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 12
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Mr. Love was born in Pike county, Missouri, which picturesque locality has been made famous by the late Secretary of State, John Hay, in his "Ballads from Pike," the date of the former's birth having been March 26, 1839. He was a son of Andrew and Mary Ann (Muir) Love, both long deceased. Our subject was one of four children, namely : Harrison, de- ceased; Mrs. Margaret Dunn, deceased; Mrs. Sarah J. McCullister, de- ceased ; Robert of this memoir.
Robert Love was reared in his native county and there received a com- mon school education. At the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, he joined the Union army and was such a brave and efficient fighter for the cause that he was promoted to lieutenant. He took part in many engage- ments, including the battles of Pea Ridge and Springfield, and was honorably discharged at the close of the war. Before the war he had removed with his stepfather to Greene county on a farm. He sold this place not long after the war and began the mercantile business, selling dry goods at Strafford, being the first store-keeper in that place. He built up a good trade with the surrounding country, his many customers remaining his friends owing to the honest and courteous treatment he accorded them. He was the first man to buy a lot in Strafford. After remaining in business there about a year he resumed farming, but eventually returned to Strafford where he spent the last days of his life and died there on October 29, 1905.
Mr. Love was married November 26, 1864, to Margaret C. Piper, who was born near Strafford, April 28, 1842, and there grew to womanhood on a farm. She received a good education in the local schools. Since the- death of her husband she has shown rare business tact in managing success- fully her various affairs. She has lived in Strafford twenty-nine years. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. She is a daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Smith) Piper, both now deceased. Mr. Piper was a successful farmer and stock raiser, well and favorably known in this locality. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They emigrated here from Virginia in 1839 and were among the early settlers in Greene county, where Mr. Piper entered land from the government and developed a large and productive farm.
Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Love, namely: Mrs. Alta C.
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Brown lives in Springfield; Mrs. Sarah N. Dishman lives in Jackson town- ship; Florence H. lives at home; Mrs. Mary E. West lives at Nogo, Mis- souri; Mrs. Margaret K. Kepley lives in Taylor township; Maude May died February 4, 1896.
Politically, Mr. Love was a Democrat. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church. He was a man of fine personal character.
FRANK A. BEYER.
When we are told that such and such a man is a general foreman of no matter what, we know at once that he is a man who possesses native talent and that he has not attained his position at a single bound, but that he has spent years in close application and careful preparation; that he has been faithful to every trust reposed in him and that he is a man of self-reliance and forti- tude. Without any attempt to unduly praise Frank A. Beyer, general foreman of the locomotive department of the new Frisco shops at Springfield, we can truthfully say that he is such a man as we have here indicated.
Mr. Beyer, who has spent his active life in railroad service, is a man of Teutonic origin, his birth having occurred in Germany, August 5, 1877. He is a son of Joseph and Margaret (Fleysch) Beyer, both natives of Germany, the father's birth having occurred on November 22, 1861, and the mother was born in 1865. There they grew to maturity, attended school and were married and spent their earlier years, emigrating to America more than three decades ago. The mother died in Topeka, Kansas, in 1904, and in that city still resides the father. He is a machinist by trade. It was in the early eighties that he came to that city from his native country and there he has since resided. He soon found employment in the shops of the Santa Fe railroad in Topeka and he has since worked there in this capacity. His family consists of five children, namely: Frank A. of this review, he being the only one born in the old country ; Rosa, Tressey, Anna and Emma.
Frank A. Beyer was a small boy when he came to the United States, and he grew to manhood in Topeka, Kansas, and there attended the common schools, the high school and a business college, and was thus well equipped when he began life for himself. When a boy he began his career as rail- roader, serving his apprenticeship in the Santa Fe shops at Topeka, and later worked at many different places on that system, during a period of eight years. In 1904 he came to Springfield and began working as ma- chinist in the North Side shops. When the new shops were opened he was promoted to the position of erecting foreman and in 1910 was promoted to
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general foreman of the locomotive department which responsible position he still holds, having a large number of skilled mechanics under his direction.
