History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II, Part 54

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 802

USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 54

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On the 13th day of June, 1888, Mr. Keller was united in marriage to Miss Adene Cooke, daughter of Abel D. and Laura Amanda (La Vallee) Cooke, of New Madrid county, Missouri, where Miss Adene's birth occurred October 6, 1867, and where she was married in the Catholic church in the township of New Madrid. On the 4th of July, 1894, Mr. and Mrs. Keller became the parents of a daughter, Laura St. A., and November 13, 1900, their son, Jerome, was born, but he did not survive infancy. Mrs. Keller is an ac- complished musician, having received a most thorough training. She plays both piano and organ and while residing in New York was for over four years the organist of St. Fin- bar's church of Brooklyn. She is not only a performer of both expressive and technical ability on piano and organ, but she is a teacher of considerable fame-having the power to impart to others the mechanical ways of expressing the beauties of melody and harmony.

Mr. Keller is a most pronounced Democrat and has had the opportunity of aiding his party through the medium of his paper. In fraternal way he is affiliated with the a

Knights of Columbus, but at present his all- absorbing interest is the conduct of his farm.

JAMES R. MORROW. Carrying on a substan- tial business as a dealer in general merehan- dise, James R. Morrow is one of the leading

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young merchants of Gibson, Dunklin county, and is prominent in fraternal and social circles. He was born March 6, 1879, in Obion county, Tennessee, and was there reared to agricultural pursuits, remaining on the farm until twenty-five years of age.

On leaving home Mr. Morrow was for two years employed as station agent and tele- graph operator on the Cotton Belt line. Not content with that position he then came to Gibson, Missouri, and for some time was here engaged in mercantile business with his brother, D. C. Morrow. Disposing of his interest in the firm in 1910, Mr. Morrow purchased his present store, and having put in a stock of general merchandise has built up a business now valued at twenty-five thousand dollars per annum and which is rapidly increasing, his patronage being ex- tensive and remunerative. He has a good farm of two hundred acres, which he rents, and is also a stockholder in the Bank of Hol- comb, of which he has been secretary for a short time.

Mr. Morrow married in August, 1903, Mattie Ratliff, who was born June 28, 1880, in New Madrid county, Missouri and they have two children, Vera Evelyn, whose birth occurred August 28, 1904, and Horrell Rich- ard, born August 24, 1911. A Democrat in politics. Mr. Morrow uniformly supports the principles of his party at the polls, and is ever among the leaders in promoting enter- prises conducive to the public welfare. Fra- ternally he is a member of Freeborn Lodge, No. 290, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Gibson; of the Tribe of Ben Hur; and of the Mutnal Protective League, also of Gib- son.

F. C. PARKS, the able and enterprising cashier of the Bank of Holcomb, was born in Illinois, January 17, 1872. He was left an orphan at the age of three and began early to make his own way in the world. The first object of his desire was an education, and he pursued it with characteristie determination. He worked his way through the high school of Marion, Illinois, and then went through the academy at Crab Orchard, Illinois, in the same manner. After his graduation from this institution he was elected to teach in it, and for two years taught history, geometry and chemistry there.

After leaving the academy work Mr. Parks spent five years in the public and the high schools of Illinois and then came to Dunklin

county in 1899. His first position in this county was at Caruth, where his excellent work kept him for nine years. From there Mr. Parks went to Cardwell, where he stayed until 1909, when he resigned to accept the position he now holds in the Bank of Hol- comb.

Mr. Parks has a family of four children, Parker Buell, Clarence E., Herman C., and Geraldine. Their mother, Eunice Blanken- ship Parks, is a Tennesseean by hirth, but grew up near Senath, Missouri, at which place her marriage to Mr. Parks was sol- emnized December 23, 1901.

Mr. Parks' lodge connections are divided among several places where he has lived. He is an A. F. and A. M. at Cardwell; an Odd Fellow both at Holcomb and the Campbell encampment ; in Caruth he is affiliated with the Rebekahs and the Mutual Protective League; and he belongs to the Holcomb chap- ter of the Woodmen of the World.

Few citizens of the county enjoy the sin- cere respect of a wider circle of friends than Mr. Parks. These all accord him cheerful admiration for his personal qualities and for what he has accomplished by his unaided efforts, making so much of his few opportuni- ties. He has a farm near Holcomb, his present residence. It is significant that since Mr. Parks went into the bank the busi- ness of that institution has donbled its scope.

