USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 84
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man worthy of larger responsibilities. He was then made deputy county collector, and after four years in that office was elected by the people of the county to the office of county treasurer, and served two terms.
He was a resident of Kennett practically all his life until he located in Hornersville. i Buying an interest in the Bank of Horners- ville in 1908, he moved to this town and en- tered upon his duties as cashier and member of the board of directors. This bank was or- ganized by Mr. Langdon in 1901 and con- ducted as a private institution five years, being incorporated in 1906. It is one of the three banks south of Kennett, and its busi- ness is growing rapidly. The capital has been increased from five to ten thousand dol- lars, and in the last five years it has ac- cumulated a surplus of five thousand dol- lars. Besides his active connection with the bank, Mr. Rice is a dealer in real estate on his own account, and his investments have been very profitable. He is the owner of farm land three miles south of Hornersville and some near Kennett, and has considerable town property. All this has been the re- wards of his own efforts and business man- agement, and few citizens of the county can point to a better record of success than he. In politics he is Democratic, and was the choice of that party when he served as a' county official. He and his family are mem- bers of the Methodist church, South.
Mr. Rice married, June 23, 1895, Miss Lil -. lian J. Brower. Their children are: Nola, born in June, 1896; and David B., born No- vember 19, 1907. Fraternally Mr. Rice is a member of the Masonic lodge at Horners- ville.
EDWARD W. FLENTGE. How difficult it is for a young man to choose the line of work he intends to follow throughout his life. What a little thing will often cause him to' decide and something just as small may cause him to change his mind. A single stone mayi turn the rivulet of water to the right or to the left. It is sometimes said that Providence shapes our careers. Undoubtedly something outside of ourselves has something to do with the general direction of a man's life, but the getting on is a purely private affair. Each individual is fated to work out his own career. If he is qualified by nature he cannot be kept down; if deficient he cannot by hook or crook be boosted up. Opposition, adversity and hard luck are powerless to
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keep a big man in a small place and no set of outside conditions can keep a small man in a big place. The best we can do is the least we can offer. Such has been and is the maxim of Edward W. Flentge, the post- master of Cape Girardeau. He has attained a prominence in the county and his high po- sition has been reached by reason of his nat- ural capabilities, united with the efforts he has untiringly put forth.
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He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, Marchi 2, 1863. His grandfather, William Flentge, was born in Germany, there received his edu- cation and was married. He was a cabinet maker by trade, but was not making very much money. He decided to come to Amer- ica, bringing his wife and son with him. He came direct to Cape Girardeau, but not meeting with success right away he moved to Jackson, where he lived the rest of his life. His son, Henry, spent the first eight years of his life in his fatherland, when he came to America with his parents. He attended school in Cape Girardeau and learned the carpentering trade. When he was only seventeen he was injured by a fall and was sent back to Germany. As soon as he was well again he felt that he should like to study medicine. He attended a medical school, grad- uating from Marx College. After he returned to America he located at Cape Girardeau where he practiced medicine in Wayne and Cape Girardean counties. During the Civil war he moved to St. Louis, where he established a large practice. In the fall of 1875 he moved to Texas, locating in McLennan county. He remained there for about two years and again moved to Rancho, Texas, thence to Oregon and California, where he died in 1903, being over seventy years old. While he was in Germany studying medicine he had met Teresa Heisen, a young German girl. They were married, she returning to America with him. She lived to be only forty-eight years old, leaving behind her three sons and her husband. At present only two of the sons are living, of whom Edward is the second. Mr. Flentge was a successful physician, but he was of a roving turn of mind, not staying in one place long enough to build up a very large practice.
