USA > Missouri > Lafayette County > Portrait and biographical record of Lafayette and Saline counties, Missouri : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 80
USA > Missouri > Saline County > Portrait and biographical record of Lafayette and Saline counties, Missouri : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 80
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During nearly all his life. our subject was a faithful member of the Baptist Church, whose teach- ings he embraced at an early age, while most of his children were and are members of the same de- nomination. His interest in all religious matters was unabating, and his liberal support of the church was cheerfully given, beside contributing largely of his means for the spread of the Gospel, and all charitable objects. His family knew not a want but that was liberally and readily supplied from his hands, as he was kind and indulgent to a marked degree. Politically, he was a Democrat. but never aspired to office. Aside from his life as
a farmer. he was a deep thinker, and was well posted on religious affairs and Biblical matters. In his articles on "Communion," and "The Perseverance of the Saints." he sets forth very conclusively, in clear and eoneise language, the birth and growth of his belief, and we ean truly say that he was a man without reproach, and one of the most re- spected and beloved of the citizens of Saline County.
On the 26th of May, 1889, Mr. Lyne was freed from the wiles and cares of earth to meet the loved ones gone before, and to dwell in the pre- sence of his Maker through the eeaseless ages of eternity. The faithful wife still lives, Her fa- ther was a man of large estate, and was in the War of 1812, through which he served with honor. Her parents were noted for their hospitality, and were both born in Virginia, as were the parents of our subjeet.
F. ALEXANDER. The members of the legal profession in Lexington. the county seat of La Fayette County, are numerous, and among the best known is the gentle- man who is the subject of this sketch. Though a native of Virginia, he has been a resident of Mis- souri nearly the whole of his lifetime. When quite young his father, William. B. Alexander, removed from Virginia, where his progenitors had resided ever since the early Colomal period of the State, and settled with his family in Saline County, Mo.
Mr. Alexander is a graduate of the Masonie Col- lege at Lexington, and was admitted to the Bar in 1862, and has practiced his profession in that place ever since. He is in the prime of life, is one of the brightest mathematicians of the State, and, possessing a fine classical education, has always been a student of history and the law, and is a man of sterling integrity. Mr. Alexander has never been an office-holder, but has proved him- self an able counselor and successful practitioner,
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a profound student of the law, a strong advocate of natural justice and a zealous partisan of Chris- tianity.
Our subject has ever been prominent in the cause of truth and right. His legal attainments are known and have been recognized by the Bar of the State, as is shown by the fact of his having been appointed as Special Judge to deliver the opinion of that tribunal in the case of Johnson County vs. Wood, reported in the eighty-fourth volume of the Missouri Reports. The opinion delivered by him in the case is indicative of the character and ability of the man and well worthy to be placed alongside the decisions of the past, which have sustained the dignity of the highest judicial tribunals in the State.
U G. PHETZING. It is astonishing to note, upon glaneing through a biographical record of the States of the Union, how many of the prominent men of all sections have come from the State of Ohio. That intelligent and progressive State, which has furnished some of the most famous statesmen of our day, is the one in which our subject first made his appearance upon the stage of life. Mr. Phetzing was born in North- ern Ohio, in September, 1855, a son of JJohn and Mary (Berlaw) Phetzing, natives of Prussia. The father was a good and holy man, a minister in the Methodist Church, traveling through the State. Both the parents are yet living, residing in Lex- ington.
Our subject passed his youth in Ohio, attending the best schools at varions places where his father's appointments located the family. thus gaining a very good foundation upon which to erect a more extensive course, which he took later at the State University at Columbia, Mo. From youth the de- sire of our subject had been to become an ex- pounder of the law; perhaps even vague visions of the woolsaek had floated through his boyish dreams, and it was with pardonable pride that he
received his final graduation diploma from the law department of the University in 1880.
In the above-named year our subjeet was ad- mitted to the Bar at Lexington, in the beginn ig of his practice forming a fortunate partnership with the well-known Judge Walker, which con- nection lasted for a term of nine years. During all of that time the firm did business and became known throughout the State as one of the most reliable and strongest of combinations. Since this time he has practiced alone, making a very sue- cessful record climbing upward. From 1890 to 1892 he served as C'ity Attorney, and has become a prominent factor in political life, being at the present time a member of the Republican County Committee.
