Gainesville Missouri

Biography of Edward Coker

EDWARD COKER. This gentleman is one of the active stockmen of West Plains, Missouri, and an influential and progressive citizen of the same. He is a product of Arkansas, born in what is now Boone County, at Lead Hill, August 30, 1856, to the marriage of William and Margaret (Holt) Coker. The Coker family is probably the oldest in north Arkansas. The mother of our subject was a native of Tennessee, and a daughter of William Holt who moved from Tennessee to Marion County, Arkansas, in the thirties. Mr. Holt was a farmer and a prominent man in his section … Read more

Biography of William A. Conklin

WILLIAM A. CONKLIN. The gentleman whose name heads this sketch is the efficient county clerk of Ozark County, Missouri, and his career thus far in life presents an example of industry, perseverance and good management, rewarded by substantial results well worthy the imitation of all who start out in life as he did, with no capital except a good constitution and a liberal supply of pluck and energy. In addition to discharging the duties of his official position with marked ability, he is also the proprietor and editor of the Ozark County News, a newsy and instructive weekly, published in … Read more

Biography of J. E. Wood

J. E. WOOD. This gentleman is a member of the well-known mercantile firm of Wood & Reed, of Gainesville, Ozark County, Missouri He was born in Washington County, Tennessee, July 18, 1846, but came to this county in 1871 from Bradley County, Tennessee. His parents, Jesse and Margaret (McCracken ) Wood, were honest, industrious and law-abiding tillers of the soil, and the father was born in the Old North State about 1820, where he was a member of one of the early and prominent families. When a young man he removed to Tennessee, was married there, and there made his … Read more

Biography of B. W. Hogard

B. W. HOGARD. There is nothing which speaks more eloquently of the enterprise or prosperity of a town than does the well-kept hostelry and Central Hotel, of which Mr. Hogard is the proprietor, at Gainesville, Missouri, which is one of the best in the county. Its neat and orderly appearance distinguishes it among others, and the polite service which its patrons receive and the excellent character of the cuisine, has influenced their permanent custom, and the place is exceptionally popular with the traveling man. Mr. Hogard was born in Weakley County, Tennessee, November 5, 1850, a son of Rev. John … Read more

Biography of Robert Q. Gilliland

ROBERT Q. GILLILAND. This prominent citizen of Ozark County, Missouri, was born here on the 22d of October, 1845, a son of Robert and Eliza (Kane) Gilliland, who came from Tennessee to this county in 1842, and settled in the northwestern part of this county, near Thornfield, on a farm. Both parents were born in Tennessee, and to that State the paternal grandfather, Robert Gilliland, removed in the early history of the State. Robert Gilliland, the father of the subject of this sketch, settled on a tract of Government land and made his home in the neighborhood where he first … Read more

Biography of Andrew J. Coffey

ANDREW J. COFFEY. Ozark County, Missouri, is well known for the richness of its soil, and among those industrious farmers who have assisted in making this section the rich agricultural district that it is may be mentioned Andrew J. Coffey, who was born in Ashe County, N. C., in 1833, of which State his parents, Cleveland and Susan (Hayes) Coffey, were also natives. During the early boyhood of Andrew J. Coffey, he was taken by his parents to Hawkins County, Tennessee, and soon after to Granger County, where the mother died some fifty years ago. Mr. Coffey remarried afterward and … Read more

Biography of J. R. Reed

J. R. REED, of the firm of Wood & Reed, Gainesville, Missouri, has for the past twelve years been one of the most enterprising and successful business men of the county. He owes his nativity to Bradley County, Tennessee, where he was born January 21, 1861, the eldest child born to Alvin and Emeline (Wood) Reed, native Tennesseans, the former of whom was engaged in tilling the soil, and was killed near the close of the war, during which struggle he served in the Confederate Army. He was a son of John H. Reed, one of the early pioneers of … Read more