USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 109
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Mr. Dean has been twice married. His first wife was Nettie Arnold, of Tennessee, to whom he was united in 1869. Their one child, Loremya, lives in Blysville, Arkansas. The present Mrs. Dean was born in Benton county, Tennessee, in 1859. Her parents were Manuel and Elizabeth Carter Lee, both natives of Tennessee. Her marriage to Mr. Dean took place in 1880. Their children are Arthur, Lula, Georgia, Ida, Pearl, Mary, Vergie and Leonard. Both Mr. Dean and his wife belong to the Christian church.
Until eight years ago Mr. Dean was a Democrat, but at that time, as he did not find himself any longer in sympathy with the poli- cies of the party. he entered the Republican constituency. His fraternal connections are with the Red Men and the Farmers' Union.
WILLIAM N. GILBOW is a descendant of the race who are the best farmers in the world.
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We grow bigger crops in America, because we have more room, but for knowledge of how to produce the maximum yield on the minimum of land we must go to France, the native country of Tensant Gilbow, the grand- father of William N. The former came to this country when a young man and married Becky Summers, a native daughter of South- eastern Missouri. Their son William was born in this county in 1834, and died here in 1865. Eleven years later his wife, Jeanette Bartholomew Gilbow, who was also born in 1834, passed to the other world. William N. was fourteen at the time of his mother's death, as he was born January 20, 1862.
Until bereaved of both his parents William Gilbow lived with his mother at home and attended such schools, public and subscrip- tion, as the county afforded. At her death he went to work on the farms of the region, by the day and by the month. At nineteen he was married to Victoria Arbuckle, who was born in Ste. Genevieve county.
After marrying Mr. Gilbow rented and farmed on shares until 1901-twenty years- when he bought eighty acres of his present farm. At that time it was all in timber, as well as another eighty which he bought a little later. He has now cleared all but twenty acres of this tract and does general farming, dealing quite extensively in live stock besides raising the usual crops of hay, cotton and corn.
A saw mill on his farm is another of Mr. Gilbow's enterprises. He is a stockholder in the cotton gin at Portageville and in the Farmers' Warehouse in the same place. In the Farmers' Union he is an influential and popular member and is now acting as vice- president of that body.
The eldest of the family of four children who made up the home circle of William and Victoria Gilbow is Mary J. Gilbow Click, liv- ing in this county. The younger members, Leoana, Minnie and Lilbourn, are still with their parents. The Methodist church is the denomination to which Mr. Gilbow and his wife belong. He is a member of two lodges. the Modern Woodmen and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His political con- victions are embodied in the platform of the Democratic party.
JOHN M. DOWNING is accounted one of the progressive farmers of the county. Here he was born in 1863, August 2, and here he re- ceived his education in the public schools.
Left fatherless at the age of thirteen, he early had to shoulder heavy responsibilities. He helped his mother run the farm until her death. Since his marriage to Miss Maggie Leighton, of Kentucky, which took place in 1888, Mr. Downing has been engaged in trad- ing farm property. He has bought and sold many farms in this county and now rents sixty-five acres, upon which he raises cotton and some stock. Buying and shipping cattle and hogs also engages part of his attention.
In the Woodmen of the World of Portage- ville Mr. Downing is a prominent member, and he is now serving as one of the managers of the order. He holds membership in two other of the great fraternal organizations, the Masons and the Odd Fellows. The educa- tional advancement of the county is a matter in which he is especially interested, and he has shown his interest by eight years' service as school director.
Mr. Downing's father came here when a young man and was married here to Nancy Branham, a native of this county. His for- mer home had been in Kentucky. Both Mr. George Downing and his wife died here.
Mrs. John Downing is the daughter of Joseph Leighton, born in Indiana, and La- vinia (Hall) Leighton, a native of Canada. Both of her parents are dead. She is a mem- ber of the Missionary Baptist church and is connected fraternally with the Mutual Pro- tective Association. One of the eleven chil- dren she has borne Mr. Downing is dead; the others are all at home. Their names are Cul- lon, John, David, Madie, Will, Vivian, Harry, Cloudy, Arthur and Lydian.
