History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II, Part 19

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 802

USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 19

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varied experience, he enjoys high standing in the profession, and holds the confidence of both his brethren and the laity. He is as- sociated with those organizations calculated to bring about the progress and unification of the medical profession, such as the County, Southeastern Missouri and State Medical Associations. He does his own dispensing and does general surgical work.

Dr. MeKenzie's wife was previous to her marriage Margaret MeNeely, of DeSoto, Mis- souri, a daughter of S. E. and Emily (Wiley) MeNeely, and their union was celebrated on the 22d day of November, 1898. They are the parents of two boys and two girls, namely : Marian Edna, Marvin Willard, Henry Roscoe and Jessie Wells.

Dr. Mckenzie is a stalwart supporter of the policies and principles of the Democratic party; his lodges are the Masonic, the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica ; and he and his wife are valued members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. Their home is one of the popular ones of Leadwood, hospitable, cultured and cheerful.

S. A. SHIELDS. That Southeast Missouri, and Dunklin county in particular, is the finest country in America for the poor man is the testimony of one of the most prosperous farmers and prominent citizens in the vicin- ity of Hornersville, Mr. S. A. Shields, who has had remarkable opportunities for observa- tion and knowledge to base this judgment upon, since he has visited every city in the United States and Canada of twenty thousand population or greater.

Mr. Shields has had an interesting career. He was born in Alabama, and from there his father, who was a farmer, moved to Texas, and he was reared and spent most of his youth in Hunt county, where he attended the country schools. At the age of seventeen he began buying and trading stock, and ac- quired a knowledge that has since been use- ful to him in Dunklin county. He was a member of a family of nine brothers, the shortest being six feet four and the tallest over seven feet; none weighed less than two hundred and their average was three hun- dred. Mr. Shields himself is six feet six. The genius of public exhibitions, P. T. Bar- num, induced this remarkable family of brothers to join his great circus as the "Texas Giants," and during 1883-4-6 four of the brothers traveled all over the United States and Canada, at a salary of forty dol- lars a week for each. In 1895 Mr. Shields

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married Mrs. Parsons, the giantess of Bar- num's shows, she being a well formed woman whose height was six feet seven. She died several years after their marriage, leaving two children, Shadrach and Paul, both at home with their father. Mr. and Mrs. Shields were also with Sells & Forepaugh's and Robinson's and Buffalo Bill's exhibitions. Major Ray, a well known resident of Horners- ville, formerly of Cardwell, was a fellow traveler with Mr. Shields in the circuses, he and his wife being advertised as "the small- est married couple in the world." After the death of Mrs. Shields, Mr. Shields was in- vited to spend the winter with Major Ray at Cardwell, in 1902, and he liked the country so well that he quit the circus business and has since been identified with Dunklin county as one of its leading farmers.

At Hornersville he was married to Miss Bone, and he then bought his present place a mile and a half south of Hornersville. This farm of one hundred and thirty-seven acres is one of the model places of this vicinity, and he also has a tract of two hundred and eight acres three miles west of Hornersville, one hundred and fifty acres of which is in cultivation. Altogether he farms about two hundred acres, having one hundred and sixty in cotton, also some cattle, horses and forty or fifty hogs. He has five tenant houses on his place west of town. The house of his home place was burned and has been replaced with one of the comfortable residences of this vicinity. At Hornersville Mr. Shields buys cotton for the East St. Louis Cotton Oil Com- pany, and last season bought one thousand four hundred and seventeen bales. This was ginned at the Union Cotton Company, a stock company in which Mr. Shields holds the prin- cipal number of shares. Fraternally Mr. Shields affiliates with the Honersville lodges of the Masons and the Knights of Pythias.

GEORGE W. SCOGGIN. The present postmas- ter and a prominent business man at Glover, Missouri, is George William Scoggin, who in addition to conducting a wholesale market for flour, feed and provisions is also a farmer and stockman of note. He was born in Ruther- ford county, North Carolina, the date of his nativity being the 8th of October, 1847. He is a son of Richard and Mary (Dogit) Scoggin, both of whom were likewise born in North Carolina. Richard Scoggin was a son of Bur- gess Scoggin and he died in the northern part of Georgia in 1851. In the agnatic line the

Scoggin family traces its ancestry to stanch English stock, while the maternal ancestry was of German descent. Mary Dogit was a daugh- ter of George Dogit, whose father, also George, participated as a soldier in the war of the Revolution ; he was wounded at Cowpens. The Scoggin and Dogit families were extensive planters and slave owners, but they never sold any of their slaves. Mrs. Richard Scoggin long survived her honored husband and she came to Missouri, in company with the subject of this review, in 1867. Her death occurred in Texas, in 1906, at a good old age. Of her four children, Burgess is a farmer in the vicin- ity of Batesville, Arkansas; Armelia died in 1883, in Wise county, Texas; Mary is the widow of William Longly, of Wise county, Texas; and George W. is the immediate sub- ject of this review.

