USA > Missouri > Cass County > History of Cass County, Missouri > Part 28
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Barton Wherritt and wife were the parents of the following children: Barton, Trail, Oklahoma; Mrs. Harriet Hendricks, Rome, New York; Mrs. Elizabeth Mason, Shreveport, Louisiana; Alonzo C., Independence, Missouri; A. R., the subject of this sketch; Thomas J., died at Pleasant Hill, aged sixty-seven; Sidney, died at Pleasant Hill, aged sixty; Mary Jane, wife of John F. Thornton, died at the age of fifty-five; Margaret, wife of William E. Boswell, died at the age of seventy-two; William, died at Pleasant Hill, aged sixty-seven; Dr. H. P., died at Independence, Missouri, aged sixty-eight; and Alice, wife of J. C. Brannock, died at Dayton, Ohio, in 1916, aged sixty-four.
A. R. Wherritt was educated in the public schools of Pleasant Hill,
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and at the age of sixteen began his business career as clerk in the store of B. C. Christopher, at Pleasant Hill. He was thus engaged for a period of ten years, when he accepted a position as a traveling salesman, and for five years followed that vocation. In 1895 Mr. Wherritt engaged in the real estate and loan business, and has met with unusual success in this line of endeavor. He makes a specialty of farm loans and his busi- ness covers an extensive territory, including the counties of Johnson, Jackson, and Cass.
Mr. Wherritt was united in marriage with Miss Jessie Reid, of Shelbina, Missouri. She is a daughter of William A. and Elizabeth (Miller) Reid. Mrs. Reid is still living at Shelbina. He was a prominent banker of that city, and died at Shelbina, Missouri, about the year 1890. To Mr. and Mrs. Wherritt have been born the following children: Lillian, a teacher at Shreveport, Louisiana; A. Reid, traveling salesman, Quincy, Illinois; and Jesse Minter, aged eleven, who resides with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Wherritt are well known in Pleasant Hill and vicinity and rank among the leading people of the community.
George M. Dallas, the present mayor of Pleasant Hill, has been prominent in the affairs of this section of the state for a number of years, and is now successfully engaged in the real estate and insurance business. Mr. Dallas is a native of Missouri, born at Independence, in 1871. He is a son of J. H. and Sarah L. (Ecord) Dallas, natives of Ohio. His grandfather, John Dallas, was a native of Delaware, and a very early settler in Ohio. J. H. Dallas, the father, was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, where he spent his boyhood days. When the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in an Ohio regiment and served until the close of the war. In 1869 he came to Missouri and settled near Independence.
George M. Dallas is one of a family of five children, four of whom are living, as follows: William H., bank cashier, Lamesa, Texas; Estella, teacher of music in the Irving School, Kansas City, Missouri; Etta E., teacher of mathematics in the Karnes School, Kansas City, Missouri; and George M., the subject of this sketch.
George M. Dallas was educated in the public schools of Jackson and Cass Counties and the Pleasant Hill High School. He began his business career as a clerk in a grocery store, owned by T. B. Reed, of Pleasant Hill, and was later in the employ of J. D. Cooley and H. Tucker Smith in a similar capacity. In 1893 he was appointed assistant post-
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master of Pleasant Hill, and for eight years gave the people of that city efficient mail service. In 1901 he entered the employ of J. M. Will- iams as manager of the People's Guarantee Savings & Loan Association, and conducted the real estate and loan business there until 1905. He then went to southwestern Kansas as manager for the Arkansas Valley Beet Sugar Land & Irrigation Company. This company owned several thousand acres of land in Kearney and Finney Counties, Kansas, and they also owned the Great Eastern Irrigation Ditch. In 1906 this con- cern sold their interests to the United States Sugar & Land Company, the concern which built the sugar factory at Garden City, Kansas. Mr. Dallas remained in the employ of this company two years as superin- tendent of construction, during which time he built several miles of irrigation ditches. In 1908 he became manager of the Menke ranch, which consisted of three thousand acres, located near Garden City. This ranch was devoted largely to raising alfalfa and wild prairie hay, and Mr. Dallas won quite a reputation here as a successful alfalfa raiser. He marketed a record-breaking load of alfalfa seed, which sold for three thousand dollars. This valuable load of seed was given considerable publicity at the time in hundreds of agricultural papers throughout the country. F. D. Coburn, secretary of agriculture for the State of Kansas at that time, published a photograph of it in his report, and Mr. Dallas still has a copy of the photograph in his possession.
