USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 88
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prosecuting attorney and remained in such capacity for six successive years. He was made a member of the board of curators of the State University of Missouri, his alma mater, continuing as a member for six years and acting as president of the board from 1907 to May, 1909.
On November 8, 1910, Judge Faris was elected to the bench, being the regular Dem- ocratic nominee. He has already held court in all the counties of his district and is eminently qualified by literary attainments, professional experience and success, integ- rity of character and judicial qualities of mind for the high place to which he has risen. He has ever been an active man and has nu- merous interests of large scope and import- ance. For eleven years he was president of the Bank of Caruthersville, which he helped to organize. He assisted in organizing and was at one time president of the Caruthers- ville Electric Light & Ice Company, resign- ing from the presidency upon assuming his judicial duties. While at the bar, he was for more than ten years associated with Sen- ator Arthur L. Oliver, as a law-partner.
Judge Faris was married in 1894 to Miss Anna McClanahan, of Nevada, Missouri. They share their home with a quartet of sons and daughters, namely: Adaline, Mary Lee, James White, Jr. and William Bryan.
Fraternally Judge Faris is a Mason who has attained to the thirty-second degree. He belongs to the St. Louis Consistory. He is also an Elk and a member of the Knights Templar and has "traveled the hot sands" with the Shriners.
FRANK B. NIXON. For more than a dozen years the subject of this sketch has been identified with Poplar Bluff, Butler county, and since 1906 has occupied his present posi- tion, that of recorder of deeds.
Mr. Nixon is a native of Illinois, having been born at Sandwich, that state, March 20, 1859, a son of David and Delia Nixon. Shortly after the close of the Civil war the Nixon family decided to seek a home in the South, and in 1869 came by rail via the old Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis Railroad, now the "Frisco," on the first passenger train to enter Ft. Scott, Kansas, to Vernon county, Missouri, and made settlement at Nevada, this state, where Frank B. passed from childhood to youth and grew to man- hood. David and the son Frank B. were en- gaged in the carriage business at Nevada, where they lived for twenty years, a portion Vol. II-30
of this time the son being in partnership with his father. In 1899 Frank B. removed to Poplar Bluff, Butler county, to continue in the same line of business, which he did here until 1907, the year he was elected recorder of deeds.
Ever since he became a voter Mr. Nixon has been an active participant in local politi- cal affairs, affiliating with the Republican party. From time to time he has filled va- rious offices, including member of the City Council at Nevada, Missouri, and for two years being president of the Nevada City Council, and frequently he has served as delegate to Republican conventions. He re- ceived a handsome majority when he was first elected recorder of deeds, and when he was re-elected in 1908 he also received a flattering vote.
On his twenty-first birthday, at Nevada, Missouri, Mr. Nixon and Miss Josephine F. Faulks were united in marriage. Mrs. Nixon was a native of Tennessee. She became the mother of the following named children: Burton S., deputy in his father's office; Don David, who died at the age of three years; Fay Isabel, wife of Watson Cover; and Arthur F. This wife and mother died in June, 1907, and two years later Mr. Nixon married his present companion, who was Miss Erma Ellis, of Doniphan, Missouri. They reside in a new home which Mr. Nixon erected on North Main street, Poplar Bluff.
In social, musical and church circles Mr. Nixon has always been a popular factor. His favorite musical instrument is the double bass viol, which he has played in orchestra, and he also plays the bass horn in the band. Fraternally he has membership in the Musi- cians Union, the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen, the Elks and the Knights of Pythias, in all of which he has filled of- ficial position and in the last named of which he has filled official position and in the last named of which he is now presiding officer. In his church-the Holy Cross Episcopal church-he has been Senior Warden since the church was founded and he is also a mem- ber of the vestry.
JAMES E. DELISLE. Few families contrib- uted so many sturdy citizens to any com- munity as the DeLisle family, of New Mad- rid county, citizens whose private enterprise and public integrity and responsibility are on a par and above reproach. So many mem- bers of this family have established them-
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selves in the respect and affection of the county that the name DeLisle itself has come to have the same significance as standing for what is good and trustworthy as a govern- ment bond. James E. DeLisle a native of the county, the date of his nativity being October 10, 1865, the year that marked the cessation of the Civil war. He is the son of Amab and Nancy (Thompson) DeLisle.
