USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 27
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ready been noted and also his connection with that stable monetary institution, the Bank of Leadville, of which he was one of the original stock-holders. He is the champion of good education and very appropriately is a member of the school board. He is a stal- wart Republican, ever ready to do all in his power to assist in the cause, and is connected with the Methodist Episcopal church, South. He is a prominent lodge man, belonging to the great Masonic order and holding the Royal Arch degree, and to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Tolleson was married in 1889, Miss Bertha Shifferly, of Bonne Terre, daughter of Charles and Lena (Grizzell) Shifferly, he- coming his wife. Four children have been born to them, namely: Charles (deceased), Gladys, Adele and Virgil.
HENRY B. PARKER, one of the prominent citizens of Hornersville and who has for a number of years been enjoying the comforts of material prosperity, came to this part of the country in 1890 with a wife and five chil- dren in a wagon. He possessed little at the time, and his immediate object in coming here was to pick cotton. During the follow- ing season he planted and made an excellent crop on rented land, and from that as a be- ginning his industry and good management have carried him forward to increasing suc- cess every year.
Born in Tennessee on May 1, 1858 and reared on a farm, he was deprived of school advantages by the war, and what he has ac- complished he owes to his own efforts. When he was nineteen he married in Tennessee Miss Josephine Singleton, who was born in Tennessee June 7, 1857. Mr. Parker's father was from a North Carolina family, and his mother was of an old family in Middle Ten- nessee. After his marriage he engaged in farming in his native state, then moved to Texas, where two years were spent without very encouraging success, and from there he came to Missouri. He spent a year or two near Hornersville, then lived six or seven years at Cotton Plant, and after being here eleven years bought his first forty acres, on time. Four years later he sold the place for two and a half times what he had paid. He then bought one hundred and sixty acres, half of which he has since sold, and he im- proved the home eighty and made a good living on it until 1910, when he moved into
Hornersville, where he owns a comfortable home and a lot one hundred and forty by one hundred and forty feet. His home farm is now rented, and he himself leases forty aeres near town for his own farming efforts.
He has done some trading in real estate, and all his efforts of recent years have pros- pered. He has been favored in his career by the excellent health of himself and family. Despite the malarial conditions of the coun- try when he came here he had no sickness, and there have been no deaths in his family circle. His children are as follows: Nettie, who married Tom Harkey, of Dunklin coun- ty; Maude, who married Ed Anderson, of Hornersville; Kate, at home; Bettie, who married James Rose, now living on Mr. Parker's farm; and Vinnie, who married Zack Kennett, of Hornersville. There are also six grandchildren in the family.
Mr. Parker is a Democrat in politics and since taking up his residence in Hornersville has been honored with election to the office of mayor. He affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Hornersville, and the family church is the Methodist.
ISAAC G. WHITWORTH. Among the best- known and most highly honored of the citi- zens of Iron county, Missouri, was the late Isaac G. Whitworth, ex-county treasurer and merchant at Ironton for over forty years, who died February 8, 1908, in the ninety- second year of his age. This venerable gen- tleman, whose memory will long remain green in the community in which he was generally beloved and where he played a use- ful part for so many years, was born in Madison county, Georgia, November 19, 1816, the son of Winston and Sarah (Albright) Whitworth, natives of North Carolina and Georgia, respectively. In 1819 the Whit- worths, then a young married couple, mi- grated from their home to Cape Girardeau county, Missouri, making the long journey across the wild intervening region in wagons, according to the necessity of the day. They were on the road three weeks. Shortly after arriving in Cape Girardeau county they went on to Perry county, where they remained for a few years, and in 1827 they removed to Madison county, Missouri, where they pur- chased a farm. The father died there in 1870, at the advanced age of eighty-three years, and the mother survived until 1884, when her years numbered eighty-seven. Thus the subject comes of a family distin-
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guished for its longevity. Of their twelve children, eight grew to maturity and five are now living.
