A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 134

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

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During his minority Hayes B. White re- mained a resident of Iowa, and is indebted to the schools of that state for his educa- tional privileges. He was married in his na- tive county. December 30, 1875. to Miss Diana Parson, who is of Virginia ancestry, and to them have been born six children, namely: Ira W .. Evarts S., Rollin W .. Jessie R .. Leslie J. and Essie B. They have received or are receiving fine educations and one of the number is now successfully en- gaged in teaching school. They constitute a fine looking family and show evidence of a noble ancestry.

In 1876 Mr. White came to Jewell coun- ty. Kansas, and has since made his home

upon his present farm in section 19. Center township. In his farming operations he has been eminently successful during his resi- dence here, and is to-day the owner of eight hundred acres of very valuable and pro- ductive land. He is the most prominent Re- publican politician in central and northwest- ern Kansas. During the session of 1888-9 he represented Jewell county in the state legislature, and in 1894 was endorsed for congress by his county but failed to receive the nomination. He was elected to the state senate in the fall of 1900, and is now a prominent and influential member of that body. He is now making the canvass for the nomination to congress from the "big sixth" district of Kansas with very flatter- ing prospects of success. He is a brilliant and witty speaker and is very popular, as he is affable and courteous in manner and pos- sesses an essential qualification to success in public life -- that of making friends readily and of strengthening the ties of all friend- ships as time advances.

ELMER E. MARSHALL.

Elmer E. Marshall, county clerk of Ell -- worth county, is a gentleman whose name is well worthy of a place with those of other leading Republicans of the county. He has been identified with the Republican party all his life, has been true to its principles, has labored faithfully to promote its interest- and his election to the office of which he is now the incumbent is but a fitting recogni- tion of his sterling worth and high stand- ing.

Mr. Marshall is a native of Ohio. his birth having occurred in Madison county, that state, on the 22d of July, 1861, his par- ents being David and Margaret (Busick ) Marshall, the former a native of Pennsyl- vania and the latter of Ohio. The father was an attorney and engaged in the practice of law in Circleville, Ohio, where he spent the greater part of his life, his death occur- ring there in April. 1894. He was a man of prominence in his community, taking an

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active part in public affairs and having a strong influence in moulding public senti- ment, feeling and action. In his political views he was a Republican. His wife, sur- viving him for a few years, passed away in May, 1898. They were the parents of six children, all of whom are yet living, namely : Elmer E .: Ogetta, who is superintendent of the city schools of Solomon, Kansas ; Jo- sephine, the wife of C. M. German, a busi- ness man of Cincinnati, Ohio; Martha, the wife of J. F. Crank, an attorney at law, who has gained prominence as a criminal lawyer in Denver, Colorado; Myrtle C., the wife of W. F. Stevens, superintendent of the schools in Corning, Arkansas; and Heber H., who is engaged in the cigar and tobacco business in his native town of Circleville.

Elmer E. Marshall, the eldest of the fam- ily, was reared in his parents' home until fifteen years of age. He displayed special aptitude as a student and began teaching in Pickaway county, Ohio, following the pro- fession for a year, after which he entered the National Normal University at Leb- anon. Ohio, pursuing a three years' scien- tific and literary course. After his gradu- ation he resumed labors as an educator and won prominence by his particular fitness for the profession. For eight years he occupied the position of superintendent of the city schools of West Jefferson, Milford Center, St. Paul and Tarlton, Ohio, and in 1890 he came to Ellsworth to accept the position of principal of the high school at that place, remaining in charge for three years. Un- der his control the school made rapid prog- ress and advancement, doing very satisfac- tory work in making the young people of the town familiar with the more advanced branches of English learning. In the fall of 1894 Professor Marshall was elected to the office of county clerk to fill an unexpired term and has been three times re-elected, so that he has served for seven years in that position. He is recognized as a leader in Republican circles and has had marked in- fluence in controlling political affairs. He has served on the central committees and was a delegate to the national convention of 1900.

