USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 47
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Mr. Will L. Baker did not have very much schooling; he attended the school in Shady Grove first and then attended the public school in Kennett, but by the time he was sixteen years old his brothers and sisters had all left home and he had to run the farm, which is in reality owned by his mother. With the enthusiasm of youth he is making im- provements on the old place. He has re- modeled the house, so that it is now very nice. He has built another one for his tenant, who farms part of the eighty acres, twenty acres of which is wood land. Mr. Baker has put up fences on his land and so cultivated it that it is very productive, his crop being mostly corn and cotton. Mr. Baker has not yet married, but his mother keeps house for him. He is a Democrat in political beliefs and enthusiastic for the party. He is an attendant of the Methodist church of Liberty, the same church where his father
was an active worker, having been superin- tendent of the Sunday-school for many years. Mr. James Baker was very well known in the county and his son, well thought of at first for his father's sake, is fast winning his way by reason of his own merits and person- ality.
WILLIAM STRONG STARETT. A man can- not mount to the top of the ladder of fame at a bound, and if he should attempt any such quick method of reaching the summit he would find that his foothold was extremely insecure and his descent would be apt to be even more rapid than his ascent. William Strong Starett, manager of the Roberts Cot- ton Oil Company, did not attempt the quick 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 notable characters of Malden.
Mr. Starett was born on the 17th of July, 1864, on a farm near Clarkton, Missouri. He is a son of Robert C. and Amanda J. (Hogan) Starett, the father born in 1825, near Pales- tine, Obion county, Tennessee, and the mother was a native of Indiana, where her birthi occurred March 15, 1838. When a young girl she accompanied her parents to Tennes- see, there met Mr. Starett, Sr., and later be- came his wife. Five of the nine children who were born to this union grew to maturity : Parelee, married P. J. Miller, a farmer near Clarkton, and died in 1884; Ozello Belle, was married to C. P. McDaniel, of Senath, and died in 1892; Wilburn H., living, with his wife, Lou Ann Bell before her marriage, and three children, in western Tennessee; Will- iam Strong, the subect of this biography; and Alice, the wife of A. O. Waltrip, a farmer residing two miles southeast of Clark- ton, on the farm where Mrs. Waltrip was born. Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Starett com- menced their wedded life in Missouri, whither they migrated shortly after their marriage. They bought a farm in Dunk- lin county, situated about two miles south- east of Clarkton. The land was then thickly covered with timber, so that Mr. Starett built his home in the woods, then commenced to clear the place and put it under cultivation. He planted cotton very extensively and also engaged in the cotton gin business, remaining on the farm until he died, December 28, 1876.
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William Strong Starett was reared on his father's farm and received his education in the district school in the neighborhood. When he was twelve years old his father died and the lad's schooling came to an end, as he was needed at home to assist in the farm work. He gradually assumed more responsibility until he was managing the entire working of the farm and remained there until 1896. At that time he moved to Malden, and two years later he took up his residence in Kennett, where he worked as a day laborer for the Roberts Cotton Oil Company. During the ensuing four years Mr. Starett proved so useful to his corporate employer and showed himself so thoroughly capable that in 1902 they put him in charge of their plant at Malden, in which capacity he is still serving. The Malden branch of the Roberts Cotton Oil Company is extensive-as important as any similar plant in this section of the coun- try. The company's operations are far- reaching, as it owns other branches outside the state of Missouri, besides a number of gin plants. Mr. Starett is manager of all the interests of the company in Missouri.
On the 5th day of February, 1889, while Mr. Starett was living on the farm at Clark- ton, he was united in marriage to Miss Lucinda Williams, daughter of James K. and Henrietta (Waltrip) Williams. Mr. and Mrs. Starett have a family of two children, -Bernice, born December 15, 1889, and James Conway, born August 13, 1893, both son and daughter live at home with their parents.
In fraternal connection Mr. Starett is affil- iated with the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In politics he is a stanch Democrat ; and the four members of the family are all united by a strong religious feeling, while taking dif- ferent roads to the same end. Mr. Starett is a firm believer in the old Baptist doctrine, Mrs. Starett and Miss Bernice are just as loyal to the Presbyterian faith, and James Conway is a Methodist. The family is well known and respected in Malden.
