Tennessee Chesmond Brister (1896-1976)

Portrait from the Alexandria Weekly Town Talk, January 8, 1944.

    A leading figure in the political and business life of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, Tennessee Chesmond "T.C." Brister was a veteran of WWI who, following his service in France, relocated to Pineville, where he was affiliated with a hardware business for nearly forty years. He entered politics in 1940 with his election to the Louisiana House of Representatives, serving three nonconsecutive terms. In addition to his legislative service, Brister was an aspirant for a state senate seat in 1944 but was defeated. A resident of Louisiana for a good majority of his life, "T.C." Brister was born on May 28, 1896, in Winn Parish, the son of Allen Cicero (1872-1956) and Mary Adams Brister (1869-1944). 

  Recorded by most sources under the initials "T.C.", Brister's full name was discovered via the archives of the United States Veterans Administration's master index, which lists his full name as Tennessee Chesmond Brister. Removing with his family to Mount Lebanon, Louisiana during infancy, Brister resided there until 1906, whereafter he resided and attended school in Grant Parish. A graduate of the parish high school in 1915, Brister moved with his family to Pineville, Rapides parish sometime later and during the First World War was stationed in France with the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

  Honorably discharged in May 1919, Brister returned to Louisiana where he was employed with the Gulf Refining Co. as an agent. His work took him to Brookhaven, Mississippi, and during the 1920s was affiliated with a wholesale oil business at Westpoint. He also worked as a traveling salesman. He married in Mississippi in April 1934 to Mary Louise Blum (1906-1990), to whom he was wed for over forty years. The couple's union produced three daughters, Kathleen (1939-2020), Marleen Marie, and Margaret Louise. 

  Residing in Pineville in the late 1920s, T.C. Brister would join his brother Commodore Webster Brister in the Pineville Hardware Co., serving as its secretary and treasurer. By 1938 the business had grown to such an extent it necessitated removal to a larger building, located in Alexandria. Now serving as company manager, Brister and the store were profiled in the February 2, 1938 edition of the Alexandria Weekly Town Talk, which detailed the store's inventory. In addition to nails, barbed wire fencing, tools, and agricultural implements, the store also carried paints, stoves, and "harness and saddlery." 

  With his name firmly established in Alexandria's business community, Brister entered politics in 1939 when he announced his candidacy for the Louisiana House of Representatives. Running free of political influence, Brister decried the "crookedness, graft, and waste of public funds" in his state, and in a lengthy announcement laid out the principles of his campaign, including:

• Favoring 12 months pay for school teachers and a school teacher's tenure law.
• Favoring repeal of the state sales tax and favoring a tax on Carbon Black and other state minerals.
• The return of power to local sheriffs, mayors, and assessors
• Favoring an old age pension of $30.00 a month to every man or woman over age 60.
• Favoring organized labor, a decent wage, and an eight-hour workday
• Favoring a $3.00 car license
• Coming out against a state and parish-wide No Fence law.

A Brister campaign notice from 1939.

  Running in a field of twenty legislative candidates, Brister faced an uphill battle. On primary election day in January 1940, he emerged victorious. He went on to win the April general election, and after taking his seat was named as vice chairman of the committee on public buildings and sat on the committee on registration and election laws. 

  Towards the end of his first term, Brister announced his candidacy for the state senate, and in a write-up on his candidacy noted his successes during the previous house term, remarking:

"I was one of the co-authors of the bill that would have given eight hour working days and an increase in pay to the unpaid at our state institutions."

  On primary election day in January 1944, T.C. Brister polled second to incumbent senator Grove Stafford, who led by over 1,200 votes. Though he lost that election, Brister went on to win a second term in the state house in February 1948, polling 12,876 votes. During the 1948-52 session, he served on the committees on Appropriations, Contingent Expenses, the Penitentiary, and Printing, and wasn't a candidate for reelection. 

  Following his term Brister was a candidate for the Pineville school board in May 1952 and for the next fourteen years devoted "his time to his Pineville hardware and sporting goods business." He would sell his business in 1966 and in the following year reemerged on the political scene, announcing his candidacy for a third term in the house of representatives. In a June 1967 campaign notice, Brister highlighted his previous terms, remarking:

"The office of representative is becoming more and more important and time demanding...If you see fit to select me as one of your four representatives I will give that office full time. I will not engage in any other employment during my term of office. I will be at your service seven days a week for the next four years. Having previous service in the legislature, I will have the know-how to get things done for our district."

