USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 33
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His son, Thomas F. Donaldson, one of the younger members of the Dunklin county bar, was born in Kennett, March 29, 1886, and here acquired the rudiments of his education. Having a special taste and aptitude for legal work, he entered the law department of the University of Missouri, from which he was graduated with the class of 1909, and has since been successfully engaged in the prac- tice of his profession at Kennett. Thomas F. Donaldson is a member of Kennett Lodge, No. 53, A. F. & A. M., and also the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, Pioneer Lodge No. 165.
CHARLES ALEXANDER YOUNG. A prom- inent and useful part in the many-sided life of Cadet, Missouri, is taken by Charles Alex- ander Young, whose relations to the commu- nity are three-fold, being those of a successful merchant, a small farmer and village post-
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master. He has resided here since 1903 and has from the first manifested those principles of public-spirited citizenship which have gained for him the unqualified confidence and approbation of his fellow townsmen.
Mr. Young is a native Kentuckian, his birth having occurred in Bowling Green, that state, October 7, 1870. His father, John Young, was born in 1849, in Greencastle, Warren county, Kentucky, and followed farming throughout the course of his life. He was married in 1869 to Sarah Elizabeth Hudnell, of Kentucky, daughter of Joshua Hudnell, and the subject is their only child. The father died in 1873, but the mother survived until 1886. The father was a Democrat in his political conviction, as were the majority of the sons of Kentucky of his day and the mother was a consistent Baptist.
Charles A. Young was left fatherless at the age of three years and was then reared by an aunt, with whom he lived for some time, then going to live with the Society of Shakers at South Union, Kentucky. through whom he received his education. In course of time he left the Shaker settlement and re- turned to his mother, who lived at Bowling Green, and there he attended school for one year. As the question of making a liveli- hood was paramount, he worked at various places on farms in the vicinity of Owensboro, Kentucky. He eventually left his native state and went to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he worked in a grocery store for about three years. At the end of that time he came to Missouri and took up a farm in Washington county, upon which he remained for about two years. He made a new departure then and took up railroading, but he was disabled and for three years was an invalid, but hap- pily succeeded in regaining his health.
Mr. Young was married March 2, 1896, Miss Mary Bouchard, a native daughter of Cadet, becoming his wife. Mrs. Young's parents are Matthew and Sophia Bouchard. Six promising children have been born into their home, namely: Leo Barnard, Eufaula Beatrice, Della May, Sophia Bermetta, Win- field Benton Thurston, and Clara Lucille.
Shortly after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Young went to St. Louis, where they remained for eight years, during three years of which period the head of the house was with the street railroad company, and following which he was employed by the Wabash Railroad Company. In 1903 he came to Cadet and em- barked in the mercantile business, in which
from the first he has experienced remarkable success. The growth of his trade has been such that he has found it expedient to build a new store building. He has also built him- self a residence on one of Cadet's loveliest sites, a height overlooking the valley in which the town lies. His farm is situated half a mile from the railway station, and this is devoted to general agriculture. He was ap- pointed postmaster August 1, 1909, which office he now holds. Unlike his father in pol- itics, Mr. Young is a strong Republican and a leader of the party in his township. .
WILLIAM G. PETTY. A man of good finan- cial and executive ability, William G. Petty, of Kennett, has achieved success in his busi- ness career, and in addition to being an ex- tensive landholder and agriculturist is connected with two of the more important organizations of the city, being president of the Cotton Exchange Bank and of the Petty- Spencer Hardware Company, a prominent mercantile firm. A native of Tennessee, he was born January 25, 1853, in Hickman county, a son of Milford M. and Nancy Petty, natives of Tennessee. After farming in Hickman county for thirty-five years, Mil- ford M. Petty moved to Dunklin county, Missouri, in 1882, and here both he and his good wife spent their remaining years.
Soon after attaining his majority, William G. Petty, who had been working as a farm laborer for six years, bought a tract of wild land in Salem township and began the im- provement of a homestead. In 1887 he pur- chased two hundred acres of land lying near Nesbit, Dunklin county, and this land, with the one hundred and sixty acres which he had previously placed under cultivation, is now one of the most productive and most desir- able farms of southeastern Missouri. Mr. Petty has also invested in other landed prop- erty, owning between six hundred and seven hundred acres on Horse Island, near Senath and near Kennett, too, being advantageously located. He operates his farms by tenants, making cotton his main crop.