GEORGE W. TREECE. In the removal of George W. Treece from Steele to Tyler, the former community loses one of its most en- terprising members in the business circles and one most interested in its educational growth. Mr. Treece was one of the members of the first town board, on which he served
as treasurer for five years. He was six years postmaster and for five years school director and president of the board. One so active in matters of public welfare might not be ex- pected to be prominent in business matters, but Mr. Treece is an exception.
Until he was grown up, he lived in Illinois, the state in which he was born in 1869 on September 14. He attended several different schools for short terms when he was young and at the age of eighteen began to teach. For eight years he pursued this profession in Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas. While in the last mentioned state he became acquainted with Miss Maggie Freeman, also a teacher. Miss Freeman was born in Ohio in the same year as Mr. Treece, to whom she was mar- ried in 1894. Their five children are Ralph, Ruth, Cloe, Fred and Grace. Mrs. Treece is a member of the Methodist church, South, and her husband is a communicant of the Christian church.
Mr. Treece left the profession of teaching to go into mercantile business in 1899. Later he moved to Steele, where he was instru- mental in the organization of the bank of Steele in 1904. For two and a half years Mr. Treece was cashier of that organization and is now its president. He also established a bank at Tyler in March, 1911, of which he is cashier and this necessitates his living in that town. Since 1900 Steele has been Mr. Treece's residence. Here he has built a commodious dwelling house on an acre 'of ground. During his lifetime he has owned several farms and now has a forty acre one in the San Joaquin valley in California.
In the Masonic lodge at Cottonwood Point Mr. Treece is a junior deacon. He also belongs to the Modern Woodmen at Steele. In his politics he is a Democrat. All that he has he has acquired by his own efforts, for at the time of his marriage he had nothing. His suc- cess is witnessed with pleasure by all who know him.
EDWARD LIVINGSTON DAVIS. Although Mr. Davis has only resided in Braggadocio a few years he has already made himself a power in the community in which he lives. His family has been connected with the history of Mis- souri for many years, and Mr. Davis himself has been a resident of Pemiscot county for three decades, during which time he has made a name for himself. Whether as farmer, stockman, dealer in real estate or holder of public office, he has been eminently success-
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ful. Possibly the man who decides on a cer- tain business or profession when he first starts out in life, and devotes himself to that, and that alone, may make more money than the one one who has turned his attention to different lines, but the former misses much valuable experience enjoyed by the man who has tried and made a success of several kinds of work.
On the 8th of July, 1849, Mr. Davis made his first appearance on the scene of life on a farm in Livingston county, Kentucky. His grandfather, William Davis, was a large landowner in Missouri, had a long retinue of slaves and huge herds of cattle, and was re- garded as a prosperous gentleman. At the time of the New Madrid earthquakes he fled to Kentucky, leaving behind him everything but his slaves. He secured a tract of land in Livingston county, where he commenced life anew, was there married and there reared his family. There his son William was born, January 8, 1811, and there he passed his en- tire life, following the vocation of farmer and stockman, holding allegiance to the Demo- cratic party, and living a quiet, simple exist- ence. When a young man he married Miss Mehitabel Rondeau, who was born in Eng- land in 1813 and accompanied her parents to the United States when a child of three or four years. The family settled in Livingston county, Kentucky, where she made the ac- quaintance of William Davis and sub- sequently became his wife. The couple lived in contentment on their farm, the wife in- terested in the Baptist church and her family of seven children, in addition to her care for her husband and her every-day tasks. The names of the children are as follows,-John R .; William N., who lives in Lafayette county, Missouri ; Esther F., who lived to the age of twenty-four and was then summoned to her last rest; Edward L., the real estate dealer in Braggadocio whose name appears at the head of this biography; Blackhawk; Watson and Campbell, twins. Watson was drowned at the age of thirty-five. The father and mother are both buried in Livingston county, Kentucky, where Mr. Davis died in 1897, sixteen years after his wife, whose de- mise occurred in July, 1881.
