been interesting, and borders upon the romantic, when many incidents in
which he has figured are recounted. A valiant soldier of the Union
during the Civil war, it fell to him to perform the arrest of
Vallandingham in Ohio when his activities in favor of the Confederacy
had rendered him obnoxious to the State and Federal governments. Few men
in Atchison have had a more varied or active life than Mr. Keith. He was
born June 27, 1841, in Massillon, Ohio, the son of Fordyce M. and
Parthena J. (Seeley) Keith, natives of New York and the Western Reserve
of Ohio, respectively. Mrs. Keith was a daughter of Uri Seeley. Fordyce
M. Keith was born in 1816 and died May 14, 1906. He was a son of Ansell
Keith, a native of New York. The Keith family is descended from two
brothers who were sons of General Keith, at one time a field marshal in
the Russian army. He was a Scotch-Englishman, who quarreled with Queen
Elizabeth and left England to take service under Peter the Great of
Russia. His two sons immigrated to America in 1690, one settling in New
York and the other going to the Southland. Two branches of the family
thus sprang from these sons of Marshal Keith. Brigadier General Keith
served under General Washington during the Revolution and the General
lived at the Keith home in New York for a time. Ansell Keith served in
the War of 1812. The Seeley family originally settled in Connecticut.
Uri Seeley was born in 1791 and settled in the Western Reserve on a land
grant of 100 acres where he died. Ansell, the father of Fordyce M., and
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, settled in Lorain county,
Ohio, in 1832, near Elyria and was a contractor and builder. Data
regarding the members of the family is as follows: Ansell Keith was born
June 24, 1786, and Betsy M., his wife, was born January 2, 1794; Uri
Seeley was born May 25, 1791, and died August 10, 1877, and his wife,
Abbey, was born October 23, 1792.
[Illustration:
U. S. KEITH
]
[Illustration:
C. H. BURROWS.
Commander G. A. R. Post No. 93.
]
[Illustration:
CHARLES WILSON
]
[Illustration:
MARY K. WILSON
]
Fordyce M. Keith was born April 27, 1816, and died May 12, 1906. His
wife, Parthena, was born August 4, 1816, and died at Seneca, Kan.,
February 18, 1893. He received an excellent education and was admitted
to the practice of law in Ohio, practicing for some years at Massillon.
He served in the Union army, enlisting in the One Hundred and
Seventeenth regiment, Ohio infantry, and later the First Ohio heavy
artillery. His service extended throughout the war from August 30, 1862,
to August 1, 1865. He was a major in the One Hundred and Seventeenth
regiment, Ohio infantry, and was created a lieutenant colonel in the
heavy artillery August 1, 1863. He came to Kansas in 1866 and practiced
law in Brown county where he served as county attorney. In old age he
resided with his granddaughter in Oklahoma. He was the father of the
following children: Uri Seeley; Fordyce M., Jr., who died in Pueblo,
Colo., August 1, 1900; Clarence M., and Herbert Brewster died in
infancy; Lamar Burrett, born February 22, 1847, and lives at Seneca,
Kan.
Uri Seeley Keith was educated in the common schools of his native State.
He enlisted April 20, 1861, when Lincoln issued his first call for
troops. His first enlistment was in Company I, Eighteenth regiment, Ohio
infantry, for a period of three months, which was extended to five
months. He again enlisted in Company E, Eighty-seventh regiment, Ohio
infantry, June 2, 1862, for four months. November 4, 1862, he enlisted
in Company K, One Hundred and Seventeenth regiment, Ohio infantry, for a
period of three years, or until the close of the war. He was promoted to
the second lieutenancy of Company C, First Ohio heavy artillery,
December 23, 1863. The One Hundred and Seventeenth regiment was
transferred to the heavy artillery organization May 2, 1863 with Mr.
Keith as second lieutenant and later as first lieutenant of his company.
He was regimental quartermaster sergeant of the One Hundred and
Seventeenth regiment, Ohio infantry, and received his final discharge at
Knoxville, Tenn., July 25, 1865, and was mustered out at Camp Denison,
Ohio, August 1, 1865. This valiant soldier participated in the following
engagements: Chickamauga, September 10–20, 1863; Knoxville, November 16
to December 9, 1863; Campbell Station, October 16; Carter Station,
December 21; Lowden, October 15, 1863; Rogersville, December 19;
Taylorsville, December 19, 1863; Seaversville, October 9, 1864;
Charleston, October 19, 1864; Cleveland, October 24; Columbus, October
27; Franklin, November 30; Nashville, December 12 to 16, and Duck River,
December 18, 1864. He served as quartermaster of the Second battalion of
the First Ohio heavy artillery from April 1, 1864, to the close of the
war. Other engagements in which he fought were: Rich Mountain, July 7,
1861; Gainesville, July 24, 1861; Red House, July 29, 1861 (Eighteenth
Ohio volunteer infantry) and Harper’s Ferry, September 14 and 15, 1862;
South Mountain, September 13, 1862; Antietam, September 17, 1862
(Eighty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry) Paintville, January 11, 1863;
Peach Orchard, January 27, 1863 (One Hundred and Seventeenth Ohio
volunteer infantry). An interesting episode in Mr. Keith’s career which
has been published in various newspapers is worth recording. He was the
man who arrested Vallandingham at Dayton, Ohio, May 1, 1863. Early in
1863 while he was an officer in the heavy artillery, General Burnside,
then in command of the Department of the Ohio, issued general order
Number 38, which was especially obnoxious to southern sympathizers, the
Knights of the Golden Circle, and Associated Sons of America, and
kindred organizations which had for their object the placing of every
obstacle in the path of the Federal Government and the overthrow of the
Union. Vallandingham made an incendiary speech at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, on
May 1. Captain Hutton of General Burnside’s staff was detailed to effect
the arrest of Vallandingham, who was to be transported to the rebel
lines. Lieutenant Keith was second in command of the expedition. They
reached Vallandingham’s home at midnight, and knocked at the door, but
the woman of the house stated that the object of their capture was not
at home. Lieutenant Keith did not believe her and pushed open the door
and rushed up stairs to find Vallandingham, who was in bed. When Keith
broke open the bed room door his prisoner rushed to the window and
called “Asa,” presumably in search of assistance, but no one came to his
aid. He was then taken to Cincinnati and sent through the Union lines to
the Confederate general, Bragg, for safe keeping.
Mr. Keith came west to Doniphan county September 8, 1865, and located in
the town of White Cloud for a time and then came to Atchison. He bought
a farm a few miles west of White Cloud which he cultivated until 1872,
and then followed railroading for a time. In 1872 he was in the employ
of the United States Government on the Great Nemaha Indian reservation.
In 1875 he again returned to White Cloud and from there went to his
farm, remaining until 1885 when he engaged in the hotel business at
Hiawatha until 1890. He removed to Atchison in 1890, and was employed
for a number of years as inspector of city contract work. He has
superintended practically all of the paving and contract work which has
been done in the city except during the past few years since his
retirement. Many miles of paving have been honestly done under Mr.
Keith’s supervision and he has had charge of the building of practically
all of the concrete culverts erected in the city. For four years he
served as deputy sheriff of Atchison county.
Mr. Keith was married September 11, 1866, to Mary Frances Grossman, who
was born in Massillon, Ohio, August 24, 1842, the daughter of Daniel and
Martha Grossman, natives of Pennsylvania, and pioneer settlers in Ohio.
The Grossmans moved to Ohio in 1836 and both died in Massillon. To Mr.
and Mrs. Keith have been born the following children: Minnie L. born
July 24, 1867, wife of J. R. Bailey, of Enid, Okla., and the mother of
one child, Mildred, wife of Dr. Lee J. Render, of Falls Valley, Okla.,
and who also has one child, Bailey Adrian; Mrs. Ruby V. Doyle, born
April 1, 1870, and residing in Lincoln, Neb., the mother of one child,
Halbert K.; Edward C., and Charles R., born June 6, 1875, of whom
Charles R. died May 24, 1898, and Edward C. married Elsie Schmitt,
engaged in United States mail service. Mr. Keith’s daughter, Mrs.
Bailey, is a talented writer and has issued a volume of poems which has
decided literary merit. She is counted among the leading authors of the
“New State” and is fast gaining a place in the world of letters.
Mr. Keith has always been aligned with the Republican party and has been
active in its councils during his long and busy life. He is a Mason and
a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 93, having been
quartermaster of the local post for the past eight years. He served as
post commander at White Cloud, Hiawatha, and of E. C. Johnson post, of
Atchison, which was later consolidated with Post No. 93. Few men can
look back over long years crowded with incidents and with such activity
as has fallen to the lot of Uri S. Keith, one of the last of the Old
Guard who offered their lives that the Union might be forever preserved.
As the years pass and time rolls on the ranks of those brave men who
wore the blue are becoming thinner and their steps more feeble. It is
only the more vigorous who have survived thus far and Mr. Keith is one
of them.
CHARLES H. BURROWS.
Charles H. Burrows, Union veteran and clerk in the Missouri Pacific
railroad offices at Atchison, has had a long and varied career in the
railway service of the country. He is a native of the Buckeye State and
was born at Cincinnati, November 19, 1843, a son of James H. and Nancy
A. (Lynchard) Burrows, both of whom were descended from old American
families. James H. Burrows was born in Maryland and his wife was a
native of Kentucky. The Burrows family settled in America in about the
year 1647. There were at first two branches of the family, one of whom
settled in Maine and the other on the south shore of Maryland. The
great-grandfather of Charles H. settled first in Maryland and here his
grandfather, William Burrows, was born and reared. The sons of the
family were sea-faring men and several of the descendants of the first
Burrows have been officers in the United States navy. Nancy A., wife of
James H., was a daughter of Mr. Lynchard of Virginia, who became a
pioneer settler of Kentucky, and married a member of the Talbot family,
of Virginia. He had two sons and four daughters and came from Kentucky
to Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1838. In 1845 James H. Burrows was married
in Cincinnati where he made his residence. Upon the outbreak of the
Civil war both father and son, C. H., enlisted. The family removed to
Springfield, Ill., in 1858 and here James H. operated a cooperage shop.
As before stated, father and son enlisted in the same regiment, the One
Hundred and Twenty-fourth Illinois volunteer infantry, on September 10,
1862, for a period of three years. The father died in the Union hospital
at Cairo, Ill., after his honorable discharge on account of sick
disability, in February, 1863. Charles H. fought in the battles of
Champion Hills, Vicksburg, Spanish Fort, Blakely, and took part in many
other engagements until the close of the war. He was also engaged in the
Mobile campaign. Charles H. was the eldest of a family of five children,
namely: Charles H., James died in 1856; Mrs. Alice A. Direen, of
Jacksonville, Ill.; William C., deceased; Emma D., wife of Judge Henry
Phillips, of Beardstown, Ill.
In 1873 he, with whom this review is directly concerned, left the old
home in Illinois and began his railroading career which was eventually
to end with his present berth in Atchison. Forty-two years of
railroading, or rather fifty years of railway service with the exception
of two years in the practice of law at Mondamin, Ill., is the proud
record of this sturdy patriot. During this long period he has served as
telegraph operator, superintendent of telegraph, engineer, brakeman,
conductor, etc. He was in the employ of the Chicago & Alton railroad,
the Wabash, the Gilman, Clinton & Springfield railroads, while located
at Springfield, Ill., and was in the employ of the Vandalia when it was
building out of St. Louis. As early as 1868 he was in the employ of the
Missouri Pacific railroad and was with the Denver and Rio Grande in the
early days of its operation; was with the Ft. Scott & Memphis railroad
one year; the St. Louis & St. Joseph road; was station agent on the old
Hannibal & St. Joe road; served on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
railroad in Missouri and Iowa; the Chicago & Northwestern; the Sioux
City & Pacific; the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley roads. After a
railroad experience in the states of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska,
Kansas and Colorado, he came to Atchison in September of 1890, as a
clerk in the offices of the Missouri Pacific railroad system.
He was married August 10, 1871, at Lawson, Mo., to Susan E. Morrow, a
native of Missouri, and daughter of Vincent Morrow. To this union has
been born one child, Pearl, wife of Adolph Frailey. By a former marriage
with B. F. Shumalt, Mrs. Frailey had two children, Ruth E. and Frances
Shumalt. Mr. Burrows has been and is now an independent voter, not
allied with any particular political party or creed. He is fraternally
connected with the Sons and Daughters of Justice, the Fraternal Order of
Eagles, and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and has served as
commander of the Grand Army Post, No. 93, of Atchison, for the past two
years. Commander Burrows has the great distinction of having been one of
the original organizers of the Grand Army of the Republic and has been
prominent in the affairs of this great organization since 1866. In
February of 1866, he assisted in the organization of Springfield, Ill.,
Grand Army Post, No. 2. He served as officer of the day when this noted
post (the second in America) was organized.
JAMES EDWARD WILSON.
James Edward Wilson, farmer, of Lancaster township, Atchison county, was
born December 14, 1865, on the farm which he now manages. He is a son of
Charles and Mary K. (Brown) Wilson, who were the parents of eleven
children, as follows: Sarah E. died in infancy; Louise C. died when two
years old; William M., deceased; Andrew J., Hill City, Kan.; Martha E.,
deceased; Nancy J., deceased; James E., subject of this sketch; Julia A.
Martin, Wabaunsee county, Kansas; Charles T., Atchison county, and
Samuel H., deceased. The father, Charles Wilson, was born February 7,
1827, in Bartholomew county, Indiana, a son of Martin and Elizabeth
(Mitchell) Wilson, who migrated to Missouri. Charles Wilson left the
farm in Buchanan county, was married and came to Kansas. In 1855 he
settled on the farm which his son now owns in section 14, Lancaster
township, Atchison county. The father with his wife and infant child
went through many hardships in their pioneering days.
