USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 76
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Dr. Dearmont clearly recalls the scenes and incidents of his boyhood days on the old homestead plantation in Virginia, and he is indebted to the common schools of his na- tive commonwealth for his rudimentary edu- cational discipline. He was a lad of twelve years at the time of the family removal from Virginia to Holt county, Missouri where he was reared to adult age under the sturdy and invigorating discipline of the home farm, in the work of which he gave effective assistance, the while he availed himself of the advan- tages of the public schools of the locality and period. His ambition to secure a liberal edu- cation was early quickened and was one of definite action. The financial resources of his parents were limited and thus he de- pended upon his own exertions in gaining the funds which enabled him to complete his higher academic education. When nineteen
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years of age Dr. Dearmont gained, in a dis- triet school, his first practical experience in the pedagogic profession, and by his con- tinned and effective labors as a teacher in the public schools he provided for the ex- penses of his collegiate courses. In 1880 he was matriculated in the University of Mis- souri, at Columbia, in which he was grad- uated as a member of the class of 1885 and from which he received the degree of Bache- lor of Arts. He continued to teach in the public schools after his graduation and fin- ally completed an effective post-graduate course in his alma mater, the state univer- sity, which conferred upon him in 1889 the degree of Master of Arts. For eight years he taught in the schools of Mound City, in his home county, and during the last five years of this period he held the position of prin- cipal. From 1893 until 1899 he was super- intendent of the public schools of Kirkwood, St. Lonis county, and no better evidence of his snecess in his chosen profession could be given than that afforded in his selection, in 1899, for his present important office, that of president of the Missouri State Normal School at Cape Girardeau, where his labors have been admirably directed and where he has gained unquestioned distinction and prestige as one of the leading factors in connection with educational activities in the state which has been his home from his boy- hood days and in which he has secure van- tage ground in popular confidence and es- teem. He has made of his profession not a means to an end but a distinctive vocation which he has deemed worthy of his unequi- vocal devotion, with the result that his sue- cess has been marked and his rewards unstinted in the sense of good accomplished. In recognition of these services, the degree of Doctor of Literature was conferred on him by Westminster College.
Subordinating all other interests to the demands of his chosen vocation, Dr. Dear- mont naturally has had no desire to enter the turbulent stream of practical politics. though he takes a broad-minded interest in public affairs and gives his allegiance to the cause of the Democratic party. He is a valued member of the Missouri State Teach- ers' Association and many other educational organizations and both he and his wife are zealous and devoted members of the Presby- terian church. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. Dr. and Mrs. Dearmont
are valued factors in connection with the best social activities of their home city and their influence in this connection is refined and benignant, as is it also in the various other relations of life. Their circle of friends is coincident with that of their acquaintances and their home is a center of gracious hos- pitality.
On the 31st of May, 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Professor Dearmont to Miss Julia Lee McKee, of Mound City, Holt county. Mrs. Dearmont was born at Mary- ville, Missouri, and is a daughter of Horace N. and Sarah (Scott) MeKee. He now main- tains his home with a daughter at Bigelow, Missouri, and is living retired. The mother died in 1899. Dr. and Mrs. Dearmont have three children,-Russell Lee, Julian Scott and Nelson Strother.
ARTHUR C. BOWMAN. Prominently identi- fied with a line of business enterprise that ever has important bearing on the civic and material progress and prosperity of any com- munity, Mr. Bowman is one of the leading representatives of the real-estate business in the fine section of country to which this his- tory is devoted. He is manager of the South- east Realty Company, of Cape Girardeau, and he has shown marked discrimination and initiative and administrative ability in di- recting the affairs of this company, whose op- erations have reached a broad scope, involving the handling of farm, city and village prop- erties throughout the various sections of southeastern Missouri. Mr. Bowman is a man of ambition and resourcefnl energy. as has been amply demonstrated in his independent career. He depended upon his own resources in the securing of higher academic edneation. and became a successful and popular factor in the work of the pedagogic profession, to which he devoted his attention for several years. He is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of sontheastern Missouri and he has well upheld the prestige of the hon- ored name which he bears. Thus there are many points that render most consonant his recognition in this publication-especially on the score of his being at the present time one of the representative business men of the younger generation in Cape Girardean, where his circle of friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances.
