USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 84
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L. C. Cook, of Dunklin county, is a rep- resentative citizen of the Southeastern Mis- souri country. His individual experiences are typical of the remarkable progress of the country in general, and he has himself borne a not unimportant share in the development of this region to its present era of prosperity.
Born on a farm in middle Tennessee, August 24, 1855, his father a Carolinian and his mother a Tennesseean, he came to Dunk- lin county with his parents when he was nine years old, and has thus been identified with this county practically all his life and has seen the country during all its stages of prog- ress from a wilderness. Their first place of settlement was a mile southwest of Senath, where the home remained for three years, then to a place a mile and a half northwest of Senath, where they lived two or three
years, and finally at a place near Senath, where the parents spent their last days and where Mr. Cook still resides, his home being the old homestead, in the clearing of which he helped his father when a boy. A very few subscription schools in the country of that period were the only sources of education, and in the different localities where he lived as a boy he had opportunity to attend such a school a month or two each year.
Mr. Cook's homestead comprises the one hundred and sixty acres which his father bought very cheaply. When he was eighteen he lost his mother, and his father died two years later, leaving the farm to be divided among the three heirs. By his industry and economy and the business judgment which have characterized his career, Mr. Cook was enabled to purchase the interests of first one heir and then the other, and for a number of years has had the original home complete. By his own labor he cleared thirteen acres, and has one of the best kept farms in the vi- cinity. His former residence was burned in 1910, and he replaced it with a comfortable eight-room house. He has a good orchard. barns, well kept fences, and every year raises generous crops, mostly corn. When the family first settled here the familiar pioneer condi- tions obtained all over this region. They went to mill either at Kennett, ten miles away, or to Cotton Plant, eight miles, and as horses were scarce oxen were the usual work animals. In their household white flour was used only on Sunday, and parched bran was the substitute for coffee. In the primitive schoolhouse which he attended he sat upon a split log supported by two legs at each end, this rude seat being called a "puncheon." Perhaps no citizen of Southeastern Missouri has a more vivid appreciation of the con- trasts and changes that mark the present from the earlier times than Mr. Cook. In politics he has always been a Democrat.
When he was twenty-six years old he married Miss Mollie Johnson, of Dunklin county. She died leaving one child, Melinda E., who now lives in Arkansas. His second marriage was with Miss Georgia Barnett, who died eight years later. Their children were: Bert, now attending normal school, and Ida, at home.
SIMPSON REED. Well known throughout the country as a stock man and also as a rep- resentative farmer, of the self-made stamp.
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Simpson Reed, of Stoddard county, Missouri, is entitled to personal mention in this connec- tion.
Mr. Reed is a native of Arkansas, and was born on a farm November 9, 1859. His father, Rev. Thomas Reed, a Methodist minister of the frontier type, who was ordained in Arkansas, was a native of Virginia but was reared in Tennessee, where he received an education above the average for his day and place. Like most ministers of his denomination, he moved about from place to place, being an itinerant preacher. In Illinois he married Miss Elizabeth Slaymacker, and for a num- ber of years they made their home in Frank- lin county, that state, where he farmed as well as preached the gospel. Also he lived on a farm in Arkansas. From Arkansas he returned to Illinois when Simpson was three years old, and there on a farm in Franklin county the subject of our sketch was reared. Until he was nineteen he worked on his fath- er's farm when not attending the district school, and then for two years rented land in that county. About the time he reached his majority, with his brother, he came by wagon to Stoddard county, Missouri, their first stop being at what is now called Tilman. They had no money, but they had youth and ambi- tion, and the country looked good to them, so they decided to try their fortunes here. The first year they worked for Bob Overby, re- ceiving as payment a part of the crop, and the second year he and his brother rented land, the profits of the crop being shared be- tween them. The third year Simpson Reed married, and his wife proved a helpmate in the true sense of the word. He worked in the field while she did her part in the house, and it was not long before he bought a team, and later he bought forty acres, a part of his present place. Twenty acres of this land had been cleared, and on it was a small house, into which they moved. That was in 1888. Since then he has bought adjoining land and made substantial improvements on his home farm, which now comprises one hundred and forty-six acres, and in addition to this he owns one hundred and twenty-two acres near by and has forty acres in Sonthern Illinois. On his home farm he has made practically all the fine improvements, a good. two-story, ten- room house, and two harns, and under his per- sonal management the place yields fair re- turns for his labor expended. Some of his money he has made in stock dealing. Each year he buys and sells considerable stock, and
raises an average of from seventy-five to a hundred or one hundred and fifty hogs, forty to fifty head of cattle, and from ten to fifteen horses and mules. This stock business has brought him in touch with men and markets and has made him well known throughout the country. He markets his stock at East St. Louis.
