A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I, Part 91

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 91

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JAMES A. ANDREWS.

James A. Andrews, a prominent farmer and stockman of Ellsworth county, Kansas, resides in Kanopolis and is the owner of a fine farm of four hundred acres, now under the management of his son. Mr. Andrews is one of the old pioneers of this county and has been an important factor in its wonder- ful growth and development.

The birth of James A. Andrews occurred in Oxfordshire, England, on February 17, 1828, and he is a son of William and Sarah ( Kumber ) Andrews, both parents being na- tives of the same locality. By trade the fa- ther of our subject was a drover and butch- er and he taught the business to James. The latter was given good school advantages, spending some years at a private institution for boys located at Bampton, and during this period he lived with his grandfather.

At the age of twenty years our subject went to London and opened a butcher shop on the Goswell road, remaining there for the following ten years. His health failed at this time, about 1860, and as he had a brother established in Chenango county, New York, he decided to pay him a visit, and was pleased to find that the life on a farm promised to restore him to his former vigor. After a short visit he went to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and there rented a farm. In August, 1863, he was united in marriage to Frances A. Kimber, who was of Eng- lish birth, and who had come to America in 1857, and she is a daughter of Joseph and Abigail ( Baker) Kimber.

Mr. Andrews continued farming in Iowa until 1871 when he decided to find a new home in Kansas and make comfortable pro- vision for his growing family. With his wife and four children, he left the Iowa farmhouse one bright morning and started, with two teams and wagons, on the long trip. Reaching Phillips county, Kansas, the family camped in a tent until a house could be built. Mr. Andrews pre-empted one hun- dred and sixty acres of land and also bought school land, making the area of his farm some five hundred acres. He built his house, dug a well and made a comfortable home in the wilderness. Fort Kerwin was then in existence, but all around the neighborhood unfriendly Indians were still plentiful, and upon one occasion, while Mrs. Andrews was in her cabin, with several of her little ones by her side, three savages came to her door begging. It required considerable nerve for her to appear unconcerned, and she wisely edged to the shelf where her sharp butcher knife rested, resolved to defend herself and children if necessary. Just at this time a hunter came by and drove the Indians away. At that time herds of buffalo roamed over thie Kansas plains and not infrequently passed by the cabin door.

For twelve years this place was the fam- ily home. The first crop that Mr. Andrews attempted was wheat, from seed bought in Atchison, but the grasshoppers took this; his next planting was two bushels of shriv- eled seed, which cost him two dollars and

JAMES A. ANDREWS.

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which brought him a return of four bushels. The result from the sowing of the four bush- els was thirty to forty bushels per acre. There were no railroads, and it was neces- essary to go to Blue Rapids, Kansas, one hundred and forty miles, to reach a mill and there he paid three dollars a hundred weight for unsifted meal and five dollars for flour, the trip consuming a week of time. Russell was the nearest railroad point. Mr. An- drews hauled his wheat to Kearney, Nebras- ka, and there bought lumber. While living in Phillips county, Mr. Andrews donated the land, and associated with a Mr. Freeman, bought material and erected the first school house in his locality, and he was made treas- urer of the school board.

After selling his farm at Kerwin, Mr. Andrews removed to Lincoln, where he bought a farm of two hundred and forty acres, on Mulberry creek, which he im- proved and occupied for two years, but when Kanopolis was located, he sold that farm also and came to the new town. Here Mr. Andrews bought three lots and erected the first livery barn, conducting business along this line for six years. In the meantime he had engaged more or less in the stock bus- iness and had become the owner of about two hundred head of cattle, and in 1895 he bought his present fine farm, purchasing first one hundred and sixty acres and add- ing the remainder as he felt able. At present the farm is under the active management of his son, Charles, a capable and efficient stockman, and about three hundred and fifty head of cattle are continually kept. Mr. Andrews raises grass and wheat and fine corn on the bottom lands. Mr. Andrews buys grain and not only has some of the most valuable farms in the county, but also has some of the choicest herds, while he is known as one of the substantial citizens of the county.

. The children born unto Mr. and Mrs. . Andrews were as follows: Letha, who is the wife of Elmer Gale, a farmer of Ells- worth county ; George, who died at the age of fifteen years; Charles, who is associated with his father in the stock business : Olive, who is the wife of Daniel Yordy, who con-

ducts a hotel in Salina ; and Anna, who is the wife of Lincoln Grenough, who is in the grain business in Ellsworth.

