USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 77
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ERNEST D. LANDREE.
Among the younger business men of Macon county none stands higher than Ernest D. Landree. of Atlanta, and none is more deserving of high rank. From his boyhood he has used all his faculties and oppor- tunities in doing good work for every interest with which he has been connected, and in keeping in the van of progress toward elevated and high-minded citizenship. At school he was diligent and studious, look- ing ever to fninre success in life and using all his facilities in preparing
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
to win it. In the banking business for a number of years he was atten- tive to every duty and conscientions and capable in the performance of all. And now as a purchasing and sales agent he is alert, ready, resourceful and constant in his industry.
Mr. Landree is a native of Macon county, born in Lyda township on December 29, 1882, and is a scion of old Virginia families domesticated in the Old Dominion from colonial times. His paternal grandfather, James Landree, was born and reared in that state, and with the adven- turons spirit that has always characterized the family, came to Missouri in his young manhood and located in what is now the city of Macon. Here his son, J. Monroe Landree, the father of Ernest D., was born in 1855. He was reared and educated in Macon, and has lived there all his life to this time, actively engaged in farming and raising and dealing in live stock extensively. He has been very successful in all his under- takings and is one of the substantial citizens of the county. His fine farm comprises 370 acres and is nearly all under advanced cultivation. He was married in 1879 to Miss Jennie R. Niekell, a native, like himself, of Macon county. Two of their four children are living, their sons, Ernest D. and James C., the latter of whom lives in St. Louis. The father is a Democrat in political connection and a Modern Woodman of America. His wife is a zealous and devoted member of the Southern Methodist church. Both are highly respected and well merit the esteem in which they are held by all classes wherever they are known.
Ernest D. Landree began his scholastic training in the public schools and completed it at the Kirksville State Normal school. After leaving that institution lie pursued a course of special training at the Gem City Business College in Quincy, Illinois. Upon the completion of his education he was appointed assistant cashier of the Atlanta State Bank, which he served well and acceptably until 1908, pleasing both the bank officials and its numerous patrons by his fidelity and ability and his close attention to the business of the institution.
Desiring to carve out a business career for himself and occupy his faculties in building up some enterprise expressive of his individuality and owing its being and magnitude to his own immediate direction. he quit the bank in the year last mentioned and turned his attention to handling timber for the Star Timber Company, of Des Moines, Iowa, in which he has an interest of value. He is still engaged in this line of activity and is making his mark in it. The business of the company in this portion of the country has flourished and grown under his man- agement and is still steadily expanding. Mr. Landree also has farming property of value and other interests of high vitality and great promise.
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He is a gentleman of considerable activity wherever the welfare of the community is involved, and as a loyal Democrat takes an active and helpful part in the public affairs of the township and county in which he lives. In fraternal life he is a Freemason, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Order of Elks, in all of which his membership is serviceable and highly appreciated.
JOSEPH MORT MCKIM, JR., D. D. S.
The science of dentistry is one of the most progressive of modern times. New discoveries and inventions are constantly enriching it with appliances for better results, the artistic character of its product is steadily rising in rank and the excellence of its achievements in every way is every year more and more admirable and commendable. It requires in its practitioners, who wish to keep pace with it, constant study and observation in practice, industrious reading of its literature, and frequent intercourse with the sources of advanced information, technical and practical.
Dr. Joseph Mort MeKim, of La Plata, is one of its enterprising and progressive votaries, and his diligent attention to its requirements is winning him the rewards that always follow fidelity in any pursuit of practical utility-public confidence and esteem, widening reputation as a master of his craft, and material acquisitions in increasing patron- age and the profits it brings. Dr. MeKim is a native of Missouri, having been born at Newark, Knox county, in this state, on June 24, 1882. His father, the late Dr. Joseph M. MeKim, was a native of Kentucky and one of the pioneers of this state, coming here in 1839, and locating at Winchester. With Newark as a base of operations he practiced medi- cine and surgery in that place and throughout a large extent of the surrounding country for forty-five consecutive years, becoming promi- nent in his profession and an influential leader in the public affairs of that portion of the state. He was one of the representatives of Knox county in the state legislature for two terms, and served on the board of regents of the Kirksville Normal School during eighteen successive years. He was a thirty-second degree Free Mason and an energetic and determined Democrat in political relations.
