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George
N. Spiva
George N. Spiva, banker, dies of a heart attack
George N. Spiva, who rose from horse hoister miner to millionaire
powder manufacturer and in the succeeding third of a century
was one of Joplin’s foremost business, financial and
civic leaders, died at 4:20 o’clock yesterday afternoon
in Freeman hospital.
Death came quietly and swiftly some three hours after he suffered
a fatal heart attack at 1:15 o’clock. He had entered
the hospital November 25 following an earlier attack, and
was believed recovering when he was stricken again.
His wife and his only surviving son, George A. Spiva were
at his bedside when the end came. He was conscious part of
the time and recognized both.
Mr. Spiva was 77 years old. His long rugged and active life
typified the mining district in which he lived more than 65
years. He was recognized as one of the district’s builders
and most successful and influential men.
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He never
did completely retire, and at his death was chairman of the
board of the First National Bank, president of the old Conqueror
Trust Company, president of the Spiva Investment Company,
president of the Joplin Special Road district and held trusteeships
and directorships in various other business, charitable and
public service enterprises.
Funeral services will be held at 2 o’clock Monday afternoon
at the First Presbyterian church with Dr. Otto C. Seymour
in charge. Burial will be in Mount Hope cemetery under direction
of the Thornhill-Dillon mortuary.
Friends may call at the mortuary chapel after 2 o’clock
this afternoon and until 11 o’clock Monday morning when
the body will be taken to the church to lie in state until
the funeral hour.
Active pallbearers will be A. E. Mardick, W. M. robertson,
George E. Dalton, Frank Newton, W. F. Reynolds, Oren Messenger,
Walter O. Evans and James E. Campbell.
Honorary pallbears will be members of the Joplin Kiwanis Club,
who will be seated in a body.
Born on a farm near Fredericktown, in southeast Missouri,
February 19, 1873, Mr. Spiva was the third of nine children
of John Craddock Spiva and Mary Josephine Anthony Spiva. In
the autumn of that year he came as an infant-in-arms with
his parents and family by covered wagon to the booming southwest
Missouri mining district, going first to Oronogo where his
father was a teamster in the mines.
The family moved when he was 4 years old to Bonanza, Kan.,
which was the name of a temporary boomtown just west of Galena.
They moved to Galena in 1879. Young George attended his first
school at the old Blackjack country schoolhouse, provided
with splitlog benches, and later the Peach Orchard school
in East Galena.
In 1884, when he was 22, the family moved back to Fredericktown
and Mr. Spiva completed his schooling at the old Millcreek
school. His first job was in a brickyard at Fredericktown
at the age of 16. He made bricks by hand. Later he worked
at the Farmers’ Alliance in a flour mill, 11 hours a
day at 75 cents a day.
In 1894, when he was 21, he struck out on his own and returned
to the still booming Galena mining field to seek his fortune.
But he never forgot his native homeplace in southeast Missouri
and in the succeeding 54 years he made a pilgrimage each year
to Fredericktown at “honeysuckle time” in the
spring. The honeysuckle of Fredericktown region held a particular
fascination to him.
He launched his long mining district career in an inauspicious
way by starting a horse hoister “diggin’s”
on a lease on the Masten land southwest of Galena.
Another early enterprise was the old Silver Moon restaurant
he founded at Galena in 1896. He and his brother, Lawrence
Spiva, operated it as a sideline to mining. They sold meal
tickets 21 meals for $3, and prepared 22 dinner buckets a
day, the while holding down jobs in the mines. Profits, Mr.
Spiva mused in later years amounted to about $30 a month.
Mr. Spiva prospected in the Galena area and on an 80-acre
tract near Diamond, Mo., with the late John Sapp and George
Green, but never amassed any great wealth in those ventures.
On February 22, 1899, he married Miss Bessie Tamblyn of Galena,
a daughter of Harry Tamblyn, who then was du Pont powder agent
at Galena. He became a powder salesman. he and his wife moved
to Joplin in 1903 where he became assistant manager of the
old Missouri Supply Company.
