USA > Missouri > Cooper County > History of Cooper County, Missouri > Part 35
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After the close of his Civil War service and the death of his father, Mr. Bell operated the home farm for three years. Upon the death of his' mother, in 1868, he turned over the farm and estate to Col. Joseph A. Eppstein, the administrator, and determined to secure an education. He attended the business college in Boonville, from which he was graduated in 1869, $115 in debt. He then went to Colorado, making the long, weari- some journey on foot. Upon his arrival in the mountains he and a friend staked out a claim in Idaho Gulch and began to mine for gold. Meeting an old comrade it was decided upon to open a fruit and confectionery store at Central City, Colo. This young firm became the pioneers in shipping Missouri apples to the Rock Mountain country, transporting them by wagons from Cheyenne, Wyo., then the nearest railroad station, and for a time they did a thriving business. In the spring of 1870, Mr. Bell disposed of his interest, mostly on time, and returned to Boonville; his successor, however, soon failed, causing him to lose his investments. Being again without means, Mr. Bell's next venture was driving a team for the Rev. W. G. Bell from Boonville to Austin, Texas, there being no railroad to Texas at that time. At Austin he secured employment as porter in a wholesale grocer house, but was soon promoted to be traveling salesman. He traveled mostly with team and buggy, but sometimes when the Indians were bad he would go horseback. He became widely acquainted in that, then frontier, country. Like all Texas frontiersmen, in those days, he carrier a Winchester rifle and his Civil War revolvers for his personal protection.
From 1875 to 1877 he was in business at Austin for himself, having received the backing of a large St. Louis firm. In February, 1877, he disposed of his business in Texas, and with a capital of about $6,000 he returned to Boonville, and with his brother, J. W. Bell, established the firm of C. C. Bell & Bro., wholesale shippers of fruit and farm products.
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At that time this section of Missouri produced large crops of apples. The Bell Brothers handled the surplus of apples from Cooper and adjoin- ing counties, building at Boonville a packing and fruit drying house and fruit jelly factory. These latter features of the business, however, prov- ing to be unprofitable. In 1885, he purchased his brother's interest, and made a specialty of buying, packing and shipping apples. From that time on his business reached very large proportions. He is justly enti- tled to the name, "Missouri's Apple King," given him by the Interstate Fruit Growers and Shippers convention held at Cairo, Ill. Mr. Bell's plan has been to pay the highest cash price for apples and to furnish the trade with carefully assorted and best packed apples, and his "Bell-brand" is well known in America and on some foreign markets. Since 1906 he has not been engaged in buying apples, but as a grower he has planted and operated several large orchards. His operations are now confined to a single orchard of about 80 acres at Bell Station, four miles east of Boon- ville.
In 1886, Mr. Bell organized the Central Missouri Horticultural Asso- ciation, serving as its secretary for 29 years, and is now its president. At the annual meeting of the State Horticultural Society, Dec. 6, 1887, he was presented with a gold medal for the successful management of the horticultural exposition. For years he was the awarding judge of the fruit and horticultural department of the St. Louis Fair, and in 1904 awarding judge of the fruit exhibits at the Louisiana Purchase St. Louis World's Fair.
Mr. Bell called the first meeting in Chicago to organize the "Inter- national Apple Shippers' Association" in 1894, and was elected its first president. This is now the largest organization of its kind in the world. The object of this association was to secure the enactment of just and uniform laws throughout the country governing grades, weights, meas- urements, etc., and in recognition of Mr. Bell's service he was elected an Honorary member for life.
At the annual meeting of the Missouri State Horticultural Society in Dec., 1896, he was appointed to deliver in person to President-elect McKinley, a set of resolutions adopted by that body in regard to the introduction of growing sugar beets in Missouri, in which work Mr. Bell took a great interest, and he distributed the following spring, without compensation, planting information and seed throughout the State.
Governor Dockery appointed Mr. Bell to make the Missouri Fruit Exhibit at the Pan-American Exposition held at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1901,
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and the Charleston S. C., Cotton Exposition, 1902, and there served as treasurer of the Missouri Commission. He has been for many years orchard appraiser for the Wabash Railway Co. in Missouri, and the M., K. & T. Ry. in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, and his opinions and judgments as to values are accepted as authority upon matters pertain- ing to horticulture. He was elected a life honorary member by the Luther Burbank Society of California.