From the Weekly Town Talk, December 6, 1967.

   Brister won his third house term in February 1968, polling 11,850 votes, and in April 1968 was profiled in an extensive write-up in the Alexandria Town Talk. Noting that "education and highways are the biggest problems facing the legislature on a statewide level", Brister made further note of the state needing four-lane highways, and his hopes the Louisiana State University at Alexandria would someday become a four-year college "complete with dormitories." On politics, Brister announced himself as a firm backer of Alabama Governor George Wallace (then running for president) but noted that Hubert Humphrey would be the likely Democratic presidential nominee.

  T.C. Brister's third term concluded in 1972 and for the remainder of his life resided in Pineville. A member of the Fist Baptist Church of Pineville, Brister held memberships in the Solomon Lodge No. 221 and Keystone Chapter No. 44 of Free and Accepted Masons, the Trinity Commandry No.8, Knights Templer, as well as the VFW and American Legion. T.C. Brister died on November 26, 1976, at the Rapides General Hospital, aged 80. He was survived by his wife and children and was interred at the Greenwood Cemetery in Alexandria.

From the Alexandria Town Talk, April 7, 1968.

Stetson Harlow Hussey (1887-1976)

From the 1921 Maine legislative composite photo.

  A practicing lawyer for nearly sixty years, Mars Hill resident Stetson Harlow Hussey served terms in both houses of the Maine legislature and in addition to his law practice was a lobbyist for the International Paper Company. The son of Harrison Otis and Lucy Lowell Hussey, Stetson Harlow Hussey was born in Mars Hill on June 10, 1887. A student at the Ricker Classical Institute in Houlton, Maine, Hussey decided upon a career in law at an early age, enrolling at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. He later graduated from Yale Law School and began his practice in Mars Hill in 1914. He married ca. 1915 to Gladys Wyona Goodhue (1889-1977), to who he was wed for over sixty years. The couple had two children, Mary H. Hussey McBride (1916-2016, aged 100) and Stetson Harlow Hussey Jr. (1918-2005).

  In addition to his law practice, Stetson Hussey served as a notary public and in the summer of 1918 announced his candidacy for the Maine House of Representatives. Remarked by the Mars Hill News as young and "ably qualified", Hussey hit the stump throughout that summer and would win the Republican primary in June. He went on to win the general election that November and took his seat in January 1919. Named to the committee on Education, Hussey made a visit home to Mars Hill in March 1919 and noted that not only was he enjoying his legislative experience but that "business at the capitol was being transacted expeditiously."

From the Mars Hill News, June 13, 1918.

  Announcing his bid for reelection in 1920, Hussey won a second term that November and during the 1921-23 session was a member of the committees to Inform the Governor of His Election and Legal Affairs. Early in his second term Hussey was named a candidate for Maine's assistant attorney general. His tentative appointment, given by Attorney General Ransford W. Shaw, was reported on by the Mars Hill News in May 1921, which noted:

"Mr. Hussey is one of Aroostook County's prominent young attorneys and was a member of the house of representatives from his class in Mars Hill and in the appointment the attorney general has used excellent judgement as Mr. Hussey is not only well posted in his profession but is a student and man with a pleasing personality as well as having the ability to do the work of the office in a most satisfactory manner."

 Ultimately, Hussey turned down the appointment to continue serving in the legislature, and in 1922 set his sights on a state senate seat. With two successful house terms behind him, Hussey's candidacy was boomed by the Mars Hill News in June 1922, which remarked:

"Of all the candidates for State Senator at the June primaries we know of no more logical candidate than Stetson H. Hussey of Mars Hill. We do not say this wholly because he is a local man but because of his business training and experience along these lines makes him well fitted for the position."

From the Kennebec Journal, January 5, 1921.

  Following his senatorial win in late 1922, Hussey served on the committees on Engrossed Bills and Sanitariums in the 1923-24 session and was reelected to a second term in 1924. During this term, Hussey returned to Aroostook County to take part in the county republican convention, and in April was named as its committeeman on resolutions.

