Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/753

 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 657 will have served twelve years in that capac- ity, and he is well recommended by his serv- ices which have been a credit to himself and a benefit to the community. He is a native son of Wayne county, his birth having oc- curred in Benton township October 23, 1860. Rlr. Daii'ron is the son of Smith and Elizabeth (Gilbert) Datfrou, the former of whom was born in the vicinity of Ringgold, Georgia, in 1819. and died at the age of fifty-three years. The mother was born in Tennessee July 19, 1829, and is still living, a vener- able and worthy woman whom makes her home with the subject. After the death of Smith DaiiPron she was married a second time, to William Stokley, who is now deceased. The subject is one of three children, two of wliom survive. His brother, Thomas E., resides in Piedmont, Missouri. The father of him whose name inaugurates this review, came from Georgia to Mis- souri in the year 1857 and located upon the farm which a few years later was the birth- place of his children. He secured three hun- dred and twenty acres of wild land, which he cleared and Itrought to a state of cultivation. He was a lilacksmith and carpenter by trade and he followed these callings throughout his life, also engaging in milling, having pur- chased a water power grist mill partially fin- ished, whose construction he completed. He was a man successful in all his business under- takings and liis citizenship was admirably public-spirited. In his political convictions he was in harmony with the teachings of the Democratic party and he and his wife be- longed to the Missionary Baptist church. Smith Daffron and a Mr. Ivy practicall.v built the first church and the first school-house in this part of Wayne comity. Isaac N. Daffron was reared on his father's farm and gained his preliminary education behind a desk in the district school room. Having finished its curriculum, he matricu- lated at the state normal school at Cape Gir- ardeau and there spent a profitable year and a half. He then started in to learn the trade of his father, that of blacksmithing, a smat- tering of which he had alreadv gained under the tutelage of bis brother. He was of Pied- mont when a blacksmith of that place was deserted by his assistant and ]Ir. Daffron was asked to help out — ^which the young fellow consented to do. What was supposed to be a temporary ari-angement lasted for a number of years. The first week he received twenty- five cents a day and the second one dollar a Vol. I— 4 2 day, a hasty advancement which speaks well for his ability. Jlr. Daffron worked in all eleven and one-half years in the blacksmith business, the last five years of this period for himself. He has always had a good business, for his work is good and reliable, but he has not always managed advantageously for him- self and he does not have the competence which he deserves. In 1896 he was elected county assessor and removed to Greenville, where he served in the office for a tenn of four years. That was his first experience in public life and he was well recommended by his services. His efficiency was not forgotten and in 1902 he was elected county collector and succeeded himself at the elections in 1906 and 1910. He is not without some experience in the pedagogical field, having taught school for a time in his young manhood. He has been a Democrat since his earliest voting days and he is very lo.yal to the interests of the party. His fi-atemal affiliations extend to the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Daffron was married October 23, 1887, to Georgia E. Miller, who was born in Cape Girardeau county, Missouri, August 18, 1866. Mr. and Mrs. Daffron 's union has been further cemented by the birth of three daughters, namely: Nellie, wife of Scott Judy, of Gar- nett. Kansas; Clara and Ann, at home. James F. Tatum. We all of us look to- wards the future as having something greater in store for us than that we have already ex- perienced, or at least if such is not the case Ave are to be pitied. Every man hopes for a future better than the present or the past. In the case of James F. Tatum, he has al- ready realized tlie future, some two years ago; of that we know nothing, but we do laiow what his past has been. He was born January 5, 1850, in Howard county, Missouri. He was a son of the late A. C. Tatum, who moved from Virginia to Howard county, Missouri, soon after his mar- riage. There James received his education and after he left school he started into busi- ness, first working for a relative at St. Charles, traveling through the state as a to- bacco salesman. His travels brought him to Dunklin county, where he saw the possibil- ities for a young man and he entered the mercantile Imsiness in Dunklin county, being one year at Maiden and then in Kennett until three years ago, when he retired and turned the business over to his two sons, Frank and