Isaac G. Whitworth remained upon his father's farm until the age of twenty years, and he then entered upon his business career as a saddler and blacksmith, while at the same time keeping grocery for the space of eight years. He then went back to the farm, where he married in 1846. Mis Nancy B. White, of Madison county. He engaged in agricultural pursuits for ten years and also was identified with lumbering and milling activities. From 1856 to 1862, Mr. Whit- worth was in the lumber business and ran a saw-mill and in the year last mentioned he took up his residence in Arcadia, Iron county. Later he removed to Ironton, where he was engaged in the mercantile business until he retired, in 1884, and where the residue of his life was passed. In 1878 he was elected county treasurer and served in this impor- tant office for six consecutive years, with credit to himself and benefit to his neighbors. His son, William H., succeeded him as county treasurer for several terms. He was at all times active in public life and his counsel was held in high regard. Among the offices in which he served were those of city treasurer, councilman, justice of the peace, and several school offices. He was a prominent Mason and for many years was treasurer of the lodge. He retired from active business about the year 1890, but long after that he gave valuable assistance and he was always greatly interested in the business which he founded and to which he gave the complete energies of more than forty years, his advent into Arcadia Valley, as before mentioned, dating from 1862, and this section remaining his home until his death. During his long business career he had several associates. He was very active mentally and physically and always replied instantly upon hearing a busi- ness proposition. In short he was a business man of unusual acumen and ability. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, from the year 1844, the time of its division, and for over forty years he had the distinction of being its most liberal sup- porter. He was active in the ranks of the Democratic party.
Isaac G. Whitworth and his wife, who pre- ceded him to the hereafter by many years, her death occurring in 1869, were the parents of five sons and four daughters, and of this number three sons and two daughters are
living. The eldest son, John W., died Feb- ruary 16, 1911, at the age of sixty-three years. He was a merchant and was in business from his boyhood. Besides his widow he is sur- vived by two daughters and a son, all residing at Arcadia. In his earlier years a member of the firm at Ironton, he removed in 1880 to Arcadia and was in business there from that time on. Mary J., widow of James H. Clark, of Ironton, is the second member of the fam- ily. The late Mr. Clark was associated with the Whitworth firm for many years. James Monroe, second son, was originally a member of the Whitworth Sons and a successor to the business upon the dissolution of the firm in January, 1910, the above named remaining at the old stand and I. G. Whitworth, Jr., taking the hardware department. William H., is a man of considerable wealth, who re- tired from the firm in 1910, the other two brothers continuing the business as stated. Sarah P., is the wife of William R. Edgar, of whom more extended mention is made on other pages of this work. The youngest mem- ber of the family, Isaac G., of Ironton, is in the hardware business.
James Monroe Whitworth, born iu Madi- son county, Missouri, May 8, 1852, has re- sided in Ironton and been in business here since 1862, with the exception of the ten years which he spent in Arkansas. Of this period he taught two years in Searcy, Arkansas, and for eight years was engaged in the drug business at Fayetteville. He re- turned to Ironton in 1884 and has been in business here continuously since that time. He was married at Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1877, to Miss Laura Sue Jones, who was born at Jacksonport. Arkansas, the daughter of the late Dr. J. W. and Savannah (Pryne) Jones, the former one of the most distin- guished physicians and surgeons of Arkansas. To Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Whitworth were born ten children, four of whom are living and concerning whom the ensuing brief data are entered. Robert Pryne resides in Freder- icktown, Missouri, and is proprietor of the Madison Hotel of that place. He married Miss Elizabeth Robertson and they are the parents of one daughter. Laura Sue, wife of Arnett L. Sheppard, the son of Judge Sheppard, of Doniphan, Missouri, resides in that place. They have one Savannah is a teacher in the vicinity of daughter. Searcy, Arkansas, and she is one of the fine young instructors of that state. She is ex- cellently educated, having attended Galloway
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College at Searcy, Arkansas, and MeKinley high school at St. Louis, Missouri. Morgan Winston, aged seventeen, is engaged in the telephone business and is at home. James Monroe Whitworth is a Democrat in politics, but has always declined office. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, in which he has held many offices. He is interested in the Iron County Bank, of which he is one of the organizers, having been, indeed, one of the prime movers to that effect. His father was the first pres- ident of the bank, and James Monroe de- clined the presidency, which was twice offered to him.
