USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 11
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Mr. Wilkson established a happy house- hold and a congenial life companionship when, on July 26, 1900, at Bonne Terre, he was united in marriage to Miss Mamie G. Bradley, daughter of the well-known citizen, J. J. Bradley. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkson are the parents of a promising family of five children, three of whom are sons and two daughters, namely : Charles Albert, Berkley Genevieve, Adiel, Lewis and Virginia.
Mr. Wilkson's political convictions are in harmony with the principles advanced by the Democratic party. His social and fra- ternal proclivities are marked and he is prominent and popular as a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Eagles. He is an enthusias- tic college man and still maintains active re- lations with the two Greek letter societies- Beta Theta Pi and Phi Delta Phi-which he joined while at Columbia.
ALBERT KOPPITZ. To him whose name forms the caption for this article much of the credit for Pacific's thrifty, enterprising con- dition and spirit of progressiveness is due. Mr. Koppitz having been elected mayor of
business acumen, tactful judgment, unfalter- ing energy and undaunted fearlessness to successfully manage the affairs of a munici- pality, and such qualities Mr. Koppitz has shown, as is evinced by the fact that he is now serving his fifth term in the official chair of Pacific.
Albert Koppitz was born at Kuttelberg, Austria, April 27, 1852, a son of Benjamin and Johanna (Pflieger) Koppitz, the former the owner of a flour and saw mill in that country, where he and his wife lived and died. They became the parents of ten chil- dren, of whom six are now living, but of this number only two, Konrad and our subject, braved the dangers of the briny deep in carv- ing out for themselves fortunes in a new land. Konrad is the senior member of the firm of Koppitz-Melcher Brewing Company, of De- troit, Michigan, a successful enterprise of that state.
The childhood of Albert Koppitz was passed among rural surroundings, his educa- tion being secured in the common schools of his native country, and they were not of the best. His chief assets, therefore, when he be- gan working on his own accord, were indus- try, energy and perseverance, and he deter- mined to master some trade. He accordingly was apprenticed to a blacksmith, and after mastering that he entered his father's mill and learned that business. Thus equipped with the knowledge of two important trades, he and his brother Konrad came to the United States in 1872, settling at Chicago. He spent three years in that city engaged at the forge, and then moved to Kinsley, Kan- sas, where he followed the plow for a short time. Later he was employed as foreman in a flouring mill, but in 1879 he decided to re- turn east. He accordingly retraced his steps and settled for a few months at Chicago, and then, being offered the superintendency of a mill at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, he removed to that city. Having pretty well mastered the English language by this time, he became quite invaluable to his new employers, who sent him to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1881, where he remained for two years. In 1883, how- ever, he located at Columbia, Illinois, where he engaged in the same business until he came to Pacific, Missouri, in 1885. Here Mr. Kop- pitz entered into partnership with W. B. Smith and bought a flour-mill, which busi- ness was successfully carried on until 1902, when Mr. Koppitz bought out his partner's
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interest and has since been the principal owner and proprietor of the Banner Roller Mills, as they are now called. In 1888 the company engaged in the retail lumber busi- ness in Pacific, and this phase of the enter- prise has so prospered as to warrant the es- tablishment of a branch yard at Eureka, Missouri.
Nor are Mr. Kappitz's interests confined entirely within the scope of his roller mills. In 1892 the Pacific Bank opened its doors to depositors, with a capital stock of ten thou- sand dollars. He was chosen president of the institution and has since continued in that office, serving in his capacity ably and well. In 1894 the Pacific Electric Light Company was organized, another one of Pacific's enter- prising ventures, and our subject was made its president and still holds this chair.
In polities Mr. Koppitz is independent. He began his official life in local affairs as a member of the city council of Pacific, and, as above stated, is now filling his fifth term as mayor of this charming little city. He is ever on the alert for improvement, it being his initiative that brought about the establish- ment of an electric light plant here; and his interest in street welfare launched the move- ment to macadamize certain of the public streets; while the question of an efficient and modern city water plant is now being agi- tated. Mr. Koppitz belongs to that time- honored fraternity, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, in which body he has held the chair of Worshipful Master two terms.