In May, 1909, Mr. Dallas returned to Pleasant Hill and purchased the real estate and loan business with which he had been formerly connected, and the following year was appointed postmaster of Pleasant Hill. He served in that office until January 14, 1915, when he again engaged in the real estate and insurance business. In September, 1915, Mr. Dallas was elected mayor of Pleasant Hill and has capably filled that office and given a very satisfactory administration. He is a republican and for years has been active in the councils of his party. He is progressive and public spirited, and is always found on the side of the civic and moral improvement of the community. He was his party's candidate for rep- resentative from Cass County in 1916.
Mr. Dallas has a hobby which he follows with a reasonable degree of moderation, and that is the collection of old and curious coins. He has a collection of one-cent pieces from 1783 to the present time, with the exception of the years 1811 and 1815. During those years there were none coined. He also has in his possession a complete series of the old- time "shin plasters" in denominations from three cents to fifty cents,
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as well as a large collection of foreign coins. Among his collection of antiques he has a violin, said to be over two hundred years old.
As a writer Mr. Dallas possesses unusual ability, and has written a number of poems that have been recognized by the literary world as having real literary merit. His "Bashful Boy" is a masterpiece and true to nature.
Mr. Dallas is unmarried and resides with his mother.
George Gosch, cashier of the Pleasant Hill Banking Company, has held this important position for over twenty years, and is well known to the banking fraternity and financial interests of Cass and adjoining counties. Mr. Gosch is a native son of Cass County, born at Pleasant Hill, in August, 1866. He is a son of George and Barbara (Hess) Gosch. The father was a native of Germany, who came to Cass County, settling at Pleasant Hill in 1865. His first wife died in 1872, leaving two children, Ida, who married Frank Neyman, and is now a widow residing in Kansas City, Missouri; and George, the subject of this sketch. A few years after the death of the mother of these children the father married Rosina Rheinbold. Three children were born to this union, as follows: Arthur, Flora, Oregon; Oscar, Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Mrs. Bertha Still- well, Pleasant Hill, Missouri.
George Gosch was educated in the public schools of Pleasant Hill. When a boy he worked at the jewelry business for O. Kolstad at that place. He was thus engaged for four years, when he entered the employ of the Pleasant Hill Banking Company as bookkeeper. He was an apt student in the science of banking, and soon became familiar with the details of that business. In 1896 Mr. Gosch was elected cashier of the Pleasant Hill Banking Company and has held that important position to the present with satisfaction to the stockholders and the many patrons of that well-known financial institution.
The Pleasant Hill Banking Company is one of the old and substantial banking institutions of Cass County, and carries more deposits than any other bank in Cass County, the present deposits being about three hun- dred and forty thousand dollars. This bank was organized July 28, 1887, with a capital stock of twenty thousand dollars. B. T. McDonald was the first president, and G. M. Smith was the first cashier, and also the organizer of the bank. Mr. Smith has had a phenominal banking career. He came to Pleasant Hill in 1887 with a capital of three thousand, five hundred dollars. He is now the president of the Commonwealth National
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Bank of Kansas City, and is worth over a million dollars. He has always retained his original stock in the Pleasant Hill Banking Company. The officers at the present time are W. A. Smith, president; J. V. Hon, vice- president; George Gosch, cashier; D. L. Lain, assistant cashier; and the board of directors consist of George Gosch, J. V. Hon, W. H. Hon, W. A. Smith, Zenas Leonard, Mrs. Bartha Stillwell, and Mrs. R. Gosch. Mrs. Gosch, the mother of George Gosch, has been a stockholder in the Pleas- ant Hill Banking Company since its organization. The capital stock of the bank is twenty thousand dollars, surplus, fifteen thousand dollars, and undivided profits, sixteen thousand dollars. The Pleasant Hill Bank- ing Company has always been conducted along conservative lines, con- sisting of the best banking policies, and its business has had a substantial growth from the beginning. It has been well said of this bank that it is big enough to accommodate its customers and not too big to appreciate them. Its cardinal precept is one hundred per cent. security.
George Gosch was united in marriage in 1899 to Miss Hattie T. Wooldridge, a daughter of Frank M. Wooldridge, of Harrisonville, a sketch of whom appears in this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Gosch has been born one child, George, age ten years. They have an adopted daugh- ter, Ann Orel Wooldridge.