In 1894 Mr. Petty was elected sheriff of Dunklin county, and was re-elected at the ex- piration of his term, serving four consecutive years in that capacity. In 1899 he embarked in the hardware and agricultural implement business with N. N. Rice, for three years be- ing junior member of the firm of Rice & Com- pany. He then bought out his partner, and the business was incorporated, with a capital
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of ten thousand dollars, as the Riggs-Petty Hardware Company, and continued business for four years. Buying out Mr. Riggs, he then became sole proprietor of the business, which he conducted alone until 1910, when he sold a half interest in the concern to J. D. Spence, the name of the firm being changed to the Petty-Spence Hardware Company. This company has about thirty-five thousand dollars invested, including the building, which is fifty-two feet by two hundred feet, with a floor space of ten thousand square feet, and carries a stock valued at fifteen thousand dol- lars, while its annual sales amount to between forty and fifty thousand dollars. The firm's business has rapidly increased in the past few years, five or six men being employed to handle its line of hardware and agricultural implements, and it now pays good dividends on the capital invested.
Mr. Petty helped organize the Cotton Ex- change Bank, of which he has since been a director, and of which he has been presi- dent since 1905. The bank has a capital stock worth thirty thousand dollars, with a surplus of twenty thousand dollars, while its deposits and undivided profits amount to two hundred thousand dollars. Politically Mr. Petty is affiliated with the Democratic party, and has served five or more years as a member of the City Council, at the present time being a member of the Kennett Board of Education. He is also a stock-holder and director in the St. Louis, Kennett and South- eastern Railroad Company, a railroad run- ning from Kennett, Missouri, to Piggott, Arkansas.
Mr. Petty was united in marriage, in 1879, with Amanda B. Herrmann, a daugh- ter of William Herrmann, who was a pioneer settler of Hornersville, Dunklin county, and for many years operated a cotton gin and grist mill near Nesbit, in the meantime gain- ing distinction as the inventor of the first cotton cleaning attachments used in ginning cotton. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Petty, namely : Harry, of whom a brief sketch may be found on another page of this volume; Curtis, employed in the store of the Pettv-Spencer Hardware Company ; Neel, who died at the age of thirteen years; Bertie, who lived but ten years; Connie, who is a bookkeeper for her father; Genie; and Gilbert.
J. W. WHITE. M. D. Known as the builder- up of the thriving village of Hollywood and
as one of the largest land-owners in this vicin- ity, Dr. J. W. White has long been a promi- nent citizen of Dunklin county both in his profession and in business affairs. He laid the foundation of his fortune as a family physician for hundreds of the residents in the vicinity of Senath. An able physician, kindly and popular, he possessed a remark- able industry that enabled him to keep up with the demands of his patients over a ter- ritory a dozen miles in every direction from his office, and during the twelve years that he was located in Senath he was one of the best known travelers over the country highways, taking his advice and skill to the benefit of the sick in the neighborhood. He has been a resident of Hollywood and since 1907 has resigned active practice, devoting all his time and energies to the supervision of his exten- sive interests.
Dr. White was born May 15, 1863, of well- to-do farming people near Bloomfield in Stoddard county, and in the primitive coun- try schools of his boyhood he acquired a good common-school education. Until nearly grown he remained on the home farm, and then went to Texas and was a cowboy for several years, getting health and experience. On his return he came to Dunklin county and worked for J. M. Doug- las on a farm until he had earned enough to take a course in the Cape Girardeau Normal during 1886-7. For several years he taught school in Missouri and Texas. Then in 1890 he married Miss Annie Sando, of Zalma, Bollinger county. The following year he attended medical school in St. Louis and then entered the Kentucky School of Medi- cine at Louisville, where he was graduated an M. D. in 1893. When he began active practice he was in debt five hundred dollars for money that he had borrowed to complete his education. With a wife and child he began work vigorously and since the first year has been practically independent of the hardships of fortune. After a year's prac- tice at Lula he located in Senath, when only a few stores composed the business district of that town. While busy with his profes- sion he also did his share toward the im- provement of that town, building several good houses, and was also one of the citi- zens most influential in securing the con- struction of the railroad through the town in 1896. In 1898 he interrupted his busy practice long enough to take a post-gradu- ate course in medicine at Chicago.
