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 78
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Doctor Ormsbee was born at Corry, Pennsylvania, September 20, 1867. He is a son of E. J. Ormsbee, a carpenter and farmer, born in Paris, Oneida county, New York, in 1825, and who died in 1905 at the age of eighty years. The mother of our subject was known in her maidenhood as Amelia Mapes; she was born in 1836 in Belmont, New York, and died in 1913 at the age of seventy-seven years. These parents grew to maturity in the state of New York, attended the old-time schools and were married there, and spent their lives in that state and Pennsylvania. James Ormsbee, paternal
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grandfather of our subject was born in Providence, Rhode Island, June 21. 1702, and died at Paris, New York, in 1853: his wife. Philena Dimmick, was born at Mansfield, Connecticut, January 16, 1798, and died at Paris, New York. December 1, 1825. James Ormisbee, Sr., our subject's great-grand- father, was born in 1765, and he married Abigail Ide. His father was Daniel Ormsbee, born in 1723, married Keziah Cummings. His father was Thomas Orisbee, who was born in Massachusetts, November 11. 1645, and he married Mary Fitch, a daughter of John Fitch. His father was Richard Ornsbee, born in England, from which country he came to Saco. Maine, landing there in the year 1641. From that place he went to Salisbury, Massachusetts in 1045, bought land in that vicinity and died there in 1664. Thus the record shows that this is one of our oldest American families.
Dr. James 1. Ormisbee received his early education in the public schools, later graduating from the Cayuga Lake Military Academy at Aurora, New York, then took the course in the medical department of the Washington University of St. Louis, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1891. receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Upon leaving the city of St. Louis he came to Springfield in 1892 and at once began the practice of his profession which he has continued here from that date to the present time, having long since taken his place among the successful general physicians of this locality. He found time to make a thorough study of pharmacy and was given a license in that field and he has long maintained a neat. well stocked and popular drug store at 1862 North National Boule- vard, and has built up a good trade in drugs and drug sundries. He has enjoyed a large patronage ever since he established himself in this city.
Doctor Ormsbee was married on October 25. 1914, in Springfield, to Alice M. McLean, a daughter of T. B. McLean and wife. She received her education in this city.
Politically, Doctor Ormsbee is a Republican. Religiously, he belongs to the Episcopal church. He is a member of the Greene County Medical Soci- ety, the Missouri State Medical Association and the American Medical Asso- ciation. He was secretary of the first named of the three for a period of three years. He is also a member of the Greene County Retail Druggists' Association, of which he was secretary for some time. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was county coroner in 1897, and upon the death of the sheriff was appointed to this office, serving very ably until another sheriff could be appointed. He was also health officer during Mayor Bartlett's administration.
Doctor Ormsbee is deserving of a great deal of credit for what he has accomplished, which has been in the face of obstacles and entirely through his own efforts.
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MURRAY C. STONE, M. D.
It has not been so very long ago when a doctor was supposed to do a little of everything when it came to looking after humanity as to its general physical improvement. Any one whom the medical schools graduated, and even many who never attended a medical school, were called upon in all kinds of physical needs, to dispense medicine for all the ailments to which flesh is heir, to look after all kinds of surgical operations, etc., in short, the family physician was general doctor, druggist, chemist, dentist, bacteriologist, and several other things. But that has all changed. Now we have depart- ments in medical science and specialists in all departments. The field is so vast that the man who attempts to master all phases of this science only gets · a smattering knowledge and is never capable of effective work in any. One of the younger doctors of Springfield, who has specialized in a very impor- tant line, is Dr. Murray C. Stone, pathologist and a most scientific and capable man in his line.
Doctor Stone hails from New England, having been born in the state "of Massachusetts, April 22, 1880. - He is of English and Welsh ancestry, and is a son of Charles P. and Ella L. (Aldrich) Stone. The father was born in Massachusetts in 1847, and the mother, who was a native of New Hampshire, is still residing in Massachusetts, being now sixty-three years of age. These parents grew to maturity in New England, were educated .and married there, and established their future home in Massachusetts, where Mr. Stone devoted his active life to the work of an expert mechanic, work- ing many years as engineer for the Brown Engine Company. His death occurred in 1905. He was a son of Fordyce Stone, a native of Massa- chusetts, he having been a son of Windsor Stone. Thus the record shows this to be one of our oldest Eastern families.
