USA > Kansas > A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I > Part 58
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In 1897 Mr. Wernet returned to Baden, Germany, on a visit to friends.
He was united in marriage, in McPher- son county, Kansas, in 1878, to Miss Louisa Lueck, who was born in Hamburg, Ger- many, and has been to her husband a faith- ful companion and helpmeet on the journey of life. They became the parents of nine children, seven sons and two daughters, namely : William, George, Fritz, Ed, John, Charlie, Frank, Rosa and Mary. In his political affiliations Mr. Wernet is a Re- publican and has served upon the school board, but has never been a politician in the sense of office-seeker, preferring to de- vote his time and eregies to his business in- terests, in which he has met with creditable success.
DAVID HERYER.
The gentleman whose name appears above, whose residence is at No. 216 Fifth avenue, Hutchinson, Reno county, Kansas, and who is a traveling salesman for the Hutchinson Wholesale Grocery Company, is as well known throughout the territory tributary to that enterprising city as any other man.
David Heryer is a native of Boonville, Missouri, and was born January 17, 1849. His parents were Jacob and Eliza (Snyder) Heryer. The father came from Germany
with his father in 1836 to meet his brother, Philip Heryer, and landed at New Orleans, where Mr. Heryer's grandfather died of yellow fever. Jacob thien started for the the north to find his brother Philip at Belle- ville, Illinois, but the latter died three days before his arrival, and he then went to Boonville, Cooper county, Missouri, where he set himself up in business as a barber. Having some knowledge of surgery, he was often called upon to bleed people in accord- ance with an obsolete medical practice, and in time inade that operation a distinct feature. When David Heryer was nine years old his father moved to Brimfield, Illi- nois, and there established a large depart- ment store, in the management of which he was successful and in which Mr. Heryer was employed. Jacob Heryer died at Brini- field, Illinois, about fifteen years ago and his widow died there about seven years ago. Mrs. Heryer was in her maidenhood Eliza Snyder, a native of Pennsylvania. As far as is known our subject and his descendants are the only Heryers now living.
David Heryer received a common-school education at Boonville, Cooper county, Mis- souri, and at Brimfield, Illinois, and having a liking for books he has studied since in his spare moments and thus by travel and by association with his fellow men has become exceptionally well informed. He began working in his father's department store at Brimfield, Illinois, at the age of sixteen and was soon put in charge of the books of the concern and at the age of twenty was taken into partnership with his father. He was married in Brimfield, Illinois, in 1874, to Lizzie Guyer, of Jewish extraction and a native of that state, who bore him three chil- dren, as follows: Ralph, a bookkeeper in the employ of the Armour Packing and Provision Company, of Kansas City, Mis- souri ; Olive L., a member of her father's household; Fred W., a traveling salesman for the firm of Ford & Doane, of St. Louis. Missouri.
On account of the illness of his first wife Mr. Heryer went to Kansas, and there en- gaged in business at Lyons, and there his wife died and was buried. June 17, 1888.
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he married Ida May Sperry, daughter of Samuel A. Sperry, a biographical sketch of whom appears in this work. By his second marriage lie has two children, Madalina Marie, who was born August 15, 1889, and Everett, who was born July 27, 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Heryer both inherited decided musical talent, which has been highly culti- vated and some of which has been trans- imitted to their children, who manifested it at an early age. Miss Madalina was able to play pieces on the piano when she was so small that she was obliged to stand on tip- toe to reach the keys, and she played a con- test piece in the Musical Jubilee held at Hutchinson in 1901. Mrs. Heryer was edu- cated in Fulton county, Illinois, and her education in music, received at Akron, Ohio, and at Peoria, Illinois, is comprehen- sive and complete and she is highly accom- plished both in vocal and instrumental music. Her fine soprano voice is of suchli remarkable range that she is able easily to sing as high as C sharp. In part her ex- perience as teacher of music covers a period of about twenty-five years in Fulton county, Illinois, and McPherson county, Kansas, devoted to the organ and the piano. She became known as a sole singer through her appearances at Hale chapel, at Peoria, Illi- nois, and her reputation as a soloist was established in Kansas by her notable sing- ing in the Methodist and Baptist churches at McPherson. Her husband has sung much in choruses and is an accomplished cornetist.
