USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 90
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O. H. STOREY. A wide-awake, brainy man, possessing good business qualifications, O. H. Storey occupies a position of note among the enterprising and progressive citizens of Senath, and as treasurer and general mana- ger of the J. M. Baird Mercantile Company s associated with one of the city's leading ndustries. He was born June 22, 1888, in White county, Illinois, where he acquired an education and training that well fitted him or a business career.
In 1907, ere attaining his majority, Mr. Storey secured a position as cashier with the Caneer Store Company, in Senath, Missouri, ind was afterwards cashier for awhile in the Bank of Senath. Leaving that position, he erved in the same capacity at the Citizens' Bank in Senath, until the incorporation, in 910, of the J. M. Baird Mercantile Com- any, of which he is treasurer and general manager. This company, of which a brief account is given elsewhere in this work, in onnection with the sketch of the late J. M. Baird, was incorporated in 1910, with a cap- tal of $30,000, and a surplus of $60,000, and with the following named officers: Mrs. J. I. Baird, president : Mrs. O. H. Storey, vice- resident ; Miss Hettie Baird, secretary ; and ). H. Storey, treasurer and general mana- rer. The company carries a stock valued at $30,000, with annual sales amounting to up-
wards of $75,000, dealing not only in hard- ware, agricultural implements and vehicles of all descriptions, but in cotton, owning and operating a finely-equipped cotton gin, and doing a business in cotton that amounts to about $65,000 a year.
Mr. Storey married June 30, 1909, in Senath, Huldah C. Baird, eldest daughter of the late James M. and Lucy (Douglass) Baird, and they have one child, IIattie Lu- cille Storey.
NAPOLEON B. WATTS. Success along any line of endeavor would never be properly ap- preciated if it came with a single effort and unaccompanied by some hardships, for it is the knocks and bruises in life that make sue- cess taste so sweet. The career of Napoleon B. Watts, who has long maintained his home at Fredericktown, Missouri, but accentuates the fact that success is bound to come to those who join brains with ambition and are willing to work. Mr. Watts received but meager educational advantages in his youth and his early start in life was of the humblest order. Through persisteney and a fixed determination to forge ahead, however, he has succeeded in building up a fine success for himself in the business world of south- eastern Missouri. At the present time, in 1911, he is president of the Security Bank at Fredericktown and in polities has figured prominently, having been county clerk for a period of eight years.
Napoleon B. Watts was born in Madison county, Missouri, on the 13th of February, 1848, and he is a son of Reuben and Nancy C. (Sites) Watts, both of whom were like- wise born in Madison county. The paternal grandparents of the subject of this review were natives of Culpeper county, Virginia, whence they migrated to Missouri about the year 1818. Captain James Watts, the grand- father, was an officer in the war of 1812 and he was summoned to the life eternal in 1846, at the age of forty-eight years. He was the owner of a tract of fine land in the south- eastern part of Madison county and at the time of his demise his son Green Watts in- herited the estate. Reuben Watts was a Methodist Episcopal minister and a farmer, he having entered and improved a farm ad- joining the old homestead, this farm now he- ing owned by Mr. N. B. Watts. Ile died in Madison county in 1876, at the age of fifty- seven years. Nancy C. (Sites) Watts was
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a daughter of John Sites, who came to Mis- souri in 1818. He was a prosperous farmer in this section of the state but died in the ante-bellum days. He was a native of North Carolina and was descended from stanch old German stock. Mrs. Watts passed to the great beyond in March, 1911, at the vener- able age of eighty-seven years. In the ag- natie line Mr. Watts, of this notice, traces his ancestry to old English stock. Of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Watts but three are living at present, namely, Mrs. Mary J. Whitener, of Madison county, Missouri; Mrs. Missouri C. Bess, likewise of Madison county; and Napoleon B., the im- mediate subject of this review.
