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 4
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D., of this sketch; Anne L. and Lellah V. These children were all given excellent educational advantages in the Springfield schools.
Judge Kirby grew to manhood in his native city and here attended the ward and high schools, later was a student in Drury College. Leaving school in 1895, he began the study of law with the late John O'Day as pre- ceptor, and, having made rapid progress, was admitted to the bar in Decem- ber, 1896. After that he continued studying law, but did not begin the practice of his profession until 1900. He continued active practice in the local courts for ten years with much success, or until he was elected judge of the circuit court in 1910, since which time he has discharged the duties of this important position in a manner that has reflected much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents and all concerned, being generally regarded as one of the best men ever on this bench.
Judge Kirby has remained unmarried. Politically he is a stanch Demo- crat and active in local political affairs. He belongs to the Baptist church.
T. BLONDVILLE HOLLAND.
True biography has a more noble purpose than mere fulsome eulogy. The historic spirit, faithful to the record; the discerning judgment, unmoved by prejudice and uncolored by enthusiasmi, are as essential in giving the life of the individual as in writing the history of a people. Indeed, the ingenuous- ness of the former picture is even more vital, because the individual is the national unit, and if the unit be justly estimated the complex organism will become correspondingly intelligible. The world today is what the lead- ing men of the past generation have made it, and this rule must ever hold good. From the past comes the legacy of the present. Art, science, states- manship and government are accumulations. They constitute an inheritance upon which the present generation have entered, and the advantages se- cured from so vast a bequeathment depend entirely upon the fidelity with which is conducted the study of the lives of the principal actors who have transmitted the legacy. This is especially true of those whose influence has passed beyond the confines of locality and permeated the larger life of the state. To such a careful study are the life, character and service of the late T. Blondville Holland pre-eminently entitled, not only on the part of the student of biography, but also of every citizen who, guided by example, would in the present build wisely for the future. In studying a clean- cut, sane, distinct character like that of the subject, interpretation follows fact in a straight line of derivation. There is small use for indirection or puzzling. His character is the positive expression of a strong nature. As
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IBHolland
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has been said of him, "he was distinctively one of the notable man of his day and generation, and as such is entitled to a conspicuous place in the annals of his city, county and state." Mr. Holland was a member of one of the oldest, best-known and most influential families of Greene county, Missouri, and in his lifetime had engaged widely in various business pur- suits, and as head of the great banking company which has long borne his name, he wielded a potent influence in financial circles of the Southwest. Despite the fact that his father was a wealthy man, he began early to make his own way. He traveled by horse long distance in his youth in live stock deals and by exceptional ability in his efforts became wealthy in his own right. His name had become a household synonym of conservativeness, as trustworthy as a gold bond.
Mr. Holland was a son of Gen. C. B. and Emiline H. (Bigbee) Hol- land, the latter a daughter of Capt. John S. Bigbee. T. Blondville Holland was born in Robertson county, Tennessee, January 1, 1836. He immigrated to Springfield, Missouri, with his parents in the spring of 1841, and here spent the rest of his life. The family made the tedious journey from across the Tennessee plains and the rugged range of the Ozark mountains. At that time Springfield had only a few small log huts, one of which the father of our subject rented. As no furniture could be bought, the elder Holland made his own furniture out of walnut rails from a fence nearby which he purchased from John P. Campbell, who donated the original townsite where Springfield now stands. With General Holland and family also came John L. Holland, his brother, who still lives in Springfield at the advanced age of ninety-five years. He and the General were among the first merchants in this city. The two brothers married sisters. Lee Holland, a son of J. L. Holland, was a double cousin to T. B. Holland.
In the beginning of the Civil war our subject enlisted in the Union Army under his father, Gen. C. B. Holland, and served with distinction throughout the war. He was at one time offered and refused an officer's commission. He took much pride in the military history of his ancestors and was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. His father being a self-made man, he believed in boys assuming responsibilities in early life, and at the age of eighteen years, T. B. Holland started in a small mercantile business for himself at a point which at that time was in Taney county, now near the town of Rome, Douglas county, Missouri. Although the business proved successful, after two years he disposed of same and re- turned to Springfield, where he later entered into a partnership business with his father under the firm name of C. B. Holland & Son, which proved suc- cessful. Both dealt in live stock also, and later added the banking business.
