History of Atchison County, Kansas, Part 39

Author: Ingalls, Sheffield
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Lawrence, Kan., Standard Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1032

USA > Kansas > Atchison County > History of Atchison County, Kansas > Part 39

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. James Emery Penning- ton : Rebecca, wife of William Ehart, of Atchison county, Kansas; Bessena, wife of Joseph James, of Atchison county, a farmer and horse and mule dealer; Roxie, wife of John Goff, of Potter, Kan., a thresher and farmer; Thomas W., living on the home farm; Frank P., a lumber merchant, of Burr Oak, Kan., who was associated with his father in the grain business in Potter, in 1906; George, a farmer living in Leavenworth county ; Mamie, a student in the Potter High School.

Mr. Pennington, with others in his neighborhood, organized and placed in operation the Farmers' Elevator Company, of which he was president. This concern built the Potter grain elevator and later sold it to H. A. Ode. He has long been identified with the Democratic party, but has never sought political preferment of any kind. At the time of the organization of the Pot- ter High School district, Mr. Pennington was one of the prime movers in the building of the new high school building. Perhaps the best known trait of this grand old pioneer is his inherent hospitality, which has made him famous and one of the best loved men in his section of the State. Concerning a great Christmas celebration held at the Pennington home in 1911, the Atchison Globe, of December 27, 19II, says :

"J. E. Pennington, a well known farmer of the Round Prairie neighbor-

415

HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY

hood, south of town, always provides a big entertainment for his immediate friends and relatives every Christmas, and spares no pains or expense to make these annual affairs highly enjoyable. The late holiday was no exception to the rule. On Monday quite a crowd gathered at Mr. Pennington's home, as usual, and spent a day of merriment. A big Christmas tree loaded with al- most everything conceivable in the way of holiday gifts, was provided by Mr. Pennington ; a big dinner was also served, and in the afternoon the men in- dulged in a hunt. A long wire was stretched across a field, with a horse hitched to each end of it. The wire was thus dragged across the field and in this manner all of the rabbits were scared up. The men followed behind the wire and shot the rabbits as they jumped out. Four jack rabbits were scared up and one of them killed ; also many cottontails. It is said that Mr. Penning- ton expended nearly $200 on this affair. He is a very prosperous farmer and is noted for his hospitality."

DR. EARL A. GILMORE.

Dr. Earl A. Gilmore, veterinary surgeon, of Effingham, Kan., was born September 27, 1887, at Ames, Iowa, a son of William J. and Jerusha ( Nor- ton) Gilmore. His father was born in 1850, in New York State, and when an infant accompanied his father, George Gilmore, to Iowa. His mother was born at Zearing, Iowa, November 10, 1855, and died March 7, 1898. William J. was reared on the pioneer farm in Iowa, and was able when a young man to take advantage of the opportunity to amass wealth in the new and rich State, which was being developed during his day and lifetime. He was married September 5, 1869. He became one of Iowa's most prosperous farmers, and in his later days, when he retired from active farm work, he traveled extensively throughout the country, visiting many points in the West, and the Philippine Islands. On February 1, 1915, while aboard a Missouri Pacific train en route to Kansas City, the train was wrecked, and he was injured to such an extent that he was laid up in the hospital at Kansas City for several weeks, and then returned to his home at Ames, Iowa. There were ten children in the Gilmore family : Mrs. Uretta Stevens, of Star City, Mich .; Mrs. Maria Pellersells, of Grand Rapids, Wis .; Maines Gilmore, now in Alaska; Charles, of Greeley, Colo .; George, living in Iowa; William, a college professor at Winnipeg, Canada; Earl A., the subject of this review ; Mrs. Eva Burton, of Ames, Iowa: Ella, deceased; one child died in infancy. The mother of these children was a daughter of Isaac Gilmore, a native of

416

HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY

Ireland. The Gilmore family is also of Irish descent, all four of Dr. Gil- more's grandparents having emigrated from the Emerald isle.

Earl A. Gilmore was educated in the Nevada (Iowa) High School, and studied at Drake University for one year; the Iowa State College at Ames for two and one-half years: then studied for two years in the Kansas City Veterinary College, graduating April 16, 1912. His funds being exhausted, when he decided to become a veterinary surgeon, he found it necessary to work his way through his final college course, by doing reportorial work on the staff of the Kansas City Star. Upon his graduation he immediately located in Effingham and has built up an extensive practice in his profession, covering a territory of twelve miles, north and south, and nine miles, east and west.