Professor Marshall was married on the 23d of March, 1892, to Miss Mary Bald- ridge, a daughter of John H. and Kate (De- pew) Baldridge. She was born in Chris- tian, Illinois, while her parents were natives of Ohio, and in 1877 they became residents of Ellsworth county, the father engaging in the coal, lumber and grain trade at Bunker Hill. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Mar- shall has been blessed with one child, Mar- garet. Socially Professor Marshall is con- nected with several organizations, being a member of Ellsworth Lodge, No. 286, A. O. U. W., of which he is a past master ; of the Select Knights, No. 115, of which he was recording treasurer for three years; the camp of Modern Woodmen, No. 5673, of which he was banker for two years; and the Ancient Order of Pyramids. He is a man of strong intellectual individuality, of broad humanitarian principles and of keen insight into issues and questions which claim public attention. Well fitted for leadership, his in- fluence is widely felt and has always been found on the side of progress and reform and of the good and the true.

WALTER F. CREW, M. D.

To indulge in prolix encomium of a life which was eminently one of subjective mod- esty would be most incongruous, even though the record of good accomplished, of kindly deeds performed and of high relative precedence attained in one of the more exact- ing of human vocations might seem to justi- iy the utterance of glowing eulogy. He to whom this memoir is dedicated was a man who "stood four square to every wind that blows," who was possessed of marked pro- fessional ability and who was vitally instinct with the deeper human sympathies, and yet who, during his long and useful life, sig- nally avoided everything that smacked of display and notoriety,-and in this spirit would the biographer wish to have his utter- ances construed.

The Crew family in America traces its lineage to stanch English origin, and the

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criginal progenitors in this country came hither in the early colonial epoch and settled in the Old Dominion, that patrician old com- monwealth where so much of our national history had its cradle, and there the name became one of prominence in public and civic affairs. Dr. Walter F. Crew was born in Virginia, the son of Walter and Sarah B. ( Rice) Crew, both of whom were likewise natives of the Old Dominion, whence they removed to lowa, becoming pioneers of that state, where they passed the residue of their lives, both having died in Henry county, at advanced age. They took up their residence in Iowa in 1849, and there their son Walter F. was reared to years of maturity, having grown up under the sturdy discipline of the farm and having secured his early educa- tional training in the public schools. youth of exceptionally alert mentality and of self-reliant nature. it was but natural that he should early formulate plans for his fu- ture life work, and thus we find that he determined to prepare himself for the medi- val profession. He carried on his technical reading as opportunity afforded and was finally able to secure matriculation in the Eclectic Medical College, in the city of Keo- kuk. Iowa, where he was in due time grad- unted. He entered upon the active practice of his profession in Iowa, where he remained until 1877. when he came to Jewell county. Kansas, as one of its pioneer physicians. He took up a tract of government land and es- tablished his home in Mankato, which was at that time a straggling little hamlet of a few primitive dwellings, while the settlers in this portion of the state were widely dis- seminated and their homes far removed from each other. the work of development and progress having been scarcely more than in- augurated. Thus the Doctor found his ser- vices in requisition over a wide range of country, his ability in a professional way and his earnest and sympathetic devotion to those to whom he ministered soon gaining him a practice which ramified throughout the most diverse portion of the western sec- tion of the state and which placed exacting demands upon his attention .- a professional duty from which he never flinched, standing

