USA > Missouri > Shelby County > General history of Shelby County, Missouri > Part 79
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Mr. Dimmitt is a native of Shelby connty, Missouri, and was born on a farm near Shelbyville on January 14, 1863. He is a son of Dr. Philip Dim- mitt, now deceased, and a brother of Lee and Prince Dimmitt, sketches of whom will be found on other pages of
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this work. He grew to manhood and was educated in the Shelbyville High School, Shelbyville, Missouri. In 1877 he turned his attention to mercantile life, becoming a salesman in the dry goods store of W. A. Dimmitt in Shelbyville.
At the end of one year's experience and training as a elerk and salesman in the store he found an opening that was more attractive to him, and became a clerk in the bank of Messrs. Cooper & Dimmitt, which was also located in Shel- byville. His fidelity to duty, capacity for business and progressive spirit were amply manifested in each engagement, and he found his services in demand for other business connections. In 1879 he left the bank and assumed the manage- ment of a branch store belonging to W. A. Dimmitt at Betliel. But his one year's experience in banking had given him a fondness for the business and demonstrated to him that he had special fitness for it. At the end of one year passed in the management of the store at Bethel he returned to the bank of Cooper & Dimmnitt and resumed his po- sition as clerk and bookkeeper.
In 1881 his desire to have and conduct a banking business of his own induced him to open a bank at Clarence for Messrs. Holtzclow & Gaskill as a step- ping stone to the accomplishment of his purpose. He opened this bank in April of the year last named and con- tinued in charge of it until the follow- ing November. During the summer he erected three business buildings in part- nership with his brother, Frank, and in the autumn they opened a dry goods store in one of them under the firm name and style of Dimmitt Bros.
In December, 1885, Mr. Dimmitt was appointed postmaster of Clarence by President Cleveland for a term of four years. He filled the office with credit to himself and satisfaction to the people for the full term, but did not sever his connection with the mercantile establish- ment in which he was a member of the firm. On the contrary, in December, 1896, he bought his brother Frank's in- terest in the store, and from then until 1895 he conducted the business alone and under his own name. In 1895 he was elected cashier of the Shelbyville Bank, but held on to an interest in the store at Clarence, although the firm name was changed to that of L. Griswold & Co., the same as it is at this time (1910).
Mr. Dimmitt remained in the service of the Shelbyville Bank until February, 1902, then sold his interests in that city and moved to Clarence. In May of the same year he was elected cashier of the Shelby County State Bank in Clarence, and he has continued to fill that position ever since. In addition to his interest in that sound, progressive and highly suc- cessful financial institution, which has steadily grown and prospered under his wise and prudent management, he owns and directs the farming of 240 acres of land and has residence and business property of considerable value in Clar- ence, and interests of moment in other places.
But Mr. Dimmitt's life has not been wholly given up to business. He has taken an earnest and helpful interest in political affairs and dignified and adorned the official circles of the county, having served six terms as mayor of Clarence and eight years as a member
HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY
of the school board. His political affilia- tion is with the Democratic party and he is one of its most assiduous and effective workers in all campaigns, showing lıim- self wise in its councils and zealous and successful in promoting its welfare in the field. In fraternal relations he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.
On January 31, 1884, Mr. Dimmitt was united in marriage with Miss Eva P. Davis, of Clarence, a daughter of Will- iam Davis, at that time one of the lead- ing lumber merchants of that city, but now residing at San Diego, California. Seven children have been born in the Dimmitt household, and five of them are living: Elizabeth F., the wife of S. J. Byrd, of Carrizo Springs, Texas; and Michael, Patrick, Eva M. and Buster, all of whom are still members of the parental family circle.
HENRY H. BONNEL. (Deceased.)
Finding his country in the throes of a terrible civil war soon after dawn of his manhood, Henry H. Bonnel, who was one of the prosperous and progressive farmers of Bethel township in this coun- ty, took his place in the army of defense, and during the momentous conflict bore his burden of service, with all its in- volvement of peril and privation, ardu- ons labor and dark uncertainty. Then, when peace was restored, and the armies so lately engaged in deadly warfare melted away into the hosts of industrial
production, he turned once more to the cultivation of field and farm, in which he was actively and successfully engaged, devoting to it the same fidelity and en- ergy that distinguished him in the march and on the battlefield of military service until his death in 1910.
