USA > Kansas > Barton County > Biographical History of Barton County, Kansas > Part 19
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
123
HENRY C. SCHULTZ
W HEN Howard Paine, the poet-diplomat, wrote "Home, Sweet Home," he was
exiled far from his native land and the comforts of home. Sick and near death he gave his soul to a song that is sung and cherished in all lands, and its influence
on a hill that it may be seen from afar. It is painted white and enclosed by a fence, im- paling plants, shrubs and flowers. The barn, granary, dairy and other buildings add to the effect and complete a picture of one of the most attractive residences in the county.
Farm Residence of Henry C. Schultz
is worldwide. Until recently this simple song was his only monument; but before it all na- tions bowed and by example made their home- life more endurable. When this song was written Kansas was a plain over which buf- falo roamed; but when settlement came and good crops with it the home sentiment took root and today there is a strife between the resident farmers to see who can make their home the most attractive. Henry C. Schultz, of "Hillcrest Farm," five and one-half miles north of Pawnee Rock, has been most fortun- ate in his effort to beautify his hundred and sixty acres. His residence, a two story frame, with nine rooms and a basement, is perched
Henry C. Schultz was born on July 15th, 1877, in Pawnee Rock township, Barton Coun- ty, and has lived close to nature all his life. He was educated in the public schools of his district and assisted his parents on their farm. On February 23rd, 1897, he was married to Miss Effie Dirks, of Barton County, and they have been blessed with three children: Lorena, 12: Dorris, 9 and Bert 6.
He purchased his farm on April 12, 1904, and began his improvements, and today has . one of the choice tracts in his vicinity. The soil is very rich and productive, and when one looks over his fields it is easy to see that he is a painstaking farmer.
ANDREW J. DECKERT
T HE man who can pay 36 per cent interest on borrowed money, through a period of hard times and poor crop years is bound to come out on top. That sort of perse- verance tells shortly and plainly how and why Andrew J. Deckert of "Plainview Farm," six miles north of Pawnee Rock and 15 miles southwest of the county seat has amassed the
comfortable fortune that he possesses. An- drew J. Deckert was born January 13, 1865, in Russian-Poland, and while only a baby his father died. His mother married Peter H. Dirks and Andrew Deckert was eight years of age when he came to this county with his mother and step-father in the winter of 1863. The family located on the timber claim of 160
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OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
acres on section 6, two and one-half miles northwest of Dundee, but now live ten miles southwest of Great Bend.
Andrew started out for himself when he became of age and on November 18, 1886 was married to Miss Susan Boese of Pawnee Rock township. Ten children were born to the
union: Minnie who married Henry Jantzen and Anna who married Louis Jantzen, both of Pawnee County. The other children live at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Deckert started in 1886 with nothing and it wasn't long until they thought they had even less than that. They rented
Farm Home of Andrew J. Deckert
land at first and while crops were of varying yields managed to get along. Then is 1891 when he had saved $1,000, he bought a farm and made this as a payment on the same. There were four years of bad crops and he lost the entire payment. Undaunted he went ahead, paid 36 per cent interest on borrowed money and in 1896 paid out on a new contract which he had made for farm land. He now owns 320 acres of land in section 7, the home place, 160 acres over in section 8 and 160 acres in Pawnee County. The home place is
one of the modernly improved farms of the county and is fixed up in the best of shape. The house is a one and a half story struc- ture, containing 11 rooms, the upper story be- ing arranged with dormer windows in the gables which give the house a good appear- ance and leaves plenty of room. There are large barns and other buildings and one of the chief buildings of interest on the farm is a large elevator, which houses 9,000 bushels of grain.
FRED TRAUER
O NE and one-half miles south of Heizer, Barton County, Kansas, is the one red and sixty acre tract of Fred Trauer, and it is as pretty a piece of tillable land as one would care to farm. It contains a small orchard and is planted with wheat and corn. He purchased the place in 1898, it formerly having been the homestead of A. M. Burt. It is nicely fenced and divided into fields, and is in a high state of cultivation; but the build- ings are those purchased with the farm and are hardly as good as he would like and it is
his intention to replace them with more mod- ern structures at no distant day.
