History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II, Part 59

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

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MRS. L. A. COOKE. On the pages of our Southeastern Missouri History there could be no truer type of southern lady described than Mrs. Cooke. She was all that the term implies, refined, cultured, modest and wom- anly. She was raised very carefully and sheltered from all that was erude or rough, just as the first families of the South in ante- bellum days reared their daughters. Her father, a physician, taught her outdoor sports for health's sake, and she became a noted horsewoman and passed many hours on her pony, attended by one of her slaves. This was only one of her many accomplishments ; she sang and did many things well. Her girlhood was spent in and around New Mad- rid and her education was finished in St. Louis at the Visitation Convent. At the age of nineteen she married George W. Dawson, one of the leading young men of the county and the son of Dr. Doyne Dawson, of New Madrid. Their marriage united two of the oldest and most aristocratie families of Mis- souri and their married life was most happy and prosperous. They had six children, the last being born after the war had called Mr. Dawson. He was a valiant soldier and did hard service in the Confederate army until the battle of Shiloh. After this battle he was prostrated from such active service, took inflammatory rheumatism with typhoid fever and was never well again. Two months later the little mother with her six weeks old baby made her way in a skiff, with brother and physician, down the river to Memphis, to the bedside of her sick husband. He, Captain Dawson, was tenderly carried to New Mad- rid but only lived a couple of months.

At the close of the war this little creature proved of what material Southern women are made. She, who had had slaves to do her every wish, a kind, loving and indulgent hus- band and all that makes a perfect home, found herself bereft of everything and with little practical knowledge. However, she was enmal to the occasion, showing executive ahil- itv and making a home for little ones that they look back on with pride.

Her marriage to Dr. A. D. Cooke took place some years later and two more children had been added to her household when Dr. Cooke died. He was a highly educated Eng- lishman and a dentist by profession.

After his death she lived in New Madrid until her youngest daughter married and moved to New York city, after which she made her home with her and continued doing good in her quiet way to all around her wher- ever she was. She was a strict and pious Catholic and her influence was far reaching and she often mentioned with pride the fact that all of her five children were Catholics and her sixteen grandchildren were of the same faith.

She came back to Missouri with her daugh- ter and made her home in Malden and it was here that she passed away very suddenly on December 10, 1909, at the age of seventy- seven.

Mrs. Cooke was Laura Amanda La Vallee, daughter of Dr. Edmond La Vallee and Sid- ney Watson La Vallee, of New Madrid, and a direct descendant of the French settlers of New Madrid, St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve. Her children who survived her are Mrs. L. B. Howard, Mrs. J. W. Jackson and Mr. C. W. Dawson of New Madrid, Mrs. A. S. Davis and Mrs. D. J. Keller of Malden, Missouri.

JOHN THOMAS RICE. One of the represen- tative citizens of Irondale is John Thomas Rice, who is engaged in mercantile business here and who since 1904 has given faithful and capable service to Uncle Sam as postmas- ter of the little city. As a good citizen, an efficient publie official and an up-to-date busi- ness man, he contributes to the prosperity and prestige of the place in very definite manner. The Rice family is one of the oldest in this section and Mr. Rice, of this review, is a native of Washington county.

John Thomas Rice was born in Washington county, July 2, 1865, and is the son of Wil- liam L. Rice, who was born in Randolph county, Arkansas. At the age of fifteen years William came with his mother and the other children to Missouri, his father having died. They settled in this county, and the mother, who was a physician, engaged in practice here. Here William grew to manhood and gained his education in the county subscription schools. When he arrived at years of suffi- cient strength and discretion he engaged in farming and followed this occupation until his demise. He was married to Rachel Wild-

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man, of Washington county, and they became the parents of ten chnuren, the subject being the wouri In order of birth. He was a wor- iny citizen, a member of the Methodist Epis- copas cuuren and a loyal adherent of the "Grand Old Party." The mother survives, her years numbering seventy-two at the pres- ent time, and she maintains her residence on the old homestead near Irondale. She enjoys the regard of many friends.