In 1882 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Phetzing with Miss Lizzie Franz, of Warsaw, Ill., daughter of Rev. J. Franz, a minister in the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and one bright little daughter, four years old, Anna, fills his home with sunshine. Both our subject and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, being active and useful in this connection. Socially, they are prominent in Lexington, where Mr. Phetzing has made his home and reputation. Ilis residence in this county has been of long enough duration to have enabled him to note many and great changes for the better in the county, and doubtless another decade will mark as many more.
OUN W. WADDELL, President of the Lex- ington Savings Bank, at Lexington, Mo., is an enterprising citizen, alive to all the busi- ness needs of the hour, and withal a repre- sentative agrienlturist and extensive stoek-raiser of La Fayette County. Born in Mason County, Ky., August 25, 1831, our subject made his home in early youth in Missouri, and for the past two- score years has been prominently identified with the leading and financial interests of this portion
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of the State. William B. Waddell, the father of Jolin W., was a native of the Old Dominion, and a direct descendant of one of the first families of Virginia. Ile was a man of superior business ability, and a member of the noted firm of Russell. Majors & Waddell, who were the most extensive freighters in the West. with headquarters at Omaha. Neb., and Leavenworth, Kan. William B. Waddell was one of the principal men connected with the Pike's Peak Stage Line, of which enter- prise he was Superintendent several years. After a life of busy usefulness, he passed away, univer- sally lamented, in 1872.
The mother of our subject, Susan C. Waddell, the daughter of Maj. William Byram, still survives, and has reached the venerable age of eighty-seven years. John W. Waddell is the eldest of eight children. five of whom survive. He spent his early days in Lexington, and having received a preparatory course of instruction in a private school, he entered the old Masonie College at Lex- ington, and graduated with honor in 1851. For a time our subject read law, but soon embarked in the mercantile business in company with his brother, Milton B. Waddell, and William G. Me- Causland, the firm name being Waddells & McCaus- land. The partnership lasted some years, and dur- ing its continuance Mr. Waddell bought and sold hemp, his profitable dealings being condueted upon a large scale. At this time in the commercial history of our country, especially in this portion of the United States, the culture and handling of hemp was an important interest, and one which occupied the attention of many of the wealthy capitalists.
Our subject has also bought and sold grain, be- ing an extensive shipper of the same to St. Louis, and Western points. His fine farm of five hundred and thirty acres is under a high state of cultiva- tion, and he feeds large numbers of horses, mules, cattle and hogs. At present there are some eighty mules on the homestead, which is entirely under the immediate supervision of Mr. Waddell, whose live stock in the different varieties is among the very best in the State. As one of the organizers, and for many years Manager, of the Lexington Coal Company. our subject was widely known. Mr. Waddell was also a stockholder and Director in
the Farmers' Bank of Missouri, at Lexington, and continued his interest in the institution until the bank went out of existence during the war. In company with Col. John Reid, William Morrison and S. G. Wentworth, our subject then bought out the assets of the bank, and wound up the business. In 1870, Mr. Waddell aided in the organization of the Lexington Savings Bank, which under his skillful guidanee as stockholder and President has become one of the substantial institutions of Lex- ington, and now transaets a large general banking business.
At one time our subjeet was a stockholder in the banking house of William Morrison & Co., which interest he disposed of when he identified himself with the Lexington Savings Bank. Mr. Waddell is Viee-president of the Buford and George Imple- ment Company, at Kansas City. which firm also manufactures harness. It is now about two seore of years ago, since, upon March 8, 1852, John W. Waddell was united in marriage with Miss Eliza- beth R., daughter of Dr. William W. Austin, a prominent physician of Carroll County. Mr. and Mrs. Waddell became the parents of five children. Fannie W. is the wife of William Barton, who with his brothers owns a wholesale boot and shoe store, doing business in Kansas City. Alice A. is the wife of E. B. Wingate, of Kansas City, a wholesale dealer in furnishing goods and manufacturer of clothing. Walter B. is a partner with Wingate, Stone & Wells, manufacturers and dealers in fur- nishing goods at Kansas City. Susan C., deceased, was the wife of Henry B. Duke, who is in the wholesale implement and harness business in Kan- sas City. Bettie R., the youngest daughter, is at home in Lexington, Mo. The finely kept grounds and handsome and commodious family residence are well known to every passer-by and are the seene of many a social gathering, the generous lios- pitality of our subject being proverbial.