The family came from Buchanan county, Missouri, in a covered wagon,
driving a yoke of oxen. He preëmpted 160 acres, the site of his son’s
present farm. He built a small log cabin to shelter his family, and,
with the aid of two other men, he began to break the prairie. This was
slow work with oxen, and during the first year they cleared but ten
acres each. Fifty acres of the farm was in fine wooded land along the
creek. This furnished them plenty of lumber with which to build their
cabin and other buildings. They planted the land, which was in tillable
condition, in corn, and were soon able to live in some degree of
comfort, but it was still a wild country. An old trail ran near the
farm, now known as the “Military trail,” and the Indians following this
frequently camped along the trail near the farm. They prowled around the
house frequently, and the father always kept close to his house to
protect his family from possible danger. Those were the true pioneer
days, and they had to go to Atchison for their provisions. It was a
lonely trip, only one house being between the Wilson cabin and Atchison.
But in those days people only bought the barest necessities of life
which were all that they could afford. They paid two dollars a bushel
for corn meal during the second spring there. Wild game was plentiful
and furnished much of the food. Badgers and wolves were numerous and
gave danger to the sheep of the pioneers. Many nights were spent with
loaded gun within reach in preparedness for the wolves which could be
heard howling about. On the trips to Atchison to trade travelers and
pioneers often stopped at Mormon Grove for a rest. The place was about
seven miles west of Atchison, and took its name from the fact that the
Mormons, on their way to Utah, frequently camped in this grove over
night. Travelers along this road always watered their horses from the
pond there.
After two years the settlers began to feel the need of educational
advantages for their children, as there was no school near enough for
the children of the pioneers to attend. For the two years they had lived
here they had no school advantages, and the men of the neighborhood
joined together and built a log school house. It was in the district now
known as old Huron school district No. 24. A postoffice also was
established near the school house, but when the railroad was built
through that section of the county, the postoffice was moved to Huron,
where the station was located.
Charles Wilson died in 1897, at the age of seventy years. His wife, Mary
K. Wilson, was born October 31, 1831, in eastern Tennessee. She was a
daughter of Joseph and Polly (McCurry) Brown. They were natives of
Tennessee. The mother is now living with her son, James, the subject of
this sketch. She had a great deal to do with the success of her husband.
When she came into the wild country with her young husband she was
facing a new life, and one which was to test her courage and strength,
but she was equal to the occasion. She toiled early and late on the new
farm and helped shear sheep and spun wool. The paternal grandparents of
James Wilson were Martin and Elizabeth (Mitchell) Wilson, both natives
of Indiana.
James Wilson was reared on the farm where he now resides. He was
educated in the district school and went to work on his father’s farm,
and is now farming the place, renting it from his mother. He operates
about 115 acres of it.
Mr. Wilson was married in 1880 to Martha Louisa Culpepper, who was born
in Dallas county, Iowa, September 5, 1867. She is a daughter of Benjamin
and Amanda (Lowery) Culpepper, natives of Alabama. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson
are the parents of eleven children: Charlie, deceased; Anna Edwards,
Dardanelle, Ark.; Archibald, living at home; Edna Gragg, Lancaster
township, Atchison county, Kansas; Frank, living at home; Marie, at
home; Eva, Thelma, Leslie and Vera, all living with their parents, and
one child died in infancy. Mr. Wilson is a Republican and is now a
member of the school board for his district. He attends church, although
he is not a member of any denomination. Mrs. Wilson, mother of James E.,
is the oldest living pioneer settler of Lancaster township.
FREDERICK W. KOESTER.
Frederick W. Koester is a native of Atchison, born April 6, 1860. He is
a son of Fred and Anna (Bertha) Koester, the former a native of Germany
and the latter of Zurich, Switzerland. The mother immigrated to America
when she was a young girl, coming to this country with her mother. Fred
Koester, the father, was born in Minden, Germany, January 18, 1835, and
came to America when he was about twenty-one years of age. He landed in
New Orleans, but remained there only a short time when he came up the
Mississippi river by boat, and located at St. Louis. He remained there
but a short time, however, when he went to St. Joseph, Mo. While there
he learned the barber’s trade, and in 1857 came to Atchison, Kan., and
established one of the first barber shops in the city. He was an
industrious and thrifty man and although not highly educated, he was a
man of unusual foresight and good judgment. Soon after coming to
Atchison he began to invest his savings in real estate and became one of
the extensive property owners of the city in the early days. He built
several residences which he sold at a good profit and he built one of
the first brick houses in Atchison. He also built the first pressed
brick house in the city. The building is still standing and is known as
the Koester house situated on Second street, between Commercial and
Kansas streets. This was considered one of the magnificent residences of
Atchison in the early seventies. Fred Koester owned a number of business
places in Atchison as well as several residences. Frederick W. Koester
is the older of a family of two. His sister, Susie Bertha, is now the
wife of Carl Hachette, and resides in San Francisco, Cal.
Frederick W. Koester attended the public schools of Atchison, and later
was a student in St. Benedict’s College, and also attended the Jesuits’
College, St. Louis, Mo. His father had advanced ideas in regard to
education, and endeavored to give his children the best that could be
obtained. After completing school F. W. Koester began life as a clerk in
D. C. Newcomb’s dry goods store at Atchison. He remained there but a
short time, however, when he went to work in his father’s barber shop
and later opened a six chair shop of his own. He then went on the road
as traveling salesman for a barber supply house, and was thus engaged
for seven years. He went to California in 1886 where he was employed as
timekeeper for a railroad contractor.
Mr. Koester was married in 1883 to Miss Bertha Bracke, a daughter of
Albert Bracke, an Atchison county pioneer, who was engaged in freighting
across the plains in the early days. Later, he was engaged in a cattle
and butchering business in Atchison and was a very extensive dealer.
Mr. and Mrs. Koester are the parents of two children, Albert, born on
January 21, 1885, is in the employ of the Seaton Foundry, Atchison, and
Frederick William, Jr., born July 25, 1895, in San Francisco, is a
student in Kansas University, department of journalism, and during his
vacations is connected with the _Atchison Champion_ as a reporter. Mr.
Koester was appointed by Governor Hodges secretary of the Kansas State
Barbers’ Board in April, 1913, serving two years. He is a member of the
Knights of Pythias, the Red Men, and secretary of the insurance
department of Golden Cross. He and his family are members of the
Christian Science church. Mrs. Koester died October 13, 1904, and on
October 23, 1915, Mr. Koester was united in marriage with Miss Lillie
Barth Hood, a native of Kentucky, and daughter of J. H. Hood, of
McCloud, Okla.
CHARLES MYERS.
Charles Myers, farmer, stockman and contractor, of Lancaster township,
Atchison county, Kansas, was born May 13, 1864, in Buchanan county
Missouri. He is a son of Augusta and Hulcia (Snyder) Myers, and one of
nine children, seven of whom are living. The father was born in Germany
in 1818 and left there with his parents when a young man, the family
settling in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the age of twenty-two he came to St.
Joseph, Mo., and learned the carpenter’s trade. Later he engaged in
farming in Missouri, and came to Atchison county, Kansas, and bought the
old Captain Evans farm in Shannon township. He improved it considerably
and then sold it, and moved to Atchison, where he resided until his
death in 1905. The mother was born in Indiana. She died in 1903, at the
age of seventy-four years.
Charles Myers, the subject of this sketch, was reared on his father’s
farm in Shannon township and attended the district school. He worked for
his father until he was twenty years old, and then rented land in
Doniphan county, Kansas, and farmed for himself, and later came to
Atchison county, where he rented a farm for two years. Having
accumulated some capital, he bought 120 acres in section 13, Lancaster
township, and farmed this for sixteen years, meanwhile making extensive
improvements. He sold this land and bought 160 acres in section 23,
Lancaster township, in 1904. The farm was comparatively unimproved and
he set to work building the place up. He erected a large, modern, nine
room, brick house, superintending the work himself. He also built an
excellent barn and a commodious ice house. These buildings were planned
by Mr. Myers, who had learned the carpenter’s trade at odd times. He
selected the materials used in the construction and by his careful
supervision thus insured the best of buildings. This work comes natural
to Mr. Myers, although he has never spent much time at the work, but it
was so easy for him that he just naturally drifted into it. Whenever he
had any work to be done he personally took it in hand. Other important
improvements were made by Mr. Myers. Several additions to his farm land
were made, and he now owns 240 acres of good tillable farm land. Mr.
Myers also keeps graded stock and takes pride in keeping up his breeds.
Besides these activities Mr. Myers holds stock in the Independent
Harvester Company of Plano, Ill.
He was married to Eva Kenbal in 1897. Mrs. Myers was born August 19,
1867, in Ohio, and is a daughter of Nelson Kenbal. Eight children have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Myers: Ora (Snyder), Frazer, Mo.; Edna
(Taylor), Lancaster township, Atchison county, Kansas; Merrel, Augusta,
Glen, Hubert, Irene, Lafayette, all living at home. Mr. Myers is a
Republican in politics and has served on the school board of his
district. He belongs to the Baptist church, and is a member of the
Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Myers, in addition to his occupation as a
farmer and stockman, has found time for constructing several buildings
in Atchison county, and has been remarkably successful in his
construction work.
GEORGE H. T. SCHAEFER.
George H. T. Schaefer, contractor and builder, has achieved such a
reputation in his avocation during his more than thirty years of
residence in Atchison, as to place him in the front rank of artisans in
his adopted city. History is constantly repeating itself, when we
chronicle the fact that “from small beginnings, great things have
grown.” Mr. Schaefer began contracting in a small way, after quitting
the first job which he held in Atchison. The results of his handiwork
are now seen on every hand, and include the most stately and costly
buildings of the city and structures throughout Kansas and Nebraska.
Through all of his success Mr. Schaefer has remained the same,
unassuming, plain citizen, whose motto has been, “honest work for honest
money.” There are few men in his profession who can point to a more
successful career, and who can look back over long years spent in
erecting abiding places for mankind, and realize that every contract was
fulfilled faithfully and the work well and consistently done to the
satisfaction of the owners.
G. H. T. Schaefer was born November 11, 1857, in Indianapolis, Ind., and
is a son of Rev. J. George and Minnie Schaefer. His father was a native
of Stuttgart, Germany, and his mother of Hamburg, Germany. Both came to
this country in youth with their respective parents. The father was
educated for the Lutheran ministry, and in 1863 left Indianapolis and
took charge of a church at Lanesville, Ind., twelve miles from New
Albany, on the stage route in Indiana. From that time on he filled
various charges and died in the midst of his pastoral labors in New
Boston, Ind. The mother now resides in Atchison. He, with whom this
review directly concerns, left the parental roof when thirteen years of
age and went to Indianapolis, where he learned the trade of carpenter.
After serving his apprenticeship he spent two years in the vicinity of
his father’s home at New Boston, working for an old German contractor.
This experience was invaluable, inasmuch as his employer took contracts
for erecting barns, churches and bridges from the standing timber. The
future contractor here learned to create buildings from the virgin
timber of the forests. Desiring to gain a wider experience in his
calling, in 1876 he went to Evansville, Ind., then, as now, an important
river city. He spent one year in this city, and during that time
witnessed the great cyclone which swept this section of the country and
destroyed lives and many buildings. Mt. Carmel, Ill., was badly wrecked,
and he arrived on the scene of the disaster in time to help bury the
dead and assist in the rebuilding of the city. In 1879 he went to
Greenville, Miss., and during the winter the yellow fever, which had
been epidemic in New Orleans, broke out in Greenville, and he managed to
catch the last boat leaving the wharf for St. Louis. From here he went
to Kansas City, but no sooner did he set foot on the streets of this
growing metropolis than he was besieged by real estate men who wanted to
sell him property. He became disgusted with Kansas City and took a train
for Atchison. Here he purchased a ticket for a point 200 miles west on
the Central Branch railroad and landed at Cawker City. Upon alighting
from the train and making inquiries about work he was informed that,
inasmuch as he did not belong to any lodges, and had no connections in
the western town, he could get no work. However, he got a job and was
kept busily employed for two years, building in the surrounding country.
He erected dwellings and business houses in Jewell and Mitchell
counties, at a time when the country was in the initial stage of its
development. He invested his savings in property, only to see his hopes
of gaining a permanent competence swept away, when the hot winds came
and ruined the corn crop and scorching everything in its path. Mr.
Schaefer promptly left and decided to locate in Omaha. On his way
eastward he drew matches to decide upon his stopping place and the
choice fell to Atchison. This was in 1882. On reaching this city he saw
in the _Atchison Globe_ an advertisement, reading: “Competent man wanted
to take charge of building,” etc. The following morning he applied for
the job, and was given the post of foreman by Mr. Jones, a contractor,
who had undertaken to erect the Presbyterian church, a stone structure.