ALFRED DELISLE is another of Pemiscot county 's farmers who has spent his life with- in its borders. He was born in 1863, and re- mained in the paternal home until his mar- riage to Lizzie Stone in 1886. Mrs. DeLisle is the daughter of E. H. and Luciana Todd Stone. After his marriage, Mr. DeLisle worked in a store for one winter and then resumed his present occupation of farming. From forty acres he has increased the area of land he cultivates to one hundred and thirty- six acres. This is rented land, upon which its manager raises crops of corn, cotton and hay, as well as stock. Mr. DeLisle owns nineteen horses and mules, fifty hogs and twenty-three cattle.
In the Red Men's lodge he is secretary of the order. Both he and Mrs. DeLisle belong to the Mutual Benefit Association and to the
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Knights and Ladies of Security. The family are members of the Catholic church. Three children have been born of the union of Al- fred and Lizzie DeLisle, Elmer, Homer and Lizzie, all at home. In politics, Mr. DeLisle holds with the Democratic party.
WILLIAM L. CARROLL. The story of Mr. Carroll's life is the realization of those hopes which lure the aspiring immigrants from the crowded countries of Europe to the greater opportunities of a land where there is yet room for all who will come out to its fertile fields and pay to the land its toll of toil. Matthew Carroll, his father, was born in Ire- land, about 1793. He came to America after his marriage, settling first in Indiana and later going to New Madrid county. This was about 1860, and his removal to Stoddard county occurred in a few years from this date. It was here that he died in 1870. His first wife, Anna Barnes, was born in Ireland. She was the mother of five children, including Patrick, who remained in Erin's Isle until after the Civil war and now lives in New York. Only one other child, William, of Sikeston, is now living. Mary became Mrs. William P. White, of Stoddard county, where her death occurred. Hannah was Mrs. A. W. Brown of New Madrid county. Nicholas died in Scott county in 1875. Anna Barnes Car- roll died in Stoddard county in 1863. Mat- thew married Mary Leighton, of the same county, and they became parents of one child, Samuel, who lived only one year. Matthew was a contractor and a farmer. In his re- ligious faith he was a devout communicant of the Roman Catholic church.
William L. Carroll was born on that most important day of our history, July 4, 1856, in Indiana near Liberty and Indianapolis. He worked on different farms and when he was not seventeen years of age came to Sikes- ton in search of work, walking across the swamp from Stoddard county. After work- ing five and a half days for Lewis Baker, he went back to Stoddard county to bring his brother Nicholas, now buried in Sikeston. For seven years he worked on farms by the month but in 1879 he married and the same year went to farming for himself.
It was as a renter that Mr. Carroll began his independent work of agriculture and he continued to rent for seven years before buy- ing his first one hundred and twenty acres. Since that time he has bought a quarter sec- tion more in that vicinity and also the old Vol. II-37
Marshall farm of two hundred and forty acres. In Sandalwood township he has pur- chased four hundred acres, making nearly a thousand acres acquired in a quarter of a cen- tury. In addition to his holdings in real es- tate he is a director and a share holder in the Citizens Bank, with which he has been con- nected since its organization.
Mrs. Carroll, nee Susan M. Marshall, was born December 17, 1860, her parents being E. Frank and Parthenia Carrico Marshall, well known citizens of the county. The eldest child of the union, Parthenia, lived less than five years and a son Oscar, born July 20, 1887, was claimed by the grim reaper at about the same age. The other children are all living in Scott county. Frank M., born September 28, 1881, has set up his own home with Maggie Carroll as his wife. William N., a year and two days younger than Frank, farms for his father. Anna, born January 21, 1885, Ar- nold, June 15, 1890, and Benjamin, whose natal day was February 5, 1892, live with their parents; so also does Marvin, born Sep- tember 15, 1902.
In politics Mr. Carroll is a Democrat. He has served as judge of the county court in 1880 and again in 1890. The lodges to which he belongs are the Modern Woodmen, the Odd Fellows and the Masons.
JAMES D. CLIFTON has been a resident of this section of the country for over a quarter of a century and is counted one of the suc- cessful and substantial farmers of the com- munity. He lived in Tennessee before coming to Missouri, Arden county being his birth- place. Mrs. Clifton is a native of Wayne county. Her maiden name was Mary Line- berry. She was wedded to Mr. Clifton twenty years ago, and it is their good fortune to still have all of their children. These are Sam, Thomas, Cordia, Roxy and Gertie, still at home, while Will and Addie are married. Both Mr. Clifton and his wife are members of the Methodish Church Sonth. He is a popular member of the Odd Fellows, the Ma- sons, the Modern Woodmen and the Royal Neighbors of Portageville, and also of the Ben Hur lodge. He has been chosen to serve in different offices in all these lodges.
