A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 81

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

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DANIEL HAURY.

Germany has given to Harvey county. Kansas, many citizens who have exerted a potent influence upon its development and prosperity. One such is Daniel Haury, a farmer of section 13, Halstead township. Daniel Haury was born in Bavaria, Germany, October 5. 1845, and John Haury, his father, was born there in 1819. The latter came to America in 1856, bring- ing his family and locating in Clinton coun- iv. Illinois. The voyage across the ocean, in an old-fashioned sailing vessel, consumed twenty-nine days. John Haury married Mary Schmidt about 1843. She was born in 1800. in Bavaria, and died in 1873, in Illinois. At the time of her marriage to Mr. Haury she was a widow with three children. She bore Mr. Haury four sons and a daughter, the oldest of whom was Daniel, who is the immediate subject of this sketch. The next in order of birth was Samuel S .. a physician and surgeon, who is practicing his profession at Newton, Kan- sas. Mary, the third child, is the wife of Abraham Stauffer, of St. Louis, Missouri. Christian, the fourth in order of birth, died

in Bavaria, when he was three years old. Peter died in Illinois, in 1879, at the age ! ! twenty-nine years, leaving a widow and one son. The father of these children was a farmer in Bavaria, Germany, and when he left his native land for America had only four hundred dollars, and it was not with- mit considerable difficulty that he got a sub- stantial start in the new world. Eventually he became the owner of one hundred and fifty acres of good land in Illinois, forty acres of which he bought at twenty-five dol- lars, the rest at fifty dollars, an acre. He sold that property in 1874, at from fifty to sixty dollars an acre, and in March, 1875, he and his son Daniel settled on the farm in section 13, Halstead township, Harvey county. Kansas, which is now the latter's home.

Daniel Haury began his education in his native land and had only six months school- ing in Illinois after his arrival in America, but by every-day intercourse with the po - ple about him and by persistent and thoughtful reading he has acquired a goal knowledge of the English language. was married in March. 1871, to Anna M. Strohm, a native of Bavaria, who came with her parents. to the United States in 1853. When he arrived in Kansas he had six hun- dred dollars in money, which he had made farming his father's land in Illinois. Ilis father at his death left eighteen thousand dollars. He bought a section of land in Halstead township for about four dollars an acre and at the time of his death owned three quarter sections. He loaned money at ten per cent and when the mortgagei could not pay he permitted the lien to rim ir several years and then settled it at eight per cent. He bought the half section which is now the home of his son before he came to Kansas and was a member of the Men- nonite company which bought thirty thou- Sand acres of Kansas land.

The Art I mex : Mr. Haury in Hal-test township was a twenty-two-by-twenty- eight-foot, one-story frame building. In ISSI he built an additional str. to the structure. and in 1891 built an addition two stories high, covering a gramil

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space of sixteen by thirty-two feet. The building rests on a stone foundation and has a cellar under every part of it. His first barn was a sixteen-by-twenty- four-foot shanty, which served as a stable for his horses. At this time he has one barn with fourteen-foot posts, which covers a ground space of thirty-two by forty-two feet, and another one covering a ground space of thirty-two by fifty-two feet, which be built in 1899. He has a granary on , his home farm, which covers a ground space of thirty-two by twenty-six feet, and its roof rests on ten-foot posts. He has also several other granaries on that and his other farms. His corn-cribs on the home- stead have a capacity of five thousand bushels, and at this time he has on hand seven thousand bushels of wheat and about three thousand bushels of corn and oats, and he has harvested an aggregate of eleven thousand bushels of different cereals in one season. He has about one hundred head of Hereford and and Shorthorn cattle of good grades, and about thirty head of horses, sixteen horses being required to op- erate his farm. He keeps from one hun- dred to one hundred and fifty Poland- China swine. Fruit has commanded his at- tention to some extent and he has an or- chard of one hundred and fifty apple trees. He owns in all eight hundred and sixty acres of land, divided into four farms, well supplied with wire fence and Osage hedge. He is recognized as one of the neatest and most thorough farmers in Kansas, and of the many elegant farms in Harvey county his and those of his neighbors, John W. Ruth and Andrew McBurney, are the best.