When a child of four years of age George W. Scoggin accompanied his parents to Geor- gia, where he received his early educational training and where he remained until he had reached his twentieth year. As a mere youth of but fourteen years and eight months, he enlisted for service in the Confederate army of the Civil war, being orderly for General Buckner, of Kentucky, for a time and later attending General Morgan on his last raid. He spent three years and nine months in the army, during which time he participated in a number of important engagements marking the progress of the war, the same including Stone River and Chickamauga. After his ar- rival in Missouri, in 1867, Mr. Scoggin be- came interested in farming and stock-raising, in which lines of enterprise he has continued to be engaged during the long intervening years to the present time. He is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of fine farming property in Iron county and in addition to cultivating that tract is engaged in the whole- sale flour, feed and provision business at Glover. He formerly owned about one thou- sand acres of land, which has been divided among his children, including some six farms. This town was named in honor of John M. Glover, ex-congressman from St. Louis. For the past twenty-one years Mr. Scoggin has been postmaster at this place. In politics he is a stanch Democrat and in a fraternal way is affiliated with the time-honored Masonic order, being a valued member of the lodge and chapter of that organization. He and his family are devout members of the Baptist church, to whose good works they are liberal contributors of their time and means.

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In Iron county, Missouri, in 1868, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Scoggin to Miss Caroline Huff, who was born in Missouri and who is a daughter of Joseph and Lavina (Carr) Huff, natives of eastern Tennessee and North Carolina, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Huff were married in Tennessee, whence they migrated to Missouri in 1829, locating in the vicinity of Mine La Motte. Subsequently, in 1831, the Huff home was established at Ar- cadia, Iron county. Mr. Huff entered a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of government land, on which he resided until his death, in 1883, at the age of seventy-five years. Mrs. Huff was born in 1808 and passed to the life eternal in 1903, at the patriarchal age of ninety-five years. They were both members of the Missionary Baptist church, in which two of their sons and two sons-in-law were min- isters. Joseph Huff, paternal grandfather of Mrs. Scoggin, was a gallant soldier in the war of 1812. He died in Missouri and is buried near Arcadia College. James Carr, maternal grandfather of Mrs. Scoggin, was a native of Scotland and a soldier in the English army in his youth. As a boy he was bound out to an uncle, but ran away to America. He was heir to a large estate in his native land but never took the trouble to claim the same. Of the twelve children born to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Huff, but four are living in 1911, namely,- Mathilda, born in 1827, is the wife of John Green and is residing in Texas; Mrs. Lovina Gilman maintains her home at Glover; Mrs. Nancy Robbs lives in De Soto, Missouri ; and Caroline is Mrs. Scoggin. Mr. and Mrs. Scog- gin became the parents of eleven children, of whom four are deceased. The others are: Luther, who operates a saw mill and farm near Glover, married Rose Druitt and has nine children; Lena is the wife of Allison Tims, of Little Rock, Arkansas, where Mr. Tims is a bookkeeper, and they have three chil- dren : Lou is the wife of John Goff, of Center- ville, Missouri, and she is the mother of five children; Mirt is an engineer on the Iron Mountain Railroad in St. Louis; Carrie is the wife of Fred Sumpter, of Flat River, Mis- souri, and they have three children; Cura married Albert Duparrett and resides at Glover, and they have two children; and Miss Ina remains at the parental home.

Socially Mr. Scoggin is genial and cour- teous, and the popularity that comes from these qualities, as combined with the distinc- tion that comes from his achievements, makes him a man among many. A thorough busi-

ness man, a true friend, a jolly fellow and a gentleman, such describe the marked char- acteristics of George W. Scoggin, who is every- where honored and esteemed for his sterling integrity and worth. When Mr. Scoggin came to Missouri in 1867 he had no capital except a span of mules and a wagon, which was their means of conveyance from Georgia. He was accompanied by his mother and sister. He is truly a self-made man and his wife has been a most able helpmate.