Edward's boyhood days were spent in Wayne and Cape Girardeau counties, where he attended the publie school. When he was twelve years old he went with his parents to Texas and attended school there for about two years. When he was seventeen years old
he came back to Missouri alone, attending the state normal school and locating at Cape Girardeau. At the close of his school life he became a clerk in the store of II. P. Pier- ronett in Cape Girardeau, remaining with him in different capacities until December, 1888. At that time he engaged in business for himself, forming a partnership with Mr. Wood, the style of the firm being Flentge & Wood. They did a general merchandise business doing a flourishing trade until 1907. On the first of June in that year Mr. Flentge sold out his share of the business and be- came connected with the Cape Girardeau Brass Book Company, being secretary of the same. Since then he has filled many posi- tions of honor, being at this time president of the Rock Tobacco Company of Cape Girardeau and secretary and treasurer of the Painter Realty Company. On the nine- teenth of December, 1903, he was appointed postmaster, having held the position ever since. He is a member of the Commercial Club at Cape Girardeau and was its vice president for several years.
In 1884 he married Miss Sadie E. Taylor a native of Cape Girardeau to which union one son and two daughters were born. The daughters died in infancy. John E., the son, married Mabel IIash and is now a resi- dent of Cape Girardeau.
Mr. Flentge is a member of the Masonic order. He is a Republican in political be- lief and has always been a most active worker for and with his party. He was a member of the city council for two terms and was two terms county collector. In 1906 he was a candidate for railroad and warehouse com- missioner, but the Democratic candidate was elected. Mr. Flentge has been practically a life long resident of southeastern Missouri and has always been active in the business and political life of the state. Unlike his father, he found the greatest satisfaction in remaining in one place, feeling that by so doing he could not only gain a better living for himself and his family, but he could form more lasting friendships, he could make his presence felt in the community and thereby be given opportunities to be of use in the county and state. Such has been Mr. Flentge's desire, to serve his fellow citizens and to fulfil to the best of his ability the duties which he undertook.
T. R. R. ELY. The Honorable T. R. R. Ely, one of the most prominent lawyers in
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the county, has had wide and varied experi- ence in his profession. A man with strong opinions on all public questions, he has al- ways had the courage to express them. While in the legislature he had the most exalted views of his office and the obligations it iu- volved. He was not there to pander to public sentiment or so to trim his sails that he might arouse a popular feeling among the people of his district, but to represent the people as he felt they should be represented. He felt that if it were otherwise and he were to be restricted in his views and their ex- pression and obliged to wait to find out whether they pleased the people or not, he would infinitely rather go back to private life and become a private citizen, with the right to express his views untrammeled and unquestioned by anybody on earth, with the right to try to formulate public sentiment along the lines of his ideas. A man with such decided views could not fail to be an important factor with his party and in the community in general.
T. R. R. Ely was born in Atchison county, Missouri, January 19, 1860, where his boy- hood days were spent until he reached the age of sixteen. He attended the Stuartsville, De Kalb county, school and the academy conducted by the Reverend Perry of the Presbyterian church. He then went to West- minster College at Fulton, where he stayed two years, taking a general course, followed by a law course at the State University, grad- uating in the class of 1881. As soon as he was graduated he came to Kennett, upon the recommendation of Joseph Russell, a fel- low student, who is now a prominent mem- ber of congress. The bar was at that time mainly composed of outside men from other counties, but it was a rich practice. The following year, in 1882, Mr. Ely was elected prosecuting attorney and during his term of office he did such good work that two years later, at the next election, he was re- elected. The country around Dunklin was very wild at that time, much wickedness go- ing on in the county. During his term Mr. Ely sent forty-four men to the penitentiary, really the enforcement of law in that part of the country began with his regime; from that time on there was a complete change, the better class of people standing by him and giving him the advantage of their sup- port. They had only needed a leader. long having felt that a change was needed, but
not having sufficient initiative to go ahead and make any change by themselves. In 1886 Mr. Ely was elected to represent Dunk- lin county in the legislature. During his term of office he pushed the bill setting apart one-third of all revenues for the school sup- port, one of the most important acts of leg- islature. At the expiration of his term he resumed his practice in Kennett, having all the work he could possibly attend to. In 1904 he was elected to the senate in the twenty- second senatorial district, including Dunk- lin, Butler, Ripley, Wayne, Curtis, Bollinger and Cape Girardeau counties. It is needless to say that he worked hard, for he was so constituted that he could not undertake a thing and not go into it with all his might. It was through his energetic pushing that the appropriation of ten thousand dollars was made to make a topographical survey of the five swamp counties. The amount was expended by commission of the governor; this was the first step towards drainage in that district, resulting in some twenty-five drainage districts being formed in Dunklin county alone. This simply aroused public interest, as at that time there was not a canal in existence. They have all been made since that first start. He was a member of the board of regents of the State Normal School at Cape Girardeau, at the time when the new school was being built. He always took the deepest interest in all matters pertain- ing to education and only resigned his posi- tion on the board to fill the position of sen- ator, where a wider scope was offered his capabilities. Since he left the senate he has devoted most of his time to his practice, be- ing a member of the firm of Ely, Kelso & Miller at Cape Girardeau, in addition to his own practice in Kennett. His aid is called for in most leading cases and the side that is fortunate enough to secure his services is pretty sure to come out ahead. He has been wonderfully successful in his practice.