Mrs. Haury died February 28, 1884, aged thirty-five years, leaving seven chil- dren : Richard F. Haury, the eldest son, is a student at the Northwestern Univer- sity, Chicago, Illinois, and will graduate with the class of 1902. Edwin J. is an in- dustrious young man of much promise. who as a farmer is making money for his father and himself. He was educated at Halstead and at Bethel College, at Newton, Kansas. Albert P. is a bookkeeper in a mill at Newton, Kansas. Samuel D. is a

student in the Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, and expects to be graduated with the de- gree of Medical Doctor with the class of 1904. Bertha S. is a member of the class of 1902, at Bethel College, New- ton, Kansas. Stella, who has received a collegiate education, is a member of her fa- ther's household. Carl F., now eighteen - years old, is a student at Bethel College, at Newton, Kansas. Mr. Haury married Miss Elizabeth Dester, of Lee county, Iowa, in June, 1885, and she has borne hin six children, who are here mentioned in the sequence of their nativity: Mary A., who died at the age of three years; Laura E. who is now fourteen years old ; | Ella E. ; Irma D .; John H., who died at the i age of two years and six months ; and Paul G., who is two years old.

Mr. Haury's parents were Mennonites and he joined their church at the age of sixteen years and has long been one of its elders. Politically he is a Republican, but he is not a violent partisan or even an active politician, but he has been called to the office of school director, which he has filled faithfully and efficiently.

ELIJAH GRACE.

One of the prosperous and prominent farmers of Ottawa county is Elijah Grace. who resides in Fountain township, near Āda. He was born near Cairo, Massac county, Illinois, October 4, 1837, and is one of seven children, four sons and three daughters, born unto Allen and Charlotte (Flearny) Grace. Two of the daughters of the family are yet living. The father was a native of Kentucky and his parents were natives of North Carolina, but the Grace family is of German lineage. On the maternal side our subject is of Scotch descent. Allen Grace emigrated from North Carolina to Massac county, Illinois, in the year 1813, and there our subject spent his youth upon the home farm. After attaining his majority he entered upon an independent business career, working as

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farm hand for thirteen dollars per month. He afterward secured a situation in a flour mill. where He received thirty dollars per month -- which was considered high wages at that !pe.

Mr. Grace was employed in that way und December 20, 1861, when he married Hade Boy who made in Kentucky, May 25. 1843. but at the time of her mar- ringe Mas living in Massac county, Illi- mois. Netting land with the money which he had saved. Mr. Grace secured farm equipments and began following agricult- mal pursuits in Illinois, being thus engaged . tanti the sharing of 1868, when he fitted out a lo ree terim and an ox team and with his wife asl two children started for Kansas. They were also accompanied by a friend, a Mr. Lancaster, who wished to go to Kansas and drove the ox team for Mr. Grace. They left Iffin is in the latter part of June. their route Going up the Missingi river to St. J. ris where they er ved the stream, thence je reeling to Rockfort, where they nawet & West r. Misseri, entering this site where Kansas Uav - nowy le cated. On the ist i August, INK. they arrived at Solomon, where Mr. Grace rented a house ira month. During that time he located a claim in what is now Fountain township. Ottawa county, two miles northwest of the town of Adla. In the fall of 1868 he re- moved his family into a dugout on an ad- joining cham. owned by Gilbert Laird. In the winter of 1868 Mr. Grace cut timber and Poiht a substantial log house on his claim, and in the spring of 1809 his family tok up their alone in the new home. The Bonne were the numer us in this part of the way we would often rub against the best owners of their house. Dur- ing the winter Mr. Grace hunted buffaloes and travel wolves for their skins, secur- in many antes De strychnine poisoning. The buffalo hams were the only part of the meat that was saleable. and for these they received on demand euch one dollar was

Here For grey

dians were very troublesome and the family frequently had to seek safety in Minneapolis. Mr. Grace was never without bi- resolver -trapped to him and when away from the house his rifle was his constant companion.

