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 5
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committee, which appropriated $10,000 toward bringing emigration to Mis- souri. In fact, for many years Dr. Hanson has been a power in the Repub- lican party in southern Missouri.
Dr. Hanson located in Springfield in November, 1912. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is past chaplain.
Dr. Hanson owns and runs a sanitarium on North Main street, which is a spacious, fine building, with a fine, well-kept yard and grove. Dr. Han- son also has a fine 500-acre farm in Wright county, Missouri, which is also very valuable mineral land.
Dr. Hanson was a teaher in Aurora, Missouri, and taught on ground that has since proven to be rich mineral land.
The doctor was married in Bolivar, Polk county, Missouri, in 1878, to Zillah F. Holt, a daughter of John L. and Joanna Holt. Her father was a spy for the Union army during the Civil war. He devoted his life to cabinet making, and was surveyor of Lawrence county for a number of years. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hanson, Viola, widow of Edward McNealy ; Perry L. lives at Hartville, Missouri; Golden lives at home, now Mrs. William Curry : Galen lives in Springfield and Daisy lives at home.
ROBERT A. MOORE.
Eminent business talent is composed of a combination of high mental and moral attributes. It is not simply energy and industry ; there must be sound judgment, breadth of capacity, rapidity of thought, justice and firm- ness, the foresight to perceive the drifting tides of business and the will and ability to control them, and, withal, a collection of minor but important quali- ties to regulate the details of the pursuits which engage attention. Robert A. Moore, superintendent and manager of the Moore Manufacturing Com- pany, of Springfield, affords an exemplification of this talent, if not in its highest development, yet an extraordinary character, and notwithstanding the somewhat limited theater of his operations he has achieved a reputation which places him in the front rank of Greene county's progressive successful men of affairs.
Mr. Moore was born in Wayne county, New York, May 11, 1846. He is a son of Robert N. and Sarah ( Pollok) Moore. The father was born in Duchess county, New York, in 1818, received a good education in his native state and there married and engaged in farming, later becoming a capitalist and was a promoter in agricultural lines in the South until the war. His death occurred at Burlington, Iowa, in 1876. His wife was a native of Wayne county, New York, and the date of her birth was 1823. She grew
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to womanhood in her native locality and received an excellent education, in- cluding a course in the Elmira Seminary, from which institution she was graduated. She was a woman of culture and many praiseworthy attributes. Her death occurred in Richmond, Virginia, in 1858, when still a young woman. To Robert N. Moore and wife four children were born, namely : James Z., Robert A., Frank P. and Mary.
Robert A. Moore received a limited education in the public schools of his native state, but this early deficiency has more than been made up by wide home reading and contact with the world in later years. He found it necessary to leave school when he was sixteen years old, and, taking Horace Greeley's advice, went West to seek his fortune. He located in Burlington, Iowa, in 1863, and there began railroading with the bridge and civil engineer- ing department of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, with which department he remained for five or six years, then took up contracting, which he followed until the death of his father in 1876. He remained in Burlington working as a millwright and superintendent until 1886, when he came to Springfield, Missouri, where he continued to work as millwright. In 1892 he opened a manufacturing business at 600 East Phelps avenue, be- ginning the manufacture of school and church furniture. The business was a success from the first and it was incorporated in 1893. He has continued in this line of endeavor to the present time with ever increasing success, and the Moore Manufacturing Company is now widely known throughout the Southwest and has a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars. Its prod- ucts find a very ready market owing to their high-grade workmanship, finish and quality, seating, fine cabinet work and machinery being specialties ; also school and church furniture, office fittings, tables, desks, law cases, opera chairs, assembly chairs, hall seatings, railroad seatings, lawn seatings, etc. In connection with the wood work the company handles machinery for vari- ous kinds of wood work manufacturing and a large trade is also enjoyed in this department. The plant is a large, well equipped and substantial one, modern in its various appointments, and a large number of skilled mechanics and artisans are constantly employed. Only the best grade of material is used and only the highest grade of workmanship is permitted to go out of the factory. The officers of the company are: Flora L. Moore (wife of our subject), president ; Robert A. Moore, superintendent and manager ; H. A. Hutchins, secretary ; Charles I. Moore and Frank P. Moore, directors.
