in some parts of the county and is mined for home use. Mineral paint, fire clay and limestone, the latter excellent for lime manufacture or building, exist in considerable quantities. Wheat, corn, oats, hay, live stock, poultry, butter, eggs and fruits comprise the principal products. The average yield per acre of the different cereals are: Corn, 33 bushels; wheat, 12 bushels; oats, 22 bushels. According to the report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics the surplus products shipped from the county in 1898 were: Cattle, 4,300 head; hogs, 23,200 head; sheep, 320 head; horses and mules, 780 head; wheat, 93 bushels; oats, 13,500 bushels; corn, 225,000 bushels; hay, 408,000 pounds; timothy seed, 58,000 pounds; lumber, 32,000 feet; potatoes, 667 bushels; poultry, 135,000 pounds; eggs, 9,867 dozen; butter, 113,020 pounds; vegetables, 6,000 pounds. Other articles exported were cheese, game and fish, hides and pelts, furs and feathers.

According to the most reliable authority there was no permanent settlement made in the territory that is now Worth County until 1840, when one Lott settled in the northeastern part at the place later known as Lott's Grove. In 1844 a number of families who had for some time lived in Platte County settled upon land near Lott's Grove. Among them were the families of John Fletchall, Peter Vasser, Adam Black, Freeman O. Smith and Daniel Cox. For a number of years the population of the section increased slowly. The pioneers, like all advance guards of civilization, were a hardy class, and were forced to undergo many privations. They had neither mills nor stores within many miles, and they prepared their corn for food by means of the mortar and the grater, and the celebrated "corn dodger," with wild honey and game, was the chief diet. After 1820 for many years what is now Worth County was part of Ray. When Clinton County was organized it included all of what is now Worth, and later it was made a part of Gentry, in which county it remained until February 8, 1861, when it was organized as a separate county, and was named in honor of General William J. Worth, prominent as a commander of United States troops in the Mexican War. Owing to the breaking out of the Civil War the county machinery was not placed in perfect working order until the close of hostilities. Grant City, selected for the

county seat and named in honor of General U. S. Grant, was not laid out until 1864, and a few years later a courthouse was built. As late as 1853 a tribe of Indians resided in the county. In that year they removed to their reservation in Iowa. After the close of the war there was a healthful increase in the population of the county, which has since continued. The early settlers were prosperous, steady workers, and nearly all, by industry and economy, accumulated wealth. The county never contracted any great amount of debt, and for many years has been entirely free from it. During the Civil War, Worth County was one of the strong Union counties of Missouri, and supplied many soldiers to the Federal Army. The county is divided six townships, named, respectively, Allen, Fletchall, Greene, Middlefork, Smith and Union. There are 15.57 miles of railroad in the county, the Chicago Great Western passing through the northwestern portion, and a branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy running from the northern boundary line east of the center to Grant City. The number of public schools in the county in 1899 was sixty-eight; teachers employed, 77; pupils enumerated, 3,246. The population of the county in 1900 was 9,832.

Wright, Curtis, who has been prominently identified with the development of the building stone industry in southwest Missouri, was born March 6, 1824, in Canton, Fulton County, Illinois, son of William Wilberforce and Anna M. (Creighton) Wright. His father, who was born April 3, 1820, in New Hampshire, and was all his life a farmer by occupation, was descended from an ancestor who came to America with the Puritans from Coventry, England. Members of this family figured conspicuously in the Revolutionary War, and founded branches in Boston, Massachusetts; Cincinnati, Ohio, and elsewhere, which have had representatives distinguished in letters and commerce. Nathan Hale, the patriot who suffered death as a spy during the Revolutionary War, was closely related to the Wright family, and Admiral George Dewey, the hero of our latest war, is a second cousin of the father of Curtis Wright. Mr. Wright's mother was born in the little city of Cavan, County Cavan, Ireland, March 29, 1820. She was the daughter of John Creighton, Esq., who came with

his family to America in 1828, settling first at Chillicothe, Ohio, and removing later to Canton, Illinois. The Creighton and Fox families of Ireland, from both of which Mrs. Wright was descended, were distinguished adherents of the Protestant Church, and both were specially honored by Queen Elizabeth. In his boyhood Curtis Wright attended the public schools of Stark County, Illinois, and he was a student in Toulon Academy when the Civil War began. Discontinuing his studies, he enlisted, in 1862, in the One Hundred and Twelfth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel T. H. Henderson, in a company of which his father, William W. Wright, was captain. During his period of service his regiment was first a part of the Army of the Ohio, participating in all the operations attending the occupation of East Tennessee, and later was attached to the Army of the Cumberland in the Atlanta and the Atlanta-Nashville campaigns, taking part in thirty-three recorded engagements. Mr. Wright was twice wounded. In May, 1864, in the battle of Resaca, Georgia, his father was wounded, and died a few days later. This sad event so disturbed young Wright that he could not bear the thought of remaining with the company, and he accepted an opportune proffer of detail on detached service in the subsistence department at Knoxville, Tennessee, as chief clerk to Captain James Stover, and later to his successor, Captain John A. McMurray, U. S. A. Later, Chief Clerk Wright served with Captain George W. Roby, commissary of subsistence, in charge of a division station at Greenville, Tennessee, with whom he remained until the close of the war. His duties in this position were delicate and responsible. At times his chief was ill or upon duty elsewhere, and to his discretion was committed the disbursement of many thousands of dollars in money for purchase of supplies, where he was under no legal responsibility, and with none whose judgment he might call to his aid. His labors were highly commended by his superiors, who proposed his retention in the regular service at the close of the war, but he declined all such overtures. He was mustered out of service June 28, 1865, and at once went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he entered the employ of the Indianapolis, Cincinnati & Lafayette Railway Company, occupying various positions from that of bill

