Thomas J. Sportsman

Thomas J. Sportsman was born September 4, 1862, at Thayer, Missouri, and spent his entire life in Linn County. For many years, he engaged in farming in the vicinity of what is now Marceline. When he was a young man, he used his team of horses and did grading for the road bed on the Santa Fe Railroad. He was married to Jennie Warner on June 26, 1892. Miss Warner had come to Missouri with her parents, Erastus and Lettie Jane Akerson, from Pennsylvania. They were direct descendants of Andrew Warner who settled in America in 1632. In 1902, Mr. Sportsman sold his farm and moved to town locating on East Bisbee Street where his widow still resides. He started working as a laborer on the construction of the building now known as the Zurcher Building. For many years he worked in the coal mines in this area and also for two years as janitor at the Park School. After leaving the mines when he was past seventy- four years old, he became the caretaker of the Ripley Square Park, a position he held for several years. He died in 1950 at the age of 88 years. Mr. and Mrs. Sportsman were the parents of six children: Andy M., Elmer O., Ira Thomas, and infant daughter, all deceased; Gerald W. of Amarillo, Texas, and Della, who resides with the widow in their home on Bisbee Street. They also have several grandchildren. Among those still residing in Marceline are Mrs. Jean Lee Hoskins and William Gail Sportsman.

Judith Thomas Family

Mrs. Thomas is the daughter of John and Elizabeth McGown Henry. She is one of five children born to this union. Mack, Minnie, Charlie (deceased), and John, of Troy, Missouri, and Judith of Marceline. Mack was the father of Earl Henry and grandfather of B. M. Henry of this city. John married Miss Fannie Piggott and had five children: Marjorie Henry of Salisbury, Ann Wood of Maryland, Charles of Delaware, and Frances Henry of the home. Judith married W. A. Thomas of Lyndon, Illinois, in 1904, and they had two children: Verne, deceased, and Bernice Thomas Mobley of Marceline. Mr. Thomas passed away in 1946 and Mrs. Thomas still resides at 314 East Howell Street. She has one grandson, Dean Mobley of Liberty, Missouri, and one granddaughter, Mrs. Judith Grantham of Grandview, Missouri.

G. H. Freeman

George H. Freeman, one of Marceline’s pioneer citizens, was born September 2, 1849, in Macon County. In 1878 he and Nancy Ellen Pillars, of Macon County, were united in marriage. To this union was born three children: Orbra L., 1880; Richard C., 1883; and Jennie Lynn (Freeman) Wilson, 1885. On October 25, 1888, shortly after the town was chartered, the family moved to Marceline, then purchased a home at 122 West Booker Street, now Florence’s Rest Home. Mr. Freeman was employed by the Santa Fe Railway for more than 27 years as a car inspector, and as manager of the Santa Fe Reading Room. He died at the age of 82 in the home of his son, R. C. Freeman. His wife, Nancy, preceded him in death in 1923, and son Orbra, in 1926. He was survived by his daughter, Mrs. H. E. Wilson, of Chillicothe, Illinois. As a young man, Richard C. Freeman was employed by the Santa Fe Railroad until 1909 when he claimed land near Las Vegas, New Mexico, under the homestead act. In 1912 he returned to Marceline where he entered the real estate business. In March of 1916, he and Blanche E. Locke were united in marriage. They had four children, J. Howard, Louise, Kenneth G., and Clifford L.In 1921 “Rich” operated a secondhand store and they purchased their home at 520 West Lake Street. In 1924 he took a job as police officer. He was chief of police for 24 continuous years. In 1950 he returned to the real estate business and retired in 1953. He was then appointed Police Judge for the city, an office which he held until his death in 1958. His wife, Blanche, followed him in death in 1959. He is survived by his two sons, Howard and Clifford, and daughter, Louise, all of Marceline, and son Kenneth of Knoxville, Iowa.

E. W. Taylor

E. W. Taylor moved to the vicinity of Marceline in 1869. During the spring and summer of 1887 he was active in construction work on the Chicago, Santa Fe and California Railway (now called Santa Fe.) In March 1888 he entered the drug business with his father and Dr. La Dow on West Santa Fe Avenue. The drug store was moved in 1889 to the building where Elmo’s Drug Store is, and again in 1890 moved to the location now occupied by the Lohmar’s Drug. Mr. Taylor continued in business there until May 1930. Mr. Taylor served as grand high priest of the grand chapter Royal Arch Masons, state of Missouri from April 1926 to April 1927. He was an active member in Masonic circles until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, the former Jessie Null, moved to Marceline and resided on West Santa Fe Avenue. They had two sons, Verne, deceased, and Willard Lee who resides in Chicago. The family home is still in the family being owned by Mrs. H. W. Rodgers and Mrs. Roy A. Richardson.

B. F. Simpson

In March 1903, the B. F. Simpson family of Kansas City and the J. B. Miller family from Tina, Missouri came to Marceline. They opened a dry goods and women’s ready-to-wear store in the B. B. Putman building near the present site of the James McLaughlin building. Mr. Simpson started his career in merchandising in 1892 in Carrollton, Missouri. In 1894 he went to Kansas City where he was assistant to the superintendent of the “Leiter Co.” He was at “Peck’s” six years, then went to the “John Taylor Dry Goods Co.” where he was manager of the first floor. The Simpson and Miller Dry Goods Co. moved to the Hemming building when it was completed in 1904. When the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Simpson became the sole owner and the store was known as “Simpson’s.” Mr. Miller had two sons who lived in Marceline where they were married. Herbert C. Miller, a retired Division Engineer, is living in Emporia, Kansas, and Ercill in Buckner, Missouri. Mr. Simpson retired in 1947 after selling his business to the “Chownings” in Madison, Missouri.Mrs. Simpson was a cousin of the late Clarence M. Kendrick, well known attorney. He was editor of the Marceline Mirror in 1898 and continued the practice of law with headquarters at the Mirror office. Mr. Kendrick’s parents came to Marceline in a covered wagon in 1889. Mrs. Audry Walsworth, who wrote the Jubilee Pageant, is the daughter-in-law of the late Mr. and Mrs. Don Walsworth. Mrs. Don Walsworth, Sr., was the former Joy Kendrick, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Kendrick. The first scene of the Pageant was taken from the “Marceline Souvenir,” the program prepared by Mr. C. M. Kendrick for the 25th Anniversary of Marceline.