A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 124

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

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Mr. Coburn at once returned to his old home and on the 18th of December, 1865, was married to Miss Violetta Tupper, of Pennsylvania. Their union has been blessed with three children, the eldest being Adu- laska Judson, who died in Burrton township " in 1887, at the age of twenty-four years, leaving a wife, who has since passed away. Lillie is the wife of Franklin Voutrees, of ! Augusta, Oklahoma, and they have two children. Kearney is a young man of twenty-one years who ably assists his father in the cultivation of the home farm.

The year 1878 witnessed the arrival of Mr. Coburn and his family in Kansas. They came from Pennsylvania, and, mak- ing their way to Burrton township, our sub- ject purchased a homestead farm of one hundred and sixty acres, for which he paid twenty-six hundred dollars. Here he has successfully engaged in general farming, and he also, to some extent, raises cattle and horses, keeping on hand from forty to fifty head of the former and six head of the lat- ter. He makes a specialty of the production of wheat and corn, and his annual yield is from one to three thousand bushels. He has a good orchard of apples and other fruits and the neat and thrifty appearance of his place indicates his careful supervision. He exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Republican party, and has been honored with local offices, including that of township trustee. while for two terms he served as justice of the peace. He and his wife are consistent and earnest members of the Methodist church, in which he has served as class- leader, and his fidelity to his professions. permeating an active and useful career, has made him one of the valued and respected citizens of his community.

THE PARKER CREAMERY COM- PANY.

The Parker Creamery Company, located at Nos. 415-17-19-21 South Main street, was established in the spring of 1891 by

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Thomas Parker, the president of the com- pany, and George Updegrof. They carried on business under the firm name of the Parker & Updegrof Produce Company, handling butter, eggs and poultry. The business was begun in a small building, twenty-five by fifty feet, but their trade soon grew to such proportions that more room was required, and in 1894 two buildings were secured at the present location. Later the firm added a cream gathering depart- ment to their business, with two stations, one at Medora and the other at Sterling. The gathered cream system was then used, but this did not prove satisfactory, and Mr. Parker, who was an eastern man and La- miliar with the "separated" system, intro- duced it in their business with gratifying results. From year to year they established more stations until they now have about fifty, located on all the railroads connecting with Hutchinson, covering an area of two hundred by one hundred miles in extent. Their separating stations are also buying stations for produce, poultry, butter and eggs, and their business has grown to enormous proportions, the extent of which is not fully realized by many of the citizens, and so quietly has it been increased and ex- tended that even many of the prominent business men of the city do not realize its magnitude. The poultry department alone is enormous, their dressed fouls being shipped to them from the west in car load lots, and they are often called upon to fill contacts for from fifty to sixty car loads. The butter department has also reached ex- tensive proportions, and in this yields to none, not even to the famed Elgin article, when quality is considered, for the buffalo grass of the west is known to produce su- perior butter. They supply the Fred Har- vey system of eating houses. Their busi- ness in this department now exceeds four hundred thousand dollars and employ- ment is furnished to about sixty-five men. In 1897-8 more space was added to their building, which is now one hundred and twenty feet square, two stories in height. In October. 1896, the partnership relations of Parker & Updegrof were severed, the

latter retiring from the firm, and from that tinte umitil December, 1898, the seni -: na ... ber. Thomas Parker, carrot on the fermes done. It was then organi; ca . soi. company, with the following

Thomas Parker, pesident; J. W. Parker, treasurer; and R. C. Reach, secretar .. 1901 there was added to this alles es- tensive establishment a condensed milk fac- lory, with a capacity of sixty thousand barrels a day, and their goods are pleti the market under the Buffalo brand. The newest and best processes known to that line of trade have been added to the the- tory, and their machinery alone is ach about twenty-five thousand dollar . One important feature of the Business is their re- frigerator plant, which is used in pre of ice. The Parker Creamery Company is aus one of the leading industries of its kind in the state, and its promoters occup: a high position in the business worki a name in connection with industrial inter- ests that is widely known.