ever ready to subordinate his personal in- clination- and his personal comfort. Long, straggling roads, if any at all, marked the prairies in various directions and at certain seasons these were almost impassable, and over these, in all kinds of weather. Dr. Crew made his way. Through summer's heat and winter's frost, night or day, he pursued his humane mission. He had ever an execu- tional and deep charity for the poor and needy and accorded his services without re- serve where there was an inability to render him any return save that of heartfelt grati- tutdle. A familiar figure this in the days long past, and one viewed with delight by many a poor sufferer at whose bedside he attended. This was not the life of a sybarite. but one filled with days and nights of toil and hours of heavy anxiety,-a phase of the healing profession that stands in highest honor to one who has thus devoted himself to the noble work against great odds and with most marked self-denial. Skilled as he was in his profession. Dr. Crew reached the point of high attainment by his own efforts, keeping constantly abreast of the advances made in the sciences of medicine and surgery and ever maintaining a deep interest in his work. which became a part of his life. He showed excellent business ability, making judicious investments in real estate, and he prospered in temporal affairs, as well he deserved to be. He acquired a large and valuable landed estate in Harvey county, having been the owner of a half section of land at the time of his death and also of valuable property in the city of Mankato, where he had his at- tractive home. He was held in the highest honor and esteem by all who knew him and was recognized as one of the representative and influential citizens of the county. His integrity of character was as unbending as was his human tolerance and sympathy pro- nounced, and in his death the community felt a deep sense of personal loss. while trib- utes of affectionate appreciation and regard were accorded on every side and by all classes. Such a man and such a life can not pass unnoted in a compendium of this na- titre. and this memoir will stand as a per- petal record concerning one whose life was

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one of signal usefulness and honor. The Doctor passed away at the age of sixty-four years, in the fulness of well earned honors. Politically he originally gave his allegiance to the Republican party, but becoming con- vinced of the legitimacy and wisdom of the principles and policies of the People's party, he gave to the same his support during the last few years of his life. He never sought official preferment, but consented to serve as coroner of the county for several years, this being essentially in harmony with his pro- fessional duties. He was an honored mem- ber of the Eclectic Medical Society of the state.

Dr. Crew was united in marriage to Miss Nancy E. Smith, who was born in Jay coun- tv. Indiana, and who died in Mankato, Kan- sas, at the age of forty-seven years. They became the parents of eight children, of whom only two survive .- James W. and Charles C., who inherit the fine estate left by their honored father.

James W. Crew, who has kindly fur- nished us the data from which to prepare this memorial tribute, was born in Jefferson county, Iowa, in December, 1873. and he was but four years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Kansas, in whose public schools he secured his early educational dis- cipline, while he early began to assist his fa- ther in the supervision of his farming in- terests, so that he is well fortified for the management of the estate in this line, de- voting his attention to diversified farming and maintaining his home in Mankato. He has the progressive spirit and energy so typical of the young men of the west, and in his well directed efforts as an agriculturist and stock-grower he has attained success of no indefinite character, and his course has been such as to retain the confidence and good will of the people of the community in which he has passed practically his entire life. In politics he gives a stanch support to the People's party, his first presidential vote having been cast for William J. Bryan, in 1896. Fraternally he is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, hold- ing membership in the lodge at Mankato.

Charles C. Crew, the younger son, is

one of the popular and honored young men of this county. He received excellent edu- cational advantages, has marked intellectual powers and has been successfully engaged in teaching in the public schools of Harvey. county, beginning his pedagogic labors at an early age. The two brothers are ably and faithfully bearing up the prestige of an hon- ored name .- a name that will long be held in grateful memory in this locality by reason of the noble and worthy life of their father.

FRANK THORN.

Frank Thorn, the well-known stock. dealer at Lindsay, Concord township, Ot- tawa county, Kansas, has been a resident of the state since 1869 and in the pioneer days won fame as a buffalo hunter. He has seen thousands of buffaloes as they roamed the plains and valleys of the sunflower state, was exceptionally successful in pursuit of the big game and had the distinction of having shipped the only carload of buffalo ever sent out of his part of the state.

Frank Thorn was born in Ruggles town- ship, Ashland county, Ohio, August 4, 1851. a son of John Thorn, who was born at Inch Aberdeen, Scotland, of an old Highland family, and descended from ancestors fa- mous in the history of his country. John Thorn came to the United States while he was yet a young man. and was married in Ohio to Mary Jane Crow, who was born in Virginia of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and died in Ohio in 1864, deeply regretted by all who had known her as a kind and charitable neighbor and as a loving wife and mother, leaving children as follows : Margaret, who became Mrs. Robinson ; Reuben, who was a soldier in the Civil war and lives at Lebanon, Ohio; Su- san, who became Mrs. Hawkins, and lives at Savannah, Ashland county, Ohio: Mary, who became Mrs. Simons and died at Sa- vannah, Ohio : and Frank, who is the imme- diate subject of this sketch. John Thorn died at the age of fifty-seven years, leav- ing a record as a useful and patriotic citi-

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zen who advocated the abolition of slavery and early identified himself with the Repub- lican pirty.

