USA > Kansas > A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I > Part 18
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charge of the general business of the com- pany, making sales, renting property, leas- ing and selling farm lands and residences and attending to other important interests. Colonel Snyder preceded Mr. Judson as manager at Kanopolis.
Mr. Judson believes that Kanapolis would be an excellent location for a sani- tarium and he is doing what he can to pro- mote a movement to utilize the hotel for that purpose. He has devoted his time and en- ergies entirely to the interests of his com- pany, which from time to time has given him numerous intimations that his conscien- tious service is highly appreciated, and Mr. Judson has received many testimonials from former employers as to his ability and dis- cretion. Our subject has one son, William B. Judson, of Chicago, founder, proprietor and publisher of the Northwestern Lumber- man, which was merged with the American Lumberman, published at Chicago, of which Mr. Judson is manager. Mr. Judson's mother died June 28, 1890; she was born at Savannah, Georgia, December 20, 1783. She married Silas Judson April 19, 1822, and went with him to Utica, New York. Mr. Judson died in 1838, in Connecticut. Mrs. Judson remained at Utica until 1865, but passed her declining years at Waverly. lowa. She was a devout member of the Protestant Episcopal church and was highly esteemed for her many Christian virtues.
Mr. Judson was received as an entered apprentice in Bay City Lodge, No. 129, A. F. & A. M., January 30, 1861, passed the fellowcraft degree February 9, 1861, and was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason February 20, 1861, and is a past master of that lodge. He was past high priest of Blanchard Chapter, No. 59. R. A. M., at Bay City, in which he took the degrees of capitular Masonry, and was there exalted to the august degrees of royal-arch Mason. He is past eminent commander, of Bay City Commandery of Knights Templar. He is a member of Isis Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Salina, Kansas. He is an honorary member of Saint Aldemar Commandery, No. 33. Knights Templar, of Ellsworth, and is a
charter member of Joppa Lodge, No. 315, A. F. & A. M., of Bay City, Michigan. He is a member of Kanapolis Lodge, No. 321, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is one of its past noble grands. He has rep- resented his lodge in the grand lodge of the state of Kansas and has served three terms in the office of district deputy.
J. E. STEWART, M. D.
One of the notable institutions of Hutch- inson is the Stewart Hospital, conducted by the Stewart Brothers, both distinguished and capable physicians and surgeons whose marked ability has placed them in the front rank of the representatives of the medical fraternity in this portion of the state. Their reputation, however, is not limited by the confines of Kansas, for many of their pa- trons come from other states and the history of their successful treatment is continually increasing their practice. This is a utilitarian age in which man is judged by his useful- ness in the world. The public has no place for the misanthrope or the individual who lives to himself alone, and public opinion commends or condemns according as the in- dividual has wrought along the lines of greatest good to his fellow men or other- wise. It is this which has won for the med- ical fraternity its high standing, and well does the honorable, able and conscientious physician deserve the gratitude and respect of his fellow men.
Dr. J. E. Stewart, the senior member of the firm, was born in Bedford county, Vir- ginia, March 19, 1857, a son of Robert B. and Angeline ( Arrington) Stewart, both of whom are representatives of prominent old southern families. The branch of Stewarts to which the Doctor belongs is descended from the Scottish clan of that name. The great-grandfather, emigrating to America, took up his abode in Beaufort. South Caro- lina, where he spent his remaining days. His son, the Rev. James Stewart, the grand- father of the Doctor, was a pioneer minister of the Methodist Episcopal church and for
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sixty years was a member of the Baltimore conference. the scene of his labors being Virginia. There he gave his time and ener- gies to ministerial work until 1868 when he came to Kansas, and his death occurred in Reno county when he had attained the ad- vanced age of ninety-five years. In early life he had married Betsey Bush, of Vir- ginia. His last years were spent in the home of his son Robert.
