USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 73
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In political affairs Mr. Jones is independent of party control, bestow- ing his suffrage according to his best judgment without reference to partisian considerations, choosing his candidates according to their worth and wholly apart from any claim their party alliances might seem to give them. He has always avoided the turmoil of political contentions and might very properly he said to have no party ties at all. In September, 1882, he was married to Miss Jennie Jones, a native of Macon county whose parents came to this region from South Wales. Of the nine children born to the union six are living: Myfanwy, whose home is in Denver, Colorado; and Anna, Frank, David, Gwenwyfar and Jennie, who are living in this state. The father is a Knight of Pythias and a Modern Woodmen of America in fraternal relations, and in religious affiliation he is connected with the First Baptist church, in which he is the leader of the choir. He is a preacher in his church organization and has been of considerable service to the community in this capacity, although he has no regular charge or congregation. Among the citizens of Macon he stands high and is universally esteemed.
ROBERT ALLEN GUTHRIE.
This gentleman, who is one of the leading men of Macon in busi- ness, social and church circles, was born at College Mound, Missouri, on January 2, 1875, and was brought by his parents to the city of Macon when he was but one year old. Since then he has lived in the city and ever since reaching maturity has been active and zealous in the work of promoting its welfare, aiding and augmenting its forces of progress and building up its industrial and commercial power and influence. No project of merit in which the enduring good of its people has been involved has been without his active support and intelligent. broad-minded direction.
Hle is a son of a distinguished sire, Capt. Ben Eli Guthrie. a sketch of whose life will be found in this volume. and began his education in the
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public schools of Macon. His scholastic training was completed in Missouri Valley College, located at Marshall, Missouri. After leaving that institution he engaged in newspaper work, acting as secretary and treasurer of the corporation that owned and conducted the Macon Times, until 1898. Previous to his connection with the paper he was employed for a few years in the Bank of Macon. This gave him an insight into and a taste for the banking business and he returned to it a few years later. When he severed his connection with the Macon Times in 1898 he assumed the management of the La Plata Home Press, and was the controlling spirit of that enterprising and able publication for about one year. In 1899 he accepted an appointment on the force of the First National Bank of Macon, and he remained in association with that institution until 1907, rising through successive steps on demonstrated merit to the position of cashier, and filling every position he held with great credit to himself and benefit to the bank and its patrons.
On September 1, 1907, he resigned as cashier of the bank and accepted the position of secretary and treasurer of the Theodore Gary Investment Company, one of the most energetic, enterprising and pro- gressive business institutions in the city of Macon. He is still acting in that capacity and the company is flourishing and enlarging its busi- ness as a result of its own enterprise and the care and capacity with which he performs his duties in its service, which, though at times onerous and exacting are in line with his tastes and his business training for effective work.
Mr. Guthrie is allied with the Democratic party in politics and an active worker for its success in all campaigns, but he has always refused to accept a political office, either by election or appointment, and has never consented to allow the use of his name as a candidate, preferring at all times to serve the state from the honorable post of private citizenship. His religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian church, and in the congregation to which he belongs he is a zealous worker and a leading man. He is a member of its board of deacons and the treasurer of the church and its Sunday school, and engages earnestly in all its benevolent and uplifting work.
On November 7, 1900, Mr. Guthrie was united in marriage with Miss Effie Sharp, a daughter of J. P. and Mary L. (Stark) Sharp, who came to Missouri and Macon county from Kentucky many years ago. Mrs. Guthrie was born and reared in this county. She and her Ims- band have two children, their daughters Allene and Mary Sue. The parents move in the leading social circles of the city and are accounted
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as among its best and most useful citizens, contributing to all the forces for good at work among its people and stimulating others to exertion by their own industry for the general weal and the excellent examples of fidelity to duty which they give.
JAMES ROBERT HUNT, M. D.
With twelve years of active general practice in this county as a physician and surgeon, Dr. James R. Hunt has had opportunity to win a large business and establish himself firmly in the regard and good will of the people, and he has used his opportunity to the best of advan- tage by faithfully performing his every duty and giving the public the best service of which he has been capable, which has been the best his circumstances and abilities have permitted. He has taken nothing for granted and been satisfied with nothing less than the best that was attainable. He has kept abreast of the most advanced thought and dis- covery in his profession by a close and reflective study of its literature and a free interchange of thought and experience with its leading practitioners all around him.
Dr. Hunt is a native of Macon county and his professional serv- iees have had the incentive, in addition to others, of being rendered to his own people-the men and women among whom he has grown to manhood and passed his life so far. He was born on April 18, 1874, the son of John Henry and Julia (Leathe) Hunt, born October 16, 1839, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Virginia. The father became a resident of Macon county when he was but ten years of age and has been living within its confines ever since prosperously engaged in farming. His birth occurred March 25, 1833 and his marriage on April 18, 1856. He and his wife became the parents of eight children three of whom are living : Ella, wife of George Broek of College Mound; George O., a successful Macon county farmer; and Dr. James R., the immediate subject of this sketch. The father has been a life-long Democrat in politics. He and the mother are still living and have their home at Callao.
