USA > Kansas > Atchison County > History of Atchison County, Kansas > Part 42
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In the fall of 1854, Martin Klein left his old home in New York and set out for Kansas, to grow up with the country. He arrived in Leaven- worth on September 18 of that year, and lost no time in taking up a claim in Leavenworth county, which served as his home until 1900, when he re- tired to a comfortable home in the town of Potter. Six years after his arrival in Kansas he married Miss Paulina Hawley, whom he espoused on March 29, 1860. She was a daughter of Francis H. and Louise Hawley, both of whom were natives of old Virginia, and were early settlers in Ken- tucky, where Mrs. Klein was born November 12, 1826. She departed this life January 4, 1907, in Potter, Kan. She was a loving and faithful help- meet to Mr. Klein for forty-seven years, and endured with him many hard- ships incident to the pioneer life in Kansas.
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When Mr. Klein first came to Kansas in 1854, the turmoil and the bor- der warfare waged between the pro- and anti-slavery forces, was just begin- ning, and he, being a pronounced anti-slavery man, was thrown into the thick of the fight. He was an accurate marksman with the revolver, and often found occasion to make use of his ability with the pistol. He was so active in his work in behalf of the Free State party that he was marked for vengeance by border ruffians. An occasion which is memorable, and marked the savagery of this warfare, is worth recording: "On a Sunday in the spring of 1856, when Mr. Klein was at church, three strangers came to church, ostensibly to buy corn from him. After the bargain had been struck, and he had agreed to sell the men the corn wanted, they insisted on him accompanying them to Easton, Kan., in order to get his pay for the corn. This Klein refused to do. During the parley one of the men had kept a hand hid under his coat on the plea that he had a sore member. The wind blowing the coat flap to one side, Klein noticed that the man was concealing a revolver in his hand. They finally showed him a warrant for his arrest. He then knew that his life was in danger, and again refused to accompany the men to Easton. He turned to go back to the church and they opened fire on him, firing eight shots in all, four of which took effect in his body. one shot striking him in the head, one in the side, and one in the hip. He fell to the ground and the ruffians rode away, leaving him for dead. Hap- pily, the wounds were not fatal, and he recovered, and lived to see the final triumph of the cause which he loved, and for which he had sacrificed his peace and nearly lost his life in advocating. During those early days Mr. Klein served as constable and deputy sheriff and was constantly in danger of his life. In the fall of 1856, he and others of the Free State men deemed it prudent to leave their homes and go to Lawrence, Kan., where they joined the citizen army, which was being organized in defense of Free State prin- ciples. He took part in several incipient battles and scraps with the pro- slavery advocates during those years, and when the war broke out he en- rolled in the Kansas militia and fought in Captain Baird's company when it marched to battle against General Price's army of invasion.
Mr. Klein has a keen remembrance of his first day in Kansas, when he walked a distance of twenty-four miles from Ft. Leavenworth to find his brother-in-law, Charles C. Foster. He was all day finding Foster's claim. Starting out without his breakfast, he lost his way, and it was 8 o'clock that night before he arrived at his destination, footsore, weary and hungry. The prairie grass in those days grew as high as a man's head in the bottom lands, and was knee high on the uplands, and the richness of the soil was
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apparent to a man brought up on a farm. From his cabin door Mr. Klein could look out in the distance and see the old Ft. Riley trail which led from Ft. Leavenworth to Salt Lake. One morning on arising he saw eighty cov- ered wagons standing on the trail, each of which had hitched to it six yoke of oxen. This was a sight worth seeing and entertaining to a plainsman, being an indication of the onward march of civilization as it moved ever westward. On one occasion while serving as an officer of the law, Mr. Klein was sent to the cabin of Jim Foster, a noted border desperado, to effect his arrest, but Foster was absent at the time from his home on the bluffs over- looking Big Stranger creek. After the war was over, Mr. Klein settled down to farming and peacefully tilled his acres until his retirement to Pot- ter. He took an active and influential part in the affairs of his community, and has always been allied with the Republican party, never, however, hav- ing been a seeker after political preferment, and never held office except the post of school director in his district.