Robert Stewart was the father of the well known physicians of Hutchinson, who are conducting the Stewart Hospital. He was reared on the old plantation in Bedford county, Virginia, and there resided for many years. He owned extensive landed interests and many slaves and in common with other property owners of the southern states he lost considerable during the period of the Civil war. In 1881 he removed with his family of seven children to Rice county, Kansas, where he purchased a tract of land upon which he yet resides-an honored and representative agriculturist of the commun- ity. In his political views he is a stanch Democrat and like the other members of the Stewart family is a devoted member of the Methodist church. He has five children who are still living: Samuel W., who operates a part of the homestead farm in Rice coun- ty; Robert O., an agriculturist of the same county; James E., a twin brother of Robert and the subject of this review ; R. A., who is in partnership with his brother James ; and Olive, the wife of Samuel Steinmetz, of Rice county.
On the old Virginia plantation Dr. James E. Stewart spent his early youth and acquired his preliminary education in the common schools. He began the study of med- icine under the direction of Dr. E. W. Sale, of Stewartville, Virginia, who directed his reading for two years. He then entered the Hospital Medical College, of Louisville, Kentucky, where he remained for one term. when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Kansas. After a residence of six months in Rice county he became a stu- dent in the office of Dr. P. P. Trueheart, of Sterling. Kansas, and then returning to the east entered the University of Maryland, at
Baltimore, where he spent one term. On the expiration of that period he returned to the Hospital Medical College, of Louisville, where he was graduated in the spring of 1883. Six months later he established an office in Alden, Rice county, Kansas, where he engaged in practice for eight years, re- moving then to Hutchinson, where he has since remained, forming a partnership with his brother in the establishment and conduct of the Stewart Hospital, which has become one of the leading private hospitals in the state.
On the 7th of March. 1894, Dr. J. E. Stewart married Miss Lillian Young, a daughter of John W. and A. E. (Furge- son) Young. They have two children, Helen and William Y. The family attend the Methodist church, in which the Doctor holds membership. He is independent in his political views and has never sought of- fice, his time and attention being fully en- grossed by the demands of his practice.
Robert A. Stewart, the junior member of the firm, was born in Bedford county, Virginia, January 20, 1868, and was only thirteen years of age when he acompanied his parents to Rice county, Kansas, where he continued his education which had been begun in the public schools of his native state. Through the summer months he as- sisted his father in the operation of the farm until 1888, when he matriculated in the Hospital Medical College, of Louisville, and was graduated in the class of 1891. Immediately afterward he entered into part- nership with his brother, Dr. James E. Stewart, an association which has since been maintained. He was married June 12, 1895, to Mary C., daughter of James P. McCurdy, and they have two children, Margaret and John R. They have an elegant residence at No. 801 North Main street, which was erec- ted by the Doctor. His political views are not bound by party ties, his support being given to the men and measures that he be- lieves will best promote the general good. His religious faith is indicated by his mem- bership in the Methodist Episcopal church.
Both brothers give their undivided atten- tion to their professional duties and their
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work has been crowned by a high measure of success. Since his graduation Dr. R. A. Stewart has taken two private courses of study under Professor Reynolds, of Louis- ville, Kentucky. In March, 1891. the hos- pital was established in Hutchinson, with modest pretensions, in a small building on West Tenth street. They abandoned gen- eral practice, making a specialty of surgery. gynecology and the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear and throat. It took time to demonstrate to the public the worth of the institution and for about four years the finan- cial outlook was anything but promising, but since that time a constantly increasing patronage has rendered their business lucra- tive and profitable. Well do they deserve success. They have founded a hospital just- ly meriting the public support. In 1897 they purchased their present property at 724 North Main street, the location being one of the most desirable in the city. It is far enough removed from the business portion to escape the noise of traffic. The building was originally a fine residence, and this they have remodeled and added to, making it well adapted for the purpose for which it is now used. The grounds are well kept and of attractive appearance and the house is bright and cheerful and arranged with ad- mirable taste. Perfect sanitary conditions exist and the steam heating, electric lighting and water systems are equally admirable. There are more than thirty rooms in the building, each perfectly ventilated. The clean white walls and spotless floors in the twenty-two rooms fitted up for patients pre- clude the possibility of disease germs of any nature finding a harboring place. The kitch- en is in a separate building so that no odors of cooking reach the rooms of the patients. On the second floor is located the laboratory containing apparatus for making all of the delicate tests and analysis so essential to correct diagnosis and subsequent successful treatment of disease. The institution is well equipped with all necessary appliances and instruments for the successful performance of all ordinary surgical operations in the operating room on the first floor and the past four years has demonstrated the fact that the
percentage of recoveries here is greater in proportion than in many of the larger insti- tutions. Skillful and scientific methods of treatment. salubrious climate, careful nurs- ing and perfect sanitary conditions and quiet and pleasant surroundings, all doubtless contribute their share in accomplishing this desirable result. In summing up the value of man's work in the world that of the phy- sician has a prominent place and no mem- bers of the profession are doing more along the line of their chosen vocation than the Stewart Brothers, whose professional skill, high Christian character and individual worth have gained them the unqualified re- gard of all with whom they have been asso- ciated.
