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 79
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The father of our subject was a bricklayer by trade, also a plasterer. For some time he owned a farm in Arkansas, having been an early settler in Washington county. . From there he removed with his family to Spring- field. Missouri, during war times, 1863, and his death occurred soon there- after. His son, our subject, had come here the year previous. He was the only child.
The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch grew to manhood in Arkansas and there attended the common schools, receiving a fairly good education, for those times. He was compelled to leave school when the war broke out. In vacations he worked at surveying and in learning the brick- layer's and plasterer's trades under his father. He came to Springfield and enlisted, on September 4, 1862, in the First Arkansas Cavalry, Company L, under Capt. John Bonine, and he saw considerable hard service. He was in the battle of Fayetteville, in April, 1863, and three other engagements, also the battle of Prairie Grove and numerous skirmishes, being in eight reg- ular engagements in all. He proved to be a faithful soldier and was hon- orably discharged in Fayetteville on August 23. 1865. Remaining in Ar- kansas until the following January, he came to Springfield and worked at the bricklayer's trade, which he continued until nearly twelve years ago, having become quite proficient. He spent a number of years in the employ of the Ash Grove Lime Kiln works, building and repairing lime kilns. Owing to an accident which injured his eye, he was compelled to give up his trade, so he engaged in the grocery business at 635 West Chestnut street, and has remained in this stand since February 23, 1903. He has built up a very satisfactory trade, and carries an excel- lent line of staple and fancy groceries. He owns his place of business, as well as a fine brick home adjoining.
Mr. Baker was married on February 26, 1900, in Greenfield, Missouri, to Myrtle Henry. She is the daughter of David and Martha Jane ( Morris) Henry. She was born in Danville, Illinois, December 25, 1875. When she was a small child her parents moved with her to Kansas, where she received
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her education. They later moved to Greenfield, Missouri. Mrs. Baker is a member of the First Christian church here, and is also a member of the Ladies' Circle.
Politically, Mr. Baker is a Republican. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, also the Sons of the American Revolution as before indicated. He belongs to the First Christian church.
BERT S. LEE.
One of the most conspicuous figures in the commercial circles of Springfield and Greene county of the present generation is Bert S. Lee, a man actively identified with the business and industrial interests of this section of the Ozarks and for a number of years widely known as one of the leading members of the Masonic Order in Missouri. Equally noted as a citizen whose useful career has conferred credit upon the community and whose marked abilities and stirring qualities have won for him much more than local repute, he holds today distinctive precedence as one of the most progressive and successful men that ever inaugurated and carried to satis- factory termination large and important undertakings in this locality. Strong mental powers, invincible courage and a determined purpose that hesitate at no opposition have so entered into his composition as to render him a dominant factor in the business world and a leader of men in notable enterprises. He is essentially a man of affairs-sound of judgment and far-seeing in what he undertakes, and every enterprise to which he has addressed himself has resulted in a large measure of material success.
Mr. Lee was born in Marshfield, Webster county, Missouri, October 30, 1871. He is a son of Joshua L. and Cynthia (Perry) Lee.
Bert S. Lee removed to Springfield during his youthful period, and there attained man's estate and made it his permanent residence. Educa- tional advantages were obtained in the public schools and Drury College in that city. He grew and expanded with the environment, becoming identi- fied strongly with the business, social and moral interests of the community to which he contributes energy, fellowship and exemplification of those influences which tend toward the elevation of erring humanity. Endowed with executive ability in managing business affairs, he was entrusted by the Hobart-Lee Tie Company with the handling of its finances in the posi- tion of secretary and treasurer, which position he has held continuously since its organization in 1891, having been one of the potent factors in building up this firm, which ranks with the leading firms of its kind in the Southwest, handling large quantities of railroad supplies, especially ties,
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for the Frisco system. For several years he has been a director of the Springfield Grocery Company, one of the largest and best known wholesale grocery houses of southwest Missouri, and is now president of the corpo- ration and is managing its affairs in an able and eminently satisfactory man- ner. Interested with the Branson Town Company and the Arkansas Min- ing and Mercantile Company, he is the secretary and treasurer of each.
