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 76
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James S. Waddell grew to manhood in Kansas and received a some- what limited education in the schools of Ft. Scott, that state. He followed farming and mining until he came to Springfield, Missouri in 1900, when he went to work in the repair department of the north side Frisco shops. remaining with this company about five years. Upon leaving the shops in 1905 he began cement contracting, building curbs, sidewalks, etc., which business he has since conducted alone and in an eminently satisfactory and successful manner, enjoying a wide patronage, and promptness and honesty have been his watchwords.
Mr. Waddell was married February 23, 1897, in Taney county, Mis-
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souri, to Grace Wicks, who was born in Kansas, May 29, 1879. She is a daughter of John K. and Maggie (Waterbury) Wicks, both natives of the state of New York, where they were reared, attended school and were married and where they spent their earlier lives, finally moving west and establishing their home in Taney county, Missouri.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Waddell, namely : Elsie, born November 22, 1897; Stella, born April 9, 1901; John, born April 8, 1904; Frank, born October 12, 19II.
Politically, Mr. Waddell is an independent voter, preferring to cast his ballot for the men whom he deems the most capable and honorable for public positions, rather than for any special party, and is a member of the American Brotherhood of Cement Workers No. 181.
WILLIAM RULLKOETTER.
On June 26, 1864, William Rullkoetter was born in Oberbauerschaft, Westfalen, Germany. Before the boy was five years of age the mother had died and because the father had been drafted and served through two cam- paigns, the Austrian and Franco-German war, he grew up in the home of his mother's people. From six to fourteen he attended the village school and stood for three years at the head of the school. Because of this record, he was urged to complete his education at the expense of the community. Preferring to depend on his two strong arms, this offer was refused and plans were made to enter the army as a volunteer and there to continue his education. However, in 1881, the immigration fever impelled him to come to America, "the land of promise," instead of joining the army. After working in Ohio and Nebraska for five years, at from twelve to eighteen dollars per month and saving nine hundred dollars, he decided to enter the Academy of Hastings College, Nebraska. Of this he says: "Since I had not been inside of a school house for eight years and never inside of an English school, it was a struggle in the dark, but gradually there came intermittent rays of light and finally daybreak." Of the class of forty who entered the Academy with him, he alone entered the college and in the junior college year took the prize for English. Entering the University of Chicago in the fall of 1892, he was graduated with the first class in 1893. Having received a fellowship in history for two consecutive years, he did post-graduate work until the fall of 1896, when he was called to the chair of history in Drury College, which position he has held continuously until the failure of his health in 1912.
By work during the summer quarters, Mr. Rullkoetter received the
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reward of his ambition, the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in 1899, and in the next year his thesis on "The Position of Woman Among the Early Germans" was published and has become an authoritative work on this in- teresting phase of German history.
The influence of Doctor Rullkoetter as a teacher is best told in the words of a former pupil, when he said, "Doctor Rullkoetter, or Doctor Billy, as he is affectionately called, in a remarkable way took hold upon those whom he instructed, and influenced their lives mightily. His great motives were contagious and his fine philosophy of life became the dominant note in the lives of his students." A prominent business man said a short time ago, "I had the good fortune to have some great teachers in college and univer- sity, but somehow, what Doctor Billy said stays with me. He gave me a method of thinking. He enabled me to see myself in vital and significant relationships which, while they seem to remove the emphasis from the indi- vidual, they nevertheless, by the very fact of socializing him, make him vastly more important. I find myself thinking his thoughts and gauging my theories and my conduct by his philosophy."
While at the University of Chicago, Doctor Rullkoetter was an earnest student and an ardent admirer of the great historian, Von Holst. Follow- ing his own inclinations and under this inspiration, his mind naturally turned to the great social, political and moral problems of the day the light which an exhaustive knowledge of history and economics throws upon them. In his capacity as one of the leaders of thought in municipal affairs, he was persistent and unyielding in his opposition to petty politics and corporate greed.