H. C. WARNER.
H. C. Warner, president of the Citizens' State Bank, is a leading and influential busi- ness man of Arlington, not alone because of his connection with financial circles, but also by reason of his extensive farming and stock-raising interests. He owns a large and valuable ranch on section 34, Arlington township, where he resides, dividing his at- tention between the bank and the ranch. He was born in Union county, Ohio, No- vember 6, 1850. a son of Elijah and Lois (Burdick) Warner, the former a native of New York and the latter of Ohio. During his boyhood days the father accompanied his parents to the Buckeye state, where he was reared to manhood and married. He then engaged in farming on his own account and acquired a good property of one hun- dred and sixty acres. This he cleared of heavy timber, transformed it into richly cultivated fields and made his home thereon until his death, which occurred in 1870. His widow still survives him and yet resides on the old home place at the age of eighty- five years. In the family were ten children and our subject is the fourth of the surviv- ing members, now numbering seven. One son, Joshua, came west, located in Gage county, Nebraska, and there died in 1890. The living members are: Pernintha, the
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wife of I. H. Embry, of Gage county, Ne- braska ; Emma, the wife of Foster Graham, of Dundee county, Nebraska; Hezekiah C., of this review; Isaac, who is living on the old homestead in Ohio: and Nettie and Ada, who reside with their mother upon the same farm together with Albert, who also oper- ates the home place.
On his father's farm in Ohio H. C. War- ner spent the days of his boyhood and youth, and through the short winter terms he pur- sued his education in the common schools. When he was but twenty years of age his father died and as he was the eldest son the work of the farm and the management of its business affairs devolved largely upon him. For twenty-five years he there remained, cul- tivating the fields and looking after the in- terests of the family. In 1875 he left the old homestead and engaged in merchandis- ing in Union county, Ohio, in company with B. W. Evans, the partnership being main- tained for five years, when Mr. Warner sold his interest to Mr. Evans, and in 1880 went to Gage county, Nebraska. There he en- gaged in the stock business until his re- moval to Reno county in 1881. Here he lo- cated first in the town of Arlington, where for a few months he engaged in handling and dealing in range horses. He then took charge of the Arlington Hotel, which he. conducted for about two years, and in July, 1883, in company with J. E. Eaton he en- gaged in the real-estate business at Arling- ton, buying and selling property for five years. During this time, in company with Charles Ford and A. B. Crebbs, he founded the Arlington State Bank, of which he be- came a director. This was the first bank in the town. Later the Citizens' State Bank was organized and the Arlington State Bank sold out to them, for there was not enough business to enable two banks to profitably continue here. Subsequently Mr. Warner and other prominent business men purchased the Citizens' Bank, in May, 1896, and he was made its president, in which office he has since served, capably controlling the af- fairs of the institution and making it one of the most substantial financial concerns of the county.
