USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 72
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Edward LeRoy Danby, as mentioned above, attended the public school of Linwood, Michi- gan, then worked in different hoop-mills in Interlochen and Boyne City and from 1905 to 1907 was employed in Mound City. Mr. Danby is a cornetist of considerable ability, and at this juncture he became a member of a band which traveled from place to place, and during the following year he was on the road, playing the cornet. His next move was to Parsons, Kansas, after severing his con- nection with the band, but he only remained a short time there. During this brief inter- val, however, he established the Oxford Hotel a good, two-dollar-a-day hotel, still in exist- ence. In 1909 he went to Claremore, Okla- homa, as night clerk in the Sequoy Hotel, then back to Kansas, where for three months he worked for the Loose-Wiles Candy and Cracker Company, of Kansas City, following this connection by gaining employment in a bakery at 1509 Grand avenne, Kansas City. During all these years of varied employments and locations, Mr. Danby realized that he had not yet found the work which he intended to follow as a vocation, but in August, 1909, he located in Carnthersville and forthwith began to make headway. Starting to work for the Caruthersville Cooperage Company in the ca-
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pacity of millwright, he was soon promoted to the position of assistant foreman and in time became the efficient foreman of this flourish- ing concern, a stockholder in the company and also a member of the board of directors. In September, 1911, he sold his interest in the Caruthersville Cooperage Company and lo- cated in Proctor, Arkansas, where with Mr. L. B. LeRoy and himself established the Le- Roy-Danby Cooperage Company, an estab- lishment that is doing a highly profitable busi- ness. Mr. Danby holds the office of superin- tendent of this company.
On the 16th day of October, 1910, Mr. Danby was united in marriage to Miss Ruth V. Short, a life-long resident of Caruthers- ville, where her birth occurred March 29, 1893. She is a daughter of Charles N. and Mary ( Williams) Short, well-known residents of Caruthersville.
Mr. Danby carries insurance in the Indian- apolis Life and Loan Company ; in politics he is a Republican, as is his father, and in fra- ternal connection he is a member of the Be- nevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Tribe of Redmen. During all Mr. Dan- by's varied experiences he gathered knowl- edge which is of use to him in his present life. He learned how to control himself, which is the first step towards knowing how to govern others; and he gained tact through his inter- course with many classes of men, so that he is now able to hold the good-will of his em- ployes and to see that they work to the full extent of their capabilities; he is deservedly popular, not only with the men who are un- der him, but with all his friends and acquaint- ances.
JOHN L. ASHLEY. One of the younger gen- eration of representative citizens of Stoddard county is John L. Ashley, an enterprising business man who is aiding in the up-building of Bloomfield and who is well entitled to con- sideration in this volume. He is secretary and treasurer of the Weber Abstract Land & Loan Company of this city, the continual progress and present high standing of this important concern being largely credited to his executive ability and tireless energy.
J. L. Ashley is a son of Dr. John Ashley, one of Stoddard county's most gifted phy- sicians, of whom extended mention is made on other pages of this work. The maiden name of the subject's mother was Hannah Hughes, a native of Chester, England. Mr.
Ashley is one of a family of six children, the others being as follows: Charles Leonard, who died in 1900, when principal of the high school at Golden City, Missouri; Millicent, wife of J. A. Herndon, of Salmon, Idaho; Winifred, wife of Dr. Spencer Clark, of St. Louis, Missouri; and Munford and Vincent, both located at Salmon, Idaho. The subject is the fourth in order of birth.
Mr. Ashley is a native son of the state, his birth having occurred in Osceola, Saint Clair county, Missouri, December 16, 1885, some three years after his parents came to this country. Although to all intents and pur- poses British, he has become a loyal Ameri- can, with reverence and regard for our na- tional institutions. He received his education at the public schools of Golden City, Mis- souri, and in the High school at Bloomfield, Missouri, and has the advantage of paternal association, his father being a man of very liberal education. Mr. Ashley came to Bloomfield in his early youth with the other members of his family, and when within four years of the attainment of his majority (in February, 1902,) he first became associated with the Weber Abstract, Land & Loan Com- pany. Proving faithful and efficient in small things, he has been steadily advanced and now holds the position of secretary, treasurer and general manager.