Mr. Bonnel was a native of Batavia, Ohio, born on April 10, 1835. He was a son of Levi and Elizabeth Smith (Hill) Bonnel, the former born and reared in Pennsylvania and the latter in Ohio. They had eight children and six of them are living: Henry H., Aaron, Mark, Ann Eliza (Reynolds), Mary Amelia (McDonald) and Frank. The father brought his family to Missouri in 1861 and located in Shelby county, where he engaged in farming and raising stock, pursuing these lines of useful endeavor until his death in 1874. The mother sur- vived him eighteen years, dying in 1892.
Henry H. Bonnel was reared in his na- tive place and educated in its public schools. He was warmly attached to his home and his parents, and after leaving school remained with them, assisting his father on the farm, and accompanying them to this state when they migrated to it. In January, 1862, on the 16th day of the month, he enlisted in a company of Missouri cavalry, and was soon after- ward at the front and in the midst of the fray, which from that time on to the close of the war was constant and ter- rible. He took part in numerous in- portant battles and many engagements of minor consequence, and, although often face to face with death, escaped unharmed while his comrades fell like autumn leaves all around him. Before
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the end of the struggle he became quar- termaster-general of Company I, being promoted to this position in recognition of the value of his services in the sterner phases of the confliet.
At the elose of the war Mr. Bonnel returned to his Shelby county home, and here he was profitably engaged in farm- ing and raising stock, except during the last two years, when he lived retired from all active pursuits. During his residence in this county he has ever taken an earnest interest and an active part in promoting the welfare of the re- gion, doing at all times all he could for the benefit of its people, the development of its resources, and its moral, intellectu- al and material advancement in every way. He was elerk of the district for more than twenty-five years and served on the school board for a period of eight. In polities he was a pronounced Repub- lican, but never was an active partisan. Fraternally he belonged to the Masonic order and the Grand Army of the Re- public.
In 1864 Mr. Bonnel was united in mar- riage with Miss Mary Washington Mat- kin. a native of Shelby county, Missouri. Of the eight children born to them six are living : Willard, Effie May, now Mrs. Starmer, and Julian, Kate, Bailey and Mary Edith. The mother of these chil- dren died in 1900 after a life of domes- tic service and fidelity extending over thirty-six years, during which she was true to every trust and gave her off- spring a fine example of devoted and upright womanhood, for which she was held in high respect wherever she was known as was her husband.
HENRY C. DRENNAN.
With his boyhood darkened by the ter- rible shadow of our Civil war and the hardships and trials incident to that mo- mentous conflict, and being obliged in consequence to make his own way in the world from an early age, Henry C. Dren- nan, a leading farmer and stock man of Bethel township, in this county, and one of its prominent and influential citizens, has shown in his career that, however much the lessons of adversity sometimes indurate and sour the spirit, they are in most cases salutary and stimulate their subject to a development of all that is best within him.
Mr. Drennan's life began in Illinois, Sangamon county, in 1854. In that state his father, William Drennan, also was born and there was reared, educated and married, uniting in wedlock with Miss Lucinda Cannon, a native of Kentucky, in 1853. They had six children, four of whom are living: Henry C., Charles W., Darius D., who lives in Idaho, and Mar- garet F., the wife of Charles Miller, of Knox county, Missouri. In November, 1855, the family moved to this county and located on a farm, which was full of promise, and during the years of its cultivation by the father realized its promise. He prospered on it and was winning a competeney. But in 1864, in- spired by the warmth of feeling engen- dered by the cruelty of the predatory border warfare irresponsible parties waged on the helpless people, he enlisted in the Union army in Company G, 39th Missouri Volunteer Infantry. A few months later he was killed in the battle of Centralia, Missouri. The mother is
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living yet and has reached the ripe old age of eighty-two years.