Dr. Hunt was reared in the city of Macon and began his scholastic training in its public schools. This he completed at the Missouri State University, which he attended two years. At the end of his university course he began the study of medicine at St. Louis, attending the Beau- mont Hospital Medical College, from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1897. He began his practice at Macon and for eight years, while performing with fidelity and zeal the duties of a general practitioner, he also served as physician and surgeon for the Central
JAMES R. HUNT, M. D.
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Coal and Coke Company at that place. In June, 1906, he located at Callao, where he has been carrying on an increasing practice ever since. He has now reached the first rank of physicians in the county, and while standing well with his professional brethren, is also cordially respected and esteemed by all classes of the people.
In connection with his practice he owns and operates a drug store in Callao, and to this he gives his personal attention to the extent of seeing that it is conducted with every regard to the welfare of its patrons, and that all its work is first class in every particular. The utmost care is used in compounding prescriptions, and only the freshest and purest drugs are employed in the work. The general stock of the store is up to the highest standard, and the prices are always reasonable and fair.
While Democratic in his politics, the Doctor is not an active parti- san, always believing that he does his part in helping to keep the peo- ple from illness and relieve their suffering's when sickness or disease assails them, without attempting to aid in governing them. Frater- nally he is a member of the Masonic order, the Odd Fellows and the Woodmen. Professionally he is examiner for the New York and the Aetna Life Insurance Companies and the National Life Insurance Company, of Vermont. He was married on April 13, 1898, to Miss Nellie Gibbs Cromwell, a native of this county, born January 11, 1877. He has been very successful and is acknowledged to be one of the leading physicians of the county.
5
FREDERICK H. TEDFORD.
"Ilere shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain ; Here patriot Truth her glorious precepts draw, Pledged to Religion, Liberty and Law."
This exalted sentiment, which Story penned as a motto for the Salem (Massachuetts) Register many years ago, might fitly be written conspicuously on the Times-Democrat of Macon as that newspaper is . conducted under the proprietorship and editorial management of Fred- erick H. Tedford, its present owner. It is the leading Democratic paper in the county, and the most potential organ of the party whose prin- ciples it advocates with such signal ability and force, and it has a hold on the regard and good will of the people that is solely due to merit of a high order.
The proprietor and editor of the paper, Frederick HI. Tedford, is well known all over Missouri as a first rate citizen, a cultivated gen-
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tleman, and a writer of considerable fluency and forec. He has served the people well in important public offices and has contributed to the wealth and power of the state by excellent work in mercantile lines. He also rendered good service for a number of the carlier years of his manhood in the transportation department of industrial life. In every position he has filled he has met all the requirements in a masterly man- ner and won high commendation by the ability and integrity he has shown.
Mr. Tedford was born on a farm near Moberly, Randolph county, Missouri, on July 5, 1873, and is a son of John F. and Virginia (Baird) Tedford, the former a native of Missouri and the latter of Pennsylvania. The parents are both living and have their home in Moberly. The father served in the Confederate army in a Missouri regiment under the command of General Price from the beginning to the end of the Civil war. He participated in many a hard fought battle, endured the wearying and wearing draft of many a long march, suffered often for want of food and proper shelter, and finally was taken prisoner, and for a time languished in a military prison. During a portion of his mili- tary service he was under the command of Capt. Ben Eli Guthrie, a sketch of whom will be found in this work. His service was ardnous, and, while he escaped being wounded, he found it, at all times, full of hardships and privation. But his paternal ancestors were Virginians and he was true to the section of his nativity and the family history, abiding by the convictions that pervaded it.
Frederick H. Tedford grew to manhood in Moberly and obtained his education in the publie schools of Moberly. After leaving school he entered the employ of the Wabash railroad company as an office boy at Moberly and remained with it in various positions until he reached the age of twenty-five years. In 1898 he was appointed chief deputy grain inspector for the state, with headquarters at Kansas City, and after serving well in that capacity six years, was appointed chief inspector and held the office three years. At the end of his term he spent a year on the road selling cement, then, in January, 1909, took charge of the Macon Times-Democrat, which he is still in control of. The paper gives him opportunity for the full expression of his political convictions, as he has been a life-long Democrat, and a student of public affairs, and it also affords him an opportunity to advocate and defend what he believes in at all times. He does this with great ability and force, and without fear or favor, keeping his paper in the first rank of its class and holding it ever up to a high standard of excellence.
