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 7
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Virginia until about 1849, when he removed his family to Illinois, remaining in that state until the year 1857, when he brought his family overland to Greene county, Missouri, locating a few miles south of Springfield, where he spent the rest of his life in farming and was drowned in a small creek in that vicinity in January, 1883. His wife had preceded him to the grave twenty years, having died in 1863, in Illinois. To these parents ten children were born, six of whom are still living, namely: Sarah and Julia are both de- ceased ; Timothy J., of this sketch; Ann lives in Ozark, Missouri; Lear is de- ceased ; George lives in Florida : Abbie lives in Webb City, Missouri; Susan lives in Kansas: Rebecca lives in Rich Hill, Missouri, and Edward is deceased.
The Wrightsman family is of German descent, the paternal grandfather of our subject, Alexander Wrightsman, being born in Germany, from which country he emigrated to the United States in Colonial days and located in Virginia, where he became well established through his industry. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, taking part in a number of the principal engagements.
Timothy J. Wrightsman was nine years old when his parents removed from Virginia to Illinois, and there he grew to manhood, living there for a period of eight years, when he removed with his father and the rest of the children to Greene county, Missouri, in 1857, since which time he has been a resident of this locality, and during that period of nearly sixty years he has seen great changes "come over the face of the land," the forests changed into productive farms, the wild prairies reclaimed on which peaceful herds now graze, and small villages grow into cities of wealth and renown. In his boy- hood days he worked hard on the farm, and attended the rural schools, receiv- ing a limited education. In 1875 he began operating a flouring mill at Wal- nut Grove, Greene county, which he continued for four years, then ran a grocery store at Shell City, Missouri, for four years, then, in the fall of 1883, he came to Springfield and engaged in the grocery business on East Commercial street, continuing this line there for a period of twenty-six years, during which time he enjoyed a large and lucrative trade, ranking among the best known and most popular grocers on the north side. He always carried a large and well selected stock of fancy and staple groceries and dealt honestly and courteously with his hundreds of customers, retaining their confidence and good will to the last. He accumulated a comfortable competency through his judicious business management and retired from active life in 1903, since which time he has been living a quiet life, merely looking after his various real estate holdings. He has a fine residence on North Campbell street.
Mr. Wrightsman served three years during the Civil war in Company E, Third Missouri Cavalry, Confederate army, under Captain Thompson. He first served under old "Dick" Campbell, having enlisted in the fall of 1861. He saw considerable hard service, including the battle of Pea Ridge,
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his first real engagement. He did not participate in the battle of Wilson's Creek, being held a prisoner in Springfield by the Federals at that time.
Mr. Wrightsman was married on January 11, 1870, in Christian county, Missouri, to Mildred Chestnut, a daughter of Judge Chestnut, one of the first judges of that county. He and his wife were natives of Ohio, from which they removed to Taney county, this state, in 1833, and were therefore early pioneers of the Ozark region. James Chestnut, brother of Mrs. Wrightsman, was the first man killed in Christian county, on account of the Civil war, he having been murdered by bushwhackers, while serving as deputy sheriff.
Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wrightsman, namely : Fred, born in 1871, is a freight conductor on the Frisco, and lives in Spring- field; Walter, born in 1873, lives in Texas and is employed by the Dean Drug Company; Frank, born in 1876, lives in Oklahoma; Herbert, born in 1878, lives in Monett, Missouri; Cora E., born in 1880, is the wife of S. O. Duemler, and they reside in Springfield.
Politically, Mr. Wrightsman is a Republican, but he has never been active in public affairs, preferring to leave the troubles of public office to others, merely striving to do his duty as a fair-minded citizen.
CALVIN FURROW.
The varied, interesting and often exciting experiences of Calvin Fur- row, would make a fair-sized volume should they be told in detail by some of our writers of Western adventure stories. Out of all these experiences he received much good, such as an accurate knowledge of the world, courage to fight life's battles, and coolness as well as decision, which a man had to possess in order to survive if he lived in the wild West forty or fifty years ago; but unfortunately space forbids us giving more than a brief resume of his unusual life record within the pages of the present volume.
