by his parents to this locality, which has since been his home. After completing the public-school course he entered Drury College, at Springfield, Missouri, and thus gained a broad general knowledge to serve as a foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of his professional learning. He engaged in teaching school for some time before entering upon the practice of law, being principal of the Franklin school of Joplin for six years. An able educator, he won prominence in the ranks of that profession by reason of his marked ability, which was manifest through the progress made by those who came under his instruction. Going to Washington. D. C., he completed his law course in Columbia Law College, and in 1896 was admitted to the bar in Missouri. He is well versed in the principles of jurisprudence and his careful preparation of his cases and his devotion to his clients' interests are proverbial. In 1897 he was elected city attorney of Joplin for a term of two years, and discharged his duties so capably that he was re-elected in 1899 for a second term. His first political affiliations were with the Republican party, but being an advocate of the free coinage of silver he cast his lot with the Democratic party in 1896.
Mr. Livingston is quite prominent in military circles, is well versed in military tactics and maneuvers, and for several years has been a member of the Missouri National Guard. In 1893 he joined the Second Regiment and was made captain of Company G. He had a splendidly drilled organization and enjoyed the respect and high regard of his men. He also organized in the schools of Joplin a cadet corps, which was so well drilled that it was highly complimented by Governor David R. Francis on the occasion of a visit to Joplin in 1892. Mr. Livingston has recently been appointed lieutenant colonel on the staff of Governor Dockery. Socially he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and with the Masonic order, being a member of Joplin Lodge, No. 335, A. F. & A. M., of which he is master. He is also a member of the chapter and Joplin Commandery, K. T. He is past chancellor of Joplin Ledge, No. 40, K. P., in which he has served as a representative to the grand lodge on three occasions. He is an attendant on the services of the Presbyterian church, and has been a member of the choir here and also in Washington, having considerable musical talent, which makes him a valued factor in musical circles. He belongs to the Young Men's Christian Association and takes an active interest in furthering its work.
On the 4th of June. 1901, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Livingston and Miss Lenora Henley, a granddaughter of J. A. Shepherd, one of the old, influential and highly respected citizens of Joplin. Mrs. Livingston is
a beautiful and accomplished lady, being a petite blonde with decidedly literary turn of mind. She is an active member of the Presbyterian church and a club woman. She is a social favorite and adds materially to Mr. Livingston's popularity. Mr. Livingston is a young man of strong character and forceful individuality, of laudable ambition, enterprise and energy and of high ideals and principles, and in his profession will no doubt win promotion and success, and at the same time will ever command the esteem and regard of those with whom he is associated.
In the subject of this review we have one who has attained distinction in the line of his profession, who has been an earnest and discriminating student and who holds a position of due relative precedence among the medical practitioners of southwestern Missouri. He located in Joplin in March, 1899, and his practice has continually grown until it has some time since passed the confines of the city and of the county as well,—a fact indicative of his superior ability, for people do not risk their most cherished possession—life— in the hands of the incompetent.
Dr. McMichael is a native of Des Moines, Iowa, and traces his ancestry back to good old Revolutionary stock, for his great-grandfather, Lieutenant McMichael, was a member of the Colonial army and participated in the hotly contested engagement at Brandywine. His grandmother McMichael's people were also represented in the war of the Revolution. Mathew Rankin McMichael, the Doctor's father, was a native of Hancock county, Pennsylvania, and for a time resided at Canton, Ohio, whence he went to Iowa, becoming one of the early settlers of dcs Moines, where he carried on agricultural pursuits. He wedded Margaret A. Swearse.
Their son, Dr. McMichael, spent his boyhood days under the parental roof and acquired his early education in the schools of Des Moines, after which he entered Drake University of that city, and was there graduated. His choice of a life work fell upon the medical profession, and as a preparation for the calling he matriculated in the Iowa College of Physicians and Surgeons, a department of Drake University. He also pursued a course in pharmacy and for twelve years was engaged in the drug business in Des Moines, meeting with gratifying success in the undertaking. He was also lecturer in the College of Pharmacy of Drake University for two years. He has also taken post-graduate work in six clinical schools in New York city
and in the Chicago Eye, Ear and Throat Post-Graduate School, of Chicago, and has ever kept in touch with the progress that is continually being made as investigation and study reveals new truths in connection with the human system and its care. Since coming to Joplin he has built up a practice second to none. It extends to all portions of Jasper county and even beyond its borders, for his fame as a most skilled practitioner has spread abroad.