M. B. RAYBURN. Talented and cultured, M. B. Rayburn, cashier of the Bank of Mal- den, is a man of broad capabilities, resource- ful and quick to grasp a situation and utilize opportunities, his natural endowments well fitting him for the honored position he holds in financial and business circles. A son of the late M. M. Rayburn, he was born July 7, 1875, in Clarkton, Missouri, coming on the paternal side of the house of Virginian stock.

Born and reared in Virginia, M. M. Ray- burn came to Dunklin county, Missouri, in early manhood, and for a number of years was engaged in farming and stock-raising. Public-spirited and energetic, he filled various offices, and having, in the eighties, been elected sheriff of Dunklin county, served in that capacity for four consecutive years. He died at the age of fifty-nine years, at Clarkton, in 1900. He married, in Missouri, Fanny L. Ake, who was born in Arkansas, and died, in 1890, in Dunklin county, Mis- sonri.

Until twenty-two years of age M. B. Ray-

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burn remained beneath the parental roof- tree, in the meantime acquiring a substantial education. Fitted for a professional career, he taught school eight years in Dunklin county. for four years being superintendent of the Clarkton schools. Subsequently Mr. Rayburn assisted in the founding of the Bank of Malden, and having been elected as the first cashier of the institution abandoned the educational profession and has since de- voted his time and attention to the interests of the bank with which he is officially con- nected. The Bank of Malden was organized in 1903, with a paid np capital of fifteen thousand dollars, a sum that was increased, in 1906, to twenty thousand dollars. The sur- plus and the midwinter profits were seven thousand five hundred dollars, the deposits at that time, early in 1911, having been nine- ty thousand dollars. Mr. Rayburn has been cashier of the hank ever since it started, while its first president. A. L. Stokes, was suc- ceeded by the present president, Dr. George Dalton.

Actively and intelligently interested in the promotion of the welfare of both town and county, Mr. Rayburn spares neither pains nor expense in his efforts to establish bene- ficial enterprises, and as a member and the president of the Malden Commercial Club has proved himself a genuine "booster." He has rendered excellent service as a member of the School Board, and is a valued member of the Presbyterian church and clerk of its official board. Prominent in the Masonic Order, he is a Knight Templar, and specially active in the local Commandery.

Mr. Rayburn married, at the age of twenty- one years, Birdie Stokes, a danghter of R. W. Stokes, of whom a brief personal record appears on another page of this volume. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rayburn, namely: Mildred Lec, Doris, Elizabeth, M. B., Jr., and Dixie May.

1. W. DOUGLASS. Conspicuous among leading agrienlturists of Senath is A. W. Donglass, an early and highly esteemed settler of this section of Dunklin county, who has contributed his full share in advancing its material prosperity. A native of Missouri, he was born Jannary 21, 1852, near Caruth, and has occupied his present farm since February. 1875. ITe is the third son of Alex- ander T. and Elizabeth Douglass.

Mr. Douglass married, in April. 1874, Senath Hale. She was born in Childs county,

Tennessee, August 10, 1855, a daughter of Charles D. and Elizabeth (Webb) Hale, they also being farming people. They left Ten- nessee and came to Dunklin county in 1859. They remained there until the breaking out of the Civil war, in 1861, when they returned to their native state, Tennessee, where Charles Hale served in the Confederate army for a time. IIe returned to Dunklin county, however, in the year 1869 and later bonght a farm at Grand Prairie, where he spent the remainder of his days and died in 1893, at the age of sixty-one years. He was a Mason and a member of a local Baptist church. Fol- lowing his demise his widow successfully con- ducted the farm until the year 1899, when she removed to the town of Senath, where she now resides. She is at this writing enjoying good health and is especially active for a woman of her years. She, like her husband, is a member of the Baptist church.

