Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/673

 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 599 teachers as they occur. During the last five years the salaries of the teachers have nearly doubled and six additional teachers have been installed. During the past five years the high school has increased from seventeen pupils to eighty -six. The seating capacity of the old building is not sufficient to accommodate the additional pupils and a new high school building is contemplated. In June, 1908, Mr. Pryor married Miss Agnes Harrison, of Kennett, daughter of Dr. y. H. Harrison, now deceased. She is a teacher in the high school. Mr. and Mrs. Pryor have one daugliter. Sue Elizabeth. ilr. Pryor is in the Methodist Episcopal church, while his wife belongs to the Presby- terians, thus both the churches are gainers. Mr. Pryor belongs to the order of Masons. He is desirous to be right up with the most approved modern methods of teaching and takes every opportunity to compare notes mth other educators. He attends the sum- mer terms of the University and is working for his A. M. degree. To the casual observer, the fact that the high school has increased its number of scholars might mean that the population is larger; if the percentage of increase were proportionately large in the graded schools that might be the natural in- ference. The fact is, however, that during the past six years the high school has in- creased its scholars much more than the graded schools. The fact of the matter is that the course has been made more prac- tical, so that whereas many pupils left school while they were half way up in the grades, now a large i^roportiou take the high school course. In this way Kennett is turning out boys and girls to become more efficient cit- izens than ever before, for the true use of education is to increase efficiency. JMr. Pryor is doing a great work. WiLLLiM R. Edgar. The senior partner of the law firm of Edgar & Edgar may be said to "come naturally" by his prominence in the enterprises for the development of Iron- ton, for he is an American of the old stock, the son and grandson of pioneers who set- tled and developed new country. The fam- ily came originally from Scotland and settled in Rahway, New Jersey, in 1720. They gave more than one soldier to the Amer- ican cause, during the Revolution. Some- thing over a century later — in 1830 — William R. Edgar, father of the present William R., Sr., married aud went to Tipton, Cedar county, Iowa. His wife was Rebecca Tich- enor, a Presbyterian of English descent and a native of Lebanon, Ohio. They were suc- cessful in the new country, where they en- gaged in farming. It was in Tipton that William R. Edgar was born in 1851 and there that his mother died. In 1866 the family moved to Iron county, where the father continued his work of farm- ing until his death in 1879. The son Wil- liam R. is the only surviving member of that family. Mr. Edgar was educated at Ar- cadia College. He graduated from that in- stitution in 1871, during the presidency of General L. M. Lewis, a noted divine and a lawyer of unusual eloquence. Four years later he graduated from the law department of Washington University. He then taught for three years in Arcadia College and was one year principal of the fronton public schools. Since 1879 he has devoted his en- tire attention to the practice of law. He was a partner of the late J. W. Emerson, formerly one of Ironton's prominent law- yers. Later he was with George W. Benton for one year. The present law firm was or- ganized April 10, 1911. In addition to their extensive library, Edgar and Edgar have a complete set of abstracts of Iron county. iIr. Edgar has served several terms as prosecuting attorney and during president Cleveland's first administration was four and a half years receiver of the U. S. land office, then located at fronton but now removed to Springfield. He has always been a power in the Democratic party of the county and has been a delegate to several national con- ventions and at the last election was presi- dential elector. He married Miss S. P. Whitworth, daugh- ter of the late I. G. Whitworth, mentioned elsewhere in this work. She was born in Ii-on county and educated at Arcadia Col- lege. Mr. and ]Irs. Edgar have five chil- dren : Maude married Lieutenant Jurich, of the U. S. Army Cavalry, and since his death in San Francisco in 1908 she has resided in Ironton. William R., Jr. of the firm of Edgar & Edgar, was educated in Ironton and in the Benton law school of St. Louis. He was chief clerk in the law department of the Missouri-Pacific Railroad, under General At- torney M. L. Clardy. He resigned this posi- tion to form the present partnership. There are two other sons, James D., aged twenty-