A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 12

Author: Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York Chicago: The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084

USA > Kansas > A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II > Part 12

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OBADIAH JENNINGS.

No compendium purporting to touch upon the life histories of those who have been concerned in the upbuilding and de- velopment of Harper county would be com- 52

plete were there failure to make specific mention of the honored subject of this sketch, who may well be termed the father of the town of Anthony and who is known as one of the sterling pioneers of the state.

Mr. Jennings is a native of the old Keystone state, having been born in fireeng county, Pennsylvania, on the 2d of October, 1831. Hle was reared in the town of Car- michaels, where he received his early edu- cational training in the public schools. At the age of eighteen years he began an ap- prenticeship at the backsmith trade at Car- michaels. Pennsylvania, and upon attaining his legal majority he opened a shop of his own at Pierceville, Pennsylvania, where he remained about four years, after which he returned to his native town and there con- tinued to follow his trade until 1860, in April of which year he came with his wife and two children to Mount Pleasant, lowa. and there established himself in the black- smith business. In 1862 he removed thence to Knoxville, Illinois, where he followed his trade until June, 1864, when he located in Ottawa, that state. and there remained un- til 1872. His next location was at Streator, Illinois, where he was engaged in the hard- ware and implement business until Noven- ber. 1877, when he came to Wichita, Kan- sas. and turned his attention to the grain business. There he remained until April ist. 1878, when, in company with thirteen others he came to Harper county and lo- cated the town of Anthony, April 6, 1878. The Anthony Town Company had been or- ganized in Wichita, with a membership of twenty-four individuals, the object being to establish a town in Harper county. After spending three or four days in traveling over the prairies in search of a desirable site, the fourteen representatives of the com- pany finally made choice of the present site of. the town of Anthony as the most desir- able in the county, the town of Harper hav- ing been located and platted the preceding year. Of the original fourteen who thus founded the town only three are residents of Anthony at the present time .- Mr. Jen- nings and Messrs. Jacob Herzer and W. P. Olmstead.

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The site of the town was selected on the 6th of April, and the following day the party returned to Wichita and there began making proper arrangements for the build- ing of the new town. The members of the company began hauling lumber and within thirty days each of the twenty-four had erected his dwelling, and the town site was legally "proved up" on the 3d of August. Mr. Jennings erected a business building on the north side of Main street, where the Racket store is now located, and he was made president of the town company, con- tinuing to fill this office and to ably manage its affairs until the lots were sold and the business closed up. The original site was one-half mile wide and one mile long, the width being taken equally from sections 24 and 25. For a period of about three years Mr. Jennings gave his entire time and at- tention to the interests of the town com- pany, surveying, locating and selling lots and otherwise keeping a watchful eye on the affairs of the now promising village. After thus closing up the company's busi- ness he engaged in the real-estate. loan and insurance business, in which he has since continued, having through this enterprise done much to forward the interests of this locality and to advance the material pros- perity and upbuilding of the town of which he is one of the honored founders. He had filed entry to one hundred and sixty acres of land adjoining the town site, duly prov- ing up on the same, and in 1882 he platted eighty acres of this tract under the title of Jennings' addition to the village of An- thony. In his real-estate enterprises he was associated with various partners. Finally, in 1885, his son, Lewis G., now a member of the firm of Jennings & McColloch, be- came his coadjutor, and the Anthony Land Company was then organized, with the sub- ject of this sketch as president. About three years later this was merged into the An- thony Loan & Trust Company, of which Mr. Jennings continued as president. In 1887 the firm name of O. Jennings & Sons was adopted, the business carried on being in the handling of real estate. the extending of financial loans and the representing of ten or more of the leading foreign and do-

mestic insurance companies. Mr. Jennings continued to lead an active and busy life until 1900, when his advancing years and the continued ill health of his wife prompt- ed him to withdraw from the firm, which was then reorganized under the title of Jennings & McColloch, Mr. McColloch hav- ing charge of the law department, which was then added to the functions of the con- cern. During his residence in Anthony Mr. Jennings has negotiated for and superin- tended the building of four brick business structures. in whose erection foreign capital was enlisted, three of these buildings being on the south side of Main street, between Bluff and Jennings avenues, the last men- tinned of which was named in his honor. In 1885 he erected the buildings known as the Jennings Block, on the north side of Main street, and now occupied by the de- partment store of Firestone & Hoopes.