The early life of John T. Rice was spent on the farm and his education, which was of a limited character, was gained in the Old Rice school house, within whose walls he was made acquainted with the common branches. At about the age of twenty-two years he en- gaged in the barber's business and followed this at Irondale for four years. At the end of that period he sold out and bought an in- terest in the mercantile business of W. T. But- ler & Sons. He continued with that firm for eight years and became familiar with com- mercial life in all its phases, and then finding himself in a positon to become established on an independent footing, he bought them out and has since been in business for himself. He was appointed postmaster in 1904 by President Roosevelt and has held the office ever since that time, giving satisfaction to all concerned.

Mr. Rice was married, in 1904, to one of Washington county's admirable daughters, Miss Minnie Trauernicht. Their union has been blessed by the birth of the following three children: Zenda Marie, Menetta and Joseph William.

The subject is one of the leaders of the local Republican party, having given his sup- port to its men and measures since the day of his maiden vote. He is a Mason and follows the precepts of moral and social justice and brotherly love for which that order stands. He also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America.

THE ZOELLNER BROTHERS. If those who claim that fortune has favored certain indi- viduals above others will but investigate the cause of success and failure it will be found that the former is largely due to the im- provement of opportunity, the latter to the neglect of it. Fortunate environments en- compass nearly every man at some stage of his career, but the strong man and the suc- cessful man is he who realizes that the proper moment has come. that the present and not the future holds his opportunity. The man

who makes use of the "Now" and not the "To Be" is the one who passes on the high- way of life others who started out ahead of him, and reaches the goal of prosperity in advance of them. It is this quality in the Zoellner Brothers that has made them leaders in the business world and won them an envia- ble name in connection with the publishing and newspaper interests at Perryville, where they edit the Perry County Sun.

The Zoellner Brothers were born in Perry county, on the old farm near Biehle, Mis- souri. They are sons of Henry Zoellner, whose birth occurred in Westphalia, Ger- many, on the 7th of November, 1836. Henry Zoellner immigrated from Germany, in com- pany with his parents, to the United States in 1845, at which time he was but a lad of nine years of age. The Zoellner family lo- cated on a farm in the vicinity of Biehle, Mis- souri, and there the young Henry was reared to maturity, his educational training consist- ing of such advantages as he was able to se- cure for himself. After reaching adult age he was united in marriage to Miss Agattha Diena Lappe, who was likewise born in West- phalia, Germany, and who was a daughter of Frederick Lappe. Mr. Henry Zoellner served in the six months volunteer militia during the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Zoellner became the parents of thirteen children, of whom nine attained their majorities as follows: Anton, John H., Joseph F., deceased ; Theresia, later Mrs. Louis Ernst, now deceased; William F., A. H., A. B., F. H., and Mary now the wife of Frank P. Schuemer, who now, in 1912 is conducting a milling business in Millheim, Missouri. Three of the boys are in the office of the Perry County Sun, and are also con- ducting a first class undertaking business, Adolph H., August B. and Frank H. The father is still living and is making his home with his daughter, Mrs. Frank P. Schuemer, in Millheim, Perry county, this state, and his cherished and devoted wife passed away on the 4th of August, 1902. Henry Zoellner is a son of John and Catherine Zoellner, both of whom passed the elosing years of their lives in this state. He is a Democrat in his polit- ical proclivites and is recognized as a citizen of sterling worth and unquestioned integrity.

Adolph H. Zoellner was born August 13, 1873, in Perry county, Missouri, and under the invigorating influences of the old home farm near Biehle he was reared to maturity and he received his elementary education in the neighboring schools of Perry county. As

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a young man he learned the blacksmith's trade under the preceptorship of his brother, Joseph, at Millheim, Missouri. He followed the work of this trade but a short time, how- ever, and on the 10th of April, 1899, he pur- chased an interest in the Perry County Sun, a Democratic paper, the offices of which are at Perryville. He was associated for a time in the publishing of this paper with R. M. Abernathy, and in 1901 he and his two broth- ers bought up all the stock in the Perry County Sun, which they have since edited and pubished with most gratifying success. At the same time they conducted a grocery, fur- niture and undertaking business in Perry- ville, Missouri, under the firm name of Zoell- ner Brothers, but have since disposed of the furniture and grocery departments, and are now devoting their entire time to the under- taking business, and to an extensive job print- ing business and the work connected with the paper. The policy of the Perry County Sun is Democratic and through its terse editorials it has accomplished a great deal of good for the community and the county at large.