Mr. Beyer was married on August 17, 1899, in Topeka, Kansas, to Carrie Mohmeyer, who was born in Louisville, Kentucky, September 7, 1882. She is a daughter of Henry and Anna (Sutter) Mohmeyer. Her father is a trunk maker by trade.
Two children have been born to our subject and wife, namely: Frank, born August 24, 1900, is attending Springfield high school; and Mary Etta, born October 1, 1906.
Politically, Mr. Beyer is a Democrat, and fraternally he belongs to the Woodmen of the World, the Eagles and the Germania Hall Society. He is also a member of the Masonic lodge, including the Shriners.
ROBERT B. LOVE, D. V. S.
Greene county has never had a more efficient, progressive and popular veterinary physician and surgeon than Dr. Robert B. Love, a man of state- wide reputation, who seemed to have a natural aptitude and liking for this calling when a mere boy, and from that time to the present he has left no stone unturned whereby he could advance himself in the same, remaining a close student of everything pertaining to this science, observing, investi- gating and experimenting. His counsel has been frequently sought by his professional brethren and invariably followed with gratifying results, his ad- vice in any phase of the profession being accepted as unqualified authority. His modernly equipped hospital in Springfield is known to all horsemen in southwest Missouri and he has built up an extensive and lucrative patronage during his long years of residence here. An admirer and expert judge of horses of superior breed he always keeps a number of animals, owning three stallions at this writing which have few peers in the country.
Dr. Love was born in Webster county, Missouri, February 5. 1873. He is a scion of a sterling ancestry, some of the Loves having been distinguished military men in the early wars of the nation and influential citizens of Virginia and Tennessee. He is a son of Thomas C. and Sallie Jane (Rodgers) Love. The father is a retired resident of Springfield, having been a suc- cessful farmer in Webster county during the active years of his life, and in that county his birth occurred in 1844, soon after his parents. Thomas B. and Elizabeth (Barnard) Love settled there, having emigrated from Ten- nessee. Thomas B. Love was born in North Carolina and was a son of Gen. Thomas Love, who was a native of Ireland, from which country he emigrated to the United States in old Colonial days and he became a sol-
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dier in the Revolutionary war, finally become coloner of a North Carolina regiment. Later he moved into Tennessee and became a general of militia and a great man there, serving thirty years consecutively in the state legis- lature. His oldest son, Robert, was a colonel in the War of 1812 and fought under Jackson at New Orleans. The family has always been lovers of liberty and have unhesitatingly taken an active part in the wars in which this country has been involved at various times. Thomas B. Love, grand- father of the subject of this sketch, entered six hundred acres of land upon his arrival in Webster county, and this he cleared and developed and thereon established the permanent home of the family. His son, Thomas C. Love, father of our subject, became owner of the homestead, which he retained up to a few years ago, when he sold it, retiring from active life as a farmer and moving to-Springfield, as before indicated. Thomas B. Love owned about two dozen slaves at the time of his death, which occurred in 1852, after a residence of only a decade in the Ozarks. He was a man of humani- tarian impulses and was also very considerate in his treatment of his slaves. His family consisted of nine children. The oldest son joined a company for the Mexican war, became a first lieutenant, but died on the march to Mexico. The widow of Thomas B. Love died in 1869. Thomas C. Love, mentioned above, grew to manhood on the home farm in Webster county, and when the Civil war came on he enlisted in the Confederate army, a Missouri cavalry regiment, under General Marmaduke and proved to be a gallant soldier. He still carries a pistol ball received in a battle in Arkansas. He was also in prison on two different occasions for some time. When his brigade was defeated in battle at Mines Creek, Kansas, where General Mar- maduke and Cabell and a large number of the men were captured, he made a sensational escape by swimming a dangerous stream, and later joined a reorganized body of the same troops in Texas and served until the close of the war, surrendering at Shreveport, Louisiana, in June, 1865. After the war he devoted three years to the management of a plantation in Texas, raising cotton, then returned to Webster county, Missouri, and carried on general farming and live stock raising until 1892, when he turned his farm into an apple orchard. He first moved to Springfield in 1883 to educate his children, moving back to the farm in 1899, and in 1911 again took up his residence in the Queen City. He was formerly active in the Democratic party and served one term in the state legislature in 1882. In 1893 he was appointed postmaster at Springfield, which office he held four years.
