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 37
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John W. Rose was left fatherless when two years of age, and he has always depended upon himself, which fact has doubtless been largely respon- sible for his success in life. When thirteen years of age he hired out as a farm hand at ten dollars a month, and continued farming until he was eighteen years of age. Meanwhile he had little chance to obtain an educa- tion, but this lack has later been made up by wide home reading and study and by contact with the world until today he is regarded as one of the best informed men on general topics in Springfield. When a boy he learned telegraphy, and at the age of nineteen was in the employ of the Frisco rail- road and in charge of a station. He continued in that capacity for a period of six years, giving the company excellent service and was commended for his accuracy and fidelity. Not seeing much future to such employment and believing he had qualifications for the mercantile world, he left the road's employ and entered the mercantile business, and has since been engaged in the same in Springfield, with the exception of fifteen years spent as a traveling salesman, during which he gave excellent satisfaction to the firms employing him, and became widely known to the trade over a vast territory. He has operated a general book store on East Commercial street since 1906 and has enjoyed a large and ever-growing trade, and he carries at all seasons an extensive and up-to-date stock of everything found in a modern book store, and his obliging and courteous nature has won and retained a host of friends among his patrons.
Mr. Rose was married in 1883 to Mattie Wade, a native of Greene county, where she grew to womanhood and was educated. She is a daughter of T. W. and Ellen (Skelton) Wade. Mr. Wade has devoted his active life to farming, and he is a resident of Springfield.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rose, namely : Ethel, married R. R. Matthews, a mechanic, and they reside in Dallas, Texas ; Leon M., died on July 4, 1912; Jerry H. is associated with his father in business; Ina D. is at home. Ethel and Jerry H. are both graduates of the Springfield high school.
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Politically Mr. Rose is a Democrat. Religiously he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, and fraternally is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is deeply interested in the general welfare of his city and county in every way.
ALVIN B. TRENARY.
Although Springfield is a noted railroad town, thousands of trainmen and shopmen making their home here, it is impossible for each to know the other, but in some instances, like that of Alvin B. Trenary, an individual becomes well known in his own circle. This is partly because our subject has been a resident of this city for a period of thirty years, during which he has followed railroading, and partly because he is a good mixer, a jovial, companionable gentleman and is therefore popular among his fellow workers, and is a widely known passenger engineer.
Mr. Trenary was born in Franklin, Indiana, February 20, 1862. He is a son of Thomas L. and Mary A. (Stairs) Trenary, the father a native of Indiana and the mother was born in Ohio. They grew to maturity in their respective localities and received good educations for that period, the father becoming a successful teacher, which he followed for some time. He was also a carpenter by trade. During the Civil war he enlisted from Johnson county, Indiana, in 1862, and met death in the service of his country, being wounded in battle, and died from the effects of the same in a St. Louis hospital. His widow survived to old age, and died in Greene county, Mis- souri. Our subject's paternal grandfather and mother had the distinction of being the first couple to be married in Tippecanoe county, Indiana. To Thomas L. Trenary four children were born.
Alvin B. Trenary was a small child when he lost his father and he was thrown upon his own resources early in life, consequently his education was limited, but he has made up for this lack in later life by general reading and contact with the world. What schooling he obtained was in Urbana, Illinois, and when but a boy he began working in a grocery store in that town, and when eighteen or twenty years of age he went to Indianapolis, Indiana, and began his railroad career by firing extra on the Big Four road, and there he remained until in the autumn of 1884, when he came to Springfield, Missouri, where he has since resided. He went to work here for the old Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis Railroad as fireman of a freight train on the Ozark division, and eighteen months later as fireman on a passenger train and about the same run. Later he ran a switch engine about three years. then was promoted to a regular freight engineer, and ran in this capacity on
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the Ozark division about six years, then was promoted to passenger engineer on this division, and at this writing still has the same run. This road has been a part of the Frisco System since 1900. Our subject is regarded as one of the safest and most efficient engineers out of Springfield, ahvays sober, cool, alert and careful.