Upon coming to Pemiscot county Mr. Clif- ton first leased a farm for five years. Later he bought a tract of the same extent-forty acres. Six years ago he sold that and now owns fifty-four acres. Mr. Clifton has put considerable improvement upon this farm and
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is a general farmer in practice. Cotton and corn are his principal erops and he raises both hogs and cattle. Mr. Clifton casts his politi- cal lot with the Democratic party, but he spends his time at farming.
PINKNEY E. BOON. Although Tennessee is the native state of Mr. Boon, his parents, Harrison and Malinda Kirtner Boon, moved to Missouri when Pinkney was a baby, so he has spent his life in the county. His early life was like that of so many of our eminent citizens; he assisted his father on the farm and attended the district school. When he grew up he gave his attention to farming first, renting thirty-five acres besides the forty which he owns. In 1906 Mr. Boon and his brother built a saw mill, which has a capacity of seven thousand feet per day. They are engaged in cutting and marketing custom lumber and also in shipping quite a large quantity. Mr. Boon continues to farm as well as conducting his lumber business.
The fraternal organization of the Woodmen of the World counts Mr. Boon among its val- ued members. In politics his convictions are those of the Democratic party. Both Mr. and Mrs. Boon are communicants of the Baptist church. Mrs. Boon's maiden name was Inez Edward, and she was born in this county. They have a family of eight children: Fran- cis, Henry, Goah, Amelia, Daisy, Norvil, Nel- lie and Granvil.
GEORGE E. RANDOLPH. Point Pleasant was the birthplace of Mr. Randolph and it was here that he received most of his education. He was born in 1866, on a farm, and went to school at Point Pleasant and one year at Cape Girardeau. When he came home from this city he spent one year on the farm and then went to Arkansas on business for the govern- ment. He remained there two years, and then again came back to the farm. where he stayed until 1894.
In June of the above year Mr. Randolph went into the sewing-machine business and worked at that for three years. Following this he spent a year tending bar for Mr. Yount. The next four years he was in busi- ness in Holcomb, Missouri, and then went into the saloon business at Point Pleasant. At present he owns the only saloon in town.
Mr. Randolph's holdings in real estate in the region are quite extensive. He has sev- eral store buildings and three houses besides his residence. A saw mill is another of his
enterprises and he rents a farm of about one hundred acres. He also runs a pea thresher. which is operated by a gasoline engine, and makes concrete blocks.
Three children have been born to Mr. Ran- dolph's union with Electa Bowen : Arthur, Shirley and Oligar. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World and a Democrat in politics.
WILLIAM P. ROBINSON. Livingston county, Kentucky, is the native home of Mr. W. P. Robinson, who began his course in this life in the year 1865, remembered still by a fast dis- appearing generation as the close of the war. Mr. Robinson 's parents came to this county in 1890 and bought the farm on which William still resides with his mother, Mrs. Charity Bradon Robinson, and another of her sons, Sidney Robinson.
The Robinson farm is a well improved es- tate of one hundred and twenty acres, with fences all in good condition and an eight room house built in 1906. Fine barns and a windmill add to its facilities for stock raising, which occupies a part of Mr. Robinson's at- tention as well as shipping carload lots of it and doing some retail business in that line. He also handles logs for several parties in the district and raises good crops of cotton and corn.
Mr. Robinson's politics are Democratic, but his attention has always been given to farm- ing and kindred pursuits. He was educated in the public schools and is interested in edu- cational matters. He holds membership in the Red Men and in the Modern Woodmen of America.
James H. Robinson, father of William P., was born in Kentucky and died there in 1909. His wife was born in Tennessee and is still living here. Only one of their four daughters is living, Inez, the wife of Sam Welsh, a farmer. Nannie and Amy died here and Lizzie in Kentucky, where the other son, Charles, also passed away. To James Robin- son this simple and eloquent tribute is ac- corded. "He had many friends and was al- ways well thought of."
CHARLES MCGEE. Though still so young a man, Mr. McGee has made a place for himself in the agricultural circle of the county. He was born in Pemiscot county, where his moth- er and father were born, lived and died. Paul K. McGee, his father, was born in 1860 and died in 1886. IIis mother. Cora Butler
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McGee, was two years younger than her hus- band and outlived him eighteen years, pass- ing away in 1904.
