History of Atchison County, Kansas, Part 43

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

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Thomas Brown emigrated from his native land to this country in 1865, and hired out to a farmer in Orange county, New York, at $20 per month. The farm where he was employed was located seventeen miles north of New-

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burg, on the Hudson river. He worked there for two years and carefully saved his earnings until he had $300. With this capital he set out for the West and joined his brother, J. P. Brown, who was then located in Atchison. His first employment was on his brother's stock farm, located north of Mon- rovia. Unfortunately, he was taken ill not long after his arrival, and lay sick for a long time with typhoid, all of his savings going to pay for medical services and nursing. He remained on his brother's farm for ten years and laid by another stake during that time. During this period he cultivated three farms, owned by J. P. Brown, who did not require him to pay any rental fees. Even the taxes were paid by his brother who was only anxious to keep the land in cultivation and give his brother. Tom, a start in the world. In the year 1877, Thomas, having saved enough money to buy a farm of his own, invested his savings in a tract of 160 acres of high prairie land, northwest of Effingham, in Benton township. His first land invest- ment cost him $2,250. The land had on it only a small shack which was soon replaced by a comfortable home. It is now one of the best improved places in this section of Kansas, and the Brown farms are among the most pro- ductive in the whole State of Kansas. A handsome white farm house graces the home place, which can be seen for miles around, and it is quite impos- ing. Mr. Brown prospered as he deserved and increased his holdings to the grand total of 640 acres of good Kansas land. The remarkable part about his purchases of land is that he paid cash for every tract of land which he bought and never went in debt for a single acre. This land, pur- chased at varying prices, is now easily worth $125 an acre. Mr. Brown carried on general farming and live stock raising until February of 1911, when he turned over the management of the home farm to his son, and re- moved to Effingham, where he has a beautiful and comfortable residence in the west part of the city.

He, of whom this review is written, was married on October 20. 1869, to Miss Anna Neely, born in Ohio in 1846, a daughter of Samuel Neely, who migrated to Atchison county, Kansas, in 1868. Sixteen children have been born of this marriage, thirteen of whom are living, all of whom are married excepting one daughter and a son : John, a farmer, living near Blue Rapids, Kan .; Mrs. Ida Fishburn, living on a farm near Meriden, Kan .; William, Charley, Frank, and Edward, who are located on their father's ranch ; George lives at Effingham; Richard, a successful farmer, living south of Muscotah ; Mrs. Pearl Dunn, of Oklahoma; Mrs. Ethel Smith, residing in Oklahoma; Edith, at home with her parents; Mrs. Julia Wagner, living near

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Mortimer, Kan .; Mrs. Mary Kemp, on a farm near Vermilion, Kan. This worthy coupie have thirty-six grandchildren.

Mr. Brown is a Republican in politics, but is decidedly independent in his voting and making up his mind concerning political questions of the day. He believes in supporting the man best qualified to serve the people in a civic capacity, rather than blindly following the dictates of political leaders or so-called bosses, a characteristic of the man in all of his conduct through life. He is a member of the Effingham Catholic church and is a liberal sup- porter of this denomination, having contributed liberally toward the build- ing of the local church. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons lodge and became a member of this lodge in 1871. It is a matter of historical record that Mr. Brown, Willis Walker and Hump. Henderson, of Effingham, are the three oldest living Masons in Atchison county in point of years of membership in the order. What more honor does a man wish than has befallen this Atchison county pioneer ?

ALBERT H. BLAIR.

Albert H. Blair, farmer, of Center township, Atchison county. was born March 6, 1862, near Astoria, Ill., and is a son of William and Alcinda ( McCormack) Blair. He was one of five children, Daisy being the only other survivor. She resides in Center township and is now Mrs. Warner. Two other children died in infancy, and William died while living on the farm which Bert now owns. The father was born May 18, 1833, in Browns- ville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania. He was a son of William Blair, and was a glass cutter while living in the East, but when he went to Illinois, he engaged in farming. Later, he farmed in Fulton county, Illinois. In 1863 he came to Kansas and engaged in freighting between Atchison and Denver, with his brother, Edward. They followed this exciting occupation about three years, and in that short time had many experiences which they related with great delight in after years. They were never attacked by the Indians, for the reason that they drove in large numbers, with 100 wagons to the train, and the Indians were shy of such a large force. However, one night they thought that their luck had changed. Mr. Blair can just barely remember the incident, although his father has told it over so many times that it seems to him as if he remembered the original incident. One night the party camped on the trail between Atchison and Denver, lying asleep

