Charley Parker shared his wealth

Business was good to Charley and he became quite wealthy just as had planned to do. But Charley didn't forget how it felt to be without, so he shared his wealth with the poor. He gave out free meals to the down-and-out miner and helped many a young family get started with a roof over their heads.

Before Charley passed away in 1911 at the age of 58, bad luck had found him. Charley died in poverty. I wonder if any of those who Charley had befriended with a meal, home or just some spare change; was there to give Charley a helping hand?
A Quaker moved west before coming back

to be Alba School Superintendent

Published January 22, 1993

After the Civil War when the Quakers were migrating to Southwest Missouri and Southeast Kansas, one of those pioneers was named Daniel Brown Hayes. Daniel was born in 1842 to an Indiana farm couple. Their family had been a pioneer family that had traveled from North Carolina in opposition to slavery. They later moved to Iowa to continue their farming. So pioneering was in Daniel's blood when be made the trek to Southwest Missouri, to join with the Spring River Friends Association.

Daniel had four wives throughout his lifetime and they were all named Mary. Being of the Quaker religion, Daniel named his daughters Grace, Mercy, Peace, Hope, Faith and Charity. His sons were Grover, Truman and Albert.

Daniel and his fourth wife, Mary Smith Hayes went to live in Colorado Springs, where Daniel passed away in 1919. Daniel's son, Truman came back to the area in 1923 and became the Superintendent of the Alba School.

Truman was a well-known educator. He coached, taught agriculture and directed the orchestra and glee clubs. While he was superintendent, he helped the school through the difficult period of consolidation and was responsible for the building of the gymnasium.

It wasn't all work and no play for Truman, he enjoyed many pastime activities, including fishing and music. His term of Superintendent ended in 1929 and Truman moved on to teach school in Webb City.

Truman and Etta had eight children; William S., Truman Daniel, Robert B., Mary Helen Albrecht, Elizabeth G., Homer E., Larry K., and Elma June Meyer. And all of their children went on to become well known in the academic circles.

Once again, there was something magnetic about the Alba area that was a drawing card to bring one of its residents back from the west to live within the boundaries of Alba.
The Barkleys

Published January 29, 1993

Joseph and Rachel Alice Barkley, along with their one-year-old son, Clive O. Barkley, moved from Joplin to a farm on Northfork, about five miles northeast of Alba in 1884. Within the next two years, two daughters were born to Joseph and Rachel, Olga in 1885 and Alne in 1887.

Meanwhile, on a neighboring farm, two miles north of Alba, Walter and Lou Creech Jenkins were starting their family of five girls, Elsie, May, Arnie, Irene, Ruth and one son named Clarence.

The Jenkins oldest daughter Elsi attended Coonfoot School and graduated from the new high school in Alba. She went on to attend the Normal Training School in Springfield. Elsie taught two terms at Coonfoot and one term at Neck City.

On May 29, 1912, Clive Barkley and Elsie Jenkins were married in the Jenkins home. They started their married life in Preston. Clive cut and sold timber to the area mines. Later, he became a farmer and then decided on this lifetime career of a drilling contractor.

Clive and Elsie had five children, Gerald, Alice, Lavo, Paul, and Melvin.

Clive passed away on August 18, 1962 and Elsie lived until February 23, 1978. Both were laid to rest in the Paradise Cemetery, three miles south of Jasper.

In 1908, Clyde and Nettie moved to a farm west of Purcell and built their home with lumber located on the farm. The children went to school in Purcell during their elementary years and Carthage for high school.

The first born, Chester, spent most of his 74 years in Purcell. He was in the Medical Corps in World War I, taking his Army medical training in Fort Dodge, Des Moines, Iowa. Chester served our country as a nurse and ambulance driver in France. After the Army released him, Chester worked in the mines at Neck City before moving on to Picher, Oklahoma to work as a hoisterman in the mines. In 1923, he married Mary A. Irwin of Lawton, Kansas and they had four children, Merle, Bill, Shanice, and Shirley Ann. After the death of his father, Chester bought the old home place that his parents and worked so hard to build and farm.

