USA > Missouri > Cass County > History of Cass County, Missouri > Part 24
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Mr. Barnett is a Democrat and has ever been active in furthering the policies and principles of his party, and has served as secretary of the democratic central committee for a number of years. He is a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias and at present is the Chancellor Commander of the local lodge. He is a member of the Christian church and Mrs. Barnett belongs to the Presbyterian church.
Leslie M. Crouch, one of the able members of the Cass county Bar, who is successfully engaged in the practice of his profession at Harrison- ville, is a native of Kentucky. He was born near Warsaw, Gallatin Coun- ty, December 28, 1872. His parents were Henry and Mary A. (Conelly) Crouch, the former a native of eastern Tennessee and the latter of Gal- latin county, Kentucky. The Crouch family is of English descent. Elijah Crouch, grandfather of Leslie M., was one of a family of eight brothers, whose father was a native of England. Seven of these brothers, one of whom was Elijah, settled in east Tennessee and Virginia, and one other brother located in Pennsylvania or New York, where he spent his life. In 1830 Elijah Crouch removed to Kentucky and spent the remainder of his life in that state. Henry Crouch, Leslie M.'s father, was married in Gallatin county, Kentucky, where he spent his life as a farmer and stock- man. However, when a young man he went to the Pacific coast in 1854 and spent eleven years in California and Oregon, returning to Kentucky in 1865. He died February 2, 1902, aged seventy-three years. His wife, Mary A. Conelly, was a daughter of Milton Conelly and came from an old Kentucky family of Scotch-Irish descent. Henry and Mary A. (Conelly) Crouch were the parents of three children, as follows: Mrs. Hattie C. Brown, Kansas City, Missouri; Leslie M., the subject of this sketch; and Stanley, Earlinger, Kentucky.
Leslie M. Crouch was reared in Gallatin county, Kentucky. He at- tended the public schools at Warsaw, Kentucky, and the Carrollton High School, graduating from that institution in the class of 1891. He then entered the Washington-Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, and was graduated in the class of 1894 with the degree of Bachelor of Law, and was admitted to the bar of Virginia the same year. He then came to Cass county, and in January, 1895, was admitted to the bar in this state. For a time he was engaged in the practice at Pleasant Hill. In the fall of 1895 he removed to Belton, where he practiced law until elected Probate Judge in 1902, when he removed to Harrisonville. At the expiration of
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his first term he was re-elected in 1906, serving until 1910. Judge Crouch was then associated with C. W. Hight in the practice of law for about two years. In 1912 he engaged in the practice alone, and since that time he has confined himself to his law practice. Judge Crouch is a close student of the intricate problems of the law and possesses a well balanced legal mind.
On November 19, 1896, Judge Crouch was united in marriage with Miss Zada L. Pearson, a daughter of W. D. Pearson, one of the pioneer settlers of Harrisonville. Two children have been born to this union: Pearson, who was born March 31, 1898, and died March 3, 1902; and Leslie M., Jr., who was born August 23, 1902.
Judge Crouch is a democrat and a member of the Baptist church. His fraternal relations are with the Masonic lodge and the Modern Wood- men of America.
J. S. Brierly, a well known and successful lawyer of Harrisonville is a native of Missouri. He was born in Cooper County, January 9, 1860, and is a son of Henry A. and Lucretia (Bridges) Brierly, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Morgan County, Missouri. Her par- ents were Kentuckians and very early settlers in Missouri. Henry A. Brierly was a railroad contractor about the time of the Civil War and was engaged in that work for a number of years. He was also prominent in politics and at one time served in the State legislature from Morgan County. He came to Cass County in 1865 and located in Polk township where he followed farming and stock raising the remainder of his life. He was a successful business man and acquired about seven hundred acres of land in this county. He died in 1892, and his wife departed this life in 1912. They were the parents of six children as follows: J. S., the subject of this sketch; John B., a physician and surgeon at Gunn City, for a number of years died in 1914; Lucy L., married T. N. Haynes, Har- risonville; Henry, a physician and surgeon, engaged in the practice of his profession at Peculiar ; Edward, a farmer and stockman of Jackson County ; and Mary, married John Shawhan, a farmer and stockman in Jackson County.
