Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/811

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
751
751

HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOUEI 701 Kansas City, special agent for the London and Lancashire Insurance Company. Guy F. Kahmann, our subject, was born in Franklin county, Missouri, September 6, 1858, the son of Christopher H. and Anna (Mense) Kahmann. He received a sure foundation for whatever business he chose to adopt in hav- ing received good educational advantages, than which there is no greater heritage. He entered Pio Nono College in 1873 in IMilwau- kee, Wisconsin, and completed the commer- cial training in that college to prepare him for practical life. As above stated, he be- came a member of the firm of C. H. Kah- mann & Son, of which lais father was the founder in 1856, and continued in this busi- ness until 1887, carrying on the business him- self some four years after his father's de- mise. After the abajidonment of this pork- packing industry he associated himself with the firm of H. Tibbe & Son Manufacturing Company, the predecessors of the Missouri Meerschaum Company of Washington, and was its secretary and treasurer for nearly a quarter of a century, his ability and value in this concern being evidenced by the length of time of his association with it. The First National Bank of Washington was oi'ganized by E. C. Stuart, of Cape Gir- ardeau, in 1900, and in 1910 our subject was chosen cashier, succeeding Mr. E. C. Stuart, who is now connected with the Third National Bank of St. Louis, at which time he severed his connection with the Missouri Meerschaum Company. The other officials of the bank are : A. Kahmann, president, and E. C. Stuart and E. H. Otto, vice-presidents. Its capital stock and surplus is at the present time, 1911, $38,000.00, and deposits, $250,000.00, and its board of directors comprise some of the most successful business men of Washington and community. This bank is a sound and safe moneyed institution of this part of Missouri. Mr. Guy F. Kahmann was united in the holy bonds of wedlock with Miss Regina Wel- lenkamp, a native daughter of Franklin county, this marriage being solenmized in Washington on the 11th of September, 1883, and Mrs. Kahmann being the daughter of Henry and Katharine (Menkhaus) Wellen- kamp, the former an eai-ly merchant of Wash- ington. To this union have been born six children, as follows: Walter H., assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Wash- ington; Regina; Leander, who is with the Roberts, Johnson & Rand Shoe Company of St. Louis ; Raj'mond J. ; Othmar M. ; and Rosa L., deceased. While Mr. Kahmann has never desired to avail himself of the honors or emoluments of office, he has ever kept in touch with party politics, and is firmly allied on the side of the Democratic party. He devotes much time to his family and his friends, and con- sequently has not found leisure to join any fraternal organizations. The Kahmann family are members of the Catholic church. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Kahmann is one of the most pleasant and hospitable in Washington, and the latch-string is always out not only to their friends but to any one in distress or trouble. Samuel Thojias McGee is one of the prominent farmer-citizens of Bollinger county and he is also a veteran of the Civil war, his military record in the great conflict being a thrilling one whose reeountal has brought to many a youthful cheek the glow of interest and enthusiasm. He is a native son of Missouri, his birth having occurred in Washington county on the 2nd day of I'eb- ruary, 18'42, and his parents were Samuel and Elvira (Thompson) McGee, both natives of the state. The scene of the father's birth was Washington county and that of the mother's Cape Girardeau. He is of Irish de- scent, both his paternal grandparents having claimed Erin as their birthplace. Their names were Felix and Elizabeth McGee. The great-grandfather, Patrick McGee, was also a native of Ireland, as was his wife, Rosa. His great-grandfather Dennis was bom, lived and died in Ireland. The birth dates of the father and mother of Mr. McGee were 1813 and 1815. Mr. McGee was reared upon a farm and has spent almost his entire life amid rural surroundings. A young man less than twenty years of age at the outbreak of the Civil war, he was none the less one of the first to enlist, in 1861 joining Company B. Sixth Missouri Infantry under the command of William Te- cumseh Sherman, and Captain John W. Fletcher, as a member of the First Brigade, Second Division of the Fifteenth Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee. A brief re- sume of his service includes many of the great and decisive events of the struggle be- tween the states. He was in the engagement at Chickaisaw Bayou. Mississippi, when Shei-- man was repulsed ; the battle of Arkansas