USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 52
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Vol. II-18
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traveled from town to town, manufacturing and selling staves, at the same time prescrib- ing for his friends and acquaintances with- out any compensation, but actuated by the desire to serve his fellow men. During the course of these years he spared his eyes as much as possible and they gradually re- gained their strength. In 1889 he returned to Malden and since that time he has stead- ily practiced medicine and sold drugs. In the course of his life Dr. Morris has been the subject of fifteen or more operations for fa- cial nerve trouble, and naturally made a study of the affliction from which he snf- fered. He is now recognized as somewhat of a specialist in the nervous disease of tic- douloureux.
The Doctor was married to Miss Eliza J. Kennedy October 2, 1870. Miss Kennedy is a daughter of Francis M. and Elizabeth Kennedy, of Fulton, Kentucky, and was one of a family of eight children. Two years after her marriage she accompanied her hus- band to Missouri and during his wandering life she was his constant companion. They became the parents of nine children, as fol- lows: William C., born at Hickman, Ken- tucky, July 12, 1872, now a resident of Chaf- fee, Missouri; Ila Bertrand, born October 18, 1874, at Clinton, Kentucky, who did not survive her second year; Mand E., born September 17, 1876, in the northern part of Arkansas, now the wife of John Witting, of Malden; Ira M., born at Malden March 11, 1879, whose biography is given on other pages of this book; Edwin, born June 30, 1881, at Martin, Tennessee, living at Mem- phis, Tennessee; Herbert B., born July 31, 1884, in Kenton, Tennessee, owner of a drug store in Malden, married to Lois Adkins, who bore him two children; Ora Lee, born No- vember 30, 1886; Virginia A., born Jannary 16, 1890; Mary M., who did not survive in- fancy.
Ever since Dr. Morris' first arrival in Dunklin county he has identified himself with the prosperity of Malden in particular and also of the whole county. He was quick to recognize what was lacking and to take means to supply the needs. He organized the first Sunday school in Malden, was the first mayor of the town, and originated and promoted the first barbeene, people coming from all directions to be present at the novel celebration. He put up the first drug store, and is still selling drugs. It would be diffi- enlt to find a man in any walk of life who
has the versatility of the worthy Doctor. As an instance of this may be mentioned the in- cident which occurred while he was acting in the capacity of mayor; a man named Hall was shot and killed by an officer who was attempting to arrest him; Dr. Morris, in his official position of mayor, held the prelimi- nary examination of the man, pronouncing him dead, and then as a physician he probed for the bullet which had lodged in the offi- cer's body, fired by Hall, and extracted it from the suffering man. It is the general opinion of his fellow citizens that the Doctor is the most popular man in Malden.
On December 25th the family of Dr. Mor- ris observe an annual reunion, the custom having been in vogue and strictly observed by all members and their families. On De- cember 25, 1911, there were present thirty- two members.
FRED MORGAN. A well-known resident of Hayti and one of its active business men, Fred Morgan is a man of sagacity and wis- dom in political and industrial affairs, per- forming his full share of burden bearing in the management of municipal matters. He was born, in 1876, in Bloomfield, Missouri, a son of Collin and Eppie C. (Harper) Mor- gan. His father is now living in Paragould, Arkansas, but the death of his mother oc- curred in February, 1910, at Hayti, Missouri.
Spending a part of his earlier life in Dunklin county, Missouri, Fred Morgan ac- quired his preliminary education in the pub- lie schools of Kennett, afterwards attending the University of Missouri, in Columbia, for a short time. During the first eleven years of his active career Mr. Morgan bought and sold cotton in Pemiscot county, being quite successful in his dealings. Locating at Car- uthersville in 1909, he was there employed in the whiskey business for a year, but has since resided in Hayti, where he has recently erected a fine, new, two-story, brick block, one hundred by one hundred and fifty feet. A man of excellent financial ability. Mr. Morgan has allied himself with some of the leading organizations of the city and has been president of the Citizens Bank of Hayti since January, 1911. This financial institution was organized June 17, 1905, capitalized at ten thousand dollars, Mr. A. J. Dorris being elected president and Mr. C. J. Provine, cashier. Mr. D. M. Ray succeeded as presi- dent, while C. P. Wells, Jr., was cashier for a year, succeeded by L. A. Greenwell on May
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3, 1911. Mr. Greenwell was succeeded on December 1, 1911, by Mr. C. J. Provine, the present incumbent. Deposits of the bank now amount to twenty-five thousand dollars, while the surplus is two thousand one hun- dred dollars. Mr. Morgan is allied with many corporations of importance, and is a stanch Democrat in his political affiliations, and is now rendering valued service as one of the members of the Hayti Board of Alder- men.
