USA > Missouri > Shelby County > General history of Shelby County, Missouri > Part 78
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This venerable "Father in Israel" was the last survivor of the old pioneer preachers who laid the foundations in Macon and Shelby counties of the relig- ions organization to which he belonged.
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At the age of eighteen he became united with the Baptist church, and in 1843 was ordained a preacher in that denomina- tion. On the fourth Saturday of Novem- ber, in the same year, and seven months after his ordination, he joined with Rev. William Griffin and Rev. Henry Mat- thews in organizing the Macon Baptist association, of which he was the first dis- trict missionary. He devoted the labors of nearly all of his after life to minis- terial work under the auspices of this association and helped to promote its growth from three feeble and struggling congregations to a membership of many thousands.
Rev. Mr. Swinney was one of the six pioneer preachers who founded the Bap- tist church in this region, and like his colleagues in the work, he labored on his farm and at his trade during the week and preached on Sunday, often riding many miles to fill his engagements and braving all kinds of weather by day and night for the purpose. His ministry be- gan before the day of salaried preachers in this part of the world, and his labor in the ministerial field was therefore one of love, and given freely, without money or price of any kind. One church, in which he preached for a number of years on one occasion, gave him the sum of $2.50, and this amount he invested in a barrel of salt. At another time, in October, 1882, he requested the Darksville Bap- tist church, in Randolph county, of which he was then the pastor, and from which he had received no pay for the year, to raise all it could of the salary it wished to pay him and send it to a veteran brother clergyman, Rev. H. J. Thomas, of Shelbina, who was ill and in distress.
The congregation complied with his re- quest and the wants of the brother in need, who died a few weeks later, were relieved.
Rev. J. G. Swinney lived in Macon county until 1865, then moved to Tuscola, Illinois. In the spring of 1866 he re- turned to Missouri and took up his resi- dence in Shelby county, four miles north of Woodlawn, where he lived until 1891. In that year he moved to Clarence, where he died on August 10, 1901, aged eighty- three years and two months. He was married in Macon county, Missouri, in 1844, to Miss Sarah Matthews, who was born in Kentucky on February 13, 1825. They became the parents of ten children, eight of whom are living: D. J., of De- vall Bluff, Arkansas ; J. T., of Richmond, Missouri; Martha, the wife of John Clark, of Leonard, this county; J. M., of Macon, Missouri; A. P., of Clarence, Shelby county; Mary, the wife of W. S. Cornelius, of Macon county ; Emmett D., the subject of this writing; and Alice, the wife of Calvin Matthews. The mother survived her husband nearly seven years, dying on April 25, 1908.
Emmett D. Swinney obtained his edu- cation in the district schools of Shelby county, and after completing their course of instruction, worked for his father on the home farm a number of years. He was, however, of a mechanical rather than an agricultural turn of mind, and gratified his inclination by operating a saw mill for some time. In 1885 he moved to Shielbina and accepted employ- ment under W. S. Clark in the implement and woodenware trade, remaining with him seventeen years. In 1902 he and William McDaniel bought the business
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from Mr. Clark, and they prospered in the undertaking until 1910. Mr. MeDaniel then sold his interest to Mr. Hawkins, and the firm name became Swinney & Hawkins. Under the new arrangement the business has gone steadily alead to larger proportions, a higher reputation and more considerable importance. It is now one of the leaders in its line in this part of the state.
On December 25, 1883, Mr. Swinney was united in marriage with Miss Mattie Rutter, a native of this county, born in 1863, and a daughter of James and Mary Rutter, esteemed citizen of the county. All of the three children born of the union are living. They are Edward, Effie and Wade. The father has long been prominent in local public affairs and the fraternal life of his com- munity. He has been secretary of the Odd Fellows' lodge in Shelbina during all of the last fifteen years, and has made a very creditable record in that im- portant and responsible office. He is a member of the Missionary Baptist church and takes an earnest interest and active part in all its uplifting and benev- olent work.