Thomas Parker. president of the P.vier Creamery Company, was born in Canade. May 20, 1838, a sa of Thomas and Mary (Fitzpatrick) Parker. When onl' .. old he was taken by his parents to Franklin county, New Y ..

farm life. and in his youth he rec Ived excellent public school and al - cation. When the time came for lom to -- sume the responsible anties of the gaged in the produce commi-| -11. in Franklin county, New York, and from that place he went to Boston and later to Canada, where he conducted

ness ou a large scale. shipped the first carlo;

from that country to the Unite: for a number of years he was dee med in shipping produce from Canada to the United States and Europe, maintaining 1- 1. quarters at Montreal. From there he re- me well to Iowa, where he still continued the produce business, shipping poultry in car- load lots from Dubuque to Boston, and was thus engaged until 1883. In that year he came to Hutchinson and purchased sixteen hundred acres of land in Grant township,

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where he engaged in farming and stock- raising on a large scale, feeding from two hundred to three hundred head of cattle an- nually. After a time, however, he left the farm to engage in his present business, but he still retains about three hundred acres of land, which he rents.

On the 13th of February, 1872, in New York. Mr. Parker was united in marriage to Melissa Castello, a native of the Empire state. Four daughters and one son have been born unto this union, as follows: Ger- trude, the wife of R. C. Roach, secretary of the Parker Creamery Company; Bertha, one of the directors of the Parker Creamery Company; Anna; Josephine; and Thomas W., also a director of the Parker Creamery Company. The family occupy a beautiful residence at No. 202 A avenue, one of the elegant homes of the city, and it was erected in 1886. For many years Mr. Parker has occupied a very conspicuous place among the leading business men of Hutchinson. He is prominently connected with the industrial interests of the city, and through the chan- nels of trade has contributed not alone to his individual prosperity but to the welfare of Reno county as well. His career is that of an honorable, enterprising and progressive business man whose well rounded character also enables him to take an active interest in educational, social and moral affairs, and to keep well informed concerning the mo- mentous questions affecting the welfare of the nation.

John W. Parker, treasurer of the Parker Creamery Company, was born in Bombay, New York, a son of Charles and Mary Parker, who still reside in the Empire state. John W .. one in a family of three daughters and two sons, was reared in the place of his nativity and to the common-school system of the locality he is indebted for his elementary education, which was completed in an acad- emy and with a commercial course. After leaving the schoolroom he was for about two years engaged in various occupations in New York, and in 1892 he came to Hutchin- son to assume the position of bookkeeper for the Parker & Updegrof Produce Com- pany. After the dissolution of the old com-

pany he retainend his position with his uncle, Thomas Parker, until the present company was organized. Since his resi- dence in this city he has made his home with his uncle. In his social relations he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Since his connection with the Parker Creamery Company he has taken an active part in its management, and throughout his entire business career his ability as a man of affairs has been clearly demonstrated.

Robert C. Roach, secretary of the Parker Creamery Company, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, September 1, 1867, a son of John and Belinda (Sullivan) Roach. The father was a mechanical and civil engineer, and became prominently known as a con- tractor and builder of railroad and bridge work, having executed much work for the Missouri Pacific and other railroads. Later in life he engaged in stone contract work, and the last ten years of his life were spent in Harrisonville, Missouri, where he passed away in death in 1873. He became the fa- ther of seven children, three of whom still survive: M. D., a member of the Colorado Iron & Coal Company, of Pueblo, Colorado; M. F., with the Hammond Packing Com- pany, of St. Joe, Missouri; and Robert C., secretary of the Parker Creamery Company.

The latter received his early education in the city schools of St. Louis and Harri- sonville, completing his studies with an academic course, which included mechanical engineering. After leaving the schoolroom the first position which he secured was in the rolling mills of East St. Louis, where he remained for three years, and from there, in 1883, he went to San Francisco, there spending the following year. Returning to Kansas City, he secured a position with the Armour Packing Company, and in 1886 he · became an inspector of weights with the Western Weighing Association, under D. C. Bridges. Three years later he was sent by that corporation to Hutchinson as in- spector of weights and classification for their interests here. In 1892 Mr. Roach severed his relations with the company and became assistant superintendent of the

