A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I, Part 48

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

USA > Kansas > A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I > Part 48

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296

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

Mr. Wiegel carried on his mining oper- ations in Pennsylvania until 1878, when he came from Allegheny county, that state, to Kansas. He took up his abode in Hutchin- son. Reno county, and the first week after his arrival here erected a little board shanty, sixteen by sixteen feet. which now forms the kitchen of his present residence. His first purchase of land consisted of eighty acres, for which he paid three hundred dol- lars, and after the first year had passed he added another eighty acres to the tract, pay- ing four hundred dollars for the last pur- chase. He went in debt for that amount. Up to this time he had had no experience what- ever in farming, but by watching his neigh- bors and by industry and capable manage- ment he mastered the work of the farm in all its departments and soon succeeded in paying off all his indebtedness. Mr. Wie- gel began life in Kansas with but little capi- tal. but he has battled energetically and earnestly, and by indomitable courage and integrity has achieved both character and affluence. His first team was a yoke of oxen, and he has inany times walked to and from Hutchinson, a distance of eleven miles. In the struggle for existence he has been no- bly assisted by his loving wife, who has shared with him the joys and sorrows, the adversity and prosperity of life. She has also walked to Hutchinson and back with her basket of eggs many times, and has also walked to Nickerson. a distance of five miles. By their united efforts they have succeeded in winning a competence which now numbers them among the leading and substantial citizens of Reno county. During the past five years Mr. Wiegel has lived re- tired from active business life, owing to ill health. and in their pleasant and comforta- ble home he and his wife are enjoying the fruits of their former toil. Of the Lutheran church both are active and worthy mem- bers. His political support is given the De- mocracy, and although he keeps well in- formed on the issues and questions of the day he has never aspired to political prefer- ment, although for eight years he served as a member of the school board, the cause of education ever finding in him a warm friend.

JACOB JOHNSON.

Mr. Johnson has a remarkable record, and through the study of his life history one may learn valuable lessons. The spirit of self-help is the source of all genuine worth in an individual and is the means of bring- ing to him success when he has no advan- tages of wealth or influence to aid him. He illustrates in no uncertain manner what it is possible to accomplish when perseverance and determination form the keynote to a man's life. Depending upon his own re- sources and looking for no outside aid or support, he has risen from comparative ob- scurity to a place of prominence in agricul- tural circles.

Mr. Johnson was born in Rock Island county, Illinois, July 20, 1842. His father, Moses Johnson, was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on the 15th of May, 1801. The fam- ily is of German lineage, and in that coun- try the grandfather of our subject first opened his eyes (to the light of day. He it was who founded the family on Ameri- can soil. His son, Moses, having arrived at years of maturity, married Catherine Woods, who was born in Switzerland, in 18II. and when seven years of age crossed the Atlantic on a sailing vessel to Phila- delphia. Her mother died on the voyage and her father died in Pennsylvania within two weeks after their arrival. Thus the three children, two daughters and a son, were left orphans. Mrs. Johnson was the youngest. She was bound out and therefore she had no educational privileges and very little advantages in other directions. At the age of nineteen she gave her hand in mar- riage in Galena, Illinois, to Moses John- son, and they took up their abode in Rock Island county. The father served in the Black Hawk war. He was a shoemaker by trade and in later years carried on agricul- tural pursuits on his farm of eighty acres. Eleven children were born unto this worthy couple, of whom they reared six sons and two daughters: Alexander, who died in Knox county, Illinois, at the age of fifty- one years, leaving a wife, one son and one daughter ; D. W., a retired farmer now liv-

Jacob Johnson

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BIOGRAPHIC.IL HISTORY.

ing in Barstow. Illinois; E. N., a stockman of . Montana, who has a wife and one son : Mary Ann. the wife of Ephraim Lambert, residing in Shannon county. Iowa, by whom she has a son and two daughters; Jacob, of this review ; Ebenezer, who is living in Montana and has one i daughter; George H., who resides on the old family homestead in Illinois and has two sons and three daughters; and Cather- ine, the wife of John Sharp, of Reno coun- ty, Kansas, by whom she has two sons and one daughter. The father of this family died in Rock Island county, Illinois, March 18. 1871, and the mother, remaining true to his memory, lived a widow for twenty- eight years. Her death occurred in Mon- tana, where she was taken in the hope that her health might be benefited. She passed away January 20, 1899, at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years.

