A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I, Part 2

Author: Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York Chicago: The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 970

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In 1883 he came as a teacher to Hutch- inson, Kansas, serving for two years as the efficient superintendent of the city schools, a position at that time of great responsibility and annoyance, hampered as he was by exist- ing conditions. Although eminently success- ful, this was not the career which he had marked out for himself and for which he had so carefully prepared. Resigning this lucra- tive position, he started out upon the untried path of the law. In 1885 he opened an office in the some building in which he is now lo- cated, where he has since remained.

From his initial case our subject has been successful, his ability receiving immediate

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

recognition, bringing him a large practice which has resulted in social prominence and financial prosperity. In 1896 he formed a partnership with Charles M. Williams, the legal firm of Prigg & Williams being one of the strong combinations in the business world of Reno county. Both members of the firm are men of thorough knowledge and judicial mind, and both are thoroughly equipped for the legal battles in which they are constantly involved. The library pos- sessed by this firm needs a passing notice, being complete and kept entirely up-to-date in all respects, and represents at the present time an outlay of over five thousand dollars. This gives the firm not only all past records, but also the latest decisions, so that the clients are assured of advice sustained by precedent, in every case. Aside from this Mr. Prigg possesses an extensive library at his home, which represents the latest and best of the world's literature. While not making a specialty of any branch of the law, he has given close attention to real es- tate and corporation law and is regarded as one of the safest and most thoroughly in- structed lawyers in the state, and is entrusted with cases involving vast amounts of money and embracing many avenues of business activity.

Although so constantly occupied with the cares and responsibilities of his profession, Mr. Prigg, like his father, has a liking for agriculture, and his recreation consists in experiments in horticulture, on his farm of forty acres, located in the rich Cow Creek bottoms, adjoining the city on the east. Twenty acres of this tract he has set in fine young apple trees, which have just come to a bearing age, promising a great fruitage. When wearied with business care this is a pleasant retreat, although Mr. Prigg has a pleasant residence in the city, at No. 509 Avenue A, east.

In his political affiliations he has always been actively identified with the Republican party; but previous to this time, the stress of private business has precluded any ac- ceptance of office except that for seven con- secutive terms he served as city attorney, and

during his administration important ques- tions of water works and sewerage were con- sidered and settled. In 1891 he received the nomination of the Republican party for judge of the district court of the ninth judi- cial district. The nomination was unsolicited and unexpected, and he was not present when the nomination was made. After con- sidering the matter the nomination was de- clined.

The first marriage of Mr. Prigg occurred in 1879, in Indiana, to Miss Minnie Gar- rard, one daughter, Edna M., being born of this union. Previous to locating in Kansas, Mrs. Prigg passed out of life. The second marriage of our subject occurred in this city, to Miss Laura A. Van Winkle, three children being born to this marriage, name- ly: Jesse G., who died at the age of one year, Roberta Lucile and Mamie B.

In fraternal circles Mr. Prigg has been as prominent as he is in social and profes- sional life, belonging to Reno Lodge, No. 140, A. F. & A. M .; Reno Chapter, No. 34. R. A. M .; Reno Commandery, No. 26, Knights Templar; Byron Lodge, No. 197, K. of P .; La Rue Division, No. 4. Uniform Rank, K. of P .; and Reno Lodge, No. 99, I. O. O. F. He joined the latter order in In- diana, and for many years has been active in its work, serving on committees and repre- senting it at the higher councils of the order. Locally he is connected with the Commercial Club, and takes an active interest in all mat- ters pertaining to the progress and advance- ment of the city, county and state.

HERMAN A. STOLTENBERG.

In a rapidly developing country like Kan- sas, the hardware merchant and the imple- ment dealer are as necessary to the work of advancement as any two men who can be named. The gentleman mentioned above is both a hardware merchant and an imple- ment dealer and is a member of one of the leading firms of its kind in central Kansas. The firm of Stoltenberg Brothers, the part-

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

ners in which are Herman A., William and Julius Stoltenberg, is the proprietor of one of the leading enterprises of Holyrood, Ells- worth county, Kansas. The Stoltenbergs deal in hardware, implements, silverware, unware, guns, ammunition, pumps and windmills, vehicles of different kinds, stove's, fence wire and machinery supplies, bicycles and bicycle repairs, and are agents for the Crescent paints and oils. Their fine new two- story building was erected in 1900, and is one of the best for the purpose in this part of the state. It occupies a ground space of sixty-four by seventy feet and the lower story is divided into double rooms extending the whole length of the building, the upper room being used as a storeroom for imple- ments and vehicles, and heavy implements are stored in a large shed which has a depth of seventy feet and stands at the rear of the store. The firm makes a specialty of the Moline Blue Ribbon buggies and Old Hick- ory wagons.