William Albert Farmer, a prominent citizen of Pleasant Hill, was born in what is now Cass County, in 1847, when this section was geo- graphically known as Van Buren County. He is a son of Henry and Clara (Booth) Farmer, the former a native of Tennessee, and the latter of Kentucky. Henry Farmer came to Missouri with his father, John Farmer, about 1840, and located three miles south of Pleasant Hill. He died in 1871. He was one of a family of eleven children, six sons and five daugh- ters. The sons were Andy, Moses, William, Fred, Jack, and Henry. The mother of William Albert Farmer was also a pioneer of this section of Missouri, who came here in the early forties. She died in March, 1892.
William Albert Farmer was one of a family of eight children, three of whom are living, as follows: William Albert, the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Ellen Ludwig, resides on the old home place; and Mrs. Laura Mattingley, Pleasant Hill. Mr. Farmer was reared on his father's farm and educated in the public schools of Cass County. He has made farming the chief occupation of his life and owns one of the fine farms of Cass County, which consists of one hundred and ninety-seven acres of fertile fields, adjoining the old home place. For the past twenty years
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Mr. Farmer has kept his residence in Pleasant Hill, although most of that time he has continued the immediate supervision of his farm work.
Mr. Farmer has been twice married, his first wife being Miss Mary Parrott. Four children were born to this union, one of whom is now liv- ing, J. P., a successful merchant of Pleasant Hill. The wife and mother died in February, 1884. November 17, 1885, Mr. Farmer was united in marriage with Miss Ada Fleming, of Pleasant Hill, and the following children have been born to this union: Mary, married Silas C. Parker, Pleasant Hill: Mattie, married Richmond Patterson, Pleasant Hill; Dick, Henry, Frances, and Irene. The latter died at the age of three and a half years.
Mr. Farmer has a distinct recollection of many events which tran- spired in this vicinity during the stirring days of the Civil War. He remembers when the battle of Lone Jack was fought and also recalls a skirmish which took place near the Farmer home. When Order No. 11 was issued the Farmer family removed to Pleasant Hill, where they remained until the close of the war. The father was a strong Union man. Of the three votes cast in his precinct for Lincoln in 1860, his brother cast one and two nephews the other two. The brother was Andy Farmer, and the nephews were Oscar Farmer and D. P. Hoagland. Mr. Hoagland located at Olathe, Kansas, just after the war.
George R. Chamberlin, a prominent member of the Cass County bar, is a native of Missouri. He was born in Cooper County, in 1878. He is a son of John A. Roberts and Fannie Virginia (Spaid) Chamberlin, na- tives of Virginia. The father was a son of George Chamberlin, a native of England, who came, when a child, to Virginia with his parents. He was a son of Joseph Chamberlin. The mother, Fannie Virginia Spaid, was of German, Scotch and Irish ancestry.
George R. Chamberlin, whose name introduces this sketch, is one of a family of three children born to his parents: May, the wife of A. K. Osborne, an attorney of Kansas City, Missouri, is also a practicing attorney, and for a number of years practiced in St. Louis, and is now associated with her husband in the practice of law in Kansas City; Lillian Virginia, married Strauder Tanner, a farmer and stockman, of Lafayette County, Missouri; and George R., the subject of this sketch.
George R. Chamberlin, after receiving a good public school educa- tion, attended Odessa College, where he was graduated and later took a course in the Warrensburg Normal. He was then engaged in teaching
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in Lafayette County for eight years, during which time he was principal of the Wellington High School for three years, and held a similar posi- tion in the Waverly High School for two years. He then entered the law department of the University of Missouri, where he was graduated in 1907, and the same year was admitted to both the State and Federal courts. In 1907 he began the practice of law at Higginsville, Missouri, and one year later became connected with the law department of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company in the capacity of claim adjuster. During the time that Mr. Chamberlin was in the employ of the railroad company as an adjuster, he won a reputation for fairness in the settle- ment of just claims against the company. By his straightforward and clean methods every claim that came up against the company was amica- bly settled whenever the claimants showed the same disposition to fair- ness that he did, and very little litigation developed in his department.
In 1912 Mr. Chamberlin began the practice of his profession at Pleasant Hill, where he has won the confidence of the public as a con- scientious and capable lawyer and his reward is a large and profitable practice. He is systematic in his work and a close student of the law, which, together with his natural ability, make of him a formidable legal adversary. He has served as city attorney of Pleasant Hill through three city administrations, during which time he has successfully defended some important suits against the city and thus saved the taxpayers many thousands of dollars. He is the present city attorney. He is a democrat and takes an active part in the local organization of his party. He is the present secretary of the Democratic County Central Committee.
