USA > Missouri > Henry County > History of Henry County, Missouri > Part 22
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Of the total population 23,562 were of native white parentage, being 86.5 per cent. of the whole. In 1900 23,737 or 84.6 per cent. were native whites. In 1910 2,250 or 8.3 per cent. of the population were of native white of foreign or mixed parentage, while in 1900 there were 2,485 or 8.9 per cent. belonging to this class. There were 588 foreign born white or 2.2 per cent. of the population as against 740 or 2.6 per cent. of this class in 1900. Of the foreign born in Henry County by the 1910 census fourteen were Austrians, five Belgians, two French Canadians, twenty-six Canadians, eight Danes, eighty-six English, fourteen French, 290 Germans, six Hollanders, one Hungarian, twenty-eight Irish, two Italians, two Rus- sians, fifteen Scotch, fourteen Swedes, fifty-two Swiss, five Turks, ten Welch and eight from other countries.
Under the reports as shown by the 1910 census there were 9,356 dairy cows on farms reporting dairy products and 9,121 dairy cows on farms reporting milk products. There was reported a production of 2,460,974 gallons of milk, of which 28,361 gallons were sold. Fifteen thousand nine hundred eighty-one gallons of cream were sold during the year and 36,348 pounds of butter fat. During that year the farmers of the county pro- duced 598,871 pounds of butter and sold 258,395 pounds and also pro- duced 800 pounds of cheese and sold 620 pounds of it. In value the dairy products, excluding home production of milk and cream, amounted to $156,275.
The poultry industry was profitable and particular statistics are worth while. The number of fowls of all sorts raised in 1910 in the county was 522,697 and 191,163 were sold. During the year 1,607,648 dozens of eggs were produced and 1,139,858 dozens of eggs were sold. The value of the
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poultry and eggs raised and produced that year totalled $528,399 and the actual cash received for that sold amounted to $307,107. The bees of the county produced 31,156 pounds of honey and 412 pounds of wax of a total value of $4,011. Four thousand seven hundred twenty-one fleeces were shorn from the sheep in the county in 1910 and together with 156 goats or mohair fleeces made a value of $7,999 of wool and mohair produces in that year. In 1910 there were sold or slaughtered in the county 2,248 calves and 17,668 other cattle together with 74,383 swine and 4,430 sheep and goats. The receipts from such animals above as were slaughtered amounted to $186,044. There were sold during this year 3,246 horses, mules and asses ; the receipts from sale of animals during the year totalled $2,108,799.
Included in the county's wealth in live stock but owned in the towns and not on the farms as shown by the 1910 census were various animals, reported from 1,095 various enclosures and of a total value of $222,493. The animals reported included 1,037 cattle, 817 being dairy cows valued at $37,323; 1,412 horses, including sixty-two colts with a total value of $149,492; 155 mules, asses and burros, 129 of them mature animals with a total valuation of $25,440; 1,217 swine of all ages worth $10,222 and five sheep and goats nominally worth $16.
Acreage and value of the principal crops in the county according to . the last available census show the very remarkable total of $2,946,598. The total value of all crops of cereals was $2,267,312. The value of other grain and seeds $5,471; value of hay and forage $370,811; value of vege- tables $147,681; value of fruit and nuts $52,839, and of all other crops $102,484.
The total acreage in cereals in 1910 was 184,210 acres and the total production reported was 4,255,122 bushels. By crops 142,689 acres were in corn with a production of 3,520,626 bushels; oats 23,935 acres and a total production of 499,627 bushels; wheat, 16,404 and a yield of 211,943 bushels. Only eleven acres were in barley and but 250 bushels were pro- duced; 105 acres were in rye and the total yield was 697 bushels. One thousand forty-six acres were planted to milo and kaffir and the yield was 21,689 bushels. Of other products twenty-one acres were planted to dry peas and yielded sixty-seven bushels and 387 acres were in flax seed with a yield of 2,516 bushels.