The Doctor was united in marriage to Miss Louisa, daughter of H. C. Huttenlocker, a native of Germany and an early settler of Des Moines, where Mrs. McMichael spent her girlhood days. They now have two children, Alma and Horace. The Doctor is a valued representative of several civic societies, including the Masonic, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in his life he exemplifies their beneficent spirit. The success which attends his efforts is but a natural sequence, for his position soon became assured as an able physician, a man of sterling integrity and one devoted to his profession and to the interests and welfare of those to whom he ministers. He possesses marked judgment and discernment it) diagnosing disease; is a physician of great fraternal delicacy, and no man ever more closely observed the ethics of the unwritten professional code or showed more careful courtesy to his fellow practitioners than Dr. McMichael.
Among the well known and successful business citizens of Jasper, Jasper county, Missouri, is Lynn Monroe, the capable and popular editor and proprietor of the newsy little sheet read by the citizens of Jasper which is known as the "Jasper News." Mr. Monroe was born in Bloomsburg, Columbia county, Pennsylvania, on February 26, 1871, and was a son of A. W. Monroe, who came to Jasper county in 1878, locating in Carthage, where he still lives. The mother of our subject was Miss Emma Leggett, also a native of Pennsylvania, who died in Carthage in 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Monroe had a family of four sons and one daughter, and of this family our subject was the second child.
Lynn Monroe had reached the age of seven years when his parents came to Missouri, and he was educated in the schools of Carthage. Early in life his tastes led him into the printing offices, and at the age of seventeen he decided to learn the business of printing, and with that end in view he entered the office of the Carthage "Evening Press," where he continued for ten years. In 1898 he came to Jasper and established the "Jasper News," in connection
with a very complete job printing office, and has met with most encouraging success. His subscription list reaches the encouraging number of five hundred subscribers and the paper has become a necessity to the public of Jasper. As Mr. Monroe is an independent in politics, he is able to reach both parties and aims also to make his journal suitable for home reading. The local news is carefully collected and presented in a clear and concise manner.
Mr. Monroe was married in 1896, in Carthage, to Miss Elizabeth Dabney, a daughter of I. W. Dabney, a native of Iowa, and two children have been born of this union: Harold and Arthur. For a number of years he has been a consistent member of the Methodist church and is the efficient superintendent of the Sunday-school. Socially he is a member of the Modern Woodmen, in which organization he takes an active part, and is well known and highly respected through Jasper county.
Good deeds culminate in a good name and a good name is a better inheritance than money. This thought is suggested by a consideration of the career of the late Levi Riseling, who was known and honored as one of the prominent citizens of Jasper county, Missouri. Mr. Riseling was born in Bedford county. Pennsylvania, December 18, 1837, a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Sibbets) Riseling, and died January 12, 1900. Henry Riseling, born in Germany, November 16, 1800, came to America from Riseling-on-the-Rhine and married Elizabeth Sibbets, who was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, in March, 1812.
Levi Riseling was reared on his father's farm and given a good education, and at the age of nineteen years he went to De Soto, Jackson county, Illinois, and engaged in cabinet-making. He was thus employed until August, 1862, when he enlisted in Company K, Seventy-third Regiment, Illinois Infantry, with which organization he saw three months' active experience in the Civil war. He was honorably discharged at Louisville, Kentucky, and returning to his old home he resumed the manufacture of furniture and soon developed a promising wholesale and retail business in that line. In April, 1868, he located at Baxter Springs, Kansas, where as a member of the firm of Benoist & Riseling, in which Joseph Benoist was his partner, he engaged in the furniture and house-furnishing business. In 1873 the firm removed its enterprise to Joplin, Missouri, and in 1875 Mr. Riseling purchased Mr. Benoist's interest therein. Soon Mr. Riseling added a stock of hardware, the first in
the town, and with that, his furniture and the undertaking department of his enterprise, practically with no competition, he did a large and profitable business, which he continued until 1888. He built four business blocks in the city, which are now owned by his estate, and a large number of dwellings. His homestead consists of forty acres of fine land, neatly laid out and ornamented, and a commodious brick house, in which his widow resides. His estate is the owner also of a large acreage of excellent mining and farming lands, located in different parts of Missouri and Kansas, principally in Jasper county, Missouri, and Cherokee county, Kansas. He invested extensively in mining at Galena, Kansas, and organized the Galena Lead & Zinc Company, whose mine turned out well and is still a good producer. He was a large stockholder also in the Windsor Mining Company, of Galena, Kansas, which controls much valuable mineral land. He was conservative in his ideas and methods and devoted himself strictly to business, refusing public office several times because of the demands upon him of his own private affairs, and he was quiet and unostentatious to a remarkable degree, and his integrity was of so high a quality that it was often said of him that his word was as good as his bond,—a saying trite, perhaps, but as applied to him literally true.