In the affairs of his city and county Mr. Swinney has also been zealous and very helpful. No worthy undertaking for the benefit of the people has ever gone without his energetic support, and by the wisdom of his counsel and the force of his example, as well as by his infinenee and efforts, others have been brought into line and made effective for good. Shelby county has no more esti- mable citizen, and none who is more justly held in high esteem and good will by the people of every class.
ELMER B. RAY.
Elmer B. Ray, who conducted the lead- ing livery and horse sales barn in Shel- bina, which was, at the time, one of the principal establishments of its kind in this part of the state of Missouri, is a native of Shelby county, and was born here on January 11, 1878. Hle is a grand- son of Felon Ray, a native of Kentucky, and a son of Andrew B. Ray, also a na- tive of that state. The Ray family was among the pioneer families in Kentucky, its earlier members who went to what is now that great state when it was literally a howling wilderness having been com- panions of Daniel Boone and the heroic men who associated with him in laying the foundations of the commonwealth. Their descendants repeated on the soil of Missouri their performances on that of Kentucky, for Andrew B. Ray, the father of the subject of this writing, was brought to this state by his parents when he was but one year old.
The family located in Shelby county on arriving in Missouri, and here its mem- bers passed the remainder of their lives actively engaged in farming and raising live stock. Andrew B. Ray grew to man- hood on his father's farm and attended the primitive frontier schools of his boy- hood and youth. After reaching man's estate he started a farming enterprise of his own near Shelbyville, and in time ac- quired the ownership of 420 acres of land there. When advancing years made him desire to retire from active pursuits, he moved to Shelbyville, where he still lives.
He was married to Miss Orzella Bond. a native of Missouri. Of the three cliil- dren born to them Elmer B. is the only one living. His mother died on July 14,
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1900. She and her husband saw this country in its state of almost primitive wildness, and encountered all the hard- ships and faced all the perils of frontier life. But they bore their destiny bravely and performed its duties faithfully, in accordance with the heroie spirit of the pioneers, whose exploits in various places embody many of the most thrilling and spectacular f e a t u r e s of American history.
Elmer B. Ray shared the fate of coun- try boys of his day in Missouri. He worked on his father's farm, attending the district school in the neighborhood of his home when he had opportunity, and reaelied manhood with no other prospeet in life than that of following the oeeupa- tion of his forefathers. He had, however, one advantage over many of his boyhood associates. He was allowed to take a fin- ishing course of instruction at Leonard college, and this brought him near to his majority. So, after working a short time longer at home, he began farming on his own account on a farm of 120 acres in the vicinity of Shelbyville. Some time after- ward he moved to his father's farm, which he cultivated during the next seven years.
But, while he was an excellent farmer and found both pleasure and profit in his occupation as such, he had a longing for mercantile life and mingling somewhat in the great world of business. Accord- ingly, he moved to Shelbina and opened a livery and sales stable. The results have realized his hopes of advancement and proved that his venture was not a mistake. He made a success of his pres- ent business and won a reputation for himself as a capable and enterprising
manager of it. His stable was known throughout a large extent of the sur- rounding country and to hosts of travel- ing men for the excellence of its equipment and service, and its sales feature was equally well known and popular.
On November 14, 1900, Mr. Ray was united in marriage with Miss Jennie Rankin, a native of this state. He is a prominent member of the Order of Odd Fellows, in whose progress he takes an interest and an active part. His reli- gious connection is with the Christian church, and in this he is also zealous and serviceable, especially in the affairs of the congregation of which he is a mem- ber, but he is helpful to all churches without regard to creed or denomina- tional differences.
In connection with the interests of his eity and county Mr. Ray is a man of pub- lie spirit and enterprise. He is always ready to bear his portion of the burden of improvements and assist every worthy undertaking in the most practical and effective way. And he is intelligent and far-seeing in respect to such matters, and never narrow, obstinate or dogmatie. He expresses his own views freely and as freely accords to every other eitizen the same right. And he welcomes every suggestion and examines it carefully, giv- ing it weight in proportion to its merit as he sees it. He is universally regarded as one of the most enterprising and pro- gressive citizens of the county, and as such is held in high esteem.
MARVIN WHITBY.