Jacob Johnson was reared upon a farm and early became familiar with the work necessary to its cultivation and im- provement. He was thus engaged until his enlistment for service in the Civil war, in April, 1861, as a member of Company H. Twelfth Illinois Infantry. The call was for three months' troops. and on the expiration of his term of service, in July, 1861, he re- enlisted as a member of Company H. Fifty- first Illinois Infantry; with which he served as a private until September 26, 1862. He then enlisted in Company K, of the Fourth United States Cavalry, and served for three years. He received but two slight wounds. although he was in thirty-five battles and his comrades fell on every side. At Love- joy Station, Georgia, his regiment had a hard fight, seventeen men from his company having been lost, and although his horse was shot under him and he was obliged thereafter to go on foot, he was not in- jured. At the battle of Stone River seven of the boys in blue who stood near him were killed. He now receives a sınall pen- sion of twelve dollars a month as a com- pensation for his services and the ill healtlı engendered.

In the year 1870 Mr. Johnson married Miss Eliza F. Wesley, of Rock Island coun- 19

ty. Illinois, born in 1848. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Wesley, are both now de- ceased. The father was a carpenter and skilled mechanic. He died in the 'zos and his wife pased away six years later. They left two sons and five daughters. Leaving Illinois, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson came to Rice county, Kansas, in August, 1871, and secured a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, to which our subject has added as opportunity came to him, making judi- cious investments. He now has nearly seven hundred and twenty acres in one body. He grows wheat, having from one hundred to three hundred acres planted to that crop, harvesting from four to five thousand bush- els each year. He has two hundred acres in corn and has raised as high as from five to six thousand bushels annually. He also raises stock, making a specialty of Hereford cattle and he has some fine thoroughbred animals. He keeps on hand from fifty to one hundred and fifty head, which he feeds and ships, and in both departments of his business he is meeting with good success.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson has been blessed with four sons and four daugli- ters. and six of the family are yet living : Alice, the first born, became the wife of J. F. Willie, and died at the age of twenty- two years, leaving two sons: George D., the second child, is at home: Mary Eliza is the wife of Ernest McCracken, a farmer of this vicinity, by whom she has one son; Ida May is at home: Frank Jacob is a substan- tial farmer of the community; Clyde died at the age of seventeen years, in 1898: Phil Sheridan and Rosa Hazel, aged. respective- ly, sixteen and twelve years, are with their parents. Mr. Johnson exercises his voting privileges in support of the men and meas- ures of the Republican party and has served as a member of the school board, but has never sought public office. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and his wife is a member of the Christian church. His is a creditable record and the salient features of his career has been unflagging industry, which has enabled him to over- come all obstacles and work his way steadily upward to success.

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

M. E. ALLISON.

One of the mien of note in central Kan- sas is M. E. Allison, of Hutchinson, who for many years was a most prominent factor in business circles in this portion of the state, his extensive interests bringing to him a handsome financial return. He also gained more than a national reputation as the pro- prietor of the finest greyhound kennel in the world. Ill health, however, caused his re- tirement from active life, and he is now quietly living in his beautiful home in Hutchinson. On account of the active part which he has taken in advancing the prog- ress of Kansas through the establishment of important business concerns, his life history can not fail to prove of wide-spread interest.

Mr. Allison was born in Nicholas coun- ty. Kentucky, near Blue Lick Springs, in 1841. His father, J. T. Allison, also a na- tive of Kentucky, was born about the year 1810 and was of Scotch-Irish descent. Be- fore leaving his native state he married Catherine M. Mains, who was of Pennsyl- vania-German lineage. In Kentucky he owned and conducted a large farm of three hundred and twenty acres, carrying on ag- ricultural and horticultural pursuits and stock raising. He also operated a large saw- mill and manufactured lumber on quite an extensive scale for the local trade. In pub- lic affairs in Kentucky he was prominent and influential and by all who knew him was held in high regard. In 1852, however, he sold his farm in that state and with is fam- ily removed to Rush county, Indiana, where he purchased land. continuing its cultiva- tion for three years, when he disposed of the property and went to Decatur county, that state, settling near Greensboro. There he purchased a half section of land and engaged in the tilling of the soil for five years, erect- ing substantial buildings and making many excellent improvements on the place. At length he traded this for two or three thou- sand acres of land in White county, In- diana, and in Gentry and Harrison counties, Missouri. He lived in White county for about twelve years. following farming throughout the time, and improving his