As a boy James DeLisle attended the dis- triet schools of the neighborhood, and then went to Cape Girardeau. where he took a three years' course in the State Normal school, and in 1887 he finished his training and was graduated from the Bryant and Stratton Business College of Saint Louis. Returning home, he clerked and kept books for a year and a half, and then went to Gayosa, where he again kept books and managed a general merchandise business. With the burning of that establishment four years later he made another change, and came back to take charge of the books in the firm of DeLisle Brothers of Portageville. In 1900, when that firm was incorporated under the caption, the DeLisle Store Company, he was elected secretary of this concern. He became at that time a stockholder in the bus- iness, and has since increased his holdings. Mr. DeLisle, besides his mercantile interests, has made a specialty of farming implements, on which he is an authority, and deal in the same. His fine farm lands aggregate one thousand acres, which are tilled by tenants.
Five years after his brother Jesse DeLisle had married Miss Emma LeSieur, James De- Lisle was united at the altar to her sister, Miss Frances LeSieur. She was born in New Madrid county in 1868, to Freeman and Emma (Till) LeSieur. Her mother was a daughter of the well-known Judge John Till, and her father, who was born in New Mad- rid county, October 27, 1821, holds the unique record of having held the office of constable in the county for thirty-two consecutive years, during eight of which he also held the offices of deputy county assessor and deputy sheriff. Her grandfather, Raphael LeSieur, was born in Canada, in 1777, and came to this country in 1798, locating in what is now Pemiscot county. During the quakes of the years 1811 and 1812 a part of his farm sank and became an inland lake. He died Decem- ber 27, 1855.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. James DeLisle are as follows: Allen, Guy and Mary Emma. All of them are attractive and
interesting children, and they are being brought up in the Catholic faith, the church of their parents.
Fraternally Mr. DeLisle is a member of the Woodmen of the World, is a Knight of Columbus, and both he and his wife are prominent members of the Knights and Ladies of Honor.
Mr. DeLisle has had the honor to be the first elected treasurer of the city of Portage- ville and he has been her able guardian of the finances for over four years, and he has also rendered public service and counsel for two years in the capacity of alderman. Mr. DeLisle is one who has the satisfaction of knowing that he has always stood in the van- guard of progress, and led with honor what- ever good movements have been afoot in the county during his many years of residence within her borders.
R. W. FOWLKES. When Mr. Fowlkes first came to Parma in 1886 there was nothing here but timber and wild country. He was at that time a prosperous farmer and stock raiser whose home was in Union City, Ten- nessee. At Parma he engaged in the fatten- ing of stock for the market. This he had shipped from Kentucky and Tennessee, and kept near Parma until it was ready for the market. In addition to his stock business he also dealt extensively in real estate. Mr. Fowlkes made money at both ventures until the panic of 1893 and then, like many others, he lost every dollar he possessed.
In 1894 Mr. Fowlkes came to Parma and started over again. He began raising hogs, and the money on which he embarked in this undertaking was borrowed from his brother. After he had been in this for two years he had also established a profitable business in trading in land, which brought in several thousand dollars every year. He was one of the first settlers in the county and for the first seven years he "batched" as he was unwilling to bring his family to the wil- derness. For the last five years of his soli- tary stay Mr. Fowlkes lived on the Ranch Farm, two and a half miles south of Parma and bought this farm in 1897 for practically nothing.
The family came to Parma in 1902, and after their arrival Mr. Fowlkes moved into a little house near Parma. where they lived for two years while building the Parma Hotel. This latter was their home for the next three years and the business prospered
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as the town grew. He now owns another hotel building besides the original one, but does not reside in either. The Fowlkes resi- dence is located on a plot of seven lots, and is one of the pleasant homes of Parma.
The Fowlkes Land & Investment Company was organized in September, 1909, with Mr. Fowlkes as president and general manager. The corporation's members are all in the Fowlkes family and its business takes up all Mr. Fowlkes' time. The company owns 2,000 acres of land, 600 of which is under cultivation.
