USA > Kansas > Barton County > Biographical History of Barton County, Kansas > Part 33
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T HE subject of this sketch, Mr. E. R. Moses, has had a more varied life than falls to most people. He was born in Olean, Cattaraugus County, New York. At an early age his parents moved to Pechonica, Ill., where he lived until eleven years of age, when they moved to Sedalia, Mo. Here he graduated from the common schools and was admitted to practice law in the courts of Missouri. In 1873 he went to California overland with three other young men, camping out for a few months for their health, notwithstanding it was very dangerous at times with the Indians, there being no railroads built at this time south. For a while they despaired of all hope of ever arriving in California because of the Indian outbreaks. He arrived in San Diego,
ington, that are second to none in the State of Kansas. In 1901 he, with others started the Citizens National Bank of Great Bend which is one of the most progressive and solid institu- tions in the state. The year after he started, with others the Pawnee Rock Bank, and the year following started The Peoples State Bank of Hoisington. All of the banks are prosper- ous and not a dollar's worth of stock is for sale in either one of them.
In 1879 Mr. Moses married Miss Retta I. Newel of Ottumwa, Iowa, who at this time was visiting her sister, Mrs. G. W. Nimocks. To this union were born two children, Mr. Edward R. Moses, jr., who is manager of the Mercan- tile business, and Miss Grace Moses, who mar-
California, December, 1873, and for three years made his home in California, Oregon and Washington. In 1876 he went east to at- tend the Centennial at Philadelphia, and from there he came to Great Bend, having visited this place in 1873. He came back to Great Bend to go into business with the firm of Bur- ton, Odell & Moses. He bought an interest in this firm, Mr. Odell retiring. Then G. N. and E. R. Moses bought out Mr. Burton in 1881. In 1900 Mr. Moses bought out his brother G. N. Moses who wished to retire from business. Since then the business has been conducted under the name of the E. R. Moses Mercantile Co. Mr. Moses has given the great- er part of his life in building up this business and has today stores in Great Bend and Hois-
ried Mr. Chas. Lee of Salina, Kansas, and now lives there.
Mr. Moses has been quite successful and has often been asked why he did not move to Chicago, Kansas City or some other large city. He has always given the reason that he liked to live in the city and state where he made his money, and that he was too old to start in a new business. That he wanted to work as long as he lived, and he could work best in the business he had started in and worked up from the very beginning. Mr. Moses is a loyal Kansan and like his wife likes the sunshine and the climate of Kansas, and would prefer to live in the country that had less rain than in one that had all rain and no health.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
Residence of E. R. Moses, Sr.
E. R. Moses, Jr.
M R. E. R. MOSER, JR., is a Kansas pro- duct. He was born in Great Bend, Kansas, and has lived here all his life, save the time he spent at the State University and the Musical Institute of Warren, Ohio. He was a member of the Phi Delt Fraternity and boarded there while attending the State Uni- versity at Lawrence. He is a graduate of the Great Bend High School and State University of Law of Lawrence. He passed a creditable examination before the supreme court to prac- tice in the State of Kansas. After consid- ering whether to practice law or to go into business with his father, he chose the latter and is now vice-president, secretary and gen- eral manager of the E. R. Moses Mercantile Co., of Great Bend and Hoisington. He has worked himself up from every department to this position in order that he might under- stand how to make it a greater success, which
he is doing. He puts most of his time into this business. He is also director af the Citizens National Bank of Great Bend, Kansas, Pawnee Rock State Bank of Pawnee Rock, Kansas, and of the Peoples State Bank of Hoisington, Kan- sas.
In 1908 he married Miss Jessie Isabel of Iowa. They have two girls, one eighteen months old and the other three years old. He is nicely located in one of the nicest homes in Great Bend, Kansas. He is a thorough Kansan and nothing is too good for the city, county or state in which he lives. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, Elks and the Business Men's Club.
He is a young man that does things. Not waiting for them to turn up. He goes to work and turns them up himself. He is courteous, frank and open, which makes him a friend to everyone.
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OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
CITIZENS NATIONAL BANK
The Citizens National Bank of Great Bend, Kansas, was organized March the 11th, 1901, with the following directors: E. R. Moses, Robt. Merten, G. N. Moses, John Sterett, M. F. Sowards, and Jos. Troilett. The officers were E. R. Moses, president; Robert Merten, vice-president; R. H. Moses, cashier and F. A. Moses, assistant cashier.