Mr. Spiva headed a company that organized the Home Powder
company, distributing Aetna powder. He never returned to active
mining, remaining in the powder business.
In 1917, Mr. Spiva organized the General Explosives Company,
which built the original powder plant still standing near
Carl Junction. It grew swiftly into a large enterprise, manufacturing
well over 1.000,000 pounds of explosives a month and distributing
throughout the middle west, south and southeast. At one time
the company had branch offices in St. Louis, Chicago, Birmingham,
Denver, Memphis, Miami, Fla., and Wisconsin.
A competitor of du Pont, the company sold out to the du Pont
company in 1924.
Throughout operations of the General Explosives Company, Mr.
Spiva served as president and general manager. It was during
this period that he founded his fortune.
In succeeding years Mr. Spiva devoted considerable time to
travel, often accompanied by members of his family. He made
two world trips and numerous other shorter cruises, including
six trips to Hawaii.
He entered the banking business here about 35 years ago, first
as the director and later as president of the Conqueror Trust
Company. He was chairman of the board of the First National,
successor to the Conqueror Trust as a banking institution,
for some 20 years.
Manifesting early interest in good roads, he served on the
Joplin Special Road District Commission in the days of the
late John Maland, “the father of good roads” in
Missouri, and was the first vice president for Missouri of
the 66 Highway Association. He became president of the special
road district following the death of Howard Murphy and had
held that office since that time.
He was president of the Liberty Building Company, which built
and owns the Joplin National Bank Building.
Mr. Spiva was one of the founders of the Woman’s club,
and was one of the original contributors to the founding of
the Y.M.C.A. building and Freeman hospital.
He was a charter member of the Kiwanis club, holding a life
membership. He also was a member of Joplin lodge No. 345,
A. f. & A. M., and belonged to Scottish Rite and York
Rite Masonic bodies and was a Shriner.
He held memberships in the Joplin Club and Twin Hills Golf
and Country Club. A former president of the park board, Mr.
Spiva participated actively in building the city’s municipal
park system. He also served a various times on the boards
of city’s charity organizations.
In the community’s business life, he was for well over
30 years a prominent figure in the building and development
of real estate.
He also was one of the founders of the Joplin stockyards and
of the old Joplin Marble Company.
His investments were varied and widespread. He never talked
of his charities, known to have been many.
The first Mrs. Spiva died in October 1926. It was in the next
few years that he did consider-able traveling and was perhaps
less active in business affairs.
In February, 1931, he married Zella Fisher Spiva of Joplin,
who survives. They were building
a fine new home in Crestwood addition, which she founded,
when he was fatally stricken.
survivors besides the widow and son include a daughter, Mrs.
Bessie Spiva Timmons of Pittsburg, one sister, Mrs. Mae Spiva
Adams, living south of the city; three brothers, W. W. Spiva
of Pomona, Calif.; John Spiva of Okmulgee, Okla. and Frank
Spiva of West Covina, Calif. Another son, Hubert T. Spiva,
reared in Joplin, died in 1939 at Minden, La. Another brother,
Ed Spiva, who had been associated with Mr. Spiva in business,
died in Webb City
a number of years ago.
Also surviving are the following grandchildren: Robert, George
and Judy Timmons, children
of Mrs. Bess Spiva Timmons; Joy and George Anthony Spiva,
jr, of Joplin, children of George A. Spiva; and Mrs. Joanne
Spiva Kimball of Lincoln, Neb., Mrs. S. W. Burnham of Quincy,
Ill., and Hubert T. Spiva, jr., of Minden La., all children
of the late Hubert T. Spiva. Two great-grandchildren also
survive.
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Spiva
programs are made possible with financial assistance
from The Friends of St. Avips and the Missouri Arts Council,
a State agency.
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you for your continued support |
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