OSCAR S. FLORENCE. Great changes have occurred in the business world in the last fifty years and even in the last quarter of a century. There is a tendency in all depart- ments of labor toward specialization, and the man who wins success and advancement is he who is specially trained for a certain kind of work, who has mastered his line of business both in principle and detail, in theory and practice, giving him a comprehensive knowl- edge of the subject which will enable him to meet any condition that may arise, no matter how unexpected. Since 1889 Mr. Florence has devoted the greater part of his time and attention to the general merchandise business and he is now the owner of a fine department store at Desloge, Saint Francois county, Missouri. In this place he is also a heavy stockholder and a member of the board of di- rectors of the Citizens Bank, and he was one of the organizers of the Flat River Bank, in which he is a director.

A native of the great Empire of Germany, Oscar Sherman Florence was born at Mamel, Germany, the date of his birth being the 18th of February, 1863. He is a son of Sherman Florence and Paulina B. Lott, both natives of Germany, where they passed their entire lives. The father was a farmer and miller by occupation and he died in 1886, his cherished and devoted wife having passed away in 1882. They were the parents of four children, and of the number the subject of this review was the fourth in order of birth. Paulina, Lena, and Selman all are deceased, Oscar S. being the sole survivor of the family in 1911.

When eight years of age Oscar S. Florence left his home place and went to school at Hamburg, Germany, whence he subsequently made a trip to Liverpool, England, where he remained for a period of two years, there working in a baker's shop. Returning to his native land, he passed one year at Königs- burg, where he clerked in a grocery store,

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thus early forming the foundation for his future life work. At the age of twenty-one years, in 1884. he decided to try his fortunes to his native land and the friends of his child- in the New World and after bidding farewell hood and youth he immigrated to the United States, landing in the harbor of Boston. From that city he proceeded to St. Louis, Missouri, where he found employment in stores and factories for the ensuing four years. Thence he went to Crystal, City where he worked for a time in a glass factory. Subsequently he became an itinerant mer- chant, traveling extensively with a large stock of goods. In 1889 he settled at Flucom, Missouri, where he entered into a partner- ship alliance with James L. Goff to conduct a grocery business. This mutually agreeable association lasted two years, at the expiration of which Mr. Florence went to Valle Mines, where he purchased a lead prospect and where he achieved a marvelous success by conducting a grocery store in addition to opening his lead claim. From Valle Mines Mr. Florence removed to Desloge, where he opened a small store, known as the Company store, but conducted by the firm of Goff & Florence for some twelve years. In 1901 Messrs. Goff and Florence dissolved partner- ship and the former is now conducting a drug store at Desloge. On other pages of this work is a sketch dedicated to the career of Mr. Goff, one of the old pioneer citizens of this section of the state. Since 1901 Mr. Florence has continued the grocery business individ- ually and he now owns a modern and well equipped department store, which covers the space of four ordinary stores, its building be- ing one hundred by eighty feet in lateral dimensions. This store has won recognition as the largest and best establishment in the lead belt. In addition to his other interests he is a stockholder in the Citizens Bank at Desloge, in which he is also a director. In 1903 he was instrumental in the organization of the Flat River Bank, in which he is a mem- ber of the board of directors.

Mr. Florence has gained distinctive pres- tige as one of the most enterprising citizens of Desloge, where he is a man of prominence and influence in all the walks of life. In politics he is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party and, while he has never participated actively in public affairs, he is ever on the alert to advance measures and enterprises projected for the good of the general welfare. He is not formally con-

nected with any religious organization but gives his support to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his wife was a devout and valued member prior to her death. In fra- ternal circles Mr. Florence is affiliated with a number of represenative orders of a local nature and as a man he is genial in his as- sociations, his affability gaining to him the friendship and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact. Mr. Florence became a naturalized citizen of the United States while a resident of Flucom, in the year 1889, just five years after his arrival in this country.

At Valle Mines, Missouri, in the year 1890, . Mr. Florence was united in marriage to Miss Carrie M. Goodin, a native of Valle Mines, Missouri, and a daughter of Austin Goodin, long a representative farmer at Primrose, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Florence became the parents of two children,-Lena, whose birth occurred on the 13th of January, 1893; and Lon A. born on the 25th of February, 1895. The daughter is a member of the Third Bap- tist church of St. Louis. Both children have been afforded excellent educational advant- ages and they remain at the paternal home. Mrs. Florence was called to eternal rest on the 12th of July, 1905. She was a woman of most gracious personality and was deeply be- loved by a wide circle of affectionate and ad- miring friends, all of whom mourn her loss.