Mr. Trenary was married in Springfield on November 14, 1889, to Lutie Seaman, a native of Iowa, who was a small child when her parents brought her to Springfield, and here she grew to womanhood and was edu- cated. She is a daughter of Levi and Mary (Fisher) Seaman. Mr. Seaman is a carpenter by trade.
To our subject and wife two children have been born, namely: Helen V., born on August 13, 1890, received her education in the local high school and normal, and is living at home; Elsie Louise, born on April 12, 1896, is a junior in the Springfield high school at this writing.
Mr. Trenary has a splendid and well furnished home on West Walnut street. Politically he is a Democrat. He belongs to No. 378, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic Order, in which he has attained the master's degree. He and his family are all mem- bers of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal church, South.
JOHN RANDOLPH SMITH, M. D.
That life is the most useful and desirable that results in the greatest good to the greatest number and, though all do not reach the heights to which they aspire, yet in some measure each can win success and make life a bless- ing to his fellowmen; and it is not necessary for one to occupy eminent public positions to do so, for in the humbler walks of life there remains much good to be accomplished and many opportunities for one to exercise one's talents and influence which in some way will touch the lives of those with whom we come in contact, making them better and brighter. In the list of Greene county's honored citizens is Dr. John Randolph Smith, now living in honorable retirement after a long, useful and eminently successful career as a physician, having for many years ranked among the leading professional men of southwestern Missouri. In his career there is much that is commendable and his life forcibly illustrates what one can accomplish even in the face of obstacles, if one's plans are wisely laid and his actions governed by right principles, noble aims and high ideals.
Doctor Smith was born on January 27, 1836, at Monticello, Kentucky, a scion of an excellent old southern family. He is a son of David and Charlotte (Havens) Smith, born in 1777 and 1800 respectively, who re-
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moved to Newton county, Missouri, in 1836, and were thus pioneer settlers in this state. David Smith died January 24, 1845, when Doctor Smith was nine years of age, and his wife died in May, 1884. Our subject was an infant in arms at that time and he grew to manhood in Newton county, received a limited education in the old-time subscription schools and worked on a farm during his boyhood. But he was an ambitious youth and studied hard at home, taking an interest in medicine when only sixteen years of age, and about that time began studying medicine under Dr. J. W. Walker in Jasper county, Missouri. He made rapid progress and was equipped for his chosen career at an early age, being a fine example of a self-made man. He first began practice at Diamond Grove, this state. Seeing the need of a college training he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and took the course in the medical college there. He owes much of his success in life to his mother who was a well educated woman and taught him much at home. In his youth he taught school for a time in Newton county, Missouri. Finally turning his attention to the newspaper field he started, owned and operated the Weekly Record at Stella, Missouri, which he retained until in February, 1914, when he retired from active life. From 1871 to 1873, inclusive, he owned and operated a wholesale and retail drug store in Springfield, under the firm name of W. G. Porter & Company, at the southwest corner of the public square. Upon the death of Mr. Porter, Doctor Smith continued the drug business at 223 South street, under the firm name of J. R. Smith & Company. He enjoyed a large trade, maintained one of the leading drug stores of Springfield and was very successful as a business man. In con- nection with his business interests he followed his profession and had an extensive practice. Being of a literary turn of mind he has written and published a number of books on varied themes, principally of a religious 'tone. His writings show a depth of thought, broad culture, a splendid general knowledge and a fine literary finish.