He received two dollars per day for his services as foreman, with the
understanding that his employer was to advance his wages according to
his worth as a foreman. As foreman he did not receive any more pay than
the men who were working under him; consequently, when he had supervised
the erection of the stone structure as far as the roof, he quit the job,
despite the fact that his boss offered him three dollars per day to
continue working for him. Mr. Schaefer’s first contract in Atchison was
the erection of a barn on south Third street. Since his first job he has
not lacked for contracts, and he has been employed repeatedly by the
same patrons who were well satisfied with the work done. His most
notable building operations included the magnificent Ingalls high school
building, erected at a cost of $125,000; the G. C. Wattles residence,
the Bradley residence, the Blish, Mize Silliman building, costing
$125,000; three double officers’ quarters at Ft. Leavenworth; thirty
church edifices in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska; the Presbyterian
church in Ottawa, Kan., and the Masonic Temple in Atchison, built at a
cost of $65,000, and completed in December of 1915. He employs from ten
to seventy-five skilled men, as occasion requires. He formerly operated
a large planing mill on Eighth street, which was destroyed by fire in
1913. Mr. Schaefer was married in 1884 to Lizzie Jacobs, of Atchison,
Kan. To them have been born the following children: Clara, wife of John
Frommer, Oak street, Atchison; Minnie, wife of John Krusemark, 915 North
Eleventh street; Etta, wife of Albert Frommer, St. Paul, Minn.; Corrine,
wife of Paul Smith, merchant, of Atchison; Julia, Edwin, Laura, and
Ruth, at home with their parents. Edwin is a machinist in the employ of
the Railway Specialty Company. Mrs. Schaefer was a daughter of J. H. and
Catharine Jacobs, who came from Germany in 1860, accompanied by their
three children: Henry, deceased; Mrs. Schaefer, and John E., and a son,
Conrad V., was born here. The Jacobs first located in Pennsylvania, and
then in Ft. Wayne, Ind., removing from there to Illinois in 1865, and
coming to Atchison in 1867. J. H. Jacobs was employed by the Hixon
Lumber Company, and died February 8, 1896, at the age of seventy-two
years. His wife died December 26, 1895, aged seventy-three years.
Politically. Mr. Schaefer is an independent Republican, and served one
term as city councilman from the Fifth ward. He is a member of the
Lutheran church, belongs to no lodges, and is essentially a home man
when he is not engaged in building. His investments are principally in
Atchison real estate and Texas farm lands. His handsome residence at 911
North Eleventh street was remodeled after his own ideas and presents an
attractive appearance.
AMEL MARKWALT.
Amel Markwalt, farmer, of Lancaster township, Atchison county, Kansas,
was born in Germany July 14, 1864. He is a son of Gottlieb and Minnie
(Schraum) Markwalt, and was one of five children, as follows: Gustave,
Manistee, Mich.; Augusta, address unknown; Amelia (Lidkye), widow,
Manistee, Mich.; William, Manistee, Mich.; and Amel, the subject of this
sketch. The parents were both German, and died when Amel was but five
years of age. He knows nothing of his parents, except that his father
was in the German war of 1866, when the Prussians were fighting the
Austrians.
The schooling of Amel was neglected, owing to the death of his parents,
and he spent his youth working on a farm in Germany. In 1882 he sailed
for America, and upon arriving in this country he went to work in the
lumber mills at Manistee, Mich., remaining there three years. He then
came to Atchison, Kan., and worked in the Central Branch railroad shops
as a laborer. He did various kinds of work of a mechanical nature during
his six years of employment there. He then engaged in the retail oil
business for himself, and finding this profitable he enlarged his
business to include the selling of ice. A few years later he sold his
business, and in 1903 bought 160 acres of land in Lancaster township and
moved there the following year, where he has since resided. He has built
a fine residence and a barn since buying the land, and has a two-acre
orchard. His barn is an excellent one, with a capacity of fifty tons of
hay.
Amel Markwalt was married in 1885 to Augusta Stolp, who was born in
Germany August 2, 1865, and left her native land in 1883 and came to
Atchison, Kan. She is a daughter of August and Charlotte (Weisgean)
Stolp, both now deceased. Her father came to Atchison, Kan., in 1884.
Mr. and Mrs. Markwalt have six children: Ida, wife of J. Ziegler,
Nortonville, Kan.; William, living at home; Henry, deceased; Charlotte,
Elsie, and Otto, living at home. Mr. Markwalt does not affiliate himself
with any political party, believing that he can vote more
conscientiously by voting independently. He is a member of the German
Lutheran church.
RUFUS BENTON PEERY.
Dr. Rufus Benton Peery, president of Midland College, Atchison, is a
true type of scholarly and progressive educator, one of that class of
men who seem fitted or destined for the high places, and are adapted by
profound learning and natural endowments to be instructors and leaders
of the youth of the land. His work as the head of Midland College is
attracting favorable attention. He has won fame as a lecturer and
achieved a measure of renown as an author. Endowed with inherent powers
of leadership, he occupies a place among the educators of the nation
which is unquestioned, and he is universally recognized as a man of
brilliant attainments and a strong personality. Although he has occupied
his present position but a few years, during that time Dr. Perry has
done much toward advancing the interests of Midland College and pushing
this institution forward to its rightful place among the seats of
learning in the Middle West.
Dr. Perry is a native of Virginia, born April 9, 1868, at Burke’s
Garden, and is a son of Thomas and Sarah Henrietta (Repass) Peery. His
father was a farmer and stockman, who eventually became an extensive
buyer and shipper of live stock in Virginia and Tennessee. He traveled
over the region in quest of cattle and other live stock, buying it up
and shipping train loads to the New York City markets. Rufus B. early
learned to do farm work and assisted his father as other boys have been
wont to do on the farm. After he had entered college he became his
father’s assistant in the live stock business during his vacations, and
thus earned the money to continue with his studies. During his boyhood
on the farm he raised a fine mare named “Gypsy” which was the apple of
his eye. He became ambitious to enter college, but had not the means to
make the start. His only recourse seemed to be to part with “Gypsy,” and
thus get the funds to realize his ambition. He sold his favorite for the
sum of $125, and was enabled to matriculate in Roanoke College, Salem,
Va., from which institution he was graduated with the degree of A. B. in
1890. He received his Master’s degree from Roanoke in 1895.
Imbued with a desire to enter the ministry, he continued his studies in
the theological seminary at Greensburg, Pa., for the next two years, and
was ordained in the English Lutheran ministry in 1892. Actuated by a
desire to assist the Japanese people, he became a missionary and
remained in the Orient from 1892 to 1903. For four years he was
professor of theology in Japan, and traveled extensively in the Orient,
including the Chinese Empire. Being a close student and observer of
condition in the lands which he visited while pursuing his missionary
tasks, he was enabled to write entertainingly, the results of his
observations, and embody them in an interesting volume “Gist of Japan,”
in 1897, which has run through eight editions. He has also written and
published a volume entitled “Lutherans in Japan,” issued in 1900. His
“Lectures to Young Men” (Japanese) was issued in 1902. Dr. Peery is a
regular contributor to religious and secular journals. His work has
decided literary merit, and he has attained high rank as a writer on
religious subjects. In the year 1895 he received the degree of Ph. D.
from the Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg. He took the non-resident
course in theology and homiletics in Chicago University from 1898 to
1901. In 1909 Dr. Peery received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from
Midland College. Upon his return from the far East he lectured in
America on Oriental and missionary subjects from 1903 to 1905. In 1905
he received a call and accepted the pastorate of St. Paul’s Lutheran
Church at Denver. He had charge of the Denver church until 1912 when he
came to Atchison and became president of Midland College. While in
Denver he served as president of the Denver Ministerial Association from
1909 to 1910, inclusive. Dr. Peery is a trustee of the Tabitha Home at
Lincoln, Neb.; a member of the Red Cross Society of Japan; member of the
Sons of the American Revolution Society, and the Phi Gamma Delta.
He was married to Letita Rich, of Wytheville, Va., August 21, 1905. To
Mr. and Mrs. Peery have been born six sons, namely: Harold Rich, Thomas
Benton and Rob Roy, born in Japan; Paul Denver, and William Wallace,
born in Denver, Colo.; Donald Lee, born in Atchison. Dr. Perry, like
many other college heads, began at the bottom rung of the ladder, and is
essentially self-made. His first teaching experience was in the district
schools of his native State. While a student at college he served as
private tutor to the student son of a wealthy man and thus earned
sufficient funds to continue his studies. His father gave him a share of
the proceeds of the live stock business which he earned in New York
City, during his vacations. Nothing develops the individual more than
the necessity of striving for himself, and thus developing his own
powers by combining the gaining of a livelihood with the attaining of a
higher education. Dr. Peery’s aspirations have been noble, and he has
been actuated by the high and unselfish purpose of being of service to
his fellow men. Atchison is proud of Midland College and the great work
being done within its walls, and the reputation of the college is
growing under Dr. Peery’s management.
JOHN L. RATERMAN.
From office boy to manager for one of the most widely known concerns in
the United States, or the civilized world, is the story of the life of
him of whom this review is written. The history of J. L. Raterman,
manager for R. G. Dun & Company, Mercantile Agency, shows what can be
accomplished by beginning at the lowest rung of the ladder, learning
every detail of the business, and eventually fitting himself for the
important and responsible position of manager.
The business of R. G. Dun & Company was first established in Atchison in
1886, with G. T. Bolman as manager. Other managers succeeded Mr. Bolman
in the course of time, but Mr. Raterman has held the position longer
than any of his predecessors. He began as office boy in 1890, when but
fourteen years of age, it being necessary for him to leave his school
studies when a pupil of the sixth grade. During his idle moments around
the office, young Raterman practiced on the typewriter, and it was not
long until he was able to do typist’s work efficiently and
satisfactorily. He was soon promoted and became a regular typist, and
mastered shorthand at the end of three years of study. Seven years later
he was advanced to the post of chief clerk, and in 1900 was promoted to
the important post of manager of the Atchison branch of R. G. Dun &
Company. As manager, Mr. Raterman travels over seven counties,
collecting necessary data regarding the business concerns of his
territory, including the six counties of northeast Kansas and DeKalb
county, Missouri. He is personally acquainted with practically every
business man in his district.
J. L. Raterman was born in Atchison, Kan., October 25, 1876, a son of
John and Elizabeth (Myers) Raterman, both of whom were born in Germany,
immigrated to this country in youth and were married in Cincinnati,
Ohio. John Raterman came to Atchison in 1857, and was one of the well
known pioneer merchants of the city, operating a grocery store here in
the early days. He conducted his grocery store for twenty-five years,
and died December 21, 1902. Mrs. Raterman is living in Atchison at the
advanced age of eighty years. Mr. and Mrs. Raterman left a family of
seven children.
ULYSSES B. SHARPLESS.
Ulysses B. Sharpless, treasurer of Atchison county, is one of the most
successful citizens and business men of the county. He is the son of
pioneer parents. Reared on a pioneer farm, successful as a merchant and
public official, he is universally recognized as one of the most
influential men of Atchison county today. Mr. Sharpless is a descendant
of old American stock, his ancestors having been among the original 100
Quaker families brought over from England by William Penn, and colonized
near and within the city of Philadelphia, in 1682. Joseph Sharpless, the
direct ancestor of U. B. Sharpless, erected a stone house on the
ancestral farm of the family in 1700, near the city of Chester, Pa.,
which is still standing in an excellent state of preservation. One room
of this old and stanch dwelling is still in exactly the same condition
as the original builder left it. The timbers and boards of this house
were drawn together by means of wooden pins instead of nails.
U. B. Sharpless was born January 18, 1870, in Delaware, a son of
Benjamin T. and Susan (Green) Sharpless, the former of whom was a native
of Delaware, and the latter a native of Pennsylvania. The family resided
in Delaware until 1878 and then migrated to the West, settling on a farm
near Pardee in Atchison county, Kansas. Here Benjamin T. lived and
reared his family of six children, as follows: Mrs. Cora E. (Burdick),
deceased; Mrs. Olivia R. (Pfouts), deceased; Mrs. Susan Ella (Shifflet),
of Atchison; Ulysses B., with whom this narrative is directly concerned;
Carrie died in infancy; Mrs. Emma M. Hulings, Center township, Atchison
county. Benjamin Sharpless died in 1894, and the mother of the foregoing
children departed this life in 1908.
[Illustration:
C. M. VOELKER,
County Clerk.
]
[Illustration:
U. B. SHARPLESS,
County Treasurer.
]
[Illustration:
S. S. KING,
County Commissioner.
]
[Illustration:
CHAS. T. GUNDY,
City Judge.
]
He of whom this review is written was eight years of age when the
Sharpless family came to Atchison county. He was reared to young manhood
on his father’s farm and learned to cultivate the soil under the
tutelage of his father, who was a successful farmer. He was educated in
the common schools and early learned to apply his education to the best
advantage for himself. When twenty-one years of age he obtained his
first position as manager of a general store at Monrovia, Kan. This
position entailed a number of duties which kept him busily employed for
a number of years. From 1891 to 1903 Mr. Sharpless managed the Monrovia
store, served as postmaster, and performed the duties of station agent
for the railroad company. However, he found time to take an interest in
politics and became active in the affairs of the Republican party when
yet a young man. In 1903 he removed to Effingham, Kan., and engaged in
the hardware and implement and grain business with considerable success.
He still retains his interest in this business, although now a resident
of Atchison. Mr. Sharpless has also become a land owner in the county
and has farm lands near Effingham.
He was married in 1892 to Sadie A. Cook, born and reared in Atchison
county, and a daughter of Thomas F. and Margaret Cook, who were pioneer
settlers of this county, coming here from Missouri in 1860. To Mr. and
Mrs. Sharpless have been born five children: Gladys A., Margaret S.,
Edith Aubine died at the age of seven years; Lois A., and Alice Marie.
All of the living children are attending the Atchison public schools.