On the 24th of October, 1899, Mr. Adolph H. Zoellner was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie M. Baudendistel, who was born and reared in Perry county in the state of Mis- souri. Mr. and Mrs. Zoellner are the parents of two boys and two girls, Jennings Joseph, Robert Francis. Ursula Wilhelmina and Lvneta Elizabeth. In their religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Zoellner are devout communi- cants of the Catholic church, and he is affil- iated with the Knights of Columbus, the Western Catholic Union and the Modern Brotherhood of America. He was official re- porter of the Missouri house of representa- tives during the session of 1911.

August Bernard Zoellner was born in Perry county, Missouri, on the 4th of March, 1874. and his preliminarv education was re- ceived in the public schools of his native place and hv self discipline. As a young man he engaged in farming. threshing and saw mill- ing, continuing to be identified with those lines of enterprises until 1899. in which year he joined his brothers, first in the grocery, furniture and undertaking business and later, in 1901. in the printing business, and being of a mechanical turn he has become one of the best ioh printers in this part of the state. On the 26th of October, 1897, he wedded Miss Amelia Buerek, who was born in Perry county, Missouri, on the 1st of June, 1875. This union has been prolific of

eight children, whose names are here en- tered in respective order of birth,-Lille, Rudolph (deceased), Stella, Webster, Laura, Chalmer, Cordula and Marion. In his polit- ical convictions Mr. Zoellner is aligned as a staunch advocate of the principles and poli- cies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor and in their religious faith he and his wife are Catholics. Ile is affiliated with the Western Catholic Union.

Frank Henry Zoellner was born in Perry county, on the 30th of January, 1876. His early educational discipline was similar to that of his brothers. He subsequently at- tended summer schools and for one term was a teacher in a country school. In time he be- came interested with his brothers in the con- duet of a grocery, furniture and undertak- ing business, and in 1901 he too became a member of the printing firm which edits the Perry County Sun. On the 27th of May, 1902, was solemnized the marriage of Frank H. Zoellner to Miss Anna Baudendistel, a sister of Adolph Zoellner's wife. To this union have been born five children,-Trula K., Albert A., Harry J., Le Roy F., and Iola V. Mr. Zoellner is a member of the Catholic church, is a valued and apprecia- tive member of the Western Catholic Union and in politics accords an unswerving alle- giance to the Democratic party.

The Zoellner Brothers hold an exceed- ingly high place in the confidence and es- teem of their fellow citizens at Perryvlle, where through their own well directed efforts they have made success not an accident but a logical result. They are ever on the alert and enthusiastically in sympathy with all measures and enterprises advanced for the general welfare, and they are all members of the Perryville Commercial Club.

AMZI LEACH STOKES. An enterprising, progressive and very definite factor in the many-sided life of Malden and its vicinity is Amzi Leach Stokes, representative of the family well-known in Dunklin county. He is at the head of the Stokes Brothers Store Company, a concern dealing in general mer- chandise, and is one of the largest land-hold- ers hereabout. He is a native son of the county, his birth having occurred on Febru- ary 9, 1866, in the vicinity of Clarkton, on his father's homestead farm.

Mr. Stokes is a son of Robert W. and Mar- tha J. (White) Stokes, the life of the former of whom is treated in detail on other pages

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of this history of southeastern Missouri. Robert W. Stokes, who is a life-long resident of Missouri, was born in 1839, in Cape Girar- deau county, and his father, John H. Stokes, was a native of County Roscommon, Ireland, and came to the United States when a lad. The subject is thus of the third generation of the family in the land of the stars and stripes. Ilis father is a veteran of the Civil war and has been variously engaged, in farming, milling. store-keeping, livery busi- ness and real-estate dealing, in the latter proving remarkably successful. He and his wife, now deceased, are the parents of the following children: John E .; Amzi L., of this sketch; Laura, wife of Albert J. Baker; Robert W., Jr .; Birdie, wife of M. B. Ray- burn: Luther B .; and Mattie J., wife of W. A. Colien, of Fredericktown, Missouri.

