USA > Kansas > Cloud County > Biographical history of Cloud County, Kansas: biographies of representative citizens. Illustrated with portraits of prominent people, cuts of homes, stock, etc > Part 34
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To Dr. Priest's good qualities will be added last but not least a tribute to the professional aid he has rendered the young and aspiring physicians, several of Cloud county's rising practitioners owing much of their start in life to his sincere friendship and advisement.
LONG-MCCUE LUMBER COMPANY.
Although the Long-McCue Lumber Company have only been estab- lished in Concordia since 1900 they have gained a solid footing and are recognized as one of the progressive firms of the city. They purchased
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ground. erected their own buildings and are a permanent concern. T. J. McCue and R. A. Long are the parties who compose the firm. They also have a yard at Smith Center, a branch of their Concordia yard, and handic
LUMBER. CO.
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LONG-MCCUE LUMBER COMPANY'S YARDS.
their trade from the latter city. T. J. McCue has the management of the busi- ness and is a valued citizen of Concordia. R. A. Long is known all over the state and has yards in many localities, the Long Lumber Company being a familiar term. not only in every part of Kansas, but Oklahoma as well.
SAMUEL CARPENTER PIGMAN, M. D.
As a representative of the medical fraternity and as a progressive citizen Dr. Samuel C. Pigman is entitled to a prominent place in the annals of Concordia. He was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. He studied med- icine in the Jefferson Medical College and graduated from that distin- guished institution in 1879. Dr. Pigman began the practice of his profes- sion in the east. but three years subsequently emigrated west and settled four miles south of Jamestown. In 1888 he removed to Concordia, where his success as a general practitioner is apparent.
Dr. Pigman descends from an old and eminent Maryland family, sev- eral of his ancestors being patriots and brave defenders of the colonial honor. On the maternal side he is transcended from a race of medical men. there having been eight or nine in the profession during the same period. He is from a long line of legal lights on the paternal side. His paternal grandfather was a noted attorney and numbered such men as Calhoun and Webster among his colleagues. He was a member of the Maryland upper
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house for a dozen years. He married Cloe Hansen, a sister of John Han- sen, president of the Continental congress.
Dr. Pigman treasures a package of letters written by his distinguished grandparent. They are scholarly productions, replete with the thought of the age, and from their transmission it is definitely determined he was a Whig and disfavored bond-service or the subjection of one person to the will of another, for he writes: "I prefer western Maryland, for there are no slaves there." Our subject's father, Nathaniel Pigman, was born in western Maryland, but early in life removed to Wheeling, West Virginia, and opened the office of the Adams Express Company in that city in 1854, and remained the company's agent until his death in 1865.
Dr. Pigman was married in 1885 to Miss Mary Moore, a daughter of Dr. D. B. Moore, who was a resident of Cloud county for several years and during its early settlement. He is now a citizen of Osage county, Kansas, Mrs. Pigman was born in the Sac and Fox agency, while her father was stationed there as government physician. Three children have been born to Doctor and Mrs. Pigman, a daughter and two sons, Eleanor, Craig and Nathaniel.
Politically Dr. Pigman is a pronounced advocate of solid Republican principles. He was appointed coroner by Governor John A. Martin to fill a vacancy, and was later elected to that office one ferm. Being inter- ested in educational progress, Dr. Pigman was a worthy member of the board of education in Concordia for a period of four years. He was appointed secretary of the board of examiners for pensions by President McKinley, during his first administration, and continues in that capacity. He is a member of the American Medical Association, of the State Medical Association and of the Cloud County Association. He has been prominent in "Masonry for seventeen years, belonging to the Chapter, Commandery, Knight Templar. Royal Arch and has passed through all the chairs of the order with the exception of past commander. Dr. Pigman is not only prominent in his profession, but he has advanced the interests of his fellow citizens and the progress of the city. During the active years of his life he has been a thoughtful student and has acquired a broad fund of knowl- edge. and this, coupled with his humorous, jocose manner and witticisms, make him a companionable and popular fellow.
JOSEPH H. CLINE.
There is such a vast amount of competition in every line of business that the commercial world is pretty well occupied with "bread-winners." cach clamoring for success and a preponderance of the almighty dollar, but the old maxim which reads "There is always room at the top," applies to such com- petent men as J. Il. Cline, who is widely known as a reliable and substantial business man, owner and proprietor of the Concordia roller mills, one of the best paying enterprises in Cloud county.