Edward L. Davis spent the first fifteen years of his life on the farm which was the scene of his nativity, and he attended the district school in the winter, while during the summer he assisted his father with the farm work. At the age of fifteen years he
left the paternal roof and commenced to work for the farmers in the neighborhood, receiv- ing for his services the sum of ten dollars per month. Small as this remuneration was he managed to save most of it and after a couple of years' experience as a field hand he rented a piece of land for himself and began to farm. In 1880 he came to Pemiscot county, where he rented a farm at Cotton- wood Point. In 1884 he moved to Bragga- docio, but after residing there for about a year he moved to Caruthersville, where for twenty-five years he was a prominent citizen, being known as a farmer, stockman and dealer in real estate. In 1907 he moved back to Braggadocio, engaged in the real estate business there and has continued in that occupation up to the present time.
Mr. Davis, a widower today, has been twice married. On the 1st day of October, 1872, he was united to Miss Martha Glass, daughter of Samuel and Martha Glass, resi- dents of Illinois state, where their daughter Martha's birth occurred in the year 1847. Mr. and Mrs. Davis became the parents of six children: Myrtle, married to James Crews, living in Alabama; Laura, residing in Caruthersville, with her husband, Lee Car- rigan; Edward L., maintaining his home in Caruthersville; Harry, who married Miss Delia Clifton and now lives in Braggadocio ; Quince, living with his brother, Edward L., in Caruthersville; and Mattie, her father's companion and housekeeper. In September, 1893, Mrs. Martha Davis was summoned to the life eternal, and her body lies in the old Methodist graveyard. In the month of June, 1895, Mr. Davis married Mrs. L. B. Long, a daughter of Caleb and M. E. Hobson. Mrs. Davis became the mother of one son, Caleb L., who is living in Braggadocio with his father. On the 15th of January, 1911, the second Mrs. Davis died, and she was buried in the Long Cemetery in Braggadocio.
Mr. Davis has for years been a member of the Masonic fraternal order, in his religious belief he is a Methodist, while in politics he has ever been found arrayed as a Democrat who takes the most loyal interest in all that touches the welfare of his adopted state. In recognition of his sterling qualities, his fel- low citizens elected him to the office of judge of the county court, and for two years he filled the position in an acceptable manner. In the year 1892 he was elected sheriff, but he resigned the same year, and since that time has refused all efforts to persuade him
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to become a candidate for public office, but has devoted himself to his business, his church and his family.
W. N. HOLLY. The parents of W. N. Holly moved from Iowa to Tennessee and thence to Pemiscot county, Missouri. The father was a farmer and merchant and married in Tennes- see, his bride being Miss Nannie Kearney, of Madison county. Their two children are David Bennett and Walter N. Holly, the latter born in Madison county, Tennessee, June 30, 1889. David Bennett Holly was born at Cooter, Pemiscot county, Missouri, in 1892.
At the age of three Walter Holly's parents brought him to Pemiscot county and he has lived in Cooter ever since. M. A. Holly, his father, was engaged in mercantile business in the town three years prior to his death, in 1901. Nannie Kearney Holly had died two years before her husband's demise. W. N. Holly went first to school in Cooter and then to the Caruthersville schools. He followed this preparatory course by further study in the Military Academy of Jackson, Missouri, aud a year at Washington University in St. Louis, where he studied law.
Then Mr. Holly returned from St. Louis, in 1908 he was married to Miss Hattie Pierce, of Caruthersville. She was born February 25, 1889. Her parents, Charles and Eliza- beth Pierce, are old settlers of the county. Mr. Holly received from his father seven hundred and sixty-six acres of land near Cooter; two hundred and fifty acres of this are cleared and the tract is worth seventy- five dollars an acre. The timber on the re- mainder is worth from forty to fifty dollars an acre. Mr. Holly rents a part of this and has built a modern seven-room house on his farm. His chief crops are corn and cotton. The red-gum and sycamore on the timbered land are being taken out and the land put under cultivation. In the latter part of 1911 he removed to West Plains, which he has planned to make his future home.
His family consists of two sons, Joe Byron and Robert Buell Holly. In politics Mr. Holly is an advocate of the principles of the Democratic party.
