Richard E. King, farmer of Oak Mills, Walnut township, Atchison county,
was born in this county, January 11, 1876. He was a son of Richard M.
King, pioneer, farmer, merchant and early-day freighter, who was born in
Smith county, Tennessee, January 23, 1837. Richard M. was a son of
Abraham and Mahaley (James) King, natives of Virginia, who came to
Tennessee in 1833. They migrated from Tennessee to Buchanan county,
Missouri, in 1851, and one year later moved to a farm in Platte county,
Missouri, where Abraham King and his wife eventually died. Richard M.
King crossed the plains with a freighting outfit which started from Ft.
Leavenworth en route Ft. Laramie in Wyoming, and met with considerable
adventure on the long trip, which consumed ninety days going and
returning. The Indians molested them frequently, and one time a
mischievous band stole all the tongue pins from their wagons. Another
time, when they were in camp, a band of hundreds of Pawnees swarmed
around the train and tried to intimidate the men. One big Pawnee buck,
uttering a loud “woof,” stuck a spear in Mr. King’s stomach. On account
of the Indian force being of superior number to the whites, they did not
dare take offense at anything they did, or seem offended at any of their
pranks for fear of massacre. Richard M. King followed freighting four
years and made his last trip to the far West in 1862, from Ft.
Leavenworth, Kan., to Ft. Union, N. M. He came back from this trip, and
with his savings bought a tract of land on the Missouri river in Walnut
township. Unhappily, this land was eventually cut off from the mainland
by the freakish Missouri, when it once more changed its course, and,
although the deed to the land is still held by Richard M. King the muddy
waters of the Missouri flow over it. In 1866 he bought forty acres of
land in the hills, back from the river. He was married November 22,
1863, to Mary Frances Hottle, a daughter of David and Frances (Creal)
Hottle, both of whom were natives of Brook county, Virginia. They too,
came to Kansas in the early days, and settled in Leavenworth county, in
1855. David Hottle was a butcher by trade and bought and killed the
first beef ever slaughtered in the historic town of Kickapoo,
Leavenworth county. Kickapoo was a hotbed of the pro-slavery element in
those days and woe betide the man who opposed their wishes. Two children
were born to Richard M. King and wife: Lucy Ann, born August 27, 1864,
deceased wife of Thomas Reagan, a passenger conductor on the Missouri
Pacific railway. To Mr. and Mrs. Reagan were born two children, Thomas
D., born March 8, 1889, and John M., born August 7, 1905; Richard E.,
the subject of this review.
Richard E. King grew to manhood on the home farm and was educated in the
common schools of his native county and the high school at Kansas City,
Kan. He was married in 1895 to Mary Sacks, a daughter of Henry Sacks, of
Atchison county. She died in 1898, and after her death, Mr. King went to
Kansas City, Kan., to reside and was there engaged in various pursuits.
He married Miss Sue Allen in Kansas City, Kan., January 16, 1900. Mrs.
King is a daughter of James T. and Jane (McCampbell) Allen, both natives
of Woodford county, Kentucky, whose people removed from the ancestral
home of the family in Virginia to Kentucky. The old Allen homestead,
built of natural stone is still standing in the latter State, a
picturesque and beautiful reminder of ante-bellum days. In 1885 James T.
Allen and family left Kentucky and went to Cass county, Missouri, where
they resided on a farm until 1903, and then removed to Harrisonville,
Mo., where they now live. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Richard E. King, Richard Allen King, born July 12, 1903, a bright and
intelligent boy and is an excellent student in school.
The King home, situated on a bluff overlooking the reaches of the old
Missouri river, is noted for its hospitality and good cheer. Their home
has been named “Che-me-o-kah,” a Kaw Indian term, meaning “Lodge of the
Rising Sun,” or “Sunrise Cottage.” The Kaw Indians had a village on this
farm in ancient times. Mr. and Mrs. King are a fine young couple who are
highly esteemed by all who know them. Mrs. Richard M. King has one of
the most remarkable collections of family heirlooms in Kansas.
JOHN MOECK.
John Moeck, farmer, of Center township, Atchison county, was born in
Wurtemberg, Germany, March 17, 1869. He is a son of Henry and Eva
(Heinz) Moeck, who were the parents of the following children: Mrs.
Kathrine Younger, living near Potter, Kan.; Anna, deceased; Henry,
farmer, Germany; John, subject of this sketch; Karl, Osborne county,
Kansas; Regina, Atchison, Kan.; and George, deceased. The father was
born April 3, 1839, in Germany, where he spent his life. He was a son of
Henry Moeck, also a native of Germany. His wife, Eva, was born December
1, 1841. She is a native of Germany, and is now living on a farm in that
country. John Moeck, the subject of this sketch, attended the schools in
Germany, and in 1883 immigrated to the United States, settling in
Atchison county, Kansas, where he worked on a farm for his board and
clothing. He attended the district schools of Center township until he
was twenty-one years old. During this time he was living with his uncle,
Fred Moeck, and the following five years he worked as a farm hand. He
was then married, and settled down on the farm which he now owns. He
rented it for a time, until he was able to accumulate enough to buy it.
He bought the place in 1898, and has owned it since that time. The farm
consists of 145 acres of fine land, which the owner has improved
extensively. Two acres of the place is planted with fine fruit-bearing
trees. Mr. Moeck keeps high grade stock on his farm.
The career of Mr. Moeck shows what one can do by hard work. When he
arrived in Atchison county he had only four dollars, and every cent that
he now owns has been earned by hard work since he came to Atchison
county. Mr. Moeck is a self-made man, who has won a desirable place for
himself in his community. That his fellow citizens hold him in high
regard, is shown by the fact that they elected him to the office of
township treasurer for two terms. He has been road overseer, and is now
a member of the school board.
In 1895 Mr. Moeck married Kathrine Ziegler, who was born April 5, 1875.
She is a native of Germany, and the daughter of George and Agnes
(Frommer) Ziegler. When a child five years old Mrs. Moeck came to
America with her parents, who settled in Center township, Atchison
county. Mr. and Mrs. Moeck have four children: Eva, Louise, Frieda, and
Walter, living at home. Mr. Moeck is a Republican. He is an elder in the
German Lutheran church. In reviewing his life, it is only fair to say
that he is one of those self-made citizens who form the solid foundation
of our democracy. By his own efforts he has climbed to the top, and has
shown by his life what the man who will try can accomplish.
JOHN O. A. MILLER.
John O. A. Miller, farmer and stockman, of Kapioma township, Atchison
county, was born January 1, 1872, in Kapioma township. He is a son of
James and Eliza (Russell) Miller, who were the parents of eight
children, one of whom is dead. The father, James Miller, was born in
Clay county, Missouri, August 3, 1831, and was a son of Moses Miller, a
native of Kentucky. James Miller grew up on his father’s farm and at the
age of eighteen crossed the wild western plains to New Mexico, working
for the Government. He found a few years of the strenuous life enough
and settled down to farming in Atchison county in 1854. He bought 160
acres of land from a land company. The farm was composed of good bottom
land and he made extensive improvements on the profitable returns which
his large crops brought. He was a large breeder of cattle, especially
Shorthorns, and his judgment on cattle was regarded as authoritative. He
was known throughout that part of the country as the “cattle king.” He
farmed 700 acres until his death. During his life time he held a number
of township offices. His successful career ended September 12, 1913,
with his death at Muscotah, Kan. His wife, who was a native of Iowa,
died in 1879.
John Miller grew up on his father’s farm. He attended the Atchison
County High School at Effingham, Kan., and after working a short time he
went to the State Normal School at Emporia, Kan. To earn his way through
college he worked as a farm hand until he had saved enough money to
carry him through school. After leaving the State Normal School he
rented the farm which he now owns, and in 1912 bought it. The place
consists of 160 acres. In 1914 he built a fine barn, which is one of the
best in the State for its size. It is 40×52 feet and has a smaller wing,
26×14 feet, with a capacity of seventy-five tons of hay. It is strongly
constructed and is a model barn. Mr. Miller maintains that stock as fine
as his ought to have a good barn in which to live. He makes a specialty
of Percheron horses and Chester White hogs. He is also a breeder of
Shorthorn cattle and has maintained the same strain which his father
kept. In addition to his activities in the rural life of his
neighborhood Mr. Miller is active in the business affairs of Muscotah.
He is a director and stockholder in the State Bank at Muscotah, Kan.,
and has an interest in the Farmers’ Grain and Elevator Supply Company
and the Mutual Telephone Company.
In 1903 he married Jane Ernst, who was born November 6, 1871, in Kapioma
township, Atchison county. She is a daughter of John and Eliza (Lewis)
Ernst. The father is a native of Germany and the mother of Norway, and
both came to Atchison county, Kansas, in the early days. Mr. and Mrs.
Miller have two children: Alice E. and Mary E., twins, who are living at
home. Mr. Miller is a Democrat and has been treasurer of Kapioma
township. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
CHARLES CARLTON HART.
For a Kansas citizen and pioneer settler to spend the better part of a
lifetime in building up a fine and highly productive farm, and then to
enter the banking business at a time when most men are ready to retire
and live a life of ease, is rather out of the ordinary, but such has
been the experience of C. C. Hart, banker, of Muscotah, Kan. Mr. Hart
has lived in Kansas for forty-seven years and has been successively
farmer and banker during that time. He is a descendant of one of the old
families in America and comes of a family of ministers and teachers.
[Illustration:
_C. C. Hart_
]
C. C. Hart was born December 6, 1842, in Sandusky, Ohio, and was a son
of Rev. Ichabod and Harriet (Whitcomb) Hart, the former a native of New
York, and the latter was born in Templeton, Mass., April 22, 1819, and
died in Chicago, Ill., April 30, 1889. The Hart family is a very old one
in America and is descended from two English immigrants who settled in
Connecticut in the colonial period of our Nation’s history, and from
whom the city of Hartford took its name in the seventeenth century.
Several descendants of these early pioneers fought for the cause of
American independence in the American Revolution and also in the War of
1812. Two brothers of C. C. Hart served in the Union army in the late
Civil war. The father of C. C. Hart was educated for the Presbyterian
ministry and later became a Congregational minister. He received his
college training in Princeton University and migrated to Ohio in 1840;
resided at Sandusky until 1843, and then took charge of a church at
Medina, Ohio, until 1844, when he removed to Kenosha, Wis. After several
years’ ministerial work in Wisconsin he located in Illinois, and died at
Wheaton, that State, in 1870, at the ripe old age of eighty-four years.
Rev. Hart was the father of eight children: Edwin R. received a college
education and served in the Union army; Rev. Walter O. Hart, a Union
veteran, now located in North Carolina; Eliza born in Kenosha, Wis.,
January 23, 1847, married George W. Phillips, and died September 15,
1875, at Llano, Texas, one and one-half years after her marriage. While
carrying on his ministerial work the Rev. Ichabod Hart also conducted a
farm in the neighborhood of his work. Edwin R. Hart was educated in
Oberlin College, Ohio, and Walter O. received a college and theological
institute education and is now living in retirement with his son who
also is a minister.
C. C. Hart, with whom this review is directly concerned, was reared to
young manhood on his father’s farm and attended the schools of Genoa,
Wis. During the Civil war lie remained at home and assisted his father
in the farm work. In 1868 he decided to strike out for himself and try
his fortunes in the West. He came to Kansas and located in Jackson
county, on the western border of Atchison county, where he purchased 160
acres of railroad owned land, at a cost of five dollars and forty cents
per acre. He at once began improving this tract which was raw prairie at
the time of purchase and in the course of time developed it into a fine
and highly productive farm. The Hart farm is one of the most productive
and best improved in the State of Kansas and is widely known for the
excellent shape in which the grounds and improvements are kept. Mr. Hart
added eighty acres adjoining in Atchison county to the original quarter
section and now has 240 acres in all. He remained on the farm until
1905, in the meantime having become interested in the Muscotah State
Bank as a stockholder and director. In that year he removed to the town
of Muscotah, where he has since made his residence in an attractive
home. Mr. Hart was elected cashier of the bank January 1, 1910, and
served in this capacity until August 1, 1915. While cashier he also
served as vice-president of the institution and is now connected with
the bank in that capacity.
Mr. Hart was married in 1867 to Miss Emma A. Olden, who has borne him
the following children: Arthur C., born in 1873, married Bertie
Stockton, and has one child, Dorothy, residing in Bakersfield, Cal.;
Dwight Hart died in youth. Mrs. Emma A. (Olden) Hart, the mother, was
born in Wisconsin in 1846, and is a daughter of Enos Olden, a native of
New York State, and a descendant of an old eastern family.
The Republican party has always claimed the allegiance of Mr. Hart, and
he has taken an active part in political affairs during his long
residence in Grasshopper township and Muscotah. While living on the farm
he held various township offices, and was always found in the forefront
of civic movements which had for their intention the ultimate good of
all the people. He filled the post of mayor of Muscotah for four years
and was a good official. In church work he has been very active and is
at present the treasurer of the Congregational church. His work in the
interest of the young people of Muscotah has endeared him to all of the
residents and for twenty-five years he has served as the superintendent
of the Sunday school of his church. Mr. Hart was secretary of the
Atchison County Sunday School Association for ten years. Although this
grand old pioneer has passed the allotted three score and ten years of
age. He is still active, mentally and physically, and rarely a day
passes which does not find him at his desk attending to his duties in
the bank or working about the grounds of his attractive, well kept home.
Mr. Hart is a courteous and kindly gentleman of the old school whom one
can not help but admire for his many sterling qualities.
WILLIAM YOUNG.
A native born Kansan, who became a successful agriculturist and banker,
and left an indelible imprint upon the business and social life of
Atchison county, was the late William Young, of Arrington, Kan. The
Young family was one of the real pioneer families of the county, and the
late Mr. Young was born on a pioneer farm in Mt. Pleasant township May
20, 1858. He was a son of William Johnson Young, whose wife was Mrs.
