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 80
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To William H. Fulbright and wife three children have been born, namely : Alexander, who married Mary Knott, has one child, Guy: the former's wife died in 1897, and in 1900 he married for his second wife, Mollie Mercer, and has one child by her, Russell: Guy Fulbright married Rosa Schmidt and they have four children: Alexander Fulbright lives in Springfield and works at the Davis Planing Mill; his son Guy works in the
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New Frisco shops. David, second child of our subject and wife, married Alice Gabie and they had three children, Lawson ( deceased), Elizabeth and Alma: David farms in Murray township. Mrs. Anna Cosby, youngest of the children of our subject, is deceased.
William H. Fulbright is a Democrat in politics, but being a quiet, home man he has never aspired to public office. He is liberal in his religious views and has always been regarded as an honest, upright man, kind, neighborly and public-spirited. Mrs. Fulbright is a member of the Ritter Chapel, Methodist Episcopal church, South. They are both widely known in the county and are in every respect deserving of the high esteem in which they are universally held.
LAWRENCE J. MURPHY.
There is a great deal of satisfaction to the biographer in contem- plating a life like that of Lawrence J. Murphy, former superintendent of the Springfield Wagon Company, the prestige of which he has done much to augment. having been connected with the same for over a quarter of a century or ever since he cast his lot with the people of Greene county. He seems to have inherited many of the traits that win in the battle of life from his sterling Irish ancestors and there is added interest in his career in view of the fact that he is one of our honored veterans of the Civil war, having fought gallantly for the Union during its great crisis a half century ago. Having lived a wholesome life, kept a clear conscience and thought rightly as well as kept busy, he is still hale and active although well past his allotted three score and ten years, which limit was set by the great Psalmist on man's mortal life.
Mr. Murphy was born. March 25, 1837, in Seneca county in the state of New York. and he is a son of Timothy and Margaret (Desmond) Mur- phy, both parents born in Ireland, where they grew to maturity and were educated and married in the city of Cork. They remained in the Emerald Isle until 1827 when they emigrated to the United States and settled in the state of New York. The father devoted his life to farming and became well established in the New World through his industry. Politically, he was a Democrat. His family consisted of seven children, only two of whom are now living, namely : William died in 1900: John is deceased : Mary died in 1850: Daniel is deceased : Lawrence J., of this review : Abby is deceased; Timothy is the youngest and lives in Dubuque, Iowa, and is secretary of the school board.
Lawrence J. Murphy was reared partly in the Empire state and there
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LAWRENCE J. MURTHY.
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GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
assisted his father with the general work on the farm when he was a boy, and he received his education in the common schools. However, he was only eleven years old when he removed with the family to Illinois in 1850, and on to Iowa in a short time, and in that year the father died.
Our subject learned the trade of wagon maker in the factory of Hart- sock & Welsh at Dubuque, Iowa, where he went to work when a boy, re- maining there until August 26, 1862, when he enlisted in Company F, Twenty-first Iowa Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Hoar, and during the three years Mr. Murphy was at the front in the South he saw much hard service, taking part in a number of important campaigns and battles, in- cluding Hartsville, Missouri, Port Gibson, Baker's Creek, Black River, siege of Vicksburg, all in Mississippi, also Fort Blakely and Spanish Fort in Alabama. He proved to be a faithful and brave soldier, and was honorably discharged on July 15, 1865, with the rank of second sergeant, which had been conferred on him for meritorious conduct. After the war he returned to Iowa and secured a position in the Cooper Wagon Works at Dubuque and remained there for a period of seventeen years, during which he mastered the various phases of the wagon manufacturing business. He came to Springfield, Missouri, in 1884 and at once secured a position with. the Springfield Wagon Company, one of the largest and best known con- cerns of its kind in the Southwest, and he has been connected with the same- to the present time, having done much to build up the vast trade of the com- pany and make their output eagerly sought, for the high grade workman- ship and superiority of this wagon in every respect is well known over Missouri and adjoining states. He long occupied the position of superin- tendent, the responsible duties of which he discharged in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of the other officers and stockholders of the company.