On July 29, 1873, Mr. Koppitz was united in marriage in Chicago to Miss Barbara German, born at Bavaria, Germany, Decem- ber 25, 1856. The children of this union are Albert, who is superintendent of the electric light plant at Marissa, Illinois; William, a machinist in Detroit, Michigan; and Tillie, the wife of H. J. Hillbrand. of Pacific, Mis- souri. Mr. and Mrs. Koppitz maintain a hospitable and charming home in Pacific, which is always open to their friends and neighbors, and where any one desiring com- fort or good cheer can readily find it.
DANIEL C. ZIMMERMAN. Among Bollinger county's prosperous and representative agri- culturists Daniel C. Zimmerman stands prominent. He engages in general farming and stock raising and his very desirable farm of three hundred and seven acres is situated about two miles northwest of Glen Allen. He has been identified with this section through-
out almost his entire life time and he is very loyal to its interests, not indeed in a selfish fashion, for there is nothing of public import in which he is not helpfully interested, or any local movement which in his judgment prom- ises to benefit any considerable number of his fellow citizens that does not have his cor- dial advocacy and generous support.
Mr. Zimmerman was born in Bollinger county, Missouri, on the 7th day of June, 1850, and is a son of N. M. and Sarah Ann Eliza (Bowman) Zimmerman, both of whom were natives of North Carolina, and of old, aristocratie families. The father is a son of Michael and Phoebe Zimmerman, who were also natives of the so-called "Old North State." The parents of the subject came to Bollinger county in 1849 and became expo- nents of the great basic industry, and it was upon the old homestead that the early days of Mr. Zimmerman were passed. Under his father's tutelage he learned the many secrets of seed-time and harvest and laid the foun- dation for the thorough knowledge of farm- ing which he now possesses. In 1871 Mr. Zimmerman, who had just attained to his ma- jority, started out for himself and for three years was engaged as a railroader. Subse- quent to that he went to Texas, and in the Lone Star state spent two years as a farm hand. He still remembered Missouri with great affection, however, and at the end of the two years he came back and after a time pur- chased land. He has added to this from time to time and now owns three hundred and seven acres, fertile and well improved, upon which he conducts successful farming opera- tions. This, as before mentioned, is only two miles northwest of Glen Allen. He raises some stock of good quality and at present owns six head of horses and mules, twenty head of cattle and sixteen head of hogs.
Mr. Zimmerman established an independent household in 1882 by his marriage to Mrs. Mary E. Deck. a widow, daughter of Aaron and Drusilla MeKelvy, natives of Tennessee and Missouri, respectively. Mr. Zimmerman has reared beneath his roof-tree three chil- dren of his own and one step-daughter. His eldest daughter. Caroline E., born in 1883, is the wife of Forest Bollinger: Edgar N., born in 1885. resides near his father and he mar- ried Marada Shetly ; Lillian L., born in 1890, is at home. The daughter by Mrs. Zimmer- man's previous marriage, May, is the wife of Juan F. Sites.
Mr. Zimmerman is a valued and consistent
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member of the Christian church and he is in- dependent in his political convictions, esteem- ing the best man and the best measure high above mere partisanship.
THOMAS P. KIRKMAN. Whatever be the discouragements and difficulties that a man may have to meet in his early life, he is sure to come out on top if he has the right stuff in him. Thomas P. Kirkman for many years had a very hard time to get along, but now he is one of the successful farmers of Dunk- lin county.
He was born in Tennessee, in Chester county, December 7, 1845. He went to school in his native state but did not receive the ad- vantages of many years of schooling, as he was obliged to work on his father's farm. He stayed in Tennessee until he was twenty- eight years old, moving to Pemiscot county, Missouri, in 1874. He bought some land and farmed in the county for nineteen years, but somehow or other did not meet with great success. He stayed on year after year, hop- ing all the time that things would improve, but at last he made up his mind that it was no use remaining there any longer. He was not, however, discouraged, rather was deter- mined to win out somewhere else. He came to Dunklin county in 1892, settling on John- son's Island, where he lived for four years and was doing very well there, but he is now farming sixty-two acres of land that belong to his mother-in-law and making a great suc- cess.