On March 2, 1884, Simpson Reed and Mary E. Adkins were married near Tilman, and their home has been blessed by the pres- ence of five children: Mellie, Oral, Bessie (now the wife of William Hinkle), and Aquilla, twins, and Versie, of whom only two, Oral and Versie, are still with them, the others being married and living in Stoddard county, Mellie being the wife of George Chapman.
The Reeds are members of the Methodist church, South, in which they are active workers, and Mr. Reed is also a Republican and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
ERNEST A. GREEN is a lawyer and the son of a lawyer. His father, James F. Green, was born in Missouri and was for years an at- torney of note in Hillsboro, Missouri. When he was elected circuit judge he moved to De- Soto and practiced there for several years and then, seeking a wider field, he moved to St. Louis, where he is now living and practic- ing his profession. Essie H. Tetley Green, his wife and the mother of Ernest Green, is also a native of this state.
The education of Ernest A. Green was ob- tained in the public schools of DeSoto and in the University of Missouri. He graduated from the law department of that institution in 1905 and in June of the same year came to Poplar Bluff and opened an office here. In a short time he was recognized as one of the able young attorneys of the district and the community evidenced their appreciation of his unusual abilities by electing him prosecut- ing attorney two years after his arrival in the city. He served in this capacity from 1907 until 1911 and fulfilled the duties of his office to the satisfaction of the entire com- munity. He was candidate of the Democratic party for state representative at the last elec- tion, but was defeated. The fact that he ran far ahead of his ticket indicates not only his personal popularity, but his efficiency and de- votion to the interests of the community in public office. He is at present practicing his profession in Poplar Bluff.
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In fraternal organizations Mr. Green is a member of the Masonic lodge, No. 209, here and also of Chapter, No. 114. He is an Elk, having held all stations, and a Moose as well. His church membership is in the Presbyterian body, while that of his wife is in the Episcopal church.
The marriage of Ernest Green to Miss May Wright took place in St. Louis, March 19, 1908. Mrs. Green was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and later moved with her family vo St. Louis. She and Mr. Green have one daughter, Marjorie, born on St. Valentine's day, 1909.
ALVIN B. FISHER. A life long acquain- tance with the lumber industry in its various departments and strict application to busi- ness have made Mr. Fisher remarkably suc- cessful in his extensive enterprises in the mill- ing end of this great trade. Alvin Fisher was born in Miami county, Indiana, Septem- ber 7, 1879. His father was a native of the same state, being born in 1845. Alvin's mother, Louisa E. Shafer, was born in White county, Indiana, in 1849. When Alvin was three years old his parents moved to Fort Scott, Kansas, where the father engaged in the retail lumber business. Here Alvin Fisher grew up attending the schools of the town and assisting his father in his business. In 1897 the family returned to Indiana, and there Mr. Fisher and his son dealt in hard wood, which they milled as well as sold in the rough. Andrew Fisher died in Sullivan county in January, 1901, after which Alvin continued the business in his mother's in- terest for three years. In 1904 Mr. Fisher came to New Madrid and started his present enterprise on a small scale. His mother is still living at Idaville, Indiana.
As he has been able Mr. Fisher has grad- ually increased his business. He now owns saw mills here and two others six miles east of the town, also one in Calhoun county, Mississippi. Another of his plants is a fin- ishing factory at Cairo, Illinois. Mr. Fisher deals chiefly in vehicle-wood, which he sells at wholesale. He takes the material from the stump and finishes it. When he started seven years ago he hired the sawing done, but now he does everything for himself. The receipts of his business are $150,000 yearly. This eminent success has been attained by his own hard work.
Mr. Fisher is active in the fraternal organ- izations of the country. He is a member of
the Red Men, the Modern Woodmen, the Royal Neighbors and of the time-honored Masonic order, as well as of that of the Odd Fellows. In politics he is a Republican.
In July, 1897, Mr. Fisher was united in marriage to Miss Emma G. Sheehan, of Fort Scott, Kansas. Mrs. Fisher was born October 30, 1879. Ethel Pauline, the only child of this union, was born June 16, 1899.