Mr. Chamberlain was married in 1911 to Miss Dean Hilligoss, a daughter of Noble Hilligoss, and a native of Pleasant Hill, where she was engaged as public stenographer prior to her marriage. Mrs. Chamberlin is a descendant of pioneer Cass County stock. Both her grandfathers came here from Kentucky at an early day.
William W. Hon, the leading furniture dealer and undertaker of Pleasant Hill, is a native son of Cass County, and a descendant of pioneer parents. He was born in a log cabin in Big Creek township, in 1868, and is a son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Bailey) Hon, the former a native of Kentucky, and the latter of Cass County, Missouri. Isaac Hon came to Cass County from his native state prior to the Civil War and settled in Big Creek township, where he bought ninety-two acres of unimproved land. He died in 1892 at the age of forty-nine years, and his wife de-
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parted this life in 1896. They were the parents of four children, as follows: Lucy, died in infancy; Harvey T., Needles, California; William W., the subject of this sketch; and Earl B., Needles, California.
William W. Hon received his education in the public schools of Cass County. In early life much of the work incident to the care of the home farm devolved upon him owing to the fact that his father was in poor health much of the time. When he was twenty-one years of age he engaged in farming on his own account, and two years later he engaged in the mercantile business at Pleasant Hill, where he purchased the Haw- kins furniture store. The entire stock at that time consisted of only about four hundred dollars' worth of goods, and the store building was an unpretentious frame structure, 18x24 feet. Mr. Hon has constantly added to his stock and has seen that his business has developed in keep- ing with the spirit of the times, and today has a furniture store that would be a credit to a city much larger than Pleasant Hill. The small frame structure has been replaced by a commodious, modern store build- ing, 40x146 feet, with basement, 20x60 feet.
Mr. Hon was married in 1889 to Miss Ida May Reece, of Pleasant Hill, a daughter of John Reece, a prominent farmer of that locality, and a native of Cass County. Mr. and Mrs. Hon have no children. Mr. Hon is a member of the Masonic Lodge, Modern Woodmen of America, Mutual Benevolent Association, Yeomen, and Royal Neighbors, and is one of the substantial business men of Cass County. He and his wife are well known and have many friends.
Mr. Hon, although a young man, recalls many interesting incidents in the history of Cass County. His father hauled brick from Westport, Missouri, with an ox team to build his farm residence, which is located between Pleasant Hill and Harrisonville.
J. B. Rowe, the successful and enterprising baker of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, is a native son of Cass County. He was born on a farm one mile south of town, in Pleasant Hill township, in 1888, and is a son of Albert Eugene and Nancy (Hook) Rowe, natives of Michigan. They are the parents of seven children, as follows: C. H., Bonner Springs, Kan- sas; Carrie, Jennie, and Birt, all of whom died in infancy; Eva, resides at home; Mrs. Robert Calvin, Pleasant Hill township; and J. B., the sub- ject of this sketch.
When Albert Eugene Rowe came to Cass County, Missouri, he settled on a farm one mile south of Pleasant Hill. He cleared his farm, which
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was all timber, and engaged in the dairy buiness, which he successfully carried on for a number of years, and sold milk in Pleasant Hill. He has been in poor health for a number of years, and in 1915 left the farm. Since that time he has resided in Pleasant Hill.
J. B. Rowe was educated in the public schools of Cass County. After he was eighteen years of age he devoted himself to assisting his father on the farm. In the spring of 1915 he purchased the W. C. Knorpp bakery at Pleasant Hill, and since has been engaged in the bakery business. When he undertook the bakery business it was all new to him and he had to learn the elementary details of it from the ground up, but he applied himself to his new field of endeavor in a way that has spelled success. His bakery has a daily capacity of six hundred loaves. He has installed all modern machinery and methods, and has one of the best bake-ovens to be found in the country. His place is a model of con- venience and neatness. The state inspector recently made the statement that it was one of the most sanitary bakeries in the state of Missouri.
Mr. Rowe was married in 1915 to Miss Anna Knorpp, a daughter of M. M. Knorpp, cashier of the Citizens' Bank of Pleasant Hill.
