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 54
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Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Fawcett, namely : Harry, born August 1, 1895; and Johnie, born April 22, 1901.
Mr. Fawcett is a Democrat in his political relations; fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, and religiously, he and his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal church.
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JOHN GLENN NEWBILL.
Judge John G. Newbill, the present judge of the police court of Spring- field, is serving his second term in that now important office. When re- elected in April, 1914, he was the only candidate on the Democratic ticket who carried every ward in the city. He was appointed by President Cleve- land to the position of register of the United States land office at Spring- field in 1894, and discharged the duties of that office during a term of four years, more than a year of which time was under the administration of President Mckinley. Judge Newbill is also editor of The Express, an earn-
JOHN G. NEWBILL.
est and strictly reliable Democratic weekly newspaper that he established on April 1, ISSI. For a period of fourteen years he was the efficient secretary of the Democratic central committee of Greene county, and during all his journalistic career he has been a well known correspondent of different met- ropolitan daily newspapers, as well as agent of the Associated Press when William Henry Smith was its able manager.
John Glenn Newbill is a native of southwest Missouri, his first recol- lection beginning on his father's fine farm two and one-half miles west of Springfield on the Mt. Vernon road. His father, Tyree Glenn Newbill, was a native of Franklin county, Virginia, in which all his ancestors located when they came to America during the days of the colonies, prior to the Revolution, in which a number of them took an active part as soldiers in the
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army of General Washington. Judge Newbill's parents came to Greene county in the early fifties, and his father was one of the most enterprising farmers and stock raisers in this section. He was the president of the local fair association the two years preceding the War of the Rebellion, and, like his son, was an earnest and devoted Free Mason, the names of both as mem- bers being in the archives of United Lodge No. 5 and Springfield Chapter No. 15, Royal Arch Masons. Judge Newbill is also a thirty-second degree Mason of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, his membership being in Joplin Consistory No. 3, at Joplin, Missouri.
EMIEL SANDERS.
America has always held the gates of her entry ports ajar to the sons of Sweden, and, having thus extended them a hearty hand of welcome and given them every opportunity to advance themselves after they got within our borders, they have come in large numbers, from year to year, and their substantial homes now dot the hills and plains of nearly every agricultural community of the Union, and there is hardly a city of any importance in which we do not find their homes and places of business. Thus they have aided us in developing this vast and comparatively new western hemisphere and we have in turn improved their condition. They were reared in a land where Mother Nature is somewhat unkind, where the winters are long and the country rugged and none too fertile and where business and professional opportunities are not so extensive as in our own country, so that they have, as a rule, had to battle hard for the right to live, had to exert every energy for the food and clothing necessary to keep aglow the little flame of life. But this all has helped them to win success in America, where there are un- limited opportunities, for they have inherited from their forebears those sterling qualities of energy, persistence, fortitude and tact, and they do not halt at any obstacle or permit any adversity to swerve them from their course. One of this number was the late Emiel Sanders, as was also his father-in- law, Peter Swanson, men who came to this country of ours with little to start on, but forged to the front and became possessors of a competency and comfortable homes in due course of time.
Mr. Sanders, who was for many years a well known furniture dealer in Springfield, was born in Stockholm, Sweden, May 7, 1845. In an early day he came to the United States, first locating in New York, and there he was first married to a lady of English birth. They were the parents of three children, two of whom died in infancy and John, who survived, is now in Ponka City, Oklahoma. Subject's first wife died in 1876, and subject again
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married, this time Marie Swanson, a daughter of Peter and Gustava (Law- son) Swanson, both of Sweden. Mrs. Sanders was one of six children, three boys and three girls, the youngest born in America and the rest in Sweden. This last marriage occurred May 10, 1880.
Emiel Sanders grew to manhood in his native land and there received his education and learned the cabinet maker's trade, and when a young man went to Germany and spent three years, then emigrated to the United States, first locating in New York, as before stated. He came on to Springfield, Missouri in an early day and here remained the rest of his life. He had continued working at his trade, at which he was quite skilful, and after he had become well established in Springfield he started a furniture factory, which he operated a short time, then owned and conducted a large furniture store at 309 Boonville street, where he built up a large and satisfactory busi- ness, carried an extensive and up-to-date stock of everything commonly found in the best furniture stores of the large cities, and this line of business he continued until his death, at which time he was one of the oldest furniture dealers in the city. He dealt in an honest and courteous manner and his hundreds of patrons remained his friends.
