USA > Missouri > Shelby County > General history of Shelby County, Missouri > Part 42
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summoned to the life eternal July 30, 1902, at the venerable age of seventy- two years, eight months and twelve . days, his loved and devoted wife having passed away in December, 1905. He was a staunch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and both he and his wife were worthy members of the Bap- tist church. He was a citizen who ever commanded the unqualified confidence and high regard of his fellow men, and his life was one of signal usefulness and honor. He attained definite success in his various business operations, was a charter member of both banking institu- tions in Shelbyville and was a stock- holder of the Citizens' Bank at the time of his demise. Of the three children in the family, one daughter died in early childhood, and of the two surviving, John W., of this sketch, is the elder; Chester C. is now a resident of Fresno, California.
John W. Frye was reared to maturity on the home farm and after availing himself of the advantages of the district schools he continued his studies for three years in the Shelbyville high school. During his active career he never found it expedient nor did he de- sire to sever his allegiance to the great basic industry of agriculture, and through his association therewith, he achieved a high degree of success, be- coming one of the representative farm- ers and stock-raisers of the county and accumulating a fine estate of 220 acres, eligibly located about one mile northeast of Shelbyville. He made the best of im- provements on his farm, which bears every evidence of thrift and prosperity
and is considered one of the model places of the county. He still gives a general supervision to the farm but has lived es- sentially retired in Shelbyville since 1908, enjoying the just reward of former years of earnest toil and endeavor. He is a stockholder and director of the Citi- zens' Bank of Shelbyville, was a charter member of the Shelby County Railroad Company, is the owner of a considerable amount of valuable realty in his home city, including his attractive residence property, and is known as one of the sub- stantial citizens of the county which has represented his home during practically his entire life thus far. He has so or- dered his course as to retain at all times the unqualified esteem of those with whom he has come in contact in business and social relations and he stands repre- sentative of loyal and liberal citizenship. Though never an aspirant for office and never specially active in the domain of practical politics, he takes a deep inter- est in all that concerns the general wel- fare of the community and gives his sup- port to the cause of the Democratic party. He is affiliated with the Shelby- ville lodge of Free & Accepted Masons and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Has served for several years as a member of the school board.
On the 25th of March, 1885, Mr. Frye was united in marriage to Miss Ella Van- nort, daughter of Cyrus W. Vannort, an honored citizen of Shelbyville, and of the five children of this union three are now living,-Elmer R., Grover F. and Mary S., all of whom remain at the parental home.
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
ALONZO COOPER.
On other pages of this work is entered a memoir to that honored and influential citizen, the late John T. Cooper, who was long and prominently identified with the agricultural industry and other impor- tant business interests in Shelby county and who was a citizen altogether worthy of the unqualified confidence and esteem in which he was held. He was the father of him whose name initiates this para- graph, and in view of the fact that such review of his career is incorporated in this publication it is not necessary to offer the data again in the article at hand. as ready reference may be made from thé biographical index to the sketch in question.
