USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 98
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Politically Mr. Young favors those princi- ples and policies for the conduct of national affairs set forth by the Democratic party. He is deeply interested in public affairs and is now serving his sixth year as alderman, be- ing chairman of the board. He holds mem- bership in the lodges of the Odd Fellows and in the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mrs. Young is a devout believer in the doc- trines of the Methodist church, South, of which body she is a communicant. The only child of John and Lillie Young is a son, Harry C. Young, born March 15, 1894, and still in school.
LEE WILLIAMS. Many of the ablest men in America are ardent devotees of the great basic industry of agriculture, and it is well that this is so because the various learned pro- fessions are rapidly becoming so crowded with inefficient practitioners that in a few years it will be practically impossible for any but the exceptionally talented man to make good or even to gain a competent living therein. The independent farmer who, in addition to tilling the soil, cultivates his mind and re- tains his health is a man much to be envied in these days of strenuous bustle and ner- vous energy. He lives his life as he chooses
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and is always safe from financial ravages and other troubles of the so-called "cliff-dweller." An able and representative agriculturist who has done much to advance progress and con- serve prosperity in Stoddard county, Mis- souri, is Lee Williams, who is a very exten- sive land owner in this section of the state and who in connection with diversified agricul- ture and the buying and shipping of stock conducts a modern and well equipped meat market at Dexter, where he maintains his home.
Lee Williams was born in Lyon county, Kentucky, on the 13th of May, 1866, and he is a son of Samuel and Harriett (Doom) Williams. The father was born in Wales and came to the United States when five years old. He lived in Ohio until twenty-three, when he went to Kentucky. The mother was born in Kentucky, and hoth are now deceased. On the old home plantation in the Blue Grass commonwealth Lee Williams was reared to adult age and his early educational training consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the neighboring district schools. In De- cember, 1891, at the age of twenty-five years, he decided to establish his home in Missouri and located in the vicinity of Dexter, where he engaged in farming operations. In com- pany with his brother, Charles A., he pur- chased a tract of three hundred and seventy acres of land four and a half miles southeast of Dexter, paying for the same thirteen dol- lars and eighty cents per acre. Two hundred acres of this tract were under cultivation and the farm was considered one of the very finest in the entire county. Another brother, D. K. Williams, had opened up eight hundred acres just east of Dexter some three years pre- viously. The three brothers at once began to agitate the drainage question but the insti- tution of proper drainage was so violently opposed by the various land owners that a number of years passed before any action was taken. Persisteney finally won the day, how- ever, and good hydraulic tiling was laid in the various farms. Lee Williams and Mr. A. H. Carter put in the first successful tiling in Stoddard county, this being in 1907. Since that time Mr. Williams has put in some ten miles of tiling. He sold his first farm about 1897 and is now the owner of a splendid es- tate of seven hundred and thirty-five aeres eligibly located a mile and a half northeast of Dexter. He is also the owner of a half section of land near Marko, Missouri, which is being opened up for cultivation. In addi-
tion to general farming Mr. Williams is en- gaged in the raising of high-grade stock, breeding thoroughbred cattle and hogs and making immense annual shipments of stock to the various large markets. In 1903 he estab- lished a meat market at Dexter, which he has since conducted in company with his nephew and which is proving one of the most profit- able enterprises in this city. The home of the Williams family is at Dexter.
In the state of Florida, in the year 1888, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Williams to Miss Fannie R. Martin, of Starke, Florida, who died in 1894, at the age of twenty-five, her two children both dying when young. Mr. Williams married for his second wife Miss Sybil J. Cooper, who was born and reared at Dexter, Missouri, and who was a daughter of Andrew F. and Betty Cooper. In company with A. R. Jorndt Mr. Cooper built the first flouring mill at Dexter, where he located about 1887, and where he passed the remainder of his life. In 1892 he was killed by a band of desperadoes, this event forming one of the incidents of Dexter history. He was killed while assisting the city marshal. He was the founder and first president of the Bank of Dexter, was at the head of many enterprises and was one of the pioneers of the county. He was progressive and enterprising and a leader of men. The Cooper residence, erected by Mr. Cooper in 1889 at Dexter, is now oc- cupied by the Williams family. Mr. and Mrs. Williams became the parents of four children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth,-Marlew and Mabel are twins ; and Myrtle and Lee A., all of whom remain at the parental home.