Mr. Sanders was married May 10, 1881, at Marshfield, Missouri, to Marie Swanson, who was born in the central part of Sweden, April 21, 1857. She is a daughter of Peter and Gustava (Lawson) Swanson, both natives of Sweden also, and there they grew to maturity, received common school educations and were married. Mr. Swanson was a farmer by occu- pation, which he followed in his native land until 1869, when he emigrated to the United States and located at Salem, Missouri, and after he got a good foothold in the new country he sent for his wife and daughter, Marie, who made the long trip from their native land to this state in 1872. The family moved from Salem to Mountain Grove, Missouri, but the death of Mr. Swan- son occurred at Salem. His family consisted of five children, all living at this writing. Mrs. Sanders grew to womanhood in Sweden and received a limited education in the common schools, but she has educated herself and is a well informed and intelligent lady, with affable manners. She is a mem- ber of the Congregational church, and has a pleasant home on East Grand avenue.
Four children were born to Emiel Sanders and wife, one of whom is deceased, namely: Emma C., born February 16, 1882, was educated in the schools of Springfield, married Gorden Coil, and they live on a farm near Fair Grove, Greene county; Mary Hattie, born June 25, 1884, died in February, 1886; Nellie A., born June 29. 1886, was graduated from the Springfield high school and the state normal here, and she is a successful teacher : Ada G., born July 29, 1888, was also graduated from the local high
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school and the state normal here and taught in Wyoming one year, where she made a good record.
Emiel Sanders was called to his rest on July 8, 1892, at the age of forty- seven years, when in the prime of life.
GEORGE W. BARNES, M. D.
It is a pleasure to the biographer to revert to the life of an individual who surmounted the discouraging obstacles of an early environment that was none too auspicious, and while achieving a large measure of individual suc- cess has found time to be a good citizen in a general way, making his locality better by his residence therein. Such a man is Dr. George W. Barnes, for over a quarter of a century a leading physician of the north side in Springfield. Frank, courageous, honest, aggressive, he, nor his position as a citizen can not well be misunderstood. In professional, civic and social relations he thinks and acts along well-regulated lines, and does not evade, does not dodge an is- sue. He has energy, intellect, and will ; has self-purpose, resolution and de- termination, throwing his entire force of body and mind direct upon his work. His self-reliance has not been wholly acquired-it was born in him. He be- lieved at the start that if there were better days, and "good times coming" that we are justified in hoping for, we must be capable of making them for ourselves. The fable of the "Labors of Hercules" is indeed the type of human doing and success.
Doctor Barnes was born in Greene county, Missouri, April 7, 1855. He is a son of Elisha K. and Mary J. (Small) Barnes. The father was born in 1830 in North Carolina, from which state he emigrated to Missouri in early life, locating in Greene county, where he engaged in farming. When the Civil war came on he enlisted in the Confederate army during the early part of the conflict and fought gallantly until taken prisoner. He was sent to the Federal prison at Indianapolis, Indiana, where he died. He was of English ancestry. His father, Nineveh Barnes, was a native of North Caro- lina. He married Phoebe Headlee. They spent their earlier years in North Carolina, from which state they removed to Greene county, Missouri, in pio- neer days, located on a farm, and there spent the rest of their days, each reaching advanced ages. The mother of Doctor Barnes was born on August 4, 1833, in Greene county, Missouri, where her people, the Smalls, were first settlers, and the old homestead has remained in possession of the family to the present time. The Small family is of Scotch ancestry.
Elisha K. Barnes and wife were married on March 25, 1851, and they reared a family of four children, three sons and a daughter, namely: Dr.
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George W., of this review; Elisha E., born March 24, 1864, is married and lives in Oklahoma City; Mrs. Mattie Dennis, who resides in Hutchinson, Kansas, where Mr. Dennis is engaged in the real estate business, and Rob- ert N., who died in Wichita, Kansas. The mother of these children is still living, having attained her eighty-first year.
