Biography of William L. Nelson, M.D.

Dr. William L. Nelson, a physician with office and residence at No. 1483 Union boulevard in St. Louis, was born in Montgomery county, Missouri, July 12, 1879. His father, William Nelson, was of American birth, but his father came from Ireland to the new world. The former took up the occupation of farming in southeastern Missouri, where he owned three hundred acres, constituting a valuable farm to which he added many modern improvements. He married Ursula Gibbens, who was also born in the new world and was a niece of Brigadier General Gibbens of Civil war fame, serving with the … Read more

Biography of Carl Harry Holekamp

Carl Harry Holekamp is the vice president and treasurer of the Holekamp Lumber Company of Webster Groves and is also mayor of that city-positions which indicate his commercial and political prominence and influence. Born in St. Louis on the 2d of July, 1882, he is a son of Robert A. and Jennie (Henckler) Holekamp. The father, a native of Germany, came to the United States when a young man of eighteen or nineteen. This was immediately following the Civil war. He found employment in a hardware establishment in St. Louis and subsequently became a clerk in the Second National Bank, … Read more

Biography of Randall Solon Tilles, M. D.

The broad field of medicine offers a wonderful opportunity since science has brought to light so many truths and such broad knowledge that the profession has become highly specialized. Concentrating his efforts upon obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. Randall Solon Tilles has gained a position of prominence in his chosen field. He was born at Fort Smith, Arkansas, March 8, 1883, and is a son of David Tilles, a native of that state and of German descent, the family being founded in America by Solomon Titles, who came to the new world in 1855 and originally settled at Little Rock, Arkansas, … Read more

Biography of Everett Paul Griffin

Everett Paul Griffin was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He is the son of Trumbull Dorrance Griffin and Mary Philomena (Davis) Griffin. His father was born at Clinton, New York, in 1835, on an estate purchased by his grandfather from George Washington in 1790. He was of colonial stock, his ancestors having settled in Massachusetts and Connecticut prior to 1700. He served with bravery and distinction as first lieutenant of the Chicago Board of Trade Battery throughout the Civil war, being seriously wounded at the battle of Stone River, but recovering in time to participate in the battle of Chickamauga … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Samuel T. Howell M.D.

Samuel T. Howell is a native of Gentry county, Missouri, born February 22, 1843. His father, James M. Howell, was a native of Virginia, and his, mother, Rachel R. Howell, was born in Kentucky. Our subject was reared upon a farm and was educated in the common schools, supplemented by a few terms at the Camden Point College, of Camden Point, Platte county, Missouri. At the age of twenty-four he began, the study of medicine at Albany, Missouri, with Dr. G. W. Stapleton, and in 1866, entered the Missouri, or McDowell, Medical College, of St. Louis, and graduated at the … Read more

Biography of Jeremiah Hays

Jeremiah Hays, of Ireland, married Jane Moore, of Scotland, and came to America and settled in Bourbon County, Kentucky, where they had Mary, Delila, Nancy, Joanna, Absalom, Jane, Thomas, Joseph, and Mahala. Mr. Hays, with his wife and two daughters, Jane and Mahala, started to Montgomery County, Mo., but when they reached St. Louis he died. His widow and children settled near Marthasville. Jane married Oliver McCleur, of Pennsylvania, who was a blacksmith, and settled in Warren County. Mahala married John Ward, of Kentucky, who was a hatter, and also settled in Warren County. Absalom and Joseph Hays came to … Read more

Biography of Allan Arthur Gilbert, M.D.

Dr. Allan Arthur Gilbert, an internist of St. Louis, who in his practice has gained high professional standing, was born in Burrton, Kansas, May 26, 1890, a son of the Rev. H. M. Gilbert, who was born in South Carolina, but was descended from one of the old families of Connecticut of English lineage. The progenitor of the family in the new world was Mathew Gilbert, who came across the Atlantic on the historic Mayflower and was the first deputy governor of Connecticut under King George. Among the ancestors of Dr. Gilbert was also Colonel Ethan Allen, who commanded the … Read more

Biography of James W. Shankland, M. D.

Dr. James W. Shankland, a St. Louis surgeon who for some time was surgical chief of the Embarkation Hospital at Newport News, Virginia, during the World war and who is now practicing successfully in the metropolis of Missouri, was born in Noble county, Ohio, April 4, 1867. His father, James M. Shankland, was a native of the Buckeye state and a representative of one of its old families of Scotch-Irish descent. The founder of the family in America was Rhodes Shankland, who came to the new world from Scotland prior to the Revolutionary war and settled in Delaware, where during … Read more

Biography of Robert A. Holekamp

Robert A. Holekamp, president of the Holekamp Lumber Company and a dominant factor in the industrial development of St. Louis and the state, was born at Nordstemmen, in the province of Hanover, Germany, May 4, 1848, his parents being the Rev. Frederick F. and Amelia (Koch) Holekamp, who lived and died in Hanover. The father was a Lutheran minister, devoting his entire life to the work of the church. Robert A. Holekamp was reared and educated in his native country, acquiring his early education under his father’s personal instruction. When fourteen years of age he was sent away to Hildesheim … Read more