The political career of Charles C. Bell has been a noteworthy one, and he has long been recognized as one of the leaders of the republican party in Missouri. From 1882 to 1885 he was a member of the Boonville City Council, and president of that body. In 1886, 1887, 1888, he served as mayor of Boonville, and while serving in this capacity he introduced and carried out a number of reform measures, benefitting the city. From 1886 to 1897, he was president of the Boonville Board of Trade. In 1888, and again in 1890, he was republican candidate for representative in the State Legislature. In 1892, he was elected delegate to the republican national convention at Minneapolis, and was there chosen to represent Missouri on the committee to notify President Harrison and Whitelaw Reid of their nominations. He was presidential elector on the republi- can Mckinley ticket in 1896. He was an intimate friend of the late Presidents Roosevelt and Mckinley, and as a delegate to the national republican convention in 1892 at Minneapolis, made a speech favoring McKinley's nomination in 1896. In 1900 he refused the nomination for Congressman against Dick Bland on the republican ticket. In 1912 he was a delegate to the Chicago progressive national convention, where he assisted in organizing the progressive party, and represented Missouri on the Roosevelt presidential notification committee In 1916, he was nom- inated by the progressive party of Missouri for the office of lieutenant governor.
Mr. Bell was one of the incorporators of the Farmers Bank, the Electric Light and Power Company, Walnut Grove Cemetery, and of other organizations in Boonville, and was vice-president of the Farmers Bank during its entire successful business career. He was appointed a delgate to the national monetary convention at Indianapolis in 1897, and there introduced his copyrighted Financial Plan, which attracted much attention.
On April 30, 1889, Charles C. Bell and Miss Anna Augusta Luck- hardt, of Oregon, Holt County, Mo., were united in marriage. Mrs, Anna A. Bell was born Sept. 9, 1869, and is a daughter of George P. Luckhardt,
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a native of Germany, born Jan. 17, 1826, who came to America in 1850, first located at Johnstown, Penn .; and there married Henrietta Francisca Von Lunen, on Nov. 4, 1852. Five children were born to Charles C. and Anna A. Bell, as follows: Minnie Henrietta, Clara Louisa, Capt. C. C. Bell, Jr., Frances, and John. Minnie Henrietta is the wife of F. Stanley Piper, of Bellingham, Wash. Clara· Louisa is the wife of Major Roscoe W. Stewart, by profession an attorney of Springfield, Mo., and is now serving in the judge advocate general's office at Washington, D. C. Capt. C. C. Bell, Jr., is with Battery A, 37th Heavy Artillery Regulars, U. S. A., now on duty in Honolulu. He was commissioned a captain at the age of 22 years. He was a student at Princeton University, when he enlisted as private, but was soon promoted to second lieutenant. Frances, aged 15 years, is attending the Boonville High School. John, the youngest son, is five years old.
Mr. Bell is a member of the Evangelical Church. He is a past mem- ber in good standing of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias lodges, and is a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is a member of the World's Court League, in favor of uni- versal disarmament and against all militarism; he would like to see all implements of war consigned to the melting furnace, and made into agri- cultural machinery or anything that is useful and productive and not destructive. Mr. Bell has delivered numerous addresses on Horticulture and various subjects, and in a recent talk promulgated the motto, "In Time of Peace, Prepare for Peace, and Practice Peace."
An everlasting monument to the public spirit and philanthropy which have been the prime motives guiding the life career of this illustrious Cooper County citizen is exemplified in his gift to the city of the beautiful Lookout Park, which is built on the bluffs overlooking the Missouri River just north of the Bell residence. Mr. Bell built this little park of endur- ing stone and concrete as a memorial to his sister, Mrs. Manger. It has given pleasure to hundreds and thousands of people who can comfortably sit on the benches and gaze at the broad expanse of the Missouri River valley stretching below as far as the eye can reach. His creed in life has been expressed on a tablet inserted in the paving of the park, which reads :
"Get Busy, Stay Busy, Avoid Waster, Vice, Tobacco, Booze, and you will have Health, Honor and Plenty."