Robert A. Moore was married twice, first in 1871, to Christiana Morgan, whose death occurred in 1879. To this union three children were born, name- ly : Charles I., born in 1872, lives on a farm in Laclede county, Missouri ; Frank P., born in 1877, is in business with his father ; Julia L., born in 1879. died in May, 1900. In October, 1888, Mr. Moore was united in marriage to Flora L. Hutchins, in Springfield, Missouri. She was born in Greene county,
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this state, March 5, 1868, and was reared and educated here. She is a daugh- ter of Thomas A. and Eliza A. (Bowker) Hutchins, both natives of Massa- chusetts, the father born in June, 1824, and died in Arizona in February, 1893; the death of the mother occurred in Springfield, Missouri, July II, 1901. Eight children were born to Thomas A. Hutchins and wife, namely : Howard B. is deceased; Mary E., Edward W., Angeline, Harriet, Flora L., Clara E. and Francis S.
Four children were born to Mr. Moore's second marriage, namely : Fred N., born in 1889, lives in Oklahoma and is in the employ of the Frisco Lines; Ester I., born in 1892, is principal of the high school at Miller, Missouri; Ruth W., born in 1895, is attending Drury College, and Katherine S., born in 1901, is also attending school.
Politically, Mr. Moore is a Democrat, and he and his family are mem- bers of Calvary Presbyterian church.
THEODORE BANISTER.
From the "banks of the Wabash far away" hails Theodore Banister, and no doubt, in the language of Paul Dresser's famous song, "oft his mind reverts to the happy scenes of childhood" in that fair country where "'round his Indina homestead wave the cornfields" with "scent of new-mown hay" and sycamore bottoms and all that; for it is indeed a desirable country, and, of course, seems better to those whose youth was spent there. It is not only a picturesque country, but it has produced some of our best American citizens, men of industry, courage and honesty, so that they have been wel- comed into whatever communities they have cast their lots. Not many of them have settled in Greene county, but Mr. Banister has found it to his advantage to do so.
Our subject was born in Wabash county, Indiana, February 28, 1846. He is a son of Nathaniel and Emiline (Dale) Banister. The father was born December 13, 1818, in Nicholas county, Kentucky, in which state he spent his earlier years, finally emigrating to Indiana in an early day and locating in Wabash county. They were married in Fayette county, Indiana, February 9, 1841, and there began life in typical pioneer fashion, he enter- ing eighty acres of land from the government, which he cleared and de- veloped into a farm, making general farming his life work. He lived on one farm for a period of forty-six years, and was a well-known man in his locality. His farm in Wabash county consisted of one hundred and sixty acres of excellent land. There his death occurred many years ago, but his: widow survives, having attained at this writing the unusual age of ninety-
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four years, still making her home in the Hoosier state. Politically, Nathaniel Banister was a Democrat, and he was at one time trustee of his township. His family consisted of ten children, seven of whom are still living, namely : Merritt, who has remained in Wabash county, Indiana; Theodore, of this sketch; Louis, Alfred, Horace, Sanford and Alice, all live in Indiana; the other three children died in early life.
Mr. Banister, of this review, grew up on the home farm, where he worked when a boy, and he received his education in the public schools of his vicinity, the first school he attended being in a log cabin. He followed farming until he was twenty-one years old, then began learning the car- penter's trade, for which he had unusual natural talent. He remained in his native state until in 1880, when he came to Springfield, Missouri. He has continued in carpenter work all the while and is a fast and high-grade workman, and his services are in good demand at the highest wages.
Mr. Banister was married on November 7, 1884, in Springfield, to Laura Loveless, who was born in the central part of Ohio, May I. 1863, and there she grew to womanhood and was educated near Bellefontaine, removing to Springfield, this state, when young, and finishing her educa- tion here. Her parents, George and Sarah (Outland) Loveless, spent most of their lives on the farm. The father was born September 7, 1823, and died here July 16, 1892. The mother was born June 30, 1823, and died in Springfield July 18, 1886.