Alonzo Cooper, who is well upholding the high prestige of the name which he bears and who is now living virtually re- tired in the attractive little city of Shel- byville, was born in this same city on July 4, 1850, and his civic loyalty and patriotism in mature life have justified his "involuntary choice" of a natal day, which, as a boy, he was doubtless able to celebrate with double enthusiasm. He gained his early educational training in the public schools of Shelbyville and after completing the curriculum of the high school he was associated with his father in his business affairs in Shelby- ville until 1871, when the family removed to the fine old homestead farm, in Black Creek township, where he turned his at- tention vigorously and enthusiastically to the divers duties and operations inci- dental to the proper prosecution of the great basie industry of agriculture, with its allied branch of stock growing. He the Citizens' Bank of Shelbyville. of
was twenty-one years of age at the time of the removal to the farm and he con- tinued to be actively concerned in its work and management for more than twenty years, within which he gained prestige as one of the wide-awake. pro- gressive and successful farmers of his native county. For two years he and his father were largely interested in raising. buying and shipping mules, handling from 125 to 150 annually. In 1893. upon the death of his honored father, who had in the meanwhile returned to Shelbyville and engaged in handling of harness and vehicles of various descriptions, Mr. Cooper likewise removed from the farm to this city, where he resumed charge of his father's business and became admin- istrator of the estate, whose large and varied interests he has managed with consummate fidelity and ability. He finally closed out the business conducted by his father in Shelbyville, and since that time he has lived virtually retired, though he finds ample demands upon his time and attention in the supervision of his various capitalistic interests and in directing the general policy of operating the fine old farm of 500 acres, which he still owns and which is recognized as one of the best improved, most effectively handled and most valuable of the many admirable farms in this county. Mr. Cooper is the owner of a considerable amount of real estate in Shelbyville and elsewhere, and he has done considerable business in the buying and selling of realty in late years, having also improved many of his properties. Since his re- moval to Shelbyville he has rented his farm. Mr. Cooper is vice-president of
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which he was one of the organizers and incorporators, and he was also one of those identified with the organization of the Shelby County Railroad Company, of which he was a charter member and in which he is still a stockholder. He takes much interest in the progress of his na- tive city and county and is ever ready to lend his influence and tangible aid in support of measures and enterprises tending to advance the material and civic welfare of the community. Though never ambitious for the honors or emoluments of publie office Mr. Cooper is found ar- rayed as a staunch supporter of the prin- ciples of the Democratic party and he has given effective support to its cause in both local and general campaigns. He is affiliated with Shelbyville Lodge. No. 33, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and his wife are earnest members of the Christian church, taking active interest in the various depart- ments of its work. They are held in high regard in the county that has ever repre- sented their home and their circle of friends is limited only by that of their acquaintances.
On October 22, 1876, Mr. Cooper was united in marriage to Miss Sarah J. Perry, who was born and reared in this county, where her father, the late Joseph Perry, was a successful and influential farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper have two children-Fannie, who is the wife of Benjamin F. Gwynn, of Shelbyville, and Roy B. Cooper, who is engaged in farm- ing in Shelby county.
JOHN D. DALE.
Mr. Dale is a representative member of the bar of his native county, being es-
tablished in the successful practice of his profession in Shelbyville, the judicial center of the county, and by reason of his prestige in his profession as well as on account of his being a scion of a fam- ily whose name has been identified with the annals of Shelby county for more than half a century, ever standing as a synonym of integrity and honor in all the relations of life. The Dale family was early founded in the state of Mary- land, where Isaac Mitchell Dale, grand- father of the subject of this review, passed his entire life. There also was horn Isaac Dale, the son, the year of whose nativity was 1818. He was reared to manhood in his native commonwealthi, where he received a good common-school education and where he continued to re- side until 1854, when he came to Mis- souri and took up his residence on a farm near the present city of Shelbyville, Shelby county, and in 1861 moved to a farm near Florence. There he devoted his attention to diversified agriculture and the raising of excellent grades of live stock until 1862, when he removed with his family to the village of Clar- ence, where, after disposing of his farm property, he engaged in the general mer- chandise business, in which he continued until his death, which occurred on Au- gust 26, 1878. His wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Dennis, was like- wise a native of the state of Maryland, and she was summoned to the life eternal on September 1, 1876. The mother had been a member of the M. E. Church, South. Of their nine children five are now living, namely : William J., who is a resident of Mancos, Colorado; Jesse T., who is engaged in business at Shel.
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bina, Missouri; Rebecca, who is the wife of John H. Hainline, of Bloomington, Illinois; Rufus E., who is a representa- tive business man of Colorado Springs, Colorado ; and John D., who is the imme- diate subject of this review.