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Louis Sylvester Edwards, photographer, chairman of the Democratic Central Committee, and a native of Boonville, is living in the house where he was born and reared and which was erected by his father in 1859. His father, the late O. D. Edwards, was a native of England, and settled in Boonville in 1859. He became a skilled photographer and did a thriving business during the Civil War. Mr. Edwards made photographs of such notable warriors as General Stuart and Gen. J. B. Lyons and was patron- ized by both Confederate and Union soldiers during the Civil War. For over fifty years he was successfully engaged in the photographic business in Boonville. He died in 1911 at the age of 76 years. Mrs. Sophia Ebert Edwards, mother of L. S. Edwards, was born in St. Louis, Nov. 12, 1841, and died Feb, 14, 1919. There were three children born to O. D. and Sophia Edwards, as follows: Rev. Ward H. Edwards, a member of the faculty of William Jewell College, and also a member of the Missouri State Library Board; Louis Sylvester is the eldest of the family; Daisy Ed- wards, wife of Roger Morton, Kansas City, shipping clerk for the Witte Gas Engine Company.
After his graduation from the Boonville High School, L. S. Edwards attended the Singleton Academy, Boonville. Practically . his entire life has been spent in photography and his photograph gallery is widely known and liberally patronized as a place where popular prices are charged for the work done.
Mr. Edwards was married in 1884 to Miss Belle Lucas of Holden, Mo., a daughter of the late J. A. Lucas. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards have two children: Edith, wife of Walter D. Glascock, Kansas City, Mo., an em- ploye of the Kansas City Bridge Company ; Roger L. Edwards, yeoman in the United States Naval Air Service, was born Oct. 8, 1892. Yeoman Edwards is a skilled stenographer and upon his first attempt to enlist, he was rejected on account of light weight and was later called to the service. For some weeks he was stationed at Chicago with the recruiting office and was then sent to France and is now located at Pauillac, France. He enlisted for four years.
Mr. Edwards is a member of the Christian church and is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, the Royal Arcanum, the Improved Order of Red Men, the Knights and Ladies of Security, and the National Union. He is a thorough democrat who has always been a hard worker in the ranks of his party. He has served as secretary of the Central Committee three different times and is now chairman of the county central commit- tee. Mr. Edwards has always taken an active part in democratic politics
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and is a frequent attendant at the state conventions and has a wide and favorable acquaintance among the leaders of democracy throughout Mis- souri.
Charles G. Miller, city clerk of Boonville, Mo., was born May 13, 1857, in this city. He is a son of George and Sophia (Fox) Miller, the latter of whom is the daughter of the first German to settle in Boonville. She is a daughter of Anton Fox, a native of Germany, who arrived in Boon- ville, March 8, 1835, with his wife, two sons and three daughters: Charles Fox, Frank Fox, Mrs. Amelia Hissrich, Mrs. Rosa Vollrath, Mrs. Fannie Eppstein. All of these children are deceased. Mr. Millers mother, now Mrs. Julius Sombart, was born in Boonville, July 7, 1837.
Beginning with Anton Fox and ending with the grandchildren of Mr. Miller, there have been five generations of the family who have lived in Boonville, four of which were born in the city.
Charles G. Miller was reared and educated in Boonville. He attended the Boonville publie school and Kemper Military School, of this city. After some years of experience in mercantile business in Chicago, Ill. and Glasgow, Mo., he returned to Boonville in 1885 and was employed with the Sauter Mercantile Company for 15 years. He became city clerk of Boonville in 1902 and has held the office for 17 years.
Mr. Miller was married in 1882 to Miss Hattie Briggs, who was born in Howard County, a daughter of Reuben P. and Mary J. (Thorpe) Briggs, the latter of whom is a daughter of Jackson Thorpe, who was a native of Virginia and settled in Howard County, Mo., in 1815. Three children were born to this marriage: Edwin B. Miller, part owner and business manager of a newspaper at Plainview, Texas, father of two children, Ellen and Jean ; Mrs. Emma Briggs Figge, of N. M., mother of three chil- dren: Mary Frances, Charles and Harriet; one child died in infancy.
Mr. Miller is a republican. He joined the Knights of Pythias in 1880 and is one of three of the Grand Lodge trustees of this order.