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under their wagons. Indians had been seen that day and the freighting party was a little uneasy, and some of the more nervous members feared an attack. Late in the night the mules became frightened and woke up Mr. Blair. William Jumped up, and off in the dark he could see a white object approaching. The cry of "Indians" went out and rifles were aimed. William shot, but could not hit the object. No one else could, for it was very dark and the object could not be seen distinctly. The white object kept approaching, and finally took a definite outline in the darkness. It was a white steer. One night when Indians stampeded the mules of the train, William and a comrade set out in pursuit of the Indians hy flaying the mules with arrows and drove them so fast that the pursuers caught up with them by hard exertion and recaptured the horses. These are typical of many narratives which the elder Blair related of his early-day experiences on the plains. After quitting the freighting business, he and his brother engaged in milling in Atchison, Kan. Three years later William sold his interest to his brother, and started a livery business. A year later he went to farming in Doniphan county, Kansas, and moved from one farm to another for several years. In 1882 he was elected sheriff of Atchison county on the Democratic ticket, and his first term was so successful that he was re-elected. After his term expired he continued to live in Atchison for some time. He then bought 160 acres of land in Center township and remained there until 1891, when he removed to Effingham, where he lived in retirement until his death in 1899. The mother of Bert Blair was born January 11, 1842, in Browns- ville, Pa. She is a daughter of Alonza and Sarah J. (Hibbs) McCormack, who were natives of Pennsylvania. They came west in the early days and farmed in Illinois and Iowa. The mother is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Daisy Warner, in Center township, Atchison county.

Bert Blair grew up on his father's farm and in Atchison, and was edu- cated in the district schools and the Atchison public schools. He lived at home until he was eighteen years of age when he engaged in railroading. It may have been the stories of his father about the travelers that prompted him to go into railroading. At any rate he found the adventurous work to his liking and he worked as a fireman on the Missouri Pacific railroad passen- ger train from Kansas City to Omaha, until he was promoted to the posi- tion of locomotive engineer. His run was from Hiawatha to Kansas City, which was a division of the Missouri Pacific then. In 1890 he rented his father's farm, and at the death of the latter, he inherited eighty acres, and he has since increased his holdings to 160 acres. He has built a fine modern

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barn on his place, 50x54 feet in size, with a capacity of ninety-two tons of lay, and was designed and built by Mr. Blair himself.

In 1886 he married Sarah P. Jeffery, who was born February 20, 1869, in Missouri. She was a daughter of Ira P. and Mary (Farley) Jeffery, both of whom were born in Virginia. They came to Atchison county, Kan- sas, in the seventies, and are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Blair have been born four children, as follows: Roberta, deceased; Claude, Effingham, Kan., married Vera Pittman, of Effingham, and has one son, Thomas Albert, who was born December 24, 1909; William C., who mar- ried Elsie Stickler, of Lancaster, and has two sons, Chester Eugene, born April 23, 1913, and Bert William, born October 20, 1914. A daughter, Sarah, died in infancy in Kansas City. Mrs. Blair died November 20, 1915, and her remains were interred in the cemetery at Lancaster. Mr. Blair is a Democrat. He attends the Methodist churchi, and is a member of the Eagles and Modern Woodmen of America.

GEORGE H. T. JOHNSON.

There is considerable distinction in being the oldest practicing physician in Atchison county, and this well merited honor properly belongs to Dr. George H. T. Johnson, of Atchison, Kan., who for nearly half a century has prac- ticed his profession continuously in the city with ever increasing prestige and success which has never abated during the long period of his career. Dr. Johnson is one of the best loved and well respected professional men of the city who has won his place in the front rank of his profession by sheer merit and ability of a high order. Despite his seventy-three years of age he still continues to minister to the ailing and has kept abreast of the wonderful advances made in medical science.