Martha (Wamach) Snowden, widow, born in Virginia, a daughter of Abraham
Wamach, an early pioneer settler of Atchison county, who came to this
county in 1854 and settled on adjoining homesteads with W. J. Young. W.
J. Young, the father of William, was born in Tennessee in 1815, and was
the first judge of Atchison county. He settled on a farm in Walnut
township, two and one-half miles northeast of Potter, Kan., which farm
is now owned by Peter C. Griner. The elder Young was a natural born
leader of men, and took an active and influential part in the political
affairs of the county in the early days. He was a religious man, whose
home was a meeting place for the politicians and ministers of the
Gospel, and he was very hospitable. His father was the Rev. Duke Young,
a native of Tennessee, who came to Kansas in 1854, and preached the
first sermon in the county, on the doctrine of the Christian
denomination. The Rev. Mr. Young was about sixty years of age when he
came to Atchison county, and he had been preaching the Gospel for many
years in Tennessee. J. W. Young became a member of the Christian church
when sixteen years of age. The Young family was of Scotch-Irish
ancestry.
William Young, with whom this review is directly concerned, was one of a
family of fourteen children reared by his parents. He grew to manhood on
his father’s farm, and after his marriage, in 1880, he and his wife
located on a farm in Mt. Pleasant township, near the town of Potter, and
developed it into a fine and productive tract. He continued in
agricultural pursuits until 1908, when he went to Arrington, Kan., and
purchased the Arrington State Bank, which he operated until his demise,
January 12, 1910. After Mr. Young’s death, his widow disposed of the
bank and the Arrington property, and removed to Atchison, where she has
since made her home at 419 Kearney street.
William Young was married February 5, 1880, to Miss Angie Cooley, and to
this union were born the following children: Maude, wife of Earl
Stapler, Atchison; Duff D. Young, born April 8, 1901. The mother of
these children was born November 9, 1861, a daughter of James and
Cassendania (Waddle) Cooley, both of whom were born and reared in
Kentucky. James Cooley, her father, migrated to Kansas in 1854 and
settled on a homestead south of Potter, in Leavenworth county. His wife,
Cassendania, came to Kansas to reside with her sister, Mrs. Masterson,
who lived in Mt. Pleasant township, and she was married in 1860 to James
Cooley. Eight children were born to them, of whom Mrs. Young was the
fifth in order of birth. James Cooley took an active and prominent part
in political affairs in Kansas in the early days, and served as the
representative to the State legislature from Leavenworth county for two
terms, from 1868 to 1872, inclusive. He died in 1876.
William Young was a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the
Odd Fellows, and the Fraternal Aid Union. He was a man who lived his
life according to Christian precepts, and was a regular attendant at
church and Sunday school of the Christian denomination. His start in
life was at the foot of the ladder, and he was successful in his
undertakings, building for himself and his family, and leaving behind
him on this earth the memory of a life well spent, and to his family a
heritage of industry, honesty, straightforwardness and right living
which will long be remembered by those who knew him best.
JAMES E. BEHEN.
In the compilation of the biographical department of this history of
Atchison county, Kansas, the fact is frequently brought to the mind of
the reviewer that the really successful men of this county are
essentially self-made, and began at the foot of the ladder of success,
working their way upward by various means, all of which were honest and
based upon hard and painstaking labor at the outset of their careers.
Very few were well educated, or had been blessed with opportunities in
their youth such as are the heritage of the youth of the present day.
James Edward Behen, successful farmer, of Center township, Atchison
county, is one of those citizens who are deserving of credit for what
they have accomplished. Starting out as a boy of twelve, he has made his
own way in the world, and after he attained manhood, with the assistance
of a good and faithful helpmeet, he has accomplished results which are
really creditable. Starting with a tract of eighty acres of land in
1900, which he found necessary to improve, he soon added another eighty,
then another eighty, and now has a fine farm of 240 acres, which is one
of the most fertile tracts of land in the county, practically all of
which is in cultivation. Mr. Behen has the right idea of farming,
inasmuch as he sells the product of his farm “on the hoof,” and has
become an extensive feeder of cattle and hogs. This plan insures the
fertility of the soil, and his farm is steadily improving as the result
of a wise method of cultivation.
Mr. Behen is a native son of Kansas, who was born and brought up on
Kansas soil, and will not admit that there is any better place under the
sun for a man to acquire a fortune than right here in Atchison county,
and, judging by what he has done in Kansas, the writer is prone to agree
with him. James E. Behen was born March 28, 1864, at Leavenworth, and is
a son of Michael and Mary Behen, who had six children. The father was of
Irish descent. He followed bridge building. James, the subject of this
sketch, started out to make his own way at the age of twelve years, and
went to work on the farm of Edward Whalen, in Doniphan county, Kansas,
and stayed there eight years. Meanwhile, he attended the district
school, receiving a rudimentary education. He then worked as a farm hand
until he was twenty-two years old. For several years following he rented
land in Atchison and Doniphan counties. In 1900 he bought eighty acres
in Center township, and five years later bought the eighty acres
adjoining his farm on the west. Now he owns 240 acres, which he has
improved considerably. He built a modern barn, 32×35 feet in size, and
also built a fine cattle barn, forty feet square. He does a large
feeding business, handling a carload of cattle each year. He keeps
graded stock of all kinds on his farm.
In 1888 he was married to Lizzie Pauly, who was born March 30, 1862, in
Doniphan county, Kansas. She is the daughter of John and Anna
(Hartzinger) Pauly, natives of Germany. The parents were early settlers
in Illinois, and moved to Doniphan county, Kansas, in 1857. Mr. and Mrs.
Behen have eight children: Mrs. Agnes McCibben, Atchison, Kan.; Alice,
deceased; Mary, graduate of Atchison High School, living at home;
Thomas, living at home; Joseph, at home; John, whereabouts unknown; Roy
and Fred, living at home. Mr. Behen is a Democrat. He is a member of the
Roman Catholic church.
FRED HARTMAN.
It is meet that considerable space be devoted to the valiant old
pioneers of Kansas who assisted in the settlement of the country, and
had much to do with its development. Not all of them figured
prominently, and it was given to a very few to be honored above their
fellows. In the latter class the reviewer must of necessity and choice
place the late Fred Hartman, pioneer, successful farmer, Union veteran
and well known public official, who for more than two decades was a well
known and highly esteemed citizen of Atchison county.
Fred Hartman was born in Franklin county, Indiana, December 7, 1844, a
son of Jonathan and Christina (Wolking) Hartman. His paternal
grandfather was Henry Hartman, a native of Pennsylvania, of German
extraction, and his wife, Alice Case, whom he married in Pennsylvania,
migrated to Indiana in the early days of the settlement of the Hoosier
State. Jonathan Hartman, father of the subject, was born in Franklin
county, Indiana, January 22, 1822, and was reared to young manhood among
the rugged hills of his native county, learning the carpenter’s trade,
and then moving to Platte county, Missouri, with his family in 1846.
Nine years after settling in Platte county, he removed to Port William,
at that time a thriving settlement on the banks of the Missouri river in
Atchison county. Here he erected one of the first sawmills in Atchison
county and the State of Kansas, and furnished all the sawed lumber for
the settlers for many miles around. The year 1856 saw the beginning of
the struggle between the Free State and pro-slavery men for possession
of Kansas, and the summer of that year witnessed some lively times.
History records the fact that a man named Bob Gibson, leader of the
Kickapoo Rangers, came from the headquarters of the gang with a squad of
men for the purpose of mobbing Jonathan Hartman on account of his
opposition to slavery. Mr. Hartman was a man of high courage and assumed
a defiant attitude toward the Rangers who finally left without doing the
damage which they had boasted was their intent. About this time the
noted Pardee Butler was set afloat on a raft down the Missouri river by
the pro-slavery men of Atchison, and Butler appealed to Hartman for aid
after landing, near Port William. Mr. Hartman gave Butler every
assistance possible, in getting him to his home. In 1857 Jonathan
Hartman sold his sawmill and settled on a farm in Mt. Pleasant township,
near the old military road which ran from Ft. Leavenworth to Denver, and
the Far Western points. Great trains of thirty or more heavily laden
wagons drawn by six and twelve yoke of oxen were constantly passing the
home of the Hartmans. Mrs. Hartman recalls the great drought of 1860 and
the great snows of the following winter. During the year of the great
drought the settlers did not raise any crops and were forced to journey
to Atchison for provisions, on the return trip stopping at the Andrew
Parnell farm for assistance in their dire need. Two of the drivers on a
wagon train that terrible winter had their feet frozen, one of the men
afterwards losing both feet as a result of the hardships undergone. The
Parnell home was a welcome and hospitable place of refuge for the
starving and suffering settlers, during that winter. Mrs. Hartman also
recalls the beautiful and inspiring sights made by the troops of United
States cavalry which were frequently seen from her home in those days.
Fred Hartman hearkened to the call of the Union in the second year of
the great civil conflict and enlisted in Company F, of the famous
Thirteenth Kansas volunteer regiment, under Captain Hayes, Major
Woodworth and Colonels Bowen and Speck. He was engaged chiefly in scout
duty, and was stationed at Ft. Smith and other points in the Southwest
during his term of service, which lasted for three years, and was
finally mustered out at Ft. Leavenworth in 1865. He then came home and
resumed the farm work on his father’s farm. He was married January 21,
1866, to Cynthia Parnell. To this union were born the following
children: Henrietta, wife of R. H. Ripple, died in 1896; Hannah Ann,
wife of James Iddings, both of whom are deceased, and who left one
child, Geneva Iddings, of Topeka, Kan.; Dora, wife of Joseph Speck, died
in 1896, leaving one daughter, Dora, who lives with her grandmother;
Jonathan, a salesman of Kansas City; Josephine, wife of John Putman, of
Atchison; May Florence, wife of Roy Trimble, sheriff of Atchison county,
has four children; Birdie, wife of Henry Barr, died in 1906; Frederick,
died in 1911, was married to Blanche Baker, daughter of Captain Baker.
The mother of these children was born January 14, 1849, in Buchanan
county, Missouri, a daughter of Andrew and Mirah (Wilson) Parnell
natives of Kentucky and Indiana, respectively. Andrew and Mirah Parnell
began their wedded life in Franklin county, Indiana, where they were
reared and then migrated to Arkansas, and from there to Missouri in the
early forties. In 1859 the family left Buchanan county and settled in
Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison county, where they figured prominently
in the early history of the county. The little Parnell was named after
Andrew Parnell and the old town of the same name took its appellation
from the family which settled in the neighborhood. Mr. Parnell spent his
last days in Jefferson county, Kansas, where he died in 1872. He became
very well-to-do and prospered. He was one of the original Free State men
and suffered considerable loss at the hands of the Jayhawkers and border
ruffians. Andrew Parnell was the father of eleven children, six sons and
five daughters, and sent three of his sons to serve their country in the
Thirteenth Kansas regiment, one son being killed. Mrs. Hartman is the
youngest child of this large family.
When Mr. and Mrs. Fred Hartman were married they settled on a farm near
Parnell, which Mrs. Hartman still owns. They developed this farm and
cultivated it successfully until 1896, when they removed to Atchison,
where Mr. Hartman died October 25, 1909. Mr. Hartman was a life-long
Republican and began taking an active part in political and civic
affairs when he had attained his majority. He was elected sheriff of the
county in the fall of 1895, and served four years in all, in this
important office. Previous to his removal to Atchison, he had capably
filled the office of trustee of Mt. Pleasant township. He became
identified with the civic life of Atchison and served as a member of the
city council and was held in high esteem for his ability and
capabilities as a citizen. Mr. Hartman was prominent in Odd Fellow and
Masonic circles during his long life in the county.
Fred Hartman was one of those pioneer citizens of Atchison county which
are distinguished for their qualities of leadership, and his descendants
are proud of his record as a citizen and public official. He was, during
his whole life, a reader and student who believed in keeping abreast of
the times and made a hobby of gathering historical data, being much
interested in the history of his adopted State. His mind remained keen
to the end of his days and he will always be fondly remembered by those
who knew him. To him and his comrades who laid the foundation of the
prosperous and happy community of Atchison, this volume is respectfully
dedicated.
OSCAR A. SIMMONS.
Successful banking calls for qualifications somewhat different from
those required in other pursuits or professions. It calls for a keen
mind, decisive action, ability to pass judgment upon a proposition and
its merits, and the power to judge and gauge human nature, and determine
upon the honesty or sincerity of those with whom the banker is
constantly doing business. Oscar A. Simmons, active vice-president and
manager of the First National Bank of Atchison, possesses the
qualifications of a successful banker to a considerable degree. He is
unquestionably one of the rising financiers of Kansas with an ever
increasing prestige in financial circles. He is one of those broad-
minded men who keep abreast of progress and have the faculty of adapting
their capabilities to the advanced needs of the times. Although a
comparatively young man, as years measure a man’s age, his experience in
banking has been such as to eminently fit him for the important position
which he holds.
[Illustration:
_O A Simmons_
]
O. A. Simmons is a native of Kansas, and was born in Jefferson county
February 11, 1874. His father was Joshua Simmons, a native of Indiana,
and his mother was Susan Pitcher Simmons, born and partly reared in
Missouri. The parents of both Joshua and Susan Simmons were among the
pioneer settlers in Jefferson county, and it is probable that they
located there in about 1855. Both the Simmons and Pitcher families were
prominent in the affairs of Jefferson county in the early days of the
county’s growth, and were highly respected. Joshua Simmons and Susan
Pitcher were married in Jefferson county. At the outbreak of the Civil
war, Joshua Simmons offered his services in behalf of the Union, and
enlisted in Company A, Eleventh regiment, Kansas infantry, at the age of
seventeen years, and was under the command of Colonels Moonlight and
Plumb. Mr. Simmons took part in some hard campaigns during his
enlistment, the Eleventh regiment being a part of the division which
fought General Price’s army of invasion throughout Missouri and
Arkansas. On a number of occasions he showed his personal bravery in
volunteering for scout duty in the Southwest. He was mustered out at the
close of the war, returned home, and was married shortly afterward.