Forty-six thousand nine hundred fifty-six acres were in hay and for- age and produced 52,851 tons. Of this 41,491 acres were in tame or cul- tivated grasses and yielded 44,554 tons. Of this 19,653 acres were in
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timothy with a yield of 19,217 tons; 17,413 acres were in timothy and clover mixed and yielded 19,560 tons ; 930 acres in clover alone and yielded 999 tons; 129 acres in alfalfa and yielded 267 tons; 3,000 acres in millet with a yield of 4,197 tons and 366 acres in other tame or cultivated grasses from which 305 tons of hay were harvested that year. There were 3,170 acres in wild and prairie grasses cut, yielding 3,753 tons of hay. On 1,325 acres the grain was cut green for fodder and the yield was 1,616 tons while from 970 acres in coarse forage 2,928 gross tons was cut. Com- paratively little attention was paid to any special crops. The largest single acreage was in potatoes, 1,056 acres producing 90,240 bushels while seventy- six acres in sweet potatoes yielded 8,775 bushels. A total of 1,230 acres were devoted to other vegetables of various sorts while six acres culti- vated to tobacco produced 3,500 pounds. In common with many other Missouri counties some attention was paid to the raising of cane for feed and for sorghum, there being 521 acres so planted in 1910, yielding 2,507 tons of cane from which was manufactured 21,279 gallons of syrup.
The county reported 136,419 fruit trees with a total production of 56,833 bushels of various sorts of fruit during the decennial year. Di- vided into particular sorts there were 78,853 apple trees and a reported production of 53,692 bushels. The peach crop that year was light, the 39,237 trees only bearing 1,753 bushels. Four thousand five hundred thirty- nine pear trees bore 545 bushels while 8,641 plum trees are reported as bearing only 493 bushels ; 4,859 cherry trees yielded 286 bushels. Twenty- seven thousand five hundred seventy-six grape vines in the county bore 238,805 pounds of grapes.
The total cultivated acreage in small fruits was eighty-four, produc- ing 68,258 quarts of fruit. Of this acreage sixteen were in strawberries, showing a yield of 22,844 quarts and fifty-four acres were in blackberries and dewberries with a reported production of 35,216 quarts. In the sta- tistics of the county for the year 960 cultivated nut trees are noted and the production totalled 12,240 pounds.
During the year 1910 there was spent for hired labor on 1,378 farms reporting $166,054 in cash and to the value of $36,522 in board and lodg- ing. Only fifty-seven farms that year reported the use of fertilizer and but $1,686 was expended for the same. There were 1,281 farms on which purchased feed was fed, $316,813 being spent for it while the farms of the whole county received a grand total of $395,521 in cash from the sale of feedable crops.
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CHAPTER XXVII.
BIOGRAPHICAL
William F. Crome .- Personal achievement of moment and conse- quence to the community in which the individual under review has suc- ceeded in his life work is deserving of more than casual mention. The late William F. Crome, founder of the William F. Crome and Company, wholesale grocery company, of Clinton, Missouri, was a pioneer in his line of endeavor, and succeeded in establishing a wholesale business in Clinton when the undertaking was looked upon as of doubtful success by others of the business world. He established one of the first wholesale grocery concerns in western Missouri and did more than any other Clinton citi- zen in placing Clinton in the front rank of Missouri commercial towns. For a quarter of a century he contributed to the commercial develop- ment of Clinton and western Missouri. As far back as 1887, at a time when it was generally considered impracticable, if not imposible, to estab- lish a wholesale grocery house in Clinton, Mr. Crome came here and placed in operation a branch house of the Fink and Nasse Wholesale Grocery Company of St. Louis. He began the business here under the name of William F. Crome and Company and his sons are at this day proprietors of the business which he founded and are operating success- fully under the original title of the concern. Nearly a third of a century of square dealing has made the name of William F. Crome and Com- pany the leading one in the wholesale grocery world of this section of Missouri.
William F. Crome was born in Germany in 1853. When sixteen years of age he immigrated to America, without money or even influential friends to assist him in the upward climb to prosperous well being which became his after years of patient endeavor. He came to this country im-
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bued with the idea of making his fortune and was able and willing to perform any honest labor of which he was capable. He first located in Kentucky and from there went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he ob- tained employment in an eating place-a position which was no sinecure in those early days and requiring the hardest kind of labor. From Nash- ville he went to Decatur, an inland Missouri town, where he was employed as general assistant in a flouring mill and a general store. It was here that he secured his first experience in handling retail merchandise and gained an experience in business which was valuable to him in later years. His next move was to Bunker Hill, Kansas, where he operated a general store. Not long afterward he went to St. Louis and was married, shortly afterward returning to Bunker Hill with the intention of remain- ing there in business for himself. He soon sold out his interests in Kansas and, going to St. Louis, became connected with the firm of Fink and Nasse. Attaining a partnership in this concern, he remained in St. Louis until 1887, when he came to Clinton and established the wholesale grocery business which still bears his name and is operated by his sons. This was the first wholesale grocery business established in Henry County and is the leading one, covering a broad scope of territory in western Missouri.