The mother of Dr. Robert B. Love was a daughter of R. W. Rodgers and wife, of Texas county, Missouri. This family is of Scotch-Irish de- scent and became known in the New World at an early day. The grand- father of Mrs. Love took up his residence in Texas county long before the
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opening of the Civil war and became an extensive lumberman and well known to the early pioneers of that section. Mrs. Love grew to womanhood in her native locality and received her education in the early schools there. Her death occurred May 20, 1912.
Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas C. Love, namely : Dr. Joseph W., of Springfield; Dr. Robert B., of this sketch; Thomas B., an attorney, of Dallas, Texas; Ralph M., a banker, of Mt. Pleasant, Texas; Edgar P., a manufacturer, of Dallas, Texas; two sons died in early life.
Dr. Robert B. Love grew to manhood on the homestead in Webster county and there did his share of the general work when he was a boy. He received his early education in the district schools. He came to Spring- field in 1881 and served as money-order clerk at the postoffice for three and a half years. Prior to that time he spent a term in Drury College, after which he entered the Western Veterinary College at Kansas City, where he made rapid progress and from which institution he was graduated in 1898-99. He was valedictorian of his class. Returning to Springfield he opened an office and has been engaged in the practice of his profession here ever since, each year showing a further advancement than the preceding. He has maintained the same office all the while, his hospital on Convention Hall avenue is equipped with all up-to-date appliances and apparatus to in- sure prompt and high-grade service. He has kept fully abreast of the times in his chosen line of endeavor and has long ranked among the leading veterinary physicians and surgeons of the state, and for many years has held the office of deputy state veterinarian of Missouri, having served in this capacity under the past five governors of the state. His long reten- tion is evidence of his ability and satisfaction. In 1899 he took a post-gradu- ate course in the Western Veterinary College. He has had a large practice here from the first, and is often called to various parts of the state on consultation. He was placed in charge of all the territory south of the Frisco lines on the tick-eradication work several years ago.
During the Boer war, Doctor Love was hired by the British govern- ment as chief veterinarian in charge of steamship Kelvingrove, which carried a load of mules from New Orleans to Cape Town, South Africa, for the army. He did his work so thoroughly and ably that the English officials complimented him highly, reporting that he had made the best record in transporting animals from New Orleans to South Africa ever made for the British government up to that date. He lost but two mules out of nine hundred and ninety-nine on the entire voyage. While in South Africa Doctor Love was offered a position as chief of veterinary hospital and outfitting army station at Queenstown. After traveling over the southern portion of the Dark Continent he visited the important cities of England, visiting Paris during the World's Fair in 1900.
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Doctor Love was married, July 1I, 1894, to Mable M. Williams, who was born in Springfield, December 19, 1873. She is a daughter of John and Julia (Vinton) Williams, a prominent family of this city, the father having been a leading hardware merchant here for many years, but is now living in retirement. A complete sketch of this family appears on another page of this volume to which the reader is respectful referred. Mrs. Love grew to womanhood in this city and received a good education in the local schools. The union of the Doctor and wife has resulted in the birth of three children, namely: Robert W., born July 2, 1896, is attending high school; George McDaniel, born October 18, 1901, is in school; and John Thomas, born March 17, 1905, is also a student.
Politically, Doctor Love is a Democrat, but professional duties have prevented him from taking a very active part in political affairs. Fra- ternally, he belongs to the Loyal Order of Moose, having passed all the chairs in the local lodge up to dictator. He was brought up in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, the family attending the Christ Episcopal church. For recreation the Doctor formerly devoted considerable time to rod and gun, and is an expert shot, but of late years .he has had little time to devote to sportsmanship owing to his extensive practice.