While engaged in the real-estate business Mr. Warner embraced the opportunity he had of making judicious investments in farming land and thus became the owner of considerable property. When he arrived in Reno county in the fall of 1881, he pre- empted the southwest quarter of section 35, Arlington township, which he improved, gaining the title thereto from the govern- ment. He still owns this, it constituting a part of his present extensive ranch. In 1884 he took up his residence on the place, which was then a tract of raw prairie, but he has transformed it into one of the best stock ranches of the county. Within its boundar- ies are comprised fourteen hundred and forty acres, of which six hundred acres is under cultivation. The entire amount is under fence and substantial buildings pro- vide shelter for grain and stock, while the home is a very pleasant and commodious residence. Mr. Warner keeps on hand three hundred or more cattle, feeding from one to two hundred head each year. While he raises a great deal of feed on his place lie annually buys from one to ten thousand bushels of corn, which he purchases from his neighbors. His affairs are capably man- aged and his thorough understanding of the best methods of caring for stock and of raising crops has made him a very successful farmer of Reno county.
On the 15th of June, 1884, Mr. Warner was united in marriage to Miss Rose D. Crane, whose father gave his life to his coun- try, falling in the war of the Rebellion. Mrs. Warner is a native of Kentucky and repre- sents an old and distinguished family of the south. Unto our subject and his wife have been born four children: Harold, Chester, Don and Raymond. In public matters Mr. Warner takes an intelligent, interested and active part, but is not an aspirant for office as his varied personal interests occupy his attention completely. He has, however, done effective work in the interests of the Republican party, has been a member of the Republican county central committee and a delegate to the county and congressional conventions. He is a charter memberof Ar- lington Camp, Modern Woodmien of Amer-
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ica, and is a progressive, public-spirited man whose worth makes him a valuable acquisi- tion to the citizenship of Reno county. His business record is without a blemish and through his unaided efforts he has advanced steadily to the goal of success.
JOHN E. HOLMES.
John E. Holmes, a retired farmer of Hutchinson, was born in Bradford, York- shire, England, March 3, 1847. His father, Edward Holmes, was born in Northumber- land, England, in 1813, and was a miller by trade. The latter came to America with his family when our subject was nine years of age, the voyage being made on the sail- ing vessel, Frances P. Sage, and during the trip severe storms and contrary winds were encountered and they were beaten back sev- eral hundred miles. At one time, when the storm was at its height, the passengers were locked in the hold and immense waves swept over the deck. After six weeks spent upon the ocean the passengers were finally land- ed at Castle Garden, and from that place Mr. Holmes made his way to Macoupin county, Illinois, where he secured employ- inent with N. Howard, a prominent miller of that place, with whom he remained for two or three years. He then removed about five miles into the country, purchasing what was known as the Boggis grist and saw mill, together with about five acres of land, on which his family resided while he en- gaged in the operation of the inill. After about two years thus spent he sold his prop- erty there and removed to Alton, Illinois, where for the following two or three years he was employed as a miller by the Schuy- ler Distillery Company, going thence to Jersey county, Illinois, where for three or four years he worked in the Haycroft & Herdman mill at Fidelity. Mr. Holmes' next location was at Jerseyville, in Jersey county, Illinois, where he was employed in a large mill until 1865, when he removed to Greene county, that state, and purchased a mill on Macoupin creek, which was oper-
ated by water power. There Mr. Holmes spent the remainder of his life, passing away in the fall of 1865. In political matters he gave his support to the Democratic party.
In England, his native country, he was united in marriage to Mary A. Fox, who was born near Leeds, England. Her father, who was also a miller by occupation, met his death while oiling machinery, his necker- chief having caught in the machinery and he was drawn into the wheels and crushed to death. After his death his widow came to America, and her death occurred in Jersey county, Illinois, in 1853. The mother of our subject is still living, and now makes her home at Springfield, Illinois, having reached the ripe old age of eighty-two years. Unto this worthy couple were born nine children, namely: Jane, the wife of Matthew Wil- kinson, a retired miller of Alton, Illinois ; Alfred, a prominent farmer of Reno coun- ty, Kansas; Susanna, the wife of Manning F. Price, a carpenter of Springfield, Illinois ; Edward and a sister, both of whom died in England in childhood ; John E., the subject of this review ; William H., a retired farmer of Hutchinson, Kansas; Phoebe, wife of George Parker, a sawyer of Alton, Illinois; and Mary, widow of Ralph Smith, and a resident of Sterling, Kansas.