The elder Dr. MeKim was married in 1858 to Miss Natelia Rose, who was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and brought by her parents to Missouri when she was but four years old. By their marriage the Doctor and his wife became the parents of six children: Hettie, the wife of James Nesbitt, of Shelbyville, Missouri ; Dr. H. W., of La Belle, Missonri; James Montgomery, a prosperous druggist at Albuquerque,
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DR. J. M. MCKIM
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New Mexico; Dr. J. V., of Newark, in this state, who enjoys a large practice and is president of the Farmers Bank of Newark; Natelia J., the wife of William Holloway of Canton, Missouri, and Dr. Joseph M., the immediate and interesting subject of this brief review. The father died in 1903. The mother is still living and has her home at Newark, Knox county, where she has so long resided and where she is known and esteemed by everybody.
Dr. Joseph M. MeKim was reared in his native place and began his academic education in its publie schools. He also attended the Kirks- ville Normal School and high school in St. Louis, the "Stoddard." He began the study of dentistry in the Medical College of Keokuk, Iowa, and finished the course at the Barnes Dental University, in St. Louis, from which he was graduated with the degree of D. D. S. on May 3, 1905. He started his professional career at Newark, his native place, but soon afterwards moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where he remained until late in 1908. On December 1, that year, he located in La Plata, and there he has been established ever since, actively engaged in a growing practice and rising to prominence in the affairs of the town. He is up-to-date in his professional work, and keeps abreast of its most advanced thought and discoveries in both theory and practice, meeting all the requirements of his business with a comprehensive knowledge of its details and the highest skill in the practical application of that knowledge. His accomplishments in his profession are winning him a high rank in it, and his high character as a man and enterprise and usefulness as a citizen command universal esteem and commendation. He is always at the front in the support of all worthy projects for the good of the community, and in its moral, intellectual and social life is one of the leading influences for advancement toward the highest standard of excellence.
In fraternal life the Doctor is extensively connected and service- ably energetic. He belongs to the Masonic order, the Odd Fellows, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Modern Brotherhood of America. In religious affiliation he is a Christian, and in political relations a zeal- ous and hard-working Democrat. On June 9, 1909, he was joined in marriage with Miss Bess Tansil, a native of La Plata, Missouri, and danghter of Lon and Minie (Yancy) Tansil.
RICHARD S. THOMAS.
The life story of this esteemed citizen of Bevier is one of arduous effort at all times for his own advancement and the welfare of his country, and of heroie struggle under great difficulties after a tragical
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visitation in the performance of important duties in an occupation full of hazard, and in which the employers of labor seldom take sufficient precaution to protect their workmen from disaster, many of them seeming to consider human life cheaper than safety devices or the enforcement of strict discipline in the operation of their business.
Mr. Thomas was born on October 19, 1865, at Morris Run, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, and is a son of John S. and Elizabeth (Hughes) Thomas, natives of Wales, where their forefathers lived many gen- erations following the vocation in which their son Richard met with such signal disaster. The father was born in Wales on July 15, 1834, and came to the United States in 1863. On his arrival in this country he located at Morris Run, Pennsylvania, because there he had opportunity to follow the calling to which he had been trained in his native land, that of coal mining. In Heolyfelin, Aberdare, South Wales he met with and married Miss Elizabeth Hughes of the same nativity as him- self, the marriage occurring on March 6, 1862. They became the parents of twelve children seven of whom are living: Thomas H. of Bevier; Annie, the wife of John F. Barnhart of Denver, Colorado; Sarah, the wife of David Abrahams of Rock Springs, Wyoming; Mary J., the wife of John Rice, who also lives in Denver; Maggie, the wife of Adam Walker of Amarillo, Texas; and Edward S., who is a resident of this county.
