Springfield-Greene
County LibraryEarly and Recent History and Genealogical Records
of Many of the Representative Citizens
JAMES S. WADDELL. The fair Sunflower state has developed into one of the greatest in the sisterhood of forty-eight commonwealths in our beloved Union, and she has produced men and women of a rare strength of mind and character, who have taken their places in the nation along with the best. Her native children find so fine opportunities within her own border that they seldom leave, especially to come east, and so there are few Kansasans to be found in Greene county, Missouri. James S. Waddell, a contractor of Springfield, is one of these.
Mr. Waddell was born in Saline county, Kansas, September 28, 1873. He is a son of James and Eleena (Selmon) Waddell. The father was born in Des Moines county, Iowa, in 1813, the mother was born near Quincy, Illinois, in 1836. She was a second cousin of Abraham Lincoln. These parents grew up in their respective communities, received limited educations and when young each removed to the state of Kansas, in pioneer days, and there met and married. James Waddell was a merchant in his earlier days, but the latter part of his life was devoted to agricultural pursuits. He maintained the first store that was ever established in what is now the thriving city of Salina, Kansas. His death occurred at Lawrence, that state, in the year 1880. His widow survived thirty years, dying July 6, 1910, near Nashville, Missouri. The only child born to these parents was the subject of this sketch.
James S. Waddell grew to manhood in Kansas and received a somewhat limited education in the schools of Ft. Scott, that state. He followed farming and mining until he came to Springfield, Missouri in 1900, when he went to work in the repair department of the north side Frisco shops, remaining with this company about five years. Upon leaving the shops in 1905 he began cement contracting, building curbs, sidewalks, etc., which business he has since conducted alone and in an eminently satisfactory and successful manner, enjoying a wide patronage, and promptness and honesty have been his watchwords.
Mr. Waddell was married February 23, 1897, in Taney county, Missouri, to Grace Wicks, who was born in Kansas, May 29, 1879. She is a daughter of John K. and Maggie (Waterbury) Wicks, both natives of the state of New York, where they were reared, attended school and were married and where they spent their earlier lives, finally moving west and establishing their home in Taney county, Missouri.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Waddell, namely: Elsie, born November 22, 1897; Stella, born April 9, 1901; John, born April 8, 1904; Frank, born October 12, 1911.
Politically, Mr. Waddell is an independent voter, preferring to cast his ballot for the men whom he deems the most capable and honorable for public positions, rather than for any special party, and is a member of the American Brotherhood of Cement Workers No. 181.
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