Herman A. Stoltenberg, who is the act- ive manager of this enterprise, was born near Davenport, Scott county, Iowa, Febru- ary 21, 1868, a son of Henry and Annastina (Ott) Stoltenberg, both of whom were born in Holstein, Germany. . Mr. Stoltenberg's father came to America in 1853, when he was nineteen years old. Annastina Ott, who became his wife, came over from the father- land a year later and they were married in Iowa, where they farmed until 1881, when they located in Ellsworth county, where in 1878, Mr. Stoltenberg had bought railroad land located in Palacky township. His holdings aggregated five quarter sections and he farmed successfully until 1888, when he removed to Holyrood.

Herman A. Stoltenberg and his brothers were reared to farming. They were young men of enterprise and were the first in their vicinity to engage in threshing by steam power. They carried on a business of that kind in season for nine years, farming mean- time with considerable success. Mr. Stolten- berg is the owner of three hundred acres of good agricultural land, which he rents to tenant farmers. He retired from farming

in 1898, and engaged in the hardware trade in a building one-half the size of the Stolten- berg Brothers' present store, the original building being utilized in the structure which has been described. In politics Mr. Stolten- berg is a Democrat and has served his fellow citizens two years in the office of justice of the peace. For one year he was a member of the firm of Siemsen & Company, dealers in lumber at Holyrood. He is a member of the German Lutheran church.

Henry and Annastina (Ott) Stoltenberg had twelve children. The following memo- randa concerning some of them will be found of interest in this connection: John is a farmer ; William and Julius are farmers and are members of the firm of Stoltenberg Brothers; Agnes is the wife of Alexander Stratmann, a farmer of Ellsworth county : Bertha is the wife of Henry Siemsen, a well known lumber dealer at Holyrood; Lizzie is the wife of A. Besthorn, a farmer of Ells- worth county; Gustav and Ferdinand are well known in the county. Herman A. Stol- tenberg was married November 22, 1891, to Elizabeth Voss, and they have three children. namely : August, Edward and Mabel.

WILLIAM L. NESMITH.

If those who claim that fortune has favored certain individuals above others will but investigate the cause of success and fail- ure, it will be found that the former is large- ly due to the improvement of opportunity, thelatter to the neglect of it. Fortunate en- viroments encompass nearly every man at some stage in his career, but the strong man and the successful man is he who realizes that the proper moment has come, that the present and not the future holds his oppor- tunity. The man who makes use of the Now and not the To Be is he who passes on the highway of life others who started out ahead of him and reaches the goal of prosperity far in advance of them. It is this quality in Mr. Nesmith that has made him a leader in the business world and won him a name in

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

onanection with commercial interests that is widely known.

Mr. Nesmith is now engaged in dealing in groceries. lumber. furniture. hardware and c al in Wilson and has been a resident of Kansas since 1874. He was born in Van Buren c unty. April 24. 1852. His grand- father. Henry Nesmith, was a native of Vir- ginia and served in the war of 1812. while his father-in-law was a Hessian soldier. When a young man Henry Nesmith removed te Ohio, becoming one of the pioneers of that state. He secured a tract of land and car- ried on farming until the early '40s. when he emigrated to Iowa, where he continued work as a pioneer. In his later years he re- moved t. Iowa county. Iowa, where he spent his last days. his death occurring when he had passed the eightieth milestone on the journey of life. In his family of ten chil- Oren Juseph T. Nesmith. the father of our subject. was the eldest. He was born in Perry c. unty. Ohiv. September 1. 1823. and was reared to farm work. In the early '405 lie accompanied his parents on their removal to Van Buren county. Iowa. and cast in his lot with the pi neer sett'ers of that portion of the country. experiencing a" the hard- ships and tria's which fell to the 1 - of the frontiersmen who established homes there. He ailed in preparing the country for the in- coming tide i emigration. He afterward re- moved to Iowa county, where he secured a tract i land and improved a farm, becoming one of the successful and well known agri- culturists vi that locality. In his early life his political support was given the Whig party, and on t. e dissolution of its ranks he joined the forces of the new Republican party, with which he was allied until his death. He held membership in the Method- ist Protestant church, was long one of its Gicers and was an active worker in its be- half. He married Jennie Truscott. a native of England. and they became the parents of five sons and five daughters, of whom three are residents of Wilson, namely : William L .. MIrs. D. W. Tilton and Mrs. S. E. Barton. About 1892 the father came to Wilson.

where he spent his remaining days, passing away December 3. 1898. at the age of seven- ty-five. His wife still survives him and is living in Iowa.