Mr. Lee was married on December 27, 1893, to Mabelle Lingsweiler, a daughter of John G. and Emma R. (Ostrander) Lingsweiler, a prominent family of Lebanon, Missouri. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Lee has been graced by the birth of five children, named as follow: John Lawrence, Francis Theodore, Raymond Fitshugh, Mabelle Lucille and Richard Albert. They are receiving excellent educational advantages and are all youngsters of much promise.
Politically, Mr. Lee is a Democrat and is loyal in the support and work of that party, and yet not with ambition to become a political leader. While not the sport of common parlance, he has sporting procilivities grow- ing out of his social nature, and holds membership in the James River Hunt- ing and Fishing Club, the Country Club, the Springfield Club, and the Young Men's Business Club. He is president of the Springfield Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. Identified with the Young Men's Chris- tion Association of Springfield, he is one of the directors, president of the board and a trustee of the association. When the energetic and enthusiastic members of the Masonic Fraternity of his city determined to provide a sub- stantial meeting place in and by the erection of a splendid temple building, he was designated on the first committee of arrangement and plans, and became one of the board of directors of the association and its treasurer. In religious matters he is equally active, being a member of St. Paul's Meth- odist Episcopal church, South ; he has for over fifteen years conducted its Sunday school as superintendent: he is one of the trustees of the church and chairman of the finance committee of the board of stewards.
Before this municipality of affairs all had inception Mr. Lee became interested in Freemasonry and in Sparta Lodge No. 296, located at Sparta, in Christian county, on March 31, 1893. he was made a Master Mason. Transferring membership to Gate of the Temple Lodge No. 422 of Spring- field, he served as worshipful master in 1899, 1900 and 1907. Since 1901 he has been distriet lecturer of his Masonic district, and from 1904. presi- dent of the Masonic Board of Relief of Springfield. In Vincil Chapter No. IIO. Royal Arch Masons, on September 24, 1897, he was exalted to the Royal Arch degree, and served it as high priest in 1901 and 1908. On April 24, 1901, he was anointed, consecrated and set apart to the Holy Order of High Priesthood at the grand convention held in the city of St. Louis. He serves the Grand Chapter as chairman of important committees
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and is the representative of Tennessee near the Grand Chapter of Missouri. At the resuscitation of Zabud Council No. 25 of the city of Springfield, he was one of the few who were ready to extend a helping hand, petitioned for its instruction, and on May 17, 1904, received the degrees of Royal and Select Master. Devoting himself to its interests, he was elected thrice illus- trious master in the years 1905, 1906 and 1907, and his fidelity, energy and enthusiasm contributed largely toward the enviable condition which Zabud has attained among the councils of the state. In April, 1905, he was appointed grand marshal, and was regularly advanced, becoming grand master in April, 1910. His record in that important position shows that he accomplished much for the propagation of the Cryptic system. At the tri- ennial assembly of the General Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of the United States of America, held in Indianapolis, Indiana, September 9, 1912, he was honored by his companions by being elected to the position of general grand steward of the United States.
The Grand Jurisdiction of Rhode Island honored him with a com- mission as its representative near the Grand Council of Missouri. The orders of Christian Knighthood were conferred upon him on November 4, 1897, in St. John's Commandery No. 20, Knights Templars, stationed at Springfield, and in 1902 he was elected its commander. In the Grand Com- mandery of Knights Templars of the State of Missouri, in April, 1904, he was appointed grand warder, subsequently elected by the suffrage of his fraters, he served in every station in the line except one and became grand commander in May, 1911, closing the year of service at Cape Girardeau. May 29, 1912. That it was strenuous the record shows, and if no other tablet ever appears distinctively many will be found reproduced by memory to consciousness for courteous treatment under his command. A commis- sion from Virginia authorizes him to respond for that Templar jurisdiction in the Grand Commandery of Missouri. In 1907, St. Andrew Conclave No. II of Joplin, created him a Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine and appendant orders. He attained the thirty-second degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in 1906 by Joplin Consistory No. 3. He is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, postulated in 1903 to Abou-Ben-Adhem Temple of Springfield.