Mr. Tedford's religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian church,
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and he is a deacon and the superintendent of the Sunday school in the congregation to which he belongs. In fraternal life he is a member of the Masonic order of the Royal Arch degree, and also belongs to the Order of Elks. In 1897 he was united in marriage with Miss Gertrude McCully of Macon. They have two children, their daughter Frances M. and their son Howard William. The parents are reckoned among the leading citizens of Macon and have hosts of admiring friends wherever they are known. The father is a man of influence and promi- nenee, with a potential voice in the public affairs of the city and conty of his home and in the political councils of the state. He is a pro- gressive and enterprising man in reference to public improvements and the advancement and development of the region in which he lives, and at all times and under all circumstances does his part toward promoting them to the highest degree and in the most wholesome manner. Macon has no better citizen and none for whom all classes of the people have a higher regard, or in whom they have greater confidence.
JAMES M. RANDALL.
Retired farmer and veteran of the Civil war, and having met the claims of duty on both the farm and the battlefield in a manly and courageous way, James M. Randall of Callao has served his country well in lines of production in peaceful industry and defense in time of need. He was born at Canton, St. Lawrence county, New York, on February 13, 1841, and is a son of Ora P. and Jane (Putnam) Randall, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of the state of New York. The parents were prosperous farmers in New York and also in Wisconsin after their removal to that state in 1856.
The father was born in 1819 and died at his Wisconsin home in 1889, the mother following him to the other world two years later, pass- ing away in 1891. After wrestling for years with the soil in the state of New York in an earnest endeavor to make it yield up it full mete of return for their systematic and well applied industry, they looked westward and saw a winning smile on the face of the country. They vielded to its persuasions and moved their family to Waupaca county, Wisconsin, locating near Oshkosh in the adjoining county of Winnebago, which was then, as it is now, the largest town in a large extent of the surrounding country and the point of identification for a very con- siderable region. Here they improved a farm taken from the wild- erness, and on it they passed the remainder of their days. They had five children but only two are living, James M. and his sister.
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The Randall family is of English origin. Its first representative in this country was John Randall, who settled at Westerly, Rhode Island, where his oldest son, Peter Randall, was born in 1673. From there the family moved to Vermont, and some generations later to New York, becoming domesticated in St. Lawrence county in that great com- monwealth. The region in which it located was almost as much the frontier then as Wisconsin was when Ora P. Randall settled in it, and as Missouri was at the same time. It might be said with propriety, therefore, that this family has been a pioneer family from early colonial days, and if there be anything in the doctrine of heredity, it would still be one if there were any longer a frontier in this country for it to pitch its tent on.
James M. Randall grew to manhood in Wisconsin and obtained a limited edneation in the primitive schools of his boyhood on the west- ern plains. After leaving school he engaged in farming and continued his operations in this line of industry until 1861. Being fervently attached to the Union and inspired by lofty patriotism in his devotion, he obeyed the first call for volunteers to defend it against dismem- berment, and enlisted in Company B, Fourteenth Wisconsin infantry. He served in this company eleven months and during a portion of the time was orderly sergeant. While belonging to it he took part in the battle of Shiloh. In the summer of 1862 he was transferred to Com- pany G, Twenty-first Wisconsin infantry and made second lientenant of it. In the spring of 1863 he was promoted captain, and served as such until he was dicharged in 1865.
While connected with Company G Captain Randall participated in the battles of Stone River, Perryville, Telehoma. Chickamauga, Mis- sionary Ridge, Buzzard's Roost, Peach Tree Creek, and the siege and capture of Atlanta. Hle was then with Sherman in his victorious march to the sea, and afterward in the campaign in the Carolinas, He was discharged from the service at Goldsborough, North Carolina, in consequence of injuries received at Bentonville in the same state, his discharge taking place in 1865, after four years of service in which he faced death on many bloody fields, tramped thousands of miles on the march, and saw thousands of gallant men, among them some of his best beloved friends, fall before the withering fire of one of the most sanguinary confliets of history.
After leaving the army Captain Randall returned to his former Wisconsin home and there followed farming until 1868. In that year he moved to Macon county, Missouri, and took up a new farm, which he farmed and improved until a few years ago, when he retired from all
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active pursuits. He was married on December 25, 1863, to Miss Martha M. Pollard, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of Martin and Rachel (Powers) Pollard, the former born in New Hampshire and the latter in Vermont. The Captain and Mrs. Randall have four children : Lena, the wife of P. A. Decker; Linden M., a prosperous farmer living in Macon county; Clinton L., and Mrs. Dr. Welch. The father is a Republican in politics and has served as county judge. He is a Blue Lodge Mason and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic fraternally and belongs to the Christian church in religious affiliation.
BLOOM J. SIMMONS.