The family remained in Pennsylvania until 1869 and the father continued mining there until that time. He then moved to Missouri and located in Livington county, where he followed farming for two years. At the end of that period he changed his residence to Carroll county, and there he farmed for one year. In 1872 he moved to Bevier, and after mining for a time, again turned his attention to farming and raising stock, and in these occupations he passed the remainder of his life, which ended on May 18, 1903. He was a Republican in politics, an Odd Fellow and charter member of Bevier Lodge in the order in fraternal life, and belonged to Mission Baptist church, in which he was an active worker and organizer.
Richard S. Thomas obtained his education in the public schools of Bevier, and as soon as he completed it went to work in the mines there, as he had been doing from the time when he was nine years old. In 1888, when he was twenty-three, he went to Fremont county. Colo- rado, and there he again followed mining and gave supervisory service in various capacities to his employers until 1891, when he was so seri- ously injured while in the performance of his duties that he was unable to work at mining again for five years. During that period, however,
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he learned the barber trade and worked at it in Colorado until 1896, most of the time on crutches. In the year last named he returned to Bevier, and here he has ever since resided. Having recovered some measure of his strength and freedom of motion, he mined coal at Bevier until 1905, when he was appointed mine inspector by Governor Folk. He served four years under him and three months under Governor Hadley. Prior to that time, in 1899, he was elected doorkeeper of the state house of representatives, and after serving a term of two years in that capacity, was appointed assistant paymaster and elerk of the elerieal force. Since leaving the office of mine inspector he has been selling coal for the Rombaner Coal and Mining Company of Novinger, Missouri.
Mr. Thomas has taken a very active interest in the affairs of the city and county in which he lives and rendered valuable and appreciated services to their people in many ways. He has been a member of the city board of aldermen for the last ten years, and has looked after the interests of the city with studious and intelligent diligence. He is a pronounced and unwavering Democrat in political allegiance, and on all occasions is an earnest and effective worker for the good of his party. During the past ten years be has been county committeeman of the organization and as sneh has won a high reputation as an organizer and energetic worker. In fraternal relations he belongs to the Order of Elks and the Order of Redmen.
On December 23, 1896, he was married to Miss Annie C. Scheller, a native of Eckhart Mines, Maryland, where she was born on December 19, 1875. They have had three children all of whom are living and still members of the family circle of the parental home. They are Leota, Marion and Cathryn. The mother is a daughter of William L. and Isabelle (Close) Seheller, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Maryland. They have for many years been highly esteemed residents of Macon county.
LOUIS J. MELVIN, SR. v
Louis J. Melvin, Sr., one of the progressive and prosperous farmers and stoek men of Bevier township, this county, has had experience in several states of the American Union and a variety of occupations, and he lias made it all tell to his advantage. Being an observing and thoughtful man, he has not been slow to take the hints his experience has given him, and being enterprising and energetic he has made full use of them in advancing his own interests and helping to promote the wel-
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fare of his community and the people living in and also interested in its progress.
Mr. Melvin is a native of Lawrence county in the great central state of Indiana, where he was born on May 5, 1834. He is of old Southern stock, his grandparents having been born and reared in South Carolina, where their forefathers had lived for generations before them, and having moved from that state to Kentucky early in their married life. Their son Levi, the father of Louis J., Sr., was born in Kentucky and grew to manhood there. While yet a young man he moved to Lawrence county, Indiana, where he farmed indns- trionsly, raised live stock extensively and profitably, and served as constable and deputy sheriff acceptably until his death in 1834, soon after the birth of his son Lonis J. He was married in 1820 to Miss Elizabeth Neal, a native of South Carolina, and they became the parents of six children, four of whom are living: George, whose residence is at Lancaster, Missouri; Henry, whose home is in Schuyler county: Levi, who also lives at Lancaster, and Louis J., the immediate subject of this brief memoir.
After the death of Mr. Melvin's father his mother married Bennet Rector, and they also became the parents of six children, of whom three are living : James, whose home is in Kansas City, Missouri ; Nancy, the wife of John Payton, of Omaha, Nebraska; and Frank, who resides in Iowa. The mother did the best she could to rear her offspring by her first marriage and give them good preparation for life's struggle, but in the nature of the case it became necessary for them to begin providing for themselves as soon as they were able.