For the past ten years Mr. Williams has opened up a hundred acres of new land each year and all of this property is ditched, fenced and partly tiled. He is a man of splendid executive ability and tremendous vitality and his citizenship has been a most valuable ad- junct to this section of the state, where he has aided so materially in progress and de- velopment. In his political convictions he ac- cords an unswerving allegiance to the princi- ples and policies promulgated by the Demo- cratic party, and while he has never had time for active participation in local politics he has ever been ready to give of his aid and influ- ence in support of all measures and enter- prises projected for the general advance- ment. He is a man of liberal tendencies and deep human sympathy and while much of his time is devoted to the conduct of his affairs
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he is never too busy to lend a helping hand to those in distress. He is a member of the Masonie order, lodge No. 532, of Dexter, Missouri.
C. A. SCHONHOFF. One of those thriving and well managed businesses which add in material fashion to the general prosperity and commercial prestige of Advance, Stoddard county, Missouri, is that of C. A. Schonhoff, who deals extensively in lumber and other building materials and in hardware. From the beginning his business has experienced a sound and wholesome growth and Mr. Schon- hoff has become one of the considerable property holders of the place. In the legiti- mate channels of trade he has won the suc- cess which always crowns well directed labor, sound judgment and untiring perseverance, and at the same time he has concerned him- self with the affairs of the community in an admirably public-spirited fashion.
Mr. Schonhoff was born at Cape Girardeau, and is of German descent. He received a common school education and is to be counted among the pioneers of Advance, coming here when the municipality was in its infancy. He and his brother, J. H. Schonhoff, embarked in the hardware business, the subject being among other things well versed in wagon making. They continued in association until Mr. Schonhoff established an independent business, still dealing in hardware and adding building material. He has bought property from time to time and it is unnecessary to state that his fortunes have risen with the growth of Advance. He is a stockholder in the bank of Advance, of which substantial monetary institution his brother is president and he is helpfully interested in all matters of public import. He is a communicant of the Catholic church and is a stanch sup- porter of the men and measures of the Demo- cratic party, to which he has given his suf- frage from his earliest voting days.
RILEY WILLIS. One of the most energetic, enterprising and busy men of Essex, Riley Willis is well known as a lumber manufac- turer, the operator of a threshing machine, an extensive agriculturist and as the owner of the Willis addition to Essex. His home farm, adjoining Essex, is under an excellent state of cultivation, and, with its comfortable and convenient set of buildings, and their neat and tasteful surroundings, invariably attracts the attention of the passer-by, and is
strongly indicative of the good use the pro- prietor has made of his time and means. A son of the late Levi Willis, he was born No- vember 22, 1862, in Pike county, Indiana, where he was brought up and educated.
Levi Willis came to Missouri with his fam- ily from Indiana in 1889, locating in Stod- dard county. He first bought a tract of land lying one mile west of Essex, but later sold that and bought a tract of land adjoining the village of Essex, and immediately began its improvement. He lived but ten years after purchasing his homestead, passing away while yet in manhood's prime, at the comparatively early age of fifty-three years. He was not active in politics after coming to Missouri, al- though in Indiana he had held various local offices. His widow, whose maiden name was Rhoda De Jarnett, is now a resident of Indi- ana. Four children were born of their mar- riage, as follows: Riley, the special subject of this brief biographical record; Julia, who married P. B. Cupp, died in Indiana; Edna, wife of George Mayo, of Indiana; and Char- ley, residing at Vincennes, Indiana.
