Goodspeed biographies file name R.txt contributed by Mary Collins USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *************************************************************************** Subject: Goodspeed R JOHN W. REED, farmer and stock raiser of Poplar Bluff Township, was born in Hampshire County, Va., August 4, 1818, and is the son of Abraham and Sallie (Hood) Reed, natives of Hampshire County, where they lived until about 1832. They then removed to Clark County, Ohio, and two years later to Princeton, Ind., where they passed their last days. Both were of Dutch extraction, and members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mr. Reed was a farmer and miller by occupation, and was a soldier in the War of 1812 under Gen Harrison. John W. Reed was the third of a family of eleven children. He never attended school, but was obliged to stay at home and aid in supporting the rest of the family. At the age of twenty-four he left the parental roof and engaged in flat-boating on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, where he remained about four years. He then started for Galena lead mines, but stopped on his way in Jackson County, Ill., and went to work on a farm, and was married here, in 1846, to Miss Sallie Ellis, daughter of Stephen and Betsey Ellis, formerly of North Carolina. This marriage resulted in the birth of five children, only one, Richard, now living. Mr. Reed remained in Jackson County, Ill., until 1874, when he removed to Butler County, Mo., and there he has since lived. He has lived on his present farm of 200 acres, situated four miles north of Poplar Bluff, since 1884. It is a good tract of bottom land. In August, 1861, he joined Company H Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and at the battle of Belmont was severely wounded, which disabled him for further service, and nearly resulted in his death. He was discharged October 27, 1862. He is an earnest worker for the cause of education, and for the general upbuilding of the country. He is a conservative Republican in his political views, was reared a Whig, and his first presidential vote was for Gen. Harrison. He is a member of the Farmers’ Alliance, of the G.A.R., and also a member of the Christian Church. Mrs. Reed died April 25, 1888, at the age of seventy-two years. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years and was formerly a Baptist of good standing. Page 1087. GEORGE W. REGISTER, notary public, real-estate agent and insurance agent at Poplar Bluff, was born in Sullivan County, Ind., in 1844, and is the son of Richard J. and Elizabeth P. (Davis) Register. The father was born in Delaware in 181, and when young came to Indiana with his mother. He was married in Sullivan County about 1843, and was one of the pioneers. He spent all his life as a farmer, until two years prior to his death, when he engaged in merchandising. He died in 1868. His father was of French extraction, and died when Richard was quite small. The mother of George W. was born in Sullivan County, Ind., where she still lives, aged about sixty-two. Both parents and grandparents were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. George W. was the eldest of three sons and one daughter. He attended the common school until about sixteen years of age, when he spent four years at New Lebanon Academy, one year at the State University and one year, 1867-68, at the national Normal at Lebanon, Ohio. He began teaching at the age of eighteen, and followed that occupation until after he came to Missouri. He was principal of the Paxton graded schools for five years, and principal of the Carlisle Seminary for two years. From 1871 to 1875 he was superintendent of public schools of Sullivan County, and was a member of the first County Superintendents’ State Convention held at Indianapolis in 1873. He had the honor of being chosen as one of the “100 eminent educators of Indiana,” who were asked to furnish their photos and autographs for an album, to be placed in the educational department of that State, at the Centennial at Philadelphia in 1876. He was married in 1868 to Miss Belle St. Clair, who died in 1879. Three children were born to this union. In 1880 Mr. Register married Miss Dona Dickey, formerly of Montgomery, Ala., but at that time living in Butler County, Mo. to them were born four children. In 1881 Mr. and Mrs. Register removed to Woodruff County, Ark., where he taught school. The same year he removed to Ironton, Mo., and in 1882 came again to Poplar Bluff, and for two years was principal of the public schools at that place. In 1884 he again taught school in Woodruff County, Ark., but since 1886 has been notary public. He has a good farm of fifty acres, one and a half miles north of Poplar Bluff, where he resides. In politics Mr. Register is a Democrat, casting his first presidential vote for Horatio Seymour in 1868. He is an earnest worker for the triumph of Democratic principles as expounded by Thomas Jefferson, and for the elevation of the working classes to that condition in life in which they may be able “to share in the gains and honors of advancing civilization.” He is a member of the Masonic order, K. of L. and is also a member of the Farmers’ Alliance. Mr. Register is a Methodist. He was admitted to the Sullivan County bar about 1868, and again in butler County in 1886, but never practiced law as a profession. He was a prominent member of the Indiana Horticultural Society, and is a member of the same society in Missouri. He organized the Wabash Valley Normal School in 1873, which was of great utility for the advancement of the educational interest. During the campaign of 1876 Mr. Register was editor of a campaign paper at Carlisle, Ind. Page 1087-1088. DR. S.N. RUBOTTOM, a practicing physician and surgeon of Cane Creek Township, was born at Greenville, Wayne County, in 1833, and is the son of Ezekiel and Amelia (Parish) Rubottom. The father was born in Chatham County, N.C., in 1770, and was married first in North Carolina to Miss Bettie, daughter of Dr. Bettis, a survivor of the Revolutionary War. Mr. Rubottom brought his family to Tennessee in 1803, and he was married the second time in 1810 to the mother of Dr. S.N. He was a gunsmith and blacksmith by trade, and worked some for the Indians. He died in 1857. He was once or twice a member of the Legislature, when it convened at St. Charles. He was also for several years county judge and justice of the peace, etc. He was a life-long Democrat, and a man of considerable influence. His father was a native of Wales, and a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Amelia Rubottom was born in Richmond, Va., and was the daughter of John Parish. She died in 1844. Dr. S.N. Rubottom was the seventh of eight children. He attended the common schools in Missouri, and from the age of fourteen to twenty lived with Dr. V.M. Capp, a brother-in-law. Subsequently he began the study of medicine, and took one course at the St. Louis Medical College. In 1861 he began practicing at Greenville, and has continued practicing ever since with success. He was married in 1859 to Miss Eliza, daughter of John and Elsie Wisecarver, and a native of Cape Girardeau County. Her people were early settlers of Butler County. To this union were born seven children. In 1866 the Doctor settled on his present farm, which consists of 120 acres of Cane Creek, sixteen miles northwest of Poplar Bluff. He is an earnest worker for the cause of education, is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Farmers’ Alliance. Pages 1088-1089. HARVEY I. RUTH, manager of the Poplar Bluff Lumber & Manufacturing Company, was born near Reading, Pa., September 24, 1864. He is a son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Ruth) Ruth, both of whom were also natives of the Keystone State. The elder Ruth was a man of extensive means, and was devoted to its careful management and investment. The parents both died within a month of each other in the year 1871, leaving eight children. Harvey, then but a boy of seven years, was adopted by an uncle whose interest in him has always been of the kindest. He was educated in the public schools, and spent some time at Wellison’s Seminary in Western Massachusetts. He was but nineteen years of age when he was sent to take charge of the extensive interests of the company he now represents, but the skill he has displayed in carrying it on indicates that his employers had been careful to choose a master hand. A large stationary saw-mill, with two portable mills as feeders, and a large planing-mill, fall under his care. He employs in all about three hundred men, and turns out an annual product of about three and a half million feet. Mr. Ruth is a Republican, and is a member of the K. of P. page number 1089