USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 26
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Mr. Ward is likewise a stockholder in the Cotton Exchange Bank, and is a director and the vice-president of the Bank of Nimmons, Arkansas, where he owns a store building and other property. He is a Democrat in politics, and fraternally he stands high in the Masonic Order, being a member and a past worthy master of Kennett Lodge, No. 215, A. F. & A. M .; a member of Helm Chap- ter, No. 117, R. A. M., of which he is Scribe ; and a member of the R. & S. M.
Mr. Ward's home, which is one of the best and most attractive in the city of Ken- nett, has eighteen rooms, and is furnished with all modern conveniences. Mr. Ward married, at the age of twenty-four years, Mollie L. Herrmann, daughter of William Herrmann, of Grand Prairie, Missouri, and into their household seven daughters have been born, namely : Myrtle M., wife of A. R. Zimmerman, cashier of the Clarkton Bank, in Clarkton, Missouri; Terah, wife of Clyde Oaks, cashier of the Cotton Exchange Bank of Kennett, of whom a brief sketch may be found elsewhere in this volume; Willie A., a pleasant young lady employed as book- keeper in the hardware store; Hattie B .; Ruth; Alma, and Joe.
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HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
R. E. ENGLAND. One of those thriving and well-managed concerns which aid in ma- terial fashion in the general prosperity and commercial prestige of Hematite is the mer- cantile business of which that widely and favorably known citizen, R. E. England, is manager and part owner. He is a native son of the state, his birth having occurred at Rush Tower, Jefferson county, July 2, 1869. His father, James M. England, was born in Jefferson county, likewise, and the paternal grandparents, James Ross, a native of Ten- nessee, and Margaret England, a native, of Missouri, cast their fortunes with Jefferson county, locating in Plattin, where they con- tinued to reside until the close of their lives. The father of the immediate sub- ject of this brief biography was one of the historic gold seekers who went to California only a short time after the Forty-niners. He was but seventeen years of age at the time and he remained for four years before he returned to Jefferson county, whose charms and advantages had remained in vivid memory throughout that period of rough adventure. About 1865 he engaged in the mercantile business at Hema- tite, Missouri, and in addition to this occu- pation he engaged in farming on an extensive scale. He remained actively engaged in this two-fold pursuit until his death, in 1904, his loss being keenly regretted in the community in which he had been a familiar figure and an influence for good for so many years. He married Elizabeth Waggoner a native of Kentucky, and a later resident of Jefferson county-a daughter of R. G. and Mary Wag- goner, natives of Virginia and Illinois, re- spectively. To Mr. and Mrs. England were born eleven children, nine of whom are still living, R. E. being the sixth in order of birth. Both parents were zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and the father was Democratie in his political belief and a member of the Masonic lodge, with whose ideals of moral and social justice and brotherly love he was in perfect harmony. The elder Mr. England held the office of post- master of Hematite for sixteen years.
The early life of R. E. England was spent in Hematite, in whose public schools he laid the foundations of his education. After fin- ishing school at the age of fifteen years he at once became an actual factor in the world of affairs by going into the mercantile busi- ness as an assistant to his father. It is some- what unusual that he should have remained
thus engaged in all the ensuing years. The family still own the business, but the subject manages it in every detail and its continual growth and abundant prosperity is the logi- cal outcome of his executive ability and sound judgment.
On the 16th day of February, 1896, Mr. England laid the foundation of a happy mar- ried life, the lady of his choice being Mar- garet McCormack, of Hematite, daughter of Peter C. and Sophia McCormack. Four promising young people are growing up be- neath their roof-tree, namely : Dorothy, Kath- erine, James M. and Margaret. Mr. England like his honored father, is aligned with the men of the Democratic party, and he is in- terested in all public matters and ready to support such measures as would be likely to result in general benefit.
GENERAL JAMES ROBINSON MCCORMICK. One of the beloved and distinguished names which will long remain bright upon Saint Francois county's roll of honor is that of the late General James Robinson McCormick; a statesman who served with an eye single to the good of his constituents in both state and national assemblies; a man of great usefulness when the integrity of the Union was threatened as examining surgeon for the United States army and later as briga- dier general of the enrolled militia of South- eastern Missouri; previous to the war a phy- sician and in later years a drug merchant at Farmington; and ever a good citizen, to whom the general well being was very dear.