Their son, Henry C. Drennan, obtained a limited education in the district schools, his opportunities being more limited than they would otherwise have been, owing to the hard conditions laid upon the people by the war, which continued for years after that was over. He left school at an early age and at once began the career as a farmer which has made him successful in a worldly way and given him consequence and influence among the people. He has pursued his industry in this line of effort ever since and has wrung from the soil of this county, by arduons and continued indns- try, skill in the application of his labor and good judgment in the management of his operations, a substantial estate and the prospect of still greater achieve- ments. He owns and has mostly under cultivation 360 acres of first-rate land, improved with good buildings and pro- vided with all the appurtenances of an attractive and comfortable country home. In connection with his farming operations he carries on a thriving gen- eral live stock industry which is man- aged with the same intelligence and care as his farming, and which brings him returns in proportion ..
Mr. Drennan has ever been active and zealous in the service of his community, manifesting his interest in its welfare by close attention to its requirements and an effective support of every worthy en- terprise designed to promote its prog- ress and development. He served on the school board for a period of more than fifteen years, and in other ways has done his part to advance the general weal of
the locality and its people. In politics he is a firm and consistent Republican, but he has never been an over-active par- tisan. He was married in 1882 to Miss Sallie C. Miller, a native of Ohio who came to this state with her parents when she was three years old. They have four children, Hurley H., Fred M., Alice and Phil O.
WILLIAM CUMMINGS RAINES.
Born in Wisconsin in 1839, at a time which may properly be designated as belonging to the early history of the Middle West, and in later years carried by his occupation to almost every other part of the country west of the Alle- ghany mountains, William C. Raines, now one of the prosperons and progres- sive farmers of Bethel township, in this county, has had a varied experience and found it profitable, not only in the acqui- sition of worldly wealth, but in giving him knowledge of himself and others, and a familiar acquaintance with the va- rions parts of our great domain which lie between our two mighty mountain ranges.
Mr. Raines is a scion of old Virginia families on his father's side of the house, his ancestors having lived in the Old Dominion from early colonial days. From there his grandfather migrated to Kentucky when that now great common- wealth was almost a pathless wilderness, and there his father, Isaac Raines, was born. His mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Ramsdell, was a native of In- diana. Of the eight children born in his father's family he is now the only one living. The father was of a migratory
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disposition and sought advancement in various parts of the country. He came to Missouri and located in Marion coun- ty, at Hannibal, at an early date, after living successively in Kentucky, Indiana and Wisconsin. In 1850, when the ex- citement over the discovery of gold on the Pacific slope was at its height, he went to California. He did not tarry long in the new eldorado, however, but soon returned to his Marion county, Mis- souri, home.
Still the gold fever had him in its grip, and the longing for the Pacific coast was constantly with him while he was busily engaged in cultivating his Ralls county farm for a number of years. At length it became irresistible, and in 1863 he went back to California, taking his wife with him, and there he remained thirty years, his wife dying there in 1880. Thir- teen years later, in 1893, he returned again to Missouri, Shelby county, and here he died in 1899.
William C. Raines obtained his edu- cation in the public schools of Hannibal, Missouri. After leaving school he learned the blacksmith trade, but he has never worked at it. In 1858, when he was nineteen years old, he became an engineer on transports and tow boats, and in this capacity he was employed for a period of nearly forty years during which he traversed every navigable riv- er in the West. In 1886 he came to Shelby county, Missouri, accompanied by his family, and settled down as a farmer, to which ocenpation he has ever since adhered. He has prospered in his agricultural enterprise, and now owns and has under cultivation 137 acres of superior land, which constitutes one of
the attractive and valuable country homes of Bethel township, and is man- aged with skill and intelligence that make him one of the model farmers of the locality.
On December 12, 1863, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Callo- way, a native of Maryland. They had six children, two of whom are living, their daughters, Emma, the wife of Will- iam P. Roberts, of St. Louis, and Julia C., the wife of J. C. Smith, of Walkers- ville, Missouri. The mother of these children died on January 8, 1909, aged seventy years. In polities the father be- longs to the Democratic party, but owing to his migratory life he has never taken an active interest in political affairs. He is not a member of any church or fra- ternal organization, but is an excellent citizen, highly esteemed by all who know him and well worthy of the universal regard in which he is held in his own community, in the welfare of which he takes an earnest and serviceable interest.
