USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 97
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On December 22, 1895, Mr. Bennett estab- lished the charming home that is now his by his marriage to Miss Effie Smith, born in Wayne county, near Piedmont. She is a daughter of William R. Smith, a prominent farmer of Wayne county and at one time sheriff and probate judge of the county. To them have been born three children, Hal, Mary and Hiram. Politically Mr. Bennett is recorded among the able and valued members of what its devoted adherents love to term "the Grand Old Party."
ALBERT A. FARNSWORTH is one of the well- known and representative farmers in Bol- linger county. Since he first engaged in agri- cultural pursuits the status of a farmer has undergone a radical change and the man him- self is viewed in a very different light from that in which we used to regard him years ago. A farm and a mortgage used at one time to be synonymous terms, and a man burdened with debt is not apt to be beautiful either in
looks or disposition. Now all of this has been changed and "back to the farm" means a re- turn to efficiency, health and life; we reach the farm by going forward, not by going back- ward. The business of the farmer who pro- duces food must be regarded as a fine art, not to be left to the whipped-out and the dis- couraged, as in former times. Much of this changed condition has come about within the recollection of Mr. Farnsworth, and it is due to the work and example of such as he that ideas in regard to farmers have become so modified.
Mr. Farnsworth was born August 18, 1865, in Johnson county, Missouri, the son of Chris- topher L. and Nancy Caroline (George) Farnsworth, natives of Greene county, Ten- nessce. In the fall of 1854 Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Farnsworth came to Henry county, Missouri, with the idea of becoming permanently located there, but in the spring of 1855, they determined to move to Johnson county, where they raised their first crop that season. After harvest they bought a tract of land in Cass county, where they resided until General Ewing's command was issued to- va- cate the border counties, in 1863. They then returned to Johnson county and lived there until death summoned the father, March 7, 1909, while his widow still maintains her resi- dence in the county. Mr. and Mrs. Christo- pher Farnsworth were the parents of ten . children, nine of whom are living.
Albert A. Farnsworth, the seventh of the family in order of birth, was reared on his father's farm in Johnson county and attended the district sehool in his neighborhood. After completing his schooling he assisted with the work of the farm and remained at home until 1890, at which time he was twenty-four years of age. He then rented from his father a farm in Johnson county of one hundred and seventy acres in area, where he lived until March, 1910, the year following his father's demise. He removed to Bollinger county, and with the savings he had aecumulated and his share of his father's estate he bought four hundred acres of land near Scopus, Bollinger county. This traet was only in his possession a very short time before he re-sold it to the original owner and bought instead two hun- dred and twenty acres of fine land between Marble Hill and Lutesville. Seventy acres of this tract is bottom land and the remainder hill land. admirably adapted for the uses to which Mr. Farnsworth puts it. He raises
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horses, mules, cattle, sheep and hogs; also corn, grass, Kaffir corn and cow peas, thus utilizing all of his farm. He is regarded as one of the most enterprising, progressive farmers in his section of the country.
In 1890 Mr. Farnsworth married Miss Florence Redford, born March 6, 1872, the daughter of W. W. and Mary E. (Rutledge) Redford, of Henry county, Missouri, and they now have a family of three children,- Nellie P., born in 1891, married to J. W. Gib- son, of Johnson county; Cyrus Paul, born in 1894; William Ernest, born in 1898. Mr. and Mrs. Farnsworth lost two children by death, one, Archeles Earl, the twin brother of Wil- liam Ernest, dying at four and one-half months and Albert Clyde, died at seven weeks.
Mr. Farnsworth is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and both he and Mrs. Farnsworth are members of the Mis- sionary Baptist church. He is a devout Chris- tian worker and consistently religious in his every day life.
E. BAKER. It is the lot of some men to be born great, while others have to achieve great- ness, and Mr. E. Baker of Senath, was clearly destined to be the architect of his own for- tune. He began life for himself on a low rung of the ladder of attainments, but by sturdy industry, untiring energy and a diligent use of his faculties and opportunities has met with well deserved success in his agricultural operations, his large farmn being one of the best cultivated and most productive of any in the vicinity. Born in Pontotoc county, Mis- sissippi, December 9, 1853, he there lived on his father's farm for ten years, having no educational advantages whatever.