Doctor Smith was never named by his parents, being known only by a "nickname" until he was eight years of age when he selected his own name. He comes from an excellent old American family. Robert Smith, his grand- father, was born in England, and he served in the Revolutionary war, be- coming captain of a company in the Fourth North Carolina regiment. He was a gallant officer and took part in many engagements, including the battle of King's Mountain. After the war he was a merchant and ship builder of note, owning several vessels which operated between North Carolina ports and the West Indies. Nathaniel Geist, the doctor's great-grandfather, first married Mary Howard, of Baltimore, Maryland, and later Dinah Volkeer, of Holland. His daughter, Mary Geist, by his first wife, married Robert Smith, our subject's grandfather. Nathaniel Geist served with George
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Washington in the war with England against France, and he was captured in 1773 at Braddock's famous defeat by the Cherokee Indians, who held him four years. During his captivity he married an Indian maiden and they reared a family. One of their sons, George Geist, was a man of exceptional prowess and ability and the Indians called him Chief Sequoyah, and he was for some time chief of the Cherokee tribe. He has been held in great rever- ence by the succeeding generation of Cherokees in view of the fact that he originated the Cherokee alphabet.
David Smith, father of our subject, was born in North Carolina. He lived in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky before coming to Missouri in 1836. He was a great cattleman, raising large numbers in the above men- tioned states, and in the early days before there were any railroads in the South, he practiced driving immense herds of cattle to Baltimore, Maryland, where he marketed them. Many claim that he originated the familiar term "cowboy." He was left an orphan in infancy, his father and mother both dying at that period of his life. All his life he was a dealer in live stock and was one of the most widely known cattle and horse dealers in his day and generation in the localities where he resided. He was one of the first to import blooded horses, and he raised thoroughbreds for a number of years. He lived to a ripe old age, spending his last years on his large stock farm in Newton county, this state. His family consisted of the following chil- dren : Benjamin F. died in infancy ; Sarah A. married Thomas Walker; Mary J., who is now eighty-two years of age and has never married, is living at the old homestead, "Kent Park," Newton county, Missouri; Dr. John R., of this sketch; Charlotte E. married James W. Roseberry, now deceased ; their son Chalmer H. Roseberry, owns and conducts a large deer farm at "Kent Park," Newton county, and is a member of the Society for the Preservation of Wild Animals of the United States Government. Thomas H. Benton Smith died in 1863 while in the service of the Confederacy, hav- ing been with General Rains' brigade at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, at the time of his death.
Dr. John R. Smith owns a gun which was made to order for his father in 1829, by John Bull, a gunsmith of Warrior Mountain, Alabama. It is a. fine specimen of guncraft of those days, is mounted with silver and has a gold powder-pan and bushings. The stock is of curly maple and the barrel of a very soft iron. It is a remarkably accurate shooting piece and it was designed as a "target" gun for the pioneers. The mounting has several in- scriptions on the silver plating. The doctor values this heirloom very highly.
Doctor Smith was married October 3, 1861, to Frances Ruth Keet, a daughter of Josiah T. and Elizabeth Proctor (West) Keet.
To Doctor Smith and wife the following children were born: Kenyon Ida died in infancy ; Ernest V. is a lieutenant-colonel in the regular army of
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the United States, now stationed at Honolulu, Sandwich Islands; he is a graduate of West Point Military Academy, which he entered when seventeen years old; he married Cora Young, of Troy, New York. Grace K. Smith became the wife of the late George Cooper, a sketch of whom will be found in another part of this work; Charlotte married Willard P. Paddock, who was for many years a professor in the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York; he is now a well known artist, and has made a fine bronze statue of Noah Webster, that was unveiled in September, 1914, in Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Paddock reside in New York City. Clara, youngest of the doctor's children, married Edward Steichen, a well known artist of New York City, where they reside. The mother of these children, to whom they owe so much for their general culture and success in life, is now seventy-one years of age.
Doctor Smith has been living retired for some time, making his home with his daughter, Mrs. Grace Cooper, at her beautiful home on Cherry street, Springfield. He is now in his seventy-ninth year, but is still comparatively hale and hearty and possesses all his faculties and has a fine memory. For a number of years he was medical examiner of the pension bureau of the United States government. Politically, he is a Democrat. He is a mem- ber of the Sons of the American Revolution and Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and belongs to the Christian church. He and his good wife are indeed a grand old couple, greatly beloved by a very wide circle of close friends. They have led useful and helpful lives, being hospitable and chari- table by nature, but never from a desire for display-rather from an innate love for suffering humanity and to meekly follow in the footsteps of the lowly Nazarene.