FRANCIS M. KIMBLEY.
Becoming an orphan at the age of sev- enteen by the untimely death of his father, which left the family in strait- ened circumstances, and in consequence, obliged to make his own way in the world without the aid of outside help or For- tune's favors in any way, F. M. Kimbley. of Bethel township, in this county, found life's journey a rough and stony road during several years of his progress on it toward the goal of his hopes. Ile is now one of the most successful and pros- perous farmers and stock men of the town- ship, prominent and influential as a citi-
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zen and generally esteemed and popular as a man. He has made the rugged aseent to this condition wholly by his own efforts and ability, and is deserving of the consequences he has attained.
Mr. Kimbley's life began in Adams county, Illinois, where he was born on January 1, 1863. He is a son of Matthew R. and Emilia J. (Priekett) Kimbley, the former a native of Illinois and the latter of Ohio. They had ten children, two of whom are living, F. M., and Hen- ry, who lives in the state of Oklahoma. Harvey and George died after having reached maturity. The father first came to Missouri and located in Clark county in 1860. Later he moved his family to that county, and there he followed farm- ing until his death in 1879. The mother survived him twenty-seven years, dying in 1906.
Their son, Francis M. Kimbley, ob- tained a limited education in the district schools of Clark county, but his aspira- tions in this direction were cut short by the death of his father, and even be- fore that his advantages had been mea- ger, as the work on the home farm re- quired during all the working season every available foree in the family, and all other considerations had to yield to it. When he left school he gave himself up wholly to the cultivation of the farm, which the family occupied until 1880, and then he and the rest of the living children came to Shelby county with their mother, and took up their residence on a farm in Bethel township.
In 1883, impelled by the hope of sne- eess in mining and other lines of effort, he went to Colorado, which was then looked upon, and not improperly, as a
state, or territory of great possibilities. But Shelby county still had a winning voice for him, and after a short time he returned to it, content to take his chances for advancement with the fruits of its fertile soil and his opportunities for so- cial enjoyment and civil and material progress among its home-loving but wide-awake and enterprising people. Here he has been industriously and suc- cessfully engaged in farming and rais- ing live stock ever since with steadily increasing prosperity. He now owns and has under cultivation over 400 aeres of fine land, well improved and brought to a high condition of productiveness. His stoek industry is also extensive and profitable. Both departments of his work are condueted with skill and intel- ligence, and each well repays the care and attention bestowed upon it.
Mr. Kimbley was married in 1883 to Miss Anna Wester, a native of this eoun- ty. They had six children, five of whom are living. They are Harry, Minnie, Ettie, Ira and Ruby. In politics the father is an active working Democrat, with great interest in the snecess of his party and always zealous and effective in its service. He rendered good serv- ice to the people as a member of the school board for four years, and in many other ways has been useful in promoting their welfare. In fraternal life he bo- longs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which also he takes an active part, contributing to its advancement by wisdom in counsel and zeal and intelli- gence in active work. fle is one of the most esteemed citizens of the township. Mrs. Kimbley is a member of the Baptist chnrelı.
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EDWARD N. GERARD, JR., M. D.
Who shall say to how many persons a country physician in active practice is comfort in suffering, solace in sorrow, hope in despair and even consolation in death? Or how shall we estimate the im- mense amount of good one who is faith- ful to his duty does in encouraging the failing, stimulating the flagging, and leading the ahnost hopeless to hold on their last anchorage of hope in the de- sire to be still self-sustaining and useful to others in their day? These are ques- tions which no one, not even the country physicians themselves, can begin to an- swer, so far does any man's personal in- fluence outrun his knowledge of needs and consequences. It is enough for every doctor to consider the requirements of his daily duty and properly attend to them, leaving to other than human tri- bunals to determine the results.
Tried even by this severe standard, Doctor Edward N. Gerard, Jr., of Leon- ard, this county, is entitled to a high regard. During all of the last fifteen years he has been engaged in an active general practice of his profession in Shelby county, and for thirteen of them at Leonard, where he now has his base of operations. He has rendered the peo- ple of the county excellent service, and that it is appreciated is shown by the universal esteem and confidence the peo- ple bestow upon him and general and widespread popularity he enjoys. He has ever been at the call and service of the public, and they have not ignored the fact. For he has a large practice and gives it close, careful and conscien- tious attention.