James Robinson McCormick was born in Washington county, Missouri, August 1, 1824, and at the age of sixteen lost his father Jo- seph, by death. The latter was a native of North Carolina, where he was reared and married, and in 1806 he came to Washing- ton county, Missouri, and homesteaded six hundred and forty acres of land. Several families came with him. He was a farmer until his death, which occurred about 1846, and owned a few slaves. His first wife was a Miss Sloan, who died and left one child, Fielding L. His second wife (the subject's mother) was Jane Robinson, and she had six children, all now deceased, and she died at middle age. Previous to his father's death, James R. McCormick had received a good elementary education, a teacher having been a member of the household and young James profited much by that person's tuition. Left without his natural guardian when young,
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he had early to feel the sting of straitened circumstances and had no assistance in gain- ing his higher education, working his way through college and constituting in himself an excellent example of that typical Ameri- can product-the self-made man. The young fellow had his first experience as a wage earner in the capacity of a teacher, his work in this field covering the period of a year. He subsequently pursued a course in Transyl- vania University in Kentucky, entering that institution of learning about the year 1847. He then taught school again for about a year, his pedagogical labors being this time in the state of Florida, and subsequently he took up the study of medicine under Dr. Douglass, of Nashville, with whom he read for about a year. This was preliminary to enter- ing the Medical College of Memphis, from which he earned the degree of M. D. in 1849. When it came to locating and beginning his active career, he chose Bollinger county, Mis- souri, where he practiced for a year, then removing to Perry county, where he con- tinued in practice until about the year 1860. As signal mark of his standing and his use- fulness to the community in his decade's resi- dence there he was elected to the state senate from that district. In 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil war, he was appointed examining surgeon for the United States army and oc- cupied this position for two years. He was then appointed Brigadier General of the en- rolled militia of Southeastern Missouri and served in that capacity until the close of the war. He practically gave up the practice of medicine at the close of the great conflict and he was subsequently known by his friends as "General" McCormick. He opened a small drug store at Farmington and devoted a good deal of time to its manage- ment.
In 1866 General McCormick was again elected to the state Senate, but resigned to fill the unexpired term of Thomas E. Noel in Congress. Having thus given a "taste of his quality" in the National Assembly, he was twice afterwards elected to the United States Congress as representative from the Fourteenth Missouri district, his contempo- raries in the great legislative body including James G. Blaine and William Mckinley. At the termination of his third term he retired from politics, and, moving from Arcadia, Missouri, to Farmington, in 1874, that he might be in closer association with his friends, he there resided until he passed to
the Great Beyond, this occurring May 9, 1897. He was twice married, his first alliance, in 1854, being with Mrs. Burchett Nance, of Perry county. She died December 25, 1862, leaving two children, of whom Dr. Emmett Curran McCormick, mentioned on subsequent pages of this work, was the younger; and a sister, Martha Jane, who died at the age of ten years, the elder. In 1866 General Mc- Cormick married Susan Elizabeth Garner and two children were the fruit of their union. One died in infancy and a son, James Ed- ward, resident in St. Louis, Missouri, is a graduate physician, but does not engage in active practice. The second Mrs. McCor- mick died in October, 1901, having survived her husband for a few years.
General McCormick was a "Union Demo- crat" in politics and was a member of the Senate at the time of the amendment of the state constitution. He was a member of the time-honored Masonic fraternity and in his religious conviction was a Presbyterian. He was literary in taste and a great reader, be- ing familiar with the literature of all nations. He possessed a clear, alert intellect and was an honorable gentleman, enjoying the con- fidence and respect of all.
EMMETT CURRAN MCCORMICK, M. D. One of the gifted physicians whose possession has contributed in high degree to the professional prestige of St. Francois county is Dr. Emmett Curran MeCormick, of Farmington. He has no doubt inherited his skill in the profession from his father, Dr. James Robinson Me- Cormick, who was one of the most prominent of Southeastern Missouri physicians and surgeons and a prominent statesman, as well. The subject is a man of fine abilities and is particularly well-known for his achievements in his specialty, the diseases of women and children, in this line never having failed to apply and develop his gifts as an original in- vestigator.