He married, September 3, 1904, Ruth Keyser, a daughter of George W. Keyser, a native Virginian and one of the earlier and more prominent settlers of this part of Pem- iscot county. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan are the parents of two children, namely: Virginia, born May 14, 1906; and Mack, born Decem- ber 26, 1908.
SAMUEL E. BAGE. A successful man of affairs, Samuel E. Bage, cashier of the People's Bank at Holcomb, is an extensive landholder and one of the leading citizens of his community. A native of Missouri, he was born February 11, 1869, in Jeffersontown, where his parents, Samnel A. and Lydia C. (Washburn) Bage, are still living, being people of much prominence and highly re- spected.
In the days of his boyhood and youth Samuel E. Bage received excellent educa- tional advantages, attending first the public schools of Caledonia, Missouri, afterwards continuing his studies for one term at the Cape Girardeau Normal School, and later being graduated from Jones's Commercial College at Saint Louis. Coming to Holcomb in 1892, Mr. Bage taught school three years, and was afterwards associated with the Hogue Brothers in mercantile business for an equal length of time. Turning his atten- tion then to the free and independent occupa- tion in which he was reared, he has made judicious investments in land and is now the owner of eight hundred and thirty-five acres of as good land as can be found in Dunklin county. A part of this land he rents, but the remainder he manages himself, carrying on general farming with satisfactory pecuniary returns. In 1904 the People's Bank of Hol- comb was organized, with a capital of twelve thousand dollars, and a surplus of nine thou- sand dollars, and Mr. Bage was elected its cashier, and has since filled the office with characteristic ability and fidelity. In his po- litical relations he affiliates with the Demo-
cratic party, and fraternally he is a member and for a number of years has been treasurer of Corkwood Camp, No. 275, Woodmen of the World, of Holcomb.
In 1895 Mr. Bage was united in marriage with Iras Hogue, a daughter of John A. and Rebecca (White) Hogue, of whom a brief biographical record is given on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Bage are the parents of four children, namely: Hazel, John, Ruth and Genevieve.
ELY D. BAIRD. Born in humble circum- stances and reared in poverty, Ely D. Baird has sturdily overcome obstacles and difficul- ties that have beset his pathway and now stands as a typical representative of the self- made men of Pemiscot county, being num- bered among the keen, progressive and busi- ness-like farmers who are so ably conducting the agricultural interests of this part of the state, his well cultivated farm being situated in Hayti township. He was born February 22, 1866, in Harrison county, Kentucky, which was likewise the birthplace of his father, Thomas Baird, who spent his entire life in the Blue Grass state, dying in Bullitt county in 1899 in his sixtieth year. Mr. Baird's mother, whose maiden name was Kate Michael, was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, and died in Hayti, Missouri, October 16, 1906.
His parents having a large family of chil- dren and being very poor, Ely D. Baird had no educational advantages whatever as a boy, never attending a public school for a day. After his marriage, however, he studied un- der his wife's instructions, passed the literary examinations for admission to the Kentucky School of Medicine, in Louisville, Kentucky, where he subsequently spent a year. When eighteen years old he ran away from home, going to Louisville, where he boarded a steamboat, and as a stowaway in the hold came down the Mississippi to Missouri, a com- panion furnishing him with grub left by the negro crew during the trip. Securing work in the cotton fields, he proved himself ex- ceedingly apt at the labor, and within six weeks was the champion picker, taking every prize for cotton picking that was put up in Dunklin county.
Ambitious and resourceful, Mr. Baird made a point of saving his earnings, and when he had accumulated a sufficient sum to warrant him in so doing bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Dunklin county,
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near Holcomb, paying one dollar and a quar- ter an acre. Fourteen years later he dis- posed of that property for thirty-five dollars an acre to Dr. C. G. Drace, now of Kennett, a very good increase for those days. He sub- sequently bought his present farm of two hundred and twenty-six acres near Hayti, Pemiscot county, giving forty dollars an acre for the tract, which is now worth fully one hundred dollars an acre. He has made improvements of an excellent character on his place, each year adding to its beauty and value, and is now engaged in general farm- ing and stock raising on an extensive scale, and is meeting with eminent success in his operations. Mr. Baird grows cotton, corn and alfalfa, and raises hogs, cattle, horses and mules, finding each branch of industry prof- itable in the years that have elapsed since he came here, in 1887, having accumulated a handsome property. He established a general store at his farm two and one-half miles east of Hayti in October, 1911, and is successfully conducting the same in connection with his farming operations.