Dr. Gerard was born on September 8, 1869, at Shelbina, in this county, and is a son of Edward N. and Priscilla E. (Drane) Gerard, the former a native of Ralls county, Missouri, and the latter of the state of Maryland. They had eight children, all of whom grew to maturity. Five of them are living: Walter, whose home is in Seattle, Washington; Mary, residing in Oakland, California ; Nellie, the wife of Dr. J. H. Gentry, an esteemed resident of San Bordena, California; Richard and Harry, who live in Oakland, California, with the mother and sister, Mary. The father, who was an honored physician in this part of the state during the last generation, was born and reared in Ralls county, Missouri, and practiced his profession there and in Monroe and Shelby counties. He died in February, 1904. The mother is still living at Oak- land. California, and is now seventy-one years old.
Dr. Edward N. Gerard, Jr., grew to manhood in Shelbina and obtained his scholastic training in part at the ordi- mary schools of the city. He then at- tended Shelbina Collegiate Institute, and after completing its course of instruction took up the study of medicine at Univer- sity Medical College in Kansas City, Missouri, from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1895. He began his practice at Shelbina, and con- tinued it there and at other places until 1897, when he located at Leonard, in this county, where he has ever since been actively, energetically and successfully engaged in it, with a steadily increasing body of patients and a growing popular- ity among the people.
In December, 1898, he was united with
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Miss Edna Way, a daughter of Harry and Margaret ( McMillan) Way, highly respected residents of Shelby county, but born in Pennsylvania. They came to Missouri in 1884 and located in Shelbina. Dr. and Mrs. Gerard have one child, their son, Nathan Way, who brightens and warms the family fireside with his genial presence. The Doctor is a Demo- crat in politics and always takes an active interest in the affairs of his party, but has never accepted a political office of any kind. He is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.
FARMERS' BANK OF LEONARD.
This valued and progressive financial institution, which is one of the best of its magnitude in this part of the state, was founded on August 13, 1906, with a capi- tal stock of $10,000. William Z. T. Peo- ples was elected president; B. F. Van Vacter, vice-president ; B. J. See, cash- ier, and William Z. T. Peoples, B. F. Van Vacter, D. A. Carmichael, A. L. Perry, C. B. Forman, J. W. Hawkins, J. A. Gillaspy, N. W. Peoples and G. W. Greenfield, directors. In 1908 D. A. Car- michael succeeded Mr. Van Vacter as vice-president and L. Kemp was chosen to his place on the board of directors. B. J. See was also added to the board that year.
The bank has flourished and been very popular from the start. It supplied a great need in the community, and the liberality and straightforwardness of its management, coupled with its undoubted strength and soundness, which is guar-
anteed by the character of the men at the head of it, have made it an institution of which every citizen of the community is proud, and justly so. The institution carries on a general banking business according to the most approved modern methods, and toward public improve- ments and all the undertakings for the advancement of the town and surround- ing country in which it is located, pur- sues a policy of great progressiveness. At the time of this writing (1910) the bank has a surplus and undivided profits amounting to $3,000; deposits aggregat- ing $51,995.54, and loans that reach the sum of $52,214.09. Its business is stead- ily increasing, and its hold on the confi- dence and regard of the people keeps pace with the increase. It meets every requirement of such an institution in the most successful manner, and while hav- ing at all times a elose and circumspect eye on the line of safety, provides for every want to which it can minister in public or private life.
William Z. T. Peoples, the ex-president and controlling spirit of the bank, is a native of Shelby county, Missouri, born on March 12, 1849. His grandfather, John Peoples, was born in Ireland and became an early settler in Tennessee. In Sullivan county of that state the father of Mr. Peoples, the president of the bank, was born in 1804, and there he was reared and educated. There also he was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca Bachman, a native of Tennessee. They had thirteen children, five of whom are living, and all residents of this county but one. They are: John; Chrissey, the wife of John A. Gillaspy ; Solomon, who resides in the state of Oklahoma; Wil-
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