In 1909 Mr. Fisher completed his residence of nine rooms, which is one of the finest homes in this part of the country. His con- spicuous success in the seven years of his stay in New Madrid is a commentary on both the commercial advancement of the region and on Mr. Fisher's expertness in the business he has chosen.
SAMUEL GARDNER came to Poplar Bluff on St. Valentine's day of 1886, and in the spring of the same year was elected city marshal. His efficient service so commended him to the leading men of the town that he has been in office almost continuously ever since. He was not thirty-five when he arrived in the town, as he was born August 15, 1851, in Hickman county, Kentucky. His parents were Thomas and Julia Gardner, of whom the former died in Kentucky and the latter here in Poplar Bluff. Mr. Gardner attended school in Clinton, Kentucky, and for seven years after his father's death worked on the farm, taking care of his mother. It was at the end of his seven years on the farm that he moved to Missouri and began his work for the city.
In 1888 Mr. Gardner was re-elected to the office of city marshal and then served four years as county sheriff, finishing that term in 1893. Upon leaving the sheriff's office he was elected city marshal again, without op- position and at the request of the leading bus- iness men of the town. He served in this capacity until 1901. At present he is chief of police, having been elected to that place in the spring of 1911. He is eminently fitted for the duties of this office, for in addition to the long service as marshal, he had given three years to the work of the service before becoming chief of that branch.
After leaving the office of marshal in 1901 Mr. Gardner and Mr. W. G. Bort engaged in the mercantile business together for ten years. Mr. Gardner did not consider himself adapted to this pursuit and was not particularly suc- cessful in it. He owns two hundred and eighty acres of land, half of which is cleared.
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Mr. Gardner does not farm this himself, but rents it out.
The political policies which commend them- selves to Mr. Gardner are those for which the Democratic party is sponsor, and he has ever been a faithful adherent of the great party. He is a Royal Moose in his fraternal connec- tions and was formerly a Knight of Pythias and a Knight of Honor.
The marriage of Samuel Gardner occurred October 15, 1889, when he was united to Miss Sadie Turner, of this county. Their union has been blessed with five children who still gladden the home circle. These are Nellie. Ray and Roy, twins, Harold and Cleo. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner are members of the Chris- tian church, where Mr. Gardner's work in the Sunday school does much to increase the power and influence of that body. His de- voted service in public office, his fearless and prompt performance of his every duty, com- bined with his deep interest in all move- ments for the betterment of the community and his exemplary personal life make him one of the most esteemed and popular officials of the city.
CALVIN L. ESSARY. Enterprising, ener- getie and progressive, Calvin L. Essary occu- pies a place of prominence and influence among the leading citizens of Tyler, Pemiseot county, and is now serving as postmaster, this being his second term in that position. He was born March 16, 1875, in Decatur county, Tennessee, where his father, Mack Essary, was a large land owner. Mack Essary mar- ried Mary Hennings, and they became the parents of five children, namely: Green- berry, a farmer in Scott county, Missouri, is married and has a family; Wylie, also a farmer in Scott county, is married; George, engaged in agricultural pursuits in the same county ; Catherine, wife of N. C. Carvas, who is engaged in farming in Scott county; and Calvin L.
Having acquired a practical knowledge of agriculture on the home farm, Calvin L. Essary came to Tyler, Pemiseot county, Mis- souri, in 1902, and for two years had charge of the farming interests of J. Wheeler & Company. the following year being overseer for the Tyler Land & Timber Company. Mr. Essary then assumed the management of a mercantile establishment, and at the end of four years became one of the organizers of the firm of W. A. Green & Company, buying about fifteen thousand dollars worth of its
stock. He has since been manager of the firm's extensive interests, which are con- stantly increasing under his wise supervision of affairs. In May, 1910, he bought a tract of land in section 10, township 16, and the following December sold it at an advantage. Mr. Essary was appointed postmaster at Tyler and served in that capacity three years and eleven months, and in the fall of 1911 was reappointed to the same responsible posi- tion.
Mr. Essary married, November 12, 1902, in Gibson county, Tennessee, Mallie C. Holmes, and their only child, Helen, born July 27, 1904, is attending school at Tyler. Mr. Essary is engaged in the insurance bus- iness to some extent, representing the Cen- tral State Life Insurance Company of St. Louis. He is an active member of the An- cient, Free and Accepted Order of Masons, in which he has taken the thirty-second de- gree, and belongs to the Missouri Consistory, No. 1, of St. Louis. He was formerly a mem- ber of the Improved Order of Red Men, of Tyler, which disbanded in 1911, and is now a member of Lodge No. 1211, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Blytheville, Arkansas. Mrs. Essary is a member of the Christian church, in which she is a faithful worker.