Mr. Furrow was born in Polk county, Iowa, August 15, 1848. He is a son of John and Lydia (Johnson) Furrow. In those pioneer days in Iowa educational advantages were limited and young Furrow was not permitted, under the circumstances to obtain the text-book learning that he otherwise would have been glad to have embraced. He grew to manhood on the farm and spent his early youth engaged in farming and handling live stock, later taking up farming in Kansas; but not long thereafter went on to Fort Sill, Indian Territory (as the eastern part of Oklahoma was then known), and from there went on to New Mexico, finally located in Ft. Worth, Texas, in which vicinity he worked as a cowboy until 1871, then returned to Iowa
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and for ten years was in the employ of the Wabash railroad. We next find' him in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where he engaged in mining for awhile, but his principal work there was as a cowboy. He remained in that picturesque country for a period of over twenty-five years. Leaving the Black Hills country in 1906 he came to Greene county, Missouri, and has since been successfully engaged in farming, making his home in Boone town- ship. He owns eighty acres in Greene county and one hundred and twenty acres in Wright county, all well improved and valuable land, and he is re- garded as one of the best farmers in this section of the county and is well fixed in the way of worldly goods.
Mr. Furrow was married in December, 1868, to Martha E. Kensler, a. native of Fulton county, Indiana, and a daughter of John and Louisa Kens- ler. She was born on June 22, 1851. She was a member of the Christian church at Ash Grove. Mrs. Furrow died September 20, 1914.
To Mr. and Mrs. Furrow one child was born, Louisa Furrow, who was born in the central part of Iowa on March 24, 1879. She received a good education, and in the year 1901 was married to Marion Arment, and they now reside in Sand Hills, Nebraska.
Politically, Mr. Furrow is a Democrat, but he has never sought politi- cal honors, although not lacking in proper patriotism. Fraternally, he be- longs to the Masonic Order, including the Blue Lodge, and the Ash Grove Lodge No 124, Royal Arch Masons, and is active in this order.
EDWIN WIGGINS ELSON.
In the person of Edwin Wiggins Elson, Greene county has a farmer and stockman of ideas of such a progressive nature that his methods might well be studied by the younger generation of agriculturists, for his fine farm in Boone township has few equals as to improvement and high state of culti- vation. He has been a resident of this locality for more than thirty-five years, during which time he has advanced by his own labors and sagacious plans from a comparatively modest beginning to a position in the front rank of agriculturists in the Ozark region, and in matters pertaining to the wel- fare of his township, county and state, he is deeply interested, and his efforts in behalf of the general progress have been far-reaching and bene- ficial.
Mr. Elson was born in Stark county, Ohio, April 8, 1850. He is a son of John H. and Osee (Wilson) Elson. The father was born in Brooke county, West Virginia, October 14, 1806, and was a son of Capt. John R. and Margaret (Wiggins) Elson. Captain Elson was also born in what
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is now Brooke county, West Virginia, but which at that time was a part of Virginia proper-1769. He was a son of Richard Elson, who was born in Scotland, from which country he emigrated to Virginia in Colonial times, and there entered four hundred acres of government land, taking up a "tomahawk claim," which he cleared and placed under cultivation and on which he spent the rest of his life, and there reared his family of four sons and three daughters. Capt. John R. Elson served in the War of 1812, also in the Indian wars with a most creditable record. His death occurred in 1820 in Starke county, Ohio, where the family removed a few years before his death. His widow survived until 1847. John H. Elson, father of the subject of this review, when twelve years of age, moved to Starke county, Ohio, where he engaged in farming the rest of his life, dying in 1898. He and the mother of our subject were married in 1833. She was born May 15, 1815, and received a good education, being a wide reader, and her death occurred in 1894. They were people of intelligence, industry, hospitality and popular among their neighbors.