To the subject of this review the city of Anthony will ever owe a debt of gratitude for the efforts he has put forth as a founder and builder. He has been most prominent- ly and intimately identified with the history of the place from the time of its inception, and has devoted his energies to. making it one of the most attractive and prosperous cities in southern Kansas, having done much in the way of building residences and otherwise improving the town property and encouraging settlement. In politics he is known as a stalwart supporter of the Repub- lican party and its principles, and he served as mayor of Anthony for two terms and for an equal period as a member of the munici- pal council. During the greater portion of the time he has resided here he served as a member of the board of education, the new high school buildings having been erected within his term of service in this capacity. Fraternally he is a prominent and honored member of the Masonic order, being a char- ter member of Anthony Lodge. No. 200. A. F. & A. M .. and of Anthony Commandery, No. 37, of the Knights Templar. He was one of the organizers and a charter mem- hier of the Congregational church of An- thony. and has been one of its most zealous and devoted workers, having been promi- nent in the work of the Sunday-school, of

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which le he served as perintendent, while he has been for many years Face of its faith- ful teachers. He has been a member of the church since the age di nineteen, and his life has ever been o asistent with the faith which he processes.

In'Greene county, Pennsylvania, on the ISE: of August, 1853, Mr. Jennings was united in marriage to Miss Katharine L. Member, who was born in Westmoreland county, that state. being the daughter of John and Katharine Momyer, who removed thence to Greene county when she was four- teen years of age. She was a woman of gracias refinement and deep religions con- victions, and her life was a benediction to all who came under her influence. Mrs. Jennings was summoned into eternal rest on the 19th of June, 1901, and her loss will continue to be deeply felt by these near- est and dearest to her and ats by the large cirde . f friends to whom she hadl endeared larsall by her gentle character and unvary- my kindliness. She is survived by five chil- Crem, of whom we enter brief record as f : w>: Ella I. is the wife of M. W. Jack, president of the Streator Bottle & Glass Company. of Streator, Illinois; Mary J. Comenta, who is engaged in the millinery Business in Anthony; John E. is employed as a bekkeeper in the office of the Wells- Fargo Express Company at Kansas City, Mi -- ari: Lewis G. is a member of the firm of Jennings & McColloch, to which refer- me has already been made; and William H. is the head bookkeeper for the Streator Bottle & Giass Company.

ROBERT P. McCOLLOCH.

In Harper county, Kansas. the legal in fession has a distinguished and able rep- resentative in the person of Mr. McCulloch. wie is incumbent of the office of county at- torney at the time of this writing and who is known as a man of high intellectuality. marked technical skill and ability in the line of his profession. klistinctive power and fachity as a public speaker. He has natur-

ally taken a leading place at the bar of the Quety a- cacci the representative mentier- Gi hus profession in central Kansas it is but ciistent that he be acorded a place of ine precedence in a work of the nature. In addition to his professional work he is as a member of the firm of Metelloch & Jennings, conducting a successful enterprise m the handling of real estate, insurance and leans, in the city of Anthony.

Mr. Metellich claims the old Buckeve state as the place of his nativity, having been born in Logan county, Ohio, on the 2d of August, 1859, the son of William and Nancy ( Rubber Meti Hoch, natives, respec- ively. ef Ohio and Pennsylvania. William MeCollech was born near Bellefontaine. Logan county, and there passed his entire life, his death occurring at the age of sixty- one years. lle was actively concerned in all public enterprises of a local nature and was prominently identified with the history f his county during a long term of years, retaining unequivocal confidence and esteem by reason of his sterling manhood and pub- lic spirit. In politics he gave his support to the Republican party, and during the war of the Rebellion he was one of the stanch and zealous upholders of the cause of the Union, rendering valuable service to the same. He was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian church, of which he served many years as elder. His wife passed away at the age of sixty-three years, and of their nine children seven are living at the pres- ent time, namely : Solomon A., who has been for a long term of years clerk of the court of common pleas in Logan county. Ohio; Alice, who is the wife of Jacob K. Brown, of Bellefontaine, that county; Cal- vina, who is the wife of Charles McLaugh- lin, vice-president of the Bellefontaine Na- tional Bank: Caroline, the widow of Will- iam Wishart, and now lives at St. Louis. Missouri : Sarah, the wife of William Moore, who is engaged in the real-estate business in the city of Chicago; Robert P .. the im- mediate subject of this sketch; and Mar- garet. the widow of Henry M. Morre. is a resident of Markleton, Pennsylvania.