place with good buildings and modern ac- cessories. On the expiration of the period The removed to Andrew county, Missouri. " and spent his remaining days upon one of his farms there. His wife had passed away several years previous, while they were liv- ing in White county, Indiana, her death oc- curring when she was fifty-four years of age. In politics he was a Democrat and was a consistent member of the Methodist church. This worthy couple were the par- ents of twelve children, of whom our sub- ject was the fifth in order of birth. Eight of the number are still living, namely: N. T., a resident farmer of White county, In- diana ; John, a farmer of Council Grove, Kansas: Mary, the wife of Isaac Snap, an agriculturist of Andrew county, Missouri ; Fannie, who married W. D. McKee, who is bookkeeper for D. J. Fair, a lumberman of Sterling, Kansas: Rosalie, wife of John Brown, a farmer of South Dakota; Emma, wife of William Barber, chief clerk in the Pullman office in Chicago, Illinois; Charles, who is in the restaurant business in Pekin, Illinois ; and M. E., of this review. Those who have passed away are Watson, who was a soldier in the Thirty-third Indiana In- fantry during the Civil war, and died in the hospital; James; Reuben and Sallie.

.M. E. Allison spent the first eleven years of his life in Kentucky and then accompa- nied his parents to Indiana. He acquired his education in the schools of the two states and at the age of eighteen entered the Col- lege of Indiana, where he remained for about a year, when the war of the Rebellion was inaugurated and the school was broken up by the enlistments of the students. He then entered Wabash College, at Craw- fordsville, Indiana, where he continued his studies for a year, after which he matricu- lated in a college situated on the old Tippe- canoe battle ground. At that place he con- tinued his studies for two years, and from there he went to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he entered commercial college and completed the course.

About this time his father traded one of his farms in White county for a store and stock of general merchandise in Rey-

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

nolds, Indiana, and M. E. Allison took charge, conducting the business at that point for a while. after which he removed the stock to Fairbury, Livingston county, Illinois, where he carried on business for five years. He then sold out and removed to Rosendale, Andrew county, Missouri, where he engaged in the drug business for a year. He next went to Bolckow, in the same coun- ty, and engaged in the same line of business, conducting the enterprise for three years. In the spring of 1875 he went west as far as Colorado, seeking a better location for his business and being much pleased with the prospect at Hutchinson he resolved to iden- tify his interests with the town and pur- chased a stock of drugs here. He then re- turned to Bolckow, sold his store there and with his family returned to Hutchinson, where he engaged in the drug business alone for a year. On the expiration of that period he admitted a partner and established a grocery department, the business being car- ried on under the firm style of Allison & Devier. After about four or five years the firm sold out, but again entered the commer- cial field under the name of the Allison-De- vier Mercantile Company, as proprietors of a drug and wholesale grocery house, busi- ness being carried on much more extensively than it had previously been. In fact an enormous trade was built up and brought to the partners a splendid financial return. In the meantime Mr. Allison became a part- ner in the milling business of West, Allison & Company, which was also a very profita- ble investment. The business of the firm caused a large annual output and the sales increased continuously owing to the excel- lence of the product and the reliable business · methods of the house. In 1892, however, he sold out and previous to this time he had disposed of his drug and grocery business. He then became traveling salesman for the Newton Milling & Elevator Company and also for the Halstead Milling & Elevator Company, representing these firms in both the east and the west. After a time his son, Burton, became associated with him in the business and had charge of the western territory, while Mr. Allison traveled in the

cast, He was thus engaged until about 1898, when he became disabled from rheumatism and was obliged to retire. Since that time he has also become blind, and al- though he has had two operations per- formed on his eyes, they have proved in- effectual. His rheumatism, too, has grown worse, so that he is now unable to walk.