Mr. Ashley was happily married June 8, 1910, his chosen lady being Miss Emma Weber, daughter of E. M. and Elisabeth A. (Prack) Weber, the former being the sub- ject's employer. They maintain an attractive home and are happy in the possession of hosts of friends.
GEORGE A. CRAIN is a man known widely and favorably in Stoddard county as a citi- zen of high ideals and as an agriculturist of the type which is upbuilding in definite fash- ion the prosperity of the section. He is cele- brated as a breeder of thoroughbred Jersey cattle and Duroc Jersey swine, his ambitions in this line being nothing short of perfection and having materially contributed to the ele- vation of the local standard. His homestead is most advantageously situated some two miles west of the court house and is adorned with a stately home, built seventy feet above the general level, and commanding a splen- did view of the surrounding country, which is indeed interesting at this point. Mr. Crain has served for two terms as sheriff, having
Leo aibrain
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been elected in 1900 and having proved a stanch custodian of law and order.
George A. Crain was born in Williamson county, Illinois, near Marion, April 11, 1868, the son of Thomas M. and Serena (Back) Crain. He spent his boyhood and early youth in his native state, his father's identification with Missouri dating from September, 1882. The mother was a daughter of Thomas W. Back, a native of Georgia, and she came with him to Missouri in 1844, when she was about three years of age. She is a native of the Cracker state, and her father upon coming to this state entered a part of the property now known as the Samuel C. Scism farm, this be- ing situated three and one-half miles north- west of Bloomfield, and this was his home dur- ing the dread period of the Civil war. He had two sons in the Confederate army and a son-in-law in the Union army, and while they were at the front their wives were staying at Mr. Back's house. He went to Williamson county, Illinois, and died there before the close of the war. He entered land and with his sons began the clearing of what came to be a splendid tract. He was a member of the old Masonic lodge at Bloomfield and exemplified in his own life those principles of moral and social justice and brotherly love for which the order stands. His two sons were William H. Back, who died in Bollinger county, Missouri; and Jacob Back, now a resident of Dunklin coun- ty. Both, as previously mentioned, were in the army of the Confederacy.
Thomas M. Crain was also a native of Williamson county, Illinois, his home until 1882, when he settled in Stoddard county, Missouri. One sister of Mrs. Thomas M. Crain, Exona, had become the wife of James H. White, whose father, Uriah White, had entered one hundred and twenty acres, now a part of George A. Crain's farm. Both are deceased. Upon coming to Mis- souri in 1882 Thomas M. Crain bought a farm four and one-half miles northwest of Bloomfield, and upon that property he and his wife are still living, both past the age of seventy. He enjoys the respect and confi- dence of whatever community claims his res- idence and he has served as justice of the peace in both Illinois and in Stoddard coun- ty. He is a stanch and enthusiastic Demo- erat and at the time of the conflict between the states served in the Union army, wear- ing the blue as a member of the Eighty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry for four years,
and becoming a non-commissioned officer. In the matter of religious conviction he is a member of the Philadelphia Missionary Bap- tist church. He and his wife are the par- ents of two sons, George A., whose name in- augurates this review, and W. S. Crain, who still resides with his parents.
George A. Crain remained beneath the parental rooftree until the attainment of his majority and secured a good common-school education. About that time he purchased eighty acres of land on Lick Creek Bottom, this having several disadvantages at that time, as it was in the woods and very inac- cessible on account of the absence of roads. He paid four hundred and twenty dollars for this tract and met the debt with the tim- ber upon the land. He zealously began upon the work of improving it and bringing it to a state of cultivation, and in a few years paid nine hundred dollars for eighty acres beside it. In 1900 Mr. Crain was elected sheriff of the county and had his first ex- periences in public life. He was re-elected in 1902 and served for four years. His of- ficial duties were by no means light, the rough element causing a good deal of trou- ble, as liquor was freely sold and lawlessness was at a crisis where instant nipping in the bud was necessary. While sheriff he pur- chased two hundred acres more and later one hundred and twenty-five acres, making the site of his home, altogether four hundred and sixty-five acres. He is one of the most im- portaut farmers in this section and his ac- tivities in fine stock-raising have already been noted. In addition to his thoroughbred Jersey cattle and Duroc Jersey swine he keeps the best mules and raises large quan- tities of hay and grain. His farm is highly improved and is famous far and wide, his house, barns and outbuildings being models of their kind. Mr. Crain no longer dabbles in politics, his other interests being too great to allow of his taking time for other things. He takes in public matters the interest of the intelligent voter and ever gives hand and heart to all measures likely to result in the general welfare.