Dr. Murray C. Stone grew to manhood in his native state and there re- «ceived his education, first attending the public schools, later taking the course in the medical department of Harvard University, Cambridge, from which historic institution he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, with the class of 1903, and in that year he began the practice of his profession at Fitchburg, Massachusetts, where he remained, enjoying a good general practice until 1910, when he came West, locating in Kansas City. After re- maining there eighteen months, he went to Jefferson City, spending two years at the Missouri capital, then, in October, 1914, took up his residence in Springfield, where he intends making his future home. He has devoted many years to a special study of pathology and in due course of time became ·an expert analyist. Before leaving Fitchburg, his native state, he was patholo- :gist at the Burbank 'hospital, and while in Kansas City he held the same posi-
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tion at the general hospital ; while in Jefferson City he was the official state bacteriologist, giving eminent satisfaction in all these important trusts. He is now making a specialty of clinical pathology. He has become well estab- lished in his work here, and maintains a well equipped and modern laboratory in the Woodruff building, Springfield. His patrons are the leading physi- cians of this and other cities of southwestern Missouri.
Doctor Stone was married in 1906, at Fitchburg, Massachusetts, to Eleanor M. Taft. a daughter of Benjamin Taft, a leading citizen of that city. There Mrs. Stone grew to womanhood and was graduated from the Fitchburg State Normal. The union of the Doctor and wife has resulted in the birth of two children, namely : Edward W., born in Fitchburg, Septem- ber 29. 1907; and Windsor, whose birth occurred in that city on October 12, 1908; they are both attending school at this writing.
Politically, Doctor Stone votes independently. In religious matters he is a Presbyterian. He is a member of the Greene County Medical Society, the Missourir State Medical Association, the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association. Personally, he is a plain, prac- tical, sociable gentleman and has made many friends during his short resi- dence in Springfield.
DR. EDWARD MARTIN SHEPARD.
Edward Martin Shepard was born in West Winsted, Connecticut, May 15, 1854, the son of Samuel Shepard and Mary Isabella ( Dennis) Shepard. In 1860, his family moved to Norfolk, Connecticut, where his father entered into the mercantile business with his brother, James H. Shepard. The early childhood of the subject of this sketch was profoundly impressed by the events of the Civil war, two striking incidents of which were the reception of Major Anderson in New York, after his return from Ft. Sumter, and the funeral obsequies of the martyred President, Abraham Lincoln, as his body lay in state in Independence Hall. Philadelphia.
In 1867 and '68, he attended the private school of Emory F. Strong, at Bridgeport, Connecticut, and in 1869, '70 and '71 he prepared for college at the General Russell Collegiate and Military Institute, at New Haven, Connecticut, where he attained the rank of first lieutenant and acting cap- tain. The Christmas holidays of 1870-71, he went to Charleston, South Carolina, to visit his parents, who were spending the winter in the South, and though but a lad, the vivid impression left by the sad condition of the Southland during the days of reconstruction was a powerful factor in broad- ening his sympathies and political understanding in after life. A severe attack of scarlet fever at the end of his New Haven school days, as well as
MRS. E. M. SHEPARD.
DR. E. M. SHEPARD.
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the critical illness of his father, compelled the temporary abandonment of his college course; and after the death of his father, which occurred Janu- ary 14, 1872, he sought the outdoor employment which his own health seemed to demand. In the spring of 1872, he secured a position as rodman under Engineer Frank K. Pingree, on a branch of the Chicago and North- western railroad, in the upper peninsula of Michigan-then a wilderness, where, thirty miles from Menominee, the nearest settlement, he spent the summer and fall in the engineering work of the construction of this railroad. Here the pure air, out-of-door life and vigorous exercise laid the founda- tion of a more robust young manhood. In 1873, again associated with Mr. Pingree, whose business ability, coupled with a fine christian character, made him an admirable employer for the young. He was engaged in the construction work of the New York, Boston & Montreal railroad, and located in Dutchess county, New York, where he remained until. as an after-effect of the financial panic of 1873, all railroad construction tempo- rarily ceased. During his enforced idleness, he took up the study of botany and mineralogy, subjects which renewed his desire for a college course, and which changed the whole trend of his life. He was particularly fortunate in the intimate associates of his boyhood and young manhood, many of whom were ambitious and eager for useful careers, and some of whom have occupied honorable places among the world's most distinguished men. Of these were Dr. William H. Welch, now of Johns Hopkins University, the most famous physician and bacteriologist in America; Charles Battell Loomis, widely known by his writings; Frederick E. Ives, the noted in- ventor; Dr. Charles Gross, late professor of History in Harvard University ; Dr. J. S. Kingsley, zoologist, of Tufts College, Massachusetts: Professor John Robinson, of Salem, Massachusetts; Rev. Dr. John P. Peters, of New York City, Episcopal clergyman and archaeologist; Dr. Waldo S. Pratt, of Hartford Theological Seminary; Dr. Frederick S. Dennis, of Bellevue Medical School, one of the foremost surgeons of his day; and the Rev. Dr. James S. Dennis, of New York, noted missionary and author, the last two being his double cousins.
