USA > Kansas > Woodson County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 67
USA > Kansas > Allen County > History of Allen and Woodson counties, Kansas > Part 67
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February 15, 1871, our subject came to Allen county and stopped in Humboldt. The general bustle of business and the apparent thrift of the little city attracted him and he was at once possessed of serious intention of locating there. He made the acquaintance of Colonel S. H. Stevens then in the lumber business and' at tioon of the same day was installed as the latter's chief clerk and salesman. He remained in this business two years and, upon retiring went to the new county seat of Woodson county, Kalida, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. Grasshoppers destroyed not only the crops of the season following but destroyed Mr. Cunningham's prospects, as well, and he traded his goods for cattle and that winter spent his time profitably by teaching a country school in Woodson county. The follow- ing spring he became a full-fledged farmer and remained such nntil the new Citizens Lumber Company, of Humboldt, chose him to manage their yard there. When this company was absorbed by S. A. Brown in after years the subject hereof engaged in the grocery business in Humboldt, continuing it eight years, or until his election as County Treasurer.
· Mr. Cunningham has ever and always been noted for his intense Republicanism. His interest in things political began almost with his residence in Kansas and for many years he has been recognized as one of the active, honorable and judicious counselors of his party in local affairs. He was nominated for Treasurer of the county in 1887 and in November of that year he was elected by a large majority. He was elected two years later by a larger majority than before. His popularity as a public official grew with his service and his efficiency as such is unsurpassed. On leav-
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ing the county seat in 1896 he returned to Humboldt and was identified with the Bank of Humboldt in a clerical capacity. December 3rd of that year he opened a lumber yard in Humboldt as the successor of J. P. John- son and Leidigh & Huston. The firm of Mt. Cunningham and son is one of the prominent enterprises of the city.
In April, 1871, Mr. Cunningham was married to Miss Etta A. Phelps of Windsor, Missouri. Their only child is Arthur W. Cunningham, who was married May 1., 1901, to Mary I. Blackman.
C HARLES L. DOWNS, who is engaged in farming in Cottage Grove township, was born in Champaign county, Illinois, on the 22nd of November, 1863, and is the second child of Samuel E. and Martha Downs, who in the fall of 1865 left their home in Illinois, and came to Kansas. Their son Charles has therefore been a resident of this State throughout almost his entire life. He was reared upon his father's farm in Cottage Grove township, and acquired his education in the stone school house in West Cottage Grove. To his father he gave the benefit of his'services until he had attained his majority and then started out in life for himself, having no capital save a pair of willing hands.
As a companion and helpmate on life's journey Mr. Downs chose Miss Rosa Lynch, an accomplished young lady of Allen county, their marriage being celebrated on the 5th of October, 1885. She was born in Illinois and came to Kansas when a maiden of seven years, in company with her parents, William and Sarah Jane (Zink) Lynch, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Illinois. The mother died in 1874 when Mrs. Downs was very young. The following year the father located in Allen county, Kansas, and afterward married Mrs. Elizabeth Noyes. His death occurred in Kansas, in 1897, when he was sixty-three years of age. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Downs have been born three children: Ethel, Hazel and Velma.
After his marriage Mr. Downs rented a faim in Allen county, and after- ward moved to Neosho county where he continued to operate leased land for a number of years. With the capital he had acquired through his ceaseless efforts and the assistance of his estimable wife he purchased a farm of eighty acres in Cottage Grove township abont seven miles south- east of Humboldt, removing to that place in the spring of 1899. He has a valuable little farm, on which is a good orchard, while native forest trees surround his home and add to the attractive appearance of the place. He has built a good barn and everything upon the farm indicates the careful supervision of a thrifty and progressive owner. He has acquired through his own efforts all that he now possesses and in the years to come he will probably be numbered among the most substantial citizens of Allen county.
