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 II > Part 105
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Mr. Stephens was born in Springfield, Missouri, September 22, 1848. He is a son of John A. and Pamelia C. Stephens, and is one of a family of six children, four of whom survive at this writing. John A .Stephens was born in Ohio. He received a good education and was graduated from Princeton College in Kentucky. He removed to Springfield, Missouri, in 1845. He taught school for some time, was a civil engineer of ability, but he devoted most of his active life to mercantile pursuits, operating a drug store, hardware store and dry goods store. He was a good business man and had rare mental gifts ; was an honest and industrious man, and did much toward the early development of this city. During the Civil war he joined the home guards, and met death by accident, in 1862, being killed by his own men, who mistook him for one of the enemy. His wife was a native of Henderson, Kentucky, and they were married in that state.
William M. Stephens, oldest of the children, was reared in his native city and educated here. During the Civil war he was in the employ of the government, then worked in the local postoffice four years, then worked in the office of the circuit clerk, then turned his attention to the piano busi- ness, which he has continued to the present time, a period of forty years. during which he sold pianos and employed a piano salesman for several years, and he has also been regarded as an expert piano tuner; in fact, being musically inclined, mastered the various phases of this business in a few
1907
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
years, and has long been one of the best known piano men in southwest Missouri.
Mr. Stephens was married on September 22, 1870, to Eva C. Sawyer, a daughter of Thomas L. Sawyer, a school teacher, whose family consisted of five children.
To Mr. and Mrs. Stephens seven children have born, namely: George A. died at the age of thirty-eight years; Maud married Dr. A. P. Evans; they reside in Concord, New Hampshire, and have one child; William A. (lied at the age of twenty-eight years, leaving a widow; Margaret married H. A. Thompson, a merchant of Beatrice, Nebraska, and they have one daughter and one son; Laura is married and lives in Beatrice, Nebraska, and has one child; two children died in infancy.
Politically, Mr. Stephens is a Democrat, and, while never active in politics, has always been loyal in his support of the party. He attends the Christian Science church.
ST. DE CHANTAL ACADEMY OF THE VISITATION.
Greene county has long stood among the foremost of the one hundred and fourteen divisions of the Missouri commonwealth in point of education, her many and high-grade schools being known throughout the Middle West. Indeed, the city of Springfield has been frequently alluded to as the "Athens of the Ozarks" and the "Athens of the Southwest," the latter term embrac- ing a vast section of the American Union. Of our praisworthy institutions of learning, that of St. de Chantal Academy, although among the newest of the county, occupies a prominent position in the list.
There is no doubt but that the location of an institution of learning has a great influence in its success. The immediate environment has much to do with its prestige and general results. Young minds are plastic, and if students are placed in pleasant surroundings their progress will unques- tionably be more rapid, and they will take more interest in their work. It would be difficult to find an institution of learning throughout the nation more fortunately situated in respect to its topographical environment than that of St. de Chantal Academy at "Elfindale," which is beautifully situated on the highest plateau of the Ozark Mountains, and lies just outside of the city limits of Springfield. An inspiring panorama of hill, valley. forest and field may be had over a vast stretch of interesting country from these heights. Its pure air and clear spring-water supply, its unrivaled climate and beauty of scenery at all seasons, make it an ideal site for an educational home. The naturally magnificent grounds of one hundred acres, softened and beautified by the aid of man's art into blending land and waterscapes,
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give a refining harmonious environment and invite to outdoor exercise and nature study.
Both the academy proper and chapel buildings are models of elegant modern architecture, substantial, imposing, serviceable, and in every way suitable for school purposes. The former is four stories in height, of fine gray Carthage stone, and the latter is three stories high and built of glazed brick, with numerous artistic windows. Near by is a spacious and well- kept greenhouse, where flowers and shrubs of many varieties are grown. The elegant manor-house abounds in spacious halls and cheerful rooms, all of which are furnished with the latest conveniences of light, heat and ventilation to insure health and comfort.
