daughter of George R. Hooper, of Atchison, a personal sketch of whom
appears in this volume. Mr. Babcock takes a keen interest and an active
part in the welfare and development of Atchison and is one of its
booster citizens. He is a member of the Masonic lodge and active in the
work of that organization. He is also a member of the Elks and belongs
to the Commercial Club. He is president of the Kansas Retail Shoe
Dealers’ Association, and politically, is a supporter of the policies
and principles of the Republican party.
JULIUS KUHN.
Julius Kuhn, deceased pioneer merchant of Atchison, was a man of
sterling worth, industry and purpose who achieved a success in the
commercial life of his adopted city which ranked with the greatest
accomplishments of those who figured most prominently in the early civic
life of Atchison. He was born in Bavaria, Germany, May 10, 1831, and
received an excellent education in the famous university at Munich,
where he fitted himself to become an architect. He was gifted with more
than ordinary talent as a draughtsman and architect and to this day many
of his best drawings and designs are hanging on the walls of the art
room in St. Benedict’s College. When twenty years of age he took passage
on a sailing vessel for America, then as now, the land of promise for
the poor and ambitious youth of the old world. After a stay of a few
years in New York City and points in Connecticut, he journeyed to St.
Louis where he was married, his wife, Lucetta, dying in Atchison in the
spring of 1881. To this union one son was born, Gustave, who died July
15, 1883. While in St. Louis Mr. Kuhn heard tales of the opportunities
waiting for industrious young men in the new State of Kansas and came
hither to seek his fortune in the year 1859. He had some means which he
had saved and at once invested in a lot on the corner of Eighth and
Commercial streets, upon which he built a story and a half frame
building, which for many years was a well known landmark in Atchison. He
installed a stock of groceries in his new building, and from the start
met with success. His store soon became the outfitting point for the
freighters who were crossing the plains to the far western points and he
prospered in excess even of his expectations. Mr. Kuhn’s store was
rarely closed in those early days and it was his wont to retire at 1
o’clock a. m. and was often called out of bed at 3 o’clock in the
morning to assist some freighter just arriving from the trail half
frozen, or, perchance, to trade with some farmer who had traveled a long
distance to transact business with him and exchange his produce for
groceries and necessities.
[Illustration:
_Julius Kuhn_
]
During the Civil war he served in the commissary department of the Union
army, called out to repel the invasion of Kansas, threatened by General
Price. He established himself in the wholesale business in 1870 as he
foresaw that Atchison was to become an important distributing point for
the northeastern part of the State as the country grew more and more
settled with the influx of immigrants from all parts of the compass. In
time the little frame store, which he had erected when he first came to
Atchison, was replaced by the pretentious brick structure which bears
his name. He invested his surplus profits in real estate in Atchison and
Kansas points and left a substantial fortune on his demise. In the early
sixties he purchased for his family residence the old Judge Gilham
house, at that time the only house on the hill, from his store
northwestward. For a number of years the Kuhn store was the only
business house west of Third street, but in time the business center
gradually moved westward from the river, and encompassed his business
place. Speaking reminiscently of those early days a few incidents
showing conditions at that time are worth recording. When Mr. Bartholow
first came to Atchison, at the outbreak of the Civil war when business
was in a state of paralysis, he had on hand over $2,000 worth of
tobacco, for which he could not find storage. He approached Mr. Kuhn and
asked him to either buy the stock or store it until such a time as it
would be marketable. Mr. Kuhn took a chance and when tobacco soared to
an extremely high price toward the last days of the war, he disposed of
it at a profit of $1.00 per pound. Flour rose to the high price of $7.00
per sack during those troublous days, while beef was very cheap, a “half
of beef” often selling for ten cents.
Mr. Kuhn was married the second time, September 30, 1883, to Anna
Glattfelter, and to this union were born two sons, Julius Otto, at home
with his mother, and Gustave Adolphus, living in Kansas City, married
Irene King, and is the father of one child, Ruth Kuhn. Mrs. Anna
Glattfelter Kuhn was born in Glattfelter, Switzerland, a daughter of
Henry and Margaret Glattfelter, who immigrated to America in 1864, and
located on a farm in Atchison county. Henry Glattfelter died in 1867,
and his wife died in Atchison in 1903. They were the parents of Mrs. W.
A. Dilgert, living on a farm in Walnut township; Mrs. Martin Dilgert,
residing on Ninth street; Margaret, wife of Mr. John Meyer, living on
Seventh street; Fannie, wife of Dr. Sievers, of Manning, Iowa; Henry, on
the old home farm, near Cummings. Mrs. Kuhn resides in the family
residence at 1029 Atchison street, and looks after the interest of the
Kuhn estate. She is a keen, intelligent lady, who has shown marked
business ability in caring for the property interests left in her
charge. Mr. Kuhn retired from active mercantile pursuits in 1889, and
died October 30, 1902, universally respected and loved by all who knew
him. He was a Republican in politics and took an active part in the
civic and political affairs of Atchison, serving as a member of the city
council, and filling several important city offices of trust during his
long residence here. He was always a consistent and unremitting booster
for Atchison, and had a deep love for the city and his home life. He was
a member of the Elks and a social member of the Turner Society. Mr. Kuhn
was not a member of any religious denomination but was a friend and
liberal supporter of all denominations which sought his aid. While not a
professed Christian he lived a blameless and upright life, and was ever
ready to assist a needy acquaintance when his aid would do the most
good.
PETER WEBER.
Peter Weber, retired farmer, residing at 921 North Sixth street,
Atchison, Kan., is one of the real pioneer residents of the county. He
has lived in the county for over fifty-six years, and recalls many of
the incidents of the old days when the settlement of the county was in
the embryo stage. Like most of the prosperous and successful men in the
county he has worked his way upward from a small beginning to a state of
affluence, which reflects credit upon his industry and his capabilities.
Times, fifty years ago, and the present, give opportunity for making
contrasts which are striking and very interesting. When Mr. Weber was a
boy it was the family custom to go to church on Sundays via the ox wagon
route, father, mother and all of the children seating themselves in a
big farm wagon, and going to church at the rate of two miles per hour,
the trip requiring almost the entire day to go and return. Now, Mr.
Weber cranks the engine of his fine automobile, and in an incredibly
short space of time he travels from his city home to his country estate,
can spend hours in looking over the farming operations, and return to
his own home in time for the next meal.
Peter Weber was born in Kenosha, Wis., March 8, 1859, and came to
Atchison county with his parents a few weeks later. His father, John
Weber, was a native of Luxemburg, Germany, and his mother was Mary
(Penning) Weber, also a native of Luxemburg, and a daughter of Nicholas
Penning, who emigrated from his native country to Wisconsin. John Weber
was married in Wisconsin, after coming to this country. He migrated to
Atchison county, Kansas, from Wisconsin in 1859, and was equipped with a
cash capital of nearly $300. He attended a lot sale in the boom days of
Old Sumner, and invested nearly all of his savings in lots, purchasing
275 lots in all, at prices varying from $5 for the first one bought, to
a price as low as twenty-five cents. This was more or less a speculation
on his part, and the price of lots in Sumner fell rapidly after the
county seat election which selected Atchison as the seat of government
for the county. Real estate values naturally deteriorated in Sumner, and
John Weber later sold seventy-five of his lots for $15 and allowed the
greater part of his initial Kansas investment to be sold for taxes,
inasmuch as the property had no real value. His next investment was a
much better one, however, and he purchased 160 acres of land in Walnut
township for $360, on which he erected a home and proceeded to develop
it into a fine farm. He became well to do, and was highly respected
throughout the neighborhood in which he resided. Originally John Weber
had been a wheelwright by trade, and his skill as a wood worker and
wagon maker stood him in good stead when he took up agricultural
pursuits in Atchison county. During the Civil war John Weber was
enrolled in the State militia and was called away to serve his country
at Independence, Mo., leaving his wife and young children at home in
mortal fear of their lives while the father and his comrades were in
battle array to repel the Price invasion of Kansas. The movable property
of the family was kept hidden in the drawers. Mr. Weber had over $800 in
gold buried in the cellar in an empty peach can. He reared a fine family
of sons and daughters as follows: Peter, the eldest of the family and
with whom this review is directly concerned; Mathias, who is cultivating
the old home place in Mt. Pleasant township, and Mrs. Katherine Keefer,
a widow residing near Nortonville, Kan., are the surviving children of a
family of six born, three of whom died in infancy. John Weber died in
1905, his wife preceding him to the great beyond in 1901.
Peter Weber, when a boy, attended the district school of his
neighborhood in Mt. Pleasant township, and was reared to become an
agriculturist. He was married in 1881 and then began doing for himself,
renting land in Mt. Pleasant township for a time and carefully
husbanding his resources and saving his money with a view to eventually
owning a farm of his own. He was enabled to purchase his first farm of
160 acres in 1895 in Walnut township. He still owns this fine farm,
which is one of the best in Atchison county, and is now being cultivated
by his son. Mr. Weber retired from active agricultural pursuits in May,
1912, and removed to Atchison, where he owns real estate and lives
comfortably, as befitting a man who has earned the right to enjoy home
comforts. He was married in 1881 to Mary Weinmann, and to this union
have been born the following children: Mary, wife of Theo Vanderweide,
of Atchison county; Katherine, wife of John Wagner, residing in Walnut
township, Atchison county; Jacob, living on the home farm; Ida, wife of
Charles Harrison, a foreman in the A. J. Harwi Hardware Store, in
Atchison; Annie, wife of Gustave Boehme, Rulo, Neb., where Mr. Boehme
conducts a bakery. The mother of these children was born August 9, 1860,
in Salt Creek Valley, Leavenworth county, Kansas, a daughter of Jacob
and Katherine Weinmann, natives of Germany, who came to Leavenworth
county, Kansas, as early as 1858. She was one of sixteen children born
to these parents, thirteen of whom were reared, and five came to America
and died here.
Mr. Weber has always been a Democrat, but is more or less independent in
his political views and believes in voting for the candidate who seems
best fitted to perform the duties of the office, regardless of his
political affiliations. While a resident of Mt. Pleasant township he
took an active part in the civic affairs of the township and served nine
years as treasurer and then served as trustee in 1895. Later when he
took up a permanent residence in Walnut township, in 1896, he was
selected as township treasurer by the people in 1906 and filled the
office to the satisfaction of everybody for six years. He and the
members of his family are members of the St. Benedict’s Catholic Church,
and have always been liberal contributors to the support of this
institution. He is also affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, and
takes a keen interest in city and county affairs as befitting a man of
broad general attainments, who has lived in Atchison county for over
half a century and watched its evolution from a wilderness to become one
of the fairest divisions of the great State of Kansas.
ROBERT F. BISHOP.
Robert F. Bishop, farmer, residing in Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison
county, Kansas, and whose farm is located two and one-half miles west of
Potter, is one of the most substantial and progressive agriculturists of
his neighborhood. He was born August 16, 1861, in the town of Watkins,
in Schuyler county, New York, at the foot of Watkins Glen, which is now
a noted summer resort, and one of the most beautiful spots in all New
York. He is a son of Freeman and Annie (Sims) Bishop, both of whom were
born and reared in New York State and descendants of old eastern
families. The Bishop family is of English origin and is descended from
old colonial stock, members of which figured in the early wars in which
America has been engaged. The Sims family is of Scotch and Irish
extraction. The Bishops were early settlers in the section of New York
where Robert F. Bishop was born. Freeman was a ship carpenter by trade
who followed his trade in New York, and in 1872 came to Kansas, settling
in Jefferson county on a farm, where he prospered and reared his family
of four children, Robert F. being the eldest.
He of whom this review is written was a boy ten years of age when the
family came to Kansas to make a permanent home. He lived on the home
place and assisted his father in the cultivation of his farm until he
was twenty-four years of age, then married, and two years later, in
1885, came to Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison county, and purchased the
old Miller farm consisting of 180 acres of good, tillable land. Mr.
Bishop has added to his original farm as he was able and now owns 261
1–2 acres all in one body and well improved. Besides his home farm he is
also the owner of another tract of 208 acres, which makes his total
acreage 469 1–2 acres in all. The accumulation of this amount of land in
about thirty years is a considerable undertaking, in Kansas especially,
when the possessor had very little of this world’s goods at the start of
his career. Mr. Bishop began with very little capital but imbued with a
determination to succeed and the willingness to work hard and deny
himself the luxuries of life until he was well able to afford them. When
he purchased his first farm his cash capital was so limited that he was
forced to go in debt for two-thirds of the purchase price of the land.
Since then he has risen to become one of the wealthy farmers of Atchison
county, and has one of the finest and best improved places in Kansas,
equipped with excellent buildings and a modern silo. His farm is
considered a model one in the county and was one of the first to be
visited by the county farm visitors for the purpose of ascertaining the
progress made and using it as a model for others in the county. Mr.
Bishop is a natural born agriculturist who has kept pace with the
advancement made in the science of agriculture, and is blessed with an
intuitive knowledge of the best methods of tilling the soil.
Mr. Bishop was married in 1883 to Elizabeth Shaw, a daughter of Henry
Shaw, well-to-do farmer of Leavenworth county. To this union have been
born seven children, namely: Caude, a farmer, in Atchison county;
Curtis, a farmer; Robert, living at home and assisting his father in the
farm operations; Myrtle S., Mable, Maude, and Irene, at home with their
parents. The father of Mrs. Bishop is the owner of the old Penseneau
farm, which is the first piece of land ever tilled in Atchison county.
