USA > Missouri > Greene County > Past and present of Greene County Missouri, early and recent history and genealogical records of many of the representative citizens, Volume I > Part 77
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hood and finished his education at the Normal school at Warrensburg, Mis- souri, leaving there in 1878.
In 1879, while yet lacking more than two years of being of legal age, Mr. Hedges took up his life work by engaging in contracting work upon the Missouri Pacific railroad. He remained in this position for six years, thus serving a long apprenticeship and laying deep the foundations of knowl- edge of his business that was to stand him in good stead in the days to come.
In 1885 he decided to undertake contracting in a small way upon his own responsibility. He had but small capital in money, and he asked no financial assistance from anyone. But he had what was better than money- a thorough knowledge of his business and an iron determination to succeed. It was inevitable with those two essentials that he should succeed and he did.
In 1886 he took an interest in the firm of Scott, Hinkley & Hedges in the business of quarrying and handling stone and stone contracts. This
company endured for some ten years. Four years of that time was covered by the great financial depression from 1893 to 1897, when very little was doing in the way of contracting or construction work, either in this field or anywhere else in the United States, but with the revival of business, Mr. Hedges was again actively at work in his chosen line.
About this time he formed a partnership with Napoleon Gosney, under the firm name of Hedges & Gosney, for the business of railroad contracting and construction work.
The new firm was a success from the first day. Work flowed in upon it and the business prospered in every way. So much was this the case that in 1900 a corporation was formed under the title of the Hedges & Gosney Con- struction Company. Of this corporation Mr. Hedges was elected the presi- dent, which position he still holds.
A list of all the construction work which this company has done since its organization would be too long for the space reserved for this sketch. It is enough to say that they have done the masonry and concrete work on the Frisco Railroad, the Missouri Pacific, Kansas City Southern, Eastern Illinois and other roads. Their work has extended into Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Kansas and Missouri. And the quality of the work done is attested by the fact that they have returned again and again to do new work for the same companies. As a matter of fact this company, or- ganized in a quiet way, and without great capital, has, simply by strict atten- tion to business, and work of high quality, attained the position of the heav- iest contracting company in their line in this entire region.
As the business of the original company has increased other companies have been organized, each handling some special lines of contracting and construction work. Of these companies, Mr. Hedges is the vice-president of the Jarrett Construction Company, also vice-president of the Weaver-Weeks
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Construction Company, and of the Jarrett-Richardson Paving Company. He also served in the same capacity in the Willier Construction Company, until it was dissolved by the untimely death of Mr. Willier. These various com- panies occupy spacious offices in the Holland building, in Springfield, and are reckoned among the most solid and reliable institutions of the city.
Mr. Hedges was married on the ist of June. 1892, to Miss Edna B. Houghton, of Springfield. Mrs. Hedges' father died in Andrew county, Missouri, while she was still a young child, and her mother, Priscilla, re- moved from that county to Springfield with her two children soon after the father's death. Mrs. Houghton taught in the schools of Springfield for many years, and lived to a ripe old age, passing away about 1911.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hedges have been born a family of four children, two sons and two daughters. The oldest. Miss Rolla H. Hedges, was edu- cated in the Springfield high school, and finished with one year at Hollins College. Virginia. Franklin H. Hedges is a graduate of the Western Mili- tary .Academy, of Upper Alton, Illinois, and is now a student in Drury Col- lege. Jeannette E. Hedges, the second daughter, also attended the Spring- field high school, and is now attending Drury College. Warren B. Hedges, the youngest son, is at present attending the Springfield high school. The Hedges' home is at number 940 North Jefferson street, Springfield, and is one of the finest, most home-like residences in the city.
DR. EDWIN T. ROBBERSON.