Mr. Baird married, in 1887. Jane Burns, a native of Bullitt county, Kentucky, and they are the parents of four children, namely : John, Pearl, Leslie and Juanita. In his po- litical relations Mr. Baird is a stanch sup- porter of the principles of the Democratic party. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Brotherhood of America and of the Modern Woodmen of America, at Hayti. Mrs. Baird belongs to the Royal Neighbors, and is a member of the Baptist church.
HENRY S. HOSTETLER. Holcomb is a live town and is a place which attracts live men. One of her livest and most enterprising mer- chants is Henry S. Hostetler, a native of Indiana. Mr. Hostetler came to Dunklin county on Christmas day of 1877. He was something over eight years old at the time of his arrival, as he was born May 20, 1869. His father settled south of Clarkton, where he farmed and later opened a blacksmith shop in Clarkton. Until his death, in 1896, he lived at the head of Varney river.
After his father's death Mr. Hostetler moved to Holcomb with his mother and went to work in the drug store of Dr. I. W. Powell, of whom mention is made on other pages of this work. His salary was very small and he did not succeed in getting much ahead. Sub- sequently his employer, Mr. Powell, went into business with Mr. Westfall in a general
store, and Mr. Hostetler continued to work for the new firm for a time and then bought out Mr. Powell's interest in 1909. Six years before he had bought out Mr. Westfall, so now he is proprietor of the entire concern, the largest in town. He carries agricultural implements, groceries and hardware. Dr. Powell has an office in the building and at- tends to the drugs, which Mr. Hostetler also handles.
The Holcomb Gin Company is an enter- prise in which Mr. Hostetler is largely inter- ested, owning fifty-six out of one hundred and twenty-six shares. He is the manager of this plant and operates it with great effi- ciency. Dr. Powell is owner of the greater part of the stock and is secretary of the com- pany.
In real estate Mr. Hostetler owns two hun- dred and seventeen acres of timber land near his old home in the vicinity of Holcomb. In the same town he owns a residence worth two thousand dollars besides the nine acres sur- rounding it. His mercantile business is in- creasing rapidly and during the year 1910, his sales amounted to forty-six thousand dol- lars.
One daughter, Martha, born in 1910, is the issue of the union of Mr. Hostetler and Miss Laura E. Spear, which was solemnized June 25, 1907, at Ashley, Illinois. Mrs. Hostetler had lived in that state all her life before her marriage.
Mr. Hostetler is a Republican in his polit- ical convictions. The Methodist church of Holcomb counts him one of its most zealous workers. He carries his thorough methods of doing things into all that he takes in hand.
GEORGE B. WEBB. A well-to-do and thor- ough-going agriculturist of Pemiscot county, Missouri, George B. Webb has been a resident of Hayti for a quarter of a century, and is widely known as a man of integrity and hon- esty, well meriting the high esteem in which he is held by his neighbors and friends. He was born August 20, 1870, in Gibson county, Tennessee. His father, Crockett Webb, was born in White county, Tennessee, in 1845, and died in Lake county, that state, while his wife, whose maiden name was Jane Webb (no blood relation), spent her entire life in Tennessee, dying in early womanhood.
Being left an orphan in childhood, George B. Webb was brought up in Dyer county, Tennessee, living in different families as a boy and youth and acquiring his education
JAMES H. WATKINS MARTHA E. WATKINS FLEETY McGINTHY
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in the district schools. He early became fa- miliar with the various branches of agricul- ture, and has been a tiller of the soil during his entire life. Locating at Hayti, Pemiscot county, in 1887, Mr. Webb began working land on shares, and has rented land ever since. At the present time he is carrying on general farming on one hundred acres of land that he rents, and in the raising of cot- ton and corn is meeting with very satisfac- tory results, each year making a goodly sum of money. In February, 1912, he started a restaurant and rooming house at Hayti and is conducting the business successfully.