Isaac G. Whitworth, the second, is one of Ironton's representative citizens and well maintains the prestige of the honored name he bears. As previously mentioned, he was for a good many years a member of the firm of Whitworth Sons (from 1884), and upon the dissolution of the partnership (in Janu- ary, 1910), he has continued the hardware department, carrying among other things an extensive line of stoves. He is a native son of Iron county, his birthdate being November 17, 1866, and he is a son of the late Isaac G. Whitworth. He married Miss Grace Tual, of Arcadia, daughter of the late E. C. Tual, a general blacksmith. Mrs. Whitworth's mother is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Whit- worth share their delightful home with two children-Grace, aged sixteen, and Eugene, aged fourteen, both of whom are in school. Like his brother, he is a director of the Iron County Bank, with whose fortunes the family have been so closely identified. In the mat- ter of politics he is a tried and true Demo- crat and his religious views coincide with those of the Methodist Episcopal church, South.
JOHN THOMAS DINKINS, who was appointed postmaster of Desloge April 5, 1910, has been identified with Southeast Missouri through- out his life, and is one of the most influential citizens of his community.
He was born on a farm near Piedmont, March 9, 1870. His father, Thomas N. Din- kins, was born in Allen county, Kentucky, April 10, 1844, and at the age of thirteen ac- companied the family to Lafayette county, Missouri, where his father was a blacksmith and farmer. Thomas N. Dinkins grew to manhood in this locality and at the begin- ning of the Civil war went into the Confeder- ate army under General Joe Shelby. From
the war he returned to Missouri and was ac- tively engaged in farming to the end of his life, his death occurring January 18, 1892. He was a Democrat in politics, and a mem- ber of the Baptist church and of the Masonic order. He married, September 10, 1867, Miss Myra L. Farris, daughter of Lucian N. Farris, a farmer of Reynolds county, this state. She is still living at Piedmont.
John T. Dinkins, who was the second of his parents' twelve children, was reared on a farm in Reynolds county and attended country school there. When he was five years old the family moved to Texas, but re- mained there only one year. His independ- ent career began as a farmer, but in 1899 he moved to Desloge and for the succeeding ten years was engaged in mining. His popularity among the citizens of the Lead Belt led to his choice for the office of postmaster, where he has proved a capable public servant. He is an influential Republican, is a member of the Baptist church, and affiliates with the Masonic order and the Modern Woodmen of America.
At the age of twenty-two he married Miss Effie Larkin, daughter of Sampson Larkin, of Centerville, a former sheriff of Reynolds county. Mrs. Dinkins passed away August 12, 1909, leaving five children: Thomas W., Odessa M., Ross, Otto and William Theodore.
THOMAS JEFFERSON SHULTZ. Now a pros- perous and enterprising farmer near Senath, Mr. T. J. Shultz has spent all his life in Dun- klin county, and during the early years of his career contended with many difficulties and privations so that the prosperity he now enjoys is the more grateful to him and also the more noteworthy as an individual accom- plishment. He is one of the men who have won their way up from the bottom, and few citizens of this region have a keener appre- ciation of the conditions which once pre- vailed in this country.
His parents coming from Tennessee and being early settlers of Southeast Missouri, he was born on a farm three miles northwest of Hornersville, June 3, 1856. His father died when he was a small boy, and he then lived at home with his mother. When a young man he married Miss Rosetta Wilkins, and her death came after they had spent twenty- seven years together. In 1903 he married Miss Georgia A. Bridges, who was born in Tennessee.
Starting his career without money, he
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lived during a period in this part of the coun- try when pioneer conditions existed. His trading has been done from one end of the county to the other, and he was often com- pelled to go many miles from home to get the necessities of life. He bought a farm of eighty acres, getting it on credit. During his youth he went without shoes, and also had to make the thread for his clothes. White flour was a rarity for himself and also his neighbors, corn meal being the staple food, and often a whole month went by without his eating wheat biscuit. Bran, wheat and rye were used for coffee, and his neighbors, when one of them happened to get a supply of real coffee, would invite the rest in to share the treat. In addition to these privations, Mr. Shultz has had many individual hardships, sickness and other things delaying him in his progress. But he now owns his eighty-acre farm, which is well improved and has a com- fortable house which he built, and he enjoys his share of the general prosperity of all this portion of the state. He is a member of the Missionary Baptist church.
His children by his first wife are: Hettie L., wife of Charles Higginbottom; Abner C., who married Nellie Kelley; Ida B., wife of S. H. Pruett ; and Montie, at home. By his present wife he has Joseph, born in 1905; and Virdie, born in 1907; and one that died in infancy. Mr. Shultz has three living grand- children, Lester E. Higginbottom and Cletus and Paul Pruett.