Dr. McCormick is a native son of the state, his birth having occurred on a farm in Perry county, some eight miles southeast of Perry- ville, the date of his nativity being March 22, 1855. His father, General James Robin- son McCormick, of whom mention is made on preceeding pages of this work, was also a native Missourian. The early education of the subject was received at Arcadia, Mis- souri, in the private schools of that place and in Arcadia College. He also spent one year -1870-in Washington, D. C., with his
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HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
father, who was in Congress at the time, and during that time prosecuted his studies under the direction of a private tutor. Having de- termined upon his life work, he entered the St. Louis Medical College and was graduated from that famous institution March 3, 1881. He was but a boy at the time of the Civil war and that desolate period was further sad- dened for him by the death of his mother, whose demise occurred in 1862. For a time he lived with a family of the name of Rupert and at the battle of Pilot Knob the Rupert home was converted into a hospital, his mem- ory of the event having ever remained very vivid. When prepared for his life work, Dr. McCormick located at Farmington and this has remained the scene of his entire career. Here he is held in universal respect and is valued as one who gives materially to the community's well-being. With his brother the Doctor owns two thousand, two hundred acres of land in this county, all in a body, which constitutes one of the best stock farms in the United States. They breed registered Short-Horn cattle, thoroughbred hogs, sheep and driving horses, and a manager is em- ployed to superintend this valuable estate.
On September 12, 1882, Dr. McCormick es- tablished a happy household by his marriage to Lucy F. AuBuchon, daughter of Ferd AuBuchon, of French Village, Missouri. They became the parents of eleven children, as follows: Luella Gertrude; Fielding L .; Florence Burchette, now Mrs. H. L. Nichols, of Chicago; Emmett Curran, Jr .; Katherine Odiel; Lucy Corrinne; Martha Caroline; James Robinson ; Bernard Brooks, deceased ; Manson AuBuchon ; and the youngest child, who died as an infant unnamed. The ad- mirable wife and mother died May 6, 1909, lamented by many friends. Mrs. McCormick was a liberal Catholic and a few years after her marriage she joined the Presbyterian church, with which a year later her husband also united. She was a noble woman and the influence of her beautiful character will not soon be lost. She devoted her life to her fam- ily and found her greatest joys within the sacred precincts of the latter. She was ill for three years before her death and her husband gave up his practice, abandoned every outside interest to devote his entire time to her whose loyal companionship had been thoroughly ideal, but since her death he has resumed the duties of his profession.
In his political allegiance Dr. McCormick, like his honored father before him, subscribes
to the articles of faith of the Democratic party and all public measures which appeal to his as likely to be of general benefit he supports to the best of his ability. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, as has been previously noted, and his fraternal re- lations extend to a trio of orders-the Ma- sonic; the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows; and the Knights of Pythias, of which latter organization he is a charter member. He is extremely popular, as all men of sound character, winning personality and fine citi- zenship must be, and is prominent in the many-sided life of the community, as are also his sons and daughters.
RICHARD D. BLAYLOCK, M. D., is a native of Missouri and it is safe to say that she has few sons of whom she is prouder. His pa- ternal grandfather, Thomas Blaylock, was a native of North Carolina, a state which has given Missouri the founders of many of her best families. He came to Perry county in 1815, accompanied by his wife. In that coun- ty was born James Alexander Blaylock, the father of Dr. Richard Blaylock. The former was three times married and Richard is the third child of his third wife, Luvica Penny Blaylock. There were ten children altogether, two by the first marriage, Martha and Cath- erine. The second wife had three sons: John, Joseph A. and Christopher Columbus, and one daughter,-Matilda. Besides Richard, Luvica Penny Blaylock bore three other sons, Dr. Charles Ferdinand, George Avon and Thomas. She died in 1909, at the age of seventy-five. Her husband lived to be only sixty, passing away in 1891.