When ten years old he accompanied his parents to Tennessee, and from that time un- til attaining his majority he assisted his father on the home farm. In 1874 his parents came to Missouri, but after a year's residence in this state they moved to Texas. Mr. Baker remained in Dunklin county when his parents settled in Texas, and although he had no capital, with the exception of thirteen dollars in cash and a Texas pony, he bought sixty acres of the land included in his present es- tate, paying four dollars an acre for it, buy- ing it on credit. He continued work, how- ever, as a farm laborer the following year, but at the end of that time married, and, with his bride, assumed possession of his land. Labor- ing resolutely, he cleared and improved a
good farm, and from time to time judiciously invested in other land, having now a fine farm of four hundred and forty acres, the greater part of which is in a high state of culture, having been cleared and made productive through his own efforts. In 1904 Mr. Baker added to the improvements already inaugu- rated a substantial house, which, with the three barns on the place, make a good set of farm buildings. Mr. Baker's farm is carried on by tenants, being rented to different people, there being five good tenants on his land, which is devoted principally to the rais- ing of corn and cotton.
Mr. Baker married, in Dunklin county, Missouri, in 1876, Fannie Romines, a native of this part of Missouri, and into their home four children have been born, namely : Zella, wife of Clarence Hutchins, of Dunklin county ; Willie, wife of Edward Wallace, one of Mr. Baker's tenants; Maddie; and Charles, at home. Politically Mr. Baker is a sound supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, and for nine years has served as school director. Religiously he is a member of the Methodist Church, and an active worker in Harkey's Chapel, having been trustee fifteen and steward fourteen years, and still holds the office of trustee.
FRANK SCHULTE is a noble illustration of what Independence, self-faith and persistency can accomplish in America. He is a self- made man in the most significant sense of the word, for no one helped him in a financial way and he is self-educated. As a young man he was strong, vigorous and self-reliant. He trusted in his own ability and did things single-handed and alone. Today he stands supreme as a successful business man and a loyal and public-spirited citizen. Most of his attention has been devoted to mining and prospecting enterprises and at the present time he is vice-president of the Bank of Fredericktown, an institution that has bene- fitted greatly by his shrewd counsel.
A native of the great Empire of Germany, Mr. Schulte was born near the city of Berlin, on the 10th of May, 1842. He is a son of Anton and Elizabeth Schulte, who immi- grated to the United States in 1845, bringing with them their family for four sons and two daughters, of which Frank was the youngest. Anton Schulte, after his arrival in America, proceeded directly to Madison county, Mis- souri, where he engaged in mining operations, entering the employ of the Flemings, owners
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of the Mine LaMotte. For a number of years he worked for that company on the ten per cent royalty basis but later he turned his at- tention to farming. In 1861 his health be- came impaired and he lived retired from that year until his death, in 1867. His cherished and devoted wife passed away in 1866. They were devont communicants of the Catholic church and to the rigid principles of that denomination reared their children. Only two of their children are living at the pres- ent time, namely,-Frank, of this notice ; and Anton, a farmer near Fredericktown. Joseph Schulte died in 1899, his active career having been devoted to mining and farming; he was also associated with his brothers Frank and John in the general merchandise business at Fredericktown for a number of years and in 1850 he made the overland trip to California, where he mined for a time. John Schulte was a merchant and miner in Madison county dur- ing his life time and he died in February, 1883. Elizabeth Schulte, who married John A. Weber, a merchant at Farmington, Mis- souri, died in 1880; and Gertrude was the wife of Jacob Lohrey, a merchant at Middle- brook, this state. She died in 1897.
Frank Schulte was reared to adult age in Madison county, where he attended the public schools up to the age of sixteen years. For a year and a half thereafter he worked at the carpenter's trade and later he spent several years as a blacksmith. In 1864 he enlisted as a soldier in Company F, Fiftieth Missouri Regiment, serving for twelve months nnder Captain Robert Lindsay in the Union army. He was mustered out of service in the spring of 1865 and immediately returned to Madison county, where he has since resided. For a time he was identified with mining ventures and later he engaged in the general mercan- tile business, continuing therein until 1880. In the latter year he again became interested in mining and prospecting, along which lines he has achieved marvelous success. He devel- oped the Buckeye and the Madison (now the Phoenix) mines, both of which are located in Madison county, and he has prospected ex- tensively in this county for lead. In all his ventures he has met with unqualified success and the same is due, not merely to good for- tune, but to energy and perseverance. Since 1906 he has been vice-president of the Bank of Fredericktown, in which substantial mone- tary institution he has invested a great deal of money.