Mr. Murphy was married, January 22, 1867, to Maria F. Crowley, who was born in 1851 in Dubuque. Iowa, and there she was reared and educated. She is a daughter of William and Mary ( Harrington) Crowley, both natives of Ireland. Mr. Crowley has devoted his life successfully to farming.
To Mr. and Mrs. Murphy four children have been born, namely: Wil- liam, formerly engineer on the Frisco Lines out of Springfield: the second child died in infancy; Mary, who married John Irwin, division superintend- ent of the Canadian Northern Railroad, with headquarters at Dauphin, Manitoba, and Lawrence Albert, who is with the Canadian Northern Rail- way, at Dauphin, Manitoba.
Politically, Mr. Murphy is a Democrat, and he is a faithful member of the Catholic church.
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
WILLIAM P. PATTERSON, M. D.
One of the well known physicians and surgeons of Greene county is Dr. Wilham P. Patterson of Springfield who has been engaged in the practice of lus profession in this county for a period of twenty-eight years. During his earlier years his employments were such as are common to farmers' boys. lle attended the rural schools in winter, made progress in study and books, and laid a few foundation stones upon which some parts of his life's struc- ture yet rest. To these early years, under the tutelage of father and mother, whose chief ambitions were to impress upon the minds of their children such principles as would make possible lives of usefulness and honor, Dr. Patter- son, like myriads of others, is deeply indebted for that probity of character, and those justifiable aspirations that prominently characterize him as a citizen in the passages of life. In these 'immature years, when the mind is taking its bent, when youthful ambitions are shaping themselves for manhood achievements, no influences have ever been found more prolific or potential for good, than those which the farm with such accompaniments, has afforded. The farmer's home-the chaste purity of its teachings, the broad fields, the forest. the orchard, meadow, hill and dale, the song birds, and the hum of bees, the babbling brook, the silent river-all the opulence of beauty that Nature spreads out with lavish hand. are teachers of youth whose lessons are never forgotten. It was amid such scenes and influences that the earlier years of our subject were spent. AAnd he is still a lover of Nature and a student of her secrets.
Doctor Patterson was born at Sale Creek, Hamilton county, Tennessee, October 19, 1861. He is a son of J. A. N. and Elizabeth S. (Coulter) Patterson, an excellent old southern couple of the rural type, well educated, hard working, honest and hospitable. The father, who fought gallantly in the Confederate army during the war between the states, is still engaged in farming in Hamilton county, and is now advanced in years.
Doctor Patterson grew to manhood in his native community and there attended the public schools and the Sale Creek Academy, then entered the State University, at Knoxville, then entered Vanderbilt University at Nash- ville. and was graduated from the medical department of that great southern institution. He made an excellent record in both the universities, but to further equip himself for his chosen life work he took a post graduate course in the New York Polyclinic. He came to Greene county, Missouri in 1886 and began the practice of medicine at the town of Brookline, where he soon built up an excellent practice and there he remained until in January, 1897, when, seeking a wider field for the exercise of his talents he removed to Springfield where he has remained to the present time. enjoying a lucrative
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI. 747
and ever-growing general practice as a physician and surgeon, ranking among the best of his professional brethren in southwest Missouri. He maintains an up-to-date suite of offices at 505-506 Holland building. He has ever re- mained a close student of all that pertains to his vocation and has therefore kept well abreast of the times. He is a member of the Greene County Med- ical Society, the Southwest Missouri District Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical Association and the American Medical Association. He has served as secretary and president of the county and district societies. Dur- ing 1897-8 he served very acceptably as coroner of Greene county. Politically, he has always been a Democrat. He has been a director in the Young Men's Christian Association here for the past fifteen years, and has long been an active worker in the church and in all movements looking toward the moral improvement of the city. He is a member of the South Street Christian church. He is also prominent in fraternal circles, and belong's to the Masonic order, including the Chapter and Council, the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Arcanum. He is medical examiner for the Modern Woodmen of America and several old line insurance companies, including the Illinois Life, the State Mutual of Massachusetts, the National Life, International Life of St. Louis, the Northwestern Mutual and others. He is now a member of the board of education, having served for the past five years.