"Equal to either fortune," was the motto of Lord Byron, a mighty though
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erring spirit, and the manner in which he lived up to it half redeemed his fame from the reproach due to even his grosser errors. Without involving any- thing of error, and in its best sense, this motto might be applied to Marvin Whitby, of Clarence, this county, which has been his home and the seat of his in- teresting career for many years. For he has been tried by both extremes of fortune and never seriously disturbed by either.
Mr. Whitby was born at Canton, Lewis county, Missouri, on January 27, 1849, and comes of good old Maryland and Kentucky stock. He is a grandson of William B. Whitby, who was born and reared in Maryland, and a son of Au- gustus E. Whitby, who was also a native of that state and born in 1806. He came to Missouri in 1841 and took up his residence in Shelby county, where he re- mained five years, removing to Lewis county in 1846. There he wrought at his trade as a millwright and prospered at the business, not only because there was great demand for his services, but also because he worked industriously and lived frugally. In politics he was a Democrat, loyal to his party and zealous in its service, and in religion a member of the Southern Methodist Episcopal church. And under all circumstances and wherever he lived he was an excel- lent citizen, and universally esteemed as such.
In 1842 he was united in marriage with Miss Catherine A. Miller, a native of Kentucky. They had six children, two of whom are living, Marvin and his sister, Laura A., the wife of Ben- jamin Heathman, of Shelbina. The
father died in March, 1855, and the mother on June 5, 1894. This excellent woman, who survived her husband and natural protector thirty-nine years, bore the burden of rearing her offspring cheerfully and with Spartan courage. She could not do all she wished for her children, but she did what she could, and this was all that could be asked. And it stands out greatly to her credit that she never shirked the duty or grew restless in performing it to the best of her ability and the full measure of her strength.
Marvin Whitby was orphaned at the age of six years by the untimely death of his father, and was thrown on his own resources at an early age. He attended school for a short period in Clarence, and then went to teaching. His own op- portunities for scholastic training and acquirements had been very limited, but he had improved them in the fullest measure, and was fairly well qualified to impart to others the knowledge he had himself gained by such arduous effort. As he taught he kept on enlarging his fund of information and developing and training his mind with such snecess that he kept pace with the progress in teach- ing and adhered to his chosen vocation twenty-eight years, beginning in 1870 and teaching until 1898. In the mean- time, so favorably had he impressed the public with his capacity and general ac- ceptability that in 1889 he was elected school commissioner of Shelby county, and at the end of his term was re-elected for another.
Teaching school is exacting, exhaust- ing and nerve-racking work, as all who have followed it zealonsly and conscien-
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tiously know, and while engaged in it Mr. Whitby sought relief from its pres- sure in farming a tract of fifty-five acres of good land, which he purchased for the purpose. He was progressive and suc- cessful in farming, as he was in teaching, and won a reputation for intelligence and enterprise in that line of endeavor. In 1900 he was elected public administra- tor of Shelby county. This office he held continuously for eight years, making a first rate record for efficiency and ability in its administration and extending and strengthening his hold on the regard and good will of the people. He served as city clerk for eight years, also sixteen years as justice of peace and a number of years as a school director.
Since leaving the office of public ad- ministrator he has been engaged in farm- ing on 283 acres of as good land as can be found in this county, all but ninety acres of which he has acquired by his own industry and thrift, aided by the counsel and assistance of his excellent wife, to whom the ninety acres came as an inheritance from her father. In ad- dition to his farm he owns valuable city property. His present home in Clarence is a pleasant one, and in that city he is looked upon as one of the leading and most useful men in the community. He well deserves the rank he holds in public estimation, for he is unceasing in the use of his influence and the gift of his inspiration for the progress and improvement of the city and county, and at all times eagerly desirous of promot- ing the substantial, intellectual and mor- al welfare of their people in every way open to him.
On December 24, 1894, he married Miss Alice M. Taylor, a native of Mis- souri and a daughter of the late Major Taylor, of Shelby county. Mrs. Whitby walked life's troubled way with him fourteen years, and proved herself to be a model woman by every test of excel- lence. She was a true companion for her husband, and a highly useful factor in the life of the community. All she possessed of intelligence, wisdom and energy she freely devoted to the advance- ment of her household and the business of the family, and, at the same time, spared no effort of which she was ca- pable to contribute to the betterment of the community around her. She died October 12, 1908.