William L. Nesmith is indebted to the public school system for . the educational privileges which he enjoyed in his youth. He has added largely to his knowledge by experience. reading and observation. He was reared upon a farm, and in 1874 came to Kansas in order to take advantage of the government offer of cheap lands. He se- cured a claim upon the flats. intending to follow farming here. but did not remain long. Returning to Iowa, he was there iden- tified with agricultural pursuits until 1877. when he came to Wilson and embarked in the grocery business. meeting with success in the undertaking from the beginning. Later he added a stock of hardware and afterward purchased a furniture store and undertaking establishment-the only one in the town. In 1889 he purchased a lumber yard and has since conducted that industry in connection with dealing in coal. He handles both eastern and western coal and also mines coal on the river here. taking out from one hundred to two hundred tons of the mineral each month during the mining season. He aided in erecting the stone mill -the first here-and built the stone store building which he now occupies. also one to the south, and his residence in the city. In many ways he has advanced the material in- terests of Wilson. He has three quarter sections of land, which is devoted to farming and grazing purposes, and on Coal creek he owns a section. which is devoted to the pre- duction of cereals and to the raising of stock. He has both farms well stocked. but does not operate them himself. In his business affairs he has met with a high degree of suc- cess. being a man of capable management. keen discrimination and far-sighted sagacity. In his work here he has found that his knowledge of the German language has been to him of great advantage. By the aid of a few lessons he acquired the rudiments of the tongue and by continuous practice he has

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BILIGRAPHICAL INSTORY

increased los walmar, ante be wan ay was also lives in New Jersey Some Common. speak figently with the German sentiers !! the neighborh. i.

In 1874 Mr. Neswith was wanted to- riage :. Clara H. CarHart. a sister . i \V. 11. Carnart. and unte them have been born i ur sons. namely: Edgar L . who is engage lin business with his father in Wilson. Aonias. Ha! J. Verne and Abra. the last three be- ing at home. In his political views Mr. Nesmith is an ardent and earnest Prohibi- bitionist, laboring untiringly for the success ci the party and the adoption ti temperance principles. Whenever the party Las a ticket in the field his support is assure2. At ther times. the nominees being of equal capability. he casts his suffrage with the Republican party. He has been a member of the city council and has also filled the position .I mayor of Wilson. During the greater part of His life Mr. Nesmith has been a member uf the Methodist church, and has served as class-lea Ler and as superintendent of the Sunday-schoch. He and his wife. together with W. H. Carhart and his wife. were the four charter members of the church on its organization in 18;8. and he has ever since acte . as one of its trustees. With the excep- tion of a year and a half be served as super- intendent of the Sunday-acht since its KI- ganization. He alded materially in the erec- tion Ji the house of worship here and has never abate l in his zeal or energy in support of the cause of Christianity. He has been a lea ling factor in the progress :i Wils. n. Educational. church an | social interests ofre their prom tion in a considerable degree to him. Twenty-four years has this city been his home. years largely devoted :: the pub- lic good.

ELISHA HEDDEN.

Hutchinson has no more h.nored or higlily esteemed citizen than the gentleman whose name introduces this review. He was born in Shelby county. Kentucky. on the 25th of March. 1834. a son of Elisha Hed- den. a native vi New Jersey. The latter re- moved with his father. Jac. b Hed'en. wh

He establishel a Moment d Erved tea irum -bere Tenera! F. Mees first settings and mas ne of the early pioneers Schothere of the . country. He was d man Le sol strength of character and became one of the most pricesment then in Nos com- munity. He was very successful o tes agricultural operations and from time 10 tome added to his original purchase and be vwnel almost fifteen hundred acres of land. where he f l'avrei farming and stock-rais- ing in a large scale, His being one of the best improved properties in that section Sach was the estimation in which he was held by the people that he was solicited te represent his district on the legislature. but he carel little for the emoluments of public die and refused to allow his name to be used. He was an active mpoker on the Baptist church. in which he held the positions :f muderate and clerk and was prominent in the organization of the First Baptist church f that focali:"".

