USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 64
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Mr. Barnes bought out the firm of Wahl and Schult, and now runs a refrigerating plant and does a business whose annual vol- ume exceeds fifty thousand dollars in whole- sale beer and soda and retail coal. Besides his other interests he knows how to manage a farm, and is the owner of a fertile tract of one hundred and eighty acres, which he now rents to tenants.
On June 15, 1908, the marriage of Mr. Vol. II-22
Barnes to Miss Olga Summers, daughter of Martin and Louise (Hackert) Summers, of Hickman, Kentucky, was solemnized, and the foundations for an unusually happy and gra- cious home life were laid. They make their home in the handsome four thousand dollar house, set on four acres of beautifully located grounds, that Mr. Barnes recently erected and which has already gained a reputation for its charming hospitality. The children of this union are Goah, born April 25, 1911, and Lynus V., who was taken away at the age of fifteen months. Both Mr. and Mrs. Barnes are members of the Catholic church and lib- eral contributors to the Portageville parish.
Fraternally Mr. Barnes is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, the Wood- men of the World, and is a member of the Cape Girardeau herd of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In the field of politics he is allied to the "Grand Old Party," and has been a member of the Re- publican Central Committee for over ten years. Besides his terms in the post-office he has served as a member of the local board of aldermen, first filling the unexpired term of the late Dr. Corlis, and later represented the second ward after the election of 1910.
CHARLES W. REED. When a young man, Morral Reed, the father of Charles W. Reed, came from Alabama to Missouri. Here he settled in Dunklin county, near Hornersville, and later married a young lady from his old home in Alabama. Charles Reed was born in 1863, April 15. When he was four years old his parents moved to this county. Upon com- ing to Pemiscot county Morral Reed bought one hundred acres of land, paying one dollar an acre for it. His son Charles now owns ninety-five acres, worth seventy-five dollars an acre. Both Morral Reed and his wife, Adeline, died in this county.
Charles Reed has always been engaged in farming. He attended the public schools of the county while working for his father and later went into agriculture independently. He raises corn and cotton, as well as hogs and cattle, and his place is well improved.
Mr. Reed was married to Miss Belle Bissett in 1889. She died without issue. In 1903 his second marriage took place, when he was united to Miss Nora Miller. One daughter, Stella, has been the result of this union.
JUDGE WILLIAM L. STACY has been a resi- dent of the state since he was five years old. Obion county, Tennessee, is the place of his
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birth as well as of his parents, John and Ar- minta (Taylor) Stacy. John Stacy was born in 1813 and his wife in 1827. William L. Stacy was born in 1850 and five years after- wards his parents moved to Stoddard county, Missouri, where they lived until their death, which was in 1875. Both passed away in the same year.
The subscription school and the public schools of the county gave Mr. Stacy his edu- cational training. After leaving his father's farm to work for himself he came to this county and rented a farm for many years. It was in 1874 that he started for himself, with the sum of five dollars as his entire capi- tal. Six years afterward he bought eighty acres of wild land, for which he paid three hundred dollars. The same land is now val- ued at one hundred dollars an acre. Mr. Stacy now owns one thousand acres of cleared land and three times that acreage in wild land. He rents out his farm and devotes himself to his real estate business. The Stacy, Hunter & Johnson Realty Company was or- ganized in 1910, Mr. Stacy being the senior partner. Prior to the organization of this firm Mr. Stacy was in the real estate busi- ness for twelve years alone.
He is a popular and influential member of the Democratic party and has been called upon to represent that body in the capacity of county judge for sixteen years. He was eight years associate and eight years presid- ing judge of the county. While filling this office he directed special effort to the improve- ment of the drainage in the county and had the satisfaction of seeing his efforts rewarded in the material betterment of the lands of the district. Another service which Mr. Stacy has rendered his party is that of acting on the Democratic congressional committee.
Mrs. Stacy was formerly Miss Laura G. Hill. She was born in this county and was married in 1872. She and Mr. Stacy have no children. She is a member of the Methodist church. Mr. Stacy is a Mason of New Madrid lodge, No. 429.
