History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 101

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844

USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 101

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When James R. Romines was very small the family moved from Vincit to Horse Is- land, as above noted, remaining there until James had passed his sixth birthday and was about ready to commence his school life. At that time he accompanied his parents to Ca- ruth ; his father was poor and the roads in the neighborhood of his new home were very bad, so the result was that the lad received very little education in the way of schooling, but he did receive a thorough training in all kinds of farm work, so that in 1890, when at the age of twenty he started out to carve his own career, he was equipped with a work- ing knowledge of the various classes of agri- cultural pursuits, which stood him in good

stead. Leaving home with a capital of ten dollars, he passed the ensuing three years as a farm hand, working for the farmers in the neighborhood of Caruth. He did not draw on his capital, but on the other hand he constantly added to it all that he could pos- sibly save, and at the expiration of three years he bought a tract of land on Horse Is- land and commenced farming operations on the place. After two years' steady cultiva- tion of the soil he had made many improve- ments in the farm, and he was able to dispose of it at a profit. For the following four or five years he rented a place, and in the mean- time he watched for an opportunity to be- come permanently located. He bought forty acres of land near Kennett, his present home, but he now owns a tract of sixty acres, and inasmuch as the land has doubled in value since he bought it, he is worth three times as much as when he first came to Kennett. He has done much to bring his farm to a high state of cultivation,-has put up new fences, built new outbuildings and generally im- proved the place. In addition to managing his own land, he rents about eighty acres yearly, making about one hundred and fifty acres of land which he farms, raising cotton and corn for the most part, but he also de- votes part of his land to stock raising.

On the 8th of January, 1890, Mr. Romines married Josephine Akers, who was born in Alabama, in 1872, where her father was en- gaged in farming. She is a daughter of Leb and Jane (Stone) Akers, both natives of Ala- bama and both are deceased, as are Mrs. Ro- mines' three brothers and three sisters. The Akers family moved to Vincit, Missouri, in 1874, when the little Josephine was a mere child, and as a matter of course she made the acquaintance of James Romines, her neigh- bor. To the union of the young people two children were born, Hersel, whose birthday was on St. Patrick's Day, 1896, and Nolar, born May 23, 1900.

Mr. Romines is a Democrat in political sympathies. He is a member of the Wood- men of the World, being affiliated with the Caruth lodge, in which he has held office at different times. He was for years active in the different enterprises of the Shady Grove Mission Baptist church, standing high in the regard of its members, as with the farmers in the community where he has spent all of his life. Mrs. Romines is a member of this church.

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HISTORY OF SOUTHIEAST MISSOURI

THOMAS B. SHARP, who is ably filling the office of marshal of Fredericktown, Missouri, has been the popular and efficient incumbent of a number of important offices of public trust and responsibility since his arrival in this place, in 1892. He was sheriff of Madi- son county for four years and for two years was county collector. He is loyal and public- spirited in his civic attitude and is ever on the qui vive to do all in his power to ad- vance the best interests of this section of the state.

Mr. Sharp was born in Iron county, Mis- souri, some five miles south of Ironton, the date of his nativity being the 28th of July, 1855. His father, John Q. A. Sharp, was a son of Robert L. Sharp and he died in 1889, at the age of sixty-two years. John Sharp was a small boy when his father worked at the mine LaMotte. As a youth he became interested in a colliery, engaging in the manu- facture of charcoal until the Pilot Knob mine was started, when he secured employ- ment in it as a miner. He also owned a farm sixteen miles southwest of Fredericktown, on the St. Francis river, where he resided dur- ing the closing years of his life, his death having occurred in ISSS. He married Miss Jane Sutton and they became the parents of six children, of whom the subject of this review was the third in order of birth and four of whom, two sons and two daughters, are living at the present time, in 1911.