In 1868. while he was living in Tennessee, Mr. Kirkman married Nancy Mayfield, a na- tive of Tennessee. Four children were born to the union, John, Rosa, Landrum and Eva Mrs. Kirkman died in Pemiscot county, Mis- souri, in 1883, while they were still strng- gling to make both ends meet on the farm. In 1896 he married Mrs. Mary Meharg, a widow with five children; Alice, who lives in New Mexico; Will, who is in Clay county, Arkansas; Chattie, who is in Senath, Mis- souri ; DeWitt, who is in St. Louis; and James, who is at home with his mother and stepfather. Three children have been born to Mr. Kirkman and his second wife, Bettie. Sam and Hattie.
Mr. Kirkman belongs to the Farmers' Union of Missouri. He is a member of the Mission Baptist church of Kennett and is an active worker in that small but enterpris- ing church. In politics he is a Democrat. always anxious for his party to come out
ahead. During the time he has been in the county he has become very well known and respected. Whether it is that he can manage a farm for somebody else better than he can for himself, or whether conditions were just against him, it is certain that he has been more successful in looking after the interests of his mother-in-law than he ever was in farm- ing on his own account. Whatever the cause, however, he is now doing well. He takes the greatest interest in the welfare of Dunklin county, his adopted home, and stands ready at all times to do anything he can to better conditions.
WILLIAM EVERETT CROW, editor of the Jef- ferson County Republican, is the eldest son of the Reverend David W. Crow, whose work in the Methodist church of Missouri has had so much to do with the growth of that de- nomination in the state. David Crow was born in South Carolina, in 1840, but came with his parents to Perry county at an early age. After some years on the farm he went into the milling business and was engaged in that work when Lincoln called for volunteers. Leaving his mill running, he went to war. At the close of that heart-breaking period of our history, he returned to Perry county and taught school. He had obtained his educa- tion by his own efforts, being always eager to avail himself of chances to add to his knowl- edge. At the old Crossroads church in Perry county he preached his first sermon. Mr. Crow was a circuit rider and lived the strenu- ous and devoted life that such a calling means. He established churches in Perry, Bollinger, Cape Girardeau and Stoddard counties.
In 1864 Reverend Crow married Miss Re- becca Bollinger, of Bollinger county. Seven children were born to this union : W. E. Crow, the subject of this review; N. E. Crow; E. M. Crow, who follows his father's profession ; Viola, Mrs. W. R. McCormick; Minnie, Mrs. Charles Tibbetts; Millie, wife of Reverend Ray G. Crew; and Allen, now dead.
For six years Reverend Crow was presiding elder of this district. He is now located at DeSoto, where he has served as pastor for sixteen years. Before settling in DeSoto, Reverend Crow was for five years pastor at Joplin, Missouri.
His eldest son, W. E. Crow, born Septem- ber 3, 1866, at Perryville, obtained his edu- cation in the public schools of Perry county and in the Mayfield Smith Academy at Marble
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Hill. The family moved to Stoddard county after William had attended the academy two terms and in the new home the boy went to work in the printing office of the Bloom- field Vindicator, of which Mr. C. A. Mosley was editor. The business appealed to Mr. Crow and when he came to DeSoto in 1890 he continued to work at printing and later bought the paper which he now owns and edits.
Mr. Crow has been prominent in the Re- publican party, to which he contributes no little strength both by his paper and by his personal influence. In 1896 he was a mem- ber of the Republican state committee. He has served DeSoto four years as city clerk and was eight years postmaster, being ap- pointed to this office by president Mckinley in 1896. He was twice chairman of the county committee and is now secretary of that organization.
Mr. Crow's marriage to Miss Bessie J. Butler took place in 1894. One daughter, Lulu A., and three sons, Harry S., Ralph and David Benjamin, have been the issue of this union.
As might be expected, Mr. Crow is a mem- ber of the Methodist church. He holds mem- bership in the Masonic lodge, in the Knights of Pythias and in the Ancient Order of United Workmen. None of Mr. Crow's social affiliations or his public offices interfere with his work on his paper. Through its pages he has worked effectively for the prosperity of the town. The fine post office building and the opera house are assets which were secured largely through the instrumentality of the Jefferson County Republican.
HENRY F. WEISS. Among the citizens of Perryville, Missouri, who have been largely influential in promoting the progress and development of this section of the state, is Henry F. Weiss, the present able and popular incumbent of the office of mayor of the city. Mr. Weiss is decidedly loyal and public-spir- ited in his civic attitude and as a business man and official he is held in high esteem on account of his fair and honorable methods and his sterling integrity.