John E. Holmes received his early edu- cation in the schools of his native land, and after coming to this country he attended school at Fidelity and Alton, Illinois. When only about fifteen years of age, however, he laid aside his text-books in order to as- sist his father in the mill and on the farm, and he also drove a coal and flour wagon. At the time of the Civil war our subject was but seventeen years of age, but he valiantly offered his service in the protection of the stars and stripes, becoming a member of Company B, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and in the spring of 1865 was sent to Fort Rosecrans, located on the battlefield of Stone River, where he did garrison duty until the follow- ing July or August. Between Louisville and Nashville, while on his way to the front and while traveling on a freight car, he was shot from ambush, the ball grazing his lip.
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He would have fallen between the cars and probably have been killed but for the brave act of his comrade, John McGee, who saved hin from the fall. He was sent to Tulla- homa, Tennessee, thence to Nashville, and at the last named place he was taken sick and was confined in the hospital for several weeks. He has never fully recovered from the exposure and hardships endured during his army career, and has ever since been dis- qualified from performing active work. Re- ceiving his discharge at Nashville, Tennes- see, in the fall of 1865, he was mustered out of service at Springfield, Illinois, and re- turned to his home in Greene county, that state, near Carrollton, but his home-coming was attended by a sad event, as his father passed away in death only two weeks after his arrival. In the following spring our subject, in company with his mother, sisters and two brothers, removed to Alton, Illi- nois, where he secured employment in the roundhouse of the Chicago & Alton Rail- road, but after a short time thus spent he began work on the road as a fireman. After his father's death he became the head of the fainily, and nobly did he perform his duty toward his mother and sisters, although he received able assistance from his younger brother William. After about six months spent upon the road Mr. Holmes removed to Macoupin county, Illinois, where for the following year he was employed as an agri- culturist, and at the end of that time, in company with his younger brother, he leased a farm for a term of five years, receiving all the crops raised in return for caring for the place and clearing off a portion of timber. After his term had expired he and his broth- er purchased eighty acres of land, also rent- ing a tract adjoining, but after a time the brother married and our subject then began farming by himself, on the eighty-acre tract. After a time, however, he sold that land and went to Litchfield, Illinois, where he rented a farm for one year, paying five dollars per acre cash rent; but becoming dissatisfied with this exorbitant rate he decided to come to the Sunflower state, arriving in Reno county in the fall of 1881, where he home- steaded one hundred and sixty acres of land
in Huntsville township, on the southeast quarter of section 28. Mr. Holmes made the journey from Illinois to Kansas with three horses and a few household goods, and on his arrival here he had just ten cents in money, but he soon began work in earnest, erecting a sod house, and in a short time he had eighteen acres planted with wheat. At the close of his third year he had prospered to the extent that he was able to purchase an adjoining one hundred and sixty acres from the railroad on the northeast quarter of section 33. Several years later he extend- ed his landed possessions by purchasing one hundred and twenty acres in Plevna town- ship, eighty acres on section 9 and forty on section 16, adjoining the town of Plev- na, and on the forty-acre tract he erected a magnificent residence, twenty-eight by thirty-six feet, and containing nine rooms, and this is regarded as one of the finest dwellings in the township. On his original one hundred and sixty acres he has also made many valuable improvements, erect- ing a good residence, barns, granaries and all other necessary outbuildings, while a beautiful orchard and a grove of mulberry and cottonwood trees further add to the value and attractive appearance of the place. He has principally devoted his attention to grain farming, making a specialty of wheat and corn, and in his operations he has been remarkably successful and is now the owner of a comfortable competence. In 1886 he traded his forty acres in Plevna for his present commodious and beautiful residence in Hutchinson, and in this city he also owns lots on Sixth avenue, and has a house and two lots in Nickerson. He still retains pos- session of his four hundred acres of farm- ing land, which is operated by tenants, but from his city residence in Hutchinson he keeps a general oversight over his entire possessions.
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