Mr. Webb married, August 18. 1889, Ma- linda Horner, who was born in Pemiscot county, Missouri, in 1871, a daughter of John and Ellen (Humphry) Horner. Eight chil- dren have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Webb, namely : Emma, born August 7, 1890; Albert, born April 26, 1893; Fred, born April 8, 1895; Mettie, born September 4, 1897; Jack, born November 27, 1902; Lex, born August 21, 1905; Pearl, born September 8, 1910; and Wayman, born September 14, 1911. Mr. Webb has been a member of the Baptist church, and one of its deacons, for many years, and for years did good work among the young people as superintendent of its Sunday-school. Fraternally he belongs to the Woodmen of the World, at Hayti.
J. W. GAITHER. Crawford county, Indi- ana, was the birthplace of Mr. Gaither and his home until he came to Pemiscot county in 1896. His wife, too, was born and reared in Indiana. Her maiden name was Harriet C. Myers, which she changed to Mrs. J. W. Gaither in 1876. After his marriage Mr. Gaither worked at the carpenter's trade and ran a flat boat between Louisville and New Orleans on the Mississippi river for twenty years and then he came to this county.
When Mr. Gaither arrived at his present place of abode his worldly possessions con- sisted of twelve dollars and he had a wife and five children. The first year he worked at his carpenter trade and at wagon-making, and was able to buy forty acres of land, which he sold for cash. The third year he purchased twenty acres and two years later added a forty to his original farm. The sixth year he bought forty acres more and on this eighty he now resides. In 1910 Mr. Gaither bought an eighty acre tract adjoining his home place and he now has nearly all of the one hundred
and sixty acres cleared and under cultiva- tion. One farm was not half cleared and the other in poor condition when he took charge of it, but he has put both places in good order.
To have started with twelve dollars and to have acquired one hundred and sixty acres of hundred-dollar-an-acre land in fifteen years is an accomplishment of something like a miracle. Mr. Gaither has an orchard of apples, peaches and pears on his second place and he has built a stock and hay barn fifty- six by one hundred and twelve feet on the place, besides improving another barn. The fertility and the levelness of this part of Pemiscot county, as well as the good roads make the farms here among the most valuable in the whole country.
At the World's Fair at St. Louis in 1904, Mr. Gaither took the gold medal for the finest and longest alfalfa, which was seven feet one and one-half inches in length, eleven inches longer than any other exhibited. In 1911 he sold from forty-five acres, over two hundred tons besides having fed to his stock some twenty tons. The market value is from eighteen to twenty dollars per ton.
Mr. Gaither is a Republican in political matters but he devotes his time to his farm interests. He is numbered among the mem- bers of the Masonic fraternity's Blue Lodge of Hayti. When he was a boy his father lost most of his money, so he had little chance for schooling. However, he is able to instruct the five men he employs to work his farm, so he has profited by the lessons of one valuable schoolmaster, said to be at once the best and most expensive-Experience.
Of his five children, Harry, the youngest, is at home. The twins, Nettie and Hattie, born in 1891, are attending normal school. Ida, Mrs. Andrew Newsom, lives on a farm near her father's home, and Bessie, who mar- ried Ernest Lawrence, also lives in Pemiscot county.
JAMES H. WATKINS. Among the very early settlers that came to Caruthersville and, casting their fortunes with the south- eastern section of Missouri, have since aided in its growing prosperity and loyally sup- ported all enterprises and measures advanced for the welfare of the community as a whole, the name of James H. Watkins must ever be written high. When Mr. Watkins first came to Caruthersville to make his home there were
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only two stores in the town, a far cry indeed from the prosperous business center of the present day.
James H. Watkins was one of the six chil- dren that blessed the union of William and Evelyn (Culver) Watkins. He first saw the light of this world sixty-six years ago in Tip- pah county, Mississippi, where his father was the owner of a fertile farm of one hundred and sixty acres. Concerning his brothers and sisters the following brief data are here in- serted: John. whose death occurred three years ago in De Soto county, Mississippi, was the owner of a large farm, and at one time held title to considerable real estate in Pemi- scot county ; Henry, passed away five years ago this winter, near Covington, Tennessee ; Caroline, passed away thirty years ago and was survived by two children, one of whom is now Mrs. Kipton, living in the neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee, and the other, for- merly Miss Jane Baker, is now Mrs. Charles Turner, of Pemiscot county, and has one son, who makes his home in Memphis, Tennessee ; and Thomas who lives at the present time near Covington, Tennessee.