Doctor Barnes is an excellent type of the successful self-made man. His parents were poor and his father died when the future physician was but a boy, so he was early thrown on his own resources, and, therefore, practically his whole life has been one of self-support. He grew up on the farm and worked hard as a tiller of the soil during the summer months and in the win- ter time attended the district schools. Later he taught country schools in the winter months and farmed summers, and laid by funds to complete his educa- tion. He finished his literary studies at Morrisville College, in Polk county, this state, and, in 1882, he entered the Missouri Medical College in St. Louis, from which he was graduated with the class of 1884, and in that year he commenced the practice of his profession at Brighton, Polk county, where he remained in a good country practice until 1888, when he removed to Spring- field, opening an office at Boonville and Commercial streets, which office he has since occupied, and his success as a general practitioner has steadily grown all the while, and it is worthy of note that after a continuous practice here of twenty-five years the past year was the best of all, which fact should be a sufficient recommendation, not only of his ability, but of the confidence reposed in him by the people of this locality. He now confines himself as much to city practice as possible. He is often called in consultation on serious cases with other leading physicians of the city and county. He does a great deal of hospital work, and he has lectured at Burge Deaconess Hospital, Springfield, since its organization. He is a member of the board that lectures the nurses in training at this hospital, and also at the Springfield Hospital. His principal subject is nervous diseases.
Doctor Barnes is a member of the Greene County Medical Society, of which he was president in 1906, and vice-president in 1905, and is at this writing a member of the board of censors of this society. He also belongs to the Southwest Missouri Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical Asso- ciation and the American Medical Association. He is a member of the Commercial Club. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic Order. Tribe of Ben Hur. Improved Order of Red Men, the Woodmen and the Court of Honor. Politically, he is a Democrat, and, religiously, belongs to the Meth- odist Episcopal church.
Doctor Barnes was married, May 26, 1886, to Annie L. Fender, who was born in 1864 in Greene county, where she was reared and educated in the public schools. She is a daughter of Wilson and Louisa ( Wallace) Fen- der, she being the only child. Her father was a farmer, and when the Civil
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war came on he enlisted in the Union army and saw much hard service, and as a result of the exposure, contracted pneumonia while in the service, was sent home, and died soon afterwards. Mrs. Barnes was but a child at that time and too young to remember him. A few years later Mrs. Louisa Fender married again, her last husband being Capt. J. W .. Peltz, an officer in the Union army. Two children were born to the second marriage, namely : Joseph E. Peltz, a member of the shoe firm of Peltz & Cogley, who conduct one of the most extensive shoe businesses on Commercial street, Springfield ; and Mrs. Alice Meador, also of Springfield, and the wife of a passenger con- ductor on the Frisco railroad.
To Doctor Barnes and wife one child has been born, Geneva Aline Barnes, whose birth occurred in Springfield. on December 13, 1896. She was educated in the ward schools and is now in her fourth year in the high school. She is a cultured and talented young lady, takes a fond interest in elocution, has decided musical ability and tastes, and at present is taking voice culture under Rev. Mrs. McClanahan, of this city.
In his private and social relations Doctor Barnes is enjoyable, animated, jovial, and entertaining. There is no pretense or display about him, is kind and generous-hearted, and with friends is firm and true.
OTIS EVERETT SNIDER.
Never before has there been so much interest taken in the best methods of farming and in the conditions of rural homes. The struggle to bring rural life from the present to ideal conditions is not an easy one, nor will it be speedily accomplished. Yet there are now farms and country homes in every county which might be taken as models worth imitating. Among those in Greene county which come pretty near the high-water mark of an ideal twentieth-century farm is that owned and operated by Otis Everett Snider and known as "Brookdale Farm." Such places are a credit to any community, and they inspire others to put forth a like effort, as well as pub- lishing to the outside world the fact that here is a community of citizens of thrift and good taste.