JOHN E. KENNEDY. It is the privilege of John E. Kennedy to be one of the leading merchants in the city where his father was one of the first operators of a factory and to continue to contribute to the economic wealth and the industrial prosperity of the town where his father worked for thirty years.
John E. Kennedy is a son of James A. and Mary Harris Kennedy. James A. Kennedy was born in 1832, in Kentucky, near Mayfield. IIe farmed and learned the cabinet maker's trade by the old method of serving an appren- ticeship, which he concluded at the age of twenty-four. At the age of seventeen he left Kentucky and came to Missouri, going first to California, then to Ripley county and finally in 1879 settling in Poplar Bluff, which was his home until he died, in 1909. During the war he was captured at Fredericktown and put in prison in St. Louis. While living in Poplar Bluff Mr. Kennedy was engaged in cabinet making and contracting. He was proprietor of the furniture factory now owned by L. B. Walker.
His wife was born near Libertyville, Mis-
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HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
souri, and died in Fredericktown, in 1872. She was the mother of seven children, three of whom are now living. Nathan, Mary and Anna died young. Elizabeth lived to the age of forty-eight; she had been married to J. R. Jones, a former resident of Poplar Bluff, now also deceased. . One daugh- ter, Carrie, is living at El Dorado, Illinois. She is married to Gentry Rollins. The other two living members of that family are Wil- liam J. Kennedy, who lives at Poplar Bluff with his wife, Allie Everts Kennedy, and John Edward, the subject of this review. James Kennedy and his wife were members of the Methodist church. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity and was a Democrat in his political affiliation. His second wife was the widow of George Wilkinson, whose maiden name was Rebecca Jane Tripp. Her marriage to Mr. Kennedy occurred in Madi- son county. They became the parents of one son, William J. Kennedy, who now lives at Memphis, Tennessee.
John E. Kennedy was born on March 13. 1865, in Randolph county, Illinois. Until he was eighteen he worked with his father both on the farm and at the trade of cabinet-mak- ing, attending school in Poplar Bluff.
From eighteen until twenty years Mr. Ken- nedy worked on the railroad and at other employments and in 1885 went back to his father's farm, twelve miles northwest of Poplar Bluff. For a year he and his father worked together at the carpenter business in Poplar Bluff and environs and then John went into the hardware store of Byrd Dun- can, now president of the Bank of Poplar Bluff. After a twelvemonth in Mr. Duncan's employ Mr. Kennedy accepted a position with the Wright Dalton IIardware Company, re- maining with them until he entered into a partnership with Mr. Ray, in 1893. The firm name was Ray & Kennedy and they handled furniture and hardware. Their store was located on the present site of the Lyceum Theatre. The partnership was dis- solved in a short time and Mr. Kennedy re- turned to the employ of the Wright Dalton Company and remained with them until 1896. He left them again at that time and moved to Ash Hill, Missouri, where he conducted a general merchandise store for two and a half years. Returning to Poplar Bluff, he again entered the establishment of the Wright Dal- ton Company and has been here ever since. The Company was incorporated in 1903, un- der the name of the Wright Dalton Bell
Anchor Store Company, and is the largest department store between St. Louis and Little Rock. Mr. Kennedy is a director as well as a stockholder in the concern.
In politics Mr. Kennedy's views are those held by his father, who favored the policies of the Democratic part. He was four years city treasurer, administering the duties of his office in a manner entirely satisfactory to the community.