Dr. Gilmore is a member of the Missouri Valley Veterinary Association, and the National veterinary fraternity, the Kansas City chapter of the Delta Alpha Psi. He is a Republican in politics and is fraternally affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows lodge and the Knights and Ladies of Security. Dr. Gilmore takes a keen and active interest in the civic welfare of Effingham and is usually found in the forefront of undertakings which are intended to promote the best interests of the city.

ALFRED JONATHAN HARWI.

In writing the history of a city and county such as Atchison, the reviewer very naturally finds that among the large number of men who have had much to do with the up-building of the community, and who can be counted among the really successful men of the period covered, there are few who stand out preeminently among their fellows, and whose individuality looms far above the average, and who are noted not only for their individual accomplishments on their own behalf, but who have performed deeds which have endeared their memory to posterity for generations to come. In this respect we must consider the late Alfred Jonathan Harwi, founder of the great A. J. Harwi Hardware Company, millionaire, statesman, and philanthropist, of Atchison. Mr. Harwi will long be remembered as one of the leading figures in the busi- ness world of Atchison. He was a pioneer in the establishment of the great wholesale houses which have made Atchison famous over the western country. Beginning his career a poor man, endowed with financial and business ability of a high order, blessed with a keen foresight into the future, having con-

417

HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY

fidence in the ultimate development of the country, tireless and industrious in all his undertakings, he achieved a truly remarkable success, and through it all he was a man among men, who never lost the respect and regard of his fellow men because of his great success in the realms of business and finance.

Alfred Jonathan Harwi was born at Ritterville, Lehigh county, Pennsyl- vania, January 21, 1847, the eldest of four sons, born to Michael and Lucretia Harwi. One of the children died in infancy, and the others, Edwin C. and W. H., followed Alfred J. to Atchison and became associated with him in the hardware business which he had established. Edwin C. died September 4, 1903, and Wilson H. Harwi died May 30, 1911. A sister died in Pennsyl- vania when but a child. Michael Harwi followed the trade of carpenter in heavy construction work during his life, and was engaged in the building of canal locks in the days when the construction of internal waterways was in vogue. He was also a farmer, and at the time of his death was engaged in quarying and contracting for slate. His sons having all come to the West, he made preparations to join them here in Atchison, but on the point of his de- parture on October 8, 1882, he was taken ill and died. His widow, Lucretia Harwi, then came to Atchison and resided here with her children until her demise, in November, 1904.

A. J. Harwi received his education in the schools of his native State, attending the district school of his neighborhood until ten years of age, then becoming a student at a Moravian school in Bethlehem, which was located four miles from his home and required him to walk the distance across a mountain both morning and evening. After spending two years in diligent study in this institution he entered a general store at Bethlehem for the pur- pose of acquiring business experience. However, while learning the art of barter and trade over the counters of the general store he did not neglect the cultivation of his mind. He read, listened and learned, and in his spare time continued his studies until his mind was broadened and he became a man of advanced thought, learned to read and judge his fellow men, and acquire a refinement and polish which in later years assisted him in his undertakings and enabled him to command the respect of his fellows. His ambition was to eventually engage in business for himself, and he saved his money to this end, and in 1868, when he was twenty-one years of age, he became a partner in the furniture business with J. B. Zimmele, but sold out two years later and heark- ened to the advice of Horace Greeley, who said: "Go west, young man, go west, and grow up with the country." While at Bethlehem Mr. Harwi mar- ried Cora Wheeler, with whose father he became associated in the hardware and implement business at Butler, Mo. When this partnership was dissolved