Amzi Leach Stokes gained his education at various points, attending school at Lexing- ton. Missouri, for one year, and at Caledonia, for two, in addition to his studies at Clark- ton. At about the age of twenty-one years he entered the employ of his older brother, John E. Stokes, in the mercantile business at Clarkton and following that worked for a time for T. C. Stokes. In 1890, he accepted a position with William Bridges in his store at Malden and remained thus associated for the period of three years. He then estab- lished himself upon a more independent foot- ing by forming a partnership with T. C. Stokes, in the general mercantile business, under the firm name of T. C. Stokes & Com- pany, this association being effected in the year 1893, and being continued under that name until about 1900, when the subject dis- posed of his interest. He then opened up the present business on Madison street to- gether with his brothers and brother-in-law, Mr. Baker, the same being at first known as Stokes Brothers & Company, and at present being incorporated under the name of the Stokes Brothers Store Company, of which Mr. A. L. Stokes is president and general manager. Upon its first organization Amzi L. Stokes became president of the Bank of Malden. and has contributed in no small measure to the excellent standing of this monetary institution, which has been in ex- istence since 1903. He has met with great sueeess and stands for the ideal type of the plucky. level-headed, prosperous and all- round useful citizen of Missouri and the southwest. In politics he is aligned with the

Democratic party and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church.

Mr. Stokes was married August 8, 1896, to May Williford, daughter of John B. and Amanda Spiller, his chosen lady being a resident and native of Marion, Illinois, her birthdate having been August 8, 1870. One child was born to them on August 3, 1900- a daughter named Anna May. The beloved and faithful wife and mother passed away December 25, 1907, at St. Louis, in the St. Louis Hospital, after an illness of three months and her remains are interred in the new cemetery at Malden.

WILLIAM A. POWERS, M. D. The man who has had no time which he could call his own, who has had to go eighteen hours and more at a stretch night after night, who has had to eat his meals wherever and whenever he could find a moment, such a man will, more than the average well-regulated individ- ual, appreciate the quiet restfulness, regu- lar hours and untrammeled freedom of the farm. And Dr. William A. Powers, the sub- ject of this brief review, is finding the ut- most pleasure and enjoyment in his large farm of seven hundred acres near Pacific, this state.

Dr. W. H. Powers was the father of our subject. He was born in Rock Bridge county, Virginia, in 1823, and, having de- cided upon the medical profession as his life work, prepared himself for this vocation in a Cincinnati medical school. When still quite a young man, in 1848 to be exact, Dr. Pow- ers came to Franklin county, Missouri, where he continued in the practice of his profession until his death, in 1908. He was well known and well beloved by all his pa- trons, many of whom he had helped not only in a medical way but by words of advice, wisdom and good cheer. The maiden name of our subject's mother was Julia Colburn, whom Dr. W. H. Powers married in 1852, in Franklin county, Missouri, and to them were born six children, of whom three are now living, namely: Mrs. G. H. Hanker, of Franklin county; Mrs. J. V. Denney, whose husband is a physician of Cedar Hill, this state; and William A., of this review.

As before mentioned, Dr. William A. Powers, of Pacific, is the son of W. H. and Julia (Colburn) Powers, his birth having oc- curred at Lonedell. Franklin county, Mis- souri. September 3, 1876. Acquiring his rud-

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imentary education in the district schools, he subsequently spent two years as a student in the normal school at Warrensburg, and hav- ing decided that he wished to follow the profession of his father, he entered the Beau- mont Hospital Medical College, later ab- sorbed by the Marion Sims Medical College, from which institution he was graduated in 1898. He then located for practice in the community in which he had grown to man- hood, and continued his profession with con- siderable success until 1900. About this time he dabbled a little in live-stock, and was quite extraordinarily successful in his venture. Finding that he had within him an innate love for nature and all out-doors and the creatures of the field, he abandoned his pro- fessional career and established himself on a farm near Pacific, where he engaged in gen- eral agricultural pursuits, paying especial attention to the breeding and raising of live stock, making a specialty of hogs and sheep for market. Dr. Powers has an attractive estate and thoroughly enjoys every minute of the day working in the various depart- ments of farm life. He has other interests, however, maintaining a rock-crushing plant at Kansas City, doing a profitable business, and he is also a stockholder and director of the Citizens Bank of Pacific, which bank he assisted in organizing.

In politics our subject supports the poli- cies of the Democratic party, as did his father before him, though he has no aspira- tions for public office. He is also a mem- ber of that time-honored organization, An- cient Free and Accepted Masons, being him- self a Master Mason.