Some time after Mr. Riseling took up his residence at Baxter Springs, Kansas, he married Miss Mattie Hybarger, daughter of David H. Hybarger, of Cherokee county, Kansas. Mrs. Riseling's mother, who died in 1890, at the age of seventy-two years, was Miss Linverba Hinton, daughter of William Hinton, who removed from Kentucky to Indiana. Levi and Mattie (Hybarger) Riseling had children as follows: Lizzie, who married W. F. Halyard, secretary and treasurer of the Halyard Hardware Company of Joplin, Missouri: Will H., who was educated at St. Louis and is now a resident of Joplin, married Miss Nellie Talbott, of Carthage, Missouri, and they have one child, Harold; Edward, who is represented by a biographical sketch in this work; and Ina, who is a member of her mother's household.
Mr. Riseling was a thirty-second-degree Mason and a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Mrs. Riseling is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church.
On the roster of county officials in Jasper county appears the name of Silas A. Stuckey, and no higher testimonial of his faithful and efficient service can be given than a statement of the fact that he has been re-elected
for a second term of four years, so that his incumbency will continue until 1903. He was born in Bedford, Pennsylvania, December 16, 1850, a son of Richard S. and Martha J. (McVictor) Stuckey, both of whom were also natives of Bedford. The father was a farmer by occupation, and his father was one of the pioneer settlers of Bedford. He became very prominent in military circles there and was known as Major Stuckey, being for a long period connected with the militia of Pennsylvania with official rank. He married a Miss Silvers, of Pennsylvania, whose ancestors came to this country with the Penn colony. After engaging in the cultivation of his farm in Pennsylvania for a number of years Richard S. Stuckey brought his family to the Mississippi valley, locating in Knox county, Illinois, where he resided until 1867, at which time he came to Jasper county, Missouri, settling near Twin Grove upon a new farm. He improved the land, transforming it into richly cultivated fields, and upon that place both he and his wife spent their remaining days.
Silas A. Stuckey was only two years of age when his parents went to Illinois, where he was reared until his sixteenth year. He began his education in the common schools, later attended a high school and then supplemented that course by study in a normal school. After coming to Jasper county he pursued a four-months' course of study, and for seven years engaged in teaching through the winter months, proving a capable educator. On the expiration of that period he embarked in business, engaging in merchandising. After four years, however, he abandoned commercial pursuits to engage in zinc and lead mining, which he has followed successfully in the vicinity of Joplin. He is at present financially interested in the Duenweg mine and also the Lehigh mine, both in Jasper county. Mining has become one of the leading industries of this portion of the state, and the development of the rich mineral resources of southwestern Missouri contributes not alone to the individual prosperity of the stockholders but also to the general success and welfare. Mr. Stuckey also aided in organizing the Carl Junction Bank, and was its first vice-president, but after a time disposed of his stock in the enterprise.
On Christmas day of 1873 Mr. Stuckey was married to Miss Sarah J. Jackson, a daughter of Joel Jackson, a prominent pioneer settler who located in Jasper county in 1840. He wedded Mary Secrest, who became a resident of the county in 1849. Five children, now living, have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Stuckey: Pearl, Mary Josephine, Anna Fern, Georgia Gertrude and Eugenia; and three David Perry, Artemus Jackson and Lena, died in in-
fancy; and the first named is now assisting her father in the office. In his political views Mr. STUCKEY is a stanch Republican, and takes an active interest in party work. In 1894 he was the nominee for the position of county clerk, and after being elected and serving for four years he was again chosen to the office by popular ballot, so that he is now serving for second term. He is a man of strong purpose, of decided views and of unquestioned integrity, and his upright life has not only been crowned by business success but has also gained for him the unqualified respect and confidence of his fellow men.