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C HARLES SCHAFFNER .- Progress is the result of the efforts of in- dividual men. Its aiders and abettors are the guiding spirits in every community and its destiny is the glorious triumph of mankind over the- perplexities and problems of the human race. In these triumphs all races and nations will participate and whether in their native heath or in their adopted country each particular and individual actor will receive some credit for his sacrifice. Chief among our progressive and prosperous peo- ple of foreign birth are the Germans. Almost wherever you find an Ameri- ean there you will find a German, also. In the early settlement of Kansas was this fact specially true. Humboldt, one of the oldest places in the. state, had its German settler as soon as it had its American settler. Not- withstanding their new surroundings they entered as heartily and as intel- ligently into the making of an honorable community, on the American plan, as did those who never knew another country. In the past forty years many of the Kaiser's subjects have resided in Allen county. Some have gained more prominence. than others but all, save a few, have done socially and financially well. Among these, and of the more recent set- tlers, is the subject of this brief mention, Charles Schaffner. He needs 110. personal introduction to the leading citizenship of Allen county for he has. gone in and out among them for more than a score of years and they know him to respect and admire him. In his immediate vicinity he is especially esteemed. His character has been a subject of much public scrutiny for more than a generation, in Humboldt, and its elements are discovered to be of the higher sort. To no man can it be said that he has proven false and his reputation for regarding and maintaining his sacred word is of the highest order. To him his credit and his good name are his fortune and his ma- terial accumulations are not the result of any shady transactions.
Charley Schaffner was born in Buchheim, by Freiburg, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Empire of Germany. His birth occurred December 26, 1844, and he is a son of Daniel Schaffner, a linen weaver. The latter was born in the same house as his son, Charles, in the year 1809 and was mar- ried to Ragina Fischer in 1835. He spent his entire life in Buchheim, dying in 1894. His wife died at the age of seventy-four. Of their five children our subject is the third. The other sons are Joseph, Henry and John. Henry and John and a sister remain in Germany while Joseph came to the United States in 1870 and resides now in Freemansburg, Pennsylvania.
Charley Schaffner secured what, in this country, would constitute a good common school education, with private lessons in French. Upon coming of age he determined to seek his fortune in America. He had some knowledge of the opportunities for young men in this new and enter- prising country and it was in this far away country that he saw his future spread out before him. He sailed for New York in 1866 and was landed in the great American metropolis with only a single dollar; and this a ship- robber had failed to get. To become a barber seemed the best opening for him so he learned the trade and worked In the city till 1874. This latter
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year he went westward to Copley, Pennsylvania, where he pursued his 'trade till his removal to Humboldt five years later.
In Humboldt Mr. Schaffner has been a busy man. His was the lead- ing shop in the city for twelve years and when he retired from the business it was with a consciousness that he had acquired a competency which, if economically administered, and occasionally supplemented, would endure and sustain till his race was run. To further engage histime and talents he took up the insurance, loan and real estate business. In this work he has succeeded scarcely less conspicuously than at his trade. His office is the mecca toward which those having conveyancing or insuring to do direct their steps
Our subject was first married February 22, 1869, to Wolpurka Sch- lenk. Two of their three children survive, namely, Emma K., wife of John W. Tholen, of Humboldt, was born May 15, 1870, and Charles H., born at Copley, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1871, is a resident of Central City, Colorado. September 27, 1887, Mrs Schaffner died. Two years later Mr. Schaffner was married in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to Mary Vogt, a lady of the town of Buchheim, Baden.
When it is said that Charley Schaffner never profited by any legacy of his ancestors it will be seen that he has been the architect of his own 'fortunes. His material achievements have been ample for his personal needs and when all his business and social relations have been considered and his life work has been summed up it can not be truthfully said that an element of failure entered into it. He is prominent in local Odd Fellow- ship and in Woodcraft and his connection with the politics of Allen county has not been the least important of his acts. He became a Democrat from his observation of the conduct of the affairs of government and affiliated with that party till the reform movement which swept Kansas in 1890 when he joined hands with it. He was the nominee for County Treasurer in 1899 and has served upon different political committees of his party many years.
P ETER HOKANSON was born in Sweden on the 17th of December, 1832, and spent the first twenty years of his life in the land of his birth. Believing that he might better his financial condition in the new world he accordingly sailed for America in 1852, locating first at Gales- burg, Illinois. In the vicinity of that city he worked as a farm hand until after the breaking out of the Civil war, when the spirit of patriotism being aroused in him, he enlisted in Company E, of the Eighth Regiment of Illinois Infantry. He served for one year, and during that time partici- pated in the battles of Fort Spanish, Fort Blakely and several others of im- portance. Being overcome by the heat at Mobile, Alabama, and thus rendered unfit for further service he received an honorably discharge in I865.