ALBERT LANE, M. D. The world instinct- ively and justly renders deference to the man whose success in life has been worthily achieved, who has attained a competence by honorable methods, and whose high reputa- tion is solely the result of preeminent merit in his chosen profession. We pay a deserv- edly high tribute to the heroes who on the bloody battle-fields of war win glorious vic- tories and display their invincible courage, but we perhaps fail to realize that just as much courage and skill are required to wage the bloodless conflicts of civil life. Especial- ly in the arduous career of a physician are required all the qualities which go to make up the ideal soldier-courage, daring, self- control, and the keen judgment necessary to make an instant decision when life itself is at stake. Absolute indifference to physical comfort as contrasted with his duty, com- bined with a hardy frame and a complete knowledge of his profession; these they must have in common, but the physician must add to all these the divine gift of sympathy and a personal magnetism which often does more

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for his patients than medicine. Not only is Dr. Lane of this high type of physician, but he is an ideal citizen in every way, public- spirited in a fashion which finds its expres- sion in deeds rather than words,-in short, a builder. At the present time he is an im- portant factor in the mercantile and banking as well as the professional world.

Dr. Lane is one of the old residents of Sullivan and his residence in Franklin coun- ty dates from the year 1852, at which date his parents came hither from Fredericks- burg, Virginia. At that historic point in the Old Dominion the Doctor was born August 16, 1844. On the paternal side Dr. Lane comes of Protestant Scotch-Irish stock and upon the maternal, of pure Scotch. His father was Fountain H. Lane and the maiden name of his mother was Jennie Briggs, her father having left the "land 'o cakes" to seek new fortunes on this side of the At- lantic. The paternal grandfather, Richard Lane, was a slave-holding planter of Spott- sylvania county, Virginia, who died about the year 1848. His son, Fountain H., father of the immediate subject of this record, was born in the '90s of the eighteenth century. Fountain H. Lane's life was shaped upon his father's plantation and he was a youth at the outbreak of the war of 1812. A gallant young fellow, he enlisted in the United States army and served under General Cogburn, re- ceiving a land warrant from the govern- ment as a bonus for his soldier service. When he came to Missouri he located near New Haven in Franklin county and devoted him- self to agricultural pursuits, his demise oc- curring in 1872, some nineteen years after the death of his wife. At the time of the Civil war he was an avowed believer in the right of the states to sever their connection with the national government, and in politi- cal conviction he was first a Whig and then a Democrat.

The children of Fountain and Jennie (Briggs) Lane were: Richard, who died in Osage county, Missouri, leaving a family ; Rebecca, who married Ludwell Herndon in Virginia, and is now deceased; William, who resides in Comanche county, Texas, as does Alexander; Margaret, who married in 1863 a Mr. Bridges, of Osage county, Missouri, and is deceased; Albert L .; Jesse, who spent his life in Osage county, Missouri, and there left a family at death; and Joseph, the youngest child, a resident of Comanche county, Texas.

Albert remained upon his father's farm

until about the attainment of his majority, and while still sheltered beneath the parental roof-tree he came to a decision as to his pro- fession. He first took up the study of med- icine in New Haven, Missouri, his preceptors being Dr. J. S. Hyde and Dr. H. S. Gilbert and he subsequently became a student of the Missouri Medical College, where he received a well-earned degree on February 18, 1865. In the following year he established himself in Sullivan, Missouri, as the pioneer physi- cian, and for several years was without a professional colleague. He practiced here for forty-five years without a break and drifted into business as opportunity offered.

For the past fifteen years Dr. Lane has been interested in merchandise. He was the chief partner in the general mercantile firm of the Clark-Lane Mercantile Company, of which he is now practically the sole owner. He spent his earnings in his profession as a substantial builder of Sullivan and today is one of the large property owners. Some of the best buildings in the city are due to his progressiveness and initiative. He built the large three-story business house of the Clark- Lane firm; the brick double store of the Wil- liams and Clark hardware store; he was one of the promoters of the Sullivan Milling Company, and its president; he built the Commercial Hotel and the new Peoples' Bank Office ; and interspersed in the residence district are many commodious cottages which bring him an income of no inconsiderable proportions. His own substantial stone resi- dence reflects from its exterior the substan- tial character of its owner.

