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 95
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of fancy and staple groceries, in fact, everything to be found in up-to-date grocery stores in any city. He has remained unmarried.
Politically. Martin Ansherman was a Republican, and was regarded by all as an honest man and a good citizen in every respect. His death occurred on January 20, 1800, at the age of forty-eight years, when in the prime of life.
WILLIAMSON HENRY FRANKLIN POTTER.
One of ,Greene county's progressive farmers and well known men in public affairs is Williamson Henry Franklin Potter, of Washington town- ship. He has succeeded in agricultural affairs partly because he has been willing to apply himself assiduously to his vocation and partly because he has adopted modern methods of husbandry whenever practicable. He is a worthy scion of one of the prominent old families of this section of the state and here he has been content to spend his life. He has assisted in the wonderful improvement of the locality that has taken place here during the past half century. A man of fine foresight he has ever manifested faith in the future of his native community.
Mr. Potter was born in Greene county, Missouri, May 7, 1850. He is a son of Henry D. and Nancy (Myra) Potter. The father was born in Tennessee, March 22, 1810, there grew to manhood and received a common school education and married. He spent his boyhood days on a farm. He came to Missouri in 1845 in wagons, locating in Greene county, where he bought forty acres of land, later adding one hundred and sixty acres, owning a fine farm of two hundred acres at the time of his death. He cleared most of it and carried on general farming successfully. His death occurred on his home farm here, in June, 1875. Politically he was a Republican. His wife was a native of Tennessee where she grew up on a farm and received a common school education. She was a very industrious woman, spun and wove cloth for clothing for her family. She often told of the hardships they encountered on the tedious journey from Tennessee. She often raised the cotton herself which she later spun and made into garments for her house- hold. She often worked all day and far into the night. She was a worthy member of the Presbyterian church. She died on the homestead here, about a month after her husband died. To these parents seven children were born, namely : William R. died in Tennessee; Mary Ann died about the close of the Civil war; Mrs. Margaret Jane Watts is living at Rogersville, Mis- souri; she has been twice married, first, to James K. Kelley, who was a soldier in the Civil war, but returned from the front on account of sickness and died on his farm. The next child is Mrs. Sarah Ellen Watts, deceased;
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Mrs. Martha Pickle lives at Rogersville; Mrs. Amanda S. Watts also lives at Rogersville. Margaret, Sarah and Amanda married brothers, named Watts, and Williamson H. F., of this sketch.
Our subject grew to manhood on the home farm, and he received his early education in the common schools. He has followed farming all his life, and is now living on a part of the farm on which he was reared. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age, when he married Amanda E. Pickle, then went to farming for himself. At first he entered forty acres of land from the government, worked hard and man- aged well and later added one hundred and twenty acres to this, cleared about eighty acres and made the necessary improvements on his land, such as building a cozy home, a good barn and erecting proper fences. He has one of the largest barns in the community and other convenient outbuild- ings. Fifteen acres of his land is in timber. He has been very successful as a general farmer and makes a specialty of raising Percheron horses and Jersey cows. In 1890 he went to Half Way, Polk county, Missouri, and entered the mercantile business where he enjoyed a very good trade, and while there was appointed postmaster. After spending two years there he returned to his farm in Greene county. He went into the hardware business in Palmetto about a year later and conducted a store there two years and met with fair success. He then engaged in the marble business at Hender- son, Webster county, for three years. In 1900 he was elected a judge of the Greene county court, during McKinley's administration, and served one term with entire satisfaction to all concerned. Returning to his farm in Washington township he has since devoted his attention exclusively to gen- eral farming and stock raising.
Mrs. Potter was born in Tennessee, February 4, 1856, and when four years of age came to Missouri with her parents, making the journey in wagons. The family settled at Palmetto, Greene county, where Mrs. Potter grew to womanhood and received a common school education. She is a daughter of Jacob B. and Malissa (Holt) Pickle. Her father devoted his life to farming and became owner of an excellent place of two hundred acres. Politically he was a Republican, and was a member of the Methodist church. His death occurred on his farm at the age of about eighty years. His wife was a native of Tennessee, his native state, and there they grew to maturity, received such educational advantages as the early-day schools afforded and were married there. She was a member of the Presbyterian church. Here death occurred on the home farm in Greene county.