Mr. Crain was married in February, 1889, at the age of nearly twenty-one years to Miss Gurica Wright, a native of Kentucky, and a daughter of James M. Wright. The first Mrs. Crain died eight years later, leaving four children, as follows: Lelia, Eulalia, Leona and T. Marshall, all of whom are at home. Mr. Crain was married a second
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time, December 19, 1903, Miss Rosa Bry- ant, of Stoddard county, daughter of James Bryant, now deceased, becoming his wife and the mistress of his household. They have two small daughters,-Georgia, born July 26, 1906; and Mildred, born December 3, 1909. Mrs. Crain and the older children are mem- bers of the Bloomfield Christian church. The head of the house is a Mason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In the latter he has passed all the chairs and at the present time has the honor to be a past noble grand and a member of the Grand Lodge of Missouri. Both Mr. and Mrs. Crain are popular members of the Rebekahs.
JAMES ALPHEUS BRADLEY, the county clerk of Dunklin county, is a man who has spent most of his life as an educator, while at the same time he has constantly been developing his own character. That is as it should be- education is never complete and life and edu- cation should proceed hand in hand to the end of our days. He does not believe in sep- arating education from practical life.
Mr. Bradley was born September 11, 1872, near Senath, Dunklin county. His parents were Reuben and Anna Aletha (Myracle) Bradley. Reuben was born near Cape Girar- deau, January 3, 1847, and when he was very small both of his parents died. When he was seventeen years old he enlisted in the Confed- erate army, in which he served until the close of the Civil war. After he was mustered out he came to Dunklin county, where he bought a farm at Senath and farmed till of late years, when he came to Kennett to live with his hoys. His first wife died in 1890 and his second wife in 1908. Mr. Bradley never laid claim to being a politician, but he worked for all public advancement. He has a family of three sons, all of whom have made successes of their lives. The eldest is James A. John Henderson, the second, is a practicing attor- ney of Dunklin county. Milton Milliard is a druggist, and has a drug store at Senath, Mis- souri.
James A. Bradley made his home with his father at the farm until he was twenty-one years of age. His early education was re- ceived at the public schools of Dunklin county ; then he went away to school at Pales- tine, Tennessee, later attending the State Nor- mal at Cape Girardeau, graduating in the class of 1898. He began to teach, however, in July, 1893, and taught for twelve years in Dunklin county. He was superintendent of the school
at Campbell, Missouri, for seven years-a graded school with eight assistant teachers under him; and while engaged in teaching he was elected county commissioner of schools for two years and a member of the Board of Education of Dunklin county, Missouri, for four years, under appointment from state su- perintendent of schools. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1904, and later took a course in law at the Grant University at Chattanooga, Tennessee.
On July 7, 1902, Mr. Bradley married Miss Ellen Ligon, daughter of R. H. and Sarah Ligon of Dunklin county, where they were farmers. Mrs. Bradley was a successful teacher in Dunklin county before her mar- riage. Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Bradley only two are living, Mildred Irene and Carlton Winton. The other two died in infancy.
Mr. Bradley is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Knights of Pythias, of the Woodmen of the World, of the Modern Woodmen of America and of the Ben Hur Societies. He is a member of the Baptist church, while his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church in Kennett, but they both take an interest in both churches. In 1906 Mr. Bradley was elected county clerk on the Democratic ticket. He was re-elected in 1910, which fact is proof that his work has been eminently satisfactory in the past.
CHARLES D. WILSON. One of the most prominent and influential citizens of Bloom- field, Stoddard county, Missouri, is Charles D. Wilson, circuit clerk and one of the local Democrat leaders. He is a native of Indiana, his birth having occurred in Adams county of the Hoosier state February 25, 1868. He has lived in Missouri since the age of nine years, at which time his father came to the state. His mother was at that time deceased, her death having occurred in Decatur, In- diana. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Burdge, and she was a native of Indiana. The father, whose name was Thomas L. Wilson, was a well-known and useful citizen, who served as associate judge of the county court from 1882 until 1886. He lived retired on his farm in the vicinity of Idalia for a number of years and was there summoned to eternal rest in February, 1900, at the age of seventy-one years.