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Hutchinson Packing Company, of which he also served as chief superintendent one year, but on the establishment of the salt plant in this city he accepted a position with that corporation as a traveling salesman, in which he was eminently successful, retain- ing that position until July, 1895. He was then made general superintendent for the Jacob Dold Packing Company, of Wichita, but two years later, in 1897, resigned that position to accept a similar one with the Pittsburg Provision Company, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. After spending one year in the latter capacity, however, he was obliged to resign his position on account of the im- paired health of Mrs. Roach, and he then returned to Kansas and became associated with the Parker Creamery Company. One year later he became its secretary, and in this capacity his sound judgment and excel- lent business qualities have won for him a well merited degree of success.

Mr. Roach was married. September I. 1897, to Mary G. Parker, a daughter of Thomas and Melissa (Castello) Parker. Two children have blessed this union,- Melissa and Gertrude V. The family re- side in a pleasant residence at No. 212 A avenue, which was erected in 1901. In mat- ters of political importance Mr. Roach votes independently of party ties, casting his bal- lot for the men whom he regards as best qualified to fill positions of honor and trust. Socially he is a member of the Ancient Or- der of United Workmen and the U. C. T. He is one of the most honored and highly esteemed citizens of his community and it is safe to say that no man in Hutchinson has a wider circle of friends and acquaint- ances than Robert R. Roach.

PAINTER & HERR.

Notwithstanding the great along- made in the matter of issuing the great metropolitan daily papers and facilitating their distribution into all sections. there yet remains a distinct province and field of power and usefulness for the purely local

piper -. the country press, as it is most frequently designated. While the province is, in a sense, more circumscribed than in the earlier days when the city papers did not over so wide a realm in their new -gather- ing and were delivered to smut steiler> or readers only after the War of greater of less intervals of time. still the potency of the country paper has not been dessenel, for here, too. have been brought to Ler modern methods in all departments of the enterite. and the influence of these Ball news and information is far-reaching 0 am extent not superficially evident. newspaper is the index of the char for of any town. denoting most clearly the states of its business men and showing clearly whether the locality & me of progressive tendencies or of torpid apathy. Within the Sunflower state are found many vital and ally conducted newspapers, and the com- monwealth may well point with pride to the character and achievements of its press.

In Barber county is published a proper which has contributed in a marked degree to the progress of the favore section, by a proper and timely exploitation of its re- sources and interests, and which starte as an able exponent of Leil affair. as cer! such publication must do if successful. We refer to the Barber County Index. which is ul lished weekly at Me dire firm whose name initiated this she by the i- terested principal- being Mes"

Painter and Uriah C. Herr. The Imies dites its inception back tothe when it was here established by M. L. and J. A. Sherpy, the initi

on the Ioth of June : ilt . ye 17th of the following October the last the firm. and Mr. M. L. Sieruy

dieser until July 7. 1882, when he - A the plant and business to the Index Publishing which E. W. Payne

the Shiny Be amery he became

joopristor. Mr. Payne was also the presi- .f the Medicine Valley Bank, and in the memorable and historic bank rob- Vier of Aged Bo. 083.1. he was that while at

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his desk in the bank office, his death occurr- ing twenty hours later. He was but thirty- seven years of age when his useful career was thus summarily cut short. His wid- ow, Susan A. Payne, remained in control of the Index until July 1, 1884, when E. P. Caruthers became publisher and editor. He had held a salaried position as editor of the paper from the time when Mr. Payne as- sumed the chief executive office in the bank and had thus been associated with the en- terprise for two years prior to taking indi- vidual control of the same. On the 16th of April, 1886, he disposed of a half interest to W. G. Musgrove, of Lexington, Mis- souri, and the two continued to carry on the business until August, 1890, when it was sold to a stock company, comprised of mem- bers of the Farmers' Alliance, Mr. Musgrove being retained as editor and business man- ager. Up to this time the Index had been Democratic in its political proclivities and policy, but it now passed into a new regime as a representative of the principles and in- terests of the Populist party, to whose cause it has ever since continued to ably cham- pion. Mr. Musgrove retired in the summer of 1892, whereupon Leon E. Beals became editor, retaining this incumbency until the fall of the following year, when he resigned the office to enter upon his duties as county attorney, being succeeded by Clark C. Hud- son, formerly with the Kiowa Review. Mr. Hudson conducted the paper until April II, 1891, and the company then secured the services of the present owners, Messrs. Herr and Painter, to edit and publish the Index. In the fall of 1898 Mr. Herr purchased the plant from the several members of the stock company and forthwith entered into a partnership with Mr. Painter, to whom he sold a half interest, and they have since continued as owners and publishers of the paper, which they have brought up to a high standard, both in the matter of editorial prestige and in that of letter-press. the paper's standing being creditable not only to the publishers but also to the city and county. The Index was started as a seven- column folio, was enlarged to an eight-col- umn folio, then to a six-column quarto,