CHARLES E. DANDO.
History is made rapidly in these latter days, representing ceaseless toil and endeavor, the proudest achievements and the most potent progress in all lines, and thus it is gratifying to mark the records of those whose influence has impressed itself along the various channels through which the swelling tide of accomplishment makes its way. If the present volumes are to contain the names of the men who have "done things" in Springfield and Greene county, the name of Charles E. Dando will necessarily have to be included within their pages. For many years he was a widely known railroad man, an engineer and passenger conductor, after the usual pre- liminary positions, and was also a skilled machinist and worked in many different railroad shops. Later we find him owner and manager of a number of noted horses, then he was in the moving picture business, and now is
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living in retirement. He enjoys the distinction of having driven the engine that pulled the first passenger train from Kansas City to Springfield, which was over the old "Gulf road."
Mr. Dando was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 8, 1850. He is a son of Joseph M. and Mary (Ball) Dando, both long since deceased; and he is the youngest of four children, two of whom are deceased; Mrs. Harriet Prichard, the eldest, and Joseph and William were the brothers.
Charles E. Dando received a limited education, but in later life became a well informed man by contact with the world and wide reading. When only fourteen years of age he began his railroad career, securing employ- ment with the old Atlantic & Great Western railroad, now owned by the Erie railroad. He started in the shops at Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he remained two years, and from there went to Galion, Ohio, where he began firing a switch engine in the yards; six months later he entered the railroad shops of the Atlantic & Great Western, learning the machinist's trade, which he worked at for three and one-half years, then left Galion and went to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he went to work in the Shakespeare & Gettys foundry, remaining there about a year, then went to Litchfield, Illinois, and worked for the Illinois & St. Louis Railroad Company as a machinist in their shops there, remaining a year and a half. He then went to Kansas City, in the spring of 1872, and worked in the machine shops of the Missouri River, Ft. Scott & Gulf railroad for about four months, when he began firing, which he continued about a year when he was promoted to engineer and assigned to a locomotive which ran as both freight and passenger. When the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis road was built between Kansas City and Springfield, Mr. Dando ran the engine that pulled the first passenger train from Kansas City to Springfield. Judge John G. Newbill rode in the cab with him from Ft. Scott to Springfield. Mr. Dando was later made a conductor and worked in this capacity a few years, then went back to run- ning a locomotive. He finally retired from railroading and purchased some fine race horses, including the famous "Black Dick." He took his horses all over the Eastern states, engaging in a large number of races, and was very successful. Of late years he has been engaged in the moving picture business in Springfield, but has lived in retirement during the past four years, owning a good home on South Main street.
Mr. Dando was married, March 23, 1884, to Lizzell Davis, of Fort Scott. Kansas, a daughter of Dr. and Sarah F. (Hulse) Davis, whose family consisted of four children. namely ; James, Faustien, Lizzell, and Josephine ; the last named is deceased. Doctor Davis was born in France. Mrs. Dando grew to womanhood in Ft. Scott and received her education there, making excellent grades in all branches. Our subject and wife had two children,
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one living : James Edward was born April 19, 1886, and died October 24, 1904; Charles Joseph was born February 19, 1896, and is in a military school at Ashville, North Carolina.
Politically, Mr. Dando is a Democrat. He is a member of the Eastern Division of the Order of Railway Conductors, No. 321, and the Brother- hood of Locomotive Engineers. Fraternally, he belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was also made an honorary member of the Grand International Division of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, No. 378.
MICHAEL J. MURPHY.
It is indeed hard to find among our cosmopolitan civilization, people of better habits of life, taking it all in all, than those who originally came from the fair Emerald Isle or their immediate descendants. They are distin- guished for their thrift, wit, consecutive industry, patriotism and loyalty., and these qualities in the inhabitants of any country will in the end alone make that country great. One of the well-known engineers of the Frisco is Michael J. Murphy, who has long resided in Springfield, a man of Celtic blood and of the second generation of Irish in America. He hails originally from the Crescent City of the far South.