  At the conclusion of his second term in 1927, Hussey returned to his law practice in Mars Hill and later served a term as president of the Aroostook County Bar Association. He would be joined in practice by his son Stetson in 1948 and retired from his law office in 1973. For a time Hussey had been a lobbyist with the International Paper Company, but no source notes as to his dates of service. Additionally, Hussey was a past master of the Aroostook Masonic chapter, a charter member of the Mars Hill Rotary Club, and a founder and honorary director of the Aroostook Health Center.

  Stetson Harlow Hussey died on September 4, 1976, aged 89, at a nursing facility in Presque Isle, Maine. His wife Gladys survived him by less than a year, and following her death in 1977 was interred alongside him at the Kings Grove Cemetery in Mars Hill.

From the Bangor Daily News, Sept. 6, 1976.

From the Waterville Morning Sentinel, September 6, 1976.

Zearl Verlin Hallcock (1896-1976)

From the Red Oak Express, June 13, 1962.

   A longtime farmer in Mongomery County, Iowa, Zearl Verlin Hallcock served several terms as mayor of Elliott in the 1950s and 60s. A resident of Iowa until shortly before his death, Hallcock was born in Pilot Grove on October 24, 1896, the son of John H. (1870-1962) and Lelia Hallcock (1876-1953). Little information exists on his early life or education, except note of his residence in Pilot Grove with his family. Hallcock married in Pottawattamie County on January 9, 1918, to Loraine Kirby (1901-1975), to who he was wed for over fifty years. The couple had three children, Bernadene (1924-2008), Billy (1928-2011), and Thomas (birthdate unknown). 

  A farmer for the majority of his life, Hallcock first farmed in Pilot Grove and in 1936 took over the operation of the 80-acre Vannorstrand farm, which was purchased by his father. Following its purchase, the Hallcock family's total farming acreage extended to 440 acres in Montgomery County. Hallcock removed to Elliott, Iowa in 1946, where he continued farming, and by 1962 had the "managership of three family-owned farms" in the vicinity. Additionally, Hallcock worked as an auctioneer both before and after his removal to Elliott. 

  Following his settlement in Elliott, Zearl Hallcock was a member of the local Methodist church, the Elliott Businessmen's Club, and the Elliott Activity Club. In 1947 he served as chairman of a two-day Elliott community celebration and entered town politics in March 1950 with his election as mayor. Curiously, there were no announced candidates for mayor of Elliott that year and Hallcock's election was due to "a write-in vote of 41." He served two consecutive terms, 1950-54, and in November 1957 was returned to the mayoral chair. By 1962 Hallcock had logged five terms as Elliott's mayor, and in October 1963 announced that he wouldn't be a candidate for a sixth term.

From the Red Oak Express, October 14, 1963.

  In 1965 Zearl Hallcock entered into the Elliott mayoral race and that November defeated incumbent Robert E. Allen. He left office in January 1968, and in October 1975 suffered the death of his wife of fifty-seven years, Loraine. Hallcock survived his wife by several months, dying in Brighton, Colorado on April 22, 1976, aged 79. He was survived by his three children and was interred alongside his wife at the Hillside Cemetery in Elliott.

Orceneth Asbury Fly (1894-1976)

Portrait from the Hondo Anvil Herald, April 6, 1955.

   A longtime civic leader and prominent citizen in Hondo, Texas, Orceneth Asbury Fly can rightfully be called the oddest named mayor this Medina County city ever produced, and in addition to his two terms as mayor was a druggist in that city for over five decades. Born in Utopia, Texas on February 16, 1894, Orceneth Asbury "O.A." Fly was the son of John Sidney and Annalee (Fisher) Fly. Bestowed the unusual name Orceneth Asbury upon his birth, Fly's unusual name may have a connection to Orceneth Asbury Fisher (1803-1880), a widely known Methodist minister who spent a good portion of his later life in Texas.

  O.A. Fly attended school in Hondo and following graduation from that city's high school continued study at the Coronel Institute in San Marcos and the University of Texas' Pharmacy School at Galveston. Following his graduation in January 1917 Fly began his career as a pharmacist, briefly residing in Laredo and San Antonio before returning to Hondo. He married in May 1917 to Willie LeRoy Barton (1894-1967), to whom he was wed for fifty years. The couple's union would produce four children, Orceneth Asbury Jr. (1918-1972), Frances Ruth (1921-2004), William Sidney (born 1925), and the Rev. Richard Fly (1930-1959).