Dr. G. H. T. Johnson was born near Mt. Vernon, Jefferson county, Illi- mois, October 15, 1842, a son of James and Lydia (Cricle) Johnson, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Illinois. His paternal grand- father, George Johnson, was a soldier in the American army during the War of 1812. The father of Dr. Johnson died when he was an infant and his mother departed this life at the age of seventy-eight years. George H. T. was educated in the public schools of Jefferson county and Mount Vernon. He remained at home until the summer of 1862, when he enlisted in the Union army as a member of Company G, One Hundred and Tenth regiment,

WHY Johnson

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Illinois infantry. In September of the same year this regiment was assigned to the command of General Buell, then at Louisville, Ky., and first saw action at the battle of Perryville, Ky., October 8, 1862. Subsequently, the One Hundred and Tenth was transferred to General Rosecran's army and took part in the great battle of Stone River and the campaign which resulted in the capture of Chattanooga, and the great battle of Chickamauga. He was under General Thomas at the battles of Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. General Grant in person directed the maneuvers of Gen- erals Thomas' and Rosecran's combined forces during these famous engage- ments. Subsequently, his regiment was assigned to the command of General Sherman and served under Sherman until the close of the Civil war. He took part in the siege and capture of Atlanta and the famous March to the Sea, which culminated in the capture of Savannah, which city Sherman presented to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift. He also participated in the cam- paign of the Carolinas and was at the last battle fought by Sherman's army at Bentonville, N. C., and at the surrender of the Confederate army under Gen. Joseph Johnston near Raleigh. From there the victorious army marched to Richmond, thence to Baltimore and on to Washington, where they par- ticipated in the Grand Review. Mr. Johnson was honorably discharged from the service and mustered out June 8, 1865. The doctor tells many anecdotes of his long and varied army experience which are all interesting and show that he proved himself not unworthy of the martial blood coursing through his veins and transmitted from his grandfather.

Upon his return home from the war Mr. Johnson taught one term of school and then decided to take up the study of medicine and make the science of healing his life vocation. Accordingly, he entered the Cleveland Homeo- pathic Medical College and subsequently attended the Homeopathic Medical College of St. Louis, Mo., where he was graduated February 26, 1869. While a student at college he heard of the city of Atchison and was impressed with the idea that it would be a good place to locate. After looking around for a few weeks he became convinced that Atchison was a desirable location for a young physician and he came here in April of 1869 and soon built up an excellent practice which grew in volume as the years went on. In1 1885 Gov- ernor Martin appointed Dr. Johnson a member of the State board of health, and in April of that year he was elected president of the board and retained the position for eight years. He is president of the Atchison board of pension examiners for the United States Government and has acted in that capacity for several years, his service as pension examiner beginning during the term of President Arthur and continuing under the administrations of Presidents

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Harrison, Mckinley, Roosevelt and Taft. He always takes an interest in the brothers who fought in the army under the stars and stripes for the preservation of the American Union and does everything in his power to aid the old soldiers. He is a charter member of the Homeopathic Medical Society of Kansas and served two terms as president of this society. He is also a member and has been a senior member of the American Institute of Homeo- pathy, the oldest medical institute in the United States. For many years he has been a member of the American Public Health Association, as well as the County, State, and American Medical Associations. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and has been a surgeon of John A. Martin Post, No. 93, Grand Army of the Republic, since its organization, excepting two years when he served as the post commander. Dr. Johnson is a man of wide and thorough experience, broad and tolerant in his views, who has commanded the confidence and high esteem of the people of Atch- ison and the surrounding country during the many years in which he has been a resident of the city. He is one of the best known men in the county and holds high rank as a physician whose skill has not suffered abatement as the years have gone by.

Dr. Charles H. Johnson, his son, practices with his father. He is a graduate of the Kansas State University and completed a course in the medi- cal department of Columbia University, N. Y., and also graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York City. For two years he served as staff physician of the Roosevelt Hospital of New York City, where he gained a wide and varied experience in the practice of his profession that has proven to be invaluable to him in his later career. Since locating in Atch- ison with his father he has built up a fine practice and served for ten years as surgeon of the Orphans' Home at Atchison.

THOMAS C. TREAT.