The trade of this establishment covers a radius of about fifty miles of prosperous territory around Clinton, and everything usually found in a first-class, well-equipped wholesale grocery house can be had at short notice from the William F. Crome and Company. The reputation and high standing of this institution has been builded upon the twin pre- cepts of success-quality and service.
William F. Crome departed this life January 12, 1910 at his home in Clinton. He was in active management of his immense business until his health began to fail him. During his long years of residence in Clinton he took an active part in the upbuilding of the city and its de- velopment, contributing probably more than any other citizen of his day to the devolpment of this city and through his business, giving the city a wide advertisement as a trade center. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and lived a clean and upright life, being ever ready to contribute liberally to worthy religious and charitable enterprises. For a number of years he was a member of the Clinton school board and took an active and influential interest in educational matters until compelled to resign from the board on account of failing health.
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Mr. Crome was married in 1882 to Miss Julia Fink, of St. Louis. Mrs. Julia (Fink) Crome is the daughter of Conrad Fink, a man who had a remarkable business career and during his time was one of the captains of industry of St. Louis. Mr. Fink began his career as a steam- boat captain on the Mississippi River and became the owner of a fleet of boats plying that waterway in the days when the Mississippi was the great artery of commerce through the western and central sections of the country. He commanded the first boat to reach Memphis, flying the Union flag during the Civil War. After the war he engaged in the mill- ing business in St. Louis and amassed a fortune. Later, he engaged in the wholesale grocery business there and amassed another fortune. Mr. Fink died at Ashville, North Carolina, while sojourning there for his health.
To William F. and Julia (Fink) Crome were born five children: Carl A., William F., Robert, Conrad E., and Alice. William F., Conrad E., and Carl A., are now the owners and active managers of the business founded by their father, and which is carried on under the name of William F. Crome and Company. All are well educated and received a thorough training in the business under their capable and successful father and are enterprising and worthy citizens of the city of their birth and rearing. The sons of William F. Crome were all educated in the Culver Military Academy of Indiana, and are affiliated fraternally with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and are Knights Templars and members of the Mystic Shrine. The Crome Brothers represent a high type of progressive business men and good citizenship, being ever ready and liberal in their contributions and sup- port of worthy local enterprises. Carl A. Crome married Miss Helen Mitchell of Clinton, and has one child, Helen Elizabeth. Miss Alice Crome resides with her mother in Clinton. William F. Crome was married in July, 1918, to Miss Cory McConnell of Clinton. Conrad F. Crome was born August 5, 1892, is an enlisted officer in the National Army of the United States, was graduated from the Second Officers' Training Camp at Fort Sheridan, August 28, 1917, and is now serving as captain with the 305th Supply Train, with the American Field Army at the western front in France.
Charles Houston Whitaker, owner and editor of the Clinton daily and weekly "Democrat," was born in Savannah, Missouri, February 22, 1862, his parents being Charles Houston and Mary Elizabeth (Selecman) Whita-
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ker. He pursued his education in the schools of Macomb, Illinois, where he completed the high school course. His boyhood and youth were passed in Macomb and his initial training in newspaper work came to him in the office of his father, who was then owner and publisher of the Macomb "Eagle." Mr. Whitaker has been a resident of Clinton since 1894. He has made the "Democrat" both a mirror and molder of public opinion, utilizing the most progressive methods of modern journalism in the pub- lication of his paper, which in both the daily and weekly editions now has a wide circulation. The name indicates the political complexion of the paper and its editor, who has always been a stalwart advocate of Demo- cratic principles, content, however, to support the party as a private citizen rather than seek the rewards of office in recognition of party fealty.