Richard Blaylock was born in Perry coun- ty January 15, 1872. While working on the farm he attended the district schools and also those of Perryville. Later he took a course in a training school in 1897 and 1898. The following year he entered the Barnes Medical College of St. Louis. When he en- tered school he had fourteen dollars and fifty cents. He borrowed one hundred and thirty- five dollars, and this took him through his first winter. During the following summer he secured employment on the street railway and finished his course, on the street cars, as it were, for he divided his time between study and working for the railway company. Five hours of every day during the third term he ran a car and every day he attended his classes, never missing a recitation. His med- ical education cost him one thousand three
Sw MWilliams
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hundred dollars and he earned every cent of it, leaving college owing no man anything. He graduated in 1903, receiving the degree of M. D.
Dr. Blaylock began his practice of his pro- fession in Lixville. He spent one summer there and in the fall of 1903 came to Sedge- wiekville, where he has since resided and where he has built up the practice which would be expected of so efficient and well equipped a physician. The field of his work is something over nine miles in extent. He has a fine residence on two acres of land, worth two thousand two hundred dollars.
In the fraternal organizations Dr. Blay- lock holds membership in the Modern Wood- men and Ben Hur. He is a communicant of the Methodist church, South.
In 1893 he was married to Dora Bollinger, daughter of Matthias Bollinger. She died within fourteen months after her marriage. Dr. Blaylock then married Rada Statler, daughter of Mrs. Mary Statler. She, too, lived only two years, dying in 1907, of tu- berculosis. Her son Howard was boru June 12, 1906. The present Mrs. Blaylock is Sallie, daughter of John and Sarah Bowers, of Cape Girardeau county. She was wedded to Dr. Blaylock in 1910, on April 17.
GEORGE WASHINGTON WILLIAMS, M. D. The late Dr. George Washington Williams was honorably and prominently identified with the medical profession of Saint Fran- cois county through many years. He came here a young man full of strength and en- thusiasm ; here he married and established a home; made the interests of the commu- nity his own; ever labored for its welfare; and, permitted a longer time of living than is granted to the most, he died crowned with years and veneration. Dr. Williams was born in Roanoke, Virginia, June 22, 1819, and passed his early life amid the interest- ing scenes of the Old Dominion. He re- ceived his preliminary education in private schools and subsequently attended the Vir- ginia Military Institute, from which well- known institution he was graduated more than three decades prior to the outbreak of the Civil war. After finishing his general education he came to Missouri and in this state taught school as a means of livelihood. While engaged in his pedagogical labors he read medicine and having saved sufficient money to further his preparation for the profession of his choice, he entered medical
school, locating first at Caledonia. He sub- sequently entered the Missouri Medical Col- lege at St. Louis and received his degree from that institution. After practicing for a time at Caledonia he removed to Farming- ton and there remained until his demise, with the sole exception of a period of six years which he spent in Georgia on account of his wife's health.
Dr. Williams chose as his wife one of Farmington's daughters, Elinor D. Peers, daughter of John D. and Kathryn Peers, and to their happy union were born the following seven children: Emma Peers, who became the wife of B. R. Lagg, and is now deceased; Dr. John W .; Kate L., who became the wife of C. F. Mansfield; Edward V .; Elinor Kennett, Mrs. George Rutherford ; Dr. Benjamin, a record of whose life appears elsewhere in this volume; and a child who died in infancy.
Dr. Williams was a close student of his profession, ever striving to keep in touch with the latest scientific discoveries in his particular field, and he was the kindly friend and physician of hundreds of families in the section, who esteemed him both as a man and an enlightened minister to the ills of suffer- ing humanity. In politics he was a stanch Democrat, having given his suffrage to its men and causes since his earliest voting days and he was a member of the Presbyterian church. His lodge affiliation was with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and at the time of his much lamented death, on March 2, 1906, he had the distinction of being the oldest Odd Fellow in all Saint Francois county. His age when summoned to the Great Beyond was eighty-six years, eight months and eight days. The memory of this good man will long remain bright in Saint Francois county.