Mr. Whitby's political faith and ear- nest support are given to the principles and candidates of the Democratic party. Ifis church affiliation is with the South- ern Methodists, and in fraternal rela- tions he is connected with the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows and the An- cient Order of United Workmen. In his party, his church and his lodges he is an energetic and effective worker, and his membership in each is highly valued, while in all the duties of citizenship he is as true as the needle to the pole, and as useful and productive as he is straightforward and upright.
On the erection of the New Methodist church at Clarence in 1910, Mr. Whitby donated the primary room of the build- ing, furnishing it in memory of his wife and it is known as the Alice M. Whitby room.
Mr. Whitby's mother was a charter member of this church.
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OLIVER JERRE LLOYD.
Although but twenty-eight years old (1910) Oliver Jerre Lloyd, of Shelbina, has already had a busy and varied ca- reer. His activities have been employed for the most part in one line of work, but that has taken him to many different places and shown him men and their im- pulses and aspirations under widely dif- fering circumstances. He is now the cashier of the Shelbina National Bank and is performing the duties of his posi- tion to the entire satisfaction of the di- reetorate and patrons of that progres- sive and enterprising institution. But he was well trained for the work by tui- tion in its theory and experience in its practice.
Mr. Lloyd was born in Lewis county, Missouri, on January 10, 1882, and is a son of James T. and Mary (Graves) Lloyd, a sketch of whose lives will be found elsewhere in this volume. He ob- tained his academic training in the dis- trict schools of Shelby county and one of its high schools. After completing this part of his preparation for the bat- tle of life, he attended a business high school in Washington, D. C., from which he was graduated in 1902. Armed with his diploma, his hopes of success, his worthy aspirations for consequence and standing among men, and his determina- tion to realize all he looked forward to, he again came to Missouri and located at Kirksville, having been appointed assist- ant cashier of the Baird National Bank in that city.
It seemed to the young aspirant for business success and steady advance- ment that he was on the high road to
the accomplishment of his wishes. But soon after his connection with it began the bank went into liquidation, and he was obliged to seek another avenne to the goal he desired so ardently to reaclı. He was offered a clerkship in the Citizen's Bank, of Memphis, Missouri, and he ae- cepted it and filled the position with credit to himself and benefit to the bank until April, 1908. He was then asked to take the chief clerkship of the Demo- cratie Congressional committee in Washı- ington, D. C., and yielded to the request.
Political life and its contentions were not to his taste, and being offered the position he now holds, he resigned from the clerkship of the committee on June 1, 1910, and became the cashier of the Shelbina National Bank. This brought him again to the performance of duties for which he is particularly well fitted and which are in accordance with his wishes and ambitions. They also give him scope to apply his desire to aid in the progress and improvement of the region to which he is warmly attached, and minister to the welfare of its people, whom he holds in high regard, as they do him on just grounds of well demon- strated worth and manhood.
On June 22, 1904, he united in mar- riage with Miss Gertrude Chick, a na- tive of this county, born on January 31, 1881, and a daughter of W. C. and Eliza (Stuart) Chick, esteemed resi- dents of the county. Mr. Lloyd and his wife are earnest and serviecable members of the Christian church and take an active part in its works of benev- olence and evangelization. They are also interested warmly and practically in all good and worthy agencies for ad-
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vancement and improvement, social, in- telleetnal and moral, at work in the com- munity. They are social sunbeams light- ing and warming all circles in which they move, and are highly esteemed as among the best and most representative citi- zens of their city and county. Their pleasant home is a center of refined and gracious hospitality, and a very popular resort for their hosts of friends and ad- mirers. It is also a center of earnest work for the good of the community.
ANDREW J. OLIVER.