Quoting again from the writing of Mr. S. J. Vaughn: "Many years ago," I heard him say repeatedly, 'The next quarter of a century must face and solve the problem of industrialism. The forces of education and society must take cognizance of the conditions, problems and hideous wrongs which the growth of monopolized industry has forced upon the helpless and depen- clent. It will probably be settled by those forces bringing about an orderly, readjusting evolution; if not in this manner, then by a blood-letting revolution.' "
Continuing, Mr. Vaughn states, "Doctor Rullkoetter was the first man I ever heard use the term 'social consciousness.' His was the first influence on me personally, looking toward education for efficiency, freedom and hap- piness of those who must toil with their hands. His words rang in our ears, 'It must come, and it is the business of the men and women of the next quarter of a century to bring it about.' In the light of what has taken place along these lines in recent years, these words seem almost prophetic. In the matter of social consciousness, he has lived and still lives far in advance of his day."
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His literary work has been continued in an outline of history, especially a medieval and in an interpretation of some of the German masterpieces. Commenting on these interpretations, one of his former colleagues on the Drury faculty writes : "I shall be most happy to tell others of these fresh and keen sighted 'interpretations.' I want all my friends to know Doctor Rullkoetter and in this way they may." A prominent alumnae says : "Doctor Rullkoetter's own honesty and breadth of view and bravery have enabled him to give a rarely sympathetic interpretation of Faust. The gen- eral favorite of the three interpretations, however, has been the 'New Inter- pretation of Wilhelm Tell.' All of us feel very strongly the originality and truth of such an interpretation."
Any sketch of the life of Professor Rullkoetter would be incomplete without mention of his ten years of service in the summer school, both at Drury and for five years at the Normal. That the memory and influence of his chapel talks during the three years he was director of the Drury Sum- mer School still linger in the minds and hearts of the teachers of the Southwest.
Schiller asserts : " A good man thinks of himself only at last." Doc- tor Rullkoetter thought of his home, his children, his students and if he thought of himself at all, it was only at last.
WILLIAM CLINTON FARMER.
One of the successful business men of Springfield, who has mounted the industrial ladder unaided is William Clinton Farmer, organizer and manager of the Electric Bottling Company. He has been a close observer of modern methods and is a student at all times of life as we of the twenti- eth century live it, and is therefore a broad-minded man of affairs, who is no doubt destined to still greater accomplishments in the future.
Mr. Farmer was born in Milford, Illinois, January II, 1866. He is a son of William Wallace Farmer and Melissa (Willis) Farmer. The father was born on a farm near Attica, Indiana, in 1843, and was a son of pioneer parents of that place, and there he grew to manhood and worked on the home farm, and received a country school education. Leaving the home- stead when he became of age he went to Milford, Illinois, where he engaged in the grocery business, married and remained there until 1879 when he removed with his family to Emporia, Kansas, and engaged in the live stock business, handling imported horses, for the most part, the first ever sold in Lyon county. He remained there until 1886 when he located in Osceola, St. Clair county, Missouri, where he engaged in the livery and transfer busi-
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ness until his death in November, 1908. Politically he was a Democrat, and fraternally was a Mason. Melissa Willis, mother of our subject, was a native of Ohio, married Mr. Farmer in 1865, and her death occurred in 1909.
William C. Farmer received a good education in the schools of Mil- ford, Illinois, and Emporia, Kansas. He studied pharmacy and went in the drug business in Collins, St. Clair county, Missouri, in 1887, continu- ing the same successfully for a period of twelve years, then went to Osceola as agent for the Pabst Brewing Company, of Milwaukee, where he remained until 1905 when he came to Springfield as distributor for that company, continuing with the same until 1907, giving the firm eminent satisfaction in every respect. Desiring to go into business for himself he organized the Electric Bottling Company in 1907. which has proven to be one of the leading concerns of its kind in southern Missouri, and he is now owner and manager of the same. It is located at 545 West Phelps avenue, but was first started at the same number on South Campbell street. It was success- ful from the first, under Mr. Farmer's able management and has rapidly grown in volume and importance with increasing years until its products are now finding a ready market over a wide territory, and are regarded as of a superior quality. A variety of popular carbonated beverages is manufac- tured here. About four hundred cases a week were manufactured at first, but this output has increased to three thousand bottles daily, the present output. The plant was retained at its first location for four years, then moved to its present convenient location, a substantial one-story brick building with nine thousand feet of floor space, with a capacity of two car loads per day. The plant is equipped with every modern device for the rapid manufacture of high-grade stuff, and fifteen competent assistants are constantly employed. A sterilizing and washing machine has just been installed at a cost of over six thousand dollars. Everything about the place is kept in ship shape, is thoroughly sanitary and managed under a superb system. The principal products of this well-known plant are coco-cola, Farmer's root beer, ginger ale and sodas of such flavors as orange, lemon, cherry, cream, grape, strawberry, lemon and lemon sour. A specialty is made of Polar distilled water, one hundred per cent pure, having a capacity on this product of seven hundred gallons daily, and a very large sale is made from this department alone. Pabst "Blue Ribbon" beer is also handled.