Mr. Cline was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. in 1864. He
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
inherited his thrift and industry from the good old German stock. His par- ents were Daniel Kephart and Mary Caroline (Sciple) Cline. They were of German origin, but natives of Pennsylvania, of the class known as Penn- sylvania Dutch. Ilis father, after farming a few years, learned the milling business and emigrated to Cameron, Missouri, in 1868, where he engaged in that business until his death in 1882. Mr. Cline's mother died in 1867. They were the parents of ten children, all of whom are living and scattered over various parts of the United States.
Mr. Cline was educated in the graded schools of Cameron, Missouri. He was practically reared in a mill, but in 1875 entered upon a regular apprenticeship with his father: applied himself faithfully and remained with the company two years after his father's death in 1882, and was interested as one of the heirs of the estate. \ brother, George W. Cline, bought the interest of the other heirs and still owns and operates the Cameron mills. In 1884 Mr. Cline went to Nebraska and engineered a mill in Indianola until 1888. During this period he took up a homestead, built a "shanty" and held his claim four years. He soll at the end of that time and this was in reality the starting point of his actual business career. From Indianola he went to Jamison, Missouri, where, in connection with a brother-in-law. E. Y. Lingle, they leased a mill which they oper- ated until 1891, and then, coming to Concordia, purchased the Concordia roller mills of H. M. Spalding. They were associated together until April. 1898, when Mr. Lingle retired and Mr. Cline became sole proprietor. The capacity of the mill at that time was one hundred and twenty-five barrels. In the autumn of 1898 it was enlarged to two hundred barrels, its present capacity. Until 1891 the nearest mill was thirty miles distant WATER GOING OVER THE DAM IN 1902, PRIOR TO THE NEW CHANNEL. from Concordia and they did an ex- tensive home trade. At the present time their business is more extended to distant territory. They ship into Missouri and all over the eastern part of Kansas. The Concordia roller mills were formerly run by steam, which they still retain, in cases of emer- gency. The machinery in the mill consists of all modern appliances.
Mr. Cline was married in 1890 to Etha M. Barthelow, of Missouri. Her father was of French extraction, was a carpenter by occupation and died when she was an infant. Her mother died in 1880, when Mrs. Cline was but ten years old. Mr. and Mrs. Cline are the parents of three manly little sons : Owen Clark, Norman Joseph and John William. Mr. Cline is a Republican in politics and for two years has been a member of the city coun-
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cil. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cline are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In June, 1902, Mr. Cline was elected vice-president of the Kansas State Millers' Association.
ELWOOD COATE.
Elwood Coate, the county treasurer of Cloud county, is one of those men who command the esteem and confidence of the public in general. In light of the above statement the people are to be congratulated in the posses- sion of such a trustworthy and conservative man, who administers the duties of his office with strict integrity.
Mr. Coate is a native of the Buckeye state, born in Miami county in 1843. His father, Samuel Coate, was a farmer, a merchant and for about a half century a minister of the Christian church, and had pastoral charge of the congregation at Meredith, this county. He was a pioneer of Iowa, emigrating there from Ohio in 1853 at a time when their nearest mill was eighty miles, the distance from Marshalltown to Cedar Rapids, and when the country abounded with deer and elk, and the best land could be bought for $1.25 per acre. He died in Cloud county in 1896.
Mr. Coate's mother was also a minister of the Christian church. She died in Iowa in 1882. Mr. Coate traces his maternal an- cestry to the Furnases, who intermarried with the Coate family. John Furnas, of Cumberlandshire. England, lived in a town called Standing Stone. The father of Jolin Furnas was a large owner of real estate, and because of his wealth he was known as Lord or Peer. They were members of the Society of Friends. John Furnas had four sons : and Jonathan, the latter two being twins.
ELWOOD COATE.
William, John, Thomas
In 1762 John married Mary Wilkinson, in the Friends meeting house. The building has since been removed to the town of Wigton and still stands. In October of the same year they embarked for Charleston Harbor. South Carolina, reaching that point February 18, 1763. Two days after casting anchor, and while they were still on ship, their son Joseph, Mr. Coate's material grandfather, was born. Thomas and Jonathan also sailed to the same harbor. The name was originally spelled Furness. From these brothers a long line of ancestry have sprung-several generations.
