USA > Kansas > Barton County > Biographical History of Barton County, Kansas > Part 14
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he rented a farm near Claflin, later buying land which now comprises his home place in Liberty township where he owns one-half of section 12. All of this land is under cultiva- tion and is being farmed by Mr. Yco. He was married in 1886 to Miss Katie Dew at Fair- field, Iowa. They are the parents of four chil- dren: Maud, 32 years of age, is now Mrs. A. J. O'Blenness of Kinsley, Kansas; Clyde, 30 years of age, is married and lives near his parents and is engaged in the farming busi-
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
ness; Earnest, 26 years of age, who resides at home and George, 25 years old, is farming in Stafford County near Seward. Mr. Yeo's home place is well equipped with buildings and all the necessary machinery and live stock for successful farming. He makes a specialty cf raising and breeding short horn cattle and maintains a flock of fancy Buff Cochin chick- ens. The residence on the home place consists of seven rooms in addition to the pantries,
closets, etc. The barn is ample for all the needs of the farm being 45 by 60 feet in dimen- sions. Mr. Yeo is a practical farmer having been engaged in this line of work all of his life. Mr. Yeo farms according to modern methods and is one of the successful farmers who have done so much to develop that part of the county lying south of the river from the city of Great Bend.
JOHN EDWARD COSS
J OHN EDWARD Coss was born in Lucas County, Iowa, in 1866. He came to Bar- ton County with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. L. B. Coss. He is one of four children. born to this pioneer family, the others being Molly, Clarke B. and Blanche J. Miss Molly married D. E. Freyburger, a well known resi- dent of this county who died in November, 1901. She is now Mrs. Walter Speck of Chi- cago; Clarke B. is president of the Heizer State Bank and one of the prominent busi- ness men of the county; Blanche J is now Mrs. F. A. Garrett and they reside on the family homestead .. 1 Clarence township it be- ing the northeast quarter of section 12. The estate also owns another half section in this township. John was married to Miss Clara Bell in this county in 1899 and they are the parents of two children; Lester, aged 9 and Ruth, aged 7 years. John Edward Coss is one of the best known business men in that part of
Barton County he having been engaged in the mercantile business in Heizer at different times during the past thirteen years. He bought his present business last July and he and his partner, J. E. Turner, now have one of the best stocks of general merchandise to be found in any small town in this part of the state. The Coss family came to Barton County in June, '74, and the elder Coss who died April 28, 1911, had a great deal to do with the early history of the county and was one of its best known citizens. He with the cther pion- eers began the work that the present genera- tion is continuing and his name will always be remembered by the old timers and read with reverence by younger people in years to come. They will read of him with other men to whom Barton County owes its high stand- ing among the best counties of the state of Kansas and among the leading agricultural sections of the world.
JOHN FRANK BALES
J OHN FRANK BALES, or Colonel Jolin Bales as he is better known, was born in Green County, Tennessee, April 18, 1876, and went with his parents to Missouri when he was four years of age. He remained there until 1900 when he came to Barton Coun- ty, Kansas, where he has since resided and taken an active part in the development of the county's resources. He owns 320 acres of land in section 6, Great Bend township and farms a section and a half in that part of the county, and for the past several years has made a specialty of buying and selling cattle. It is doubtful if there are a dozen farmers in Barton County who do not know John Bales personally because whenever there has been a public sale of any nature during the past four years, almost invariably his name will be found on the sale bills. In this profession Mr. Bales has earned more than an ordinary rep- utation. His keen business sense, his knowl-
edge of values on all goods he is called upon to sell, and his belief in a square deal have all contributed to his success in this line of work. As an auctioneer there is no man who is bet- ter or more favorably known in this section of the state than Mr. Bales. His home place has a good set of improvements including a five room residence, a barn 72 by 42 feet in di- mensions and all other necessary outbuildings. Mr. Bales was married in 1905 to Miss Dora Kay of Coffeyville, Kansas, and they have one bright little girl, Ruth, three years of age, und another, Helen, who at this writing is eight months old. Mrs. Bales is a native of this county, having been born south of the river. Mr. Bales has always been among the most active residents of the county in its develop- ment and making of it one of the best in the State of Kansas and placing it among the most productive in the entire county.
JOHN BERSCHEIDT, Jr.
