Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/672

 598 HISTORY OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI Garrett Davis, their marriage being solem- nized at Gasconade county, Missouri. The wife died in 1866, leaving two young chil- dren, Milford and Marshall. He was again married in 1872 to Dora Roberts, of Mis- souri, daughter of Asa Roberts, and this union resulted in four children, — James E., Lillian, Fred and Laura. Judge Henson is well and favoi'ably known in the community, where he is agreeably recommended by his daily living; and his family are useful and popular members of society. He is a Bap- tist in religious conviction, and is a mem- ber of Becket Post, No. 38, at Hopewell, Mis- souri. Henry A. Herkstroetee, the efficient post- master of Washington, is a native son of the place and was born and reared among the younger generation of the business men of this city, his birth occurring jIareh 29, 1874. His father is Casper H. A. Herk- stroeter, a clothing merchant and tailor of Washington. The elder gentleman is a na- tive of Germany. Like so many of his coun- trymen he concluded to cast his fortunes vith the New World and arrived on our shores previous to the war between the states. Shortly afterward he located in the city of St. Louis, where he served an apprentice- shii> as a tailor, and while residing there he married iliss Minnie Gast, a daughter of Ernst and Christina Gast, of Washington, Missouri. This resulted in his establishing a home here and he opened a tailor shop. His business grew and expanded with the development of the country and he now owns and manages a large ready-made clothing house, while at the same time ' carrying on a tailoring establishment. He is still the proprietor of this business and has reached the age of seventy-eight years. The subject is one of a family of six children, as follows: Christina, wife of L. H. Kamp, of St. Louis; Henry A., the subject of this review; Emma, who married E. A. Kamp and resides in Webster Grove, Slissouri ; Louisa, of Wash- ington; Ed. C, of St. Louis; and Miss Minnie, who is at home. After the termination of his school days, Mr. Herkstroeter learned the trade of cutter in his father's shop and with the exception of two years spent in St. Louis, where he was also engaged in the tailoring business, lie continued as an assistant to his father until his retirement to assume the duties of postmaster of Washington. In his political conviction Mr. Herkstroeter is a stanch and stalwart Republican and stands high in party councils. He served as councilman for the Fourth ward for two years and was a mem- ber of the county Republican central com- mittee and acted as its treasurer for the space of six years, being ever ready to do au.;hiug, to go anywhere for the good of the cause with which he is aligned. He was appointed postmaster on July 15, 1908, by President Roosevelt (in vacation) and was re-eommissioued by President Taft, Decem- ber 14, 1908, for a term of four years, and he has given satisfactory service as a serv- ant of Uncle Sam. Mr. Herkstroeter laid the foundation of a hapi^y home life when, on October 28, 1905, he was united in marriage to Miss May Werner, daughter of Charles H. Werner. Their family history corresponds in several points, for Mrs. Herkstroeter 's father is also a tailor and by birth a German. The two children of the Herkstroeter household are daughters — Leona and Helen. The subject takes pleasure in his relations with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows. Herbert Pryor. In considering what Herbert Pryor, superintendent of public schools, has done for Keuuett it is onlj' neces- sary to i-ecall the progress that the schools have made under his regime. Herbert Pryor -was born in Pike county, Missouri, August 11, 1879. His boyhood was for the most part spent in Paynesville, where he was educated in the public schools. He then attended the local academy and later the Missouri State University. He had be- gun to teach when he was only eighteen years of age and woi-ked his ^ay through college. He taught in Pike county, being assistant principal of the academy and principal of the public schools of Paynesville for three years. He came to Kennett as superintend- ent in the fall of 1906 and has just closed the fifth year of his work here. The public school has an enrollment of seven hundred pupils, with a corps of sixteen teachei-s. The course is of high grade and is accredited in the university. The class of 1911 was the sixth to graduate. All the teachers have had normal training and they are almost all home teachers; it is the aim of Superintendent Pryor to train the gi-aduates that they may be prepared to fill vacancies in the staff of