  In January 1919 Fly returned to Hondo and shortly after his return "purchased a half interest" in the Martin Drug Store. Following the purchase, the store underwent a name change to the Fly Drug Co. He would remain connected with this business for over fifty years (retiring in January 1970) and was later joined by his sons William Sidney and Orceneth Asbury Jr., the latter also being a surgeon based in Houston. During its existence, the Fly Drug Co. would carry not only medical supplies and pharmaceuticals but also "sundries, candy, tobacco, gift items, school supplies and the like", as well as sporting goods.

   While prominent in Hondo business circles, O.A. Fly also stood tall in city civic affairs, being a past president of the Chamber of Commerce and Hondo Lions Club, a past master of the local Masonic lodge, as well as a Shriner. Fly also was a longstanding member of the Southwest Texas Pharmaceutical Association and the National Association of Retail Druggists.

   O.A. Fly entered Hondo's political life in the late 1940s when he was elected to the city council. In February 1953 Fly announced his candidacy for mayor of Hondo, following incumbent mayor Bob Kollman's announcement that he wouldn't be seeking reelection. In April of that year, Fly won the mayoralty and would serve two terms in that post. Upon entering the mayor's office, Fly envisioned a bright future for Hondo, remarking

"I want many things for Hondo but especially I would like to see all our streets paved, curbs and sidewalks laid, a federal building, a city hall,  a city library, a large park and city playground. Also, I would like for Hondo to have a zoning ordinance, a standard building code, improved traffic regulations, a stricter enforcement on vaccinating and tagging dogs, a cleaner city and a continuation of the friendly hospitality with which Hondoans make visitors and newcomers feel at home in Hondo."

O.A. Fly at work, from the February 17, 1967 Hondo Anvil Herald.

   Fly's second term as mayor concluded in April 1957 and was succeeded by Dr. Thomas Knopp. In 1967 Fly celebrated not only the five-decade anniversary of his entering the druggist trade but also his fiftieth wedding anniversary. He and his wife were subsequently feted with a large party at their home in June of that year, which was attended by over 150 guests from all across the country. Sadly, just two months following their anniversary, Willie Barton Fly died at age 72. In the year following his wife's passing O.A. Fly remarried to Emilia "Millie" Eckhart, to whom he was wed until her death in April 1974. 
  In January 1970 the Fly Drug Co. was purchased from Fly and his son William by Dan B. Conoly Jr., with the business continuing under the name Dan's Drug Inc. Following his retirement O.A. Fly continued prominence in Hondo, being a member of the Board of Stewards for the Hondo Methodist Church. He died in that city on February 3, 1976, just two weeks shy of his 82nd birthday. He was later interred alongside his wife Willie at the Oakwood Cemetery in the Hondo cemetery complex.

Ortho Olden Wolf (1874-1944), Ortho Voorhees Stevens (1881-1976)

Ortho O. Wolf, from the Kansas City Star

   We continue our stay in Kansas to profile four-term state senator Ortho Olden Wolf, who, in addition to his service in state government, was a leading agriculturalist, veterinarian, and farm organization leader, serving as the president of the Kansas Farm Bureau for a number of years. Although a resident of Kansas for over six decades, Ortho O. Wolf's birth took place in Allen County, Ohio on June 4, 1874. The son of Charles and Mary Abbott Wolf, Ortho moved to Kansas with his family in 1884 and his early education took place in Franklin County. As an adolescent, he attended both Baker University and the Kansas Agricultural College and in 1898 graduated from the Chicago Veterinary College.

   After a time spent traveling Great Britain and Scotland to study methods of stock-raising Wolf returned to Kansas and over the succeeding years established a reputation as a veterinary surgeon and cattle breeder of "sound judgment and practical experience", making a specialty on short-horn and Jersey cattle breeds. Wolf married on November 11, 1904, to Daisy Sterling (1965) and later had one daughter, Mrs. Charles E. Funk of Berkley, California. Wolf's status as one of Ottawa, Kansas's prominent farmers received extensive mention in the June 23, 1931 edition of the Daily Huronite, which notes that:

"In the vicinity of Ottawa he owns three tracts of land, 243 acres, 160 acres and 219 in extent, all of which are farmed under his personal supervision."