Mrs. Fowlkes grew up in middle Tennes- see, her husband's native place. Her maiden name was Fannie Walker and she changed this to Fowlkes in 1874. Four daughters were born to her and her husband. Of these, two are married: Carrie to W. T. Murphy, and Dixie E. to John R. Wood. Mrs. Wood's daughter, Dixie Lee Cooper, is a favorite of her grandfather, Mr. Fowlkes. Both of the other daughters have had unusual ad- vantages in their educational training. Martha is a graduate of the Emerson College of Oratory of Boston. She is now teaching in San Antonio, Texas, where she has es- tablished a school of oratory. Ruby is a graduate of the State University. in the lit- erary course.
In the Democratic party, Mr. Fowlkes is a well known and influential figure. He was the first mayor of Parma and served until 1911 with the exception of a few years. He has been for many years on the execu- tive committee of the party organization in the township. In all matters of public wel- fare and of commercial enterprise he is counted as one sincerely interested in the best development of the community. He and his wife are members of the Methodist church, South.
A. L. FousT. One of the noticeable feat- ures of the business section of Lilbourn is the large three-story hotel of concrete blocks. This structure is fifty-eight by fifty-eight by eighty-one feet in its dimensions and will have a barber shop and offices on its first floor. It will be managed by Mr. A. L. Foust, who also owns another edifice of con- crete blocks. This second building is sixty by sixty-five by ninety-one feet. Its owner has been in Lilbourn since 1906; previous to that time he had lived in Charleston, Mis- souri, where he was born in 1885 and where he received his education. Mr. Foust makes
his home with his parents, Silas T. and Amanda Baker Foust. Four other sons also live at home.
Silas T. Foust was born in Tennessee, but his wife was born in Missouri, where their marriage took place and where they have lived most of their lives. They came to Lil- bourn from Charleston in 1905, at the same time in which A. L. Foust took up his resi- dence in this town. Silas Foust is engaged in a general merchandise business in Lilbourn. The son, A. L., is a Woodman of the World in his fraternal affiliation. Politically he be- longs to the Democratic party.
HARRY EDWARD DENMAN. One of the best known and most aggressive of the younger newspaper men in Southeastern Missouri is Harry Edward Denman, senior editor of The Farmington News, the most widely circulated local weekly newspaper printed in the United States in a town having a population of less than three thousand. Mr. Denman has had active management of the News since May, 1900. At that time the paper had fewer than four hundred subscribers. It now has an average of over thirty-five hun- dred. This wonderful growth in the pop- ularity of the paper is the best of evidence that a clear head and a willing hand has been guiding its destiny. The News not only has the greatest circulation of any purely local newspaper in the state, but it also has one of the finest equipped plants to be found anywhere in the office of a country weekly. It comprises a standard linotype purchased in 1903 and one of the first of these wonder- ful machines ever installed in the office of a country weekly newspaper, a two-revolution newspaper press, two jobbers, folders and other modern printing machines, all driven by individual electric motors. The plant is located in the News building, a commanding two-story brick structure with large base- ment, erected in 1907 on one of the best cor- ners in the heart of the town's business dis- trict, by Mr. Denman and his brother, Clin- ton H. Denman, expressly for occupancy by The Farmington News. It is a model build- ing for the purposes for which it was erected.