After a long and successful career as a farmer and merchant, he is now
living a retired life at Brondon, Colo., at the ripe age of seventy-one
years. Eight children were born to Joshua and Susan Simmons, five of
whom are living, as follows: Mrs. J. W. Faubion, of Anthony, Kan.; Oscar
A.; Mrs. P. H. Scales, of Birmingham, Ala.; W. C. and C. T. Simmons, of
Los Angeles, Cal. The mother of these children departed this life in
1886. She was a good wife and a kind and loving mother.
O. A. Simmons attended the common and high schools of his native county
and town, after which he was employed in a general store at Winchester,
Jefferson county, until 1899. He was then employed in charge of the
gents’ furnishing department of a large department store at Leavenworth
for one year. His ambitions had always been headed toward entering the
field of banking, inasmuch as he believed that he could make a success
as a banker. Opportunity naturally beckoned; he saw the need of a bank
in the town of Potter, Atchison county. Taking what funds he could
muster he went to Potter and organized the Potter State Bank, serving as
the cashier of this institution for two years. He then sold his holdings
in the Potter bank and organized the Exchange State Bank at Nortonville.
For a period of five years he was in charge of this flourishing bank,
and here had the opportunity of demonstrating his inherent ability as a
financier. A wider and larger field beckoned to him and he came to
Atchison in 1906. Here his genius as an organizer has had full
opportunity for exercise and he organized the Commercial State Bank,
which later bought control of, and was consolidated with, the First
National of Atchison. Mr. Simmons was elected vice-president of the bank
at the time of the reorganization and was installed as the bank manager.
He has since taken an active part in the organization of other banking
concerns, having organized the Farmers State Bank of Anthony, Kan., in
1910, of which his brother-in-law, J. W. Faubion, is the cashier. In
1901 he organized the Jarbalo State Bank at Jarbalo, Kan., of which T.
J. Mains is cashier. Mr. Simmons disposed of his interests in the
Jarbalo bank in 1911, and bought the Farmers State Bank at Effingham,
selling control of this bank in 1912. His next venture was the purchase
of the controlling interest in the State Savings Bank at Leavenworth, of
which Mr. Mains is now the vice-president. He reorganized the Arrington
State Bank at Arrington, Kan., in 1903, and is still interested in its
affairs. He organized the Citizens State Bank at Elmo, Mo., in 1913, and
is the principal owner of this bank, and a stockholder in the Union
State Bank at McLouth, Kan. It is a noteworthy fact that every financial
institution with which Mr. Simmons has been connected has prospered, and
is in sound condition. In every bank in which he has been interested he
has displayed ability of a high order as a financier and manager.
Mr. Simmons has been twice married, his first wife being Margaret Mains,
whom he espoused in 1902, being a daughter of James Mains, of Oskaloosa,
Kan. She died in 1907. His second marriage, in 1910, was with Mary
Frances, daughter of J. H. Barry, a substantial and well known citizen
of Atchison (see biography of J. H. Barry). Two children have blessed
this union: John Barry, born December 17, 1911, and O. A. Simmons,
junior, born March 9, 1913.
From farmer boy to banker and capitalist in the short period of a little
over forty years, with no initial capital to begin with, but a keen mind
and strong body, is the gist of the career of him of whom this review is
written. When a boy he worked for fifty cents per day in Jefferson
county. Coming from the soil, and being reared on the farm, he has never
entirely lost a love for the land itself, and is heavily interested in
various tracts of good farm land, and owns 400 acres of Atchison county
farm land, and 700 acres in eastern Colorado, which, together with
holdings in Missouri and Texas, will aggregate over 1,500 acres. His
financial interests are varied, and in Atchison are of such nature as to
be of distinct benefit to the welfare of the city. He holds stock in
several of the city’s leading mercantile concerns. His first work was as
a farm laborer at $10 per month. His commercial career practically began
in a general store at Winchester, Kan., at a salary of $17 per month,
and during the twenty-three years following, he has amassed a fortune of
over $100,000. Yet, there are those who say that opportunity for
attaining wealth and position are gone, and that a young man has no
chance to succeed because of the great competition of the financial
trusts of the country. The life story of O. A. Simmons is a direct
contradiction to the wail of the pessimist, and furnishes a decided
inspiration to any young fellow blessed with mentality and strength to
go and do likewise in his favorite line of endeavor. While Mr. Simmons
is a stanch Republican, he does not take an active part in political
affairs, and has declined political preferment.
H. B. WALTER.
H. B. Walter, of Benton township, Atchison county, Kansas, is one of the
most widely known and successful live stock breeders in Kansas, and has
made a signal success as a breeder of Poland China hogs during the past
ten years. He first began the breeding of fine live stock in Republic
county, Kansas, and while he has been a resident of Atchison county only
since 1909, he has become known the length and breadth of the county for
his fine live stock production. Mr. Walter did not venture in the
breeding department of specialized agriculture for the purpose of
producing show animals, but began his work purely as a commercial
venture, and has succeeded even beyond his most sanguine expectations.
He is the owner of 160 acres of fine farm land, located three and one-
half miles northwest of Effingham, on which are excellent improvements.
His farm is headquarters for supplying breeders with registered stock in
all parts of the country, and he has the distinction of having developed
the world beater of big type litters, and has produced and sold a
world’s record type of Poland China swine of the big variety. For the
past four years he has made the sales record for the State of Kansas in
the numbers produced and the prices obtained. His farm produces 200 head
of registered Big Type Poland China swine annually, and he holds two
sales each year, in the months of October and February. In February of
1915, Mr. Walter sold fifty head of hogs, at an average price of sixty
dollars per head, to buyers who attended the sale from all parts of the
West. In February of the preceding year he sold at his regular sale
fifty head, which brought an average price of seventy dollars each. The
output of his breeding pens is shipped to points as far west as Oregon,
and to places ranging from Minnesota to the Gulf States. In July of 1915
he filled an order for three high priced hogs sent in from Connecticut.
He has done no exhibiting except at the local stock shows.
H. B. Walter was born on a farm in Jay county, Indiana, July 31, 1871, a
son of Thomas S. and Sarah (Sherman), the former a native of Indiana,
and the latter a native of Ohio. The family migrated from Indiana to
Republic county, Kansas, in 1892, and settled on a farm in that county,
where Thomas S. still resides. H. B. received his education in the
public schools of his native county and State, and studied at Ridgeville
College, Indiana. He prepared himself for the teaching profession, and
taught school in Indiana for one year, and taught for nine years in
Republic county, after moving to Kansas. He held the highest average
grade possible to obtain in his teacher’s certificate, and met with
considerable success in his profession, but abandoned teaching to engage
in farming, in which avocation he began with the same determination to
succeed as he had been imbued with when he began to teach. He purchased
a farm in Republic county, which he cultivated, later buying a place in
Brown county, Kansas, which he sold in 1909, and made the purchase of
his present farm.
He was married in 1895 to Fanny Kunkel, a daughter of Noah and Caroline
Kunkel, who were residents of Republic county, Kansas, from 1867 until
their death. Mrs. Walter was also a teacher for eight years, and lived
in Republic county over forty years. Mr. and Mrs. Walter have two living
children: Frank, born in 1898, and Ruth, born in October, 1902.
Mr. and Mrs. Walter are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Politically, Mr. Walter is an independent voter, who is not tied to the
principles of any political party or leader. He is a member of the
Central Protective Association.
HEKELNKAEMPER BROTHERS.
This firm has the distinction of operating the oldest soda and vinegar
manufactory in Kansas, which was founded by William H. Hekelnkaemper,
father of the present proprietors, in 1863. The first factory was
located in a little shed, 14×14 feet, one door east of the A. J. Harwi
hardware store on Commercial street, Atchison, Kan. Mr. Hekelnkaemper
operated the business for ten years, and gradually enlarged his quarters
as much as his limited means would allow, and about 1873 removed the
plant to the present location on the corner of Ninth and Laramie
streets. He erected a brick structure, 22×50 feet, and also built an ice
house. His business prospered from the start when he moved to his new
location, and was confined to the trade in Atchison with the exception
of supplying the towns within a radius of fifty miles in northeast
Kansas, and western Missouri. In the old days patrons drove in wagons
for a distance of fifty miles and more to purchase the products of the
factory, and many of the former patrons are still buying from the sons.
After the founder’s death in 1881, the business was allowed to languish
to some extent owing to the enforcement of the State prohibition law,
for the reason that the products of the factory, while not intoxicating,
were largely purchased by saloons. Trade naturally fell off for a time
until conditions were adjusted to the new regime, and new demands were
created in other retail circles than the saloon business. The plant was
closed for about a year and the widow then leased the buildings for ten
years to M. L. Greenhut, who later retired. The sons then took charge in
1900, and it has since been operated by F. W. and G. A. Hekelnkaemper.
The boys had no capital to begin with, but had a wonderful amount of
determination and perseverance which stood them in good stead and
enabled them to make good. The business had to be built over again, but
fortunately paid a small profit during the first years. In time other
additions were made to the plant and the capacity has been increased to
over 15,000 bottle of soda water per day. This is the main product of
the factory which also produces fruit syrups and flavoring extracts of a
superior grade and quality, in addition to fifty thousand gallons of
high grade vinegar each year. During the busy season fourteen men are
employed and Hekelnkaemper Brothers has grown to become one of the
important manufacturing concerns of Atchison. During the past eight
years the business has practically doubled itself over that of each
preceding year.
William H. Hekelnkaemper, Sr., was born in April of 1837, in Westphalia,
Germany, and emigrated from his native land when a young man. He landed
at New Orleans from a sailing vessel and then came by river boat to St.
Louis where he lived for a number of years and engaged in the grocery
business. His store was burned and he left St. Louis and came to the
town of Rollin, Mo., where he again established a grocery store about
1861. In the spring of 1863, he came to Atchison, Kan., and opened and
operated the first pool and billiard room in the city. One year later he
disposed of part of his equipment and moved a part to Seneca, Kan.,
where after operating a pool room for a time, he sold out and returned
to Atchison. In about 1863 he embarked in the soda manufactory as stated
in the preceding paragraph. While a resident of St. Louis, Mr.
Hekelnkaemper was married to Theresa Houk, who was born in St. Louis,
Mo., of German parents, who both died during the great cholera epidemic
when Theresa was about three years of age. The children born to this
union are as follows: Gustave A., Frederick W.; William G., Frank V.,
Laura, Edith, Emma and Anna.
F. W. Hekelnkaemper was married September 17, 1901, to Pauline Ostertag,
a daughter of George Ostertag, one of the pioneer wagon makers of
Atchison, and to this union have been born two children: Irene and
Lucille. He is a Democrat and is a member of the Elks, Eagles and the
Moose.
G. A. Hekelnkaemper is associated with F. W. in the business as above
mentioned. He was married in August, 1901, to Lydia Weik, a daughter of
Christian Weik, an Atchison county pioneer, and to this union have been
born two children: Marie and Louise. G. A. is a Democrat in politics.
William H. Hekelnkaemper died August 20, 1881. He was politically allied
with the Republican party during his life, and was a member of the
Atchison city council for a number of years, having been a particular
and close friend and admirer of the late Senator John J. Ingalls. He was
one of the founders of the famous Turner Society, and was its first
president. He was prominently identified with the affairs of the society
and the civic affairs of Atchison until his demise. He was a man of
great resourcefulness which aided him in making a new start on occasions
when everything looked darkest for his future. He had many warm friends
in Atchison and was universally respected by all who knew him.
CLEM P. HIGLEY.
Clem P. Higley, farmer and stockman of Center township, Atchison county,
was born there March 25, 1869. He is a son of Russell and Carrie
(Hooper) Higley, who were the parents of nine children, as follows:
William, deceased; Otto, deceased; Emma Winsor, Las Vegas, N. M.; Hallie
Nelson, Las Vegas, N. M.; Theodore, a traveling man; Clem, the subject
of this sketch; Frank, farming the old home place, and Gilbert and Mina,
both deceased. The father was born just west of New York City, January
3, 1833. In his early manhood he followed the blacksmithing trade, and
at the age of twenty went to Illinois, where he remained for two years.
Coming to Atchison county, he preëmpted 160 acres of land in section 3,
Center township, and sold it shortly afterward and bought 80 acres in
section 35, a mile east of old Pardee, Kan. He made extensive
improvements on this place and farmed it until he retired in 1895. He
now lives with his son, Clem. Russell Higley’s life did not run as
smoothly as it might seem from this account of it. In his early days in
Kansas the drought destroyed his crops one year. He gathered only one
bushel of corn from his field that year. Having started out with no
capital, this misfortune was a serious one. He and his twin brother,
Russell, worked for Pardee Butler, while he returned to Illinois. They
worked for Mr. Butler all summer and in the fall of 1856 started to walk
back to Illinois, so as to be home during the winter. A winter in Kansas
was a serious thing in those days, and with the best of provisions, it
was a fierce ordeal. In the spring of 1857 they returned to Kansas,
having the confidence in this country to develop into a prosperous
district. Russell was a son of Francis Higley, and his mother died when
he was a very small boy. Carrie Higley, the mother of Clem, was born in
Tennessee in 1837. Her father was a freighter from Missouri to Santa Fe,
N. M. Mrs. Higley died in 1899.
Clem Higley, the subject of this sketch, attended school at Pardee,
Kan., and when twenty-one years old, started out to work by the month. A
year later he rented a farm in Benton township, five miles south of
Effingham, Kan. Then for a period of nine years he rented in Benton
township, and the following three years rented his father’s farm and in
1903 bought 105 acres. The place was not well improved and he set to
work erecting buildings, and now has a large two-story home and two
barns, one 24×50 feet and the other 40×42 feet. The latter has a cement
basement. Higley’s total holdings now number 185 acres of land. He keeps
graded stock, including fine Poland China hogs. In 1896 he was married
to Margaret Hawk, who was born March 21, 1877, in Ohio. She is a
daughter of Lafayette and Hattie (Pitt) Hawk, both natives of Ohio. Mr.
and Mrs. Higley have had six children born to them, the second child
dying in infancy. The others are, Newell, Wilber, Morris, Marie, Dale.
