Biographical Sketch of L. P. Gibson

L. P. GIBSON. This worthy young man is no less prominent in business circles than was his father, is well and favorably known throughout the county, and has a host of warm friends. He is junior member of the firm of Gibson Bros., tobacco manufacturers, is strictly honorable in his business transactions and is far above the average man in business ability. From his excellent father he learned lessons of honesty, industry and prudence which have been his stepping stones to success. His birth occurred in this county on the 9th of October, 1857, and like his brother he was … Read more

Oto Indians

Oto Indians. From Wat’ota, meaning “lechers.” It often appears in a lengthened form such as Hoctatas or Octoctatas. Also called: Che-wae-rae, own name. Matokatági, Shawnee name. Motfitatak, Fox name. Wacútada, Omaha and Ponca name. Wadótata, Kansa name. Watohtata, Dakota name. Watútata, Osage name. Oto Connections. The Oto formed, with the Iowa and Missouri, the Chiwere group of the Siouan linguistic family and were closely connected with the Winnebago. Oto Location. The Oto moved many times, but their usual location in the historic period was on the lower course of the Platte or the neighboring banks of the Missouri. (See also … Read more

Omaha Indians

Omaha Indians. Meaning “those going against the wind or current”; sometimes shortened to Maha. Also called: Ho’-măn’-hăn, Winnebago name. Hu-úmiûi, Cheyenne Dame. Onǐ’hä°, Cheyenne name, meaning “drum beaters” (?). Pŭk-tǐs, Pawnee name. U’-aha, Pawnee name. Connections. The Omaha belonged to that section of the Siouan linguistic stock which included also the Ponca, Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw, and which was called by J. O. Dorsey (1897) Dhegiha. Location. Their principal home in historic times was in northeastern Nebraska, on the Missouri River. (See also Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and South Dakota.) History. According to strong and circumstantial traditions, the Omaha and others … Read more

Sauk Indians

Sauk Indians. From Osā’kiwŭg, meaning “people of the outlet, or people of the yellow earth.” Also called: Hotǐ’nestakon’, Onondaga name. Satoeronnon, Huron name. Quatokeronon, Huron name. Za’-ke, Santee and Yankton Dakota name. Sauk Connections. The Sauk belonged to the Algonquian linguistic stock and the same subdivision as that embracing the Foxes and Kickapoo. Sauk Location. On the upper part of Green Bay and lower course of Fox River. (See also Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Oklahoma.) Sauk History. The earliest known home of the Sauk was about Saginaw Bay, Michigan, which still bears their name. Shortly before appearance … Read more

Fox Indians

Fox Indians. A name thought to have been derived from that of the Fox clan and to have been applied to the tribe through a misunderstanding. Also called: Beshde’ke, Dakota name. Meshkwa kihig’, own name signifying “red earth people,” from the kind of earth from which they are supposed to have been created. O-dug-am-eeg, Chippewa name, meaning “those who live on the opposite side. Skaxshurunu, Wyandot name, meaning “fox people.” Skuakisagi, Shawnee name. To-che-wah-coo, probably the Arikara name. Wakusheg, Potawatomi name, meaning “foxes.” Fox Connections. The Foxes belonged to the Algonquian linguistic family and in one group with the Sauk … Read more

Kickapoo Indians

Kickapoo Indians. From Kiwegapaw`, “he stands about,” “he moves about, standing now here, now there.” Also called: A’-uyax, Tonkawa name, meaning “deer eaters.” Higabu, Omaha and Ponca name. I’-ka-dŭ’, Osage name. Shake-kah-quah, Wichita name. Shígapo, Shikapu, Apache name. Sik’-a-pu, Comanche name. Tékapu, Huron name. Yuatara’ye-ru’nu, a second Huron name, meaning “tribe living around the lakes.” Kickapoo Connections. The Kickapoo belonged to the Algonquian linguistic stock, and in a special group with the Foxes and Sauk. Kickapoo Villages. The villages were: Etnataek (shared with the Foxes), rather a fortification than a village, near the Kickapoo village on Sangamon River, Illinois. Kickspougowi, … Read more

Biography of Zimri A. Carter

This gentleman was a pioneer in the fullest sense of the term, for he came to Carter County with his father, Benjamin F. Carter, in the year 1813, and settled with him on the land where Chilton is now located, nine miles south of VanBuren. The country was in a wild state at that time, Indians roamed the mead, and wild animals were numerous. The Carter family came from the Palmetto State and Benjamin Carter was about the first white man to settle in the county. He became a farmer and stock-raiser and met with unusual success in these occupations. … Read more

Biography of Robert A. Thornton

ROBERT A. THORNTON. Robert A. Thornton, a prominent merchant, stock-man, farmer and cotton dealer of Shaver, Arkansas, came originally from Christian County, Missouri, his birth occurring in 1859 to the union of K. M. and Jane (Boatwright) Thornton, natives of Tennessee, where they lived until 1851. From there they removed to Springfield, Missouri, and resided in Greene and Christian Counties for a good many years. Mr. Thornton, who was born in the year ____, died at Shaver in 1885. Mrs. Thornton died when about seventy-seven years of age. Both were members of the Free-Will Baptist Church for nearly fifty years. … Read more

Biography of William W. Driggs, Jr.