In 1892 occurred the marriage of Nannie Kinney to John Kennedy. She lived but twenty months after her marriage and her child, Lela, died shortly after the mother's demise. Her sister, Ella Kinney Wisehart, is now the wife of John Kennedy, having be- come Mrs. Kennedy in 1895. December 27, 1900, a son, Joseph A. Kennedy, was born. The first husband of Mrs. Kennedy was Alfred Wisehart. The church where she and Mr. Kennedy worship is the Methodist, South, of which they are both devout members. Mr. Kennedy is a Knight of Pythias, an Odd Fel- low, an Elk, a Moose and a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
WILLIAM H. JOHNSON, who is now living virtually retired on his fine farm of one hun- dred and sixty acres located one mile west of Bernie, has attained to the venerable age of seventy-eight years and he has resided in this section of Southeastern Missouri for fully two-score years. During his active career he was engaged in diversified agriculture and the raising of high-grade stock, and he still gives a general supervision to his fine rural estate. Mr. Johnson was born in Humphrey county, Tennessee, the date of his nativity being the 16th of December, 1833. His parents, John and Susan (Lucas) Johnson, were likewise born in Humphreys county, Tennessee, and there the father lived and died, his demise having occurred in the early '60s. About the year 1866 the mother, with a married daughter, came to Missouri, where she passed the residue of her life. Her daughter. Elizabeth, married Samuel Smith, who came to Missouri in 1865, settling on a farm adjoining the present estate of the subject of this review.
In the public schools of his native place William H. Johnson received his preliminary educational training and after reaching man's estate he went to Mississippi, where he learned the carpenter's trade and where he was engaged in that line of work for a period of thirteen years. At the time of the incep-
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tion of the Civil war he enlisted as a soldier in the Twenty-first Mississippi Volunteer In- fantry, Confederate army, serving under Colonel Humphreys, in the command of Gen- eral Barkstill, the latter of whom was killed at the battle of Gettysburg, after which san- guinary conflict Colonel Humphreys became general in his place. Mr. Johnson's first service was in the eastern army and with the exception of the battle of Chickamauga his entire military career was passed in Virginia. He participated in all the heavy campaigns of the Old Dominion and was present at Lee's surrender at Appomattox on the 9th of April, 1865. He was wounded in his right shoulder at Cold Harbor but after convalescing a few weeks was back in the ranks as a private. After the close of the war he returned to Mississippi, where he was identified with the work of his trade until 1869, coming to Mis- souri in that year. He immediately rejoined his sister and mother and after remaining in Stoddard county a short time purchased a tract of forty acres of land, for which he paid five dollars per acre. Since clearing this little farm Mr. Johnson has added to it until he is now the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of highly improved land. He paid two and a half dollars per acre for most of his land, all of which was heavily timbered; he received nothing for the timber but was obliged to burn it. His principal crops have been cotton, corn and wheat and he has also given considerable attention to the breeding of thoroughbred stock. He has figured prom- inently in all improvements carried forward in this part of the county and took an im- portant part in the securing of wagon roads. On his arrival in Stoddard county the nearest market was Cape Girardeau and Mr. John- son has watched the country grow from prac- tically a wilderness, infested by bears and all manner of wild animals, to one of the most progressive regions of the entire southwest. In earlier years he was a great hunter, shoot- ing deer and wild turkey for the use of the family.
In politics Mr. Johnson is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Democratic party and while he has never manifested aught of ambition for the honors of emoluments of public office of any description he has ever been on the qui vive to advance the best in- terests of the community in which he has so long maintained his home. He is not formally connected with any religious organ- ization but has been a liberal contributor
to the building funds of the various churches in and about Bernie. For the past forty- three years Mr. Johnson has been affiliated with the time-honored Masonic order and for a period of thirty-eight years he has been a valued and appreciative member of Bernie Lodge, No. 306, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
At Bernie, on May 25, 1873, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Johnson to Miss Clemen- tine V. Smith, who was born in Humphreys county, Tennessee, on the 13th of June, 1854, and who is a daughter of John H. and Mary Elizabeth (Osborn) Smith, both natives of Davidson county, Tennessee. John H. Smith was born on the 10th of July, 1819, and he was summoned to eternal rest on the 6th of March, 1873. Mrs. Smith was born on the 18th of February, 1828, and died May 9, 1866. Their marriage was solemnized in Tennessee, February 6, 1844, whence they came to Missouri in the fall of 1858. They came to this state to get new, cheap land and in 1859 located on a farm on the present site of Bernie. Mr. Smith purchased a tract of railroad land and got quite a farm started prior to his death, which occurred before the village of Bernie was platted out. His first wife died in the year 1866 and subsequently he married Mrs. Nancy E. Owens, nee Strawn, a widow, who survived him for a number of years. To the latter union were born three children, one of whom, Paul H. Smith, resides at Bernie. The others died in infancy. By his first marriage Mr. Smith was the father of the following children: Lucy S. is the wife of W. T. Fonville, of Bernie; Thompson O. died January 15, 1876, at the age of thirty-
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