During the winter of 1870, accompanied by three companions, Mr. Grace proceeded at one hundred miles westward to en- gage in buffalo hunting and trapping. One afternoon while he and a companion were waiting traps they sighted a hand of In- dians in the distance coming toward then !. There appeared to be about fifty. They cir- cled as though to surround them. Realiz- ing their danger Mr. Grace and his com- rade started for their camp, notifying the other two men of their party and then pro- caring all their ammunition they took refuge in a ravine, which ran a short di -- tance into the foothills. Mr. Grace sta- tioned two of the men close to the mouth of the ravine and one in the center, while he kept a lookout over the bills at the head of the ravine. The Indians circled round, coming closer and closer in the me of the hill until they were lined up on each side with their chief at the head of the gulch, but afraid to venture close enough to look down in the ravine. In the mean- ume Mr. Grace lay close to the brow of the hill. By this time he realized that there were about twenty-five warriors and that some bold action must be taken or their lives would be of short duration, for the Indians were all armed with guns and body- and arrows. Just as the chief was about to approach nearer to the brow of the hill where he could have a view of the ravine. Mr. Grace raised himself quickly and with cocked gun demanded the chief to ground arms. an order which he seemed to under- Hand. for he obeved and commanded his warriors to do the same. He then cheve 1 Mr. Grace's order to assemble his men around him. The savages did not know the force of the whites and probably speed they were outnumbered, and as their chief was in imminent danger they obeyed his piers in order to see his Nie. Mr. Grace not his three command is then marched the entire force, twenty-seven in all, to their

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camp, fed them all they could eat and while they were thus feasting devised a way of disposing of their prisoners. They con- cluded to confiscate their ammunition and then order them to take their guns and go. After receiving a promise from the chief that he and his men would not molest them they were allowed to march out of the cabin in single file toward their camp, which they said was located about ten miles to the west, where were encamped eighty braves, twenty squaws and thirty pappooses. Our subject and his companions escorted them some dis- tance and then returned to their camp, as night was approaching. They kept guard all night and in the early dawn broke camp and went to Kerwin's camp on the Union Pacific railroad, which was then being built, and from that point proceeded to Sa- lina, where they disposed of their buffalo robes, wolf and coyote skins and buffalo hams, realizing about two hundred dollars from their hunt.

During the years 1870-1 Mr. Grace had to move his family several time to Minne- apofis on account of the raids of the Arap- ahoes and Cheyenne Indians, and they had continually to be on their guard, always going armed with gun and revolver. Mr. Grace hunted buffaloes and engaged in farm- ing to some extent during the years 1872- 3-4-5 and as the buffaloes were then be- coming scarce he gave up the former pur- suit. devoting his entire attention to agri- cultural pursuits and cattle raising, having in the meantime gathered quite a herd of cattle. During these years he marketed his crops at Salina and Concordia. He has been quite successful in his business affairs, dealing quite extensively in range cattle and thus materially increasing his income. He has accumulated property rapidly, add- ing to the homestead several hundred acres. buying small tracts at a time. He now has one hundred and eighty acres in one body. located on either side of First creek, with fine timber for a windbrake for the cattle. The larger part of his land is cultivable. He also has a section of pasture land in Lincoln county, a few miles from his home place, owning this in partnership with his

son. J. E. Grace. In connection with his two sons, J. E. and Will, he conducts his extensive farms and handles about one hundred and fifty head of cattle, a large number of hogs and about twenty head of horses. The principal crop raised is corn, but they also raise some small grain.

In 1883 Mr. Grace and his family were called upon to mourn the loss of the wife and mother, who died on the 27th of Jan- mary of that year. They had ten children, two born in Illinois and eight in Kansas, namely : B. F., who was born May 7, 1864, is married and lives in Ottawa county, and has three children ; J. E., born June 7, 1867, is associated with his father in business;

Laura, born October 1, 1869, is the wife of Frank Cline, of Stanton township, Ottawa county, and they have two children; Thomas A., born May 3, 1871, is engaged in the livery business, is married and lives in Ada, and has two children: Hattie A., born April 1, 1873, is the wife of Harry Meixell, of Denver, Colorado, by whom she has two children, and who is superin- tendent of the Colorado Ammonia & Chem- ical Company; Olive May, born April 2, 1875, is the wife of Ed Mountain, a farmer residing two and a half miles east of Ada, by whom she has three children: Florence Mary, who was born February 8, 1877, is the wife of E. Sechrist, of Fountain town- ship, and they have two children; William was born May 22, 1879; Lena Julia, born September 2, 1881, is the wife of Frank Brien, of Fountain township, Ottawa coun- ty, and they have two children; and Effie A., the youngest of the family, was born January 27, 1883, and is still living at home. She is acting as her father's house- keeper, and is a young lady of culture and refinement, who has acquired a good edu- cation and is well versed in music. The family home is a good residence, containing six rooms. Upon the farm are good barns, corrals and other substantial farm build- ings, and the place is fenced and cross- fenced. There is also a bearing orchard of several hundred trees, and this well im- proved farm is a monument to the enterprise and thrift of the owner.