L. WILLIS YOUNG has been a resident of Missouri since February, 1900, when he came from Obion county, Tennessee. his native place, and took up his abode on a farm near Hayti. Mr. Young rented this place and worked it for three years. The following two years he spent in Hayti, still farming. After renting another farm in the vicinity he bought his present place in 1910. He first purchased
forty acres and later bought forty more, and now owns eighty acres, well improved. In the years he has owned the place Mr. Young has put most of the improvements on it. He built the fence and the large barn, forty by forty feet. The six-room dwelling house is also one of his additions to the place, as well as sev- eral of the out-buildings. In addition to what he owns he rents two hundred acres, upon which he raises cotton, cattle and hogs.
Mr. Young's parents lived and died in Ten- nessee. His father died when he was very young, and as he grew up he was obliged to help support his mother. His schooling was in consequence limited. He was married in 1873, being but sixteen years old at the time. The bride was Mary C. Stanley, of Tennessee. They had a family of five children, four daughters and one son. The daughters are now all married, their names being Adebelle Hale, Hattie Lasswell, Lena Middleton and Janie Britton. The son's given name is Brown. After the death of Mary Stanley Young, Willis Young married a second time. the present Mrs. Young is also a Tennes- seean, her maiden name was Belle Nix. Two children have been born of the second mar- riage, Edward C. and Minnie.
Mr. Young belongs to the Woodmen of the World at Hayti and to the Modern Woodmen of America at Caruthersville. He votes the Republican ticket.
JAMES R. BULLOCK, the well known farmer in Dunklin county, has won the respect and esteem of all who know him. Perhaps if his friends knew of the difficulties he has had to encounter they would think even more of him. He is a man who has attained a promi- nent position in the state entirely through his own efforts. He has had to pick up a good deal of the education he has acquired, but he- cause he has had to work for it he sets greater valne on the things he does know.
He was born in Florida, April 15, 1860. His father. James R. Bullock, was a farmer, who came to Missouri in 1861 with his little baby boy. his wife having died in 1860. He crossed the Mississippi river at New Madrid, thence came direct to Dunklin county. where he located on a farm. Soon after he settled in the county he married Harriet Shelton, a young Missouri woman, who took the little motherless hoy to her heart. Mr. Bullock ar- rived in Missouri just about the time the Civil war broke out. indeed it was because of the unsettled condition of Florida before the war
IRBullock
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that he left his farm there. He sympathized with the cause of the South, although he took no active part. He was killed by the guer- illas in a raid they made in Dunkin county, because they were known to he in sympathy with the southern cause. His death occurred in 1862.
James R. Bullock was born on a farm in Florida, and the first few years of his life were full of changes. A few weeks after he was born his mother died. Shortly after that his father moved to Missouri, bringing with him James R., a baby of one year. He soon was given a new mother, the only mother he ever knew. When he was only two years old his father died, leaving him to the care of his foster mother. She brought him up as care- fully as she could, giving him the advantages of some schooling, hut not much. When he was ten years old his stepmother married William Campbell and took James R. to her new home. He stayed with Mr. Campbell un- til he was twenty-two years old, receiving the best of treatment at the hands of his step- father in return for service he rendered on the farm. When he was twenty-two years old he started out to make a home for him- self. He had no money, but he took up a claim in Dunklin county and cleared it him- self. The land was wild and uncultivated. but by dint of hard work he improved it and now has five hundred and sixty-seven aeres of good land, every bit of which he has cleared except sixty acres. After working alone for a time he was soon able to hire help and he has always felt the deepest sympathy with men who wanted work. He built a good seven roomed house on his land and a barn fifty by thirty feet, besides several sheds. He has a large amount of stock. having from twenty to twenty-five horses, from forty to fifty hogs and from one hundred to one hundred and seventy-five cattle always on hand. In one year he shipped three thousand seven hun- dred dollars worth of stock. He is known by the farmers all over this part of the state, having lived on the same place all of his life since he reached man's estate. His farm is located ten miles north of Kennett.
In 1880 Mr. Bullock married Frances Cor- delia Pritchard. a native of this county. daughter of Charles M. Pritchard. whose sketch may be found on other pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Bullock have two chil- dren now living. L. T. and Pearl. both of whom are at home with their parents.