Charles D. Wilson received the greater part of his education in this state and began his
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industrial career in the abstract business. He early became interested in public affairs and having won the confidence of the community in which his interests were centered, it was not surprising when he was asked to serve the people in public capacity. In November, 1906, he was elected clerk of the circuit court for a term of four years and his ability and faithfulness to public trust were approved in a general manner by his re-election in 1910. He is at the present time serving his second term. He has served on the central commit- tee of his party and is held in high esteem in its councils.
In July, 1902, Mr. Wilson laid the founda- tion of a happy marriage by his union with Mrs. Mattie Schafer, a widow, whose maiden name was Colbert and a native of Stoddard county. She is a daughter of the late Mrs. Ann Crumb, by a former marriage, and he was a pioneer of Stoddard county. The mother's second husband, the late Judge Crumb, served as probate judge for a num- ber of years and was a man of the highest es- teem and most salutary influence. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson share their charming home with the latter's daughter by her first marriage, Miss Lotta Schafer, a gifted musician.
The four surviving children of Thomas L. Wilson, father of the subject, are as follows: Calvin B., residing in Oklahoma ; Ida B., wife of Henry Shanks, of Indiana; Hattie, wife of Henry Tesson, of St. Louis, Missouri; and Charles D., the only one of the family who still resides in Stoddard county. Thomas L. Wilson was one of the Democratic leaders of his day.
HUGH M. FLANARY. A resident of Stod- dard county for upwards of twenty years, Hugh M. Flanary, of Bloomfield, was for a long while connected with the development of the timber industry of this part of the state, and is now rendering excellent service as county recorder. He was born, October 7, 1868, in Humphreys county, Tennessee. He acquired his rudimentary education in the common schools, and after continuing his studies for two years at the State Normal School, in Dixon, Tennessee, taught for awhile in the rural districts.
In 1889 Mr. Flanary came to Southeastern Missouri with T. J. Moss, a Saint Louis lum- ber man, who located at Advance, Stoddard county, where he managed a substantial busi- ness in getting out railroad timber and ties.
Mr. Flanary subsequently occupied a posi-
tion as bookkeeper with Mr. J. A. Hickman, of Puxico, Missouri, performing the duties de- volving upon him with equal fidelity and abil- ity. Elected .county recorder of Stoddard county in the latter part of 1910, Mr. Flanary assumed the responsibilities of his office on January 1, 1911, and as a recorder is giving eminent satisfaction to all concerned.
CHARLES BUCK. A man of excellent busi- ness ability, tact and judgment, Charles Buck, secretary of the Buck Store Company, of Bloomfield, is actively associated with the pro- motion of the mercantile prosperity of this part of Stoddard county. A son of the late John L. Buck, he was born in Bloomfield, November 6, 1864, coming from pioneer an- cestry, his grandfather, Bryant F. Buck, having been an early settler of Scott county, Missouri. John L. Buck was three times married, his second wife, whose maiden name was Laura Boyd, having been the mother of his son Charles. Further parental and ances- tral history may be found elsewhere in this volume, in connection with the sketch of the father.
An ambitious scholar from his youth up, Charles Buck acquired a knowledge of the three "r's" in the public schools, after which he attended the Christian Brothers College, in Saint Louis, the University of Missouri and the University of Illinois at Urbana, Illinois. He is now officially connected with one of the oldest business firms of Bloomfield, the Buck Store Company, of which he is secretary, it having been founded in 1858 and incorpor- ated under its present name in 1902. Mr. Buck is also an extensive landholder, owning a tract of land containing one thousand acres, which he devotes to general farming and stock feeding, raising and dealing. His farm lies about a mile west of Bloomfield, and is operated by tenants, although he handles the stock himself. He is also a stockholder in the Bloomfield Bank, and in the Toole Grist and Flouring Mill, one of the prominent industries of the place.
Mr. Buck married, in 1900, Carrie Smith, who was born and educated at Auburn, Ken- tucky, and into their pleasant household three children have been born, namely: Angeline, Carson and Charles, Jr.