BARNEY CUMMINS.
Barney Cummins, farmer and trustee of Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison county, was born in Atchison December 17, 1859, a son of Patrick and Mary (Faulkner) Cummins, the former a native of Roscommon county, and the latter a native of County Caven, Ireland. Both came to America from their native land when young, and met, and were married in Philadelphia. After their marriage they went to Wisconsin and lived there one year and then came to Atchison, Kan. Patrick was employed on a Missouri river steam- boat for a time, saved his money and moved to a farm, which he rented for about ten years, accumulating sufficient capital to then purchase a quar- ter section of school land in Mt. Pleasant township, the tract now known as the old Cummins homestead. Patrick Cummins succeeded in his farming venture and became prosperous as the years passed. During the Civil war he was enrolled as a member of the Kansas State militia. He was known as a Free State Democrat, and was a member of the Catholic church. He died in 1871, and the widowed mother of Barney Cummins is still living at the age of seventy-six years, on the old home farm. There were six children in the Cummins family, namely : Barney : Charles, on the home place ; John, a farmer in Atchison county ; Kathrine, living with her mother; Mary, wife
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of William Rogers, of Nortonville, Kan .; Sophia, wife of Thomas Cavanaugh, of St. Joseph, Mo.
Barney was about four years of age when the family removed from Atchison to the farm in Mt. Pleasant township. He received his education in the district school, near his home, and has lived on the farm all of his life, excepting one year spent in Atchison. Mr. Cummins recollects with sad- ness the severity of the early-day teachers as compared with the teachers of today. He recalls that he was frequently given his choice of punishments, which included either having his ears cut off, or take a sound whipping with a great gad. This badly frightened him, and he also remembers how the teacher jerked a big boy from his seat and threw him unconscious to the floor of the school room. Happily, the days of brute strength control of pupils in the schools is past, and a new and better era of kindness and for- bearance has dawned, years since. Mr. Cummins is the owner of 100 acres of well improved land and is a progressive farmer.
He was married January 9, 1882, to Saralı Maylen, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Maylen. The father was a native of Canada, and the mother was born in Liverpool, England, their children being a product of the intermarriage of French, English and Welsh ancestry. Joseph Maylen was a French Canadian and his wife was of Welsh and English descent. They came to Kansas in the early days and settled on a farm in Doniphan county. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cummins : William, living at Potter, Kan .; Ella, wife of Luther Blodgett, a farmer in Atchison county ; Anna, wife of Harry Linsey, living in Atchison county ; Josepli, at home with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Cummins have reared all of their children on the farm upon which they have lived continuously since their marriage.
Mr. Cummins is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen lodge of Potter, and is a member of the Catholic church. He is a Democrat of the old school, and since attaining his majority he has taken a more or less active part in political affairs. He has served several terms as trustee of Mt. Pleasant township, and it can be said of him that no man ever filled the office more capably or administered the affairs of the township to better advantage or more economically and honestly than Barney Cummins. He was first elected to the office in 1892, again in 1907, then in 1908 and again in 1912, being re-elected in 1914. As trustee, M1. Cummins has the supervision of eight schools in his township, including the graded high school of Potter. He is a faithful and conscientious public official in whom the people impose every trust.
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ALVA CLAPP.
Alva Clapp, president of the retail hardware company which bears his name, has been engaged in business on Commercial street in Atchison since May, 1907. At that time he purchased the retail store of a local wholesale firm, and has made a pronounced success of the venture. It is one of the most attractive and well stocked stores of the city and is well patronized. Mr. Clapp is popular with his patrons and the citizens of Atchison generally. He takes an active part in city affairs and is especially interested in the public school system. Having been a teacher before he became a merchant, he has never lost interest in the schools, and is now the president of the Atchison city board of education.