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After his marriage Mr. Heryer disposed of his business interests in Lyons, Kansas, and removed to Hutchinson, where he ac- quired a financial and working interest in the Hutchinson Wholesale Grocery Com- pany. That connection was formed in 1889, and during the past five or six years lie has traveled for the firm throughout its trade territory. In politics he has voted the Republican ticket from his first vote to his last. He and his wife are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Hutch- inson. While a resident of Illinois he took an active interest in politics and held several important offices, including that of treas-
urer of Peoria county, representing that county as a member of the state legislature in the thirty-second assembly. He took all active interest in temperance movements while a resident of Illinois, which he has kept alive since he has been a citizen of Kansas. He has been active in church work and was a trustee of the Methodist church at Brimfield, Illinois, and superin- tendent of its Sunday-school. He is a Ma- son, a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, a Select Knight and a member of the Degree of Honor, a Modern Woodman and a member of the Knights and Ladies of Security. He bought his home place in Hutchinson, consisting of three lots lying side by side, on which he has a modern residence, a fine garden and numerous fruit and shade trees. A man of mitch public spirit, he takes a deep interest in his city, county and state and to the ex- tent of his ability advances every movement which in his good judgment promises to benefit his fellow citizens.
M. L. MCALILLY, M. D.
Dr. McAlilly has devoted his life to one of the most exacting of all the higher lines of occupation to which a man may lend his energies. The most scrupulous preliminary trainings is demanded and a nicety of judg- ment little understood by the laity. Then again that profession brings its devotees into almost constant association with the sadder phases of life-those of pain and suffering -so that a mind capable of great self-con- trol and a heart responsive and sympathetic are essential attributes to those who would assay the healing art. Thus when profes- sional success is attained in any instance it may be taken as certain that such measure of success has been not an accident but a logi- cal result. Dr. McAlilly is one who has at- tained to a distinctive position among the leading members of the medical fraternity in central Kansas and is now enjoying a large and lucrative patronage in Reno county, where he has made his home for eleven years.
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The Doctor is a native of Highland, Madison county, Illinois, born February 23. 1852, and on both the paternal and maternal side is descended from ancestry long con- nected with America, the McAlillys being among the pioneers of Kentucky. Samuel McAlilly, the grandfather of the Doctor, was the first to leave the Blue Grass state, removing thence to Illinois, before the ad- mission of the latter state into the Union. He settled in the edge of the timber but had a farm of prairie land, which he placed un- der a high state of cultivation. He was actively interested in the formation of schools and churches, and left the impress of his individuality upon the substantial de- velopment and improvement of the county in which he made his home. He was mar- ried in Kentucky, and when he went with his family to Illinois William C. McAlilly, the father of the Doctor, was only a year old. There amid the wild scenes of fron- tier life he was reared, pursuing his edu- cation in an old-time subscription school, to which he had to walk about five or six miles. The building in which the sessions were held was constructed of logs and the furnishings were most primitive, while the methods of instruction were also somewhat crude. William C. McAlilly received am- ple training in farm work and throughout his entire life carried on agricultural pur- suits in Madison county, Illinois, becoming one of the substantial farmers of his com- munity. He was deeply interested in church and educational work and in every- thing that pertained to intellectual or moral progress and was a gentleman of the high- est respectability and worth. Long a meni- ber of the Methodist church, throughout the greater part of the time he served as one of its officers. He was married in Fayette county, Illinois, to Catherine Wren, a daughter of B. G. Wren, a farmer of that locality. Several of her brothers were loyal Union soldiers during the Civil war. Of the three children born to William C. and Catherine McAlilly the Doctor is the youngest and the only son, a fact that is peculiar to the family-there being only one son of the different families through many
generations. The daughters are Mary, the wife of William Bryant, of Dixon, Mis- souri ; and Martha, who died at the age of fifteen years. The father died at the age of sixty-nine and the mother was seventy years of age when called to her final rest.