The bank started business in the room oc- cupied by the J. V. Brinkman Banking Co., for many years located back of the Allen Drug Store. They remained here until December, 1906, when they moved into their beautiful and capacious quarters, which has the very latest of modern furniture and fixtures, with ladies' waiting room, directors room, safety vaults
thing that is good for the people's interest. They not only believe that it is absolutely necessary to treat every man, woman and child courteously and kindly and look after their interest with fidelity and zeal but to pro- tect their money just as far as they can get means to do so. For this reason they insure in one of the best insurance companies in the United States.
Every dollar deposited in their bank is in- sured against loss of any kind and from any source. The people can rest assured that their money is secure in this bank in hard and pan- icy times as well as good times.
The officers of this bank started the Paw- nee Rock State Bank of Pawnee Rock, Kansas, and the People State Bank of Hoisington, Kan-
Citizens National Bank
and everything to make it the very latest of modern banks.
It is located on the corner formerly oc- cupied by the Allen Drug Store, which the bank bought at this time.
The officers are the same as before with the addition of Edward Opie as assistant cash- ier and Hylas Butler book-keeper and stenog- rapher. The directors at the present time are E. R. Moses, sr., Robt. M. Merten, Edward Merten, O. W. Dawson and E. R. Moses, Jr.
The bank has been prosperous from the very start, which is credited to the progress and energetic ways in which it has been run. Today it stands as one of the most solid in- stitutions in Western Kansas. It is a great be- liever in grasping hold of everything and any-
sas, and have ever since been connected with it. They are promoters in everything that ben- efits the community in which they live. They stand up first, last and always for Great Bend, Barton County and the State of Kansas. The depositors of this bank are not confined to this community in which they are located but they have depositors in several states of the Union. They are members of the State Bankers' Association and the American Bank- ers' Association. Some officer attends each one of these associations each year, in order that they might keep up with the times. It would do one good to visit this bank and see how nicely it is equipped for business. They do not take a back seat to any bank in the State of Kansas in this way.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
DAN WORTH BANTA-Violinist
M R. BANTA was born in Great Bend, Barton County, Kansas, January 23rd, 1887, and has studied music since the age of 8. His first musical studies were given him by his mother at the piano. Not satisfied with the piano, his longing for something more to his temperament was cleared upon the hearing of an artist violinist and from that time on this instrument has claimed his at- tention. He is an artist pupil of Signor Guido Parisi of the Royal Conservatory of Music, at Milan, Italy, and taught the two years prior to his return to his home, at the residence of Judge D. A. Banta of this city, in the Strassberger Conservatories of Music at St. Louis, as assistant to Signor Parisi. He was a favorite of this great teacher, who wished to take him to Europe for study, and even wished to will his $3,000 Gagliano Violin to him. Signor Parisi said of hm:
"Mr. Dan Worth Banta has been a pupil of
Symphony Orchestra, and of "Rose Reichard" who is, with Maud Powell, one of the greatest of our few great lady violinists in America, and who was a favorite pupil of "Isaye," the greatest living violinist, and of Marteau, the great French master.
In speaking of Mr. Banta, Miss Reichard said: "Dan Worth Banta is a violinist of abil- ity, and a young man of high ideals. During his study with me, he made rapid progress, proving himself a student of talent and intel- ligence. Possessing good technique and artis- tic temperament, together with an attractive personality and stage presence, he is as- sured of success.
I am very glad to recommend him to the music loving public.
"ROSE REICHARD."
Dir. Violin Dept, of
Drake Cons. Des. Moines, Ia. Has played with the St. Louis Symphony
mine for the last four years. He is a good performer and teacher, having appeared in concerts here in St. Louis, and taught the vio- lin as assistant teacher in the Strassberger Conservatories.
GUIDO PARISI, Dir. Violin Dept. Strassberger, Cons. St. Louis."
Mr. Banta was a pupil of Richard Poppen, one of the greatest harmony teachers who have come to this country, and under whom he received his knowledge of Musical Theory, Composition and Harmony. He was a pupil, also, of "Hugo Olk," a great pupil of "Joac- him," and Concert-Meister of the St. Louis
Orchestra, and has directed his own orches- tra the last four years, and holds graduate, post-graduate and artist medals and diplomas, with the medal of honor from the Strassberger Cons., under Parisi.