To Mr. and Mrs. Banister three children have been born, namely : George E., born July 3, 1886, is a traveling salesman and resides in Spring- field; Ralph, born December 16, 1888, who is employed in Snyder's cloth- ing store in this city; Theodore, Jr., born October 21, 1896, works in Holland's Bank, this city.
Politically, Mr. Banister is a Democrat. He is a member of the South Street Christian church, in which he is a deacon, and he has long been active in church work. He has a cozy home on East Elm street.
KIRK BAXTER.
The late Kirk Baxter will long be remembered by the people of Spring- field as a minister in the Christian church, and as a teacher, a man who was imbued with the deepest and most helpful altruistic spirit, and. he gave his best years to the furthering of the movements calculated to uplift and make the world better. Pure, constant and noble was the spiritual flame that burned in and illumined the mortal tenement of the subject of this memoir, and to the superficial observer can come but small appreciation of his in-
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trinsic spirituality, his faith having been fortified by the deepest study, and the Christian verities were with him the matters of most concern among the changes and chances of this mortal life. No man with his intellectual vigor and the love of truth which marked him could live long without inevitably being brought to investigate the great moral laws governing life, in fact, he was a strong man in every respect and was successful in all he under- took.
Mr. Baxter was born in New York City, in the year 1836. His parents were natives of England, where they grew up and were married, finally emigrating to America, and both died in New York City, when their son, Kirk, who was the youngest of three children, was small, his two brothers being William and George Baxter. They are all now deceased.
Kirk Baxter received his education in his native city, through the assist- ance of his oldest brother, William Baxter, but while still a boy, the three brothers went to the Southland, locating in Louisiana, where our subject continued his education in a college, and there entered the ministry of the Gospel, and for many years preached at various places in the South. He went to Mississippi after leaving Louisiana, and later located in Arkansas, where he remained a short time, and, in 1868, moved with his family to Springfield, Missouri, and became minister of the local Christian church, holding this charge for many years, during which he was one of the most popular ministers in this city. He also taught school, private classes, here for some time, and as both preacher and educator his work was high-grade. He was a man of learning, of advanced ideas, was well versed in the Bible and was a forceful and entertaining speaker.
Mr. Baxter was married in Louisiana to Emma F. Jackson, a native of that state, and a daughter of Jarrett E. Jackson and wife, and she grew to womanhood and was educated in her native locality, and she proved to be an excellent helpmate to her gifted husband. They became the parents of eight children, namely: Charles W., who died January 30, 1914: Mary lives in the state of Washington ; Lena lives in Oklahoma; William H. died in 1879: Rosa lives in the state of Washington; George H., born February 5, 1867, received his education in the Springfield schools and the old Ash Grove College, and on December 27, 1898. he married Elizabeth Ramsey ; he lives in Springfield, travels for a large St. Louis shoe house, and fra- ternally he belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Royal Arcanum. Curt, the seventh child in order of birth, is living in Mon- tana; Walter W., the youngest of the family, was born February 3, 1872, in Springfield, and here grew to manhood and was educated; on December 28, 1899, he married Sarah Ramsey, which union was without issue ; he was for some time general manager of the Springfield office of R. G. Dunn & Co .; his death occurred in January, 1901.
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Politically Kirk Baxter was a Democrat. For a period of twenty-five years he was prominent in the upbuilding of Springfield, especially along civic and moral lines, and during that period few men did more for the edu- cational development of Greene county. He started the first Girls' Sem- inary in Springfield, and was the founder of the Ash Grove College. He was a man of whom it may be said, "truly his works do follow him." He was summoned to his eternal rest in 1895.
HARRY CLYDE HOLDEN.
One of the young men of Springfield who has found it to his advantage to remain in his native city rather than seek opportunities in other places is Harry Clyde Holden, foreman of the mill shop at the new Frisco shops in this city, where, by persistency and prompt and faithful service, he has climbed up from the bottom round of the ladder.