In the public schools Dr. McAlilly pur- sued his early education and then entered McKendree College, in which he was grad- uated with the class of 1873. He pursued this course as a preparation for his medical education and then entered the Missouri Medical College, at St. Louis, where he was graduated in 1880. Immediately after- ward he began practice in Illinois, remain- ing there until 1885, when he came to Kan- sas, opening an office in Nickerson, Reno county. During the early days of his resi- dence there he had to take long drives across the country and endure other hardships inci- dent to a country practice in a newly settled region, but in course of time he built up a good practice and the hope of widening his practice in the line of his specialty was all that led him to leave Nickerson for Hutch- inson. In 1900 he came to the latter city, and while he has a large general practice he also does a large amount of business as a specialist on the diseases of women and children. He has made a thorough study along those lines and his knowledge is pro- found and accurate, indicated by the excel- lent success which has attended his efforts in treating the diseases which come under that classification.
On the 5th of June, 1875, in Illinois, Dr. McAlilly was united in marriage to Miss Alice Stuart, a daughter of S. D. Stuart, a merchant of Greenville, Illinois. Unto them were born two children, but both are now deceased. Their home is a pleasant residence at No. 618 Avenue A east, and the improvements which the Doctor has made since he purchased the property render it a very desirable home. In his political views he is a stanch Republican, but the duties of his profession leave him no time for office holding. Socially he is connected with the Improved Order of Red Men and the Mod- ern Tonties, and in religious faith he is a Methodist, holding membership in the
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church of that denomination in Hutchinson. His advancement to a foremost position in the ranks of the medical fraternity of cen- tral Kansas is due to marked ability, enter- prise and close attention to business, and wide confidence is reposed in him by his fellow townsmen who accord him a leading position in social as well as professional circles.
WILLIAM S. DEWEESE.
William S. DeWeese resides on section 3. Liberty township, Kingman county, and is regarded as a most progressive and en- terprising agriculturist. He was born De- cember 10, 1865, in Darke county, Ohio,- a state that furnished so many of the hon- pred and valued early settlers of central Kansas. It is thought that the family is of French descent, and the name certainly gives proof of this. John DeWeese, the grand- father of our subject, was born in Virginia, about 1805, and when in the prime of life emigrated with his family to Ohio, in 1833, locating in Darke county, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of government land. and lived there fifty-five years,-the remainder of his life. He was among the pioneer settlers of that part of the state, where he entered land in a region where the work of improvement had not yet been be- gun and where all kinds of wild game were found in abundance. He cleared a farm in the midst of the forest, increased his pos- sessions and became a well-to-do man, hav- ing extensive landed and stock-raising in- terests. He was one of the best known and most highly respected citizens of his dis- trict. In early life he voted with the Whig party, but later became a Republican. His death occurred in Darke county in the '8os,
and he was then eighty years of age. He duced little else that could be sold. Our
was twice married and by the first union had four children: Barnabas, the father of our subject : and Peter, John and George. all of whom became prosperous farmers of Darke county. John was made a cripple in his boyhood by his brother Barnabas, who accidentally hit him in the leg when
they were chopping wood in the forest. After the death of his first wife the grand- father married again, his second union being with a Mrs. Dorman, and they also had four children: Thomas, who spent his life in Darke county and died about 1865 ; Dennie, also a farmer of Ohio; Carey, a prominent and successful farmer and stock-raiser of Rural township, Kingman county, Kansas ; and Joseph, who is proprietor of a saloon in Ohio.
Barnabas DeWeese, the father of our subject, was born in Virginia, April I7, 1829, and was reared upon the old home- stead, which he had aided in reclaiming from the wilderness for purposes of civiliza- tion. He remained on the old home place until 1850, when he married Elizabeth Dor- man, a daughter of his stepmother by her first marriage. He then carried on farming operations in Ohio until about 1867, when he removed to Coles county, Illinois, where he engaged in the tilling of the soil until 1873, in which year he went with his fam- ily to Harvey county, Kansas, settling about two miles east of Newton. There he en- gaged in farming and passed through the disastrous grasshopper plague, which left him in very reduced financial circumstances. In 1875 he removed to Reno county and se- cured a homestead and a tree claim in the southwestern district, gaining the title to both. Buffalo and antelope were numerous and were hunted in the winter time, for the first four or five years, by the father and his older sons, for the meat and hides, with- out which it is difficult to understand how many of the early settlers could have man- aged to live through those first years when hardships and privations of every descrip- tion were to be endured. The meat fur- nished many a meal and the skins were a source of revenue when the country pro-
subject then was a small lad of ten years, and being eager to engage in hunting, he often accompanied his father on his ex- peditions after game. He did not kill any buffalo but he shot several antelope and also aided in catching wild horses. When the buffalo had disappeared from this section of
MR. AND MRS. W. S. DEWEESE.
