Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/650

 580 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI the Franklin County Bank, established in November, 1909, and associated in this busi- ness with F. W. Hawley, as vice-president and C. M. Ellis, as cashier. The bank has a capital stock of thirty thousand dollars, and a large clientele among the farmers ad- jacent to Washington. During the past years Mr. Schultze has served the government as carrier for route No. 1, rural mail service, which he organized. In politics Mr. Schultze was reared under the banner of the Republican party, but after much reading and study he could not find it consistent with his belief to uphold high tar- iff, so cast his influence and his ballot with the Democratic party, which he still supports. He is genial and affable and enjoys many social hours with his fellow members in the ranks of the Modern Woodmen and the Turnverein. The family are members of the Evangelical church. Mr. Schultze was married in Franklin county, December 28, 1888, to Miss Alvina Bergner, a daughter of George Bergner, a native of Saxony, a man of much mechanical genius, being by vocation a lock and a gun- smith, and a holder of many patents for in- vention. To Mr. and Mrs. Schultze have been born the following children, Alvina, Nellie H. and Cora V., also Johanna, who died when about ten years of age. Harry L. Machen. Whether the elements of success in life are innate attributes of the individual or whether thej' are quick- ened by a process of circumstantial develop- ment, it is impossible clearly to determine. Yet the study of a successful life is none the less profitable by reason of the existence of this uncertainty and in the majority of cases it is found that exceptional ability, amounting to genius, perhaps, was the real secret of the pre-eminence which many en- vied. So it appears to the student of human nature who seeks to trace the history of the rise of Harry L. Machen, a typical Ameri- can of the best class. He is yet a young man but has achieved a success that many an older resident of Cape Girardeau might envy. He is the popular and efficient in- cumbent of the office of cashier of the Stui-di- vant Bank of this city. A native of Sikeston, Scott county, Mis- souri, Mr. Harry L. IIachen was born on the 5th of February, 1880, and he is a scion of a fine old Bluegi'ass family. His father, Henry L. Machen, was born in Lyon county, Ken- tucky, in the year 1843. When a lad of eight- een j'ears of age, Harry L. Machen enlisted as a soldier in the Confederate army, becoming a member of a western Kentucky company, in Cobb's Artillery, and serving with all of valor and faithfulness as a soldier for a period of two years. He participated in a number of important engagements marking the progress of the war and was active in the battle of Shiloli, being one of the few survivors of that sanguinary campaign. He was taken prisoner by the Federal army and for a time was held in duress in the Dela- ware prison. After the close of the war he resided in his native state of Kentucky un- til the year 1877, at which time he removed to ^Missouri, settling in Scott county, where he was one of the largest and most influential farmers of the southeastern section of the state. He was also largely interested in the lumbering business. In 1891 he retired from active participation in business affairs and removed to Dexter, Missouri, where his de- mise occurred on the 1st of Jul.v, 1893, at the comparatively early age of fift.y years. The paternal grandfather of him to whom this sketch is dedicated was Colonel B. Machen, who served on the staff of General Longstreet in the Confederate army. Col- onel Machen was a prominent resident and a public-spirited citizen of Lyon county, Ken- tucky, and after the war he was honored with election to membership in the United States senate, in which capacity he served with all of honor and distinction. Henry L. INIaehen married Emma Wj'att, the ceremony having been performed in Lyon county, Ken- tuckj^, in 1876. To this union were born four children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest. The others are : Mar- garet, who is now Mrs. James G. Reynolds; Edward Kirb.y Machen, who died November 7, 1902 ; and Mary Florence, who resides at home with her mother and brother. After the death of the father, the Machen family removed to Cape Girardeau, where Harry L., who was then a lad of thirteen years of age, completed his rudimentaiy edu- cational discipline. For a period of three .vears he was a student in the State Normal School, at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and at the age of eighteen years he entered the Sturdivant Bank, where he has remained to the present time. In 1902 he was made as- sistant cashier of that substantial and highly