Mr. Andrews is a Democrat in political belief, but he has never desired political pro- motion, accepting only a membership in the city council and on the school board. He has devoted time and means to the build- ing up of various enterprises calculated to be of value to this section and has been iden- tified very prominently with educational movements. The religious connection of the family is with the Episcopal church in Ellsworth.

JAMES R. BAKER.

James R. Baker, of the prominent and well known firm of Baker & Baxter, was born in Dayton, Ohio, on the 23d of Decem- ber, 1849. a son of David H. and Jean ( Vaughn) Baker, the father born in Fay- ette county, Pennsylvania, in 1814, and the mother in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1813. Their marriage was celebrated in Cincinnati, where the father had resided for a time, and later they removed to Dayton, the birthplace of our subject. From that place, in 1866, they journeyed to Wayne county, Indiana, thence to Boone county, Iowa, and after- ward to Gray county, Kansas, where he se- cured a homestead of government land. In 1888 they took up their abode in Hutchin- son, and there the father passed away in death in 1898. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Baker was blessed with seven children, as follows : George, deceased: Harriet, the wife of Robert Adams, of Franklin, Indiana ; Marcus, a resident of Independence, Oregon ; Elvina, the widow of C. D. Kidd, and a resi- dent of Dayton, Ohio: Charles, a prominent fruit-grower of Rockford, Colorado; Mar- tha, who makes her home with her brother, James R., the youngest of the family.

James R. Baker remained with his par- ents until twenty-one years of age, when he returned to the old family home in Dayton and there entered the large foundry of W. P. Callahan, where he was employed for the

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following three years. On the expiration of that period he rejoined his family in Indi- ana, where for a time he was engaged at car- penter work and farming in Fayette county. That county continued to be his home until 1880, when he secured the position of su- perintendent in the foundry of R. M. Meir, in Boone, Iowa, his time being thus occu- pied until 1886. Desiring to become a land- ed proprietor, he then came with his father to the Sunflower state, and in Gray county they each secured a homestead claim, on which they made their home for two years. and they then drove through to the east. The 9th of July, 1888, witnessed the arrival of Mr. Baker in Hutchinson, where he se- cured a position in the foundry of Shields & McFarland as a molder, but a short time afterward he became identified with the Barb Wire Company, of South Hutchinson, re- maining with the latter corporation for two years. On the expiration of that time the present partnership of Baker & Baxter was formed. Both gentlemen are particularly well fitted for their line of work, both being practical foundrymen and molders, and in addition Mr. Baker is also a pattern-maker, that branch of the business being under his immediate supervision. A more extended mention of this enterprising firm. and espe- cially of their new steel-bearing rocking grate, will be found in the history of Mr. Baxter in this volume.

At Dublin, Indiana, on the 20th of Octo- ber, 1874. was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Baker and Miss Emma Gerard. The lady is a native of Liberty, Ohio, and a daughter of William and Mary Gerard. Seven children have been born unto this union : Ida, the wife of J. D. Hanna, who is employed in the mail service as a postal clerk : Frank, who is employed in his father's foundry; Harvey, in the city mail service ; Delia : Amy : Jean ; and George. In politi- cal matters Mr. Baker gives an unfaltering support to the prnciples of the Republican party, and he has many times served as a delegate to his party conventions. The cause of education has ever found in him an active worker, and all matters which have for their object the betterment and advancement of

his fellow men are sure to find in him a firm friend. In his social relations he is a mem- ber of the Ancient Order of United Work- men.

TILLMAN A. SHULER.