Mr. Allison was married April 18. 1865. in Reynolds, Indiana, to Martha Firth, a daughter of Samuel Firth; of Rey- nolds. The lady was a native of Rochester, New York, while her parents were natives of England. Her father was very wealthy and owned the greater part of the town of Reynolds. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Allison were born eight children: Burton, who is mar- ried and resides in Hutchinson; Harry F., also of Hutchinson, who is married and is a conductor on the Southern Texas railroad : WV. G., a barber of this city; Lena, the wife of Clif Chappel, a carpenter of Hutchinson ; Flora F., Mabel, Quincy and Babe, who are still at home. The mother died October 23. 1886. They have a very beautiful residence in Hutchinson, of which Burton Allison took possession in 1900.

In connection with his other business interests Mr. Allison invested in city and farming property and had some valuable real estate. He was formerly a great hun- ter and lover of the chase and also a well known dog fancier. Beginning in the year 1883 with the magnificent full-blooded Eng- lish greyhounds. Sandy Jim and Reno Belle, he established a kennel which in time became famous throughout this country and its fame also spread to England, the pictures of Sandy Jim and Reno Belle even appear- ing in London papers. Mr. Allison started his kennel entirely for his own benefit, but there was such a strong demand for his dogs that he could not refuse to supply his friends and in time his stock became scattered not only over Kansas but through the far west as well. These dogs he bred simply for the chase of large game-antelope, deer and wolves, and it is doubtful whether as per- fect specimens of these animals could have been found anywhere in the world as Mr. Allison once owned. No antelope or deer

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was so swift but what the dogs could pull became a charter member of the Wood- it down and no wolf so fierce but what they . could conquer him. Accounts of many of Mr. Allison's big hunting trips have been published throughout the length and breadth of the land, appearing in such periodicals as Outing. American Field and Forest and Stream. For the last two years Mr. Alli- son has written many interesting articles.

The editor of the Forest and Stream became so much interested in Mr. Allison's hounds that he sent two representatives to Hutchinson to go with Mr. Allison on a hunting trip in the Indian Territory for wolves, deer and antelope, and they spent two months there with the hounds. These gentlemen, Mr. Ricker, a sketch artist and Mr. Hough, a writer, prepared a most in- teresting history of this great hunt and it appeared in a long serial in the Forest and Stream, edited by Mr. Lowe.

Mr. Allison has the proud distinction of being the first man to organize a coursing club in America, and at Great Bend, Kansas, the first meet occurred. He afterward es- tablished a coursing park in Hutchinson, stocking it with jack rabbits, and the fame of this locality became so great on account of its coursing hounds that people came from all over the United States and England to enter their hounds or to see Mr. Allison's kennel, for at that time he had the reputa- tion of producing the finest greyhounds in the world. Among the number of distin- guished dog fanciers who sent their repre- sentatives with hounds to enter the coursing in Mr. Allison's park was August Belmont. For five years Mr. Allison was actively con- nected with the coursing club, at which time its headquarters were removed to South Da- kota. After being in the business of breed- ing fine hounds for about twenty years Mr. Allison finally sold his kennel to Mr. Hig- gins, a ranchman of northern Montana. One of Mr. Allison's famous hunts is graphically described in that interesting volume called Big Game in America.

Socially Mr. Allison has been a Mason for many years, having taken the degree in Reno Lodge. No. 140, F. & A. M., and Reno Chapter, No. 34. R. A. M. He also

men's Camp. In politics he is a Democrat on questions of state and national import- ance, but at local elections votes independ- ently, supporting the men whom he thinks best qualified for office. He takes an ac- tive interest in both local and national poli- tics, although he has never sought or de- sired office. His life has been an active, busy and useful one and his career has gained for him warm regard and respect by reason of his genuine worth.

BURTON ALLISON.

Burton Allison was born in Fairbury, Illinois, January 16, 1866, and is a son of M. E. Allison, whose sketch is given above. T

When a lad of only nine summers he ac- companied his parents to the Sunflower state and in the schools of Hutchinson pursued his education, although his privileges were somewhat limited, for at that early day the school system of the city had not reached its present high standard. In his early man- hood he engaged in buying and selling city property and to a greater or less extent has continued to deal in real estate. In 1893 he formed his present business relations, that of traveling representative for the Halstead Milling & Elevator Company and the Newton Milling & Elevator Company, and has since represented those houses throughout the western portion of Kansas and through the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and California. He is the only representative of the two companies in this vast field.

