HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 643 fortified aud with greater capabilities thau when he entered it. The mind of the young fellow had been busy with the great question of a future vocation and it was finally solved in favor of medicine. His first studies were pursued under the direction of Dr. Bridgeford in Union and he subsequently became a student in the old jMarion Sims Jledical College in St. Louis, which later on was to be incor- porated in the St. Louis University. He received his degree in 1897 and his first lo- cation for professional work was in Sioux City, Iowa, where for two years he had charge of a hospital. Following this he spent six months in Cherokee, Iowa, and a like period in St. Louis before coming to his home town and entering the practice here. In 1898 he took a post-graduate course in the institution from which he had received his degree, it being his laudable ambition to keep abreast of the strides in discovery made constantly iu his particular field. Since 1898 he has been occupied with his professional duties and with unconsciously coi-nering the medical business of the county seat. It will scarcely be doubted that there is not to be found a busier young physician in all Mis- souri. Dr. Stierberger holds membership in the Franklin County Medical Society, in the Missouri State Medical Society, aud in the American Medical Association. He is local surgeon for the Rock Island Railway Com- pany at Union and belongs to the Association of Railway Surgeons. Nor is his activity limited by his pi-ofession, for he has sub- stantial business connections, these confined chiefly to financial- investments. He is a stockholder of both the Bank of Union and the Citizens' Bank and is vice-president and a director of the former. In politics Dr. Stierberger acts with the dominant party of Franklin county. He asserts himself as a good citizen should when questions of public policy come up for ad- justment at the polls or elsewhere, but has never manifested ambition for public office himself. His social proclivities are such that he finds great pleasure in his lodge re- lations, which extend to the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen. He is unmarried. Charles F. Bidewell. In 1851 Henry Bidewell came to Bollinger county from En- gland. He acquired a farm of two hundred and forty acres in that county and only in- terrupted his pursuit of agriculture to fight in the Union army. He married Lucrecia Killion, a native of Missouri, and they had eleven children. Charles F. is the second of the eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, of whom but four are living, the two sisters being married and are now Mrs. W. H. Hobbs, of Stoddard county, Missouri, and Mrs. Arthur George, also of Stoddard county. Their home farms join similarly to those of the brothers, Charles and George Bidewell. Mr. Charles Bidewell was born December 9, 1871, in Bollinger county, and lived on his father's farm until he was twenty-three years of age. A year later his father died, and Charles disposed of his share of the estate to his brother George, whose life ap- pears elsewhere in this volume. He then bought fifty-one acres of land near Dongola, to which he soon added two hundred and fifty-one and a half acres. At present he farms three hundred and two and a half acres. On this large estate he carries on general farming and stock raising. Mr. Bidewell was married in 1895 to Miss Ursula Simpkins, whose parents, Rufus and Flora Simpkins, are natives of Indiana. Four boys and one girl were born to Ursula and Charles Bidewell, who are still living. The daughter, Nora, was born in 1901. The names and dates of birth of the sons are as follows: Walter A., 1896; Ora G., 1905; Leamon, 1908; Elvin, 1910. A popular and public-spirited citizen, Mr. Bidewell is a member of the Masonic order and of the Modern Woodmen. He is a com- municant of the General Baptist church. While in no sense a politician, Mr. Bidewell holds the political faith of his father and is a Republican. J. AV. Sexton. Does Dunklin county go a hunting, it asks J. W. Sexton to be its master. Does it require a competent, hon- orable man to look after its funds it elects J. W. Sexton. Is it asked for one of its most up-to-date farmers, J. W. Sexton is the man it names. Are the Democrats looking for some one to fill the office of clerk of the county court, J. W. Sexton is the obvious
