USA > Missouri > Bates County > History of Bates County, Missouri > Part 39
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Mr. Biggs was married in 1883 to Miss Cora B. Forsythe, who was born in Illinois, a daughter of Charles Forsythe, an early settler of Bates county, Missouri, who located in this county in the early sixties. Mr. and Mrs. Biggs have three children: George, a druggist, Hume, Mis- souri, a graduate pharmacist, married Miss Mary Sieg: Mrs. L. C. Wil- liams, Tulsa, Oklahoma, has two sons, John Robert and Richard James ; Kenneth, aged thirteen years, who is attending school.
Mr. Biggs is allied with the Republican party and is religiously affil- iated with the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and takes high rank as a public- (27)
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spirited, influential citizen, who has the best interests of his home city and county at heart.
The Commercial Bank, Hume, Missouri, was organized and began business May 4, 1903. This bank was organized by J. C. Biggs, its pres- ent cashier, with a capital of ten thousand dollars. Associated with Mr. Biggs in the organization were W. B. Waytes, who served as the first president of the bank; S. R. Humphrey, as vice-president ; and H. C. Cur- tis, assistant cashier. W. C. Foster, with the preceding named gen- tlemen served as the board of directors. For the past fifteen years the bank has continued to do business at the original location in the brick building located on the northwest corner of the public square in Hume. Mr. Humphrey died in October, 1913, and he was succeeded by C. E. Horton. Mr. Waytes died in 1915 and his successor, W. C. Foster, be- came president of the bank. The present officers are: W. C. Foster, president ; C. E. Horton, vice-president ; J. C. Biggs, cashier ; J. P. Adams, assistant cashier. The foregoing, with E. N. Martin, W. L. Thompson and R. W. McConnell, now constitute the board of directors. The latest statement of the financial condition of the Commercial Bank gives assets as follow: Capital stock, ten thousand dollars ; surplus, five thousand dollars; deposits, one hundred sixty-five thousand dollars. The yearly statement of annual deposits given as taken from the bank records for the month of November show the steady and consistent growth of the Commercial Bank. The deposits were as follow for each current year beginning with November of 1903 and continuing for the same month in each succeeding year: 1903, $18,332.31; 1904, $22,785; 1905, $35,298; 1906, $84,785.60; 1907, $105,604.15; 1908, $77,991.55 ; 1909, $83,961 ; 1910, $102.611.29; 1912, $117,048.63 ; 1913, $80,540.78; 1914, $81,315.90: 1916, $81,080.59; and 1917, $165,000.
Harry L. Curtis, the efficient and highly capable cashier of the State Bank of Hume, Missouri, is a hustler who received his business and financial training in the "school of hard knocks" and has made good. Mr. Curtis was born September 4, 1870, in Logan county, Illinois, a son of W. L. and Susannah (Landis) Curtis, both of whom are natives of Virginia, where they were born, reared, and married. W. L. Curtis mi- grated from Illinois to Kansas in 1876, and followed farming operations in the southwestern part of the state until 1895, when he came to Hume, Missouri, and is now engaged in the grain and elevator business.
Harry L. Curtis was reared to young manhood in southwestern Kan-
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sas and received his first banking experience in that locality. He first located in Hume in the year 1899 and became identified with the old Hume Bank which had been founded by Messrs. Standish and Horton. He served as bookkeeper of this concern until 1903 and then assisted in the organization of the Commercial Bank of Hume and remained with that concern until he organized the State Bank of Hume. He organized this bank in 1911 and under his management the concern is proving a financial success. This bank was opened for business in 1912 with a cap- ital of ten thousand dollars. The organizers were Dr. Botts, R. M. Dun- can, J. T. Lee, J. M. Thompson and H. L. Curtis. The company erected a fine brick building and fitted the interior with modern fixtures and a splendid vault. The bank has enjoyed a steady growth in strength and patronage since its organization and now has total resources of over one hundred thousand dollars. The present officers are : R. M. Duncan, president ; Dr. Botts, vice-president, and H. L. Curtis, cashier. The board of directors include the foregoing officers and Messrs. Lee and Thomp- SO11.
In addition to his banking business, Mr. Curtis conducts an insur- ance and farm loan department, being the agent in this section of Mis- souri for the Walton Trust Company, of Butler. He is also a farmer and owns a splendid farm of one hundred sixty acres northwest of Hume. While this farm is operated by a tenant, it is one of the most productive in Bates county, having yielded its owner a net profit of fourteen dollars per acre on the wheat acreage during the past year and has yielded a profit of eighteen dollars per acre on the corn crop.