He has a growing class of bright pupils in Great Bend, and is developing an orchestra of a class above the average.
He has had numerous calls for his ser- vices, both as a teacher, and as a performer, but has decided to carry on his work here un- til September, 1913.
This will benefit all who wish to study the violin, and harmony, under an artist, for this length of time, here, as it is taught by Eu- ropean teachers.
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OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
LUTELLUS BALDWIN
L UTELLUS BALDWIN was born in the
State of Pa., and came to Barton County from that state in 1876. He was educated at the Washington and Jefferson College of Washington, Pa. He at first intend- ed to take up the practice of law and studied to this end, but after his arrival in Kansas he gave most of his attention to work along edu- cational lines and served Barton County as superintendent of schools for two terms, and afterwards taught school for a number of years. He finally grew interested in geology and made a most enviable reputation as a student of this science. He gave a great deal of time to the study of the rock formation of Kansas especially the Dakota sand stones and he has received most gratifying recognition from the Department of Geology at Washing- ton, D. C. Mr. Baldwin is given credit for having been one of the first to agitate the subject of irrigation of the arid lands of the west and in the nineties wrote a great deal on the subject of irrigation for some of the lead-
ing newspapers of the country. It was a di- rect result of his call that the first irrigation convention to be held in the state convened at Great Bend in August, 1893. The result of this meeting and Mr. Baldwin's work after- wards had a great deal to do with the hurry- ing of the big irrigation projects that have since been completed in Kansas and other states. Mr. Baldwin has also made a study of soil formations and water supplies and his knowledge on these subjects makes his opin- ion on these matters worthy of great consid- eration. He is a member of the National Geo- graphical Society, the headquarters of which are at Washington D. C. Mr. Baldwin was married in 1881 to Miss Martha Gunn and they reside in Great Bend at the present time. Mr. Baldwin is well known all over the state and especially in Barton County where he and his wife have taught school and in other ways helped in building up the county of Barton and city of Great Bend.
CHARLES ANDRESS
C HARLES ANDRESS is one of the many many old timers of Barton County who left here and journeyed afar, but still retained a material interest in the county, and has made frequent trips back to look after his interests and renew the ac-
quaintances formed in the early days. Al- though Mr. Andress has traveled all over the world, most of the time being engaged in the show business he has always owned land in Barton County and it was while here on one of
his frequent trips that we got the information from which to make the article for this book. He was born in Brockville, Canada January 15, 1852-also his mother's birthday-and when Charles was two years of age his par- ents moved to Chesaning, Michigan, a lumber and shingle camp in Saginaw County. His father was a turner and cabinet maker by trade and he had a very strenuous time making both ends meet, and to make things worse af- ter the family had been there about two years the elder Andress was injured in the machin- ery and died after three weeks of suffering. This left Mrs. Andress with five boys, the oldest not quite sixteen at that time and the youngest only two years and Charles about four years of age. The family was fourteen miles from the nearest railroad station and money was mighty hard to get. The country was sparsely settled, the nearest town being Owosso. We quote from Mr. Andress' inter- view :
"My mother certainly had a very hard time of it raising her boys and I (well remem- ber the many trials she went through to hold the family together. Why, I have known her to sit up all night to finish knitting a pair of socks so she could trade them for groceries the next morning to prepare our breakfast so we could go to school and as she could not buy shoes for us she would wrap our feet in cloth rags and send us to school and when we arrived at the school house we would take off the rags and lay them by the fire to dry out so we could have them ready for wearing home at night after school. The two older
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
brothers of course helped all they could and as we were all more or less musically in- "lined we soon found considerable income from playing for country dances, but enough of this, for I know you are anxious to know how I started in the show business. I was al- ways gifted with the power or knack of imi- itating birds and animals and doing different stunts in so-called ventriloquism, and in those days every hotel had a hall over head in which all dances and shows were given and the shows all traveled by stage or private convey- ance, and in 1862 a magician came along by the name of Prof. Hertz, a foreigner, and of- fered my mother $10 a month if she would consent to my traveling with him and would send her the money in advance every month and would clothe me, etc., and as the two old- est brothers were now inlisted in the army she very much disliked to part with me but finally consented to let me go. Well I had been out with this magician nearly two years when he was taken sick and died in Pontiac, Michigan, and his wife soon left for England and left me to shift for myself. My two years schooling with him had advanced me very ma- terially as he was a good violinist and we al- ways played for a dance after the show and I was a good "fiddler" for a boy and he bought me a violin and made me a present of it, and this, with a fairly good suit of clothes, was all I possessed when Mrs. Hertz left for England. I soon joined hands with an old minstrel performer by the name of Zeke Fil- liman who played a banjo and with him I used to play for dances in and around Pontiac until he went into retirement on a farm, which left me to shift as best I could for myself. It was then I organized my first show which con- sisted of a few tricks in magic, which I had learned from the professor, and my ventrilo- qual act. A set of cambric curtains and the "fiddle," and 500 little programs which I had printed in Lapeer, which cost me $3.50, and the outfit when packed consisted of a sack containing a small cambric curtain, some small tricks in magic and my talking figure. With this equipment in the sack which I car- ried over my shoulder, and my fiddle in one hand I would travel on foot from one place to another giving shows and occasionally playing for a dance after the show."