Mr. Farmer was married in July, 1888, to Myrtle Pritchard, of Wau- bleau, Missouri. She was born in 1868, and she received her education at the Christian College of that place. She is a daughter of J. E. and Eliza- beth (Orr) Pritchard. Her father devoted his active life as millwright.
To Mr. and Mrs. Farmer four children have been born, namely: Wal- lace E., born on April 23, 1889, is assisting his father in the bottling works; William C., Jr., born in 1891, is engaged in business with his father; Pau-
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line (Mrs. Hykraft, Jr., of Nevada, Missouri) was born in 1893; and Vesta, born in 1895.
Politically, Mr. Farmer is a Democrat. Fraternally, he belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Loyal Order of Moose.
HIRAM W. DIGGINS.
Hiram W. Diggins was a resident of Springfield for nearly thirty-five years and one of the best known railroad men in the West. He was born at La Porte, Indiana, April 30, 1837, a son of Nelson and Katie M. Dig- gins. His father's people were from the state of New York and his mother's people from the state of Pennsylvania. When he was two years old his people moved to a farm near Woodstock, Illinois, and Mr. Diggins grew to manhood in that section and was educated in the public schools of Wood- stock, Illinois. He first began clerking in a general merchandise store, but in 1857 commenced railroad work as freight brakeman on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad. He was promoted successively to freight conductor and passenger conductor and in 1867 he quit railroading and for one year was joint proprietor of the Beaumont hotel at Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1869 he disposed of his hotel interest in Green Bay and came to Kansas City and was made a freight conductor on the Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad (later, Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis railroad and now a part of the Frisco system). In 1871 he went to Ottawa, Kansas, as trainmaster of the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston railroad (now Southern Kansas branch of the Santa Fe). In the latter part of 1873 he accompanied Octave Chanute to the Erie system and was made superin- tendent of second track work. He returned to Kansas City in the latter part of 1874 and shortly afterward took charge of construction train on Kansas-Midland railroad, building from Topeka to Kansas City. After completion of this system it was absorbed by the Santa Fe and Mr. Dig- gins was a passenger conductor on Santa Fe system from Kansas City west for a number of years. In 1879 he came to Springfield as superin- tendent of the Springfield & Western Missouri railroad, a short line which had just been purchased by the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf. Mr. Dig- gins was the superintendent in charge of construction of the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf railroad and Kansas City, Springfield & Memphis rail- road, joint systems in their extensions toward Kansas City and toward Memphis and he remained with the Kansas City, Ft. Scott and Memphis railroad as superintendent at Springfield from 1879 until 1895, at
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which time he retired from railroading and engaged in the fire insurance business with his son, A. B. Diggins.
Mr. Diggins was married on November 12, 1861, to Emily Keeler, who was born in Salisburg, Vermont, July 28, 1836, a daughter of Leavens C. and Emily Norton Keeler. Mrs. Diggins' girlhood days were spent in Ver- mont, but she had reached young womanhood when her parents moved to Palatine, Illinois.
Two children were born to Hiram W. and Emily K. Diggins, namely, Charles K., September 30, 1862, who died in March, 1865, and Archibald B., born on November 19, 1865. Archibald B. married Delle Bosworth, of Brunswick, Missouri, in 1886. Two children were born to this union, namely, Doris D. and Emily D.