Edgar R. Idol, postmaster of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, has been prom- inently identified with Cass County journalism for many years, and is one of the leading newspaper men of this section of Missouri. He is a native of Virginia, and was born at Grayson, that state, in 1875. He is a son of Daniel Christian and Nannie (Ross) Idol, natives of Virginia. The mother was a daughter of Wilbur Ross, who was also a native of Virginia.
In 1882 Daniel C. Idol came to Cass County, Missouri, and located at Belton, where he was editor of the Belton "Herald". Later he engaged in contracting and building, and during the course of his career erected many of the best buildings in the county. He was engaged in building in Cass County for over thirty years. During the past twenty-eight years some member of the Idol family has been engaged in the newspaper busi- ness in Cass County.
To Daniel C. Idol and wife were born eight children, four of whom died in infancy. The others are as follows: Edgar R., the subject of this sketch; S. C., Idaho Falls, Idaho, where he is manager of a daily paper; Roy C., a newspaper man, Seattle, Washington; and Mrs. James Campbell, Belton, Missouri.
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Edgar R. Idol attended the public schools, but received his practical education in his father's "print shop" at Belton, Missouri. When he was fourteen years of age he was foreman in the office of the Belton "Leader" and was identified with that paper until he was twenty-five years old, when he went to Harrisonville and bought a half interest in the Cass County "Leader". Six months later he sold his interest in that paper to Mr. Daniels, his partner, and bought the Cass County "Democrat". He was owner and editor of this publication for five years, and in 1905, sold the "Democrat" and removed to Pleasant Hill. Here he purchased the Pleasant Hill "Local", which is now the "Register". He conducted this newspaper until 1914, when he was appointed postmaster by Presi- dent Wilson, taking the office in January of that year.
Mr. Idol was united in marriage in June, 1900, at Belton, Missouri, with Miss Mary Elizabeth Shouse, a daughter of J. M. Shouse, president of the Citizens' Bank of Belton, a sketch of whom appears in this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Idol have been born six children, as follows: Harriet Ruth, Edgar S., James Dan, Elizabeth Ross, Francis Lee, and Margaret B.
Mr. Idol is progressive and public spirited, and is perhaps one of the best-known men in Cass County. He is a democrat and has taken an active part in the local councils of his party, having served as secre- tary of the Democratic Central Committee for many years.
Dr. E. M. Atkinson, a prominent dental surgeon of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, is a native of Cass County and a descendant of one of the pioneer families of this section of the state. He was born October 13, 1881, and is a son of James W. and Mary Susan (Hill) Atkinson, who were the parents of the following children : William, Roswell, New Mexico; James W .. Jr., Bakersfield, California ; Mrs. H. A. Jones, Dennison, Texas ; Mrs. W. S. Moore, Roswell, New Mexico; Mrs. J. F. Joyce, Carlsbad, New Mexico; Lettie, Roswell, New Mexico; Mrs. Frank Davenport, deceased ; Mrs. Harry Hatler, deceased; and Dr. E. M., the subject of this sketch.
James W. Atkinson was born in Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky, in 1827. At an early day he came to Missouri with his par- ents, who settled on a farm in Lafayette County. He attended school in Kentucky and Missouri, and after finishing his education, taught school for several years. He was married in 1856 at Chapel Hill, Missouri, to Mary E. A. Russell, a widow, whose maiden name was Hill. She was born in Russellville, Logan County, Kentucky, and in an early day came to Missouri with her parents, who settled at Lexington. Mrs. Atkinson
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was educated at Lexington and Chapel Hill, Missouri. She died at Ros- well, New Mexico, in 1908. James W. Atkinson spent most of his life as a farmer. He was assessor of Big Creek township for many years. He and his wife were members of the Baptist Church. At the close of the Civil War he moved with his family to the extreme nothern part of Cass County, and settled on a farm which he owned at the time of his death, in July, 1896. He was a Confederate veteran, and was a member of the Confederate Veterans Camp at Pleasant Hill.
Dr. E. M. Atkinson was educated in the public schools of Cass County and after completing his preliminary education he entered the Western Dental College at Kansas City, Missouri, where he was graduated in the class of 1905. He immediately engaged in the practice of his profession at Warsaw, Missouri. Three years later he went to California and was engaged in the practice at San Francisco and Sacramento for four years. In 1913 he returned to Cass County, Missouri, and was engaged in the practice at Creighton until 1915, when he located at Pleasant Hill, where, ยท in a remarkably short time, his superior professional skill was recognized and he has built up a large practice.
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