From this primitive beginning Mr. An- dress by dint of hard work and careful man- agement his possessions grew until he finally had gotten together a good opera house show, consisting of trained birds, dogs, monkeys, goats, ponies and other animals. In 1874 he decided to go to California with a little show. It was when he was making this trip that he came to Great Bend and put on a show. There
being no opera house he got permission from the sheriff to show in the court house for four nights. He stretched a rope across the street from Allen's corner and gave an exhibition with the birds. One of the feathered crea- tures walked the rope wheeling in front of it another bird in a wheel barrow. Mr. Andress gave presents away at the inside performance and although times were very hard just at that time the show made a big success. This show will always be remembered by the old timers who were here at that time as having been one of the big events of the year. The show was a novelty for the town and was well patronized. At the hotel-the Old Drovers' Cottage-Mr. Andress was seated at the same table with Mrs. T. L. Stone whose husband had recently died. She told Mr. Andress that she would sell her farm which consisted of a homestead and timber claim of 320 acres with a granary and other improvements for about what the improvements cost, about $1000. Mr. Andress bought the property but it was only a few days when he began to realize that he had paid a good price, as he was beseiged on all sides by farmers who wanted to sell him their holdings on practically the same basis. One man who made an offer to Mr. Andress is best told in his own words:
"Are you the man who bought Widow Stone's property? Was asked by the farmer. I told him I was, and he remarked, that he would have done better by me had he seen me first, and when I asked him what he had for sale in the way of farm land, and he said he said he had a good quarter two miles nearer town than Mrs. Stone's with eighty acres in wheat, a small house and granary, etc. He said he had a good team of mules which he said cost him $150. He said if I would buy his mules he would throw in the farm, im- plements and improvements. I bought the mules and the remainder of the things men- tioned. I had several similar offers and one farmer who was anxious to leave the country had a half section as good as any in Barton County and he offered either one of his quar- ters for $150 and would throw in the other quarter for good measure. These same quar- ters are worth $100 per acre today."
Mr. Andress has been offered $100 an acre for his holdings in Barton County but he says he will not sell yet awhile at any rate. In fact the last time he was in Great Bend he practically closed a deal for three more quar- ter sections of land in the county. Mr. An- dress says although he might spend a great deal of his time in other parts of the coun- try he always calls Barton County his home and is going to continue in the future as in the past to do all that is within his power to make it bigger and better in years to come.
OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
253
AMERICAN COURSING CLUB
O NE of the institutions that flourished for awhile in the eighties in Great Bend, and afterwards became only a part of the history of the town, was the American Coursing Club. This club was the first of its kind to be organized in America and had for its purposes the racing of grey-hounds and by these tests bring out the good points, and by
people and dogs from all parts of the coun- try and the entries included some of the fastest dogs in the world. The first officers of the club and the ones who had charge of the meeting were: Colonel Taylor of Empo- ria, president; Dr. Royce of Topeka, secretary and J. V. Brinkman of Great Bend, treasurer. There were two stakes run at each meet, one
eliminating the bad ones improve the breed of these fleet footed animals. The club was er- ganized in 1886 after a meeting had been held at Topeka when the following were present: Dr. Royce of Topeka, Col. Taylor of Emporia, D. C. Luse of Great Bend, A. Allison of Hutch- inson and John Kelly of Dodge City. After the club was organized the officers immediately began looking for a suitable site for a course.