Clyde and Nettie's second child was Merrill E. Baker, born November 26, 1900. Like Chester, Merrill spent most of his lifetime in the Purcell area except for the time he spent serving our country in World War II as a tank expert. In 1940, Merrill married Barbara Henderson Pattison of Purcell. They had two children, Stanley and Charlotte. Barbara passed away while the children were small. Merrill's mother, Nettie assisted in taking care of the children and making a happy homelife for them. Merrill worked the mines until they closed and then worked as Chief Mechanic for Independent Gravel Company. The mining era may have been over, but Merrill kept them alive in his writings. He loved to write about the men and the working days in the mines.

Clyde and Nettie's youngest child, Florence Helen attended elementary school in Purcell, with the first year being at Sunnyside School. She also attended high school in Carthage. She married Robert A. Elliot, July 9, 1921 and they had three children, Robert, Maxine, and Mildred.

It was one more family of the Alba, Purcell, Neck City area that continued to stay and enjoy the good neighbors, the small town community and the beautiful atmosphere of the Tri-City area.

While there have been several Webb Citians in this century who have contributed greatly to our society or have excelled in their fields, I would have to consider W. Alton Jones to be one of our most distinguished citizens.

Mr. Jones was born in 1891 near Webb City. After graduation from the Webb City High School, as an honor student, he attended Vanderbilt University. He started work in 1912 with Cities Service in Webb City and was promoted to the Joplin Office two years later. In 1921, he was transferred to New York. He became a member of the executive committee of the company in 1922. He was named the first Vice-president in 1927 and President in 1940.

He was chairman of the Petroleum Council during World War II and was largely responsible for the speedy construction of the Big Inch and Little Inch pipelines. These pipelines had a major impact on getting larger volumes of fuel and oil to the east coast during the war, thereby allowing industry to produce war material and supplying the Allied Forces with petroleum. Prior to their completion, many oil and fuel tankers were subject to U-boat attacks and it was difficult to obtain fuel where it was needed. These were mammoth projects, which involved construction over more than half the length of the continent, employing thousands of workers and to my knowledge, was completed in only nine months. The results had a major impact on turning the tide of the war in favor of the Allies.

For many years, he served on the Board of Trustees of the Presbyterian Hospital in New York. During that time, he subsidized numerous interns and resident physicians who without this aid could not have completed their work. When the W. Alton Jones Foundation was established in 1946, one of its purposes was to aid in the establishment and support of programs of medical research and education. Mr. Jones had a deep concern for the welfare of his fellow men and possessed the rare ability to recognize the talents of others and an eagerness to provide the right environment for all the full realization of those talents.

Mr. Jones had a magnetic personality and a remarkable capacity for making friends, from pipeline workers to heads of state. He became a close and personal friend of President Eisenhower, but tragically he was enroute to join President Eisenhower for a golfing vacation in 1962, when his plane crashed and he was killed.

I had heard of W. Alton Jones when I was growing up in Webb City, but frankly, only knew a vague story that he had given several large gifts to establish the very first Endowed Chair in the School of Medicine in 1965. This chair is the W.Alton Jones Distinguished Professor and Chairman of Surgery.

The most recent chairman is Dr. Donald Silver, who retired in July. My position as a surgery supervisor at the University Hospital in Columbia has allowed me the opportunity and good fortune to work with Dr. Silver, who for 23 years has represented the Jones Chair at the University with honor and provided outstanding leadership in that capacity. Dr. Silver became a very knowledgeable student of the life and work of W. Alton Jones and I found it interesting that he was always proud to maintain on his letterhead and to sign all of his official correspondence as the "W.Alton Jones Distinguished Professor and Chairman of Surgery." He also maintained a display case in his office of various memorabilia of Mr. Jones and information regarding the chair.

I hope this information is of some interest to your readers. And I hope that the people of Webb City can take some pride in learning about one of their own from out of the past, as well as this association with the university, which is a part of their heritage and history that most may not have known about.

Thanks so much Mr. Kamler for taking the time to share such a wonderful memory with us. There have been many, who have left our city to go on to make a name for themselves and sometimes…they are forgotten. Thanks for shining the spotlight on a great man who deserves to be remembered.
In a 1908 annual, under the name of Alton Jones is a little verse:

He dares to do what he thinks is right:

Whatever he does, he does with his might.

Editor's note: There's an Internet Web site about W.Alton Jones and Nettie Marie Jones located at: http://www.igc.apc.org/wajones/

Webb City High School Annual (1922)