USA > Kansas > A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I > Part 22
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business men of the county and while quiet and unassuming is influential in public matters and helpful to all worthy local in- terests.
HENRY OBERMOWE.
Emerson has written: "Knowest thou what argument thy life to thy neighbor's creed has lent?" The influence of a man is immeasurable by any of the known stand- ards of the world, but its potency is no less marked, and the New England poet, writing along the same line, has said again that every individual in greater or less degree, but always to some degree, leaves an im- press upon the lives of those whom he meets. If this be true, and the great minds of all ages acknowledge it to be so, then the question propounded in old Judea, "Am I my brother's keeper?" is answered. It is this everlasting truth of the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God that has led to the religious work of the world. A most potent factor in church circles in Ellsworth county is the Rev. Henry. Obermowe, now pastor of St. Paul's church, in Sherman township. His labors have been attended with excellent results and a visible evidence of his work is found in the splendid house of worship which has been erected under his direction and as the result of his untiring efforts.
Mr. Obermowe was born in Westphalia, Germany, October 2, 1857, a son of Chris- topher and Christine Obermowe. He pur- sted his education in the state schools and then took up a course in theology that he might fit himself either for teaching or the ministry. He was connected with educa- tional work for a short time in Germany and in 1883 he came to America, making his way to Springfield, Illinois, where he be- came a student in the German Lutheran Col -. lege, studying in both English and German. He there purstied a four years' course and was graduated in 1887. Soon afterward he came to Kansas, and the same year was or- dained, in Mitchell county, as a minister of the German Lutheran church. For one year
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and seven months he served as pastor of a congregation there, and on the Ist of No- vember, 1888, he received and accepted a call to come to Ellsworth county and take charge of St. Paul's church, in Sherman township. At that time there was a mem- bership of forty families, but the number has since been increased to sixty. Mr. Ober- mowe placed the church on a good working foundation, and soon marked advancement was seen along its various lines of labor. Deciding that a new edifice was needed here, and after considerable solicitation and en- treaty, he let the contracts for the building and saw it actively under way in June, 1898. In six months it was completed. It is a fine stone edifice, forty by seventy-eight feet, with a side wall eigliteen feet high and a spire one hundred and eight feet. The foundations are four feet wide at the bot- tom and five feet high and the wall of the church is two feet thick. It has fine win- dows of cathedral glass and has other mod- ern equipments and adornments. The church was erected at a cost of eight thou- sand dollars and has a seating capacity of six hundred. The old church was used as a school-house until 1900, when the pastor secured the erection of a more modern school building, twenty-four by forty feet. The students come from a radius of over seven miles. The term covers nine months during the year and the attendance is be- tween sixty-five and seventy, instruction being given in both German and Englishı. The church building is a very handsome one, being one of the finest in central Kan- sas, and the congregation is connected with the Missouri synod.
On the 28th of October, 1887, Mr. Obermowe was united in marriage, in Lake county, Illinois, to Miss Louise Knigge, and they now have five children,-Christina, Lena, Amelia, Mary and Alfred. Their home life is extremely pleasant and Mrs. Obermowe heartily co-operates with her husband in his work for the uplifting of their fellow men. Their home is celebrated for its gracious hospitality, which is freely extended to all. In his political views Mr. Obermowe is a Republican, believing firmly
in the principles of the party, although he takes no active part in political work. In the pulpit he is forceful, earnest and con- vincing, using arguments deduced from the word of God, and firmly impressing his points upon the minds of his audience. His language is well chosen, showing his mas- tery of the art of rhetoric, and underneath all is a substratum of thought, feeling and truth which never fails to arouse the atten- tion and thus awaken conviction in the minds of those who sit under his teachings.
PRESTON B. GILLETT.
A well known jurist of Illinois said, "In the American state the great and good law- yer must always be prominent, for he is one of the forces that move and control society." Public confidence has generally been repos- ed in the legal profession. It has ever been the defender of popular rights, the cham- pion of freedom regulated by law, the firm support of good government. In the times of danger it has stood like a rock and breast- ed the mad passions of the hour and firmly resisted tumult and faction. No political preferment, no mere place, can add to the power or increase the honor which belongs to the pure and educated lawyer. Judge Preston B. Gillett, of Kingman, is one who has been honored by and is an honor to the legal fraternity of central Kansas. He stands to-day prominent among the leading members of the bar of his district-a posi- tion to which he has attained through mark- ed ability, and as judge of the twenty-fourth judicial district he has made a most credit- able record.