In 1875, he was employed by Dr. Spencer F. Baird to collect minerals for the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, and later was engaged to collect material for the Smithsonian Institution from prehistoric mounds which had just been opened in southeast Missouri. Interest in biology and geology had so increased that he planned to resume his studies, and went to Williams College to pursue these subjects under Professor Sanborn Tenney. He was appointed mineralogist and cryptogamic botanist for the Williams College Rocky Mountain scientific expedition. A vacation course of study under Dr. A. S. Packard, at the Peabody Academy of Science, at Salem, Massachusetts, still further advanced his scientific work, and brought him
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in contact with emment scientific men who became lifelong friends. One never-to-be-forgotten experience of that summer was the invitation to wit- ness the first public exhibition of the telephone, by Dr. Graham Bell, the cities of Boston and Salem being connected for that purpose. His course at Williams College was interrupted during the junior year, and later, the institution made him an honorary graduate, with his class of 1878. 11 1877 he went to Roanoke College, at Salem, Virginia, for the purpose of classifying and arranging their fine museum, which had been hurriedly placed in storage during the Civil war. Later, he was called to the chair of Natural History in Waynesburg College, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, from which institution he went to Drury College as Professor of Biology and Geology, where he began his work in the fall of 1878, continuing the same until June, 1908, when ill-health compelled his permanent retirement from the teaching profession, and he was placed upon the Carnegie Foundation. In 1880, he, in connection with Prof. Charles H. Ford, a graduate of Williams College, conducted the first summer school of biology west of the Alleghenies. Ile was married. June 28, 1881, to Miss Harriett Elma Ohlen, at Madison, New Jersey. He was acting president of Drury College in 1893 and '94, a service for which he sacrificed a most attractive engagement to superintend the Missouri mining exhibit at the Chicago World's Fair, and in the summer of 1907, he again resigned special engagements with the Illinois Geological Survey to resume the acting presidency of the college. 111 1881 he received the degree of Master of Arts from Williams College, and in 1902 the degree of Doctor of Science was conferred upon him by Waynes- burg College, his thesis upon that occasion being his book on "The Geology of Greene and AAdjacent Counties," published by the Missouri Geological Survey.
Enthusiasm for his work in geology led him to travel extensively throughout the United States and other countries ; twice through the region of the Great Lakes and Canada : twice through Nova Scotia and New Bruns- wick; several times to California and the North Pacific region; the Gulf coast and Cuba : and Colorado and the Yellowstone National Park. In 1889, on leave of absence from the college, he traveled and studied geology in the Hawaiian Islands. Fiji Islands, Australia, Tasmania and New Zea- land. At various times he made trips through Mexico, and in 1898, on his retirement from active college work, he took an extended trip around the world, sailing from New York through the West Indies to Panama, thence along the north coast of South America, visiting the coast region, thence north to England, where, after a stay of six weeks, he traveled through the Mediterranean region, visiting Algiers, Genoa, Naples, Egypt, Ceylon, Singapore, China, and spending several weeks in Japan.
