Stanley Enoch Mote ^{1 2}

  General Notes:

STANLEY E. MOTE.

Perhaps no profession to which intelligent men devote themselves demands a greater diversity of natural gifts than does the law and those who embrace it as a life work are generally found to be men of ambition whose technical training has made them the peers of their fellow men in intellectual and very often in the most practical paths of usefulness. Stanley E. Mote, who is a member of the bar of Darke county, Ohio, is professionally established in Suite 2, Anderson Block, Broadway, Greenville, with residence at No. 336 Switzer street. He was born at Weaver Station, in Neave township, Darke couny, Ohio, February 12, 1878, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth A. (Leas) Mote, and a grandson of Enoch and Catherine (Burkett) Mote.

Enoch Mote was born in North Carolina and was brought from there to Darke county in 1804, a child four years old. His parents located near West Milton, securing land in Monroe township, and there he spent all his active life, in advanced age moving into the village of West Milton, where he subsequently died. His wife, Catherine (Burkett) Mote, was born in Georgia. They were parents of the following children: Mary, who married John Crick; Dilly, who married Abraham Baker and after his death married Levi Burkett; John, Philip, Epsie, who died in infancy; Joseph; Margaret, who married Samuel Giant; and Noah, who died as a soldier in the Civil war. William Leas, the maternal grandfather, with his first wife, was an early settler in Fort Jefferson. He was a man of considerable business enterprise, a farmer, a tanner and a shoemaker. To this mariage William Leas had two children born to him: Elizabeth A. and Melissa, the former of whom married Joseph Mote and the latter A. M. Hecker. For his second wife Wrilliam Leas married a Miss Crane and they had two children: William E. and Mary Ann, the latter of whom married John Hofferbert.

Joseph Mote, father of Stanley E. Mote, was born in Darke county, Ohio. During early manhood he taught school when not assisting his father. Early in the progress of the Civil war he enlitsed in Company E, 48th Ohio volunteer infantry, and served three years, although he had been reared a Quaker. After his long period of military service he returned to Darke county and resumed school teaching, in which he continued until prepared to engage in merchandising. For a few years he conducted a store at Fort Jefferson and then removed to Weaver Station, where he was a merchant for over thirty years. In 1907 he moved to Greenville and lived retired, surrounded by the comforts of life until his death in 1911, at the age of seventy-three years. He occupied a leading place in his community and during almost the entire time that he lived at Weaver Staion, was postmaster as well as express, freight and ticket agent. He married Elizabeth A. Leas, who survives, being now in her seventieth year. She is a member of the Christian Church. Eight children were born to them: Elmer E., who is in business in San Francisco, Cal.; Alvin J., who is a resident of East St. Louis, 111.; WTalter H., who makes his home in Kansas City, Mo.; William E. and John H., both of whom are in business in San Francisco; and Stanley E. and Mabel E., both of whom are residents of Greenville. This widely separated family has always been noted for its recognition of the ties of kindred and no one member is ever forgotten by brother or sister.

Stanley E. Mote was reared at Weaver Station and was a student in the public schools, afterward taking both a literary and a law course in Ohio Northern University at Ada, from which he was graduated in 1904. In the following year he was admitted to the Ohio bar and immediately entered upon the practice of his profession at Greenville, where he has continued until the present. His practice is general in its character and he has had the satisfaction of being successfully and honorably connected with some very important litigation. His political convictions have caused him to give loyal support to the Republican party but he has been very backward about accepting political recognition, at present serving, however, as clerk of the board of elections. He finds needed relaxation in his fraternal association with the Improved Order of Red Men. Before being admitted to the bar, Stanley E. Mote taught school for five years. All his brothers, as well as his sisters, taught school. Thus one will see that Stanley E. Mote's father and mother, as well as the children, were teachers. Mrs. Stanley E. Mote also was a teacher.

On April 26, 1907, Mr. Mote was married to Miss Bessie E. Swadener, who is a daughter of Albert and Jennie (Fields) Swadener, and they have two children, Joseph S. and Alberta. Mrs. Mote is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Mote were Jesse and Wilmuth (Browder) Fields, who were early settlers in this section of Ohio, as were her paternal grandparents. Her father and mother were born in Ohio and at the time of her birth were residents of Darke county. The mother died, but the father survives and now lives at Yellow Springs, Ohio. They had a family of seven children: Frank, Ophus, Viola, Ralph, Bessie E., Nellie, and one who died in infancy. Viola is the wife of Theodore Kuehn.

Enoch Mote, grandfather of our subject, came to Darke county about 1824 and developed a farm in Monroe township. The deed for the first land he purchased was signed by John Quincy Adams and the second by Andrew Jackson. Joseph Mote, son of Enoch and father of Stanley E., the subject of our sketch, enlisted for service in the Civil war September 15, 1861, in Company E, 48th Ohio volunteer infantry, as a private, but later was promoted corporal. After three years and two months of faithful and arduous service he was honorably discharged in December, 1864. As a Republican he took an active part in local politics. In 1900 he was a delegate to the State convention at Columbus and was a delegate when McKinley was nominated for Governor of Ohio. He was assistant sergeant-at-arms of the National Convention at St. Louis in 1896.

Stanley married Bessie E. Swadener, daughter of Albert Swadener and Jennie Fields, on 26 Apr 1907.