Mr. Hokanson at once returned to his home in Illinois, and again
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worked as a farm hand for three years. In 1870 he came to Kansas and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on the south line of Allen. county in Cottage Grove township, where he has since carried forward the- work of development and improvement until he now has a very valuable property. On it is located a good residence and one of the best barns in- the county. He also keeps on hand such amount of stoek as he can raise to advantage on his farm and everything about the place is in good condition.
Mr. Hokanson was married in Illinois in 1865 to Miss Johanna Olson,. who died April 24, 1882, leaving three children: Albert, Charles and Hanna, the last named being now the wife of Benjamin Johnson. Mr. Hokanson has been a Republican since casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. He came to this country in limited circumstances, but his hope of improving his condition has been more than realized. He found the opportunity he sought and his energy and careful management have brought to him a comfortable competence.
T THOMAS I. KITZMILLER, of Bronson, son of the pioneer, Morgan B. Kitzmiller, who settled upon section 20, township 25, range 21, now Marmaton township, was born August 22, 1856, in what is now Grant county, West Virginia. His father was born in "the old state," was a son of John Kitzmiller and a descendant of Pennsylvania German stock. Mary J. Bartlett, whom Morgan B. Kitzmiller married, was born in Cumberland, Maryland, in 1823.
The Kitzmiller family left Grant county, West Virginia, in 1864 and located in McLean county, Illinois. They came on west to Kansas in 1867 and entered their land in Allen county. Here the father died in. 1878. The large family of children was reared to habits of industry and have done their part, in an humble way, in the development of our county. In the order of their ages the children are: Frances, wife of William Al- lenbaugh, on the Sac and Fox agency, Oklahoma; Charles H. Kitzmiller, of Junction City, Kansas; James Kitzmiller, of Chicago, Illinois; Thomas; Ella, wife of William Hildreth, of Pittsburg, Kansas; Willian Kitzmiller, of English, Indiana; Carrie, of Ciaro, Illinois, widow of A. D. Eaton; Ross and Nettie, twins, the former of Bourbon county, Kansas, and the latter, widow of A. D. Showalter.
Thomas Kitzmiller was a farmer from youth till 1880. September 16, of this year he enlisted in the regular army in Company K, Nineteenth In- fantry, stationed in the Indian Territory. He did most of his soldiering in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico and was stationed at different times in Forts Sam Houston, Brown, Duncan, Clark and Gibson, and during the Geronimo trouble he aided in the rounding-up of that Indian chief. He re-enlisted at the expiration of his first five years' term and, May 16, 1890, he was sent to Fort Porter, Buffalo, New York, where he was discharged
.
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July 3. of that year. For the next nine years Mr. Kitzmiller remained with the old home in Allen county.
In 1899 Mr. Kitzmiller made a trip to Alaska. He sailed on the steamer "Alki" for Skagway and tramped it to Chilcoot Pass. There his heart failed him. All was bleak and cold and desolation. Suffering was all about and nothing visible to urge him on. He returned to the states during the late spring and stopped at Puget Sound. While looking about the Sound he went salmon fishing and encountered a hurricane. The boat was wrecked and he reached another; it went down and he boarded a third and was finally rescued. In this experience he sacrificed all his personal possessions, including $293 in cash. In October of the same year he reached Kansas again, a somewhat wiser, but a poorer man.
The Kitzmillers of this branch have only one word to express their political leanings-Republican. The father was a charter member of the party and his sons have maintained the family tradition.
JACOB GOODNER whose residence in Allen county has been pro- ductive of much material prosperity to himself and whose location upon the old Perkins tract in Iola is a matter of general information to the old settlers of the city dates his residence in the county from the year 1880. He succeeded W. J. Ihrig in the ownership of his farm on Elm creek and has continued the occupation of his fathers to this day. Mr. Goodner emi- grated from Saint Cloud, Minnesota, to Kansas but settled in the north in 1861 as an emigrant from Vermillion county, Illinois. He was born in Switzerland county, Indiana, August 30, 1832. His father, Michael Good- ner, was a farmer and one of the pioneers to that wonderful foreign com- munity in southern Indiana. The latter was born in Kentucky in 1808 and died in Stearns county, Minnesota, September 29. 1889. He settled in Minnesota in 1862 and was a quiet and unobtrusive farmer whose ambition was to do right and rear his family to respectability. His wife, nee Cath- erine Connor, died in Vermillion county, Illinois. Their children were: Daniel, deceased; Jackson, of Stearns county, Minnesota, and David Good- ner, of the same point; Margaret, wife of Eli Hoskins, of Stearns county; Henry Goodner, of Edgar county, Illinois; Nancy, wife of Henry Casert, of Oregon, and Jacob Goodner.