"Elfindale" has been well named, for one does not need much poetic fancy, when wandering over its delightful grounds, with its arched stone gateway and its graceful and stately forest trees, to picture elfs of the in- fant world gamboling among these fairy-like bowers surrounding the little crystal lake a short distance from the academy, a bit of water which the Indians would doubtless have named "the smile of the Great Spirit" had they seen it, for it was their custom to give fitting names to Nature's beauty spots. This lake, with its banks embowered with overhanging trees and vines of many varieties common to this latitude, with its little island, stone bridges, pavilion, boat-house and canoes, to say nothing of the gay water- lillies that rest on its bosom in summer, must be seen to be fully appreciated.
The Order of Visitation was founded at Annecy, Haute-Savoie, by St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantel, in 1610, and was in- troduced into this country in 1709, at Georgetown, District of Columbia.
St. de Chantal Academy, opened in 1887 by the Sisters of the Visitation Order in one of the fine residence parts of St. Louis, was, in 1906, enabled, through the munificence of Mrs. Alice O'Day, to remove to "Elfindale," Springfield, Missouri.
The life and work at "Elfindale' have for their single purpose the full and thorough training of its children for the mission that awaits them. To this end, the school seeks by a judicious combination of physical, mental and moral training, to develop harmoniously their entire nature, and by the refining influences of a happy Christian home to mould their character, in order thus to make them not only accomplished and edifying members of society, but also sensible and practical women.
The government of the school assumes self-respect and self-restraint on the part of the pupils; consequently the discipline is mild though firm, and the pupils are expected to conform cheerfully to the established rules and regulations. The scholastic year is divided into two sessions, beginning respectively the second Monday of September and the first day of February, but pupils are received any time and charged from date of entrance. Dif-
1909
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
ference of religion is no obstacle to the reception of pupils, provided they conform to the discipline of the school, but they must come with proper references.
The curriculum comprises primary, preparatory and academic depart- ments. An elective course of studies may be arranged for pupils whose health or time advises against the full curriculum. French, history, litera- ture, art and music are the branches ordinarily preferred. A post-graduate course enables the pupils to continue the study of philosophy, literature, his- tory and other branches. The school's diploma and gold medal are awarded to the pupils who satisfactorily complete the full course. The school di- ploma is given to those who successfully complete an elective course. The school's certificate of honor will be given to those who successfully pursue the post-graduate course. In the preparatory department the pupils are thoroughly grounded in English, geography, grammar and the elements of English composition and other studies, preparatory to the academic course. In the academic course the languages, sciences, philosophies and ancient his- tories are taught, and running through each department Bible history and Christian doctrine.
The school of music at Elfindale, while it enjoys the great advantage of being incorporated with an academy eminent for its instruction in all branches of a liberal education, offers at the same time a complete and inde- pendent course for those who wish to devote their time especially to music. Girls of tender years, with exceptional talent for music, will find at Elfin- dale the best conservatory methods, combined with careful guardianship and a regular English curriculum. Conducted by Sisters whose studies un- dler the best professors have been supplemented by many years of experience. this school is prepared to carry its students through a graded course to thorough musicianship. The course of musical instruction embraces in ad- (lition to the chief departments of voice and piano, classes in theory, harmony. history of music, chorus and sight singing, also ensemble playing. There are two departments-the academic course and the general music school. The latter is intended for those who, not having time or talent for the academic course, yet wish to add the accomplishment of music to their studies in the regular curriculum. A diploma and gold medal are awarded for the completion of the academic course for voice, piano or violin.
The art course is founded upon the methods employed in the National Leagues. It comprises perspective, modeling, drawing and painting from casts and life and history of art. The studio is furnished with all the ap- pliances of modern art, and the pupils are regularly informed of the cur- rent events of the art world.
Before leaving St. Louis, in June. 1906, the Alumnae Association was established. The first meeting was held on October 21. 1905, when the
1910
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
graduates of eighteen years assembled at the academy and organized into an association, with Mrs. Alonzo C. Church, its first graduate, as presi- dent. The association was organized for the purpose of maintaining and of promoting the interests of their alma mater in every manner that may contribute to her prosperity and reputation as a leading institution of learn- ing. Besides Mrs. Church the other officers of the alumnae are vice-presi- dents, Mrs. J. F. McDermott and Mrs. H. F. Woods; recording secretary, Mrs. Gerald B. O'Reilly ; treasurer, Mrs. J. Dillon.