Thomas C. Treat, who is engaged in the investment brokerage business in Atchison, is one of the extensive land owners of Atchison county. Mr. Treat is a native of Atchison county, born March 26, 1865, and is a son of Levi S. and Mary D. (Cooper) Treat, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of England. Mary D. Cooper was born in Exeter, Devonshire, England, and was a daughter of Thomas and Mary A. Cooper. The Cooper

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family immigrated to America when Mary D. was a child. The family con- sisted of the parents and three children. They made the trip across the Atlantic in a sailing vessel, the voyage taking six weeks. They located at Covington, Ky., where the parents spent their lives. Mary D. Cooper had friends living in Atchison, and came here in 1857, where she later met and married Levi S. Treat. Levi S. Treat was born in Connecticut in 1814, and was a son of Amos Treat, who removed with his family to the Western Re- serve, which comprised twelve counties in northeastern Ohio. The Treat family located in that section in 1828, when Levi S. was fourteen years old, and there the parents spent the remainder of their lives.

When a young man, Levi S. Treat was in the employ of the Government, prospecting for copper in the Lake Superior region. He was thus engaged for eight or ten years, and in 1856 came to Atchison county, Kansas. Shortly after arriving here, he preempted 160 acres of land, part of which is now in- cluded within the city limits of Atchison. Here he followed farming and fruit growing in the early days and prospered and acquired considerable land. He dealt quite extensively in real estate and was one of the early pro- moters of Atchison, and built the first brick business house in that city. This building was located two doors east of the Byrum Hotel. Levi S. Treat was a successful business man and one of the substantial citizens of Atchi- son county. During the Civil war he was a colonel of the Twelfth regiment, Kansas militia. He died April 13, 1881, and his wife survived him for sev- eral years, passing away March 29, 1913. They were the parents of six children, as follows: Kate married Samuel K. Woodworth, and they reside in California: Frank resides in Arizona; Thomas C., the subject of this sketch; Alice married George Guerrier, of Atchison, Kan .; Grace married William Berry, of Atchison, Kan., and Ethel married Harry McDuff, of Omaha, Neb.

Thomas C. Treat was reared in Atchison and educated in the public schools, and later attended St. Benedict's College. He then was engaged in fruit growing for a number of years, and in 1889 engaged in the investment and brokerage business in Atchison, and has continued in that business to the present time. Mr. Treat owns over 1, 100 acres of land besides various other interests and investments. He is one of the pioneer fruit growers of Atchison county, and owns a fifty-acre fruit farm, which has few equals. if any, in the State of Kansas. The trees on this place are about fifteen years old, and, under normal conditions, are very productive. Mr. Treat has made an extensive study of the fruit business and has developed a scientific system

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of treating his trees. He was the first fruit man in Atchison county to use the spray method, and he has been very successful in the fruit business.

Mr. Treat was one of the organizers of the Union Trust Company, which was later merged into the Exchange State Bank, and has been a direc- tor, or other officer, in that institution since its organization. He is also a stockholder in the Exchange State Bank. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is one of the progressive and public spir- ited citizens of Atchison county.

CHARLES H. FUHRMAN.

Charles H. Fuhrman, farmer and stockman, of Lancaster township, Atch- ison county, Kansas, was born in Schleasien, Germany, December 13, 1852. He is a son of Ernst and Louise (Heine) Fuhrman, and is their only child. The father was married again, however, and to his second wife, Jo- hanna Gerlach, twelve children were born, as follows: Ernst, Atchison, Kan .; Caroline (Dierking), Dodge City, Kan .; Louise (Repstein), Jefferson county, Kansas; William, St. Joseph, Mo .; Reinhold, farmer, Lancaster township, Atchison county, Kansas; Julius, Doniphan county, Kansas ; Trau- got, Center township, Atchison county; Herman, Lancaster township, Atch- ison county ; Paul, Center township, Atchison county ; Emma (Schwope), Center township. Two children died in infancy. The father was born in Germany July 8, 1826, and in 1872 came to America and settled in Atchison county, Kansas, where he bought 160 acres of land in section 16, Lancaster township. This was timber and prairie land and there was only a small, poorly built house on it at the time, but during the twenty years which he owned it he built several substantial buildings and made numerous improvements. He then sold the place to his son, Herman, and removed to Lancaster, where he lived in quiet, well-earned retirement for five years, when he went to live with his son, Paul, in Cen- ter township, where he died September 2, 1915. The mother, Louise ( Heine) Fuhrman, died in Germany when a young woman in 1852. Charles Fuhr- man's step-mother, Joehanna (Gerlach) Fuhrman, was born in Germany, and is now living with her daughter, Emma, in Center township, Atchison county, in her eighty-fifth year.