To Mr. and Mrs. Potter seven children have been born, namely: Mrs. Mary A. Burris lives at Half Way, Missouri, where her husband. J. B. Burris, who was in the mercantile business, died in the spring of 1914; Jef- ferson H. is farming in Polk county; Mrs. Nora M. Pursselley lives in
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Springfield: George 1. lives in Greene county; Opal lives at home and teaches school in Greene county: Willie lives at home, and Ellis, born June 30. 1887, died November 11, 1887.
Politically, Mr. Potter is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the Woodmen of the World, the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has been an active member of the Methodist Episco- pal church for a period of forty-three years. He is influential in the affairs of his community, is widely known and has always borne an excellent reputation.
OLIVER SMITH GOODWIN.
One of the best remembered and most highly respected citizens of Greene county in a past generation, who, after a successful and honorable career, has taken up his journey to that mystic clime, Shakespeare's "undiscovered bourne, from whence no traveler e'er returns," leaving behind him a heritage of which his descendants may well be proud-an untarnished name-was Oliver Smith Goodwin, who for the past quarter of a century was a resident of Springfield, where he was widely known as one of the leading abstractors of this section of the country. But not only as a good citizen was he desery- ing of mention, but also on account of his splendid military record. While his standing in the business world was that of an honest man, sound in judg- ment and wise in counsel, he also possessed in a generous degree the con- fidence of the public, and all movements having for their object the moral and educational welfare of the county found in him a liberal patron and generous benefactor, and his long life of more than three score and ten was one of decided usefulness.
Mr. Goodwin was born at Little York, Jefferson county, Ohio, October 3. 1842. He was a son of George and Mary Jane (Wilson) Goodwin. The father was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, in 1820, and was a son of John and Elizabeth (Crowley) Goodwin. John Goodwin was born in 1800, in Virginia, and came to Ohio when a young man. He was of Welsh descent. He was a tailor by trade, which he followed until he retired from active life. He served as justice of the peace for over twenty-five years. He was a Presbyterian. His death occurred in 1884. Elizabeth Crowley was also a native of Virginia. George Goodwin received a better education than the average boy of his times, and he became an expert bookkeeper. He was pro- prietor of a general store in Little York, Ohio, until 1861. When a boy he learned the tailor's trade from his father. He engaged in the hotel busi- ness at Uhrichsville, Ohio, for a number of years. In 1880 he went to Canton, that state, and opened a merchant tailoring business, and he spent
O. S. GOODWIN, Deceased.
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the last twenty years of his life in that city, his death occurring there in 1900. He had been a very successful man in business. He was a warm friend of the late President Mckinley. Politically, he was a Democrat, but he would never accept public office. He was a member of the Presbyterian church. He and Mary Jane Wilson were married in 1839. She was born near Youngstown, Ohio. Her death occurred in 1863. To these parents ten children were born, namely: Rachel, deceased; Oliver S., of this sketch; Albert, deceased; Martha E., widow of J. P. Grimm, lives in New Phila- delphia, Ohio: Anderson P. lives in Uhrichsville, Ohio; Cassander lives in Chicago; Adaline is the wife of David Jobe, of Columbus, Ohio; John W. lives in Wheeling, West Virginia ; Paulina. is married and lives at Marys- ville, Ohio; Georgiana is the wife of Douglas Stewart and they live at Boone, Iowa.
Oliver S. Goodwin received a good common school education. He was not yet twenty-one years old when he enlisted July 30, 1861, in Company B. Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He saw much hard service in all of which he never faltered, no matter how dangerous or arduous, and he took part in a number of the greatest battles of the war. Some of the engagements in which he participated were Cornafax Ferry, West Virginia, the second battle of Bull Run, South Mountain and Antietam, then was at Vicksburg during the memorable siege from January to July, 1863. later was in the Atlanta campaign and in the numerous engagements of the same, and he was mustered out at Atlanta, August 1, 1864. In February, 1865, he enlisted in Company D, Eighty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and became quartermaster sergeant of this regiment. He was honorably discharged at the close of the war.
