USA > Missouri > Shelby County > General history of Shelby County, Missouri > Part 29
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JOHN S. MILES.
From his youth John S. Miles, who is now one of the leading merchants of Shelbina, has been connected with the mercantile life of the city. All the activ- ities of his life in business have been given to that line of endeavor, and as he started in it with natural aptitude for its requirements and has had his faculties
trained and developed in long experi- ence, it is not surprising that he has sue- ceeded and now stands in the front rank among the business men of this part of the state.
Mr. Miles was born in Monroe county, this state, on April 19, 1864, and is a son of William F. and Nancy W. (Jackson) Miles, natives of Kentucky. The father passed many years of his life in his na- tive state, coming to Missouri in 1849 with a colony of Kentuckians, who lo- cated near Paris, in the adjoining county of Monroe. There the father reared his family and passed his time in farming and raising live stock until 1866, when lie sold the farm and moved to Shelbina, re- tiring from all active pursuits. He was married to Miss Nancy W. Jackson, a Kentnekian by birth and belonging to families long resident in that state. Mr. and Mrs. Miles became the parents of six children, three of whom are living- R. E., a resident of Santa Ana, Califor- nia ; Susie, the wife of N. H. Langford, of Hannibal, Missouri ; and John S., who still lives at Shelbina. The father is an ardent Democrat in political allegiance and adheres to the principles of his party with steadfast loyalty, giving it active and effective aid in all its cam- paigns. His church relations are with the Baptists.
John S. Miles obtained his edneation in the publie schools of Shelbina. and having a decided turn toward merehan- dising, left school early to follow the path in life which nature and his own predilection seemed to have marked out for him. He began his mercantile career as a elerk and salesman in a hardware store, to which he rendered faithful
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service for three years, using all his op- portunities and facilities in learning the business in detail and the ins and outs of mercantile life in general. He then clerked in the clothing establishment of Thompson & Miles until 1892, all the while expanding his knowledge of busi- ness, his acquaintance with men and his general intelligence concerning mercan- tile pursuits.
In 1892 he formed a partnership with his older brother under the firm name of R. E. Miles & Bro., and during the next sixteen years they were extensively en- gaged in the clothing trade with great benefit to the community and consider- able profit to themselves. In 1908 the store and business was sold to W. H. Hanly, and Mr. Miles formed a new as- sociation in the same line of trade with T. F. Bates, with whom he is still con- nected and carrying on a vigorous and flourishing business, the firm being known as Miles & Bates.
Mr. Miles is a man of substance and connected with a number of business en- terprises in the city and surrounding country, among them being the Old Bank of Shelbina, of which he is one of the stockholders. His political faith is fixed on the principles of the Democratic party, whose campaigns always enlist his attention and bring forth his active ef- forts for success, although he has no am- bition for official station or public life for himself. Fraternally he is a Knight of Pythias, and in religion he and his wife belong to the Baptist church. He is a zealous worker for both his fraternal or- der and his church, and both enjoy the benefit of his helpful zeal and energy. On October 19, 1892, he was married to
Miss Lillian D. Sparks, of Shelbina. They have one child, their daughter Ada- line, who is the light and life of their pleasant home.
JOHN T. BAILEY.
Almost from his boyhood John T. Bai- ley, of Shelbina, who is one of the lead- ing business men of the city, has been contributing to the enjoyment of the peo- ple among whom he has lived, long as a teacher of vocal music and for nearly a quarter of a century as a dealer in musi- cal instruments. All living in his range who find pleasure in the "concord of sweet sounds" have been indebted to him for many a soothing or a stirring enter- tainment and have ever been willing to acknowledge the obligation. He is now conducting also a flourishing business in undertaking and embalming, in which he has been interested since 1892.