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the country he aided in searching for their bones, and many were the wagon loads which were gathered on the plains and hauled to Wichita and Hutchinson for sale. Mr. De- Weese estimated that his family alone took at least two hundred and fifty loads to mar- ket, the last load being gathered on Eagle Chief, in the Indian Territory, and hauled to Wichita, where they received eight dol- lars per ton for the bones.
Barnabas DeWeese resided in Reno county until 1880, when he came to King- man county, locating on the Ninnescah, in Rural township, where he pre-empted a claim which he transformed into a fine farm, as he had done with his Reno county land. He was offered sixty-five hundred dollars for his property here and finally sold it in 1884, removing then to Union township, in the same county. There he purchased an- other farm and residence, which he sold after two years, removing thence to the city of Kingman, where he lived for several years, after which he went to Oklahoma, where he located a claim nine miles west of Alvia. Later he rented this property and resided in the town of Alvia until he traded his property there for three hundred and twenty acres in Douglas county, Missouri, where he now resides. His wife died Janu- ary 12, 1892, and he has since married Elizabeth Woodford. During the Civil war Mr. DeWeese responded to his country's call for aid, serving for three years, six months and five days in the Twenty-first Ohio Infantry. He has always been promi- nent in public affairs in the various com- munities in which he has resided and while living in Reno county served as trustee. Of the Christian church he has long been a leading and active member and he also belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic.
Our subject is one of ten children, eight of whom are now living: Sarah A., the wife of W. W. Wolfe, a retired farmer re- siding in Kingman ; Benjamin F., a leading farmer and stockman of Union township, Kingman county; Noah, proprietor of a ho- te! in Kansas City, Missouri; Barney, who is engaged in railroad work and makes his home in Mound, Utah, ninety miles from
Salt Lake City; William S., of this review; Catherine, the wife of Robert Elliott, a blacksmith of Sugar Ridge, Ohio; John, an engineer in the mines at Cripple Creek, Col- orado; and Mattie, who lives in Salt Lake City.
William DeWeese was only two years old when the father removed with his fam- ily to Illinois and was a youth of nine when they came to Kansas. He assisted his fa- ther in the development of the new farm until sixteen years of age, when he found employment in herding cattle and sheep for Patrick McCurdy, and was thus engaged until his marriage. In Rural township, Kingman county, September 2, 1884. he won as a companion and helpmate for the journey of life Miss Mary M. Grett, a native. of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Jonas J. and Emma (Fry) Grett, who were of Pennsylvania-German ancestry. They were married in the Key- stone state, where the father followed farm- ing until Mrs. De Weese was four years old, when he removed with his family to Michi- gan, locating in St. Joseph county, whence. five years later he went to Missouri. Soon afterward, however, he returned to Michi- gan, where he resided for a number of years, when he went to Woods county. Oklahoma, settling twelve miles south of Kiowa. Mr. Grett is a veteran of the Civil war, having been in the ninety-days service. He had. eight children, but Johnnie, Benjamin F_ and Henrietta are all now deceased. Those- still living, besides Mrs. De\\'eese, are :: Sarah, the wife of Herbert Hopkins, who, is engaged in the boat service on Lake: Michigan and resides in the state of Michi- gan; Abbie, the wife of Henry Phillips, a farmer and stock-raiser of Eureka township, Kingman county; Hettie, the wife of B. F. DeWeese, of Union township, Kingman county ; and Elmer G. Unto Mr. and Mrs. De Weese were born six children : Milfred, Laura, Vera, Harry, Leora and Lottie.