All are living with their parents. Mr. Higley is a Republican and is a
member of the Christian church.
WILLIAM E. HUBBARD.
William E. Hubbard, farmer and stockman, Kapioma township, Atchison
county, was born September 8, 1861, in Henderson county, Illinois. He is
a son of Simeon and Mary Ann (Pence) Hubbard, who were the parents of
the following children: Mrs. Lillie O’Connor, widow living in Muscotah;
Mrs. Cora Routh, Kapioma township; Lewis, farmer, Kapioma township;
William, the subject of this sketch, and two children who died in
infancy. Simeon Hubbard, the father of William, was born March 10, 1840,
in Indiana. He was a farmer in his young manhood, and on coming to
Kansas in 1874, followed the same occupation. Settling near Muscotah, he
rented land for four years, and during this time saved his earnings for
future investment. At the end of four years he had accumulated enough to
buy the farm, and he became a landowner and led a prosperous career as a
farmer. He fed stock for the market as well as grew crops. He now
resides in Muscotah, Kan. The mother of William Hubbard is also living.
William E. Hubbard grew up on his father’s farm in Illinois and attended
the district school in Kapioma township, Atchison county. When he was of
age he began farming in partnership with his father. At the age of
twenty-eight he was married and located on a rented farm near his
father’s place. He lived there until 1895, when he bought 180 acres just
south of where he had rented. After working this place seven years, he
sold it and bought the 160–acre farm which he now owns. On this place
William has invested a considerable sum in improvements which include a
fine granary. He is a stockholder in the Grange elevator at Muscotah,
Kan. It should also be mentioned that William keeps graded stock on his
farm.
In 1889 he married Martha Routh, who was born near Leavenworth, Kan., in
1869. They are the parents of seven children as follows: Jesse, Atchison
county; Mrs. Bessie Roberts, Kapioma township; Fred, Lola, Ollie, Mabel
and Frank, all living at home. Mr. Hubbard is a Democrat and is now
serving as a member on the school board in his district, Rose Valley,
No. 49. He is a member of the Mission church. Mr. Hubbard is a citizen
interested in the welfare of his community and is always active in any
project that will improve his neighborhood.
DRENNAN L. DAWDY.
Drennan L. Dawdy is a stockman first, last and always. Pedigrees and
prices are his stock in trade, and to talk with Mr. Dawdy without
hearing about his fine stock is impossible. Next to his family his stock
is his pride. Mr. Dawdy confines his stock raising to the best strains.
It is his theory that it never pays to bring up a scrub. The same amount
of feed and the same amount of care, if intelligently applied to
registered animals, will bring in double and treble returns, Mr. Dawdy
believes, and it is his policy not to waste time on inferior breeds. Mr.
Dawdy has a cow that cost him $75. The former owner of the cow did not
see any marks of good blood in the animal, but Mr. Dawdy did, and he has
made $4,000 out of that one cow in the last seven years. The buying of
this cow at the price, however, was simply a very fortunate investment,
as Mr. Dawdy says, generally speaking, “The highest priced cattle were
much the best investments, and he has paid as high as $800 and $900 for
cows and $1,000 for a bull. He sold one of the calves for $755 and
another for $500. He learned his business well, for he learned it in the
best way possible, from his father. The father, John W. Dawdy, was a
breeder of fine cattle in Illinois and probably inherited that trait
from his parents, who were Kentuckians. The father was born in the blue
grass country March 30, 1840, but at the age of seven was taken by his
parents, Jefferson and Elizabeth (Amos) Dawdy, to Illinois, where he
remained until 1910. While he was living at Abingdon, Ill., he met Sarah
J. Latimer, to whom he was married May 7, 1847. She was a daughter of
Alexandria and Julia Ann (Hart) Latimer, natives of Tennessee, and was
the mother of six children, three of whom are living. Drennan, the
subject of this sketch, is the oldest. The others are Norval M. and
Daisy E., who live in California. In 1910 the parents removed to Napa,
Cal., where the father is now living. The mother died August 12, 1915.
After attending the country school near his Illinois home, Drennan
attended Hedding College at Abingdon and later went to business college
at Chicago. But he was a natural born stockman and could not resist the
lure. So he went back to his father and joined him in the livestock
business and became associated with his father in the breeding of
Shorthorn cattle under the firm name of J. W. Dawdy & Son. In the latter
part of 1889 he and Walter Latimer purchased the entire herd of cattle
known as the Shannon Hill herd owned by the late Ex-Governor George W.
Glick, of Atchison, Kan. This herd was the largest collection of pure
Bates cattle in America at that time, and were dispersed by D. L. Dawdy
& Co., at auction in Kansas City, Mo., April 11–12, 1900, the ninety-one
head bringing a total of $20,460, which was considered a remarkable sale
for an entire herd, which included a number of aged cows, the general
average of the sale being $225 per head with a top price of $800 for the
“Second Dutchess” of Atchison, the buyer of whom was the late W. R.
Nelson, of the _Kansas City Star_. Mr. Nelson bought fifteen head of
cattle at this sale at an average price of $415 per head. In June of the
same year this firm bought the entire herd of Scotch and Scotch topped
Shorthorns of J. T. Kinmouth & Son, Columbus Junction, Iowa, paying
$11,000 cash for the 100 head. This was one of the most notable private
deals in registered cattle of recent years. In 1901 they bought sixty-
five head of registered cattle in one lot. D. L. Dawdy & Co. have made
many successful sales both private and public. In 1899 Mr. Dawdy came to
Atchison county, Kansas, and took charge of the George W. Glick farms,
near Atchison, Kan. This position gave him charge of a herd of
registered Shorthorns. In 1901 he bought the farm which he now owns,
consisting of 405 acres, lying one-half mile north of Arrington, Kan. On
this place he has devoted himself to the breeding of fine cattle and has
made that his principal work. His exhibits have taken high honors at the
stock shows in Kansas City and Chicago. A number of years ago he bought
“Sunshine,” a fine cow in the herd owned by Senator W. A. Harris, paying
$225 for her. Four of her calves have brought him $1,365. He has owned
three cows which sold for $800 each, and in 1902 he sold thirty head of
cattle at $266.66 each.
On May 15, 1901, Mr. Dawdy married Nellie B. Prim, who was born on a
farm near Atchison, Kan., April 3, 1881. Her father, Charles S. Prim,
was a native of Tennessee, while the mother, Sophia (Christian) Prim,
came from the Isle of Man. Both parents are now dead. Mr. and Mrs. Dawdy
have four children, all of whom are living at home: Ruth, John, Helen
and Glenn. Two died in infancy. Mrs. Dawdy carries her husband’s hobbies
into the domestic end of the farm. She makes a specialty of raising fine
turkeys, raising the bronze variety. She sells eggs from her turkeys for
fifty cents apiece, and often gets as high as $7.50 for a turkey. She
saved $150 from the sale of eggs and bought a Shorthorn calf which is
worth $300 today. Mr. Dawdy is working to make his home an ideal country
place. His house is on one of the finest locations in the county. By
installing 15,000 feet of drainage, at a cost of $1,200, he has
reclaimed fifty-two acres of soil, which previous owners of the place
had thought to be too wet to cultivate, but since installing the
drainage system Mr. Dawdy has raised annually fine crops of corn and
wheat on it. The Delaware has a habit of overflowing and Mr. Dawdy was
one of the first farmers to suggest the organization of County Drainage
District, Number One, comprising 8,300 acres, and is nine miles in
length as the crow flies, while the Delaware river course is at present
nineteen and one-half miles, and the drainage system shortens the run
seven and one-half miles, doubles the velocity of the stream and
increases its carrying capacity four and one-half times. The expense or
total cost of the ditch will be $100,000 and will increase land values
tremendously. Mr. Dawdy is one of the directors of the enterprise. Mr.
Dawdy owns 405½ acres of land which has a fine large residence on it.
The location is one of the most beautiful in Atchison county. On a clear
day Horton, fifteen miles north, can be plainly seen; Holton looms up
twelve miles west, Muscotah, seven miles north, Valley Falls, twelve
miles southeast, Larkin, two and a half miles west, and Arrington, one-
half mile south. Mr. Dawdy has a complete set of volumes of American
herd books, and knows the pedigree of every animal on his place. He is a
member of the American Shorthorn Breeders’ Association of Chicago, and
knows the latest facts about the cattle business. His home is highly
improved with silos and drainage facilities. He is a Democrat in
politics and a member of the district school board and the drainage
district No. 1, of Atchison county, Kansas. He belongs to the Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons, of Muscotah.
JOHN M. PRICE.
John M. Price, deputy county treasurer, farmer and stockman, of Mt.
Pleasant township, Atchison county, is a native born Kansan, and son of
John M. Price, deceased, who was one of the most distinguished members
of the Kansas bar, and who practiced his profession in the city of
Atchison for forty years.
John M. Price, the father, was born in Richmond, Madison county,
Kentucky, in October, 1829, a son of Thomas S. and Sarah (Jarman) Price.
His paternal grandfather was Moses M. Price, and his maternal
grandfather was John Jarman. Moses M. married Catherine Broadus, and
John Jarman married Elizabeth Broadus, the two women being distant
relatives. Moses M. Price and wife were both natives of Virginia, and
removed to Madison county, Kentucky, in the early part of the nineteenth
century, with their respective parents. After his marriage in Kentucky,
Moses M. made his home in Estill county, Kentucky. He was the father of
ten children, the fourth of whom was Thomas M. Price, father of John M.,
the elder, and who married Sarah Jarman in 1828. Sarah (Jarman) Price
was a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Broadus) Jarman. This marriage was
blessed with three children: Thomas E., John M., and Mary W. The mother
died in 1836, and in 1838 Thomas M. Price married Miss Elizabeth Combs,
of Clark county, Kentucky, and the following fall removed to a home in
Johnson county, Missouri. From Johnson county he removed to Pettis
county, Missouri, and farmed there until 1845, after which he returned
to Estill county, Kentucky. In 1853 Thomas S. and family started for
Texas, where he resided until his demise at Mt. Pleasant, Titus county,
in 1857.
John M. Price, father of the present deputy county treasurer, returned
from Missouri to Kentucky with his father, and remained at the home of
his uncle, Morgan M. Price, whom he assisted in his farm work, and also
attended school at Irvine, the county seat of Estill county. In 1845 and
1846 he was employed in a drygoods store at Irvine, and in the fall of
1847 he accepted a home with Col. Walter Chiles, a prominent lawyer and
politician of Mt. Sterling, Ky., who had married Jane Price, an aunt of
John M. Price. After attending school in the fall and winter, Mr. Price
became a clerk in the office of the county clerk of Montgomery county,
Kentucky. While performing his duties in the county clerk’s office he
read law in the office of Colonel Chiles and was admitted to the
practice of his profession in March, 1848. He first opened a law office
at Irvine, and in 1851 was elected county attorney of Estill county;
reëlected in 1855, and continued to serve until July, 1858, when he
resigned in order to remove to Kansas. He determined on Atchison as his
future abiding place, and accordingly, located in this city September 1,
1858.
Kansas was then a territory, and for forty-one years of the development
of the State, Mr. Price was an important factor in promoting its
interests and welfare. He soon built up an extensive law practice in the
growing city of the great bend on the Missouri, and took an active and
influential part in political affairs, allying himself with the newly
formed Republican party. He early identified himself with the
controlling organization of his party, and for twenty years prior to his
demise he was a delegate to every Republican county convention, and to
many State conventions. In 1859, when Judge Otis resigned the office of
county attorney, Mr. Price was appointed to fill the vacancy by the
board of county commissioners, and served until Kansas was admitted into
the Union, when he was nominated and elected to the office at the first
general election under the State constitution. In 1861 he was elected
police judge of the city and re-elected in 1862 and 1863. He was elected
a member of the city council in 1864 and served for three years in
succession as a member of that body. He was elected mayor of the city
without opposition in 1867. In the fall of 1866 he was elected State
senator from Atchison county for a two years’ term, and while serving as
State senator he was appointed by Governor Crawford as one of the
commissioners to revise the general laws of the State. Mr. Price was
chairman of the commission, which was composed of himself, Samuel A.
Riggs, of Lawrence, and James McCahon, of Leavenworth. The revision thus
made was adopted by the legislature without much amendment, and the
general statutes of 1868 were printed and published during that year
under the supervision of this commission. In the same year Mr. Price was
made chairman of the judiciary committee of the senate, to which body he
was reëlected in 1870, and served during the sessions of 1871 and 1872,
and on the organization of the senate, he was chosen president of the
body. He was a candidate for governor of the State before the Republican
convention in the fall of 1872, and was a leading candidate until the
tenth and last ballot, when all the opposing candidates threw their
support to Thomas A. Osborne. In the memorable contest for the United
States senatorship in 1873, Mr. Price’s friends presented him as a
candidate before the anti-Pomeroy caucus, and for the first nineteen
ballots Mr. Price was the leading candidate, and then John J. Ingalls
was chosen by the convention on a unanimous vote. In 1892 he was again
elected to the State senate and served in the memorable sessions of 1893
and 1895.
On January 10, 1854, John M. Price was married in Irvine, Ky., to Eliza
Jarman Park, the only daughter of Elihu and Mary Park. This marriage was
blessed with the following children: Mollie F., born in Irvine, October
12, 1854, married Charles B. Singleton, of Atchison, for twenty-seven
years assistant postmaster, and now bookkeeper for the Exchange National
Bank; Nannie B., born in Irvine August 28, 1856, wife of F. L.