Mr. Curtis was married in July, 1915, to Miss Ada Montgomery, of Chicago, Illinois, and to this marriage has been born a daughter, Louise, born December 28, 1916 Mr. Curtis is a pronounced Democrat in his political allegiance. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, having taken all degrees of Masonry up to and including the Thirty-second Degree, being both a Scottish Rite and York Mason. Mr. Curtis, while among the younger financial men of Bates county, has achieved a success second to none in the county during the years he has been here a resident. He takes an active and influential interest in the affairs of his home town and of Bates county and is usually found in the forefront of all undertakings having for their object the betterment of conditions in the county and the advancement of the welfare of the people.
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Edward Leslie Thomas or "E. L." Thomas, as he is more familiarly known, owner of "Capital Hill Farm," a splendid farm place of two hun- dred forty acres in New Home township, is a native son of Missouri and was born on a farm in New Home township, Bates county, August 8, 1873. He is a son of James P. Thomas, one of the oldest of the living pio- neer settlers of this county, concerning whom a biographical review is given elsewhere in this volume. The Thomas place is a beautiful one, the well-kept residence being located upon an eminence which overlooks the surrounding country for miles in every direction. One hundred sixty acres of this farm comprise the original home place owned by Mr. Thomas in New Home township and eighty acres are located just across the highway in Walnut township. The residence and farm buildings are reached by a driveway coming from the west. Mr. Thomas carries on general farming operations and raises cattle and hogs. He was reared and educated in Bates county, attending the Virginia district school. At the age of nineteen years he began farming for himself upon his father's farm. His father made him a present of a team of horses and later, in 1896, gave him a deed to one hundred eighty acres of farm land, eighty acres of which his residence has been erected upon. Later he gave him another forty acres. Mr. Thomas placed all of the improvements upon his place and has added one hundred twenty acres to his original holdings.
Mr. Thomas has been twice married, his first marriage occurring in 1892 with Ella Woods, who died on September 7, 1898. On June 10. 1902, he was united in marriage with Miss Maude Woodfin, who was born in Walnut township, February 28, 1878, a daughter of Jason and Prudence (Miller) Woodfin, pioneer residents of Bates county, concern- ing whom an extended review is given in this work. Her father is deceased and her mother resides upon the old home place in Walnut township. Both the Miller and Woodfin families were among the first pioneer families in this section of Bates county and are among the most honored and respected. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have no children of their own, but are rearing a boy, Chan Calloway. In politics, Mr. Thomas has always been a Democrat. Mrs. Thomas is a member of the Christian church. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are popular in their home community, enjoying life to the utmost and are loyal citizens of Bates county, who count among their many friends the best and most substantial people of the county.
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EDWARD LESLIE THOMAS AND WIFE.
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James Perry Adams, assistant cashier of the Commercial Bank, Hume, Missouri, was born in Pettis county, Missouri, January 9, 1874, a son of James D. and Martha A. (Siceloff) Adams, natives of Virginia and North Carolina, respectively. Both father and mother of J. P. Adams came with their respective parents to Pettis county directly after the close of the Civil War and were married in that county. James D. Adams was a son of John Adams, who became well known and prominent in the affairs of his adopted county. James D. Adams removed to Bates county in 1879 and located on a farm two miles south of Hume in How- ard township. He spent the remainder of his days in the cultivation of his farm and died at his home January 25, 1895, at the age of fifty-three years. To James D. and Martha A. Adams were born ten children, as follow: H. V., Wichita, Kansas; Mrs. Callie McLean, of Tempe, Ari- zona; Emmet, residing at Tempe, Arizona; Eugene, Gentry, Arkansas; James Perry, subject of this review; Mrs. Bettie Crews, Houstonia, Mis- souri ; Jessie, at home with her mother; Mrs. Myrtle Wood, Hume, Mis- souri; John, at home; and Neville, Pueblo, Colorado. The mother of the large family was born in 1848 and now makes her home in Hume.