Mr. Bullock has other interests besides his
farm, having helped to organize the People's Bank at Holcomb. In June, 1911, he opened a small store in Manley, and in November following added to his stock dry goods, gro- ceries, clothing, etc., becoming the proprie- tor of a general store, which he manages in connection with his farm and stock business. He also owns and operates a livery stable here. He is a member of the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows. For fifteen years he has been a member of the Pleasant Valley Gen- eral Baptist church, where he does very good work. He may with reason feel that he has done well during this much of his life. He has never had a dollar given to him, but has worked for all he has. Not only has he achieved success financially, but he is a man who is universally liked and respected by all his neighbors and associates.
GEORGE W. SUTHERLAND. One of the prominent men who have given Portageville its name for progressive enterprise and square dealing is George W. Sutherland, whose merchandise establishment is one of the county's finest business houses. Mr. Suther- land is not a native of Missouri, having been born in Booneville, Warrick county, Indiana, in 1857. There he attended the public schools until, at the age of eighteen, he went to Evansville, Indiana. When he was twenty- one he left his position to go into the saw- mill business on his own account. In the fall of 1898, however, he removed to New Madrid county, for business in the Hoosier state had not been altogether successful, and he was at- tracted by the richer resources of this section of the country. Upon his advent in Portage- ville he started the first sawmill and erected one with a capacity of twenty thousand feet a day. He continued in the milling business until 1905, when he embarked in the mercan- tile business which he now conducts, doing an annual volume of business amounting to about $25,000. Besides his store he has other interests, being a stockholder and director in the Farmer's Bank of Portageville. His real- estate holdings embrace five houses and lots, which he lets to tenants.
Mr. Sutherland's first marriage was with Miss Lizzie McQuary, of Indiana, and they became the parents of two children, Minnie, who is married. and Elvis, now deceased.
The present charming wife of Mr. Suther- land was formerly Miss Nannie Keener, one of the popular young women of Uniontown, Kentucky, and she and her husband are now
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the parents of eight children, namely : Eva, George, Thelma, Henry, Grace, Gladys, Vera and Jack. All of the children make their home with their parents.
Fraternally Mr. Sutherland is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Ma- sons, Blue Lodge, No. 166 (32nd degree), and to both the Chapter and Commandery at St. Louis, and the Consistory, besides having been through all the chairs in Blne Lodge; and he is a member of the Woodmen of the World. In the field of politics he may be found under the standard of the Democratic party. He has been an alderman for several years and has given appreciated service to the community as a member of the school board.
Mr. Sutherland's success is particularly gratifying to those who have witnessed the odds against which he has at times past been obliged to work. Twice during his stay in Portageville his lumber mills have been de- stroyed by fire, but ability and persistence know no obstacles and he has always quietly gone ahead and come up "on top" with a smile and eager to start afresh. With that spirit it is little wonder that he holds a firm place in the esteem and affection of the com- munity.
MATT J. CONRAN. To conspicuous success in commercial enterprises Mr. Conran has added the record of long and efficient public service. His achievements entitle him to the reputation he enjoys of being one of the most substantial and public-spirited men of the county.
Born in the county on May 24, 1869, Mr. Conran attended the public schools and in October, 1891, when twenty-two years of age, started in the mercantile business for him- self. Before going into an independent estab- lishment he had clerked in other stores and so was thoroughly acquainted with the workings of the trade. For twenty years he conducted a flourishing establishment, handling a gen- eral line. In 1910 he went into his present hardware business. The concern is a stock company, of which he is general manager, do- ing a business of something like $50,000 a year.
Other interests of Mr. Conran's are banks and agriculture. He is the owner of four thousand acres of land, mostly under cultiva- tion. A part of this he rents, and share-crops part. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Bank at Portageville and president of the
Banking Company of New Madrid. He is also interested in the Palmer Bank and is a stockholder in the People's Trading Com- pany of New Madrid.
In the social organizations of the section Mr. Conran is a member of the Red Men and of the Odd Fellows at New Madrid. In Cape Girardeau he holds membership in the Elks' lodge.