Gorge MeO Nich, the grandfather of

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our subject, was born in Ohio county, West Virginia, and he removed thence to Ohio in an early day, becoming one of the pio- neers of Logan county, where he cleared a farm and there continued to make his home until his death, at the venerable age of nine- ty-six years. He became also an authorized minister of the Baptist church, and in this capacity he did a faithful and effective work in Ohio in the pioneer days, being one of the most conspicuous figures in the history of the Baptist church in Ohio in the early epoch. He was of Scotch parentage and held to the religious faith which had been theirs. His son William, father of the sub- ject of this review, was likewise active in church work, as has already been intimated, and he also was prominent in the history of Logan county, where he served in various offices of public trust.

Robert P. McColloch passed his boyhood in his native county and after completing a course of study in the high school of Bellefontaine he was matriculated, in 1878, in Wittenberg College, at Springfield, Ohio, where he continued his studies about two years. He then returned to his home in Bellefontaine, where he entered the law office of Mclaughlin & Dow, one of the leading legal concerns of the state, and there entered vigorously upon the work of preparing himself for his chosen profession, under most effective preceptorage. Judge Dow is a relative of the author of the Dow liquor law and he now presides on the bench of the court of common pleas for Logan and U'nion counties. After continuing his techni- cal reading with this firm for a period of three years Mr. McColloch was admitted to the bar of his native state and was also tendered the honor of partnership with his preceptors. While prosecuting his legal stud- ies our subject was elected city clerk of Belle- fontaine, serving in this capacity for two terms. After his admission to the bar Mr. McColloch established himself in an individ- ual practice in Bellefontaine, where he suc- ceeded in winning prestige and a reputation as one of the able young members of the bar of the state. In 1887 he came to Kansas. locating in Anthony, Harper county, where

he formed a partnership with James A. Huston, under the firm name of Huston & McColloch, the two gentlemen having come here in company from the same town, and they here entered upon the active practice of their profession, gaining a clientele of representative order and being concerned in much of the important litigation coming be- fore the courts. This professional alliance continued inviolate until 1898, when it was abrogated by the removal of Mr. Huston to Winfield, Kansas, and thereupon our sub- ject entered his present partnership with Lewis G. Jennings, a legal department be- ing thus added to the well established real- estate, loan and insurance agency with which Mr. Jennings had long been identi- fied, the firm name being now McColloch & Jennings. Mr. McColloch controls a fine general practice, and has been particularly prominent in connection with real-estate transactions and litigations, in which special line he has attained a high reputation. He has handled legal business in more than sixty different counties of Kansas, and in this branch of his practice has controlled a business scarcely second to any in the state. He is thoroughly read in the law and has shown marked facility in its application, being a close student and never presenting a cause without adequate preparation, so that he is a strong advocate and a safe coun- sel. As a public speaker Mr. McColloch has long stood high in popular favor, being elo- quent and impressive in his address, cogent in his dialectic power and using a scholarly and chaste diction. He has been an efficient campaign speaker, his services being in de- mand in this line each year, while on oc- casions of public order his efforts are called for and greatly appreciated as a genial and effective orator.