Hiram W. Diggins was a loyal Mason, a Knight Templar, being a Past Eminent Commander, and was a loyal member of the Mystic Shrine. Although a life-long Democrat, he was liberal in politics and was a man loved and respected by all who knew him and a man who never spoke ill of any one, and was stanch and loyal to his friends.
The death of Hiram W. Diggins occurred on December 10, 1910.
WILLIAM B. CLOUD.
It was Oliver Wendell Holmes who said that the human race is divided into two classes-those that go ahead and do something and those who sit and inquire, "Why wasn't it done the other way." A review of the history of the Cloud family of Greene county shows clearly that they have ever been of the former class, and therefore have not only attained a large measure of material success, but have contributed in no uncertain degree to the general development of the community which has been honored by their residence for three-quarters of a century. When they cast their lot in Clay township they found a wild, sparsely settled community, and they endured the usual privations of pioneers, but being possessed of those quali- ties which turn adversity into success, they bore with brave hearts the vicissi- tudes of the early days and in due course of time became well established and at the same time did much toward the progress of that section of the county, which owes much to them. A creditable representative of this old family is William B. Cloud, who for the past eight years has filled the responsible position of clerk of the Greene County Court, being still incum- bent of the office. Up to that time he had devoted himself to general agri- cultural pursuits with ever increasing success, ranking among the best farm- ers of his native vicinity.
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Mr. Cloud was born in section 25, Clay township, this county, October 16, 1862. He is a son of Calvin M. and Elizabeth ( Kirshner ) Cloud. The father was a native of Granger county, Tennessee, and the mother was born in Hawkins county, that state. There they spent their childhood, were educated in the old-time subscription schools, and were married in Greene county, Missouri. Leaving their native state in 1838, they traversed the rough roads westward to Greene county, Missouri, and located in Clay township, entered land from the government, which they improved through close application and hard toil, and here spent the rest of their lives, the death of the father occurring in 1887 at the age of sixty-five years, the mother surviving until January 10, 1895, attaining about the same age as did her husband. Calvin M. Cloud was a prominent man in his township. For many years he served the people as justice of the peace, and was also clerk of the school district for some time. Politically he was a Republican. His father also entered a farm from the government in Clay township, but joined the great caravan of gold seekers across the great plains of the West to California in 1849, and there he spent the rest of his life. Our subject's maternal grandparents also immigrated to Greene county in the early period of her history, locating in the east part of Campbell township, on the James river and Pierson creek, and there spent the rest of their lives.
Calvin M. Cloud and wife were the parents of ten children, seven of whom are still living, namely: Mrs. L. F. Wills of Norwich, Kansas; John James died at Winfield, Kansas, in November, 1913; Mrs. Mary E. Wills, of Milton, Kansas; Mrs. Martha M. Gault is deceased; Mrs. Lucy A. Wrightsman, of Springfield, Missouri; Thomas H. lives in Winfield, Kan- sas; Mrs. Sarah R. Kinser is deceased; William B., subject of this sketch; Mrs. Harriet E. Chapman, of Ozark, Missouri; Edward C. lives near Grand- field, Oklahoma.
William B. Cloud grew to manhood on the home farm and he received his education in the rural schools of Clay township, and later took a busi- ness course. He remained on the home farm, of which he owns eighty acres, which he has kept well improved and under a high state of cultiva- tion, and the buildings well repaired. He remained on the farm until he was elected clerk of the county court eight years ago, taking office on January I, 1907. He now resides in Springfield. He has filled the office of clerk in an able and satisfactory manner, being painstaking, obliging and courteous to the public, and is popular with all who have occasion to visit the office or having dealings with the court.
Mr. Cloud married, in 1886, Mary V. Patterson, who was born, reared and educated in Clay township, Greene county. She is a daughter of Will- iam Patterson, a well-known contractor and farmer who came here from Tennessee and established the family home in Clay township many years
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ago. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cloud, namely : James R., now deputy clerk under his father, married Mida Ewing, of Ozark. Missouri, and they have two children, Velma Gene and Bernice Burton; Roxie Inez, the second child of our subject, is also one of his deputies in the county clerk's office. She married Harry T. Brundidge, Jr., of Kansas City, where he was a prominent newspaper reporter.