In the early days southwest Missouri was often a tempting field to the energetic, ambitious, strong-minded, courageous people of Tennessee, Vir- ginia and the Carolinas, and this country was filled with them during the time Missouri was struggling up to a respectable position in the sisterhood of states. There was a fascination in the broad fields and great promise which this new region presented to activity and originality that attracted many men, and induced them to brave all the privations and discomforts of frontier life for the pleasure and gratification of constructing their fortunes in their own way and after their own methods. It is this class of men more than any other who give shape, direction and character to the business of a com- munity, county or state. The late Dr. Edwin T. Robberson, one of the early pioneers of Greene county and for a long lapse of years one of the most sub- stantial, useful and prominent citizens of Springfield and vicinity, became identified with the affairs of this favored section during its first stages of development and he subsequently wielded a potent influence in industrial circles and professional life. He gave to the world the best of an essentially
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virile, loyal and noble nature and his standard of integrity and honor was ever inflexible. He was a citizen of high civic ideals, and ever manifested his liberality in connection with measures and enterprises tending to advance the general welfare of the locality honored by his residence, his keen discern- ment and sound judgment auguring much for the general upbuilding of the Queen City of the Ozarks. Doctor Robberson won a reputation, not only as a successful physician and business man, but as a leader in public affairs and a citizen who was well worthy of the unqualified confidence and esteem in which he was universally held.
Doctor Robberson was born November 3, 1830, in Maury county, Ten- nessee, and was a son of Bennett and Elvira (Sims) Robberson, both natives of Tennessee, in which state they grew up and were married and spent their earlier lives. In 1831 they removed to Greene county, Missouri, when the subject of this memoir was an infant, and settled on what has since been known as Robberson Prairie. and there by hard work and perseverance established the permanent family home. The father devoted his life success- fully to farming and he became a prominent man in the county, was active in Democratic politics and was elected to the state Legislature from Greene county, serving a term of two years with ability and satisfaction. He was one of our best known pioneers.
Doctor Robberson grew to manhood on the home farm in this county and there found plenty of hard work to do when a boy, and for those early times he had good educational advantages. Later he attended Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1854. Returning home he began the practice of his profession in Greene county. continuing the same with great success the rest of his life, or a period of nearly forty years, during which he ranked among the leading general practitioners of the county, throughout which his name was a household word. He became a man of means and owned con- siderable valuable property and was a heavy stockholder in the National Exchange Bank in Springfield, of which he became president, discharging the duties of this responsible position, along with his large practice, in a man- ner that reflected much credit upon his ability, fidelity and integrity and the entire satisfaction of the stockholders and patrons of the bank the rest of his life; in fact, the large success of this widely known institution was due for the most part to his wise counsel and judicious management.
Doctor Robberson was married April 18, 1854. to Elizabeth J. Sproul, who was born in Monroe county, Missouri. March 11, 1837.
The union of Doctor Robberson and wife was blessed by the birth of seven children, all living but one.
Doctor Robberson was a Democrat. and while he was interested in public affairs never had time to seek political office. In his earlier years he was a
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member of the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. lle was a member of the Missouri State Medical Association and the Ameri- can Medical Association. Religiously, he belonged to the Methodist Episco- pal church, South.
Doctor Robberson was called to his eternal rest November 10, 1893. He was in every respect entitled to the esteem of all classes which was freely accorded. He was the architect of his own fortune and upon his entire career there rests no blemish, for he was true to the highest ideals and principles in business, professional, civic and social life, living and laboring to worthy ends, and as one of the sterling citizens and representative men of Greene county in the generations that are now merged with the irrevocable past, his memory merits a tribute of honor on the pages of history.
ALANSON MASON HASWELL.
The life of Alanson Mason Haswell, a well known real estate man and writer of Springfield, has been an interesting and useful one, and although he has reached an age when most men are living in seclusion and avoiding the turmoil of business affairs, he is still strenuously engaged in serious work. He hails from the far away, romantic land of Rudyard Kipling, one .of the present-day master story-writers, and many interesting tales might be written from the life chronicle of our subject, but space forbids more than a brief resume of his life and character.