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The partnership was continued until the death of the father in 1901. During the early partnership before the war our subject several times drove horses and mules overland clear through from Springfield to New Orleans. After the war a general mercantile business was conducted in Springfield by C. B. Holland & Son which was continued until 1870. In the year 1875 the banking business was established as a private bank, which was likewise conducted under the firm name of C. B. Holland & Son and continued until 1896, when it was incorporated as the Holland Banking Company and has been conducted under that name ever since. Our subject was associated with the bank until his death and was president of the same the latter years of his life. Mr. Holland was a strong character of sterling worth whose integrity and honor was his religion, and it was largely these characteristics injected into the business that won the Holland Banking Com- pany the high standing in the community which it enjoys today. Mr. Hol- land was the first president of the Springfield Clearing House Associa- tion.
The domestic life of T. B. Holland began in 1860 when he was united in marriage with Matilda Dade, a young lady of St. Louis and a sister to the late Dabney C. Dade, of Springfield, and a daughter of Judge John Dade. She died in 1875. This union resulted in the birth of five children. two of whom died in infancy, and two sons, T. D. and W. C., died after reaching manhood. The eldest daughter, Cora B., died in 1901. She was the wife of William B. Sanford, now president of the Holland Banking Company. To Mr. and Mrs. Sanford one child was born, Grady H. San- ford. T. B. Holland was remarried in 1877 to Miss B. A. Hamilton, who survives him, with four children, all living and married; they are: Charles, proprietor of the Holland Stock and Dairy Farm near Springfield; Mrs. Will Darby, who resides with her mother in Springfield; Mrs. Manney Simmons, and Mrs. Clifford Jarrett.
In 1911 Mr. Holland sold a controlling interest of stock of the Holland Banking Company to William B. Sanford.
Mr. Holland was prominently identified with the making of Springfield, doing as much as any other man for the material upbuilding of the city in which he always had implicit faith and took so great a delight. He was a large contributor to all public enterprises and charities but avoided publicity therewith. He was a member of the first board of trustees of Drury College and remained a close friend of this institution throughout his life, especially through its early struggles until it was well on the road to success. In the big fire that visited the heart of the business district of Springfield in the spring of 1913, Mr. Holland was the heaviest property loser, he having accumulated considerable property in this section of the city.
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After a period of ill health T. Blondville Holland was summoned to close his earthly career at the Holland home on St. Louis street, Springfield, on July 30, 1913, in his seventy-eighth year, after a long, useful, successful and honorable life, fraught with much good to his county, city, himself, family and the world, and the young man of today might well emulate his example, not only in a business way but in all walks of life, for his career presents to the contemplative mind many lessons of value.
ROBERT L. RAMSEY.
In his efforts he, who essays biographical or memorial history, finds much of profit and much of alluring fascination when he would follow out, in even a cursory way, the teachings of an active, rightly lived life, seeking to find the keynote of each respective personality. These efforts and their resulting transmission cannot fail of value in an objective way, for in each case may the lesson of life be conned, line upon line, precept upon precept. The late Robert L. Ramsey was a man who lived to good purpose and while laboring for his own good and that of his immediate family, helped others on the road that leads to the mystic goal ahead.
Mr. Ramsey was born in Lewis county, Missouri, in 1836. He was a son of Silas and Elizabeth (Brown) Ramsey, natives of Kentucky, where they grew up and were married and from there removed to Missouri, being among the early settlers of Lewis county, where the family has been well and favorably known to the present time. Seven children were born to them, all now deceased but one, namely : John ; Martha is the only survivor ; Thomas; Sarah ; Lucy; Robert L., of this sketch, and Samuel, the youngest. Silas Ramsey, the father, was twice married, our subject having been by his first union. He became one of the leading farmers of Lewis county, and owned three sections of fine land there.
Robert L. Ramsey grew to manhood in his native county and assisted his father with the work on the farm, and he received a fairly good educa- tion in the common schools. He was by nature an excellent mathematician. He began life for himself as a farmer, but believing that the business world held greater inducement for him he went to Canton, county-seat of Lewis county, when a young man, about 1869, and there began his mercantile career, which he continued with ever-increasing success for over twenty years, enjoying an extensive trade with the town and surrounding country. He always carried a good stock of merchandise and dealt fairly and cour- teously with his customers, and thereby retained their confidence and good will. His health failing, he retired from active life three or four years
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prior to his death, being at that time one of the oldest and best known mer- chants in Canton.