Biography of Adam Wiest

Adam Wiest, vice president and treasurer of the Nu-Back Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, belongs to that class of substantial young business men who have recognized that business opportunities equal to those to be secured in any section of the country are here offered. Mr. Wiest was born September 7, 1882, a son of Adam and Florence A. (Wandell) Wiest. The father was for many years prominent in connection with the cotton trade of St. Louis. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, March 20, 1854, and in 1877 came to St. Louis where he entered the employ of the Adler-Goldman … Read more

Biography of John Hamilton Farish

John Hamilton Farish, prominently known in real estate circles in St. Louis, has conducted business since 1890 under the name of J. H. Farish & Company, and is also identified with prominent financial interests as a representative of the directorate of several important corporations. Born in St. Louis on the 5th of March, 1863, he is a son of Edward T. and Lilly (Garesche) Farish, the former an attorney at law. The family comes of Virginia ancestry, represented at an early day in Caroline county. In fact, the first of the name came to America about one hundred and fifty years … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Allen, Thomas

Allen, Thomas, son of Thomas and Anne C. (Russell ) Allen, was born October 19, 1849, at St. Louis, Mo. He was educated at the high school, Pittsfield, Mass., at the Williston Seminary, Easthampton, and then entered the Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., after which he studied art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, at Dilsseldorf, Germany, where he graduated from the master class in 1878, and afterward studied three years in France. He first exhibited his work in New York, at the National Academy of Design, in 1877, and has been represented in the National Academy at almost … Read more

Biography of Lawrence Boogher

In the forty-six years of his residence in St. Louis, covering the entire period of his life, Lawrence Boogher has measured up to the highest standards of manhood and citizenship, devoted to all those interests which are worth while as factors in the upbuilding of city, commonwealth and country. In business circles, too, he has made a creditable place. He was born April 18, 1874, his parents being Simon L. and Sophia (Hogan) Boogher, who were natives of Frederick county, Maryland, and of Alton, Illinois, respectively. He is descended in both the paternal and maternal lines from ancestors who rendered … Read more

Biography of Calvin Perry Bascom

Calvin Perry Bascom, general manager for the business conducted under the name of the Fayette R. Plumb Company, Incorporated, of St. Louis, was born in Ellsworth, Kansas, October 17, 1876. His father, Daniel Craig Bascom, a native of the state of New York, removed to Kansas in 1868 and there engaged in ranching for a number of years, contributing to the early development and progress of that district. He afterward returned to the Empire state, taking up his abode in Rochester, and has now passed away. In early manhood he wedded Agnes Johnson, a native of Vermont, their marriage, however, … Read more

Biography of John Joseph Horan

John Joseph Horan, manufacturers’ agent of St. Louis, was born in New York city, September 10, 1859. His father, Patrick Horan, who departed this life in 1890, was born in Ireland and came to America in 1840.He was an engineer, connected with the United States navy. He married Ann Flynn, also a native of the Emerald isle, their wedding being celebrated in New York. They became the parents of two sons and a daughter: John J.; Thomas H., who died in 1906; and Mary, who died at the age of fourteen years. John J. Horan is therefore the only surviving … Read more

Biography of Dward J. Davis

Dward J. Davis, born in Devizes, Wiltshire County, England, in 1844, son of Robert and Sarah (MacVittie) Davis, natives of that country. The subject of this sketch was reared and given the advantages of a common-school education in his native place, and when fifteen years of age was apprenticed to the trade of a carpenter and builder. He served a seven years apprenticeship and entered life as a journeyman, a thorough master of his calling in all its details, and established himself in London. He was also employed on the Government work at Woolwich, and later on the Paris Exposition … Read more

Fanny E. Todd Clark of St. Louis MO

CLARK, Fanny E. Todd9, (Charles8, Ira7, Jehiel6, Stephen5, Stephen4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born Nov. 16, 1851, married Jan. 28, 1875, Hinman C. Clark, who was born March 29, 1846, in Batavia, N. Y. They lived at 4422 Morgan Street, St. Louis, Mo. Children: I. Charles. II. Hinman. III. Clara.

Biography of Martin Van Buren Cagney

Martin Van Buren Cagney, whose home had been in Emporia for the past thirty years, is an old time printer, having first taken up the art of typography when a boy before the Civil war, and had followed his trade under many changing conditions and in many localities. For many years he had been proprietor of a commercial printing establishment at Emporia, and had also been frequently honored with positions of trust and responsibility in that city. His own career had the interest of much variety and he belongs to an interesting family. His father Maurice Cagney was born in … Read more

Biography of Henry Babel

Henry Babel, deceased, formerly proprietor of the celebrated springs which bear his name, and which are now the property of his widow, was born near Hanover, Germany, on August 2, 1826. In 1845 he immigrated with his parents to America, and settled in Lebanon, Illinois, where his father and mother both died within a year. After their decease Henry went to St. Louis, Missouri, and on October 8, 1849, he married Miss Elizabeth Holadway, a native of Tennessee, a descendant of Scotch ancestry on her father’s side, and English on her mother’s. Early in May, 1850, Mr. Babel and his … Read more

Biography of Samuel C. Parkinson

The name of Parkinson is so inseparably interwoven with the history of southeastern Idaho and its development that those who bear it need no special introduction to the readers of this volume. He of whom we write has long been accorded a place among the leading businessmen and progressive citizens of Franklin and Oneida County, where he has made his home since his boyhood days. His father is the honored Samuel Rose Parkinson, one of the founders of the town and a leader in the Church of the Latter Day Saints. A history of his life is given elsewhere in … Read more