Dr. Lane entered the domain of finance when he aided in the promotion of the Bank of Sullivan, being chosen its president and acting in such capacity for several years. He took a large interest in the organization of the Peoples' Bank here in 1894 and is its president today. He has shown marked dis- crimination in the management of the affairs of the bank and the personal integrity and high standing of the interested principals in the institution constitute its most valuable as- set and give assurance of its continued growth and prosperity.

In May, 1868, Dr. Lane established an in- dependent household by marriage, his chosen lady being Miss Jennie C. Clark, daughter of Rev. Jacob Clark, a Presbyterian minister, who came to Sullivan from South Carolina. Mrs. Lane passed away in 1888, the mother of Meredith B. Lane, manager of the Clark-

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HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

Lane Mercantile Company ; and of J. Agnes, now Mrs. Leonard, of San Francisco, Cal- ifornia, who was reared and educated by her aunt, Mrs. Hearst, wife of Senator George Hearst, and who still remains near her dis- tinguished relative.

Dr. Lane is a Democrat in his political convictions, but takes no greater interest in politics than that of the intelligent voter. He is a Blue Lodge Mason and is very popu- lar in the time-honored order. He is, in fact, a popular citizen, his useful, helpful life and commendable characteristics, combined with a genial manner, having won for him a host of friends.

WILLIAM G. BRAGG. There is no man in all Dunklin county who has gained more prominence than William G. Bragg, the man who never let himself be discouraged. There is no kind of a man that nature hates so much as a quitter. The start in life is like a horse race, where opportunity is equal. The racers are all bunched at the first turn, but from there they begin to scat- ter. At the second turn two stop and two are seen forging ahead. There is still a goodly bunch to be seen from the grand stand and individuals cannot be distin- guished. At the third turn the bunch has elongated itself to a single file and each in- dividual can be seen. Several have "done quit." As the leaders turn into the home stretch you see only two horses out of the dozen that started. These two come on with a steady, sustained patter of hoofs, one just a length behind the other. They keep their places until within a hundred yards of the wire, when the horse that is behind seems to let out an extra link and he forges ahead and comes in under the wire, an easy win- ner by two lengths. With men as with horses the supreme test is the ability to stay in and to give the extra burst of power when it is required, thus qualifying to start in a higher contest. Mr. Bragg is one of the kind who has won out in all the different heats of life's battle. He has had staying qualities and come out victorious.

He was born in Knox county, Missouri, September 21, 1852, the son of Captain Will- iam G. Bragg, Senior, who was a native of Virginia, having been born there March 4, 1811. As a child he was taken by his par- ents to Kentucky, where they located. William was educated and he there married Fanny Tully, a young girl who was a native

of Kentucky. Soon after their marriage they moved to Missouri, in 1838. They set- tled in Knox county, staying there until 1865. They cultivated some wild land, mak- ing many improvements and then engaged in the general merchandise business until the war broke out. Mr. Bragg raised a com- pany for the state militia, but very early in the war they were captured in Missouri by General Porter. Mr. Bragg, now having the title of captain, was paroled, but not being exchanged he saw no further service in the war. His son, Leonard T. Bragg, had en- listed in the Federal army with the Second Missouri Division; he had come with this company through southeastern Missouri and they were stationed at Bloomfield until the close of the war. Leonard T. Bragg was made circuit clerk and county clerk for Dunklin county during the reconstructive period; he took office in 1865, his father coming to assist him in the office. At the end of the term L. T. Bragg was re-elected, serving one year longer. At the end of that term L. T. Bragg resigned and the Captain was appointed by the Governor to succeed his son, who then went out west to Oregon. The Captain then held the offices of circuit clerk, county clerk, probate clerk and county recorder all at one time. At the end of his term he went into the gen- eral merchandise business, running his general store for several years. He also operated a hotel in his private home. He was active until his death, in his seventy- eighth year, in 1888. He did not consider himself a politician, though he was a Repub- lican and had served in public capacities. His closest friends were found amongst the Democrats, as in the case of his son Leonard T., who although a Republican was elected by Democratic votes. When the Bragg fam- ily first came to Kennett, in 1865, they came down the Mississippi river to Cape Girar- deau, where a two horse wagon met them, that being the only two horse wagon in the whole county. On their journey to Kennett they met and passed ox teams in plenty, but no horse wagons. For a long time after this when any of the family had occasion to go from Kennett to Cape Girardeau they used ox teams, sometimes taking eighteen days to make the trip. All goods had to come by Cape Girardeau, so it was necessary for them to make periodical trips there. The Captain was an active member of the Chris- tian church, helping in any way that was

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History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II, Part 19

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 802

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 802