When his parents removed to Cass County in 1865, J. S. Brierly was left with his grandparents in Morgan County, which was his home until 1870, when he joined his parents here. He received his education in the public schools, the State Normal School at Warrensburg, and the Missouri University at Columbia, and was graduated from the university in the
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class of 1886 with a degree of Bachelor of Laws. Mr. Brierly then came to Harrisonville and served as deputy clerk in the office of the circuit court about a year when he began the practice of law in Harrisonville, and since that time has devoted himself to his professional work. He has a large practice in Cass and surrounding counties, his practice extending to both the State and Federal courts. Mr. Brierly is a profound student of the law and a successful trial lawyer, whose resource seems to be inexhaustible in presenting his case.
Mr. Brierly was elected prosecuting attorney of Cass County in 1906 and re-elected to that office in 1908, and during the course of his career in that office won the reputation of being one of the most fearless and forceful prosecuting attorneys that Cass County ever had. When he took office Cass County had saloons, and Mr. Brierly prosecuted violators of the liquor law and gamblers, right and left. The first session of the grand jury which he conducted as prosecuting attorney, returned over a hundred indictments against saloon keepers, poolroom proprietors and gamblers, and netted Cass County over two thousand dollars in fines, above expenses of prosecution. A notable fact in connection with Mr. Brierly's adminis- tration of office of prosecuting attorney is that during his two terms in that office not a single indictment which he ever drew was quashed by the court. In view of the great number of criminal cases which he prosecuted this record is unusual and it is probable that it has been rarely, if ever equaled in the State. When he was a candidate for re-election, notwith- standing the fact that the liquor element fought him, he polled a larger vote than W. J. Bryan at that election in Cass County. When his second term of office expired a petition was presented to him signed by one thou- sand democrats of Cass County, requesting him to become a candidate for a third term, but he declined to make the race, having had enough of the life of a prosecutor to fully satisfy him, probably for all time. Dur- ing his first year in office he had one hundred and sixty convictions which still stands as a record breaker in this county. Mr. Brierly has served one term as city attorney for Harrisonville.
Mr. Brierly was married in 1891 to Miss Jessie Lowery, a native of Carlinville, Macoupin County, Illinois, who came to Cass County with her parents when a child. She is a daughter of Samuel and Isabella Lowery. The father is now deceased and the mother resides in Harrisonville. Mr. and Mrs. Brierly have no children.
Mr. Brierly is a Democrat and holds membership in the Christian church.
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Dr. Jacob S. Triplett, a prominent physician and surgeon of Harrison- ville, has practiced his profession in Cass County for a quarter of a cen- tury. He was born at Union, Loudoun County, Virginia, December 2, 1865, and is a son of Thomas Mason and Vianna Reed (Silcott) Triplett, both natives of Farquier County, Virginia, and descendants of old Vir- ginia stock. He was a son of William and a Miss Silcott, and William Triplett was a son of Thomas Triplett. The father was a slave manager and a planter prior to the Civil War and his home was located in the Shenandoah Valley. He met with considerable property loss when Gen- eral Sheridan devastated that section.
In 1868, when Dr. Triplett was about three years old, the family removed to Missouri, settling in Pettis County, where the father was engaged in farming and stock raising and became well-to-do. The par- ents spent the remainder of their days in Pettis County. They were the parents of the following children: H. F., superintendent of schools at Beaumont, Texas, who at one time was city superintendent of the Harrison- ville school and also served as superintendent of schools of Cass County and is now well known as the author of a text book on Civil government; John T., a farmer, Pettis County, Missouri; William A., farmer, Pettis County, and a member of the board of county judges, having been elected to that office in 1916; Dr. J. S., the subject of this sketch; Thomas Mason, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Howard L., agent for the Missouri Pacific Railroad Com- pany at Woodston, Kansas, and Mrs. J. F. Charles, Washington, Indiana.
Dr. Triplett was reared on his father's farm in Blackwater township, Pettis County, and attended the Higgins district school. In the spring of 1884 he entered the State Normal School at Warrensburg, and was graduated from that institution in the spring of 1887. However, his course in the Normal School had been interrupted two or three times as he had taught a couple of terms of school in the meantime. After graduating he taught a term of school at Woodland District, Johnson County.