clerk to the superintendency of telegraphs for the White Water Valley and Fort Wayne branches of the road named, and of the Muncie & Cincinnati Railroad. After nine years service he resigned and removed to Connersville, Indiana, where he was engaged for ten years in the manufacture of furniture. In 1888 he removed to Carthage, Missouri, and with others opened up the Troup zinc and lead mine, this marking the first substantial development of the Prosperity mining camp. In 1892 the property was disposed of, bringing $150,000, this being one of the first large sales of such holdings. The same year Mr. Wright, with other parties, engaged in the stone quarry business which is now carried on by the Carthage Stone Company, of which he is president. This firm first placed upon the general market the superb product which has entered into the construction of so many notable buildings in various parts of the West, the courthouse in Carthage being the first. In addition to his duties with this company, Mr. Wright is also president of the Carthage Dimension and Flag Stone Company, incorporated in 1899. The former named company is principally engaged in quarrying and manufacturing, while the latter company places the products on the market. Mr. Wright is owner of large tracts of mining lands in the neighborhood of Carthage. In politics he is a staunch Republican, but has never given attention to party management or sought a public office. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and has been an elder for fifteen years; in former days he was quite active in Sunday school work. He was married, November 4, 1869, to Miss Nira Koogler, daughter of Dr. Adam Koogler, of Connersville, Indiana. She is a lady of fine literary attainments, and formerly gave much attention to music, in which art she attained great proficiency. She was educated at the excellent female seminary at Oxford, Ohio. She is highly connected, and is a niece of the late General George Crook, of the United States Army. Of this marriage nine children were born, of whom one died in infancy. Bessie Creighton is now the wife of Robert C. Briggs, a lawyer of Taylor, Texas; Nira, a graduate of the Carthage high school, resides at home; Matilda, a highly accomplished elocutionist and a graduate of the Chicago School of Oratory, is the wife of George C. Hench, connected with the Asso

ciated Press in Chicago; Curtis was educated at Hanover, Indiana, and Worcester, Ohio; in 1896 he engaged in his father's stone quarry, and the following year superintended the cut stone work on the courthouse at Hermann, Missouri; in April, 1897, he became assistant secretary and general manager of the Carthage Dimension and Flag Stone Company; he also operates prospect drilling machinery on his own account, and for customers; he is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and of the Phi Gamma Delta college society; Nathaniel Fox, a graduate of the Carthage high school, is a student at the School of Mines at Rolla; Marion Lucy is a student at the Carthage Collegiate Institute; William W. is a student in the Carthage high school, and Robert in the preparatory grade high school. All the daughters are excellent musicians and fine vocalists. The mother is an active member of the oldest literary club of Carthage, the N. N. C. Mr. Wright gives careful personal attention to his business concerns, without allowing it to encroach upon his domestic comforts or his personal improvement. For some years past he has been deeply interested in reading chemistry, geology and mineralogy, studies to which he has been led by his deep desire for the acquisition of all attainable knowledge concerning those treasures in nature's storehouse with which so great a part of his active life has been occupied.

Wright, Edward Clarence, lawyer, was born October 16, 1863, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His parents were William and Ellen (Brennan) Wright, who came to America from England in 1847, locating in New England. The father rose to a position of social and political prominence in Cambridge, and held various public offices there. Edward C. Wright received his preliminary education in the public schools of Cambridge. He then entered Harvard University, and graduated in 1886 with the degree of bachelor of arts, and in 1889 from the law department of the same institution with the degree of bachelor of laws. While attending the university he was a close student, held positions of credit and honor in his classes, and paid especial attention to studies involving research, such as questions of land titles and. constitutional law. These investigations have been faithfully followed during the years of

his law practice, and he has established a firm reputation along the lines indicated by his early preferences. Before leaving law school Mr. Wright was admitted to practice in Massachusetts, at the Suffolk bar. In September, 1889, he removed to Kansas City, Missouri, and immediately entered upon a good practice. He was the attorney for the Lombard Investment Company, of Kansas City, from 1891 until September, 1893, and for the receivers of the same company until the settlement of the company's affairs. He also served as general counsel of the Concordia Loan & Trust Company. He practiced with the Honorable Edward P. Gates until the latter's election as circuit judge of Jackson County. Mr. Wright then practiced in association with Mr. Frank Hagerman, of Kansas City, until 1899, since which time he has practiced alone. His work in the profession is made up largely of the examination of land titles and municipal securities and cases involving matters of like importance. He has charge of a good number of equity cases involving abstruse questions, and is employed largely by other lawyers at the Kansas City bar to assist in the preparation and trial of such cases. He is employed locally by two railway companies centering in Kansas City for the disposition and adjustment of all legal matters excepting injury cases. Wright has a particularly heavy practice in realty law, and probably examines more titles to land than any other lawyer in Kansas City. Politically he is a Democrat. His first vote was cast for Grover Cleveland in 1884, and in 1896 he gave his support to the candidates of the Gold Democratic party. Mr. Wright is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in which he held several minor official positions during his residence in Massachusetts. He was married in June, 1891, to Miss Annie Glines Porter, daughter of Louis Chandler Porter, of St. Johnsburg, Vermont, a direct descendant of John Porter, who settled in Connecticut in 1640. Seven of Mrs. Wright's ancestors, in direct line, fought in the Revolutionary War upon the American side, and two of her ancestors were active participants in the War of 1812. The blood of the Porters is of the best in New England, and an unblemished family record marks the history of its successive generations. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have three sons and one daughter. Mr. Wright, although a young

Mr.