To the public schools of Iron and Madison county Thomas B. Sharp is indebted for his preliminary educational training. He was a child of ten years of age at the time of his parents' removal from Iron county to the vicinity of Fredericktown, where he has since passed the greater portion of his life. For three years he was engaged in ranching and stock-raising in Texas and he holds a reputa- tion for being the first man in Madison county to feed a carload of stock here. He is the owner of considerable farming property in Madison county and he also owns land in Oklahoma, his holdings in this county amount- ing to eight hundred acres, the same con- taining timber and valuable mineral deposits. A portion of this land is under cultivation. In 1892 Mr. Sharp was honored by his fel- low citizens with election to the office of sher- iff of Madison county, and that year marks his advent in Fredericktown. His work as sheriff covered a period of four years and during that time he was instrumental in greatly raising the standard of law and order

in the county. In 1896 he was elected county collector and in 1908 was chosen for the of- fice of city marshal. IIe was re-elected to the latter office in 1910 and is serving in that capacity at the present time. In politics he is an uncompromising supporter of the prin- eiples and policies promulgated by the Demo- cratie party, in the local councils of which he is an active worker.

On January 27, 1877, Mr. Sharp wedded Miss Alma S. King, whose birth occurred in Madison county and who is a daughter of Alexander King, a farmer near the St. Fran- cis river. Mr. and Mrs. Sharp are the par- ents of four children, concerning whom the following brief data are here recorded : Millie Emeline is the wife of William T. White, a farmer in Madison county, and they have one child, Thomas; Robert L. remains at the parental home; Flavia Eveline is a stenog- rapher in the Third National Bank building at St. Louis; and George Gilbert is in the United States Marine service, his headquar- ters being at Norfolk, Virginia.

In fraternal circles Mr. Sharp is a valued and appreciative member of the time-hon- ored Masonic order and he is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Brother- hood of America and the Modern Woodmen of America. In religious matters he is a con- sistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. The life of Mr. Sharp is a noble illustration of what independence, self-faith and self-reliance can accomplish in America. He is absolutely self-made and for that reason his admirable success in the business world of this section of the state is the more gratify- ing to contemplate.

GEORGE W. TARLTON, M. D. One of the prominent and well known physicians and surgeons of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, is Dr. George W. Tarlton, who in connection with his medical work, conducts a large and flour- ishing drug business at Cape Girardeau.

Dr. George W. Tarlton was born in the state of Kentucky, just across the river from New Madrid, the date of his nativity being the 13th of October, 1849. He is a son of Alexander C. Tarlton, who was born in 1828, at the old Tarlton home in Wayne county, about four miles northeast of Wappapello, on which beautiful estate he was reared and where he was engaged in agricultural opera- tions during the greater part of his active business career. In 1864, on the 18th of

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HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

December, he was murdered by a band of guerrilas, who entered the home on Sun- day evening, saying: "You d- black Re- publican, ain't you ashamed of yourself ?" The mother of the Doctor was Arzula Phillips in her girlhood days and she was born and reared in the vicinity of New Madrid. Alex- ander C. Tarlton was twice married and by his first marriage he became the father of four children, of whom the Doctor is the only survivor at the present time, his two sis- ters and one brother having died in infancy. The second marriage was prolific of six chil- dren, of whom three are now living.

Dr. Tarlton attended school in his native place until he had reached the age of fifteen years when he left home and came to Cape Girardeau, which city has continued to rep- resent his place of residence during the long intervening years to the present time, with the exception of a period of two years, from 1881 to 1883, during which time he lived in Wayne county. For three years he was a stu- dent in the state normal school, at Cape Girardeau. In 1871, at the age of twenty- one years, he engaged in the drug business, continuing to follow that line of enterprise until 1879, in which year he was matriculated as a student in the St. Louis Medical College, in which excellent institution he was gradu- ated as a member of the class of 1881, duly receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately after graduation he entered up- on the active practice of his profession at Pocahontas, later removing to Oak Ridge. In 1890 he returned to Cape Girardeau, where he now controls a large and lucrative patron- age and where he is also engaged in the drug business. In connection with his life work he is a valued and ap- preciative member of the Southeastern Medical Society and of the Cape Girardeau Medical Society. In the time-honored Ma- sonic order he is affiliated with the Scottish Rite branch and he is also a valued member of the local lodge of the Woodmen of the World. His religious faith is in harmony with the tenets of the Baptist church and in politics he accords an unswerving allegiance to the principles promulgated by the Dem- ocratic party.