Mr. Haswell was born in the city of Maulmain, Burmah, East India, June 29. 1847. He is a son of James Madison Haswell and Jane Matilda ( Mason) Haswell. These parents were missionaries of the American Bap- tist Missionary Union, and went to Burmah immediately after their mar- riage in 1835. James M. Haswell was sent as an assistant to Adoniram Judson, the first American Baptist missionary, and it was in Dr. Judson's home that the subject of this sketch was born.
Anthony Haswell, the paternal grandfather, was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1756, and when a boy was brought to America. When twelve years old he was apprenticed in Boston, Massachusetts, was a "son of liberty" at fourteen, and when in his seventeenth year. helped throw the tea into Boston harbor, at the historic "tea party" in 1773. During the Revolu- tionary war he served in Washington's army at the siege of Boston, was also in the battle of White Plains, New York, and several other engage- ments. His grandson. A. M. Haswell, is a member of the Springfield Chapter, Sons of the Revolution, on the record of Anthony Haswell, as also for ancestors of his mother. Anthony Haswell established the Vermont
A. M. HASWELL.
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Gazette in Bennington, Vermont, in 1783, and he and his sons continued to publish the paper for more than fifty years, and it was one of the most influential papers of New England during that period. His death occurred in 1816. His epitaph says: "Anthony Haswell, a Patriot of the Revolu- tion; a sufferer for the freedom of the press under the alien and sedition laws." On his mother's side A. M. Haswell is descended from Sampson Mason, one of Oliver Cromwell's "Ironsides," who emigrated from England to Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, in 1665, and bought a large tract of land where he founded the town of Swansea, Massachusetts. Hundreds of his descendants are buried there, and many families of them still live there. Mr. Haswell's great-grandfather, Brooks Mason, was a Revolution- ary soldier, who fought at the battles of Bennington and Saratoga, as did also four of his sons.
A. M. Haswell was brought to the United States to be educated when eleven years of age, and he never returned to Asia, although his only brother and both parents spent their lives and died there, and his two sisters are there today. After passing through preparatory schools, Mr. Haswell attended high school in Clinton, New York, and finished his education with two years in Madison University (now Colgate University) at Hamilton, New York. After farming in New York, Delaware and Illinois, he came to Springfield, Missouri. in September, 1868, intending to stay six months. He got a contract to assist in classifying the million acre land grant of that which is now the Frisco railway. This kept him in the saddle three years and put the love of the Ozarks so effectively into him that he has remained here ever since, with the exception of some eight years. After classifying the lands, he was connected with the Springfield district of the railroad lands nearly all the time for sixteen years, the last six years in charge of the office. He added general real estate to his office and did a large business for years. In 1893 he went to Chicago, Illinois, and remained there until 1897. He was elected secretary of the Christian Citizenship League and was sent all ·over the United States speaking in the interest of the organization, address- ing certainly three hundred and fifty thousand people. In 1897 he returned to southwest Missouri and for four years engaged in real estate and mining at Aurora. Lawrence county, returning to Springfield in 1901 to his old line of realty, and here he has since resided, but owing to deafness he has closed his real estate office and devotes most of his time to drafting large county maps, at which he is an expert. He also writes extensively for various newspapers and other publications, mostly on subjects pertaining to the Ozarks. of which he is an enthusiast. He is a versatile and forceful writer and his articles are appreciated by a wide audience.
Mr. Haswell was married in Springfield, March II, 1873, to Lauretta (45)
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C. Butler, and to this union seven children were born, of whom three sons and one daughter survive.
Politically, Mr. Haswell is a Republican, and he has been more or less active in public affairs. He has served one term in the state Legislature. representing in a commendable, manner the Springfield district. He is a member of the First Congregational church of Springfield.
THOMAS J. GIDEON.
Upon the role of representative professional men of Greene county of a past generation was the late Thomas J. Gideon, prominent lawyer and es- teemed citizen of Springfield, having possessed those qualities of head and heart which not only bring material success but always commend themselves to persons of intelligence. He was a man who took a pride in the advance- ment of his city and county and heartily supported such movements as made toward that end. He came of an honest, rugged pioneer family, the Gideons having been active and well known in this locality in its early history.