After his Marriage William DeWeese engaged in conducting a ranch in Reno county, where Alcott now stands, the place being owned by Watson Wolf. This he managed for a year, and during that time
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he pre-empted a homestead claim. On the expiration of the year he came to Kingman county and conducted a hotel in the town of Maud for a year. He then removed to his farm and engaged in its cultivation for two years, after which he conducted a hotel in Calista for a year, while for a period of three years he followed railroading. His next place of residence was Viola, Sedgwick county, where he followed railroading for two years, after which he removed to Nash- ville, which was his place of residence for five years. Much of the time spent in the railroad service he was employed as section boss. In the fall of 1894 he removed to his present farm, which he had owned for two years previously. There were few improve- ments on the place when he took up his resi- dence here, a small house having been built, while seventy acres had been broken. With characteristic energy, however, Mr. De- Weese began the further development and improvement, and his persistent efforts, in- telligently directed, have made his farm famous throughout this portion of the coun- try. It is regarded as one of the show places of the district and the Colonization Con- pany brings visitors here to demonstrate the possibilities of this portion of Kansas. Mr. De Weese has enlarged his home, built large barns and sheds for the shelter of grain and stock and has planted an orchard contain- ing fifty-two varieties of trees, all now in bearing condition and yielding abundantly. The farm is all under fence and ninety acres of the land is richly in cultivation. While Mr. DeWeese gives some attention to the raising of other stock, he is principally en- gaged in raising horses and mules for the market. He likewise has a fine drove of sixty Duroc hogs and almost every kind of domestic animal can be found upon his place. including horses, cattle, asses, sheep, goats, hogs and all kinds of chickens and other fowls, turkeys, ducks, geese and a fine flock of beautiful peafowls.
Since coming to this county Mr. De- Weese has frequently been called upon to serve in positions of public trust, being twice elected township trustee, once as township clerk and as roadmaster, and for eight years
he has been clerk of the school board. In his political views he is a stalwart Republi- can and has never been anything else, nor is it known that any member of the family ever gave support to any other party. He attends the primaries and conventions of the party and does all in his power to insure its success. Fraternally he belongs to Nashville Lodge, No. 383, I. O. O. F., in which he has filled all the offices, and is also a member of Magnolia Camp, No. 5394, M. W. A., of Nashville, in which he has also filled many offices. He was a member of the Sons of Veterans camp in Kingman until it was disbanded, and he enjoys in high degree the legard of his brethren of these organiza- tions. He deserves great credit for his suc- cess in life, and his farm is the visible evi- dence of his industry and business ability.
WILLIAM L. JOHNSON.
William L. Johnson, who is engaged in the undertaking business in Hutchinson and is one of the recognized leaders in his line, over a wide extent of territory, is a na- tive of Boston, Massachusetts, born Decem- ber 17, 1848. His father. Patrick Johnson, removed to Lockport, New York, where he was engaged in contracting, and later went to Boston, Massachusetts, where he took a contract on the Croton viaduct. Subse- quently, however, he returned to Lockport, where he remained until 1890, when he came to Hutchinson, where he made his home until 1894. In that year he went to Topeka, and was a resident of that city until his death, which occurred after he had reached the extreme old age of one hundred and two years. His mother was one hun- dred and three years of age at the time of her deatlı.
William L. Johnson was one of a family of twelve children. He pursued his literary education in the schools of Lockport. New York, and then learned the cabinet-maker's trade, after which he engaged in the furni- ture and undertaking business as a mem- ber of the firm of Johnson & Company. He
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attended the Rochester School of Embalni- ing in 1878 and in the fall of 1879 he dis- posed of his business interests in Lockport. In addition to his store he was engaged in boating, owning a couple of boats with which, in the winter season, he would go to New York, where he received ten dollars per day for the use of the boats. He con- tinued in that business until 1886, when he sold out and came to Hutchinson. Here lie spent about six months in the employ of a firm engaged in the furniture and under- taking business, after which he purchased a half interest in the same, but in 1889 he sold his share and began the undertaking busi- ness. Owing to his broad knowledge and his experience he has been successful from the start, and has seen nine or ten who em- barked in the same line give up the business. His trade extends over a large territory, his services being in demand as far as Coffey- ville, Osawatomie and all the towns ad- jacent to Hutchinson. He and his two sons are licensed embalmers and perform that part of the work when it is necessary to ship a body. They carry a large stock of caskets of all modern designs, their couch caskets being the finest of the kind made. Their stock of metallics is also complete and they are even prepared to furnish the Baker burglar-proof vault, which, once closed, can- not be unfastened. By reason of their straightforward dealing, systematic meth- ods and earnest desire to. please their patrons they have built up a large business.
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