USA > Missouri > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, Missouri > Part 20
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Ernest Harvey, secretary of the Bethany Trust Company, is one of the enterprising young men of Bethany. He was born in Decatur County. Kansas, August 31, 1886, the son of B. B. and Ruth (Baker) Harvey. Mrs. Harvey was born near Marietta, Ohio, and died in Meadville, Missouri, where she is buried, December 7, 1918. B. B. Harvey was born in West Virginia. He and his wife settled near Meadville in Linn County, Missouri, shortly after the close of the Civil War. Later they moved to Kansas. where they lived for twelve years when they returned to Linn County. 'They came back to Missouri in 1890 and lived in Meadville until the death of Mrs. Harvey.
Ernest Harvey received his education in the grade and high schools of Meadville. He was identified with one of the local papers, the Meadville Messenger, for a while, and then accepted a position in a dry goods store for a few years. On June 1, 1913, he went into the Peoples Bank in Mead- ville as the assistant cashier, and in September, 1918, he accepted a posi- tion with the Chillicothe Trust Company, remaining with them until Jan- uary 1, 1920. On that date he began his work with the Bethany Trust Company as secretary. This place he has filled successfully ever since. His work in the various banks with which he has been connected has ably fitted him for his present position. His thorough conversance with modern and progressive business methods has given him the esteem of his fellow citizens.
Ernest Harvey was married to Bessie Darling of Meadville, June 12, 1910. Mrs. Harvey is a daughter of James and Jane (McKain) Darling.
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James Darling died at Meadville, April 20, 1918 ; his wife lives at Meadville. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey have one daughter, Hope Elaine.
Mr. Harvey is a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge and of the Modern Woodman of America. He is identified with the progress of Beth- any and is a highly respected citizen.
The Bethany Trust Company, one of the well-known banking institu- tions of Bethany, was organized and started business January 1, 1920. The capital stock was $100,000.00 and the first officers were: Joseph S. Neff, President; Henry N. Burgin, Vice-President ; I. E. Nelson, Treasurer ; Walter E. Todd, Assistant Treasurer; Ernest Harvey, Secretary; Joseph S. Neff, J. E. Noll, S. L. Gibson, Henry N. Burgin, W. C. Cole, I. E. Nelson and W. T. Templeman, Directors.
The capital of the bank remains the same as when it was opened; the bank has a surplus of $11,000; loans of $283,780.53 ; bonds and stocks, $52,258.90; cash and sight exchange, $38,545.11; furnishings and fixtures, $15,925.95 ; title plant, $25,000; undivided profits, $4,966.63, and deposits, $236,771.75.
The bank is conducted entirely with local capital and its hearty sup- port by the community is shown by the fact that the deposits on the opening day were $128,000. The directorate of the bank is made up of local men, all well known to the community and all loyal to the ideals and stand- ards with which the institution has worked since its foundation.
L. M. Davis, assistant treasurer of the Bethany Trust Company, be- longs to a family that is well known in Harrison County where several members of it are living. Mr. Davis was born in Smith County, Virginia, November 25, 1877, the son of J. K. and Emma A. (Harvey) Davis, who came to Harrison County in 1881, and located on a farm six miles west of Bethany. Here L. M. Davis grew to manhood. His father was a veteran of the Civil War, serving in the Confederate Army. Both J. K. Davis and his wife died on their farm in Harrison County and are buried in Marion Cemetery in Bethany.
Martin Davis and his wife, grandparents of L. M. Davis, lived in Smith County, Virginia, and were the parents of nineteen children, seventeen boys and two girls. J. K. and Emma A. (Harvey) Davis were the parents of eleven children, as follows: H. M., of Casper, Wyoming; Eda W., now Mrs. Robert Cuddy of Kansas City, Missouri; Innie M., now Mrs. Earl Hamilton
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of Bethany ; Lewis M., the subject of this sketch ; R. H., of Bethany ; Jimmie C., now Mrs. M. E. McCoy of Monte Vista, Colorado; C. E., of Bethany ; Martha, now living in Bethany; F. P., of Bethany ; Porter K., of Bethany, and Paul J., of Bethany.
L. M. Davis was educated in the public schools in Harrison County and the Methodist College at Albany, Missouri. He worked for various mer- cantile firms in Bethany for several years. For ten years he ran a grocery business in Bethany with the firm name, Chambers and Davis. He sold his business in order to accept his present position with the Bethany Trust Company in November, 1920.