One would imagine that the Honorable T. R. R. Ely would have no time for anything but his law work, but such is not the case. He has been most active in politics all of his life, the Democrats having a strong ad- vocate in him. He was a delegate to the Denver Convention to nominate Bryan, the state committee obtaining his services as a stump speaker. He has an unusual gift of oratory ; his language is excellent, but that is not the reason that his speeches are so
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convincing ; he never advocates anything that he does not believe in, and thus he puts his whole force into what he says. It is very hard for anyone to listen to him and not agree with him at least while he is talking. He has great executive ability and is vice president of the Bank of Kennett. He stands high in the Masonic order, being a member of the Blue Lodge and of the Chapter at Kennett, of the Council at Malden and of the Commandery at Malden. He is a past worshipful master in the Blue Lodge. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and to the Modern Woodmen of America. He owns farm lands to the ex- tent of twenty-two hundred acres, having cultivated a great proportion of this land himself, it being wild when he bought it. He rents most of the land to tenants, but oversees some of it himself. He is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church and in that as in everything else he has to do with he is an active worker. He has laid out two additions to Kennett, on which he has laid out lots and built residences. He only has fine homes on the addition, owning a beauti- ful place himself. All of these enterprises are in the nature of work, but Mr. Ely is just as enthusiastic about his recreations. He is of the opinion that his efficiency is in- creased by relaxation, which he takes prin- cipally in the form of hunting. He belongs to the club of West Kennett on the St. Francis river. Any man might be proud of the law practice that the Honorable T. R. R. Ely has built up and feel that that con- stituted a man's life work. His connection with education in the county would satisfy the ambition of the majority of people, while his political connections, both in the legis- lature and in the senate, would cause a less enterprising man to feel that he need do nothing else for the rest of his life. If he had not been such a successful lawyer, he would have made a reputation as a farmer. If he had done nothing but handle his addi- tion in Kennett lie might still feel that he had done something for his county, but when all these different activities are combined in one man, the result is an all around man of whom his town, county and state are proud, whom his acquaintances are proud to know and to whom all are proud to take off their hats. There is no more useful member of the community than the Honorable T. R. R. Elv.
ORTON COLMAN LYNCH, superintendent of the public schools of Farmington, deserves credit as a strong element in the educational progress of the county. One of the most progressive, able and enlightened of educa- tors, he presents the potent combination of fine ideals and an executive capacity which contrives to make realities out of them. Since the beginning of his career in the judicial center of Saint Francois county-1907-a great improvement has been made in the local school system; a fine new high school building erected; and the higher department of the schools raised from an unrecognized condition to a fully accredited high school with full recognition.