WILLIAM H. SCHREIBER.
Each man who strives to fulfill his part in connection with human life and human activities is deserving of recognition, no matter what may be the field of his endeavor, for it is interesting to note the varying con- ditions that have compassed those whose careers are brought to the atten- tion of the readers of history.
William H. Schreiber, a well known civil engineer of Springfield, has had a career worthy of attention by the biographer. . He was born on May 16, 1874, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is a son of Rudolph and Augusta (Manegold) Schreiber, both natives of Germany, from which country they emigrated to America when young. The death of the father occurred in Denver, Colorado, about six years ago, and the mother is living in that city at this writing. These parents were married in Wisconsin, in which state they resided until 1905, when they removed to Denver. Rudolph Schreiber was in the wholesale wine and whiskey business during his active life. His family consisted of six children, two of whom are deceased. Those living are, Mrs. Charles J. Starke. of Denver, Colorado : William H., of this sketch ; Rudolph. Jr., of Denver; and Mrs. Augusta Hartman, also of Denver. Politically, the father was a Democrat, and belonged to the Lutheran church.
William H. Schreiber received his education partly in the schools of Milwaukee, attending Markham Academy there, later the School of Tech- nology in Massachusetts. In 1893 he was assistant superintendent of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, under A. T. Atwood, with offices in the Manufacturers' building. He went with the surveying crew of the North- ern Pacific Railroad through the West, then came to St. Louis, and there had charge of the Missouri Valley Trust Company's maps and plats. Later he went with the Iron Mountain Railroad Company as assistant engineer for the elimination of grades, then was promoted to assistant chief engineer of the Little Rock & Northern Railroad Company, and during the con- struction of its White river line he was appointed chief topographer, and
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GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
remained in this capacity until the work was completed. He came to Spring- field, Missouri, and was city engineer here under the administration of Mayor B. E. Meyer, and part of the administration of Mayor James Blaine. Since then he has been doing supervision work for the Anheuser- Busch Brewing Company at Springfield, Neosho and other cities, supervis- ing the construction of this firm's reinforced concrete buildings.
On Aprl 14, 1901, Mr. Schreiber was united in marriage with Miss Lee Sullenger at Taneyville, Missouri. She is a daughter of J. M. and Louise Sullenger. To our subject and wife the following children have been born: Augusta, Bernice, Delores and William, Jr.
Mr. Schreiber is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His family are members of the German Evangelical Lutheran church.
JOSEPH G. ANDERSON.
Death is always regarded by the masses as a visitor to our homes to be dreaded, but before whose merciless power we are helpless, and his crossing our thresholds seems doubly deplorable when he summons the young and promising from the family circle, as he did in the case of the late Joseph G. Anderson, a young business man of Springfield who was apparently starting on a successful and brilliant career.
Mr. Anderson was born in Wichita, Kansas, on December 8, 1885. He was a son of William John and Rachel (Gilbert) Anderson. The father was born in New York and he came west to Kansas when a young man and learned the trade of designing and decorating, which he followed most of his life. He had been educated in the common schools of New York. His death occurred in November. 1906, in Springfield, Missouri, at the age of sixty-six years. The mother of our subject was a native of Kansas, and she is living in Springfield at this writing. Three children were born to these parents, namely: Joseph G., our subject; Christ, who lives in Springfield; and Maude, who makes her home in St. Louis.
Joseph G. Anderson came to Springfield with his parents at the age of eight years, and here he attended the ward and high schools, also the South- west Business College, taking advantage of his spare hours at night to ad- vance his business education. He worked a year for Otto Holmes, the decorator, and learned this trade in the meanwhile, and he devoted the rest of his life to decorating and sign painting, building up a lucrative and successful business. He first started a shop on Boonville street, paying only five dollars a month rent, but he gradually worked up a large business, handling most of the extensive sign work and bill-poster
1912
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
work, also pictorial sign work, under the firm name of the Anderson Sign Company, and was thus actively engaged at the time of his death, in 1914, at his home on North Campbell street. Politically, he was a Republican. He belonged to the Improved Order of Red Men and to the Master Paint- ers' organization.