WILLIAM CALVIN ARTHUR, a well-known barber in Malden, where he has been in busi- ness for twenty-one years, is the owner of the largest establishment in Southeastern Mis- souri. Since he first entered the barber trade this industry has developed very consider-
ably. At one time a barber's duties con- sisted simply of shaving and cutting hair, but today he must have a knowledge of skin diseases and the principles of massage. Mr. Arthur has kept abreast of the times and is an up-to-date barber in every sense of the word.
William Calvin Arthur was born in Greene county, Indiana, October 19, 1871. He is a son of Martin V. and Anna (Burton) Arthur, both of whom were born, reared, educated and married in Greene county, Indiana, and there both died and were buried. They brought up a family of six children,-Mary, Frank, William, Margaret J., Siota and Martha. The father was a farmer, who served during the Civil war in the Fifty- ninth Indiana Volunteers, Company K, for three years. He suffered intensely from the effects of the many hardships which he, in company with his comrades at arms, were forced to endure and he never regained his health. He lived several years after he left the army, but his death was attributable to the ill health which he contracted during his service. His political sympathies were with the Republican party.
William Calvin Arthur resided in Indiana, on the old homestead where he was born, until he was sixteen years of age, and during his boyhood he attended the district school and assisted his father with the work of the farm. In 1887 he migrated to Missouri and procured a farm in Bollinger county, where he resided for three years, engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. In 1890 he came to Mal- den, where, after qualifying himself for the work, he opened a barber shop and steadily worked up a flourishing business. In the month of May, 1899, he had three chairs in his shop, which were steadily filled by his patrons, when the fire which swept away the buildings in his street totally demolished his shop, but he lost no time in rehabilitating him- self and soon had more trade than ever. He now has seven chairs, and is regarded as one of the most efficient barbers in the county. For almost eighteen years his shop was located in the Davis building (including the time when he was burned out) and is now in the Cox building, next to the Dunklin County Bank.
On the first day of the year 1895 Mr. Arthur was married to Miss Catherine Hub- bard, daughter of Jessie and Parthina (Copeland) Hubbard, of Grayville, Illinois, where Miss Catherine's birth occurred on the
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22nd day of November, 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur now have a family of four children, one little one, Karl, having died in infancy. The names of the living are,-Bert, born July 3, 1896; Gladys, whose birth occurred on the 2ud day of February, 1901; Mabel, who was born April 1, 1903; and Fred, born January 8, 1909.
Mr. Arthur has not only achieved a suc- cess in a financial way, but he has become widely and deservedly respected and es- teemed.
GEORGE W. PECK. The death of George W. Peck, well known as the "Father of Malden," occurred on the 15th day of July, 1910, and the same was universally mourned by a wide circle of devoted friends throughout South- eastern Missouri. Mr. Peck served on several occasions as mayor of Malden and he was particularly active in all matters projected for the good of the general welfare. A man of unusual enterprise and initiative, he met with such marvelous good fortune in his various business projects that it would verily seem as though he possessed an "open Se- same" to unlock the doors to success. He was a financier of extraordinary ability and his interests extend to practically every line of business. Self educated and self made in the most significant sense of the words, he progressed steadily toward the goal of suc- cess until he gained recognition as one of the foremost business men and citizens of Malden, where he established his home in 1877.
George W. Peck was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, on the 22d of November, 1843, and he was a son of Burley and So- prona Peck, both of whom are deceased. His rudimentary educational training was ob- tained in the public schools of his native place and as a young man he turned his at- tention to teaching. Coming to Malden, Mis- souri, in 1877, when this place was a mere hamlet, he became agent for the Little River Valley & Arkansas Railroad Company, then a narrow gauge line which afterward became a portion of the great Cotton Belt system. Shortly after his arrival here he managed to center the grain trade at Malden, erecting an elevator and continuing to be interested in that line of enterprise until 1903. In that year he started to manufacture ice on his own account, the scene of his operations be- ing in a factory previously erected by the Malden Ice Manufacturing Company. This plant, which is still in operation, has a capac-
ity of fifteen tons and its annual business amounts to about ten thousand dollars. Mr. Peck also handled real estate for a number of years, dealing extensively in city and farm- ing property. Among the additions promoted by him may be mentioned the Southside, The Peck and the Peck-David additions, all suburbs of Malden. He erected a number of prominent business blocks in this city and in 1882 opened the first fire-insurance agency in Southeastern Missouri, conducting the same until the time of his death. For years he was agent for the Waters-Pierce Oil Com- pany and was one of the organizers of the Dunklin County Bank, serving as its vice- president after the second year until the time of his death.