THOMAS J. TOOLE. A man of unquestioned business and executive ability, energetic and far-seeing, T. J. Toole, junior member of the Buck & Toole Milling Company of Bloomfield,
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is superintendent of one of the more import- ant industrial plants of Stoddard county, and handles, mayhap, more mill productions than any other one man, his trade in flour and meal extending throughout the Southern states. A native of Indiana, he was born January 9, 1859, in Madison, Jefferson county, and there learned the miller's trade while working with his father, who was an expert in that line of work.
Having become familiar with every branch of the miller's trade, Mr. Toole accepted a position as head miller with the firm of Gripp, Jones & Company, in Louisville, Ken- tueky, in 1877, and was there five years, gain- ing in the meantime valuable knowledge and experience. Going from there to Saint Louis, Missouri, he was first associated with Kehlor Brothers, and afterwards with Todd & Stan- ley, being employed for a year in establishing mills, including among others a large roller mill which he started in Dexter, Stoddard county, for Cooper & Jorndt, and of which he was superintendent and head miller until 1892. Returning then to Indiana, Mr. Toole, as head of the firm of Toole & Glidden, was engaged in milling at 'Lewisville until 1896, when the mill was burned and he lost all of his accumulations. Coming back to Missouri in 1896, Mr. Toole, in partnership with the late John L. Buck, established the milling plant of which he is now superintendent and man- ager, a position which he has held from the start.
In 1901 the business was incorporated under the name of the Buck & Toole Milling Com- pany, with a capital of forty thousand dollars. The plant was originally owned by Rebock & Bear, who built it in 1891, at a cost of ten thousand dollars, and conducted it until 1896, when they sold out to Buck & Toole, who in- corporated it five years later. John L. Buck was then made president of the company, and retained the position until his death, when Mr. Toole, the former vice president, was made president and general manager, and superin- tendent of the entire business, a position for which he is amply qualified. Charles Buck was chosen vice president, and his brother, James B. Buck, was made secretary and treas- urer. Under the new officers improvements of value have been added to the original plant, the capacity of the elevator having been in- creased four fold, from twenty-five thousand bushels to one hundred thousand bushels, while now the producing capacity of the mill is two hundred and fifty barrels of flour, and
two hundred barrels of meal daily. The firm is carrying on an extensive merchant and ex- change trade, marketing its productions in all of the larger cities of Southeastern Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and other southern states. The company pays out annually about two hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars for wheat buy- ing it principally in Stoddard county, and each year ships large quantities of corn and oats, some years shipping some wheat to other places. Its favorite brand of flour is the "White Foam," which finds a ready sale in the best markets of the South, being noted for its superior quality, sweetness and purity.
Mr. Toole is also president of the Bloomfield Electric Light, Power & Heat Company, whose plant supplies not only the water and water power to the town, but electric light and the power used in cotton ginning.
Mr. Toole married, in Madison, Indiana, Anna M. Bott, and of the ten children which have blessed their union seven are living, uamely : Will, an electrician; Gertrude, who was graduated from Hardin College; Ray- mond, bookkeeper at the mill; Edwin; Mildred; Thomas; and Howard. Frank, who was employed in the mill office, died in Novem- ber, 1909, at the early age of twenty-six years.
JOEL ADAMS was born in Livingston county, Kentucky, on July 9, 1847. He was a farmer in Kentucky, working for his father when a boy and for himself later. He made a success of the pursuit of agriculture in Livingston county and decided that he would like to be in a new country, so when twenty-two years ago he came to Missouri. Since coming to Pemi- scot Mr. Adams has rented farms of about thirty-five acres and done general farming upon them.
Mr. Adams is a self-educated man, as he has attended school less than two months in his life. In 1892 he was ordained a minister of the Baptist church and since that time he has preached at Little River, Landmark, Pierce Chapel, Mission Point, Conran and at Steele, Missouri. He is a member of the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Wood- men of the World, in which latter order he is also orator. In addition to these two lodges Mr. Adams is a member of the Farmers' Union.
Mr. Adams has been married three times. His first wife was a native of Kentucky, Mandy Williams by name. They were wed- ded in 1868 and had four children; Mary,
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