+18

HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY

a few years later, Mr. Harwi went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and for a few months was a clerk in a hardware store. In the year 1875 he came to Atchi- son equipped with considerable commercial experience, but having little cap- ital. He and C. H. Dearborn began a retail hardware business in a small way in the building at 408 Commercial street. The concern prospered from the start and its success was undoubtedly due to Mr. Harwi's intelligence and common-sense business methods and his wonderful capacity for hard and unremitting work. This hardware business soon became one of the leading local business enterprises of the rapidly growing city of Atchison. Like other men who have been successful in life, Mr. Harwi was visionary, but his vision did not take on the dream-like character. It was practical and foresaw the inevitable development of the western country and an increased demand for all kinds of products as the country became more and more settled. He believed in common with others of the period that Atchison was destined to become the gateway and the distributing point for a large section of territory. Acting upon this sound, practical belief in the early eighties when the retail business had assumed large proportions and necessitated expansion in other ways, he conceived the idea of engaging in the jobbing business. He did so, and again his wonderful business acumen and ability came into play, with the result that the A. J. Harwi Hardware Company is known throughout the West and middle West, and has done a noteworthy part in making Atchison famous as a wholesale center. The result of its founder's vision and industry is one of the great wholesale houses of the West, represented by about twenty traveling salesmen covering four States, while over fifty local employes are engaged to handle the vast amount of office work and the great warehouse and shipping details incident to such an important commercial institution as the A. J. Harwi Hardware Company has developed into within thirty-five years. Their commodious four-story office and warehouse building, located on the corner of Commercial and Ninth streets, is one of the handsome modern business houses of Atchison. One can begin to realize the scope and extent of this business when he stops to think that it requires 75,000 feet of floor space to afford ample warehouse facilities. In 1889 the A. J. Harwi Hard- ware Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $100,000.

Mr. Harwi was three times married. His first wife, Cora Wheeler, whom he married in Bethlehem, left one daughter, Mrs. E. P. Ripley, of Boston. His second marriage was with Elizabeth Whitehead, of Atchison, in 1873, to which union two children were born: Mrs. H. P. Shedd, of Ben- sonhurst, Long Island, and Frank E., president of the A. J. Harwi Hardware Company. The mother of these children died October 14, 1907. Mr. Harwi's

419

HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY

third marriage occurred June 3, 1909, to Mrs. Mary E. Holland, who sur- vives him. Mr. Harwi passed away September 5, 1910. During his later years the stress of business and the ceaseless activity which had been his lot during life began to tell upon him, and for over twenty-five years prior to his demise he was a sufferer from locomotor ataxia. The things which he accomplished necessarily demanded that he be a hard and tireless worker, but he never spared himself, and at a time when he should have begun to con- serve his bodily strength he worked the hardest, with the result that his span of life was shortened under what it might have been.

It is not alone through the magnificent mercantile concern which Mr Harwi conceived and built up that he is known, but he was a public spirited gentleman who contributed generously to charity and philanthropic work. Although he accumulated wealth outside of his business to exceed a half mil- lion dollars and loaned out considerable money on mortgages, he was never known to have taken advantage of a debtor and to foreclose a mortgage. Although he was a member of the Congregational church, he was a trustee of Midland College, Atchison, and established and endowed the Harwi scholar- ship prizes, which have been of inestimable benefit to many young students. He was one of the trustees of the Atchison County High School at Effingham, and was also a warm advocate of providing well for the education of the youth of the community. Mr. Harwi was elected State senator from the Atchison district in 1884, but did not allow his duties as legis- lator to interfere with his business affairs, it being his custom while the legis- lature was in session to spend the day in the legislative halls at Topeka, return home and spend the greater part of the night in the supervision of the business. His ability as a legislator came naturally into the limelight, and there was talk of running him as the party's candidate for governor of the State, but this talk met with little encouragement from Mr. Harwi, inasmuch as he was wrapped up heart and soul in the re-organized Harwi Hardware Company at the time, the project demanding all of his time and energy.

FRANK EDWIN HARWI.

Frank Edwin Harwi, president of the A. J. Harwi Hardware Company, is one of Atchison's live young citizens who is following in the footsteps of his highly successful father. Mr. Harwi is in charge of the extensive whole- sale hardware concern founded and built up by his father. A. J. Harwi.

120

HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY

Frank E. Harwi was born October II, 1884, in Atchison. He received his education in the public schools of his native city and in the Andover Prepara- tory School at Andover, Mass. He matriculated as a freshman at Yale Uni- versity, but was called home by the illness of his father, and he became his · father's assistant for the ensuing year. In 1905 he entered the sophomore class of Kansas University, but gave up his college course in 1906 to enter his father' hardware etablishment, and upon his father's demise took over the active management of the concern and became president of the .A. J. Harwi Hardware Company.