Judge Gillett was born in Saybrook, Ohio, July 9, 1860, but has spent almost his entire life in the Sunflower state. On the pa- ternal side his ancestry can be traced back to Jonathan Gillett, who was one of the hundred and forty Puritans who formed a company in Dorsetshire, England, and started on the Mary and John for this coun- try, March 30, 1630, landing at Nantucket, on the 30th of May, exactly two months
PRESTON B. GILLETT.
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after setting sail. In 1036 he removed to Connecticut and numerous branches of the family which he there founded are still liv- ing in that state. Many representatives of the name became prominent in professional life and in the Revolutionary war the Gil- letts were enrolled among the private sol- diers and the officers of the American Army.
Asa Gillett, the father of the Judge, was born in Connecticut, but during his early boyhood his parents removed to Ohio, where he was reared. After attaining to man's estate he followed merchandising there. In Ohio he married Miss Cornelia Fisk, whose ancestry can be traced to Sergeant James Fisk, who was born in England and crossed the briny deep to the new world in 1637. He too took up his home in Connecticut, and records show that he joined the Salem church in 1642. He was descended in di- rect line from Lord Symond Fisk, of the county of Suffolk, England, who was born in 1399. The Fisk family has also been well represented in the professions, the name figuring conspicuously in connection with the church, law and medicine, while in every war into which the country has been engaged the Fisks have stood as loyal defenders of this land, fighting on hotly contested battlefields as officers or privates, but always with the same determined and patrio tic spirit.
Some years after his marriage Asa Gil- lett removed with his family to Kansas, and in 1861 secured a homestead at Emporia, as soon as it was decided whether Kansas should be a free state or a
slave state. Emporia was laid out shortly before, and his claim lay adjoining the corporation limits, which part he improved and engaged in business at the same time, becoming a leading resi- dent of that locality. He was a warm per- sonal friend of Senator Preston B. Plumb, who was visiting at the home of Mr. Gillett at the time of the birth of the Judge, who was named in his honor. Mr. Gillett was a most ardent Abolitionist and when the new Republican party was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery he joined 9
its ranks and remained one . 1 its stalwart supporters until his death. He was also a devout Methodist and aided in organiz- ing the church of that denomination in Em- poria. He served as one of its officers, con- tributed generously to its support and did all in his power to advance its interests. He died of pneumonia at the age of fifty-seven years, and his wife passed away June 15, 1865, after which Mr. Gillett was again married, his second union being with Bar- bara Campbell. By the first marriage lie had five children. Frank E., the eldest, is now a prominent attorney of Oklahoma, and for many years he was numbered among the distinguished lawyers and statesmen of Kansas. He was educated in the State Nor- mal School at Emporia, and after prepar- ing for the bar practiced law in Hutchinson and later with our subject in Kingman. He was elected and served for six years in the state 'legislature and for four years in the state senate and was a most influential and active member of the general assembly. He studied closely the questions which arose for the settlement in the law making body of the commonwealth and his broad judicial and his practical mind made him a very valued member of both divisions of the house. Charles E. Gillett, the second mem- ber of the family died in 1874. Nellie G. is now the wife of W. C. Fullem, of Em- poria. The Judge is the next younger, while Guy R., the fifth member of the fam- ily, is living in Hennessey, Oklahoma. By the father's second marriage there was one son, Don A.