Marrying at the age of twenty-four years, Riley Willis brought his bride to Missouri and settled in Stoddard county, buying a tract of wild land situated about four miles south of Essex, giving four dollars an acre for it, and paying one-third of the sum in cash and run- ning in debt for the remainder. It being heav- ily covered with timber, Mr. Willis began clearing the land, and having erected a saw mill on the place built up an excellent business as a lumber manufacturer and dealer, shipping some of the products of the mill and selling some to the home trade. During the eight years that he lived there he cut all the tim- ber from the one hundred and sixty acres of land, and put eighty acres of it under culti- vation. Selling out at twelve dollars and a half an acre, Mr. Willis came to Essex about the time of his father's death, and having bought the interest of the remaining heirs in the parental homestead has since carried on general farming most snecessfully, and hav- ing erected another saw mill has continued his business as a lumber manufacturer and dealer. In connection with his farming, he has also conducted a threshing machine for abont twenty years, doing most of the thresh- ing within a radius of eight or ten miles, turning out from sixteen thousand to twenty- four thousand bushels yearly. Mr. Willis, formerly owned eighty acres of land adja- cent to the village, and of that tract he platted
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forty-five acres, making the Willis addition to the village, and on the many lots which he has sold attractive houses have been erected. He has also bought and sold other tracts of land, in the transactions finding profit. He is an earnest advocate of drainage, realizing the immense benefits to be derived from a thorough system of tiling or draining. He is a stanch Republican, but not a politician in the common sense of the term.
Mr. Willis married, in Indiana, Emeline Burkhart, and into their household six chil- dren have been born, namely: Stella, wife of "Doc" Lovelace, of Essex; Herschel ; Edna; Icel Ira; and Ruth. Mr. and Mrs. Willis are active members of the Brethren church at Frisco, generally called the Dun- kard church, being among the first to unite with that church.
WILLIAM J. LILES. Not only is William J. Liles entitled to credit as a public-spirited citizen and an up-to-date farmer and stock breeder, but he is a self-made man in the best sense of that term and whatever of success he has achieved in this world has been due to his own presistent and well-directed efforts. It was his portion to face the serious issues of life at the age of nine years, and the splen- did way in which he surmounted his difficul- ties is indeed worthy of praise. He now has achieved independence and owns a fine farm of two hundred acres, located three and one- half miles west of Bloomfield, where he en- gages in general farming and stock-raising.
Mr. Liles was born in Bloomfield, March 16, 1868, and is the son of John E. and Mandy (Miller) Liles. The mother was a daughter of Henry Miller, a farmer and merchant of Bloomfield. He was a native of Tennessee, who found his way to Bollinger and Cape Gi- rardeau counties and eventually to Bloom- field. During the war a cannon ball was shot through his house and throughout that stormy period he pursued his mercantile operations. He died in the early '80s and his devoted wife survived him until 1889.
John E. Liles, father of William J., was born in the state of Tennessee, and when three years of age he with his parents. Jesse and Martha Elizabeth (Wilson) Liles, started out intending to locate in St. Louis. The father was a native of West Virginia and the mother of Wilson county, Tennessee, and John E. was born in Tennessee on November 16, 1827. On the way to the metropolis of Missouri, the captain of a river boat per-
suaded him (the father) to stop at Cape Gi- rardeau, and he worked at the carpentering trade and farming, his old farm being three miles east of Jackson, the county seat. He died at the age of seventy-two years and his wife the following year, at the age of seventy- five. John E. was the fourth in a family of ten children, of whom three sons and two daughters survive. E. G. Liles owns an orange plantation in Florida and R. P. Liles is a merchant at Poplar Bluff. John E. Liles remained upon the farm until the age of twenty years and then sold goods at Smith's Landing in association with his brother, E. G. Later he conducted a general retail dry goods store, continuing thus employed until the war. When his brothers, E. G. and R. P., enlisted in the Confederate army service, John E. became a sutler for Colonel Hiller and remained in this field until the year 1864. Both his brothers were in the Confederate army and served until the close of the war. Afterward E. G. started a general store at Bloomfield and R. P. clerked for him, selling goods at Bloomfield for eighteen or twenty years. They built the first store at what is now Dexter, this being on the site of the new hotel. He sold Mr. MeCollum his first barrel of whiskey and started him in business. The Liles store continued until it was burned out and R. P. Liles went to Pine Bluff. While there they conducted a large business. John E. Liles subsequently clerked for Joseph N. Miller, his brother-in-law, at Bloomfield. He was married at Bloomfield at the age of twenty-seven years, while working as sutler, and he and his wife reared three sons: John Henry, a farmer at Bernie ; W. J. the immedi- ate subject ; and Charles E., an attorney at Dexter. John E. was always an active Dem- ocrat and a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, South. He was the first mem- ber of his family to die, and at the time of his demise, the youngest of the number was fifty years of age.