Charles attended the district schools and worked on the farm while a boy. For six years he worked on a neighbor's farm by the month and then went into business for him- self. His first venture was in 1907, when he put in a crop on twenty acres of land on shares. After this he bought forty acres and cultivated that for a time, but later sold it out. He now rents eighty-seven acres, on which he raises cotton and corn and keeps some stock, five horses, forty hogs and fifteen cattle.
His marriage took place in 1907. Mrs. Mc- Gee is the daughter of William Whitten. Mr. and Mrs. McGee have one child, Clarence, born December 24, 1908. Mr. McGee is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
CHARLES J. MASON is the oldest of the seven children of Joshua and Martha Miller Mason. His father was born in Illinois and came to Southeastern Missouri when he was a boy, leaving home to find work. He had no money, but hired out on the farms, working by the day or by the month. He married Martha Miller, a native of Scott county, who grew up near Sikeston, where Charles was born. The mother died in 1904; one son. Emory, is at home with his father; Bertha and Isabel are married and live in Scott county. Two other sons, Will and Reese, are also married, and the other daughter. Lina. is at home.
Charles Mason was born July 22, 1876, on a farm six miles north of Sikeston. Here he lived until he was twenty years old, attending the common schools when not busy on the farm. At twenty he began renting, taking np three hundred acres, which was owned by Steve Hunter. His diligence was rewarded by success and the seven years he spent here were prosperous ones.
When Charles Mason was twenty-one he married Miss Ida Joyce, who has lived in Scott county all her life. Two of the four children of this union are attending school, Orville and Mabel ; the others. Era and Urban are not yet of school age.
In 1903 Mr. Mason moved to his present home. He had bought two hundred acres of it while living on Mr. Hunter's place, when he was twenty-one, but he rented it out until the above date. The commodious nine-room house on the place was built by Mr. Mason, also the other buildings. His present acreage
is three hundred, all but sixty of which he has cleared. Indeed, all the improvements on the place are his work, and it is a monu- ment of his thrift and his intelligent labor.
Mr. and Mrs. Mason are members of the Methodist church. The fraternal connections of Mr. Mason are with the Modern Woodmen and the Odd Fellows.
JOHN O. WILSON. Many people gain wealth in this world, many gain distinction in the learned professions, and many are honored with public offices of trust and responsibility, but to few is it given to attain so high a place in the esteem and affection of their fellow citizens as that enjoyed by John Oliver Wil- son, a prominent and influential farmer four miles west of Bernie. He and his wife, who passed to the life eternal on the 3d of March, 1910, were known throughout Stoddard coun- ty, their spacious and comfortable residence near Bernie being widely renowned for its generous hospitality and being frequently re- ferred to as the "Orphans Home," hospice having often been given to those unfortu- nates who, at an early age, have been bereft of their parents. Farming and stock-raising have ever been Mr. Wilson's chief occupation and he is the owner of a fine rural estate of two hundred and twenty-six acres, the same being located on Crowley's Ridge.
John Oliver Wilson was born in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, the date of his nativity being the 16th of November, 1857. When two years of age he was brought to Dunklin county, Missouri, by his parents, Samuel and Annie (Mayfield) Wilson, both of whom are now deceased. The father was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and the mother claimed South Carolina as the place of her nativity. Samuel Wilson was a molder by trade, and he was engaged in the work of his profession at St. Louis and at Memphis for a number of years. During the strenuous period of the Civil war he was in Dunklin county, Missouri, and for a short time he served as a molder of shot and shell in the ranks of the Confeder- ate army. In 1864 he returned to St. Louis, where he passed the residue of his life, his demise having occurred in 1875, at the age of forty-five years. He was survived by a widow and six children, of whom three were grown sons. The family, after the death of the father, settled on the farm where the subject of this review now resides, the estate then consisting of eighty acres, worth about four hundred dollars. The mother continued
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to reside in Missouri for a number of years, but later went to Arkansas with her son Al- bert and there passed away, at the age of seventy-two years. Concerning the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Wilson the fol- lowing brief data are here incorporated: Al- bert; Walter; John O., the immediate subject of this review; Frances, who married Elijah Smith and died in middle life, and Anna and Laura, who are now living in Arkansas.