Mr. Harwi was married September 30, 19c8, to Miss Florence Cain, a daughter of John M. and Lucy Cain. To this union two children have been born : Alfred J., born August 22, 1909, and Lucy E., born January 12, 1912. John M. Cain, father of Mrs. Harwi, was born July 30, 1839, at Castletown, Isle of Man. He was educated in the select schools of his native island, learned the carpenter's trade and emigrated from the Isle of Man in 1856, locating in Kansas, where he was successively farmer, soldier, merchant and banker. He was a volunteer soldier in the company organized by A. S. Speck and Asa Barnes, and was accepted for service in 1862, enlisting in Capt. P. H. Mc- Namara's company, of which he became sergeant, and upon the organization of the regiments of colored troops he was appointed first lieutenant of a com- pany in the Eighty-third regiment, colored infantry. He was afterwards com- missioned a captain and did splendid service throughout the Civil war. After the close of the war he farmed in Atchison county, became a merchant, and was connected with the old Atchison State Bank. He died in 1897. Mr. Cain was married May 15, 1879, to Lucy Neerman, a daughter of Frank and Isabella (Rust) Neerman. The following children were born of this mar- riage : Eva, wife of Foster Branson, of River Forest, Ill. ; Ralph R., a banker, at Ada, Okla .; Florence, wife of Frank E. Harwi; John Milton, with the A. J. Harwi Hardware Company ; William Q., an attorney in Atchison, and Alfred Neerman, deceased.

Mr. Harwi is an independent in politics. He was one of the organizers of the Atchison Commercial Club and served as president of this thriving organization in 1913, and is at present a member of its board of directors. He is a member of the board of trustees of Midland College and is a member of the Atchison city board of education. He has likewise been one of the trustees of the Atchison city hospital since its establishment. While the responsibilities connected with the conduct of the great business establishment thrust upon his shoulders at the demise of his father have been such as would probably daunt the young man of average ability, Mr. Harwi has shown that

421

HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY

he fully measures up to the requirements of his important position in the mercantile world and has made a reputation on his own individual account as a business head of decided executive ability of a high order.

JOSEPH TROMPETER.

When Joseph Trompeter departed this life Effingham lost one of its best and most highly respected citizens and his family suffered the lost of a kind and industrious husband and father, whose sole ambition in life was to provide well for his kindred and those dependent upon him for a livelihood. and to accomplish his purpose in the most honorable and upright manner possible. To him fell the task of erecting the first county high school build- ing in Effingham, and many of the most pretentious dwellings of the city were built by him. He was one of the widely known and successful contractors of the county, whose operations extended over a wide stretch of territory, and whose work was always strictly up to a certain high standard and honestly performed.

Mr. Trompeter was born June 15, 1857, in Prussia, Germany, and when ten years of age he accompanied his parents to America. His father was Maurice Trompeter, who settled on a farm in Illinois and who went from Illi- nois to Texas, but after a short residence in that State returned to Illinois, where he passed the remainder of his days. Joseph was reared to young manhood in Illinois and there married Hannah Sowers. He also went to Texas and removed from there to Horton, Kan. His father before him was a carpenter and Joseph learned his trade and followed it, becoming a con- tractor and builder when a young man. He erected several court houses in Texas, and built several school buildings and church edifices in Kansas. His first wife died in Horton, Kan., eight children being born to this union, of whom two are living, namely : Mrs. Tina Demmer, of Effingham, Kan. ; Mrs. Bertha Wallace, also residing in Effingham. Mr. Trompeter removed to Effingham, and at once engaged in building and contracting on an extensive scale. He erected all the buildings on the main street of the town, on the north side of the street, running from the Farmers and Merchants Bank build- ing to the newspaper office, at the end of the block. He also built the greater part of the finer residences in Effingham and it is due to his handiwork and taste that the city presents such an attractive appearance to the visitor. In the spring of 1912 he and the family moved to his farm of 160 acres south-

122

HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY

east of Effingham on which with his own hands Mr. Trompeter erected a handsome farm dwelling and fitted it with all modern improvements, adding an attractive barn at the same time. He did not live to enjoy the comforts of his new home long, however, as illness brought on by overwork, caused him to take to his bed and his demise occurred August 19. 1915.

