Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/659

 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 587 children, Alpha 0., was boru February 11, 1899. Their son Fred E. was eleven on the sixteenth of December, 1911. Inez Glo- rine was born April 27, 1903, and Hope Otelea on the seventeenth of the same month, six years afterward. Though ilr. Reck is so constantly on duty at the postoffice, he has other interests in which he is active. He is a stockholder in the Bollinger County Bank and has been sec- ond vice-president of it for eight years. He owns a fine residence proi^erty in Lutesville and is prominent in the lodges of that town, being a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Royal Arch Masons and the Modem Woodmen. In politics he is a staunch adherent of the Republican party. His religious preference is for the Presbyter- ian church, of which he and his wife are both memljers. Wilbur M. Welkee, the superintendent of the Bollinger county schools, was born in this county June 9, 1883. His father, J. A. Welker, is a farmer now residing at Bloom- field. Randolph Welker. the grandfather of Wilbur M., was also bom in the eount.y, where his father, Wilbur's great-grandfather, came from in North Carolina. The second of a family of nine children, Mr. Wilbur M. Welker was kept busy on his grandfather's farm when not attending school. Until he was twenty years old his life was spent in this fashion. In 1903 he began to teach school and has followed this profession ever since. Two years in the dis- trict schools, two in the schools of Marble Hill and three years in Bessville have filled up his seven years' exj^erience. As Mr. Welker is ambitious, he has spent the time not occupied in the school-room in studying. Part of two different years he at- tended Will Mayfield College. By taking courses in the spring and the summer terms at the State Normal at Cape Girardeau, he obtained the degree of Bachelor of Pedagogy from that institution. In April. 1911, Mr. Welker was elected county superintendent for four yeai*s. He is in charge of eighty- nine schools in Bollinger county. On December 23, 1906, occurred the mar- riage of Mr. Welker and jMiss Clara Walker, daughter of Richard A. Walker, of this county. They have two children, Vera Vern, horn 1907, and Paul Lee Alexander, two years younger. The family reside upon a place of forty-three acres, which they own. Mr. Welker is a member of the INIissouri Teachei-s' Association and keeps abreast of all educational movements. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Modern Woodmen of America. B. P. BuRNHAM, now serving in his sec- ond terra as county superintendent of the schools of Iron county, has gained much dis- tinction as an educator in this section of Missouri, and during his long connection with the schools of this locality has succeeded in greatly raising the standard of education and promoting the efficiency of the system as a preparation for the responsible duties of life. Indeed, the constant aim and the gen- eral character of ilr. Burnham's life work are summed up in the famous dictum of Sid- ney Smith, — that "The real object of edu- cation is to give children resources that will endure as long as life endures; habits that time will ameliorate, not destroy; occupation that will render sickness tolerable, solitude pleasant, age venerable, life more dignified and useful, and death less terrible." A native of Reynolds county, Missouri, B. P. Buruham was bom on the 9th of April, 1875, he being a son of Martin L. and Mary (Sloan) Burnham, the former of whom is now living at Ellington, Missouri, and the latter of whom was summoned to the life eternal in 1876. Martin L. Burnham was born on Current river, in Missouri, his fa- ther, Samuel Burnham, having come to that section of the state in the ante-bellum days. Samuel Burnham was a native of Indiana, while his wife, nee Miss George, was born in Missouri, and he was a gallant soldier in the Confederate army during the Civil war. He died at his home in Reynolds county, Mis- souri, about 1870, his old farm near Elling- ton being still in the possession of his de- scendants. He was an extensive farmer and stock-raiser during the greater portion of his active career. :Martin L. Burnham was like- wise engaged in farming operations for a number of yeare but he is now identified with the hotel business at Ellington, where he is a man of mark in all the relations of life. He is a devout member of the Missionary Baptist church. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Sloan, was born near Belle- view, in Iron county, this state, a daughter of Alexander and Mary Elizal)eth (Wvatt)