Dr. Powers established a hearthstone of his own when he led Miss Gertrude Harbison, a daughter of Dr. M. C. Harbison, pioneer, to the marriage altar, the date of these nuptials heing October 21, 1900. There were no chil- dren born to this union. Mrs. Powers passed away on April 15, 1907, leaving her husband, still a young man, to mourn her loss.

PHILIP SAMPSON TERRY, city attorney of Crystal City, justice of the peace at Festus, and one of the prominent attorneys of South- east Missouri, is a native of the Goldenrod state of the southwest and has made his repu- tation within her borders. He was born at Springfield on the 1st of August. 1876, the youngest and the eleventh child horn to George Washington and Helen (Walker) Terry. His mother died when he was three

years of age and his father, a farmer, about a year afterward. Thus left an orphan, he lived with James M. Dillon, of Dillon Station, Missouri, until he was twelve years of age, when he decided to be his own master for the remainder of his life.

The boy's first venture in man's work was in St. Louis county, where for two years he was employed in a dairy. He spent the suc- ceeding two or three years as a section hand on a railroad and then attended the Normal and Business Institute at Steelville, Missouri, from which he graduated in 1895.

At the completion of his course in the above named institution, in his nineteenth year, Mr. Terry commenced to teach and was thus engaged until 1903. By this time he was also a full-fledged lawyer. He had studied to such good purpose that he had been admitted to the bar of Texas in 1898 and to the Missouri state bar in 1899. In 1903 he abandoned the educational field alto- gether and opened a law office at Festus. In 1909 Mr. Terry was admitted to the federal bar at Cape Girardeau, and for the past eight years, or since the commencement of his resi- dence at Festus, has conducted a growing and high-grade business in both the higher and lower courts. He has been honored with both the police judgeship and city attorneyship, has been justice of the peace for nine years, and is a Republican and a citizen of decided abilities and upright character. His popu- larity and standing are further attested by his wide and active connection with the fra- ternities, participating, as he does. in the good work of the Masons, Knights of Pythias, Elks and Eagles.

On June 12. 1907, Mr. Terry married Miss Lucy Noce, of Festus, and Grace is the child of their union.

JOHN G. TURLEY, M. D. Worthy of recog- nition in this publication as one of the repre- sentative physicians and surgeons of south- eastern Missouri. Dr. Turley is engaged in the successful practice of his profession in the village of Desloge, St. Francois county, and he is a scion of one of the old and honored families of this favored section of the state.

Dr. John George Turley was born at Farm- ington, the judicial center of St. Francois county, Missouri, on the 23rd of August. 1874, and is a son of Wullen Ellis Turley and Mary C. (Taylor) Turley, both of whom were horn and reared in this county, where the father has devoted the major part of his

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career to agricultural pursuits. His cherished and devoted wife was summoned to the lire eternal in 1902, and her memory is revered by all who came within the sphere of her gracious and gentle influence. Of the mne children the Doctor was the second in order of birth. Wullen E. Turley is a staunch ad- herent of the Democratic party and is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, as was also his wife.

Dr. Turley was reared to the sturdy disci- pline of the farm, where he waxed strong in mind and body, and after completing the cur- riculum of the public schools he continued higher academic studies in the Baptist Col- lege, at Farmington, where he was a student for three years. He then put his scholastic attainments to practical test and use by turn- ing his attention to the pedagogie profession, in connection with which he was a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of his native county for a period of three years. In preparation for the work of his chosen vo- cation he entered Barnes Medical College, in the city of St. Louis, in which he was gradu- ated as a member of the class of 1899, on the 12th of April, and from which he received his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. After his graduation he at once opened an office at Desloge, where he has since been en- gaged in successful general practice, where he has secured a large and appreciative patron- age and where he is official surgeon for the Desloge Lead Company. He is a close stu- dent of his profession and keeps in touch with the advances made in both medicine and sur- gery, so that he is enabled to avail himself of the best remedial agents and the most ap- proved surgical methods and facilities. He is identified with the St. Francois County Medical Society and the Missouri State Medi- cal Society, and he is a close observer of the staunch but unwritten code of professional ethics. His personal popularity in his native county is of the most unequivocal order, his political allegiance is given to the Democratic party ; he is affiliated with the time-honored Masonie fraternity, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. South. They are popular factors in the social activities of their community and their attractive home is a center of gracions hospitality.

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History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II, Part 59

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