Mr. and Mrs. Waddell are valned members of the Baptist Church, and actively connected with the religious and benevolent enterprises of that denomination. Mr. Waddell is one of the Trustees of William Jewell College, at Liberty, Mo .. and in his official position was one of the most im- portant factors in the advancement and prosperity
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of that well-known institution of learning and one of the board of eight Visitors who endowed the theological chair connected with that institu- tion. Fraternally our subject is associated with the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, and is a member of La Fayette Lodge. Politically, Mr. Waddell affiliates with the Democrats, and takes an active interest in both national and local issues of the day. Public-spirited and progressive in the upbuilding of the educational, business and reli- gious interests of his State and county, he has done his full duty as a true American citizen, and reared for himself and his posterity an enduring monument of remembrance in the hearts of his fellow-citizens.
ERMAN F. HOLKE. Industry brings its own reward and when joined with a frugal spirit is sure to result in the amassing of a competency. Our subject has been a hard worker all his life and now owns a comfortable home on a desirable farm located on section 26, township 50, range 29, La Fayette County, Mo. Ile is the son of Benjamin Holke, a farmer and a native of Prussia, who was born in 1811. The fa- ther married in that country and came with his fam- ily to America, settling in St. Charles County, Mo., in 1835, on a tract of wild land, being among the earliest of the settlers and having to go ten miles to reach the nearest town. Wild game abounded and served as food at many a meal. Ilis farm consisted of two hundred and sixty acres and with hearty good-will he went to work, soon having the gratification of seeing it well improved. ITIs wife dying in 1853, he married again, but had no children by his second wife.
The father had nine children by his first wife, six of them living and five residing in this county, they being as follows: Henry II .. living in this township; William Il., living at Napoleon; Mary Stallman, living in Jackson County; Eliza Grumke, living in Jackson County; our subject,
and Rev. Fred Ilolke, minister of the Evangelical Church, living at Washington, Mo. The parents of these children were good, Christian people, the father being an Elder in the church, dying in 1878 in the simple faith he had lived. Having received an excellent education himself, he was careful to bestow equally good instruction upon his offspring. Devoted to the country of his adoption, he took an active part in political matters and al- ways discharged that duty of citizenship involved in voting. Our subject was born November 14, 1846, in St. Charles County, Mo., was reared upon the farm, attended the district school and later the St. Charles publie schools, completing his course at Prof. Jones' Commercial College of St. Louis. Returning to his father's farm, he re- mained there until his marriage, February 26, 1869, with Miss Eliza C. Woestemeyer, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Schuester) Woestemeyer, both natives of Prussia, he being born in 1812, and she in 1816. They came to America about 1837 and settled upon a raw farm in Warren County, Mo., where he died in 1852. Ilis wife married again and died in 1880. They were the parents of five children, all living, as follows: Mrs. Lizetta Larbery; Henry H., living at Napo- leon ; Fred, living at Bethel, Kan .; and Josephine, living on the old home farm.
The parents of Mrs. Holke were worthy mem- bers of the Evangelical Church, her father having been very active in that body. Mrs. Holke was born .June 26, 1849, in Warren County, Mo., where she received a good education in both English and German. After his marriage our subject settled in Warren County, where he re- mained seven years. In 1876 he removed to this county and settled on section 29, Clay Township, improving the farm greatly during the six years that he remained on it. He then sold out and bought a tract on section 25 from Strother Renick. This he improved to the extent of one hundred aeres, put up a house, barn and other outbuildings, and then disposed of it, it now being owned by August Sehlapper. Five years ago he settled upon his present farm, known as the James D. Ish place, where he now owns five hundred and twenty acres of good land, four hundred and eighty acres
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of it under cultivation, part of which is rented out and the remainder is operated by him with the help of one son and two or three hired men. He carries on the business of general farming, growing grain, and raising stock, to which he gives his exclusive care. There are seven chil- dren in this household, namely: Willie Il .; Amelia C., wife of Gustaf Oberhelman; Lydia F., Annie L., Daniel 11., Alfred W. and Oscar F., all of whom have received a good education, and all of them, like their parents, are members of the Evan- gelical Church, in which the father has been a Trustee. The father, our subject, was once Super- intendent of the Sunday-school and is now a teacher in it, while all the children have been ac- tive in like work.