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In 1905 he located at Hollywood and in 1907 gave up practice to engage in mercan- tile and real estate business. In making Hollywood a trading center he has done more than any other individual, and he owns most of the town. His large store building accommodates a general stock of merchan- dise which produces an annual trade of thirty-five thousand dollars. He owns more good land in this section than any other in- dividual, with the exception of Senator William Hunter, having about nine hundred acres of farming land, several farms in the vicinity of Hollywood and one of eighty acres in Stoddard county. About half of his land is in cultivation and operated by tenants. He is also owner of about ten thousand acres of timber on what is known as the Hunter Plantation. A stave factory has contracted to cut the timber, and it is estimated that seven years will be required to work up the timber on his land.
Dr. White and family reside in an attract- ive new home at Hollywood. He is a mem- her of the Christian church of this village, and through his generous contributions and working interest the church owes its pres- ent prosperity. Fraternally he is a member of Senath Lodge, No. 30, of the Masonic order. Of the six children born to himself and wife, one died in infancy, and the others are named as follows: Harry, born in 1893, now a student in the State Normal ; Pearl, born in 1898; Ruby, born in 1899; Ralph, born in 1906; and Ernest, born in 1902.
PHILIP A. FRIE. One of the prosperous farmer citizens near Senath, P. A. Frie has had a progressive career from small begin- nings. Born in Hardin county, Tennessee, April 7, 1867, he was reared on a farm, and had few opportunities to attend school. His father was a minister and farmer, the Rev. W. G. Frie, who died December 2, 1896, aged sixty-three years. His widow, formerly Miss Delia Bone, now resides at Cane Island, Ar- kansas. Rev. W. G. Frie was a minister of the General Baptist church and thus spent his ac- tive life. As long as he lived his son worked in his employ. When he was ten years old the family moved to Perry county, and there he lived until his marriage, December 20, 1885, to Miss Alsa Bunch. Mrs. Frie was born in Perry county, Tennessee, June 5, 1868, daugh- ter of Rev. G. D. and Mary (Denton) Bunch, the former a minister of the General Baptist
church all his life. He died about 1894, but his widow is still living in Tennessee, at the age of about seventy years.
From a cousin living in Dunklin county and also from others information about this country induced the Frie family to come to Southeast Missouri. With his wife and his parents he came by steamboat down the Ten- nessee and Ohio rivers to Cairo, and thence via the Cotton Belt to Paragould, and thence to Caruth, where they all settled and lived for three years. For several years he was a renter, and then bought a piece of land near Cardwell on time. He sold his first eighty acres, and in 1904 bought his present farm- stead of eighty acres and has lived there to the present time. Most of the land was in timber when he bought it. Forty acres he cleared with his own hands, and by his labors he has transformed this into one of the valu- able farms of the neighborhood. He has also built him a comfortable home. No money has ever come to him except through his own work, and he is well deserving of all his pros- perity.
He and his wife lost one son, Corrie, and their children living are: Delia, Ella, Nellie and an adopted boy, Virgil Dalton. Mr. Frie is a member of the Masons and Modern Woodmen at Senath, and in politics is Re- publican.
H. L. MARBURY. Born at Price's Landing, Scott county, Missouri, H. L. Marbury, editor and proprietor of the Festus News, is still on the very sunny side of fifty; as the day of his birth was February 4, 1864. Benjamin Marbury, his father, born at McMinnville, Tennessee, on the 20th of September, 1840, was a man of remarkably broad education. His earlier mental training was in a literary school at Leavenworth, Tennessee, and he af- terward studied law, but decided finally in favor of medicine. Looking to that end, he completed a course in the medical department of the Vanderbilt University, Nashville, in 1868. Now a thoroughly qualified M. D., he located at Tracy City, Tennessee, and became surgeon of the Sewanee Coal Mine of that place, as well as a general physician of large practice. In 1873 he moved to Charleston, Mississippi county, of the same state, where he practiced until his death, November 20, 1875, at the early age of thirty-five years.
