USA > Missouri > Macon County > General history of Macon County, Missouri > Part 83
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John Davis had no advantages in the way of education except such as were afforded by the distriet schools of Russell township in his boyhood and youth. He was brought to this county by his parents when he was but two years old, and all of his subsequent years have been passed within its borders and in the promotion of its advancement. He learned usefulness and the value and dignity of labor on his father's farm, and by his continnal communion with nature in her various mani- festations received as many lessons in the way of self-development and self-reliance as he did in other things at the primitive publie school of the neighborhood. He remained at home and assisted the family until 1891, when he bought 160 acres of land upon which he at once went to work to make a home and develop a career for himself. He broke up and improved his land, adding to its extent as he prospered until he now has 433 aeres, the greater part of which is cultivated, and also gave scope to his ardent love of animal life by raising stoek on a large scale. Stock raising has, in fact, been his chier industry, and he has been very successful in the pursuit of it.
Mr. Davis has also given considerable attention to local public affairs, serving for a number of years as school director and aiding in the promotion of every enterprise he deemed of value to the township or its people. He is a Republican in politics and he and his wife are zealons members of the Congregational church, in the work of which they take a leading and very serviceable part. Her maiden name was
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Mary J. Morris, and she is a daughter of John and Jane (Evans) Mor- ris, natives of Wales but residents of Macon county for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Davis were married on February 18, 1891. The two chil- dren born to them are both living and still at home. They are a daugh- ter named Essie Jane and a son named Leslie Morris The parents have hosts of friends in the county and the respect of all who know them.
THOMAS A. ROWLAND.
Mr. Rowland was incumbent of the office of mayor of his native town of Bevier, Macon county, and is one of its best known and most highly esteemed citizens, as is evident from the fact that he has been called upon to serve as chief executive of its municipal government.
Mr. Rowland was born in Bevier on the 3rd of October, 1868, and is a son of Ephraim and Margaret (Dee) Rowland, the former a native of Wales and the latter of England, in which latter country their mar- riage was solemnized in the year 1850. Ephraim Rowland was born in the year 1824 and was reared and educated in his native land. In 1855 he immigrated to America and thereafter was located in Utah until 1867, when he came to Missouri and turned his attention to mining, with which line of industry he was identified for many years, during the major portion of which he maintained his home in Bevier, where he was held in high regard as a man of honesty and integrity. He died in 1905 and his wife passed away in December, 1907, both having been members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They became the parents of seven children, of whom five are living. namely, Edward, who is a resident of Spokane, Washington; John, who resides in Ogden, Utah; Mary, who is a resident of Bevier; Thomas A., who is the immediate subject of this review; and James, who is a resident of Salt Lake City. The father eventually became a successful real estate dealer, having handled large tracts of farm lands as well as city and village property. He was a Republican in politics, but never sought or hold publie office.
Thomas A. Rowland, whose name initiates this article, was reared to maturity in Bevier, to whose public schools he is indebted for his early educational training. After leaving school he found employment in the local office of the Burlington railroad, and there learned the art of telegraphy, in which connection he was eventually made operator at the Bevier station. In 1888 he engaged in the train service of the same railroad and was employed in this capacity for three years. Since that time he has been identified with various lines of business enterprise,
THOMAS A. ROWLAND
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and at the present he is a newsdealer, besides being correspondent for various metropolitan newspapers.
In politics Mr. Rowland has ever given an unfaltering allegiance to the Republican party, in whose cause he has rendered effective serv- iee in a localized way. In 1900 he was chosen secretary of the Bevier board of education, which position he filled for three years. In 1901 he was elected mayor of his home city, giving an able and popular administration and retaining the office for a term of two years, at the expiration of which, in 1903, he was elected justice of the peace, in which position he is still serving. In 1904 he was elected a member of the board of aldermen, serving one and one-half years, and in 1907 his fellow-citizens further showed their confidence and appreciation of his eligibility by again calling him to the office of mayor, in which capacity he served until April, 1909. He holds a deep interest in all that concerns the welfare of his home city, and as mayor he put forth every effort to conserve its progress and prosperity, the while insisting upon judicious economy in the municipal government and the pro- tection of the interests of the people in every way. His popularity has ample foundation and he has the good will and high esteem of the community in which he has maintained his home during practically his entire life thus far. V
JOHN J. WILLIAMS.