Fred Trauer was born on November 1, 1866, in Holland, Germany, and his parents emigrated to the United States in 1868 and settled in Dearborn County, Indiana, and in 1878, when he was twelve years of age, they came to Barton County, Kansas. He was ed- ucated in the public schools and assisted his parents on the farm until he was a man in stature, and then he became a renter on his own account and farmed for several years; or
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
until 1898, when he bought the quarter section on which he lives. The period between 1893 to 1897, when he was struggling to make enough on the rented land to make a first pay- ment on land he might purchase he recalls with many shakes of the head, because that was the saddest period of his entire life and his greatest struggle.
Fred Trauer and Miss Matilda Burg'orf were married on September 16, 1897, and they are the parents of six children, to-wit: Betta,
12; Louis, 11, Lena, 9; Albert, 6, Edna, 4 and Freddie, 2.
Mrs. Matilda Trauer is the third child of August and Caroline Burgtorf, who settled in the county, two and one-half miles south of Heizer, about 1872. They drove overland from Cape Geradeau County, Mo., and on the way fell in with the teams of E. L. Chapman, who was enroute with his family to make their home in this county. Mr. Burgtorf died in 1882, leaving a widow and six children who are still residents of the county.
WILLIAM JAMES FEE
T O attempt the biography of William James Fee in the space at command would be impossible, because he has probably liv- ed more in his alloted time than most of the resident farmers of Barton County. He was born June 16th, 1838, on a farm near Laurel, Clearmont County, Ohio, and in 1859, when twenty-one years of age, was attracted by the gold excitement in California, and decided that that was the shortest route to attain both for- tune and fame among those with whom he had grown to manhood. An expedition was fitting out in Omaha, Nebraska, to cross the plains by ox teams via the Northern Platte route, and this he and his companions joined and con- sumed six weary months in the journey. The California-Oregon trail was conceded to be a favorable passway, but those who made the trip recount many hardships and the written history of that time proves that those who made the trip possessed stout hearts. In hay- ing time Honey Lake Valley, California, was reached and Mr. Fee piled hay until fall and then took up placer mining for a company, and was launched in the business that he had crossed many weary miles to attempt, and his eyes at last feasted on the gold that had lured, and which has been the making and unmaking of man in all ages. A farm hand in Ohio re- ceived at that time $8 per month, and $2.50 a day mining seemed a fortune for a time, but as the golden microbe assumed dominion, and as he had learned during his experience how to do all classes of mining; prospect work was taken up with more or less favorable results. The year 1862 found him in Idaho, where he worked for others, prospected on his own ac- count, owned a pack train which made regu- lar trips out of Boise City; and at one time owned a flume in California that conducted water to the mines. His mining experience
covered districts in California, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and in the Black Hills in Dakota, dur- ing the excitement of 1875-6, and ended at Tombstone, Arizona, in 1886. During these years of search he was rewarded many times and had fortune within his grasp; but owing to many causes-the lack of sufficient capital being the greatest obstacle-he was forced to abandon them to the next claimant, who fre- quently made his fortune. One instance re- called sold for $100,000 after slight additional development, and there were others that prom- ised as well. His labors were often in a coun- try overrrun with histile Indians, and where if their claims had any shadow of right in the eyes of the government at Washington the regular troops took the side of the Redman and the miner was at the mercy of both fac- tions. The reward, however, while fought for in contes's that tried the man, netted as much in dollars as could have been earned in a life time of peace on an Ohio farm, and Mr. Fee is now well satisfied to rest at ease on his Kan- sas acres and recount what he has passed through.
Satisfied that he could not "buck nature single-handed" in February, 1886, Wm. J. Fee, wife and son came to Barton County and pur- chased the right to a homestead of one hun- dred and sixty acres, entered by one Hem- mingway, seven miles west from Great Bend. This he afterward proved up in his own name, and later buying another quarter, he now owns and cultivates a half section. It is well improved and in a high state of cultivation.
William James Fee and Miss Elizabeth T. Haines, of New Richmond, Clearmont Coun- ty, Ohio, were married in September, 1881, at Santa Fe New Mexico, and have one son, Charles Haines Fee, 27, who resides with them.