Benjamin Marbury, the father, was a sol- dier under the well known Confederate gener- al, Braxton Bragg. He was made a prisoner
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at Franklin, escaped from the boat in which he was confined, and while a fugitive was taken to the home of William M. Lusk, a Scott county farmer who had a pretty daughter, Rachel Anna: the rest of the story is the old simple chapter, ever fresh and sweet with each recurring life of the normal man and woman-attraction budding into love, and love blossoming into marriage. The marriage of Benjamin Marbury to Rachel Lusk oc- curred in May, 1862, when both were in their youthful years, and the three children born of their union were Horatio L., of this biog- raphy ; Benjamin H., the well known lawyer of Farmington, St. Francois county ; and Dr. Alexander B. Marbury, a dentist at Charles- ton, Mississippi county.
H. L. Marbury obtained his early educa- tion in the public schools of Charleston, Mis- sonri, in 1884 entering the Bellview Collegi- ate Institute of Caledonia and graduating from its commercial department in 1889. After working for some time he returned to that institution and took an advanced course which brought him the degree of B. S. He then taught for several years in Reynolds, Scott and Washington counties, the last of his labors in the field of education being conducted in that last named county, at Min- eral Point, in 1891-2.
Mr. Marbury enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war, joining the Fort Smith, Arkansas, Infantry Regiment. After the war he returned to Fort Smith, where he was mustered out with an honorable record, and thence went to his home in Caledonia.
Prior to his war experience he had studied law, and while residing in Arkanass he was admitted to the bar and practiced in that state. Subsequently he was connected with the Pittsburg Plate Glass Company, and par- tially completed the regular course at the St. Louis University Law School. Sickness in the family compelled him to return to Crystal City, where he again entered the employ of the Pittsburg Plate Glass Company. But he craved something more stimulating and in- tellectual, and in 1904 purchased the Festus News, which he still conducts as a stirring, solid Democratic newspaper. The News has a circulation of over a thousand, and, under Mr. Marbury's good management, is a sub- stantial and influential journal. Besides owning his newspaper plant in Festus, he has considerable real estate in the town, and is in every way one of its substantial citizens. He is a leading member of the Methodist
church, being steward in the local organiza- tion, and is well known as a fraternalist be- cause of his active connection with the Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows and Red- men.
In 1903 Mr. Marbury wedded Miss Nellie Gertrude Evens, of Mineral Point, Missouri, and their child, Willard Horatio Marbury, is now five years of age.
WILLIAM CARTER. One of the most widely known and progressive of the business men of Piedmont, Wayne county, Missouri, is Wil- liam Carter, whose activities are directed along important and diverse lines, including stock, lumber and banking, while in previ- ous times he has been interested in the agri- cultural development of southeastern Missouri and has himself been an exponent of the great basic industry. He is a native son of Wayne county and is loyal to its institutions as only one can be to whom a section is endeared by the associations of a lifetime. The date of his birth was April 20, 1849, and his parents were John B. and Cynthia (Wood) Carter. William Carter lost his father when near- ing manhood, John B. Carter having passed on to the "Undiscovered Country" in 1866, when forty-seven years of age, his demise oc- curring at his home west of Piedmont. He was born in VanBuren, Carter county, Mis- souri, where his father, William, and his grandfather, Benjamin F. Carter, located in the year 1812, they continuing to reside there until their deaths, except for a few years spent in Saline county. They were prominent stock-raisers and farmers. Two of John B. Carter's brothers, Charles and B. F. Jr., served in the Confederate army. The family were from Virginia, originally, but had re- sided in Georgia some years previous to com- ing to Missouri.
William Carter's mother, whose maiden name was Cynthia Wood, was born in Wayne county, Missouri, in 1821, and died in 1908, at the age of eighty-seven years. Her mar- riage to Jolin B. Carter was celebrated in Wayne county, which was the scene of almost her entire life. They were members of the Baptist church and active in its affairs. Mr. Carter has a brother and sister living, name- ly: Charles, a merchant of Piedmont, Mis- souri; and Mrs. Isaac Chilton, who resides near Leeper in Wayne county, Missouri.
The scene of the usefulness of William Car- ter has been at and near Piedmont and, as suggested in a preceding paragraph, he is a
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man of various interests, including farming, stock raising, lumbering and banking. He possesses excellent executive ability and has made a success of his various enterprises.