Mr. Holden was born in Springfield, Missouri, March 23, 1871. He is a son of George and Elizabeth (O'Bannon) Holden. His mother was born in Charlestown, West Virginia, in 1841, and her death occurred in Springfield, Missouri, in 1893. George Holden, the father, was born in England, near London, the world's greatest city, in 1839, and his death occurred in Spring- field, Missouri, April 12, 1908. He spent his early life in his native land and there received his education, emigrating to the United States when a young man and locating in Charlestown, West Virginia, where he was married. He remained in the East until the close of the Civil war, when, in the year 1865, he moved to this city, after spending some time in Union City, Missouri. He participated in this war by serving in the Union army, taking part in many important battles, proving to be an excellent soldier in every respect. He learned the carpenter's trade when a young man, and this he followed the rest of his active life, being a very skilled workman. Politically, he was a Repub- lican. His family consisted of six children, all of whom are still living, name- ly : Florence, Emily, George, Hannah, Harry C. and Dwight.
Harry C. Holden grew to manhood in his native city and received his education in the local public schools. When a boy he went to work in the box car department of the Frisco shops, being only sixteen years of age at that time. After working in that department for some time he went to the pattern shops in the old North Side shops of this road, where he remained until 1892, when he went to St. Louis, where he secured employment in the St. Louis Car and Wheel Company's works, in the pattern department. Re- turning to Springfield in 1893, he resumed work in the pattern department at the old shops, where he remained about a year, then went to Cincinnati, Ohio,.
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remaining in that city until 1909, when he returned to Springfield, at the opening of the new Frisco shops, where he has since been employed as mill and cabinet foreman, the duties of which important position he is discharg- ing in an eminently satisfactory manner, having a large number of men un- der him, whom he directs in such a manner as to get the best possible results and at the same time retain their good will. He understands most thorough- ly every phase of the work in his department.
Mr. Holden was married July 2, 1901, to Anna Moeller, in Dayton, Ohio. She was born in Cincinnati, that state, and is a daughter of August and Louisa (Bradermyer) Moeller.
To our subject and wife one child has been born, Harry William Hol- den, whose birth occurred March 19, 1905.
Politically, Mr. Holden is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic blue lodge and the Junior Order of American Mechanics. He is a member of the Baptist church.
JOHN MAXWELL COWAN.
There is nothing in the world more beautiful than the spectacle of a life that has reached its late autumn with a harvest of good and useful deeds. It is like the forest in October days when the leaves have borrowed the richest colors of the light and glow in the mellowed sheen of the Indian summer, reflecting in their closing days all the radiance of their earthly existence. The man who has lived a clean, useful and self-denying life and has brought into potential exercise the best energies of his mind that he might make the world brighter and better for his being a part of it, while laboring for his individual advancement, cannot fail to enjoy a serenity of soul that reveals itself in his manner and conversation. When such a life is preserved in its strength and integrity so that even in age its influence continues unabated, it challenges the added admiration of those whose good fortune it is to be brought in contact with it. Such a life has been that of John Maxwell Cowan, who has played no inconspicuous part in the affairs of Springfield and Greene county since he cast his lot in our midst over a quarter of a cen- tury ago, and now in the ninety-third year of a life that has been noted for its sterling honesty, industry and devotion to family, church and his country, he can look backward with no compunction of conscience for misdeeds and forward to the mystic Beyond with no fear. Such a life merits a record of its deeds, that the debt due it may be acknowledged and that it may serve as a stimulus to others to endeavor to emulate it. But his record is too familiar to the people of the locality of which this history treats to require
MRS. JOHN M. COWAN.
JUDGE JOHN M. COWAN.
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any fulsome encomium here, his life-work speaking for itself in stronger terms than the biographer could employ in polished periods. There is no doubt but that his long life has been due to his conservative habits, whole- some living and pure thinking. He is hospitable and charitable, his many acts of kindness springing from his altruistic nature rather than from a desire to win the praise of his fellow men.