Arthur Caswell Bowman was born on a
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farm in Lawrence township, Bollinger county, Missouri, on the 24th of October, 1880, and is the third in order of birth of the ten children born to Miles W. and Catherine (Snider) Bowman, both of whom were like- wise born and reared in Bollinger county, where the respective families were founded in the early pioneer days. Groves Washington Bowman, the paternal grandfather of him whose name initiates this review, was a native of North Carolina and he became one of the early settlers in Bollinger county, in south- eastern Missouri, where he engaged in agri- cultural pursuits and where he passed the residue of his life. He contributed his quota to the development and upbuilding of this favored section of the state and was a man who ever commanded unqualified popular es- teem. The lineage of the Bowman family is traced back to staunch Holland Dutch origin and representatives of the name were num- bered among the early settlers of North Car- olina, where they took up their abode in the colonial epoch of our national history.
Miles W. Bowman was reared to maturity in Bollinger county and was afforded the ad- vantages of the common schools of the local- ity and period. He was there identified suc- cessfully with agricultural pursuits for many years and for thirty years he also conducted a general merchandise store in the little hamlet of Glen Allen, Bollinger county, where he was a citizen of prominence and in- fluence and where he continued to reside un- til about 1894, when he removed to the city of Cape Girardeau, where he has since main- tained his home and where he is now living virtually retired from active business. He is a staunch Democrat in his political proclivi- ties and his religious faith is that of the Meth- odist church, of which his noble wife likewise was a zealous member. Mrs. Bowman was born and reared in Bollinger county, where her father. the late Josiah Snider, established his home in the pioneer days. Mrs. Bowman was summoned to the life eternal in 1895, se- cure in the affectionate regard of all who had come within the sphere of her gentle influ- ence. and of her four sons and six daughters two sons and one daughter died in childhood. Concerning the surviving children the follow- ing brief record is entered : Clara is the wife of Will E. Walker, of Timpas, Colorado; Lee L. is a representative member of the bar of Cape Girardeau ; Arthur C. is the immediate subject of this review : William O. is assistant ashier of the First National Bank of Cape Girardeau ; Mollie C. is the wife of Theodore
E. Head, who is engaged in the real-estate business in the city of Dallas, Texas; May is a popular teacher in the public schools of Timpas, Colorado; and Vesta, who remains with her father, is attending the Normal school of Cape Girardeau.
Arthur C. Bowman passed his boyhood days in his native county, where he gained his initial experience in connection with the sturdy discipline of the farm and where he was afforded the advantages of the public schools of the little village of Glen Allen. Later he continued his studies in the public schools of Cape Girardeau, and for the pur- pose of securing funds to pursue higher aca- demic studies he worked on farms and at other occupations during vacation seasons. Thus his ambition was one of definite pur- pose and action, and after completing the ele- mentary course in the Missouri State Nor- mal School at Cape Girardeau, he engaged in teaching in the country schools, to which line of work he devoted his attention for two years, and in connection with which he re- ceived a compensation of forty dollars a month. From this diminutive salary he saved sufficient amount to permit the completion of his regular academic course in the state nor- mal school which he had previously attended and in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1902. For one year thereafter he held the position of first assistant principal of the public schools of Sikeston, Scott county, after which he served two years as principal of the high school at Norwood, Wright county. During the following school year he continued his effective pedagogie work, in charge of the grammar department of the Douglas County Normal School. In the meanwhile he had passed about one year in travel through various sections of the west.