His second marriage was with Louise Richter, on November 8, 1892, at Effingham. Four children were born of this marriage, namely: Amelia, John. James and Mary, all of whom are at home with their mother. Mrs. Trompeter was born in Austria, in 1874, a daughter of John, born September 2, 1852, and Amelia ( Wohletz) Richter, horn May 31, 1849. The Richters are of German birth and immigrated to America in 1882, first residing in Atchison and then coming to Effingham. For twenty-eight years Mr. Rich- ter was employed in railroad work on the Central Branch of the Missouri Pacific railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Richter now make their home with their daughter, Mrs. Trompeter, and assist in the farming operations. The Richter children are as follows: Mrs. Joseph Trompeter ; Domineck, conducting a meat market in Effingham: Leapold, living at Tacoma, Wash., also a builder and contractor ; Mrs. Amelia Hansen, residing in Texas; Mrs. Anna Royer, Tacoma, Wash. There are eleven grand children in the Richter family.

Mr. Trompeter was affiliated with the Democratic party, but was never a seeker after political preferment. He was a member of the Catholic church, and was fraternally connected with the Knights of Columbus and the Modern Woodmen. Throughout his life he was an industrious and hardworking citi- zen who did his duty as he saw it and lived an upright and honest life. He was prominently identified with the civic life of Effingham and was highly respected for his many excellent qualities.

JOSEPH N. ARTHUR.

Joseph N. Arthur, automobile salesman and garage proprietor, of Ef- fingham, Kan .. is one of the progressive and enterprising business men of the second city of Atchison county. Signal success has attended his efforts during the years he has been a resident of Atchison county. He embarked in the automobile business and established a garage in Effingham, despite the fact that predictions were made that the venture would not be a success, and Mr. Arthur as a result is the recognized pioneer automobile man of his part of the county. Since taking the agency for the Ford cars in 1912, he has sold over half the total of Ford cars sold in the county and vicinity.

423

HISTORY OF ATCHISON COUNTY

Mr. Arthur first started in business in 1910 and established a small garage in the rear of his real estate office. His business grew to such an extent that larger quarters became necessary, and in 1913 he erected a large con- crete building, forty by eighty feet in extent, in which is incorporated his office, display and repair rooms. He employs a skilled mechanic, assistant and driver. Mr. Arthur handles the Dodge Brothers, the Maxwell, and Ford automobiles.

J. N. Arthur was born June 3. 1869, near Corning. Adams county, Iowa, and is a son of John and Martha Arthur, natives of Ohio. Both parents were reared in the old Buckeye State, and were early pioneer settlers in Iowa, coming from Bucyrus, Ohio, in 1855, and driving overland via the ox team route, with all their movable possessions loaded on wagons en route from St. Joseph, Mo., to their destination in Adams county, Iowa. John Arthur homesteaded Government land in Adams county and preempted along the river where timber and water were plentiful. He prospered as the years went on and the country became more and more settled, and he became the owner of over 800 acres of excellent Iowa farm lands. He resided in Adams county, Iowa, until his demise, in 1907.

John Arthur settled on the banks of a river for the purpose of having timber, fuel and water, three essentials in keeping alive in the then sparsely settled country in the southwestern part of Iowa. He built a log cabin of logs hewn from trees chopped down with his own hands and chinked the cracks and crevices with mud. When he preempted his first tract of land in Iowa he had a yoke of oxen, $10 in money and a favorite bull-dog, things which he was fond of telling about as he grew older and more prosperous. During his fifty-two years of residence in Iowa he accumulated 800 acres of land and had money loaned out to the amount of $10.000. He was the father of eleven children, nine of whom grew to maturity, each of whom as he married was assisted by the father to settle on a farm of his own, and all have prospered-an enviable record for a pioneer family to make.

Joseph N., with whom this review is directly concerned, was reared on the Iowa farm, and knew something about the hardships of the pioneer days in his boyhood. He attended the district school in his neighborhood, and followed farming until he engaged in the implement business in his home county for some years, with a fair degree of success. He left his native State in 1904 and came to Effingham. Kan., purchasing 120 acres of land about one and one-half miles distant from Effingham in Atchison county. One year later he embarked in the real estate business, in partnership with B. F. Snyder. This partnership lasted for two years and then Mr. Arthur

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Atchison County, Kansas, Part 39

Author: Ingalls, Sheffield Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Lawrence, Kan., Standard Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1032

Author: Ingalls, Sheffield
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Lawrence, Kan., Standard Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1032