while again it was changed in form, being reduced to a seven-column folio, while in January, 1901, it was enlarged to its pres- ent convenient and attractive form as a five- column quarto. The plant is well equipped and the job department is one capable of handling all classes of work demanded, while the firm takes marked pride in turning out the best and most artistic productions, selecting choice modern fonts of display type from time to time and thus keeping their facilites up to date. The Index is is- sted weekly, and is a welcome visitor in the majority of the homes in this section, while the success which has attended the enter- prise under the present regime bespeaks the technical and executive ability which has been brought to bear by the interested prin- ciples, both of whom are progressive and popular young business men commandng uniform confidence and esteem in the com- munity.

Uriah C. Herr is a native of the old Keystone state, having been born at Hum- melstown. Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, on the IIth of November, 1873. In 1886 he accompanied his parents on their removal to Kansas, where they made their advent on the 12th of March and thereafter he was employed on a farm two miles west of Kio- wa, this county, until April 11, 1894, when he came to Medicine Lodge to assume the editorial management of the Barber Coun- ty Index, as has already been noted. Pre- viously to this, in the winter of 1892-3, Mr. Herr had served for six months in the dgnified and responsible posi- tion of "devil" in the Index office, and thus he doubtless gained his predi- lection for the "art preservative of all arts," but after the incumbency noted hie re- turned to his mother's farm, where he re- mained until called to the editorial super- vision of the paper. His father died two months after coming to Kansas, and our subject and his younger brother thereafter conducted their mother's farm during the greater portion of the time until the spring of 1894, when they gave inception to their independent business careers.

Under the provisions of the special law

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in force in Barber county, Mr. Herr was elected to the office of county printer in the fall of 1901, having the distinction of re- cerving the largest majority ever secured by any candidate in the county, carrying every precinct in the county and being elected by a majority of three hundred and eighty out of a total vote of thirteen hundred and four. His opponent, the editor of the Medicine Lodge Cresset, was the candidate on the Republican ticket, while our subject was elected on an independent ticket.

On the 14th of January, 1897, Mr. Herr was united in marriage to Miss Lillian V. Painter, and they became the parents of two children,-Opal Angeline and Rolland B., the latter of whom died at the age of one year and five months.

Charles C. Painter claims the state of Indiana, as the place of his nativity, having been born at Petersburg, Pike county, on the 13th of August, 1869. He received his early educational discipline in his native state and was in his fifteenth year when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Kansas, in the spring of 1884. The fam- ily located in Newton, Harvey county, where they remained two years, at the expiration of which they came to Barber county, where they took up a pre-emption claim of one hundred and sixty acres in the west- ern part of the county. There Charles C. assisted in the work and manage- ment of the homestead place for a few years and then came to Medicine Ledige. where he learned the printer's trade. becoming a skilled artisan in this line. to which he has consecutively devital his attention to the present time. He became an attache of the Index office in 1888. and his ability and fidelity led t. his engagement by the stock company as one of the editors and managers of the paper, whide he eventually became asso- ciated with Mr. Herr in the ownership, as has been duly noted.

In October. 1893. Mr. Painter was united in marriage to Miss Clara B. Min- nick. and they are the parents of four chil- dren .- Harry. Mary. Howard and Eugene.

JOHN RICH.