i
Judge Gillett was reared on the home farm adjoining Emporia and pursued his early education in the schools of that city. later continuing his studies in Cottonwood Falls and in the State University. at Law- rence, Kansas, where he remained as a stu- dent for three years, his studies being large- ly directed toward preparation for the bar. Upon his return home he read law in the office of his brother, Frank E. Gillett and subsequently went to Washington, D. C., and entered the Columbia Law College and was graduated in June, 1885. Return-
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ing to Kansas he located in Kingman and en- tered into general law practice with his brother, continuing an active and leading member of the bar until November, 1898, when he was elected district judge of the twenty-fourth judicial district, comprising Kingman, Harper. Barber and Pratt coun- ties. While the district had a nominal Dem- ocratic majority of several hundred, his per- sonal popularity and the confidence of the public in his legal ability enabled him to overcome this and win the election by one hundred and thirty-five votes. Before his elevation to the bench his law practice was large and remunerative and connected him with most of the important litigation heard in his county. He won for himself very favorable criticism for the careful and sys- tematic methods which he followed. He has remarkable powers of concentration and application, and his retentive mind has often excited the surprise of his professional col- leagues. As an orator he stands high, es- pecially in the discussion of legal matters be- fore the court, where his comprehensive knowledge of the law is manifest and his application of legal principles demonstrates the wide range of his professional acquire- ments. On the bench his course has fully justified the confidence manifested in him by the large vote given him. His decisions are models of judicial soundness, and he is largely without that personal bias or mental prejudice which ofttimes rather darkens a judicial career.
The Judge has always been an active member of the Republican party since at- ' taining his majority, but is not a politician in the sense of office seeking and has never sought preferment outside the strict path of his profession, save where his fellow towns- men have conferred upon him local office. He has served on the city council and on the school board and is ever alert to the best in- terests and progressive measures of King- man.
On the 19th of August. 1887. Judge Gil- lett married Miss Etta A. Goodson. the wed- ding taking place at Deansboro, New York. She is a daughter of Caleb Goodson, a farm-
er of the Empire state. They now have two children, Wilber G. and Josephine. Mrs. Gillett belongs to the Presbyterian church and the Judge attends its services. He is past chancellor, and representative to the grand lodge of the Knights of Pythias fraternity, belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and to the Modern Wood- men of America. As his financial resources have increased he has made judicious in- vestment in country and city property, but has disposed of the former although he yet owns much valuable real estate. He has witnessed almost the entire development of Kansas from a border country to its present proud position in the Union and has been an active factor in the upbuilding of Kingman and the county.
ISAAC BEERS.
Reno county, Kansas, and the city of Hutchinson have been fortunate in the char- acter of their progressive, yet conservative, business men who in shaping successful careers for themselves have had much to do with insuring the success of the community with which they have been identified. Isaac Beers, a retired farmer and merchant, who lives at No. 514 East Fourth avenue, Hutch- inson, is a worthy representative of the class of substantial men of affairs referred to.
Isaac Beers was born in Cayuga county, New York, March 11, 1826, a son of Lewis Beers, who was born in Redding. Fairfield county, Connecticut, March 20, 1798. Isaac Beers, father of Lewis Beers and grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Connecticut about 1765 and served dur- ing the last four years of the Revolutionary war as a soldier in the American army, and his grandson has an iron ramrod with which his grandfather loaded his gun dur- ing that period. When Lewis Beers was eight years old, about 1806, his parents moved to Cayuga county, New York, where his father had bought a piece of land in a densely tini- bered region in the town of Aurelius, which he improved until it was as good a farm as
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any in the vicinity. Lewis Beers was a member of his father's household until he attained to the age of twenty-four years and after that he farmed on his own account un- til 1826. He was married in Cayuga coun- ty, New York, in 1824, to Eliza C. Lane, who was born in Coos county, New Hamp- shire, in 1804, a daughter of Stephen and Lois (Currier) Lane, both of whom were bern in New Hampshire. This family of Lanes has in all generations been one of un- usual ability and has given to our country several statesmen and scholars, one of whom became the incumbent of the high office of governor, and Homer Lane, a first cousin of Mr. Beers'. mother, gained a na- tional reputation as a mathematician and some time before, 1850 entered the employ of the United States government in connec- tion with coast surveys. Few men have more reason to be proud of their family con- nection than has the subject of this review.