John D. Dale is indebted to the public schools of the village of Clarence, this county, for his early educational disci- pline, which was supplemented by at- tendance in the Methodist Academy in Shelbyville, in which well conducted in- stitution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1878. Thereafter he took up the study of law, and was favored in securing as his preceptor Senator Cyrus S. Brown, of Clarence, one of the able members of the bar of the county and for several terms a member of the state sen- ate. He continued his teclinical reading under the direction of his preceptor un- til 1883, when he was elected circuit clerk and county recorder, of which dual office he remained incumbent for two terms, giving an administration that met with popular approval and was marked by scrupulons care in the handling of the various details of the office work. In the meanwhile Mr. Dale had continued his legal studies, and on October 24, 1890, he was duly admitted to the bar of his na- tive county and state. He retired from the office of county recorder in the fol- lowing December, and since that time he has been engaged in active general prac- tice as an attorney and counselor at law, with residence and professional head- quarters in the thriving little city of Shelbyville. In 1896 he entered into a professional partnership with Hopkins B. Shain, with whom he was associated until 1898, when the alliance was dis-
solved by mutual consent, and since that time Mr. Dale has conducted an individ- nal professional business, in connection with which he has appeared in much im- portant litigation and retained a sub- stantial and representative clientage. He is recognized as an able and versatile trial lawyer and as a counselor well in- formed in the minutiae of the science of jurisprudence. Ile was official reporter of the house of representatives in the forty-second general assembly of the Missouri legislature and in this connec- tion formed the acquaintanceship of many of the representative men in pub- lie and professional life in the state. Mr. Dale is a staunch advocate of the princi- ples and policies for which the Demo- cratic party stands sponsor, and he has rendered yeoman service in behalf of the party canse. Both he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South, and are zealous in the work of the church in Shelbyville.
On May 15, 1883, Mr. Dale was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Priest, of Shelbyville, and of their five children two are living-Mildred and Celeste B., both of whom remain at the parental home.
DR. WILLIAM CARSON.
Representing the second generation of his family that has been energetic and serviceable in developing the resources of Missouri, which before their advent in the state, and that of those who came hither about the same time, had lain for ages almost in their state of primeval wildness untouched by the quickening hand of systematic industry, Dr. Wil-
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liam Carson, of Shelbyville, is entitled to credit in his ancestry and himself as one of the fruitful sources of power and enterprise in the great commonwealth which he has seen born into the world of civilization and grow from infancy to its present standing in the political and civil, the mental and moral and the in- dustrial and commercial forces of the country.
Dr. Carson was born in Marion coun- ty, Missouri, on May 5, 1846, and is a son of William and Elethea (Seeley) Carson, the former born in Frederick county, Virginia, in 1798, and the latter a native of St. Charles county, Missouri. They were married on October 2, 1823, and they became the parents of ten children, four of whom are living-Martha. the wife of J. S. Green, of Palmyra, Mis- souri ; Maria L., the wife of Rev. J. T. Williams, Baptist clergyman of the same city ; Dr. William, the immediate subject of this memoir : and Samuella, the widow of the late J. W. Paul, of Nevada, Mis- souri.
The father, who was a son of Simon C. Carson, a Virginia planter, came to Mis- souri in 1819 alone. He lived for a time in St. Charles and Ralls counties, then settled in Marion county, where he fol- lowed general farming until 1860. In that year he was appointed assistant land agent of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad and moved to Palmyra. Ile was afterward assistant cashier of the old State Bank of Palmyra. He was a man of considerable ability, earnestly alive to the development of the region in which he lived and at all times ready to do all in his power to promote it. For a continuous period of fourteen years he
represented the county of his home in the state legislature, serving three con- secutive terms in the house of represent- atives and two in the senate. He was very successful in business and promi- nent in publie life, and as he was one of the fathers of this part of the state and proved himself a very intelligent, pro- gressive and stimulating parent, so he is revered by the people as one of the most useful citizens of the earlier days of northeastern Missouri and one of its best in later years. He died in 1870. In polities he was first a Whig, during the Civil war a conservative and later a Democrat. His religions affiliation was with the Baptist sect and he took a very active part in church work.