Immediately following his marriage Mr. Douglass and his young bride, in whose honor the town of Senath received its name, came here to live. A few pioneers had taken up their residence in Senath at that time, but there were no public highways, no railroads and no post office in the vicinity. Cotton Plant was the nearest trading post, and one had to go either there or to Kennett to find a doctor. The people roundabout lived in true pioneer style, helping each other when- ever help was needed. Mr. Donglass was the first postmaster of Senath, holding the office for seven years, his wife in the meantime serving as assistant postmaster. The carry- ing of the mails was paid for by private subscriptions for the first twelve months after the post office was established, which was in 1882. Salem township had bnt sixty voters when Mr. Douglass first located there, but the number has steadily increased. Mr. Douglass has been very successful in his agricultural labors, his farm of one hundred and twenty acres, lying within the corporate limits of Senath, being much more valuable than land lying outside of the town. During the greater part of his residence in Salem Town- ship he has held the office of justice of the peace and is regarded as one of the ablest and fairest minded justices in the county. He is a man of sound judgment and has acquired a good knowledge of the law.

Mr. and Mrs. Douglass have reared seven children, namely : William H., a well known attorney of St. Louis, Missouri; Elizabeth W., wife of Charles Wyland, of Des Moines,

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Iowa; Alexander T., a member of the firm of the Caneer Store Company, at Senath ; Lucy M., wife of W. C. Biggs, manager of agencies of the National Life Insurance Company, of Des Moines, Iowa; James D., cashier of the National Life Insurance Company in Des Moines, Iowa; Robert Satterfield, at home; and Edward Everett, at home.

Mr. Douglass is a Democrat in his political persuasions, and both he and his wife are staunch members of the Baptist church.

THE HON. JAMES M. BOWERS, well known in different connections in Wayne county, Mis- souri, is a man whose father was not in posi- tion to give him much of an education, but Mr. Bowers, realizing that education was a man's best capital, worked hard to gain knowl- edge, that he might be prepared for the high position which he intended to make. Men who have achieved legitimate success without an education obtained in schools and universities are numerous, and many of such men try to belittle education, but in the years to come the so-called self-made man, competing in the battle of life with scholarly rivals, will go down to certain defeat. The Hon. James Bow- ers realized this and hence spared no pains to produce the knowledge he desired. He is to- day a highly cultured man, yet eager to con- tinue a student.

James M. Bowers' birth occurred March 24, 1865, in Reynolds county, Missouri. He is a son of Josephus and Ann G. (Hart) Bowers, the father a native of North Carolina and the mother was born in Coffee county. Tennessee. When Josephus Bowers was a small boy, in ahout 1832, he accompanied his parents to Webb's Creek. Reynolds county, Missouri. where the family settled on a tract of wild land, which they soon brought into cultivation. Josephus Bowers received a meager education in a subscription school in the neighborhood of his father's farm, but he made such good use of his opportunities that he was adjudged competent to teach. After a short time he de- termined that he was not fitted for an edu- cator and he commenced to farm for himself on a small tract of land, where he raised his family of eleven children-nine of whom are living today. as follows: Eliza E., wife of George Santhew. of Redford, Missouri : James M .. the subject of this sketch : Matilda C., wife of W. H. Johnson, of Reynolds county, Mis- souri : Thomas J., residing at Winona, Mis- souri : Benjamin L., living at Ruble, Missouri :

Rufus, living in the northwest; Maud L., who married Charles Larkin and lives at Ruble, Missouri ; Alice B., Mrs. Otto Aly, residing in Texas; and Ernest E. of Reynolds county. Mr. Bowers, the father of this interesting family, died on his farm after spending forty years of his life there, during which time he lived a simple life, a member of the Methodist church and a stanch ally of the Democratic party.

James M. Bowers, brought up on his fa- ther's farm, attended the district school and at the age of sixteen began to teach; the next ten years were divided between obtaining and imparting knowledge, and inasmuch as he taught in different localities his education was likewise received at various institutions. He was at Hale College, Wayne county, Missouri, for one year; he spent six months at Carlton Institute, Farmington, Missouri; six months at the Baptist College at Farmington, Mis- souri ; six months at the University of Ken- tucky at Lexington, and a year and a half at the Valparaiso, Indiana, normal school, mak- ing in all four years as a student. Altogether he has taught eighteen years. In 189I. after leaving Valparaiso, he accepted a position as bookkeeper at Leeper, Wayne county, Mis- souri ; for four and a half years he filled a sim- ilar position at Piedmont, Wayne county, Mis- souri ; and for three years he owned and edited the Wayne county Journal, then sold out and commenced his political career. It is natural that he should have always been deeply inter- ested in all matters pertaining to education, and in 1897 he was the Democratic candidate for the office of school commissioner ; he served in this capacity for two terms and was two terms on the board of educatioon. He was appointed by Governor Folk to fill an unex- pired term as county surveyor, and he served for one year. He was well qualified for this office, since he has made a special study of surveying and timber estimating. In 1906 Mr. Bowers was the Democratic choice for representative, and, after a very close race, was defeated by only twenty-eight votes. At the next election his party were determined that he was their most fitting candidate and persuaded him to become their nominee a sec- ond time ; he was elected by a large majority, and so distinguished himself during his termn of office that he was re-elected in 1910. The Hon. James Bowers has led a busy life, as in addition to the above mentioned occupations he negotiates real estate sales ; he has, however,