In 1907, believing that other fields of en- deavor would afford better opportunities than continued service in the pedagogie pro- fession. Mr. Bowman turned his attention to the real-estate business, in which he became associated with his brother Lee L., at Cape Girardeau. under the title of the Bowman Brothers Realty Company. He continued as active manager of the business until Septem- ber. 1910, when he sold his interest in the same to his father, and assumed his present office, that of manager of the Southeast Realty Company. He has made a close study of real-estate values and is an authority in this line, so that he has been most successful
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in his operations in the handling of realty of all kinds. The company with which he is now identified has built up a large and im- portant business, the ramifications of which extend throughout the various counties of southeastern Missouri, and he is showing marked circumspection and discrimnation in the adminstration of its affairs, the while his sterling character and correct methods have gained to him the implicit confidence of those with whom he has had dealings. He is pro- gressive, alert and aggressive as a business man, and as a citizen is loyal and public- spirited. A man of broad mental ken, and of genial personality, he has gained a wide cir- cle of friends in this section of the state, and has a secure place in the esteem of all who know him.
In politics Mr. Bowman accords a staunch allegiance to the cause of the Democratic party and he takes a broad-minded interest in public affairs, especially those of local or- der. He is affiliated with Cape Girardeau Lodge, No. 639, Benevolent & Protective Or- der of Elks, and for two years has been secre- tary of the Commercial Club of Cape Girar- deau. In religion he is a Methodist. Mr. Bowman still remains in the ranks of eligible bachelors and is a popular factor in both business and social circles in his home city.
WILLIAM LEE BARRETT. In the many im- portant lines in which southeastern Missouri has made great strides in the past decade, none is more noteworthy than that of educa- tion, and one of the chief factors in the at- tainment of this supreme benefit is Profes- sor William Lee Barrett, superintendent of the schools of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. He is by no means one content with "letting well enough alone," but is a constant stu- dent of the best educational methods and has succeeded in keeping abreast of the most modern and enlightened thought and im- pressing this upon the schools in his charge.
Mr. Barrett was born near Nevada, Story county, Iowa, December 27, 1870, the son of John Thomas and Margaret (Seabold) Bar- rett. He was one of a family of two chil- dren, his only brother, Jesse Cross Barrett, living at Poplar Bluff, Missouri. He spent his youth in his native county, receiving his preliminary education in the district schools and subsequently matriculating at Drake University, from which institution he was graduated in 1895 with the degree of Bach- elor of Scientific Didactics.
Mr. Barrett taught in the district schools of Ringgold county, Iowa, for three years, and in 1893 assumed the principalship of the Primrose, Iowa, public schools, in which posi- tion he continued until elected superintend- ent of the Birmingham, Iowa, schools in 1896.
In 1899 he was chosen principal of the Fort Madison (Iowa) high school, building up one of the most remarkable secondary schools in the state, and continued in that capacity until elected to his present position in 1905, having successfully served in the ensu- ing six years as superintendent of the Poplar Bluff schools. He is well and favorably known not only in this part of the state, but in those sections of Iowa in which he has lived and la- bored as a particularly enlightened instructor and one who ever makes it his object to keep the highest ideals constantly before the mind of the student. He is one of whom it may be said that he was born as well as made to the high calling to which he lias chosen to devote his life.
Mr. Barrett has taught in summer normals and institutes for years and attends regu- larly the district, state and many of the na- tional educational associations. He is at the present time a member of the state educa- tional council and also of the executive com- mittee of the State Teachers' Association.
Mr. Barrett is a member of the Christian church, and is one of the most valued and useful of its members, serving at the pres- ent time as Bible school superintendent and member of the church board. He is a loyal Mason and exemplifies in his life those ideals of moral and social justice and brotherly love for which the order stands. He is a member of several of the Masonic orders and has served in several official capacities. He belongs to the R. R. Y. M. C. A. and is at the present time a member of the local board of directors.
Mr. Barrett established a happy household by his marriage, on August 11, 1902, to Bertha E. Lightfoot, of Fort Madison, Iowa, their two young sons, John Willis and Paul Burdette, having been born September 4, 1909, and May 30, 1911, respectively. Profes- sor and Mrs. Barrett are highly esteemed members of society and play a useful part in the many-sided life of the community to whose interests they are signally loyal.