Although himself a native of this country and of the state of Mis- souri and, therefore, reared altogether under the influence of American institutions, and with their spirit and tendencies constantly before his mind, John J. Williams, of Valley township, this county, is but one gen- eration removed from the mother country, and must have had his child- hood and youth filled with the suggestions born of its history, its tradi- tions, its customs and the genius and trend of its public affairs. His parents, William W. and Winifred (Edwards) Williams, were born in Wales, and, although they came to the United States while they were yet children, they never wholly forgot their native land or lost their reverence for it, notwithstanding they were at all times loyal and true to the land of their adoption.
The father was born in Wales on September 30, 1827, at a town called Tyngwndwn Blanperal, and was brought to America by his par- ents in 1840. The family located in JJackson county, Ohio, on a farm in the neighborhood of Oak Hill, where William grew to manhood and was educated in the country schools. He worked on his father's farm as boy and man until 1867, when he moved to Missouri and found a
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new home in Valley township, Macon county, where he has passed the subsequent years of his life, accumulating a competence and gaining the esteem and confidence of the whole people.
On his arrival in this county Mr. Williams bought eighty acres of land and at once began an energetic industry in farming and raising live-stock, which he continued to prosecute vigorously and successfully until 1893. He was then sixty-six years of age and had become the owner of abont 1,000 acres of good land, the greater part of which was under systematic and skilful cultivation. He felt the weight of advanc- ing years and deemed it his right to retire from active pursuits and live in ease and freedom from arduous toil for the remainder of his days. He still owns his vast landed estate and devotes to it the atten- tion of an overseer, but leaves to others the labor of cultivating it and keeping it in order.
Mr. Williams, the father of John J., was married in 1851 to Miss Winifred Edwards, like himself, a native of Wales. They had twelve children, of whom six are living: Jane, the wife of Morgan Thomas, of Valley township; David E., whose home is in the same locality; Benjamin E., who lives at Ethel, in this county; Margaret, the widow of the late J. H. Jones, of Macon county; John J., the interesting sub- ject of this sketch, and Annie, the wife of G. L. Owen, of Skidmore, Missouri. The father has been a Republican in national politics from the birth of the party, and has been zealous in the service of the organi- zation. His wife died July 20, 1892. His church affiliation is with the Presbyterians.
John J. Williams was born in the township in which he now lives on April 14, 1868. He began his education at the White Oak district school near his home and completed it at the college in Brookfield, Missouri. After his return from college he continued to work on his father's farm under parental supervision until 1893, when he assumed the man- agement of all its interests. He has ever since been actively, intelli- gently and successfully occupied in farming and raising stock on the home place, 520 acres of which now belong to him and show in their highly improved condition and great produetiveness how skilful and energetic and progressive he has been as a husbandman. He, also, is a Republican in polities, and deeply interested in the welfare of his party. In fraternal life he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and the Yeoman of the world. In religion he is allied with the Presbyterian clurch. In his political party, his lodges and his church he takes au active interest and to all hie renders valuable and effective service.
Mr. Williams was married on November 6, 1895, to Miss Anna C.
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Williams, a native of Wales, born in 1868, and a danghter of W. D. and Margaret (Jones) Williams, who were born and reared in Wales and died in Macon county. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have had one child, their danghter, Winifred, who is still living with them and helping to brighten and popularize their home. The father is a very progress- ive, enterprising and public-spirited man. He is loyal to his township and county, and shows his interest in their welfare by earnest aid in every worthy project for the promotion of their advancement and the good of their people. He has no fondness for public life and never seeks official honors or emoluments, but he gives practical and helpful attention to local public affairs, looking upon every phase of the civic life of the community with the same careful scrutiny and working for all with the same zeal and energy that he bestows on his personal inter- ests and private business. The people of the county know his value as a citizen and esteem him accordingly.