Vandergrift, editor of the Santa Fe publications, Kansas City, Mo.; John
M. died in January, 1875; John M., Jr., with whom this review is
directly concerned, and Eliza P. The mother of these children was born
in Irvine, Ky., August 22, 1832, and resides at present in Kansas City,
Mo.
John M. Price, Sr., died October 19, 1898. He was one of the
distinguished Masons of Kansas. He served as the grand high priest of
the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Kansas, and was secretary of that body:
he was president of the council of the Holy Order of High Priesthood;
grand treasurer of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of the
State; also president of the Kansas Masons’ Protective Association; was
a thirty-second degree Mason, and a member of Medina Temple, No. 31, of
the Mystic Shrine, and was also a member of Shiloh Conclave, No. 1,
Knights of the Red Cross of Constantine, Knights of the Holy Sepulchre,
and Knights of St. John the Evangelist. He served one term as grand
master of the most worthy grand lodge of the Odd Fellows, and was twice
elected a grand representative to the grand lodge of the United States.
He served one term as grand chancellor of the grand lodge, and of the
Knights of Pythias was the supreme representative to the supreme lodge
of the world for four years. He was the grand master workman of the
grand lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen of Kansas; was a
member of the grand lodge of the Knights of Honor, served as assistant
director, and as president of the Atchison lodge of the Independent
Order of Mutual Aid. For years a distinguished and able member of the
legal profession, he was one of the most respected and useful citizens
of Atchison and the State of Kansas.
John M. Price, whose career naturally follows that of his distinguished
parent, was born March 27, 1876, in Atchison. He was educated in the
public schools, and graduated from Midland College in 1894. After
completing the course in Midland College, he entered Wittenberg
University, at Springfield, Ohio, and was graduated from that
institution in 1897, with the degree of Master of Arts. For some time he
was engaged in the profession of teaching, and was assistant professor
of chemistry and physics at Midland College from 1894 until 1895. For
two years he filled the post of buyer at the Kansas State penitentiary,
at Lansing, and then located on his farm in Mt. Pleasant township, near
the city of Atchison. He followed farming and stock raising with
success. He was appointed deputy county treasurer under U. B. Sharpless
in the fall of 1915, and is now filling the duties of his office
faithfully and conscientiously.
Mr. Price was married August 12, 1903, to Miss Fan Ballew, who has borne
him one child, Jane Ballew Price, born June 2, 1911. Mrs. Price was born
in Madison county, Kentucky, March 19, 1885, a daughter of George W. and
Jennie (Francis) Ballew, both of whom were descended from old Kentucky
families It is a matter of history that the grandfather of Mrs. Price,
Francis, by name, owned the slaves which escaped from the Kentucky
plantation across the Ohio river, and from whom the character, Eliza, in
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was taken.
Undoubtedly, John M. Price is one of the rising young men of Atchison
county, who is at the beginning of a career which is destined to reflect
credit upon the memory of his illustrious father. He is a member of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is the present exalted
ruler of that body, and is a prominent member of the Ancient Order of
United Workmen, and the Fraternal Aid Union.
BOYD ROYER.
Boyd Royer, farmer and stockman, of Kapioma township, Atchison county,
Kansas, has reason to be proud of his family tree. His mother was the
first white child to be born in Kapioma township, Atchison county. She
was Emma Hammond before her marriage to George Royer, and was born in
1861 to William and Lena (Brutton) Hammond, who came over from Missouri
and settled in Kansas a short time before her birth. Her ancestors were
Kentuckians. The father of Boyd Royer was a Pennsylvanian, having been
born in Union county, that State, in 1859. He grew up with the common
schooling of the time and learned the blacksmith’s trade. Coming to
Kansas in 1879, he worked by the month near Effingham for a while and
later engaged in farming in Kapioma township, where he rented a farm
until his retirement in 1910. when he moved to Valley Falls, Kan.
Boyd Royer, the subject of this sketch, was born May 13, 1881, four
miles east of Arrington, Kan. He was the oldest child of four children.
The other children are: Walter, with the J. I. Case Company, Kansas
City, Mo.; Miles, a Government employee, Washington, D. C, and George,
Kansas City, Mo. The mother died in 1905. Boyd Royer grew up on his
father’s farm and attended school in district No. 31 of Kapioma
township. In 1901 he rented land near Arrington, Kan., and in 1909
bought 160 acres, and built a fine barn, 36×36 feet, on this place and
has a large eight-room house on the place. All buildings are well
painted and kept in excellent condition, and everything around the place
is kept in neat order.
In 1905 Boyd Royer married Mabel Beyer, who was born June 26, 1882, in
Kapioma township, Atchison county. She is a daughter of Asa and Susan
Beyer, both natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Atchison county in the
early days. Mr. Royer is a Republican. He is a steward in the Methodist
Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. Royer have no children.
LEWIS H. HUBBARD.
Lewis H. Hubbard, farmer and stockman, of Kapioma township, Atchison
county, was born March 13, 1872, in Cass County, Missouri. He is a son
of Simeon and Mary Ann (Pence) Hubbard, who were the parents of the
following children: William, Kapioma township, Atchison county, Kansas;
Lillie O’Conner, widow, Muscotah, Kan.; Cora Routh, Kapioma township;
Lewis, subject of this sketch, and two children who died in infancy. The
father of Lewis Hubbard was born March 10, 1840, in Indiana, and grew up
as a farmer, following that occupation after coming to Kansas in 1874.
He settled near Muscotah and rented land for a period of four years and
during that time he saved his money carefully. When he came to Kansas he
was without funds, but at the end of four years he had accumulated
enough to enable him to buy a farm. In addition to growing his crops he
fed stock and did a hustling business in that line. He is still living
and resides at Muscotah, Kan. The mother of Lewis Hubbard is also
living. Lewis Hubbard went to school in the Rose Valley district. He
received a common school education and worked with his father on the
latter’s farm until 1909, when he bought a farm of his own and became
his own manager. The place consisted of 160 acres of fine tillable soil
and is located in section 16, southeast quarter of Muscotah township.
Mr. Hubbard has devoted considerable attention to improving the
appearance of his farm and has constructed a fine seven-room cottage,
and has built a large barn to provide shelter for his stock and hay. He
keeps the best Jersey cows and milks eight to twelve of them for the
dairy. Mr. Hubbard is a stockholder in the farmers’ grain elevator at
Muscotah, Kan.
In 1897 Mr. Hubbard married Anna Hinkston, who was born May 5, 1880, in
Doniphan county, Kansas. She is a daughter of Frank and Dorinda (Tate)
Hinkston, who now live in Jackson county, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard
are the parents of two children, as follows: Ethel, aged sixteen, who
attends the Atchison County High School at Effingham, and Leslie, aged
seven, living with his parents. The daughter is also studying music, and
her father hopes to give her a thorough education in that subject. Mr.
Hubbard is a Democrat of an independent stamp. He is a member of the
Adventist church and is a deacon in that denomination. If there is one
thing that Mr. Hubbard takes pride in more than another it is in his
children’s education. He realizes the value of an education and desires
that his children have every advantage of education that he can give
them.
ARTHUR S. SCHURMAN.
Atchison county is principally an agricultural community, and not unlike
most sections of the great Middle West, the general wealth and standing
of the community is commensurate with the thrift, enterprise and
industry of the individual farmers. He whose name introduces this sketch
is a representative of that type of men whose efforts have placed
Atchison county in the foremost rank of the 110 political sub-divisions
of the great state of Kansas.
Arthur S. Schurman is one of the substantial and enterprising
agriculturists in Benton township, and has been a resident of the
township for the past thirty years. He is the owner of 202 acres of well
improved land, which is noted for its excellent yields of grain. For the
past ten years Mr. Schurman has been one of the most successful wheat
growers in Atchison county, or even in the State. He has produced the
great yield of 2,330 bushels of wheat on a tract of eighty acres. A
handsome farm residence, tastefully painted a clean white, presents an
attractive appearance on a rise of land fronting the highway, which
passes east and west in front of his land. This fine home was built by
Mr. Schurman in 1911, and comprises eleven rooms in all, with a heating
and water pressure system, which completely modernizes the home. The
residence is nicely situated in the midst of a fine grove, which affords
a generous shade in summer. Mr. Schurman carries on diversified farming
and raises a considerable amount of live stock.
Arthur S. Schurman was born January 11, 1864, in Prince Edward Island,
Dominion of Canada, and is a son of Caleb Schurman, who was born
December 8, 1829, on Prince Edward Island, a son of English parents, who
left their native land and settled on the island many years ago. The
great-grandfather of Arthur Schurman was a German by birth, who
established a home in England. The mother of Arthur S. was Sarah
Creswell before her marriage. She was born May 15, 1835, and died on the
home place in Benton township, November 15, 1889. When but a child she
went from England to Prince Edward Island with her parents. The Schurman
family lived on their native island until 1876, and then immigrated to
the United States, going first to Des Moines, Iowa, in search of a
suitable location. After a residence of eight months in Des Moines, the
family came to Atchison, Kan., where Arthur Schurman was employed in a
harness shop for three years, and also drove a coal wagon for a retail
coal dealer for a time. Caleb Schurman rented a farm south of Atchison,
and later bought the farm now owned by his son, Arthur. Four children
were born to Caleb and Sarah Schurman, namely: Mrs. J. B. O’Connell,
Denver, Colo.; Frederick Robert, a resident of Effingham, Kan.; Percy
Ernest, who died in September, 1896, and Arthur S., the oldest of the
family.
Arthur Schurman was twelve years of age when the family came to the
United States, and received a portion of his schooling in his native
land. He remained with his father, and assisted him in developing his
Atchison county farm, purchasing the land from his father when he came
to man’s estate. Caleb Schurman makes his home with his son, Arthur S.,
who married in August of 1890, to Emma Pruitt, of Atchison, Kan., a
daughter of James Pruitt. This marriage has been blessed with the
following children: Sadie Mary, born October 5, 1892, the wife of Fred
Dooley, of Lancaster township; Martha, born April 3, 1893: George
Herbert, born September 21, 1895; Arthur Ernest, born June 3, 1899, and
died October 19, 1900: Ralph, born March 25, 1902.
Mr. Schurman is a Republican, but has never found time to take an active
part in political affairs. He was reared in the Episcopalian faith. but
the members of his family attend the Christian church at Effingham. He
is a member of the Masonic lodge and the Central Protective Association.
C. A. LILLY, M. D.
C. A. Lilly, M. D., a well known member of the medical profession of
Atchison county, is a native of the Buckeye State. He was born at
Mansfield, Ohio, and is a son of S. and Clara (Beard) Lilly. The father
was a lumberman. Dr. Lilly was reared and educated in Mansfield, Ohio,
and Chicago, Ill., and after obtaining a good academic and classical
education, he entered the Chicago Medical College in 1897 and was
graduated in the class of 1901 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He
then came to Kansas and engaged in the practice of his profession at
Seneca. After remaining there about one year and a half he returned to
Chicago and took a post-graduate course in Rush Medical College, and did
considerable hospital work. In 1904 he located in Atchison, where he has
since been successfully engaged in the practice of medicine and has one
of the extensive practices of Atchison county. He has been division
surgeon for the Missouri Pacific railroad since 1911.
Dr. Lilly was united in marriage in 1902 to Miss Isabel Smith, of
Hiawatha, Kan. Dr. Lilly is a member of the Northeastern Kansas and the
Missouri Valley Medical associations and also belongs to the County,
State and American Medical association.
FRANK J. WATOWA.
Frank T. Watowa, a successful farmer of Shannon township, Atchison
county, was born in Jefferson county, Wisconsin, October 3, 1854, and is
a son of Joseph and Catherine Watowa, natives of Austria, who emigrated
from their native land to Wisconsin where they resided until 1860, when
they came to Missouri, locating in Buchanan county. About 1870 the
family came to Atchison and located on a farm in Shannon township where
his son, Joseph H. Watowa, now resides. The father died in 1895. Frank
J. Watowa is one of a family of seven children, born to Joseph and
Catherine Watowa, as follows: Mary, Henry, Joseph H., Mollie, Earnest,
Paullina and Frank.
Frank J. Watowa was married in 1879 to Miss Anna Falk, who died in 1885,
leaving three children, as follows: Mary, the wife of Antone Lutz, of
Lancaster township; Josephine resides in Colorado Springs, Colo., and
Anna, deceased. On June 24, 1892, Mr. Watowa was united in marriage to
Amanda Smith, and four children have been born to this union, as
follows: Sarah, Frances, Frank and Lawrence.
Mr. Watowa is one of the extensive farmers of Atchison county. He has
280 acres of land, nicely located and very productive. In 1895 he built
a handsome stone residence, which is one of the finest farm homes to be
found in the county. Politically he is a Democrat, and he and his family
are members of the Catholic church. He is a progressive and public
spirited citizen and one of the substantial men of Atchison county.
LEWIS BRADLEY.
Lewis Bradley, farmer and stockman, of Kapioma township, Atchison
county, was born February 24, 1857, in Henderson county, Illinois, and
is a son of Hamilton J. and Sarah E. (Pence) Bradley. The father was
born in Steuben county, New York, October 27, 1834. He followed the
stonemason’s trade. Coming to Atchison county, Kansas, several years
later, in 1880, bought the farm of 160 acres which his son now owns. He
came to Kansas with very little capital, but was able to save enough
money to buy 160 acres in Canadian county, Oklahoma. His death occurred
May 24, 1914. The mother, who died March 8, 1908, was born in Lycoming
county, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1837. Lewis Bradley, the subject of this
sketch, spent the first few years of his life in Illinois, Missouri and
Iowa, and then was brought to Kansas by his parents in 1874. He farmed
with his father until 1898, when he bought the home farm and built a
fine nine-room house on the place, a two-story dwelling. In 1913 he
erected a large barn, 48×60 feet, and keeps the best graded stock. Mr.
Bradley was married September 5, 1881, to Minnie Streeter, who was born
in Boone county, Illinois, October 28, 1865. She is a daughter of Rev.
William H. and Hanna (Vandicar) Streeter, both natives of Watertown, N.