The Republican party has generally had the allegiance of Mr. Bishop, and
while he has not taken an active part in political matters, he was one
of the stanch supporters of the movement which resulted in the
establishment of the high school at Potter. It is only natural to learn
that he, like others who have succeeded in Kansas, has always been a
live stock man and believes in feeding the grains and grasses raised on
his land to the live stock on his place, in order to preserve the
fertility of the land and make marketing the output much more
convenient. He maintains a dairy herd of thirty well bred Holstein milch
cows and is a well known breeder of Duroc Jersey hogs, having 200 head
or more on his farm.
HARRISON W. RUDOLPH.
Harrison W. Rudolph is not only a leading photographer of Atchison, but
ranks among the best in his profession of the entire country. Mr.
Rudolph is a native of the Keystone State, born at Allentown, Pa., May
30, 1866. He is a son of John and Levina (Messer) Rudolph. The Rudolphs
are of old American stock of German descent. Sometime during the
seventeenth century, two Rudolph brothers immigrated to America. One
settled in Pennsylvania, and the other went farther West, locating in
Ohio, and Harrison W. Rudolph, whose name introduces this review, is a
descendant of the one who settled in Pennsylvania. Mrs. James A.
Garfield bore the maiden name of Rudolph, and was a member of the Ohio
branch of the Rudolph family, and James Rudolph Garfield, son of the
former President, retains his mother’s maiden name as his middle name.
John Rudolph, the father of H. W., is now living and has reached the
ripe old age of eighty. He resides in Allentown, Pa.
Harrison W. Rudolph was reared in Allentown, and after receiving a good
common school education served an apprenticeship at photography in his
native city, and later completed a course in the Atchison Business
College. About the time he was twenty years old he obtained a position
from an Atchison photographer through correspondence. He came here and
worked at his profession for M. A. Kleckner about nine years, when he
opened a studio of his own at 509 1–2 Commercial street, where he has
been located for twenty years. Mr. Rudolph is recognized as an artist
and has a large patronage from all over northeastern Kansas, and he even
gets work from Kansas City. The excellency of his work is readily
recognized by particular people who know and appreciate art. Mr. Rudolph
has been awarded five prizes and medals for his work by the Kansas State
Photographers’ Association, and his work is always in great demand. He
is a member of the Kansas Photographers’ Association, the National
Photographers’ Association of America, the Missouri Valley
Photographers’ Association, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the
Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Rudolph was married in Denver April 9, 1889, to Miss Martha Hausser,
of New York City, and two children have been born to this union, as
follows: Rodney, born January 21, 1892, is a traveling representative
for the Standard Oil Company, and Fred, born June 2, 1894, a clerk in
the Atchison office of the Standard Oil Company. Mr. Rudolph is not only
a successful artist, but has made good in a financial way and is one of
the substantial business men of Atchison county. He is a member of the
Atchison Commercial Club and the Young Men’s Christian Association.
EDWARD B. McCULLOUGH.
Edward B. McCullough, deputy sheriff of Atchison county, was born on a
farm in Atchison county in 1880, and is a son of Hugh Elden and Sarah J.
(Rankin) McCullough, both of whom were born and reared to maturity in
Pennsylvania, married there and shortly afterward set out for the West,
settling in Atchison county. Mr. McCullough bought a farm in Lancaster
township, and improved it, but did not live long after settling here. He
died at the age of twenty-eight years, leaving one son, Edward B. At the
time of his father’s death, Edward B. was but fifteen months old, and
soon afterward his mother moved to the village of Lancaster where she
has since made her home, with the exception of some years spent on her
cousin’s farm near Lancaster. Edward B. was reared to young manhood in
Lancaster and attended the public school. When still a youth he learned
to hustle for himself and became self-reliant and self-supporting at a
time when most boys are still in the coddling stage. When but sixteen
years of age he bought a team and outfit and engaged in business for
himself. He continued as a teamster and in draying until 1914 when he
removed to Atchison to enter upon his duties as deputy sheriff under
Sheriff Roy Trimble. During the course of his teaming experience he
became the proprietor of a livery barn in Lancaster.
On October 28, 1903, he married Mildred May Lowe, a daughter of Austin
and Anna Lowe, of Atchison county. They have one child, Gayle Mateel,
born September 23, 1904. Mr. McCullough is a member of the Modern
Woodmen, and is a Republican. Since early young manhood he has taken an
active part in political affairs, and loves the game for its own sake,
as well as he loves baseball and kindred sports, for he is and has been
quite an athlete, being a proficient baseball player.
For the past eight years he has been one of the wheel horses of the
Republican party in Atchison county and has naturally attained a wide
acquaintance among the voters of both parties. He assiduously campaigned
for his favorite candidates during the campaigns of 1912 and 1914, but
has never been a candidate for office. He was appointed to the post of
deputy sheriff in November, 1914, and took up the duties of his office
January 11, of the following year. It is needless to state that he is
faithfully performing the duties of his position and is gaining more
friends as his general worth is becoming more widely known.
THOMAS E. BALLINGER.
Thomas E. Ballinger is one of the substantial and well respected
residents of Atchison who has accomplished much in a material and civic
way since first coming to the county in 1869. He has acquired and
improved one of the finest farms of the county, served the people well
and faithfully in an official capacity, and, best of all, has reared a
fine family, every member of whom is a useful addition to society, and a
credit to their parents and the communities in which they reside. What
more could any man expect to accomplish during a long and busy life? A
man who accomplishes so much with the assistance of an intelligent and
faithful wife can well be content to retire to a pleasant home, imbued
with the satisfaction of knowing that the future of himself and his is
well provided for during the declining years which can be likened to a
beautiful sunset at the end of a long and glorious day spent in gleaning
from mother earth her treasures.
[Illustration:
_Thos. E. Ballinger_
]
[Illustration:
_Julia H. Ballinger_
]
Mr. Ballinger is a native of New Jersey and comes of good, old English
stock. He was born in Salem county, that State, November 21, 1845. His
parents were John G. and Sarah Ann (Reeves) Ballinger, also natives of
New Jersey. His paternal grandfather was John G. Ballinger, who married
a Quaker woman and died when Thomas E. was but a boy. His mother was a
daughter of Stephen Reeves, a scion of an old eastern family and a
leading shipbuilder of New Jersey. The Reeves family settled in Alloway
township, Salem county, New Jersey. John G. Ballinger, the father, was
born in 1827, and died in 1906. He was a miller, and operated a mill
during the active years of his long life. His wife, Sarah Ann, died in
1850, leaving three children: Stephen R., a miller, who resided in New
Jersey, and died October 15, 1915; Samuel E., a retired farmer, living
in the suburbs of Atchison, and Thomas E., with whose career this review
is directly concerned. John G. Ballinger married a second time, to Sarah
Austin, who bore him the following children: John, Charles, Walter,
Ellen, Sadie, Emma and Minnie.
The elder Ballinger had both the means and the incentive to give his
children an education. Accordingly, Thomas E. had the advantages of
thorough schooling and, after attending the district school of his home
neighborhood, he studied in the Cumberland County Academy at Bridgetown.
N. J., the Crittendon School in Philadelphia and the Eastman Business
College at Poughkeepsie, New York, completing his course in the latter
institution in 1865. He then became a clerk in a grocery store at
Glouster, N. J., and was later employed in a drug store. All the while,
however, he was hearkening to the call of the West, which had reached
the ears of thousands of young men in the East. The call proved so
strong that in 1869 he made the long journey to Kansas to become one of
the pioneers of the new State. For the first two years he worked out as
a farm hand in Shannon township, Atchison county, saving his funds in
order that he might begin farming for himself. In 1871 he made his first
purchase of eighty acres of unimproved land in Lancaster township,
Atchison county, at a cost of $15 per acre. On this tract he built a two
room house in which he lived for two years, and was there joined by his
brother, Samuel E. He then married, and the first five years of a happy
wedded life were spent on this farm. He traded this farm for eighty
acres of land in Shannon township, which served as the family home until
1888. He then exchanged the Shannon township farm for 240 acres, near
Huron, Atchison county, which he retained for two years, and then made
his last trade for 160 acres in the east central part of Lancaster
township. For seventeen years, until his retirement to Atchison in 1907,
this fine farm was the family home. Mr. Ballinger greatly improved this
farm, added to it another forty acres, and with its two sets of
buildings and well kept fields, is one of the finest and most productive
agricultural plants in the county.
He was married on Saturday, March 21, 1874, to Julia H. Holland, and to
this union have been born the following children: Ralph, a talented
physician of Chicago, married Flora Groom, of Indiana; Mrs. Marie
Shuffleberger, Doniphan county, Kansas, mother of three children,
Dorothy, Reeves and Wayne; Adel, at home; Grace, wife of J. W. Coleman,
of Atchison, having two children, John Ballinger, born June 14, 1911,
and James Henry, born November 3, 1915; Thomas Edward, Jr., on the home
farm, married Nellie Colgan and is the father of one child, John Edward;
Julia Gladys resides at home with her parents. Father, mother and
daughters reside in a handsome brick residence, erected by Mr. Ballinger
at 210 North Eleventh street. Mrs. Ballinger was born December 29, 1853,
in England, and is a daughter of Joshua and Maria (Relph) Holland, who
immigrated to America in 1856, and first settled on an Illinois farm.
The family came to Kansas in 1860, settling in Nemaha county, going from
there to Ft. Leavenworth, where Joshua Holland followed his trade of
stone mason. During the Civil war Mr. Holland served in the commissary
department at Ft. Leavenworth. In 1870 he came to Atchison county and
cultivated a farm of 120 acres near Lane until his death. Mr. Holland
was born in April, 1822, and died in September, 1884. Mrs. Holland was
born in November, 1824, and died in April, 1894. They were the parents
of the following children: Emma, deceased; Misses Mary and Harriet
Holland on a farm near Lancaster; Mrs. Julia Ballinger, and William, a
retired farmer in Lancaster.
Thomas E. Ballinger has always been a Republican in politics and took an
active part in political and civic affairs in his home township, serving
as township clerk for a number of years. He was elected to the office of
county commissioner in 1910, and served from January, 1911, to January,
1915. While a member of the board of county commissioners the best
interests of the county were paramount with him, and he was an honest
and capable public official. He and his family are members of the
Presbyterian church.
ROGER PATRICK SULLIVAN.
The accounts of many of the prosperous and substantial families who are
the backbone and substance of the rural population in Atchison county
are very similar, beginning far away, across the ocean, in one of the
older countries from whence the parents came to seek fortune in America.
The Sullivan family had its origin in Ireland and it was from the
Emerald Isle that the father of the family came when twelve years of
age, struggled from poverty to comparative wealth and left his sons well
provided for, as a reward for their filial devotion to the parents when
old age came upon them. Roger Sullivan, a progressive farmer of Benton
township, is one of the best known men in his section of the county. The
Sullivan home is an attractive one, and the home farm of Mr. Sullivan is
one of the most fertile and best kept in Atchison county.
Roger Patrick Sullivan was born December 4, 1862, in Atchison, a son of
Michael and Bridget (Tobin) Sullivan, natives of Ireland. Michael
Sullivan was born in 1826 and lived in his native land until he was
twelve years of age when he made his way to America. His travels while
seeking fortune in the new country took him ever westward and he was
married in Keokuk, Iowa, to Bridget Tobin, who was his faithful helpmate
during the years when he was rising from poverty to affluence. In 1860
they came to Atchison, Kan., where Mr. Sullivan engaged in railroad
contract work and assisted in the grading of the Central Branch
railroad. He made money in his railroad contract work and was enabled to
purchase a farm in Grasshopper township, or rather traded for it. While
living in Atchison, with true Irish thrift, he and his wife managed to
become owners of a home which they exchanged for eighty acres of land in
Grasshopper township, upon which they moved and developed it into a fine
farm. Mr. Sullivan in the course of time bought an additional quarter
section and with the help of his sturdy sons he increased his acreage to
320 acres of well improved farm land. When old age crept upon Michael
and his wife they turned over the farms to their two sons, who cared for
them in their declining years, which were spent in peace and comfort.
Mr. Sullivan died at the home of his son. John Edward, December 24,
1906, and his wife followed him to the great beyond two years later,
February, 1908. Three children were born to this worthy couple, namely:
John Edward, a farmer residing in Grasshopper township; Roger Patrick,
the subject of this review, and Mary, deceased.
Roger P. learned when a youth the art of cultivating the soil, and
diligently applied himself to the task of helping to build up the family
estate, and received as his share of the farm lands owned by his father
a fine quarter section of land upon which he resided until his removal
to his present location in the spring of 1908. Prosperity has smiled
upon his efforts, and he is now the owner of 360 acres of land, 160
acres of which are comprised in his home farm, eighty acres is located
five miles west of his home in Kapioma township, and he still retains
120 acres of the original Sullivan farm, which is entirely devoted to
pasture. If one should ask Mr. Sullivan how he had managed to attain the
considerable acreage which he now possesses, his answer would probably
be, “By hard work,” which would be true, but the reviewer is also of the
opinion that the “hard work” was also supplemented by intelligent
effort, self-denial at times, sobriety, and good financial judgment.