Mr. Davis was married to Bessie Tolliver of Bethany, April 30, 1905. Mrs. Davis is the daughter of John H. and Susie Tolliver, the latter de- ceased, and the former now living at Bethany where he is with the Bethany Mill and Elevator Company. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have two daughters, Virginia and Marguerite.
Mr. Davis is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias Lodge. He is known and esteemed in the town and county for his business acumen and for his high standard of citizensnip.
George W. Bolar, the reliable and well-known circuit clerk and ex- officio recorder of Harrison County, is a native of Bethany Township where he was born on a farm two and one-half miles southeast of the city Decem- ber 18, 1875. He is the son of John H. and Marie (Hilton) Bolar, both de- ceased.
John H. Bolar and Maria Hilton were married in Anderson County, Kentucky, and came to Missouri in 1862. They settled first in Sherman Township but a short time afterwards they moved to Bethany Township where they purchased a farm of eighty acres. This land was covered with timber at that time and Mr. Bolar built a cabin in which he and his wife lived for several years and in which the first four of their children were born. Mr. Bolar had learned the stone mason's trade and he followed this trade in connection with his farming. He died February 6, 1906, at the age of seventy-three and his wife died November 21. 1920, at the age of seventy-eight.
To John H. and Maria (Hilton) Bolar was born the following children : John W., who died at the age of thirty ; twin daughters, who died in infancy ; an infant daughter, deceased; Benjamin A., a farmer in Serman Town-
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ship; Ida B., living in Bethany, Missouri; James W., living in Bethany, Missouri; Willard M., deputy circuit clerk and recorder living in Bethany, Missouri; George W., the subject of this review; Eva M., the wife of O. W. Bartlett in Bethany, Missouri; Myrtle, who died at the age of eight; and Mattie, who died at the age of three.
George W. Bolar was educated in the rural schools of Harrison County and in the Bethany High School. He taught his first school in the Hickory District in 1894 and twenty years later he taught his last school in the same place. During the years from 1909 to 1913, Mr. Bolar served as township clerk and assessor of Bethany Township. In 1914 he was elected circuit clerk of Harrison County and was re-elected to that position in 1917.
George W. Bolar was married to Mary Scott August 13, 1913. Mrs. Bolar is the daughter of Thomas Scott, a native of Scotland, who lives near Martinsville, Missouri. Mrs. Bolar was born and reared in Harrison County and for the twelve years prior to her marriage she taught in the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Bolar have one child, Martha Janet. Mr. Bolar moved to Bethany January 1, 1915, and located at 446 Twenty-Eighth and Miller streets where he has a nice home and three acres of land.
Mr. Bolar is a member of the Church of Christ at Antioch, and Mrs. Bolar is a member of the Presbyterian Church. The Bolars are a substan- tial family in the county. Mr. Bolar's popularity is attested to by the fact that he is now serving his second term in the office to which the people of Harrison County elected him.
Willard M. Bolar, the efficient deputy circuit clerk and recorder of deeds for Harrison County, belongs to a family whose name appears fre- quently in the annals of Harrison County. He was born at the Bolar home place in Bethany Township, May 29, 1873, the son of John H. and Maria (Hilton) Bolar, both deceased. A review of the life of John and Maria (Hilton) Bolar appears in the sketch of George W. Bolar, a brother of the subject of the present sketch.
Willard M. Bolar received his education in the rural schools of Harri- son County and in the Bethany High School. For fourteen years he was a successful teacher in the county. He taught his first school in Jack Oak District, and his last eight years in the Cypress School. For the three years just before he accepted his present position, Mr. Bolar combined the voca- tion of farming with his work as a teacher.
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Mr. Bolar was married August 16, 1906, to Ida M. Nighthart, a daugh- ter of Philip and Elizabeth (Smith) Nighthart. Philip Nighthart was a native of Germany. He came to New York in the early thirties and in 1848 he left New York to follow the lure of the gold fields in the west. He sailed down around Cape Horn and up the Pacific to California where he remained almost three years, making a fortune in the "gold rush." A little later he lost a part of his money in a bank failure. He returned to New York, later went to Ohio, and finally, in the late fifties, he came west to Missouri and settled in Sherman Township, Harrison County. Here he farmed until his death in 1912. He is buried in Antioch Cemetery. His wife, Elizabeth (Smith) Nighthart, who survives him, lives on the home place in Sherman Township.
To Willard M. and Ida (Nighthart) Bolar three children have been born, as follows: Dorothy, Avery and Evalee. Mr. Bolar and his family have a home and five acres of land adjoining the city limits of Bethany.