ยท Mr. Cowan springs from a sterling old family on both sides of the house, which may be traced back to the old Colonial days in American his- tory. He was born December 6, 1821. He enjoys two distinctions worthy of note, one is that he was the first white child born at Indianapolis, Indiana, and he is the oldest living graduate of Wabash College, one of the oldest and most important schools of the Hoosier state. He is the only child of John and Anna (Maxwell) Cowan, and he is of pure Scotch ancestry and inherits the sturdy qualities of his forefathers who were all frontiersmen of Vir- ginia, in Colonial and Revolutionary times, who helped blaze the trails into Kentucky and Tennessee. John Cowan was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1768, and at an early age went to Tennessee, locating at Knox- ville, where many of his family still live. From there he went to Charles- town, Indiana, and joined the army under Gen. William Henry Harrison, remaining in the service during the entire campaign against the Indians in 18II, taking part in the famous battle of Tippecanoe, November 9, 1811. He was a mounted ranger during the war of 1812. He was a son of Samuel and Ann ( Walker) Cowan, both natives of Virginia. Samuel Cowan was killed by the Indians while working in the harvest field, and his wife was taken prisoner the same day and held a captive many years, was finally ran- somed and returned to her home in Virginia. John Cowan married first, Margaret Weir, in Virginia, 1769, and his second wife was Anna Maxwell, who was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, in 1781. They were married in Jefferson county, Indiana, December 30, 1819, and she died in Indiana, in 1854, and he died in 1832 in Indiana. Anna Maxwell was a daughter of Bezaleel and Margaret (Anderson) Maxwell, the former born in Albemarle county, Virginia, in 1751, the latter born in Virginia in 1755; they were married in 1775 ; his death occurred in 1824, and she died in 1834. Bezaleel Maxwell was a son of John and Fannie (Garner) Maxwell, and Margaret Anderson was a daughter of John and Ann (Irwin) Anderson, the former born in Virginia in 1723 and died in Kentucky in 1796. Ann Irwin was a daughter of Mathew and Elizabeth Irwin; the father died in Augusta county, Virginia. in 1762. John Maxwell, who was a son of Bezaleel and Rebecca (Boyd) Maxwell, became a captain in the Revolutionary war, and both he and his son fought at the great Indian battle of Point Pleasant. John Ander- son, mentioned above, was also a soldier in the war for independence and
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these three men all fought in the battle of King's Mountain and other en- gagements.
John M. Cowan, of this sketch, grew to manhood in Montgomery county,. Indiana, where his parents removed soon after his birth, locating near Craw- fordsville, where he received his early education in the common schools, later attending Wabash College there, from which institution he was gradu- ated with the class of 1842 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, the degree of Master of Arts being conferred on him later by that college. As before stated he has been the oldest living graduate from that school for many years, it having been seventy-two years, more than the Psalmist's allotted life for a man, since our subject received his degree there. Deciding upon a legal career he then entered the law department of the University of Indiana, from which he was also graduated in 1845. Immediately thereafter he began practicing law at Frankfort, Clinton county, Indiana, and became one of the leading lawyers in western Indiana, enjoying an extensive and lucrative practice. He was judge of the eighth judicial circuit in Indiana for a period of twelve years, the duties of which responsible position he discharged in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the eminent satis- faction of all concerned, his long retention being sufficient criterion of his- efficiency and popularity. His decisions were noted for their profound knowledge of the basic principles of jurisprudence and for an unbiased fair- ness to all parties concerned, and they seldom met reversal at the hands of higher tribunals. He held this office from 1858 until 1870. Retiring from the bench he resumed the practice of law, entering into partnership with Thomas M. Patterson, who eventually became a United States senator from the state of Colorado. Subsequently our subject formed a partnership with Hon. M. D. White and his second son, James P. E. Cowan. He carried on his practice with greater success and popularity than ever until 1881, when he retired from the profession owing very largely to his wife's failing health, and he and his wife removed to Springfield, Missouri, in search of a better climate. Col. W. D. Crothers, an old-time friend, having settled in the Ozarks, which country he pronounced decidedly healthful, was instru- mental in bringing the Judge here. Soon thereafter, our subject purchased the old Murray farm, two miles south of Springfield, one of the finest and most desirable farms in Greene county, and he became one of our largest agriculturists and stock men. In 1889, Judge Cowan built an attractive city home on South Jefferson street. and he purchased The Springfield Repub- lican, which his two sons. James and William, edited and managed suc- cessfully for some time. The Judge was a pioneer in the development of Walnut street as a business center, which has rapidly gained on the other business centers during the past few years until it bids fair to soon surpass. all competitors.
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