Thomas J. Gideon was born on his father's farm in Christian county, Missouri, January 28, 1845. He is a son of William C. and Melinda (Bird) Gideon. He sprang from Irish-Scotch ancestry of Colonial American stock. James Gideon, the great-grandfather of our subject, was the founder of this branch of the family in America. He came from Dublin, Ireland, with his brothers, Reuben and Edward, and bringing his wife, Nancy. His sons were: Edward, William. Isham, James and John. They all settled on land in southwestern New York. Edward, brother of James, was killed in battle during the Revolutionary war. . All of the family moved to North Carolina about 1781 and settled on the Yadkin river. James Gideon moved to what is now Hawkins county. Tennessee, in 1821, where he settled on a farm, or rather wild land, which he developed into a farm. He took with him the apple trees with which to plant his orchard. Several members of the Gideon family went with him besides his own immediate family. He was a sub- stantial farmer and lived to be an aged man, passing the remainder of his days in Tennessee. William Gideon, his son, and the grandfather of our subject, was born in the state of New York in 1789, and went to North Caro- lina with his family. He married there Matilda Wood, and to them were born the following children: James H., Burton A., William C., Francis M., Woodson T., Green B., John A., Minerva and Elizabeth. Mr. Gideon moved to Tennessee in 1821 and there continued farming. He was also a hatter by trade. He was a member of the Baptist church and an elder in the church for forty years. In his old age he became a Universalist. In the spring of
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1836 he settled north of Ozark, Missouri, two miles, entering two hundred acres of land in Christian county, which was later known as the Cox farm. He died in 1868, aged seventy-nine years. He was a well known pioneer citizen, a man of sterling worth and had no enemies and was highly respected in his community. William C. Gideon, his son and father of our subject, was born in Hawkins county, Tennessee, February 15, 1824, received the common education of his day and was but twelve years of age when he came with his father to Missouri, and was reared among the pioneers of the Ozarks. He married at the age of twenty-one years, Melinda Bird, a native of Mis- souri, and a daughter of James Bird and wife, and to them were born eight children, six of whom are still living: Thomas J. (subject of this memoir) ; James J., who became a prominent lawyer and judge in Springfield ; Francis M., William W., John N., Martin V., George B. and Matilda.
William C. Gideon settled on a farm in what was then Taney county, now a part of Christian county, Missouri, and during his life settled on several farms in this section, and before the commencement of the Civil War he had four hundred and eighty acres of land in Christian county. He cleared up and developed several farms in true pioneer fashion. During the war he was compelled to remove his residence to Greene county, settling four miles south of Springfield, on account of the depredations of the guerrillas. He served during the war in Missouri Union Home Guards, three months under Capt. Jesse Galloway, and on March 5, 1862, he enlisted in Company F, Missouri State Militia, and was mustered into United States service. He was promoted to sergeant and was detailed as recruiting officer at Spring- field, for Robbs' Battery, having been transferred to the Eighth Missouri State Militia. While in this service he was killed by a band of guerrillas in Christian county, at the home of his father, on December 16. 1863. at the age of thirty-nine years. He was in the battle of Ozark and on January 8, 1863, at the battle of Springfield when Marmaduke made his raid, and also in other engagements. In religion he was a Methodist. He was a man of sound judgment. In politics he was a Douglas, or War, Democrat, but after the breaking out of the war became a Republican. He served his community for some time as justice of the peace. He was a man of quiet and peaceful disposition, was honorable in character and had the confidence of the community in which he lived.