WILLIAM L. TUCKER. Talented and cul- tured, William L. Tucker, of Bloomfield, pro-
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bate judge for Stoddard county, has won pres- tige as an attorney-at-law and has been an im- portant factor in promoting the highest inter- ests of town and county, his influence having been especially marked in educational affairs. He was born January 31, 1871, in Shelby county, Indiana, and was educated, princi- pally, in Ohio, completing his early studies at the National Normal University at Lebanon and taking a special course under Professor Albert Holbrook, a noted educator.
Mr. Tucker subsequently taught school three years in Indiana, from there coming, in April, 1895, to Stoddard county, Missouri, where he continued his pedagogical labors for five years, teaching first at Advance, then at Idalia, and later being for two years princi- pal of the Bloomfield Public School. He was really the founder of the Bloomfield High School as it now stands, having systematized the course of study, introduced new methods, and having secured as its first superintendent one of his classmates in the Ohio Normal Uni- versity, Professor I. H. Hughes, an able and progressive teacher, who did much to elevate the standard of the school, placing it on a high plane of achievement.
While teaching Mr. Tucker began reading law, and after his admission to the Missouri bar, in 1900, was associated with the well known Judge Thomas Connelley. He made a specialty of laws relating to real estate and land titles, becoming an authority on lands and on drainage, and for ten years carried on a fine civil practice. Being elected judge of probate, Mr. Tucker assumed the duties of his office on January 1, 1911, and is performing them with characteristic ability and fidelity.
Politically Mr. Tucker is prominent in the Democratic ranks, and in addition to being active in campaign work has served as a dele- gate to judicial, congressional and state con- ventions. He has rendered efficient service both on the local school board and in the city council. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; of the Modern Woodmen of America; and of the Knights of Pythias, in which he is especially active in lodge work.
Mr. Tucker married, in Bloomfield, in 1897, Minnie Cone, a successful school teacher and a half-sister of Ralph Wammack. Mr. and Mrs. Tucker have five children living, namely : Vivian, Kent, Ralph, William L. and Evange- line. Mrs. Tucker is a woman of culture and refinement, and a consistent member of the Baptist church.
HON. JAMES L. FORT. Bringing to the practice of his profession a well trained mind and habits of industry, which have won for him genuine success, Judge James L. Fort, of Dexter, for twelve years judge of the Twenty-second judicial circuit, took his seat upon the bench exceptionally well equipped for its duties, not only by scholarship and ability, but by natural gifts and temper- ament, and his wise decisions in various cases of importance have had a permanent bear- ing upon the development of Southeastern Missouri. A native of Illinois, Judge Fort was born February 18, 1854, in Johnson county, where he received his rudimentary education.
Judge Fort comes of a family whose tradi- tions date back to the early history of Vir- ginia and Maryland. According to the tales handed down from father to son the family was founded in this country by three brothers who came over from Ireland and settled in these two states. The paternal great-grand- father of Judge Fort was a native of Vir- ginia, who had crossed the mountains and set- tled in Kentucky as a planter at a very early day. He settled in Christian county, and there his son Garrie was born. Garrie Fort be- came a planter and spent the whole of his life in Kentucky, though he never became very prosperous. He married Miss Condor, and died during middle age, while his wife survived him many years, dying at the age of seventy- five. The father of Judge Fort was Mears P. Fort and was born in Christian county, Kentucky. There he was reared and there he married, removing to Johnson county, Illi- nois, in 1853. He became a farmer, and pur- sued that occupation up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1882, when he was fifty-eight years of age. His wife was Anna Hester, who was a native of Virginia. Her father was James Hester, and her mother's maiden name was Keaton. Both of them were natives of Virginia, and they removed to Kentucky in 1837. There, in Trigg county, they settled, and the husband became a planter. Mrs. Fort and her husband were the parents of twelve children, five of whom are living today. She lived to be seventy- four years old, dying in 1898.