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Mr. Grace has also been quite prominent in public affairs. He was the first township treasurer of Fountain township and was one of the organizers of the first school dis- triet, comprising the township of Fountain and part of Garfield. He held the office of township treasurer for four consecutive years, was justice of the peace for two years and has also held district school offices, ever discharging his duties with promptness and fidelity. In politics he was formerly a Dem- ocrat, but is now allied with the Populist party and warmly advocates its principles, believing that they contain the best ele- ments of good government. He belongs to the Baptist church of Ada and always gives his support to every movement and micasure which he believes will prove of general good. From pioneer days he has been identified with the county and his name is inseparably interwoven with its history, for he is a representative of the honored class of citizens who in frontier times came to Kansas and laid the foundation for its present prosperity and progress.

WILL CHAPIN.

The accomplishment of a purpose, the achievement of success! How much that means to man. There is no man living who does not have some object in life, and yet how few realize their hopes, some from lack of close application, others from a want of energy, while still others need the spur of ambition. In all that goes to make suc- cess. however, Mr. Chapin is well equipped. Hle placed his dependence upon the sub- stantial qualities of indefatigable labor and untiring perseverance, and his efforts, guid- ed by sound judgment, have brought to hin prosperity. He is now a member of the firm of Chapin Brothers. of Minneapolis. Kansas, who are extensively engaged in the milling business both in this place and in Delphos, Kansas.

Will Chapin was born in Lake Geneva. Wisconsin, in 1855, and is a son of Jacob and Anna (Huson) Chapin. The family

is of English lineage, and the line can be traced back to England in the year 1094. when representatives of the name came America and platted the present site of Springfield, Massachusetts. Among the number was the renowned Deacon Samuel Chapin. In 1860 a reunion of the Chapins was held in Springfield, at which time it was ascertained that there were five thousand descendants of the founders of the family in the new world. The father of our subject was born in Heath, Massachusetts, in 1821, and was a farmer by occupation. In the year 1800 he emigrated westward to lowa, where he died in 1875. In 1893 his widow came to Kansas. She was born in Collins, Erie county, New York, in 1826, and she now lives with her daughter, Mrs. Sweet, of Del- -- phos, Kansas. She had four children : Adelle. the wife of H. H. Sweet, a resi- dent of Delphos, who is interested in the mill with the firm of Chapin Brothers : Eu- gene L., who is the senior member of the firm, and is living in Minneapolis; Will: and Alice M., the wife of Louis Jordan, who makes his home in Minneapolis.

Will Chapin was only five years of age when he left his native state and with his parents went to Iowa. There he pursued his preliminary education in a log school- house and later was for two termis a stu- dent in the high school at Tripoli, Iowa. When he was twenty years of age his fa- ther died and he then assumed the manage- ment of the home farm, which he operated until 1878, when he came to Kansas, arriv- ing in Minneapolis with only six dollars in his pocket. He also had a team of old horses, and here he began his career by hauling and doing other odd jobs. Later he began draying. In 1880 he entered into partnership with his brother, for the work demanded more teams. Business was car- ried on under the firm name of Chapin Brothers' Dray Company, which style was assumed ten years ago. Their business steadily increased and nine teams were used for draying purposes. In 1887 they ex- tended the field of their operations by es- tablishing a coal and feed yard, with a large