The civic and political career of Mr. Sharpless has been an interesting
one and he has risen from the rank and file of the Republican party to
become one of the recognized leaders of his party in Atchison county and
Kansas. His first civic office was as police judge of Effingham. He also
served a term as mayor of that city. He was elected a member of the
State legislature from legislative district No. 3, in Atchison county in
1910 and again elected to succeed himself in 1912. He was also a member
of the Atchison County High School board and served as treasurer of this
organization. In the fall election of 1914 he was elected to the office
of county treasurer by a large and handsome majority—evidence of his
great personal popularity among all classes of citizens. He assumed the
duties of the treasurer’s office in October of 1915, and is bestowing
the same care and application in the discharge of his public duties in
this capacity as he has always taken in the conduct of his personal
business affairs.
Mr. Sharpless is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons,
Blue Lodge, No. 48, and is a Knights Templar and Royal Arch Mason. He is
past noble grand of Spartan Lodge, No. 250, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, of Effingham, Kan., and is a member of the Modern Woodmen of
America, of the latter city. He is also fraternally allied with the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles,
and the Fraternal Aid Union of Atchison.
CONRAD M. VOELKER.
It is certainly a distinction to be known as the youngest county clerk,
and in all probability the youngest county official ever elected in the
State of Kansas. Such is C. M. Voelker, the efficient and justly popular
county clerk of Atchison county. Political honors and preferment rarely
come to a really young man, unless he is especially qualified for the
work, and has a host of friends who are willing and able to support him
and his candidacy. Although young in years, Mr. Voelker is performing
his duties in a manner which would reflect distinct credit upon an older
individual.
Conrad M. Voelker is a native of Atchison county, having been born May
20, 1889, on a farm, four miles north of Atchison, in Shannon township.
His father is Conrad Walker, who was born in Germany November 20, 1856,
a son of Karl and Christiana Voelker, who immigrated to America in 1861,
and settled on a farm, two miles north of the city, where he operated a
dairy and truck farm until his demise. To Karl and Christiana Voelker
were born the following children: Conrad; Mrs. Joseph Biddle, of
Atchison; Henry, residing in New Orleans; Karl Voelker was twice
married, Mrs. S. L. Loyd, of Shannon township, being a daughter of the
second marriage. Conrad, father of C. M. Voelker, was reared to manhood
in Atchison county, and when he became of age, settled on a 160 acre
farm, four miles north of Atchison, which is now one of the best
improved farms in the State of Kansas. For a number of years he
specialized in the cultivation of cabbage, making a success of the
venture, and accumulated considerable money. He became known far and
wide as the “Cabbage King” of Kansas, always having the first cabbage on
the market, and shipped the product of his fields to points in Kansas
and Nebraska in carload lots. The Voelkers have a beautiful, well
appointed home, with excellent out buildings. Conrad Voelker married
Jennie Mueller, who was born in Cooper county, Missouri, November 15,
1862, a daughter of German parents. To Conrad Voelker and wife were born
the following children: Fred C. W., a farmer, living north of Atchison;
Conrad M. The Voelkers are members of the Lutheran church.
Conrad M., with whom this narrative is directly concerned, was educated
primarily in the district schools, his education being supplemented with
one year’s study in the German school in Atchison, and a course in
Midland College, where he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of
Science in 1909. He then completed a course in commerce and bookkeeping
in the Atchison Business College. While a sophomore of Midland College
he won first honors in the oratorical contest, and represented his alma
mater at the State oratorical contest, held in Salina, Kan. While yet a
student he received the appointment of deputy county clerk under Edward
Iverson, March 13, 1910. He was elected to the office on the Republican
ticket in November, 1912, and again elected without any opposition in
the fall of 1914.
A more intimate personal view of this rising young man was published in
the _Atchison Champion_ just previous to assuming the duties of his
office after his election:
“Conrad M. Voelker, county clerk elect, when he takes office January 1,
1913, will have the distinction of being the youngest man ever elected
to the office of county clerk in Kansas. Mr. Voelker, while he appears
to be much older, is but twenty-three years old. He is popular; this was
proven by the fact that he was elected by a majority of 955 votes.
“Mr. Voelker is the son of Conrad Voelker. He was born four miles north
of Atchison. He never passes up an opportunity to learn something. When
four years old Mr. Voelker started to school. He was graduated from the
eighth grade at ten years of age, and in 1909 he was graduated from
Midland College. When he finished the common schools he studied in a
German school for one year; so he both reads and writes German. He
completed a double course at the Atchison Business College in five
months, graduating in March, 1910, and a few days later he was appointed
deputy county clerk. When Mr. Voelker was eighteen years of age he took
part in the Kansas intercollegiate oratorical contest, which was held at
Salina. There were nineteen other contestants, several of them being men
twice the age of Voelker, who were going through college for the second
time. Voelker won fourth place in the contest, which in addition to
being quite an honor, demonstrated that he has great ability as a public
speaker.
“There is no doubt that he will be re-elected two years hence. He
undoubtedly will prove to be one of the most efficient county clerks in
the history of the county.”
The last paragraph was prophetic, as Mr. Voelker’s second election to
the office in 1914 will testify. His re-election was the best evidence
of his success and strong personal popularity. Mr. Voelker is affiliated
with several fraternal societies, an active party worker, what is known
as a good mixer, and a rising young citizen of the county, whose future
career will be well worth watching, inasmuch as he is bound to gain
greater honors in the years to come, and to climb to a still higher
place in the civic life of his home county and State.
SAMUEL S. KING.
Samuel S. King, a member of the board of county commissioners of
Atchison county, was born in Moorestown, N. J., May 16, 1856. One year
later, in 1857, he came to Atchison with his parents, John and Violet
King, on a boat owned by Dr. Challiss. The King family arrived at
Atchison in April of 1857. John King soon afterward settled on a farm
six miles southwest of Atchison, where Samuel S. lived until he was
fifteen years of age. He then came to Atchison for the purpose of
attending the city schools. During vacations he worked for McPike &
Allen (later McPike & Fox). After finishing his public school education
Mr. King was employed as bookkeeper for some time by White, Washer &
King, now the S. R. Washer Grain Company. He was also employed as
bookkeeper by McPike & Fox, W. F. Dolan and others until 1881. In that
year he was appointed by Senator John J. Ingalls to a position in the
United States railway mail service and was sent to New Mexico and
Arizona as railway mail agent. Here he remained in the United States
Government service for about two years and then resigned to enter the
employ of P. B. Brannen & Company as bookkeeper and manager at
Flagstaff, Ariz. This firm conducted a jobbing house at Flagstaff which
was then the largest town on the railroad between Albuquerque, N. M.,
and Los Angeles, Cal. In June, 1886, he and his family returned to
Atchison and Mr. King became the confidential bookkeeper of McPike &
Fox, wholesale druggists, and remained with this concern until the fall
of 1897, when he resigned to take up his duties as county clerk.
Mr. King had always been more or less interested in politics and he was
elected to the office of county clerk on the Republican ticket in the
fall of 1897. He was subsequently reëlected and held the office for nine
years, or until January, 1907. He then engaged in the real estate and
insurance business which he still follows with offices at 106 North
Fifth street. Mr. King was elected mayor of the city of Atchison in
April, 1907, and served as the city executive for two years, and later
was appointed city clerk to fill out the unexpired term of C. A. Hawk,
who resigned. In the fall of 1914 he was elected county commissioner, an
office which he is at present filling in a capable and efficient manner.
Mr. King was married April 14, 1885, at Flagstaff, Ariz., to Miss Sarah
Hawks, of Newton, Kan. Two children have been born of this marriage,
namely, Grace and Victor. Mr. King is affiliated with the Ancient Free
and Accepted Masons, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the
Fraternal Order of Eagles, of which lodge he is a trustee, the Modern
Woodmen of America, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Mystic
Workers, and the Central Protective Association. There are few citizens
who are more highly esteemed, and Atchison county has not a more popular
public official than S. S. King.
CHARLES T. GUNDY.
This history of Atchison county is issued not only for the purpose of
inscribing a record of those who have built up the county and were here
during the pioneer days and endured the hardships of the pioneer life,
but for recording as well the life stories of those who came later and
have won places of merit and distinction in the affairs of the city and
county of Atchison. It is probable that few men have attained such
eminence as Judge Charles T. Gundy of the city court of Atchison during
his brief residence here. The esteem in which he is held and the
successful manner in which he has performed the duties of his judicial
position are decided evidences of his ability. His standing among the
members of the legal fraternity is high and he well merits the
confidence of his fellow citizens. The conduct of his court is marked
for the fairness of his decisions in suits of equity and the settlement
of such cases as come under his jurisdiction have been accomplished to
the satisfaction of the parties concerned.
Judge Charles T. Gundy is a native of Scotland county, Missouri, and he
was born and reared on his father’s farm, eight miles northwest of the
thriving and progressive city of Memphis. He evinces much of the
characteristics of the good people of Scotland county, who are noted for
their hospitality and kindliness. He was born February 10, 1878, and is
a son of George M. and Margaret M. (Needham) Gundy, natives of Illinois
and Missouri, respectively. George M. Gundy was born in 1845 and is a
son of Jacob Gundy, a native of Holland, who settled in Scotland County,
Missouri, as early as 1846. George M. still resides on the old home
place of the Gundy family. This farm consists of 160 acres of well
tilled land on which have been reared six children out of a family of
seven, as follows: Charles T., with whom this review is directly
concerned; Louis W. and Jacob R., farmers of Scotland county, Missouri;
Mrs. Corda Crawford, of Scotland county; Gladys, deceased; Pearl and
Merl at home with their parents. The mother of these children is a
native of Scotland county, and was born in 1858, a daughter of David
Needham, a veteran of the Civil war and a scion of an old Kentucky
family. He served three years as a soldier in the late rebellion, and
after returning home met an accidental death by a falling tree. The
ancestral home of the Needhams is near Frankfort, Ky. The Gundy family
is held in high esteem in their home county and the members of the
family are well respected by their friends and acquaintances.
Charles T. Gundy was educated in the rural schools and attended the
Memphis Academy for one year. Circumstances were such that he found it
necessary to do considerable studying at home and “burned the midnight
oil” in the pursuit of an education. He fitted himself for teaching and
taught for four years in the schools of his native county. In the
meantime he read law and was successful in being admitted to the bar in
1902. For three years thereafter he practiced his profession in Memphis.
He then secured a Government position in the postoffice department at
Washington, D. C., and pursued his law studies in the National
University at Washington. He graduated from that institution May 30,
1908. Having small desire to become a mere cog in a great machine, as
seemed to be the lot of thousands of Government employes, he resigned
his position in October of the same year and located in Keokuk, Iowa,
and had charge of the farm loan department of the State Central Savings
Bank. He resigned this position in March of 1910 and came to Atchison,
opening an office in the Auld building on Commercial street. Since this
time he has built up an excellent practice. He was appointed city judge
in December of 1910 to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge
J. P. Adams. He was elected to the office in 1912 and again elected in
1914.
Judge Gundy was united in marriage with Eleanor M. McCormick on August
12, 1909. Mrs. Gundy was a resident of Washington, D. C., and is a
daughter of John McCormick, who died in 1905. Judge Gundy is a member of
the Baptist church and he and Mrs. Gundy have a wide circle of friends
who esteem them for their many likable qualities.
The Republican party has always claimed the allegiance of Judge Gundy
and he takes an active and influential interest in political affairs.
LOUIS R. KUEHNHOFF.
Louis R. Kuehnhoff, farmer and stockman, of Lancaster township, Atchison
county, Kansas, was born January 1, 1880, on the farm where he now
resides. He is a son of Charles and Caroline Kuehnhoff, and is one of
nine children, six of whom are living. The father was born in Germany in
1841, and left there when a boy of sixteen years and sailed for New
York. He remained there a short time when he went west, arriving at St.
Joseph, Mo. He had not been there very long when the Civil war broke out
and he enlisted at St. Joseph in Company B of the Volunteer infantry.
After the war was over he was mustered out at Lexington, Mo., having won
a praiseworthy military record in his country’s service. He then
returned to civil life in St. Joseph, Mo., where he worked for a time as
a laborer, receiving eight dollars a month. Shortly afterward he came to
Atchison county, Kansas, and bought eighty acres of land in section 10,
Lancaster township. Using oxen, he broke the ground on his newly
acquired farm and began to improve it as rapidly as his resources would
permit. In 1894 he retired and went to live at the National Soldiers’
Home at Leavenworth, Kan., where he died in 1903. The mother was born in
Germany in 1845, and died in 1899.
Louis R. Kuehnhoff grew up on his father’s farm, and attended Eden
district school, and also District No. 3, Lancaster township. He
remained at home until he was nineteen years of age, and the next five
years worked as a farm hand, and then he bought the old home place of
200 acres. Louis Kuehnhoff is an industrious worker. He keeps graded
stock of all kinds and takes a special interest in fine mules. He always
attends the county fairs in Atchison county and occasionally makes
entries. On April 26, 1905, he was married to Lena Werner, who was born
in Germany November 2, 1881. Her parents were John and Marie (Earhart)
Werner. The father was born in Germany in 1815. He belonged to the
Masonic lodge in Germany. In 1889, when he was quite an old man, he came
to America and settled at Leavenworth, where he died in 1891. The mother
was born in Germany January 17, 1843, and is now living with her
children, of whom there are six, as follows: Adam, teamster,
Leavenworth, Kan.; Martha Nolan, deceased; Lizzie Loman, Bowling, Kan.;
Katherine Weimer, Wallula, Wyandotte county, Kansas; Lena, wife of Mr.
Kuehnhoff, of this review. Mrs. Kuehnhoff attended the Pleasant Ridge
school and the German school, north of Potter, Kan. She is a good,
loyal, hard-working mother, and has three children: Marie, Edna and
Edwin. The last two are twins and are three years old. In politics Mr.
