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BRODDUS W. BATES. - Among the prosperous and leading men of Union county must be mentioned the subject of this brief review, and it is very fitting that he should be accorded a place in its chronicles, since he has wrought here with an enterprise and sagacity that have brought the sure rewards of such virtues, and also he has displayed both integrity and intrinsic worth of character in all of his various dealings and walk, and is ever the genial and accommodating neighbor, intelligent citizen and upright man.

Mr. Bates is the son of John and Emeline (Miller) Bates, natives of Ohio, and was born in Marion county, Ohio, on December 16, 1856. In his native place he received a good education in the common schools and passed the childhood years until 1870, when he accompanied his parents in their migration to Missouri. There he engaged in farming until 1879, when the family went to Boulder county, Colorado, with teams. For two years in this section the father and our subject were engaged in mining, and then they gathered their substance and came overland to Union. They followed the old emigrant road by Fort Collins, Brigham City, Boise, and so forth. Arriving here, they soon took homesteads in the timber a short distance from where our subject is living to-day. In 1892, they erected a saw mill and on November 18, 1895, the father was called to pass the river of death, leaving a family to mourn his departure. The widow is still living in Union. When Mr. Bates settled on his homestead, he cleared a small tract and turned his attention to the lumber industry. He has one hundred and twenty-five acres in cultivation, and raises good crops of the cereals. In addition to this, he has one hundred and seventy-five acres of pasture land and handles cattle. These occupations do not take all the time and energy of Mr. Bates, and he has charge of his saw mill, which is a complete and well equipped plant, and turns out sufficient lumber to supply the local demand. His estate is well improved and he has a comfortable residence in a commanding position that makes a very desirable and elegant dwelling.

In 1878 Mr. Bates married Miss Carrie B., daughter of Charles and Caroline Wiley, and a native of Kentucky. They became parents of one child, John E., born in 1879, in Barton county, Missouri.

Mr. Bates contracted a second marriage on May 18, 1892, Miss Kate, daughter of William and Mary Wilkinson, early pioneers of Union county, at that time becoming his bride, and in 1893, to them was borne one child, Cecil. Mr. Bates is one of the substantial and prosperous citizens of our county, and is one of that number who form the boast and pride of any progressive and well regulated community.