Mr. Clapp was born August 23, 1868, at Carthage, Mo. He is a son of Isaac and Susan B. ( Eckler) Clapp. natives of North Carolina and Illinois, respectively. Isaac Clapp emigrated from North Carolina to Danville, Ill., when a young man, and married in his adopted State. His parents were slave owners in the southland, and he himself owned slaves, but having a pro- nounced distaste for the institution of slavery he disposed of his human chat- tels and moved to the North. After a residence of some years in Illinois, he located in Carthage, Mo., and owned a farm in Jasper county which he cul- tivated. In 1875 he removed to Cherryvale, Kan., and invested in a tract of land near that city. Here he resided until his death in October, 1913.
Alva Clapp received his education in the schools of Cherryvale, Kan., and began teaching school when a very young man. He taught two terms in a district school and served for two years as high school principal. He had a liking for business and obtained his first experience in the retail hardware trade in a store at Conway Springs, Kan., from 1891 to 1900, or a period of ten years. He then traveled for two years in the interest of a local wholesale hardware company and was then employed for five years in the various de- partments of the local concern. In 1907 he organized the Alva Clapp Hard- ware Company and purchased the retail department of the Blish, Mize & Silliaman Company of Atchison. Mr. Clapp has given evidence of a pro- nounced aptitude for business affairs, and faithfully attends to the numerous details which require the undivided attention of the proprietor of a thriving concern, such as is in his charge.
He was married in September of 1896 to Beatrice Kathrine De Haven, of Wichita, Kan. They had one child, Harold De Haven, who died at the age of one and one-half years. Mr. Clapp refers to Mrs. Clapp as his part- ner in the business and his best and most competent assistant. Mrs. Clapp is
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not only a good wife and socially active in the city, but she takes a just pride in assisting her husband in making a success of his business. Mr. Clapp is politically allied with the Republican party and has served for fourteen years as a member of the school board. During his period of service as a member of the board the school system of Atchison has made its greatest advances, and the high school has achieved considerable prestige. New buildings have been erected to accommodate the growing needs of the school system, and others are in course of erection. All of these improvements have received the hearty support of Mr. Clapp and he enjoys the respect and esteem of his brother members to such an extent that when the presidency of the board became vacant he was elected to the position. He was also recently elected treasurer of the Commercial Club of Atchison, another city boosting organi- zation in which he is a prominent figure. Mr. Clapp is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen and the Elks lodges.
HON. GEORGE STORCH.
One of the notable and influential figures of the first and second decades in the history of Atchison county was the late George Storch, of Atchison. He came to Kansas when the State was in its infancy of development and was a pioneer merchant of old Kennekuk, becoming in turn a merchant, banker, statesman, and was, withal, one of the most useful citizens of Atchison county of whom the reviewer has had opportunity to write. Mr. Storch was a pio- neer with a vision which enabled him to see far ahead into the future. This vision, coupled with faith in the eventual prosperity of Kansas, led him to invest heavily in farm lands which made him one of the wealthy citizens of Kansas prior to his demise. For nearly half a century, Mr. Storch was closely identified with the financial and civic life of Atchison county, and twice rep- resented the county in the halls of the State legislature, each time acquitting himself with credit and honor.