Kuehnhoff is independent. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. He is a progressive farmer and is constantly on the lookout for
improvements in agricultural methods. He has a fine eight-room house and
a large barn equipped with modern conveniences. He also has a stone
milk-house which was built by his father years ago. He has a small but
thriving orchard and has twelve head of fine cattle. Besides these, he
has four horses and a span of excellent mules. Mr. Kuehnhoff takes a
lively interest in his stock and in his farm generally.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SANDERS.
All honor to the pioneer settlers of Kansas. It was they who broke the
way in the unpeopled wilderness and endured the hardships and privations
on the frontier of advancing civilization in order that the path of
empire might be pushed steadily westward, ever onward toward the setting
sun. Their work is done; the halcyon pioneer days when this broad land
was but a vast unbroken wilderness of waving prairie grass, dotted here
and there with belts of timber along the streams, is no more; towns and
cities have sprung up; the locomotive shrieks its way over the ribbon-
like rails, hauling the products of the land to the millions in need of
sustenance, where once the hardy freighters drove their mule teams and
guarded the precious freight overland to the homes of the settlers in
the West. Benjamin Franklin Sanders is one of the few remaining members
of the “old guard,” who sixty years ago began the task of reclaiming a
wilderness. He is one of the ranking old pioneer settlers of Atchison
county and has lived a record which is thrilling and interesting to a
high degree. He is the only living “ye old time fiddler” in Atchison
county, who with his comrade was wont to play at the old-time dances and
“hoe downs” in northeast Kansas fifty years and more ago.
Benjamin Franklin Sanders is now living retired in Center township,
Atchison county. He was born August 8, 1833, in Franklin county,
Missouri, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Graham) Sanders, who
were the parents of the following children: Nancy married William
McQuillan, and by her second marriage became Mrs. William Burns, and
died in Benton county, Missouri; Robert, deceased; Oliver died in Jewell
county, Kansas; Lydia married Fred Wilming, and died in Shannon
township, Atchison county; William died in Franklin county, Missouri;
and Benjamin, the subject of this sketch. Benjamin F. Sanders was sent
to the country school in Franklin county, Missouri, but the school was
poor and the roads were bad in the winter time, and, altogether, he had
little opportunity to learn. His whole time in school, he estimates, did
not amount to more than three months. His father was a Kentuckian and
followed farming all of his life, and died in 1856, at the age of fifty-
five years. The mother was a native of Missouri and of Scotch descent.
She died in Kansas, in 1872, at the age of seventy-six years.
[Illustration:
_B. F. Sanders_
B. F. Sanders and His Great-Granddaughter, Gail Maxine Keirns,
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Art Keirns.
]
At the age of twelve Benjamin F. Sanders was apprenticed to a carriage
and wagon-maker in St. Louis, Mo. He remained there twelve years, coming
to Kansas in 1856. He returned to Missouri for a short time and then
came back to Kansas the following year. He opened a wagon-maker’s shop
at Monrovia, Atchison county, which he operated for two years. He then
engaged in farming, taking up a claim near where Effingham now stands.
This was ten miles from any settlement then and Mr. Sanders, fearing
that the district would not be settled, gave up his claim and preëmpted
eighty acres one and one-half miles north of where he now lives, in
Center township, and began his life as a real farmer. He hired a man
from Iowa who had six yoke of oxen to break up his land. He lived in the
most primitive way during the first years on this place. Coffee, for one
thing, was very high in price at that time, and there also was very
little money in the territory, so a substitute for coffee was used. They
mixed wheat and rye, calling it essence of coffee, and used this as a
beverage in place of the regular coffee. It was the same way with flour.
When he needed flour he would take a quantity of wheat to the gristmill
where it would be ground into coarse flour, nearest mills being at
Valley Falls and Kickapoo. His nearest postoffice was at Oceana, just
north of Pardee, where the postoffice was located later. In 1860 Mr.
Sanders bought more land. At one time he owned as high as 400 acres of
land in Center township, Atchison county, Kansas. He went through the
whole evolution of civilization, beginning in a little log house on his
first eighty acres of land and passed through the wild days of the
border war. In 1863 he was a member of Captain Whittaker’s company of
Colonel McQuigg’s regiment of the Kansas State militia. He participated
in several skirmishes and was honorably discharged at Ft. Leavenworth in
1864.
In 1859 Mr. Sanders married Margaret Ramsey in Putnam county, Ohio, who
was born in 1840. She was a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Dorothy)
Ramsey, natives of Ohio. She died in 1868, leaving the following
children: Ira, farmer, Whiting, Kan.; Bertha (Mrs. C. G. Moore),
deceased; William and Little Joy, both deceased. Mr. Sanders was married
a second time in 1870 to Mrs. Elizabeth (Ramsey) Keirns, a sister of his
first wife. She died in May, 1904. She was the widow of Rufus Keirns,
and by her last marriage three children were born: Henry R., farmer,
Pardee, Kan.; Mrs. Etta C. Browne, Pardee, Kan.; Benjamin, Jr., died
when seventeen years of age.
Mr. Sanders is a Republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church. He is now living with Arthur Keirns, a son of his step-son. In
these days his life is rather quiet compared with the early-day
existence which he passed through. Indians camped near his farm when he
first came to Kansas. The trail to the Kickapoo reservation passed near
his farm and the Indians were constantly traveling back and forth along
it. He has a hobby of “fiddling.” He calls himself a “fiddler” in
distinction from a violinist. He played at the first corn carnival held
in Atchison and won a prize. He used to play with Samuel King, a well
known “fiddler,” and they played for all the old “hoe down” or “break
down” dances. Although he is eighty-three years old, he still plays his
“fiddle” with as much vim as ever and his ear is just as ready as it was
when he was a young man. In addition to being a farmer, Mr. Sanders has
done a large amount of carpenter work in Kansas. He has built a number
of barns and other buildings. Mr. Sanders was elected to the office of
township trustee and held the office two terms, having been reëlected at
the close of his first term.
KARL AUGUST KAMMER.
Karl August Kammer, farmer and stockman, Lancaster township, Atchison
county, Kansas, was born on the farm where he now lives, October 12,
1869, and is a son of Karl and Joehanna (Hida) Kammer. He is one of six
children: Joehanna (Gutzman), deceased; Emma (Fuhrman), Lancaster
township; Karl, subject of this sketch; Julius, Lancaster township;
Bertha H. (Buttron), Lancaster township; one child who died in infancy.
The father was born in Germany in 1840. Leaving there in 1862, he came
to Atchison county, Kansas, where he worked in a vineyard for two years.
The following four years he was employed in a brewery at Atchison, and
then farmed two years in Lancaster township. At that time he had a
chance to buy 160 acres in section 16 of Lancaster township, and with
the aid of a partner, the land was bought. He built a one-room shanty
and a thatched barn, and broke prairie with the oxen and planted the
first crop. Later a better house and barn were built, and gradually,
other improvements were added and a fine orchard planted. At the time of
his death, in October, 1910, Mr. Kammer owned 240 acres of land. The
mother was born in Germany, February 20, 1840, and married in her native
land just before coming to America. She died in 1904.
Karl Kammer, the subject of this sketch, was reared on his father’s farm
in Lancaster township. He attended High Prairie district school, No. 3,
and remained on the home farm until he was twenty-six years old, when he
rented some land from his father, and six years later he was able to buy
the land he had been renting. He improved the farm considerably and
stocked it with graded cattle, and now has an excellent farm, modern in
every respect, consisting of 160 acres of land, and also has a fine
orchard of two acres.
Mr. Kammer was married October 23, 1895, to Emma Buttron, a native of
Lancaster township, Atchison county, born August 14, 1870. She is a
daughter of Henry and Rosa (Scheu) Buttron, the father a native of
Germany, born in 1833. When a young man he left his native land and came
to America, locating in Pennsylvania where he worked as a blacksmith.
From there he went to Elgin, Ill., and continued at his trade, and in
1857, he moved to Atchison, Kan., following blacksmithing for a short
time. He then preëmpted 160 acres of land in Lancaster township, where
he built a house. The first crop was destroyed by grasshoppers, and he
was forced to return to his trade during the following winter. When
spring came, he went back to his farm and that year was successful and
his start was assured. Mr. Buttron bought more land and continued to
make improvements, and after a long and prosperous career he died in
1914. Mr. and Mrs. Kammer are the parents of three children: Katherine,
Rosa and Henrietta, all living at home with their parents. Mr. Kammer is
a Republican, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. and Mrs. Kammer and family are members of the Evangelical Lutheran
church of High Prairie neighborhood.
MARSHALL J. CLOYES.
The demise of Marshall J. Cloyes May 5, 1915, marked the passing of one
of the sturdy figures who assisted in developing Atchison county, and
was one of the grand old men of the city. At the time of his death he
was probably the oldest living pioneer settler of Atchison county, in
point of age and years of residence in the county. For over half a
century he had been one of the well known and distinguished characters
whom people trusted and respected. In the days when strong men were
required to redeem a wilderness and make it habitable for men and their
progeny, Marshall Cloyes was one of those who never gave up the fight.
During the terrible drought of 1860, when scores of families deserted
their homes and left the State, he and his family were among those who
decided to remain and win out over the vagaries of nature. His faith in
the future of Kansas was amply justified as the years rolled on and ever
increasing prosperity came to him and his, as a just and equitable
reward for a faith and confidence bestowed upon the new country during a
time which tried men’s souls and caused weaker mortals to give up the
fight.
He was born at Salisbury, Vt., October 24, 1826, and descended from
sturdy New England ancestry. His parents were Elijah and Mary (Beach)
Cloyes. On his father’s side his ancestry can be traced back in the
centuries to two brothers who settled in New England in the seventeenth
century. His grandfather was William Cloyes, who fought for his country
in the War of 1812. The boyhood days of Marshall were spent in the town
of Salisbury, where he attended the public schools and later pursued his
education in a private school. He learned the trade of shoemaker but did
not follow it to any great extent. In 1847 he engaged in the lumber
business at Ripton, Vt., and was there for twelve years prior to coming
to Kansas. From the town in which he was born he came to Kansas,
arriving here in Atchison June 2, 1859. The following autumn his wife
and sons followed him and during the ensuing winter the family lived in
a two room hut, on the rear of the lots where Mrs. Jacob Leu’s residence
now stands. On February 21, 1860, they loaded all their goods in a
wagon, and with an ox team moved to a farm north of Lancaster. During
the night an old-time Kansas blizzard gave them a cold reception in
their new home. When Mr. Cloyes had agreed to pay $650 for his first
quarter section of land he was still shy $2.50 of the necessary amount,
and was forced to borrow this small sum from a kind neighbor. During the
following summer he worked in Oliver Davis’ sawmill and got enough
lumber to build a shanty on his farm. While this was building the family
lived in two rooms in the home of John S. Rust. In the fall of the bad
year of 1860, Mr. Cloyes decided to try to cash in on the reputation he
had left behind him in Vermont, and applied to an uncle for a loan of
$400. The uncle readily responded with the statement in his letter, “If
you are ever able, I know you will pay it back; if you are never able to
pay it back I can get along without it.” During the summer Mr. Cloyes
put in his spare time cutting prairie hay and stacking it. When fall and
winter came on, the returning freighters from Pike’s Peak were willing
to sell their oxen and wagons for almost any price. Mr. Cloyes invested
a part of his $400 capital in these outfits, wintered the cattle on the
hay, and in the spring was able to dispose of the oxen for more than
double the purchase prices. During the next two years he was enabled to
pay off all of his debts, and prosperity attended his efforts from that
time on. By the hard work and good management of himself and his two
sons he increased his holdings to an entire section of land. He remained
on the farm until 1872, then gave the farm to his sons and removed to a
home at 417 North Seventh street in Atchison.
On July 5, 1848, Mr. Cloyes was married to Miss Betsy Henderson, of
Middlebury, Vt., who died in Atchison in 1893, leaving two sons, Frank
E. and Mark S. On September 15, 1909, he took a second wife, the bride
being this time Mrs. Matilda Franke, of Atchison. She was born at
Thuringen, Germany, November 16, 1855, a daughter of John and Christiana
(Temme) Franke, who immigrated to America in 1858, making the long sea
voyage in a sailing vessel which took six long weeks to make a trip,
which is now made in six days. From New York City the Frankes came
directly to St. Louis, and there made their home until their removal to
Atchison. At the outbreak of the Civil war, John Franke volunteered his
services in defense of the Union which had given him a home. He served
in a Missouri regiment of volunteers for one year, and was then
discharged on account of serious disability, caused by the hardships
which he had undergone. He was never the same man afterwards, and died
in 1865 as a direct result of his disabilities incurred in behalf of his
adopted country. The mother and family lived in St. Louis until 1883
when they removed to Atchison. Mrs. Franke died some years later at the
home of her daughter, Mrs. Cloyes. Matilda Franke was first married to
Theo A. Franke, a native of Saxony, Germany, in 1879, and who came to
America when a youth of eighteen years of age, and settled in
Pittsburgh, Penn. Theo A. Franke was also a veteran of the Civil war,
having enlisted in 1861 in Company D, Seventy-fourth regiment,
Pennsylvania infantry. He served throughout the great conflict and was
wounded several times while participating in the battles fought by the
Army of the Potomac. He enlisted again, after being discharged on
account of a serious wound, and was a brave and valiant soldier who
fought for sheer love of his adopted country. Mr. Franke’s first trip to
Atchison was made in 1859, but he returned to Pittsburg upon the
outbreak of the Civil war and there proffered his services as stated
above. He returned to Atchison after the close of the war and here met,
in the course of years, Matilda, who was visiting friends in Atchison.