Our subject is an ardent lover of good horses and is an enthusiastic breeder of thoroughbred and saddle horses, and has sold more of them than, perhaps, any other breeder in Missouri. He has often acted as judge at various county fairs within a radius of two hundred miles of Springfield. He is at this writing owner of three of the finest and most valuable stallions in the state, namely : "P. J." 0167, is one of the fastest and best breeding combination stallions, and one that has sired more high-class, level-headed family horses than any other horse in this section, a horse that has shown two-minute speed and possesses unquestionable disposition for which his gets are also noted. The year book shows that "P. J." was one of the gamest and most successful race horses in his day. He has been shown in almost all the street fairs and show rings in the vicinity of Springfield and has never met defeat. His last appearance was at the Springfield show, October 9, 1909, for combination stallion with five of his gets, competition advertised open to the world. "Peacock Chief" 1585, is the durable saddle stallion that has been advertised without successful contradiction, to show more gaits both under the saddle and in his gets than all the rest of the saddle stallions in Greene county combined. Chief has sired more high- priced saddle colts than any other saddle stallion ever having made a season in Greene county, many of his colts having sold from one thousand to eighteen hundred dollars. "Ilot" 70649 (79746) Percheron stallion, was im- ported from France for the Charles Holland stock farm, and purchased by
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Doctor Love in January, 1914, whose pedigree shows him to be one of the richest bred Percheron stallions in the United States, and unquestionably the best stallion for this section ever imported by the Holland stock farm, one of the most noted farms of its kind in the state.
ALPHONSUS F. FINE.
One of the best known retail grocerymen in Springfield is Alphonsus F. Fine, who has been engaged in this line of endeavor on the South Side for a period of twenty-five years, during which time his prestige as a straightforward and conscientious business man and substantial citizen has. constantly increased. He did not begin his career with the get-rich-quick idea, but sought to advance himself along steady and legitimate lines, so shaping his course that each succeeding year has found him further ad- vanced and with a wider circle of friends.
Mr. Fine was born in Greene county, Missouri, January 30, 1871. He is a son of Felix F. and Martha (Gesford) Fine. The father was born in St. Louis county, Missouri, in 1833, and he is now making his home with our subject in Springfield, having attained the advanced age of four score years. His wife was born in St. Francis-county, this state, in 1840,. and her death occurred in Springfield in 1886, when forty-six years of age. These parents received limited education in the early-day schools and were married in St. Louis county in 1858. They removed to Greene county in 1867 and here Felix F. Fine went into the nursery business, the Fine Nurseries being located three miles west of Springfield, and he made a success of this business, enjoying a large patronage, sending his trees all over this portion of the state. He studied the business thoroughly and understood every phase of it, and took great pleasure in the work. Mr. Fine formerly took considerable interest in political matters, and was elected judge of the county court in 1882 and re-elected in 1884, on the Democratic ticket and he filled the office most acceptably and satisfactorily. He is a member of the Catholic church. He is well known throughout the county and highly respected. He and his wife had but the one child, our subject.
Alphonsus F. Fine grew to manhood in Greene county and assisted his- father with the nursery business when he was a boy. He obtained his edu- cation in the district schools for the most part, and in 1895 engaged in the grocery business with his father, who was connected with W. F. Durbin under the firm name of Fine & Durbin., In 1897 he engaged in this business. for himself at the corner of College and Market streets, where he remained twelve years, and five years ago moved to his present location at 329-33I
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East Walnut street, where he has a modernly appointed, well-stocked and at- tractive store, carrying a complete line of staple and fancy groceries and employs a number of assistants. He enjoys a very large trade, including many of the leading families of the city.
Mr. Fine was married, October 20, 1897, in Springfield, to Margaret Coughlin, who was born in Paola, Kansas, August 10, 1875. She received a good common school education. After the death of her father she re- moved with her mother to Springfield.
To Mr. and Mrs. Fine five children have been born, namely: Gesford F., born March 9, 1899; Margaret, born December 25, 1901 ; Eululie, born June 10, 1903 ; Marion, born July 14, 1906; and Martha, born July 1, 1912.
Politically, Mr. Fine is a Democrat. Fraternally, he belongs to the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Royal Arcanum and the Modern Woodmen. Religiously, he is a member of the St. Agnes Catholic church.