Tillman A. Shuler, who resides at No. 439 East Sherman street. Hutchinson, is of German descent, his ancestors coming to America from Germany and settling in Vir- ginia. His paternal grandfather was a na- tive of Virginia and thence emigrated to Pennsylvania, where he passed away. The father of our subject, Henry Shuler, was born in Pennsylvania about the year 1825, and followed the occupation of a miller dur- ing the entire period of his residence in that state. He was here married to Margaret Funk, a native of the Keystone state, and a daughter of Abraham Funk. In 1854 Henry Shuler removed to Ohio, locating in Han- cock county, and engaged in the milling business at Findlay, the county seat. He re- turned to his native state for a time, but finally went back to Findlay, Ohio, where for a number of years he was engaged in various mills in that vicinity, among the most prominent of which are the Parley Carlin and the Parker mills. He finally re- tired from the milling business and in 1884 purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which with the assistance of his sons he partially cleared and materially improved. Henry Shuler was a leading spirit in all movements which tended toward the ad- vancement of the community in which he re- sided along educational and religious lines. He was foremost among the promoters for the organizing and building of Findlay Col- lege, founded by what was known as the Church of God, of which church he was a leading member and elder for many years. He was also prominent in organizing the church in Findlay, Ohio. For a number of years he held the office of postmaster at Cal- vin, and in every locality in which he has resided he has been regarded as one of the leading citizens, the impress of his individu- ality being felt in every concern or move-

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ment with which he was connected. He gave his political support to the Republican party. Upon the death of his first wife, in 1860, Mr. Shuler chose for a second, in the year 1862, Elizabeth Cunningham, a native of Pennsylvania. Six children were born by the first marriage, of which Tillman A. Shuler, our subject, was the fourth in order of birth. They are as follows: Josiah A., a resident of Deweyville, Ohio, engaged in fruit farming ; Mary E., the wife of Pulaski Harmon, a farmer of Williams county, Ohio, located near Leipsic: Webster, a resi- dent of Findlay, Ohio ; Tillman A. : Emma- line, who married Jasper Walters, a mechan- ic residing at Fostoria, Ohio; and William,

a popular and prominent lawyer of Bowling Green, Ohio, formerly located at Findlay, who is noted for the prom- inent part he has taken in aiding in all public works for the good of the communities in which he has resided. The second union was blessed with seven chil- dren, as follows: Isaac T., living on the homestead in Ohio; Alice, the wife of Ben- jamin Dice, a farmer of Hancock county, Ohio; Charles, a grain and oil merchant of Macomb, in the same county; John, en- gaged in the grain business at Haviland, Ohio; Daniel, residing at Macomb, Ohio, engaged in business with his brother Charles; Maude, residing with her mother ; and Claude, a twin of Maude, who died in infancy. The father's death occurred Sep- tember II, 1900, on the homestead farm in Ohio. His second wife still survives him and makes her home on the farm.

Tillman A. Shuler was born in Hancock county, Ohio, June 18, 1855, and received his early education in the common schools of Findlay, and when but twelve years of age assisted his father in the mill located at Pulaski, Williams county, Ohio. He re- mained with his father, becoming thoroughly acquainted with the milling business, until twenty-four years of age. During this time he had worked in two different mills, one at Findlay, and the other, Heck's mill, situated below Findlay.

After leaving his father he started out in life for himself and found employment at

Madison, Indiana, where he remained for six months. He then obtained a position at Corinth, Illinois, and later at Ewing, Illi- nois. Believing that the west held greater possibilities for a young man, he came to Hutchinson in 1881, and secured a position with the Water Power Company as head miller, the firm being West, Allison & Com- pany, in which capacity he served until 1887, when the mill was closed on account of the failure of the wheat crops in that vicirity. "He then removed to Haven for a short time, but subsequently returned to Hutchinson, where he purchased an interest in The Hutchinson Mill Company and took the po- sition of head miller, which position he has held ever since. This mill in which Mr. Shuler is interested is one of the best known in this part of the state. It contains eight double stands of rolls and has a capacity of one hundred and fifty barrels of flour per day. Its product is shipped to all the large cities of the United States, including Chi- cago, New York, New Orleans, and to dif- ferent points in Colorado and California. It also has an extensive local trade, shipping to many points along the line of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railway west of Hutchinson. The following brands of flour are produced from this mill : Diamond Pat- ent and U. S., both patent grades: Gilt Edge; A No. 1 ; Queen B .; and Pearl, low grade. The mill has a storage capacity of ten thousand bushels of wheat, and in a sepa- rate building built for the purpose, a storage capacity for twenty car loads of flour. The engine, a Sioux City Corliss of eighty-five horse power, furnishes power for the plant. The officers of The Hutchinson Mill Com !- pany are: William H. Kinney, president and treasurer, and J. Burns, secretary.