Migrating to Stoddard county, Missouri, in February, 1880, James L. Fort taught school during the long winter seasons, and worked on the farm during seed time and harvest, for four years. In 1884 he began reading law, and in 1886, soon after his admission to the
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Missouri bar, was elected prosecuting at- torney of Stoddard county. In this capacity he won a fine reputation for professional knowledge and skill, and when, in 1898, he was nominated for judge of the Twenty-sec- ond judicial circuit he was elected over his Republican opponent by a plurality of votes amounting to nearly five thousand, nine hun- dred. This circuit consisted at that time of Carter, Ripley, Butler, Stoddard and Dun- klin counties. In 1901 the legislature placed Carter county in another circuit, and in 1904 a new circuit, which included Ripley and Butler counties, alone, was made, and two remaining counties constituting the Twenty- second judicial circuit since that time. On the 1st of January, 1899, Judge Fort assumed the duties of his new office, and during the ensuing twelve years served his constituents ably and faithfully. the truth of facts and the principles of law involved in the cases brought to his notice seldom eluding his keen perceptions, while justice was ever the constant motive of his wise decisions. The twelve years that Judge Fort was on the bench formed one of the most important periods in the history of Stoddard county and of Southeastern Missouri. During that time the great drainage system that is such an im- portant factor in increasing the property value of this region was successfully inaugu- rated, and many legal questions arising from its development were adjudicated before him, his rulings thereon being invariably wise and just. Many important criminal cases were likewise tried before Judge Fort, he having been called upon at different times to pass sentence upon men convicted of capital crimes.
In the well remembered case of the Illinois and Missouri Bridge Company versus Smith, the new question of the right of the bridge company to construct beyond the point where the bridge proper touched solid ground at grade above high water mark, came before the Judge, who decided that no such right existed. The supreme court reversed the de- cision by a divided court, but in a trial for damages for land taken for such a purpose a jury. under Judge Fort's instructions, awarded $10.000 for damages sustained. and the award was also allowed by both the State Supreme Court and the United States Su- preme Court.
In 1908 Judge Fort, at the earnest solici- tations of his friends, became a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor of
Missouri, his platform being one of the best and cleanest ever constructed, its three prin- cipal planks having been as follows: "Ag- gressive honesty in public affairs; strict en- forcement of all laws; and suppression of the liquor traffic by constitutional prohibition." He made a vigorous campaign, which re- sulted in the Democratic platform coming out very strong for local option.
On January 1, 1911. Judge Fort retired . from his position as Judge, and has since been prosperously engaged in the practice of his chosen profession at Dexter, where he has an extensive and lucrative clientele. Progressive and public spirited, he lends his influence towards the establishment of benefi- cial projects, being in favor of the good roads movement, and in advancement in every line of improvements, believing firmly in a won- derful future for Stoddard county, the "Gar- den Spot" of Missouri.
Judge Fort was married on the 2nd of August, 1874, to Miss Lizzie Whitesides, a native of Johnson county, Illinois. She is a daughter of John S. and Peinnina (Harrel) Whitesides, and she was reared and educated in lier native county. Her mother was a na- tive of Johnson county, and her father was born in the state of Kentucky and came to Illi- nois during pioneer days, becoming a wealthy farmer. Judge and Mrs. Fort have had seven children : Anna is the wife of Byron Cham- pion. of Dexter; Will J. lives in Dexter; Can- dace married Judge Green, of Bloomfield. Missouri; Gertrude lives at home; Myrtle died at the age of three; Winifred married J. E. Mulvey, of St. Louis; and Reverdy, the youngest, is still at home. Both the Judge and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South.
WILLIAM C. STADY, postmaster at Essex and mayor of the city, is a man who by his untiring efforts and indomitable energy has done much toward the improvement and ad- vancement of the city, and has always availed himself of the advantages of his position as a public man to influence the people to act for the best interests of the community. A native of Missouri, he was born January 20, 1871. in Bollinger county, and was there reared on a farm. His father, Christian Stady, was born in Germany, while his mother, whose maiden name was Mary Miller, was born in America, of German parentage.
Leaving home on attaining his majority, William C. Stady worked out by the month
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