In his political allegiance Mr. McColloch is stanchly arrayed in support of the prin- ciples and policies of the Republican party, and is one of its leading men in this section. In 1896 he was presidential elector from the seventh congressional district of the state; in 1898 was elected to the office of county attorney of Harper county, in which office he has since served, with signal ability and

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discrimination; and in 1892 he was the party candidate for representative of his dis- triet in the lower house of the state legis- lature, but met the defeat which attended the entire party ticket in the state, by reason of the Populist slump of that year. He maintains a lively interest in public affairs of a local nature, and at the present time is president of the Library Association of An- theny. He has contributed in no small measure to the material upbuilding of the town and county, in the way of improving residence properties in Anthony and the handling of desirable tracts of farming lands. Fraternally Mr. McColloch is iden- tified with Anthony Lodge, No. 200, A. F. & A. M., and with Anthony Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which last he is past noble grand. His relig- ious faith is that of the Presbyterian church, and he is an active member of the local church of this denomination.

In Logan county, Ohio, in October, 1883. Mr. McColloch was united in mar- riage to Miss Belle Walker, daughter of Hen. James and Mary H. Walker, beth natives of Which as is also Mrs. McCulloch. and she was there reared and educated. and at Glendale Female College. Glen- dale. Ohio. Her father served for several terms as mayor of the city of Bellefontaine and was also a prominent member of the legislature of the state. in which he ren- dere distinguished service, being recog- nizel as one of the representative men of logan county. Judge Walker was for more than thirty years the law partner of Judge WESSam HI. West. who is everywhere known as "The Blind Man Eloquent." of Ohio.

THOMAS KIRK, JR., M. D.

Dr. Thomas Kirk. In. is Sancesfull engaged in the practice . i medicine at Burr Oak. He was born near Luthershere in Clearfield county. Pennsylvania. Januar. 20, 1859. His father. William Kirk, was als a native of the Keyst ne state at

throughout his active business career carried on agricultural pursuits there. He weldel Miss Barbara Emerick, who is also a native of Pennsylvania. His birth recurral in 1873, but his widow still survives him and is now living at Burr Oak. In their family were three physicians, the brothers of our subject who followed the same profession being Dr. M. A. Kirk, of Bellefonte, Penn- sylvania, and Dr. Ellis 1. Kirk, deceased. who, prior to his death successfully prac- ticed in Toledo, Ohio.

To the public schools of his native c un- ty Dr. Kirk of this review is indebted ier the carly educational privileges which he enjoyed. Later he continued his studies in Carrier Seminary at Clarion, Pennsylvania, and having determined to devote his life to the practice of medicine his preparation for this calling was made at Cincinnati, Ohio, as a student in the Eclectic Medical Institute, at which he was graduated with the class of 1880. From that time until March, 1881, he practiced at Bellefonte. Pennsylvania, and on the ist of April of that year he arrived in Jewell county, taking up his abode at Burr Oak, where he has since remained with the exception of a very brief period. On the 15th of July, 1891. he was appointed the superintendent of the state insane asylum at Osawatomie, where he remained for one year, when, on account of the change in the state administration, he resigned his office. The state board in its annual report of that year gives him credit for being the most efficient superintendent the institution ever had, and although he is a Populist, the Republican papers of Kan- sas City and To pela o pied the report, thus acknowledging his ability and worth in the office which he so ably filled. Returning to Burr Oak he has since engaged in gen- eral practice, however, making a specialty ; the treatment of nervous diseases and i diseases of children. He has been a close ami discriminating student of every sub- ject bearing upon his profession and does everything in his power to promote his ef- ciency and render worthy aid to the sick and suffering. His prominence in the med- ical fraternity is well indicated by the fact

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that he was the president of the State Med- ical Association in 1897 and 1898.

Dr. Kirk was united in marriage to Miss Maggie A. Bullington, a native of Illinois, to whom he was wedded at Burr Oak on the 4th of June, 1885. Six chil- dren were born unto them, but only two are now living,-Clarence B. and Lloyd. Those who have passed away are Frances F., who died at the age of eight years; Thomas B., who died at the age of eight months; Jo- seph, who passed away at the age of six months; and one child who died in infancy.