On retiring from Drury College, he presented to the institution the
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large collections of antiquities and specimens representing all departments of natural history, these having been collected mostly at his own expense, and in accepting the gift, the trustees of the college voted to name the college museum "The Edward M. Shepard Museum" of natural science. Mr. Shepard is the owner of one of the largest geological libraries in the state, and has published the following works: "Systematic Mineral Record," A. S. Barnes & Co., New York; "Tables for Plant Analysis," Springfield, Missouri; "Qualitative Analysis Blanks," Springfield, Missouri; "Report on Geology of Greene County and Portions of Polk, Webster, Christian and Dallas Counties," Vol. XII. Missouri Geological Survey, Jefferson City, Mis- souri, 1898; papers in Bulletins of the United States Geological Survey on "Wells, Springs and General Water Resources of Missouri," in Bulletin 102, Water Supply and Irrigation Papers: "Underground Waters of East- ern United States: Missouri," in Bulletin 114. ibid; "Spring System of the Decaturville Dome, Camden County, Missouri," in Bulletin ITO. ibid; Bul- letin 195, "Underground Waters of Missouri: Their Geology and Utiliza- tion ;" introduction to volume of sermons by the Rev. N. M. Long, of Memphis, Tennessee ; "The New Madrid Earthquake," Journal of Geology, January, 1905, "Table of Geological Formations of Missouri and Arkan- sas." Bulletin Bradley Geological Field Station, Vol. I. Pt. I: "Historical Sketch of Bradley Geological Field Station," ibid, Vol. I. Pt. I: "Key to Rocks and Geological Horizons of Greene County, Missouri," ibid, Vol. I. Pt. 2. Other papers on the following subjects have been published in vari- ous journals : "Historical Sketch of Lead and Zinc Mining in Missouri." Springfield, Missouri; "Geology of the Lead and Zinc Region of Missouri;" "Comparative Study of the Lead and Zinc Deposits:" "Structural Geology of Southwest Missouri;" "Clay Deposits of Missouri:" and "Historical Sketch of the Lime Industry of Missouri."
He is a member of the following societies: Fellow of the Geological Society of America: fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science; member of the Seismological Society, American Institute of Mining Engineers, American Mining Congress. National Geographic So- ciety, member and delegate Tenth International Geological Congress, Mexico, 1896; Authors' Club, London, England ; member and counsellor for Missouri of National Economic League ; Society of Mayflower Descendants; lieutenant-governor, Missouri Society of Colonial Wars; historian Mis- souri Society of the Sons of the Revolution; president Springfield chapter, Sons of the Revolution; member board of managers Missouri Geological Survey under the past six governors ; acting state geologist, Missouri, 1901 ; assistant Missouri Geological Survey in charge of Greene, Polk, Dallas, Webster and Christian counties, 1890-93; consulting geologist, Sphalerite Mining Company, Aurora, Missouri, 1894; consulting geologist, Missouri
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Land and Improvement Company, 1901-1904; field assistant, United States Geological Survey, department of hydrology, in charge of Missouri, 1903- 1907; honorary member Missouri Historical Society; gold medal for best collection of mineral waters, Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis ; assistant, department of geology and mining, ibid; honorary member of the Luther Burbank Society, of California; member of the Springfield Uni- versity Club ; vice-president of the Springfield Country Club, 1907; presi- dent of Winoka Club. 1912 -.
He is a descendant of some of the oldest Pilgrim stock in America, tracing his ancestry back, in most cases, three and four hundred years. He is a lineal descendant of Governor William Bradford, of Plymouth Colony, and of Governor John Webster, of Connecticut. He had six ancestors in the Revolutionary war, and twenty-one in the French and Indian wars.
He has two children, Isabel Violet Shepard, born August 23, 1888, and Edward Martin Shepard, Jr., born August 27, 1889. His residence is 1403 Benton avenue, Springfield, Missouri.
HARRIETT ELMA (OHLEN) SHEPARD.