Mr. Sullivan was married January 11, 1892, to Miss Mary Linehan, who was
born in Atchison county, Kansas, in 1865, a daughter of James and
Kathryn Linehan, natives of Ireland, and who were pioneer settlers in
Atchison county. To this union four children have been born, namely:
Catharine, aged seventeen years, and a student in the Atchison County
High School, class of ’17; Daniel, fifteen years old, a freshman in the
county high school; Mary, aged twelve years, and Helen, aged nine,
pupils in the parochial school at Effingham.
The Democratic party has always claimed the allegiance of Mr. Sullivan
and his father before him was a Democrat. He and his family are members
of the Catholic church which was the faith of their fathers. He finds
time to give attention to the social side of life, and is fraternally
affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks, of Atchison. Mr. Sullivan is a thorough
Kansan, and is proud to be numbered among the real pioneers of Atchison
county, and in his opinion there is no better spot than the county which
has always been his home.
JOHN FLEMING.
John Fleming, a successful merchant of Atchison, was born October 29,
1864, in Holland. When four years old his parents left the land of their
birth and came to America in 1868. He was one of twins, the other twin
brother dying during the ocean voyage to America. His parents were
Lambert and Rosena (Johnson) Fleming, who set out from their native land
imbued with the desire to better their condition in America and finally
located in Atchison. The elder Fleming had been a skilled wooden-shoe
maker in his native land, and he plied his trade in Atchison, being able
to market the product of his skilled workmanship through the kindly
assistance of John Ratterman, who exchanged groceries and the
necessities of life for the shoes which Mr. Fleming made. The family
finally located on a farm south of Atchison, and resided there until the
death of the father in 1882, at which time John, his mother and two
sisters, Bertha, now widow of Henry Nass, deceased: Ida Van Benthen,
residing at Seventeenth and Atchison streets, removed to Atchison.
John Fleming was four years old when his parents took up their residence
in Atchison county, and he was reared on the farm, south of the city,
attending the district schools, and was able to secure a limited
education in this manner. Upon coming to the city to reside he worked in
various grocery stores for several years. With true thrift, for which
those of Holland birth are noted the world over, he carefully saved his
money over and above actual living expenses, and in 1898, equipped with
a capital of $500, he started in business with this amount and some
borrowed money. For over seventeen years he has been conducting a
grocery business at 321 North Seventh street and his business has been
constantly on the increase. The demands of his growing trade and the
expansion of his business became such that in 1907 it became necessary
for him to erect the modern brick buildings which now houses his
excellent stock of goods at 321 North Seventh street. It is one of the
most attractive and best kept establishments of the kind in the city,
and is noted for the tasteful manner in which the goods of the very best
quality are displayed and the unvarying courtesy with which the patrons
are treated. Prosperity has come to Mr. Fleming, and in 1908 he invested
his surplus in the erection of a four-suite apartment house, each
apartment of which contains six rooms. He is also the owner of other
real estate in north Atchison, and is rated as one of the city’s
enterprising and progressive business men.
Mr. Fleming was married in 1889 to Emma C. Hilligoss, a daughter of
Alfred and Anna Eliza (McLain) Hilligoss, who located in Atchison when
she was twelve years of age. Seven children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Fleming, four living: William J., associated with his father in the
grocery business; Henry A., also his father’s assistant; Agnes R., John
Edwin; Bertha died at the age of four years; Ruth died in infancy, and
Theodore died at the age of four months.
Mr. Fleming is a member of St. Benedict’s Catholic Church, and is
fraternally connected with the Modern Woodmen of America.
MARK H. HULINGS.
For an Atchison county man to start out in life with a capital of
fifteen dollars, which was given to him by a loving mother, with the
injunction that he purchase an article for personal adornment, and then
to invest said fifteen dollars in a span of mules, which became the
nucleus to a fortune, and for this citizen to rise to the position of
being one of the large landed proprietors of Kansas, sounds like a tale
from modern fiction. But the tale is true, and the incident which marked
the starting point of the career of Mark H. Hulings, of Center township,
is the keystone of the man’s character, and shows wherein lies the
material from which he was created. Mr. Hulings decided that a pair of
mules would do him more material good than adorning his person, and
therein used rare and capable judgment. Mr. Hulings is a Kansas man, who
during a career in agricultural pursuits embracing but little more than
thirty years, has achieved a success which is truly remarkable. Not
content with just common every-day farming, as has been practiced with
indifferent success by others, Mr. Hulings became a specialist and has
taken his rightful place among the many skilled cattle breeders of this
county, who in time to come will receive the credit and honors which are
theirs by right. By industry, persistence, intelligence, and keen
financial judgment he has risen to become one of the leading farmers of
Atchison county and Kansas. Born in the old Buckeye State, of Virginia
parents, he is a loyal and steadfast Kansan, and takes pride in the fact
that he is one of the real pioneers of this section of a great State.
Mark H. Hulings, farmer and stockman, of Center township, was born
February 14, 1862, at Walnut Hill, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a
son of Samuel and Louise (Brown) Hulings. They had four children, as
follows: Mrs. Lillie High, widow, Atchison, Kan.; Cincinnatus, deceased;
Mark, the subject of this sketch, and Ruth J., twins, the latter
deceased. The father was born in what is now West Virginia in 1832. He
was a baker by trade, and his early days were spent on a steamboat,
where he was employed as a cook and baker. When a young man he came to
Cincinnati, where he worked for some time, and then he began farming. In
1867 he came to Atchison county, Kansas, where he bought 160 acres of
land, and built a seven-room house of brick, which was considered a fine
residence in that day. He was a successful farmer and his crops were
always good, with the exception of one year when they were destroyed by
the grasshoppers. The father conducted his farm until his death in 1898.
The mother was born in New York and died about 1905, aged about seventy
years. An accident in an Atchison hardware store elevator which injured
her leg led to her death.
Mark Hulings attended the school in District No. 28, Center township,
and later the Pardee Seminary. When he started out in life for himself
he had only fifteen dollars which his mother gave him to buy a ring for
himself. But caring little for personal jewelry, bought a span of mules
instead, for which he paid the fifteen dollars as the first payment.
This was his first investment, but it was a profitable one, and he has
continued to invest until he is now an extensive land owner. He and his
brother, Cincinnatus, bought land of their own after their parents died,
and farmed together about eight years when each bought a farm of his
own. Mark bought land in Center township and now owns 810 acres, a large
part of which is well improved. He was a breeder of registered Hereford
cattle for a time, but now devotes his attention to Shorthorns. He has
worked his way to the first rank of Atchison county farmers, and now
holds land that makes him one of the largest land owners of the county.
On April 27, 1890, he married Emma Sharpless, who was born September 22,
1871, in Delaware. (See sketch of U. B. Sharpless for a sketch of the
Sharpless family history.) To Mr. and Mrs. Hulings have been born two
children: Mark S. and Susie E., living at home. Mr. Hulings is a
Republican. He and his wife and children are members of the Christian
church at Farmington.
FRANK SUTTER.
Frank Sutter, owner of “Highlington,” a splendid farm of 245 acres, in
Benton township, Atchison county, located one-half mile west of
Effingham, is a native of Atchison county, and is one of its most
successful and progressive farmers. A beautiful, modern farm home of
eight rooms occupies a rise of land fronting the main highway, running
east and west from Effingham, and is fully equipped with a water system
and private gas plant installed by Mr. Sutter. A large red barn stands
in the rear of the home. This farm is operated as a dairying plant, and
Mr. Sutter maintains a herd of fifteen milch cows of the Jersey and
Shorthorn breeds.
Frank Sutter was born January 8, 1871, on a pioneer farm in Walnut
township, Atchison county, and is a son of Frederick Sutter, deceased,
of whom a complete biography is written in this volume. Frank Sutter
came with the family to Benton township in 1880 and lived on the home
place, two miles west of Effingham, and after his father’s death he and
his brothers, Fred and William, became the owners of the section of land
which has since been divided, Frank taking a quarter section as his
share when the division of land was made. The sons of Frederick Sutter
farmed the family estate in common until 1902, and, after various
changes following the division of the estate Frank became the proprietor
of 245 acres in one tract, which he is now cultivating.
Mr. Sutter was married in 1909 to Mrs. Kate (Cook) Pitman, a widow, who
is the mother of eight children by her first marriage, as follows:
George, now in Montana; Ralph, living in Iowa; Mrs. Elsie Mann, of
Nebraska; Mrs. Vera Blair, a resident of Effingham; Margaret, at home;
Mrs. Geneva Perdue, of Huron, Kan.; Helen and Thomas reside at home.
Mrs. Sutter was a daughter of E. F. Cook.
While Mr. Sutter is a Republican in politics, he votes independently in
county and local matters, and supports the candidate who seems best
fitted for the office, in his judgment. He is a member of the Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mr.
Sutter is of a high type of the successful farmer who has made good in
his inherited vocation. The success of each individual member of the
Sutter family is due, to a great extent, to their coöperation and
ability to work together for the common good of the whole family,
collectively and individually, while the family fortunes were in process
of building.
BISHOP K. HAM.
Bishop K. Ham, one of the younger successful farmers and stockmen of
Grasshopper township, Atchison county, is the last surviving
representative of one of the oldest pioneer families of the western part
of the county. He resides on the old homestead of the Ham family,
consisting of 170 acres of land, upon which his father homesteaded in
1861. B. K. Ham was born on this farm July 23, 1882, a son of Martin W.,
and Margarette (Black) Ham, natives of Fleming county, Kentucky.
Martin W. Ham was born near the town of Flemingsburg, Ky., April 13,
1834, and was a son of George and Ruth Ham, also reared in Kentucky. The
grandfather of Martin W. was John or “Jackie,” a native of Greenbrier
county, Virginia, and was of Scotch-Irish lineage. The Ham family is a
very old one in this country, and the great-grandfather of B. K. Ham was
John, better known as “Jackie” Ham, who was one among the earliest
pioneer settlers of Kentucky. Martin W. was reared to young manhood in
Fleming county, Kentucky, and there married Jane Humphreys. In 1861 the
Ham family left Kentucky in search of a home in the West, making the
long trip overland to Missouri by wagon. After a short stay in Missouri
they came to Atchison county, Kansas, and settled on the farm now owned
by Mrs. Margarette Ham. All of Martin W. Ham’s worldly possessions when
he landed in Kansas was his team and wagon and a few household
necessities. The land was wild and there were few settlers on the
prairies in Grasshopper township, where he made his settlement and
eventually developed a fine farm. He became an extensive cattle and hog
raiser and made considerable money in this manner.
[Illustration:
_Hon. Martin W. Ham_
]
[Illustration:
_Mrs. Martin W. Ham_
]
Martin W. Ham was twice married, his first wife, Jane Humphreys Ham,
dying May 18, 1879. He married his second wife, Margarette Black, June
28, 1880. One son was born of this second marriage, Bishop K. Mrs.
Margarette (Black) Ham was born March 29, 1854, a daughter of M. M. and
Rebecca (Simms) Black, the former a native of Virginia, and of Irish
lineage. He was one of the early pioneer settlers of Kansas. Martin W.
Ham died in 1908. From the start of his career in Kansas M. W. Ham took
an active and influential part in civic and political affairs of his
county and State. During the border ruffian days he was active in
affairs and was a Free State man. He was captain of Company G, Kansas
Home Guards, during the Civil war. He held various township offices and
was elected a member of the Kansas State legislature in 1869, serving
one term. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was
affiliated with the Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges.
Bishop K. Ham, with whom this review is directly concerned, received his
education in the district school of his neighborhood and also studied in
the college at Hiawatha, Kan., for one year. He then took up farming,
and after his marriage lived on a neighboring farm until his father’s
demise. He then came to the home farm which he has since been
cultivating with considerable success. Mr. Ham has made a record as a
breeder of horses and mules second to none in Atchison county. He is the
owner of a magnificent, imported black stallion, “Illico,” six years
old, which he purchased from the well known importer, Charles Kirk, of
St. Joseph, Mo. He is the owner of a high class jack and is a successful
breeder of mules. The pride of his farm is his fine herd of thirty
thoroughbred Jerseys, headed by the pedigreed bull “Loren’s Lad,” both
the sire and dam of which were imported. By means of holding annual
sales Mr. Ham will dispose of the surplus stock of his herds of cattle
and horses. The Ham farm is well improved in every way with good
commodious buildings, silo, etc., a fine modern home, all grouped
together on a beautiful location.
Mr. Ham was married October 19, 1905, to Miss Carrie B. McCubbins, and
to this union has been born: Marguerite Ham, born April 17, 1907. Mrs.
Carrie B. Ham is a daughter of Robert D. and Elizabeth (Tenry)
McCubbins, who were early settlers in Atchison county. The McCubbins
family first settled near the city of Atchison, and later came to
Grasshopper township.
Mr. Ham is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the Ancient Free
and Accepted Masons of Muscotah, the Modern Woodmen of America and the
Fraternal Aid societies. He is one of the best known and rising young
agriculturists of the county and will undoubtedly make a name for
himself among the breeders of the State of Kansas and middle West.
CHARLES H. LINLEY.
Charles H. Linley, a prominent physician and surgeon, of Atchison, may
very appropriately be called the dean of the Atchison county medical
profession. Dr. Linley is a Kentuckian. He was born in Livingston
county, Kentucky, June 19, 1847, and is a son of Dr. Thomas and Maria
(Barker) Linley, natives of Lewis county, Kentucky. Maria Barker, the
mother, was a daughter of Admiral Barker of the United States navy. Dr.