Mr. Bailey was born in Monroe county, in this state, on September 25, 1851, and is a son of Tilmon O. and Sarah A. (Stal- cup) Bailey, the former born in Harrison county, Kentucky, and the latter in Vir- ginia. The father's life began on Octo- ber 29, 1822, and the first twenty-one years of it were passed in his native state, where he obtained his education and fitted himself for the active duties of progressive farming, which was his ocenpation until he retired from all active pursuits in 1904. He left the home of his childhood and youth as soon as he reached his majority and strode with confident step into the wilderness of the farther West with a view to making a home and a name for himself, daring the dangers and privations of the frontier
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with resolute courage and depending on his own endeavors with manly self re- liance. He took up a tract of land in Monroe county which was in a state of ahnost primeval wildness and converted it into a well-improved and highly culti- vated farm. On this he lived, engaged in farming and raising live stock until he determined to heed the admonitions of advancing years and pass the evening of his long and toilsome day of earthily ex- istence in quiet and ease. In 1904 he moved to Shelbina, where he has ever since resided.
This venerable citizen of the progres- sive community which he has known so long and helped so materially to build up and improve, is one of the patriarehs of the town. Not only is he far advanced in years, but he is also the father of a nul- merous family. He has been married twice, the first time in 1848, when he was united with Miss Mary Sherman, a na- tive of Missouri. They had one child, their daughter Mary, who is now the wife of John W. Chambers, of Clarence, in this county. His second marriage was with Miss Sarah A. Staleup, who was born in Virginia and reared in Monroe county, Missouri. They became the par- ents of thirteen children, seven of whom are living and are: John T., the subject of this sketch; Elijah M., Tilmon A. and William B., all residents of Shelbina; Isaac N., who lives at Moberly, this state ; and Ernest T., who is a prominent eiti- zen of Shannon county, Missouri. The father still takes an active part in politi- cal affairs and still follows the banner of the Democratic party, behind which he has marehed from his youth. He is a member of the Masonic order and of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The wife and mother died in March, 1908.
John T. Bailey was reared to manhood on his father's farm in Monroe county and obtained his education in the district schools of the neighborhood. For ten years after leaving school he found con- tinual and profitable occupation as a teacher of vocal music and made a repu- tation for skill and capacity in the art which spread throughout his own and ad- joining counties. In 1886 he located in Shelbina and started a mercantile enter- prise in the sale of pianos, organs and other musical instruments and musical supplies. He took his brother William into the business as a partner in 1891, and during the next seventeen years the firm of Bailey Bros. flourishied as the leader in the musical implement and sup- ply trade in this part of the state.
On June 19, 1908, Mr. Bailey bought the interest of his brother William in the business and took as a new partner his son, Roy L. Bailey, changing the firm name to J. T. Bailey & Son, under which two generations of the family are still doing an extensive and popular business. Since 1892 the house has also been carry- ing on extensively in the undertaking and embalming line, the father having received his certificate as a well quali- fied and licensed embalmer on October 16, 1895.
Mr. Bailey's political faith is that of his father and the greater part of the men living around him. He has never wavered in his loyalty to the Democratic canse, and has for many years given it faithful and effective service in all its campaigns. He has also long been an active and zealous member of the South-
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ern Methodist church, contributing lib- erally to its advancement by energetic participation in church work and with material aid for all its undertakings. He is influential in both business and church circles and he and his family are among the leading lights in the social world of the community, throughout all of which they are highly esteemed and every- where warmly welcomed on all occasions.
On June 20, 1880, Mr. Bailey was united in marriage with Miss Eliza J. Baker, of Madison, Missouri. Of their four children three are living and all dwelling at the parental fireside. They are Mary Belle, Nannie Bess and Roy L. The social disposition of the parents and the presence of the children, who have inherited the same spirit, in the home make it a social center and a very popu- lar and hospitable resort for persons of all ages acquainted with the members of the household, and that includes almost everybody in the county and hosts from elsewhere.
NEWTON E. WILLIAMS.
Lawyer, editor, public official and man of affairs and winning high commenda- tion in all lines of activity in which he has been engaged, Newton E. Williams, of Shelbina, is one of the most snecessful and popular men in Shelby county. He is almost wholly the product of his own abilities and energies, and he has made the most of his opportunities for ad- vancement in life. But he has not lived for himself alone. During all of his ma- ture life he has been deeply and intelli- gently interested in the welfare of the town and county of his home and has done all in his power to promote it.