William J. Liles began his business career at the early age of nine years, but this was chiefly through his own volition, for he ran away from the shelter of the parental roof and also the parental discipline under which he chafed and went to Cape Girardeau county, where he worked on a farm for five years, during the latter part of his association there- with receiving twelve dollars per month. He had no education and what money he received went as he earned it. He eventually secured work in a livery stable and remained thus
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engaged for no less than twenty years, earn- ing day wages. He was then located at Ma- rion, Illinois, for five years and at Cairo, that state, for two years, which brought him to the year 1907. In March of that year he bought bis present farm, formerly known as the Jacob Moore farm, the same consisting of two hun- dred acres and possessing an unusual number of advantages. He has built an excellent house and barn and pursues mixed farming, also raising stock and horses and breeding with renowned success Duroc hogs and Here- ford cattle. His Standard bred horses are one item in which he takes justifiable pride. He has done a good deal of fencing and has made numerous improvements, and whereas four years ago he bought his farm at thirty dollars an acre he has already refused twice that much.
Mr. Liles was happily married October 12, 1897, at Jackson, Cape Girardeau county, to Louisa Miller, a dangliter of George Miller, of Bloomfield, a blacksmith recently deceased. Mrs. Liles was born at Bloomfield, October 12, 1878. Mr. Liles and his wife share their pleasant home with two sons, whose names are Opie Reid and Baxter Blair.
JAMES V. CONRAN. If there has been one strain of blood preeminent in the endowment of American commonwealths with those qual- ities which infuse vigor, stability and enter- prise into the growing nation, it is the sturdy Scotch-Irish, whose innate talent for over- coming the hardships of pioneering has every- where been felt to be a blessing to this nation. Industrially, politically, professionally, it is impossible to sum their contributions to the prosperity of the land. Of such noteworthy stock comes James V. Conran, of New Madrid.
His father, Matthew J. A. Conran, was born in New York City, on January 31, 1836. It was he who contributed the Scotch-Irish strain to the subject of this brief personal record. His mother, was of French and Scotch ancestry, and prior to her marriage to Matthew Conran was Miss Sarah A. But- ler. Her birth occurred in this county in 1844, and she still makes her home in this place, her husband having passed away No- vember 7, 1896. Matthew Conran was, dur- ing his lifetime, one of the most prominent members of the legal fraternity in the county, his preparation for the bar having been ob- tained at Old Barren, a college in Perry county, Missouri. Besides James V., he was the father of the following children: Mat-
thew; William, who makes his home in the Dominion of Canada; and Effie, a resident of New Madrid.
James V. Conran received his early educa- tion in the public schools of his home town, and supplemented this preparatory training by a three years course in St. Vincent's Col- lege at Cape Girardeau, Missouri. At sixteen he left school, for the reason that safely may be regarded as the oldest and most irrevocable in the world, low finances. He then entered the mercantile business, in which he stayed for eight years prior to accepting a position as traveling salesman for a large grocery firm. He remained "on the road" until the summer of 1891, when he received the nomi- nation of his party for the office of prosecut- ing attorney, and he set ahout the business of qualifying for the bar with his customary energetic perseverance, and passed the exam- inations. As had been expected, he easily carried the election, and so successful was the young attorney that he retained the prose- cutor's office for six years and has been an active and able practitioner ever since. He holds the unique record of having taken part in over one hundred murder cases in the dis- trict, and has gained an enviable reputation for keenness in criminal law.
Besides his activities at the bar, Mr. Con- ran is an extensive property owner, holding title to twelve hundred acres of farm land and considerable real estate in his home county and the town of Portageville. He owns a brick block in that place with a frontage of three hundred feet and a depth of one hun- dred and fifty feet, one and two stories high. He is the largest stockholder in the Farmer's Bank at Portageville, one of the most reli- able monetary institutions in the part of the county. He is a stockholder and director of the Commercial Realty Company of New Madrid, and holds the same relations to the Portageville Building and Loan Association, and he also has interests in the Farmer's Mer- cantile Association at the same place.