Mr. Snider was born in the above-named township and county on February 23, 1874. He is a son of David and Eliza Jane (Robertson) Snider. David Snider was born on February 19, 1844, in Monroe county, eastern Tennessee, and was a son of John and Nellie (McKee) Snider. John Snider was a native of Tennessee, where he spent his life, dying there when his son, David, was seven years old, after devoting his life to farm- ing. His wife, Nellie McKee, was a native of Pennsylvania. David Snider
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grew to manhood in Tennessee and received such educational advantages as the old-time subscription schools afforded, and there he continued to reside until he was twenty-seven years of age, when he removed to Gentry county, Missouri, but remained only three months, coming on then to Greene county, arriving here on December 24, 1872. After renting a farm for some time, he bought forty acres, and, prospering through close applica- tion and good management, he added to his original purchase, until he owned three hundred and thirty acres of valuable and productive land in sections 21 and 28, Murray township, and there he still resides, engaged successfully and extensively in general farming and stock raising, and ranks among the leading agriculturists of the county, throughout which he is widely known and highly esteemed as a man and citizen. He and Eliza Jane Robertson were married on February 3, 1873. She was born in Greene county, where she grew to womanhood and was educated. She is a daugh- ter of Jefferson and Mary Ann (Ludspeech) Robertson, one of the pioneer families of the northern part of Greene county. A history of this well- known family appears in the sketch of Charles L. Robertson on another page of this work.
To David Snider and wife five children were born, namely: Otis E., of this sketch; Mrs. Josie Lee Green, of Murray township; Mrs. Mary Jus- tice, who lives near Ash Grove, this county; Mrs. Virgie Thomas, who lives in Murray township; and Virgil, who died in infancy.
Politically, David Snider is a Democrat, but has never cared for pub- lic office. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic order at Bois D'Arc, Greene county. He was reared in the faith of the Methodist church, and his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, at Willard.
Otis E. Snider spent his boyhood days on his father's farm and re- ceived his education in the local public schools. He remained on the home place assisting with the general work there until his marriage, at the age of twenty-four years, after which he began farming for himself in Mur- ray township, and was successful from the first. He accumulated two hun- dred acres of good land, which he sold in 1913, and removed to Nebraska; but ranching in that state did not appeal to him in every respect, and. after making a crop there he returned to his native township and located on his present place, "Brookdale Farm," which consists of two hundred acres, and is one of the desirable and well-improved farms of the township, on which stands a good residence and substantial and convenient outbuild- ings. He carries on general farming, and makes a specialty of raising hogs, and has traded in them on a large scale until very recently, when he turned his attention more to general crops. His place is well drained, well fenced and well watered, there being an excellent running spring on his land, be- sides good wells.
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Mr. Snider was married, February 2, 1897, to Birdie Gilmore, a native of this part of Greene county, where she was reared and educated. She is a daughter of George and Miley (Phillips) Gilmore, a well known and highly respected family of near Willard, this township.
To our subject and wife four children have been born, namely: Ralph, George, Ellis, and the youngest died in infancy, unnanied.
Politically, Mr. Snider is a Democrat, but has never been active in party affairs. He was reared in a Methodist family, and his wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church at Willard. He is a quiet, hard-working farmer of good habits and pleasing disposition.
GEORGE LAFAYETTE McELHANY.
Few residents of the western part of Greene county are so well and favorably known as George Lafayette McElhany, the enterprising farmer and representative citizen whose life history is briefly told in the following lines, and none stand higher than he in the esteem and confidence of the community in which he has spent his entire life and for the material, civic and moral advancement of which he has devoted both time and influence. During his residence here of over three score years he has noted wonderful changes and talks interestingly of them. He is of Scotch-Irish descent, and the family of which he is an honorable representative has been known in America for many generations, especially has the name been a familiar one in various portions of the state of Tennessee, but wherever they have dis- persed the McElhanys have been known as enterprising and public-spirited citizens.
Mr. McElhany was born in Brookline township, Greene county, Mis. souri, March 13, 1852. He is a son of Warry and Jane (Robertson) McElhany, both natives of Tennessee, the father born in Granger county, August 3, 1820, and the mother's birth occurred in Rome county, February 24, 1826. Our subject's great grandfather was a Scotchman, and his wife was a native of Ireland. The father died when Warry McElhany was three years old and the latter spent his boyhood in Tennessee, being seven- teen years of age when he made the overland journey to Missouri with his mother and stepfather, the family stopping a mile and a half southwest of Springfield, and cultivated the old Eperson farm, in October, 1837, where they remained a year, then moved on the north side of the James river in Wilson township on the old Edwards farm, where they remained a year. then moved to Brookline township and entered one hundred and sixty acres
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GEORGE L. MCELHANY AND SONS.