Thus is portrayed, in part at least, the accomplishment of a busy man. It was attained through the solving of an economic problem: The art by which human needs and comforts are applied. The systematic use of time. free to everybody, but frequently wasted by injudicious application and the further fact that the average possessor is not stimulated to an economy of time by necessity arising through desire to make it count in weight and power as it passes to the wheel. Prompt, reliable and responsible, he main- tains dignity, being genial, affable and courteous, none have difficulty in
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approach; careful of his antagonisms, he preserves friendships. Of strong religious inclination, he has faith in things not perceived, and is affected morally somewhat after the philosophy of Kant, "Act so that the maxim of thy will can likewise be valid as a principle of universal legislation." Mr. Lee is yet young, has barely passed the inception of usefulness to his fellows. His methods demonstrated contain the elements which point to a successful culmination of the divine purpose in the bestowal of life, and the future years will evidently find his advancement further in paths of honor and righteousness as well as usefulness. These and more are due his conscientious course and one is justified in employing the lines of Ten- nyson :
"We will do him No customary honor ; since the knight Came not to us, of us to claim the prize Ourselves will send it after."
WALDO CORNWELL BOOTH.
It would be to most of us a source of genuine gratification to be able to trace our ancestry back through the centuries, and to know how they lived, what they looked like, what they followed for a livelihood, what they did in the world and what their ambitions were; but, unfortunately, here in America, few of us are able to do this; in fact, the majority of us know practi- cally nothing of our progenitors beyond our grandparents. The Booth family, formerly, spelled Bothe, Bouthe and Boothe, seems to have had a greater pride in their family tree and made a careful record of each generation, so that the history of the family is today accurately traceable back through some six centuries. We find that it is an ancient English family, and promi- nent and influential both in that country and in America, whither some of the family immigrated among the first in the earliest Colonial period, their descendants now numbering thousands and are to be found all over the Union.
The family name first occurs in the county palatine of Lancaster, Eng- land, where a son of Adam de Boothe was living in 1275. All the other families of this name in various parts of England and America are believed to be descended from this parent stock, through its younger branches. From his son William the family comes down through Thomas, Robert and Sir Thomas, who was knighted during the reign of Edward IIl in the thir- teenth century : his son John lived during the reign of Richard II. We come on down to Sir Robert Booth, the first of the family to settle at Dun-
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ham Massey, in Cheshire, who died there in 1450. Several members of the family about this period became bishops and great lawyers and statesmen. and many of them married into families of the nobility, Sir George Booth, who died in 1483, marrying a relative of the King of Scotland. The Booths were also people of wealth, owning vast estates. We find that, coming on down the line, Sir George Bouthe was knighted by Queen Eliza- beth during the latter part of the fifteenth century, and died in 1652. Sir George Bouthe, who died in 1684, was a member of parliament and com- mander-in-chief of the English army in Wales and western England, and was for eminent services created a baron by Charles II, and from him descended a line of barons to Earl George H. Grey of Stamford, who was living in 1825.
Richard Boothe of Stamford, ancestor of the name in Connecticut, and for whom the city of Stamford was named, was born in 1607, but it is not known from what part of England nor in what year he emigrated to America. He held various offices of trust in his new home, and seems to have been an influential man in Colonial affairs. His large landed prop- erty was divided among his children. During that early period of our his- tory we also know that Robert Boothe lived at Exeter, New Hampshire. in 1645, removing to Saco, where he died in 1672; and John Boothe, who lived at Scituate, Massachusetts, in 1656; Humphrey Boothe was a mer- chant at Charlestown, Massachusetts. Richard Boothe, mentioned above, married Elizabeth Hawley, and to them eight children were born, namely : Elizabeth, Anne, Ephraim, Ebenezer, John, Joseph, Bethiah and Johanna. From these children descended the numerous Booths of the present gen- eration throughout America.
Waldo Cornwell Booth, subject of this memoir, was born in Ports- mouth, New Hampshire, May 21, 1836, and was a son of George and Abby (Cornwell) Booth. Both his grandparents were soldiers in the Revolu- tionary war. George Booth was engaged in the foundry business in New Brittan, Connecticut, for a number of years, finally removing to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he lived with his son, our subject.