A native of Perryville, Henry F. Weiss was born on the 17th of November, 1868, and he is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Kiefner) Weiss, the former of whom was born and reared in Germany and the latter of whom claims Bavaria, Germany, as the place of her
nativity. The father continued to reside in the old Fatherland until he had attained the age of twenty-five years, when he immigrated to the United States. Location was first made in the state of Minnesota and subsequently he lived for a time in Iowa and Ohio, eventu- ally settling in Missouri. As a young man he served three years in the German army and in his native land he familiarized him- self with the ins and outs of the brewery business, to which line of enterprise he de- voted the major portion of his time during his entire active career. He is now living retired, with his wife, at Perryville, where he is passing the evening of his life in full en- joyment of former years of earnest toil and endeavor. Mr. Joseph Weiss married Miss Elizabeth Kiefner, in 1867, and to this union were born six children, concerning whom a brief record is here offered,-Henry F. is the immediate subject of this review; Minnie is the wife of William Hartung and they reside at Cape Girardeau, Missouri; Mary is now Mrs. A. M. Thieret and she maintains her home at Perryville, Missouri; and Louisa, Josephine and Lewis I. remain at the paren- tal home.
To the public schools of Perryville Mr. Weiss of this notice, is indebted for his pre- liminary educational discipline and for two terms he was a student in a German parochial school in this city. As a young man he learned the milling business and for fourteen years he was in the employ of the Welcome mills, now the Perryville Milling Company. For the past ten years he has been engaged in the business of buying wheat for the St. Mary's Milling Company, a large and promi- nent concern at Perryville. In his political convictions Mr. Weiss is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party, in the local councils of which he is a most important and active factor. In 1906 he was elected to membership on the Perryville board of aldermen and at the expiration of his two- year term, he was further honored by his fellow citizens in that he was then chosen for the office of mayor of the city. He is now filling his second term as mayor and he is proving a most capable administrator of the municipal affairs of the city. Under his supervision Perryville has built three miles of granitoid walks and he has done a great deal to advance the best interests of the community at large. In a fraternal way Mr. Weiss is affiliated with the Fraternal Order of
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Eagles, the Ancient Order of United Work- men and with a number of other representa- tive social organizations.
In the year 1898 Mr. Weiss was united in marriage to Miss Lena Schott, whose birth occurred at Apple Creek, Perry county, Mis- souri, and who is a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Ponder) Schott. Mr. and Mrs. Weiss have five children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth,-Elmer, Freda, Marie, Roland and Helen. In relig- ious faith Mr. Weiss is a Lutheran, while the balance of the Weiss family are devout mem- bers of the Catholic church and they are all ever on the alert to do all in their power to advance benevolent and charitable work in the city.
CHARLES F. BOLLINGER, an influential farmer in Patton, Bollinger county, Missouri, after engaging in milling for a short time has come back to the farm as the place to perform his life work. Every year there are an increasing number of men who become farmers on their own account, which is a very desirable condition of affairs. Mr. Bol- linger realizes that a man should receive the rewards of his own labors, and there is no class of work in which this is so much the case as in agricultural pursuits.
The scene of Mr. Bollinger's entrance into the world was a farm on Little Whitewater Creek, Bollinger county, where his parents, Henry A. and Mary T. Bollinger, still main- tain their residence. This worthy couple were the parents of twelve children, eleven of whom are living,-Emma, Charles F., Sarah, Philip, Grover, Orlean, Amon, Joseph, Kyes, Robert and Treecy.
Brought up on his father's farm, Charles F. Bollinger early learned to take his part in the conduct of the work, and until he was twenty years of age he divided his time be- tween his educational training and the cul- tivation of the land. He then entered the em- ploy of Hawn and Bollinger, millers at Pat- ton, Missouri, made himself master of the milling industry, and in 1901 purchased the mill. He successfully superintended its man- agement for the ensuing two years, when he disposed of his holdings and in 1903 and 1904 was employed by the Whitewater Stave Fac- tory. By that time he had determined to re- turn to the farm and is now the proprietor of one hundred and thirty acres of good land in the Little Whitewater Valley, on which he erected a beautiful residence in May, 1909.