In the fall of 1888, Dr. Triplett entered the Medical Department of the University of Michigan and was graduated from that institution June 25, 1891, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. After practicing in the vicinity of his old home in Pettis County about a year, he located at Har- risonville in July, 1892, and has been successfully engaged in the practice there to the present time. He has never ceased to be a student of the
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science of his great profession and has won the reputation for being one of the most capable and painstaking physicians and surgeons of Cass County, and in recent years has given special attention to surgery. In the spring of 1901, he took a post-graduate course at the Chicago Poly- clinic and took another course at that institution in the fall of 1902.
Dr. Triplett served as health officer of Cass County from 1904 to 1907 and was city physician of Harrisonville from 1902 to 1909. He was a charter member of the Cass County Medical Society and served as the secretary of that society from its organization November 6, 1902, until December, 1906. In 1905 he was a delegate from Cass County to the State Association. In 1908 he attended a meeting of the American Med- ical Association of Chicago and at that time took a course in Surgical Clinics in that city. His office is located on the south side of the square, over Levi Smith's market. Prior to that he was located over Volle's bakery until July 29, 1909.
Dr. Triplett was united in marriage in 1899 to Miss Perle Bridges, a native of Cass County, born near East Lynne, a daughter of John C. Bridges, an early settler of Camp Branch township, now residing at El Dorado Springs. Dr. and Mrs. Triplett are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Andrew A. Whitsitt, one of the leading lawyers of Cass County, who on January 1, 1917, completed a term of six years as judge of the Seven- teenth Judicial District, is a native of Kentucky. Judge Whitsitt was born near Mount Sterling and is a son of W. D. and Ardena (Black) Whitsitt, both also natives of Kentucky and of Scotch origin.
Judge Whitsitt's parents came to Cass County in 1861 and settled near Harrisonville where the father engaged in farming. The father was a democrat and took an active interest in politics. He served as post- master of Pleasant Hill during President Cleveland's two administra- tions. Both he and his wife are now deceased and their remains are buried in the Pleasant Hill cemetery.
When a boy, Judge Whitsitt attended the district school in Cass County, the first one being the George Moore School House, which was named after Carrie Nation's father. Later Mr. Whitsitt attended a preparatory school at Russellville, Indiana, and also attended school at College Mound, Missouri. He then entered Depauw University at Green- castle, Indiana, where he was graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science and received his diploma.
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After completing his educational career, Judge Whitsitt read law and after being admitted to the bar began the practice of his profession at Harrisonville. He immediately built up a large practice and has always ranked as one of the able representatives of his profession in this section of the state. He served two terms as prosecuting attorney of Cass County and in 1911 was elected Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial District and during his experience of six years on the bench he has won a reputation as a judge who not only knew the law but was fair and fearless in its administration. At the close of his judicial term, Judge Whitsitt resumed the practice of law in Harrisonville.
On February 4, 1888, Judge Whitsitt was united in marriage with Miss Mary Tatum of Glasgow, Missouri, and to this union two children have been born: Odelle and Andrew B., students at Westminster Col- lege, Fulton, Missouri.
Judge Whitsitt is a member of the Woodmen of the World and he is Presbyterian in faith.
C. A. Burke, superintendent of schools of Cass County, ranks among the foremost educators of the state. He has had years of experience in educational work and has held many responsible positions, and in what- ever capacity he has served, the natural deduction would be that he was too big for the job as each position which he has held has carried with it a greater responsibility than the preceding one.
Mr. Burke was born at Center View, Johnson County, Missouri, Janu- ary 13, 1873, and is a son of Edward J. and Zantippe (Whitsett) Burke, both natives of Johnson County. Edward J. Burke is a son of William Burke, a native of Virginia, who was a pioneer settler of Cooper County, Missouri. He afterwards went to Saline County and later to Johnson County, where he died in 1895, at the age of eighty-four. He came to Missouri in 1832. Edward J. Burke now resides at Warrensburg, John- son County.
The Whitsett family came from Kentucky and were also early set- tlers. Zantippe Whitsett's father was a pioneer Presbyterian preacher of Johnson County.