of them being for dogs of all ages, a free for all, with a tdi dollar entrance fee. The en- trance money was divided into prizes and for the all age course a cup and a hundred dol- lars in cash was given by Dr. N. Rowe, editor of the sportsmen's magazine, "American Field." To this was added a silver medal for the winner given by the National Greyhound Club of New York City. D. C. Luse of Great
LADY BARTON
Winner of Many Courses in 1889.90-91. Amounting to Over $1,000 Owned by D. C. Luse, of Great Bend
They went all over the western part of the state but found nothing that was so well adapted for the purpose as Cheyenne Bot- toms in Barton County. Therefore this site was selected and in October, 1886, the first meet was held. The meet was attended by
Bend also donated a silver cup which had to be won twice by the same kennel to gain per- manent possession. The winner of the first all age stake was "Midnight," owned by Col- onel Taylor of Emporia. The other stake run at the annual meetings was known as the
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
Puppy Stake for which similar prizes were given as were awarded the winners in the all all age stake. These meets brought thous- ands of people to Great Bend and during the coursing at the Cheyenne Bottoms the coun- try was literally alive with men and women on horseback and in buggies. D. C. Luse of Great Bend at one time owned seventy-five dogs and his animals won the prizes at the second meeting of the club to be held in Great Bend. Among those who were keenly inter- ested in this sport were: D. C. Luse, Ira Brougher, J. V. Brinkman, D. N. Heizer, W. W. Carney and many others of Great Bend; C. S. Page of Aurora, Illinois; H. C. Lowe, of Lawrence, Kansas; Robert Smart of Ellin- wood; Dr. N. Rowe of Chicago; August Bel- mont of New York; H. W. Huntington of
Brooklyn; John E. Thayer of Lancaster, Mas- sachusetts; A. C. Lightall of Denver, Colora- do; Colonel R. S. McDonald of St. Louis; Col- onel David Taylor of Emporia, and Alfred Haigh of Cable, Illinois. All of the (names mentioned held offices in the club at different times during the time the club's coursing grounds were in Barton County. The winner of the all age stake was known as the Cham- pion of America. After the meets had been held in Great Bend ten successive years the club was reorganized and the meets are still continued but are held at different points each year, the town or city offering the best finan- cial inducements being given the preference. Many of the old timers will remember the exciting times that attended meets in Great Bend when numerous bets were made o'n the outcome of the different races.
अ
255
OF BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
EARLY BARTON COUNTY HISTORY
By D. N. Heizer, of Colorado Springs, Colo.
(Editor's Note-The followig article was furnished us by D. N. Heizer, who perhaps more than any other inan, is capable of tell- ing about the stirring incidents that took place in the early days of Barton County. He was among the first to arrive and took a lead- ing part in the laying out of the townsite of Great Bend and in the organization of Barton County.)
Upon request of the editors of the History of Barton County to contribute some account of myself and my experiences in the early set- tlement of the county which I became a cit- izen of nearly forty-two years ago and lived in for twenty-two years, I know of no better way than by contributing extracts from let- ters written in those days now in my posses- sion, and extracts from a Diary, kept some- what irregularly, giving an idea of the early life on what was then considered and called, "The Plains of Kansas," a somewhat modified term of the "Great American Desert," as ex- plored and named by Major Long in 1819. 1 was born November 11, 1846, in Ross County, Ohio. I belonged to a race of pioneers; my great-grandfather, Samuel Heizer, was a pion- eer in Virginia when the Blue Ridge Moun- tains marked the line of the frontier, and lived there at the time of the Revolution. My grand-father, Samuel Heizer, was a pioneer in Ohio and moved from Virginia to Ross County in 1816. My father, Edward Heizer, and his brothers all moved to Iowa on the admission of Iowa as a state into the Union, and a part of them before. I was raised on an Iowa farm fifteen miles north of Burlington until I was seventeen years of age, when I enlisted in the latter part of the civil war in Company "M" Second Iowa Cavalry, and served eighteen months of active service and was mustered out at the close of the war at Selma, Alabama. On returning home, I spent a year on the old home farm and during the next five years, spent the greater part of the time taking a course in the Iowa State University and in teaching school.
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