Their acquaintance ripened into a warm friendship which gave place to
love and they were married March 10, 1879. A happy wedded life endured
until Mr. Franke’s death in 1882. Children blessed this union as
follows: Rose M., wife of Bert Gilmore, an electrician of Atchison;
Elsa, wife of Fred Moore, a railway engineer of Falls City, Neb.; Theo
Franke, of Pierce, Ariz. During Mr. Franke’s first year of residence in
Atchison he was a freighter across the plains. Upon his return in 1865
he entered the grocery business and prospered, accumulating considerable
property interests. He was well known in Atchison and was considered to
be one of the city’s most substantial men.
Mr. Cloyes was prominently identified with the political affairs of the
county and was an influential leader of the Republican party for many
years. Even before coming to Atchison from the farm he had taken an
active interest in politics in his home township and county. He was
elected to represent his district in the State legislature in 1867,
leaving the impress of his individuality upon laws passed in the
following session. For eight years he served in the Atchison city
council and in 1891 was elected mayor. Two years later he was reëlected.
Honorable and thoroughly upright in all his dealings, his
administrations were characterized by integrity, sound judgment and an
unusual amount of good sense. He was a member of Washington Lodge, No.
5, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and all who knew him respected him
for his sterling worth.
MARK D. SNYDER.
Mark D. Snyder, retired farmer, living in Monrovia, Atchison county,
Kansas, is a native son of Kansas, having been born in Atchison county
November 2, 1858. He is a son of Hon. Solomon J. H. Snyder, one of the
influential figures of the early pioneer days of Kansas, and who was a
stanch and uncompromising adherent of the Free State principles. The
father of Mark D. was born in Washington county, Maryland, February 7,
1812, and died at Monrovia, Atchison county, November 28, 1873. When
eight years of age he accompanied his father to Tuscarawas county, Ohio,
where he was educated in the district schools and a graded school at
Canton, Ohio. Between 1830 and 1833 he cleared a farm of 160 acres of
heavily timbered land. In 1838 he married Susan Winklepleck and then
cleared and cultivated a tract of timber land which he purchased until
1848. His wife died in that year, leaving him with three small children.
He sold all of his holdings, placed his children with neighborhood
families and then traveled 4,000 miles in an endeavor to forget his
great loss and overcome his grief over the death of his wife. Later, he
married Eliza Fisher, and in 1852 removed to Indiana, and then came west
to Ft. Leavenworth in 1854. On the morning of May 4, 1854, he made the
first legal homestead claim ever entered in the State of Kansas,
comprising the land upon which the southern part of the city of
Leavenworth now stands, and then returned to Indiana for his family. On
his return to his homestead he found his claim “jumped” and the country
in the hands of border ruffians. He was driven from the polls at the
first election held in the Territory on account of his Free Soil
principles. Two other claims which he bought were wrested from him by a
pro-slavery “squatter court,” his life threatened, and he sought refuge
in an unsettled part of the State where Monrovia now stands. Here he
made his home and became prominently identified with the politics of the
new State of Kansas. In 1862 Mr. Snyder was elected to the State
legislature and served for two terms in the house of representatives,
and one in the senate, where he did faithful and conscientious work in
behalf of the people of Kansas.
Solomon J. H. Snyder was a devoted Christian, and was one of the
organizers of the first Lutheran church organization in the State, at
Monrovia, of which he remained a member until his demise. He was a great
Sunday school worker and wrote two very interesting and valuable Sunday
school books, “The Lost Children” and “Scenes in the Far West,” and at
the time of his death was engaged in the preparation of a work entitled,
“The Evidences of Christianity.” His influence was ever in behalf of the
betterment of mankind and his Christianity was of the practical kind
which introduces helpfulness, kindness and forbearance into our daily
lives. The children of S. J. H. and Eliza (Fisher) Snyder were as
follows: Angeline (Conley), deceased; Mrs. Sarah Dunn, of Anadarko,
Okla.; Mrs. Cora Shifflet, deceased; and Mark D. The three children by
his first wife were: Mrs. Susan Reck, deceased; Mrs. Anna Berndt, of
Mexico City; and J. H., San Diego, Cal. The mother of these children was
born in Ohio in 1838, and died at her home near Monrovia, in 1896.
Mark D. Snyder, with whom this review is directly concerned, was born,
reared, and reared his own family in Atchison county. He is one of the
real native born citizens of the county. Upon the death of his father he
took charge of the old home place, and when his mother died he purchased
the family estate. By the exercise of industry and economy, aided by
good financial judgment, he has become the owner of 240 acres of
excellent land which is well improved and one of the most productive
tracts of land in northeast Kansas. He cultivated his broad acres
assiduously until 1909, when he turned over the management of his farm
to his son, and retired to Monrovia, where he now resides.
Mr. Snyder was married November 30, 1881, to Helen M. Maxfield, and this
union has been blessed with eight children, namely: Elsie and Minnie,
deceased; John, who is farming the home place; Mark, living in Omaha,
Neb.; Mildred, deceased; Margaret and Marguerette, twins, deceased;
James, a boy twelve years old, living with John on the home farm. The
mother of these children was born in Henry county, Illinois, a daughter
of David and Anna (Freeze) Maxfield, who first emigrated from Illinois
to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and in 1873 came to Atchison county. Mrs.
Snyder died in 1909. Mr. Snyder has always been a loyal supporter of the
Republican party, is an attendant of the Lutheran church, and is a
member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of Effingham, Kan.
EDWARD PERDUE.
Edward Perdue, president of the First National Bank of Atchison, and
extensive farmer, of Huron, Kan., has been a resident of Atchison county
for the past forty-five years. Like other successful men who were
pioneers in Kansas, he arrived here from Canada when a young man of
twenty years of age without money, but possessed of strength, a
willingness to work at honest labor and an ambition to succeed. How well
he has succeeded is seen in the substantial fortune which he has
accumulated and the honors which have been conferred upon him by his
fellow citizens.
Mr. Perdue was born on a farm in Peterboro county, Ontario, Canada, June
27, 1850, a son of Thomas and Catharine Perdue, natives of Ireland, who
left the Emerald Isle in their youth and settled in Canada. Edward
Perdue was reared to sturdy young manhood on the parental farm and
attended the country school in the vicinity of his home as opportunity
afforded. In March of 1870 he arrived in Atchison, and during his first
year worked at any odd jobs which were presented, including labor on the
streets and harvesting on the nearby farms. During the following five
years he was employed as a construction foreman on the grading and
building of the Santa Fe railroad from Atchison to the Colorado-Kansas
State line. He saved his money and by the exercise of strict economy,
which meant the denial to himself of all but the actual necessities of
life, he was enabled to accumulate sufficient funds to invest in a farm
near the town of Huron, on which he resided for the next five years. He
then sold this farm and bought another one about one and one-half miles
east from Huron, which remains his home to the present time. Mr. Perdue
has given his attention mostly to the raising and feeding of live stock
in his farming operations and has succeeded in amassing a comfortable
fortune during the forty years he has been an agriculturist. He has
increased his land holdings until at the present time he is the owner of
1,040 acres of splendid farm lands in Lancaster township. His home farm
is one of the best improved tracts of farm land in the county and all of
his farms show the results obtained from soil conservation and advanced
methods of farming.
[Illustration:
_Edward Perdue_
]
While Mr. Perdue has been primarily a farmer, he has given his attention
to other matters as betokens a man of influence and substance. In the
year 1891 he assisted in the organization of the Huron State Bank and is
president of this thriving concern. In 1906 he took part in the
organization of the Commercial State Bank of Atchison, which was
succeeded later by the First National Bank, of which banking institution
he has served as president since 1900. He is also a stockholder of the
State Savings Bank of Leavenworth, Kansas.
Mr. Perdue was married in 1878 to Mary Viola Davey, of Brown county,
Kansas, a daughter of Charles Davey, which marriage has resulted in the
birth of seven children, as follows: Mrs. Maria Walters, living on a
farm near Huron; Edna, wife of J. M. Delaney, merchant, of Huron, Kan.;
Mrs. Mabel Schmidt, wife of the assistant cashier of the Huron State
Bank; Charles, who is cultivating the home farm; Thomas Hendricks, at
home; George, a farmer in North Dakota; and Edward, Jr.
Mr. Perdue has been a life-long Democrat, who has always taken a more or
less active part in the political affairs of the county. He was elected
county commissioner in 1897 and served one term. In 1904 he served one
term as a member of the State legislature, representing this district,
declining reëlection when his term of office expired. While he was
reared in the Catholic belief, Mr. Perdue is tolerant of all creeds and
takes a broad-minded view of religious matters. He belongs to the
Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen.
DR. CHARLES L. HIXON.
Dr. Charles L. Hixon, a leading dental practitioner of Atchison is a
native son of Kansas and comes of a pioneer family of the State. He was
born on a farm in Jackson county, Kansas, January 14, 1872, and is a son
of John S. and Alice (Clark) Hixon. His father, John S. Hixon, was born
in Ohio in 1850, a son of Jacob and Cassandra (Stonebraker) Hixon, who
resided in Ashland county, Ohio, until their removal to Putnam county,
Indiana, in the early pioneer days when that part of the Hoosier State
was being settled by large numbers of Ohio people. Alice Clark Hixon,
mother of Dr. Hixon, was likewise born in 1850 in Putnam county,
Indiana, a daughter of Andrew Jackson and Harriet (Mann) Clark, natives
of New York State, and also pioneer settlers of Putnam county, Indiana.
While John S. Hixon and Alice Clark were attending the district school
in the neighborhood of their respective homes, they became great
friends, and the warm friendship ripening into love which culminated in
their marriage several years later in Jackson county, Kansas.
The Hixons and Clarks were essentially pioneers, and the history of the
family for generations shows that some member of the family, or several
of them, have been continually pushing westward and settling in the
newer countries. Jacob Hixon was one of the first men in his
neighborhood to hearken to the call of the West, and, after disposing of
his land holdings in Putnam county, Indiana, he with all of his family
migrated to Kansas, settling in Jackson county. They arrived in Atchison
during the stormy days of the Civil war, and at a time when the local
vigilance committee was in control of community affairs and were
naturally very suspicious of all strangers. There had been considerable
lawlessness in Atchison and neighboring towns and many outrages had been
perpetrated by border ruffians and outlaws. The vigilance committee had
taken charge of the affairs and had summarily lynched three men on the
banks of White Clay creek just previous to the arrival of the Hixon
family. Mr. Hixon was interrogated as to his loyalty to the Union and
asked his intentions. His replies being satisfactory to the members of
the committee, he was allowed to proceed on his way to Jackson county
and arrived at Holton, Kansas, without further delay. Jacob Hixon
settled on a fine farm near Holton, developed it and prospered as the
years rolled on and the country became more and more settled. He died in
1905, at the advanced age of eighty-four years, his wife, Cassandra,
departing this life in 1885.
The Clark family came to Kansas from Indiana in 1868, and Andrew Jackson
Clark naturally settled in that part of Jackson county where his old
friend and neighbor had chosen his place of residence. The intimacy
which had existed between the two families in Putnam county, Indiana,
was renewed, and as time went on, John S. Hixon and Alice Clark grew to
maturity and were united in marriage. Their married life has been a
happy and prosperous one, and five children have blessed this union: Dr.
Charles L. Hixon, with whom this review is directly concerned; Mrs. J.
C. Neeley, of Weiser, Idaho; Ernest H. Hixon, of Kansas City, Mo.; one
child died in infancy. John S. Hixon became prominently identified with
the civic life of Jackson county and is serving his county well and
faithfully as treasurer for two terms, having been elected on the
Republican ticket in 1912 and again in 1914. Mr. and Mrs. John S. Hixon
reside in Holton, in Jackson county, and are prosperous and well
respected in the neighborhood.
Dr. C. L. Hixon spent his boyhood days on the farm and early learned to
assist in the farm work. He received his elementary education in the
district schools, and was ambitious to secure a higher education. He has
practically educated himself, and after learning all that was possible
for him to learn in the country school, he attended Campbell College, at
Holton, Kan., for two years. His ambition was to become a dentist, and
with this end in view he matriculated in the University of Iowa in 1895.
After spending two profitable years in this institution in the study of
dentistry he returned home, and a short time later opened an office in
Atchison, where he has practiced continuously for the past eighteen
years. After seven years of practice in his first location, he opened
well equipped offices at 519 Commercial street, and remained there until
his removal to his present location at 613 Commercial street, where he
has offices equipped with all the latest appliances for facilitating his
work. Dr. Hixon is kept very busy attending to the calls made upon him
in the practice of his profession, and during the many years he has been
located in Atchison, he has built up an extensive and lucrative
practice. He finds time, however, to keep abreast of the latest
developments made in his profession, and is ever seeking to better his
skill and knowledge of dentistry. He has been distinctly honored by the
members of his profession, having served as president of the Northeast
Kansas Dental Association, and is at present an active member of this
association. He is a leading member of the Atchison Dental Association,
and ranks high in his profession, not only as a successful practitioner,
but as a citizen who has the best interests of his home city at heart.
He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Washington
Lodge, No. 5, and is fraternally affiliated with the Odd Fellows, the
Modern Woodmen of America, the Rebekah and Eastern Star lodges.
Dr. Hixon was united in marriage with Miss Inez B. Horn in 1902, and one
child has been born to this union, Charles Horn Hixon, born May 25,
1907. Mrs. Inez B. Hixon was born in Atchison county, a daughter of J.
H. and Catharine (Wallick) Horn, who reside at 1126 North Third street,
Atchison. Mrs. Horn is a daughter of Benjamin Wallick, who served as
sheriff of the county during the time of the Civil war.