Mrs. William Watkins, the mother of the subject of this brief personal review, passec. to her eternal reward some time before the lowering cloud had broken and devastated her native state, and her husband married again, the lady of his choice being Miss Nancy Pall. He died in Tippah county fif- teen years ago, the father of twelve children, some of whom make their homes in Pemiscot county. George is at Canda Switch, running a store and the post-office; George married Miss Frankie McCall, and is the father of a family ; Haywood is the owner of a fine farm just across the river in Tennessee; Richard, who was united in marriage to Miss Hettie Donovan, of Pemiscot county, owns consid- erable property in Caruthersville, including an up-to-date store building and four other structures; Mrs. M. Sides is engaged in the mercantile business in Caruthersville; and Robert, who was married to Miss Allie Bram. is the present constable of Caruthersville.
In 1865, on the 24th of November. Miss Martha Entrikin, the daughter of John En- trikin, of Tippah county, Mississippi, promi- nent farmer and land-owner of that region, became the bride of Mr. James Watkins. He stayed in Mississippi until November, 1877. when he left the Bayou state and came direct to Caruthersville, where he bought some town
property, consisting of two lots and a house. After one year he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of fertile farm land, located southwest of Caruthersville, and farmed the same for a period of ten years, with such suc- cess that he was able to retire from the field of agriculture. After selling forty acres of his land to his brother John he moved into town and, buying six acres of town property, he has since erected four residence houses, one of which he occupies himself and three of which he lets to tenants.
He is the father of eight children, of whom the following brief account is here given : Wesley, now in his forty-fifth year, is a farmer and stock-raiser, located in Middleton, Tennessee ; Jesse, now living at Hot Springs, Arkansas, is a farmer, and has a family, his first wife being Miss Bettie Culver, and his second, Miss Julia Wills; Alice, who died in June, 1895, was the wife of George Feltes, and the mother of one child; Golden, thirty- six years old, married Mrs.' N. A. King and is engaged in agricultural pursuits in the state of Arkansas; Ida passed to her reward in 1892, while yet a girl of fifteen; Louis set- tled in the Bear state, where he is a picture agent and owns property in Walnut Ridge, that state, where he lives with his wife, who was formerly Miss Willie Coffee; Myrtle died on her father's farm in February, 1889, when a child of two years; and Maud now lives in Caruthersville, where her husband, Mr. C. E. Meek, has a paint and butcher's business. Mrs. Watkins spent her youth at Charleston, South Carolina. She and her husband, among many other good deeds, have under- taken to raise an orphan child, and Fleety McGinthy, now eleven years old, makes her home beneath their hospitable roof. Mrs. Watkins is a member of the First Missionary Baptist church of Caruthersville, which she joined in 1865.
P. S. WINSTON. Since coming to Missouri Mr. Winston has been so intimately associ- ated with the firm of Westfall & Company that an account of his life would he incom- plete withont also giving a brief one of the establishment.
When seventeen years old C. H. Westfall came from Illinois where he had gone from his birthplace near Louisville, Kentucky, and started to work as a farm lahorer. This was about the year 1878. He was entirely alone, with his fortune all before him. He hecame acquainted with Miss Fanny Douglass, who
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lived near Clarkton, where he had settled and in 1880, they were married. After his marriage Mr. Westfall farmed and ran a gin. He was for a while in business with Dr. Pow- ell, and the Doctor sold out to Mr. Winston. Until Mr. Westfall's death they maintained a prosperous business. Upon Mr. Westfall's death, in 1905, his widow took his place in the business and the firm has continued to do a lucrative business. They were burned out in 1910, on March 6th, but resumed busi- ness in the same month.
Mrs. Westfall has several brothers and sisters living in this part of the state. Her parents, Asa and Mary Marshall Douglass, moved to Dunklin county with their separate families when they were young people and were married in this county. Two brothers, Asa and Walter, live near Holcomb. Four other brothers and one sister live near Clark- ton.
P. S. Winston was born in Sturgis, Ken- tucky, in the year 1878. In Kentucky he had farmed and attended college several years at Sturgis. In 1900 he came to Holcomb and went to work for Westfall & Company. He had some money when he came to Holcomb, and in 1902 he and Mr. Westfall entered the mercantile business. He was general man- ager of the business before he went into part- nership with Mr. Westfall, and he still holds that position.
Mr. Winston was married to Miss Ethel Westfall on December 26, 1900. Their son, P. Westfall Winston, was horn November 24. 1909. The family are members of the Meth- odist church.
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