Mr. Williams was born in Adair conn- ty, Missouri, on October 10, 1869, and is a son of Gamaliel and Mary E. (Morgan) Williams, the former a native of In- diana, where he was born on May 18, 1838, and the latter a native of Ken- tucky, but at the time of her marriage a resident of Adair county, Missouri. They had six children and five of them are liv- ing-Lucy E., the wife of J. E. Bowers, who has her home in Colby, Kansas; Mary E., the wife of H. F. Davis, who is also a resident of Colby, Kansas ; Alice, the wife of J. D. Bean, of Grand Junc- tion, Colorado; Newton E., of Shelbina ; and Martha, the wife of Dr. M. W. Bai- ley, of Denver, Colorado.
The father came to Missouri in 1852, when he was fourteen years old, and found a home in Adair county, where he grew to manhood and completed his edu- cation. After leaving school he engaged in farming and raising live stock, con- tinning his operations with success and profit until 1904, when he retired from active pursuits and removed to Shelbina, and here he has ever since had his home. His marriage oceurred in 1858. In poli- ties he is and always has been a Demo- crat. Fraternally he has long been affil- iated with the Masonic order, and in re- ligions association he is connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Newton E. Williams began his educa- tion in the district schools of Adair county, continued it at a select school at Brashear, in that county, and completed it at the Kirksville State Normal school. He studied law in Kirskville under the direction of M. D. Campbell and Hon. Isaac Morgan, probate judge of Adair county, and served as probate elerk for
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one year after his admission to the bar in October, 1893. At the end of his serv- ice as a clerk of probate he began prac- ticing his profession at Kirskville, where he remained until July, 1897. He then moved to Shelbina and formed a partner- ship with R. A. Cleek, with whom he con- tinued to practice until 1902, the firm be- ing Cleek & Williams. The partnership was dissolved in the year last mentioned and Mr. Williams practiced alone and edited the Shelbina Torchlight, which he and Mr. Cleek bought in 1900.
In 1904 Mr. Williams was elected pros- ecuting attorney of Shelby county, and at the end of his first term was re-elected for another. This ended on January 1, 1909. At the time of his first election he sold his interest in the newspaper and devoted himself wholly to his official du- ties until they were ended. He then bought the Shelbina Torchlight and has since been its sole owner and publisher. He is also a stockholder in the Shelbina National Bank and connected with other enterprises of moment and valne to the community, in which he has always felt the deepest interest, and to which he has rendered effective and valned service in helping to promote every undertaking for its advancement which he has deemed of worth.
On August 29, 1895, Mr. Williams was united in marriage with Miss Rosa N. Deaton, a daughter of M. G. Deaton, of Kirskville. They have one child, their son Meredith, who is living at home with his parents. The father's political alle- giance is given warmly and consistently to the Democratic party, and he has al- ways been very active and effective in its service, his work in its behalf being
based on broad intelligence, good judg- ment and devoted loyalty to its princi- ples. His fraternal relations are with the Masonic order, the Order of the Eastern Star, the Court of Honor and the Modern Woodmen of America, and his religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He has been very successful and is one of the leading and most influential citizens of the county, universally esteemed for his elevated manhood and his worth and use- fulness as a force for good in the com- munity of his home.
JOSEPH R. RIDGE.
For fifty-seven years this now vener- able citizen of Shelbina has been a resi- dent of Missouri and during all but two of them has dwelt in Shelby county. For more than half a century he was actively engaged in farming and raising live stock, first on the farm of his father as a boy and later on one of his own as a man. During his long activity in culti- vating the soil he contributed extensively and notably to the development and im- provement of the county and the aggre- gate of its wealth and influence. For he has always shown estimable publie spirit and enterprise and given breadth of view and vitalizing force to worthy projects for the welfare of the section and the ad- vantage of its people.
Mr. Ridge was born on January 31, 1838, in Hickman county, Kentucky, the state of which his parents were natives and in which his ancestors lived for at least two generations before him, his paternal grandfather, Isaac Ridge, hav- ing been born and passed his life in that
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
state. He is a son of William and Anna (Robey) Ridge, both products of the blue grass soil, on which the father's life be- gan on July 7, 1814. They were reared on farms and never sought any other ocenpation in life but that to which they were accustomed from childhood. In 1852 they adventured into the wilderness beyond the Mississippi from their home, planting their hearthstone on the fron- tier and giving their children the benefit of its sturdy and invigorating lessons in endurance and self reliance. The first two years of their residence in this state were passed on a farm in Monroe county. The family then moved into Shelby county and this has ever since been its home.