    As the owner of over six hundred acres of farmland, Ortho Wolf's name was one of the most recognizable in agricultural organizations of the period. A member of the Kansas Board of Agriculture for over two decades, Wolf also held the presidencies of the Kansas State Agricultural Council, the Kansas State Farm Bureau, and the Farmer's Cooperative Elevator Association of Ottawa, and was a member of the Kansas State Board of Veterinary Examiners, the Producer's Commission Association, the National Wool-Grower's Association, and the Mid-West Wool Marketing Association.
   Active in other aspects of Kansas public life, Wolf served as an executive committee member for the Franklin County Fire Insurance Association  and for many years was affiliated with the Kansas State Fair Association, serving in 1911 as the superintendent of its "cattle division." 
   O.O. Wolf first entered Kansas political life in 1912 when he was elected to the Kansas State Senate from Franklin County. Reelected in 1914, Wolf would serve on the committees on Cities of the Second Class, Commerce, Enrolled Bills, Labor, Live Stock, Municipal Corporations, Military Affairs, Ways and Means, and chaired the committee on Drainage. Wolf would be returned to two further terms in the Senate in the elections of 1920 and 1922, serving a total of eight years in all.

Ortho Wolf (third from left) at a Washington,  D.C. agricultural meeting, February 1937.

  During his third term in the senate in 1921 Wolf was selected as a member of the "Livestock Marketing Committee of Fifteen" a group of noted agriculturalists gathered under the auspice of the American Farm Bureau Federation to "give special study and consideration to livestock marketing problems" as well as to "submit recommendations". Wolf would become a founding board member of the National Live Stock Producers Association in 1921-22 and was chairman of the board in 1929. Three years later he became President of the Board of Managers of the Kansas State Fair and continued to serve in that capacity into the following year.

   On several occasions, Wolf was sought out to attend agricultural conferences in Washington, D.C., one of these being a meeting with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Henry A. Wallace in 1937 (portrait shown above.) In January 1939 Wolf again visited Washington as one of two dozen delegates from the American Farm Bureau, meeting with President Roosevelt to discuss its legislative program, as well as labor and wage rates. Wolf maintained a busy schedule in various agricultural organizations until his death, which occurred at a Wamego, Kansas hospital on April 7, 1944. His wife and daughter survived him, with his burial taking place at the Highland Cemetery in Ottawa, Kansas.

                                                   

Ortho O. Wolf in 1939 at an American Farm Bureau conference in Washington, D.C.

From the Caney News, November 1, 1913.

  Another Kansas "Ortho" who carved a career for himself in politics was Otho Voorhees Stevens, who served one term in the state house of representatives from Montgomery County. While little information could be found on his life, the rare portrait of him shown above comes as a welcome surprise. Born in Kansas on May 1, 1881, Stevens was the eldest son of Thomas Andrews and Luella Sams Stevens. He married Nellie W. Barr (1884-1932) in January 1905, and the couple had at least one daughter, Marjorie Barr (Stevens) Oakson (1906-1995).

  The manager of the Burgner-Bowman Lumber Co. in Caney, Kansas, Stevens' company also sold lime, cement, paints, and oils. He entered into the race for state representative from Montgomery County in September 1912, running on the Democratic ticket, and that fall opposed Republican Daniel Dabney. In October of that year, Stevens spoke on his campaign and that year's presidential contest at a Wilson For President meeting in Caney, and that November won his legislative seat. 

  Taking his seat in January 1913, Stevens' one term saw him named to the committees on Cities of the First Class, Judiciary, Municipal Corporations, the Political Rights of Women, Public Utilities, and Supervision of the Journal. Early in his term Stevens visited home in Caney and was interviewed by the Caney Chronicle on his status as a freshman legislator. Speaking on the speed of the legislative process, Stevens remarked:

"The legislature is getting down to real law-making. I have been fortunate enough to be appointed to some of the leading committees and the work has kept me busy night and day. The trouble with the law making to date is we Democrats, get that, we Democrats aren't putting any foolish laws upon the books. The work has been committee work so far and the bills are being threshed over. When the time comes to pass them, we will pass them in a jiffy, get through and come home"

 Towards the end of his term in 1914, Stevens announced that he wouldn't be seeking reelection that year, noting that "the job does not pay expenses." Despite living to the age of 94, little else could be found on Stevens's life after his term concluded. Widowed in 1932, Stevens was later a resident of Collinsville, Oklahoma, where he died on March 3, 1976, two months shy of his 95th birthday. He was survived by his daughter and was returned to Caney for burial at the Sunnyside Cemetery.