Springfield-Greene
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of Many of the Representative Citizens
CALVIN POLLACK. Of the second generation of those of foreign blood in Greene county, the name of Calvin Pollack, a merchant of Cave Spring, Cass township, should receive special setting in a biographical work of the nature of the one in hand, for in him are outcroppings of many of the characteristic traits that have made the French people successful and leading citizens wherever they have dispersed. He has tried to keep before him the aphorism, expounded by one of the greatest writers of the present age, "That the wise make of their failures a ladder, the foolish a grave," and he has refused to recall the doings of the past except their lessons, which he has used as guides for present-day actions, refusing to permit obstacles to thwart him in his race for a given goal. , In. thus advocating sound and wholesome principles of life for himself, he has inadvertently had a palliative influence on the lives of those with whom he has come in contact, the people of this locality knowing him as an honest, earnest, energetic and public-spirited citizen, worthy of their confidence and respect.
Mr. Pollack was born in Cass township, Greene county, Missouri, September 6, 1874. He is a son of Joseph Pollack, who was born in 1842 in Alsace-Lorraine, which was a part of France up to 1871, but since the Franco-Prussian War it has been a province of Germany. Reidseltz is the name of the village in which he first saw the light of day and where he spent his boyhood and attended school. Leaving there at the age of seventeen years he immigrated to America, landing in New York City. He came on west to Dayton, Ohio, where an elder brother had previously located. From there he went to St. Louis, where he attended a commercial college. After remaining there two years he came to Springfield, and engaged in the mercantile business, working for the firm of Frieberg & Klotz, which established a branch store at Walnut Grove, this county, of which Mr. Pollack was placed in charge. On March 1,1866, he married Martha Elizabeth Skeen, a daughter of Hope Skeen. She was born on October 11, 1845, at Fair Grove, this county, and removed to Cass township when eight years old and grew to womanhood and received her education. She is a member of one of the prominent old families of this locality, and she has spent her life in Greene county, living now at Cave Spring. After his marriage Joseph Pollack purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Cass township and here spent the rest of his life as a general farmer. He developed his place from the wilderness, establishing a good home by hard work and perseverance, and he became a useful citizen here and was highly respected by all who knew him. His death occurred December 13, 1905.
Twelve children were born to Joseph Pollack and wife, four of whom died when young, namely: Guy died at the age of twenty years; Delinda is the wife of George Rock and they make their home in Colorado; Calvin, of this sketch; Adele is the wife of C. Denby, and they reside at Pearl, this county; Marvin is living on the old home farm in Cass township; Harry is married and is clerking in the store of his brother, our subject; Mrs. Katie Short lives in Tennessee where her husband is engaged in the real estate business; Helen is at home with her mother.
Calvin Pollack grew to manhood on the homestead and assisted with the general work about the farm when a boy. He received his education in the common schools here and he began life for himself as a farmer, continuing in this line of endeavor successfully for a period of twenty-five years. Leaving the farm he began clerking in the general merchandise store of D. E. Cloud at Cave Spring, remaining in his employ four years, during which time he learned the ins and outs of this line of business, but continued to work f our years more in the same store for W. S. Click, who purchased the, store from Mr. Cloud. After spending eight years as clerk and becoming well acquainted with the business and the people of this, locality, he bought out his employer and has since managed the store on his own accord, enjoying a large and constantly growing business, and keeping at a seasons an extensive and well-selected stock of general merchandise. Having always dealt courteously and honestly with the scores of regular patrons of the store, he has enjoyed the confidence and good will of the people of this community.
Mr. Pollack married Nellie Darraugh, March 18, 1900. She is a daughter of Whitfield Darraugh, and was reared and educated in Greene county. Two children have been born to our subject and wife, namely: Florence, now ten years old, is attending school at Cave Spring; and Josephine, seven years old, is also in school.
Politically, Mr. Pollock is a Democrat, and is a supporter of every measure, which makes for the general upbuilding of his community. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen lodge at Cave Spring. He is an active member of the Christian church of his home community, being a deacon in the same.
[1545-1547]
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