In Madison county, in 1895, Mr. Schulte
was united in marriage to Miss Amanda Mil- ler, who was born in Iron county, this state, and who is a daughter of Henry and Mar- garet Miller, both natives of Germany. Mrs. Schulte's father died in 1885 and her mother resided in the Schulte home until her death, July 1, 1911, at eighty-one years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Schulte have no children. Mrs. Schulte is a consistent member of the Luth- eran church. In a fraternal way Mr. Schulte is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a stalwart sup- porter of the cause of the Republican party but has never manifested aught of desire for political preferment of any description, pre- ferring to devote his undivided attention to his extensive business affairs. He is held in high esteem by his fellow men, who honor him for his exemplary life and his sterling integ- rity and worth.
DR. GEORGE W. WALKER, physician and surgeon at Cape Girardeau, has practiced his profession in this city for nearly six years and has gained high favor among a large and representative patronage. He is a practi- tioner of equipment equal to that of the best, and he has been a devoted student of his pro- fession for the past decade. His broad knowl- edge of his science and sympathetic manner have given him rank among the most skillful and popular physicians and surgeons in this city.
A native of the state of Illinois. Dr. Walker was born near Joneshoro, that state, on the 26th of January, 1876, and he is a son of Wil- liam W. and Sarah I. (Williford) Walker, both of whom were likewise born in Illinois, the former on the 3d of April, 1849, and the latter on the 1st of February, 1850. The father was a farmer during the major portion of his active career but in December, 1901, he came to Cape Girardeau, where he is now liv- ing virtually retired, enjoying to the full the fruits of his former years of earnest toil and endeavor. Mr. and Mrs. William W. Walker were the parents of eleven children, of whom the Doctor was the third in order of birth and the ninth of whom are living, in 1911.
The rudimentary educational discipline of Dr. Walker was obtained in the country schools of Union county, Illinois, and subse- quently he pursued a course of study in the Indiana State Normal School, at Danville. For five years thereafter he was engaged in teaching school in his native county and at the expiration of that period he entered the
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Hospital College, at Louisville, Kentucky, where he pursued a two-year medical course. He was then matriculated as a student in the Washington University, at St. Louis, Mis- souri, and in that excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1903, dnly receiving his degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. Immediately after graduation he initi- ated the active practice of his profession at Jonesboro, Illinois, where he succeeded in building up a large and representative pat- ronage and where he continued to maintain his home and professional headquarters for the ensuing two years. On the 1st of August, 1905, however, he decided to seek greater fame and fortune in the west and that date marks his advent in Cape Girardeau, where he has resided during the intervening years to the present time and where he is recog- nized as a physiciau and surgeon of unusual skill.
At Jonesboro, Illinois, in the year 1897, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Walker to Miss Effie M. Fulenwider, who was born at Jonesboro, Illinois, in 1877, and who is a daughter of William M. Fulenwider, long a representative citizen of Jonesboro. Dr. and Mrs. Walker have three children,-Marie, Helen and Louise, all of whom are attending school in this city. In their religions faith the Walker family are consistent members of the English Lutheran church, to whose chari- ties and benevolences they are most liberal contributors.
In politics Dr. Walker is aligned as a stal- wart supporter of the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands spon- sor and while he is not actively interested in local politics he manifests a deep and sincere interest in all matters projected for the good of the general welfare. In the grand old Ma- sonic order he is affiliated with St. Mark's Lodge, No. 93, Free & Accepted Masons, of which he is past master. Dr. Walker is a man of broad human sympathy and kindly, genial manner and it may be said concerning him that the circle of his friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances.