Mr. Bolar is a member of the Church of Christ at Antioch. For six years he was one of the directors of the Pine Oak School District and be- cause of his efficiency in office and his interest in public affairs, he is ranked among the substantial citizens of the county.
William Roleke, a popular ex-mayor of Bethany, was born in Germany, January 15, 1864. He learned and plied the trade of a tailor in his youth in his native country. In 1886 he came to the United States and settled in Bethany, Missouri. Here he worked at his trade for his cousin, Herman Roleke. Two years later he formed a partnership with this cousin and this business relationship continued for fifteen years. Since its termination William Roleke has conducted the business alone. He handles all kinds of repair work, besides doing tailoring. He has conducted his business so efficiently that his trade has extended to outside towns and he has calls from St. Joseph and Kansas City.
Mr. Roleke has been married twice. His first wife was Anna Schulze of Berlin, Germany, whom he married in 1888. Mrs. Roleke died in 1915 and is buried in the Pythian Cemetery in Bethany. To William and Anna (Schulze) Roleke the following children were born: Helen, deceased; Karl, a plumber at Bethany; and Katherine, a nurse at St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. On July 24, 1918, Mr. Roleke was married to Edith Morgan, who, for the twenty-five years previous to her marriage, had been
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a successful teacher in Harrison County. Mrs. Edith (Morgan) Roleke died in a St. Joseph hospital October 8, 1920.
Mr. Roleke was elected mayor of Bethany in 1908 and was re-elected in the years 1910, 1912, 1914, 1916 and 1918 thus serving for twelve con- secutive years. The success of his work as mayor is amply shown by his many calls to fill the same office. It was during his administration that Bethany established a municipal water works with an exceptionally good filtering system. The city also built a light plant which has always given the citizens excellent service. Another municipal improvement was the paving of the court house square with brick and about eight miles of con- crete and brick street paving.
Mr. Roleke is a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has passed all the chairs of the former. Mr. Roleke helped to organize the First National Bank of Bethany and is one of the directors in it. By his ability, his industry and because of his interest in municipal affairs, Mr. Roleke has made himself one of the substantial citizens of Bethany.
Loyd N. Brown, proprietor of the Bethany Hardware Company, is one of the well-known and enterprising young business men of Bethany, Missouri. He is a business man, an ex-officer of Harrison County, and a veteran of the World War. He was born at Clearmont in Nodaway County, September 29, 1886, the son of Walter T. and Mary (McGinty) Brown. Mrs. Brown died in 1893 and is buried in Clearmont. Walter T. Brown was born in Illinois, and has been a farmer and a Baptist preacher in both Missouri and Nebraska. He lived near Pawnee for five years, and is now a resident of Lincoln, Nebraska. Reverend and Mrs. Brown had four child- ren, three of whom grew to maturity : Loyd N., the subject of this sketch ; George, now living in South Dakota, and Anna, now Mrs. Fife of Kearney, Nebraska. Walter, another son, died in Denver, Colorado, at the age of twenty-six.
Loyd N. Brown graduated from the Bethany High School in the class of 1906. After his graduation, he worked for J. C. Ruby for more than two years, and then was made deputy county clerk under W. F. Towns. He held this position for over seven years. In the fall of 1914 he was elected county clerk of Harrison County and served until May 27, 1918, when he entered the United States Army for service in the World War.
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He was sent to Camp Dodge, Iowa, as a private and ten days later was sent to the Fourth Officers' Training Camp at Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he was commissioned a second lieutenant August 26, 1918. He was assigned to Company Three, One Hundred and Sixty-Third Depot Brigade and on De- cember 7, 1918, was sent on special duty as personnel officer of camp util- ities. He remained in this phase of service until his discharge October 28, 1919. He then returned to Bethany and accepted the position of man- ager of the S. A. Evans Implement Store. In October, 1920, he bought his present stock, known as the Bethany Hardware Company. He has been operating this business very successfully and carries a complete line of hardware and harness.
Mr. Brown was married to Edna E. Evans, a daughter of S. A. Evans of Bethany, on September 1, 1918. Mrs. Evans was Etta Anderson. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have one son, Loyd N., Jr., born August 14, 1919.
Mr. Brown is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has served as treasurer of the Republican County Central Committee for eight years. He was appointed by Judge Wanamaker to act as receiver for the Farmers Mutual Telephone Company in 1908 and the effi- cient way in which he handled this business brought him prominently before the public, and was the direct factor in causing the county to call him to act as county clerk. Mr. Brown is another young man of whom Harrison County is justly proud. As a private citizen and as an official, his record is one of progress and high standards.