Dr. Tarlton has been twice married, his first union having been to Miss Addie Penny, the ceremony having been performed on the 18th of March, 1880. Mrs. Tarlton was called to eternal rest four and a half months after her marriage and on the 29th of November, 1882,

was solemnized the marriage of the Doctor to ; Miss Maggie Morton, who was born and reared at Pocahontas, Missouri. To this union have been born four children, concerning whom the following brief data are here in- corporated,-David W. P. Tarlton is a den- 1 tist by profession and he is engaged in that work at Marshall, Arkansas; Lou B. is a teacher at Cape Girardeau; Ann, who is the wife of George Cochran, resides at Hoxie, Arkansas; and Mary Katrina, fourteen years of age, is a student in the local high school.

GUY F. KAHMANN. It is to be doubted whether a man in a position of great trust realizes the confidence and esteem thus ex- hibited by his friends and fellow citizens. Guy F. Kahmann of this review holds just such a position, but he is deeply conscious of the trust reposed in him as cashier of the First National Bank of Washington, and la- bors valiantly and well to uphold that con- fidence.

Our subject came from good old German stock, thrifty, alert and honest, his father, Christopher H. Kahmann, having been born in Hanover, Germany, in 1828. He came to the United States when but a small boy of eleven years, but there is no record of where his youth was passed or what were his edu- cational advantages, but his later business success marked him as a man of unusual and extraordinary acumen, being endowed with a capacity for affairs of broad scope. Mr. Kahmann was a leading citizen of Wash- ington for many years, being the pro- prietor of the pork-packing business in that city, instituted in 1856 and con- tinued until his death in 1883 and then until 1887 under his successor, Guy F. Kahmann, when it yielded to the pressure of the great packing interests of St. Louis and Kansas City and became extinct. Christopher H. Kahmann married Anna Mense, a daughter of Gerhard Uhlenbrock Mense, who was en- gaged in the saw and grist-mill business in Franklin county for many years, coming to that county in 1833. The children born to this union were as follows: George H., who died in Kansas City in February, 1911, a prominent contractor of that city; William, who was a lawyer and a publisher, and passed away in Washington in October, 1893; Guy F., the immediate subject of this review; Annie, the wife of Charles Wynne, of New York city; Cassilda, who married John B. Busch, of Washington; and Joseph F., of

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Kansas City, special agent for the London and Lancashire Insurance Company.

Guy F. Kahmann, our subject, was born in Franklin county, Missouri, September 6, 1858, the son of Christopher H. and Anna (Mense) Kahmann. He received a sure foundation for whatever business he chose to adopt in hav- ing received good educational advantages, than which there is no greater heritage. He entered Pio Nono College in 1873 in Milwau- kee, Wisconsin, and completed the commer- cial training in that college to prepare him for practical life. As above stated, he be- came a member of the firm of C. H. Kah- mann & Son, of which his father was the founder in 1856, and continued in this busi- ness until 1887, carrying on the business him- self some four years after his father's de- mise. After the abandonment of this pork- packing industry he associated himself with the firm of H. Tibbe & Son Manufacturing Company, the predecessors of the Missouri Meerschaum Company of Washington, and was its secretary and treasurer for nearly a quarter of a century, his ability and value in this concern being evidenced by the length of time of his association with it.

The First National Bank of Washington was organized by E. C. Stuart, of Cape Gir- ardeau, in 1900, and in 1910 our subject was chosen cashier, succeeding Mr. E. C. Stuart, who is now connected with the Third National Bank of St. Louis, at which time he severed his connection with the Missouri Meerschaum Company. The other officials of the bank are: A. Kahmann, president, and E. C. Stuart and E. H. Otto, vice-presidents. Its capital stock and surplus is at the present time, 1911, $38,000.00, and deposits, $250,000.00, and its board of directors comprise some of the most successful business men of Washington and community. This bank is a sound and safe moneyed institution of this part of Missouri.

Mr. Guy F. Kahmann was united in the holy bonds of wedlock with Miss Regina Wel- lenkamp, a native daughter of Franklin county, this marriage being solemnized in Washington on the 11th of September, 1883, and Mrs. Kahmann being the daughter of Henry and Katharine (Menkhaus) Wellen- kamp, the former an early merchant of Wash- ington. To this union have been born six children, as follows: Walter H., assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Wash- ington; Regina; Leander, who is with the Roberts, Johnson & Rand Shoe Company of

St. Louis ; Raymond J .; Othmar M .; and Rosa L., deceased.