J. M. PORTERFIELD, like many other young men, did not know exactly what he wanted to make his life work when he started out on his career. He commenced as a physician. next gave his attention to carpentering, and subsequently turned to the farm as the place where he would like to spend the rest of his days. There is an old saying that "a rolling
stone gathers no moss," but if Mr. Porterfield will pardon our likening him to a stone, we would say that he has not only gathered moss, but he has found time to dispense some to others who were less fortunate than he.
Mr. Porterfield hails from a farm in Hard- in county, Tennessee, where he was born July 31, 1849. He is the son of W. C. and Ursula Porterfield, who were natives of Eastern Ten- nessee, where he followed the occupation of farming all of this life. In earlier life he had followed carpentering. J. M. Porterfield is the seventh child in order of birth of the thirteen children who were born to his parents. He received his preliminary educa- tional training at the district school in the neighborhood of his father's farm, and at that time the school was a subscription one. After he had completed the course which was re- quired he entered the college at Savannah, Tennessee, and more as the result of accident than deliberate choice, he prepared himself to be a physician, in the medical department of the Savannah College. This college only of- fered a two years' course at that time, so that after he had learned all the medical knowl- edge which the college afforded, he entered the office of Drs. L. E. Covey and J. D. Wagner, and under the preceptorship of these able phy- sicians Mr. Porterfield read medicine for a year. He then went to Vanderbilt University, at Nashville, for a six months' term, and this completed his course. He was then a certified practitioner, and he established himself in Cerrogordo, Tennessee, where he built up a very fine practice during the eleven years that he stayed there. He found the life a hard one, however, as his patients were scattered over an area of eight or ten miles, which necessitated his making very long trips to visit them. After eleven years of this life Mr. Porterfield decided that he was not following the line of work for which he was best fitted, either in taste or abilities-although he had been remarkably successful, but he decided to give up his practice. He removed from Ten- nessee to Arkansas, where he took up his res- idence in Paragould and began to do car- pentering. From a boy he had always shown great aptitude for all kinds of wood work, and his success was immediate and steady. While he was living in Cerrogordo, Ten- nessee, he had accumulated some property. and when he moved from the state he sold this, but he did not buy any more in Arkan- sas, rather devoted his whole attention to his carpentering business. He only stayed in
J. M.Porterfield
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Paragould a short time, and then moved to Piggott, Arkansas, but his stay there was of short duration also, and he pressed on to Mis- souri and located at Senath, when there were only a few scattered houses there; he helped to build the town, and at the expiration of three years he felt that his desires were turned in the direction of the farm. He bought the place which he occupies to-day,- a mile and half southeast of Caruth, where he farms eighty aeres of land, forty acres of which belong to his wife and the other forty acres he bought. When he first moved on to the farm it was very much run down, but he has greatly improved it, having built fences and put up a new barn. He grows cotton and corn, and also raises stoek on his land, and is very successful.
Mr. Porterfield has been twice married. On October 13, 1876, he was united in mar- riage to Miss Sallie C. Weleh, of Savannah, where the Doctor was in college. After just twenty years of married life she died in Arkansas, leaving five children .- Eldridge, who is now a contractor and arehiteet in Pig- gott, Arkansas, and is married to Miss Lulu Wheeler; Mary, the second child, who is the wife of John Stevens, of Malden, Missouri ; Ella, who is married to Tom Clifton of Dunklin county; and Vivian, who lives with her sister Marsella, the wife of William Pitts, near Caruth. On the 18th of January, 1900, Mr. Porterfield married Mrs. Nancy A. Pruett, a widow with five children. One child, Archie, has been born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Porterfield, and he is just ten years old, a student in the publie school.
Mr. Porterfield is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, where he is an active worker. He is a Democrat, and although he has no desires for political honors for him- self, he has at different times been most active in working for some of his friends. All that Mr. Porterfield owns is the result of his own efforts. As a rule it is not a good thing for a man to make change of occupa- tion, but it is much better to change than it is to continue in work which is distasteful. and in the case of Mr. Porterfield his varied experiences have helped to broaden his ehar- acter and to make him the efficient member of the community that he is at present.