In Shelly county. Kentucky. Mr. Hei- Cen was unitel in marrage to Mary Carriss. a native Of the :. : Bizegress state and of T'ennisylvania Germen parentage. Her :2- Ther was also ade f the early pioneers de that locality. His son. Henry Carriss. mas a soldier in the war wi 1812 having fought under Jackson at New Orleans. The mar- nage UE Mr. and Mrs. Hedden was blessed with eleven children. namely: Elizabeth. who died in Shelby & waty. Kentucky : Mary. who died in Missouri: Rebecca. who also died in Stely count : Simon H. who passed away in Missouri: Jane ahl Jacob H .. both of whom passed away in Shelby county: Nancy H .. who died in Missouri: Tin H .. why was called to his final rest in Shelby county : Henry, who died in Spencer county. Kentucky: Thomas, a retired former i Louisville, Kentucky : and Elisha. the sub- ject f this review. The mother of this fom- fly passed away on the tott 75 November. 1852. and on the 10th of October the f for- ing year her husband joined her in the spirit world.

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

Elisha Hedden remained in the place of his nativity until 1866, receiving his educa- tion in the common schools of his locality, and his youth and early manhood was prin- cipally spent in assisting his father on the home farm. After the death of his father, which occurred when he was nineteen years of age, the estate was divided among the heirs, our subject receiving the old home- stead as his share of the property, and there he was engaged in agricultural pursuits un- til 1886. In October, 1861, he enlisted for service in the Civil war, entering Company D, Sixth Kentucky Infantry, and on its or- ganization, in December of that year, he was elected its captain, and as such served until January, 1864. At the battle of Shiloh he received a gunshot wound in the head, after which for a time he was confined in the United States marine hospital at Mound City, Illinois, and was later sent to Louis- ville. After his recovery he rejoined his company and took part in the battles of Stone River, Chickamauga and many minor engagements, and while acting as second in command at the battle of Stone River he was a second time wounded. He now main- tains pleasant relations with his old army comrades by his membership in Joe Hooker Post, No. 17. of Hutchinson. In 1886 Mr. Hedden sold his possessions in Shelby coun- ty and came to Kansas, arriving in Hutch- inson on the 28th of October. Soon after his arrival here he purchased what was known as the Clifton House, and for three years thereafter was its genial proprietor, his efforts in that line having been attended with a high and well merited degree of success. During that period he also did a good business in a private way as a real-es- tate agent of Hutchinson, in which he was equally successful. In 1889, however, he sold his hotel property, and two years later, in 1891, was appointed to the police force, filling that position for one year, while for the following two years he served as assist- ant marshal. His next public office was that of marshal, remaining as its incumbent for one year. In the Republican convention of April, 1899, Mr. Hedden was nominated for

the position of city marshal, was afterward elected and served therein for one year, and was then re-elected, his term of office ex- piring May 20, 1901. While a resident of Kansas he was for sixteen years in the United States reventie service, beginning on the 14th of July, 1869, first as a store keeper and afterward as a gauger. His present attractive and tasteful residence was pur- chased in 1899, and there he now resides in the enjoyment of the fruits of former toil.

In Shelby county, Kentucky, on the 5th of October, 1854, Mr. Hedden was united in marriage to Miranda Harrison, a relative of General Harrison, their grandfathers hay- ing been first cousins. She is now deceased, passing away in Hutchinson on the 3Ist of October, 1892, in the faith of the Baptist church, of which she was a worthy and con- sistent member. At her death she left six children, namely : Charles M., born in Shelby county, Kentucky, October 5, 1855, is employed as clerk for the Kansas City & Ironton Railroad Company at Lake Charles, Louisiana : Ben C., born February 28, 1858, is a prominent farmer of Vernon county, Missouri: . Mary Jane, widow of Noah Sinder, is a resident of Ansley, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama ; Elisha is an inmate of the asylum at Anchorage, Kentucky, his affliction having been caused by brain fever ; Sallie Belle is the wife of P. J. Connolly. a carpenter of Ensley, Alabama : and Guthrie H., also follows the same occupation in that city. Outr subject has been a second time married, his last union being with Mrs. H. C. Carriss, formerly Susan D. Cardwell, a native of Shelby county, Kentucky. Her first husband, H. C. Carriss, came from that state to Hutchinson in March, 1886, and in June of the following year was called to his final rest. He was a relative of the mother of our subject. In politics Mr. Hedden is a life- long Republican, and for many years has been an active worker in its ranks. He has served as a delegate to many county conven- tions, and while in Kentucky was a member of the state convention that selected the Blaine delegates. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for forty years, and

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

since 1854 has been a member of the Baptist church, being a faithful worker in the cause of Christianity.