Mr. Ramsey was married in his native county, February 3, 1859, to Sarah E. Ray, who was born in Lewis county, Missouri, March 22, 1839. She is a daughter of Judge M. and Sarah (Brown) Ray, the former a native of Tennessee and the mother of Kentucky.
To Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey six children were born, two of whom are living, namely: M. Beatrice; Mattie L .; Lula E .; Roberta; Sarah and Eliza- beth, twins, are the only survivors; Sarah married Walter W. Baxter, who is mentioned in the sketch of Kirk Baxter on another page of this volume; Elizabeth married George H. Baxter, who is living a retired life in Spring- field.
The death of Robert L. Ramsey occurred in Canton, Missouri, Sep- tember 19, 1900, at the age of sixty-four years. His widow subsequently removed to Springfield, this state, to live with her two daughters. She purchased a home on South Fremont street, and there spent the rest of her days, being called to join her husband in the Silent Land on April 13, 1914. The daughters now occupy the cozy home she left.
Mr. Ramsey was a Democrat, and religiously he was a member of the Baptist church. Fraternally he belonged to the Masonic Order, and his father-in-law was the first Mason in Lewis county. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey were excellent people, religious, neighborly and charitable and were beloved by all who knew them.
WILLIAM R. DANIEL.
No matter what line of work one is engaged in he should strive to become an expert in it, which will not only result in better remuneration, but a greater degree of satisfaction and pleasure all around. If one goes at his work in a half-hearted, slip-shod manner very little good will be accom- plished and little satisfaction gotten out of it. In fact, it is not too much to say that poor work should never be done, for it is very often worse than nothing-detrimental. William R. Daniel, the skilled coach carpenter in the Frisco's new shops at Springfield, realized these facts when he made up his mind when a young man to become a carpenter. He knew the world was full of wood workers in various lines and that to achieve anything really worth while he would have to become a superior workman. Years of patient and careful work have made him one.
Mr. Daniel was born on October 5, 1857, in Savannah, Tennessee. He is a son of Calloway and Caroline (Hutton) Daniel, natives of Tennessee and Alabama, respectively. They grew up in the South, attended school
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and were married in Tennessee, from which state in 1861 they removed to Illinois, where they lived during the Civil war, and, in 1865, came to New Madrid county, Missouri, where they spent the rest of their lives on a farm, dying near the town of New Madrid, the father in 1883, and the mother in 1893. Politically, Calloway Daniel was a Democrat, and he belonged to the Granger order. His family consisted of ten children, namely: Emily and Elsie are living; Thomas is deceased; James is living; Patrick is deceased; William R. of this sketch; Jane, Alice, Benjamin and George are all de- ceased.
William R. Daniel was four years old when he left his native state of Illinois and was about nine years old when his parents brought him to New Madrid county, Missouri, where he grew to manhood on a farm and there worked during the summer months, attending the district schools in the winter. He followed farming in that county until 1884, when, on August 12th of that year, he came to Springfield, this state, and engaged in car- penter work for a few years. On November 23, 1890, he went to work for the Frisco System at the old North Side shops, in the coach department as a carpenter, where he remained until 1909, when the new shops were opened, at which time he was transferred to the latter and promoted to coach carpenter, which position he still holds, giving eminent satisfaction, for he is not only exceptionally skillful, but is a fast and painstaking work- man, always conscientious in his work.
Mr. Daniel was married on December 22, 1880, in New Madrid, Mis- souri, to Fanny V. Edmondson, who was born there June 26. 1864, and was reared and educated at that place. She is a daughter of John and Lavina S. (Freeman) Edmondson. Her father was born in Louisville, Kentucky, November 10, 1820, and her mother was born in North Carolina. December I, 1834. They grew up in the South, were educated and married there, finally removing to Springfield, Missouri, where the death of Mr. Edmond- son occurred on February 3, 1901; his wife died in Kansas City, May 8, 1904; they are buried in Springfield. Mr. Edmondson, who devoted his life principally to agricultural pursuits, was a well-read man. Politically he was a Democrat. His family consisted of four children, namely: Mrs. Elizabeth J. Warrington lives in Kansas City, Missouri : Laura is deceased : Fanny V., wife of Mr. Daniel of this sketch, and William, who is the youngest.
To our subject and wife two children have been born, namely: Laura Lavina, was born in 1882, and died when a year old; the second child died in infancy, unnamed.