Mr. Wilson, of this notice, received his early educational training in the public schools of St. Louis, the same being of but meager order, and he was a youth of eighteen years of age at the time of his father's death. When his mother removed with some of the children to Arkansas he bought out the shares of the others in the farm he now owns and with the passage of time has increased his estate to two hundred and twenty-six acres. He is en- gaged in general farming and the raising of high-grade stock, wheat and corn being his principal erops. He erected his present beau- tiful home in 1894, and his attractive place is now recognized as one of the finest farms in this section of Stoddard county. Mr. Wil- son's splendid success as a farmer and busi- ness man is the direct outcome of his well applied endeavors and as such it is the more gratifying to contemplate. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Dexter lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has lived an exemplary, upright life, guided by faith, love and charity, and is everywhere accorded the unqualified confidence and es- teem of his fellow men.
In the year 1872 Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Julia Higginbotham, a na- tive of Dunklin county and a daughter of Marion and Agnes (Riddle) Higginbotham. Mrs. Wilson passed to the great beyond on the 3d of March, 1910, and her death was uni- versally mourned by a wide circle of devoted and loving friends. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson had no children of their own but reared four or- phans, three of whom are now married, Birdie Wiggs is the wife of Rufus Wilson, of Stoddard county; William Smith, taken at the age of five years, is a prominent lumber man in Arkansas; Lann Blackwell is now a business man, and Myrtle Williams, who came to the Wilson home at the age of fourteen months, is now a child of six years. Mr. Wil- son centers all his affection on the last-men- tioned child now that his cherished and de- voted wife is deceased and the other children settled comfortably in homes of their own.
THOMAS D. MCCOWN has been a resident of Missouri for half a century; he has lived in Butler county for thirty-two years and has created for himself an eminent place in the affairs of the county, both civic and indus- trial. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1859. When he was two years old his par- ents, Dr. James C. and Mary Judie McCown, moved to Rawls, Missouri, where they re- sided until Thomas was twelve. He attended school in Rawls and also in Monroe county, where the family lived from 1871 until 1879. At this date they came to Butler county and took up their residence on a farm.
Thomas had served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith and carpenter's trades under James Mattchett, at Parish, Missouri, and at the age of twenty he began to work for him- self. While the father practiced medicine he ran the farm and also plied his trade of car- pentry. For sixteen years he continued to farm in this manner.
At the age of twenty-six Mr. MeCown was married to Miss Allie Bullock, and as their children, Ethel and Ruby, grew to be of school age the parents decided to move to town to give them better educational advan- tages. For six years after moving to Poplar Bluff Mr. McCown had charge of Walker's Manufacturing Company. In 1902 he was elected marshal and served two terms. At the completion of this term of service in the office of marshal he was elected sheriff and has served five years. It was due in part to his efforts that the $25,000 jail was erected dur- ing his tenure of the office of sheriff.
A well cleared farm of two hundred and forty acres besides a house and four lots in town are Mr. McCown's valuable assets in real estate. He is a practical farmer and raises corn and peas as his principal erops, giving especial attention to the raising of Jersey Duroc hogs, of which he has a hundred and fifty head. Forty cattle and seven horses complete his assortment of live stock.
In the family circle of Mr. MeCown are three daughters, Eva, aged five, Ruth, two, . and Ruby, mentioned previously. Ethel is married to O. B. Burnett of Dexter, Missouri. Eva and Ruth, as well as Ray, now seven, are the children of Mr. McCown's second mar- riage, their mother being Hattie G. McCown, who was formerly the wife of Mr. Graham.
In matters of education and of religious im- port Mr. MeCown takes an active interest. While in the country he served as school di- rector and he is an energetic worker in the
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Christian church, of which his wife, too, is an active member. He has held office in the lodges of the Woodmen of the World and in the Red Men. He is, besides, connected with the Order of Moose.
ULYSSES GRANT TOTTY, like his illustrious namesake, has achieved his education and his material possessions by patient effort and by gallant struggles against heavy odds. He was born in Butler county, Missouri, in 1864. Both of his parents were born in Hickman county, Tennessee, and both died in Cape Girardeau county, Missouri. The father was taken away when Ulysses Totty was only three and a half years old. His school course did not even teach him to write, but he sent him- self to a school in which he was both pupil and taskmaster and acquired a fair knowledge.
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