Thomas Linley, the father, was born in 1806. He was a son of Thomas
Linley, a native of England, who settled in Virginia at an early date
and later removed to Kentucky, and was a pioneer of this State. Thomas
Linley, the father of Dr. Charles H. Linley, was a large plantation
owner and owned many slaves in Kentucky prior to the Civil war, but was
a strong Union man and believed that slavery was wrong, and when the
Civil war came on he was pronounced in his anti-slavery views, and
notwithstanding the position of many of his neighbors and friends and
life-long associates, he stood firmly by the Union. He was a graduate of
the old Transylvania Medical College, at Lexington, Ky. He began the
practice of his profession at the early age of nineteen years, and for
forty-five years practiced most of the time in the vicinity of Salem,
Ky. He came to Atchison, Kan., in 1866, but remained a short time, when
he returned to Kentucky, where he died March 31, 1880. Dr. Thomas and
Maria (Barker) Linley were the parents of thirteen children, three of
whom died in infancy, and four are now living, as follows: Dr. Charles
H., the subject of this sketch; Isaac resides on the old homestead in
Salem, Ky.; Mrs. Laura Hill resides at Liberty, Mo., and Joseph W., now
living retired in Atchison, Kan. After receiving a good academic and
classical education, Dr. Charles H. Linley entered Miami Medical
College, now known as the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, and was
graduated from that institution in 1877 with the degree of Doctor of
Medicine. In 1880 he located in the city of Atchison where he has
practiced his profession with uniform success for the past thirty-five
years. He is one of the oldest physicians in the number of years in
practice in Atchison.
Dr. Linley was married in 1879 to Miss Fannie W. Gregory, a native of
Kentucky. She was born in 1854 and is a daughter of James Gregory and a
member of a prominent Kentucky family. Her father died when Mrs. Linley
was fourteen years of age. Dr. and Mrs. Linley are the parents of the
following children: Maria, born in 1880, and died in 1909; Corinne, a
teacher in the Atchison high school, and a graduate of Midland College
and the State Normal school at Emporia; Ray G., traveling salesman for
Blish, Mize & Silliman; Nora B., a graduate of Midland College, now a
teacher in Colorado; Alice, a graduate of Midland College, now a teacher
in the grades at Atchison, and Louis D., traveling salesman for Blish,
Mize & Silliman.
Dr. Linley is a Democrat and has taken an active part in the welfare of
his city and county. He has served as city health officer for several
terms and was police commissioner for Atchison for one year. He served
on the board of United States pension examiners for eight years during
Cleveland’s administrations. He is a member of the Knights of the
Maccabees, the Fraternal Aid, and the Foresters of America. The Linley
family are members of the Christian church.
L. C. ARENSBERG.
L. C. Arensberg, one of the younger business men of Atchison, and member
of the enterprising and successful firm of Babcock & Arensberg, shoe
merchants, is a Hollander by birth, and a hustling American in every
sense the word implies. It has long been a matter of note that the
natives of Holland who became American citizens are more apt and take
more kindly and quickly to the ways of this nation than the people of
any other European country. This country seems to become their natural
habitat, and they become citizens in both deed and word after a few
years’ residence here. Mr. Arensberg was born in Holland, September 17,
1880, and is a son of William and Alegunde (Muskens) Arensberg, who
immigrated to this country in 1885, actuated by a desire to locate in a
land where their children would have more and better opportunities for
success than their own little, crowded, native country afforded. They
believed rightly and were successful in establishing a home in Atchison
where they had relatives who had preceded them to the newer country. The
Arensberg family established themselves in reasonably comfortable
circumstances in Atchison in a short time. There were nine children in
the family of William and Alegunde Arensberg.
L. C. Arensberg was educated in the parochial and high schools of
Atchison. Then he obtained a position as all round man in Bradley &
Ostertag’s shoe store. Here he was employed for ten years and thoroughly
learned the ins and outs of the shoe business, becoming a very
proficient salesman. In the meantime he carefully saved his money, with
a view to eventually engaging in business for himself. His ambition was
at last realized, and in 1906 he purchased an interest in the Babcock &
Stallons shoe store, buying out the interest of Mr. Stallons. He is a
full partner in the business and has won a place of merit and honor
among the leading merchants of Atchison.
Politically, Mr. Arensberg is a Democrat, and is inclined to be liberal
in his views and independent in his voting. He is a member of the
Knights of Columbus and the Loyal Order of Moose, and is a member of St.
Benedict’s Catholic Church. He is active in the affairs of the Atchison
Commercial Club, and is recognized as one of the real “live wires” of
the business and civic life of his home city.
W. B. COLLETT.
W. B. Collett, district agent for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
Company of Milwaukee, Wis., is one of the progressive business men of
Atchison. He was born in Liverpool, England, in 1860, and is a son of
John and Mary (Henston) Collett, the former a native of Wolverhampton,
Staffordshire, England, and the latter of Tipperary, Ireland. John
Collett was a prosperous importing provision merchant when the Civil war
broke out in this country. The importing business fell off to such an
extent in European ports that business was injured to such an extent
that he failed, and came to the United States, and in 1862 sent for his
family, consisting of his wife and three children. During his youth he
served a seven-year apprenticeship in the provision trade. In 1879 he
came to Atchison as head salesman for the Fowler Brothers Packing
Company, and remained with that company until 1883. He then went with
the Armour Packing Company, of Kansas City, in the same capacity, and
was with that company for fourteen years, when he was made manager of
their branch at St. Paul, Minn., and later he was the European
representative for Jacob Dold Packing Company, of Buffalo, N. Y. In 1908
he retired from active business and took up his residence on a farm near
Richards, Mo., where he died, in 1911, at the age of seventy-nine years.
His wife survives him and resides on the farm where he died.
John Collett was a man of unusual ability, and had few equals as a
salesman. He was a capable executive and thoroughly understood handling
large commercial enterprises. He was a master salesman and always
commanded a large salary. He was a money maker, although he died
possessed of but a small amount of this world’s goods; he was a money
maker rather than a hoarder of dimes.
W. B. Collett, whose name introduces this sketch, was educated in the
public schools, and when a young man went to work in the Elgin watch
works, at Elgin, Ill., and in 1879, when the family came to Kansas, he
went to work for the Fowler Brothers Packing Company, where he remained
about a year. He then entered the employ of Bowman & Kellogg, millers,
as bookkeeper, and later became a buyer and salesman for that company.
In 1888 he engaged in the general insurance business, and three years
later entered the employ of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
Company, and has been with that company ever since with headquarters at
Atchison. Mr. Collett was married in December, 1886, to Miss Annie
Heermance, who came to Atchison with her mother in 1883 from Hudson, N.
Y. She was one of the old Holland families of New York and taught in the
Atchison High School prior to her marriage.
Mr. and Mrs. Collett have two children as follows; Mary E., educated at
Wellesley College, took her master degree at the University of
Pennsylvania, then one year of post-graduate work at Brown University,
at Providence, R. I., when she became instructor of biology at the
Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pa., and W. B., Jr., who was educated in
the Atchison public schools. Culver Military Academy, Culver, Ind., and
the State Agriculture College at Manhattan, Kan.
Mr. Collett is an Episcopalian, a York Rite Mason and a member of the
Young Men’s Christian Association, and has been active in the work of
these organizations for years.
JAMES DOOLEY.
The late James Dooley, of Shannon township, left behind him a life’s
record that is well worth recounting, and deserved an honored place in
the memoirs of the county, in which he was for over forty years a
prominent and well known figure. As a pioneer he did his part well in
building up Atchison county. The story of his life is romantic in many
ways, and he was always imbued with the idea of providing well for his
beloved family, and leaving his affairs in such a stable condition that
his descendants could earn on the great work which the father and
founder of the family had so well begun and brought to such a
substantial culmination.
James Dooley, deceased, was born January 6, 1835, in Ireland, a son of
Irish parents, James and Catharine Dooley, who left their native land in
1847, and located in Canada, where the father, James Dooley, the elder,
became ill and died in the city of Hamilton. Although the young Irish
lad was but twelve years of age and immature, it was necessary for him
to go to work and gain a livelihood the best way he could. He managed to
get a job which paid him one dollar and a half per month with his board.
He was knocked about from pillar to post while a youth, and managed to
make his way. His adventures in making a struggle for an honest
livelihood were similar to those of other poor orphan boys left in a
strange land without friends or relatives, other than those who were as
poor as himself. One bright rift in the lonely life of this orphan boy
is to be noticed when he became a boarder in the Hurley home at
Harrisburg, Canada. It was here that he met with a genuine kindness and
formed an attachment for the noble-hearted girl who later became his
inspiration, and was his faithful wife during the years in Kansas when
he was working his way upward to wealth and affluence, aided and abetted
by her wise counsel and assistance. Imbued with a desire to secure
capital so that he could come to this new country and realize an
inherent ambition to own a farm, he set out for the gold fields of
Colorado during the Civil war years, and there amassed a small fortune
of $500 in gold, saved during the months of his hard and unremitting
labor in the gold mines of the western State. With this capital he felt
able to make the venture which he and his sweetheart had planned, and,
accordingly, after his marriage at Paris, Canada, with Catharine Hurley,
he and his wife set out for Atchison in March of 1866. During the first
few months of their residence in Atchison county they lived with a
sister of Mr. Dooley, Mrs. Slattery, in Shannon township, and James
worked in the city at any honest labor he could get. Their first
investment was for eighty acres of school land in Shannon township, for
which they paid cash, and it then became necessary for Mr. Dooley to
borrow forty dollars in order to get the deed for the land. During the
whole course of Mr. Dooley’s career in Atchison county, while the modest
eighty acres were growing to the large total of 600 acres of some of the
best agricultural land in the county, they never undertook a debt, but
each time an additional tract of farm land was purchased, the savings
were drawn upon and cash paid for the land. Each of three sons now has a
fine farm of 200 acres. The home place upon which Mrs. Dooley now
resides, which consists of 200 acres, cost an even $10,000. This farm is
one of the oldest in the county and was originally preëmpted by a Mr.
Collins, who set out a large grove of forty acres or more in walnut and
cottonwood trees which have become very valuable, having grown to
considerable size.
Catharine (Hurley) Dooley, widow of James Dooley, was born April 28,
1847, in Ireland, a daughter of James and Bridget Hurley, who left their
native land in 1847 while Katharine was but an infant, and located in
Hamilton, Canada, later residing in Harrisburg, Canada. A brother of
Mrs. Dooley, James Hurley, served three years and three months in the
Union army. He was a member of a Pennsylvania reserve regiment of
sharpshooters and was wounded during the battle of Richmond, Va. For six
months, while the wound in his wrist was healing, he served as sergeant
in the quartermaster’s department. Some years after the war he became an
inmate of the National Soldiers’ Home at Dayton, Ohio, and lost his life
while aboard an excursion boat which sank in Lake Michigan, near
Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Dooley were the parents of fourteen children: Mrs.
James Baker, Huron, Kan., and mother of eight children, Celia Baker, a
trained nurse in Chicago, Mary, wife of George Perdue, Joseph, William,
Bertha, Ruth, Rita and James; Catharine, James and Mary, deceased;
Sister Lucy, of Mt. St. Scholastica Academy; Lucy, wife of David
Lawless, and mother of two sons, Harold and Clevett; Mrs. Celia
Finnegan, wife of Thomas Finnegan, of Houston, Texas, who had two
children, Thomas Lillis and Mary; Bertha, Sister Dorothy, of the Order
of St. Benedict’s in Mt. St. Scholastica Academy; Nora, wife of Roger
Finnegan; William, managing the home farm; John, deceased; James married
Bertha Kistler, and has three children: Florence, Bernice, and Francis;
Edward married Henrietta Kramer, and has two children, John and Gerard;
Joseph, deceased; Irene, at home with her mother.
It is well to add here that James Dooley was one of the notable army of
hardy freighters who crossed the plains with the long mule trains in the
late sixties. This was in April of 1866, when he convoyed a train load
of goods to Denver, Colo., in company with William Slattery. During his
whole life, after attaining his majority, Mr. Dooley was a stanch
Democrat and was ever loyal to Democratic principles. While a member of
the Catholic church, he was a liberal supporter of all denominations,
and took a broad and tolerant view of all religious matters as becoming
a widely traveled and experienced man. His life-long wish to perpetuate
his name and keep the family estate in the family was expressed while
lying on his death bed. Calling his faithful helpmeet to his bedside, he
said: “Mother, I am leaving you without having my dearest wish come
true.” On being asked what it was, he said: “I have always longed for
the time to come when I could see my sons settled on this farm of ours,
with a Dooley here with his family, a Dooley there, and another son on
that part of the farm.” He was at once assured by his wife that his
wishes would be respected, and after his demise Mrs. Dooley at once took
steps to carry out the plans of her husband with the result that within
sight of her home the other two sons are comfortably located on 200
acres of land each and have attractive homes of their own.
ABRAHAM HOOPER.
Abraham Hooper, deceased, was one of the pioneer settlers of Atchison
county. He was one of the well known and sturdy figures in the early
days of the settlement of Kansas when strong and brave men were
required, who were able to face the vicissitudes and hardships incident
to the settlement of a new country and perform their tasks without
succumbing, as weaker mortals were wont to do. Mr. Hooper was born in
Platte county, Missouri, November 23, 1839, on a farm, near Parkville.