While Mr. Kahmann has never desired to avail himself of the honors or emoluments of office, he has ever kept in touch with party politics, and is firmly allied on the side of the Democratic party. He devotes much time to his family and his friends, and con- sequently has not found leisure to join any fraternal organizations. The Kahmann family are members of the Catholic church. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Kahmann is one of the most pleasant and hospitable in Washington, and the latch-string is always out not only to their friends but to any one in distress or trouble.

SAMUEL THOMAS MCGEE is one of the prominent farmer-citizens of Bollinger county and he is also a veteran of the Civil war, his military record in the great conflict being a thrilling one whose recountal has brought to many a youthful check the glow of interest and enthusiasm. He is a native son of Missouri, his birth having occurred in Washington county on the 2nd day of Feb- rnary, 1842, and his parents were Samuch and Elvira (Thompson) McGee, both natives of the state. The scene of the father's birth was Washington county and that of the mother's Cape Girardeau. He is of Irish de- scent, both his paternal grandparents having claimed Erin as their birthplacc. Their names were Felix and Elizabeth McGee. The great-grandfather, Patrick McGee, was also a native of Ireland, as was his wife, Rosa. His great-grandfather Dennis was born, lived and died in Ireland. The birth dates of the father and mother of Mr. McGee were 1813 and 1815.

Mr. McGee was reared upon a farm and has spent almost his entire life amid rural surroundings. A young man less than twenty years of age at the outbreak of the Civil war, he was none the less one of the first to enlist, in 1861 joining Company B. Sixth Missouri Infantry under the command of William Te- cumseh Sherman, and Captain John W. Fletcher, as a member of the First Brigade. Second Division of the Fifteenth Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee. A brief re- sume of his service includes many of the great and decisive events of the struggle be- tween the states. He was in the engagement at Chickasaw Bayon, Mississippi, when Sher- man was repulsed; the battle of Arkansas

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Post; at Champion Hill and Jackson, Mis- souri; he was present at the siege of Vicks- burg and participated in the battle of Mis- sionary Ridge, near Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was in the forced march from Chatta- nooga to Knoxville, in eastern Tennessee, when General Burnside was surrounded by General Longstreet. He then started with Sherman on the march to the sea in the spring of 1864, and after that was in one con- tinual fight until June 24, 1864, at which time he received his discharge.

Upon the termination of his career as a soldier Mr. McGee returned to Jefferson county, Missouri, and in 1870 bonght eighty acres of land in the vicinity of Glen Allen, Missouri. Since then he has added twenty- four acres, his property now consisting of one hundred and four acres. It is an excellent farm, fruitful and well improved and it is very dear to Mr. McGee, who has made his home upon it for forty-one years.

On October 1, 1863, Mr. McGee was hap- pily married to Mary A. Brinley, daughter of Michael and Catherine (Baldwin) Brin- ley, natives of Missouri. Mrs. McGee passed to the life eternal June 29, 1880, after be- coming the mother of the following children : Elvira, born in 1865, wife of R. A. Porter; Sarah Elizabeth, born in 1866, the wife of Edward Stanton; Patrick F., born in 1868, died 1890; Jessie, born in 1870, wife of Phin- eas Haynes; Minerva, born in 1872, wife of James Stewart; William Jackson, born in 1874, died in 1904; and Andrew M., born in 1879, and married to Ida Cole. He was mar- ried a second time, to Rachel Browner, daughter of William and Lydia Browner, natives of Tennessee and Kentucky, respec- tively, their nnion being solemnized May 7. 1881. The two sons of this union are Jasper . Samuel, born in 1883, and married to Grace Sample ; and Thomas Sherman. born in 1894.

Mr. McGee and his worthy wife are affil- iated with the Methodist Episcopal church and the former is an influential Republican who has from time to time held publie office acceptably. He was deputy sheriff of Bol- linger county for two years; justice of the peace for twelve years; and public adminis- trator four years. He is interested in all things likely to benefit the community, and the county finds in him one of the valuable citizens.

JAMES A. ROGERS, of Kennett, is a man of the highest sense of honor, which has never

been besmirched. He is exceptionally fair minded in all of his conclusions, having the unusual ability to see both sides of a question. His history has been an interesting one.