Jacob Goodner went into Vermillion county, Illinois, in infancy with his parents. He learned to do the work of the farm effectually and suc- cessfully. Although his family is one of the ancient ones in the United States it came out of Germany and settled along the Atlantic coast and came to Kentucky through North Carolina. This fact of sturdy origin gives our subject a title to special traits of industry and it is these qualities which have in a measure marked him through life.
Mr. Goodner was married in Vermillion county, Illinois, to Maria Clark. She died in Iola in 1885, without issue. In 1887 Mr. Goodner
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married Catherine, a daughter of Samnel Bloom. The children of this marriage are: Clarence, Fern, Fayette, Elmer and Lillie Goodner.
Mr. Goodner became a Republican in 1856 and a Populist in 1992. He sold the site of the Michigan Portland Cement Company to that com- piny in 1899 and has been benefitted in other ways by the discovery of gas at Iola.
W ILLIAM A. COWAN, one of the best known of Iola business men, was born at White Post, Indiana, December 9, 1842. May 10, 1860, in company with his father and other members of the family, he started for Kansas, arriving in Iola June 22. After a month of prospecting he decided to remain permanently in Iola and this has ever since been his home.
For the first few years of his residence in Iola Mr. Cowan worked at odd jobs and as mail carrier, in the meantime serving an apprenticeship at cabinet making with Joseph Culbertson. In 1869 he entered the store of Ridenour & Baker, then the principal mercantile establishment of the town, and served with them for four years. Having accumulated a small capital, in 1873 he entered into partnership with W. H Richards in the grocery business. The firm prospered and when, six years later, Mr. Cowan with- drew from it he had sufficient capital to warrant him in erecting a con1- modious store building on the west side of the square, in which he placed a stock of groceries, soon afterwards adding also a stock of drugs. A few years later he sold his interest in this store to his brother, S. J. Cowan, in order to assume an official position in the Iola Carriage Works Company, in which he was a large stock holder. When this company quit business Mr. Cowan took charge of the drug department of Cowan & Ausherman's store and also assumed the agency of the Pacific Express Company, both which positions he continues to fill.
During the '7os Mr. Cowan studied law for the mental training, but never practiced the profession. He filled the office of township clerk and school district clerk for many years, served one term on the city council, three consecutive years as mayor of the city and later five years as city clerk. Physically Mr. Cowan is of slender figure, weighing but one hun- dred and twenty-five pounds, and of rather frail appearance, and yet he has reached his fifty-ninth year without having spent a day in bed, or even so much as lost a single meal from sickness during his whole life. After making this statement it does not need to be added that Mr. Cowan's per- sonal habits are irreproachable. From his boyhood he has so conducted himself as to win the respect and the entire confidence of all with whom he has had business or social relations. As his official record shows, he has enjoyed the esteem as well as the confidence of his neighbors, having won both by a consistently upright life. Ever since he became a citizen of Iola he has labored unselfishly for the upbuilding of the town, and has con-
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tributed liberally in money and in time toward this object. Still in the prime of life, he enjoys the high regard of his fellow townsmen and is a large factor in the business life of the ci y.