Mr. Goodwin went to Uhrichsville, Ohio, after his career in the army and remained there until 1868, in which year he went to Brown county. Illinois, remaining there a year, then removed to Clark county. Missouri, in 1870 and was deputy county recorder there for a period of six years. and during that time he made a set of abstract books for a firm. After that he went to Monticello, Missouri, where he remained three years, and in 1888 removed to Springfield where he resided until his death. He at once began in the abstract business, and in 1902 began in this line for himself, made a most excellent set of books and was regarded as one of the principal men in this business in Greene county and was well patronized. His work was known for its accuracy, good style, and he had a reputation for scrupulous honesty, kindness and courtesy, and everybody respected and honored him.
Mr. Goodwin was married October 5, 1871, to Mary H. Rebo, a native of Clark county, Missouri, where she was reared and educated. To this union five children were born, namely: Amy is the wife of C. C. Stiffler
(56)
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of Waco, Texas; George died when six years old ; Mary Alice is the wife of G. W. Arnett of Springfield: Olive S. is the wife of Robert Allen of Dallas, Texas; and Ralph D. lives in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Goodwin was called to his eternal rest on July 17, 1914, at the age of seventy-two years. Politically he was a Republican and was a member of Captain John Matthews Post, No. 69, Grand Army of the Republic, in which he was quartermaster sergeant.
ELDER NEWTON FINLEY.
Each man who strives to fulfill his part in connection with human life and human activities is deserving of recognition, whatever may be his field of endeavor, and it is the function of works of this nature to prepare for future generations an authentic record concerning those represented in its pages, and the value of such publications is certain to be cumulative for all time to come, showing forth the individual and specific accomplishments of which generic history is ever engendered. Although yet quite a young man, the record, brief though it is, of Ekdler Newton Finley, secretary and treasurer of the Anchor Broom Works, of Springfield, is worthy of per- petuation within these pages, as we will readily ascertain by a study of the same in the following paragraphs.
Mr. Finley was born at Greenfield, Dade county, Missouri, December 15. 1885. He is a son of Albert N. and Thurzy (Daughtrey) Finley, both natives of the above named town and county, each representing prominent old families there. They were reared, educated and married there and are still living on a large farm two miles southwest of Greenfield. Their fam- ily consisted of nine children, namely : Mrs. Bessie Erisman, Mary Frances, Will P., Elder Newton, of this sketch; Sallie, Fred, Lloyd, Marie and Alma; the last five named are all at home with their parents.
Mr. Finley, of this sketch, was reared in his native community and re- ceived a good practical education in the Greenfield schools, graduating from the high school there. In the fall of 1907 he came to Springfield and at- tended a business college for nine months, and on June 8, 1908, took a part- nership in the Anchor Broom Company, which was incorporated in 1901, and he has remained with this concern to the present time and is now sec- retary and treasurer of the same, and its rapid growth during the past few years has been due in no small measure to his industry, sound judgment and foresight. Recently the firm has added the manufacture of mops to their long-established broom business, and the new department was a success from the first. This has been one of the best known and most successful
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broom works in the Southwest for a decade or more and its products are eagerly sought for over a wide territory, owing to the superior quality of the famous brands of brooms which the firm produces-the "Monarch," "Blue Ribbon," "Golden Rod," "Perfection," and "Little Gem." These brooms are shipped in large consignments over all the southwestern states, especially Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, eastern Kan- sas and Missouri. During the past year about twenty carload lots have been sent to various points, to say nothing of the vast number of smaller shipments, and each succeeding year brings a larger volume of business.