The subject of this sketch remained in Ohio until he was seventeen years old, at- tending the public schools and mastering the details of farm work by practical experience. He then went to Kansas, where for a time he worked in a sawmill. Later he spent some time in Colorado and in the southwest, employed in different ways, and from time to time gave attention to hunt- ing buffaloes on the Kansas plains. January 22. 1872, he was united in marriage to Letitia Jones, a native of Georgia and a representative of an old southern family. who came with her parents to Ottawa county in 1867. Her father and mother are both dead, the latter having died in 1889. Mrs. Thorn has two brothers and two sisters, A. T. and Henry Jones, farmers of Concord banship. and Mrs. Sample and Mrs. Com. For a time Mr. Thorn had charge of the waterworks at Minneapolis. He is influen- tial in politics and was the candidate of his party in 1900.

JOHN M. RATCLIFF.

Among those who have been and are prominently concerned in the forwarding of the great industrial activities of Kingman county is the gentleman whose name initiates this paragraph and who is known as one of the representative farmers and stock-grow- ers of this section of the state. his interests in these lines being extensive and important. As a leading citizen of the community and as one who commands uniform confi lence and esteem. it is incumbent that there be in- corporated in this volume a brief review of his honorable and useful career.

Mr. Ratcliff claims the beautiful old state of Kentucky as the place of his nativ- ity, having been born in Boone county, on the 12th of February, 1857. being the son of Robert M. and Cynthia ( Anderson) Rat- cliff. both of whom died in Kentucky. The subject of this sketch was reared to the dis-

cipline of the farm and his early educational advantages were extremely limited in scope ; in fact, it may be said that his distinctive school training was limited to a period of not more than two years. He is, however, endowed with an alert mentality and a re- ceptive memory, so that by personal appli- cation and association with the practical affairs of life he has gained the valuable lessons which are to be had in the broad school of experience, having a wide fund of information, a mature judgment and a marked business and executive ability. As early as the age of seventeen Mr. Ratcliff showed marked talent and proficiency in the handling of and trading in live stock, and he thus did much to further the material inter- ests of the homestead farm. Upon attaining his legal majority Mr. Ratcliff engaged in business on his own responsibility, locating at Crittenden, Kentucky, a thriving town two miles distant from the city of Cincin- nati, where he opened a meat market and in connection with the same conducted a huck- stering business, having two wagons on the road and buying country produce, which he shipped to the Cincinnati markets. He there successfully continued operations un- til April, 1884, when he disposed of his in- terests and came to Kingman county, Kan- sas. where his brother-in-law, F. N. Price. had preceded him. Shortly after his arrival he filed claim to the southwest quarter of section 6. Kingman township, and it is in- teresting to recall the fact that his first resi- dence was a dugout, the same being fourteen by sixteen feet in dimensions. This primi- tive domicile continuei to be his home for a period of six years, during which time he devoted his attention to agricultural pur- suits. having broken one hundred acres and placed the same under effective cultivation and having also made other valuable im- provement, on his farm.

In the year 1890 Mr. Ratcliff removed from his farm to the village now known as Cunningham, having traded a team and wagen for a house and two lots. Here he entered into partnership with I. L. Br ..... uncler the firm name of Rateliff & Brower. and engaged in the stock, grain and coal

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business, the partnership continuing until . the most attractive and substantial country Mr. Brower withdrew on account of having ; homes in Kingman county. Our subject has been elected sheriff of the county. For the . attained a notable success, and his unerring succeeding three years Mr. Ratcliff contin- ued the enterprise individually, and at the expiration of that time the present firm of Ratcliff Brothers was organized, E. S. Rat- i judgment and business sagacity have been the dominating elements rendering | possible i this achievement. He is public-spirited in his attitude and accords a generous support cliff becoming the junior member. The sub- I to enterprises and undertaking's which are calculated to advance the general welfare. Essentially a business man, Mr. Ratcliff has never sought nor desired the honors of emoluments of political office, though he performs the duties incumbent upon every citizen by the exercising of his right of fran- chise, giving his support to the principles and policies of the Democratic party. Fra- ternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being past noble grand of his lodge and having represented the same in the grand lodge of the state. He also holds membership in the Modern Woodmen of America, taking marked inter- est in the affairs of each of these fraternal organizations.