Doctor Patterson was married in 1891 to May Blackman, a daughter of Wallace W. Blackman, a prominent citizen of Greene county in the early days. Here Mrs. Patterson grew to womanhood and was educated. Mrs. Patterson completed her education at Christian College, Columbia, Missouri. To the Doctor and wife three daughters have been born, namely: Aldine. May and Elizabeth. Mrs. Patterson was born in Greene county and has spent her life here and has always been popular with a wide circle of friends. She is a member of the South Street Christian church and is active in the work of the same.
JAMES P. YOUNGBLOOD.
It is at all times very interesting to compile and preserve the experiences of the old soldiers who went out to fight the country's battles during the slave-holders' rebellion fifty years ago. These gallant old fellows are fast passing away and we should get all their experiences first hand before it is too late, for it is not only interesting but important that we preserve these personal experiences, for, after all, those are the events that make history. What would history be worth were it not for the vivid actions of the indi-
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viduals? That is all there is to the splendid histories of ancient and modern times. The story as told by one who has passed through the bloody experi- ences of a half century ago of several years of stubborn struggle and was in numerous engagements, marches and campaigns, and perhaps prisons and hospitals, is far more interesting than if narrated long hence by some writer who may distort events out of their true historic significance. One of the Veterans of that great conflict whose military career would, if set forth in detail, make a fair sized volume of interesting narrative is James P. Young- blood, for many years a farmer in the western part of Greene county, who is now living in retirement in Springfiekl.
Mr. Youngblood was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, August 30, 1844. He is a son of Theodric B. and Sarah (Hutchinson) Youngblood, the father a native of Alabama and the mother of Tennessee, and they were married in Mississippi. They subsequently moved to northwestern Arkansas, and were living near Carrollton when the Civil war broke out, and there the father of our subject raised a company of one hundred and twenty men. The com- pany met on Long creek on the morning of July 14, 1862, and organized, electing Theodric B. Youngblood captain. They camped the first night on White river. Some of the members of the company had killed a deer which they dressed and ate. Some of the Union people living there reported them to the federal authorities as a gang of rebels, and the following day they started to Galena, Missouri, and while crossing a hill near that place they ob- served a woman mount a horse and hasten away for the purpose of again notifying the Federals, but a girl who lived in the neighborhood, being friendly to the company, went to the Federals, telling them that the visitors were Unionists instead of secessionists: however, the Federals came upon the company, which had stacked arms and the leader of the Federals ad- dressed the company, commending it for the bravery it had shown. The purpose of the organization was to become a company of the First Arkansas Volunteer Union Cavalry, which it was understood was organizing, and the company desired to enlist in the same under Col. Harrison. The company was accepted. Mr. Youngblood continuing captain. During the latter part of the war the company was detailed to hold Bentonville, Arkansas, properly guarding mail carriers. The subject of this sketch was sent there with a lieu- tenant to receive the Confederates who desired to surrender and remained there two weeks, when the lieutenant received orders to report to Colonel Harrison at Fayetteville, and Mr. Youngblood was left in charge at Benton- ville, by which town many of the secessionists came on their way back home and about one hundred surrendered to him, giving up their arms and taking their parole papers. Our subject was seventeen years old when he enlisted in Company K. First Arkansas Union Cavalry, enlisting in Springfield, Mis-
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souri, in July, 1862, under his father and served three years and thirty-five days. He took part in a number of engagements, including that of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. For some time he was stationed in the old Cassville court house in Barry county, Missouri, and while there port holes were cut through the building through which they could fire at the rebels when they attacked the place. He was mustered out and honorably discharged at Fayetteville, August 25, 1865.
James P. Youngblood is one of eight children, namely : William, the eldest; Margaret is deceased: James P., of this sketch; Mrs. Susan Rags- d'ale, next in order ; Charles M., who lives in Springfield : John A., who was formerly county surveyor of Greene county and now resident of Springfield ; Theodric B., who was named after his father; and Jeremiah M., the youngest.