FREDERICK W. STUMPE. For a decade past the Bank of Washington, Missouri, has had its official head Frederiek W. Stumpe, who is a native of Missouri, though his father came
from Germany. This is an especially happy combination-American aggressiveness and push combined with German thrift and con- servatism, and it has served to inspire with confidenee those who desired to invest their savings in the Bank of Washington. Indeed, Mr. Stumpe has been extremely successful in handling money to good advantage,-not only his own, but that of his patrons, and he ean justly take a pardonable pride therein.
As above stated, Mr. Stumpe was born in Missouri, upon a farm three miles south of the city of Washington, the date of his birth being November 6, 1852, a son of Henry W. and Mary (Marquard) Stumpe. Henry W. Stumpe and his wife were both natives of Osnabruck, Germany, where they were mar- ried, but hearing of the glories of America they decided to try their fortunes in that country, so, in 1833 they immigrated to the United States and settled in Franklin county, Missouri. Here Mr. Stumpe devoted his time and talents to farming, which formed his life occupation. He died in 1868, at the age of sixty years, his wife surviving him until May, 1886, when she, too, passed to the Great Be- yond. The issue of this union was Mary, wife of W. H. Gallenkamp and mother of Judge Gallenkamp, the surveyor of the port of St. Louis : Henry, who was one of the first volun- teers from Missouri in the Civil war, and who later passed his life as a merchant in Wash- ington: Julia became the wife of Judge Robert Hoffman, of Washington ; Louisa mar- ried Arnold Godt, and died in Washington : Charlotte passed away in 1868 as the wife of John Wentyne, of St. Louis; and Frederick W., the immediate subject of this review.
Frederick W. Stumpe left the farm during his early youth, as agricultural pursuits did not tempt him as a life vocation, and entered private school in Washington, where he acquired his educational training. He first tasted the fruits of his own labor employed as a painter, but instead of following this oceupation he accepted a clerkship, which position he retained until 1875. when he was appointed assistant eashier of the Washington Savings Bank. the first and only bank in that city. Ile immediately discovered that the handling and investing of money was his forte, and decided to make the banking busi- ness his life vocation. In July, 1877, this in- stitution failed and Mr. Stumpe was ap- pointed its assignee, and so successfully did he manage its tangled affairs that the deposi- tors were practically paid in full.
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That same year the Bank of Washington was organized, its promoters being F. W. Stumpe, Leopold Wattenberg, F. A. Hendrich, John B. Busch and H. D. Hibbler, the two lat- ter gentlemen having but one share each. The capital of the institution was ten thousand dollars, and Leopold Wattenberg was chosen president, while Mr. Stumpe was appointed assistant cashier. In 1890 Mr. Stumpe was promoted to cashier, and in 1901 he was elected president to succeed Mr. Wattenberg. The success of its managements can best be grasped from its present condition, the capital stock having been increased to fifty thousand dollars, while its surphis is double its present capital. Mr. Stumpe has other business inter- ests, being one of the directors of the Wash- ington Building and Loan Association, a con- cern which has made a phenomenal record as a fiduciary institution, and he is also a director of the Washington Water Company.
In politics Frederick W. Stumpe gives his preference to the Republican party, his fellow- citizens having shown their trust in him by electing him to the offices of city clerk and city treasurer, respectively. He is a member of that old established fraternity, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is a past mas- ter of Washington Lodge, No. 25.
On October 9, 1878, a marriage ceremony was performed uniting Frederick W. Stumpe and Amelia Wilhelmi in the holy bonds of wedlock. Mrs. Stumpe was the daughter of Julius Wilhelmi, a native of Mannheim, Ger- many, who came to this country in early life. He was a Union refugee from Arkansas dur- ing the period of the Civil war, and was later sheriff and collector of Franklin county, Mis- souri. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick W. Stumpe were the parents of the following children : Earna, the wife of Jasper N. Tankersly, of Chicago, manager of the interests of the Me- Millan Company. of New York; Miss Adele, of Washington ; Robert W., who is in business in St. Louis; and Miss Elsie, of Washington. Mrs. Stumpe was called to her eternal home July 25, 1899. She was a devoted wife and mother and beloved by all who knew her. The two daughters. Misses Adele and Elsie. preside graciously over the home of our sub- ject, which is a gathering place for the social activities of Washington.
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