Mr. Shultz is a son of Calvert C. and Eliz- abeth (Neel) Shultz, the latter born in Dun- klin county, Missouri, and she died in 1891, aged fifty-four years. C. C. Shultz was born in Tennessee and died about 1870, as a young man of less than forty. They were married in Dunklin county. Thomas J. Shultz is the eldest of six children, of whom but one other is living, William S., a farmer of Dunklin county.
JESSE M. HAWKINS, circuit clerk and re- corder of Iron county, Missouri, now serving his third term in this dual capacity, has all of his life been working for the public. A man cannot mount to the top of the ladder of fame at a bound, and if he should attempt any such quick method of reaching the sum- mit, he would find that his foothold was ex- tremely insecure, and his descent would be apt to be even more rapid than his ascent. Mr. Hawkins did not try the instantaneous road to success, but contented himself with
climbing the ladder, rung by rung, pausing at each step to make sure of his footing. In this manner he has steadily progressed, and is today one of the political leaders in Iron county.
Born in Madison county, Missouri, on the 7th day of February, 1872, Mr. Hawkins is one of the seven children of John Martin and Cornelia (Russell) Hawkins, residents of Belleview valley, some two miles from Belle- view, Iron county, Missouri. Both parents are members of old families. Great-grand- father Hawkins was a wealthy farmer and slave owner in Virginia, in which state he re- mained until some years after his marriage, then migrated to Wilson county, Tennessee, where both he and his wife spent the residue of their days. Their son, Thomas P., was born in Virginia about 1816, and when a mere lad, accompanied his parents to Tennes- see, where he was reared and educated. About the time that he attained his majority he married Miss Eliza Scoby, a life-long resi- dent of Wilson county, Tennessee, up to the time of her marriage, and in that county her brother, John Scoby, was well known as an able lawyer. Immediately after their mar- riage Mr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Hawkins re- moved to Madison county, Missouri, taking with them three of their slaves. They bought a tract of land in Madison county, there en- gaged in agricultural pursuits, and there be- came the parents of four children, whose names are as follows: James N., a soldier in the Confederate army during the Civil war, who was wounded in battle and died in the state of Arkansas; Jane, who did not survive her fifteenth year; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Defoe Waugh and died about 1896 in Oregon county, Missouri; and John M., whose birth occurred July 27, 1841, in Madison county, Missouri. Mr. Thomas P. Hawkins' farm was located six miles south of what was then called St. Michaels and is now known as Fredericktown; he planted tobacco on his land, raised extensive crops and built immense tobacco barns. He served for sev- eral years in the capacity of justice of the peace, and at the time of his death in 1875, at the age of fifty-nine, Mr. Hawkins was regarded as one of the most honored resi- dents of Madison county, Missouri,-a stanch Democrat in politics and a devout member of the Methodist church.
Up to his forty-eighth year, John M. Hawkins (father of Jesse M.) lived in Madi- son county, Missouri, with the exception of
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the four years spent in the army. He had just completed his education when the Civil war was inaugurated, and he enlisted in the Second Missouri Cavalry, Company E, under Jeff Thompson, in command of one of the Confederate companies engaged for state service. At the expiration of the time for which he had first enlisted Mr. Hawkins again offered his services, re-enlisting for three years under General Forrest. In the month of April, 1865, the general surrend- ered at Charleston, and the various members of the company were paroled. Mr. Hawkins, although engaged in many hard-fought bat- tles, was never wounded, and on his return home he was ready to take up his active duties in civil life. In the year 1870 he was married to Miss Cornelia Russell, native of New Madrid county, Missouri, where her par- ents, Joseph and Sallie (Jackson) Russell, were married, though the father's birth had occurred in North Carolina, while the mother hailed from Kentucky. Soon after their mar- riage Mr. and Mrs. Russell removed to St. Francois county, where they reared their family of eight children, six of whom are liv- ing. Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins also became the parents of eight children, one of whom, Leota. died at the age of twenty, and the names of the seven living ones are as follows: James, a commercial traveler, residing at Memphis, Tennessee ; Philip, who maintains his home at Fairview, Oklahoma, and is a railroad en- gineer in the employ of the Kansas City, Mis- souri and Ohio Railroad; Laura, the wife of Louis Morris, former principal of schools at Flat River, where he and his wife reside; Sallie (Mrs. Charles Sutton), who makes her home at Ellington, Reynolds county, Mis- souri; Ethel, who is married to Harry Rus- sell, of Belleview, Missouri; Emma, the com- panion of her parents on the farm; and Jesse M., the immediate subject of this sketch. Mrs. Hawkins and the children are all mem- bers of the Methodist church. Mr. Hawkins' political interests center in the Democratic party, whose principles he believes contain the essentials of good government.