J. P. Adams was educated in the district schools and the Hume High School. Having been reared on a farm, he quite naturally made the pursuit of agriculture his vocation and began farming on his own ac- count in 1895. He rented land until 1900 and then made a purchase of one hundred sixty acres located southeast of Hunie in Howard township. Success attended his efforts and with good business management he made a pronounced success of his farming operations. His farm is well improved and is one of the most productive tracts of land in Bates county. Mr. Adams remained in direct charge of his farm until 1910, after which he rented the place and has since made his home in Hume. On December 15, 1910, he became identified with the Commercial Bank of Hume as a director and assistant cashier. His success in banking circles is as pronounced as was his first venture as a farmer and land- owner.
Mr. Adams was married on September 4, 1895, to Miss Minnie Ack- erman, who was born in Johnson county, Missouri, a daughter of James T. Ackerman, now a substantial farmer and stockman of Howard town- ship, concerning whom a biographical sketch is presented elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Adams have a son, J. Walter, born December 5, 1898, now a student in the Hume High School. Mr. Adams is politi-
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cally allied with the Democratic party and he and Mrs. Adams are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, to which religious de- nomination they are liberal contributors.
John G. Holland, living retired in his substantial country home near Hume, Missouri, one of the oldest residents of Howard township, is de- scended from an old American family of Moravian origin. Mr. Holland's career in Bates county, where he has resided for more than two score years in the capacity of an active agriculturist, has been marked with success of a high order. He was born at Salem, North Carolina, in 1849, a son of Eli and Lizzie (Mitchell) Holland, both natives of North Carolina. Eli Holland was a son of John Holland, a Moravian, who emi- grated from England to America about the time of the American Revo- lution or shortly afterward.
Eli Holland, father of J. G. Holland, enlisted in the Confederate army in 1862 and served until the close of the Civil War. Directly after the ending of the struggle between the states he came to Missouri and for some time resided at Knob Noster, in Johnson county. He died in Johnson county in 1867. The mother of John G. Holland died in Johnson county a few years later, in 1871.
In the year 1875, J. G. Holland began his successful career in Bates county, when he joined his brother, O. T. Holland, in the purchase of four hundred acres of unimproved prairie land in Howard township. He came to this county in 1880 and associated himself with his brother in the development and cultivation of this large tract and the venture met with substantial and gratifying returns, the original purchase being in- creased to the large total of eight hundred eighty acres, which they to- gether continued to farm until 1894. January 1, 1894, J. G. Holland bought the place which is now his home, consisting of three hundred twenty acres. This tract he improved and erected thereon a large resi- dence. A division was made at this time of the holdings of the brothers and in addition to his home place, Mr. Holland owns a half interest in one hundred sixty acres more in Howard township and is half owner of two hundred forty acres of fine land located near Adrian in Bates county. Mr. Holland has always been an extensive livestock feeder and breeder, and has at the present time on his farms a total of one hundred head of cattle, one hundred head of hogs, and thirty head of horses and mules. During 1917, his two sons, John and Richard, who of late years have capably relieved him of the burden of the management of the large farm, harvested one hundred fifteen acres of corn which yielded forty
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bushels to the acre; thirty-five acres of wheat which gave an average yield of fifteen bushels to the acre; twenty acres of hay which cut over one ton to each acre. The Holland boys had planted last year of 1917 one hundred twenty-five acres in wheat in order to assist in meeting the demands of the entire world for a greater supply. There are no better nor more intelligent, progressive farmers in Bates county than John and Richard Holland.
Mr. Holland was married in 1887 to America Badgett, who was born in 1862 in Kentucky, a daughter of John R. Badgett, one of the early settlers of Howard township. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Hol- land resided in Hume for one year and then moved to their present home, which Mr. Holland had erected on his place, located just one-half mile northeast of Hume. Four children have been born to J. G. and America Holland: John and Richard, who are conducting the farm work; Mary, a student in college at St. Louis; and Irene, a pupil in the ninth grade of the Hume Consolidated Schools.
Mr. Holland has always been a Democrat and prides himself upon the fact that he has always voted the straight Democratic ticket. The only interest he has taken in politics has been to actively assist his friends who were seeking political preferment. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. For the past thirty years Mr. Holland has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is progressive in his tendencies and has always favored all measures and undertakings which have had the best interest of the peo- ple of his home community and county at heart. He and his sons, John and Richard, were active supporters of the movement which culminated in the establishment of the Consolidated Grade Schools at Hume and were of considerable influence in the struggle which resulted in the suc- cess of the movement.