On the 30th of April, 1896, Mr. Allison was united in marriage to Miss Stella M. Barclay, a native of Hutchinson and a daughter of George B. Barclay. Both her parents were natives of Pennsylvania. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Allison have been born two children, Corinne, born November 16, 1897, and Gretchen, born July 24, 1899. Mr. Al- lison is a supporter of Democratic princi- ples when state and national issues are in- volved, but at local elections, where the fit-

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

ness of the ccandidate depends upon his abil- ity to discharge the business of town or county, he does not consider himself bound by party ties and votes independently. Fra- ternally lie is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Court of Honor.

J. A. WILSON, M. D.

John A. Wilson, the local surgeon of the Santa Fe railroad at Nickerson and one of the leading practitioners of the city, was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, August 15. 1851. His paternal grandfather, Gibson Wilson, was a native of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in farming during his entire life and died. after hav- ing reared four sons and two daughters, all now deceased. One of his sons, James Wil- son, was the father of the subject of this sketch, and was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in October, 1812. He married Miss Mary Hutchinson, of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Asa and Re- becca ( Battles ) Hutchinson, who lived in Niles, Ohio, where he carried on merchan- dising. They were the parents of five sons and three daughters, who grew to years of maturity, and one daughter and two sons are still living. The grandparents spent their entire lives in Pennsylvania and died at a ripe old age. The parents of our sub- ject were married in Pennsylvania about 1835 and settled in the woods in Trumbull county, Ohio, where they reared their five children : William, a teacher who died un- married at the age of twenty-four years ; James, a farmer and fruit grower of Trum- bull county, Ohio, who has two sons; George, who died in Ohio in 1868, leaving one daughter : Mary, who makes her home with her brother in Ohio; and John A. The father of this family died in Ohio in 1899 at the age of seventy-seven years.

John A. Wilson, whose name introduces this review, was reared to farm life, early becoming familiar with all the duties that usually fall to the lot of farmer lads. In the summer months he assisted in the work

of the fields, plowing, planting, sowing, cul- tivating and harvesting the crops, and in the winter season he attended the district schools and the academy. When he had completed his literary education he chose the practice of medicine as his life work and accordingly he began to read medicine in 1877 with Dr. Henry Parish, in Decatur, Iowa, remaining with him three years. He then studied in the medical department of the University of Wooster at Cleveland, Ohio, and was graduated at the Kentucky 'School of Medicine at Louisville, on the 29th of June, 1881. In September of the same year he began practice at Lucas, Iowa. where he remained until June, 1887, when he went to Nickerson, Kansas, and opened an office and. although there were already four physicians there, he has since been the leading physician of the city.

Dr. Wilson has been twice married, his first union being with Elizabeth Earl. of Decatur, where they were married on the 24th of May, 1882. She was the daughter of Daniel and Hannah Earl, and after a happy married life of ten years, she died at her home in Nickerson, Kansas, on the 16th of August. 1892, at the age of thirty-three years, leaving one daughter, Mabel, now ser- enteen years of age, and attending college. The Doctor was again married January 24. 1896, to Miss Emma Sain, of Nickerson. a daughter of Noah and Jane ( Wilson) Sain. both now deceased. She has one sister and four brothers living, namely: George, a former employe of the Santa Fe railroad. now living in Nickerson, Kansas; William, banker and hardware dealer of Neosho Falls, Kansas; John, a druggist in San Francisco, California ; Benjamin, who went west to Washington; and Addie, wife of Henry Williams, a foreman in the railroad shops at Elmoro, Colorado.

Mrs. Wilson was reared on a farm in Bureau county, Illinois, and was educated in the district and high schools. In 1882 she left her home in Illinois and started west- ward, locating for a time in Larned. Kan- sas, then in Orleans, Nebraska, and Neosho Falls, Kansas. In 1885 she spent a short time with her brother. George Sain. in

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I, Part 48

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