MICHAEL JAMES KEENAN
T O the old settler who blazed the way for the present generation the time seems short since they themselves were the principal actors in the tragic occurrences which transpired while building the foundation
for the "Banner County" of the great State of Kansas; but a new people are fast taking their places as workers in the field that is so invit- ing and among these is Michael J. Keenan, the fifth son of Thomas and Mary Keenan,
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OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
who came to Barton County in 1871 and locat- ed three and one-half miles northeast of Dun- dee. He has christened his place "Alfalfa- dale," and it covers two hundred acres of the most fertile land of his locality and if one may judge by the appearance of his fields he
the public schools of the district, and grew to manhood on his father's farm in the neigh- borhood of his present home. He made two attempts at home making in Oklahoma previous to his purchase of the home describ- ed above, when the government was alloting
Farm Residence of Michael James Keenan
learned industry and management from the teachings of the father. His house is a two story white frame building containing six rooms, neatly enclosed by a wire fence. There are a few stately trees and enough plants and shrubs on the grass plot to make it inviting. The barn is large and contains grain bins, hay loft and stalls for numerous horses and cattle, and there are several outbuildings. These buildings have all been recently erected and painted and present the appearance of a newly made home.
Michael J. Keenan was born on April 30, 1875, in Great Bend, Kansas, was educated in
lands in that territory. One was a claim near Cleo, Oklahoma and the other twenty miles northeast of Hobart, Oklahoma. The first of these was contested and lost by a suit in the courts, and the second was sold for a small sum because of its minor estimated value.
Michael J. Keenan and Miss Catherine Mur- phy, the eldest daughter of Patrick E. and Margaret Welch Murphy, of Barton County, were united in marriage on November 3, 1904, and they are the parents of four interesting children: Marguerite Mary, 6; Lorene and Norene (twins), and Mary Eileen, 1.
ARTHUR LERAY FISH
O NE of the neatest appearing of the many fine farm homes in Barton Coun- ty is that of Arthur Leray Fish, located about seven and one-half miles northeast of Great Bend. Mr. Fish came to this county with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Fish when he was seven years of age. This was in 1878. He was born in Lee County, Illinois, June 13, 1871. He lived there until he was four years old when the family moved to Iowa and after spending three years in that
state continued on westward and arrived in Barton County in 1877. The elder Mr. Fish located on school land on what is now Mr. Fish's home place in Lakin township. This place consists of 160 acres and it is apparent to the casual observer that Mr. Fish takes a great pride in his home as is evidenced by the neat arrangement of the buildings, orch- ard,, shade trees, etc. Mr. Fish was married in Barton county in 1898 to Miss Marie Hor- ton and they are the parents of two children:
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
Avis Laura, 12 years of age and Grace Ellen, four years of age. Both the children are be- ing educated in the schools of the county. Mr. Fish is a member of the National Short Horn Breeders' Association and until recently made a specialty of breeding and raising Short Horn cattle. He still owns several head of this well known breed of animals and later on may again go into the business of breeding
and raising them on a more extensive scale. The residence on the home place contains eight rooms with bath, closets, etc. The barn is well built and is 40 by 42 feet in dimen- sions. Mr. Fish is a typical citizen of Barton County who came here at a time when it re- quired all kinds of faith in the future to stick to the land and develop it until it reached its present high state of cultivation.
CHRISTIAN KOOPMAN ESTATE
C HRISTIAN KOOPMAN was born in Ger- many in 1845, and came to America when he was twenty years of age. He located first in Indiana where he remained for fifteen years and where he was married to Miss Minnie Panne in 1880. They are the parents of seven children. They came to Barton County in 1880 and Mr. Koopman at once took up the business of farming. He died May 15, 1900, and was survived by his wife and all the children. The children are as follows: George, 31 years of age, is now en- gaged in the plumbing and fitting business and is a member of the firm of Koopman & Fankhauser of Great Bend; Emma, 29 years of age is now Mrs. George L. Lucas; William, 28 years; Carl, 25 years; Edward, 22 years; Leo, 19 and Lillian 16 years, are all living on the home place east of Great Bend. The estate consists of 240 acres of land in Great Bend township about two and a half miles east of Great Bend, and a quarter section of
land in Stafford County. The home place is being farmed by the four younger boys and they maintain the home place in a most pro- ductive manner. The residence consists of eight rooms in addition to the closets, etc., and the barn is 56 by 42 feet in dimensions. Mrs. Koopman also owns 127 acres two miles north of the home place and a quarter section three miles north of the home place. Mr. and Mrs. Koopman came to Barton County at a time when the land needed development and it required a great deal of hard work to bring the soil to a state of productiveness where farming could be done at a profit. Mr. Koop- man succeeded however and he was known and liked by the people of the county who came here in the 80's and withstood the hard- shipe that were necessary in making a home. The Koopman family is one of the best known in the county and Mr. Koopman's name will always occupy a prominent place in the his- tory of the county of Barton.