Alphonso Freeman Weedin .- The name of Weedin is identified with the earliest period of Missouri history and goes back over a century to the troublesome days when the adventurous white settlers were striving to wrest the great domain, the vast wilderness which comprised the ter- ritory of Louisiana, from the wild red men. A. F. Weedin, prosperous farmer and stockman of Howard township, Bates county, is a worthy descendant of brave Missouri pioneers, who came to Missouri as early as the year 1811. He was born in Boyle county, Kentucky, September 12, 1848, a son of Rev. Caleb and Eliza (Moore) Weedin, the former a native of South Carolina and the latter a native of Kentucky. Caleb
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Weedin was born January 16, 1799, a son of Benjamin Weedin, who emigrated from South Carolina to Tennesese in 1809 and two years later in 1811, came to Missouri and became a member of the colony which set- tled near old Fort Boone. The Indians were very troublesome in those early days and for a period of three years the white settlers and Indians were constantly at war, the settlers finding it necessary to build a stock- ade and therein keep their families in safety from marauding bands of savages. The younger members of the little band, with the women, fre- quently found it necessary to defend the fort while the older men were absent on expeditions which were necessary for their maintenance and comfort. On one occasion, while Benjamin Weedin with his older asso- ciates were absent at the Osage Mission on a search for cattle which the Indians had stolen from the settlers, young Caleb with the other boys and the women in the stockade beat off an Indian attack. At another time, two men were sent out from the fort to reconnoiter and were at- tacked by Indians. One man, a Mr. Savage, was killed, while the other reached the fort in safety. In 1814, the Indians having become peace- ably inclined, Benjamin Weedin settled on a tract of land near Boone- ville, and remained in Missouri until his death.
Caleb Weedin returned to Kentucky and became a minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. For many years be preached the Gos- pel in Kentucky, principally in the vicinity of Glasgow, Barren county, in southern Kentucky. He died in 1864, after a useful life of devout ser- vice in behalf of men's souls. He was married in Kentucky in 1826 to Elizabeth Swan Moore, who was born in Kentucky July 20, 1810, a daughter of Samuel Swan and Mary Moore.
To Rev. Caleb and Elizabeth Weedin were born children, as follow: Samuel S., who was a professor in McGee College, Missouri, at the time of his death ; B. D., who came to Missouri in 1857 and became very prom- inent in the affairs of Lafayette county, Missouri, and served as a mem- ber of the county court and is county surveyor for many years, dying at Lexington, Missouri; Mary Catharine, deceased wife of Dr. J. C. Provine, Nashville, Tennessee; Anna E., died in 1917; Margaret E., de- ceased wife of Prof. H. A. Scomb, of Boyle county, Kentucky; W. H., a teacher for many years in Kentucky and Tennessee; Caleb C .. a farmer in Kentucky; Sarah, deceased; and Alphonso Freeman, subject of this review and the only surviving member of the family.
A. F. Weedin, subject of this review, received his primary education in the public schools of his native state and then finished his education
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at Center College, Danville, Kentucky. He taught in the public schools of Kentucky for a period of three years, and in November of 1875 came to Missouri and taught during the following year in Lafayette county. In 1876, he journeyed to Utah and for some months was engaged in mining in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. After his mining venture, he returned to Lafayette county, Missouri and was married in 1878. Mr. and Mrs. Weedin resided in Lafayette county for a short time and then removed to Johnson county where they resided for a period of one and a half years. On Christmas Day of 1879 they arrived in Butler, Bates county and came to their farm in Howard township on the day follow- ing, taking up their abode in a small house which Mr. Weedin had pre- viously erected on his farm. The small house or "shanty" was their home for three years and they then moved into more comfortable quar- ters which they built. This home was burned and was succeeded by a pretty farm cottage which is set attractively on a rise of ground north of the highway which goes past the Weedin home. The land which Mr. Weedin purchased in 1879 was unbroken prairie and unfenced but well watered with flowing water from natural springs and a creek. It is pro- vided with good farm buildings and is one of the most productive farms in this section of Missouri. Mr. Weedin owns a total of two hundred eighty acres of valuable land.