George William Spencer, agent for the American Railway Express Company and proprietor of the Bethany Produce Company, was born in Bethany Township, October 24, 1863. His parents were John and Rachel (Alley) Spencer. His mother was born in Indiana and came to Harrison County when she was only a girl. She married John Spencer shortly after- ward, and now lives in Ridgeway with her daughter, Mrs. Mattie Miner. John Spencer was born in Ohio, and was a farmer and stockman in Bethany Township after he came to Harrison County. He died at the age of thirty- five and is buried in Marion Cemetery. To John and Rachel (Alley) Spencer the following children were born: Sarah, now Mrs. Young of Trenton; Mattie, now Mrs. Miner of Ridgeway; Kate, deceased at the age of eigh- teen ; Susie, now Mrs. Tull of Craig; Hattie, deceased at the age of twenty-
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three; G. W., the subject of this review; Charles, deceased in infancy ; and John, deceased at the age of six years.
George William Spencer has lived close to and in Bethany all of his life and has been identified with the progress of the town for many years. He received his education in the Bethany Public School, and at the age of twenty-two took a position with the Adams Express Company on the Burlington Railway. He was the assistant agent for the American and Adams Express Company under T. A. Dunn. In 1898, T. A. Dunn was suc- ceeded by F. M. Young and Mr. Spencer was appointed agent for the com- pany, a position which he has held ever since. For the past ten years, he has been in the produce business also ; he buys and sells all kinds of country products. In both lines of work he has been successful.
Mr. Spencer was married in 1886 to Anna M. Thomas, of Corydon, Iowa. Mrs. Spencer is a daughter of William and Catherine Thomas, both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Spencer have one son, Joseph L., aged eleven year's.
Mr. Spencer has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for twenty-five years, and has held all the offices in the lodge here. He is a man well know in Bethany for his integrity and interest in civic progress.
James C. Wilson, a progressive citizen of Bethany, and one of the able and successful lawyers of this section of the state, was born near Columbus, Ohio, November 22, 1855, the son of Samuel D. and Mary (Boyd) Wilson, both natives of Ohio. Samuel D. Wilson was born in Franklin County and died in 1887 while on a trip to New Mexico. His wife was born in Delaware County and died in Bethany in 1902, where she had resided since the death of her husband. Samuel Wilson was a farmer in early life and later a stock buyer and shipper. He was a veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted from Franklin County, Ohio, and served two years.
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel D. Wilson were the parents of the following children: James C., the subject of this sketch; Josephine, the widow of Richard Carroll, of Chicago, Illinois; Ada, the wife of George Joiner, a business man of Columbus, Ohio; John and Luther, twins, who were farmers and died in Bethany; William H., who is engaged in real estate and loan business in Des Moines, Iowa; Jennie, formerly a stenographer for her brother, James C. Wilson, now the wife of George Jones, a tele-
J. C. WILSON
MRS. J. C. WILSON
-
MRS. ROBERTA (WILSON) GINTHER
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phone company manager of Chicago; Frank L., formerly a wholesale mer- chant of Columbus, Ohio, who now resides in Los Angeles, California; and Kittie, the widow of J. A. Morris of Lebanon, Missouri.
James C. Wilson was educated in the public schools and at Otterbe in University at Westerville, Ohio, and read law at Maryville, Missouri under Col. Lafe Dawson, the first United States judge of the district of Alaska, who was appointed by President Grover Cleveland. Mr. Wilson was ad- mitted to the bar April 29, 1880 at Grant City, Missouri and began practicing his profession May 4, 1880, at Bethany, Missouri. He taught school the winter of 1880 at Martinsville, Missouri, and since then has practiced law continuously here, and met with success. Mr. Wilson has an extensive practice in Bethany and also ranks high as a criminal lawyer over the state and adjoining counties in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas. He was elected prosecuting attorney of Harrison County in 1882, the first Democratic prosecuting attorney of this county, and his son, Garland Wilson, was elected to this same office thirty years later. Maj. Randall Wilson, a sketch of whom appears in this volume, is now a partner of his father.