George Storch was born near Poppen-Hausen, Bavaria, Germany, Feb- ruary 22, 1835, and was a son of Thomas and Margaret (Breitung) Storch. Thomas, the father, was a farmer and linen dealer in his native locality and was considered fairly well to do. George was reared to young manhood in his native land and received a good common school education. When seven- teen years of age he determined to cross the seas and seek his fortune in America. In accordance with this determination he embarked on a sailing
Gen Storch
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vessel which landed him at New Orleans. From this southern city he made his way by river steamer up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to Herman, Mo. Here he joined a brother who was farming in the neighborhood and who assisted George in securing employment on a nearby farm. He worked at farm labor in Missouri for some years and in April, 1859, he came to Atchi- son, Kan. This city did not offer much inducement for the ambitious young man and he was desirous of engaging in the mercantile business. Kennekuk, in the north central part of the county, was then in the hey-day of its pros- perity and seemed to offer a better location than Atchison. After a few months' stay in Atchison he went to Kennekuk and opened a general merchan- dise store with the capital which he had saved while working on the farms in Missouri. He was successful from the start and his judgment in the matter of Kennekuk being an excellent business location proved correct. Kennekuk was at that time a prosperous and thriving village located on the overland mail and emigrant route and the Storch store made money for its owner to such an extent that he was enabled to branch out and invest in lands and engage in the banking business. Mr. Storch justified his faith in his adopted State by investing heavily in lands which have greatly increased in value since his original purchase of the same. In the early days of the development of the West, the railroad companies were granted large tracts of farm lands along the right of way by the Federal Government. These tracts were placed on sale by the railroads, and were sold for very low prices and easy terms in order to induce settlers to locate in the regions being developed. Mr. Storch took advantage of the low prices of the farm lands and invested heavily. This property comprised many thousands of acres which have since increased enormously in value over and above the original purchase price. Kennekuk had its day, and the time came when the decline of the village was inevitable owing to the building of the Central Branch railway out of Atchison, and which passed to the southward of Kennekuk. Mr. Storch saw the time com- ing when the once flourishing inland village would be no more, and in 1867 he removed to Atchison and managed his large farming interests from this city.
Upon his removal to Atchison he immediately became identified with the leading financial interests of the city and in 1873 organized the German Stiv ... ings Bank which was for many years one of the strong financial institutions of the city. He was also identified with the first bank established in Mus- cotah, Kan. He engaged in the real estate and farm loan business in Atchi- son and organized the Eastern Kansas Land and Loan Company, a concern which is still doing business and of which his daughter, Mrs. Louisa J. Lips,
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is president. Mr. Storch served as president of the German Savings Bank until its stock was purchased by the United States National Bank, and also filled the office of president of this bank during the period of its existence. He was engaged in banking pursuits for a period of eighteen years.
He was married in 1859 to Miss Elizabeth Fox, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Fox, who removed from Evansville, Ind., where Mrs. Storch was born, to Carroll county, Missouri, and settled on a farm. Two children blessed this union of George and Elizabeth Storch : George H., who will be remembered as a bright, intelligent and capable Atchison citizen and who was associated with his father in business for several years, and died in July, 1911, and Louisa Justina, widow of Oscar Lips. Mrs. Storch died in February, 1905, and almost three years later followed the demise of the husband and father, who departed this life in January, 1908. Oscar Lips and Louisa Jus- tina Storch were married in 1891, and that union was blessed with a son, Charles, born in October, 1896. Charles Lips received his primary education in the public schools of Atchison, his preparatory work in the Culver, Ind., Military Academy, and is now pursuing a collegiate course in the Kansas University at Lawrence. Oscar Lips was born in St. Louis, Mo., a son of Dr. Charles August Lips, a former practicing physician of St. Louis, and who was of German descent. Oscar was reared and educated in his native city, and when a young man engaged in the wholesale drug business. His de- mise occurred in Atchison, August, 1905.
George Storch was a Republican in politics and took an active and in- fluential part in political affairs during his long years of residence in Kansas. Not long after establishing himself in business at Kennekuk he became post- master of the town, and assisted in establishing the first union school in the village, serving as a member of the board of education which had charge of this school. The Horton Headlight has the following historical account of this school in an issue of August, 1905, in part: "The old stone school house was not the first school building in the Kennekuk neighborhood, but it was the first substantial one in this part of the country and marks an important epoch in its development. It was built in 1867. It was a joint district, eight miles north and south. The west line was the road between Atchison and Jackson counties. A strip of country two miles wide and eight miles long was in Atchison county and a corresponding trip of country was just over the line in Brown county. The school house was quite a structure to be builded in that early day, but the settlers did not complain at the high taxes, since their children had a good place to attend school. The cost was about $3,000, quite a good sized sum for early settlers to expend, but it shows their deter-
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mination to provide an education for their children. The first school board was composed of George Storch, Squire Willis and Henry Claunch.