A. F. Weedin was married in August, 1878, to Miss Mary Lankford, who was born on a farm near Lexington, Missouri, December 22, 1859, a daughter of Barnett and Euphemia (Catron) Lankford, early pioneer settlers and extensive land-owners of Lafayette county. To this mar- riage eight children have been born, as follow: Mrs. Anna Puryear. Ro- chester, Minnesota, who has four children; John Daniel Weedin, a rail- road fireman whose home is at Calwa City, California, and who is father of three children; Frances, wife of Clarence Finch, of Kansas City, Mis- souri, has two children; Abner G., who was in training at the United States Naval School at Pensacola, Florida, and is now a member of the Aeronautic Contingent or in the aviation department with General Persh- ing's army in France; Samuel P., at home with his parents; Margaret Ellen, wife of Edwin Ferguson, a farmer in Howard township; Mary, a teacher in the public schools, who makes her home with her parents; Caleb Clay, a soldier in the Officers' Training Camp at San Antonio, Texas. For many years, Mr. Weedin has been one of the leaders of the Democratic party in his township. Because of his educational attain- ments and natural ability, he has been selected by his fellow townsmen
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to fill local offices, such as justice of the peace, township clerk, and as- sessor, and in the last named position he has served two terms of two years each. Having been reared in the faith of the Cumberland Presby- terian church, he has always adhered to the tenets of that denoimntaion. He is fraternally affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Personally, Mr. Weedin is a courteous, well-educated gentleman of the old school, one who endeavors to keep abreast of the times and main- tains a stout and unswerving loyalty to Bates county and Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Weedin are numbered among the best families of the county and he ranks as one of Bates county's successful and enterprising citi- zens.
Orren T. Holland .- When O. T. Holland came to Bates county in 1879 and selected the beautiful and commanding site whereon he built his permanent home in this county, the country roundabout in Howard township was a vast, unsettled prairie. The grass grew to the height of a stalwart man, and cattle ranged freely in large herds. Settlers were few in the neighborhood and the country was practically new. Both Mr. and Mrs. Holland are want to declare that their first years in Bates county were among the happiest in their lives and that neighbors were kind and sociable and ever ready to lend a helping hand in times of need. They visited each other's homes freely, and hospitality was the keynote of the spirit of the homes of that day. The site which Mr. Holland selected for his home is one of the most striking in the county, the Holland residence being located on a gently rising knoll which gives a view extending for miles over the surrounding coun- try. It is possible, on clear days, to see the dome of the court house and the church spires in Butler, the county seat. The home is a handsome one and surrounded by shade trees which have grown during the time of the owner. The Holland farm spreads in a vast level stretch from the foot of the hill and is one of the most fertile and productive tracts of land in this section of Missouri. This farm comprises four hundred eighty acres and is essentially a cattle and hog-producing plant. Mr. Holland handles about one hundred head of cattle annually. He was formerly engaged in the breeding of the Polled Angus cattle. More than one hundred head of Duroc Jersey hogs are produced and fat- tended yearly. During the past year, 1917, there were harvested on this place fifty-five acres of corn which yielded forty-five to sixty bushels of grain to the acre: fifty-eight acres of oats, twelve acres of which yielded one hundred bushels to the acre: and the entire tract yielded
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twenty-eight hundred bushels. For the harvest of 1918, Mr. Holland and his sons have sown one hundred twenty-seven acres to wheat on the home farm and there is also sown one hundred twenty-five acres to wheat on the Holland tracts by the sons of J. S. Holland.
O. T. Holland was born in 1850 at Salem, Forsythe county, North Carolina. He is a son of Eli and Lydia (Mitchell) Holland, both of whom were reared and married in North Carolina. In September of 1865, they removed to Johnson county, Missouri, and located near Knob Noster. The elder Holland was a paper manufacturer by trade but followed farming in Missouri. For further particulars concerning the parents of O. T. Holland, the reader is referred to the biography of J. G. Holland, a brother, which appears elsewhere in this volume. In 1868, the subject of this review located at Lamonte, Pettis county, where he farmed until his removal to Bates county. In August of 1875, he came to this county and made his initial purchase of one hundred sixty acres of land, the site of his present home. For this tract, he paid fifteen dollars an acre. In 1876, he removed to the place and lived for a time in a small house while making the necessary improvements thereon. A well had been dug on the place and one hundred acres broken for cultivation. He was joined by his brother, J. G. Holland in 1879 and the Holland brothers farmed together in a successful part- nership arrangement until the partnership was dissolved in 1887. They accumulated, during that period, more than eight hundred eighty acres of land, and since 1887 they have purchased in partnership two hundred forty acres in Elkhart township and another one hundred sixty acres, which they hold in common as equal owners.
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