Prominent among the old settlers of Jasper county is William DICK, who resides on section 2 in Duval township, who was born in Leslie, Fifeshire, Scotland, on January 26, 1850, and was a son of John and Margaret (KAY) DICK. The parents came to America in 1866, and the father died in 1868, but the mother is still living, at the age of eighty-one years. They had a family of nine children, all of whom survive with the exception of two.
William DICK received a superior education in Scotland and London, England, and became a bookkeeper in an importing and exporting house, and came to America with his parents in 1866. The first two years of the family sojourn in the United States were spent in St. Charles county, Missouri, but then removal was made to Jasper county, where location was made on a farm near Medoc. Here Mr. DICK engaged in farming and also followed his trade of stonemason. In 1879 he located on the farm where he now resides, and since that time has been engaged in its cultivation and development. It consists of one hundred and sixty-five acres and is known throughout the locality as one of the best stock farms in the vicinity.
Mr. DICK was married, in Jasper county, in 1879, to Miss Anna McCANN, a sister of A. McCANN, whose sketch appears in another part of this volume. She was born near Belfast, Ireland, and came to America prior to the Civil war. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. DICK: Mary, who ha attended normal school and is now a teacher; and Alexander, at home.
Politically Mr. DICK is connected with the Republican party and has been prominently identified with county affairs. For many years he has been one of the leading members of the Methodist church and has always taken a deep interest in educational and religious advancement in Jasper county. The family is one that is highly esteemed and Mr. DICK is one of the real representative men of this prosperous part of the state.
Edward RISELING, of Joplin, Jasper county, Missouri, son of the late Levi RISELING, a biographical sketch of whom appears in this work, was born in Joplin in 1878. He secured his primary education in the high schools of his native city and in 1893 was graduated at an educational institution of St. Louis, Missouri. He was long connected with the business of the Joplin Hardware Supply Company and since the death of his father he has given some attention to mining. He married Miss Nannie BRILLHART, of Joplin, and has a daughter named Mildred. He is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, also the Eagles, and is well and widely known in business circles.
Comparatively speaking, the mining interests at and near Webb City, Jasper county, Missouri, are of recent development, and to say that a man has been identified with them for a quarter of a century is to give him deserved place among pioneers in his land. John H. MILLS, mine operator and one of the owners of the Pedagogue mine, on the Rex land, came to Jasper county in November, 1872, and has been mining for twenty-five years, during which time he has lived at Webb City. He has operated most of the time on his own account. He opened the Big Four mine in South Carterville, one of the most productive in the district, out of which he took thirty thousand dollars, worth of ore, the Birch mines at Carterville, the Mills and Schaffer mines on Center Creek land at Webb City, where the first deep digging on Center Creek was done, and other valuable and important properties. He has been superintendent for the July Mining Company at Carthage, and of the Maloney mine at Carterville, one of the largest mines in the southwest, and of a number of other productive mines in the district.
John H. MILLS was born in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, and at the age of seven years went with his father, George P. MILLS, to Nebraska, where he was reared and educated. In 1872 he accompanied his father to Jasper county, where the latter is living at the age of seventy-six years. George P. MILLS had mined a good deal in the district and was identified with the Mills and Schaffer mines and with the Gammom mines, and has long been one of the best known citizens of Jasper county. His good wife, who is now living at the age of seventy-two years, was in her maidenhood Mathilda TUCKER, and was born in Chenango county, New York, where her parents were among the
early settlers and where her brothers have been prominent among politicians and as bankers. John H. MILLS is the only son of his parents. He has a sister, Mrs. Ella SIGLER, the wife of the Hon. Albert SIGLER, of Carthage, ex-county recorder of Jasper county. Another sister, Frances, is the wife of John YOUNG, a well-to-do blacksmith of Joplin.
John H. MILLS married Mary C. SMITH, daughter of James C. SMITH, of Walnut, Crawford county, Kansas, by whom he has children named as follows: Mathilda, Alice, Albert, Mary, Rachel and James. Albert, who is only seventeen years old, fills the responsible position of machinist at the Webb City Separating Works. In 1890 Mr. MILLS filled the office of councilman of Webb City, to which he was elected by the combined vote of the Democrats and the Populists. A man of good ability, he brings to bear upon any task which he undertakes a mind well trained, well balanced and of good judicial quality, and fulfills all obligations without fear or favor and with regard only to the question of right or wrong. His public spirit is such that he is always found among those who seek the advancement of the best interests of the town and county. As a mine prospector and operator he has had such a long and varied experience in this field that his opinion is always sought upon questions of doubt or in dispute, and his decision when given is usually regarded as final. He is a member of the Knight of Honor, and personally is very popular in a wide circle of acquaintances.