Mr. Murphy was born on January 1, 1861, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is a son of Michael D. and Dorothy Ann (O'Dwyre) Murphy, both born, reared and married in Ireland and there resided until 1854, when they emigrated to the United States, first locating in New York state, then, in 1859, went to New Orleans, and in 1861, when the Civil war began, they came north to Rolla, Missouri, when our subject was an infant. In 1847 Michael D. Murphy took part in the Smith-O'Brien rebellion. He escaped and went to Australia, and after a separation of seven years rejoined his wife, and they came to America. He was a railroad levee contractor. His death occurred in September, 1872, at Rolla, this state. His widow subse- quently removed to Springfield, where her death occurred in 1892. To these parents four children were born, namely: Jeremiah, Charles E., Mary, are all deceased, and Michael J., of this sketch.
Mr. Murphy, our subject, had little chance to receive an extensive edu- cation. However, he is a self-made man. On April 1, 1879, he went to work for the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company in a stone quarry at Rolla, later coming with an extra gang to Springfield and helped put in the foundation for a turntable and roundhouse at the North Side shops. In 1880 he was given a position as fireman out of Springfield and was promoted
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to freight engineer in 1889, and to regular passenger engineer in 1901, and has retained this responsible position ever since, being regarded by the com- pany as one of its most efficient and trustworthy engineers. His present run is between Springfield and Newburg.
For three years he traveled as special representative of the Frisco in fourteen different states, and did his work most acceptably. Since August 15, 1914, Mr. Murphy has been devoting his time on the "Safety First" movement in accident prevention for the conservation of human life and limb of the employees and patrons of the Frisco system, and because of the increased cost of materials used and consumed by the railroads and the increased cost in taxes, interest and wages and the decrease of 33 1-3 per cent. in passenger revenue and decrease of 21 per cent. in freight revenue, due to the two-cent passenger fare and the maximum freight rate in Missouri, resulting in placing the Frisco and other Missouri railroads in a position where their earnings are not sufficient to meet cost of operation and main- tenance, interest and taxes, the roads are forced to retrench and cut down expenses. This could only be done by the laying off of men in shops, in the office and in the bridge and building departments and the purchase of less material. such as ties, ballast, steel rails, bridges, and building materials. This retrenchment on the part of the railroads placed over forty thousand wage-earners, skilled and unskilled, idle, leaving them unable to purchase the necessaries of life, which in turn affected the retail and wholesale mer- chants and producing classes of the state. To overcome those conditions and to start the wheels of progress moving, to find employment for the idle men, Mr. Murphy on February 3, 1915, organized the Railway Employees' Protective Association, and by and through this organization in the state of Missouri secured the signatures of bankers, farmers, merchants, manu- facturers, and members of organized labor to petitions aggregating in the whole the signatures of over 750,000 of the above citizens of Missouri and mailed those petitions and signatures to the members of the Forty-eighth General Assembly of Missouri asking for a repeal of the maximum 2-cent passenger fare, restoration of the 3-cent passenger rate, and that the public service commission of Missouri to adjust and grant a fair equitable equali- zation of rates in Missouri, and for the future Mr. Murphy will be engaged making this movement nation-wide in its scope, so that capital will be en- courage to invest in railroad securities, so that the credit of the railroads will be restored, so that capital and labor will be in a position under wise and just laws, state and national, to furnish the transportation facilities so essential to the future development of the internal resources of Missouri and of the nation as a whole.
Mr. Murphy was married on September 27, 1887, in Rolla, Missouri, to Mary A. Powers, a native of that city. She is a daughter of James and
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Winifred C. (Condron) Powers, both natives of Ireland. They spent their early days in their native land and finally emigrated to the United States. Mr. Powers was in the employ of the Frisco Railroad for a number of years. His death occurred on July 10, 1878, in Rolla. Mrs. Murphy's mother died in Springfield on May 19, 1900. The wife of our subject was reared and educated in Rolla, attending the public and Catholic schools.
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