Waldo C. Booth received an exceptionally good education for the period in which he lived. He grew to manhood in his native state, and remained in New England until 1853, when he came to Cincinnati with an uncle and there engaged in the hardware business, first securing employ- ment in a store and finally working his way up until he became a member of the firm of R. W. Booth & Company, which for years was rated as the largest wholesale hardware company in that city, and there our subject became a prominent man in both business and social circles, and he made a great success as a merchant through his close application, honest dealings and the exercise of sound judgment. He came to Springfield, Missouri, in
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1870, on account of failing health, which, being restored by the change, he again engaged in the hardware business, operating here one of the largest and best patronized stores of its kind in the city, and enjoying an excellent trade, and later he also engaged in the tobacco manufacturing business here, one of his most famous brands being "Old Coon," well remembered by the older smokers of the country.
Mr. Booth was married on September 6, 1865, to Martha Thomas, who was born in Buffalo, New York, December 11, 1839. She is a daugh- ter of Calvin F. S. and Eliza (Shields) Thomas, the former a native of New York City, where his birth occurred in 1808, the family later remov- ing to Norfolk, Virginia. After the death of his father he, with his mother and sister, went to Boston, where he established a printing office. Later he settled in Buffalo, New York, where he engaged for some time in the pub- lication of a newspaper and in the wholesale paper business, owning a large paper warehouse there. Meanwhile he had married and reared a family. After the death of his wife he gave up his business and made his home with his daughter, who had married Waldo C. Booth, our subject, in Cincinnati, the family coming to Springfield in 1869. Mr. Thomas did not engage in business here of any kind, his failing health compelling him to lead a quiet, retired life. The Springfield people who yet remember him recall him as a silent but cultured, kindly gentleman. He died in 1876 while in Buffalo, New York, where he had gone on a visit. Mr. Thomas knew America's greatest author, Edgar Allen Poe, whom he befriended when he was engaged in the printing business in Boston, in 1827, Mr. Thomas then being about eighteen years old. He was a poor boy, and with the assistance of a widowed mother and what he could earn by his printing business, was try- ing to get an education. In that year he met Poe, who was about the same age, and who was then in the United States army, where he was known as Edgar A. Perry. He prevailed on Thomas to publish a volume of his poems, and when the thin, forty-page volume was issued the title page was as follows: "Tamerlane and Other Poems. By a Bostonian. Boston : Calvin F. S. Thomas, Printer. 1827." It was of cheap paper, poorly exe- cuted mechanically, and rudely bound. It contained ten poems, some of them without any title. But four of them, "Tamerlane." "The Lake." "To - " and "Visit of the Dead," always appeared in later editions, and these four were subjected to so much revision that they bear but small resemblance to their original form.
To Waldo C. Booth and wife four children were born, namely: Stanley C., who is head bookkeeper for the McGregor-Noe Hardware Company of Springfield, married Lydia Wood; Fred is deceased; Ralph W. is also deceased; George H., who is now connected with the Springfield Wagon Company, married Grace Hyner of St. Louis.
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Waldo C. Booth was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, having enlisted at Cincinnati in 1861 in the Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was soon commissioned first lieutenant, later became a captain. He was subsequently given command of a company in the One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He proved to be an efficient offi- cer, and took part in numerous important engagements. Politically, he was a Democrat. He was a member of the school board for a number of terms, and he was often solicited to make the race for mayor of Springfield, but always declined. Fraternally, he was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and religiously he was a Unitarian. He belonged to the Shakespeare Club of Cincinnati. In his earlier life he was an enthusiastic sportsman. Personally he was admired by all who knew him for his integ- rity, business ability and exemplary character.
JOHN E. DENNIS.
The mind of the farmer must be as well balanced as the farm affairs. With a good mental grasp on the situation a farmer should be enabled to get great enjoyment and must profit out of his specialties without inter- ferring with the known necessity for diversified farming. One of the farm- ers of Washington township, Greene county who understands this is John E. Dennis, and he is therefore making a success as a general farmer.