THOMPSON OAKLEY COLE
T HOMPSON OAKLEY COLE was born in Wakefield, England, March 6, 1844. He came to America with his parents in 1850 when he was eight years of age. They first located in Ohio where Mr. Cole remained until 1872 during which year he came to Bar- ton County. During the Civil War Mr. Cole was a member of Company K., 96th Ohio. Among the important engagements in which Mr. Cole took an active part are the battles of Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines, near Mobile Bay. These engagements took place when Farragaut and his followers were forcing their way up the big river. Upon Mr. Cole's arrival in Kansas he immediately took up the occupa- tion of merchandising and since that time has had a great deal to do with the development of the soil and the upbuilding of the county. For fifteen years he owned and managed a grocery store in Great Bend and then bought land which now comprises his home place
and consists of one-half of section 12 and one- half of section 7 in Great Bend township. He was married in Great Bend in 1874 to Miss Jane Hull and they are the parents of two children as follows: Herbert Lee, 33 years of age, who resides at home; Claude, 29 years of age, is a practicing dentist in Iola, Kansas. Mr. Cole survived his first wife and in 1884 was married to Miss Agnes Hess and to this union there was born one child, Agnes, who is now 18 years of age and resides at home. Mr. Cole is a member of the Great Bend lodge of Elks. On the home place is found a neat well built residence consisting of five rooms, a barn that is 30 by 60 feet in dimensions, granaries and all other necessary outbuild- ings. Mr. Cole is one of the best known men in the county and has always been found with the progressive element in furthering the inter- ests of the county.
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OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
RUDOLPH LUDWIG BOESE
A MONG the younger farmers of Barton County none is better known for their progressive methods and enterprise shown in the cultivation of the soil, than the subject of this sketch, Rudolph Ludwig Boese. He was born September 7, 1887. His parents
has been wheat. He learned the best farm- ing methods from his father who came here when it required the best of farming to pro- duce anything like a crop, but by persistent effort he managed to improve his land and make it most productive. On the place where
Farm Residence of John Boese
were John and Julia Boese who came to Amer- ica from Poland-Russia. His father first set- tled in Ohio and after remaining there two years came to Barton County where Rudolph was born. His mother first settled in Penn- sylvania and came to Kansas in same year as her husband. He has one brother, Frank, and three sisters, Martha, Grace and Louise. He was married in April, 1909, to Miss Emma Rudiger and they now reside on a farm con- sisting of 200 acres, a short distance south of Dundee. They also own a quarter section in Pawnee County. The home place where they now reside is owned by Mr. Boese's father Mr. Boese has a fine equipment of machinery and good live stock and his principal crop
they now reside there is a well built ten room house, a fine barn 32 by 60 feet and all the necessary outbuildings including an auto- mobile garage. The barn is well built and contains stall room for a large number of ani- mals and the loft permits storing a large quantity of hay. Mr. Boese gives personal attention to the supervision of his farm and has one of the best improved and most highly cultivated places in that section of the county. He is an enterprising and progressive young man and being a product of this county takes a great interest in any undertaking that he thinks is for the benefit of the community and the betterment of the county.
ORRIS ALBERT BROWN
O RRIS ALBERT BROWN was born near Des Moines, Iowa, July 12, 1866. He came to Kansas in 1872 and is now residing on his home place about ten miles southeast of Great Bend where he owns three quarter sections of land in section 31, Co- manche township. He was married in Russell County, Kansas, in 1887, to Miss Elizabeth Scharpf. They are the parents of five children as follows: Henry Frederick, 21 years; Elias Edward, 23 years; Viola Eldora, 13 years; An-
lie May, 10 years; Albert, 3 years. Henry and Albert are employed in the mercantile busi- ness in Great Bend, while the remainder of the children are studying in the schools of the county. The home place is well improved and in addition to it Mr. Brown superintends the farming of the three quarters he owns in Comanche township. The residence consists of 8 rooms besides closets, pantries, ctc. The barn is large and commodious and has stall room for a large number of horses and a loft
OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
129
that will permit the storing of a large quantity of hay. A small, well kept orchard adds great- ly to the beauty of the surroundings of the home place. Mr. Brown came to Barton coun-
ern farming methods in the cultivation of the soil has succeeded in bringing his part of the county to a high state of cultivation and devel- opment. He had a large part in the work of
Farm Residence of Orris Albert Brown
ty at a time when only those who had faith in the future could withstand the conditions found here and remain. He remained however and by consistent effort together with using mod-
reclaiming the section of the county south of the river from a barren waste and making of it one of the most desirable in the county of Barton.