J OHN BERSCHEIDT, JR., was born
Aurora, Illinois, October 1, 1873, and
came to Barton County with his parents when he was four years of age. The family located near Claflin in Logan township and
John, Sr., at once took up the occupation of farming. He was one of the really old timers of this part of the state and had a great deal to do with the development of the soil and re- claiming this part of Kansas from the Indians
OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
85
and buffaloes. John, Jr., attended the schools in this county and began farming for himself in 1906. He was married in Ellinwood in 1910, to Mrs. Lizzie Weisburg. At the time of their wedding Mrs. Weisburg had one child, Mamie who is now fifteen years of age and she and Mr. Berscheidt are the parents of one child, John, Jr., who is five months of age and makes the third John in the Berscheidt family. Mr. and Mrs. Berscheidt own the home place, 160 acres about 112 miles west of Ellinwood and 380 acres one mile west of there. The home place is farmed by Mr. Berscheidt while the remainder of the land is rented. The resi- dence which is thoroughly modern and one of the neatest in that section of the county con-
tains 9 rooms with a bath and all the neccs- sary closets, etc. The barn, 30 by 38 feet is ample to take care of the stock used by Mr. Berscheidt in his farming operations. They have lived on this place a little more than one year and are improving it in such a way that it will be one of the most attractive places in the county in a very few years. Fine shade trees have been set out, many of them being of the fruit bearing variety. Mr. Ber- scheidt is experimenting with irrigation meth- ods and has a fine pumping plant on his place and it the writer is not mistaken he will open a new era in farming methods in this county providing the water supply is ample to carry on the experiments he has in mind.
NICHOLAS WILLIAM KLEPPER
.
N ICHOLAS WILLIAM KLEPPER was born in Germany, December 24, 1851, and came to America with his parents when he was 12 years of age. The family lo- cated at Aurora, Illinois, where they remained until 1878 when they came to Barton county and at once took up the occupation of farming. Mr. Klepper has been a most successful farni- er and helped in no small way in the work of developing that section of the county that is adjacent to Ellinwood where Mr. Klepper now lives in a fine modern residence. Mr. Klepper now owns thirteen quarter sections of land in Barton County and a half section in Ford County. All the Barton County land is being farmed by renters, Mr. Klepper having retired in 1905. He was married in 1872 to Miss Mary Madenach in Aurora, Illinois, and they are the parents of seven children as follows: Lizzie, 36 years of age, is now Mrs. John Schwartz, residing in this county; Mary, 34 years is Mrs.
Peter Schwartz, residing south of the river in this county; Peter, 31 years of age, is farming near Ellinwood; Anna, 29 years of age, is now Mrs. Henry Webber of Ellsworth County; John, 24 years of age, is farming in this coun- ty; Maggie, 22 years of age, is Mrs. Edward Patz of this county; and Frank, 30 years of age, is now attending Bethany College at Lindsborg, Kansas. Mr. Klepper has always found time to take an active part in the public affairs of the county although he has always been a busy man. He served his district on the board of county commissioners for six years and made a record of which he and his friends may well feel proud. He has always been a sound, substantial citizen and is one of the best known men in Barton County. Their home place in Ellinwood is thoroughly modern in every way and is one of the most beautiful- ly surrounded residences in the town.
PAUL SCHMIDT
NE of the best known men of Barton County and one who has had a great deal to do with developing its re- sources and making of it one of the most im- portant counties of the state is the subject of this sketch, Paul Schmidt. He was born in Germany in 1864 and came to this county when he was twenty years old. He came direct to Barton County and at once took up the occu- pation of farming which he has followed for twenty-eight years. By using the best methods and giving his personal attention to the su- pervision of all work on his land he has been most successful and during the present year he decided to move to town and remain. How- ever, Mr. Schmidt is and always has been an active man and the call of the farm was too strong for him to withstand and after a short time in town he moved back to his place which is located about six miles north of Great Bend.