Jesse M. Hawkins spent the first sixteen years of his life on his father's farm in Mad- ison county, where he attended the public schools, early evincing interest in literary subjects and in all matters concerning the public good. When he was sixteen years old the family moved to Iron county, Belleview Valley, and he continued his education at the state normal school at Cape Girardeau. Vol. II-10
After completing his schooling he engaged in the occupation of teaching, and in the year 1896 was elected to the position of commis- sioner of public schools, and six years later became the incumbent of the office of circuit clerk and recorder of Iron county. His rec- ord during his term of service was so irre- proachable that he was re-elected to the same office, and is now serving his third term.
In the year 1900 Mr. Hawkins married Miss Josie Olson, a daughter of John and Sophia Olson, of Graniteville, Iron county, and to the union of the young people two sons, Russell and Jesse, Jr., were born.
The men in the Hawkins family have al- ways been stanch Democrats, and Mr. Jesse Hawkins is no exception, but has ever ren- dered unwavering allegiance to the Demo- cratic party. In a fraternal way he is affili- ated with the Knights of Pythias and with the Modern Woodmen of America, while in religious connection he holds membership with the Methodist Episcopal church, South. He is still a young man, with much of his life before him, in all probability, and inasmuch as his past record has been beyond reproach, both in public and private capacity, he will doubtless be the recipient of further honors in recognition of his faithfulness, his abilities and his sterling character.
BENJAMIN R. HEMPSTEAD, M. D., who was engaged in the practice of medicine and sur- gery at Cape Girardeau, possessed all the req- uisite qualities of the successful physician, for, added to his broad and accurate learn- ing concerning the principles of his profes- sion, he had a genial manner and sunshiny, hopeful nature which did not fail to have its effect upon his patients. His courteous sym- pathy, as well as his professional skill, had gained him prestige during the period of his eight years' residence in this city and his death on June 28, 1911, came as a severe loss to the profession and also in business cir- cles, for he was a successful business man as well as physician.
A native of Egypt Mills, Missouri, Dr. Hempstead was a scion of a fine old pioneer family in this state. He was a son of John B. Hempstead, whose father was a native of. England, where he was graduated in a med- ical college and whence he immigrated to the United States at a very early day, locating at New London, Connecticut. John B. Hemp- stead was likewise a physician and surgeon by profession, and after growing to manhood
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he moved from his home in Connecticut to Illinois, later coming to Missouri, where he passed the closing years of his life. He mar- ried Miss Margaret Thompson and to them were born five children who grew to matu- rity, the subject of this review being the fifth in order of birth. Dr. Benjamin R. Hemp- stead was born on the 26th of August, 1854, and he received his early education in the public schools of Egypt Mills. Later he en- tered the State Normal School at Cape Gi- rardeau, Missouri, but he was forced to leave that institution prior to graduation on ac- count of impaired condition of his health. Contracting tuberculosis, he was sent to Texas, where out-of-door life and treatment finally cured him. After remaining in the Lone Star state for about one year he re- turned to Missouri and, locating at Cape Gi- rardeau, began to read medicine under the able preceptorship of Dr. J. H. Rider. Sub- sequently he was matriculated as a student in the Missouri Medical College, at St. Louis, in which well ordered institution of learning he was graduated as a member of the class of 1880, with the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. He inaugurated the active work of his profession at Egypt Mills, where he was en- gaged in continuous practice for fully a score of years and where he won renown as a physician and surgeon of unusual skill and ability. In 1903 he came to Cape Girardeau, and here resided until his death, which was caused by appendicitis. He controlled a splendid and extended patronage in this city and in the territory normally tributary thereto.
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