Mr. Dennis was born in Greene county, Missouri, May 17, 1865. He is a son of Benjamin Franklin Dennis and Margaret (Smith) Dennis. The father was born in Jackson county, Tennessee, in 1830, and was eleven years old when he accompanied his parents, William R. and Sarah (Chaffin) Dennis, to Missouri, locating in Greene county. When a young man he made two overland trips to California, but finally took up his permanent abode on a farm of two hundred acres in this county, and in due course of time became one of our most progressive farmers and extensive landowners, and was a heavy dealer in live stock, especially mules. He continued active in his work until 1911, when he retired from active life and moved to a fine residence in Rogersville, Missouri, where he is now living. He is president of the Bank of Rogersville and is one of the prominent men of the eastern part of Greene county. Margaret A. Smith, whom he married in 1864, was his first wife, and by her four children were born, all of whom sur- vive, namely: John E., Clara B., William A., and George F. The mother of these children was born in this county in 1843 and her death occurred in 1876, after which Mr. Dennis married, in 1877, Martha G. Ferrell, who
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was born in Tennessee in 1861. To this second union five children were born, namely: Henry C. Cora .A., Grover C., Shirley V., and Ben Elmer.
John F. Dennis grew to manhood on the home farm and there assisted with the general work, and he now owns and occupies one hundred and sixty acres of the place on which he was reared. He received his education in the public schools of his community, and he has always followed general farming and stock raising. His farm is well improved and is one of the productive, well located farms of the county, and on it stands a good group of buildings.
Mr. Dennis was married on December 23, 1886, to Martha T. Boden- hamer, who was born east of Springfield, May 3, 1857, and was reared there on a farm and educated in the district schools. She is a daughter of A. J. and Elizabeth ( Whorten ) Bodenhamer. Both these parents were born in Greene county, were reared, educated and married here and are still living on a farm in this county and are high respectable people.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dennis, namely: Mrs. Volie Hedgepath, born on October 12, 1887; Benjamin A., born on March 15, 1889, and Charles Lee, born on July 23, 1893.
Politically, Mr. Dennis is a Democrat, and fraternally he belongs to. the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen, at Rog- ersville, Webster county.
WILLIAM Y. SMITH.
A great essayist once said that "when one has given the best that is in him to a work, he experiences a feeling of satisfaction." While this statement may seem rather broad, yet a greater truth than this was never spoken. Whether one is successful or not in what one undertakes, if he realizes that nothing on his part has been left undone he should have no regrets. This does not mean that the unsuccessful person feels just as elated over defeat as the successful over victory. When one does his best and is successful he has a double reason to be happy. To this class belongs Will- iam Y. Smith, who has had a varied career as farmer, implement dealer. traveling salesman and life insurance agent, and whose record shows that by his individual efforts persistently applied he has succeeded in lines that have claimed his attention.
Mr. Smith was born in Greene county, Missouri, June 5. 1851. He is a son of William and Sarah (Julian) Smith, natives of Virginia and Tennessee, respectively. They grew to maturity in the East and were edu- cated there and married in Kentucky. The father was a physician by pro-
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fession. He went to California in 1851, during the gold fever period, and his death occurred in Eugene, Oregon. His widow survived until 1875, dying in Greene county, Missouri. To these parents six children were born, three of whom are deceased, namely: Julian D., deceased; Robert O., deceased; Cyrenia lives in Paris, Texas; Saphronia lives in Fair Play, Mis- souri; Aglentine, deceased; and William Y., of this review.
William Y. Smith had little opportunity to receive an education. He attended night school for a time, but later in life this early lack has been made up for by wide miscellaneous reading, and he is today a well-informed man on general topics. He was married near Willard, his native county, October 15, 1871, to Anna B. Campbell, who was born in Greene county, Missouri, in 1855, and here she grew to womanhood and received a com- mon school education. She is a daughter of Andrew and Louise (White) Campbell, natives of Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively, but were mar- ried in Greene county, Missouri, after they immigrated here among the early pioneers, locating on a farm. During the Civil war Mr. Campbell joined the Confederate army and died in the service. His widow survives and is living in Tennessee. Mrs. Smith is a granddaughter of George White, one of the pioneer preachers of Greene county, who located here in the year 1853 and was known as a circuit rider, preaching at Friendship Baptist church near Ebenezer, Ash Grove, Slagle Creek church and Cedar Bluff, holding services one Sunday each month in the churches in his reg- ular circuit.
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