Mr. Schmidt was married in 1890 to Miss Anna Bloomer of Claflin. They are the parents of four children: Peter, 19 years of age, is in Salt Lake City; Katie, 18 years of age, is now Mrs. John Ehlers; James, 16 and John 14, are living at home. Mr. Schmidt's home place contains ten rooms besides bath, closets, pan- tries, etc. The barn is 32 by 48 feet in dimen- sions and it as well as all the buildings on the home place are well built and commodious. A fine orchard is found on the home place. It occupies about two acres of land and produces all varieties of fruits common to this part of the country. Mr. Schmidt is an enterprising and progressive citizen and one who has had a great deal to do with the development of Barton's resources and making of this county one of the best in the State of Kansas.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
AMASA C. MOSES AND FAMILY
T O ATTEMPT to write a complete history of Amasa Moses at this time would be an impossibility, and even though the work had been attempted when he was still alive, it would have been found difficult. Amasa Moses was not the kind of man who bid for recognition for every kind act he did, but rather evaded all publicity. He was of that disposition that endeared him to all with whom he came in contact, and his friendship was something to be prized. There never was a man in central Kansas who had more to do with its upbuilding, and there never was a man in Barton County who was so uni- versally respected, or whose counsel was more eagerly sought by thise who were in need of sympathy and advice. In the early days of this county there were many who went to Amasa Moses for aid and guidance,
Amasa C. Moses
and not one is known who was refused. It was these elements in his makeup that made him a leader among men and it was these same elements that sustained him and made his efforts successful in aiding in the recla- mation of that part of the Great American desert now known as Barton County, Kan- sas.
Amasa C. Moses was born August 22, 1826, at Ticonderoga, New York. He spent his childhood there and at the age of eleven years went with his parents to Vermont. The family located at the town of Benson where Amasa remained until 1843, when he re- turned to New York and located in Chautau- qua County. It was there that he met and won the heart of Miss Naomi Terry and 011 April 12, 1848, they were married. They were the parents of seven boys: Arthur H.,
Clayton L., Edward W., William A., Lincoln C., Cassius M. and Seward E. It is seldom that a family containing seven boys can be found without one or more sisters and it is seldom that a family can point to seven boys and say: "They have all made good."
Like many other eastern boys, ¿Amasa was seized with the western fever and in 1871, he decided to bring his family to Kansas. Whether or not he knew the conditions that were to be encountered is not known. Be that as it may, it required but a short time for him to lay the foundation for a home. Soon after his arrival, and before Barton
County had been organized, he located a homestead which comprised the northwest quarter of section 10, Great Bend township, and situated two and one-half miles north of the city of Great Bend. Then began the
Mrs. A. C. Moses
struggle to raise crops. For seven years he tilled the soil with little or no success in the beginning, but by sticktoitiveness and well applied effort he finally had the satisfaction of seeing his labors rewarded by the harvest of grain. It was on this homestead that Mr. Moses erected the first frame house to be built in this county and it is still. in use to- day and stands on the old homestead which is now known as the Griffith place, and is one of the interesting parts of the county. Amasa was accompanied to this section by his wife who proved her worth by sharing the hard- ships uncomplainingly and gladly accepting the burden that was thrust upon her, and his seven sturdy boys only one of whom-Arthur -had reached his majority. When they reached what was to be their new home, buffalo and other animals roamed this part
The Moses Brothers, Sons of A. C. and Naomi Moses.
Standing From Left to Right; Lincoln, Seward, Cassius. Seated From Left to Right; Arthur, Will, Edward, Clayton
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
of the state in an almost unmolested state. Armed with Henry rifles the Moses boys soon became known as expert buffalo hunters and many a tale can be related by them of how they crawled upon the ground sometimes as much as a quarter of a mile in order to get within rifle range of the animals. Later the boys secured Sharp's rifles and with these- the highest class of firearms in those days- their hunting was rewarded by much better results.
In those days the returns realized from the sale of buffalo hides and meat represent d about all the money that could be raised in this county. The crops were not giving very satisfactory returns and had it not been for the fact that the population of the county, small as it was, the people composing it, like Amasa Moses and his sons, were made of the right kind of stuff to withstand the hardships
Clayt Moses, Ed. Moses, Tom Mitchell, Jim Shaw
and building an empire by the force of their genius.
In 1872 Mr. Moses embarked in the mercan- tile business, his establishment having been located on the north side of the park square, on lot 16, block 78. This ground is now in- cluded in the site of the new federal building. At his store was found a complete stock of general merchandise. The old store building is still in use and serves the purpose of a residence near the Missouri Pacific depot. Mr. Moses operated this store until the spring of 1873 when he formed a partnership with J. H. Hubbard. This firm continued until 1875 when the stock was divided, at which time Clayton bought his father' interest which consisted of a stock of remnants. Clay- ton operated the store in the same building
used by his father until 1877, when he and his brother, Edward, formed a partnership and started the store known as the Moses Bro- thers on lot 4, block 90, this ground being now occupied by the Cyclone store on Main street.