When the latter was three months old, in 1826, the father removed from Cayuga county, New York, to Livingston county, that state, where he bought a farm of one hundred acres, on which some little im- provement had been made. He built a fine residence and improved the place until it was known as the best farm in the county and doubled its area by the purchase of more land. There he farmed until poor health compelled him to retire from active life. Politically he was a Whig, and while he took an active interest in political affairs he was not in the ordinary sense a politician and neither sought nor accepted office. . \n vid-school Presbyterian, he was one of the trustees of his church and was thoroughly devoted to all its interests, never failing to take his place in his pew promptly at any stated service and giving to the church lib- erally of his means. His wife died July 13. 1837. and in course of time he married Hannah Thorp, a native of Cayuga county, New York. By his first marriage he had four children, as follows: Isaac, who is the immediate subject of this sketch : Lois, who is living unmarried at Fort Collins, Col- orado: Emily C., who married John Rich- ardson, of Ohio, a farmer and dealer in
wood and grain; and Jane, who died in Kalamazoo, Michigan. By his second mar- riage he had three children : Hannah, who is the wife of a Mr. George, a farmer at Mount Morris, Livingston county, New York: William L., who was a member of a New York volunteer regiment in the Civil war and was killed at the battle of An- tietam; and Charles L., who died in child- hood. Lewis Beers died at his home in Livingston county, New York, September 18, 1845.
Isaac Beers was a member of his father's household until he attained the age of twenty years, receiving a meagre educa- tion in the public schools and was brought up to farm work. He was possessed of a consuming desire for knowledge. He made many plans by which he hoped to secure a liberal education, but they were thwarted one after another by circumstances over which he had no control, such as sickness in the family and financial losses. So well known was his hope to the whole commun- ity that all who knew him sympathized with him deeply and mourned with him when it became evident that it was never to be realized; but he was a great reader and trained himself to close and exhaustive study at home and for fifteen years after he left school to read and studied patiently and systematically and in time became really better posted than many men who had enjoyed superior educational advantages. At the present time he takes sixteen news- papers and periodicals and has gathered to- gether the nucleus of what he hopes will be a fine library, it being one of the ambi- tions of his life to leave a library to his children. He buys well-selected books from time to time, gives all his spare time to read- ing, and, possessing a retentive memory and a logical mind, he is a man of thorough and varied information.
In 1846 Mr. Beers began active life for himself as a teacher of district schools in Livingston county, New York. He taught there in 1846 and 1847 and then went to Michigan and engaged in farming on new land. When not busy with his home work he found employment in season with other
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farmers and taught school during the win- ter months. He was married in Michigan, March II, 1849, to Miss Pollie H. Blancl- ard, a native of Cayuga county, New York, born July 9, 1828, a daughter of Adonijah and Pollie ( Leberteaux ) Blanchard. Mr. and Mrs. Blanchard were both natives of New York state and Mrs. Blanchard was of French descent. In 1852 Mr. Beers gave . up farming and located at Marshall, Michi- gan, where he entered the service of Charles Dickey, a manufacturer of fanning mills, by whom he was employed for three years. until he became a clerk in a hardware store. which he bought four years afterward and conducted until 1866, and after that he re- mained in Michigan, engaged in a variety of pursuits, until 1873, when he removed to Iowa. There he was engaged at farming until 1886, when he went to Hutchinson, Kansas, as bookkeeper for the firm of Beers & Lee, dealers in horses and mules, in which his son was a partner. He was thus em- ployed for two years and since then he has been practically retired from business.
