Joseph B. Lindsey, born in 1847 in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, was a prominent stock dealer and feeder in Lockwood, Missouri. The son of Keyes and Almira (Button) Lindsey, Joseph moved to Dade County, Missouri, in 1869. He initially farmed on the prairie and later engaged in the real estate business with Judge William M. Taggart, playing a key role in settling Southwest Dade County. He briefly co-owned the Bank of Lockwood and spent time in Los Angeles in real estate before returning to Missouri. A dedicated Republican and advocate for education, Lindsey owned 240 acres and had three daughters with his wife, Mary Miller.
Joseph B. Lindsey, stock dealer and feeder at Lockwood, Mo., was born in Fond du Lac County, Wis., in 1847, and is the son of Keyes and Almira (Button) Lindsey, natives of Vermont, born in 1809 and 1811, respectively. Keyes Lindsey was left an orphan when a boy and was partly reared in New York. Mrs. Lindsey went to New York with her parents when young, there met and was married to Mr. Lindsey, and there remained until 1845, when they removed to Fond du Lac, Wis., and there lived until 1881. They then moved to Dade County, Mo., where the mother is still residing. Mr. Lindsey died March 10, 1889. Both were members of the Presbyterian Church for many years. While living in New York Mr. Lindsey was a carriage manufacturer, and after moving to the West he was a trader in real estate, at which he was very successful. He was of Scotch-Irish descent. Joseph Button, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Vermont, and died in New York, where he left a large family. Joseph B. Lindsey is the second in a family of two sons and one daughter; Mary (deceased), Joseph B. and Darius P. Joseph B. Lindsey attended the public schools until fifteen years of age, and then two years at Ripon College, Wis. When about nineteen years of age he took a course at Eastman’s Business College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He then followed various business transactions in Wisconsin until 1869, when he came to Dade County and settled on the wild prairie near where Lockwood is now located and followed tilling the soil for several years. He then settled in Lockwood and has been for some years engaged in the real estate business with Judge William M. Taggart. In this he has been quite successful and has succeeded in settling nearly all of Southwest Dade County. In about 1883 he and the Judge purchased the Bank of Lockwood, which they managed with their usual success for about two years, when they sold out. In 1888 Mr. Lindsey went to Los Angeles, Cal., where he was engaged in the real estate business for some time, and where he intended to locate, but the boom subsided, and he returned to Lockwood. He was assessor of Dade County 1878-79; is a Republican in politics, casting his first presidential vote for Gen. Grant in 1868, and is one of the successful, enterprising men of the county. He is the owner of 240 acres of land, and also has other property. He was married in 1871 to Miss Mary, daughter of Rev. Norman and Mary Miller, of Green Lake County, Wis., where Mr. Miller died about 1863. Mrs. Miller is living with her son-in-law, Mr. Lindsey. Mr. Miller was a Presbyterian minister for many years. Mr. Lindsey is the father of three daughters, all of whom he spares no pains to educate, and is an active worker for the cause of education.