Mr. Coate was principally educated in the common schools of Iowa, in the pioneer days of that state, and this, coupled with the duties of the farm, 20
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curtailed his educational advantages. At the youthful age of twenty he enlisted in Company I, Second Iowa Cavalry, for three years, serving until hostilities ceased, a period of eighteen months. During this time he was in the thickest of the fight, participating in eleven hard fought battles and numer- ous skirmishes. At Nashville their brigade was under fire continuously for several weeks. His brigade was under the command of General Coon, and their division commander was General Ed. Hatch. After the war Mr. Coate returned to Jowa and established himself in the harness business, but owing to ill health discontinued that line and learned the carpenter trade, which he followed for eighteen years. In 1885 he came to Kansas and set- tled in Oakland township, where four years prior he had secured a quarter section of land. He now owns a half section, which is under a high state of cultivation. with modern improvements. He is also a horticulturist and has an orchard of over three hundred peach trees, a large apple orchard, apricots and small fruits.
Mr. Coate was born and reared in the faith and principles of the Republican party and says he remains the same politically, but does not affiliate with them because they have left him, and he now votes with the Populist party, which elected him to office in 1890. The office for eight years had been held by the Populists. Mr. Coate was nominated by friends, and at their earnest solicitation allowed his name to go before the conven- tion. but afterward did his part in the campaign. Prior to being elected to his present office Mr. Coate had served in minor offices for many years.
He was married in 1866 to Susan Elleman, a daughter of Joseph and Anna Elleman, of Ohio. Mrs. Coate died two years subsequently, leaving an infant son, Oron M. He is a resident of Jowa and a member of the Economy Manufacturing and Supply Company, of Des Moines. Mr. Coate was married to Sarah Diefenbaugh in 1860. She is a daughter of David and Christina Diefenbaugh, of Lewisburg, Preble county, Ohio. To this second marriage three children have been born, two of whom are liv- ing, both sons. Herman E., who now lives on and operates the farm, filled the position as deputy treasurer in 1893 . He was previously employed as a clerk in the county clerk's office. For two years he was bookkeeper in the insane asylum of Topeka, but when Governor Morrill was inaugurated to office the Populists were ousted. and. being of that political faith, he had to go. H. E. Coate's family consists of a wife and two daughters, Mabel and Viva. The other son is Samuel Rush, who is his father's deputy. He was renred on the farm and received his early education in the school of that district. In June. 1895, he entered the Kansas Christian College, of Lin- coln county, Kansas, and took a two-years' course. He owns a farm in Nebraska. where he had lived several years before assuming his position in the treasurer's office. His wife was Rose Mills, who came with her parents to Kansas from Iowa, when she was a child, and located in Lincoln county. Her father was John Mills and now resides in California. Bessie Wilkins, the motherless child of Andrew Wilkins, of Nebraska, found a home with
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNGATINHA
CONCORDIA ICE & COLD-STORAGE- CO
CONCORDIA ICE AND COLD STORAGE PLANT, ONE OF THE CITY'S LATEST AND MOST EXTENSIVE ENTERPRISES.
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
the family of Elwood Coate. Elwood Coate was one of a family of ten children, nine of whom are living, and all have families in various parts of the country. Mrs. Rose, president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, of Concordia, is a sister, and J. W. Coate, who lives in the southern part of Cloud county, is a brother. He has a brother and sister in Stutt- gart, Arkansas, two sisters and a brother in Iowa and one in Oklahoma.
Mr. Coate was not wholly satisfied with Kansas until the year of the World's Fair, when he, with his wife and son, visited Iowa and found the attractions there were less than those of Kansas. He has been successful from a financial standpoint and does not regret having made a home in the Sunflower state. The Coate family have a pleasant home on West Ninth and Washington streets, in Concordia, but expect to return to the farm when Mr. Coate's office days are over and resume stock raising. The fam- ily are all members and active workers in the Christian church.
GAUDREAU BROTHERS.