Frank C. Brosius .- The firm of Nixon and Brosius, engaged in the farm loan and real estate business in Boonville, is one of the most im- portant and one of the largest concerns of its class in central Missouri. The members of the firm are C. W. Nixon and Frank C. Brosius, both of whom are natives of this section of Missouri. The business was founded in 1909 and its affairs were first conducted in the basement rooms of the old National Bank building. In 1917 a handsome suite of offices was established in the present location in the northern section of Main street. This firm makes farm loans in eight counties of central Missouri
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and do an aggregate business of over $1,000,000 annually in farm loans besides a large business in buying and selling farms in central Missouri.
Frank C. Brosius, junior member of the firm, was born Nov. 18, 1885, in California, Moniteau County, Mo. He is a son of R. B. and Ella Jane Brosius, natives of Virginia and Maryland, respectively. Samuel Brosius, the father of R. B. Brosius, came to Missouri from Virginia in 1849 and settled in the vicinity of Prairie Home, where he lived to the great age of 100 years and seven months. For a number of years R. B. Brosius operated a hotel at California and came to Boonville in 1899. He engaged in the mercantile business but is now living a retired life at the age of 82 years. Two children were born to R. B. and Ella Jane Brosius: Frank C., of this review; and Clarence L., of Wichita, Kan.
Frank C. Brosius was educated in the public and high schools of Boonville and for eight years he was engaged in the Central National Bank, working his way upward from the post of errand boy. In 1909 he associated himself with Mr. Nixon in the loan business.
Oct. 30, 1909, Mr. Brosius was united in marriage with Miss Jessie Wooldridge, a daughter of Dr. J. H. Wooldridge, a pioneer in Cooper County and was well known in banking and financial circles. Mr. and Mrs. Brosius have two children: Jane Elizabeth, aged 12 years; and Mary Ellen, born Oct. 5, 1918.
Mr. Brosius is a Democrat. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and is fraternally affiliated with the Masonic Lodge, being a Knights Templar, and a member of the Mystic Shriners.
Judge William Muir Williams .- Boonville and Cooper County has long been noted throughout the state for the strong legal talent which has been developed in this city. Members of the bar of Cooper County have achieved national renown in the legal profession and many have held high official position in the courts, and the halls of the Legislature and Congress during past decades. One of the best remembered and one of the most able of the attorneys who practiced for many years in Boon- ville was the late Judge William M. Williams who was a native of this city. Judge Williams was born Feb. 4, 1850, the son of Marcus and Mary J. (Howard) Williams.
Marcus Williams. his father, was a native of the state of Virginia, born in Rockbridge County, and came to Missouri in 1840. He was a steamboat captain, miller and farmer and was a man of varied pursuits who took advantage of many opportunities which presented themselves to him in the course of the development of the new country with whose
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WILLIAM M. WILLIAMS
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future he had aligned himself. Marcus Williams also operated a pottery and was a contractor and builder in Boonville in the early days.
W. M. Williams was reared in Boonville and was educated in the Kemper School. When 17 years of age he received the appointment of deputy collector of Cooper County and so successfully did he discharge the duties of his position that he was retained in this capacity for five years. While holding this position he began the study of law and after resigning from the position of deputy collector he entered the office of J. W. Draffen to complete his studies. One year later he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law. A short time after his admission to the bar he became a partner of Mr. Draffen and the firm was known for years throughout central Missouri as one of the ablest, under the name of Draffen & Williams. Mr. Williams became prominent in his pro- fession and was known as an able and profound attorney to whom was intrusted many cases of state wide importance. He practiced in Mis- souri and neighboring states and had charge of the merger of the two branches of the Presbyterian Church. He represented the International Harvester Company in the conduct of the most important litigation which took place in Missouri. During the last ten years of his notable career Judge Williams practiced almost exclusively before the Supreme Court. In 1898 he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri but resigned from this high position after one year's service on the bench, before his time expired.
Dec. 16, 1875, Judge Williams was married to Miss Jessie Evans, daughter of Dr. E. C. Evans, formerly of Boonville, who survives him. Six children were born to this union: Bessie, wife of J. W. Cosgrove, of Muskogee, Okla .; Roy D. Williams, an attorney of Boonville; Mary, wife of H. M. Taliaferro, Grand Rapids, Mich .; Edna, wife of T. E. Simrall, abstractor, Boonville, Mo .; Jessie, wife of Dr. Lloyd Thompson, St. Louis, Mo .; Susan, at home with her mother in Boonville.