In 1872, when the people were called upon to choose their first set of city officials, it was only natural that Amasa Moses was se- lected to fill one of the most important of- fices. Accordingly he was elected the first city clerk of Great Bend and served with great credit and as the town was new it re- quired a man of Mr. Moses' ability to dis- charge the duties of this office in a satis- factory manner.
Mr. Moses always took a leading part ill matters religious and municipal and he was one of five christians who organized the Con- gregational church in 1873. He served the county as superintendent of public instruction during the first years after schools were es- tablished in the county. He organized Bar- ton County's first Sunday school and was its superintendent. This work was not so easily accomplished in those days as it might seem to those who know of the conditions that pre- vailed at that time only by reading, and by hearing the old timers tell of them. How- ever, Mr. Moses was the kind of man who mnet all difficulties with fortitude and determina- tion which accounts for the fact that success met his every effort and he never was hap- pier than when he was accomplishing some- thing that resulted in good for others.
When the Moses family arrived in Barton County there were a large number of Indians roaming this part of the state, and on their trips back and forth from the Platte river in Nebraska they frequently visited Mr. Moses' home. However, he met them in a friendly spirit and as a result they came to like him and his family almost as did the white set- tlers.
It was the first Sunday the family spent in their new home that a band of 5,000 or more Pawnees stopped at the Moses homestead. One of the number was ill. Mrs. Moses gave him some medicine and brought him around in fine shape. The Indian had given Mr. Moses a pony as a present, but when the band was ready to continue their journey, the buck -Indian like-insisted on getting his pony. Of course Mr. Moses gave him back the pres- ent but after that he was known among the Indians as "Old Mose." When the Indians would become hostile and show indications that they were going to commit some depre- dation the government would send troops to this section. As soon as the Indians saw the troops they would move away but with the troops on their way back to the fort fromn which they came the Indians would return. Mr. Moses had treated them so kindly that he never was molested and his family was held in great respect by all the tribes that were found in this section of the state.
After Mr. Moses had sold his store to his son he still aided him in its management and
89
OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
when the firm of Moses Brothers was formed he was a great help to the boys in the con- duct of the business. He had always led an active life and up until the time of his death was hale and hearty. When on Wednesday, February 9, 1887, at the age of 60 years, 5 months and 18 days, he was suddenly stricken with paralysis and died, he passed away, hap- py in the thought that his life had not been a failure. Nothing so fitly describes Amasa C. Moses as the quotation: "The elements so mixed in him that all the world could rise up and say, he was a man."
Mr. Moses' death was a great shock to the community. Not only did his sons and other relatives mourn his loss deeply and sincerely, but scores of those who knew him best werc bowed down with a weight of woe that seenied almost unbearable.
The Congregational church of Great Bend
E. W. Moses in Early Days When Hunting Buffalo
of which he was one of the five organizers, was filled with sorrowing friends and rela- tives when the funeral sermon over the re- mains of Amasa C. Moses was preached. The new house of worship of this church contains a beautiful memorial window placed there by his sons to their father's memory. This is not the only memorial to Amasa Moses; there are others of a material kind, but the most desirable of them all is the memorial he wrote by his deeds upon the hearts of men.
There are none of the old timers and very few of those who arrived in the county after the disappearance of the buffaloes and In- dians that did not know the Moses boys. The old timers knew them for their sterling worth as friends and neighbors and they knew them for the active part they took in aiding their
father and mother in building a home in the land. Every one of the seven sons of Amasa Moses has made good in the different lines they have followed.
Three of the boys: Clayton, Edward and Lincoln stayed with Barton County and have been closely identified with its agricultural cattle, commercial, milling and banking inter- ests. The remainder of the boys have cast their lots with other sections of the country, but without exception they look upon Barton County as their home.
Ed and Clayt Moses, as they are familiarly known, were born in Chautauqua County, New York, the former at Clymer, on July 23, 1856, and the latter at Clymer, January 19, 1854.