Mr. Watts passed his boyhood and youth on the old homestead farm, his education con- sisting of such crude advantages as were afforded in the schools of the locality and period. Atthe age of twenty-two years he launched out into the business world on his own account, engaging in the general mer- chandise business. Subsequently he turned his attention to farming and in 1882 was hon- ored by his fellow men with election to the office of county clerk, serving with the ut- most efficiency in that capacity for a period of eight years. In 1882 he established his home at Fredericktown, where he has since resided. In 1890 he became interested in the banking business and was instrumental in the organization of the Madison County Bank, one of the most substantial monetary concerns in southeastern Missouri. Mr. Watts acted as cashier until 1901. The se- cnrity of the bank had been previously in- corporated with a capital stock of ten thou- sand dollars and the original officers were : Val Schlesinger, president; J. F. Anthony, cashier. In April, 1904, the capital was in- creased to twenty thousand dollars and the institution reorganized as a state bank. In January, 1901, Mr. Watts became cashier, continuing in that office until January, 1910. The present officers are: N. B. Watts, presi- dent; E. II. Day, vice president ; J. W. Blan- ton, cashier ; and J. F. Glaves, assistant cash- ier. Under the shrewd management of its eminently capable officers, the bank has pros- pered in every connection, as shown by a recent statement, in which the surplus and profits amount to $4,513.38; the deposits, $170,165.53; the cash on hand, $58,090.96; and the loans and discounts, $136,587.95. In January, 1910, Mr. Watts was elected presi-
dent of the bank and ably fills that position at the present time. In addition to his bank ing interests he has extensive farming inter ests in Madison county, Missouri, being th owner of the fine old farm on which he wa born and reared.
In the year 1870 was celebrated the mai riage of Mr. Watts to Miss Luraney ] Whitener, a daughter of the late J. Q. A Whitener, a prominent farmer and merchan in Madison county for a number of year prior to his death. Mr. and Mrs. Watts hav two children, concerning whom the follow ing brief data are here inserted. Duty S. i cashier of the Marquand Bank and he is als. interested in farming in the vicinity of tha place. He married Josie Hahn and the; have five children, Ethel I., Bessie, Russel .. Bryan and Charles. Minnie is the wife o Judge F. J. Parkin, former incumbent o the office of presiding county judge of Mad: son county.
In politics Mr. Watts is an uncompromis ing supporter of the cause of the Democrati party and as previously noted he served a county clerk for eight years. He was a men ber of the Fredericktown school board fo a period of years, from 1884 to 1910, resigr ing in the latter year. As a result of hi enthusiastic interest in educational affair the schools of this city have been materiall benefitted, many of the improvements alon that line being due to his initiative. Sociall he is a valued member of the local Knight of Pythias lodge and in religious matters h is a devout member of the Congregationa Methodist church, in the different depart ments of whose work he is an active factor The beautiful Watts home is located on Co. lege avenue, in the southwestern part of th; town.
MARTIN C. KRUEGER. In view of the nc madie spirit which is gradually growing t. animate all classes of American citizens t move restlessly about from place to place it is most gratifying to come in close tonc. with one who has passed practically his er tire life thus far in the place of his nativity where his exemplary life has won him th unalloyed confidence and esteem of those wh have been familiar with his career fron earliest youth. Martin C. Krueger was bor at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on the 17th o; January, 1877. His father was born a Bremen, Germany, and his mother, Elizabet -
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Jos M. Brashe
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(Schraeder) Krueger, was a native of upper Prussia. Mr. and Mrs. Krueger immigrated to America as young people and their mar- riage was solemnized at Cape Girardeau, where were born to them six children-three boys and three girls. The daughters are all deceased, as are also the parents, and the three sons are now living at Cape Girardeau. Martin C. Krueger is the immediate subject of this review; Louis Krueger is the present able ineumbent of the office of clerk of the common pleas court and on other pages of this work appears a sketch dedicated to his career; and the third son is the present jan- itor at the Federal Building. The father was engaged in the butcher business during a goodly portion of his active career and at the time of the inception of the Civil war he served with valor and distinction as a member of the Missouri Ilome Guards.
