Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/665

 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 591 near the IMissouri-Arkansas state line and he passed his boyhood and youth in Jladison county. He was early bereft of his parents, both having- died on the same day, when he was a child of but six months of age. Prac- tically rearing himself, his early educational training consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the public schools of iladi- son county. At the age of sixteen years he enlisted as a soldier in the Confederate army, serving with all of honor and distinction in the cause of the South for a period of four years. After the close of the war he returned to Madison county, locating at Frederick- town, where he engaged in commercial gar- dening. He has always been a stanch Demo- crat in his political proclivities and in his re- ligious faith is a devout member of the Metho- dist p]piscopal church. In 1867 he married ]Miss Julia Newberry, and to them were born two children, — George, who remains at home with his father; and Joseph F., whose name forms the caption for this review. After completing the curriculum of the public schools at Fredericktown, Joseph F. Chilton was a student in the ilissouri State Normal School, for a time, then turning his attention to the study of law. For two years he attended the Chicago College of Law, at Chicago, Illinois, being graduated therein as a member of the class of 1897 and duly re- ceiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was licensed to practice law in Missouri in 1898 and in that year initiated the active work of his profession at Fredericktown where he soon succeeded in building up a large and representative clientage and where he has gained recognition as one of the lead- ing lawyers in iladison county. In 1906 he was honored by his fellow citizens with elec- tion to membership in the lower house of the state legislature, serving in that capacity for one term, during which time he was assigned to a number of important committees. In the fall of 1910 he was elected prosecuting attorney of ]Iadison county and in that con- nection he is giving most creditable service. He is a man of unusual ability and splendid equipment along the line of his chosen voca- tion and has already achieved phenomenal success in the legal profession. In 1900 Mr. Chilton wedded Miss Maude May, who was likewise bom and reared at Fredericktown and who is a daughter of Frank and Amanda (Newcum) May. The Newcum family were early pioneers in Madi- son county. Mr. and Jlrs. Chilton have four children, whose names and respective ages, in 1911, are here entered,— Wilma, ten years; jMay, eight years; Julia, six years; and S. W., three years. In politics Mr. Chilton is a stanch Demo- crat and in a social way he is affiliated with the ilasonic order, being a valued member of the Order of the Eastern Star, and he is also connected with the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. The religious faith of the Chilton family is in harmonv with the tenets of the Methodist Episcopal church, in whose faith they are rearing their children. Charles L. Parsons. As steadfast as the granite hills of his native state was the char- acter of the late Charles Bunyan Pai-sons and, measured by its accomplishment, its beneficence, its altruism and its uprightness, his life counted for good in every relation! Bringing to bear the powers of a strong and versatile personality, his optimism was of the true constructive order and through his well directed endeavors as a member of the world's noble army of productive workers he gained large and worthy success. His course was ever guided and governed by the highest principles of integrity and "honor and he merited and received the confidence and esteem of his fellow men. His splendid abili- ties were prolific in their influence upon the industrial and civic development and up- building of Southeastern Missouri, and here the great success which he gained had its basis in his close and influential association with the development of the great mineral re- sources of this section of the state. His early labors in this connection implied self-denial, strong initiative and executive ability admir- ably applied, and a confidence and courage to which no obstacle was held insuperable. But above his great achievements in connection with material things, the great mind and heart of the man made him exemplify the higher ideals of human existence, and he never failed in his steward.ship or in his help- ful interest in his fellow men. It can well be realized that such a man merits consideration in a work of the province a.ssigned to the one at hand, and it is gratifying to be able to perpetuate in this volume a record of his life and labors and to offer a tribute to his mem- ory. In the preparation of this memoir re- course is taken largely to a memorial pub- lished, for private circulation, soon after his