On July 2, 1896, Mr. Conran established his present charming and attractive home by his union with Miss Susan Robbins, who was born in New Madrid county in 1874, a daughter of James and Emma (Lesieur) Robbins. This marriage has been hlessed with one child, James V., Jr., horn November 20, 1899, who remains at home with his par- ents.
Mr. Conran is a popular fraternity man, and maintains affiliations with the following
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organizations: the Woodmen of the World; the Modern Woodmen of America; and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Politically he gives his allegiance to the party of Jefferson and Jackson, and has been a prominent and serviceable member of his party for twenty years, bringing the same en- thusiastie interest to public affairs that has wrought his success in his private enterprises. He has been chairman of the New Madrid county Democratic committee, the Democratic committee dealing with the congressional dis- triet, and the Saint Louis court of appeals committee. He had personal charge of the campaign of William S. Coward for gover- nor, and succeeded in placing his candidate at the head of the Democratic ticket.
DE WITT L. BURNSIDE. Few men in a community have such a profound influence on the trend of affairs for better or for worse than the editor of the paper, and a town or city is indeed fortunate that has behind its newspaper a man of honor, a clear headed thinker who respects his trust as the chief informer of the public. De Witt L. Burnside, for the last eight years proprietor and editor of the Poplar Bluff Republican, is such a man, and he has been an influential factor whenever anything dedicated to the general welfare has been put forward.
De Witt L. Burnside was born on the 5th of July, 1872, in New Berlin, New York state. He is the son of William W. Burnside, who is likewise a native of New York state, having been born on the 17th of July, 1842. Wil- liam W. Burnside was only a lad when the Civil war broke out, but he enlisted in a New York regiment and served throughout the long conflict. During his long life he has had various occupations. At one time he was superintendent of bridges for the Delaware- Hudson Canal Company, and until a recent date he has been a photographer. He was married in 1870 to Miss Mary E. Wilcox, of Maryland, New York, where she was born on the 19th of July, 1842. The young couple lived in New York state until 1882, when they determined to come west, and located at Bloomington, Illinois. Here they remained until 1895, when they moved to Iowa, and set- tled in Cedar Rapids. Both Mr. and Mrs. Burnside are still living in this city. Mr. Burnside has always been a staunch Demo- crat, and during his residence in New York state served as an assemblyman in the state legislature. Fraternally his affiliations are
with the Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Burnside is a member and active worker in the Epis- copal church.
De Witt L. Burnside is the only child of the above couple. He grew up in New York state, and his education was obtained first at the public schools in his home town and then at Colgate Academy at Hamilton, New York. After his education was completed he went west and joined his parents in Illinois. The next few years were spent in various enter- prises, many of the positions which he held being ones of trust and responsibility. His health did not appear to be very good and so the year of 1903 was spent by him and his wife in Arkansas, and with his health much improved he came to Poplar Bluff the following year and purchased a half interest in the Poplar Bluff Republican. L. F. Trom- ley became the owner of the other half, and for ten months the paper was run by the two men in partnership. Then Mr. Burnside pur- chased the other half interest and since that time has been the sole proprietor. When he first came to Poplar Bluff the paper was just beginning to be published as a daily. He continued to issue a daily edition and has since established a weekly issue, also. The printing and advertising business of the paper has been greatly increased, and the circula- tion has more than doubled since Mr. Burn- side took hold of the paper. He now employs a force of sixteen men, not including himself.
In politics Mr. Burnside is a loyal Republi- can, and has a powerful influence in local po- litical affairs. He is a member of the Elks, the Maccabees and the order of the Moose. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church. He was married on the 19th of December, 1902, at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Miss Leola Alcorn, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Alcorn. Her mother's maiden name was Brewer. Mrs. Burnside was born in Vinton, Iowa, on the 19th of June, 1872. She and Mr. Burnside have no children.
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