The marriage of the parents ocenrred in Kentneky. They became the progeni- tors of six children, of whom three are living-Joseph R., the subject of this review; Martha E., the wife of Lewis Hale, of Shelbina; and William M., one of the prominent and influential citizens of this county. The father retired from the activities of life in 1875 and moved to Shelbina, where he died in 1877. He adhered to the Democratie party in all political affairs, and was to the end of his life vigorous and resourceful in the service of his party, although he never songht or accepted a public office. In religion he was a devout and consistent Catholie.
Joseph R. Ridge grew to manhood on his father's farm and was well schooled in farm work by energetie participation in it from his boyhood. Ile obtained his education in the district schools near his home, which were fair samples for their day and location of the many temples of
Cadmus that stud the surface of our democratie empire, where liberty re- ceives her purest worship, and where, though in humble and lowly guise, she secretly breathes her strength into the heart and sinews of the nation. When he left school he turned his attention to what was then the leading pursuit of the county, agriculture, and from that time until 1903 he gave his whole energy and time to farming and raising live stock. ITe was a good manager and an excellent farmer, and his farming operations brought him large returns for the period, so that when he retired he was in the en- joyment of a competence which he had gained by his own industry, frugality and skill. In the year last named he sold his farm and took up his residence in Shelbina, of which he is now one of the most substantial and respected citizens.
He has ever shown a good citizen's in- terest in the public affairs of the country and general welfare of the community of his home. Believing firmly in a govern- ment by the people, he was a staunch and zealous Democrat until the formation of the Populist party, and since then he has been devoted to its principles and effec- tive in supporting them and its eandi- dates. On November 22, 1858, he was married to Miss Nancy Ann Hale, a na- tive of Tennessee, and, like himself, an adventurer into the wilderness of this state, as it was when they came into it. Of their eight children five are living- William L., of Shelbyville; Minnie, the wife of John Boettcher, of this county; Annie, the wife of High Sparks, of Shel- bina; Joseph E., who lives in Illinois; and Allie, the wife of Theodore Bethards, of Shelbina.
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Having reached the age of three seore and ten, Mr. Ridge might look upon him- self as an old man and consider that his day is past. But his health, energy and clearness of faculty all forbid this view to all who know him and share the bene- fits of his wisdom, feel the force of his influence or yield to the stimulus of his worthy example. They know that the fire within him is not spent and the fruit- fulness of his exemplary life is not over. And the esteem which all who know him bestow upon him as his due and the just tribute to his merit, shows that his years have been well passed in usefulness and the results of his labors are highly ap- preciated.
SHELBINA NATIONAL BANK.
With a capital stock of $30,000 and a wise and farseeing directorate and of- fieial staff, the Shelbina National Bank well sustains itself as one of the sound- est, safest and best managed financial in- stitutions in this portion of the state. It was founded in 1905 as the Farmers & Merchants Bank and became a national bank in 1908. The founders of the Farm- ers & Merchants Bank were: President, John Munch; vice-president, W. L. Shouse; cashier, E. J. King; directors, John Munch, George W. O'Bryan, James F. Allgaier, Thomas J. Rice, N. E. Will- iams, George Roff, W. S. Fox. II. M. Pollard and Weldon Cotton. George W. O'Bryan followed Mr. Munch as presi- dent, and T. A. Bailey succeeded E. . J. King as cashier.
In January, 1907, J. H. Wood and W. H. Jones purchased an interest in the bank and the next year it was reorgan-
ized under its present name and with the following officers: President, J. H. Wood; vice-president, J. E. Ragsdale ; cashier, W. H. Jones; directors, the above named officers and George W. O'Bryan, George Roff, E. W. Worland, O. F. Howell, G. G. Sanders and T. F. Bates. In March, 1910, Mr. W. II. Jones resigned as cashier and Oliver J. Lloyd was chosen to succeed him.
HIRAM COLLINS.
This veritable "Patriarch in Israel" among the people of Shelby county is not only one of the oldest and most esteemed citizens of this part of the state, but has been one of the most sturdy and indus- trious and one of those most truly repre- sentative of the founders and builders of the commonwealth, who laid the founda- tions of its greatness and planted in its soil the early seeds of civilization, which they and their successors have cultivated and developed into the magnitude, wealth and influence of the present day, when Missouri is an empire fragrant and fruitful in all the products of twen- tieth century life.