The rudimentary educational training of Martin C. Krueger was obtained in the Lorimer School at Cape Girardeau and sub- sequently he was a student in the Normal School for a period of two years. After leaving school he was variously engaged for a time, eventually entering into a part- nership alliance with Mr. Heinze, his father-in-law, to engage in the hardware business. A splendidly equipped establish- ment is now conducted at Cape Girardeau, under the firm name of Ileinze & Krueger, and the same commands an extensive and most profitable trade. In addition to las business affairs Mr. Krueger is an enthusi- astic collector of Indian relies, his collection being one of the rarest and most complete in this section of the country. Most of his specimens were picked up in the close vicin- ity of this eity and a number of them are extremely valuable on account of their an- tiquity. In his political convictions Mr. Krueger is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party, and while he has never manifested aught of ambition for the honors or emoluments of publie office of any description he was at one time incumbent of the position of city assessor, having been in tenure of that office from 1900 to 1902. In fraternal channels he is affiliated with the local lodge of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks and he is also a valued and appreciative member of the Sons of Vet- erans, by reason of his father's service in the Civil war.
On the 26th of September, 1899, was solem- Vol. 1-41
nized the marriage of Mr. Krueger to Miss Alma Heinze, who was reared and educated at Cape Girardeau. Mrs. Krueger was a woman of rare charm and attraction and at the time of her death, in 1901, just two years after her marriage, her loss was deeply mourned by a wide circle of admiring and affectionate friends. In his religious faith Mr. Krueger is a consistent member of the Lutheran church, in whose faith he was reared, and he is a liberal contributor to all kinds of philanthropical work. He is a man of broad sympathy and generous im- pulses and as a business man and citizen is accorded the highest regard of all with whom he has come in contact.
JOSEPH M. BRASHIER. Judge Brasher is a Tennesseean by birth, and his journey through this changing scene was begun on March 22, 1851. His parents resided on a farm and their son grew up in that environ- ment, early taking a responsible part in the conduct of the home place. Ilis parents, John L. and Martha Davis Brasher, were in moderate circumstances, and although they suffered somewhat from the war, they were able to give their son a fair education for that time. As he was more than ordinarily apt, and was fond of reading, he made the best possible use of such advantages as he enjoyed.
At the age of twenty-one Mr. Brasher came to Pemiscot county and bought a farm near Cottonwood Point. Being a farmer of enterprise, he soon had acquired an estate of three hundred and twenty acres. The Judge still owns this large farm, although he and his family now reside in Caruthersville.
Mr. Brasher had always been a consistent and ardent Democrat, and before he had been long in the county he was recognized as one of the strong men of the party. His interest in public affairs was always of the sort which is concerned primarily with the advancement of the general welfare and this the people were quiek to recognize. The capacities in which he has served the county are many. For years he was a member of the school board, and during that time he did not merely attend the meetings and con- sider that he had fulfilled his duty, but he studied the needs of the schools and set him- self to supply them wherever possible. In 1878 he was elected justice of the peace and served for four years. At the close of this
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period he was chosen to fill the office of judge of probate, and for another four years he filled that office. Ile was then selected to represent his district in the legislature, and at the capital he worked zealously to carry out the views of his constituents. In 1898 Mr. Brashier was elected district judge of the county court, and in 1906 he was elected presiding judge. After four years in this office he was again selected as candidate for the position of probate judge and in Novem- ber, 1910, was elected for four years.
To those who are acquainted with Judge Brasher, this frequent selection for judicial positions is most natural, for he has all the qualities which are desirable for that calling. He is an excellent judge of evidence and also of human nature. He is fearless in the ren- dering of his decisions, and is scrupulously just and impartial in all cases. Personally he is a man of genial manners and possesses a large share of that courtesy which we char- acterize as being of the old school. In the Judge's case, this manner is the expression of a truly kind and sympathetic nature, one which attracts and keeps friends wherever he meets them.
In Caruthersville, the present home of the Brasher family, the Judge is prominent in fraternal circles. He holds membership in the Masonic order, in the Woodmen and in the Red Men. The family attend the Meth- odist Episcopal church, South, of which Mrs. Brasher is a member, the Judge being a mem- ber of the Baptist church. Previous to her marriage to Mr. Brasher, Mrs. Brasher was Mrs. Mary S. Pate, of Cottonwood Point, whose father was Judge Jesse Huffman, of that city. Her union with Mr. Brasher oc- curred in 1875 and they have a family of three daughters and one son.