Edwin W. Elson was reared on the home farm, where he worked when a boy. He received a good education in the public schools and Mt. Union College at Alliance, Ohio, after which he turned his attention to general farming in Ohio, where he remained until 1878, getting a good start in the meanwhile, and in that year came to Greene county, Missouri, where his brother, William P. Elson, (a sketch of whom appears on another page of this work) had preceded him shortly after the close of the Civil war. Upon reaching his new locality our subject bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Boone township and was soon actively engaged in general farming and stock raising, and, prospering with advancing years by his close application and good management, he has added to his original holdings. until he now owns six hundred and forty acres of productive and highly improved land, all under cultivation, constituting one of the most valuable and desirable farms in this section of the state. He has an attractive and commodious home in the midst of pleasing surroundings, and nearby may also be seen a group of convenient outbuildings. He is an excellent judge of all kinds of live stock, and is one of the best known stockmen in the western part of the county. He makes a specialty of jacks and Percheron horses, and at present owns seven jacks and one Percheron registered. His annual sales will average twenty mules, and he has now sixty mules on hand and ten brood mares. He also feeds large numbers of hogs for the market, and each year sows a vast acreage of wheat.
Mr. Elson was married January 29, 1880, to Mary Belle Jones, who was: born in Greene county, Missouri, August 31, 1860, and here she grew to. womanhood and received her education. She was a daughter of Benjamin G. W. and Kittura (Cossey) Jones. The father was born in Tennessee,.
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February 26, 1822, and died in this county July 27, 1898. Mrs. Elson's mother was born in Indiana, and also died in this county. The father was a farmer all his life. This union was blessed with thirteen children, six of whom are still living.
To Mr. and Mrs. Elson nine children have been born, named as fol- lows: Benjamin F., born February 20, 1881, is farming in Walnut Grove township, this county; Edna Myrtle, born February 28, 1883, died when three months old: Thomas E., born June 8, 1884; Nora, born June 12, 1886, is the wife of William Marsh, and they live in Fair Play, Missouri; Sher- man, born April 5, 1888, is farming in this township; Joshua C., born August 7, 1890; Mae, born December 2, 1893 ; Ruth, born August 24, 1897; and Helen, born December 2, 1900. The younger children are at home.
Politically, Mr. Elson is a Republican and has been more or less active in local political affairs. He has been school director in his district for about thirty years. Religiously, the family attend the Methodist church. Among those in whose midst he has so long resided he is held in the highest esteem by reason of his public-spirit, his upright life and his obliging and neighborly disposition.
SAMPSON BASS.
One of the oldest pioneers of Greene county is Sampson Bass, one of the best-known citizens and substantial farmers of Jackson township, who has spent nearly all of his long life of eighty-seven years in this county, which he has seen come up to its present position from the wilderness where roamed the red man and wild beast and where very few white people were to be found. To all this change he has been an interested and by no means a passive spectator, having sought to do his full share in the work of progress in the locality where he has been contented to abide through many decades. He talks most interestingly of the early days when customs and manners were different, men and women were different-everything, in fact, unlike what our civilization is today. He and other early settlers are of the opinion that those were better, at least happier, times than now, and this is, in the main, true. He might well be compared with the character represented by the American poet. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his beautiful lines, "The Last Leaf," for Mr. Bass has lived to see his early acquaintances and friends perform their allotted acts in the local drama of civilization and then pass on to rest, coming down to us from a former generation.
Mr. Bass was born in Marion county, Tennessee, on December 8, 1827. He is a son of Andrew and Ellen (Smith) Bass. The father was a native
SAMPSON BASS.
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of Georgia, from where he removed to North Carolina, thence to Tennessee when a small boy, and he grew to manhood in the last named state on a farm, and there received a limited education. He emigrated with his family to Missouri in 1830 and, by mistake, settled on land belonging to the Indians, who subsequently drove him off and he settled in Greene county in the fall of 1830, securing eighty acres at first. He started with practically nothing in this state, but being a man of exceptional ability, he became wealthy for those times and owned fourteen hundred and forty acres of land at the time of his death, having acquired his property by hard work and good manage- ment, and he died in 1867 on the place where our subject now lives. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife was a native of Marion county, Tennessee, and there grew up on a farm, received a limited schooling and there she married Mr. Bass. She was a pioneer woman in every respect, working hard assisting her husband to get a start in the wilder- ness, spinning and weaving, molding candles, making soap and the thousand and one things about the house, of which the modern woman knows nothing except by tradition. She was also a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Her death occurred on the homestead here in 1862. To these parents fourteen children were born, namely: Sampson, our subject, is the oldest ; John, Henderson, Jackson and James are all deceased, Martin V. lives in Greene county, Newton, McCord and Leonard H. are deceased, Lila lives in Polk county, Missouri; Leda, deceased; Narcissus, deceased; Mar- garet is living in Greene county ; Ellen also lives in this county.