This honored and worthy citicen . i Jewell county was born in Grant county, Indiana, on the 20th of March, 1849, and is of stanch English and Irish His paternal grandparents, Peter and Sarah ( Saunders) Rich, were nat .... . North Carolina, whence, in a very early day, they emigrated te Indiana, benning in Grant county, where bote passof the re- mainder of their lives, each benie vei all- vanced in years at the time of death. Peter Rich was a wheelwright and muset they lux vocation and was a man who ever com- manded unequivocal confidence and esteem, his life being one of signal honor and use- fulness. The parents of the subject of this review were George and Elizabeth . Buller ) Rich, both of whom were likewise natives of the state of North Carolina, whence in their youth they accompanied their re- spective parents to Indiana, thus becoming familiar with the scenes, incidents and labors of the pioneer epoch in the fine old Heesier state. They eventually removed to the state of Iowa, where the devoted wife and mother passed away at the age of thirty-eight years, and in LESS the father came to Kansas, where he passed the residue of his life,att occurring in Jewell county, ner te home of our subject, when he had attained the venerable age of seventy- six years. He was a man of inflexible integ- rity and marked business acumen, ami r a long term of years he devoted his attestiert to the nursery business. handling fruit trees and smaller horticultural products and showing marked discrimination in dustrial undertakings. To him and . co- voted wife were born nine chil whom five are living at the present time.

Je in Rich, whose were intrature- for- review, remained at the parental home until he had attained his nineteen lo early educational discipline havi : cen received in the noted he rendel to the state of Missouri. where he was employed in the lumbering

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woods for a year, and at the expiration of this period he purchased a team and made the overland journey to Iowa, locating in Fremont county, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits on rented land until 1874, when he decided to cast his lot with that of the Sunflower state, of which he thus became a pioneer, having consecutively maintained his home in Jewell county for nearly a quarter of a century. Upon com- ing to this county he took up a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of government land, eligibly located at a point four miles northeast of Mankato, the county seat, and here he has contributed his quota to the work of development and progress, while pros- perity has attended his earnest and as- siduous efforts, though he has encountered the vicissitudes and trials which have fallen to the lot of the pioneers of this section. His confidence in the industrial possbilities and advantages of this favored section has not wavered however, and the years have jus- tified his faith, as is clearly shown in his present attractive and valuable farm estate, which is under an excellent state of culti- vaton and equipped with substantial im- provements. He has attained his present position entirely through his own efforts, and his course has ever been dominated and directed by intelligence, enterprise and un- wavering integrity of purpose, so that to him has ever been given the fullest meas- ure of confidence and esteem in the com- munity where he has so long maintained his home. He is recognized as a progressive and public-spirited citizen, and in politics he now gives his allegiance to the Populist party, his first presidential vote having been cast in support of Horace Greeley. He has taken a consistent interest in public affairs of a local nature, and while he has never sought official preferment, he has given ex- cellent service as a member of the school board of his district, having been incum- bent of this position for many years and ever giving his influence and ready co-opera- tion in support of all measures and enter- prises for the general good. In the trials and hardships incidental to the development of the agricultural resources of this section he

has been nobly assisted by his estimable wife, who has proved to him a faithful com- panion and coadjutor and of whose sympa- thetic solicitude and womanly aid he has ever been assured, both having gained a wide circle of friends in their home com- munity.

Mr. Rich has been twice married. On the 20th of January, 1877, he wedded Miss Martha Horne, who died in 1877, leaving one son, Charles, who died at the age of six months. On the 28th day of April, 1878, Mr. Rich was united in marriage to Miss Arena Fringer, who was born in Morrow county, Ohio, the daughter of Jeremiah and Leah (Lucas) Fringer, both of whom are now residents of North Branch, this coun- ty, being honored pioneers to whom specific reference is made on another page of this work, under the title of the Fringer Family. Mr. and Mrs. Rich became the parents of four children, of whom two are living,- Clara E., aged eleven, and Frank, aged five years, both of whom still remain at the par- ental home, being popular young folk of the community and worthy representatives of two of the sterling pioneer families of Jewell county. Mrs. Rich is a member of the Christian church, in whose work she takes an active interest, while the family is concerned in the best social life of this por- tion of the county, the attractive farm home being located in Center township.

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 124

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