His father was Abraham Hooper, a native of Tennessee and early settler
of Missouri, who died in Mexico. Abraham Hooper, the subject of this
review, was reared in Platte county and came to Atchison county in 1858,
settling on a farm near Pardee. While engaged in farming he followed his
trade of plasterer in the neighborhood of Pardee. For a distance of ten
miles around his own residence he plastered all of the houses then
building by the incoming settlers. During the Civil war he was enrolled
in the State militia. In his younger days Mr. Hooper was a freighter and
crossed the plains in charge of great trains on three different
occasions. On one of his trips to Colorado he was placed in charge of a
train load of twenty-five wagons, and one of his other trips was to Ft.
Union, N. M. His affiliations were with the Christian church, the
Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Knights of Pythias lodges.
[Illustration:
_Daniel E. Hooper_
]
Mr. Hooper was married in 1863 to Louisa Campbell, born in Tennessee in
1842, a daughter of Daniel and Nancy Campbell. The Campbell family left
Tennessee in 1854, and in 1855 removed to a farm which they preëmpted
near Farmington in Atchison county. This was in a day when things were
in a primitive state in Kansas. The Campbells lived in a cabin which was
one of the first dwellings built in that section of the county. The
mother of Mrs. Hooper lived and died on their farm, and her father died
on the western plains while on a trip to the Black Hills. Mr. and Mrs.
Hooper removed from the farm to Atchison in 1887, and here Mr. Hooper
died February 18, 1914, at the advanced age of seventy-four years,
having been born November 3, 1839. Three children were born to this well
respected couple: Addie B. died at the age of six years; Daniel,
deceased, and Nellie died at the age of one year. Mrs. Hooper lives all
alone in her home, but remembers fondly the days of old and has many
sweet memories of her husband and children to solace and comfort her
during her declining years. Despite her age she is physically and
mentally vigorous and is distinguished in being one of the oldest
pioneer women now living in the county.
Her well beloved son, Daniel Hooper, was born in 1868, and died January
22, 1912. He was one of the most talented and best liked men in
Atchison, and was far on the road to fame and prosperity when he was cut
off in the prime of his vigorous and virile manhood. He received the
rudiments of an elementary education in the district school near his
country home and early developed ambitions which were partly realized
during his life. After leaving school he studied shorthand and
typewriting, and while holding a position in the law office of C. D.
Walker he studied law and was admitted to the bar. A winning personality
and his pronounced ability won him clients from the start of his legal
career. His personal popularity and ambitious tendencies led him to
enter politics, and he was elected to the office of probate judge of the
county, serving the people well and faithfully for a period of six
years, and then served two terms as city attorney. Just in the prime of
his manhood and at the zenith of a career his health failed, and he died
at Excelsior Springs, Mo., where he had gone in the hope of regaining
his health. Judge Hooper was sincerely mourned by a large circle of
friends and acquaintances and it is probable that there was not a man in
his class better liked or more highly respected in Atchison county at
the time of his demise. He was a Republican in politics and was
fraternally connected with the Modern Woodmen, the Knights of Pythias,
in whose councils he was very prominent, and an attendant at the
Christian church. The most notable trait in Judge Hooper’s character was
his sincere devotion to his parents. Because of the love he bore his
mother he never married and cared for no woman but her. His constant
thought was to make provision for her in the event of his own demise,
and he carefully looked after her immediate and future wants. Such men
as he are deserving of a greater tribute than that embodied in this
brief review. A memorial window with his and the name of his father
thereon was placed in the Christian church in his memory. Printed on
this window are Judge Hooper’s words of faith often expressed: “I
believe in a great and a good God.”
Mrs. Hooper is rearing and educating a girl, Ruth Jones, who serves as
company for her in the home.
ALBERT J. SMITH.
Albert J. Smith, the efficient cashier of the State Bank of Lancaster,
Kan., is a native son of Kansas, and has grown up with Atchison county.
He is a son of one of the prominent early pioneer settlers of the
county, and while yet, comparatively, a young man, he has made good at
his chosen avocation and is considered one of the really successful
banking men of this section of the State, his talents and ability
seeming to be especially adapted to the profession of banking.
Mr. Smith was born on a farm in Brown county, Kansas, January 13, 1879,
a son of Thomas B. and Mary E. (Woodruff) Smith. The father of Albert J.
Smith was born August 16, 1843, in Grant county, Indiana, a son of
William J. and Lucinda (Barkley) Smith, who were born and reared in
Pennsylvania. The father of Lucinda Barkley Smith was a soldier in the
War of 1812. William J. Smith removed with his family to Grant county,
Indiana, and in 1851 migrated further westward to Bureau county,
Illinois, where he made a permanent settlement, and died in that county
in 1869. Lucinda (Barkley) Smith died in Illinois in 1862, at the age of
sixty-two years. They were the parents of the following children: Mrs.
Margaret Pugh; Alvah, a veteran of the Civil war; Mrs. Lucinda Spangler;
Isaac, Joseph, and William R. Thomas B. Smith, the father of Albert J.,
was eight years old when the family removed to Bureau county, Illinois,
where he spent his boyhood days and received a common school education,
finishing in the Dover (Illinois) Academy. On the second call for
volunteers issued by President Lincoln, he enlisted in Company B,
Ninety-third regiment, Illinois infantry. He took part in a number of
decisive and important battles and campaigns. Among them are, Jackson,
Miss., and Dalton, Ga. On May 16, 1863, while serving in General
McPherson’s corps, he fought at the battle of Champion Hill and was
severely wounded in the left shoulder. He was forced to remain in the
hospital for some time and after his recovery he was placed on guard
duty for the purpose of guarding the railroad bridges. At the close of
the war he was honorably discharged and returned to his home in Bureau
county, Illinois. After his marriage in 1866, he continued to farm in
Illinois until 1874, when he removed to Kansas, locating first in Brown
county, where he and his family lived for six years, and then came to
Atchison county, where Mr. Smith purchased a farm of 160 acres in
Grasshopper township, northeast of the town of Muscotah. He resided on
this farm for twenty years and then moved to Effingham in 1900. He died
in Effingham, November 29, 1914. Mrs. Mary E. (Woodruff) Smith, his
wife, was a native of New Jersey, and a daughter of Nathan and Delia
Woodruff.
Thomas B. Smith was married January 24, 1866, to Mary E. Woodruff, at
Princeton, Ill. They were the parents of nine children, six of whom are
living: Mrs. M. E. Beven, of Muscotah. Kan.; Mrs. H. T. Reece, of
Muscotah; Mrs. J. C. Harman, of Auburn, Neb.; Albert J., the subject of
this review; C. E., cashier of the Huron Bank, and T. B., of the
Exchange National Bank of Atchison. Three daughters are deceased:
Lettie, Gracie and Goldie. Mr. Smith was an enterprising and progressive
citizen who did his duty in whatever community he was located, during
his long and useful life. While a resident of Grasshopper township he
served as township trustee for four years. He was a member of the city
council of Effingham one term, and filled the office of mayor for one
term, and also proved his efficiency as a member of the Atchison County
High School board for two terms. He was an honored member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Ancient Order of United Workmen and
the Grand Army of the Republic, at Effingham. He was a stockholder and
director of the banks at Lancaster and Huron, Kan. Mr. Smith was a
member of the Presbyterian church for over fifty years. Mrs. Smith, the
widowed mother, was born in New Jersey, in November, 1845, and now
resides in Atchison.
Albert J. Smith was reared on the farm of his father and attended the
district school in District No. 23, Grasshopper township, and later
entered the Atchison County High School, Effingham, and was graduated in
1897. After his graduation he taught school in his home district for two
terms, and in 1900 he received an appointment as clerk in the census
bureau at Washington, D. C., and served for two years in that capacity.
He then returned to Effingham and entered the State Bank of Effingham,
as assistant cashier and bookkeeper. He made a fine record for himself
in this bank and in July, 1905, was one of the organizers of the Farmers
and Merchants State Bank of Effingham, and held the office of cashier
from the time of its opening until 1909, when he resigned his position
and removed to Lancaster, where he became cashier of the Lancaster State
Bank. Mr. Smith, in addition to his banking interests, is the owner of
eighty acres of good land in Kapioma township, Atchison county.
Albert J. Smith was married in 1899 to Elizabeth R. Smith, and to this
union have been born the following children: Dorothy, deceased; Gladys,
Elizabeth and Albert, all living at home. Mrs. Elizabeth (Smith) Smith,
was born on a farm in Grasshopper township, February 26, 1879, and, like
her husband, is a graduate of the Atchison County High School. She also
taught school for two years. She is a daughter of James K. and Elizabeth
(Asquith) Smith, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the mother a
native of England, and early settlers of Atchison county. Both are now
deceased.
Mr. Smith has identified himself with the civic affairs of Lancaster and
is recognized as one of the town’s leading and enterprising citizens. He
is a Republican and has served four years, from 1911 to 1915, inclusive,
as mayor of Lancaster. His administration was successful and the affairs
of the city were conducted with efficiency. He is a regular attendant of
the Presbyterian church, and is affiliated with the Anti-Horse Thief
Association, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of
America, and the Knights and Ladies of Security.
JOHN E. DUNCAN.
There is a proverbial saying that opportunity knocks once at every man’s
door, and a classic has been written by a great Kansas statesman, since
departed from among us, which tells in musical language that Kansas
spells opportunity for the young man. Opportunity presented itself to
John E. Duncan, Missouri Pacific agent, at Shannon, Kan., and Mr. Duncan
seized it, and held on for all he was worth, and made a success of his
venture. His ambition first was to become a railroad man and telegraph
operator, and probably in the early stages of his career the post of
telegraph operator seemed to him to be the great height of attainment.
He realized his first dream, and when he came to Shannon, Kan., to take
charge of the Missouri Pacific business at that place, he conceived the
idea of engaging in the buying and shipping of grain. This idea grew and
he became a grain buyer and shipper, built an elevator, established a
general store, opened an implement establishment, and became a
prosperous and trusted business man of his adopted county. It is a fact
that more grain is shipped from the little village of Shannon through
the agency of Mr. Duncan than any other point in Atchison county,
outside of the city of Atchison. Mr. Duncan enjoys the respect, esteem
and confidence of the prosperous farmers of the section tributary to
Shannon, and they trade with him because of this confidence in his
squareness. A few years ago, when real hard times struck Kansas as a
result of the droughts, Mr. Duncan showed his hearty good will and
confidence in the eventual betterment of conditions by placing his trust
in his farmer friends, and supplying such of those who were not blessed
with ready cash, with credit for supplies at his store, and carried them
until they were able to pay. This kindness has been appreciated, and the
most cordial relations exist between Mr. Duncan and his patrons.
John E. Duncan was born March 21, 1863, in Moro, Madison county,
Illinois. He is a son of John and Mary (Hooley) Duncan, who had eight
children, three of whom are now dead. The father was born in December,
1818, in Ireland. He left his native land in 1846 and sailed for New
York. He engaged in farming in New York State, and was married two years
later. In 1851 he came to Illinois and remained there until 1891. The
mother of John Duncan was born in Ireland, also, in 1827. In 1848 she
left there with a brother, William, and came to America. She died in
1907. Both parents were members of the Catholic church. The subject of
this sketch was reared on the farm of his father and attended the
grammar schools of Madison county, Illinois. When he grew to be a young
man the long days of labor on the farm palled on him and he longed to
get into different work. He had always had an ambition to become a
telegrapher and when he was twenty-one years old he had a chance to
learn that work. He worked as telegrapher for the Chicago & Alton
Railroad Company until 1887, when he went to Everest, Brown county,
Kansas, to become night operator for the Missouri Pacific Railroad
Company. In the fall of 1887 he was sent by the same company to Shannon,
Atchison county, Kansas, to become the agent for the Missouri Pacific
there. In 1892 he went into the grain business. He bought and sold grain
for eight years, and at the end of a successful business period he
erected the grain elevator at Shannon. This proved a profitable
investment, and in 1907 he invested in a general merchandise store which
he conducted until August, 1915, when his store building and stock were
destroyed by fire, which was caused by lightning. Mr. Duncan has
recently completed a handsome new store building of cement blocks, 36×56
feet in size, which is attractively finished throughout and is well
stocked with goods. In the fall of 1915 Mr. Duncan installed a line of
agricultural implements and is the real merchant prince of his section
of the county. Besides his business interests he is the owner of 200
acres of land in Macoupin county, Illinois, a nice residence in Shannon,
and several town lots.
Mr. Duncan was married in 1890 to Margaret V. Clark, and to this union
the following children have been born: John, associated with his father
in business; Kathrine, aged sixteen years; Margaret, eleven years old;
Bernadette, aged nine; and Dorothy, four years of age, all of whom are
living at home with their parents. Mrs. Duncan is a daughter of Mathias
and Katherine (O’Grady) Clark, both of whom were born and reared in
Ireland, and emigrated from their native land to America. She was
graduated from the school of telegraphy at St. Louis, Mo., in 1889, and
assisted her husband in his work at Shannon. Mr. Duncan is a Democrat
and he and his family are members of the Catholic church. He is a member
of the Knights of Columbus, of Atchison, Kan.
WILLIAM SCHAPP.