Professor Lynch was born in Harrison county, West Virginia, on the 20th day of April, 1874, his father, Hiram Lynch, hav- ing been a native of the same locality. The father, who was at different times in his ca- reer a teacher and educator, was reared on a large cattle farm which belonged to his father. He attended the public schools of his locality and period and also for two years was a student at a college in Lebanon, Ohio. He engaged as a school teacher for a short time and then adopted farming as his occu- pation, continuing permanently as an expo- nent of the great basic industry. He was married in 1868 to Eleanor Williams, of Sycamore, West Virginia, daughter of John Williams, who answered to the double calling of farmer and Methodist circuit rider. To this union were born six children, three of whom are living at the present time. The first Mrs. Lynch died in the early '80s, when the subject was a small boy, and in 1883 the father was married to Miss Flora Maxwell, of Weston, West Virginia. Four children were the fruit of the second union. In 1885 the father removed with his family from West Virginia to Missouri and located in Fraklin county, where he again engaged in farming and where he is today located, secure in the enjoyment of the respect and confidence of the community. He is one of the stalwart sup- porters of the "Grand Old Party," as its admirers are pleased to call it; he is a pop- nlar member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the American Order of United Workmen; and he is a zealous and valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Orton C. Lynch entered the Academy of West Virginia, at Weston, where he received
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his elementary education, and after prose- cuting his studies at that place until about ten years of age he then attended the public schools in Franklin county, Missouri, until entering Carlton Institute, of Farmington, Missouri. After a period of study there lie became a student at the Missouri State Nor- mal at Warrensburg, and is continuing his work by courses in the University of Chi- cago, correspondence study department, Chi- cago, Illinois. In 1899 he received his degree (that of B. S. D.) at the Normal School and in addition to his other training he at- tended for one year the Missouri State Uni- versity at Columbia. A part of his educa- tion had been interspersed with his actual pedagogical work and he had taught in va- rious schools, gaining the many advantages which only experience can give. After quite finishing his preparation he was for eight years connected with the public schools of Tipton, Missouri, four years as principal of the high school and four years as superin- tendent of the entire school system. He came to Farmington in 1907 to accept the position of superintendent here and this he retains at the present time, his work here having been of the most satisfactory character. In addi- tion to his general supervision he is instruc- tor in mathematics and science. The new high school building which he was materially instrumental in securing was finished in 1911 and is a model of convenience and modern- ity.
Professor Lynch was married on the 5th day of June, 1901, at Warrensburg, Missouri, to Miss Mary G. Scott, of that place. Mrs. Lynch is a daughter of Rev. William G. Scott, well-known Presbyterian minister. To a
their happy union has been born three sons, whose names are Orton, William and Wal- lace.
In politics Professor Lynch is a liberal Prohibitionist, voting more for the man than party; he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church; and he is sufficiently social in nature greatly to enjoy his relations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.
ALBERT L. JOHNSON. In a history devoted to the representative men and women of Southeastern Missouri who have contributed to its upbuilding and prosperity and whose lives reward closest inspection no one is more appropriately included than that fine
citizen, the late Albert L. Johnson. Coming here as a young man, full of vigor and enthu- siasm, he found his surroundings so congen- ial, his labors so fruitful, that he chose to make it a home for him and his family, and so remained throughout the remainder of a life that exceeded the psalmist's allotment by a number of years. In truth he resided in Dunklin county for over half a century, by his own unaided efforts becoming one of the extensive landholders and prosperous agri- culturists in the vicinity of Senath, and gain- ing and keeping unchallenged the respect and affection of the community in which he was so well known. A veteran of the Civil war, he met the trying conditions of the "Pe- riod of Reconstruction" with manly cour- age and frankness and was ever aligned with the most publie spirited of his neighbors and there was nothing of public import at Senath and its district in which he was not helpfully interested. He was essentially a self-made man, at his arrival within the boundaries of Dunklin county having been poor in purse, but by his untiring industry and good man- agement acquiring a handsome competence. His demise occurred on the 18th day of Au- gust, 1911, he being universally mourned and regretted, and his memory will long remain green in this part of the state.