Our subject has been a Director in the District School for years, displaying the same zeal and in- dustry in the discharge of his official duties that he has always shown in managing his private affairs, and Mr. Holke has always been a hard worker. A Republican in politics. he has always been relied upon to do his full duty by that party. When he began life for himself he had but little, and his success is due to his own efforts. In 1886 he made a pleasure trip to Calfornia, this journey being one of the very few recreations he has permitted himself to take in his busy lifetime.
E. GARDNER has until very recently been a member of the firm of J. E. Gardner & Son, editors and publishers of the Inde- pendent Watchman, which was established in Marshall, Saline County, March 12, 1891, under the name of the Alliance Watchman. Although yet in its infancy, this paper has already become popular in the State. Hle of whom we write was born in New Brunswick, in the vicinity of Calais, Me., October 6, 1830.
Capt. William Gardner, the father of our sub- ject, was a sea-faring man for many years, and was lost on the ocean. His wife was before her
marriage Miss Eliza McClosky, of County Derry, Ireland. In his early youth the home of our sub- ject was on the coast of Maine, but in 1842 he removed to Cincinnati, subsequently going to Rip- ley County, Ind .. and in 1855 to Osceola, lowa. In the meantime his father had been lost with his vessel on the Paeitic Coast, and the widow, with her family of children, went to Nebraska to live, but later returned to lowa, where her death oc- curred. She was the mother of ten children, of whom our subject is the fourth in order of birth. The family life during our subject's boyhood days was of such an itinerary nature that his educa- tion was not long continued in any one place. Picking up what he could from place to place, he learned enough, however, in practical ways to en- able him to hold his own in the world.
Mr. Gardner began his active life on the Pacific Coast, having crossed the plains in 1852, making the journey with an ox-team. On arriving in the Golden State, he at once engaged in trading, and during his four years' stay in the West saw much of frontier life in its rudest aspect. Mr. Gardner first engaged in the ministry in 1858, and in the capacity of a traveling Elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church came to Missouri, where for six- teen years he held pastorates at St. Catharine. Utica, Lancaster, Edina, Memphis, Tipton, Holden, Lee's Summit, Grant, Humansville, Springfield and Buffalo. At the end of that time he was placed upon the list of supernumeraries, and afterward was relegated to the list of superannnated preachers. Ile then retired to a farm which he owned near Holden. in Johnson County. From there he went to that city, where he took charge of a restaurant and grocery for a year and a-half. lle next en- gaged as a traveling salesman and collector for George Moody, of the Appleton City Marble Works.
In April, 1858, Mr. Gardner was united in mar- riage with Mrs. Amanda Newell, of Newton, lowa. They have two living children: Charles E., and Mary Gertrude, wife of Howard L. Whitehead. of Oakland. Cal .; they have also lost three children. In 1890, Mr. Gardner, with his son, Charles E., established the Holden Independent, which they continued to publish for one year, and then re-
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moved the plant to Marshall, establishing the Al- liance Watchman. Until becoming editor of the former paper our subject had been a lifelong Re- publican, but since that time he has been inde- pendent and a member of the Farmers' Alliance.
We will now take up the history of Charles E. Gardner, who was born in Memphis, Scotland County, Mo., March 13, 1861. and is the eldest. son. llis education was largely acquired at the public schools in Holden and Montrose, and by indomitable effort he graduated from the High School of the latter town in 1882. When only nineteen he secured a certificate and taught in the district school in Henry County for a year, later accepting a school near Jolinstown, in Bates County. In the meantime he zealously pursued his own education, and his intelligent and wide range of studies has since been of inestimable value to him in his editorial work. Ilis next charge was the Harness School, near Montrose, in Henry County, which school had the reputation of making it decidedly unpleasant for all teachers, men and women alike. Though he was abont as young as a number of the older boys, who had been particularly obstreperous, by his good judg- ment, tact and discipline he won the mastery and continued to teach the school through the term, refusing a call for the succeeding one in order to learn the printer's trade. After serving a short apprenticeship on the Holden Herald, he accepted a position as printer and "localist" on the llolden Enterprise, going from there in 1885 to Grant City, where he was made foreman of the Grant City Star.