William Schapp, a Civil war veteran and an Atchison county pioneer, is a
native of Germany. He was born in Wyler, Germany, January 26, 1840, and
is a son of Peter and Margaret (Bonns) Schapp. The Schapp family
immigrated to America in 1854, landing at New Orleans, La. They remained
there but a short time, however, when they came up the Mississippi and
Missouri rivers by boat and located at Weston, Platte county, Missouri,
where a brother of Mrs. Schapp had located some time previously. Here
the father entered the dairy business and prospered and the parents
moved to Atchison, Kan., in 1868 and died in Atchison.
William Schapp received a common school education and grew to manhood in
Platte county. He entered the employ of James Steele, an extensive land
owner, as overseer of his estate, and was thus employed when the Civil
war broke out and soon after the beginning of hostilities, Mr. Schapp
was drafted into the Confederate service. Four days after he became a
Confederate soldier, his company was encamped on the banks of the
Missouri river near Iatam, Mo. Young Schapp began to lay plans to
escape, as he was a Union man at heart, and he had made up his mind that
if he was going to serve in the army that he would serve under the stars
and stripes. On the night he escaped the lieutenant of the company was
killed accidentally while showing the men how to use a gun, and during
the excitement incident to the killing, Mr. Schapp made his escape.
During the night he secured a boat with one oar and drifted down the
river, landing at Ft. Leavenworth. Here he lost no time in enlisting in
Captain Black’s company which afterwards became a part of Company B,
Eighth Kansas regiment. The following night he piloted this company
across the river to Iatum where they surprised and captured the
Confederate company of which he had been a member the day before. This
act won from him the intense hatred of the members of the Confederate
company, and even after the close of the war members of that company
attempted to take his life. After serving about a month in Captain
Black’s company, he joined Company H, Eighteenth Missouri regiment and
participated in a number of important engagements. After the battle of
Shiloh he was promoted to sergeant major. He was with Sherman on his
march to the sea, and during that campaign, while at Decatur, Ala., his
term of enlistment expired and he received special permission to
accompany General Sherman’s army through the campaign. On arriving at
Savannah, Ga., he was placed in charge of fourteen soldiers whose term
of enlistment had expired and was the first to arrive in New York City,
where they were met by bands of music and were treated royally by the
people. He then returned to his former home in Platte county, but the
secession spirit was so strong and so much antipathy was shown him on
account of his loyalty to the Union that he decided not to remain, and
accordingly, came to Atchison. The second night after arriving home he
was warned by a friendly member of the Confederate company he had
deserted to leave at once, as plans had been made to hang him. He left
at once on the next train. He had saved about $800 during the war and
loaned it to his uncle, John Bonns, who was engaged in the brewery
business, and through a failure, Mr. Schapp lost every dollar of his
savings. He then entered the employ of Julius Holthaus, who conducted a
saloon and a grocery store. About a year later he engaged in the
manufacture of brick in partnership with Jacob Nash. About five years
later he engaged in the ice business, which he conducted about six
years. He then bought a farm north of where the orphans’ home is
located, where he remained for twelve years, when he sold his farm and
removed to Atchison, and engaged in the real estate business and has
since been engaged in that business. Mr. Schapp has been very successful
and has accumulated considerable property.
He was married in February, 1865, to Miss Margaret, a daughter of
Gearhardt Kunders, a pioneer settler of Weston, Mo. Eight children have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Schapp, as follows: Peter P. resides in
California; Dora F. resides at home; Mrs. Theodore Geritz, Atchison
county; Mrs. Theodora Arensberg, Atchison; Mrs. Henry Wersling, Atchison
county, and Albert A.; William H., deceased; Maggie, deceased.
Mr. Schapp is one of the old timers of Atchison, and has seen that town
develop from a little settlement on the bank of the Missouri river to
the great prosperous commercial center that it is today. He has taken an
active part in the political life of Atchison, and for seven years was a
member of the city council, and served two years on the Atchison school
board. Mr. Schapp cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln for President,
and has been a stanch adherent to the policies and principles of the
Republican party since that day. He is a member of the Grand Army of the
Republic.
THOMAS LINCOLN BLODGETT.
The passing of a good, industrious citizen from this mundane sphere to
the realms of a higher and better life beyond the grave is always
saddening, especially if his demise occurs while yet in the prime of his
vigorous manhood. Such a one was Thomas Lincoln Blodgett, late of Mt.
Pleasant township, who, though not permitted to dwell upon this earth
the allotted time decreed for mankind, accomplished in the brief time he
was actively engaged in agricultural pursuits more than the average man,
and will long be remembered for his many excellent qualities by those
who knew him best.
Thomas Lincoln Blodgett, late of Mt. Pleasant township, was born July
27, 1860, and lived and died in the township in which he was born in
Atchison county, his demise occurring May 4, 1905. He was a son of
George M. and Mary (Cline) Blodgett, his father having been born and
reared in Michigan and came to Kansas when the State was created in the
late fifties.
George M. Blodgett, the father of Thomas Lincoln Blodgett, was born in
Livingston county, New York, October 6, 1834, a son of George W. and
Lucinda (Garfield) Blodgett, and was a grandson of Thomas Blodgett.
Thomas Blodgett, who was a soldier under Washington and fought for the
independence of the American colonies, lived in Vermont, where he was a
blacksmith and a farmer. He went to Michigan in 1856 and remained there
to be near his son, George W., who had settled at Kalamazoo about 1846.
Mr. Rowel, the father of Thomas Blodgett’s wife, was also a
Revolutionary soldier. The children of Thomas Blodgett were named George
W., Riley and Jared. Riley went to Rhode Island and became connected
with shipping interests, navigating waters in the vicinity of Newport.
Thomas died in Michigan in 1850, aged ninety years.
[Illustration:
_T L Blodgett_
]
George W. Blodgett, the father of George M., was born in Vermont in
1800, and died in 1880, aged eighty years. His wife, Lucinda, was a
daughter of Solomon Garfield, of Ontario county, New York. She died in
1840, leaving the following named children: Orinda, who married Thomas
Sanders; George M.; Emma, who was Mrs. Nathan Allen, of Michigan, and
John, deceased.
The education of George M. Blodgett was limited and he became used to
hard work at an early age. He worked as hired hand and at logging in the
pine woods of Michigan. When twenty-one years of age he left home and
went to Winnebago county, Illinois, and took charge of a quarter section
of land for which he had traded. Not liking his prairie surroundings he
traded his farm for a small tract now within the limits of the city of
Moline, Ill. He remained here for four years; then he traded this farm
for a farm in Iowa which he sold. With his small means he came to
Kansas, arriving in Atchison April 5, 1855. He took up a claim and
bought land from the Delaware Indian lands and began developing his
farm.
When volunteers were called for at the outbreak of the Civil war, Mr.
Blodgett offered himself for the defense of his country’s honor and was
accepted as a member of Company F, Thirteenth regiment, Kansas infantry,
(Colonel Bowen’s regiment), of the Seventh army corps, which was
mustered into service at Leavenworth, Kan., and was in the military
department of the West. Mr. Blodgett was a sergeant of his company and
participated in many battles fought by his regiment in Missouri and
eastern Arkansas and was once wounded by a bursting shell.
George M. Blodgett was married in 1857 to Mary E. Cline, a daughter of
Henry Cline, an early settler of Atchison county. The children born to
this union were: Thomas Lincoln, Frank F., Frederick, Luther, Mrs.
Lavina Lawler, Mrs. Jessie Ellerman, and Lulu. The father of Thomas
Lincoln Blodgett became quite wealthy and accumulated 500 acres of land.
He served as deputy sheriff of the county in 1856 and filled many
offices of trust in Mt. Pleasant township.
George M. settled on a pioneer farm in Mt. Pleasant township which he
developed, reared a family, and died in the home which he built to house
his family. He was the father of seven children, of whom Lincoln was the
eldest.
Thomas Lincoln Blodgett was named in honor of Abraham Lincoln, who was
greatly admired by the elder Blodgett. He was reared to young manhood on
his father’s farm and learned to become an excellent farmer and
stockman. After his marriage in 1881 he and his young wife lived on a
farm owned by his father for four years, when they purchased 120 acres
of land which formed the nucleus for a large farm which was later
increased to 400 acres, now owned by Mrs. Blodgett. The first tract was
bought on time, but by industry, economy and self-denial on the part of
the ambitious couple, the debt was soon paid off and additional acreage
was gradually added as the years went on. Mr. Blodgett was a successful
live stock feeder and frequently fed one or two carloads of cattle on
his farm each year. He was noted as a good judge of cattle and made
money in his operations. The Blodgett farm is well improved and is
considered to be one of the best in Atchison county.
He was married August 18, 1881, to Miss Ella Hudson, and to this
marriage have been born five children, as follows: Robert, a farmer,
near Cummings, Atchison county, Kansas; George, managing the home farm;
Elmer, Mabel and Stella, at home with their mother. Stella is attending
the high school at Potter. Mrs. Blodgett was born May 20, 1862, in
Illinois, and is a daughter of Cyrenus and Elizabeth (Shaw) Hudson, the
former of whom came to Kansas in 1867 with his family. Cyrenus Hudson
was a native of Illinois who made good in Kansas, and at one time was
the owner of 900 acres of land in Atchison and Jefferson counties,
Kansas. In 1901 he removed to a home in Potter, where he is living
retired. With other live citizens of the thriving town he has taken an
active part in the upbuilding of his adopted city.
During his life and ever since he attained his majority, Thomas Lincoln
Blodgett was allied with the Republican party and took a prominent part
in political and civic affairs in his home township and county. He was a
progressive citizen as well as a successful and progressive farmer who
was always in favor of matters which had for their intent the betterment
of the public welfare and the advancement of the citizenship of Atchison
county. He was ever ready to do his part in educational matters and was
a member of the local school board. He was fraternally allied with the
Modern Woodmen lodge, and was blessed with many warm friends and well
wishers who esteemed him as a man and citizen. He was a kind parent who
loved his wife and children and highly prized his home life and
surroundings, and was ever striving to make his family happy and
comfortable.
JOHN R. OLIVER.
John R. Oliver, deceased pioneer of Atchison county, was born in Cayuga
county, New York, April 5, 1825, and was a son of William Oliver, a
native of Scotland, who emigrated from his native land when a youth.
John R. was educated in the schools of his native county and State and
learned the carpenter’s trade. He was married January 3, 1850, to Helen
M. Packard, who was born in New York State February 17, 1832, a daughter
of Thaxton Packard, of English extraction, who married a lady of Holland
descent. After John R. and Helen Oliver were married they settled at
Sterling Center, Cayuga county, New York, where Mr. Oliver worked at his
trade of contractor and builder until 1856, when he and his wife and two
children came west and settled on a farm near the western border of
Atchison county, in Grasshopper township. They became a part of the
Cayuga settlement, made up of several families who had migrated from
their native county in New York State. There are only four of the
original Cayuga colony living, as far as known: Fred L. Oliver, Frances
Josephine Anderson, of Atchison; Mrs. Frank Boyington, of Atchison
county, and brother, Samuel Adams. John R. Oliver came first, and in the
fall of 1857 he sent back for his wife and two children to join him.
Mrs. Oliver and the children boarded a steamboat on Lake Erie and made
the voyage by way of the Great Lakes to Chicago, going from Chicago to
Leavenworth, Kan., and thence by steamer to Atchison, from which place
they were taken across the county to the new home in the Cayuga
settlement, by a man named Sandy Coburn. The family lived in the
settlement for about six years and then moved to Leavenworth, Kan.,
where they resided until Mr. Oliver’s death, in 1906; the wife and
mother died in 1911. John R. Oliver served in the Kansas State militia
during the Price invasion, but was unable physically to withstand the
rigors of the campaign which resulted in Price’s army of invasion being
driven southward. He was an ardent Republican in politics and was a
follower and supporter of Abraham Lincoln, to whom he was related by
marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver were the parents of the following
children: Fred L., born in Sterling Center, N. Y., November 8, 1851, now
residing in Atchison with his sister, Mrs. Anderson; Parthenia K., widow
of Wesley Chaffee, a nephew of General Chaffee, was born August 8, 1861,
and now resides in Leavenworth, Kan.
Frances Josephine Oliver Anderson was born March 1, 1855, and was six
years of age when the family moved to Leavenworth. She received her
education in the public schools of Leavenworth and was married there on
May 8, 1873, to James A. Anderson, who was born March 16, 1849, in
Loudon county, Virginia, about twenty miles south of Washington, D. C.
An anecdote which tells of the stirring and troublesome times in the
beginning of the Civil war is here worth recording. When a child on the
farm in Atchison county, Mrs. Anderson and her teacher, Miss Missouri
Batsell stayed all night at the home of the Reece family, as it was
unsafe to be abroad after dark. This was in the fall of 1861. Mr. Reece,
the head of the family, was very ill. Along about dark the people of the
Reece home heard a furious noise of yelling and shooting outside. The
noise makers rapped on the door with the butts of their guns, and when
Mrs. Reece opened the door it was ascertained that the night prowlers
were a band of Bushwhackers who demanded a meal. She told them that her
husband was very ill, and that she had nothing cooked which would
suffice for a meal. They swore at her, and after talking the matter over
decided to go to the barn and steal the horses for their own use. The
gang went toward the barn, and another altercation arose among them
which resulted in the killing of one of the men who had counseled them
not to steal the horses. A dead body was thrust through the doorway and
slid part way across the floor after a shot was fired. Mrs. Anderson has
never forgotten the horrors of that night.