Mr. Anderson was married, April 10, 1910, to Edna McCartney, a daughter of John William and Alice (Crail) McCartney. The father was born on April 24, 1844, in Cumberland county, Illinois, from which state he came to Springfield, Missouri, in 1893, where he still resides. He is a son of John and Susanna ( Powell) McCartney. John McCartney, Sr., was born and reared in Virginia, and he came to Ohio with his parents, Daniel and Polly Ann McCartney, at the age of twenty years, the family locating in Lawrenceville county. He operated a flatboat on the Ohio to New Or- Orleans and back. He moved to Illinois in 1836, where he followed farm- ing until his death. He entered one hundred and sixty acres at twelve and one-half cents per acre, and later added another one hundred and sixty acres of government land, for which he paid one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. Later he bought forty acres from the Illinois Central Rail- road Company, for which he paid twelve dollars and fifty cents per acre, making him a total of three hundred and sixty acres. He carried on gen- eral farming in a successful manner until his death, August 5, 1888, at the advanced age of eighty-four years, on the farm which he cleared and de- veloped. He took an interest in public affairs and served his community as justice of the peace for many years. He was a stanch Democrat and was a member of the Missionary Baptist church. His family consisted of nine children, only three of whom are now living, namely: George and Nancy, both of Cumberland county, Illinois; and John W., who lives in Springfield, Missouri. The last named was educated in the common schools in Illinois, studied medicine and practiced his profession in Cumberland county, that state, also at Toledo and Newton, Illinois. He came to Spring- field, Missouri, in 1893, where, owing to failing health, he has lived prac- tically retired. He was mayor of Toledo, Illinois, for one term, and was chairman of the Democratic Central Committee of Cumberland county, that state, for four years, and was a member of the city council of Toledo for a period of fifteen years. He was a prominent man in public life there. He has belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1873. He was manager of a sanitarium for two years in Springfield, Missouri. After discontinuing the practice of medicine he entered the secret service depart- ment of the government under E. G. Rathburn, chief of the service. He remained in this work seven years, resigning before coming to Missouri. He is a member of the Grant Street Baptist church. Mrs. Alice (Crail) McCartney was born in Shelby county, Indiana, is still living at the family
1913
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
home on North Campbell street. She is an active member of the Baptist church. Ten children have been born to Mr. and Mrs John McCartney, three of whom died in infancy. The others are Frank, who lives in Kan- sas; Mrs. Mattie Dodds, of Springfield; Walter, of Springfield; Clarence, of Springfield; Mrs. Ethel Emmons lives in Arkansas; Edna, widow of Mr. Anderson, the immediate subject of this sketch; and Mrs. Pauline Lodge, of Springfield. Mrs. Anderson received a good common school education. She is a member of the Grant Street Baptist church.
THOMAS E. WILLIER.
One of the best known and most efficient railway builders of the West during the past generation was the late Thomas E. Willier, a most success- ful man in his line, and a man whose career indicates how perseverance, self-reliance, tact, honesty and genuine worth will win in the battle of life.
Mr. Willier was born on the 6th day of August, 1864, in Peoria, Illi- nois, and was the eldest of three sons of Joseph W. and Hanora Willier. His father was one of the pioneers of railway construction, and at an early age the son, too, took up the same business, and was identified with his father in the building of a number of roads in the eastern states. Mr. Willier came to Springfield in the year 1887 and was connected with many of the most important railroad projects in the West and Southwest from that time until his death. His labors also extended to Jamaica and Costa Rico and about twelve years before his death he completed several important contracts in that section of the country. The last im- portant work in which he was engaged was the building of the Iron Mountain railroad from Crane to Springfield, a part of which was through some of the most rugged sections of the Ozarks. For a number of years Mr. Willier was at the head of the Willier Construction Company, but dur- ing the last three years of his life he was not actively engaged in business. He was, however, preparing to again take an active part in railroad con- struction when he was suddenly summoned from the scene of his earthly labors.