Harry Denman was born on March 23, 1875, on his father's farm in Bellinger county, Missouri. His parents are Rev. Jabez H. Denman and Sarah King Denman. The father was born in McClean county, Illi- nois, in 1830, and is the son of the late Smith and Eliza Dixon Denman. Smith was born
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in New Jersey, in 1801, and moved from that state to Licking county, Ohio, and in 1829 to McClean county, Illinois, at that time a sparsely settled locality. J. H. Denman was one of a family of eleven children. Of this family there are now only three children liv- ing, J. H., of Farmington; Smith, of Kirks- ville, Missouri and Mrs. Mary Benson, wife of C. H. Benson, of Chicago, Illinois. J. H. Denman was educated in the common schools of Illinois and at Wesleyan College, now Wes- leyan University, of Bloomington, Illinois. When about twenty years of age he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church. Before and during the Civil war he preached in Northern Illinois, where in August of 1855 he was married to Miss Jane Odell, of Rock Island. To this union four children were born. Only one-Mrs. George Ellinghouse, of Marble Hill, Missouri-sur- vives. In 1866 Rev. Denman moved from Illinois to Southeastern Missouri. One of his first pastoral acts in this section was to assist in the organization of what is now the First Methodist Episcopal church of Farm- ington. From Farmington he went to Bol- linger county, where on February 16, 1867, he married Miss Sarah Ann King, daughter of the late George W. and Sarah Ward King. George W. King was lieutenant-colonel of the Forty-second Missouri Infantry and saw much other service in the Civil war. His father, Suggars King, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. To Rev. Denman's see- ond marriage five children, sons, were born, all of whom with their parents are now living and are: William and Walter Mathias, farmers of Bollinger county ; Harry Edward, Clinton Harvey and Cyrus Benson, of Farm- ington, all connected with the Farmington News Printing Company. Rev. and Mrs. Denman, the parents of these sons, now live in Farmington, to which place they moved in the fall of 1908, after having resided on the same farm in Bollinger county for over forty years. Father Denman still preaches occasionally and enjoys remarkably good health despite his eighty-two years. When attending Wesleyan College at Bloomington he met and became intimately acquainted with Abraham Lincoln. He attended the famons Lincoln-Douglas debate at Blooming- ton and retains a vivid memory of it. He was a boyhood friend of Senator Shelby M. Cullom. Rev. Denman has been a life-long and staunch Republican and has voted for every presidential candidate of that party
since it was formed except for President Taft, losing his vote in 1908 by reason of change of residence just prior to the elec- tion.
Harry Edward Denman received his edu- cation in the public schools and at Carleton College at Farmington, having attended the latter institution for three years. He began his newspaper career with the American Eagle at Fredericktown in 1894, the first Republican paper ever printed in Madison county. Later be was associated in the pub- lication of the Madison County Democrat at Fredericktown for a few months. In Sep- tember, 1897, he purchased the Licking News in Texas county, which he published until May, 1900, when he sold this paper and, mov- ing to Farmington, bought The Farmington News.
In October, 1898, Mr. Denman was united in marriage to Mrs. Lou Freeman Shuck, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. A .Freeman, of Licking. To them five children have been born, Teddie Roosevelt, Mack Freeman, Harry King, Bessie Margaret and Earl Smith. Two daughters by Mrs. Denman's former marriage, Wilma and Grace, are a part of this happy household and bear the present family name. Mr. Denman is an active member of the Republican party and he and his family are loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Denman attributes much of his suc- cess with The Farmington News to the help- ful co-operation of his partner and brother, Clinton H. Denman. The latter was also educated principally at Carleton College. He is now chairman of the executive committee of that institution. He is also married. His wife was formerly Miss Minnie Watts. To them three children have been born, Paul Watts, Carl Jabez and Lucile Ruth.
JACOB M. SWINGER. A distinctively prom- inent and influential citizen of Stoddard county, Missouri, is Jacob M. Swinger, who is the owner of a large landed estate in the close vicinity of Frisco. He is a farmer and stock-raiser by vocation and in those lines of enterprise has been eminently successful since his arrival in this section of the state, in 1905. Mr. Swinger was born in Darke county, Ohio, on the 2nd of May, 1870, and he is a son of Samuel and Mary Swinger, both of whom were likewise born in the old Buckeye state of the Union and both of whom are now deceased. The father was identified
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with farming during the major portion of his active career, and he was summoned to the life eternal in the year 1905, his cherished and devoted wife also passed into the Great Be- yond in that year. Mr. Swinger of this re- view was reared to maturity in the place of his nativity and he early availed himself of the advantage afforded in the public schools of his home community. After his marriage, in 1890, he established the family home in Crawford county, Illinois, where he was en- gaged in farming operations for the ensuing fifteen years and whence he came to Stod- dard county, Missouri, in January, 1905.