GEORGE BENJAMIN WILLIAMS. M. D., is a physician and surgeon of prominence and is well entitled to representation in this work dedicated to the citizens of Southeastern Missouri. The name has long been identi- fied with the profession in this section, Dr. Williams' father, the late Dr. George Wash- ington Williams, having been one of the ablest of Saint Francois county practition- ers and in choice of life work the subject has thus followed in the paternal foot- steps. More detailed mention is made of the elder gentleman on preceding pages of this work. Dr. Williams is surgeon for
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HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
the St. Joe Lead Company, the Illinois Southern Railway Company and the St. Louis Smelting & Refining Company, and holds high place in the regard of both laity and medical fraternity.
Dr. Williams is a native son of the county, his birth having occurred in Farmington, July 17, 1864. His education was secured in the public schools of Farmington and in the Georgia Military Institute, of Marietta, Georgia, from the latter institution receiv- ing a degree. To prepare for the profession he had elected he entered the Beaumont School in St. Louis and in 1893 he finished a profitable and zealously pursued course of study and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He located at Desloge, Missouri, where he was in practice until 1898, when he moved to Flat River, where he has been in continuous practice since and where suc- cess and recognition have awaited him. He is surgeon for the St. Joe Lead Company, the Illinois Southern Railroad and the St. Lonis Smelting & Refining Company. His general practice is large and in addition to the duties already mentioned lie also does some surgical work for two other companies. He is probably the leading surgeon of the Lead Belt and is a valued member of the County, State and American Medical Asso- ciations.
On July 19, 1893, Dr. Williams was united in marriage to Miss Mattie E. Salveter, of St. Charles, Missouri, daughter of T. C. Sal- veter, manager of the St. Charles Car Works and the Madison & Illinois Car Works. This happy and congenial union has been further cemented by the birth of two daughters,- the Misses Maggie May and Jessie Ellen. Dr. Williams is a loyal supporter of the cause of the Democratic party and since the attainment of his majority has subscribed to its articles of faith. He is a valued mem- ber of the Presbyterian church and his lodge relations are three-fold, extending to the time-honored Masonic order, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his family hold high place in society and their home is one of the attractive and hospitable ahodes of the city.
THOMAS REUBEN TOLLESON. The name of Thomas Reuben Tolleson is prominently as- sociated with the financial and commercial interests of Leadwood as manager of the Bonne Terre & Cattle Company Store and as
a stockholder and vice president of the Bank of Leadwood. He has much financial ability and has given thought and study to the de- velopment of the bank, his efforts bringing gratifying results and adding to the deposits and financial strength of the institution. He also has the distinction of having been the first postmaster of Leadwood, his tenure of this office having extended from the time of its establishment in 1901 until November, 1910, holding it twice by commission and once by appointment. He is, in short, a loyal and representative citizen of this thriving town and it is indeed appropriate that men- tion of his life be recorded in this volume de- voted to representative men and women of southeastern Missouri.
Thomas Reuben Tolleson was born in Gran- iteville, Iron county, Missouri, May 6, 1874. The father, Herman Tolleson, was born in Norway, in 1843, and came to America when a young man about nineteen years of age. His first residence in the new country in which he was to try his fortunes was in Wis- consin, but after a few years he left that state and came to Iron county, Missouri. He was engaged in the quarries, and is, in fact, in this business at the present time. He mar- ried in 1872, Jane Kidd, of Iron county, and to this union seven children were born, Thomas Reuben being the eldest in order of birth. The father and mother still reside at Graniteville, and the head of the house, in addition to his quarry interests, owns a farm so eligibly situated that parts of it are laid out in town lots. Mr. Tolleson, Sr., is Repub- lican in politics and Lutheran in church affili- ation. He takes no small amount of pleasure in his lodge membership, which is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the American Order of United Workmen.
The early life of Thomas Reuben Tolleson was passed in Graniteville and he received his education in the public school of Iron county. At the age of nineteen years he left the parental roof-tree and for two years clerked for W. H. Beyers, a merchant at Ironton, Iron county, and after that eight years for the Lopez Store Company at Iron- ton and Piedmont. Mr. Tolleson's identifica- tion with Leadwood dates from the year 1901, in which year he came here to take charge of the Bonne Terre Cattle Company, with which after a decade he is still associated and to whose prosperity he has contributed in very definite manner. His almost immediate as- sumption of the office of postmaster has al-
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