On the seventh of October, 1891, in Galesburg, Illinois, Mr. Whitaker was united in marriage to Miss Ella May Martin, a daughter of T. B. Mar- tin, of Galesburg. They now have three children: Helen Elizabeth, Charles Houston and Marian Frances. Mr. Whitaker belongs to the Masonic fra- ternity, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, being exalted ruler of Clinton Lodge, No. 1034, in the years 1913-14. In private life as well as through his journalistic connections he stands for progressiveness in citizenship and for civic betterment and has made the "Democrat" a power for good along those lines.
Clay Adair, the well known postmaster of Clinton, Missouri, is a de- scendant of pioneer Missouri families on both the maternal and paternal sides. Mr. Adair was born in Fayette County, Texas, August 24, 1869, a son of Joseph and Margaret (Payne) Adair, both natives of Missouri, born at Independence. Joseph Adair was the first male white child born in Independence. He grew to manhood in Jackson County, and when gold was discovered in California in 1849 he made the trip via the overland route with Upton Hayes. After remaining on the coast for two years he returned by way of the Isthmus of Panama in 1851. In 1855 he went to Texas, where he was residing when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted in the Confederate army and after serving two years was discharged. His service was under General Myers. He died in 1904 and his wife died March 13, 1901, and their remains are interred in the Englewood Cemetery in Clinton. Margaret (Payne) Adair was a daughter of A. J. Payne, a pioneer of Independence, Missouri. He died in that locality and later his family started for California and the mother died on the way.
To Joseph and Margaret (Payne) Adair were born the following
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children, Thomas, deceased; John, deceased ; Mrs. Mary Wellborn, Chicka- sha, Oklahoma; A. J. Adair, deceased; Joseph D., deceased; Isaac, resides in Clinton, Missouri; Clay, the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Maggie Chap- man, deceased ; Mrs. Frank Taylor, El Reno, Oklahoma, and Mrs. Ray Wade, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Clay Adair was reared in Texas and educated in the district schools and Ad Ran College at Thorpe Springs, Texas. In early life he was engaged in the cattle business in western Texas, where he remained until 1888. The family then returned to Henry County, Missouri, and settled on a farm near Calhoun. Here Mr. Adair was engaged in general farming and stock raising until 1896, when he came to Clinton and engaged in the livery business. Two years later he was appointed deputy recorder of deeds for the county and at the death of William Duncan, Mr. Adair was appointed to serve the unexpired term by Governor Dockerty. In 1904 Mr. Adair was elected county treasurer of Henry County, and served one term of two years. He then accepted a position to serve as farm loan examiner for the Prudential Insurance Company, and on March 19, 1914, he was ap- pointed postmaster of Clinton, Missouri, by President Wilson, and re- appointed to that office at the expiration of his first term in 1918.
November 22, 1892, Mr. Adair was united in marriage with Miss Ollie M. Gutridge of Calhoun, Missouri. She is a daughter of John W. and Elizabeth (Pigg) Gutridge, one of the very early pioneer families of Henry County. A more complete history of the Gutridge family is given else- where in this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Adair have been born three chil- dren: Eugene D., now serving as deputy circuit clerk of Henry County ; Louise N., married T. L. Francisco, Clinton, Missouri, and Mary Margaret, who resides at home with her parents.
Mr. Adair is one of Henry County's foremost citizens and a capable and efficient public official. He has ever been true to any public trust delegated to him. He is public spirited and takes a keen interest in all matters pertaining to the betterment and upbuilding of the county and its institutions.