EDWARD A. STIERBERGER, M. D., of Union, Franklin county, Missouri, represents the medical profession here and is supreme in this field as a practitioner. Rare, indeed, is the instance where a single physician holds in the palm of his hand the confidence and goodwill of an entire community, and when such .a situation is encountered the solution must lie in the individual himself. It is not so far to seek. Acute in his perceptions, widely read in his profession and skillful in applying his acquirements to practical use, his value as a physician and surgeon is of the highest character.
Dr. Stierberger is indigenous to the en- vironment of Union. Here his birth oc- curred on April 16, 1875, and the people to whom he now ministers so successfully have known him in every phase of life from baby- hood up. His childhood training was se- cured amidst the scenes in which he now lives and labors. His one-time playmates are now his patrons and the seniors of his childhood are now his social and business con- panions. These unbroken early attachments, coupled with his recognized proficiency in his profession, explain, perhaps, why Dr. Stierberger stands alone and without a col- league in Union.
The family to which Dr. Stierberger be- longs was established in Franklin county by his father, Charles R. Stierberger, who came here from St. Louis about the year 1859. He was of German birth, his nativity having oc- curred in Prussia in 1824. He possessed those fine national characteristics which make the German nation one of America's most desirable sources of immigration and his business associations served to make him widely known. When he died in 1876 he was a man scarcely past his prime. He was twice married. His first wife was Miss Elizabeth Giebler, of Union, and to them were born the following children: The late Charles R. Stierberger, of Union; John, who passed away unmarried; Mrs. Emile Szy- manski, of Union; Mrs. Amanda Brown, wife of Postmaster Clark C. Brown, of Union; Mrs. Clara Allersmeyer, deceased ; and Miss Mattie Stierberger, for many years one of the teachers in the Union public schools. After the demise of his first wife Mr. Stierberger married Miss Lizzie Lind- ner, who survives him, making her residence at Union, Missouri. Her parents were Al- bert and Marie (Kline) Lindner, and she was born at Union, Missouri.
Dr. Stierberger, immediate subject of this biographical record, is the only child of the second marriage. He received his prelim- inary education in the common schools and is one of the many strong practical men who have secured some of their most valuable early impressions in a printing office. When a young lad he secured a position in the office of the Tribune and spent the follow- ing five years in that field of activity, add- ing much of value to his fund of general information and leaving its portals better
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fortified and with greater capabilities than when he entered it.
The mind of the young fellow had been busy with the great question of a future vocation and it was finally solved in favor of medicine. His first studies were pursued under the direction of Dr. Bridgeford in Union and he subsequently became a student in the old Marion Sims Medical College in St. Louis, which later on was to be incor- porated in the St. Louis University. He received his degree in 1897 and his first lo- cation for professional work was in Sioux City, lowa, where for two years he had charge of a hospital. Following this he spent six months in Cherokee, Iowa, and a like period in St. Louis before coming to his home town and entering the practice here. In 1898 he took a post-graduate course in the institution from which he had received his degree, it being his laudable ambition to keep abreast of the strides in discovery made constantly in his particular field. Since 1898 he has been occupied with his professional duties and with unconsciously cornering the medical business of the county seat. It will scarcely be doubted that there is not to be found a busier young physician in all Mis- souri.
Dr. Stierberger holds membership in the Franklin County Medical Society, in the Missouri State Medical Society, and in the American Medical Association. He is local surgeon for the Rock Island Railway Com- pany at Union and belongs to the Association of Railway Surgeons. Nor is his activity limited by his profession, for he has sub- stantial business connections, these confined chiefly to financial investments. He is a stockholder of both the Bank of Union and the Citizens' Bank and is vice-president and a director of the former.
In politics Dr. Stierberger acts with the dominant party of Franklin county. He asserts himself as a good citizen should when questions of public policy come up for ad- justment at the polls or elsewhere, but has never manifested ambition for public office himself. His social proclivities are such that he finds great pleasure in his lodge re- lations, which extend to the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen. He is unmarried.
CHARLES F. BIDEWELL. In 1854 Henry Bidewell came to Bollinger county from En- gland. He acquired a farm of two hundred and forty acres in that county and only in- terrupted his pursuit of agriculture to fight in the Union army. He married Lucrecia Killion, a native of Missouri, and they had eleven children. Charles F. is the second of the eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, of whom but four are living, the two sisters being married and are now Mrs. W. H. Hobbs, of Stoddard county, Missouri, and Mrs. Arthur George, also of Stoddard county. Their home farms join similarly to those of the brothers, Charles and George Bidewell.