Inquiry into the family history of W. A. Cowan reveals the fact that about the year 1790 two Cowan brothers came from Scotland, one locating in North Carolina and the other in Virginia. The Virginia brother had one son, Robert Cowan, a Colonel in the Virginia military organization. A son of this Colonel Cowan served in the War of 1812, appearing on the rolls as Ensign W. A. Cowan. Ensign Cowan married Miss Bathsheba McBride. Their only son. John M. Cowan, was the father of W. A. Cowan, the subject of this sketch. John M. Cowan was born April 12, 18to, at Romney, Virginia. He learned the tiade of a tanner and worked at it until he removed to Monticello, Indiana, in 1835. In 1836 he mar- ried Eliza A. Rifenberrick, a daughter of Dr. Samuel Rifenberrick, of Mon- ticello, and soon afterwards removed to Pulaski county, Indiana, where he was appointed post-master of a country office called White Post. He held several local offices and was a member of the legislature in the 50s, serving in that body while Schuyler Colfax served in the constitutional convention, then in session, the friendship then formed between the two proving to be of life long duration. After coming to Kansas, as above related, Mr. Cowan was for several years engaged in the grocery and drug business, his last regular employment being that of mail carrier. His wife died in 1886, and he survived her but a few months, passing away July 3, 1887. Eleven children were born to them of whom the following survive: Mary B., wife of Benjamin F. Pancoast; Maria L., widow of B. Brewster; W. A. ; Samuel J .; Ella F., and Emma C., wife of E. T. Barber.
W. A. Cowan was married April 16, 1868, to Lizzie A. Fulwider, and to them liave been born two sons, Chester L., of Denver, Colorado, and Oscar L., of Iola.
W ADE M. ADAMS is now accounted one of the substantial farmers of Cottage Grove township, and the secret of his success lies in the fact that his career has been one of marked industry. He was born in Madison county, Kentucky, on the 30th of June, 1847, and was reared on a farın. His parents, John S. and Lamina (Walker) Adams, were also natives of Kentucky, and there spent their entire lives, the father following the occupation of farming in pursuit of fortune. He passed away at the age of sixty-five while liis wife was called to her final rest at the age of sixty. They had seven children, of whom three are living, Mrs. Eliza Ramsay and Mrs. Lucy Armstrong being residents of Madison county, Kentucky.
Wade M. Adams, their only surviving brother, was a school boy in that county about the middle of the nineteenth century, pursuing lis education in the common schools near his home. He lived with his parents
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until twenty-three years of age, and then started out in life for himself, securing as a companion and helpmate on life's journey one of the young ladies of Madison county, Miss Theodosia Cornelison, a daughter of James and Susan Jane ( Boogs) Cornelison, who were natives of the Blue Grass State, as was their daughter. The marriage occurred October 3. 1872, and thinking to improve their financial condition in a western district they removed to Lafayette county, Missouri, in 1879, where Mr. Adams operated rented lands for six years. In the spring of 1886 he camne with his family to Allen county, Kansas, and took up his abode in Cottage Grove township, five miles south of Humboldt, where he again leased a tract of land and continued renting for eleven years. During that period he added to his capital from time to time until he had accumulated a sum sufficient to purchase one hundred and sixty acres of fine land, constituting one of the best farms in Cottage Grove township. He took up his abode thercon and has since made it his home. The succeeding years have been a prosperous period to him, and he is now in possession of a handsome competence sufficient for a rainy day and for the needs of old age.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Adams have been born ten children and with the exception of May, who died in 1894, at the age of twenty-one years, all are yet living, namely : J. K., at home; Anna, wife of Fred Houser, of Kansas City, Missouri; Thomas, Ed, James, Wade, William, Clande and Dora, who are still with their parents. The family are widely and favorably known in Cottage Grove township and Allen county and have many warm friends throughout this portion of the State. Mr. Adams' prosperity is the merited reward of his labor and his life illustrates most forcibly the power of industry and honesty in a business career.
V A. SNEERINGER, of Humboldt, early settler and respected citizen, was born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, September 2nd, 1837. Joseph Sneeringer, his father, was born in the same county. His mother, Margaret O'Bold, was born in that State. Joseph Sneeringer was well known in the milling business of the Keystone State for he owned and operated several grist mills, and that most successfully. He was also a farmer. His family was a large one, there being fourteen children in all, his son, V. A., being the thirteenth child and one of four surviving.
The Sneeringers are of Swiss stock. Joseph Sneeringer Sr., our subject's grandfather, emigrated to America in 1777 and the stone house he erected in Adams county, Pennsylvania, that year still stands, in perfect order, and is occupied by some of his descendants. The old Swiss patri- arch died in 1854 at ninety years of age. His son, our subject's father, was born in 1787 and died in 1871. The latter's father-in-law was Mr. O'Bold, an Irishman. Mr. O'Bold left Ireland about 1795 and took up his resi- dence in Adams county, Pennsylvania, where he died full of years.
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