Tillman A. Shuler was married on the IIth of October, 1882, at Corinth, Illinois, to Mary R. Corder, born in Williamson county, Illinois. She is a daughter of Will- iam A. and Harriet ( Reynolds ) Corder, the former a native of Williamson county, Illi- nois. the latter of Gallatin county. They are the parents of five children, of whom Mrs. Shuler is the youngest, as follows: Jane, wife of J. C. McHaney, a real-estate man of

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Harrisburg, Illinois; Charles, a mechanic who held the office of alderman and who died at Galatia, Illinois; Elizabeth, the wife of E. W. Biby, a resident of Pinckneyville, who is a traveling salesman; Mittie, who married C. W. Morris. a prominent farmer and stock-raiser of Grant township, Reno county, Kansas; Mary R., the wife of our subject. Mr. Reynolds, the maternal great- grandfather of Mrs. Shuler, was a native of England and a member of parliament, and while serving in that capacity incurred the displeasure of the king by some amendment which he proposed and was sentenced to be executed, but contriving to make his escape in feminine apparel he took passage on a ship bound for America and settled in South Carolina. Mrs. Shuler's paternal grand- father was a native of New England, but later moved to Williamson county, Illinois, and was numbered among the earliest pio- neers of that county, being active in all pub- lic works, and was recognized as a leader in that community. He was of French lineage and his wife of German ancestry. The ma- ternal grandfather, Squire John Reynolds, was of Scotch lineage, and served as a cap- tain in the Black Hawk war. William A. Corder is still a resident of Galatia, Illinois, where he has spent the greater part of his life.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Shuler have been born three children, namely: Herbert, who is seventeen years of age and who has re- ceived his education in the public schools of Hutchinson ; Melville, and Phillip. Mr. Shuler purchased his present home in 1899. It is a beautiful modern residence, finished in hard wood, and tastefully and richly fur- nished. It is surrounded by a well kept lawn and extensive grounds. He formerly was the owner of a handsome cottage at No. 306 Avenue A East, which he built in 1884 and in which he lived until he bought his present home. With fraternal and social circles Mr. Shuler is closely identified, being a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and an honorary member of the Fraternal Aid Society, of which his wife is also a very prominent and active member. They are also both consistent members of

the Christian church, in which Mr. Shuler served as deacon for one termi. Politically gives his support to the Republican party, and never fails to cast his ballot for the men representing this party. In all the walks of life he has been a firm adherent of all that is honorable and true, and has won the reputa- tion among his fellow men as being a person of honesty, integrity and high worth.

FRED W. COOK, D. V. S.

Dr. Fred W. Cook, who for a number of years has been actively engaged in the prac- tice of veterinary surgery in Hutchinson, is one of the most talented members of his pro- fession in the state and has, perhaps, done as much to elevate its standard of excellence as any other man. He was born in Worces- tershire, England, May 1. 1858, a son of Joseph and Martha Cook, also natives of that country. In his native land the father was a landed proprietor, and in connection with his agricultural pursuits he also follow- ed the profession of a veterinary surgeon at Bredon, England. There his death occurred in 1876. Two daughters of the family came to America with our subject. They are : Anna, the wife of J. O. Shuler, a farmer of Reno county ; and Laura, the wife of J. C. Baddeley, manager of the Hutchinson, Kan- sas. Salt Company. Later two other sons of the family crossed the Atlantic to this coun- try,-Walter, foreman for the Hutchinson Planing Mill, and Arthur, a farmer of Reno county. George and Frank still make their home in England.

Fred W. Cook, whose name introduces this review, was reared to years of maturity in his native land, there receiving a liberal education in the public schools of his neigh- borhood, and his schooling was completed by a five years' course in the Blue school of his native town, in which he was graduated at the age of seventeen years. He then en- tered an apprenticeship to scientific horse- shoeing, and three years later, after thor- oughly mastering the art, he turned his at- tention to agricultural pursuits and stock-

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raising on a large farm of two hundred acres, where he remained until 1881. In that year he left the land of his birth for the new world, and after his arrival in this country he made his way to Kansas, where he pur- chased a quarter section of land in Grant township, Reno county, and there gave his attention to the raising of fine stock, princi- pally Hereford and short-horn cattle and Cleveland bay and Hambletonian horses, for the following three years. In the fall of 1885 he entered the Ontario Veterinary Col- lege, of Toronto, Canada, graduating in that institution after a three years' course, on the 30th of March. 1888, with the degree of D. V. S. Returning then to Hutchinson, he immediately began the practice of his chosen profession, in which he has met with excep- tional and merited success. His growing practice soon demonstrated the need of a suitable place of treatment, and in 1891 he erected his present infirmary, which he has equipped with all modern appliances and conveniences known to the profession for the treatment of all classes of disease and per- forming various kinds of operations. It is without doubt the best equipped institution of the kind in the state, and in his chosen pro- fession Dr. Cook stands second to none in the west. During the past eight years he has also dealt extensively in high grade horses, buying and selling locally or ship- ping to outside points, and in this branch of his business he is meeting with an equal de- gree of success, his well known reliability in all trade transactions having gained for him the confidence of the entire public.