CYRUS CLARKE VAN DEVENTER.

Mr. Van Deventer is a native of Buffalo, New York, born in 1856, and is a son of James and Jennie (Clarke) Van Deventer, of the same city. The Van Deventers were natives of Holland and took up their abode at New Utrecht, on Long Island, in 1653. On the mother's side he was descended from Joseph Clarke, who located at Newport, Rhode Island, in 1638, and was one of the founders of that town. His wife was Be- thiah Hubbard, a great-granddaughter of Thomas Hubbard, one of the men burned at the stake during the reign of Queen Mary of England on account of their religious be- lief.

Peter Van Deventer. the great-grand- father of our subject, belonged to the New Jersey branch of the family, for whose head the British government offered five hundred pounds during the Revolutionary war. His son. Major Christopher Van Deventer, was a graduate of West Point and served as ad- jutant general to General Brown in the war of 1812. At the battle of Chippewa creek he was captured and confined at Quebec until the close of the war. For some time he served as chief clerk under Calhoun. His son, James Van Deventer, the father of our subject, was born in Buffalo, New York, studied for the bar and became a practicing attorney there. He served as major and lieutenant colonel of subsistence during the !

war of the Rebellion. He was afterward president of the Iowa Railroad Land Com- pany and was recognized not only as a most prominent and prosperous business man, but as a leader of public thought and opinion. He was a stanch advocate of the Republican party and its principles. He married Jen- nie Clarke, a daughter of Cyrus Clarke, a well-known merchant of Buffalo, New York.

Cyrus Clarke Van Deventer was grad-

uated at Hobart College in 1876, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, while in 1879 that of Master of Arts was conferred upon him. He engaged in business in Buffalo from 1876 until 1886, when he came to Kingman, where he became one of the pro- moters of the Telephone Company.

Prominent in the affairs of the city of Kingman, his ability and trustworthiness being recognized by his fellow citizens, Mr. Van Deventer has been several times called to public office and for many years served as city clerk or city treasurer. He is an active Democrat and was a delegate to the Indiana- polis convention in 1896. In religious faith he is an Episcopalian and was one of the or- ganizers of the Episcopal church in King- man. He served as its first junior warden and upon the death of Dr. Lanning he be- came senior warden and has since continued in that office. He belongs to Nine Scal Lodge, No. 230, F. & A. M., of which he has served for two years as master. He has also been high priest of Kingman Chapter, No. 71, F. & A. M .; and belongs to Kingman Commandery, No. 34, K. T. His worth and prominence are widely recognized in frater- nal, business, and political circles, and he is one of the intelligent, enterprising men of the west, influential in molding public thought, opinion and policy, and standing as a high type of our stalwart American manhood.

C. V. PLANK.

C. V. Plank, one of the early pioneers and leading agriculturists of Rice county. was born in Lagrange county, Indiana, on the 15th of June. 1852. His father, Isaac Plank, is a native of Wayne county, Ohio. and of German descent. He was reared on a farm in the state of his nativity, and when a young man was united in marriage to Elizabeth Nofziger, a native of the Buckeye state and a daughter of Valentine Nofziger. of Pennsylvania-German descent. After their marriage. Isaac and Elizabeth Plank removed to Elkhart county. Indiana, and

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

five years later located in Lagrange county, that state, where they still reside, honored and respected by all who know them. The father has been a farmer all his life, and he also owns a valuable farm of three hun- dred and twenty acres in Rice county, Kan- sas. He has rounded the Psalmist's span of three-score years and ten, being now in his seventy-ninth year, and his wife has reached the good old age of seventy-seven years. His political support is given the Re- publican party, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Amish church. This worthy couple are the parents of seven chil- dren, namely: Levi, a prominent farmer of Harrison township, Rice county ; Jacob, who resides southwest of Lyons; Elizabeth, who yet resides in Indiana; Christian V., the subject of this review ; David, a resident of Idaho; Ephraim, also of that state; and Isaac, who makes his home in Oklahoma.

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I, Part 2

Author: Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York Chicago: The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 970

Author: Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York Chicago: The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 970