DAVID E. WILLIAMS.
Prominent in the public and social life of his township, enterprising and successful in business, active and zealous in promoting the welfare of the community in which he lives and has labored from boyhood, it is not surprising that David E. Williams, of Valley township, this county, is regarded with universal esteem and accounted one of the. highly useful and truly representative citizens of the county. In every relation of life he has shown himself to be a man in the true and elevated sense of the word, and the good opinion of his friends, neighbors and acquaintances, which he so fully enjoys, is the logical result of modest merit, which has found expression in acts and registered itself in endur- ing results.
Mr. Williams is a native of Jackson county, Ohio, where he was born on September 17, 1855. His parents, an account of whose lives will be found in a sketch of his brother, JJohn J. Williams, in this work, were William W. and Winifred (Edwards) Williams, natives of Wales and residents of Macon county for many years. They brought to the land of their adoption the sterling traits of character they had inher- ited from thrifty and upright ancestors and the habits of industry and frugality they had formed in the land of their nativity. These char- acteristies sustained them well in this country and brought them a substantial fortune in material wealth and won for them a high place in the regard of the people of this county.
David E. Williams obtained his education in the White Oak district school in Valley township, filling his place and doing his full part as a
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
hand on his father's farm while attending school and for a number of years after he quit going. He remained at home, in fact, until 1892, and then began a career as a farmer and stock breeder on his own account that has continued to the present time (1909) and is still in active progress. He has been very enterprising and very successful, acquiring by his own efforts and business capacity the ownership of 640 acres of first-rate land and developing it to a high state of improve- ment and productiveness by his care, intelligence and persevering dili- gence as a farmer.
In the commercial, political, fraternal, social and religious life of the community, Mr. Williams has taken a very active and helpful inter- est and a leading part. Wherever the good of the township or county or the welfare of the people is concerned he is found among the first and most energetic volunteers for service, and continues to the accom- plishment of the undertaking one of the most intelligent advisers and stimulating influences connected with if. He is a stockholder and diree- tor of the Farmers and Merchants' Bank, of New Cambria, and con- nected with other financial and commercial institutions in the county. For ten years he served the people wisely, effectively and acceptably as road supervisor and also as a member of the school board. He is a Republican in politics and always a zealous worker for the success of his party. As a member of the Order of Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica, he has contributed materially fo building up and elevating that fraternity, and as devout and faithful communicants in the Presbyterian church, he and his wife have been of great benefit to the moral agencies at work in the community. They are active workers for the church and ranked among its most progressive and serviceable members. Mr. Williams was married on June 29, 1892, to Miss Elizabeth Jones, a daughter of Benjamin and Hanna (Thomas) Jones, natives of Wales, but for years residents of this county. Of the four children born of this union only one is living, a son named Benjamin, who is still at home, the light and life of the household.
JOHN REES.
Enterprising and successful in his business, and public-spirited and progressive in reference to local public affairs, JJohn Rees, one of the prominent and influential farmers of this county, living in Valley township, is well worthy of the good opinion the people have of him and the universal esteem and consideration they bestow upon him. He came to the county in 1866, a boy seven years of age, and has lived in the township of his present residence ever since. His record is, there-
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fore, well known among the residents of the county, and is conceded to be altogether to his eredit and their advantage in many ways.