Thomas J. Gideon, of this review, grew up on the home farm in Christ- ian county and received his education in the district schools in the old log pioneer school-house of those days. After the war he attended a private academy in Springfield for two years, but he remained a student all his life and became a scholar. On March 5. 1862, he enlisted in Company F. Four- teenth Regiment Missouri State Militia, same company and regiment as his father, being then eighteen years of age. He was appointed corporal and our
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young soldier served in the battle of Ozark, Talbot Ferry, Arkansas, Turner's Station and Springfield. In the last battle he was wounded by a piece of shell striking his left hand and wrist, which crippled him for life. He was also struck by a musket ball in the head and narrowly escaped death, falling in- sensible on the battlefieldl, but was picked up by his father and carried to the rear and later regained consciouness. The bullet had struck him above the frontal bone, breaking through the skull, and, losing its force, plowed through the scalp to the back of the head. He was in the hospital two months, and was finally discharged on account of his wounds. But not being contented with his service as a soldier and desiring to render further service to his country, in July, 1864. he recruited at Springfield, Company AA, Fifty- first Missouri Volunteer Infantry. In the spring of 1865 he recruited in Christian county a company of enrolled militia to exterminate the bush- whackers and horse thieves which then infested that section which they con- trolled, and he was commissioned by Governor Fletcher as first lieutenant, but he acted as commander of his company, it having no captain. He was making efficient headway against the outlaws when the war closed, a short time there- after.
Mr. Gideon read law at home, and in 1866 he was elected clerk of Christian county and the circuit court and ex-officio recorder of Christian county and held the office until 1875: however, this was before he began reading law. He gave eminent satisfaction as clerk. He began reading law with his brother, Judge James J. Gideon, in 1875, and was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1877. He practiced successfully at Ozark until 1880, when he removed to Springfield, where he spent the rest of his life successfully engaged in the practice of his profession and was one of the popular members of the Greene county bar, to which he was admitted the year he removed here. and he remained in the harness until his death. He specialized as a probate and abstract lawyer, working on his abstracts at night. He was al- ways busy and was very successful, accuracy and honesty being his aim as a lawyer.
Mr. Gideon was married September 3. 1868, to Letitia F. Williams, a daughter of Robert H. and Emeline ( Bailey) Williams, both natives of Ken- tucky, in which state Mrs. Gideon was also born, her birth having occurred in Logan county, December 24, 1848. When she was five years old her par- ents brought her to Missouri, and located on a farm in Christian county. Mr. Williams devoted his life to farming. During the Civil war he desired to enlist but was crippled in the hand, which barred him. His family con- sísted of six children, five of whom are still living. Mrs. Gideon grew to womanhood in Christian and Greene counties and received her education in the common schools in Ozark and Springfield. She is now living on South
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Campbell street in the latter city, where she owns a cozy home, which is often visited by her many friends.
To Mr. and Mrs. Gideon five children were born, four of whom are living : Mary B., known to her friends as "Molly," born July 9, 1869, mar- ried Charles A. Hubbard, and they are living in Springfield; Waldo G., born May 26. 1871, married May Olden; he is one of Springfield's well known at- torneys; Thomas Harry, born .January 12, 1874, married Della Stowe; Charles R., commonly known as "Ross," was born June 18, 1876, and died September 13, 1898; Nellie E .. born October 21, 1881, married Rufus Mc- Vay, and they live near her mother.
Mr. Gideon was a Republican. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Captain John Matthews Post No. 69. He was a member of the Solomon Lodge of Masons, of Springfield, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, New Harmony Lodge, of Springfield, and held all the offices in this lodge, and was a member of the order for a period of nearly half a century. He was a member of the South Street Christian church. As both a lawyer and citizen he was widely known in this section of the state and his integrity was unimpeached, and when he was summoned to his eternal reward, on November 7. 1913, there were many to express a regret at his loss to the city and county.
JAMES L. ORMSBEE, M. D.
There are but few professions or trades that "go well together," that is, there are few men who are capable of following successfully more than one specific line of endeavor, but here and there we find a man like Dr. James L. Ormsbee of Springfield who has the innate ability and has had the proper training to make him successful in two or more lines of endeavor. He is a physician and pharmacist, and it is doubtful if two distinct professions could be found to blend more perfectly than these. He has built up a good business in both during his residence in this city of twenty-six years, and he has become one of the well-known professional men of Greene county.
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