C. A. Burke is one of a family of four children born to his parents. The others are as follows: Lula, married Virgil Cox, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; George G., a farmer in Johnson County, Missouri, and Mrs. Etta Jacox, deceased. Mr. Burke was reared in Johnson County and edu-
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cated in the public schools and the State Normal School at Warrensburg, Missouri. He began teaching in Johnson County, when he was eighteen years old, and after teaching two terms at the Hepsidam school, he taught one year at Ovid, Missouri, and then three years at Center View. He then became principal of the Warrensburg grade school and held that posi- tion six years, when he became principal of the high school in that city and after holding that position one year, he became superintendent of the city schools of Butler, Missouri. After remaining there six years, he was appointed superintendent of the Harrisonville city schools and after hav- ing served in that capacity for three years and four months, he was appointed superintendent of schools of Cass County January 1, 1915, to fill out an unexpired term. On the following April he was elected to that office and his present term will expire in 1919.
Mr. Burke is a hard worker and keeps in close touch with the public school system of the county. He is an advanced educator and believes in substantial progress but is not a faddist and the schools of Cass County are making splendid progress under his administration. On August 2, 1898, Mr. Burke was united in marriage with Miss Mola Larrimer of Cen- ter View, Johnson County, Missouri, and two children have been born to this union, Frances A. and Charles, both students in the Harrisonville public schools.
Mr. Burke is a member of the Masonic lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and a number of insurance fraternal orders. He and his wife are members of the Christian church and he is a democrat. He is a member of the State Teachers' Association and generally attends the meet- ings of that organization and takes an active interest in its work.
Bud Cox, recorder of Cass County, who by his courteous and oblig- ing manner is not only keeping his old friends but winning new ones every day, is a native of Kentucky. He was born near Cain Valley, Taylor County, Kentucky, January 30, 1871, and is a son of Archie and Lucy F. (Yates) Cox, both natives of Boyle County, Kentucky, and were born near Danville. The father was born December 21, 1828. His parents were Virginians, who settled in Kentucky at a very early date.
Archie Cox was reared to manhood in his native state and in 1884 came to Missouri and first settled in Carroll County and five years later came to Cass County, and settled on a farm near East Lynne, where he spent the remainder of his life. He made farming the chief occupation of
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his life, with the exception of four years during the Civil War when he served in the Confederate army under Gen. John Morgan. He was a hard working man, a good citizen and met with a reasonable degree of success. He died in Cass County, November 10, 1903, and his wife, who is now past eighty-four years of age, survives him and is exceptionally strong and healthy for one of her years. They were the parents of seven children, four of whom are living as follows: F. R., lives near Hardiman, Texas; J. H., Carroll County, Missouri; E. M., East Lynne, Missouri; and Bud, the subject of this sketch.
Bud Cox received a good education in the public schools of Kentucky and Missouri and began life as a farmer, and was successfully engaged in that vocation until he was elected county recorder in November, 1914. He is a democrat and since he has been a voter he has been active in the welfare of his party, and been identified with the democratic organization of Cass County. While on the farm he served as trustee of Camp Branch township, and has been a member of the Democratic County Central Com- mittee for four years.
Mr. Cox was married November 26, 1893, to Miss Clara V. Stair, a native of Cass County. She is a daughter of Jacob Stair, a native of Wisconsin, who was an early settler in this county. To Mr. and Mrs. Cox have been born three children as follows: Eula Frances; Earl and Mary Margaret, all students in the Harrisonville schools.
Mr. Cox is a member of the Masonic Lodge, Nonpareil No. 372, East Lynne, Missouri, and he and his family belong to the Christian church. He is a conscientious and capable public official and his practice as a pub- lic officer is an exemplification of the theory that public office is a public trust.
Lee Spicer .- In this age of municipal unrest when towns and cities are clamoring for a more efficient and economical administration of local government, it is refreshing and encouraging to find a town that seem- ingly has solved this great problem. Harrisonville has demonstrated that the remedy for a clean, honest and efficient city government is not to be found in homeopathic doses of municipal pills prescribed by doctors of political economy in the shape of this or that form of government, but rather in the character, force and ability of the man placed at the head of the city's affairs. Lee Spicer, whose name introduces this sketch, has been mayor of Harrisonville for eight years and during that time it has been one of the best governed cities in the country.