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found time to read law in his spare moments, and he expects to be admitted to the bar in January, 1912.

Mr. Bowers has been twice married; on August 25, 1891, he was united to Margaret Alexander, of Williamsville, Missouri. She died February 12, 1907, aged thirty-two years. On the 15th of July, 1908, he formed a matrimonial alliance with Miss Cora Steven- son, a native of Illinois. Mr. Bowers has no children. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist ehureh and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternal order and holds membership with the order of the Eastern Star; he is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Rebekahs. There are few residents of Wayne county who have had a career as varied as has the Hon. James Bowers; his intereourse with so many classes of people has naturally broadened his views, so that, while positive in his own beliefs, he is most tolerant of the opinions of other people. He is widely and justly popular.

CHARLES W. HIGHFILL. One of the most enterprising and capable men that are iden- tified with the commercial interests of Senath is Charles W. Highfill, the secretary, treas- urer and general manager of the Highfill Mercantile Company, which handles every- thing needed on the farm or in the home, do- ing a business amounting to one hundred thousand dollars a year. A native of Ar- kansas, he was born February 19, 1875, in Paragould, Greene county.

Growing to manhood in his native city, Mr. Highfill began his active career as a clerk in a general store, and for twelve years was employed at various places, the last four years of the time having been spent with Bertnig Brothers, of Paragould. While thus engaged he was elected county clerk of Greene county, Arkansas, and served faith- fully and well in that position from 1904 to 1908. When, on September 1, 1908, the Ilighfill Mercantile Company, which is a branch of the S. L. Joseph Mercantile Com- pany of Paragould. Arkansas, was incorpo- rated at Senath, Missouri, by Hezekiah High- fill and partner, Mr. Charles W. Highfill came to Senath to accept an official position with the company, and has since been a dom- inant power in expanding and in extending the business of this enterprising firm. The company was incorporated with a capital of ten thousand dollars and with the following

named officers : President, H. Highfill, of Paragould, Arkansas; vice president, Joseph Wolf, also of Paragould; secretary, treasurer and general manager, Charles W. Highfill.

This firm, which carries everything except- ing furniture, carries a stock of goods, includ- ing agricultural implements, dry goods, cloth- ing of all deseriptions, groceries and hard- ware, valued at fifteen thousand dollars. Its main store room is fifty by eighty feet, with a wareroom in the rear thirty by forty feet, while the room devoted to agricultural imple- ments, carriages, etc., is also fifty by eighty feet. Eight clerks are kept busy in attending to the wants of the numerous customers, who are attracted to the store through the fair prices asked for the goods, Mr. Highfill being a firm advocate of large sales and small prof- its, which are beneficial to both buyer and seller. This firm likewise handles cotton, op- erating its own gin and in 1910 buying, prin- cipally from the local farmers, about three thousand bales of cotton, paying for it over two hundred thousand dollars.

Politieally, Mr. Highfill is an uncompro- mising Demoerat, but is not an office seeker, his time being devoted to his business inter- ests. Fraternally he is a member of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is a Thirty-second degree Mason and much . interested in promoting the good of the order.

On the 22d of August, 1900, he married Miss Sadie Brannan, who was born in Green- field, Green county, Illinois, March 9, 1879. Her parents, however, moved to Paragould, Arkansas, when she was but ten years of age, and she was educated in the public schools there. The only child born of this union, Gladys, died at the age of nine years. Mrs. Highfill is a member of the Christian church.