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feed barn in connection, known as the Big ; terms he represented his county in the state Red Barn. In 1890 they disposed of all their business and erected the mill, which they now operate. They started with a capacity of sixty barrels of flour per day, but owing to their increasing trade have been obliged to enlarge their facilities until the mill now has a daily capacity of one hundred and ten barrels. In 1893, at a cost of twelve thousand dollars, they erected a mill at Delphos, with a capacity of one hundred and twenty-five barrels, and they paid eight thousand dollars for the water power. Their milling business has already reached extensive proportions and is stead- ily increasing, owing to the splendid qual- ity of the flour which they manufacture and their straightforward business dealings. For the past ten years the Chapin Borthers have dealt largely in cattle and hogs, and in 1900 they fed over five hundred head of cattle. They also own forty acres of land, upon which the mill stands. They employ nineteen men and their expenses in 1900 were fifteen thousand dollars, but on their invested capital they realize a good profit, and are annually adding to their possessions. They ground in the last year one hundred and seventy-five thousand bushels of wheat and did a business amounting to one hun- dred and twenty thousand dollars. The firm of Chapin Brothers take high rank among the business men of Ottawa county, and their enterprise and efforts have contribu- ted not alone to their individual success, but have also been a means of promoting ! the general prosperity.

On the 27th of March, 1881. Will Cha- pin was married to Ida May, daughter of E. B. and Martha ( Hodgins) Crews. Her father, a native of Barnesville, Ohio, was born September 24, 1839, and was descended from an old Quaker family. In the year 1865 he removed from Ohio to Jowa, and there engaged in farming for five years, after which he took up his abode upon a farm near Yankton, Dakota. He was a prominent factor in political circles, and had pronounced views on the temperance and labor questions, being always found on the side of reform and progress. For two

legislature, and was an active member of the body, leaving the impress of his forceful individuality upon the legislature of the state. He proposed the age of consent bill, and ever championed the cause of the la- boring men and of all measures which he believed would prove of uniform value and benefit. While in Dakota he served as mas- ter of the state grange. In 1876 he came to Kansas, locating in Delphos and soon his fitness for leadership won him prominence and secured his election to the general as- sembly, as before mentioned. In 1893 he went to Oregon and remained two years, and went from there to Harriman, Tennes- see, where he was killed. A derrick near a building in course of construction struck him on the head and death followed in- stantiy. Thus was terminated an honorable and useful career. His wife was born in Chesterfield. Ohio, and was also of Quaker ancestry. Her birth occurred in 1842, and in Iowa, in 1866, she was called to her final rest. By this union were born four chil- dren : Ida May, now the wife of Mr. Cha- pin ; Hattie, who married C. E. Randolph, a school teacher of Neosho county, Kan- sas: Emily, the deceased wife of Myron Gifford, of Grand Junction, Colorado; and Willie, who died in infancy. After the death of his first wife the father of this fam- ily was again married, his second union, in 1868, being with Martha Doudna. They also had four children : Clara, wife of Isaac Smith, a railroad man of Pueblo, Colorado; Ernest, a farmer of Iowa: Royal, who went to Cuba as a bugler in the Spanish-American war, and afterward located in the south; and Earl, who died in infancy.

Mrs. Chapin is a lady of culture and re- finement and presides with pleasing manner over their hospitable home. She completed her literary education in the high school of Minneapolis. Four children have been born unto our subject and his wife: Melvin R., who was born in 1882, is employed in his father's mill, but will soon enter upon a lit- erary course of study in the State Agricul- tural College, at Manhattan, Kansas, being well prepared for this by a three-years'

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course in the high school of Minneapolis; Herbert, who was born in July, 1883, and has been a student in the high school of his native town, will soon enter upon a preparatory care in the Manhattan Agri- cultural College: Grace Harriet, Who was born in July, 1885, and is at home; and Kenneth Crews, born in 1894, completes the family.

A few years ago while conversing with his paternal grandfather, Mr. Chapin dis- covered that the venerable old gentleman and Mrs. Chapin's maternal grandmother had been sweethearts in early life. The families, however, were separated and long years afterward their grandchildren met and married, unconscious of the romance of their ancestors. Mr. Chapin and his wife are active members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and Mr. Chapin has been su- perintendent of the Sabbath-school for the past seven years. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and for fifteen years he has been a member of Minneapolis Lodge, No. 155. I. O. O. F. He also belongs to Del- phos Lodge. No. 5. Sons and Daughters of Justice, which lodge he instituted. Such in brief is the life history of one of the most valuable, active and enterprising citi- zens of Ottawa county-a man who has made for himself an honorable place in the world, who has ably discharged all the du- ties of private, public and business, and who has always maintained the cofidence and respect of his associates and friends while conducting an ever increasing business that has enabled him to rise from a humble financial position to one of affluence.

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A biographical history of central Kansas, Vol. II, Part 81

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