Mr. Bass, of this sketch, was three years old when his parents brought him to Missouri and he was reared in Greene county and here received such limited educational advantages as those early times afforded. He worked hard assisting his father clear and develop the home farm, remaining under the parental roof tree until he was twenty-one years old, when, in 1849, he married Ann Rogers, who was born in Tennessee on October 1I, 1830, from which state her parents brought her to Greene county, Missouri, when she was a child, and here she grew to womanhood. Her death occurred in 1866. Mr. Bass married a second time, in 1888, to Eliza Lowder, who was born in Greene county, Missouri, October 8, 1850, a daughter of George H. and Juda (McCall) Lowder. She is a member of the Baptist church, as was also Mr. Bass' first wife. To the first union nine children were born, namely : Elizabeth, deceased; Jane, Polly, Riley, Sampson H., Jr., deceased ; Dave J., deceased ; the three youngest children died in infancy. To Mr. Bass' second union two children were born, Roy and Wright.
After his first marriage Mr. Bass went to work as a wagon maker, later bought forty acres. His father then gave him eighty acres, and later he (64)
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entered forty acres. He worked hard and managed well and therefore pros- pered with advancing years. He continued to buy land until he accumulated seven hundred acres, constituting one of the finest farms in the county, which land he placed under an excellent state of improvement and cultivation and established a commodious home. In 1860 there was no mill in this part of the county and one was badly needed, so Mr. Bass invited his neighbors to his home on Christmas day of that year for the purpose of talking over a proposition to establish a mill in the neighborhood. It finally devolved upon Mr. Bass to build a mill in section 15, Jackson township, and for years he carried on a large and successful business with his combined flour and sawmill, sawing lumber for residents in adjoining counties, as well as for those who lived in Greene. This was in 1860 and was the first steam mill to be operated in Greene county. During the Civil war he ground flour for the armies in this part of the state. He sold his mill in 1866 and resumed farming. The town of Bassville in this township was named for our subject.
Politically Mr. Bass is an uncompromising Democrat. He is a member of the Masonic Order, and religiously belongs to the Baptist church.
WILBUR M. FALLIN.
The Missouri mule has a reputation throughout the world. That repu- tation in some sections is not the kind that would be pleasing to him if he but knew, for there are times when he is unruly, stubborn and inclined to show his displeasure by means of his heels. But nevertheless, when it comes to quality and fine points in his anatomy he is not excelled on the globe and he has done much to advertise the "Show Me" state abroad. There are few foreign armies where he is not found, and nearly every war of importance increases his demand. However, by nature he is not a war- rior and no doubt prefers the peaceful plantations and the lazy negro drivers of the cotton and cane districts of the South, where, for three- quarters of a century these animals have been sold in ever increasing num- bers. Throughout this state men may be found who devote their exclusive attention to dealing in mules, finding it a desirable and profitable business. Among these the firm of Fallin Brothers of Springfield, composed of Wilbur M. and Walter A. Fallin, is the best known in southwestern Mis- souri, and is one of the oldest and most successful.
Wilbur M. Fallin was born March 31, 1872, in Greene county, Missouri. He is a son of Joseph S. and Polina (Reed) Fallin. The father was born in middle Tennessee in 1841, and there grew to manhood and attended school, emigrating to Greene county, Missouri, in the early sixties, where he
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established the future home of the family, and here his death occurred on March 26, 1909. He was a stone mason by trade, but devoted most of his life to general farming and stock raising. He left his farm in 1884 and moved to Springfield. His wife was born in 1843, and she died in 1877. They were married in Arkansas. To this union five children were born, namely : Anna died about 1889; Minnie lives in Springfield, Missouri ; Wilbur M., of this sketch; Emma Belle lives in Springfield; Walter A., who is a member of the firm of Fallin Brothers.