The illustrated interior gives an idea of the well appointed meat market of the enterprising Gaudreau Brothers, successors to J. C. Paradis. The firm is comprised of Henry and F. F. Gaudreau, who were born in Kankakee, Illinois, but who were practi- cally reared in Cloud county. Their father, the late Nelson Gaudreau, died a few years following his removal to Buf- falo township in 1887. The elder member of the firm is a man of family. The junior member, F. F. Gaudreau, was in the employ of J. C. Paradis for about five years, therefore when they assumed . 1 control of the business in L September. 1902, were well experienced in catering to the trade. Their line of fresh INTERIOR VIEW OF GAUDREAU BROTHERS MARKET. and salt meats supply many of Concordia's best homes. They are young men of sterling worth and have established a first-class busi- ness, with prospects of excellent success.
CONCORDIA ICE AND COLD STORAGE COMPANY.
The citizens of Concordia can now boast of cooling their beverages, freezing their own ice cream and the score of other uses for which ice is appropriated, by an article pure and unadulterated, manufactured in their
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
own city. This extensive factory, recently instituted in Concordia, prom- ises to lead the vanguard in the production of ice and furnish the trade of many adjoining cities and villages. Their capacity is fifteen tons daily. This enterprise. with its storage capacity of fifty cars, filled a long felt want when they began operations about the middle of October, 1902.
The firm and its officials are composed of John Stewart, president ; George G. Hill, secretary; A. Ilirsch, vice-president, and Charles A. Betournay, treasurer and manager. This well-known firm seems to have labored with the idea that their reputation was their capital and conse- quently used nothing but the best of material in the building of their plant, a massive stone structure-the native product-and expended thirty-five thousand dollars in its construction. The machinery, which is of the most modern.and approved patterns, is all in duplicate form, this precaution is used to overcome the necessity of having the work retarded in case of break- downs and to hold the compartments at a certain temperature, as their con- tracts specify. The engines used are fifty-horse power. The product of this factory is absolutely pure and as colorless as the most brilliant crystal. The water is first distilled, then skimmed to remove any foreign matter that might be floating on the surface; secondly it is reboiled to drive every par- ticle of air out, that it may frecze solid: thirdly it is filtered through a quartz filter and again through a charcoal purifier and lastly through a sponge filter. The company also have their own dynamo. Their location in the vicinity of the depots is a convenient feature, with reference to transit. To this enterprise the city of Concordia is indebted to an extent impossible to estimate.
ALVIN LEE WILMOTH.
It is a quarter of a century since Alvin Lee Wilmoth, the subject of this sketch. became a resident of Kansas. Since 1890 he has been a leading citi- zen of Concordia, one who has been closely identified with the professional and business interests of the city. The Wilmoths settled in Marshall county, where his father continued to reside until about a year ago, when he removed to Wabaunsee county. Nearly forty years ago Mr. Wilmoth's parents emi- grated from Ohio, their native state, to Jasper county, Iowa, where our sub- ject was born in 1857. Their residence in Iowa was brief, however, and they returned to their former Ohio home and later to Kansas, the "Eldorado" of the west. The literary education of Mr. Wilmoth was received in the com- mon schools and in the State Normal School of Warrensburg, Missouri. Following this institution he entered the State University at Lawrence, and after finishing a course in the law department located in Concordia, where he formed an association with the late E. I .. Ackley, who was a classmate in the university. The combination was a prosperous one, building up an extended clientage in a comparatively brief time. In 1897 Mr. W. W. Caldwell joined them and the firm became Caldwell, Ackley & Wilmoth, continuing as such
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HISTORY OF CLOUD COUNTY, KANSAS.
until the untimely death of Mr. Ackley in August, 1901, when it became Caldwell & Wilmotlı. Mr. Wilmoth is a firm believer in Republican princi- ples and was elected by his party to the office of county attorney in 1894 and again in 1896. He carried Cloud county at a time when the country was ruled by Populists and was the only Republican elected on the ticket, with the exception of Mrs. Brierley, of Glasco. who was elected superintendent of schools. That he was an attorney of ability and integrity and considered so by the people is evidenced by the overwhelmingly large vote he received. He ran ahead of the McKinley electoral ticket in Cloud county in 1896 by over one hundred votes.
Succeeding Mr. Ackley, Mr. Wilmothi served two terms as regent of the State University. For ten years he has been attorney for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. In educational matters he is especially interested and has been a faithful member of the school board for six years.