James A. Anderson was a son of Charles W. and Mary Francis (Hough)
Anderson, both of whom were members of very old and prominent families
in Virginia, the Hough family being large plantation and slave holders.
Charles W. Anderson was profoundly opposed to the institution of
slavery, and was high in the councils of the Democratic party. He was a
thirty-second degree Mason and was a personal friend of men high in the
Government affairs at Washington, D. C. A son, Fleming Anderson, was
killed by Mosby’s guerrillas while at home from the war on a furlough,
and was shot as he ran out of the door of his home. Charles W. Anderson
was a paymaster in the Union army and was killed by robbers while on
official duty. After the death of the father of the family, James A.,
with his widowed mother and sister. Mrs. Captain Spence, Charles W., and
C. C. Anderson of the transfer company, of Atchison, came to Kansas,
first residing at Topeka, then at Lawrence shortly after Quantrell’s
raid. James was but seventeen years old at this time, and being the
eldest son was the actual head of the family. When still a young man he
engaged in the transfer business and took a contract from the Government
to supply Ft. Leavenworth with fuel, and while fulfilling his contract
with the Government, and transporting goods to and from the fort, he met
and fell in love with his future wife, Frances Josephine Oliver, and the
marriage took place as stated in the preceding paragraph. After the
marriage Mr. and Mrs. Anderson lived in Lawrence, Kan., until their
removal to Atchison, in July of 1873. Mr. Anderson continued in the
transfer business and established the Anderson Transfer Company. He had
associates at various times, but was always at the head of the company.
He died July 12, 1906. His widow, Mrs. Frances Josephine Anderson, is
one of the best known ladies of Atchison and is prominent in social and
religious circles. When thirteen years of age she became a Christian and
became a member of the Atchison Methodist Episcopal Church in 1883. She
has been actively and prominently identified with the church work for
many years, and has been especially successful as a teacher of boys. She
is a class leader of the church and a member of the official board, and
was captain of one of the teams which raised a $43,000 fund to provide
for the erection of the new Methodist Episcopal church building. She is
a charter member of the Epworth League and is a singer of ability,
having sung in the Methodist Episcopal church choir for thirty years. In
1911 she began her evangelical career, in which chosen field she is
achieving marked success. Mrs. Anderson is a member of the Knights and
Ladies of Security and is affiliated with the home and foreign
missionary societies of the Methodist Episcopal church.
LEO NUSBAUM.
Faithfulness to duty and perseverance invariably bring their reward.
Give a truly ambitious young man an opportunity to advance himself, and
he will succeed. The opportunity was given to Leo Nusbaum, vice-
president of the Dolan Mercantile Company of Atchison, and he has made a
success of the business in which he began at the lowest rung of the
ladder. Entering the employ of the firm of which he is now one of the
important heads, he worked his way steadily upward until he is now one
of the recognized business factors in the city of Atchison.
Leo Nusbaum was born in Poweshiek county, Iowa, December 6, 1877, and is
the son of Frederick and Eva (Link) Nusbaum, both natives of Germany.
Frederick Nusbaum was born in the Fatherland in 1855, and came to
America in 1869, when a boy fourteen years of age. He worked as a farm
hand in Iowa, and eventually owned a farm of his own. From Iowa he moved
to Nebraska where he purchased and operated a farm. From Nebraska he
removed to St. Joseph, Mo., where he was employed in a grain elevator.
He died in St. Joseph in 1903.
He, with whom this review is directly concerned, was educated in the
schools of Council Bluffs, and St. Peter’s parochial school, and came to
Atchison in 1898. On coming here he entered the employ of the Dolan
Mercantile Company as office boy and packer. His first work consisted of
preparing orders for shipment. After attaining proficiency in this
department, he was promoted to the position of billing clerk and made a
success in this department. being next advanced to the position of city
salesman for the concern. All the while he was studying the wholesale
business, and gaining such a knowledge as would best fit him to take a
more responsible position in the affairs of the company. His next
important service was as the secretary of the company. From this place
it was but a step to the sales managership. Upon the demise of William
F. Dolan, the founder of the wholesale business, in the year 1913, Mr.
Nusbaum became vice-president and one of the managers. He and his
associates, in charge of the Dolan Mercantile Company’s affairs, are
capable and energetic men who are building up a more extensive business
upon the broad and stable foundation erected by its late founder, whose
example has been an inspiration and guide to the young men whom he took
into his employ and educated in the details of his extensive business.
Mr. Nusbaum has justified the confidence and faith held in his ability
by his employer, and is an able and dignified executive.
Mr. Nusbaum was united in marriage with Gertrude Delaney, at Atchison,
Kan., in 1900. She is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Delaney. To this
union four children have been born, who are the pride of their parents,
namely: Leo, Mary Clare, Robert, and Frances. Mr. and Mrs. Nusbaum are
members of the Catholic church and have a host of friends who esteem
them for their many excellent qualities. Mr. Nusbaum is a director of
the First National Bank of Atchison and a vice-president of the Atchison
Commercial Club and the Atchison Hospital. He is politically allied with
the Democratic party. His primary interests, however, are mainly
concerned with the growing success of his firm, and the welfare and
growth of his home city, and he is universally recognized as a citizen
of worth and standing in the community. He was the most active force in
the organization of the Atchison Commercial Club, called its first
meeting and has been continuously one of its most aggressive members.
CHARLES J. KEITHLINE.
Charles J. Keithline, a prosperous farmer and stockman of Lancaster
township, Atchison county, Kansas, is a native of the Keystone State,
and is a descendant of an old American family which traces its ancestry
back to the Revolutionary days, when the founder of the family in
America, Colonel Keithline, came from Germany, his native land, to
America with Baron De Kalb, and assisted the colonial army to achieve
American independence. Charles J. was born in Luzerne county,
Pennsylvania, July 9, 1857, a son of Samuel and Eliza (Hoover)
Keithline, both of whom were born and reared in Pennsylvania and there
married. Samuel Keithline was a son of John and Mary (Neyhart)
Keithline, who also lived in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. The great
grandfather of Charles J. was Joseph Keithline, who served in the War of
1812, and made buckskin breeches for the United States Government, which
were worn by the United States soldiers. He was a tailor by trade.
Samuel Keithline learned the trade of wagon maker in his younger days
and operated a wagon shop at Hanover, Penn. He lived in his native State
until 1884, when he migrated to Kansas and invested his capital in land
in Shannon township upon which he lived in retirement until his demise
in 1900, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. Samuel and Eliza
Keithline were the parents of the following children: John A. died May
17, 1915, in Atchison, Kan.; Samuel died in infancy; Joseph died at the
age of three years; Charles J.; Augustus L., Lancaster township; Sarah
E., in Shannon township; Emma Carlton, Franklin county, Kansas, and Mrs.
Cora Riley, Atchison, Kan. The mother of Charles died in 1910, at the
age of seventy-nine years.
Charles J. Keithline, with whom this narrative is directly concerned,
was educated in the graded schools of Nanticoke, Penn., and worked as
farm hand in Pennsylvania. In 1883, five years after his marriage in
1879, he migrated westward with his family to Kansas, and located on a
farm in Shannon township on the old home place. He rented land for
twenty-eight years and finally became the owner of the fine farm which
he is now cultivating. This farm is fitted with excellent improvements
consisting of an attractive farm residence and excellent out-buildings,
much of which has been erected or remodeled by the proprietor. The 187
acres comprised in this farm are well and closely cultivated so as to
yield the maximum of results. The farm is nicely located six miles west
of Atchison on the Parallel road. Mr. Keithline has been a breeder of
Poland China hogs for several years and takes pride in the animals bred
and raised on his place.
He was married in 1879 to Frances Goss at Wilkes-Barre, Penn., and this
union has been blessed with the following children: Ira, a hardware
dealer in Atchison, Kan.; Samuel, a farmer, living at home with his
parents; Amy, deceased; Mrs. Elsie Vollmer, Bronson, Kan.; Frances,
living at home; Grant, deceased; Charles died in infancy. The mother of
these children was born in Pennsylvania in 1856, and was a daughter of
Floren and Maria (Keyser) Goss, the former a native of Germany and the
latter a native of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Keithline is identified with the Republican party, but has never
been an aspirant for political preferment. He and the members of his
family are affiliated religiously with the Methodist Episcopal church
and contribute of their means to its support. He is fraternally allied
with the Modern Woodmen lodge, and during his residence in this county
has taken an active and influential part in affairs which concern the
welfare of the people in general.
SHEFFIELD INGALLS.
Sheffield Ingalls is a resident and a native son of Atchison, having
been born in that city March 28, 1875. He is a son of the late United
States Senator John James Ingalls. Mr. Ingalls’ ancestors, both paternal
and maternal, were representative New England pioneers. The Ingalls
family in America originated with Edmond Ingalls, who with his brother,
Francis, founded Lynn, Mass., in 1628. The mother of our subject was
Anna Louisa Chesebrough, a direct descendant of William Chesebrough, who
emigrated to America with John Winthrop in 1630. The paternal
grandparents of our subject were Elias T. and Eliza (Chase) Ingalls, the
former of whom was a first cousin of Mehitable Ingalls, the grandmother
of President Garfield, while the latter, Eliza Chase, was descended from
Aquilla Chase, who settled in New Hampshire, in 1630, and who was also
the ancestor of the late Chief Justice Chase.
Sheffield Ingalls was reared principally in his native town and received
his public school education at Atchison and at Washington, D. C. After
attending Midland College at Atchison for four years he entered the
University of Kansas and was graduated in that institution in June,
1895, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then studied law and was
admitted to the bar in 1897, but as the profession did not appeal to him
he practiced but little and turned his attention to more genial
pursuits. He early developed a predilection for politics and became
actively identified with the Republican party in both the city and
county of Atchison at an early age. In July, 1898, he was appointed
police judge of Atchison by Mayor Donald and, in April, 1899, was
elected to the same office for a term of two years, serving until April,
1901. In the spring of 1904 he was a prominent candidate for the
Republican nomination for probate judge, but through the exigencies of
politics, instead of receiving the nomination sought for, he was
nominated by the same convention for the legislature from the third
representative district. However, at the election his opponent, Edward
Perdue, defeated him by thirty-two votes. Two years later he was
nominated again for the legislature from the same district and received
a tie vote with Alonzo Wilcox. The contest was decided by lot in Topeka
and Mr. Ingalls won. He served as a member of several important
committees and was made chairman of the committee on education. He cast
his vote for Charles Curtis for United States senator, and in the work
of that session became actively identified with that progressive element
in the legislature which was known at that time as “the boss busters.”
He is in sympathy with all efforts to purify politics and to raise the
tone of public life and during that session he voted for all reform
legislation. He is a man of deep convictions, a political and social
reformer of exceptional ability and courage, and has always opposed
machine politics. It was due to an obnoxious political machine’s
influence in local Republican circles at Atchison that Mr. Ingalls
entered the arena of political strife in order to assist in effectively
opposing said machine and to secure needed reform in political methods.
Shortly after the adjournment of the legislature Mr. Ingalls assumed the
editorial management of the _Atchison Champion_, and for the following
two years exposed through its columns the corruption in city affairs and
fought against the domination of the city by a political ring. He then
endeavored to purchase a controlling interest in the _Champion_ to
enable him to be more aggressive in fighting corruption though its
columns, but through various influences operating against him he was
unsuccessful. In the fall of 1907 he originated and organized the
Commercial State Bank and served as its vice-president until its
consolidation with the First National Bank, in the spring of 1910. He
then organized the Commerce Investment Company, of which he was made
president and continuously served as such until March 2, 1916, when he
became the president of the Commerce Trust Company of Atchison, a
company which is a development of the Commerce Investment Company.
Besides the interests mentioned he is a director of the First National
Bank and also of the Railway Specialty Company of Atchison. He was
appointed a member of the board of regents of the Kansas State normal
schools by Governor Stubbs in April, 1908. He is a member of the State
Historical Society, and is a member of the Sons of the Revolution.
Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks.
On January 9, 1901, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ingalls and Miss
Lucy Cornell Van Hoesen, of Lawrence, Kan. To their union five children
have been born: Robert Chesebrough, who died in infancy; Ruth Constance,
Sarah Sheffield, John James, and David Bagle.
In 1912 Mr. Ingalls received the Republican nomination for lieutenant-
governor of Kansas and was elected, although the head of the State
ticket was defeated. It fell to Mr. Ingalls’ lot to preside over a
Democratic senate, which he did in such a fair and impartial manner as
to win the commendation of both Democrats and Republicans. (_Copied from
Blackmar’s History of Kansas and revised by R. M. Gibson._)
E. P. PITTS, M. D.
E. P. Pitts, M. D., a prominent Atchison physician and surgeon, and well
known specialist in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, is a
native of Virginia. Dr. Pitts was born in Northampton county, Virginia,
October 13, 1880, and is a son of E. D. and Emory (West) Pitts, both
natives of the Old Dominion. E. D. Pitts, the father, was a prominent
lawyer and was successfully engaged in the practice of his profession
for a number of years at Norfolk, Va. He was a son of Edward P. Pitts,
who was also a prominent Virginia lawyer of Northampton county, and for
a number of years served as United States district judge in Virginia. He
was a graduate of William and Mary’s College, and Dr. Pitts still has in
his possession the diploma which his grandfather received from that
institution. The Pitts family is of English descent and traces its
ancestry back to the Hon. William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. Dr. Pitt’s
mother belongs to an old Virginia family, and is also of English
descent.