LOUIS KLOEPPER.
Louis Kloepper, farmer and stockman of Lancaster township, Atchison
county, was born January 18, 1888, on the farm where he now lives. He is
a son of William and Fredericka (Von Derahe) Kloepper, who were the
parents of four children as follows: Louis, subject of this sketch;
Emma, deceased; William, deceased; Pauline, living at home. The father
was born in Germany, December 14, 1853. He left there in 1883 and came
directly to Atchison county, Kansas, where he bought eighty acres of
land in section 27, Lancaster township. He farmed this one year, and in
1885 returned to Germany to be married. In 1886 he returned to his farm
and began to improve it, building a large eight-room house in 1899 in
place of the little three-room affair which stood on the place. In 1903
he built a fine 32×40 feet granary, and in 1904 he erected a large barn,
40×48 feet. The following year he bought more land and put up additional
buildings, building in 1908 another barn, 32×40 feet. At the time of his
death, February 7, 1913, he owned 240 acres of well improved land under
cultivation, and thirteen acres of fine timber land. This achievement is
the more remarkable in view of the fact that he landed with only $1,200.
But he was industrious, and worked faithfully to improve his farm. He
was a member, trustee and steward of the German Lutheran church. His
wife was born in Germany, February 15, 1858, and is a daughter of Henry
and Fredericka (Von Behren) Von Derahe, natives of Germany. The mother
is now living with her son, Louis.
Louis Kloepper attended the old Huron school of Lancaster township, and
grew to manhood on the farm which he now operates. Since the death of
his father he has had charge of the farm and has worked to the extent of
his ability in installing modern improvements on his place. He owns 160
acres in section 27, Lancaster township, in addition to the home place,
and has three acres of orchard and grove. He also has a vineyard which
was the feature of the place which Louis, and his father before him,
always loved most. Special attention has been given to the vineyard when
other things had to be neglected, perhaps. It is the pride of Mr.
Kloepper’s place. He keeps graded stock and is a practical farmer. He
now is operating 400 acres of land, 114 acres of which are in corn, and
ninety-three acres are in cloves, the latter having been unusually
successful. He owns a threshing outfit and two clover hullers, a corn
shredder, and three gas engines. He utilizes these engines in numerous
ways, including pumping and threshing and plowing. Mr. Kloepper has a
modern farm in every way and has all up-to-date improvements of a labor
and time saving kind, as well as an automobile. He is a stockholder in
the Farmers’ Mercantile Association of Effingham, Kan. He is a practical
farmer, of the progressive type.
In 1911 he married Marie Meier, a native of Germany, born July 3, 1888.
She is a daughter of Henry and Fredericka (Finke) Meier, and was
educated in Germany and left her native land at the age of seventeen.
Mr. and Mrs. Kloepper have two children, Fredia, born November 13, 1911,
and Emma, born April 21, 1913. Mr. Kloepper is an independent voter. He
belongs to the German Lutheran church.
CHARLES W. FERGUSON.
Charles W. Ferguson, vice-president of the Atchison Savings Bank, is one
of the best known men in financial circles of northeastern Kansas, and
he is equally as well known over a large section of western Missouri.
Mr. Ferguson was born at Plattsburg, Mo., December 29, 1862, and is a
son of William L. and Fannie A. (Carpenter) Ferguson, both natives of
Kentucky, whose parents were Virginians and very early settlers of the
Blue Grass State. The Ferguson family removed from Kentucky to Missouri
about 1851. They came up the Missouri river by boat as far as Liberty
Landing, and later located in Clinton county, Missouri. The father was a
merchant and also engaged in the grain business, and was an all around
progressive business man. He was a Republican, and in 1862 was elected
sheriff of Clinton county, being the first Republican elected to office
in that county within a period of twenty-five years. During the Civil
war he was captain of the Home Guards. He died in 1893, age 64 years.
Charles W. Ferguson is one of a family of six children, as follows: John
L., assistant general passenger agent of the Chicago & Northwestern
railroad, Chicago, Ill.; Mary F., widow of M. B. Riley, and resides in
St. Joseph, Mo.; Adelia M., Plattsburg, Mo.; Katherine, Plattsburg, Mo.;
Charles W., the subject of this sketch, and Louis, a conductor on the
Chicago & Northwestern railroad, resides at Highland Park, Ill. Charles
W. Ferguson attended the public schools in Plattsburg until he was
thirteen years old, and at that early age went to work in the express
office at Plattsburg, where he remained about five years. He then
entered the employ of Stonum Brothers, remaining with that company two
years. He then accepted a position in the Plattsburg Bank, as bookkeeper
and assistant cashier, remaining with that institution for seven years.
He then went with the Schuster-Hax National Bank, St. Joseph, Mo., as
receiving teller, and served in that capacity for four years. He
resigned that position in June, 1894, to become bookkeeper of the
Exchange National Bank of Atchison. He served with that institution in
the capacity of paying teller, assistant cashier and cashier, resigning
the latter position February 1, 1914. In November, 1914, he accepted a
position with the Federal Reserve Bank, of Kansas City, Mo., and was
with that institution for eight months, and in July, 1915, became vice-
president of the Atchison Savings Bank. Mr. Ferguson has had a vast
experience in the field of banking, and is well posted on the intricate
problems of finance, and possesses the keen discriminating qualities of
the successful banker. Mr. Ferguson was married April 28, 1892, to Miss
Sallie Clay, of Plattsburg, Mo. She is a daughter of James M. Clay, a
member of the Kentucky branch of the Clay family. Mr. Ferguson is a
member of the Masonic lodge, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
and the Modern Woodmen of America.
EARL V. JONES.
Signal success in any one field of endeavor is worthy of recognition by
the public, whether it be professional, inventive, mercantile or of an
industrial nature. Some men are naturally gifted with the ability to
become successful in the industrial and manufacturing field, and are
mentally equipped with a certain amount of mechanical genius, along with
decided business ability to take hold of a proposition, and makes it
succeed, despite difficulties. E. V. Jones, treasurer and manager of the
Bailor Plow Company, of Atchison, is one of the latter type who is fast
climbing to a place of eminence in his chosen field of endeavor, and
holds a high place among the manufacturing and mercantile interests of
Atchison and the Middle West.
Mr. Jones was born in Livingston county, Missouri, January 21, 1878, a
son of Charles Jones, a building contractor, who was a native of
Kentucky and a son of William Jones, owner of a large plantation in
Kentucky, which was lost as one of the misfortunes which befell the
family as a result of the Civil war’s ravages in Kentucky. Desirous of
making a new start in a land further removed from internecine strife,
and where opportunities for success seemed greater, William Jones
removed to Missouri, and here Charles, the father of E. V., was reared
and became successful in agricultural pursuits, the son, Earl V., being
reared on the family estate in Livingston county, Missouri. The Jones
family is originally of Scotch-Irish stock, the founder of the family
emigrating from the north of Ireland to this country several generations
ago. Charles Jones married Miss Jennie Wills, a daughter of John Wills,
native of the east coast of England, and who immigrated to this country
with his brother, George, and followed his trade of wagon maker
successfully. John Wills owned and operated an extensive blacksmith and
wagon maker’s shop at Chillicothe, Mo., which did a large business and
made moderate wealth for its proprietor.
Earl V. Jones, with whom this review is directly concerned, was educated
in the common and high schools of his native county, and attended the
military school at Palmyra, Mo., supplementing his academic education
with one year’s study in business college at Atchison, Kan. For some
years before the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, he had been a
member of the Missouri State militia, Company H, Fourth infantry
regiment. When the war broke out and troops were called for to fight the
Spaniards in Cuba and the Philippines, he responded with his company and
regiment, and went to the front immediately, serving at Camp Alger, near
Washington, D. C., on the Potomac river, and Camp Meade, at Harrisburg,
Pa., and at Greenville, S. C. After the close of the war, and receiving
his honorable discharge at Greenville, S. C., and being mustered out of
the service, he returned to his home city, Chillicothe, and entered the
employ of the Jackson Woodenware Company as a workman in 1899. His
capacity for work and an inherent genius for detail and management here
asserted itself and his rise in this concern was rapid and substantial.
It was not long until his faithfulness and decided ability was
recognized by his employers and he was promoted to the post of
superintendent of the factory. When the Jackson Woodenware Company was
removed to Atchison in 1902, Mr. Jones came along in the capacity of
shipping clerk, and later served as superintendent of the company until
its dissolution in 1910. During this time Mr. Jones had made a
reputation as a manufacturer and organizer, which had become generally
recognized throughout this section of the country, and, although many
flattering offers came to him to accept executive positions of
importance, he decided to cast his lot with the Bailor Plow Company as
treasurer and manager in 1910, when a company was organized for the
purpose of locating the factory in Atchison. His judgment in this
respect was essentially sound, inasmuch as the Bailor Plow Company,
under his management, is one of the flourishing manufacturing concerns
of the city. The company and Mr. Jones, the manager, have made good, the
large payroll, and the constantly increasing output of the plant having
fully justified the decision of the Atchison men who were instrumental
in locating the plant in this city. A great future is decidedly in store
for the Bailor Plow Company and its manager.
Mr. Jones was united in marriage with Katherine Barton, of Livingston
county, in 1901. To this union have been born two sons: Raymond and
Earl. Mrs. Jones is a daughter of Prof. John W. Barton, widely known
educator of Missouri, who formerly served as city superintendent of
various schools, and was formerly a member of the faculty of the
University of Missouri.
Mr. Jones finds time, aside from his duties as manager of the factory,
to take an active part in the social and civic life of Atchison, and has
identified himself with the city’s institutions in a substantial manner,
as befitting a man of his position and attainments. He is a member of
the Masonic lodge, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the
Knights of the Maccabees, and is affiliated with the United Commercial
Travelers.
MRS. JULIA E. ADAMS BOYINGTON.
Mrs. Julia E. Adams Boyington comes of parents who were important
factors in the early history of Atchison county. Her father, William
Adams, came to Kansas in the fifties for the purpose of helping make
Kansas a free State. He was a leader of the Cayuga settlement and he was
intimately connected with the making of Kansas history for many years.
Mrs. Boyington was born May 15, 1849, in Skaneateles, Onondaga county,
New York. Her parents, William and Mary Ann (Ellsbury) Adams, were both
born in England. The father was born October 6, 1820, in Summersetshire,
England, and was a son of George Adams, who married Miss Thayer, also a
native of England.
[Illustration:
_Home of_
_Frank W. and Julia (Adams) Boyington_
Extreme Left—SAMUEL ADAMS
Right—MRS JULIA E. BOYINGTON
FRANK W. BOYINGTON
]
[Illustration:
WILLIAM ADAMS.
]
[Illustration:
MARY ANN ADAMS.
]
At the age of seventeen, William Adams left his native country and came
to New York. He farmed there until 1856, when he came to Kansas and
settled in Atchison county for the express purpose of helping John Brown
in his fight along the border, and assisting the Free State party. He
passed through many thrilling experiences during these troubled years
and though he was often subjected to great bodily danger, he never
wavered in his convictions and was always ready to fight for his
convictions. He preëmpted eighty acres of land which he increased to 800
acres during his life time. When he took his first land the country was
wild and undeveloped, and he built a log cabin on his place and used a
yoke of oxen in breaking the land. He was a great stockman and kept a
large number of animals and farmed until his death in 1889, remaining in
active life until within a short time of his death. Mr. Adams was a
Republican and was loyally devoted to the welfare of his party. He
always took a great deal of interest in the activities of his party and
helped it at every opportunity, though he never desired an office as a
reward for his work, and never held a political job.
On July 4, 1848, Mr. Adams was married to Mary A. Ellsbury, also a
native of Summersetshire, England. She was born October 19, 1825, and
died December 15, 1895. Mrs. Boyington, though a small girl when she
came to Kansas, remembers many incidents of that early life with
remarkable vividness. She still keeps a rifle and an old shot gun which
her father brought from New York, and prizes them very highly. They were
the means of protecting her and her mother many times from the
depredations of the Indians, who were numerous in that section then, and
lived on a reservation only four miles from the Adams home. They passed
the little Adams cabin when they went after whiskey. As they would
return completely intoxicated, they would quarrel and disturb the
neighborhood, often frightening the women whose husbands were working
out in the fields. The Cayuga settlement numbered about forty people
during the early days. The township elections in Grasshopper township
were always held in the Adams house, and Mr. Adams was always generous
in helping public affairs along.
Mr. and Mrs. Adams were parents of five children: Julia, the subject of
this sketch; Georgia Anna, deceased; Samuel, of Grasshopper township;
Millicent, who died in infancy; Julia, born a twin, but the other child
died in infancy. Samuel, married Mrs. Ida Hitchcock, a native of
Scranton, Penn., in California, May 31, 1887. By her marriage to Mr.
Adams she was the mother of two children: William J., who was born March
19, 1890, and Earl, who was born October 10, 1891. These two children
were partly reared by their aunt, Mrs. Boyington, and she is very fond
of them. Though she has no children of her own, she has made these two
nephews her favorites and has treated them as though they were her own
children. Frank W. Boyington, the husband of Julia E. Adams Boyington,
was born February 15, 1845, in Pennsylvania, and was a son of Edwin C.
and Susan (Smith) Boyington, the former a native of Litchfield, Conn.,
and the latter a native of Pennsylvania. In their old age they came to
Kansas and lived with their son, Frank W., and died here. The father
died 1872, and the mother died in 1875. He left there in 1867 and
settled in Grasshopper township, Atchison county, where Samuel Adams was
reared to manhood in Grasshopper township; lived for ten years in
California and returned to his farm in Grasshopper township in 1913. He
was married to Mrs. Julia Bartlet before his marriage to Miss Adams. His
first wife was a school teacher in Grasshopper township before her
marriage. Three children were born to them. Edward, of Atchison, United
States mail clerk, Alice Spangler, Marion county, Kansas, and one
deceased. After her death in 1899, he was married to Miss Julia E.