Politically, Mr. Cloud is a Republican. He is prominent in fraternal circles, holding membership with the Knights and Ladies of Honor, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. Modern Woodmen of America, Improved Order of Red Men. Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Loyal Order of Moose. He attends the Methodist church, but Mrs. Cloud affili- ates with the Baptists.
CHARLES CROWDUS.
That the dairy cow can be the means through which agriculture can be put on a permanent and profitable basis is clearly shown by the history of Denmark. Forty years ago that country was on the verge of bankruptcy. The land had been run down through years of continuous grain farming. The people were poor and dissatisfied and were leaving the country for America as fast as they could get the money for their passage. A few of the far-sighted men of the country saw a possible solution of their national problem in the dairy cow. Dairying was introduced into Denmark, and now the little nation once poverty-stricken is pointed out as an example of what can be done when the proper system of farming is followed. The country is prosperous. The production of the soil has been increased to more than double what it was forty years ago. People no longer have a desire to leave, and, as a whole, they are considered among the best edu- cated and intelligent of the world. The country exports annually over seven million dollars' worth of dairy products, to say nothing of the enormous amount consumed within its borders, and all from an arca much less than one-fourth of Missouri. No country in the world is better adapted for dairying than the Ozark region, and yet it is surprising how few have become aware of this fact. Here is a fine rolling country, a good black limestone soil, an abundance of pure spring water, a long growing season and the center of an unlimited market. Among the Greene county men who have had the sagacity to see this opportunity and take advantage of the same is Charles Crowdus, proprietor of the Crowdus Sanitary Dairy and Poultry Ranch in Campbell township, in the outskirts of Springfield, in which city he has long been well known, having for years been connected with the Heer Dry Goods store prior to taking up his present line of endeavor.
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Mr. Crowdus was born at Weatherford, Texas, April 5, 1878. He is a son of William B. and Mary (Heer) Crowdus, the latter a daughter of C. H. Heer, of Illinois. He was a native of Hanover, Germany. William B. Crowdus was born in Kentucky, from which state he came to Spring- field, Missouri, when a young man, and for a number of years engaged in the grocery business on the public square and South street. This was in 1873, forty-two years ago. In 1877 he went to Weatherford, Texas, and there his death occurred in 1879, when his son, Charles Crowdus was only a year old; his only other child, a daughter, died in infancy unnamed. Will- iam B. was a brother of J. C., J. B. and R. L. Crowdus of the Crowdus Hide & Wool Company, a widely known concern, engaging in business at Fort Worth, Texas, Oklahoma City, and St. Louis.
Charles Crowdus was brought back to Springfield by his mother soon after his father's death, and here he grew to manhood and was educated in the parish schools, later attending Christian Brothers College at St. Joseph, and Jesuits College at St. Mary's, Kansas, also studied at Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana. Applying himself assiduously he took advantage of this excellent opportunity for education and became well equipped for life's serious duties. After leaving school he was with the Heer Dry Goods store in Springfield for a period of about ten years, where he did much to make the business a success during that period. Finally tiring of the exactions of this line of endeavor he moved just south of the city limits and turned his attention to dairying and poultry raising and has made a pronounced success in both. He runs a retail route and has built up a good business in this city, finding ready sales for all his products. He is well equipped in every respect for the dairy business, having a modernly appointed dairy barn, convenient, up-to-date and sanitary in every respect, and he keeps a superior grade of cows. He makes a specialty of raising White Wyandotte poultry and has built up a good demand for his fowls and eggs. He keeps well posted on all phases of the dairy and poultry business and gives his close attention to each line. He has a cosy home on South Jefferson street.
Mr. Crowdus was married on October 2, 1909, to Mary Ethelyn Law- ing, a daughter of R. J. Lawing and wife, an influential family of Ozark, Christian county, this state. Mr. Lawing is a farmer in that vicinity and was for a number of years postmaster at Ozark. His wife was known in her maidenhood as Mary Clark, and to their marriage eight children were born, all of whom survive at this writing. Mrs. Crowdus grew to woman- hood in the vicinity of Ozark and received a good education in the local schools.
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