Among the native sons of Missouri identified with the official interests of Jasper county is Stephen J. Chitwood, of Carthage, who is now serving as deputy county clerk. He was born near Mount Vernon, in Lawrence county, April 27, 1872, a son of Stephen D. and Susan (Johnson) Chitwood. The father, a native of Illinois, was born in 1844, while the mother's birth occurred in Jasper county, Missouri, in 1848. The paternal grandparents of our subject were Stephen and Sarah (Hodges) Chitwood, natives of Tennessee, and after their marriage they removed to Texas. The maternal grandparents, Peter A. and Mary (Maxey) Johnson, were pioneer settlers of Jasper county. The grandparents have passed away, but both the father and mother of our subject are yet living.
Stephen J. Chitwood, whose name introduces this record, spent his youth at Carl Junction, where he attended the village school, later supplementing his preliminary course by study in the Gem City Business College, at Quincy,
Illinois, where he was graduated on the 13th of July, 1892. Subsequently he pursued a course in the Shorthand Business College at Joplin, Missouri, completing the same on the 30th of June, 1893. He took a special examination at the Gem City Business College and received the degree of master of accounts December 24, 1893. He then became an instructor in the Joplin Business College and engaged in teaching throughout the year 1894. On the 7th of January, 1895, he was appointed to the position of deputy county clerk under S. A. Stuckey, and has since continued to act in that capacity. He has also devoted considerable time to lead and zinc mining, and is interested in some of Jasper county's best mines.
On the 24th of December, 1898, Mr. Chitwood was united in marriage to Miss Laura Caudle, of Carthage, a daughter of John S. Caudle, and unto them have been born two daughters, Laura Marie and Clara May. Socially Mr. Chitwood is connected with several fraternal organizations, including the Modern Woodmen of America. He has a wide acquaintance in Jasper county and is held in high regard, owing to his strong mentality, his ability as an educator and his efficiency in public office.
Carl Owen, superintendent of the Barnes mine, is descended from an ancestry honorable and distinguished, who trace their lineage back for two hundred years, in Kentucky and Virginia. His father, James L. Owen, came from Crittenden county, Kentucky, to Jasper county, Missouri, where he is still engaged in mining operations. The mother of our subject, who bore the maiden name of Nannie Bennett, was a native also of Crittenden county, Kentucky.
Carl Owen, whose name introduces this review, came with his parents to Joplin, Jasper county, Missouri, in 1876. After completing his education he began work in the mines, in 1885, when sixteen years of age, and has since followed the occupation of a mine operator, working principally on his own account. His brother William is also engaged in the same vocation, and is now serving as ground foreman at the Barnes mine.
He was united in marriage with Miss Josie Walters, a native of Newton county, Missouri, and a daughter of John Walters, who follows farming four miles south of Racine, Missouri. He is an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party, and is a prominent and well-known citizen of his locality. Mr. and Mrs. Owen have two children,—Mabel and John. Mr. Owen is a
firm believer in the principles of socialism, and on its ticket was a candidate for the office of city collector of Joplin in 1901. In his social relations he is a member of the Modern Woodmen and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
Among the early settlers of Jasper county, Missouri, who came with his little family to this locality in 1839, was Samuel M. Cooley, who was born in Pennsylvania, but who became a resident of Indiana when a young man. There he married the daughter of a neighbor, Margaret Rusk by name, and a few years later she accompanied him to the new home. Her death occurred when she was about forty years of age, and her husband survived her for several years. He located near Smithfield, in Twin Grove township, taking up government land. At that early day the county was not yet laid out, and Samuel M. Cooley was one of those selected to assist in the laying out of the townships. In all of the matters pertaining to the progress and advancement of the county and the township his clear judgment and sensible ideas were of great value. In that pioneer home he and wife reared a family of ten children, eight of whom grew to maturity and three of whom still survive.
William C. Cooley, the subject of this review, was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, June 31, 1835, and was about four years of age when his parents came to make their home in the wild districts of Jasper county. One of the first buildings erected by these early settlers was the school-house, and in one of these primitive log cabins, where the benches were made of split logs and the huge fireplace extended across one whole side, our subject acquired his education. At the age of fourteen years he was left an orphan, and from that time he was the arbiter of his own fortunes. Reared to toil, he soon became an acceptable assistant on neighboring farms, receiving for his first labor the sum of seven dollars a month, and until he was nineteen years old he was only able to make fifteen dollars a month.