James C. Wilson was married September 28, 1883, to Miss Alice E. Turner, a native of Bethany, Missouri, and daughter of Robert and Rebecca J. (Higgins) Turner. Robert Turner died in September, 1881, and his wife is living in Bethany at the age of seventy-six years.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are the parents of the following children: Gar- land, an attorney of Bethany, a sketch of whom appears in this book; Dockery, a veteran of the World War, having served as a lieutenant, and who is now an attorney of Bethany; Major Randall; Capt. Carlisle R., "Chuck", who was mortally wounded October 27, 1918, the second day of the Argonne drive and died November 7, 1918, and who is buried in France; and Roberta, the wife of Paul Ginther, a merchant at Moberly, Missouri, the last named two being twins. The Wilson-Axline Post of the American Legion at Bethany was named after Capt. Carlisle R. Wil- son and Lieut. A. A. Axline, both of whom were killed in the same battle.
Mr. Wilson, besides being a successful lawyer, is a progressive citizen and good booster for his city, county and state. He is a Democrat in politics.
S. E. and C. D. Hamilton, proprietors of the Hamilton Hardware Company of Bethany, belong both by their maternal and paternal ancestry to old pioneer families of Harrison County. Their parents were J. P. Hamil-
(16)
1
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ton and Colista E. (Allen) Hamilton, both early settlers in the state. Col- ista E. (Allen) Hamilton was born in Tennessee, February 26, 1841, the daughter of Dr. Stephen Allen, who came to Harrison County and home- steaded land five miles north of the present site of Bethany, and five years later moved to Bethany where he was a pioneer druggist. He was a mem- ber of the State Legislature from 1847 to 1862. Mr. Allen took a firm stand in the turbulent days of the Civil War. He had much to do with keeping Missouri from joining the ranks of the Confederacy and in keeping it from seceeding from the Union. He died in Bethany and his remains are buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery at Bethany where the remains of his wife also are buried. Their children were: (1) Tennessee, now Mrs. Hill- man of Albany ; (2) Colista, now Mrs. Hamilton; (3) Mrs. Louisa Newman, deceased; (4) Mrs. D. T. Johnson of Turlock, Colorado; (5) Isaac, living in Bethany; (6) Carrie, now Mrs. Godman of Iowa; (7) William J., a resident of Bethany; (8) Nordica, died at the age of fifteen; (9) Orvil, died at the age of twenty-five; (10) Serilla, died at the age of six, and (11) Emaline, died in infancy.
Mrs. Hamilton, who is now eighty years old, is very active and takes an interest in the happenings of the present as well as the history of the past. Her reminiscences of the days when the intrepid pioneers were build- ing up Harrison County are deeply entertaining. She came to Bethany Township with her parents when but an infant. The farm which her father took up was partly wild prairie land with the remainder heavily timbered with oak and hickory. There was no lack of food for game was plentiful and prairie chickens, wild turkeys, quail, wild hogs and deer were easily obtained. Her father built a cabin on his farm and here his family grew up. The nearest neighbor was two and one-half miles away on the south, and on the north the nearest house was a distance of sixteen miles away. Mrs. Hamilton went to school in an old log cabin in the Bethany District, acquiring her education amidst the hardships and diffi- culties of those trying times. Plattsburg was the nearest trading point and S. C. Allen made the trip as often as was necessary, allowing one day for the trip to the trading post and another for the return journey. The first mill that Mrs. Hamilton can recall is the old Harris Mill on Big Creek and at this mill the meal for the use of the Allen family was ground. The first church edifice to be erected was the brick church built by the Chris- tians. When the Allen family came to Harrison County in 1841 there were about 500 Cherokee Indians encamped on the creek north of the Allen home.
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Shortly after that time the government removed the Indians to the Indian Territory. Mrs. Hamilton's life spans the many years that have inter- vened between wild, uncultivated land and the present highly organized civ- ilization; between the crude makeshifts of the past the the scientific methods of the present. The story of a life such as Mrs. Hamilton's is truly the history of the growth of Missouri.
J. P. Hamilton, father of the present subjects, was born in Green County, Kentucky, in 1840, and came with his parents to Randolph County, Missouri, later to Daviess County, and in 1859 to Bethany. The father, Dr. Hamilton, died in Gallatin, Missouri. J. P. Hamilton was a pioneer hard- ware merchant in Bethany where he started business in 1859 and con- tinued to conduct the business for more than forty years. Mr. Hamilton was a prominent man in the county and state. He took an active interest in all civic affairs, serving as alderman of Bethany. He helped to organ- ize the Bethany Savings Bank of which he was a director and a vice-presi- dent. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias Lodge. J. P. Hamilton was one of the sturdy pioneers who wrought well in the early days of the county and whose enterprising character made him a citizen of worth. He died July 11, 1911 and his remains are buried in Bethany.
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