Albert L. Johnson was born August 1, 1835, on a farm in Union county, then Knox county, Tennessee. He remained amid the scenes of his birth until the age of fifteen years, acquiring an education in the free and subscription schools of the locality. About the year 1849 his parents removed to Gibson county, Tennessee, and there improved a farm, on which both spent their remaining days, the mother passing away in 1855. Al- though scarcely fifteen years of age at the time of the removal to Gibson county, that marked Mr. Johnson's introduction to the serious matter of earning his own livelihood, for his parents were in modest circumstances. For seven years he engaged in the hauling of freight with ox teams and in the summer seasons lent his assistance to the manifold tasks to be encountered upon his father's farm. There was little time to be a boy, but he learned the lessons of industry and self- reliance which proved so valuable to him in after years. In the fall of 1859 he concluded to establish himself independently and came to Dunklin county, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of the land, which he owned at the time of his death, all of
A. L. Johnson
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which, with the exception of ten acres, be- ing covered with a heavy growth of timber. To clear the timber-covered land, of course, entailed a vast amount of labor. On the farm was a horse-power saw mill, which he operated a few months and then installed an engine, running both a saw-mill and grist mill and so efficiently that he had a great amount of patronage in the neighborhood. He was bringing his affairs to a very satis- factory footing when the Civil war, so long threatening, became a terrible reality, and life all over the country was changed and al- tered from the even tenor of its course. Soon after the first guns were fired at Sum- ter, Mr. Johnson enlisted in the army of the Confederacy, believing the cause it defended to be just and all the institutions of the South being very dear to him. His military career was eventful. In March, 1863, he was captured by Union forces and after being held a prisoner at St. Louis for three months was exchanged and joined his regiment in Virginia, on the Chesapeake Bay, thereafter serving with his command in East Tennes- see until after the termination of the great conflict.
Returning to his farm on July 1, 1865, Mr. Johnson found that his barn had been burned, his stock taken off by the Federals and that he was in debt fifteen hundred dol- lars for his mill and land. Nothing daunted, however, he soon resumed his agricultural and industrial labors, clearing and improv- ing his farm, which was an excellent one, and, as his means allowed, buying more land, at one time having title to seven hun- dred and twenty acres, the greater part of which was valuable and advantageously sit- uated. At the time of his death he owned six hundred and sixty acres of land and the little burg of Octa, three miles northeast of Senath, its entire site being his, with the ex- ception of two lots. He also owned consid- erable property in Seuath, his holdings there consisting in a lot and store building ou Front street (the building being twenty by eighty feet in dimension) and five good lots on other streets. He had other interests of mportance, owing five shares in the Citi- zens Bank of Senath, of which he has been president since its organization and being a stockholder in the Caneer Store Company. Mr. Johnson's commodious dwelling-house on is farm was an attractive and substantial one, and a previous two thousand dollar resi- lence had been destroyed by fire. Toward
the close of his life he gave over the more strenuous duties of managing his farms into other hands, and at the time of his death rented all of his farms, with the exception of his forty acre homestead. His homestead was virtually the centre of a little settlement, for he had thirteen tenant houses on his place for the use of his renters, all of these houses being within a mile and a half of his own home. From the beginning of his career he always maintained a saw mill and grist mill on his farm, which he himself op- erated. Ile was a man of remarkable exec- utive ability, able to manage successfully large forces and essentially progressive in the adoption of new ideas. It will not be gain- said that he was one of the most successful and widely known citizens of Dunklin coun- ty, and one whose influence will be greatly missed in the many-sided life of the com- munity.
Politically Mr. Johnson had always been identified with the Democratic party, to whose causes he gave hand and heart and he was at one time prominent in public life, serving as county judge for six years shortly after the war and subsequently being jus- tice of the peace for twenty years. Frater- nally he was affiliated with the time-honored Masonie order, which he joined in 1867, his membership being with Helm Chapter, R. A. M., of Kennett. At one time he was a mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. In his own life he followed the fine principles of Masonry and at his death the order conducted the last ceremonial rites and consigned the body to the grave. Religiously he was affiliated with the Methodist Episco- pal church, South.
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