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Mr. Spicer was born near Linkville, Platte County, Missouri. August 8, 1868, and is a son of Hiram A. and Sarah A. (Smith) Spicer. Hiram A. Spicer was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, and his father was a native of Culpeper County, Virginia, who came to Missouri about 1832 and settled in Platte County. He was a farmer and spent his life in that county.
Hiram A. Spicer followed farming and spent the latter part of his life in Clay County, Missouri, where he died in 1902, and his widow now resides on the old homestead in Clay County. She was born in Lincoln, Missouri, of Kentucky parents, who later settled on a farm in Bates County, one mile west of Butler. The father died there during the Civil War while Butler was a Union military post. He was a Mason and the Union soldiers stationed at the post gave him a Masonic burial. After the death of her husband, and when Order No. 11 was issued, the mother with her children left their Bates County home and went to Lincoln, Missouri, driving the entire distance with an ox team. After the close of the war they returned to Bates County and the mother died in Butler in 1907.
Lee Spicer is one of a family of five children as follows: Lee, the subject of this sketch; William, resides on the old homestead in Clay County ; George, lives near Littleton, Colorado; Annie and Bess, reside on the old homestead in Clay County with their mother.
Mr. Spicer was educated in the public schools of Platte and Clay Counties and Butler Academy. In 1889 he entered the employ of the R. J. Hurley Lumber Company at Archie, Missouri, and one year later was transferred to Rich Hill and shortly after that to Amoret and in September, 1890, was made manager for that Company at Archie, Mis- souri. He served there in that capacity for fourteen years and on Febru- ary 1, 1904, was transferred to Kansas City, Missouri, as auditor for the company. He served in that capacity until October 1, 1904, when he came to Harrisonville as manager for that Company here and is still serv- ing in that capacity.
On October 7, 1891, Mr. Spicer was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth L. Hornberger of Butler, Missouri, a native of this state born at Sweet Springs. To Mr. and Mrs. Spicer have been born the following children: Angie, a teacher in the Kansas City public schools; Hurley Lee, with his father in the lumber business; Frances Marion; Harold Curtis and Elizabeth.
Mr. Spicer was first elected mayor of Harrisonville in April, 1909,
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and is now serving his fourth consecutive term. When he became mayor, the city was ten thousand dollars in debt. Notwithstanding the fact that the city was voted dry six months before he took office, and thus a large source of revenue cut off, he succeeded in paying off the city's indebted- ness within five years without increasing taxes. During his incumbency in office the lighting system has been improved and a white-way installed which necessitated a slight raise in taxes, to meet this extra expenditure of six thousand dollars. When Mr. Spicer became mayor there was no system of keeping the city accounts in practice and he immediately proceeded to systematize the city's bookkeeping, and since his first administration began he has published a financial statement of the city's condition monthly, something that had never been practiced in Harrison- ville before. These statements are numbered consecutively and the one at this writing, September, 1916, is number ninety.
Mr. Spicer is a democrat and since boyhood has been active in political affairs. He is chairman of the Cass County Democratic Central Commit- tee and has held that position for four years, and has been a member of the County Committee since he was a voter. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge and master of the Harrisonville Lodge No. 47 A. F. and A. M. He also holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen. He and his wife are members of the Christian church and he is secretary of the building com- mittee of the new church. He is one of the most progressive business men of Cass County.
Ludwig Oswald Kunze, a pioneer business man of Harrisonville, and Civil War veteran, died January 16, 1914. He was active in his business affairs until within a few years of his death. Mr. Kunze was born in Neustettin, Prussia, Germany, August 12, 1833, he was christened and reared in the Lutheran church. His father held an office in the capacity of tax collector under King Fredrick William IV. His parents both died when he was young, before he had reached his teens, leaving him in the care of a guardian. He had four brothers and two sisters. He was apprenticed to a watchmaker and learned the trade at Koslin. At the age of fifteen he went to Berlin where he accepted a responsible position with one of the leading firms of that city. Among his duties he was given charge of the time pieces in the King's palace, in the Cathedral and government building of Berlin. It was his thorough dislike for a mon-
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