HARRY PRUITT POSTON, M. D., of Bonne Terre, represents one of the most prominent names in the medical profession of South- eastern Missouri. He is, in fact, of the third generation in the profession in the state, his grandfather. Dr. Henry Poston, of Irondale, having been one of the pioneer practitioners, and his father, Dr. Charles Pope Poston, being one of the distinguished medical men of the section. Although a young man, Dr. Harry Pruitt Poston has already given a taste of his quality and has evineed gifts of the highest order. No one more than he realizes the con- stant study and investigation necessary to keep pace with the progress in the wonder-

Sadie, G. Highfill.

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ful science to which he has seen fit to devote his life and talents and it is sate to say that one of his ambition and ability will ever suc- ceed in keeping abreast with modern thought and discovery. Dr. Poston is an admirably public-spirited young citizen, as well as a fine representative of his calling, and all measures calculated to result in good to the whole of society are sure of his support.

Harry Pruitt Poston is a native son of Bonne Terre, Saint Francois county, Mis- souri, his birth having occurred at this place in 1884. He is the son of Dr. Charles Pope Poston and his wife, Mahala Cunningham Poston, of whom special mention is made on other pages of this work. He is the eldest of nine children born to these estimable people. During his boyhood Dr. Poston at -. tended the Bonne Terre public schools and wheu young in years came to the conclusion to adopt the profession in which his forebears had found their usefulness. He secured his necessary professional training in the medical department of Washington University, and received a well-earned degree from that in- stitution in 1907. The two succeeding years were spent in hospital experience in St. Luke's hospital in St. Louis, where Dr. Pos- ton acquired a very valuable practical ex- perience obtainable in no other way. From St. Louis he went to New York city, and in that eastern metropolis he gained additional training in the Hutchinson street and New York Hospitals. Subsequent to that he visited European clinics and studied abroad, and all in all enjoys a preparation of unusual va- riety, thoroughness, and high quality. Dr. Poston returned to Bonne Terre and, having specialized in surgery, he was made chief surgeon of the St. Joseph Lead Company ; the Mississippi River & Bonne Terre Railway and allied companies and has charge of the Bonne Terre Hospital, a position that his father had held for thirty-five years, and when he resigned his son was appointed in his place. His activities are such as to render him absorbed to the exclusion of other interests. in the profession of which he is so admirable an exponent. He is affiliated with those organizations whose chief aim is the unity and advancement of the profession, namely, the County. State and American Medical Societies, and the Association of Rail- way Surgeons. His college fraternity is Sigma Nu. in whose affairs he still retains an interest. In his political allegiance Dr. Poston is aligned with the men and measures Vol. II-19

of the Republican party and he is a member of the Masonic fraternity.

Dr. Poston was married in December, 1910, his chosen lady being Miss Elizabeth Schor- entz, of Trieste, Austria. Mrs. Poston has won an assured place in the best social life of Bonne Terre as an accomplished and charming young woman, and their home is one of the popular ones of the place.

CURTIS MOORE. The substantial and pro- gressive agriculturists of Dunklin county have no more worthy representative than Curtis Moore, of Kennett, who stands high among the industrious, thrifty and business- like farmers who are so ably conducting the agricultural affairs of Southeastern Missouri. He was born, February 10, 1875, in Dunklin county, two miles north of Kennett, a son of B. H. Moore.

His parents removing to Kennett when he was nine years of age, Curtis Moore began working in a cotton gin soon afterward, and had but little time allowed him for attend- ing school while he was young. He remained at home for eleven years thereafter, working on the home farm in the meantime and board- ing in town, beneath the parental rooftree. In 1895 Mr. Moore, still in the employ of his father, began clearing the land which he now owns and occupies, it being a part of the sec- tion of timbered land which his father had purchased, and for whom he subsequently worked for seven years. Receiving then a deed to a portion of the tract owned by his father, Mr. Moore labored faithfully in his efforts to reclaim a farm from the forest, and has since bought other land, his present home estate containing two hundred and forty acres of choice land, which yields him abundant harvests each season. His untiring efforts and practical industry, combined with skill and good judgment in conducting the labors of his land, have met with a well-deserved re- ward, the farm, with its extensive and valu- able improvements, being a credit to his energy and sagacity.

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History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II, Part 54

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 802

Author: Douglass, Robert Sidney. 4n
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 802