Mrs. Daniel is a well educated and accomplished woman, who is prom- inent in local club life. She is an active and influential member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She also belongs to the Progressive
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Workers' Club. She was first vice-president of the Children's Home when it was first organized in Springfield. She is a member of the Pickwick Sew- ing Club, and is a member of the Young Men's Christian Association Auxiliary, and belongs to the Second Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Daniel is also a member and an elder. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Order, the Improved Order of Red Men and the Maccabees. Polit- ically he is a Democrat.
Mr. Daniel owns a cozy home on Weller street, Springfield.
WALTER P. EMERSON.
One of the enterprising and deserving young men of Fair Grove, Greene county, is Walter P. Emerson, who is filling very acceptably the position of postmaster and is also conducting a store there. He was formerly a resi- dent of Springfield and has spent most of his life in this county.
Mr. Emerson was born in Jasper county, Missouri, November 14, 1880. He is a son of James Daniel and Sarah Ann Frances (Wheeler) Emerson. The father was born in 1852, in Greene county, this state, spending his first years in Franklin township, in fact, with the exception of one year spent in Jasper county, he spent his entire life in his native county, and made general farming his vocation, owning a good farm of one hundred and twenty acres, all under improvement, in Jackson township, and there his death occurred in May, 1904. Politically he was a Democrat, and while active in the affairs of his party was never an office holder. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, at Fair Grove, in which he took much interest, and in which he was a deacon for years. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Fair Grove. His wife was a native of Tennessee, and when young in years she came to Greene county, Missouri, with her parents, James T. and Nancy A. (Andrews) Wheeler. This was during the period of the Civil war. The family located at Hickory Barrens, and secured one hundred and forty acres of good land in that vicinity, where Mr. Wheeler carried on general farming. During the war he was a private in a Missouri regiment in the Union army, later being promoted to corporal and was honorably discharged and mustered out as such. He saw considerable service and had a horse shot from under him in an engagement. He was in St. Louis at the close of the war. He en- listed on the road from Tennessee to Missouri and his wife continued on to Greene county, where he joined her after the war and resided the rest of his life.
Three children were born to James D. Emerson and wife, namely :
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Walter P., of this sketch; Mrs. Mary Alexander Yancy, and John Reed, who is one of the country school teachers of this county.
Walter P. Emerson grew up on the home farm and assisted with the general work there. He was one year old when his parents brought him from Jasper county to Franklin township. He was educated in the district schools here, later taking a course in the Springfield Business College, from which he was graduated in 1902. He lived in Springfield six years, work- ing as a street car conductor for four years, and as a teamster for two years. He moved to Fair Grove in March, 1908, where he has since resided. He has for some time been conducting a small general store, and in the spring of 1914 took the civil service examination and was appointed post- master at Fair Grove the following July. He is discharging the duties of the office in a highly acceptable manner to the department and the people. His store is next door to the office. He is an honest, obliging and courteous young man, and his appointment to this office was highly pleasing to the citizens of Fair Grove and vicinity.
Mr. Emerson was married October 9, 1901, to Pearlie Blair, a daugh- ter of Thomas A. and Malinda (Sharp) Blair. To this union five children have been born, namely: Audra Preston, James Thomas, Zelma Hazel, Elma Dazel and Claude Elwyn.
Politically, Mr. Emerson is a Democrat. He is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World, both at Fair Grove, and his wife is a member of the Baptist church.
JAMES S. SARTAIN.
From the great Prairie state, where lived such renowned men as states- men, warriors, men of business and authors, comes James S. Sartain, en- gineer of the Fruit Dispatch Company, of Springfield. He has not tried to emulate in his life work the eminent men of his native state only in that he has tried to do something well, not desiring the plaudits of the world in a public way, and so he has done his allotted work on earth just the same as if his name was inscribed high on the honor roll of the nation, for all good work by mankind is viewed as a part of the plan of creation, and we are taught that "each thing and person in their place is best."
Mr. Sartain was born October 18, 1868, in Pike county, Illinois. He is a son of Charles and Matilda (Ham) Sartain. The father was born in North Carolina, in 1845, and the mother was born in Pike county, Illinois, in 1854. These parents received common school educations and were mar- ried in Pike county, Illinois, whither the father removed from the South
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when young. He devoted his active life to general farming and stock rais- ing. He remained in Illinois until 1880, when he removed to Bates county,. Missouri. During the Civil war he served a full term of enlistment, par- ticipating in a number of battles, and was captured at Arkansas Post. His- death occurred in Bates county, this state, in 1909. His family consisted of nine children, seven of whom are still living.
