19 Sep 1891--SPECIAL EDITION ABOUT THE TOWN OF HIGBEE--A GOOD WORKMAN--He Does Work for Men All Along the Line of the "Katy."--Thomas Carter possesses an enviable reputation as a maker of boots and shoes. So good is the work turned out by him that there is scarcely a station on the line of the M. K. & T., between Hannibal and Sedalia, and the C. & A. between Higbee and Kansas City that does not patronize his shop. Last year he was burned out and lost everything he had, and is deserving of the patronage of the entire community. He is located on Division between Randolph and Railroad streets. 19 Sep 1891--SPECIAL EDITION ABOUT THE TOWN OF HIGBEE--GRADUATE IN 1864--Dr. Dysart Has Been Practicing Medicine Twenty-Seven Years.--Dr. L. Dysart, whose office is on Division street, immediately east of Central Hotel, has been engaged in the continuous practice of medicine for twenty-seven years. In 1861 Dr. Dysart entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, and took his first course of lectures. His second course was taken at the University of Iowa, from which he graduated in the spring of 1863. Immediately following his graduation he located at Renick where he practiced medicine for several years. In 1865 he was united in marriage to Miss Anna M. Yates, a daughter of Geo. Yates of Moniteau township. Mrs. Dysart was educated at Fayette, Howard county, and is a lady of superior intelligence and culture. Removing from Renick to Higbee several years ago Dr. Dysart has been practicing in Randolph and Howard counties and has been extremely successful, and is in possession of a comfortable fortune. Possessed of a clear mind, cool judgment, long experience and study, he has risen to an enviable place in his profession, and as a citizen is one of the most prominent in this section. 19 Sep 1891--SPECIAL EDITION ABOUT THE TOWN OF HIGBEE--ALWAYS IN THE LEAD--The New York Dry Goods and Clothing House of Ben Levy. As stated before in another article in this paper, it is not our mission to institute comparisons, but to present the main features and chief attraction of the several houses in the city, and this issue would not be complete without giving the reader some idea of the New York Dry Goods and Clothing house of Ben Levy. More properly speaking it should be called the "palace store," as it is the most handsomely finished business house in the interior in the city. At considerable expense and great inconvenience to business Mr. Levy has had the whole of the inside of the building rebuilt and rearranged, The old floors were taken out and new ones laid upon good, solid joists, and the plastering overhead has been replaced by the very best of hard pine ceiling, and other improvements have been made. Always on the alert for business Mr. Levy stands in the front rank as a progressive citizen, and an honorable, upright business man. He is liberal in his views on public questions and liberal in his dealings with his patrons. He has been in business so long that nearly every one in Randolph county knows something about his manner of doing business and the kind of goods he carries. They know that the reputation of the New York Dry goods and Clothing house is first-class and that there is nothing in the way of dry goods, clothing, boots and shoes that cannot be purchased there at prices equally as low, if not lower, than from any of his competitors. Mr. Levy has the advantage of knowing just when and how to buy goods to get bargains and his customers are given the benefit of his knowledge. His stock is always complete, but this season the fall and winter lines will be much larger than heretofore and of the very best quality manufactured. With the improvements made in his store rooms, and the large additions made to all lines of goods, the New York Dry goods and Clothing (rest torn off). 19 Sep 1891--SPECIAL EDITION ABOUT THE TOWN OF HIGBEE--(Note, the first part of this article is unreadable, so I will start where words can be read.) Worth a Million.....One of the most.....men who ever......T. J. Moss.......book containing hundreds of....It is full of more...showing that a man can do in Free American where every man is a king. Started in life without a cent, with no education nor the means of paying for tuition, his history is replete with self-sacrifice that would well adorn the pages of the biographies of heroes. He was born in the obscurity, was subject to all the struggles incident to a life of poverty and orphanage, but by persistent effort and uncompromising will power is now one of the most independent men in the great state of Missouri financially speaking. Left an orphan at the age of six years he was thrown upon the care of his brother-in-law who was little better off than he. When he was nine years of age he and his guardian relative emigrated to Missouri and landed in Moniteau township without a cent, or in the language of the present generation, "dead broke." For years he worked at anything he could get to do, and always being faithful to his trust succeeded in saving some money. With his little savings he went to Fayette, yearning for a knowledge of the business methods of the world and a determination to secure it all hazards. He entered Central College when in his teens and studied and worked faithfully for two years, paying for his tuition from the fruits of his previous toil and while going to school. His sacrifices were many. An education he was determined to have at the cost of physical and personal enjoyment. Being possessed of an unusually bright mind his education was rapid and at the end of his second year he left the college for his old home in Tennessee and taught school for a year, and was very successful. At least he succeeded in pleasing the patrons of the school and endearing himself to his pupils. Returning to Missouri in May, 1878, he engaged in the tie business. Being a young man of good address he soon succeeded in making contracts with several railroad companies, and with a capital of only six hundred dollars launched out to make his fortune. He was so successful in all his deals that in 1879 he bought an interest in the general merchandise establishment of John M. and G. R. Rennolds at Higbee and both gentlemen became partners of his in the tie trade. The partnership ran along for three years when he bought out the interests of his partners and ran both branches of his business on his own account for four years. In 1886 he purchased 40,000 acres of timber land in Stoddard county, Missouri, and had the timber made into ties and bridge timber, establishing seven saw mills and operating from five to seven general stores at different points. During all this time he made Higbee his headquarters and had his general office here with branch offices located in various states. In 1888 his business had assumed such proportions that he was compelled to place his office in a more central location to his vast business and he removed it to St. Louis and in a room of the Bank of Commerce building, where it still remains. As his tie and timber business grew so did his wealth, and with both increased facilities for transporting the products of the forest became necessary and he invested large sums of money in steamboat and packet lines. He now owns the steamer Idlewild and has an interest in several packets that ply on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and seven tenths of the stock in a new railway line that is being built from Paducah, Kentucky to Birmingham, Alabama, ninety miles of which are already completed. Last year he had a force of men at work in Utah cutting the timber from 30,000 acres of land, and smaller forces at work in Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas and Southeast Missouri. Today Mr. Moss is accredited with being the largest timber and tie contractor in the United States. The average reader would suppose that to be as successful as has been Mr. Moss that he would be what the world calls "stingy". But such is not the case. He is one of the most liberal of men, and there are at least three churches in Higbee that are under obligations to him for generous donations to aid in their building. Mr. Moss was born in Wayne county, Tennessee, in 1857, and his career has been a most remarkable one, as he is now only thirty-four years of age and is worth a clean million of dollars, all made by his own efforts and sagacity. His history is one that shows what can be done by any man who possesses the indomitable will and energy of Mr. Moss. Every inhabitant of Higbee and Moniteau township has a warm place in his or her heart for him, not because of his wealth and success in life, but for his intrinsic worth as a man. Kathy Bowlin, Additions, corrections, comments welcome.