Y. Mr. Streeter came to Kansas in 1870. He was a Methodist minister and
established churches all over Kansas. He was born September 16, 1825,
and died February 28, 1911. Hanna, his wife, was born May 16, 1826, and
died July 29, 1879. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley have four children as follows:
Maud married Albert Williams, railroad contractor, Muscotah, Kan., who
is a graduate of the county high school and taught for fourteen years;
Bessie, deceased; Henry, living at home, graduate of business college of
Kansas City, Mo.; Leslie married Miss Mabel Swisher, and has three
children, Elberta, Clarence and Bessie. Mr. Bradley is a Republican, and
belongs to the Modem Woodmen of America and to the Mystic Workers of the
World. He and his wife were charter members of the Advent Christian
church at Muscotah. Mr. Bradley is the oldest living of a family of
eleven children; the others living are: Lavelle Green, Levi, Ellen
Sheets, Elmer, May Sommers, and Mary Raasch.
ALFRED J. HAMON.
Alfred J. Hamon, farmer, stockman and builder, is one of those self-made
men whose careers demonstrate to our growing youths the possibilities of
industry and good management. Born with no unusual gifts and of parents
who were only in moderate circumstances, he has, by his own efforts,
built up a worthy name for himself in the community in which he lives.
Mr. Hamon was born in Kapioma township, Atchison county, Kansas, July
10, 1863. He was one of five children born to William and Leanah
(Brutton) Hamon. Emma Royer, the oldest child, is dead; Alfred, the
subject of this sketch, is the second in order of birth. The others are:
Nancy Heimbach, Effingham, Kan.; John, Jefferson county, Kansas: Samuel,
Kapioma township. The father was a Kentuckian, born in 1835, and during
part of his young manhood he farmed in his native State. Coming to
Kansas in the early days, he homesteaded 160 acres in Kapioma township,
Atchison county. This land was covered with timber, and rather than
attempt to clear it, he traded it for prairie land which composed the
farm on which he lived until his death in 1873, and his widow is living
on the farm in Kapioma township, at the age of seventy-six years.
Alfred Hamon grew up on the farm and attended school at Cole Creek
district a few months each year, and at the age of twenty-one he started
out for himself, renting a farm. Three years later he bought the place
and owned it three years. He then worked at the carpenters’ trade in
Atchison for three years and during this time he worked in many places
around Atchison and helped erect some of the more important buildings,
which were constructed during that time. Another two years was spent on
the farm in Kapioma township, and Mr. Hamon returned again to Atchison
to work at his trade. Carpenter work appealed to him more than farming
and he spent twenty-three years handling the plane and the saw. For
thirteen years of this time he did contracting and supervised the
erection of many buildings. Meanwhile he accumulated considerable
property in Atchison, and in 1906, the exacting work of carpentry became
tedious to Mr. Hamon, and he returned to farming, after twenty-three
years in Atchison. He had eighty acres of well improved land in Kapioma
township, section 23. He built a fine house and barn, utilizing his
experience in construction work to put up the best buildings that the
money would afford. His improvements cost $4,000. Mr. Hamon was a real
farmer as well as a carpenter. In 1911 he won first prize with an
exhibit of yellow corn at the Muscotah fair.
In 1884 he married Emma Tull, who was born in October, 1863, in Kapioma
township, Atchison county. She is a daughter of John and Hanna H. (Rust)
Tull, Virginians, who settled in Atchison county at an early date. Mr.
and Mrs. Hamon have five children as follows: Effie, deceased; Edna
Piper, California: Susan Clark, of Kansas City, Kan.; Roy and Ruth,
living at home. Mr. Hamon is a member of the Christian church. He is a
Republican and has been a member of the school board in his township.
JOHN GRIFFIN.
John Griffin, farmer and stockman, of Kapioma township, Atchison county,
Kansas, is a native of Kansas, having been born on the farm where he now
lives March 25, 1882. His parents, Lawrence and Ellen Griffin, lived on
the farm in Kapioma township. John Griffin was brought up on the farm
and when a small boy divided his time between chores and school at
district No. 60, Kapioma township, and later attended St. Benedict’s
College at Atchison, Kan. Considering the time spent in school, John
started out in life remarkably early, making his first venture at the
age of eighteen, renting a farm from his father. He continues to work
the farm rented from his mother at the present time.
On October 15, 1912, John Griffin married Christena Hanson. Mrs. Griffin
was born November 12, 1885, in Doniphan county, Kansas. Her parents,
Nels and Christena (Henderson) Hanson, were natives of Denmark, who came
to Doniphan county, Kansas, about 1870, where they engaged in farming.
The father died in 1892, at the age of fifty. The mother is living with
her son, Crist Hanson, in Kapioma township, Atchison county, and is
sixty-three years old. Mrs. Griffin attended the district schools in
Doniphan county, Kansas. Mr. Griffin is a member of the Catholic church,
and politically, has affiliated himself with the Democratic party. Mr.
Griffin is a conscientious citizen and a hard worker.
DAVID BEYER.
David Beyer, farmer and stockman of Kapioma township, Atchison county,
was born August 29, 1866, in Clearfield county, Pennsylvania. He was the
fourth child born to Asa and Susan Beyer, who were the parents of eleven
children, ten of whom are living, as follows: Mary Lewton, Benton
township; Samuel, Kapioma township; Christena High, Texas; David, the
subject of this sketch; Jane, living on the home place; Clarissa,
deceased; Martha Schiffbauer, Sumner county, Kansas; John, banker,
Arrington, Kan.; Albert, Caldwell, Kan.; Luctria Dodson, Kapioma
township; Mabel B. Royer, Kapioma township, Atchison county.
Asa Beyer, the father of David, was a carpenter by trade; he was born in
Pennsylvania in 1835, and after following his trade in his young
manhood, came to Kansas in 1868, and bought an eighty-acre farm in
Kapioma township, Atchison county. He gradually increased his holdings
to 340 acres, which he owned at the time of his death in 1898. The
mother of David Beyer is a Pennsylvanian also and is now living on the
home place in Kapioma township. David attended district school in
Pennsylvania and started out to shift for himself at the age of twenty-
one. When he came to Kansas and bought the eighty-acre farm, there were
no improvements on the place. In 1892, he built a substantial house and
in 1907, he built a fine two-story, ten-room house, and modern in every
respect. In 1911 he built a large barn, 36×52 feet. Mr. Beyer now owns
258 acres of land which were formerly owned by his father.
In 1897 Mr. Beyer married Anna Cawley, who was born in Atchison, Kan.,
June 30, 1862. She is a daughter of John and Margaret (Welch) Cawley,
both natives of Ireland. They were early settlers in Atchison, having
come here in 1858. Later they came to Kapioma township. Mr. and Mrs.
Beyer are the parents of three children, as follows: Asa, Marie and
Margaret, all living at home. Mr. Beyer attends church regularly though
he is not a member of any denomination. He belongs to the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows. He is a Republican, and has served as township
treasurer.
GEORGE W. GIBSON.
George W. Gibson, farmer, of Kapioma township, Atchison county, was born
May 16, 1855, in Clearfield county, Pennsylvania. He is a son of Jacob
and Leah (High) Gibson, who were the parents of eleven children, eight
of whom are living. The father was born in Maryland, and the mother in
Pennsylvania. They came to Kansas in 1871 and settled in Kapioma
township, Atchison county. Here the father bought 160 acres of land and
erected a small house on it. In the early days when he was just getting
on his feet financially, he had to economize at every point and to begin
with built a straw barn. Later, he improved the farm until it was a
modernly equipped place. Mr. Gibson lived on this farm until his death
in 1900, at the age of seventy-six years. The mother died the following
year at the age of seventy.
George Gibson, the subject of this sketch, attended the district schools
in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Kansas. At the age of twenty-one years he
started out to farm for himself. He rented land for a year when he
engaged in teaching at Larkinburg, Jackson county, Kansas. Later he
taught at Arrington, Atchison county, and, altogether, Mr. Gibson taught
school for three years. He then bought eighty acres of unimproved
prairie land, which he broke and improved. Mr. Gibson used good judgment
in his investments and was successful in every venture. He now owns 840
acres of land in Kansas and Texas. The farm on which he lives, is modern
in every respect and he has built an especially fine barn on it.
In 1880 Mr. Gibson was married to Elizabeth Miller, who was born May 9,
1860, in Atchison county, Kansas. She is a daughter of James and Eliza
(Russell) Miller. The father was born in Clay county, Missouri, August
3, 1831, and was a son of Moses Miller, a Kentuckian. James Miller spent
his early days in the West, working for the Government. Later he became
a large cattle breeder in Atchison county and came to be known as the
“Cattle King” because of his extensive activities in the cattle
business. He died at Mscotah, Kan., September 12, 1913, and the mother
of Mrs. Gibson died in 1879. She was a native of Iowa. Mr. and Mrs.
Gibson have nine children: Daisy M. Anderson, of Muskogee, Okla., who
was graduated from the Kansas Western Business College, and later taught
school in Kansas and Colorado; Dr. Frank C. Gibson, a graduate of the
Physicians’ and Surgeons’ School of Chicago, now practicing in Bovill,
Idaho, where he is surgeon for a railroad company and has charge of a
hospital; Charles R., farmer, Kapioma township, Atchison county; Lucy M.
Irwin, Dallas, Texas; Harry L., farmer on the home place; Ruth,
attending Kansas University, Lawrence; George W., Jr., John and William,
living at home. Mr. Gibson is an independent progressive Republican. He
has held the township offices of clerk, treasurer and trustee.
FRANK J. HUNN.
Frank J. Hunn has combined the activities of banker, public citizen,
farmer, and stockman, with the refinements of education, and lives today
as an example of an all around man of influence. Mr. Hunn is a native
Kansan, having been born in Garfield township, Jackson county, Kansas,
March 2, 1860. He comes of parentage of the sturdy pioneer type, brave,
but God-fearing. The father, Joseph Hunn, was born in 1815, of English
descent, being a son of a London minister. He was a native of
Connecticut and lived there until he was of middle age. Coming to Kansas
in 1857, he preëmpted a claim one mile east and a mile north of
Arrington, Atchison county, Kansas. Here he constructed a cabin home and
lived in the rough life of the frontier. But this was not new to Joseph
Hunn, for he had been one of that vast army of adventurers who crossed
the western plains in “forty-nine,” to seek gold in California. For four
years he had undergone the hardships of prospecting and the rigors of
Kansas winters weighed less heavily on him than they did on many
settlers. After two years on the Atchison county place, he sold out and
removed to Larkin, Jackson county, Kansas, living there until 1865, when
he took possession of the farm now owned by his son, Frank J. The father
died two years later, leaving his wife, Elizabeth, with two children,
Frank, and a daughter, Bessie, since married to Mr. Kathrens, a
merchant, of Arrington, Kan.
Elizabeth Hunn, whose maiden name was Redman, is of English and German
descent, coming from a line of religious ancestors, all of her family
being of a devout nature. She was born in 1825, and died December 16,
1912, having lived a long and useful career. After the death of her
husband she was occupied with the management of the farm, but in her
younger days she led a life full of service to others. She worked as a
nurse among the sick in the early times, when medical attention was
expensive and hard to get, and her efforts saved untold suffering and
expense to many settlers. She was a school teacher in Iowa for some
time, and always took a great deal of interest in the affairs of the
church and Sunday school. Until two years before her death Mrs. Hunn
taught a Sunday school class at the Arrington Methodist church, and,
although she was eighty-five years old, her age never kept her away from
her class. She was always on time and in her place and constantly set a
good example for younger persons.
With such persons for parents it is to be expected that Frank Hunn would
develop into a good citizen. With the high ideals instilled in his young
mind, Frank when a boy was encouraged to study hard at school, and when
he finished the graded courses at the Arrington school, he went to
Campbell College, at Holton, Kan. Here he spent a short time, and at the
age of twenty-two years began farming for himself. In 1893 he bought his
father’s old place and has since increased it to 250 acres. But his
activities do not stop at the limits of his farm. He has broken the
isolation of the farmer and has taken an active part in affairs for the
good of the community. He is recognized as a conservative, shrewd
business man, and now is president of the Arrington Bank, a position of
trust and responsibility. The fact that his fellow-shareholders in the
enterprise were willing to place such an honor upon him is proof of his
character and achievements. He takes a great deal of interest in
Shorthorn cattle and is recognized as a breeder of fine strains. He also
keeps graded horses and hogs.
In 1894 Mr. Hunn was married to Susie Gibson. (A sketch of her brother,
George W. Gibson, appears elsewhere in this volume.) Mrs. Hunn was born
in January, 1860, in Pennsylvania, and was a teacher in the district
school of Kapioma township before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Hunn are
the parents of three children, the oldest of whom is Frank, a graduate
of Effingham high school, now living at home; Edna and Mildred, the
other two children, also live with their parents. Mr. Hunn attends the
Methodist church, although he is not a member. He is an independent
voter, preferring to cast his ballot for the man whom he thinks will
make the best official regardless of party affiliations. He has held the
office of township clerk, township trustee, and township treasurer,
which positions he filled in a praiseworthy manner. At present Mr. Hunn
is a member of the school board of Kapioma township.
AUGUST J. WOLF.
August J. Wolf, farmer and stockman, of Atchison county, was born
October 17, 1862, in Doniphan county, Kansas. He is a son of Gottlieb
and Joehanna Wolf, who were the parents of fourteen children, seven of
whom are living. The parents of August Wolf were born in Germany and
both grew up there and were married in the capital city. In 1860 they
left the Fatherland with their five children and came to Doniphan
county, Kansas, where they engaged in farming. In 1880, they came to
Atchison county, Kansas, and bought the farm of 240 acres which is now
owned by their son, August, the subject of this sketch. Five years later
they moved to Atchison, Kan., where the father died in 1904, at the age
of eighty-five years. The mother died in 1914, at the age of eighty-one.