In 1860 Mr. Cooley was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Jackson, who was born in Jasper county, Missouri, and had been his playmate and companion from childhood. Her family was also one of the pioneer ones in the county. Five children were born of this marriage: Alfred and Walter died in infancy; Alice is the wife of John Manlove, and they reside on Mr. Cooley's farm; Isabel is the wife of H. L. Bryan, and they live on a part of the farm; and William also farms on a portion of the home land. All of their children
are conveniently located near their father. Mr. Cooley lost his wife twenty years ago.
In 1860, after his marriage, Mr. Cooley settled in Twin Grove township, but when the war troubles arose the next year the family removed to Fort Scott, Kansas. Seven times they went back to the old home, but political feeling was so high at that time that they did not remain there until the eighth return. Mr. Cooley has been located on his present farm for about sixteen years, and owns five hundred acres of fine land, some of which is rich in mineral deposit and has been found to produce fine ore.
Mr. Cooley has always been a Democrat in his political convictions, and has served the township as collector. He will always support the party while it advocates free coinage of silver. He is one of the most respected citizens of Jasper county, and has witnessed and taken part in the wonderful development which sixty years have produced in this locality. He has recently traveled through Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Colorado, but says he saw no country to compare with Jasper county, Missouri, and returned entirely contented to make his home here.
Almost every country on the face of the globe has sent its representatives to become a part of the citizenship of the great American republic, but no land has given us a more industrious, reliable and enterprising class of men than has the kingdom of Sweden, whence comes Emil Carlson, now a leading and successful farmer of Twin Grove township, Jasper county, Missouri, his home being on section 30, where he owns and cultivates eighty acres of land. Mr. Carlson was born in Sweden December 13, 1856, and was reared and educated in that country. He was trained to habits of industry, economy and honesty, and these have proven important factors in his prosperous career in later life. He lived with his father until twenty-seven years of age, and then, hoping to better his financial condition in the new world, he crossed the Atlantic to New York city, whence he made his way directly to Jasper county, Missouri. Before leaving the land of his nativity he had married Miss Alma Bralean, also a native of Sweden. She has proved an able assistant and helpmate to her husband, and for more than a quarter of a century they have traveled life's journey together.
On reaching this county Mr. Carlson took up his abode upon rented land which belonged to James Lewis, and there resided for three years, after which
he settled on land that was the property of Mr. Pornston. He thus engaged in the cultivation of the fields until his industry, economy and good management enabled him to purchase land of his own, when he secured the tract of eighty acres upon which he now resides. He carries on general farming, and stock-raising, and his fields are now under a high state of cultivation, while in his pastures and barns are found good grades of horses and cattle. He has a fine barn, which he erected, and other substantial improvements and modern accessories which indicate the owner to be a man of progressive spirit, of practical industry and one who manages his property with commendable care. Both he and his wife are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in his political views he is a stanch Republican. He is widely and favorably known throughout the community, and his sterling traits of character are such as commend him to the confidence and regard of all with whom he comes in contact.
John W. Halliburton was born at Linneus, Linn county, Missouri, December 30, 1846, and has spent his entire life in his native state, his father, Judge Westley Halliburton, having been one of the pioneers of Missouri. The son attended the public and private schools of Linneus, Milan and Brunswick, this state, until the fall of 1863, and during the periods of vacation worked on his father's farm and in a printing office, also clerked in his father's and brother's store. In the fall of 1863 he entered Mount Pleasant College, at Huntsville, Missouri, where he continued his studies until October, 1864, when the school was disbanded on account of Price's raid through the state and the trouble it caused, and, returning to Brunswick, he enlisted in the Confederate army as a member of the company commanded by Captain James Kennedy. This was attached to Searcy's Regiment and Tyler's Brigade until January, 1865. Mr. Halliburton was then transferred to I. N. Sitton's Company, Williams' Regiment, Jackman's Brigade and Shelby's Division. He participated in the battle of Mine Creek, and in June, 1863, received an honorable discharge from General Shelby at Corsicana, Texas. In July following he started for Mexico with a relative, arriving at Chihuahua in November.
