Goodspeed biographies filename E_F.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 E and F DR. DeWITT F. ESKEW, physician and surgeon, and present representative in the Legislature from Butler County, was born in Wilson County, Tenn., in 1849, and is the son of W. and M. (Van Hooser) Eskew, natives of Wilson County, Tenn., and the grandson of Benjamin Eskew, a native of England, who, when a young man, together with his brother, set sail for America. The vessel was wrecked, the brother was lost, and Benjamin was for eleven days without food, and suffered all the horrors of being shipwrecked. His son, the father of Dr. DeWitt, was born in 1815, and lived in Wilson County, Tenn., until 1868, when he removed to Caldwell County, Ky., and there died in 1884. He was a farmer by occupation. His wife was a daughter of Valentine Van Hooser, who is of Dutch origin. He was born in 1812, and was in the battle of New Orleans. He was a farmer and an early settler of Wilson County, Tenn. Dr. DeWitt F. was the fifth of nine children, eight of whom are now living, one having lost his life in the Confederate army. He was educated in the country schools, attained his growth on the farm, went with his parents to Kentucky, and in 1873 began the study of medicine. The same year he entered the medical department of the University of Tennessee, at Nashville, and graduated from the same in 1877. He began practicing at Shady Grove, Crittenden Co., Ky., but in 1879 he returned to Wilson County to assume the practice of his preceptor. In the fall of the same year he came to Butler County, and spent three years at Harviell, then came to Cane Creek, and settled ten miles northwest of Poplar Bluff, where he has a good farm of 165 acres. He was married in 1882 to Mrs. P. Rutherford, daughter of William W. and Elizabeth Sparkeman, a prominent family of the neighborhood. Both Mr. and Mrs. Sparkeman were born in Maury County, Tenn., and came to Butler County in 1860, and are now living on Cane Creek. The Doctor has an extensive practice since his marriage, and is one of the leading physicians of Butler County. A Democrat in his political views, his first presidential vote was cast for Horace Greeley. In 1886 he was elected to represent Butler County in the State Legislature, and served the people faithfully and well. He is a member of the Farmers’ Alliance and of the Christian Church. His property is the result of his own hard work, and his parents were unable to assist him. He paid his way through college by chopping wood and working as a farm hand. In 1888 he removed to Poplar Bluff, where he is now living. Mrs. Eskew is a member of the Baptist Church. Page 1071 H.M. ESTES was born in Cape Girardeau County, Mo., in 1833, his parents being Asa and Minerva (Long) Estes, who removed from Kentucky to Cape Girardeau County, at an early day. About 1834 they removed from there to Wayne County, where they passed the remainder of their days. Mr. Estes was of German origin, and a farmer by occupation. H.M. Estes was the third of ten children. He grew to manhood on the farm and obtained little or no education. In 1855 he married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Lewis Johnson, formerly of Illinois, where Mrs. Estes was born. Eleven children were the result of this union, five of whom are now living: Thomas (of Madison County), Cordelia (wife of William Allard), Jesse E., Allen, and Ida. After marriage Mr. Estes settled near Otter Creek, Wayne County, but moved from there to St. Francois River, where he lived for about fifteen years, then, about 1880, moving to Butler County and settling at Hendrickson. Here he has since been engaged in merchandising under the firm title of H.M. Estes & Son, until very recently, when Mr. Estes retired and now devotes his entire time to farming. He has 428 acres of fine land. He is a Republican in politics and a good citizen. His son, Jesse E. Estes, was born in Wayne County in 1864, and was raised on a farm, and educated in the country schools. He removed with his parents to Butler County, where, in 1885, he married Miss Laura, daughter of Joseph Campbell. She was born in Ohio, and died in May, 1887. In January, 1888, Jesse Estes married Miss Clara Smith, daughter of John N. Smith. Jesse farmed until 1885, when he bought his brother’s interest in the store and has since been engaged in merchandising at Hendrickson. He carries a general assortment, and the annual sales are about $15,000. He, like his father, is a Republican in politics. Page 1071-1072. THOMAS D. FERGUSON, the subject of this sketch, is the son of James S. Ferguson, who was born is Cape Girardeau County, Mo., and moved to this county (then Wayne) with his father, Nimrod G. Ferguson, a native of Virginia, and one of the first settlers of this county. He was educated for a Catholic priest, but after arriving at manhood became a Baptist preacher, which profession, together with farming and hunting, he pursued the remainder of his life. James S. Ferguson was early in life married to Elizabeth Kittrell, of Wayne county, a daughter of Solomon Kittrell. They were blessed with eight children—six daughters and two sons—all of whom are now dead except the two youngest daughters: Bellzora Fleming and Lizzie B. Adams (wife of Dr. George Adams), and the subject of this article, who are living in Poplar Bluff, the county seat of Butler County. He was engaged in the business of farming and mercantile life prior to 1858, at which time he was elected to the office of county and circuit clerk and ex-officio recorder, which he held to the first year of the war, when the civil law was suspended in this part of the country, and he some two years later moved his family from the county and enlisted in the United States army, and served until the