Mr. Wilmoth was married in 1892 to Miss Emma T. Dunn, a daughter of Dr. D. M. Dunn, now a resident of Minneapolis. Kansas. Dr. Dunn is a pioneer in the state and has been active in many enterprises aside from a pro- fessional career. He was located at Colby during the "boom" days of that town and established the well-known and unique sheet, The Thomas County Cat, which was celebrated for its originality. Mrs. Wilmoth is a graduate of the State University and while a student there met her future husband. After her graduation she became a teacher in the university and taught both before and after her marriage to Mr. Wilmoth. To their union two bright little sons have been born, William Alvin and John David, aged six and two years, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Wilmoth are consistent members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. Fraternally Mr. Wilmoth is a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge, is a past chancellor and a member of the grand lodge. He is also identified with the Order of Elks.
Having been self-sustaining since a youth and having earned his own way through the university, Mr. Wilmoth adopted early in life the habits of industry and perseverance, which brought their returns in after years, and his influence for good is felt in the advancement of measures for the progression of all worthy promotions. The comforts of a pleasant brick cottaage, at the foot of West Sixth street, is not the least of Mir. Wilmothi's requitals.
ASA FORTNEY.
Asa Fortney, the present clerk of the court of Cloud county, conies from good old Virginia stock of French origin. The name was formerly spelled Fordney, but after becoming American citizens the name was changed by dropping the "d" and anglicized by substituting the "t." The name Fortney is found in nearly every state of the Union, a considerable number being in the ministry, some are physicians, others are members of the legal profession, many have been educators in both public school work and in the higher institutions of learning. some have been superintendents
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of public instruction and others statesmen. Mr. Fortney's grandfather. Dan- iel Fortney, was a native of France and married into the Pickenpaugh fam- ily, of whom those of Morgantown, Virginia, are a branch. She was a Ger- man woman and taught their children to speak their native tongue. They emigrated to America in the seventeenth century and settled in Maryland, near Harpers Ferry, where they bought land and farmed several years. Rumors reached them of a country in the far west (Virginia), where the buffalo or bison and the lithe-limbed deer wandered at will. Animated with a desire to visit this remote region they sold their posses- sions in Maryland and settled in Virginia in 1795. They bought land in Preston county, Virginia (now included in Monongalia county. West Virginia), where they lived until their death. Their sons were Daniel, Henry, Jacob and John. The sons of Daniel were John, David, William P. and Barton. The sons of Ilenry were Hunter. David M., Aquilla and Jacob. The sons of John were Flisha. Buckner. John II., Caleb and Thomas. The sons of Hunter were Elisha. George, Aquilla. John and . Asa- the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Fortney received his rudimen- ASA FORTNEY. tary education in the common schools of Virginia, followed by a two-years' course in the Mount Union College. He spent his earlier life in edu- cational work and was a very successful teacher. He had just attained
his majority when he came to Kansas in 1877. He came on a sort of prospecting tour, allured by the desire of obtaining land, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres, which he rented. Not being pleased with the newness of Kansas, as a place of residence, he located teni- porarily in Illinois and taught school for one year. The following year he bought another quarter section of Kansas land. For a year he vacillated between the Sunflower state, Illinois and Virginia. But that indefinable something that draws people back again who ever tarries within her bor- ders, brought Mr. Fortney to Kansas soil again in 1879. Having given his attention to ministerial work in the meantime, he supplied the Methodist Episcopal churches of Seappo and Fairview, and the next year Greenleaf cir- cuit. He ministered one year at Woodbine, Dickinson county, and since then he has been engaged in farming and stock raising. He owns three quarter sections of land in Sibley and Lawrence townships. Mr. Fortney's father was a Whig and one of the organizers of the Republican party and he has inherited his father's principles. He was nominated by the Republican party
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at their convention in 1902 and was elected with an easy victory-was high man on every batllot.
Mrs. Fortney, before her marriage, was Adie Mckinney and was reared in the same Virginia community with her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Fortney are the parents of two children, a daughter and a son. Elizabeth Ellen is a young lady of eighteen years, who has not yet finished school. William John is a school boy of sixteen years. Fraternally Mr. Fortney is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Concordia Encampment. That Mr. Fortney will prove a capable, efficient and courteous official is conceded by all who know him. As a citizen he is held in high esteem and in his home life maintains all the traditions of true southern hospitality.
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