Mr. Carter laid the foundation of a happy married life when, in the year 1884, he was united with Miss Sarah A. Black, daughter of Samuel and Mary J. (Jamieson) Black. The father came to Missouri in the early '30's of the nineteenth century, making the journey overland from Virginia, with the usual attendant hardships of the pioneer trav- eler. They located on the Saint Francois river in Wayne county. The father was a farmer and stockman and represented Wayne county in the legislature prior to the Civil war. He was a Presbyterian in religious con- viction. His father, also Samuel, had come with his children to Missouri and he died here about one year after their arrival. Mrs. Carter's father lived to the advanced age of eighty-seven years, his death occurring in 1896. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary J. Jamieson, was born in the Old Do- minion and came to Missouri as a child with her parents, Andrew and Matilda (Parrish) Jamieson, who engaged in farming and stock- raising. She was born in 1826 and died in 1896, the year of her husband's death. Her parents were settlers in Belleview Valley. They were members of the Methodist Episco- pal church, South, and enjoyed the respect of the community. Mrs. Carter was one of nine children, all of whom grew to maturity and seven of whom are living, namely : Mary, wife of Martin S. Warren, a farmer of Wayne county, of whom detailed mention is made on other pages of this work; Mrs. Alice Carter, residing at San Diego, California ; Samuel A., of near Charleston, Illinois; Andrew, of Pen- dleton, Oregon ; Sarah A., wife of the subject ; John, a farmer living near Patterson, Mis- souri; and Mrs. Ella Williams, of Farming- ton. Two elder brothers, Cyrus and Hous- ton, went west years ago.
HON. ARTHUR LEE OLIVER. Distinguished not only as a man of broad attainments and a lawyer of prominence, but for the able and efficient service which he has rendered his fellow-men in both houses of the Missouri Legislature, Hon. Arthur Lee Oliver, of Caru- thersville, Pemiscot county, is numbered among the leading citizens of Southeast Mis- souri, and it is with pleasure we place before the readers of this biographical volume a brief resume of the salient points of his ac- Vol. II-12
tive career. He was born January 5, 1879, in Leeman, Missouri, where his father, the late Henry Clay Oliver, was born, lived and died, his birth occurring in March, 1852, and his death on January 5, 1901. His mother, whose maiden name was Mary L. Alexander, was born October 9, 1853, and is now living at Leeman, Missouri.
Having completed the course of study in the schools of his native town, Arthur Lee Oliver spent two years at the Carlisle Train- ing School, in Jackson, Missouri, and attend- ed the State Normal School at Cape Girardeau for a year. He subsequently taught school a short time, being quite successful in his pedagogical work, and then entered the Uni- versity of Texas, from the law department of which he was graduated with the class of 1900. Locating in Caruthersville, Missouri, in August, 1910, Mr. Oliver formed a partner- ship with C. B. Foris, and they continued in company until January 1, 1911, when Mr. Foris was elected circuit judge, the copart- nership then being dissolved. As a man and a lawyer Mr. Oliver soon after coming to Caruthersville won such standing in the com- munity that he was elected to the office of city attorney, and served from 1903 until 1905. He was likewise elected, on the Democratic ticket, which he invariably supports, as a member of the board of examiners of the can- didates for teachers in our public schools. In 1905 Mr. Oliver was chosen as the Demo- cratic representative to the State Legislature from Pemiscot county, and in 1909 was elect- ed State Senator from this, the Twenty-third District, for a term of four years. He has been connected with the introduction and passage of several bills of importance in both branches of the General Assembly. In 1907 he was made chairman of the Judiciary Com- mittee of the House, and in 1911 was chair- man of the Judiciary Committee of the Sen- ate. Mr. Oliver was also chairman of the Insurance Committee, and of the Judiciary and Statutory Revision Committee, and from 1909 until 1911 was chairman of both the Committee on Ditches and the Committee on Drainage. He is now a member of the Committee on Appropriations, one of much importance, and of several smaller committees, such as the Clerical Force, Munic- ipal Committee, and the Committee on Priv- ileges and Elections.
On October 29, 1907, Mr. Oliver was united in marriage with Mary E. Roberts, who was born in Caruthersville, Missouri, and they
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have one child, John R. Oliver, whose birth occurred August 25, 1910. Fraternally Mr. Oliver is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, belonging to Caruthersville Lodge, No. 461, at Caruthers- ville; of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; of the Knights of Pythias; and of the Modern Woodmen of America. Religious- ly both Mr. and Mrs. Oliver are members of the Presbyterian church, and generous con- tributors toward its support.
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