Not alone has the Doctor attained prom- inence in the line of his profession, for as a citizen lie occupies a prominent and in- fluential position. He has been a member of the school board for several years and was formerly mayor of the city, his ad- ministration being practical and business- like. For more than two years he was the grand medical director of the Degree of Honor of the Ancient Order of United Workmen for Kansas. He was appointed a member of the advisory council of the World's Fair Auxiliary in the Congress of Eclectic Physicians which convened at Chi- cago May 29, 1893, and he was elected a member of the National Eclectic Medical Association at Niagara Falls on the 24th of June, 1894. He is a student, earnest and thorough, and carries on his investigations not alone in the fields where others have been but also in original lines, and his deep thought and research have been of great value to the profession. He is heartily be- · loved in Burr Oak, where he is so widely known and where his activity in so many lines of public usefulness have made him indeed a valued citizen.

W. C. ALFORD.

Prominent among the energetic. far- seeing and successful business men of cen- tral Kansas is the subject of this sketch. His life history most happily illustrates what may be attained by faithful and continued effort in carrying out an honest purpose.

Integrity, activity and energy have been the crowning points of his success, and his con- nection with various enterprises and indus- tries have been a decided advantage to this section of Kansas, promoting its material welfare in no uncertain manner. He is now engaged in real estate dealing at Hazelton, Barber county, and is numbered among the early settlers of this portion of the state, where he has resided for eighteen years.

Mr. Alford was born in Roane county, Tennessee, in 1848, and is of Scotch lineage. His father, M. T. Alford, was also a native of that state, and when the country became involved in war with Mexico he joined the American army and served under Generals Scott and Taylor, winning a creditable mili- tary record. He married Rebecca Edwards. who died in Madoupin county, Illinois, in 1867. The father is still living there and is one of the respected and honored residents of that community. In the family were six children, of whom four are yet living, namely: C. F., a resident of Nebraska ; R. E. : C. C., who lives in Macoupin county, Illinois; and W. C., of this review. Throughout his active business career the father has carried on the work of tilling the soil. In politics he is a Democrat, and the religious faith of the family is that of the Baptist church.

W. C. Alford spent the first five years of his life in the state of his nativity and then accompanied his parents to Macoupin county, where he was reared on the old fam- ily homestead. His home training was such as to develop traits of honesty and industry, qualities which have proven im- portant elements in his later success. He attended the public schools in his youth and has largely added to his knowledge through experience and observation. In 1879 he made his arrival in Kansas. He located in Sumner county, where he made his home for five years, engaged in general farming. On the expiration of that period he sold his property and removed to Barber county, where he has since remained, and his efforts have been important elements in the upbuild- ing and development of this section of the state. He has a comprehensive knowledge

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of land values of the different pieces of property for sale in this portion of Kan-a -. is the roughly informed concerning statistics of crops and the possibilities of the country, and his labors have resulted in inducing many to locate here. At the same time his effe rt- have brought to him a good financial return and he is now one of the substantial citizens of his community.

Mr. Alford was married in Macoupin county, Illinois, to Miss Ella Helmick, who was born, reared and educated in that coun- ty. She is a lady of intelligence and cul- ture and has proved to her husband a faith- ful helpmate and assistant on life's jour- ney. Seven children were born of this union, three sons and four daughters. namely: Belle, the wife of J. O. Webb. of Barber county: Myrtle, the wife of A. J. Aver- of the same county; Etta, the wife of Fred Dick, a merchant of Hazelton; B. F .: Tip: #: and Willie. The parents hold mem- ler-up in the Methodist church and are pepe . i sterling worth, who enjoy the warm regard of a large circle of friends. Mr. Alford is a Democrat in his political vien , and has been an active worker for his party, doing all in his power to promote its growth and insure its success. He has served in many of the local offices. and while acting for eighteen years as clerk of the schul lard his labors have been most effective in promoting the cause of educa- tion. He was a member of the board when the schel heure . i Hazelton was built and has put forth earnest efforts to raise the Standard of the schools. For thirty years he has been identified with the Masonic fra- ternit:, has filled most of the offices in his Folge and in his life has exemplified the helpful teachings of the craft. He also be- jungs to the Modern Woodmen camp. It wald be difficult to name a resident of Hazelton who takes a deeper or more sin- cere interest in the progress and improve- ment of the community than does Mr. Al- i. rdl. Wisely improving his opportunities, his life demonstrates what can be accom- plished by industry and talent in a land unhampered by caste er class.

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 12

Author: Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York Chicago: The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1084

Author: Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York Chicago: The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084