While in the last-named city Charles Gardner met the lady who afterward, in January, 1887, became his wife, Miss Ida A., daughter of John J. Hunter, of Albany, Mo., and an accomplished and charming young lady. Their union has been blessed with two sons, Howard E. and Diek Ma- cune. In October, 1886, Mr. Gardner accepted a position on the Kansas City Journal as proof- reader, remaining with them until March, 189], at which time he severed his connection with that paper to assume the management of the Alliance W'atelnnan, of this city.
In May, 1891, Charles Gardner attended the
Labor Conference at Cincinnati, and was made Chairman of the Seventh Congressional Distriet. Later he attended the St. Louis conference, where he was chosen State Secretary of the People s Party Committee. In May, 1892, he was re-elected Chairman of the Seventh District, and a month later, at the State convention of the People's party, was re-elected Secretary of the committee. In November, 1892, J. E. Gardner severed his con- nection with the firm, and his son is now sole edi- tor and publisher of the paper, which is in a healthy and flourishing condition.
E. FRY, a successful and representative business man and dealer in general mer- chandise in Waverly, La Fayette County, Mo., is an energetic and able citizen, largely inter- ested in various financial enterprises and an im- portant factor in the upbuilding and local im- provement of his home city. At present he is the Alderman of the First Ward and one of the most thoroughly reliable and progressive of the " City Fathers." Our subject is a native of Virginia, and was born in Madison County, in 1848. Henry Fry, the father of our subject, was also a native of Virginia, and a man widely known and highly es- teemed. The mother of our subject was Elizabeth Webb, a daughter of John Webb, born in the Quaker State of Pennsylvania. Both the paternal and maternal ancestry were of English birth, and the Frys and Webbs are among the best people of the United States.
The early youth of Mr. Fry was passed in his birthplace, where he received his education and also worked upon his father's farm and became familiar with the daily labor of agricultural life. At twenty-one years of age our subjeet began farming for himself, and in 1870 removed to Sa- line County, Mo., and there successfully conducted the improvement and cultivation of an extended acreage until 1875, when he located in La Fayette County, and in his new home tilled the soil profit-
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ably. In 1887. he determined to try his fortunes in the mereantile business and opened a store in Waverly. which he still conducts. Carrying a com- plete line of goods, Mr. Fry has experienced no difficulty in extending his business far beyond the limits of the city, much of his custom coming from the surrounding country.
Aside from his other business relations, Mr. Fry is Secretary and Treasurer of the Waverly Milling Company, and is also the Financier of Middleton Lodge No. 186. A. O. U. W., and one of the most valued members of the order. In 1877, Mr. Fry was united in marriage with Miss Florence De- Moss, a most estimable lady, and a native of Missouri, in which State she has passed her en- tire life, receiving her education and early train- ing in the home of her childhood. Mr. and Mrs. Fry have been blessed with the gift of seven chiil- dren, four of whom are living: Florence, lomer, Wesly and Bessie M. The commodious and at- tractive home is the scene of many a pleasant gathering of friends old and young, the bright sons and daughters having an extended circle of friends and acquaintance.
Mr. and Mrs. Fry are members of the Southern Methodist Episcopal Church, and are foremost in the benevolent and religious work of that de- nomination. Politically, our subjeet is a Demo- crat, and always interested in the management of local and national affairs. Doing his duty at the polls without reward or favor, his efforts are ever in behalf of national success and prosperity, and thins he is worthily enrolled among the true and earnest American citizens.
R EUBEN M.DANIEL, whose post-otlice is Slater, Saline County, resides on section 25, township 52, range 27. Ile received as a portion of his father's estate a tract of three hundred and twenty acres of well-improved and very fertile land, now valued at 865 per acre. llis property is kept up in the best possible man-
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