In 1871, when the family arrived in Barton County, Clayt hunted buffaloes until the fall of the year when he went to the town of Rus- sell, in Russell County, and was employed as a clerk in the store owned by George Hart. He remained there a year and returned to Great Bend where he was employed in the store owned and conducted by his father and J. H. Hubbard. Clayt's principal duties con- sisted in buying hides from the hunters. This poistion required tact and knowledge in sort- ing the hides into their respectve classifica- tions, buffalo bull hides bringing $3.00, spike, cr young bull and heifer hides, $1.75, while a cow hide brought $2.25. Many of the hunters would claim that some of the hides belonged to a classification higher than they really did and this was where Clayt's tact came in. These hides were brought for many miles on wagons and gave the farmers and profession- al hunters a good source of revenue. After the hide business had run its course and tlie animals were scarce Clayt went into the store where he remained as a clerk until the divi- sion of the stock in 1875. Clayt took over his father's interest and conducted a store in the same building until 1877, when he and Ed formed a partnership and opened the store on Main street, where the Cyclone store now stands. This firm continued until 1889 when they sold out to Theodore Griffith, the present postmaster of Great Bend. This sale included only the grocery department of the store .11 in the following year the dry goods and fur- nishing goods were sold to Hacker Brothers.
By this time the land of Barton County had begun to yield grain in good quantities and Clayt went into the grain buying business in earnest. The firm had been buying wheat that was hauled to town in sacks, saving it un- til a carload was secured when it could be shipped to the markets. In 1878 Clayt formed a partnership with R. C. Bailey and they built an elevator on the Santa Fe track. This firm continued until 1892 when they bought .n elevator at Pawnee Rock and one at Olmiz. Then Ed was taken into the firm and later Clayt and Ed bought Bailey's interest in the business and the new firm was known as the Moses Brothers Grain Company. The home elevator was destroyed by fire in 1898. Work was at once begun to rebuild the elevator and
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
a much larger and more substantial one was finished in 1899. In 1901 a flour mill was added to the firm's holdings and the firm name was changed to the Moses Brothers Mill and Elavator Company. By this time the firm had increased its holdings by adding elevators on the main line of the Santa Fe from Dodge City to Dartmouth, from Great Bend to Scott City on the branch, and from Great Bend to McCracken on the Missouri Pacific.
This string of elevators made a total of thirty-five with the home elevator at Great Bend. The flour mill as criginally built had a capacity of 350 barrels per day. In 1903 this capacity was increased so that the mill could turn out 600 barrels of flour every twen- ty-four hours, and in 1908 the mill was again enlarged to a capacity of 1,000 barrels per day.
In 1908 the company was incorporated
.
Moses, together with other substantial citi- zens of the county, decided to go into the banking business and, as a result, the Ger- man American State Bank was opened for business August S of that year. The bank was organized with a capital stock of $100,000 and $5,000 surplus. The first board of direct- ors was composed of E. W. and C. L. Moses, Ira Brower, Elrick C. Cole, Ben P. Unruh, E. C. Davis and Dr. Morrison, and at this writing it is the same with the exception of Mr. Unruh whose place on the board was taken by Fred Moore. The officers of the bank are: E. W. Moses, president; C. L. Moses, vice president; Clarence Aldrich, cashier, and Earl Wright, assistant cashier. Since the bank was opencd for business its deposits have grown steadily and it has made a most enviable record for square deal methods, and for carrying on its business according to the most approved and conservative ideas. The stock of this bank is
„pony
NOSES BRO'S
ELEVATO
-
Moses Bros. Mill and Elevator
with a capital stock of $200,000 with the fol- lowing officers: C. L. Moses, president; E. W. Moses, vice president and treasurer, and C. N. Moses, secretary. In 1909 half the stock of the company was sold to I. E. Moses, who be- came president of the company with C. L. Moses, vice president, and R. W. Arndt, sec- retary. The mill and elevator was operated by this company until January 1, 1912, when it, with six other of the largest milling com- panies in Kansas, formed a merger which re- sulted in a company being formed with a cap- ital stock of $7,000,000 and known as the Kansas Flour Mills Company. Since that time this company has acquired two more big mills by purchase. L. E. Moses is president of this company, the other officers being: An- drew Hunt, secretary, and J. H. Holdrige, treasurer.
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