Due to the existing conditions in Illinois, he was absolutely unable to make a success of agricultural pursuits but after coming to Southeastern Missouri he has met with suc- cess at every turn and as a result he cannot laud too highly the advantages of this sec- tion of the state. When he first arrived at Frisco he purchased a tract of two hundred acres of land, eligibly located one mile south of the town, and for this farm he paid forty dollars per acre, one hundred and fifty acres of the tract having been opened up and cul- tivated. At the present time, in 1911, he is the owner of a farm of two hundred and eighty acres, in the cultivation of which he operates seven teams. His principal crop is cotton, and in this line he has realized a great profit. At the time of his arrival in Stoddard county he had but one hundred and seventy-five dollars and two teams of horses as a surplus. He has now gained a competency and his splendid farm is recog- nized as one of the finest estates in the entire county. In politics Mr. Swinger is aligned as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Democratic party and while he has no ambi- tion for political preferment of any descrip- tion he is ever on the alert to do all within his power to advance the general progress and development of the county and state at large. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with a number of organizations of represen- tative character and in their religious faith the family are consistent members of the Brethern church.
In the year 1890, in Darke county, Ohio, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Swinger to Miss Martha Walker, who was born and reared in Darke county and who is a daughter of George Walker, long a representative citi- zen of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Swinger are the parents of ten children, whose names are here recorded in respective order of birth,-
Lawrence, Roy, Edna, Orville, Mary, Her- schel, Palmer, Loren and Treva. One child, Dorothy, died at the age of eighteen months, in 1911. Mr. and Mrs. Swinger are popular factors in the best social affairs of their home community and their spacious and attractive home is recognized as a center of great cheer and most generous hospitality.
CHARLES BOYDEN, deceased, was for a num- ber of years prominently identified with the lumber and milling interests of Butler county, Missouri, and the business to which he gave initial impetus has since his death been carried forward by his heirs.
Mr. Boyden was born in 1842, and was killed February 22, 1897, in his mill, the accident being caused by a broken pulley. He had been a lumberman for twenty years, in Michigan previous to his coming to Mis- souri. As a member of the firm of the Boy- den & Wyman Lumber Company, he started business in 1890, at Neelyville, with Charles and P. Wyman, who came here from Grand Haven, Michigan. They built a double band mill with a daily capacity of one hundred thousand feet of lumber, and in this industry furnished employment to two hundred men. The firm also bought twenty-five thousand acres of land, of which, about 1893, Mr. Boyden became sole owner and which his family inherited at his death. The business was continued by the heirs. In 1900 the Star Ranch & Land Company was organized and incorporated, of which John R. Boyden, son of Charles, has since been president and active manager. This company at once went to work to develop the landed estate; the five drainage ditches constructed through the property have enabled this company to dis- pose of about sixteen thousand acres of its land at an average price of $16.50 an acre to actual settlers. The company has six hun- dred acres in cultivation and is extending the work of clearing. All this land is within eight miles of Neelyville. The Neelyville Handle Company, with mill at Neelyville, was a branch of this company, and was a suc- cess until 1910, when its mill was burned. It had a capacity of one hundred dozen handles per day.
Charles Boyden's widow is now residing at Grand Haven, Michigan. She was formerly Miss Jerusha Mitchell, of Pennsylvania. Of her children three are living: Maude, wife of R. G. Macfee, of California; John R. and Charles, the last named a resident of Indian-
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apolis, Indiana, where he is connected with the American Motor Company. In addition to having the active management of the busi- ness as outlined above, John R. Boyden is a stockholder in the Dalton Adding Machine Company of Poplar Bluff, Missouri.
DEMPSEY GARDNER. If any class of men are to deserve the application "the salt of the earth," it is the men who till the soil and year after year furnish the basic materials that maintain all industry in business. New Madrid county is fortunate in having so many fine men devoting their lives to that staunch and fundamental occupation, and Dempsey Gardner is by no means the least of these, whose reputation as a general grower of grains and stockbreeder is known beyond the confines of the county.
Born in Ripley county, Missouri, Demp- sey Gardner was the son of Wash and Mary (Jackson) Gardner. His early schooling was obtained in that county, after which he worked on the home farm. His father was one of the thousands of brave men who gave up their lives in the horrors of the Civil war. He was a member of the Home Guard and was killed by Bushwhackers in the year 1862.
When he was twenty-three years old Demp- sey Gardner established a home of his own and secured for himself a happy life companion- ship by his marriage to Miss Mary Swan, a native of New Madrid county. He started his independent ventures on a sixty acre farm which he homesteaded in Ripley county, and farmed the same himself until 1885.
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