Mr. Conran has served New Madrid as alderman for two terms, during which time the city hall was built. He is now mayor and has served in that capacity for three terms. The city water works were built under his ad- ministration of the city affairs. Mr. Conran was a member of the forty-fifth and forty- sixth assemblies at the Capitol, where he was sent by the Democratic party as representa- tive of the county. During his two terms in the legislature he served on the swamp-lands and drainage committee and also on the ap- propriations, accounts and railway and ware- house committees. In 1901 he was chairman of the Democratic committee of the county. Altogether, few men have accomplished more in the space of forty-two years of existence than Mr. Conran's record for that period shows.
J. L. ARNOLD is another of those men who have been the architects of their own fortunes and have built for themselves a most admir- able structure. He has accomplished this without the advantage of any great educa- tional training, as the schools about Napoleon, Ohio, where he grew up, did not afford him much chance for learning.
The lumber business was the occasion of Mr. Arnold's coming to Lilbourn in 1905. He had a saw mill here and then he began to buy and to improve land in the neighbor- hood. He has a place of twenty-five acres in the corporation, which he has owned for three years. Since coming into possession of the place he has remodeled the house and gener- ally improved the property. Most of this land is in timber. Between Marston and Lil- bourn Mr. Arnold owns over seven hundred acres of land, upon which he has several houses. He has been active in constructing ditches and in getting roads made and in otherwise improving general conditions. In addition to his holdings in this region he owns a $5,000 home in Napoleon, Ohio, and a three-story hrick business block, twenty-two by sixty feet, in St. Joseph, Michigan. He has had this for over a year. His posses-
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sions in Lilbourn include several town lots and a store building. In 1910 he went into the grocery and the hardware business in Lil- bourn but, after building up a fine trade, he sold out in September, 1911. He is now con- structing two brick store buildings, one of two story, twenty-two by sixty-six feet, and a one- story building, nineteen by sixty-six feet, near the Union Depot.
In 1886 Mr. Arnold was married to Miss Effie Uncapher, of Napoleon. Two children, Carl J. and Helen, have been the result of this union. The Democratic party embodies Mr. Arnold's political creed. In a fraternal way he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
WILLIAM MYERS. A native of New Madrid county whose history shows the fine calibre and the progressive nature of the citizenship of the county is William Myers. He was born here in 1861, the first year of the Civil war; to William and Jennie (Thomlin) Myers. His father was a native son of New Madrid county, having been born here in 1833 and he passed away in 1875, when his son was four- teen years old. His wife was born within the confines of the county in 1834 and was called to her eternal reward when her son was twelve years old.
After the early deaths of his parents Wil- liam Myers went to work for his board for Monroe Broughton, of this county, and there he remained for four years, and for the fol- lowing three years he was employed at a wage of thirteen dollars a month. At the end of that time he purchased a team, and for eight years kept bachelor's quarters with Charles Tony. In 1883 he sold out and went to cen- tral Texas, where he stayed one year. He and Mr. Tony then farmed together for six more years after his return from Texas.
On February 5, 1891, Mr. Myers was united in marriage to Miss Ella DeLisle, who was born in this county, August 12, 1867. She is a sister of Alfonse DeLisle, a review of whose life appears elsewhere in this vol- ume. Their union has been blessed with one child, Hal, born August 24, 1893, who is still at home with his parents. Both Mr. Myers and his family are members of the Catholic church.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Myers is affi- liated with the Modern Woodmen of America. the Woodmen of the World. the Knights of Columbus, the Modern Brotherhood of America, the Mutual Protective League (of
which his wife is also a member) and the Knights and Ladies of Honor. Mr. Myers is also a member of the order of Ben Hur.
For the last five years Mr. Myers has clerked in the DeLisle Supply Company store. He was formerly in the drug business for thirteen years. He is the owner of the opera house, a fifty by eighty foot building with a fifty foot brick front, and he owns one hun- dred acres of fertile farm land, seventy-five acres being cleared and which he lets to a tenant to cultivate. Mrs. Myers has operated a profitable millinery business for a period of fourteen years, and is still conducting the business.
