Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/758

 662 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI spection department of the government at St. Louis, spending six years in the service. While there he prepared himself for the law by night study and school attendance and was acbuitted to the bar by the supreme court of Missouri in 1907. In 1909 he removed to Union and identified himself with the Frank- lin county bar. He soon afterward entered the real estate business and is associated with Mr. A. W. Hoft'mau in exploiting the lauds of this county. The Franklin Realty Com- pany works in harmony with the migration department of the Rock Island Railway and a thrifty and vigorous new citizenship is being introduced into the county on this account. In the matter of political conviction Jlr. Breid is a Republican and stands high in party councils. He is active in public life and in times past has served as justice of the peace in Union. At the present time he is assistant prosecuting attorney of the county under William L. Cole, and he is police judge of Union and city attorney of St. Clair. He is interested in the success of good govern- ment and aids in the promotion of social and professional harmony by a straightforward course as a citizen. Mr. Breid laid the foundation of a happy union when on January 4. 1901, he was mar- ried to Miss Maytie Rose Freiberger, daughter of Godfrey Freiberger. their wedding being at Fulton, the bride's home. They have no issue. In his fraternal association Mr. Breid is past venerable consul of the Modern Wood- men and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. George Bidewtell presents that happy combination of farmer and scholar which, though not unusual, is seldom found in the measure that makes a successful teacher out of a fine farmer. The sTibject of the present sketch was born ]May 18, 1885, a son of Henry and Lucreeia Bidewell. As stated elsewhere in this work, Henry Bidewell was a native of England, who came to this county in 1854. Upon the inception of the Ci^l war, his convictions brought him to the Union army. He joined Company K, Third Missouri Mounted Cavalry, in 1861 and remained in the war until its close, seeing much active service. George gi-ew up on his father's farm and attended the district school. He still lives on the extensive homestead which his father acquired, having bought out the shares of the other heirs. Like his brother he follows both general farming and stock raising on the two hundred and forty acre farm. At the age of nineteen Mr. Bidewell entered Will Mayfield college at IMarble Hill. Here he took a year's course and obtained a teach- er 's certificate. He has taught for four years and is stiU engaged in that profession. In March, 1906, his marriage to Miss Jane Crites was solemnized. Mrs. George Bide- well is the daughter of J. M. and Adeline Crites and the sister of Charles Crites, an- other of the substantial farmers of Bollinger coiuaty, whose life is also briefli' outlined in this work. Two of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. George Bidewell are still liv- ing: Cletis, bom in 1906, and Ivan, bom in 1910. Mr. Bidewell's fraternal affiliations include the Ben Hui- lodge and the Modern Woodmen. In politics he is aligned with the Republican party. DAaD W. Owen, proprietor of a fine farm and home in Dunklin county, was in debt when he began his career some twenty years ago. Depending on his own industry and good management, he has left his success to the destinies presiding -over this great South- east Missouri coiuitry, and it has rewarded him with a generous share of its general prosperity and fruitfulness. He was born in Greene county, Arkansas, October 3, 1869. His parents were farmers, and along with most other residents of that section were poor. School facilities were meager, and he got about three months each year. When he was nineteen, in 1888, he married Miss jIary Rowe in Greene county. His liabilities showed a debt of thirty-six dol- lars, and his resources included nothing mate- rial, only the spiritual qualities of courage and industry possessed by his wife and him- self. After their marriage they moved west to Lawrence county, Arkansas, where he made a crop on poor land, and in 1890 he came to Dunklin county, and for three years share-cropped north of his present place. He then bought a team on credit and began farming on a rented place. For six years he was on fifty-five acres near Hornersville, and during this time managed to get ahead a little. His next move was to the Uncle Nap Wilkins' farm a mile north of his present homestead, and he farmed at first fifty-five acres, then ninety-two acres, and the last year one liundred and fifteen acres. In 1900 he had bought forty acres now comprised in