Mr. Rees is a native of Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where he was born on June 3, 1859. He is descended from old Welch ancestry and has exhibited in every field of endeavor that has engaged his atten- tion the salient characteristics of industry, frugality and strict integrity which distinguish the race from which he sprang. His parents were John and Mary (Williams) Rees, natives of Wales, where the father was born in 1817. He came to the United States abont 1850 and found a home in the New World of hope and promise, whose persuasive voice had reached him in his distant aneestral habitation, and in the vigorous and judicious use of the opportunities it gave him, he amassed a com- petence and rose to general respect and considerable influence wherever he lived. The busy East won his admiration and satisfied his longings at first. He located in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, soon after his arrival in this country, and there he lived for a period of sixteen years. Being a capable and skilful carpenter, he soon found employment on construction work in the coal mines, a source of industry and wealth with which he was also familiar. He did his work well and stuck to it faithfully, notwithstanding it involved many unpleasant experiences, and all the time was steadily forging ahead toward substantial comfort for himself and his family, and gratifying consequences among the appreciative people living around and associating with him.
But as time passed he heard another strain of inspiring American music. This was the pleading of the great West for volunteers in her army of conquest and civilization, and, in 1866, he determined to yield to the plea and join this army. He came to Missouri that year and took up his residence in this eounty, near New Cambria, where he bought land and turned his attention to cultivating and improving it. He did not, however, abandon his trade, but in connection with his farming and stock-raising industries he did considerable building, erecting many dwellings and schoolhouses in the county and some other localities. Hle prospered in both lines of work, accumulating a good landed estate and gaining the respect of all the people.
Mr. Rees, the elder, was married, in about 1840, to Miss Mary Williams, like himself. a native of Wales, and a person of resolute conr- age and persistent application. They became the parents of ten chil- dren, three of whom have died. Those living are: Joseph, a resident of Bucklin, in Linn county ; Hannah, the wife of Thomas R. Evans, who lives at New Cambria ; Mary the wife of Thomas R. Phillips, whose home is in Pennsylvania ; Jennie, the wife of David Roberts, of New Cambria ;
HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY
John, the immediate subject of this sketch; Thomas H., a prosperous farmer of this county; and Margaret, the wife of Lott Thomas, of New Cambria. The father gave his support to the Republican party . in political affairs and belonged to the Congregational church in relig- ious affiliation, being loyally and serviceably attached to both.
John Rees was brought as a boy of seven from an intensely active and congested region on the Atlantic slope to the open plains and sparse settlements of this state, as it was at the time, and reveled in the change. It was food for his imagination and gave him new views of the magnitude of this country and the many varieties in the conditions and pursuits of men, which he reflected over, even as a boy, and which were useful to him in enlarging the sweep of his vision and developing his mind. It was important to him as his means of education were limited to the scant curriculum of the public schools of the country districts, and he was not allowed to get the full benefit of them. His attendance upon their exercises was often interrupted by the exigencies at home, which compelled him to give his first consideration to the work on the farm and provision for the wants of the family. He was also obliged to leave school at an early age, and thereafter he devoted all his time and energy to the farm requirements for the benefit of the household until 1887. In that year his father died and devised to him a farm of 150 acres in Valley township, this county, and on this he has lived ever since, busily engaged in developing and improving his place and conducting an annually increasing business in raising cattle, horses and mules for sale. At this time (1910) he owns 298 acres of excellent land, a large part of which is devoted to cereals and other farm products and the rest to grazing purposes. He now has also about 100 head of stock, such as he favors, and is prosperous in every department of his enterprise.
In the affairs of the community Mr. Rees has always taken a leading and helpful part. He served three years as road overseer of the town- ship and was for a long time a valued member of the school board. The financial and commercial interests of the county have also interested him in a leading way, and he has done his part to advance them along lines of wholesome development. He was one of the founders and a charter member of the directorate of the Farmers and Merchants' Bank of New Cambria, and has been its president from its organization in August, 1907. The institution has flourished under his management and is regarded as one of the best and most progressive of the younger fiscal agencies in this part of the state.
Mr. Rees was married on May 25, 1887, to Miss Margaret E. Mor-
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ris, a daughter of John and Jane (Evans) Morris, prominent residents of this county. One child has sanctified their union and blessed and brightened their home, their daughter, Mina L., who still abides with them. Mr. Rees is cordially interested in political affairs and gives expression to his convictions as a firm and loyal member of the Repub- lican party. He and his wife and daughter are members of the Con- gregational church and do energetic work in behalf of all its beneficent undertakings.