LUTHER QUINTER MCCARTY.
The name of the late Luther Quinter McCarty needs no introduction to the readers of this volume, if indeed, it needs any formal presentation to readers anywhere, for that name has been printed repeatedly throughout the world, and it has attracted much attention and aroused both admiration and regret-admiration owing to his physical prowess, and regret that his brilliant career as one of the greatest athletes of modern times should have terminated so soon and so tragically. But we are reminded of the saying of the ancient Greeks, the wisest people the earth has ever pro- duced, that "whom the gods love die early." Those same Greeks, also the Romans, were great admirers of athletes, and the latter nation especially boasted of its fine specimens of manhood. The Olympic games held in those remote days were national affairs and attended by emperors, senators, famous generals and men of letters, and the victors at these great fetes-the winning athletes-were lionized by the fashionable and cultured, and myrtle wreaths were placed upon their brows as symbols of victory, these wreaths being coveted almost as much as crowns of royalty. And from that epoch down to the present, the world has never ceased to admire and applaud the man who is capable of showing superior physical ability just as much as he who achieves fame in the realm of intellect. Many thinking people of today are saying that we, as a nation, neglect the phy- sical development of the youth of the land and place too much emphasis upon business qualifications, and are advocating that more encouragement
Lina by E & Williams & Bro N.Y.
& Me Canty
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be given to a stronger, purer physical manhood. Surely no one could object seriously to clean athletic sports, and the man who excels, as did Mr. McCarty, is entitled to the plaudits of his fellowmen. Physically he was an Apollo, and personally a prince of good fellows; no kinder heart or broader sympathy could have been found among the young men in this country. His career was short, but it was brilliant, like the meteor that flames along the horizon for a moment, then disappears in darkness.
Luther Q. McCarty, for some time white heavyweight champion pugi- list of the world, was born on a ranch near Omaha, Nebraska, March 17, 1892. He was a son of Aaron and Margaret McCarty. The mother died when our subject was an infant, and the future champion lived in various homes when a boy, but later the father remarried and the boy was partly reared by his stepmother. The father, Dr. Aaron McCarty, known as "White Eagle, the Indian doctor," spent his earlier life in Nebraska, but for a number of years he has made his home in Ohio and he and his second wife are residents of the city of Piqua, that state. Dr. McCarty is a giant in size, measuring six feet and eight inches and weighing three hundred and fifteen pounds.
Luther Q. McCarty received a meager education in the public schools of Nebraska, and later in life became a well-informed man by wide travel and contact with the world. He was endowed with good common sense and learned quickly. He was the right kind of man to make a good pugilist. He never had the bad habits that wreck so many of the young men of the world. There was no taint of easy living to be worked out of his system. He was a working man from the start. He was brought up on the farm, where he lived in the open air all the time, riding horses, herding cattle, working hard, and it was this free life on a western ranch that aroused in him a love for horses which characterized his subsequent career, and, useless to add, that he was an expert rider and horseman. Nothing delighted him more than to "break" an unruly broncho. When a pood lad, he admired the great saddles of the cowboys, and it was his ambi- tion to own one when he grew up. This desire was gratified beyond his youthful dreams, for during the last year of his life he had made to order a very fine saddle, beautifully studded with silver and various trappings that would have been the envy of any Indian chieftain in the country, paying the sum of seven hundred dollars for the saddle and a special trunk in which to keep it.
When he left the ranch, Mr. McCarty went to sea, where he lived the hard life of a common sailor for two or three years. After that he became an iron worker, a bridge builder. This kind of work required nerve, strength and courage and it made McCarty's sinews like the iron he
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handled. When he left that trade, having had his leg broken in an accident, he went back to the West again and took up the old cowboy life. There he accidentally had occasion to take on a glove fight and discovered that he was fitted for the profession that brings in the money faster than any other open to a man without a college training. He not only had the physical strength and agility, but he had also one of the most important qualities which a boxer can have-intelligence. When in the ring he needed no coaching or advice from his seconds, he used his own brains.
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