Mr. Beers' first wife died at Marshall, Michigan, October 2, 1865. He married Amanda G. Olin, of that town, January 7. 1866. Miss Olin was born in Calhoun county, Michigan, a daughter of Charles and Scynthia (Hopkins) Olin, both of whom were born in Rhode Island. She was educated in a female college at Albion, Michigan, and after her graduation, in 1860, she taught school until her marriage. By his first marriage Mr. Beers had four children, all of whom are living, with the exception of the oldest, who died in in- fancy. By his second marriage Mr. Beers has one son, Herbert Eugene Isaac, who is now twenty-one years of age and is a member of his father's family. His son Herman M. was born at Marshall, Michigan, July 8, 1853, and was educated in the high school at Marshall. He went to Reno county, Kansas, in 1879, and began dealing in mules and horses and he soon took in a partner and the firm was known as Beers & Lee. In 1890 the firm of Wal- cott. Beers & Company was organized and did a good business at Hutchinson until
1897, when the business was removed to Kansas City, Missouri, and associated with two other firms, those of Erwin Grant & Company and Hendrick & Ryan, and jointly the three firms practically controlled the horse and mule market of Kansas City. handling as many as fifty thousand head a year. In the great sales, which occur every two weeks and last several days, an average of one head of stock per minute is sold. Herman M. Beers married, in 1883, Frances Tibbetts, of Reno county, Kansas, but a na- tive of Michigan, and they have two daugh- ters, Frances and Louise. He is now worth fully one hundred thousand dollars and is adding to his wealth rapidly. Mr. Beers' daughter, Louise A., was educated at Mar- shall, Michigan, and. Corning, Iowa. She has been a teacher for twenty-five years, having taught twelve years in Iowa and thirteen years in the public schools of Hutch- inson, during the last ten years in the sev- enth grade. Mr. Beers' third son, Licester M., remained with his father until he was twenty-one years old, then he engaged in farming and in speculation. He was mar- ried in Reno county, Kansas, to Mary Libby, and has two children, Florence and Maud. He holds the position of shipping clerk and foreman in a wholesale produce house at Wichita, Kansas.
Mr. Beers was formerly a Republican, . but is now a Democrat. He is a member of the Episcopal church. He was received as an entered apprentice, passed the fellow craft degree and was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in St. Albans Lodge, No. 20, A. F. & A. M., in Michi- gan ; also took the Mark Master's degree, the Past Master's degree and the Most Ex- cellent Master's degree of capitular Mason- ry and was exalted to the august degree of Royal Arch Mason in Lafayette Chapter, No. 4, R. A. M., in Michigan, and has filled all the chairs in his blue lodge and all in his chapter except that of high priest. Mr. Beers liad never known that he possessed much mechanical ability, especially such as would enable him to do creditable carpen- ter work, until the fall of 1900. In the sum- mer of that year he bought his present home,
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which consists of four lots, on which was a fine residence. There being no barn on the place, he determined to build .one by himself. He laid out a building eighteen by twenty-eight feet in area and fourteen feet to the eaves and began its construction. He had about completed his task in a work- manlike manner when he was so seriously injured by a vicious horse that he was cont- pelled to forego any active work for many months. Now almost recovered, he declares that he will complete the barn, and those who know him best believe that though he is seventy-six years old he will yet complete his task. His hair is scarcely beginning to lose its color, he is quick and agile in his movements, possesses a remarkable mind and memory and is in many ways a man of more than ordinary note.
JOHN FRANK LESLIE.
Missouri, a sister state of Kansas, has given to Kansas a considerable percentage of its leading citizens in different walks of life. Prominent among its farmers of Mis- sourian nativity in Rice county is John Frank Leslie, who lives on section 7. Wal- nut township, and whose postoffice address is Thurber.
John Frank Leslie was born in Clark county, Missouri, August 28. 1860, a son of Alexander Leslie, who was born in Mont- gomery county, New York, December 19. 1804, and died in Walnut township, Rice county, Kansas, July 2, 1878. Alexander Leslie settled on one-half of section 30, township 22, range 9, in the municipal township mentioned. February 16, 1876. His father, Daniel Leslie came to America with his brother, Benjamin Leslie, when a young man. He married and was left a widower with four children. He afterward married Elizabeth (Carmen) Butts, widow of Edmund Butts, who had two daughters by her first marriage. Mr. Butts was born October 20, 1807, and died September 19, 1843. Mrs. Leslie, who was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, July 29, 1824, is now liv-
ing, aged seventy-seven years. She is a daughter of Joseph and Martha ( Duncan) Carmen. Joseph Carmen was born in the year 1800, and died in his seventy-ninth year. His wife was born in 1806, and died in her fiftieth year. Joseph Carmen was a native of France. Of their eleven children he and his wife reared nine. Their daugh- ter, MIrs. Leslie, reared ten of eleven chil- diren and has four sons and four daughters, thirty-one grandchildren and nine great- grandchildren, and one of her great-grand- sons and one of her great-granddaughters are grown to manhood and womanhood.
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