The state of Virginia, which gave us a number of our earlier presidents and the ancestors of several of later date, has also sent her sons and daughters abroad throughout the land, quickening the spirit of improvement, brightening and elevating the social atmosphere and giving trend and character to the civil institutions of many different sections. Among those who went abroad from the wide domain of the Old Dominion and came to Missouri in the early days were John L. and Nancy (Warren) Oliver, the parents of Andrew J. Oliver, one of the leading mechanics and merchants of Shelbina.
Mr. Oliver's paternal grandfather, Lemuel Oliver, was a native of Virginia, and his forefathers had been planters in that state from colonial times. His son, John L., was born there on January 29, 1821, and was reared to the occupation of his ancestors. But when "manhood darkened on his downy cheek" he was seized with a spirit of adventure and determined to seek a home and found a name for himself in a distant part of
the country. Accordingly, in 1844, he came to this state and located near Milan in Sullivan county. After a short residence in that county he moved to Lewis county, where he lived a number of years, and then came to Shelby county in 1886. He took up his residence in Shelbina, and here he engaged in farm- ing and teaming, prospering in his work and rising to influence and good stand- ing among the people by the worth of his character, his industry and upright- ness and the enterprise and progressive- ness of his citizenship.
His first marriage was with Miss Nancy Warren, and by the union they became the parents of twelve children, five of whom are living: John W., An- drew J., George W., Sherman, and Laura, the wife of George Warren. The mother of these children died on July 22, 1882, and in February, 1884, the father married a second wife, being united in this with Miss Pauline Fitz- simmons, who is still living.
Andrew J. Oliver was born on Octo- ber 13, 1854, in Marion county, Missouri. He grew to manhood on his father's farm, acquiring a good practical mastery of the business, and attended the dis- triet school in the neighborhood, where he obtained a limited common school edu- cation, his opportunities for regular and lengthy attendance being subject to the necessities of the farm, which required his labor mneh of the year. The school he attended was in Lewis county, where the family was then living, and after leaving it he learned the blacksmith trade, and then worked at it as a helper at Trenton, Missouri. Soon afterward he acquired the ownership of a shop at
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La Belle, this state, which he conducted for a time.
His trade became distasteful to him and he sold his shop, determined to go back farming. He located on a farm in Lewis county, which he lived on and enltivated six years. He tired of this in turn and took up his residence in Shel- bina on August 1, 1890. Here he has ever since been engaged in blacksmith- ing and dealing in implements, and has been very successful in his operations. His shop is one of the most completely equipped in this part of the state, and the mercantile end of his business is ex- tensive and flourishing. In addition, he owns 480 acres of land in Warren county, North Dakota, and other property of valne.
On February 15, 1884, he was united in marriage with Miss Maggie Ellen Harrison, a native of Pennsylvania. They had three children, two of whom are living: Maggie May, the wife of R. A. Newman, and Effie Rebecca, the wife of Richard Highland. Their mother died on August 17, 1899, and on August 9, 1900, the father contracted a second marriage, being united in this with Miss Ellen Hales, a native of Iowa. lle and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South.
In political affairs Mr. Oliver gives his allegiance and support to the prin- ciples of the Republican party, and he is loyal to it and energetic and effective in its service, although neither seeking nor desiring any of the honors or emolu- ments it has to bestow for himself. In fraternal life he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America, and, al- though a busy man and much engaged
in his own affairs, he finds time to give his lodge the benefit of his frequent presence at its meetings and his counsel in its management with a view to secur- ing the best possible results for its mem- hers. In the public affairs of his city and county he takes an active part, giv- ing his earnest and intelligent aid to every worthy undertaking for their im- provement and the substantial good of their people. His citizenship is of an elevated character, and has gained for him the esteem of the whole people wher- ever he has lived and become known. He is a representative man and altogther worthy of the high regard in which he stands in public estimation.
MARVIN DIMMITT.
Although he has several times changed his residence, occupation and business associates, and covered in his interesting and instructive career farming and mer- cantile life, banking and official duties, Marvin Dimmitt, now the capable and highly esteemed cashier of the Shelby County State Bank, located at Clarence, has known how to make the changes for his own advantage and advancement, and how to use every means at his com- mand for the benefit of the people around him in promoting their general welfare and helping to magnify their comforts and conveniences in life.
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