The Missouri herald., 1922-05-05
SHELLEY l. STILES ANNOUNCES
FOR PROSECUTING ATTORNEY

ty, namely Dunklin.
| Young George l. Coleman had al
advantage over the majority of thf
settlers in the little town of Lint
dale, for his father was believer In
in the value of education, and sent
his son to college before leaving Vir-
ginia--a very unusual privilege in
those early days when college edu-
cation was looked upon as luxury
in reach of only the well-to-do.
The effect of these educational ad-
vantages were evident in the career
of George l. Coleman in his new
home, not only better fitting him
for success in his business under
taking, but giving him position of
prominence in his community. He
was elected sheriff and collector in
this county, where he served with
credit and was distinguished for his
| good judgment and sound common
sense, and / am told that he travelled
the country by mule-back and took
fur skins as pay for taxes.
Like many other settlers in the
middle west, the close of the Civil
War, which freed the negroes and
paralyzed the industrial and com
mercial system Of the South, found
George I. Coleman in possession of
many acres of land but without
means of making them productive
or, as he termed it, land poor"
AS l stated before, he had taken a
wife in his new home, in the name
and person of Elizabeth McClanahan
and to this union was born my moth
er, God bless her, for as Bryant has
stated it, "The last bitter hour,
came to her several years ago. AS
there were few schools in the county
at that time, her father, George |.
Coleman, sent my mother, Lula Coie-
man, to Louisville, Kentucky, ii be
educated When she had completed
her course she did not seek her home
in a more developed country, but
came back to her old home in Penn
iscot county to serve it's people in
the capacity of school teacher.
After few years, in which her
influence left an indelible impress
for good upon the minds Of the
younger generation of her communi-
ty, she met and married my father,
William c. Stiles, who came from
Kentucky, and saw in the earliest
young school teacher those qualities
of mind and heart which led him to
choose her as his companion for life.
Of this union I was born, and us
my mother continued to teach school
for some years after her marriage,
some of my earliest and most happy
recollections are of the days when
my mother-who was also my school
teacher-and / used to drive to
school together, not to the little red
brick school, but to the old log
school house on the bank of the
Mississippi river.
We sometimes stopped by the way
to gather berries or wild flowers, or
paused to watch the squirrels that |
scampered the trunks of the trees
and swung themselves from branch
to branch, and my mother would |
gather leaves that brushed against
our buggy as we passed and would
point out to me the difference in
their shapes and markings, thus
giving me my first lessons In botany
At the end of the day, as we drove
I nestled down beside
her in perfect content, and dreamily
listened to the chirping of the katy.
dds in the depths of the darkening
woods and the grating of the sand
against the wheels, until sometimes
fell asleep and knew no more until
/ was lifted out of the buggy at our
own doorsteps.
iOOh DdSh upOh IHOSe uuyS dS lIe
happiest of my life, and to the early
influence of my mother owe my de-
sire to be of service to my COM
nfunity and to my country. But that
happy period came to an end too
5oon for at the age of twelve my
mother died, and / am sure that she
is now resting in the Celestial City,
that city not made with hands, eter-
nal in the Heavens. can say as
did Cowper. who expressed in mem
orable words the warmth of his af
fection for his mother, when long
after her death his cousin presented
him with her picture, 81 had rather"
said he, possess that picture than
The richest jewel in the British
crown, for / love her with an affec-
ton that the lapse of years has not
in the least abated"