As a result her son Lonis J. was thrown on his own resources at an early age and has ever since fought the battle of life for himself, rely- ing on his own resources and efforts for success and winning it in a gratifying measure wholly through them. He obtained a very limited education in the district schools of his native county, where he remained until he reached the age of eighteen, working at home and on neigh- boring farms. In 1854 he determined to come West and made his way to Kansas. But he remained in that state only a short time, as political and social life was greatly disturbed by sectional questions and the agitation over the activities and fate of John Brown. From Kansas he moved to Schuyler county, Missouri, and there he operated a saw mill until 1857, when he came to Macon county and located on the farm which is now his home.
With a readiness for any duty and a willingness to do any kind of Jabor that would afford him a livelihood, Mr. Melvin worked in the coal
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
mines at Bevier for a period of thirty-three years, and since the expi- ration of that period he has been continuously engaged in farming and raising stock with immediate success at the start and increasing profits ever since. He owns a fine farm of eighty acres, which is well improved and has been brought to an advanced state of productiveness. His live stock* industry is also a flourishing one, adding considerably to his revenue and helping to satisfy his desire for something of value to occupy his mind and engage his energies.
He has always shown a cordial and helpful interest in the welfare of his community and has done his part in aid of all worthy under- takings for its promotion. He is a Democrat in political faith and works for the good of his party in all campaigns as a matter of duty and with- out any desire for any of the favors it may have to bestow as a reward for faithful service. He has long been a zealous member of the Masonic fraternity and always taken a deep and ardent interest in its work, giving his lodge as regular attendance as his circumstances would per- mit and standing by it with the utmost loyalty under all circumstances.
On May 15, 1860, he was married to Miss Louisa J. Reed, a daugh- ter of David and Elizabeth (Wilson) Reed and a native of Kentucky. They have had nine children and seven of them are living: David L., whose home is in Denver, Colorado; James, who is living at home with his parents; Mary E., the wife of W. H. Newlin of Macon county; Retta G., who is also still a member of the parental family circle; Minnie .J., the wife of Evan Jones of Bevier; Fannie B., the wife of W. F. Allen of St. Joseph, Missouri; and Louis J. Jr., who is also at home. The wife and mother died March 25, 1891.
RICHARD SIMPSON TATE.
Three of the great commonwealths of the United States had the benefit of the intelligent and well-applied energy of Richard S. Tate, who was one of the leading farmers of Liberty township in this county, and while in all of them he had followed the same lines of endeavor, his experience had not been without variety and many different phases of interest. He farmed and raised live stock not only under different conditions as to locality and surroundings and amid people of widely diverse tastes, habits and dispositions, but also in successive stages in the progress of these industries themselves and the mercantile con- dition to which their products were subject, involving all the elements of production, preparation for the markets, transportation and methods of barter and sale. That he kept pace with the advance in all these
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respects proved that he was a progressive man and at all times alive to the requirements of his business.
Mr. Tate was a native of Clark county, Kentucky, where he was born on September 8, 1832. His paternal grandfather, William Tate, was born and reared in Tennessee, and while yet a young man moved to Kentucky, where he passed the remainder of his life. He located in Clark county, and there he married and reared a family. In that county his son Waddy Tate, the father of Richard S., came into the world, and there he grew to manhood, obtained his education, married and became a farmer. His marriage was with Miss Ruth Winn, who was also a Kentuckian by nativity. They had nine children. all of whom have passed away. The family remained in Kentucky until 1841. then moved to Iowa, where it dwelt fifteen years, father and son engaging in farming and making substantial progress. In 1863 both families, that of the father and that of his son Richard, took another flight into a new country, this time coming directly south and locating in Liberty township, Macon county, Missouri. Here the father con- tinued farming and raising stock until his death at the age of seventy- five years, and after a life of continnous usefulness.
Richard S. Tate grew to the age of sixteen in his native state and obtained his education in the public schools of Clark county. In 1848 he accompanied his parents to Davis county, Iowa, and there he fol- lowed farming and stock breeding, occupations to which he had been reared, and in which he had previously been engaged.