In his political proclivities he was a stal- wart supporter of the principles and poli- cies for which the Republican party stands sponsor and he was ever an active factor in connection with the affairs of that organiza- tion. In 1886 he was honored by his fellow citizens with election to the office of mayor, serving in that capacity for two successive terms and giving an unusually alert and pro- gressive administration of the municipal af- fairs of Malden. It was under his direction that the old electric-lighting plant was built in this city and he was instrumental in ar- ranging for the new electric plant, attending a board meeting in that connection the night prior to his death. He was elected mayor again in 1910, and was also serving as such when death called him from the scene of his mortal endeavors. He ever manifested a deep and sincere interest in educational affairs and for twenty-five years was a member of the board of education, serving for twenty years as president thereof. He stood exceedingly high in Masonic circles, having been a val- ued and appreciative member of the lodge, chapter, council and commandery of the York Rite branch. He was past master of the Blue Lodge and organized the Malden com- mandery of the Knights Templars, of which he was past eminent commander. His funeral was one of the largest ever held in Southeastern Missouri, friends having come from all sections of the state to do him hon- or. It was conducted under the auspices of the beautiful Masonic ritual and the serv- ices were preached by Rev. J. T. Self, of the Methodist Episcopal church. Warm resolu- tions were passed by the town board and by the school board, his loss having been keenly felt by every citizen at Malden.
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In the year 1878, at Malden, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Peck to Miss Julia Hop- per, a native of Clarkton, Missouri. To this union were born four children, concerning whom the following brief data are here in- corporated,-Wilbur married Carrie Dicker- son and resides at Malden, Missouri, where he is connected with the Roberts Cotton Oil Company ; Elmer H. is manager of the busi- ness left by his father; Irene was married, on the 21st of June, 1911, to L. L. Campbell, of Indianapolis, Indiana; and Chester was graduated in the Missouri State Normal, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, as a member of the class of 1911. Mrs. Peck survives her honored husband and she now resides at Malden, where she is held in high regard by all who have come within the sphere of her gentle influence. In their religious faith the Peck family attend the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mr. Peck was a consistent and active member.
Mr. Peck was a man of great philanthropy but there was a modesty and lack of all os- tentation in his work as a benefactor. In this day, when disinterested citizenship is all too rare a jewel, it is helpful to reflect upon a course of high-minded patriotism such as that of Mr. Peck. His deep sympathy and innate kindliness of spirit make his memory an enduring monument more ineffaceable than polished marble or burnished bronze. "To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die."
IVE MICHIE was born in Cooter, Pemiscot county, in 1880. His mother had come to this place from Tennessee in 1856 and his father from Mississippi four years later. Mrs. Michie is still living in Cooter, but her hus- band died some years ago.
The schools of earlier times were poor in this county and Mr. Michie attended a com- mercial college in Memphis for five months. Until his marriage he devoted himself entirely to farming. He had fifty acres of land given him and still owns this and thirty acres more which he has bought, all in the vicinity of Cooter.
In 1903 Mr. Michie was married to Miss Nora Treece, daughter of Larkin Treece, of Caruthersville. She was born in Illinois in 1883 and came to Missouri when very young. After his marriage Mr. Michie still lived at Cooter and also had a store at Tyler, but this was not a very flourishing concern.
In 1907 the Bank of Steele tendered Mr.
Michie the position of cashier and he and his family came to the town to live. He now owns a residence in town and considerable property on Main street, besides forty lots in another section of the town which are being rapidly sold. Mr. Michie is a stockholder in the Bank of Steele and also in the Bank of Cooter. He is secretary of the board of di- rectors of the former bank, whose business has doubled since he was chosen cashier.
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