Dr. Cook was married in June, 1883. at Astoria, Illinois, to Minnie Oviatt, a daugh- ter of Henry and Mary (Jones) Oviatt. The father was a native of New York, and during the war of the rebellion he served as a brave and loyal soldier. One daughter has brightened and blessed this union, Mary Pauline. For many years Dr. Cook served as president of the Kansas State Veterinary Association, is a member of the Missouri Valley Veterinary Association, and in 1888- 9 was state veterinary surgeon of western Kansas. The cause of education has also found in him a stanch and abiding friend,

and for five years he served as president of the school board of the city of Hutchinson. He devoted his best efforts to secure the es- tablishment of the First Baptist church in this city, and during his entire residence here he has served as a member of ts official board, while for ten years he has been super- intendent of the Sunday-school. Through- out the years of his residence in this section he has ever been true to the trusts reposed in him, and his reputation in business circles is unassailable. He commands the respect of all by his upright life and has engraved his. name indelibly on the pages of Reno county's history.

HENRY M. STEWART, M. D.

Among the younger physicians of Hutch- inson whose success is a criterion of their broad knowledge and ability is numbered Dr. Henry M. Stewart. He was born in Scott county, Illinois, March 29. 1872, his parents being James and Harriet ( Bolls) Stewart, both of whom were also natives of the same county. The paternal grandfather, H. M. Stewart, was a native of Kentucky, and became a practicing physician of Illi- nois in the pioneer days of that stat .. There he patented land from the government which is still in possession of the family. He was a prominent and influential citizen in early days and his professional duties brought him a wide acquaintance.

James Stewart was reared in the county of his nativity and was engaged in the study of medicine when the country became in- volved in civil war over the attempt of southern states to secede from the Union. He offered his services to the government, becoming second lieutenant of the Twenty- first Illinois Infantry. For three years he served as regimental quartermaster with the rank of captain. His regiment was under General Grant's command but when Sher- man started south on the Atlanta campaign he was offered a position on the staff of the latter general. Brave and loyal. he made a most creditable military record and deserves

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honorable mention among the boys in blue whose valor preserved the Union.

After his return from the war James Stewart was elected and served for two terms as sheriff of Scott county. He then engaged in the lumber and sawmill business for some time, after which he turned his at- tention to farming. In 1879 he took up his abode in eastern Kansas where he remained until the death of his father. In 1885 lie took up his abode in Garden City, Kansas, where he engaged in raising and handling cattle until his life's labors were ended in death, in 1887. His widow still survives him and is now a resident of Hutchinson. The Doctor is the younger of their two sons, the elder being Charles H., who is engaged in the real estate business in this city.

On the old family homestead in Scott county, Illinois, the Doctor was reared, as- sisting in the labor of the fields and attend -- ing the district school through the winter months until fourteen years of age, when he entered the high school of Virden, Illinois. After completing the work in that grade he became a student in Illinois College, at Jack- sonville, which has graduated many prom- inent men, including Governor Yates of Illi- nois, and Hon. W. J. Bryan of Nebraska. Dr. Stewart completed a three years' scien- tific course in that institution and in the meantime studied medicine under the direc- tion of his uncle, Dr. John H. Stewart, of Exeter, Illinois. In 1893 he matriculated in Rush Medical College, of Chicago, and was graduated therein with the class of 1898, having been delayed for one year by illness. After receiving his degree he established an office in Hutchinson where he has since re- mained, engaging in general practice which has resulted in bringing to him success. He is thoroughly in touch with modern methods and his knowledge is comprehensive and exact. His patronage is steadily increasing and in the alleviation of human suffering he has done much for his fellow men. He filled the office of county physician of Reno county in 1889 and 1890.

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. I, Part 91

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