After spending the winter there as a clerk in a dry goods store he started northward, March 10, 1866, receiving transportation and subsistence for his services as a guard. He arrived at San Antonio, Texas, with only two dol-
lars in his pocket, and from there worked his way to Missouri by driving and herding stock, reaching St. Louis in the month of August. From that time until September, 1867, he managed a general store for his father in St. Louis and at Bonfils Station in the same county, but he determined to abandon commercial pursuits for professional life and became a law student in the office of the firm of DeFrance & Hooper, at Kirksville, Missouri. In July, 1868, he returned to St. Louis county and aided in the work of harvesting and the fall planting, and during the winter of 1868-9 he was a member of the junior class in the St. Louis Law School. In April, 1869, he received a license to practice law from Judge Irwin Z. Smith, of the St. Louis circuit, on the recommendation of Judge E. B. Ewing, without having to take an examination. In May, 1869, he entered the law office of DeFrance & Hooper, working for that firm until January 1,1871, for his board and clothes. On the dissolution of the firm he entered into partnership with the senior member, tinder the style of DeFrance & Halliburton, which connection was maintained until November, 1874. While residing at Kirksville he had a large and varied practice in Adair and adjoining counties, including the trial of cases of almost every character, and the firm of DeFrance & Halliburton were also general attorneys for the Quincy, Missouri & Pacific Railroad Company.
In the spring of 1874 his father removed to Milan, Missouri, and there in November, our subject joined him in a partnership, under the name of Halliburton & Son, this relation being maintained and a large practice enjoyed until April, 1877, when, desiring a broader field of labor, John W. Halliburton started for Texas. However, he stopped en route at Carthage for a visit, and, being pleased with the city and county, decided to locate here. On the 1st of May, 1877, he entered into partnership with Samuel McReynolds, and for almost a quarter of a century the firm of McReynolds & Halliburton, which is now the oldest legal partnership in the state, has maintained a leading position among the most prominent and capable lawyers in the entire commonwealth. Success has attended their efforts from the beginning, and their clientage has not only been very extensive but of a distinctively representative character. They are the general attorneys for the Southwest Missouri Electric Railway Company and the Central National Bank of Carthage. Their practice has largely been of a civil character in Jasper and adjoining counties and in the appellate and supreme courts. For years the firm has made a specialty of commercial business, bringing and prosecuting more than two hundred attachment cases, their clients never being
mulcted for damages but in one case, and that by the supreme court overruling a former decision. They never engage in criminal law practice except when some client and personal friend desires their services, their business being strictly of a civil law character. Mr. Halliburton is remarkable among lawyers for the wide research and provident care with which he prepares his cases. In no instance has his reading ever been confined to the limitations at issue; it has gone beyond and compassed every contingency and provided not alone for the expected but for the unexpected, which happens quite as frequently in the courts as out of them. His logical grasp of facts and principles and of the law applicable to them has been another potent element in his success, and a remarkable clearness of expression, an adequate and precise diction, which enables him to make others understand not only the salient points of his argument but his every fine gradation of meaning, may be accounted one of his most conspicuous gifts and accomplishments.
In his political views Mr. Halliburton is a Democrat, being a firm believer in the principles enunciated by Jefferson and enforced by Jackson. While he has devoted his time closely to the study and practice of law, yet he has made it a rule to take an active part in every campaign commencing in 1872, and has given his time and means liberally for the benefit of the party and its candidates. During the past twenty years he has been frequently sent as a delegate to the county, district and state conventions and has labored earnestly in behalf of his friends, never seeking office for himself. Never but once has he held political office, and that was in the direct line of his profession, having been city attorney of Carthage from 1882 until 1883. He was a member of the Pertle Springs convention of 1895 and a delegate from his district to the Democratic national convention at Chicago in 1896. In 1898 he was a candidate before the Democratic state convention for judge of the supreme court, and although he did not enter the race until May, he received a very creditable and flattering vote.
On the 16th of October, 1878, in Kirksville, Missouri, Mr. Halliburton was married to Miss Julia B. Ivie, and they now have four living children: Wesley, a law student in his father's office; John J., Louise and Sarah, all at home. The cause of education has ever found in Mr. Halliburton a warm and enthusiastic friend, who has done all in his power for its advancement and feels a commendable pride in what has been accomplished by the schools of the state through the past twenty years. He believes, too, in having a well-regulated state militia rather than a large standing
