Springfield-Greene
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JAMES QUINN. Farmers as a class are intelligent, industrious and economical, and many of them are men of good business judgment. Further, those who have made a thorough study of the business side of farming know that it is not an easy matter to make money on the farm. Only the most practical and experienced farmers are making any considerable profit out of their business. Most of the money that has been made on the farm in recent years has been made, not by farming, but by the rise of prices on farm lands. In the nature of things this rise can not continue indefinitely, and some one will own this land when the price becomes practically stationary or perhaps starts to decline. Those who purchased their farms years ago should consider themselves fortunate; that is, if they like farming and are doing well, but the outlook is none too encouraging for the man who is looking for a good farm at a price which he can afford to pay and carry on general farming successfully, especially if that man has but little or no experience in country life. James Quinn, of Campbell township, is one of Greene county's prosperous and contented farmers. He came here from a foreign strand and got good land when the price was low, and, using sound judgment, has made a success.
Mr. Quinn was born in County Down, Ireland, June 5, 1848. He is a son of John and Susanna (McClune) Quinn, and a grandson of John and Charlotte (Hill) Quinn, all natives of Ireland and representatives of the farming class. John Quinn, Jr., died at the age of ninety-eight years, and his wife almost reached the century mark. Their son, John Quinn, father of our subject, was born in County Down in 1806, and, like his father before him, devoted his life to farming in the north of Ireland, dying there in 1892 at the age of eighty-six years, his wife having preceded him to the grave in 1884. They were the parents of eight children, all boys but one, namely: William has remained in Ireland and is a hammersman by trade; John is a brick mason and lives in Ireland; James of this sketch; Samuel is deceased; Hugh, who is now employed at Wolf's shipyards in Ireland, was formerly a school teacher; Robert is a bridge builder in Ireland; David is farming in Ireland; Susanna is deceased. A daughter of Hugh Quinn won first premium, a gold medal, for penmanship, in a contest about 1880, embracing the United Kingdom.
James Quinn grew to manhood in his native land, and there received his education. When a young man he learned the blacksmith's trade, at which he became quite proficient. When twenty-one years of age, in 1869, he crossed the Atlantic to our shores, first locating in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, later coining on west to Chicago, thence to Burlington, Iowa; from there to Cedar Rapids, that state; next to St. Joseph, Missouri. In the fall of 1873 he came to Springfield and worked at his trade for thirteen and one-half years for the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company. He had been following his trade ever since coming to America. About 1880 he purchased his present farm of one hundred and twenty acres, and several years later moved onto the same, and here he has since resided and has engaged successfully in general farming and stock raising. He has an excellent set of buildings on, his place, including a fine two-story dwelling and large outbuildings.
Mr. Quinn was married on June 25, 1874, in Springfield, to Adelia McGaughey, a daughter of James W. and Isabell (Cinnamond) McGaughey, both natives of Kentucky, from which state they removed to this county in an early day. Mr. McGaughey was a farmer during his active life, and he served in the Mexican war. His death occurred at Sprague, Missouri, about 1895, and he was buried near that place. His family consisted of five children, namely: Angeline is deceased; Keelan is deceased; Rufus lives in Nevada; Adelia, wife of our subject; and Marcus, deceased. James W. McGaughey was a Democrat, a member of the Masonic Blue Lodge, and the Baptist church.
Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Quinn, named as follows: John, who was graduated from the Springfield high school and the old Normal here, is a locomotive engineer on the Frisco, and lives at Oklahoma City; Mrs. Susanna Rountree, whose husband is engaged in farming in this county, was also graduated from the local high school; William James died when six months old; Mrs. Alma Waunette Gott is the wife of a Greene county farmer; Hugh is deceased; Herschel, a high school graduate, lives at home; George is a student in the State Normal school here.
Mr. Quinn made a visit to his old home in Ireland in 1900, and, after his American training, claims that he saw more things of interest during his short trip there than he saw during the twenty-one years that he lived there in his childhood and young manhood. Politically, he is a Democrat. He belongs to the Masonic Blue Lodge, and holds membership with the Congregational church. He has been a keen observer, is well read, and, jolly by nature, is a good talker and a pleasant man to meet.
[1600-1601]
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