BEN PIKEY is now serving his second term as county judge, and his work in this office has been of unusual benefit to the county. He is not new to the duties and responsibili- ties of public life, for previous to becoming county judge he was ten years constable and served several years as justice of peace. He is a Democrat and was put into office by that constitutency, but the things he has accom- plished since becoming county judge have commended him to all citizens alike. Eigh- teen school and road districts have been or- ganized under his direction and the roads of the county have been materially improved. Another service he has done the community is that of purchasing in 1908 the county poor farm and making it self supporting. The buildings have been improved and the eighty acres of land made to produce paying crops. Mr. Pikey is president of the county court.
Poverty was the school in which Mr. Pikey grew up. His parents were poor and had only a small farm, which they had secured by homesteading. This farm is now owned by a brother of Mr. Pikey. The children were "raised poor" as is the colloquial phrase. Ben Pikey was born in 1861, and lived at home until he was twenty-one, when he moved to the place which is still his home.
The farm which Mr. Pikey settled on was a tract of eighty acres, all in timber. This he cleared, first a large enough space to build a house and then the entire tract. The house in which the family now live is not the origi- nal one which Mr. Pikey built but a more modern structure with which he replaced that one. The now valuable land was worth but from a dollar to a dollar and a quarter an acre when he took possession of it.
Mr. Pikey has been twice married. His first wife was Martha Alexander, born in Illi-
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HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
nois, but brought up in this section of Mis- souri. She lived but two years. Her son, Walter, is still at home with his father. On November 19, 1890, Miss Lucy Henson be- came Mrs. Ben Pikey. She was born in Pope county, where her father and mother had grown up. They moved to Hickman, Ken- tucky, which place Lucy left at the age of fourteen to come to New Madrid county. Five children have been the issue of her union with Mr. Pikey: Grace, the eldest, is now a teacher in the schools of the county, and the other four, Richard, Mamie, Jennings Bryan and Samuel B., are at home.
Mr. Pikey's lodge affiliations are in differ- ent towns of the county. He is a member of the Masonic order at Conran; in Marston he belongs to the Odd Fellows; and in New Madrid to the two Woodmen's lodges and to the order Ben Hur.
The principal crops of Mr. Pikey's farm are corn and cotton, but he gives considerable attention to raising stock.
ALBERT O. ALLEN, the prominent politician and journalist, was born on a farm near Fred- ricktown, Madison county, Missouri, in 1844. He attended the Arcadia high school three years and on leaving that institution came to New Madrid county to work for the clerk of the circuit court. Shortly after this the Civil war broke out. Mr. Allen enlisted in the First Missouri Infantry, under the command of Colonel, (afterwards Major-General) John S. Bowen, of St. Louis. Mr. Allen remained in the C. S. A. army for four years and was paroled at Jackson, Mississippi, May 12, 1865.
In 1866 he established the Weekly Record, and he has been connected with that paper ever since, bothi as owner and editor, not to mention being reporter, printer and devil. This journal has a large circulation.
In 1872, Mr. Allen was elected a represen- tative of New Madrid county, and ever since that time he has been more or less in public life. He afterwards served six years as chief clerk of the state auditor's office under Judge Holladay and twelve years later filled the same position under State Auditor Sieberrt for twelve years. In 1900 he was elected state auditor and served four years. He was re- nominated in 1904, but was defeated in the landslide when Governor Folk was the only Democratic candidate elected. During Cleve- land's first administration Mr. Allen was spe- cial agent for the United States in the settle- ment of land claims of the states against the
United States. Since 1905 he has devoted his entire attention to his paper, refusing to be a candidate for any office. Although he de- elines to serve his party in this manner, he is eager to work for it both as an editor and as an individual. Indeed his chief ambition is to be of use to his friends and his party.
Mr. Allen was married in 1881 to Miss Laura Watson, of Jefferson City. They have four children : Virginia, now Mrs. W. T. Riley, and Albert, Christy and Sarah. Mr. Allen is a member of the Episcopal church. He has attained some prominence in the order of the Masons, having taken all of the York rite degrees and is a Knight Templar and belongs to the Commandery of Jefferson City. He is a Democrat of the "old school" that is of the Jeffersonian type. To absolute fearlessness in matters of editorial policy he adds the quality of geniality, and the com- bination makes him deservedly admired and respected by all who came in contact with him.
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