The year which marked Mr. Bollinger's re- turn to farming was also noteworthy as be- ing the one in which he was united in mar- riage to Miss Priscilla Seabaugh, the union having been consummated on the 20th day of March, 1904. They now have three children, Delcie, born May 8, 1905; Christian S., whose birth occurred on the 8th day of April, 1906; and Henry Lavina, the date of whose nativity was July 25, 1911. Mrs. Bollinger is a daughter of Christian and Sarah E. (Masters) Seabaugh, well known residents of Bollinger county.
Christian Seabaugh, a farmer and stock raiser, was born on the first day of March, 1850, in the county in which he always re- sided. His father was Christian and his mother Priscilla; his grandfather, Christian, was a native of North Carolina and later be- came a settler in this county. He located on a Spanish grant of land about six miles east of the place where the grandson now resides. Christian Seabaugh (III), by reason of his industry, accumulated an estate of eleven hundred acres and a few years ago he settled all but eight hundred acres on his children. In 1869 he married Miss Sarah Masters, daughter of Christopher Masters, of Bollinger county, and he became the father of ten children, eight of whom are living,-Pris- cilla, wife of C. F. Bollinger, the subject of this sketch; whose birth occurred June 12, 1873; Wilbert E., a farmer, born June 22, 1875; Christian C., a farmer, who began life January 12, 1879; Dayton, the date of whose birth was August 22, 1882; Dr. O. L., who was born January 9, 1885, one of Patton's prominent physicians, whose biography ap- pears on other pages of this history; Effie, whose birth occurred March 13, 1887; Ottie, born July 19, 1889; and Louis Arnold, the date of whose birth was October 13, 1891.
Mrs. Bollinger belongs to the Lutheran church, and the husband is a member of the Mutual Protective League. He has never cared to dabble much in politics, and he be- lieves that the fitness of the man for office is of more consequence than the predominance of any party. Mr. and Mrs. Bollinger have many friends in the county which bears their name-friends who respect and esteem both husband and wife.
WILLIAM B. FINNEY, M. D. There is no profession that is fraught with more re- sponsibility than the medical and no profes- sion needs more knowledge, training and
WILLIAM B. FINNEY
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culture than this same medical profession. In addition to this the suitability of the man himself must be taken into considera- tion, for withont such suitability he cannot hope to be successful. A doctor must not only know medical terms and remedies and be conversant with the latest discoveries of his colleagues, but he must know men. He must study psychology as well as physiology. As a matter of fact the true physician is never graduated, but is always a student. Dr. Finney is a physician who comes up to all of the requirements mentioned above. By nature, adaptability, training, education and experience, he is a physician who is a success in his practice.
William B. Finney was born the first day of the year 1858. His father was James M. Finney, who married Mary A. Smith, both natives of Illinois. James Finney served for several years as sheriff in Johnson county. William B. attended the public schools at Buncumbe, Illinois, after which he went to Ewing College in Franklin county, Illinois. After his course at Ewing he had decided that he wanted to become a physician and with that end in view he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at St. Louis, from which he was graduated, with the de- gree of Doctor of Medicine, in the class of 1890. After his graduation he started to prac- tice at Laflin, Missouri, remaining there until December, 1892, at which time he came to Kennett, Missouri. He has remained here ever since that time, with an ever growing practice. He tries to keep up with current events in his profession and with that view he is a member of the County Medical Asso- ciation, the State Association, the American Medical Association and of the Southeastern Medical Society. His practice is a general one.
On the 2nd of August, 1885, the Doctor was married to Martha E. Clippard, a native of Cape Girardeau county and daughter of Judge W. G. Clippard, of Bollinger county, Missouri. She is a graduate of the College at Oak Ridge, Cape Girardeau county. Five children have been born to the union, but one son, Hubert Clip- pard died when two years old. William O., born July 13, 1887, is a graduate of the Mis- souri State Normal. He took up the study of medicine, being graduated from the St. Louis University in 1910. He makes a spe- cialty of surgery and is now located at Chaf- fee, Missouri. He is a thirty-second degree
Mason. The next son, Ernest Green, is also devoting his life to the medical profession. Hle was born November 11, 1888, and is just graduated from the St. Louis University, in the class of 1911. He is starting in practice with his father. Earl G. was born June 7, 1894, and is at present a senior student in the Kennett high school. The Doctor's only daughter, Mary Eula, was born October 22, 1897, and she is at home with her parents, a junior in the High School at Kennett. The Doctor and his family are members of Metho- dist Episcopal church, South.
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