Peyton A. Parks .- The name of Parks figures prominently in connec- tion with the history of the courts in Henry County and Peyton A. Parks is today one of the distinguished members of the bar of Henry County. He was born in this county, August 22, 1855, a son of James and Mary (Allen) Parks. His paternal grandfather was one of Missouri's honored pioneer settlers and laid out and founded the city of Clinton. He was
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licensed to practice law in Kentucky in 1823 and became one of the early and prominent members of the Missouri bar, displaying notable ability in the trial of cases and the handling of important litigated interests en- trusted to his care. The name of Parks has for eighty years been closely associated with the history of Henry County and has ever been a synonym for progressiveness and public-spirited citizenship. James Parks, father of Peyton A. Parks, was born near Stanford, Lincoln County, Kentucky, October 23, 1827. In early life he devoted his attention to farming and school teaching. He accompanied his parents on their removal to Cooper County, Missouri, in 1827, and to Henry County in 1834 so that he here practically spent his entire life. In 1860 he was elected county assessor and made a creditable record in that capacity. Subsequently other official honors were conferred upon him. He became circuit clerk and recorder of deeds and while thus engaged his interest in the law led him to take up the study of the principles of jurisprudence and he was admitted to the bar. He then entered upon active practice as a member of the firm of R. Allen & Company and following the withdrawal of Mr. Allen, Judge Gantt joined Mr. Parks in a partnership, and with the addition of a third member, William T. Thornton, the firm style of Parks, Thornton & Gantt was assumed. That relation continued until Mr. Thornton was appointed governor of the territory of New Mexico by President Cleveland, and Judge Gantt went upon the circuit bench. Mr. Parks was joined by his son Peyton in 1880 and they continued together in the practice of law until the father retired because of old age. He was probate judge for twenty years and was long accounted one of the foremost members of the bar in his section of the State. He held to the highest ideals of the pro- fession and the thoroughness and care with which he prepared his cases and the clearness, force and logic with which he presented his cause before the courts made him notably successful. He died June 26, 1904, honored and respected by all who knew him. For about three years he had sur- vived his wife, who passed away July 2, 1901.
Peyton A. Parks was the only son in a family of six children. He at- tended both public and private schools of Clinton and when twenty years of age began teaching, remaining as principal of the Montrose schools for three and a half years. In the meantime he took up the study of law, to which he devoted his leisure hours, and following his admission to the bar he entered upon active practice in connection with his father. He has since continued as a general practitioner and devotes his entire time to
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his professional duties. Four generations of the Parks family have been connected with the legal profession in Clinton, for Peyton A. Parks is now associated with his only son, James A. They have one of the best equipped and most complete law offices to be found outside of the large cities. They occupy a suite of rooms in a two story building which they erected. The lower floor is divided into two large general offices, separated only by a broad archway and grille work. In the rear of these are the private offices. The walls are lined with long cases filled with works on law. The upper floor consists of one large room, richly carpeted, and at each end of the room is a long council table. In this room the four walls are completely lined with continuous shelves of books rising from the floor to more than three-fourths the height of the wall. Above the cases on one side of the room are enlarged pictures of the father and grand- father of Peyton A. Parks and also of his maternal grandfather, while the other four walls are adorned with pictures of well known statesmen and eminent men. With the contents of an extensive library Peyton A. Parks is largely familiar. He is a constant student of the law and seems never at a loss for principle or precedent to cite in proof of the correctness of his position.
On the twenty-first of September, 1882, Mr. Parks was married to Miss Mary E. Gathright, who was born in Callaway County, Missouri, a daughter of James and Hester E. (Shackleford) Gathright, both of whom were natives of Virginia and at an early day went to Callaway County. The father engaged in farming, but afterward turned his attention to merchandising in Henry County, although death soon terminated his busi- ness career in the latter county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Parks was born a son, James A., whose natal day was October 13, 1883. He is now associ- ated with his father in law practice. He married Miss Lizzie Wallis, and they have one child, Frances, born August 16, 1913. James A. Parks de- votes his entire time to his professional duties. Both father and son are members of the Masonic fraternity and hold membership with the Mod- ern Woodmen and with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. Pey- ton A. Parks as well as the junior member gives his political allegiance the Democratic party and always keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He was county school commissioner when engaged in teaching from 1879 to 1881 and also a member of the State tax com- mission under Governor Dockery. Both father and son have been very active in all patriotic lines and war activities. The former has been and
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is vice-chairman of the Red Cross in Henry County, speaking and organiz- ing on that line. For the past twenty-six years, or from 1892, Mr. Parks has been chairman of the sixth congressional committee. Mr. Peyton Parks and his wife are members of the Baptist Church and their social position is one of well deserved prominence. Theirs is a hospitable home and its good cheer is enjoyed by a constantly increasing circle of friends. A lifelong resident of Henry County, Peyton A. Parks has made an hon- orable record, following in the footsteps of father and grandfather and carrying on the work which was instituted by them in behalf of city and county. No history of this section would be considered complete without extended mention of the Parks family, so active have they been in sup- port of all that pertains to the welfare, progress and improvement of this section of the State.
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