Mr. Storch was always greatly interested in the cause of education and after his removal to Atchison he served as a member of the Atchison board of education and was president of this body for a time. While a resident of Kennekuk he was elected to represent Atchison county in the Kansas legis- lature in 1864. During the ensuing session he voted for Gen. James H. Lane for United States senator and voted to ratify the fourteenth amendment to the National constitution. In 1876 he was elected a member of the legisla- ture from the city of Atchison, and during the session following his election . he was a member of the ways and means committee and voted for P. B. Plumb for United States senator. Mr. Storch made an excellent record as an able and honest legislator, who had the best interests of his State at heart. He was active in civic and political affairs in Atchison and served as a member of the city council of which body he was president for one year, declining re-election when his term of office expired. The following tribute to his ability as a city father appeared in the Atchison Champion of April 6, 1873: "One of the best councilmen our city has ever had leaves that body after two years' service in it. We refer to Hon. George Storch, chairman of the committee on improvements. He has been industrious, independent, and energetic. Hav- ing the chairmanship of the most important and laborious committee, he has given his time and attention to the discharge of the duties devolving upon him, and in the decision of all questions in the council he has exhibited a clearness of judgment and a carefulness in guarding the interests of the city that entitle him to general commendation. He declined re-election."
Mr. Storch served for three years as city treasurer and exhibited the same judgment and careful management of the city's affairs in this important capacity that has marked the performance of his official duties as a council- man and school trustee. It is worthy of record that in 1865, while in Kenne- kuk, he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners and served as chairman of that body.
Few pioneer citizens of Atchison lived a more useful or busier life than he of whom this review is written. The name of George Storch figures promi- inently in the historical annals of Atchison county as a builder and creator and an honorable and upright citizen, who left behind him when his soul winged Its way beyond the knowledge of mortal ken, a record imperishable, and a name unblemished and untarnished of which his descendants may well be proud. While opportunities for achieving fortune and fame may not be as great at this day as they were in George Storch's time and era, the story of
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this poor German emigrant boy who made his own way in Kansas from pov- erty to affluence and won an honored place in the history of his adopted county and State is well worth reading and may serve as an inspiration and guidance to others of the present and rising generations.
THOMAS BROWN.
There is considerable satisfaction in writing the life story of a man who has worked his way upward from poverty to a position of wealth and in- fluence in the space of a lifetime, and accomplished it all with his own strong arms and mind. When one adds to this accomplishment the rearing of a large family to lives of usefulness, and to bring up a bevy of young men and women to comfort their parents in their declining years, there is not much for any one individual to wish for. Thomas Brown, retired farmer, of Effingham, Kan., has done all of this and is the proud father of one of the largest families in Atchison county. Had he done no more than to bring into the world his thirteen children, he would have been worthy of praise and been entitled to honorable mention in this volume, as a patriotic and sturdy American citizen. A native of the Emerald isle, he came to America in his youth, and now ranks as one of the Kansas and Atchison county pioneers.
Thomas Brown was born in the little village of Altone, Ireland, and is a son of John and Mary (Dalton) Brown. His birth occurred on February 10, 1847. His father was a farmer in his native country, and made a good living for his family, later moving to the town of Altone and engag- ing in the transfer business, in which occupation he was fairly successful and enabled to provide for his family in comfort. He was the father of ten children, seven of whom came to America to seek their fortunes in the land of opportunity. The seven who came across the ocean were: J. P. Brown, a pioneer merchant and capitalist, of Atchison, now deceased : Mrs. Bridget Norton, who died in 1913 at her home in Pittsfield, Mass .; Mrs. Mary Scully, of Troy, N. Y. ; Mrs. Anna Elkhorn, of Troy, N. Y. : Mrs. Margaret Hewitt, of Independence, Mo .; Mrs. Kate Waters, deceased, who was the wife of a soldier in the British army. The father of these children died in Ireland, and the mother died in Troy, N. Y.
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