Mr. Collins was born in Monroe coun- ty, Missouri, on January 31, 1828, and is a son of James and Sarah (Oglesby) Col- lins, the father a Kentuekian by birth and rearing, and the mother a native of Illinois. They became residents of Mis- sonri in 1836, making their home in Mon- roe county, where they engaged profit- ably in farming and raising live stock until the death of the father in 1853. He was always a Demoerat in politics, a zeal- ous promoter of the welfare of his eom- munity, an exemplar of sterling and pro-
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gressive citizenship and a man of great industry and frugality in his own affairs. Of his two wives the one whose maiden name was Sarah Oglesby was the mother of his son Hiram and seven other chil- dren, of whom but two are living-Jack- son, of Boonville, in this state, and Marion, a resident of Randolph county.
Hiram Collins grew to manhood on his father's farm in Monroe county and re- ceived his education in the district school near his home. When he reached the age of twenty-two he was roused to adven- turous action by the alluring voices from the California gold mines and made his way to that then most promising region, which seemed to offer all the wealth and wonders of the Arabian tales to men of endurance and enterprise. He remained on the Pacific slope five years, passing a part of his time in the mines and a part in mercantile life as a grocer, being lo- cated on the American river, near Sacra- mento. What his adventures were, what measure of success he attained to, what hardships and privations he endured and what hopes and prospects he finally abandoned, need not be recited here. It is enough to say that Missouri looked better to him than California, and that even prosaic life and slow accretions of fortune on one of her farms were more to his liking than the dramatic or roman- tic experiences or the wild dreams of af- fluence in what was at that time the El- dorado of the world.
In 1855 he returned to this state and located in Shelby county, where he has ever since made his home. He once more turned his attention to farming and rais- ing stock, continuing his efforts in these uneventful pursuits until 1894, when he
gave up active exertions and entered upon a restful and undisturbed residence in Shelbina. He kept his farm for a num- ber of years, however, and superintended its operations until 1908, when he sold it.
For many years he has been a zealous member of the Christian church and a helpful factor in all its good work for the betterment of the people in and around it. His political activity has always been expended in behalf of the principles and candidates of the Democratic party, to which he has been earnestly devoted from his youth. On April 3, 1856, he was married to Miss Mary Gose, of Monroe county. They have had eight children, five of whom are living-Bettie, wife of C. W. Adams, of Clarence; Laura, wife of Calvin Garrison, of Shelbina; James, a resident of Choteau county, Montana ; George, who lives in Jamestown, Cali- fornia; and Frank, who is one of the leading citizens of Sherburn, Minnesota. Mrs. Collins died in the fall of 1897.
HON. RICE G. MAUPIN.
This eminent citizen of Shelby county and snecessful farmer and stock breeder, who is also one of the leading profes- sional men of Shelbina, is an ornament to the state of Missouri and a thoroughly representative man among her people. He has dignified and adorned several lines of serviceable endeavor, perform- ing the duties of each in a manner highly creditable to himself and satisfactory to those around him, bearing himself in every walk of life in such a way as to win and hold the confidence and esteem of all who know him. He is a brother of Wil- liam A. Maupin, a sketch of whom will be
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found in this work. In that sketch the history of the parents is given at some length, and from the reeital an idea can be had of the atmosphere of the home in which Judge Maupin was reared and the lessons and examples given him at his parental fireside.
Judge Maupin was reared on a farm and educated in the district schools of Monroe county, the circumstances of his early life affording no opportunity for farther progress into the domain of scholastie acquirements save what was furnished by his own reading and reflee- tion. But he made good use of the means he had in this direction and qualified himself well for the honorable career he has wrought out for himself. When he left school he was willing to freely dis- pense to others the stores of learning he had gathered, and did so as a school teacher for a period of nineteen years, two of which he devoted to schools in Shelbina. In the spring of 1897 he was elected commissioner of the schools of Shelby county, and the next year was chosen probate judge of the county, an honorable and responsible post, in which he is still giving the people excellent service.
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