Dr. Pitts was reared to manhood in his native State and received a good
education. When he was eighteen years of age he went to St. Joseph, Mo.,
where two of his uncles, brothers of his father, were practicing
physicians. Here, Dr. Pitts entered the Ensworth Medical College in
1898, and was graduated in the class of 1902 with the degree of Doctor
of Medicine. He then studied under, and practiced in conjunction, with
Dr. Barton Pitts, his uncle, who is a noted specialist in diseases of
the eye, ear, nose and throat. Dr. Pitts then went to New York, and
after spending six months in an eye and ear infirmary, he came to
Atchison in the summer of 1902 and engaged in the practice of his
profession, specializing in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat.
Dr. Pitts has met with a marked degree of success in his chosen field of
special professional work. He is a close student of the wonderful
advances made in his profession and ranks as a leader.
Dr. Pitts was united in marriage to Miss Beulah Judah, a daughter of
Samuel Judah, of Buchanan county, Missouri, and Dr. and Mrs. Pitts have
one child, Spencer, born in 1907. Dr. Pitts is a member of the Masonic
lodge and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
JOHN FANKHANEL.
John Fankhanel, deceased, was born June 11, 1822, in Saxony, Germany.
When a youth he learned the blacksmith’s trade which he plied in his
native village until 1862, when he immigrated to America, first settling
in Weston, Mo., and later going to Ft. Leavenworth, where he was
employed as a blacksmith by the United States Government. He saved his
money, and in 1879 came to Atchison county and invested in 160 acres of
land in Benton township, located four miles northeast of Effingham. He
improved this farm and cultivated it successfully for a number of years,
and about the year 1900 he turned it over to his son, Henry, and
purchased the farm now owned by Gus Stutz. He resided on this place
until his retirement to a comfortable home in Lancaster in 1901, where
he died December 24, 1914, leaving a reputation for honesty and industry
second to none in his neighborhood. Mr. Fankhanel was a member of the
German Lutheran church. He was twice married, his first wife having been
born in Germany, and died in Leavenworth, Kan., leaving one son, Henry,
now a farmer in Benton township.
Mr. Fankhanel was again married in 1882, to Mrs. Emma Lindel, widow of
Frederick Lindel. She was born in Bavaria, Germany, August 20, 1841, and
lived in her native country until she was eighteen years of age, and
then came to Illinois. Shortly after her arrival she married Frederick
Lindel, also a native of Germany, and a farmer in Illinois. To this
union were born five children, two of whom are living, namely: Mrs.
Minnie Dorety, of Garfield, Okla.; and Herman, a farmer, residing near
Leavenworth, Kan. The marriage of John and Emma Fankhanel was without
issue.
Mrs. Fankhanel is a capable and worthy lady, who enjoys the respect and
esteem of her neighbors and friends. She is kind and neighborly, and is
ever ready to assist those of her acquaintances who are in need. She is
living in Lancaster in comfortable circumstances, where she owns a good
home and village property, and also a farm of sixty-five acres in
Leavenworth county. She is a member of the German Lutheran church.
EDWARD J. KELLY.
Edward J. Kelly, cashier of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank, of
Effingham, was born June 14, 1868, at New Brunswick, N. J., a son of
James and Alice (Tobin) Kelly, both natives of Ireland. Upon immigrating
to this country in 1844 they made their first home in New Jersey, and
from there came to Kansas in 1869, locating in Grasshopper township,
where James met with wonderful success as an agriculturist. His first
investment was for eighty acres of prairie land which he improved and
gradually added to his holdings until he was the owner of 500 acres of
good land. James Kelly accumulated his estate by the exercise of good
judgment in his farming operations, hard labor, and the exercise of the
strictest economy. At first he did not like the new country. Becoming
discouraged, as many others did, after the bad years during the
seventies, he sold out, but fortunately, as it later proved for him, he
was compelled to take back his land from the purchaser. He later changed
his opinion concerning the future of Kansas and invested heavily in land
at every opportunity. James Kelly was born in 1828, and died in 1894.
His wife was born in 1830, and died in 1912. He first came to America in
1844 when but sixteen years of age, and was married in New Jersey. The
children of this estimable pioneer couple were: James, who died at the
age of seven years; Lawrence P., a resident of Colorado Springs, Colo.;
Edward J., and Mary E., residing in Effingham.
Edward J. Kelly was educated in the district schools and spent two years
as a student in St. Benedict’s College in Atchison. He lived on the old
home place of his parents until 1885, in the meantime improving one of
his father’s farms in Benton township, upon which he moved and resided
thereon until 1894, at which time he married and moved on another farm
which he owned in the same township. Mr. Kelly followed farming until
1903, and then removed to Effingham and engaged in the hardware and
grain business for a period of five years. In 1909 he entered the State
Bank of Effingham as bookkeeper and remained one year, when he became
financially interested in the Farmers and Merchants State Bank, of which
he is the present efficient cashier.
Mr. Kelly was married February 16, 1898, to Mary Gerety, of Monrovia,
Kan., a daughter of Richard and Sarah Rooney Gerety, natives of Ireland,
who first immigrated to Indiana, and from there came to Kansas as early
as 1856. Both are now deceased. The Gerety’s settled on the prairie
south of Monrovia, when Indians were camping in the neighborhood. They
lived there all of their days and prospered. Richard Gerety died in
1906, and his widow removed to Effingham, where she died in 1910. They
were the parents of the following living children: Mrs. Elizabeth
(Berney), Horton, Kan.; Thomas Gerety, near Nortonville, Kan.; James,
Everest, Kan.; John, Wichita, Kan.; Margaret, Independence, Kan.;
Richard, Wichita, Kan.; Sarah, Colorado Springs, Colo. During the Civil
war Mr. Gerety purchased horses for the United States Government.
It is not alone as a farmer, merchant and banker that Mr. Kelly has
achieved a certain amount of prominence, but he has taken an active part
in political affairs during his life and stands high in the councils of
the Democratic party. He was elected to represent Atchison county in the
State legislature in the session of 1909, and during that session
acquitted himself creditably as an honest and fearless legislator. He
was a member of the committees on roads and highways, mines and mining,
and judicial apportionments, etc., and has the unique record of never
missing a roll call of the house while attending the session. Mr. Kelly
has likewise shown his interest in his home city by serving on the city
council for four years. His religious affiliations are with the Catholic
church.
_Farmers and Merchants State Bank, Effingham, Kansas._
This bank was organized in 1905, with a capital stock of $12,000, and
officers as follows: President, U. B. Sharpless; secretary and cashier,
A. J. Smith; vice-president, Fred Sutter; directors, R. M. Thomas, J. W.
Davis, C. N. Snyder, U. B. Sharpless, A. J. Smith. Since this time there
have been some changes in the personnel of the official body governing
the bank’s affairs, and the present officers are as follows: President,
Fred Sutter; vice-president, L. T. Hawk; cashier, E. J. Kelly; assistant
cashier, D. R. Gerety; directors, Fred Sutter, L. T. Hawk, Alexander
McKay, U. B. Sharpless; E. J. Kelly. The capital and surplus now exceed
$15,000 and the bank averages in deposits over $120,000. In 1910 the
bank erected a handsome brick building on the corner of Main and Howard
streets, which is fitted up with handsome new fixtures and a new burglar
proof vault of the latest construction at a cost of over $4,000. This
bank is purely a local concern and is financed by local capital, all of
the stockholders residing in Effingham and vicinity, and comprising the
leading merchants and farmers of Effingham and the surrounding country.
BENTON L. BROCKETT.
Successful business man, upright citizen and Christian worker, are
characterizations which aptly describe Benton L. Brockett, who has been
established in the lumber business in Atchison for over thirty years. He
began as a poor man with little capital, and has built up a splendid
retail concern at 1019 Main street. Mr. Brockett first established a
small lumber yard at East Atchison in 1885, and six years later moved to
Atchison. His buildings and warerooms occupy space 175×150 feet, and he
employs six men and four teams to handle his extensive business. The
concern supplies Atchison and vicinity with lumber, lime, cement, and
builder’s material, including cement blocks, and practically all
materials used in building. The yard work includes the only cement
working plant in the city which turns out cement blocks for foundation
work and porches.
Benton L. Brockett was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, September 5, 1864. His
parents were Lewis B. and Lucy S. (Fisk) Brockett, natives of New York
and Ohio, respectively. The Brockett family is of English origin, and
the founder of the family in America first settled near New London,
Conn. His descendants afterward located in the state of New York. Lewis
B. was the son of Ambrose Brockett, who moved to Ashtabula county, and
was one of the first settlers of the Western Reserve. Here Lewis was
reared, and married Lucy S. Fisk, a daughter of an early settler of the
Western Reserve. He became a merchant at Saybrook, and served as
postmaster under President Cleveland’s administration. He died at the
advanced age of eighty-six years. The mother of Benton L. is still
living and is now over eighty-three years of age. To them were born
three sons and three daughters, namely: James D., of Lincoln, Neb.;
Haddie, the wife of Charles C. Parker, a resident of Portland. Ore.;
Ellen F., residing in Ashtabula; and Amy, the wife of Charles Simon, of
Ashtabula, Ohio; and two died in infancy.
Benton L. was educated in the Ashtabula schools, and came west in 1884,
where he engaged in business, as stated in a preceding paragraph.
Success has attended his efforts, and he is universally recognized as
one of the substantial men of the city. The account of the growth of Mr.
Brockett’s business is simply a narrative of his life work on the
material side. His prosperity is well deserved, and has been acquired by
close application to his affairs and square and honorable dealings with
his fellow men. Mr. Brockett was married on October 10, 1888, to Daisy
Denton, a daughter of Henry Denton, an attorney of Atchison; she died
July 15, 1898, leaving two sons, namely: Louis D., born August 14, 1889,
who is associated in the real estate and loan business with C. D.
Walker, and married Isabella, a daughter of Mr. Walker. The second son
is Wallace James Brockett, born February 14, 1895, and is a student at
Baker University, at Baldwin, Kan. On July 23, 1903, Mr. Brockett
married Margaret Schriver, a daughter of Peter P. Schriver, of Cedar
Point, Kan. To this union one child has been born, Helen Louise, born
November 12, 1907.
Mr. Brockett has always espoused the principles of the Republican party,
although his father was a Democrat. He has served his home city as a
member of the city council, and has been generally active in all
undertakings tending to advance the best interests of Atchison and make
the city a better and more attractive place in which to live. He is a
member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. It is in church work,
however, that Mr. Brockett is most active, aside from his business
affairs. Ever since coming to the West he has been identified with
church and Sunday school work, and is a prominent and active member of
the Methodist Episcopal church. He supplemented his work in behalf of
making better men and women of the growing boys and girls of this
locality in East Atchison, where he has conducted a mission school for
the past four years. He is a trustee of his church, and has taken part
in the work of the Sunday school for several years. The highest tribute
that can be paid to him is that he is universally known as an earnest
Christian, who has reared his family to be valuable members of the
community.
JOHN STUTZ.
John Stutz, one of the younger successful farmers of Center township,
Atchison county, was born November 5, 1870, on his father’s farm in
Lancaster township. His parents were Christian and Kathrine Stutz,
concerning whom a complete review is given in the biographies of Gustave
and Christian W. Stutz. The reader is referred to these sketches for the
history of this worthy pioneer couple, who were among the early settlers
of the county. John grew up on the home farm and attended the public
schools of Lancaster, remaining at home with his parents until 1898, at
which time his father died and John was employed by the Cain Milling
Company of Atchison for two months. He became heir to eighty acres of
land as his share of the family estate, and began farming for himself.
His farm was only partly improved by a small shack and granary. He at
once set about to remedy conditions on the land, and erected a
substantial home, a good barn and other out-buildings which are well
kept. He built a two-story five-room house, and in 1903 erected a fine
barn, 48×30 feet in dimension. He has also added to his acreage, and now
owns 160 acres of highly productive land.
Mr. Stutz was married October 8, 1895, to Nora Walz, and to this union
have been born three children, namely: Christian W., Grover J. and
Lester E. all at home with their parents. Mrs. Nora Stutz was born
August 24, 1876, on a farm in Shannon township, a daughter of Charles
and Margaret (Diehsback) Walz. Charles Walz, the father, was twice
married, his first wife being Kathrine Reidel, who bore him four
children: Mrs. Rosa Buff, of Shannon township; Charles, deceased; Mary
married Fred Stutz, a member of the Atchison police force, and Kathrine,
wife of Christian W. Stutz. By the second marriage of Charles Walz, that
with Margaret Diehsback, there were born eight children, as follows:
Margaret, wife of Gustave Stutz, of Lancaster township; Nora, wife of
John Stutz, the subject of this sketch; Frederick, deceased: Mrs. Anna
Hager, of Atchison; William, farmer, Shannon township; Mrs. Clara
Peterson, Atchison; Albert, Atchison; and Jerry resides on the old home
place, in Shannon township.
Mr. Stutz is a Democrat, and a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Naturally he has a deep and abiding love for his home county, and thinks
there is no place on earth better than Atchison county. His labor and
interests have generally been given towards the welfare of his home
county, and his standing in his community is assured, as a well
respected and industrious citizen who has the respect and esteem of all
who know him.
A. S. SPECK.