Adams, the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Boyington was an early settler in Kansas and has been a successful
farmer. His wife owns 480 acres of land which once was a part of the old
home place. Mr. Boyington owns 160 acres in Marion county, Kansas. He
has lived in Kansas since 1867 and has seen much history made during
that time. Mr. Boyington is a Republican and is a member of the Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons. Although he is not a church member, he attends
services. Mr. Boyington is one of the most successful farmers of
Atchison county, and with his wife, who is also a good manager, has made
a financial success of farming.
JOHN L. BLAIR.
The historian must ever take cognizance of the facts concerning the
lives of those who have contributed most to the upbuilding and the
welfare of their community. In looking backward over the half century,
and more, which has elapsed since the Kansas Territory was thrown open
to settlement, it is found that there are quite a number of men and
women who are deserving of more than mere casual mention in the history
of Atchison county. Among these are John L. and Amanda (Meeker) Blair,
whose names will go down in history as having taken a very prominent
part in the social, political and intellectual development of Doniphan
and Atchison counties. Mrs. Blair has the honored distinction of having
been the first public school teacher in Atchison and she and her husband
were prominently identified with the historical course of events in
northeast Kansas for a long period of years.
John L. Blair, deceased, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, April
25, 1833, a son of Alexander and Rachel (Lynch) Blair. The family is of
Irish origin. Alexander Blair was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal
church in Pennsylvania. He died in Pennsylvania, and in 1860 the widow
joined John L., who had come to Kansas in 1858. They settled in Doniphan
county, near the Atchison-Doniphan line. Mr. Blair developed a fine farm
and made quite a reputation as a breeder of fine live stock, being one
of the pioneer stock breeders of Kansas. In 1863 he was united in
marriage with Amanda Meeker. This was after he had served some time in
the Civil war as a member of Company D, Seventh regiment, Kansas
cavalry, as a sergeant, enlisting at the beginning of the war and
serving for two years. After being mustered out, he returned home and
was married in June of 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Blair immediately moved to a
farm in Doniphan county, Kansas, and were successful from the start.
Both being endowed with more than ordinary intelligence and thrift, they
foresaw the inevitable rise in land values and invested all of their
earnings in land, accumulating over 600 acres of land which was located
in Doniphan county and since Mr. Blair’s demise Mrs. Blair has purchased
320 acres in Lyon county, Kansas. Mr. Blair was an active and
influential figure in the civic and political life of Doniphan county,
and frequently stumped the county in the interest of the Republican
party candidates. He was a public speaker of power and ability, and was
a warm adherent of the cause of women suffrage, stumping Atchison and
Doniphan counties in 1884 in the interest of the suffrage movement in
Kansas. He filled the office of county commissioner of Doniphan county
for two terms, and was at one time a candidate for State senator. During
the years 1873 and 1874, when the Grange movement was spreading over
Kansas, Mr. Blair was the official organizer for Atchison and Doniphan
counties. He had a good knowledge of parliamentary law and this came in
very useful in his work among the different granges. It was in the
Grange meetings that the movement for woman suffrage first gained
headway in Kansas, and the women learned how to vote. Mr. Blair died in
1891, February 4. To Mr. and Mrs. Blair were born the following
children: Mamie, widow of James Hunter, of Doniphan county, and mother
of two children; Alexander, a farmer in Doniphan county and father of
seven children; Kate, wife of Thomas Evans, a breeder of fine Hereford
cattle, hackney horses and pure bred hogs, in Lyon county, and who is
the owner of the famous hackney mare formerly owned by Jay Gould. Mrs.
Evans was educated in the schools of Doniphan county, and the old Monroe
Institute of Atchison, and is a graduate of Holton University, at
Holton, Kan., and graduated from the Kansas State University at Lawrence
in 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have one daughter, Mary Frances. Mrs. Blair
has ten grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs. Blair
belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church and he was an Odd Fellow.
Mrs. Amanda (Meeker) Blair was born in Franklin county, Ohio, near the
city of Columbus, June 24, 1837. She was a daughter of Caleb and Mary
(Grant) Meeker, her mother being a relative of Gen. U. S. Grant, and her
father being a member of the famous Meeker family of America. Ezra
Meeker, who crossed the continent en route to Oregon with an ox team,
was a second cousin of Caleb Meeker. Caleb Meeker was born in New
Jersey, a son of Aaron, who was born in New Jersey, of German origin.
Caleb Meeker was born in Essex county, New Jersey, August 9, 1807, a son
of Aaron Meeker, also of New Jersey, who had eight sons and four sons-
in-law in the Meeker, also of New Jersey. Aaron was a brother of Timothy
Meeker, who had eight sons and four sons-in-law in the American army
during the Revolutionary war. Mary Grant Meeker was born in
Pennsylvania. In 1808 the Meeker family migrated from New Jersey to Ohio
and resided there until 1857, when they went to Fulton county, Illinois,
stopping for one year. In November of 1858 Amanda Meeker came to
Atchison to take a position as teacher in the first public school in
Atchison. Caleb came in January of 1859 to visit his daughter and
invested in a tract of land near Huron, Kan., moving his family in
March, 1859. He lived on his farm all the rest of his life, dying in
September, 1886. Amanda was educated in the district schools of her
native county in Ohio and received a certificate to teach school when
but fifteen years of age. She taught three months in 1852 for $9.00 per
month and then attended school for the remainder of the season. The
following year she taught six months for $20 per month, after which she
studied for two years in the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware,
Ohio. Her teaching experience embraced six years in Ohio, five months in
Illinois and three years in Atchison and six months in Hiawatha, Kan.
Mrs. Blair was a very successful teacher, and had the faculty of
exercising great control over her pupils.
A brother, Jeptha Meeker, served in the Union army during the Civil war.
Mrs. Blair kept the postoffice at Huron, Atchison county, when the
village was one of the stations on the old Military road, from Ft.
Leavenworth to Denver and Pike’s Peak, Colo.
Mrs. Blair is distinguished among the pioneer women of Atchison county
as having been the first public school teacher in the county appointed
by a board of education, duly organized and elected. During the summer
of 1858, this board was organized in the office of F. G. Adams in
Atchison, and the members of the board were Dr. William Grimes,
treasurer; F. G. Adams, clerk; James A. Coulter, director; Philip D.
Plattenburg, principal of the schools at Lewistown, Ill., had been
engaged as superintendent of the Atchison schools and this board elected
Amanda Meeker as his assistant. This was the first public school in the
city of Atchison, and was located over a grocery store in a frame
building, where the Y. M. C. A. edifice now stands at the corner of
Fourth and Commercial streets. The school term began on November 1,
1858, and lasted for seven month, ending July 1, 1859. The following
year the school term was extended to nine months. Miss Meeker taught for
three years without a certificate. The first teacher’s certificate in
Atchison county was issued to W. D. Rippey, a young man who came from
Valparaiso, Ind. Mrs. Blair recalls that Mr. Rippey had no intention of
teaching when he came to Atchison, and remained here for about five
months and then went to Doniphan county, where he became quite wealthy
in the course of years. Applicants for teacher’s certificates had little
or no trouble in passing, the whole procedure of examining being
conducted verbally and the chief requisite apparently being the one
dollar fee which was required from the applicant.
Few Kansas pioneer women at this day occupy the honored position in
history which is held by Mrs. Blair. To have taught the first public
school in Atchison is a great honor, and to have been one of the
pioneers of a great State in such a capacity is a great honor which is
claimed by very few people. Mrs. Blair, despite her age, is possessed of
a keen mentality and is remarkably well preserved, her long life being
best attributed to her mental vigor and student powers which she has
kept nourished these many years.
ALFRED SHORTRIDGE.
Alfred Shortridge, deceased pioneer of Atchison, was born in Milton,
Ind., February 27, 1834. When twenty-three years of age he listened to
the admonition of his elders to come to the great West, where
opportunities for amassing a competence were much better for a young man
than in his home community. He came by train to St. Louis and after
stopping a few days at the Planter’s Hotel, he boarded a Missouri river
steamer which brought him to Atchison. His intention was to get a farm
from the Government, and he accordingly took up a claim one-half mile
south of Monrovia. He developed his homestead, sold it and later bought
a farm, ten miles south of Atchison, in Walnut township, near Potter. He
added to this first farm of 120 acres until he became the owner of a
finely developed farm of 200 acres, which he still owned at the time of
his demise.
Mr. Shortridge was one of the early day freighters and during the years
of 1862 and 1863 he freighted from Atchison to Denver, and in 1863 made
two trips overland to Denver and return with Pardee Butler, with whom he
was on intimate terms. He enlisted in the company of soldiers which was
formed in his neighborhood for the purpose of repelling Price’s invasion
of Kansas in 1864 and was present at Westport when Price’s army of
invasion was driven southward. After he had made his last trip to Denver
in 1863, he sold his wagon and four mules for $1,500, and then engaged
in farming. He resided on his farm near Potter until the year 1912, and
then removed to a home in Atchison.
He was married February 23, 1867, to Miss Catherine Elizabeth Clasby, of
DeKalb, Buchanan county, Missouri, and to this union five children were
born as follows: Mrs. J. A. Edwards, Fairmount. Kan.; J. T. Shortridge,
W. O. Shortridge, and Mrs. C. N. Faulkner, of Potter, Kan., and Miss
Florence Shortridge, at home. The mother of these children was born
March 20, 1843, a daughter of John D. and Sarah Ann (Ellison) Clasby.
John D. Clasby was a native of Virginia, whose mother was a member of
the Dunlap family of Virginia, one of the old colonial families of
America. One of the Dunlaps, a direct ancestor of Mrs. Shortridge,
served in the Continental army in the Revolutionary war. He was a
pioneer settler of Buchanan county, Missouri, and is buried on a hill
within sight of Atchison.
Mrs. Shortridge’s mother, Sarah Ann (Ellison) Clasby, was born in
Missouri, a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Dunlap) Ellison, who were
residents of Kentucky, and who were among the pioneer settlers in
Buchanan county, Missouri. There were nine children in the Clasby
family, as follows: James T., Robert, Orlando, Joseph, Franklin, Julian,
deceased; Mrs. Ann Eliza (Stewart), and Mrs. Alfred Shortridge.
Alfred Shortridge departed this life on July 17, 1915, and was sincerely
mourned by a host of friends and acquaintances who had known him for
many years in Atchison county. During his life, after attaining his
majority he was affiliated with the Republican party, and was always
active in the affairs of his party, although he was never a seeker after
political preferment. He was a member of the Christian church, and lived
according to the precepts of his religious belief, as nearly as mortal
man could. He carried his religion into his daily life and believed
implicitly in the golden rule, which admonishes mankind to treat his
neighbor as he would have his neighbor do unto him.
On February 23, 1911, Mr. and Mrs. Shortridge celebrated their forty-
fourth wedding anniversary at the old Shortridge homestead, and it was a
fitting culmination of one of the happiest life unions on record. Mr.
Shortridge was deeply devoted to his noble wife and family and was
always kind and considerate, not only with the members of his immediate
family, but with his many friends and acquaintances. He was never known
to complain or find fault but took things as he found them and made the
best of every occasion. One of the last of the old guard of Atchison
pioneers, he was a fitting example of the type which did so much to
develop the Sunflower State and make Atchison county one of the garden
spots of the country. One by one the old pioneers are passing to the
great beyond from which no man returneth; it is fitting that we record
in imperishable print the record of their lives and their deeds and
accomplishments while on earth in order that it all may live after them
forever and their memories be kept continually green and fresh in the
minds of succeeding generations which will know them not except through
the pages of these Atchison county historical annals.
O. M. BABCOCK.
O. M. Babcock, of the Babcock-Avensberg Shoe Company, is one of the most
progressive merchants of Atchison. He is a native of the Empire State,
and was born at Adams Center, Jefferson county, New York, in November,
1872, and is a son of M. S. and Amy (Green) Babcock, both natives of New
York and of English descent.
The Babcock family was founded in America by Capt. James Babcock, who
settled in Rhode Island during the seventeenth century. M. S. Babcock
came to Kansas with his family in 1883 and settled on a farm in Benton
township, one mile north of Nortonville in Atchison county. Here he
bought 160 acres of unimproved land, which he developed to a high state
of cultivation and followed farming there successfully until he and his
wife removed to Battle Creek, Mich., where they now reside. O. M.
Babcock, the subject of this sketch, was eleven years old when he came
to Atchison county with his parents. He was educated in the district
schools and the Atchison County High School at Effingham. After
completing school he taught in Atchison county about two years when he
accepted a position in a general merchandise store at Nortonville and
later at Effingham. He remained at Effingham one year and then came to
Atchison and entered the shoe department of D. C. Newcomb’s general
store, where he remained about three years. He then accepted a position
as traveling salesman for a wholesale shoe house, and for three years
was a successful knight of the grip with St. Joseph, Mo., as his
headquarters. He then came to Atchison as general sales manager for a
retail shoe establishment, and four years later, in 1902, organized the
Babcock Shoe Company, which he still conducts. This is Atchison’s
leading shoe store.