Wilbur M. Fallin received his education in the ward and high schools of Springfield. He had an inclination toward the livestock business when very young and began his career by buying and selling hogs and calves. He also learned the trade of stone mason under his father, but did not follow this long until he returned to the livestock business and also engaged in farming a few years. In the year 1900 he formed a partnership with his brother, Walter A. Fallin, who gave up his position as machinist in the Frisco shops, and they engaged in the horse and mule business, under the name of Fallin Brothers, buyers and sellers, and were successful from the first. They have continued in this line of endeavor ever since and have built up an extensive and lucrative business. They were first located on the south side of the city lot, remaining there until 1914, when they bought and built three commodious and substantial barns, including the erection of a modern two-story brick building, one hundred and twenty by one hundred feet, on Market street and Mule alley, where they are at present located, owning two hundred feet on Market street and one hundred and seventy- five on Mule alley. They keep a large number of high-grade mules on hand at all seasons, buying and shipping to various markets continuously.
Wilbur M. Fallin was married on December 10, 1902, to Mary Eliza- beth Roper, who was born in Polk county, Missouri, June 12, 1884. She is a daughter of J. W. Roper and wife, who live on a farm in Polk county. Mr. Roper's wife was known in her maidenhood as Vine Davis. Mr. Roper moved from his farm to. Springfield and engaged in mercantile pursuits for some time, and he is still living in this city.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Fallin, namely : Wesley Edwin, born September 7, 1904; Alfred M., born August 18, 1906, died December 10, 1909; and Orin, born August 29, 1909.
Politically, Mr. Fallin is a Republican, and he and his family belong to the Christian church.
Walter Augustus Fallin, of the firm of Fallin Brothers, was born October 23, 1877, at the Fallin homestead near Springfield, and here he grew to manhood and attended the ward and high schools. He learned the ma- chinist's trade when a boy and for some time worked at the same local Frisco shops, where he remained until 1900, when he formed a partner-
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ship with his brother and began dealing in horses and mules, as related in a preceding paragraph. He was married on April 7, 1901, to Hattie G. Price, who was born in Greene county, August 29, 1882, and was here reared and educated. She is a daughter of William K. and Ellen (Gregory) Price, the father a native of Ohio, and the mother was born in Greene county, Missouri. Mr. Price came to Springfield when a young man and has long been employed in the local Frisco shops, where he has charge of a depart- ment. .
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Walter A. Fallin, named as follows : Lawrence A., born September 25, 1903; Walter Harold, born June 12, 1908; Joseph Price, born March 31, 1912; Earle Augusta, born August 9, 1914.
Politically, Mr. Fallin is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the Court of Honor, the Maccabees, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the United Workmen, also the Travelers' Protective Association. He is a member of Central Christian church.
The Fallin boys are excellent judges of mules and horses, and have gained and retained a reputation for prompt and fair dealings, consequently have always enjoyed the good will and confidence of their score of regular customers and patrons.
Both Wilbur and Walter Augustus served ten months in the Spanish- American war, enlisting for service, and on May 3, 1898, were called out. Their company went first to Jefferson Barracks, then to Chickamauga, Ten- nessee, and from there to Lexington, Kentucky, then to Albany, Georgia, where they were mustered out, March 3, 1899.
HOWARD RAGSDALE.
In the list of present day lawyers of Greene county, the name of How- ard Ragsdale, of Ash Grove, must not be overlooked. He has passed the half-way house along the thoroughfare of the human years, and has rapidly risen to an influential and prominent place in his profession in both Greene and Dade counties. He is a well read lawyer, a ready debater, an industri- ous, indomitable worker, and a skilful tactician. The mighty Julius plead- ing at the bar was greater than when thundering in the war. He conquered nations with his invincible legions: " 'Tis of more renown to save a client than to save a town." Mr. Ragsdale's arguments to the courts embody no surplusage, but are direct, terse and incisive; to the jury they are plain, logical, matter of fact, compactly presented. He cares more for a rod of truth than for a mile of rhetoric, more for a principle than for a thrilling
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