Charles Fuhrman left Germany with his parents when he was nineteen years of age. He had received his education under the German system, and

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had been taught the carpenter's trade, but never followed this occupation after he came to America. He remained with his parents, helping his father on the farm in Lancaster township until he was twenty-five years old, when he bought 160 acres of land in section 18, Lancaster township. When he took possession the farm had no improvements, and he first built a house and a barn, and added other improvements and conveniences. He acquired more land until he now owns 390 acres, including eight acres of fine timber land on his home place and ten acres of timber on the farm which he rents. He has stocked his farm with graded animals. Be- sides his real estate investments, Mr. Fuhrman is a shareholder in the Huron Telephone Company. He was married in 1878 to Louise Roerchen, who was born in Germany July 16, 1857. She left her native land with her uncle, Karl Schwope, in 1860. They came to Wathena, Doniphan county, Kansas. Her mother died on the ocean while coming to America and the little daugh- ter was reared by her grandparents in Doniphan county and attended the grammar school at Wathena. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Fuhr- man : Ernst, farmer, Lancaster township, Atchison county; Ida (Tuley), de- ceased : William, Lancaster township; Selma (Lange), Grasshopper town- ship, Atchison county; Edward, living at home ; Mabel, also living with her parents. Mr. Fuhrman is a Republican, and has been road overseer of Lan- caster township. He belongs to the Evangelical church, and is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.

CHARLES LINLEY.

A true analysis of the growth and development of the man- nfacturing and commercial enterprises of a city invariably brings forth the fact that while the interested principals furnished capital, energy and ability, its financial institutions were also material factors. The city of Atchison is not an exception to the rule. The policy of her banks has been, since the first one was established, to extend assistance to merchants and manufacturers. Both executives and directors have been keenly alive to the fact that a liberal policy, in so far as was consistent with sound bank- ing, was essential to commercial growth. Among those who have realized success in this field of activity is he whose name initiates this article. He first entered the banking life of the city in the early nineties, subsequently served Atchison county in an official capacity and re-entered financial circles as one of the organizers of the Union Trust Company in 1907, was later elected

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cashier of the Exchange State Bank, and in 1911 resigned to accept his pres- ent position, that of cashier of the First National Bank.

Charles Linley was born in the city of Atchison July 10, 1867, and is the only surviving member of the family of Dr. James M. Linley, a pioneer physician of the city and one of her most influential citizens. Dr. Linley was born in Salem, Ky., the son of a pioneer, and was of English descent. He was reared in his native State, received a good academic and classical education, and subsequently entered Miami Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he was graduated with the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. During the closing years of the Civil war he entered the Union army as a regi- mental surgeon and served until the close of the conflict. Previous to enter- ing the army he had married Mary A. Hubbard, a daughter of Charles Hub- bard, of Hickman, Ky., a member of one of Kentucky's most prominent families, an influential citizen and a widely known and successful physician.

Following his service in the Union army, he came to the conclusion that Kansas spelled opportunity for him, and bringing his family, located in the city of Atchison in 1865. From this time until his death, which occurred November 28, 1900, he continued in the active practice of his profession. He was recognized as one of the most successful physicians and surgeons in northeastern Kansas. He was a man of attractive personality, was intimately acquainted throughout the city and county and held in the highest esteem by all who knew him. His record for continuous years of practice has seldom been equaled in the State. He was a believer in the religion of deed, and his creed was to do good. He believed in the gospel of help and hope. For forty- five years he lived his creed and preached his gospel to the citizens of his adopted State. He was not only a successful physician but also realized a substantial success in a commercial way. He was directly or indirectly interested in many business enterprises. He was one of the active forces in the organization of the First National Bank, and from the establishment until his death was a member of its directorate. He and his wife were prom- inent in the social and religious life of the city, and the Linley residence was known for its gracious hospitality which was extended to their many friends with true Kentucky spirit. Dr. and Mrs. Linley were the parents of five children, all of whom, with the exception of our subject, are deceased. Hub- bard Linley, the eldest, was graduated in medicine and became one of the most prominent surgeons in northeast Kansas. He was division surgeon of the Missouri Pacific railway, Atchison district. His death occurred in July, 1911. Thomas died in childhood; Victor, on November 20, 1915; and Maria died in childhood.

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History of Atchison County, Kansas, Part 43

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