He was born in Giles county, Tennessee, in 1848, ou the 6th of November, the son of John and Susannah Rogers, both natives of South Carolina. They lived in Tennessee until 1860, when they came to Dunklin county, Missouri. They bought land at Caruth and also cotton gins, operating the same for about four years. They then bought the Redman farm at Vincit, six miles south of Kennett, where they both died and were buried on the farm. He was sixty-four when he died and she was seventy-five at her death. They had a family of five children, three of whom are living now. Louisa married Tom Romines and is now his widow. She has one son, James. The other daughter is Emma, who married Mr. Snipes of Kennett.

The third child living is James A., who speut the first twelve years of his life in Tennessee, coming to Dunklin county when he was twelve years old. For four years they lived on Horse Island, farming. He then moved six miles south of Kennett. From the time he first moved to Missouri he did not have a great deal of schooling, but helped his father on the farm and with the cotton gins. He lived at home until he was twenty-six years old, for the last five years of that time taking full charge of the farm, part of which his father had deeded to him and he still owns it. He lived on the farm until 1910, when he moved into Kennett. He had one hundred acres of land to start out with, to' which he added as he was able until he had three hundred and one and a half acres. the large proportion of which he cleared himself. He sold part of this large farm, now owning two hundred and sixty acres on which he has built a new house and buildings. The farm- ers around say that Mr. Roger's farm is the best one in that section of the country. He grows grain and cotton on his land. For a few years he operated a cotton gin, but gave that up long ago. Vincit post office and gen- eral store were on his farm, he being post- master from 1895 to 1902. He is a Demo- crat, but aside from casting his vote at elec- tion times he does not take any active part in politics.

In 1879 he married Lavisa Barger, daugh- ter of Philip and Jane Barger. They came from Indiana to Missouri in the fifties, their daughter Lavisa having been born since their

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removal to Missouri. Mr. Barger was killed by the guerillas during the Civil war, as they vere believed to be in sympathy with the South. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have had three children. The eldest is Audrey, who was ed- icated in the state normal school at Cape Girardeau and has been a teacher for the past seven years, now teaching in the Kennett school with great success. Thomas, the elder boy, also attended the state normal and died October 30, 1909, when he was twenty years old. The youngest child is Ray, who is at present a high school student.

Mr. Rogers is not a member of any church, but his family attend the Baptist church. He is interested in education, perhaps all the more because his own schooling was of ne- cessity rather meagre and what he knows he has had to gather from reading and observa- tion as he went along. He has made a point of giving his children the best education that he could, realizing the advantages that it would be to them, no matter what line they might follow in after years. Mr. Rogers is very devoted to the county where he has lived practically all of his life, and the county is fully appreciative of Mr. Rogers and all that he has done in a quiet way for its improvement ; he is widely known and as uni- versally respected.

MOSES BURETTE BARBER, M. D., of Flat River, is one of the foremost professional and business men of southeastern Missouri. Dur- ing his career as a physician and surgeon his practice has grown to the extent of his ability to care for it, and in addition many important business interests require his attention.

Dr. Barber was born at Frohne, Perry county, Missouri, August 30, 1869, and spent his early life on a farm in that county and in Wayne county. His early education was secured in the public schools and at the Carl- ton Institute and Farmington Baptist Col- lege. and thus equipped he entered educa- tional work and for seven years taught school, during the last two years being prin- cipal of the Mine La Motte public schools. For two succeeding years he was engaged in the drug business at Bonne Terre. Having in the meantime taken up the study of medi- cine, he took his degree of Doctor of Medicine at the Barnes Medical College on April 12. 1899. His entrance in this profession was at Flat River, where he has resided for the past twelve years.

Dr. Barber was the organizer of the Flat

River Ice & Cold Storage Company and is its president. This company, which is capital- ized at fifty thousand dollars, has two plants, one at Bonne Terre and one at Flat River. He also was one of the organizers and is a stockholder in the Central Steam Laundry at Flat River. For two years he was president of the Miners and Merchants Bank, of which he is still a director. ITis real estate holdings include property in Flat River and extensive interests in New Mexico.

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History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 101

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 844

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844