August Wolf grew up on his father’s farm and at the age of twenty-seven
started out to shift for himself. He rented his father’s farm, and also
helped his father in the threshing business. While feeding a thresher he
had his right hand torn off. This, of course, disabled him greatly, but
he kept up courage and after his injury had healed engaged in threshing
again. In 1902 he bought his father’s farm, and kept up both farming and
threshing until 1905, when he gave all of his attention to farming. Just
after this a storm destroyed many of the buildings on his place and he
rebuilt them better than they were before and made several additions. He
now owns 320 acres of land, seventy of which he plants in corn each
year. In 1910 he retired from active work on the farm, and his son-in-
law, Will Graham, now has actual charge of the place. Mr. Wolf has been
twice married, his first wife being Mary Walsh, a native of Germany, to
whom he was married in 1890. No children were born to them and the wife
died in 1912. Mr. Wolf later married Dorothea Hoffman, who was born in
Atchison county, April 15, 1870, and is the daughter of Frederick and
Katharena (Scheu) Hoffman. Her parents are of German birth, both having
left their native country when quite young. They were married in
Illinois and came to Kansas about 1860, where nine children were born to
them. Three had been born to them while they were living in Illinois.
The father engaged in farming in Center township and worked the place
which Frank Hubbard now farms and was also a blacksmith in Atchison,
Kan., for a few years. He died in July, 1887, at the age of fifty-six
years. No children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wolf, and the wife died in
July, 1913, at the age of seventy-six years. Mr. Wolf is a Republican.
He is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and belongs to the
Evangelical church. Mr. Wolf has striven under the greatest
difficulties, having lost his right hand when a young man, he has been
immeasurably handicapped through the greater part of his life. This is
especially true in view of the fact that he followed farming, where, if
anywhere, the use of both hands is necessary. Though it was a great
disadvantage that Mr. Wolf was placed under, he made a success of his
career by hard work and good management.
FRANK J. WAGNER.
Frank J. Wagner, farmer and stockman, of Center township, Atchison
county, was born July 16, 1864, in Austria. He is a son of Frank J. and
Louise (Frennar) Wagner, and was one of seven children, four of whom are
living. The parents were born in Austria and the father remained there
until his death in 1870. He was a farmer and was seventy-eight years old
when he died. In 1888 the mother left Austria and came to Atchison,
Kan., where she is now living. She was married a second time and this
husband is also dead. She will be seventy-six years old in August, 1916.
Frank J. Wagner, the subject of this sketch, was educated in his native
land and after attending the Austrian schools learned the trade of wagon
maker. Until 1884 he worked at this trade in Austria. He then immigrated
to America and came to Atchison, Kan., where he worked for a lumber
company for some time. Three years later he went to work on a farm, and
after five years he returned to Atchison and worked two years. He then
rented land in Shannon township, Atchison county, and in 1905 bought 160
acres in Center township. He bought this place just in time to have his
buildings torn to pieces by the storm of 1905. Most of the buildings
were blown down by the wind and it was necessary to rebuild practically
all of them. In doing this he made some $5,000 worth of improvements.
Mr. Wagner takes a great deal of interest in the breeding of fine Poland
China hogs.
He was married to Amelia Wonder, March 5, 1890. She is a daughter of
Wenzel and Amelia Wonder, and was born in Austria in August, 1873. She
came to America with her mother in 1888, and later settled in Atchison
county. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner are the parents of the following children:
Frank, farming with his father; Karl, living with his father; Frances,
married to M. Mudice; Ada, deceased: John, Albert and George, living at
home. Mr. Wagner is an independent Democrat in politics. He is a member
of the Catholic church and of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
WILLIAM WEHKING.
William Wehking, farmer and stockman, of Center township, Atchison
county, was born in Westphalia, Germany, November 26, 1866. He is a son
of Christian and Christena (Ruhe) Wehking, who were the parents of seven
children, one of whom is dead. The parents both died in their native
land. William Wehking worked in a flour-mill in Germany until 1886, when
he immigrated to America. He thought that the West offered the best
opportunity to a poor boy, and came to Kansas, settling in Cummings,
Atchison county. He began working on a farm at thirteen dollars a month.
Eight years later he rented land near Nortonville, Kan. In 1894 he
bought eighty acres in Jefferson county, Kansas, where he farmed eight
years. Later, he sold this place and bought the farm of 150 acres which
he now owns. He erected a fine silo on this place and is especially
prepared to raise fine stock. He has since increased his holdings to 190
acres and has ventured into the dairy business fine Durham cattle and
Poland China hogs in which he takes great pride. Mr. Wehking is a
stockholder in a mercantile enterprise in Nortonville, Kan.
In 1895 Mr. Wehking married Minnie (Giesking), who was born in Germany
August 31, 1876. When sixteen years old she came to America and settled
at Lancaster, Kan. Mr. and Mrs. Wehking have eight children: Martha,
Edward, Clara, William, Alma, Ernst, Frederick and Henry, all living at
home. Mr. Wehking is an independent voter and is a member of the
Lutheran church. He is a shrewd business man and has been successful
primarily because of his conservative judgment in handling his business
ventures.
WILLIAM HARTMAN.
William Hartman, prosperous farmer, of Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison
county, was born in Platte county, Missouri, in 1851, a son of Jonathan
and Christina (Wolking) Hartman, the latter a native of Hanover,
Germany, and emigrated from her native land with her parents when ten
years of age, locating in Cincinnati, Ohio. Jonathan Hartman was born in
1821, at Brookville, Franklin county, Indiana, and was a son of Henry
Hartman, who was born in Pennsylvania, and was among the first settlers
of Franklin county, Indiana. In 1842 Henry left Indiana and settled in
Platte county, Missouri, and was among the early pioneers of that
county. He died on his farm in Missouri in 1860. Jonathan, the father of
William, was reared to young manhood in Indiana and was married there.
In 1847, he with his wife and two children followed his father to Platte
county, Missouri, and there followed his trade of millwright in Platte
City until 1849, when he made the overland trip to California with ox
teams, remaining on the coast for two years. He made some money while in
the gold fields and returned home by way of Cape Horn, paying $500 for
his passage. Captain Fulger was in command of the ship and he lost his
vessel on the coast of Central America, the vessel striking the rocks
and breaking in pieces. All aboard were rescued except the first mate.
There were 500 passengers on this vessel who were compelled to wait on
the west coast for five weeks before an opportunity presented itself to
cross the mountains to the eastern shore. They were eventually taken
across the mountains, but several died from the hardships they endured
during the trip. Mr. Hartman secured passage to New Orleans, and from
that city came up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, arriving there in
December of 1850. From St. Louis the returned argonaut went to his home
at Platte City. Three years later he set out with five wagons in
partnership with his brother-in-law, R. D. Johnson, en route to Salt
Lake City, Utah. The wagons were heavily loaded with provisions,
drygoods and liquor. When the expedition arrived at the south fork of
Green river they left three wagonloads at that point and pressed onward
to their destination to the north fork of the river. They traded with
the Indians and Mormons and made considerable money. Prices were
fabulous in the far West in those days, flour bringing $100 per hundred
weight; common work shirts sold for five dollars each, whiskey brought
five dollars per pint, and the prices of other commodities were in
proportion. Returning home from this trip Mr. Hartman lived in Platte
City until 1854, and then came to Kansas with the first steam sawmill
ever erected in Atchison county, and one of the first to be placed in
operation in Kansas. He established his mill at old Port William and
operated it successfully until 1857. He then came to Mt. Pleasant
township and preëmpted a claim now known as the Howe farm which he sold
for fifty dollars. He traded his sawmill for a farm near Parnell, Kan.,
now owned by Robert Volk. Jonathan was personally acquainted with Pardee
Butler, and met and conversed with Butler after he had been set adrift
on a raft on the Missouri river by pro-slavery men. He took Butler to
his home and gave him his supper. He hid the refugee at the home of a
neighbor until the next day and then accompanied him to Weston, from
which point Mr. Butler made his way to his old home in Ohio, where he
remained in safety for nine months before he returned to Kansas.
Jonathan Hartman was a Free State man and a Republican in politics, who
took a prominent and influential part in the affairs of his locality. He
was appointed guardian for the war widows and was selected by the Civil
war veterans of the county to distribute the money apportioned to the
war widows. On account of defective hearing, contracted as a result of
an attack of mountain fever, he was not eligible for service in the
Union army, but lent his moral support to the Union. He died on the farm
January 24, 1897. He was the father of nine children, three of whom are
living, as follows: R. D. Hartman, born in Missouri in 1847; William
Hartman, the subject of this review; and Henry Hartman, born in Indiana;
Frederick Hartman, former sheriff of the county; Elijah Hartman, born in
Atchison county, Kansas, in 1856, and died in 1890; Alice, wife of E. N.
Eshom, of Atchison county.
William Hartman grew up on his father’s farm and was educated in the
district school of his neighborhood. He was married in 1883 to Florence
A. Good, a daughter of Daniel Good, an early settler of Atchison county,
and originally from New York State. Mr. Hartman is the owner of 140
acres of very fine and productive land near old Parnell. The children of
William and Florence Hartman are as follows: Morris, Jonathan H.,
Nelson, Mariwillie, wife of H. W. Gilbert, of Horton, Kan.; and Flossie,
wife of J. C. Cartmille, of Atchison county; Warren, the youngest of the
family, was born November 11, 1901.
Mr. Hartman is a stanch Republican in politics, is a member of the
Christian church, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows.
ROYAL BALDWIN.
Near the old village of Kennekuk, in the northeast corner of Grasshopper
township, Atchison county, Kansas, stands the old home of Maj. Royal
Baldwin, Indian agent. This home was built sixty years ago by Major
Baldwin and is at present the home of Mrs. Jennie L. Dollinds, the last
of the race of Baldwins in Atchison county. This narrative, therefore,
will deal principally with the life career of Royal Baldwin, United
States Indian agent, who was widely known in all of northeast Kansas as
Major Baldwin.
Royal Baldwin was born in Litchfield, Conn., June 22, 1817, and was a
descendant of ancestors who came over from England in the Mayflower.
Three brothers, Ira, Julius, and Thomas, landed at Plymouth Rock with
the party of Pilgrims who sought homes in the forbidding wilderness of
New England in 1620. Julius Baldwin was the founder of the family of
which Royal Baldwin descended, and he finally settled in Connecticut,
where Royal was born and reared to young manhood. Royal Baldwin received
a good education in the public schools and academy of his neighborhood
in Connecticut, and when fifteen years of age he began teaching school.
Later, the spirit of adventure moved him and he went to Ohio, where he
became a boatman on the Muskingum river. While living in Ohio he married
Miss Ann Campbell, who was born February 15, 1820, in Belmont county,
Ohio, and died July 16, 1894. She was a daughter of Joseph Campbell, of
Scotch parents, and who married a lady of Welsh parentage. After his
marriage Royal Baldwin settled in Meigs county, Ohio, where their three
children were born. In 1856 Mr. Baldwin was appointed Indian agent by
the United States Government and sent to northeast Kansas to take charge
of the moving of the four tribes, the Kickapoos, Sacs, Foxes and
Pottawatomies to their Kansas reservations. When he received his
appointment he removed with his family overland to St. Joseph, Mo., and
immediately began his duties of settling the Indians on their
reservations. He remained as Indian agent for twelve years and then
resigned his position on account of poor health, but was again appointed
and held the office for three years, after which he resigned, but was
re-appointed by the Government, and died October 3, 1878, soon after the
acceptance papers were sent back to Washington. Major Baldwin also
conducted the Indian trading post at old Kennekuk in Grasshopper
township. During the border ruffian days a party of Jayhawkers called at
the home of the Baldwins one night when the major was absent, and,
knocking loudly upon the door, gave the information that Government
authorities had sent them to get arms and ammunition from the stores
with which to fight against General Price’s army, which was about to
invade Kansas. Jennie L. Baldwin was then a young girl of sixteen years.
Mrs. Baldwin met the men at the door, and by the exercise of tact and
diplomacy induced them to move on and let them alone. During his career
as Indian agent Major Baldwin accumulated several hundred acres of land.
He was a shrewd trader, and during the early days before the building of
the trans-continental railroads he became interested in the freighting
of goods across the plains to Denver and western points. He was a
brilliant success as an Indian agent and never had trouble with his
proteges. His first interpreter was Peter Kadgue, and his second
interpreter was John Chawkickey. The old Indian mission was also built
by Major Baldwin, and the old Baldwin home which he erected in 1856 is
still standing. His duties as Indian agent were arduous and exacting,
but he was equal to the emergencies which arose. He was a small, wiry
man of slight build, blue-eyed and had light hair. Three children were
born to Royal Baldwin and wife, of whom two died in infancy. Jennie L.,
widow of John S. Dollinds, was born January 9, 1851, in Meigs county,
Ohio, and was married in 1883 to Mr. Dollinds.
John S. Dollinds was born in New Orleans January 1, 1832, of French-
Spanish parents. When he was a small boy his parents removed to
Pittsburgh, Pa., where he was reared to young manhood. At the outbreak
of the Civil war he enlisted in Company A of the Sixty-second regiment,
Pennsylvania infantry, serving in the Fifth army corps and participated
in many hard-fought battles, among them being the battles of the
Wilderness and Gettysburg. He was wounded at the battle of Antietam, but
remained in the service until the close of the war, after recovering
from his wound. After the war closed Mr. Dollinds became a river boatman
on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers for sixteen years, plying between
Pittsburgh and New Orleans. He then came to Kansas and settled in
Pottawatomie county. He invested in land, but never actively farmed to
any extent. He was a gifted individual of great versatility of mind and
was a photographer of more than ordinary ability. He died June 1, 1914.
Mr. Dollinds was a member of the Odd Fellows, and of the Grand Army of
the Republic, Black Eagle Post, Horton, Kan.