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from the government, near where the town of Brookline is now located. Warry McElhany assisted his stepfather, Joel Phillips, clear and develop the land into a good farm. In 1839 and 1840 he carried the mail between Springfield and Neosho. In the fall of 1845 he went to Texas, where he remained a few months, later returning to the home farm in Greene county.
Warry McElhany married, December 23, 1847, Jane Robertson, a daughter of Linsey and Delilah Robertson, and to this union the following children were born: Mary, who married Reuben Rose, is deceased, but he is living in Brookline township; Delilah first married W. T. Adams, now deceased, and later she married Charles Lloyd; George L., of this reviewi; the next child died in infancy.
The father of the above named children settled on the farm now owned by George L. McElhany, in Section 15, in 1850, and here the subject of this sketch was born and spent his life, working on the place during the summer months when a boy and attending the neighboring schools in the winter time, mostly subscription schools. He was nine years of age when the battle of Wilson's Creek was fought, of which he has a very vivid recollection and tells many interesting things, also tells of the days when the Indians still occupied this part of the Ozarks, when his father was hired by the govern- ment to assist in removing the red men from the vicinity of Springfield to below Cassville. The death of Warry McElhany occurred July 20, 1889, and his wife preceded him to the grave, December 8, 1885.
George L. McElhany was married twice, first to Alice Garton, August 9. 1874. She was a daughter of J. W. and Elizabeth (Rainey) Garton, and to this union eleven children were born, namely: Henry H. lives in Brookline township; Myrtle is the wife of P. F. Shelton of Republic town- ship; Jane is the wife of G. T. Norman of Brookline township; Lucy is the wife of W. A. Wiley, of Kansas City; Maggie is the wife of G. W. Ward and they live in Christian county ; Charles and Warry both live in Brookline township; Robert makes his home in California; Bessie and William Bryan both live at home; Alice died in infancy. The mother of the above named children passed away January 6, 1901, and Mr. McElhany was again mar- ried July 1, 1907 ; his last wife, Mrs. Emma Manley, widow of C. B. Manley, deceased, a native of Greene county, is a daughter of Ben and Barbara (Fleming) McCormick, who were residents of Illinois, and in that state Mrs. McElhany was born. She was one of ten children, all now deceased but two-Mrs. McElhany and the oldest child, Mrs. Mary Ramsey, who is now seventy-four years of age, and is living in Woodbine, Iowa.
Politically Mr. McElhany is a Democrat. He has served as school director of his district for a period of twenty-five years. Fraternally he
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RESIDENCE OF G. L. MCELHANY.
SPRINGDALE FARM.
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belongs to the Masonic order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church at Brookline.
Mr. McElhany is one of the best farmers of Brookline township. His well-tilled and well-kept place contains two hundred and eighty acres, all under cultivation but about sixty acres. His holdings were formerly munich greater but he has given his children forty acres each as a start in life. His place is known as "Springdale Farm," and is one of the most desirable in the community. It is a rich red loam soil with a red clay sub-soil a foot or more under the surface. He has made a pronounced success as a general farmer and stock raiser, especially in hogs and mules.
DAVID EDWARD ROSS.
Many people are of the opinion that the word farming means the same the world over, and so it does in a sense, but yet, like many another word in our complicated language, it has what one might call an elastic meaning. At least the methods of farming vary radically in different countries. So the word means one thing to the tiller of the soil in the Ozark region and quite another to the husbandman in Mexico, Brazil, India or Ceylon. Such de- cidcdly different methods have to be employed in coaxing from Mother Earth the grains, fruit and vegetables by which we live that the expert farmer of one country would be a decided failure in another. AAnd many years are required to become properly acquainted with the methods of successful agri- culture in any land and clime. This being the case the world over, that man is wise who remains in his own country if he intends to devote his attention to this vocation all his life.
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