James P. Youngblood grew to manhood on the home farm in Arkansas, and he received his education in the subscription schools, which he attended three months each year for a few years, and remained with his parents until he joined the army. Some time after the war he came to Greene county, Missouri, and purchased a farm between Brookline and Republic, where he resided twenty-four years, carrying on general farming and stock raising in . a very gratifying manner and ranking among the leading tillers of the soil in that locality. Selling his farm, he moved to Springfield and engaged in the grocery business on the boulevard for eighteen years, selling out and re- tiring from active life in 1908. His home is on Prospect avenue where he now lives surrounded by all the comforts of life.
Mr. Youngblood was married in Berryville, Arkansas, November 27, 1866, to Paulina A. Bayless, a daughter of John and Lurainey (Jones) Bay- less, of DeKalb county, Alabama, where Mrs. Youngblood lived with her parents until she was eleven years old, when the family removed to Carroll county, Arkansas. She received her early education in the public schools of Berryville, Arkansas. She was one of eleven children, all now deceased but herself and two brothers, John Bayless and George M. Bayless, both living on a farm near Cassville, Missouri.
To Mr. and Mrs. Youngblood nine children have been born, namely : William Sheridan, who lives in Springfield: Hugh Grant is deceased : John B. lives in Golden, Colorado; Jehu R. lives in Springfield : George B. is living with his parents; James Paul makes his home at San Antonio, Texas; the three youngest children died in infancy.
Politically, Mr. Youngblood is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to Solomon Lodge No. 271 of Masons at Springfield ; also is a member of Capt. John Matthews Post, Grand Army of the Republic, Springfield, Mis- souri. He and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist church, in which he is a deacon.
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GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
JOHN W. WILLIAMS.
The most elaborate history is perforce a merciless abridgment, the his- torian being obliged to select his facts and materials from manifold details and marshal them in concise and logical order. This applies to specific as well as generic history, and in the former category is inchided the interesting and important department of biography. In every life of honor and use- fulness there is no dearth of interesting situations and incidents, and yet in summing up such a career as that of John W. Williams, for many years one of the leading merchants of Springfield, now living in honorable retirement after a successful. useful and praiseworthy career, the writer must need touch only on the more salient facts, giving the keynote of the character and eliminating all that is superfluous to the continuity of the narrative. The gentleman whose name appears above has led somewhat of a strenuous life, yet void of the exciting, and the more prominent have been so identified with the useful and practical that it is to them almost entirely that the writer refers in the following paragraphs.
Mr. Williams was born in Lewisburg, Marshall county, Tennessee, April 18, 1851. Hle is a son of John and Hannah (Wood) Williams, the father born in Tennessee in 1823. spent his life in that state and died there in 1850 when a young man: the mother was born in England in 1826, and her death occurred January 27. 1912 at the advanced age of eighty-six years, having thus survived her husband sixty-two years. Our subject was two years old when, in 1853, he was brought to Greene county, Missouri, by his mother and maternal grandfather. John Wood, a capitalist of considerable means and one of the early important pioneers of Greene county. A full and interesting sketch of this great man appears elsewhere in these volumes. The family located on a farm five miles from Springfield. In 1855 our subject's mother married Joseph Farrier, who had one son, Joseph W. Far- rier by a former marriage to Roxanna Weaver. The elder Farrier was a money lender and was connected with the old Missouri State Bank, also was a pioneer hat manufacturer and merchant. He was a native of Kentucky and he crossed the western plains in the early fifties to the California gold fields, and from that time was a very successful business man. One child, besides our subject, was born to Hannah Wood by her first marriage, a daughter who died at four years of age, and her second union was without issue.