1 ject of this sketch has charge of the live- stock interests of the firm; his brother con- ducts the coal business and they are equally interested in the extensive grain business controlled by the firm, buying and shipping in large quantities and holding high rank among the representative business firms in this section of the great commonwe. Ith of - Kansas. John MI. Ratcliff has gained a rep- utation as one of the most successful and extensive dealers of live stock that the county can show, and his operations have important influence on the industrial pros- perity of this section. He is a consummate judge of the qualities of stock, shows rare discrimination in buying and marketing and his opinions in this line of enterprise are held as authoritative. He has been the architect of his own fortunes and integrity of pur- pose has characterized his every action, so ! that his prosperity has been the just reward of well directed effort, while to him is given the unequivocal confidence and regard of all with whom he has been thrown in contact . in the various relations of life. In addition to the buying and shipping of stock he : usually keeps from two to five hundred head of cattle, feeding from one hundred and fifty to two hundred head each year and also keeping an average of about two hundred head of horses and mules. From time to time Mr. Ratcliff has made judicious invest- ments in Kingman county lands, and at the present time he owns a considerable quan- tity. principally in one body, and of this large and valuable estate one thousand acres are under effective cultivation, the greater portion being rented to desirable tenants. In 1899 MIr. Ratcliff erected his beautiful and finely equipped residence, which is most eligibly located just outside the corporate limits of Cunningham, being of modern ar- chitectural design and standing as one of

In a business way Mr. Ratcliff has im- portant interests aside from those already mentioned, having been one of the organiz- ers of the Kingman State Bank, of whose directorate he is a member at the present time, and being also an interested principal in the well known and extensive mercantile firm of Baldwin & Ratcliff, of Cunningham.

On the 17th of November, 1881, in Grant county, Kentucky, was solemnized the | marriage of Mr. Ratcliff to Miss Clara Price, the daughter of James and A. (Quinn) Price, both natives of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Ratcliff have three children,- Iris, Joseph and Herman.

EDGAR T. ATHEN.

Edgar T. Athen, an honored and highly esteemed resident of Jewell county, is a native of Atchison county, Missouri. His father. Joseph Athen, claimed Indiana as the state of his nativity, where he was born in 1841, and his death occurred in Kansas in 1885, when he was forty-four years of

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age, passing away on the farm on which our subject now resides. During the war he became a member of Company D. Thirty .. fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. under Captain James L. Farrell. He entered the service on the 8th of September, 1801, and after a military career of three years, on the 14th of December, 1863, at Louisville, he was honorably discharged, but he imme- diately re-enlisted in the same company and regiment and thus served until the case of hostilities, receiving an honorable discharge February 3, 1800, after a service of four years, five months and eleven days. He fol- lowed the tilling of the soil as a life con- pation, and was an honored and respected citizen in the localities in which he made him home. The mother of our subject, who in her maidenhood was Miss Mary Brindle. was a native of North Carolina, and a daughter of Daniel and Mary ( Hodge) Brindle. She also passed away in death on the farm on which our subject now resides. dying in 1901. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Athen were born ten children. but only six of the number are now living, namely : W. I., who is married and resides in Oklahoma; W. P., who has never married and makes his home in California ; a daughter became the wife of J. J. Metz : Joseph H .. at home : Ed- gar T .. the subject of this review ; and Cor- clie. The latter is a native daughter of Kan- sas, having been born on the farm on which she and our subject now reside, and she is a charming and highly accomplished young lady. The children have all received es- cellent educatonal advantages, and in their natural refinement they exhibit the lovely characteristics so manifest in their honored parents. The family are members of the United Brethren church.

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 134

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