close of the war, when he moved back to the county and was elected and served as judge of the probate court one term, president of the county court one term, and in 1870 was again elected clerk of the circuit court and ex-officio recorder, which office he was holding at his death in 1872. He was a charter member of Poplar Bluff Lodge No. 209, A.F. & A.M. and Poplar Bluff Lodge No. 179, I.O.O.F., which are among the leading lodges of the town to-day. He was a kind father and husband, and his house was always open to those about him. Elizabeth Ferguson, his wife, early in life became a member of the Baptist Church, and remained so to her death in 1871. She was a faithful and kind mother and wife, and none knew her except to admire her noble traits of character. Thomas D. Ferguson, the eldest and only surviving son, was reared on a farm, and educated in the common schools of the country. At the death of his father, in 1872, he was appointed to succeed him as clerk of the circuit court and ex-officio recorder, which office he has ever since held by election, and now has an unexpired term of two years. At his father’s death he was left with his three youngest sisters to raise and support. It was a great burden and expense, but a duty which he did not shirk or evade, giving the two eldest a good common-school education, and the youngest he educated at the Cape Girardeau Normal School. Mr. Ferguson has always been a Democrat, and while holding the office of clerk and recorder, as mentioned, has been mayor of Poplar Bluff, member of the County Democratic Committee, served one term on the Congressional Committee of his district (Fourteenth), and one term (from 1884 to 1886) on the Democratic State Central Committee from his district, and was also assistant door-keeper at the St. Louis National Democratic Convention in 1888. He is a member of Poplar Bluff Lodge No. 179, I.O.O.F., in which he holds the position of Lodge Deputy. He was married to Miss Annie Cook in 1878, and they have been blessed with one son and two daughters, all of whom are dead. The history of this family and county are inseparable. They have grown up together from the formation of the county from a part of Wayne in 1848, then almost an entire wilderness, with some twenty-five or thirty families, to its present population of some 10,00 or 12,000 inhabitants. The county seat, Poplar Bluff, at the end of the late war had but three families; to-day it has some 3,000 inhabitants, and is a busy growing town with a bright future. Page 1072. WILLIAM FERGUSON, senior member of the firm of Ferguson & Wheeler, dealers in general merchandise and lumber, and son of Rev. Nimrod and Nancy (Johnson) Ferguson, was born in Butler County, Mo., August 21, 1854. His early education was almost wholly wanting, and when eighteen years of age, he began working on the Iron Mountain Railroad through this county. Having saved his money, he and his brother, Martin, went to a district school, “baching” in a log cabin, and sleeping on a bed of leaves. In 1873, while the epizootic raged in St. Louis, he was called there to drive a delivery wagon, drawn by oxen, for a large wholesale and commission house. Having remained with them for two years, he entered a commercial college and soon became acquainted with the rules that govern commercial transactions. Returning to Poplar Bluff, in 1877, he entered the store of W.F. Neal, as salesman. Two years later, he, T.D. and M.N. Ferguson opened a store, all having about $2,200 capital. The firm title was Ferguson & Co. until 1884, when it took its present name. They now operate one of the largest stores in town, and, besides, own and operate three saw-mills, handling about 4,000,000 feet of lumber, yearly. In 1880 Mr. Ferguson married Miss Missouri Harviell, who lived only about eight months. In 1885 he married Miss Alma Proffer, a native of Stoddard County. Mr. Ferguson is a charter member of both the K. of P. and K. of H. He is a Democrat, politically, and is a director of the Bank of Poplar Bluff. He is also a director in the Poplar Bluff Loan and Building Association. He began as a poor boy, but is now one of the heaviest taxpayers in Butler County. Page 1073. MARTIN FERGUSON, treasurer of Butler County, Mo., is a son of Rev. Nimrod and Nancy (Johnson) Ferguson, who were born in Virginia and Butler County, Mo., respectively. When a young man, the father came to Butler County, where he met and married Miss Johnson. He was for many years a minister in the Baptist Church, though farming was his chief occupation. He died in 1856. Afterward the mother married Stephen Turner. She died in 1866. Their son, Martin, was born March 1, 1856, and his early education was very deficient. Upon reaching years of discretion, he and his brother, William, worked out for the money which they afterward employed in securing an education. When about eighteen years of age, Mr. Ferguson ran a delivery for a wholesale house and here remained several years. He then returned to his home and began merchandising, but three years later he turned his attention to saw-milling. He is also a dealer in real estate. In 1886 he was elected treasurer of the county. He is a Democrat in politics, and, as a business man, has been quite successful; commencing with comparatively nothing, he is now the owner of a fine property. In 1878 he married Miss Minnie Sparkman, a native of Butler County, Mo., and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. To their union were born three children—one son and two daughters. Mr. Ferguson is a member of the K.P. and the K. of H. Page 1073. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Use your Browsers "Back" button to return from this text page to Butler county GoodSpeed File 23:05 7/2/2001 Mary Hudson mahud@fidnet.com