William W. Driggs, Jr.,is a capable young newspaper man and is now editor of the Bern Gazette in Nemaha county. The Gazette is one of the live papers of that county, and was established in 1898 by M. E. Ford. The editor of the paper was born in Hannibal, Missouri, December 25, 1891. His father is William W. Driggs, Sr., and together they make the firm Driggs & Driggs, publishers of the Bern Gazette. The senior Driggs was born March 25, 1856, in Pennsylvania. At the age of fifteen he learned telegraphy and began working soon afterward as a railroad … Read more

Biography of R. L. Goode

R. L. GOODE. Of the many members of the bench and bar in the West, none has awakened more respect for his character and ability than R. L.Goode, of Springfield, Missouri He is descended from a long line of honorable ancestors who were noted for their patriotism and love of liberty. The family of Goode first became represented in this country by two brothers who, on account of their religious belief, were compelled to leave England in 1648. They settled at Norfolk, Virginia, where some member of the family has resided to the present day. The original home of the … Read more

Biography of Bradford Norbury

BRADFORD NORBURY. Bradford Norbury has made his home in Greene County, Missouri, since 1862, and has become widely and favorably known to its citizens. He owes his nativity to Dane County, Wisconsin, where he was born February 5, 1835, a son of Thomas E. and Anna (Dickson) Norbury, the former of whom was born in Ireland and came to America in 1834. He was married in his native land and after coming to this country located near Lockport, New York, where he engaged extensively in the manufacture of woolen goods, but after a very short residence there moved to Wisconsin … Read more

Biography of Maj. Charles Galloway

In the veins of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch flows sterling Scotch blood, for his paternal grandfather, James Galloway, was born in the land of ” thistles and oatmeal,” of Scotch parents. He immigrated to this country from the land of his birth in early manhood and later settled in the district known as the old Crab Orchard, Kentucky He was the founder of the family in this country, and eventually passed from life in Knox County, Tennessee He was one of the pioneers of that State, was active in its development, and took part in a number … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Waldo G. Gideon

WALDO G. GIDEON is one of the rising young attorneys of Springfield, who began the practice of law at the Greene County bar under the favorable circumstances of possessing an excellent general education and an accurate knowledge of law, besides coming from a family well known throughout southwest Missouri. He was born in Christian County, Missouri, May 26, 1871, and is the son of Thomas J. Gideon, Esq., a prominent attorney of Springfield. (See sketches of Thomas J. and J. J. Gideon.) Waldo G. Gideon graduated at the Central High School, 1890, and then took a business course at the … Read more

Biography of John O. Morrow

JOHN O. MORROW. Activity and business enterprise is in no direction more lucidly marked in any city than in the livery business. This calling is the pulse of a city’s enterprise and vim. The experience and brain work of capable business men are called into requisition in this line, and a city that is noted for its transient patronage as well as its busy home life is sure to give good profits to the liveryman. One of the most popular establishments of this kind is that owned by John O. Morrow, which was established in Harrison in 1889, and as … Read more

Biography of John Hornbeak

Success in business life is a guerdon that is very cautiously bestowed upon a person by the goddess, who in a measure guides, and invariably decorates, man’s efforts. And this same success is far more apt to come because of the pursuer’s genius or adaptability for his calling, than from any mere luck, ambition, push or demand. There are favorable opportunities in men’s lives, which, if taken advantage of, will take them far along the road toward the consummation of their ideals, and, too, there are those who have a strange intuition of that time and avail themselves of it. … Read more

Biography of Lilburn H. Murray

LILBURN H. MURRAY, Springfield. The gentleman whose name heads this sketch is one of the best known men in Greene County. For many years engaged in business enterprises in which his name was always a synonym of integrity, he has in more recent years been the proprietor and publisher of the Springfield Democrat, which he has conducted in a liberal and able manner. He springs from sterling Scotch-Irish stock. John Murray, the father of our subject, was born in North Carolina, and received the common education of his day, and married Sarah Luttele, in Tennessee, where he lived some time. … Read more

Biography of Judge W. I. Wallace

JUDGE W. I. WALLACE. Biography should be written for the sake of its lessons; that men everywhere may place themselves in contact with facts and affairs, and build themselves up to and into a life of excellence, where they may keep and augment their individuality. For this reason a sketch of Judge W. I. Wallace is here given, his career having been both honorable and useful. He was born in the Green Mountains, Franklin County, Mass., December 25, 1840, his parents being Zebina and Lucinda (French) Wallace, who were of Scotch-Irish lineage. The Wallaces trace their genealogical ancestry back to … Read more

Biography of Thomas J. Gideon

THOMAS J. GIDEON is one of the leading attorneys practicing at the Springfield bar and a man who served his country faithfully as a soldier and bears the honored scars of wounds received in her defense. He is the son of William C. Gideon, an honored pioneer of Christian County. (See sketch of Judge James J. Gideon.) He was born on his father’s farm in Christian County January 24, 1845. He received the common education of the district school in the old log pioneer schoolhouse of those days. After the war he attended a private academy in Springfield for two … Read more

Biography of George Washington Collins

GEORGE WASHINGTON COLLINS. This wide-awake man of affairs is engaged in a most important business, for he is an extensive manufacturer and wholesale dealer in yellow pine lumber at Low Wossic, Shannon County, Missouri, and has been for a number of years past. He is a native of White County, N. C., where he was born in 1857, a son of Wilson and Almira (Mills) Collins, who were also natives of the Old North State. The father was a noted politician, and for many years was prominent in public life. He filled the positions of county clerk, collector and circuit … Read more

Biography of M. B. Chitwood

M. B. CHITWOOD, another of the early pioneers of Reynolds County, Missouri, was born in Campbell County, Tennessee, on the 6th of July, 1828, to the marriage of William and Cecili (Whitecotton) Chitwood, both natives of that State also. The paternal grandfather, Pleasant Chitwood, passed his entire life in Tennessee, engaged in farming. The maternal grandfather, Aaron Whitecotton, came to this county in 1844, and followed farming on Webb’s Creek until his death about 1866. The parents of our subject were married in their native State, and in 1841 they moved with ox-teams from that State to Reynolds County, Missouri … Read more