V
JOHN W. GWINNER.
The fertile section of Macon county, known as Ten Mile township, has among the people who live in it and flourish on the bountiful prod- uets of its fruitful soil many expert and progressive farmers and stock- breeders, and all are entitled to great credit for the manner in which they compel Nature to yield up her treasures in response to their per- sistent and intelligent industry. None of these, however, is superior in enterprise and skill, in business capacity and vigor of management, to John W. Gwinner, who is everywhere recognized as one of the leading and most successful farmers and live-stock dealers in the county.
Mr. Gwinner is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where his life began on April 7, 1858. He is a son of Jolin and Katharine (Buchter) Gwinner, natives of Germany. The father was born in the city of Rheim in 1820 and came to the United States in 1838. He located in Milwau- kee, Wisconsin, where he remained two years, then made a tour of inspection to and over Macon county in this state. He did not remain in this county, however, at that time, but returned to Milwaukee and passed the succeeding years of his life in that city until 1858. All the while he had a hankering for the farther West, and in the year last mentioned he satisfied this by moving to the county that had pleased him so well. He bought land in Ten Mile township on which he settled down for the remainder of his days and devoted himself wholly to farming and rais- ing stock until his death in 1888. The move proved a fortunate one for him. He was successful in all his undertakings and accumulated a comfortable estate before he died.
He was married to Miss Katharine Buchter, like himself, a native of the Fatherland, as has been stated, and they had seven children, six of whom are living and residents of this portion of Missouri, Eva, the wife of Fred Spelhnan, and Barbara, now dead, who was the wife of Charles Wisemar, lived in Chariton county; and John W., William, George, and Lizzie, the wife of Jolin Poehlman, having their homes
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in Macon county. In polities the father allied himself with the Repub- lican party and in religion he was a Lutheran.
John W. Gwinner was brought to Macon county by his parents in his infancy and grew to manhood on his father's farm. He obtained what education he had opportunity to get in the district schools in the neighborhood of his home and in a school of higher grade in Maeon City. He remained at home assisting the family until 1883, when he honght land and began operations as a farmer on his own account. Since then he has been actively, continuously and successfully engaged in farming and raising stock, adding to his land from time to time as he continued to prosper, until he now has 770 acres, nearly all of which is profitably tilled. and feeds about seventy-five head of cattle every year on an average. A portion of his land is reserved for grazing purposes and is well adapted to that use.
Mr. Gwinner has adhered steadily to his chosen pursuits, but he has amplified his business, taking in other interests of a character that would not divert him from his main purpose. He is a stockholder and president of the Bank of Atlanta and connected with other finan- eial. industrial or commercial institutions. He has also taken an active part in local and public affairs, filling several township offices with credit to himself and advantage and acceptability to the people, among them those of township collector and constable. In both official and private life he has shown himself to be progressive and enterprising, deeply and intelligently interested in the welfare of the community and willing at all times to do all in his power to advance its prosperity, promote its development and enlarge the comfort, convenience and happiness of its people.
Mr. Gwinner was married in 1883 to Miss Anna Zollman of this county. Their offspring number five and all are living and dwell in this county. They are: John H. and Fred E .. who have homes of their own, the latter living in Macon City, and Harry. Edward and Clara. who are still at home with their parents. The mother of these children lost her life in the Wabash railroad wreck at Moberly, in 1904. and two years later the father married a second wife, Mrs. Jannie (MeNess) Varmes, widow of Sanford Varnes and daughter of William and Lydia MeNess. The father is allied with the Republican party in national polities and renders it loyal and devoted service in all its contests. In fraternal relations he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America, and is warmly interested in the success and prosperity of both orders. His religious allegiance is given to the Lutheran church, while his wife is a member of the
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