Mr. Charles Bidewell was born December 9, 1871, in Bollinger county, and lived on his father's farm until he was twenty-three years of age. A year later his father died, and Charles disposed of his share of the estate to his brother George, whose life ap- pears elsewhere in this volume.
He then bought fifty-one acres of land near Dongola, to which he soon added two hundred and fifty-one and a half acres. At present he farms three hundred and two and a half acres. On this large estate he carries on general farming and stock raising.
Mr. Bidewell was married in 1895 to Miss Ursula Simpkins, whose parents, Rufus and Flora Simpkins, are natives of Indiana. Four boys and one girl were born to Ursula and Charles Bidewell, who are still living. The daughter, Nora, was born in 1901. The names and dates of birth of the sons are as follows : Walter A., 1896; Ora G., 1905; Leamon, 1908; Elvin, 1910.
A popular and public-spirited citizen, Mr. Bidewell is a member of the Masonic order and of the Modern Woodmen. He is a com- municant of the General Baptist church. While in no sense a politician, Mr. Bidewell holds the political faith of his father and is a Republicau.
J. W. SEXTON. Does Dunklin county go a hunting, it asks J. W. Sexton to be its master. Does it require a competent, hon- orable man to look after its funds it elects J. W. Sexton. Is it asked for one of its most np-to-date farmers, J. W. Sexton is the man it names. Are the Democrats looking for some one to fill the office of clerk of the county court, J. W. Sexton is the obvious
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selection. Thus in all kinds of activities in the county Mr. Sexton is a leader.
He was born in Kennett, January 28, 1859. His father, Lafayette Sexton, was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and was brought up in Kentucky and Missouri, coming to Mis- souri with his mother in 1840 and settling then in Bollinger county. His father had died in Kentucky about -. In 1858 La- fayette and his mother came to Kennett. She died at Hot Springs, Arkansas, whither she had moved. Lafayette lived one mile from Kennett, on land that he received from the Government. He spent almost all the rest of his life on the farm, which he used for the purposes of stock raising. He en- listed in the Confederate army when the Civil war broke out and after seeing con- siderable service came home on furlough. During this time he was stricken with the cholera and died October 30, 1863. Soon after he came to Kennett, he had married Nancy G. Evans, nee Mccullough, a widow, born in Frankfort, Kentucky. Her parents, Benjamin W. and Mary (Glasscock) Mc- Cullough, came to Missouri in 1832. They settled one mile south of Kennett and ob- tained Government grants of land. He be- came a land owner in the county that was then known as Stoddard's county and died on his farm at the age of fifty. His widow survived him many years, living until she was eighty years old. Only one of their children is living still, William McCullough, living in Breckenridge county, Kentucky. Nancy McCullough had married John H. Evans when she was a young girl and had borne him four children, Franklin, Ellen, Callie and Kate, all of whom are dead. Mr. Evans was a native of Kentucky, of Welsh descent, but the marriage took place in Mis- souri. After she married Lafayette Sexton she became the mother of two children, J. W. and R. E., the latter a merchant at Malden, Missouri. Mrs. Sexton had practically to raise the six children alone, as her first hus- band had died when his four children were small and Mr. Sexton, too, died young. She died in 1900, having lived a life of useful- ness for her children. Both Mr. and Mrs. Sexton were members of the Methodist Epis- copal church.
When J. W. Sexton was only four years old his father died, so that he never re- members having had a father's care. His mother, however, did all in her power to
take the place of both parents and in hi turn J. W. Sexton cared for her until the time of her death. When he was twenty one he took charge of the farm and con tinued a farmer for many years. In 1888 he was elected county treasurer, which office. he filled for the term of two years. At the expiration of his term he went back to farm ing, devoting most of his farm to stock rais ing. On November 2, 1910, he was elected to the office of clerk of the circuit court assuming the active duties of the office Jan, uary 1, 1911. He was nominated by th Democratic party, for which he had alway been an active worker, in conventions and elsewhere. He devotes himself to his office fulfilling the duties involved in an exemplar: manner.
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