Farm Residence of George Washington Tucker
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
GEORGE WASHINGTON TUCKER
G EORGE WASHINGTON TUCKER was born February 3, 1860, in Southern In- diana and came to Barton County twenty-six years ago at a time when the out -- look for the future was anything but bright. However, Mr. Tucker could see the wonderful possibilities of Barton County and decided to cast his lot with the other old timers who by their faith in the future and hard, consistent cffort succeeded in building a home and devel- oping the land to a state where it would pro- duce crops in paying quantities. Mr. Tucker owns 240 acres of land seven miles south of Great Bend and a section of land in Gray County. He was married February 2, 1888 to Miss Mattie M. Schaeffer whose father built the first house in the city of Great Bend. They are the parents of four children all of whom are at home. They are as follows: Delbert Lee, 23 years; Elsie May, 18 years; Clifford M.,
13 years; Ruby M., six years. Mr. Tucker came here at a time when many of the old timers were getting ready to leave but after he had purchased the land which is now his home place he decided that the future would turn out as it has if the proper effort was made with scientific farming methods. That Mr. Tucker's judgment was good is evidenced by the high state of cultivation found on the land in that section of the county. He has had a great deal to do with the development of the resources of this county and is one of that body of men whose staying qualities in the face of difficulties made it possible to make a rich agricultural section out of what was in the early eighties almost a barren waste. Mr. Tucker is an enterprising and progressive citi- zen and knows a great deal about the history of Barton county and the people who came herc in the early days to establish homes.
AUGUST MAUSOLF
O NE of the really old timers of Clarence township and one of the best known men in Barton County is August Mau- solf, son of John and Amelia Mausolf who lo-
stead that is two and a half miles west of Au- gust's present home. Mr. Mausolf took up his residence on this quarter which is located fourteen miles northwest of Great Bend in
Farm Scene On August Mausolf's Farm
cated in Rush County in 1879. August Mausolf was born in West Prussia, November 20, 1868. He came with his parents to Jersey City, New Jersey, when he was four years of age. His parents remained there seven years and then came to Rush County, locating on a home-
1892. In 1898 he married Miss Henrietta Scheilfelheim and they now have one bright boy, Walter, aged 6 years. Mr. Mausolf has al- ways been an enterprising and progressive citizen and in addition to the quarter on which he lives he owns eighty eighty acres of land
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131
in Clarence township, and three eighty acre tracts in Rush County twenty-five miles west of his home place. All of this land is in a high state of cultivation and shows that Mr. Mausolf has always worked on a policy of im- provement. His home place is well stocked with cattle and horses and he takes a special pride in his flock of fancy White Leghorn chickens which attract the eyes of visitors on the Mausolf place. A fine six room residence is found on the home place. It is neatly and comfortably furnished and affords Mr. Mausolf
and family all the comforts of a modern home. The barn, sheds and other necessary buildings on the Mausolf place are well built of the best material and altogether the Mausolf place is one of best improved nd most modern to be found in the country. To make this complete we must add that Mr. Mausolf's home was de- stroyed by a cyclone during the month of May, 1912. He and his wife had a narrow escape. They are now living in Great Bend. The dis- aster happened after the foregoing was writ- ten .
JOSIAH CLINTON WEATHERS
J OSIAH CLINTON WEATHERS was born in Putnam County, Indiana, October 14, 1856, and came to Barton County in 1884, and located six miles south and four miles west of Great Bend in a section where a plow had never been used. The first few years that Mr. Weathers spent in this county were hard ones, but he is made of the kind of stuff that makes
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