Dr. William Carson began his seholas- tie training in the public schools of Marion county, continued it at Bethel and St. Paul colleges, in Palmyra. and completed it at the University of Vir- ginia. In 1866 he matriculated at St. Louis Medical College, and from that in- stitution he was graduated with the de- gree of M. D. in March, 1868. He began the practice of his profession at West Ely, in Marion county, where he re- mained three years. From there he moved to Shelbina, in this county, and there, also, he remained three years. His next location was at Oakdale, and there he lived and practiced thirteen years, coming to Shelbyville in 1887. Here he has lived ever since and carried on an ex- tensive, very active and widespread and remunerative practice. He is, and long has been, one of the leading physicians of Shelby county, and also enjoys an ex- cellent reputation for his ability, exten- sive and accurate knowledge of the medi-
VERNON L. DRAIN
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cal science and skill in practice in many other portions of the state.
Dr. Carson keeps posted in all phases of progress in his profession and is abreast with its most advanced thought and discovery. He is still a diligent stu- dent of its literature and is also an ac- tive and valued member of the American Medical Association and the Missouri and Shelby county medical societies. He takes an active part in public affairs as a zealous working Demoerat, and in the fraternal life of the community as a Freemason and an Odd Fellow. In relig- ion he gives his allegiance to the Baptist creed and is a working member of the Mission church of that sect. Locally he has given the people excellent service as an alderman, a school director and the county coroner. He is now the road commissioner of Shelby county. In all these positions he has won commenda- tion for his directness, attention to duty and knowledge of the requirements of the county and city.
Three times has the little god of senti- ment made the doctor his target, and each time his arrow has found its mark. Ile was first married in 1868 to Miss Mary Caldwell, a daughter of W. D. Caldwell. They had one child, who died at the age of six months. The mother died in 1870. His second marriage oc- curred on June 29, 1872, and was with Miss Lucy M. Caldwell, a daughter of Larkin B. Caldwell, of Shelby county. They became the parents of six children, all of whom are living-William G., of Kansas City, Missouri; Claud W., of Sheridan, Wyoming; Harry B., of Okla- loma City, Oklahoma ; Mary A., the wife of Dimmitt Wainwright, of Monett, Mis-
souri; Larkin E., of Shelbyville, and James I., also of Sheridan, Wyoming. Their mother died in 1904. The doctor's third marriage was with Miss Martha Wilson, of Shelbyville, and occurred in 1908.
VERNON L. DRAIN.
Successful as a practicing lawyer and prominent and influential as a citizen far beyond the measure his mod- esty would allow him to admit, Ver- non L. Drain, of Shelbyville, is justly accounted one of the lead- ing and most useful citizens of Shelby county, and he is also well and favorably known in all of the adjoining counties. Wherever he is known he is esteemed for his worth, held in high regard for his ele- vated character and admired for the qualities of head and heart which have won him success in his profession and prominence among the people of Mis- souri.
Mr. Drain was born in Shelby county, Missouri, on January 21, 1864. He is the only child of Stanford and Mary M. (Lyell) Drain, the former a native of Sussex county, Delaware, where he was born in 1811, and the latter a product of Westmoreland county, Virginia. The father passed the first quarter century of his life in his native county and ob- tained his education there. In 1836 he moved to Missouri and was employed for a time in Hannibal. He then located in Shelby county and during a short period followed farming with success. But he tired of this occupation and took up his residence in Shelbyville, where he worked for a number of years at the car- penter trade, which he had learned in his
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native state. He then again took up ons in promoting its advancement, and as farming as his leading employment and a Democrat in politics eager to secure the adhered to this until his death, which oc- curred in 1892. Twice he yielded to the dominion of the tender passion, being first married on March 21, 1833, to Miss Sarah W. Parker. They had one child, who is still living, their daughter Mary, who is now the widow of John W. Jacobs, of Clarence, in this county. Her mother died September 8, 1850, and on January 5, 1857, the father married a second time, choosing Miss Mary M. Lyell as his part- ner on this occasion. One child was born of this union, Vernon L., the immediate subject of this brief review. Stanford Drain died November 20, 1892.
Vernon L. Drain attended the public schools of Shelbyville and studied a great deal at home. After leaving school he worked on his father's farm for a few years, then passed some time as a clerk and salesman in a store. But feeling within him a call to higher duties than those of a salesman, however necessary and worthy they may be, he began the study of law under the direction of the present representative of this district in the congress of the United States, Hon. James T. Lloyd, of Shelbyville. In 1891 he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of his profession in Shelbyville, and here he has been actively and suc- cessfully engaged in it ever since. He has risen to very good standing in his profession and influence among the peo- ple on merit which his whole record has made manifest, and in social life he is in the front rank.
