Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/608

 CHAPTER XXXIX SOME BIOGRAPHIES Louis Houck — Lownes H. Davis — Robert H. Whitelaw — William B. Wilson — Judge John W. Emerson — Samuel S. Hildebrand — Samuel Btens — B. B. Cahoon — James D. Fox — J. J. Russell — H. J. Deal — Absalom JMcElmurry — William Dawson — Joseph Hunter — John A. Mott — Robert A. Hatcher — Eliza A. Carleton — William Carter — Placide DeLassus — James R. McCormack — Milton P. Cayce — Gustavus St. Gem— Chakles S. Hertich — M. L. Claedy — Marshall Arnold — James P. Walker — N. B. Henry — F. P. Graves — Firmin Desloge. A separate volume of this histoi-y is given to the biographies of men and women who have had to do with making history in this part of the state. It is concerned largely with those who are still in active life. A few men whose work has ended, and a few who for spe- cial reasons have been prominently connected with the development of Southeast Missouri by reason of official or business relations, are mentioned in the following pages. The list includes only those connected with the his- tory of the period since the war. Others who were active before that time have been dis- cussed in other sections of this work. Perhaps Southeast Missouri owes more to Louis Houck, of Cape Girardeau, than to any other one of its citizens for it was due to his energy and ability that this section of the state was supplied with railroad facilities. The impulse toward development given by the network of railroads constructed by him has had a remarkable influence in building up the country and in causing the construction of other lines and systems of railroads. Mr. Houck is a native of Illinois and is now sev- enty-one years of age. His early life was spent in Illinois and part of it in his father's printing office. He received two years ' train- ing at the University of Wisconsin and then published a paper for a time, but later began the study of law in 1862 in the office of Wil- liam H. Underwood. Until 1868 he practiced law at Belleville and in that year removed to St. Louis and became assistant United States attornej' under General John W. Noble. He became a resident of Cape Girardeau in 1869, engaging in the general practice of law until 1881. Mr. Houck became known as one of the most active and resourceful attorneys in Southeast Missouri. He was a diligent stu- dent and a man of unlimited energy. In ad- dition to his work as a practitioner he pub- lished a number of legal texts and was also the editor of the 15th volume of Missouri Re- ports. Although his profession had absorbed his energy to a considerable extent and although 548