John W. Williams grew to manhood in Greene county and was educated here. having attended the first high school in Springfield, which was taught by Prof J. Fairbanks. Mr. Williams was young in years when he began
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his business career as a retail merchant in Springfield, under the firm name of Weaver, Wood & Company; later the firm was Wood & Williams and in 1886 he organized the John W. Williams Hardware & Stove Company, which existed for some fifteen years. He prospered from the first and enjoyed an ever-increasing business with the advancing years, building up a very extensive trade with the town and surrounding country, remaining in the same line for a period of thirty years, during which time he had the reputa- tion of maintaining the best equipped and most up-to-date store of its kind in the city and he ranked with the leading merchants of southwest Missouri. Having accumulated a handsome competency through his able management, wise foresight, straightforward and honest dealings with the public he retired from active life ten years ago, since which time he has devoted his attention to his personal business affairs, looking after his various properties, which include a beautiful residence on West Walnut street, and some three hun- dred acres of fine improved farm land all in Campbell township. He built and owns the Bank of Commerce building and owns several important busi- ness houses in the city.
Mr. Williams was married February 18. 1873 to Juliet R. Vinton, who was born in Springfield, Missouri. February 16, 1852. She is a daughter of Samuel S. and Margaret (Campbell) Vinton, and is a niece of Jack Campbell who donated the site for the city. Samuel S. Vinton, who was a merchant by occupation, was born January 16, 1826, in Baltimore, Maryland. and was brought here when a boy with Major Berry and entered into the mercantile business with his uncle, Maj. D. D. Berry, and for many years was a leading business man of Springfield, dying in Springfield January 16, 1890. His wife was born July 11, 1827, and died July 16. 1859. Mrs. Williams grew to womanhood in the city of Baltimore and was educated there in the high school and Baltimore College. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, by virtue of the fact that her ancestors, the J. K. Polk family, who were North Carolina people, took part in the struggle of the colonists for independence.
Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Williams, all living, namely : Mabel, born December 19, 1873, married Dr. R. B. Love. of Spring- field, who is now deputy state veterinarian ; Bettie Weaver and Etta Vinton, twins, were born December 11, 1876, the former married C. D. Hamilton, of Los Angeles, California; the latter married L. A. Biggs, Jr., and they live on a farm near Springfield : Robert Farrier, born August 26, 1879. married a Miss Buckner, and is now a physician of Springfield: J. Samuel. born February 13. 1882, married Pearl Williams, and they live on a farm near Springfield; Juliet M., born December 29, 1886, married Roy Cox, and they live in Springfield; Joseph C., born May 23, 1888, is unmarried and is con-
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GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
nected with the Bank of Commerce, of Springfield; Dorsey A., born Novem- ber 10, 1800, Inves at home and is a graduate of Drury College; John W., Jr., born October 19, 1895, was graduated from the Springfield high school with the class of 111.1.
Politically, Mr. Williams is a Democrat, but being a great home man, and best contented when by his own fireside with his congenial family, he has never sought political office. Our subject and family are members of the Episcopalian church.
RICHARD M. FINK.
The most enduring monument which can be erected to the memory of loved ones is not made of marble or granite, for time, alas! crumbles these away ; and, precious as are the cherished memories in the hearts of friends, within a few years these associations will be sleeping in the silent cemeteries. Naught endures save the written record, the page glowing with the noble life and kindly deeds,-these alone hand down to the generations of the future, the history of the past, not only of the hardy pioneers whose brave patriotism and undaunted hearts paved the way to posterity and civilization, but also those of a later generation who carried onward the noble work which they began. Of the latter class was the late Richard M. Fink, for many years one of the leading druggists of Springfield, owning and operating successfully a large modern drug store.
Mr. Fink was born in Girard. Macoupin county, Illinois. December 15, 1852. He is a son of Charles H. and Mary (Boggess) Fink. The father was born in Lexington county, Kentucky, February 22, 1822, and died January 26, 1901. The mother of our subject was born, April 24. 1827, in Christian county, Kentucky, and her death occurred February 24, 1863. These parents grew to maturity in their native state, were educated in the common schools and there were married. Charles H. Fink devoted the major portion of his active life to the nursery business, which he conducted successfully and on a large scale. His family consisted of four children, all of whom are living, but our subject, namely: Mrs. Virginia Crenshaw, Mattie and Richard M., twins, and Robert.
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