He became a resident of Missouri in 1863, and one year later located on the farm on which he died on March 5, 1910. He bought eighty acres to begin with, and since then, by active and energetic farm- ing and stock raising and good business management, he trebled his holdings, owning at the time of his death a fine farm of 240 acres, well improved with good buildings and completely equipped for the purposes of modern farming, making it one of the most attractive and valuable country homes of Liberty township. He had all his land under cultivation, but reserved a sufficient portion every year for pasturage for his stock. His stock industry was also extensive and flourishing, and like his farming, yielded good returns for the labor and care he bestowed upon it, and the intelligence with which he managed it.
Mr. Tate was a potential factor in the development and progress of the county, always aiding in the promotion of every worthy enter- prise for its advancement and helping to strengthen and quicken to greater usefulness all good agencies at work among its people. He
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
was a Democrat in politieal faith and a hard worker for the success of his party, although never sought or desired any of the honors or emoluments it had to bestow for himself. His citizenship found its best and most serviceable expression in doing well what he had in hand for himself and contributing to the general weal by activity in its service and giving those around him an example of clean living and steadfast. uprightness as a man, and not by the performance of official duties, however capable and acceptable he may of been for them. He was married on January 14, 1850, to Miss Caroline Lowe, a daughter of Obadiah and Caroline Lowe, natives of Kentucky and resi- dents, at the time of the marriage. of Davis county, Iowa. Twelve children were born in the Tate household and nine of them are living: Catherine, the wife of Harrison Floyd of Price county, Wisconsin: Drucilla, the wife of George Holdberry of Adair county, Missouri ; and Jefferson I)., Richard S .. Jr .. Obadialı B., Caroline, the wife of Marion Johns. John. Daniel, and Ruth, the wife of George Lafond. all residents of Macon county. His wife died in 1883. He was actively engaged in farming until his death March 5, 1910.
WILBUR FISK MORSE.
Having contributed to the progress and prosperity of three of the great states of the American Union as a carpenter, a farmer and a breeder of high grade live stock, and having helped to save that Union from dismemberment as a valiant soldier in the Federal army during our Civil war, in which he faced death on some of the most sanguinary fields of the momentous conflict. Wilbur F. Morse of Liberty town- ship, Macon county, has been a very serviceable citizen of this country, and has made a record that is wholly to his credit. His varied and intense experience has also been of great value to himself, giving him breadth of view and readiness for emergencies that have aided him to many a personal advantage and helped to keep his car of progress steadily in motion.
Mr. Morse was born on April 12. 1839. in Washington county. Ohio. His paternal grandfather, Justice Morse, was a native of England and came to the United States a young man, locating in Connectient. where lis son, Madison Morse, the father of Wilbur F., was born in 1828. While he was yet very young the family moved to Ohio, and there he grew to manhood and learned the trades of tanner and shoemaker. He worked at these until his death. which occurred in 1900. He was married twice, his first choice being Miss Mary Porter, a native of Ohio. They had ten children, but only four of them are living: Wilbur Fisk.
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HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
the subject of these paragraphs; Winslow, who lives in Nebraska; Wayne, who is a resident of California, and Willis, whose home is in Iowa. Their mother died in 1863, and in 1880 the father was married to Mariam Merritt, also of Ohio. In politics he was first a Whig and afterward a Republican, and in religious connection he was a Presby- terian. He served four years in the Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the rebellion as a member of the band.
Wilbur F. Morse was educated in the district schools of Wash- ington county, Ohio, and after leaving school learned the carpenter trade and worked at it until the beginning of the Civil war. In response to one of the early calls for volunteers to defend the Union he enlisted in the Eighteenth Ohio infantry for six months. At the end of that period he re-enlisted in the Thirty-sixth Ohio infantry, in which he served under Captain Palmer and Colonel Stanley until late in 1864, when he was mustered out at Columbus, the capital of his native state. His command was in the thick of the conflict almost continually, and Mr. Morse took part in the terrible battles of Antietam, Chickamauga and Second Bull Run, besides numerous engagements of minor impor- tance. He escaped the deluge of death in which he was involved unharmed, and after his discharge from the army, came to Missouri on a prospecting tour, looking for a suitable place in which to plant his hopes and expend his energies in the struggle for advancement among men.
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