash, which it is the purpose of these paragraphs to briefly record. Mr. Gash is a native of Macon county and has passed the whole of his life to this time (1910) with its borders. He was born in Easeley township on May 6, 1858, and is a son of Thomas and Maria J. (Dale) Gash, the
SAMUEL L. GASH
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Missouri. The father came to this state when he was a young man and located in Elmer, this county. He was a miller and wrought industriously and profitably at his trade during the years of his activity. In politics he has always been a Democrat and has been firm and faithful in the service of his party, but has never held a political office of any kind. The mother, who died in 1905, was a daughter of Abraham and Effie Dale, long resi- dents and highly esteemed citizens of Macon county. Mr. and Mrs. Gash had five children, all of whom are living. They are: Laura, the wife of W. H. MeDavitt of Mercyville; W. W., a resident of Elmer; Samuel L., the immediate subject of this review; A. D., who lives in Chicago, and J. L., who, also is a resident of Ehner. The father is still living and has his home with his daughter, Mrs. William H. MeDavitt.
Samuel L. Gash obtained a limited education in the district school of Mercyville, and after completing that worked as a farm hand until 1879. when he began farming on his own account. He had no capital for his enterprise but his own courage, ability and determined spirit, but these were of a fruitful kind and contained the elements of success within themselves when managed with prudence and good judgment, the directing qualities which he applied to them. He continued farm- ing with success and progress until 1907, when he retired from activity in this line of effort and turned his attention to real estate, insurance and loan business, in which he is still extensively and profitably engaged. He is a stockholder and one of the directors of the Farmers' Exchange Bank of Gifford and has been its president since 1906. He is also a member of the committee on construction of the Inter-Urban railway between Palmyra and La Plata, Missouri, and has been one of the most active and useful men in connection with the enterprise, promoting it by every means at his cominand and through the forces he has been able to invoke and bring to its aid through his influence and the force of his example.
In many other ways Mr. Gash has been of great and appreciated service to his township and county, and in the domain of public affairs has at all times been very active and zealous in behalf of the best inter- ests of the region in which he lives. He is an active, working Democrat in polities, but except a membership of more than eight years on the school board, has never been induced to accept a public office of any kind. But when business interests are at stake, he is all energy and enterprise. He has been president of the La Plata and Western Tele- phone company for the last five years, and its present high state of
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development and efficiency are largely due to his progressiveness and skill in the management of its affairs. He owns and has farmed nuder his supervision a fine farm of 315 acres and possesses in addition extensive holdings of valuable city property in La Plata. Beginning the battle of life for himself without a dollar, and now being one of the most substantial citizens of Macon county in a worldly way, his career has been successful from the beginning and furnishes a fine example of what enterprise, ability and persistent and intelligent industry ean accomplish in a land where opportunity only waits the commanding might of mind to yield up its treasures to its master.
In fraternal life Mr. Gash is an Odd Fellow and a Modern Wood- man, and in religious association a member of Missionary Baptist church. He was married in 1879 to Miss Mary J. Evans, a daughter of Allen and Hopey (Morris) Evans, who were born and reared in Kentucky and came to Missouri in carly life. Of the five children born of the union only three are living: Abraham H., of La Crosse. Mis- souri ; Minnie E., the wife of Emory Enterline, also a resident of La Crosse, and Sanford N., who lives in La Plata.
WILLIAM E. WEBB, M. D.
One of the definite purposes of this publication is to make specific record concerning those citizens of Macon county who stand representa- tive in their varions spheres of endeavor, and in this connection there is all of consistency in according special recognition to Dr. Webb, who is engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Macon and who is known as one of the essentially able and successful physicians and surgeons of the county.
Dr. Webb finds a due mede of satisfaction in reverting to the state of Kentucky as the place of his nativity. He was born in Perryville, Boyle county, in the fine old Blue Grass commonwealth, on the 6th of April, 1855, and is a son of William F. and Sarah E. (Balboa) Webb, both likewise natives of Kentucky, where their marriage was solemnized in the year 1850. The father was born in Greene county. that state, in the year 1824, and after due preliminary discipline he entered Central College, at Danville, Kentucky, where he completed a course of study. He engaged in the life insurance business and finally became general state agent for Kentucky of the Connectieut State Life Insurance Com- pany. Later he engaged in the publishing business, in which he con- tinued successfully for many years. He passed the closing years at the home of his son and died at Macon, Missouri. The doctor's mother is still living in Cincinnati, Ohio. Of their six children four are living,
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namely: Misses Sallie H. and Lulu, who are successful and popular teachers in the public schools of the city of Cincinnati, Ohio; Miss Ada, who resides in Cincinnati; and Dr. William E., who is the immediate subject of this review.
In polities William F. Webb was a stanch Demoerat, and though he had been the owner of a number of slaves he was stanehly opposed to secession and gave a loyal support to the cause of the Union at the time of the Civil war. He became captain of a company of home guard, and his northern sympathies cansed him to become persona non grata in his seetion of the state, from which he was finally compelled to remove, remaining in the state of Ohio until after the elose of the great fratracidal conflict between the states. Both he and his wife held membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church South,
In both the paternal and maternal lines Dr. Webb is a scion of distinguished and patrician stock. His paternal grandfather, Edward Carey Webb, was born at Lexington, Kentucky, in 1792, and he passed his entire life in that state, where he died in 1868. He was a snecessful agrienlturist and a man of prominence and influence in his community. His father, Captain Louis Webb, was born at Richmond, Virginia, April 6, 1755, and was a member of one of the old and honored families, of English origin, that settled in that historic old commonwealth in the early period of its history. He died in Kentucky, on the 12th of July, 1841. He was ardently loyal to the patriot cause during the war of the Revolution, and in the same maintained a company at his own expense, besides personally rendering active service as an officer in the Conti- mental line. In recognition of his devotion to and support of the canse of independence the government granted to him a large traet of land in Boyle county, Kentucky, to which state he removed with his family, becoming one of the pioneers of that seetion, where he improved his estate and attained to commanding influence as a citizen.
The mother of Dr. Webb was a lineal descendant of the famons Balboa, the discoverer of the Pacific ocean, and was practically the last of the Balboa line, whose name she perpetnated until the time of her marriage. She was also a granddaughter of Colonel Harry Greenwood, who was born in Virginia, in 1750, and who passed the elosing years of his life in Kentucky, in which state he had the distinction of being the first member of the Masonic fraternity. He gained his military title through service in the Revolution. His death occurred in the year 1831. Mrs. Webb was also a descendant of Major Fanntleroy Dye, who was horn in 1763 and who sacrificed his life while serving as a soldier and officer in the war of 1812.
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Dr. William E. Webb gained his early educational discipline in the public schools of Louisville, Kentucky, and after having made choice of vocation he began the work of preparing himself for the same. In this connection he was finally matriculated in the Ohio Medical College. in the city of Cincinnati. in which well ordered institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1879, and from which he received his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine, coming forth well fortified for the active work of his profession. The doctor initiated practice in Athens, Ohio, where he remained four years, at the expiration of which he removed to Chanute, Kansas, where he continued in successful prae- tiee for the ensuing four years. He then, in 1888, came to Macon, where he has continued in active general practice as a physician and surgeon for more than a score of years and where his success is best indicated by the prestige which is his and the large and representative practice which he controls. For the past fifteen years he has served as surgeon for the Wabash Railroad Company, and is surgeon to Blees Military Academy.
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