James S. Sartain grew to manhood on the home farm and received his education in the public schools of Bates county and the high school at Adrian, that county. He lived on the home farm until he was eighteen years old, then engaged in the threshing business for several years. He also became a stationary engineer. In 1908 he moved to Springfield from Butler, Bates county, and here he has since been running an engine, at the present time- being engineer at the plant of the Fruit Dispatch Company. He is regarded as an expert in his line and likes the work; moreover, he has proven to be a thoroughly trustworthy employee.
Mr. Sartain was married on November 18, 1889, in Adrian, Missouri, to Eulalia McCraw, who was born, reared and educated there, the date of her birth being February 27, 1874. She is a daughter of James and Margaret (Calland) McCraw, who were natives of Pennsylvania, but who came West in early life. The father is still living, but the mother is deceased.
Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sartain, namely: Grace, born February 3, 1892, and Fred, born May 2, 1894.
Politically, Mr. Sartain is a Democrat, and fraternally he belongs to the- Knights of Pythias.
RICHARD HENRY HANSON, M. D.
It was the great Thoreau who said that men would be better if they had sufficient vision to look below the surface of things. This vision is not vouchsafed to many, but one of the favored in this respect is Dr. Richard Henry Hanson, a well known homeopathic physician of Springfield, whose long and useful career has been an interesting and varied one and of much good to humanity. We find that he was a gallant soldier in the defense of the Union, a worthy minister in the Methodist church for many years. an effective worker for the cause of temperance, a potent influence in the state legislature where he served two terms, and enterprising merchant and for more than three decades a successful man of medicine, both a pharmacist and physician, and withal a true gentleman who deserves the high respect in which he is universallly held.
Doctor Hanson was born in Peru, Clinton county, New York, June I,
Dr. NA Hanson
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1842. He is a son of Cyrus and Lucinda (Hill) Hanson, natives of New England, the father born near Dover, New Hampshire, and when a boy he ran away from home and went to Vermont and later removed to near Peru, New York, where he followed farming the rest of his life. The mother of our subject was reared in Vermont and her death occurred in Minnesota.
Dr. Richard H. Hanson grew to manhood on the home farm in New York state and there he received a common school education, later attending Malone Academy, at Malone, N. Y. He remained on the farm until he was twenty years of age, then studied chemistry and photography, the daguerreo- type method. When the Civil war came on he enlisted in Company L, Sixth New York Heavy Artillery, and saw considerable hard service. He was among the troops which was detailed to guard the wagon trains of the Federal army during the battle of Cedar Creek, but the company he was a member of was annihilated. However, he effected his escape, was taken sick and spent the latter part of the war in a hospital in Philadelphia. After he was honorably discharged from the army he returned to his home in New York state and soon thereafter bought a country store, which he conducted a few years, then came to Springfield, Missouri, in the early seventies. Later taking up the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, he joined the St. Louis conference and spent thirteen years in the ministry, during which time he was regarded as one of the most earnest, faithful and able members of the conference and a leader in this denomination in southern Missouri. He was for a time connected with the school of this denomination at Marionville, and among his charges were Ash Grove, Marshfield, Windsor, Sedalia, Bloomfield, Iberia, Dixon and Hartville. In all these places he did a most commendable work and greatly strengthened the church in each. During the latter part of his ministry he studied medicine and finally abandoned the pulpit, much to the regret of those who had occasion to know of his splendid work in the gospel, and took up the practice of homeopathy, which he has continued with pronounced success for the past thirty years, and is one of the best-known men in this branch of medical science in the Southwest. He was duly licensed as a homeopath and was also given a pharmacy license, having made himself familiar with that profession also. While living in Wright county he served as coroner for a period of eight years in an emi- nently successful manner. He led the campaign for local option in Wright county, which won by a majority vote of over twelve hundred, the credit for this victory being due very largely to him. On the strength of his labors in this line he was elected representative from Wright county to the state legislature on the Republican ticket, and his record there was so highly sat- isfactory and commendable that he was elected for a second term by a much larger majority than previously. He was an ardent supporter in locating the State Normal School at Springfield, also was chairman of the emigration
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