Harriett Elma (Ohlen) Shepard was born in the beautiful Mohawk Valley region of New York state, near the town of Ft. Hunter, January 16, 1853, the ninth and youngest child of Stephen Van Rensselaer and Nancy Record (Clark) Ohlen. The paternal ancestor, John Olin (as the name was originally spelled) emigrated from Wales and settled near East Greenwich, Rhode Island. The family was prominent in the Revolutionary war, and various members held offices of state. From the village of Ft. Hunter, Stephen Van Rensselaer Ohlen removed to the other side of the Mohawk river and settled in the town of Tribes Hill, famous as a center of activity during the Indian wars, where he engaged in mercantile busi- ness, and where the childhood of the subject of this sketch was passed. Later, the discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania attracted the father and his son, Henry Clark Ohlen, to that region, and the family spent several years in the heart of the oil territory, the son becoming a somewhat promi- nent operator there and a member of the first company to lay a pipe line for the transportation of oil to the seaboard. Financial interest again took the family eastward, the son returning to New York City, where he was a mem- ber and president of the Petroleum Exchange, and the father settling in the New Jersey suburban town of Madison, where the youngest daughter began her preparation for Vassar College, at which institution she entered the freshman class in the fall of 1870, graduating in 1874 with the degree Bache-
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lor of Arts. In her junior year she was one of the editors of "The Vassar Miscellany," and her marked interest in scientific research caused her to be engaged as assistant to William Orton, the professor of geology of Vassar College, for the year following her graduation. An accident, resulting in temporary disability, prevented the fulfilling of this engagement. and the fol- lowing year she was called to the chair of Natural History in Milwaukee College, where Professor Charles S. Farrar, one of her former instructors in Vassar, had gone to take the presidency of that institution. During her four years' connection with Milwaukee College, her routine work was varied by membership with various scientific and art societies, the proceedings of which she regularly reported for the daily newspapers, writing occasional editorial articles as well. The wide circle of friends made in that intellectual and progressive city gave stimulus to the mental activities of the ambitious young woman, who began to feel that her life-work must be connected with the growing institutions of the West. In the spring of 1878, a call to Drury College resulted in her taking up work in that institution the following fall as head of the woman's department, where a broader field seemed to open in the opportunity for guiding the young girls who were under her imme- diate supervision in Fairbanks Hall, which was at that time the dormitory for women. To her duties as a teacher, an increasing amount of executive work was added, and outside of the college routine she entered into the church and community life of the growing city. She became a teacher in the Sabbath school and recognizing the opportune time for interesting the women of the community in more varied intellectual pursuits, she, in con- pany with others, organized the Springfield Ladies Saturday Club, the first literary club of its kind, so far as known, in the state. After serving for three years as lady principal of Drury College (the title "Dean of Women" not having yet been adopted by that institution), she resigned her position, and on June 28, 1881, at her home in Madison, New Jersey, was married to Edward Martin Shepard, professor of biology and geology in Drury Col- lege, and with him spent the summer in travel and study in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, gratifying the taste for scientific research common to both. They returned to Springfield in the fall to found a new home in the college circle of households-a home to which teachers, students and towns- people were always welcomed, and which became a center for the scientific interests of the college. For many years subsequent to her marriage. Mrs. Shepard's summers were largely spent with her husband in studying the botany and geology (then little known) of southwest Missouri, driving through the wilderness, camping out where no better accommodations were available, and learning to know, at first hand, the sturdy natives of this part of the state. A considerable amount of miscellaneous literary work was always done in her leisure hours at home, the reviewing of books for vari-
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ous publishing houses having been an interesting and favorite occupation .. Her two children, Isabel Violet Shepard and Edward Martin Shepard, Jr .. were educated in Drury College, graduating in the class of 1910, the son going immediately to Cornell University, New York, where he graduated from the department of electrical engineering, and the daughter supple- menting her college work with special courses in Missouri State University and the University of Chicago.
Mrs. Shepard was a member of the executive board of the Missouri Woman's Home Missionary Union for a number of years, in which capacity she served the various interests of home missions, and wrote a number of leaflets which were published for the use of the union. Early in the summer of 1899, in company with her husband and children, she took an extended trip through the West to San Francisco, and in the autumn of that year sailed with the family for Honolulu, where she established a temporary home and quickly became interested in the life of the island, particularly those things related to their early missionary history, at the same time vis- iting the volcanoes and other points of natural interest in that "Paradise of the Pacific." On her return to Springfield, after a nine months' absence, she wrote and lectured many times on life in Hawaii, speaking, mainly to missionary societies and women's clubs. In 1896, she went with her hus- band and daughter to the Tenth International Geological Congress held in Mexico, being made an honorary member of the Congress, with permission to share all privileges of delegates. In company with her husband and geologists of many nations, she traveled extensively through the mining regions of the republic, visiting its pyramids, museums, art galleries, his- toric cathedrals, and the wonderful ruins of Mitla, and enjoying, as a long- to-be-remembered feature of the whole experience, the invitation to a recep- tion and dinner given at Chapultepec Castle by President and Mrs. Diaz.
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