Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/802

 694 HISTORY OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI is considerate of others' feelings and sensibil- ities and is always ready to lend a helping hand to those in distress. Kos Little is known in Kennett as the "Spoke Man." By that they do not mean that he is always talking, on the contrary, he does not talk unless he has something to say and then he knows how to say it. One can- not fail to have the most profound admira- tion for those men who do their work and hold their peace — giving us faitli in their al)il- ities. They mind their own business. Such a one is Kos Little, the manufacturer of spokes. He was born in Weakley county, Tennes- see, October 27, 1869. He is a son of T. I. and Sarah (Roberts) Little, both residents of' Ten- nessee, being natives of Kentucky and Tennes- see, respectively. T. I. Little has always been and is still actively interested in spoke manu- facturing and banking. Both are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. There were eight children boim to them, viz. : J. D. (deceased), T. M., J. W., Kos, Mrs. Maud (Jeter), Maggie (deceased). Dr. R. M. and Mrs. Mary Gray (Banks). Kos Little was educated in his native county and after his schooling was ended he spent two years in the United States Revenue Service ; then moved to Paducah, Kentucky, and engaged with his brother, J. W. Little, in manufactur- ing spokes. His father and three older broth- ers are all engaged in the spoke manufactur- ing business. He learned all about the busi- ness, learning how to select the timber, how to cut it and move it to the factory. He used hickory ahnost exclusively for his spokes. He was in the business with his brother in Pad- ucah for eight years, coming to Kennett in 1901 to establish a plant here. He sells about thirty thousand dollars worth of spokes each year, manufacturing buggy, carriage and au- tomobile spokes, all made of hickory. He em- ploys thirty men and his expenses for operat- ing are about twenty-five thousand dollars a year. In addition to this business he is presi- dent of the Merchant Oil Company of Ken- nett, selling oil for tanks, etc. He is vice president of the Kennett Building and Loan Association, which is doing a great deal for Kennett. He owns some town property, on •^'hicli he puts up the buildings. He is inter- ested in educational work and has served on the city board. Mr. Little married Mary Jones in Green- field, Tennessee. November 7, 1894, and one daughter, Louise, has been born to the union. When Mr. Little takes a vacation, he gen- erally spends it at Dawson Spring, Kentucky. George Henry Bisplinghopf. Three years ago (in 1908) when George Henry Bispliug- hoff, editor and publisher of The Bisfiiarck Gazette, first secured control of that newspa- per, he had the distinction of being the youngest newspaper proprietor in the state of Missouri. Now, although but twenty-four years of age, he has manifested that he is of the stuff of which the ideal member of the Fourth Estate is made. The Gazette is inter- esting, reliable, sound and advanced in its views and is experiencing a steady growth. ]lr. Bisplinghoff is loyal to Bismarck with the loyalty of a native son, for it was within its borders that his birth occurred on Febru- ary 10, 1887. His father, Henry Bispling- hotf, was born in Wayne county, ]Iissouri, in 1858, and is of German descent. The grand- father, August Bisplinghoff, was, in truth, one of the early settlers of the state. He was born in Elberfeldt, Germany, in 1829, and came to the "land of promise" — America — in early life, locating in Missouri and engag- ing first in surveying and then devoting his energies to farming. He was never elected to the position of government surveyor, but was appointed to the same by Governor Brown. This interesting and honored gen- tleman, who is now eighty-two years of age, divides his residence between Bismarck and Frederiektown, and although advanced in yeai-s still retains his physical and mental faculties in much of their pristine vigor. The father of the subject came to Missouri just previous to the Civil war and settled in Pat- terson, in whose vicinity the grandfather conducted a farm. In 1885, some two yeai-s before the birth of the subject, he removed to Bismarck, where he still resides. He mar- ried Cornelia Jordan, daughter of William Jordan, of Potosi, and to their union eight children were born, six of whom are living, George Henry being the second in order of birth of the living children. The father since becoming identified with Bismarck has been engaged in the drug and general merchandise bu.siness. He is one of the stalwart Demo- crats of the county and is affiliated with the Court of Honor, while the family is con- nected with the Methodist Episcopal church, South. The early life of George Henry Bispling- hoff was passed in Bismarck and to the schools of the eitv is he indebted for his ed-