On September 9. 1902, Mr. Willier was married to Anna E. Arnold, daughter of George W. and Louisa ( Buissart ) Arnold. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Willier, namely: Catherine E .. Thomas E., George J. Margaret Louise and Robert A., all of whom, except the eldest, are living. Two brothers and three sisters also survive Mr. Willier-Joseph. Dr. A. F., Nellie, Mrs. Frank O'Hara and Sister Marie Theresa, of the Benedictine Convent.
1914
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
Mr. Willier's death occurred on the 19th day of April, 1910, as the result of an operation for appendicitis, performed at the St. John's Hos- pital in Springfield. Mr. Willier was widely known to the railroad world, and everyone familiar with his methods pronounced him a most efficient and progressive builder of transportation lines. He was a persistent student of all that pertained to his work, and was, consequently, a master in his line, and one whose services were in great demand. He left behind him the record of a life well spent in every particular, and will long be sadly missed from the circles in which he moved.
FRANK R. MASSEY.
The prosperity and substantial welfare of a town or community are in a large measure due to the enterprise and wise foresight of its business men. It is progressive, wide-awake men of affairs that make the real his- tory of a community, and their influence in shaping and directing its varied interests is difficult to estimate. Frank R. Massey, a representative of one of the most prominent families of southwestern Missouri during the past quarter of a century or more, and for a number of years one of Spring- field's most progressive merchants and business men, who is now engaged in mining, is one of the enterprising gentlemen of the Queen City of the Ozarks.
Mr. Massey was born in Jasper county, Missouri, April 12, 1850. He is a son of Benjamin F. and Mirah (Withers) Massey, the former being one of the sterling early pioneers of Missouri. He was born at Massey's Cross Roads, Kent county, Maryland, near Chestertown, in 1811, and was a son of Benjamin Massey. He grew to manhood in his native state and received a common school education at Baltimore, where his boyhood days were spent. Having a desire to investigate the then little known country west of the Mississippi river, in 1831, when about twenty-one years of age, he made the prolix and somewhat hazardous overland journey from the Monument City to Mound City (St. Louis), and embarked in business, but subsequently went to Fayette, Howard county, Missouri, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits from 1837 to 1839, but in the last mentioned year he moved to what is now the city of Sarcoxie, Jasper county, this state, and there laid out the town, and continued to reside there until 1856, being the principal guardian of Sarcoxie's interests during that period, and doing more than any other man for her general development. He engaged suc- cessfully in business there until he entered politics, being elected secretary of state in 1856, becoming one of the efficient and popular officers of the
1915
GREENE COUNTY, MISSOURI.
state of Missouri in that troublous period. Prior to that time he had served his district as state senator. He was occupying the office of secretary of state when the Civil war broke out, when he went South with Governor Claiborne Jackson and the other officers of the state government, and served four years in a gallant and faithful manner in the Confederate army. After the war he returned to Missouri and published a newspaper, The Jeffer- sonian at Pierce City, which became one of the most influential and widely known newspapers in southern Missouri. He was not only a good business man and made this a successful venture from a financial standpoint, but was a trenchant and versatile writer and most capable editor in every way. He continued in the newspaper business until his retirement from the active affairs of life, whereupon he came to Springfield to spend his last years with his son, Frank R., of this sketch, at whose home he passed from earthly scenes a few years later, in 1887, after a useful, industrious and honorable career. His name will go down in the history of the state as one of the most prominent, able and enterprising citizens of southwestern Missouri a half century ago.
Benjamin F. Massey and Mirah Withers were married in Boonville, Cooper county, Missouri, in 1838. She was born in Fauquier county, Vir- ginia, in which state she grew to womanhood and was educated, and from that state emigrated with her parents to Missouri during the latter thirties, the family locating in Boonville. She was a woman of fine mind and charm- ing personality, a true type of that fine Southern womanhood of ante-bellum days. Her death occurred in 1864. Benjamin F. Massey and wife were the parents of ten children.
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