Judge Williams died Sept. 19, 1916. He was a pronounced Democrat and for many years was one of the leaders of his party in Missouri. He was an active and influential figure in the State and national conventions of his party for many years. From the very beginning of the establish- ment of the Missouri Training School until his death, Judge Williams was president of the board of managers for the school. He was an elder of the Presbyterian Church and took a great interest in the affairs of this denomination. He was a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and served as Grand Master of Missouri. Honors came easily to
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Judge Williams by reason of his great ability which was recognized uni- versally by all with whom he came in contact. He was a life-long student and reader who had a thorough knowledge of the law and had the gift of being able to expound and analyze its intricacies. He was a good citizen and his death was an occasion for sorrow and regret among the many who knew him.
Roy D. Williams, attorney-at-law, Boonville, Mo., was born in this city, Jan. 1, 1881, and although one of the younger lawyers of Cooper County is already giving evidence that the ability and genius of his father, Judge W. M. Williams has been transmitted in some measure to the son.
Mr. Williams was educated in Kemper Military School and Missouri University at Columbia where he pursued the academic course. After serving as stenographer for one year in the office of Judge Shackelford, he entered his father's law office and studied law for three years and also filled the position of stenographer to his father. He was admitted to the bar in 1904 and practiced with Judge Williams under the firm name of Williams & Williams until the latter's death in 1917. Mr. Williams has an excellent legal practice in Cooper and adjoining counties of an impor- tant character and is attorney for most of the banking concerns in Cooper County. He is serving as trial lawyer for the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company in 10 counties of Missouri and handles the cases in which the railroad company is interested, or is defendant. He was appointed to the important post of chairman of the State Tax Commission by Gov. Gard- ner on May 27, 1919. This appointment came to him entirely unsolicited.
Mr. Williams was married in 1911 to Miss Anna S. Williams, a daugh- ter of Dr. P. E. Williams, formerly of Bunceton, Cooper County but now in charge of the State Hospital at St. Joseph, Mo.
Mr. Williams' well appointed offices are located in the Trust Company Building on North Main Street and he has what is probably the most com- plete law library in central or western Missouri, consisting of 3,000 well selected volumes.
Mr. Williams is a director of the Boonville National Bank and Citizens Trust Company. He is a Democrat and takes considerable interest in the affairs of his party. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, being a Past Master of the local lodge, a Knights Templar, and holds membership with the Knights of Pythias.
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Crockett Hickman .- The Hickman family, of which Crockett Hick- man, public administrator of Cooper County, is worthy member, is one of the oldest of the pioneer families in Cooper County. The advent of the Hickmans in this county begins with the settlement of Thomas Hick- man, great grandfather of Crockett Hickman, who came from Kentucky in the year 1821 and settled at Old Franklin, across the Missouri River in Howard County. The great grandfather of the subject of this review was Capt. Thomas Hickman, a soldier of the War of 1812, who settled upon and developed a large tract of land in Howard County. His son, John L. Hickman, married Eliza Hutchinson, a daughter of John Hutchin- son, another pioneer who settled at Old Franklin.
Thomas Hickman, father of Crockett Hickman, developed a large farm south of Boonville, in Cooper County, and owned 640 acres. He was a very successful farmer and stockman who was well and favorably known throughout this section of Missouri. He was born in 1832 and died in 1911. His wife was Martha Crockett, and was born in Boone County in 1832. She was a daughter of Samuel Crockett, a relative of the famous Davy Crockett of St. Alamo fame. Samuel Crockett was a native of Kentucky and was a Boone County pioneer. Thomas and Martha Hickman were parents of two children: Mrs. George K. Craw- ford of Bunceton, Mo., and Crockett Hickman, of this review. Mrs. Hick- man resides in Bunceton.
Crockett Hickman was educated in the district school and attended the Kemper Military School. After farming for some years he became connected with the Central National Bank of Boonville and at the end of 14 years he was serving as head bookkeeper of the bank. In 1911, Mr. Hickman engaged in the real estate and insurance business with offices in Boonville. Mr. Hickman does considerable business in real estate and handles farm loans in addition to his duties as public admin- istrator.
Mr. Hickman was married in 1906 to Miss Gertrude Gibson, who was born in Boonville, a daughter of John J. and Medora Gibson, the former born in Cooper County and died in 1898. Mr. and Mrs. Hickman have an adopted child, Martha Frances, aged three years.
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