Mr. Drain has taken an active part in the affairs of the county as a citizen deeply interested in its welfare and zeal-
best interests of the country by the appli- cation of proper principles and theories in the administration of its government. He was elected prosecuting attorney of Shelby county in 1892 and served two terms in that office. His religious con- nection is with the Southern Methodist church. On February 17, 1892, he was united in marriage with Miss Nellie E. Turner. of Maryville, Nodaway county, Missouri. . The three children born of their union are all living and at home with their parents. They are: Benjamin Stanford, Katherine V. and Vernon L. No family in the county stands higher in the estimation of the people and none is more deserving of a high rank.
EUGENE M. CADWELL.
One of the well known and distinct- ively popular officials of Shelby county is he whose names initiates this article. Mr. Cadwell is incumbent of the office of circuit clerk, in which position he has served, with marked efficiency, since January 1, 1907, prior to which he has been one of the representative business men of the thriving little village of Shel- bina, from which he transferred his resi- dence to Shelbyville, the county seat, when preparing to assume the duties of his present official position.
Mr. Cadwell is a native son of Shelby county and is a member of one of its honored pioneer families. His paternal grandfather was Moses Cadwell, who was a native of North Carolina, whence he removed to Kentucky in the pioneer days of the latter commonwealth, in
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which he continued to reside until his are held in unqualified esteem in the removal to Shelby county, Mo., where county that has so long been their home. They became the parents of seven chil- dren, all of whom still reside in Shelby county, their names being here entered in the respective order of birth: Eu- gene M., Frank M., James V., Laura B., Willard T., Ethiel M., and Ruth. his death occurred. Mr. Cadwell was born on the homestead farm, in Salt River township, this county, on May 7, 1877, and is a son of William M. and Elizabeth (Quigley) Cadwell, the former of whom was born in Kentucky, in 1844, and the latter of whom was born in Shelby county in the year 1854. Their marriage was solemnized in Shelby county, in 1875, and here they continue to maintain their home.
William M. Cadwell was abont nine years old at the time of his parents' im- migration from Kentucky to Missouri, and the family home was established in Shelby county, this state, in the year 1853. Here he was reared to maturity and here his entire active and independ- ent career has been one of elose and suc- cessful identification with agriculture and stock-growing. He is the owner of a fine farm of 240 acres, in Salt River and Black Creek townships, and the place is equipped with the best of im- provements of a permanent order, so that on all sides are abundant evidences of thrift and prosperity. During the Civil war he served under Colonel Por- ter, taking part in many skirmishes marking the conflict between the oppos- ing forces in Missouri, and having par- ticipated in the engagements at Kirks- ville and Edina. In politics he is a staunch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party and he has wielded not a little influence in public affairs in his community. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Christian church, taking a deep interest in the va- rious departments of its work, and both
Eugene M. Cadwell passed his boy- hood and youth on the home farm, to whose work he early began to contribute his quota, and after completing the cur- riculum of the distriet schools he con- tinned his studies in the high school at Shelbina, where he also completed a course in a business college. After leav- ing school he was employed for several years as clerk in general and hardware stores in Marshall and Shelbina. after which he was engaged for six years as traveling salesman in the sonth. At the expiration of the period noted Mr. Cad- well returned to Shelbina, where he be- came associated with his brother, James V., in the grain and feed business, under the firm name of Cadwell Brothers. They built np a snecessful enterprise, and the subject of this review continned to be actively identified therewith until Oc- tober, 1905, when the firm sold the busi- ness and he entered the campaign to se- cure nomination, on the Democratic ticket, for the office of circuit clerk. He received the nomination at the county convention of the party on January 17, 1906, and in the election of the following November he received a gratifying ma- jority at the polls. In the preceding April he had removed to Shelbyville, and there he served as deputy county re- corder until January 1, 1907, when he as- sumed the office of circuit clerk, of which
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