Mr. Finley was married April 14, 1914, to Nell Sullens, a daughter of J. L. Sullens, who was for a number of years one of the most prominent ministers of the Southern Methodist church in southwest Missouri. He and his wife were natives of central Missouri. They came to Springfield in 1906 where he was pastor of Campbell Street Methodist Episcopal church, South. He had filled numerous charges at various points in this part of the state and always built up the church and was popular with his congrega- tions, being regarded by all as a man of talent and rare usefulness. He met an untimely death by accident while hunting in the autumn of 1906. His family consisted of eleven children, namely: Ernest, Roy, Clarence (de- ceased), Mabel, Nellie, who married Mr. Finley; Leonard, Ethel, Lee, Cora, Emery and Walter. Mrs. Finley was educated in the schools of Springfield.
Politically, Mr. Finley is a Democrat. He belongs to the Springfield Commercial Club, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, South.
GEORGE WILLIAM NICHOLS.
During his residence in Springfield of nearly thirty years, George Will- iam Nichols has figured as one of our most enterprising business men. He has been by no means an idle spectator to the growth of the city from a small town to a city of wealth and importance. He had the sagacity to fore- see the great future of the same when he came here and he never lost faith in her great destiny, and no one takes a greater pride in seeing the Queen City advance along all lines than he. Mr. Nichols has been an advocate of right living not only in private but commercial and public life as well, and he is recognized as an upright citizen, square and honest in his dealings with his fellow-men, and as one that can be relied upon when called to per- form any of the duties of a faithful citizen.
Mr. Nichols was born in Lincoln county, Missouri, February 1I, 1851. He is a son of Chesley H. and Sarah Ann (Sitton) Nichols, both natives of that county also, and there they grew up, were educated and married and
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there established their home on a farm and spent their lives there, the father dying in 1873 at the age of fifty-six years, and the mother survived to the advanced age of eighty-six years. William Sitton, the maternal grand- father of our subject, was at one time sheriff of Lincoln county. To Ches- ley H. Nichols and wife six children were born, three sons and three daugh- ters, namely: George William, of this sketch; Mathias P., Jonathan C., Mrs. Anna Johnston ; Mrs. Melissa Williams, and Mrs. Fannie L. Martin.
Jonathan C. Nichols who was born in April, 1865, resides in Spring- field. and has been connected in business with his brother, George W., of this sketch for the past five years. He married Laura A. Dillard, in October, 1889, in Lincoln county, Missouri; she is a daughter of John A. and Anna (See) Dillard, both parents dying many years ago. Four children have been born to Jonathan C. Nichols and wife, namely: Olin C., born in 1892; Myrtle E., born in 1896: Dora Ida, born in 1905; and Roy Dillard, born in 1907. These children were given good educational advantages in the Spring- field schools.
George W. Nichols grew to manhood in Lincoln county, Missouri, and there received his education in the public schools. He assisted his father with the general work on the home farm, and continued farming until 1885, when he came to Springfield, and engaged in the grocery business, soon afterward adding the wood, coal, feed and fuel business, and conducted both branches with much success until 1903 when he abandoned the grocery store, and has devoted his attention exclusively ever since to the feed and fuel business in which he has built up a very extensive trade, and has one of the best established businesses in this line in the city.
Mr. Nichols was married in September, 1877, to Mary Ida Moore, of St. Charles county, Missouri, where she grew to womanhood and received her education. She was a daughter of S. W. and Mary (Griffith) Moore, of Pike county, this state, where they spent their lives engaged in farming. The death of Mr. Moore occurred in 1905, and his wife preceded him to the grave in 1902.
One daughter was born to George W. Nichols and wife, Lulu E. Nich- ols, whose birth occurred in St. Charles county, Missouri, in 1878. She was graduated from Drury College and the Missouri State University. She married Dr. W. J. Wills, September 1, 1910. Doctor Wills was graduated from Drury College and from the St. Louis Medical College. They reside in Sedalia, Missouri, where he is successfully engaged in the practice of his profession.
Politically, George W. Nichols is a Democrat. Religously, he is a member of the Congregational church, and fraternally he belongs to the Masonic order, is a Knight Templar, and also belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He and his brother, Jonathan C. are members of the Interstate Feed Dealers' Association.
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GEORGE KNELLE.