The worthy son of a prominent, enterprising and successful sire, and combining in his parentage the sturdy strain of Old England's yeomanry and the all-daring, all-enduring spirit of the early New Yorkers, Bloom J. Simmons, one of the successful and progressive farmers and stock men of Eagle township in this county, has had the inspiring influence of good family traditions and examples to stir him to action and give him the confidence in himself that is usually neces- sary to success in any undertaking and scarcely ever fails to win a considerable measure of it. He is not a native of Missouri, but was born just across the great river in Pike county, Illinois, on July 11, 1853, but became a resident of the township in which he now resides when he was but two years of age, his parents locating in Eagle township in 1855.
Mr. Simmons is a grandson of Jacob Simmons, who was born and reared in England and came to the United States when he was a young man. He took up his residence in Rensselaer county, New York, and there his son, William H. Simmons, the father of Bloom J., was born in 1820. Ile remained in his native county until his marriage, then joined the tide of migration to the West, as it was then, locating in Pike county, Illinois, where he was actively and profitably engaged in general farming until 1855, when he moved his family to a farm of 320 acres of land which he bought in Eagle township, Macon county, Missouri. He continued his general farming operations here and added a thriving and steadily expanding live stock industry, and both as a farmer and a stock man became prominent and highly successful, own- ing at one time 700 acres of land, all under advanced cultivation with a stock raising and feeding business commensurate with his acreage. Some years previous to his death, which occurred in 1889, he divided his land among his children and retired from active pursuits.
He was a very enterprising and energetie man, making all his
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efforts tell to his own advantage and the benefit of the section in which he lived, and rising to considerable consequence and influence in the community of his home, both in this state and Illinois. His political allegiance was given firmly and with ardor to the Republican party, and he was an earnest and effective worker for its welfare. In 1842 he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Wager, and by this marriage became the father of ten children, four of whom are living of the six that grew to maturity. They are: Harriet, the wife of James Wilson, who lives in Macon county; Bloom J., the subject of this writing; and Lafayett and Addie, the wife of Henry Muff, who are also residents of this county.
Bloom J. Simmons grew to manhood in Eagle township and obtained his education at Hickory Grove district school, which he attended about four months a year until he reached the age of seventeen. He then worked on his father's farm and assisted the family until 1876, when he began the battle of life for himself. A year or two later he moved to Minnesota, where he bought seventy acres of land and passed seven years actively occupied in farming, and during the greater part of the time, conducted a saw mill with great success and profit. In 1887 he returned to his former home in Macon county, Missouri, and located on a farm of 120 acres of land given him by his father. He sold all his interests in Minnesota and devoted himself wholly and with productive energy to the cultivation of his land in this county and the development of an active and remunerative business in raising and feeding stock for the markets. His farm now comprises 200 acres and is nearly all under cultivation. It is well improved, skillfully tilled and has grown into considerable value and been also made very complete, convenient and attractive as a country home, being one of the admired farms in the township.
Mr. Simmons has been devoted to the progress and development of his locality, giving all its public affairs, its industries and its social life the benefit of his active aid and intelligent help in supervision, and stimulating others to exertion by the force of his example and his influence. Ile has been a member of the school board twenty-one years, and the value of his service to the people in this capacity is shown by the elevated standard and excellent condition of the schools. He is a Republican in polities and a hard and efficient worker for the good of his party. On March 19, 1876, he was married to Miss Nancy Ann Wilson, a daughter of Richard and Sarah Wilson, esteemed residents of Macon county for many years. Five children have been born of the union and all of them are living. They are all, also, residents of Macon
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county and are : Sarah, the wife of Thomas Goodman; Dora, the widow of the late Emory Naylor; and Ada, Esther and Virgil, who are still at home with their parents.
JOHN C. CARPENTER.
This vigorous, progressive and successful farmer is a native of Macon county and has passed the whole of his life to the present time within its borders and been active and helpful in the development of its industries and the promotion of all of its elements of progress and power. He was born in Richland township on December 8, 1856, and obtained his education in Seibert district school in that township. Selecting farming and raising stock as his occupation for life, he began very early in his manhood the career in those industries which has distinguished him as one of their energetic and enterprising promoters in this part of the county.
Mr. Carpenter is a grandson of Samuel Carpenter, who was born in Virginia and became an early settler in Cooper county, Missouri, where his son, Henry Carpenter, the father of John C., was born. Hen- ry remained in that county until 1847, when he moved to Macon county and acquired the ownership of 400 acres of land, on which he conducted a highly successful and profitable business in farming and raising stock until the beginning of the Civil war. Then, inspired by a strong love of his,state and firm faith in his political convictions, he gave himself up to her service by enlisting in the Confederate army under General Price He continued his military service until 1865, when he was taken prisoner and sent to a military prison at St. Louis, where he died. He participated in numerous engagements during the war, among them, the battles of Lone Jack and Pea Ridge, and a host of encounters of minor historic importance.
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