Mrs. Dollinds was formerly a member of the ladies’ aid auxiliary of the
grand army post at Horton, and was invited by the Grand Army of the
Republic to attend the National grand encampment at Washington. She is
an honorary member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and had served as
a delegate to the grand encampment held at Pittsburgh, Pa.
DAVIS W. COLLINS.
Davis W. Collins, M.D., a prominent physician, of Arrington, Atchison
county, Kansas is one of the leading professional men of his town. He is
a Pennsylvanian, having been born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, March
9, 1875. His parents, James C. and Phoebe (Woodward) Collins, were the
parents of four children, as follows: Eliza Rowland, Lane, Kan.; Effie
Mocherman, Wellsville, Kan.; Davis, the subject of this sketch; Roy,
operator, Yale, Okla. The father was born in Ohio and spent his early
years on the farm. In 1878 he came to Kansas and settled in Franklin
county, where he is now engaged in farming at the advanced age of
seventy, an example of good health through right living. The mother was
born in Pennsylvania and lives with her husband on the farm.
Dr. Collins grew up on his father’s farm in Kansas and attended the
district school near the home place. Later, he attended the high school
at Wellsville, Kan., and then took a business course at Dixon, Ill. In
1894 he entered the Kansas City Medical College and was graduated from
that institution with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1898. He was
at Baldwin, Kan., a short time and then came to Arrington, where he has
built up a large practice by his excellent skill and high ethical
standards. He owns stock in the Arrington bank and holds considerable
property in the vicinity of Arrington.
In 1900 he was united in marriage with Minnie Case, who was born
November 20, 1880, in Atchison county, Kansas. She is the daughter of
Frank and Anna (High) Case, early settlers of Kansas. The father was a
merchant in Arrington. Both parents are now dead. Mr. and Mrs. Collins
have two children: Claire and Carmen, both living at home. Mr. Collins
is a Republican and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
Modern Woodmen of America. Although he is not a church member, he is a
regular attendant at church and contributes liberally to the support of
religious activities.
GEORGE GOODWIN.
George Goodwin, one of the pioneer settlers of Atchison county, and
farmer of Grasshopper township, was born in 1857, in Illinois, a son of
Thomas and Helen (Bevens) Goodwin, both of whom where born at Gravesend,
England, about thirty miles from the city of London on the Thames river.
They were reared to maturity in England, there married and immigrated to
America, first settling in New York, where they resided for a short
time, and then made a home in Illinois. In 1860 the parents of George,
with the family, came to Kansas. For a short time they lived at Ft.
Leavenworth, and then came to the city of Atchison, where Thomas Goodwin
became a manufacturer of brick in partnership with Henry Bevens, his
brother-in-law. They made the first kiln of brick ever burned in
Atchison county, and soon afterward sold the brick kiln and moved onto a
farm owned by John Russell, the banker. After working for Mr. Russell
for a few years, Thomas moved on to a farm of his own, where he spent
the remainder of his days. He became quite prominent among the early
pioneers of the county, was a Republican in politics, and was an Odd
Fellow. Seven children were born to this pioneer couple, of whom George,
the subject of this review, was the youngest.
George Goodwin was eighteen months of age when the family came to
Kansas, and he was reared in the city of Atchison and on the farm where
his parents settled. He received his education in the public schools,
and is residing on his eighty acre farm in Grasshopper township. When he
became of age he married Hester Adams, to this union have been born two
children, namely: Thomas N. Goodwin, who is cultivating the old Goodwin
homestead, and Edmund E. died at the age of eight years. The mother of
these children was born in Iowa, a daughter of Nathan Adams, a native of
New York State, and an early settler of Iowa. He was of English
parentage, and his wife was a daughter of French-Canadian parents.
While Mr. Goodwin is allied with the Republican party, he prefers to
vote independent of party dictation and makes up his own mind concerning
the qualifications of respective candidates regardless of their
political qualifications. He is a member of the Knights and Ladies of
Security.
RICHARD B. CLEVELAND.
Richard B. Cleveland, retired farmer and old settler, of Muscotah, Kan.,
was born December 29, 1830, in New York State. He was a son of Richard
and Elizabeth (Mead) Cleveland, who left New York when Richard was a
small boy and settled in Illinois. The Cleveland family are of English
descent and can trace their ancestry back to the settlement and colonial
days of New England. Richard, the father, was a successful merchant in
New York, who suffered considerable losses on account of an absconding
partner, who left after looting the business. Richard then decided to
make a new start in the West, and again succeeded in rehabilitating his
fortunes on the rich farm lands of Illinois in Cook county. When he
first went to Illinois he was too poor to do otherwise than to rent
land, but as time went on he gradually got on his feet and became a
prosperous land owner.
Richard B. Cleveland was reared to young manhood in Cook county,
Illinois, and was married there. In 1862 he left Illinois and came to
Kansas with his wife and family, first living for a few years on a farm
in Jackson county, north of Holton. He then bought 160 acres of land in
Grasshopper township which was unimproved. Before he built his home on
this tract he lived for a time at New Eureka on the old Salt Lake trail
and operated a small grocery store. All of Mr. Cleveland’s worldly goods
when he came to Kansas in company with Isaac Gordon, an old Englishman,
consisted of a team and wagon and a few household goods. He bought 160
acres of unimproved land, his mother’s watch being applied on this deal.
In 1863 he enlisted in the Second regiment, Nebraska infantry, and was
engaged in fighting the Sioux Indians on the border for over nine
months. He was mustered out of the service at Falls City, Neb., late in
the winter of 1864, at a time when a deep snow covered the ground and he
had difficulty in reaching his home after his long absence. He then took
a job of carrying the mail for a Government contractor named Darlington.
The route which he traveled extended from Falls City, Neb., to Indianola
and Mr. Cleveland received the munificent salary of twelve dollars per
month for carrying the mail on horseback between these two cities and
furnished his own horse. The farm which he purchased near Eureka was
located on Straight creek, and there was plenty of timber growing on the
banks of this stream which was a favorite camping ground of the Indians
of the Pottawatomie tribe. Sometimes a large band of over 100 would camp
in the timber along the stream. An incident which occurred is well worth
recording. Mrs. Cleveland had a fine flock of turkeys which were running
in the woods and prairies. One day she heard the sound of a gun, and
looking out of the doorway of the cabin she saw an Indian buck going
toward one of her turkeys which he had shot. This incensed her and she
ran toward the Indian. A neighbor woman also started toward the Indian
with a gun in her hands, ready to shoot him if it became necessary. She
shook her fist at the buck, who said in explanation: “Me thought prairie
chicken.” Mrs. Cleveland replied: “You thieving rascal, that was my
turkey, now you get.” The Indian sulkily moved on and the Cleveland
family feasted on turkey the next day. In the spring of 1864 the soldier
returned to his family and began building up his farm, settling down to
farm life and endeavoring to make good. He succeeded and is the owner of
a fine farm of rich land. By the exercise of thrift and industry he
accumulated a competence and reared a fine family. Like the other
farmers of his neighborhood he had to go through the experience of the
“grasshopper” years, and it is recalled that he was very skeptical of
the news of the coming of the “hoppers” when travelers and grasshopper
victims came through his country. He “pooh-poohed” the idea that the
“hoppers” were coming in vast clouds and would not believe it, but he
soon had serious reason to change his mind when they came in vast swarms
and ate up his crops. Mr. Cleveland was married in Lockport, Ill., to
Rhoda A. Perrin, who was born November 21, 1832, and departed this life
July 11, 1907. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cleveland, as
follows: Orrin Almeron, a farmer of Atchison county; Mead Cleveland, a
farmer in Oklahoma, and Hattie, at home with her father.
In politics, Mr. Cleveland has always been a Republican of the stalwart
variety. He is a member of the Congregational church of Muscotah, and is
one of the highly respected citizens of his township and city, and is
one of the last of the old-time Indian fighters and pioneers who paved
the way in the wilderness for the thousands of settlers who have come to
this great land after him and his fellows had endured the hardships
necessary for the redemption of the unpeopled prairie. It is to such men
as he that this volume of historical annals is respectfully dedicated.
GEORGE V. ANDERSON.
George V. Anderson, farmer and stockman, of Arrington, Kapioma township,
Atchison county, Kansas, was born February 3, 1876, on a farm in Platte
county, Missouri, son of Vincent and Mathelda (Pitts) Anderson. Vincent
Anderson was a native of Tennessee, farmer by vocation, immigrated from
Tennessee to Missouri, where he became the owner of a farm, and during
the late fifties was a shipper and freighter across the plains. Vincent
Anderson was married to Mathelda Pitts, and the following children were
born to this marriage: Mrs. Mary Dyer, deceased; Eliot, deceased; and
George V., the subject of this sketch. The mother of these children was
born April 17, 1845, in Fleming county, Kentucky, a daughter of James
and Anna (Eliot) Pitts. James Pitts was a native-born Kentuckian who
immigrated to Missouri, and died at the age of seventy-four years. He
became an extensive land owner in Missouri. A few years after the death
of Vincent Anderson his widow married John H. Calvert, who is also
deceased. Mrs. Calvert, the mother of George V. Anderson, still resides
in Kapioma township.
George V. Anderson was reared on a farm and when twenty years of age
started to work at twenty-two dollars a month. His stepfather, John
Calvert, migrated from Platte county, Missouri, to Kansas in 1883 and
settled on a farm near Muscotah, where he rented land for a few years,
and in 1892 bought an eighty-acre farm in Kapioma township. He improved
this farm and erected a six-room residence which presents a good
appearance. He died June 24, 1913. In 1897 George V. Anderson rented a
tract of land which he cultivated for three years, saved his money in
the meantime, and made his first investment in eighty acres of land in
Jackson county, Kansas. He improved this tract and sold it at a good
profit in 1902. A few years later he purchased 160 acres of land in
Kapioma township. This tract he at once began to improve, built a house
and erected a nice barn. Mr. Anderson has added to his acreage from time
to time until he now owns 252 acres of well improved land. He keeps
sufficient graded stock on his place to consume the grain which is
raised, enabling him to market his farm products in a convenient manner
and keep up the fertility of the land.
Mr. Anderson was married in 1892 to Frances Brosig, and to this union
have been born four children: Carl, Minnie, Vernon, and Scott, all of
whom are at home with their parents. Mrs. Anderson was born August 13,
1865, in Germany. She is a daughter of Carl and Theresa Anderson, who
immigrated to America when Frances was a child and settled in Kansas.
Mr. Anderson is a Democrat in politics, a member of the Christian
church, and affiliated with the Modern Woodmen lodge.
GEORGE L. BROWN.
George L. Brown, one of the younger members of the Atchison county bar
and an able attorney, is a native of Chattanooga, Tenn. He was born
March 25, 1890, and is a son of George T. and Mary E. (Scott) Brown. The
father was a native of Washington, D. C., born in 1860. He was reared to
manhood in the vicinity of Washington and studied civil engineering in
Maryland. He came to Kansas in the capacity of civil engineer on the
construction of the Rock Island railroad in the eighties and while there
met and married Mary E. Scott. She is a native of Doniphan county,
Kansas, and is a daughter of Benjamin and Frances (Helm) Scott; the
former is now deceased and the latter resides in Atchison with her
daughter. The Scott family were early settlers in Kansas, locating in
Doniphan county in 1857.
After their marriage George T. Brown and his wife located in
Chattanooga, Tenn., where he was engaged in business for a time when he
removed to St. Louis and was engaged in business there until the time of
his death which occurred in November, 1900. After the death of her
husband Mrs. Brown returned to Kansas with her two children, George L.,
the subject of this sketch, and Donald Scott, now aged fifteen years.
Mrs. Brown located in Atchison and engaged in teaching which had been
her profession prior to her marriage. She is one of the most successful
teachers of Atchison county and is now engaged in her work in the
Ingalls school, Atchison.
George L. attended the public schools of Atchison and was graduated from
the Atchison High School in the class of 1909. He then entered the law
department of Kansas University, Lawrence, Kan., and was graduated in
the class of 1914 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Mr. Brown did not
attend the university continuously from the time that he entered until
his graduation. He was employed for a year in the meantime as clerk in
the offices of the Missouri Pacific shops at Atchison and in this way
helped pay his way through the university. He was admitted to the bar in
June, 1914, and immediately engaged in the practice of his profession
with offices at 304 Simpson building. He has a very satisfactory
practice for the short time that he has been engaged in his professional
work and is recognized as a young man with considerable more than
ordinary ability who gives close attention to his profession.
Politically, he is a Democrat and comes from a long line of Democratic
ancestors. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and his fraternal
affiliations are with the Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity, and the Loyal
Order of Moose.
JOHN A. REYNOLDS.
Time and experience have demonstrated that if an individual remain for a
number of years in an avocation and devote his energies and mind to
becoming proficient in his particular profession he is certain to become
a valued citizen of his community and amass a competence. John A.
Reynolds, railroad engineer, is a citizen of this type, who for forty
years has been in the employ of the Missouri Pacific railroad, and has
arisen to become one of the substantial and well respected citizens of
Atchison. Mr. Reynolds is a director of two of the most important
banking concerns of northeast Kansas and has taken a leading part in
city affairs for many years.
Speaking in a biographical sense. Mr. Reynolds was born in the city of
St Louis, Mo., June 7, 1858. a son of Thomas and Bridget (Glancy)
Reynolds, both of whom were natives of Roscommon county, Ireland. Thomas
Reynolds, after his immigration to America became wharf clerk for a
navigation company at St. Louis, where he resided until July 28, 1861,
at which time he came to Atchison, Kan., and entered the employ of
Theodore Barkow as bookkeeper. He remained in this position until his
demise, on April 1, 1870. The mother of John A. Reynolds died February
25, 1915, at the great age of ninety-six years. It is to the everlasting
credit of John that when his father died he at once began doing his
share of supporting the family and cared tenderly for his mother until
her death. Mrs. Reynolds, the widow, was left with very few resources,
and John was but twelve years of age at the time. Seven children were
born to Thomas Reynolds and wife, of whom John was the only survivor at
the time of his father’s death.