There have come to the United States, from the German Empire and other alien lands, men of limited financial resources, but imbued with sturdy independence and a laudable ambition to succeed, and who have taken ad- vantage of the wonderful possibilities afforded here. Gradually, step by step, they have risen to places of prominence in various lines of activity. Of these there can be none mentioned who deserves more favorable atten- tion than George Knelle, for a period of thirty-three years one of Spring- field's progressive business men and substantial citizens, and who, having by his thrift gained a handsome competency, is now living retired in one of the most attractive modern homes in the Queen City.
Mr. Knelle was born in southern Germany. March 13. 1852, and is a son of John and Katherine (Wagner) Knelle, both natives of Germany, the father's birth occurring April 14. : 822, and he died April 1, 1913, reaching an advanced age: the mother was born in 1824, and died in 1887. They grew up in their native locality and received a limited education and were married and there devoted their lives to farming. They were always noted for their industry, honesty and neighborliness. To them five children were born, three of whom are still living, namely: William, deceased : George, of this review ; John is deceased; Peter and Charlie, of Kansas City. The par- ents never left the community where they were born, being contented to. spend their lives on their native hills.
George Knelle grew to manhood in Germany, assisted his father with the general work on the farm when a boy, and there received his education in the common schools, and he learned the butcher's. trade when a young man which he followed until he was nearly thirty years of age. immigrating to the United States in February, 1881. He came to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained awhile, then came on to St. Louis, but on August 2Ist of the year of his arrival in the New World he established his permanent home in Springfield and this has been the arena of his operations ever since. He at once launched out in the butcher business, and on November 15, 1882. located his shop on East Commercial street, renting a building at first, but as he prospered, purchased the building and continued to enlarge and equip his shop until he had one of the best in southwest Missouri, and he was the oldest butcher on the north side, if not in all Springfield, and for more than a quarter of a century has been widely known in his vocation. He pur- chased twelve and one-half acres just south of Doling Park, and on this land maintained his slaughter pens and houses and other necessary buildings, and always did his own butchering. His business grew with advancing years until it assumed very large proportions, and on January 1, 1911, Mr.
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Knelle sold out and retired from active life; however, he still owns his prop- erty on the north side. In July of that year he started building his magnifi- cent home at 600 South National Boulevard. It is of pressed brick, colonial style of architecture, contains fourteen rooms and is modern in all its ap- pointments, a home that would be a credit to any city, and thus surrounded by every comfort and convenience as a result of his former years of indus- try, he is spending the latter years of his life in a deserved respite from life's toil and fret.
Mr. Knelle was married on February 2, 1908, to Sarah E. Gott, who was born in Mississippi on April 29, 1860.
Politically, Mr. Knelle is an independent voter. Fraternally, he be- longs to the Knights of Pythias, and religiously is a member of the German Lutheran church. Personally he is a genial, obliging, hospitable gentleman, uniformly courteous and noted for his scrupulous honesty.
JAMES A. STOUGHTON.
One of the successful and influential men of affairs of Springfield of a past generation was the late James A. Stoughton, who, having inherited many of the sterling qualities of his New England ancestors, fought his way to the front, notwithstanding an unpromising early environment, and he proved himself to be a man of keen business discernment and sound judgment. He had great faith in the future of Springfield and at his death the city sustained the loss of a citizen of sterling worth and one closely identified with her upbuilding and material advancement. He was eminently a business man and from the inception of his career he was uniformly successful. Endowed by nature with a keen analytical mind and an in- domitable will he overcame all obstacles and carried through to a successful conclusion the many varied enterprises with which he was connected during his long career.
Mr. Stoughton was born in Vermont, May 26, 1834. He was a son of James A. Stoughton, who was reared and educated in New England, and engaged in farming in Vermont, spending his life there.
James A. Stoughton grew to manhood on the home farm in his native state, and there he assisted with the general work during the crop season and he received his education in the district schools of his community, which, however, was none too extensive, but this lack was later supplied by con- tact with the business world and by wide home reading. At the age of twenty years he left Vermont and made the long journey to Texas, where he was engaged in the cattle business for a period of eight years and thereby
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